the least prominent.

The most distinguished and, at last, the reigning favourite of all this
unworthy Harem was a woman named Margarita Cogni, who has been already
mentioned in one of these letters, and who, from the trade of her
husband, was known by the title of the Fornarina. A portrait of this
handsome virago, drawn by Harlowe when at Venice, having fallen into the
hands of one of Lord Byron's friends after the death of that artist, the
noble poet, on being applied to for some particulars of his heroine,
wrote a long letter on the subject, from which the following are
extracts:--

"Since you desire the story of Margarita Cogni, you shall be told
it, though it may be lengthy.

"Her face is the fine Venetian cast of the old time; her figure,
though perhaps too tall, is not less fine--and taken altogether in
the national dress.

"In the summer of 1817, * * * * and myself were sauntering on
horseback along the Brenta one evening, when, amongst a group of
peasants, we remarked two girls as the prettiest we had seen for
some time. About this period, there had been great distress in the
country, and I had a little relieved some of the people. Generosity
makes a great figure at very little cost in Venetian livres, and
mine had probably been exaggerated as an Englishman's. Whether they
remarked us looking at them or no, I know not; but one of them
called out to me in Venetian, 'Why do not you, who relieve others,
think of us also?' I turned round and answered her--'Cara, tu sei
troppo bella e giovane per aver' bisogna del' soccorso mio.' She
answered, 'If you saw my hut and my food, you would not say so.'
All this passed half jestingly, and I saw no more of her for some
days.

"A few evenings after, we met with these two girls again, and they
addressed us more seriously, assuring us of the truth of their
statement. They were cousins; Margarita married, the other single.
As I doubted still of the circumstances, I took the business in a
different light, and made an appointment with them for the next
evening. In short, in a few evenings we arranged our affairs, and
for a long space of time she was the only one who preserved over me
an ascendency which was often disputed, and never impaired.

"The reasons of this were, firstly, her person;--very dark, tall,
the Venetian face, ve