[1] An old tradition supports the imaginative prejudice which persuaded Corinne that the diamond could forewarn its wearer of its giver's treachery. Frequent allusions are made to this legend by Spanish poets, in their peculiar manner. In one of Calderon's tragedies, Ferdinand, Prince of Portugal, prefers death in chains, before the crime of surrendering to a Moorish king the Christian city which his brother, King Edward, offers for his ransom. The Moor, enraged at this refusal, subjects the noble youth to the basest ignominy. Ferdinand, in reproof, reminds him that mercy and generosity are the truest characteristics of supreme power. He cites all that is royal in the universe--the lion, the dolphin, the eagle, amid animals; and seeks even among plants and stones for traits of natural goodness, which have been attributed to those who lord it over the rest. Thus he says, the diamond, which resists the blow of steel, resolves itself to dust, that it may inform its master if treason threatens him. It is impossible to know whether this mode of considering all nature as connected with the destiny and sentiments of man is mathematically correct; but it is ever pleasing to imagination; and poetry, especially that of Spain, has owed it many great beauties. Calderon is only known to me by the German translation of Wihelm Schlegel; but this author, one of his own country's finest poets, has the art of transporting into his native language, with the rarest perfection, the poetic graces of Spanish, English, and Italian--giving a lively idea of the original, be it what it may.
_Note_TR.--Had Oswald's gift been his mother's wedding-ring, that incident would have been more affecting than so fanciful a fable.
What a desert seems Rome, in going to it from Naples! Entering by the gate of St. John Lateran, you traverse but long, solitary streets; they please afresh after a little time: but, on just leaving a lively, dissipated population, it is melancholy to be thrown upon one's self, even were that self at ease. Besides this, Rome, towards the end of July, is a dangerous residence. The _malaria_ renders many quarters uninhabitable; and the contagion often spreads through the whole city. This year, particularly, every face bore the impress of apprehension. Corinne was met at her own door by a monk, who asked leave to bless her house against infection: she consented; and the priest walked through the rooms, sprinkling holy water, and repeating Latin prayers. Lord Nevil smiled at this ceremony--Corinne's heart melted over it. "I find indefinable charms," she said, "in all that is religious, or even superstitious, while nothing hostile nor intolerant blends with it. Divine aid is so needful, when our thoughts stray from the common path, that the highest minds most require superhuman care."--"Doubtless such want exists, but can it thus be satisfied?"--"I never refuse a prayer associated with my own, from whomsoever it is offered me."--"You are right," said Nevil, giving his purse to the old friar, who departed with benedictions on them both. When the friends of Corinne heard of her return, they flocked to see her: if any wondered that she was not Oswald's wife, none, at least, asked the reason: the pleasure of regaining her diverted them from every other thought. Corinne endeavored to appear unchanged; but she could not succeed. She revisited the works of art that once afforded her such vivid pleasure; but sorrow was the base of her every feeling now. At the Villa Borghese, or the tomb of Cecilia Metella, she no longer enjoyed that reverie on the instability of human blessings, which lends them a still more touching character. A fixed, despondent pensiveness absorbed her. Nature, who ever speaks to the heart vaguely, can do nothing for it when oppressed by real calamities. Oswald and Corinne were worse than unhappy; for actual misery oft causes such emotions as relieve the laden breast; and from the storm may burst a flash pointing the onward way: but mutual restraint, and fruitless efforts to escape pursuing recollections, made them even discontented with one another. Indeed, how can we suffer thus, without accusing the being we love as the cause? True, a word, a look, suffices to efface our displeasure; but that look, that word, may not come when most expected, or most needful. Nothing in love can be premeditated; it is as a power divine, that thinks and feels within us, unswayed by our control.