the dominion of France, the latter had manifested a disposition to raise the neighbouring port of Savona to a rivalry with, and superiority of commerce, above, Genoa. Doria, jealous for his country, ventured to remonstrate with his sovereign, Francis I, who, at that juncture imbued with some false prejudices against this distinguished captain, in an unhappy moment, commanded his arrest.

Well apprised of the intended measure, Doria easily escaped with all his fleet, and immediately revolted to that great antagonist of Francis, Charles V, for whom his first service was the recovery of Naples. He then sailed to his own country, at that period garrisoned by the French under the command of the Governor Trivulci. Want, and sickness, aided his efforts; the French capitulated, the populace levelled the citadel that they had lately held, to the ground; and Andrew Doria was hailed as supreme in power, and in the affections of his countrymen. This memorable day was September 12, 1528.

The sovereignty now within his grasp he magnanimously declined; and by his dictation a constitution was formed by the joint suffrages of twelve citizens. The patriotism, and wisdom, of Doria ever preserved for him a great ascendancy in the councils of that republic which he had established, though he himself never assumed more

than the character and style of a citizen of Genoa. Thus he long lived, honoured and beloved, and since his death, as in his life, he is distinguished as the Father of his Country, and the Restorer of its Liberties.

Nevertheless in 1547 an attempted revolution, and aim at the veteran Doria's life, convulsed all Genoa, and being as singular as it was bold merits notice.

The unbounded partiality manifested by Andrew, towards his grand-nephew Giannetto Doria, seemed to inspire the presumptuous, and haughty, youth with an expectation of succeeding to more power in the state than was consistent with the republican principles of the people. At this juncture, when mistrust, and ill will, were brooding in the minds of many, John Lewis Fiesco, Count of Lavagna, aware of the ambition of Giannetto, determined rather than tamely suffer another to bear away so proud a prize, to risk his life, his fortune, his all; and to perish, or to wear the ducal crown of Genoa. He was illustrious of birth, rich, and handsome; princely in generosity, commanding, and winning; possessing at the same time all the sterner qualities to plot, and to achieve, the deepest designs. Very few were privy to the ap-. proaching daring attempt; and in the interim Fiesco was indefatigable in strengthening his

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Count Fiesco and

means; in keeping up a guarded, but politic, correspondence with the French Embassador at Rome; with the Pope; and by an intimate confederacy with Farnese, Duke of Parma. He assembled his own vassals; he hired others; and manned four gallies under pretence of cruizing against the Turks. To conceal these suspicious acts, he speciously appeared to be bent upon nothing but dissipation, and boundless indulgences.

Finally, after many schemes had been proposed, and abandoned, the decision was made, and the night of January 2, 1547, was fixed for the daring deed. This period was especially politic; since the Doge vacated his appointment on the first of the month, and till the election on the fourth the people were without their accustomed chief. Fiesco, under pretence of a grand entertainment, had filled his palace that night with the principal citizens, who, once admitted, his guards took care should not leave the place. He appeared among them and made but too eloquent and popular an appeal on the abuses of the government, and the preponderance of the Dorias.

His vassals, and dependents, shouted their applause, and those who would have dissented dared not, for they distrusted each other. Thus then they sallied forth, the populace joined the standard of their beloved nobleman, and the streets resounded with the popular cry, "Fiesco, and liberty."

All was triumph and success; they possessed themselves of the principal stations of the city, and so admirable were their plans laid that Dorias's fleets in the harbour were completely blockaded, and rendered unavailing.

Giannetto Doria rushed from his house amidst the tumult, and was as quickly murdered by the conspirators. The venerable Andrew would have met the same fate had Lewis Fiesco's orders been obeyed; but chance favoured him with a moment's time, and he escaped by the fleetness of his horse. The conspirators conquered all who dared to oppose them; and finally the Senate sent their Deputies to accept the conditions of Fiesco. In this very moment he had perished by accident. Alarmed by a supposed tumult on board of the Admiral's Galley, in the darkness of the night he rushed upon a treacherous plank, and fell into the sea, borne down by the additional weight of his armour.

The puerile vanity of his brother Jerome consummated the ruin of the plot. Instead of concealing the death of his principal, he appeared before the Senate, and claimed to be himself now Chief. This discovery in a moment changed the face of affairs; the Senate disdained him; his brother's partisans mistrusted him; and the insurgents slinking away by degrees, some to their houses, some from the city entirely, for fear of discovery, this famed conspiracy began, and ended, that night. On the

next evening Andrew Doria returned in triumph, and amid the joyful acclamations of all the populace. Jerome had fled to a strong castle of his own at Montobbio, but in the ensuing month of March he was overpowered, and put to death.*

The palace presented to Andrew Doria still remains; the marble statue erected to his honour was destroyed in the horrors of 1797, and his titles. with the inscription in front of the palace, which extended 200 feet. The shorter record is still to be seen.

S. C.

Andrea de Auria,

Patriæ Liberatori,

Munus Publicum.†

The other boast of Genoa of having given birth to the immortal Columbus, seems very dubious, and the Piedmontese appear to have the greater claim. By the solemn decision of the Supreme Council of the Indies, Columbus is proved to have been born at Cuccaro in Montferrat; and at Venice in 1589, a Colombo of Cuccaro claimed the princely inheritance originally awarded to the immortal navigator.

* Cardinal de Retz's Memoires de la Conjuration du Compte Fiesco.

+ By a decree of the Senate, the gift of his citizens to Andrew Doria, the deliverer of his country.