become acquainted with the institutions of other countries, the more highly must we value our own. I threw down my pen in triumph. The question,' And yet The WISEST OF said I, is set to rest for ever. 'And yet-' I must still say.* MEN seldom went out of the walls of ATHENS; and for that worst of evils, that sickness of the soul, to which we are most liable when most at our ease, is there not after all a surer and yet pleasanter remedy, a remedy for which we have only to cross the threshold? A PIEDMONTESE nobleman, into whose company I fell at TURIN, had not long before experienced its efficacy; and his story he told me without reserve. 'I was weary of life,' said he, and, after a day, such as few have known and none would wish to remember, was hurrying along the street to the river, when I felt a sudden check. I turned and beheld a little boy, who had caught the skirt of my cloak in * For that knowledge, indeed, which is the most precious, we have not far to go; and how often is it to be found where least it is looked for?- I have learned more,' said a dying man on the scaffold,' in one little dark corner of yonder tower than by any travel in so many places as I have seen.'-HOLINSHED. P his anxiety to solicit my notice. His look and manner were irresistible. Not less so was the lesson he had learnt. "There are six of us, and we are dying for want of food."-"Why should I not," said I to myself, "relieve this wretched family? I have the means ; and it will not delay me many minutes. But what, if it does?" The scene of misery he conducted me to, I cannot describe. I threw them my purse; and their burst of gratitude overcame me. It filled my eyes.. it went as a cordial to my heart. "I will call again to-morrow," I cried. "Fool that I was, to think of leaving a world, where such pleasure was to THE FOUNTAIN. It was a well Of whitest marble, white as from the quarry; And soon was lost-stealing unseen, unheard, She drew with such alacrity to serve At length there came the loveliest of them all, Nor stirred till he had done, fixed as a statue. Then hadst thou seen them as they stood, CANOVA, Thou hadst endowed them with immortal youth; And they had evermore lived undivided, Winning all hearts-of all thy works the fairest. The place here described is near Mola di Gaëta in the kingdom of Naples. BANDITTI. 'Tis a wild life, fearful and full of change, And, when his work is done, he dares not sleep. * 6 66 Alluding to Alfonso Piccolomini. Stupiva ciascuno chè, mentre un bandito osservava rigorosamente la sua parola, il Papa non avesse ribrezzo di mancare alla propria.”—GALLUZZI, ii. 364. He was hanged at Florence, March 16, 1591. Tasso was returning from Naples to Rome, and had arrived at Mola Di Gaëta, when he received this tribute of respect. The captain of the troop was Marco di Sciarra. See MANSO, Vita del Tasso. Ariosto had a similar adventure with Filippo Pacchione. See GAROFALO. |