SECT Again: Capitano di mille, alto si vede Uno spettro passar lungo ed arcigno And now the foremost of a numerous train, And tho' on earth his swan-like numbers flow, Vassene solo l' eloquente ed irto Orator del Contratto, ed al par del manto Of aspect rude, but with enchanting tongue, But more he lov'd the myrtle wreath to wear. These spirits, like the fallen angels of Klopstock, contend which has done most mischief; and the author of the Systême de III. de la Nature, obtains the prize." (t)-Besides this poem, and SECT. the tragedies already noticed, the Abate Monti has written Capitolo sulla visione d' Ezechielle, Versi alla Santità di N. S. Pio VI. and a collection of poems on various subjects, which were printed (1787) at Parma. In his Versi, the little poem entitled Entusiasmo Malinconico, is worthy the vigorous pencil, and gloomy genius of his favourite Dante: even the "black melancholy" of Pope, breathing her horrors o'er the deep woods, and falling waters of the Paraclete, must yield, in sublimity, to the Entusiasmo Malinconico of our author. Though it would seem from this poem, that melancholy had marked the Abate Monti " for her own," yet we sometimes find his muse tripping lightly in the measure of Anacreon, and sometimes, with a gay air, offering incense to the fair. I remember the Abate Monti extremely well," says one of my obliging correspondents. "I heard him repassages from his Aristodemo, before it was published, in the Arcadian Academy of Rome. It was he who composed the elegant Anacreontic that hangs in the muscum Clementinum." In the Antologia for July 1786, a beautiful canzonetta addressed, by our author, to the duchess of Nemi on her arrival at the baths of Pisa, is preserved. And in the cite (1) Vol. xvi, p. 514, 515. This critical analysis is concluded with a wish that the excellent translator of Dante's Inferno (the Rev. Mr. Boyd) would undertake a translation of the poem. How highly qualified he is for such an undertaking, will appear from the version, given in the text, of the passages selected by the reviewer for the illustration of his analyfis. Except in the translation of the lines beginning "Amai, potendo, &c." my friend has adhered closely to his original. U 2 u same III. SECT. same work for January, 1787, honorable mention is made of the Aristodemo, and an account given of the flattering manner in which the Infanta evinced her gratitude to the author for the pleasure which she had derived from the perusal of his play. This mark of royal favor was a gold medal, with the Infanta's portrait on one side, and, on the reverse, the genius of the drama presenting a laurel crown to each of the dramaThe following motto encircles the device: tic muses. NOVUM UTRIQUE COLLATUM DECUs. With the Abate Monti I shall close my series of the tragic writers of Italy: thus borrowing the lustre of his name to crown my humble labours. OLYMPIC THEATRE ADDITIONAL NOTES. (1) THE fraternità del Gonfalone was, we know, instituted in the year 1264, for the express purpose of representing The Passion of our Saviour, in the colisæum of Rome. But as the actors were inanimate, and the fable, of course, conducted without dialogue, the claim of that fraternity to the revival of the drama in Italy, may be disputed. The late Mr. Warton dates its revival from the miracleplay of Christ, represented in the year 1298, in Civita Vecchia. Hist. of Eng. Poet. vol. i. sect. 6. Had this ingenious writer pursued the enquiry a little farther, he might have discovered miracle-plays originating amongst the fabliers Français, whose rude effusions (which are said to have given birth to the French stage) were not only known, but relished,-and perhaps imitated,-in Italy, in the age of Dante, Petrarca, and Boccaccio. See Fabliaux ou contes du xii et du xiii siecle. Par. 1781. tom. ii. p. 119-123. Mr. Pinkerton (Hist. of Scot. vol. ii. p. 431) has introduced to our notice a dramatic writer of so early a period as the tenth century,I mean the fair Hroswitha, a German nun who flourished about the year 980. This lady wrote six comedies, "ad æmulationem Terentii," of which an edition was printed at Nurenberg, 1501. (2) The passage in Rucellai's Rosmunda which I promised in the text, is as follows: (3) As my copy of La Giulietta of Luigi da Porto is in manuscript, I do not refer to the pages from which I make my extracts. For this literary rarity, I am indebted to my friend Robert W. Wade, Esq. of Knightsbridge, a gentleman whose zeal in the service of his friends can only be equalled by the elegance of his taste, and the universality of his genius.-I had finished my comparative view of the Adriana and La Giulietta before I consulted the Eloquenza Italiana, in which I find 334 I find it observed that the action of the Adriana "è tratta dalla prima novella del secondo volume del Bandello." Da Porto and Bandello, it is true, relate the same story; but I am stili, however, of opinion, that Da Porto was Groto's guide: and I am also inclined to think, that either the annals or the legendary tales of his own country, furnished Groto with a fact similar to that on which his tragedy is founded. (4) As the Theseida of Boccaccio, is become a remarkable rarity of Italian literature, it may gratify the curiosity of the reader to be told, that a perfect copy of the edition of this work, printed at Ferrara, 1475, fol. is in the collection of Henry George Quin, Esq. of Dublin Castle. (5) Amongst the various conjectures on the origin of the Paradise Lost, and on Milton's obligations to other writers, I do not recollect to have seen it observed, that the dialogue which takes place between Satan and Michael, during a short suspension of the war in heaven, (Book vi. 1. 262—295) was probably suggested by the following passage in Jean Petit's justification of the conduct of the duke of Burgundy, in regard to the death of the Duke of Orleans. "Lucifer soy regardant, et considerant sa noble creature tant belle et tant parfaicte, dit en sa pensée luy mesmes: Je feray tant que je mettray ma chaire et mon throsne au dessus de tous les autres anges, et seray semblable à Dieu. C'est à sçavoir qu'on luy feroit obeïssance comme à Dieu, et pour ce faire il deçeut une grand partie des anges et les attrahit à son opiniō, c'est à sçavoir qu'ils luy feroient obeïssance, honneur et reverence par maniere d'hommage, comme à leur souverain seigneur, et ne seroient de riens subiects à Dieu mais à iceluy Lucifer, lequel tiendroit sa maiesté pareillement comme Dieu la sienne, exempte de toute la seigneurie de Dieu et de toute sa subiection. Et ainsi voulloit tollir à Dieu son createur et souverain seigneur la grâd partie de sa seigneurie et les attribuer à soy, et ce luy faisoit faire convoitise, qui s'estoit boutée en so courage. Si tost que S. Michel apperceut cela, il s'en vint à luy et luy dit que c'estoit trop mal fait et que iamais ne voulsist faire telle chose, et que de tat que Dieu l'avoit fait plus bel et plus parfait de tous les autres, de tant devoit il monstrer greigneur signe de reverence, subiection et obeïssance à celuy qui l'avoit fait plus bel, qui estoit son roy et souverain seigneur. Lucifer dit, qu'il n'e feroit riens. Sainct Michel dit que luy et les autres ne souffreroient point telle iniure faire à leur createur et souverain seigneur, briefuement la bataille se meut entre celuy S. Michel et Lucifer." The learned theologian then proceeds to relate the fall of the angels in the words of " Monseigneur Sainct. Jean," Chron. de Monstrelet, vol. i. p. 39. (6) As |