FARINATA. In the tenth canto of the Inferno, where heretics are described as being tormented in tombs of fire, the lids of which are suspended over them till the day of judgment, Dante finds Farinata D'Uberti, an illustrious commander of the Ghibellines (the adherents of the emperor), who, at the battle of Monte Aperto, in 1260, had so utterly defeated the Guelfs (the Pope's party) of Florence, that the city lay at the mercy of its enemies, by whom counsel was taken to rase it to the ground; but Farinata, because his bowels yearned towards the place of his nativity, stood up alone to oppose the barbarous design; and, partly by menace- having drawn his sword in the midst of the assembly and partly by persuasion, preserved it from destruction. Notwithstanding this patriotic interference, when the Guelfs afterwards regained the ascendency, he and his kindred were most inveterately proscribed there, and doomed to perpetual exile. The interview between Dante and this magnanimous foe, in those "Regions of sorrow, doleful shades, where peace With ever-burning sulphur unconsumed,"- is painted with transcendent power of colouring, and stern, undecorated energy of style. To prepare the reader for well understanding the episode, which abruptly breaks through the order of this high dramatic scene, it is necessary to state that Cavalcante Cavalcanti, whose head appears out of an adjacent sepulchre, was the father of Guido Cavalcanti, a poet, the particular friend of Dante, and chief of the Bianchi party, who were banished during his priorship. "O TUSCAN! Thou, who, through this realm of He who awaits me yonder brought me hither, fire, Alive dost walk, thus courteously conversing, Pause, if it please thee here. Thy dialect Proclaims thy lineage from that noble land, Which I perhaps too much have wrong'd." - One whom perhaps thy Guido held in scorn." 1 His speech and form of penance had already Taught me his name; my words were therefore pointed. Upstarting he exclaim'd,-"How?-saidst thou held? Such sounds Lives he not, then? and doth not heaven's sweet Suddenly issued forth from one of those 'Tis Farinata, that hath raised himself: Meanwhile that other most majestic form, There may'st thou see him, upward from the loins." Nor turn'd his neck, nor lean'd to either side : 1 Alluding, it is supposed, to the fact that Guido had forsaken poetry for philosophy, or preferred the latter so much to the former, as to think lightly of Virgil himself in comparison with Aristotle. "And if," quoth he, our first debate resuming, "They have not well that lesson learn'd, the thought, Torments me more than this infernal bed: And yet, not fifty times her changing face, Who here reigns sovereign, shall be re-illumined, Ere thou shalt know how hard that lesson is.' - But tell me so may'st thou return in peace To the dear world above!-why are thy people In all their acts so mad against my race?" "The slaughter and discomfiture," said I, "That turn'd the river red at Mont' Aperto, Have caused such dire proscription in our temples." He shook his head, deep-sighing, and rejoin'd; "I was not there alone, nor without cause Engaged with others; but I was alone, And stood in her defence with open brow, When all our council, with one voice, decreed That Florence should be rased from her foundation." "So may thy kindred find repose, as thou Shalt loose a knot which hath entangled me!" He foretells Dante's own expulsion from his country, within fifty lunar months. The reader of these lines (however inferior the translation may be) cannot have failed to perceive by what natural action and speech the paternal anxiety of Cavalcanti respecting his son is indicated. On his bed of torture he hears a voice which he knows to be that of his son's friend: he starts up, looks eagerly about, as expecting to see his son; but observing the friend only, he at once interrupts the dialogue between Dante and Farinata, and in broken exclamations inquires concerning him. The poet happening to employ the past tense of a verb in reference to what his "Guido " might have done, the miserable parent instantly lays hold of that minute circumstance as an intimation of his death, and asks hurried questions of which he dreads the answers,-precisely in the manner of Macduff, when he learns from the messenger that his wife and children had been murdered by Macbeth. Dante hesitating to reply, Cavalcanti takes the worst for granted, falls back in despair, and appears not again. Thus with him "Even from the tomb the voice of nature cries." Thus I adjured him :- "Ye foresee what time (If rightly I have learn'd) will bring to pass, But to the present, otherwise, are blind. "We see, like him that hath an evil eye, Shall cease for ever from that point which shuts At that moment, Compunction smote me for my recent fault, And I cried out :-"O tell that fallen one, His son is yet among the living: :- - say, That if I falter'd to reply at first, With that assurance, 'twas because my thoughts Were harass'd by the doubt which thou hast solved." Dell' Inferno, canto x. The poet, however, at the close of the scene, unexpectedly recurs to his own fault with the tenderness of compunction and delicacy due to an unfortunate being, whom he had unintentionally agonised by his silence, and sends a message to the old man that his son yet lives. Contrasted with this trembling sensibility of a father's affection, stronger than death, and out-feeling the pains of hell, is the proud, calm, patient dignity of Farinata, who, though wounded to the quick by the sarcastic retort of Dante, at the instant when the discourse was interrupted, stands unmoved in mind, in look, in posture, till the episode is ended; and then, without the slightest allusion to it, he takes up the suspended argument at the last words of his opponent, as though his thoughts had been all the while ruminating on the disgrace of his friends, the afflictions of his family, and the inextinguishable enmity of his countrymen against himself. His noble rejoinder, on Dante's reference to the carnage at Monte Aperto, as the cause of his people's implacability, is above all praise. Indeed it would be difficult to point out, in ancient or modern tragedy, a passage of more sublimity or pathos, in which so few words express so much, yet leave more to be imagined by any one who has "a human heart," than the whole of this scene in the original Italian exhibits. Gaze we, meanwhile, from this peak; Praying in thought while we gaze; Prayer then be turn'd into praise : Hear it and hail it; - the call, Join in the jubilee-song: Hark! 'tis the children's hosannas that ring; Verses to the Memory OF THE LATE RICHARD OF BRISTOL. INTRODUCTION. THE Author has nothing to say in favour of the following Verses, except that they are the sincere tribute of his affections, as well as his mind, to the Christian virtues of the deceased. Richard Reynolds was one of the Society of Friends, but, as far as human judgment can extend, he was one of those who also are Christians, not in word only, but in deed. To his memory the inhabitants of Bristol have already instituted—and may their posterity perpetuate it!-the noblest monument, perhaps, that man ever raised in honour of is fellow-man. This will be sufficiently explained by the following advertisement: "At a general meeting of the inhabitants of Bristol, held in the Guildhall of that city, on Wednesday, the 2d October, 1818, the right worshipful the Mayor in the chair:-It was unanimously resolved, That, in consequence of the severe loss which society has sustained by the death of the venerable Richard Reynolds, and in order to perpetuate, as far as may be, the great and important benefits he has conferred upon the city of Bristol and its vicinity, and to excite others to imitate the example of the departed philanthropist, an Association be formed under the designation of 'Reynolds's Commemoration Society.' "That the members of the Society do consist of life subscribers of ten guineas or upwards, and annual subscribers of one guinea or upwards; and that the object of this Society be to grant relief to persons in necessitous circumstances, and also occasional assistance to other benevolent institutions in or near the city, to enable them to continue or in crease their usefulness; and that especial regard be had to the Samaritan Society, of which Richard Reynolds was the founder. "That the cases to be assisted and relieved be entirely in the discretion of the committee; but it is recommended to them not to grant any relief or assistance without a careful investigation of the cir cumstances of each case; and that, in imitation of the example of the individual whom this Society is designed to commemorate, it be considered as a sacred duty of the committee, to the latest period of its existence, to be wholly uninfluenced in the distribution of its funds by any considerations of sect or party." The third piece in the ensuing series, entitled "A Good Man's Monument," was intended for a figurative representation of this sublime and universal charity. The resemblance ought to have been sufficiently obvious, without being pointed out here. At the public meeting, mentioned in the foregoing advertisement, many eloquent panegyrics were pronounced on the character of Richard Reynolds, Here let his own words and deeds speak for him, in a few cases which were made public on that occasion. Mr. Butterworth, of London, said :-"When the first subscription was opened to relieve the distress in Germany, I took some part in that institution. Being in Bristol soon afterwards, I had some conversation with Mr. Reynolds on the subject. He made many judicious observations and inquiries as to the nature of the distress, and the best mode of distribution, which served as valuable hints to the committee in London. He then modestly subscribed |