in our power. Here we were shortly met by the abbot-a very pious man-with his monks in procession, who, terrified by the tempest, were bearing the holy cross and relics of saints, and preceded by lighted torches, with devout prayers and exclamations, on their way to the church to sing matins to the Virgin. This having inspired me with courage, I accompanied them to the church, where we all with one accord threw ourselves prostrate on the ground, and did nothing else but with loud uplifted voices implore the Divine mercy and forgiveness, expecting every minute the sacred building to fall and bury us in its ruins.

"It would be much too long to recount all the horrors of that infernal night; and although the truth very far exceeds all power of description, yet I fear to be thought guilty of exaggeration when I exclaim, What deluges of water! what wind! what thunder! what terrible rumbling in the heavens ! what fearful tremblings of the earth! what vehement commotion in the sea! what shrieks of amazed and distracted multitudes! The long night seemed extended by magic art to twice its actual duration; and when morning came, its approach was announced to us rather by the clock than by any corresponding light in the firmament. The priests robed themselves for the celebration of Mass, while we, not having courage to lift our faces to heaven, remained stretched on the ground in prayer and supplication. Though day had broke, it was still as dark as night. The multitudes in the upper part of the city had begun to disperse; but towards the sea-shore the noise seemed to increase, and the clattering of horses was heard in the street below. What this could mean it was impossible to ascertain; but, made bold by despair, I at last mounted on horseback myself, resolved to see, even though I should perish.

"Great God! who ever heard of such things as I then beheld? The oldest seamen declared that the like was never before witnessed. In the midst of the port was seen an infinite number of poor wretches scattered about on the sea, and struggling to gain the shore, who, by the violence and fury of the waves, were battered about till they looked like

TEMPEST AND EARTHQUAKE AT NAPLES. 99

so many eggs dashed to pieces on the beach. The whole space was filled with drowned and half-drowned bodies— some with their skulls fractured, others with broken arms or legs, others with their bowels gushing out; and the screams of men and women who lived near the beach were no less terrific than the uproar of the elements. The very sands, on which the day before you walked in ease and safety, were become more dangerous than the faro of Messina or the whirlpool of Charybdis. A thousand or more of the Neapolitan nobility came to the shore on horseback, as if to solemnise the funeral obsequies of their country; and when I found myself among them, I began to be of better cheer, seeing that, if I were doomed to perish, I should die with the honour of knighthood. Soon the dreadful rumour came to our ears that the ground on which we trod had been undermined by the sea, and was beginning to open. We fled precipitately, and saved ourselves; but the spectacle we then beheld was the most terrible ever witnessed by mortal eye -the heavens so commingled! the sea so implacably turbulent! the waves mountain-high, and in colour neither black nor blue, as in more ordinary tempests, but perfectly white, like hills of snow, rolling over the whole expanse from Capri to Naples.

"The young Queen, barefooted, and attended by a numerous train of females, went to visit the churches dedicated to the Blessed Virgin. No vessel in the harbour was capable of resisting the violence of the gale; and three galleys which had arrived from Cyprus, and were to depart that morning, were seen by sympathising thousands to go down without a soul being saved. Three other large ships, which had anchored in the port, struck against each other and sank, and all on board perished. Of all the vessels, one only escaped, on board of which were no less than four hundred galleyslaves who had been engaged in the Sicilian war-by the strength of these malefactors alone the ship being enabled to stem the fury of the overwhelming element; and even they were quite exhausted when, at the approach of night, beyond all hope, and contrary to the universal expectation, the

sky cleared, the wind abated, and the sea grew calm. Thus the most infamous of the sufferers are those alone who escaped a watery grave. Alas that the words of Lucan should have thus proved true-'that fortune favours the wicked' or that such is the pleasure of God-or that they who in the hour of trial are most indifferent whether they live or die, are the securest from danger! This is the history of yesterday.-November 27, 1343." 1

1 The translation of this letter is by Ugo Foscolo.

CHAPTER X.

THE ANARCHY OF ITALY.

WHEN Petrarch returned from the Court of Naples to the residence which he had acquired at Parma, the condition of the northern provinces of Italy was frightfully disturbed. Mastino della Scala, burning to reconquer Parma, had sent his troops against it in January 1343, under the command of Obizzo d'Este, lord of Ferrara. Azo di Correggio, unable to resist this attack, sold the lordship of Parma for 60,000 florins of gold in October 1344; but the neighbouring houses of Gonzaga, Bologna, Verona, and Padua, jealous of the aggrandisement of the D'Estes and the Viscontis, combined to besiege the city. Petrarch relates, in a spirited letter to his friend Barbato, that, while he was still there, the forces of almost all Italy besieged the town; and, after an interval of some months, he resolved to effect his escape. He succeeded in reaching Bologna on a stormy night, through perils of robbers and perils of war; his arm was severely bruised by a fall from his horse; and then he turned his face once more from his Italian to his Transalpine Helicon.

These adventures probably inspired him with one of the finest of his political poems-the more interesting to

us, as it expresses the earnest desire of Italy for unity, independence, and peace: and the composition is assigned by the best critics to this period of his life.

The date of this piece is, however, somewhat doubtful. The allusion to the "Bavarico inganno," in one stanza, refers to the treachery of the Emperor Louis of Bavaria, who entered Italy in 1327, at the head of a confederacy of Italian princes, and betrayed them. But the Canzone is certainly of a later date. Some have attributed it to the war which raged from 1351 to 1354, between the Genoese and the Venetians, when Petrarch was employed to mediate between the two republics. A letter from the poet to Andrew Dandolo, the Doge of Venice, dated from Milan, 5th June 1354, expresses precisely the same sentiments, and may be read with interest, as it illustrates the poem.

"With a loud voice I will utter what I feel: how long are we to look for barbarous allies to ravage our country, and to bring about our public ruin? how long are we to pay with hire1 those who come to destroy us? In the long catalogue of human follies, I know of none more insane than that which lays waste Italy with Italian brands. And if this was as displeasing to yourself and to the other princes of our republics as it is to me, who am a solitary and unemployed man, Italy, in the enjoyment of her great rights, might command those provinces of which she is now almost the slave. Love of our country, and pity for our misfortunes, should wipe away all animosities from your mind; for you may be certain, O Doge, that Venice cannot be secure if Italy should perish."—Epist. Fam., ix. 15.

1 This alludes to the hired companies of foreign adventurers which had been summoned from Germany by the Viscontis and the Scalas, to serve their own bad purposes and personal ambition.