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Chambers's Miscellany of Useful and Entertaining Tracts
Chambers's Miscellany of Useful and Entertaining Tracts Author:Robert Chambers Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: STORY OF SILVIO PELLICO. ILVIO PELLICO, the 1 story of whose wrongs | has created a sympathising interest over I Europe, was born at Sa- luzzo, in Piedmont... more », a pro- ! vince of the Italian kingdom of Sardinia, in 1789, I at which time his father, Honorato Pellico, held a situation in the post-office. He was afterwards promoted to a seat in the ministry of war at Turin, to which place he removed with his family. Silvio I was at that time six years I of age, and had already g-iven token of his poetical feelings. Ossian was the bard to whom his earliest ; years were consecrated. i In his sixteenth year he ' accompanied his twin ' sister, to whom he was devotedly attached, to Lyons in France, where he remained until some verses of Foscolo, the most eminent of modern Italian poets, awakened in his breast so passionate a reminiscence of his native country, that he hastened towards it, and rejoined his father, then settled at Milan. The latte was in the war department, under the government of Napoleon, as king of Italy. The restoration of Lombardy to the emperor of Austria on the overthrow of Bonaparte, displaced Honorato Pellico, who then returned to Turin, accompanied by all his family, excepting Silvio, who preferred remaining at Milan. Young Silvio, with a poetic temperament and love of letters, had formed an intimacy with Monti, Foscolo, and other eminent literary characters residing in Milan, the whole forming a brilliant society, who sighed over the abased condition of the country under a foreign yoke. Silvio himself became known as the author of a tragedy, which was acted in all the theatres of Italy with the highest applause, and is stated to have been translated into English by Lord Byron, though not published amongst his works. Pellico had become acquainted with Byron a...« less