New-York tribune., 1906-12-16

warmly commented 20 Alr. OaFuneF pages TOE
the details of those campaigns on the fringe Of
which Ariosto was constrained to hover He felt
the shock if he did not know the actual peril. OF
the battle OF Ravenna; he joined the duke
his dangerous wanderings after his escape from
the clutches of julius. and when. after a while,
il seemed time for him to get more sub
stantial reward than a monthly salary (Which
was. indeed. too seldom paid), he received in
the gOvernOrship of the Garfagnana one Of those
offices calculated to make a poet. OF all men,
wish that he We're dead Fortune was kinder
however. toward the close of his career II he
was sadly disappointed in the expectations
reused by his first reception at the hands OF
Pope Leo Y. he was made much OF in Ferrara
when Renee of France was brought home to the
court as the bride of Ercole dEste. and all the
time his fame poet was spreading. 1t is
bright picture the whole. that AIr. Gardner
paints of those last years of the poet, in which
he enjoyed some freedom from the turbulence OF
war and, in incidents like his presentation of a
copy of the Orlando" to the Emperor. satisfied
his pride and confirmed his prosperity.
Toward the close of this book three chapters
traverse respectively the Orlando" the minor
poems, and the comedies. They are good chap
ters, readable and useful. and their value is
greatly enhanced. as. indeed. is that of many
pages in the work. by the authors delightful
cessful is Mr. Gardner in absorbing US. through
out the bulk of his book, in the court history Of
the epoch and in Ariosto's relation thereto. that
these critical excursions seem almost an inter
ruption- We are glad when, in the last chap
ter. he resumes the main thread of his nara
tive, and, with some interesting notes on Al
fonsos character and certain aspects of his
reign. leaves US on the threshold of the era of
the Reformation In another volume the his
torian hopes to follow the fortunes of the house
Of Este to the end. and we trust that his rIa,s
may be carried out, for he is one of the hest
OF our modern commentators on the italian
Renaissance
We wish We could speak as cordially of Mr.
Edward Hutton The mere subject of his booL,
Is one TO put the reader in an Interested mood.
In SiGismondo Malatesta he had one of tbosa
despots to commemorate whose careers .vva~a Of
sanguinary drama and fervid hunnanisr, all
compact The veriest tyro should find If hard
TO go wrong in the portrayal OF such a tvDa and
it is striking testimony to this fact that lfr
buttons book for all its drawbacks. has mo-
ments in which it makes a good effect Rr,
taken as whole it fails to ring true The an,
thor has set forth his facts more or less in the
form Of fiction That is TO say. he has f,,,a,.a,
one Pietro SanseverinO from whose nAr Wa 40
supposed to get this narrative Of the life OF IN,
hiteenth century tyrant- There would he dan
ger here for the most gifted of modern writer's
but IN Mr. Hutton's hands the work OF the sim
posltltlous narrator takes on an artifefalitv,
fatal to verisimilitude. Here is a passage in
which we are asked to see Sigismondo faIlins.
under the spell of IsOtta:
Returning enc evening later than usual from a
days hunting. he had paused beneath the I0gsiS
OF i great house not far from his S1IIr,f
OF a song the clear. fresh notes SLOWLY uOuDrin.,
IN tne melody or me cslnzOne of Petrarchs fall
Ins 4S'ln IN a shower OF raindropS. ir seemed.
llInpId. soft, that divine voice He u-1iraJ
there IN the twilight till the song was endeCT gri
then went on his way Not many davS later ne
round her, a girl somewhat older than himself .nd
certainty not beautiful. he told himself br.t
rather strange. with certain dignity n sDrt III
priScS. ~ - $50
Not beautiful. he told me and all o,,r se,1r+.,rs
anu PAINTERS nave agreed with him. with his first
t'SI, t 'i utr fet soon ne spent all his days with
Het ana ipuh'l hlInScI talking OF ROCCa and his
wars OF thS plan or OF thar, holding her gold ami
CRIMSON Wtrk or caring for her musical iDSrr,t-
menus 81 tfl3t ne Won. as l think. from The mere
Hil'HlttlS CT tNt!n something of the drlicaCv
I't"itVit inherent IN such things all things
l have Thought belonging 10 women. lust aS b.. h,l
i'ttrCd SonlclHlnS or his uevCrueSS his ta-iS..u.
ii"l MS SWt rus THAT tuJlaIIv ulr,
Itn Is, ttti he played with constantly th beau
tlIUI StedlthN GlSSeTS Cf NerrUcchil th, lean ami
uluLti}tr MS rvStle>SneSS. a Kind Gt aesritfo Ct
i'HtEt'lEht" passed away. his naive
t.i's'>S mas done Uudcg the influence of the
'i t.ll great Fi0rentlOS house, seemed
o. become assured - himself 1t thouS1
already he hId placed her cool hands on his ht.I
Is med 81, oft rt.-