of an unsuccessful expedition against Nice; but since become a Renegade. The hermit, though bound by a vow, yet wishes to join the Crusaders; and he, therefore, delegates the Armenian to demand his absolution from Peter the Hermit. The Lombard and his guide then depart, and arrive at the Christian camp under Antioch.

Arvino, on his son's arrival, communicates to him the capture of his sister by the Saracens. This was the same lady who had been in such peril at the mountain pass. Arvino gives the Armenian a sword, to be presented as a mark of his gratitude to the anchorite, (an odd gift, truly, for a hermit,) and the guide departs in search of Peter. Shortly after, there follows a skirmish, in which Gulfiero is on the point of being slain by Saladin, a Saracen chief, when his life is spared by his foe, who, it will presently be seen, has ample reason for this act of generosity.

The fair Giselda, Gulfiero's sister, was, on her capture, placed in the seraglio of Acciano, Lord of Antioch; and there formed a strict friendship with the Sultan's favourite wife Sofia, by birth a Greek, and in faith a Christian. This lady takes the utmost interest in Giselda's fate. She has a handsome son, who has free access to the beautiful captive, and to him she relates the occasion of her pilgrimage to the Holy Land, which was to discharge a vow made by her mother, Vielinda, whose possession had been bitterly disputed by two brothers, Arvino and Pagano. The latter, having been guilty of some flagrant excesses against his brother, went into exile, while the fortunate Arvino gained the hand of Vielinda. Pagano subsequently showed himself desirous of a reconciliation, in which he succeeded, and presented himself at Milan, the native place of the parties. Apparently repenting of his crimes, he was received back with open arms this deportment, however, was merely assumed; for, with the most cold-blooded treachery, he set fire by night to his brother's palace, designing to assassinate him in the tumult. In mistake, however, he killed his father, Folco; and, assisted by many of his accomplices, (among others one Pirro,) carried off Vielinda, Arvino's wife, who then makes a vow to send her daughter to Jerusalem, if she escape, and this, in fact, happened; for Pagano, seized with horror, upon learning that he had assassinated his own father, permitted her at once to go free, and betook himself to flight, no one knew whither.

Saladin, as will easily be supposed, was touched with this account :-Giselda wept: Or che non puó di bella donna il pianto?" The transition from pity to love is natural and rapid. Saladin becomes enamoured, and meets with responsive love; while Giselda learns from her admirer of her brother's safe return to the Croisé camp. A scene,

A scene, unimportant to the progress of the poem, meanwhile takes place at the Bocca delle Prede,' where Peter the Hermit with difficulty prevents a serious scuffle between the sturdy Anchorite and the Prince Tancred. The party, however, next morning, set out together to rejoin the Christian camp. On their arrival, Prince Tancred can scarcely protect Peter the Hermit · from the popular indignation consequent upon his pusillanimous flight.

A truce then existed between the Christians and the besieged, and the Lombard hermit, apprehensive of being recognised, retires to the quarters of Boemondo. But while the Saracens are wandering about in the Christian camp interring their dead, a man in search of the body of his slaughtered son, discovers, in the features of the Lombard anchorite, the parricide Pagano, and this last recognises in the Mussulman his former accomplice Pirro. While the latter relates his adventures, the truce is suddenly broken, and Pirro, who had the command of two towers in Antioch, escapes with difficulty the pursuit of the Crusaders.

Among the Saracen captives of Boemondo, Pagano happens to discover the son of Pirro, whom the father supposed slain. Taking advantage of this incident, a treaty is set on foot by Pagano and Pirro; who, in order to release his son, proposes to betray the towers in his possession, and consequently Antioch, into the hands of Boemondo. This is done accordingly; and Pagano has hardly entered the city before he obtains possession of Giselda's person. While engaged in placing her in safety, he meets a group of women, taken prisoners by the Christians; and among them Giselda recognises Sofia, who is murdered while Pagano is adventuring her rescue.

Giselda is then overtaken by Saladin; and, notwithstanding his ineffectual attempts to re-obtain possession of her person, is conducted to her father's tent by Pagano, who instantly disappears. The father, stung by her attachment to an infidel, overwhelms her with reproaches; when she is prevailed on to fly, by an emissary of Saladin; and after a long and fatiguing journey, the lovers arrive on the Lebanon.

Meanwhile, the Persians happen to reduce the Christians in Antioch to extremity. A Provençal priest declares that he has discovered in a dream the spot where lies buried the identical spear which pierced our Saviour's side; and a spear is actually found. The Christians, now confident of victory, attack and rout their enemies. Boemondo, with the Lombards and the Count of Thoulouse, besiege and take Marra; and Pirro, who serves Boemondo, is recognised by Arvino, and a duel ensues, in which the latter is worsted, though his discomfiture is attributed

buted to witchcraft. Gulfiero hears that Pagano has appeared in the Christian camp, and determines to have an encounter with the parricide. This latter person is, however, in search of Giselda, whom he discovers in a cavern, weeping over the wounded and dead Saladin. Pagano consoles her, inters the body, and leads her towards the Christian camp, which now lies under Jerusalem. The soldiers of the Crusaders, meanwhile, had grown weary of the continual dissensions of their chiefs: during which, the Provençal, who had foretold the discovery of the lance, underwent the ordeal of fire. He died a few days after; though it was doubted whether by fire, or owing to the excessive veneration of the people, who threw themselves upon him in extasy, after seeing him issue uninjured from the flames.

The joy of the Crusaders, however, on beholding the Sacred City, was soon calmed by the pressure of physical wants, more particularly that of water.

It is, when reduced to these extremities, (fully described by our poet,) that Pagano and Giselda arrive at the camp. The lady suffers most dreadfully under the deprivation; and, notwithstanding the periodical influx of the Siloe, Gulfiero, the brother sees her only in time to witness her miserable death. But Gulfiero had already recognised, in Pagano, the Hermit of the Bocca delle Prede.' A squire of Arvino, however, communicates the fact, that the assassin Pagano was actually in the camp, when the young soldier swears revenge; and the sudden disappearance of the hermit, with other circumstances, sufficiently identifies him in Gulfiero's mind with Folco's murderer.

The City of Jerusalem is closely besieged; the engines of war are in readiness, and all is prepared for the grand assault. It is reported, that a Genoese fleet, chased by that of the Egyptians, had arrived at Joppa; and that having burnt their vessels, the crews, together with the pilgrim passengers, were coming to Jerusalem. Vielinda, on their arrival, is found among the number. On the eve of the assault, public prayers are made, all animosities and jealousies reconciled, and the Crusaders embrace like brethren. Pagano falls at the feet of Arvino, to whom, as well as to Vielinda, he is fully reconciled. Upon the ensuing day the assault of Jerusalem takes place; and here Pagano is mortally wounded as he ascends the walls. The Christians put to death all who fall into their hands. Among the dead is found the body of the renegade Reginaldo. Godfrey is elected King of Jerusalem. Subsequently, an Egyptian army, marching, at first, with the intention of raising the siege of Jerusalem, and now to reconquer it, is met by the Crusaders, and defeated. Gulfiero and Arvino, who are engaged in this battle, (not here described)

then

then return to Jerusalem, where they had left the wounded Pagano. They find him attended by Peter the Hermit and Vielinda, and at the point of death. He dies at last, and Arvino, Vielinda, Gulfiero, and many others, take their departure from the Holy Land, for their own country, accompanied, in capacity of Squire, by that same Armenian, who had before served as Gulfiero's guide to the Christian camp.

Signor Grossi, certainly one of the best Italian living poets, is a follower of the Romantic school, and a native of Milan, which may be called the high school of the sect. In the 82d num

ber of the Journal Il Conciliatore,' there published, and the great vehicle for the opinions of this class, is the following observation, 'That the plan of the Jerusalem Delivered is not such as a poet should select in our times.' Signor Grossi, accordingly, has fashioned his labours by the advice of the Milanese critic.

As we gather from the title, Sig. Grossi's object was not to celebrate the first crusade, but the exploits of the Lombards. It is known, however, that the Lombards, as a nation, took no part in the first Crusade. After the taking of Jerusalem, they entered the Holy Land under the conduct of their Archbishop and other chiefs, but they experienced a dreadful overthrow. Fulcherius Carnosensis makes mention of all the nations who were at the first Crusade, but says nothing of the Lombards.* Some individuals, indeed, are obliquely alluded to as followers of Boemondo and Tancred. One Pagano is among these, though only as an attendant, and a coward. Arvino di Ro is not spoken of by any historian; only Corio relates a tale about a Giovanni di Ro, but in so ridiculous a view as to excite laughter and compassion.

To us it appears ill judged to have selected as heroes of the poem, characters wholly unknown, or recorded only as attendants and poltroons. This is still worse, if we consider that the names of the principal heroes of the cross are so well known to us, more especially since the poem of Tasso, that to attempt to obliterate them in favour of others is much the same as if we were to describe the Siege of Troy without alluding to Achilles and Agamemnon, or only to represent them as surpassed in valour by one of their slaves. Sig. Grossi, therefore, does not quite observe his promise to celebrate the Lombards, because he mentions only the Milanese, and his real argument is the Milanese at the first Crusade.

By his servile adherence, on one part, to history, and by his

desire

'Franci, Flandri, Frisi, Galli, Britoni, Allobroges, Lotharingi, Allemanni, Baiorarii, Normanni, Scoti, Anglici, Acquitani, Itali, Apuli, Yberi, Daci, Græci, Armeni.' -Fulch. Carno. Gesta Pereg. Franc. c. 5.

That Signor Grossi must have bestowed much attention upon the history of the

desire on the other to celebrate his nameless Milanese, Sig. Grossi has composed a poem which may be distinctly divided into two different portions. The Milanese, or rather their heads, Arvino, Giselda, and with her Saladin, Gulfiero, and Pagano, form one division; and the expedition of the whole Christian army against the Saracens is another. The war itself would proceed with equal vigour, without the intervention of Pagano, Arvino, and Giselda. Nor does the capture of the cities of Antioch and Jerusalem, along with the most famous exploits of the Crusaders, at all concern the quarrels and the reconciliations of Pagano and Arvino, any more than the fate of Giselda. In short, if we fairly divide the stanzas belonging to one part from those belonging to the other, we should have, in the former, a chronicle in verse of the first Crusade; and in the latter, the life and death of Pagano, Saladin, and Giselda, with the lamentations and the return of Arvino, Vielinda, and Gulfiero.

Among all the characters there is not one in which we can feel the slightest interest, and the noble art of making the greatest exploits dependent upon the presence of a few individuals is wholly neglected. Arvino, Gulfiero, and Pagano never distinguish themselves but this is nothing; the worst is, that the glory of those great men, Godfrey, Tancred, Baldwin, Boemondo, and Raimond, is thrown into shade. Tancred, perhaps the bravest of all the Crusaders, is represented as having been nearly thrown from a precipice by Pagano, mentioned by historians as a mere poltroon. In Cant. 10, st. 60, of Sig. Grossi's poem, there occurs a quarrel between this hero, described in history as an attendant, and Raimondo, the most powerful among the Crusade Princes. Pagano draws his sword, and Peter the Hermit, a diminutive personage who made so inglorious an escape from Antioch, interferes, and deals Pagano a blow with his fist upon his sword arm, and this latter personage lets fall his weapon. How is this credible in a man who is represented by the poet as more powerful than Tancred himself? Here we may observe that if this ridiculous circumstance is made truly exquisite in Ariosto, from whom it is evidently borrowed, as applied to the incidents and personages,* it is a mere piece of buffoonery in the hands of Grossi.

first Crusade is evident, for he has not scrupled to put into verse the most ridiculous and incredible circumstances, rendering word for word the old historians of that expedition. Yet he has subsequently departed from truth in speaking of numerous facts and personages. At the very outset, for example, we meet with these two lines:

6

Capri vedi e monton, maiàli e cani,

D'Armi, di scudi, e di bagaglia onusti!'-c. 1. p. 7. This is surely neither probable nor poetical; but it is enough for Signor Grossi that an old historian mentions the fact, and he never once stops to reflect that the writer is unworthy of credit. There are many specimens of the same kind.

Örland. Fur., c. xxvii. st. 63.