I would recommend to everyone that admirable precept which Pythagoras is said to have given to his disciples... "Pitch upon that course of life which is the most excellent, and custom will render it the most delightful." Men whose circumstances will permit them to choose their own way of life are inexcusable if they do not pursue that which their judgment tells them is the most laudable. The voice of reason is more to be regarded than the bent of any present inclination, since, by the rule above mentioned, inclination will at length come over to reason, though we can never force reason to comply with inclination.-Joseph Addison.

APPENDIX

A SHORT HISTORY

OF

THE CORNARO FAMILY

SOME ACCOUNT

OF

EMINENT CORNAROS

A EULOGY UPON LOUIS CORNARO

BY

BARTOLOMEO GAMBA

"THE VILLAS ERECTED BY LOUIS CORNARO”

BY

DR. PROF. EMILIO LOVARINI

Health, brightest visitant from heaven,

Grant me with thee to rest!

For the short term by nature given,
Be thou my constant guest!

For all the pride that wealth bestows,
The pleasure that from children flows,
Whate'er we court in regal state
That makes men covet to be great;

Whatever sweets we hope to find
In Love's delightful snare;
Whatever good by Heaven assign'd,
Whatever pause from care:
All flourish at thy smile divine;
The spring of loveliness is thine,
And every joy that warms our hearts,
With thee approaches and departs.

-Robert Bland.

A SHORT HISTORY

OF

THE ANCIENT AND ILLUSTRIOUS

CORNARO FAMILY

OF VENICE

NR

Nor can the skillful herald trace
The founder of thy ancient race.
-Jonathan Swift.

The noble steeds, and harness bright,
And gallant lord, and stalwart knight,
In rich array-

Where shall we seek them now? Alas!
Like the bright dewdrops on the grass,
They passed away.

-Manrique (trans. by Longfellow).

EVER was parent better repaid by the steadfast devotion of her children than was that Mistress of the Seas, who, century after century, was the wonder and admiration of mankind; the center of the trade and finance of the world, supreme as she was in every mart; the most

valiant defender of civilization in its wars against the Turks; as well as the example to humanity, and its inspiration, in all the arts of peace.

Among her patriotic sons and daughters, none labored in her service with a more earnest self-denial than did the members of the illustrious patrician family of CORNARO, whose name is found interwoven for centuries in every honorable particular of the remarkable history of the Republic of Venice. Almost every line of the annals of this celebrated family shows unmistakably that their ambition, their aspiration, their toil, their courageous exposure-and often sacrifice of life and fortune, were always for the advancement of their country's safety and glory, for which their own was counted as naught; determined, as they were, that Venice should excel in virtue, power, and splendor, any land which presumed to be her rival, and that her children should thus enjoy a life of happiness and security. This, for generations, was the ruling passion and guiding principle of this proud and noble family.

The Cornari, the history of whom, for generations, added imperishable fame to their illustrious source, were descended, according to the most authoritative traditions of the chroniclers, from the ancient and noble race of the Cornelii* of Rome. Having in remote times settled at Rimini, they were subsequently among the first inhabitants of Rialto, the name by which Venice was known in its infancy. The orthography of the name, during the family's long history, was gradually modified; so that, from Cornelii, it became successively Cornelli, Coronelli, Coronetti, Coronarii, and finally Cornaro, or Corner. The names Corner and Cornaro are identical, the first being the abridged Italian form of the Venetian Cornaro; in the 18th century some members of the family adopted that of Corner, by which all are now known. (To be uniform, the ancient mode, that of Cornaro, is adhered to throughout this work.)

Having been enrolled among those who comprised the

*See Note L