IUjLiagonzaga. 319 



dermis teeth of the dogs iii her haunches. It is highly- 

 probable, that, attended by a few of her moft trufty 

 fervants, fhe hid herfelf in fome covert, till they could 

 procure her a decent drefs, and convey her in fafety 

 to one of the fortrefTes in thofe parts. 



What Pierre de Bourdeille, lord of Brantome, re- 

 lates of her, that fhe fell into the hands of a vagabond 

 troop of banditti, and underwent from thefe what fhe 

 was in fear of from the Turks,, is confirmed by no con- 

 temporary author ; and has all the appearance of ar* 

 idle fiction. This writer does not even know her 

 name, and is ignorant of her being the widow of 

 Vefpafiano Colonna. He calls her Livia Gonzaga^ 

 wife of Afcanio Colonna, and fays : Mais le malheur 

 de la dame voulut, que, tombant de Scylle en Carybde, 

 vint a tomber en fe fauvant parmi les bandoliers et 

 forufcis du royaume, laquelle fut reconnue d'aucuns, 

 d'autres non, je vous laifle done a penfer, fi ce bon et 

 friand boucon, tornbe entre les mains et puirTance de 

 ees affamez, ne fut pas goufte et tafte a bon efcienlr ? 

 ainfi que plufieurs n'en doutent point, d'autres fi: 

 mais quelque ferment et execration qu'elie peut faire,. 

 n'en peut efrre creue: car volontiers une fi belle et 

 bonne viande ne f$auroit echapper impollue de telles 

 gens *. That he might give his tale a greater appear- 

 ance of truth, he adds, that he was himfelf en la ville 

 de Fondi aupres de Naples, and there learnt this fine 

 anecdote ; as if Fondi, which is at the di Ranee of 64 

 Italian miles from Naples, can be faid to lie near Na- 

 ples ; and as if the flory of fome menial fervant at 

 Fondi was more worthy of credit, than the terlimony 



* Me-noires contenant les vies des dames illullres. Difc. vi. p. 272. 



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