ness somewhat constrained, while his amiable sister displayed all the winning graces of gaiety. Donna Carolina was about eighteen; the vermilion which glowed on her countenance, her full black eyes sparkling with vivacity, the playful smile which accompanied every word she uttered, and her dark and lustrous hair, which waved in ringlets to her waist, gave her the appearance of another Hebe. Beauty so perfectly enchanting had never before met my view; but I felt that my heart was free even in the presence of the beautiful Caroline, I was even unjust enough to think her too unaffected, too sprightly. When I first saw her, she appeared to me a melancholy, dejected, unfortunate creature, and I enjoyed the idea that I was the happy man destined to dry her tears. Had I discovered her to be the being which my romantic imagination had pictured, love might, perhaps but, alas! Caroline was not an enthusiast like me; she laughed and chatted, in spite of the silence which nature observed around us, as if it had been midday. Her brother interested me much more. Don Giovanni, in the flower of his age, appeared to sink under the weight of a secret grief: the paleness of his countenance, the melancholy expression of his dark blue eyes, his slow and doubtful step, excited my sympathy in an uncommon degree. His sister reproached him every now and then for his inattention, but with so much gentleness and caution, that it was easy to perceive that she was fearful of alarming his sensibility. At the conclusion of the repast, he requested I would excuse his absence for a few moments. When he had left us, Caroline asked me, whether I was not surprized, "that, in the peaceable mansion of Don Giovanni, the night should be thus turned as it were into day? As soon as our supper," continued she, without giving me time to reply to her question," has refreshed us after our first walk, we take another, which sometimes lasts till sun-rise. This departure from ordinary custom is the only consolation my brother will now allow himself." I expressed the most earnest desire to be made acquainted with his history, and to be permitted to share in the sorrows of the unhappy Giovanni. She seemed affected by the warmth of my manner; and, after a few moments' silence, proceeded as follows:+ [To be concluded in our next.] THE COLLECTOR. No. IV. Collatis undique membris.-HOR. JOHN LOUIS DE FIESCA, 9 A wealthy, powerful, and ambitious nobleman of Genoa, which may be called the land of experiment, as there is scarcely any form of government, which it has not tried. After emerging from the yoke of the Romans, the Lombards and Charlemagne, it has, at different times, been governed by dukes and by counts, by consuls, podestats, captains of the people, councils of twelve and of twenty-four, and by doges; but, in spite of every precaution, has alternately experienced the evils of family cabal, aristocratic usurpation, and popular insurrection. Andrew Doria, a name still mentioned in Genoa with reverence, seemed at length sent by Heaven, to rescue his country from foreign interference and domestic dissention. It was during this short interval of repose, (1547) that the subject of our present article, endea voured to interrupt it; assisted by the intrigues of France, and of Alexander Farnese, who then governed Rome and the church, as Pope Paul the third. Most conspiracies have originated from the grievances of an oppressed people, or the ruined fortunes of bold bad men, and desperate individuals, who, uniting and fermenting, in the leaven of dishonesty and discontent, every spirit as restless and wicked as themselves, resolve, at every risk, to degrade all that is powerful, and plunder all who are rich. But, at the moment of that insurrection, which I propose to give a short account of, Genoa possessed more real freedom, happiness, and peace, than it had enjoyed for several centuries; and Fiesca united, in an extraordinary degree, the precious gifts of fortune, fame, per son, and understanding. In the prime of life, for he had scarcely reached his twenty-second year, blest with the affections of a wife whom he tenderly loved, the beautiful, virtuous, and VOL. III. B tender Eleanora; and enjoying the friendship of his fellow-citizens, he was stimulated by ambition to aim at supreme power. To effect this purpose, he joined an ardour which no obstacle could resist, with a deep policy and premeditating coolness, which baffled, or did not excite, suspicion. Having secured men, arms, and gallies, and distributed corn and money, under the pretence of a charitable donation, he embraced every opportunity of displaying himself to the people in splendid attire, and mounted on horses richly caparisoned; gaining the affections of all, by gentle manners and graceful familiarity. On these occasions, as he conversed with the citizens, he would sometimes lament the pride and oppressive conduct of the nobles, venture to hint that a remedy was not impossible; but, after a short pause, recommend patience and submission: he secured the attachment of the vain, the idle, the dissipated, the necessitous, and the discontented, in all stages of society a numerous class, by gratifying present want, and exciting future hope. Fiesca continued to visit, as usual, the two Dorias, Andrew and Jeannetin, treating them on all occasions with marked respect and attention. To prevent any suspicion being excited by exercising his vassals at his country seat, he complained that he had been insulted by the Duke of Placentia, when, in fact, that prince had promised to assist him with two thousand men, and he was able to muster the same number himself; at the port, and on board the gallies, he had also many dependants. To account for several of his armed gallies entering the harbour, he proposed cruising against the Turks. The fatal, the guilty secret, had, as yet, been fully communicated to three persons only, Calcagno, Sacco, and Verrina, three of his most confidential friends, in this unwarrantable proceeding; the two first deliberate, cautious, but determined; the last, haughty, furious, and bloody-minded; each of them considering the plot. in which they were engaged, as a means of gratifying envy and private revenge, more than the probability of its success; but all devoted to their leader by strong personal attachment and considerable pecuniary obligation. After many consultations, the conspirators considered the means they possessed as fully adequate to the object in view, and determined, if possible, to dispatch the two Dorias without further delay; as the vigilance, abilities, and patriotism of this family, were the chief obstacle to their designs. For this purpose, they were invited to a public enterment at the Fiesca palace: thus, a man of rank, education, and considerable moral rectitude, who, a few months before, would have started at injuring a fellow creature in the slightest degree, was stimulated, by a thirst for power, to stain his threshold with the blood of the venerable father of his country, and under the guise of hospitality, to commit assassination, Quid non mortalia pectora cogis A sudden illness of Andrew, prevented the execution of this part of their plan. Fiesca thought it necessary to discover the conspiracy to Paul Pansa, the friend and tutor of his youth, respectable for his age, his learning, and integrity, hoping that he would join and assist their counsels. Pansa replied, that from the alteration in his looks, manners, and mode of speaking, and from his associating with persons of inferior rank and doubtful reputation, he had long suspected that a dangerous enterprize was in agitation: that he had forborne, from delicacy, friendship, and respect to enter on the subject; but, although he would not betray, he could not participate in the undertaking. The good old man conjured him, by the honors of his house, by his friendship, by his belief in that holy religion, whose maxims it had been the business of his life to inculcate and impress on his mind; by those locks which were grey in the service of his family, and lastly, by his love for Eleanora! not to throw away the real and certain happiness he possessed, for chimerical and hazardous expectations; which, if they succeeded, could not elevate him to a situation more splendid, honorable, and happy, than that in which he was already placed; but, if they failed, would be productive of death, ignominy, and confiscation to all concerned. That, to many of his associates, bankrupts in fame as well as fortune, and looking only to what they could get in a general plunder, massacre, and confusion, such considerations were useless; but, that men like himself and a few others, elevated in rank and wealth, who had some thing to lose, would do well coolly to weigh the conse quences and hazard of so momentous and irretrievable a step neither argument nor intreaty could prevail on Fiesca, and the worthy veteran departed from his palace in tears. The evening of the next day was fixed for executing their purpose, and a cannon fired in the harbour, by Verrina, was to be the signal that he was ready to cooperate. An entertainment having been announced, many guests repaired to the palace, which they found crowded with strangers and armed soldiers; and the persons invited, being conducted to a spacious saloon in a remote part of the building, found the leader and principal conspirators assembled, when Fiesca thus addressed them : "The hour at length approaches, when you have it in your power to relieve Genoa from the yoke of a tyrannic and haughty nobility; in less than an hour, our portion will be honorable death, or the recovery and establishment of our freedom on a 'glorious and eternal basis ;— this is the feast to which I have invited you. "The younger Doria has, for several years, been endeavouring to secure to himself and family, absolute power; in order more completely to deceive, and that your chains may be indissolubly rivetted, he would establish despotism under the form of a republic; considering me as one determined to oppose his designs, he has resolved to assassinate me; but I have hitherto been preserved by Providence from his stiletto, for the purpose of restoring you to liberty. "You are grievously oppressed by arrogant taskmasters, whose pride and hardness of heart will increase, should the Doria family succeed in their wishes. "If we succeed in the undertaking to which you are called, I will immediately restore the popular government; so well planned are our precautions, and so effectual the means we have taken, that success and an easy victory may be pronounced as certain. "The city guards and artificers are wholly devoted to my will; their number is nearly three thousand; these, with two thousand of my own vassals, and the same number from the Duke of Placentia, wait only for my orders. "Our designs are a profound secret, the enemy is off his guard; the danger, the difficulty, the expence, and |