The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 17, No. 481, March 19, 1831

In Short

This volume of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction is a weekly periodical compilation from March 1831, blending biographical sketches of poets like Ludovico Ariosto, historical accounts of the origins of the House of Commons and Venetian politics, Welsh topography and superstitions, and didactic religious excerpts. It unfolds through a mosaic of short essays, poems, and correspondence, reflecting an era hungry for both accessible education and moral edification. Its enduring interest lies in offering a direct, unmediated window into the domestic reading diet of early Victorian Britain, preserving popular tastes, antiquarian pursuits, and romantic sentiments just as they were consumed by contemporary households.

The Story

The volume opens in the historic town of Ferrara, meditating upon the relics and final resting place of the great Italian poet Ludovico Ariosto, whose quiet life of study under the patronage of the House of Este was cut short by ill health and a poorly printed edition of his masterwork. Turning from poetic devotion to domestic elegy, the pages record the tragic, fading youth of a maiden named Fanny, who pines away in bitter disappointment after her absent lover breaks his whispered vows of constancy, leaving her to a premature grave.

The narrative sweep then broadens into the grand arena of English and European history. It recounts the Battle of Evesham, where Simon de Montfort fell and Henry III was restored, marking the foundational summons that gave rise to the House of Commons. Moving across the continent and backward through centuries, the chronicle turns to the dark, obsessive downfall of Valodimir Mavrovitch, a Polish noble haunted by a mysterious demon-priest. Warned repeatedly to think and pause, Mavrovitch ignores the signs, is seduced by the idle games of dice and cards, masters a sleight-of-hand that brings him wealth and ruin, and ultimately commits a wanton murder that leads him inexorably to the scaffold and the executioner's rack.

From the turbulence of crime and state executions, the volume shifts to the serene landscapes of Monmouthshire, lingering over the Roman remains of Caerwent, the Druidical stones of Trelech, and the majestic, ivy-clad ruins of baronial castles along the Wye. It explores the spiritual journey of the Christian pilgrim through selections from the Sunday Library, comparing earthly existence to a traveler's passage toward a heavenly Jerusalem. The historical tension rises again with an account of Venetian history, detailing how a petty insult and a scribbled taunt on a doge's chair by the impoverished gentleman Michele Steno provoked the morbid wrath of Marino Faliero, setting the stage for a state conspiracy. Finally, the volume closes with folkloric glimpses into Cambrian superstitions, recounting the cautionary tale of a Welsh farmer lured away by fairy music who dances for a twelvemonth within a magical ring before turning instantly to dust upon breaking the spell.

How It Unfolds

• The poet's sanctuary: The volume establishes its literary tone by examining the preserved armchair, inkstand, and tomb of Ariosto in Ferrara, tracing his quiet retirement and the unfortunate printing errors that hastened his final decline.
• The forsaken maiden: Verse and sentiment converge in the lament for Fanny, whose health withers under the crushing weight of broken vows and social calumny until death claims her pale, drooping form.
• The birth of parliament: The scope widens to the medieval vale of Evesham, explaining how the defeat of the rebellious barons and the ensuing royal summons laid the structural origins of the English House of Commons.
• The path of the gambler: Valodimir Mavrovitch recounts his fatal descent through foreign capitals, where ignored warnings, newly acquired gaming skills, and a fatal duel lead step by step to his public execution on the rack.
• The antiquarian landscape: The text wanders through the rolling hills and border castles of Monmouthshire, meditating upon Roman antiquities, ancient battle sites, and the transient nature of human grandeur.
• The spiritual pilgrimage: Extracts from theological discourses depict the devout Christian as a traveler viewing the beauties of a temporary world while journeying eagerly toward an eternal home.
• The doge's grievance: Venetian annals reveal how a minor poetic slight scrawled by Michele Steno ignited the disproportionate fury and treasonous resentment of Doge Marino Faliero.
• The fairy ring: The volume concludes in rural Wales with the eerie account of a farmer whose fatal curiosity leads him to join an endless midnight elfin dance from which he never truly returns alive.

The People

Ludovico Ariosto is a dedicated, retiring poet who seeks only the freedom to pursue his studies and cultivate his garden in Ferrara, yet finds his final days embittered by the careless errors of his printer before passing away amid universal European lamentation.

Fanny is a trusting, affectionate young woman who gives her heart entirely to a traveler who swears eternal fidelity; meeting only falsehood, abandonment, and social cruelty, she fades rapidly into despair and an early grave.

Valodimir Mavrovitch is a reclusive Polish noble who inherits a sword of his ancestry and sets out on a European tour; plagued by mysterious warnings from a demon-like figure, he yields to idleness, masters the illicit manipulation of dice and cards, and descends through luxury and violence into a confessed murderer awaiting the rack.

Michele Steno is an impoverished, reckless gentleman of Venice whose presumption at a court banquet leads to his expulsion; burning under the indignity, he scrawls an insulting epigram on the doge's chair, inadvertently triggering a major constitutional crisis.

Marino Faliero is the proud, emotionally volatile Doge of Venice who, viewing Steno's lenient punishment as a personal insult from the oligarchy, nurses a morbid grievance that transforms a petty affront into a fatal state conspiracy.

In Its Own Voice

"'Time was when by sweet solitude inclines The storied page I fill'd with, ready mind; Those gentle scenes of Reggio's fair domain, Our own dear nest, where peace and nature reign; The lovely villa and the neighbouring Rhone, Whose banks the Naiads haunt serene and lone; The lucid pool whence small fresh streams distil That glad the garden round and turn the mill; Still memory loves upon these scenes to dwell, Still sees the vines with fruit delicious swell, Luxurious meadows blooming spread around, Low winding vales and hills with turrets crown'd.'"

This verse reflects the tranquil, pastoral memories cherished by the poet Ariosto during his quiet years of study in Ferrara.

"'Valodimir Mavrovitch,' said the stranger, 'THINK!'--I would have answered, but the torch-light which shone through the gateway upon him shifted, and I was surprised that he too had disappeared, like one of the shadows of the servants on the castle wall."

The mysterious stranger delivers his first brief and emphatic admonition to the young Polish traveler just as he departs his ancestral home.

"Such exactly is the temper and disposition with which the Christian traveller should pass through the world."

A theological discourse from the Sunday Library compares the earthly life of man to a journey through a temporary landscape toward an eternal home.

What It's Really About

The volume explores the fragility of human ambition and the inescapable consequences of moral transgression, whether through the quiet tragedy of a broken heart, the political arrogance of state rulers, or the spiritual ruin of a gambler. It investigates how historical institutions—from parliament to the Venetian state—grow out of conflict and personal grievance. Beneath its antiquarian and literary curiosities runs a steady moral argument: that man is a temporary pilgrim upon the earth, cautioned to look past fleeting earthly vanities, whether those vanities take the form of poetic fame, illicit gaming, or unbridled pride.

Why Read It Today

Readers who love Victorian periodicals, antiquarian essays, and the rich, discursive prose of the early nineteenth century will find much to cherish here. Reading it feels like sitting in a sunlit parlor beside an open hearth, thumbing through a bound volume of a family magazine where polished poetry sits side by side with grim tales of execution and gentle topography. Modern readers must be prepared for the dense, moralizing tone of the period, its occasional reliance on heavy-handed didacticism, and the archaic framing of its historical and folkloric accounts. Yet these very elements constitute its charm. The book stays with you not for a singular narrative punch, but for its evocative texture—the melancholy of forgotten graves, the romantic aura of Italian courts, and the quiet dignity of a culture turning its pages to find instruction and amusement alike.