raises you above fortune and kings. It is not the greatness of estates or the sound of titles which constitute glory; but honor is acquired by virtue alone, and honor is the only quality which a man should be anxious to transmit to posterity." The contest between principle and ambition did not endure long, for Ferdinando died of his wounds in the year 1526, a few months after the battle of Pavia. The charms of Vittoria's mind, as much as those of her person, made many of the first men in Italy contend for her regard. But nothing could shake her resolutions of fidelity to the memory of Ferdinando. Her thoughts were for some years divided between literature and 'religion, but indulgence of serious impressions gradually led to a melancholy cast of mind, and in 1541, six years before her death, Vittoria retired to a religious sisterhood. She was the correspondent and associate of all the celebrated men of her time. The purity and elevation of her mind formed the theme of every pen. Her poems are complete pictures of her life. They breathe the most perfect affection to her husband, the most submissive devotion to her God. There is great truth of feeling and fervor of fancy in her poems; her descriptions are vivid, and her illustrations just. Doubtless she studied Petrarca, for her mind naturally asso

ciated itself with all that was graceful and tender. I would say, however, that the elegance of her poetical phraseology, and the melodious flow of her verse, proceeded from her own fine genius, an emanation of ethereal purity and truth, rather than from any borrowed source. Similarity does not always argue imitation: and Vittoria would have written elegant poems, whether Petrarca had preceded her or not. For seven years after his death, her husband was the only subject of her muse; and, as Ariosto said, if Alexander had lived in the time of Vittoria, he would have wished her to sing his exploits, and would not have envied Achilles, whose deeds were resounded by Homer. The Canzone "Spirto gentil! che sei nel terzo giro," is too long for insertion here; but I cannot resist the pleasure of transcribing the sonnet which she addressed to Bembo, in gentle censure of his not having celebrated by his pen the death of her husband.

Ahi, quanto fu al mio Sol contrario il Fato,
Che con l'alta virtù de i raggi suoi

Pria non v'accese, che mill' anni e poi
Voi sareste più chiara, ei più lodato.

Il nome suo col vostro stile ornato,
Che fa scorno aglí antichi, invidia a noi,
A mal grado del tempo avreste voi
Dal secondo morir sempre guardato.

Potess' i' almen mandar nel vostro petto
L'ardor ch' io sento, o voi nel mio l'ingegno
Per far la rima a quel gran merto eguale!
Chè cosi temo il ciel non prenda a sdegno
Voi, perchè avete preso altro soggetto,
Me, ch'ardisco parlar d'un lume tale.

VERONICA GAMBARA.

She

FROM similarity of genius and fortune, I shall mention in this place Veronica Gambara. was of a noble family of Brescia, and in the year 1509, she married Giberti X. Lord of Corregio. Nine years afterwards her husband died, and Veronica consecrated herself to perpetual widowhood. There was an ostentation in her grief which did not accord with the virtuous character of her mind. Not only her dress, her coach, her horses, all were black, but her apartment was hung with mourning. Over its doors she wrote the declaration of Dido, and did not dread that the example of the Tyrian queen would be more powerful than her professions.

Ille meos, primus qui me sibi junxit, amores
Abstulit: ille habeat secum servetque sepulchro.

The education of her children, the cultivation of benevolence, and the pursuits of literature

engaged her wholly. In the noble company assembled at Bologna for the coronation of the Emperor Charles V. she was eminent for the charms of her conversation, and the newly crowned monarch did not disdain to pay her frequent visits at Corregio. Though skilled in theology, philosophy, and the learned languages, the natural character of her sex gave the tone to her literary disposition, and she wrote only poetry. She was one of the numerous admirers of Petrarca, whose image Bembo had lately set up for general adoration. Bembo, indeed, directed her studies, and revised her works. During his life her husband was the subject of her verse, as well as of her affections. Her poems have much of the elegance, but none of the brilliancy of Petrarca. Veronica's thoughts are as noble and pure as those of her friend Vittoria Colonna, and like her she is often lost in questions of mystical theology. (72) As I have given a specimen of the poetry of Vittoria Colonna, I must transcribe one of the sonnets of Veronica Gambara.

Mentre da' vaghi e giovenil pensieri
Fui nudrita, or temendo, ora sperando,
Piangendo or trista, ed or lieta cantando,
Da desir combattuta or falsi or veri.

Con accenti sfogai pietosi e feri
I concetti del cor, che spesso amando,
Il suo male assai più che 'l ben cercando,
Consumava dogliosa i giorni interi.

Or che d'altre pensieri e d'altre voglie
Pasco la mente, alle già care rime

Ho posto, ed alto stil, silenzio eterno ;
E s'allor vaneggiando a quelle prime
Sciocchezze intesi, ora il pensier mi toglie,
La colpa palesando, il duolo interno.

PAINTING.

Or the state of painting at Naples I have not much to relate. In no period of history has the art been entirely extinct in that city; for, as I have already said respecting the history of letters in Naples, the civilization which Greece introduced into southern Italy has never been effaced. Grecian vases and medals were always before the eyes of Neapolitan artists. I could not discover, however, in the palaces or churches any paintings anterior to the time of Cimabue. The earliest patrons of art were the two Charles's, sovereigns of Naples, of the house of Anjou. The eldest of these princes saw the works of Cimabue at Florence, and was, therefore, stimulated to encourage Tommaso de Stefani, a Nea