I am told these rumours are
diligently fomented by the late Duke's minister, now Prior of the
Dominican monastery, a man of bigoted views but great astuteness. The
truth is, the people are so completely under the influence of the friars
that a word is enough to turn them against their truest benefactors.
In the afternoon I was setting out to visit the Bishop's gallery when
Count Trescorre's secretary waited on me with an invitation to inspect
the estates of the Marchioness of Boscofolto: an offer I readily
accepted--for what are the masterpieces of Raphael or Cleomenes to the
sight of a good turnip field or of a well-kept dairy?
I had heard of Boscofolto, which was given by the late Duke to his
mistress, as one of the most productive estates of the duchy; but great
was my disappointment on beholding it. Fine gardens there are, to be
sure, clipt walks, leaden statues, and water-works; but as for the
farms, all is dirt, neglect, disorder. Spite of the lady's wealth, all
are let out alla meta, and farmed on principles that would disgrace a
savage. The spade used instead of the plough, the hedges neglected,
mole-casts in the pastures, good land run to waste, the peasants
starving and indebted--where, with a little thrift and humanity, all had
been smiling plenty! Learned that on the owner's death this great
property reverts to the Barnabites.
From Boscofolto to the church of the Madonna del Monte, where is one of
their wonder-working images, said to be annually visited by close on
thirty thousand pilgrims; but there is always some exaggeration in such
figures.
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