Pietro Giordani was one of the most ardent champions for the restoration of the pure Italian language. But he never openly entered the arena, to combat maxims and precepts. He wrote, and produced such excellent examples, that he is become the first among living Italian authors, with respect to idiom and style. Highly informed in ancient and modern literature, he unites the ingenuous simplicity of the Grecian, with the purity, elegance and pomp of the true Italian dialect. Setting aside the forced inversions, and the Latin form of period, used by Boccaccio and Guicciardini, he imitated them alone in the freshness and loftiness of their phraseology; and has invested his prose with such grace and charm of expression, as to have rendered himself singularly worthy of admiration.

His works, lately collected and published at Modena, may be divided into three classes: panegyrics, essays on the fine arts, and articles of literary correspondence.

Modern Europe is entirely destitute of panegyrics; nor can she possess any, so long as this kind of literature, instead of rising to the dignity of history, as in Plutarch and Tacitus, shall be restrained within the narrow limits of an academical production, in which the author, intent upon pleasing the ears of an audience assembled, not for instruction but for pleasure, directs all his efforts to dazzle their minds by the harmony and stately eloquence of his discourse. Every man, it is true, cannot expect an opportunity of describing the exploits of a Cæsar or an Agricola: but the moral and domestic, as well as the political and military virtues, have their interest and their sublimity; and if the author does not succeed in depicting them with dignity and propriety, the fault must be imputed, not to the poverty of the art, but to the want of skill and taste in the artist. The celebrated eulogies of Fontenelle and Thomas are admired by all, and with justice, for the philosophic reflections with which they abound. But he who has the perception of real beauty, will only feel pleasure in hearing them once recited in an assembly: on reading them deliberately and alone, he will be struck by the affectation of one of those panegyrists, and the bombast of the other; and will perceive, that the necessity of taking the tone of public oratory, has deprived the author in the first place, of the possibility of a natural style, and in the next, of simplicity of thought. They contain less the eulogy of him whose actions are related, than of the historian, who strives to render apparent his own eloquence and learning. When Voltaire wrote to Thomas, I have read the eulogy of Descartes, or rather your own,' we hardly know whether that sharp and sarcastic genius meant a compliment or an epigram.

Giordani wrote eulogies on Masini, Galliadi, Martinelli, Pallavicino, and the amiable Maria Giorgi, whose memory is so dear to Italy, for the sweetness of her song, and her knowledge of the art of music. But though he had delivered many of them in public

academies, his good sense drew him away from the vices into which many of his predecessors in this kind of composition had fallen. He does not assume the character of a man, who, with a comedian's wand in his hand, endeavours to describe by action, part by part, the design, colouring, and harmony of a picture; but acts the part of a friend, who introduces us to an unknown personage, and places us in a position, by which we may ourselves see and appreciate him. In this manner the panegyrist disappears, and the reader is delighted to find himself face to face with the object with whom he sought to be acquainted.

To this class belongs the panegyric written by our author upon Buonaparte, with which he was entrusted by the academy of Cesera. The reader is at first embarrassed in his judgment of this work, with respect to its moral aspect; for it is displeasing to behold a liberal mind prostitute praise to power. But this objection will be found more apparent than real in the eyes of a reasoning man, when dates and circumstances are considered. Buonaparte entered Italy, bringing glory and fortune behind his car; and, protesting that he had not forgotten his Italian birth, promised institutions and prosperity to his former country; and thereby excited enthusiastic hopes on every side. He began by destroying the old machines of public mal-administration, and the rooted abuses of government, that stood interposed as insuperable obstacles to the restoration of that unhappy land. It is true that having destroyed, he could not, or would not, or had not time to, build; and, on his fall, Italy was again hurled into the abyss of her former miseries. But what now we read in the past, belonged then to the future; and no one presumed to prophecy aught of ill. Hence the great admiration and blind faith accorded to that fatal conqueror: hence the applause dictated by a sentiment of hope. The wisest were deluded; and whom could not that giant dazzle? Giordani was but the interpreter of general opinion, excited by circumstances; and fulfilled his difficult task with equal moderation and dignity, avoiding, above all, the vile custom of those, who cannot praise one great man, without pouring forth a mass of calumny on his enemies.

This historical phenomenon is not new. Posterity reads with contempt Pliny's panegyric of Trajan, knowing that, notwithstanding this flattery and adulation, the senate was degraded, Rome enchained, and imperial despotism accomplished, by that warlike monarch. But do we not form a false judgment, by overlooking the date of the time? Trajan did not ascend the throne under the semblance of a Domitian or a Caligula. Pliny, therefore, praised, because he hoped for the good of his country; and hope will ever be one of the noblest virtues of the patriot. The really wise, indeed, should only praise the dead, who it is impossible should belie themselves: but this kind of wisdom is, perhaps, beyond the limit of human passions.

The oration read in the academy of Bologna, upon the re-acqui

sition of the three legations made by the pontifical court, belongs also, in a great degree, to the class we are here considering; only that the author, finding more independent materials in his hand, clothed them with a power of thought and eloquent dignity, that passes expectation. It might seem not to be a modern production, but the translation of some ancient manuscript, found in the caves of Athens, beside a ruined statue of Pericles or Demosthenes.

Giordani's essays on the fine arts relate, principally, to some paintings in fresco, by Innocenzo Francucci, recently discovered at Bologna, and to the two large paintings from scripture history, which Landi and Camuccini, the most celebrated among living Italian artists, painted, some little time since, for the church of Placentia. The simple manner of exposition, the acute reflections, and the graces of erudition which embellish the whole, operate like a charm on the reader. What profound knowledge in those eloquent pages! what exquisite taste in discriminating the most secret beauties of that divine art! The description of the new forum at Milan, which precedes the essays, shews him to be a no less just appreciator of correct and noble architecture. Every thing is noted with precision, rapidity, and eloquence.

. The articles of correspondence contain letters to friends upon literary subjects, and analyses communicated to the editors of periodical Reviews, upon new publications. Among the first, those addressed to Vincenzo Monti, concerning questions upon language and style, are the most distinguished: among the second, those inserted in the journal of Milan, upon Cesare Arici's poem, and upon the palimpsesti manuscripts, discovered in the library of the Vatican, and published by the illustrious Abbé Mai. It seems that the author looks upon these latter productions with little esteem, considering them as a series of thoughts thrown hastily upon paper, and which he had not leisure afterwards to correct. His judgment is modest, but perhaps too severe. A flowing diction, and simplicity of sentiment, pervade the articles throughout, and give them great value. His researches concerning the unpublished writings of Dionysius of Halicarnassus; the fragments of Plautus and of Terence; the orations of Iscus and Themestius, and the philosophy of Empedocles, exhibit him as a profound critic, and a most expert Hellenist.

Giordani has not yet been enabled to employ himself in any work which, for matter alone, might deserve to descend to posterity. Feeble health, and a life continually harassed by persecution and misfortune, have made him constantly abandon undertakings that would have raised him to the highest degree of reputation. He refused to write the life of Canova, his intimate and honoured friend, not feeling sufficient strengh to bring it to a termination, amid the tribulations by which he was afflicted; and, lastly, he has even refused to write the life of Antonio Onor, a celebrated philanthropist, of the Republic of S. Marino. A journalist has launched a

bitter reproof against him on this account, saying, that the panegyrist of Buonaparte ought not to have refused to write the eulogium of a man so dear to virtue and humanity. We think that there is great injustice in this reproof. A fugitive, without a country, because of the independence of his character, Giordani has with difficulty obtained hospitality from the magnanimity of the grand duke of Tuscany; and could not write the life of an ardent republican without dishonour, if he spoke false, or exposure to new persecutions, if he spoke the truth.

This excellent literary man is, through the entreaties of those who esteem his talents and love his moral qualities, at present employed at Florence in editing a selection of Italian classics, illustrated by analyses, which Italy impatiently expects. And since fortune is so adverse to him, he must be content to expect distinction for his works, not for the matter of which they treat, but for the graces of his style, and the noble purity of his language. Nor is the hope ill founded. Seneca and Lucan are rich in lofty thoughts: the poetry of Catullus, the odes of Horace, and the fables of Phaedrus, only contain harmonious trifles. Yet the fame of the latter, founded on the elegance and beauty of their style, obscures that of the former, where the diction is that of bombast, exaggeration, and poverty; and while Seneca and Lucan lie forgotten amid the dust of libraries, Catullus, Horace, and Phædrus, are the constant delight of every educated mind.

The study of Italian literature has, in our days, become general in England, thanks to the generous impulse given by Roscoe, and to the enthusiasm by which Mathias has drawn the attention of his countrymen that way. Among the many anthologies executed with little discernment upon this object, it would be desirable for some able London bookseller to undertake the publication of a selection of the incomparable prose of Giordani. British youth of both sexes might derive great advantage from it, by familiarising themselves with an author, who offers a rare model of Italian style and language, amid the most elevated and recondite thoughts of literature and the fine arts.

ART. V. Dell' Ingiuria, dei Danni, del Sodisfaccimento, e relative basi di stima avanti i Tribunali Civili. Dissertazione di Melchiorre Gioia. Milano. 1826.

A Dissertation upon Injuries, Damage, Compensation, and the relative basis of Assessment by Civil Tribunals. By Melchiorre Gioia. SIGNOR Melchiorre Gioia possesses the merit of originality, frequently of a most whimsical description, to which he incontrovertibly adds that of unwearied diligence, having, in the course of seven years, enriched the Italian world with eight quarto and eight octavo volumes; comprising the following works: Un Nuovo Prospetto delle Scienze Economiche (a New View of the Economical

Sciences); Gli Elementi di Filosofia (Elements of Philosophy); Il Nuovo Galateo (the New Galateo); Un Discorso sulle Manifatture Nazionale (a Discourse upon National Manufactures); another upon I Mezzi di Scemare la Miseria del Popolo ne' Tempi di Carestia (the Means of relieving the Distress of the People in times of Scarcity); Un Trattato del Merito e delle Ricompense (a Treatise upon Merit and Rewards); and, lastly, its counterpart, the Dissertazione, whose title heads this article. Our author's industry is moreover attested by the quality, as well as by the quantity of his productions; for his compositions consist of any thing but vague reasoning and verbosely inane declamation upon his subject-matter: he, on the contrary, sets himself most laboriously and mathematically to work. But, prior to applying his algebra to law questions, he takes a survey of the past and present condition of jurisprudence throughout the civilised world, so far as relates to compensation for injury, privation of life included.

The Roman law upon this subject our author utterly condemns, inasmuch as it left the assessment of damages to the discretion of the plaintiff, qualified only by the less partial discretion of the prætor, or judge. The system of the old Germans is more to his mind. He entirely approves of their plan of punishing every crime by fine, dividing the sum forfeited between the state and the individual wronged, in compensation alike of the public and of the private injury; but he severely reprobates their unscientific want of a general principle for the regulation of their pecuniary mulcts, and their attempts to remedy this deficiency by a ludicrously minute description of the length, breadth, depth, and situation of every posssible wound, and by a valuation of the relative atrocity of every possible slanderous word. The laws of the Italian republics of the middle ages, sin by referring the amount of fines to the discretion of the Podesta, their chief magistrate, and trusting for his fairness to his responsibility upon quitting his office at the end of the year. Those of modern Europe offend generally by regarding only the pecuniary amount of the injury, leaving the feelings of the sufferer out of the question; and those of France and England, especially, by proportioning the quantum of damages to the defendant's means of payment.

All codes, past and present, being thus rejected, the dissertator proceeds to explain his own system. For the perfection of criminal jurisprudence there are, according to his view of the matter, only two desiderata: 1st, to fix the relative proportion of injuries; and, 2ndly, to find invariable bases from which to estimate the compensation due to the least possible injury. To solve these two problems is the grand object of the Dissertation; and that once effected, it is self-evident, that the whole business of administering criminal justice may be transacted with mathematical accuracy, and without much study. If 8 be the compensation due to the physical injury X, and X be to the moral injury Y, as 1 to