[Footnote L: Why no truly ma'am, not much.]
[Footnote M: Oh, God forbid--no, I cannot endure those Italians.]
[Footnote N: Why, really, the Italians have such a passion for murdering
each other, ma'am, and the English such an odd delight in killing
themselves, that I, who have acquired no taste for such agreeable
amusements, grow somewhat impatient to return to Paris, and get a good
laugh among my old acquaintance.]
The Lucrezia Padovana, who has a monument erected here in this justice
hall to her memory, is the only instance of self-murder I have been told
yet; and her's was a very glorious one, and necessary to the
preservation of her honour, which was endangered by the magistrate, who
made that the barter for her husband's life, in defence of which she was
pleading; much like the story of Isabella, Angelo, and Claudio, in
Shakespear's Measure for Measure. This lady, whole family name I have
forgotten, stabbed herself in presence of the monster who reduced her to
such necessity, and by that means preserved her husband's life, by
suddenly converting the heart of her hateful lover, who from that
dreadful day devoted himself to penitence and prayer.
The chastity of the Patavian ladies is celebrated by some old Latin
poet, but I cannot recollect which. Lucrezia, however, was a Christian.
I could not much regard the monument of Livy though, for looking at
her's, which attracted and detained my attention more particularly.
The University of Padua is a noble institution; and those who have
excelled among the students, are recorded on tablets, for the most part
brass, hung round the walls, made venerable by their arms and
characters. It was pleasing to see so many British names among
them--Scotchmen for the most part; though I enquired in vain for the
admirable Crichton. Sir Richard Blackmore was there, but not one native
of France. We were spiteful enough to fancy, that was the reason that
Abbè Richard says nothing of the establishment.
Besides the civilities shewn us here by Mr. Bonaldi and his agreeable
lady, Signora Annetta, we were recommended by letters from the Venetian
resident at Milan, to Abate Toaldo, professor of astronomy; who wished
to do all in his power to oblige and entertain us. His observatory is a
good one; but the learned amiable scholar, who resides in the first
floor of it, complained to us that he was sickly, old, and poor; three
bad qualifications, as he observed, for the amusement of travellers, who
commonly arrive hungry for novelty, and thirsty for information. His
quadrant was very fine, the planetarium or orrery quite out of repair;
and his references of course were obliged to be made to a sort of map or
chart of the heavenly bodies (a solar system at least with comets) that
hung up in his room as a substitute. He had little reverence for the
petrefactions of Monte Bolca I perceived, which he considered as mere
_lufus naturæ_. He shewed me poor Petrarch's tomb from his observatory,
bid me look on Sir Isaac's full-length picture in the room, and said,
the world would see no more such men. Of our Maskelyne, however, no man
could speak with more esteem, or expressions of generous friendship. His
sitting chamber was a pleasant one; and I should not have left it so
soon, but in compassion to his health, which our company was more likely
to injure than assist. He asked me, if I did not find _Padua la dotta_ a
very stinking nasty town? but added, that literature and dirt had long
been intimately acquainted, and that this city was commonly called among
the Italians, _"Porcil de Padua," Padua the pig-stye._
Fire is supposed to be the greatest purifier, and Padua has gone through
that operation twice completely, being burned the first time by Attila;
after which, Narses the famous eunuch rebuilt and settled it in the year
558, if my information is good: but after her protector's death, the
Longobards burned her again, and she lay in ashes till Charlemagne
restored her to more than original beauty. Under Otho she, like many
other cities of Italy, was governed by her own laws, and remained a
republic till the year 1237, when she received the German yoke,
afterwards broken by the Scaligers; nor was their treacherous
assassination followed by less than the loss both of Verona and this
city, which was found in possession of the Emperor Maximilian some years
after: but when the State of Venice recovered their dominion over it in
1409, they fortified it so strongly that the confederate princes united
in the league of Cambray assaulted it in vain.
Santa Giustina's church is the most beautiful place of worship I have
ever yet seen; so regularly, so uniformly noble, uncrowded with figures
too: the entrance strikes you with its simple grandeur, while the small
chapels to the right and left hand are kept back behind a colonade of
pillars, and do not distract attention and create confusion of ideas,
as do the numerous cupolas of St. Anthony's more magnificent but less
pleasing structure. The high altar here at Santa Giustina's church
stands at the end, and greatly increases the effect on entering, which
always suffers when the length is broken. Nothing, however, is to be
perfect in this world, and Paul Veronese's fine view of the suffering
martyr has not size enough for the place; and is beside crowded with
small unconsequential figures, which cannot be distinguished at a
distance. Some carvings round the altar, representing, in wooden
bas-reliefs, the history of the Old and New Testament, are admirable in
their kind; and I am told that the organ on which Bertoni, a blind
nephew of Ferdinand, our well-known composer, played to entertain us, is
one of the first in Italy: but an ordinary instrument would have charmed
us had he touched it.
I must not leave the Terra Firma, as they call it, without mentioning
once more some of the animals it produces; among which the asses are so
justly renowned for their size and beauty, that _come un afino di Padua_
is proverbial when speaking of strength among the Italians: how should
it be otherwise indeed, where every herb and every shrub breathes
fragrance; and where the quantity as well as quality of their food
naturally so increases their milk, that I should think some of them.
might yield as much as an ordinary cow?
When I was at Genoa, I remember remarking something like this to Doctor
Batt, an English physician settled there; and expressed my surprise that
our consumptive country-folks, with whom the Italians never cease to
reproach us, do not, when they come here for health, rely much on the
beneficial produce of these asses for a cure; which, if it is hastened
by their assistance in our island, must surely be performed much quicker
in this. The answer would have been better recollected, I fancy, had it
appeared to me more satisfactory; but he knew what he was talking of,
and I did not; so conclude he despised me accordingly.
The Carinthian bulls too, that do all the heavy work in this rich and
heavy land, how wonderfully handsome they are! Such symmetry and beauty
have I never seen in any cattle, scarcely in those of Derbyshire, where
so much attention has been bestowed upon their breeding. The colour
here is so elegant; they are almost all blue roans, like Lord
Grosvenor's horses in London, or those of the Duke of Cestos at Milan:
the horns longer, and much more finely shaped, than those of our bulls,
and white as polished ivory, tapering off to a point, with a bright
black tip at the end, resembling an ermine's tail. As this creature is
not a native, but only a neighbour of Italy, we will say no more about
him.
A transplanted Hollander, carried thither originally from China, seems
to thrive particularly well in this part of the world; the little pug
dog, or Dutch mastiff, which our English ladies were once so fond of,
that poor Garrick thought it worth his while to ridicule them for it in
the famous dramatic satire called Lethe, has quitted London for Padua, I
perceive; where he is restored happily to his former honours, and every
carriage I meet here has a _pug_ in it. That breed of dogs is now so
near extirpated among us, that I recoiled: only Lord Penryn who
possesses such an animal; and I doubt not but many of the under-classes
among brutes do in the same manner extinguish and revive by chance,
caprice, or accident perpetually, through many tracts of the inhabited
world, so as to remain out of sight in certain districts for centuries
together.
This town, as Abbé Toaldo observed, is old, and dirty, and
melancholy-looking, _in itself_; but Terence told us long ago, and
truly, "that it was not the walls, but the company, made every place
delightful:" and these inhabitants, though few in number, are so
exceedingly cheerful, so charming, their language is so mellifluous,
their manners so soothing, I can scarcely bear to leave them without
tears.
Verona was the first place I felt reluctance to quit; but the Venetian
state certainly possesses uncommon, and to me almost unaccountable,
attractions. Be that as it will, we leave these sweet Paduans to-morrow;
the coach is disposed of, and we are to set out upon our watry journey
to their wonderfully-situated metropolis, or as they call it prettily,
_La Bella Dominante_.