Bandello (1480-1562) is the novelist best known to foreigners after Boccaccio. Shakspeare and other English dramatists have drawn largely from his voluminous writings. His tales are founded upon history rather than fancy.
9. HISTORY.—Historical composition was cultivated with much success by the Italians of the sixteenth century; yet such was the altered state of things, that, except at Venice and Genoa, republics had been superseded by princes, and republican authority by the pomp of regal courts. Home was a nest of intrigue, luxury, and corruption; Tuscany had become the prey of a powerful family; Lombardy was but a battle-field for the rival powers of France and Germany, and the lot of the people was oppression and humiliation. High independence of mind, one of the most valuable qualities in connection with historical research, was impossible under these circumstances, and yet, some of the Italian writers of this age exhibit genius, strength of character, and a conscientious sense of the sacred commission of the historian.
Machiavelli (1469-1527) was born in Florence of a family which had enjoyed the first offices in the republic. At the age of thirty, he was made chancellor of the state, and from that time he was constantly employed in public affairs, and particularly in embassies. Among those to the smaller princes of Italy, the one of the longest duration was to Caesar Borgia, whom he narrowly observed at the very important period when this illustrious villain was elevating himself by his crimes, and whose diabolical policy he had thus an opportunity of studying. He had a considerable share in directing the counsels of the republic, and the influence to which he owed his elevation was that of the free party, which censured the power of the Medici, and at that time held them in exile. When the latter were recalled, Machiavelli was deprived of all his offices and banished. He then entered into a conspiracy against the usurpers, which was discovered, and he was put to the torture, but without wresting from him any confession which could impeach either himself or those who had confided in his honor. Leo X., on his elevation to the pontificate, restored him to liberty. At this time he wrote his "History of Florence," in which he united eloquence of style with depth of reflection, and although an elegant, animated, and picturesque composition, it is not the fruit of much research or criticism.
Besides this history, Machiavelli wrote his discourses on the first decade of Livy, considered his best work, and "The Art of War," which is an invaluable commentary on the history of the times. These works had the desired effect of inducing the Medici family to use the political services of the author, and at the request of Leo X. he wrote his essay "On the Reform of the Florentine Government."
Guicciardini (1483-1541), the friend of Machiavelli, is considered the greatest historian of this age. He attached himself to the service of Leo X., and was raised to high offices and honors by him and the two succeeding popes. On the expulsion of the Medici from Florence, the republican party having obtained the ascendency, he was obliged to fly from the city. From this time he manifested an utter abhorrence of all popular institutions, and threw himself heart and soul into the interests of the Medici. He displayed his zeal at the expense of the lives and liberties of the most virtuous among his fellow-citizens. Having aided in the elevation of Cosmo, afterwards Grand Duke of Tuscany, and being requited with ingratitude and neglect, he retired in disgust from public life, and devoted himself wholly to the completion of his history of Italy. This work, which is a monument of his genius and industry, commences with the coming of Charles VIII. to Italy, and concludes with the year 1534, embracing one of the most important periods of Italian history. His powerfully-drawn pictures exhibit the men and the times so vividly, that they seem to pass before our eyes. His delineations of character, his masterly views of the course of events, the conduct of leaders, and the changes of war, claim our highest admiration. His language is pure and his style elegant, though sometimes too Latinized; his letters are considered as a most valuable contribution to the history of his times.
Numberless historians, of more or less merit, stimulated by the renown of Machiavelli and Guicciardini, composed annals of the states to which they belonged, while others undertook to write the histories of foreign nations. Nardi (1496-1556), one of the most ardent and pure patriots of his age, takes the first place. He wrote the history of the Florentine Revolution of 1527, a work which, though defective in style, is distinguished for its truthfulness. The histories of Florence by Adriani, Varchi, and Segni (1499-1559), are considered the best works of their kind, for elegance of style and for interest of the narrative. Almost all the other cities of Italy had their historians, but the palm must be awarded to the Florentine writers, not only on account of their number, but for the elegance and purity of their style, for their impartiality and the sagacity of their research into matters of fact. Among the writers of the second class may be mentioned Davanzati (1519), the translator of Tacitus, who wrote, in the Florentine dialect, a history of the schism of England; Giambullari (1495-1564), who wrote a history of Europe; D'Anghiera (fl. 1536), who, after having examined the papers of Christopher Columbus, and the official reports transmitted from America to Spain, compiled an interesting work on "Ocean Navigation and the New World." His style is incorrect; but this is compensated for by the fidelity of his narration. Several of the German States, France, the Netherlands, Poland, Hungary, and the East Indies, found Italian authors in this age to digest and arrange their chronicles, and give them historical form.
To this period belong also the "Lives of the Most Celebrated Artists," written by Vasari (1512-1574), himself a distinguished artist, a work highly interesting for its subject and style, and the Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini (b. 1500), one of the most curious works which was ever written in any language.
10. GRAMMAR AND RHETORIC.—The Italian language was used both in writing and conversation for three centuries before its rules and principles were reduced to a scientific form. Bembo was the first scholar who established the grammar. Grammatical writings and researches were soon multiplied and extended. Salviati was one of the most prominent grammarians of the sixteenth century, and Buonmattei and Cinonio of the seventeenth. But the progress in this study was due less to the grammarians than to the Dictionary della Crusca. Among the scholars who took part in the exercises of the Florentine Academy, founded by Cosmo de' Medici, there were some who, dissatisfied with the philosophical disputations which were the object of this institution, organized another association for the purpose of giving a new impulse to the study of the language. This academy, inaugurated in 1587, was called della Crusca, literally, of the bran. The object of this new association being to sift all impurities from the language, a sieve, the emblem of the academy, was placed In the hall; the members at their meetings sat on flour-barrels, and the chair of the presiding officer stood on three mill-stones. The first work of the academy was to compile a universal dictionary of the Italian language, which was published in 1612. Though the Dictionary della Crusca was conceived in an exclusive spirit, and admitted, as linguistic authorities, only writers of the fourteenth century, belonging to Tuscany, it contributed greatly to the progress of the Italian tongue.
Every university of Italy boasted in the sixteenth century of some celebrated rhetoricians, all of whom, however, were overshadowed by Vettori (1499-1585), distinguished for the editions of the Greek and Latin classics published under his superintendence, and for his commentaries on the rhetorical books of Aristotle. B. Cavalcanti (1503-1562) was also celebrated in this department, and his "Rhetoric" is the best work of the age on that subject.
The oratory of this period is very imperfect. Orations were written in the style of Boccaccio, which, however suitable for the narration of merry tales, is entirely unfit for oratorical compositions. Among those who most distinguished themselves in this department are Della Casa (1503-1556), whose harangues against the Emperor Charles V. are full of eloquence; Speroni (1500-1588), whose style is more perfect than that of any other writer of the sixteenth century; and Lollio (d. 1568), whose orations are the most polished. At that time, in the forum of Venice, eloquent orators pleaded the causes of the citizens, and at the close of the preceding century, Savonarola (1452-1498), a preacher of Florence, thundered against the abuses of the Roman church, and suffered death in consequence. Among the models of letter-writing, Caro takes the first place. His familiar letters are written with that graceful elegance which becomes this kind of composition. The letters of Tasso are full of eloquence and philosophy, and are written in the most select Italian.
11. SCIENCE, PHILOSOPHY, AND POLITICS.—The sciences, during this period, went hand in hand with poetry and history. Libraries and other aids to learning were multiplied, and academies were organized with other objects than those of enjoyment of mere poetical triumphs or dramatic amusements. The Academy del Cimento was founded at Florence in 1657 by Leopold de' Medici, for promoting the study of the natural sciences, and similar institutions were established in Rome, Bologna, and Naples, and other cities of Italy, besides the Royal Academy of London (1660), and the Academy of Sciences in Paris (1666). From the period of the first institution of universities, that of Bologna had maintained its preëminence. Padua, Ferrara, Pavia, Turin, Florence, Siena, Pisa, and Rome were also seats of learning. The men who directed the scientific studies of their country and of Europe were almost universally attached as professors to these institutions. Indeed, at this period, through the genius of Galileo and his school, European science first dawned in Italy. Galileo (1564-1641) was a native of Pisa, and professor of mathematics in the university of that city. Being obliged to leave it on account of scientific opinions, at that time at variance with universally received principles, he removed to the university of Padua, where for eighteen years he enjoyed the high consideration of his countrymen. He returned to Pisa, and at the age of seventy was summoned to Rome by the Inquisition, and required to renounce his doctrines relative to the Copernican system, of which he was a zealous defender, and his life was spared only on condition of his abjuring his opinions. It is said that on rising from his knees, after making the abjuration of his belief that the earth moved round the sun, he stamped his foot on the floor and said, "It does move, though." To Galileo science is indebted for the discovery of the laws of weight, the scientific construction of the system of Copernicus, the pendulum, the improvement of many scientific instruments, the invention of the hydrostatic balance, the thermometer, proportional compasses, and, above all, the telescope. He discovered the satellites of Jupiter, the phases of Venus, the mountains of the moon, the spots and the rotation of the sun. Science, which had consisted for centuries only of scholastic subtleties and barren dialectics, he established on an experimental basis. In his works he unites delicacy and purity with vivacity of style.
Among the scholars of Galileo, who most efficaciously contributed to the progress of science, may be mentioned Torricelli (1608-1647), the inventor of the barometer, an elegant and profound writer; Borelli (1608-1679), the founder of animal mechanics, or the science of the movements of animals, distinguished for his works on astronomy, mathematics, anatomy, and natural philosophy; Cassini (1625-1712), a celebrated astronomer, to whom France is indebted for its meridian; Cavalieri (1598-1648), distinguished for his works on geometry, which paved the way to the discovery of the infinitesimal calculus.
In the scientific department of the earlier part of this period may also be mentioned Tartaglia (d. 1657) and Cardano (1501-1576), celebrated for their researches on algebra and geometry; Vignola (1507-1573) and Palladio (1518-1580), whose works on architecture are still held in high estimation, as well as the work of Marchi (fl. 1550) on military construction. Later, Redi (1626-1697) distinguished himself as a natural philosopher, a physician and elegant writer, both in prose and verse, and Malpighi (1628-1694) and Bellini (1643-1704) were anatomists of high repute. Scamozzi (1550-1616) emulated the glory formerly won by Palladio in architecture, and Montecuccoli (1608-1681), a great general of the age, ably illustrated the art of strategy.
The sixteenth century abounds in philosophers who, abandoning the doctrines of Plato, which had been in great favor in the fifteenth, adopted those of Aristotle. Some, however, dared to throw off the yoke of philosophical authority, and to walk in new paths of speculation. Patrizi (1529-1597) was one of the first who undertook to examine for himself the phenomena of nature, and to attack the authority of Aristotle. Telesio (1509-1588), a friend of Patrizi, joined him in the work of overthrowing the Peripatetic idols; but neither of them dared to renounce entirely the authority of antiquity. The glory of having claimed absolute freedom in philosophical speculation belongs to Cardano, already mentioned, to Campanella (1568-1639), who for the boldness of his opinions was put to the torture and spent thirty years in prison, and to Giordano Bruno (1550- 1600), a sublime thinker and a bold champion of freedom, who was burned at the stake.
Among the moral philosophers of this age may be mentioned Speroni, whose writings are distinguished by harmony, freedom, and eloquence of style; Tasso, whose dialogues unite loftiness of thought with elegance of style; Castiglione (1468-1529), whose "Cortigiano" is in equal estimation as a manual of elegance of manners and as a model of pure Italian; and Della Casa, whose "Galateo" is a complete system of politeness, couched in elegant language, and a work to which Lord Chesterfield was much indebted.
Political science had its greatest representative in Machiavelli, who wrote on it with that profound knowledge of the human heart which he had acquired in public life, and with the habit of unweaving, in all its intricacies, the political perfidy which then prevailed in Italy. The "Prince" is the best known of his political works, and from the infamous principles which he has here developed, though probably with good intentions, his name is allied with everything false and perfidious in politics. The object of the treatise is to show how a new prince may establish and consolidate his power, and how the Medici might not only confirm their authority in Florence, but extend it over the whole of the Peninsula. At the time that Machiavelli wrote, Italy had been for centuries a theatre where might was the only right. He was not a man given to illusive fancies, and throughout a long political career nothing had been permitted to escape his keen and penetrating eye. In all the affairs in which he had taken part he had seen that success was the only thing studied, and therefore to succeed in an enterprise, by whatever means, had become the fundamental idea of his political theory. His Prince reduced to a science the art, long before known and practiced by kings and tyrants, of attaining absolute power by deception and cruelty, and of maintaining it afterwards by the dissimulation of leniency and virtue. It does not appear that any exception was at first taken to the doctrines which have since called forth such severe reprehension, and from the moment of its appearance the Prince became a favorite at every court. But soon after the death of Machiavelli a violent outcry was raised against him, and although it was first heard with amazement, it soon became general, The Prince was laid under the ban of several successive popes, and the name of Machiavelli passed into a proverb of infamy. His bones lay undistinguished for nearly two centuries, when a monument was erected to his memory in the church of Santa Croce, through the influence of an English nobleman.
12. PERIOD OF DECADENCE.—The sixteenth century reaped the fruits that had been sown in the fifteenth, but it scattered no seeds for a harvest in the seventeenth, which was therefore doomed to general sterility. In the reigns of Charles V. and Philip II. the chains of civil and religious despotism were forged which subdued the intellect and arrested the genius of the people. The Spanish viceroys ruled with an iron hand over Milan, Naples, Sicily, and Sardinia. Poverty and superstition wasted and darkened the minds of the people, and indolence and love of pleasure introduced almost universal degeneracy. But the Spanish yoke, which weighed so heavily at both extremities of the Peninsula, did not extend to the republic of Venice, or to the duchy of Tuscany; and the heroic character of the princes of Savoy alone would have served to throw a lustre over this otherwise darkened period. In literature, too, there were a few who resisted the torrent of bad taste, amidst many who opened the way for a crowd of followers in the false route, and gave to the age that character of extravagance for which it is so peculiarly distinguished.
The literary works of the seventeenth century may be divided into three classes, the first of which, under the guidance of Marini, attained the lowest degree of corruption, and remain in the annals of literature as monuments of bombastic style and bad taste. The second embraces those writers who were aware of the faults of the school to which they belonged, and who, aiming to bring about a reform in literature, while they endeavored to follow a better style, partook more or less of the character of the age. To this class may be referred Chiabrera already named, and more particularly Filicaja and other poets of the same school. The third class is composed of a few writers who preserved themselves faithful to the principles of true taste, and among them are Menzini, Salvator Rosa, Redi, and more particularly Tassoni.
13. EPIC AND LYRIC POETRY.—Marini (1569-1625), the celebrated innovator on classic Italian taste, is considered as the first who seduced the poets of the seventeenth century into a labored and affected style. He was born at Naples and educated for the legal profession, for which he had little taste, and on publishing a volume of poems, his indignant father turned him out of doors. But his popular qualities never left him without friends. He was invited to the Court of France, obtained the favor of Mary de' Medici, and the situation of gentleman to the king. He became exceedingly popular among the French nobility, many of whom learned Italian for the sole purpose of reading his works. It was here that he published the most celebrated of his poems, entitled "Adonis." He afterwards purchased a beautiful villa near Naples, to which he retired, and where he soon after died. The Adonis of Marini is a mixture of the epic and the romantic style, the subject being taken from the well-known story of Venus and Adonis. He renounced all keeping and probability, both in his incidents and descriptions; if he could present a series of enchanted pictures, he was little solicitous as to the manner of their arrangement. But the work has much beauty and imagination, and is often animated by the true spirit of poetry. Its principal faults are that it is sadly wire-drawn, and abounds in puns, endless antitheses, and inventions for surprising or bewildering the reader; graces which were greatly admired by the contemporaries of the poet. Marini was a voluminous writer, and was not only extolled in his own country above its classic authors, and in France, but the Spaniards held him in the highest esteem, and imitated and even surpassed him in his own eccentric career. He had also innumerable imitators in Italy, many of whom attained a high reputation during their lives, and afterwards sank into complete oblivion.
Filicaja (1642-1709) stands at the head of the lyric poets of the seventeenth century. His inspiration seems first to have been awakened when Vienna was besieged by the Turks in 1683, and gallantly defended by the Christian powers. His verses on this occasion awoke the most enthusiastic admiration, and called forth the eulogies of princes and poets. The admiration which he excited in his day is scarcely to be wondered at; for, though this judgment has not been ratified by posterity, Filicaja has at least the merit of having raised the poetry of Italy from the abject service of mere amorous imbecility to the noble office of embodying the more manly and virtuous sentiments; and though his style is infected with the bombastic spirit of the age, it is even in this respect singularly moderate, compared with that of his contemporaries.
14. MOCK-HEROIC POETRY, THE DRAMA, AND SATIRE.—The full maturity of the style of mock-heroic poetry is due to Tassoni (1565-1635). He first attracted public notice by disputing the authority of Aristotle, and the poetical merits of Petrarch. In 1622 he published his "Rape of the Bucket," a burlesque poem on the petty wars which were so common between the towns of Italy in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The heroes of Modena had, in 1325, discomfited the Bolognese, and pursued them to the very heart of their city, whence they carried off, as a trophy of their victory, the bucket belonging to the public well. The expedition undertaken by the Bolognese for its recovery forms the basis of the twelve mock-heroic cantos of Tassoni. To understand this poem requires a knowledge of the vulgarisms and idioms which are frequently introduced in it.
About the same period, Bracciolini (1566-1645) produced another comic- heroic poem, entitled the "Ridicule of the Gods," in which the ancient deities are introduced as mingling with the peasants, and declaiming in the low, vulgar dialect, and making themselves most agreeably ridiculous. Somewhat later appeared one more example of the same species of epic, "The Malmantile," by Lippi (1606-1664). This poem is considered a pure model of the dialect of the Florentines, which is so graceful and harmonious even in its homeliness.
The seventeenth century was remarkable for the prodigious number of its dramatic authors, but few of them equaled and none excelled those of the preceding age. The opera, or melodrama, which had arisen out of the pastoral, seemed to monopolize whatever talent was at the disposal of the stage, and branches formerly cultivated sank below mediocrity. Amid the crowd of theatrical corrupters, the name of Andreini (1564-1652) deserves peculiar mention, not from any claim to exemption from the general censure, but because his comedy of "Adam" is believed to have been the foundation of Milton's "Paradise Lost." Andreini was but one of the common throng of dramatic writers, and it has been fiercely contended by some, that it is impossible that the idea of so sublime a poem should have been taken from so ordinary a composition as his Adam. His piece was represented at Milan as early as 1613, and so has at least a claim of priority,
Menzini (1646-1708) and Salvator Rosa (1615-1675) were the representatives of the satire of this century; the former distinguished for the purity of his language and the harmony of his verse; the latter for his vivacity and sprightliness.
15. HISTORY AND EPISTOLARY WRITINGS.—The number of historical works in this century is much greater than in that of the preceding, but they are generally far from possessing the same merit or commanding the same interest. The historians seem to have lost all feeling of national dignity; they do not venture to unveil the causes of public events, or to indicate their results. Even those that dared treat of Italy or its provinces, confined themselves to the reigning dynasties, and overlooking the causes which most deeply affected the happiness of the people, described only the festivities, battles, and triumphs of their princes. A large number of historians chose foreign subjects; the history of France was remarkable for the number of Italians who endeavored to relate it in this age. The work of Davila (1576-1630) on "The Civil Wars of France," however, throws all the rest into the shade. What gives to it peculiar value is the carefulness with which the materials were collected, in connection with the opportunities its author enjoyed for gaining information. This history is considered as superior to that of Guicciardini in its matter, as the latter excels it in style. It is wanting in that elegance which characterized the Florentine historians of the sixteenth century. Bentivoglio (1579-1644) was an eminent rival of Davila; he wrote the history of the civil wars of Flanders; a work remarkable for the elegance and correctness of its style. Above all stand the works of Sarpi, who lived between 1552 and 1623, and who defended with great courage the authority of the Senate of Venice against the power of the Popes, notwithstanding their excommunication and continued persecution. His history of the Council of Trent contains a curious account of the intrigues of the Court of Rome at the period of the Reformation.
It was chiefly in the more showy departments of literature that the extravagance of the Marinists was most conspicuous, and the decay of native genius was most apparent. But this genius had turned into other paths, which it pursued with a steady, though less brilliant course. Of all branches of prose composition, the epistolary was the most carefully cultivated. The talent for letter-writing was often the means of considerable emolument, as all the petty princes of Italy and the cardinals of Rome were ambitious of having secretaries who would give them éclat in their correspondence, and these situations, which were steps to higher preferment, were eagerly sought; hence the prodigious number of collections of letters which have at all times inundated Italy—specimens by which those who believed themselves elegant writers endeavored to make known their talent. The letters of Bentivoglio have obtained European celebrity. They are distinguished for elegance of style as well as for the interest of those historical recollections which they transmit; they are considered superior to his history. But of all the letters of this or of the preceding age, none are more rich, more varied, or more pleasing than those of Redi, who threw into this form his discoveries in natural history. The driest subjects, even those of language and grammar, are here treated in an interesting and agreeable manner.
PERIOD THIRD.
THE SECOND REVIVAL OF ITALIAN LITERATURE, AND ITS PRESENT CONDITION (1675-1885).
1. HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE THIRD PERIOD.—At the close of the seventeenth century, a new dawn arose in the history of Italian letters, and the general corruption which had extended to every branch of literature and paralyzed the Italian mind began to be arrested by the appearance of writers of better taste; the affectations of the Marinists and of the so-called Arcadian poets were banished from literature; science was elevated and its dominion extended, the melodrama, comedy, and tragedy recreated, and a new spirit infused into every branch of composition. Amidst the clash of arms and the vicissitudes of long and bloody wars, Italy began to awake from her lethargy to the aspiration for greater and better things, and her intellectual condition soon underwent important changes and improvements. In the eighteenth century, in Naples, Vico transformed history into a new science. Filangeri contended with Montesquieu for the palm of legislative philosophy; and new light was thrown on criminal science by Mario Pagano. In Rome, letters and science flourished under the patronage of Benedict XIV., Clement XIV., and Pius VI., under whose auspices Quirico Visconti undertook his "Pio Clementine Museum" and his "Greek and Roman Iconography," the two greatest archaeological works of all ages. Padua was immortalized by the works of Cesarotti, Belzoni, and Stratico; Venice by Goldoni; Verona by Maffei, the critic and the antiquarian, as well as the first reformer of Italian tragedy. Tuscany took the lead of the intellectual movement of the country under Leopold and his successor Ferdinand, when Florence, Pisa, and Siena again became seats of learning and of poetry and the arts. Maria Theresa and Joseph II. fostered the intellectual progress of Lombardy; Spallanzani published his researches on natural philosophy; Volta discovered the pile which bears his name; a new era in poetry was created by Parinl; another in criminal jurisprudence by Beccaria; history was reconstructed by Muratori; mathematics promoted by Lagrange, and astronomy by Oriani; and Alfieri restored Italian letters to their primitive splendor.
But at the close of the eighteenth century and the beginning of the nineteenth, Italy became the theatre of political and military revolutions, whose influence could not fail to arrest the development of the literature of the country. The galleries, museums, and libraries of Rome, Florence, and other cities suffered from the military occupation, and many of their treasures, manuscripts, and masterpieces of art were carried to Paris by command of Napoleon. The entire peninsula was subject to French influence, which, though beneficial to its material progress, could not fail to be detrimental to national literature. All new works were composed in French, and indifferent or bad translations from the French were widely circulated; the French language was substituted for the Italian, and the national literature seemed about to disappear. But Italian genius was not wholly extinguished; a few writers powerfully opposed this new tendency, and preserved in its purity the language of Dante and Petrarch. Gradually the national spirit revived, and literature was again moulded in accordance with the national character. Notwithstanding the political calamities of which, for some time after the treaty of Vienna in 1815, Italy was continually the victim, the literature of the country awakened and fostered a sentiment of nationality, and Italian independence is at this present moment already achieved.
2. THE MELODRAMA.—The first result of the revival of letters at the close of the seventeenth century was the reform of the theatre. The melodrama, or Italian opera, arose out of the pastoral drama, which it superseded. The astonishing progress of musical science succeeded that of poetry and sculpture, which fell into decline with the decay of literature. Music, rising into excellence and importance at a time when poetry was on the decline, acquired such superiority that verse, instead of being its mistress, became its handmaid. The first occasion of this inversion was in the year 1594, when Rinuccini, a Florentine poet, associated himself with three musicians to compose a mythological drama. This and several other pieces by the same author met with a brilliant reception. Poetry, written only in order to be sung, thus assumed a different character; Rinuiccini abandoned the form of the canzone which had hitherto been used in the lyrical part of the drama, and adopted the Pindaric ode. Many poets followed in the same path; more action was given to the dramatic parts, and greater variety to the music, in which the airs were agreeably blended with the recitative duets; other harmonized pieces were also added, and after the lapse of a century Apostolo Zeno (1669-1750) still further improved the melodrama. But it was the spirit of Metastasio that breathed a soul of fire into this ingenious and happy form created by others.
Metastasio (1698-1782) gave early indications of genius, and when only ten years of age used to collect an audience in his father's shop, by his talent for improvisation. He thus attracted the notice of Gravina, a celebrated patron of letters, who adopted him as his son, changed his somewhat ignoble name of Trepassi to Metastasio, and had him educated in every branch necessary for a literary career. He still continued to improvise verses on any given subject for the amusement of company. His youth, his harmonious voice, and prepossessing appearance, added greatly to the charm of his talent. It was one generally cultivated in Italy at this time, and men of mature years often presented themselves as rivals of the hoy. This occupation becoming injurious to the youth, Gravina forbade him to compose extempore verses any more, and this rule, imposed on him at sixteen, he never afterwards infringed. When Metastasio was in his twentieth year Gravina died, leaving to him his fortune, most of which he squandered in two years. He afterwards went to Naples, where, under a severe master, he devoted himself to the closest study and for two years resisted every solicitation to compose verses. At length, under promise of secrecy, he wrote a drama. All Naples resounded with its praise, and the author was soon discovered. Metastasio from this time followed the career for which nature seemed to have formed him, and devoted himself to the opera, which he considered to be the natural drama of Italy. An invitation to become the court poet of Vienna made his future life both stable and prosperous. On the death of Charles VI., in 1740, several other European sovereigns made advantageous overtures to the poet, but as Maria Theresa was disposed to retain him, he would not leave her in her adverse circumstances. The remainder of his life he passed in Germany, and his latter years were as monotonous as they were prosperous.
Metastasio seized with a daring hand the true spirit of the melodrama, and scorning to confine himself to unity of place, opened a wide field for the display of theatrical variety, on which the charm of the opera so much depends. The language in which he clothed the favorite passion of his drama exhibits all that is delicate and yet ardent, and he develops the most elevated sentiments of loyalty, patriotism, and filial love. The flow of his verse in the recitative is the most pure and harmonious known in any language, and the strophes at the close of each scene are scarcely surpassed by the first masters in lyric poetry. Metastasio is one of the most pleasing, at the same time one of the least difficult of the Italian poets, and the tyro in the study of Italian classics may begin with his works, and at once enjoy the pleasures of poetic harmony at their highest source.
3. COMEDY.—The revolution, so frequently attempted in Italian comedy by men whose genius was unequal to the task, was reserved for Goldoni (1707- 1772) to accomplish. His life, written by himself, presents a picture of Italian manners in their gayest colors. He was a native of Venice, and from his early youth was constantly surrounded by theatrical people. At eight years of age he composed a comedy, and at fourteen he ran away from school with a company of strolling players. He afterwards prepared for the medical, then for the legal profession, and finally, at the age of twenty- seven, he was installed poet to a company of players. He now attempted to introduce the reforms that he had long meditated; he attained a purer style, and became a censor of the manners and a satirist of the follies of his country. His dialogue is extremely animated, earnest, and full of meaning; with a thorough knowledge of national manners, he possessed the rare faculty of representing them in the most life-like manner on the stage. The language used by the inferior characters of his comedies is the Venetian dialect.
In his latter days Goldoni was rivaled by Carlo Gozzi (1722-1806), who parodied his pieces, and, it is thought, was the cause of his retirement, in the decline of life, to Paris. Gozzi introduced a new style of comedy, by reviving the familiar fictions of childhood; he selected and dramatized the most brilliant fairy tales, such as "Blue Beard," "The King of the Genii," etc., and gave them to the public with magnificent decorations and surprising machinery. If his comedies display little resemblance to nature, they at least preserve the kind of probability which is looked for in a fairy tale. Many years elapsed after Goldoni and Gozzi disappeared from the arena before there was any successor to rival their compositions.
Among those who contributed to the perfection of Italian comedy may be mentioned Albergati (fl. 1774), Gherardo de' Rossi (1754-1827), and above all, Nota (d. 1847), who is preeminent among the new race of comic authors; although somewhat cold and didactic, he at least fulfils the important office of holding the mirror up to nature. He exhibits a faithful picture of Italian society, and applies the scourge of satire to its most prevalent faults and follies.
4. TRAGEDY.—The reform of Italian tragedy was early attempted by Martelli (d. 1727) and by Scipione Maffei (1675-1755). But Martelli was only a tame imitator of French models, while Maffei, possessing real talent and feeling, deserved the extended reputation he acquired. His "Merope" is considered as the last and the best specimen of the elder school of Italian tragedy.
The honor of raising tragedy to its highest standard was reserved for Alfieri (1749-1803), whose remarkable personal character exercised a powerful influence over his works. He was possessed of an impetuosity which continually urged him towards some indefinite object, a craving for something more free in politics, more elevated in character, more ardent in love, and more perfect in friendship; of desires for a better state of things, which drove him from one extremity of Europe to another, but without discovering it in the realities of this everyday world. Finally, he turned to the contemplation of a new universe in his own poetical creations, and calmed his agitations by the production of those master- pieces which have secured his immortality. His aim in life, in the pursuit of which he never deviated, was that of founding a new and classic school of tragedy. He proposed to himself the severe simplicity of the Greeks with respect to the plot, while he rejected the pomp of poetry which compensates for interest among the classic writers of antiquity. Energy and conciseness are the distinguishing features of his style; and this, in his earlier dramas, is carried to the extreme. He brings the whole action into one focus; the passion he would exhibit is introduced into the first verse and kept in view to the last. No event, no character, no conversation unconnected with the advancement of the plot is permitted to appear; all confidants and secondary personages are, therefore, excluded, and there seldom appear more than four interlocutors. These tragedies breathe the spirit of patriotism and freedom, and for this, even independently of their intrinsic merit, Alfieri is considered as the reviver of the national character in modern times, as Dante was in the fourteenth century. "Saul" is regarded as his masterpiece; it represents a noble character suffering under those weaknesses which sometimes accompany great virtues, and are governed by the fatality, not of destiny, but of human nature.
Among the earliest and most distinguished of those who followed in the path of Alfieri was Monti (1754-1828). Though endowed with a sublime imagination and exquisite taste, his character was weak and vain, and he, in turn, celebrated every party as it became the successful one. Educated in the school of Dante, he introduced into Italian poetry those bold and severe beauties which adorned its infancy. His "Aristodemus" is one of the most affecting tragedies in Italian literature. The story is founded on the narrative of Pausanias. It is simple in its construction, and its interest is confined almost entirely to the principal personage. In the loftiness of the characters of his tragedies, and the energy of sentiment and simplicity of action which characterize them, we recognize the school of Alfieri, while in harmony and elegance of style and poetical language, Monti is superior.
Another follower of the school of Alfieri is Ugo Foscolo (1778-1827), one of the greatest writers of this age, in whom inspiration was derived from a lofty patriotism. At the time of the French revolution he joined the Italian army, with the object of restoring independence to his country. Disappointed in this hope, he left Italy for England, where he distinguished himself by his writings. The best of his tragedies, "Ricciarda," is founded on events supposed to have occurred in the Middle Ages. While some of its scenes and situations are forced and unnatural, some of the acts are wrought with consummate skill and effect, and the conception of the characters is tragic and original. Foscolo adopts in his tragedies a concise and pregnant style, and displays great mastery over his native language. Marenco (d. 1846) is distinguished for the noble and moral ideas, lofty images, and affections of his tragedies; but he lacks unity of design and vigor of style. Silvio Pellico (1789-1854) was born in Piedmont. As a writer he is best known as the author of "My Prisons," a narrative full of simplicity and resignation, in which he relates his sufferings during ten years in the fortress of Spielberg. His tragedies are good specimens of modern art; they abound in fine thoughts and tender affections, but they lack that liveliness of dialogue and rapidity of action which give reality to the situations, and that knowledge of the human heart and unity and grandeur of conception which are the characteristics of true genius.
Manzoni (1785-1873) and Nicolini (1782-1861) are the last of the modern representatives of the tragic drama of Italy. The tragedies of Manzoni, and especially his "Conte di Carmagnola," and "Adelchi," abound in exquisite beauties. His style is simple and noble, his verse easy and harmonious, and his object elevated. The merits of these tragedies, however, belong rather to parts, and while the reading of them is always interesting, on the stage they fail to awaken the interest of the audience. After Manzoni, Nicolini was the most popular literary man of Italy of his time. Lofty ideas, generous passions, splendor and harmony of poetry, purity of language, variety of characters, and warmth of patriotism, constitute the merit of his tragedies; while his faults consist in a style somewhat too exuberant and lyrical, in ideas sometimes too vague, and characters often too ideal.
5. LYRIC, EPIC, AND DIDACTIC POETRY.—In the latter part of the eighteenth century, a class of poets who called themselves "The Arcadians" attempted to overthrow the artificial and bombastic school of Marini; but their frivolous and insipid productions had little effect on the literature. The first poets who gave a new impulse to letters were Parini and Monti. Parini (1729-1799) was a man of great genius, integrity, and taste; he contributed more than any other writer of his age to the progress of literature and the arts. His lyrical poems abound in noble thoughts, and breathe a pure patriotism and high morality. His style is forcible, chaste, and harmonious. The poems of Monti have much of the fire and elevation of Pindar. Whatever object employs his thoughts, his eyes immediately behold; and, as it stands before him, a flexible and harmonious language is ever at his command to paint it in the brightest colors. His "Basvilliana" is the most celebrated of his lyric poems, and, beyond every other, is remarkable for majesty, nobleness of expression, and richness of coloring.
The poetical writings of Pindemonte (1753-1828) are stamped with the melancholy of his character. Their subjects are taken from contemporary events, and his inspiration is drawn from nature and rural life. His "Sepulchres" breathes the sweetest and most pathetic tenderness, and the brightest hopes of immorality. The poems of Foscolo have the grace and elegance of the Greek poets; but in his "Sepulchres" the gloom of his melancholy imagination throws a funereal light over the nothingness of all things, and the silence of death is unbroken by any voice of hope in a future life. Torti (1774-1852), a pupil of Parini, rivaled his master in the simplicity of style and purity of his images; while Leopardi (1798- 1837) impressed upon his lyric poems the peculiarities of his own character. A sublime poet and a profound scholar, his muse was inspired by a deep sorrow, and his poems pour out a melancholy that is terrible and grand, the most agonizing cry in modern literature uttered with a solemn quietness that elevates and terrifies. The poetry of despair has never had a more powerful voice than his. He is not only the first poet since Dante, but perhaps the most perfect prose writer. Berchet (1790-1851) is considered as the Italian Béranger, and his songs glow with patriotic fire. Those of Silvio Pellico, always sweet and truthful, bear the stamp of a calm resignation, hope, and piety. The list of modern lyric poets closes with Manzoni, whose hymns are models of this style of poetry.
In the epic department the third period does not afford any poems of a high order. But the translation of the Iliad by Monti, that of the Odyssey by Pindemonte, for their purity of language and beauty of style, may be considered as epic additions to Italian literature. "The Longobards of the First Crusade," written by Grossi (1791-1853), excels in beauty and splendor of poetry all the epic poems of this age, though it lacks unity of design and comprehensiveness of thought.
Among the didactic poems may be mentioned the "Invitation of Lesbia," by Mascheroni (1750-1800), a distinguished poet as well as a celebrated mathematician. This poem, which describes the beautiful productions of nature in the Museum of Pavia, is considered a masterpiece of didactic poetry. The "Riseide," or cultivation of rice, by Spolverini (1695-1762), and the "Silkworm," by Betti (1732-1788), are characterized by poetical beauties. The poem on the "Immortality of the Soul," by Filorentino (1742- 1815), though defective in style, is distinguished by its elevation of ideas and sentiments. "The Cultivation of Mountains," by Lorenzi (1732- 1822), is rich in beautiful images and thoughts. "The Cultivation of Olive Trees," by Arici (1782-1836), his "Corals," and other poems, especially in their descriptions, are graceful and attractive. "The Seasons" of Barbieri (1774-1852), though bearing marks of imitation from Pope, is written in a pure and elegant style.
6. HEROIC-COMIC POETRY, SATIRE, AND FABLE.—The period of heroic-comic poetry closes in the eighteenth century. The "Ricciardetto" of Fortiguerri (1674-1735) is the last of the poems of chivalry, and with it terminated the long series of romances founded on the adventures of Charlemagne and his paladins. The "Cicero" of Passeroni (1713-1803) is a rambling composition in a style similar to Sterne's "Tristram Shandy," which, it appears, was suggested by this work.
Satiric poetry, which had flourished in the preceding period, was enriched by new productions in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. G. Gozzi (1713-1789) attacked in his satires the vices and prejudices of his fellow-citizens, in a forcible and elegant style; and Parini, the great satirist of the eighteenth century, founded a school of satire, which proved most beneficial to the country. His poem, "The Day," is distinguished by fine irony and by the severity with which he attacks the effeminate habits of his age. He lashes the affectations and vices of the Milanese aristocracy with a sarcasm worthy of Juvenal. The satires of D'Elei, Guadagnali, and others are characterized by wit and beauty of versification. Those of Leopardi are bitter and contemptuous, while Giusti (1809-1850), the political satirist of his age, scourged the petty tyrants of his country with biting severity and pungent wit; the circulation of his satires throughout Italy, in defiance of its despotic governments, greatly contributed to the revolution of 1848.
In the department of fable may be mentioned Roberti (1719-1786), Passeroni, Pignotti (1739-1812), and Clasio (1754-1825), distinguished for invention, purity, and simplicity of style.
7. ROMANCES.—Though the tales of Boccaccio and the story tellers of the sixteenth century paved the way to the romances of the present time, it was only at a late period that the Italians gave their attention to this kind of composition. In the eighteenth century we find only two specimens of romance, "The Congress of Citera," by Algarotti, of which Voltaire said that it was written with a feather drawn from the wings of love; and the "Roman Nights," by Alexander Verri (1741-1816). In his romance he introduces the shades of celebrated Romans, particularly of Cicero, and an ingenious comparison of ancient and modern institutions is made. The style is picturesque and poetical, though somewhat florid.
This kind of composition has found more favor in the nineteenth century. First among the writers of this age is Manzoni, whose "Betrothed" is a model of romantic literature. The variety, originality, and truthfulness of the characters, the perfect knowledge of the human heart it displays, the simplicity and vivacity of its style, form the principal merits of this work. The "Marco Visconti" of Grossi is distinguished for its pathos and for the purity and elegance of its style.
The "Ettore Fieramosca" of Massimo d'Azeglio is distinguished from the works already spoken of by its martial and national spirit. His "Nicolò de Lapi," though full of beauties, partakes in some degree of the faults common to the French school. After these, the "Margherita Pusterla" of Cantil, the "Luisa Strozzi" of Rosini, the "Lamberto Malatesta" of Rovani, the "Angiola Maria" of Carcano, are the best historical romances of Italian literature. Both in an artistic and moral point of view, they far excel those of Guerrazzi, which represent the French school of George Sand in Italy, and whose "Battle of Benevento," "Isabella Orsini," "Siege of Florence," and "Beatrice Cenci," while they are written in pure language and abound in minor beauties, are exaggerated in their characters, bombastic and declamatory in style, and overloaded in description.
The "Last Letters of Jacopo Ortis," by Foscolo, belongs to that kind of romance which is called sentimental. Overcome by the calamities of his country, with his soul full of fiery passion and sad disappointment, Foscolo wrote this romance, the protest of his heart against evils which he could not heal.
8. HISTORY.—Among the most prominent of the numerous historians of this period, a few only can be named. Muratori (1672-1750), for his vast erudition and profound criticism, has no rivals. He made the most accurate and extensive researches and discoveries relating to the history of Italy from the fifth to the sixteenth century, which he published in twenty- seven folio volumes; the most valuable collection of historical documents which ever appeared in Italy. He wrote, also, a work on "Italian Antiquities," illustrating the history of the Middle Ages through ancient monuments, and the "Annals of Italy," a history of the country from the beginning of the Christian era to his own age. Though its style is somewhat defective, the richness and abundance of its erudition, its clearness, and arrangement, impart to this work great value and interest.
Maffei, already spoken of as the first reformer of Italian tragedy, surpassed Muratori in the purity of his style, and was only second to him in the extent and variety of his erudition. He wrote several works on the antiquities and monuments of Italy.
Bianchini (1662-1729), a celebrated architect and scholar, wrote a "Universal History," which, though not complete, is characterized as a work of great genius. It is founded exclusively on the interpretations of ancient monuments in marble and metal.
Vico (1670-1744), the founder of the philosophy of history, embraced with his comprehensive mind the history of all nations, and from the darkness of centuries he created the science of humanity, which he called "Scienza Nuova." Vico does not propose to illustrate any special historical epoch, but follows the general movement of mankind in the most remote and obscure times, and establishes the rules which must guide us in interpreting ancient historians. By gathering from different epochs, remote from each other, the songs, symbols, monuments, laws, etymologies, and religious and philosophical doctrines,—in a word, the infinite elements which form the life of mankind,—he establishes the unity of human history. The "Scienza Nuova" is one of the great monuments of human genius, and it has inspired many works on the philosophy of history, especially among the Germans, such as those of Hegel, Niebuhr, and others.
Giannone (1676-1748) is the author of a "Civil History of the Kingdom of Naples," a work full of juridical science as well as of historical interest. Having attacked with much violence the encroachments of the Church of Rome on the rights of the state, he became the victim of a persecution which ended in his death in the fortress of Turin. Giannone, in his history, gave the first example in modern times of that intrepidity and courage which belong to the true historian.
Botta (1766-1837) is among the first historians of the present age. He was a physician and a scholar, and devoted to the freedom of his country. He filled important political offices in Piedmont, under the administration of the French government. In 1809 he published, in Paris, his "History of the American Revolution," a work held in high estimation both in this country and in Italy. In the political changes which followed the fall of Napoleon, Botta suffered many pecuniary trials, and was even obliged to sell, by weight, to a druggist, the entire edition of his history, in order to pay for medicines for his sick wife. Meanwhile, he wrote a history of Italy, from 1789 to 1814, which was received with great enthusiasm through Italy, and for which the Academy della Crusca, in 1830, granted to him a pecuniary reward. This was followed by the "History of Italy," in continuation of Guicciardini, from the fall of the Florentine Republic to 1789, a gigantic work, with which he closed his historical career. The histories of Botta are distinguished by clearness of narrative, vividness and beauty of description, by the prominence he gives to the moral aspect of events and characters, and by purity, richness, and variety of style.
Colletta (1775-1831) was born in Naples; under the government of Murat he rose to the rank of general, and fell with his patron. His "History of the Kingdom of Naples," from 1734 to 1825, is modeled after the annals of Tacitus. The style is simple, clear, and concise, the subject is treated without digressions or episodes; it is conceived in a partial spirit, and is a eulogium of the administration of Joachim; but no writer can rival Colletta in his descriptions of strategic movements, of sieges and battles.
Balbo (1789-1853) was born in Turin; during the administration of Napoleon he filled many important political offices, and afterwards entered upon a military career. Devoted to the freedom of his country, he strove to promote the progress of Italian independence. In 1847 he published the "Hopes of Italy," the first political work that had appeared in the peninsula since the restoration of 1814; it was the spark which kindled the movements of 1848. In the events of that and of the succeeding year, he ranked among the most prominent leaders of the national party. His historical works are a "Life of Dante," considered the best on the subject; "Historical Contemplations," in which he developed the history of mankind from a philosophical point of view; and "The Compendium of the History of Italy," which embraces in a synthetic form all the history of the country from the earliest times to 1814. His style is pure, clear, and sometimes eloquent, though often concise and abrupt.
Cantù, a living historian, has written a universal history, in which he attempts the philosophical style. Though vivid in his narratives, descriptions, and details, he is often incorrect in Ms statements, and rash in his judgments; his work, though professing liberal views, is essentially conservative in its tendency. The same faults may be discovered in his more recent "History of the Italians."
Tiraboschi (1731-1794) is the great historian of Italian literature; his work is biographical and critical, and is the most extensive literary history of Italy. His style is simple and elegant, and his criticism profound; but he gives greater prominence to the biographies of writers than to the consideration of their works. This history was continued by Corniani (1742-1813), and afterwards by Ugoni (1784-1855).
9. AESTHETICS, CRITICISM, PHILOLOGY, AND PHILOSOPHY.—Italian literature is comparatively deficient in aesthetics, the science of the beautiful. The treatise of Gioberti on the "Beautiful," the last work which has appeared on this subject, is distinguished for its profound doctrines and brilliant style. Philology and criticism first began to flourish at the close of the seventeenth century, and are well represented at the present time. The revival of letters was greatly promoted by the criticism of Gravina (1664-1718), one of the most celebrated jurisconsults and scholars of his age, who, through his work, "The Poetical Reason," greatly contributed to the reform of taste. Zeno, Maffei, and Muratori also distinguished themselves in the art of criticism, and by their works aided in overthrowing the school of Marini. At a later date, Gaspar Gozzi, through his "Observer," a periodical publication modeled after the "Spectator" of Addison, undertook to correct the literary taste of the country; for its invention, pungent wit, and satire, and the purity and correctness of its style, it is considered one of the best compositions of this kind. Baretti (1716-1789) propagated in England the taste for Italian literature, and at the same time published his "Literary Scourge," a criticism of the ancient and modern writers of Italy. His style, though always pure, is often caustic. He wrote several books in the English language, one of which is in defense of Shakspeare against Voltaire. Cesarotti (1730-1808), though eminent as a critic, introduced into the Italian language some innovations, which contributed to its corruption; while the nice judgment, good taste, and pure style of Parini place him at the head of this department. In the latter part of this period we find, in the criticisms of Monti, vigorous logic and a splendid and attractive style. Foscolo is distinguished for his acumen and pungent wit. The works of Perticari (1779-1822) are written with extreme polish, erudition, judgment, and dignity. In Leopardi, philosophical acumen equals the elegance of his style. Giordani (d. 1848), as a critic and an epigraphist, deserves notice for his fine judgment and pure taste, as do Tommaseo and Cattaneo, who are both epigrammatic, witty, and pungent.
The golden age of philology dates from the time of Lorenzo de' Medici to the seventeenth century. It then declined until the eighteenth, but revived in the works of Maffei, Muratori, Zeno, and others. In the same century this study was greatly promoted by Foscolo, Monti, and Cesari (1760-1828), who, among other philological works, published a new edition of the Dictionary della Crusca, revised and augmented. Of the modern writers on philology, Gherardini, Tommaseo, and Ascoli are the most prominent.
The revival of philosophy in Italy dates from the age of Galileo, when the authority of the Peripatetics was overthrown, and a new method introduced into scientific researches. From that time to the present, this science has been represented by opposite schools, the one characterized by sensualism and the other by rationalism. The experimental method of Galileo paved the way to the first, which holds that experience is the only source of knowledge, a doctrine which gained ground in the seventeenth century, became universally accepted in the eighteenth, through the influence of Locke and Condillac, and continued to prevail during the first part of the nineteenth. Gioja (1767-1829), and Romagnosi (1761-1835) are the greatest representatives of this system, in the last part of this period. But while the former developed sensualism in philosophy and economy, the latter applied it to political science and jurisprudence. The numerous Works of Gioja are distinguished for their practical value and clearness of style, though they lack eloquence and purity; those of Romagnosi are more abstract, and couched in obscure arid often incorrect language, but they are monuments of vast erudition, acute and profound judgment, and powerful dialectics.
Galluppi (1773-1846), though unable to extricate himself entirely from the sensualistic school, attempted the reform of philosophy, which resulted in a movement in Italy similar to that produced by Reid and Dugald Stewart in Scotland.
While sensualism was gaining ground in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, rationalism, having its roots in the Platonic system which had prevailed in the fifteenth and sixteenth, was remodeled under the influence of Descartes, Leibnitz, and Wolf, and opposed to the invading tendencies of its antagonist. From causes to be found in the spirit of the age and the political condition of the country, this system was unable to take the place to which it was entitled, though it succeeded in purifying sensualism from its more dangerous consequences, and infusing into it some of its own elements. But the overthrow of that system was completed only by the works of Rosmini and Gioberti. Rosmini (1795-1855) gave a new impulse to metaphysical researches, and created a new era in the history of Italian philosophy. His numerous works embrace all philosophical knowledge in its unity and universality, founded on a new basis, and developed with deep, broad, and original views. His philosophy, both inductive and deductive, rests on experimental method, reaches the highest problems of ideology and ontology, and infuses new life into all departments of science. This philosophical progress was greatly aided by Gioberti (1801-1851), whose life, however, was more particularly devoted to political pursuits. His work on "The Regeneration of Italy" contains his latest and soundest views on Italian nationality. Another distinguished philosophical and political writer is Mamiani, whose work on "The Rights of Nations" deserves the attention of all students of history and political science. As a statesman, he belongs to the National party, of which Count Cavour (1810-1861), himself an eminent writer on political economy, was the great representative, and to whose commanding influence is to be attributed the rapid progress which the Italian nation was making towards unity and independence at the time of his death.
FROM 1860 TO 1885.
During the last twenty-five years the rapid progress of political events in Italy seems to have absorbed the energies of the people, who have made little advance in literature. For the first time since the fall of the Roman empire the country has become a united kingdom, and in the national adjustment to the new conditions, and in the material and industrial development which has followed, the new literature has not yet, to any great extent, found voice. Yet this period of national formation and consolidation, however, has not been without its poets, among whom a few may be here named. Aleardo Aleardi (d. 1882) is one of the finest poetical geniuses that Italy has produced within the last century, but his writings show the ill effects of a poet sacrificing his art to a political cause, and when the patriot has ceased to declaim the poet ceases to sing. Prati (1815-1884), on the other hand, in his writings exemplifies the evil of a poet refusing to take part in the grand movement of his nation. He severs himself from all present interests and finds his subjects in sources which have no interest for his contemporaries. He has great metrical facility and his lyrics are highly praised. Carducci, like Aleardi, is a poet who has written on political subjects; he belongs to the class of closet democrats. His poems display a remarkable talent for the picturesque, forcible, and epigrammatic. The poems of Zanella are nearly all on scientific subjects connected with human feeling, and entitle him to a distinguished place among the refined poets of his country. A poet of greater promise than those already spoken of is Arnaboldi, who has the endowment requisite to become the first Italian poet of a new school, but who endangers his position by devoting his verse to utilitarian purposes.
The tendency of the younger poets is to realism and to representing its most materialistic features as beautiful. Against this current of the new poetry Alessandro Rizzi, Guerzoni, and others have uttered a strong protest in poetry and prose.
Among historians, Capponi is the author of a history of Florence; Zini has continued Farina's history of Italy; Bartoli, Settembrini, and De Sanctis have written histories of Italian literature; Villari is the author of able works on the life of Machiavelli and of Savonarola, and Berti has written the life of Giordano Bruno. In criticism philosophic, historical, and literary, Fiorentino, De Sanctis, Massarani, and Trezza are distinguished. Barili, Farina, Bersezio, and Giovagnoli are writers of fiction, and Cossa, Ferrari, and Giacosa are the authors of many dramatic works. The charming books of travel by De Amicis are extensively translated and very popular.
FRENCH LITERATURE.
INTRODUCTION.—1. French Literature and its Divisions.—2. The Language.
PERIOD FIRST.—1. The Troubadours.—2. The Trouvères French Literature in
the Fifteenth Century.—4. The Mysteries and Moralities: Charles of
Orleans, Villon, Ville-Hardouin, Joinville, Froissart, Philippe de
Commines.
PERIOD SECOND.—1. The Renaissance and the Reformation: Marguerite de
Valois, Marot, Rabelais, Calvin, Montaigne, Charron and others.—2. Light
Literature: Ronsard Jodelle, Hardy, Malherbe, Scarron, Madame de
Rambouillet, and others.—3. The French Academy.—4. The Drama:
Corneille.—5. Philosophy: Descartes, Pascal; Port Royal.—6. The Rise of
the Golden Age of French Literature: Louis XIV.—7. Tragedy: Racine.—8.
Comedy: Molière.—9. Fables, Satires, Mock-Heroic, and other Poetry: La
Fontaine, Boileau.—10. Eloquence of the Pulpit and of the Bar:
Bourdaloue, Bossuet, Massillon, Fléchier, Le Maître, D'Aguesseau, and
others.—11. Moral Philosophy: Rochefoucault La Bruyère, Nicole.—12.
History and Memoirs: Mézeray, Fleury, Rollin, Brantôme the Duke of Sully,
Cardinal de Retz.—13. Romance and Letter Writing: Fénelon, Madame de
Sévigné.
PERIOD THIRD.—1. The Dawn of Skepticism: Bayle, J. B. Rousseau,
Fontenelle, Lamotte.—2. Progress of Skepticism: Montesquieu, Voltaire.
—3. French Literature during the Revolution: D'Holbach, D'Alembert,
Diderot, J. J. Rousseau, Buffon, Beaumarchais, St. Pierre, and others.—4.
French Literature under the Empire: Madame de Staël, Châteaubriand, Royer-
Collard, Ronald, De Maistre.—5. French Literature from the Age of the
Restoration to the Present Time. History: Thierry, Sismondi, Thiers,
Mignet, Martin, Michelet, and others. Poetry and the Drama; Rise of the
Romantic School: Béranger, Lamartine, Victor Hugo, and others; Les
Parnassiens. Fiction: Hugo, Gautier, Dumas, Mérimée, Balzac, Sand, Sandeau
and others. Criticism: Sainte-Beuve, Taine, and others. Miscellaneous.
INTRODUCTION.
1. FRENCH LITERATURE AND ITS DIVISIONS.—Towards the middle of the fifth century the Franks commenced their invasions of Gaul, which ended in the conquest of the country, and the establishment of the French monarchy under Clovis. The period from Clovis to Charlemagne (487-768) is the most obscure of the Dark Ages. The principal writers, whose names have been preserved, are St. Rémy, the archbishop of Rheims (d. 535), distinguished for his eloquence, and Gregory of Tours (d. 595), whose contemporary history is valuable for the good faith in which it is written, in spite of the ignorance and credulity which it displays. The genius of Charlemagne (r. 768-814) gave a new impulse to learning. By his liberality he attracted the most distinguished scholars to his court, among others Alcuin, from England, whom he chose for his instructor; he established schools of theology and science, and appointed the most learned professors to preside over them. But in the century succeeding his death the country relapsed into barbarism.
In the south of France, Provence early became an independent kingdom, and consolidating its language, laws, and manners, at the close of the eleventh century it gave birth to the literature of the Troubadours; while in the north, the language and literature of the Trouvères, which were the germs of the national literature of France, were not developed until a century later.
In the schools established by Charlemagne for the education of the clergy, the scholastic philosophy originated, which prevailed throughout Europe in the Middle Ages. The most distinguished schoolmen or scholastics in France during this period are Roscellinus (fl. 1092), the originator of the controversy between the Nominalists and Realists, which occupied so prominent a place in the philosophy of the time; Abelard (1079-1142), equally celebrated for his learning, and for his unfortunate love for Héloïse; St. Bernard (1091-1153), one of the most influential ecclesiastics of the Middle Ages; and Thomas Aquinas (1227-1274) and Bonaventure (1221-1274), Italians who taught theology and philosophy at Paris, and who powerfully influenced the intellect of the age.
Beginning with the Middle Ages, the literary history of France may be divided into three periods. The first period extends from 1000 to 1500, and includes the literature of the Troubadours, the Trouvères, and of the fifteenth century.
The second period extends from 1500 to 1700, and includes the revival of the study of classical literature, or the Renaissance, and the golden age of French literature under Louis XIV.
The third period, extending from 1700 to 1885, comprises the age of skepticism introduced into French literature by Voltaire, the Encyclopaedists and others, the Revolutionary era, the literature of the Empire and of the Restoration, of the Second Empire, and of the present time.
2. THE LANGUAGE.—After the conquest of Gaul by Julius Caesar, Latin became the predominant language of the country; but on the overthrow of the Western Empire it was corrupted by the intermixture of elements derived from the northern invaders of the country, and from the general ignorance and barbarism of the times. At length a distinction was drawn between the language of the Gauls who called themselves Romans, and that of the Latin writers; and the Romance language arose from the former, while the Latin was perpetuated by the latter. At the commencement of the second race of monarchs, German was the language of Charlemagne and his court, Latin was the written language, and the Romance, still in a state of barbarism, was the dialect of the people. The subjects of Charlemagne were composed of two different races, the Germans, inhabiting along and beyond the Rhine, and the Wallons, who called themselves Romans. The name of Welsch or Wallons, given them by the Germans, was the same as Galli, which they had received from the Latins, and as Keltai or Celts, which they themselves acknowledged. The language which they spoke was called after them the Romance-Wallon, or rustic Romance, which was at first very much the same throughout France, except that as it extended southward the Latin prevailed, and in the north the German was more perceptible. These differences increased, and the languages rapidly grew more dissimilar. The people of the south called themselves Romans- provençaux, while the northern tribes added to the name of Romans, which they had assumed, that of Wallons, which they had received from the neighboring people. The Provençal was called the Langue d'oc, and the Wallon the Langue d'oui, from the affirmative word in each language, as the Italian was then called the Langue de sí, and the German the Langue de ya.
The invasion of the Normans, in the tenth century, supplied new elements to the Romance Wallon. They adopted it as their language, and stamped upon it the impress of their own genius. It thus became Norman-French. In 1066, William the Conqueror introduced it into England, and enforced its use among his new subjects by rigorous laws; thus the popular French became there the language of the court and of the educated classes, while it was still the vulgar dialect in France.
From the beginning of the twelfth century, the two dialects were known as the Provençal and the French. The former, though much changed, is still the dialect of the common people in Provence, Languedoc, Catalonia, Valencia, Majorca, and Minorca. In the thirteenth century, the northern French dialect gained the ascendency, chiefly in consequence of Paris becoming the centre of refinement and literature for all France. The Langue d'oui was, from its origin, deficient in that rhythm which exists in the Italian and Spanish languages. It was formed rather by an abbreviation than by a harmonious transformation of the Latin, and the metrical character of the language was gradually lost. The French became thus more accustomed to rhetorical measure than to poetical forms, and the language led them rather to eloquence than poetry. Francis I. established a professorship of the French language at Paris, and banished Latin from the public documents and courts of justice. The Academy, established by Cardinal Richelieu (1635), put an end to the arbitrary power of usage, and fixed the standard of pure French, though at the same time it restricted the power of genius over the language. Nothing was approved by the Academy unless it was received at court, and nothing was tolerated by the public that had not been sanctioned by the Academy. The language now acquired the most admirable precision, and thus recommended itself not only as the language of science and diplomacy, but of society, capable of conveying the most discriminating observations on character and manners, and the most delicate expressions of civility which involve no obligation. Hence its adoption as the court language in so many European countries. Among the dictionaries of the French language, that of the Academy holds the first rank.
PERIOD FIRST.
PROVENÇAL AND FRENCH LITERATURES IN THE MIDDLE AGES (1000-1500).
1. THE TROUBADOURS.—When, in the tenth century, the nations of the south of Europe attempted to give consistency to the rude dialects which had been produced by the mixture of the Latin with the northern tongues, the Provencal, or Langue d'oc, was the first to come to perfection. The study of this language became the favorite recreation of the higher classes during the tenth and eleventh centuries, and poetry the elegant occupation of those whose time was not spent in the ruder pastimes of the field. Thousands of poets, who were called troubadours (from trobar, to find or invent), flourished in this new language almost contemporaneously, and spread their reputation from the extremity of Spain to that of Italy. All at once, however, this ephemeral reputation vanished. The voice of the troubadours was silent, the Provençal was abandoned and sank into a mere dialect, and after a brilliant existence of three centuries (950-1250), its productions were ranked among those of the dead languages. The high reputation of the Provençal poets, and the rapid decline of their language, are two phenomena equally striking in the history of human culture. This literature, which gave models to other nations, yet among its crowds of agreeable poems did not produce a single masterpiece destined to immortality, was entirely the offspring of the age, and not of individuals. It reveals to us the sentiments and imagination of modern nations in their infancy; it exhibits what was common to all and pervaded all, and not what genius superior to the age enabled a single individual to accomplish.