Durango semi-weekly herald., 1902-02-03
PRIDE IN HER WOMEN.
Italy Has Furnished Many Noted
Feminine Characters of His
tory.

VENICE, Dec. 6.-(William e. Cur
tbs in Chicago Record Herald J.
Shakespeare got the material for his
plays of Italian life. including the
Merchant of Venice from an oil
volume of tales written by monk ir
the fifteenth century or thereabouts
For long time it was a mystery, bui
the discovery some years ago of q
copy of this neglected and forgotten
author disclosed striking similarity
TO four or five of Shakespeare's plots
All the tales are more or less found
ed upon historical facts. like that OF
Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet. for exam
pie, lived and died in the manner
described, because a feud between
their families would not permit them
to marry The Comedy of Errors is
based upon incidents of actual occur.
renee, while Shylock was notorious
money lender, whose house in Venice
is still pointed out to tourists 1t
stands in the old market place, near
the Rialto. where there is tribune
from which was proclaimed the edicts
and the announcements of the gov
eminent, and opposite is the oldest
church in Venice. which is said to
have been built as early as the year
$50.
Back of it is the famous Rialto
bridge. which was conspicuous part
in Venetian history as well as ro-
nance. 1t was builtin 1858. The
Ponte di Rialto. as they call it in
allan, is a marble arch of IA feet,
with a radius of 80 feet, resting upon
10000 piles. 1t is the main highway
across the Grand Canal. and nearly
every man of business crosses it at
least once during the day. The bridge
itself is given up to the jewellers,
whose shops line each side of the
pathway, but the piazza at one end
is the fish, fruit and vegetable mar
ket. and at the other is a sort of mer-
camille. stock and produce exchange
1t is the center of Venetian business
activity, and when Shakespeare makes
Shylock say. in the Rialto you have
rated me-" he means that his credit
on liabilities had been quoted on
change.
The ghetto, or old Jewish quarter,
is near by, where a colony of exiles
from Spain have been living ever
since their expulsion from that coun-
try by the inquisition. The streets
are the narrowest. the buildings are
the highest, and the tenements are
the most crowded of all Venice, and
at one time all persons of Jewish
birth were compelled to live within
certain limits and wear certain
dress. They were never prosecuted.
but have been allowed to worship in
their own way and transact any line
OF business. The same quarter is
still occupied by Jewish families, al
though the descendants of the con-
temporaries of Shylock now own and
occupy some of the richest and most
beautiful palaces upon the Grand
Canal
The story Of Shylock and the pound
of flesh is found in the book of tales
| have referred to. and Portia is n
pen portrait of Lucretia Cornaro,
the first woman lawyer in the world,
the Myra Bradwell of the fifteenth
century. who received a degree of
doctor of laws from the University
of Padua, where she was educated
and afterward lectured on law. Her
biography has been published. Her
family was famous, and produced
three cardinals. who are buried at
the church of San Salvador. She
was a native of Venice and a relative
of Katrina Cornaro, the Venetian
belle who married King James of Cy-
prus somewhere about 1470, and
when. by his death, in 1889, she in
herited the throne, she annexed her
kingdom to the Venetian republic
Lucretia Cornaro was one of the
graphy gives remarkable accounts OF
her eloquence, erudition and infiu-
ence. She was so much admired
and respected that the doges and the
council of ten used to consult her
upon legal questions, and her fellow
citizens submitted their differences to
her for decision instead of going to
court IL Was natural, lueTelOTe,
that she should be mixed up in the
Shylock case.
Her father Luigi Cornaro, born
in 1457, was queer old chap, and
the author of the starvation theory
of prolonging life. He argued that
the less one ate the longer one would
live. He was a Venetian nobleman
and enjoyed both luxury and dissi-
patton up to the age of 40, when he
lost his property and was compelled
to economize. At first he reduced his
diet to twelve ounces of food and
fourteen ounces of wine day, and
gradually tapered off until. when he
was about 60, he omitted his break
fast and lunch entirely. and for din
ner ate only one egg and drank six
ounces of wine. He kept up this
diet until he died OF disease Of
the lungs, In his one hundreth year.
His biographer says that he had
"a spirit Of cheerfulness, sobriety and
sense" and was able to conduct his
business with hearty pleasure and a
.ln 10 ha loo "a