leti, he applied himself with unrémitting affiduity to recover the time which he had loft. He was now twenty, and previous to a perufal of the Greek writers, he determined to make himself a perfect mafter of the Latin tongue. But in the midft of his literary purfuits, his mafter was fent into France, with the grandfon of Alphonfo of Naples, where he foon after died, to the inexpreffible grief of Ariofto. This lofs, however, was not the only misfortune by which his ftudies were impeded. His father Nicolo was carried off, about the fame time, and left a large family to the care of Ludovico. He has defcribed his fituation in his fixth fatire: Mi more il padre e da Maria il pensiero, &c. Each fifter claim'd by turns my guardian hand, band; While piety and love my heart engage, He was thus plunged into a fea of troubles. The defign of profecuting the Greek language was neceffarily relinquifhed, and the Latin almott abandoned. His friend Pandolfo for fome time ftimulated him to the continuance of his ftudies, but death deprived him alfo of this companion. All thefe difappointments could not damp the vigour of his genius. His vein for poetry defied all obftruction, and at the age of twenty-nine, his Lain verfes had acquired him uncommon reputation. His company and converfation were now eagerly fought by the learned, and Cardinal Hippolito of Efte, invited him to his court, and entertained him for fifteen years in his fervice. As his mind was now freed from the load of care which had depreffed it, be turned his thoughts again to verfe, and difplayed fuch a happy verfatility of genius, that, in whatever fpecies of poetry he wrote, as his Italian biographer obferves, that appeared to have been his particular ftudy. As no author had written a poem of the romance kind, with that dignity which the fubject feemed to demand, he formed a plan of fuch a compofition, at about thirty years of age, which he communicated to Cardinal Bembo. He was now advised to write in Latin; but he replied, that he would rather be the first among the Tufcan writers, than the laft among the Romans. At the fame time, he produced fome stanzas of his Orlando, which changed the opinion of his friend, who gave him fuch encouragement, that he determined to profecute his plan with vigour. The ftory which Boyardo had begun, as it was well known, he determined to finish. He, therefore, retired to the villa of a relation, near Rheggio, in order to purfue his ftudies without interruption. He has given an agreeable fketch of his retreat, in his fourth fatire. But his literary employments were again interrupted. He was fent on an embaffy to Pope Julius H. by the Duke of Ferrara, and acquitted himfelf very honourably in his commiflion; and at the battle of Ravenna, in which the Duke's party conquered, our poet took one of the largest of the enemy's veffels, filled with ftores and aminunition. Ludovico was then fent a fecond time to the Pope, but fo incenfed was his holiness against the duke, that Ariofto with difficulty efcaped alive to Ferrara. When these tumults had fubfided, Ludovico returned to his retirement, and after many interruptions, occafioned by his continuing in the cardinal's fervice, he fent his Orlando into the world in 1515. But the prelate's favour did not continue much longer. For on his declining to accompany him into Hungary, on account of his health, he loft his patron's protection. On which account, he retired from the bustle of a court, and publifhed a new edition of his poem, in 1521, with corrections. At the death of the Cardinal, he had refolved to take a final leave of public life, but was appointed, a few years after, to the government of Grafagnana, a province on the Apennines, in which the people were very licentious, and almoft without law or rule. By By prudence, and proper exertions of authority, he reduced them to their duty; and by his conduct during this period of his power he gained the aftection of his fubjects, and the approbation of his fovereign. He again returned to court, at the expiration of his government, and for the amufement of the Duke wrote feveral tragedies. His fervice was more agreeable now, than it had been while he lived with Hippolito, and as his imagination and fancy were again at liberty, he published fome fatires. A law-fuit, however, involved him in new difficulties, and for fome time he was obliged to lay afide his compofitions. But when his affairs were fettled, he purchased a small piece of ground, oppofite the church of St. Benedict, on which he built a house, and laid out a garden. On this fpot, he fpent the remainder of his life in retirement, as much as poffible fecluded from public employments, and devoted his hours to poetical meditation. He was feifed about the end of the year 1532, in the 59th year of his age; of a lingering illness, not long after he had committed his Orlando Furiofo to the prefs, in the improved ftate in which we now have it. In defiance of medical affiftance, as, indeed, the remedies applied brought on a confumption, he expired at Ferrara, on the 6th of June, or as other writers fay, on the 8th of July, 1533. Thus died Ludovico Ariofto, a man of uncommon reputation, whether we confider him as a public character, or as a poet. In the former point of view, we find him beloved by Leo X. and in the clofeft friendship with the family of Medicis. In the latter, he appears to be one of thofe rare geniufes, who have obtained the zenith of reputation, during their life-time, while their works have preferved an equal reputation, when the judgement of contemporary critics has been fanctified by fucceeding ⚫ generations, when perfonal attachments have loft their influence, and the early decifions of public tafte have been coolly examined by mankind. After this fhort life of the greatest of the modern Italian poets, it will undoubtedly be expected that fome account fhould be given of his manners, his perfon, and his modes of life. There is a curiofity, inherent in human nature, which urges us to enquire into the minuteft particulars that refpect men of eminence.-And furely this curiofity cannot but be deemed laudable, when we confider that these characters should be viewed as objects worthy of imita tion, as they raised themselves by their talents to pofts of dignity, or extended their reputations in the eyes of their contemporaries, or delivered their names pure, and unfullied by the breath of difhonour, to enjoy the united love and admiration of pofterity. Ariofto then was modeft and affable in his conversation, as we are told that our great countryman, Dryden, was, and by his behaviour he feemed almoft unconfcious of his fuperiority. In argument, he was clofe and correct: in general converfation, quick and agreeable. He feldom laughed; but though his temper was rather of a melancholy caft, his difpofitions were far from fullen or morofe. He was fond of female fociety, and was always obferved to be moft lively in the company of women. He difliked ceremony, but refpected power and rank, with the exacteft propriety. He fcorned all dignities which could only be acquired by fervitude. Of his country he was a fincere lover. To his prince he was loyal, and in his friendships fteady. Towards the evening he ufually made his fingle meal; and as he was rather a defpifer of luxury, his table was neither remarkable for variety of dishes, nor curious for delicacies. In one of his fatires, he fays, I little heed what plenteous wealth affords, Where coftly dainties pile luxurious boards: Well had I lived, when man, to hardship bred In early times, on fimple acorns fed. While he was compofing his Orlando, he would frequently rife, in the middle of the night, a cuftom which Mr. Pope likewife obferved. Whatever then oc curred, he committed to paper, and in the morning communicated to his friends. His integrity was incorruptible, and F fo fo well known, that an old man, who was afraid of being poifoned on account of his great wealth, trufted himfelf without hefitation in the hands of Ariofto. As a fon and a brother, his conduct towards his family, which we have already related, is fufficient to establish his character. His fondness for building was remarkable; and when one of his friends expreffed his aftonishment that he could be contented with fo fmall a houfe, when he had defcribed fuch wonderful edifices in his poem, he told him that it was much easier to put words together than bricks, and then led him to the portico of his houfe, where he fhewed him thefe lines, which had been engraved, by his direction, over the door: Parva, fed apta mihi, fed nulli obnoxia, fed non He was naturally timid, and efpecially on the water, although he difcovered great perfonal bravery, in an engagement between the Pope's and Duke's veffels. He was never fatisfied with his verfes, but continually altered them. He was fond of gardening and planting, though quite ignorant of botany. His favourite authors were Virgil, Tibullus, and Horace. Propertius he did not admire. He was of an amorous conftitution, and very fufceptible of the powers of beauty. Geneura, however, is the only name which he has recorded in his fonnets and to that indeed he only alludes. His perfon was rather above the common fize. His countenance grave, and contemplative. From Titian's admirable picture of this delightful poet, he appears to have been partly bald, to have had black curling hair, a high forehead, arched eye-brows, a large aquiline nofe, and a complexion rather inclining to the olive. He is reported to have met his dif folution with great compofure, and, indeed, feemed impatient to leave this world, as he was ftrongly impressed with the most pleafing of all ideas, that in another ftate he fhould know all the friends whom he had loft during his life-time. He was interred in the church of St. Benedict, under a plain monument, which was afterwards enriched with feveral Greek, Latin, and Tufcan infcriptions. T. T. AN ACCOUNT OF THE BURIAL PLACE OF THE FAMILY OF THE SCIPIOS. Me quidem - - - non tam operibus magnificis, exquifitisque antiquorum artibus dele&ant, quam recordatione fummorum virorum ubi quifque habitare, ubi federe, ubi difputare fit folitus: ftudiofeque eorum etiam fepulcra contemplar. IT has long been a question among Τ the learned, in what part of the Via Appia, was fituated the fepulchre of the family of the Scipios. This difpute has been conducted, and indeed has terminated in a fimilar manner to that relative to the fituation of the ancient Herculaneum. While fome authors placed it upon Mount Vefuvius, others placed it at the edge of the fea fhore, at Refina; others again, at Torre del Greco; others at Torre dell' Annunciata, &c. &c. but not one, that I ever Cic. de Leg. Lib. 2. read, had the leaft idea of its true fituation, at Portici, and where it was actually difcovered fome years fince. About the year 1616, a Romaneafant working in his vineyard, which was fituated about a quarter of a mile within the Porta Caffina, now called San Sebastiano, difcovered a tomb-ftone with the following infcription: Hone. sing. ploirume. confentient. R. Hec. Cepit. Corfica. Aleriaque. Urbe. Deder. Tempeftatibus. Aide. Mereto®. This discovery, it naturally was imagined, would finish the conteft; and it did for fome time; till the learned Marchefe Maffei, of Verona, in his book, intitled De Arte critica Lapidaria, endeavoured to prove, that the ftone in queftion, muff have been brought here by fome vine-dreffer, &c. to build or repair his little cottage; and that the fepulchre of the Scipios lay on the ether jide of the Via Appia; and, as a further proof, he or fome other of that time, brought the following quotation from Cicero's firft Tufculan difputation:-" an tu egreffus Porta Capena cun Catalini, Scipionum. Serviliorum, Metellorum, fepulchra vides, miferos putas illas" and from hence obferved, that although he (Maffei) might be mistaken as to the exact fpot; yet from Cicero it was evident, that it must have been avithout the Porta Capena; and therefore, not where the old infcription was found: befides, it is added, that the cuftom of the ancient Romans was, never to bury any one within the walls of the city, and even the bodies of their emperors were burned in the Campus Martius. To this opinion all the learned have fince acceded: but a late difcovery in Rome has again thrown them all into confufion; and they are now forced to acknowledge, in oppofition to Maffei, that the fpot where the ftone was found in 1616, is the family tomb of the Scipios. It came to light in the following manner:- A vineyard dreffer having occafion to enlarge his little wine cellar (which, with his cottage, is built on the fcite where the above-mentioned infcription was found, in 1616) in digging, came to a wall, which he broke through, and found a fmall chamber, in which was placed an earthen jar, made of baked earth, with two handles, containing cinders, afhes, &c. and clofe to it the following, engraved on Tiburtine stone: L. Corneli. L. F. P. Regem Antioco M The walls are compofed of alternate layers of brick and tile, and appear as fresh as if but just finished; if my memory does not fail me, this room may be about 20 feet below the furface of the vineyard, perhaps more. Befides this of Scipio Afiaticus, in a little chamber adjoining was found the following infcription: Quei. Apice. Infigne. Dial, Aminis. Gefiftci, In the fame place were alfo found feveral human bones; and as, from the teftimony of Livy (4. decal.) and of Cicero (Orat. pro Arch.) it appears that the old Calabrian bard Ennius, was inthe Cornelian family, to which indeed may be added, as a further proof, thefe lines of Ovid, terred among As the learned reader may not be displeased with a claffical interpretation of this piece of antiquity, he is prefented with the following: Hunc. unum. plurimi. confentiunt. Romæ. Lucium. Scipionem Filius. Barbati. Conful. Cenfor. ædilis, bic. fuit. Hic. cepit. Corficam. Aleriamque, urbem. Dedit. Tempeftibus ædem, mérito, pede his flight to either Paradife or Parnaffus. Quintilian's opinion of him, I cannot pafs over, as it will, in fome measure extenuate my feeming idolitary for this Latin Homer, as St. Jerome calls him: "Ennium ficut facros vetuftate Lucos adoremus, in quibus grandia et antiqua Robora jam non tantam habent Speciem, quantam religionem." The grand objection brought in the beginning of the laft century to the true fituation of the Cornelian vault, was, I obferved, its being within the walls, in flat contradiction to Cicero, who told us it was without; and alfo to the known cuftom of the ancient Romans, who never buried any one within the city: to answer thefe objections, it will be neceifary that I give a fhort account of the walls of Rome, from Romulus to Marcus Aurelius. Romulus, who is faid to have laid the first foundation of Rome, built a fquare wall round the Palatine Hill: this is plain from a verfe of Ennius: Et quis extiterit Romæ regnare quadrata? and Dionyfius (lib. 2.) exprefsly tells us it was fo formed. Romulus being forced to admit Tatius, the Sabine, to a fhare of the government, the latter added the Capitoline hill to the new city. Numa, who lived, as Solinus fays, "In colle primum quirinale, deinde propter adem vefte," extended the walls round the Quirinal hill. Tullius Hoftilius took in the Coelian, and gave it to the Albans, whom he conquered and brought to Rome. Ancus Martius add ed the Aventine and Janiculum, which latter he joined to Rome by a bridge, called at this day by the Italians Ponte Sifto. The Elder Tarquin rebuilt the walls with large fquare ftones, part of which remains at this time. Servius Tullius, from the great increase of inhabitants, extended the walls round the Viminal and Efquiline hills; in this fate the walls remained until Marcus Aurelius came, who, according to Vopifcus, furrounded the city with a new wall of fifty miles in circumference: this was done about the year of Chrift 170. Hence then it is evident, that the boundary of Rome, during Cicero's time, and near two centuries after, was that built by Servius Tullius; and his wall ran (as the old foundation has been traced) almoft in a ftraight line from the prefent gate of St. Paul, over the Aventine hill, to the Porta Maggiore, throwing out the two roads which now branch to the Latin gate, that of Saint Sebaftian, and paffes within the Granite column, which ftands oppofite to a fmall convent fituated a little above, where the roads divide. On that branch which leads to the latter gate, and is part of the old Via Appia, was difcovered the vault in queftion; it is about a quarter of a mile from the old fcite of Servius's wall, and, therefore, perfectly without the walls, as Cicero defcribed it. Notwithstanding the affertion of Afconius, the fcholiaft, I do not believe that Scipio Africanus was interred in this vault, or indeed in any other near Rome; becaufe, according to Seneca (Epift. 86.) he died in a voluntary exile at Liternum, near Cuma; and Aurelius Victor in his life, tells us, "Mariens petiit ab uxore ne corpus fuum Romam deferretur;" and indeed on his tomb was this line, "Ingrata patria, nec offa mea habebis." This monument existed till, I believe, the 15th century, when the people of Naples converted it into a watch tower: and patria being the only word vifible on it, it was called Torre del patria, which name it now retains. The objection brought, that the Romans never buried their dead within their walls, I readily grant: nor was that peculiar to them, the Grecians and Trojans did the fame; except indeed the founders of cities, as Felops, in Elis (Pindar. Ol. 1.) Thefeus, in Athens (Plutarch) and Semele in Thebes (Euripid. Bacc. ver. 6.) but this objection is intirely anfwered by the proofs given, that the walls of Rome in Cicero's time, were of lefs extent than they are at prefent, Barum. Devon. VIATOR, GENEROUS |