S4^ 
not be termed a magnificent Structure, but it is certainly 
a great Building and agreeably fituated, for from hence 
you have the Profpedt of Venice^ Murano^ Lido^ ‘1‘erra 
•Pirma^ and feveral Places in the Laguncs, without men- 
tioning the Walks and Gardens that belong to the 
Convent. In the Year 1497, a Spanijh .Ambaffador 
was fo charmed with the Beauties of this Place, that he 
refolved to fpend the Remainder of his Days in it : They 
made us take Notice of his Epitaph, which they told 
us was written by the famous Aldus Manutius. 
I will not trouble you with any Account of the other 
Tombs and Epitaphs that are to be feen in this Place ; 
but fince we are fo near the Glafs-houfes.of Murano^ I 
diall take this Occafion to make fome Remarks upon 
them. Murano is one of the largeft and moil agreeable 
Iflands ill the Lagunes, about a fhort Mile from Venice : 
It contains fifteen Churches, comprehending thofe of 
the Convents. There are fome fine Houfes in it, and 
a great many more Gardens proportionably than at Ve- 
nice, There is a Canal which runscrofs the Ifland, which 
is larger than the other Canals in the fame Place, and 
the famous Glafs-houfes which you have heard fo often 
mentioned, are feated on this Canal. You muft not 
imagine that there is any Thing at all extraordinary in 
thefe Buildings ; they are divided into feveral Lodgings, 
Halls, Warehoufes, Furnaces, ^Ac. as in other Places. 
Formerly, the Glafs called Venice Cryftal was the fined in 
Europe^ but at prefent it does not merit that Title, not 
that it is coarfer than before, but becaufe they have 
found the Secret in other Places to make Glafs at lead 
as fine as that of Venice. Mr. de S. Didier writes, that 
he heard a Mader of a Glafs-houfe at Venice offer an 
hundred thoufand Franks to any Man that would teach 
him the Secret of making Glafs as white as that of a 
Cup that was brought from Paris *, and one of my 
Friends aflured me, that a few Years ago having car- 
ried a Vial of the fined Crydal of Murano to London^ 
the Workmen there were fo far from looking upon it 
as extraordinary or inimitable, that they faid they could, 
and fometimes did, make finer Work. The Skill they 
have acquired in other Countries, and the Manufadlures 
they have eredted, have almod ruined the Trade of 
Murano. Their whited and pured Glafs is made of cer- 
tain Stones that are found in JeJina^.xhQ Alhes of feveral 
Herbs that arc found in the Country about Tripoli in 
Barhary, and the other ufual Ingredients ; they make 
it alfo of certain Stones that they found in the Adige., 
and the Sand that is gathered on the Shore of the Gulph 
on the Dalmatian Side : But this is only for common 
Glafs. The Glafs-makers of Murano dile themfelves 
Gentlemen, fince they were enobled by Henry III. who 
had the Curiofity to fee them at Work when he paffed 
through Venice, and they enjoy all the Privileges of the 
Citadinance. 
But let us return to our Churches. I will not lofe Time 
in defcribing that which bears the Name of St. Nicholas 
of the Lettice, which was founded by the famous Nicho- 
las Leono, on Occafion of his being cured by the fandli- 
fied Lettices that were lent to him by the Monks. Nor 
that of St. Maria Coslelfis, which took its Name from 
an Image that fell from Heaven, and is enriched with 
a precious Leg of St. Lawrence, which ferves to extinguifh 
Fire ; nor will I trouble you with an Account of Jonas^s 
Head, which is kept at St. Apollinaris*?, •, nor of St.Claras^s 
Nail I nor of the Coif at St. Lawrence^ s . ; nor of other Ra- 
rities of the fame Nature, which perhaps you would look 
upon as Trifles. Sandia Maria Gloriofa is another of the 
principal Chuches in Venice-, it is large and very 
much embellifh*d with divers Ornaments. They pre- 
tend that the Seraphick St. Francis, in proper Perfon, 
mark’d the Place where it fhould be built. ^ I fpent two 
whole Afternoons in viewing and decyphering the Epi- 
taphs that were to be feen in it, but I only tranfcribed 
two of them ; one of a Woman, which is the only 
Monument of that Kind I obferved there *, and the other 
of a Doge, who is made to fpeak his own Elegy. It is 
Francis Fofcari who was depofed, or rather remov’d 
from his Seat of Authority and Power to that of a pri- 
vate Perfon, in the 84th Year of his Age, as not being 
capable of performing longer any Funftion belonging 
to his Ducal Office, in which he had honourably acquit- 
Book II. 
ted himfelf for the Space of thirty four Years. In all 
States they depofe their Princes when they become trai- 
terous to their Country, and declare themfelves Enemies 
inftead of nurfing Fathers and Protediors of it, accor- 
ding to natural Equity, and the folemn Oath they are 
obliged to take on Day the of their Inftalment. They 
depofe alfo Fools and Madmen, fuch as Alphonfo od Por- 
tugal, Uncle to the prefent King 5 and when they fail 
into an irrecoverable State of Infirmity, why fhould they 
not exhort them to make an honourable Refignation of 
their Power ? Does a General of an Army that grows old 
and infirm, make any Scruple of refigning his Poft to 
another .? I fhall take this Occafion to obferve, that by 
the Epitaphs I have feen in this Place, 1 find that a con- 
fiderable Number of the Perfons on whom they are 
written, died above 80 Years old ; a Sign that the Air 
of Venice is not fo bad as is commonly reported. 
I liked much the greater Altar of St. Juftina’s, 
with the Tabernacle ; the devout Adorers of that Saint 
are always careful to vifit the Stone where fhe left the 
Print of her Knees when fhe faid her laft Prayer before 
her Martyrdom, as the Story is related in an Infcription 
beneath the Stone. Thofe who chufe the huge St. 
Chrijlopher for their Patron, have an extraordinary Ve- 
neration for a Statue of that Saint, which is to be feen in 
the Church of St. Maria del Horto, on the great Altar,* 
It was made by an excellent Sculptor, according to the 
Proportion of a Bone of the Original, which was here- 
tofore brought from England by a very curious Perfon, 
who was a nice Judge of Relicks •, fo that a devout 
Speftator has the Pleafure to behold the exadl Dimen- 
tions of that Saint ; and this Confideration has fo en- 
hanced the Value of the Statue, that thofe who have 
moft Experience in Affairs of this Nature, are confi- 
dent that it will quickly begin to work Miracles. I 
could eafily reckon up a vaft Number of fine Paintings 
with which the Churches are adorn’d, but I know not 
whether you would have the Patience to read fuch a dry 
Catalogue, nor will I undertake to give you an Account 
of thofe half facred Places, which are here called Scuole ; 
thefe are publick Edifices divided into Chapels, Halls, 
Chambers, and Lodgings, which belong to Fraternities 
of Monks, or fome other particular Societies. I have 
feen at leaft thirty five of them, and I doubt not but 
that there are more. Among the reft there are fix 
called Scuole grandi, which are embellifhed with fo much 
Art and Coft, that they may vie with the fineft Churches 
both in the Richnefs and Beauty of their Ornaments. 
In many Churches and Fraternities, there are annual 
Funds eftablifhed to raife Portions and procure com- 
fortable Matches /or poor Maids ; and generally over 
all Italy Care is taken by fuch charitable Foundations to 
provide for the Neceffitles of the Sex. After I have 
given you my Obfervations on the Chriftian Churches, 
you will perhaps expedl an. Account of the Jewijh Sy- 
nagogues ; but all that I can fay on this Subjeft is, that 
there are feven of them, and that the beft of the feven 
is not near fo fine as the Portuguefe Synagogue in 
London. If we give Credit to the vulgar Computation, 
there are about two thoufand Jews at Venice ; fome of 
them are Rich, but few in Comparifon to the Poor. 
They' are obliged to wear red Hats ; but I find by 
Martinelli in his Ritratto, that they may be exempt 
from that difagrceable Diftindlion by paying a fmall 
Sum of Money. They have a Sort of Court that de- 
termines petty Suits among themfelves. They are ge- 
nerally a Kind of People that never refufe any Sort of 
Employment, and are made ufe of on feveral Occafions, 
elpecially by the Nobles, who are ‘a very great Support 
to them. They may take the Degree of Dodtors in 
Medicine at Padua, and pradtife Phyfick any where in 
the City and State of Venice. 
6. The only Thing worth taking Notice of betwixt 
Padua and Rovigo is the Country, which is flat and 
fruitful, adorned with Vineyards, Groves, Meadows, 
and well-till’d Grounds, and water’d by many Rivulets. 
Upon the Road you fee fome Houfes of Pleafure be- 
longing to the Venetians, but the Country People about 
Rovigo dwell only in Huts made of Reeds. The City 
of Rovigo itfelf is very poor, and of no great Extent, 
M I s s o n’s Travels through the 
