THE HESPERIAN.
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LITERARY.
Bury htm gontly, South; his faults woro small;
Ho did but rook with treachery; that Is all,
Bury hltn gontly, South; his whlto soul lltcs,
Llko Bcnodlct Arnold's, unto happier sklos.
Uury him gontly, South ; so stanch and lcul,
Tho Pontius Pllato of our commonweal.
Uury him gently, South, with porfumodpuowcrs,
Of hangman's nooses wrought In vatlvo flowers.
Uury him gontly, South; let slavery gloom
Its brows In grateful grlof bosldo his tomb.
Bury him gontly, South, ho would rcpoco
At pcaco, with patilot spirits, llko Qultcau'st
Thus chants a contributor to the University. As an exhi
bition of personal spleen it far surpasses the majority. of simi
lar attempts. It is written within a month of the death
of the person alluded to, and while the South is weeping
over his remains. It is impossible to comprehend the object
of the expression of such a sentiment at this time. The
writer might plead that he is merely giving expression to
the truth; that Jefferson Davis was the incarnation of the baser
elements of n Benedict Arnold, a Pontius Pilate, and a Gui
tcau; that he did uphold slavery to the very lust, and died de
serving a hangman's noose. All this may be true, or be the
merest noncsensc. But what 'comes of it if the charges be
true? Of what avail is it to rake over the coals of past ani
mosities, wounding the tendercst feelings of the Southerners,
nnd recalling to the minds of the people of the North things
many of them would prefer to forget? It would be hard for
the demagog ieal writers of such effusions to give a suitable ex
cuse for the expression of such senseless sentiment. An accu
rate, unbiased estimate of Davis' life, the motives animating
him in the course he pursued, will hardly be arrived at till
many years have passed. We are too little removed from the
stirring times in which he figured so prominently, to be able
after the most conscientious effort to divest our views of a
tincture of prejudice for or against him. The historian of
the future will understand more perfectly than we the charac
terof Davis. Meanwhile, how puerile, how reprehensible
are attempts to put off by reawakening sectionnl hatred, the
day in which an unbiased estimate of the man can be formed.
The leaders on both sides in the late war are content to dis
cuss the war and its causes without prejudice or passion; it is
left to the demagogue both north and south to foment sec
tionnl animosity, nnd to belittle public men who have had,
and still have, the undying affection of those whom they
called to arms.
One feels a peculiar interest in that age of the history of
Europe in which it was divided up among numberless feudal
lords. Life as then lived was so strange, so little like the life
of any other age thatenn lay claim to any civilization. His
tory is somewhat vague in treating this epoch. The lack in
many respects of positive knowledge concerning it, and its
very unreality have cast about it a halo that has charmed
some writers. Of all the innumerable feuds of that period
none were more bloody, none were fought out more unre
lentingly to the bitter end, than the strife that waged be
tween Guclphs and Ghibellincs. That strife was chiefly
waged on Italian soil, and has been, in consequence, of vast
interest to the Italinns of subsequent dnys. Tommasso
Orossi, a writer of a century ago, has weaved into a plot the
nets of certain of the prominent figures in that conflict.
Marco Visconti" is t -lovel that derives living force and
reality from the contemporary chronicles on which it is
founded. The author is evidently not dazzled by the pomp
and parade of that period; he brings out in bold colors the
perfidy of the princes and the pitiable plight of the peasantry.
The most interesting personage in the plot is Marco Vis
conti, about whose ineffectual attempt to gain the lordship of
Milan the attention of the reader is concentrated. Marco
was a knight whose lifehad been saddened by disappointment
in love. In his yonth he had gained the affections of Erme
linda, the daughter of Simon Crivcllo. But Marco's father,
wishing his sou to marry no one below him in the social scale,
saw to it that the young couple were separated. Ermclinda's
father soon after participated in an intrigue that hurled the
Visconti from power, and the two families became bitter ene
mies. By the use of craft Crivcllo succeeded in making Er
melinda marry Count del Balzo; and thus by the ambition of
the one father and the intrigue and treachery of the other,
the lives of the two young people were blighted. After this
disappointment Marco turned with terrible energy to his pro
fession war and in the battles on the plains of Lombardy
won great renown. In the conflicts of that time Marco was
led, in hope of revenge and profit for himself, to side with
the Ghibellincs. But this bold warrior could with difficulty
endure the restraints of subordinate position. So he formed
a design with the object of wresting the lordship of Milan
from his nephew, a weakling who owed his elevation to
Lewis of Bavaria, the emperor elect of Germany.
Meanwhile in the district of Limonta, where was the estate
and residence of Count del Balzo, affairs had been in a sorry
condition. The peasants of this district were Guclphs, faith
ful to the true pope, whom Lewis, the Bavarian, had deposed.
The creature whom Lewis had made abbot of the monastery
of San Ambrogio, of which Limonta was an appanage, had
left the affairs of that district to one Pclagrua, a conscience
less rascal , who, in the name of the antipopc, persecuted the
recalcitrant peasants with great zeal. His fertile brain soon
devised a scheme that did credit to his accomplishments as a
villain. He unearthed documents by which he sought to have
the Limontesc adjudged not only vassals but serfs of the mon
astery of San Ambrogio. The result of the trial was the de
cision of the judge that it should be settled by the ordeal of
battle. Thus were decided in this barbarous age the ques
tions so intimately concerning the people's welfare. The
Limontese chose one of their sturdy youths to represent them
in the ordeal; thisLupo, who had already fought under Marco
Visconli's banner, easily gained the victory over his antagon
ist, and Palagrua's attempt had failed.
Ottorino Visconti, cousin of Marco, and master of Lupo,
had witnessed the ordeal in company with Count del Balzo's
family, consisting of the count; Ermclinda, his wife, and Be
atrice, their sixteen year old daughter. Ottorino was smitten
by the attractions of Beatrice and hence he obeyed with re
gret the order he soon received from Marco, his lord, to meet
him at one of Marco's castles. The object of Marco's sum
mons was to unfold to Ottorino his plans for reversing the
state of affairs by setting on foot an attempt to reinstate the
rightful pope. Marco proposed to remove to his house at
Milan; and to summon thither, in order to use him in the in
trigue, Count Balzo, who was withal a contemptible person,
whose sole desire was to stand well with both sides in the
conflict. The count and family removed to Milan in obedi
ence to Marco's summons. But Marco, when he first saw the
daughter of the count, fell violently in love with her, the im
age of her mother, of whom he had been so ruthlessly de
prived. Marco was jealous of his cousin, Ottorino, and ex
torted from Count Balzo a promise to keep the young couple
Wan mil i in i m i i - . .
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