From the gay to the grave he turned to Petrarch's affecting lines :

Se lamentar angelli, O verdi fronde
Mover soavemente all'aura estiva,

O voco mormorar di lucid' onde

S'ode d'una fiorita e fresca viva,

La'v io seggia d'amor pensoso e seriva;
Lei che'l liel ne mostrô terra n'asconde,
Veggio, ed odo, ed intendo; ch'ancor viva
Di si lontan á sospiri mici risponde,

Deh perchè innanzi tempo ti consume?
Mi dice con pietate; a che pur versi
Degli occhi tristi un doloroso fiume ?

Di me non pianger tu, che mici dè fersi
Morendo, eterni; e nedl' eterno lume,

Quando mostrai di chiuder gli occhi, aspersi.

Guidotti then recited

Petrarch al rhodano":

"Sonnetto

del

Rapido fiume, che d'alpestra Vena

Rodendo intorno; onde'l tuo nome prendi ;
Nolle e di maco desioso scendi ;
Or' amor me, te sol natura mena;

Vattene innanzi : il tuo corso non frena

Ne staneherzza, nè sonno-Epsia che rendi
Suo dritto al mar, fiso, ù fi mostoi, attendi
L'erba più verde, e l'aria più serena.

Ivi è quel nostro vivo e dolce sole,

Ch'adorna e'nfiora la tua riva manca,
Forse (o che shera) il mio tardar le dole.
Bacia Ce l'piède, o la man bella e bianca,
Dille il baciar fién vice di parole

Lo sprito è pronto ma la carne e stanca.

Of which we give the following translation :

Go, rapid river! from the rocky sides

Of Alps, rush on, and wind your mazy course

By day, by night, down where, with ceaseless force,
Love urges me to go, you only nature guides!

Flow swiftly on, nor weariness, nor sleep

Shall stay your stream, yet ere the briny deep
Receives your tribute, stop, attentive view

Where earth a fresher green, heav'n wears a brighter blue.

There shines my sun, the radiant o'er your wave,

Decks your left bank with fruits and flowerets gay,
And now (oh, may I hope) grieves at my long delay.

Her snowy feet then gently, gentle lave,

Kiss her white hand, and kissing, murmuring say,
That tho' the spirit's quick, 'tis clogg'd by kindred clay.

He quoted lines from the "Pastor fido" of Guarini, which was first exhibited at the nuptials of the Duke of Savoy with the sister of Philip the Third of Spain, and denounced the author of it as an ambitious, inconsistent character, who was so regardless of the

poetical fame his " Pastor fido " had achieved, that he considered it to be below the rank of a gentleman to be a poet.

"And yet," continued Paul, "what noble poets Italy, France, England, Germany have produced, men who have shone forth as the greatest ornaments of the countries that gave them birth, and whose mental endowments fully entitled them to be placed by the side of Homer, of Virgil, and of Tasso, in the ranks of immortality.”

In discussing the question as to where the purest Italian language is spoken, Guidotti remarked

"It is a mistaken notion to fancy that at Florence the language is better spoken than in other parts of Italy."

66

Such I understood was the case," responded Joanna.

"It is true that at the Court and in the Academies the pronunciation is pure and correct, but the humbler class have a terrible accent, speaking through the nose, and in a guttural manner. Many Florentine authors,

ancient as well as modern, have praised the style which has given rise to the following proverb

Lingua Toscano in bocca Romana,

and there can be no doubt that at Rome and Sienna, especially at the former city, the Italian language is pronounced in its most brilliant style. Hence the saying

Per ben parlare Italiano

Bisogna parlar Romano."

Every hour passed in Paul Guidotti's society increased the interest Joanna Melvill took in the young enthusiast.

CHAPTTR XVI.

Avec nombreuse compagnie,
Le chasseur parcourt le canton,
Tonton, tonton, tontaine, tonton.

BERANGER.

AT the period I write of, hunting at Rome was-as I believe it still is-a truly popular amusement, and as the Count was very anxious to show off his "noble horsemanship," he persuaded Mr. Melvill to permit his ward to accompany him on horseback, he having borrowed from an English resident a very quiet English hunter, accustomed to carry a lady, he himself having recently purchased an Irish horse, well known in the county of Kilkenny.

Everyone that has been at Rome must be aware that the Campagna is regularly honeycombed with grottoes and caves, and to