"Non vede un fimil' par d'amanti il fole,* E ftringendo ambedue, volgeafi attorno. Son. 208. "And that their paffion was the common difcourfe of the public, appears from many paffages, where the poet dwells on that circumftance as a matter of regret : -Sì come al popol tutto Favola fui gran tempo, onde fovente Son. I. 3tid, Petrarch, in the zooth fonnet, (Real natura), records the following remarkable anecdote. At a brilliant affembly and feftival, given on occafion of the arrival of a foreign prince at Avignon, Laura was prefent, along with the most distinguished ladies of the place. This prince, whom the poet celebrates as a most amiable and accomplished character, curious to fee a lady of whom the compofitions of Petrarch had given him fo high an idea, eagerly fought her out amidst the crowd, and foon difco. vered her by her fuperior beauty and the gracefulness of her demeanour. Approaching her with an air of gentleness united with dignity, and making a fign to the ladies who furrounded her to ftand a little apart, he took her by the hand, and (after the fashion of his country) faluted her, by kiffing her forehead and her eyes: a mark of regard, fays the poet, which was ap proved by all the ladies who were prefent, but which he himfelf beheld with envy. The commentators are not agreed as to the prince of whom this anecdote is recorded. M. de la Baftie is of opinion that it was Robert, King of Naples, who is known to have distinguished Petrarch by many marks of friendship and beneficence, and whom the poet has, in various parts of his writings, celebrated with the highest eulogy: and this is likewife the opinion of Bembo, Daniel, and others. The Abbé de Sade, on the other hand, has adduced fome ftrong arguments to fhow, that the prince here alluded to was Charles of Luxembourg, fon of John, King of Bohemia. The difpute, as to the perfon, is of no confequence; the anecdote must be admitted as true, and it has ever been regarded as highly honourable both for the poet and his miftrefs. In that light we are affured it was confidered by the ladies who were prefent; and, as it is no part of the female character, to view with complacency an unmerited preference fhown to a rival in beauty or accomplishments, we muft hold this as an unequivocal proof, that they confidered this flattering mark of diftinction as defervedly beftowed, and, of courfe, that they regarded the attachment of Petrarch and of Laura as an honourable and virtuous flame. Now, let it be fup. pofed, with the Abbé de Sade, that this lady, thus highly diftinguished as the object of the poet's paffion, had been the wife of a man of rank and character, the mother of a family, is it poffible to believe that this foreign prince, who is defcribed as a paragon in every courtly accomplishment, fhould have thus openly braved every law of decency and of propriety, and, in a full affembly (met to do him honour) have infulted, not only the hufband of this lady, but every woman of honour, or of virtuous character, who was prefent? Is it to be conceived, that the hufband of this lady, ftrongly impreffed with the feelings of jealoufy on the fcore of this ardent attachment, as this author himfelf reprefents him to have been, and who, in all probability, muft himself have witneffed the incident here recorded, fhould have filently and tamely fubmitted to this grofs affront? Is it poffible to figure, that the whole affembly fhould have crowned with their approbation this glaring indignity and violation of decorum ? "4td, Would this jealous husband have not only patiently witneffed the mutual expreflions of this ardent paffion for the space of twenty-one years, that his wife was alive, but have complaifantly permitted her gallant, or a friend under his character, to embalm the memory of his miftrefs by a rapturous loveelegy, to be inclofed in her coffin; the laft infult which the honour of a husband could sustain? Yet this, we must believe, if we adopt the hypothefis of the Abbé de Sade: For, if the story of the leaden casket has any truth in it at all, (and its frppofed truth is the main prop of that hypothefis,) this elegy or fonnet must have been written, either by Petrarch himself, or by a friend affuming his character. "5to, An amour of this kind, with a married woman, the mother of a numerous family, under whatever colours this reve rend author, in the laxity of the morals of his country, may choose to palliate and difguife it, was in itfelf an offence both against religion and morality, and must have been viewed by the poet himself in a criminal light. But the general morals of Petrarch were exemplary, his virtue was even of a rigid cast ; and, if at any time he was overpowered by the weakness of hu manity, his mind, naturally of an ingenuous frame, fuffered the kecneft contrition, and prompted to an ample atonement, by a fincere avowal of his fault. In this light, however, he never confiders his paffion for Laura. On the contrary, it appears to have been his glory and pride, and to have exalted him equally in his own efteem and in that of others." P. 181. From one part of the French Abbè's argument, it should appear that Laura was not married when Petrarch first admired her, but afterwards gave her hand to Hugh de Sade. Here, perhaps, our valuable author does not prefs his adverfary fo much as he might. For what reafonable perfon can can poffibly conceive that in writing near 400 compofitions on the fubject of his love, Petrarch should never mention nor allude to the trifling circumftance of her giving her hand to another man, her dangers in child-bed, nor any thing elfe relative to her marriage, though he dwells on the most minute particulars of her life in other refpects ? In the following paffage, however, he urges another argument with great force, and moral beauty of fentiment. "One should have naturally imagined, that this gentleman, fo proud of his ancestry, might have remained content with that portion of renown which appears to have fatisfied his forefathers, the attributing to their houfe, the honour of having produced this illuftrious lady. And indeed it is not eafy to conceive how, in any juft balance of moral eftimation, the one fpecies of adfcititious merit fhould outweigh the other. On the contrary, a rigid mo. ralift would infallibly decide, that more real honour accrued to a family from having produced the pure, the chafte, the coy, the maiden Laura, the model of female dignity and propriety, the object of an ardent, but virtuous affection to the moft illuf trious character of the age; than from having acquired by marriage, a connection with a lady, who, whatever were her personal charms, had no title to the praife of exalted virtue, or of true female dignity; who, while joined in wedlock to a refpectable husband, and the mother of eleven children, continued for above twenty years, to put in practice every artifice of a finished coquette, to enfnare the affection, and keep alive the paffions, of a gallant, whofe attachment, from the celebrity of his name, was flattering to her vanity. "I muft indeed acknowledge, that these notions are drawn from a fyftem of morals with which the Abbé de Sade and most of his countrymen are but very little acquainted. I know that, in the opinion of moft Frenchmen, a handfome married woman derogates not in the flighteft degree from the rules either of virtue or of ftrict propriety, while the amuses herself with the gallant attentions of all the young men of her acquaintance; and the most intimate reciprocation of tender fentiments, while it is only an affair of the heart, is termed une belle paffion. This is precifely what the Abbé de Sade fuppofes to have been the connection of Petrarch and Laura. Petrarch befieged her with ardent and importunate folicitations, which had for their object the ordinary rewards of a lover. She never actually dishonoured her husband's bed; but she made no fcruple to avow to her lover that her heart was fenfible to his flame; though at times fhe found it neceffary to feign a rigour and coldnefs of demeanour, in order the better to keep alive the ardour of his paffion. Par ce petit manege,' fays the Abbé, cette alternative de faveurs et de rigueurs bien menagée, une femme tendre et fage amufe, pendant vingt et un ans, ans, le plus grand poëte de fon ficcle, fans faire la moindre briche à fon binneur. P. 127. May fuch morals never be tolerate in Engli, or any part of its dominions or connections! Lord Wooahoufelee has tranflated feveral of the fonnets of Petrarch, particularly fuch as relate to his argument, with g et elegance and beauty. For example "Ite rime dolenti, al duro foffo. "Go, melancholy rhymes! your tribute bring To that cold tone, which holds the dear remains If heaven thould defgn to hear them, earthly ftrains, "Tell her, that fport of tempefts, fit no more His only pleafure to recall the paft. "Tell her, that she who living rul'd his fate, In death ftill holds her empire: all his care, So grant the Mufe her aid,—to celebra.e Her every word, and thought, and action fair". "Be this my meed, that in the hour of death P. 267. This volume, pleafing in its decorations, as well as valuable from its fubject, is with great propriety dedicated to Mr. Mathias, the most active patron of Italian literature in this country. He doublefs would receive it with delight. ART. 14. BRITISH CATALOGUE. POETRY. The Minstrels of Winandermere, a Poem; by Charles Farish, B. D. Fellow of Queen's College, Cambridge, and late But her marriage and conduct in it were not worth noticing!! abfurd, Rev. U BRIT. CRIT. VOL. XXXVIII. SEPT. 1811. Lecturer Lecturer of St. Cuthbert's, Carlisle. 12mo. 5s. 6d. Cadelf and Davies. 1811. We can remember the author of thefe Poems when in early life he was diftinguifhed by the higheft fcholaftic honours his Alina Mater could bestow; and we hoped that at this period we should have found him in the enjoyment of eafe and independence in fome dignified clafs of his profeffion. The cafe however feems otherwife, and the title page of this little volume merely defignates him as fellow of his college. We enter, heartily into his argument with refpect to the involuntary celibacy of fellows of colleges, and agree with Mr. Farish and our late common friend Mr. Jones, the lamented tutor of Trinity College; that it would be wife and falutary at least to qualify this rigid law. Let it not be forgotten, that our two English Univerfities are the only Proteftant Univerfities in the world that perfift in refusing to tolerate the marriage of their members. Thefe Poems indicate much poetical feeling and taste; they are very mifcellaneous, but the scenes and objects principally defcribed are thofe of Winandermere and the neighbouring lakes; they evince alfo a perfect knowledge of ancient and local hiftory and feem altogether to have merited a better garb. We are fomewhat at a lofs where to take a fpecimen accommodated to the space we have to fpare, which on this occafion we wish more extenfive. The following will however be acceptable to مللة THE THREE SISTER LAKES. "Conifton more fair to fee And Hen-cragg fights his ftormy wars. Ullesmere I speak to thee, "Think not of Char with lovely fin, And |