we were detained at venice several days longer than we intended, by excessive falls of rain, which rendered the road to verona impassable. relinquishing, therefore, the thoughts of visiting that city for the present, the d—— determined to go to ferrara by water. for this purpose i engaged two barks; in one of which the chaises, baggage, and some of the servants, proceeded directly to ferrara, while we embarked in the other for padua.
having crossed the lagune, we entered the brenta, but could continue our route by that river no farther than the village of doglio, where there is a bridge; but the waters were so much swelled by the late rains, that there was not room for our boat to pass below the arch. quitting[263] the boat, therefore, till our return, we hired two open chaises, and continued our journey along the banks of the brenta to padua.
both sides of this river display gay, luxuriant scenes of magnificence and fertility, being ornamented by a great variety of beautiful villas, the works of palladio and his disciples. the verdure of the meadows and gardens here is not surpassed by that of england.
the venetian nobility, i am told, live with less restraint, and entertain their friends with greater freedom, at their villas, than at their palaces in town. it is natural to suppose, that a venetian must feel peculiar satisfaction when his affairs permit him to enjoy the exhilarating view of green fields, and to breathe the free air of the country,
as one who long in populous city pent,
where houses thick, and sewers, annoy the air,
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forth issuing on a summer’s morn, to breathe
among the pleasant villages and farms
adjoin’d, from each thing met conceives delight.
the smell of grain, or tedded grass, or kine,
or dairy; each rural sight, each rural sound.
i confess, for my own part, i never felt the beauty of those lines of milton with greater sensibility, than when i passed through the charming country which is watered by the brenta, after having been pent up in the terraqueous town of venice. as one reason which induced his grace to visit padua at this time was, that he might pay his duty to his r—— h—— the d—— of g——, we waited on that prince as soon as we had his permission. his r—— h—— has been here for some time with his d——ss. he was very ill at venice, and has been advised to remove to this place for the benefit of the air. it is with much satisfaction i add, that he is now out of danger, a piece of intelligence with which you will have it in your power[265] to give pleasure to many people in england.
no city in the world has less affinity with the country than venice, and few can have more than padua; for great part of the circuit within the walls is unbuilt, and the town in general so thinly inhabited, that grass is seen in many places in the interstices of the stones with which the streets are paved. the houses are built on porticoes, which, when the town was well inhabited, and in a flourishing condition, may have had a magnificent appearance; but, in its present state, they rather give it a greater air of melancholy and of gloom.
the franciscan church, dedicated to st. antonio, the great patron of this city, was the place we were first led to by the cicerone of our inn. the body of this holy person is inclosed in a sarcophagus, under an altar in the middle of the chapel, and is said to emit a very agreeable and[266] refreshing flavour. pious catholics believe this to be the natural effluvia of the saint’s body; while heretics assert, that the perfume (for a perfume there certainly is) proceeds from certain balsams rubbed on the marble every morning, before the votaries come to pay their devotions. i never presume to give an opinion on contested points of this kind; but i may be allowed to say, that if this sweet odour really proceeds from the holy franciscan, he emits a very different smell from any of the brethren of that order whom i ever had an opportunity of approaching.
the walls of this church are covered with votive offerings of ears, eyes, arms, legs, noses, and every part almost of the human body, in token of cures performed by this saint; for whatever part has been the seat of the disease, a representation of it is hung up in silver or gold, according to the gratitude and wealth of the patient.
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at a small distance from this church is a place called the school of st. antonio. here many of the actions of the saint are painted in fresco; some of them by titian. many miracles of a very extraordinary nature are here recorded. i observed one in particular, which, if often repeated, might endanger the peace of families. the saint thought proper to loosen the tongue of a new-born child, and endue it with the faculty of speech; on which the infant, with an imprudence natural to its age, declared, in an audible voice, before a large company, who was its real father. the miracles attributed to this celebrated saint greatly exceed in number those recorded by the evangelists of our saviour; and although it is not asserted, that st. antonio has as yet raised himself from the dead, yet his admirers here record things of him which are almost equivalent. when an impious turk had secretly placed fireworks under the chapel,[268] with an intention to blow it up, they affirm, that st. antonio hallooed three times from his marble coffin, which terrified the infidel, and discovered the plot. this miracle is the more miraculous, as the saint’s tongue was cut out, and is actually preserved in a chrystal vessel, and shewn as a precious relic to all who have a curiosity to see it. i started this as a difficulty which seemed to bear a little against the authenticity of the miracle; and the ingenious person to whom the objection was made, seemed at first somewhat nonplussed; but, after recollecting himself, he observed, that this, which at first seemed an objection, was really a confirmation of the fact; for the saint was not said to have spoken, but only to have hallooed, which a man can do without a tongue; but if his tongue had not been cut out, added he, there is no reason to doubt that the saint would have revealed the turkish plot in plain articulate language.
from the tower of the franciscan church we had a very distinct view of the beautiful country which surrounds padua. all the objects, at a little distance, seemed delightful and flourishing; but every thing under our eyes indicated wretchedness and decay.
