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you thus early, at least let the poor Servite, whom you have deigned to visit, retain a recollection of those accomplishments which I will believe to be as splendid as the glory of yonder sunset on the waters, and I fear will pass from among men as soon. Report calls you a poet. May I beg you to let me hear one of your madrigals, or sonnets ?"

Sidney blushed, and replied: "I recall not any of those trifles; but if you will listen to my first attempt, I will endeavor to imitate your countrymen in their improvisations."

Accordingly, he composed and repeated, in Italian, some lines, which may be thus rudely turned into English :

"Sayest thou the meed

Of knightly deed

May not be found on earth?

No, 'tis not here,

Nor in the sphere

Of heaven's own bliss has birth.

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The Dwarf started from his quiet and concentrated attitude, and came forward, bearing the lute. The sun had all but sunk; and a single yellow ray penetrating the lattice, illuminated his melancholy and graceful features with a faint, but unnatural brightness. He touched the instrument at first feebly and irregularly, but afterwards with some vigor and more skill, while he sang such lines as these: "Woe to the heart! 'twas thus it came,

That voice upon the night-wind streaming! Woe to the heart that feels no flame, When round it eyes and swords are beaming. Woe to the heart! I heard and cried,

Thou need'st not say, thou boding spirit, What sharp and bitter griefs betide

The souls that nought of hope inherit! Woe to the heart! aye, every pulse

Confirms the doom by ceaseless aching; And pangs that madden and convulse

These, these attest my heart is breaking."

For a moment after he had ended his song, the Dwarf remained absorbed in thought; and then, coloring deeply, turned in haste away. The Monk and Sir Philip Sidney bid each other farewell, and, followed by the mournfully contrasted figure of Lorenzo, the tall and gallant figure of the young Englishman disappeared from the eyes of the Servite, stooping to pass beneath his humble door.

Sidney and the young Monteco entered the gondola together, and thus conversed. "It is strange," said the "that the learned Father Englishman, should thus depreciate the nurse of all noble thoughts; the example of heroic virtue; the science which to understand thoroughly is to comprehend all divine and human knowledge; the art which to practise is to be accomplished in all honorable actions, and conspicuous for every deed of daring and endurance."

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Ah," replied Lorenzo, "the statesmen of Venice are wise, and her soldiers brave, but," and here he lowered his voice, "in this city the trumpet of chivalry doth not sound; these walls send not forth their youth to generous or unprofitable enterprise; the light of Freedom sparkles not on these lagunes. How would you,that amid the palaces of

despotic power, and the shops of greedy merchants; how would you, that amid so many prisons for the good, and so many haunts of pollution for the evil, that sublime and stainless spirit which the gallant worship should have found a home or a temple ?"

"Is it indeed thus ?" Sidney began, but in so bold and free a tone, that the young Venetian bent forward, with his finger on his lips, and whispered, "Hush!"

Is it indeed thus," and the Englishman now spoke in cautious accents, "with beautiful and renowned Venice? Ah! ancient, proud, wealthy, and honorable city! Where, then, is the fruit of that good seed cast upon the waters of the Adriatic, by so many senators and chieftains? They sowed, but have not reaped."

"Yes, they sowed wrong, and their country is reaping destruction. I, I, a Venetian Noble, have seen those things done within this city, which, if there be justice in heaven, will not keep silence before God, but cry aloud for vengeance ;-deeds of which the end will be, that in very shame Venice will call upon the waves to cover her, and these palaces will moulder into the waters. The tyrant will become a slave; and she who is red with so many murders, shall perish in the bonds that she herself hath twisted. Aye, thou to whom the ocean, with all its dowry, was an obedient bride; to whom Ascalon, and Tyre, and Constantinople, were captives and servants, -shalt no longer have a place among the nations, nor a mast to show thy pennon on the waters, nor a tower to bear thy standard on the land." While Lorenzo spoke thus in a low and earnest and thrilling tone, he looked up through the gloom at the lion of St. Mark, with a countenance of such fierce and resolved indignation, as would better have beseemed a hostile General at the head of an armament, than the feeble and misshapen boy who sat by Sidney. The gondola stopped at the steps which led up to the Englishman's residence; but, as he was bidding farewell to Monteco, the youth

looked round him fearfully, and whispered, "In the name of God, and of mercy, let me speak with you here at the coming midnight!" In much wonder, Sidney consented; and the gondola shot away, and left him standing before the gate of his residence. The stars were glittering among the clouds as thin and airy as the silvertwisted gauze of a Sultana's veil; and the broad tracts of dark blue sky, descending to the still deeper purple of the sea, bounded the horizon, except where the ranges of palaces, and the domes and towers of the city, displayed their long perspectives of massy shadow, their projecting cornices and pinnacles touched with light, and their various outlines standing sharp and clear against the firmament. The dip of the oars of boats which passed him at intervals along the canals, the songs of the gondoliers, the tinkling of musical instruments, and the hum of the swarming city, on the outskirts of which Sidney stood, made up a sound sufficiently continuous not to startle, sufficiently diversified to interest, and in which there was nothing jarring or inharmonious.

The young poet re

ceived, half in reverie, half in atten-
tion, impressions far different from
those which he had before experienc-
ed, either among the green turf and
shadowy oaks, among the halls and
cloisters, or in the busy cities of north-
ern climates. He leaned upon a
carved balustrade of the broad steps
which rose from the water to the en-
try, and gazed, and mused, and gazed
again, and listened to the sounds
which breathed around him. And his
thoughts wandered to the glades of
England; and to the free and fear-
less loveliness of the forms which
he had so often seen sweeping through
those glades, or brightening, like so
many sunbeams, the obscure depths
of the forest. There came
his mind, like the dewey fresh-
ness of a summer breeze, the re-
membrance of those fair brows, those
sparkling eyes, and delicate lips,
which command so much of rever-
ence, and win so much of love, but

over

which seem to scorn the voluptuous perhaps superstitious, but such is the homage, the only appropriate tribute influence of habitual apprehension, that to the luscious grace and impassioned I must fail to say, what I shall die to splendor of the south. He sighed as conceal, if you will not permit me to he remembered; and he was fancying bar yonder door." whether looks, which were dearer to him than all the glorious beauty of Italy, might not at that moment be fixed upon the stars which he himself was contemplating, when he was roused by hearing sung, at no great distance, and apparently by a young voice, a serenade.

He listened till the last note had ceased to whisper its sweetness along the water, and then entered his study to await the coming of Lorenzo. His thoughts turned into another channel, and he began to resolve, with some curiosity, what could have been the motive for the earnest and passionate supplication of the Dwarf. But he could think of no probable solution, and partook himself to the page of Dante.

The clocks of Venice sounded the hour of midnight, and Sidney was seated by a lamp, still awed and wrapped by the mournful genius of the great Florentine. His loose robe of dark silk, and the shadowy extent of the apartment, contrasted with the illumination thrown by the flame upon his noble features. Arms of armor, revealed by their partial gleamings, were scattered round the room, and hung upon the walls, intermingled with rich volumes, carved cabinets, and a few musical instruments; and his dagger, together with the miniature portrait of a beautiful maiden, lay before him on the table. The chamber became peopled with the sad and terrible beauty of the phantoms, whose tales he was perusing; and the fresh sea air had seemed to grow hot and stifling, when he was disturbed by the entrance of an attendant, whom the Dwarf closely followed. The servant departed. Again, as in the cell of the Monk, Lorenzo withdrew into shadow, and seated himself just beyond the circle of the lamp-light. He spoke as follows:

"You will think me weak, nervous,

Sidney looked surprised, but immediately rose and fastened the entrance. Lorenzo proceeded :

"If you are astonished at my requesting this interview, I can only assure you, that you will soon see sufficient cause for my boldness. If you are then offended, I can freely assert, that for the object I aim at, I would brave the displeasure of the blessed Saints; and, if I may say it without blasphemy, risk that of God himself."

The Englishman assured him of his eagerness to learn in what way he could serve him.

Hear our story.

"If I did not believe, nay, know such to be your generous nature, I should be aware that my present hopes are desperate. But I waste time, of which I have none to spare. Listen, Sir Englishman, I implore you, and believe that every syllable I shall utter is true. I told you that I have a sister, and that every ear in Venice has heard it said she is in a Convent at Rome. Somewhat more than eighteen years ago my father returned from the Levant, after having commanded a fleet against the Turks in a desperate action. In leading the boarders, he had wounded with his own hand, and taken prisoner, the Captain Pasha. This man was one of the most formidable enemies that Venice ever had. His return to his country would have endangered the safety of the state. He was given into the custody of his captor. My mother suspected, whether with reason or without I know not, that his life was in danger; and secretly advised him to refuse all food but such as it would be impossible to render dangerous. In my father's wrath, at first discovering her interference, he smote his wife to the ground. I soon after came into the world the unhappy being you have seen me. Three years afterwards was born my sister Isabel, and at the

"Can a lady so divine," eagerly interrupted Sidney, "have perished from the world like vulgar clay ?"

same time my mother perished. We morning star. Such was not merely grew up together, seldom seeing our my inmost faith, it was also the relionly parent, and even when we met, gion of all Venice. But, compared receiving from him but little of kind- with all I felt, how little did the ness. She was the sole human being world know of her value ! For othI ever saw who looked at me without ers she was an idol to be adored, a contempt; and we loved each other thing to be reverenced from afar; to as none can love whose affections me she was a blessing and an inspirareach, and are returned by, all around tion, a better existence within my them. She had none but me for a heart. How often has she withdrawn teacher; I had none but her for a herself from the worship of crowds, playmate. She was to me what was from the most splendid triumphs that the olive-branch to the bird which beauty and genius can achieve, to sing flew out of the ark, and but for that or read with me, to soothe my hours of one twig would have found the world uneasiness, and add delight to my moa watery desert. We read, we sang, ments of pleasure!" we talked only to each other; together we wove chaplets for each other's heads; together we recounted all the little we knew of the past, and planned a common happiness for all we imagined of the boundless future. We had but one being; and for a few years I scarcely recollected that I was an outcast, and a worm. The time rolled on; as I grew nearer to manhood, my father remembered that he had a son, and occasionally employed me as his secretary; and at the same time, Isabel began to be occupied in learning some of those accomplishments which are thought necessary in society. Dancing and embroidery were arts which it was beyond my skill to teach. We did not live so constantly together; and I-though, thank God that my affection for her never was diminished by the weight of one of her own shining hairs-I grew to a certain degree interested in the employment with which my father furnished me. But I was soon roused. Isabel was fourteen when she first appeared in public; and, as sure as truth is brighter than falsehood, you, who have looked on the maidens of many lands, never saw a purer or more glorious being than was then Isabel Monteco. Her form seemed to rise like a bird at every step over the earth she

trod upon.
Her eyes were the deep
recesses of a shrine, which the blaze
of sacred tapers lights and hallows;
and every sound of her voice might
have been deemed the singing of the

"O! would to Heaven that I had seen her corpse lowered into the tomb, rather than she should be reserved to a doom so horrible as that she now endures! Listen, and you shall know. You may well believe that so fair a creature as my sister, the daughter of a man so powerful as Adrian Monteco, was speedily surrounded by suitors. The young, the beautiful, the brave, the noble, and the wealthy, and, in some cases, all these in one, crowded round her feet with their passion, and besieged my father with their rent-rolls and genealogies. Isabel cared not for any among her lovers, and repelled them all with gentle determination. But there was one who never addressed himself to her,-whom she had scarcely seen. Mark Soradino is encircled by the renown of many exploits, the suspicion of many crimes, the infamy of many vices. He is as bold, as skilful, and as unscrupulous a politician as Monteco, and shares with him the predominant interest in the state. But Soradino is stained by a thousand private excesses, from which my father is as free as is the cedar of the mountain from bowing its head into the mire, whereon the plume of the peacock falls and is polluted. In the instance of Soradino, it is rather the pinion of the vulture which stoops from its bloody crag to clog its feathers in the

dust. Such was the man who dared to solicit my father for the hand of the holiest thing that God ever created. As well might he have asked for the cup and the wine of the sacrament, to be the means of his brutal intoxication. He was past the middle age, bloated, cruel, and debauched,-but he was the most powerful, and nearly the most wealthy, of our nobles. How well do I remember the morning on which, when we had scarce seen him for a month, my father entered the cabinet wherein my sister and myself were seated. We were both of us engaged in designing a figure of Psyche, the character in which she was about to appear at a masked ball. Monteco came into the room with a quicker step than usual, as if in haste to despatch some unimportant business, which detained him from more serious affairs. It is now a year since that fatal morning. Were it a million of years, I could not have forgotten the playful loveliness of my sister, while she took her father's hand, and pressed it to her lips; nor was the cold and careless glance less memorable, with which alone he returned her salutation. To me he did not utter a syllable, nor give a single look. He said no more than this- Isabel, you must prepare to wed. A suitor, whom I approve of, has proposed himself; and in a month you will become a wife.' She seemed to be lost in utter astonishment. My father went on- Mark Soradino'-even then her habitual terror closed her lips, but she fell in a swoon upon the floor, at the feet of her parent. His wrath broke out. He ordered me to leave the room, and send the women, and mark, you need not return hither. For the present you are confined to your chamber.' I never saw my sister more."

"Great God! was she murdered?" said the Englishman.

"No; but she is subjected to a fate, compared with which, the stiletto or the poison would have been a gift of mercy. A few days after, it was publicly announced that Isabel Monteco had departed to visit for a

At

time a relation, who is Abbess of a Convent at Rome; and that, on her return in a few months, she would become the bride of Soradino. I inquired, at the first opportunity, from the nurse of Isabel, as to the time, mode, and object of this journey. first, she would give me no other information than that such and such things were ordered to be said by Monteco. When I asked her as to the facts themselves, she was silent. At last, she burst into tears, and entreated me to inquire nothing till a future opportunity, but, in the meantime, to give her a hundred ducats, with the aid of which, she doubted not to be able to gain a sufficient answer. I gave her the money; and the next day, the moment my father departed for the council, she entered my apartment. For some time she let me hear nothing but exclamations and wailings. When, however, I had thus far indulged her, she informed me that she had succeeded in bribing one of the servants, named Ludovico, to tell her all he knew, by giving him a sum large enough to carry him beyond the power of Venice, and to pay him for the risk. He had escaped from the city the instant he had told the story. He, and another ruffian named Pietro, had, it seems, been employed the very night of the day on which I last saw Isabel, to bind her arms, and cover her mouth, and convey her in secrecy to a dungeon in the foundations of our palace. On recovering from her swoon, she had, doubtless, ventured to tell my father that she never would obey him, by subjecting herself to the pollution and misery of a marriage with Soradino. Such was Ludovico's information, and such the fate to which my sister was doomed, and which she still suffers."

"Do not mock me, Signor. A young and delicate lady shut up for a year in a solitary prison, and that in her father's house!"

"I swear it to be true. Were there a doubt, I should not now be here to implore your assistance. I myself have found means to visit, and

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