| | | | Few persons can look at Venice, without feeling their | minds full of the associations connected with her | history. As the Tyre of the middle ages, and conqueror | of Constantinople; as once reigning over the | Archipelago, the Morea, Candia, Cyprus, and the finest | quarter of the Roman Empire, she awakens innumerable | memories. It is instructive to observe her origin and | progress, her prosperity and decline; marking the | circumstances which promoted her grandeur, and the | seeds of those social evils which ensured her | degradation and decay. | In the fifth century, when Attila was spreading terror | and ruin through Pannonia and northern Italy, several | families had withdrawn from Aquileia and Padua, to the | small island of Rivus Altus in the Adriatic, the future | Rialto of Venice. Gradus and other adjacent sand-banks, | surrounded by the lagunes, began also to acquire | inhabitants, allured thither by the safety which such an | asylum offered. A mild but moist climate, rendered | their situation tolerable. Their existence, depending | upon incessant labour and considerable self-denial, | could only be preserved by habits of perseverance and | hardihood. The neighbouring province of Venetia gave | its name to the rising city, and poured into its bosom the | best remnants of a once flourishing, and still industrious | population. Calamity at first leveled every distinction, | except that of merit; and as all happiness is comparative, | their security might well be an object of envy, when fire | and sword and famine were wasting the Western | Empire. Even under the more regular government of | Theodoric, his praetorian prefect seems to have drawn | their portrait with mingled wonder, and perhaps | exaggerated approbation. He assimilates them to | waterfowl, who, fixing their nests upon the waves, | despised the allurements of the land. Fish was their | common food, and salt their principal treasure; with | which they traded in the markets of Italy, along the sea | coast, and up the navigable rivers. The shallows, | happily too deep for cavalry, yet impassable by ships of | war, afforded | | only eight winding channels, by which gallies could be | piloted to and fro without stranding. Two of these | communicated with the continent and six with the | ocean. Necessity thus made the Venetians skillful | mariners. Their liberties were nursed amidst obscurity | and misfortunes. They certainly acknowledged the | authority of the Gothic kingdom; and afterwards paid | tribute to the Carlovingian sovereign of Italy, with the | assent of their lord paramount the Byzantine Emperor, | to whom, in the ninth and tenth centuries, they avowed | themselves faithful liegemen. However this may | annihilate what Gibbon calls , it contributed | beyond a doubt to their real protection and preservation. | In the meanwhile, their municipal forms of government | expanded upon the basis of public opulence and | prosperity into emancipation from foreign servitude. | The lapse of time gave its silent seal to what was the | inevitable result of circumstances. Sismondi has | eloquently described the republic, as enthroned upon | the gulf whence her palaces emerge, contemplating the | successive changes of dynasties and continual invasions, | with the whole shifting scene of human revolution; till | in her own turn, as the last surviving witness of | antiquity, and as the link between two periods of | civilization, she has herself bowed down under the | humbling hand of the destroyer. | Her career from the earliest period was remarkable. For | a few years a consular constitution appears to have been | established. The people soon changed it for one of | Tribunes, or Judges, of which the number was twelve, | and the election popular. It is doubtful whether each | officer was not limited to his particular island or district; | and whether at the commencement their political union | was more than federative. Little inequality and less | ambition could subsist, so long as their manners | remained simple and uncorrupted. But frugality and | industry brought competence: this rapidly augmented | into wealth; and then came the trial. It may be safe to | smile at the highly-wrought picture of Cassiodorus; | which nevertheless, allowing for his declamatory style, | is neither impossible nor unnatural. His celebrated | letter would indeed have been more satisfactory and | valuable, had he presented a few clearly related facts, | instead of so much sentimentalism, and vague | description of Venetian happiness. It would seem that | the jurisdiction of the tribunes extended over persons | and property; that they could acquit, condemn, and | imprison within certain limits; and that an appeal lay in | extraordinary cases to the General Assembly of the | nation. Respecting the precise nature of that General | Assembly, it is scarcely possible to obtain correct ideas. | To be | | admitted a member of it, required in course of time | qualifications both of rank and revenue; a modification | originating from the predilections of the continental | emigrants, who are ostentatiously mentioned by the | annalists, as having been many of them nobles. | , says Sanuto, : and Jannotus calls them, | . Such seeds of a system of caste were not | slow in sprouting; and the commencement is speedily | perceived of that proud and jealous aristocracy, which | under the names and forms of liberty grew with the | growth, and strengthened with the strength of the State, | whose vitals it was one day to devour. | External aggrandizement fostered internal corruptions. | Offices connected with enlarged emoluments and | lessened fears of accountability, went the way of all | such imperfect institutions. The magistracy and great | men degenerated, as usual, into a robber-class; waxing | wanton towards their inferiors, and abusing public | trusts for private purposes. The many began to groan | under the yoke of the few. Before 300 years elapsed, a | General Council was demanded and summoned, with a | Bishop for its president, and a numerous train of | ecclesiastics in attendance; demonstrating that the | Roman church had not been altogether idle in her | vocation. Murmurs against the rulers resounded on all | sides. The people, pillaged and fleeced, insisted upon | having justice for the past, and reform for the future. It | was observed that there existed no proper functionary | for the convocation of the popular assemblies; that the | laws were cruel in their enactments, and partially | administered. The Lombards had become dangerous | neighbours; and Venice, like the discontented Hebrews, | wanted a head to her state, and a leader in battle, ~~ in | fact, a single tyrant instead of a dozen. Experience was | the seer, which presently opened her eyes, and unveiled | the imagined blissfulness of monarchical sway. The | more immediate cause of its establishment, is partly | supposed to have been the pride of an individual | already belonging to the privileged order, but with a | heart more stout than his fellows. Paulatius Anafestus | of Heraclea became the first Doge, elected in A. D. 697; | and at the death of his second successor, generals of the | forces chosen annually, were substituted for four years; | at the end of which term, the ducal title and | prerogatives revived. These, at that time, seemed | considerable. Their possessor was to retain them for | life; he was invested with the insignia of royalty. He | assembled and presided over the grand council; and had | a casting vote when the suffrages were even. His | | patronage was extensive; and so long as his | administration proved popular and successful, he | reigned with the pomp and majesty of a prince. | Sometimes he obtained permission to associate his son | with himself; yet, so much of his state and power being | dependent upon the nobles, who could always | embarrass his procedure or influence his prospects, the | spirit of an aristocracy by slow and sure degrees | pervaded and usurped the government. Even the | appearances of something like a limited monarchy were | not long suffered to exist. Supreme authority must be | in the hands of one, or of a number; of an autocrat, | properly so called, or of an aristocracy in the generic | signification of the expression. Soon after tribunes had | been exchanged for a Doge or General of the Forces, it | came to be a number that | governed. Aristocratic maxims, manners, and measures | carried everything before them. Certain heads of | families always swayed the general assemblies, whose | concurrence with the executive could never latterly be | dispensed with. The Doge was, in fact, no more than | one of an oligarchy, ~~ an elephant rather larger than | the rest of the herd. In the twelfth century, this ceased | to be a secret, even with the populace. Their nominal | chief was reduced to an expensive pageant; in authority, | hardly a counselor; in the city, a prisoner of state; and | out of it, only a private person. | Two avowed limitations of the Ducal authority occur as | early as A. D. 1032, under the reign of Domenico | Flabenico; who for himself and successors, agreed to | prohibit filial associations in the government, and that | none of their acts should thenceforward be valid, | without the sanction of a couple of commissioners. | Hallam in his History of the Middle Ages, has furnished | from Sandi and Sismondi an accurate account of the | Great Council as established A. D. 1172. It was to | consist of 480 citizens equally taken from the six | districts of the city, and annually renewed. But the | election was not made immediately by the people. Two | electors, called tribunes, from each of the six districts, | appointed the members of the Council, by separate | nomination. These tribunes at first were themselves | chosen by the people; but early in the thirteenth century, | the Great Council, principally composed of men of high | birth, and invested by law with the appointment of the | Doge and all the Councils of Magistracy, assumed the | right of naming their own constituents. Besides | appointing the tribunes, they took upon themselves | another privilege, that of confirming or rejecting their | successors, before they resigned their functions; thus | rendering the annual election little more than a farce, | the same members being usually renewed, and the | dignity of counselor thus rapidly | | usurping an hereditary character. In 1297, the Council | of Forty substituted itself in the place of the tribunes, | whose office, for a long time useless, had latterly | become ridiculous. They balloted upon the names of | the members who already sat; and whoever obtained | twelve favourable balls, retained his seat. The | vacancies occasioned by rejection or death, were filled | up from a supplemental list, formed by three electors | nominated in the Great Council. It is curious to observe | how invariable is the line of aggression, by which any | privileged order plunders the people of their privileges. | Loud and sincere must have been the professions of | regard for a system, which, with all its anomalies, was | still declared to work so well. The conviction had | grown into greater prevalence under each succeeding | Doge, that secrecy and exclusive interests are essential | to the conservation of a state. To allow free access to | their discussions, would have been to continue the | single curb which could in any manner control their | conduct, ~~ the influence of public opinion. Foreign | politics had now very numerous ramifications; and the | first experiment for reducing the magic circle within | convenient limits, was made upon such counselors as | happened to be vassals of the King of Cyprus. These | were excluded from all consultations relating directly or | indirectly to that kingdom; and the principle, once | admitted, was soon extended. Similar prohibitions shut | out whatever senators held lands on the continent, in the | territories of Ferrara and Treviso; applying not merely | to themselves, but to their kinsmen also; and when it | had been ascertained that unconstitutional bounds might | thus be set to the eligibility of candidates, in the eighth | year of Pietro Gradonico the infamous | Serratura del Consiglio was | effected, whereby all those who had not sitten in the | Great Council within that year or the four years | preceding, as well as their descendants, were for ever | debarred from election to that assembly. In 1319 the | personal rights of noble descent were rendered | complete and exclusive by the abolition of elective | forms. The age of twenty-five came to be fixed as the | statutable period, on attaining which, a young | hereditary legislator might exercise his functions; and | from such as were under that age and above twenty, one | fifth, or about thirty names on an average, were | annually drawn out of an urn, to be added to the number. | Bribery and fraud had largely contributed to the | achievement of such important changes. Before the | Serratura del Consiglio was proposed in 1297, and | confirmed by laws passed in 1298 and 1300, the | Magnates, thus about to establish themselves as an | exclusive hereditary aristocracy, had taken care to elect | in proper time every powerful individual, on whose | views and inclinations | | they could rely. Meanwhile, to keep the multitude in | good humour, as well as in ignorance of their intentions, | they threw them one honied cake after another. An | unlimited right of fishing and fowling was conferred | upon the whole body of citizens. Some families had the | privilege given them of dining annually with the Doge, | and embracing him on that occasion. Others obtained | the distinction of attaching the felucca of their district | to the Bucentaur on Ascension-day, when the nuptial | ring was thrown into the Adriatic. The inhabitants of | the Isle of Santa Muria Formosa were permitted to | receive a yearly visit, amidst immense parade and | magnificence, from their artful and haughty masters. | Theatrical entertainments, from which few or none | were excluded, derived their support more or less from | the public treasury; which, also, simultaneously | attempted to communicate increased activity to | commercial enterprise. The nobles, in a word, spared | no pains to blind and cajole the lower classes, whom | they had resolved to enslave. On the one hand, they | clipt the wings of the executive; and on the other, | reduced their fellow subjects to ciphers. They | engrossed all legislative authority, together with the | power of pardoning offences, and disposing of offices. | As to the last, their method of conducting the ballot was | curiously complicated. In a bag containing as many | balls as there were members present, sixty were gilded; | entitling those who drew them to a second drawing of | lots, which finally reduced their number to thirty-six. | These were the electors, who divided themselves into | four colleges, each comprising nine persons. During | the time of election, nine offices were conferred every | day; in every college, each of the nine electors named a | candidate for one of these offices, the nomination to | which fell to him by lot; and four candidates being thus | nominated by the four colleges for every office, the | election was finally determined by a majority of votes | in the Great Council. None of those seeking an office | on the same day, or who were indebted to the state, | were allowed to vote; nor was more than one suffrage | received from each name and family. | The duties of administering criminal justice were | entrusted to the Council of Forty thus annually chosen. | The Senate, properly so called, formed an intermediate | body between the nobles in their aggregate capacity, | and the executive. It consisted of the Sixty | Pregadi, doubled and trebled in | later times, the Forty Judges, the College of Wisemen | or Savi, the Seignory, the | dreaded Council of Ten, the administrators of St. Mark, | the treasurer, the director of the arsenal and fortresses (a | sort of Master of the Ordnance), the principle officers | of Bergamo, and | | several functionaries beside; altogether between two | and three hundred. They imposed taxes, and possessed | an exclusive right of declaring war and concluding | peace. Every affair brought before the Senate, was | prepared and introduced by the College, consisting of | the Doge, the three chiefs of the criminal tribunal, and | the sixteen Savi; all guided by | the six great Savi, the sages of | the state, and the depositaries of its secrets and maxims. | The Seignory of six counselors, with the Doge as their | president, performed the duties of an ordinary | administration. They dispatched orders, corresponded | with ambassadors, convoked councils, and sat upon a | bench more elevated than the rest in each assembly. In | 1310, three nobles, Tiepolo, Basseggi, and Querini, | took advantage of the public discontent, and headed an | insurrection of which the object was to restore a | popular regimen. After a day's severe struggle, a | convention was concluded, permitting the conspirators | to leave the city. For the investigation of this affair, a | commission of ten Senators was appointed for fourteen | days, which were afterwards extended to forty-two, and | again for an indefinite period; until at length, during the | reign of Francisco Dandolo, it was declared perpetual A. | D. 1335. | | Contareni compares them to the Ephori at Sparta. They | professed to shelter the commonalty from aristocratic | annoyance; and they did so, in the same way that the | bear in the fable demolished a fly, when it tickled the | nose of his slumbering master. Their informers infested | all ranks of society, from the highest to the lowest. | Monks, prostitutes, gondoliers, and domestic servants, | enabled them to watch the secret springs of action, in | religion, passion, pleasure, and privacy. Everything | | was observed with the eyes of an Argus; and the ear of | a cruel despotism, more dreadful and sensitive than that | of Dionysius, found a channel of communication with | the most confidential intercourse. The institution, in | itself an immoral one, preserved the republic by | rendering it a painted sepulcher, beautiful in its | monumental antiquity, but covering a political charnel-house. | The three State-Inquisitors were, to the rest of | the Ten, just what that council was to the Senate; a | college superior to all the citizens, not excepting even | the Doge, and able to punish, although not capitally, | without the concurrence of their colleagues. Von | Muller observes, that had the Council of Ten not been | the main pillar of the state, its powers would have been | circumscribed by the Correctors of the Laws, who were | periodically elected. Some senators, with upright | intentions, endeavoured, in 1761, to introduce | alterations; but the voice of the people was in favour of | the Ten; and while the power of the three Inquisitors | was diminished, the Ten retained their criminal | jurisdiction over the nobility in its whole extent. Yet it | cannot fail to be remembered, that the | vox populi had been silenced for | ages; and the annual renewal of Councils, as also of the | Correttori delle Leggi | depending entirely upon the Great Councils, there | remained no real vestige of freedom to redeem the | republic from a fate it so richly deserved, and which | within forty years awaited it. | In A. D. 1250, during the reign of Marino Morosini, it | was arranged that the choice of the Doge on the death | of his predecessor, should be balloted for, with much | the same mixture of chance and selection as has been | described with respect to other offices. The number of | gilded balls was thirty, of which the drawers were | reduced by a second raffle to nine. Of these, four | nominated five electors; whom a third lottery cut down | to twelve, each of whom named two electors, except the | first, who appointed three. Thus twenty-five were | called out, from whom a fourth raffle selected nine, | each of whom named five; in all forty-five. But these | were reduced by a fifth ballot to eleven, of whom eight | chose four each, and the remainder three each; so that | the final result was forty-one, who upon being | confirmed by the Great Council, proceeded to elect a | Doge, by a majority of suffrages which was to consist | of not less than twenty-five. On this occasion no | member of the Great Council could vote under thirty | years of age. The sons, brothers, and nephews of the | new Doge had to quit the government during his life. | An initiative in deliberation now constituted his solitary | prerogative. Despatches were written in his name, and | letters | | from foreign courts were addressed to him; yet the | latter he was compelled to deliver unopened to the | Senate, and report their answer to the respective | ambassadors. Five yearly entertainments, consumed | two-thirds of from ten to twelve thousand crowns | allowed him as a salary by the state. He was a sort of | Ducal lord-mayor for life . His | superintendence of the arsenal, the docks, and the | cathedral of St. Mark, seemed the most useful portion | of his duty. It formed one of the best features in the | constitution, that very little power came to be left in the | hands of any official, whose election was not annual. | Even the Church of Rome gave small trouble from the | thirteenth to the sixteenth century. The Doge was the | Defender of the Faith for temporal purposes; and | possessing himself neither teeth nor claws for political | mischief, there was no temptation to employ him as the | patron of ecclesiastical abuses. Spiritual persons were | excluded from public employments. The Pope was | looked upon as a mere neighbouring potentate, | reverenced but not feared, the republic establishing its | supremacy over all causes and individuals whatsoever. | The administration of church affairs was divided | between the patriarchs of Venice and Aquileia; the | province of the former being confined to the city, and | of the latter to the continent. Both were appointed by | the senate; their conduct was checked by a noble forced | upon them as a coadjutor; nor until the nomination to | benefices was conceded to Julius II, had they any | patronage among the islands, or within the Dogado. | Such appear to have been the outlines of an avowed | Aristocracy, which governed larger territories, and | lasted for a longer period, than any other upon record. | Its nature and bearings will be more clearly discerned, | by a review of the splendid panorama of its history. | The primary source of Venetian greatness was | commerce; which can only flourish, where property is | secure, and the population industrious. The situation of | the city was favourable in every respect; and her fleets | emerge from the darkness of the middle ages at a very | early aera. Fresh swarms of barbarians had desolated | Dalmatia, Pannonia, and the Italian sea-coast; thus | augmenting by their havoc on the continent, and the | consequent emigration from it, the prosperity of the | Adriatic islands. Some of these however were not safe | from marauders of another kind, ~~ the Sclavonian | pirates. Venice alone was so, and enabled to extend her | trade, from Trieste and Ragusa, to Constantinople and | Alexandra. During the sixth century, Narses availed | himself of her assistance, in transporting his army to | Ravenna, when Totila king of the Goths was encamped | | on the Adige. In a later age, the Exarchate had fallen | before the victorious Lombards; and the Byzantine | Emperor's representative was restored to his capital by | the forces of the republic. Pepin the son of | Charlemagne, offended at her preference for the politics | of the eastern instead of the western Empire, | endeavoured to humbler so presumptuous a vassal; yet | after reducing those quarters of the city south of the | Rialto, the besieged made two sallies with such effect, | as to drive their antagonists among the shallows, and | compel them to an abandonment of the enterprise. Its | failure strengthened the state which the sovereign of | Italy had devoted to destruction. Within a few years, | sixty adjacent islands were connected together by | bridges, and comprehended within the limits of Venice. | A magnificent palace was erected about the same time, | as a residence for the Doge. The Bishop of Aquileia | having thought proper to quarrel with the patriarch of | Grado, the Senate interfered, and devastated the country | of Friuli, until its prelate undertook to acknowledge | their supremacy, and send them annually a bull, twelve | wild boars, and as many loaves of bread, in the way of | tribute to the guardians of St. Mark. This was the | origin of those cruel sports which so long disgraced the | carnival. On behalf of the Emperor Michael, and in | conjunction with an imperial squadron, the Venetians | attacked the Saracens off Crotona, and were on the | point of gaining a complete victory, when the Greek | gallies pusillanimously withdrew, and left them to an | unmerited fate. Some Croatian corsairs, looking upon | the ruin of Venice as a matter of course, through the | recent disaster, attempted it to their own discomfiture. | More important enemies in the persons of the | Hungarians, appeared A. D. 903, endeavouring in | flat-bottomed boats to pass the Lagunes; but no other | alternative awaited them, than death by famine and the | sword, or a watery grave. The republic is then found | coining money; braving the wrath of the Saxon Othos; | reducing Nola, Lessina, and Pharos; annexing the coast | of Istria, Dalmatia, and Liburnia, to her dominions; and | obtaining liberty for her merchants to traffic, without | hinderance or impost, in all the ports of Italy, Greece, | Asia, Syria, and Egypt. Her Doge assumed the title of | Duke of Dalmatia, which was confirmed at | Constantinople; and notwithstanding these conquests | were held for many generations by an uncertain tenure, | through the oppressions exercised, the resistance of the | inhabitants, or the intrigues of powerful neighbours, ~~ | they contributed to her general power in no trifling | degree, and extended her military fame. | The Crusades moreover occurred most opportunely for | the great maritime towns of Italy; among which Pisa | and | | at the exhortations of the Pope, sailed an enormous fleet, | which in confederacy with the Pisans, beleaguered Acre, | and subdued it after a bloody siege, as the first fruits of | the third crusade. Philip Augustus of France and | Richard Coeur de Lion of England quarreled and | separated. Barbarossa was drowned in the Saleph, | before he could reach the scene of action. The | Knights-Templars and Hospitallers wasted away through | sickness or the sword. In vain was the jealousy excited | of the other Italian republics. Henry Dandolo eclipsed | all his competitors upon the field of waters. Verona, in | his absence, had robbed some Venetian traders on the | Adige; for which he demanded and obtained redress. | The Pisans, feeling themselves overshadowed by their | successful rivals, had withdrawn their vessels in | dudgeon from Syria, and presumed to plunder Pola; | which brought upon them such severity of vengeance | from the Doge, that their submission. Brundusium, | having rashly joined them, had also to appease his | anger by paying heavy penalties; and yet, at this very | time, its allies gloried in being dominant as merchant | Princes, from Genoa and Tuscany to Gibraltar, and | throughout the western portion of the Mediterranean. | Venice had always hitherto looked eastward, and | reaped by far the largest harvest, from European valour, | and religious enthusiasm. Dandolo was as great a | statesman as he was a soldier. He well knew how to | practice the alchymy of war. It has been truly observed, | that commercial avarice quickly allayed the fever of | superstition, with regard to the foreign policy of his | country. Neither the heterodoxy of the Greeks, nor the | Islamism of the Turks and Saracens, prevented Venice | from cultivating just such intercourse with all or any of | them, as promised profit or advantage. While | Constantinople continued to flourish, spices, precious | stones, and the rarest oriental manufactures, were | brought thither, by caravans from India, through | Candahar and Persia; or by the northern routes, and | along the Caspian and Euxine; or up the Euphrates, and | over-land to some of the Syrian seaports; or by the way | of the Red Sea and Egypt. Italian vessels engrossed the | greater part of this carrying trade, in which Venice | preeminently participated. As the Cross waned before | the Crescent, she equaled Genoa on the Bosphorus, and | ultimately surpassed her; and at Alexandria, for ages, | there scarcely appeared a competition. After Omar had | established the Caliphate from Chaldea to Barbary, | Al-Kahira or Grand Cairo became the capital of the Nile, | and the centre of East-Indian traffic. Mohammedanism | spread far and near. The ties of a common faith | combined with | | as he imagined, an immense accession of trade and | dominion to his country, should her arms have the | honour of restoring the diadem to its lawful wearer. | Alexius, in his own name and that of his father, | engaged to submit the eastern Empire to the | ecclesiastical supremacy of the western Church. An | extravagant sum of money formed a resistless bribe to | needy adventurers; and it was attempted to be shown, | that no surer means for regaining the Sepulchre existed, | than the establishment of legitimacy at Constantinople. | Although numbers withdrew from any participation in | the plan through motives either of fear, prudence, or | real disgust; yet Dandolo carried his point, and | persuaded the Marquis of Montferrat, the Counts of | Flanders, Blois, and St. Pol, with eight among the | French Barons, to accompany him. | Their voyage from Zara is described in one of the most | picturesque pages of the "Decline and Fall." The events | which followed their arrival on the banks of the | Bosphorus, were related by themselves, in a narrative | transmitted to the Pope, and which must be in the hands | of few. This curious document, forming what would | now be termed the Venetian manifesto, a modern | historian has given as follows. ~~ | | | | Venice obtained in every respect the lion's share of all | moveable spoil, as well as all substantial authority and | influence in the capital. The former was valued at | upwards of a million marks, equal to 2,000,000 | | after another, as has been related; until every vestige of | liberty disappeared. Amidst the successes of an | aggressive foreign policy, the fabric of aristocratic | usurpation was erected. Expenses of fleets and armies | wasted the resources of the state, made the burthen of | taxation intolerable, circumscribed the extension of | wholesome trade, undermined the solid foundation of | industry, and augmented beyond former experience the | fluctuations of value in the market. The imposition of | new duties on provisions at length raised a violent | insurrection; affording an unfortunate occasion for the | nobility to declare themselves the sole friends of social | order, and enabling them to narrow still further the | rights of their fellow-countrymen. The worst features | of the feudal system were now developed. Private | adventurers acquired possessions abroad, held by | military tenure under the republic at home; and the | hydra of despotism put forth as many heads, as | ambition could produce, or opulence maintain. | The honour of Venice stood connected with the reign of | the Latins at Constantinople, and the supremacy there | of the Roman Church; while Genoa, emulous of her | fame, concluded an alliance with the Greeks, and | assisted them materially in the recovery of their | metropolis. Religious disputes, as well as commercial | and national prejudices, embittered the contest between | the two republics. Both had exclusive claims to the use | of a certain church at Acre. Their first open quarrel | occurred only a few years before the expulsion of the | Franks by Palaeologus. They obtained the whole | suburb of Pera or Galata, as their exclusive settlement; | whence they extended their traffic into the Black Sea, | founded and fortified Caffa in the Crimes, and | struggled hard during the thirteenth and fourteenth | centuries with their Venetian competitors. The latter | had borne away in their gallies the dethroned Emperor | from the Bosphorus to Euboea, and afterwards to Italy; | where their attention was soon required to a rupture | which occurred with Bologna. This state, as well as | Ancona, attempted to resist some of the custom-duties | levied upon their vessels by Dandolo in the earliest | instance, and continued by his successors; but their | endeavours proved unavailing. Yet Venice, in her turn, | had to endure several considerable reverses; although | finally she came out of them in triumph. When | hostilities with Genoa had broken out afresh, she burnt | Pera to the ground. It was | | destined to rise with greater splendour than ever; for in | consequence of this disaster, permission was obtained | from the Imperial government to surround it with walls | and towers; so that it grew into a separate town. Thus | enabled to insult the very capital itself, and defy the | Venetians, the Genoese held the keys of the Euxine, | and monopolized its fisheries and tolls. At the mouth | of the Adriatic, they also defeated their rivals thrice; | and in 1352, their Admiral Doria obtained a similar | victory under the Byzantine ramparts. The war of 1378, | threatened still greater misfortunes. Francis Carrara of | Padua, the king of Hungary, and the Genoese, kept the | sea, and ravaged the shores of Dalmatia. Venice was | blockaded. Peace was demanded in vain by the Queen | of the Adriatic. Her enemies swore that a curb should | be placed in the mouths of her wild horses. Previous | insurrections, the outbreaks of pubic indignation, had | been quenched in the blood of her citizens. Her | aristocracy had planted its government on the necks | rather than the hearts, on the fears rather than the love | of the people. Pisani, their best naval officer, was in | prison; whence stern necessity now called for his | release. This hero did all that could be done. The | canals were defended by floating batteries; private | coffers were emptied, and utensils of gold and silver | melted down; the war-whoop of St. Mark was raised to | animate the multitude; and a promise emanated from | the senate, that thirty families should be ennobled for | their unparalleled patriotic exertions at a crisis so | pregnant with danger. | Famine, indeed, stared them in the face; since Carrara | had stopped their supplies from Padua and its | neighbourhood, while Hungarian troops had possessed | themselves of Istria and the towns adjacent. Yet Stella | in his enthusiasm exclaims, that God would not suffer | so noble a city as Venice then was, to become the spoil | of a conqueror. Contareni now took the command. He | acted with extreme caution. He so puzzled the invaders, | that they could never penetrate his designs, until their | retreat was effectually cut off by vessels full of stones | being sunk in each channel where their gallies had | anchored. The besiegers were thus themselves besieged; | although a command of the land gave them still such | advantages, that it has been said, the senate seriously | thought of transporting themselves to Candia. Things | were in this state, when the first of January, A.D. 1380 | brought back their Admiral Carlo Zeno, laden with | treasure and trophies which he had won by inflicting | upon the Ligurian shores a train of disasters similar to | those from which his own country was suffering. He | had captured or destroyed from three to four hundred | sail of the enemy. His | | arrival, when perceived from the Piazza of St. Mark, | was hailed with acclamations. After some further | struggles, the fortunes of Genoa wed for ever; and the | rivalry of one hundred and thirty years terminated in the | culmination of Venice. Her politics, indeed, now took | another direction. The Ottomans were extinguished the | Greek empire. Thessalonica had been ceded to her in | 1424, but was quickly recovered by the Turks under | Amurath. Her territorial hold on Greece and the | Archipelago was weakened; and she commenced a | career of aggrandisement nearer home, in the Italian | peninsula. The district of Treviso had been annexed to | her dominions; the result of an alliance with Florence | against the progress of Mastino della Scala. Upon the | ruin of that prince and his family, the Visconti formed | an extensive, though temporary state, which fell to | pieces about the beginning of the fifteenth century. | Carrara having appropriated Verona in the scramble, | the Venetians interfered, stripped him of all his | possessions, and kept them by the law of the strongest. | A protracted warfare with the Dukes of Milan, added | the Cremasco and Ghiradadda, Brescia, Bergamo, and | Peschiera, to Vicenza, Padua, and the Veronese. | Ravenna, Faenza, and Rimini, were torn from the | patrimony of St. Peter; and Rovigo, as well as the | Polesine, from the duchy of Ferrara. The whole | country of Friuli was reduced, and the most valuable | portion of Istria regained; and the subsequent | acquisition of Coritia or Veia in Dalmatia, of Antivari | and Doleigno in Albania, part of the despotate of Epirus, | together with the Ionian Islands except Sta. Maura, | amply indemnified them for their losses in Negropont | and the Morea. In 1486, they obtained the kingdom of | Cyprus, through the marriage of James II of Cyprus | with Catharina Cornaro, a member of one of the | senatorial families. This brought them into collision | with Naples, whose sovereign had some pretensions to | the crown of Lusignan; which, however, they not only | overruled, but formed a strong confederacy against him, | invaded Apulia, and took Gallipoli by storm. In the | treaty of peace solicited by their antagonists, they | stipulated for the retention of five wealthy cities on the | Neapolitan coast, and an augmentation of their | mercantile privileges. | Such overgrown power was not attained without | immense disbursements. The republic, not daring to | trust her injured subjects with arms, had recourse | according to the custom of the age to foreign | mercenaries. These troops were neither more or less | than legalized banditti; soldiers in form only, greedy as | cormorants, with hearts of iron, and steady in nothing | but new demands. The acquisition of Verona and | Padua alone cost | | Venice 900,000 ducats, equivalent to nearly three | millions sterling in the present day; taking the ducat at | an average of four shillings, and multiplying by sixteen | for the difference of time and circumstances. For the | Polesine they paid 80,000 ducats, and for Zara 100,000, | to Ladislaus king of Hungary. The expenses of their | retention for a long interval absorbed their revenue; yet | the fever of ambition was far from being allayed. A | war with the Italian princes, closing in A. D. 1484, after | the capture of Gallipoli, occasioned an expenditure of | no less than 3,600,000 ducats of gold, a vast sum for | that period. It appears from the pacific counsels given | by the Doge Mocenigo on his death-bed in 1423, that | the productive capital of the commonwealth was then | ten million ducats, yielding an annual profit of four | millions, or forty per cent. The houses of Venice were | valued at 7,000,000 ducats, affording a rental of | 500,000 ducats per annum, or about seven per cent on | this species of property. Her mint coined a million of | ducats within the year. Three thousand merchant ships | carried on her trade. Their flags floated in every port of | Europe, Asia, and Africa, from Russia to India. From | forty to fifty men-of-war, and three hundred smaller | vessels, manned by nineteen thousand sailors, secured | her naval power. Bruges in Flanders had become the | staple for English wools, from the linens of the | Netherlands, the furs, herrings, and lumber of the Baltic. | Thither sailed the galleasses of the Adriatic, with | enormous cargoes for that emporium. At the | commencement even of the fourteenth century, Sanuto | describes the traffic between the Levant and Northern | seas, carried on by his countrymen, as comprising | timber, brass, tin, lead, oil, and Flemish fabrics. The | Hanseatic league, contributed to the extension of | commerce; reciprocating its advantages with Italy in | general, and with Venice in particular. The latter had | now established the reputation of her bank; and while | the interest of money elsewhere varied from twelve to | twenty, thirty, or even forty per cent (and the crowned | heads of Christendom could sometimes scarcely borrow | even on these terms), she was enabled during the league | of Cambray, to raise the largest sums with ease, at the | moderate premium of five in the hundred. Her annual | revenues, before that remarkable aera in her history, | appear to have been as follow. From the Milanese | dominions, 1,000,000 ducats in coin, and the value of | 900,000 more in cloths, of which two-thirds might be | reckoned as clear profit; from her Dalmatian and Istrian | territories, about 300,000 ducats; from the metropolitan | taxes, including the customs, about 1,000,000; and the | same from the Exarchate, Candia, Cyprus, and Greek | islands, in the aggregate. The total might be calculated | | at nearly 4,000,000 ducats, being ten or twelve times | the amount of the crown revenues of France or England | at the time, and equivalent to at least 10,000,000 | pounds sterling now. | It would have been well had she borne her prosperity | meekly; which was far from being the case. Her | foreign policy had become aggressive in the extreme; | her internal constitution was rotten at its core. The | Portuguese had doubled the Cape of Good Hope, thus | opening another route to India than by Alexandria or | the Persian gulf; and from that hour must be dated her | commercial decline. This was in 1494; the same year | in which Charles the Eighth of France crossed the Alps | on his celebrated expedition against Naples. Philip de | Comines, employed as his ambassador to the republic, | endeavoured to obtain its approbation and concurrence | by the most alluring offers; but in vain. The Doge and | Senate felt the difficulty of their situation, and would | only reply, that they must adhere to the wisdom of their | ancestors. That wisdom, they maintained with | profound hypocrisy, had taught them to aim at no | conquests, but merely to repel injuries, preserve their | liberties, and respect alliances. Yet they joined Sforza, | Alexander the Sixth, and the King of Spain, in deluding | Comines, and intercepting the return of his master. | Upon his expostulation, they reminded the French | monarch, that wise men were | directed by contingencies; in other words, that for | kings or nobles to thrive, they must be knaves. Their | troops distinguished themselves at the battle of the Taro, | prevented Charles from crossing the river, captured part | of his wardrobe and artillery, and saved their own | baggage. Two of their Proveditores were present at the | siege of Novara. Their fleet defeated a large squadron | of gallies from Marseilles, lying off Genoa. They then | stormed the fortress of Rappelle, put the garrison to the | sword, and compelled their royal adversary to make | overtures. In these, however, the republic was deserted | in its turn by the Duke of Milan; and an extrication | from the labyrinth into which he had led their Senators, | was achieved with great difficulty. They at length | succeeded; and by a temporary pacification flattered | themselves they had restored the balance of power in | Italy. The French were expelled partly through their | means from Naples; their acquisition of Otranto, Mola, | Brundusium, Poliguano, and Traui, was confirmed in | full sovereignty; and Pisa, fallen from her former glory, | was taken under their military protection. But the calm | was of short duration; for the death of Charles changed | the whole posture of affairs. His successor claimed | Milan, as well as Naples, and coalesced with Venice | against Sforza. Caesar Borgia moreover now darkened | | Italian politics by his intrigues and crimes; and the | Turks had overrun the Morea. Many millions of | treasure, and thousands of lives, were lavished in these | contests; a waste which left the Senate ill-prepared for a | more perilous crisis at hand. | | The tiara had passed from Alexander the Sixth to Julius | the Second; as great a monster as his predecessor. His | machinations formed the league of Cambray against the | republic; partly through her own haughtiness and folly, | and partly through the jealousies of her neighbours. | Venice, instead of cultivating her amity with France, | then mistress of Milan by the deposition of Sforza, | betrayed Louis the Twelfth, and insulted the Emperor | of Germany. The Pope saw his opportunity, and | announced a right, as head of the Holy See, to Ravenna | and the Pentapolis. Maximilian, surnamed the | Moneyless, put in claims for Trieste, Friuli, and | Aquileia. The Court of Paris insisted upon a restitution | of whatever had belonged to the family of Visconti. | Ferdinand of Naples demanded Rovigo and the | Polesine. Florence was grasping at Pisa, under the | shelter of its Venetian alliance. Savoy for the sake of | Cyprus, and Mantua with every petty potentate in Italy, | joined the confederacy; which was formally concluded | in 1509, upon the principle of . Venice | tottered on the brink of destruction; nor could anything | have saved her, except the extent and amount of spoil to | be divided. The victory of Aignadel, near the Adda, | gained by the French on the 4th May 1509, laid | Lombardy prostrate. No sooner was this the case, than | the vultures began to quarrel among themselves. Julius | had all along stipulated that he should be the last to take | up arms. He suddenly grew alarmed at the hurricane he | had raised. Should either Lewis or Maximilian gain a | paramount ascendancy in Italy, the Papal keys would | have to be wielded at the will of the successful | sovereign. It required therefore only ordinary | management to detach him from his allies; and so the | storm abated. His spiritual and temporal arms were | soon turned against the Emperor. The Vicar of God | upon Earth besieged Mirandola in person; not a little | nettled at the rumour, that Maximilian in his own | proper person aspired to the papacy. Meanwhile the | main point of the coalition succeeded. A martial | Pontiff had humbled the pride of Venice, and convinced | the world that she was declining from her zenith. One | concession made way for fresh demands. Bembo | mentions that the treasury of the republic experienced | such exhaustion, that outlaws, even for rape and murder, | could sue out their full pardon, on the sole condition of | six months | | personal service. Money was still more acceptable, and | cancelled all transgressions. A ten per cent income-tax | demonstrated the necessities of the state; although it | kept up credit, and enabled it to borrow without | difficulty at a most moderate rate of interest. It was | enacted that a loan of twenty pounds weight of gold | (about 800 pounds sterling) | should entitle the lender, for one year, to senatorial | privileges, barring alone the right of suffrage. Philip | Morosini, thrown into prison for having dangerously | wounded his relative in a duel, purchased his | forgiveness for 2,000 ducats. The return of peace | afforded at first but slight relief, since neither Padua nor | Verona could contribute their customary quota; and the | horrors of this warfare may be estimated, from the | circumstance of the University in the former city having | for eight years been utterly deserted by its students. | An interval of repose, such as it was, may be dated | from the treaty of Noyon in 1517. The Senate, rejoiced | to sheath the sword, again looked eastward. They | dispatched envoys to Selim at Damascus, and procured | his protection for their factories at Tripoli, Beirout, and | Alexandria. Their consul in Egypt had a salary allowed | him of 120 pounds sterling per | month, with a vessel of war at his command. | Commerce again reared its head; and although not so | lucrative or extensive as before, yet proved sufficiently | so to render every ear deaf to the alarum of another | crusade. Taking as slight a share in the wars of Charles | the Fifth as possible, they contrived to avoid an open | rupture with Solyman the successor of Selim, for | several years. Like the Dutch in Japan or China, they | endured for the sake of lucre and safety, innumerable | indignities. Already had their traffic been harassed by | vexatious searches, the occasional imprisonment of | their merchants, and the imposition of new duties. The | days of old Dandolo were gone for ever. An attack on | Corfu by the Ottoman fleet in 1538, drove them into a | combination with the Pope and the Emperor, to resist | the further encroachments of their common adversary. | After immense bloodshed on both sides, the defeat at | Nicopolis brought about a truce in 1540. The next | thirty years augmented rather than diminished the | power of the Porte, and presented a striking contrast to | earlier ages, when Venice was the Lady of the | Mediterranean. Plague, pestilence, and famine, as well | as the insolence of the Barbary pirates, scourged her to | the quick. From her Dalmatian towns, men, women | and children were carried away to Algiers or Tunis, or | reserved for the slave-market at Constantinople; and | although her Admiral Tepulo once and again cleared | the seas, boasting that a boat laden with gold might | navigate the | | Adriatic, she was soon awakened from all such dreams | of self-complacency. The first grand blow struck at her | power in the Levant was the invasion of Cyprus. | When a princess of the house of Lusignan laid claim to | that kingdom under the mediation of Savoy, the | Venetians, then in possession, laughed to scorn her | modest pretensions. She adjured them by the | obligations of religion and justice, to at least investigate | her right; to which their sole reply was, . | Fortune's wheel had revolved in the lapse of a century; | and it was the turn of the Turks to comment upon the | text of the Venetians. Selim the Second had cast a | longing eye upon the island even during the lifetime of | Solyman. Its contiguity to Caramania, its natural | fertility, the excellence of its wines, on which point the | Sultan a little differed from the Koran, inflamed him | with a desire of making it his own. His subjects fanned | the fire by constant complaints of the annoyance and | injuries received from its inhabitants. The Grand Mufti | appealed to his religion; and a Jewish renegado from | Venice, who felt personally aggrieved by the Senate, | urged the matter so warmly, that ships were launched, | and cannon cast, amidst the usual farce of friendly | diplomatic professions. Through the exertions of | Torres an ecclesiastic, the Pope and Spain united with | the Doge in a league, of which alarm was the occasion, | and mutual distrust with consequent failure the result. | While the confederates waited for one another, the | Ottomans landed at Salini without opposition. Lusara | was taken, Famagosta blockaded, and Nicosia, the | capital, closely besieged. Its inhabitants are stated by | the annalists at fifty thousand; the garrison being about | a tenth of the number. Mustapha, having drawn his | lines of circumvallation round the devoted city, shot an | arrow over the walls, with a billet attached to it | announcing an immediate storm, if not prevented by | instant capitulation. After two gallant repulses, he | fulfilled his menace. The tower of Podocatova had | been strangely neglected, for its guards were asleep | when their assailants planted scaling-ladders, and put | them without mercy to the sword. All the outworks | were carried on the forty-eighth day from the | investment; and the last stand was made by the | Venetians in the market-place. Scarcely a soldier | escaped, though the slain sold their lives dearly. The | Bishop fell in the fight, together with the Governor and | a whole staff of officials. Famagosta alone remained to | resist the triumphant janizaries. Its commander | Baglioni dared to deride their summons for a surrender; | but after a series of bloody assaults and sallies, and a | system of | | mining far beyond what generally occurs in modern | warfare, the place became a heap of ruins, and famine | accelerated its fall. The Turks revenged themselves by | the perpetration of unparalleled cruelties. Bragadino, | the representative of the republic, was inhumanly flayed | alive, and his skin suspended as a trophy from the | yard-arm of a galley in the harbour. | Philip the Second, who might have prevented these | disasters by acting up to his engagements, is said to | have felt, slight regret at their occurrence. His gloomy | pride abhorred every commercial state; and while his | vessels remained inactive, Zante and Cephalonia, with | the coasts of Albania and Dalmatia, were plundered and | ravaged. At length Don John of Austria, with | twenty-two-thousand infantry, ninety ships of war, and a large | train of artillery, joined the Venetians at Messina, and | made lame apologies for the tardiness of the Spanish | Monarch. The Ottoman armament had anchored in the | gulf of Lepanto; and the prince was driven to hazard an | attack, through very shame for past negligence. The | victory which ensured, made Europe ring with | acclamations. Only thirty sail reached Constantinople | in safety; upwards of one hundred and thirty having | been captured, and the rest destroyed in the action. At | Corfu, where the spoils were divided, forty-four gallies, | a number of galliots and galeasses, with one | hundred-and-thirty-one pieces of cannon, and near twelve | hundred prisoners of consequence, fell to the share of | Venice. Information of what had happened was | pompously transmitted by the Pope to the Sophi of | Persia; that he might be induced to improve so golden | an opportunity, and invade the dominions of Selim. | , said the papal ambassador. ? | replied the royal Oriental. The Nuncio still insisted on | the importance of the triumph which had illustrated the | Christian arms. , said the Sophi, . | And so it proved. Don John did nothing for his allies | after the battle. Had the combined fleets appeared off | the Morea, Greece might have been emancipated, as | well as several of the islands in the Archipelago | restored to Christendom. Selim threw away not a | moment in repairing his losses. He hastened from his | camp at Adrianople to the metropolis, on receiving | news of his defeat. Order was maintained, and | confidence rekindled. Philip on the other hand, failed | as usual in the fulfillment of his promises. A drawn | sea-fight near Cape Matapan, a considerable skirmish at | Navarino, with plans attacking Modou, ill-concerted | and | | never put into execution, formed the chief features of | the next inglorious campaign; and in 1574 the Senate | concluded a peace, which ceded to the Sultan every | conquest he had gained, besides thirty thousand crowns | of gold, to be paid by instalments, to reimburse him for | his expenses during the war. They concealed so | ignominious a treaty from the King of Spain and the | Pope, until it was concluded; pleading as an apology, | that stern necessity compelled them to save their | commerce, though deprived of their territories. | Thirty-two years of almost unruffled tranquility ensured; | until circumstances arose, in which more important | services were rendered to society, than by domineering | over the Levant, or fighting the battles of Spain. Paul | the Fifth had conceived the mud design of becoming | another Hildebrand. Pontifical arrogance never had | received very hearty homage from St. Mark; and the | Seignory, observing that as their secular prosperity | waned papal pretensions waxed rampant, promulgated | two edicts, which forbad the erection of any more | monasteries, or the alienation of property for spiritual | purposes, without the consent of government. The | Jesuits and Capuchins, at that time particularly active, | took alarm; for the Senate had imprisoned an abbot and | a canon, guilty of flagrant crimes; and it was attempted | to be shown that they were not amenable to the ordinary | tribunals. Paul in is fury annulled the new laws, and | demanded a surrender of the culprits to the | Ecclesiastical Courts; and because satisfaction was not | given within twenty-four days, he proceeded to | fulminate an excommunication. This interdict would | have frightened Kings and Emperors a few centuries | before; and even now, intense interest prevailed | respecting the contest. Venice remembered the days of | her glory, and boldly defied the pontiff. The clergy | received an order, through the Doge, to disregard the | decrees of Rome; and they obeyed the State rather than | the Church. The Grand Vicar of Padua alone among | the dignified monks, for an instant hesitated, and | whispered to the Podesta, that ; which | inspiration, however, he was told by that officer in | reply, . Puffendorf dryly remarks, . | Matters seemed tending to an open rupture. An army | assembled in the duchy of Spoleto under the banners of | his Holiness. A remnant of the fanatical Leaguers in | France, and the Court of the Escurial, had promised | succours. On the part of the excommunicated, 8,000 | Swiss marched into the Brescian. Pens were active on | both | | sides, and proved more efficacious than swords. The | Venetians had nothing to fear, since the largest portion | of Italy in opinion espoused their cause; and the Dukes | of Urbino, Modena, and Savoy, actually offered their | services to the republic. The liberalism of Sarpi, better | known as Fra Paolo, prevailed against bull briefs, and | cardinals. Bedell, an Irish Bishop, chaplain to the | English embassy at Venice, distinguished himself in the | controversy. Burnet and Courayer mention that serious | schemes were agitated for a total separation from the | Church of Rome; although not by the more moderate | polemics. Henry the Fourth at this crisis interposed as | mediator; and Cardinal de Joyeuse adjusted the terms of | a pacification highly honourable to Venice. It reduced | all Papal interference for the future to mere matter of | sufferance. Cardinal Henry Norris in 1676, wrote to | Magliabecchi in the following strain; . | Some transitory broils with the house of Austria, the | conspiracy of Bedamar to burn the arsenal and city, and | the affairs of the Valteline and Mantua, produced much | agitation, but little real inconvenience or sense of | decline, until the war of Candia. This broke out under | Ibrahim the eighteenth Sultan of the Ottomans, in the | year 1645. Six Maltese cruisers having attacked and | taken a rich Turkish vessel, put into one of the ports of | that island, and paid the governor out of their spoil a | price for his protection. Hostilities speedily | commenced; yet were slowly, though expensively | conducted. No less than twenty-three languid | campaigns elapsed, before the siege of the capital in | May 1667 concentrated the struggle. The city was | fortified with seven bastions; of which two were | shattered by the largest artillery ever cast, and were | finally blown into the air by the explosion of a hundred | barrels of gunpowder. Europe began to dream of | another crusade. The Duke of Beaufort with 7,000 | French troops, and many of the Knights of Malta, | landed, but were soon disgusted. More blows were | earned than either gain or glory. Such as survived, | availed themselves of an early opportunity to withdraw; | the governor was not properly supported by the Senate; | and the foundations of the ramparts had become so torn | by shafts and traverses, as to be no longer tenable. | Molino was sent to the Grand Seignor to implore a | truce; but he was given to understand that he could not | be received without the emblems of surrender in his | hand. Fresh assaults succeeded, and met with the most | sanguinary repulses. The ground is said to have been | laid open like the abyss of an earthquake. Actions at | sea shed as | | much blood as those on shore. At the capitulation, | signed on the 27th September 1669, only two thousand | five hundred soldiers remained of the entire garrison. | Ricaut has recorded some curious details of this siege, | in which the Turks lost upwards of 118,000 and the | Venetians more than 30,000 lives. Fifty-six assaults | were given by the former, and ninety-six sallies were | made by the latter. Forty-five combats occurred in | subterranean galleries; nearly 1200 | fornelli were sprung by the besieged, and 472 by | the besiegers; the expenditure of bombs, grenades, balls, | brass, lead, iron, and match, appears incredible; and | when Morosini became Doge of Venice, he | acknowledged that above 100,000,000 of gold crowns | had been wasted in this unsuccessful contest. Three | Candian harbours were reserved for the commerce of | the republic; all besides was surrendered; and the year | 1670 restored a partial peace to the Mediterranean. In | vain had Venice lavished her resources. The celebrated | golden chain, too ponderous for forty porters to carry | when displayed on festivals before the ducal palace, | and to which the economy of the state had once added | some links every year, was no more to be beheld. A | fund of 6,000,000 sequins, kept for grand emergencies, | had also vanished. It had become necessary to impose | a new land-tax, and augment the excise. Pardons were | again sold to criminals of every grade. Titles could be | purchased by those who loved the tinsel and trappings | of nobility. Two hundred young men were admitted | into the Great Council at an age earlier than the legal | one; which step is said to have produced some millions. | Many of the most opulent emigrants from Candia were | also enrolled among the privileged classes; no doubt for | a good consideration. | Yet another struggle was hazarded for territorial sway, | with their old enemy the Ottoman Empire. A war | between the Porte, Poland, Russia, and the German | Emperor, produced an impression upon Europe, neither | incorrect nor unsalutary, that the Turks had ceased to be | a conquering nation. The Venetian Senate, sore from | their late losses in the Levant, watched eagerly for | revenge. Their envoys at Constantinople had been | insulted, fined, and even imprisoned, during 1684, upon | charges of attempting to get some goods landed without | paying the customary duty. Vienna at this time was | besieged, and until the result could be known, no notice | was taken; but when intelligence arrived that the | Christian arms had triumphed, instant satisfaction was | demanded. On this being refused, hostilities began. | Morosini captured Santa Maura after an investment of | fourteen days; having first regained all the towns | formerly possessed by his country | | in Dalmatia. Epirus submitted to his prowess. Prevesa, | and numerous places in the Morea, surrendered. The | Mainotes, descended from the ancient Lacedaemonians, | and who had never acknowledged the Crescent, flocked | from their mountain passes to the standard of the Doge. | Coron and Zarnata fell, on the succours sent them | sustaining total defeat. Navarino, Modon, Argos, and | Napoli capitulated to Count Koningsmark. Patras, | Lepanto, and Corinth, followed the example. Not a | fortress from the Isthmus to Cape Matapan held out | successfully. At Negropont, the invaders experienced | their first check; the stronghold of Malvasia had nearly | baffled them; and an attempt to recover Candia, | founded upon their recent victories, terminated in | disappointment. Yet they seized Scio and threatened | Smyrna; losing the former, however, very shortly, and | suffering singular disgraces at sea from Mezzo Morto, a | Tunisian pirate. They now set themselves diligently to | the reparation of the Hexamilion across the Isthmus; | and Prince Eugene's victory at Zante in 1697 made way | for the peace of Carlowitz. The republic was allowed | to retain the Morea, Santa Maura, and Zante; but it was | only for a brief interval. She alienated the affections of | the Greeks by an unseasonable zeal, altogether contrary | to her constitutional maxims, against the eastern Church. | Dissatisfaction followed; and a war, commenced by | Turkey in 1715, ended with the peace of Passarowitch, | 21st July 1719, whereby Greece once more returned to | its Mohammedan masters. | So closed the chapter of conquest. Throughout the long | interval of three quarters of a century, from the | last-mentioned treaty to the French Revolution, the state | subsisted upon the wreck of its political reputation, and | a declining commerce. Its manufactures had been | interfered with by those fostered in France under | Colbert and Louis XIV, so as to diminish the annual | demand for them to the extent of three millions of | dollars. The public income had shrunk to less than | 700,000 pounds sterling in the | seventeenth century; equal to about a moiety of the | revenues then attached to the British crown under | Charles II. Yet as the ordinary disbursements in the | time of peace never exceeded two-thirds of that sum, | perseverance in a pacific foreign policy might have | preserved the treasury from embarrassment. This | however was wisdom which an aristocracy has always | been too proud to learn, until adversity inculcates the | lesson, as Gideon taught the men of Succoth, . | Venice became the victim of her absurd and detestable | government; groaning under the disadvantages of | despotism, without possessing any beneficial unity | | either of purpose or conduct. A single tyrant, under | conceivable circumstances of rare occurrence, may be | tolerated, and even beloved by his subjects. Patriotism, | philosophy, or religion, may resist, for a season, the | poison of irresponsible power, and render him a father | to his people. He can often afford to divest himself of | the pageantry and colours of his office, to found his | throne upon popular affection; which can never be the | case with an oligarchy like that of Venice, fearful of | monarchy on the one hand, and democracy on the other. | The right of suffrage was, indeed, lodged in a | considerable number; but that number was itself a caste, | a section of the community; possessing privileges, | which it had an object in maintaining against multitudes | not equally favoured, and itself reduced for the greater | part into dependence upon a few leading and opulent | patricians. These last constituted the supreme authority; | a congeries of selfish contrarieties; a corporation of | titled plunderers; with as many chances against | advantageous results, as there were private interests to | serve. Exclusiveness, therefore, formed the principle of | action, while a veil of mystery overawed the crowd, and | concealed unparalleled abominations. Such secrecy, in | fact, made the diseases of the state irremediable. | Intrigue, oppression, ignorance, and consequent | immorality, struck their roots far and wide in so | congenial a soil. As virtue withered, superstition | increased. The affinity is a natural one, between an | order of nobles and an opulent priesthood; both being | monopolists equally concerned in deluding the common | world. It may also be remembered, that an absolute | monarch has only his slaves to fear; while each member | of an oligarchy has in addition all his fellow-tyrants to | apprehend. Hence the jealousy and espionage of | Venice; and from several of these causes operating | together, her vaunted moderation as to foreign policy | melted into timidity; while in domestic affairs, it | exchanged the sword of justice for the knife of the | assassin. The privilege of carrying weapons could be | purchased at a trivial price; so that after night-fall, | every foul passion roamed abroad, and the cup of Circe | was accompanied with the pistol and the stiletto. | Such were the real causes of the catastrophe which | extinguished the race of Venice in shame. A political | earthquake having overturned despotism in France, | could not fail to fill every minor tyranny with alarm and | dismay. Different and successive plans were proposed | by the courts of Sardinia, Rome, Vienna, and Naples, | for a coalition of all the Italian states against French | principles and French encroachments. Crowned heads | never condescended to remember, that the existing | | phenomena of society rendered such a coalition | impossible, at least for any available object, even had | Venice acquiesced in the scheme. The scheme itself | was mighty only in appearance. Had it been realized in | all its magnitude and magnificence, it could never have | stood firm upon a basis heaving from its very | foundations. Nor were the diplomatists of that day in | any respect Cyclopean workmen. Their projects did | nothing but exorcise, from a surrounding chaos, the | specters of their past misgovernment, the | phantasmagoria of remorse and apprehension. The | Venetian republic resolved to maintain what it called a | perfect neutrality. A temporary revival of trade, | quickened by the havoc and desolation going forward in | other countries, made such resolutions acceptable to the | people; who now began to be a little more thought of, | and their wishes consulted, than before. The | democracy of Paris was acknowledged; and yet the Savi | were keeping the most important despatches and | minutes concealed from the Senate, while the Senate | repaid the Savi with similar want of confidence. In | 1794 the Comte de Provence, afterwards Louis XVIII, | was allowed to fix his residence at Verona; just after the | Consulta Nera, or Black Council, had assembled and | commenced warlike preparations. The Austrian armies | had also received some supplies of provisions. The | Doge and his administration declined receiving M. Noel, | an active intriguer, as the minister and representative of | Robespierre. France complained, threatened, and acted. | In May 1796, the Senate suggested to their | inconvenient guest, that he should withdraw from | Verona, on his own account as well as on theirs. The | Comte, of course, fell into a fit of princely indignation; | yet took the hint, for Buonaparte was at hand. Imperial | troops had been permitted to occupy Peschiera, on their | passage through that part of the Venetian territory | between Mantua and the other Austrian dominions. | The Directory at Paris avowed themselves vehemently | offended. Foscarini, the Proveditore of Terra Firma, | failed in every attempt to pacify Buonaparte, even with | the surrender of Verona. Meanwhile the arsenals of St. | Mark became alive with naval equipments. Churches | were stripped of their ornaments to be applied to | secular purposes. Upwards of a million ducats were | subscribed as a voluntary contribution from the nobles, | who now saw that all was at stake; and . | Prussia stepped in with friendly offers; and had the | proffers from Berlin been accepted in time, the olives | and vineyards might have escaped destruction, though | the fate of the aristocracy was sealed. That aristocracy, | however, still clung to their | | power, their patronage, and their privileges; but they | emulated the wise men of Gotham, each profound | deliberation terminating in no other result than the | excess of folly and the extreme of disaster. | The fact was, that the entire principles and staple of | Italian society were so had, that the professions of | France and her armies at least promised something | better. This was the true charm, which opened the gates | of so many cities, and the hearts of the multitude at | large. Liberty is the talisman of the world; and its very | name will work wonders. Patriotic societies, as they | called themselves, spread from town to town. Bergamo, | Brescia, Cremona, and finally all the continental | provinces, lay prostrate at the foot of France; who, in | the frenzy of military arrogance, played the combined | characters of a robber and a maniac. Forced loans and | levies made the people regret, during their pressure, the | change of masters; although in the end they were | gainers, and might have been much more so, by the | revolution. The oligarchs, the monopolists, and feudal | tyrants, endured the largest losses, as was just. An end | had arrived to their exemptions from the burthens of | government, and their exclusive enjoyment of its | advantages. Hence their dismal howl, which awakened | and led the more confused and less reasonable clamours | of the populace. Those clamours, under the artful | management of those who would have staked a world | to bring back the good old order of things, led to | disorder and bloodshed. They gave the Venetian | aristocrats apparent grounds for assuring mankind, that | their wretched administration was not so detestable as | had been imagined; and this, leading misapprehensions, | aggravated the struggle. A French ship of war was | destroyed in attempting to force a passage into the Lido; | and Buonaparte, on the 1st of May 1797, demanded the | death of the three Inquisitors of State, and of the officer | who had directed the cannonade. Manini, the last Doge, | proposed a compliance with these requisitions to the | Great Council, who came to an almost unanimous vote | for the arrest and trial of the persons thus denounced by | their enemy. It was time the drama should close and | the curtain fall. The hours of Venice were numbered. | Her nobles cared for nothing now but their personal | safety. It was agreed that the ducal dignity, with its | associations of eleven centuries, should be for ever | abolished. A conspiracy was organized by Villetard the | French minister, among the canaille and Sclavonian | mercenaries. Their director opened a negotiation; the | admission of four thousand French troops was | recommended to guard the city; the great council, at the | exhortation of their president, | | resigned their offices; and the tree of liberty was | planted amidst salvos of artillery, the shouts of | thousands, and a solemn Te Deum | from the cathedral. A single burst of disorder | ensued, which led to the demolition of several houses, | and some murderous vollies from the troops. None | afterwards either moved, or peeped, or muttered. The | insignia of the ancient government were burnt; a | foreign army had entered that capital, which had | remained inviolate for one thousand three hundred and | fifty years; and within four months, the treaty of Campo | Formio handed it over, with all its provinces, to Austria, | as an indemnity for the Netherlands. The epitaph of the | Venetian oligarch, was taken from the game of | Vingt-un. Buonaparte was asked, | why he did not keep Venice for France; and he replied, | .