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his beautiful piece, entitled "Die Theilung der Erde," (The Partition of the Earth,) in which Jupiter says to the complaining poet, The world is given away, therefore

If, in my heaven, thou wilt live with me,

Whene'er thou com'st, it shall be open to thee.

Though an excellent husband and father, and irreproachable in the management of his concerns, yet the state of his health, and the mode of life induced by it, occasioned a considerable increase in his expenditure. In his own person, he observed the utmost simplicity, and was a decided enemy to every kind of ostentation. It was not till four years anterior to his death, that he had a house to himself at Weimar; and it cost him a considerable sum to purchase, and fit it up with elegance. It was but for a few years also, that he had enjoyed an augmentation of his pension from the Duke; in return for which, however, he rendered essential service to the theatre, accepting nothing for such of his pieces as were first performed at Weimar, and conducting himself, upon the whole, in the most disinterested manner.

There are, of course, various collections of Schiller's works. The legitimate edition of his dramatic pieces forms five octavo volumes, and that of his poems two. His historical works occupy four volumes; his minor prose works the same number; and his romance of "The Ghost-Seer," one. The periodical works, which he solely conducted, and in which many of his poetical pieces, as well as fragments of his larger works, originally appeared, were-" Thalia," 4 vols. 1785-1791. "New Thalia," 4 vols. 1792-3. "Ladies Historical Calendar," annually, 1791-1793. "Die Horen," monthly, 1795-1797: and "The Almanac of the Muses," annually, 1796-1801.

SONNET.-MARIUS IN CARTHAGE.

Amid an empire's ruins, there sate one
Upon whose arm an empire's fate had hung,

With whose loud name the peopled earth had rung

From side to side in triumph; and upon

Whose laurel'd forehead, by his valour won,
The leafy crown had flourish'd-he had flung
His sword far from him, and he mused among
Those relics, like himself, of glory flown.
He marvel'd much at earthly vanities:
And gazed upon that lofty city's pride,

Bow'd to the dust, and trampled-turn'd his eyes
Upon the useless weapon cast aside,

And, with rough hand checking the tear-drops' flow,
He felt the bitter sympathy of wo.

LEARNED LADIES.

WITH reference to the duties, which we have taken upon ourselves in this journal, we confess, that we are not philosophers enough to discuss the advantages, derived by ladies from the study of chemistry, mineralogy, and a thousand other branches of natural philosophy, both general and experimental. We will farther admit, that we can not foresee the improvements, however incalculable, which are likely to be made, by the ladies, in mathematics, metaphysics, and above all in political economy, which is now the fashionable study. As to the ancient languages, we shall briefly remark, that the Greek and Latin are eminently calculated to give manly energy to the understandings of ladies, and to dispel the romantic illusions of too sentimental love; and that the study of Hebrew is the best expedient, to which a young female can resort, as a diversion from dangerous passions, and to convince herself," that every thing is vanity and vexation of spirit."

We shall take the liberty, however, to express our sentiments respecting the study of the Italian language; especially, since it is now indispensably necessary for all young ladies, who ought to vie in accomplishments, with their equals and their superiors, in rank and fortune; and since it is moreover considered, that there can be no music without that language. As far as our observations extend, however, a person may think himself fortunate, if, in an Italian arietta, after incessant repetitions of the same words for a quarter of an hour, he can distinguish Idolo mio and felicità reiterated with so many variations, as to exhaust the breath of the young lady, who sings, and the patience of the company, invited to hear her. They, accordingly, applaud with looks expressive of mingled ennui and admiration. The vicious pronunciation of the singer, the hodge-podge of the Italian words, and the complicated notes of the composer, and the gorgheggi taught by the masters, produce, indeed, altogether an unintelligible jumble: but what people most admire in this world is precisely what they least understand. While we confess, that we can listen with delight to Auld Robin Gray, or Tasso's stanzas, set to music by Zingarelli, we are still far from wishing to quarrel with the partisans of German instrumental music, and of the gorgheggi of the Italian opera. In truth, the practice of young ladies, in making a display of their voices and talents in company, is not less dangerous than the Spanish fashion, which, four or five years since, led them into the exposure of all their personal charms. They were wrong, in the first place, because English women have not such handsome feet as Spanish women; in the second, because the short aprons of the dignitaries of the church of England, are not, as some have

seriously alleged, an example sufficient to justify the short petticoats of fair ladies: and lastly, because the effect produced is the very reverse of that, which is intended—

Her face was veil'd, but, to my fancied sight,

Love, sweetness, goodness in her person shined.-Milton. Nor is the ostentatious display of the endowments of the mind less indecorous, than that of personal beauties: for talents, learning and science, whether real or fictitious, cause the world to talk too much of a woman. Depend upon it, that she, who is least talked of, is either the most virtuous or the most prudent, and certainly the most happy of her sex. It seems as if society was now striving to withdraw more and more the veil, which Ñature has thrown over the fair sex. The flower expands with a superior brilliancy in the sun; but the sun more speedily dries up the dew, which while covering the flower, heightens its beauty and its fragrance.

The teachers of the English language in Italy, who are, in general, discarded servants, give their pupils Richardson's novels to read, by way of exercise. An Italian lady sets the English a laughing, when she answers-Yes, Miss-No, Miss-just in the same manner as the English ladies make those of Italy laugh, by addressing to them the vulgar compliment of Vostra Signoria. Indeed, the English females, who attempt to speak Italian, are much more unfortunate than their Italian sisters, who murder the King's English; for, to say nothing of the Germans, the French, and the Russians, who pretend to give instruction in Italian, those, who come from Italy to pursue this profession in London, are, with very few exceptions, people of no education. In Italy a person of the lowest class has not sufficient opportunities for reading to keep on a level with the style of the day; an Italian maid-servant, therefore, expresses herself just in the same manner as her grandfather and grandmother did before her: è andato in vitta, e tornerà presto in città; whereas an English girl, of the same class, will tell you in phrases of the newest polish:-" He is gone to enjoy the beauty of the country, and will soon return to the metropolis:"

Lastly, the common people I beseech

Dear people! if you think my verses clever,
Preserve with care your noble parts of speech,
And take it as a maxim to endeavour

To talk as your good mothers used to teach,
And then these lines of mine may last for ever,
And don't confound the language of the nation
With long-tail'd words in osity and ation.

There are Italian masters in England, who are not satisfied with merely making great havoc with the language, but they do

the same with the authors out of which they give instruction, without themselves understanding them.

The pains, which Ariosto bestowed upon the improvement of the style of his poem, ceased only with his life; and his incessant labour in preparing the edition of 1532, induced a disorder which carried him to the grave. He has lately found correctors of another class in England. They correct, or, as they term it, castigate him, to make him decent, and fit to be seen in the drawingrooms. The Jesuits affected to purify the sensual propensities of human nature, and, at the same time, they endeavoured to stimulate or awaken them by indirect means, in order to strengthen their power over the passions and conscience of their pupils. Thus, they expunged all licentious passages from the text of the ancient classics, and at the same time printed all those passages en masse,' at the end of each volume, taking especial care to direct the reader where to look for the wicked things by the asterisks, which indicate the omissions. (See the editions ad usum Delphini.) The London castigators have printed two editions of Ariosto at the same time, and of the same size; one Ariosto is untouched, and the other Ariosto is castrated. We will not accuse

these editors of acting Jesuitically, as they intend one Ariosto for
mamma, the other for the daughter. But
But if their intentions are
less mischievous, the effect produced is equally pernicious. If the
pupils do not pay attention to the matter, which they read, the
book is useless to them; and if they reflect, the mutilated passa-
ges become the more dangerous. In spite of their own efforts,
their imagination runs riot in picturing what is wanting; and we
may apply again the well-known observation of Tacitus, sed
præfulgebant eo quod non visebantur. Whenever we convey a pre-
mature idea of vice to young people, we force them into a know-
ledge of the sentiment of shame, at the same time that we pro-
voke their curiosity; and, by striving to render them virtuous, we
only drive them out of the asylum of innocence. The wisest plan,
therefore, is, neither to forbid, nor to encourage them in the pe-
rusal of any dangerous book, or rather not allow them to become
acquainted with the existence of such productions.-Michel-An-
gelo would not presume to restore the finger of an ancient statue.
The castigators, on the contrary, mutilated Ariosto in order to
abuse their supposed right of restoration-and since they usually
interlard a little hypocrisy, we will quote the adventure of the
hermit who meets Angelica in the forest:

Comincia l'Eremita à confortarla
Con alquante ragion belle, e divote;
E pon' l'audaci man, mentre ch' e' parla,
Or per lo seno, or per l'umide gote:
Poi più sicuro va per abbracciarla,

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Ed ella sdegnosetta lo percuote;
Con una man nel petto e lo rispinge,

E d'onesto rossor tutta si tinge.

Mr. Hoole, who professes "that every passage, which might offend delicacy, is softened in his translation, so as to give no just cause of complaint," has not thought it necessary to alter these lines, which he translates almost literally.

In pious strain, with hypocritic air,

He now began to soothe the weeping fair;
While, as he spoke, his roving fingers press'd
Her alabaster neck and heaving breast;
Till bolder grown, he clasp'd her in his arms:
But her resentment kindling all her charms,

Back with her hand the feeble wretch she threw,

While every feature glow'd with rosy hue.

This has been altered, by the poetic feeling and delicacy of the
London castigator, in the following manner:

Comincia l' Eremita à confortarla
Con alquante ragion belle e divote,
"Ele lagrime intanto ch' egli parla
Le bagnano, or il seno, ed or le gote.
Il sonno venne alfin ad acquetarla;
Ma nuova altra sciagura la percuote.
Non comincia fortuna mai per poco,

Quando un mortal si piglia a scherno e gioco."

The last three lines, which have banished the delightful verse

E 'donesto rossor tutta si tinge,

are displaced from another stanza, in which Ariosto applies these to the old hermit. The castigator found they would do as well for Angelica; but he wanted a rhyme, and by inserting 'percuote,' he has spoiled the original, which stood thus

"Ma nuova altra sciagura anco l'ASSALTA."

The corrections of the other three lines are all due to the castigator, or more probably to some preceding castigators. Be that as it may, the phrase ' MENTRE CH' E' PARLA,' is pure and elegant; it may be found in Dante: whilst the expression INTANTO CH' EGLI PARLA,' introduced in its stead, is fully worthy of the castigator, who, as we conjecture, borrowed it from the vulgar grammar of Veneroni, or from some other publications of the same class, which, for more than a century, the teachers of the Italian language have disgorged upon Germany and France, and which they are now disgorging upon England.

People in England labour hard to acquire a competent knowledge of Italian literature. Their first step should be to unlearn all that they have learned, with so much trouble, from

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