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: Education of Matilda CHAPTER III "The law of force is dead ! The law of love prevails ! Thor, the thunderer, Shall rule the earth no more, No more with threats Challenge the meek Christ."—Longfellow. Among the many cares and distractions which the government of her Marquisate necessitated, Beatrice never lost sight of the importance of providing her child with a solid education. She fulfilled her maternal trust with a vigilance that never relaxed and "every precaution that a fond mother's anxious heart could suggest she anticipated and provided for." Assisted by Donizo she devoted the greater part of each day to the culture of Matilda's expanding mind which, with a perception unusual to one of her tender years, acquired a taste for literary pursuits. The little scholar proved an indefatigable worker and found delight in tasks which would have repulsed children of more mature age. Her incessant mental activity was only equalled by her remarkable tenacity of memory. Donizo, of whom mention has several times been made, was the family chaplain at Canossa. Though his name is spelt by historians in various ways, it is easily recognisable, and derives interest from the fact that its owner was a poet of no mean ability. His books of hexameter verses, divided into chapters, are still preserved as specimens of early Italian literature, and it is to his pen we are indebted for many particulars of the family events concerning the Margraves of Tuscany, which would otherwise have been lost in obscurity. Apart from their own intrinsic interest these contemporary pictures and incidents of mediaeval life throw a light upon the manners and customs of the time which render them a real aid to the study of Italian history. He had, as he himself tells us, intended to dedicate these versifi...