the first of May as the day for the distribution of the prizes; and she herself composed an ode on spring for the occasion, which acquired for her the surname of the Sappho of Toulouse. Her character was tinged with melancholy, which the loss of her lover probably heightened; and her poems partake of this plaintive style. Her works were printed at Toulouse in 1506. They remained a long time in oblivion, and perhaps never would have seen the light but for the fortunate discovery of M. Alexandre Dumenge. There are extant two copies of this precious volume, which is entitled "Dictats de Dona Clamenza Isaure;" it consists of cantos or odes; the principal and most finished is called "Plainte d'Amour."
The queen of poetry, as her contemporaries entitled her, died in the first year of the great reign of Frances the First and Leo the Tenth. Her mortal remains were deposited in the choir of the church of Notre Dame, at Toulouse. A bronze tablet, inscribed with a highly eulogistic tribute to her fame, still remains, at the foot of a statue of Clemence. After the lapse of three centuries, it required nothing less than the convulsions of the French Revolution of 1789 to suspend the floral games; they were reinstated under Napoleon, as a municipal institution, in 1806. The memory of Clemence Isaure lived "green with immortal bays;" for centuries the Toulousians had made her their boast—but "all that beauty, all that wit e'er gave," could find no grace with the patriots of 1793, That intelligent body of citizens voted Clemence Isaure an "aristocrat," and, as such, sentenced her bronze monument .to be melted down, and used for vulgar purposes. Fortunately, the honest artisan to whom the work was consigned, had a feeling which saved this venerable relic. At the risk of his head, he substituted some other bronze, and concealed the tablet till a time of political safety arrived.
IVREA, MANZOLI DEL MONTE, GIOVANNA,
Was born at Genoa, She received the rudiments of her education at the convent of Benedictine nuns in Genoa, and was afterwards placed at the monastery of St. Andrew, in the same city, where her studies were pursued on a more extended base. After her marriage with Count Manzoli del Monte, she resided in Modena, and indulged in the desire for improvement, for which she was furnished with opportunities. She was instructed in Natural Philosophy by Father Pompilio Pozzetti, a man of great erudition, who directed her in the study of the classics, as well as in every science. Her own inclinations led her almost exclusively to experimental science—but to gratify the earnest wish of her husband, she devoted part of her time to imaginitive works, and these met with distinguished success. She was invited to be a member of "The Arcadia," at Rome, of the Academy of the Indefessi at Alexandria, and that of Arts, Letters, and Science at Modena.
She has witten "La Tarquinia, a vision in verse," "A Collection of Sonnets," "A Collection of Epigrams, and several Odes.
