The Sun.
London, England, 1841-05-10 00:00:00

MORNING EDITION.

LITERATURE.

LIFE OF FE TRARCH. I'L.,
.s.
Colburn, London, 1841.
In an advertisement prefixed to the first
vol tune of this biographical memoir, Mr. Cam?'
bell, the author, informs us that he was led to
undertake it more from accident than design.
" It was known," he says, " that Archdeacon
Coxe had bequeathed -to the library of the Bri-
tish Museum a manuscript life of the poet which,
he had written. . Mr. Colburn caused a copy 'o'
it to be taken ; and, intending it for publication,
requested me to be the editor. I readily ateeil,
for as the Archdeacon had considerable .li.terarY
reputation, I could not imagine that he hack left
to a great public institution any work thtseivo
ill-digested and not worthy 'of perusal ; soIEA„
rounded myself with as many books coline'ol
with the subject as I could obtain; and applied
assiduously to the study of. Italian literature,
which I had neglected fbr some. years:" (it
fortunately, on examining the ArcluleaCoal
manuscript, Mr. Campbeikfound, not only that
it was incomplete, stopping short of Tetrarch's
death by twelve years, but that it was writtenin
a diffuse, sprawling style, and with regard to
any spark- of poetical sympathy, was a mere
canut 21Z0111211211. Under these circumstance,r
having employed some time and trouble in' col"
suiting books and preparing mites, he resolved
on writing the life himself, and the result is the
volumes before us. These--so far as we .can
judge from a hasty perusal—appear to be writteli
With a careful eye to the best authorities, and
have assuredly the merit of conveying to the
reader a lucid and diStinet idea of Petrarch's
character as a man and as an author. A
distinguished poet himself; and specially re-
markable for the polished graces of his
style, Mr. Campbell is admirably qualified
to appreciate these excellences in another.
Accordingly, he gives all possible praise to the
melody and elegance of Tetrarch's Italian Verses)
speaking of them in terms of heart-felt enthu-
siasm, modified by good taste. 4, One ofthe
high . charms of 'his poetical language," he
tells us, "is its pure and melting melody, 11
charm untransferable to any more northern
tongue. It is true that no conformation of words
will charm the ear, unless they bring silent
thoughts of corresponding sweetness to the mind;
nor could the most sonorous vapid verses be
changed into poetry if they were set to
music of the spheres. It is scarcely necessary,
however, to say that Tetrarch has intellectual
gracesofthought, and spiritual felicities of diction,.
without which his tactics in the mere march of:
words would be a worthless skill." Mr. Camp'
bell's estimate of the great Italian poet's worth
as a man is equally favourable, fbr he assures is
that "he was a faithful friend, and a devoted
lover, and appears to have been one of the must
fa.scinating beings that ever existed. Even when
his failings are admitted, it must still be said
that they leaned to virtue's side." We
may add to this panegyric, that, accord-.
ing to the best accounts we have been able t°
gather—Petrarch was a sincere patriot ; superior,
in many respects, to the superstitious prejudices
of his age, and indefatigable in his endeavours
to diffuse a generous and ennobling taste for all'
cient learning among his countrymen. He was
somewhat vain, it is true—more so than his bio-
grapher seems willing to admit—but this is
scarcely to be wondered at, for he was strikingly
handsome, and a general favourite whenevCrr he
mingled in society. His youth, as he himself
has told us, was marked by some excesses, but
he soon grey tired of dissipation, and, while yet
in the bloom of manhood, devoted himself almost
exclusively to literature, which was his favourite
pursuit through life. In detailing the particular'
of his passion for Laura, Mr. Campbell has ju-
diciously followed the authority of De Sade--
Tetrarch's most authentic biographer—who WO
great pains to collect all the information that
was to be procured on the subject, and has
established beyond dispute that, so far from"
being a mere visionary creation of the poet's
fancy, as was for many years supposed)
Laura was a beautiful young married woman,
daughter of a provincial nobleman, who bore
her husband ten children ; and though she ad-
mired the talents of Petrarch, and was not alto;
gether insensible to his passion, never allowed
him to take a liberty unbecoming her character:
We have run over Mr. Campbell's Life of th.ls
illustrious man with great pleasure, for it l‘,
j
neatly and spiritedly written, and shows tact ari
judgment in its condensation of facts. The eP'so_
dical portion, however, relative to the fal".,A
I,—
tribune Rienzi, the poet's personal friend and contemporary, might have been enlarged, with any detriment to the interest of the
worx•
As the leading events of Petrarch's life are well-
known, we quote, in preference, the particultV
of a tragical occurrence which took place Whi
he was on his travels in his younger days, a
an
which, we believe, has not been noticed either
by De Sade or Mrs. Dobson :
Bishop Colotina and Petrarch had intended to re-
main for some time at Toulouse ; but their sojourn we's
abridged by their horror at a tragic event in the prin-
cipal monastery of the place. There lived in that
monastery a young monk, named Augustin who los
expert in music, and accompanied the psalmody of the
religious brothers with beautiful touches on the organ.
The superior of the convent, relaxing its discipline, per mitted Augustin frequently to mix with the world, in order to teach music, and to improve himself in the art'
The young monk was in the habit of familiarly visiting
the house of a respectable citizen : he was frequently in
the society of his daughter, and, by the express encou-
ragement of her father, undertook to exercise her in the
practise of music. Another young man, who was le
love with the girl, grew jealous of the monk, who Ives
allowed to converse so familiarly with her, whilst he,
her lay admirer, could only have stolen glimpses of her
as she passed to church or to public spectacles. He set...
about the ruin of his supposed rival with cunning.
atrocity ' • and, finding that the young woman was infirm'
in health, suborned a physician, as worthless as himself,
to declare that she was pregnant. Her credulous father,
without inquiring whether the intelligence was true or
false, went to the superior of the convent, and accused
Augustin, who, though thunderstruck at the accusation,
denied it firmly, and defended himself intrepidly. But the
superior was deaf to his plea of innocence, and ordered Mtn •to be shut up in his cell, that he might await his punishment" Thither the poor young man was conducted, and threw
himself on his bed in a state of horror. The superior
and the elders among the friars thought it a meet fate
for the accused that he should be buried alive in a sub"
terranean dungeon, after receiving the terrific sentence
of " Vade in pacer." " What !" exclaimed the vietinl,
with justifiable fury, " am I condemned, innocent and without a trial, to suffer a hundred times the pain of as
ordinary death ; and you, ye impious butchers ! dare ye
call yourselves the ministers of a merciful God ?" The • horrific sentence was, however, put into execution. At
the end of several days the victim dashed out his brains
against the walls of his sepulchre. Bishop Colonna,
who, it would appear, had no power to oppose this
hideous transaction, when he was informed of it, deter-
mined to leave the place immediately ; and Petrareh, in' •
his indignation exclaimed—" Heu ! fuge crudeles terra*
fuge littus avarmn."

THE FAWN OF SPRING VALE. 3 Kis.
Curry, Dublin, 1841.
Some of the tales in these volumes have, it seems, appeared from time to time in the pages
of the Dublin University Magazine, the princi-
pal one, however, the "Fawn of Spring Vale,''
is original, and may be ranked among MP
Carleton's most successful fictions, who wrote
it
by way of warning to sentimental boarding
school Misses, that the indulgence of a first
affection, and the nursing of it into the great
business of their lives, is not only ep:regiouS
folly, but frequently a source of calamity, both
to themselves and those interested itt their des-
dic io
tiny.
usly Thworkedis usefulout moral is forcibly and ju-
.

THE LIFE OF HENRY GRATTAN

The

..•----- - third volume of this, important work is now before the
world, and its materials prove to be, if possible, of still
stronger interest and value, both personal and political,
than those of the two preceding volumes. Many of the
letters now for the first time made public, from the great
political leaders of the day—such as Burke, Fox, the
Marquis Wellesley, Lord Northington, Lord Castlereagh,,
Lord Charlemont, the Duke of Portland, General Bur-
goyne, &c., and in particular those of Henry Grattfat
himself—are of the highest interest and importance, and
some of them, those, for instance, of Mr. Fox to Lord •
Northington, and the replies to them—throw a new light-
on the crisis to which they relate. Some of the extracts,
too, from Grattan's speeches display the most dazzling;
eloquence, clothing the deepest political wisdom. The
manner also, in which the personal and domestic life of
the great Irish patriot is blended with his public career,
adds great interest and value to the work.
DREADFUL SUICIDE AT LONDON-BRIDGE.
On Friday afternoon about half-past four o'clock, a most dread-
ful act of Suicide was committed at London-bridge, by a re-
spectable young female, about twenty years of age, She had
been observed for a short time previously to be pacing up and
down the bridge in a state of great exciterner.i, which attracted
the attention of City policemen William Wtiod,
538, and William
Storey, 572, who were on duty on the bridge at the time, and
they watched her motions; but with singular rapidity, and be •
fore they could rea,h to prevent hier, she ascended the parapet
over the centre arch and lekped into the river. In her de-
scent she fell upon one of the starlings of the bridge, and
from thence rebounded into the water. Two watermen who
were in a skiff, and were passing through the bridge at the
moment, observed the splash, and immediately made to the'
spot, and succeeded in picking up the onfortunate girl. OD •
being convey, d ashore and taken upon a stretcher to St..
Thomas's Hospital, it was found that she was quite dead.
We are told that in the late cruize of part of the
Toulon fleet, the ships were so wretchedly managed irx
the bad weather they experienced, all were more or less
damaged, and glad to get back to Herries Islands, and
t sat the melancholy fact occurred of a line-of-battle-ship,
in wearing, running down a tine large corvette which in-.
stantly sunk, with all hands on board.—Hampshire Tele-
LTaph.