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width: 1em;} - - -#toc {width: 70%; font-size: 90%; line-height: 1em; margin-top: 1em;} -#toi {width: 90%; font-size: 90%; line-height: 1em; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; font-size: 90%;} - -.pagenum { /* visibility: hidden; */ position: absolute; left: 94%; color: gray; - font-size: smaller; text-align: right; text-indent: 0em; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;} - -.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} - -.figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em;} -.figc1 {margin: auto; text-align: center; margin-bottom: 2em;} - -.footnotes {border: dashed 1px; padding: 1em;} -.label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} -.fnanchor {vertical-align: super; font-size: .8em; text-decoration: none; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;} - -.transnote {background-color: #E6E6FA; color: black; font-size:smaller; padding:0.5em; margin-bottom:5em; font-family:sans-serif, serif; } - </style> - </head> -<body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Gabriele Rossetti, by Gabriele Rossetti - -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/license - - -Title: Gabriele Rossetti - A Versified Autobiography - -Author: Gabriele Rossetti - -Translator: William Michael Rossetti - -Release Date: June 21, 2016 [EBook #52387] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GABRIELE ROSSETTI *** - - - - -Produced by Giovanni Fini and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - -</pre> - -<div class="limit"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="transnote p4"> -<p class="pc large">TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE:</p> -<p class="ptn">—Obvious print and punctuation errors were corrected.</p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i" id="Page_i">[i]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="limit1"> -<p class="pn"><i>This Edition consists of -1000 Copies only, of which -this is</i></p> -</div> - -<div class="figc1"> - <img src="images/serial.jpg" width="200" height="43" - alt="" - title="" /> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii" id="Page_ii">[ii]</a></span></p> - - -<p class="pc4 xlarge">GABRIELE ROSSETTI</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">[iii]</a></span></p> -<p> </p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv">[iv]</a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/fr.jpg" width="300" height="467" id="fr" - alt="" - title="" /> - <p class="pc">DRAWING BY GABRIELE ROSSETTI<br /><span class="reduct"><i>Pen and Sepia</i></span></p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[v]</a></span></p> - -<h1 class="p4"><span class="color">GABRIELE ROSSETTI</span><br /> -<span class="small">A VERSIFIED AUTOBIOGRAPHY</span></h1> - -<p class="pc4">TRANSLATED<br /> -AND SUPPLEMENTED BY<br /></p> - -<p class="pc1 mid">WILLIAM MICHAEL ROSSETTI</p> - -<p class="pi12 p4">Così dall’arpa opposti suoni ei desta<br /> -Pel suol che gli diè culla un suon d’affanno<br /> -Di gioia un suon per quel che asil gli presta</p> - -<p class="pr8">G R</p> - -<p class="pc4 lmid">SANDS & CO</p> -<p class="pc">12 BURLEIGH STREET STRAND</p> -<p class="pc">LONDON</p> -<p class="pc">1901</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[vi]</a></span></p> -<p> </p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[vii]</a></span></p> - -<p class="pc4">DEDICATED TO<br /> -<span class="mid">ANTONIO AND OLIVIA AGRESTI</span><br /> -WHOSE MARRIAGE HAS RESTORED<br /> -TO ITALIAN NATIONALITY<br /> -A GRAND-DAUGHTER OF<br /> -<span class="lmid">GABRIELE ROSSETTI</span></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[viii]</a></span></p> -<p> </p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">[ix]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4">PREFACE</h2> - -<p class="pn2"><span class="smcap">In</span> Italy the poems of Gabriele Rossetti have enjoyed a -large amount of celebrity, and they are still held in honoured -remembrance; his prose works are there known rather by -rumour than in perusal. In England the case of the prose -works is much the same, while the poems are as good as unknown. -His life has never been written on any very complete -scale. In Italian there are some Memoirs, more or less -detailed and accurate—perhaps the most solid is that written -by my cousin Teodorico Pietrocola-Rossetti; in English, the -nearest approach to an account of him may be what appears -in the course of my <i>Memoir of Dante Gabriel Rossetti</i> (1895). -There is also some important information in the book, <i>John -Hookham Frere and his Friends</i>, mentioned on p. 132 of the -present volume.</p> - -<p>The name of Gabriele Rossetti has in this country secured -some amount of respectful regard, but rather on adventitious -than on strictly personal grounds. He is contemplated in his -paternal relation—the father of Dante Gabriel and Christina -Rossetti. Dr Garnett, in his <i>History of Italian Literature</i>, -has expressed the point neatly, and in terms stronger than -it would behove me to use: “Rossetti assuredly will not be -forgotten by England, for which he has done what no other<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x">[x]</a></span> -inhabitant of these isles ever did, in begetting two great -poets.”</p> - -<p>On me it can be no less than a filial obligation to do what -I can for the memory of my patriotic, highly gifted, laborious, -and loving father. I therefore offer to the British public -the following authentic record of him, and leave it to obtain -such readers as it may.</p> - -<p class="pr2">W. M. ROSSETTI.</p> - -<p class="pi4 reduct"><span class="smcap">London</span>, <i>January 1901</i>.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi">[xi]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4">CONTENTS</h2> - -<table id="toc" summary="cont"> - - <tr> - <td colspan="4"> </td> - <td class="tdr1"><span class="small">PAGE</span></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td colspan="4" class="tdl1"><span class="smcap">Gabriele Rossetti</span>—Autobiography, etc.</td> - <td class="tdr1"><a href="#c001">1</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td colspan="3" class="tdl1">Life in Italy</td> - <td class="tdr1"><a href="#c006">6</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td colspan="3" class="tdl1">Life in Exile—Malta and England</td> - <td class="tdr1"><a href="#c060">60</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td colspan="5" class="tdc1">APPENDIX</td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td colspan="5" class="tdc2">1.—<span class="smcap">From Six Letters from Gabriele Rossetti to -his Wife</span></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdc3">A</td> - <td class="tdc3">—</td> - <td class="tdc3">Letter of</td> - <td class="tdl2">4 May 1831</td> - <td class="tdr1"><a href="#c117">117</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdc3">B</td> - <td rowspan="5"> </td> - <td class="tdc3">”</td> - <td class="tdl1">15 May 1832</td> - <td class="tdr1"><a href="#c119">119</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdc3">C</td> - <td class="tdc3">”</td> - <td class="tdl1">29 May 1832</td> - <td class="tdr1"><a href="#c122">122</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdc3">D</td> - <td class="tdc3">”</td> - <td class="tdl2">6 September 1836</td> - <td class="tdr1"><a href="#c126">126</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdc3">E</td> - <td class="tdc3">”</td> - <td class="tdl1">21 October 1836</td> - <td class="tdr1"><a href="#c129">129</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdc3">F</td> - <td class="tdc3">”</td> - <td class="tdl1">21 August 1848</td> - <td class="tdr1"><a href="#c130">130</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td colspan="5" class="tdc2">2.—<span class="smcap">From Eight Letters from Gabriele Rossetti -to Charles Lyell, Kinnordy</span></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdc3">A</td> - <td class="tdc3">—</td> - <td class="tdc3">Letter of</td> - <td class="tdl2">29 October 1831</td> - <td class="tdr1"><a href="#c133">133</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdc3">B</td> - <td rowspan="7"> </td> - <td class="tdc3">”</td> - <td class="tdl2">1 October 1832</td> - <td class="tdr1"><a href="#c134">134</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdc3">C</td> - <td class="tdc3">”</td> - <td class="tdl1">15 May 1833</td> - <td class="tdr1"><a href="#c136">136</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdc3">D</td> - <td class="tdc3">”</td> - <td class="tdl1">13 January 1836</td> - <td class="tdr1"><a href="#c137">137</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdc3">E</td> - <td class="tdc3">”</td> - <td class="tdl1">14 January 1836</td> - <td class="tdr1"><a href="#c139">139</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdc3">F</td> - <td class="tdc3">”</td> - <td class="tdl1">16 December 1836</td> - <td class="tdr1"><a href="#c140">140</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdc3">G</td> - <td class="tdc3">”</td> - <td class="tdl1">21 July 1840</td> - <td class="tdr1"><a href="#c141">141</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdc3">H</td> - <td class="tdc3">”</td> - <td class="tdl2">1 February 1842</td> - <td class="tdr1"><a href="#c143">143</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td colspan="5" class="tdc2"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xii" id="Page_xii"><span class="reduct">[xii]</span></a></span>3.—<span class="smcap">From Three Letters from Seymour (Barone) -Kirkup to Gabriele Rossetti</span></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdc3">A</td> - <td class="tdc3">—</td> - <td class="tdc3">Letter of</td> - <td class="tdl2">12 September 1840</td> - <td class="tdr1"><a href="#c144">144</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdc3">B</td> - <td rowspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdc3">”</td> - <td class="tdl1">14 September 1841</td> - <td class="tdr1"><a href="#c147">147</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdc3">C</td> - <td class="tdc3">”</td> - <td class="tdl1">5 February 1843</td> - <td class="tdr1"><a href="#c150">150</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td colspan="5" class="tdl3">4.—<span class="smcap">Letters (or Extracts from Letters) from Giuseppe -Mazzini—Eleven to Rossetti, and One to -another Correspondent</span></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdc3">A</td> - <td class="tdc3">—</td> - <td class="tdc3">Letter of</td> - <td class="tdl1">28 March 1841</td> - <td class="tdr1"><a href="#c157">157</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdc3">B</td> - <td rowspan="11"> </td> - <td class="tdc3">”</td> - <td class="tdl2">1841?</td> - <td class="tdr1"><a href="#c159">159</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdc3">C</td> - <td class="tdc3">”</td> - <td class="tdl2">November 1844?</td> - <td class="tdr1"><a href="#c160">160</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdc3">D</td> - <td class="tdc3">”</td> - <td class="tdl2">May 1845?</td> - <td class="tdr1"><a href="#c161">161</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdc3">E</td> - <td class="tdc3">”</td> - <td class="tdl1">31 October 1845</td> - <td class="tdr1"><a href="#c162">162</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdc3">F</td> - <td class="tdc3">”</td> - <td class="tdl2">January 1847?</td> - <td class="tdr1"><a href="#c163a">163</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdc3">G</td> - <td class="tdc3">”</td> - <td class="tdl2">January 1847?</td> - <td class="tdr1"><a href="#c163b">163</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdc3">H</td> - <td class="tdc3">”</td> - <td class="tdl1">8 February 1847</td> - <td class="tdr1"><a href="#c164">164</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdc3">I</td> - <td class="tdc3">”</td> - <td class="tdl2">May 1847?</td> - <td class="tdr1"><a href="#c165">165</a></td> - </tr> - - - <tr> - <td class="tdc3">J</td> - <td class="tdc3">”</td> - <td class="tdl2">February 1848?</td> - <td class="tdr1"><a href="#c167">167</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdc3">K</td> - <td class="tdc3">”</td> - <td class="tdl2">November 1848?</td> - <td class="tdr1"><a href="#c168a">168</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdc3">L</td> - <td class="tdc3">”</td> - <td class="tdl2">To Corso—1846?</td> - <td class="tdr1"><a href="#c168b">168</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td colspan="5" class="tdc2">5.—<span class="smcap">Six Poems by Gabriele Rossetti</span></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdc3">A</td> - <td class="tdc3">—</td> - <td colspan="2" class="tdl1">Ad Amore</td> - <td class="tdr1"><a href="#c174">174</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdc3">B</td> - <td rowspan="5"> </td> - <td colspan="2" class="tdl1">Versi d’Amore</td> - <td class="tdr1"><a href="#c177a">177</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdc3">C</td> - <td colspan="2" class="tdl1">Aurora del 21 Luglio del 1820</td> - <td class="tdr1"><a href="#c177b">177</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdc3">D</td> - <td colspan="2" class="tdl1">Addio alla Patria</td> - <td class="tdr1"><a href="#c182">182</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdc3">E</td> - <td colspan="2" class="tdl1">San Paolo in Malta—Canto Improvvisato</td> - <td class="tdr1"><a href="#c186">186</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdc3">F</td> - <td colspan="2" class="tdl1">Napoleone a Sant’Elena</td> - <td class="tdr1"><a href="#c191">191</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td colspan="5"> </td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td colspan="4" class="tdl1"><span class="smcap">Index of Names</span></td> - <td class="tdr1"><a href="#c193">193</a></td> - </tr> - -</table> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xiii" id="Page_xiii">[xiii]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4">LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> - -<table id="toi" summary="illustrations"> - - <tr> - <td class="tdl4">1. <span class="smcap">Fac-simile of an Early Drawing by -Gabriele Rossetti</span>, pen and sepia, made -as a title-page to some of his MS. poems. -<i>Circa</i> 1804. See p. <a href="#Page_11">11</a></td> - <td colspan="2" class="tdr1"><a href="#fr"><i>Frontispiece</i></a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdl4">2. <span class="smcap">Gabriele Rossetti</span>—from the oil-portrait -by Dante Gabriel Rossetti now belonging -to Sir Leonard Lyell, Bart.—1848</td> - <td class="tdc4"><i>To face p.</i></td> - <td class="tdr1"><a href="#portrait">1</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdl4">3. <span class="smcap">Gaetano Polidori</span>—from a pencil-drawing -by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, done in 1853, -the same year when Polidori died, aged 89</td> - <td class="tdc4">”</td> - <td class="tdr1"><a href="#i084">85</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdl4">4. <span class="smcap">Christina Georgina Rossetti</span>—from a -pencil-drawing by Dante Gabriel Rossetti. -<i>Circa</i> 1846</td> - <td class="tdc4">”</td> - <td class="tdr1"><a href="#i088">89</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdl4">5. <span class="smcap">Frances Mary Lavinia Rossetti</span>, with her -daughters Maria Francesca and Christina -Georgina—from a photograph. <i>Circa</i> 1855</td> - <td class="tdc4">”</td> - <td class="tdr1"><a href="#i115">115</a></td> - </tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdl4">6. <span class="smcap">Gabriel Charles Dante</span> (called Dante -Gabriel) and <span class="smcap">William Michael Rossetti</span>—from -a water-colour sketch by Filippo -Pistrucci. <i>Circa</i> 1838</td> - <td class="tdc4">”</td> - <td class="tdr1"><a href="#i130">130</a></td> - </tr> - -</table> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xiv" id="Page_xiv">[xiv]</a></span></p> -<p> </p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xv" id="Page_xv">[xv]</a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/portrait.jpg" width="400" height="538" id="portrait" - alt="" - title="" /> - <p class="pc">GABRIELE ROSSETTI<br /> -<i>From the Oil-Portrait by Dante Gabriel Rossetti</i><br /> -1848</p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xvi" id="Page_xvi">[xvi]</a></span></p> -<p> </p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4" id="c001">GABRIELE ROSSETTI</h2> - -<p class="pn2"><span class="smcap">As</span> the career of Gabriele Rossetti was much mixed -up with political and dynastic events in the Kingdom -of Naples (or of the Two Sicilies), it may be as well -at starting to give a very brief <i>résumé</i> of historical -facts.</p> - -<p>In the year 1734 the Kingdom of Naples, in the resettlement -of Europe consequent upon the Treaty of -Utrecht, was under the dominion of the Empire, or, -as we should now word it, of Austria; but in that -year an almost bloodless conquest brought-in a different -dynasty. Charles, Duke of Parma, a son of -the Bourbon King of Spain, Philip V., by his second -wife Elizabeth Farnese, a spirited youth only seventeen -years of age, determined to assert his ancestral -claims upon the kingdom, and in a trice he was firmly -seated upon the Neapolitan throne. His government, -though in a sense despotic, was popular and enlightened. -In 1759 he became by succession King of -Spain; and, under the obligation of existing treaties, -he relinquished the Kingdom of Naples to his third<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span> -son, Ferdinand, aged only eight. In 1768 Ferdinand -married Maria Caroline, daughter of the Emperor -Francis and of Maria Theresa, and sister of Marie -Antoinette.</p> - -<p>Ferdinand IV., as he was then termed (afterwards -Ferdinand I.) was a man of no great ability, but of -vigorous physique, and sufficiently well-disposed as -a sovereign; his wife, strong-minded and domineering, -was the more active governor of the two, and promoted -various innovations, some of which fairly counted as reforms. -Things went on well enough for the rulers and -the subjects until the outbreak of the French Revolution -in 1789, when Neapolitan opposition to France and -all things French became pronounced. Queen Caroline -naturally did not relish the decapitation of her sister -in 1793, and hostilities against the Republic ensued. -In 1798 the king decamped to Sicily, and in the -following year his continental dominions became the -“Parthenopean Republic.” This was of short duration, -January to June 1799. The Southern provinces rose -in arms, under the leadership of Cardinal Ruffo; the -French army departed, and Ferdinand was re-installed -in Naples—Lord Nelson, victorious from the Battle -of the Nile, playing a large part, and a much-debated -one, in this transaction. Ferdinand now ruled with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span> -great rigour, and committed some barbaric acts of -repression and retaliation, for which his consort was -regarded as gravely responsible. The great Napoleon, -Consul, Emperor, and King of Italy, was not likely to -tolerate for long the anti-French severities, demonstrations, -and intrigues, of “il Rè Nasone,” as Ferdinand -was nicknamed in virtue of his portentously long and -prominent nose. Early in 1806 Ferdinand and Caroline -disappeared once more into Sicily, under British -protection, and Joseph Bonaparte was enthroned in -Naples. Joseph, in 1808, was transferred to the Spanish -kingdom; and Joachim Murat, brother-in-law of -Napoleon and of Joseph by his marriage with their -sister Caroline, reigned in Naples in his stead. Ferdinand, -with the other Caroline, remained meanwhile -unattackable in Sicily, and was turned into a constitutional -king there by British predominance. In -1815, on the final collapse of the Napoleonic <i>régime</i>, -and very shortly after the death of his Queen, he -returned to Naples.</p> - -<p>These particulars, meagre as they are, seem to be -sufficient to show what was the historical background -to the fortunes of Gabriele Rossetti, with whom alone -I am directly concerned. He was born under a -recently-established dynasty, in a kingdom of despotic<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span> -rule and many relics of feudalism; from the age -of twenty-three to thirty-two he was the subject of -a new and intrusive dynasty, not less despotic, but -free from all trammels inherited from the past. Then -in 1815 he again came under the old system, but in -a state of public feeling and aspiration which rapidly -led to a constitutional government, sworn to by -the sovereign, and abolished by him at the first -opportunity.</p> - -<p>I propose to relate my father’s life in his own verse -as translated by me, supplemented by a little of my -prose. It was towards the year 1850, when his general -health and strength had grievously decayed, and he -was conscious of the imminent approaches of death, -that he composed a versified autobiography, of which -the great majority is here embodied. He wrote it in -rhymed sextets; but I, for ease and literality, have -rendered it into blank verse. His own verse is, as -he himself acknowledges, here pitched in a very subdued -key, with little endeavour after poetic elevation; -though there are some passages in a higher strain. -My translation makes still less pretension as poetry; -it conveys the sense with strict accuracy, and that is -all it affects. My father retained in his old age some -of the habits of “poetic diction” which had been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span> -customary in the Italy of his youth; and one finds -here more than one quite wants of Phœbus, Neptune, -Minerva’s fane, and other “rattle-traps of mythology” -(to borrow a phrase from William Blake); in all this -I follow my original. The versification of the Italian -text is often ingenious, and even masterly; abounding -in dactylic line-endings, or <i>rime sdrucciole</i>, as the -Italians call them—a difficult feat, at which Rossetti -was uncommonly deft. I have given the great bulk -of the production—which, indeed, I had in the first -instance translated in full; but eventually I thought -some passages here and there, and also some amplifications -of phrase, useless for the purposes of the British -reader, and have therefore excluded them. The whole -of the expressly biographical matter is preserved. -Those notes which are not marked by an initial are -my father’s own; those to which “W.” is appended -are mine—there being several points which seemed to -need some explanation.</p> - -<p>My material does not call for much division or subdivision. -I shall therefore simply separate it into the -Life of Gabriele Rossetti (his full Christian names were -Gabriele Pasquale Giuseppe) in Italy, and his Life in -Exile, Malta and England; and, plunging at once -into the versified autobiography, I commence the</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span></p> - -<h3 class="p4" id="c006">LIFE IN ITALY</h3> - -<p class="pp6 p1">I know my fame will have but scanty flight,<br /> -Readers to whom I speak of Italy.<br /> -Yet, if in any of you there rose a wish<br /> -To know me who I am, I’ll meet it here.<br /> -Ovid’s own native soil is mine as well:<br /> -He spoke about himself, and so will I.<br /> -In verses Ovid wrote, but I in prose—<br /> -Prose of eleven syllables with rhymes;<br /> -But, be they verses, I shall not contest.<br /> -And, without more preamble, hear me now.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">Along the beach of the Frentani lies<br /> -On teeming hills, the Adriatic near,<br /> -A small municipality of Rome—<br /> -Histonium once and Vasto now ’tis called.<br /> -There, with no waft of Fortune, I received<br /> -A humble cradle from a worthy pair.<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></p> - -<p class="p1">The brief statement of my father, in his verses and -his note, may be slightly extended. Nicola Rossetti -was a blacksmith and locksmith; his wife, Maria Francesca<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span> -Pietrocola, was the daughter of a shoemaker. Both -families seem to have held a creditable, though certainly -a by no means distinguished, position in the small -Vastese community. The original name of the Rossetti -race (as I have heard my father more than once affirm) -was not Rossetti but Della Guardia. Some babies -in the Della Guardia family were born with red or -reddish hair (I presume, four or five generations before -my father’s birth); and the Vastese—who, like other -Italians, never lose a chance of calling people by -nicknames—termed them “the Rossetti”—<i>i.e.</i> “The -Little Reds,” and this continued to serve as surname -for their progeny. Thus the surname Rossetti may -be regarded as equivalent to the English surname -Reddish, or Rudkins (if Rudkins is an abbreviation -of Ruddykins). The family of Della Guardia still -exists in Vasto. It appears to have been entitled to -bear a crest—which is a sturdy-looking tree, with the -motto “Frangas non flectas”; for a seal (still in my -possession), showing this crest and motto, was delivered -to Gabriele Rossetti, on his quitting Vasto in youth, -by his elder brother the Canon Andrea, who told -him that it was the family-device. This was often -used, I may add, by Dante Gabriel Rossetti. It -appears that in the Rossetti line, or else in the Della<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span> -Guardia line, there must have been some degree of -literary eminence prior to the date of the blacksmith -Nicola; as I find, in a letter addressed by Gabriele -Rossetti, towards 1807, to his elder brother Domenico, -the phrase: “You know that our stock has always -abounded in great men of letters.” One cannot suppose -that this statement is a mere fib: I have not, -however, found any confirmation of it in books about -Vasto, nor do I remember that my father ever referred -to such a matter by word of mouth.</p> - -<p>I believe that Nicola Rossetti came to his end in -a distressing way. When the French Republican army -invaded the Neapolitan territory in 1798, the troops -required Nicola to render some service, such as horseshoeing, -provisioning, transport, or what not. He -showed no inclination to comply, and was beaten or -otherwise ill-treated; and this so preyed on his mind -that his health suffered, and death ensued. His decease -may, I presume, have occurred towards 1800; -his widow survived till 1822 or some such date. -Gabriele Rossetti used to speak with much affection -of his mother, who (like so many Italian women of -the lower middle class in those days) could neither -write nor read. He remembered his father as a somewhat -harsh man, but upright and worthy of respect.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span> -The Rossetti family is now wholly extinct, save -in the persons of myself and my four children; -the line of my father’s married sisters is also extinct.</p> - -<p>The precise date of my father’s birth was 28th -February 1783 (not 1st March, as has at times been -written and printed). He was born in a lofty brown -building, which, in a water-colour with which I was -favoured towards the date of the Vastese centenary celebration -of his birth, wears a somewhat stately though -wholly unadorned aspect. It looks like an edifice -which has stood for some centuries, solid but uncared -for. It is now, I understand, a dilapidated structure, -let out in tenements to a poor class of people. The -question of buying it for the city of Vasto, in memory -of Gabriele Rossetti, has often been mooted, but not -carried into effect. There are prophets who have no -honour in their own country; and others who, rather -profusely honoured there by word of mouth, are left -in the lurch when deeds and subscriptions are in -demand.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">In the first opening years of joyousness<br /> -I showed clear sign of studious aptitude;<br /> -And, following my brothers, three in count,<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span>Whose lively parts had been in evidence,<br /> -I was escorted by this goodly three<br /> -Into Apollo’s and Minerva’s fane.<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">Thrilled by the first Phœbean impulses,<br /> -Rough versicles I traced with facile hand:<br /> -And yet, to my surprise, those lines of mine<br /> -Almost took wing into a distant flight.<br /> -A hope of Pindus did I hear me named:<br /> -But praise increased my ardour, not my pride.<br /> -And yet some vanity there came and mixed<br /> -With the fair issue of my preluding:<br /> -But, all the more I heard the applause increase,<br /> -With equal force did study grow in me.<br /> -Not surely that I tried to load my page<br /> -With pomp abstruse extraneous to my drift;<br /> -But counterwise each image and each rhyme,<br /> -The more spontaneous, so meseemed more fair.<br /> -In trump of gold and in the oaten pipe<br /> -Let some seek the sublime, I seek for ease.<br /> -I shunned those verses which sprawl forth untuned<br /> -Even from my days of schoolboy tutelage:<br /> -I know they please some people, but not me:<br /> -Admiring Dante, Metastasio<br /> -I laud; and hold—a true Italian ear<br /> -Must not admit one inharmonious verse.<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span>Some lines require a very surgeon’s hand<br /> -To make them upon crutches stand afoot.<br /> -So be they! But, to set them musical,<br /> -They must, by Heaven, be in themselves a song.<br /> -This seems a truthful, not a jibing, rule—<br /> -Music and lyric are a twinborn thing.<br /> -Yet think not that I deem me satisfied<br /> -With upblown empty sound without ideas:—<br /> -Then will a harmony be beautiful<br /> -When great emotions and great thoughts it stirs.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">To painting with an equal ardency<br /> -An almost sudden impulse led me on;<br /> -And with the pen I drew in such a mode<br /> -That all my work would look as if engraved.<br /> -To question what I say would nothing serve,<br /> -For on my hands more than one proof remains.<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a><br /> -A plaining ditty which describes my state,<br /> -And wherein I deplore my fate perverse,<br /> -And whose adorning is two pen-designs,<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span>Is still preserved among my earliest scraps:<br /> -And many more, for him who disbelieves,<br /> -Can thoroughly attest what I aver.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">Not every magnate takes to banqueting,<br /> -Or lust of Cyprus and Pentapolis.<br /> -The Marchese di Vasto, a high-placed lord,<br /> -The King of Naples’ Majordomo in Chief<br /> -(Whatever face he show in history,<br /> -By me his memory must be always blest),<br /> -Being once in company with men of mark<br /> -Whom he was wont to invite from time to time,—<br /> -My verses read by him, and drawings seen—<br /> -Felt pleased that I was of his vassalage;<br /> -He wrote to his agent telling him of this<br /> -And bidding him to send me on to Naples.<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a><br /> - -There I was patronized, without parade,<br /> -By him, who from the first received me well:<br /> -But little did that firm support endure,<br /> -For a political whirlwind cut it short.<br /> -Poor I—how fare in a vast capital?<br /> -I had to bow before my destinies.<br /> -For scarcely had a year and month elapsed,<br /> -In which new studies occupied my mind,<br /> -When the French army of invasion came<br /> -In the sixth year of this our century,—<br /> -And, seeking Sicily in urgent flight,<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span>The Marquis vanished with the perjured King.<br /> -Then for the kingdom rose an altered time,<br /> -And all the people vied to give it hail,<br /> -For they abhorred that Bourbon void of faith,<br /> -With executions and with treasons smirched,—<br /> -And more his wife, a type unparagoned,<br /> -Megæra, Alecto, and Tisiphone.<br /> -I will not paint that husband and his wife—<br /> -Thank Heaven, the tomb has swallowed them ere now.<br /> -Their grandson—this suffices—pairs them both,<br /> -Re-named King Bomba, monster in human form.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">On saddened brows a few, and many glad,<br /> -I read the souls of men enslaved or free:<br /> -And, mixed myself ’mid such conflicting minds,<br /> -Judge you if I was joyful or was grieved.<br /> -The festive thundering of the martial forts<br /> -Responded to by frequent trumpet-call,<br /> -Cheers that were uttered by a thousand mouths<br /> -As the tricoloured banner came in view,<br /> -And hurly-burly weltering all around,<br /> -Opposed enormous joy to enormous grief.<br /> -Yet thoughts, more than enough, ominous and black,<br /> -Whispered me somewhile ’mid those shouts of joy:<br /> -“My hapless country, what dost thou acclaim,<br /> -Now that one despot goes and one arrives?<br /> -Ah on thy shoulders still I find the yoke:<br /> -They doff the old one and they don the new.”<br /> -And from my heart the words leapt to my lips:<br /> -“To call this liberty were sure a jibe!<br /> -As Ferdinand in Naples stifled her,<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span>So Bonaparte butchered her in France.<br /> -But tremble, tremble, impious man! Thy crime<br /> -On all the nations’ hearts stands written deep.”</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">I was a prophet here. Germany in arms,<br /> -A nation of great hearts and thought as great,<br /> -Avenging Freedom foully done to death,<br /> -Against him let whole populations loose.<br /> -Behold him fallen on field, captive at sea:<br /> -By Liberty he rose, by her he fell.<br /> -France in my youthful fervency I loved,<br /> -I loved the awful warrior guiding her:<br /> -But, when I heard, “He’s made an Emperor now,<br /> -Nor that alone, but despot autocrat,”<br /> -The hate I felt extinguished all that fire.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">For many ’twas a cause of deepest grief<br /> -To contemplate with golden diadem<br /> -A brother of that despot on our throne.<br /> -His praise was—having turned the Bourbon out;<br /> -Whence, setting every other thought at rest,<br /> -They all applauded him, and so did I.<br /> -A chosen band of daring souls and brave<br /> -Encircled the incoming Frenchman round,<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a><br /> -And of two evils they acclaimed the less,<br /> -Awaiting a true good to come one day.<br /> -Round the new sceptre flocking now I marked<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span>A crowd of shining minds, and joyed herein;<br /> -And, taking up the lyre resolvedly,<br /> -Inly I said: “A poet I was born,<br /> -And such I will be in my future course!”<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a><br /> -The use of reason scarce had I attained<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span>When France’s thundercloud I heard that pealed—Which<br /> -next diffused around and far-afar<br /> -Terror to Kings, to nations hopefulness.<br /> -At dawning of my lifetime I resolved<br /> -To follow in that movement—and alas!<br /> -From the successive shiftings of the chance,<br /> -I, loving good, saw evil that ensued.<br /> -Across the Red Sea, sea of blood and war,<br /> -Must then the Promised Land be still approached?<br /> -That fatal whirlwind, with alternate shock,<br /> -In Naples’ kingdom all-deplorable<br /> -Full ten times made a change of government,<br /> -Alternating with serfdom liberty:<br /> -And, with the flight of that demented court,<br /> -I saw it for the fourth time altering:<br /> -And the ninth change and tenth, which now I see,<br /> -Are the most miserable of them all.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">Many gave homage to the new-built throne;<br /> -And I, while scorning any cringing phrase,<br /> -Struck on my lyre, and spread abroad its sound,<br /> -Saluting that forthcoming period:<br /> -And what I said thereof in varying style,<br /> -If not free-toned, is not subservient.<br /> -Soon do the accents of my lyre recall<br /> -Men’s eyes and praises to the youthful gift,<br /> -And I diffuse the firstlings of my fame<br /> -About the kingdom’s mighty capital;<br /> -But, by attracting blear-eyed rivals too,<br /> -Envy first made me a target for her darts.<br /> -And so much did this trouble my repose,<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span>And raised hobgoblins such a swarm at home,<br /> -That, freed from them, my dolorous exile<br /> -Has almost seemed to me beatitude.<br /> -How often have I cried—“I am exiled now,<br /> -And pardon all the rancour of my foes.”</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">Ah when I think it o’er I shudder still,<br /> -Though past the sixtieth limit of my years.<br /> -One Boccanera, livid in his rage,<br /> -Tempted a bravo to cut short my life;<br /> -Watchful I had to be for several months:<br /> -Can then insensate envy reach to this?<br /> -But who can tell all the contorted roads<br /> -Which rancour led my rivals to pursue?<br /> -Charges unjust, anonymous calumnies,—<br /> -But yet my innocence o’erthrew them all:<br /> -Intrepid I outfaced such keen attacks,<br /> -And became known and cherished by the young.<br /> -In public halls, where it behoved me at times<br /> -To speak the verses I had written down,<br /> -The popular applause served to prelude<br /> -My song, as soon as I appeared in sight.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">That my first volume, as it issued forth,<br /> -Earned me the friendship of distinguished men,<br /> -And I was made, without soliciting,<br /> -The Poet for San Carlo’s Theatre.<br /> -I wrote some dramas there, and every one<br /> -Of my attempts was followed by success:<br /> -First Julius Sabinus’ mournful fate,<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span>Then Hannibal’s light loves in Capua,<br /> -And finally the Birth of Hercules,<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a><br /> -Were greeted with unanimous applause.<br /> -How much I joyed that on that stately stage<br /> -My mind was thus allowed to spatiate!<br /> -“In this arena of glory,” I would say,<br /> -“If I have genius, I can show it forth”;<br /> -And dreamed of mingling in one dulcet draught<br /> -Alfieri’s style with Metastasio’s.<br /> -But my illusions waned; for various thwarts,<br /> -And fetters both direct and indirect,<br /> -And the composers and the Managers,<br /> -And Prime Donne, plots, and etiquettes,<br /> -And then protectors and aught stranger still,<br /> -Frequently shuffled all my hand of cards.<br /> -Incensed I cried: “I’ll leave the Theatre,<br /> -For here I’m nothing but a slave of slaves.”</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">To Monsignor Capecelatro I sped,<br /> -Our Minister at the time for Home-affairs,<br /> -And meekly spoke, expounding first the facts,<br /> -“The Madhouse is not where I want to go.”<br /> -Could vanity from sovereign patronage<br /> -Dazzle a free Parnassian intellect?<br /> -I was content with a subordinate post<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a><br /> -Then vacant in the King’s Museum; here<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span>Propitious did the Muses nurture me<br /> -With vivid genius of the antique arts.<br /> -Here I could pasture in the selfsame hour<br /> -My craving mind, and shelter it from vice,<br /> -For an immense choice library is joined<br /> -To the Museum, in one building’s span:<br /> -And thus a double discipline exalts<br /> -My soul in beauty’s pathways and in truth’s.<br /> -’Mid living bronze and marble animate,<br /> -Which constantly held converse with my thoughts,<br /> -I something wrote in prose and much in verse,<br /> -Evolving grace upon the fair and true.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">Staying amid those admirable hoards,<br /> -A treasure-house of arts and industries,<br /> -I met with Kings and met with Emperors,<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span>Conspicuous artists, men of lettered fame.<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a><br /> -And thus three lustres of my term of life<br /> -Wore in that unperturbed abode along;<br /> -And I beheld two Kings arrive and go,<br /> -Made and unmade by force of destiny.<br /> -But, though my work was converse with the dead,<br /> -I scanned both courts, their virtues and their vice.<br /> -Of the two kings, one bad, and one was good,<br /> -And in this sentence all is summarized;<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span>And both their fates depended, and their thrones,<br /> -Upon the man who dreamed omnipotence;<br /> -But by the Spanish and the Northern storm<br /> -The star of Bonaparte turned to pale.<br /> -Odious to many, Joseph went his way,—<br /> -That silence followed him which speaks for much;<br /> -Wasteful and lustful and vainglorious,<br /> -He by his courtiers only was deplored.<br /> -Better than Ferdinand he was for sure,<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span>But that was merit (merit!) none could miss.<br /> -Later when Joachim of a sudden fled,<br /> -I heard a general chorus of concern—<br /> -“If but his mind were equal to his heart,<br /> -Who worthier than he to fill a throne?”<br /> -Ferdinand matched with him produces that<br /> -Which in a picture gives the shades and lights.<br /> -O epoch memorable for wretchedness!<br /> -Oh the caprice of barbarous destiny<br /> -Which sent us back that faithless Ferdinand,<br /> -Bereaving us of kindly Joachim!<br /> -And soon the craven to the valiant gave,<br /> -By the same destiny, a barbarous death.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">O Bonaparte, <i>thou</i> the object deemed<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span>Of worship? Ah he lies who calls thee great!<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a><br /> -For thee the world claims lofty intellect,<br /> -For thee, with an enormous error fooled.<br /> -Thou wast, in wresting from the nations hope,<br /> -At once liberticide and suicide.<br /> -That day when thou didst will thee Emperor,<br /> -Thou in St Helena dugg’st out thy grave:<br /> -That day thou gav’st back Austria all her strength,<br /> -To Russia daring, potency to Kings.<br /> -That edict which the applauding Senate brought<br /> -To thee, ’twas that the edict of thy death.<br /> -Well do I know how scheming sycophants<br /> -Proclaimed the day auspicious and of joy;<br /> -But that day sowed the mournfulness of years<br /> -For thee and thine, for nations, for the world.<br /> -And thou, of piercing sight, thou saw’st it not?<br /> -By God, a mole would not have failed to see!<br /> -For thee I weep not, who in long-drawn throes<br /> -Didst reach convulsive to thy latest hour;<br /> -But for the innocent nations weep I fain,<br /> -Who, by thy hand betrayed, are moaning still.<br /> -Ever have I been prone to pardoning thee<br /> -Thy proper anguish, but not that of man.<br /> -But for that crime by which thou didst indue<br /> -Thee with vast shame and us with sorrows vast,<br /> -How long ago would Europe have beheld,<br /> -One after other, low her tyrants sunk!<br /> -When I the effect contemplate of thy crime,<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span>I am tempted to exclaim—Be thou accurst!<br /> -Receive the judgment of the centuries—<br /> -I seem to hear it sounding o’er thy grave—<br /> -“Thou couldst have been the tyrants’ death-dealer,<br /> -And chosest for thyself a despot’s name.<br /> -As the keen-cutting vengeful sword of God,<br /> -Let wrong thou didst to others fall on thee!”</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">Now the Queen-city, Joachim being gone,<br /> -Remained uncertain of her future fate;<br /> -And, like death’s messenger, the cry arose—<br /> -“Ferdinand hastens back, and Caroline”:<br /> -And on a thousand gloomy brows one read<br /> -More horror than for earthquake or the plague.<br /> -And of those two the most terrific things<br /> -I heard a hundred hundred tongues narrate.<br /> -Some travelled, some escaped, some hid themselves,<br /> -And one was known to have gone mad with fear:<br /> -But hope, I saw, had halfway been revived<br /> -When it was published—“Caroline is dead.”<br /> -Yes, more than halfway; for they all averred:<br /> -“This Bourbon, in himself, is weak and null;<br /> -And, if he did become so black a wretch,<br /> -’Twas that she-Fury who impelled him on:<br /> -Now that she’s foundered in the realms of night,<br /> -A human being he may be once more.”<br /> -And so it proved. The first-imagined fears<br /> -Were cleared away from the most troubled minds,<br /> -And all perceived that on a better plan<br /> -That richly-gifted Kingdom would be ruled,<br /> -And would attain, under a milder curb,<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span>If not prosperity, at least repose.<br /> -The Aonian chorus revelled in the peace,<br /> -And chaunted amid others’ songs my own.<br /> -Our Ferdinand the Fourth was just a fiend,<br /> -But, dubbed the First, he wears an angel’s grace.<br /> -And I beheld that festive ardour grow,<br /> -The less expected, all the livelier.<br /> -’Tis true so much rejoicing was perturbed,<br /> -In almost every confine of the realm,<br /> -By feverish epidemic, Noja’s plague,<br /> -And, worst of all, a longsome year of dearth:<br /> -But still the King dictated remedies,<br /> -And, if he could no more, he sympathized.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">Then, when he sickened, weighted now with years,<br /> -And the severe disease seemed past a cure,<br /> -So great the sorrow everywhere appeared<br /> -That all the civil orders shared in it;<br /> -And, when fair daylight followed on the cloud,<br /> -The joy was equal to the genuine grief.<br /> -In style now classic or romantic now<br /> -Native Academies acclaim the event;<br /> -And I, in verse extemporized almost<br /> -(And Fame still guerdons it with some applause),<br /> -Saluted, in the name of Italy,<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span>The Bourbon Sovereign restored to health.<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a><br /> -One Gallo (maybe Corvo?), of Sicily,<br /> -Who thought himself a swan of Hippocrene—<br /> -Or Gallo or Corvo, acrid and malign—<br /> -Trying to do me an ill turn, did a good.<br /> -And this affair I’m minded to narrate,—<br /> -A curious little story as it is.<br /> -He spread on all sides a censorious croak<br /> -That my address was outrage ’gainst the King:<br /> -And yet that ode contains such flatteries<br /> -That, when I now reflect on it, I blush;<br /> -And <i>he</i> discerned therein, and clamoured loud,<br /> -An actual insult in the seeming praise.<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a><br /> -Against my verses such a cackle-cry<br /> -Was raised by him on one and other hand<br /> -That in the end our arbitrary Police<br /> -Prohibited their printing in the book;<br /> -And many said that I should find myself<br /> -Dismissed my employ, or sent to jail perchance.<br /> -The selfsame calumnies against my song,<br /> -From quarters more than one, arrived in court.<br /> -The King called for a copy, and, reading it,<br /> -He was affected, and was moved to tears.<br /> -The Duke of Ascoli was on the spot,<br /> -Who with minuteness told me of the facts.<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span>Indeed the King so highly prized my lines<br /> -That he directed the Home-Minister<br /> -To have me summoned, and to give me thanks<br /> -In a dispatch sent by the government:<br /> -And, paper in hand, he added—“Tell him too,<br /> -I wept at it, and feel indebted to him.”<br /> -Further to crush that shameless calumny<br /> -Which he remarked some people still believed,<br /> -He made the Minister Tommasi read<br /> -The poem aloud, in Council at the full,—<br /> -And oh what plaudits did my lines secure!<br /> -And at some parts the King shed tears anew.<br /> -I, then at the Museum, saw arrive<br /> -A Halberdier with grave and serious mien.<br /> -Ah what uncertainties assailed my heart!<br /> -Here comes the announcement that will strip me bare!<br /> -I read, in doubt and wavering, the dispatch:<br /> -“His Majesty requires you—come at once.”<br /> -Anxious I sped, and pondered on the way<br /> -What answer I could offer to the charge.<br /> -I entered with that sinister forecast,<br /> -And General Naselli, a Minister,<br /> -Came forward and encountered me, all smiles.<br /> -He said “Be seated”—pointing with his hand<br /> -To a gilded sofa, face to face with him.<br /> -He, turning with an affable regard<br /> -Toward me, my eyebrows arching with surprise,<br /> -Repeats, with manifest complacency,<br /> -The kindly words used by the Sovereign:<br /> -And on my countenance he could observe,<br /> -Mingled with pleasure, some astonishment.<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span>I answered—after a simple preluding<br /> -With which I need not here concern myself—<br /> -“This moment compensates for studious years,—<br /> -I’m thankful for the kindness of our King.<br /> -But, Sir, is any power above his own?<br /> -What he so much approves others reject.”<br /> -He answered me with an offended air—<br /> -“Have you your senses? This I can’t excuse.”<br /> -And I: “The whole collection is in print,<br /> -And my one poem only turned adrift;<br /> -My senses serve me well, your Excellency:<br /> -The Censorship has over-ruled the King.”<br /> -He smiled, and then, in a laconic tone,<br /> -Dictated to his secretary thus:<br /> -“The poems all must pass the censorship,<br /> -Except the one by Gabriel Rossetti.<br /> -From his the printing cannot be withheld,<br /> -Because the King has passed it and approved.”<br /> -I showed about all this no great conceit,<br /> -But it was greeted warmly by the young,<br /> -And that Sicilian Gallo, envious man,<br /> -Remained a laughing-stock, and drooped his comb.<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a><br /> -Then, when my lyric came to public light,<br /> -It won in Naples universal praise.<br /> -The fame of it went forth to Rome itself,<br /> -Where I am proud of being amply known,<br /> -For there I left a band of well-wishers<br /> -When the Provisional Government dissolved<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span>In which I unobtrusively had held<br /> -In the Fine Arts a post of eminence.<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a><br /> -And the Sebezia Academy with pride<br /> -Noted my victory, which involved its own,<br /> -And which was viewed with so much bitterness<br /> -By Gallo that he fled that very night.<br /> -This Gallo against me, an exile now,<br /> -Perhaps is crowing still—which I forgive.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">In that Parthenopean Company<br /> -I sang the Threnody for several dead,<br /> -And for the saintly Bruno d’Amantea,<br /> -The noble surgeon and philanthropist;<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a><br /> -And good Valletta, on coming back from Rome,<br /> -And fair Paloma, did I celebrate.<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a><br /> -And in the presence of the royal court,<br /> -Which had erected a majestic tomb,<br /> -I sang the glory and deplored the death<br /> -Of the renowned Giovanni Paisiello,<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a><br /> -Who, the harmonic Siren’s progeny,<br /> -Bore sway o’er Europe’s music on the stage.<br /> -Torquato Tasso’s golden trumpet next<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span>Blew with my breath, to magnify himself,<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a><br /> -He mine inspirer from the living stone<br /> -Which near the sea the King had raised for him;<br /> -And on that evening the Sebezia<br /> -Brought from all Europe choicest guests to meet.<br /> -There the good King of Denmark’s worthy heir<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span>Came to embrace me ’mid a crushing throng;<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a><br /> -And with my daring images I struck<br /> -French, Russians, Germans, Spaniards, Englishmen.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">And now in Sapphic now in Theban mood,<br /> -I sang beside the urn, with laurel wreathed,<br /> -Wherein Luigi Quattromani sleeps,<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a><br /> -A casket from the Bible’s treasure-stores:<br /> -In him I greeted, and I bless him now,<br /> -The kindly master in the social friend.<br /> -Truly a poet—I seem to see him still—<br /> -Inspired himself, inspiring others too:<br /> -When blind and old, he in his mind preserved<br /> -Acutest sight and lively youthfulness.</p> - -<p class="p1">I interrupt the verse-narrative for a moment, to point -out that Rossetti here recounts—what was of leading -importance in his Neapolitan career—how he came to -be an improvising poet. Luigi Quattromani was a renowned -improvisatore, and (so far as I infer) little or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span> -not at all an author of verse written and published. -The date when Rossetti first knew him, and soon -afterwards began improvising, is not here defined; I -suppose it may have been towards 1810. When my -father came to London in 1824 he resolved not to -prolong the practice; thinking, and no doubt rightly, -that, although he might excite some surprise and attention -by improvising, it would on the whole lower his -position as a serious professional man in the teaching -and literary vocation. Yet he did occasionally give a -specimen of his prowess as an extempore poet; the -latest notice I find of such a performance was in his -family-circle, in 1840. If I myself ever heard him improvise, -I have forgotten it. The observations which -he here makes on the dangers of the habit, both to -health and to purity of poetic style, are worth noting. -He first proceeds with a description of Quattromani’s -doings.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">Whenso I heard him touch on David’s harp,<br /> -All fervid with extemporaneous power,<br /> -Upon his face shone out the impassioned soul<br /> -Which spread around spontaneous bursts of light.<br /> -And that same flame I saw a-shine in him<br /> -On mine own spirit did I feel descend.<br /> -Yes, what I heard meseemed not possible;<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span>’Twas ecstasy to me, enchantment, dream.<br /> -But what appeared incredible almost<br /> -Was coming to be realized in myself.<br /> -On my way home I tried to do the like,<br /> -And oh astonishment! I also sang<br /> -Line after line: so strange the upshot seemed<br /> -That I renewed the essay for several days.<br /> -By daytime and by night assiduously<br /> -Did I repeat that same experiment.<br /> -Often with Quattromani I conferred,<br /> -Who gave my verses not a little praise;<br /> -And once the blind old man exclaimed to me—<br /> -“Alternate with me in an improvise.”<br /> -And, after a few trials and demands,<br /> -He took me up with so much ardent zest<br /> -That ’mid the pomp of images produced<br /> -He gave me many a “viva” from his heart.<br /> -He closed by saying: “For poetic strifes<br /> -Nature has given you athletic power.”<br /> -“Persist,” he often said to me, “persist,<br /> -And let no sloth impede you on your road.<br /> -A poet you were born, and those who seek<br /> -To change your course—believe this—envy you.<br /> -What you at your commencement do with me<br /> -Might seem the fruit of lengthy studying.”<br /> -And often did our verses alternate<br /> -In choice assemblies with co-equal praise,<br /> -So much men’s judgments wavered in the scales<br /> -That ’twixt us victory remained in doubt.<br /> -But this impressed on me the stamp of worth—<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span>What honour to contend with such a man!<br /> -He, like a living mirror, faces me,<br /> -And, seeing myself in him, I can but grieve.<br /> -He old and blind, and I too blind and old:<br /> -And he died poor, and I am dying poor.<br /> -But which of us the more deplorable?<br /> -He in his country, I exiled by fate!</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">Oft on this foreign shore I’ve asked myself,<br /> -Did my addiction to extempore song<br /> -Harm me, or profit? I remain in doubt.<br /> -But this, without nice solving, I’ll affirm—<br /> -I was becoming palsied and in spasms.<br /> -A Galen’s rigour ought to cry it down,<br /> -And thus prevent so miserable an end.<br /> -’Twas so my Brother Dominick expired,<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a><br /> -Who in such efforts was expert and apt.<br /> -I never heard that brother of mine recite—<br /> -He left me a child, but I remember him;<br /> -And well I know that he at Parma’s bar<br /> -Was greeted as a re-born Cicero.<br /> -Youthful he died, far from his family—<br /> -And wherefore died? Because he improvised.<br /> -More than one symptom has convinced me clear<br /> -That, through my leaving off that exercise,<br /> -Exile, in that alone, has been my friend:<br /> -And so, from much reflection I can say,<br /> -That mental strain leads to paralysis.<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span>Nor only with regard to healthful life<br /> -Makes it the nerves uncertain and unstrung,<br /> -But as to writing with correctness too<br /> -I fear at last it worsens toward neglect.<br /> -Yes, that it harms the style I can but think:<br /> -To work a-sudden is not working well.<br /> -Thou who wouldst merit the Phœbean wreath,<br /> -O youth, take caution ’gainst this same abuse;<br /> -For these my verses, written slipshod-like,<br /> -Perhaps derive from that ill-wont of mine;<br /> -For now I hurry verse to follow verse,<br /> -And reel them off as ’twere a kind of talk.<br /> -Good composition craves a needful space,<br /> -Not emulous capricious fantasy.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p2">Though such a practice I cannot defend,<br /> -Still I become renowned because of that.<br /> -Full many a noted passage from my muse<br /> -Was quoted, serious and facetious both;<br /> -And oft-times at the tables of the great,<br /> -Invited guest and poet, I had my place.<br /> -What precious days I wasted on good cheer,<br /> -Whence, save keen penitence, I’ve nothing now!<br /> -Amid our Princes, Dukes, and Marquises,—<br /> -Cassero, Campochiaro, Berio—<br /> -Phœbus joined Bacchus with a joyous note,<br /> -Doubly to drench the mind’s ebriety.<br /> -Inflamed and reckless ’mid the toasts and praise,<br /> -I saw my youthful Muse more daring grown;<br /> -And, when I went from Naples to the Tiber,<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span>I found my fame there copiously diffused.<br /> -Among the poets whom I cherished there,<br /> -I give but Biondi’s and Ferretti’s names.<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a></p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">As one of the Provisional Government<br /> -King Joachim had summoned me to Rome:<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a><br /> -Monte Citorio there, seven months and more,<br /> -Saw me employed at morning and at eve;<br /> -And I was present at the Pope’s return<br /> -In year thirteen of this our century.<br /> -And <i>there</i> was likewise put in exercise<br /> -My Muse, by urgencies a thousandfold;<br /> -And I again aroused enthusiasm,<br /> -For poetry in Rome is greatly loved.—<br /> -Of this no more, for I can hear a voice—<br /> -“To enlarge hereon were obvious self-conceit.”</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">Nor does Rome stint herself to mere applause,<br /> -But gives me titles and diplomas too.<br /> -The Arcadia, and Tiberine Academy,<br /> -The Ardenti of Viterbo, and others more,<br /> -Inscribed my own ’mid many goodly names.<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span>In Naples not of the Sebezia alone<br /> -But the Pontanian Society,<br /> -And even the Orezia from Palermo,<br /> -I hold diplomas in this distant land;<br /> -And, now that I am at my day’s extreme,<br /> -One also I receive from Lyons in France.<br /> -I <i>was</i>, not am. The past is all a school<br /> -Where clear I see the nothingness of man.<br /> -For me has vanished all: only the grave<br /> -Awaits me, and thither willingly I go.<br /> -Life is a lengthened dream, and, when it ends,<br /> -All lettered glory is a dream as well;<br /> -And vanity of vanities I mark,<br /> -Yea even in that which crowns the highest of men<br /> -Had I the golden trump and deathless name<br /> -Of Homer, or of Virgil or Torquato,<br /> -What would the guerdon of my verses be?<br /> -Just a dissyllable I should not hear.<br /> -Sad fate!</p> - -<p class="pp12 p1">But I return to Ferdinand,</p> -<p class="pp6">Auspicious planet to his realm restored.<br /> -He, by endowing the Sebezia,<br /> -Seemed patron of our country’s intellect;<br /> -So that I frequently heard men proclaim—<br /> -“Demon he went, and angel he returned.”<br /> -But who can ever change the human soul?<br /> -He in reverting saw us evermore<br /> -As liegemen to himself or to Murat:<br /> -The first he greeted with a cheerful mien,<br /> -And for the second nursed a secret grudge.<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span>Brothers with brothers he did not unite,<br /> -As should have been effected from the first<br /> -All the best posts were given away to these,<br /> -Though oftentimes unjust and ignorant;<br /> -Those others were neglected and depressed,<br /> -However honourable and well-informed.<br /> -A victim I of such partiality,<br /> -Of which the proofs could day by day be seen;<br /> -What was my due he gave to some one else.<br /> -When Naples to their palace had beheld<br /> -From Sicily return the unrighteous court,<br /> -In her most famous University<br /> -The chair of Eloquence was left unfilled;<br /> -And in the ardour of a youthful hope<br /> -I too competed ’mid a lettered band.<a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a><br /> -We numbered thirty-six. Before me I saw<br /> -Conspicuous talents, each more strong than I;<br /> -And we were set to pass a triple test,<br /> -Three different subjects taken out by lot:<br /> -Two, writ in the Professors’ presence there,<br /> -Who had to be the censors of the themes.<br /> -The first was in the language of that Rome<br /> -Who gave her laws and usage to the world;<br /> -The second, in the tongue of Italy,<br /> -Classic in style, and resonant and terse;<br /> -Lastly, the third one had to be pronounced<br /> -To the assembled public from the chair.<br /> -For the two writings, Gatti, Oliva, and I,<br /> -Issued with equal credit from the strife:<br /> -But in the third and arduous exercise<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span>I gained the victory over all the rest.<br /> -Amid the surging and applauding throng,<br /> -The Faculty cried many times “Well done!”—<br /> -Who got the chair? A certain Bianchi did,<br /> -Who had salient merits as a loyalist.<br /> -And mice were cutting capers on the forms<br /> -Deserted by our youth indignantly.<br /> -I vamp up no fantastic notions here:<br /> -All Naples can declare it to be true.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">The young men, nettled by a noble scorn,<br /> -Called <i>me</i> Professor—not the other man;<br /> -And I at home opened a private class,<br /> -Where I was trainer of some vivid minds:<br /> -And, if I thither could return one day,<br /> -How many a pupil should I see around!<br /> -Ah fervid youth, liege to the beautiful,<br /> -Who so did sorrow for mine adverse fate,<br /> -Durso, Malpica, Curci, Caccavon,<a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a><br /> -And others to whose names my bosom beats,<br /> -In you I glory; and you, choice grateful souls,<br /> -Glory that I your master was erewhile.<br /> -The army, by the royal ordinance,<br /> -Saw heroes now supplanted by poltroons;<br /> -From the tribunals upright judges banned,<br /> -And greedy vultures were installed on them;<br /> -And, what is worse, the Kingdom’s treasury<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span>By vultures in like manner was devoured.<br /> -Likewise a matter so terrific happed<br /> -As to fill all the Kingdom with dismay.<br /> -Wicked Canosa, back from Sicily,<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a><br /> -Invested as the Minister of Police,<br /> -Conceived a project truculent and vile,<br /> -Enough for Satan’s self to shudder at.<br /> -This monster stands by various writers drawn,<br /> -And I can be excused from limning him:<br /> -Yet, always by the King’s approval graced,<br /> -The man’s foul shame reflected on the King.<br /> -In every crime he out-did every wretch,<br /> -And now he laboured to out-do himself.<br /> -He, pondering an atrocious butchery<br /> -Which for whole weeks he set to ruminate,<br /> -Filled with the loathliest scum the capital,<br /> -Offscouring of the gibbets and the hulks;<br /> -And at a signal these men were to pounce<br /> -On any whom they saw unlike their crew.<br /> -That felon was a new Friar Alberic.<a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a><br /> -Oh the hard fate and outrage of our time!<br /> -The Austrian General fathomed this intrigue,<br /> -And forced the King to turn the monster out;<br /> -Inept Italian princes were and are<br /> -The Austrian Sultan’s underling Bashaws.<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span>Escaped from this portentous massacre,<br /> -We all denounced it with stentorian lungs.<br /> -And what a sort of crime must that have been<br /> -Which very Austria spurned!—and truth it is.<br /> -’Twas even said the King——But this I scout.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">While from the foulness of despotic power<br /> -Such nauseous effluvia were diffused,<br /> -A patriotic flame wound everywhere,<br /> -And a Vesuvius all the Kingdom seemed;<br /> -And from the augmented crackling underground<br /> -At last erupted many external peals.<br /> -Like gushing blood from several arteries<br /> -Toward the treasury all the money flowed;<br /> -And with our straits our hardihood increased,<br /> -So that the government was undermined;<br /> -Already many free-souled squadrons thrilled,<br /> -Like winds unloosed to agitate the main.<br /> -The Carbonari, an unvanquished sect,<a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a><br /> -A vast re-union of audacious souls,<br /> -Spread with a progress irresistible,<br /> -As in a wood by winds a tameless fire:<br /> -Opening I saw a gulf without confine,<br /> -And on the shelving marge the governors slept.<br /> -The politicians’ atrabilious brains<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span>Called that great movement faction—shame be theirs!<br /> -For, being Carbonari almost all,<br /> -The movement may be termed the Kingdom’s own.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">The King, who did us wrong with insolence,<br /> -Might have avoided it, had he been wise.<br /> -Insensate! His commands are ridiculed<br /> -Amid the increasing cries which stun the realm.<br /> -Besides, the Vardarelli slain by fraud,<a name="FNanchor_29_29" id="FNanchor_29_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a><br /> -Slain Capobianco,<a name="FNanchor_30_30" id="FNanchor_30_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a> all men recollect.<br /> -And what the outcome of the treacheries?<br /> -“Freedom” was sounded, “Freedom” everywhere.<br /> -Not that which, ever hungering for blood,<br /> -Like to a Fury rioted in France;<br /> -But sacred Freedom, of angelic form,<br /> -Who tells the king “Be just,” and harms him not;<br /> -Who at the shrine of the metropolis<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span>Soon saw the nation prostrated around.<br /> -O Freedom, girdled by the Italian light,<br /> -Never did man kneel unto thee so fair:<br /> -In vain Vandalic outrage hurled thee down,<br /> -For still in thousand hearts thou bear’st the sway.<br /> -I for six lustres vow to thee my life,<br /> -And, thine apostle, thee announce and preach.<br /> -Thou shalt return, return—no frenzy this!</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">Our century has seen no brighter year,<br /> -That year beheld not a more radiant day,<br /> -Than that when the symbolic furnaces<br /> -Diffused around the burning and the flash:<br /> -Those vivid flashes and those fiery heats<br /> -Spread light on minds and flame upon the heart.<br /> -And now a lofty hope bestows on all<br /> -Blest harmony which universal seems,<br /> -Because that flame and light can permeate<br /> -Through every member of the social frame.<br /> -And one could hear a new alliance preached<br /> -Of two great forces in a single sway:<br /> -Popular liberty and kingly power<br /> -Conjoined in amity by a lasting link;<br /> -Each one in this serves to ennoble each,—<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span>Itself the nation honours in the king.<a name="FNanchor_31_31" id="FNanchor_31_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a><br /> -Of such mixed government, which Europe seems<br /> -To tend to by an impulse from on high,<br /> -England possesses much that’s genuine,<br /> -But France has only seen its counterfeit.<a name="FNanchor_32_32" id="FNanchor_32_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a></p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">At that time, to the sound of thousand cheers,<br /> -Spain made it simpler, giving it the throne.<br /> -With friendly breeze from that re-fashioned scheme<br /> -Nations felt joy and princes troublousness;<br /> -And Naples, from of old the liege of Spain,<br /> -Revelled in rapture inexpressible:<br /> -In launching flames on this side and on that<br /> -More than volcano seemed the fiery forge.<br /> -That selfsame ardour all through Italy<br /> -Hurled curses on the shameful Austrian yoke,<br /> -When the year twenty, past its midway course,<br /> -Felt all the parching of the Syrian Dog:<br /> -That heat still swelled the Carbonaro heat,—<br /> -The Ausonian Genius blew his trumpet-call.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">And to those memorable clangours soon<br /> -More than one note replied with sound of joy.<br /> -Silvati and Morelli, noble souls,<a name="FNanchor_33_33" id="FNanchor_33_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a><br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span>Hoisted aloft the Italian battle-flag;<br /> -And Minichini,<a name="FNanchor_34_34" id="FNanchor_34_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a> of the Nolan church,<br /> -Joining them, sanctified the enterprise.<br /> -From Nola’s city on to Monteforte<br /> -The band of heroes goes determinate:<br /> -Their Country guides them, and Humanity,<br /> -And twixt these Freedom who salutes the two.<br /> -With vast applause the kingdom echoes round:<br /> -Only the palace in dismay is dumb.<br /> -Terror and rage distract it hour by hour:<br /> -Yet troops are sent—but only raise a laugh;<br /> -For squadron after squadron joins with those<br /> -So as to number a resistless host:<br /> -Despotic sway now comes to such a pass<br /> -As to appear a corpse mouldering in worms.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">O Monteforte, oh the glorious slope<br /> -O’er which shone forth the star of liberty!<br /> -Like Sinai and Horeb thou’lt be famed,<br /> -For on thee the new age was brought to birth.<a name="FNanchor_35_35" id="FNanchor_35_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a></p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">That hour supreme is present to my soul,<br /> -Whereby I live again in youthful prime.<br /> -Naples is wavering between hope and fear,<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span>But outside of her walls ’tis only hope.<br /> -She for the towns and cities joyously<br /> -Assembles troops and arms, and sends them on.<br /> -Guglielmo Pepe—and our fear is sped—<br /> -Mounts to be captain of the daring hosts.<br /> -Hero, all hail! History shall celebrate,<br /> -Not thy good fortune, but thy just renown.<br /> -And, more than in thy land, in hard exile<br /> -Constant wast thou, strong son of Italy.<br /> -Proud am I of thy friendship with myself,—<br /> -It is the noblest honour of my life.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">And I from far cry at the mountain’s base<br /> -To that day’s dawn as prompted by a god,<br /> -“Lovely indeed art thou with stars in hair<br /> -Which like to vivid sapphires scintillate!”<a name="FNanchor_36_36" id="FNanchor_36_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a><br /> -Dawn thou of brightest day!—and that salute<br /> -Soon through the whole of Italy re-rings.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">But wherefore must I moan, remembering this?<br /> -My land, I saw thee throned, thou’rt now i’ the dust:<br /> -For thee, my land, these tears,—no tears for me!<br /> -And yet Hope comes dictating to my heart:<br /> -“From the new mourning shall new joy result;<br /> -That which was then achieved is but a seed,—<br /> -The goodly seed shall bear a goodly fruit.”<br /> -Yes, O ye nations, courage! and expect<br /> -From sterile winter lavish summertime.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span>July’s ninth day is blazing in the heaven,<br /> -And to the people’s will the King accedes.<br /> -How could I ever fully represent<br /> -The immense delight which I beheld around?</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">The Bourbon King, throned in his gilded seat,<br /> -Object of love in such a festival,<br /> -With rage in bosom and with joy in face,<br /> -Feigns to applaud the good he so detests:<br /> -Then on the gospel swears ... ah crime-stained King!<br /> -Thou stamp’st the kiss of Judas on the Christ!</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">O realm betrayed, to which I wailing speak,<br /> -Remember that Alfieri has pronounced—<br /> -“To make a blameless king, unmake him first”—<br /> -And, if a greedy foreigner, all the more.<br /> -The deed then wrought was done in righteousness,<br /> -’Twas reason’s revolution: all the same,<br /> -As if it were the greatest of all crimes<br /> -’Twas punished by the Bourbon’s perfidy.<br /> -No, such a sacred movement cost to none<br /> -A drop of blood, not even a drop of tears.<br /> -Ah I remember those nine hurrying months<br /> -As though they had been blessed years of fame!<br /> -August the Parliament was opened, where<br /> -Some Cato, Tully, or Hortensius, pealed.<br /> -Activity is witnessed in the fleet,—<br /> -Ancient Amalfi seems therein revived.<br /> -The manning of the army starts anew,<br /> -But with no mixture of a foreign stock;<br /> -And warlike squadrons are adjoined to it<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span>Of civic legions and militia-bands.<br /> -The strenuous presses creak, and everywhere<br /> -The country’s intellect displays its fruits.<br /> -My own blood like a burning lava coursed:<br /> -Not I, not I, then sang, but Patriot Love!<br /> -And, to encourage that heroic race<br /> -Which from ancestral ashes came to birth,<br /> -Re-echoed did I hark to those his strains<br /> -Which he was pleased to utter through my lips:<br /> -From women and from children and from all,<br /> -Here, there, and up and down, on every hand.<a name="FNanchor_37_37" id="FNanchor_37_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a><br /> -With dulcet and with martial harmony<br /> -By the Musician’s skill invested, these,<br /> -Sung in all houses and in every street,<br /> -Were even quoted in the Parliament;<br /> -To their Tyrtæus all the provinces,<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span>As chorus to the coryphee, replied.<br /> -All, all was active: Usages and laws<br /> -Progressed in union with the newborn rights.<br /> -But many of the law-courts had to shut,<br /> -For rivalry in virtue lessened crime.</p> - -<p class="p1">I must here make a little digression, to illustrate -this matter of “Tyrtæus.” It need scarcely be said -that Tyrtæus, who flourished about 650 <span class="smcap">B.C.</span>, was a -Greek elegiac poet, born in Attica, lame and misshapen, -and totally ignorant of military matters. In -the second Messenian war the Lacedæmonians were -directed by the oracle to apply to the Athenians for -a general; and the Athenians (such at least is the -legend, which may be largely discounted without undue -scepticism) sent them Tyrtæus. This looked very like -a <i>mauvaise plaisanterie</i>, and was so regarded by the -Lacedæmonians; yet the result justified the oracle, and -the Athenians as well. The poet poured forth his -strains with such splendid impulse and vigour that -he animated the troops; they abandoned the idea of -raising the siege of Ithome, and thoroughly defeated -the Messenians. “The popularity of these elegies in -the Spartan army was such that it became the custom -to sing them round the camp-fires at night, the polemarch -rewarding the best singer with a piece of -flesh.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span></p> - -<p>The term “Tyrtæus of Italy” (Tirteo d’Italia) has -been constantly applied by his countrymen to Gabriele -Rossetti. I am not clear when this practice began, -whether before or only after 1846, when Rossetti, in -his <i>Veggente in Solitudine</i>, applied the term to <i>himself</i>. -At any rate, I had until recently assumed that the -phrase had only a lax application, as indicating that -Rossetti, by his declaimed and published patriotic -lyrics, had incited, and would continue to incite, -Italians to combat for liberty and independence. But -of late I have come to the almost confident conclusion -that he must have taken a personal part in the sole -military expedition in which the Neapolitan army -sought to maintain the constitution of 1820. This -conclusion is founded upon a letter (in my possession) -which a certain Dr Costanza—to me not otherwise -known—addressed to my father on 10th November -1847. I first read the letter with attention towards -1896, and I here give a translation of it.</p> - -<div class="pbq"> -<p class="pr4 p1">“<span class="smcap">Gibraltar.</span></p> -<p class="pr2">“<i>10th November 1847.</i></p> - -<p>“<span class="smcap">Honoured Compatriot</span>,</p> - -<p class="pi12">“Twenty-six years have now -passed since we bade one another a last adieu in the Island -of Malta, at the fatal period of ’21. You must recollect -Dr Costanza, then a young physician and surgeon, now<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span> -turned of fifty years of age. You had known him in the -capital of the kingdom, and you afterwards met him at -Montecassino, <i>when you were returning from the gorges of -Antrodoca after the hapless result of that first passage of arms</i> -upon which depended the fate of our country. That Costanza -is now writing to you, and warmly recommends to you three -fellow-countrymen of ours, recently saved by miracle from -the blood-red hands of the agents of the tyrant of Naples -and Sicily....</p> - -<p class="pr4">“Your Compatriot, and erewhile Companion</p> -<p class="pr8">in misfortune,</p> -<p class="pr2"><span class="smcap">Dr Costanza</span>.”</p></div> - -<p class="p1">In this letter the mention of Antrodoca (or Antrodoco) -is the essential thing. The mountains of -Antrodoco are near Rieti, which was the scene of an -engagement, on 7th March 1821, between the Neapolitan -and the Austrian troops. The actual feat -of arms was not discreditable to the Italians; but—perceiving -that they were the weaker party, and that -the final issue was hopeless for them—they immediately -afterwards disbanded, and all was over. I cannot -indeed, recollect having ever heard from my father -that he was along with the army on that occasion, -nor does he affirm it in his versified Autobiography; -yet I now see that he must have been so. I do not -infer that he was in the fighting ranks; but I do -infer that two passages which are to be found in his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span> -<i>Veggente in Solitudine</i> have a more positive meaning -than I used to attribute to them. The passages are -as follows:—</p> - -<div class="pbq"> - -<p class="p1">1. “Fratelli, all’armi, all’armi!” etc.</p> - -<p>“Brothers, to arms, to arms! Our country has summoned -us. <i>I, with my stimulating songs, will also go among you.</i>”</p> - -<p>2. (As already referred to) “Tirteo d’Italia,” etc.</p> - -<p>“Who will be the Tyrtæus of Italy in the camp? ’Tis I, -’tis I! <i>Such I have been</i>, such I am.”</p></div> - -<p class="p1">The first of these passages comes from a song -composed by Rossetti towards the date of the soldiering -in 1821. The second may have been written about -1845.</p> - -<p>I have found one other paper which seems to bear -upon this semi-military act of Gabriele Rossetti. An -excellent friend of his, Ferdinando Ciciloni, wrote to -him from Naples on 24th November 1825, saying: -“Three days ago I went to San Sebastiano, which, -from the seat of the Parliament, has become a College -of Music. As I crossed the courtyard, I had a mental -vision of Rossetti in uniform, and with two very -black moustaches.” As we have seen (note on p. 36), -Rossetti, though not at all a man of a soldiering turn, had -belonged, in 1814, to the Guard of Internal Security -under King Joachim, and once again, in 1821, he donned<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span> -a uniform—a British one this time. But Ciciloni’s -remark does not seem very likely to refer to either -of these incidents; rather to something in which the -Parliament-building was concerned, and a muster -immediately before the departure of the army to Rieti -appears the most probable occurrence.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">Freedom immaculate, O thou who hadst<br /> -Such sacred worship on Sebeto’s banks,<br /> -Iniquitous plots ’gainst thee, without and in,<br /> -The Royal Princes’ visible ill-faith,<br /> -Ambition nursed by some few senators,<br /> -And envious grudge of many generals,<br /> -Engirt thee with the trackless labyrinth<br /> -When in thee Heaven was overcome by Hell.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">Nor have I in repentance struck my brow<br /> -Because my worship of thee wrought me scathe.<br /> -Were I in that same case a thousand times,<br /> -A thousand I’d return to do the same.<br /> -Thee from Christianity I ne’er disjoined,—<br /> -I feel my heart-strings quivering to both.<br /> -The Bourbon perjury, the Austrian force,<br /> -On thee, O sacred Liberty, made war:<br /> -And, seeing thy holy worship thus destroyed,<br /> -I bade a farewell to the soil profaned,<br /> -And so the thundering ship conducted me<br /> -Where Christ and Freedom can be both adored.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">Name to the world, O sacred Gratitude,<br /> -The Scotch-born hero who on British deck<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span><br /> -Rescued the singer of Italian hopes<br /> -Out of the Bourbon despot’s slaughter-fangs.<br /> -Sir Graham Moore,<a name="FNanchor_38_38" id="FNanchor_38_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a> inured to combating<br /> -In a great nation’s thundrous lightning-flash,<br /> -I bear with an indelible imprint<br /> -Thy cherished name written upon my heart.<br /> -Those soul-inspired and freedom-loving strains<br /> -Intoned by me upon my native soil<br /> -On the four winds already had dispread,<br /> -O’er mountains and o’er seas, a tireless flight;<br /> -And the Britannic Genius, when they reached<br /> -His shores, bade Italy’s Tyrtæus hail.<br /> -Now my propitious fate had willed it so<br /> -That by a lady were my verses read—<br /> -A British Admiral’s well-honoured wife,<br /> -Whether more fair or gracious who could say?<br /> -But this I know—I saw in her combined<br /> -Penelope’s heart and Helen’s countenance.<br /> -She, worthy partner of the British chief,<br /> -Honours in others’ mental gifts her own;<br /> -And those who know her know how highly trained<br /> -She is, and she alone discerns it not.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">To Naples came the lady at the time<br /> -When flames burned there of patriotic love,<br /> -And she expressed the wish she had conceived<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span>To know the Italian poet face to face;<br /> -And with such ardour she admired his work<br /> -That numerous verses she could quote by heart.<br /> -An English officer, of cultured mind,<br /> -Who had always shown me marks of courtesy,<br /> -And who in the Museum saw me at whiles,<br /> -Made me acquainted with the lady’s wish.<br /> -I to the invitation gave response,<br /> -And so a day was settled for my call.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">She—as a sister might a brother greet<br /> -Returning—greeted me in amity;<br /> -Yet day by day this kindliness increased.<br /> -Fair Angel of God’s presence sent on earth,<br /> -Ah not so soon return to Paradise!<br /> -Many there circle his eternal throne,<br /> -But angels are not plenteous here below.<br /> -In all that effervescent period<br /> -She, whose good wishes were for our success,<br /> -Remained a witness of my innocence,<br /> -And an approver of my patriot zeal.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">When by the foul effect of treacheries<br /> -Our government had perished, she was grieved,<br /> -And for unfortunate Rossetti’s fate<br /> -She felt concern, and to her husband spoke:<br /> -“Save from the axe that guiltless man; if love<br /> -Of country is a crime, you are guilty too!”</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">Alas how hard did exile seem to me,<br /> -And leaving in such woes my native land!<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span>Three times he offered refuge on his ship,<br /> -And all the three times I rejected it.<br /> -But my continuing was so foolhardy<br /> -That wiser I accepted it the fourth.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">Lamenting night and day my country’s lot,<br /> -And as to my own life not caring much,<br /> -From March to June I kept myself concealed,<br /> -’Mid traps laid by a sleepless-eyed police.<a name="FNanchor_39_39" id="FNanchor_39_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_39_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a><br /> -One night I was in that terrific plight,<br /> -When a voice called upon my name, and said:<br /> -“Fly—I discern your scaffold plain to see!”<br /> -I look, and find ’tis General Fardella,<br /> -Who was just then the Minister of War;<br /> -But, while I am rousing from my wonderment,<br /> -The dark receives him—moveless I remain.<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span>Meseems I see him still, the while I write.<br /> -He, who so often gave my lines applause,<br /> -Had entered furtive in my hiding-place:<br /> -But how he found it out I cannot say.<br /> -How could I sleep, or hope again for calm?<br /> -Within my soul I heard the word—“Fly, fly!”<br /> -In perturbations having passed the night,<br /> -I to the lady wrote at earliest dawn;<br /> -And towards the eve two English subalterns<a name="FNanchor_40_40" id="FNanchor_40_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_40_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a><br /> -Most willingly responded to my wish;<br /> -And they, to make my move less perilous,<br /> -Gave me red uniform resembling theirs.<br /> -I on the moment, be it luck or thought<br /> -To pass more safely before others’ eyes,<br /> -Packed a few clothes and papers many a one<br /> -In a small trunk, and was in readiness:<br /> -And I exclaimed, twixt joyful heart and grieved,<br /> -“I bear with me my all—Ready—let’s go.”<br /> -Between the gallant pair I took the coach,<br /> -Which drove us forth on our clandestine path<a name="FNanchor_41_41" id="FNanchor_41_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a><br /> -To where a skiff was in await for us,<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span>With six athletic oarsmen on the beach.<br /> -O Rochfort,<a name="FNanchor_42_42" id="FNanchor_42_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_42_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a> thou to which the naval forts<br /> -All paid salute as they before thee passed,<br /> -And thundering thou through hundred-fourscore mouths<br /> -Didst spread afar thy nautical command,<br /> -Thee sinuous the Mediterranean,<br /> -And thee vast Ocean’s sheer immensity,<br /> -Saw dominating the unstable wave,<br /> -And christened thee the Formidable Fort.<br /> -Thee from the skiff I see, and feed my glance,<br /> -As on artilleried walls, upon thy bows.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">The mighty ship gave symptoms of good-will,<br /> -Expressed in divers modes by the ample crew;<br /> -And I—I kissed that wooden Albion<br /> -Amid the naval group who smiled thereat.<br /> -To the saloon bright-shining in the dusk<br /> -I sped, to give Thetis and Neptune thanks.<br /> -“Here is a pair of gods not fabulous,”<br /> -I said, when greeted by their noble smiles.<br /> -The grace which can forestall a modest wish<br /> -I always found on either countenance.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">Then in the night I went with saddened soul<br /> -To contemplate the shore which met my view.<br /> -All are reposing in the silent hour,<br /> -Except some watch that paces vigilant;<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span>And I alone and pensive on the prow<br /> -Stand communing with this my land betrayed;<br /> -And a few happy days and many dire<br /> -Are passing in review before mine eyes.<br /> -Ever ferocious Tyranny I saw<br /> -Becoming stronger by flagitious means;<br /> -And Freedom, tasted for a few poor days,<br /> -Begetting, like the fruit of Eden, death;<br /> -And Treason, like a snake pestiferous,<br /> -From two great goblets sipping tears and blood.<br /> -And, while my fantasy on every side<br /> -Ran riot, struck by miserable ideas,<br /> -The scenes of sanguinary Ninety-nine<br /> -Offered themselves to my dejected soul;<br /> -And o’er the regal lair meseemed I saw<br /> -A host funereal of threat’ning ghosts.<br /> -“Unhappy country, adieu!”—And that adieu<br /> -Over all Italy I diffused in song.<a name="FNanchor_43_43" id="FNanchor_43_43"></a><a href="#Footnote_43_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a><br /> -</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span></p> - -<h3 class="p4" id="c060">LIFE IN EXILE—MALTA AND ENGLAND</h3> - - -<p class="pp6 p2">To thee the first the British prow was turned,<br /> -Flourishing Malta, small but beautiful,<br /> -A quiet refuge ’mid the unquiet sea,<br /> -Of an Italian mind and Arab speech.<br /> -I, sifting out of fallacies the truth,<br /> -Full half a lustre passed within thy bounds;<br /> -And, but for patriotic sorrowings,<br /> -Out there I should have led a placid life,—<br /> -For I encountered courteous, cultured minds,—<br /> -Culture in some, in many courtesy.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">But both of these—they have my homage here—<br /> -I amply in one person found conjoined,<br /> -John Hookham Frere, a learned man and wise,<br /> -A Privy Councillor of the British Crown.<br /> -Himself he shone, not through extraneous aids,<br /> -And how I knew him I shall gladly tell.<br /> -Fame, so propitious to poetic gifts,<br /> -In Malta made a magnified report—<br /> -That Italy’s Tyrtæus had arrived,<br /> -And rescued by the British Admiral.<br /> -And I by many people was informed<br /> -That in the higher class the wish prevailed<br /> -That in some noted house I should display<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span>My fervour of poetic improvise;<br /> -And I, now so suspicious of my powers,<br /> -Unhesitating answered—“Yes, at once.”</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">Ah me unhappy! I’m no more the man!<br /> -But such must be the course of human fate.<br /> -Too true, I, then a river, am now a rill—<br /> -A rill which comes anear to drying up.<br /> -In vain I stir my fancy, which is tired,—<br /> -I cannot even command poetic phrase.<br /> -These verses—let me say this prose in rhyme—<br /> -As I dictate them, others write them down,<a name="FNanchor_44_44" id="FNanchor_44_44"></a><a href="#Footnote_44_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a><br /> -And, as they all gush out extempore,<br /> -Some of them will be good, and others bad:<br /> -Nor do I blot the bad to keep the best,<br /> -But pass them current as they chance to come.<br /> -To get the whole expressed without constraint,<br /> -And without labouring after phrase and word,<br /> -I pitched on purpose on that sextal rhyme<br /> -In which one easily words the thing one wants.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">On my assent, a spacious hall prepares<br /> -For ladies, men of letters, diplomats.<br /> -There that distinguished man enraptured heard<br /> -My burst of song ’mid plaudits many and full;<a name="FNanchor_45_45" id="FNanchor_45_45"></a><a href="#Footnote_45_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a><br /> -And, being unused to such demonstrances,<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span>He deemed the thing almost a prodigy.<br /> -I sang six themes, and my excited mind<br /> -Poured copiously divergent styles and rhythms.<br /> -Persons of eminence, the following day,<br /> -Graced me by visits of civility.<br /> -But one beneficent and reverend mien<br /> -In which I read exalted characters,<br /> -A diction which, arising from the soul,<br /> -Goes to the heart, and fixes what it says—<br /> -This ’mid the throng I noted. He being gone,<br /> -I asked his name—and it astonished me;<br /> -For all that I had heard rumoured around<br /> -About his talents settled on my thought:<br /> -An ample treasure-house of classic lore,<a name="FNanchor_46_46" id="FNanchor_46_46"></a><a href="#Footnote_46_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a><br /> -Such did Fame publish him by hundred mouths:<br /> -Toward him desire resistless drew me on,<br /> -Nor did his presence lessen his repute.<br /> -Unconscious of his fame he singly seemed,—<br /> -To hear it named was what he could not brook;<br /> -Courtesy generous and without display,<br /> -Learning immense, and greater modesty;—<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span>Ah who could paint that noble-natured man?<br /> -One day when he accorded praise anew<br /> -To chaunts of mine which wakened his surprise,<br /> -I answered him: “In you I seem to see<br /> -The imperial eagle by a sparrow charmed.<br /> -I know my verse has earned me banishment;<br /> -But I, excelling some, bend low to you.”<br /> -And later, when I saw how plenteously<br /> -He dealt his succours to the sick and poor,<br /> -I in John Hookham Frere discerned the type<br /> -Of the sublime Christian philosopher.<br /> -None but an angel could pourtray him true,—<br /> -I feel my eyes grow moist to speak of him.<br /> -He called me friend, and that has been my pride,<br /> -And in myself I reverenced the name.<br /> -Having that store of virtues in my gaze,<br /> -Sanctified in him by Christianity,—<br /> -’Tis sacred duty to confess as much—<br /> -I felt myself grow better by so great<br /> -A pattern. Nevermore he left my thoughts,<br /> -And even in death within my heart he lives.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">To him, after I reached the English shores<br /> -(All distant from him though I then had passed),<br /> -I dedicated Dante’s Comedy,<br /> -With Analytic Comment from my pen.<br /> -That Psaltery to him too I inscribed<br /> -Which praises freedom and ennobles man,<br /> -And he with kindliness received the wish<br /> -I showed that it be dedicate to him.<br /> -Of him with lively gratitude anew<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span>I chaunted in my “Seer in Solitude.”<br /> -Those lines while I was writing, thou, blest soul,<br /> -Wast winging forth thy way to Paradise,<br /> -There to embrace the sister and the spouse<br /> -From whom thou languishing wast parted here.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">O all of you elected spirits and pure,<br /> -Look down on desolate Rossetti’s grief.<br /> -He in himself holds that same constancy<br /> -Which every one of you applauded oft.<br /> -Still exiled, but now old, infirm, and blind,<br /> -How different alas from other-while!<br /> -Different? Ah no! Although oppressed by years,<br /> -He for his country always is the same.<br /> -And he, on hearing how that freedom’s tree<br /> -Has there re-budded, full of sapfulness,<a name="FNanchor_47_47" id="FNanchor_47_47"></a><a href="#Footnote_47_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a><br /> -Blesses his every sweat of brow poured out<br /> -To irrigate its high ancestral germ;<br /> -And, now when all men sweat to nurture it<br /> -He hopes before he dies to taste its fruits.<br /> -Now Scythian cold, ’tis true, reigns everywhere,<br /> -But none can think it will last on for aye:<br /> -To the political winter now endured<br /> -A more propitious season must succeed;<br /> -And all by various signs can estimate<br /> -That flowers and fruits we yet shall see in bloom.</p> - -<p class="p1">As Rossetti has here mentioned his edition of Dante’s -<i>Comedy</i>, and his own <i>Psaltery</i>, and as references occur<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span> -later on to other publications of his, I may as well -enter at once into some details in elucidation. After -his arrival in England he printed the following works:—</p> - -<p>1. 1826-7. Dante’s <i>Inferno</i>, with a “Comento -Analitico.” The intention was to publish the whole -of the <i>Divina Commedia</i>: but, the expense proving -too great, the <i>Inferno</i> alone came out. The great -majority of the comment on the <i>Purgatorio</i> was written—not -any (I think) of that on the <i>Paradiso</i>. The MS. -comment on the <i>Purgatorio</i> was presented by me in -1883 to the Municipality of Vasto, under a stipulation -(volunteered by the Municipality itself) that they -would print it; but this has not been done, and -indeed the MS. volume was treated in a highly -neglectful style. My father, when in Italy, was of -course very well acquainted with Dante’s poem; -but he had not studied it with any keenness of -scrutiny until he settled in London. When he did -that, he soon reached the conclusion that the surface -of Dante’s <i>Commedia</i> is very different from its inner -core of meaning. At first he considered the inner core -to be political: the Empire and Ghibellinism, as against -the Papacy and Guelfism. As he progressed his conceptions -expanded, and he regarded Dante as a member, -both in politics and in religion, of an occult society<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span> -having a close relation to what we now call Freemasonry; -and he opined that the <i>Commedia</i> and other -writings of Dante, and also the books of many other -famous authors in various languages and epochs, are -of similar internal significance. It is not my purpose -here to discuss whether he was right or wrong: I hold -that he was highly ingenious, that some of his reasonings -deserve very careful attention, and that in several -instances he pushed things too far. His comment on -Dante, and subsequent writings in the same direction, -excited some notice in Italy, and at least as much in -England. Coleridge thought well of his speculations -up to, but not beyond, a certain point; Isaac Disraeli -was fully convinced by them; Arthur Hallam, and -afterwards Panizzi and Schlegel, wrote in opposition. -A learned German, Joseph Mendelssohn, lectured in -Berlin on Rossetti’s system, and published his discourses, -which are more expository than critical, in -1843. A remarkable book (later than my No. 2) -was brought out at Naples by Vecchioni, embodying -a course of interpretation and argument closely resembling -that of Rossetti, who never quite understood -whether the conclusions of Vecchioni had been formed -independently or not.</p> - -<p>2. 1832. <i>Lo Spirito Antipapale che produsse la Riforma</i><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span> -(The Anti-papal Spirit which produced the -Reformation) develops and extends the ideas, which -Rossetti had conceived during his study of Dante, as -to a secret society to which that poet and many other -writers belonged, and as to the essentially anti-Christian -as well as anti-papal opinions covertly expressed in -their writings. An English translation of this work -was published.</p> - -<p>3. 1833. The work to which the Autobiography has -applied the name <i>Psaltery</i> is entitled <i>Iddio e l’Uomo, -Salterio</i> (God and Man, a Psaltery). The majority of -it was written in Malta: in London considerable -additions and changes were made. Leaving some of his -individual lyrics out of account, this may be regarded -as the completest and best poetic work produced by -Rossetti. In 1843 it was republished under a new title, -<i>Il Tempo</i> (Time), and with some substantial modifications -of plan. This book, and our No. 2, are down -in the Pontifical <i>Index Librorum Prohibitorum</i>.</p> - -<p>4. 1840. <i>Il Mistero dell’ Amor Platonico del Medio -Evo derivato dai Misteri Antichi</i> (The Mystery of the -Platonic Love of the Middle Ages derived from the -Ancient Mysteries). This extensive and rather discursive -work, in five volumes, follows up the line of -speculation and argument shown in Nos. 1 and 2.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span> -Rossetti wrote it with a consciousness that the themes -of religion or irreligion which it discusses were volcanic -matter for readers to handle, as well as perilous to his -own professional position in England. He therefore -exhibited his subject with some amount of reticence, -meandering through thickets of very audacious thought—the -thought of great writers of the past as interpreted -(but also to a great extent deprecated) by himself. -This book was printed; but, as Mr Frere, partially -seconded by Mr Charles Lyell, pronounced it to be -foolhardy, it was withheld from publication in England, -and was only put on sale on the Continent with precaution -and in small numbers.</p> - -<p>5. 1842. <i>La Beatrice di Dante</i>—an argument that -Dante’s Beatrice was not in any sense a real woman, but -an embodiment of Philosophy. The reasoning extends -a good deal beyond this limit, into regions explored in -Nos. 1, 2, and 4. Rossetti completed the work in three -disquisitions—or indeed, according to the final arrangement, -in nine disquisitions. Only the first of these -was published. The others were entrusted to a -French writer, M. E. Aroux. He studied them, and -published a book named <i>Dante Hérétique, Révolutionnaire, -et Socialiste</i>—a book which my father, on -seeing it in print, did not acknowledge as by any<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span> -means faithful to his own views. The MS. was returned -to Rossetti: somehow it could never be found -in our household until the close of 1900, when I -discovered it, more or less complete, in an old portfolio.</p> - -<p>6. 1846. <i>Il Veggente in Solitudine</i> (The Seer in -Solitude) is a long poem of patriotic aim, in several books -and all sorts of metres. Its main object is to denounce -the then political and religious condition of Italy, and -to forecast a better future. This is mixed up with -a good deal of autobiographical matter, and with many -lyrics of old time (some of them evincing Rossetti’s -very best work) interpolated into the context. As a -rounded achievement of poetry, this book cannot be -eulogized; it had, however, a great though clandestine -circulation in Italy, roused enthusiastic feelings, and -was so much prized that an honorary medallion of -Rossetti, the work of Signor Cerbara, was struck.</p> - -<p>7. 1847. <i>Versi</i>, published at Lausanne. This volume -has not a directly patriotic or political complexion: -it consists of many of Rossetti’s best poems of early -date, along with some of recent years.</p> - -<p>8. 1852. <i>L’Arpa Evangelica</i> (The Evangelic Harp). -Although printed in 1852, this volume only reached -Rossetti’s hands at an advanced date in 1853. It<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span> -consists of hymns and lyrics of a distinctly Christian, -combined with an enlarged humanitarian, character. -Several of the poems in this volume are now used -in the Evangelical churches of Italy. I find twenty-one -in a volume entitled <i>Inni e Cantici ad uso delle -Chiese, Famiglie, Scuole, ed Associazioni Cristiane -d’ Italia</i>. Roma, 1897.</p> - -<p>It may be as well to say here something as to my -father’s religious opinions. His parents were religious -Catholics of the ordinary Italian type. His bringing-up -was religious; and I suppose that, until manhood -was well advanced, he acquiesced, without special zeal, -in the established views and practices of Catholicism. -As his political opinions progressed into active opposition -to despotism and the foreign yoke, so did his -religious opinions progress into active, and indeed very -fierce, opposition to Papal dogma and pretensions, -and to all that side of Roman Catholicism which -pertains more to sacerdotal and hierarchical system -than to the personality and the gospel utterances of -Jesus Christ. On the other hand, he never ceased to -cherish and reverence this original basis of Evangelical -faith and practice. As I knew him from my earliest -years (say from 1834), he adhered to no ecclesiastical -sect whatever; and—allowing for the primitive-Christian<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span> -sympathy just referred to—he was certainly far more -a free-thinker than definitely a Christian. As his -writings were never of a personally anti-Christian -tone (though they often developed the anti-Christian -views of other authors), and <i>were</i> of an anti-papal -tone, he became mixed up in his later years with -Italian anti-papal Protestantizing religionists, to an -extent greater than in his prime he would have -tolerated. Towards 1849 disfrocked priests and semi-Waldensian -semi-simpletons got a good deal about -him, when broken health and precarious eyesight had -to some extent enfeebled his mental along with his -bodily powers; and association with these people and -their publications did certainly not tend to promote -a vigorous presentment of his essentially undogmatic -but not essentially unspiritual mind. He came to -write about Christian matters in terms suited to -an absolute Christian believer; whereas, in fact, he -was a devotional adherent to the moral and spiritual -utterances of Jesus, but was not a practising member -of any Christian denomination, nor a disciple in any -theological school. It should be understood that, -though a fervent and outspoken anti-papalist, he never -expressly renounced the Roman Catholic faith. In -the earlier years of his London sojourn it might have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span> -been to his advantage (as Professor of Italian in King’s -College and elsewhere) to join the Anglican rather -than the Roman communion; but this he considered -unworthy of an Italian, and he never took any -step in that direction. Neither did he naturalize -himself as an Englishman.</p> - -<p>The means of Gabriele Rossetti were never equal -to paying the cost of expensive publications. My -No. 1 was brought out by subscription; Nos. 2 and 4 -by the spontaneous liberality of Mr Lyell, and, as far -as No. 4 is concerned, Mr Frere came forward, as well, -at the close. It is only fair to say that Rossetti was -a laborious worker, of independent spirit; and, though -he accepted with grateful satisfaction the volunteered -bounty of Mr Lyell in these instances, and of Mr -Frere in some others likewise, he was the least likely -of men to go about to “ask, and ye shall receive.”</p> - -<p>As I have been speaking—with the distaste which -I learned to feel for them as a class—of Protestantizing -Italians, I will add that one excellent man I -have known among them was my cousin Teodorico -Pietrocola-Rossetti. He was in London in the later -years of my father’s life, but was not then taking an -active part in the Evangelical propaganda to which -he devoted all the closing part of his career. In 1883<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span> -he died in Florence, while conducting a service for -his congregation. A great number of his hymns are -in the collection <i>Inni e Cantici</i> before mentioned.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">Back to my tale. And I should here premise<br /> -That, turning lengthened studies to account,<br /> -I undertook in Malta first to spread<br /> -A taste for our Italian literature;<br /> -And in distinguished houses not a few<br /> -To witness others’ progress was my joy.<br /> -A Massic or Falernian wine no more<br /> -I drank, as oft in Naples I had done,<br /> -But quaffed the spirit of the classics now<br /> -Alone, and none could say “Why gorge thyself?”<br /> -But, even in study laudable howe’er,<br /> -Intemperance is still condemnable.<br /> -Many, I know, find teaching wearisome,<br /> -Whereas to me ’twas profit and repute;<br /> -And I could all repeat from memory<br /> -The Comedy of Dante, mystical,<br /> -Tasso, Ariosto, drama, satirists,<br /> -Petrarch, Chiabrera, and some lyrists more.<br /> -Become the foremost of professors there,<br /> -I knew the most distinguished travellers<br /> -And highest officers of government:<br /> -Indeed, from titled man to boatman, all<br /> -Bore me affection—saving only one.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">The Consul there from Naples was Gerardi,<br /> -Who constantly molested refugees.<br /> -One day that upon me he fixed his glance,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span><br /> -I cried: “You hangman’s face, what see you in me?”<br /> -Confused he drooped his far from pleasant eyes,<br /> -And put the tail of him between his legs.<br /> -This serf of tyrant power endeavoured then<br /> -To get me turned adrift out of the isle,<br /> -When Albion’s Sejanus, Castlereagh,<br /> -Was ordering to expel the fugitives:<br /> -But this Gerardi (he might cry with rage)<br /> -Had read my face “Noli me tangere.”<br /> -As long as there I lived, I felt assured<br /> -That all the world contained no baser man;<br /> -But, when I saw in London a Minasi,<a name="FNanchor_48_48" id="FNanchor_48_48"></a><a href="#Footnote_48_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a><br /> -I found that I had made a great mistake.<br /> -But such a name, by God, pollutes my lips.<br /> -No, let my mouth be nevermore befouled<br /> -To speak a most opprobrious brigand’s name!<br /> -Go, galleys’ rot, or rather gallows’ rot,<br /> -Go, Ruffo’s bravo<a name="FNanchor_49_49" id="FNanchor_49_49"></a><a href="#Footnote_49_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a> and worse knave than he!</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">Through that Gerardi, under-strapper of Kings,<br /> -I saw from Malta hounded Rossaroll,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span><a name="FNanchor_50_50" id="FNanchor_50_50"></a><a href="#Footnote_50_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a><br /> -And Carrascosa<a name="FNanchor_51_51" id="FNanchor_51_51"></a><a href="#Footnote_51_51" class="fnanchor">[51]</a> and Abatemarchi,<a name="FNanchor_52_52" id="FNanchor_52_52"></a><a href="#Footnote_52_52" class="fnanchor">[52]</a><br /> -Capecelatro,<a name="FNanchor_53_53" id="FNanchor_53_53"></a><a href="#Footnote_53_53" class="fnanchor">[53]</a> Florio, and many more;<br /> -And a Poerio,<a name="FNanchor_54_54" id="FNanchor_54_54"></a><a href="#Footnote_54_54" class="fnanchor">[54]</a> in his rage convulsed,<br /> -Was first imprisoned, afterwards expelled.<br /> -And Pier de Luca (I record with tears<br /> -Thy fate, the flower of courteous learned men)<br /> -And Pier de Luca lost his reason hence,<br /> -And was in frenzy for some days and nights:<br /> -He trembled at Gerardi’s very name,<br /> -And later on, to escape, he drowned himself.<br /> -O Castlereagh! Thy country rightly deems<br /> -That thy best service was thy suicide;<br /> -But why no suicide a year before?</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">Indignant I returned to England’s masts,<br /> -For Malta grew to me insufferable.<br /> -A nest of corsairs Malta now meseemed,<br /> -Where, save that single man, all things I abhorred;<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span>So to the seat imperial of the main<br /> -Thetis and Neptune re-conveyed my steps.<br /> -Nor shall I paint that lengthy voyaging,<br /> -Which in another poem<a name="FNanchor_55_55" id="FNanchor_55_55"></a><a href="#Footnote_55_55" class="fnanchor">[55]</a> I described.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">The curst Gerardi, in insulting terms,<br /> -Had written to the Bourbon Council-board<br /> -How that Rossetti, that incendiary,<br /> -Was to be found upon the British ship;<br /> -And cried the King: “Upon a sovereign’s faith,<br /> -I’ll do my utmost to get hold of him.”<br /> -Well had that General Fardella said,<br /> -Who gave me secret pledge of friendliness,<br /> -That a malignant star detained me there,<br /> -Since o’er me impended a tremendous ire.<br /> -And I had stayed, at hazard of my life,<br /> -For full three months exposed to all the risk!<br /> -Following routine, the British Admiral<br /> -Was bidding farewell to the Sovereign;<br /> -And he perceived astonished that for rage<br /> -The King, like a hyæna, bit his lips.<br /> -Treating him almost as a menial, he<br /> -Said with an angry and imperious tone:<br /> -“Surrender that rebellious subject whom<br /> -You saved, and now to England would conduct.”<br /> -And he with firmset aspect made reply:<br /> -“An English Admiral will not be base.”<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span>Menaces and entreaties he contemned,<br /> -And turned his back on him resolvedly;<br /> -And, when that evening he returned aboard,<br /> -He told what was demanded and refused.<br /> -And such a fact cannot be called in doubt,<br /> -For all o’er Naples did its rumour run.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">I felt myself so moved by that account<br /> -That, in the presence of his noble wife,<br /> -I with emotion kissed his saving hand.<br /> -Thee may God guerdon, mounted soul in heaven!<br /> -Twice over did I owe my life to thee,—<br /> -And gracious lady, God bless thee alike!</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">And I reflected: “Why in Ferdinand<br /> -Boils up against me such a fierce despite<br /> -That, not appeased by lifelong banishment,<br /> -He would inflict on me a barbarous death?<br /> -So much of rage against my civic song,<br /> -In which as father I so lauded him!<br /> -And how has he forgotten those my lines<br /> -Which drew the very tear-drops from his eyes?”</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">The savage spirit! When he heard me named,<br /> -His knees would jog beneath his body’s weight,<br /> -And he against me, the poor exiled bard,<br /> -Was all a-tremble, furiously convulsed.<br /> -And thence a truthful penman wrote to me<br /> -He had himself from the fierce Bourbon heard—<br /> -“If even the court declares him innocent,<br /> -I’ll make him die under the bastinade:<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span>On public scaffold or in darkest crypt<br /> -Die he infallibly shall—and that I swear.”<a name="FNanchor_56_56" id="FNanchor_56_56"></a><a href="#Footnote_56_56" class="fnanchor">[56]</a><br /> -Thus for a long while I remained in doubt<br /> -Of the true motive for such senseless rage:<br /> -But then the pen of a most worthy man<br /> -Gave me a light amid the obscurity.<br /> -What time the King of Naples had decamped,<br /> -And I had turned my course to another goal,<br /> -Some praise of me was heard by Gaspare Mollo<br /> -Duke of Lusciano, who was reckoned then<br /> -An able poet; and my fate so willed<br /> -That he desired to meet me face to face.<br /> -Of voluntary good-will he gave me proofs,<br /> -Which I responded to with modesty:<br /> -But, when he heard me improvise in verse,<br /> -Mollo became as jealous as a beast:<br /> -He in my presence spoke in jest alone,<br /> -But poured his insults forth behind my back.<br /> -He piqued himself the most on improvise:<br /> -He saw his primacy endangered much,<br /> -And tried his best to make me ludicrous.<br /> -And I upon his dramas and his rhymes<br /> -(For who can damp a youthful poet’s fire?)<br /> -Launched a good ten or dozen epigrams,<a name="FNanchor_57_57" id="FNanchor_57_57"></a><a href="#Footnote_57_57" class="fnanchor">[57]</a><br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span>Which many men rehearsed with loud guffaws.<br /> -For one he gave me, I returned him ten:<br /> -This was ill done, I know—but so I did.<br /> -Mollo kept brooding o’er his inward grudge,<br /> -Which well I read upon his pallid cheek.<br /> -Now, when the liberal Government had fall’n,<br /> -He was installed as President of a Board<br /> -To overhaul the writings then produced.<br /> -The President, and Censors in his wake,<br /> -From that explosion of anonymous print<br /> -Chose hundreds of inflammatory attacks,<br /> -And called them all my own—no fable this—<br /> -And showed me like a devil to the King.<br /> -And how that monumental lie disprove?<br /> -If even I had been Briareus,<br /> -Writing by night and day with hundred pens,<br /> -It would have been a thing impossible<br /> -To achieve that quantity of verse and prose.<br /> -A shameless slander! Yet my enemy<br /> -Mouths it against me, and the King believes.</p> - -<p class="p1">This statement about the Duke of Lusciano may be -quite true—a point as to which I am not competent -to express an opinion. I have always understood, -however, that one main professed grievance of the -King against Rossetti was as follows (and in candour -I state it here, as I did in my Memoir of Dante -Rossetti):—At the time when an Austrian invasion -of the Neapolitan territory, connived at by King -Ferdinand, was imminent, Rossetti wrote a lyric expressive<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span> -of the patriotic rage natural at the time, containing -this quatrain addressed to the King—</p> - -<p class="pp6q p1">“I vindici coltelli</p> -<p class="pp7">Sapran passarvi il cor:</p> -<p class="pp6">I Sandi ed i Luvelli</p> -<p class="pp7">Non son finiti ancor.”</p> - -<p class="pn1">(Avenging knives will be apt to pierce<a name="FNanchor_58_58" id="FNanchor_58_58"></a><a href="#Footnote_58_58" class="fnanchor">[58]</a> your heart: -the Sands and the Louvels are not yet done with). -These lines clearly say that King Ferdinand, if he -were to persist in a certain course, would be very -liable to be assassinated; and, although they do not -add that he <i>ought</i> to be assassinated, the Rè Nasone -cannot have been solitary in scenting out that implication. -There was also the affair (referred to on -p. 50 as more than probable) that Rossetti had accompanied -the Neapolitan troops, animating them by his -verses to fight against the Austrians in defence of a -constitution which the King, by a gross act of perjury, -had then abolished.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">We in the harbour of Naples made a stay<br /> -Two weeks almost—it gave me many a thrill.<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span>The very aspect of the city enslaved<br /> -Became for me a melancholy scene.<br /> -The vigilant Police, who day and night<br /> -Laid scores of snares if they might catch me so,<br /> -Set full a hundred spies around the ship<br /> -To learn who might be come to visit me—<br /> -But no one came; and yet by means unknown<br /> -Earnest of friendship did not fail to reach.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">But now the breeze is favouring, waves a-calm,<br /> -And the much longed-for moment is at hand.<br /> -How many mothers o’er their slaughtered sons<br /> -Wept on the shore because of that wild beast<br /> -Who for a five years’ term had sheathed his claws,<br /> -And now unsheathed them in the lust of rage!</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">Joyful I turned my back on servitude,<br /> -And full of ardour sped toward Liberty.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">Hail and thrice hail, O puissant Albion,<br /> -Who, ceaseless in diffusing trades and arts,<br /> -Thine irresistible trident dost extend<br /> -Over the immense four quarters of the world.<br /> -If thou, devout to rightful liberty,<br /> -Impart’st to others its inspiring rays,<br /> -Thou, arbiter of warfare and of peace,<br /> -Wilt become mightier than antique Rome.<br /> -Will it, and thou redeem’st a world oppressed,<br /> -For thy determined will ensures result.<br /> -America, thy rival and thy child,<br /> -If thou dost fail, will do it later on:<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span>She in her nascent empire will become<br /> -The foremost nation of the rounded world.<br /> -She’ll be thy rival, truly glorious,<br /> -For still in her gigantic state she grows;<br /> -But not vociferous conceited France,<br /> -Free and enslaved at once, as if by Fate.<br /> -In you two all is diverse—customs, tongues;<br /> -Her mark is impetus, and reason thine.<br /> -Since my arrival, England, much thou hast done,<br /> -Yet much remains to do—do it thou wilt.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">Hardly had I set foot upon the land<br /> -But I around me felt a freer air:<br /> -’Mid grand activity which knows no pause<br /> -I found my own increasing day by day;<br /> -And by the influences which wove my web<br /> -After the poet’s came the scholar’s turn.<br /> -Accounting precious every instant’s time<br /> -In high conceptions I was all immersed:<br /> -Dante, with Analytic Commentary,<br /> -Was the first outcome of my new pursuits:<br /> -And, spite of all disparagement, the work<br /> -Earns me the sympathy of distinguished men.<br /> -Charles Lyell, having read it, to me wrote,<br /> -Giving clear pledge of unsolicited<br /> -Regard—a Scotchman he, of lofty mind,<br /> -And Allighieri’s signal devotee:<br /> -He on my heart, which honours his deserts,<br /> -Is still impressed, after the unequalled Frere.<br /> -And now him also doth the urn enclose,<a name="FNanchor_59_59" id="FNanchor_59_59"></a><a href="#Footnote_59_59" class="fnanchor">[59]</a><br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span>And bitter tears he leaves me to outpour.<br /> -I say it again; no longer in the heat<br /> -Of Massic or Falernian, nor indeed<br /> -Of politics, I set to tracing out<br /> -Our classic writers’ anti-papal spirit,<br /> -With critical mind—confuting carping tongues;<br /> -To Lyell did I dedicate the book.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">Stately an University had risen<br /> -In this enormous capital of the realm:<a name="FNanchor_60_60" id="FNanchor_60_60"></a><a href="#Footnote_60_60" class="fnanchor">[60]</a><br /> -And now the Council, from whose midst emerged<br /> -Such ample learning sacred and profane,<br /> -Offered me of its own accord the chair<br /> -Allotted to Italian literature.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">To Italy, to flout three Kings, I sped<br /> -My fame, and triumphed over lies with truth.<br /> -Let Tyranny hate me, while my country loves,—<br /> -Her exiled son has never wrought her shame;<br /> -And this I know—despite all senseless rage,<br /> -My books have made their way from hand to hand.<br /> -And not those hymns alone where I forecast<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span>The Ausonian Genius’ future rapt in thought;<a name="FNanchor_61_61" id="FNanchor_61_61"></a><a href="#Footnote_61_61" class="fnanchor">[61]</a><br /> -But that Arcanum of Platonic Love<br /> -Which offers in five tomes broad scrutinies,<br /> -Where pondering I analyse the myths<br /> -Of every country, every faith and age;<br /> -And that in which I showed symbolic all<br /> -Our Allighieri’s mystic Beatrice,<br /> -Delineated by the schemes occult<br /> -Of most remote gymnosophistic times,<br /> -Which schools of magians had inherited,<br /> -And through the Mysteries bequeathed to us;<br /> -Also that other noted by its name,<br /> -Rome toward the Middle of our Century.<br /> -In each my work, to freedom dedicate,<br /> -I demonstrate the iniquities of priests:<br /> -In all that I expounded nought I feigned,<br /> -But drew my facts from pages thousandfold.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">Immoderate study always is unwise,<br /> -But, if ’tis noxious, it amounts to guilt.<br /> -No, that which I have published, much though it be,<br /> -Is but the half of what I’ve written down.<br /> -Ah for my blindness whom have I to blame,<br /> -When by myself my eyes were done to death?</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">Having in England stayed my roaming course,<br /> -And seeing my future less ambiguously,<br /> -Like Dante’s, “Vita Nuova!”<a name="FNanchor_62_62" id="FNanchor_62_62"></a><a href="#Footnote_62_62" class="fnanchor">[62]</a> was my word:<br /> -He wrote but I resolved to practise it.<br /> -“Let warm affections in my novel lot<br /> -Arise,” I said, “to populate my breast.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/ill-084.jpg" width="400" height="452" id="i084" - alt="" - title="" /> - <p class="pc">GAETANO POLIDORI<br /> -<i>From a Pencil-Drawing by Dante Gabriel Rossetti</i><br /> -1853</p> -</div> - -<p class="pp6">Within the hotbed of our vicious times<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span><br /> -Love proffered me its frenzies and remorse:<br /> -But, never a seducer, still seduced,<br /> -Quicksand to quicksand, angry seas I ploughed:<br /> -Now let a holier love possess my soul,—<br /> -May he who churned it up restore its calm.”<br /> -And prudent reason here will not disclose<br /> -What and how many tempests I endured.<br /> -Upon my canvas be concealed, concealed,<br /> -The flush upon my brow in others’ shame.<a name="FNanchor_63_63" id="FNanchor_63_63"></a><a href="#Footnote_63_63" class="fnanchor">[63]</a><br /> -And on those quicksands while I fix my gaze<br /> -A dreadful shudder creeps along my veins,<br /> -And in that shudder I my visage smite,<br /> -Uttering a curse against my weaknesses.<br /> -The quicksands are afar, the harbour’s here.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">Settled in London, all my travels past,<br /> -Among the men I most was pleased to meet,<br /> -Gaetano Polidori, learned, wise,<br /> -Who had been Count Alfieri’s secretary,<br /> -’Mid all the Italians whom I had known as yet<br /> -Appeared to merit honour and esteem.<br /> -Teaching was his profession. He had done<br /> -No small translating-work, had much composed.<br /> -Tuscan by birth, by accent all the more,<br /> -An elegant writer both in prose and verse,<br /> -He showed me, joined with candid character,<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span>The strictest morals and a cultured mind.<br /> -Upon the day when I returned his call,<br /> -And saw him ’mid his well-bred family,<br /> -I twice and thrice fixed my admiring eyes<br /> -Upon the second daughter’s comeliness.<br /> -A single moment regulates a life:<br /> -My heart became the lodestone, she the pole.<br /> -And every hour my love became more keen<br /> -When hundred virtues and no self-conceit ...<br /> -I know that what I’m writing she dislikes,<a name="FNanchor_64_64" id="FNanchor_64_64"></a><a href="#Footnote_64_64" class="fnanchor">[64]</a><br /> -But, hiding it from her, I speak it still:<br /> -Knowing her fully, I have often said—<br /> -Angel in soul, and angel in her looks.<br /> -Feeling within me glow the lighted flame,<br /> -I wrote to Polidori, and ’twas thus:<br /> -“If to the gracious name of friend you please<br /> -To add the loving name of son as well<br /> -(Pray Heaven that so it may be!) be not loth<br /> -To give the enclosed into your Frances’ hands.<br /> -If this displease you, little though it were,<br /> -If so it haps you disapprove my suit,<br /> -Throw the two letters both into the fire,<br /> -And speak of this no more; but pray concede<br /> -Our friendship be not sundered, yours and mine,—<br /> -You so would punish my straightforwardness.”<br /> -A day being past, the maid to me so dear<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span>Gave me a most affectionate response;<br /> -And at the altar after four months more<br /> -We vowed between us two a mutual faith.<a name="FNanchor_65_65" id="FNanchor_65_65"></a><a href="#Footnote_65_65" class="fnanchor">[65]</a><br /> -In marriage-knot at summit of my hopes,<br /> -My days went by in cheerful industry.<br /> -As sweet reward of honourable zeal,<br /> -My credit made advance from day to day.<br /> -Four only children Heaven conceded me,<br /> -And all the four I see around me still,<br /> -The issue of affections tender and true<br /> -In the four opening matrimonial years.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">To speak about my wife I shall not pause,—<br /> -Others would think it overcharged, inept:<br /> -This I may tell—she is a blooming graft<br /> -Of English mother and of Tuscan sire;<br /> -Through mother and through sire in her one sees<br /> -Two nations tempering the mind and heart.<br /> -Let me but say that in her is evinced<br /> -Frankness of manner unpremeditate;<br /> -That she both speaks and writes three high-prized tongues,<br /> -Which rank ’mong Europe’s choicest and most rich;<br /> -And, when their authors she was studying,<br /> -She culled the flower of the three literatures.<br /> -That firm-fixed character which she displays<br /> -Founded, by means of Jesus’ gospel-book,<br /> -Upon religion pure morality,<br /> -Upon morality the purest life;<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span>Thus she presents, perfect on every side,<br /> -The steadfast woman of the sacred page.<br /> -From living pattern oh what strength the love<br /> -Of ethical instructions must receive!<br /> -Wherefore to her more than myself is due<br /> -Our children’s educating discipline;<br /> -For of each rule she utters with her lips<br /> -They see in her the breathing prototype.<br /> -I never had occasion for a school,<br /> -Too apt to vitiate a guileless heart;<br /> -For she in her two daughters had betimes<br /> -Transfused a taste for music;<a name="FNanchor_66_66" id="FNanchor_66_66"></a><a href="#Footnote_66_66" class="fnanchor">[66]</a> in all four<br /> -(Presenting now this model and now that)<br /> -The taste for letters and the beautiful.<br /> -In theory and in practice, both alike,<br /> -Her life is a fine treatise on the good:<br /> -Always a Christian, not a fanatic,<br /> -Always devout, but not ecstatical:<br /> -Heavens, what a woman! her Anglo-Italian soul<br /> -Has never trespassed over duty’s bound.<br /> -’Tis now five lustres I have made her mine,<br /> -And in five lustres I still see her the more<br /> -An angel harmony of deeds and words,<br /> -And in five lustres her all-blameless life<br /> -Has not one moment, one, belied itself.<br /> -I thank my God that, when he addressed my heart<br /> -To new affections, he made these be high:<br /> -And you, beloved children, thank you me<br /> -That such a mother I chose to give you breath.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/ill-088.jpg" width="400" height="527" id="i088" - alt="" - title="" /> - <p class="pc">CHRISTINA ROSSETTI<br /> -<i>From a Pencil-Drawing by Dante Gabriel Rossetti</i><br /> -C. 1846</p> -</div> - -<p class="pp6">Others perhaps will say that every bird<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span><br /> -(An ancient saw) approves his proper nest.<br /> -Maria, Christina, William, Gabriel,<br /> -My children, <i>you</i>’ll reply, and that’s enough.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">My loving girls, in whom my soul descries<br /> -A heavenly mind in virgin modesty,<br /> -Of intellect and ethics you have given<br /> -Already a shining proof in prose and verse:<a name="FNanchor_67_67" id="FNanchor_67_67"></a><a href="#Footnote_67_67" class="fnanchor">[67]</a><br /> -You from a double looking-glass, it seems,<br /> -Reflect upon us all your mother’s soul.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">As from a twin-branched fountain-source there spurt<br /> -Rills of fresh lymph to inundate a mead—<br /> -So sometimes sister-like do poetry<br /> -And painting beautify the selfsame mind:<br /> -And both unite in you, my Gabriel,<br /> -And fertilize your soul, and give it fire.<br /> -These like two fountains both in you upflow,<br /> -Both in you like two torches are alight;<br /> -And, while you make them brightly manifest,<br /> -They both prepare in you exalted work.<br /> -Run and attain the duplicated goal,<br /> -Though yours is the most early dawn of life:<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span>As able poet I hear you already hailed,<br /> -Already as able painter see you admired.<a name="FNanchor_68_68" id="FNanchor_68_68"></a><a href="#Footnote_68_68" class="fnanchor">[68]</a><br /> -Now onward, and the double race-course win!<br /> -You will be doing what I could not do.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">If ’tis not vanity, almost re-born<br /> -I feel in person, even in countenance,<br /> -My calm-attempered William, in yourself,<a name="FNanchor_69_69" id="FNanchor_69_69"></a><a href="#Footnote_69_69" class="fnanchor">[69]</a><br /> -Thought in your eyes, and on your lips a smile.<br /> -In two dead languages and four that live<br /> -Already Truth converses with your mind.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">My children, grow, grow up to patriot love;<br /> -In you the blood and name of me is stored<br /> -To England from Abruzzo transmigrate.<br /> -Free you were born, and I was born a serf.<br /> -O Providence! Mine exile seemed to me<br /> -The dire injustice of a Fate my foe;<br /> -But, if mine exile’s fruitage was to prove<br /> -A family like this, I bless the ban.<br /> -Yes, for thy deadly rage which hurled me forth,<br /> -Perfidious Bourbon King, I give thee thanks.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">The thirteenth lustre have I now o’erstept<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span>Of veteran life used to the field of fight;<br /> -And, never deviating from myself,<br /> -I glory in a changeless character.<br /> -A splendid servitude enchants me not:<br /> -Dying I’ll cry “All life to Italy!”<br /> -From the first day when her I knew oppressed,<br /> -I envied any who could give her aid.<br /> -Not for <i>my</i> sake I loved her, but for hers,<br /> -When I devoted to her rest and life.<br /> -But there are some who, posed as Liberals,<br /> -Defame with such a title country and self:<br /> -And things I have to tell so silly or mean<br /> -That but to think of them my stomach turns.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">But, ere I yield me to indignant zeal,<br /> -I sever the few good from numerous bad.<br /> -You who, despite the despots and the priests,<br /> -As firm Italians have revealed yourselves,<br /> -Ricciardi and Cagnazzi and Saliceti,<br /> -Gazzola, Mamiani, and Muzzarel,<a name="FNanchor_70_70" id="FNanchor_70_70"></a><a href="#Footnote_70_70" class="fnanchor">[70]</a><br /> -You let Fame publish in all time and place,<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span>You and some others—yet ye are but few.<br /> -And where, immortal Pepe, leave I thee,<br /> -Who wreath’st young laurel upon hoary hair?<br /> -Sole Garibaldi is compeer of thine—<br /> -The sword of Venice thou, and he of Rome:<br /> -Tarpeian Eagle and Lion of Adria<br /> -Maintained by you two a determined strife.<br /> -By virtue of you Venice and Rome exclaim:<br /> -“All have we lost, ’tis true, but honour not;<br /> -For ne’er, undaunted heroes, did you yield<br /> -Save to the greater number and adverse fate.<br /> -Ye both, our century’s honour, have pursued<br /> -The good of Italy and not your own.”</p> - -<p class="p1">That my father was most right in saying, “And -where, immortal Pepe, leave I thee?” will be generally -allowed by persons cognizant of the facts. I -sincerely regret that he did not add, “And where, -immortal of immortals, Mazzini, leave I <i>thee</i>?” As -he did not add that, I must say a few words to account -for so grave an omission.</p> - -<p>Mazzini did not settle in London until 1837. It -was inevitable that two such patriots and exiles as -Mazzini and Rossetti should know one another. There -was a great amount of mutual respect between them -(of which my Appendix furnishes ample proof), but -not anything like constant personal intercourse—in -fact, I do not recollect having even once seen Mazzini -in our house, but I have occasionally seen him elsewhere.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span> -To Italy and freedom they were equally -devoted, and the great conception of Italian unity was -present to the minds of both. But Mazzini was a -determined Republican, which Rossetti was not—being, -from the course of his experiences and reflections, -more in favour of a constitutional monarchy, -though by no means unsympathetic with the idea of -a Republic at the rare conjunctures when it emerged -as having some practical application: he was never a -member of the Giovine Italia. Mazzini was also, by -nature and circumstance, an incessant conspirator, and -promoted a number of unpromising and abortive insurrections, -foredoomed to failure, and viewed with -regret, and at times even with great repugnance, by -such Italians as were not committed to the extremest -forms of political theory and practice. It is no business -of mine to express an opinion whether Mazzini -or Rossetti was the more nearly in the right; but it -has always been my conviction that, had it not been -for the agitation so strenuously kept alive by the -sublime Genoese patriot, the emancipation and unifying -of Italy would not have taken place so soon as they -did.</p> - -<p>It happened that towards 1850, when my father -was writing his Autobiography, he was particularly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span> -alienated from the policy pursued by Mazzini and his -adherents. The great revolutionary year, 1848, had -witnessed uprisings in various parts of Italy (an insurrection -in Messina had preceded the French Revolution -of February 1848 against Louis Philippe), followed -by a regular campaign between the Piedmontese and -the Austrians; this was renewed in 1849. In both -instances the Austrians were the victors; and many -patriotic Italians, including Rossetti, opined that this -disastrous result had in large measure been brought -about by a Mazzinian agitation (I will not pretend -to say how far Mazzini himself was personally responsible -for it) which repelled aid that might possibly -have been forthcoming from some foreign powers, -especially republican France, and denounced the -Piedmontese sovereign, Charles Albert, as covertly a -traitor to the Italian cause for which he was fighting. -I can thus understand a certain feeling on my father’s -part which, when he undertook to “sever the few -good from numerous bad,” among Italians “posed as -Liberals,” withheld him from expressly naming the -great protagonist of the national movement, Mazzini, -although he indisputably, in his own mind, included -him in the roll of “the few good.” Even so the -omission is to be regretted.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span></p> - -<p>As to the question of Rossetti’s estimate of Republicanism -(to which, as I have already said, he -preferred, for practical purposes, a constitutional monarchy), -the following distinct profession of faith seems -worth preserving. Its date cannot be earlier than -June 1850, and is probably a little later. It was -written to introduce a poem—not, I think, any that -has been published.</p> - -<p>“After having seen what is almost always the issue -of a democratic republic, more than once attempted -in Europe; having seen that, barbarous, sanguinary, -fratricidal, predaceous, and atheistic, in France in the -last century, it ended in the absolute despotism of -Bonaparte; and that, although mild, gentle, generous, -and believing, in our own century, it is about to merge -into the augmenting despotism of another Bonaparte, -who does not even possess the fascination of the -military and political successes and the talents of the -first; how can ever this blessed Republic still abide -in the hearts of so many Italians who sincerely love -their country? And yet it does abide.... And was -it not this desire which produced among us the discord -of minds in 1848, and caused all our subsequent -reverses? Oh if all the Italians had then unanimously -combined with Charles Albert to expel the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span> -common enemy from our sacred soil—oh if many inconsiderate -men had not, with the cry of ’Republic’ -which they proclaimed with so much fervour, first -dismayed that sovereign, and afterwards damped his -enthusiasm for Italian independence—at this hour -not one German foot would be insolently stamping -our land, and Italy would not be such as she has -miserably returned to being. Pius IX. himself took -fright at that name; and, retreating from the glorious -path which he was already footing, he ended by -betraying us. A melancholy story this—which has -made, makes, and will make, all who love Italy shed -prolonged tears.</p> - -<p>“‘But then you have no liking for a Republic?’ -To any who ask me this, I shall answer: Yes, I like -it, and that far better than others do; but I like one -which would not have severed from us either Charles -Albert or Pius IX., and which would have conduced -to our obtaining that national independence that was -the ardent longing of all Italians.... I like that -Republic which alone can suit the interest of all, and -which alone seems capable of enduring in Italy, or -indeed in modern Europe.</p> - -<p>“Whilst our hapless country had a prospect of good -success, I wrote these few extemporized octaves,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span> -which might furnish occasion for many notes, so as -to establish more fully what such a <i>Republic without -peril</i> ought to be—which I have always desired, and -now more than ever desire.... I felt my heart -touched in re-reading these stanzas; and, rude and -unpolished as they are, I yet transcribe them, so that -they may bear evidence that my soul did not participate -in that political offence which was the cause -of our disasters.”</p> - -<p>After this rather long digression, I return to the -Autobiography, and its contrast between “the few -good” and the “numerous bad” Italians.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">But ah how few there are that acted thus!<br /> -With us a most repulsive crew combined,<br /> -Seeking to fish in troubled water-streams.<br /> -’Mong scanty good men many bad escaped,<br /> -A show of baseness and of wretchedness:<br /> -These brought dishonour on the refugees<br /> -In French and Portuguese and Spanish soil;<br /> -But here in England unexpectedly<br /> -There came to settle down the best and worst.<br /> -I grieved for famished men and mendicants<br /> -Who had recourse to swindling and intrigue:<br /> -But Paolelli who became a spy,<br /> -And wrought out General Turrigo’s death,<a name="FNanchor_71_71" id="FNanchor_71_71"></a><a href="#Footnote_71_71" class="fnanchor">[71]</a><br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span>And other such, Italy’s sorrow and shame,<br /> -Made me repent—but this I will not say.<br /> -Bozzelli was a Liberal of this kind,<br /> -And acted it with comic gravity;<br /> -And, viler than Borrelli, vilest man,<br /> -Betrayed anon his country for a “place.”<a name="FNanchor_72_72" id="FNanchor_72_72"></a><a href="#Footnote_72_72" class="fnanchor">[72]</a><br /> -The royal beasts having re-sought their dens,<br /> -Scoundrels in crowds go to consort with them;<br /> -Rome, Naples, Lombardy, and Tuscany,—<br /> -I turn my indignant eye from such a horde.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">And then reposefully my glance can pause<br /> -Upon the upright whom Heaven has with me leagued,<br /> -And who, inflamed with patriot charity,<br /> -Reverberate on me their proper light.<br /> -In a great cause we fell, and from that day<br /> -We share the sacredness of Fortune’s blows.<br /> -On reaching London, from the very first<br /> -I knew some trustworthy, some faithless souls:<br /> -These base Minasi set upon my track,<br /> -And I—fool that I was—discerned it not.<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span>But all the emigrating company<br /> -Treated me brother-like—save only one.<a name="FNanchor_73_73" id="FNanchor_73_73"></a><a href="#Footnote_73_73" class="fnanchor">[73]</a><br /> -Still, if in me he blames and snaps on all,<br /> -For all that’s mine he deems detestable,<br /> -He prized my steadfast politics alone,<br /> -And, joined with this, my blameless moral course:<br /> -As for the rest, he wants all men to sniff<br /> -In me the agreeable smell which donkeys yield.<br /> -But wherefore in him did such rage collect?<br /> -I know not, I: I saw him only once,<br /> -When some one showed him to me in the street.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">Italy, subject of mine every thought,<br /> -Thine exiled son found kindness everywhere<br /> -In hundreds of high-hearted foreigners:<br /> -Only one exiled brother’s fatal hate ...<br /> -Yet this disgrace is common, and I pause.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">Behold I waken from the dream of life,<br /> -And all the past meseems a flitting shade.<br /> -Before I quit the earth, or—better so—<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span>Before I there return and sleep in peace,<br /> -I think it time to make my testament,<br /> -For now I feel me on the bed of death.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">It shall be brief indeed. What can I say?<br /> -I will repeat with other sufferers—<br /> -I leave my corpse to earth, my soul to God,<br /> -Of whom I ask forgiveness of my sins.<br /> -I trust in Christ, and cheer me with the thought<br /> -That his true dogma I have tried to avow.<br /> -I pardon all, yes all, my enemies.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">More than one work of mine lies on my hands;<br /> -Something I think it well to say of them.<br /> -I have indited a great roll of rhymes,<br /> -Eight volumes<a name="FNanchor_74_74" id="FNanchor_74_74"></a><a href="#Footnote_74_74" class="fnanchor">[74]</a>—to my country they’re bequeathed.<br /> -Four I have published;<a name="FNanchor_75_75" id="FNanchor_75_75"></a><a href="#Footnote_75_75" class="fnanchor">[75]</a> four I leave behind,<br /> -Which are extemporaneous almost all,—<br /> -For, having reached the arduous goal of life,<br /> -A popular poet’s title I desire.<br /> -The book I called <i>Arpa Evangelica</i>,<br /> -Which aims the man-God’s worship to promote,<br /> -Will prove—and would it were already in print!—<br /> -Grateful to pious souls, I doubt not this.<br /> -With what rapidity I wrote the book!<br /> -It seemed as if I knew the whole by heart.<br /> -Those hymns are not of all one calibre<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span>But all of them evince a feeling soul.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">I did it in three months—the vein ran quick.<br /> -In volumes twain, where I make practical<br /> -Rights linked to duties, which I specify,<br /> -To which I have appropriately given<br /> -The title Politic-Dogmatic Lyre,<br /> -Eschewing style fantastic or bizarre<br /> -’Gainst all despotic power I hurl my words.<br /> -Then in the fourth, mid plaudits, pomps, and rites,<br /> -I sang that man<a name="FNanchor_76_76" id="FNanchor_76_76"></a><a href="#Footnote_76_76" class="fnanchor">[76]</a> whom many wrote about,<br /> -Who first deceived us all, and then betrayed.<br /> -<i>Pœnitet me fecisse</i> is my finale:<br /> -I hate as once I loved thee—Man of Fraud!</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">The work however where with critic thoughts<br /> -My mind has spatiated and rested most,<br /> -And where I have sought out the essential truth<br /> -Of Dante’s Beatrice, as yet concealed,<br /> -Is that in which I clasp a mighty orb<br /> -As ’twere, and thereon most I plume myself.<br /> -In this the mystic diction I expound<br /> -Of which I recollect I spoke before.<br /> -A sample of it I printed ten years back<br /> -In one Discourse alone, but now they are nine.<br /> -“This, more than poems,” I sometimes exclaim,<br /> -“May prove my passport to a future age.”</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">I, if my life is now a bitter one,<br /> -Can still, amid my very sorrows, say:<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span>“I live a freeman,—at my country’s shrine<br /> -Freedom for me becomes a form of faith:<br /> -And as I lived I’ll die—a sacred vow.”</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">And, while I look on all my bygone life,<br /> -The year of this our century forty-three<br /> -With black stone noted figures on the roll:<br /> -I fancied I should die, but sore mishap<br /> -Left me my life but took my sight away.<a name="FNanchor_77_77" id="FNanchor_77_77"></a><a href="#Footnote_77_77" class="fnanchor">[77]</a><br /> -Worn down and down by bronchial sufferings,<br /> -From January until September increased,<br /> -I yet, exhaling in my verse my woes,<br /> -Nurtured my mind with patriotic thoughts:<br /> -And daybreaks of the Seer in Solitude<br /> -Shed on my visioned spirit glowing beams:<br /> -No, those were not fantastical ideas,<br /> -For to men’s eyes they are daily verified.<a name="FNanchor_78_78" id="FNanchor_78_78"></a><a href="#Footnote_78_78" class="fnanchor">[78]</a></p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">But ah my life now dwindles more and more,<br /> -And hurries toward its occidental dusk;<br /> -Yet I enjoyed aforetime strenuous health,<br /> -Which for grave constant study made me apt:<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span>And, now that old and blind I cling to that,<br /> -I feel that habit serves me more than drugs.<br /> -How could I curb myself? For I confess<br /> -My heart vibrates to thousand impulses;<br /> -Existence is almost the same as thought,—<br /> -To live and nought to do I cannot brook.<br /> -A course of living honourable and hard<br /> -A poet I began, a poet end.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">But, if I am condemned to days so black,<br /> -At least let Tyranny not therefor joy.<br /> -I, in this night to which no dawn ensues,<br /> -Record a vow to raise my chaunt ’gainst her<br /> -So long as life endures, and yet beyond—<br /> -For even when I am silent in the earth<br /> -To war on her in verse will I persist.<br /> -Great God, to whom I hymning wafted prayers<br /> -Of Italy—diseased, betrayed, unvenged—<br /> -Thou didst preserve me, I know, that I might wage<br /> -War on the wretch who in man insults Thyself.<br /> -Who knows, who knows but for my latest days<br /> -Thou mayest have held reserved a greater strength?<br /> -Perchance Thou hast reft mine eyes that I might turn<br /> -Back to that poesy which I had left;<br /> -Thought prompts me that for this supreme intent<br /> -Thou a blind instrument will’st me of Thine hand.<br /> -How haps it that the old man’s heart glows young,<br /> -And in him life and daring are re-greened?<br /> -How haps it that his soul’s a looking-glass,<br /> -So to reflect the future’s burst of flame?<br /> -A light of prophecy salutes his eyes,<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span>A voice of prophecy salutes his lips.<br /> -Magnify, magnify the name of Him<br /> -Who knots the mighty bindings of events—<br /> -Him by whose hand I, an obscure young man,<br /> -Was drawn into the strife of politics.<br /> -I nought, He all. I comprehend His power,<br /> -And for my very ills I yield Him thanks.<br /> -All the less possible the victory seems<br /> -So much the greater is the glory of God!<a name="FNanchor_79_79" id="FNanchor_79_79"></a><a href="#Footnote_79_79" class="fnanchor">[79]</a></p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">To Thee, great God, I owe devoutest praise,<br /> -In that, before I sleep the eternal sleep,<br /> -In the Subalpine noble Realm I see<br /> -Already a liberal form of better rule.<br /> -If all has gone to wreckage in the storm,<br /> -At least this single plank remains to us.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">And nigh to death I still can joy and chaunt,<br /> -And can foresee more favourable days.<br /> -From the two sees which they so much befouled<br /> -Refractory priests a pair have been dismissed;<a name="FNanchor_80_80" id="FNanchor_80_80"></a><a href="#Footnote_80_80" class="fnanchor">[80]</a><br /> -And without mitre on their tonsured scalps<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span>One takes his way to France, and one to Rome.<br /> -Those desecrated altars wait you there<br /> -Whence Christ indignant has withdrawn his foot:<br /> -There full a thousand demons are your peers,—<br /> -Sole Bonaparte and Pius distance you.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">Fair Kingdom which, to avenge that double scorn,<br /> -Art now expelling the two mitred fiends,<br /> -Wherefore dost thou retain a hateful cult<br /> -Which Petrarch called a “school of fallacies”?<br /> -Oh let the Man of Sin and Realm of Sin,<br /> -Pitiful God, come to their end at last!</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">Farewell, farewell for ever, land beloved,<br /> -To whom I joyed to vow my whole of life;<br /> -And, while thy foe remains upon the throne,<br /> -I evermore against him will to fight.<br /> -Yes, I will fight till underground I sink....<br /> -And yet I feel alas all vigour wanes:<br /> -What is the use of will bereft of strength?</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">Moaning I quit mine arms: and to the last<br /> -Of hours my daytime goes precipitant.<br /> -O land of Liberty, accept my thanks;<br /> -O hour of my repose, I greet thee well.<br /> -When he has footed a disastrous road,<br /> -And night without a star engirds him round,<br /> -The wearied traveller searches for repose,<br /> -Waiting until the dayspring rise anew:<br /> -Yes, sleep in quiet, you are tired indeed,<br /> -But nevermore the sun for you will rise.<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span>If you have done your duty, happy you,<br /> -And for your dust your country prays for peace.<br /> -If, sleeping in the earth, you wake in heaven,<br /> -Amid the daylight without even and dawn,<br /> -Each of your sufferings here becomes a claim,<br /> -And in your garland like a jewel shines.<br /> -There you will hold, amid the angelic throng,<br /> -Fixed on the Eternal Sun insatiate eyes.<br /> -Where summer burns not nor doth winter chill,<br /> -I shall again embrace thee, O my wife,<br /> -Within that everlasting nuptial-bond<br /> -Which never hand of Death can sunder more.<br /> -There I await thee, thou art sure to come:<br /> -Who worthier than thou of that abode?<br /> -I know what sun will in thy pilgrimage<br /> -Serve as the guide to thine unswerving feet.<br /> -Be, in the zenith of thy life and path,<br /> -Be thou the escort of our children loved;<br /> -This duty when thou wholly hast fulfilled,<br /> -Well know’st thou who expects thee above the spheres.<br /> -When these my wearied eyelids shall be closed,<br /> -Her steps, beloved children, follow ye:<br /> -Of her be worthy—and of me perchance—<br /> -And unto us you four will all return.<br /> -Oh glad the day when seated ’mid you all,<br /> -I shall see Paradise for me complete!<br /> -Ah let not one of you be wanting there!<br /> -And, when you shall ascend to our embrace,<br /> -Speak to me of Italy, speak one by one,<br /> -For then her state will not endure the same.</p> - - -<p class="pp6 p1"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span>Oh if in heaven one day the fame should spread<br /> -That she anew resurges free and grand!<br /> -Hosannah and hosannah ’mid the harps<br /> -Of gold a thousand toward the Eternal Breath<br /> -I shall intone: Hosannah in infinite<br /> -Chorus, Hosannah, shall the Saints resound:<br /> -And in the new augmented jubilee<br /> -Far lovelier to me Paradise will show.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">Oh let the prison unclose where I am shut!<br /> -My penal period has fulfilled its term.</p> - -<p class="p1">And here the versified Autobiography also fulfils -its term.</p> - -<p>The desire for death, expressed in verse, was -genuinely present to Gabriele Rossetti’s mind. Ever -since the break-up of his health—which came to a -severe crisis in 1843, followed by partial blindness, -and that by many and increasing infirmities, paralytic -and other—he found life more burdensome than otherwise, -and would willingly have resigned it but for his -earnest wish to work for the benefit of his family. -Even the power of remunerative work failed towards -1847, when he had to resign his professorship at King’s -College. Troublous public events ensued; the tergiversation -of Pope Pius IX., the defeat of the Piedmontese -and other Italians by the Austrian armies, the crushing -of the Roman Republic by a French expedition. These<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span> -and other political occurrences greatly darkened the -closing years of Rossetti; and yet he was unconquerably -hopeful as to a more or less near future, and the result -justified his hopes.</p> - -<p>I will summarize very briefly the events of his life -subsequent to the date of the Autobiography, say 1850.</p> - -<p>Rossetti being now, by failure of health and eyesight, -debarred from professional work—though he always -continued diligent in no common degree as a writer, -principally in verse—the support of the family devolved -in large part on our mother, who went out teaching, -and at one time conducted a small day-school in -London. The four children were, at the end of 1850, -in this position:—Maria, aged twenty-three, a teacher -of Italian, French, etc.; Dante Gabriel, aged twenty-two, -a painter struggling to sell his pictures and make -a position; Christina, aged just twenty, assisting our -mother when the day-school was going on, otherwise -without regular employment; myself, aged twenty-one, -a clerk in the Inland Revenue Office and art-critic of -<i>The Spectator</i>—my earnings of course scanty, but on the -whole the least precarious among the slender resources -of the family. As the day-school in London brought -in no income worth speaking of, Mrs Rossetti, seeing -some prospect of an opening at Frome-Selwood,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span> -Somerset, started another day-school there in the -spring of 1853; her husband and Christina accompanied -her. This school proved no more successful -than its predecessor; and, as by the end of 1853 I -was beginning to advance a little in my office, I got -the family to re-unite in London from Lady-day 1854, -and had the satisfaction of housing my suffering father -in his last days. The house was named 45 Upper -Albany Street, Regent’s Park—later on, 166 Albany -Street. The end came very soon, 26th April 1854.</p> - -<p>I subjoin here two obituary notices. The first was -written by Conte Giuseppe Ricciardi, on 1st May 1854, -and published in the <i>Opinione</i> of Turin. The second -was written by myself, and published in <i>The Spectator</i>, -6th May. In the latter there are a few details (of dates -etc.) which I now know to be not absolutely correct, -but I leave them as they stand. I could cite a great -number of other eulogistic tributes, more especially -since 1882, but need not launch out upon these.</p> - -<div class="pbq"> - -<p class="p1">(<i>a</i>) “Italian emigrants, and with the emigrants all Italy, -are constrained to mourn another loss. The earliest, the -most venerable, of the exiles, the illustrious Gabriele Rossetti, -died in London on the evening of 26th April, after a banishment -of thirty-three years—all of them spent in upholding -the sacred Italian cause....</p> - -<p>“Rossetti, an extemporaneous poet already known and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span> -valued by the public at the date, 1820, when in Naples the -revolution broke out which came to such a wretched end -in the following year, composed, among other lyrics, the -splendid hymn, ’Sei pur bella cogli astri sul crine,’ to -which I find nothing to be compared except the other lyric -brought out by himself in London in 1831, beginning ‘Sù -brandisci la lancia di guerra’; and this too records another -hapless revolution!...</p> - -<p>“It is needless to say that not a few writings of the -highly distinguished author remain unpublished; pre-eminent -among which are Parts II. and III. of his Comment on the -<i>Divine Comedy</i>. For this (shall I say it?) I have in vain, -up to the present date, sought out a publisher—so miserable -are the conditions of Italian literature.</p> - -<p>“Rossetti, besides being, as all know, an eminent poet -and renowned scholar, was a fervent patriot, always most -constant to his principles, and a man of unsullied virtue, -so that he was revered even by his political enemies, and -no one ever ventured to assail his reputation in the least -degree; while all who came to have a little knowledge of -him soon got to love him.”</p> - -<p>(<i>b</i>) “Gabriele Rossetti, the most daringly original of the -commentators on Dante, died on the 26th ultimo, in London, -in his seventy-second year.</p> - -<p>“Born on the 28th February 1783, in Vasto, a sea-coast -town in the Kingdom of Naples, he first visited the capital -in the capacity of secretary to the Marquis of Vasto, but -for the purpose of following, under the auspices of that -nobleman, the profession of a painter. His tastes soon took -a more decided bent, however, towards literature. He -developed a particular talent as a poetical improvisatore; -and his poems, both recited and written, gained him considerable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span> -reputation. For some while he held the official -post of poet to the Theatre of San Carlo. He afterwards -entered the Museo Borbonico, as sub-director of the collection -generally, and curator of the splendid sculptural -department,—a position which led him to devote especial -attention to the then fresh explorations at Pompeii and -Herculaneum. Here he remained for fifteen years; with an -interval of seven months, ending with the Pope’s return in -1813, during which he was at Rome, summoned thither by -Murat as a member of the Provisional Government. Courses -of lectures and literary instruction also occupied his time. -With the restoration of King Ferdinand came the spread -of Carbonarism; and Rossetti enrolled himself as a member -of that society of national reformers. The short-lived constitution -of 1821 succeeded—to expire in nine months; -leaving those who, like Rossetti, had hailed its advent with -enthusiasm, exposed to the rancour of tyrannic reaction. His -patriotic verses were his crime, and proved his rescue. The -wife of Admiral Sir Graham Moore had read and admired -them: the Admiral was then in Naples; and he prevailed -on the poet to terminate by flight the cruel suspense of -three months’ concealment, and to embark on board an -English vessel in the disguise of a lieutenant. His first -asylum was Malta, where he enjoyed and appreciated the -intimate friendship of the Right Honourable J. Hookham -Frere; two years afterwards he proceeded to England.</p> - -<p>“In this country, occupied in teaching Italian, and holding -the Professorship at King’s College, he engaged deeply in -studies of the letter and spirit of Dante’s imperishable works. -The first-fruits of his labours appeared in the ‘Analytic -Comment’ on Dante, of which the opening part only, the -<i>Hell</i>, published in 1826 and 1827, has yet seen the light.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span> -Rossetti’s leading idea (indicated in this work, and enforced -in subsequent productions with the fervour of a discoverer, -vast literary diligence, and indefatigable minuteness of criticism) -is that Dante, in common with numberless other great -authors, wrote in a language of secret allegory, which embodies, -in the form now of love, now of mythology, now of alchemy, -now of freemasonry, the most daring doctrines in metaphysics -and politics. In 1832 was published his work -‘On the Anti-Papal Spirit which produced the Reformation, -and on the secret influence which it exercised over -the Literature of Europe, and especially of Italy, as is proved -by many of her Classics, Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio, -in particular,’ (<i>Sullo Spirito Antipapale</i>, etc.), a treatise -which was translated into English; in 1840, ‘The Mystery -of the Platonic Love of the Middle Ages, derived from the -Ancient Mysteries,’ (<i>Il Mistero dell’Amor Platonico</i>, etc.), -in five volumes; and in 1842, ‘A Critical Essay on Dante’s -Beatrice’ (<i>La Beatrice di Dante</i>), the concluding parts of -which remain in manuscript, but have recently, we understand, -been worked up into a Frenchified concoction, issued, -or to be issued, under the flaring title, <i>Dante Hérétique, -Républicain, et Socialiste</i>. Rossetti’s criticisms have been -much criticized. Fraticelli and Schlegel have been his -unmitigated opponents: Delécluze, in his <i>Amour du Dante</i>, -and the German philosopher Mendelssohn, promulgated, -without entirely committing themselves to, his views; an -Italian writer of credit, Vecchioni, has taken them up in -labours of his own; and Arthur Hallam, immortalized by -Tennyson’s <i>In Memoriam</i>, has left a respectful though -adverse essay on the subject. In addition to these works, -and others of minor account, four poetical volumes attest -both the constancy and the versatility of Rossetti’s powers,—<i>Il<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span> -Tempo</i>, <i>Salterio</i>, <i>Il Veggente in Solitudine</i>, <i>Versi</i>, and -<i>L’Arpa Evangelica</i>; the last published not many months -ago. Italy is not unmindful of his name.</p> - -<p>“In private life Rossetti was thoroughly domestic and warm-hearted. -His family and literature formed his world, whence -the talents for society of which he possessed an ample share -could not withdraw him. No political exile leaves a memory -more highly above the whisper of public or private shame.”</p></div> - -<p class="p1">Rossetti lies buried in Highgate Cemetery, with the -following inscription: “To the dear memory of my -husband, Gabriele Rossetti; born at Vasto d’Ammone -in the Kingdom of Naples, 28th February 1783; died in -London, 26th April 1854.” “He shall return no more -nor see his native country.”—Jer. xxii. 10. “Now they -desire a better country, that is an heavenly.”—Heb. xi. -16. “Ah Dio ajutami Tu.”</p> - -<p>The concluding phrase formed the last emphatic -words which Rossetti pronounced in a loud voice, in -the evening of 25th April, after some hours of approximate -loss of speech. The remains of my mother, my -brother’s wife, and my sister Christina, are now interred -in the same grave. Towards 1871 a proposal was -pressed upon us for transporting my father’s remains -to Italy, for ceremonial re-interment there; but the -feeling of most members of the family was adverse, -and the project was not carried out.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span></p> - -<p>The tone of the versified Autobiography—which is a -very genuine document of his character and feelings—shows -pretty well what manner of man Gabriele Rossetti -was; and in my Memoir of Dante Rossetti I have -given some details as to family-life and personal -habits. Here, therefore, I shall barely touch the fringe -of the subject. It is not for me to spy out every -infirmity in my father’s character; and, even were I -to try to do so, I should find nothing worse to allege -than a phase of self-esteem which at times trenched -upon self-complacency, a disregard of externals in -point of dress, etc., and an honourable (and, in the -circumstances which affected himself in England and -his family, a truly very requisite) habit of thriftiness -which made him count the cost of every personal indulgence, -while nothing expedient was stinted to his -wife and children. I know him to have been diligent, -indefatigable, upright, high-minded, affectionate, grateful, -placable, eminently good-natured, vivacious, cheerful -for the most part, friendly, companionable: whether -patriotic I need not say. Our excellent friend Dr -Adolf Heimann (Professor of German in University -College), writing to my brother a letter of condolence -on our father’s death, made the following observations, -which I consider just:—“I have never seen a more -devoted man of letters; endowed with some of the -rarest gifts of a literary character, real love for literature, -unworldliness, perseverance, and warmth of interest both -in writing and reading at an advanced time of life. -He might indeed have been a model to all of us. When -I look at all the great scholars and men of science -whom I have known, I do not remember one who -was so little satisfied with show as your father, who -was so content with a comparatively humble situation, -and so wonderfully patient in times of affliction.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/ill-115.jpg" width="400" height="565" id="i115" - alt="" - title="" /> - <p class="pc">FRANCES, MARIA, AND CHRISTINA ROSSETTI<br /> -<i>From a Photograph</i><br /> -C. 1855.</p> -</div> - -<p>In person Gabriele Rossetti was barely up to middle -height, fleshy and full in contour until his health failed. -His eyes were dark and expressive, and did not alter -when his sight was damaged; his brow fine and well-rounded; -his nose, though not specially large, more -than commonly prominent, with wide nostrils. His -mouth was pleasant and nicely moulded, with a winning -smile, and on occasion a laugh of the heartiest.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4">APPENDIX</h2> - - -<p class="pn2"><span class="smcap">I have</span> now said as much as I feel to be requisite -by way of explaining and supplementing my father’s -versified Autobiography, and shall proceed to give some -further illustrative matter in the form of five Appendices.</p> - -<div class="pbq"> - -<p class="p1">1. Extracts from six of the domestic letters of -Gabriele Rossetti.</p> - -<p>2. Extracts from eight of those which he addressed -to Mr Charles Lyell on the subject of his Dantesque -and other literary researches.</p> - -<p>3. Extracts from three letters of the Barone Kirkup -regarding Dante, etc.</p> - -<p>4. Twelve letters from Mazzini—all but one addressed -to Rossetti.</p> - -<p>5. Six specimens of Rossetti’s poetry.</p></div> - -<p class="p1">Under each of these five headings I add a few explanatory -remarks.</p> - -<p class="pc1 lmid"><span class="smcap">No. 1.</span>—<span class="smcap">From Six Letters from Gabriele Rossetti -to his Wife</span></p> - -<p class="p1">I give these letters (translated by me) for what they are -worth; not as being of any singular degree of interest in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span> -the topics which they raise, or in the mode of treating these, -but chiefly for the purpose of showing what was the prevalent -and constant tone of Rossetti in his family-relations. Two -of his children, Dante Gabriel and Christina Georgina, have -turned out to be of some moment to the British public, and -some hint of their childish or youthful doings will be here -found. In these letters I leave some gaps: in the great -majority of cases this is only done because the omitted -passages are of no importance. Holmer Green, the locality -to which the first five letters are addressed, is in Buckinghamshire, -near Little Missenden and Amersham: Gaetano Polidori, -my maternal grandfather, along with his family, resided -there for several years. The final letter was addressed to -Mrs Rossetti at Brighton.</p> - -<h3 id="c117">A.</h3> - -<p>[Mr Potter, here mentioned, was Mr Cipriani Potter, -Principal of the Royal Academy of Music, a distinguished -pianist, and composer of pianoforte-music. He was my godfather, -and his family was the only British family of which our -household saw a goodish deal in these early years. I infer -that “the drama” which my father had written, and which -was to be paid for with £40, was a set of scenes named -<i>Medora e Corrado</i> (after Byron’s <i>Corsair</i>),—Mr Potter having -been concerned in composing music to these scenes: such -a sum as £40 appears to be ample remuneration for it. -“Mrs Fitch” was our servant at this date: I have naturally -no recollection of Dante Gabriel’s performance which amused -her, nor yet of Signor Barile. Henry and Charlotte, named -along with Barile, were my Uncle and Aunt: also Robert and -Eliza.]</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span></p> - -<div class="pbq"> -<p class="pr2 p1">[<span class="smcap">38 Charlotte Street, London.]</span></p> -<p class="pr6"><i>4th May 1831.</i></p> - -<p><span class="smcap">My dearest Frances</span>,</p> -<p class="pi12">No doubt you have been indignant at -my long silence, full fourteen days. Don’t attribute it to want -of love, but to my wish to write you something which might -partly relieve the anxiety which you only too much share -with me. Know therefore, dear wife, that our affairs are -proceeding less amiss. At the present date I have seventeen -lessons a week, and I am expecting others.... Mr Potter, -who sends his best regards, saw me this morning, and he told -me that Mrs Howard also will soon resume her lessons; and -he expressly added, of his own accord, that it seems to be time -for him to give me the £40 for the drama. I hope to put -you, on your return, in possession of some £80 at home; and -perhaps we shall be getting as much at the end of the season. -Be in good spirits then, Frances mine, because that God who -gives nourishment to worms in the earth will not abandon us, -with our four little children, innocent and in need.</p> - -<p>I have not slackened in trying for King’s College, and -many persons have interested themselves in my behalf. The -Principe di Cimitile, who recommended me to some member -of the Council of the College, learned from him that the -election of Professors depends chiefly on the Bishop of -London; and I quickly procured two letters of introduction -to the Bishop. Mr Barclay, who is his intimate friend, gave -me one, and the other came from Sir Gore Ouseley, who has -also handed me two others for two patrons of the College. I -trust that Providence will second my efforts.</p> - -<p>The affairs of Italy also resume a better aspect; and it is -officially notified that the French Government has sent a -representative to Rome, to dissuade from shedding the blood<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span> -of the poor patriots, who have behaved with admirable -moderation. Poland is darting like a thunderbolt against -Russia.</p> - -<p>Two or three days after your departure I received another -letter from Mr Lyell, in which he asks me briefly to suspend -sending him the MS. you wot of, as he was about -to start for a different part of England; adding that by -the end of a month he would come in person to see us in -London. I fancy that he has gone to present himself as a -candidate for the new Parliament. People are all in motion -for this purpose; but it seems that Reform will triumph, and -the anti-reformers will get more and more into the mire. God -forbid that this Bill should not pass—there would certainly be -a revolution. All say so, and the symptoms are manifest....</p> - -<p>I trust that you and our children have always been well: -speak of them to me one by one when you write. I was so -much pleased at what you told me about Gabriel in your -last; and it made Mrs Fitch laugh so that she recounted it -to all who came here—Henry, Charlotte, and also Signor -Barile.... Salute cordially for me Robert and Eliza: God -give them patience with those four babbykins, and especially -with that dear impertinent, Gabriel. In your last you told -me nothing about either William or Christina: make up for -your omission. Every syllable you write about them is a boon -to me....</p> - -<p class="pr8">Your loving</p> -<p class="pr2"><span class="smcap">Gabriele</span>.</p> -</div> - -<h3 id="c119">B.</h3> - -<p>[Mr Tallent, here mentioned, was the medical adviser of -the family at Holmer Green; Mr MacIntyre (living near -Portland Place) was often consulted towards this time in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span> -London. About Maestro Negri and the drama I have no -clear idea: possibly it was <i>Il Corsaro</i>, for Rossetti wrote -some “Scene Melodrammatiche” under this title, as well as -the “Cantata Melodrammatica” of <i>Medora e Corrado</i>. The -person termed “Mr Charles” was the painter Mr (afterwards -Sir) Charles Locke Eastlake: “my new work,” which he -admired, was the <i>Spirito Antipapale</i>.]</p> - -<div class="pbq"> -<p class="pr2 p1">[<span class="smcap">38 Charlotte Street, London.]</span></p> -<p class="pr6"><i>15th May 1832.</i></p> - -<p><span class="smcap">My dearest Frances</span>,</p> - -<p class="pi12">... I should indeed like to see our -skittish Christina, with those rosy cheeks and sparkling eyes, -so like her grandmother’s, walking all alone about the garden, -like a little butterfly among the flowers. I hope that, thanks -to the beneficial change of air, I shall soon see her still -prettier and still healthier than you describe her to me now. -To tell you the truth, I think Mr Tallent’s advice is better -than Mr MacIntyre’s. It is high time to wean her.... You -cannot think how much pleasure those childish English words -which you gathered from the lips of Maria and Gabriel gave -me. If they are truthful, I thank Heaven that they are good -children, and that they do not tire your mother too much -with their noise and their impudence. I mean to send them -some new little picture-books which will amuse them; and -also a box of figs, in order that you may at times reward -their good behaviour and satisfy their small greed. Poor -little things! They used to await my return home so eagerly, -so as to receive the trifles I had brought them! And now -neither they nor I have that pleasure....</p> - -<p>This evening Casella arrived here quite out of breath to -announce that the King has again dismissed the Duke of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span> -Wellington from the ministry, and has recalled Lord Grey -with all his ministerial following; thus rectifying the error -he had committed. And indeed he could not act otherwise -in order to calm the huge agitation which was on foot -throughout the country, and principally in this metropolis. -The Duke of Wellington has had the mortification of being -unable to find any one who would consent to form the Cabinet -with him; Sir Robert Peel refused, Lord Aberdeen refused; -all refused when they perceived the peril in which they would -place themselves. A pretty figure they have cut—the great -Captain and His Majesty,—this latter so changeable and -deceitful, and the former first deserted and then sent about -his business! It is a hard task to oppose the will of a whole -people. It is just 11 o’clock as I write to you, and I hear -“<i>The Courier</i>, fourth edition,” being called out by several -voices past the house....</p> - -<p>Let us take heart, Providence will not forsake us. You -know, my wife, that we have had recent proofs of its assistance; -here is another. Yesterday the son of the Maestro -Negri called on me bringing me the answer from those -young ladies who, as you know, wished for a drama; he -showed me a letter from them in which the matter is revived. -I have had to lower my price, however, and content myself -with thirty guineas....</p> - -<p>Two days ago, a great Italian littérateur, Professor Orioli, -head of the Bologna University, and head of the Italian -Government during last year’s revolution, visited me, and -paid me a great compliment on my new work. Mr Scrope, -with whom I dined last Saturday, also said some very laudatory -things about it, which he based on the opinion of -<i>Mr Charles</i>, who had read it; the latter afterwards expressed -his admiration to me in person. Last week I wrote two<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span> -long letters to Malta to thank Mr and Miss Frere for their -very opportune generosity, which saved us from imminent -anxieties.</p> - -<p>The day before yesterday I bought myself a pair of spectacles, -which I felt badly in need of; and now, if you could -see what an imposing figure I cut, and what a grave air -they give me, it would inspire even you with respect. When -you return you will certainly take me for a president. I -will not tell you how much they cost, because you would -immediately conclude that my spectacles were bad, and yet -they serve their purpose wonderfully well....</p> - -<p>Hitherto my stupid prophecy has not been at all fulfilled, -and this letter is witness to the fact: and I pray to God -that he may not fulfil it till I have been able, with your help, -to educate and give a start in life to our four dear offshoots, -who have rendered life extremely dear to me; and I hope -to pass it in your sweet company, in that reciprocal affection -which has hitherto bound us together....</p> - -<p class="pr8">Your most affectionate husband,</p> -<p class="pr2"><span class="smcap">Gabriele</span>.</p> -</div> - -<h3 id="c122">C.</h3> - -<p>[The “garden” here spoken of is the enclosure of Park -Square, Regent’s Park; I can remember being in it more than -once in early childhood. Sangiovanni, a strange impetuous -southern Italian, was now an artist-modeller in clay. Dr -Maroncelli was a brother of the prisoner who was sent to the -Spielberg along with Silvio Pellico, as recorded in Pellico’s -book, once highly celebrated, <i>Le Mie Prigioni</i>. “My letter -for the King of Naples” appears to have been a memorial -or petition. Pistrucci (Filippo) had been run down in London<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span> -streets, and remained lame (yet still active) up to the close of -his life, which terminated towards 1857.]</p> - -<div class="pbq"> -<p class="pr2 p1">[<span class="smcap">38 Charlotte Street, London.]</span></p> -<p class="pr6"><i>29th May 1832.</i></p> - -<p><span class="smcap">My dearly loved Frances</span>,</p> - -<p class="pi12">I would that I had not received -your letter this time, although I had looked forward to it and -desired it so eagerly. Every word you wrote pierced like a -dagger into my heart. My sweetest Gabriel, then, is so -ill! My baby Christina suffers with her teeth and has -wounded her forehead! Oh my poor children! If the -distance were less great, I would come immediately to see -my four treasures, and you, my beloved wife, who must be -immensely afflicted, as I am myself. And William, you tell -me nothing about him. You told me in your last letter that -he had a return of those fevers from which he suffered here: -and now, how is that going on?—how is he? As you do -not speak about it, I will hope and trust that he has -recovered. Be good enough, dear Frances, to write to me -at once and tell me all about them; hide from me nothing, -absolutely nothing. I wish to know the facts, be they -better or be they worse.... I beg you, I beg you urgently, -to return immediately if Gabriel’s condition permits. I -wish to share with you the care of my bantlings. I would -never have written you this but for this painful circumstance, -but would have been content to remain a cheerless hermit for -another month; but, now that I see that your presence instead -of improving only aggravates the condition of your honoured -mother to whom we owe every consideration, now that I see -that our children, instead of benefiting by the country air, -have rather derived harm from it (although I ought perhaps to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span> -attribute this to other causes), I should feel dreadfully anxious -if you remained any longer away from me. Who knows but -what the figs I sent may have done them harm! But this -constant change of weather has more likely been the cause, -first hot, then cold, now hot again. This belief is strengthened -by your telling me that Maria and Christina have sore throats.... -I should be the most frantic and inconsolable man in -the world if I were to lose a son, that dearest little Gabriel, the -very core of my heart, and lose him thus, far from my sight. -My eyes are already full of tears whilst writing these words, -and unless I dry them I cannot continue writing, as I do not -see the paper. But take heart, my wife, it may turn out to be -nothing serious.</p> - -<p>Here, meanwhile, is one cause for rejoicing. I have already -obtained the key of the garden for which you so often -wished.... I have already been five times for a stroll in -the garden, the first time alone, the second time with Polidori, -the third with him and Sangiovanni, the fourth again with -him and Doctor Maroncelli, one of those two who called -on me one evening in company with Lablache. This walk -is very convenient, and the children will find plenty of space -to walk and run about here and there....</p> - -<p>I have already written three scenes of that play for the -young ladies, which I have given to the son of Maestro -Negri....</p> - -<p>Count Lucchesi has told me a thing which he had never -mentioned to me before. When he went with my letter to -the King of Naples, about which you heard, he found the -Minister of Naples reading my last work, dedicated to Mr Lyell. -The Minister said to him: “What a talented man this Rossetti -is! You see what persons the government of Naples exiles!” -It is well, dear Frances, that this diplomatist should not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span> -be ignorant of what I have written; and, if it is granted me -to return to my country, before doing so I will send the work -to the King of Naples, so that he will not be able to say later -on that I had committed some old faults of which he was -unaware. On Friday I dined with that painter whom I -described to you by the name of Mr Charles....</p> - -<p>I will close this letter begging you again to write to me -at once, during the course of this week. Remember that -until I hear from you again I shall be extremely agitated. -Don’t conceal anything from me, I repeat. If you did so, -you would force me to rush off to you like a madman, to -ascertain with my own eyes the real state of things. Besides -which it might cause me a somewhat serious ill; since for -some six days I have felt distressing and strong symptoms -of gout, which causes me much uneasiness. I needn’t ask -you to look after the children, because I hold it unnecessary; -I know you too well. I doubt whether there lives a better -mother than you, and a wife more amiable and affectionate -has yet to be born. And so your husband idolizes you, and -his sincerest love increases with years, and he considers -himself fortunate in possessing such a rare woman.</p> - -<p>Goodbye, dearly loved Frances, I am going to bed for it -is one o’clock. I bless one by one the infant pledges of our -love, and invoke on them health and prosperity. Kiss them -for me, speak about me to them, and—along with theirs—preserve -your precious health, which is my greatest treasure.</p> - -<p>Yesterday poor Pistrucci wrote me a letter which really is -fit to make one weep. He says he is suffering horrible -torments, and it has been discovered that his thigh was broken -in three parts, so that he is crippled. Poor man!</p> - -<p class="pr8">Your most affectionate husband,</p> -<p class="pr2"><span class="smcap">Gabriele Rossetti</span>.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="c126">D.</h3> - -<p>[I have no recollection of the Marchesa Marchigiana, nor -of Signor Ferri. The physiognomical estimate of Signor -Janer is curious, because that gentleman, a cultivated -Tuscan whom we saw continually in these years, was regarded -as somewhat prone to backbiting; he was always, -however, on good terms with my father and his family, and -I should say that he was really amicable with all of us. -Margaret, named towards the end of the letter, was my -mother’s elder sister.]</p> - -<div class="pbq"> -<p class="pr2 p1"><span class="smcap">50 Charlotte Street [London].</span></p> -<p class="pr6"><i>6th September 1836.</i></p> - -<p><span class="smcap">My dearest Frances</span>,<br /></p> - -<p class="pi12">... At the moment of my writing a -very deluge is coming down—lightning, thunder, buckets of -water. I am sorry for poor Gabriel, who is out for a walk -with Henry....</p> - -<p>That Marchesa Marchigiana left yesterday morning (Sunday), -and in the last two days she called on me thrice. On the -evening of Saturday she came at eight, and left at midnight. -She talked for ten. She expressed great concern for your illness, -and exclaimed several times—“Oh, if I had seen her, I would -have made her know what a husband she possesses!” To -hear her, I am the idol of Italy. She knows by heart a great -quantity of my verses, some of which I had as good as forgotten. -Suffice it to say that she knows more of them than -Curci, and is more enthusiastic than Curci about me and my -doings. But the greatest wonder is that she recites long -snatches of my <i>Analytic Comment on the Divina Commedia</i>. -She told me that, being unable to procure it in print (as it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span> -is prohibited in Italy), she copied it all out from one that -was lent her in secret. That many other people have done -the like. That of my <i>Salterio</i> (the <i>whole</i> of which she truly -knows by heart) she is acquainted with a great number of -manuscript copies. That in Rome a liberal Monsignore -named Muzzarelli has, like herself, copied it out, and learned -it off. That, were I to return, in passing through Romagna, -youthful admirers would come about me in shoals, and would -unharness the horses from my carriage to drag me in triumph. -Matter for laughter! Sangiovanni, who was present at all this -(which I can but suppose exaggerated), had to wipe his eyes -from time to time—the loving friend. In short, dear Frances, -without your having observed it nor yet myself, you have as -husband the greatest man of Italy, indeed the idol of Italy! -Who would ever have fancied it?</p> - -<p>The best of it is that another gentleman from Lugo has -arrived, Conte Carducci, who brings me a letter from Comendator -Borgia (a descendant of that scoundrel Alexander VI.), -and both Carducci and Borgia speak to me in the same -style.... This shows once again that the physical optics -are the reverse of the imaginary; for, as by physics distant -objects seem to us small, so by imagination small objects, -the further off they are, seem the larger. I should be almost -afraid of returning, even if I could, so that I might not verify -that saying, <i>Minuit præsentia famam</i>.</p> - -<p>The Marchesa gave us a proof of her physiognomic science -which made me and Sangiovanni laugh a great deal. She -saw here Janer, whom she knew not in the least, and who -showed her a thousand civilities. After Janer had left, she, -who had treated him distantly, called me aside, and said: -“Beware of that man, who has the face of a great intriguer -and a very cunning fellow.” Isn’t this queer?...</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span></p> - -<p>With her came a very handsome young man from Fermo, -named Ferri, nephew of Cardinal Ferri. He, on hearing the -nature of your illness, spoke of one of his of the same class, -from which he has recovered to the most perfect health. -He was reduced, as he described it, to a truly deplorable -condition, from which he rallied by continual exercise; and -if one sees him now!</p> - -<p class="pi6q p1">“Di due rivali i pregi in sè compone—</p> -<p class="pi6 ">Marte alla forza, alla bellezza Adone—”<a name="FNanchor_81_81" id="FNanchor_81_81"></a><a href="#Footnote_81_81" class="fnanchor">[81]</a></p> - -<p class="pn1">(old verses of mine). So, my dear Frances, take as much -exercise as you can....</p> - -<p>Lo and behold, the day is again beautiful, and what a -brilliant sun! Truly the climate of London is more changeable -than a Frenchwoman. Gabriel is knocking with that -double knock of his like the postman. I trust he avoided -the rain under some shelter—will go and ask. He has -returned all drenched, and Margaret will make him change -clothes....</p> - -<p>I embrace you, and bless Maria. Repeat to her that her -letter gave me great pleasure; and tell her that I expect one in -Italian, which will serve not only to show me how you are, -when you don’t want to be writing yourself, but also to keep -her in the practice of the language of “the beautiful land.” -Believe me, full of unalterable affection,</p> - -<p class="pr8">Your Husband,</p> -<p class="pr2"><span class="smcap">Gabriele</span>.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="c129">E.</h3> - -<div class="pbq"> -<p class="pr2 p1">[<span class="smcap">50 Charlotte Street, London.</span></p> -<p class="pr6"><i>21st October 1836.</i>]</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">My dearest Frances</span>,</p> - -<p class="pi12">Ever since you informed us that the -day of your longed-for return would be the 25th of this -October (which will complete two full months of your absence) -we have never ceased to count, every day, how many days -remain before reaching the one which is to restore you to us. -The most steady computer of this sum is Christina. This -morning, barely just out of bed, she came in great glee into -the room where I was studying, and the first words she spoke -were these—“Not counting to-day, only three days remain” -(you will understand that the day of my writing is Friday -evening). And I’m sure that to-morrow morning she will -come and say, “There are only two remaining.” ... If -you will tell us at about what hour you will arrive at the -Coach-office, we will all come to meet you, and will bring you -home in triumph, outbidding the most pompous ovations of -ancient Rome.... Oh that I had two arms as long as -from here to Holmer Green! you would find your neck -clasped of a sudden by the warmest marital embrace, and -you would then be softly seized hold of and deposited in -Charlotte Street, saving you the trouble of the journey by -the road: yours should be aërial, to beat those of Mrs -Graham and Mr Green.... The true, the one treasure -of my life is my dear Frances, and to restore her to me -renewed in health is to restore my existence. Goodbye to -the better portion of myself. Three days hence you, by God’s<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span> -help, will be here with me, and I will prove to you how much -you are loved by</p> - -<p class="pr8">Your Husband,</p> -<p class="pr2"><span class="smcap">Gabriele</span>.</p> -</div> - -<h3 id="c130">F.</h3> - -<p>[Dante Gabriel had been commissioned by his godfather, -Mr Lyell, to paint an oil-portrait of our father; he was now, -after some seeming neglectfulness, giving full attention to the -matter. The portrait, nearly his first painting, turned out a -creditable work; it remains in the Lyell family, the property -of Sir Leonard Lyell, and is reproduced in this volume.]</p> - -<div class="pbq"> -<p class="pr2 p1">[<span class="smcap">50 Charlotte Street, London.]</span></p> -<p class="pr6"><i>21st August 1848.</i></p> - -<p><span class="smcap">My dearest Frances</span>,<br /></p> - -<p class="pi12">I have the satisfaction of informing you -that this (Monday) morning our Gabriel has for an hour and -a half been working at my portrait in colours, which appears -to me to come very like, if I can trust my poor eyesight, and -the exclamations of our emphatic Maria. Moreover, I asked -Gabriel whether he would go on to-morrow, and he replied -yes. If he takes a fancy to it, he will not leave off until -he has finished the work; you know that character of his -better than myself. I am fain to hope that all I wrote you -in my recent letter was only the outcome of the over-much -anxiety of a father who gets distressed at any appearance of -evil in what concerns a beloved son....</p></div> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/ill-130.jpg" width="400" height="394" id="i130" - alt="" - title="" /> - <p class="pc">DANTE GABRIEL AND WILLIAM ROSSETTI<br /> -<i>From a Water-Colour Sketch by Filippo Pistrucci</i><br /> -C. 1838</p> -</div> - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span></p> - -<div class="pbq"> -<p>I had hoped yesterday to see Pistrucci, whom I supposed -likely to come to London, to promote the concert for the -benefit of the Italian School. But I was disappointed. I -trust he was not offended at that outburst I sent him regarding -the demagogues who have contributed to the present -ruin of Italy. He, as the perfectly sincere patriot whom all -men recognize, must deplore, or rather detest, whatever -can have been a cause of the pitiful state to which our -country is reduced. But let us hope that the disaster is -reparable, and I am certain that his heart desires this no -less fervently than my own. I am aware of the glorious -event at Bologna, where the Germans got a good lesson. -May this be the glorious beginning of a still more glorious -re-arising! I know that France and England have become -mediators between Italy and Austria in this bloody strife; -may they be sincere and effectual mediators for the good of -both, and may the <i>reasonable liberty</i> of our poor country -result from their efforts! Not every evil comes to do harm—an -old adage: let us hope this may be so in our case. -Perhaps the republican over-zeal will be toned down, after -the events which we are deploring....</p> - -<p>Now that I can give you better news from home, I remain -with a more cheerful heart</p> - -<p class="pr8">Your loving Husband,</p> -<p class="pr2"><span class="smcap">G. Rossetti.</span></p> -</div> - -<p class="pc1 lmid"><span class="smcap">No. 2.—From Eight Letters from Gabriele Rossetti to -Charles Lyell, Kinnordy</span></p> - -<p class="p1">[As to Mr Lyell, see p. 72. I give the following extracts, -bearing upon Rossetti’s theories and speculations regarding -Dante and a great number of other writers, not because I -suppose him to have been constantly right in detail, nor even -as adopting his views in a broad sense, but because the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span> -allegations which he here puts forward are certainly both -curious and startling; and they formed so intimate a portion -of his thought and life, chiefly between the years 1825 and -1842, that no true picture of him could be given without -taking matters of this kind into account. The correspondence -between Mr Lyell and my father was frequent, and -often lengthy. I used to possess the general bulk of the -letters written by Mr Lyell, and had been authorized by the -present head of the family, Sir Leonard Lyell, to use, in a -compilation which I was undertaking, extracts from many of -them. In 1898, however, an interchange took place between -Sir Leonard and myself; and I now own the letters which -my father wrote, in lieu of letters coming from Mr Lyell. In -comparison with the full extent of these Rossetti epistles, -the extracts which I give are a mere trifle. I have selected -not always the most important passages, but such as tend to -show the very wide range along which he applied his -theory of a covert, esoteric, and perilous meaning in the -writings of authors of many centuries and many nations. -Copies of Rossetti’s letters to Lyell, one hundred and twenty-eight -in number, are deposited in the Taylor Institution, -Oxford; the copying was done by Signor de Tivoli.</p> - -<p>There is another copious correspondence which my father -carried on regarding the like topics—that with Mr Hookham -Frere. I possess the letters of Mr Frere appertaining to this -correspondence, and also (through the courtesy of Mr John -Tudor Frere and Miss Festing) those of Rossetti. I had -at one time thought of publishing ample extracts from this -series; but ultimately I found it more suitable to place the -correspondence at the disposal of Miss Festing, who, in her -interesting book named <i>John Hookham Frere and his -Friends</i> (1899), has drawn upon it so far as was consistent<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span> -with her scheme. She has also quoted the passage in -verse about Hookham Frere (see p. 60 of the present work). -Miss Festing naturally did not publish all the letters <i>in -extenso</i>, nor even so much of them as I had at first proposed -to extract. Several passages which Miss Festing did -not use seem well worthy of being printed at some time or -another—Mr Hookham Frere’s letters, not to speak of my -father’s, being capital reading; at present, however, I leave -all this aside, chiefly with a view to condensing my whole -account of Gabriele Rossetti into a moderate space.]</p> - -<h3 id="c133">A.</h3> - -<div class="pbq"> -<p class="pr2 p1"><i>29th October 1831.</i></p> - -<p><span class="smcap">My very dear Sir</span>,</p> - -<p class="pi12">... I have by me <i>decisive</i> historical -records and documents, researches into works in the sect-language,<a name="FNanchor_82_82" id="FNanchor_82_82"></a><a href="#Footnote_82_82" class="fnanchor">[82]</a> -treatises on the use of the sect-language; in fine, -I have as much as would make all our adversaries remain -frost-bound and mute. And to me it is a kind of enigma -to see how matters so multiple, so consentaneous, so palpable, -which have been going on in a lapse of six centuries -(from Frederick II. up to our time), have not ever been either -discerned or revealed. There is not the least doubt that that -Emperor projected a change of religion, and the destruction -of the Roman Church. The Popes had no alternative but -either to destroy him and his party, or else to be themselves -destroyed, and their cult with them. That opinion of Foscolo, -regarded by all as a fantasy, which led him to say that <i>Dante<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span> -wished to change the religion</i>, is a certain fact; and his fantasy -consists only in his having supposed that this was an idea -of Dante’s own, and not that of a most numerous, most -potent, and most wide-spread sect, upheld by men of great -power....</p> - -<p>Never will I set it down, <i>never</i>, that there was a project -of expelling Jesus Christ from the altars—only that there -was a project for restoring His worship to its primitive -simplicity, and that they profaned the Catholic doctrine by -a concerted phraseology which involved a political scheme. -Wherefore scandalize the world by the revelation of a daring -purpose which may do discredit to illustrious authors, and -bring down upon myself the ill-will of the sect which still -exists, and has power and influence in the social world? The -fact is that the true intention of that secret society, to which -belonged all the authors whom I am engaged in examining, -manifested itself plainly in the effects of the French Revolution -at the close of last century....</p> - -<p>Reghellini says openly that Dante’s poem is a Masonic -poem; and, before he wrote this, I had already seen it -for myself....</p> - -<p>I have also made some examination of English poetry—that -of the time of Cromwell; I know, however, and know -for certain, that Chaucer is in the same boat....</p> - -<p class="pr8">Your highly obliged</p> -<p class="pr2"><span class="smcap">Gabriele Rossetti</span>.</p> -</div> - -<h3 id="c134">B.</h3> - -<div class="pbq"> -<p class="pr2 p1"><i>1st October 1832.</i></p> - -<p><span class="smcap">My very dear Sir</span>,</p> - -<p class="pi12">... It is impossible to continue without -exhibiting the most intimate mysteries of the sect, seeing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span> -that the entire poem of Dante, all the lyrics of Petrarca, -almost all the works of Boccaccio, and, in fine, all the old -writings of that class, are nothing else than <i>downright doctrine -and practice of the Freemasons</i>, in the strictest acceptation -of the word. Such was the Gay Science, such the Platonic -love, such the sect of the Templars, and that of the Paulicians. -How true this is you will find in the published volume,<a name="FNanchor_83_83" id="FNanchor_83_83"></a><a href="#Footnote_83_83" class="fnanchor">[83]</a> with -numberless manuscript additions which I have made to it.... -There you will see developed the God of the Sect—viz. Man -in Freedom; there, also, the Sectarian Trinity, the Incarnation, -Transubstantiation, and other matters.... But it -is dangerous to consign the work to the public, and -the chief danger is this: The demonstration cannot be -<i>rightly</i> founded, so as to defy confutation, without citing -in confirmation the writings of St Paul and those of St -John. One might make use of protests, dexterity, or even -hypocrisy, but none the less one must state the thing -which is; and, if one will not state this, one is compelled to -stop short at the effects, and leave the cause unexplained, -which makes less visible and tangible the reality of the -assumption....</p> - -<p>I see with regret that the assertion of many Sectarian writers, -and among others of Swedenborg, is not without foundation—namely, -that the religion founded upon the New Testament -is, in fact, the religion which they profess, of which <i>we</i> practise -the letter, and <i>they</i> possess the spirit: we are the outer church, -and they form the hereditary priesthood. Be this true or -false, great indeed is the illusion which it assails;<a name="FNanchor_84_84" id="FNanchor_84_84"></a><a href="#Footnote_84_84" class="fnanchor">[84]</a> and to bring<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span> -this to light would be an offence against the human society -in which we exist....</p> - -<p>I now comprehend why the <i>Mysterium Magnum</i> was never -manifested to the world. It is confided to very few persons, -of well-approved prudence, and at an age of thorough maturity; -and to discover it by one’s own scrutiny is a work of immense -labour, and (I will venture to say) of no ordinary talent.... -I know that Mr Frere belongs to the secret order; and, having -perceived what it is that I have already discovered by analysis -and reasoning, he fears lest I should reveal it to the world. -I am not so mad as to plan detriment to society, and to -myself....</p> - -<p>With regard to the chapter, <i>Dante personified in Adam</i>, -this, though not demonstrated in full, has none the less a -great basis of proofs in other chapters; and its substance -is that Dante was the inventor of that simulated religious -language. Perhaps, on reading some additions which I have -made, you will more strongly feel the reality of the thesis....</p> - -<p class="pr8">Your much obliged Servant,</p> -<p class="pr2"><span class="smcap">Gabriele Rossetti</span>.</p> -</div> - -<h3 id="c136">C.</h3> - -<div class="pbq"> -<p class="pr2 p1"><i>15th May 1833.</i></p> - -<p><span class="smcap">My very dear Sir</span>,</p> - -<p class="pi6q p1">“Non io, se cento bocche avessi e cento</p> -<p class="pi6">Lingue, con ferrea lena e ferreo petto,”<a name="FNanchor_85_85" id="FNanchor_85_85"></a><a href="#Footnote_85_85" class="fnanchor">[85]</a></p> - -<p class="pn1">not if I were to talk for a hundred years with the eloquence -of Cicero himself, could I sufficiently thank you for having -first mentioned and then sent to me the <i>Donna Immaginaria</i><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span> -of Magalotti. Oh what a precious book for proving to the -over-brim my assumption!...</p> - -<p>In these recent days I have made some most important -discoveries in the <i>Convito</i>: of these I will give you a hint, -but only a hint, as the thing would be lengthy to expound. -Being persuaded that the <i>Convito</i> is the exposition, in the -sect-language, of the <i>Commedia</i> and its secrets, I, observing -that Dante dwells so much upon explaining the cosmographical -construction of heaven and earth, and confident that -he must be speaking of his poem, have been minded to follow -the track which he indicates; and I have found (<i>mirabile -dictu!</i>) that all corresponds to the poem. Begin reading at -p. 153 (Zatta’s edition), here at the end; “This heaven turns -round this centre continually,” etc.; all that he says—verily -all—expounds the arcane structure of his poetic machinery, -and discloses its secret device....</p> - -<p class="pr8">Your much obliged</p> -<p class="pr2"><span class="smcap">G. Rossetti</span>.</p> -</div> - -<h3 id="c137">D.</h3> - -<div class="pbq"> -<p class="pr2 p1"><i>13th January 1836.</i></p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Very dear Sir and Excellent Friend</span>,</p> - -<p class="pi12">... The interpretation of the <i>Vita Nuova</i> -depends upon knowing what portions of it are to be taken -first, and what portions are to be taken last. This enigmatic -booklet contains thirty-three compositions (<i>vide</i> your Index), -relating to the thirty-three cantos of each section of the -<i>Commedia</i>. These thirty-three poetic compositions are to be -divided into three parts, according to those three sections, -and to the three predominant canzoni of the <i>Vita Nuova</i>. -The central canzone, which is “Donna pietosa,” is the head<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span> -of the skein, and from that point must the interpretation -begin; and then one must take, on this side and on that, the -four lateral sonnets to the left, and the four to the right—(the -last one to the right has been somewhat altered by Dante, -with the designation of one stanza of an incomplete canzone, -but it is in fact a sonnet, as I will prove)—and the one set -of sonnets will explain the other set; and it will be seen -that the death of Beatrice’s father, set forth on the left side, -and the death of Beatrice herself, set forth on the right side, -of the central canzone, mean one and the same thing. This -is the first part of the enigma.</p> - -<p>On this side and on that follow the two canzoni, placed -symmetrically—viz. “Donne che avete intelletto d’amore” on -the left, and “Gli occhi dolenti per pietà del core” on the -right. In the former it is decided that Beatrice is to die; -in the second, Beatrice dead is lamented; and the one -canzone explains the other. And thus, proceeding from one -side to the other, collating the ten compositions to the right -with the ten to the left, we come finally to the first and the -last sonnets of the <i>Vita Nuova</i>, which contain two visions; -and the last vision, “Oltre la spera che più larga gira,” explains -the first vision, “A ciascun’alma presa e gentil core.” -When the interpretation goes on these lines, this sonnet -becomes as clear as possible. Dante, assuming his reader -to be already cognizant of the mystical language, and to -be capable of solving by this process his work which has -the character of a knot, wrote: “The true judgment as to -the said sonnet was not then seen by any one, but now it -is manifest to the simplest.”... The central part [of the -<i>Vita Nuova</i>], which constitutes the Beatrice Nine,<a name="FNanchor_86_86" id="FNanchor_86_86"></a><a href="#Footnote_86_86" class="fnanchor">[86]</a> consists<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span> -of nine compositions—<i>i.e.</i> the central canzone, with four -sonnets on one side and four on the other....</p> - -<p>Recently I have been applying myself to a study of the -first Holy Fathers of the primitive Church; and they say -plainly that they, in the inner Sacerdotal School, explained -the <i>mysteries</i> of religion, protesting at the same time that -they could reveal nothing of this to the profane. I have -passages from St Basil, a light of the Greek Church, which -show that these personages acted like the gentile school....</p> - -<p class="pr8">Your truly devoted and obliged</p> -<p class="pr2"><span class="smcap">G. Rossetti</span>.</p> -</div> - -<h3 id="c139">E.</h3> - -<div class="pbq"> -<p class="pr2 p1"><i>14th January 1836.</i></p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Very dear Sir and Friend</span>,</p> - -<p class="pi12">... The object or system of -the secret school, in explaining the mysteries, is to show that -those whom we take for beings existing outside of ourselves, -and who are represented to us as such by the Christian -doctrine, are none other than our internal ideas or affections; -that is to say, that those supernatural personages who are -exhibited to men as divine are the human faculties themselves, -personified by ancient secret art; and that these -figurative personages merge the one into the other, and -interpenetrate and unify in one sole being—namely, in Man. -The ultimate revelation.</p> - -<p>This is equally the system of Dante, both in the <i>Divine -Comedy</i> and in the <i>Vita Nuova</i>—which latter gives the keys -of the former....</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span></p> - -<p>Origen and Tertullian, as well as Synesius, Bishop of -Cyrene, give in the sect-language the keys to the whole New -Testament, and partly to the Old:... the selfsame explanation -which is given in the mysteries of the present -still-subsisting sect.</p> - -<p>From the writings of the latter I gather that the secret -school of the Christian priesthood is continued by Masonry; -that one of the heads of the school in Constantine’s time, -Sylvester, came to an understanding with that despot to -suppress the secret explanation, and to retain merely the -formula of the external figures, which understanding produced -the papacy or priesthood of Rome; but that other chiefs of -the same school, indignant at his having sold the interests -of mankind to the secular power, severed themselves from -him and persisted in the secret teaching,—which went on -to the late ages (and here we arrive at Dante), and so continued -up to our own times.</p></div> - -<h3 id="c140">F.</h3> - -<div class="pbq"> -<p class="pr2 p1"><i>16th December 1836.</i></p> - -<p><span class="smcap">My very dear Sir</span>,</p> - -<p class="pi12">I cannot sufficiently express to you how -much pleasure it affords me to hear from you, “What you -have written<a name="FNanchor_87_87" id="FNanchor_87_87"></a><a href="#Footnote_87_87" class="fnanchor">[87]</a> has convinced me.”...</p> - -<p>Despite every effort, the nature of the argument wells forth -of itself, and almost overflows the dykes which I labour to -erect and strengthen. And I regret to tell you (far from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span> -rejoicing at it) that in the successive chapters the evidence -increases to such a point as to belie all my words, which heal, -assuage, and soften down the nature of the thing. Oh how -much have I done to disguise it, but all in vain! I confess -to you my misdeed: in that which you have read, or which you -will be reading, I have suppressed all those passages of the -authorities that I quote which exhibit the secret overtly. I -have quoted in a maimed form Petrarca, Boccaccio, and -especially Swedenborg.... For example, this Swede writes -that the entire Bible, both the Old Testament and the New, -is written in that selfsame language in which he writes, and that -his is none other than a prolongation of that. He says that -the Prophets saw God no otherwise than he saw him; that -there is no other future life than that which he describes, -in which one dies a man, and revives as an angel to a new -life; that there are not any other heavens nor another God -than those to which he ascended, and that with whom he -spoke; and other similar things: all of them expunged by -me, even in the thick of the citation which I make. These -utterances of his may have illuded the world, before it was -understood, by giving the keys, what heaven is, and what the -angels and God are; but, the keys having been given, the -propositions become horrible and scandalous....</p> - -<p class="pr8">Your very affectionate and oblige</p> -<p class="pr2"><span class="smcap">G. Rossetti</span>.</p> -</div> - -<h3 id="c141">G.</h3> - -<div class="pbq"> -<p class="pr2 p1"><i>21st July 1840.</i></p> - -<p><span class="smcap">My very dear Sir</span>,</p> - -<p class="pi12">... I could send you a hundred things -of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries which I have -amassed in my extracts. I will limit myself to two sonnets<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span> -of the famous Raphael of Urbino; and judge you whether -he was not of the sect—like his contemporary, Michelangelo -Buonarroti, and very many others who were in the environment -of the Pope.</p> - -<p class="pi6q p1"> -“Un pensier dolce è <i>rimembrare</i>, e godo.”<a name="FNanchor_88_88" id="FNanchor_88_88"></a><a href="#Footnote_88_88" class="fnanchor">[88]</a></p> - -<p class="p1">Raphael’s second sonnet. He, having descended from the -<i>third heaven</i> (like St Paul), writes thus:</p> - -<p class="pi6q p1">“Come non potè dir d’arcana Dei</p> -<p class="pi7">Paolo come disceso fù dal cielo,</p> -<p class="pi7">Così il mio cor d’un amoroso velo</p> -<p class="pi6">Ha ricoperto tutt’i pensier miei.</p> -<p class="pi6">Però che quanto io vidi e quanto fei (in the third heaven)</p> -<p class="pi7">Per gaudio taccio che nel petto celo;</p> -<p class="pi7">E prima cangerò nel fronte il pelo</p> -<p class="pi6">Che mai l’obbligo volger pensier rei.”<a name="FNanchor_89_89" id="FNanchor_89_89"></a><a href="#Footnote_89_89" class="fnanchor">[89]</a></p> - -<p class="p1">... Pico della Mirandola, Molza, and other contemporaries,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span> -speak of this third heaven in the same mysterious manner, -and agree with what St Bernard, Swedenborg, Cecco d’Ascoli, -Dante, etc., say of it....</p> - -<p>Oh how much can be gathered from the Latin writings of -Poliziano! Far more than even from those of Tasso....</p> - -<p class="pr8">Your greatly obliged and obedient</p> -<p class="pr2"><span class="smcap">G. Rossetti</span>.</p> -</div> - -<h3 id="c143">H.</h3> - -<div class="pbq"> -<p class="pr2 p1"><i>1st February 1842.</i></p> - -<p><span class="smcap">My very dear Sir</span>,</p> - -<p class="pi12">... Have you ever read <i>Le Livre Mystique</i> -of De Balzac, a living French author—a book published in -1836? Read it, for it is truly curious. It is divided into -three parts, and expounds mysticism in mystic language, -somewhat less obscure than in the ancient works of like kind. -In the first part he introduces a certain Louis Lambert as expounder -of mysticism; in the second he introduces Dante at -the school of Sigier in Paris, “al Vico degli Strami, Sillogizzando -invidiosi veri”:<a name="FNanchor_90_90" id="FNanchor_90_90"></a><a href="#Footnote_90_90" class="fnanchor">[90]</a> in the third he introduces a nephew -of Swedenborg, <i>female and male</i>, a fantastic and changeful -being, Seraphita-Seraphitus; and she-and-he expresses herself -in terms fit to set the soundest head in a whirl,—and -says among other things: “L’union qui se fait d’un <i>esprit -d’amour</i> et d’un <i>esprit de sagesse</i> met la créature à l’état <i>divin</i>, -pendant que son âme est <i>femme</i> et que son corps est <i>homme</i>; -dernière expression humaine où l’esprit l’emporte sur la forme, -et la forme se débat encore contre l’esprit divin.... Ainsi -<i>le naturel</i> (état dans lequel sont les êtres non régénérés), <i>le -spirituel</i> (état dans lequel sont les esprits angéliques), et <i>le<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span> -divin</i> (état dans lequel demeure l’ange avant de briser son -enveloppe), sont <i>les trois degrés</i> de l’exister par lesquels -l’homme parvient au ciel.” (Vol. II. p. 102.) And so on -to a large extent. What seems to me most noticeable is to -see Dante and Swedenborg put on the same footing. And -Reghellini says plainly that Dante was a Freemason (<i>vide</i> -Vol. III. pp. 48, 49). And Ragon affirms the same (pp. -290-332)....</p> - -<p class="pr8">Your most attached</p> -<p class="pr2"><span class="smcap">G. Rossetti</span>.</p> -</div> - -<p class="pc1 lmid"><span class="smcap">No. 3.</span>—<span class="smcap">From Three Letters from Seymour [Barone] -Kirkup to Gabriele Rossetti</span></p> - -<p class="p1">[Mr Seymour Kirkup, an English painter and man of -letters established in Florence, became an enthusiastic -adherent to Rossetti’s scheme of Dantesque interpretation, -from reading his Comment on the <i>Inferno</i> and his <i>Spirito -Antipapale</i>. In his later years he was made a Barone of -the Italian Kingdom, and he died at a great age towards -1880. The following extracts relate chiefly to the deeply -interesting discovery, in which he bore a very principal -part, of the portrait of Dante by Giotto in the Chapel of -the Podestà, in the Bargello of Florence.]</p> - -<h3 id="c144">A.</h3> - -<div class="pbq"> -<p class="pr2 p1"><span class="smcap">Florence</span>, <i>12th September 1840</i>.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">My very excellent Friend</span>,</p> - -<p class="pi12">Yours of the 22nd July came safe with the -Sonnet, “O della mente eterna immago e prole.” It is very<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span> -beautiful. It is capital. Let me thank you very sincerely, -and let me congratulate you on Germany being about to -enjoy the benefit of your invaluable discoveries. Every new -country is a triumph of your cause; and, whilst all Europe -will be benefiting by your genius and learning, Italy alone -remains without an Italian edition of the original Italian -work on the great luminary of Italy and of the world. In -Florence there are too many obstacles: the priests, and the -antiquated routine imbecility of the Crusca. The word-mongers -are all envious. They are true bran, and well sifted -from the fior di pensieri. They are old, and find your -success a reproach, and in this country all hue and cry -raised against innovation is supported by force. The tone -of the court and the police is carried into the Academies. -Well may you say “L’Italia invidia omai fin la Turchia.”</p> - -<p>I have delayed writing in the hopes of sending you a -sketch which will interest you, but I have hitherto been disappointed. -We have made a discovery of an original portrait -of Dante in fresco by Giotto! Although I was a magna -pars in this undertaking, the Jacks in Office have not allowed -me yet to make a copy. Sono tanto gelosi, most likely afraid -I should publish it and prevent some friends of their own -reaping all the profit they hope from that speculation.</p> - -<p>I was the person who first mentioned to Sig. Bezzi, a -Piedmontese and friend of Carlo Eastlake’s, the existence of -the portrait under the whitewash of three centuries. We were -joined by an American, and we three undertook at our expense -to employ a restorer to uncover the walls of the old -chapel in the palace of the Podestà in search of the portrait—mentioned -by F. Villani, Filelfo, L. Aretino, Vasari, Cinelli, -etc. Nothing but the constancy and talent of Sig. Bezzi -could have overcome the numberless obstacles and refusals<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span> -we met with. He wrote and spoke with the persuasions of -an advocate, and persevered with the obstinacy and activity -of an Englishman (which I believe he now is). He alone -was the cause of success. We should have had no chance -without him. At last, after uncovering enough of three walls -to ascertain it was not there, the Government took the task -into their own hands, on our terms, with the same restorer, -and in the fifth wall they have succeeded. The number of -walls is six, for the chapel has been divided in two—(magazines -of wine, oil, bread, etc., for the prisoners).</p> - -<p>The precise date of the painting is not known. The poet -looks about 28—very handsome—un Apollo colle fattezze di -Dante. The expression and character are worthy of the subject, -and much beyond what I expected from Giotto. Raphael -might own it with honour. Add to which it is not the mask -of a corpse of 56—a ruin—but a fine, noble image of the -Hero of Campaldino, the Lover of Beatrice. The costume -very interesting—no beard or even a lock of hair.</p> - -<p>A white cap, over which a white capuccio, lined with dark -red showing the edge turned back. A parchment book under -his arm—perhaps the Vita Nuova.</p> - -<p>It is in a group of many others—one seems Charles II. -of Naples. Brunetto Latini and Corso Donati are mentioned -by the old authors.</p> - -<p>I send herewith a pamphlet by Prof. Nannucci—very -curious and very interesting respecting Dante—and a dose -for the Crusca.</p> - -<p>I wrote to you by Mr Craufurd, who took charge of the -medal, and sent two pamphlets by him, one for Mr Taylor—and -two letters of thanks, one to him and one to Mr Lyell; -but I fear by what you say in your last letter you have never -received them. Mr C[raufurd] is a friend of Eastlake’s, who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span> -can perhaps get them for you. I liked Mr Taylor’s book<a name="FNanchor_91_91" id="FNanchor_91_91"></a><a href="#Footnote_91_91" class="fnanchor">[91]</a> -very much indeed, and am very grateful to you and him.</p> - -<p class="pr8">Yours most sincerely,</p> -<p class="pr2"><span class="smcap">Seymour Kirkup</span>.</p> -</div> - -<h3 id="c147">B.</h3> - -<div class="pbq"> -<p class="pr2 p1"><span class="smcap">Florence</span>, <i>14th September 1841</i>.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">My dear Friend</span>,</p> - -<p class="pi12">By the time you receive this, I hope -that the portrait of Dante, for you, will be in London.</p> - -<p>The gentleman who has taken charge of it was in such -haste to leave the country (from the consequences of a fatal -duel) that I had not an opportunity for writing.</p> - -<p>You will receive, in fact, three portraits. They are as -follows:—</p> - -<p>No. 1. A drawing in chalk, on light-brown paper, of the -face as large as the original. I had intended to write a -memorandum on it, but in my hurry it was forgotten. Perhaps -you would have the kindness to add it, if you think it -worth while—viz.</p> - -<div class="limit2"> -<p class="pin1">“Drawn by S. K., and traced with talc, on the original -fresco by Giotto; discovered in the Chapel of the -Palazzo del Podestà, Florence, on the 21st July -1840, before it was retouched.”</p></div> - -<p>No. 2. A small sketch in water-colours, giving the colours -of the dress, and the heads supposed to be of Corso Donati -and Brunetto Latini.</p> - -<p>No. 3. A Lithography by the painter and restorer Marini,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span> -who uncovered the painting. This is made on a tracing by -himself.</p> - -<p>I thought it useful to send you these in order to give you -a better idea of this very interesting discovery—Dante, under -30 years of age. With respect to No. 1, it is fixed with glue-water, -and will not rub out with common usage. The only -thing it is liable to is the cracking or bending of the paper, -which sometimes in a face alters the expression.</p> - -<p>Since I drew it, I have had the mortification to see the -original retouched, and its beauty destroyed. You will perceive -that the eye is wanting. A deep hole in the wall -was found exactly on that spot, as if done on purpose. It -was necessary to fill it that it might not extend further: not -content, they ordered Sig. Marini to paint the eye on it, and -he has daubed over the face in many parts, to the ruin of -its expression and character. It is now 15 years older, a -mean, pinched expression, and an effeminate character, -compared to what it was. It is not quite so bad as the -lithography I send you, but not far from it. When I saw -what was done, I asked a young man, his assistant, if it was -done with colours in tempera, and he assured me, with a -boast, that it was in bon fresco. If so, Dante is gone for -good. But I have still hopes that he spoke only of the -eye, and many of my friends think it can only be accomplished -on the old and hard painting by some distemper-colour -of glue, size, or egg; and, if so, a damp cloth fixed -on it for half-an-hour will bring it all away without injuring -the original fresco. I mean to take my time, and perhaps -some day I may restore Dante to himself a second time. -I had the principal part in the late discovery.</p> - -<p>The lithography I send you is exceedingly unlike and -incorrect, although a tracing. In shading and finishing he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span> -has totally lost and changed the outline, if he ever had it. -It is vulgar, old, and effeminate—the contrary in every respect -to the original. The Florentines of to-day cannot draw, nor -even trace. Think of what such a hand would do, if allowed -to paint over it! and that has been the case. It is a misfortune -when the direction of the fine arts is in the hands -of an ignorant man, chosen only for his <i>Nobility</i>! Our -Direttore with his cleaners has been the ruin of paintings in -the Galleries, since I have been here, to the value of £60,000 -or £80,000 sterling—and the money is the least part of -the loss. When I mentioned to you that my drawing was a -secret, I only meant that, if known here that I obtained -access to make a tracing by bribery, it would compromise -those who had assisted me. You are welcome to show it -to whom you please, and <i>do whatever you wish with it</i>. But -I recommend you not to give it away, for it is the <i>only</i> copy -that has been made to my knowledge before the fresco was -retouched, except the miserable lithography which I send; -and, if so bad a copy was produced by the help of tracing, -and from the original in its pure state, nothing very good -is to be expected in future. The eye in the said lithography -was, of course, added by the copier. You will perceive by -my drawing that the outline (the eyelash) remained, which -was fortunate, as it gives the exact situation of the feature.</p> - -<p>We are in daily expectation of the arrival of The Book -of Mystery.<a name="FNanchor_92_92" id="FNanchor_92_92"></a><a href="#Footnote_92_92" class="fnanchor">[92]</a> I am doubly anxious, from the distinguished -honour you have conferred on me. The Marquis and the -Professor are full of gratitude to you, but the Frenchman -(<i>entre nous</i>) seemed to confer a favour rather than receive -one. And so great a one! <i>Gente francesca!</i></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span></p> - -<p>The scientific meeting of Florence commences to-morrow, -and ends on the 8th Oct. It opens with a grand Mass of -Spontini, in the Church of S. Croce. Galileo’s shrine will -be the favourite of the four great Tuscans—besides whom, -there is a host of secondary stars: F. Barberini, C. Marsuppini, -Leonardo Aretino, Lami, Mascagni, Alfieri, Rinuccini, -Alberti, etc., etc., etc.</p> - -<p>Do you know the Improvisatore Regaldi? and his <i>Carme a -Firenze</i>—written about three years ago. There are some -lines on the subject of S. Croce.</p> - -<p>God bless you, my dear friend, and allow me once more -to thank you for all your kindness, and to subscribe myself</p> - -<p class="pr8">Most sincerely yours,</p> -<p class="pr2"><span class="smcap">Seymour Kirkup</span>.</p> - -<p>Best remembrances to Sig. Carlo (Eastlake, his name in -Rome).</p> - -<p class="p2">The name of the bearer of the portrait is Plowden. He -is a banker of Florence, and may be heard of at Messrs -Harris & Farquhar, Bankers, of London. He will send it -you, I hope, or leave it himself.</p> -</div> - -<h3 id="c150">C.</h3> - -<div class="pbq"> -<p class="pr2 p1"><span class="smcap">Florence</span>, <i>5th February 1843</i>.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">My dear Friend</span>,</p> - -<p class="pi12">Let me add my thanks to the rest of -the world for the mental enjoyment afforded by your <i>Beatrice</i>. -My share is the greater for the handsome and honourable -mention you make of me. I am proud of your approbation -and good opinion, and am doubly grateful for the rank in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span> -your esteem which you have so generously bestowed on me. -The book has met with unusual success here. It has converted -many. Whether the name has attracted the public, -or the compactness has excited the idle, or the cheapness -the economic, or all together, I know not, but it has been -much read and admired. Italians and Tramontani are all -full of it. I think in general they are grateful for the light; -although it destroys a romantic illusion, which has been -much cherished, especially on this spot, but which they -cannot now entertain, except at the expense of adhering to -an absurdity, or rather many absurdities. Some, however, are -too far committed, and have too much vanity to acknowledge -themselves wrong—the vulgar and the selfish in particular.</p> - -<p>For my own part, I have found the Ragionamento in part -a renewal and condensation of what I had already learned -from your former works, divided and spread through them. -In this first Ragionamento you have not given the demonstration -(I suppose it will follow in a succeeding one) of -Boccaccio’s fault respecting May-Day, which is so complete -and curious in the <i>Misteri Platonici</i>....</p> - -<p>The most important of your decisions is confirmed and -strengthened in this volume: I mean your identification of -Beatrice and Filosofia. Your three reasons at the top of -p. 20 are new and unanswerable. How completely Dante -blindfolds the superficial reader (which I was, till you -taught me to fathom him) by making one believe that the -lady at the window was <i>mundane philosophy</i>, and that Beatrice, -or <i>Divine Science</i>, reproaches Dante in Purgatory for having -yielded to her attractions for a short time....</p> - -<p>I am so engrossed by your work that I am carried away -and not answering your very kind and most friendly letter. -A thousand thanks for it. I know how your time is filled,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span> -and have always wondered how you can get through all. I -fear even writing you, but you desired me to send you all -I think of <i>Beatrice</i>. My letter would be long indeed if I -touched on all its beauties: I should copy the book. There -are many additional discoveries in the weaving of this mystic -web which the book is rich in. You still surprise those -whom you have already convinced. You are certainly an -extraordinary Unraveller—a Disentangler—and I will say -that, notwithstanding the dry task of unpicking knots, tight-drawn -on purpose to resist skill and force, you have performed -it with a skill and elegance that render it exciting -and delightful to follow.</p> - -<p>You desire all my “opposizioni.” Lord help me! Can -I find an error or two of the press?...</p> - -<p>I am longing for the next Ragionamento; I don’t know -if others want much more to convince them, but in general -the first part seems to have had that effect.</p> - -<p>Mr Lyell judges me, as you do, too partially. All I have -learned I owe to you; and I confess to you that I have -often found it difficult, even with your powerful help, to -remove the substantial screen which Dante has built up -<i>purposely</i> to conceal and protect his secret. But, when I -think of you, who have, alone and single-handed, knocked -over so many formidable barriers, and shown us the gardens -and roses, the groves, the apples, the laurels, the olives, the -flowers, the stags, and all the magic machinery of secret -romance, I am lost in thinking how you found your way -in such a labyrinth, and what immense and curious courses -of reading you must have gone through, turning all you -obtained to the accomplishing your will and determination -to penetrate an untrod region, without a track or vestige to -guide you. I wish I had the ability to write a description<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span> -of your <i>Misteri</i>. Perhaps I could be of use in lending a hand -merely, as I have studied them much; but <i>my</i> tools are -paint-brushes, and I am not practised in the art of writing. -My education has been too defective for me ever to have -ventured in print. A weak defender is more dangerous than -a strong opponent, and all I could hope would be perhaps -to hit on some thought that might have escaped others; -but without some help from the third heaven (which a good -friend of mine knows of) I should not be able to clothe it -so as to render it decent.</p> - -<p>I observe what you say on the subject of necessary reserve -on certain subjects. You are quite right. You cannot be -too careful in your situation and with your family. From -your letter I see that your opinions are nearer mine than I -supposed. But, as I am living out of the world and am -perfectly free from it, I can safely be as explicit as I please. -I have no reserve, and, if ever <i>the</i> cause require a word -beyond the customary and necessary limits, call upon me -to say it, or say anything for me against priestcraft and kingcraft. -That is my religion.</p> - -<p>I don’t wonder at Mr Lyell’s exultation at your <i>Beatrice</i>. -There are some master-touches amongst the new proofs, -both in matter and manner, both close reasoning and -light....</p> - -<p>The three pomegranates in Giotto’s fresco are so uncertain -in their appearance, from injury and time, that I was doubtful -about them, but a word from you decides the question in -my mind. They are chipped and much obliterated; and, from -their seeming a sort of double outline, and no shade or -colour but the yellow drapery on which they are painted, -I took them for an embroidery on the breast of the Barone. -Some remains of fingers and stalk, however, had led the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span> -Florentines to consider them as melograni, and they were -puzzling their brains to find a meaning....</p> - -<p>Your whole-length portrait of yourself is full of nature and -character, and therefore it must be very like: I thank you -for it. And here is mine:—a little thin old man, 54, formerly -dark, now very grey. Fond of fun, but not often tempted -to indulge in it, and seldom depressed. Living alone in an -old tower with two dogs only—a servant coming daily for -a few hours. Disliking much to go into company, and -especially to dress in cold weather, being slovenly even in -my younger days. I live very temperately and never take -wine. I am very active, more from lightness than strength, -for I feel the effects of years and illness. Just now I boast, -for I have had extraordinary health this autumn and winter. -I paint a little, and read a good deal. I ought to do more -in both, with opportunities and perfect liberty, but I am slow -and stupid. My memory, too, is weaker than it was.</p> - -<p>Lord Vernon has twice desired me to present his best -compliments and remembrances to you. He hopes you have -received his book (through Molini). There is an outline in -it from my tracing of Dante’s head, and, though it is not very -correct, it is the best yet done....</p> - -<p>When will your new edition of <i>Iddio e l’Uomo</i> come out? -I admired it much in its former state. Forgive the length of -this letter, and remember me to Eastlake and Keightley.</p> - -<p class="pr8">Believe me, with sincere affection,</p> -<p class="pr4">Your faithful friend,</p> -<p class="pr2"><span class="smcap">Seymour Kirkup</span>.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span></p> - -<p class="pc1 lmid"><span class="smcap">No. 4.</span>—<span class="smcap">Letters (or Extracts from Letters) from -Giuseppe Mazzini—Eleven to Rossetti, and one -to another Correspondent</span></p> - -<p class="p1">The following are the only letters from Mazzini that remain -among my father’s papers—except some other three or four, -too trifling to be printed. The originals are naturally in -Italian; the translation is mine. Letters A. and B. relate -to a certain Galassi and Vantini, whom I do not remember, -but the letters explain themselves well enough. Mention is -also made of a “little book” by my father, which was <i>Rome -towards the Middle of the Nineteenth Century</i>. Letters C, D, -and E, refer to a school which was got up in London, by -some leading resident Italians interested in the lot of their -fellow-countrymen, for the instruction of the poorer and -hitherto much neglected members of the colony—organ-grinders, -plaster-cast vendors, models, waiters, journeymen, etc. -The ice-cream purveyor did not exist at that remote date. -This school, held in the Hatton Garden quarter, went on -for some few years, dignified by the countenance of Mazzini, -and greatly indebted to the practical work of (among others) -Filippo Pistrucci, who was a painter, teacher, writer, and -improvisatore, brother of the celebrated medallist. Rossetti -of course concurred, but without taking any very active part. -Letters F, G, and H, refer mainly to a MS. which my father -wished to send to Paris—being, I take it, the selection of -his poems, many of them youthful, which were published -at Lausanne, under the title <i>Versi</i>. There is also some -mention of the Conte Giuseppe Ricciardi, named on p. 91 -of the present book. He belonged to the Mazzinian sect, -but sometimes kicked against the traces, and one can see -in the correspondence that the great chief found him on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span> -occasion a little exacting and tenacious. Letter I has reference -to a <i>fête</i> which Signor Giovanni Antonio Delavo, who -had erected a villa on the site of the Battle of Marengo, -got up on the anniversary of the conflict. He had induced -my father to write a poem for that commemoration; and -Mazzini, it seems, was invited to obtain the insertion, in some -English newspaper, of the poem, or of some other writing -connected with the occurrence. In this letter, and in the -following one (J), the observations about political events -deserve notice. The final letter (K) seems to belong to a -late date in 1848, and to imply that various Italians, including -Mazzini himself, had addressed the Swiss Diet in consequence -of some complications arising out of the Italian military -reverses, in conflict with the Austrians, towards the close of -that memorable year of unmeasured hopes and cruel disappointments.</p> - -<p>A few notes of my own on minor points are appended to the -correspondence.</p> - -<p>Besides the eleven letters to my father, I give one letter, -of far larger purport, which is quite unconnected with my -family. It was lately purchased by a daughter of mine, simply -as an autograph. On the purport of this document I need -not enlarge, as it speaks for itself. It stands numbered at -the close “15” in Mazzini’s handwriting, and would seem -therefore to be one missive in a sustained correspondence. -The recipient (or some one) has written upon it in Italian, -“Letter from Giuseppe Mazzini”; moreover, the peculiar -handwriting is quite unmistakable. It bears no date, and, -for reasons readily surmisable, no postmark. In the course -of the letter the addressee is spoken of as “My Corso”: -I presume, therefore, that his surname may have been Corso, -but this <i>might</i> also be a Christian name, or might merely<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span> -mean “Corsican.” A name is written by Mazzini on the -back of the letter; it has been partly inked over, and looks -to me more like “Mr Clare” than anything else.</p> - -<p>The letter shows that the addressee had some relations with -Vincenzo Gioberti, the celebrated Churchman and Minister of -State, whose leading work, <i>Il Primato d’Italia</i>, was published -in 1845. Perhaps 1846 or thereabouts may be the date of -the letter. It mentions Tommaseo, a multifarious man of -letters, whom English people may remember as having -written the inscription on Casa Guidi, Florence, for Mrs -Browning; Buonarroti, a member of the house of the great -Michelangelo; and Bozzelli, the Liberal politician in Naples, -who came to precarious power in 1848. My father has -mentioned him on p. 98. Libri appears to be the Librarian -of that name, settled in Paris, who succumbed under a charge -of serious frauds. The names of Malmusi and Bianco are -not recognized by me.</p> - -<h3 id="c157">A.</h3> - -<div class="pbq"> -<p class="pr2 p1"><span class="smcap">4 York Buildings, King’s Road, Chelsea.</span></p> -<p class="pr8"><i>28th March 1841.</i></p> - -<p><span class="smcap">My dear Signore Rossetti</span>,</p> - -<p class="pi12">You warmly recommended to Vantini -one of our brother exiles, Galassi. You recommended him -for some employment, and that is well. But to discover -an employment is a lengthy affair, and Galassi has not a -halfpenny in the world, and I, for the last month and a half, -have been assisting him so far as my means allow—or indeed -<i>don’t</i> allow. However, an expedient has offered, equally -acceptable to Galassi and to us—that of sending him to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span> -Spain. What between the friends that he has there, and -others whom we could obtain for him, and his knowledge -of the language, and other points, he would not find it -difficult to procure occupation; here, not understanding, -nor perhaps making himself understood, he would not succeed -in a hundred years. Also a ship has been found which would -convey him to Bilbao or Santander for a sum of £5; so -that, with some few other pounds to get along with at the -first start, Galassi might have a chance of better fortune. -Now the ship will leave on the 30th of this month, and -I can and will do my share—not the whole. Therefore I -appeal to you and to other good Italians. And from you, -as being better than many others, I wish for two things instead -of one; I would like that, if you <i>can</i>, you would inscribe -your name for some shillings on the accompanying subscription-list—and -that, if you <i>will</i>, you would write off to Vantini, -informing him that your client is preparing to depart, and -does not need to be assisted save this one time, and you -would send on the list to him. Vantini is indeed one of -the best-hearted of them, and this I know by experience. I -would myself write to him, but have recommended so many -to him that I dare no more. Besides, it seems to me better, -since <i>you</i> made the beginning, that you should bring this -good work to a close. None the less, I shall be grateful -to you, as if you undertook it now, and solely for my sake.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile I am greatly obliged to you for the little book -you sent me; good and useful. We perhaps do not wholly -agree as to the remedies to be applied to our Italy; but -certainly we do agree as to her wounds, and you do a beneficial -work in laying bare unremittingly one of the most -pernicious. For the rest, I trust in God that one day we -shall understand each other, and that you will be unwilling<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span> -to hold aloof from our National Association, now re-organized -in all quarters, and on the way to power.</p> - -<p class="pr4">Believe meantime in the affectionate esteem of your</p> -<p class="pr2"><span class="smcap">Giuseppe Mazzini</span>.</p> -</div> - -<h3 id="c159">B.</h3> - -<div class="pbq"> -<p class="pr2 p1"><span class="smcap">4 York Buildings, King’s Road, Chelsea.</span></p> -<p class="pr8">? 1841.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">My dear Signore Rossetti</span>,</p> - -<p class="pi12">I have managed with Vantini through a -different method; anyhow, I thank you for the intention, -and for what you did for my client.</p> - -<p>If you will send an order to Rolandi to deliver, to some -one on my behalf, a certain number of copies of your booklet, -I will send them, four days hence, by an opportunity to Spain. -At present I have no opportunity as to Switzerland, but I -have correspondents there; and, were the chance to present -itself to you sooner than to me, address to Signor Fanciola, -Postmaster at Locarno (Ticino) for “Signor Pietro Ol——”; -and the copies will be distributed in accordance with your -intentions.</p> - -<p>I have promised to send to a friend in New York the copy -of the Papal Excommunication of Carbonarism—launched, -I think, in 1820. Do you happen to know where I could -find it?</p> - -<p>I am aware of your circumstances;<a name="FNanchor_93_93" id="FNanchor_93_93"></a><a href="#Footnote_93_93" class="fnanchor">[93]</a> but what is requested<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span> -of you would be no more than the influence of your name -among the Italians who know you. The object is to have -you as our brother in our Association, so that to any inquirer -one could say—“All those who truly love the cause of their -country have comprehended that unity of country cannot -be founded without unity of association.” There would be -a slight monthly contribution fixed by yourself; there would -be (and this is the most serious condition, but, as you will -see, inevitable) the certainty that, in writing about our country, -you would leave off recommending monarchic constitutionalism, -and repeat with us: “May God and the People be the -salvation of Italy!” And these, for us who are abroad, are -about the only conditions of the Association. For the rest, -I believe that a copy of our <i>General Instruction</i>, given to you -by Pistrucci, has remained in your hands. The whole of our -thought is there expressed; and, if one day you feel able to -say “I accept it and make it mine,” you will be received -by us with joy and sincere brotherliness.</p> - -<p class="pr4">Meanwhile good-bye, and believe me</p> -<p class="pr8">Yours,</p> -<p class="pr2"><span class="smcap">Giuseppe Mazzini</span>.</p> - -<p class="p1">If you like, you should place at my disposal a certain -number of copies for Marseilles, and for Italy in that -direction; I will provide for their reaching.</p></div> - -<h3 id="c160">C.</h3> - - -<div class="pbq"> -<p class="pr4 p1"><span class="smcap">London</span>.</p> -<p class="pr2">? <i>November 1844.</i></p> - -<p><span class="smcap">My dear Signor Rossetti</span>,</p> - -<p class="pi12">I transcribe verbatim a letter -that I have received.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span></p> - -<p>“To Signori Rossetti, Pepoli,<a name="FNanchor_94_94" id="FNanchor_94_94"></a><a href="#Footnote_94_94" class="fnanchor">[94]</a> and Mazzini. A Special -Committee chosen by the Italian Working-men begs you -to come together on Sunday 4th December 1844, at the -hour and place most convenient to yourselves, to receive a -communication of high importance; and, in the confidence -that you will grant us this favour, we thank you meanwhile. -The members of the aforesaid Committee—Odoardo Villani, -G. B. Soldi, A. Berni, Giuseppe Gandolfini.”</p> - -<p>I don’t know anything about the object of the meeting. -I know the four signatories, and they are good worthy Italians. -In the impossibility, for lack of time, of corresponding as to -hour and place, I take the liberty of fixing for the meeting -my house, between 1 and 2 <span class="smcap">P.M.</span> I am notifying to Pepoli -and to them. Try and come if you can; or, if perchance -you cannot, write so as to relieve me of responsibility.</p> - -<p class="pr8">Believe me always</p> -<p class="pr6">Yours,</p> -<p class="pr2"><span class="smcap">Giuseppe Mazzini</span>.</p> -</div> - -<h3 id="c161">D.</h3> - -<div class="pbq"> -<p class="pr4 p1"><span class="smcap">4 York Buildings, Chelsea</span>.</p> -<p class="pr2">? <i>May 1845.</i></p> - -<p><span class="smcap">My dear Signor Rossetti</span>,</p> - -<p class="pi12">We have decided to have on an -early day in June a concert for the benefit of the school; -Pistrucci, I suppose, will give you all the particulars of the -project, or I will give them myself. You will then see how<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span> -far and in what way you may be able to aid towards a good -result. But meanwhile I have to beg you urgently for one -thing. I have a letter of introduction to Miss Kemble,<a name="FNanchor_95_95" id="FNanchor_95_95"></a><a href="#Footnote_95_95" class="fnanchor">[95]</a> -and I want to request her to sing: singing for a school is -quite a different thing from singing in a theatre. I know -that she at one time asked Giannone<a name="FNanchor_96_96" id="FNanchor_96_96"></a><a href="#Footnote_96_96" class="fnanchor">[96]</a> for a letter to you, -and that you saw her. I don’t know on what terms you have -remained with her, but, knowing <i>you</i>, I presume good terms. -Could you add a letter to the one which I hold? or could -you join me in a visit? or, if nothing else, write to her on -your own part?—and, in this last case, on Monday or Tuesday. -Thus assailed at one moment from two sides, she would -perhaps surrender.</p> - -<p>Whatever you decide, please oblige me with a couple of -words in reply, and with the lady’s present address,<a name="FNanchor_97_97" id="FNanchor_97_97"></a><a href="#Footnote_97_97" class="fnanchor">[97]</a> if you -can give this.</p> - -<p class="pr6">Wish me well, and believe me</p> -<p class="pr8">Your very affectionate</p> -<p class="pr2"><span class="smcap">Giuseppe Mazzini</span>.</p> -</div> - -<h3 id="c162">E.</h3> - -<div class="pbq"> -<p class="pr4 p1"><span class="smcap">108 High Holborn</span>.</p> -<p class="pr2"><i>31st October 1845.</i></p> - -<p><span class="smcap">My dear Signor Rossetti</span>,</p> - -<p class="pi12">Pistrucci told me that he would undertake -to beg you to allow your voice to be heard, in one way or -other, at the Anniversary of our School, 10th November.<a name="FNanchor_98_98" id="FNanchor_98_98"></a><a href="#Footnote_98_98" class="fnanchor">[98]</a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span> -Still, I will join to his my poor request. The fact of the -School is an Italian fact; and it ought, even with a view to the -English, to have the moral support of all Italians who, like -yourself, do honour to the name of our common country.</p> - -<p>Confiding in your willingness to hearken to our request, -believe, dear Signor Rossetti, in the full friendly esteem of</p> - -<p class="pr8">Yours,</p> -<p class="pr2"><span class="smcap">Giuseppe Mazzini</span>.</p> -</div> - -<h3 id="c163a">F.</h3> - -<div class="pbq"> -<p class="pr2 p1"><span class="smcap">19 Cropley Street, New North Road</span>.</p> -<p class="pr8">[? <i>January 1847</i>].</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Very dear Signor Rossetti</span>,</p> - -<p class="pi12">An opportunity has arisen. Will you give -the MS. to the bearer? He will be leaving to-morrow, or -at latest on Tuesday.</p> - -<p>I thank you for your good wishes for the year now commenced; -but I have no hope of joy, save one alone—that -of bearing witness in death, as I have endeavoured to do in -life, to my Italian faith. Pray that this may occur within -this year, and believe me always</p> - -<p class="pr6">Your much attached</p> -<p class="pr2"><span class="smcap">Giuseppe Mazzini</span>.</p> -</div> - -<h3 id="c163b">G.</h3> - -<div class="pbq"> -<p class="pr2 p1"><span class="smcap">19 Cropley Street, New North Road</span>.</p> -<p class="pr8">[? <i>January 1847</i>].</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">My dear Signor Rossetti</span>,</p> - -<p class="pi12">The Manuscript has gone off—not anything -else. Ricciardi, Janer, Pistrucci, will have patience, -and await other opportunities which I shall have towards<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span> -the end of the month. We cannot, for exhortations and -sonnets, be guilty of an indiscretion towards English travellers, -who consider they have stretched a point if they accept letters, -and are quite capable of throwing in your face a “Why not -employ a bookseller?”—which I should not like. However, -I undertake, for love of you, to get all the things off, but -distributing them among various travellers. A slight delay -will not spoil matters; nor will the exhortations to return -to Paris accelerate to any great extent the progress of French -civilization.</p> - -<p>I was unable to charge my traveller—an Englishman, -young, and an officer—with the eight shillings, for he would -probably have forgotten them. But I have written that you -had given them to me, to be paid to Ricciardi—and probably -they will be paid one of these days.</p> - -<p class="pr8">Believe me, with all esteem,</p> -<p class="pr6">Your much attached</p> -<p class="pr2"><span class="smcap">Giuseppe Mazzini</span>.</p> -</div> - -<h3 id="c164">H.</h3> - -<div class="pbq"> -<p class="pr2 p1"><span class="smcap">17 Cropley Street, New North Road</span>.</p> -<p class="pr8"><i>8th February</i> [1847].</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">My dear Signor Rossetti</span>,</p> - -<p class="pi12">To your MS. has happened what often -happens to our Italian affairs: in trying to do good, one -does harm. If we had waited patiently for that Italian -traveller of mine of the 24th January, the MS. would at -this date be in Paris. But, urged on by my own wishes, -and also by the strong pressure, I seized the opportunity of -an Englishman, Captain Boulton, and consigned the volume -to him. He, as he said, was to leave on the following day.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span> -And, knowing nothing to the contrary, I supposed him to -have departed, in fact; until, five or six days ago, becoming -suspicious from the silence of my correspondents, and -making active quest for the officer, I found that owing to -some family incident or other he had deferred his departure, -and had indeed gone off to the country—whence he writes -that he will be leaving in seven days!!</p> - -<p>You should, therefore, be under no alarm for the MS. Like -yourself, I regret the delay, but it is not my fault. If, earlier -than the seven days, I get an opportunity, I will see that the -MS. goes off before the officer; if not, not.</p> - -<p>I felt anxious to reply to you about the MS., as the matter -of most importance. As to Ricciardi’s eight copies, please -inform Ricciardi that one can’t tell a tourist, “Take with you -a boxful of things”; that it is a miracle if I found some one -to convey the eight; that, sooner or later, I shall find some -one to convey the others; and that moreover I would not -have undertaken, except for wishing to do a service to you -whom I greatly esteem, to send off either the eight or the -sixteen. Neither would I set going from Paris to London, -and then from London to Paris, copies of my own performances, -but would order them to be burned or given away.</p> - -<p class="pr8">And believe me ever</p> -<p class="pr4">Your much attached and affectionate</p> -<p class="pr2"><span class="smcap">Giuseppe Mazzini</span>.</p> -</div> - -<h3 id="c165">I.</h3> - -<div class="pbq"> -<p class="pr2 p1"><span class="smcap">19 Cropley Street, New North Road</span>.</p> -<p class="pr8">? <i> May 1847.</i></p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Dear Signor Rossetti</span>,</p> - -<p class="pi12">I cannot succeed in the endeavour. Among -the leading newspapers, I had no hope save in the <i>Morning<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span> -Chronicle</i>, and this one declines. The quantity of matter, -electoral movements, literary articles already promised, etc., -form the pretext. The true reason, I think, is that the -apotheosis of Napoleon has no grateful sound to English reminiscences. -Besides, a short paragraph upon the celebration -of the 6th<a name="FNanchor_99_99" id="FNanchor_99_99"></a><a href="#Footnote_99_99" class="fnanchor">[99]</a> had already received insertion in several journals -when your letter arrived, and they are not fond of repetitions.</p> - -<p>For myself, I, as you know, do not believe in King nor in -Pope: I believe in God and in ourselves. They may do -what they choose, and try to compromise Charles Albert<a name="FNanchor_100_100" id="FNanchor_100_100"></a><a href="#Footnote_100_100" class="fnanchor">[100]</a> -in the face of Austria by every means: the rabbit will not -be changed into a lion. I say rabbit, and might say fox. -To celebrate Marengo, a battle won by an Italian but in the -name and under the banner of the French nation, while -we have the Austrians our masters two paces off, savours -to me of bragging rather than of patriotism. I see these -demonstrations with pleasure, because they furnish an occasion -for impressing on the people, who know not, the name -of Italy, and that of her oppressors; but, as an individual, -I feel inclined to smile with a trifle of bitterness. In -Piedmont the rabbit is now in the vein of reaction; and not -only the suppression of the subscription,<a name="FNanchor_101_101" id="FNanchor_101_101"></a><a href="#Footnote_101_101" class="fnanchor">[101]</a> but that of the -Family-readings conceded to the Jesuits, and other recent -acts, speak clearly enough. However, we shall see.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span></p> - -<p>I keep the letter for another two days, for a final endeavour; -afterwards, I shall return it to you. Meanwhile believe me -always</p> - -<p class="pr6">Your much attached and affectionate</p> -<p class="pr2"><span class="smcap">Giuseppe Mazzini</span>.</p> -</div> - -<h3 id="c167">J.</h3> - -<p>[The reference to Ricciardi’s book follows on more or less -from what appears in two previous letters. The book may -possibly have been a predictive <i>History of Italy from 1850 -to 1900</i>, which was published in 1842. This letter, written -in the great year of European revolutions, 1848, belongs, -I suppose, to a very early date in that year; perhaps prior -to the insurrection in Paris, which began on 23rd February. -There had been some disturbances in Milan on 3rd January, -and a rising in Messina from 6th January. On 22nd February -martial law was proclaimed in Lombardy by the Austrians.]</p> - -<div class="pbq"> -<p class="pr2 p1"><span class="smcap">19 Cropley Street, New North Road</span>.</p> -<p class="pr8">? <i>February 1848.</i></p> - -<p><span class="smcap">My dear Signor Rossetti</span>,</p> - -<p class="pi12">I send you by Parcels Delivery -Company ten copies of Ricciardi’s book, admiring our friend’s -tenacity of memory, especially in this time of events. These -are the only copies that I find in my possession. If I <i>had</i> -a larger number, the Italian friends who during the long -interval have been frequenting my house must have appropriated -them with no great ceremony, much as they appropriate -my own books. None the less, if ever Ricciardi were to -complain, I declare myself ready to pay the expense of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span> -copies deficient. I ought to have been on the watch, but -that is not my habit.</p> - -<p>The affairs of Italy are going and will go on their right -course—that is, to the expulsion of the Austrians from the -Lombardo-Venetian territory. The Sicilian insurrection has -done more for the Italian cause, in a few days of popular -action, than two years of petitioning.</p> - -<p class="pr8">Believe me always</p> -<p class="pr4">Your much attached</p> -<p class="pr2"><span class="smcap">Giuseppe Mazzini</span>.</p> -</div> - -<h3 id="c168a">K.</h3> - -<div class="pbq"> -<p class="pr2 p1"><span class="smcap">19 Cropley Street, New North Road</span>.</p> -<p class="pr8">? <i>November 1848.</i></p> - -<p><span class="smcap">My dear Signor Rossetti</span>,</p> - -<p class="pi12">Here is the Address which we -sent to the Swiss Diet. I will add that a discussion on -military capitulations was in consequence started in the -Diet by the Ticino and the Bas-Valais; a discussion which, -as befalls everything important in that Central (not Government -but) mis-Government, was not settled, but held over -(as they say) <i>ad referendum</i>.</p> - -<p>Make any use of me that I can manage, and believe me -always</p> - -<p class="pr8">Your much attached</p> -<p class="pr2"><span class="smcap">Giuseppe Mazzini</span>.</p> -</div> - -<h3 id="c168b">L.</h3> - -<p class="pc1"><span class="smcap">To “Corso”</span></p> - - -<div class="pbq"> -<p><span class="smcap">Brother</span>,</p> - -<p class="pi12">I have received yours of the 8th. That I -should write to you at much length on the subject of your<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span> -letter is not possible. You, however, will certainly not suppose -that I evade the discussion, nor that I do not set a right -value on your convictions, or do not care about them. No -indeed; and you are mistaken in fancying that your frankness -of speech could ever offend me. If you but knew how the -religion of truth is the religion for me! and how much any -real conviction inspires me with respect, if not assent! But -this is not a question to be disposed of in a few letters; nor -have I time, beset as I am by a thousand distractions through -my dream of Italian initiative, to enter on a discussion. And, -if I ever have time, I shall compose, I confess to you, a whole -volume—but I shall never publish it, unless a Republican -revolution should have broken out. For the present, I -understand this latest reaction in favour of Christianity, and -I see it to be necessary, and acknowledge it as useful. -A true knowledge of Christianity—its nature, its mission—will -follow from this study. Just as, in my view, <i>reform</i> must -naturally precede the securing of independence, liberty, and -equality, in political dogma, so do I believe that the political -synthesis, or at any rate a glimpse of this synthesis, must, in -the new epoch, precede in renovated Europe the manifestation -of the religious synthesis of the epoch. Rights were of -yore individual; and it was natural that first the <i>individual</i> -should be emancipated, that the <i>instrument</i> should be formed -to acquire an application of those rights in the political -department. At the present time the reverse is the case. -The question is that of the <i>social</i> synthesis. The <i>instrument</i> -is no longer the <i>individual</i>, but the people. Therefore the -people, which is to secure the religious formula, requires to -be <i>constituted</i>: therefore a political revolution before the -religious one.</p> - -<p>Only, you know what I have always said: like advanced<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span> -scouts, secret sentinels of human nature, <i>intelligences</i> must -begin to proclaim that they descry the <i>new lands</i> and the -new law. And therefore I should have supposed you to -be among them; and I still believe that you will be among -them later on. Meanwhile, as you think that my efforts -(and be it observed that I am doing nothing) are to subserve -the triumph of Christianity, so do I think that yours are to -subserve the triumph of the new synthesis, the <i>social</i> synthesis, -philosophy merged into religion: because—I do not deny -it—my “harmonized dualism” is precisely this harmonizing -of philosophy with religion—two things which hitherto have -been at odds, and which will end by coalescing. Yours is, -without your perceiving it, an eclecticism and no more. Your -<i>quid tertium</i>, neither <i>catholic</i> nor <i>primitive</i> (two distinctions -as to which I should have much to say), is an Utopia, or -rather a chimera. You don’t perceive that that which you -call <i>primitive</i> is at bottom nothing except Christianity in the -soul, not any social form; that the second epoch—<i>i.e.</i> -Catholicism—is rightly the application of Christianity to -society; and that the Reformation—a cynical movement, -whatever you may say about it—came, in fact, to say of -Christianity: “You are not susceptible of any social application, -of any national unity, because you are an individualistic -formula and no more: stay you in your proper sphere.”</p> - -<p>You and I, I perceive, regard the Reformation, and all -things, from different points of view.</p> - -<p>And now see what is the outcome of the idea, “Christianity -is an <i>eternal</i> religion, an unique religious synthesis.” And -what of mankind prior to Christianity? Oh in what sense -do you understand God, if you admit that He gave the unique -eternal synthesis some thousands of years after the race had -been created? And the unity of the mind of God? A<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span> -progressive law at the beginning, and an eternal synthesis -later on? But no more of this; you go too far. Believing -as I do, with yourself, in continuous progression, there ought -to be between us only a question of time, but never a denial -of a new synthesis when the time comes. <i>Christianity asserts -its perfection and eternity as a fundamental principle: therefore -you cannot, without destroying it, say that it is not the -whole of truth.</i> But once again, no more of this. Christianity -had to profess itself perfect and eternal, and I even admit -that. But when did Christianity ever affect to be a social -religion? <i>That</i> is the question. Christianity is the formula -of the individual, and as such is eternal and perfect to my -thinking—for that formula is what no one can nullify. It -means liberty and equality; and who can ever henceforth -exclude those two bases of progress from the progress of the -future? Christianity therefore will endure. Only, behind -that formula one seeks for another—the social. Where is -the contradiction?</p> - -<p>Tell me, my Corso, with your hand on your heart. To the -arguments which I scatter in my letters, hurried, unconnected, -and almost sportive, the true fruit of profound convictions, -and which you (permit me to say) shirk a little in your replies, -have you anything to oppose? Do not some of the things -which I say, if you think them over seriously, cast some -doubts on your mind?</p> - -<p>As to what you cite to me, regarding miracles, and the -resurrection of Christ, etc., I will not discuss to-day; but I -confess to you, it seems to me strange that you should regard -those as being irrevocably proved in history.</p> - -<p>I say it seriously, some one will come to furbish up my -ideas, without knowing that I advocated them. I am more -than likely to die without doing this, because I am conscious<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span> -of my mission, and I know the duration of it—and I know -that it is not I who will wage the war. Truth means to -run her course, and she will do it; but I shall not lay the -foundation-stone of the edifice—I have no future. I have -discerned, but it is not given to me to do more; therefore -I still devote these my days to a work very inferior to that -which my longings would have sought for—the actual production -of the instrument. I am neither more nor less -than a political revolutionist, and to this I resign myself. -Would that I may at least be that, and wrench this Italy -that I love out of the mire in which she lies, set her freed -face to face with her destinies, and say to her, “Now make -them yours.”</p> - -<p>As you see, I am writing to Gioberti. Writing thus to -all and sundry begins to weigh upon me. I have moments -of <i>spleen</i>, of individualism which rebels; and at those -moments I seem to myself to be playing the prostitute, and -making Italian liberty play the like part. For if you but -knew how many letters, and these to intellects so-called, -and all useless! But these are moments of irritation, arising -out of what I have myself been suffering these three years, -and this is more than you suppose, and you know it not, -and never will know it. Then I return to myself; and, -where I can see any little advantage, any symptom of duty, -I submit and write.</p> - -<p>Hand also the enclosed lines to Tommaseo, who, like -others, does not understand me, and does not understand -the situation in which we are.</p> - -<p>Have you seen Libri? You will tell me that I am pertinacious; -this is true. But all those who desert me, without -any fault of mine against them, and without my being even -able to guess the reason, cause me real pain.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span></p> - -<p>If you know Malmusi, or can get at any one who knows -him, don’t forget to tell him that for the love of God he -should reassure me concerning the arrival of certain letters -of mine: his silence troubles me.</p> - -<p>Of politics I say nothing, as I do not mean to speak about -them until the first half of the month of October; then I -shall have data from which to speak. Meanwhile I repeat -to you what I told you.</p> - -<p>Did you ever see Buonarroti? Do you know where Bianco -is? Of him I know nothing of late, and I am anxious to -write to him. Do they ever write to you from Turin? What -Italians are you acquainted with? Bozzelli?</p> - -<p class="pr8">Wish well to your</p> -<p class="pr2"><span class="smcap">Strozzi</span>.</p> - -<p class="p1">Put an envelope on the letter to Gioberti. Write to me -what reception he gives it. Pray excuse.<a name="FNanchor_102_102" id="FNanchor_102_102"></a><a href="#Footnote_102_102" class="fnanchor">[102]</a></p> -</div> - -<p class="pc1 lmid"><span class="smcap">No. 5.</span>—<span class="smcap">Six Poems by Gabriele Rossetti</span></p> - -<p class="p1">[I give here six specimens of my father’s powers as a poet. -Setting aside <i>San Paolo in Malta</i>, which is only an improvise, -it may be said that in all these instances the verses rank -among his choice things; though many others could be -quoted not inferior. The dates which I give may be regarded -as correct, unless as to the final sonnet, regarding which I -am uncertain.</p> - -<p>The lyric, <i>Aurora del 21 Luglio del 1820</i>, was, as I have -before said, extremely celebrated in its time; and the <i>Addio<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span> -alla Patria</i> has always been an admired piece. The <i>San -Paolo in Malta</i> is referred to at p. 61, and testifies to -Rossetti’s uncommon power as an Improvisatore; being as -it is in <i>terza rima</i>, each rhyme is triplicated, and thus the improvising -effort was all the more arduous.</p> - -<p>I leave these poems to the perusal of such readers as -are acquainted with Italian. To try to translate them would -be little else than to scheme deliberately to spoil them.]</p> - -<h3 id="c174">A.</h3> - -<p class="pc1"><span class="smcap">Ad Amore</span></p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">Alato bambino,</p> -<p class="pp7">Tiranno de’ cuori,<br /> -Ch’io segua il cammino<br /> -Che innanzi m’infiori?<br /> -Unendomi teco<br /> -Ch’io veggio sì cieco,<br /> -Oh quanto sarei<br /> -Più cieco di te!</p> -<p class="pp6">Pur troppo gemei,</p> -<p class="pp7">Fanciullo inumano!<br /> -Ma i lacci funesti<br /> -Che al piè mi cingesti<br /> -Del Tempo la mano<br /> -Mi sciolse dal piè.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">A credulo cuore</p> -<p class="pp7">Tu scaltro dispensi<br /> -Contento ed ardore<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span>Che inebbriano i sensi:<br /> -Ma in mezzo al contento<br /> -Prepari il tormento;<br /> -L’ardor ti precede,<br /> -Ti segue il languor.</p> -<p class="pp6">Nè l’alma si avvede</p> -<p class="pp7">Del passo imprudente<br /> -Che quando a fuggire<br /> -Le manca l’ardire,<br /> -Che quando si sente<br /> -Già vinta dal cuor.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">Quel dì che sul mondo</p> -<p class="pp7">Vagisti bambino,<br /> -Un cenno iracondo<br /> -Del sordo Destino<br /> -Di face ferale<br /> -La destra immortale<br /> -Di penne funeste<br /> -Il dorso ti armò.</p> -<p class="pp6">Le penne son queste,</p> -<p class="pp7">O nume fallace,<br /> -Che a Pari infedele<br /> -Gonfiaron le vele,<br /> -E questa è la face<br /> -Che Troia bruciò.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">Tu godi, o tiranno,</p> -<p class="pp7">Di sparger la terra<br /> -Di gioia, d’affanno,<br /> -Di pace, di guerra;<br /> -Ma finta è la pace,<br /> -La guerra è verace,</p> -<p class="pp6">L’affanno rimane,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span></p> -<p class="pp7">La gioia sen va.<br /> -Insidie sì strane<br /> -Ci ordisci, ci tendi,<br /> -Che a render prigione<br /> -L’augusta Ragione,<br /> -Tuoi complici rendi<br /> -Ingegno e Beltà.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">Chi crede a’ tuoi detti</p> -<p class="pp7">Ne attenda la fine;<br /> -Le rose prometti<br /> -Per dargli le spine:<br /> -Ben sento che giova<br /> -Saperlo per prova;<br /> -Ma troppo al mio cuore</p> -<p class="pp6">Tal prova costò.</p> -<p class="pp7">La via del dolore<br /> -Io teco calcava;<br /> -Ma in mezzo del corso<br /> -Intesi il Rimorso<br /> -Che <i>ferma</i>, gridava,<br /> -Ma tardi gridò.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">Quel giorno che il velo</p> -<p class="pp7">Mi cadde dal ciglio,<br /> -Rimasi di gelo<br /> -Scorgendo il periglio:<br /> -Sul velo squarciato,<br /> -Sul laccio spezzato,<br /> -Il canto innalzai</p> -<p class="pp6"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span>Di mia libertà.</p> -<p class="pp7">Ah libero omai<br /> -Dal giogo abborrito,<br /> -Sull’ara tua stessa<br /> -Crollata, depressa,<br /> -Innalzo pentito<br /> -L’altar d’Amistà.</p> - -<p>1813.</p> - -<h3 id="c177a">B.</h3> - -<p class="pc1"><span class="smcap">Versi d’Amore</span></p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">Dal tuo leggiadro viso</p> -<p class="pp7">Il mio destin dipende:<br /> -D’ugual desio mi accende</p> -<p class="pp8">Il tuo desio.</p> -<p class="pp7">Dal labbro tuo soltanto</p> -<p class="pp6">Ha questo labbro il riso:</p> -<p class="pp7">Ha dal tuo ciglio il pianto</p> -<p class="pp8">Il ciglio mio.</p> - -<p> -1814.<br /> -</p> - -<h3 id="c177b">C.</h3> - -<p class="pc1"><span class="smcap">Aurora del 21 Luglio del 1820</span></p> - -<p class="pp7 p1">Sei pur bella cogli astri sul crine</p> -<p class="pp6">Che scintillan quai vivi zaffiri,<br /> -È pur dolce quel fiato che spiri,</p> -<p class="pp7">Porporina foriera del dì.</p> -<p class="pp6">Col sorriso del pago desio<br /> -Tu ci annunzii dal balzo vicino<br /> -Che d’Italia nell’almo giardino<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span>Il servaggio per sempre finì.</p> - -<p class="pp7 p1">Il rampollo d’Enrico e di Carlo,</p> -<p class="pp6">Ei ch’ad ambo cotanto somiglia,<br /> -Oggi estese la propria famiglia,<br /> -E non servi ma figli bramò.</p> -<p class="pp7">Volontario distese la mano</p> -<p class="pp6">Sul volume de’ patti segnati;<br /> -E il volume de’ patti giurati<br /> -Della patria sull’ara posò.</p> - -<p class="pp7 p1">Una selva di lance si scosse</p> -<p class="pp6">All’invito del bellico squillo,<br /> -Ed all’ombra del sacro vessillo<br /> -Un sol voto discorde non fù.</p> -<p class="pp7">E fratelli si strinser le mani,</p> -<p class="pp6">Dauno, Irpino, Lucano, Sannita;<br /> -Non estinta ma solo sopita<br /> -Era in essi l’antica virtù.</p> - -<p class="pp7 p1">Ma qual suono di trombe festive!</p> -<p class="pp6">Chi s’avanza fra cento coorti?<br /> -Ecco il forte che riede tra i forti,<a name="FNanchor_103_103" id="FNanchor_103_103"></a><a href="#Footnote_103_103" class="fnanchor">[103]</a><br /> -Che la patria congiunse col re!</p> -<p class="pp7">Oh qual pompa! Le armate falangi</p> -<p class="pp6">Sembran fiumi che inondin le strade!<br /> -Ma su tante migliaia di spade<br /> -Una macchia di sangue non v’è.</p> - -<p class="pp7 p1">Lieta scena! Chi plaude, chi piange,</p> -<p class="pp6">Chi diffonde vïole e giacinti,<br /> -Vincitori confusi coi vinti<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span>Avvicendano il bacio d’amor!</p> -<p class="pp7">Dalla reggia passando al tugurio</p> -<p class="pp6">Non più finta la gioia festeggia;<br /> -Dal tugurio tornando alla reggia<br /> -Quella gioia si rende maggior.</p> - -<p class="pp7 p1">Genitrici de’ forti campioni</p> -<p class="pp6">Convocati dal sacro stendardo,<br /> -Che cercate col pavido sguardo?<br /> -Non temete, chè tutti son quì.</p> -<p class="pp7">Non ritornan da terra nemica,</p> -<p class="pp6">Istrumenti di regio misfatto,<br /> -Ma dal campo del vostro riscatto,<br /> -Dove il ramo di pace fiorì.</p> - -<p class="pp7 p1">O beata fra tante donzelle,</p> -<p class="pp6">O beata la ninfa che vede<br /> -Fra que’ prodi l’amante che riede<br /> -Tutto sparso di nobil sudor!</p> -<p class="pp7">Il segreto dell’alma pudica</p> -<p class="pp6">Le si affaccia sul volto rosato,<br /> -Ed il premio finora negato<br /> -La bellezza prepara al valor.</p> - -<p class="pp7 p1">Cittadini, posiamo sicuri</p> -<p class="pp6">Sotto l’ombra de’ lauri mietuti,<br /> -Ma coi pugni sui brandi temuti<br /> -Stiamo in guardia del patrio terren.</p> -<p class="pp7">Nella pace prepara la guerra</p> -<p class="pp6">Chi da saggio previene lo stolto:<br /> -Ci sorrida la pace sul volto,<br /> -Ma ci frema la guerra nel sen.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span></p> - -<p class="pp7 p1">Che guardate, gelosi stranieri?</p> -<p class="pp6">Non uscite dai vostri burroni,<br /> -Chè la stirpe dei prischi leoni<br /> -Più nel sonno languente non è.</p> -<p class="pp7">Adorate le vostre catene;</p> -<p class="pp6">Chi v’invidia cotanto tesoro?<br /> -Ma lasciate tranquilli coloro<br /> -Che disdegnan sentirsele al piè.</p> - -<p class="pp7 p1">Se verrete, le vostre consorti,</p> -<p class="pp6">Imprecando ai vessilli funesti,<br /> -Si preparin le funebri vesti,<br /> -Chè speranza per esse non v’ha.</p> -<p class="pp7">Sazierete la fame de’ corvi,</p> -<p class="pp6">Mercenarie falangi di schiavi;<br /> -In chi pugna pe’ dritti degli avi<br /> -Divien cruda la stessa pietà.</p> - -<p class="pp7 p1">Una spada di libera mano</p> -<p class="pp6">È saetta di Giove tonante,<br /> -Ma nel pugno di servo tremante<br /> -Come canna vacilla l’acciar.</p> -<p class="pp7">Fia trionfo la morte per noi,</p> -<p class="pp6">Fia ruggito l’estremo sospiro;<br /> -Le migliaia di Persia fuggiro,<br /> -I trecento di Sparta restâr!</p> - -<p class="pp7 p1">E restaron coi brandi ne’ pugni</p> -<p class="pp6">Sopra mucchi di corpi svenati,<br /> -E que’ pugni, quantunque gelati,<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span>Rassembravan disposti a ferir.</p> -<p class="pp7">Quello sdegno passava nel figlio</p> -<p class="pp6">Cui fù culla lo scudo del padre,<br /> -Ed al figlio diceva la madre,<br /> -“Quest’esempio tu devi seguir.”</p> - -<p class="pp7 p1">O tutrice dei dritti dell’uomo,</p> -<p class="pp6">Che sorridi sul giogo spezzato,<br /> -È pur giunto quel giorno beato<br /> -Che un monarca t’innalza l’altar!</p> -<p class="pp7">Tu sul Tebro fumante di sangue</p> -<p class="pp6">Passeggiavi qual nembo fremente,<br /> -Ma serena qual’alba ridente<br /> -Sul Sebeto t’assidi a regnar.</p> - -<p class="pp7 p1">Una larva col santo tuo nome</p> -<p class="pp6">Quì sen venne con alta promessa;<br /> -Noi, credendo che fossi tu stessa,<br /> -Adorammo la larva di te:</p> -<p class="pp7">Ma, nel mentre fra gl’inni usurpati</p> -<p class="pp6">Sfavillava di luce fallace,<br /> -Ella sparve qual sogno fugace,<br /> -Le catene lasciandoci al piè.</p> - -<p class="pp7 p1">Alla fine tu stessa venisti</p> -<p class="pp6">Non ombrata da minimo velo,<br /> -Ed un raggio disceso dal cielo<br /> -Sulla fronte ti veggio brillar.</p> -<p class="pp7">Coronata di gigli perenni,</p> -<p class="pp6">Alla terra servendo d’esempio,<br /> -Tu scegliesti la reggia per tempio,<br /> -Ove il trono ti serve d’altar.</p> - -<p>1820.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="c182">D.</h3> - -<p class="pc1"><span class="smcap">Addio alla Patria</span></p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">Nella notte più serena<br /> -Era in ciel la luna piena:<br /> -Neve il dorso e fiamma il crin<br /> -Riflettea dal mar vicin<br /> -Il Vesèvo che grandeggia<br /> -Come reggia—di Vulcan:<br /> -D’arme grave—anglica nave<br /> -Trascorrea l’equoreo pian.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">Quando il profugo cantore,<br /> -La cui colpa è il patrio amore,<br /> -Atteggiato di martir,<br /> -Schiuse il labbro ad un sospir<br /> -E qual flebile usignuolo,<br /> -Il suo duolo—a disfogar,<br /> -Dal naviglio—volse il ciglio<br /> -La sua terra a salutar.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">O Partenope, egli dice,<br /> -O Partenope infelice,<br /> -Di tua gloria il chiaro dì<br /> -Quasi al nascere morì!<br /> -Ah dal cor t’indrizzo i carmi<br /> -Nel sottrarmi—a reo poter,<br /> -E nel bando—miserando<br /> -Sarai sempre il mio pensier!</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">Rè fellon che ci tradisti,<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span>Tu rapisci e non racquisti:<br /> -Maledetto, o rè fellon,<br /> -Sii dall’austro all’aquilon!<br /> -Maledetto ogni malnato<br /> -Che ha tramato—insiem con te!<br /> -Maledetto—ogni soggetto<br /> -Che ti lambe il sozzo piè!</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">Ti sien contro in ogni loco<br /> -Cielo e terra, mare e foco,<br /> -Nè dien tregua a un infedel<br /> -Foco e mare, terra e ciel!<br /> -Sì, ti faccian sempre guerra<br /> -Cielo e terra—foco e mar!<br /> -Ti stia scritto—il tuo delitto<br /> -Sulla mensa e sull’altar!</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">Traditor, da quel momento<br /> -Che infrangesti il giuramento,<br /> -Cento stili, o traditor,<br /> -Tendon’ avidi al tuo cor...<br /> -Deh frenate il santo sdegno,<br /> -Non n’è degno—un cor brutal,<br /> -E saetta—di vendetta<br /> -Tenga il luogo del pugnal!</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">Che pel fulmine di Dio<br /> -De’ suoi falli ei paghi il fio,<br /> -Ma di Bruto il sacro stil<br /> -Onorar non dee quel vil!<br /> -No, non abbia il vil la gloria<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span>Che la storia—dica un dì:<br /> -Il nefando—Ferdinando<br /> -Come Cesare perì!</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">Mesta Italia, io ti saluto:<br /> -Qual momento hai tu perduto!<br /> -Quel momento, o Dio, chi sà<br /> -Se mai più ritornerà?<br /> -Già sorgea ringiovanita<br /> -L’impigrita—tua virtù...<br /> -Come mai—tornar potrai<br /> -Al languor di servitù?</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">Deh perchè non farla, o Sorte,<br /> -O men bella, o almen più forte?<br /> -L’astringesti ad invocar<br /> -Lo straniero infido acciar,<br /> -Onde o vinta o vincitrice<br /> -L’infelice—ognor servì,<br /> -E impugnando—estraneo brando<br /> -Sè medesma ognor ferì.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">Ah crudel, se a questa terra<br /> -Far volevi eterna guerra,<br /> -Perchè darle poi, crudel,<br /> -Questo suolo e questo ciel?<br /> -Quì le vergini di Giove<br /> -Tutte e nove—apriro il vol,<br /> -Quì sfavilla—la scintilla<br /> -Che Prometeo tolse al sol.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">Surse quì la face aurata<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span>Sull’Europa ottenebrata,<br /> -E l’Europa a quel fulgor<br /> -Si scotea dal suo torpor.<br /> -Cento doti, Italia bella,<br /> -Lieta stella—a te largì;<br /> -Ahi t’invola—quella sola<br /> -Che ti fea regina un dì!</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">Libertà, tu fuggi? Ed io...<br /> -Io ti seguo; Italia, addio!<br /> -Libertà, non mai da te,<br /> -Mai non fia ch’io torca il piè!<br /> -Oh se un dì farai ritorno,<br /> -In quel giorno—anch’io verrò;<br /> -Ma infelice—il cor mi dice<br /> -Che mai più non tornerò!</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">Sì dicea; ma l’igneo monte<br /> -Decrescea nell’orizzonte,<br /> -E la luna in mezzo al ciel<br /> -S’era ascosa in grigio vel.<br /> -Par che stia con veste oscura<br /> -La Natura—a dolorar,<br /> -Par lamento—il flebil vento,<br /> -Par singulto il rotto mar.</p> - -<p class="pp6 p1">Addio, terra sventurata!...<br /> -Ma la terra era celata.<br /> -Ei nel duol che l’aggravò<br /> -Chinò ’l capo e singhiozzò.<br /> -Ahi l’amor della sua terra,<br /> -Ahi qual guerra—in sen gli fà!<br /> -Infelice!—il cor gli dice<br /> -Che mai più non tornerà!</p> - -<p><i>24 Giugno 1821.</i></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span></p> - -<h3 id="c186">E.</h3> - -<p class="pc1"><span class="smcap">San Paolo in Malta</span>—<i>Canto Improvvisato</i></p> - -<p class="pp6i p1">Poichè l’onda varcai non mai tranquilla<br /> -Ove spiran talor venti insoavi,<br /> -Fra cui Cariddi freme e latra Scilla,</p> -<p class="pp6i">Scilla e Cariddi che le intere navi<br /> -Ingoian nelle viscere petrose,<br /> -E ne vomitan poi le rotte travi,</p> -<p class="pp6i">Oltre l’etnee voragini fumose,<br /> -A cui perpetuo april le balze infiora,<br /> -Solcai dell’afro mar le strade ondose.</p> -<p class="pp6i">In porpora augural sorgea l’aurora,<br /> -Quando un’isola apparve al punto istesso<br /> -A me che meditava in su la prora;</p> -<p class="pp6i">Isola che in offrir facile accesso<br /> -L’Africa con l’Europa in sè marita,<br /> -A due parti del mondo uscita e ingresso;</p> -<p class="pp6i">Isola che bilingue e tripartita<br /> -Il passeggier nel suo cammin navale<br /> -Con quattro porti a riposarsi invita.</p> -<p class="pp6i">Già vi scendea del mio desir sull’ale,<br /> -Quando dall’alto udii voce tonante:<br /> -“Scrivi quel che vedrai, scrivi, o mortale!”</p> -<p class="pp6i">Levai sorpreso il pallido sembiante,<br /> -E scender vidi nuvola d’argento<br /> -Che agli occhi mi vibrò balen fiammante:</p> -<p class="pp6i">E dopo un giro vorticoso e lento<br /> -Un cittadin del ciel mi dischiudea,<br /> -E tal che ancor lo veggio, ancor lo sento.</p> -<p class="pp6i">Gran parte delle sfere onde scendea<br /> -Avea nel volto, e lunga fluttuando<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span>Sfioccata barba al petto suo pendea.</p> -<p class="pp6i">Un pallio sinuoso e venerando<br /> -Lo panneggiava, e avea tra fiero e pio<br /> -Un libro in una man, nell’altra un brando.</p> -<p class="pp6i">All’inspirato suo decor natio<br /> -Riconobbi il maestro delle genti,<br /> -Vaso d’elezïon, lingua di Dio,</p> -<p class="pp6i">Colui che or con ragioni, or con portenti,<br /> -Apostolo e filosofo, fu vago<br /> -Ne’ varj climi illuminar le menti.</p> -<p class="pp6i">E poichè offrì la venerata imago<br /> -Del Verbo Eterno in Efeso e Corinto,<br /> -Mostrò l’ignoto Dio nell’Areopago;</p> -<p class="pp6i">Ed in Damasco dalla grazia vinto,<br /> -Da nemico di Dio fattone messo,<br /> -Ancor vivente al terzo ciel fu spinto.</p> -<p class="pp6i">Nel ravvisarlo al vivido riflesso,<br /> -Di riverenza l’anima ripiena,<br /> -Mutolo al piè gli caddi e genuflesso.</p> -<p class="pp6i">L’accerchiata di rai fronte serena<br /> -Paolo abbassando allor: “Sorgi,” mi disse,<br /> -“O figliuol dell’armonica sirena,</p> -<p class="pp6i">Sorgi e respira. Io so quanto soffrisse<br /> -Di tempeste il tuo cor che un porto chiede,<br /> -E un porto il fausto ciel già ti prefisse.</p> -<p class="pp6i">Quell’isola gentil che là si vede<br /> -Curvar flavo e petroso il fianco aprico,<br /> -Cui basso il mar lambe amoroso il piede,</p> -<p class="pp6i">Al tuo vagar fia di ricetto amico.<br /> -Bella ospitalità pronta ai soccorsi<br /> -Colà si annida, ed io per prova il dico;</p> -<p class="pp6i">Chè poichè Saulo caddi e Paolo sorsi,<br /> -E la spada in gettar presi la penna,<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span>Vangelizzando l’Orïente io corsi,</p> -<p class="pp6i">E quella Fè ch’anche gli stolti assenna,<br /> -Fuggendo la tirannide feroce,<br /> -Meco salì sulla velata antenna;</p> -<p class="pp6i">E ovunque alzando l’inspirata voce,<br /> -In faccia alla fremente Idolatria,<br /> -Rovesciò l’are e vi piantò la croce.</p> -<p class="pp6i">Or mentre trascorrea l’equorea via,<br /> -E ministra al vagante apostolato<br /> -Pellegrina la Fè meco venia,</p> -<p class="pp6i">Lo spirto delle tenebre sdegnato<br /> -Contro il mio pin che questo mar fendea<br /> -L’onde rimescolò col freddo fiato,</p> -<p class="pp6i">E dal nembo mugghiante in cui fremea<br /> -Stese il braccio nemico, e con furore<br /> -Negli scogli spezzò la prora achea.</p> -<p class="pp6i">Ma quel che impera ai venti alto Signore<br /> -Mi guidò fra quei semplici isolani<br /> -A dissipar le nebbie dell’errore.</p> -<p class="pp6i">E i varj ne fugai sogni profani,<br /> -Onde impresse vi avean larghe vestigia<br /> -Fenici, Greci, Punici, e Romani:</p> -<p class="pp6i">E la potenza eterea, equorea, e stigia,<br /> -Dei falsi dei, figli di reo consiglio,<br /> -Per me disparve da Melita e Ogigia.</p> -<p class="pp6i">Nè sol Giove, Nettun, Pluto, in esiglio<br /> -Mandai dall’are, ma Calipso istessa<br /> -Onde accolti quì furo Ulisse e il figlio.</p> -<p class="pp6i">E fin d’Ercole Tirio al suol depressa<br /> -Cadde l’imago, cara al volgo insano,<br /> -Che nei numismi ancor si vede impressa.</p> -<p class="pp6i">Quivi rettile reo mi morse invano,<br /> -Che dai sarmenti accesi in cui soffiava<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span>Sbucò fischiando e m’addentò la mano;</p> -<p class="pp6i">E mentre a gonfio collo raddoppiava<br /> -Il morso in questa man, da me sospinto,<br /> -Spense nel foco la maligna bava.</p> -<p class="pp6i">Ciascun credea che di pallor dipinto,<br /> -Quasi iniquo omicida a Dio rubello,<br /> -Per quel velen cader dovessi estinto.</p> -<p class="pp6i">Ma sopra i giorni miei vegliava quello<br /> -Che salvi trasse i tre dalla fornace,<br /> -E dai leoni il giovin Danïello.</p> -<p class="pp6i">Ei volle questo suolo asil di pace,<br /> -Onde fe’ che per me restasse illeso<br /> -Dal tosco d’ogni rettile mordace.</p> -<p class="pp6i">Del portento insperato ognun sorpreso<br /> -Mi cadde al piè con supplicanti rai,<br /> -Come s’io fossi un dio dal ciel disceso.</p> -<p class="pp6i">E bene al guardo altrui tal mi mostrai,<br /> -Chè dalle genti estenuate e grame<br /> -Cento pallidi morbi allor fugai.</p> -<p class="pp6i">Di Publio udii le filïali brame,<br /> -Sì che a suo padre, in preda a morbo ingordo,<br /> -Dell’egra vita rannodai lo stame.</p> -<p class="pp6i">Tolsi a Morte l’acciar di sangue lordo,<br /> -Sordi e muti guarii, con tal portento<br /> -Che il muto lo narrò, l’intese il sordo.</p> -<p class="pp6i">Corser d’allor ben cento lustri e cento<br /> -E sempre questi resi almi confini<br /> -Asili dell’industria e del contento.</p> -<p class="pp6i">E vigilando ognor sui lor destini<br /> -Nel successivo imperversar degli anni<br /> -Scacciai Goti, Normanni, e Saracini.</p> -<p class="pp6i">Farne una rocca contro agli Ottomanni<br /> -Disegnai poscia, ne parlai nel cielo,<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span>E mi fe’ plauso il precursor Giovanni.</p> -<p class="pp6i">Ei che a vittoria del divin vangelo<br /> -Proteggeva un equestre ordin d’onore<br /> -Che pria regnò fra il Libano e il Carmelo,</p> -<p class="pp6i">Per rinnovarne il pristino splendore<br /> -Meco discese per le vie del tuono<br /> -Del Quinto Carlo a favellarne al core.</p> -<p class="pp6i">E Carlo allor dal riverito trono<br /> -Per compenso di Rodi (ahi Rodi tristo!)<br /> -Ai campioni di Dio ne fece un dono.</p> -<p class="pp6i">Ed essi intenti a glorïoso acquisto<br /> -Spinser nautiche flotte all’uopo accolte,<br /> -Il gran sepolcro a liberar di Cristo:</p> -<p class="pp6i">Tal che in fronte alle turbe infide e stolte,<br /> -Che sparsa avean di sè tremenda fama,<br /> -L’Ordrisia Luna s’ecclissò più volte;</p> -<p class="pp6i">E sì troncata fu l’iniqua trama<br /> -Che la città che le scacciò con l’armi<br /> -‘Città Vittoriosa’ ancor si chiama.</p> -<p class="pp6i">Io resi degni di perpetui carmi<br /> -Que’ Duci ch’al più Sant’Ordine ascritti<br /> -Augusti templi ornar di bronzi e marmi,</p> -<p class="pp6i">E a render più sicuri i patrii dritti<br /> -Formar nell’arduo inespugnabil sito<br /> -Muniti porti e baluardi invitti.</p> -<p class="pp6i">Io resi industre il popolo imperito,<br /> -Tal che per lui nel freddo e nell’ardenza<br /> -Lo steril sasso ancor divien fiorito;</p> -<p class="pp6i">E sì lo prosperai di mia presenza<br /> -Che, mentre Europa avea miseria e guerra,<br /> -Quì fiorivan la pace e l’opulenza.</p> -<p class="pp6i">Io fei cenno da lungi all’Inghilterra,<br /> -E commisine il freno a quella destra<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span>Che lo scettro de’ mari in pugno serra.</p> -<p class="pp6i">Ed or che il vizio infetta ogni terreno<br /> -Melita che virtù non mai discaccia<br /> -La virtù sventurata accoglie in seno.</p> -<p class="pp6i">Tu vi discendi: io ti farò la traccia:<br /> -Vedrai, figlio, vedrai come a te inerme<br /> -Amorosa accoglienza apra le braccia.</p> -<p class="pp6i">Nè l’aspe infausto e il velenoso verme<br /> -Temer del vizio all’altrui danno intesi,<br /> -Ch’io là distrussi d’ogni serpe il germe.”</p> -<p class="pp6i">Disse, e su me vibrò più lampi accesi<br /> -Che in sen mi ravvivâr gli spirti oppressi;<br /> -Nella nube ei si chiuse, a terra io scesi,</p> -<p class="pp6i">E sull’ospite sponda un bacio impressi.</p> - -<p><i>12 Agosto 1821.</i></p> - -<h3 id="c191">F.</h3> - -<p class="pc1"><span class="smcap">Napoleone a Sant’Elena</span></p> - -<p class="pp7 p1">Mira, Ocean, quel principe son io<br /> -Temuto in guerra qual fragor del tuono,<br /> -Che, a sua voglia togliendo e dando il trono,<br /> -Turba d’imbelli rè spinse all’obblio.<br /> -Un trono io m’ebbi; e non mel diede in dono<br /> -La sognata dai rè grazia di Dio;<br /> -A un nume de’ miei pari, al brando mio,<br /> -Terror dell’orbe, debitor ne sono.<br /> -Il Destin quì mi trasse, e non l’Ispano,<br /> -Il Prusso, il gel di Scizia, o i rè tremanti,<br /> -Nè il fulmine temprato in Vaticano.<br /> -Ma quì pur grande. E dov’è mai chi vanti<br /> -Per sua prigione aver l’ampio Oceano,<br /> -E per custodi suoi tutt’i regnanti?</p> - -<p>1835?</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span></p> -<p> </p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="p4" id="c193">INDEX OF NAMES</h2> - - -<p class="pi6 mid p1">A</p> - -<p class="pni p1">Abatemarchi, <a href="#Page_75">75</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Aberdeen, Lord, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Abruzzo Citeriore, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Adriatic Sea, <a href="#Page_6">6</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Albany Street, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, London, <a href="#Page_109">109</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Alberic, Friar, <a href="#Page_40">40</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Alberti, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Alexander VI., Pope, <a href="#Page_127">127</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Alfieri, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Amalfi, <a href="#Page_47">47</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Amantea, Bruno d’, <a href="#Page_29">29</a></p> - -<p class="pni">America, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Amersham, <a href="#Page_117">117</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Antrodoco, <a href="#Page_51">51</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Arcadi, Academy of the, <a href="#Page_36">36</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Ardenti, Academy of the, <a href="#Page_36">36</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Arditi, Cavalier, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Aretino, Leonardo, <a href="#Page_145">145-50</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Ariosto, <a href="#Page_73">73</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Aroux, E., <a href="#Page_68">68</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Dante Hérétique, etc., by, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Ascoli, Duke of, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Athenæum, The, <a href="#Page_89">89</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Attica, <a href="#Page_49">49</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Austria, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131-66</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Avalloni, Baron Giovanni, <a href="#Page_15">15</a></p> - - -<p class="pi6 mid p1">B</p> - -<p class="pni p1">Balzac, Honoré de, <a href="#Page_143">143</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Le Livre Mystique, by, <a href="#Page_143">143</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Barberini, Francesco, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Barclay, <a href="#Page_118">118</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Bargello, The, Florence, <a href="#Page_144">144-7</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Barile, <a href="#Page_117">117-9</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Bas-Valais, <a href="#Page_168">168</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Basil, St, <a href="#Page_139">139</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Berio, Marchese, <a href="#Page_35">35</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Bernard, St, <a href="#Page_143">143</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Berni, A., <a href="#Page_161">161</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Berri, Duc de, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Bezzi, Aubrey, <a href="#Page_145">145-6</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Bianchi, <a href="#Page_39">39</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Bianco, <a href="#Page_157">157-73</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Bilbao, <a href="#Page_158">158</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Biondi, <a href="#Page_36">36</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Blake, William, <a href="#Page_5">5</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Boccaccio, <a href="#Page_135">135-41-51</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Boccanera, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Bologna, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— University, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Bonaparte, Lucian, <a href="#Page_15">15</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Pierre, <a href="#Page_15">15</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Princess Charlotte, <a href="#Page_15">15</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Borgia, Comendator, <a href="#Page_127">127</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Borrelli, <a href="#Page_98">98</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Boulton, Captain, <a href="#Page_164">164-5</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Bozzelli, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Brighton, <a href="#Page_117">117</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Browning, Mrs, <a href="#Page_157">157</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Buonarroti, Michelangelo, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Signor, <a href="#Page_157">157-73</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Byron, Lord, <a href="#Page_117">117</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— The Corsair, by, <a href="#Page_117">117</a></p> - - -<p class="pi6 mid p1">C</p> - -<p class="pni p1">Caccavon, <a href="#Page_39">39</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Cagliari, Archbishop of, <a href="#Page_104">104</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span></p><p class="pni">Cagnazzi, Archdeacon, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Calderari, The, <a href="#Page_40">40</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Campi, Don Giuseppe, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Campochiaro, Duca di, <a href="#Page_35">35</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Canosa, Principe di, <a href="#Page_40">40</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Capecelatro, Colonel F., <a href="#Page_75">75</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Monsignor, <a href="#Page_18">18</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Capobianco, <a href="#Page_42">42</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Carbonari, The, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Carducci, Conte, <a href="#Page_127">127</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Caroline, Queen (Bonaparte), <a href="#Page_3">3</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Carrascosa, General, <a href="#Page_75">75</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Casa Guidi, Florence, <a href="#Page_157">157</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Casella, <a href="#Page_120">120</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Cassero, Principe di, <a href="#Page_35">35</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Castelcicala, Principe di, <a href="#Page_74">74</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Castlereagh, Lord, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Cecco d’Ascoli, <a href="#Page_143">143</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Cerbara, <a href="#Page_69">69</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Charles, King of Naples (Bourbon), <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Charles II., King of Naples, <a href="#Page_146">146</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Charles IV., King of Spain, <a href="#Page_19">19</a> to 22</p> - -<p class="pni">Charles Albert, King of Sardinia, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Charlotte Street, Portland Place, London, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Chaucer, <a href="#Page_134">134</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Chiabrera, <a href="#Page_73">73</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Christian VIII., King of Denmark, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Cicero, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Ciciloni, Ferdinando, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Cimitile, Principe di, <a href="#Page_118">118</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Cinelli, <a href="#Page_145">145</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Clarges Street, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, London, <a href="#Page_162">162</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Coleridge, S. T., <a href="#Page_66">66</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Colletta, General, <a href="#Page_40">40</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Storia di Napoli, by, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Colonna, Vittoria, <a href="#Page_12">12</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Concordia, Naples, <a href="#Page_56">56</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Constantine the Great, <a href="#Page_140">140</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Corsica, <a href="#Page_14">14</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Corso, <a href="#Page_156">156</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Corunna, <a href="#Page_54">54</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Cosenza, <a href="#Page_42">42</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Costanza, Dr, <a href="#Page_50">50</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Courier, The, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Craufurd, <a href="#Page_146">146</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Cromwell, Oliver, <a href="#Page_134">134</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Crusca, La, <a href="#Page_145">145-6</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Curci, Dr, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Cyrene, <a href="#Page_140">140</a></p> - -<p class="pi6 mid p1">D</p> - -<p class="pni p1">Dante, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110-1-2-31-3-4-6-40-3-4-52-4</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Convito, by, <a href="#Page_137">137</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Divina Commedia, by, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135-7-9-43</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Vita Nuova, by, <a href="#Page_137">137-8-9-46-51</a></p> - -<p class="pni">D’Avalos, <a href="#Page_12">12</a></p> - -<p class="pni">De Luca, Pier, <a href="#Page_75">75</a></p> - -<p class="pni">De Tivoli, <a href="#Page_132">132</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Delavo, Giovanni A., <a href="#Page_156">156-66</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Delécluze, <a href="#Page_112">112</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Amour du Dante, by, <a href="#Page_112">112</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Della Guardia, <a href="#Page_7">7</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Denmark, Princess of, <a href="#Page_30">30</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Disraeli, Isaac, <a href="#Page_66">66</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Donati, Corso, <a href="#Page_146">146-7</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Durso, <a href="#Page_39">39</a></p> - -<p class="pi6 mid p1">E</p> - -<p class="pni p1">Eastlake, Sir C. L., <a href="#Page_120">120-1-5-45</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146-50-4</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Eco (L’) di Savonarola, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Elizabeth, Queen of Spain (Farnese), <a href="#Page_1">1</a></p> - -<p class="pni">England, ix, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105-11-4-31</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Erroll, Countess of, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Escurial, The, <a href="#Page_21">21</a></p> - -<p class="pi6 mid p1">F</p> - -<p class="pni p1">Fanciola, <a href="#Page_159">159</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Fardella, General, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span></p><p class="pni">Ferdinand I. (Naples), <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_24">24</a> to 28, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a> to 81, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111-78-82-3</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Ferdinand II. (Naples), <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122-4-5</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Ferdinand VII. (Spain), <a href="#Page_21">21</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Fermo, <a href="#Page_128">128</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Ferretti, <a href="#Page_36">36</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Ferri, Cardinal, <a href="#Page_128">128</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Signor, <a href="#Page_126">126-8</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Festing, Miss, ix, <a href="#Page_132">132</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— J. H. Frere and his Friends, by, ix, <a href="#Page_132">132-3</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Filelfo, <a href="#Page_145">145</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Finati, Giovanni, <a href="#Page_22">22</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Fitch, Mrs, <a href="#Page_117">117-9</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Florence, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144-5-50</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Florio, <a href="#Page_75">75</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Foggia, <a href="#Page_42">42</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Foscolo, Ugo, <a href="#Page_133">133</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Fouarre, Rue de, Paris, <a href="#Page_143">143</a></p> - -<p class="pni">France, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104-31</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Francis, Emperor, <a href="#Page_2">2</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Fraticelli, <a href="#Page_112">112</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Frederick II., Emperor, <a href="#Page_133">133</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Frentani, <a href="#Page_6">6</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Frere, J. Hookham, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111-22-32-3-6</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— J. Tudor, <a href="#Page_132">132</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Susan, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Frome-Selwood, <a href="#Page_108">108</a></p> - -<p class="pi6 mid p1">G</p> - -<p class="pni p1">Gaetani, Padre Vincenzo, <a href="#Page_10">10</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Galassi, <a href="#Page_155">155-7-8</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Galileo, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Gallo, Agostino, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Gandolfini, Giuseppe, <a href="#Page_161">161</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Garibaldi, <a href="#Page_92">92</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Garnett, Richard, vii</p> - -<p class="pni">—— History of Italian Literature, by, ix</p> - -<p class="pni">Gatti, <a href="#Page_38">38</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Gazzola, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Gerard Street, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, London, <a href="#Page_76">76</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Gerardi, <a href="#Page_73">73</a> to 76</p> - -<p class="pni">Germ, The, <a href="#Page_89">89</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Germany, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Giannone, <a href="#Page_162">162</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Gioberti, Vincenzo, <a href="#Page_157">157-72-3</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Primato d’Italia, by, <a href="#Page_157">157</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Giotto, <a href="#Page_144">144-5</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Portrait of Dante by, <a href="#Page_144">144-48-53</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Giovine Italia, La, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159-60</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Gomez-Paloma, Marchesina Luisa, <a href="#Page_29">29</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Graham, Mrs, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Green, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Grey, Lord, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></p> - -<p class="pi6 mid p1">H</p> - -<p class="pni p1">Hallam, Arthur, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Harris and Farquhar, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Hatton Garden, London, <a href="#Page_155">155</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Heimann, Dr Adolf, <a href="#Page_114">114</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Henri IV., <a href="#Page_178">178</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Herculaneum, <a href="#Page_111">111</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Highgate Cemetery, <a href="#Page_113">113</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Holmer Green, Bucks, <a href="#Page_117">117-9-29</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Homer, <a href="#Page_37">37</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Howard, Mrs, <a href="#Page_118">118</a></p> - -<p class="pi6 mid p1">I</p> - -<p class="pni p1">Index Librorum Prohibitorum, <a href="#Page_67">67</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Inland Revenue Office, <a href="#Page_108">108</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Inni e Cantici Cristiani, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Italy, ix, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102-3-6-9</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113-8-26-7-31-45-58-60-6-72-84-5</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Kingdom of, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144-61</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Ithome, <a href="#Page_49">49</a></p> - -<p class="pi6 mid p1">J</p> - -<p class="pni p1">Janer, <a href="#Page_126">126-7-63</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Jannelli, General, <a href="#Page_42">42</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span></p><p class="pni">Jesus Christ, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134-71</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Joachim, King of Naples, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a></p> - -<p class="pni">John, St, <a href="#Page_135">135</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Jorio, Canon, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Joseph, King of Naples and Spain, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Jubar, Baron, <a href="#Page_30">30</a></p> - -<p class="pi6 mid p1">K</p> - -<p class="pni p1">Keightley, Thomas, <a href="#Page_154">154</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Kemble, Adelaide (<i>see</i> Sartoris)</p> - -<p class="pni">King’s College, London, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107-11-8</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Kirkup, Seymour (Barone), <a href="#Page_116">116-44-9</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Kotzebue, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></p> - -<p class="pi6 mid p1">L</p> - -<p class="pni p1">Lablache, <a href="#Page_124">124</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Labrador (Minister), <a href="#Page_22">22</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Lami, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Latini, Brunetto, <a href="#Page_146">146-7</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Lausanne, <a href="#Page_69">69</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Leopardi, Giacomo, <a href="#Page_161">161</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Epistle to Pepoli, by, <a href="#Page_161">161</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Libri, <a href="#Page_157">157-72</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Little Missenden, <a href="#Page_117">117</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Locarno, <a href="#Page_159">159</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Lombardo-Venetia, <a href="#Page_168">168</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Lombardy, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a></p> - -<p class="pni">London, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108-9-10-2-9</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120-2-8-30-61-5</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Bishop of (Blomfield), <a href="#Page_118">118</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— University, <a href="#Page_83">83</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Louis Philippe, King, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Louvel, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Lucchesi, Count, <a href="#Page_124">124</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Lugo, <a href="#Page_127">127</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Lusciano, Duke of (Mollo), <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Lyell, Charles, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119-24-30-1-2-40-6-52-3</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Sir Leonard, <a href="#Page_130">130-2</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Lyons, <a href="#Page_37">37</a></p> - -<p class="pi6 mid p1">M</p> - -<p class="pni p1">MacIntyre, <a href="#Page_119">119-20</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Magalotti, <a href="#Page_136">136</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— La Donna Immaginaria, by, <a href="#Page_136">136</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Malmusi, <a href="#Page_157">157-73</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Malpica, Cesare, <a href="#Page_39">39</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Malta, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111-22-88</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Mamiani, Terenzio, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Marchigiana, Marchesa, <a href="#Page_126">126-7</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Marengo, <a href="#Page_155">155-66</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Maria Caroline, Queen, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_24">24</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Maria Theresa, <a href="#Page_2">2</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Marie Antoinette, <a href="#Page_2">2</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Marini, <a href="#Page_147">147-8</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Maroncelli, Dr, <a href="#Page_122">122-4</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Pietro, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Marseilles, <a href="#Page_160">160</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Marsuppini, C., <a href="#Page_150">150</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Mascagni, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Mazzini, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116-55-6-7</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Mediterranean Sea, <a href="#Page_58">58</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Mendelssohn, Joseph, <a href="#Page_66">66</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Lectures on Rossetti, by, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Messina, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Metastasio, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_18">18</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Milan, <a href="#Page_167">167</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Minasi, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Minichini, Abate, <a href="#Page_45">45</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Mirandola, Pico della, <a href="#Page_142">142</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Molini, <a href="#Page_154">154</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Molza, <a href="#Page_142">142</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Monte Citorio, Rome, <a href="#Page_36">36</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Montecassino, <a href="#Page_51">51</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Monteforte, <a href="#Page_45">45</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Moore, Lady, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Sir Graham, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Sir John, <a href="#Page_54">54</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span></p><p class="pni">Morelli, <a href="#Page_44">44</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Morning Chronicle, <a href="#Page_165">165-6</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Museo Borbonico, Naples, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Muzzarelli, Monsignor, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a></p> - -<p class="pi6 mid p1">N</p> - -<p class="pni p1">Nannucci, Professor, <a href="#Page_146">146</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Naples, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110-1-57</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Kingdom of, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— University, <a href="#Page_38">38</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Napoleon I., <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a> to 24, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166-91</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Napoleon III., <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Naselli, General, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_30">30</a></p> - -<p class="pni">National British Gallery, <a href="#Page_90">90</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Negri, Maestro, <a href="#Page_120">120-1-4</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Nelson, Lord, <a href="#Page_2">2</a></p> - -<p class="pni">New Testament, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135-40-1</a></p> - -<p class="pni">New York, <a href="#Page_159">159</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Nile, Battle of, <a href="#Page_2">2</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Noja, <a href="#Page_25">25</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Nola, <a href="#Page_45">45</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Norway, <a href="#Page_30">30</a></p> - -<p class="pi6 mid p1">O</p> - -<p class="pni p1">Old Testament, <a href="#Page_140">140-1</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Oliva, <a href="#Page_38">38</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Opinione, L’, <a href="#Page_109">109</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Orezia Academy, <a href="#Page_37">37</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Origen, <a href="#Page_140">140</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Orioli, Professor, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Ouseley, Sir Gore, <a href="#Page_118">118</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Ovid, <a href="#Page_6">6</a></p> - -<p class="pi6 mid p1">P</p> - -<p class="pni p1">Paisiello, Giovanni, <a href="#Page_29">29</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Palermo, <a href="#Page_28">28</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Panizzi, Sir Antonio, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Paolelli, <a href="#Page_97">97</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Papal States, <a href="#Page_166">166</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Paris, <a href="#Page_143">143-55-7-62-4-5-7</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Park Square, Regent’s Park, <a href="#Page_122">122-4</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Parma, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Parthenopean Republic, <a href="#Page_2">2</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Paul, St, <a href="#Page_135">135-42-86</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Peel, Sir Robert, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Pellico, Silvio, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Le Mie Prigioni, by, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Pepe, General Guglielmo, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Memoirs of, <a href="#Page_43">43</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Pepoli, Conte Carlo, <a href="#Page_161">161</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Petrarca, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105-35-41</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Philip V. (Spain), <a href="#Page_1">1</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Pietrocola-Rossetti, Teodorico, ix, <a href="#Page_72">72</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Memoir of Rossetti, by, ix</p> - -<p class="pni">Pistrucci, Filippo, <a href="#Page_122">122-5-30-1-55-60</a> to 163</p> - -<p class="pni">Pius VII., <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Pius IX., <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101-5-7</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Plowden, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Poerio, Major, <a href="#Page_75">75</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Poland, <a href="#Page_119">119</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Polidori, Charlotte, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117-9</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Eliza, <a href="#Page_117">117-9</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Gaetano, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117-24</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Margaret, <a href="#Page_126">126-8</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Mrs, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— P. Robert, <a href="#Page_117">117-9</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Poliziano, <a href="#Page_143">143</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Polydore, Henry, <a href="#Page_117">117-9-26</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Pompeii, <a href="#Page_111">111</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Pontanian Society, Naples, <a href="#Page_37">37</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Portinari, Beatrice, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Portinari, Folco, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Porto-Cannone, <a href="#Page_42">42</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Potter, Cipriani, <a href="#Page_117">117-8</a></p> - -<p class="pi6 mid p1">Q</p> - -<p class="pni p1">Quattromani, Luigi, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a></p> - -<p class="pi6 mid p1">R</p> - -<p class="pni p1">Ragon, <a href="#Page_144">144</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span></p><p class="pni">Raphael, <a href="#Page_142">142-6</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Raphael, Sonnets by, <a href="#Page_142">142</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Regaldi, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Carme a Firenze, by, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Reghellini, <a href="#Page_134">134-44</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Ricciardi, Conte Giuseppe, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155-63-4-5-7</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— History of Italy, 1850-1900, by, <a href="#Page_167">167</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Rieti, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Rinuccini, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Rochfort, The (Ship), <a href="#Page_58">58</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Rolandi, <a href="#Page_159">159</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Romagna, <a href="#Page_127">127</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Rome, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111-8-27-50</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Rossaroll, General, <a href="#Page_75">75</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Rossetti, Angiola Maria, <a href="#Page_6">6</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Rossetti, Antonio, <a href="#Page_6">6</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Rossetti, Canon Andrea, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_9">9</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Rossetti, Christina G., ix, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108-9-13-7-9-20-3-4-9</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Verses (1847), by, <a href="#Page_89">89</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Rossetti, Dante Gabriel, ix, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106-8-14-7-9-20-3-4-6-8</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Annunciation, by, <a href="#Page_90">90</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Blessed Damozel, by, <a href="#Page_90">90</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Girlhood of Mary Virgin, by, <a href="#Page_90">90</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Portrait of G. Rossetti, by, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Rossetti, Domenico, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Rossetti, Elizabeth E., <a href="#Page_113">113</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Rossetti, Frances, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108-13-62</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Rossetti, Gabriele, Writings by, ix, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Addio alla Patria, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Alla Difesa, O Cittadini, <a href="#Page_48">48</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Arpa Evangelica, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Aurora del 21 Luglio, 1820, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110-73</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Beatrice di Dante, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101-12-50</a> to 153</p> - -<p class="pni">—— Birth of Hercules, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Rossetti, Canto Marziale, <a href="#Page_110">110</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Catalogue Raisonné, Museo Borbonico, <a href="#Page_22">22</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Comento Analitico, Dante, <a href="#Page_63">63</a> to 66, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110-1-2-26-44</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Giulio Sabino, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_18">18</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Hannibal in Capua, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Il Corsaro, <a href="#Page_120">120-1-4</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Marengo, Verses on, <a href="#Page_156">156</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Medora e Corrado, <a href="#Page_117">117-8-20</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Mistero dell’Amor Platonico, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112-40-1-7-9</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151-3</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Napoleone a Sant’Elena, <a href="#Page_23">23</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Poems, 1807, <a href="#Page_15">15</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Ricuperata Salute di Ferdinando I., <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Roma, Secolo 19, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158-9</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Salterio, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127-54</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— San Paolo in Malta, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173-4</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Spirito Antipapale, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112-3-20-4-35-44</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Veggente in Solitudine, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102-13</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Versi, 1847, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155-63-5</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Rossetti, Helen M. M., <a href="#Page_156">156</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Rossetti, Maria Francesca, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108-20-4-8-30</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— The Rivulets, by, <a href="#Page_89">89</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Rossetti, Maria Francesca (Pietrocola), <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_8">8</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Rossetti, Maria Giuseppe, <a href="#Page_6">6</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Rossetti, Maria Michele, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_9">9</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Rossetti, Mary E. M., <a href="#Page_15">15</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Rossetti, Nicola, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Rossetti, William M., ix, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108-9-19-23</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Memoir of D. G. Rossetti, by, ix, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114-62</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Royal Academy of Music, <a href="#Page_117">117</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Ruffo, Cardinal, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span></p><p class="pni">Russia, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a></p> - -<p class="pi6 mid p1">S</p> - -<p class="pni p1">Saint Helena, <a href="#Page_23">23</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Saint Mary’s Church, Vasto, <a href="#Page_6">6</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Saliceti, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></p> - -<p class="pni">San Carlo Theatre, Naples, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a></p> - -<p class="pni">San Sebastiano, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Sand, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Sangiovanni, Benedetto, <a href="#Page_122">122-4-7</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Santa Croce Church, Florence, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Santa Lucia, Naples, <a href="#Page_57">57</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Santander, <a href="#Page_158">158</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Sardinia, Kingdom of, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104-5-66</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Sartoris, Mrs, <a href="#Page_162">162</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Schlegel, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Scrope, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Sebeto (River), <a href="#Page_53">53</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Shelley, P. B., <a href="#Page_45">45</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Ode to Naples, by, <a href="#Page_45">45</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Sicily, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Sigier, <a href="#Page_143">143</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Silvati, <a href="#Page_44">44</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Società Sebezia, Naples, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Solari, <a href="#Page_30">30</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Soldi, G. B., <a href="#Page_161">161</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Spain, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158-9</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Spectator, The (Newspaper), <a href="#Page_108">108-9</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Spielberg, The, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Spontini, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Stanford, <a href="#Page_57">57</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Strozzi (Mazzini), <a href="#Page_173">173</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Stuart, Lady Dudley, <a href="#Page_15">15</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Suetonius, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Swedenborg, <a href="#Page_141">141-3-4</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Switzerland, <a href="#Page_159">159</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Sylvester, Pope, <a href="#Page_140">140</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Synesius, <a href="#Page_140">140</a></p> - -<p class="pi6 mid p1">T</p> - -<p class="pni p1">Tallent, <a href="#Page_119">119-20</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Tasso, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Taylor Institute, Oxford, <a href="#Page_132">132</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Taylor, J. E., <a href="#Page_146">146</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Michelangelo as a Philosophical Poet, by, <a href="#Page_147">147</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Tennyson, <a href="#Page_112">112</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— In Memoriam, by, <a href="#Page_112">112</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Tertullian, <a href="#Page_140">140</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Tiber, The, <a href="#Page_35">35</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Tiberine Academy, <a href="#Page_36">36</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Ticino, Canton of, <a href="#Page_168">168</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Tommaseo, <a href="#Page_157">157-72</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Tommasi, <a href="#Page_27">27</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Trajan, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a></p> - -<p class="pni">—— Statue of, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Turin, <a href="#Page_173">173</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Turin, Archbishop of, <a href="#Page_104">104</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Turkey, <a href="#Page_145">145</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Turrigo, General, <a href="#Page_97">97</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Tuscany, <a href="#Page_98">98</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Two Sicilies, Kingdom of, <a href="#Page_1">1</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Tyrtæus, <a href="#Page_49">49</a></p> - -<p class="pi6 mid p1">U</p> - -<p class="pni p1">University College, London, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Ururi, <a href="#Page_42">42</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Utrecht, <a href="#Page_1">1</a></p> - -<p class="pi6 mid p1">V</p> - -<p class="pni p1">Valletta, <a href="#Page_29">29</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Vantini, <a href="#Page_155">155-7-8-9</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Vardarelli, Brothers, <a href="#Page_42">42</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Vasari, Giorgio, <a href="#Page_145">145</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Vasto, <a href="#Page_6">6</a> to 9, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110-3</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Vasto, Marchese del, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Vecchioni, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Venice, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Vernon, Lord, <a href="#Page_154">154</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Verona, <a href="#Page_21">21</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Vezzi, Signora, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Villani, Francesco, <a href="#Page_145">145</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Villani, Odoardo, <a href="#Page_161">161</a></p> - -<p class="pni">Virgil, <a href="#Page_37">37</a></p> - -<p class="pi6 mid p1">W</p> - -<p class="pni p1">Wellington, Duke of, <a href="#Page_120">120-1</a></p> - -<p class="pni">William IV., <a href="#Page_120">120-1</a></p> - -<p class="pi6 mid p1">Z</p> - -<p class="pni p1">Zatta, <a href="#Page_137">137</a></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span></p> - -<p class="pc4 reduct">THE RIVERSIDE PRESS LIMITED<br /> -EDINBURGH</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -</div> - -<h2 class="p4">FOOTNOTES:</h2> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="footnotes"> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a></span> -Of Nicola Rossetti and Francesca Pietrocola, a respected married -couple, I was born in Vasto, a city in Abruzzo Citeriore, in the year -1783. My brothers, all senior to me, were Andrea, Antonio, and -Domenico. The first, admired for his pulpit-eloquence, became a Canon -of the Collegiate Church of St Mary, the principal church in the city. -The other two, endowed with much poetical talent, have left good -evidence of this in their compositions. I had also three sisters—Angiola -Maria, Maria Giuseppe, and Maria Michele. The first died unmarried; -the other two married.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a></span> -I had various masters in the first rudiments of literature; but none -was of so much benefit to me as the one who started me in “philosophy,” -and who also nurtured in me the taste for poetry. He was a Regular -Priest of that province, and he died in Naples at a somewhat early age. -I shall always bless the name of Padre Vincenzo Gaetani.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a></span> -Now on <i>my</i> hands: one specimen forms our frontispiece. I have -spoken of this matter in my <i>Memoir of Dante Gabriel Rossetti</i>, pp. 5 and -6, and I know that my father’s statement concerning it is not exaggerated. -He executed also, towards 1804, a miniature of himself, of which, writing -to his brother Domenico, he speaks in the following terms:—“A -miniature portrait of myself, the work of my own hand when I exercised -myself much in the fine art which imitates visible truths. I was at that -time fresher-looking, and perhaps rather plumper, and slightly paler; -before the sanguine-choleric temperament obtained the mastery in me -with that vigour which it now displays. All who have seen it aver that it -is truly myself.” This miniature used once to be in the possession of a -Signora Vezzi of Parma: I know not where it may now be.—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a></span> -The Marquis who brought me to Naples was Tommaso, of the famous -and very ancient house of D’Avalos, which was transplanted from Spain -to Italy. [It was the same family as that into which the sixteenth-century -poetess, Vittoria Colonna, beloved by Michelangelo, married.—W.]</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a></span> -Joseph Bonaparte (I need hardly observe) was not strictly a Frenchman. -He was a Corsican, of Corsican or Italian parentage, born before -Corsica had become a French possession. He was thus an Italian, naturalized -as a Frenchman.—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a></span> -My first volume of poems, printed in Naples in 1807, was dedicated -by me to Baron Giovanni Avalloni, who, upon hearing me recite some of -the compositions, voluntarily offered to have the whole of them printed. -That volume, which was never re-issued, must have become very scarce. -[I possess an imperfect copy of it. The poems—some of them poor, -and not any exactly good—deal partly with national events, and this -naturally in a spirit conformable to the Napoleonic <i>régime</i>. There are -some strong animadversions on the Bourbon monarchy.—W.] My dramas, -written for the Theatre of San Carlo, were printed at the time; were they -collected together, they would make up a volume.</p> -<p class="pfc4">King Joseph and King Joachim have been depicted by grave historians, -and I will not add anything regarding their public and private character. -But, for truth’s sake, I may say that here in London I was very well -acquainted with Joseph Bonaparte, after he had returned from America -in 1831, and that I found many personal gifts in him to admire. In his -house I saw a good deal not only of him but of his brother Lucian, his -nephew Louis (the present President of the French Republic), Lucian’s -daughter Lady Dudley Stuart, with whom I became intimately acquainted, -and who, at the baptismal font, gave her own name, Christina, to my -younger daughter. I might say that I have known all the members of -that renowned family, either in Naples or in London, except the great -Napoleon, whom I never saw. Joseph was kind-natured and cultivated -in mind; but in Naples, spoiled by courtiers, he was a bad king. One -evening, while I was improvising in his house, his daughter, Princess -Charlotte, made a pencil sketch of me, and she sent it me framed as a -present: I still preserve it. [I also have preserved it, and have given -it to my youngest daughter.—W.] I could here relate many dialogues -which I had with Lucian, his son Pierre, etc., and with the present French -President. But I will only say that Lucian was a republican, but with -many prejudices, and the present President was and is of a character all -puffed up with ambition. Never did I hear from his lips a single word indicating -a liberal spirit.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a></span> -I possess the printed <i>Giulio Sabino</i>, 1809; not the other two -libretti.—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a></span> -One may suppose it to have been at first a <i>very</i> subordinate post; -for the pay, I find, was only 15 ducats a month, which appears to be -£31, 2s. 6d. a year. Later on it was 28 ducats a month.—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a></span> -Of the very many incidents which occurred to me in the Royal -Museum, and which might furnish matter for anecdote, I will state in -prose the following. In the year 1816 [it must have been in 1819, that -being the year in which Charles IV. died.—W.] there came to Naples -Charles IV., ex-King of Spain, elder brother of Ferdinand, King of Naples. -The latter had also been numbered as fourth; then in Sicily he became -third, and finally, on his return, he was declared first; and in his island-kingdom -this epigram, almost prophetic, had been neatly made upon -him:—</p> - -<p class="pfi8q p1">“Fourth thou wast and now art Third:—</p> -<p class="pfi10">By subtraction’s rule I’m taught—</p> -<p class="pfi8">Second—First—may yet be heard,</p> -<p class="pfi10">Till at last remains a nought.”</p> - -<p class="pfn4">When King Charles came to visit the Museum—announced by a formal -dispatch, the beating of drums, and a call to arms by the piquette stationed -at the gate—we presented ourselves to receive him, with Cavalier Arditi, -Director-General of the institution, at our head. The first section which -is ordinarily inspected there is the collection of statues in marble and -bronze, both Latin and Greek—a most important department on the ground -floor, entrusted to my custody. Thus it became my work to show first -those admired treasures to the Spanish monarch, who spoke Italian very -fairly. In the discharge of my office I pointed out to him the leading -objects; and I recollect that in the first portico I stopped before the statue -of Trajan, and I referred to his rare excellences, saying that he had been -the honour of the Roman Empire and of the Spanish nation. “What, -was Trajan a Spaniard?” he exclaimed with surprise. “Certainly, your -majesty, if Suetonius and other historians did not deceive us.” [<i>N.B.</i>—“Suetonius” -appears to have been a random shot; he has left us nothing -about Trajan.—W.] He visited the three porticoes and the five galleries, -and showed much pleasure in my explanations. Having gone through the -whole, I said that others would have the honour of showing him the picture-gallery, -the Etruscan vases, the bronze implements, the collection of papyri, -and the immense library, which were kept in the upper apartments. He -said in a determined tone, “Come yourself.” I felt much embarrassed -in obeying, because I knew how jealous were Don Giuseppe Campi, Canon -Jorio, and others, if any one encroached on their departments, and especially -on so solemn an occasion; but I made a bow and obeyed. He -remained on that long visit upwards of four hours, and, highly satisfied, -he left. The following day, towards the same hour, a fresh beating of -drums and a fresh call to arms announced a visitor of importance. It was -again the King of Spain. On his arrival I alone received him, as neither -Cavalier Arditi nor any one else had been apprised by a dispatch, as on -the preceding day, of this unexpected visit. Entering my small apartment, -he asked for a seat, which I at once gave him. He sat down, and affably -added, “Sit down also,” and, seeing that I hesitated, “Sit down, sit -down,” he repeated. He said that he had returned to re-inspect some of -the objects which had most struck him the previous day, and chiefly the -Emperor Trajan—adding: “Now that I know he was a Spaniard, tell -me all you know about him.” And I failed not to inform him that that -Emperor, elected by the unanimous vote of the Roman Army, was surnamed -Optimus; and that after his death, at the election of every new -Cæsar, the senate installed him in the Empire with the salutation, “Sis -bonus ut Trajanus, sis felix ut Augustus.” That on his accession to the -throne he entered Rome on foot, to denote his disregard of worldly pomp; -that, confident in the love of the entire nation, he abolished the offence -of high treason; that he embraced any persons who came to visit him, and -had his residence inscribed “Public Palace,” in order that all might enter -without the least scruple, as though the house were their own. In short, -I narrated what history sets down about him. On the third day the King -renewed his visit. He remained alone with me, as on the preceding day, -and, assuming a more confidential tone, he enquired whether I was -married. I replied, No. He then told me that a Congress of Sovereigns -was about to assemble in Verona, at which he meant to claim his throne -which had been usurped by his son, with whom he showed himself very -much displeased. “If I return to Spain, of which I am almost certain,” -he added, “you shall come with me, and I will make you Director of the -Escurial.” “But, your sacred Majesty, so many distinguished Spaniards—” -“The one who is there now is my enemy, and I mean to dismiss him.”—“But -I am in employ here, and your august brother—”—“Oh, I spoke -to him about that last evening, and he will willingly concede you to my -wishes.” I bowed, and thanked him for so much good-will. But a few -days passed, and Charles IV. lay a frigid corpse in his brother’s palace. -He was a simple, kindly man, given to talking, and he held with others the -same sort of conversation that he had held with me. His right was -manifest, and his son schemed to get rid of him by means of his Minister -Labrador. This was the rumour which then ran through Naples. I could -relate many other anecdotes of what happened to me in the Museum, but -I leave them alone. I will only mention that I elucidated those admired -monuments in two volumes entitled <i>Catalogue Raisonné of the Royal -Museum</i>. In order to give some credit to a young man whom I liked -much—Giovanni Finati, son of the Controller—I allowed him to have his -name on the title-page, with the condition that the two volumes should be -printed at his expense, while the receipts from the sale should be halved -between us. After my departure he took advantage of my misfortune, -and wholly defrauded me of that labour of mine. The profits became and -are entirely his; whereas he had no share in the work, except only the -measuring of the statues and busts—nothing else. [I possess the book in -question.—W.]</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a></span> -This vigorous tirade against the mighty Napoleon, written in Rossetti’s -old age, is no doubt a true expression of his reasoned opinion, but only of -one side of that. It should not be supposed that he was really blind to the -enormous and many-sided genius of the man; if he condemned, he also -most sincerely admired. See the sonnet at p. 191.—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a></span> -This poem by Rossetti forms one in a series bearing the following title: -<i>Per la Ricuperata Salute di S. M. Ferdinando I., Attestato di Gioia della -Società Sebezia. Napoli, 1819.</i> Agostino Gallo (named immediately afterwards) -contributed a Sapphic ode. Of course the name Gallo means -“Cock”: Corvo (“Raven,” or bird of ill-omen) is jocularly proposed as a -substitute.—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a></span> -I have read this ode for the express purpose of discovering what -Signor Gallo objected to, and can only see this. There are certain -stanzas in which the overpraise (too truly termed “flatteries” by the author) -takes the form of remonstrance. The King is told that the nation, in -loving him, do in fact love <i>themselves</i>; that the public happiness demands -that he should be duly careful of his invaluable life; and that, at his age, -he must not persist in incessant hunting.—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a></span> -What I relate of Agostino Gallo, of Palermo, is strictly accurate; I -confirm in prose what I have stated in verse.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a></span> -This relates to events in the time of King Joachim.—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a></span> -This poem is printed in the <i>Versi</i> of Rossetti (Lausanne, 1847). It -begins, “Tu posi, o giusto, ed io ti seggo al fianco.”—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a></span> -Valletta was a lawyer and a poet. “Fair Paloma” was the -Marchesina Luisa Gomez-Paloma, an associate of the Sebezian Society. -The verses (which begin “Parmi vederti ancor quando animata”) indicate -that she was accomplished both as a vocalist and as a painter.—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a></span> -This is also in the <i>Versi</i>. Begins—“Dunque muto per sempre ahi -muto resta.”—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a></span> -Similar remark. Begins—“Sei tu che in questa riva a te natia.”—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a></span> -All that I relate here and in the following Canto is strict matter of -fact. The Prince Royal of Denmark, who was afterwards King [Christian -VIII., who came to the throne in 1839—W.], and is now dead, was -enrolled in the Società Sebezia as an honorary member; and on that -evening when the bust of Torquato Tasso was inaugurated—a fine work -by Signor Solari of Naples,—he was seated, along with all the other -Academicians, beside General Naselli, the honorary President. He was -so impressed by my composition (which formed the close of the stately -proceedings) that he said, embracing me, “May I ask a favour of you? -I should like to have a copy of your poem to present to the Princess, who, -owing to indisposition, was not able to come this evening.”—“I shall -attend to it immediately, and to-morrow you shall receive it.” That royal -couple was held in the highest esteem by all. The Prince, a man of -masculine and imposing presence, had fought with signal courage against -the French, especially in the forests of Norway. The Princess, a lady of -extreme grace and beauty, was universally admired and praised. Next -morning I rose early and copied out the poem; and hardly had I completed -the work (rather a long one, 54 octaves) when I received a note from -Baron Jubar, the Prince’s majordomo, to remind me of my promise, and -invite me to dine with the royal couple the following day. At table were -all the foreign ambassadors, and other diplomatists. This occurred, so -far as I recollect, towards the beginning of 1820. The Prince invited me -various times; and about the end of that year—when the revolution and the -King’s departure had already occurred—one evening after dinner he called -me aside, and said: “As it is our intention to pass the rest of the winter -in several cities of North Italy, would not you come with us, to instruct -the Princess in your beautiful language?”—“But, your Highness, I am -here employed.”—“I have already spoken to the Minister of the Interior, -who will grant you leave for six months.” A fierce lightning-flash seemed -to strike my mind, and I comprehended that the King was betraying us. -The Prince, cautioned through some diplomatic channel to quit Naples -(as in fact he did), wished to withdraw me from that political danger -in which he perceived me to be greatly entangled. With these sinister -thoughts, I replied thanking him for an offer which highly honoured me, -and saying that I would soon apprise him of my decision. On the following -day I wrote to him that, in the peril to which my country would soon -be exposed, I should be stained with cowardice if I left it; and that I -therefore felt compelled to decline accompanying him in the proposed tour, -an honour which in any other conditions I would gladly have welcomed. -Nor do I repent of what I then did.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a></span> -The Sapphic ode is likewise in the <i>Versi</i>. It begins—“Furon tristi, -O Luigi, i giorni tuoi.”—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a></span> -He died in Parma in July 1816, aged forty-three. The paralysis -which killed him had been going on for about a twelvemonth. My father -had himself more than one stroke of paralysis in his closing years.—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a></span> -Of Biondi I cannot say anything distinct: Ferretti continued corresponding -with Rossetti, in very affectionate terms, after the latter had -settled in London.—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a></span> -I may mention that, besides performing this service under the -Government of King Joachim, Rossetti was enrolled in his National -Guard (or Guard of Internal Security) in Naples. I have a document, -15th December 1814, which shows this. His berth in Rome has been -termed by him elsewhere “a provisional post in the Secretariate of the -Provisional Government, being the post which concerns Public Instruction -and the Fine Arts.”—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a></span> -This occurred in 1817.—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a></span> -Dr Curci, who had a passionate attachment to my father, came to -London to see him towards 1836; Durso also I can remember as having -visited him towards 1840. “Cesare Malpica” is a name I often heard -him pronounce; of Caccavon I am not able to say anything.—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a></span> -The statements here made about the Principe di Canosa are not -inventions; they will be found confirmed in Colletta’s <i>Storia del Regno -di Napoli</i>, Book viii. Canosa’s scheme amounted (in general terms) to -an attempt to get up in 1816 a massacre of the Carbonari and their -sympathizers, by a hostile sect named the Calderari.—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a></span> -Consigned to eternal infamy by Dante.—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a></span> -Rossetti was a Carbonaro; but (I understand) he was not enrolled in -that secret society until the second half of the year 1820, when, as the -constitution had been already granted by the King, there was nothing -illegal in his being a member. The word Carbonaro means literally -“coalman, charcoal-burner”: hence certain technical terms of the sect, -occurring further on.—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_29_29" id="Footnote_29_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a></span> -Gaetano Vardarelli, with his two brothers, commanded a formidable -band of brigands (who may or may not have been Carbonari): the whole -band was generally called the Vardarelli. In July 1817 the Government -entered into a dishonouring compromise with these brigands; but soon -afterwards, at Ururi, slaughtered the three Vardarelli and others by treachery, -and, later on, others of the disbanded band at Foggia, and the remainder -underwent military execution. A grimly Italian incident accompanied -the massacre of the brothers Vardarelli. One of the brothers had outraged -the sister of a man from Porto-Cannone. This man dipped his hands -repeatedly in the blood gushing from the corpse, washed his face in -it, and cried to the multitude, “L’ho purgata” (I’ve washed it -clean).—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_30_30" id="Footnote_30_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a></span> -For Capobianco’s judicial murder King Joachim (not Ferdinand) was -responsible; it took place in 1813. Capobianco was a Carbonaro, young, -and of very daring spirit. He was invited by General Jannelli to a public -dinner in Cosenza, well feasted, seized at the moment of departure, and -next day condemned to be beheaded.—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_31_31" id="Footnote_31_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a></span> -What I state here is matter of general knowledge; and, relating as -it does to public events of that agitated period, it belongs more to history -than to biography. Those authors should therefore be consulted who have -treated of it; among whom I recommend the valuable Memoirs of General -Guglielmo Pepe, who was greatly concerned in the occurrences, in preference -to the elegant History of General Pietro Colletta, who, whether -through mis-information or through distorting envy, is not always a -veracious narrator. I have been intimately acquainted with both these -writers; but more than either I prize sacred Truth; and the little which -I state in this note is consequent upon most candid examination.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_32_32" id="Footnote_32_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_32"><span class="label">[32]</span></a></span> -This remark relates mainly, though not exclusively, to the condition -of France, 1830 to 1848, under King Louis Philippe—a potentate whom -Rossetti most heartily abhorred.—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_33_33" id="Footnote_33_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_33"><span class="label">[33]</span></a></span> -These were two sub-lieutenants of cavalry; after the abolition of -the constitution they were both hanged.—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_34_34" id="Footnote_34_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_34"><span class="label">[34]</span></a></span> -I saw Minichini once or twice in my father’s house—probably towards -1840. His personal appearance was anything but prepossessing.—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_35_35" id="Footnote_35_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_35"><span class="label">[35]</span></a></span> -This pæan may seem misapplied, considering the rapid collapse of -the Neapolitan emancipation of 1820. That movement was, however, the -first awakening of the Italian national sentiment since 1815, and in -1859 (though Gabriele Rossetti did not live to see it) the great cause had -triumphed. Readers may recollect that Shelley’s <i>Ode to Naples</i> celebrates -in exalted terms these same events of 1820.—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_36_36" id="Footnote_36_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_36"><span class="label">[36]</span></a></span> -Rossetti refers here to his most celebrated ode, beginning “Sei pur -bella cogli astri sul crine.” I quote it on p. 177.—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_37_37" id="Footnote_37_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_37"><span class="label">[37]</span></a></span> -I wrote several patriotic odes for that great event of the revolution of -Naples, and I will here name two, which are introduced into my <i>Veggente -in Solitudine</i>. They begin thus—</p> - -<p class="pfi8 p1">“Sei pur bella cogli astri sul crine”—</p> -<p class="pfi8">“Fratelli, all’armi, all’armi!”</p> - -<p class="pfn4">I also composed more than sixty manifestoes upon various occurrences; -they circulated in print throughout the whole Carboneria, in which I -was a member of the General Assembly; likewise a brochure of some -length entitled <i>Alla Difesa, O Cittadini</i>. This inflamed all hearts, when -the treachery of the perfidious Bourbon King came to be known. [I -possess the brochure in question. It was printed towards the end of 1820, -at the time when Ferdinand I. was still professing to adhere cordially to -the Constitution, notwithstanding the threatening attitude assumed by -Austria. Consequently the tone of the author is highly respectful towards -Ferdinand, at the same time that the nation is urged to prepare energetically -for a war—possible, though as yet not exactly probable—against Austria.—W.]</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_38_38" id="Footnote_38_38"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38_38"><span class="label">[38]</span></a></span> -Sir Graham Moore, brother of the famous General Sir John Moore, -who died in the field in the campaign of Corunna. The brothers might -truly be called <i>duo fulmina belli</i>.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_39_39" id="Footnote_39_39"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39_39"><span class="label">[39]</span></a></span> -The house in which I kept needfully concealed for three months -is in the Concordia quarter. Opposite it was a meagre invalid, who -posted himself all day at the window, to peer at whatever was going on -in the neighbourhood—which prevented me from getting a little fresh -air. One day, from the shadowed inside of my room, I saw that a funeral-car -stopped at his door. I perceived he must be dead, and I was glad -of it—why conceal the fact? My prying bugbear being gone, I felt more -at liberty, and I wrote for him the following epigrammatic epitaph:—</p> - -<p class="pfi8q p1">“Here lies a man of prying peering art,</p> -<p class="pfi10">Who in other folk’s affairs made endless pother:</p> -<p class="pfi8">And he from this world did at last depart,</p> -<p class="pfi10">Merely to fathom what is done in t’other.”</p> - -<p class="pfc4 p1">[I may add that on 18th March 1821, midway between the military -disaster at Rieti on 7th March, and the dissolution of the Parliament on -21st March, Rossetti procured a Neapolitan passport for either Spain or -Malta; but it seems that he never attempted to use it, but lay <i>perdu</i> -instead, until shipped off to Malta by Admiral Sir Graham Moore.—W.]</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_40_40" id="Footnote_40_40"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40_40"><span class="label">[40]</span></a></span> -It appears that one of these officers was named Stanford. My aunt, -Charlotte Polidori, being in Naples in 1840, knew something of a Mr -Stanford, who (as she wrote) “knew Rossetti well; it was on <i>his</i> arm -that he leaned when, dressed as an English officer, he went on board. -He would have been put to death, had he not left, merely on account of -his political opinions—on no other subject could a word be said against -him.”—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_41_41" id="Footnote_41_41"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41_41"><span class="label">[41]</span></a></span> -I remember that, when I set off in the coach between the two English -officers, as we passed before the royal palace to reach Santa Lucia where -the skiff awaited, a police inspector exclaimed—“By God! the man in the -middle looks to me like Rossetti!” But the coach passed rapidly on, and -a few moments afterwards I found myself in the skiff, and then in the ship.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_42_42" id="Footnote_42_42"></a><a href="#FNanchor_42_42"><span class="label">[42]</span></a></span> -The flagship, a first-class man-of-war. [Rossetti Italianizes the name -into Roccaforte, and then proceeds to some <i>jeux de mots on Rocca</i> (which -in Italian means fortress). I have had to take the second syllable, fort, -for a like purpose.—W.]</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_43_43" id="Footnote_43_43"></a><a href="#FNanchor_43_43"><span class="label">[43]</span></a></span> -The allusion is to the justly-admired lyric by Rossetti, commencing -“Nella notte più serena.” See p. 182.—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_44_44" id="Footnote_44_44"></a><a href="#FNanchor_44_44"><span class="label">[44]</span></a></span> -No doubt this is true; the practice of dictation having been frequently -adopted by my father after the sight of one eye had been lost -totally, and of the other partially. However, the copy of the poem from -which I am translating is all in his own handwriting; and very good -handwriting it is, though done with some perceptible effort.—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_45_45" id="Footnote_45_45"></a><a href="#FNanchor_45_45"><span class="label">[45]</span></a></span> -The chief poem thus improvised was <i>San Paolo in Malta</i>. See p. 186.—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_46_46" id="Footnote_46_46"></a><a href="#FNanchor_46_46"><span class="label">[46]</span></a></span> -What I indicate regarding the Right Honourable J. Hookham Frere -is far less than the truth. The life of that admirable and exemplary man -ought to be written. [This was done in publications of the years 1871 and -1899.—W.] All Malta was full of his munificences, and still resounds his -praise; and, when in the sequel I quitted that island for England, I found -wide-spread confirmation of his repute as a most erudite man, and a genuine -Christian. After being English Ambassador in Spain, he settled in Malta, -with his sister Susan, to watch over the health of his invalid wife in a mild -climate: there he had the grief of losing them both. Oh what excellent -women those were! Early in 1846 he himself, struck by apoplexy, closed -his beneficent life.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_47_47" id="Footnote_47_47"></a><a href="#FNanchor_47_47"><span class="label">[47]</span></a></span> -A reference to the progress of constitutional liberty in the Sardinian -kingdom.—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_48_48" id="Footnote_48_48"></a><a href="#FNanchor_48_48"><span class="label">[48]</span></a></span> -The name of Minasi was known to me from boyhood; but I am -unable to say much about him, or to account in detail for the singular -burst of rage and obloquy (here abridged) which my father bestows upon -him. He held in London some official appointment (perhaps consular) -from the Neapolitan Government, and refugees were prone to speaking of -him as a spy—as to which, see p. 98.—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_49_49" id="Footnote_49_49"></a><a href="#FNanchor_49_49"><span class="label">[49]</span></a></span> -Two members of the Ruffo family were conspicuous as Bourbon -devotees from 1799 onwards. The Cardinal was the more important -and celebrated; but I think the Principe di Castelcicala is here meant. -He was an Ambassador, and as such he lived in London for some years -during my father’s sojourn.—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_50_50" id="Footnote_50_50"></a><a href="#FNanchor_50_50"><span class="label">[50]</span></a></span> -General Rossaroll headed, in 1821, a short-lived insurrection in -Messina.—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_51_51" id="Footnote_51_51"></a><a href="#FNanchor_51_51"><span class="label">[51]</span></a></span> -General Michele Carrascosa took a leading part in the events of -1820-21 in the Kingdom of Naples. His conduct was not wholly approved -by the constitutional party.—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_52_52" id="Footnote_52_52"></a><a href="#FNanchor_52_52"><span class="label">[52]</span></a></span> -I do not distinctly recognize this name, nor those of Florio and de -Luca.—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_53_53" id="Footnote_53_53"></a><a href="#FNanchor_53_53"><span class="label">[53]</span></a></span> -This must be Colonel Francesco Capecelatro, who was excepted from -the amnesty granted by the King in September 1822. Thirteen persons in -all were excepted; Rossetti figured as the thirteenth.—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_54_54" id="Footnote_54_54"></a><a href="#FNanchor_54_54"><span class="label">[54]</span></a></span> -More than one member of the Poerio family suffered in these -Neapolitan turmoils. The one who went to Malta was, I think, a -major in the army.—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_55_55" id="Footnote_55_55"></a><a href="#FNanchor_55_55"><span class="label">[55]</span></a></span> -The <i>Veggente in Solitudine</i>. Rossetti, I gather, embarked from -Malta in January 1824, and reached London in April. His first London -residence was No. 37 Gerard Street, Soho.—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_56_56" id="Footnote_56_56"></a><a href="#FNanchor_56_56"><span class="label">[56]</span></a></span> -I, of course, do not know whether this statement regarding Ferdinand I. -is accurate or not. My father, I am sure, believed it: I more than once -heard him recount it by word of mouth.—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_57_57" id="Footnote_57_57"></a><a href="#FNanchor_57_57"><span class="label">[57]</span></a></span> -I know at least five of these. They are neat, and cannot have been -gratifying to the Lord of Lusciano. Here is one:</p> - -<p class="pfi8q p1">“I read that tragedy whereof you wist;</p> -<p class="pfi8">And wept in pity ... for the dramatist.”—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_58_58" id="Footnote_58_58"></a><a href="#FNanchor_58_58"><span class="label">[58]</span></a></span> -Literally, “will know how to pierce.” Sand (as it may be hardly -requisite to say) was a German student who on political grounds assassinated -the poet Kotzebue; Louvel, a Frenchman who assassinated the Duc -de Berri, heir to the French throne.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_59_59" id="Footnote_59_59"></a><a href="#FNanchor_59_59"><span class="label">[59]</span></a></span> -Mr Lyell died in 1849.—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_60_60" id="Footnote_60_60"></a><a href="#FNanchor_60_60"><span class="label">[60]</span></a></span> -The London University, consisting of University College and King’s -College. Rossetti competed for the Italian Professorship in the former, -but Panizzi obtained it; afterwards (1831) in the latter, and there he was -elected.—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_61_61" id="Footnote_61_61"></a><a href="#FNanchor_61_61"><span class="label">[61]</span></a></span> -This phrase must designate the <i>Salterio</i>, though the term would -almost equally apply to the <i>Veggente in Solitudine</i>. The three prose -works mentioned in the sequel are the <i>Mistero dell’Amor Platonico</i>, -the <i>Beatrice di Dante</i>, and <i>Roma verso la Metà del Secolo Decimonono</i>. -This last, though separately published, is in fact a long note printed in -the <i>Amor Platonico</i>.—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_62_62" id="Footnote_62_62"></a><a href="#FNanchor_62_62"><span class="label">[62]</span></a></span> -<i>i.e.</i> “a new life.”—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_63_63" id="Footnote_63_63"></a><a href="#FNanchor_63_63"><span class="label">[63]</span></a></span> -Not only in writing, but also in conversation, all matters of this sort -were left in oblivion by my father. I, at any rate, never heard him refer -to them, even distantly.—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_64_64" id="Footnote_64_64"></a><a href="#FNanchor_64_64"><span class="label">[64]</span></a></span> -This is perfectly accurate. Mrs Rossetti shrank from being eulogized -in verse which might one day be published, and I have known her to -plead for the omission of some such matter written by my father. To -me, naturally, it is as pleasant to publish these not exaggerated praises -as to her it was unpleasant to conceive them published.—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_65_65" id="Footnote_65_65"></a><a href="#FNanchor_65_65"><span class="label">[65]</span></a></span> -The date of the proposal was 7th December 1825; of the wedding -(Roman Catholic and English Church), 8th and 10th April 1826.—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_66_66" id="Footnote_66_66"></a><a href="#FNanchor_66_66"><span class="label">[66]</span></a></span> -Taken literally, this is of course correct. But my mother had only -an ordinary modicum of musical practice and aptitude, and neither of -my sisters pursued the art with any zest.—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_67_67" id="Footnote_67_67"></a><a href="#FNanchor_67_67"><span class="label">[67]</span></a></span> -The reference to “ethics” must be chiefly based on Maria Rossetti’s -religious allegory named <i>The Rivulets</i>, semi-published in 1846. As to -Christina, her volume entitled <i>Verses</i> had been privately printed in 1847, -and the poems which she contributed to <i>The Germ</i> (following a brace -in <i>The Athenæum</i>) appeared in 1850.—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_68_68" id="Footnote_68_68"></a><a href="#FNanchor_68_68"><span class="label">[68]</span></a></span> -These expressions need not count as an exaggeration. By 1850 -Dante Gabriel had exhibited two pictures (one of them now in the -National British Gallery); he had published <i>The Blessed Damozel</i> and -other remarkable poems, and had done a multitude of translations from -Italian, and some from German, poets.—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_69_69" id="Footnote_69_69"></a><a href="#FNanchor_69_69"><span class="label">[69]</span></a></span> -I question whether my father was right in supposing me to resemble -him in person; I should say that, of the two, Dante Gabriel resembled -him more. I have suppressed some lines representative of fatherly -fondness more than of myself.—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_70_70" id="Footnote_70_70"></a><a href="#FNanchor_70_70"><span class="label">[70]</span></a></span> -The Conte Giuseppe Ricciardi was a prominent Republican politician, -an attached friend of Rossetti. He exerted himself incessantly in the -Italian cause; his death took place towards 1885. Terenzio Mamiani -was an admired writer in verse and prose; Monsignor Muzzarelli a very -open-minded churchman. Cagnazzi (I presume the same person) is -spoken of by General Guglielmo Pepe as the “venerable archdeacon -Luccado Samuele Cagnazzi, a profound and learned economist,” who -became President of the Neapolitan Parliament in 1848. The other -names, Saliceti and Gazzola, are identified by me less clearly than -probably they ought to be. Pepe, the hero of Venice in 1848-9, was -the same who had been the hero of Naples in 1820.—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_71_71" id="Footnote_71_71"></a><a href="#FNanchor_71_71"><span class="label">[71]</span></a></span> -I cannot elucidate this matter of Paolelli and Turrigo.—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_72_72" id="Footnote_72_72"></a><a href="#FNanchor_72_72"><span class="label">[72]</span></a></span> -Bozzelli became Minister of the Interior in Naples in 1848, when -Ferdinand II. pretended to re-commence a constitutional government; -he was afterwards Prime Minister, conniving in the cause of reaction. -During the brief simulation of constitutionalism, General Pepe had much -influence over the Government, and he advocated the recall of Rossetti to -Naples. My father was nearly on the brink of returning thither, with his -family, when the Liberal movement was quenched in blood. The other -minister here mentioned, Borrelli, belongs to the earlier constitution of -1820-21; he was Minister of Police, and persuaded the Parliament to -authorize the departure of Ferdinand I. from Naples; an event which -was pretty soon followed by the repeal of the constitution, and the -proscription of its abettors.—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_73_73" id="Footnote_73_73"></a><a href="#FNanchor_73_73"><span class="label">[73]</span></a></span> -This diatribe is directed against Sir Antonio Panizzi, whose name is -in the original, given at the close of it: I reduce it here to a comparative -trifle, but have not thought it desirable to miss it out entirely. My father -considered that, for some reason or none, Panizzi had from the first been -ill-disposed towards him; and this feeling was strengthened when Panizzi -published an article (or articles) opposing, and partly ridiculing, my -father’s theories concerning Dante, etc. I am not sure that I ever read -the articles; probably they were bitter (for Panizzi was the reverse of -mealy-mouthed); but, when a man says that Beatrice did not exist, and -that Dante was a sort of Freemason, he must expect that people who -are of a contrary opinion will express themselves forcibly.—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_74_74" id="Footnote_74_74"></a><a href="#FNanchor_74_74"><span class="label">[74]</span></a></span> -They might rather be called notebooks than volumes.—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_75_75" id="Footnote_75_75"></a><a href="#FNanchor_75_75"><span class="label">[75]</span></a></span> -This seems to refer to the volume named—<i>Versi</i>, 1847; also to -poems contributed to an Italian Protestantizing magazine, <i>L’Eco di -Savonarola</i>.—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_76_76" id="Footnote_76_76"></a><a href="#FNanchor_76_76"><span class="label">[76]</span></a></span> -Pius IX.—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_77_77" id="Footnote_77_77"></a><a href="#FNanchor_77_77"><span class="label">[77]</span></a></span> -My father lost totally, and very suddenly, the sight of one eye. -After that he was in constant danger of losing also the sight of the other -eye, and he often expected that this would soon be lost. He did, however, -to the end of his life, retain a much enfeebled modicum of eyesight. -In the <i>expectation</i> of becoming wholly blind, he often spoke and wrote -of himself as blind—an exaggeration, but a pardonable one.—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_78_78" id="Footnote_78_78"></a><a href="#FNanchor_78_78"><span class="label">[78]</span></a></span> -The poem <i>The Seer in Solitude</i> (<i>Il Veggente in Solitudine</i>) has been -previously mentioned. It is true that some of the ideas presented in that -poem as visions or presages—as to the liberation of Italy, etc.—were -getting “daily verified” even in Rossetti’s lifetime, and much more conspicuously -so a few years afterwards.—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_79_79" id="Footnote_79_79"></a><a href="#FNanchor_79_79"><span class="label">[79]</span></a></span> -Rossetti here, and in some other parts of the Autobiography, speaks -of himself in an <i>exalté</i> tone, as imbued with a spirit of prophecy, an -instrument in the divine hand for combating despotism, etc. All this -would have seemed forced and presumptuous to a reader of his own day; -yet it was not a mere distempered dream. In less than ten years from the -date of his writing, the thunderbolt had fallen, and Italian despots and -Papal temporal dominion were in the agonies of dissolution.—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_80_80" id="Footnote_80_80"></a><a href="#FNanchor_80_80"><span class="label">[80]</span></a></span> -Rossetti here dilates (at a length which I have much curtailed) on a -matter now perhaps well-nigh forgotten, the exile in 1850 of the Archbishops -of Turin and Cagliari for obstructing certain laws passed by the -Piedmontese Parliament as a check upon the privileges of the Church.—W.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_81_81" id="Footnote_81_81"></a><a href="#FNanchor_81_81"><span class="label">[81]</span></a></span> -“He unites the advantages of two rivals—Mars in strength, Adonis in -beauty.”</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_82_82" id="Footnote_82_82"></a><a href="#FNanchor_82_82"><span class="label">[82]</span></a></span> -<i>Gergo.</i> The word might be translated as “slang” or “jargon”; -but each of these words conveys a rather incongruous idea to an English -mind, so I say (here and elsewhere) “the sect-language.”</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_83_83" id="Footnote_83_83"></a><a href="#FNanchor_83_83"><span class="label">[83]</span></a></span> -Rossetti’s volume <i>Lo Spirito Antipapale che produsse la Riforma</i>.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_84_84" id="Footnote_84_84"></a><a href="#FNanchor_84_84"><span class="label">[84]</span></a></span> - -“L’illusione è sì grande che scuote.” I understand the meaning to -be as here rendered; but the phrase is not entirely clear.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_85_85" id="Footnote_85_85"></a><a href="#FNanchor_85_85"><span class="label">[85]</span></a></span> -“Not I, if I had a hundred mouths and a hundred tongues, with -iron lungs and iron breast.”</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_86_86" id="Footnote_86_86"></a><a href="#FNanchor_86_86"><span class="label">[86]</span></a></span> -This odd-seeming phrase offers no difficulty to the reader of the -<i>Vita Nuova</i>. Dante there says that Beatrice had a special analogy with -the number nine, and was (in a sense) a nine, or a three times three, -whereof the root was the Holy Trinity.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_87_87" id="Footnote_87_87"></a><a href="#FNanchor_87_87"><span class="label">[87]</span></a></span> -Rossetti’s letter, next before the present one, is dated 13th December -1836. It would seem (looking to dates) that Mr Lyell’s acknowledgment -of being convinced cannot have applied to anything contained in that -letter, but to something in the proofs, then passing through his hands, of -the <i>Mistero dell’Amor Platonico</i>.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_88_88" id="Footnote_88_88"></a><a href="#FNanchor_88_88"><span class="label">[88]</span></a></span> -<i>i.e.</i> “To remember is a sweet thought, and I rejoice.” My father -proceeds here to quote the entire sonnet, underlining some words, and -offering brief comments. I question whether the English reader would -thank me for reproducing the whole. As regards the other (second) -sonnet which follows, I give the whole of the octave, with comments.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_89_89" id="Footnote_89_89"></a><a href="#FNanchor_89_89"><span class="label">[89]</span></a></span> -Translation: “As Paul, when he had descended from heaven, could -not speak of the arcana of God, so my heart has covered all my thoughts -with an amorous veil. Wherefore, for joy which I hide in my heart, I -keep silence as to all that I saw and all that I did; and I shall change -the hair on my brow sooner than guilty thoughts shall ever reverse the -obligation.” I have translated the last line in conformity with the -annotation made by my father, which runs thus: “‘Che mai pensier rei -volger possano in me l’obbligo’ to keep silence, as he has said.” I feel, -however, some considerable doubt whether this is the true order of the -words, which are, as a matter of mere construing, anything but clear. -It might be possible to attempt some conjectural emendation in the words, -but I forbear.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_90_90" id="Footnote_90_90"></a><a href="#FNanchor_90_90"><span class="label">[90]</span></a></span> -These words come from Dante’s <i>Paradiso</i>: “In Rue du Fouarre, -syllogizing invidious truths.”</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_91_91" id="Footnote_91_91"></a><a href="#FNanchor_91_91"><span class="label">[91]</span></a></span> -Mr Taylor was a member of the firm that printed Rossetti’s <i>Amor -Platonico</i>. His book was, I think, <i>Michelangelo considered as a Philosophic -Poet</i>.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_92_92" id="Footnote_92_92"></a><a href="#FNanchor_92_92"><span class="label">[92]</span></a></span> -<i>i.e.</i> The <i>Mistero dell’Amor Platonico</i>—which was dedicated to Mr -Kirkup.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_93_93" id="Footnote_93_93"></a><a href="#FNanchor_93_93"><span class="label">[93]</span></a></span> -By the phrase “your circumstances” Mazzini, I think, refers not so -much to moderate pecuniary means, but rather to the fact that Rossetti, -maintaining himself and his family by the teaching of Italian in private -families and schools, could not with any prudence put himself forward as -a revolutionary agitator. I am satisfied that he did <i>not</i> join the Association -named by Mazzini.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_94_94" id="Footnote_94_94"></a><a href="#FNanchor_94_94"><span class="label">[94]</span></a></span> -The Conte Carlo Pepoli, a member of an ancient and highly distinguished -Bolognese family, was then a political exile in London. He -ultimately became a Senator of the Italian Kingdom. An epistle in verse -had, in his youth, been addressed to him by the great poet Leopardi.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_95_95" id="Footnote_95_95"></a><a href="#FNanchor_95_95"><span class="label">[95]</span></a></span> -Adelaide Kemble, afterwards Mrs Sartoris.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_96_96" id="Footnote_96_96"></a><a href="#FNanchor_96_96"><span class="label">[96]</span></a></span> -He was, I think, a music-master in Paris.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_97_97" id="Footnote_97_97"></a><a href="#FNanchor_97_97"><span class="label">[97]</span></a></span> -The address (as noted down by my mother on Mazzini’s letter) was -No. 40 Clarges Street.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_98_98" id="Footnote_98_98"></a><a href="#FNanchor_98_98"><span class="label">[98]</span></a></span> -As I have mentioned in my published Memoir of Dante Gabriel -Rossetti, my father spoke at this Anniversary-meeting, followed by Mazzini.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_99_99" id="Footnote_99_99"></a><a href="#FNanchor_99_99"><span class="label">[99]</span></a></span> -This must have been a <i>different</i> celebration from that in which Signor -Delavo was concerned. The latter was fixed for 14th May, the anniversary -of the Battle of Marengo.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_100_100" id="Footnote_100_100"></a><a href="#FNanchor_100_100"><span class="label">[100]</span></a></span> -King Charles Albert, of Piedmont, who had to abdicate in 1849.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_101_101" id="Footnote_101_101"></a><a href="#FNanchor_101_101"><span class="label">[101]</span></a></span> -Mazzini’s word (indistinctly written) appears to be “raccolta,” which -frequently means “harvest,” but may probably here mean “subscription.” -Perhaps it was a public subscription for reinstating amnestied emigrants -in the Papal States.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_102_102" id="Footnote_102_102"></a><a href="#FNanchor_102_102"><span class="label">[102]</span></a></span> -The Italian word looks something like “compatisci,” which corresponds -to “excuse”; I am not certain about it.</p> - -<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_103_103" id="Footnote_103_103"></a><a href="#FNanchor_103_103"><span class="label">[103]</span></a></span> -General Guglielmo Pepe.</p></div> -</div> - -</div> - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Gabriele Rossetti, by Gabriele Rossetti - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GABRIELE ROSSETTI *** - -***** This file should be named 52387-h.htm or 52387-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/2/3/8/52387/ - -Produced by Giovanni Fini and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - -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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