Italian Letters, Vols. I and II : Or, The History of the Count de St. Julian

Volume 2, Letter 22 : The Answer, Cosenza
Letter XXII. The Answer, Cosenza My lord, It is now three weeks since I received that letter, in which you renew the generous offer of your hand. Believe me, I am truly sensible of the obligation, and it shall for ever live in my grateful heart. I am not now the same Matilda you originally addressed. I have acted towards you in an inexcusable manner. I have forfeited that spotless character which was once my own. All this you knew, and all this did not deter you. My lord, for this generosity and oblivion, once again, and from the bottom of my heart, I thank you. But it is not only in these respects, that the marchioness of Pescara differs from the daughter of the duke of Benevento. Those poor charms, my lord, which were once ascribed to me, have long been no more. The hand of grief is much more speedy and operative in its progress than the icy hand of age. Its wrinkles are already visible in my brow. The floods of tears I have shed have alread... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

Volume 2, Letter 21 : The Count De St. Julian to the Marchioness of Pescara, Leontini
Letter XXI. The Count de St. Julian to the Marchioness of Pescara, Leontini Madam, I have waited with patience for the expiration of twelve months, that I might not knowingly be guilty of any indecorum, or intrude upon that sorrow, which the tragical fate of the late marquis so justly claimed. But how shall I introduce the subject upon which I am now to address you? Where shall I begin this letter? Or with what arguments may I best propitiate the anger I have so justly incensed, and obtain that boon upon which the happiness of my future life is so entirely suspended? Among all the offenses of which I have been guilty, against the simplest and gentlest mind that ever adorned this mortal stage, there is none which I less pardon to myself, than that unjust and precipitate letter, which I was so inconsiderate as to address to you immediately after I had steeped my hand in the murder of your husband. Was it for me, who had so much reason to... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

Volume 2, Letter 20 : The Count De St. Julian to Signor Hippolito Borelli, Leontini
Letter XX. The Count de St. Julian to Signor Hippolito Borelli, Leontini My dear friend, Traveling through the various countries of Europe, and expanding your philosophical mind to embrace the interests of mankind, you still are so obliging as to take the same concern in the transactions of your youthful friend as ever. I shall therefore confine myself in the letter which I now steal the leisure to write, to the relation of those events, of which you are probably as yet uninformed. If I were to give scope to the feelings of my heart, with what, alas, should I present you but a circle of repetitions, which, however important they may appear to me, could not but be dull and tedious to any person less immediately interested? As I pursued with greater minuteness the inquiries I had begun before you quitted the kingdom of the two Sicilies, I found the arguments still increasing upon me, which tended to persuade me of the innocence of Matild... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

Volume 2, Letter 19 : The Marquis of San Severino to the Marchioness of Pescara, Naples
Letter XIX. The Marquis of San Severino to the Marchioness of Pescara, Naples Madam, I have just received a letter from your ladyship which gives me the utmost pain. I am sincerely afflicted at the unfortunate concern I have had in the melancholy affairs that have caused you so much uneasiness. I expected indeed that the sudden death of so accomplished and illustrious a character as your late husband, must have produced in a breast susceptible as yours, the extremest distress. But I did not imagine that you would have been so overwhelmed with the event, as to have forgotten the decorums of your station, and to have derogated from the dignity of your character. Madam, I sincerely sympathize in the violence of your affliction, and I earnestly wish that you may soon recover that self-command, which rendered your behavior upon all occasions a model of elegance, propriety and honor. Your ladyship proposes certain questions to me in your epi... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

Volume 2, Letter 18 : The Count De St. Julian to the Marchioness of Pescara, Cerenzo
Letter XVIII. The Count de St. Julian to the Marchioness of Pescara, Cerenzo Madam, You may possibly before this letter comes to your hands have learned an event that very nearly interests both you and me. If you have not, it is not in my power at this time to collect together the circumstances, and reduce them to the form of a narration. The design of my present letter is of a very different kind. Shall I call that a design, which is the consequence of an impulse urging me forward, without the consent of my will, and without time for deliberation? I write this letter with a hand dyed with the blood of your husband. Let not the idea startle you. Matilda is advanced too far to be frightened with bugbears. What, shall a mind inured to fickleness and levity, a mind that deserted, without reason and without remorse, the most constant of lovers, and that recked not the consequences, shall such a mind be terrified at the sight of the purple... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

The Count De St. Julian to Signor Hippolito Borelli, Messina
Letter IX. The Count de St. Julian to Signor Hippolito Borelli, Messina You, my dear Hippolito, were the only one of my fellow-collegians, to whom I communicated all the circumstances of that unfortunate situation which obliged me to take a final leave of the university. The death of a father, though not endeared by the highest reciprocations of mutual kindness, must always make some impressions upon a susceptible mind. The wound was scarcely healed that had been made by the loss of a mother, a fond mother, who by her assiduous attentions had supplied every want, and filled up every neglect, to which I might otherwise have been exposed. When I quitted Palermo, I resolved before I determined upon any thing, to proceed to the residence of my ... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

The Count De St. Julian to the Marquis of Pescara, Naples
Letter III. The Count de St. Julian to the Marquis of Pescara, Naples Best of friends, Every thing is now prepared for my voyage. The ship will weigh anchor in two days at farthest. This will be the last letter you will receive from me before I bid adieu to Italy. I have not yet shaken off the melancholy with which the affecting leave I took of the amiable Matilda impressed me. Never will the recollection be effaced from my memory. It was then, my Rinaldo, that she laid aside that delicate reserve, that lovely timidity, which she had hitherto exhibited. It was then that she poured forth, without restraint, all the ravishing tenderness of her nature. How affecting were those tears? How heart-rending the sighs that heaved her throbbing bosom?... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

The Count De St. Julian to Matilda Della Colonna, Naples
Letter XIV. The Count de St. Julian to Matilda della Colonna, Naples I will thank you a thousand times for the generous permission you gave me, to write to you from this place. I have waited an age, lovely Matilda, that I might not intrude upon your hours of solitude and affliction, and violate the feelings I so greatly respect. You must not now be harsh and scrupulous. You must not cavil at the honest expression of those sentiments you inspire. Can dissimulation ever be a virtue? Can it ever be a duty to conceal those emotions of the soul upon which honor has set her seal, and studiously to turn our discourse to subjects uninteresting and distant to the heart? How happy am I in a passion which received the sanction of him, who alone could ... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

The Count De St. Julian to Signor Hippolito Borelli, Cosenza
Letter II. The Count de St. Julian to Signor Hippolito Borelli, Cosenza My dear Hippolito, I have already acquainted you as they occurred, with those circumstances, which have introduced so incredible an alteration in my prospects and my fortune. From being an outcast of the world, a young man without protectors, a nobleman without property, a lover despairing ever to possess the object of his vows, I am become the most favored of mortals, the happiest of mankind. There is no character that I envy, there is no situation for which I would exchange my own. My felicity is of the color of my mind; my prospects are those, for the fruition of which heaven created me. What have I done to deserve so singular a blessing? Is it possible that no waywa... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

The Marquis of Pescara to the Marquis of San Severino, Cosenza
VOLUME II Letter I. The Marquis of Pescara to the Marquis of San Severino, Cosenza My dear lord, I need not tell you that this place is celebrated for one of the most beautiful spots of the habitable globe. Every thing now flourishes. Nature puts on her gayest colors, and displays all her charms. The walks among the more cultivated scenes of my own grounds, and amid the wilder objects of this favored region are inexpressibly agreeable. The society of my pensive and sentimental friend is particularly congenial with the scenery around me. Do not imagine that I am so devoid of taste as not to derive exquisite pleasure from these sources. Yet believe me, there are times in which I regret the vivacity of your conversation, and the amusements of ... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)