ied town, and a day's
journey, _en voiturier_, from Florence to Vienna. The Tomb, as well as
the above relics, a bronze Medallion of the great Poet, and an account
of his last illness and death--the two latter found in his tomb--are in
the public library at Ferrara. This library also contains the original
MSS. of _Tasso's Gerusalemme Liberata_, and Guarini's _Pastor Fido_;
and in the Hospital of St. Anne, at Ferrara, travellers are shown the
cell where Tasso was confined.

The INKSTAND is of bronze, and its singular device is said to refer to
the Poet's amorous caution. In his Life,[2] we are told that "The amours
of Ariosto are a difficult theme for both his eulogists and his
biographers. He has alluded in his Poems to several ladies with whose
charms he was captivated, but, with the exception of Alessandra and
Genevra, the names under which they are mentioned are fictitious. His
caution in this respect is thought to have been hinted at in the device
placed on his favourite inkstand, and which consisted of _a little
Cupid having his forefinger on his lip in token of secresy_." The
evidence in proof of Alessandra's being his wife is little short of
unanswerable.

Reverting to the early life of the Poet--he studied at Ferrara, but
losing his tutor, who was called from thence, and appointed preceptor
to the son of Isabella of Naples, Ariosto was left without the present
means of gaining instruction in Greek. To this period Mr. Stebbing thus
alludes:--

"To the regret he experienced at losing his master, was added that of
hearing soon after of his decease; but scarcely had he recovered from
the distress he felt at this circumstance, when the death of his father
put an end for some time to all his literary thoughts and pursuits. He
has pathetically described his situation at this period in his sixth
Satire, which contains several allusions both to the present and
previous circumstances of his life.

"'My father dies; thenceforth with care oppressed
New thoughts and feelings fill my harass'd breast;
Homer gives way to lawyers and their deeds,
And all a brother's love within me pleads;
Fit suitors found, two sisters soon are wed,
And to the altar without portions led.
With all the wants and wishes of their age
My little brothers next my thoughts engage,
And in their father's place I strive untired
To do whate'er that father's love inspired.
Thus watching how their several wills incline
In cour