VICENZA. 



813 



himself, who, in point of time, preceded all the 

 great dramatic poets of Spain, Italy, France and 

 England, stood alone in that age; and his fame was 

 not confined to his own country. Erasmus is said 

 to have studied Portuguese for the sake of being 

 able to read his comedies. His pieces have all the 

 faults which are inseparable from first essays ; but 

 his rude sketches are pervaded by a truly poetical 

 spirit, vigour and richness of invention, truth of 

 nature, ease of style, and harmony of versification, 

 notwithstanding the antiquated structure of the 

 verse, and the obsolete language. The Portuguese 

 and Spanish languages are often intermixed with 

 each other in these pieces, particularly in his autos. 

 Vicente died at Evora, in 1557. His works, in 

 five books, appeared at Lisbon, edited by his son 

 Luis, in 1562, fol. (1586, 4to., and often reprinted). 

 Of his autos, or religious pieces, there are sixteen ; 

 and several of these were printed as early as his 

 seventeenth year. The most celebrated of his tragi- 

 comedies is Dom Duardes. Among his comedies, 

 taken mostly from old tales, the Judge of Beyra 

 and the Portuguese Fidalgo are the best. His 

 farces, of which there are eleven contained in the 

 collection above referred to, are witty, lively and 

 natural, and in many respects resemble the Spanish 

 interludes of a later period. 



VICENZA, ARMAND AUGUSTIN Louis DE CAU- 

 LAINCOURT, duke de, lieutenant-general, born at 

 Caulaincourt, in 1773, distinguished himself during 

 the French revolution, both in diplomatic and mili- 

 tary capacities, for his integrity, courage, fidelity 

 and address, under the most difficult circumstances. 

 He served in the army from the fifteenth year of 

 his age, but, on the breaking out of the revolution, 

 lost his post of staff-officer, and was for some time 

 confined in prison. He then served (1792) as a 

 grenadier, and afterwards as a mounted chasseur, 

 but, in 1795, was restored, by the influence of 

 Hoche, to his former rank of captain. Caulain- 

 court served with reputation in Italy, and began his 

 diplomatic career at Constantinople, whither he ac- 

 companied general Dubayet. In 1801, he was sent 

 on a diplomatic mission to the emperor Alexander, 

 who always manifested esteem for him, and con- 

 fidence in him. In 1804, Caulaincourt was named 

 grand ecuyer, and, about this time, was stationed 

 on the Rhine, where he was employed in counter- 

 acting the intrigues of the British agents, and 

 particularly the British minister at Munich, against 

 the life of the first consul. With the capture and 

 execution of the duke d'Enghien, it has been fully 

 proved that he had nothing to do. In 1805, he 

 was made general of division, and received the 

 grand cross of the legion of honour, with the title 

 of duke of Vicenza. He afterwards obtained vari- 

 ous orders of knighthood from Bavaria, Saxony, 

 Prussia, Russia and Austria, and was sent ambas- 

 sador to St Petersburg, when Napoleon was carry- 

 ing on his plans against Austria. After the fall of 

 Prussia and the treaty of Tilsit, he was four years 

 ambassador at the Russian court, and received from 

 the emperor the cross of the order of St Anne, of 

 the first class. He requested his recall on the pre- 

 text of ill health, but, in reality, because he met 

 with various mortifications from the Russian nobi- 

 lity, who were jealous of his favour with Alexander. 

 After returning to France in 1811, he accompanied 

 Napoleon on his unfortunate expedition to Russia 

 in 1812, which he had firmly opposed, and returned 

 with him in a sleigh, after nearly perishing with 

 cold. During fourteen days, Caulaincourt did not 



leave the emperor's side. In the campaign of 1813, 

 Caulaincourt was appointed to negotiate with the 

 Russian and Prussian plenipotentiaries, after the 

 desperate battles of Liitzen and Bautzen ; and an 

 armistice was the consequence. That armistice 

 was soon broken, and only served to prepare the 

 way for the victory over Napoleon at Leipsic. 

 After hostilities had been removed from Germany 

 to France, Caulaincourt, who had been named 

 minister for foreign affairs, was sent to negotiate 

 with the allies at Chatillon ; but, on some success 

 of Napoleon, he received orders to raise his claims 

 so high, that the allies broke off the conferences, 

 and marched to Paris. When Napoleon abdicated 

 at Fontainebleau, the duke of Vicenza was the 

 chief negotiator on his part, and signed the treaty 

 of the llth of April, between the ex-emperor and 

 the allies. He continued to follow his master until 

 his departure from Fontainebleau, on the 20th of 

 April, and afterwards retired to his estate. Dur- 

 ing the hundred days, he held the portfolio of 

 foreign affairs, and, April 4, 1815, issued the cele- 

 brated circular to the foreign cabinets, declaring the 

 pacific intentions of Napoleon. After the second 

 abdication of the emperor, the duke of Vicenza 

 took an active part as member of the regency; but 

 the return of the king terminated his public career. 

 He passed the rest of his life alternately at Paris 

 and on his estate, occupied with the education of 

 his children, and died in 1828. 



VICENZA, the principal town of a province or 

 delegation of the same name in the Lombardo- Ve- 

 netian kingdom, lies in a beautiful and fertile plain 

 on the Bachiglione, which is here navigable, re- 

 ceives the little stream Recone, and divides the 

 town into two parts, connected by four bridges ; 

 Ion. 11 33' E. ; lat. 45 32' N. ; thirty-five miles 

 north-west of Venice ; population, 29,000. It con- 

 tains an old castle, twenty-two churches, and thirty- 

 three oratories, seven colleges, and twenty-seven 

 hospitals and charitable institutions. It is sur- 

 rounded by a double wall, about five miles in cir- 

 cuit, with six gates. The streets are for the most 

 part narrow and crooked; but there are many 

 handsome buildings here ; and, indeed, Vicenza is, 

 in respect to its architecture, the most remarkable 

 city of Upper Italy, being adorned with the works 

 of the celebrated Palladio, who was born here. 

 Besides the basilica, we may mention, 1. The town- 

 house (palazzo della ragione}, situated upon the 

 market-place, a handsome square adorned with co- 

 lumns. This building is entirely of marble, and is 

 unique of its kind. The whole lower story con- 

 sists of arcades, and the upper story, which is like- 

 wise surrounded by a gallery of arcades, is adorned 

 with statues, bass-reliefs and cornices. 2. The 

 Olympic theatre is a beautiful building, in the erec- 

 tion of which Palladio not only imitated, but sur- 

 passed the ancients, although it is built only of 

 wood. The seats rise one above another in a 

 semicircle, and are adorned with statues of the 

 Roman emperors. 3. The triumphal arches. One 

 of these is at the entrance of the Campus Martius, 

 a beautiful promenade ; and the other, at the gate 

 Del Monte, forms the entrance to a stairway of 195 

 marble steps, leading to the celebrated Servite 

 monastery, called Madonna di Monte Berico, situ- 

 ated upon a hill, which commands a most delightful 

 view. 4. The palace Valmarana. The architects 

 Scamozzi, Otho Calderari, and others, were also 

 natives of Vicenza, and contributed to adorn the 

 city with their works. In most of the churches 



