BANTO V.

were caught in adultery, and that they were murdered in Francesca's own room: but both of these assertions are contradicted by two more ancient, and more candid authorities, Boccaccio and the Riccardian M. S. now before me. The former absolutely denies that he had ever been able to discover a single proof of the adultery, beyond what is to be found in Dante's text; and that he verily believes it to be rather a fiction deduced from the interpretation of which that text is possibly susceptible, than that Dante was conscious of their adulterous intercourse, or meant to affirm it: and certainly what Boccaccio could not discover then, it is unreasonable to expect now (1). The M. S. places the scene of their sanguinary catastrophe, not in Francesca's room, but, as it particulary specifies, in a chamber on the floor below it (2). And both books agree in the positive declaration that Francesca's death was no murder, but altogether accidental; and that it was not only involuntary on the part of her husband, but that it gave him pain (3). Now, without laying any stress on the superior credibility merited by Boccaccio, on

(1) Che Francesca dunque si congisse con Paolo, mai io non udii se non quello che l'Autore ne scrive; il che possibile è che così fosse, ma io credo essere quello piuttosto fizion formata sopra quello ch'era possibile ad esser avvenuto, ch'io non credo che l'Autore sapesse che così fosse. Comento Vol. 1. p. 134.

(a).

Cod. 1018.

nella camera che rispondea di sotto. Bib. Ricc. M. S.

(3). avenne quello ch'egli non avrebbe voluto... Boccaccio, credendo dare a lui, diede alla moglie. M. S. ut supra.

ut supra.

....

CANTO V

the score of his inhabiting a free city far removed from the intrigues of either Ravenna, or Rimini, it is enough to remark, that the comments of the Imolese, who began their composition in 1375 (1), have much less antiquity than those of Boccaccio, who died that very year (3): and as to the manuscript, its date is still older by thirty-two years (3). The following is the whole statement of the matter according to these two last-named authorities, who generally corroborate, and never contradict each other. The few details which the M. S. Author adds to Boccaccio's recital, are of the self-same complexion with it; and when he varies from it, it is so slightly, and with regard to such minute facts (as at what precise moment Francesca discovered the deception, whether it was during the night by the reflection of a lamp, or in the morning when the ravisher was rising from the bed), that weight is added to both their testimonies, by showing that they had neither communicated with each other, nor drawn their information from precisely the same sources. On the close of hostilities at the commencement of 1275, (as mentioned before) Polenta, pressed by political interests, but above all by the demands of Scanatus, determined on the ill-starred mar

(1) Bettinelli, Risorgimento, Vol. 1. p. 144.

(2) Il mouruta Certaldo le 21 decembre de 1375. Hist. Litt. d'Italie, Vol. 3. p. 33.

(3) It is dated 1343, as I said before. Hell, Comment, Canto 1. p. 41%

GANTO V.

:

riage and maternal sollicitations, that were inef fectual towards deterring him from sacrificing his daughter to state policy, only produced the effect of making him apprehend resistance to his plan: so that the poor mother could not obtain for her child the privilege of choosing between the two brothers. She, with the perspicacity of parental sollicitude, had long wished for the union of her lovely girl with 'Paul the beautiful': for such is the title that designates him in the Riminese annals (1). That she had privately affianced them, is reported by the historian of Ravenna; and even he of Rimini concedes, that she was as much disgusted by the marriage with Scanatus the lame (2)' and as desirous of that with Paul the beautiful,' as her daughter herself (3). She felt that the one union was almost an outrage upon nature; and that the second was so natural, that it promised felicity to all parties. Nor was the mother the sole person who caused Polenta to foresee the possibility of his matrimonial scheme being thwarted: for several

́(1) Vita di Paolo il bello — Paolo terzo figliuolo di Malatesta.. per la moltà beltà, leggiadria e dispotezza ch' era in lui, fu cognominato il bello. Clementini, Racc. Ist. di Rimini, Lib. v. p. 608.

(2) John, alias, Launcelot, alias, Guigliotto, alias, Scanatus the lame- mentr' era fanciullo cadendo e debilitata una gamba, o, come altri dicono, per debolezza de' nervi, zoppicava alquanto e venne chiamato sciancato, e di alcuni Lanciotto e Guigliotto ec. Id. Id. p. 580.

(3) Polenta quasi ubligato diedegli in matrimonio Francesca con disgusto di lei e poca soddisfazione della madre, amendue inclinate a Paolo. Id. Id. Id. . . . matrem Paulo Franciscam despondisse. Hier. Rubai Hist. Ravenn. p. 309.

GANTO V.

of his wisest friends and counsellors urged their intimate knowledge of the characters of Francesca and Lancelot (alias Scanatus) as an insurmountable obstacle to their union; 'your daughter' (they added)' is lovely, and high-minded, and will never rest satisfied with such a husband; and certainly, if she come to see him previous to the consummation of the marriage, neither you, nor any one, will be able to bend her to it, and it is too probable that the attempt will end scandalously (1),' It was moreover observed, that it would involve him in much greater perplexities, than any that could be incurred by a mere rejection of Scanatus from the beginning, should things be permitted to come to that pass of the ceremony being performed, and the marriage not effectuated after all: for that then the whole family of Rimini would not fail to be highly irritated, and to consider the disappointment as a premeditated insult. These representations however, instead of dissuading Polenta from his purpose, served to make him seek the means of insuring its execution at whatever expense of honor and justice, to say nothing of paternal tenderness. Hence he determined to employ deception against his child; and endeavour to make her a party to her own ruin, by causing

(1) Voi avete male accompagnata questa vostra figliuola, ella è bellissima e di grande anima, non starà contenta di Gianciotto: (M. S. ut supra) e se ella lo vede avantichè il matrimonio sia perfetto, nè voi, nè altri potrà mai fare ch'ella il voglia per marito; e perciò ne potrà seguire scandalo. Boccaccio, ut supra.

CANTO V.

the beautiful Paul to court and marry her on the understanding (without her privity) that he was only to be a proxy; and as to the consummation of the rite, it was resolved to effect it by substituting one brother for another on the bridal couch: so accomplished a young Prince, as Paul, could not, it was hoped, miss of achieving the maid's heart, nor a maid so pure, mild and simple, require much management to prevent her from exerting her timid eyes, and recognising her bed-fellow before it should be too late; by which contrivance she would, while believing to espouse Paul, make herself the lawful wife of Scanatus (1). In prosecution of this scheme, Paul came from Rimini with all the pomp and circumstance of feudal Chivalry; and Frances. ca, looking down from a latticed balcony on the numerous retinue that poured into the Castlecourt, and being struck with the appearance of Paul, who shone pre-eminent amid the surrounding glitter, turned to her female attendant, and asked: 'who is that handsome knight on that milk-white courser, with such rich, silver housings, in whose hat waves that lofty, snowy plume, and whose beautiful green mantle is so slashed with gold tissue? See the pennon on his lance, and his silken sash deeply fringed with gold, and its heavy tassels

(1) Messer Guido Polenta volle pure che il parentado andasse inanzi, e come ch' egli s'ordinasse accio ch'ella, buona donna, non rifiutasse il marito, fece venir Polo a sposarla per il fratello; e così, credendosi aver Polo per marito, ebbe Lanciotto. M. S ut supra.