1831.] [ 489 ] 



' THE WHITE SPECTRE OF MALINANZA ; A MILANESE LEGEND. 



AT the time when the Spaniards held the government of Milan and 

 its paradisaical district, there dwelt, on the borders of a remote undula- 

 tion of the lake of Como, two famous barons, whose names are still pre- 

 served by oral tradition among the peasantry, and by legendary trans- 

 mission among the higher classes of their countrymen. Costantino di 

 Ferrando and Carmelo di Malinanza might, in those times of ever-chang- 

 ing dynasties, have carried the world before them, had they been spirit- 

 less enough to remain united; but, like all other legendary barons, they 

 chose to quarrel, each wasting his own strength in endeavouring to 

 exhaust that of his rival. The circumstance which originated this feud 

 was singular. The inimical barons were heirs (in default of direct 

 descendants to either party) to the possessions of each other : the pro- 

 spective rights of Carmelo rendered him, therefore, a future usurper in 

 the eyes of Costantino; and vice versa. Both chiefs married. Carmelo 

 was childless ; Costantino had heirs. Carmelo now almost loathed his 

 vast possessions, because he only saw in them the splendid reversion of 

 his rival ; while Costantino became convinced that his feudal enemy 

 was daily plotting the destruction of those innocent beings who not 

 only stood between him and his future aggrandisement, but were the 

 detested heirs to his present possessions. After many ineffectual attempts 

 to ruin each other, Costantino di Ferrando succeeded in whispering into 

 the ear of a jealous Spanish governor a tale of treason, armed vassals, 

 assassinations, &c, ; and a large portion of the lands of Carmelo di Mali- 

 nanza were, without much ceremony or examination, seized by the 

 executive power, and declared forfeit to the crown of Spain. All men, 

 however, now considered Carmelo a ruined man, and looked for some 

 proof of his despairing vengeance either against his successful rival, or 

 even the government itself. But, to the surprise of every one, he 

 seemed neither ruined nor vindictive ; and when the surrounding dis- 

 trict beheld both his riches and his followers daily augment, while his 

 vengeance seemed to slumber as his power of gratifying it increased, 

 there were not wanting those who affirmed (though in a whisper which 

 shewed their sense of the chief's mysteriously enlarging power) that 

 Carmelo had known how to increase, by predatory means, the wealth he 

 had lost by degrading forfeitures, and that he was only waiting some fit 

 occasion of public tumult, to burst with sudden and irresistible ven- 

 geance. 



Years rolled on, and Costantino's viceregal friend was succeeded by 

 another Spanish governor. To him Costantino whispered his suspicions; - 

 but they were evidently listened to with a cold or a careless ear. The 

 Spaniards, at this period, were manifestly more occupied by the intrigues 

 of strangers than by those of their own vassal lords, and more appre- 

 hensive of foreign incursions than of internal banditti. Nay, it was 

 said that Carmelo di Malinanza was in secret negotiation with the 

 governor. The terms of this treaty were appalling to Costantino. An 

 invasion of the duchy by a powerful enemy was shortly expected ; and 

 report affirmed that the confiscated lands of Carmelo were to be restored 

 on condition that he should supply the governor, in his approaching 

 emergency, with so numerous a body of followers, that the wonder of 

 every peaceful Castellano was moved to know how the disgraced baron 

 could command such military resources. Supernatural agency had long 



M.M. New Series. VOL. XL No. 65. 3 R 



