Bologna 267 



it with his figure. It is a beast of no merit; — for what is ferocity 

 without humanity. — or courage without honour? — It wars only 

 to destroy; and spreads its wings not to protect, but to cover, 

 like the vulture of Mr. Sheridan, the prey that it devours. At 

 Ferrara, the Padrone's business stopped him a whole day; but 

 he pretended it was a want of oxen to draw the coaches, that 

 carried us ten miles by land, from canal to canal. This was not 

 amiss, for it enabled me to see everything in that towTi, which, 

 however, does not contain much. The new part — new is com- 

 parison with the rest — was built by Hercules II. Duke of Ferrara, 

 who has laid out, and distributed the streets, and a square, in a 

 manner that does honour to his memory. They are all of a fine 

 breadth, well paved, with troioirs of brick, ever}'where defended 

 by stone posts. I have seen no city so regularly laid out, except 

 Turin. The Palazzo of the Marchese de Villa is an object to 

 examine ; and at that spot there is a very advantageous view of 

 two noble streets. The Palazzo di Bentivoglio is another con- 

 siderable building, with a vast garden full of bad statues ; and 

 even some of footmen, with laced hats and shoulder-knots, in a 

 style fully as ridiculous as M. du Barre's at Toulouse. In the 

 cathedral, a fine Guercino ; and a marriage of Cana, by Bonona, 

 a Ferrarese painter, at the Chartreuse. I paid homage to the 

 tomb of Ariosto, a genius of the first lustre; since all modern 

 ages have produced but three distinguished epic poets, what a 

 glory to Italy to have given birth to two of them ! the wonder is 

 greater, however, that the third was not of the same country. 

 From Ferrara to the canal which leads to Bologna the road is, 

 without any idea of comparison, the worst in Europe that pre- 

 tends to be great and passable. It is the natural rich soil of a flat 

 wet country, rendered deeper by the late heavy rains; seven 

 horses drew a coach about a mile and a half an hour. Making 

 and mending are philosophical experiments not tried here ; and 

 the country being enclosed, the hedges and ditches confine the 

 carriages to poach through the mud of one direction, instead of 

 many. I walked most of it in the adjoining fields, the better to 

 examine them. Arrived at Bologna at twelve o'clock at night. — 

 125 miles. 



12th. Deliver letters. I found Signore Bignami at home. 

 He is a considerable merchant, who has attended to agriculture, 

 sensible and intelhgent. An English merchant, at the TJiree 

 Moors, informing me that Mr. Taylor, who was at Carlsruhe for 

 some time, was now settled at Bologna, I determined to wait on 

 him, being the gentleman of whose husbandry, at Bifrons in 



