out of the minds of the vulgar. That, however, which I take to be the principal motive among most of the Italians, for their favouring the Germans above the French, is this, that they are entirely persuaded it is for the interest of Italy to have Milan and Naples rather in the hands of the first than of the other. One may generally observe, that the body of a people has juster views for the public good, and pursues them with greater uprightness than the nobility and gentry, who have so many private expectations and particular interests, which hang like a false bias upon their judgments, and may possibly dispose them to sacrifice the good of their country to the advancement of their own fortunes; whereas the gross of the people can have no other prospect in changes and revolutions, than of public blessings that are to diffuse themselves through the whole state in general. To return to Milan: I shall here set down the description Ausonius has given of it, among the rest of his great cities. Et Mediolani mira omnia, copia rerum : Milan with plenty and with wealth o'erflows, A circus, and a theatre, invites And the whole town redoubled walls embrace; BRESCIA, VERONA, PADUA. FROM Milan we travelled through a very pleasant country to Brescia, and by the way crossed the river Adda, that falls into the Lago di Como, which Virgil calls the lake Larius, and running out at the other end, loses itself at last in the Po, which is the great receptacle of all the rivers of this country. The town and province of Brescia have freer access to the senate of Venice, and a quicker redress of injuries, than any other part of their dominions. They have always a mild and prudent governor, and live much more happily than their fellow-subjects; for as they were once a part of the Milanese, and are now on their frontiers, the Venetians dare not exasperate them, by the loads they lay on other provinces, for fear of a revolt; and are forced to treat them with much more indulgence than the Spaniards do their neighbours, that they may have no temptation to it. Brescia is famous for its iron works. A small day's journey more brought us to Verona. We saw the lake Benacus in our way, which the Italians now call Lago di Garda; it was so rough with tempests when we passed by it, that it brought into my mind Virgil's noble description of it: VOL. IV. D Adde lacus tantos, te Lari maxime, teque Here vex'd by winter storms Benacus raves, So loud the tempest roars, so high the billows rise. This lake perfectly resembles a sea, when it is worked up by storms. It is thirty-five miles in length, and twelve in breadth. At the lower end of it we crossed the Mincio. -Tardis ingens ubi flexibus errat Mincius, et tenerâ prætexit arundine ripas. VIRG. GEORG. iii. 14. Where the slow Mincius through the valley strays; Where cooling streams invite the flocks to drink, And reeds defend the winding water's brink. DRYDEN. The river Adige runs through Verona; so much is the situation of the town changed from what it was in Silius Italicus his time. Verona Athesi circumflua. Verona by the circling Adige bound. Lib. 8. This is the only great river in Lombardy that does not fall into the Po; which it must have done, had it run but a little farther before its entering the Adriatic. The rivers are all of them mentioned by Claudian. -Venetosque erectior amnes Magná voce ciet. Frondentibus humida ripis Sexto Cons. Hon. Venetia's rivers, summon'd all around, Her dropping locks the silver Tessin rears, From nine wide mouths comes gushing to his course. His Larius is doubtless an imitation of Virgil's Benacus. -Umbrosâ vestit qua littus olivá Larius, et dulci mentitur Nerea fiuctu. De Bel. Get. The Larius here, with groves of olives crown'd, I saw at Verona the famous amphitheatre, that with a few modern reparations has all the seats entire. There is something very noble in it, though the high wall and corridors that went round it are almost entirely ruined, and the area is quite filled up to the lower seat, which was formerly deep enough to let the spectators see in safety the combats of the wild beasts and gladiators. Since I have Claudian before me, I cannot forbear setting down the beautiful description he has made of a wild beast newly brought from the woods, and making its first appearance in a full amphitheatre. Ut fera, quæ montes nuper dimisit avitos, So rushes on his foe the grisly bear, In RUF. lib. 2. That, banish'd from the hills and bushy brakes, Bent on his knee the savage glares around, And the vast hissing multitude admires. There are some other antiquities in Verona, of which the principal is the ruin of a triumphal arch erected to Flaminius, where one sees old Doric pillars without any pedestal or basis, as Vitruvius has described them. I have not yet seen any gardens in Italy worth taking notice of. The Italians fall as short of the French in this particular, as they excel them in their palaces. It must however be said, to the honour of the Italians, that the French took from them the first plans of their gardens, as well as of their water works; so that their surpassing of them at present is to be attributed rather to the greatness of their riches, than the excellence of their taste. I saw the terrace-garden of Verona, that travellers generally mention. Among the churches of Verona, that of St. George is the handsomest its chief ornament is the martyrdom of the saint, drawn by Paul Veronese, as there are many other pictures about the town by the same hand. A stranger is always shown the tomb of Pope Lucius, who lies buried in the dome. I saw in the same church a monument erected by the public to one of their bishops: the inscription says, that there was between him and his maker, summa necessitudo, summa similitudo. The Italian epitaphs are often more extravagant than those of other countries, as the nation is more given to compliment and hyperbole. From Verona to Padua we travelled through a very pleasant country: it is planted thick with rows of white mulberry trees, that furnish food for great quantities of silk-worms with their leaves, : |