3^ M I s s o n’s Tfavels through the . . Book F 
Offa Lucii in. Roma pulfus ifividia. i. e. 
^he Remains of Lucius III. envioujly driven from Rome. 
The Church of Sr. Zeno at Verona acknowledges Pe- 
pin the Son of Charlemagne for its Founder ; it has 
mofl: wretched Carving on the Frontifpiece. On the 
Portal I took Notice of two Birds that, I fuppofe, were 
made for Cocks, holding between them a Creature with 
a long Tail, intended perhaps for a Fox, by which, 
fome believe, is reprefented Pepin and Charlemagne, (two 
Frenchmen ) who difpoffefs’d Didier King of the Lom- 
bards. On the fame Portal is another Hieroglyphick, 
viz. a Man on Florfeback in bajfo relievo, over whom 
the following three Verfes are engraved, in hajf Roman 
and half Go thick Gharaders : 
O Regem dultum, petit infernale tributum, 
Fioxque paratur equus, quern mijit Daemon iniquus. 
Exit aqu^ nudus, petit infera non reditufus. 
But though we guefs’d at the Rebus of the Cocks and 
Fox, yet I muft Own I could not meet with any Body 
that could give me an Interpretation of this Devil’s 
Horfe. Near the Church of St. Mary the Old you fee 
many magnificent Tombs of the Scaligers, who were 
Princes of Verona before this City was forc’d to fubmit 
to the Venetians, and from whom the learned Julius 
and Jofeph Scaligers pretended to derive themfelves. 
The Cabinet of Count Mafcardo, confifting of a 
Gallery and fix Chambers full of Pidures, Books, 
Rings, Animals, Plants, Metals, monftrous or extra- 
vagant Produdions of Nature, and the moft exquifite 
Pieces of Art, is fo admirable, and their Number fo 
great, that even a Catalogue of them would fill a good 
Volume however, I can’t forbear to mention fome of 
them, not fpoken of before : It has many Inftruments 
and Utenfils ufed in the Sacrifices, and divers 
Figures of Brafs, which they ufed to hang up in their 
Temples in Remembrance of fome fignal Deliverance ; 
divers Pieces of Workmanfhip out of the Stone Ami- 
anthos,' or the AJhelios, fpun into Thread like Cotton. 
Here I obferv’d alfo many of thofe Parts of Trees ufed 
among the Ancients before the in venting of Paper •, two 
Trees of black Coral three Foot high each ; a Hen’s Egg 
of this Figure (zn) •, a Circumcifion Knife, ufed by the 
Jews to thofe Children that died before the eighth Day. 
We faw a very fingular Funeral at Verona, the Body 
being dreft all in Black, with a white Linen Cloak, a 
fine Perriwig upon the Head, and a Hat adorn’d with 
a Garland of Flowers, was thus laid upon a Quilt, 
with a Counterpane of flower’d Silk yellow and red, 
and a Pillow of the fame Stuff. It was carried thus 
open by four Men thro* the Streets, the Company 
following two by two, and fuch as were never married 
wearing Garlands, in Imitation of the Ancients, who 
had their Corona Pudicitia, or Garland of Chafiity. 
One Mr. Mantel, a French Merchant living at Verona, 
and fince in London, gave me an Account of a Pro- 
■ceffion he had often feen, which I can’t but give you ; 
the Story runs thus. 
Jefus Chrifi having a Compaffion for the Afs he 
made his Entrance upon into Jerufalem, gave her a 
Key to the Fields, where flie was to feed quietly all 
her Life-time after ; but the Afsy it feems, being ti- 
red with her own Country Pafture, had a Mind to try 
thofe of foreign Countries, and coming to the Sea, the 
Waves became fmooth and folid, fo that with little 
trouble fhe.vifited the Ifles of Cyprus, Rhodes, Candia, 
Maltha and Sicily, and thence coming to the Gulph 
of Venice, flaid for fome Time in the fame Place where 
Venice was built fin'ce ; but finding the Air not very 
healthy, and the Marfhy Paftures not fweet enough 
for her Palate, fhe march’d up the River Adige to Ve- 
rona, where fhe liv’d and ended her Days. This you 
obferve is the Legend ; now for the Proceffion. 
To preferve the Memory of this renown’d Afs, they 
have put his Relicks into the Belly of an artificial Afs, 
which is kept in the Church of Noflre Dame of the 
'X)r^ans, and which is carried two or three Times every 
Year, by four of the ftrongefl; Monks of the Conveht, 
in Pontifical Habits, in Proceffion round the City! 
This I believe is more than was ever done in Arcadia^ 
where they had a fingular Veneration for this Animal! 
and may be juftly ftiled the Proceffion of Affes. * 
I have juft now made a fecond Vifit to the Cabin of 
the Count Mofcardo \ and the obliging Perfon who 
received me was pleafed with my Curiofity, inftead of , 
looking upon it as a Trouble. He aflured me that he i, 
never thought any Part of his Time fo agreeably em- ' i 
ployed, as that which he fpent in ffiewing his Curio- ■ ' 
Pities to thofe who love them, and that he was extream- ' ■ 
ly pleafed he could entertain me alone without being ' 
difturbed by the Crowd, which for feveral Reafons he 
Paid, made him always very uneafy. We began im- T'ii 
mediately to take another View of many Rarities and . ■ 
Curiofities, and I found him more communicative than '' 
the firft time I faw him, for he talk’d very much^ all ^ 
he laid fhewing a great Deal of Knowledge and Li- ^ I 
terature. We fell upon Drawers of precious Stones, ' f 
and he Ihewed me very fine Amethyfts, and quoted fe- ' \ 
yeral Authors, who affirm that Jofeph prefehted one fee 1 
in a Ring to the Virgin, when he efpoufed her ; and when f 
I was looking upon the Sapphires, he cited a Palfage of ! 
St. Epiphanius, who believed that God 5 wrote the Deca- . ] 
logue upon a Sapphire. The Virtues that are aferibed to ( 
thofe and other Stones, furniffied us with Matter for 
a new Converfation. He has a confiderable Number of. i i 
the Stones which he calls Saette, Fulmini, Pietre' eerau- 1 
nei, and Thunderbolts. This is a Matter of Fa£t, that. v 
if true, deferves to be examin’d, and perhaps I may ' 
another Time give you a more pofitive Account relating, 
to this Subjedl. ' 
But at prefent I muft make haftc to finifli my Letter, 
I took Notice of fome Mirrors of mix’d Metal that 
were dug up near Verona, and are probably very an- 
cient. The Ufe of Mirrors made of Glafs, is an Inven- 
tion that one may reckon amongft thofe that are new ; 
but thofe that have written, without any Manner of 
Diftindtion, that Mirrors in general were unknown to 
the Ancients, are fallen into a grofs Miftake, for both 
facred and profane Books make frequent Mention of 
them. Among the great Variety of Coins that are to be 
feen in the Cabinet, there are fome of Leather, but fo 
disfigur’d, that I could not make any certain Judgment 
of them. I remember the obliging and learned Mr. 
Hearne, one of the Keepers of the famous Bodleian Li- 
brary at Oxford, has fliewn me one which was better 
preferved in the Cabinet of the Schola Academica, of 
which Cabinet he has the Care and Management. No 
Man is ignorant of the Ufe that has been made of 
this Sort of Money at feveral Times, and on different 
Occafions. 
2 . As we travel’d from Verona to Vicenza, we found the . ' 
Country very fertile, well cultivated, and generally le- 
vel : Their Trees they plant here Lozenge-wife, on 
which they raife their Vines. We dined at the little ' ■ 
Village La Torre, the Boundary betwixt the Veronefe and 
Vincentin Territories : Their Wines are fulfome and 
fweet ; their Bread, tho’ made of excellent and very 
white Flower, is as heavy as a Lump of Earth, for 
Want of good Management •, and the reft of our Din- 
ner was only a Difli of grey Peafe fry’d in Oil, a Thing 
furprizing enough in fo plentiful a Country, when we 
had better Fare among the Mountains. 
Vicenza is fcarce half fo big as Verona, and but flen- 
derly fortified with an old Wall. There are four Ri- 
vulets meet near it, but none are navigable. Among 
their Churches, the Coronata is finely paved and wain- 
fcotted ; and that of the Religious of St. Catherine is re- 
markable for three very fine Altars, as the Cathedral is 
for divers good Pidures. Their Town-houfe, though 
much boafted of by the Italians, is but an indifferent 
Strudure, as indeed are many others, which pafs among 
them for mighty magnificent Buildings, there being 
nothing more natural to the Italians.^ than to be laviffi 
in their Titles, whence they give frequently the Name 
of a Palace to thofe Strudures that would fc^irce pafs 
for a handfome Seat in other Parts ; as they often ftile 
that a Chamber of Audience, which in England they call 
a 
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