Among the
metrical gems is _Conradin_, a fine battle-piece, by Mr. Charles
Swain; an _Every-day Tale_, by Montgomery--one of "the short and
simple annals of the poor," written in behalf of a Society for
relieving distressed females in the first month of their widowhood, to
save their little households from being broken up before they can
provide means for their future maintenance: and _Far-off Visions_, by
Mary Howitt. The prose gem of the volume, to our taste, is
_Giulietta, a Tale of the Fourteenth Century, by L.E.L.,_
which we abridge. The scene lies at Genoa, where Giulietta
Aldobrandini, being at the point of death, commits her three daughters
to the care of their uncle the Cardinal Aldobrandini. The Countess
dies, and the three girls, Constanza, Bianca, and Giulietta, having
sprung up into graceful womanhood, arrive at the Cardinal's palace.]
It was early in a spring evening when the Aldobrandini arrived at
their uncle's dwelling. It was an old and heavy-looking building.
Constanza and Bianca, as the massy gate swung behind them, on their
arrival in the dark, arched court, simply remarked that they were
afraid it would be very dull: but Giulietta's imagination was
powerfully impressed; a vague terror filled her mind, which the gloom
of the huge and still chambers through which they were ushered did not
tend to decrease.
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