with material out of which to form a homogeneous and comprehensive whole. So far as Canada is concerned this work is now being done by a competent hand, whose annals, it is said, will open a rich mine of ministerial romance. Black River Conference, the northern wing of Old Genesee, should soon furnish her quota. When she shall have done so, and when the long-promised "Genesee Vine," by the Rev. Manly Tooker, shall hang out her ripened fruit, then Dr. Stevens will be fully furnished for his final volume.

In the mean time let every one, who would be either instructed or amused, procure and read Dr. Peck's book. The romance, the pious chivalry, the heroic exploits of Early Methodism cannot fail to interest, whatever may be the reader's particular religious views. To those who cordially sympathize in the Wesleyan reformation, the perusal will be not only pleasing, but eminently profitable. We will only add that the volume before us is of the same form and style as that of Dr. Stevens's History of Methodism, and is a fine specimen of what Carlton & Porter are in the habit of doing at 200 Mulberry-street, New York.

ART. V.-VITTORIA COLONNA.

Life of Vittoria Colonna. By T. ADOLPHUS TROLLOPE. New York: Sheldon & Co. Memoir of Vittoria Colonna. By JOHN T. HARFORD, Esq., D.C.L., F.R.S. London: Longman, Brown, Green, Longman, & Roberts.

VITTORIA COLONNA, the most distinguished poetess of Italy, was born in 1490, two years before the discovery of the New World. The noble and princely house of Colonna, long the lords of great possessions, had recently been enriched by Martin, the Colonna Pope, the great uncle of Fabrizio, Vittoria's father, by the bestowment of many beautiful towns and castles in the hills to the east and southeast of the Campagna. It was in one of these, the Castle Gondolfo, on the wooded heights that overlook the picturesque town of Marino, that Vittoria was born. Her parents had chosen this charming spot among the hills that encircle the lovely lake of Albano to enjoy their first years of wedded life, and peace smiled on the land for the period, unusually long in those troublous times, of eight years.

When Vittoria was four years of age, Charles VIII. of France, aided by the Colonnas, invaded Naples, was crowned king, and was speedily driven out of his newly-acquired kingdom by Ferdinand of Arragon. The new king, who reigned but little more than a

year, to secure the continued adherence of the Colonnas, who now ranged themselves under his banners, betrothed Vittoria to the son of the Marquis of Pescara, Ferdinand d'Avalos, a child of her own age. The marquis died the following year, and the young Ferdinand, with his betrothed wife, was placed under the care of his eldest sister, Costunza d'Avalos, the widowed Duchessa di Francavilla. Well was it for Vittoria that she fell into such wise and gentle hands. So highly did Ferdinand esteem the duchess, that on the death of her husband he made her governor and chatelaine of Ischia, one of the most important posts in the kingdom. In addition to the prudence, energy, and fidelity necessary for such a trust, her intellectual culture well qualified her to direct the education of children born to high destinies.

Vittoria in after years recurs with fond affection to her memories of this romantic isle. A safe and sheltered home it proved for the Roman girl, whose birthplace would have afforded her no sufficient protection. The order for its destruction was issued by Pope Alexander Borgia in 1501, but it seems not to have been executed, as we read that the pretty town of Marino was burned by order of Clement VII. in 1526.

We have scarce any record of Vittoria's childhood and youth, which passed in great tranquillity. One noteworthy event occurred when she was eleven years of age. Her father then visited the island in company with Frederic, the last and best-beloved of the Arragonese kings, who, forced to abandon his dominions to the French monarch, found refuge here with his wife and two children for several months.

So richly gifted were Vittoria and her betrothed husband, that it is not to be wondered at that their childish affection deepened into an ardent attachment. Vittoria had the highest style of Roman beauty, luxuriant golden hair, a finely-developed brow, large thoughtful eyes, and regular features; and Pescara with his auburn hair, his aquiline nose, his large eyes, soft and gentle when they rested on her, but at times full of fire, his stately bearing, his brief speech, in keeping with his Spanish lineage, his poetic taste and knightly accomplishment, might well win the love of the playmate of his childhood. Her hand was sought by many illustrious suitors, among them the Dukes of Savoy and Braganza, but she was faithful to her early engagement. After a visit to the home of her parents, who seemed strangely content to resign to other hands the childhood and girlhood as well as womanhood of their daughter, so richly endowed with all those gifts and graces that win the fondest affection, Vittoria, escorted by a large company of Roman nobles,

journeyed from Marino to Ischia, where, with much pomp and splendor, the marriage was celebrated on the 27th December, 1509.

Two years of tranquil happiness passed swiftly away, leaving no records of their peaceful progress. The youthful noble began to think it a life of inglorious ease; and though there were those who would have dissuaded the last scion of a noble house from thus early beginning his career of arms, his voice was still for war. In company with his father-in-law he set off for Lombardy, and joined the Papal and Spanish army under the walls of Ravenna. It was an inauspicious moment for the young soldier to begin his military career, as the army which he joined was totally defeated by the French. He fought bravely, and, sorely wounded in his face, was left for dead on the battle-field, where he was picked up and taken prisoner to Milan. He beguiled the solitary hours of his captivity by writing a Dialogue of Love, addressed to his wife, to which however we cannot refer for information as to the tone of his thoughts and feelings, for men have willingly let it die. The poem in which the thoughts of the young wife found expression is interesting, as being the first of those poetical efforts that have made her name so famous. It is an epistle of one hundred and twelve lines, addressed to her husband, and though classical and elegant, betrays no deep and impassioned feeling.

This captivity was not of long duration. As soon as his wounds were healed the prisoner was released, through the good offices of Trivulzio, a general in the French army, who had married Pescara's aunt, on the payment of a ransom of six thousand ducats, and he returned to gladden the heart of his lovely wife. War, however, was to be his life-long occupation, and he allowed himself brief intervals of rest at home. This visit, though only of a few months' duration, was the longest he was ever to know of domestic satisfactions and joys. Early in 1513 he rejoined the army in Lombardy, and distinguished himself not only for his bravery and military skill, but for his cruelty and ferocity, his stern discipline, and for the wide-spread misery that he caused. The great captain was honored and rewarded, and borne onward in a full tide of prosperity.

In the mean while Vittoria remained at Ischia, where the Duchessa di Francavilla held her island court, to which was attracted a goodly company of poets and men of letters, who delighted to sing the praises of this

"Proud rock! the loved retreat of such a band

Of earth's best, noblest, greatest, that their light
Pales other glories to the dazzled sight.

Glory of martial deeds is thine. In thee,

Brightest the world e'er saw or heaven gave,
Dwell chastest beauty, worth, and courtesy !
Well be it with thee! May both wind and sea
Respect thee, and thy native air and wave

Be tempered ever by a genial sky!"

These lines are from a sonnet of Bernardo Tasso, one of the most distinguished of this brilliant circle, among whom were Giovio, Caritie, Filocalo, Rota, Musefilo, and others. Bernardo Tasso was three years younger than Vittoria, of an ancient and noble family, highly educated and accomplished, and already known as a poet throughout Italy. He subsequently won a high name as an epic and lyric poet, though his fame has been overshadowed by that of his son Torquato.

Vittoria, however, did not content herself merely with enjoying this intellectual society. One fact recorded of her says more for her woman's heart than all the records and sonnets of that accomplished circle. Having no children of her own, she undertook the education of a young cousin of her husband, Alphonso d'Avalos. She might well have shrunk from such a task. The boy, beautiful as an angel, was so undisciplined and ungovernable that his violence terrified all those who had attempted to control him. There was nothing of the angelic in his nature. But Vittoria discerned an element of hopefulness there, and with her gentle touch she tamed the lion within him. The boy, so impetuous and irritable with others, acknowledged her potent sway, and loved her as a mother. His proud nature was subdued and softened; a taste for intellectual pursuits was awakened; and the pupil of Vittoria, in his subsequent career as a soldier of renown, reflected honor on the discerning hand that had detected and developed the latent powers within. Vittoria was fully rewarded for her patient courage by the honored career of her pupil, and by the life-long respect and affectlon she received from this child of her heart.

In February, 1517, a brilliant festival was held at Ischia in honor of the wedding of the sister of Alphonso Costanza d'Avalos to Don Alfonso Piccolomini, and in December of the same year Vittoria was present, with the nobility of Naples, at the marriage of the King of Poland to Donna Bona Sforza. An humble chronicler, Passeri, the weaver of Naples, has given us a picture of the illustrious lady, the Signora Vittoria, Marchioness of Pescara, as she arrived at the church where the ceremony was to be performed. Mounted on a black and white jennet, with housings of crimson velvet fringed with gold, she was richly attired in a robe of bro

caded crimson velvet, adorned with branches of beaten gold. Her cap was of crimson satin, with a head-dress of wrought gold above it, and her girdle of beaten gold. She was accompanied by six ladies in waiting, attired in blue damask, and attended by six grooms on foot, with cloaks and jerkins of blue satin. Three days were spent in wedding festivities, and then Vittoria returned to her quiet home at Ischia.

The death of her father in 1520, and that of her mother two years afterward, left her an orphan, and the continued absence of her husband from a home which he only visited three or four times in seven years, must have saddened the heart of the wife, who was never to know the compensating touch of little hands, or to be soothed by the prattle of childish voices. The autumn of the year that her mother died she saw her husband for the last time; a brief three days, not overshadowed by the knowledge that their earthly meetings and partings were henceforth for those two at an end.

The remaining years of his life accorded with its beginning. He sacked Genoa, received three wounds at the battle of Pavia, where Francis was taken prisoner, and at thirty-five was made general-inchief of the armies of Lombardy. Pescara, however, was offended with his imperial master for taking the royal captive out of his hands and sending him to Spain, and his discontent becoming known, efforts were made by the pope and his counselors to induce him to become traitor to Charles, and use the army intrusted to him to crush the Spanish power in Italy. Morone, chancellor, and prime minister of the Duke of Milan, was charged with this negotiation, and empowered to offer the sovereignty of Naples as a reward to the discontented general. Pescara received these overtures favorably; but alarmed at the disappearance of a messenger intrusted with secret dispatches, which he feared might be laid before Charles, he wrote at once to the emperor disclosing the whole scheme, and declaring that he had only listened to it that he might possess himself of the details of the conspiracy. Still believing that Pescara had acceded to their proposals, Morone was induced to meet him at Novara, where he discussed all the secret plans in the presence of Antonio da Leyva, one of the generals of the Spanish army, who was hidden behind the hangings of the room in which the conference was held. Morone was at once arrested, imprisoned, and examined the next day by Pescara as judge. Morone might well, after such an experience, pronounce him to be one of the worst and most faithless men in Italy. This infamy was rewarded, however, by the rank of generalissimo of the imperial forces in Italy.