Rude was his garment, and to rags all rent,
Ne better had he, ne for better cared;
With blistered hands among the cinders brent."
It is to be noticed, however, that in the Renaissance copy this figure
is stated to be, not Miseria, but "Misericordia." The contraction is a
very moderate one, Misericordia being in old MS. written always as
"Mia." If this reading be right, the figure is placed here rather as the
companion, than the opposite, of Cheerfulness; unless, indeed, it is
intended to unite the idea of Mercy and Compassion with that of Sacred
Sorrow.
SECTION LXXV. _Second side_. Cheerfulness. A woman with long flowing
hair, crowned with roses, playing on a tambourine, and with open lips, as
singing. Inscribed "ALACRITAS."
We have already met with this virtue among those especially set by
Spenser to attend on Womanhood. It is inscribed in the Renaissance Copy,
"ALACHRITAS CHANIT MECUM." Note the gutturals of the rich and fully
developed Venetian dialect now affecting the Latin, which is free from
them in the earlier capitals.
SECTION LXXVI. _Third side_. Destroyed; but, from the copy, we find
it has been Stultitia, Folly; and it is there represented simply as a
man _riding_, a sculpture worth the consideration of the English
residents who bring their horses to Venice.
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