Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-05-14
Few Belong to Descendants of
Those Who Built Them.
RICH MEN A NEW CLASS
Sources of Several of Shakespeare
: Plays.
THE ORIGINAL OF PoRT1A
Famous Women of Learning-Uni-
versity of Bologna-Costly Ma
terial in st. Marks Cathedral.
BY WILLIAM r. CCRTIS.

terial in st. Marks Cathedral.
By WILLIAM r. Curtis.
Special Correspondence OF The Star and the
Chicago Record Herald
VENICE, April II. 1910.
Very few of the fine old palaces belong
to the descendants of the families who
built and originally occupied them. Very
little Of the enormous wealth for which
Venice was celebrated in the fifteenth
century remains. The most OF it has
been dissipated by the descendants OF the
men who made it. the same as I'm Eng
land. France and other countries The
rich men Of Venice today are an entirely
new class Of people, whose names do not
appear in the Golden Book which con-
tanned list of the patrician fam. lies
who were invited to festivities at the
palace. This book was instituted in 1915,
and thenceforth, until the Austrian occu-
patton, was the index and standard OF
nobility by which all claims to precedence
were decided. Occasionally the grand
council. by vote. rewa. ded the galla..t. y
or public service of some citizen OF hum
BILE birth by directing that has name De
inscribed upon its pages. None but those
whose names were IN the Go den BOOK
could use the golden stairs when they
entered the doee's palace, ami VIII, that
right was conferred 1t was equivalent to
an order of nobility in another country.
One notable exception to the decay o.
the ancient families Is Count Philip Girl
mani, the present mayor OF Venice who
traces his lineage ak to one OF the most
famous of the doses. whose portrait.
painted by Titan, hangs IN the council
chamber OF the doge's palace. The Girl
mani palace is on the Grand canal. near
The Ratio bridge, and Is decorated for
It's finely sculptuted capitals.
Most OF the rich men In Venice today
are Jews. and several nave been .nnobled.
They practically cLntrOl the banking and
mercantile business and manu-. acturins.
They own the finest houses of historical
and architectural interest, and the best
paying estates on the mainland in tn,
ne -ghborhoOd. The present wealth of
Venice. however, is invested not so mucn
in real estate as in banking. manufacture
ing. -four mills, elevators. gas companies,
cotton mills. the manu- actlre OF glass and
in steamships upon the Adriatic.
Shakespeare got the material for sew
eral Of his plays of Italian life, including
The Mel chant OF Venice" from an Odd
volume of tales written by a monk in
the fifteenth century or thereabouts.
THE Comedy Of Errors is based upon
incidents of actual occurrence. while
Shylock was a notorious money lender,
whose house in Venice is still pointed
out to tourists. 1t stands in the old mar
ket place. near the RialtO. where there
is a tribune from which was proclaimed
the edicts and the announcements Of the
government, and opposite is the oldest
church in Venice. which is said to have
been built as early as the year $40.
The ghetto, or Jewish quarter, is near
by, where a colony of exies from Spain
have been living ever since their expul-
sion from that country by the inquisi-
ton In the sixteenth century. 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 COM
PEELED to live within certain limits and
wear q certain dress, as is the case In
Russia and Roumania today. They were
never prosecuted. however, but have been
allowed to worship in their own way
and engage in any line Of business. The
same quarter is still occupied by Jewish
families. although the descendants of the
contemporaries Of Shylock now own and
occupy some of the richest and most
beautiful palaces upon the Grand canal.
The Original of Portia.
The story Of Shylock and the pound
Of flesh is found in the book Of tales !
have referred to. and Portia is a pen
portrait of Lucretia Cornaro, the first
woman lawyer in the word, who re-
ceived 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 Cor
marc. the Venetian belle who married
King James of Cyprus about 147O, and
when, by his death, in 1889. she inner
tied the throne, she annexed her king
dom to the Venetian republic.
Her father, Lung COr..a,o. born Ia
1457, was a queer o ID chap. and the author
O. the starvation theory OF proonSinS
life. He argued t. AT tte less one a.e the
longer enc would 1--we. He was a Vene
dissipation up to the age OF forty, when
he lost his property All was - ap.i Il
to economic At first he relucod ais
diet to twelve ounces o. food and four
Teen ounces Of wine day, and g ad Ualiy
tapered OF until, when he was aboul
sixty, he omitted his breakfast and lunch
entirely, and ,or dinner ate only on eg
and drank six ounces of wine. He kept
up this diet until he died of a disease o,
the lungs, in his Tooth year. He wrote
book called THE SURE and Certain Meth
cd of Attaining a Long and Healtaf II
1903 and translated into all the European
languages. The English transiat- on
created quite a sensation, and passed
through thirty editions during the two
,enturies that followed. The CoTnaro
theory found many believers. His dis
ciples were numerous in every European
city, and the -ad lasted until much longer
Than such things usually do. Three OF
his intimate fri. nds in Venice, who ad pit
ed The same diet and LIVED on one egs
and a glass of wine day, reached the