It is trite and ineffective simply to say that the Grand Canal is the great artery and thoroughfare of Venice. It is so much more than that: it is a magnificent show course adorned with two hundred or more magnificent palaces dating from the fourteenth to the eighteenth centuries, and beautiful churches and interesting public buildings. A sightseeing trip in a gondola affords the visitor an object of architectural beauty and historic interest at every rod. The historic interest of some of these houses is double,--the interest attached to them by virtue of the original patrician owners, and a new interest acquired through the residence in them of notable men of later time. Drift slowly along this splendid waterway. Marble steps lead down from the noble residences to the water’s edge. Tall posts bearing the colors of the family serve as hitching posts for the boats. Your guide will tell you the stories, poetic and dramatic, of the families whose names are set down in the great roll of the nobility of Venice entitled “The Book of Gold.” Then you will be told of the later associations that enhance the interest of some of the palaces. That handsome mansion over there is where Desdemona lived. Nearby it is the Palazzo Vendramin-Calergi, (ven-drah´-min cahl-ehr´-gee) in which Richard Wagner (vahg´-ner) died in 1883. That stately palace over there was for a time the home of Robert Browning; he died there in 1889, and there is a memorial tablet on the wall. Look at those three palaces close together. The one in the center was occupied by Lord Byron in 1818. Nearby is the Browning home, a Gothic building, in which W. D. Howells wrote his “Venetian Life.” In another palace George Sand had residence for a time. The great painter Titian (tish´-an) lived in one of these buildings. [Illustration: PALAZZO VENDRAMIN-CALERGI _Richard Wagner, the composer, died in this house in 1883._] Each structure has its interest. Each bend of the canal reveals new beauties. Across the beautiful waterway are three bridges--the name of one is familiar the world over. THE BRIDGE OF THE RIALTO For many years this was the only bridge across the Grand Canal, and it stands for much of the past glory of Venice. It is made of marble, and is over 150 feet long. It was built between the years 1588 and 1592, and is today, as it was in early times, a place of shops. Here Shylocks have bargained and Bassanios have met their friends these many years. More literally speaking, it was not the Bridge of the Rialto that Shylock refers to in Shakespeare’s “Merchant of Venice,” but the district nearby. It is difficult for anyone who has visited Venice to select single points for comment or description. The city appeals to him as a whole, and each object of beauty in it is a part of the wonderful whole. The essence of Venice is a dreamy, poetic charm,--a charm of light, color, and form, not of sound. Mrs. Oliphant writes: