(50) Murato was a technical word for this punishment.

(51) An old huntsman of the family met her in the haze of the morning, and never went out again.

She is still known by the name of Madonna Bianca.

(52) Several were painted by Giorgione and Titian; as, for instance, the Ca' Soranzo, the Ca' Grimani, and the Fondaco de' Tedeschi. Great was their emulation, great their rivalry, if we may judge from an anecdote related by Vasari; and with what interest must they have been observed in their progress, as they stood at work on their scaffolds, by those who were passing under them by land and by water! *

(53) Now an observatory. On the wall there is a long inscription: "Piis carcerem adspergite lacrymis," &c.

Ezzelino is seen by Dante in the river of blood.

(54) Bonatti was the great astrologer of that day; and all the little princes of Italy contended for him. It was from the top of the tower of Forli that he gave his signals to Guido Novello. At the first touch of a bell the count put on his armor; at the second he mounted his horse, and at the third marched out to battle. His victories were ascribed to Bonatti ; and not perhaps without reason. How many triumphs were due to the soothsayers of old Rome!

(55) "Douze personnes, tant acteurs qu' actrices, un souffleur, un machiniste, un garde du magasin, des enfans de tout âge, des chiens, des chats, des singes, des perroquets; c' étoit l'arche de Noé. Ma prédilection pour les soubrettes m'arrêta sur Madame Bacche rini."- Goldoni.

(56) The passage-boats are drawn up and down the Brenta.

(57) A pleasant instance of his wit and agility was exhibited some years ago on the stage at Venice.

"The stutterer was in an agony; the word was inexorable. It was to no purpose that Harlequin suggested another and another. At length, in a fit of despair, he pitched his head full in the dying man's stomach, and the word bolted out of his mouth to the most distant part of the house."-See Moore's View of Society in Italy.

He is well described by Marmontel in the Encyclopédie.

"Personnage de la comédie italienne. Le caractère distinctif de l'ancienne comédie italienne est de jouer des ridicules, non pas personnels, mais nationaux. C'est une imitation grotesque des mœurs des différentes villes d'Italie; et chacune d'elles est représentée par un personnage qui est toujours le même. Pantalon est vénitien, le Docteur est bolonois, Scapin est napolitain, et Arlequin est bergamasque. Celui-ci est d'une singularité qui mérite d'être observée; et il a fait long-temps les plaisirs de Paris, joué par trois acteurs célèbres, Dominique, Thomassin, et Carlin. Il est vraisemblable qu'un esclave africain fut le premier modèle de ce personnage. Son caractère est un mélange d'ignorance, de naïveté, d'esprit, de bêtise et de grâce: c'est un espèce d'homme ébauché, un grand enfant, qui a des lueurs de raison et d'intelligence, et dont toutes les méprises ou les maladresses ont quelque chose de piquant. Le vrai modèle de son jeu est la souplesse, l'agilité, la gentillesse d'un jeune chat, avec une écorce de grossièreté qui rend son action plus plaisante; son rôle est celui d'un valet patient, fidèle, crédule, gourmand, toujours amoureux, toujours dans l'embarras, ou pour son maître, ou pour lui-même ; qui s'afflige,

Frederic Zucchero, in a drawing which I have seen, has introduced his brother Taddeo as so employed at Rome on the palace of Mattei, and Raphael and Michael Angelo as sitting on horseback among the spectators below.

qui se console avec la facilité d'un enfant, et dont la douleur est aussi amusante que la joie."

(58) Attila.

(59) "I love," says a traveller, "to contemplate, as I float along, that multitude of palaces and churches, which are congregated and pressed as on a vast raft." And who can forget his walk through the Merceria, where the nightingales give you their melody from shop to shop, so that, shutting your eyes, you would think yourself in some forest-glade, when, indeed, you are all the while in the middle of the sea? Who can forget his prospect from the great tower, which once, when gilt, and when the sun struck upon it, was to be descried by ships afar off; or his visit to St. Mark's church, where you see nothing, tread on nothing, but what is precious; the floor all agate, jasper; the roof mosaic; the aisle hung with the banners of the subject cities; the front and its five domes affecting you as the work of some unknown people? Yet all this may presently pass away; the waters may close over it; and they that come row about in vain to determine exactly where it stood.

(60) A poet of our own country, Mr. Wordsworth, has written a noble sonnet on the extinction of the Venetian republic.

"Once did she hold the gorgeous East in fee," &c.

(61) "Il fallut subsister; ils tirèrent leur subsistance de tout l'univers.". -Montesquieu.

(62) A caravan.

(63) There was, in my time, another republic, a place of refuge for the unfortunate, and, not only at its birth, but to the last hour of its existence, which had established itself in like manner among the waters, and which shared the same fate; a republic, the citizens of which, if not more enterprising, were far more virtuous,* and could say also to the great nations of the world, "Your countries were acquired by conquest or by inheritance; but ours in the work of our own hands. We renew it day by day; and, but for us, it might cease to be to-morrow!"- a republic, in its progress, forever warred on by the elements, and how often by men more cruel than they; yet constantly cultivating the arts of peace, and, short as was the course allotted to it (only three times the life of man, according to the Psalmist), producing, amidst all its difficulties, not only the greatest seamen, but the greatest lawyers, the greatest physicians, the most accomplished scholars, the most skilful painters, and statesmen as wise as they were just.†

It is related that Spinola and Richardot, when on their way to negotiate a treaty at the Hague in 1608, saw eight or ten persons land from a little boat, and, sitting down on the grass, make a meal of bread and cheese and beer. "Who are these travellers?" said the ambassadors to a peasant."They are the deputies from the states," he answered, "our sovereign lords and masters.”—“We must make peace," they cried. "These are not men to be conquered."- Voltaire.

↑ What names, for instance, are more illustrious than those of Barneveldt and De Witt? But when there were such mothers, there might well be such sons.

When Reinier Barneveldt was condemned to die for an attempt to revenge his father's death by assassination, his mother threw herself at the feet of Prince Maurice. "You did not deign," said he, "to ask for your husband's life; and why ask for your son's?"-"My husband," she replied, "was innocent; but my son is guilty."

De Witt was at once a model for the greatest and the least. Careless as he was of his life when in the discharge of his duty, he was always careful of his health; and to the question how he was able to transact such a multiplicity of affairs, he would answer, "By doing only one thing at a time." A saying which should not soon be forgotten, and which may remind the reader of another, though of less value, by a great English lawyer of the last century, John Dunning. "I do a little; a ittle does itself; and the rest is undone."

(64) A national game of great antiquity, and most probably the "micare digitis" of the Romans. It is an old observation that few things are so lasting as the games of the young. They go down from one generation to another.

(65) Originally thus:

With Punchinello, crying as in wrath

"Tre! Quattro! Cinque!"-"Tis a game to strike

(66) When we wish to know if a man may be accounted happy, we should perhaps inquire, not whether he is prosperous or unprosperous, but how much he is affected by little things, by such as hourly assail us in the commerce of life, and are no more to be regarded than the buzzings and stingings of a summer fly.

(67) They were placed in the floor as memorials. The brass was engraven with the words addressed by the Pope to the emperor, "Super aspidem et basiliscum ambulabis," &c. Thou shalt tread upon the asp and the basilisk: the lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under foot.

(68) Alexander III. He fled in disguise to Venice, and is said to have passed the first night on the steps of San Salvatore. The entrance is from the Merceria, near the foot of the Rialto; and it is thus recorded, under his escutcheon, in a small tablet at the door. "Alexandro III. Pont. Max. pernoctanti."

(69) See Geoffrey de Villehardouin, in Script. Byzant, t. xx.

(70) See Petrarch's description of them and of the tournament, Rer. Senil. 1. iv. ep. 2. (71) Petrarch.

(72) Not less splendid were the tournaments of Florence in the place of Santa Croce. To those which were held there in February and June, 1468, we are indebted for two of the most celebrated poems of that age, the Giostra of Lorenzo de' Medici, by Luca Pulci, and the Giostra of Giuliano de' Medici, by Politian.

(73) "Recenti victoria exultantes," says Petrarch; alluding, no doubt, to the favorable issue of the war in France. This festival began on the 4th of August, 1364.

(74) Among those the most followed, there was always a mask in a magnificent habit, relating marvellous adventures, and calling himself Messer Marco Millioni. Millioni was the name given by his fellow-citizens in his lifetime to the great traveller, Marco Polo. "I have seen him so described," says Ramusio, "in the records of the republic; and his house has, from that time to this, been called La Corte del Millioni," the palace of the rich man, the millionnaire. It is on the canal of S. Giovanni Chrisostomo; and, as long as he lived, was much resorted to by the curious and the learned.

(75) "In atto di dar la benedittione," says Sansovino; and performing the same office as the Triton on the tower of the winds at Athens.

(76) Now called La Scala de' Giganti. The colossal statues were placed there in 1566. (77) "Marin Faliero della bella moglie: altri la gode ed egli la mantiene." "Locus Marini Faletri decapitati pro criminibus."

(78) Francis Carrara II.

(79) Il Conte, entrando in prigione, disse: Vedo bene ch' io son morto, e trasse un grande 30spiro."- M. Sanuto.

(80) Les prisons des plombs, c'est-à-dire ces fournaises ardentes qu'on avait distri buées en petites cellules sous les terrasses qui couvrent le palais; les puits, c'est-à-dire ces fosses creusées sous les canaux, où le jour et la chaleur n'avaient jamais pénétré, étaient les silencieux dépositaires des mystérieuses vengeances de ce tribunal. — Daru.

(81) A deep channel behind the island of S. Giorgio Maggiore.

(82) "How fares it with your world?" says his highness the Devil to Quevedo, on their first interview in the lower regions. "Do I prosper there?"—"Much as usual, I believe." -"But tell me truly. How is my good city of Venice? Flourishing?"-"More than ever."—"Then I am under no apprehension. All must go well."

In a letter written by Francesco Priscianese, a Florentine, there is an interesting account of an entertainment given in that city by Titian.

"I was invited," says he, "to celebrate the first of August (ferrare Agosto) in a beautiful garden belonging to that great painter,* a man who by his courtesies could give a grace and a charm to anything festive; and there, when I arrived, I found him in company with some of the most accomplished persons then in Venice; together with three of my countrymen, Pietro Aretino, Nardi the historian,‡ and Sansovino, so celebrated as a sculptor and an architect.

"Though the place was shady, the sun was still powerful; and, before we sat down at table, we passed our time in contemplating the excellent pictures with which the house was filled, and in admiring the order and beauty of the garden, which, being on the sea and at the northern extremity of Venice, looked directly on the little island of Murano, and on others not less beautiful.

"Great, indeed, was our admiration, great our enjoyment, wherever we turned; and no sooner did the sun go down than the water was covered with gondolettas adorned with ladies, and resounding with the richest harmonies, vocal and instrumental, which continued till midnight, and delighted us beyond measure, while we sat and supped, regaling ourselves with everything that was most exquisite."

(83) An allusion to the supper in Candide: c. xxvi.

(84) See Schiller's Ghost-seer, c. i.

(85) See the history of Bragadino, the Alchemist, as related by Daru. - Hist. de Venise, c. 28.

The person that follows him was yet more extraordinary, and is said to have appeared there in 1687.-See Hermippus Redivivus.

"Those who have experienced the advantages which all strangers enjoy in that city will not be surprised that one who went by the name of Signor Gualdi was admitted into the best company, though none knew who or what he was. He remained there some months; and three things were remarked concerning him: that he had a small but inestimable collection of pictures, which he readily showed to anybody; that he spoke on every subject with such a mastery as astonished all who heard him; and that he never wrote or received any letter, never required any credit or used any bills of exchange, but paid for everything in ready money, and lived respectably, though not splendidly.

Great as he was, we know little of his practice. Palma the elder, who studied under him, used to say that he finished more with the finger than the pencil. - Boschini.

+ His scholar Tintoret, if so much could not be said of him, would now and then enliven the conver sation at his table with a sally that was not soon forgotten. Sitting one day there with his friend BasBan, "I tell thee what, Giacomo," said he: "if I had thy coloring and thou hadst my design, the Titians and Corregios and Raphaels should not approach us."-Verci.

Nardi lived long, if not so long as Titian. Writing to Varchi on the 13th of July, 1555, he says: "I am still sound, though feeble; having on the twenty-first of the present month to begin to climb with my staff the steep ascent of the eightieth year of this my misspent life.”—Tiraboschi.

"This gentleman being one day at the coffee-house, a Venetian nobleman, who was an excellent judge of pictures, and who had heard of Signor Gualdi's collection, expressed a desire to see them; and his request was instantly granted. After observing and admiring them for some time, he happened to cast his eyes over the chamber-door, where hung a portrait of the stranger. The Venetian looked upon it, and then upon him. "This is your portrait, sir,' said he to Signor Gualdi. The other made no answer but by a low bow. 'Yet you look,' he continued, 'like a man of fifty; and I know this picture to be of the hand of Titian, who has been dead one hundred and thirty years. How is this possible?' 'It is not easy,' said Signor Gualdi, gravely, 'to know all things that are possible; but there is certainly no crime in my being like a picture of Titian's.' The Vene. tian perceived that he had given offence, and took his leave.

"In the evening he could not forbear mentioning what had passed to some of his friends, who resolved to satisfy themselves the next day by seeing the picture. For this purpose they went to the coffee-house about the time that Signor Gualdi was accustomed to come there; and, not meeting with him, inquired at his lodgings, where they learnt that he had set out an hour before for Vienna. This affair made a great stir at the time.

(86) A Frenchman of high rank, who had been robbed at Venice and had complained in conversation of the negligence of the police, saying that they were vigilant only as spies on the stranger, was on his way back to the Terra Firma, when his gondola stopped suddenly in the midst of the waves. He inquired the reason; and his gondoliers pointed to a boat with a red flag, that had just made them a signal. It arrived; and he was called on board. "You are the Prince de Craon? Were you not robbed on Friday evening?" "I was."-"Of what?" "Of five hundred ducats." -"And where were they?"— "In a green purse."-" Do you suspect anybody?"-"I do, a servant." "Would you know him again?"-"Certainly." The interrogator with his foot turned aside an old cloak that lay there; and the prince beheld his purse in the hand of a dead man. "Taks it; and remember that none set their feet again in a country where they have presumed to doubt the wisdom of the government."

(87) Une magistrature terrible, says Montesquieu, une magistrature établie pour venger les crimes qu'elle soupçonne. Of the terror which it inspired he could speak from experience, if we may believe one of his contemporaries. In Italy, says Diderot, he became acquainted with Lord Chesterfield, and they travelled on together, disputing all the way; each asserting and maintaining as for his life the intellectual superiority of his countrymen; till at length they came to Venice, where Montesquieu was prosecuting his researches with an ardor all his own, when he received a visit from a stranger, -a Frenchman in a rusty garb, who thus addressed him: "You must wonder at my intrusion, sir; but, when the life of a countryman is in danger, I cannot remain silent, cost me what it may. In this city many a man has gone to his grave for one inconsiderate word, and you have uttered a thousand. Nor is it unknown to the government that you write; and before the sun goes down- -But I have said more than enough; and may it not be too late! Good-morning to you, sir. All I beg of you in return is, that, if you see me again under any circumstances, you will not discover that you have seen me before."

The president, in the greatest consternation, prepared for instant flight, and had already committed his papers to the flames, when Chesterfield appeared and began to reason with him on the subject.

"What could be his motive? Friendship?"-"He did not know me."-" Money?"— 'He asked for none."-"And all, then, for nothing; when, if detected, he would be strangled on the spot! No, no, my friend. He was sent, you may rest assured; and what would you say, but let me reflect a little, -and what would you say, if you were indebted for this visit to an Englishman, a fellow-traveller of yours, to convince you by