make a treaty with the robbers, and give them Now that I have excited your curiosity, I with a good grace what they exact for their || shall immediately conclude my letter, to punish subsistence. The thing is so common that it you for your negligence, which you always is generally specified in the contracts of loca-observe in answering your friend. ITALY groaned under the scourge of war; the French came down from the Alps like a destructive torrent, covering with blood and carnage the smiling plains of Lombardy, while || Gonsalvo de Cordova held the kingdom of Naples in subjection to the Spanish yoke. The petty states of Italy, broken by the shocks given them from France and Spain, who had from that period, began to dispute the title of universal monarchy, waited in terror the re sult of these sanguinary contests. Venice alone beld an imposing position; Venice the Queen of the sea, had extended her empire; in the Levant, in several isles of the Archipelago, some points even of the Grecian contiuent were subject to her laws, and her commerce gave her the means of supporting numerous bands, commanded by experienced chiefs: but alas! these chiefs, less famous for their military talents than for the plunder to which their troops were addicted, were more the terror of the Italians than their safeguard: the name of Condottiero was odious to all classes of the citizens, and the quality of a soldier, so respectable in itself, was become a subject of hatred and universal contempt in the persons of those men who only made use of their arms to oppress their country and abuse their fellow citizens. The property of the peaceable inhabitants of the country was scarce sufficient to satisfy the exorbitant desires of the soldiery, while the liberty of the towns sunk under the oppressions of their chiefs. The Condottiero made themselves successively masters of the most considerable towns; and those whose insignificance had sheltered them against the attacks of the more ambitious, soou fell a prey to others, who too feeble to attack the usurpers already established, were desirous of profiting by their example and the general consternation, to render themselves masters of possessions which would insure their independence, and put them in a way to keep their own military force perpetually in pay. Raimondo Feracuti, an obscure man, born amongst the fields of Mantua, was one of those whom revolutions had raised to the rank of the sovereigns of Lombardy; he possessed valour and experience, and several fortunate expeditions undertaken for the Venetians against the Florentines, had gained him a brilliant reputation, and he was himself superior to his renown: his coolness in combat, his wisdom in council, and his clemency in victory, rendered him dear to the Italians; he would have been a true hero had he known how to set bounds to his ambition, or at least to have allowed himself only to have had in view some lawful pursuit; but he could not withstand the instances of his officers, who, on their part, desirous of enjoying the fruits of their exploits, looked upon the taking and subjecting of a strong town as the only means of establishing their riches and their repose: the little town of Sabionetta,* agreeably situat-" ed, strong by its position and by the works which the inhabitants have raised to preserve their liberty, was chosen by Feracuti for his own deminion; he meditated the conquest of it, and succeeded in possessing it by stra tagem, in which the famous Duke of Valentinois served him most essentially, having rendered him master of Sinigalles and of the - Sabionetta is on the confines of the Dutchy of Mantua and of Cremonise, the capital of the Dutchy of the same name as the Castle; it had its own particular Princes, and belonged to the House of Austria, when the French took it in 1797. person of Vilellezzi Vitelli. When he became peaceable, possessor of Sabionetta and its territory, Raimondo only occupied himself in repressing the licentiousness of the military; and his new subjects astonished at the mildness of his government, soon ceased to regret the loss of a tumultuous liberty. Feracuti died after having assured the principality of Sabionetta to his son, who had borne arms under him. Hannibal Feracuti, whom we shall now call the Prince of Sabionetta, joined to the most prepossessing countenance all those qualities which render a chief respectable in the eyes of his soldiers; brave without ostentation, he remained calm in the midst of danger; difficulties, far from blunting his courage, only augmented his energy, and when fortune refused to second his efforts, he found in the fertility of his genius the means of parrying off those strokes which sometimes threatened to overthrow his enterprise. But all these precious endowments were tarnished by an irresistible inordinance of amorous propensity; happy for him if his heart inclining towards an estimable object, had entirely given himself up to that sweet sentiment which a female always inspires, when the beauty of her mind equals the outward attractions which capti vate our senses. 1 But the Prince was not susceptible of a lively tenderness, he experienced only sensual desires, without feeling that sweet emotion of the soul which deifies her to whom we look up for favour; to satiate his love by possession was the only end he had in view; never did he wish for the conquest of a heart, never did his bosom palpitate at the sight of the lovely Stefanina, so calculated to inspire the most delicate sentiments; but she only made Hannibal experience the unconquerable desire of sacrificing Stefanina to the ardour of unrestrained passion. Stefanina of Rinaldi, owed her birth to Adolfo di Rinaldi; never did a daughter own a more respectable father; grown old in arms, Adolfo reckoned his years by his exploits; his name was in the mouth of every brave man, and he was one of the twelve Italian chevaliers whom Gonsalvo had chosen to avenge the Italian honour on the insolence of the French;* and although his eleven companions had been as well as himself the couquerors of their adversaries, Rinaldi, who had fought the most formidable of the French, and had found means, notwithstanding their efforts, to succour an Italian Chevalier, who was just on the point of falling under the sword of his enemy, and lived to share in the general glory, Rinaldi was entitled to the greatest share of the honour. The desire of again beholding his country, and to become useful to it, caused Rinaldi to quit the Spanish army, in which he had first borne arms, and he returned to Mantua; a faction inimical to his house exiled him, but his military reputation followed him every where; he was received by Raimondo Feracati, who owed to him part of his success, and who profiting by the wise counsels of Adolfo, felt himself strengthened in those inclinations which led him to justice and humanity. Haunibal, on the contrary, weary of the severe manner which marked Rinaldi's conversation, sought, as soon as possible, to get rid of so indefatigable a conser, and gave him the Castle of Ripapatta; not so much to recompence him for his past services, as to avoid the remonstrances that his own conduct could not fail to draw upon him, from a mau of such rigid morals. Adolfo was too wise not to prefer to the bustle of a court, a retreat which promised him leisure to occupy himself solely with the education of Stefanina, who was in her early bloom when her father led her to his new domain, Three years passed away, without any remarkable event happening to either the father or his daughter; but at the commencement of the fourth, a Veronese Chevalier, named Gherardo Gherardini beheld Stefanina, and conceived for her that love which is given to Italian hearts alone to experience in its fullest extent. The tender Stefanina could not per ceive, without interest, the impression she had made upon a mind, which till then had only known the charms of glory. Stefanina loved, and the command that her father gave * Vide Sennor M. J. Quittana's Lives of Illustrious Spaniards. her to look upon Gherardo, as a lover who would shortly become her husband, intoxicated her with delight; it was with difficulty she concealed her transports; the presence of him only who had caused them could impose the silence prescribed by modesty; she was at a loss to express her feelings, and her father attributing her blushes to the embarrassment always experienced by a young maiden at the idea of a wedded state, left her alone, to give her time to recover herself. However, the reports of Stefanina's beauty reached the court, and the Prince himself had heard it vaunted of; he learned, not without some degree of pique, that a beauty, to whom he had not dared to aspire, ornamented his dominions. A particle of virtue, or rather respect, with which the virtue of Rinaldi inspired the most criminal, decided Hannibal's resolution to shun Stefanina, his seeing of whom could not but be attended with the most fatal consequences; he feared, and with too much reason, that the sight of such an assemblage of charms would kindle in his bosom an unfortunate passion. Hannibal was married; and although his wife possessed all that was capable of fixing any man who was able to appreciate virtue adorned by the graces, she could never restrain for one moment her fickle husband, who, far from respecting the ties which united him to the gentle Clara, only saw in her an obstacle to the accomplishment of his base pursuits. He secretly detested the innocent Clara, and he had resolved on her death, since she prevented his gaining new conquests. He was in this frame of mind when Adolfe was announced; the novelty of the message astonished the Prince; it was above three years since Adolfo had appeared at court. Hannibal ordered to be introduced, without delay, a man to whom he owed a part of his elevation, and whose influence was able to destroy his authority, if he declared himself against him. He received Rinaldo with marks of the most sincere benevolence; and after having sounded, before his courtiers, the truest praises of the services Adolfo had rendered his father and himself, he affectionately requested him to tell him the motive of his journey to Sabionetta. Rinaldi touched with the friendship which the Prince evinced for im, felt all those sentiments renewed in his heart, which had before attached him to the son of his ancient friend. (To be continued.) A BRIEF SKETCH OF MISS BURNEY'S NEW NOVEL, ENTITLED "TRAITS OF NATURE." PUBLISHED BY H. COLBURN, LONDON. THIS interesting work opens with the description of two worthy characters, Dr. Hampden and his wife, who, with their own young family, have taken the charge of an amiable youth, Algernon Mordington, the son of a needy younger brother of a noble family; and the infant sister of Algernon, "motherless from the third day after her birth," is admitted into the nursery at Mordington Castle, and allowed to be brought up with Lord Osseley's own children, her cousins. In the early part of the work, the Peer becoming childless, takes Algernon home and adopts him for his son, as well as ackuowledging him the proper heir at law: but pre vious to this event, a Mrs. Cleveland, grand. mother to the heroine of this work, sends for Dr. Hampden, to consult bim not only as a physician, but as a friend; and confides to his care her grand-daughter Adela, theu a very young child, and whose mild, sweet, and timid character is finely contrasted with that of her only brother, an adored, spoilt, and headstrong boy. These two children are the offspring of Mr. Cleveland by a second wife; two daughters, Elinor and Alicia, are the children of his first marriage. The character of the mother of Julius and Adela is drawn with strong colourings of nature; her husband's ardent af. fection for her evinced itself in the most iras cible jealousy: the offended Mrs. Cleveland became revengeful, and eloped with a Sr Francis Rosalvan, a man of amiable character and who never could forgive himself for the seduction of this lovely woman. Mr. Cleve. land obtained a divorce, and Sir Francis married the unfortunate Mrs. Cleveland. Though Mr. Cleveland acknowledges his children, he only countenances his idolized Julius, his son and heir; while Adela, being some years younger, and resembling in beauty her unhappy mother, yet with strong traits of the Cleveland family, he never can be prevailed upon to notice; she becomes therefore the protegée of her affectionate grandmother, who bequeathes her a small fortune, and appoints Dr. Hampden her guardian. A growing affection, which appears to be ripening into love, seems to be taking place between Algernon Mordington and Adela while they are living together under the roof of Dr. Hampden; but soon the uucle of Algernon acknowledging him his heir, he is sent to Eton, where Julius Cleveland, so unlike him in disposition, is also placed; and the two youths soon commence a kind of hostility which threatens to become a Capulet and Montague sort of hatred between the families. Cleveland, the brother of Adela's father; the General is, to use the words of the fair author, an easy tempered, gay, and not very acutely feeling man of fashion; and sensible of the many provocations his propensity to gallantry had given his lady, submitting to ber censures with patience and humility, when he cannot escape them, but seeking every means to avoid them: the system of his life seeming to be, by words and looks, at least, if not by actions, to keep all whom he associates with in good humour with him, by endeavouring to keep them so with themselves.”—Mrs. Cleveland, the wife of the General, is quite an every day woman of fashion; her son, Talbot Cleveland, is an amiable and sensible youth, and strongly attached to his cousin, the fair Adela: this son and four daughters constitute the General's family. Barbara, the eldest daughter, plain in her person, affects the abstruser studies, to which she pretends to add more lighter accomplishments, such as music, dancing, &c. &c. The second daughter, Jemima, is represented beautiful, of pleasing manners, but of a false character; while the third, Christina, diminituve in stature, is arch, sensible, and vivacious; the young Laura is yet an infant. While Adela was a child under the roof of Dr. Hampden, she accidentally meets with her mother, Lady Rosalvan, who, with her hus private meeting, place her in a postchaise, in which it seems their intention to carry her off, but for the timely interposition of Algernou and Dr. Hampden. Mr Somerville, a wealthy gentleman, becomes the husband of the amiable Elinor, one of the sisters of Adela, and the latter being on a visit to them, it was proposed by the good-band, Sir Francis, after deluding Adela into a Latured Mr. Somerville, to give a dance for the amusement of the young people; Julius, however, insisted that the heir of Merdington Castle should not be invited. Algernon, how. ever, finds means to introduce himself in the disguise of a one-eyed youth, the deaf and dumb son of an old harper: he dances with exquisite grace, despises the money collected for him, but makes signs to possess himself of a cornelian heart worn by Adela he 8004 afterwards wins a bet. by as erfing he was at the dance given by Mr. Somerville; and produces the cornelian heart as proof. We ferl, however, naturally disappointed by his marry. ing in the early part of the work, and not ta Adela, but to a young woman who had little else than a very beautiful face to recommend her. The next prominent character is General The character of the worthy Dr. Hampden and his wife, are of that stamp as to call forth all the affections of the interesting Adela: the Doctor's ruling passion, next to universal benevolence, is literature; Mrs. H. despises the profundity of feminine accomplishments, but is a true matter of fact lady, possessed of the best and most affectionate heart in the world: she only disagrees with her husband in one point, which is the names of her children; she insists on scripture names, except that of her eldest son William; while the Doctor, after reading a new edition of Shakespeare, is resolved his youngest boy shall be called Hotspur; the good lady expostulates in vain, on the heathenism of the name, and adds to it Benjamin, and refuses ever to call him by any other appellation than by his second name, which she declares is true Christian! Speaking of the virtues of the heart, there is no one in this work which appears more fair and excellent than one inclosed in a black casket, the faithful Amy, an attendant on Adela; she is possessed of one the most valuable, a fidelity above all price; she attends her mistress every where, and evinces the kiadmess and tenderness of her nature on every occasion. in which she lives in the house of her father. From this monotony she is, however, one night relieved by the General, who invites her to a ball given by a lady of high fashion, to which she is escorted by Julius. Here she meets with an interesting nobleman, with whom ber brother not seeming well pleased to see her converse with much pleasure and spirit, abruptly tells her the carriage waits to convey her bome; as she wishes to procrastinate, she is alarmed by the ferocity of her brother's countenance, who draws her precipitately away, and tells her in the anti-room if she seeks any pretence to re-enter the apartment she has just quitted, he will never forgive her. The next morning he tells her he wishes they may part, and declares he never wishes to see her face again. At an evening party a few In the first volume we read of the death of the penitent Sir Francis Rosalvan; and Adela obtains leave of her guardian, Dr. Hampden, to visit her widowed mother in Scotland, who, still weak and vain, is the dupe of a deceitful woman of the name of Cameron; against || nights after, a qui pro quo between Sir Patrick whose guile, however, Adela having received || sufficient warning, observes a prudent precaution, and easily sees through the art of Mrs. Cameron. Ad la soon quits Scotland, under the care of one of Lady Rosalvan's most steady male domestics. Adela on her return to her beloved home at Dr. Hampden's, finds his eldest daughter, Ruth, on the point of an advantageous marriage; and William, the eldest son, decidedly bent on going into the army, much to the sorrow of his foud mother, ordered on foreign service. Harley and Julius, which arises from Sir Patrick's having been introduced to Adela by the giddy Christine as to her French governess, brings about a reconciliation between the brother and sister; and a few days after Adela accompanies her uncle and his family to a graud dinner party, where she again meets Lord Ennerdale, the nobleman with whom she was conversing at the ball when her brother so abruptly hastened her departure. Amongst this party is a pre-eminent character in the work, a Mrs. Elmer, who is possessed of a rage for patronizing. Mrs. Elmer, in the course of Adela soon after receives an invitation to the evening amusements, declares how supeGeneral Cleveland's town house, from whence rior are the musical abilities of Lord Ennershe soon departs, with her brother Julius, to dale. Immediately then, to the great surprise that of her father, on account of a French of Adela, Lord Ennerdale with one hand, and governess of Christine's being taken with a the most comic affectation of gravity, puzzles fever pronounced by the apothecary infectious. out the very notes to which, so many years The kind hearted Amy, however, will not leave before, the pretended harper's son had danced the sick foreigner, with whom Adela is also at Mrs. Somerville's. "And if this does not desirons of staying, but her brother assuring content you," said his Lordship, "you deserve her that her father is not in town, insists on to be punished by that very tune which I ber accompanying him. She is permitted to heard twanged upon a villainous harp to keep take her cousin Christine with her, who is measure to a boy professedly deaf and dumb." all delight at the spacious unoccupied apart. Adela now steps forward, and her eyes meet ments of Mr. Cleveland, and amuses herself those of Lord Ennerdale, who gives an exact with the ideas of fairy adventures; while description of the boy, and of the loveliest Adela reflects deeply that it was from that and most admired young woman in the room. house, in which she herself had been born, All listen with pleasure except Adela, who her misguided mother had eloped; nor are blushes at being made the heroine of the rethese reflections dissipated by the seclusioncital; but though passing years had at first No. XXXII. Vol, V.—N. §. Kk |