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diff --git a/7083-h/7083-h.htm b/7083-h/7083-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..644a6ef --- /dev/null +++ b/7083-h/7083-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,11341 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" +"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Venetian Life, by William Dean Howells</title> + +<style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + +body { margin-left: 20%; + margin-right: 20%; + text-align: justify; } + +h1, h2, h3, h4, h5 {text-align: center; font-style: normal; font-weight: +normal; line-height: 1.5; margin-top: .5em; margin-bottom: .5em;} + +h1 {font-size: 300%; + margin-top: 0.6em; + margin-bottom: 0.6em; + letter-spacing: 0.12em; + word-spacing: 0.2em; + text-indent: 0em;} +h2 {font-size: 150%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 1em;} +h3 {font-size: 130%; margin-top: 1em;} +h4 {font-size: 120%;} +h5 {font-size: 110%;} + +.no-break {page-break-before: avoid;} /* for epubs */ + +div.chapter {page-break-before: always; margin-top: 4em;} + +hr {width: 80%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em;} + +p {text-indent: 1em; + margin-top: 0.25em; + margin-bottom: 0.25em; } + +p.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-size: 90%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +p.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +p.center {text-align: center; + text-indent: 0em; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +p.footnote {font-size: 90%; + text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +sup { vertical-align: top; font-size: 0.6em; } + +div.fig { display:block; + margin:0 auto; + text-align:center; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em;} + +a:link {color:blue; text-decoration:none} +a:visited {color:blue; text-decoration:none} +a:hover {color:red} + +</style> + </head> + <body> + +<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Venetian Life, by William Dean Howells</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online +at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you +are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the +country where you are located before using this eBook. +</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Venetian Life</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: William Dean Howells</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: March 8, 2003 [eBook #7083]<br /> +[Most recently updated: August 8, 2021]</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: Eric Eldred, Charles Franks, David Widger and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team</div> +<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK VENETIAN LIFE ***</div> + + <h1> + VENETIAN LIFE + </h1> + <h2 class="no-break"> + By William Dean Howells + </h2> +<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0011}.jpg" alt="{0011}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0011}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5> + +<div class="chapter"> + + <h2><a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"></a> + ADVERTISEMENT TO THE SECOND EDITION. + </h2> + <p> + In correcting this book for a second edition, I have sought to complete it + without altering its original plan: I have given a new chapter sketching + the history of Venetian Commerce and noticing the present trade and + industry of Venice; I have amplified somewhat the chapter on the national + holidays, and have affixed an index to the chief historical persons, + incidents, and places mentioned. + </p> + <p> + Believing that such value as my book may have is in fidelity to what I + actually saw and knew of Venice, I have not attempted to follow + speculatively the grand and happy events of last summer in their effects + upon her life. Indeed, I fancy that in the traits at which I loved most to + look, the life of Venice is not so much changed as her fortunes; but at + any rate I am content to remain true to what was fact one year ago. + </p> + <h3> + W. D. H. + </h3> + <p> + Cambridge, January 1, 1867. + </p> + + <hr /> + +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<table summary="" style=""> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> ADVERTISEMENT TO THE SECOND EDITION. </a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0001"> CHAPTER I. Venice in Venice</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0002"> CHAPTER II. Arrival and first Days in Venice</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0003"> CHAPTER III. The Winter in Venice</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0004"> CHAPTER IV. Comincia far Caldo</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0005"> CHAPTER V. Opera and Theatres</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0006"> CHAPTER VI. Venetian Dinners and Diners</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0007"> CHAPTER VII. Housekeeping in Venice</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0008"> CHAPTER VIII. The Balcony on the Grand Canal</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0009"> CHAPTER IX. A Day-Break Ramble</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0010"> CHAPTER X. The Mouse</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0011"> CHAPTER XI. Churches and Pictures</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0012"> CHAPTER XII. Some Islands of the Lagoons</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0013"> CHAPTER XIII. The Armenians</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0014"> CHAPTER XIV. The Ghetto and the Jews of Venice</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0015"> CHAPTER XV. Some Memorable Places</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0016"> CHAPTER XVI. Commerce</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0017"> CHAPTER XVII. Venetian Holidays</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0018"> CHAPTER XVIII. Christmas Holidays</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0019"> CHAPTER XIX. Love-making and Marrying; Baptisms and Burials</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0020"> CHAPTER XX. Venetian Traits and Characters</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0021"> CHAPTER XXI. Society</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0022"> CHAPTER XXII. Our Last Year in Venice</a></td> +</tr> + +</table> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + + <h2><a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"></a> + CHAPTER I.<br/> + VENICE IN VENICE. + </h2> + <p> + One night at the little theatre in Padua, the ticket-seller gave us the + stage-box (of which he made a great merit), and so we saw the play and the + byplay. The prompter, as noted from our point of view, bore a chief part + in the drama (as indeed the prompter always does in the Italian theatre), + and the scene-shifters appeared as prominent characters. We could not help + seeing the virtuous wife, when hotly pursued by the villain of the piece, + pause calmly in the wings, before rushing, all tears and desperation, upon + the stage; and we were dismayed to behold the injured husband and his + abandoned foe playfully scuffling behind the scenes. All the shabbiness of + the theatre was perfectly apparent to us; we saw the grossness of the + painting and the unreality of the properties. And yet I cannot say that + the play lost one whit of its charm for me, or that the working of the + machinery and its inevitable clumsiness disturbed my enjoyment in the + least. There was so much truth and beauty in the playing, that I did not + care for the sham of the ropes and gilding, and presently ceased to take + any note of them. The illusion which I had thought an essential in the + dramatic spectacle, turned out to be a condition of small importance. + </p> + <p> + It has sometimes seemed to me as if fortune had given me a stage-box at + another and grander spectacle, and I had been suffered to see this VENICE, + which is to other cities like the pleasant improbability of the theatre to + every-day, commonplace life, to much the same effect as that melodrama in + Padua. I could not, indeed, dwell three years in the place without + learning to know it differently from those writers who have described it + in romances, poems, and hurried books of travel, nor help seeing from my + point of observation the sham and cheapness with which Venice is usually + brought out, if I may so speak, in literature. At the same time, it has + never lost for me its claim upon constant surprise and regard, nor the + fascination of its excellent beauty, its peerless picturesqueness, its + sole and wondrous grandeur. It is true that the streets in Venice are + canals; and yet you can walk to any part of the city, and need not take + boat whenever you go out of doors, as I once fondly thought you must. But + after all, though I find dry land enough in it, I do not find the place + less unique, less a mystery, or less a charm. By day, the canals are still + the main thoroughfares; and if these avenues are not so full of light and + color as some would have us believe, they, at least, do not smell so + offensively as others pretend. And by night, they are still as dark and + silent as when the secret vengeance of the Republic plunged its victims + into the ungossiping depths of the Canalazzo! + </p> + <p> + Did the vengeance of the Republic ever do any such thing? + </p> + <p> + Possibly. In Venice one learns not quite to question that reputation for + vindictive and gloomy cruelty alien historians have given to a government + which endured so many centuries in the willing obedience of its subjects; + but to think that the careful student of the old Republican system will + condemn it for faults far different from those for which it is chiefly + blamed. At all events, I find it hard to understand why, if the Republic + was an oligarchy utterly selfish and despotic, it has left to all classes + of Venetians so much regret and sorrow for its fall. + </p> + <p> + So, if the reader care to follow me to my stage-box, I imagine he will + hardly see the curtain rise upon just the Venice of his dreams—the + Venice of Byron, of Rogers, and Cooper; or upon the Venice of his + prejudices—the merciless Venice of Darù, and of the historians who + follow him. But I still hope that he will be pleased with the Venice he + sees; and will think with me that the place loses little in the illusion + removed; and—to take leave of our theatrical metaphor—I + promise to fatigue him with no affairs of my own, except as allusion to + them may go to illustrate Life in Venice; and positively he shall suffer + no annoyance from the fleas and bugs which, in Latin countries, so often + get from travelers’ beds into their books. + </p> + <p> + Let us mention here at the beginning some of the sentimental errors + concerning the place, with which we need not trouble ourselves hereafter, + but which no doubt form a large part of every one’s associations with the + name of Venice. Let us take, for example, that pathetic swindle, the + Bridge of Sighs. There are few, I fancy, who will hear it mentioned + without connecting its mystery and secrecy with the taciturn justice of + the Three, or some other cruel machinery of the Serenest Republic’s + policy. When I entered it the first time I was at the pains to call about + me the sad company of those who had passed its corridors from imprisonment + to death; and, I doubt not, many excellent tourists have done the same. I + was somewhat ashamed to learn afterward that I had, on this occasion, been + in very low society, and that the melancholy assemblage which I then + conjured up was composed entirely of honest rogues, who might indeed have + given as graceful and ingenious excuses for being in misfortune as the + galley-slaves rescued by Don Quixote,—who might even have been very + picturesque,—but who were not at all the material with which a + well-regulated imagination would deal. The Bridge of Sighs was not built + till the end of the sixteenth century, and no romantic episode of + political imprisonment and punishment (except that of Antonio Foscarini) + occurs in Venetian history later than that period. But the Bridge of Sighs + could have nowise a savor of sentiment from any such episode, being, as it + was, merely a means of communication between the Criminal Courts sitting + in the Ducal Palace, and the Criminal Prison across the little canal. + Housebreakers, cut-purse knaves, and murderers do not commonly impart a + poetic interest to places which have known them; and yet these are the + only sufferers on whose Bridge of Sighs the whole sentimental world has + looked with pathetic sensation ever since Byron drew attention to it. The + name of the bridge was given by the people from that opulence of + compassion which enables the Italians to pity even rascality in + difficulties.<a href="#fn1" name="fnref1" id="fnref1"><sup>[1]</sup></a> + </p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn1" id="fn1"></a> <a href="#fnref1">[1]</a> +The reader will remember that Mr. Ruskin has said + in a few words, much better than I have said in many, the same thing of + sentimental errors about Venice:—<br/> + “The Venice of modern fiction and drama is a thing of yesterday, a mere + efflorescence of decay, a stage-dream, which the first ray of daylight + must dissipate into dust. No prisoner whose name is worth remembering, or + whose sorrows deserved sympathy, ever crossed that Bridge of Sighs, which + is the centre of the Byronic ideal of Venice; no great merchant of Venice + ever saw that Rialto under which the traveler now pauses with breathless + interest; the statue which Byron makes Faliero address as one of his great + ancestors, was erected to a soldier of fortune a hundred and fifty years + after Faliero’s death.”—<i>Stories of Venice</i>.] + </p> + <p> + Political offenders were not confined in the “prison on each hand” of the + poet, but in the famous <i>pozzi</i> (literally, wells) or dungeons under + the Ducal Palace. And what fables concerning these cells have not been + uttered and believed! For my part, I prepared my coldest chills for their + exploration, and I am not sure that before I entered their gloom some + foolish and lying literature was not shaping itself in my mind, to be + afterward written out as my Emotions on looking at them. I do not say now + that they are calculated to enamor the unimpounded spectator with + prison-life; but they are certainly far from being as bad as I hoped. They + are not joyously light nor particularly airy, but their occupants could + have suffered no extreme physical discomfort; and the thick wooden casing + of the interior walls evidences at least the intention of the state to + inflict no wanton hardships of cold and damp. + </p> + <p> + But on whose account had I to be interested in the <i>pozzi</i>? It was + difficult to learn, unless I took the word of sentimental hearsay. I began + with Marin Falier, but history would not permit the doge to languish in + these dungeons for a moment. He was imprisoned in the apartments of state, + and during one night only. His fellow-conspirators were hanged nearly as + fast as taken. + </p> + <p> + Failing so signally with Falier, I tried several other political prisoners + of sad and famous memory with scarcely better effect. To a man, they + struggled to shun the illustrious captivity designed them, and escaped + from the <i>pozzi</i> by every artifice of fact and figure. + </p> + <p> + The Carraras of Padua were put to death in the city of Venice, and their + story is the most pathetic and romantic in Venetian history. But it was + not the cells under the Ducal Palace which witnessed their cruel + taking-off: they were strangled in the prison formerly existing at the top + of the palace, called the Torresella. [Footnote: Galliciolli, <i>Memorie + Venete</i>.] It is possible, however, that Jacopo Foscari may have been + confined in the <i>pozzi</i> at different times about the middle of the + fifteenth century. With his fate alone, then, can the horror of these + cells be satisfactorily associated by those who relish the dark romance of + Venetian annals; for it is not to be expected that the less tragic + fortunes of Carlo Zeno and Vittore Pisani, who may also have been + imprisoned in the <i>pozzi</i>, can move the true sentimentalizer. + Certainly, there has been anguish enough in the prisons of the Ducal + Palace, but we know little of it by name, and cannot confidently relate it + to any great historic presence. + </p> + <p> + Touching the Giant’s Stairs in the court of the palace, the inexorable + dates would not permit me to rest in the delusion that the head of Marin + Falier had once bloodily stained them as it rolled to the ground—at + the end of Lord Byron’s tragedy. Nor could I keep unimpaired my vision of + the Chief of the Ten brandishing the sword of justice, as he proclaimed + the traitor’s death to the people from between the two red columns in the + southern gallery of the palace;—that façade was not built till + nearly a century later. + </p> + <p> + I suppose,—always judging by my own average experience,—that + besides these gloomy associations, the name of Venice will conjure up + scenes of brilliant and wanton gayety, and that in the foreground of the + brightest picture will be the Carnival of Venice, full of antic delight, + romantic adventure, and lawless prank. But the carnival, with all the old + merry-making life of the city, is now utterly obsolete, and, in this way, + the conventional, masquerading, pleasure-loving Venice is become as gross + a fiction as if, like that other conventional Venice of which I have but + spoken, it had never existed. There is no greater social dullness and + sadness, on land or sea, than in contemporary Venice. + </p> + <p> + The causes of this change lie partly in the altered character of the whole + world’s civilization, partly in the increasing poverty of the city, doomed + four hundred years ago to commercial decay, and chiefly (the Venetians + would be apt to tell you wholly) in the implacable anger, the inconsolable + discontent, with which the people regard their present political + condition. + </p> + <p> + If there be more than one opinion among men elsewhere concerning the means + by which Austria acquired Venetia and the tenure by which she holds the + province, there would certainly seem to be no division on the question in + Venice. To the stranger first inquiring into public feeling, there is + something almost sublime in the unanimity with which the Venetians appear + to believe that these means were iniquitous, and that this tenure is + abominable; and though shrewder study and carefuler observation will + develop some interested attachment to the present government, and some + interested opposition of it; though after-knowledge will discover, in the + hatred of Austria, enough meanness, lukewarmness, and selfish ignorance to + take off its sublimity, the hatred is still found marvelously unanimous + and bitter. I speak advisedly, and with no disposition to discuss the + question or exaggerate the fact. Exercising at Venice official functions + by permission and trust of the Austrian government, I cannot regard the + cessation of those functions as release from obligations both to that + government and my own, which render it improper for me, so long as the + Austrians remain in Venice, to criticize their rule, or contribute, by + comment on existing things, to embitter the feeling against them + elsewhere. I may, nevertheless, speak dispassionately of facts of the + abnormal social and political state of the place; and I can certainly do + this, for the present situation is so disagreeable in many ways to the + stranger forced to live there,—the inappeasable hatred of the + Austrians by the Italians is so illiberal in application to those in any + wise consorting with them, and so stupid and puerile in many respects, + that I think the annoyance which it gives the foreigner might well damp + any passion with which he was disposed to speak of its cause. + </p> + <p> + This hatred of the Austrians dates in its intensity from the defeat of + patriotic hopes of union with Italy in 1859, when Napoleon found the + Adriatic at Peschiera, and the peace of Villafranca was concluded. But it + is not to be supposed that a feeling so general, and so thoroughly + interwoven with Venetian character, is altogether recent. Consigned to the + Austrians by Napoleon I., confirmed in the subjection into which she fell + a second time after Napoleon’s ruin, by the treaties of the Holy Alliance, + defeated in several attempts to throw off her yoke, and loaded with + heavier servitude after the fall of the short-lived Republic of 1849,—Venice + has always hated her masters with an exasperation deepened by each remove + from the hope of independence, and she now detests them with a rancor + which no concession short of absolute relinquishment of dominion would + appease. + </p> + <p> + Instead, therefore, of finding that public gayety and private hospitality + in Venice for which the city was once famous, the stranger finds himself + planted between two hostile camps, with merely the choice of sides open to + him. Neutrality is solitude and friendship with neither party; society is + exclusive association with the Austrians or with the Italians. The latter + do not spare one of their own number if he consorts with their masters, + and though a foreigner might expect greater allowance, it is seldom shown + to him. To be seen in the company of officers is enmity to Venetian + freedom, and in the case of Italians it is treason to country and to race. + Of course, in a city where there is a large garrison and a great many + officers who have nothing else to do, there is inevitably some + international love-making, although the Austrian officers are rigidly + excluded from association with the citizens. But the Italian who marries + an Austrian severs the dearest ties that bind her to life, and remains an + exile in the heart of her country. Her friends mercilessly cast her off, + as they cast off every body who associates with the dominant race. In rare + cases I have known Italians to receive foreigners who had Austrian + friends, but this with the explicit understanding that there was to be no + sign of recognition if they met them in the company of these detested + acquaintance. + </p> + <p> + There are all degrees of intensity in Venetian hatred, and after hearing + certain persons pour out the gall of bitterness upon the Austrians, you + may chance to hear these persons spoken of as tepid in their patriotism by + yet more fiery haters. Yet it must not be supposed that the Italians hate + the Austrians as individuals. On the contrary, they have rather a liking + for them—rather a contemptuous liking, for they think them somewhat + slow and dull-witted—and individually the Austrians are amiable + people, and try not to give offence. The government is also very strict in + its control of the military. I have never seen the slightest affront + offered by a soldier to a citizen; and there is evidently no personal + ill-will engendered. The Austrians are simply hated as the means by which + an alien and despotic government is imposed upon a people believing + themselves born for freedom and independence. This hatred, then, is a + feeling purely political, and there is political machinery by which it is + kept in a state of perpetual tension. + </p> + <p> + The Comitato Veneto is a body of Venetians residing within the province + and abroad, who have charge of the Italian interests, and who work in + every way to promote union with the dominions of Victor Emanuel. They live + for the most part in Venice, where they have a secret press for the + publication of their addresses and proclamations, and where they remain + unknown to the police, upon whose spies they maintain an espionage. On + every occasion of interest, the Committee is sure to make its presence + felt; and from time to time persons find themselves in the possession of + its printed circulars, stamped with the Committee’s seal; but no one knows + how or whence they came. Constant arrests of suspected persons are made, + but no member of the Committee has yet been identified; and it is said + that the mysterious body has its agents in every department of the + government, who keep it informed of inimical action. The functions of the + Committee are multiplied and various. It takes care that on all patriotic + anniversaries (such as that of the establishment of the Republic in 1848, + and that of the union of the Italian States under Victor Emanuel in 1860) + salutes shall be fired in Venice, and a proper number of red, white, and + green lights displayed. It inscribes revolutionary sentiments on the + walls; and all attempts on the part of the Austrians to revive popular + festivities are frustrated by the Committee, which causes petards to be + exploded in the Place of St. Mark, and on the different promenades. Even + the churches are not exempt from these demonstrations: I was present at + the Te Deum performed on the Emperor’s birthday, in St. Mark’s, when the + moment of elevating the host was signalized by the bursting of a petard in + the centre of the cathedral. All this, which seems of questionable + utility, and worse than questionable taste, is approved by the fiercer of + the Italianissimi, and though possibly the strictness of the patriotic + discipline in which the members of the Committee keep their + fellow-citizens may gall some of them, yet any public demonstration of + content, such as going to the opera, or to the Piazza while the Austrian + band plays, is promptly discontinued at a warning from the Committee. It + is, of course, the Committee’s business to keep the world informed of + public feeling in Venice, and of each new act of Austrian severity. Its + members are inflexible men, whose ability has been as frequently + manifested as their patriotism. + </p> + <p> + The Venetians are now, therefore, a nation in mourning, and have, as I + said, disused all their former pleasures and merry-makings. Every class, + except a small part of the resident <i>titled</i> nobility (a great part + of the nobility is in either forced or voluntary exile), seems to be + comprehended by this feeling of despondency and suspense. The poor of the + city formerly found their respite and diversion in the numerous holidays + which fell in different parts of the year, and which, though religious in + their general character, were still inseparably bound up in their origin + with ideas of patriotism and national glory. Such of these holidays as + related to the victories and pride of the Republic naturally ended with + her fall. Many others, however, survived this event in all their splendor, + but there is not one celebrated now as in other days. It is true that the + churches still parade their pomps in the Piazza on the day of Corpus + Christi; it is true that the bridges of boats are still built across the + Canalazzo to the church of Our Lady of Salvation, and across the Canal of + the Giudecca to the temple of the Redeemer, on the respective festivals of + these churches; but the concourse is always meagre, and the mirth is + forced and ghastly. The Italianissimi have so far imbued the people with + their own ideas and feelings, that the recurrence of the famous holidays + now merely awakens them to lamentations over the past and vague longings + for the future. + </p> + <p> + As for the carnival, which once lasted six months of the year, charming + hither all the idlers of the world by its peculiar splendor and variety of + pleasure, it does not, as I said, any longer exist. It is dead, and its + shabby, wretched ghost is a party of beggars, hideously dressed out with + masks and horns and women’s habits, who go from shop to shop droning forth + a stupid song, and levying tribute upon the shopkeepers. The crowd through + which these melancholy jesters pass, regards them with a pensive scorn, + and goes about its business untempted by the delights of carnival. + </p> + <p> + All other social amusements have shared in greater or less degree the fate + of the carnival. At some houses conversazioni are still held, and it is + impossible that balls and parties should not now and then be given. But + the greater number of the nobles and the richer of the professional + classes lead for the most part a life of listless seclusion, and attempts + to lighten the general gloom and heaviness in any way are not looked upon + with favor. By no sort of chance are Austrians, or Austriacanti ever + invited to participate in the pleasures of Venetian society. + </p> + <p> + As the social life of Italy, and especially of Venice, was in great part + to be once enjoyed at the theatres, at the caffè, and at the other places + of public resort, so is its absence now to be chiefly noted in those + places. No lady of perfect standing among her people goes to the opera, + and the men never go in the boxes, but if they frequent the theatre at + all, they take places in the pit, in order that the house may wear as + empty and dispirited a look as possible. Occasionally a bomb is exploded + in the theatre, as a note of reminder, and as means of keeping away such + of the nobles as are not enemies of the government. As it is less easy for + the Austrians to participate in the diversion of comedy, it is a less + offence to attend the comedy, though even this is not good + Italianissimism. In regard to the caffè there is a perfectly understood + system by which the Austrians go to one, and the Italians to another; and + Florian’s, in the Piazza, seems to be the only common ground in the city + on which the hostile forces consent to meet. This is because it is + thronged with foreigners of all nations, and to go there is not thought a + demonstration of any kind. But the other caffè in the Piazza do not enjoy + Florian’s cosmopolitan immunity, and nothing would create more wonder in + Venice than to see an Austrian officer at the Specchi, unless, indeed, it + were the presence of a good Italian at the Quadri. + </p> + <p> + It is in the Piazza that the tacit demonstration of hatred and discontent + chiefly takes place. Here, thrice a week, in winter and summer, the + military band plays that exquisite music for which the Austrians are + famous. The selections are usually from Italian operas, and the attraction + is the hardest of all others for the music-loving Italian to resist. But + he does resist it. There are some noble ladies who have not entered the + Piazza while the band was playing there, since the fall of the Republic of + 1849; and none of good standing for patriotism has attended the concerts + since the treaty of Villafranca in ‘59. Until very lately, the promenaders + in the Piazza were exclusively foreigners, or else the families of such + government officials as were obliged to show themselves there. Last + summer, however, before the Franco-Italian convention for the evacuation + of Rome revived the drooping hopes of the Venetians, they had begun + visibly to falter in their long endurance. But this was, after all, only a + slight and transient weakness. As a general thing, now, they pass from the + Piazza when the music begins, and walk upon the long quay at the sea-side + of the Ducal Palace; or if they remain in the Piazza they pace up and down + under the arcades on either side; for Venetian patriotism makes a delicate + distinction between listening to the Austrian band in the Piazza and + hearing it under the Procuratie, forbidding the first and permitting the + last. As soon as the music ceases the Austrians disappear, and the + Italians return to the Piazza. + </p> + <p> + But since the catalogue of demonstrations cannot be made full, it need not + be made any longer. The political feeling in Venice affects her prosperity + in a far greater degree than may appear to those who do not understand how + large an income the city formerly derived from making merry. The poor have + to lament not merely the loss of their holidays, but also of the fat + employments and bountiful largess which these occasions threw into their + hands. With the exile or the seclusion of the richer families, and the + reluctance of foreigners to make a residence of the gloomy and dejected + city, the trade of the shopkeepers has fallen off; the larger commerce of + the place has also languished and dwindled year by year; while the cost of + living has constantly increased, and heavier burdens of taxation have been + laid upon the impoverished and despondent people. And in all this, Venice + is but a type of the whole province of Venetia. + </p> + <p> + The alien life to be found in the city is scarcely worth noting. The + Austrians have a <i>casino</i>, and they give balls and parties, and now + and then make some public manifestation of gayety. But they detest Venice + as a place of residence, being naturally averse to living in the midst of + a people who shun them like a pestilence. Other foreigners, as I said, are + obliged to take sides for or against the Venetians, and it is amusing + enough to find the few English residents divided into Austriacanti and + Italianissimi. [Footnote: Austriacanti are people of Austrian politics, + though not of Austrian birth. Italianissimi are those who favor union with + Italy at any cost.] + </p> + <p> + Even the consuls of the different nations, who are in every way bound to + neutrality and indifference, are popularly reputed to be of one party or + the other, and my predecessor, whose unhappy knowledge of German threw him + on his arrival among people of that race, was always regarded as the enemy + of Venetian freedom, though I believe his principles were of the most + vivid republican tint in the United States. + </p> + <p> + The present situation has now endured five years, with only slight + modifications by time, and only faint murmurs from some of the more + impatient, that <i>bisogna, una volta o l’altra, romper il chiodo</i>, + (sooner or later the nail must be broken.) As the Venetians are a people + of indomitable perseverance, long schooled to obstinacy by oppression, I + suppose they will hold out till their union with the kingdom of Italy. + They can do nothing of themselves, but they seem content to wait forever + in their present gloom. How deeply their attitude affects their national + character I shall inquire hereafter, when I come to look somewhat more + closely at the spirit of their demonstration. + </p> + <p> + For the present, it is certain that the discontent of the people has its + peculiar effect upon the city as the stranger sees its life, casting a + glamour over it all, making it more and more ghostly and sad, and giving + it a pathetic charm which I would fain transfer to my pages; but failing + that, would pray the reader to remember as a fact to which I must be + faithful in all my descriptions of Venice. + </p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + + <h2><a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"></a> + CHAPTER II.<br/> + ARRIVAL AND FIRST DAYS IN VENICE. + </h2> + <p> + I think it does not matter just when I first came to Venice. Yesterday and + to-day are the same here. I arrived one winter morning about five o’clock, + and was not so full of Soul as I might have been in warmer weather. Yet I + was resolved not to go to my hotel in the omnibus (the large, many-seated + boat so called), but to have a gondola solely for myself and my luggage. + The porter who seized my valise in the station, inferred from some very + polyglottic Italian of mine the nature of my wish, and ran out and threw + that slender piece of luggage into a gondola. I followed, lighted to my + seat by a beggar in picturesque and desultory costume. He was one of a + class of mendicants whom I came, for my sins, to know better in Venice, + and whom I dare say every traveler recollects,—the merciless tribe + who hold your gondola to shore, and affect to do you a service and not a + displeasure, and pretend not to be abandoned swindlers. The Venetians call + them <i>gransieri</i>, or crab-catchers; but as yet I did not know the + name or the purpose of this <i>poverino</i> [Footnote: <i>Poverino</i> is + the compassionate generic for all unhappy persons who work for a living in + Venice, as well as many who decline to do so.] at the station, but merely + saw that he had the Venetian eye for color: in the distribution and + arrangement of his fragments of dress he had produced some miraculous + effects of red, and he was altogether as infamous a figure as any friend + of brigands would like to meet in a lonely place. He did not offer to stab + me and sink my body in the Grand Canal, as, in all Venetian keeping, I + felt that he ought to have done; but he implored an alms, and I hardly + know now whether to exult or regret that I did not understand him, and + left him empty-handed. I suppose that he withdrew again the blessings + which he had advanced me, as we pushed out into the canal; but I heard + nothing, for the wonder of the city was already upon me. All my + nether-spirit, so to speak, was dulled and jaded by the long, cold, + railway journey from Vienna, while every surface-sense was taken and + tangled in the bewildering brilliancy and novelty of Venice. For I think + there can be nothing else in the world so full of glittering and exquisite + surprise, as that first glimpse of Venice which the traveler catches as he + issues from the railway station by night, and looks upon her peerless + strangeness. There is something in the blessed breath of Italy (how + quickly, coming south, you know it, and how bland it is, after the harsh, + transalpine air!) which prepares you for your nocturnal advent into the + place; and O you! whoever you are, that journey toward this enchanted city + for the first time, let me tell you how happy I count you! There lies + before you for your pleasure, the spectacle of such singular beauty as no + picture can ever show you nor book tell you,—beauty which you shall + feel perfectly but once, and regret forever. + </p> + <p> + For my own part, as the gondola slipped away from the blaze and bustle of + the station down the gloom and silence of the broad canal, I forgot that I + had been freezing two days and nights; that I was at that moment very cold + and a little homesick. I could at first feel nothing but that beautiful + silence, broken only by the star-silvered dip of the oars. Then on either + hand I saw stately palaces rise gray and lofty from the dark waters, + holding here and there a lamp against their faces, which brought + balconies, and columns, and carven arches into momentary relief, and threw + long streams of crimson into the canal. I could see by that uncertain + glimmer how fair was all, but not how sad and old; and so, unhaunted by + any pang for the decay that afterward saddened me amid the forlorn beauty + of Venice, I glided on. I have no doubt it was a proper time to think all + the fantastic things in the world, and I thought them; but they passed + vaguely through my mind, without at all interrupting the sensations of + sight and sound. Indeed, the past and present mixed there, and the moral + and material were blent in the sentiment of utter novelty and surprise. + The quick boat slid through old troubles of mine, and unlooked-for events + gave it the impulse that carried it beyond, and safely around sharp + corners of life. And all the while I knew that this was a progress through + narrow and crooked canals, and past marble angles of palaces. But I did + not know then that this fine confusion of sense and spirit was the first + faint impression of the charm of life in Venice. + </p> + <p> + Dark, funereal barges like my own had flitted by, and the gondoliers had + warned each other at every turning with hoarse, lugubrious cries; the + lines of balconied palaces had never ended;—here and there at their + doors larger craft were moored, with dim figures of men moving uncertainly + about on them. At last we had passed abruptly out of the Grand Canal into + one of the smaller channels, and from comparative light into a darkness + only remotely affected by some far-streaming corner lamp. But always the + pallid, stately palaces; always the dark heaven with its trembling stars + above, and the dark water with its trembling stars below; but now + innumerable bridges, and an utter lonesomeness, and ceaseless sudden turns + and windings. One could not resist a vague feeling of anxiety, in these + strait and solitary passages, which was part of the strange enjoyment of + the time, and which was referable to the novelty, the hush, the darkness, + and the piratical appearance and unaccountable pauses of the gondoliers. + Was not this Venice, and is not Venice forever associated with bravoes and + unexpected dagger-thrusts? That valise of mine might represent fabulous + wealth to the uncultivated imagination. Who, if I made an outcry, could + understand the Facts of the Situation—(as we say in the journals)? + To move on was relief; to pause was regret for past transgressions mingled + with good resolutions for the future. But I felt the liveliest mixture of + all these emotions, when, slipping from the cover of a bridge, the gondola + suddenly rested at the foot of a stairway before a closely-barred door. + The gondoliers rang and rang again, while their passenger + </p> +<p class="poem"> + “Divided the swift mind,” + </p> + <p class="noindent"> + in the wonder whether a door so grimly bolted and austerely barred could + possibly open into a hotel, with cheerful overcharges for candles and + service. But as soon as the door opened, and he beheld the honest + swindling countenance of a hotel <i>portier</i>, he felt secure against + every thing but imposture, and all wild absurdities of doubt and + conjecture at once faded from his thought, when the <i>portier</i> + suffered the gondoliers to make him pay a florin too much. + </p> + <p> + So, I had arrived in Venice, and I had felt the influence of that complex + spell which she lays upon the stranger. I had caught the most alluring + glimpses of the beauty which cannot wholly perish while any fragment of + her sculptured walls nods to its shadow in the canal; I had been + penetrated by a deep sense of the mystery of the place, and I had been + touched already by the anomaly of modern life amid scenes where its + presence offers, according to the humor in which it is studied, constant + occasion for annoyance or delight, enthusiasm or sadness. + </p> + <p> + I fancy that the ignorant impressions of the earlier days after my arrival + need scarcely be set down even in this perishable record; but I would not + wholly forget how, though isolated from all acquaintance and alien to the + place, I yet felt curiously at home in Venice from the first. I believe it + was because I had, after my own fashion, loved the beautiful that I here + found the beautiful, where it is supreme, full of society and friendship, + speaking a language which, even in its unfamiliar forms, I could partly + understand, and at once making me citizen of that Venice from which I + shall never be exiled. It was not in the presence of the great and famous + monuments of art alone that I felt at home—indeed, I could as yet + understand their excellence and grandeur only very imperfectly—but + wherever I wandered through the quaint and marvelous city, I found the + good company of + </p> +<p class="poem"> + “The fair, the old;” + </p> + <p class="noindent"> + and to tell the truth, I think it is the best society in Venice, and I + learned to turn to it later from other companionship with a kind of + relief. + </p> + <p> + My first rambles, moreover, had a peculiar charm which knowledge of + locality has since taken away. They began commonly with some purpose or + destination, and ended by losing me in the intricacies of the narrowest, + crookedest, and most inconsequent little streets in the world, or left me + cast-away upon the unfamiliar waters of some canal as far as possible from + the point aimed at. Dark and secret little courts lay in wait for my + blundering steps, and I was incessantly surprised and brought to surrender + by paths that beguiled me up to dead walls, or the sudden brinks of + canals. The wide and open squares before the innumerable churches of the + city were equally victorious, and continually took me prisoner. But all + places had something rare and worthy to be seen: if not loveliness of + sculpture or architecture, at least interesting squalor and picturesque + wretchedness: and I believe I had less delight in proper Objects of + Interest than in the dirty neighborhoods that reeked with unwholesome + winter damps below, and peered curiously out with frowzy heads and + beautiful eyes from the high, heavy-shuttered casements above. Every court + had its carven well to show me, in the noisy keeping of the water-carriers + and the slatternly, statuesque gossips of the place. The remote and + noisome canals were pathetic with empty old palaces peopled by herds of + poor, that decorated the sculptured balconies with the tatters of epicene + linen, and patched the lofty windows with obsolete hats. + </p> + <p> + I found the night as full of beauty as the day, when caprice led me from + the brilliancy of St. Mark’s and the glittering streets of shops that + branch away from the Piazza, and lost me in the quaint recesses of the + courts, or the tangles of the distant alleys, where the dull little + oil-lamps vied with the tapers burning before the street-corner shrines of + the Virgin, [Footnote: In the early times these tapers were the sole means + of street illumination in Venice.] in making the way obscure, and + deepening the shadows about the doorways and under the frequent arches. I + remember distinctly among the beautiful nights of that time, the soft + night of late winter which first showed me the scene you may behold from + the Public Gardens at the end of the long concave line of the Riva degli + Schiavoni. Lounging there upon the southern parapet of the Gardens, I + turned from the dim bell-towers of the evanescent islands in the east (a + solitary gondola gliding across the calm of the water, and striking its + moonlight silver into multitudinous ripples), and glanced athwart the + vague shipping in the basin of St. Mark, and saw all the lights from the + Piazzetta to the Giudecca, making a crescent of flame in the air, and + casting deep into the water under them a crimson glory that sank also down + and down in my own heart, and illumined all its memories of beauty and + delight. Behind these lamps rose the shadowy masses of church and palace; + the moon stood bright and full in the heavens; the gondola drifted away to + the northward; the islands of the lagoons seemed to rise and sink with the + light palpitations of the waves like pictures on the undulating fields of + banners; the stark rigging of a ship showed black against the sky, the + Lido sank from sight upon the east, as if the shore had composed itself to + sleep by the side of its beloved sea to the music of the surge that gently + beat its sands; the yet leafless boughs of the trees above me stirred + themselves together, and out of one of those trembling towers in the + lagoons, one rich, full sob burst from the heart of a bell, too deeply + stricken with the glory of the scene, and suffused the languid night with + the murmur of luxurious, ineffable sadness. + </p> + <p> + But there is a perfect democracy in the realm of the beautiful, and + whatsoever pleases is equal to any other thing there, no matter how low + its origin or humble its composition; and the magnificence of that + moonlight scene gave me no deeper joy than I won from the fine spectacle + of an old man whom I saw burning coffee one night in the little court + behind my lodgings, and whom I recollect now as one of the most + interesting people I saw in my first days at Venice. All day long the air + of that neighbourhood had reeked with the odors of the fragrant berry, and + all day long this patient old man—sage, let me call him—had + turned the sheet-iron cylinder in which it was roasting over an open fire + after the picturesque fashion of roasting coffee in Venice. Now that the + night had fallen, and the stars shone down upon him, and the red of the + flame luridly illumined him, he showed more grand and venerable than ever. + Simple, abstract humanity, has its own grandeur in Italy; and it is not + hard here for the artist to find the primitive types with which genius + loves best to deal. As for this old man, he had the beard of a saint, and + the dignity of a senator, harmonized with the squalor of a beggar, + superior to which shone his abstract, unconscious grandeur of humanity. A + vast and calm melancholy, which had nothing to do with burning coffee, + dwelt in his aspect and attitude; and if he had been some dread + supernatural agency, turning the wheel of fortune, and doing men, instead + of coffee, brown, he could not have looked more sadly and weirdly + impressive. When, presently, he rose from his seat, and lifted the + cylinder from its place, and the clinging flames leaped after it, and he + shook it, and a volume of luminous smoke enveloped him and glorified him—then + I felt with secret anguish that he was beyond art, and turned sadly from + the spectacle of that sublime and hopeless magnificence. + </p> + <p> + At other times (but this was in broad daylight) I was troubled by the + aesthetic perfection of a certain ruffian boy, who sold cakes of baked + Indian-meal to the soldiers in the military station near the Piazza, and + whom I often noted from the windows of the little caffè there, where you + get an excellent <i>caffè bianco</i> (coffee with milk) for ten soldi and + one to the waiter. I have reason to fear that this boy dealt over shrewdly + with the Austrians, for a pitiless war raged between him and one of the + sergeants. His hair was dark, his cheek was of a bronze better than olive; + and he wore a brave cap of red flannel, drawn down to eyes of lustrous + black. For the rest, he gave unity and coherence to a jacket and + pantaloons of heterogeneous elements, and, such was the elasticity of his + spirit, a buoyant grace to feet encased in wooden shoes. Habitually came a + barrel-organist, and ground before the barracks, and + </p> +<p class="poem"> + “Took the soul<br/> + Of that waste place with joy;” + </p> + <p class="noindent"> + and ever, when this organist came to a certain lively waltz, and threw his + whole soul, as it were, into the crank of his instrument, my beloved + ragamuffin failed not to seize another cake-boy in his arms, and thus + embraced, to whirl through a wild inspiration of figures, in which there + was something grotesquely rhythmic, something of indescribable barbaric + magnificence, spiritualized into a grace of movement superior to the + energy of the North and the extravagant fervor of the East. It was coffee + and not wine that I drank, but I fable all the same that I saw reflected + in this superb and artistic superation of the difficulties of dancing in + that unfriendly foot-gear, something of the same genius that combated and + vanquished the elements, to build its home upon sea-washed sands in marble + structures of airy and stately splendor, and gave to architecture new + glories full of eternal surprise. + </p> + <p> + So, I say, I grew early into sympathy and friendship with Venice, and + being newly from a land where every thing, morally and materially, was in + good repair, I rioted sentimentally on the picturesque ruin, the pleasant + discomfort and hopelessness of every thing about me here. It was not yet + the season to behold all the delight of the lazy, out-door life of the + place; but nevertheless I could not help seeing that great part of the + people, both rich and poor, seemed to have nothing to do, and that nobody + seemed to be driven by any inward or outward impulse. When, however, I + ceased (as I must in time) to be merely a spectator of this idleness, and + learned that I too must assume my share of the common indolence, I found + it a grievous burden. Old habits of work, old habits of hope, made my + endless leisure irksome to me, and almost intolerable when I ascertained + fairly and finally that in my desire to fulfill long-cherished, but, after + all, merely general designs of literary study, I had forsaken wholesome + struggle in the currents where I felt the motion of the age, only to drift + into a lifeless eddy of the world, remote from incentive and sensation. + </p> + <p> + For such is Venice, and the will must be strong and the faith indomitable + in him who can long retain, amid the influences of her stagnant quiet, a + practical belief in God’s purpose of a great moving, anxious, toiling, + aspiring world outside. When you have yielded, as after a while I yielded, + to these influences, a gentle incredulity possesses you, and if you + consent that such a thing is as earnest and useful life, you cannot help + wondering why it need be. The charm of the place sweetens your temper, but + corrupts you; and I found it a sad condition of my perception of the + beauty of Venice and friendship with it, that I came in some unconscious + way to regard her fate as my own; and when I began to write the sketches + which go to form this book, it was as hard to speak of any ugliness in + her, or of the doom written against her in the hieroglyphic seams and + fissures of her crumbling masonry, as if the fault and penalty were mine. + I do not so greatly blame, therefore, the writers who have committed so + many sins of omission concerning her, and made her all light, color, + canals, and palaces. One’s conscience, more or less uncomfortably vigilant + elsewhere, drowses here, and it is difficult to remember that fact is more + virtuous than fiction. In other years, when there was life in the city, + and this sad ebb of prosperity was full tide in her canals, there might + have been some incentive to keep one’s thoughts and words from lapsing + into habits of luxurious dishonesty, some reason for telling the whole + hard truth of things, some policy to serve, some end to gain. But now, + what matter? + </p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + + <h2><a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"></a> + CHAPTER III.<br/> + THE WINTER IN VENICE + </h2> + <p> + It was winter, as I said, when I first came to Venice, and my experiences + of the city were not all purely aesthetic. There was, indeed, an every-day + roughness and discomfort in the weather, which travelers passing their + first winter in Italy find it hard to reconcile with the habitual ideas of + the season’s clemency in the South. But winter is apt to be very severe in + mild climates. People do not acknowledge it, making a wretched pretense + that it is summer only a little out of humor. + </p> + <p> + The Germans have introduced stoves at Venice, but they are not in much + favor with the Italians, who think their heat unwholesome, and endure a + degree of cold, in their wish to dispense with fire, which we of the + winter-lands know nothing of in our houses. They pay for their absurd + prejudice with terrible chilblains; and their hands, which suffer equally + with their feet, are, in the case of those most exposed to the cold, + objects pitiable and revolting to behold when the itching and the effort + to allay it has turned them into bloated masses of sores. It is not a + pleasant thing to speak of; and the constant sight of the affliction among + people who bring you bread, cut you cheese, and weigh you out sugar, by no + means reconciles the Northern stomach to its prevalence. I have observed + that priests, and those who have much to do in the frigid churches, are + the worst sufferers in this way; and I think no one can help noting in the + harsh, raw winter-complexion (for in summer the tone is quite different) + of the women of all classes, the protest of systems cruelly starved of the + warmth which health demands. + </p> + <p> + The houses are, naturally enough in this climate, where there are eight + months of summer in the year, all built with a view to coolness in summer, + and the rooms which are not upon the ground-floor are very large, lofty, + and cold. In the palaces, indeed, there are two suites of apartments—the + smaller and cozier suite upon the first floor for the winter, and the + grander and airier chambers and saloons above, for defence against the + insidious heats of the sirocco. But, for the most part, people must occupy + the same room summer and winter, the sole change being in the strip of + carpet laid meagrely before the sofa during the latter season. In the + comparatively few houses where carpets are the rule and not the exception, + they are always removed during the summer—for the triple purpose of + sparing them some months’ wear, banishing fleas and other domestic + insects, and showing off the beauty of the oiled and shining pavement, + which in the meanest houses is tasteful, and in many of the better sort is + often in-wrought with figures and designs of mosaic work. + </p> + <p> + All the floors in Venice are of stone, and whether of marble flags, or of + that species of composition formed of dark cement, with fragments of + colored marble imbedded and smoothed and polished to the most glassy and + even surface, and the general effect and complexion of petrified + plum-pudding, all the floors are death-cold in winter. People sit with + their feet upon cushions, and their bodies muffled in furs and wadded + gowns. When one goes out into the sun, one often finds an overcoat too + heavy, but it never gives warmth enough in the house, where the Venetian + sometimes wears it. Indeed, the sun is recognized by Venetians as the only + legitimate source of heat, and they sell his favor at fabulous prices to + such foreigners as take the lodgings into which he shines. + </p> + <p> + It is those who remain in-doors, therefore, who are exposed to the utmost + rigor of the winter, and people spend as much of their time as possible in + the open air. The Riva degli Schiavoni catches the warm afternoon sun in + its whole extent, and is then thronged with promenaders of every class, + condition, age, and sex; and whenever the sun shines in the Piazza, + shivering fashion eagerly courts its favor. At night men crowd the close + little caffè, where they reciprocate smoke, respiration, and animal heat, + and thus temper the inclemency of the weather, and beguile the time with + solemn loafing, [Footnote: I permit myself, throughout this book, the use + of the expressive American words <i>loaf</i> and <i>loafer</i>, as the + only terms adequate to the description of professional idling in Venice] + and the perusal of dingy little journals, drinking small cups of black + coffee, and playing long games of chess,—an evening that seemed to + me as torpid and lifeless as a Lap’s, and intolerable when I remembered + the bright, social winter evenings of another and happier land and + civilization. + </p> + <p> + Sometimes you find a heated stove—that is to say, one in which there + has been a fire during the day—in a Venetian house; but the stove + seems usually to be placed in the room for ornament, or else to be engaged + only in diffusing a very acrid smoke,—as if the Venetian preferred + to take warmth, as other people do snuff, by inhalation. The stove itself + is a curious structure, and built commonly of bricks and plastering,—whitewashed + and painted outside. It is a great consumer of fuel, and radiates but + little heat. By dint of constant wooding I contrived to warm mine; but my + Italian friends always avoided its vicinity when they came to see me, and + most amusingly regarded my determination to be comfortable as part of the + eccentricity inseparable from the Anglo-Saxon character. + </p> + <p> + I daresay they would not trifle with winter, thus, if they knew him in his + northern moods. But the only voluntary concession they make to his + severity is the <i>scaldino</i>, and this is made chiefly by the yielding + sex, who are denied the warmth of the caffè. The use of the scaldino is + known to all ranks, but it is the women of the poorer orders who are most + addicted to it. The scaldino is a small pot of glazed earthen-ware, having + an earthen bale: and with this handle passed over the arm, and the pot + full of bristling charcoal, the Veneziana’s defense against cold is + complete. She carries her scaldino with her in the house from room to + room, and takes it with her into the street; and it has often been my + fortune in the churches to divide my admiration between the painting over + the altar and the poor old crone kneeling before it, who, while she + sniffed and whispered a gelid prayer, and warmed her heart with religion, + baked her dirty palms in the carbonic fumes of the scaldino. In one of the + public bathhouses in Venice there are four prints upon the walls, intended + to convey to the minds of the bathers a poetical idea of the four seasons. + There is nothing remarkable in the symbolization of Spring, Summer, and + Autumn; but Winter is nationally represented by a fine lady dressed in + furred robes, with her feet upon a cushioned foot-stool, and a scaldino in + her lap! When we talk of being invaded in the north, we poetize the idea + of defense by the figure of defending our hearthstones. Alas! <i>could</i> + we fight for our sacred <i>scaldini</i>? + </p> + <p> + Happy are the men who bake chestnuts, and sell hot pumpkins and pears, for + they can unite pleasure and profit. There are some degrees of poverty + below the standard of the scaldino, and the beggars and the wretcheder + poor keep themselves warm, I think, by sultry recollections of summer, as + Don Quixote proposed to subsist upon savory remembrances, during one of + his periods of fast. One mendicant whom I know, and who always sits upon + the steps of a certain bridge, succeeds, I believe, as the season + advances, in heating the marble beneath him by firm and unswerving + adhesion, and establishes a reciprocity of warmth with it. I have no + reason to suppose that he ever deserts his seat for a moment during the + whole winter; and indeed, it would be a vicious waste of comfort to do so. + </p> + <p> + In the winter, the whole city <i>sniffs</i>, and if the Pipchin theory of + the effect of sniffing upon the eternal interests of the soul be true, few + people go to heaven from Venice. I sometimes wildly wondered if Desdemona, + in <i>her</i> time, sniffed, and found little comfort in the reflection + that Shylock must have had a cold in his head. There is comparative warmth + in the broad squares before the churches, but the narrow streets are + bitter thorough-draughts, and fell influenza lies in wait for its prey in + all those picturesque, seducing little courts of which I have spoken. + </p> + <p> + It is, however, in the churches, whose cool twilight and airy height one + finds so grateful in summer, that the sharpest malice of the winter is + felt; and having visited a score of them soon after my arrival, I deferred + the remaining seventy-five or eighty, together with the gallery of the + Academy, until advancing spring should, in some degree, have mitigated the + severity of their temperature. As far as my imagination affected me, I + thought the Gothic churches much more tolerable than the temples of + Renaissance art. The empty bareness of these, with their huge marbles, and + their soulless splendors of theatrical sculpture, their frescoed roofs and + broken arches, was insufferable. The arid grace of Palladio’s architecture + was especially grievous to the sense in cold weather; and I warn the + traveler who goes to see the lovely Madonnas of Bellini to beware how he + trusts himself in winter to the gusty, arctic magnificence of the church + of the Redentore. But by all means the coldest church in the city is that + of the Jesuits, which those who have seen it will remember for its famous + marble drapery. This base, mechanical surprise (for it is a trick and not + art) is effected by inlaying the white marble of columns and pulpits and + altars with a certain pattern of verd-antique. The workmanship is + marvelously skillful, and the material costly, but it only gives the + church the effect of being draped in damask linen; and even where the + marble is carven in vast and heavy folds over a pulpit to simulate a + curtain, or wrought in figures on the steps of the high-altar to represent + a carpet, it has no richness of effect, but a poverty, a coldness, a + harshness indescribably table-clothy. I think all this has tended to chill + the soul of the sacristan, who is the feeblest and thinnest sacristan + conceivable, with a frost of white hair on his temples quite incapable of + thawing. In this dreary sanctuary is one of Titian’s great paintings, The + Martyrdom of St. Lawrence, to which (though it is so cunningly disposed as + to light that no one ever yet saw the whole picture at once) you turn + involuntarily, envious of the Saint toasting so comfortably on his + gridiron amid all that frigidity. + </p> + <p> + The Venetians pretend that many of the late winters have been much severer + than those of former years, but I think this pretense has less support in + fact than in the custom of mankind everywhere, to claim that such weather + as the present, whatever it happens to be, was never seen before. In fine, + the winter climate of north Italy is really very harsh, and though the + season is not so severe in Venice as in Milan, or even Florence, it is + still so sharp as to make foreigners regret the generous fires and + warmly-built houses of the north. There was snow but once during my first + Venetian winter, 1861-62; the second there was none at all; but the third, + which was last winter, it fell repeatedly to considerable depth, and lay + unmelted for many weeks in the shade. The lagoons were frozen for miles in + every direction; and under our windows on the Grand Canal, great sheets of + ice went up and down with the rising and the falling tide for nearly a + whole month. The visible misery throughout the fireless city was great; + and it was a problem I never could solve, whether people in-doors were + greater sufferers from the cold than those who weathered the cruel winds + sweeping the squares and the canals, and whistling through the streets of + stone and brine. The boys had an unwonted season of sliding on the frozen + lagoons, though a good deal persecuted by the police, who must have looked + upon such a tremendous innovation as little better than revolution; and it + was said that there were card-parties on the ice; but the only creatures + which seemed really to enjoy the weather were the seagulls. These birds, + which flock into the city in vast numbers at the first approach of cold, + and, sailing up and down the canals between the palaces, bring to the + dwellers in the city a full sense of mid-ocean forlornness and desolation, + now rioted on the savage winds, with harsh cries, and danced upon the + waves of the bitter brine, with a clamorous joy that had something + eldritch and unearthly in it. + </p> + <p> + A place so much given to gossip as Venice did not fail to produce many + memorable incidents of the cold; but the most singular adventure was that + of the old man employed at the Armenian Convent to bring milk from the + island of San Lazzaro to the city. One night, shortly after the coldest + weather set in, he lost his oar as he was returning to the island. The + wind, which is particularly furious in that part of the lagoon, blew his + boat away into the night, and the good brothers at the convent naturally + gave up their milkman for lost. The winds and waters drifted him eight + miles from the city into the northern lagoon, and there lodged his boat in + the marshes, where it froze fast in the stiffening mud. The luckless + occupant had nothing to eat or drink in his boat, where he remained five + days and nights, exposed to the inclemency of cold many degrees below + friendship in severity. He made continual signs of distress, but no boat + came near enough to discover him. At last, when the whole marsh was frozen + solid, he was taken off by some fishermen, and carried to the convent, + where he remains in perfectly recovered health, and where no doubt he will + be preserved alive many years in an atmosphere which renders dying at San + Lazzaro a matter of no small difficulty. During the whole time of his + imprisonment, he sustained life against hunger and cold by smoking. I + suppose no one will be surprised to learn that he was rescued by the + fishermen through the miraculous interposition of the Madonna—as any + one might have seen by the votive picture hung up at her shrine on a + bridge of the Riva degli Schiavoni, wherein the Virgin was represented + breaking through the clouds in one corner of the sky, and unmistakably + directing the operations of the fishermen. + </p> + <p> + It is said that no such winter as that of 1863-4 has been known in Venice + since the famous <i>Anno del Ghiaccio</i> (Year of the Ice), which fell + about the beginning of the last century. This year is celebrated in the + local literature; the play which commemorates it always draws full houses + at the people’s theatre, Malibran; and the often-copied picture, by a + painter of the time, representing Lustrissime and Lustrissimi in hoops and + bag-wigs on the ice, never fails to block up the street before the + shop-window in which it is exposed. The King of Denmark was then the guest + of the Republic, and as the unprecedented cold defeated all the plans + arranged for his diversion, the pleasure-loving government turned the cold + itself to account, and made the ice occasion of novel brilliancy in its + festivities. The duties on commerce between the city and the mainland were + suspended for as long time as the lagoon should remain frozen, and the ice + became a scene of the liveliest traffic, and was everywhere covered with + sledges, bringing the produce of the country to the capital, and carrying + away its stuffs in return. The Venetians of every class amused themselves + in visiting this free mart, and the gentler and more delicate sex pressed + eagerly forward to traverse with their feet a space hitherto passable only + in gondolas. [Footnote: <i>Origine delle Feste Veneziane</i>, di Giustina + Renier-Michiel] The lagoon remained frozen, and these pleasures lasted + eighteen days, a period of cold unequaled till last winter. A popular song + now declares that the present generation has known a winter quite as + marvelous as that of the Year of the Ice, and celebrates the wonder of + walking on the water:— + </p> +<p class="poem"> + Che bell’ affar!<br/> + Che patetico affar!<br/> + Che immenso affar!<br/> + Sora l’acqua camminar! +</p> + <p> + But after all the disagreeable winter, which hardly commences before + Christmas, and which ends about the middle of March, is but a small part + of the glorious Venetian year; and even this ungracious season has a + loveliness, at times, which it can have nowhere but in Venice. What + summer-delight of other lands could match the beauty of the first Venetian + snow-fall which I saw? It had snowed overnight, and in the morning when I + woke it was still snowing. The flakes fell softly and vertically through + the motionless air, and all the senses were full of languor and repose. It + was rapture to lie still, and after a faint glimpse of the golden-winged + angel on the bell-tower of St. Mark’s, to give indolent eye solely to the + contemplation of the roof opposite, where the snow lay half an inch deep + upon the brown tiles. The little scene—a few square yards of roof, a + chimney-pot, and a dormer-window—was all that the most covetous + spirit could demand; and I lazily lorded it over that domain of pleasure, + while the lingering mists of a dream of new-world events blent themselves + with the luxurious humor of the moment and the calm of the snow-fall, and + made my reverie one of the perfectest things in the world. When I was lost + the deepest in it, I was inexpressibly touched and gratified by the + appearance of a black cat at the dormer-window. In Venice, roofs + commanding pleasant exposures seem to be chiefly devoted to the + cultivation of this animal, and there are many cats in Venice. My black + cat looked wonderingly upon the snow for a moment, and then ran across the + roof. Nothing could have been better. Any creature less silent, or in + point of movement less soothing to the eye than a cat, would have been + torture of the spirit. As it was, this little piece of action contented me + so well, that I left every thing else out of my reverie, and could only + think how deliciously the cat harmonized with the snow-covered tiles, the + chimney-pot, and the dormer-window. I began to long for her reappearance, + but when she did come forth and repeat her maneuver, I ceased to have the + slightest interest in the matter, and experienced only the disgust of + satiety. I had felt <i>ennui</i>—nothing remained but to get up and + change my relations with the world. + </p> + <p> + In Venetian streets they give the fallen snow no rest. It is at once + shoveled into the canals by hundreds of half-naked <i>facchini</i>; + [Footnote: The term for those idle people in Italian cities who relieve + long seasons of repose by occasionally acting as messengers, porters and + day-laborers.] and now in St. Mark’s Place the music of innumerable + shovels smote upon my ear; and I saw the shivering legion of poverty as it + engaged the elements in a struggle for the possession of the Piazza. But + the snow continued to fall, and through the twilight of the descending + flakes all this toil and encounter looked like that weary kind of effort + in dreams, when the most determined industry seems only to renew the task. + The lofty crest of the bell-tower was hidden in the folds of falling snow, + and I could no longer see the golden angel upon its summit. But looked at + across the Piazza, the beautiful outline of St. Mark’s Church was + perfectly penciled in the air, and the shifting threads of the snow-fall + were woven into a spell of novel enchantment around a structure that + always seemed to me too exquisite in its fantastic loveliness to be any + thing but the creation of magic. The tender snow had compassionated the + beautiful edifice for all the wrongs of time, and so hid the stains and + ugliness of decay that it looked as if just from the hand of the builder—or, + better said, just from the brain of the architect. There was marvelous + freshness in the colors of the mosaics in the great arches of the façade, + and all that gracious harmony into which the temple rises, of marble + scrolls and leafy exuberance airily supporting the statues of the saints, + was a hundred times etherealized by the purity and whiteness of the + drifting flakes. The snow lay lightly on the golden globes that tremble + like peacock-crests above the vast domes, and plumed them with softest + white; it robed the saints in ermine; and it danced over all its work, as + if exulting in its beauty—beauty which filled me with subtle, + selfish yearning to keep such evanescent loveliness for the + little-while-longer of my whole life, and with despair to think that even + the poor lifeless shadow of it could never be fairly reflected in picture + or poem. + </p> + <p> + Through the wavering snow-fall, the Saint Theodore upon one of the granite + pillars of the Piazzetta did not show so grim as his wont is, and the + winged lion on the other might have been a winged lamb, so mild and gentle + he looked by the tender light of the storm. [Footnote: St. Theodore was + the first patron of Venice, but he was deposed and St. Mark adopted, when + the bones of the latter were brought from Alexandria. The Venetians seem + to have felt some compunctions for this desertion of an early friend, and + they have given St. Theodore a place on one of the granite pillars, while + the other is surmounted by the Lion, representing St. Mark. <i>Fra Marco e + Todaro</i>, is a Venetian proverb expressing the state of perplexity which + we indicate by the figure of an ass between two bundles of hay.] The + towers of the island churches loomed faint and far away in the dimness; + the sailors in the rigging of the ships that lay in the Basin wrought like + phantoms among the shrouds; the gondolas stole in and out of the opaque + distance more noiselessly and dreamily than ever; and a silence, almost + palpable, lay upon the mutest city in the world. + </p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + + <h2><a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"></a> + CHAPTER IV.<br/> + COMINCIA FAR CALDO. + </h2> + <p> + The Place of St. Mark is the heart of Venice, and from this beats her life + in every direction through an intricate system of streets and canals that + bring it back again to the same centre. So, if the slightest uneasiness + had attended the frequency with which I lost my way in the city at first, + there would always have been this comfort: that the place was very small + in actual extent, and that if I continued walking I must reach the Piazza + sooner or later. There is a crowd constantly tending to and from it, and + you have but to take this tide, and be drifted to St. Mark’s—or to + the Rialto Bridge, whence it is directly accessible. + </p> + <p> + Of all the open spaces in the city, that before the Church of St. Mark + alone bears the name of Piazza, and the rest are called merely <i>campi</i>, + or fields. But if the company of the noblest architecture can give honor, + the Piazza San Marco merits its distinction, not in Venice only, but in + the whole world; for I fancy that no other place in the world is set in + such goodly bounds. Its westward length is terminated by the Imperial + Palace; its lateral borders are formed by lines of palace called the New + Procuratie on the right, and the Old Procuratie on the left; [Footnote: In + Republican days the palaces of the <i>Procuratori di San Marco</i>.] and + the Church of St. Mark fills up almost its whole width upon the east, + leaving space enough, however, for a glimpse of the Gothic perfection of + the Ducal Palace. The place then opens southward with the name of + Piazzetta, between the eastern façade of the Ducal Palace and the classic + front of the Libreria Vecchia, and expands and ends at last on the mole, + where stand the pillars of St. Mark and St. Theodore; and then this mole, + passing the southern façade of the Doge’s Palace, stretches away to the + Public Gardens at the eastern extremity of the city, over half a score of + bridges, between lines of houses and shipping—stone and wooden walls—in + the long, crescent-shaped quay called Riva degli Schiavoni. Looking + northward up the Piazzetta from the Molo, the vision traverses the eastern + breadth of the Piazza, and rests upon the Clock Tower, gleaming with blue + and gold, on which the bronze Giants beat the hours; or it climbs the + great mass of the Campanile San Marco, standing apart from the church at + the corner of the New Procuratie, and rising four hundred feet toward the + sky—the sky where the Venetian might well place his heaven, as the + Moors bounded Paradise in the celestial expanse that roofed Granada. + </p> + <p> + My first lodging was but a step out of the Piazza, and this vicinity + brought me early into familiar acquaintance with its beauty. But I never, + during three years, passed through it in my daily walks, without feeling + as freshly as at first the greatness of this beauty. The church, which the + mighty bell-tower and the lofty height of the palace-lines make to look + low, is in nowise humbled by the contrast, but is like a queen enthroned + amid upright reverence. The religious sentiment is deeply appealed to, I + think, in the interior of St. Mark’s; but if its interior is heaven’s, its + exterior, like a good man’s daily life, is earth’s; and it is this winning + loveliness of earth that first attracts you to it, and when you emerge + from its portals, you enter upon spaces of such sunny length and breadth, + set round with such exquisite architecture, that it makes you glad to be + living in this world. Before you expands the great Piazza, peopled with + its various life; on your left, between the Pillars of the Piazzetta, + swims the blue lagoon, and overhead climb the arches, one above another, + in excesses of fantastic grace. + </p> +<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0084}.jpg" alt="{0084}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0084}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5> + + <p> + Whatever could please, the Venetian seems to have brought hither and made + part of his Piazza, that it might remain forever the city’s supreme grace; + and so, though there are public gardens and several pleasant walks in the + city, the great resort in summer and winter, by day and by night, is the + Piazza San Marco. Its ground-level, under the Procuratie, is belted with a + glittering line of shops and caffè, the most tasteful and brilliant in the + world, and the arcades that pass round three of its sides are filled with + loungers and shoppers, even when there is music by the Austrian bands; + for, as we have seen, the purest patriot may then walk under the + Procuratie, without stain to the principles which would be hopelessly + blackened if he set foot in the Piazza. The absence of dust and noisy + hoofs and wheels tempts social life out of doors in Venice more than in + any other Italian city, though the tendency to this sort of expansion is + common throughout Italy. Beginning with the warm days of early May, and + continuing till the <i>villeggiatura</i> (the period spent at the country + seat) interrupts it late in September, all Venice goes by a single impulse + of <i>dolce far niente</i>, and sits gossiping at the doors of the + innumerable caffè on the Riva degli Schiavoni, in the Piazza San Marco, + and in the different squares in every part of the city. But, of course, + the most brilliant scene of this kind is in St. Mark’s Place, which has a + night-time glory indescribable, won from the light of uncounted lamps upon + its architectural groups. The superb Imperial Palace—the sculptured, + arcaded, and pillared Procuratie—the Byzantine magic and splendor of + the church—will it all be there when you come again to-morrow night? + The unfathomable heaven above seems part of the place, for I think it is + never so tenderly blue over any other spot of earth. And when the sky is + blurred with clouds, shall not the Piazza vanish with the azure?—People, + I say, come to drink coffee, and eat ices here in the summer evenings, and + then, what with the promenades in the arcades and in the Piazza, the + music, the sound of feet, and the hum of voices, unbroken by the ruder + uproar of cities where there are horses and wheels—the effect is + that of a large evening party, and in this aspect the Piazza, is like a + vast drawing-room. + </p> + <p> + I liked well to see that strange life, which even the stout, + dead-in-earnest little Bohemian musicians, piping in the centre of the + Piazza, could not altogether substantialize, and which constantly took + immateriality from the loveliness of its environment. In the winter the + scene was the most purely Venetian, and in my first winter, when I had + abandoned all thought of churches till spring, I settled down to steady + habits of idleness and coffee, and contemplated the life of the Piazza. + </p> + <p> + By all odds, the loungers at Florian’s were the most interesting, because + they were the most various. People of all shades of politics met in the + dainty little saloons, though there were shades of division even there, + and they did not mingle. The Italians carefully assorted themselves in a + room furnished with green velvet, and the Austrians and the Austriacanti + frequented a red-velvet room. They were curious to look at, those + tranquil, indolent, Italian loafers, and I had an uncommon relish for + them. They seldom spoke together, and when they did speak, they burst from + silence into tumultuous controversy, and then lapsed again into perfect + silence. The elder among them sat with their hands carefully folded on the + heads of their sticks, gazing upon the ground, or else buried themselves + in the perusal of the French journals. The younger stood a good deal about + the doorways, and now and then passed a gentle, gentle jest with the + elegant waiters in black coats and white cravats, who hurried to and fro + with the orders, and called them out in strident tones to the accountant + at his little table; or sometimes these young idlers make a journey to the + room devoted to ladies and forbidden to smokers, looked long and + deliberately in upon its loveliness, and then returned to the bosom of + their taciturn companions. By chance I found them playing chess, but very + rarely. They were all well-dressed, handsome men, with beards carefully + cut, brilliant hats and boots, and conspicuously clean linen. I used to + wonder who they were, to what order of society they belonged, and whether + they, like my worthless self, had never any thing else but lounging at + Florian’s to do; but I really know none of these things to this day. Some + men in Venice spend their noble, useful lives in this way, and it was the + proud reply of a Venetian father, when asked of what profession his son + was, “<i>È in Piazza!</i>” That was, he bore a cane, wore light gloves, + and stared from Florian’s windows at the ladies who went by. + </p> + <p> + At the Caffè Quadri, immediately across the Piazza, there was a scene of + equal hopefulness. But there, all was a glitter of uniforms, and the + idling was carried on with a great noise of conversation in + Austrian-German. Heaven knows what it was all about, but I presume the + talk was upon topics of mutual improvement, calculated to advance the + interests of self-government and mankind. These officers were very comely, + intelligent-looking people with the most good-natured faces. They came and + went restlessly, sitting down and knocking their steel scabbards against + the tables, or rising and straddling off with their long swords kicking + against their legs. They are the most stylish soldiers in the world, and + one has no notion how ill they can dress when left to themselves, till one + sees them in civil clothes. + </p> + <p> + Further up toward the Fabbrica Nuova (as the Imperial Palace is called), + under the Procuratie Vecchie, is the Caffè Specchi, frequented only by + young Italians, of an order less wealthy than those who go to Florian’s. + Across from this caffè is that of the Emperor of Austria, resorted to + chiefly by non-commissioned officers, and civilian officials of lower + grade. You know the latter, at a glance, by their beard, which in Venice + is an index to every man’s politics: no Austriacante wears the imperial, + no Italianissimo shaves it. Next is the Caffè Suttil, rather Austrian, and + frequented by Italian <i>codini</i>, or old fogies, in politics: gray old + fellows, who caress their sticks with more constant zeal than even the + elders at Florian’s. Quite at the other end of the Procuratie Nuove is the + Caffè of the Greeks, a nation which I have commonly seen represented there + by two or three Albanians with an Albanian boy, who, being dressed exactly + like his father, curiously impressed me, as if he were the young of some + Oriental animal—say a boy-elephant or infant camel. + </p> + <p> + I hope that the reader adds to this sketch, even in the winter time, + occasional tourists under the Procuratie, at the caffè, and in the shops, + where the shop-keepers are devouring them with the keenness of an appetite + unsated by the hordes of summer visitors. I hope that the reader also + groups me fishermen, gondoliers, beggars, and loutish boys about the base + of St. Mark’s, and at the feet of the three flag-staffs before the church; + that he passes me a slatternly woman and a frowzy girl or two through the + Piazza occasionally; and that he calls down the flocks of pigeons hovering + near. I fancy the latter half ashamed to show themselves, as being aware + that they are a great humbug, and unrightfully in the guide-books. + </p> + <p> + Meantime, while I sit at Florian’s, sharing and studying the universal + worthlessness about me, the brief winter passes, and the spring of the + south—so unlike the ardent season of the north, where it burns full + summer before the snows are dried upon the fields—descends upon the + city and the sea. But except in the little gardens of the palaces, and + where here and there a fig-tree lifts its head to peer over a lofty stone + wall, the spring finds no response of swelling bud and unfolding leaf, and + it is human nature alone which welcomes it. Perhaps it is for this reason + that the welcome is more visible in Venice than elsewhere, and that here, + where the effect of the season is narrowed and limited to men’s hearts, + the joy it brings is all the keener and deeper. It is certain at least + that the rapture is more demonstrative. The city at all times voiceful, + seems to burst into song with the advent of these golden days and silver + nights. Bands of young men go singing through the moonlit streets, and the + Grand Canal reëchoes the music of the parties of young girls as they drift + along in the scarcely moving boats, and sing the glories of the lagoons + and the loves of fishermen and gondoliers. In the Public Gardens they walk + and sing; and wandering minstrels come forth before the caffè, and it is + hard to get beyond the tinkling of guitars and the scraping of fiddles. It + is as if the city had put off its winter humor with its winter dress; and + as Venice in winter is the dreariest and gloomiest place in the world, so + in spring it is the fullest of joy and light. There is a pleasant bustle + in the streets, a ceaseless clatter of feet over the stones of the + squares, and a constant movement of boats upon the canals. + </p> + <p> + We say, in a cheap and careless way, that the southern peoples have no <i>homes</i>. + But this is true only in a restricted sense, for the Italian, and the + Venetian especially, makes the whole city his home in pleasant weather. No + one remains under a roof who can help it; and now, as I said before, the + fascinating out-door life begins. All day long the people sit and drink + coffee and eat ices and gossip together before the caffè, and the soft + midnight sees the same diligent idlers in their places. The promenade is + at all seasons the favorite Italian amusement; it has its rigidly fixed + hours, and its limits are also fixed: but now, in spring, even the + promenade is a little lawless, and the crowds upon the Riva sometimes walk + as far as the Public Gardens, and throng all the wider avenues and the + Piazza; while young Venice comes to take the sun at St. Mark’s in the arms + of its high-breasted nurses,—mighty country-women, who, in their + bright costumes, their dangling chains, and head-dresses of gold and + silver baubles, stride through the Piazza with the high, free-stepping + movement of blood-horses, and look like the women of some elder race of + barbaric vigor and splendor, which, but for them, had passed away from our + puny, dull-clad times. + </p> +<p class="poem"> + “È la stagion che ognuno s’innamora;” + </p> + <p class="noindent"> + and now young girls steal to their balconies, and linger there for hours, + subtly conscious of the young men sauntering to and fro, and looking up at + them from beneath. Now, in the shady little courts, the Venetian + housewives, who must perforce remain indoors, put out their heads and + gossip from window to window; while the pretty water-carriers, filling + their buckets from the wells below, chatter and laugh at their work. Every + street down which you look is likewise vocal with gossip; and if the + picturesque projection of balconies, shutters, and chimneys, of which the + vista is full, hide the heads of the gossipers, be sure there is a face + looking out of every window for all that, and the social, expansive + presence of the season is felt there. + </p> + <p> + The poor, whose sole luxury the summer is, lavish the spring upon + themselves unsparingly. They come forth from their dark dens in crumbling + palaces and damp basements, and live in the sunlight and the welcome air. + They work, they eat, they sleep out of doors. Mothers of families sit + about their doors and spin, or walk volubly up and down with other + slatternly matrons, armed with spindle and distaff while their + raven-haired daughters, lounging near the threshold, chase the covert + insects that haunt the tangles of the children’s locks. Within doors + shines the bare bald head of the grandmother, who never ceases talking for + an instant. + </p> + <p> + Before the winter passed, I had changed my habitation from rooms near the + Piazza, to quarters on the Campo San Bartolomeo, through which the busiest + street in Venice passes, from St. Mark’s to the Rialto Bridge. It is one + of the smallest squares of the city, and the very noisiest, and here the + spring came with intolerable uproar. I had taken my rooms early in March, + when the tumult under my windows amounted only to a cheerful stir, and + made company for me; but when the winter broke, and the windows were + opened, I found that I had too much society. + </p> + <p> + Each campo in Venice is a little city, self-contained and independent. + Each has its church, of which it was in the earliest times the + burial-ground; and each within its limits compasses an apothecary’s shop, + a mercer’s and draper’s shop, a blacksmith’s and shoemaker’s shop, a caffè + more or less brilliant, a green-grocer’s and fruiterer’s, a family grocery—nay, + there is also a second-hand merchant’s shop where you buy and sell every + kind of worn-out thing at the lowest rates. Of course there is a + coppersmith’s and a watchmaker’s, and pretty certainly a wood-carver’s and + gilder’s, while without a barber’s shop no campo could preserve its + integrity or inform itself of the social and political news of the day. In + addition to all these elements of bustle and disturbance, San Bartolomeo + swarmed with the traffic and rang with the bargains of the Rialto market. + </p> + <p> + Here the small dealer makes up in boastful clamor for the absence of + quantity and assortment in his wares; and it often happens that an almost + imperceptible boy, with a card of shirt-buttons and a paper of hair-pins, + is much worse than the Anvil Chorus with real anvils. Fishermen, with + baskets of fish upon their heads; peddlers, with trays of housewife wares; + louts who dragged baskets of lemons and oranges back and forth by long + cords; men who sold water by the glass; charlatans who advertised cement + for mending broken dishes, and drops for the cure of toothache; jugglers + who spread their carpets and arranged their temples of magic upon the + ground; organists who ground their organs; and poets of the people who + brought out new songs, and sang and sold them to the crowd;—these + were the children of confusion, whom the pleasant sun and friendly air + woke to frantic and interminable uproar in San Bartolomeo. + </p> + <p> + Yet there was a charm about all this at first, and I spent much time in + the study of the vociferous life under my windows, trying to make out the + meaning of the different cries, and to trace them back to their sources. + There was one which puzzled me for a long time—a sharp, pealing cry + that ended in a wail of angry despair, and, rising high above all other + sounds, impressed the spirit like the cry of that bird in the tropic + forests which the terrified Spaniards called the <i>alma perdida</i>. + After many days of listening and trembling, I found that it proceeded from + a wretched, sun-burnt girl, who carried about some dozens of knotty pears, + and whose hair hung disheveled round her eyes, bloodshot with the strain + of her incessant shrieks. + </p> + <p> + In San Bartolomeo, as in other squares, the buildings are palaces above + and shops below. The ground-floor is devoted to the small commerce of + various kinds already mentioned; the first story above is occupied by + tradesmen’s families; and on the third or fourth floor is the <i>appartamento + signorile</i>. From the balconies of these stories hung the cages of + innumerable finches, canaries, blackbirds, and savage parrots, which sang + and screamed with delight in the noise that rose from the crowd. All the + human life, therefore, which the spring drew to the casements was + perceptible only in dumb show. One of the palaces opposite was used as a + hotel, and faces continually appeared at the windows. By all odds the most + interesting figure there was that of a stout peasant serving-girl, dressed + in a white knitted jacket, a crimson neckerchief, and a bright-colored + gown, and wearing long dangling ear-rings of yellowest gold. For hours + this idle maiden balanced herself half over the balcony-rail in perusal of + the people under her, and I suspect made love at that distance, and in + that constrained position, to some one in the crowd. On another balcony, a + lady sat and knitted with crimson yarn; and at the window of still another + house, a damsel now looked out upon the square, and now gave a glance into + the room, in the evident direction of a mirror. Venetian neighbors have + the amiable custom of studying one another’s features through + opera-glasses; but I could not persuade myself to use this means of + learning the mirror’s response to the damsel’s constant “Fair or not?” + being a believer in every woman’s right to look well a little way off. I + shunned whatever trifling temptation there was in the case, and turned + again to the campo beneath—to the placid dandies about the door of + the caffè; to the tide of passers from the Merceria; the smooth-shaven + Venetians of other days, and the bearded Venetians of these; the + dark-eyed, white-faced Venetian girls, hooped in cruel disproportion to + the narrow streets, but richly clad, and moving with southern grace; the + files of heavily burdened soldiers; the little policemen loitering lazily + about with their swords at their sides, and in their spotless Austrian + uniforms. + </p> +<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0100}.jpg" alt="{0100}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0100}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5> + + <p> + As the spring advances in Venice, and the heat increases, the expansive + delight with which the city hails its coming passes into a tranquiler + humor, as if the joy of the beautiful season had sunk too deeply into the + city’s heart for utterance. I, too, felt this longing for quiet, and as + San Bartolomeo continued untouched by it, and all day roared and thundered + under my windows, and all night long gave itself up to sleepless youths + who there melodiously bayed the moon in chorus, I was obliged to abandon + San Bartolomeo, and seek calmer quarters where I might enjoy the last + luxurious sensations of the spring-time in peace. + </p> + <p> + Now, with the city’s lapse into this tranquiler humor, the promenades + cease. The facchino gives all his leisure to sleeping in the sun; and in + the mellow afternoons there is scarcely a space of six feet square on the + Riva degli Schiavoni which does not bear its brown-cloaked peasant, + basking face-downward in the warmth. The broad steps of the bridges are by + right the berths of the beggars; the sailors and fishermen slumber in + their boats; and the gondoliers, if they do not sleep, are yet placated by + the season, and forbear to quarrel, and only break into brief clamors at + the sight of inaccessible Inglesi passing near them under the guard of <i>valets + de place</i>. Even the play of the children ceases, except in the Public + Gardens, where the children of the poor have indolent games, and sport as + noiselessly as the lizards that slide from shadow to shadow and glitter in + the sun asleep. This vernal silence of the city possesses you,—the + stranger in it,—not with sadness, not with melancholy, but with a + deep sense of the sweetness of doing nothing, and an indifference to all + purposes and chances. If ever you cared to have your name on men’s + tongues, behold! that old yearning for applause is dead. Praise would + strike like pain through this delicious calm. And blame? It is a wild and + frantic thing to dare it by any effort. Repose takes you to her inmost + heart, and you learn her secrets—arcana unintelligible to you in the + new-world life of bustle and struggle. Old lines of lazy rhyme win new + color and meaning. The mystical, indolent poems whose music once charmed + away all will to understand them, are revealed now without your motion. + Now, at last, you know <i>why</i> + </p> +<p class="poem"> + “It was an Abyssinian maid” +</p> + <p class="noindent"> + who played upon the dulcimer. And Xanadu? It is the land in which you were + born! + </p> + <p> + The slumbrous bells murmur to each other in the lagoons; the white sail + faints into the white distance; the gondola slides athwart the sheeted + silver of the bay; the blind beggar, who seemed sleepless as fate, dozes + at his post. + </p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + + <h2><a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"></a> + CHAPTER V.<br/> + OPERA AND THEATRES. + </h2> + <p> + With the winter came to an end the amusement which, in spite of the + existing political demonstration, I had drawn from the theatres. The + Fenice, the great theatre of the city, being the property of private + persons, has not been opened since the discontents of the Venetians were + intensified in 1859; and it will not be opened, they say, till Victor + Emanuel comes to honor the ceremony. Though not large, and certainly not + so magnificent as the Venetians think, the Fenice is a superb and tasteful + theatre. The best opera was formerly given in it, and now that it is + closed, the musical drama, of course, suffers. The Italians seldom go to + it, and as there is not a sufficient number of foreign residents to + support it in good style, the opera commonly conforms to the character of + the theatre San Benedetto, in which it is given, and is second-rate. It is + nearly always subsidized by the city to the amount of several thousand + florins; but nobody need fall into the error, on this account, of + supposing that it is cheap to the opera-goer, as it is in the little + German cities. A box does not cost a great deal; but as the theatre is + carried on in Italy by two different managements,—one of which + receives the money for the boxes and seats, and the other the fee of + admission to the theatre,—there is always the demand of the latter + to be satisfied with nearly the same outlay as that for the box, before + you can reach your place. The pit is fitted up with seats, of course, but + you do not sit down there without paying. So, most Italians (who if they + go at all go without ladies) and the poorer sort of government officials + stand; the orchestra seats are reserved for the officers of the garrison. + The first row of boxes, which is on a level with the heads of people in + the pit, is well enough, but rank and fashion take a loftier flight, and + sit in the second tier. + </p> + <p> + You look about in vain, however, for that old life of the theatre which + once formed so great a part of Venetian gayety,—the visits from box + to box, the gossiping between the acts, and the half-occult flirtations. + The people in the boxes are few, the dressing not splendid, and the beauty + is the blond, unfrequent beauty of the German aliens. Last winter being + the fourth season the Italians had defied the temptation of the opera, + some of the Venetian ladies yielded to it, but went plainly dressed, and + sat far back in boxes of the third tier, and when they issued forth after + the opera were veiled beyond recognition. The audience usually takes its + enjoyment quietly; hissing now and then for silence in the house, and + clapping hands for applause, without calling <i>bravo</i>,—an + Italian custom which I have noted to be chiefly habitual with foreigners: + with Germans, for instance; who spell it with a <i>p</i> and <i>f</i>. + </p> + <p> + I fancy that to find good Italian opera you must seek it somewhere out of + Italy,—at London, or Paris, or New York,—though possibly it + might be chanced upon at La Scala in Milan, or San Carlo in Naples. The + cause of the decay of the musical art in Venice must be looked for among + the events which seem to have doomed her to decay in every thing; + certainly it cannot be discerned in any indifference of the people to + music. The <i>dimostrazione</i> keeps the better class of citizens from + the opera, but the passion for it still exists in every order; and God’s + gift of beautiful voice cannot be smothered in the race by any Situation. + You hear the airs of opera sung as commonly upon the streets in Venice as + our own colored melodies at home; and the street-boy when he sings has an + inborn sense of music and a power of execution which put to shame the + cultivated tenuity of sound that issues from the northern mouth— + </p> +<p class="poem"> + “That frozen, passive, palsied breathing-hole.” + </p> + <p> + In the days of the Fenice there was a school for the ballet at that + theatre, but this last and least worthy part of dramatic art is now an + imported element of the opera in Venice. No novices appear on her stages, + and the musical conservatories of the place, which were once so famous, + have long ceased to exist. The musical theatre was very popular in Venice + as early as the middle of the seventeenth century; and the care of the + state for the drama existed from the first. The government, which always + piously forbade the representation of Mysteries, and, as the theatre + advanced, even prohibited plays containing characters of the Old or New + Testament, began about the close of the century to protect and encourage + the instruction of music in the different foundling hospitals and public + refuges in the city. The young girls in these institutions were taught to + play on instruments, and to sing,—at first for the alleviation of + their own dull and solitary life, and afterward for the delight of the + public. In the merry days that passed just before the fall of the + Republic, the Latin oratorios which they performed in the churches + attached to the hospitals were among the most fashionable diversions in + Venice. The singers were instructed by the best masters of the time; and + at the close of the last century, the conservatories of the Incurables, + the Foundlings, and the Mendicants were famous throughout Europe for their + dramatic concerts, and for those pupils who found the transition from + sacred to profane opera natural and easy. + </p> + <p> + With increasing knowledge of the language, I learned to enjoy best the + unmusical theatre, and went oftener to the comedy than the opera. It is + hardly by any chance that the Italians play ill, and I have seen excellent + acting at the Venetian theatres, both in the modern Italian comedy, which + is very rich and good, and in the elder plays of Goldoni—compositions + deliciously racy when seen in Venice, where alone their admirable fidelity + of drawing and coloring can be perfectly appreciated. The best comedy is + usually given to the educated classes at the pretty Teatro Apollo, while a + bloodier and louder drama is offered to the populace at Teatro Malibran, + where on a Sunday night you may see the plebeian life of the city in one + of its most entertaining and characteristic phases. The sparings of the + whole week which have not been laid out for chances in the lottery, are + spent for this evening’s amusement; and in the vast pit you see, besides + the families of comfortable artisans who can evidently afford it, a + multitude of the ragged poor, whose presence, even at the low rate of + eight or ten soldi [Footnote: The soldo is the hundredth part of the + Austrian florin, which is worth about forty-nine cents of American money.] + apiece, it is hard to account for. It is very peremptory, this audience, + in its likes and dislikes, and applauds and hisses with great vehemence. + It likes best the sanguinary local spectacular drama; it cheers and cheers + again every allusion to Venice; and when the curtain rises on some + well-known Venetian scene, it has out the scene-painter by name three + times—which is all the police permits. The auditors wear their hats + in the pit, but deny that privilege to the people in the boxes, and raise + stormy and wrathful cries of <i>cappello!</i> till these uncover. Between + acts, they indulge in excesses of water flavored with anise, and even go + to the extent of candied nuts and fruits, which are hawked about the + theatre, and sold for two soldi the stick,—with the tooth-pick on + which they are spitted thrown into the bargain. + </p> + <p> + The Malibran Theatre is well attended on Sunday night, but the one + entertainment which never fails of drawing and delighting full houses is + the theatre of the puppets, or the Marionette, and thither I like best to + go. The Marionette prevail with me, for I find in the performances of + these puppets, no new condition demanded of the spectator, but rather a + frank admission of unreality that makes every shadow of verisimilitude + delightful, and gives a marvelous relish to the immemorial effects and + traditionary tricks of the stage. + </p> + <p> + The little theatre of the puppets is at the corner of a narrow street + opening from the Calle del Ridotto, and is of the tiniest dimensions and + simplest appointments. There are no boxes—the whole theatre is + scarcely larger than a stage-box—and you pay ten soldi to go into + the pit, where you are much more comfortable than the aristocrats who have + paid fifteen for places in the dress-circle above. The stage is very + small, and the scenery a kind of coarse miniature painting. But it is very + complete, and every thing is contrived to give relief to the puppets and + to produce an illusion of magnitude in their figures. They are very + artlessly introduced, and are maneuvered, according to the exigencies of + the scene, by means of cords running from their heads, arms, and legs to + the top of the stage. To the management of the cords they owe all the + vehemence of their passions and the grace of their oratory, not to mention + a certain gliding, ungradual locomotion, altogether spectral. + </p> + <p> + The drama of the Marionette is of a more elevated and ambitious tone than + that of the Burattini, which exhibit their vulgar loves and coarse + assassinations in little punch-shows on the Riva, and in the larger + squares; but the standard characters are nearly the same with both, and + are all descended from the <i>commedia a braccio</i> [Footnote: Comedy by + the yard.] which flourished on the Italian stage before the time of + Goldoni. And I am very far from disparaging the Burattini, which have + great and peculiar merits, not the least of which is the art of drawing + the most delighted, dirty, and picturesque audiences. Like most of the + Marionette, they converse vicariously in the Venetian dialect, and have + such a rapidity of utterance that it is difficult to follow them. I only + remember to have made out one of their comedies,—a play in which an + ingenious lover procured his rich and successful rival to be arrested for + lunacy, and married the disputed young person while the other was raging + in the mad-house. This play is performed to enthusiastic audiences; but + for the most part the favorite drama of the Burattini appears to be a + sardonic farce, in which the chief character—a puppet ten inches + high, with a fixed and staring expression of Mephistophelean good-nature + and wickedness—deludes other and weak-minded puppets into trusting + him, and then beats them with a club upon the back of the head until they + die. The murders of this infamous creature, which are always executed in a + spirit of jocose <i>sang-froid</i>, and accompanied by humorous remarks, + are received with the keenest relish by the spectators and, indeed, the + action is every way worthy of applause. The dramatic spirit of the Italian + race seems to communicate itself to the puppets, and they perform their + parts with a fidelity to theatrical unnaturalness which is wonderful. I + have witnessed death agonies on these little stages which the great + American tragedian himself (whoever he may happen to be) could not surpass + in degree of energy. And then the Burattini deserve the greater credit + because they are agitated by the legs from below the scene, and not + managed by cords from above, as at the Marionette Theatre. Their + audiences, as I said, are always interesting, and comprise: first, boys + ragged and dirty in inverse ratio to their size; then weak little girls, + supporting immense weight of babies; then Austrian soldiers, with long + coats and short pipes; lumbering Dalmat sailors; a transient Greek or + Turk; Venetian loafers, pale-faced, statuesque, with the drapery of their + cloaks thrown over their shoulders; young women, with bare heads of thick + black hair; old women, all fluff and fangs; wooden-shod peasants, with + hooded cloaks of coarse brown; then boys—and boys. They all enjoy + the spectacle with approval, and take the drama <i>au grand sérieux</i>, + uttering none of the gibes which sometimes attend efforts to please in our + own country. Even when the hat, or other instrument of extortion, is + passed round, and they give nothing, and when the manager, in an excess of + fury and disappointment, calls out, “Ah! sons of dogs! I play no more to + you!” and closes the theatre, they quietly and unresentfully disperse. + Though, indeed, <i>fioi de cani</i> means no great reproach in Venetian + parlance; and parents of the lower classes caressingly address their + children in these terms. Whereas to call one Figure of a Pig, is to wreak + upon him the deadliest insult which can be put into words. + </p> + <p> + In the <i>commedia a braccio</i>, before mentioned as the inheritance of + the Marionette, the dramatist furnished merely the plot, and the outline + of the action; the players filled in the character and dialogue. With any + people less quick-witted than the Italians, this sort of comedy must have + been insufferable, but it formed the delight of that people till the + middle of the last century, and even after Goldoni went to Paris he + furnished his Italian players with the <i>commedia a braccio</i>. I have + heard some very passable <i>gags</i> at the Marionette, but the real <i>commedia + a braccio</i> no longer exists, and its familiar and invariable characters + perform written plays. + </p> + <p> + Facanapa is a modern addition to the old stock of <i>dramatis personae</i>, + and he is now without doubt the popular favorite in Venice. He is always, + like Pantalon, a Venetian; but whereas the latter is always a merchant, + Facanapa is any thing that the exigency of the play demands. He is a + dwarf, even among puppets, and his dress invariably consists of black + knee-breeches and white stockings, a very long, full-skirted black coat, + and a three-cornered hat. His individual traits are displayed in all his + characters, and he is ever a coward, a boaster, and a liar; a glutton and + avaricious, but withal of an agreeable bonhomie that wins the heart. To + tell the truth, I care little for the plays in which he has no part and I + have learned to think a certain trick of his—lifting his leg rigidly + to a horizontal line, by way of emphasis, and saying, “Capisse la?” or “Sa + la?” (You understand? You know?)—one of the finest things in the + world. + </p> + <p> + In nearly all of Goldoni’s Venetian comedies, and in many which he wrote + in Italian, appear the standard associates of Facanapa,—Arlecchino, + il Dottore, Pantalon dei Bisognosi, and Brighella. The reader is at first + puzzled by their constant recurrence, but never weary of Goldoni’s witty + management of them. They are the chief persons of the obsolete <i>commedia + a braccio</i>, and have their nationality and peculiarities marked by + immemorial attribution. Pantalon is a Venetian merchant, rich, and + commonly the indulgent father of a wilful daughter or dissolute son, + figuring also sometimes as the childless uncle of large fortune. The + second old man is il Dottore, who is a Bolognese, and a doctor of the + University. Brighella and Arlecchino are both of Bergamo. The one is a + sharp and roguish servant, busy-body, and rascal; the other is dull and + foolish, and always masked and dressed in motley—a gibe at the + poverty of the Bergamasks among whom, moreover, the extremes of stupidity + and cunning are most usually found, according to the popular notion in + Italy. + </p> + <p> + The plays of the Marionette are written expressly for them, and are much + shorter than the standard drama as it is known to us. They embrace, + however, a wide range of subjects, from lofty melodrama to broad farce, as + you may see by looking at the advertisements in the Venetian Gazettes for + any week past, where perhaps you shall find the plays performed to have + been: The Ninety-nine Misfortunes of Facanapa; Arlecchino, the Sleeping + King; Facanapa as Soldier in Catalonia; The Capture of Smyrna, with + Facanapa and Arlecchino Slaves in Smyrna (this play being repeated several + nights); and, Arlecchino and Facanapa Hunting an Ass. If you can fancy + people going night after night to this puppet-drama, and enjoying it with + the keenest appetite, you will not only do something toward realizing to + yourself the easily-pleased Italian nature, but you will also suppose + great excellence in the theatrical management. For my own part, I find few + things in life equal to the Marionette. I am never tired of their + bewitching absurdity, their inevitable defects, their irresistible touches + of verisimilitude. At their theatre I have seen the relenting parent + (Pantalon) twitchingly embrace his erring son, while Arlecchino, as the + large-hearted cobbler who has paid the house-rent of the erring son when + the prodigal was about to be cast into the street, looked on and rubbed + his hands with amiable satisfaction and the conventional delight in + benefaction which we all know. I have witnessed the base terrors of + Facanapa at an apparition, and I have beheld the keen spiritual agonies of + the Emperor Nicholas on hearing of the fall of Sebastopol. Not many + passages of real life have affected me as deeply as the atrocious behavior + of the brutal baronial brother-in-law, when he responds to the + expostulations of his friend the Knight of Malta,—a puppet of shaky + and vacillating presence, but a soul of steel and rock: + </p> + <p> + “Why, O baron, detain this unhappy lady in thy dungeons? Remember, she is + thy brother’s wife. Remember thine own honor. Think on the sacred name of + virtue.” (Wrigglingly, and with a set countenance and gesticulations + toward the pit.) + </p> + <p> + To which the ferocious baron makes answer with a sneering laugh, “Honor?—I + know it not! Virtue?—I detest it!” and attempting to pass the + knight, in order to inflict fresh indignities upon his sister-in-law, he + yields to the natural infirmities of rags and pasteboard, and topples + against him. + </p> + <p> + Facanapa, also, in his great scene of the Haunted Poet, is tremendous. You + discover him in bed, too much visited by the Muse to sleep, and reading + his manuscripts aloud to himself, after the manner of poets when they + cannot find other listeners. He is alarmed by various ghostly noises in + the house, and is often obliged to get up and examine the dark corners of + the room, and to look under the bed. When at last the spectral head + appears at the foot-board, Facanapa vanishes with a miserable cry under + the bed-clothes, and the scene closes. Intrinsically the scene is not + much, but this great actor throws into it a life, a spirit, a drollery + wholly irresistible. + </p> + <p> + The ballet at the Marionette is a triumph of choreographic art, and is + extremely funny. The <i>prima ballerina</i> has all the difficult grace + and far-fetched arts of the <i>prima ballerina</i> of flesh and blood; and + when the enthusiastic audience calls her back after the scene, she is + humanly delighted, and acknowledges the compliment with lifelike <i>empressement</i>. + I have no doubt the <i>corps de ballet</i> have their private jealousies + and bickerings, when quietly laid away in boxes, and deprived of all + positive power by the removal of the cords which agitate their arms and + legs. The puppets are great in <i>pirouette</i> and <i>pas seul</i>; but I + think the strictly dramatic part of such spectacular ballets, as The Fall + of Carthage, is their strong point. + </p> + <p> + The people who witness their performances are of all ages and conditions—I + remember to have once seen a Russian princess and some German countesses + in the pit—but the greater number of spectators are young men of the + middle classes, pretty shop-girls, and artisans and their wives and + children. The little theatre is a kind of trysting-place for lovers in + humble life, and there is a great deal of amusing drama going on between + the acts, in which the invariable Beppo and Nina of the Venetian populace + take the place of the invariable Arlecchino and Facanapa of the stage. I + one day discovered a letter at the bottom of the Canal of the Giudecca, to + which watery resting-place some recreant, addressed as “Caro Antonio,” had + consigned it; and from this letter I came to know certainly of at least + one love affair at the Marionette. “Caro Antonio” was humbly besought, “if + his heart still felt the force of love,” to meet the writer (who softly + reproached him with neglect) at the Marionette the night of date, at six + o’clock; and I would not like to believe he could resist so tender a + prayer, though perhaps it fell out so. I fished up through the lucent + water this despairing little epistle,—it was full of womanly + sweetness and bad spelling,—and dried away its briny tears on the + blade of my oar. If ever I thought to keep it, with some vague purpose of + offering it to any particularly anxious-looking Nina at the Marionette as + to the probable writer—its unaccountable loss spared me the delicate + office. Still, however, when I go to see the puppets, it is with an + interest divided between the drolleries of Facanapa, and the sad presence + of expectation somewhere among the groups of dark-eyed girls there, who + wear such immense hoops under such greasy dresses, who part their hair at + one side, and call each other “Ciò!” Where art thou, O fickle and cruel, + yet ever dear Antonio? All unconscious, I think,—gallantly posed + against the wall, thy slouch hat brought forward to the point of thy long + cigar, the arms of thy velvet jacket folded on thy breast, and thy + ear-rings softly twinkling in the light. + </p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + + <h2><a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"></a> + CHAPTER VI.<br/> + VENETIAN DINNERS AND DINERS. + </h2> + <p> + When I first came to Venice, I accepted the fate appointed to young men on + the Continent. I took lodgings, and I began dining drearily at the + restaurants. Worse prandial fortunes may befall one, but it is hard to + conceive of the continuance of so great unhappiness elsewhere; while the + restaurant life is an established and permanent thing in Italy, for every + bachelor and for many forlorn families. It is not because the restaurants + are very dirty—if you wipe your plate and glass carefully before + using them, they need not stomach you; it is not because the rooms are + cold—if you sit near the great vase of smoldering embers in the + centre of each room you may suffocate in comparative comfort; it is not + because the prices are great—they are really very reasonable; it is + not for any very tangible fault that I object to life at the restaurants, + and yet I cannot think of its hopeless homelessness without rebellion + against the whole system it implies, as something unnatural and + insufferable. + </p> + <p> + But before we come to look closely at this aspect of Italian civilization, + it is better to look first at a very noticeable trait of Italian + character,—temperance in eating and drinking. As to the poorer + classes, one observes without great surprise how slenderly they fare, and + how with a great habit of talking of meat and drink, the verb <i>mangiare</i> + remains in fact for the most part inactive with them. But it is only just + to say that this virtue of abstinence seems to be not wholly the result of + necessity, for it prevails with other classes which could well afford the + opposite vice. Meat and drink do not form the substance of conviviality + with Venetians, as with the Germans and the English, and in degree with + ourselves; and I have often noticed on the Mondays-at-the-Gardens, and + other social festivals of the people, how the crowd amused itself with any + thing—music, dancing, walking, talking—any thing but the great + northern pastime of gluttony. Knowing the life of the place, I make quite + sure that Venetian gayety is on few occasions connected with repletion; + and I am ashamed to confess that I have not always been able to repress a + feeling of stupid scorn for the empty stomachs everywhere, which do not + even ask to be filled, or, at least, do not insist upon it. The truth is, + the North has a gloomy pride in gastronomic excess, which unfits her + children to appreciate the cheerful prudence of the South. + </p> + <p> + Venetians eat but one meal a day, which is dinner. They breakfast on a + piece of bread with coffee and milk; supper is a little cup of black + coffee, or an ice, taken at a caffè. The coffee, however, is repeated + frequently throughout the day, and in the summertime fruit is eaten, but + eaten sparingly, like everything else. As to the nature of the dinner, it + of course varies somewhat according to the nature of the diner; but in + most families of the middle class a dinner at home consists of a piece of + boiled beef, a <i>minestra</i> (a soup thickened with vegetables, tripe, + and rice), a vegetable dish of some kind, and the wine of the country. The + failings of the repast among all classes lean to the side of simplicity, + and the abstemious character of the Venetian finds sufficient comment in + his familiar invitation to dinner: “<i>Venga a mangiar quattro risi con me</i>.” + (Come eat four grains of rice with me.) + </p> + <p> + But invitations to dinner have never formed a prime element of hospitality + in Venice. Goldoni notices this fact in his memoirs, and speaking of the + city in the early half of the last century, he says that the number and + excellence of the eating-houses in the city made invitations to dinner at + private houses rare, and superfluous among the courtesies offered to + strangers. + </p> + <p> + The Venetian does not, like the Spaniard, place his house at your + disposition, and, having extended this splendid invitation, consider the + duties of hospitality fulfilled; he does not appear to think you want to + make use of his house for social purposes, preferring himself the caffè, + and finding home and comfort there, rather than under his own roof. “What + caffè do you frequent? Ah! so do I. We shall meet often there.” This is + frequently your new acquaintance’s promise of friendship. And one may even + learn to like the social footing on which people meet at the caffè, as + well as that of the parlor or drawing-room. I could not help thinking one + evening at Padua, while we sat talking with some pleasant Paduans in one + of the magnificent saloons of the Caffè Pedrocchi, that I should like to + go there for society, if I could always find it there, much better than to + private houses. There is far greater ease and freedom, more elegance and + luxury, and not the slightest weight of obligation laid upon you for the + gratification your friend’s company has given you. One has not to be a + debtor in the sum of a friend’s outlay for house, servants, refreshments, + and the like. Nowhere in Europe is the senseless and wasteful American + custom of <i>treating</i> known; and nothing could be more especially + foreign to the frugal instincts and habits of the Italians. So, when a + party of friends at a caffè eat or drink, each one pays for what he takes, + and pecuniarily, the enjoyment of the evening is uncostly or not, + according as each prefers. Of course no one sits down in such a place + without calling for something; but I have frequently seen people respond + to this demand of custom by ordering a glass of water with anise, at the + expense of two soldi. A cup of black coffee, for five soldi, secures a + chair, a table, and as many journals as you like, for as long time as you + like. + </p> + <p> + I say, a stranger may learn to like the life of the caffè,—that of + the restaurant never; though the habit of frequenting the restaurants, to + which Goldoni somewhat vaingloriously refers, seems to have grown upon the + Venetians with the lapse of time. The eating-houses are almost without + number, and are of every degree, from the shop of the sausage-maker, who + supplies gondoliers and facchini with bowls of <i>sguassetto</i>, to the + Caffè Florian. They all have names which are not strange to European ears, + but which ape sufficiently amusing to people who come from a land where + nearly every public thing is named from some inspiration of patriotism or + local pride. In Venice the principal restaurants are called The Steamboat, + The Savage, The Little Horse, The Black Hat, and The Pictures; and I do + not know that any one of them is more uncomfortable, uncleanly, or noisy + than another, or that any one of them suffers from the fact that all are + bad. + </p> + <p> + You do not get breakfast at the restaurant for the reason, before stated, + of the breakfast’s unsubstantiality. The dining commences about three + o’clock in the afternoon, and continues till nine o’clock, most people + dining at five or six. As a rule the attendance is insufficient, and no + guest is served until he has made a savage clapping on the tables, or + clinking on his glass or plate. Then a hard-pushed waiter appears, and + calls out, dramatically, “Behold me!” takes the order, shrieks it to the + cook, and returning with the dinner, cries out again, more dramatically + than ever, “Behold it ready!” and arrays it with a great flourish on the + table. I have dined in an hotel at Niagara, to the music of a brass band; + but I did not find that so utterly bewildering, so destructive of the + individual savor of the dishes, and so conducive to absent-minded + gluttony, as I at first found the constant rush and clamor of the waiters + in the Venetian restaurants. The guests are, for the most part, patient + and quiet enough, eating their minestra and boiled beef in such peace as + the surrounding uproar permits them, and seldom making acquaintance with + each other. It is a mistake, I think, to expect much talk from any people + at dinner. The ingenious English tourists who visit the United States from + time to time, find us silent over our meat, and I have noticed the like + trait among people of divers races in Europe. + </p> + <p> + As I have said, the greater part of the diners at the restaurants are + single, and seem to have no knowledge of each other. Perhaps the gill of + the fiendish wine of the country, which they drink at their meals, is + rather calculated to chill than warm the heart. But, in any case, a + drearier set of my fellow-beings I have never seen,—no, not at + evening parties,—and I conceive that their life in lodgings, at the + caffè and the restaurant, remote from the society of women and all the + higher privileges of fellowship for which men herd together, is at once + the most gross and insipid, the most selfish and comfortless life in the + world. Our boarding-house life in America, dull, stupid, and flat as it + often is, seems to me infinitely better than the restaurant life of young + Italy. It is creditable to Latin Europe that, with all this homelessness + and domestic outlawry, its young men still preserve the gentleness of + civilization. + </p> + <p> + The families that share the exile of the eating-houses sometimes make + together a feeble buzz of conversation, but the unfriendly spirit of the + place seems soon to silence them. Undoubtedly they frequent the restaurant + for economy’s sake. Fuel is costly, and the restaurant is cheap, and its + cooking better than they could perhaps otherwise afford to have. Indeed, + so cheap is the restaurant that actual experience proved the cost of a + dinner there to be little more than the cost of the raw material in the + market. From this inexpensiveness comes also the custom, which is common, + of sending home to purchasers meals from the eating-houses. + </p> + <p> + As one descends in the scale of the restaurants, the difference is not so + noticeable in the prices of the same dishes, as in the substitution of + cheaper varieties of food. At the best eating-houses, the Gallic + traditions bear sway more or less, but in the poorer sort the cooking is + done entirely by native artists, deriving their inspirations from the + unsophisticated tastes of exclusively native diners. It is perhaps + needless to say that they grow characteristic and picturesque as they grow + dirty and cheap, until at last the cook-shop perfects the descent with a + triumph of raciness and local coloring. The cook-shop in Venice opens upon + you at almost every turn,—everywhere, in fact, but in the Piazza and + the Merceria,—and looking in, you see its vast heaps of frying fish, + and its huge caldrons of ever-boiling broth which smell to heaven with + garlic and onions. In the seducing windows smoke golden mountains of <i>polenta</i> + (a thicker kind of mush or hasty-pudding, made of Indian meal, and + universally eaten in North Italy), platters of crisp minnows, bowls of + rice, roast poultry, dishes of snails and liver; and around the + fascinating walls hang huge plates of bronzed earthenware for a lavish and + a hospitable show, and for the representation of those scenes of Venetian + story which are modeled upon them in bass-relief. Here I like to take my + unknown friend—my scoundrel facchino or rascal gondolier—as he + comes to buy his dinner, and bargains eloquently with the cook, who stands + with a huge ladle in his hand capable of skimming mysterious things from + vasty depths. I am spell-bound by the drama which ensues, and in which all + the chords of the human heart are touched, from those that tremble at high + tragedy, to those that are shaken by broad farce. When the diner has + bought his dinner, and issues forth with his polenta in one hand, and his + fried minnows or stewed snails in the other, my fancy fondly follows him + to his gondola-station, where he eats it, and quarrels volubly with other + gondoliers across the Grand Canal. + </p> + <p> + A simpler and less ambitious sort of cook-shop abounds in the region of + Rialto, where on market mornings I have seen it driving a prodigious + business with peasants, gondoliers, and laborers. Its more limited + resources consist chiefly of fried eels, fish, polenta, and <i>sguassetto</i>. + The latter is a true <i>roba veneziana</i>, and is a loud-flavored broth, + made of those desperate scraps of meat which are found impracticable even + by the sausage-makers. Another, but more delicate dish, peculiar to the + place, is the clotted blood of poultry, fried in slices with onions. A + great number of the families of the poor breakfast at these shops very + abundantly, for three soldi each person. + </p> + <p> + In Venice every holiday has its appropriate viand. During carnival all the + butter and cheese shop-windows are whitened with the snow of beaten cream—<i>panamontata</i>. + At San Martino the bakers parade troops of gingerbread warriors. Later, + for Christmas, comes <i>mandorlato</i>, which is a candy made of honey and + enriched with almonds. In its season only can any of these devotional + delicacies be had; but there is a species of cruller, fried in oil, which + has all seasons for its own. On the occasion of every <i>festa</i>, and of + every <i>sagra</i> (which is the holiday of one parish only), stalls are + erected in the squares for the cooking and sale of these crullers, between + which and the religious sentiment proper to the whole year there seems to + be some occult relation. + </p> + <p> + In the winter, the whole city appears to abandon herself to cooking for + the public, till she threatens to hopelessly disorder the law of demand + and supply. There are, to begin with, the caffè and restaurants of every + class. Then there are the cook-shops, and the poulterers’, and the + sausage-makers’. Then, also, every fruit-stall is misty and odorous with + roast apples, boiled beans, cabbage, and potatoes. The chestnut-roasters + infest every corner, and men, women, and children cry roast pumpkin at + every turn—till, at last, hunger seems an absurd and foolish vice, + and the ubiquitous beggars, no less than the habitual abstemiousness of + every class of the population, become the most perplexing and maddening of + anomalies. + </p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + + <h2><a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007"></a> + CHAPTER VII.<br/> + HOUSEKEEPING IN VENICE. + </h2> + <p> + I hope that it is by a not unnatural progress I pass from speaking of + dinners and diners to the kindred subject of the present chapter, and I + trust the reader will not disdain the lowly-minded muse that sings this + mild domestic lay. I was resolved in writing this book to tell what I had + found most books of travel very slow to tell,—as much as possible of + the everyday life of a people whose habits are so different from our own; + endeavoring to develop a just notion of their character, not only from the + show-traits which strangers are most likely to see, but also from + experience of such things as strangers are most likely to miss. + </p> + <p> + The absolute want of society of my own nation in Venice would have thrown + me upon study of the people for my amusement, even if I had cared to learn + nothing of them; and the necessity of economical housekeeping would have + caused me to live in the frugal Venetian fashion, even if I had been + disposed to remain a foreigner in every thing. Of bachelor lodgings I had + sufficient experience during my first year; but as most prudent travelers + who visit the city for a week take lodgings, I need not describe my own + particularly. You can tell the houses in which there are rooms to let, by + the squares of white paper fastened to the window-shutters; and a casual + glance as you pass through the streets, gives you the idea that the chief + income of the place is derived from letting lodgings. Carpetless, dreary + barracks the rooms usually are, with an uncompromising squareness of + prints upon the wall, an appalling breadth of husk-bed, a niggardness of + wash-bowl, and an obduracy of sofa, never, never to be dissociated in + their victim’s mind from the idea of the villanous hard bread of Venice on + which the gloomy landlady sustains her life with its immutable purposes of + plunder. Flabbiness without softness is the tone of these discouraging + chambers, which are dear or not according to the season and the situation. + On the sunlit Riva during winter, and on the Grand Canal in summer, they + are costly enough, but they are to be found on nearly all the squares at + reasonable rates. On the narrow streets, where most native bachelors have + them, they are absurdly cheap. + </p> + <p> + As in nearly all places on the Continent, a house in Venice means a number + of rooms, including a whole story in a building, or part of it only, but + always completely separated from the story above and below, or from the + other rooms on the same floor. Every house has its own entrance from the + street, or by a common hall and stairway from the ground-floor, where are + the cellars or store-rooms, while each kitchen is usually on a level with + the other rooms of the house to which it belongs. The isolation of the + different families is secured (as perfectly as where a building is solely + appropriated to each), either by the exclusive possession of a streetdoor, + [Footnote: Where the street entrance is in common, every floor has its + bell, which being sounded, summons a servant to some upper window with the + demand, most formidable to strangers, “<i>Chi xe?</i>” (Who is it?) But + you do not answer with your name. You reply, “<i>Amici!</i>” (Friends!) on + which comforting reassurance, the servant draws the latch of the door by a + wire running upward to her hand, and permits you to enter and wander about + at your leisure till you reach her secret height. This is, supposing the + master or mistress of the house to be at home. If they are not in, she + answers your “<i>Amici!</i>” with “<i>No ghe ne xe!</i>” (Nobody here!) + and lets down a basket by a string outside the window, and fishes up your + card.] or by the unsocial domestic habits of Europe. You bow and give + good-day to the people whom you meet in the common hall and on the common + stairway, but you rarely know more of them than their names, and you + certainly care nothing about them. The sociability of Europe, and more + especially of Southern Europe, is shown abroad; under the domestic roof it + dwindles and disappears. And indeed it is no wonder, considering how + dispiriting and comfortless most of the houses are. The lower windows are + heavily barred with iron; the wood-work is rude, even in many palaces in + Venice; the rest is stone and stucco; the walls are not often papered, + though they are sometimes painted: the most pleasing and inviting feature + of the interior is the frescoed ceiling of the better rooms. The windows + shut imperfectly, the heavy wooden blinds imperviously (is it worth while + to observe that there are no Venetian blinds in Venice?); the doors lift + slantingly from the floor, in which their lower hinges are imbedded; the + stoves are of plaster, and consume fuel without just return of heat; the + balconies alone are always charming, whether they hang high over the + streets, or look out upon the canals, and, with the gayly painted + ceilings, go far to make the houses habitable. + </p> + <p> + It happens in the case of houses, as with nearly every thing else in + Italy, that you pay about the same price for half the comfort that you get + in America. In Venice, most of the desirable situations are on the Grand + Canal; but here the rents are something absurdly high, when taken in + consideration with the fact that the city is not made a place of residence + by foreigners like Florence, and that it has no commercial activity to + enhance the cost of living. Househunting, under these circumstances, + becomes an office of constant surprise and disconcertment to the stranger. + You look, for example, at a suite of rooms in a tumble-down old palace, + where the walls, shamelessly smarted up with coarse paper, crumble at your + touch; where the floor rises and falls like the sea, and the door-frames + and window-cases have long lost all recollection of the plumb. Madama la + Baronessa is at present occupying these pleasant apartments, and you only + gain admission to them after an embassy to procure her permission. Madama + la Baronessa receives you courteously, and you pass through her rooms, + which are a little in disorder, the Baronessa being on the point of + removal. Madama la Baronessa’s hoop-skirts prevail upon the floors; and at + the side of the couch which her form lately pressed in slumber, you + observe a French novel and a wasted candle in the society of a half-bottle + of the wine of the country. A bedroomy smell pervades the whole suite, and + through the open window comes a curious stench explained as the odor of + Madama la Baronessa’s guinea-pigs, of which she is so fond that she has + had their sty placed immediately under her window in the garden. It is + this garden which has first taken your heart, with a glimpse caught + through the great open door of the palace. It is disordered and wild, but + so much the better; its firs are very thick and dark, and there are + certain statues, fauns and nymphs, which weather stains and mosses have + made much decenter than the sculptor intended. You think that for this + garden’s sake you could put up with the house, which must be very cheap. + What is the price of the rooms? you ask of the smiling landlord. He + answers, without winking, “If taken for several years, a thousand florins + a year.” At which you suppress the whistle of disdainful surprise, and say + you think it will not suit. He calls your attention to the sun, which + comes in at every side, which will roast you in summer, and will not (as + he would have you think) warm you in winter. “But there is another + apartment,”—through which you drag languidly. It is empty now, being + last inhabited by an English Ledi,—and her stove-pipes went out of + the windows, and blackened the shabby stucco front of the villanous old + palace. + </p> + <p> + In a back court, upon a filthy canal, you chance on a house, the curiously + frescoed front of which tempts you within. A building which has a lady and + gentleman painted in fresco, and making love from balcony to balcony, on + the façade, as well as Arlecchino depicted in the act of leaping from the + second to the third story, promises something. Promises something, but + does not fulfill the promise. The interior is fresh, clean, and new, and + cold and dark as a cellar. This house—that is to say, a floor of the + house—you may have for four hundred florins a year; and then + farewell the world and the light of the sun! for neither will ever find + you in that back court, and you will never see any body but the + neighboring laundresses and their children, who cannot enough admire the + front of your house. + </p> + <p> + <i>E via in seguito!</i> This is of house keeping, not house-hunting. + There are pleasant and habitable houses in Venice—but they are not + cheap, as many of the uninhabitable houses also are not. Here, discomfort + and ruin have their price, and the tumble-down is patched up and sold at + rates astonishing to innocent strangers who come from countries in good + repair, where the tumble-down is worth nothing. If I were not ashamed of + the idle and foolish old superstitions in which I once believed concerning + life in Italy, I would tell how I came gradually to expect very little for + a great deal; and how a knowledge of many houses to let, made me more and + more contented with the house we had taken. + </p> + <p> + It was in one corner of an old palace on the Grand Canal, and the window + of the little parlor looked down upon the water, which had made friends + with its painted ceiling, and bestowed tremulous, golden smiles upon it + when the sun shone. The dining-room was not so much favored by the water, + but it gave upon some green and ever-rustling tree-tops, that rose to it + from a tiny garden-ground, no bigger than a pocket handkerchief. Through + this window, also, we could see the quaint, picturesque life of the canal; + and from another room we could reach a little terrace above the water. We + were not in the <i>appartamento signorile</i>, [Footnote: The noble floor—as + the second or third story of the palace is called.]—that was above,—but + we were more snugly quartered on the first story from the ground-floor, + commonly used as a winter apartment in the old times. But it had been cut + up, and suites of rooms had been broken according to the caprice of + successive landlords, till it was not at all palatial any more. The upper + stories still retained something of former grandeur, and had acquired with + time more than former discomfort. We were not envious of them, for they + were humbly let at a price less than we paid; though we could not quite + repress a covetous yearning for their arched and carven windows, which we + saw sometimes from the canal, above the tops of the garden trees. + </p> + <p> + The gondoliers used always to point out our palace (which was called Casa + Falier) as the house in which Marino Faliero was born; and for a long time + we clung to the hope that it might be so. But however pleasant it was, we + were forced, on reading up the subject a little, to relinquish our + illusion, and accredit an old palace at Santi Apostoli with the + distinction we would fain have claimed for ours. I am rather at a loss to + explain how it made our lives in Casa Falier any pleasanter to think that + a beheaded traitor had been born in it, but we relished the superstition + amazingly as long as we could possibly believe in it. What went far to + confirm us at first in our credulity was the residence, in another part of + the palace, of the Canonico Falier, a lineal descendant of the unhappy + doge. He was a very mild-faced old priest, with a white head, which he + carried downcast, and crimson legs, on which he moved but feebly. He owned + the rooms in which he lived, and the apartment in the front of the palace + just above our own. The rest of the house belonged to another, for in + Venice many of the palaces are divided up and sold among different + purchasers, floor by floor, and sometimes even room by room. + </p> + <p> + But the tenantry of Casa Falier was far more various than its + proprietorship. Over our heads dwelt a Dalmatian family; below our feet a + Frenchwoman; at our right, upon the same floor, an English gentleman; + under him a French family; and over him the family of a marquis in exile + from Modena. Except with Mr. ——, the Englishman, who was at + once our friend and landlord (impossible as this may appear to those who + know any thing of landlords in Italy), we had no acquaintance, beyond that + of salutation, with the many nations represented in our house. We could + not help holding the French people in some sort responsible for the + invasion of Mexico; and, though opportunity offered for cultivating the + acquaintance of the Modenese, we did not improve it. + </p> + <p> + As for our Dalmatian friends, we met them and bowed to them a great deal, + and we heard them overhead in frequent athletic games, involving noise as + of the maneuvering of cavalry; and as they stood a good deal on their + balcony, and looked down upon us on ours, we sometimes enjoyed seeing them + admirably foreshortened like figures in a frescoed ceiling. The father of + this family was a little man of a solemn and impressive demeanor, who had + no other occupation but to walk up and down the city and view its + monuments, for which purpose he one day informed us he had left his native + place in Dalmatia, after forty years’ study of Venetian history. He + further told us that this was by no means worth the time given it; that + whereas the streets of Venice were sepulchres in point of narrowness and + obscurity, he had a house in Zara, from the windows of which you might see + for miles uninterruptedly! This little gentleman wore a black hat, in the + last vivid polish of respectability, and I think fortune was not his + friend. The hat was too large for him, as the hats of Italians always are; + it came down to his eyes, and he carried a cane. Every evening he marched + solemnly at the head of a procession of his handsome young children, who + went to hear the military music in St. Mark’s Square. + </p> + <p> + The entrance to the house of the Dalmatians—we never knew their + names—gave access also to a house in the story above them, which + belonged to some mysterious person described on his door-plate as “Co. + Prata.” I think we never saw Co. Prata himself, and only by chance some + members of his family when they came back from their summer in the country + to spend the winter in the city. Prata’s “Co.,” we gradually learnt, meant + “Conte,” and the little counts and countesses, his children, immediately + on their arrival took an active part in the exercises of the Dalmatian + cavalry. Later in the fall, certain of the count’s vassals came to the <i>riva</i> + [Footnote: The gondola landing-stairs which descend to the water before + palace-doors and at the ends of streets.] in one of the great boats of the + Po, with a load of brush and corncobs for fuel—and this is all we + ever knew of our neighbors on the fourth floor. As long as he remained + “Co.” we yearned to know who and what he was; being interpreted as Conte + Prata, he ceased to interest us. + </p> + <p> + Such, then, was the house, and such the neighborhood in which two little + people, just married, came to live in Venice. + </p> + <p> + They were by nature of the order of shorn lambs, and Providence, tempering + the inclemency of the domestic situation, gave them Giovanna. + </p> + <p> + The house was furnished throughout, and Giovanna had been furnished with + it. She was at hand to greet the new-comers, and “This is my wife, the new + mistress,” said the young <i>Paron</i> [Footnote: <i>Padrone</i> in + Italian. A salutation with Venetian friends, and the title by which + Venetian servants always designate their employers.] with the bashful + pride proper to the time and place. Giovanna glowed welcome, and said, + with adventurous politeness, she was very glad of it. + </p> + <p> + “<i>Serva sua!</i>” + </p> + <p> + The <i>Parona</i>, not knowing Italian, laughed in English. + </p> + <p> + So Giovanna took possession of us, and acting upon the great truth that + handsome is that handsome does, began at once to make herself a thing of + beauty. + </p> + <p> + As a measure of convenience and of deference to her feelings, we + immediately resolved to call her G., merely, when speaking of her in + English, instead of Giovanna, which would have troubled her with + conjecture concerning what was said of her. And as G. thus became the + centre around which our domestic life revolved, she must be somewhat + particularly treated of in this account of our housekeeping. I suppose + that, given certain temperaments and certain circumstances, this would + have been much like keeping play-house anywhere; in Venice it had, but for + the unmistakable florins it cost, a curious property of unreality and + impermanency. It is sufficiently bad to live in a rented house; in a house + which you have hired ready-furnished, it is long till your life takes + root, and Home blossoms up in the alien place. For a great while we + regarded our house merely as very pleasant lodgings, and we were slow to + form any relations which could take from our residence its temporary + character. Had we but thought to get in debt to the butcher, the baker, + and the grocer, we might have gone far to establish ourselves at once; but + we imprudently paid our way, and consequently had no ties to bind us to + our fellow-creatures. In Venice provisions are bought by housekeepers on a + scale surprisingly small to one accustomed to wholesale American ways, and + G., having the purse, made our little purchases in cash, never buying more + than enough for one meal at a time. Every morning, the fruits and + vegetables are distributed from the great market at the Rialto among a + hundred greengrocers’ stalls in all parts of the city; bread (which is + never made at home) is found fresh at the baker’s; there is a butcher’s + stall in each campo with fresh meat. These shops are therefore resorted to + for family supplies day by day; and the poor lay in provisions there in + portions graduated to a soldo of their ready means. A great Bostonian whom + I remember to have heard speculate on the superiority of a state of + civilization in which you could buy two cents’ worth of beef to that in + which so small a quantity was unpurchasable, would find the system + perfected here, where you can buy half a cent’s worth. It is a system + friendly to poverty, and the small retail prices approximate very closely + the real value of the stuff sold, as we sometimes proved by offering to + purchase in quantity. Usually no reduction would be made from the retail + rate, and it was sufficiently amusing to have the dealer figure up the + cost of the quantity we proposed to buy, and then exhibit an exact + multiplication of his retail rate by our twenty or fifty. Say an orange is + worth a soldo: you get no more than a hundred for a florin, though the + dealer will cheerfully go under that number if he can cheat you in the + count. So in most things we found it better to let G. do the marketing in + her own small Venetian fashion, and “guard our strangeness.” + </p> +<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0138}.jpg" alt="{0138}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0138}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5> + + <p> + But there were some things which must be brought to the house by the + dealers, such as water for drinking and cooking, which is drawn from + public cisterns in the squares, and carried by stout young girls to all + the houses. These <i>bigolanti</i> all come from the mountains of Friuli; + they all have rosy cheeks, white teeth, bright eyes, and no waists + whatever (in the fashionable sense), but abundance of back. The cisterns + are opened about eight o’clock in the morning, and then their day’s work + begins with chatter, and splashing, and drawing up buckets from the wells; + and each sturdy little maiden in turn trots off under a burden of two + buckets,—one appended from either end of a bow resting upon the + right shoulder. The water is very good, for it is the rain which falls on + the shelving surface of the campo, and soaks through a bed of sea-sand + around the cisterns into the cool depths below. The bigolante comes every + morning and empties her brazen buckets into the great picturesque jars of + porous earthenware which ornament Venetian kitchens; and the daily supply + of water costs a moderate family about a florin a month. + </p> + <p> + Fuel is likewise brought to your house, but this arrives in boats. It is + cut upon the eastern shore of the Adriatic, and comes to Venice in small + coasting vessels, each of which has a plump captain in command, whose red + face is so cunningly blended with his cap of scarlet flannel that it is + hard on a breezy day to tell where the one begins and the other ends. + These vessels anchor off the Custom House in the Guidecca Canal in the + fall, and lie there all winter (or until their cargo of fuel is sold), a + great part of the time under the charge solely of a small yellow dog of + the irascible breed common to the boats of the Po. Thither the smaller + dealers in firewood resort, and carry thence supplies of fuel to all parts + of the city, melodiously crying their wares up and down the canals, and + penetrating the land on foot with specimen bundles of fagots in their + arms. They are not, as a class, imaginative, I think—their fancy + seldom rising beyond the invention that their fagots are beautiful and + sound and dry. But our particular woodman was, in his way, a gifted man. + Long before I had dealings with him, I knew him by the superb song, or + rather incantation, with which he announced his coming on the Grand Canal. + The purport of this was merely that his bark was called the Beautiful + Caroline, and that his fagots were fine; but he so dwelt upon the hidden + beauties of this idea, and so prolonged their effect upon the mind by + artful repetition, and the full, round, and resonant roar with which he + closed his triumphal hymn, that the spirit was taken with the charm, and + held in breathless admiration. By all odds, this woodman’s cry was the + most impressive of all the street cries of Venice. There may have been an + exquisite sadness and sweetness in the wail of the chimney-sweep; a + winning pathos in the voice of the vender of roast pumpkin; an oriental + fancy and splendor in the fruiterers who cried “Melons with hearts of + fire!” and “Juicy pears that bathe your beard!”—there may have been + something peculiarly effective in the song of the chestnut-man who shouted + “Fat chestnuts,” and added, after a lapse in which you got almost beyond + hearing, “and well cooked!”—I do not deny that there was a seductive + sincerity in the proclamation of one whose peaches could <i>not</i> be + called beautiful to look upon, and were consequently advertised as “Ugly, + but good!”—I say nothing to detract from the merits of harmonious + chair-menders;—to my ears the shout of the melodious fisherman was + delectable music, and all the birds of summer sang in the voices of the + countrymen who sold finches and larks in cages, and roses and pinks in + pots;—but I say, after all, none of these people combined the vocal + power, the sonorous movement, the delicate grace, and the vast compass of + our woodman. Yet this man, as far as virtue went, was <i>vox et praeterea + nihil</i>. He was a vagabond of the most abandoned; he was habitually in + drink, and I think his sins had gone near to make him mad—at any + rate he was of a most lunatical deportment. In other lands, the man of + whom you are a regular purchaser, serves you well; in Italy he conceives + that his long service gives him the right to plunder you if possible. I + felt in every fibre that this woodman invariably cheated me in + measurement, and, indeed, he scarcely denied it on accusation. But my + single experience of the more magnificent scoundrels of whom <i>he</i> + bought the wood originally, contented me with the swindle with which I had + become familiarized. On this occasion I took a boat and went to the Custom + House, to get my fuel at first hand. The captain of the ship which I + boarded wished me to pay more than I gave for fuel delivered at my door, + and thereupon ensued the tragic scene of bargaining, as these things are + conducted in Italy. We stood up and bargained, we sat down and bargained; + the captain turned his back upon me in indignation; I parted from him and + took to my boat in scorn; he called me back and displayed the wood—good, + sound, dryer than bones; he pointed to the threatening heavens, and + declared that it would snow that night, and on the morrow I could not get + wood for twice the present price; but I laughed incredulously. Then my + captain took another tack, and tried to make the contract in obsolete + currencies, in Austrian pounds, in Venetian pounds, but as I inexorably + reduced these into familiar money, he paused desperately, and made me an + offer which I accepted with mistaken exultation. For my captain was + shrewder than I, and held arts of measurement in reserve against me. He + agreed that the measurement and transportation should not cost me the + value of his tooth-pick—quite an old and worthless one—which + he showed me. Yet I was surprised into the payment of a youth whom this + man called to assist at the measurement, and I had to give the boatman + drink-money at the end. He promised that the measure should be just: yet + if I lifted my eye from the work he placed the logs slantingly on the + measure, and threw in knotty chunks that crowded wholesome fuel out, and + let the daylight through and through the pile. I protested, and he + admitted the wrong when I pointed it out: “<i>Ga razon, lu!</i>” (He’s + right!) he said to his fellows in infamy, and throwing aside the + objectionable pieces, proceeded to evade justice by new artifices. When I + had this memorable load of wood housed at home, I found that it had cost + just what I paid my woodman, and that I had additionally lost my + self-respect in being plundered before my face, and I resolved thereafter + to be cheated in quiet dignity behind my back. The woodman exulted in his + restored sovereignty, and I lost nothing in penalty for my revolt. + </p> + <p> + Among other provisioners who come to your house in Venice, are those + ancient peasant-women, who bring fresh milk in bottles carefully packed in + baskets filled with straw. They set off the whiteness of their wares by + the brownness of their sunburnt hands and faces, and bear in their general + stoutness and burliness of presence, a curious resemblance to their own + comfortable bottles. They wear broad straw hats, and dangling ear-rings of + yellow gold, and are the pleasantest sight of the morning streets of + Venice, to the stoniness of which they bring a sense of the country’s + clovery pasturage, in the milk just drawn from the great cream-colored + cows. + </p> + <p> + Fishermen, also, come down the little <i>calli</i>—with shallow + baskets of fish upon their heads and under either arm, and cry their soles + and mackerel to the neighborhood, stopping now and then at some door to + bargain away the eels which they chop into sections as the thrilling drama + proceeds, and hand over as a denouement at the purchaser’s own price. + “Beautiful and all alive!” is the engaging cry with which they hawk their + fish. + </p> + <p> + Besides these daily purveyors, there are men of divers arts who come to + exercise their crafts at your house: not chimney-sweeps merely, but + glaziers, and that sort of workmen, and, best of all, chair-menders,—who + bear a mended chair upon their shoulders for a sign, with pieces of white + wood for further mending, a drawing-knife, a hammer, and a sheaf of + rushes, and who sit down at your door, and plait the rush bottoms of your + kitchen-chairs anew, and make heaps of fragrant whittlings with their + knives, and gossip with your serving-woman. + </p> + <p> + But in the mean time our own serving-woman Giovanna, the great central + principle of our housekeeping, is waiting to be personally presented to + the company. In Italy, there are old crones so haggard, that it is hard + not to believe them created just as crooked, and foul, and full of fluff + and years as you behold them, and you cannot understand how so much + frowziness and so little hair, so great show of fangs and so few teeth, + are growths from any ordinary human birth. G. is no longer young, but she + is not after the likeness of these old women. It is of a middle age, + unbeginning, interminable, of which she gives you the impression. She has + brown apple-cheeks, just touched with frost; her nose is of a strawberry + formation abounding in small dints, and having the slightly shrunken + effect observable in tardy perfections of the fruit mentioned. A tough, + pleasant, indestructible woman—for use, we thought, not ornament—the + mother of a family, a good Catholic, and the flower of serving-women. + </p> + <p> + I do not think that Venetian servants are, as a class, given to pilfering; + but knowing ourselves subject by nature to pillage, we cannot repress a + feeling of gratitude to G. that she does not prey upon us. She strictly + accounts for all money given her at the close of each week, and to this + end keeps a kind of account-book, which I cannot help regarding as in some + sort an inspired volume, being privy to the fact, confirmed by her own + confession, that G. is not good for reading and writing. On settling with + her I have been permitted to look into this book, which is all in capital + letters,—each the evident result of serious labor,—with + figures representing combinations of the pot-hook according to bold and + original conceptions. The spelling is also a remarkable effort of creative + genius. The only difficulty under which the author labors in regard to the + book is the confusion naturally resulting from the effort to get + literature right side up when it has got upside down. The writing is a + kind of pugilism—the strokes being made straight out from the + shoulder. The account-book is always carried about with her in a + fathomless pocket overflowing with the aggregations of a housekeeper who + can throw nothing away, to wit: matchboxes, now appointed to hold buttons + and hooks-and-eyes; beeswax in the lump; the door-key (which in Venice + takes a formidable size, and impresses you at first sight as ordnance); a + patch-bag; a porte-monnaie; many lead-pencils in the stump; scissors, + pincushions, and the Beata Vergine in a frame. Indeed, this incapability + of throwing things away is made to bear rather severely upon us in some + things, such as the continual reappearance of familiar dishes at table—particularly + veteran <i>bifsteca</i>. But we fancy that the same frugal instinct is + exercised to our advantage and comfort in other things, for G. makes a + great show and merit of denying our charity to those bold and adventurous + children of sorrow, who do not scruple to ring your door-bell, and demand + alms. It is true that with G., as with every Italian, almsgiving enters + into the theory and practice of Christian life, but she will not suffer + misery to abuse its privileges. She has no hesitation, however, in + bringing certain objects of compassion to our notice, and she procures + small services to be done for us by many lame and halt of her + acquaintance. Having bought my boat (I come, in time, to be willing to + sell it again for half its cost to me), I require a menial to clean it now + and then, and Giovanna first calls me a youthful Gobbo for the work,—a + festive hunchback, a bright-hearted whistler of comic opera. Whether this + blithe humor is not considered decent, I do not know, but though the Gobbo + serves me faithfully, I find him one day replaced by a venerable old man, + whom—from his personal resemblance to Time—I should think much + better occupied with an hourglass, or engaged with a scythe in mowing me + and other mortals down, than in cleaning my boat. But all day long he sits + on my riva in the sun, when it shines, gazing fixedly at my boat; and when + the day is dark, he lurks about the street, accessible to my slightest + boating impulse. He salutes my going out and coming in with grave + reverence, and I think he has no work to do but that which G.‘s wise + compassion has given him from me. Suddenly, like the Gobbo, the Veccio + also disappears, and I hear vaguely—for in Venice you never know any + thing with precision—that he has found a regular employment in + Padua, and again that he is dead. While he lasts, G. has a pleasant, even + a sportive manner with this poor old man, calculated to cheer his + declining years; but, as I say, cases of insolent and aggressive misery + fail to touch her. The kind of wretchedness that comes breathing woe and + <i>sciampagnin</i> [Footnote: Little champagne,—the name which the + Venetian populace gave to a fierce and deadly kind of brandy drunk during + the scarcity of wine. After the introduction of coal-oil this liquor came + to be jocosely known as <i>petrolio</i>.] under our window, and there + spends a leisure hour in the rehearsal of distress, establishes no claim + either upon her pity or her weakness. She is deaf to the voice of that + sorrow, and the monotonous whine of that dolor cannot move her to the + purchase of a guilty tranquillity. I imagine, however, that she is afraid + to deny charity to the fat Capuchin friar in spectacles and bare feet, who + comes twice a month to levy contributions of bread and fuel for his + convent, for we hear her declare from the window that the master is not at + home, whenever the good brother rings; and at last, as this excuse gives + out, she ceases to respond to his ring at all. + </p> + <p> + Sometimes, during the summer weather, comes down our street a certain + tremulous old troubadour with an aged cithern, on which he strums feebly + with bones which remain to him from former fingers, and in a thin + quivering voice pipes worn-out ditties of youth and love. Sadder music I + have never heard, but though it has at times drawn from me the sigh of + sensibility without referring sympathy to my pocket, I always hear the + compassionate soldo of Giovanna clink reproof to me upon the pavement. + Perhaps that slender note touches something finer than habitual charity in + her middle-aged bosom, for these were songs she says that they used to + sing when she was a girl, and Venice was gay and glad, and different from + now—<i>veramente, tutt’ altro, signor!</i> + </p> + <p> + It is through Giovanna’s charitable disposition that we make the + acquaintance of two weird sisters, who live not far from us in Calle + Falier, and whom we know to this day merely as the Creatures—<i>creatura</i> + being in the vocabulary of Venetian pity the term for a fellow-being + somewhat more pitiable than a <i>poveretta</i>. Our Creatures are both + well stricken in years, and one of them has some incurable disorder which + frequently confines her to the wretched cellar in which they live with the + invalid’s husband,—a mild, pleasant-faced man, a tailor by trade, + and of batlike habits, who hovers about their dusky doorway in the summer + twilight. These people have but one room, and a little nook of kitchen at + the side; and not only does the sun never find his way into their + habitation, but even the daylight cannot penetrate it. They pay about four + florins a month for the place, and I hope their landlord is as happy as + his tenants. For though one is sick, and all are wretchedly poor, they are + far from being discontented. They are opulent in the possession of a small + dog, which they have raised from the cradle, as it were, and adopted into + the family. They are never tired of playing with their dog,—the poor + old children,—and every slight display of intelligence on his part + delights them. They think it fine in him to follow us as we go by, but + pretend to beat him; and then they excuse him, and call him ill names, and + catch him up, and hug him and kiss him. He feeds upon their slender means + and the pickings that G. carefully carries him from our kitchen, and gives + to him on our doorstep in spite of us, while she gossips with his + mistresses, who chorus our appearance at such times with “<i>I miei + rispetti, signori!</i>” We often see them in the street, and at a distance + from home, carrying mysterious bundles of clothes; and at last we learn + their vocation, which is one not known out of Italian cities, I think. + There the state is Uncle to the hard-pressed, and instead of many + pawnbrokers’ shops there is one large municipal spout, which is called the + Monte di Pietà, where the needy pawn their goods. The system is centuries + old in Italy, but there are people who to this day cannot summon courage + to repair in person to the Mount of Pity, and, to meet their wants, there + has grown up a class of frowzy old women who transact the business for + them, and receive a small percentage for their trouble. Our poor old + Creatures were of this class, and as there were many persons in + impoverished, decaying Venice who had need of the succor they procured, + they made out to earn a living when both were well, and to eke out + existence by charity when one was ill. They were harmless neighbors, and I + believe they regretted our removal, when this took place, for they used to + sit down under an arcade opposite our new house, and spend the duller + intervals of trade in the contemplation of our windows. + </p> + <p> + The alarming spirit of nepotism which Giovanna developed at a later day + was, I fear, a growth from the encouragement we gave her charitable + disposition. But for several months it was merely from the fact of a boy + who came and whistled at the door until Giovanna opened it and reproved + him in the name of all the saints and powers of darkness, that we knew her + to be a mother; and we merely had her word for the existence of a husband, + who dealt in poultry. Without seeing Giovanna’s husband, I nevertheless + knew him to be a man of downy exterior, wearing a canvas apron, thickly + crusted with the gore of fowls, who sat at the door of his shop and + plucked chickens forever, as with the tireless hand of Fate. I divined + that he lived in an atmosphere of scalded pullet; that three earthen cups + of clotted chickens’ blood, placed upon his window-shelf, formed his idea + of an attractive display, and that he shadowed forth his conceptions of + the beautiful in symmetrical rows of plucked chickens, presenting to the + public eye rear views embellished with a single feather erect in the tail + of each bird; that he must be, through the ethics of competition, the + sworn foe of those illogical peasants who bring dead poultry to town in + cages, like singing birds, and equally the friend of those restaurateurs + who furnish you a meal of victuals and a feather-bed in the same <i>mezzo-polio + arrosto</i>. He turned out on actual appearance to be all I had prefigured + him, with the additional merit of having a large red nose, a sidelong, + fugitive gait, and a hangdog countenance. He furnished us poultry at rates + slightly advanced, I think. + </p> + <p> + As for the boy, he turned up after a while as a constant guest, and took + possession of the kitchen. He came near banishment at one time for + catching a large number of sea-crabs in the canal, and confining them in a + basket in the kitchen, which they left at the dead hour of night, to + wander all over our house,—making a mysterious and alarming sound of + snapping, like an army of death-watches, and eluding the cunningest + efforts at capture. On another occasion, he fell into the canal before our + house, and terrified us by going under twice before the arrival of the old + gondolier, who called out to him “<i>Petta! petta!</i>” (Wait! wait!) as + he placidly pushed his boat to the spot. Developing other disagreeable + traits, Beppi was finally driven into exile, from which he nevertheless + furtively returned on holidays. + </p> + <p> + The family of Giovanna thus gradually encroaching upon us, we came also to + know her mother,—a dread and loathly old lady, whom we would + willingly have seen burned at the stake for a witch. She was commonly + encountered at nightfall in our street, where she lay in wait, as it were, + to prey upon the fragrance of dinner drifting from the kitchen windows of + our neighbor, the Duchess of Parma. Here was heard the voice of cooks and + of scullions, and the ecstasies of helpless voracity in which we sometimes + beheld this old lady were fearful to witness. Nor did we find her more + comfortable in our own kitchen, where we often saw her. The place itself + is weird and terrible—low ceiled, with the stone hearth built far + out into the room, and the melodramatic implements of Venetian cookery + dangling tragically from the wall. Here is no every-day cheerfulness of + cooking-range, but grotesque andirons wading into the bristling embers, + and a long crane with villanous pots gibbeted upon it. When Giovanna’s + mother, then (of the Italian hags, haggard), rises to do us reverence from + the darkest corner of this kitchen, and croaks her good wishes for our + long life, continued health, and endless happiness, it has the effect upon + our spirits of the darkest malediction. + </p> + <p> + Not more pleasing, though altogether lighter and cheerfuler, was + Giovanna’s sister-in-law, whom we knew only as the Cognata. Making her + appearance first upon the occasion of Giovanna’s sickness, she slowly but + surely established herself as an habitual presence, and threatened at one + time, as we fancied, to become our paid servant. But a happy calamity + which one night carried off a carpet and the window curtains of an + unoccupied room, cast an evil suspicion upon the Cognata, and she never + appeared after the discovery of the theft. We suspected her of having + invented some dishes of which we were very fond, and we hated her for + oppressing us with a sense of many surreptitious favors. Objectively, she + was a slim, hoopless little woman, with a tendency to be always at the + street-door when we opened it. She had a narrow, narrow face, with eyes of + terrible slyness, an applausive smile, and a demeanor of slavish + patronage. Our kitchen, after her addition to the household, became the + banqueting-hall of Giovanna’s family, who dined there every day upon + dishes of fish and garlic, that gave the house the general savor of a low + cook-shop. + </p> + <p> + As for Giovanna herself, she had the natural tendency of excellent people + to place others in subjection. Our servitude at first was not hard, and + consisted chiefly in the stimulation of appetite to extraordinary efforts + when G. had attempted to please us with some novelty in cooking. She held + us to a strict account in this respect; but indeed our applause was for + the most part willing enough. Her culinary execution, first revealing + itself in a noble rendering of our ideas of roast potatoes,—a + delicacy foreign to the Venetian kitchen,—culminated at last in the + same style of <i>polpetti</i> [Footnote: I confess a tenderness for this + dish, which is a delicater kind of hash skillfully flavored and baked in + rolls of a mellow complexion and fascinating appearance.] which furnished + forth the table of our neighbor, the Duchess, and was a perpetual triumph + with us. + </p> + <p> + But G.‘s spirit was not wholly that of the serving-woman. We noted in her + the liveliness of wit seldom absent from the Italian poor. She was a great + babbler, and talked willingly to herself, and to inanimate things, when + there was no other chance for talk. She was profuse in maledictions of bad + weather, which she held up to scorn as that dog of a weather. The + crookedness of the fuel transported her, and she upbraided the fagots as + springing from races of ugly old curs. (The vocabulary of Venetian abuse + is inexhaustible, and the Venetians invent and combine terms of opprobrium + with endless facility, but all abuse begins and ends with the attribution + of doggishness.) The conscription was held in the campo near us, and G. + declared the place to have become unendurable—“<i>proprio un campo + di sospiri!</i>” (Really a field of sighs.) “<i>Staga comodo!</i>” she + said to a guest of ours who would have moved his chair to let her pass + between him and the wall. “Don’t move; the way to Paradise is not wider + than this.” We sometimes lamented that Giovanna, who did not sleep in the + house, should come to us so late in the morning, but we could not deal + harshly with her on that account, met, as we always were, with plentiful + and admirable excuses. Who were we, indeed, to place our wishes in the + balance against the welfare of the sick neighbor with whom Giovanna passed + so many nights of vigil? Should we reproach her with tardiness when she + had not closed the eye all night for a headache properly of the devil? If + she came late in the morning, she stayed late at night; and it sometimes + happened that when the Paron and Parona, supposing her gone, made a + stealthy expedition to the kitchen for cold chicken, they found her there + at midnight in the fell company of the Cognata, bibbing the wine of the + country and holding a mild Italian revel with that vinegar and the stony + bread of Venice. + </p> + <p> + I have said G. was the flower of serving-women; and so at first she + seemed, and it was long till we doubted her perfection. We knew ourselves + to be very young, and weak, and unworthy. The Parona had the rare gift of + learning to speak less and less Italian every day, and fell inevitably + into subjection. The Paron in a domestic point of view was naturally + nothing. It had been strange indeed if Giovanna, beholding the great + contrast we presented to herself in many respects, had forborne to abuse + her advantage over us. But we trusted her implicitly, and I hardly know + how or when it was that we began to waver in our confidence. It is certain + that with the lapse of time we came gradually to have breakfast at twelve + o’clock, instead of nine, as we had originally appointed it, and that G. + grew to consume the greater part of the day in making our small purchases, + and to give us our belated dinners at seven o’clock. We protested, and + temporary reforms ensued, only to be succeeded by more hopeless lapses; + but it was not till all entreaties and threats failed that we began to + think seriously it would be well to have done with Giovanna, as an + unprofitable servant. I give the result, not all the nice causes from + which it came. But the question was, How to get rid of a poor woman and a + civil, and the mother of a family dependent in great part upon her labor? + We solemnly resolve a hundred times to dismiss G., and we shrink a hundred + times from inflicting the blow. At last, somewhat in the spirit of Charles + Lamb’s Chinaman who invented roast pig, and discovered that the sole + method of roasting it was to burn down a house in order to consume the + adjacent pig-sty, and thus cook the roaster in the flames,—we hit + upon an artifice by which we could dispense with Giovanna, and keep an + easy conscience. We had long ceased to dine at home, in despair; and now + we resolved to take another house, in which there were other servants. But + even then, it was a sore struggle to part with the flower of + serving-women, who was set over the vacated house to put it in order after + our flitting, and with whom the imprudent Paron settled the last account + in the familiar little dining-room, surrounded by the depressing + influences of the empty chambers. The place was peopled after all, though + we had left it, and I think the tenants who come after us will be haunted + by our spectres, crowding them on the pleasant little balcony, and sitting + down with them at table. G. stood there, the genius of the place, and wept + six regretful tears, each one of which drew a florin from the purse of the + Paron. She had hoped to remain with us always while we lived in Venice; + but now that she could no longer look to us for support, the Lord must + take care of her. The gush of grief was transient: it relieved her, and + she came out sunnily a moment after. The Paron went his way more + sorrowfully, taking leave at last with the fine burst of Christian + philosophy: “We are none of us masters of ourselves in this world, and + cannot do what we wish. <i>Ma! Come si fa? Ci vuol pazienza!</i>” Yet he + was undeniably lightened in heart. He had cut adrift from old moorings, + and had crossed the Grand Canal. G. did not follow him, nor any of the + long line of pensioners who used to come on certain feast-days to levy + tribute of eggs at the old house. (The postman was among these, on + Christmas and New Year’s, and as he received eggs at every house, it was a + problem with us, unsolved to this hour, how he carried them all, and what + he did with them.) Not the least among the Paron’s causes for + self-gratulation was the non-appearance at his new abode of two local + newspapers, for which in an evil hour he subscribed, which were delivered + with unsparing regularity, and which, being never read, formed the keenest + reproach of his imprudent outlay and his idle neglect of their contents. + </p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + + <h2><a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008"></a> + CHAPTER VIII.<br/> + THE BALCONY ON THE GRAND CANAL. + </h2> + <p> + The history of Venice reads like a romance; the place seems a fantastic + vision at the best, from which the world must at last awake some morning, + and find that after all it has only been dreaming, and that there never + was any such city. There our race seems to be in earnest in nothing. + People sometimes work, but as if without any aim; they suffer, and you + fancy them playing at wretchedness. The Church of St. Mark, standing so + solidly, with a thousand years under the feet of its innumerable pillars, + is not in the least gray with time—no grayer than a Greek lyric. + </p> +<p class="poem"> + “All has suffered a sea-change<br/> + Into something rich and strange,” + </p> + <p class="noindent"> + in this fantastic city. The prose of earth has risen poetry from its + baptism in the sea. + </p> + <p> + And if, living constantly in Venice, you sometimes for a little while + forget how marvelous she is, at any moment you may be startled into vivid + remembrance. The cunning city beguiles you street by street, and step by + step, into some old court, where a flight of marble stairs leads high up + to the pillared gallery of an empty palace, with a climbing vine green and + purple on its old decay, and one or two gaunt trees stretching their heads + to look into the lofty windows,—blind long ago to their leafy + tenderness,—while at their feet is some sumptuously carven well, + with the beauty of the sculptor’s soul wrought forever into the stone. Or + Venice lures you in a gondola into one of her remote canals, where you + glide through an avenue as secret and as still as if sea-deep under our + work-day world; where the grim heads carven over the water-gates of the + palaces stare at you in austere surprise, where the innumerable balconies + are full of the Absences of gay cavaliers and gentle dames, gossiping and + making love to one another, from their airy perches. Or if the city’s mood + is one of bolder charm, she fascinates you in the very places where you + think her power is the weakest, and as if impatient of your forgetfulness, + dares a wilder beauty, and enthralls with a yet more unearthly and + incredible enchantment. It is in the Piazza, and the Austrian band is + playing, and the promenaders pace solemnly up and down to the music, and + the gentle Italian loafers at Florian’s brood vacantly over their little + cups of coffee, and nothing can be more stupid; when suddenly every thing + is changed, and a memorable tournament flashes up in many-glittering + action upon the scene, and there upon the gallery of the church, before + the horses of bronze, sit the Senators, bright-robed, and in the midst the + bonneted Doge with his guest Petrarch at his side. Or the old Carnival, + which had six months of every year to riot in, comes back and throngs the + place with motley company,—dominoes, harlequins, pantaloni, + illustrissimi and illustrissime, and perhaps even the Doge himself, who + has the right of incognito when he wears a little mask of wax at his + button-hole. Or may be the grander day revisits Venice when Doria has sent + word from his fleet of Genoese at Chioggia that he will listen to the + Senate when he has bridled the horses of Saint Mark,—and the whole + Republic of rich and poor crowds the square, demanding the release of + Pisani, who comes forth from his prison to create victory from the dust of + the crumbling commonwealth. + </p> + <p> + But whatever surprise of memorable or beautiful Venice may prepare for + your forgetfulness, be sure it will be complete and resistless. Nay, what + potenter magic needs my Venice to revivify her past whenever she will, + than the serpent cunning of her Grand Canal? Launched upon this great S + have I not seen hardened travelers grow sentimental, and has not this + prodigious sybillant, in my hearing, inspired white-haired Puritan + ministers of the gospel to attempt to quote out of the guide-book “that + line from Byron”? Upon my word, I have sat beside wandering editors in + their gondolas, and witnessed the expulsion of the newspaper from their + nature, while, lulled by the fascination of the place, they were powerless + to take their own journals from their pockets, and instead of politics + talked some bewildered nonsense about coming back with their families next + summer. For myself, I must count as half-lost the year spent in Venice + before I took a house upon the Grand Canal. There alone can existence have + the perfect local flavor. But by what witchery touched one’s being suffers + the common sea-change, till life at last seems to ebb and flow with the + tide in that wonder-avenue of palaces, it would be idle to attempt to + tell. I can only take you to our dear little balcony at Casa Falier, and + comment not very coherently on the scene upon the water under us. + </p> + <p> + And I am sure (since it is either in the spring or the fall) you will not + be surprised to see, the first thing, a boat-load of those English, who go + by from the station to their hotels, every day, in well-freighted + gondolas. These parties of traveling Englishry are all singularly alike, + from the “Pa’ty” traveling alone with his opera-glass and satchel, to the + party which fills a gondola with well-cushioned English middle age, ruddy + English youth, and substantial English baggage. We have learnt to know + them all very well: the father and the mother sit upon the back seat, and + their comely girls at the sides and front. These girls all have the honest + cabbage-roses of English health upon their cheeks; they all wear little + rowdy English hats, and invariable waterfalls of hair tumble upon their + broad English backs. They are coming from Switzerland and Germany, and + they are going south to Rome and to Naples, and they always pause at + Venice a few days. To-morrow we shall see them in the Piazza, and at + Florian’s, and St. Mark’s, and the Ducal Palace; and the young ladies will + cross the Bridge of Sighs, and will sentimentally feed the vagabond + pigeons of St. Mark which loaf about the Piazza and defile the sculptures. + But now our travelers are themselves very hungry, and are more anxious + than Americans can understand about the table-d’hôte of their hotel. It is + perfectly certain that if they fall into talk there with any of our + nation, the respectable English father will remark that this war in + America is a very sad war, and will ask to know when it will all end. The + truth is, Americans do not like these people, and I believe there is no + love lost on the other side. But, in many things, they are travelers to be + honored, if not liked: they voyage through all countries, and without + awaking fervent affection in any land through which they pass; but their + sterling honesty and truth have made the English tongue a draft upon the + unlimited confidence of the continental peoples, and French, Germans, and + Italians trust and respect private English faith as cordially as they hate + public English perfidy. + </p> + <p> + They come to Venice chiefly in the autumn, and October is the month of the + Sunsets and the English. The former are best seen from the Public Gardens, + whence one looks westward, and beholds them glorious behind the domes and + towers of San Giorgio Maggiore and the church of the Redentore. Sometimes, + when the sky is clear, your sunset on the lagoon is a fine thing; for then + the sun goes down into the water with a broad trail of bloody red behind + him, as if, wounded far out at sea, he had dragged himself landward across + the crimsoning expanses, and fallen and died as he reached the land. But + we (upon whom the idleness of Venice grows daily, and from whom the + Gardens, therefore, grow farther and farther) are commonly content to take + our bit of sunset as we get it from our balcony, through the avenue opened + by the narrow canal opposite. We like the earlier afternoon to have been a + little rainy, when we have our sunset splendid as the fury of a passionate + beauty—all tears and fire. There is a pretty but impertinent little + palace on the corner which is formed by this canal as it enters the + Canalazzo, and from the palace, high over the smaller channel, hangs an + airy balcony. When the sunset sky, under and over the balcony, is of that + pathetic and angry red which I have tried to figure, we think ourselves + rich in the neighborhood of that part of the “Palace of Art,” whereon + </p> +<p class="poem"> + “The light aerial gallery, golden railed,<br/> + Burnt like a fringe of fire.” +</p> + <p class="noindent"> + And so, after all, we do not think we have lost any greater thing in not + seeing the sunset from the Gardens, where half a dozen artists are always + painting it, or from the quay of the Zattere, where it is splendid over + and under the island church of San Giorgio in Alga. + </p> + <p> + It is only the English and the other tourist strangers who go by upon the + Grand Canal during the day. But in the hours just before the summer + twilight the gondolas of the citizens appear, and then you may see + whatever is left of Venetian gayety and looking down upon the groups in + the open gondolas may witness something of the home-life of the Italians, + who live out-of-doors. + </p> + <p> + The groups do not vary a great deal one from another: inevitably the + pale-faced papa, the fat mamma, the over-dressed handsome young girls. We + learned to look for certain gondolas, and grew to feel a fond interest in + a very mild young man who took the air in company and contrast with a + ferocious bull-dog—boule-dogue he called him, I suppose. He was + always smoking languidly, that mild young man, and I fancied I could read + in his countenance a gentle, gentle antagonism to life—the + proportionate Byronic misanthropy, which might arise from sugar and water + taken instead of gin. But we really knew nothing about him, and our + conjecture was conjecture. Officers went by in their brilliant uniforms, + and gave the scene an alien splendor. Among these we enjoyed best the + spectacle of an old major, or perhaps general, in whom the arrogance of + youth had stiffened into a chill hauteur, and who frowned above his gray + overwhelming moustache upon the passers, like a citadel grim with battle + and age. We used to fancy, with a certain luxurious sense of our own + safety, that one broadside from those fortressed eyes could blow from the + water the slight pleasure-boats in which the young Venetian idlers were + innocently disporting. But again this was merely conjecture. The general’s + glance may have had no such power. Indeed, the furniture of our apartment + sustained no damage from it, even when concentrated through an + opera-glass, by which means the brave officer at times perused our humble + lodging from the balcony of his own over against us. He may have been no + more dangerous in his way than two aged sisters (whom we saw every + evening) were in theirs. They represented Beauty in its most implacable + and persevering form, and perhaps they had one day been belles and could + not forget it. They were very old indeed, but their dresses were new and + their paint fresh, and as they glided by in the good-natured twilight, one + had no heart to smile at them. We gave our smiles, and now and then our + soldi, to the swarthy beggar, who, being short of legs, rowed up and down + the canal in a boat, and overhauled Charity in the gondolas. He was a + singular compromise, in his vocation and his equipment, between the + mendicant and corsair: I fear he would not have hesitated to assume the + pirate altogether in lonelier waters; and had I been a heavily laden + oyster-boat returning by night through some remote and dark canal, I would + have steered clear of that truculent-looking craft, of which the crew must + have fought with a desperation proportioned to the lack of legs and the + difficulty of running away, in case of defeat. + </p> + <p> + About nightfall came the market boats on their way to the Rialto market, + bringing heaped fruits and vegetables from the main-land; and far into the + night the soft dip of the oar, and the gurgling progress of the boats was + company and gentlest lullaby. By which time, if we looked out again, we + found the moon risen, and the ghost of dead Venice shadowily happy in + haunting the lonesome palaces, and the sea, which had so loved Venice, + kissing and caressing the tide-worn marble steps where her feet seemed to + rest. + </p> + <p> + At night sometimes we saw from our balcony one of those <i>freschi</i>, + which once formed the chief splendor of festive occasions in Venice, and + are peculiar to the city, where alone their fine effects are possible. The + fresco is a procession of boats with music and lights. Two immense barges, + illumined with hundreds of paper lanterns, carry the military bands; the + boats of the civil and military dignitaries follow, and then the gondolas + of such citizens as choose to take part in the display,—though since + 1859 no Italian, unless a government official, has been seen in the + procession. No gondola has less than two lanterns, and many have eight or + ten, shedding mellow lights of blue, and red, and purple, over uniforms + and silken robes. The soldiers of the bands breathe from their instruments + music the most perfect and exquisite of its kind in the world; and as the + procession takes the width of the Grand Canal in its magnificent course, + soft crimson flushes play upon the old, weather-darkened palaces, and die + tenderly away, giving to light and then to shadow the opulent sculptures + of pillar, and arch, and spandrel, and weirdly illuminating the grim and + bearded visages of stone that peer down from doorway and window. It is a + sight more gracious and fairy than ever poet dreamed; and I feel that the + lights and the music have only got into my description by name, and that + you would not know them when you saw and heard them, from any thing I say. + In other days, people tell you, the fresco was much more impressive than + now. At intervals, rockets used to be sent up, and the Bengal lights, + burned during the progress of the boats, threw the gondoliers’ spectral + shadows, giant-huge, on the palace-walls. But, for my part, I do not care + to have the fresco other than I know it: indeed, for my own selfish + pleasure, I should be sorry to have Venice in any way less fallen and + forlorn than she is. + </p> + <p> + Without doubt the most picturesque craft ever seen on the Grand Canal are + the great boats of the river Po, which, crossing the lagoons from + Chioggia, come up to the city with the swelling sea. They are built with a + pointed stern and bow rising with the sweep of a short curve from the + water high above the cabin roof, which is always covered with a straw + matting. Black is not the color of the gondolas alone, but of all boats in + Venetia; and these of the Po are like immense funeral barges, and any one + of them might be sent to take King Arthur and bear him to Avilon, whither + I think most of them are bound. A path runs along either gunwale, on which + the men pace as they pole the boat up the canal,—her great sail + folded and lying with the prostrate mast upon the deck. The rudder is a + prodigious affair, and the man at the helm is commonly kind enough to wear + a red cap with a blue tassel, and to smoke. The other persons on board are + no less obliging and picturesque, from the dark-eyed young mother who sits + with her child in her arms at the cabin-door, to the bronze boy who + figures in play at her feet with a small yellow dog of the race already + noticed in charge of the fuel-boats from Dalmatia. The father of the + family, whom we take to be the commander of the vessel, occupies himself + gracefully in sitting down and gazing at the babe and its mother. It is an + old habit of mine, formed in childhood from looking at rafts upon the + Ohio, to attribute, with a kind of heart-ache, supreme earthly happiness + to the navigators of lazy river craft; and as we glance down upon these + people from our balcony, I choose to think them immensely contented, and + try, in a feeble, tacit way, to make friends with so much bliss. But I am + always repelled in these advances by the small yellow dog, who is rendered + extremely irascible by my contemplation of the boat under his care, and + who, ruffling his hair as a hen ruffles her feathers, never fails to bark + furious resentment of my longing. + </p> +<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0170}.jpg" alt="{0170}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0170}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5> + + <p> + Far different from the picture presented by this boat’s progress—the + peacefulness of which even the bad temper of the small yellow dog could + not mar—was another scene which we witnessed upon the Grand Canal, + when one morning we were roused from our breakfast by a wild and + lamentable outcry. Two large boats, attempting to enter the small canal + opposite at the same time, had struck together with a violence that shook + the boatmen to their inmost souls. One barge was laden with lime, and + belonged to a plasterer of the city; the other was full of fuel, and + commanded by a virulent rustic. These rival captains advanced toward the + bows of their boats, with murderous looks, + </p> +<p class="poem"> + “Con la test’alta e con rabbiosa fame,<br/> + Sì che parea che l’aer ne temesse,” + </p> + <p class="noindent"> + and there stamped furiously, and beat the wind with hands of deathful + challenge, while I looked on with that noble interest which the + enlightened mind always feels in people about to punch each other’s heads. + </p> + <p> + But the storm burst in words. + </p> + <p> + “Figure of a pig!” shrieked the Venetian, “you have ruined my boat + forever!” + </p> + <p> + “Thou liest, son of an ugly old dog!” returned the countryman, “and it was + my right to enter the canal first.” + </p> + <p> + They then, after this exchange of insult, abandoned the main subject of + dispute, and took up the quarrel laterally and in detail. Reciprocally + questioning the reputation of all their female relatives to the third and + fourth cousins, they defied each other as the offspring of assassins and + prostitutes. As the peace-making tide gradually drifted their boats + asunder, their anger rose, and they danced back and forth and hurled + opprobrium with a foamy volubility that quite left my powers of + comprehension behind. At last the townsman, executing a <i>pas seul</i> of + uncommon violence, stooped and picked up a bit of lime, while the + countryman, taking shelter at the stern of his boat, there attended the + shot. To my infinite disappointment it was not fired. The Venetian seemed + to have touched the climax of his passion in the mere demonstration of + hostility, and gently gathering up his oar gave the countryman the right + of way. The courage of the latter rose as the danger passed, and as far as + he could be heard, he continued to exult in the wildest excesses of + insult: “Ah-heigh! brutal executioner! Ah, hideous headsman!” <i>Da capo.</i> + I now know that these people never intended to do more than quarrel, and + no doubt they parted as well pleased as if they had actually carried + broken heads from the encounter. But at the time I felt affronted and + trifled with by the result, for my disappointments arising out of the + dramatic manner of the Italians had not yet been frequent enough to teach + me to expect nothing from it. + </p> + <p> + There was some compensation for me—coming, like all compensation, a + long while after the loss—in the spectacle of a funeral procession + on the Grand Canal, which had a singular and imposing solemnity only + possible to the place. It was the funeral of an Austrian general, whose + coffin, mounted on a sable catafalco, was borne upon the middle boat of + three that moved abreast. The barges on either side bristled with the + bayonets of soldiery, but the dead man was alone in his boat, except for + one strange figure that stood at the head of the coffin, and rested its + glittering hand upon the black fall of the drapery. This was a man clad + cap-a-pie in a perfect suit of gleaming mail, with his visor down, and his + shoulders swept by the heavy raven plumes of his helm. As at times he + moved from side to side, and glanced upward at the old palaces, sad in the + yellow morning light, he put out of sight, for me, every thing else upon + the Canal, and seemed the ghost of some crusader come back to Venice, in + wonder if this city, lying dead under the hoofs of the Croat, were indeed + that same haughty Lady of the Sea who had once sent her blind old Doge to + beat down the pride of an empire and disdain its crown. + </p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + + <h2><a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009"></a> + CHAPTER IX.<br/> + A DAY-BREAK RAMBLE. + </h2> + <p> + One summer morning the mosquitoes played for me with sleep, and won. It + was half-past four, and as it had often been my humor to see Venice at + that hour, I got up and sallied forth for a stroll through the city. + </p> + <p> + This morning walk did not lay the foundation of a habit of early rising in + me, but I nevertheless advise people always to get up at half-past four, + if they wish to receive the most vivid impressions, and to take the most + absorbing interest in every thing in the world. It was with a feeling + absolutely novel that I looked about me that morning, and there was a + breezy freshness and clearness in my perceptions altogether delightful, + and I fraternized so cordially with Nature that I do not think, if I had + sat down immediately after to write out the experience, I should have at + all patronized her, as I am afraid scribbling people have sometimes the + custom to do. I know that my feeling of brotherhood in the case of two + sparrows, which obliged me by hopping down from a garden wall at the end + of Calle Falier and promenading on the pavement, was quite humble and + sincere; and that I resented the ill-nature of a cat, + </p> +<p class="poem"> + “Whom love kept wakeful and the muse,” + </p> + <p class="noindent"> + and who at that hour was spitefully reviling the morn from a window + grating. As I went by the gate of the Canonico’s little garden, the + flowers saluted me with a breath of perfume,—I think the white + honey-suckle was first to offer me this politeness,—and the dumpy + little statues looked far more engaging than usual. + </p> + <p> + After passing the bridge, the first thing to do was to drink a cup of + coffee at the Caffè Ponte di Ferro, where the eyebrows of the waiter + expressed a mild surprise at my early presence. There was no one else in + the place but an old gentleman talking thoughtfully to himself on the + subject of two florins, while he poured his coffee into a glass of water, + before drinking it. As I lingered a moment over my cup, I was reinforced + by the appearance of a company of soldiers, marching to parade in the + Campo di Marte. Their officers went at their head, laughing and chatting, + and one of the lieutenants smoking a long pipe, gave me a feeling of + satisfaction only comparable to that which I experienced shortly afterward + in beholding a stoutly built small dog on the Ponte di San Moisè. The + creature was only a few inches high, and it must have been through some + mist of dreams yet hanging about me that he impressed me as having + something elephantine in his manner. When I stooped down and patted him on + the head, I felt colossal. + </p> + <p> + On my way to the Piazza, I stopped in the church of Saint Mary of the + Lily, where, in company with one other sinner, I found a relish in the + early sacristan’s deliberate manner of lighting the candles on the altar. + Saint Mary of the Lily has a façade in the taste of the declining + Renaissance. The interior is in perfect keeping, and all is hideous, + abominable, and abandoned. My fellow-sinner was kneeling, and repeating + his prayers. He now and then tapped himself absent-mindedly on the breast + and forehead, and gave a good deal of his attention to me as I stood at + the door, hat in hand. The hour and the place invested him with so much + interest, that I parted from him with emotion. My feelings were next + involved by an abrupt separation from a young English East-Indian, whom I + overheard asking the keeper of a caffè his way to the Campo di Marte. He + was a claret-colored young fellow, tall, and wearing folds of white muslin + around his hat. In another world I trust to know how he liked the parade + that morning. + </p> + <p> + I discovered that Piazza San Marco is every morning swept by troops of + ragged facchini, who gossip noisily and quarrelsomely together over their + work. Boot-blacks, also, were in attendance, and several followed my + progress through the square, in the vague hope that I would relent and + have my boots blacked. One peerless waiter stood alone amid the desert + elegance of Caffè Florian, which is never shut, day or night, from year to + year. At the Caffè of the Greeks, two individuals of the Greek nation were + drinking coffee. + </p> + <p> + I went upon the Molo, passing between the pillars of the Lion and the + Saint, and walked freely back and forth, taking in the glory of that + prospect of water and of vague islands breaking the silver of the lagoons, + like those scenes cunningly wrought in apparent relief on old Venetian + mirrors. I walked there freely, for though there were already many + gondoliers at the station, not one took me for a foreigner or offered me a + boat. At that hour, I was in myself so improbable, that if they saw me at + all, I must have appeared to them as a dream. My sense of security was + sweet, but it was false, for on going into the church of St. Mark, the + keener eye of the sacristan detected me. He instantly offered to show me + the Zeno Chapel; but I declined, preferring the church, where I found the + space before the high altar filled with market-people come to hear the + early mass. As I passed out of the church, I witnessed the partial awaking + of a Venetian gentleman who had spent the night in a sitting posture, + between the columns of the main entrance. He looked puffy, scornful, and + uncomfortable, and at the moment of falling back to slumber, tried to + smoke an unlighted cigarette, which he held between his lips. I found none + of the shops open as I passed through the Merceria, and but for myself, + and here and there a laborer going to work, the busy thoroughfare seemed + deserted. In the mere wantonness of power, and the security of solitude, I + indulged myself in snapping several door-latches, which gave me a pleasure + as keen as that enjoyed in boyhood from passing a stick along the pickets + of a fence. I was in nowise abashed to be discovered in this amusement by + an old peasant-woman, bearing at either end of a yoke the usual basket + with bottles of milk packed in straw. + </p> + <p> + Entering Campo San Bartolomeo, I found trade already astir in that noisy + place; the voice of cheap bargains, which by noonday swells into an + intolerable uproar, was beginning to be heard. Having lived in Campo San + Bartolomeo, I recognized several familiar faces there, and particularly + noted among them that of a certain fruit-vender, who frequently swindled + me in my small dealings with him. He now sat before his stand, and for a + man of a fat and greasy presence, looked very fresh and brisk, and as if + he had passed a pleasant night. + </p> +<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0182}.jpg" alt="{0182}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0182}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5> + + <p> + On the other side of the Rialto Bridge, the market was preparing for the + purchasers. Butchers were arranging their shops; fruit-stands, and stands + for the sale of crockery, and—as I must say for want of a better + word, if there is any—notions, were in a state of tasteful + readiness. The person on the steps of the bridge who had exposed his stock + of cheap clothing and coarse felt hats on the parapet, had so far + completed his preparations as to have leisure to be talking himself hot + and hoarse with the neighboring barber. He was in a perfectly good humor, + and was merely giving a dramatic flavor to some question of six soldi. + </p> + <p> + At the landings of the market-place squadrons of boats loaded with + vegetables were arriving and unloading. Peasants were building cabbages + into pyramids; collective squashes and cucumbers were taking a picturesque + shape; wreaths of garlic and garlands of onions graced the scene. All the + people were clamoring at the tops of their voices; and in the midst of the + tumult and confusion, resting on heaps of cabbage-leaves and garbage, men + lay on their bellies sweetly sleeping. Numbers of eating-houses were + sending forth a savory smell, and everywhere were breakfasters with bowls + of sguassetto. In one of the shops, somewhat prouder than the rest, a + heated brunette was turning sections of eel on a gridiron, and hurriedly + coqueting with the purchasers. Singularly calm amid all this bustle was + the countenance of the statue called the Gobbo, as I looked at it in the + centre of the market-place. The Gobbo (who is not a hunchback, either) was + patiently supporting his burden, and looking with a quiet, thoughtful + frown upon the ground, as if pondering some dream of change that had come + to him since the statutes of the haughty Republic were read aloud to the + people from the stone tribune on his shoulders. + </p> + <p> + Indeed, it was a morning for thoughtful meditation; and as I sat at the + feet of the four granite kings shortly after, waiting for the gate of the + ducal palace to be opened, that I might see the girls drawing the water, I + studied the group of the Judgment of Solomon, on the corner of the palace, + and arrived at an entirely new interpretation of that Bible story, which I + have now wholly forgotten. + </p> + <p> + The gate remained closed too long for my patience, and I turned away from + a scene momently losing its interest. The brilliant little shops opened + like hollyhocks as I went home; the swelling tide of life filled the + streets, and brought Venice back to my day-time remembrance, robbing her + of that keen, delightful charm with which she greeted my early morning + sense. + </p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + + <h2><a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010"></a> + CHAPTER X.<br/> + THE MOUSE. + </h2> + <p> + Wishing to tell the story of our Mouse, because I think it illustrates + some amusing traits of character in a certain class of Italians, I explain + at once that he was not a mouse, but a man so called from his wretched, + trembling little manner, his fugitive expression, and peaked visage. + </p> + <p> + He first appeared to us on the driver’s seat of that carriage in which we + posted so splendidly one spring-time from Padua to Ponte Lagoscuro. But + though he mounted to his place just outside the city gate, we did not + regard him much, nor, indeed, observe what a mouse he was, until the + driver stopped to water his horses near Battaglia, and the Mouse got down + to stretch his forlorn little legs. Then I got down too, and bade him + good-day, and told him it was a very hot day—for he was a mouse + apparently so plunged in wretchedness that I doubted if he knew what kind + of day it was. + </p> + <p> + When I had spoken, he began to praise (in the wary manner of the Venetians + when they find themselves in the company of a foreigner who does not look + like an Englishman) the Castle of the Obiza near by, which is now the + country-seat of the ex-Duke of Modena; and he presently said something to + imply that he thought me a German. + </p> + <p> + “But I am not a German,” said I. + </p> + <p> + “As many excuses,” said the Mouse sadly, but with evident relief; and then + began to talk more freely, and of the evil times. + </p> + <p> + “Are you going all the way with us to Florence?” I asked. + </p> + <p> + “No, signor, to Bologna; from there to Ancona.” + </p> + <p> + “Have you ever been in Venice? We are just coming from there.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, yes.” + </p> + <p> + “It is a beautiful place. Do you like it?” + </p> + <p> + “Sufficiently. But one does not enjoy himself very well there.” + </p> + <p> + “But I thought Venice interesting.” + </p> + <p> + “Sufficiently, signor. <i>Ma!</i>” said the Mouse, shrugging his + shoulders, and putting on the air of being luxuriously fastidious in his + choice of cities, “the water is so bad in Venice.” + </p> + <p> + The Mouse is dressed in a heavy winter overcoat, and has no garment to + form a compromise with his shirt-sleeves, if he should wish to render the + weather more endurable by throwing off the surtout. In spite of his + momentary assumption of consequence, I suspect that his coat is in the + Monte di Pietà. It comes out directly that he is a ship-carpenter who has + worked in the Arsenal of Venice, and at the ship-yards in Trieste. + </p> + <p> + But there is no work any more. He went to Trieste lately to get a job on + the three frigates which the Sultan had ordered to be built there. <i>Ma!</i> + After all, the frigates are to be built in Marseilles instead. There is + nothing. And every thing is so dear. In Venetia you spend much and gain + little. Perhaps there is work at Ancona. + </p> + <p> + By this time the horses are watered; the Mouse regains his seat, and we + almost forget him, till he jumps from his place, just before we reach the + hotel in Rovigo, and disappears—down the first hole in the side of a + house, perhaps. He might have done much worse, and spent the night at the + hotel, as we did. + </p> + <p> + The next morning at four o’clock, when we start, he is on the box again, + nibbling bread and cheese, and glancing furtively back at us to say good + morning. He has little twinkling black eyes, just like a mouse, and a + sharp moustache, and sharp tuft on his chin—as like Victor Emanuel’s + as a mouse’s tuft can be. + </p> + <p> + The cold morning air seems to shrivel him, and he crouches into a little + gelid ball on the seat beside the driver, while we wind along the Po on + the smooth gray road; while the twilight lifts slowly from the distances + of field and vineyard; while the black boats of the Po, with their gaunt + white sails, show spectrally through the mists; while the trees and the + bushes break into innumerable voice, and the birds are glad of another day + in Italy; while the peasant drives his mellow-eyed, dun oxen afield; while + his wife comes in her scarlet bodice to the door, and the children’s faces + peer out from behind her skirts; while the air freshens, the east flushes, + and the great miracle is wrought anew. + </p> + <p> + Once again, before we reach the ferry of the Po, the Mouse leaps down and + disappears as mysteriously as at Rovigo. We see him no more till we meet + in the station on the other side of the river, where we hear him + bargaining long and earnestly with the ticket-seller for a third-class + passage to Bologna. He fails to get it, I think, at less than the usual + rate, for he retires from the contest more shrunken and forlorn than ever, + and walks up and down the station, startled at a word, shocked at any + sudden noise. + </p> + <p> + For curiosity, I ask how much he paid for crossing the river, mentioning + the fabulous sum it had cost us. + </p> + <p> + It appears that he paid sixteen soldi only. “What could they do when a man + was in misery? I had nothing else.” + </p> + <p> + Even while thus betraying his poverty, the Mouse did not beg, and we began + to respect his poverty. In a little while we pitied it, witnessing the + manner in which he sat down on the edge of a chair, with a smile of meek + desperation. + </p> + <p> + It is a more serious case when an artisan is out of work in the Old World + than one can understand in the New. There the struggle for bread is so + fierce and the competition so great; and, then, a man bred to one trade + cannot turn his hand to another as in America. Even the rudest and least + skilled labor has more to do it than are wanted. The Italians are very + good to the poor, but the tradesman out of work must become a beggar + before charity can help him. + </p> + <p> + We, who are poor enough to be wise, consult foolishly together concerning + the Mouse. It blesses him that gives, and him that takes—this + business of charity. And then, there is something irresistibly relishing + and splendid in the consciousness of being the instrument of a special + providence! Have I all my life admired those beneficent characters in + novels and comedies who rescue innocence, succor distress, and go about + pressing gold into the palm of poverty, and telling it to take it and be + happy; and now shall I reject an occasion, made to my hand, for emulating + them in real life? + </p> + <p> + “I think I will give the Mouse five francs,” I say. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, certainly.” + </p> + <p> + “But I will be prudent,” I continue. “I will not give him this money. I + will tell him it is a loan which he may pay me back again whenever he can. + In this way I shall relieve him now, and furnish him an incentive to + economy.” + </p> + <p> + I call to the Mouse, and he runs tremulously toward me. + </p> + <p> + “Have you friends in Ancona?” + </p> + <p> + “No, signor.” + </p> + <p> + “How much money have you left?” + </p> + <p> + He shows me three soldi. “Enough for a coffee.” + </p> + <p> + “And then?” + </p> + <p> + “God knows.” + </p> + <p> + So I give him the five francs, and explain my little scheme of making it a + loan, and not a gift; and then I give him my address. + </p> + <p> + He does not appear to understand the scheme of the loan; but he takes the + money, and is quite stunned by his good fortune. He thanks me absently, + and goes and shows the piece to the guards, with a smile that illumines + and transfigures his whole person. At Bologna, he has come to his senses; + he loads me with blessings, he is ready to weep; he reverences me, he + wishes me a good voyage, endless prosperity, and innumerable days; and + takes the train for Ancona. + </p> + <p> + “Ah, ah!” I congratulate myself,—“is it not a fine thing to be the + instrument of a special providence?” + </p> + <p> + It is pleasant to think of the Mouse during all that journey, and if we + are never so tired, it rests us to say, “I wonder where the Mouse is by + this time?” When we get home, and coldly count up our expenses, we rejoice + in the five francs lent to the Mouse. “And I know he will pay it back if + ever he can,” I say. “That was a Mouse of integrity.” + </p> + <p> + Two weeks later comes a comely young woman, with a young child—a + child strong on its legs, a child which tries to open every thing in the + room, which wants to pull the cloth off the table, to throw itself out of + the open window—a child of which I have never seen the peer for + restlessness and curiosity. This young woman has been directed to call on + me as a person likely to pay her way to Ferrara. “But who sent you? But, + in fine, why should I pay your way to Ferrara? I have never seen you + before.” + </p> + <p> + “My husband, whom you benefited on his way to Ancona, sent me. Here is his + letter and the card you gave him.” + </p> + <p> + I call out to my fellow-victim,—“My dear, here is news of the + Mouse!” + </p> + <p> + “Don’t <i>tell</i> me he’s sent you that money already!” + </p> + <p> + “Not at all. He has sent me his wife and child, that I may forward them to + him at Ferrara, out of my goodness, and the boundless prosperity which has + followed his good wishes—I, who am a great signor in his eyes, and + an insatiable giver of five-franc pieces—the instrument of a + perpetual special providence. The Mouse has found work at Ferrara, and his + wife comes here from Trieste. As for the rest, I am to send her to him, as + I said.” + </p> + <p> + “You are deceived,” I say solemnly to the Mouse’s wife. “I am not a rich + man. I lent your husband five francs because he had nothing. I am sorry + but I cannot spare twenty florins to send you to Ferrara. If <i>one</i> + will help you?” + </p> + <p> + “Thanks the same,” said the young woman, who was well dressed enough; and + blessed me, and gathered up her child, and went her way. + </p> + <p> + But her blessing did not lighten my heart, depressed and troubled by so + strange an end to my little scheme of a beneficent loan. After all, + perhaps the Mouse may have been as keenly disappointed as myself. With the + ineradicable idea of the Italians, that persons who speak English are + wealthy by nature, and <i>tutti originali</i>, it was not such an absurd + conception of the case to suppose that if I had lent him five francs once, + I should like to do it continually. Perhaps he may yet pay back the loan + with usury. But I doubt it. In the mean time, I am far from blaming the + Mouse. I merely feel that there is a misunderstanding, which I can pardon + if he can. + </p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + + <h2><a name="link2HCH0011" id="link2HCH0011"></a> + CHAPTER XI.<br/> + CHURCHES AND PICTURES. + </h2> + <p> + One day in the gallery of the Venetian Academy a family party of the + English, whom we had often seen from our balcony in their gondolas, were + kind enough to pause before Titian’s John the Baptist. It was attention + that the picture could scarcely demand in strict justice, for it hangs at + the end of a suite of smaller rooms through which visitors usually return + from the great halls, spent with looking at much larger paintings. As + these people stood gazing at the sublime figure of the Baptist,—one + of the most impressive, if not the most religious, that the master has + painted,—and the wild and singular beauty of the landscape made + itself felt through the infinite depths of their respectability, the + father of the family and the head of the group uttered approval of the + painter’s conception: “Quite my idea of the party’s character,” he said; + and then silently and awfully led his domestic train away. + </p> + <p> + I am so far from deriding the criticism of this honest gentleman that I + would wish to have equal sincerity and boldness in saying what I thought—if + I really thought any thing at all—concerning the art which I spent + so great a share of my time at Venice in looking at. But I fear I should + fall short of the terseness as well as the candor I applaud, and should + presently find myself tediously rehearsing criticisms which I neither + respect for their honesty, nor regard for their justice. It is the sad + fortune of him who desires to arrive at full perception of the true and + beautiful in art, to find that critics have no agreement except upon a few + loose general principles; and that among the artists, to whom he turns in + his despair, no two think alike concerning the same master, while his own + little learning has made him distrust his natural likings and mislikings. + Ruskin is undoubtedly the best guide you can have in your study of the + Venetian painters; and after reading him, and suffering confusion and + ignominy from his theories and egotisms, the exercises by which you are + chastised into admission that he has taught you any thing cannot fail to + end in a humility very favorable to your future as a Christian. But even + in this subdued state you must distrust the methods by which he pretends + to relate the aesthetic truths you perceive to certain civil and religious + conditions: you scarcely understand how Tintoretto, who genteelly disdains + (on one page) to paint well any person baser than a saint or senator, and + with whom “exactly in proportion to the dignity of the character is the + beauty of the painting,”—comes (on the next page) to paint a very + “weak, mean, and painful” figure of Christ; and knowing a little the loose + lives of the great Venetian painters, you must reject, with several other + humorous postulates, the idea that good colorists are better men than bad + colorists. Without any guide, I think, these painters may be studied and + understood, up to a certain point, by one who lives in the atmosphere of + their art at Venice, and who, insensibly breathing in its influence, + acquires a feeling for it which all the critics in the world could not + impart where the works themselves are not to be seen. I am sure that no + one strange to the profession of artist ever received a just notion of any + picture by reading the most accurate and faithful description of it: + stated dimensions fail to convey ideas of size; adjectives are not + adequate to the ideas of movement; and the names of the colors, however + artfully and vividly introduced and repeated, cannot tell the reader of a + painter’s coloring. I should be glad to hear what Titian’s “Assumption” is + like from some one who knew it by descriptions. Can any one who has seen + it tell its likeness, or forget it? Can any cunning critic describe + intelligibly the difference between the styles of Titian, of Tintoretto, + and of Paolo Veronese,—that difference which no one with the + slightest feeling for art can fail to discern after looking thrice at + their works? It results from all this that I must believe special + criticisms on art to have their small use only in the presence of the + works they discuss. This is my sincere belief, and I could not, in any + honesty, lumber my pages with descriptions or speculations which would be + idle to most readers, even if I were a far wiser judge of art than I + affect to be. As it is, doubting if I be gifted in that way at all, I + think I may better devote myself to discussion of such things in Venice as + can be understood by comparison with things elsewhere, and so rest happy + in the thought that I have thrown no additional darkness on any of the + pictures half obscured now by the religious dimness of the Venetian + churches. + </p> + <p> + Doubt, analogous to that expressed, has already made me hesitate to spend + the reader’s patience upon many well-known wonders of Venice; and, looking + back over the preceding chapters, I find that some of the principal + edifices of the city have scarcely got into my book even by name. It is + possible that the reader, after all, loses nothing by this; but I should + regret it, if it seemed ingratitude to that expression of the beautiful + which beguiled many dull hours for me, and kept me company in many + lonesome ones. For kindnesses of this sort, indeed, I am under obligations + to edifices in every part of the city; and there is hardly a bit of + sculptured stone in the Ducal Palace to which I do not owe some pleasant + thought or harmless fancy. Yet I am shy of endeavoring in my gratitude to + transmute the substance of the Ducal Palace into some substance that shall + be sensible to the eyes that look on this print; and I forgive myself the + reluctance the more readily when I remember how, just after reading Mr. + Ruskin’s description of St. Mark’s Church, I, who had seen it every day + for three years, began to have dreadful doubts of its existence. + </p> +<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0200}.jpg" alt="{0200}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0200}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5> + + <p> + To be sure, this was only for a moment, and I do not think all the + descriptive talent in the world could make me again doubt St. Mark’s, + which I remember with no less love than veneration. This church indeed has + a beauty which touches and wins all hearts, while it appeals profoundly to + the religious sentiment. It is as if there were a sheltering friendliness + in its low-hovering domes and arches, which lures and caresses while it + awes; as if here, where the meekest soul feels welcome and protection, the + spirit oppressed with the heaviest load of sin might creep nearest to + forgiveness, hiding the anguish of its repentance in the temple’s dim + cavernous recesses, faintly starred with mosaic, and twilighted by + twinkling altar-lamps. + </p> + <p> + Though the temple is enriched with incalculable value of stone and + sculpture, I cannot remember at any time to have been struck by its mere + opulence. Preciousness of material has been sanctified to the highest + uses, and there is such unity and justness in the solemn splendor, that + wonder is scarcely appealed to. Even the priceless and rarely seen + treasures of the church—such as the famous golden altarpiece, whose + costly blaze of gems and gold was lighted in Constantinople six hundred + years ago—failed to impress me with their pecuniary worth, though I + </p> +<p class="poem"> + “Value the giddy pleasure of the eyes,” +</p> + <p class="noindent"> + and like to marvel at precious things. The jewels of other churches are + conspicuous and silly heaps of treasure; but St. Mark’s, where every line + of space shows delicate labor in rich material, subdues the jewels to + their place of subordinate adornment. So, too, the magnificence of the + Romish service seems less vainly ostentatious there. In other churches the + ceremonies may sometimes impress you with a sense of their grandeur, and + even spirituality, but they all need the effect of twilight upon them. You + want a foreground of kneeling figures, and faces half visible through + heavy bars of shadow; little lamps must tremble before the shrines; and in + the background must rise the high altar, all ablaze with candles from + vault to pavement, while a hidden choir pours music from behind, and the + organ shakes the heart with its heavy tones. But with the daylight on its + splendors even the grand function of the <i>Te Deum</i> fails to awe, and + wearies by its length, except in St. Mark’s alone, which is given grace to + spiritualize what elsewhere would be mere theatric pomp. [Footnote: The + cardinal-patriarch officiates in the Basilica San Marco with some + ceremonies which I believe are peculiar to the patriarchate of Venice, and + which consist of an unusual number of robings and disrobings, and putting + on and off of shoes. All this is performed with great gravity, and has, I + suppose, some peculiar spiritual significance. The shoes are brought by a + priest to the foot of the patriarchal throne, when a canon removes the + profane, out-of-door <i>chaussure</i>, and places the sacred shoes on the + patriarch’s feet. A like ceremony replaces the patriarch’s every-day + gaiters, and the pious rite ends.] The basilica, however, is not in every + thing the edifice best adapted to the Romish worship; for the incense, + which is a main element of the function, is gathered and held there in + choking clouds under the low wagon-roofs of the cross-naves.—Yet I + do not know if I would banish incense from the formula of worship even in + St. Mark’s. There is certainly a poetic if not a religious grace in the + swinging censer and its curling fumes; and I think the perfume, as it + steals mitigated to your nostrils, out of the open church door, is the + reverendest smell in the world. + </p> + <p> + The music in Venetian churches is not commonly very good: the best is to + be heard at St. Mark’s, though the director of the choir always contrives + to make so odious a slapping with his <i>bâton</i> as nearly to spoil your + enjoyment. The great musical event of the year is the performance + (immediately after the <i>Festa del Redentore</i>) of the Soldini Masses. + These are offered for the repose of one Guiseppe Soldini of Verona, who, + dying possessed of about a million francs, bequeathed a part (some six + thousand francs) annually to the church of St. Mark, on conditions named + in his will. The terms are, that during three successive days, every year, + there shall be said for the peace of his soul a certain number of masses,—all + to be done in the richest and costliest manner. In case of delinquency, + the bequest passes to the Philharmonic Society of Milan; but the + priesthood of the basilica so strictly regard the wishes of the deceased + that they never say less than four masses over and above the prescribed + number. [Footnote: After hearing these masses, curiosity led me to visit + the <i>Casa di Ricovero</i>, in order to look at Soldini’s will, and there + I had the pleasure of recognizing the constantly recurring fact, that + beneficent humanity is of all countries and religions. The Casa di + Ricovero is an immense edifice dedicated to the shelter and support of the + decrepit and helpless of either sex, who are collected there to the number + of five hundred. The more modern quarter was erected from a bequest by + Soldini; and eternal provision is also made by his will for ninety of the + inmates. The Secretary of the Casa went through all the wards and + infirmaries with me, and everywhere I saw cleanliness and comfort (and + such content as is possible to sickness and old age), without surprise; + for I had before seen the Civil Hospital of Venice, and knew something of + the perfection of Venetian charities. + </p> + <p> + At last we came to the wardrobe, where the clothes of the pensioners are + made and kept. Here we were attended by a little, slender, pallid young + nun, who exhibited the dresses with a simple pride altogether pathetic. + She was a woman still, poor thing, though a nun, and she could not help + loving new clothes. They called her Madre, who would never be it except in + name and motherly tenderness. When we had seen all, she stood a moment + before us, and as one of the coarse woolen lappets of her cape had hidden + it, she drew out a heavy crucifix of gold, and placed it in sight, with a + heavenly little ostentation, over her heart. Sweet and beautiful vanity! + An angel could have done it without harm, but she blushed repentance, and + glided away with downcast eyes. Poor little mother!] + </p> + <p> + As there is so little in St. Mark’s of the paltry or revolting character + of modern Romanism, one would form too exalted an idea of the dignity of + Catholic worship if he judged it there. The truth is, the sincerity and + nobility of a spirit well-nigh unknown to the Romish faith of these times, + are the ruling influences in that temple: the past lays its spell upon the + present, transfiguring it, and the sublimity of the early faith honors the + superstition which has succeeded it. To see this superstition in all its + proper grossness and deformity you must go into some of the Renaissance + churches,—fit tabernacles for that droning and mumming spirit which + has deprived all young and generous men in Italy of religion; which has + made the priests a bitter jest and byword; which has rendered the + population ignorant, vicious, and hopeless; which gives its friendship to + tyranny and its hatred to freedom; which destroys the life of the Church + that it may sustain the power of the Pope. The idols of this superstition + are the foolish and hideous dolls which people bow to in most of the + Venetian temples, and of which the most abominable is in the church of the + Carmelites. It represents the Madonna with the Child, elevated breast-high + to the worshipers. She is crowned with tinsel and garlanded with paper + flowers; she has a blue ribbon about her tightly corseted waist; and she + wears an immense spreading hoop. On her painted, silly face of wood, with + its staring eyes shadowed by a wig, is figured a pert smile; and people + come constantly and kiss the cross that hangs by a chain from her girdle, + and utter their prayers to her; while the column near which she sits is + hung over with pictures celebrating the miracles she has performed. + </p> + <p> + These votive pictures, indeed, are to be seen on most altars of the + Virgin, and are no less interesting as works of art than as expressions of + hopeless superstition. That Virgin who, in all her portraits, is dressed + in a churn-shaped gown and who holds a Child similarly habited, is the + Madonna most efficacious in cases of dreadful accident and hopeless + sickness, if we may trust the pictures which represent her interference. + You behold a carriage overturned and dragged along the ground by frantic + horses, and the fashionably dressed lady and gentleman in the carriage + about to be dashed into millions of pieces, when the havoc is instantly + arrested by this Madonna who breaks the clouds, leaving them with jagged + and shattered edges, like broken panes of glass, and visibly holds back + the fashionable lady and gentleman from destruction. It is the fashionable + lady and gentleman who have thus recorded their obligation; and it is the + mother, doubtless, of the little boy miraculously preserved from death in + his fall from the second-floor balcony, who has gratefully caused the + miracle to be painted and hung at the Madonna’s shrine. Now and then you + also find offerings of corn and fruits before her altar, in acknowledgment + of good crops which the Madonna has made to grow; and again you find rows + of silver hearts, typical of the sinful hearts which her intercession has + caused to be purged. The greatest number of these, at any one shrine, is + to be seen in the church of San Nicolò dei Tolentini, where I should think + there were three hundred. + </p> + <p> + Whatever may be the popularity of the Madonna della Salute in pestilent + times, I do not take it to be very great when the health of the city is + good, if I may judge from the spareness of the worshipers in the church of + her name: it is true that on the annual holiday commemorative of her + interposition to save Venice from the plague, there is an immense + concourse of people there; but at other times I found the masses and + vespers slenderly attended, and I did not observe a great number of votive + offerings in the temple,—though the great silver lamp placed there + by the city, in memory of the Madonna’s goodness during the visitation of + the cholera in 1849, may be counted, perhaps, as representative of much + collective gratitude. It is a cold, superb church, lording it over the + noblest breadth of the Grand Canal; and I do not know what it is saves it + from being as hateful to the eye as other temples of the Renaissance + architecture. But it has certainly a fine effect, with its twin belltowers + and single massive dome, its majestic breadth of steps rising from the + water’s edge, and the many-statued sculpture of its façade. Strangers go + there to see the splendor of its high altar (where the melodramatic + Madonna, as the centre of a marble group, responds to the prayer of the + operatic Venezia, and drives away the haggard, theatrical Pest), and the + excellent Titians and the grand Tintoretto in the sacristy. + </p> + <p> + The Salute is one of the great show-churches, like that of San Giovanni e + Paolo, which the common poverty of imagination has decided to call the + Venetian Westminster Abbey, because it contains many famous tombs and + monuments. But there is only one Westminster Abbey; and I am so far a + believer in the perfectibility of our species as to suppose that vergers + are nowhere possible but in England. There would be nothing to say, after + Mr. Ruskin, in praise or blame of the great monuments in San Giovanni e + Paolo, even if I cared to discuss them; I only wonder that, in speaking of + the bad art which produced the tomb of the Venieri, he failed to mention + the successful approach to its depraved feeling, made by the single figure + sitting on the case of a slender shaft, at the side of the first altar on + the right of the main entrance. I suppose this figure typifies Grief, but + it really represents a drunken woman, whose drapery has fallen, as if in + some vile debauch, to her waist, and who broods, with a horrible, heavy + stupor and chopfallen vacancy, on something which she supports with her + left hand upon her knee. It is a round of marble, and if you have the + daring to peer under the arm of the debauchee, and look at it as she does, + you find that it contains the bass-relief of a skull in bronze. Nothing + more ghastly and abominable than the whole thing can be conceived, and it + seemed to me the fit type of the abandoned Venice which produced it; for + one even less Ruskinian than I might have fancied that in the sculptured + countenance could be seen the dismay of the pleasure-wasted harlot of the + sea when, from time to time, death confronted her amid her revels. + </p> + <p> + People go into the Chapel of the Rosary here to see the painting of + Titian, representing The Death of Peter Martyr. Behind it stands a + painting of equal size by John Bellini,—the Madonna, Child, and + Saints, of course,—and it is curious to study in the two pictures + those points in which Titian excelled and fell short of his master. The + treatment of the sky in the landscape is singularly alike in both, but + where the greater painter has gained in breadth and freedom, he has lost + in that indefinable charm which belonged chiefly to Bellini, and only to + that brief age of transition, of which his genius was the fairest flower + and ripest fruit. I have looked again and again at nearly every painting + of note in Venice, having a foolish shame to miss a single one, and having + also a better wish to learn something of the beautiful from them; but at + last I must say, that, while I wondered at the greatness of some, and + tried to wonder at the greatness of others, the only paintings which gave + me genuine and hearty pleasure were those of Bellini, Carpaccio, and a few + others of that school and time. + </p> + <p> + Every day we used to pass through the court of the old Augustinian convent + adjoining the church of San Stefano. It is a long time since the monks + were driven out of their snug hold; and the convent is now the + headquarters of the Austrian engineer corps, and the colonnade surrounding + the court is become a public thoroughfare. On one wall of this court are + remains—very shadowy remains indeed—of frescos painted by + Pordenone at the period of his fiercest rivalry with Titian; and it is + said that Pordenone, while he wrought upon the scenes of scriptural story + here represented, wore his sword and buckler, in readiness to repel an + attack which he feared from his competitor. The story is very vague, and I + hunted it down in divers authorities only to find it grow more and more + intangible and uncertain. But it gave a singular relish to our daily walk + through the old cloister, and I added, for my own pleasure (and chiefly + out of my own fancy, I am afraid, for I can nowhere localize the fable on + which I built), that the rivalry between the painters was partly a + love-jealousy, and that the disputed object of their passion was that fair + Violante, daughter of the elder Palma, who is to be seen in so many + pictures painted by her father, and by her lover, Titian. No doubt there + are readers will care less for this idleness of mine than for the fact + that the hard-headed German monk, Martin Luther, once said mass in the + adjoining church of San Stefano, and lodged in the convent, on his way to + Rome. The unhappy Francesco Carrara, last Lord of Padua, is buried in this + church; but Venetians are chiefly interested there now by the homilies of + those fervent preacher-monks, who deliver powerful sermons during Lent. + The monks are gifted men, with a most earnest and graceful eloquence, and + they attract immense audiences, like popular and eccentric ministers among + ourselves. It is a fashion to hear them, and although the atmosphere of + the churches in the season of Lent is raw, damp, and most uncomfortable, + the Venetians then throng the churches where they preach. After Lent the + sermons and church-going cease, and the sanctuaries are once more + abandoned to the possession of the priests, droning from the altars to the + scattered kneelers on the floor,—the foul old women and the young + girls of the poor, the old-fashioned old gentlemen and devout ladies of + the better class, and that singular race of poverty-stricken old men + proper to Italian churches, who, having dabbled themselves with holy + water, wander forlornly and aimlessly about, and seem to consort with the + foreigners looking at the objects of interest. Lounging young fellows of + low degree appear with their caps in their hands, long enough to tap + themselves upon the breast and nod recognition to the high-altar; and + lounging young fellows of high degree step in to glance at the faces of + the pretty girls, and then vanish. The droning ends, presently, and the + devotees disappear, the last to go being that thin old woman, kneeling + before a shrine, with a grease-gray shawl falling from her head to the + ground. The sacristan, in his perennial enthusiasm about the great picture + of the church, almost treads upon her as he brings the strangers to see + it, and she gets meekly up and begs of them in a whispering whimper. The + sacristan gradually expels her with the visitors, and at one o’clock locks + the door and goes home. + </p> + <p> + By chance I have got a fine effect in churches at the five o’clock mass in + the morning, when the worshipers are nearly all peasants who have come to + market, and who are pretty sure, each one, to have a bundle or basket. At + this hour the sacristan is heavy with sleep; he dodges uncertainly at the + tapers as he lights and extinguishes them; and his manner to the + congregation, as he passes through it to the altar, is altogether rasped + and nervous. I think it is best to be one’s self a little sleepy,—when + the barefooted friar at the altar (if it is in the church of the Scalzi, + say) has a habit of getting several centuries back from you, and of saying + mass to the patrician ghosts from the tombs under your feet and there is + nothing at all impossible in the Renaissance angels and cherubs in marble, + floating and fatly tumbling about on the broken arches of the altars. + </p> + <p> + I have sometimes been puzzled in Venice to know why churches should keep + cats, church-mice being proverbially so poor, and so little capable of + sustaining a cat in good condition; yet I have repeatedly found sleek and + portly cats in the churches, where they seem to be on terms of perfect + understanding with the priests, and to have no quarrel even with the + little boys who assist at mass. There is, for instance, a cat in the + sacristy of the Frari, which I have often seen in familiar association + with the ecclesiastics there, when they came into his room to robe or + disrobe, or warm their hands, numb with supplication, at the great brazier + in the middle of the floor. I do not think this cat has the slightest + interest in the lovely Madonna of Bellini which hangs in the sacristy; but + I suspect him of dreadful knowledge concerning the tombs in the church. I + have no doubt he has passed through the open door of Canova’s monument, + and that he sees some coherence and meaning in Titian’s; he has been all + over the great mausoleum of the Doge Pesaro, and he knows whether the + griffins descend from their perches at the midnight hour to bite the naked + knees of the ragged black caryatides. This profound and awful animal I + take to be a blood relation of the cat in the church of San Giovanni e + Paolo, who sleeps like a Christian during divine service, and loves a + certain glorious bed on the top of a bench, where the sun strikes upon him + through the great painted window, and dapples his tawny coat with lovely + purples and crimsons. + </p> + <p> + The church cats are apparently the friends of the sacristans, with whom + their amity is maintained probably by entire cession of the spoils of + visitors. In these, therefore, they seldom take any interest, merely + opening a lazy eye now and then to wink at the sacristans as they drag the + deluded strangers from altar to altar, with intense enjoyment of the + absurdity, and a wicked satisfaction in the incredible stories rehearsed. + I fancy, being Italian cats, they feel something like a national antipathy + toward those troops of German tourists, who always seek the + Sehenswürdigkeiten in companies of ten or twenty,—the men wearing + their beards, and the women their hoops and hats, to look as much like + English people as possible; while their valet marshals them forward with a + stream of guttural information, unbroken by a single punctuation point. + These wise cats know the real English by their “Murrays;” and I think they + make a shrewd guess at the nationality of us Americans by the speed with + which we pass from one thing to another, and by our national ignorance of + all languages but English. They must also hear us vaunt the superiority of + our own land in unpleasant comparisons, and I do not think they believe + us, or like us, for our boastings. I am sure they would say to us, if they + could, “<i>Quando finirà mai quella guerra? Che sangue! che orrore</i>!” + [Footnote: “When will this war ever be ended? what blood! what horror!” I + have often heard the question and the comment from many Italians who were + not cats.] The French tourist they distinguish by his evident skepticism + concerning his own wisdom in quitting Paris for the present purpose; and + the traveling Italian, by his attention to his badly dressed, handsome + wife, with whom he is now making his wedding trip. + </p> + <p> + I have found churches undergoing repairs (as most of them always are in + Venice) rather interesting. Under these circumstances, the sacristan is + obliged to take you into all sorts of secret places and odd corners, to + show you the objects of interest; and you may often get glimpses of + pictures which, if not removed from their proper places, it would be + impossible to see. The carpenters and masons work most deliberately, as if + in a place so set against progress that speedy workmanship would be a kind + of impiety. Besides the mechanics, there are always idle priests standing + about, and vagabond boys clambering over the scaffolding. In San Giovanni + e Paolo I remember we one day saw a small boy appear through an opening in + the roof, and descend by means of some hundred feet of dangling rope. The + spectacle, which made us ache with fear, delighted his companions so much + that their applause was scarcely subdued by the sacred character of the + place. As soon as he reached the ground in safety, a gentle, good-natured + looking priest took him by the arm and cuffed his ears. It was a scene for + a painter. + </p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + + <h2><a name="link2HCH0012" id="link2HCH0012"></a> + CHAPTER XII.<br/> + SOME ISLANDS OF THE LAGOONS. + </h2> + <p> + Nothing can be fairer to the eye than these “summer isles of Eden” lying + all about Venice, far and near. The water forever trembles and changes, + with every change of light, from one rainbow glory to another, as with the + restless hues of an opal; and even when the splendid tides recede, and go + down with the sea, they leave a heritage of beauty to the empurpled mud of + the shallows, all strewn with green, disheveled sea-weed. The lagoons have + almost as wide a bound as your vision. On the east and west you can see + their borders of sea-shore and main-land; but looking north and south, + there seems no end to the charm of their vast, smooth, all-but melancholy + expanses. Beyond their southern limit rise the blue Euganean Hills, where + Petrarch died; on the north loom the Alps, white with snow. Dotting the + stretches of lagoon in every direction lie the islands—now piles of + airy architecture that the water seems to float under and bear upon its + breast, now + </p> +<p class="poem"> + “Sunny spots of greenery,” +</p> + <p class="noindent"> + with the bell-towers of demolished cloisters shadowily showing above their + trees;—for in the days of the Republic nearly every one of the + islands had its monastery and its church. At present the greater number + have been fortified by the Austrians, whose sentinel paces the + once-peaceful shores, and challenges all passers with his sharp “<i>Halt! + Wer da</i>!” and warns them not to approach too closely. Other islands + have been devoted to different utilitarian purposes, and few are able to + keep their distant promises of loveliness. One of the more faithful is the + island of San Clemente, on which the old convent church is yet standing, + empty and forlorn within, but without all draped in glossy ivy. After I + had learned to row in the gondolier fashion, I voyaged much in the lagoon + with my boat, and often stopped at this church. It has a curious feature + in the chapel of the Madonna di Loreto, which is built in the middle of + the nave, faced with marble, roofed, and isolated from the walls of the + main edifice on all sides. On the back of this there is a bass-relief in + bronze, representing the Nativity—a work much in the spirit of the + bass-reliefs in San Giovanni e Paolo; and one of the chapels has an + exquisite little altar, with gleaming columns of porphyry. There has been + no service in the church for many years; and this altar had a strangely + pathetic effect, won from the black four-cornered cap of a priest that lay + before it, like an offering. I wondered who the priest was that wore it, + and why he had left it there, as if he had fled away in haste. I might + have thought it looked like the signal of the abdication of a system; the + gondolier who was with me took it up and reviled it as representative of + <i>birbanti matricolati</i>, who fed upon the poor, and in whose expulsion + from that island he rejoiced. But he had little reason to do so, since the + last use of the place was for the imprisonment of refractory + ecclesiastics. Some of the tombs of the Morosini are in San Clemente—villanous + monuments, with bronze Deaths popping out of apertures, and holding marble + scrolls inscribed with undying deeds. Indeed, nearly all the decorations + of the poor old church are horrible, and there is one statue in it meant + for an angel, with absolutely the most lascivious face I ever saw in + marble. + </p> + <p> + The islands near Venice are all small, except the Giudecca (which is + properly a part of the city), the Lido, and Murano. The Giudecca, from + being anciently the bounds in which certain factious nobles were confined, + was later laid out in pleasure-gardens, and built up with summer-palaces. + The gardens still remain to some extent; but they are now chiefly turned + to practical account in raising vegetables and fruits for the Venetian + market, and the palaces have been converted into warehouses and factories. + This island produces a variety of beggar, the most truculent and tenacious + in all Venice, and it has a convent of lazy Capuchin friars, who are + likewise beggars. To them belongs the church of the Redentore, which only + the Madonnas of Bellini in the sacristy make worthy to be seen,—though + the island is hardly less famed for this church than for the difficult + etymology of its name. + </p> + <p> + At the eastern extremity of the Giudecca lies the Island of San Giorgio + Maggiore, with Palladio’s church of that name. There are some great + Tintorettos in the church, and I like the beautiful wood-carvings in the + choir. The island has a sad interest from the political prison into which + part of the old convent has been perverted; and the next island eastward + is the scarcely sadder abode of the mad. Then comes the fair and happy + seat of Armenian learning and piety, San Lazzaro, and then the Lido. + </p> + <p> + The Lido is the sea-shore, and thither in more cheerful days the Venetians + used to resort in great numbers on certain holidays, called the Mondays of + the Lido, to enjoy the sea-breeze and the country scenery, and to lunch + upon the flat tombs of the Hebrews, buried there in exile from the + consecrated Christian ground. On a summer’s day there the sun glares down + upon the sand and flat gravestones, and it seems the most desolate place + where one’s bones might be laid. The Protestants were once also interred + on the Lido, but now they rest (apart from the Catholics, however) in the + cemetery of San Michele. + </p> + <p> + The island is long and narrow: it stretches between the lagoons and the + sea, with a village at either end, and with bath-houses on the beach, + which is everywhere faced with forts. There are some poor little trees + there, and grass,—things which we were thrice a week grateful for, + when we went thither to bathe. I do not know whether it will give the + place further interest to say, that it was among the tombs of the Hebrews + Cooper’s ingenious Bravo had the incredible good luck to hide himself from + the <i>sbirri</i> of the Republic; or to relate that it was the habit of + Lord Byron to gallop up and down the Lido in search of that conspicuous + solitude of which the sincere bard was fond. + </p> + <p> + One day of the first summer I spent in Venice (three years of Venetian + life afterward removed it back into times of the remotest antiquity), a + friend and I had the now-incredible enterprise to walk from one end of the + Lido to the other,—from the port of San Nicolò (through which the + Bucintoro passed when the Doges went to espouse the Adriatic) to the port + of Malamocco, at the southern extremity. + </p> + <p> + We began with that delicious bath which you may have in the Adriatic, + where the light surf breaks with a pensive cadence on the soft sand, all + strewn with brilliant shells. The Adriatic is the bluest water I have ever + seen; and it is an ineffable, lazy delight to lie and watch the fishing + sails of purple and yellow dotting its surface, and the greater ships + dipping down its utmost rim. It was particularly good to do this after + coming out of the water; but our American blood could not brook much + repose, and we got up presently, and started on our walk to the little + village of Malamocco, some three miles away. The double-headed eagle keeps + watch and ward from a continuous line of forts along the shore, and the + white-coated sentinels never cease to pace the bastions, night or day. + Their vision of the sea must not be interrupted by even so much as the + form of a stray passer; and as we went by the forts, we had to descend + from the sea-wall, and walk under it, until we got beyond the sentry’s + beat. The crimson poppies grow everywhere on this sandy little isle, and + they fringe the edges of the bastions with their bloom, as if the + “blood-red blossoms of war” had there sprung from the seeds of battle sown + in old forgotten fights. But otherwise the forts were not very engaging in + appearance. A sentry-box of yellow and black, a sentry, a row of seaward + frowning cannon—there was not much in all this to interest us; and + so we walked idly along, and looked either to the city rising from the + lagoons on one hand, or the ships going down the sea on the other. In the + fields, along the road, were vines and Indian corn; but instead of those + effigies of humanity, doubly fearful from their wide unlikeness to any + thing human, which we contrive to scare away the birds, the devout + peasant-folks had here displayed on poles the instruments of the Passion + of the Lord—the hammer, the cords, the nails—which at once + protected and blessed the fields. But I doubt if even these would save + them from the New-World pigs, and certainly the fences here would not turn + pork, for they are made of a matting of reeds, woven together, and feebly + secured to tremulous posts. The fields were well cultivated, and the vines + and garden vegetables looked flourishing; but the corn was spindling, and + had, I thought, a homesick look, as if it dreamed vainly of wide ancestral + bottom-lands, on the mighty streams that run through the heart of the + Great West. The Italians call our corn <i>gran turco</i>, but I knew that + it was for the West that it yearned, and not for the East. + </p> + <p> + No doubt there were once finer dwellings than the peasants’ houses which + are now the only habitations on the Lido; and I suspect that a genteel + villa must formerly have stood near the farm-gate, which we found + surmounted by broken statues of Venus and Diana. The poor goddesses were + both headless, and some cruel fortune had struck off their hands, and they + looked strangely forlorn in the swaggering attitudes of the absurd period + of art to which they belonged: they extended their mutilated arms toward + the sea for pity, but it regarded them not; and we passed before them + scoffing at their bad taste, for we were hungry, and it was yet some + distance to Malamocco. + </p> + <p> + This dirty little village was the capital of the Venetian islands before + King Pepin and his Franks burned it, and the shifting sands of empire + gathered solidly about the Rialto in Venice. It is a thousand years since + that time, and Malamocco has long been given over to fishermen’s families + and the soldiers of the forts. We found the latter lounging about the + unwholesome streets; and the former seated at their thresholds, engaged in + those pursuits of the chase which the use of a fine-tooth comb would + undignify to mere slaughter. + </p> + <p> + There is a church at Malamocco, but it was closed, and we could not find + the sacristan; so we went to the little restaurant, as the next best + place, and demanded something to eat. What had the padrone? He answered + pretty much to the same effect as the innkeeper in “Don Quixote,” who told + his guests that they could have any thing that walked on the earth, or + swam in the sea, or flew in the air. We would take, then, some fish, or a + bit of veal, or some mutton chops. The padrone sweetly shrugged the + shoulders of apology. There was nothing of all this, but what would we say + to some liver or gizzards of chickens, fried upon the instant and ready + the next breath? No, we did not want them; so we compromised on some ham + fried in a batter of eggs, and reeking with its own fatness. The truth is, + it was a very bad little lunch we made, and nothing redeemed it but the + amiability of the smiling padrone and the bustling padrona, who served us + as kings and princes. It was a clean hostelry, though, and that was a + merit in Malamocco, of which the chief modern virtue is that it cannot + hold you long. No doubt it was more interesting in other times. In the + days when the Venetians chose it for their capital, it was a walled town, + and fortified with towers. It has been more than once inundated by the + sea, and it might again be washed out with advantage. + </p> + <p> + In the spring, two years after my visit to Malamocco, we people in Casa + Falier made a long-intended expedition to the island of Torcello, which is + perhaps the most interesting of the islands of the lagoons. We had talked + of it all winter, and had acquired enough property there to put up some + light Spanish castles on the desolate site of the ancient city, that, so + many years ago, sickened of the swamp air and died. A Count from Torcello + is the title which Venetian persiflage gives to improbable noblemen; and + thus even the pride of the dead Republic of Torcello has passed into + matter of scornful jest, as that of the dead Republic of Venice may + likewise in its day. + </p> + <p> + When we leave the riva of Casa Falier, we pass down the Grand Canal, cross + the Basin of St. Mark, and enter one of the narrow canals that intersect + the Riva degli Schiavoni, whence we wind and deviate southwestward till we + emerge near the church of San Giovanni e Paolo, on the Fondamenta Nuove. + On our way we notice that a tree, hanging over the water from a little + garden, is in full leaf, and at Murano we see the tender bloom of peaches + and the drifted blossom of cherry-trees. + </p> + <p> + As we go by the Cemetery of San Michele, Piero the gondolier and Giovanna + improve us with a little solemn pleasantry. + </p> + <p> + “It is a small place,” says Piero, “but there is room enough for all + Venice in it.” + </p> + <p> + “It is true,” assents Giovanna, “and here we poor folks become landholders + at last.” + </p> + <p> + At Murano we stop a moment to look at the old Duomo, and to enjoy its + quaint mosaics within, and the fine and graceful spirit of the <i>apsis</i> + without. It is very old, this architecture; but the eternal youth of the + beautiful belongs to it, and there is scarce a stone fallen from it that I + would replace. + </p> + <p> + The manufacture of glass at Murano, of which the origin is so remote, may + be said to form the only branch of industry which still flourishes in the + lagoons. Muranese beads are exported to all quarters in vast quantities, + and the process of making them is one of the things that strangers feel + they must see when visiting Venice. The famous mirrors are no longer made, + and the glass has deteriorated in quality, as well as in the beauty of the + thousand curious forms it took. The test of the old glass, which is now + imitated a great deal, is its extreme lightness. I suppose the charming + notion that glass was once wrought at Murano of such fineness that it + burst into fragments if poison were poured into it, must be fabulous. And + yet it would have been an excellent thing in the good old toxicological + days of Italy; and people of noble family would have found a sensitive + goblet of this sort as sovereign against the arts of venomers as an + exclusive diet of boiled eggs. The city of Murano has dwindled from thirty + to five thousand in population. It is intersected by a system of canals + like Venice, and has a Grand Canal of its own, of as stately breadth as + that of the capital. The finer houses are built on this canal; but the + beautiful palaces, once occupied in <i>villeggiatura</i> by the noble + Venetians, are now inhabited by herds of poor, or converted into + glass-works. The famous Cardinal Bembo and other literati made the island + their retreat, and beautified it with gardens and fountains. Casa Priuli + in that day was, according to Venetian ideas, “a terrestrial Paradise,” + and a proper haunt of “nymphs and demi-gods.” But the wealth, the + learning, and the elegance of former times, which planted “groves of + Academe” at Murano, have passed away, and the fair pleasure-gardens are + now weed-grown wastes, or turned into honest cabbage and potato patches. + It is a poor, dreary little town, with an inexplicable charm in its decay. + The city arms are still displayed upon the public buildings (for Murano + was ruled, independently of Venice, by its own council); and the heraldic + cock, with a snake in its beak, has yet a lusty and haughty air amid the + ruin of the place. + </p> + <p> + The way in which the spring made itself felt upon the lagoon was full of + curious delight. It was not so early in the season that we should know the + spring by the first raw warmth in the air, and there was as yet no + assurance of her presence in the growth—later so luxuriant—of + the coarse grasses of the shallows. But somehow the spring was there, + giving us new life with every breath. There were fewer gulls than usual, + and those we saw sailed far overhead, debating departure. There was deeper + languor in the laziness of the soldiers of finance, as they lounged and + slept upon their floating custom houses in every channel of the lagoons; + and the hollow voices of the boatmen, yelling to each other as their wont + is, had an uncommon tendency to diffuse themselves in echo. Over all, the + heavens had put on their summer blue, in promise of that delicious weather + which in the lagoons lasts half the year, and which makes every other + climate seem niggard of sunshine and azure skies. I know we have beautiful + days at home—days of which the sumptuous splendor used to take my + memory with unspeakable longing and regret even in Italy;—but we do + not have, week after week, month after month, that + </p> +<p class="poem"> + “Blue, unclouded weather,” +</p> + <p class="noindent"> + which, at Venice, contents all your senses, and makes you exult to be + alive with the inarticulate gladness of children, or of the swallows that + there all day wheel and dart through the air, and shriek out a delight too + intense and precipitate for song. + </p> + <p> + The island of Torcello is some five miles away from Venice, in the + northern lagoon. The city was founded far back in the troubled morning of + Christian civilization, by refugees from barbarian invasion, and built + with stones quarried from the ruins of old Altinum, over which Attila had + passed desolating. During the first ages of its existence Torcello enjoyed + the doubtful advantage of protection from the Greek emperors, but fell + afterward under the domination of Venice. In the thirteenth century the <i>debris</i> + of the river that emptied into the lagoon there began to choke up the + wholesome salt canals, and to poison the air with swampy malaria; and in + the seventeenth century the city had so dwindled that the Venetian <i>podestà</i> + removed his residence from the depopulated island to Burano,—though + the bishopric established immediately after the settlement of the refugees + at Torcello continued there till 1814, to the satisfaction, no doubt, of + the frogs and mosquitoes that had long inherited the former citizens. + </p> + <p> + I confess that I know little more of the history of Torcello than I found + in my guide-book. There I read that the city had once stately civic and + religious edifices, and that in the tenth century the Emperor + Porphorygenitus called it “<i>magnum emporium Torcellanorum</i>.” The + much-restored cathedral of the seventh century, a little church, a + building supposed to have been the public palace, and other edifices so + ruinous and so old that their exact use in other days is not now known, + are all that remain of the <i>magnum emporium</i>, except some lines of + moldering wall that wander along the canals, and through pastures and + vineyards, in the last imbecile stages of dilapidation and decay. There is + a lofty bell-tower, also, from which, no doubt, the Torcellani used to + descry afar off the devouring hordes of the barbarians on the main-land, + and prepare for defense. As their city was never actually invaded, I am at + a loss to account for the so-called Throne of Attila, which stands in the + grass-grown piazza before the cathedral; and I fear that it may really + have been after all only the seat which the ancient Tribunes of Torcello + occupied on public occasions. It is a stone arm-chair, of a rude + stateliness, and though I questioned its authenticity, I went and sat down + in it a little while, to give myself the benefit of a doubt in case Attila + had really pressed the same seat. + </p> + <p> + As soon as our gondola touched the grassy shores at Torcello, Giovanna’s + children, Beppi and Nina, whom we had brought with us to give a first + experience of trees and flowers and mother earth, leaped from the boat and + took possession of land and water. By a curious fatality the little girl, + who was bred safely amid the hundred canals of Venice, signalized her + absence from their perils by presently falling into the only canal in + Torcello, whence she was taken dripping, to be confined at a farm-house + during the rest of our stay. The children were wild with pleasure, being + absolutely new to the country, and ran over the island, plucking bouquets + of weeds and flowers by armsful. A rake, borne afield upon the shoulder of + a peasant, afterwhile fascinated the Venetian Beppi, and drew him away to + study its strange and wonderful uses. + </p> + <p> + The simple inhabitants of Torcello came forth with gifts, or rather + bargains, of flowers, to meet their discoverers, and, in a little while, + exhausted our soldi. They also attended us in full force when we sat down + to lunch,—the old, the young men and maidens, and the little + children, all alike sallow, tattered, and dirty. Under these + circumstances, a sense of the idyllic and the patriarchal gave zest to our + collation, and moved us to bestow, in a splendid manner, fragments of the + feast among the poor Torcellani. Knowing the abstemiousness of Italians + everywhere, and seeing the hungry fashion in which the islanders clutched + our gifts and devoured them, it was our doubt whether any one of them had + ever experienced perfect repletion. I incline to think that a chronic + famine gnawed their entrails, and that they never filled their bellies but + with draughts of the east wind disdained of Job. The smaller among them + even scrambled with the dog for the bones, until a little girl was bitten, + when a terrific tumult arose, and the dog was driven home by the whole + multitude. The children presently returned. They all had that gift of + beauty which Nature seldom denies to the children of their race; but + being, as I said, so dirty, their beauty shone forth chiefly from their + large soft eyes. They had a very graceful, bashful archness of manner, and + they insinuated beggary so winningly, that it would have been impossible + for hungry people to deny them. As for us, having lunched, we gave them + every thing that remained, and went off to feast our enthusiasm for art + and antiquity in the cathedral. + </p> + <p> + Of course, I have not the least intention of describing it. I remember + best among its wonders the bearing of certain impenitents in one of the + mosaics on the walls, whom the earnest early artist had meant to represent + as suffering in the flames of torment. I think, however, I have never seen + complacence equal to that of these sinners, unless it was in the + countenances of the seven fat kine, which, as represented in the vestibule + of St. Mark’s, wear an air of the sleepiest and laziest enjoyment, while + the seven lean kine, having just come up from the river, devour steaks + from their bleeding haunches. There are other mosaics in the Torcello + cathedral, especially those in the <i>apsis</i> and in one of the side + chapels, which are in a beautiful spirit of art, and form the widest + possible contrast to the eighteenth-century high altar, with its insane + and ribald angels flying off at the sides, and poising themselves in the + rope-dancing attitudes favored by statues of heavenly persons in the + decline of the Renaissance. The choir is peculiarly built, in the form of + a half-circle, with seats rising one above another, as in an amphitheatre, + and a flight of steps ascending to the bishop’s seat above all,—after + the manner of the earliest Christian churches. The partition parapet + before the high altar is of almost transparent marble, delicately and + quaintly sculptured with peacocks and lions, as the Byzantines loved to + carve them; and the capitals of the columns dividing the naves are of + infinite richness. Part of the marble pulpit has a curious bass-relief, + said to be representative of the worship of Mercury; and indeed the + Torcellani owe much of the beauty of their Duomo to unrequited antiquity. + (They came to be robbed in their turn: for the opulence of their churches + was so great that in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the severest + penalties had to be enacted against those who stole from them. No one will + be surprised to learn that the clergy themselves participated in these + spoliations; but I believe no ecclesiastic was ever lashed in the piazza, + or deprived of an eye or a hand for his offense.) The Duomo has the + peculiar Catholic interest, and the horrible fascination, of a dead + saint’s mortal part in a glass case. + </p> + <p> + An arcade runs along the facade of the cathedral, and around the side and + front of the adjoining church of Santa Fosca, which is likewise very old. + But we found nothing in it but a dusty, cadaverous stench, and so we came + away and ascended the campanile. From the top of this you have a view of + the lagoon, in all its iridescent hues, and of the heaven-blue sea. Here, + looking toward the main-land, I would have been glad to experience the + feelings of the Torcellani of old, as they descried the smoking advance of + Huns or Vandals. But the finer emotions are like gifted children, and are + seldom equal to occasions. I am ashamed to say that mine got no further + than Castle Bluebeard, with Lady Bluebeard’s sister looking out for her + brothers, and tearfully responding to Lady B.‘s repeated and agonized + entreaty, “O sister, do you see them yet?” + </p> + <p> + The old woman who had opened the door of the campanile was surprised into + hospitality by the sum of money we gave her, and took us through her house + (which was certainly very neat and clean) into her garden, where she + explained the nature of many familiar trees and shrubs to us poor + Venetians. + </p> + <p> + We went back home over the twilight lagoon, and Giovanna expressed the + general feeling when she said: “<i>Torsello xe beo—no si pol negar—la + campagna xe bea; ma, benedetta la mia Venezia!</i>” + </p> + <p> + (The country is beautiful—it can’t be denied—Torcello is + beautiful; but blessed be my Venice!) + </p> + <p> + The panorama of the southern lagoon is best seen in a voyage to Chioggia, + or Ciozza, the quaint and historic little city that lies twenty miles away + from Venice, at one of the ports of the harbor. The Giant Sea-wall, built + there by the Republic in her decline, is a work of Roman grandeur, which + impresses you more deeply than any other monument of the past with a sense + of her former industrial and commercial greatness. Strips of village + border the narrow Littorale all the way to Chioggia, and on the right lie + the islands of the lagoon. Chioggia itself is hardly more than a village,—a + Venice in miniature, like Murano, with canals and boats and bridges. But + here the character of life is more amphibious than in brine-bound Venice; + and though there is no horse to be seen in the central streets of + Chioggia, peasants’ teams penetrate her borders by means of a long bridge + from the main-land. + </p> + <p> + Of course Chioggia has passed through the customary vicissitudes of + Italian towns, and has been depopulated at divers times by pestilence, + famine, and war. It suffered cruelly in the war with the Genoese in 1380, + when it was taken by those enemies of St. Mark; and its people were so + wasted by the struggle that the Venetians, on regaining it, were obliged + to invite immigration to repopulate its emptiness. I do not know how great + comfort the Chiozzotti of that unhappy day took in the fact that some of + the earliest experiments with cannon were made in the contest that + destroyed them, but I can hardly offer them less tribute than to mention + it here. At present the place is peopled almost entirely by sailors and + fishermen, whose wives are more famous for their beauty than their + amiability. Goldoni’s “Baruffe Chiozzotte” is an amusing and vivid picture + of the daily battles which the high-spirited ladies of the city fought in + the dramatist’s [Footnote: Goldoni’s family went from Venice to Chioggia + when the dramatist was very young. The description of his life there form + some of the most interesting chapters of his Memoirs.] time, and which are + said to be of frequent occurrence at this day. The Chiozzotte are the only + women of this part of Italy who still preserve a semblance of national + costume; and this remnant of more picturesque times consists merely of a + skirt of white, which, being open in front, is drawn from the waist over + the head and gathered in the hand under the chin, giving to the flashing + black eyes and swarthy features of the youthful wearer a look of very + dangerous slyness and cunning. The dialect of the Chiozzotti is said to be + that of the early Venetians, with an admixture of Greek, and it is + infinitely more sweet and musical than the dialect now spoken in Venice. + “Whether derived,” says the author of the “Fiore di Venezia,” alluding to + the speech of these peculiar people, “from those who first settled these + shores, or resulting from other physical and moral causes, it is certain + that the tone of the voice is here more varied and powerful: the mouth is + thrown wide open in speaking; a passion, a lament mingles with laughter + itself, and there is a continual <i>ritornello</i> of words previously + spoken. But this speech is full of energy; whoever would study brief and + strong modes of expression should come here.” + </p> + <p> + Chioggia was once the residence of noble and distinguished persons, among + whom was the painter Rosalba Carrera, famed throughout Europe for her + crayon miniatures; and the place produced in the sixteenth century the + great maestro Giuseppe Zarlino, “who passes,” says Cantù, “for the + restorer of modern music,” and “whose ‘Orfeo’ heralded the invention of + the musical drama.” This composer claimed for his birthplace the doubtful + honor of the institution of the order of the Capuchins, which he declared + to have been founded by Fra Paolo (Giovanni Sambi) of Chioggia. There is + not much now to see in poor little Chioggia except its common people, who, + after a few minutes’ contemplation, can hardly interest any one but the + artist. There are no dwellings in the town which approach palatial + grandeur, and nothing in the Renaissance churches to claim attention, + unless it be an attributive Bellini in one of them. Yet if you have the + courage to climb the bell-tower of the cathedral, you get from its summit + the loveliest imaginable view of many-purpled lagoon and silver-flashing + sea; and if you are sufficiently acquainted with Italy and Italians to + observe a curious fact, and care to study the subject, you may note the + great difference between the inhabitants of Chioggia and those of + Palestrina,—an island divided from Chioggia by a half mile of + lagoon, and by quite different costume, type of face, and accent. + </p> + <p> + Just between Chioggia and the sea lies the lazy town of Sottomarina, and I + should say that the population of Sottomarina chiefly spent its time in + lounging up and down the Sea-wall; while that of Chioggia, when not + professionally engaged with the net, gave its leisure to playing <i>mora</i> + [Footnote: Mora is the game which the Italians play with their fingers, + one throwing out two, three, or four fingers, as the case may be, and + calling the number at the same instant. If (so I understood the game) the + player mistakes the number of fingers he throws out, he loses; if he hits + the number with both voice and fingers he wins. It is played with + tempestuous interest, and is altogether fiendish in appearance.] in the + shade, or pitilessly pursuing strangers, and offering them boats. For my + own part, I refused the subtlest advances of this kind which were made me + in Chiozzotto, but fell a helpless prey to a boatman who addressed me in + some words of wonderful English, and then rowed me to the Sea-wall at + about thrice the usual fare. + </p> + <p> + These primitive people are bent, in their out-of-the-world, remote way, + upon fleecing the passing stranger quite as earnestly as other Italians, + and they naïvely improve every occasion for plunder. As we passed up the + shady side of their wide street, we came upon a plump little blond boy, + lying asleep on the stones, with his head upon his arm; and as no one was + near, the artist of our party stopped to sketch the sleeper. Atmospheric + knowledge of the fact spread rapidly, and in a few minutes we were the + centre of a general assembly of the people of Chioggia, who discussed us, + and the artist’s treatment of her subject, in open congress. They handed + round the airy chaff as usual, but were very orderly and respectful, + nevertheless,—one father of the place quelling every tendency to + tumult by kicking his next neighbor, who passed on the penalty till, by + this simple and ingenious process, the guilty cause of the trouble was + infallibly reached and kicked at last. I placed a number of soldi in the + boy’s hand, to the visible sensation of the crowd, and then we moved away + and left him, heading, as we went, a procession of Chiozzotti, who could + not make up their minds to relinquish us till we took refuge in a church. + When we came out the procession had disappeared, but all round the church + door, and picturesquely scattered upon the pavement in every direction, + lay boys asleep, with their heads upon their arms. As we passed laughing + through the midst of these slumberers, they rose and followed us with + cries of “<i>Mi tiri zu! Mi tiri zu!</i>” (Take me down! Take me down!) + They ran ahead, and fell asleep again in our path, and round every corner + we came upon a sleeping boy; and, indeed, we never got out of that + atmosphere of slumber till we returned to the steamer for Venice, when + Chioggia shook off her drowsy stupor, and began to tempt us to throw soldi + into the water, to be dived for by her awakened children. + </p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + + <h2><a name="link2HCH0013" id="link2HCH0013"></a> + CHAPTER XIII.<br/> + THE ARMENIANS. + </h2> + <p> + Among the pleasantest friends we made in Venice were the monks of the + Armenian Convent, whose cloistral buildings rise from the glassy lagoon, + upon the south of the city, near a mile away. This bulk + </p> +<p class="poem"> + “Of mellow brick-work on an isle of bowers” +</p> + <p class="noindent"> + is walled in with solid masonry from the sea, and encloses a garden-court, + filled with all beautiful flowers, and with the memorable trees of the + East; while another garden encompasses the monastery itself, and yields + those honest fruits and vegetables which supply the wants of the + well-cared-for mortal part of the good brothers. The island is called San + Lazzaro, and the convent was established in 1717 by a learned and devoted + Armenian priest named Mechithar, from whom the present order of monks is + called Mechitharist. He was the first who formed the idea of educating a + class of priests to act as missionaries among the Armenian nation in the + East, and infuse into its civil and religious decay the life of European + piety and learning. He founded at Sebaste, therefore, a religious order of + which the seat was presently removed to Constantinople, where the friars + met with so much persecution from Armenian heterodoxy that it was again + transferred, and fixed at Modone in Morea. That territory falling into the + hands of the Turks, the Mechitharists fled with their leader to Venice, + where the Republic bestowed upon them a waste and desolate island, which + had formerly been used as a place of refuge for lepers; and the monks made + it the loveliest spot in all the lagoons. + </p> + <p> + The little island has such a celebrity in travel and romance, that I feel + my pen catching in the tatters of a threadbare theme. And yet I love the + place and its people so well, that I could scarcely pass it without + mention. Every tourist who spends a week in Venice goes to see the + convent, and every one is charmed with it and the courteous welcome of the + fathers. Its best interest is the intrinsic interest attaching to it as a + seat of Armenian culture; but persons who relish the cheap sentimentalism + of Byron’s life, find the convent all the more entertaining from the fact + that he did the Armenian language the favor to study it there, a little. + The monks show his autograph, together with those of other distinguished + persons, and the Armenian Bible which he used to read. I understood from + one of the friars, Padre Giacomo Issaverdanz, that the brothers knew + little or nothing of Byron’s celebrity as a poet while he studied with + them, and that his proficiency as an Armenian scholar was not such as to + win high regard from them. + </p> + <p> + I think most readers who have visited the convent will recall the pleasant + face and manners of the young father mentioned, who shows the place to + English-speaking travelers, and will care to know that Padre Giacomo was + born at Smyrna, and dwelt there in the family of an English lady, till he + came to Venice, and entered on his monastic life at San Lazzaro. + </p> + <p> + He came one morning to breakfast with us, bringing with him Padre Alessio, + a teacher in the Armenian College in the city. As for the latter, it was + not without a certain shock that I heard Mesopotamia mentioned as his + birthplace, having somehow in childhood learned to regard that formidable + name as little better than a kind of profane swearing. But I soon came to + know Padre Alessio apart from his birthplace, and to find him very + interesting as a scholar and an artist. He threw a little grace of poetry + around our simple feast, by repeating some Armenian verses,—grace + all the more ethereal from our entire ignorance of what the verses meant. + Our breakfast-table talk wrought to friendship the acquaintance made some + time before, and the next morning we received the photograph of Padre + Giacomo, and the compliments of the Orient, in a heaped basket of ripe and + luscious figs from the garden of the Convent San Lazzaro. When, in turn, + we went to visit him at the convent, we had experience of a more curious + oriental hospitality. Refreshments were offered to us as to friends, and + we lunched fairily upon little dishes of rose leaves, delicately + preserved, with all their fragrance, in a “lucent sirup.” It seemed that + this was a common conserve in the East; but we could hardly divest + ourselves of the notion of sacrilege, as we thus fed upon the very most + luxurious sweetness and perfume of the soul of summer. Pleasant talk + accompanied the dainty repast,—Padre Giacomo recounting for us some + of his adventures with the people whom he had to show about the convent, + and of whom many were disappointed at not finding a gallery or museum, and + went away in extreme disgust; and relating with a sly, sarcastic relish + that blent curiously with his sweetness and gentleness of spirit, how some + English people once came with the notion that Lord Byron was an Armenian; + how an unhappy French gentleman, who had been robbed in Southern Italy, + would not be parted a moment from a huge bludgeon which he carried in his + hand, and (probably disordered by his troubles) could hardly be persuaded + from attacking the mummy which is in one of the halls; how a sharp, + bustling, go-ahead Yankee rushed in one morning, rubbing his hands, and + demanding, “Show me all you can in five minutes.” + </p> + <p> + As a seat of learning, San Lazzaro is famed throughout the Armenian world, + and gathers under its roof the best scholars and poets of that nation. In + the printing-office of the convent books are printed in some thirty + different languages; and a number of the fathers employ themselves + constantly in works of translation. The most distinguished of the Armenian + literati now living at San Lazzaro is the Reverend Father Gomidas + Pakraduni, who has published an Armenian version of “Paradise Lost,” and + whose great labor the translation of Homer, has been recently issued from + the convent press. He was born at Constantinople of an ancient and + illustrious family, and took religious orders at San Lazzaro, where he was + educated, and where for twenty-five years after his consecration he held + the professorship of his native tongue. He devoted himself especially to + the culture of the ancient Armenian, and developed it for the expression + of modern ideas, he made exhaustive study of the vast collection of old + manuscripts at San Lazzaro, and then went to Paris in pursuance of his + purpose, and acquainted himself with all the treasures of Armenian + learning in the Bibliothèque Royale. He became the first scholar of the + age in his national language, and acquired at the same time a profound + knowledge of Latin and Greek. + </p> + <p> + Returning to Constantinople, Father Pakraduni, whose fame had preceded + him, took up his residence in the family of a noble Armenian, high in the + service of the Turkish government; and while assuming the care of + educating his friend’s children, began those labors of translation which + have since so largely employed him. He made an Armenian version of Pindar, + and wrote a work on Rhetoric, both of which were destroyed by fire while + yet in the manuscript. He labored, meanwhile, on his translation of the + Iliad,—a youthful purpose which he did not see fulfilled till the + year 1860, when he had already touched the Psalmist’s limit of life. In + this translation he revived with admirable success an ancient species of + Armenian verse, which bears, in flexibility and strength, comparison with + the original Greek. Another of his great labors was the production of an + Armenian Grammar, in which he reduced to rule and order the numerous forms + of his native tongue, never before presented by one work in all its + eastern variety. + </p> + <p> + Padre Giacomo, to whose great kindness I am indebted for a biographic and + critical notice in writing of Father Pakraduni, considers the epic poem by + that scholar a far greater work than any of his philological treatises, + profound and thorough as they are. When nearly completed, this poem + perished in the same conflagration which consumed the Pindar and the + Rhetoric; but the poet patiently began his work anew, and after eight + years gave his epic of twenty books and twenty-two thousand verses to the + press. The hero of the poem is Haïk, the first Armenian patriarch after + the flood, and the founder of a kingly dynasty. Nimrod, the great hunter, + drunk with his victories, declares himself a god, and ordains his own + worship throughout the Orient. Haïk refuses to obey the commands of the + tyrant, takes up arms against him, and finally kills him in battle. “In + the style of this poem,” writes Padre Giacomo, “it is hard to tell whether + to admire most its richness, its energy, its sweetness, its melancholy, + its freedom, its dignity, or its harmony, for it has all these virtues in + turn. The descriptive parts are depicted with the faithfulest pencil: the + battle scenes can only be matched in the Iliad.” + </p> + <p> + Father Pakraduni returned, after twenty-five years’ sojourn at + Constantinople, to publish his epic at San Lazzaro, where he still lives, + a tranquil, gentle old man, with a patriarchal beauty and goodness of + face. In 1861 he printed his translation of Milton, with a dedication to + Queen Victoria. His other works bear witness to the genuineness of his + inspiration and piety, and the diligence of his study: they are poems, + poetic translations from the Italian, religious essays, and grammatical + treatises. + </p> + <p> + Indeed, the existence of all the friars at San Lazzaro is one of close and + earnest study; and life grows so fond of these quiet monks that it will + hardly part with them at last. One of them is ninety-five years old, and, + until 1863, there was a lay-brother among them whose years numbered a + hundred and eight, and who died of old age, on the 17th of September, + after passing fifty-eight years at San Lazzaro. From biographic memoranda + furnished me by Padre Giacomo, I learn that the name of this patriarch was + George Karabagiak, and that he was a native of Kutaieh in Asia Minor. He + was for a long time the disciple of Dèdè Vartabied, a renowned preacher of + the Armenian faith, and he afterward taught the doctrines of his master in + the Armenian schools. Failing in his desire to enter upon the sacerdotal + life at Constantinople, he procured his admission as lay-brother at San + Lazzaro, where all his remaining days were spent. He was but little + learned; but he had great passion for poetry, and he was the author of + some thirty small works on different subjects. During the course of his + long and diligent life, which was chiefly spent in learning and teaching, + he may be said to have hardly known a day’s sickness. And at last he died + of no perceptible disorder. The years tired him to death. He had a + trifling illness in August, and as he convalesced, he grew impatient of + the tenacious life which held him to earth. Slowly pacing up and down the + corridors of the convent, he used to crave the prayers of the brothers + whom he met, beseeching them to intercede with Heaven that he might be + suffered to die. One day he said to the archbishop, “I fear that God has + abandoned me, and I shall live.” Only a little while before his death he + wrote some verses, as Padre Giacomo’s memorandum witnesses, “with a firm + and steady hand,” and the manner of his death was this,—as recorded + in the grave and simple words of my friend’s note:—“Finally, on the + 17th of September, very early in the morning, a brother entering his + chamber, asked him how he was. ‘Well,’ he replied, turning his face to the + wall, and spoke no more. He had passed to a better life.” + </p> + <p> + It seems to me there is a pathos in the close of this old man’s life,—which + I hope has not been lost by my way of describing it,—and there is + certainly a moral. I have read of an unlucky sage who discovered the + Elixir of Life, and who, after thrice renewing his existence, at last + voluntarily resigned himself to death, because he had exhausted all that + life had to offer of pleasure or of pain, and knew all its vicissitudes + but the very last. Brother Karabagiak seems to have had no humor to take + even a second ease of life. It is perhaps as well that most men die before + reaching the over-ripeness of a hundred and eight years; and, doubtless, + with all our human willfulness and ignorance, we would readily consent, if + we could fix the time, to go sooner—say, at a hundred and seven + years, friends? + </p> + <p> + Besides the Convent of San Lazzaro, where Armenian boys from all parts of + the East are educated for the priesthood, the nation has a college in the + city in which boys intended for secular careers receive their schooling. + The Palazzo Zenobia is devoted to the use of this college, where, besides + room for study, the boys have abundant space and apparatus for gymnastics, + and ample grounds for gardening. We once passed a pleasant summer evening + there, strolling through the fragrant alleys of the garden, in talk with + the father-professors, and looking on at the gymnastic feats of the boys; + and when the annual exhibition of the school took place in the fall, we + were invited to be present. + </p> + <p> + The room appointed for the exhibition was the great hall of the palace, + which in other days had evidently been a ball-room. The ceiling was + frescoed in the manner of the last century, with Cupids and Venuses, Vices + and Virtues, fruits and fiddles, dwarfs and blackamoors; and the painted + faces looked down on a scene of as curious interest as ever the + extravagant loves and graces of Tiepolo might hope to see, when the boys + of the college, after assisting at <i>Te Deum</i> in the chapel, entered + the room, and took their places. + </p> + <p> + At the head of the hall sat the archbishop in his dark robes, with his + heavy gold chain about his neck—a figure and a countenance in all + things spiritual, gracious, and reverend. There is small difference, I + believe, between the creeds of the Armenians and the Roman Catholics, but + a very great disparity in the looks of the two priesthoods, which is all + in favor of the former. The Armenian wears his beard, and the Latin shaves—which + may have a great deal to do with the holiness of appearance. Perhaps, + also, the gentle and mild nature of the oriental yields more sweetly and + entirely to the self-denials of the ecclesiastical vocation, and thus wins + a fairer grace from them. At any rate, I have not seen any thing but + content and calm in the visages of the Armenian fathers, among whom the + priest-face, as a type, does not exist, though it would mark the Romish + ecclesiastic in whatever dress he wore. There is, moreover, a look of such + entire confidence and unworldly sincerity in their eyes, that I could not + help thinking, as I turned from the portly young fathers to the + dark-faced, grave, old-fashioned school-boys, that an exchange of beard + only was needed to effect an exchange of character between those youthful + elders and their pupils. The gray-haired archbishop is a tall and slender + man; but nearly all the fathers take kindly to curves and circles, and + glancing down a row of these amiable priests I could scarcely repress a + smile at the constant recurrence of the line of beauty in their + well-rounded persons. + </p> +<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0246}.jpg" alt="{0246}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0246}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5> + + <p> + On the right and left of the archbishop were the few invited guests, and + at the other end of the saloon sat one of the fathers, the plump key-stone + of an arch of comfortable young students expanding toward us. Most of the + boys are from Turkey (the Armenians of Venice, though acknowledging the + Pope as their spiritual head, are the subjects of the Sultan), others are + of Asiatic birth, and two are Egyptians. + </p> + <p> + As to the last, I think the Sphinx and the Pyramid could hardly have + impressed me more than their dark faces, that seemed to look vaguely on + our modern world from the remote twilights of old, and in their very + infancy to be reverend through the antiquity of their race. The mother of + these boys—a black-eyed, olive-cheeked lady, very handsome and + stylish—was present with their younger brother. I hardly know + whether to be ashamed of having been awed by hearing of the little + Egyptian that his native tongue was Arabic, and that he spoke nothing more + occidental than Turkish. But, indeed, was it wholly absurd to offer a + tacit homage to this favored boy, who must know the “Arabian Nights” in + the original? + </p> + <p> + The exercises began with a theme in Armenian—a language which, but + for its English abundance of sibilants, and a certain German rhythm, was + wholly outlandish to our ears. Themes in Italian, German, and French + succeeded, and then came one in English. We afterward had speech with the + author of this essay, who expressed the liveliest passion for English, in + the philosophy and poetry of which it seemed he particularly delighted. He + told us that he was a Constantinopolitan, and that in six months more he + would complete his collegiate course, when he would return to his native + city, and take employment in the service of the Turkish Government. Many + others of the Armenian students here also find this career open to them in + the East. + </p> + <p> + The literary exercises closed with another essay in Armenian; and then the + archbishop delivered, very gracefully and impressively, an address to the + boys. After this, the distribution of the premiums—medals of silver + and bronze, and books—took place at the desk of the archbishop. Each + boy, as he advanced to receive his premium, knelt and touched the hand of + the priest with his lips and forehead,—a quaint and pleasing + ceremony which had preceded and followed the reading of all the themes. + </p> + <p> + The social greetings and congratulations that now took place ended an + entertainment throughout which every body was pleased, and the goodnatured + fathers seemed to be moved with a delight no less hearty than that of the + boys themselves. Indeed, the ground of affection and confidence on which + the lads and their teachers seemed to meet, was something very novel and + attractive. We shook hands with our smiling friends among the padri, took + leave of the archbishop, and then visited the studio of Padre Alessio, who + had just finished a faithful and spirited portrait of monsignore. Adieux + to the artist and to Padre Giacomo brought our visit to an end; and so, + from that scene of oriental learning, simplicity, and kindliness, we + walked into our western life once more, and resumed our citizenship and + burden in the Venetian world—out of the waters of which, like a + hydra or other water beast, a bathing boy instantly issued and begged of + us. + </p> + <p> + A few days later our good Armenians went to pass a month on the main-land + near Padua, where they have comfortable possessions. Peace followed them, + and they came back as plump as they went. + </p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + + <h2><a name="link2HCH0014" id="link2HCH0014"></a> + CHAPTER XIV.<br/> + THE GHETTO AND THE JEWS OF VENICE. + </h2> + <p> + As I think it extremely questionable whether I could get through a chapter + on this subject without some feeble pleasantry about Shylock, and whether, + if I did, the reader would be at all satisfied that I had treated the + matter fully and fairly, I say at the beginning that Shylock is dead; that + if he lived, Antonio would hardly spit upon his gorgeous pantaloons or his + Parisian coat, as he met him on the Rialto; that he would far rather call + out to him, “<i>Ció Shylock! Bon dí! Go piaser vederla;</i>” [Footnote: + “Shylock, old fellow, good-day. Glad to see you.”] that if Shylock by any + chance entrapped Antonio into a foolish promise to pay him a pound of his + flesh on certain conditions, the honest commissary of police before whom + they brought their affair would dismiss them both to the madhouse at San + Servolo. In a word, the present social relations of Jew and Christian in + this city render the “Merchant of Venice” quite impossible; and the + reader, though he will find the Ghetto sufficiently noisome and dirty, + will not find an oppressed people there, nor be edified by any of those + insults or beatings which it was once a large share of Christian duty to + inflict upon the enemies of our faith. The Catholic Venetian certainly + understands that his Jewish fellow-citizen is destined to some very + unpleasant experiences in the next world, but <i>Corpo di Bacco</i>! that + is no reason why he should not be friends with him in this. He meets him + daily on exchange and at the Casino, and he partakes of the hospitality of + his conversazioni. If he still despises him—and I think he does, a + little—he keeps his contempt to himself, for the Jew is gathering + into his own hands great part of the trade of the city, and has the power + that belongs to wealth. He is educated, liberal, and enlightened, and the + last great name in Venetian literature is that of the Jewish historian of + the Republic, Romanin. The Jew’s political sympathies are invariably + patriotic, and he calls himself, not Ebreo, but Veneziano. He lives, when + rich, in a palace or a fine house on the Grand Canal, and he furnishes and + lets many others (I must say at rates which savor of the loan secured by + the pound of flesh) in which he does not live. The famous and beautiful + Ca’ Doro now belongs to a Jewish family; and an Israelite, the most + distinguished physician in Venice, occupies the <i>appartamento signorile</i> + in the palace of the famous Cardinal Bembo. The Jew is a physician, a + banker, a manufacturer, a merchant; and he makes himself respected for his + intelligence and his probity,—which perhaps does not infringe more + than that of Italian Catholics. He dresses well,—with that + indefinable difference, however, which distinguishes him in every thing + from a Christian,—and his wife and daughter are fashionable and + stylish, They are sometimes, also, very pretty; and I have seen one Jewish + lady who might have stepped out of the sacred page, down from the + patriarchal age, and been known for Rebecca, with her oriental grace, and + delicate, sensitive, high-bred look and bearing—no more western and + modern than a lily of Palestine. + </p> + <p> + But it is to the Ghetto I want to take you now (by the way we went one + sunny day late last fall), that I may show you something of the Jewish + past, which has survived to the nineteenth century in much of the + discomfort and rank savor of the dark ages. + </p> + <p> + In the fifteenth century all the riches of the Orient had been poured into + the lap of Venice, and a spirit of reckless profusion took possession of + her citizens. The money, hastily and easily amassed, went as rapidly as it + came. It went chiefly for dress, in which the Venetian still indulges very + often to the stint of his stomach; and the ladies of that bright-colored, + showy day bore fortunes on their delicate persons in the shape of costly + vestments of scarlet, black, green, white, maroon, or violet, covered with + gems, glittering with silver buttons, and ringing with silver bells. The + fine gentlemen of the period were not behind them in extravagance; and the + priests were peculiarly luxurious in dress, wearing gay silken robes, with + cowls of fur, and girdles of gold and silver. Sumptuary laws were vainly + passed to repress the general license, and fortunes were wasted, and + wealthy families reduced to beggary. [Footnote: Galliciolli, <i>Memorie + Venete</i>.] At this time, when so many worthy gentlemen and ladies had + need of the Uncle to whom hard-pressed nephews fly to pledge the wrecks of + prosperity, there was yet no Monte di Pietà, and the demand for + pawnbrokers becoming imperative, the Republic was obliged to recall the + Hebrews from the exile into which they had been driven some time before, + that they might set up pawnshops and succor necessity. They came back, + however, only for a limited time, and were obliged to wear a badge of + yellow color upon the breast, to distinguish them from the Christians, and + later a yellow cap, then a red hat, and then a hat of oil-cloth. They + could not acquire houses or lands in Venice, nor practice any trade, nor + exercise any noble art but medicine. They were assigned a dwelling-place + in the vilest and unhealthiest part of the city, and their quarter was + called Ghetto, from the Hebrew <i>nghedah</i>, a congregation. [Footnote: + Mutinelli.] They were obliged to pay their landlords a third more rent + than Christians paid; the Ghetto was walled in, and its gates were kept by + Christian guards, who every day opened them at dawn and closed them at + dark, and who were paid by the Jews. They were not allowed to issue at all + from the Ghetto on holidays; and two barges, with armed men, watched over + them night and day, while a special magistracy had charge of their + affairs. Their synagogues were built at Mestre, on the main-land; and + their dead were buried in the sand upon the seashore, whither, on the + Mondays of September, the baser sort of Venetians went to make merry, and + drunken men and women danced above their desecrated tombs. These unhappy + people were forced also to pay tribute to the state at first every third + year, then every fifth year, and then every tenth year, the privilege of + residence being ingeniously renewed to them at these periods for a round + sum; but, in spite of all, they flourished upon the waste and wickedness + of their oppressors, waxed rich as these waxed poor, and were not again + expelled from the city. [Footnote: <i>Del Commercia del Veneziani</i>. + Mutinelli.] + </p> + <p> + There never was any attempt to disturb the Hebrews by violence, except on + one occasion, about the close of the fifteenth century, when a tumult was + raised against them for child-murder. This, however, was promptly quelled + by the Republic before any harm was done them; and they dwelt peacefully + in their Ghetto till the lofty gates of their prison caught the sunlight + of modern civilization, and crumbled beneath it. Then many of the Jews + came forth and fixed their habitations in different parts of the city, but + many others clung to the spot where their temples still remain, and which + was hallowed by long suffering, and soaked with the blood of innumerable + generations of geese. So, although you find Jews everywhere in Venice, you + never find a Christian in the Ghetto, which is held to this day by a large + Hebrew population. + </p> + <p> + We had not started purposely to see the Ghetto, and for this reason it had + that purely incidental relish, which is the keenest possible savor of the + object of interest. We were on an expedition to find Sior Antonio Rioba, + who has been, from time immemorial, the means of ponderous practical jokes + in Venice. Sior Antonio is a rough-hewn statue set in the corner of an + ordinary grocery, near the Ghetto. He has a pack on his back and a staff + in his hand; his face is painted, and is habitually dishonored with dirt + thrown upon it by boys. On the wall near him is painted a bell-pull, with + the legend, <i>Sior Antonio Rioba</i>. Rustics, raw apprentices, and + honest Germans new to the city, are furnished with packages to be carried + to Sior Antonio Rioba, who is very hard to find, and not able to receive + the messages when found, though there is always a crowd of loafers near to + receive the unlucky simpleton who brings them. <i>“E poi, che commedia + vederli arrabiarsi! Che ridere</i>!” That is the Venetian notion of fun, + and no doubt the scene is amusing. I was curious to see Sior Antonio, + because a comic journal bearing his name had been published during the + time of the Republic of 1848, and from the fact that he was then a sort of + Venetian Pasquino. But I question now if he was worth seeing, except as + something that brought me into the neighborhood of the Ghetto, and + suggested to me the idea of visiting that quarter. + </p> + <p> + As we left him and passed up the canal in our gondola, we came unawares + upon the church of Santa Maria dell’ Orto, one of the most graceful Gothic + churches in the city. The façade is exquisite, and has two Gothic windows + of that religious and heavenly beauty which pains the heart with its + inexhaustible richness. One longed to fall down on the space of green turf + before the church, now bathed in the soft golden October sunshine, and + recant these happy, commonplace centuries of heresy, and have back again + the good old believing days of bigotry, and superstition, and roasting, + and racking, if only to have once more the men who dreamed those windows + out of their faith and piety (if they did, which I doubt), and made them + with their patient, reverent hands (if their hands <i>were</i> reverent, + which I doubt). The church is called Santa Maria dell’ Orto, from the + miraculous image of Our Lady which was found in an orchard where the + temple now stands. We saw this miraculous sculpture, and thought it + reflected little credit upon the supernatural artist. The church is + properly that of Saint Christopher, but the saint has been titularly + vanquished by the Madonna, though he comes out gigantically triumphant in + a fresco above the high altar, and leads to confused and puzzling + reminiscences of Bluebeard and Morgante Maggiore, to both of which + characters he bears a bewildering personal resemblance. + </p> + <p> + There were once many fine paintings by Tintoretto and Bellini in this + church; but as the interior is now in course of restoration, the paintings + have been removed to the Academy, and we only saw one, which was by the + former master, and had all his striking imagination in the conception, all + his strength in the drawing and all his lampblack in the faded coloring. + In the centre of the church, the sacristan scraped the carpenter’s rubbish + away from a flat tablet in the floor, and said that it was Tintoretto’s + tomb. It is a sad thing to doubt even a sacristan, but I pointed out that + the tomb bore any name in the world rather than Robusti. “Ah!” said the + sacristan, “it is just that which makes it so very curious,—that + Tintoretto should wish to be buried under another name!” [Footnote: + Members of the family of Tintoretto are actually buried in this church; + and no sacristan of right feeling could do less than point out some tomb + as that of the great painter himself.] + </p> + <p> + It was a warm, sunny day in the fall, as I said; yet as we drew near the + Ghetto, we noticed in the air many white, floating particles, like lazy, + straggling flakes of snow. These we afterward found to be the down of + multitudes of geese, which are forever plucked by the whole apparent force + of the populace,—the fat of the devoted birds being substituted for + lard in the kitchens of the Ghetto, and their flesh for pork. As we + approached the obscene little riva at which we landed, a blond young + Israelite, lavishly adorned with feathers, came running to know if we + wished to see the church—by which name he put the synagogue to the + Gentile comprehension. The street through which we passed had shops on + either hand, and at the doors groups of jocular Hebrew youth sat plucking + geese; while within, long files of all that was mortal of geese hung from + the rafters and the walls. The ground was webbed with the feet of geese, + and certain loutish boys, who paused to look at us, had each a goose + dragging at his heels, in the forlorn and elongated manner peculiar to + dead poultry. The ground was stained with the blood of geese, and the + smell of roasting geese came out of the windows of the grim and lofty + houses. + </p> + <p> + Our guide was picturesque, but the most helpless and inconclusive cicerone + I ever knew; and while his long, hooked Hebrew nose caught my idle fancy, + and his soft blue eyes excused a great deal of inefficiency, the aimless + fashion in which he mounted dirty staircases for the keys of the + synagogue, and came down without them, and the manner in which he shouted + to the heads of unctuous Jessicas thrust out of windows, and never gained + the slightest information by his efforts, were imbecilities that we + presently found insupportable, and we gladly cast him off for a dark-faced + Hebrew boy who brought us at once to the door of the Spanish synagogue. + </p> + <p> + Of seven synagogues in the Ghetto, the principal was built in 1655, by the + Spanish Jews who had fled to Venice from the terrors of the Holy Office. + Its exterior has nothing to distinguish it as a place of worship, and we + reached the interior of the temple by means of some dark and narrow + stairs. In the floor and on the walls of the passage-way were set tablets + to the memory of rich and pious Israelites who had bequeathed their + substance for the behoof of the sanctuary; and the sacristan informed us + that the synagogue was also endowed with a fund by rich descendants of + Spanish Jews in Amsterdam. These moneys are kept to furnish indigent + Israelitish couples with the means of marrying, and who claim the benefit + of the fund are entitled to it. The sacristan—a little wiry man, + with bead-black eyes, and of a shoemakerish presence—told us with + evident pride that he was himself a descendant of the Spanish Jews. + Howbeit, he was now many centuries from speaking the Castilian, which, I + had read, was still used in the families of the Jewish fugitives from + Spain to the Levant. He spoke, instead, the abominable Venetian of + Cannaregio, with that Jewish thickness which distinguishes the race’s + utterance, no matter what language its children are born to. It is a + curious philological fact, which I have heard repeatedly alleged by + Venetians, and which is perhaps worth noting here, that Jews speaking + their dialect, have not only this thickness of accent, but also a + peculiarity of construction which marks them at once. + </p> + <p> + We found the contracted interior of the synagogue hardly worth looking at. + Instead of having any thing oriental or peculiar in its architecture, it + was in a bad spirit of Renaissance art. A gallery encircled the inside, + and here the women, during worship, sat apart from the men, who had seats + below, running back from either side of the altar. I had no right, coming + from a Protestant land of pews, to indulge in that sentimentality; but I + could not help being offended to see that each of these seats might be + lifted up and locked into the upright back and thus placed beyond question + at the disposal of the owner: I like the freedom and equality in the + Catholic churches much better. The sacristan brought a ponderous silver + key, and unlocking the door behind the pulpit, showed us the Hebrew + Scriptures used during the service by the Rabbi. They formed an immense + parchment volume, and were rolled in silk upon a wooden staff. This was + the sole object of interest in the synagogue, and its inspection concluded + our visit. + </p> + <p> + We descended the narrow stairs and emerged upon the piazza which we had + left. It was only partly paved with brick, and was very dirty. The houses + which surrounded it were on the outside old and shabby, and, even in this + Venice of lofty edifices, remarkably high. A wooden bridge crossed a vile + canal to another open space, where once congregated the merchants who sell + antique furniture, old pictures, and objects of vertu. They are now, + however, found everywhere in the city, and most of them are on the Grand + Canal, where they heap together marvelous collections, and establish + authenticities beyond cavil. “Is it an original?” asked a young lady who + was visiting one of their shops, as she paused before an attributive + Veronese, or—what know I?—perhaps a Titian. “<i>Si, signora, + originalissimo</i>!” + </p> + <p> + I do not understand why any class of Jews should still remain in the + Ghetto, but it is certain, as I said, that they do remain there in great + numbers. It may be that the impurity of the place and the atmosphere is + conducive to purity of race; but I question if the Jews buried on the + sandy slope of the Lido, and blown over by the sweet sea wind—it + must needs blow many centuries to cleanse them of the Ghetto—are not + rather to be envied by the inhabitants of those high dirty houses and low + dirty lanes. There was not a touch of any thing wholesome, or pleasant, or + attractive, to relieve the noisomeness of the Ghetto to its visitors; and + they applauded, with a common voice, the neatness which had prompted + Andrea the gondolier to roll up the carpet from the floor of his gondola, + and not to spread it again within the limits of that quarter. + </p> + <p> + In the good old times, when pestilence avenged the poor and oppressed upon + their oppressors, what grim and dismal plagues may not have stalked by + night and noonday out of those hideous streets, and passed the marble + bounds of patrician palaces, and brought to the bedsides of the rich and + proud the filthy misery of the Ghetto turned to poison! Thank God that the + good old times are gone and going. One learns in these aged lands to hate + and execrate the past. + </p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + + <h2><a name="link2HCH0015" id="link2HCH0015"></a> + CHAPTER XV.<br/> + SOME MEMORABLE PLACES. + </h2> + <p> + We came away from the Ghetto, as we had arrived, in a gentle fall of + goose-down, and winding crookedly through a dirty canal, glided into purer + air and cleaner waters. I cannot well say how it was we came upon the old + Servite Convent, which I had often looked for in vain, and which, + associated with the great name of Paolo Sarpi, is to me one of the most + memorable places in Venice. We reached it, after passing by that old, old + palace, which was appointed in the early ages of Venetian commerce for the + reception of oriental traffic and traffickers, and where it is said the + Moorish merchants resided till the later time of the Fondaco dei Turchi on + the Grand Canal. The façade of the palace is richly sculptured; and near + one corner is the bass-relief of a camel and his turbaned driver,—in + token, perhaps, that man and beast (as orientals would understand them) + were here entertained. + </p> + <p> + We had lived long enough in Venice to know that it was by no means worth + while to explore the interior of this old palace because the outside was + attractive, and so we left it; and turning a corner, found ourselves in a + shallow canal, with houses on one side, and a grassy bank on the other. + The bank sloped gently from the water up to the walls of some edifice, on + which ruin seemed to have fastened soon after the architect had begun his + work. The vast walls, embracing several acres in their close, rose only + some thirty or forty feet from the ground—only high enough, indeed, + to join over the top of the great Gothic gates, which pierced them on two + façades. There must have been barracks near; for on the sward, under the + walls, muskets were stacked, and Austrian soldiers were practicing the + bayonet-exercise with long poles padded at the point. “<i>Ein, zwei, drei,—vorwärts! + Ein, zwei, drei,—ruckwärts</i>!” snarled the drill-sergeant, and the + dark-faced Hungarian soldiers—who may have soon afterward prodded + their Danish fellow-beings all the more effectively for that day’s + training—stooped, writhed, and leaped obedient. I, who had already + caught sight of a little tablet in the wall bearing the name of Paolo + Sarpi, could not feel the propriety of the military performance on that + scene; yet I was very glad, dismounting from the gondola, to get by the + soldiers without being forced back at the padded point of a pole, and + offered no audible objection to their presence. + </p> + <p> + So passing to the other side, I found entrance through a disused chapel to + the interior of the convent. The gates on the outside were richly + sculptured, and were reverend and clean; tufts of harsh grass grew from + their arches, and hung down like the “overwhelming brows” of age. Within, + at first light, I saw nothing but heaps of rubbish, piles of stone, and + here and there a mutilated statue. I remember two pathetic caryatides, + that seemed to have broken and sunk under too heavy a weight for their + gentle beauty—and everywhere the unnamable filth with which ruin is + always dishonored in Italy, and which makes the most picturesque and + historic places inaccessible to the foot, and intolerable to the senses + and the soul. I was thinking with a savage indignation on this incurable + <i>porcheria</i>, of the Italian poor (who are guilty of such + desecrations), when my eye fell upon an enclosed space in one corner, + where some odd-looking boulders were heaped together. It was a space about + six feet in depth, and twenty feet square; and the boulders, on closer + inspection, turned out to be human skulls, nestling on piles of human + bones. In any other land than Italy I think I should have turned from the + grisly sight with a cowardly sickness and shuddering; but here!—Why, + heaven and earth seem to take the loss of men so good-naturedly,—so + many men have died and passed away with their difficult, ambitious, and + troublesome little schemes,—and the great mass of mankind is taken + so small account of in the course of destiny, that the idea of death does + not appear so alien and repulsive as elsewhere, and the presence of such + evidences of our poor mortality can scarcely offend sensibility. These + were doubtless the bones of the good Servite friars who had been buried in + their convent, and had been digged up to make way for certain improvements + now taking place within its walls. I have no doubt that their deaths were + a rest to their bodies, to say nothing of their souls. If they were at all + in their lives like those who have come after them, the sun baked their + bald brows in Summer, and their naked feet—poor feet! clapping round + in wooden-soled sandals over the frozen stones of Venice—were + swollen and gnawed with chilblains in winter; and no doubt some fat friar + of their number, looking all the droller in his bare feet for the + spectacles on his nose, came down Calle Falier then, as now, to collect + the charity of bread and fuel, far oftener than the dwellers in that + aristocratic precinct wished to see him. + </p> + <p> + The friars’ skulls looked contented enough, and smiled after the hearty + manner of skulls; and some of the leg-bones were thrust through the + enclosing fence, and hung rakishly over the top. As to their spirits, I + suppose they must have found out by this time that these confused and + shattered tabernacles which they left behind them are not nearly so + corrupt and dead as the monastic system which still cumbers the earth. + People are building on the site of the old convent a hospital for indigent + and decrepit women, where a religious sisterhood will have care of the + inmates. It is a good end enough, but I think it would be the true + compensation if all the rubbish of the old cloister were cleared from the + area of those walls, and a great garden planted in the space, where lovers + might whisper their wise nonsense, and children might romp and frolic, + till the crumbling masonry forgot its old office of imprisonment and the + memory of its prisoners. For here, one could only think of the moping and + mumming herd of monks, who were certainly not worth remembering, while the + fame of Paolo Sarpi, and the good which he did, refused to be localized. + That good is an inheritance which has enriched the world; but the share of + Venice has been comparatively small in it, and that of this old convent + ground still less. I rather wondered, indeed, that I should have taken the + trouble to look up the place; but it is a harmless, if even a very + foolish, pastime to go seeking for the sublime secret of the glory of the + palm in the earth where it struck root and flourished. So far as the + lifelong presence and the death of a man of clear brain and true heart + could hallow any scene, this ground was holy; for here Sarpi lived, and + here in his cell he died, a simple Servite friar—he who had caught + the bolts of excommunication launched against the Republic from Rome, and + broken them in his hand,—who had breathed upon the mighty arm of the + temporal power, and withered it to the juiceless stock it now remains. And + yet I could not feel that the ground <i>was</i> holy, and it did not make + me think of Sarpi; and I believe that only those travelers who invent in + cold blood their impressions of memorable places ever have remarkable + impressions to record. + </p> + <p> + Once, before the time of Sarpi, an excommunication was pronounced against + the Republic with a result as terrible as that of the later interdict was + absurd. Venice took possession, early in the fourteenth century, of + Ferrara, by virtue of a bargain which the high contracting parties—the + Republic and an exiled claimant to the ducal crown of Ferrara—had no + right to make. The father of the banished prince had displeased him by + marrying late in life, when the thoughts of a good man should be turned on + other things, and the son compassed the sire’s death. For this the + Ferrarese drove him away, and as they would not take him back to reign + over them at the suggestion of Venice, he resigned his rights in favor of + the Republic, and the Republic at once annexed the city to its + territories. The Ferrarese appealed to the pope for his protection, and + Clement V., supporting an ancient but long quiescent claim to Ferrara on + the part of the Church, called upon the Venetians to surrender the city, + and, on their refusal, excommunicated them. All Christian peoples were + commanded “to arm against the Venetians, to spoil them of their goods, as + separated from the union of Christians, and as enemies of the Roman + Church.” They were driven out of Ferrara, but their troubles did not end + with their loss of the city. Giustina Renier-Michiel says the nations, + under the shelter of the pope’s permission and command, “exercised against + them every species of cruelty; there was no wrong or violence of which + they were not victims. All the rich merchandise which they had in France, + in Flanders, and in other places, was confiscated; their merchants were + arrested, maltreated, and some of them killed. Woe to us, if the Saracens + had been baptized Christians! our nation would have been utterly + destroyed.” Such was the ruin brought upon us by this excommunication that + to this day it is a popular saying, concerning a man of gloomy aspect, “<i>He + looks as if he were bringing the excommunication of Ferrara</i>.” + </p> + <p> + No proverb, sprung from the popular terror, commemorates the interdict of + the Republic which took place in 1606, and which, I believe, does not + survive in popular recollection at Venice. It was at first a collision of + the Venetian and Papal authorities at Ferrara, and then an interference of + the pope to prevent the execution of secular justice upon certain + ecclesiastical offenders in Venetia, which resulted in the excommunication + of the Republic, and finally in the defeat of St. Peter and the triumph of + St. Mark. Chief among the ecclesiastical offenders mentioned were the + worthy Abbate Brandolino of Narvesa, who was accused, among other things, + of poisoning his own father; and the good Canonico Saraceni of Vicenza, + who was repulsed in overtures made to his beautiful cousin, and who + revenged himself by defaming her character, and “filthily defacing” the + doors of her palace. The abbate was arrested, and the canon, on this + lady’s complaint to the Ten at Venice, was thrown into prison, and the + weak and furious Pope Paul V., being refused their release by the Ten, + excommunicated the whole Republic. + </p> + <p> + In the same year, that is to say 1552, the bane and antidote, Paul the + Pope and Paul Sarpi the friar, were sent into the world. The latter grew + in piety, fame, and learning, and at the time the former began his quarrel + with the Republic, there was none in Venice so fit and prompt as Sarpi to + stand forth in her defense. He was at once taken into the service of St. + Mark, and his clear, acute mind fashioned the spiritual weapons of the + Republic, and helped to shape the secular measures taken to annul the + interdict. As soon as the bull of excommunication was issued, the Republic + instructed her officers to stop every copy of it at the frontier, and it + was never read in any church in the Venetian dominions. The Senate refused + to receive it from the Papal Nuncio. All priests, monks, and other + servants of the Church, as well as all secular persons, were commanded to + disregard it; and refractory ecclesiastics were forced to open their + churches on pain of death. The Jesuits and Capuchins were banished; and + clerical intriguers, whom Rome sent in swarms to corrupt social and family + relations, by declaring an end of civil government in Venice, and + preaching among women disobedience to patriotic husbands and fathers, were + severely punished. With internal safety thus provided for, the Republic + intrusted her moral, religious, and political defense entirely to Sarpi, + who devoted himself to his trust with fidelity, zeal, and power. + </p> + <p> + It might have been expected that the friend of Galileo, and the most + learned and enlightened man of his country, would have taken the short and + decisive method of discarding all allegiance to Rome as the most logical + resistance to the unjust interdict. But the Venetians have ever been + faithful Catholics, [Footnote: It is convenient here to attest the truth + of certain views of religious sentiment in Italy, which Mr. Trollope, in + his <i>Paul the Pope and Paul the Friar</i>, quotes from an “Italian + author, by no means friendly to Catholicism, and very well qualified to + speak of the progress of opinions and tendencies among his + fellow-countrymen.” + </p> + <p> + This author is Bianchi Giovini, who, speaking of modern Catholicism as the + heir of the old materialistic paganism, says: “The Italians have + identified themselves with this mode of religion. Cultivated men find in + it the truth there is in it, and the people find what is agreeable to + them. But both the former and the latter approve it as conformable to the + national character. And whatever may be the religious system which shall + govern our descendants twenty centuries hence, I venture to affirm that + the exterior forms of it will be pretty nearly the same as those which + prevail at present, and which did prevail twenty centuries ago.” Mr. + Trollope generously dissents from the “<i>pessimism</i>” of these views. + The views are discouraging for some reasons; but, with considerable + disposition and fair opportunity to observe Italian character in this + respect, I had arrived at precisely these conclusions. I wish here to + state that in my slight sketch of Sarpi and his times I have availed + myself freely of Mr. Trollope’s delightful book—it is near being too + much of a good thing—named above.] and Sarpi was (or, according to + the papal writers, seemed to be) a sincere and obedient Servite friar, + believing in the spiritual supremacy of the pope, and revering the + religion of Rome. He therefore fought Paul inside of the Church, and his + writings on the interdict remain the monument of his polemical success. He + was the heart and brain of the Republic’s whole resistance,—he + supplied her with inexhaustible reasons and answers,—and, though + tempted, accused, and threatened, he never swerved from his fidelity to + her. + </p> + <p> + As he was the means of her triumph, [Footnote: The triumph was such only + so far as the successful resistance to the interdict was concerned; for at + the intercession of the Catholic powers the Republic gave up the + ecclesiastical prisoners, and he allowed all the banished priests except + the Jesuits to return. The Venetians utterly refused to perform any act of + humiliation or penance. The interdict had been defied, and it remained + despised.] remained the object of her love. He could never be persuaded to + desert his cell in the Minorite Convent for the apartments appointed him + by the State; and even when his busy days were spent in council at the + Ducal Palace, he returned each night to sleep in the cloister. After the + harmless interdict had been removed by Paul, and the unyielding Republic + forgiven, the wrath of Rome remained kindled against the friar whose logic + had been too keen for the last reason of popes. He had been tried for + heresy in his youth at Milan, and acquitted; again, during the progress of + St. Mark’s quarrel with Rome, his orthodoxy had been questioned; and now + that all was over, and Rome could turn her attention to one particular + offender, he was entreated, coaxed, commanded to come to her, and put her + heart at rest concerning these old accusations. But Sarpi was very well in + Venice. He had been appointed Consultor in Theology to the Republic, and + had received free admission to the secret archives of the State,—a + favor, till then, never bestowed on any. So he would not go to Rome, and + Rome sent assassins to take his life. One evening, as he was returning + from the Ducal Palace in company with a lay-brother of the convent, and an + old patrician, very infirm and helpless, he was attacked by these <i>nuncios</i> + of the papal court: one of them seized the lay-brother, and another the + patrician, while a third dealt Sarpi innumerable dagger thrusts. He fell + as if dead, and the ruffians made off in the confusion. + </p> + <p> + Sarpi had been fearfully wounded, but he recovered. The action of the + Republic in this affair is a comforting refutation of the saying that + Republics are ungrateful, and the common belief that Venice was + particularly so. The most strenuous and unprecedented efforts were made to + take the assassins, and the most terrific penalties were denounced against + them. What was much better, new honors were showered upon Sarpi, and + extraordinary and affectionate measures were taken to provide for his + safety. + </p> + <p> + And, in fine, he lived in the service of the Republic, revered and + beloved, till his seventieth year, when he died with zeal for her good + shaping his last utterance: “I must go to St. Mark, for it is late, and I + have much to do.” + </p> + <p> + Brave Sarpi, and brave Republic! Men cannot honor them enough. For though + the terrors of the interdict were doubted to be harmless even at that + time, it had remained for them to prove the interdict, then and forever, + an instrument as obsolete as the catapult. + </p> + <p> + I was so curious as to make some inquiry among the workmen on the old + convent ground, whether any stone or other record commemorative of Sarpi + had been found in the demolished cells. I hoped, not very confidently, to + gather some trace of his presence there—to have, perhaps, the spot + on which he died shown me. To a man, they were utterly ignorant of Sarpi, + while affecting, in the Italian manner, to be perfectly informed on the + subject. I was passed, with my curiosity, from one to another, till I fell + into the hands of a kind of foreman, to whom I put my questions anew. He + was a man of Napoleonic beard, and such fair red-and-white complexion that + he impressed me as having escaped from a show of wax-works, and I was not + at all surprised to find him a wax figure in point of intelligence. He + seemed to think my questions the greatest misfortunes which had ever + befallen him, and to regard each suggestion of Sarpi—<i>tempo della + Repubblica—scomunica di Paolo Quinto</i>—as an intolerable + oppression. He could only tell me that on a certain spot (which he pointed + out with his foot) in the demolished church, there had been found a stone + with Sarpi’s name upon it. The padrone, who had the contract for building + the new convent, had said,—“Truly, I have heard speak of this + Sarpi;” but the stone had been broken, and he did not know what had become + of it. + </p> + <p> + And, in fact, the only thing that remembered Sarpi, on the site of the + convent where he spent his life, died, and was buried, was the little + tablet on the outside of the wall, of which the abbreviated Latin + announced that he had been Theologue to the Republic, and that his dust + was now removed to the island of San Michele. After this failure, I had no + humor to make researches for the bridge on which the friar was attacked by + his assassins. But, indeed, why should I look for it? Finding it, could I + have kept in my mind the fine dramatic picture I now have, of Sarpi + returning to his convent on a mild October evening, weary with his long + walk from St. Mark’s, and pacing with downcast eyes,—the old + patrician and the lay-brother at his side, and the masked and stealthy + assassins, with uplifted daggers, behind him? Nay, I fear I should have + found the bridge with some scene of modern life upon it, and brought away + in my remembrance an old woman with an oil-bottle, or a straggling boy + with a tumbler, and a very little wine in it. + </p> + <p> + On our way home from the Servite Convent, we stopped again near the corner + and bridge of Sior Antonio Rioba,—this time to go into the house of + Tintoretto, which stands close at the right hand, on the same quay. The + house, indeed, might make some pretensions to be called a palace: it is + large, and has a carved and balconied front, in which are set a now + illegible tablet describing it as the painter’s dwelling, and a medallion + portrait of Robusti. It would have been well if I had contented myself + with this goodly outside; for penetrating, by a long narrow passage and + complicated stairway, to the interior of the house, I found that it had + nothing to offer me but the usual number of commonplace rooms in the usual + blighting state of restoration. I must say that the people of the house, + considering they had nothing in the world to show me, were kind and + patient under the intrusion, and answered with very polite affirmation my + discouraged inquiry if this were really Tintoretto’s house. + </p> + <p> + Their conduct was different from that of the present inmates of Titian’s + house, near the Fondamenta Nuove, in a little court at the left of the + church of the Jesuits. These unreasonable persons think it an intolerable + bore that the enlightened traveling public should break in upon their + privacy. They put their heads out of the upper windows, and assure the + strangers that the house is as utterly restored within as they behold it + without (and it <i>is</i> extremely restored), that it merely occupies the + site of the painter’s dwelling, and that there is nothing whatever to see + in it. I never myself had the heart to force an entrance after these + protests; but an acquaintance of the more obdurate sex, whom I had the + honor to accompany thither, once did so, and came out with a story of + rafters of the original Titianic kitchen being still visible in the new + one. After a lapse of two years I revisited the house, and found that so + far from having learned patience by frequent trial, the inmates had been + apparently goaded into madness during the interval. They seemed to know of + our approach by instinct, and thrust their heads out, ready for protest, + before we were near enough to speak. The lazy, frowzy women, the worthless + men, and idle, loafing boys of the neighborhood, gathered round to witness + the encounter; but though repeatedly commanded to ring (I was again in + company with ladies), and try to force the place, I refused decidedly to + do so. The garrison were strengthening their position by plastering and + renewed renovation, and I doubt that by this time the original rafters are + no longer to be seen. A plasterer’s boy, with a fine sense of humor, stood + clapping his trowel on his board, inside the house, while we debated + retreat, and derisively invited us to enter: <i>“Suoni pure, O signore! + Questa e la famosa casa del gran pittore, l’immortale Tiziano,—suoni, + signore!</i>” (Ring, by all means, sir. This is the famous house of the + great painter, the immortal Titian. Ring!) <i>Da capo</i>. We retired amid + the scorn of the populace. But indeed I could not blame the inhabitants of + Titian’s house; and were I condemned to live in a place so famous as to + attract idle curiosity, flushed and insolent with travel, I should go to + the verge of man-traps and shot-guns to protect myself. + </p> + <p> + This house, which is now hemmed in by larger buildings of later date, had + in the painter’s time an incomparably “lovely and delightful situation.” + Standing near the northern boundary of the city, it looked out over the + lagoon,—across the quiet isle of sepulchres, San Michele,—across + the smoking chimneys of the Murano glass-works, and the bell-towers of her + churches,—to the long line of the sea-shore on the right and to the + mainland on the left; and beyond the nearer lagoon islands and the faintly + penciled outlines of Torcello and Burano in front, to the sublime distance + of the Alps, shining in silver and purple, and resting their snowy heads + against the clouds. It had a pleasant garden of flowers and trees, into + which the painter descended by an open stairway, and in which he is said + to have studied the famous tree in The Death of Peter Martyr. Here he + entertained the great and noble of his day, and here he feasted and made + merry with the gentle sculptor Sansovino, and with their common friend, + the rascal-poet Aretino. The painter’s and the sculptor’s wives knew each + other, and Sansovino’s Paola was often in the house of Cecilia Vecellio; + [Footnote: The wife of Titian’s youth was, according to Ticozzi, named + Lucia. It is in Mutinelli that I find allusion to Cecilia. The author of + the <i>Annali Urbani</i>, speaking of the friendship and frequent meetings + of Titian and Sansovino, says,—“Vivevano ... allora ambedue di un + amore fatto sacro dalle leggi divine, essendo moglie di Tiziano una + Cecilia.” I would not advise the reader to place too fond a trust in any + thing concerning the house of Titian. Mutinelli refers to but one house of + the painter, while Ticozzi makes him proprietor of two.] and any one who + is wise enough not to visit the place, can easily think of those ladies + there, talking at an open window that gives upon the pleasant garden, + where their husbands walk up and down together in the purple evening + light. + </p> + <p> + In the palace where Goldoni was born a servant showed me an entirely new + room near the roof, in which he said the great dramatist had composed his + immortal comedies. As I knew, however, that Goldoni had left the house + when a child, I could scarcely believe what the cicerone said, though I + was glad he said it, and that he knew any thing at all of Goldoni. It is a + fine old Gothic palace on a small canal near the Frari, and on the Calle + del Nomboli, just across from a shop of indigestible pastry. It is known + by an inscription, and by the medallion of the dramatist above the + land-door; and there is no harm in looking in at the court on the + ground-floor, where you may be pleased with the picturesque old stairway, + wandering upward I hardly know how high, and adorned with many little + heads of lions. + </p> + <p> + Several palaces dispute the honor of being Bianca Cappello’s birthplace, + but Mutinelli awards the distinction to the palace at Sant’ Appollinare + near the Ponte Storto. One day a gondolier vaingloriously rowed us to the + water-gate of the edifice through a very narrow, damp, and uncleanly + canal, pretending that there was a beautiful staircase in its court. At + the moment of our arrival, however, Bianca happened to be hanging out + clothes from a window, and shrilly disclaimed the staircase, attributing + this merit to another Palazzo Cappello. We were less pleased with her + appearance here, than with that portrait of her which we saw on another + occasion in the palace of a lady of her name and blood. This lady has + since been married, and the name of Cappello is now extinct. + </p> + <p> + The Palazzo Mocenigo, in which Byron lived, is galvanized into ghastly + newness by recent repairs, and as it is one of the ugliest palaces on the + Grand Canal, it has less claim than ever upon one’s interest. The + custodian shows people the rooms where the poet wrote, dined, and slept, + and I suppose it was from the hideous basket-balcony over the main door + that one of his mistresses threw herself into the canal. Another of these + interesting relicts is pointed out in the small butter-and-cheese shop + which she keeps in the street leading from Campo Sant’ Angelo to San + Paterinan: she is a fat sinner, long past beauty, bald, and somewhat + melancholy to behold. Indeed, Byron’s memory is not a presence which I + approach with pleasure, and I had most enjoyment in his palace when I + thought of good-natured little Thomas Moore, who once visited his lordship + there. Byron himself hated the recollection of his life in Venice, and I + am sure no one else need like it. But he is become a <i>cosa di Venezia</i>, + and you cannot pass his palace without having it pointed out to you by the + gondoliers. Early after my arrival in the city I made the acquaintance of + an old smooth-shaven, smooth-mannered Venetian, who said he had known + Byron, and who told me that he once swam with him from the Port of San + Nicolò to his palace-door. The distance is something over three miles, but + if the swimmers came in with the sea the feat was not so great as it + seems, for the tide is as swift and strong as a mill-race. I think it + would be impossible to make the distance against the tide. + </p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + + <h2><a name="link2HCH0016" id="link2HCH0016"></a> + CHAPTER XVI.<br/> + COMMERCE. + </h2> + <p> + To make an annual report in September upon the Commercial Transactions of + the port, was an official duty to which I looked forward at Venice with a + vague feeling of injury during a year of almost uninterrupted + tranquillity. It was not because the preparation of the report was an + affair of so great labor that I shrank from it; but because the material + was wanting with which to make a respectable show among my consular peers + in the large and handsomely misprinted volume of Commercial Relations + annually issued by the enterprising Congressional publishers. It grieved + me that upstart ports like Marseilles, Liverpool, and Bremen, should + occupy so much larger space in this important volume than my beloved + Venice; and it was with a feeling of profound mortification that I used to + post my meagre account of a commerce that once was greater than all the + rest of the world’s together. I sometimes desperately eked out the + material furnished me in the statistics of the Venetian Chamber of + Commerce by an agricultural essay on the disease of the grapes and its + cure, or by a few wretched figures representative of a very slender mining + interest in the province. But at last I determined to end these + displeasures, and to make such researches into the history of her Commerce + as should furnish me forth material for a report worthy of the high place + Venice held in my reverence. + </p> + <p> + Indeed, it seemed to be by a sort of anachronism that I had ever mentioned + contemporary Venetian Commerce; and I turned with exultation from the + phantom transactions of the present to that solid and magnificent + prosperity of the past, of which the long-enduring foundations were laid + in the earliest Christian times. For the new cities formed by the + fugitives from barbarian invasion of the main-land, during the fifth + century, had hardly settled around a common democratic government on the + islands of the lagoons, when they began to develop maritime energies and + resources; and long before this government was finally established at + Rialto, (the ancient sea-port of Padua,) or Venice had become the capital + of the young Republic, the Veneti had thriftily begun to turn the wild + invaders of the main-land to account, to traffic with them, and to make + treaties of commerce with their rulers. Theodoric, the king of the Goths, + had fixed his capital at Ravenna, in the sixth century, and would have + been glad to introduce Italian civilization among his people; but this + warlike race were not prepared to practice the useful arts, and although + they inhabited one of the most fruitful parts of Italy, with ample borders + of sea, they were neither sailors nor tillers of the ground. The Venetians + supplied them (at a fine profit, no doubt,) with the salt made in the + lagoons, and with wines brought from Istria. The Goths viewed with + especial amazement their skill in the management of their river-craft, by + means of which the dauntless traders ascended the shallowest streams to + penetrate the main-land, “running on the grass of the meadows, and between + the stalks of the harvest field,”—just as in this day our own + western steamers are known to run in a heavy dew. + </p> + <p> + The Venetians continued to extend and confirm their commerce with those + helpless and hungry warriors, and were ready also to open a lucrative + trade with the Longobards when they descended into Italy about the year + 570. They had, in fact, abetted the Longobards in their war with the Greek + Emperor Justinian, (who had opposed their incursion,) and in return the + barbarians gave them the right to hold great free marts or fairs on the + shores of the lagoons, whither the people resorted from every part of the + Longobard kingdom to buy the salt of the lagoons, grain from Istria and + Dalmatia, and slaves from every country. + </p> + <p> + The slave-trade, indeed, formed then one of the most lucrative branches of + Venetian commerce, as now it forms the greatest stain upon the annals of + that commerce. The islanders, however, were not alone guilty of this + infamous trade in men; other Italian states made profit of it, and it may + be said to have been all but universal. But the Venetians were the most + deeply involved in it, they pursued it the most unscrupulously, and they + relinquished it the last. The pope forbade and execrated their commerce, + and they sailed from the papal ports with cargoes of slaves for the + infidels in Africa. In spite of the prohibitions of their own government, + they bought Christians of kidnappers throughout Europe, and purchased the + captives of the pirates on the seas, to sell them again to the Saracens. + Nay, being an ingenious people, they turned their honest penny over and + over again: they sold the Christians to the Saracens, and then for certain + sums ransomed them and restored them to their countries; they sold + Saracens to the Christians, and plundered the infidels in similar + transactions of ransom and restoration. It is not easy to fix the dates of + the rise or fall of this slave-trade; but slavery continued in Venice as + late as the fifteenth century, and in earlier ages was so common that + every prosperous person had two or three slaves. [Footnote: Mutinelli, <i>Del + Costume Veneziano</i>. The present sketch of the history of Venetian + commerce is based upon facts chiefly drawn from Mutinelli’s delightful + treatise, <i>Del Commercio dei Veneziani</i>.] The corruption of the + citizens at this time is properly attributed in part to the existence of + slavery among them; and Mutinelli goes so far as to declare that the + institution impressed permanent traits on the populace, rendering them + idle and indisposed to honest labor, by degrading labor and making it the + office of bondmen. + </p> + <p> + While this hateful and enormous traffic in man was growing up, the + Venetians enriched themselves by many other more blameless and legitimate + forms of commerce, and gradually gathered into their grasp that whole + trade of the East with Europe which passed through their hands for so many + ages. After the dominion of the Franks was established in Italy in the + eighth century, they began to supply that people, more luxurious than the + Lombards, with the costly stuffs, the rich jewelry, and the perfumes of + Byzantium; and held a great annual fair at the imperial city of Pavia, + where they sold the Franks the manufactures of the polished and effeminate + Greeks, and whence in return they carried back to the East the grain, + wine, wool, iron, lumber, and excellent armor of Lombardy. + </p> + <p> + From the time when they had assisted the Longobards against the Greeks, + the Venetians found it to their interest to cultivate the friendship of + the latter, until, in the twelfth century, they mastered the people so + long caressed, and took their capital, under Enrico Dandolo. The + privileges conceded to the wily and thrifty republican traders by the + Greek Emperors, were extraordinary in their extent and value. Otho, the + western Caesar, having succeeded the Franks in the dominion of Italy, had + already absolved the Venetians from the annual tribute paid the Italian + kings for the liberty of traffic, and had declared their commerce free + throughout the Peninsula. In the mean time they had attacked and beaten + the pirates of Dalmatia, and the Greeks now recognized their rule all over + Dalmatia, thus securing to the Republic every port on the eastern shores + of the Adriatic. Then, as they aided the Greeks to repel the aggressions + of the Saracens and Normans, their commerce was declared free in all the + ports of the empire, and they were allowed to trade without restriction in + all the cities, and to build warehouses and dépôts throughout the + dominions of the Greeks, wherever they chose. The harvest they reaped from + the vast field thus opened to their enterprise, must have more than + compensated them for their losses in the barbarization of the Italian + continent by the incessant civil wars which followed the disruption of the + Lombard League, when trade and industry languished throughout Italy. When + the Crusaders had taken the Holy Land, the king of Jerusalem bestowed upon + the Venetians, in return for important services against the infidel, the + same privileges conceded them by the Greek Emperor; and when, finally, + Constantinople fell into the hands of the Crusaders, (whom they had + skillfully diverted from the reconquest of Palestine to the siege of the + Greek metropolis,) nearly all the Greek islands fell to the share of + Venice; and the Latin emperors, who succeeded the Greeks in dominion, gave + her such privileges as made her complete mistress of the commerce of the + Levant. + </p> + <p> + From this opulent traffic the insatiable enterprise of the Republic + turned, without relinquishing the old, to new gains in the farthest + Orient. Against her trade the exasperated infidel had closed the Egyptian + ports, but she did not scruple to coax the barbarous prince of the + Scythian Tartars, newly descended upon the shores of the Black Sea; and + having secured his friendship, she proceeded, without imparting her design + to her Latin allies at Constantinople, to plant a commercial colony at the + mouth of the Don, where the city of Azof stands. Through this entrepôt, + thenceforward, Venetian energy, with Tartar favor, directed the entire + commerce of Asia with Europe, and incredibly enriched the Republic. The + vastness and importance of such a trade, even at that day, when the wants + of men were far simpler and fewer than now, could hardly be over-stated; + and one nation then monopolized the traffic which is now free to the whole + world. The Venetians bought their wares at the great marts of Samarcand, + and crossed the country of Tartary in caravans to the shores of the + Caspian Sea, where they set sail and voyaged to the River Volga, which + they ascended to the point of its closest proximity to the Don. Their + goods were then transported overland to the Don, and were again carried by + water down to their mercantile colony at its mouth. Their ships, having + free access to the Black Sea, could, after receiving their cargoes, return + direct to Venice. The products of every country of Asia were carried into + Europe by these dauntless traffickers, who, enlightened and animated by + the travels and discoveries of Matteo, Nicolò, and Marco Polo, penetrated + the remotest regions, and brought away the treasures which the prevalent + fears and superstitions of other nations would have deterred them from + seeking, even if they had possessed the means of access to them. + </p> +<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0288}.jpg" alt="{0288}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0288}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5> + + <p> + The partial civilization of the age of chivalry had now reached its + climax, and the class which had felt its refining effects was that best + able to gratify the tastes still unknown to the great mass of the ignorant + and impoverished people. It was a splendid time, and the robber counts and + barons of the continent, newly tamed and Christianized into knights, spent + splendidly, as became magnificent cavaliers serving noble ladies. The + Venetians, who seldom did merely heroic things, who turned the Crusades to + their own account and made money out of the Holy Land, and whom one always + fancies as having a half scorn of the noisy grandeur of chivalry, were + very glad to supply the knights and ladies with the gorgeous stuffs, + precious stones, and costly perfumes of the East; and they now also began + to establish manufactories, and to practice the industrial arts at home. + Their jewelers and workers in precious metals soon became famous + throughout Europe; the glass-works of Murano rose into celebrity and + importance which they have never since lost (for they still supply the + world with beads); and they began to weave stuffs of gold tissue at + Venice, and silks so exquisitely dyed that no cavalier or dame of perfect + fashion was content with any other. Besides this they gilded leather for + lining walls, wove carpets, and wrought miracles of ornament in wax,—a + material that modern taste is apt to disdain,—while Venetian candles + in chandeliers of Venetian glass lighted up the palaces of the whole + civilized world. + </p> + <p> + The private enterprise of citizens was in every way protected and + encouraged by the State, which did not, however, fail to make due and just + profit out of it. The ships of the merchants always sailed to and from + Venice in fleets, at stated seasons, seven fleets departing annually,—one + for the Greek dominions, a second for Azof, a third for Trebizond, a + fourth for Cyprus, a fifth for Armenia, a sixth for Spain, France, the Low + Countries, and England, and a seventh for Africa. Each squadron of traders + was accompanied and guarded from attacks of corsairs and other enemies, by + a certain number of the state galleys, let severally to the highest + bidders for the voyage, at a price never less than about five hundred + dollars of our money. The galleys were all manned and armed by the State, + and the crew of each amounted to three hundred persons; including a + captain, four supercargoes, eight pilots, two carpenters, two calkers, a + master of the oars, fifty cross-bowmen, three drummers, and two hundred + rowers. The State also appointed a commandant of the whole squadron, with + absolute authority to hear complaints, decide controversies, and punish + offences. + </p> + <p> + While the Republic was thus careful in the protection and discipline of + its citizens in their commerce upon the seas, it was no less zealous for + their security and its own dignity in their traffic with the continent of + Europe. In that rude day, neither the life nor the property of the + merchant who visited the ultramontane countries was safe; for the sorry + device which he practiced, of taking with him a train of apes, buffoons, + dancers, and singers, in order to divert his ferocious patrons from + robbery and murder, was not always successful. The Venetians, therefore, + were forbidden by the State to trade in those parts; and the Bohemians, + Germans, and Hungarians, who wished to buy their wares, were obliged to + come to the lagoons and buy them at the great marts which were held in + different parts of the city, and on the neighboring main-land. A triple + purpose was thus served,—the Venetian merchants were protected in + their lives and goods, the national honor was saved from insult, and many + an honest zecchino was turned by the innkeepers and others who lodged and + entertained the customers of the merchants. + </p> + <p> + Five of these great fairs were held every week, the chief market being at + Rialto; and the transactions in trade were carefully supervised by the + servants of the State. Among the magistracies especially appointed for the + orderly conduct of the foreign and domestic commerce were the so-called + Mercantile Consuls (<i>Ufficio dei Consoli dei Mercanti</i>), whose + special duty it was to see that the traffic of the nation received no hurt + from the schemes of any citizen or foreigner, and to punish offenses of + this kind with banishment and even graver penalties. They measured every + ship about to depart, to learn if her cargo exceeded the lawful amount; + they guarded creditors against debtors and protected poor debtors against + the rapacity of creditors, and they punished thefts sustained by the + merchants. It is curious to find contemporary with this beneficent + magistracy, a charge of equal dignity exercised by the College of + Reprisals. A citizen offended in his person or property abroad, demanded + justice of the government of the country in which the offense was + committed. If the demand was refused, it was repeated by the Republic; if + still refused, then the Republic, although at peace with the nation from + which the offense came, seized any citizen of that country whom it could + find, and, through its College of Reprisals, spoiled him of sufficient + property to pay the damage done to its citizen. Finally, besides several + other magistracies resident in Venice, the Republic appointed Consuls in + its colonies and some foreign ports, to superintend the traffic of its + citizens, and to compose their controversies. The Consuls were paid out of + duties levied on the merchandise; they were usually nobles, and acted with + the advice and consent of twelve other Venetian nobles or merchants. + </p> + <p> + At this time, and, indeed, throughout its existence, the great lucrative + monopoly of the Republic was the salt manufactured in the lagoons, and + forced into every market, at rates that no other salt could compete with. + Wherever alien enterprise attempted rivalry, it was instantly discouraged + by Venice. There were troublesome salt mines, for example, in Croatia; and + in 1381 the Republic caused them to be closed by paying the King of + Hungary an annual pension of seven thousand crowns of gold. The exact + income of the State, however, from the monopoly of salt, or from the + various imposts and duties levied upon merchandise, it is now difficult to + know, and it is impossible to compute accurately the value or extent of + Venetian commerce at any one time. It reached the acme of its prosperity + under Tommaso Mocenigo, who was Doge from 1414 to 1423. There were then + three thousand and three hundred vessels of the mercantile marine, giving + employment to thirty-three thousand seamen, and netting to their owners a + profit of forty per cent, on the capital invested. How great has been the + decline of this trade may be understood from the fact that in 1863 it + amounted, according to the careful statistics of the Chamber of Commerce, + to only $60,229,740, and that the number of vessels now owned in Venice is + one hundred and fifty. As the total tonnage of these is but 26,000, it may + be inferred that they are small craft, and in fact they are nearly all + coasting vessels. They no longer bring to Venice the drugs and spices and + silks of Samarcand, or carry her own rare manufactures to the ports of + western Europe; but they sail to and from her canals with humble freights + of grain, lumber, and hemp. Almost as many Greek as Venetian ships now + visit the old queen, who once levied a tax upon every foreign vessel in + her Adriatic; and the shipping from the cities of the kingdom of Italy + exceeds hers by ninety sail, while the tonnage of Great Britain is vastly + greater. Her commerce has not only wasted to the shadow of its former + magnitude, but it has also almost entirely lost its distinctive character. + Glass of Murano is still exported to a value of about two millions of + dollars annually; but in this industry, as in nearly all others of the + lagoons, there is an annual decline. The trade of the port falls off from + one to three millions of dollars yearly, and the manufacturing interests + of the province have dwindled in the same proportion. So far as silk is + concerned, there has been an immediate cause for the decrease in the + disease which has afflicted the cocoons for several years past. Wine and + oil are at present articles of import solely,—the former because of + a malady of the grape, the latter because of negligent cultivation of the + olive. + </p> + <p> + A considerable number of persons are still employed in the manufacture of + objects of taste and ornament; and in the Ruga Vecchia at Rialto they yet + make the famous Venetian gold chain, which few visitors to the city can + have failed to notice hanging in strands and wound upon spools, in the + shop windows of the Old Procuratie and the Bridge of Rialto. It is wrought + of all degrees of fineness, and is always so flexile that it may be folded + and wound in any shape. It is now no longer made in great quantity, and is + chiefly worn by contadine (as a safe investment of their ready money), + [Footnote: Certain foreigners living in Venice were one day astonished to + find their maid-servant in possession of a mass of this chain, and thought + it their business to reprove her extravagance. “Signori,” she explained + paradoxically, “if I keep my money, I spend it; if I buy this chain, it is + always money (<i>è sempre soldi</i>).”] and old-fashioned people of the + city, who display the finer sort in skeins or strands. At Chioggia, I + remember to have seen a babe at its christening in church literally + manacled and shackled with Venetian chain; and the little girl who came to + us one day, to show us the splendors in which she had appeared at a <i>disputa</i> + (examination of children in doctrine), was loaded with it. Formerly, in + the luxurious days of the Republic, it is said the chain was made as fine + as sewing-silk, and worn embroidered on Genoa velvet by the patrician + dames. It had then a cruel interest from the fact that its manufacture, + after a time, cost the artisans their eyesight, so nice and subtle was the + work. I could not help noticing that the workmen at the shops in the Ruga + Vecchia still suffer in their eyes, even though the work is much coarser. + I do not hope to describe the chain, except by saying that the links are + horseshoe and oval shaped, and are connected by twos,—an oval being + welded crosswise into a horseshoe, and so on, each two being linked + loosely into the next. + </p> + <p> + An infinitely more important art, in which Venice was distinguished a + thousand years ago, has recently been revived there by Signor Salviati, an + enthusiast in mosaic painting. His establishment is on the Grand Canal, + not far from the Academy, and you might go by the old palace quite + unsuspicious of the ancient art stirring with new life in its breast. “A. + Salviati, Avvocato,” is the legend of the bell-pull, and you do not by any + means take this legal style for that of the restorer of a neglected art, + and a possessor of forgotten secrets in gilded glass and “smalts,” as they + term the small delicate rods of vitreous substance, with which the wonders + of the art are achieved. But inside of the palace are some two hundred + artisans at work,—cutting the smalts and glass into the minute + fragments of which the mosaics are made, grinding and smoothing these + fragments, polishing the completed works, and reproducing, with incredible + patience and skill, the lights and shadows of the pictures to be copied. + </p> + <p> + You first enter the rooms of those whose talent distinguishes them as + artists, and in whose work all the wonderful neatness and finish and + long-suffering toil of the Byzantines are visible, as well as original + life and inspiration alike impossible and profane to the elder mosaicists. + Each artist has at hand a great variety of the slender stems of smalts + already mentioned, and breaking these into minute fragments as he + proceeds, he inserts them in the bed of cement prepared to receive his + picture, and thus counterfeits in enduring mineral the perishable work of + the painter. + </p> + <p> + In other rooms artisans are at work upon various tasks of <i>marqueterie</i>,—table-tops, + album-covers, paper-weights, brooches, pins and the like,—and in + others they are sawing the smalts and glass into strips, and grinding the + edges. Passing through yet another room, where the finished mosaic-works—of + course not the pictorial mosaics—are polished by machinery, we enter + the store-room, where the crowded shelves display blocks of smalts and + glass of endless variety of color. By far the greater number of these + colors are discoveries or improvements of the venerable mosaicist Lorenzo + Radi, who has found again the Byzantine secrets of counterfeiting, in + vitreous paste, aventurine (gold stone), onyx, chalcedony, malachite, and + other natural stones, and who has been praised by the Academy of Fine Arts + in Venice for producing mosaics even more durable in tint and workmanship + than those of the Byzantine artists. + </p> + <p> + In an upper story of the palace a room is set apart for the exhibition of + the many beautiful and costly things which the art of the establishment + produces. Here, besides pictures in mosaic, there are cunningly inlaid + tables and cabinets, caskets, rich vases of chalcedony mounted in silver, + and delicately wrought jewelry, while the floor is covered with a mosaic + pavement ordered for the Viceroy of Egypt. There are here, moreover, to be + seen the designs furnished by the Crown Princess of Prussia for the + mosaics of the Queen’s Chapel at Windsor. These, like all other pictures + and decorations in mosaic, are completed in the establishment on the Grand + Canal, and are afterward put up as wholes in the places intended for them. + </p> + <p> + In Venice nothing in decay is strange. But it is startling to find her in + her old age nourishing into fresh life an art that, after feebly + preserving the memory of painting for so many centuries, had decorated her + prime only with the glories of its decline;—for Kugler ascribes the + completion of the mosaics of the church of St. Cyprian in Murano to the + year 882, and the earliest mosaics of St. Mark’s to the tenth or eleventh + centuries, when the Greek Church had already laid her ascetic hand on + Byzantine art, and fixed its conventional forms, paralyzed its motives, + and forbidden its inspirations. I think, however, one would look about him + in vain for other evidences of a returning prosperity in the lagoons. The + old prosperity of Venice, was based upon her monopoly of the most + lucrative traffic in the world, as we have already seen,—upon her + exclusive privileges in foreign countries, upon the enlightened zeal of + her government, and upon men’s imperfect knowledge of geography, and the + barbarism of the rest of Europe, as well as upon the indefatigable + industry and intelligent enterprise of her citizens. America was still + undiscovered; the overland route to India was the only one known; the + people of the continent outside of Italy were unthrifty serfs, ruled and + ruined by unthrifty lords. The whole world’s ignorance, pride, and sloth + were Venetian gain; and the religious superstitions of the day, which, + gross as they were, embodied perhaps its noblest and most hopeful + sentiment, were a source of incalculable profit to the sharp-witted + mistress of the Adriatic. It was the age of penances, pilgrimages, and + relic-hunting, and the wealth which she wrung from the devotion of others + was exceedingly great. Her ships carried the pilgrims to and from the Holy + Land; her adventurers ransacked Palestine and the whole Orient for the + bones and memorials of the saints; and her merchants sold the precious + relics throughout Europe at an immense advance upon first cost. + </p> + <p> + But the foundations of this prosperity were at last tapped by the tide of + wealth which poured into Venice from every quarter of the world. Her + citizens brought back the vices as well as the luxuries of the debauched + Orient, and the city became that seat of splendid idleness and proud + corruption which it continued till the Republic fell. It is needless here + to rehearse the story of her magnificence and decay. At the time when the + hardy, hungry people of other nations were opening paths to prosperity by + land and sea, the Venetians, gorged with the spoils of ages, relinquished + their old habits of daring enterprise, and dropped back into luxury and + indolence. Their incessant wars with the Genoese began, and though they + signally defeated the rival Republic in battle, Genoa finally excelled in + commerce. A Greek prince had arisen to dispute the sovereignty of the + Latin Emperors, whom the Venetians had helped to place upon the Byzantine + throne; the Genoese, seeing the favorable fortunes of the Greek, threw the + influence of their arms and intrigues in his favor, and the Latins were + expelled from Constantinople in 1271. The new Greek Emperor had promised + to give the sole navigation of the Black Sea to his allies, together with + the church and palaces possessed by the Venetians in his capital, and he + bestowed also upon the Genoese the city of Smyrna. It does not seem that + he fulfilled literally all his promises, for the Venetians still continued + to sail to and from their colony of Tana, at the head of the Sea of Azof, + though it is certain that they had no longer the sovereignty of those + waters; and the Genoese now planted on the shores of the Black Sea three + large and important colonies to serve as entrepôts for the trade taken + from their rivals. The oriental traffic of the latter was maintained + through Tana, however, for nearly two centuries later, when, in 1410, the + Mongol Tartars, under Tamerlane, fell upon the devoted colony, took, + sacked, burnt, and utterly destroyed it. This was the first terrible blow + to the most magnificent commerce which the world had ever seen, and which + had endured for ages. No wonder that, on the day of Tana’s fall, terrible + portents of woe were seen at Venice,—that meteors appeared, that + demons rode the air, that the winds and waters rose and blew down houses + and swallowed ships! A thousand persons are said to have perished in the + calamities which commemorated a stroke so mortally disastrous to the + national grandeur. After that the Venetians humbly divided with their + ancient foes the possession and maintenance of the Genoese colony of + Caffa, and continued, with greatly diminished glory, their traffic in the + Black Sea; till the Turks having taken Constantinople, and the Greeks + having acquired under their alien masters a zeal for commerce unknown to + them during the times of their native princes, the Venetians were finally, + on the first pretext of war, expelled from those waters in which they had + latterly maintained themselves only by payment of heavy tribute to the + Turks. + </p> + <p> + In the mean time the industrial arts, in which Venice had heretofore + excelled, began to be practiced elsewhere, and the Florentines and the + English took that lead in the manufactures of the world, which the latter + still retain. The league of the Hanseatic cities was established and rose + daily in importance. At London, at Bruges, at Bergen, and Novogorod banks + were opened under the protection and special favor of the Hanseatic + League; its ships were preferred to any other, and the tide of commerce + setting northward, the cities of the League persecuted the foreigners who + would have traded in their ports. On the west, Barcelona began to dispute + the preëminence of Venice in the Mediterranean, and Spanish salt was + brought to Italy itself and sold by the enterprising Catalonians. Their + corsairs vexed Venetian commerce everywhere; and in that day, as in our + own, private English enterprise was employed in piratical depredations on + the traffic of a friendly power. + </p> + <p> + The Portuguese also began to extend their commerce, once so important, and + catching the rage for discovery then prevalent, infested every sea in + search of unknown land. One of their navigators, sailing by a chart which + a monk named Fra Mauro, in his convent on the island of San Michele, had + put together from the stories of travelers, and his own guesses at + geography, discovered the Cape of Good Hope, and the trade of India with + Europe was turned in that direction, and the old over-land traffic + perished. The Venetian monopoly of this traffic had long been gone; had + its recovery been possible, it would now have been useless to the + declining prosperity of the Republic. + </p> + <p> + It remained for Christopher Columbus, born of that Genoese nation which + had hated the Venetians so long and so bitterly, to make the discovery of + America, and thus to give the death-blow to the supremacy of Venice. While + all these discoveries were taking place, the old queen of the seas had + been weighed down with many and unequal wars. Her naval power had been + everywhere crippled; her revenues had been reduced; her possessions, one + after one, had been lopped away; and at the time Columbus was on his way + to America half Europe, united in the League of Cambray, was attempting to + crush the Republic of Venice. + </p> + <p> + The whole world was now changed. Commerce sought new channels; fortune + smiled on other nations. How Venice dragged onward from the end of her + commercial greatness, and tottered with a delusive splendor to her + political death, is surely one of the saddest of stories if not the + sternest of lessons. + </p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + + <h2><a name="link2HCH0017" id="link2HCH0017"></a> + CHAPTER XVII.<br/> + VENETIAN HOLIDAYS. + </h2> + <p> + The national character of the Venetians was so largely influenced by the + display and dissipation of the frequent festivals of the Republic, that it + cannot be fairly estimated without taking them into consideration, nor can + the disuse of these holidays (of which I have heretofore spoken) be + appreciated in all its import, without particular allusion to their number + and nature. They formed part of the aristocratic polity of the old + commonwealth, which substituted popular indulgence for popular liberty, + and gave the people costly pleasures in return for the priceless rights of + which they had been robbed, set up national pride in the place of + patriotism, and was as well satisfied with a drunken joy in its subjects + as if they had possessed a true content. + </p> +<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0307}.jpg" alt="{0307}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0307}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5> + + <p> + Full notice of these holidays would be history [Footnote: “Siccome,” says + the editor of Giustina Renier-Michiel’s <i>Origine delle Feste Veneziane</i>,—“Siccome + l’illustre Autrice ha voluto applicare al suo lavoro il modesto titolo di + <i>Origins delle Feste Veneziane</i>, e siccome questo potrebbe porgere + un’ idea assai diversa dell’ opera a chi non ne ha alcuna cognizione, da + quello che è sostanzialmente, si espone questo Epitome, perchè ognun regga + almeno in parte, che quest’ opera sarebbe del titolo di <i>storia</i> + condegna, giacchè essa non è che una costante descrizione degli + avvenimenti più importanti e luminosi della Repubblica di Venezia.” The + work in question is one of much research and small philosophy, like most + books which Venetians have written upon Venice; but it has admirably + served my purpose, and I am indebted to it for most of the information + contained in this chapter.] of Venice, for each one had its origin in some + great event of her existence, and they were so numerous as to commemorate + nearly every notable incident in her annals. Though, as has been before + observed, they had nearly all a general religious character, the Church, + as usual in Venice, only seemed to direct the ceremonies in its own honor, + while it really ministered to the political glory of the oligarchy, which + knew how to manage its priests as well as its prince and people. Nay, it + happened in one case, at least, that a religious anniversary was selected + by the Republic as the day on which to put to shame before the populace + certain of the highest and reverendest dignitaries of the Church. In 1162, + Ulrich, the Patriarch of Aquileja, seized, by a treacherous stratagem, the + city of Grado, then subject to Venice. The Venetians immediately besieged + and took the city, with the patriarch and twelve of his canons in it, and + carried them prisoners to the lagoons. The turbulent patriarchs of + Aquileja had long been disturbers of the Republic’s dominion, and the + people now determined to make an end of these displeasures. They refused, + therefore, to release the patriarch, except on condition that he should + bind himself to send them annually a bull and twelve fat hogs. It is not + known what meaning the patriarch attached to this singular ceremony; but + with the Venetians the bull was typical of himself, and the swine of his + canons, and they yearly suffered death in these animals, which were + slaughtered during Shrovetide in the Piazza San Marco amid a great + concourse of the people, in the presence of the Doge and Signory. The + locksmiths, and other workers in iron, had distinguished themselves in the + recapture of Grado, and to their guild was allotted the honor of putting + to death the bull and swine. Great art was shown in striking off the + bull’s head at one blow, without suffering the sword to touch the ground + after passing through the animal’s neck; the swine were slain with lances. + Athletic games among the people succeeded, and the Doge and his Senators + attacked and destroyed, with staves, several lightly built wooden castles, + to symbolize the abasement of the feudal power before the Republic. As the + centuries advanced this part of the ceremony, together with the slaughter + of the swine, was disused; in which fact Mr. Ruskin sees evidence of a + corrupt disdain of simple and healthy allegory on the part of the proud + doges, but in which I think most people will discern only a natural wish + to discontinue in more civilized times a puerile barbarity. Mr. Ruskin + himself finds no evidence of “state pride” in the abolition of the + slaughter of the swine. The festival was very popular, and continued a + long time, though I believe not till the fall of the Republic. + </p> + <p> + Another tribute, equally humiliating to those who paid it, was imposed + upon the Paduans for an insult offered to St. Mark, and gave occasion for + a national holiday, some fifty years after the Patriarch of Aquileja began + atonement for his outrage. In the year 1214, the citizens of Treviso made + an entertainment to which they invited the noble youth of the surrounding + cities. In the chief piazza of the town a castle of wood exquisitely + decorated was held against all comers by a garrison of the fairest + Trevisan damsels. The weapons of defense were flowers, fruits, bonbons, + and the bright eyes of the besieged; while the missiles of attack were + much the same, with whatever added virtue might lie in tender prayers and + sugared supplications. Padua, Vicenza, Bassano, and Venice sent their + gallantest youths, under their municipal banners, to take part in this + famous enterprise; and the attack was carried on by the leagued forces + with great vigor, but with no effect on the Castle of Love, as it was + called, till the Venetians made a breach at a weak point. These young men + were better skilled in the arts of war than their allies; they were + richer, and had come to Treviso decked in the spoils of the recent sack of + Constantinople, and at the moment they neared the castle it is reported + that they corrupted the besieged by throwing handfuls of gold into the + tower. Whether this be true or not, it is certain that the conduct of the + Venetians in some manner roused the Paduans to insult, and that the hot + youths came to blows. In an instant the standard of St. Mark was thrown + down and trampled under the feet of the furious Paduans; blood flowed, and + the indignant Trevisans drove the combatants out of their city. The spark + of war spreading to the rival cities, the Paduans were soon worsted, and + three hundred of their number were made prisoners. These they would + willingly have ransomed at any price, but their enemies would not release + them except on the payment of two white pullets for each warrior. The + shameful ransom was paid in the Piazza, to the inextinguishable delight of + the Venetians, who, never wanting in sharp and biting wit, abandoned + themselves to sarcastic exultation. They demanded that the Paduans should, + like the patriarch, repeat the tribute annually; but the prudent Doge + Ziani judged the single humiliation sufficient, and refused to establish a + yearly celebration of the feast. + </p> + <p> + One of the most famous occasional festivals of Venice is described by + Petrarch in a Latin letter to his friend Pietro Bolognese. It was in + celebration of the reduction of the Greeks of Candia, an island which in + 1361 had recently been ceded to the Republic. The Candiotes rose in + general rebellion, but were so promptly subdued that the news of the + outbreak scarcely anticipated the announcement of its suppression in + Venice. Petrarch was at this time the guest of the Republic, and from his + seat at the right of the Doge on the gallery of St. Mark’s Church, in + front of the bronze horses, he witnessed the chivalric shows given in the + Piazza below, which was then unpaved, and admirably adapted for equestrian + feats of arms. It is curious to read the poet’s account of these in a city + where there is now no four-footed beast larger than a dog. But in the age + of chivalry even the Venetians were mounted, and rode up and down their + narrow streets, and jousted in their great campos. + </p> + <p> + Speaking of twenty-four noble and handsome youths, whose feats formed a + chief part of a show of which he “does not know if in the whole world + there has been seen the equal,” Petrarch says: “It was a gentle sight to + see so many youths decked in purple and gold, as they ruled with the rein + and urged with the spur their coursers, moving in glittering harness, with + iron-shod feet which scarcely seemed to touch the ground.” And it must + have been a noble sight, indeed, to behold all this before the “golden + façade of the temple,” in a place so packed with spectators “that a grain + of barley could not have fallen to the ground. The great piazza, the + church itself, the towers, the roofs, the arcades, the windows, all were—I + will not say full, but running over, walled and paved with people.” At the + right of the church was built a great platform, on which sat “four hundred + honestest gentlewomen, chosen from the flower of the nobility, and + distinguished in their dress and bearing, who, amid the continual homage + offered them morning, noon, and night, presented the image of a celestial + congress.” Some noblemen, come hither by chance, “from the part of + Britain, comrades and kinsmen of their King, were present,” and attracted + the notice of the poet. The feasts lasted many days, but on the third day + Petrarch excused himself to the Doge, pleading, he says, his “ordinary + occupations, already known to all.” + </p> + <p> + Among remoter feasts in honor of national triumphs, was one on the Day of + the Annunciation, commemorative of the removal of the capital of the + Venetian isles to Rialto from Malamocco, after King Pepin had burnt the + latter city, and when, advancing on Venice, he was met in the lagoons and + beaten by the islanders and the tides: these by their recession stranding + his boats in the mud, and those falling upon his helpless host with the + fury of an insulted and imperiled people. The Doge annually assisted at + mass in St. Mark’s in honor of the victory, but not long afterward the + celebration of it ceased, as did that of a precisely similar defeat of the + Hungarians, who had just descended from Asia into Europe. In 1339 there + were great rejoicings in the Piazza for the peace with Mastino della + Scala, who, beaten by the Republic, ceded his city of Treviso to her. + </p> + <p> + Doubtless the most splendid of all the occasional festivals was that held + for the Venetian share of the great Christian victory at Lepanto over the + Turks. All orders of the State took part in it; but the most remarkable + feature of the celebration was the roofing of the Merceria, all the way + from St. Mark’s to Rialto, with fine blue cloth, studded with golden stars + to represent the firmament, as the shopkeepers imagined it. The pictures + of the famous painters of that day, Titian, Tintoretto, Palma, and the + rest, were exposed under this canopy, at the end near Rialto. Later, the + Venetian victories over the Turks at the Dardanelles were celebrated by a + regatta, in 1658; and Morosini’s brilliant reconquest of the Morea, in + 1688, was the occasion of other magnificent shows. + </p> + <p> + The whole world has now adopted, with various modifications, the + picturesque and exciting pastime of the regatta, which, according to + Mutinelli, [Footnote: <i>Annali Urbani di Venezia</i>.] originated among + the lagoons at a very early period, from a peculiar feature in the + military discipline of the Republic. A target for practice with the bow + and cross-bow was set up every week on the beach at the Lido, and nobles + and plebeians rowed thither in barges of thirty oars, vying with each + other in the speed and skill with which the boats were driven. To divert + the popular discontent that followed the Serrar del Consiglio and the + suppression of Bajamonte Tiepolo’s conspiracy early in the fourteenth + century, the proficiency arising from this rivalry was turned to account, + and the spectacle of the regatta was instituted. Agreeably, however, to + the aristocratic spirit of the newly established oligarchy, the patricians + withdrew from the lists, and the regatta became the affair exclusively of + the gondoliers. In other Italian cities, where horse and donkey races were + the favorite amusement, the riders were of both sexes; and now at Venice + women also entered into the rivalry of the regatta. But in gallant + deference to their weakness, they were permitted to begin the course at + the mouth of the Grand Canal before the Doganna di Mare, while the men + were obliged to start from the Public Gardens. They followed the Grand + Canal to its opposite extremity, beyond the present railway station, and + there doubling a pole planted in the water near the Ponte della Croce, + returned to the common goal before the Palazzo Foscari. Here was erected + an ornate scaffolding to which the different prizes were attached. The + first boat carried off a red banner; the next received a green flag; the + third, a blue; and the fourth, a yellow one. With each of these was given + a purse, and with the last was added, by way of gibe, a live pig, a + picture of which was painted on the yellow banner. Every regatta included + five courses, in which single and double oared boats, and single and + double oared gondolas successively competed,—the fifth contest being + that in which the women participated with two-oared boats. Four prizes + like those described were awarded to the winners in each course. + </p> + <p> + The regatta was celebrated with all the pomp which the superb city could + assume. As soon as the government announced that it was to take place, the + preparations of the champions began. “From that time the gondolier ceased + to be a servant; he became almost an adoptive son;” [Footnote: <i>Feste + Veneziane</i>.] his master giving him every possible assistance and + encouragement in the daily exercises by which he trained himself for the + contest, and his parish priest visiting him in his own house, to bless his + person, his boat, and the image of the Madonna or other saint attached to + the gondola. When the great day arrived the Canalazzo swarmed with boats + of every kind. “All the trades and callings,” says Giustina + Renier-Michiel, [Footnote: <i>Feste Veneziane</i>] with that pride in the + Venetian past which does not always pass from verbosity to eloquence, “had + each its boats appropriately mounted and adorned; and private societies + filled an hundred more. The chief families among the nobility appeared in + their boats, on which they had lavished their taste and wealth.” The + rowers were dressed with the most profuse and elaborate luxury, and the + barges were made to represent historical and mythological conceptions. “To + this end the builders employed carving and sculpture, together with all + manner of costly stuffs of silk and velvet, gorgeous fringes and tassels + of silver and gold, flowers, fruits, shrubs, mirrors, furs, and plumage of + rare birds.... Young patricians, in fleet and narrow craft, propelled by + swift rowers, preceded the champions and cleared the way for them, + obliging the spectators to withdraw on either side.... They knelt on + sumptuous cushions in the prows of their gondolas, cross-bow in hand, and + launched little pellets of plaster at the directors of such obstinate + boats as failed to obey their orders to retire.... + </p> + <p> + “To augment the brilliancy of the regatta the nature of the place + concurred. Let us imagine that superb canal, flanked on either side by a + long line of edifices of every sort; with great numbers of marble palaces,—nearly + all of noble and majestic structure, some admirable for an antique and + Gothic taste, some for the richest Greek and Roman architecture,—their + windows and balconies decked with damasks, stuffs of the Levant, + tapestries, and velvets, the vivid colors of which were animated still + more by borders and fringes of gold, and on which leaned beautiful women + richly dressed and wearing tremulous and glittering jewels in their hair. + Wherever the eye turned, it beheld a vast multitude at doorways, on the + rivas, and even on the roofs. Some of the spectators occupied scaffoldings + erected at favorable points along the sides of the canal; and the + patrician ladies did not disdain to leave their palaces, and, entering + their gondolas, lose themselves among the infinite number of the boats.... + </p> + <p> + “The cannons give the signal of departure. The boats dart over the water + with the rapidity of lightning.... They advance and fall behind + alternately. One champion who seems to yield the way to a rival suddenly + leaves him in the rear. The shouts of his friends and kinsmen hail his + advantage, while others already passing him, force him to redouble his + efforts. Some weaker ones succumb midway, exhausted.... They withdraw, and + the kindly Venetian populace will not aggravate their shame with jeers; + the spectators glance at them compassionately, and turn again to those + still in the lists. Here and there they encourage them by waving + handkerchiefs, and the women toss their shawls in the air. Each patrician + following close upon his gondolier’s boat, incites him with his voice, + salutes him by name, and flatters his pride and spirit.... The water foams + under the repeated strokes of the oars; it leaps up in spray and falls in + showers on the backs of the rowers already dripping with their own + sweat.... At last behold the dauntless mortal who seizes the red banner! + His rival had almost clutched it, but one mighty stroke of the oar gave + him the victory.... The air reverberates with a clapping of hands so loud + that at the remotest point on the canal the moment of triumph is known. + The victors plant on their agile boat the conquered flag, and instead of + thinking to rest their weary arms, take up the oars again and retrace + their course to receive congratulations and applause.” + </p> + <p> + The regattas were by no means of frequent occurrence, for only forty-one + took place during some five centuries. The first was given in 1315, and + the last in 1857, in honor of the luckless Archduke Maximilian’s marriage + with Princess Charlotte of Belgium. The most sumptuous and magnificent + regatta of all was that given to the city in the year 1686, by Duke Ernest + of Brunswick. This excellent prince having sold a great part of his + subjects to the Republic for use in its wars against the Turk, generously + spent their price in the costly and edifying entertainments of which + Venice had already become the scene. The Judgment of Paris, and the + Triumph of the Marine Goddesses had been represented at his expense on the + Grand Canal, with great acceptance. And now the Triumph of Neptune formed + a principal feature in the gayeties of his regatta. Nearly the whole of + the salt-water mythology was employed in the ceremony. An immense wooden + whale supporting a structure of dolphins and Tritons, surmounted by a + statue of Neptune, and drawn by sea-horses, moved from the Piazzetta to + the Palazzo Foscari, where numbers of Sirens sported about in every + direction till the Regatta began. The whole company of the deities, very + splendidly arrayed, then joined them as spectators, and behaved in the + manner affected by gods and goddesses on these occasions. Mutinelli + [Footnote: <i>Annali Urbani.</i>] recounts the story with many sighs and + sneers and great exactness; but it is not interesting. The miraculous + recovery of the body of St. Mark, in 1094, after it had been lost for + nearly two centuries, created a festive anniversary which was celebrated + for a while with great religious pomp; but the rejoicings were not + separately continued in after years. The festival was consolidated (if one + may so speak) with two others in honor of the same saint, and the triple + occasions were commemorated by a single holiday. The holidays annually + distinguished by civil or ecclesiastical displays were twenty-five in + number, of which only eleven were of religious origin, though all were of + partly religious observance. One of the most curious and interesting of + the former was of the earliest date, and was continued till the last years + of the Republic. In 596 Narses, the general of the Greek Emperor, was + furnished by the Venetians with means of transport by sea from Aquileja to + Ravenna for the army which he was leading against the Ostrogoths; and he + made a vow that if successful in his campaign, he would requite their + generosity by erecting two churches in Venice. Accordingly, when he had + beaten the Ostrogoths, he caused two votive churches to be built,—one + to St. Theodore, on the site of the present St. Mark’s Church, and another + to San Geminiano, on the opposite bank of the canal which then flowed + there. In lapse of time the citizens, desiring to enlarge their Piazza, + removed the church of San Geminiano back as far as the present Fabbrica + Nuova, which Napoleon built on the site of the demolished temple, between + the western ends of the New and Old Procuratie. The removal was effected + without the pope’s leave, which had been asked, but was refused in these + words,—“The Holy Father cannot sanction the commission of a + sacrilege, though he can pardon it afterwards.” The pontiff, therefore, + imposed on the Venetians for penance that the Doge should pay an annual + visit forever to the church. On the occasion of this visit the parish + priest met him at the door, and offered the holy water to him; and then + the Doge, having assisted at mass, marched with his Signory and the clergy + of the church to its original site, where the clergy demanded that it + should be rebuilt, and the Doge replied with the promise,—“Next + year.” A red stone was set in the pavement to mark the spot where the Doge + renewed this never-fulfilled promise. [Footnote: As the author of the <i>Feste + Veneziane</i> tells this story it is less dramatic and characteristic. The + clergy, she says, reminded the Doge of the occasion of his visit, and his + obligation to renew it the following year, which he promised to do. I + cling to the version in the text, for it seems to me that the Doge’s + perpetual promise to rebuild the church was a return in kind for the + pope’s astute answer to the petition asking him to allow its removal. So + good a thing ought to be history.] The old church was destroyed by fire, + and Sansovino built, in 1506, the temple thrown down by Napoleon to make + room for his palace. + </p> + <p> + The 31st of January, on which day in 828 the body of St. Mark was brought + from Alexandria to Venice, is still observed, though the festival has lost + all the splendor which it received from civil intervention. For a thousand + years the day was hallowed by a solemn mass in St. Mark’s, at which the + Doge and his Signory assisted. + </p> + <p> + The chief of the State annually paid a number of festive visits, which + were made the occasion of as many holidays. To the convent of San Zaccaria + he went in commemoration of the visit paid to that retreat by Pope + Benedict III., in 855, when the pontiff was so charmed by the piety and + goodness of the fair nuns, that, after his return to Rome, he sent them + great store of relics and indulgences. It thus became one of the most + popular of the holidays, and the people repaired in great multitude with + their Doge to the convent, on each recurrence of the day, that they might + see the relics and buy the indulgences. The nuns were of the richest and + noblest families of the city, and on the Doge’s first visit, they + presented him with that bonnet which became the symbol of his sovereignty. + It was wrought of pure gold, and set with precious stones of marvelous + great beauty and value; and in order that the State might never seem + forgetful of the munificence which bestowed the gift, the bonnet was + annually taken from the treasury and shown by the Doge himself to the + Sisters of San Zaccaria. The Doge Pietro Tradonico, to whom the bonnet was + given, was killed in a popular tumult on this holiday, while going to the + convent. + </p> + <p> + There was likewise a vast concourse of people and traffic in indulgences + at the church of Santa Maria della Carita (now the Academy of Fine Arts), + on the anniversary of the day when Pope Alexander III., in 1177, flying + from the Emperor Barbarossa, found refuge in that monastery. [Footnote: + Selvatico and Lazari in their admirable <i>Guida Artistica e Storica di + Veneza</i>, say that the pope merely lodged in the monastery on the day + when he signed the treaty of peace with Barbarossa.] He bestowed great + privileges upon it, and the Venetians honored the event to the end of + their national existence. + </p> + <p> + One of the rare occasions during the year when the Doge appeared + officially in public after nightfall, was on St. Stephen’s Day. He then + repaired at dusk in his gilded barge, with splendid attendance of nobles + and citizens, to the island church of San Giorgio Maggiore, whither, in + 1009, the body of St. Stephen was brought from Constantinople. On the + first of May the Doge visited the Convent of the Virgins, (the convent + building now forms part of the Arsenal,) where the abbess presented him + with a bouquet, and graceful and pleasing ceremonies took place in + commemoration of the erection and endowment of the church. The head of the + State also annually assisted at mass in St. Mark’s, to celebrate the + arrival in Venice of St. Isidore’s body, which the Doge Domenico Michiel + brought with him from the East, at the end of twenty-six years’ war + against the infidels; and, finally, after the year 1485, when the + Venetians stole the bones of San Rocco from the Milanese, and deposited + them in the newly finished Scuola di San Rocco, a ducal visit was annually + paid to that edifice. + </p> + <p> + Two only of the national religious festivals yet survive the Republic,—that + of the church of the Redentore on the Giudecca, and that of the church of + the Salute on the Grand Canal,—both votive churches, built in + commemoration of the city’s deliverances from the pest in 1578 and 1630. + In their general features the celebrations of the two holidays are much + alike; but that of the Salute is the less important of the two, and is + more entirely religious in its character. A bridge of boats is annually + thrown across the Canalazzo, and on the day of the Purification, the + people throng to the Virgin’s shrine to express their gratitude for her + favor. This gratitude was so strong immediately after the cessation of the + pest in 1630, that the Senate, while the architects were preparing their + designs for the present church, caused a wooden one to be built on its + site, and consecrated with ceremonies of singular splendor. On the Festa + del Redentore (the third Sunday of July) a bridge of boats crosses the + great canal of the Giudecca, and vast throngs constantly pass it, day and + night. But though the small tradesmen who deal in fried cakes, and in + apples, peaches, pears, and other fruits, make intolerable uproar behind + their booths on the long quay before the church; though the venders of + mulberries (for which the gardens of the Giudecca are famous) fill the air + with their sweet jargoning (for their cries are like the shrill notes of + so many singing-birds); though thousands of people pace up and down, and + come and go upon the bridge, yet the Festa del Redentore has now none of + the old-time gayety it wore when the Venetians thronged the gardens, and + feasted, sang, danced, and flirted the night away, and at dawn went in + their fleets of many-lanterned boats, covering the lagoon with fairy + light, to behold the sunrise on the Adriatic Sea. + </p> +<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0328}.jpg" alt="{0328}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0328}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5> + + <p> + Besides the religious festivals mentioned, there were five banquets + annually given by the State on the several days of St. Mark, St. Vitus, + St. Jerome, and St. Stephen, and the Day of the Ascension, all of which + were attended with religious observances. Good Friday was especially + hallowed by church processions in each of the campos; and St. Martha’s Day + was occasion for junketings on the Giudecca Canal, when a favorite fish, + being in season, was devotionally eaten. + </p> + <p> + The civil and political holidays which lasted till the fall of the + Republic were eleven. One of the earliest was the anniversary of the + recapture of the Venetian Brides, who were snatched from their + bridegrooms, at the altar of San Pietro di Castello, by Triestine pirates. + The class of citizens most distinguished in the punishment of the + abductors was the trade of carpenters, who lived chiefly in the parish of + Santa Maria Formosa; and when the Doge in his gratitude bade them demand + any reasonable grace, the trade asked that he should pay their quarter an + annual visit. “But if it rains?” said the Doge. “We will give you a hat to + cover you,” answered the carpenters. “And if I am hungry?” “We will give + you to eat and drink.” So when the Doge made his visit on the day of the + Virgin’s Purification, he was given a hat of gilded straw, a bottle of + wine, and loaves of bread. On this occasion the State bestowed dowers upon + twelve young girls among the fairest and best of Venice (chosen two from + each of the six sections of the city), who marched in procession to the + church of Santa Maria Formosa. But as time passed, the custom lost its + simplicity and purity: pretty girls were said to make eyes at handsome + youths in the crowd, and scandals occurred in public. Twelve wooden + figures were then substituted, but the procession in which they were + carried was followed by a disgusted and hooting populace, and assailed + with a shower of turnips. The festivities, which used to last eight days, + with incredible magnificence, fell into discredit, and were finally + abolished during the war when the Genoese took Chioggia and threatened + Venice, under Doria. This was the famous Festa delle Marie. + </p> + <p> + In 997 the Venetians beat the Narentines at sea, and annexed all Istria, + as far as Dalmatia, to the Republic. On the day of the Ascension, of the + same year, the Doge, for the first time, celebrated the dominion of Venice + over the Adriatic, though it was not till some two hundred years later + that the Pope Alexander III. blessed the famous espousals, and confirmed + the Republic in the possession of the sea forever. “What,” cries Giustina + Renier-Michiel, turning to speak of the holiday thus established, and + destined to be the proudest in the Venetian calendar,—“what shall I + say of the greatest of all our solemnities, that of the Ascension? Alas! I + myself saw Frenchmen and Venetians, full of derision and insult, combine + to dismantle the Bucintoro and burn it for the gold upon it!” [Footnote: + That which follows is a translation of the report given by Cesare Cantù, + in his <i>Grande Illustrazione del Lombardo-Veneto</i>, of a conversation + with the author of <i>Feste Veneziane</i>. It is not necessary to remind + readers of Venetian history that Renier and Michiel were of the foremost + names in the Golden Book. She who bore them both was born before the fall + of the Republic which she so much loved and lamented, and no doubt felt + more than the grief she expresses for the fate of the last Bucintoro. It + was destroyed, as she describes, in 1796, by the French Republicans and + Venetian Democrats after the abdication of the oligarchy; but a fragment + of its mast yet remains, and is to be seen in the museum of the + Arsenal.].... (This was the nuptial-ship in which the Doge went to wed the + sea, and the patriotic lady tells us concerning the Bucintoro of her day): + “It was in the form of a galley, and two hundred feet long, with two + decks. The first of these was occupied by an hundred and sixty rowers, the + handsomest and strongest of the fleet, who sat four men to each oar, and + there awaited their orders; forty other sailors completed the crew. The + upper deck was divided lengthwise by a partition, pierced with arched + doorways, ornamented with gilded figures, and covered with a roof + supported by caryatides—the whole surmounted by a canopy of crimson + velvet embroidered with gold. Under this were ninety seats, and at the + stern a still richer chamber for the Doge’s throne, over which drooped the + banner of St. Mark. The prow was double-beaked, and the sides of the + vessel were enriched with figures of Justice, Peace, Sea, Land, and other + allegories and ornaments. + </p> + <p> + “Let me imagine those times—it is the habit of the old. At midday, + having heard mass in the chapel of the Collegio, the Doge descends the + Giant’s Stairs, issues from the Porta della Carta, [Footnote: The gate of + the Ducal Palace which opens upon the Piazzetta next St. Mark’s.] and + passes the booths of the mercers and glass-venders erected for the fair + beginning that evening. He is preceded by eight standard-bearers with the + flags of the Republic,—red, blue, white, and purple,—given by + Alexander III. to the Doge Ziani. Six trumpets of silver, borne by as many + boys, mix their notes with the clangor of the bells of the city. Behind + come the retinues of the ambassadors in sumptuous liveries, and the fifty + Comandadori in their flowing blue robes and red caps; then follow + musicians, and the squires of the Doge in black velvet; then the guards of + the Doge, two chancellors, the secretary of the Pregadi, a deacon clad in + purple and bearing a wax taper, six canons, three parish priests in their + sacerdotal robes, and the Doge’s chaplain dressed in crimson. The grand + chancellor is known by his crimson vesture. Two squires bear the Doge’s + chair and the cushion of cloth of gold. And the Doge—the + representative, and not the master of his country; the executor, and not + the maker of the laws; citizen and prince, revered and guarded, sovereign + of individuals, servant of the State—comes clad in a long mantle of + ermine, cassock of blue, and vest and hose of <i>tocca d’oro</i> + [Footnote: A gauze of gold and silk.] with the golden bonnet on his head, + under the umbrella borne by a squire, and surrounded by the foreign + ambassadors and the papal nuncio, while his drawn sword is carried by a + patrician recently destined for some government of land or sea, and soon + to depart upon his mission. In the rear comes a throng of personages,—the + grand captain of the city, the judges, the three chiefs of the Forty, the + Avogodori, the three chiefs of the Council of Ten, the three censors, and + the sixty of the Senate with the sixty of the Aggiunta, all in robes of + crimson silk. + </p> + <p> + “On the Bucintoro, each takes the post assigned him, and the prince + ascends the throne. The Admiral of the Arsenal and the Lido stands in + front as pilot; at the helm is the Admiral of Malamacco, and around him + the ship-carpenters of the Arsenal. The Bucintoro, amid redoubled clamor + of bells and roar of cannon, quits the riva and majestically plows the + lagoon, surrounded by innumerable boats of every form and size. + </p> + <p> + “The Patriarch, who had already sent several vases of flowers to do + courtesy to the company in the Bucintoro, joins them at the island of + Sant’ Elena, and sprinkles their course with holy water. So they reach the + port of Lido, whence they formerly issued out upon the open sea; but in my + time they paused there, turning the stern of the vessel to the sea. Then + the Doge, amid the thunders of the artillery of the fort, took the ring + blessed by the Patriarch,—who now emptied a cup of holy water into + the sea,—and, advancing into a little gallery behind his throne, + threw the ring into the waves, pronouncing the words, <i>Desponsamus te, + mare, in signum veri perpetuique dominii</i>. Proceeding then to the + church of San Nicoletto, they listened to a solemn mass, and returned to + Venice, where the dignitaries were entertained at a banquet, while the + multitude peacefully dispersed among the labyrinths of the booths erected + for the fair.” [Footnote: One of the sops thrown to the populace on this + occasion, as we learn from Mutinelli, was the admission to the train of + gilded barges following the Bucintoro of a boat bearing the chief of the + Nicolotti, one of the factions into which from time immemorial the lower + classes of Venice had been divided. The distinction between the two + parties seems to have been purely geographical; for there is no apparent + reason why a man should have belonged to the Castellani except that he + lived in the eastern quarter of the city, or to the Nicolotti, except that + he lived in the western quarter. The government encouraged a rivalry not + dangerous to itself, and for a long time the champions of the two sections + met annually and beat each other with rods. The form of contest was + afterwards modified, and became a struggle for the possession of certain + bridges, in which the defeated were merely thrown into the canals. I often + passed the scene of the fiercest of these curious battles at San Barnaba, + where the Ponte de Pugni is adorned with four feet of stone let into the + pavement, and defying each other from the four corners of the bridge. + Finally, even these contests were given up and the Castellani and + Nicolotti spent their rivalry in marvelous acrobatic feats.] This fair, + which was established as early as 1180, was an industrial exhibition of + the arts and trades peculiar to Venice, and was repeated annually, with + increasing ostentation, till the end, in 1796. Indeed, the feasts of the + Republic at last grew so numerous that it became necessary, as we have + seen before, to make a single holiday pay a double or triple debt of + rejoicing. When the Venetians recovered Chioggia after the terrible war of + 1380, the Senate refused to yield them another <i>festa</i>, and merely + ordered that St. Mark’s Day should be thereafter observed with some added + ceremony: there was already one festival commemorative of a triumph over + the Genoese (that of San Giovanni Decollate, on whose day, in 1358, the + Venetians beat the Genoese at Negroponte), and the Senate declared that + this was sufficient. A curious custom, however, on the Sunday after + Ascension, celebrated a remoter victory over the same enemies, to which it + is hard to attach any historic probability. It is not known exactly when + the Genoese in immense force penetrated to Poveglia (one of the small + islands of the lagoons), nor why being there they stopped to ask the + islanders the best way of getting to Venice. But tradition says that the + sly Povegliesi persuaded these silly Genoese that the best method of + navigating the lagoons was by means of rafts, which they constructed for + them, and on which they sent them afloat. About the time the Venetians + came out to meet the armada, the withes binding the members of the rafts + gave way, and the Genoese who were not drowned in the tides stuck in the + mud, and were cut in pieces like so many melons. No one will be surprised + to learn that not a soul of them escaped, and that only the Povegliesi + lived to tell the tale. Special and considerable privileges were conferred + on them for their part in this exploit, and were annually confirmed by the + Doge, when a deputation of the islanders called on him in his palace, and + hugged and kissed the devoted prince. + </p> + <p> + People who <i>will</i> sentimentalize over the pigeons of St. Mark’s, may + like to know that they have been settled in the city ever since 877. After + the religious services on Palm Sunday, it was anciently the custom of the + sacristans of St. Mark’s to release doves fettered with fragments of + paper, and thus partly disabled from flight, for the people to scramble + for in the Piazza. The people fatted such of the birds as they caught, and + ate them at Easter, but those pigeons which escaped took refuge in the + roof of the church, where they gradually assumed a certain sacredness of + character, and increased to enormous numbers. They were fed by provision + of the Republic, and being neglected at the time of its fall, many of them + were starved. But they now flourish on a bequest left by a pious lady for + their maintenance, and on the largess of grain and polenta constantly + bestowed by strangers. Besides the holidays mentioned, the 6th of December + was religiously observed in honor of the taking of Constantinople, the + Doge assisting at mass in the ducal chapel of St. Nicholas. He also + annually visited, with his Signory in the state barges, and with great + concourse of people, the church of San Vito on the 15th of June, in memory + of the change of the government from a democracy to an oligarchy, and of + the suppression of Bajamonte Tiepolo’s conspiracy. On St. Isidore’s Day he + went with his Signory, and the religious confraternities, in torchlight + procession, to hear mass at St. Mark’s in celebration of the failure of + Marin Falier’s plot. On the 17th of January he visited by water the + hospital erected for invalid soldiers and sailors, and thus commemorated + the famous defence of Scutari against the Turks, in 1413. For the peace of + 1516, concluded after the dissolution of the League of Cambray, he went in + his barge to the church of Santa Marina, who had potently exerted her + influence for the preservation of the Republic against allied France, + Austria, Spain, and Rome. On St. Jerome’s Day, when the newly-elected + members of the Council of Ten took their seats, the Doge entertained them + with a banquet, and there were great popular rejoicings over an affair in + which the people had no interest. + </p> + <p> + It is by a singular caprice of fortune that, while not only all the + Venetian holidays in anywise connected with the glory of the Republic, but + also those which peculiarly signalized her piety and gratitude, have + ceased to be, a festival common to the whole Catholic world should still + be observed in Venice with extraordinary display. On the day of Corpus + Christi there is a superb ecclesiastical procession in the Piazza. + </p> + <p> + The great splendor of the solemnization is said to date from the times + when Enrico Dandolo and his fellow-Crusaders so far forgot their purpose + of taking Palestine from the infidels as to take Constantinople from the + schismatics. Up to that period the day of Corpus Christi was honored by a + procession from what was then the Cathedral of San Pietro di Castello; but + now all the thirty parishes of the city, with their hundred churches, have + part in the procession, which is of such great length as to take some two + hours in its progress round the Piazza. + </p> + <p> + Several days before the holiday workmen begin to build, within the Place + of St. Mark, the colonnade through which the procession is to pass; they + roof it with blue cotton cloth, and adorn it with rolls of pasteboard + representing garlands of palm. At last, on the festive morning, the + dwellers on the Grand Canal are drawn to their balconies by the apparition + of boat-loads of facchini, gorgeous in scarlet robes, and bearing banners, + painted candles, and other movable elements of devotion, with which they + pass to the Piazzetta, and thence into St. Mark’s. They re-appear + presently, and, with a guard of Austrian troops to clear the way before + them, begin their march under the canopy of the colonnade. + </p> + <p> + When you have seen the Place of St. Mark by night your eye has tasted its + most delicate delight, but then it is the delight given by a memory only, + and it touches you with sadness. You must see the Piazza to-day,—every + window fluttering with rich stuffs and vivid colors; the three great flag + staffs [Footnote: Once bearing the standards of Cyprus, Candia, and + Venice.] hanging their heavy flags; the brilliant square alive with a + holiday population, with resplendent uniforms, with Italian gesture and + movement, and that long glittering procession, bearing slowly on the + august paraphernalia of the Church—you must see all this before you + can enter into the old heart of Venetian magnificence, and feel its life + about you. + </p> + <p> + To-day, the ancient church of San Pietro di Castello comes first in the + procession, and, with a proud humility, the Basilica San Marco last. + Before each parochial division goes a banner displaying the picture or + distinctive device of its titular saint, under the shadow of which chants + a priest; there are the hosts of the different churches, and the gorgeous + canopies under which they are elevated; then come facchini dressed in + scarlet and bearing the painted candles, or the long carved and gilded + candlesticks; and again facchini delicately robed in vestments of the + purest white linen, with caps of azure, green, and purple, and shod with + sandals or white shoes, carrying other apparatus of worship. Each banner + and candlestick has a fluttering leaf of tinsel paper attached to it, and + the procession makes a soft rustling as it passes. The matter-of-fact + character of the external Church walks between those symbolists, the + candle-bearers,—in the form of persons who gather the dropping + fatness of the candles, and deposit it in a vase carried for that purpose. + Citizens march in the procession with candles; and there are + charity-schools which also take part, and sing in the harsh, shrill + manner, of which I think only little boys who have their heads closely + shorn are capable. + </p> + <p> + On all this we looked down from a window of the Old Procuratie—of + course with that calm sense of superiority which people are apt to have in + regarding the solemnities of a religion different from their own. But that + did not altogether prevent us from enjoying what was really beautiful and + charming in the scene. I thought most of the priests, very good and gentle + looking,—and in all respects they were much pleasanter to the eye + than the monks of the Carmelite order, who, in shaving their heads to + simulate the Saviour’s crown of thorns, produce a hideous burlesque of the + divine humiliation. Yet many even of these had earnest and sincere faces, + and I could not think so much as I ought, perhaps, of their idle life, and + the fleas in their coarse brown cloaks. I confess, indeed, I felt rather a + sadness than an indignation at all that self-sacrifice to an end of which + I could but dimly see the usefulness. With some things in this grand + spectacle we were wholly charmed, and doubtless had most delight in the + little child who personated John the Baptist, and who was quite naked, but + for a fleece folded about him: he bore the cross-headed staff in one small + hand, and led with the other a lamb much tied up with blue ribbon. Here + and there in the procession little girls, exquisitely dressed, and gifted + by fond mothers with wings and aureoles, walked, scattering flowers. I + likewise greatly relished the lively holiday air of a company of airy old + men, the pensioners of some charity, who, in their white linen trousers + and blue coats, formed a prominent feature of the display. Far from being + puffed up with their consequence, they gossiped cheerfully with the + spectators in the pauses of the march, and made jests to each other in + that light-hearted, careless way observable in old men taken care of, and + with nothing before them to do worth speaking of but to die. I must own + that the honest facchini who bore the candles were equally affable, and + even freer with their jokes. But in this they formed a fine contrast to + here and there a closely hooded devotee, who, with hidden face and silent + lips, was carrying a taper for religion, and not, like them, for money. I + liked the great good-natured crowd, so orderly and amiable; and I enjoyed + even that old citizen in the procession who, when the Patriarch gave his + blessing, found it inconvenient to kneel, and compromised by stretching + one leg a great way out behind him. These things, indeed, quite took my + mind off of the splendors; and I let the canopy of the Scuola di San Rocco + (worth 40,000 ducats) go by with scarce a glance, and did not bestow much + more attention upon the brilliant liveries of the Patriarch’s servants,—though + the appearance of these ecclesiastical flunkies is far more impressive + than that of any of their secular brethren. They went gorgeously before + the Patriarch, who was surrounded by the richly dressed clergy of St. + Mark’s, and by clouds of incense rising from the smoking censers. He + walked under the canopy in his cardinal’s robes, and with his eye fixed + upon the Host. + </p> + <p> + All at once the procession halted, and the Patriarch blessed the crowd, + which knelt in a profound silence. Then the military band before him + struck up an air from “Un Ballo in Maschera;” the procession moved on to + the cathedral, and the crowd melted away. + </p> + <p> + The once-magnificent day of the Ascension the Venetians now honor by + closing all shop-doors behind them and putting all thought of labor out of + their minds, and going forth to enjoy themselves in the mild, inexplosive + fashion which seems to satisfy Italian nature. It is the same on all the + feast-days: then the city sinks into profounder quiet; only bells are + noisy, and where their clangor is so common as in Venice, it seems at last + to make friends with the general stillness, and disturbs none but people + of untranquil minds. We always go to the Piazza San Marco when we seek + pleasure, and now, for eight days only of all the year, we have there the + great spectacle of the Adoration of the Magi, performed every hour by + automata within the little golden-railed gallery on the facade of the + Giant’s Clock Tower. There the Virgin sits above the azure circle of the + zodiac, all heavily gilded, and holding the Child, equally splendid. + Through the doors on either side, usually occupied by the illuminated + figures of the hours, appears the procession and disappears. The stately + giant on the summit of the tower, at the hither side of the great bell, + solemnly strikes the hour—as a giant should who has struck it for + centuries—with a grand, whole-arm movement, and a slow, muscular + pride. We look up—we tourists of the red-backed books; we + peasant-girls radiant with converging darts of silver piercing the masses + of our thick black hair; we Austrian soldiers in white coats and blue + tights; we voiceful sellers of the cherries of Padua, and we calm loafers + about the many-pillared base of the church—we look up and see the + Adoration. First, the trumpeter, blowing the world news of the act; then + the first king, turning softly to the Virgin, and bowing; then the second, + that enthusiastic devotee,—the second who lifts his crown quite from + his head; last the Ethiopian prince, gorgeous in green and gold, who, I am + sorry to say, burlesques the whole solemnity. His devotion may be equally + heart-felt, but it is more jerky than that of the others. He bows well and + adequately, but recovers his balance with a prodigious start, altogether + too suggestive of springs and wheels. Perhaps there is a touch of the + pathetic in this grotesque fatality of the black king, whose suffering + race has always held mankind between laughter and tears, and has seldom + done a fine thing without leaving somewhere the neutralizing absurdity; + but if there is, the sentimental may find it, not I. When the procession + has disappeared, we wait till the other giant has struck the hour, and + then we disperse. + </p> +<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0346}.jpg" alt="{0346}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0346}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5> + + <p> + If it is six o’clock, and the sea has begun to breathe cool across the + Basin of St. Mark, we find our account in strolling upon the long Riva + degli Schiavoni towards the Public Gardens. One would suppose, at first + thought, that here, on this magnificent quay, with its glorious lookout + over the lagoons, the patricians would have built their finest palaces; + whereas there is hardly any thing but architectural shabbiness from the + Ponte della Paglia at one end, to the Ponte Santa Marina at the other. But + there need be nothing surprising in the fact, after all. The feudal wealth + and nobility of other cities kept the base at a respectful distance by + means of lofty stone walls, and so shut in their palaces and gardens. Here + equal seclusion could only be achieved by building flush upon the water, + and therefore all the finest palaces rise sheer from the canals; and + caffè, shops, barracks, and puppet-shows occupy the Riva degli Schiavoni. + Nevertheless, it is the favorite promenade of the Venetians for the winter + sunshine, and at such times in the summer as when the sun’s rage is + tempered. There is always variety in the throng on the Riva, but the + fashionable part of it is the least interesting: here and there a + magnificent Greek flashes through the crowd, in dazzling white petticoats + and gold-embroidered leggings and jacket; now and then a tall Dalmat or a + solemn Turk; even the fishermen and the peasants, and the lower orders of + the people, are picturesque; but polite Venice is hopelessly given to the + pride of the eyes, and commits all the excesses of the French modes. The + Venetian dandy, when dressed to his own satisfaction, is the worst-dressed + man in the world. His hat curls outrageously in brim and sides; his + coatsleeves are extremely full, and the garment pinches him at the waist; + his pantaloons flow forth from the hips, and contract narrowly at the + boot, which is square-toed and made too long. The whole effect is + something not to be seen elsewhere, and is well calculated to move the + beholder to desperation. [Footnote: These exaggerations of the fashions of + 1862 have been succeeded by equal travesties of the present modes.] The + Venetian fine lady, also, is prone to be superfine. Her dress is as full + of color as a Paolo Veronese; in these narrow streets, where it is hard to + expand an umbrella, she exaggerates hoops to the utmost; and she fatally + hides her ankles in pantalets. + </p> + <p> + In the wide thoroughfare leading from the last bridge of the Riva to the + gate of the gardens there is always a clapping of wooden shoes on the + stones, a braying of hand-organs, a shrieking of people who sell fish and + fruit, at once insufferable and indescribable. The street is a <i>rio + terrà</i>,—a filled-up canal,—and, as always happens with <i>rii + terrai</i>, is abandoned to the poorest classes who manifest themselves, + as the poorest classes are apt to do always, in groups of frowzy women, + small girls carrying large babies, beggars, of course, and soldiers. I + spoke of fruit-sellers; but in this quarter the traffic in pumpkin-seeds + is the most popular,—the people finding these an inexpensive and + pleasant excess, when taken with a glass of water flavored with anise. + </p> + <p> + The Gardens were made by Napoleon, who demolished to that end some + monasteries once cumbering the ground. They are pleasant enough, and are + not gardens at all, but a park of formally-planted trees—sycamores, + chiefly. I do not remember to have seen here any Venetians of the better + class, except on the Mondays-of-the-Garden, in September. Usually the + promenaders are fishermen, Austrian corporals, loutish youth of low + degree, and women too old and too poor to have any thing to do. Strangers + go there, and the German visitors even drink the exceptionable beer which + is sold in the wooden cottage on the little hillock at the end of the + Gardens. There is also a stable—where are the only horses in Venice. + They are let at a florin an hour, and I do not know why the riders are + always persons of the Hebrew faith. In a word, nothing can be drearier + than the company in the Gardens, and nothing lovelier than the view they + command,—from the sunset on the dome of the church of the Salute, + all round the broad sweep of lagoon, to the tower at the port of San + Nicolò, where you catch a glimpse of the Adriatic. + </p> + <p> + The company is commonly stupid, but one evening, as we strolled idly + through the walks, we came upon an interesting group—forty or fifty + sailors, soldiers, youth of the people, gray-haired fishermen and + contadini—sitting and lying on the grass, and listening with rapt + attention to an old man reclining against a tree. I never saw a manner of + sweeter or easier dignity than the speaker’s. Nature is so lavish of her + grace to these people that grow near her heart—the sun! Infinite + study could not have taught one northern-born the charm of oratory as this + old man displayed it. I listened, and heard that he was speaking Tuscan. + Do you guess with what he was enchanting his simple auditors? Nothing less + than “Orlando Furioso.” They listened with the hungriest delight, and when + Ariosto’s interpreter raised his finger and said, “Disse l’imperatore,” + or, “Orlando disse, Carlomano mio,” they hardly breathed. + </p> + <p> + On the <i>Lunedì dei Giardini</i>, already mentioned, all orders of the + people flock thither, and promenade, and banquet on the grass. The trees + get back the voices of their dryads, and the children fill the aisles with + glancing movement and graceful sport. + </p> + <p> + Of course, the hand-organ seeks here its proper element, the populace,—but + here it brays to a peculiarly beautiful purpose. For no sooner does it + sound than the young girls of the people wreathe themselves into dances, + and improvise the poetry of motion. Over the grass they whirl, and up and + down the broad avenues, and no one of all the gentle and peaceable crowd + molests or makes them afraid. It is a scene to make you believe in Miriam + dancing with Donatello there in that old garden at Rome, and reveals a + simple beauty in the nature of the Italian poor, which shall one day, I + hope, be counted in their favor when they are called to answer for lying + and swindling. + </p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + + <h2><a name="link2HCH0018" id="link2HCH0018"></a> + CHAPTER XVIII.<br/> + CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS. + </h2> + <p> + It often happens, even after the cold has announced itself in Venice, that + the hesitating winter lingers in the Tyrol, and a mellow Indian-summer + weather has possession of the first weeks of December. There was nothing + in the December weather of 1863 to remind us Northerners that Christmas + was coming. The skies were as blue as those of June, the sun was warm, and + the air was bland, with only now and then a trenchant breath from the + Alps, coming like a delicate sarcasm from loveliness unwilling to be + thought insipidly amiable. But if there was no warning in the weather, + there were other signs of Christmas-time not to be mistaken: a certain + foolish leaping of the heart in one’s own breast, as if the dead raptures + of childhood were stirred in their graves by the return of the happy + season; and in Venice, in weary, forlorn Venice, there was the + half-unconscious tumult, the expectant bustle which cities feel at the + approach of holidays. The little shops put on their gayest airs; there was + a great clapping and hammering on the stalls and booths which were + building in the campos; the street-cries were more shrill and resonant + than ever, and the air was shaken with the continual clangor of the church + bells. All this note of preparation is rather bewildering to strangers, + and is apt to disorder the best-disciplined intentions of seeing Christmas + as the Venetians keep it. The public observance of the holiday in the + churches and on the streets is evident and accessible to the most + transient sojourner; but it is curious proof of the difficulty of + knowledge concerning the in-door life and usages of the Italians, that I + had already spent two Christmases in Venice without learning any thing of + their home celebration of the day. Perhaps a degree of like difficulty + attends like inquiry everywhere, for the happiness of Christmas contracts + the family circle more exclusively than ever around the home hearth, or + the domestic scaldino, as the case may be. But, at any rate, I was quite + ready to say that the observance of Christmas in Venice was altogether + public, when I thought it a measure of far-sighted prudence to consult my + barber. + </p> + <p> + In all Latin countries the barber is a source of information, which, + skillfully tapped, pours forth in a stream of endless gossip and local + intelligence. Every man talks with his barber; and perhaps a lingering + dignity clings to this artist from his former profession of surgeon: it is + certain the barber here prattles on with a freedom and importance + perfectly admitted and respected by the interlocutory count under his + razor. Those who care to know how things passed in an Italian barber shop + three hundred years ago, may read it in Miss Evans’s “Romola;” those who + are willing to see Nello alive and carrying on his art in Venice at this + day, must go to be shaved at his shop in the Frezzaria. Here there is a + continual exchange of gossip, and I have often listened with profit to the + sage and piquant remarks of the head barber and chief <i>ciarlone</i>, on + the different events of human life brought to his notice. His shop is well + known as a centre of scandal, and I have heard a fair Venetian declare + that she had cut from her list all acquaintance who go there, as persons + likely to become infected with the worst habits of gossip. + </p> + <p> + To this Nello, however, I used to go only when in the most brilliant humor + for listening, and my authority on Christmas observances is another and + humbler barber, but not less a babbler, than the first. By birth, I + believe, he is a Mantuan, and he prides himself on speaking Italian + instead of Venetian. He has a defective eye, which obliges him to tack + before bringing his razor to bear, but which is all the more favorable to + conversation. On the whole, he is flattered to be asked about Christmas in + Venice, and he first tells me that it is one of the chief holidays of the + year:— + </p> + <p> + “It is then, Signore, that the Venetians have the custom to make three + sorts of peculiar presents: Mustard, Fish, and Mandorlato. You must have + seen the mustard in the shop windows: it is a thick conserve of fruits, + flavored with mustard; and the mandorlato is a candy made of honey, and + filled with almonds. Well, they buy fish, as many as they will, and a vase + of mustard, and a box of mandorlato, and make presents of them, one family + to another, the day before Christmas. It is not too much for a rich family + to present a hundred boxes of mandorlato and as many pots of mustard. + These are exchanged between friends in the city, and Venetians also send + them to acquaintance in the country, whence the gift is returned in cakes + and eggs at Easter. Christmas Eve people invite each other to great + dinners, and eat and drink, and make merry; but there are only fish and + vegetables, for it is a meagre day, and meats are forbidden. This dinner + lasts so long that, when it is over, it is almost time to so to midnight + mass, which all must attend, or else hear three masses on the morrow; and + no doubt it was some delinquent who made our saying,—‘Long as a + Christmas mass.’ On Christmas Day people dine at home, keeping the day + with family reunions. But the day after! Ah-heigh! That is the first of + Carnival, and all the theatres are opened, and there is no end to the + amusements—or was not, in the old time. Now, they never begin. A + week later comes the day of the Lord’s Circumcision, and then the next + holiday is Easter. The Nativity, the Circumcision, and the Resurrection—behold! + these are the three mysteries of the Christian faith. Of what religion are + the Americans, Signore?” + </p> + <p> + I think I was justified in answering that we were Christians. My barber + was politely surprised. “But there are so many different religions,” he + said, in excuse. + </p> + <p> + On the afternoon before Christmas I walked through the thronged Merceria + to the Rialto Bridge, where the tumultuous mart which opens at Piazza San + Marco culminates in a deafening uproar of bargains. At this time the + Merceria, or street of the shops, presents the aspect of a fair, and is + arranged with a tastefulness and a cunning ability to make the most of + every thing, which are seldom applied to the abundance of our fairs at + home. The shops in Venice are all very small, and the streets of lofty + houses are so narrow and dark, that whatever goods are not exposed in the + shop-windows are brought to the door to be clamored over by purchasers; so + that the Merceria is roused by unusual effort to produce a more pronounced + effect of traffic and noise than it always wears; but now the effort had + been made and the effect produced. The street was choked with the throngs, + through which all sorts of peddlers battled their way and cried their + wares. In Campo San Bartolomeo, into which the Merceria expands, at the + foot of Rialto Bridge, holiday traffic had built enormous barricades of + stalls, and entrenched itself behind booths, whence purchasers were + assailed with challenges to buy bargains. More than half the campo was + paved with crockery from Rovigo and glass-ware from Murano; clothing of + every sort, and all kinds of small household wares, were offered for sale; + and among the other booths, in the proportion of two to one, were stalls + of the inevitable Christmas mustard and mandorlato. + </p> + <p> + But I cared rather for the crowd than what the crowd cared for. I had been + long ago obliged to throw aside my preconceived notions of the Italian + character, though they were not, I believe, more absurd than the + impressions of others who have never studied Italian character in Italy. I + hardly know what of bacchantic joyousness I had not attributed to them on + their holidays: a people living in a mild climate under such a lovely sky, + with wine cheap and abundant, might not unreasonably have been expected to + put on a show of the greatest jollity when enjoying themselves. Venetian + crowds are always perfectly gentle and kindly, but they are also as a + whole usually serious; and this Christmas procession, moving up and down + the Merceria, and to and fro between the markets of Rialto, was in the + fullest sense a solemnity. It is true that the scene was dramatic, but the + drama was not consciously comic. Whether these people bought or sold, or + talked together, or walked up and down in silence, they were all equally + in earnest. The crowd, in spite of its noisy bustle and passionate uproar, + did not seem to me a blithe or light-hearted crowd. Its sole activity was + that of traffic, for, far more dearly than any Yankee, a Venetian loves a + bargain, and puts his whole heart into upholding and beating down demands. + </p> +<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0360}.jpg" alt="{0360}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0360}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5> + + <p> + Across the Bridge began the vegetable and fruit market, where whole + Hollands of cabbage and Spains of onions opened on the view, with every + other succulent and toothsome growth; and beyond this we entered the glory + of Rialto, the fish-market, which is now more lavishly supplied than at + any other season. It was picturesque and full of gorgeous color for the + fish of Venice seem all to catch the rainbow hues of the lagoon. There is + a certain kind of red mullet, called <i>triglia</i>, which is as rich and + tender in its dyes as if it had never swam in water less glorious than + that which crimsons under October sunsets. But a fish-market, even at + Rialto, with fishermen in scarlet caps and <i>triglie</i> in sunset + splendors, is only a fish-market after all: it is wet and slimy under + foot, and the innumerable gigantic eels, writhing everywhere, set the soul + asquirm, and soon-sated curiosity slides willingly away. + </p> + <p> + We had an appointment with a young Venetian lady to attend midnight mass + at the church of San Moisè, and thither about half-past eleven we went to + welcome in Christmas. The church of San Moisè is in the highest style of + the Renaissance art, which is, I believe, the lowest style of any other. + The richly sculptured façade is divided into stories; the fluted columns + are stilted upon pedestals, and their lines are broken by the bands which + encircle them like broad barrel-hoops. At every possible point theatrical + saints and angels, only sustained from falling to the ground by iron bars + let into their backs, start from the niches and cling to the sculpture. + The outside of the church is in every way detestable, and the inside is + consistently bad. All the side-altars have broken arches, and the high + altar is built of rough blocks of marble to represent Mount Sinai, on + which a melodramatic statue of Moses receives the tables of the law from + God the Father, with frescoed seraphim in the background. For the same + reason, I suppose, that the devout prefer a hideous Bambino and a Madonna + in crinoline to the most graceful artistic conception of those sacred + personages, San Moisè is the most popular church for the midnight mass in + Venice, and there is no mass at all in St. Mark’s, where its magnificence + would be so peculiarly impressive. + </p> + <p> + On Christmas Eve, then, this church was crowded, and the door-ways were + constantly thronged with people passing in and out. I was puzzled to see + so many young men present, for Young Italy is not usually in great number + at church; but a friend explained the anomaly: “After the guests at our + Christmas Eve dinners have well eaten and drunken, they all go to mass in + at least one church, and the younger offer a multiplied devotion by going + to all. It is a good thing in some ways, for by this means they manage to + see every pretty face in the city, which that night has specially prepared + itself to be seen;” and from this slender text my friend began to + discourse at large about these Christmas Eve dinners, and chiefly how + jollily the priests fared, ending with the devout wish, “Would God had + made me nephew of a canonico!” The great dinners of the priests are a + favorite theme with Italian talkers; but I doubt it is after all only a + habit of speech. The priests are too numerous to feed sumptuously in most + cases. + </p> + <p> + We had a good place to see and hear, sitting in the middle of the main + aisle, directly over the dust of John Law, who alighted in Venice when his + great Mississippi bubble burst, and died here, and now sleeps peacefully + under a marble tablet in the ugly church of San Moisè. The thought of that + busy, ambitious life, come to this unscheming repose under our feet,—so + far from the scene of its hopes, successes, and defeats,—gave its + own touch of solemnity to the time and place, and helped the offended + sense of propriety through the bursts of operatic music, which + interspersed the mass. But on the whole, the music was good and the + function sufficiently impressive,—what with the gloom of the temple + everywhere starred with tapers, and the grand altar lighted to the + mountain-top. The singing of the priests also was here much better than I + had found it elsewhere in Venice. + </p> + <p> + The equality of all classes in church is a noticeable thing always in + Italy, but on this Christmas Eve it was unusually evident. The rags of the + beggar brushed the silks of luxury, as the wearers knelt side by side on + the marble floor; and on the night when God was born to poverty on earth, + the rich seemed to feel that they drew nearer Him in the neighborhood of + the poor. In these costly temples of the eldest Christianity, the poor + seem to enter upon their inheritance of the future, for it is they who + frequent them most and possess them with the deepest sense of ownership. + The withered old woman, who creeps into St Mark’s with her scaldino in her + hand, takes visible possession of its magnificence as God’s and hers, and + Catholic wealth and rank would hardly, if challenged, dispute her claim. + </p> + <p> + Even the longest mass comes to an end at last, and those of our party who + could credit themselves with no gain of masses against the morrow, + received the benediction at San Moisè with peculiar unction. We all issued + forth, and passing through the lines of young men who draw themselves up + on either side of the doors of public places in Venice, to look at the + young ladies as they come out, we entered the Place of St. Mark. The + Piazza was more gloriously beautiful than ever I saw it before, and the + church had a saintly loveliness. The moon was full, and snowed down the + mellowest light on the gray domes, which in their soft, elusive outlines, + and strange effect of far-withdrawal, rhymed like faint-heard refrains to + the bright and vivid arches of the façade. And if the bronze horses had + been minded to quit their station before the great window over the central + arch, they might have paced around the night’s whole half-world, and found + no fairer resting-place. + </p> + <p> + As for Christmas Day in Venice, it amounted to very little; every thing + was closed, and whatever merry-making went on was all within doors. + Although the shops and the places of amusement were opened the day + following, the city entered very sparingly on the pleasures of Carnival, + and Christmas week passed off in every-day fashion. It will be remembered + that on St. Stephen’s Day—the first of Carnival—one of the + five annual banquets took place at the Ducal Palace in the time of the + Republic. A certain number of patricians received invitations to the + dinner, and those for whom there was no room were presented with fish and + poultry by the Doge. The populace were admitted to look on during the + first course, and then, having sated their appetites with this savory + observance, were invited to withdraw. The patriotic Giustina + Renier-Michiel of course makes much of the courtesy thus extended to the + people by the State, but I cannot help thinking it must have been hard to + bear. The banquet, however, has passed away with the Republic which gave + it, and the only savor of dinner which Venetian poverty now inhales on St. + Stephen’s Day, is that which arises from its own proper pot of broth. + </p> + <p> + New Year’s is the carnival of the beggars in Venice. Their business is + carried on briskly throughout the year, but on this day it is pursued with + an unusual degree of perseverance, and an enterprise worthy of all + disinterested admiration. At every corner, on every bridge, under every + door-way, hideous shapes of poverty, mutilation, and deformity stand + waiting, and thrust out palms, plates, and pans, and advance good wishes + and blessings to all who pass. It is an immemorial custom, and it is one + in which all but the quite comfortable classes participate. The facchini + in every square take up their collections; the gondoliers have their + plates prepared for contribution at every ferry; at every caffè and + restaurant begging-boxes appeal to charity. Whoever has lifted hand in + your service in any way during the past year expects a reward on New + Year’s for the complaisance, and in some cases the shop-keepers send to + wish you a <i>bel capo d’anno</i>, with the same practical end in view. On + New Year’s Eve and morning bands of facchini and gondoliers go about + howling <i>vivas</i> under charitable windows till they open and drop + alms. The Piazza is invaded by the legions of beggary, and held in + overpowering numbers against all comers; and to traverse it is like a + progress through a lazar-house. + </p> + <p> + Beyond encouraging so gross an abuse as this, I do not know that Venice + celebrates New Year’s in a peculiar manner. It is a <i>festa</i>, and + there are masses, of course. Presents are exchanged, which consist chiefly + of books—printed for the season, and brilliant outside and dull + within, like all annuals. + </p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + + <h2><a name="link2HCH0019" id="link2HCH0019"></a> + CHAPTER XIX.<br/> + LOVE-MAKING AND MARRYING; BAPTISMS AND BURIALS. + </h2> + <p> + The Venetians have had a practical and strictly business-like way of + arranging marriages from the earliest times. The shrewdest provision has + always been made for the dower and for the good of the State; private and + public interest being consulted, the small matters of affections have been + left to the chances of association; and it does not seem that Venetian + society has ever dealt severely with husbands or wives whom + incompatibilities forced to seek consolation outside of matrimony. + Herodotus relates that the Illyrian Veneti sold their daughters at auction + to the highest bidder; and the fair being thus comfortably placed in life, + the hard-favored were given to whomsoever would take them, with such dower + as might be considered a reasonable compensation. The auction was + discontinued in Christian times, but marriage contracts still partook of + the form of a public and half-mercantile transaction. At a comparatively + late period Venetian fathers went with their daughters to a great annual + matrimonial fair at San Pietro di Castello Olivolo, and the youth of the + lagoons repaired thither to choose wives from the number of the maidens. + These were all dressed in white, with hair loose about the neck, and each + bore her dower in a little box, slung over her shoulder by a ribbon. It is + to be supposed that there was commonly a previous understanding between + each damsel and some youth in the crowd: as soon as all had paired off, + the bishop gave them a sermon and his benediction, and the young men + gathered up their brides and boxes, and went away wedded. It was on one of + these occasions, in the year 944, that the Triestine pirates stole the + Brides of Venice with their dowers, and gave occasion to the Festa delle + Marie, already described, and to Rogers’s poem, which every body pretends + to have read. + </p> + <p> + This going to San Pietro’s, selecting a wife and marrying her on the spot, + out of hand, could only have been the contrivance of a straightforward, + practical race. Among the common people betrothals were managed with even + greater ease and dispatch, till a very late day in history; and in the + record of a certain trial which took place in 1443 there is an account of + one of these brief and unceremonious courtships. Donna Catarussa, who + gives evidence, and whom I take to have been a worthless, idle gossip, was + one day sitting at her door, when Piero di Trento passed, selling brooms, + and said to her, “Madonna, find me some nice girl.” To which Donna + Catarussa replied, “Ugly fool! do you take me for a go-between?” “No,” + said Piero, “not that; I mean a girl to be my wife.” And as Donna + Catarussa thought at once of a suitable match, she said, “In faith of God, + I know one for you. Come again to-morrow.” So they both met next day, and + the woman chosen by Donna Catarussa being asked, “Wouldst thou like to + have Piero for thy husband, as God commands and holy Church?” she + answered, “Yes.” And Peter being asked the like question, answered, “Why, + yes, certainly.” And they went off and had the wedding feast. A number of + these betrothals takes place in the last scene of Goldoni’s “Baruffe + Chiozzotte,” where the belligerent women and their lovers take hands in + the public streets, and saluting each other as man and wife, are + affianced, and get married as quickly as possible:— + </p> + <p> + “<i>Checa</i> (to Tofolo). Take my hand. + </p> + <p> + “<i>Tofolo</i>. Wife! + </p> + <p> + “<i>Checa</i>. Husband! + </p> + <p> + “<i>Tofolo</i>. Hurra!” + </p> + <p> + The betrothals of the Venetian nobles were celebrated with as much pomp + and ceremony as could possibly distinguish them from those of the people, + and there was much more polite indifference to the inclinations of the + parties immediately concerned. The contract was often concluded before the + betrothed had seen each other, by means of a third person, when the amount + of the dower was fixed. The bridegroom elect having verbally agreed with + the parents of the bride, repaired at an early day to the court-yard of + the Ducal Palace, where the match was published, and where he shook hands + with his kinsmen and friends. On the day fixed for signing the contract + the bride’s father invited to his house the bridegroom and all his + friends, and hither came the high officers of state to compliment the + future husband. He, with the father of his betrothed, met the guests at + the door of the palace, and conducted them to the grand saloon, which no + woman was allowed (<i>si figuri!</i>) at this time to enter. When the + company was seated, the bride, clad in white, was led from her rooms and + presented. She wore a crown of pearls and brilliants on her head, and her + hair, mixed with long threads of gold, fell loose about her shoulders, as + you may see it in Carpaccio’s pictures of the Espousals of St. Ursula. Her + ear-rings were pendants of three pearls set in gold; her neck and throat + were bare but for a collar of lace and gems, from which slid a fine + jeweled chain into her bosom. Over her breast she wore a stomacher of + cloth of gold, to which were attached her sleeves, open from the elbow to + the hand. The formal words of espousal being pronounced, the bride paced + slowly round the hall to the music of fifes and trumpets, and made a + gentle inclination to each of the guests; and then returned to her + chamber, from which she issued again on the arrival of any tardy friend, + and repeated the ceremony. After all this, she descended to the courtyard, + where she was received by gentlewomen, her friends, and placed on a raised + seat (which was covered with rich stuffs) in an open gondola, and thus, + followed by a fleet of attendant gondolas, went to visit all the convents + in which there were kinspeople of herself or her betrothed. The excessive + publicity of these ceremonies was supposed to strengthen the validity of + the marriage contract. At an early day after the espousals the betrothed, + preceded by musicians and followed by relatives and friends, went at dawn + to be married in the church,—the bridegroom wearing a toga, and the + bride a dress of white silk or crimson velvet, with jewels in her hair, + and pearls embroidered on her robes. Visits of congratulation followed, + and on the same day a public feast was given in honor of the wedding, to + which at least three hundred persons were always invited, and at which the + number, quality, and cost of the dishes were carefully regulated by the + Republic’s laws. On this occasion, one or more persons were chosen as + governors of the feast, and after the tables were removed, a mock-heroic + character appeared, and recounted with absurd exaggeration the deeds of + the ancestors of the bride and groom. The next morning <i>ristorativi</i> + of sweetmeats and confectionery were presented to the happy couple, by + whom the presents were returned in kind. + </p> + <p> + A splendor so exceptional, even in the most splendid age of the most + splendid city, as that which marked the nuptial feasts of the unhappy + Jacopo Foscari, could not be left unnoticed in this place. He espoused + Lucrezia, daughter of Lionardo Contarini, a noble as rich and magnificent + as Jacopo’s own father, the Doge; and, on the 29th of January 1441, the + noble Eustachio Balbi being chosen lord of the feasts, the bridegroom, the + bride’s brother and eighteen other patrician youths, assembled in the + Palazzo Balbi, whence they went on horseback to conduct Lucrezia to the + Ducal Palace. They were all sumptuously dressed in crimson velvet and + silver brocade of Alexandria, and rode chargers superbly caparisoned. + Other noble friends attended them; musicians went before; a troop of + soldiers brought up the rear. They thus proceeded to the court-yard of the + Ducal Palace, and then, returning, traversed the Piazza, and threading the + devious little streets to the Campo San Samuele, there crossed the Grand + Canal upon a bridge of boats, to San Barnaba opposite, where the Contarini + lived. On their arrival at this place the bride, supported by two + Procuratori di San Marco, and attended by sixty ladies, descended to the + church and heard mass, after which an oration was delivered in Campo San + Barnaba before the Doge, the ambassadors, and a multitude of nobles and + people, in praise of the spouses and their families. The bride then + returned to her father’s house, and jousts took place in the campos of + Santa Maria Formosa and San Polo (the largest in the city), and in the + Piazza San Marco. The Doge gave a great banquet, and at its close one + hundred and fifty ladies proceeded to the bride’s palace in the Bucintoro, + where one hundred other ladies joined them, together with Lucrezia, who, + seated between Francesco Sforza (then General-in-chief of the Republic’s + armies) and the Florentine ambassador, was conducted, amid the shouts of + the people and the sound of trumpets, to the Ducal Palace. The Doge + received her at the riva of the Piazzetta, and, with Sforza and Balbi led + her to the foot of the palace stairs, where the Dogaressa, with sixty + ladies, welcomed her. A state supper ended this day’s rejoicings, and on + the following day a tournament took place in the Piazza, for a prize of + cloth of gold, which was offered by Sforza. Forty knights contested the + prize and supped afterward with the Doge. On the next day there were + processions of boats with music on the Grand Canal; on the fourth and last + day there were other jousts for prizes offered by the jewelers and + Florentine merchants; and every night there were dancing and feasting in + the Ducal Palace. The Doge was himself the giver of the last tournament, + and with this the festivities came to an end. + </p> + <p> + I have read an account by an old-fashioned English traveler of a Venetian + marriage which he saw, sixty or seventy years ago, at the church of San + Giorgio Maggiore: “After a crowd of nobles,” he says, “in their usual + black robes, had been some time in attendance, the gondolas appearing, + exhibited a fine show, though all of them were painted of a sable hue, in + consequence of a sumptuary law, which is very necessary in this place, to + prevent an expense which many who could not bear it would incur; + nevertheless the barcarioli, or boatmen, were dressed in handsome + liveries; the gondolas followed one another in a line, each carrying two + ladies, who were likewise dressed in black. As they landed they arranged + themselves in order, forming a line from the gate to the great altar. At + length the bride, arrayed in white as the symbol of innocence, led by the + bridesman, ascended the stairs of the landing-place. There she received + the compliments of the bridegroom, in his black toga, who walked at her + right hand to the altar, where they and all the company kneeled. I was + often afraid the poor young creature would have sunk upon the ground + before she arrived, for she trembled with great agitation, while she made + her low courtesies from side to side: however, the ceremony was no sooner + performed than she seemed to recover her spirits, and looked matrimony in + the face with a determined smile. Indeed, in all appearance she had + nothing to fear from her husband, whose age and aspect were not at all + formidable; accordingly she tripped back to the gondola with great + activity and resolution, and the procession ended as it began. Though + there was something attractive in this aquatic parade, the black hue of + the boats and the company presented to a stranger, like me, the idea of a + funeral rather than a wedding. My expectation was raised too high by the + previous description of the Italians, who are much given to hyperbole, who + gave me to understand that this procession would far exceed any thing I + had ever seen. When I reflect upon this rhodomontade,” disdainfully adds + Mr. Drummond, “I cannot help comparing, in my memory, the paltry + procession of the Venetian marriage with a very august occurrence of which + I was eyewitness in Sweden,” and which being the reception of their + Swedish Majesties by the British fleet, I am sure the reader will not ask + me to quote. With change of government, changes of civilization following + the revolutions, and the decay of wealth among the Venetian nobles, almost + all their splendid customs have passed away, and the habit of making + wedding presents of sweetmeats and confectionery is perhaps the only relic + which has descended from the picturesque past to the present time. These + gifts are still exchanged not only by nobles, but by all commoners + according to their means, and are sometimes a source of very profuse + outlay. It is the habit to send the candies in the elegant and costly + paper caskets which the confectioners sell, and the sum of a thousand + florins scarcely suffices to pass the courtesy round a moderately large + circle of friends. + </p> + <p> + With the nobility and with the richest commoners marriage is still greatly + a matter of contract, and is arranged without much reference to the + principals, though it is now scarcely probable in any case that they have + not seen each other. But with all other classes, except the poorest, who + cannot and do not seclude the youth of either sex from each other, and + with whom, consequently, romantic contrivance and subterfuge would be + superfluous, love is made to-day in Venice as in the <i>capa y espada</i> + comedies of the Spaniards, and the business is carried on with all the + cumbrous machinery of confidants, billets-doux, and stolen interviews. + </p> + <p> + Let us take our nominal friends, Marco and Todaro, and attend them in + their solemn promenade under the arcades of the Procuratie, or upon the + Molo, whither they go every evening to taste the air and to look at the + ladies, while the Austrians and the other foreigners listen to the + military music in the Piazza. They are both young, our friends; they have + both glossy silk hats; they have both light canes and an innocent swagger. + Inconceivably mild are these youth, and in their talk indescribably small + and commonplace. + </p> + <p> + They look at the ladies, and suddenly Todaro feels the consuming ardors of + love. + </p> + <p> + <i>Todaro</i> (to Marco). Here, dear! Behold this beautiful blonde here! + Beautiful as an angel! But what loveliness! + </p> + <p> + <i>Marco</i>. But where? + </p> + <p> + <i>Todaro</i>. It is enough. Let us go. I follow her. + </p> + <p> + Such is the force of the passion in southern hearts. They follow that + beautiful blonde, who, marching demurely in front of the gray-moustached + papa and the fat mamma, after the fashion in Venice, is electrically + conscious of pursuit. They follow her during the whole evening, and, at a + distance, softly follow her home, where the burning Todaro photographs the + number of the house upon the sensitized tablets of his soul. + </p> +<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0380}.jpg" alt="{0380}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0380}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5> + + <p> + This is the first great step in love: he has seen his adored one, and he + knows that he loves her with an inextinguishable ardor. The next advance + is to be decided between himself and the faithful Marco, and is to be + debated over many cups of black coffee, not to name glasses of + sugar-and-water and the like exciting beverages. The friends may now find + out the caffè which the Biondina frequents with her parents, and to which + Todaro may go every evening and feast his eyes upon her loveliness, never + making his regard known by any word, till some night, when he has followed + her home, he steals speech with her as he stands in the street under her + balcony,—and looks sufficiently sheepish as people detect him on + their late return from the theatre. [Footnote: The love-making scenes in + Goldoni’s comedy of <i>Il Bugiarda</i> are photographically faithful to + present usage in Venice.] Or, if the friends do not take this course in + their courtship (for they are both engaged in the wooing), they decide + that Todaro, after walking back and forth a sufficient number of times in + the street where the Biondina lives, shall write her a tender letter, to + demand if she be disposed to correspond his love. This billet must always + be conveyed to her by her serving-maid, who must be bribed by Marco for + the purpose. At every juncture Marco must be consulted, and acquainted + with every step of progress; and no doubt the Biondina has some lively + Moretta for her friend, to whom she confides her part of the love-affair + in all its intricacy. + </p> + <p> + It may likewise happen that Todaro shall go to see the Biondina in church, + whither, but for her presence, he would hardly go, and that there, though + he may not have speech with her, he shall still fan the ardors of her + curiosity and pity by persistent sighs. It must be confessed that if the + Biondina is not pleased with his looks, his devotion must assume the + character of an intolerable bore to her; and that to see him everywhere at + her heels—to behold him leaning against the pillar near which she + kneels at church, the head of his stick in his mouth, and his attitude + carefully taken with a view to captivation—to be always in deadly + fear lest she shall meet him in promenade, or, turning round at the caffè + encounter his pleading gaze—that all this must drive the Biondina to + a state bordering upon blasphemy and finger-nails. <i>Ma, come si fa? Ci + vuol pazienza!</i> This is the sole course open to ingenuous youth in + Venice, where confessed and unashamed acquaintance between young people is + extremely difficult; and so this blind pursuit must go on, till the + Biondina’s inclinations are at last laboriously ascertained. + </p> + <p> + Suppose the Biondina consents to be loved? Then Todaro has just and proper + inquiries to make concerning her dower, and if her fortune is as pleasing + as herself, he has only to demand her in marriage of her father, and after + that to make her acquaintance. + </p> + <p> + One day a Venetian friend of mine, who spoke a little English, came to me + with a joyous air and said: + </p> + <p> + “I am in lofe.” + </p> + <p> + The recipient of repeated confidences of this kind from the same person, I + listened with tempered effusion. + </p> + <p> + “It is a blonde again?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, you have right; blonde again.” + </p> + <p> + “And pretty?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, but beautiful. I lofe her—<i>come si dice!—immensamente.”</i> + “And where did you see her? Where did you make her acquaintance?” + </p> + <p> + “I have not make the acquaintance. I see her pass with his fazer every + night on Rialto Bridge We did not spoke yet—only with the eyes. The + lady is not of Venice. She has four thousand florins. It is not much—no. + But!” + </p> + <p> + Is not this love at first sight almost idyllic? Is it not also a sublime + prudence to know the lady’s fortune better than herself, before herself? + These passionate, headlong Italians look well to the main chance before + they leap into matrimony, and you may be sure Todaro knows, in black and + white, what the Biondina has to her fortune before he weds her. After that + may come the marriage, and the sonnet written by the next of friendship, + and printed to hang up in all the shop-windows, celebrating the auspicious + event. If he be rich, or can write <i>nobile</i> after his Christian name, + perhaps some abbate, elegantly addicted to verses and alive to grateful + consequences, may publish a poem, elegantly printed by the matchless + printers at Rovigo, and send it to all the bridegroom’s friends. It is not + the only event which the facile Venetian Muse shall sing for him. If his + child is brought happily through the measles by Dottor Cavasangue, the + Nine shall celebrate the fact. If he takes any public honor or scholastic + degree, it is equal occasion for verses; and when he dies the mortuary + rhyme shall follow him. Indeed, almost every occurrence—a boy’s + success at school, an advocate’s triumphal passage of the perils of + examination at Padua, a priest’s first mass, a nun’s novitiate, a birth, + an amputation—is the subject of tuneful effusion, and no less the + occasion of a visit from the facchini of the neighboring campo, who + assemble with blare of trumpets and tumult of voices around the victim’s + door, and proclaim his skill or good fortune, and break into <i>vivas</i> + that never end till he bribes their enthusiasm into silence. The naïve + commonplaceness of feeling in all matrimonial transactions, in spite of + the gloss which the operatic methods of courtship threw about them, was a + source of endless amusement, as it stole out in different ways. “You know + my friend Marco?” asked an acquaintance one day. “Well, we are looking out + a wife for him. He doesn’t want to marry, but his father insists; and he + has begged us to find somebody. There are three of us on the look-out. But + he hates women, and is very hard to suit. <i>Ben! Ci vuol pazienza!”</i> + </p> + <p> + It rarely happens now that the religious part of the marriage ceremony is + not performed in church, though it may be performed at the house of the + bride. In this case, it usually takes place in the evening, and the + spouses attend five o’clock mass next morning. But if the marriage takes + place at church, it must be between five and eleven in the morning, and + the blessing is commonly pronounced about six o’clock. Civil marriage is + still unknown among the Venetians. It is entirely the affair of the + Church, in which the bans are published beforehand, and which exacts from + the candidates a preliminary visit to their parish priest, for examination + in their catechism, and for instruction in religion when they are + defective in knowledge of the kind. There is no longer any civil + publication of the betrothals, and the hand-shaking in the court of the + Ducal Palace has long been disused. I cannot help thinking that the + ceremony must have been a great affliction, and that, in the Republican + times at Venice, a bridegroom must have fared nearly as hard as a + President elect in our times at home. + </p> + <p> + There was a curious display on occasion of births among the nobility in + former times. The room of the young mother was decorated with a profusion + of paintings, sculpture, and jewelry; and, while yet in bed, she received + the congratulations of her friends, and regaled them with sweetmeats + served in vases of gold and silver. + </p> + <p> + The child of noble parents had always at least two godfathers, and + sometimes as many as a hundred and fifty; but in order that the + relationship of godfather (which is the same according to the canonical + law as a tie of consanguinity) should not prevent desirable matrimony + between nobles, no patrician was allowed to be godfather to another’s + child. Consequently the <i>compare</i> was usually a client of the noble + parent, and was not expected to make any present to the godchild, whose + father, on the day following the baptism, sent him a piece of marchpane, + in acknowledgment of their relationship. No women were present at the + baptism except those who had charge of the babe. After the fall of the + Republic the French custom of baptism in the parents’ house was + introduced, as well as the custom, on the godfather’s part, of giving a + present,—usually of sugarplums and silver toys. But I think that + most baptisms still take place in church, if I may judge from the numbers + of tight little glass cases I have noticed,—half bed and half + coffin,—containing little eight-day-old Venetians, closely swathed + in mummy-like bandages, and borne to and from the churches by mysterious + old women. The ceremony of baptism itself does not apparently differ from + that in other Catholic countries, and is performed, like all religious + services in Italy, without a ray of religious feeling or solemnity of any + kind. + </p> + <p> + For many centuries funeral services in Venice have been conducted by the + <i>Scuole del Sacramento,</i> instituted for that purpose. To one of these + societies the friends of the defunct pay a certain sum, and the + association engages to inter the dead, and bear all the expenses of the + ceremony, the dignity of which is regulated by the priest of the parish in + which the deceased lived. The rite is now most generally undertaken by the + Scuola di San Rocco. The funeral train is of ten or twenty facchini, + wearing tunics of white, with caps and capes of red, and bearing the + society’s long, gilded candlesticks of wood with lighted tapers. Priests + follow them chanting prayers, and then comes the bier,—with a gilt + crown lying on the coffin, if the dead be a babe, to indicate the triumph + of innocence. Formerly, hired mourners attended, and a candle, weighing a + pound, was given to any one who chose to carry it in the procession. + </p> + <p> + Anciently there was great show of mourning in Venice for the dead, when, + according to Mutinelli, the friends and kinsmen of the deceased, having + seen his body deposited in the church, “fell to weeping and howling, tore + their hair and rent their clothes, and withdrew forever from that church, + thenceforth become for them a place of abomination.” Decenter customs + prevailed in after-times, and there was a pathetic dignity in the ceremony + of condolence among patricians: the mourners, on the day following the + interment, repaired to the porticos of Rialto and the court of the Ducal + Palace, and their friends came, one after one, and expressed their + sympathy by a mute pressure of the hand. + </p> + <p> + Death, however, is hushed up as much as possible in modern Venice. The + corpse is hurried from the house of mourning to the parish church, where + the friends, after the funeral service, take leave of it. Then it is + placed in a boat and carried to the burial-ground, where it is quickly + interred. I was fortunate, therefore, in witnessing a cheerful funeral at + which I one day casually assisted at San Michele. There was a church on + this island as early as the tenth century, and in the thirteenth century + it fell into the possession of the Comandulensen Friars. They built a + monastery on it, which became famous as a seat of learning, and gave much + erudite scholarship to the world. In later times Pope Gregory XVI. carried + his profound learning from San Michele to the Vatican. The present church + is in the Renaissance style, but not very offensively so, and has some + indifferent paintings. The arcades and the courts around which it is built + contain funeral monuments as unutterably ugly and tasteless as any thing + of the kind I ever saw at home; but the dead, for the most part, lie in + graves marked merely by little iron crosses in the narrow and roofless + space walled in from the lagoon, which laps sluggishly at the foot of the + masonry with the impulses of the tide. The old monastery was abolished in + 1810, and there is now a convent of Reformed Benedictines on the island, + who perform the last service for the dead. + </p> + <p> + On the day of which I speak, I was taking a friend to see the objects of + interest at San Michele, which I had seen before, and the funeral + procession touched at the riva of the church just as we arrived. The + procession was of one gondola only, and the pallbearers were four pleasant + ruffians in scarlet robes of cotton, hooded, and girdled at the waist. + They were accompanied by a priest of a broad and jolly countenance, two + grinning boys, and finally the corpse itself, severely habited in an + under-dress of black box, but wearing an outer garment of red velvet, + bordered and tasseled gayly. The pleasant ruffians (who all wore + smoking-caps with some other name) placed this holiday corpse upon a bier, + and after a lively dispute with our gondolier, in which the compliments of + the day were passed in the usual terms of Venetian chaff, lifted the bier + on shore and set it down. The priest followed with the two boys, whom he + rebuked for levity, simultaneously tripping over the Latin of a prayer, + with his eyes fixed on our harmless little party as if we were a funeral, + and the dead in the black box an indifferent spectator Then he popped down + upon his knees, and made us a lively little supplication, while a blind + beggar scuffled for a lost soldo about his feet, and the gondoliers + quarreled volubly. After which, he threw off his surplice with the air of + one who should say his day’s work was done, and preceded the coffin into + the church. + </p> + <p> + We had hardly deposited the bier upon the floor in the centre of the nave, + when two pale young friars appeared, throwing off their hooded cloaks of + coarse brown, as they passed to the sacristy, and reappearing in their + rope-girdled gowns. One of them bore a lighted taper in his right hand and + a book in his left; the other had also a taper, but a pot of holy water + instead of the book. + </p> + <p> + They are very handsome young men, these monks, with heavy, sad eyes, and + graceful, slender figures, which their monastic life will presently + overload with gross humanity full of coarse appetites. They go and stand + beside the bier, giving a curious touch of solemnity to a scene composed + of the four pleasant ruffians in the loaferish postures which they have + learned as facchini waiting for jobs; of the two boys with inattentive + grins, and of the priest with wandering eyes, kneeling behind them. + </p> + <p> + A weak, thin-voiced organ pipes huskily from its damp loft: the monk + hurries rapidly over the Latin text of the service, while + </p> +<p class="poem"> + “His breath to heaven like vapor goes” +</p> + <p class="noindent"> + on the chilly, humid air; and the other monk makes the responses, giving + and taking the sprinkler, which his chief shakes vaguely in the direction + of the coffin. They both bow their heads—shaven down to the temples, + to simulate His crown of thorns. Silence. The organ is still, the priest + has vanished; the tapers are blown out; the pall-bearers lay hold of the + bier, and raise it to their shoulders; the boys slouch into procession + behind them; the monks glide softly and dispiritedly away. The soul is + prepared for eternal life, and the body for the grave. + </p> + <p> + The ruffians are expansively gay on reaching the open air again. They + laugh, they call “Ciò!” [Footnote: Literally, <i>That</i> in Italian, and + meaning in Venetian, <i>You! Heigh!</i> To talk in <i>Ciò ciappa</i> is to + assume insolent familiarity or unbounded good fellowship with the person + addressed. A Venetian says <i>Ciò</i> a thousand times in a day, and hails + every one but his superior in that way. I think it is hardly the Italian + pronoun, but rather a contraction of <i>Veccio</i> (vecchio), <i>Old + fellow!</i> It is common with all classes of the people: parents use it in + speaking to their children, and brothers and sisters call one mother <i>Ciò</i>. + It is a salutation between friends, who cry out, <i>Ciò!</i> as they pass + in the street. Acquaintances, men who meet after separation, rush together + with <i>“Ah Ciò!”</i> Then they kiss on the right cheek <i>“Ciò!”</i> on + the left, <i>“Ciò!”</i> on the lips, <i>“Ciò! Bon di Ciò!”</i>] + continually, and banter each other as they trot to the grave. + </p> + <p> + The boys follow them, gamboling among the little iron crosses, and trying + if here and there one of them may not be overthrown. + </p> + <p> + We two strangers follow the boys. + </p> + <p> + But here the pall-bearers become puzzled: on the right is an open trench, + on the left is an open trench. + </p> + <p> + “Presence of the Devil! To which grave does this dead belong?” They + discuss, they dispute, they quarrel. + </p> + <p> + From the side of the wall, as if he rose from the sea, appears the grave + digger, with his shovel on his shoulder—slouching toward us. + </p> + <p> + “Ah heigh! Ciò, the grave-digger! Where does this dead belong?” + </p> + <p> + “Body of Bacchus, what potatoes! Here, in this trench to the right.” + </p> + <p> + They set down the bier there, gladly. They strip away the coffin’s gay + upper garment; they leave but the under-dress of black box, painted to + that favor with pitch. They shove it into the grave-digger’s arms, where + he stands in the trench, in the soft earth, rich with bones. He lets it + slide swiftly to the ground—thump! <i>Ecco fatto!</i> + </p> + <p> + The two boys pick up the empty bier, and dance merrily away with it to the + riva-gate, feigning a little play after the manner of children,—“Oh, + what a beautiful dead!” + </p> + <p> + The eldest of the pleasant ruffians is all the pleasanter for <i>sciampagnin</i>, + and can hardly be persuaded to go out at the right gate. + </p> + <p> + We strangers stay behind a little, to consult with mother spectator— + Venetian, this. “Who is the dead man, signore?” + </p> + <p> + “It is a woman, poor little thing! Dead in child-bed. The baby is in there + with her.” + </p> + <p> + It has been a cheerful funeral, and yet we are not in great spirits as we + go back to the city. + </p> + <p> + For my part, I do not think the cry of sea-gulls on a gloomy day is a + joyous sound; and the sight of those theatrical angels, with their + shameless, unfinished backs, flying off the top of the rococo façade of + the church of the Jesuits, has always been a spectacle to fill me with + despondency and foreboding. + </p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + + <h2><a name="link2HCH0020" id="link2HCH0020"></a> + CHAPTER XX.<br/> + VENETIAN TRAITS AND CHARACTERS. + </h2> + <p> + On a small canal, not far from the railroad station, the gondoliers show + you a house, by no means notable (except for the noble statue of a knight, + occupying a niche in one corner), as the house of Othello. It was once the + palace of the patrician family Moro, a name well known in the annals of + the Republic, and one which, it has been suggested, misled Shakespeare + into the invention of a Moor of Venice. Whether this is possibly the fact, + or whether there is any tradition of a tragic incident in the history of + the Moro family similar to that upon which the play is founded, I do not + know; but it is certain that the story of Othello, very nearly as + Shakespeare tells it, is popularly known in Venice; and the gondoliers + have fixed upon the Casa Moro in question as the edifice best calculated + to give satisfaction to strangers in search of the True and the Memorable. + The statue is happily darkened by time, and thus serves admirably to + represent Othello’s complexion, and to place beyond the shadow of a doubt + the fact of his residence in the house. Indeed, what can you say to the + gondolier, who, in answer to your cavils, points to the knight, with the + convincing argument, “There is his statue!” + </p> + <p> + One day I was taken to see this house, in company with some friends, and + when it had been victoriously pointed out, as usual, we asked meekly, “Who + was Othello?” + </p> + <p> + “Othello, Signori,” answered the gondolier, “was a general of the + Republic, in the old times. He was an African, and black; but nevertheless + the State valued him, and he beat the Turks in many battles. Well, + Signori, this general Othello had a very young and beautiful wife, and his + wife’s cousin (<i>sic!</i>), Cassio was his major-domo, or, as some say, + his lieutenant. But after a while happens along (<i>capita</i>) another + soldier of Othello, who wants Cassio’s employment, and so accuses him to + the general of corrupting his wife. Very well, Signori! Without thinking + an instant, Othello, being made so, flew into a passion (<i>si riscaldò là + tèsta</i>), and killed his wife; and then when her innocence came out, he + killed himself and that liar; and the State confiscated his goods, he + being a very rich man. There has been a tragedy written about all this, + you know.” + </p> + <p> + “But how is it called? Who wrote it?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh! in regard to that, then, I don’t know. Some Englishman.” + </p> + <p> + “Shakespeare?” + </p> + <p> + “I don’t know, Signori. But if you doubt what I tell you, go to any + bookseller, and say, ‘Favor me with the tragedy of “Othello.”’ He will + give it you, and there you will find it all written out just as I tell + it.” + </p> + <p> + This gondolier confirmed the authenticity of his story, by showing us the + house of Cassio near the Rialto Bridge, and I have no doubt he would also + have pointed out that of Iago if we had wished it. + </p> + <p> + But as a general thing, the lore of the gondoliers is not rich nor very + great. They are a loquacious and a gossiping race, but they love better to + have a quiet chat at the tops of their voices, as they loaf idly at the + ferries, or to scream repartees across the Grand Canal, than to tell + stories. In all history that relates to localities they are sufficiently + versed to find the notable places for strangers, but beyond this they + trouble themselves as little with the past as with the future. Three + tragic legends, however, they know, and will tell with the most amusing + effect, namely: Biasio, <i>luganegher</i>; the Innocent Baker-Boy, and + Veneranda Porta. + </p> + <p> + The first of these legends is that of a sausage-maker who flourished in + Venice some centuries ago, and who improved the quality of the broth which + the <i>luganegheri</i> make of their scraps and sell to the gondoliers, by + cutting up into it now and then a child of some neighbor. He was finally + detected by a gondolier who discovered a little finger in his broth, and + being brought to justice, was dragged through the city at the heels of a + wild horse. This most uncomfortable character appears to be the first hero + in the romance of the gondoliers, and he certainly deserves to rank with + that long line of imaginary personages who have made childhood so wretched + and tractable. The second is the Innocent Baker-Boy already named, who was + put to death on suspicion of having murdered a noble, because in the dead + man’s heart was found a dagger fitting a sheath which the baker had picked + up in the street, on the morning of the murder, and kept in his + possession. Many years afterwards, a malefactor who died in Padua + confessed the murder, and thereupon two lamps were lighted before a shrine + in the southern façade of St. Mark’s Church,—one for the murdered + nobleman’s soul, and the other for that of the innocent boy. Such is the + gondoliers’ story, and the lamps still burn every night before the shrine + from dark till dawn, in witness of its truth. The fact of the murder and + its guiltless expiation is an incident of Venetian history, and it is said + that the Council of the Ten never pronounced a sentence of death + thereafter, till they had been solemnly warned by one of their number with + <i>“Ricordatevi del povero Fornaretto!”</i> (Remember the poor Baker-Boy!) + The poet Dall ‘Ongaro has woven the story into a beautiful and touching + tragedy; but I believe the poet is still to be born who shall take from + the gondoliers their Veneranda Porta, and place her historic figure in + dramatic literature. Veneranda Porta was a lady of the days of the + Republic, between whom and her husband existed an incompatibility. This + was increased by the course of Signora Porta in taking a lover, and it at + last led to the assassination of the husband by the paramours. The head of + the murdered man was found in one of the canals, and being exposed, as the + old custom was, upon the granite pedestal at the corner of St. Mark’s + Church, it was recognized by his brother who found among the papers on + which the long hair was curled fragments of a letter he had written to the + deceased. The crime was traced to the paramours, and being brought before + the Ten, they were both condemned to be hanged between the columns of the + Piazzetta. The gondoliers relate that when the sentence was pronounced, + Veneranda said to the Chief of the Ten, “But as for me this sentence will + never be carried out. You cannot hang a woman. Consider the impropriety!” + The Venetian rulers were wise men in their generation, and far from being + balked by this question of delicacy, the Chief replied, solving it, “My + dear, you shall be hanged in my breeches.” + </p> + <p> + It is very coarse salt which keeps one of these stories; another is + remembered because it concerns one of the people; and another for its + abomination and horror. The incidents of Venetian history which take the + fancy and touch the sensibility of the world seem hardly known to the + gondoliers, the most intelligent and quick-witted of the populace, and + themselves the very stuff that some romantic dreams of Venice are made of. + However sad the fact, it is undeniable that the stories of the + sausage-maker whose broth was flavored with murder, and the baker-boy who + suffered guiltlessly, and that savage jest at the expense of the + murderess, interest these people more than the high-well-born sorrows of + the Foscari, the tragic fate of Carmagnola, or the story of Falier,—which + last they know partly, however, because of the scandal about Falier’s + wife. Yet after all, though the gondoliers are not the gondoliers of + imaginative literature, they have qualities which recommended them to my + liking, and I look back upon my acquaintance with two or three of them in + a very friendly spirit. Compared with the truculent hackmen, who prey upon + the traveling public in all other cities of the civilized world, they are + eminently intelligent and amiable. Rogues they are, of course, for small + dishonesties are the breath in the nostrils of common carriers by land or + water, everywhere; but the trickery of the gondoliers is so good-natured + and simple that it can hardly offend. A very ordinary jocular sagacity + defeats their profoundest purposes of swindling, and no one enjoys their + exposure half so much as themselves, while a faint prospect of future + employment purifies them of every trait of dishonesty. I had only one + troublesome experience with them, and that was in the case of the old + gondolier who taught me to row. He, when I had no longer need of his + services, plunged into drunkenness, and came and dismissed me one day with + every mark of ignominy. But he afterwards forgave me, and saluted me + kindly when we met. + </p> + <p> + The immediate goal of every gondolier’s ambition is to serve, no matter + for how short a time, an Inglese, by which generic title nearly all + foreigners except Germans are known to him. The Inglese, whether he be + English or American, is apt to make the tour of the whole city in a + gondola, and to give handsome drink money at the end, whereas your Tedesco + frugally walks to every place accessible by land, or when, in a party of + six or eight, he takes a gondola, plants himself upon the letter of the + tariff, and will give no more than the rate fixed by law. The gondolier is + therefore flowingly polite to the Inglese, and he is even civil to the + Tedesco; but he is not at all bound in courtesy to that provincial Italian + who comes from the country to Venice, bargains furiously for his boat, and + commonly pays under the tariff. The Venetian who does not himself keep a + gondola seldom hires one, and even on this rare occasion makes no lavish + demand such as “How much do you want for taking me to the rail-way + station?” Lest the fervid imagination of the gondolier rise to zwanzigers + and florins, and a tedious dispute ensue, he asks: “How many centissimi do + you want?” and the contract is made, for a number of soldi. + </p> + <p> + The number of private gondolas owned in Venice is not very great. The + custom is rather to hire a gondolier with his boat. The exclusive use of + the gondola is thus secured, and the gondolier gives his services as a + domestic when off his special duty. He waits at table, goes marketing, + takes the children to school, and serves the ladies as footman, for five + francs a day, himself paying the proprietor of the gondola about a franc + daily for the boat. In former times, when Venice was rich and prosperous, + many noble families kept six or seven gondolas; and what with this + service, and the numerous gala-days of the Republic, when the whole city + took boat for the Lido, or the Giudecca, or Murano, and the gondoliers + were allowed to exact any pay they could, they were a numerous and + prosperous class. But these times have passed from Venice forever, and + though the gondoliers are still, counting the boatmen of the Giudecca and + Lido, some thousands in number, there are comparatively few young men + among them, and their gains are meagre. + </p> + <p> + In the little city of Venice, where the dialect spoken at Canareggio or + Castello is a different tongue from that heard under the Procuratie of St. + Mark’s Place, the boatmen of the several quarters of the city of course + vary greatly in character and appearance; and the gondolier who lounges at + the base of the columns of the Piazzetta, and airily invites the Inglesi + to tours of the Grand Canal, is of quite a different type from the + weather-beaten <i>barcaiuolo</i>, who croaks <i>“Barca!”</i> at the + promenaders on the Zattere. But all, as I say, are simple and harmless + enough, and however loudly they quarrel among themselves, they never pass + from the defamation of their female relatives to blows. As for the game of + knives, as it is said to be played at Naples, and as About describes it at + Rome, I doubt if it is much known to the populace of Venice. Only the + doctors let blood there—though from their lancets it flows pretty + freely and constantly. + </p> + <p> + It is true that the gondolier loves best of everything a clamorous + quarrel, carried on with the canal between him and his antagonist; but + next to this, he loves to spend his leisure at the ferry in talking of + eating and of money, and he does not differ from many of his + fellow-citizens in choice of topics. I have seldom caught a casual + expression from passers in the streets of Venice which did not relate in + some way to gold Napoleons, zwanzigers, florins, or soldi, or else to wine + and polenta. I note this trait in the Venetians, which Goldoni observed in + the Milanese a hundred years ago, and which I incline to believe is common + to all Italians. The gondoliers talk a great deal in figure and hyperbole, + and their jocose chaff is quite inscrutable even to some classes of + Venetians. With foreigners, to whom the silence and easy progress of the + gondola gives them the opportunity to talk, they are fond of using a word + or two of French. They are quick at repartee, and have a clever answer + ready for most occasions. I was one day bargaining for a boat to the Lido, + whither I refused to be taken in a shabby gondola, or at a rate higher + than seventy-five soldi for the trip. At last the patience of the + gondoliers was exhausted, and one of them called out, “Somebody fetch the + Bucintoro, and take this gentleman to the Lido for seventy-five soldi!” + (The Bucintoro being the magnificent barge in which the Doge went to wed + the Adriatic.) + </p> + <p> + The skill with which the gondoliers manage their graceful craft is always + admired by strangers, and is certainly remarkable. The gondola is very + long and slender, and rises high from the water at either end. Both bow + and stern are sharp, the former being ornamented with that deeply serrated + blade of steel, which it is the pride of the gondolier to keep bright as + silver, and the poop having a small platform, not far behind the cabin, on + which he stands when he rows. The danger of collision has always obliged + Venetian boatmen to face the bow, and the stroke with the oar (for the + gondolier uses only a single oar) is made by pushing, and not by pulling. + No small degree of art (as I learnt from experience) is thus required to + keep the gondola’s head straight,—all the strokes being made on one + side,—and the sculling return of the oar-blade, preparatory for each + new stroke, is extremely difficult to effect. Under the hands of the + gondolier, however, the gondola seems a living thing, full of grace and + winning movement. The wood-work of the little cabin is elaborately carved, + and it is usually furnished with mirrors and seats luxuriously cushioned. + The sensation of the gondola’s progress, felt by the occupant of the + cabin, as he falls back upon these cushions, may be described, to the + female apprehension at least, as “<i>too</i> divine.” The cabin is + removable at pleasure, and is generally taken off and replaced by awnings + in summer. But in the evening, when the fair Venetians go out in their + gondolas to take the air, even this awning is dispensed with, and the long + slender boat glides darkly down the Grand Canal, bearing its dazzling + freight of white <i>tulle</i>, pale-faced, black-eyed beauty, and flashing + jewels, in full view. + </p> + <p> + As for the singing of the gondoliers, they are the only class of Venetians + who have not good voices, and I am scarcely inclined to regret the silence + which long ago fell upon them. I am quite satisfied with the peculiar note + of warning which they utter as they approach the corner of a canal, and + which meaning simply, “To the Right,” or “To the Left,” is the most + pathetic and melancholy sound in the world. If, putting aside my own + comfort, I have sometimes wished for the sake of a dear, sentimental old + friend at home, who loves such idle illusions with an ardor unbecoming his + years, that I might hear the voice + </p> +<p class="poem"> + “of Adria’s gondolier,<br/> + By distance mellowed, o’er the waters sweep,” +</p> + <p class="noindent"> + I must still confess that I never did hear it under similar circumstances, + except in conversation across half a mile of lagoon, when, as usual, the + burden of the lay was polenta or soldi. + </p> + <p> + A recent Venetian writer, describing the character of the lower classes of + Venice, says: “No one can deny that our populace is loquacious and + quickwitted; but, on the other hand, no one can deny that it is regardless + of improvement. Venice, a city exceptional in its construction, its + customs, and its habits, has also an exceptional populace. It still feels, + although sixty-eight years have passed, the influence of the system of the + fallen Republic, of that oligarchic government, which, affording almost + every day some amusement to the people, left them no time to think of + their offended rights.... Since 1859 Venice has resembled a sepulchre of + the living,—squalor and beggary gaining ground with each day, and + commerce, with few exceptions, converted into monopoly; yet the populace + remains attached to its old habits, and will have its pleasure. If the + earnings are little, what then? Must one die of ennui? The caffè is + depopulated: not so the drinking-house. The last day before the drawing of + the lottery, the offices are thronged with fathers and mothers of + families, who stint their children of bread to buy dearly a few hours of + golden illusion.... At the worst, there is the Monte di Pietà, as a last + resort.” + </p> + <p> + It is true, as this writer says, that the pleasure-loving populace still + looks back fondly to the old Republican times of feasting and holidays; + but there is certainly no truth any more in the old idea that any part of + Italy is a place where people may be “idle with impunity,” or make + amusement the serious business of life. I can remember that the book from + which I received my first impressions of geography was illuminated with a + picture professing to represent Italian customs. The spirit of inquiry had + long before caused me to doubt the exact fidelity of this representation; + but it cost me a pang to learn that the picture was utterly delusive. It + has been no part of my experience in Venice to see an Italian sitting upon + the ground, and strumming the guitar, while two gayly dressed peasants + danced to the music. Indeed, the indolence of Venetians is listless and + silent, not playful or joyous; and as I learned to know their life more + intimately, I came to understand that in many cases they are idle from + despair of finding work, and that indolence is as much their fate as their + fault. Any diligence of theirs is surprising to us of northern and free + lands, because their climate subdues and enervates us, and because we can + see before them no career open to intelligent industry. With the poorest, + work is necessarily a hand-to-hand struggle against hunger; with those who + would not absolutely starve without it, work is an inexplicable passion. + </p> + <p> + Partly because the ways of these people are so childlike and simple in + many things, and partly from one’s own swindling tendency to take one’s + self in (a tendency really fatal to all sincerity of judgment, and + incalculably mischievous to such downfallen peoples as have felt the + baleful effects of the world’s sentimental, impotent sympathy), there is + something pathetic in the patient content with which Italians work. They + have naturally so large a capacity for enjoyment, that the degree of + selfdenial involved in labor seems exorbitant, and one feels that these + children, so loved of Nature, and so gifted by her, are harshly dealt with + by their stepmother Circumstance. No doubt there ought to be truth in the + silly old picture, if there is none, and I would willingly make-believe to + credit it, if I could. I am glad that they at least work in old-world, + awkward, picturesque ways, and not in commonplace, handy, modern fashion. + Neither the habits nor the implements of labor are changed since the + progress of the Republic ceased, and her heart began to die within her. + All sorts of mechanics’ tools are clumsy and inconvenient: the turner’s + lathe moves by broken impulses; door-hinges are made to order, and lift + the door from the ground as it opens upon them; all nails and tacks are + hand-made; window-sashes are contrived to be glazed without putty, and the + panes are put in from the top, so that to repair a broken glass the whole + sash is taken apart; cooking-stoves are unknown to the native cooks, who + work at an open fire, with crane and dangling pot-hooks; furniture is put + together with wooden pegs instead of screws; you do not buy a door-lock at + a hardware store,—you get a <i>fabbro</i> to make it, and he comes + with a leathern satchel full of tools to fit and finish it on the door. + The wheelbarrow of this civilization is peculiarly wonderful in + construction, with a prodigious wooden wheel, and a ponderous, incapable + body. The canals are dredged with scoops mounted on long poles, and manned + each by three or four Chiozzotti. There never was a pile-driving machine + known in Venice; nor a steam-tug in all the channels of the lagoons, + through which the largest craft are towed to and from the ports by + row-boats. In the model of the sea-going vessels there has apparently been + little change from the first. Yet in spite of all this backwardness in + invention, the city is full of beautiful workmanship in every branch of + artificing, and the Venetians are still the best sailors in the Adriatic. + </p> + <p> + I do not offer the idea as a contribution to statistics, but it seems to + me that the most active branch of industry in Venice is plucking fowls. In + summer the people all work on their thresholds, and in their windows, and + as nearly out of doors as the narrowness of the streets will let them,—and + it is hard to pass through any part of the city without coming to a + poulterer’s shop, in the door of which inevitably sits a boy, tugging at + the plumage of some wretched bird. He is seldom to be seen except in that + crisis of plucking when he seems to have all but finished; yet he seems + never to accomplish the fact perfectly. Perhaps it is part of his hard + fate that the feathers shall grow again under his hand as fast as he + plucks them away: at the restaurants, I know, the quantity of plumage one + devours in consuming roast chicken is surprising—at first. The birds + are always very lean, too, and have but a languid and weary look, in spite + of the ardent manner in which the boy clasps them while at work. It may be + that the Venetians do not like fat poultry. Their turkeys, especially, are + of that emaciation which is attributed among ourselves only to the turkey + of Job; and as for the geese and ducks, they can only interest anatomists. + It is as if the long ages of incursion and oppression which have + impoverished and devastated Italy had at last taken effect upon the + poultry, and made it as poor as the population. + </p> + <p> + I do not want to give too exclusive an impression of Venetian industry, + however, for now I remember the Venetian <i>lasagnoni</i>, whom I never + saw doing any thing, and who certainly abound in respectable numbers. + </p> + <p> + The lasagnone is a loafer, as an Italian can be a loafer, without the + admixture of ruffianism, which blemishes most loafers of northern race. He + may be quite worthless, and even impertinent, but he cannot be a rowdy,—that + pleasing blossom on the nose of our fast, high-fed, thick-blooded + civilization. In Venice he must not be confounded with other loiterers at + the caffè; not with the natty people who talk politics interminably over + little cups of black coffee; not with those old habitués, who sit forever + under the Procuratie, their hands folded upon the tops of their sticks, + and staring at the ladies who pass with a curious steadfastness and + knowing skepticism of gaze, not pleasing in the dim eyes of age; + certainly, the last persons who bear any likeness to the lasagnone are the + Germans, with their honest, heavy faces comically anglicized by + leg-of-mutton whiskers. The truth is, the lasagnone does not flourish in + the best caffè; he comes to perfection in cheaper resorts, for he is + commonly not rich. It often happens that a glass of water, flavored with a + little anisette, is the order over which he sits a whole evening. He knows + the waiter intimately, and does not call him “Shop!” (Bottega,) as less + familiar people do, but Gigi, or Beppi, as the waiter is pretty sure to be + named. “Behold!” he says, when the servant places his modest drink before + him, “who is that loveliest blonde there?” Or to his fellow-lasagnone: + “She regards me! I have broken her the heart!” This is his sole business + and mission, the cruel lasagnone—to break ladies the heart. He + spares no condition,—neither rank nor wealth is any defense against + him. I often wonder what is in that note he continually shows to his + friend. The confession of some broken heart, I think. When he has folded + it, and put it away, he chuckles <i>“Ah, cara!”</i> and sucks at his long, + slender Virginia cigar. It is unlighted, for fire consumes cigars. I never + see him read the papers,—neither the Italian papers nor the Parisian + journals, though if he can get “Galignani” he is glad, and he likes to + pretend to a knowledge of English, uttering upon occasion, with great + relish, such distinctively English words as “Yes” and “Not,” and to the + waiter, “A-little-fire-if-you-please.” He sits very late in the caffè, and + he touches his hat—his curly French hat—to the company as he + goes out with a mild swagger, his cane held lightly in his left hand, his + coat cut snugly to show his hips, and genteelly swaying with the motion of + his body. He is a dandy, of course,—all Italians are dandies,—but + his vanity is perfectly harmless, and his heart is not bad. He would go + half an hour out of his way to put you in the direction of the Piazza. A + little thing can make him happy,—to stand in the pit at the opera, + and gaze at the ladies in the lower boxes—to attend the Marionette, + or the Malibran Theatre, and imperil the peace of pretty seamstresses and + contadinas—to stand at the church doors and ogle the fair saints as + they pass out. Go, harmless lasagnone, to thy lodging in some mysterious + height, and break hearts if thou wilt. They are quickly mended. + </p> + <p> + Of other vagabonds in Venice, if I had my choice, I think I must select a + certain ruffian who deals in dog-flesh, as the nearest my ideal of what a + vagabond should be in all respects. He stands habitually under the Old + Procuratie, beside a basket of small puppies in that snuffling and + quivering state which appears to be the favorite condition of very young + dogs, and occupies himself in conversation with an adjacent dealer in + grapes and peaches, or sometimes fastidiously engages in trimming the hair + upon the closely shaven bodies of the dogs; for in Venice it is the + ambition of every dog to look as much like the Lion of St. Mark as the + nature of the case will permit. My vagabond at times makes expeditions to + the groups of travelers always seated in summer before the Caffè Florian, + appearing at such times with a very small puppy,—neatly poised upon + the palm of his hand, and winking pensively,—which he advertises to + the company as a “Beautiful Beast,” or a “Lovely Babe,” according to the + inspiration of his light and pleasant fancy. I think the latter term is + used generally as a means of ingratiation with the ladies, to whom my + vagabond always shows a demeanor of agreeable gallantry. I never saw him + sell any of these dogs, nor ever in the least cast down by his failure to + do so. His air is grave, but not severe; there is even, at times, a + certain playfulness in his manner, possibly attributable to sciampagnin. + His curling black locks, together with his velveteen jacket and + pantaloons, are oiled and glossy, and his beard is cut in the + French-imperial mode. His personal presence is unwholesome, and it is + chiefly his moral perfection as a vagabond that makes him fascinating. One + is so confident, however, of his fitness for his position and business, + and of his entire contentment with it, that it is impossible not to exult + in him. + </p> + <p> + He is not without self-respect. I doubt, it would be hard to find any + Venetian of any vocation, however base, who forgets that he too is a man + and a brother. There is enough servility in the language,—it is the + fashion of the Italian tongue, with its <i>Tu</i> for inferiors, <i>Voi</i> + for intimates and friendly equals, and <i>Lei</i> for superiors,—but + in the manner there is none, and there is a sense of equality in the + ordinary intercourse of the Venetians, at once apparent to foreigners. + </p> + <p> + All ranks are orderly; the spirit of aggression seems not to exist among + them, and the very boys and dogs in Venice are so well-behaved, that I + have never seen the slightest disposition in them to quarrel. Of course, + it is of the street-boy—the <i>biricchino</i>, the boy in his + natural, unreclaimed state—that I speak. This state is here, in + winter, marked by a clouded countenance, bare head, tatters, and + wooden-soled shoes open at the heels; in summer by a preternatural purity + of person, by abandon to the amphibious pleasure of leaping off the + bridges into the canals, and by an insatiable appetite for polenta, fried + minnows, and water-melons. + </p> + <p> + When one of these boys takes to beggary, as a great many of them do, out + of a spirit of adventure and wish to pass the time, he carries out the + enterprise with splendid daring. A favorite artifice is to approach + Charity with a slice of polenta in one hand, and, with the other extended, + implore a soldo to buy cheese to eat with the polenta. The street-boys + also often perform the duties of the <i>gransieri</i>, who draw your + gondola to shore, and keep it firm with a hook. To this order of beggar I + usually gave; but one day at the railway station I had no soldi, and as I + did not wish to render my friend discontented with future alms by giving + silver, I deliberately apologized, praying him to excuse me, and promising + him for another time. I cannot forget the lofty courtesy with which he + returned,—“<i>S’accomodi pur, Signor!</i>” They have sometimes a + sense of humor, these poor swindlers, and can enjoy the exposure of their + own enormities. An amiable rogue drew our gondola to land one evening when + we went too late to see the church of San Giorgio Maggiore. The sacristan + made us free of a perfectly dark church, and we rewarded him as if it had + been noonday. On our return to the gondola, the same beggar whom we had + just feed held out his hat for another alms. “But we have just paid you,” + we cried in an agony of grief and desperation. <i>“Sì, signori!”</i> he + admitted with an air of argument, <i>“è vero. Ma, la chiesa!”</i> (Yes, + gentlemen, it is true. But the church!) he added with confidential + insinuation, and a patronizing wave of the hand toward the edifice, as if + he had been San Giorgio himself, and held the church as a source of + revenue. This was too much, and we laughed him to scorn; at which, + beholding the amusing abomination of his conduct, he himself joined in our + laugh with a cheerfulness that won our hearts. + </p> + <p> + Beggary is attended by no disgrace in Italy, and it therefore comes that + no mendicant is without a proper degree of the self-respect common to all + classes. Indeed, the habit of taking gifts of money is so general and + shameless that the street beggars must be diffident souls indeed if they + hesitated to ask for it. A perfectly well-dressed and well-mannered man + will take ten soldi from you for a trifling service, and not consider + himself in the least abased. The detestable custom of largess, instead of + wages, still obtains in so great degree in Venice that a physician, when + asked for his account, replies: “What you please to give.” Knowing these + customs, I hope I have never acted discourteously to the street beggars of + Venice even when I gave them nothing, and I know that only one of them + ever so far forgot himself as to curse me for not giving. Him, however, I + think to have been out of his right mind at the time. + </p> + <p> + There were two mad beggars in the parish of San Stefano, whom I should be + sorry to leave unmentioned here. One, who presided chiefly over the Campo + San Stefano, professed to be also a facchino, but I never saw him + employed, except in addressing select circles of idlers whom a brawling + noise always draws together in Venice. He had been a soldier, and he + sometimes put himself at the head of a file of Croats passing through the + campo, and gave them the word of command, to the great amusement of those + swarthy barbarians. He was a good deal in drink, and when in this state + was proud to go before any ladies who might be passing, and clear away the + boys and idlers, to make room for them. When not occupied in any of these + ways, he commonly slept in the arcades of the old convent. + </p> +<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0414}.jpg" alt="{0414}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0414}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5> + + <p> + But the mad beggar of Campo Sant’ Angelo seemed to have a finer sense of + what became him as a madman and a beggar, and never made himself obnoxious + by his noise. He was, in fact, very fat and amiable, and in the summer lay + asleep, for the most part, at a certain street corner which belonged to + him. When awake he was a man of extremely complaisant presence, and + suffered no lady to go by without a compliment to her complexion, her + blond hair, or her beautiful eyes, whichever it might be. He got money for + these attentions, and people paid him for any sort of witticism. One day + he said to the richest young dandy of the city,—“Pah! you stomach me + with your perfumes and fine airs;” for which he received half a florin. + His remarks to gentlemen had usually this sarcastic flavor. I am sorry to + say that so excellent a madman was often drunk and unable to fulfill his + duties to society. + </p> + <p> + There are, of course, laws against mendicancy in Venice, and they are, of + course, never enforced. Beggars abound everywhere, and nobody molests + them. There was long a troop of weird sisters in Campo San Stefano, who + picked up a livelihood from the foreigners passing to and from the Academy + of Fine Arts. They addressed people with the title of Count, and no doubt + gained something by this sort of heraldry, though there are counts in + Venice almost as poor as themselves, and titles are not distinctions. The + Venetian seldom gives to beggars; he says deliberately, “<i>No go</i>” (I + have nothing), or “<i>Quando ritornerò</i>” (when I return), and never + comes back that way. I noticed that professional hunger and cold took this + sort of denial very patiently, as they did every other; but I confess I + had never the heart to practice it. In my walks to the Public Gardens + there was a venerable old man, with the beard and bearing of a patriarch, + whom I encountered on the last bridge of the Riva, and who there asked + alms of me. When I gave him a soldo, he returned me a blessing which I + would be ashamed to take in the United States for half a dollar; and when + the soldo was in some inaccessible pocket, and I begged him to await my + coming back, he said sweetly,—“Very well, Signor, I will be here.” + And I must say, to his credit, that he never broke his promise, nor + suffered me, for shame’s sake, to break mine. He was quite a treasure to + me in this respect, and assisted me to form habits of punctuality. + </p> + <p> + That exuberance of manner which one notes, the first thing, in his + intercourse with Venetians, characterizes all classes, but is most + excessive and relishing in the poor. There is a vast deal of ceremony with + every order, and one hardly knows what to do with the numbers of + compliments it is necessary to respond to. A Venetian does not come to see + you, he comes to revere you; he not only asks if you be well when he meets + you, but he bids you remain well at parting, and desires you to salute for + him all common friends; he reverences you at leave-taking; he will + sometimes consent to incommode you with a visit; he will relieve you of + the disturbance when he rises to go. All spontaneous wishes which must, + with us, take original forms, for lack of the complimentary phrase, are + formally expressed by him,—good appetite to you, when you go to + dinner; much enjoyment, when you go to the theatre; a pleasant walk, if you + meet in promenade. He is your servant at meeting and parting; he begs to + be commanded when he has misunderstood you. But courtesy takes its highest + flights, as I hinted, from the poorest company. Acquaintances of this + sort, when not on the <i>Ciò ciappa</i> footing, or that of the familiar + thee and thou, always address each other in <i>Lei</i> (lordship), or <i>Elo</i>, + as the Venetians have it; and their compliment-making at encounter and + separation is endless: I salute you! Remain well! Master! Mistress! (<i>Paron! + parona!</i>) being repeated as long as the polite persons are within + hearing. + </p> + <p> + One day, as we passed through the crowded Merceria, an old Venetian friend + of mine, who trod upon the dress of a young person before us, called out, + “<i>Scusate, bella giovane</i>!” (Pardon, beautiful girl!) She was not so + fair nor so young as I have seen women; but she half turned her face with + a forgiving smile, and seemed pleased with the accident that had won her + the amiable apology. The waiter of the caffè frequented by the people, + says to the ladies for whom he places seats,—“Take this place, + beautiful blonde;” or, “Sit here, lovely brunette,” as it happens. + </p> + <p> + A Venetian who enters or leaves any place of public resort touches his hat + to the company, and one day at the restaurant some ladies, who had been + dining there, said “<i>Complimenti!</i>” on going out, with a grace that + went near to make the beefsteak tender. It is this uncostly gentleness of + bearing which gives a winning impression of the whole people, whatever + selfishness or real discourtesy lie beneath it. At home it sometimes seems + that we are in such haste to live and be done with it, we have no time to + be polite. Or is popular politeness merely a vice of servile peoples? And + is it altogether better to be rude? I wish it were not. If you are lost in + his city (and you are pretty sure to be lost there, continually), a + Venetian will go with you wherever you wish. And he will do this amiable + little service out of what one may say old civilization has established in + place of goodness of heart, but which is perhaps not so different from it. + </p> + <p> + You hear people in the streets bless each other in the most dramatic + fashion. I once caught these parting words between an old man and a young + girl; + </p> + <p> + <i>Giovanetta</i>. Revered sir! (<i>Patron riverito!</i>) + </p> + <p> + <i>Vecchio</i>. (With that peculiar backward wave and beneficent wag of + the hand, only possible to Italians.) Blessed child! (<i>Benedetta!</i>) + </p> + <p> + It was in a crowd, but no one turned round at the utterance of terms which + Anglo-Saxons would scarcely use in their most emotional moments. The old + gentleman who sells boxes for the theatre in the Old Procuratie always + gave me his benediction when I took a box. + </p> + <p> + There is equal exuberance of invective, and I have heard many fine + maledictions on the Venetian streets, but I recollect none more elaborate + than that of a gondolier who, after listening peacefully to a quarrel + between two other boatmen, suddenly took part against one of them, and + saluted him with,—“Ah! baptized son of a dog! And if I had been + present at thy baptism, I would have dashed thy brains out against the + baptismal font!” + </p> + <p> + All the theatrical forms of passion were visible in a scene I witnessed in + a little street near San Samuele, where I found the neighborhood assembled + at doors and windows in honor of a wordy battle between two poor women. + One of these had been forced in-doors by her prudent husband, and the + other upbraided her across the marital barrier. The assailant was washing, + and twenty times she left her tub to revile the besieged, who thrust her + long arms out over those of her husband, and turned each reproach back + upon her who uttered it, thus:— + </p> + <p> + <i>Assailant</i>. Beast! + </p> + <p> + <i>Besieged</i>. Thou! + </p> + <p> + <i>A</i>. Fool! + </p> + <p> + <i>B</i>. Thou! + </p> + <p> + <i>A</i>. Liar! + </p> + <p> + <i>B</i>. Thou! + </p> + <p> + <i>E via in seguito!</i> At last the assailant, beating her breast with + both hands, and tempestuously swaying her person back and forth, wreaked + her scorn in one wild outburst of vituperation, and returned finally to + her tub, wisely saying, on the purple verge of asphyxiation, “<i>O, non + discorre più con gente</i>.” + </p> + <p> + I returned half an hour later, and she was laughing and playing sweetly + with her babe. + </p> + <p> + It suits the passionate nature of the Italians to have incredible ado + about buying and selling, and a day’s shopping is a sort of campaign, from + which the shopper returns plundered and discomfited, or laden with the + spoil of vanquished shopmen. + </p> + <p> + The embattled commercial transaction is conducted in this wise: + </p> + <p> + The shopper enters, and prices a given article. The shopman names a sum of + which only the fervid imagination of the South could conceive as + corresponding to the value of the goods. + </p> + <p> + The purchaser instantly starts back with a wail of horror and indignation, + and the shopman throws himself forward over the counter with a protest + that, far from being dear, the article is ruinously cheap at the price + stated, though they may nevertheless agree for something less. + </p> + <p> + What, then, is the very most ultimate price? + </p> + <p> + Properly, the very most ultimate price is so much. (Say, the smallest + trifle under the price first asked.) + </p> + <p> + The purchaser moves toward the door. He comes back, and offers one third + of the very most ultimate price. + </p> + <p> + The shopman, with a gentle desperation, declares that the thing cost him + as much. He cannot really take the offer. He regrets, but he cannot. That + the gentleman would say something more! So much—for example. That he + regard the stuff, its quality, fashion, beauty. + </p> + <p> + The gentleman laughs him to scorn. Ah, heigh! and, coming forward, he + picks up the article and reviles it. Out of the mode, old, fragile, ugly + of its kind. The shopman defends his wares. There is no such quantity and + quality elsewhere in Venice. But if the gentleman will give even so much + (still something preposterous), he may have it, though truly its sale for + that money is utter ruin. + </p> + <p> + The shopper walks straight to the door. The shopman calls him back from + the threshold, or sends his boy to call him back from the street. + </p> + <p> + Let him accommodate himself—which is to say, take the thing at his + own price. + </p> + <p> + He takes it. + </p> + <p> + The shopman says cheerfully, “Servo suo!” + </p> + <p> + The purchaser responds, “Bon dì! Patron!” (Good day! my Master!) + </p> + <p> + Thus, as I said, every bargain is a battle, and every purchase a triumph + or a defeat. The whole thing is understood; the opposing forces know + perfectly well all that is to be done beforehand, and retire after the + contest, like the captured knights in “<i>Morgante Maggiore</i>” “calm as + oil,”—however furious and deadly their struggle may have appeared to + strangers. + </p> + <p> + Foreigners soon discern, however, that there is no bloodshed in such + encounters, and enter into them with a zeal as great as that of natives, + though with less skill. I knew one American who prided himself on such + matters, and who haughtily closed a certain bargain without words, as he + called it. The shopman offered several articles, for which he demanded + prices amounting in all to ninety-three francs. His wary customer rapidly + computed the total and replied “Without words, now, I’ll give you a + hundred francs for the lot.” With a pensive elevation of the eyebrows, and + a reluctant shrug of the shoulders, the shopman suffered him to take them. + </p> + <p> + Your Venetian is <i>simpatico</i>, if he is any thing. He is always ready + to feel and to express the deepest concern, and I rather think he likes to + have his sensibilities appealed to, as a pleasant and healthful exercise + for them. His sympathy begins at home, and he generously pities himself as + the victim of a combination of misfortunes, which leave him citizen of a + country without liberty, without commerce, without money, without hope. He + next pities his fellow-citizens, who are as desperately situated as + himself. Then he pities the degradation, corruption, and despair into + which the city has fallen. And I think his compassion is the most hopeless + thing in his character. That alone is touched; that alone is moved; and + when its impulse ceases he and every thing about him remain just as + before. + </p> + <p> + With the poor, this sensibility is amusingly mischievous. They never speak + of one of their own class without adding some such ejaculation as “Poor + fellow!” or, “Poor little creature!” They pity all wretchedness, no matter + from what cause, and the greatest rogue has their compassion when under a + cloud. It is all but impossible to punish thieves in Venice, where they + are very bold and numerous for the police are too much occupied with + political surveillance to give due attention to mere cutpurses and + housebreakers, and even when they make an arrest, people can hardly be got + to bear witness against their unhappy prisoner. <i>Povareto anca lu!</i> + There is no work and no money; people must do something; so they steal. <i>Ci + vuol pazienza!</i> Bear witness against an ill-fated fellow-sufferer? God + forbid! Stop a thief? I think a burglar might run from Rialto to San + Marco, and not one compassionate soul in the Merceria would do aught to + arrest him—<i>povareto!</i> Thieves came to the house of a friend of + mine at noonday, when his servant was out. They tied their boat to his + landing, entered his house, filled their boat with plunder from it, and + rowed out into the canal. The neighbors on the floor above saw them, and + cried “Thieves! thieves!” It was in the most frequented part of the Grand + Canal, where scores of boats passed and repassed; but no one molested the + thieves, and these <i>povareti</i> escaped with their booty. [Footnote: + The rogues, it must be confessed, are often very polite. This same friend + of mine one day found a man in the act of getting down into a boat with + his favorite singing bird in its cage. “What are you doing with that + bird?” he thought himself authorized to inquire. The thief looked about + him a moment, and perceiving himself detected, handed back the cage with a + cool “<i>La scusi!</i>” (“Beg pardon!”) as if its removal had been a + trifling inadvertance.] + </p> + <p> + One night, in a little street through which we passed to our ferry, there + came a wild rush before us, of a woman screaming for help, and pursued by + her husband with a knife in his hand; their children, shrieking piteously, + came after them. The street was crowded with people and soldiers, but no + one put out his hand; and the man presently overtook his wife and stabbed + her in the back. We only knew of the rush, but what it all meant we could + not tell, till we saw the woman bleeding from the stab, which, happily, + was slight. Inquiry of the bystanders developed the facts, but, singularly + enough, scarcely a word of pity. It was entirely a family affair, it + seemed; the man, poor little fellow, had a mistress, and his wife had + maddened him with reproaches. <i>Come si fa</i>? He had to stab her. The + woman’s case was not one that appealed to popular compassion, and the only + words of pity for her which I heard were expressed by the wife of a + fruiterer, whom her husband angrily silenced. + </p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + + <h2><a name="link2HCH0021" id="link2HCH0021"></a> + CHAPTER XXI.<br/> + SOCIETY. + </h2> + <p> + It was natural that the Venetians, whose State lay upon the borders of the + Greek Empire, and whose greatest commerce was with the Orient, should be + influenced by the Constantinopolitan civilization. Mutinelli records that + in the twelfth century they had many religious offices and observances in + common with the Greeks, especially the homily or sermon, which formed a + very prominent part of the service of worship. At this time, also, when + the rupture of the Lombard League had left other Italian cities to fall + back into incessant local wars, and barbarized their customs, the people + of Venice dressed richly and delicately, after the Greek fashion. They + combed and dressed their hair, and wore the long, pointed Greek beard; + [Footnote: A. Foscarini, in 1687, was the last patrician who wore the + beard.] and though these Byzantine modes fell, for the most part, into + disuse, in after-time, there is still a peculiarity of dress among the + women of the Venetian poor which is said to have been inherited from the + oriental costumes of Constantinople; namely, that high-heeled, sharp-toed + slipper, or sandal, which covers the front of the foot, and drops from the + heel at every step, requiring no slight art in the wearer to keep it on at + all. + </p> + <p> + The philosophic vision, accustomed to relate trifling particulars to + important generalities, may perhaps see another relic of Byzantine + civilization among the Venetians, in that jealous restraint which they put + upon all the social movements of young girls, and the great liberty which + they allow to married women. It is true that their damsels are now no + longer imprisoned under the parental roof, as they were in times when they + never left its shelter but to go, closely veiled, to communion in the + church, on Christmas and Easter; but it is still quite impossible that any + young lady should go out alone. Indeed, she would scarcely be secure from + insult in broad day if she did so. She goes out with her governess, and, + even with this protection, she cannot be too guarded and circumspect in + her bearing; for in Venice a woman has to encounter upon the public street + a rude license of glance, from men of all ages and conditions, which falls + little short of outrage. They stare at her as she approaches; and I have + seen them turn and contemplate ladies as they passed them, keeping a few + paces in advance, with a leisurely sidelong gait. Something of this + insolence might be forgiven to thoughtless, hot-blooded youth; but the + gross and knowing leer that the elders of the Piazza and the caffè put on + at the approach of a pretty girl is an ordeal which few women, not as + thoroughly inured to it as the Venetians, would care to encounter. + However, as I never heard the trial complained of by any but foreigners, I + suppose it is not regarded by Italians as intolerable; and it is certain + that an audible compliment, upon the street, to a pretty girl of the poor, + is by no means an affront. + </p> + <p> + The arts of pleasing and of coquetry come by nature to the gentler sex; + and if in Italy they add to them a habit of intrigue, I wonder how much + they are to blame, never being in anywise trusted? They do not differ from + persons of any age or sex in that country, if the world has been as + justly, as it has always been firmly, persuaded that the people of Italy + are effete in point of good faith. I have seen much to justify this + opinion, and something also to confute it; and as long as Garibaldi lives, + I shall not let myself believe that a race which could produce a man so + signally truthful and single-hearted is a race of liars and cheats. I + think the student of their character should also be slow to upbraid + Italians for their duplicity, without admitting, in palliation of the + fault, facts of long ages of alien and domestic oppression, in politics + and religion, which must account for a vast deal of every kind of evil in + Italy. Yet after exception and palliation has been duly made, it must be + confessed that in Italy it does not seem to be thought shameful to tell + lies, and that there the standard of sincerity, compared with that of the + English or American, is low, as the Italian standard of morality in other + respects is also comparatively low. + </p> + <p> + With the women, bred in idleness and ignorance, the imputed national + untruthfulness takes the form naturally to be expected, and contributes + to a state of things which must be examined with the greatest caution and + reservation by every one but the Italians themselves. Goethe says that + there is no society so corrupt that a man may not live virtuously in it; + and I think the immorality of any people will not be directly and wholly + seen by the stranger who does not seek it. Certainly, the experience and + acquaintance of a foreigner in Italy must have been most unfortunate, if + they confirm all the stories of corruption told by Italians themselves. A + little generous distrust is best in matters of this kind; but while I + strengthen my incredulity concerning the utter depravation of Venetian + society in one respect, I am not disposed to deal so leniently with it in + others. The state of things is bad in Venice, not because all women in + society are impure, but because the Italian theory of morals does not + admit the existence of opportunity without sin. It is by rare chance that + a young girl makes acquaintance with young men in society; she seldom + talks with them at the parties to which she is sometimes taken by her + mother, and they do not call upon her at her home; while for her to walk + alone with a young man would be vastly more scandalous than much worse + things, and is, consequently, unheard of. The Italians say freely they + cannot trust their women as northern women are trusted; and some Italian + women frankly confess that their sex would be worse if it were trusted + more. But the truth does not appear in this shallow suspicion and this + shallow self-conviction; and one who cares to have a just estimate of + this matter must by no means believe all the evil he hears. There may be + much corruption in society, but there is infinitely more wrong in the + habits of idle gossip and guilty scandal, which eat all sense of shame + and pity out of the heart of Venice. There is no parallel to the prying, + tattling, backbiting littleness of the place elsewhere in the world. A + small country village in America or England has its meddlesomeness, but + not its worldly, wicked sharpness. Figure the meanness of a + chimney-corner gossip, added to the bitter shrewdness and witty + penetration of a gifted roué, and you have some idea of Venetian scandal. + In that city, where all the nobler organs of expression are closed by + political conditions, the viler channels run continual filth and poison, + and the people, shut out from public and free discussion of religious and + political themes, occupy themselves with private slander, and rend each + other in their abject desperation. As it is part of the existing + political demonstration to avoid the opera and theatre, the Venetians are + deprived of these harmless distractions; balls and evening parties, at + which people, in other countries, do nothing worse than bore each other, + are almost unknown, for the same reason; and when persons meet in + society, it is too often to retail personalities, or Italian politics + made as unintelligible and as like local gossip as possible. The talk + which is small and noxious in private circles is the same thing at the + caffè, when the dread of spies does not reduce the talkers to a dreary + silence. Not permitted to feel the currents of literature and the great + world’s thought in religion freshly and directly, they seldom speak + of these things, except in that tone of obsolete superiority which + Italians are still prone to affect, as the monopolists of culture. As to + Art, the Venetians are insensible to it and ignorant of it, here in the + very atmosphere of Art, to a degree absolutely amusing. I would as soon + think of asking a fish’s opinion of water as of asking a + Venetian’s notion of architecture or painting, unless he were + himself a professed artist or critic. + </p> + <p> + Admitting, however, that a great part of the corruption of society is + imputed, there still remains, no doubt, a great deal of real immorality to + be accounted for. This, I think, is often to be attributed to the bad + system of female education, and the habits of idleness in which women are + bred. Indeed, to Americans, the whole system of Italian education seems + calculated to reduce women to a state of imbecile captivity before + marriage; and I have no fault to find with the Italians that they are + jealous in guarding those whom they have unfitted to protect themselves, + but have rather to blame them that, after marriage, their women are thrown + at once upon society, when worse than helpless against its temptations. + Except with those people who attempt to maintain a certain appearance in + public upon insufficient means (and there are too many of these in Venice + as everywhere else), and who spare in every other way that they may spend + on dress, it does not often happen that Venetian ladies are housekeepers. + Servants are cheap and numerous, as they are uncleanly and untrustworthy, + and the Venetians prefer to keep them [Footnote: A clerk or employé with a + salary of fifty cents a day keeps a maid-servant, that his wife may + fulfill to society the important duty of doing nothing.] rather than take + part in housewifely duties; and, since they must lavish upon dress and + show, to suffer from cold and hunger in their fireless houses and at their + meagre boards. In this way the young girls, kept imprisoned from the + world, instead of learning cookery and other domestic arts, have the + grievous burden of idleness added to that of their solitary confinement, + not only among the rich and noble, but among that large class which is + neither and wishes to appear both. [Footnote: The poet Gray, genteelly + making the grand tour in 1740, wrote to his father from Florence: “The + only thing the Italians shine in is their reception of strangers. At such + times every thing is magnificence: the more remarkable as in their + ordinary course of life they are parsimonious to a degree of nastiness. I + saw in one of the vastest palaces of Rome (that of the Prince Pamfilio), + the apartment which he himself inhabited, a bed that most servants in + England would disdain to lie in, and furniture much like that of a soph at + Cambridge. This man is worth 30,000<i>l</i>. a year.” Italian nature has + changed so little in a century, that all this would hold admirably true of + Italian life at this time. The goodly outside in religion, in morals, in + every thing is too much the ambition of Italy; this achieved, she is + content to endure any pang of self-denial, and sell what little comfort + she knows—it is mostly imported, like the word, from England—to + strangers at fabulous prices. In Italy the luxuries of life are cheap, and + the conveniences unknown or excessively dear.] Their idle thoughts, not + drilled by study nor occupied with work, run upon the freedom which + marriage shall bring them, and form a distorted image of the world, of + which they know as little as of their own undisciplined selves. Denied the + just and wholesome amusements of society during their girlhood, it is + scarcely a matter of surprise that they should throw themselves into the + giddiest whirl of its excitement when marriage sets them free to do so. + </p> + <p> + I have said I do not think Venetians who give each other bad names are + always to be credited, and I have no doubt that many a reputation in + Venice is stained while the victim remains without guilt. A questioned + reputation is, however, no great social calamity. It forms no bar to + society, and few people are so cruel as to blame it, though all discuss + it. And it is here that the harshness of American and English society + toward the erring woman (harshness which is not injustice, but + half-justice only) contrasts visibly to our advantage over the bad naïveté + and lenity of the Italians. The carefully secluded Italian girl is + accustomed to hear of things and speak of things which, with us, parents + strive in every way to keep from their daughters’ knowledge; and while her + sense of delicacy is thus early blunted, while she is thus used to know + good and evil, she hears her father and mother comment on the sinful + errors of a friend or neighbor, who visits them and meets them every day + in society. How can the impunity of the guilt which she believes to exist + around her but sometimes have its effect, and ripen, with opportunity, + into wrong? Nay, if the girl reveres her parents at all, how can she think + the sin, which they caress in the sinner, is so very bad? If, however, she + escape all these early influences of depravation; if her idleness, and + solitude and precocious knowledge leave her unvitiated, if, when she goes + into society, it is by marriage with a man who is neither a dotard nor a + fortune-seeker, and who remains constant and does not tempt her, by + neglect, to forbode offense and to inflict anticipative reprisals—yet + her purity goes uncredited, as her guilt would go unpunished; scandal + makes haste to blacken her name to the prevailing hue; and whether she has + sin or not, those with sin will cast, not the stone that breaks and kills, + but the filth that sticks and stinks. The wife must continue the long + social exile of her girlhood if she would not be the prey of scandal. The + <i>cavaliere servente</i> no longer exists, but gossip now attributes + often more than one lover in his place, and society has the cruel clemency + to wink at the license. Nothing is in worse taste than jealousy, and, + consequently, though intrigue sometimes causes stabbing, and the like, + among low people, it is rarely noticed by persons of good breeding. It + seems to me that in Venetian society the reform must begin, not with + dissolute life, but with the social toleration of the impure, and with the + wanton habits of scandal, which make all other life incredible, and deny + to virtue the triumph of fair fame. + </p> + <p> + I confess that what I saw of the innocent amusements of this society was + not enough to convince me of their brilliancy and attractiveness; but I + doubt if a foreigner can be a trustworthy judge of these things, and + perhaps a sketch drawn by an alien hand, in the best faith, might have an + air of caricature. I would not, therefore, like to trust my own impression + of social diversions. They were, very probably, much more lively and + brilliant than I thought them. But Italians assembled anywhere, except at + the theatre or the caffè, have a certain stiffness, all the more + surprising, because tradition has always led one to expect exactly the + reverse of them. I have seen nothing equal to the formality of this + people, who deride colder nations for inflexible manners; and I have + certainly never seen society in any small town in America so ill at ease + as I have seen society in Venice, writhing under self-imposed restraints. + At a musical soirée, attended by the class of people who at home would + have been chatty and sociable, given to making acquaintance and to keeping + up acquaintance,—the young men harmlessly talking and walking with + the young ladies, and the old people listening together, while constant + movement and intercourse kept life in the assembly, and there was some + real pleasure felt amidst a good deal of unavoidable suffering,—I + say, I found such a soirée in Venice to be a spectacle of ladies planted + in formal rows of low-necks and white dresses around the four sides of one + room, and of gentlemen restively imprisoned in dress-coats and white + gloves in another. During the music all these devoted people listened + attentively, and at the end, the ladies lapsed back into their chairs and + fanned themselves, while the gentlemen walked up and down the floor of + their cell, and stopped, two by two, at the door of the ladies’ room, + glanced mournfully athwart the moral barrier which divided them, and sadly + and dejectedly turned away. Amazed at this singular species of social + enjoyment, I inquired afterward, of a Venetian lady, if evening parties in + Venice were usually such ordeals, and was discouraged to learn that what I + had seen was scarcely an exaggeration of prevailing torments. Commonly + people do not know each other, and it is difficult for the younger to + procure introductions; and when there is previous acquaintance, the + presence of some commanding spirit is necessary to break the ice of + propriety, and substitute enjoyment for correctness of behavior. Even at + dancing parties, where it would seem that the poetry of motion might do + something to soften the rigid bosom of Venetian deportment, the poor young + people separate after each dance, and take each sex its appointed prison, + till the next quadrille offers them a temporary liberation. For my own + part, I cannot wonder that young men fly these virtuous scenes, and throng + the rooms of those pleasant women of the <i>demi-monde</i>, who only exact + from them that they shall be natural and agreeable; I cannot wonder that + their fair partners in wretchedness seize the first opportunity to revenge + themselves upon the propriety which has so cruelly used them. It is said + that the assemblies of the Jews, while quite as unexceptionable in + character, are far more sociable and lively than those of the Christians. + The young Hebrews are frequently intelligent, well-bred, and witty, with a + <i>savoir faire</i> which their Christian brethren lack. But, indeed, the + young Venetian is, at that age when all men are owlish, ignorant, and + vapid, the most owlish, ignorant, and vapid man in the world. He talks, + not milk-and-water, but warm water alone, a little sweetened; and, until + he has grown wicked, has very little good in him. + </p> + <p> + Most ladies of fashion receive calls on a certain day of each week, when + it is made a matter of pride to receive as many calls as possible. The + number sometimes reaches three hundred, when nobody sits down, and few + exchange more than a word with the hostess. In winter, the stove is heated + on these reception days, and little cups of black coffee are passed round + to the company; in summer lemonade is substituted for the coffee; but in + all seasons a thin, waferish slice of toasted rusk (the Venetian <i>baicolo</i>) + is offered to each guest with the drink. At receptions where the sparsity + of the company permits the lady of the house to be seen, she is commonly + visible on a sofa, surrounded by visitors in a half-circle. Nobody stays + more than ten or fifteen minutes, and I have sometimes found even this + brief time of much greater apparent length, and apt to produce a low state + of nerves, from which one seldom recovers before dinner. Gentlemen, + however, do not much frequent these receptions; and I assert again the + diffidence I should feel in offering this glance at Venetian social + enjoyment as conveying a just and full idea of it. There is no doubt that + the Venetians find delight in their assemblies, where a stranger seeks it + in vain. I dare say they would not think our own reunions brilliant, and + that, looking obliquely (as a foreigner must) on the most sensible faces + at one of our evening parties, they might mistake the look of pathetic + dejection, visible in them, as the expression of people rather bored by + their pleasure than otherwise. + </p> + <p> + The conversazioni are of all sorts, from the conversazioni of the rigid + proprietarians, where people sit down to a kind of hopeless whist, at a + soldo the point, and say nothing, to the conversazioni of the <i>demi-monde</i> + where they say any thing. There are persons in Venice, as well as + everywhere else, of new-fashioned modes of thinking, and these strive to + give a greater life and ease to their assemblies, by attracting as many + young men as possible; and in their families, gentlemen are welcome to + visit, and to talk with the young ladies in the presence of their mothers. + But though such people are no more accused of impropriety than the + straitest of the old-fashioned, they are not regarded with the greatest + esteem, and their daughters do not so readily find husbands. The Italians + are fickle, the women say; they get soon tired of their wives after + marriage, and when they see much of ladies before marriage, they get tired + of them then, and never make them their wives. So it is much better to see + nothing of a possible husband till you actually have him. I do not think + conversazioni of any kind are popular with young men, however; they like + better to go to the caffè, and the people you meet at private houses are + none the less interesting for being old, or middle-aged. A great many of + the best families, at present, receive no company at all, and see their + friends only in the most private manner; though there are still cultivated + circles to which proper introduction gives the stranger (who has no + Austrian acquaintance) access. But unless he have thorough knowledge of + Italian politics localized to apply to Venice, an interest in the affairs, + fortunes, and misfortunes of his neighbors, and an acquaintance with the + Venetian dialect, I doubt if he will be able to enjoy himself in the + places so cautiously opened to him. Even in the most cultivated society, + the dialect is habitually spoken; and if Italian is used, it is only in + compliment to some foreigner present, for whose sake, also, topics of + general interest are sometimes chosen. + </p> + <p> + The best society is now composed of the families of professional men, such + as the advocates, the physicians, and the richer sort of merchants. The + shopkeepers, master-artisans, and others, whom industry and thrift + distinguish from the populace, seem not to have any social life, in the + American sense. They are wholly devoted to affairs, and partly from + choice, and partly from necessity, are sordid and grasping. It is their + class which has to fight hardest for life in Europe, and they give no + quarter to those above or below them. The shop is their sole thought and + interest, and they never, never sink it. But, since they have habits of + diligence, and, as far as they are permitted, of enterprise, they seem to + be in great part the stuff from which a prosperous State is to be rebuilt + in Venice, if ever the fallen edifice rise again. They have sometimes a + certain independence of character, which a better condition of things, and + further education, would perhaps lift into honesty; though as yet they + seem not to scruple to take any unfair advantage, and not to know that + commercial success can never rest permanently on a system of bad faith. + Below this class is the populace, between which and the patrician order a + relation something like Roman clientage existed, contributing greatly to + the maintenance of exclusively aristocratic power in the State. The + greatest conspiracy (that of Marin Falier) which the commons ever moved + against the oligarchy was revealed to one of the nobility by his plebeian + creature, or client; and the government rewarded by every species of + indulgence a class in which it had extinguished even the desire of popular + liberty. The heirs of the servile baseness which such a system as this + must create are not yet extinct. There is still a helplessness in many of + the servant class, and a disposition to look for largess as well as wages, + which are the traits naturally resulting from a state of voluntary + submission to others. The nobles, as the government, enervated and + debauched the character of the poor by public shows and countless + holidays; as individuals, they taught them to depend upon patrician favor, + and not upon their own plebeian industry, for support. The lesson was an + evil one, hard to be unlearned, and it is yet to be forgotten in Venice. + Certain traits of soft and familiar dependence give great charm to the + populace; but their existence makes the student doubtful of a future to + which the plebeians themselves look forward with perfect hope and + confidence. It may be that they are right, and will really rise to the + dignity of men, when free government shall have taught them that the + laborer is worthy of his hire—after he has earned it. This has been + the result, to some degree, in the kingdom of Italy, where the people have + found that freedom, like happiness, means work. + </p> + <p> + Undoubtedly the best people in the best society of Venice are the + advocates, an order of consequence even in the times of the Republic, + though then shut out from participation in public affairs by a native + government, as now by a foreign one. Acquaintance with several members of + this profession impressed me with a sense of its liberality of thought and + feeling, where all liberal thinking and feeling must be done by stealth, + and where the common intelligence of the world sheds its light through + multiplied barriers. Daniele Manin, the President of the Republic of 1848, + was of this class, which, by virtue of its learning, enlightenment, and + talent, occupies a place in the esteem and regard of the Venetian people + far above that held by the effete aristocracy. The better part of the + nobility, indeed, is merged in the professional class, and some of the + most historic names are now preceded by the learned titles of Doctor and + Advocate, rather than the cheap dignity of Count, offered by the Austrian + government to all the patricians who chose to ask for it, when Austrian + rule was extended over their country. + </p> + <p> + The physicians rank next to the advocates, and are usually men learned in + their profession, however erroneous and old-fashioned some of their + theories of practice may be. Like the advocates, they are often men of + letters: they write for the journals, and publish little pamphlets on + those topics of local history which it is so much the fashion to treat in + Venice. No one makes a profession of authorship. The returns of an + author’s work would be too uncertain, and its restrictions and penalties + would be too vexatious and serious; and so literary topics are only + occasionally treated by those whose main energies are bent in another + direction. + </p> + <p> + The doctors are very numerous, and a considerable number of them are + Hebrews, who, even in the old jealous times, exercised the noble art of + medicine, and who now rank very highly among their professional brethren. + These physicians haunt the neat and tasteful apothecary shops, where they + sit upon the benching that passes round the interior, read the newspapers, + and discuss the politics of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, with all + the zest that you may observe to characterize their discussions in + Goldoni’s plays. There they spend their evenings, and many hours of every + day, and thither the sick send to call them,—each physician + resorting to a particular apothecary’s, and keeping his name inscribed on + a brass plate against the wall, above the head of the druggist, who + presides over the reunions of the doctors, while his apprentice pestles + away at their prescriptions. + </p> + <p> + In 1786 there were, what with priests, monks, and nuns, a multitude of + persons of ecclesiastical profession in Venice; and though many convents + and monasteries were abolished by Napoleon, the priests are still very + numerous, and some monastic establishments have been revived under + Austrian rule. The high officers of the Church are, of course, well paid, + but most of the priesthood live miserably enough. They receive from the + government a daily stipend of about thirty-five soldi, and they celebrate + mass when they can get something to do in that way, for forty soldi. + Unless, then, they have private income from their own family, or have pay + for the education of some rich man’s son or daughter, they must fare + slenderly. + </p> + <p> + There is much said, in and out of Venice, about their influence in + society; but this is greatly modified, and I think is chiefly exercised + upon the women of the old-fashioned families. [Footnote: It is no longer + usual for girls to be educated in convents, and most young ladies of the + better classes, up to the age of thirteen or fourteen years, receive their + schooling in secular establishments, whither they go every day for study, + or where they sometimes live as in our boarding-schools, and where they + are taught the usual accomplishments, greater attention being paid to + French and music than to other things.] I need hardly repeat the wellknown + fact that all the moral power of the Roman Church over the younger men is + gone; these seldom attend mass, and almost never go to confession, and the + priests are their scorn and by-word. Their example, in some degree, must + be much followed also by women; and though women must everywhere make more + public professions of religion than men, in order to retain social + standing, I doubt if the priests have a very firm hold upon the fears or + reverence of the sisters and wives of liberal Venetians. + </p> + <p> + If, however, they contribute in anywise to keep down the people, they are + themselves enslaved to their superiors and to each other. No priest can + leave the city of Venice without permission of the Patriarch. He is cut + off as much as possible from his own kinspeople, and subjected to the + constant surveillance of his class. Obliged to maintain a respectable + appearance on twenty cents a day,—hampered and hindered from all + personal liberty and private friendship, and hated by the great mass of + the people,—I hardly think the Venetian priest is to be envied in + his life. For my own part, knowing these things, I was not able to cherish + toward the priests those feelings of scornful severity which swell many + Protestant bosoms; and so far as I made their acquaintance, I found them + kind and amiable. One ecclesiastic, at least, I may describe as one of the + most agreeable and cultivated gentlemen I ever met. + </p> + <p> + Those who fare best among the priests are the Jesuits, who returned from + repeated banishment with the Austrians in this century. Their influence is + very extended, and the confessional is their forte. Venetians say that + with the old and the old-fashioned these crafty priests suggest remorse + and impose penances; that with the young men and the latter-day thinkers + they are men of the world, and pass off pleasant sins as trifles. All the + students of the government schools are obliged by law to confess twice a + month, and are given printed certificates of confession, in blank, which + the confessor fills up and stamps with the seal of the Church. Most of + them go to confess at the church of the Jesuits, who are glad to hear the + cock-and-bull story invented by the student, and to cultivate his + friendship by an easy penance and a liberal tone. This ingenuous young man + of course despises the confessional. He goes to confess because the law + obliges him to do so; but the law cannot dictate what he must confess. + Therefore, he ventures as near downright burlesque as he dares, and (if + the account he gives of the matter be true) puts off his confessor with + some well-known fact, as that he has blasphemed. Of course he has + blasphemed, blasphemy being as common as the forms of salutation in + Venice. So the priest, who wishes him to come again, and to found some + sort of influence over him, says,—“Oh dear, dear! This is very bad. + Blasphemy is deadly sin. If you <i>must</i> swear, swear by the heathen + gods: say Body of Diana, instead of Body of God; Presence of the Devil, + instead of Blood of Mary. Then there is no harm done.” The students laugh + over the pleasant absurdity together, and usually agree upon the matter of + their semimonthly confessions beforehand. + </p> + <p> + As I have hinted, the young men do not love the government or the Church, + and though I account for the loss of much high hope and generous sympathy + in growth from youth to middle age, I cannot see how, when they have + replaced their fathers, the present religious and political discontent is + to be modified. Nay, I believe it must become worse. The middle-aged men + of Venice grew up in times of comparative quiet, when she did not so much + care who ruled over her, and negatively, at least, they honored the + Church. They may now hate the foreign rule, but there are many + considerations of timidity, and many effects of education, to temper their + hate. They may dislike the priests, but they revere the Church. The young + men of to-day are bred in a different school, and all their thoughts are + of opposition to the government and of war upon the Church, which they + detest and ridicule. The fact that their education is still in the hands + of the priests in some measure, does not render them more tractable. They + have no fears to be wrought upon by their clerical professors, who seldom + have sought to act upon their nobler qualities. The influence of the + priesthood is again limited by the fact that the teachers in the free + schools of the city, to which the poor send their children, are generally + not priests; and ecclesiastics are no longer so commonly the private + tutors of the children of the rich, as they once were when they lived with + the family, and exercised a direct and important influence on it. Express + permission from the pope is now necessary to the maintenance of a family + chaplain, and the office is nearly disused. [Footnote: In early days every + noble Venetian family had its chaplain, who, on the occasion of great + dinners and suppers, remained in the kitchen, and received as one of his + perquisites the fragments that came back from the table.] + </p> + <p> + The Republic was extremely jealous of the political power of the priests, + who could not hold secular office in its time. A curious punishment was + inflicted upon the priest who proved false to his own vows of chastity, + and there is a most amusing old ballad—by no means cleanly in its + language—purporting to be the lament of a priest suspended in the + iron cage, appointed for the purpose, from the belfry of the Campanile San + Marco, and enduring the jeers and insults of the mob below. We may suppose + that with advancing corruption (if corruption has indeed advanced from + remote to later times) this punishment was disused for want of room to + hang out the delinquents. In the last century, especially, the nuns and + monks led a pleasant life. You may see in the old pictures of Pietro + Longhi and his school, how at the aristocratic and fashionable convent of + San Zaccaria, the lady nuns received their friends and acquaintances of + this world in the anteroom, where the dames and their cavaliers flirted + and drank coffee, and the gentlemen coquetted with the brides of heaven + through their grated windows. + </p> + <p> + Among other privileges of the Church, abolished in Venice long ago, was + that ancient right of the monks of St. Anthony, Abbot, by which their + herds of swine were made free of the whole city. These animals, enveloped + in an odor of sanctity, wandered here and there, and were piously fed by + devout people, until the year 1409, when, being found dangerous to + children and inconvenient to every body, they were made the subject of a + special decree, which deprived them of their freedom of movement. The + Republic was always limiting the privileges of the Church! It is known how + when the holy inquisition was established in its dominions in 1249, the + State stipulated that great part of the process against heresy should be + conducted by secular functionaries, and that the sentence should rest with + the Doge and his councillors,—a kind of inquisition with claws + clipped and teeth filed, as one may say, and the only sort ever permitted + in Venice. At present there is no absolute disfavor shown to the clergy; + but, as we have seen, many a pleasant island, which the monks of old + reclaimed from the salty marshes, and planted with gardens and vineyards, + now bears only the ruins of their convents, or else, converted into a + fortress or government dépôt, is all thistly with bayonets. Anciently, + moreover, there were many little groves in different parts of the city, + where the pleasant clergy, of what Mr. Ruskin would have us believe the + pure and religious days of Venice, met and made merry so riotously + together by night that the higher officers of the Church were forced to + prohibit their little soirées. + </p> + <p> + An old custom of rejoicing over the installation of a new parish priest is + still to be seen in almost primitive quaintness. The people of each parish—nobles, + citizens, and plebeians alike—formerly elected their own priest, + and, till the year 1576, they used to perambulate the city to the sound of + drums, with banners flying, after an election, and proclaim the name of + their favorite. On the day of the <i>parroco</i>’s induction his portrait + was placed over the church door and after the celebration of the morning + mass, a breakfast was given, which grew to be so splendid in time, that in + the fifteenth century a statute limited its profusion. In the afternoon + the new parroco, preceded by a band of military music, visited all the + streets and courts of his parish, and then, as now, all the windows of the + parish were decorated with brilliant tapestries, and other gay-colored + cloths and pictures. In those times as in these, there was an illumination + at night, throngs of people in the campo of the church, and booths for + traffic in cakes of flour and raisins,—fried in lard upon the spot, + and sold smoking hot, with immense uproar on the part of the merchant; and + for three days afterward the parish bells were sounded in concert. + </p> + <p> + The difficulty of ascertaining any thing with certainty in Venice attends + in a degree peculiarly great the effort to learn exactly the present + influence and standing of the nobility as a class. One is tempted, on + observing the free and unembarrassed bearing of all ranks of people toward + each other, to say that no sense of difference exists,—and I do not + think there is ever shown, among Italians, either the aggressive pride or + the abject meanness which marks the intercourse of people and nobles + elsewhere in Europe, and I have not seen the distinction of rich and poor + made so brutally in Italy as sometimes in our own <i>soi-disant</i> + democratic society at home. There is, indeed, that equality in Italian + fibre which I believe fits the nation for democratic institutions better + than any other, and which is perhaps partly the result of their ancient + civilization. At any rate, it fascinates a stranger to see people so + mutually gentle and deferential; and must often be a matter of surprise to + the Anglo-Saxon, in whose race, reclaimed from barbarism more recently, + the native wild-beast is still so strong as to sometimes inform the + manner. The uneducated Anglo-Saxon is a savage; the Italian, though born + to utter ignorance, poverty, and depravity, is a civilized man. I do not + say that his civilization is of a high order, or that the civilization of + the most cultivated Italian is at all comparable to that of a gentleman + among ourselves. The Italian’s education, however profound, has left his + passions undisciplined, while it has carefully polished his manner; he + yields lightly to temptation, he loses his self-control, he blasphemes + habitually; his gentleness is conventional, his civilization not + individual. With us the education of a gentleman (I do not mean a person + born to wealth or station, but any man who has trained himself in morals + or religion, in letters, and in the world) disciplines the impulses, and + leaves the good manner to grow naturally out of habits of self-command and + consequent habitual self-respect. + </p> + <p> + The natural equality of the Italians is visible in their community of good + looks as well as good manners. They have never, perhaps, that high beauty + of sensitive expression which is found among Englishmen and Americans + (preferably among the latter), but it very rarely happens that they are + brutally ugly; and the man of low rank and mean vocation has often a + beauty of as fine sort as the man of education and refinement. If they + changed clothes, and the poor man could be persuaded to wash himself, they + might successfully masquerade, one for another. The plebeian Italian, + inspired by the national vanity, bears himself as proudly as the noble, + without at all aggressing in his manner. His beauty, like that of the + women of his class, is world-old,—the beauty of the pictures and the + statues: the ideal types of loveliness are realized in Italy; the saints + and heroes, the madonnas and nymphs, come true to the stranger at every + encounter with living faces. In Venice, particularly, the carriage of the + women, of whatever rank, is very free and noble, and the servant is + sometimes to be distinguished from the mistress only by her dress and by + her labor-coarsened hands; certainly not always by her dirty finger-nails + and foul teeth, for though the clean shirt is now generally in Italy, some + lesser virtues are still unknown: the nail-brush and tooth-brush are of + but infrequent use; the four-pronged fork is still imperfectly understood, + and as a nation the Italians may be said to eat with their knives. + </p> + <p> + The Venetian, then, seeing so little difference between himself and + others, whatever his rank may be, has, as I said, little temptation to + arrogance or servility. The effects of the old relationship of patron and + client are amusingly noticeable in the superior as well as the inferior; a + rich man’s dependents are perfectly free with advice and comment, and it + sometimes happens that he likes to hear their lively talk, and at home + secretly consorts with his servants. The former social differences between + commoners and patricians (which, I think, judging from the natural temper + of the race, must have been greatly modified at all times by concession + and exception) may be said to have quite disappeared in point of fact; the + nobility is now almost as effete socially as it is politically. There is + still a number of historic families, which are in a certain degree + exclusive; but rich <i>parvenus</i> have admission to their friendship, + and commoners in good circumstances are permitted their acquaintance; the + ladies of this patrician society visit ladies of less rank, and receive + them at their great parties, though not at more sacred assemblies, where + they see only each other. + </p> + <p> + The Venetians have a habit of saying their best families are in exile, but + this is not meant to be taken literally. Many of the best families are yet + in the city, living in perfect retirement, or very often merged in the + middle class, and become men of professions, and active, useful lives. Of + these nobles (they usually belong to the families which did not care to + ask nobility of Austria, and are therefore untitled) [Footnote: The only + title conferred on any patrician of Venice during the Republic was + Cavaliere, and this was conferred by a legislative act in reward of + distinguished service. The names of the nobility were written in the + Golden Book of the Republic, and they were addressed as Illustrissimo or + Eccellenza. They also signed themselves <i>nobile</i>, between the + Christian name and surname, as it is still the habit of the untitled + nobility to do.] the citizens are affectionately proud, while I have heard + from them nothing but contempt and ridicule of the patricians who, upon a + wretched pension or meagre government office, attempt to maintain + patrician distinction. Such nobles are usually Austriacanti in their + politics, and behind the age in every thing; while there are other + descendants of patrician families mingled at last with the very populace, + sharing their ignorance and degradation, and feeling with them. These + sometimes exercise the most menial employments: I knew one noble lord who + had been a facchino, and I heard of another who was a street-sweeper. <i>Conte + che non conta, non conta niente</i>, [Footnote: A count who doesn’t count + (money) counts for nothing.] says the sneering Italian proverb; and it + would be little less than miraculous if a nobility like that of modern + Venice maintained superior state and regard in the eyes of the + quick-witted, intelligent, sarcastic commonalty. + </p> + <p> + The few opulent patricians are by no means the most violent of + Italianissimi. They own lands and houses, and as property is unsafe when + revolutionary feeling is rife, their patriotism is tempered. The wealth + amassed in early times by the vast and enterprising commerce of the + country was, when not dissipated in riotous splendor, invested in real + estate upon the main-land as the Republic grew in territory, and the + income of the nobles is now from the rents of these lands. They reside + upon their estates during the season of the <i>villeggiatura</i>, which + includes the months of September and October, when every one who can + possibly leave the city goes into the country. Then the patricians betake + themselves to their villas near Padua, Vicenza, Bassano, and Treviso, and + people the sad-colored, weather-worn stucco hermitages, where the + mutilated statues, swaggering above the gates, forlornly commemorate days + when it was a far finer thing to be a noble than it is now. I say the + villas look dreary and lonesome as places can be made to look in Italy, + what with their high garden walls, their long, low piles of stabling, and + the <i>passée</i> indecency of their nymphs and fauns, foolishly strutting + in the attitudes of the silly and sinful old Past; and it must be but a + dull life that the noble proprietors lead there. + </p> + <p> + It is better, no doubt, on the banks of the Brenta, where there are still + so many villas as to form a street of these seats of luxury, almost the + whole length of the canal, from Fusina to Padua. I am not certain that + they have a right to the place which they hold in literature and + sentiment, and yet there is something very charming about them, with their + gardens, and chapels, and statues, and shaded walks. We went to see them + one day early in October, and found them every one, when habitable, + inhabited, and wearing a cheerful look, that made their proximity to + Venice incredible. As we returned home after dark, we saw the ladies from + the villas walking unattended along the road, and giving the scene an air + of homelike peace and trustfulness which I had not found before in Italy; + while the windows of the houses were brilliantly lighted, as if people + lived in them; whereas, you seldom see a light in Venetian palaces. I am + not sure that I did not like better, however, the villas that were empty + and ruinous, and the gardens that had run wild, and the statues that had + lost legs and arms. Some of the ingenious proprietors had enterprisingly + whitewashed their statues, and there was a horrible primness about certain + of the well-kept gardens which offended me. Most of the houses were not + large, but there was here and there a palace as grand as any in the city. + Such was the great villa of the Contarini of the Lions, which was in every + way superb, with two great lions of stone guarding its portals, and a + gravel walk, over-arched with stately trees, stretching a quarter of a + mile before it. At the moment I was walking down this aisle I met a + cleanshaven old canonico, with red legs and red-tasseled hat, and with a + book under his arm, and a meditative look, whom I here thank for being so + venerably picturesque. The palace itself was shut up, and I wish I had + known, when I saw it, that it had a ghostly underground passage from its + cellar to the chapel,—wherein, when you get half way, your light + goes out, and you consequently never reach the chapel. + </p> + <p> + This is at Mira; but the greatest of all the villas is the magnificent + country-seat of the family Pisani at Stra, which now, with scarcely any + addition to its splendor, serves for the residence of the abdicated + Emperor of Austria. There is such pride in the vastness of this edifice + and its gardens as impresses you with the material greatness which found + expression in it, and never raises a regret that it has utterly passed + away. You wander around through the aisles of trim-cut lime-trees, bullied + and overborne by the insolent statues, and expect at every turn to come + upon intriguing spectres in bag-wigs, immense hoops and patches. How can + you feel sympathy for those dull and wicked ghosts of eighteenth-century + corruption? There is rottenness enough in the world without digging up old + putridity and sentimentalizing on it; and I doubt if you will care to know + much of the way in which the noble owner of such a villa ascended the + Brenta at the season of the <i>villeggiatura</i> in his great gilded + barge, all carven outside with the dumpling loves and loose nymphs of the + period, with fruits, and flowers, and what not; and within, luxuriously + cushioned and furnished, and stocked with good things for pleasure making + in the gross old fashion. [Footnote: Mutinelli, <i>Gli Ultimi Cinquant’ + Anni della Repubblica di Veneza</i>.] King Cole was not a merrier old soul + than Illustrissimo of that day; he outspent princes; and his agent, while + he harried the tenants to supply his master’s demands, plundered + Illustrissimo frightfully. Illustrissimo never looked at accounts. He said + to his steward, “<i>Caro veccio, fè vu. Mi remeto a quel che fè vu.</i>” + (Old fellow, you attend to it. I shall be satisfied with what you do.) So + the poor agent had no other course but to swindle him, which he did; and + Illustrissimo, when he died, died poor, and left his lordly debts and + vices to his sons. + </p> + <p> + In Venice, the noble still lives sometimes in his ancestral palace, dimly + occupying the halls where his forefathers flourished in so much splendor. + I can conceive, indeed, of no state of things more flattering to human + pride than that which surrounded the patrician of the old aristocratic + Republic. The house in which he dwelt was the palace of a king, in luxury + of appointment and magnificence of size. Troops of servants that + ministered to his state peopled its vast extent; and the gondolas that + carried his grandeur abroad were moored in little fleets to the piles that + rose before his palace, painted with the family arms and colors. The + palace itself stood usually on the Grand Canal, and rose sheer from the + water, giving the noble that haughty inaccessibility which the lord of the + main-land achieved only by building lofty walls and multiplying gates. The + architecture was as costly in its ornament as wild Gothic fancy, or + Renaissance luxury of bad taste, could make it; and when the palace front + was not of sculptured marble, the painter’s pencil filled it with the + delight of color. The main-land noble’s house was half a fortress, and + formed his stronghold in times of popular tumult or family fray; but at + Venice the strong arm of St. Mark suppressed all turbulence in a city + secure from foreign war; and the peaceful arts rejoiced in undisturbed + possession of the palaces, which rose in the most delicate and fantastic + beauty, and mirrored in the brine a dream of sea-deep strangeness and + richness. You see much of the beauty yet, but the pride and opulence which + called it into being are gone forever. + </p> + <p> + Most palaces, whether of the Gothic or classicistic period, have the same + internal arrangement of halls and chambers, and are commonly built of two + lofty and two low stories. On the ground floor, or water level, is a hall + running back from the gate to a bit of garden at the other side of the + palace; and on either side of this hall, which in old times was hung with + the family trophies of the chase and war, are the porter’s lodge and + gondoliers’ rooms. On the first and second stories are the family + apartments, opening on either side from great halls, of the same extent as + that below, but with loftier roofs, of heavy rafters gilded or painted. + The fourth floor is of the same arrangement, but has a lower roof, and was + devoted to the better class of servants. Of the two stories used by the + family, the third is the loftier and airier, and was occupied in summer; + the second was the winter apartment. On either hand the rooms open in + suites. + </p> +<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0456}.jpg" alt="{0456}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0456}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5> + + <p> + We have seen something of the ceremonies, public and private, which gave + peculiar gayety and brilliance to the life of the Venetians of former + days; but in his political character the noble had yet greater + consequence. He was part of the proudest, strongest, and securest system + of his time. He was a king with the fellowship of kings, flattered with + the equality of an aristocracy which was master of itself, and of its + nominal head. During the earlier times it was his office to go daily to + Rialto and instruct the people in their political rights and duties for + four hours; and even when the duties became every thing and the rights + nothing (after the Serrar del Consiglio), the friendly habit of daily + intercourse between patricians and citizens was still kept up at the same + place. Once each week, and on every holiday, the noble took his seat in + the Grand Council (the most august assembly in the world, without doubt), + or the Ten, or the Three, according to his office in the State,—holding + his place in the Council by right of birth, and in the other bodies by + election of his peers. + </p> + <p> + Although the patricians were kept as one family apart from the people, and + jealously guarded in their aristocratic purity by the State, they were + only equals of the poorest before the laws of their own creation, and + their condescension to the people was frequent and great. Indeed, the + Venetians of all classes are social creatures, loving talk and gossip, and + these constant habits of intercourse must have done much to produce that + equality of manner now observable in them. Their amusements were for a + long time the same, the nobles taking part in the public holidays, and in + the popular exercises of rowing and swimming. In the earlier times, + hunting in the lagoons was a favorite diversion; but as the decay of the + Republic advanced, and the patrician blossomed into the fine gentleman of + the last century, these hearty sports were relinquished, and every thing + was voted vulgar but masking in carnival, dancing and gaming at Ridotto, + and intriguing everywhere. + </p> + <p> + The accounts which Venetian writers give of Republican society in the + eighteenth century form a <i>chronique scandaleuse</i> which need not be + minutely copied here. Much may be learned of Venetian manners of this time + from the comedies of Goldoni; and the faithlessness of society may be + argued from the fact that in these plays, which contain nothing salacious + or indecent, there is scarcely a character of any rank who scruples to + tell lies; and the truth is not to be found in works intended to school + the public to virtue. The ingenious old playwright’s memoirs are full of + gossip concerning that poor old Venice, which is now no more; and the + worthy autobiographer, Casanova, also gives much information about things + that had best not be known. + </p> + <p> + As the Republic drew near its fall, in 1797, there was little left in its + dominant class worth saving, if we may believe the testimony of Venetians + which Mutinelli brings to bear upon the point in his “Annali Urbani,” and + his “History of the Last Fifty Years of the Republic.” Long prosperity and + prodigious opulence had done their worst, and the patricians, and the + lowest orders of the people, their creatures and dependants, were + thoroughly corrupt; while the men of professions began to assume that + station which they now hold. The days of a fashionable patrician of those + times began at a little before sunset, and ended with the following dawn. + Rising from his bed, he dressed himself in dainty linen, and placed + himself in the hands of the hairdresser to be combed, oiled, perfumed, and + powdered; and then sallied forth for a stroll through the Merceria, where + this excellent husband and father made tasteful purchases to be carried to + the lady he served. At dinner, which he took about seven or eight, his + board was covered with the most tempting viands, and surrounded by needy + parasites, who detailed the spicy scandals of the day in payment of their + dinner, while the children of the host were confided to the care of the + corrupt and negligent servants. After dinner, the father went to the + theatre, or to the <i>casino</i>, and spent the night over cards and wine, + in the society of dissolute women; and renewed on the morrow the routine + of his useful existence. The education of the children of the man of + fashion was confided to a priest, who lived in his family, and called + himself an abbate, after the mode of the <i>abbés</i> of French society; + he had winning manners with the ladies, indulgent habits with his pupils, + and dressed his elegant person in silks of Lyons and English broadcloths. + In the pleasant old days he flitted from palace to villa, dining and + supping, and flattering the ladies, and tapping the lid of his jeweled + snuffbox in all fashionable companies. He was the cadet of a patrician + family (when not the ambitious son of a low family), with a polite taste + for idleness and intrigue, for whom no secular sinecure could be found in + the State, and who obliged the Church by accepting orders. Whether in the + palace on the Grand Canal, or the villa on the Brenta, this gentle and + engaging priest was surely the most agreeable person to be met, and the + most dangerous to ladies’ hearts,—with his rich suit of black, and + his smug, clean-shaven face, and his jeweled hands, and his sweet, + seducing manners. Alas! the world is changed! The priests whom you see + playing <i>tre-sette</i> now at the conversazioni are altogether different + men, and the delightful abbate is as much out of fashion as the bag-wig or + the queue. When in fashion he loved the theatre, and often showed himself + there at the side of his noble patron’s wife. Nay, in that time the + theatre was so prized by the Church that a popular preacher thought it + becoming to declare from his pulpit that to compose well his hearers + should study the comedies of Goldoni,—and his hearers were the + posterity of that devout old aristocracy which never undertook a journey + without first receiving the holy sacrament; which had built the churches + and endowed them from private wealth! + </p> + <p> + Ignorance, as well as vice, was the mode in those elegant days, and it is + related that a charming lady of good society once addressed a foreign <i>savant</i> + at her conversazione, and begged him to favor the company with a little + music, because, having heard that he was <i>virtuous</i>, she had no other + association with the word than its technical use in Italy to indicate a + professional singer as a <i>virtuoso</i>. A father of a family who kept no + abbate for the education of his children ingeniously taught them himself. + “Father,” asked one of his children, “what are the stars?” “The stars are + stars, and little things that shine as thou seest.” “Then they are + candles, perhaps?” “Make thy account that they are candles exactly.” “Of + wax or tallow?” pursues the boy. “What! tallow-candles in heaven? No, + certainly—wax, wax!” + </p> + <p> + These, and many other scandalous stories, the Venetian writers recount of + the last days of their Republic, and the picture they produce is one of + the most shameless ignorance, the most polite corruption, the most + unblushing baseness. I have no doubt that the picture is full of national + exaggeration. Indeed, the method of Mutinelli (who I believe intends to + tell the truth) in writing social history is altogether too credulous and + incautious. It is well enough to study contemporary comedy for light upon + past society, but satirical ballads and lampoons, and scurrilous letters, + cannot be accepted as historical authority. Still there is no question but + Venice was very corrupt. As you read of her people in the last century, + one by one the ideas of family faith and domestic purity fade away; one by + one the beliefs in public virtue are dissipated; until at last you are + glad to fly the study, close the filthy pages, and take refuge in doubt of + the writers, who declare that they must needs disgrace Venice with facts + since her children have dishonored her in their lives. “Such as we see + them,” they say, “were the patricians, such the people of Venice, after + the middle of the eighteenth century. The Venetians might be considered as + extinguished; the marvelous city, the pomp only of the Venetians, + existed.” + </p> + <p> + Shall we believe this? Let each choose for himself. At that very time the + taste and wealth of a Venetian noble fostered the genius of Canova and + then, when their captains starved the ragged soldiers of the Republic to + feed their own idleness and vice,—when the soldiers dismantled her + forts to sell the guns to the Turk,—when her sailors rioted on shore + and her ships rotted in her ports, she had still military virtue enough to + produce that Emo, who beat back the Algerine corsairs from the commerce of + Christendom, and attacked them in their stronghold, as of old her galleys + beat back the Turks. Alas! there was not the virtue in her statesmen to + respond to this greatness in the hero. One of their last public acts was + to break his heart with insult, and to crave peace of the pirates whom he + had cowed. It remained for the helpless Doge and the abject patricians, + terrified at a threat of war, to declare the Republic at an end, and San + Marco was no more. + </p> + <p> + I love Republics too well to lament the fall of Venice. And yet, <i>Pax + tibi, Marce!</i> If I have been slow to praise, I shall not hasten to + condemn, a whole nation. Indeed, so much occurs to me to qualify with + contrary sense what I have written concerning Venice, that I wonder if, + after all, I have not been treating throughout less of the rule than of + the exception. It is a doubt which must force itself upon every fair and + temperate man who attempts to describe another people’s life and + character; and I confess that it troubles me so sorely now, at the end of + my work, that I would fain pray the gentle reader to believe much more + good and much less evil of the Venetians than I have said. I am glad that + it remains for me to express a faith and hope in them for the future, + founded upon their present political feeling, which, however tainted with + self-interest in the case of many, is no doubt with the great majority a + high and true feeling of patriotism. And it is impossible to believe that + a people which can maintain the stern and unyielding attitude now + maintained by the Venetians toward an alien government disposed to make + them any concession short of freedom, in order to win them into voluntary + submission, can be wanting in the great qualities which distinguish living + peoples from those passed hopelessly into history and sentiment. In truth, + glancing back over the whole career of the nation, I can discern in it + nothing so admirable, so dignified, so steadfastly brave, as its present + sacrifice of all that makes life easy and joyous, to the attainment of a + good which shall make life noble. + </p> + <p> + The Venetians desire now, and first of all things, Liberty, knowing that + in slavery men can learn no virtues; and I think them fit, with all their + errors and defects, to be free now, because men are never fit to be + slaves. + </p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + + <h2><a name="link2HCH0022" id="link2HCH0022"></a> + CHAPTER XXII.<br/> + OUR LAST YEAR IN VENICE. + </h2> + <p class="center"> + <i>(As it seems Seven Years after.)</i> + </p> + <p> + The last of four years which it was our fortune to live in the city of + Venice was passed under the roof of one of her most beautiful and + memorable palaces, namely, the Palazzo Giustiniani, whither we went, as + has been told in an earlier chapter of this book, to escape the + encroaching nepotism of Giovanna, the flower of serving-women. The + experience now, in Cambridge, Mass., refuses to consort with ordinary + remembrances, and has such a fantastic preference for the company of + rather vivid and circumstantial dreams, that it is with no very strong + hope of making it seem real that I shall venture to speak of it. + </p> + <p> + The Giustiniani were a family of patricians very famous during the times + of a Republic that gave so many splendid names to history, and the race + was preserved to the honor and service of Saint Mark by one of the most + romantic facts of his annals. During a war with the Greek Emperor in the + twelfth century every known Giustiniani was slain, and the heroic strain + seemed lost forever. But the state that mourned them bethought itself of a + half forgotten monk of their house, who was wasting his life in the + Convent of San Nicolò; he was drawn forth from this seclusion, and, the + permission of Rome being won, he was married to the daughter of the + reigning doge. From them descended the Giustiniani of aftertimes, who + still exist; in deed, in the year 1865 there came one day a gentleman of + the family, and tried to buy from our landlord that part of the palace + which we so humbly and insufficiently inhabited. It is said that as the + unfrocked friar and his wife declined in life they separated, and, as if + in doubt of what had been done for the state through them, retired each + into a convent, Giustiniani going back to San Nicolò, and dying at last to + the murmur of the Adriatic waves along the Lido’s sands. + </p> + <p> + Next after this Giustiniani I like best to think of that latest hero of + the family, who had the sad fortune to live when the ancient Republic fell + at a threat of Napoleon, and who alone among her nobles had the courage to + meet with a manly spirit the insolent menaces of the conqueror. The + Giustiniani governed Treviso for the Senate; he refused, when Napoleon + ordered him from his presence, to quit Treviso without the command of the + Senate; he flung back the taunts of bad faith cast upon the Venetians; and + when Napoleon changed his tone from that of disdain to one of compliment, + and promised that in the general disaster he was preparing for Venice, + Giustiniani should be spared, the latter generously replied that he had + been a friend of the French only because the Senate was so; as to the + immunity offered, all was lost to him in the loss of his country, and he + should blush for his wealth if it remained intact amidst the ruin of his + countrymen. + </p> + <p> + The family grew in riches and renown from age to age, and, some four + centuries after the marriage of the monk, they reared the three beautiful + Gothic palaces, in the noblest site on the Grand Canal, whence on one hand + you can look down to the Rialto Bridge, and on the other far up towards + the church of the Salute, and the Basin of Saint Mark. The architects were + those Buoni, father and son, who did some of the most beautiful work on + the Ducal Palace, and who wrought in an equal inspiration upon these homes + of the Giustiniani, building the delicate Gothic arches of the windows, + with their slender columns and their graceful balconies, and crowning all + with the airy battlements. + </p> + <p> + The largest of the three palaces became later the property of the Foscari + family, and here dwelt with his father that unhappy Jacopo Foscari, who + after thrice suffering torture by the state for a murder he never did, at + last died in exile; hither came the old Doge Foscari, who had consented to + this cruel error of the state, and who after a life spent in its service + was deposed and disgraced before his death; and whither when he lay dead, + came remorseful Venice, and claimed for sumptuous obsequies the dust which + his widow yielded with bitter reproaches. Here the family faded away + generation by generation, till, (according to the tale told us) early in + this century, when the ultimate male survivor of the line had died, under + a false name, in London, where he had been some sort of obscure actor, + there were but two old maiden sisters left, who, lapsing into imbecility, + were shown to strangers by the rascal servants as the last of the Foscari; + and here in our time was quartered a regiment of Austrian troops, whose + neatly pipe-clayed belts decorated the balconies on which the princely + ladies of the house had rested their jewelled arms in other days. + </p> + <p> + The Foscari added a story to the palace to distinguish it from the two + other palaces Giustiniani, but these remain to the present day as they + were originally planned. That in which we lived was called Palazzo + Giustiniani of the Bishops, because one of the family was the first + patriarch of Venice. After his death he was made a saint by the Pope; and + it is related that he was not only a very pious, but a very good man. In + his last hours he admitted his beloved people to his chamber, where he + meekly lay upon a pallet of straw, and at the moment he expired, two monks + in the solitude of their cloister, heard an angelical harmony in the air: + the clergy performed his obsequies not in black, funereal robes, but in + white garments, and crowned with laurel, and bearing gilded torches, and + although the patriarch had died of a malignant fever, his body was + miraculously preserved incorrupt during the sixty-five days that the + obsequies lasted. The other branch of the family was called the + Giustiniani of the Jewels, from the splendor of their dress; but neither + palace now shelters any of their magnificent race. The edifice on our + right was exclusively occupied by a noble Viennese lady, who as we heard,—vaguely, + in the right Venetian fashion,—had been a ballet-dancer in her + youth, and who now in her matronly days dwelt apart from her husband, the + Russian count, and had gondoliers in blue silk, and the finest gondola on + the Grand Canal, but was a plump, florid lady, looking long past beauty, + even as we saw her from our balcony. + </p> + <p> + Our own palace—as we absurdly grew to call it—was owned and + inhabited in a manner much more proper to modern Venice, the + proprietorship being about equally divided between our own landlord and a + very well known Venetian painter, son of a painter still more famous. This + artist was a very courteous old gentleman, who went with Italian and + clock-like regularity every evening in summer to a certain caffè, where he + seemed to make it a point of conscience to sip one sherbet, and to read + the “Journal des Débats.” In his coming and going we met him so often that + we became friends, and he asked us many times to visit him, and see his + father’s pictures, and some famous frescos with which his part of the + palace was adorned. It was a characteristic trait of our life, that though + we constantly meant to avail ourselves of this kindness, we never did so. + But we continued in the enjoyment of the beautiful garden, which this + gentleman owned at the rear of the palace and on which our chamber windows + looked. It was full of oleanders and roses, and other bright and odorous + blooms, which we could enjoy perfectly well without knowing their names; + and I could hardly say whether the garden was more charming when it was in + its summer glory, or when, on some rare winter day, a breath from the + mountains had clothed its tender boughs and sprays with a light and + evanescent flowering of snow. At any season the lofty palace walls rose + over it, and shut it in a pensive seclusion which was loved by the old + mother of the painter and by his elderly maiden sister. These often walked + on its moss-grown paths, silent as the roses and oleanders to which one + could have fancied the blossom of their youth had flown; and sometimes + there came to them there, grave, black-gowned priests,—for the + painter’s was a devout family,—and talked with them in tones almost + as tranquil as the silence was, save when one of the ecclesiastics + placidly took snuff,—it is a dogma of the Church for priests to take + snuff in Italy,—and thereafter, upon a prolonged search for his + handkerchief, blew a resounding nose. So far as we knew, the garden walls + circumscribed the whole life of these ladies; and I am afraid that such + topics of this world as they touched upon with their priests must have + been deplorably small. + </p> +<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0472}.jpg" alt="{0472}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0472}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5> + + <p> + Their kinsman owned part of the story under us, and both of the stories + above us; he had the advantage of the garden over our landlord; but he had + not so grand a gondola-gate as we, and in some other respects I incline to + think that our part of the edifice was the finer. It is certain that no + mention is made of any such beautiful hall in the property of the painter + as is noted in that of our landlord, by the historian of a “Hundred + Palaces of Venice,”—a work for which I subscribed, and then for my + merit was honored by a visit from the author, who read aloud to me in a + deep and sonorous voice the annals of our temporary home. This hall + occupied half the space of the whole floor; but it was altogether + surrounded by rooms of various shapes and sizes, except upon one side of + its length, where it gave through Gothic windows of vari-colored glass, + upon a small court below,—a green-mouldy little court, further + dampened by a cistern, which had the usual curb of a single carven block + of marble. The roof of this stately <i>sala</i> was traversed by a long + series of painted rafters, which in the halls of nearly all Venetian + palaces are left exposed, and painted or carved and gilded. A suite of + stately rooms closed the hall from the Grand Canal, and one of these + formed our parlor; on the side opposite the Gothic windows was a vast + aristocratic kitchen, which, with its rows of shining coppers, its great + chimney-place well advanced toward the middle of the floor, and its tall + gloomy windows, still affects my imagination as one of the most patrician + rooms which I ever saw; at the back of the hall were those chambers of + ours overlooking the garden of which I have already spoken, and another + kitchen, less noble than the first, but still sufficiently grandiose to + make most New World kitchens seem very meekly minute and unimpressive. + Between the two kitchens was another court, with another cistern, from + which the painter’s family drew water with a bucket on a long rope, which, + when let down from the fourth story, appeared to be dropped from the + clouds, and descended with a noise little less alarming than thunder. + </p> + <p> + Altogether the most surprising object in the great <i>sala</i> was a + sewing-machine, and we should have been inconsolably outraged by its + presence there, amid so much that was merely venerable and beautiful, but + for the fact that it was in a state of harmonious and hopeless disrepair, + and, from its general contrivance, gave us the idea that it had never been + of any use. It was, in fact, kept as a sort of curiosity by the landlord, + who exhibited it to the admiration of his Venetian friends. + </p> + <p> + The reader will doubtless have imagined, from what I have been saying, + that the Palazzo Giustiniani had not all that machinery which we know in + our houses here as modern improvements. It had nothing of the kind, and + life there was, as in most houses in Italy, a kind of permanent camping + out. When I remember the small amount of carpeting, of furniture, and of + upholstery we enjoyed, it appears to me pathetic; and yet, I am not sure + that it was not the wisest way to live. I know that we had compensation in + things not purchasable here for money. If the furniture of the principal + bedroom was somewhat scanty, its dimensions were unstinted the ceiling was + fifteen feet high, and was divided into rich and heavy panels, adorned + each with a mighty rosette of carved and gilded wood, two feet across. The + parlor had not its original decorations in our time, but it had once had + so noble a carved ceiling that it was found worth while to take it down + and sell it into England; and it still had two grand Venetian mirrors, a + vast and very good painting of a miracle of St. Anthony, and + imitation-antique tables and arm-chairs. The last were frolicked all over + with carven nymphs and cupids; but they were of such frail construction + that they were not meant to be sat in, much less to be removed from the + wall against which they stood; and more than one of our American visitors + was dismayed at having these proud articles of furniture go to pieces upon + his attempt to use them like mere arm-chairs of ordinary life. Scarcely + less impressive or useless than these was a monumental plaster-stove, + surmounted by a bust of Æsculapius; when this was broken by accident, we + cheaply repaired the loss with a bust of Homer (the dealer in the next + campo being out of Æsculapiuses) which no one could have told from the + bust it replaced; and this and the other artistic glories of the room made + us quite forget all possible blemishes and defects. And will the reader + mention any house with modern improvements in America which has also + windows, with pointed arches of marble, opening upon balconies that + overhang the Grand Canal? + </p> + <p> + For our new apartment, which consisted of six rooms, furnished with every + article necessary for Venetian housekeeping, we paid one dollar a day + which, in the innocence of our hearts we thought rather dear, though we + were somewhat consoled by reflecting that this extravagant outlay secured + us the finest position on the Grand Canal. We did not mean to keep house + as we had in Casa Falier, and perhaps a sketch of our easier <i>ménage</i> + may not be out of place. Breakfast was prepared in the house, for in that + blessed climate all you care for in the morning is a cup of coffee, with a + little bread and butter, a musk-melon, and some clusters of white grapes, + more or less. Then we had our dinners sent in warm from a cook’s who had + learned his noble art in France; he furnished a dinner of five courses for + three persons at a cost of about eighty cents; and they were dinners so + happily conceived and so justly executed, that I cannot accuse myself of + an excess of sentiment when I confess that I sigh for them to this day. + Then as for our immaterial tea, we always took that at the Caffè Florian + in the Piazza of Saint Mark, where we drank a cup of black coffee and ate + an ice, while all the world promenaded by, and the Austrian bands made + heavenly music. + </p> + <p> + Those bands no longer play in Venice, and I believe that they are not the + only charm which she has lost in exchanging Austrian servitude for Italian + freedom; though I should be sorry to think that freedom was not worth all + other charms. The poor Venetians used to be very rigorous (as I have + elsewhere related), about the music of their oppressors, and would not + come into the Piazza until it had ceased and the Austrian promenaders had + disappeared, when they sat down at Florian’s, and listened to such bands + of strolling singers and minstrels as chose to give them a concord of + sweet sounds, without foreign admixture. We, in our neutrality, were wont + to sit out both entertainments, and then go home well toward midnight, + through the sleepy little streets, and over the bridges that spanned the + narrow canals, dreaming in the shadows of the palaces. + </p> + <p> + We moved with half-conscious steps till we came to the silver expanse of + the Grand Canal, where, at the ferry, darkled a little brood of black + gondolas, into one of which we got, and were rowed noiselessly to the + thither side, where we took our way toward the land-gate of our palace + through the narrow streets of the parish of San Barnabà, and the campo + before the ugly façade of the church; or else we were rowed directly to + the water-gate, where we got out on the steps worn by the feet of the + Giustiniani of old, and wandered upward through the darkness of the + stairway, which gave them a far different welcome of servants and lights + when they returned from an evening’s pleasure in the Piazza. It seemed + scarcely just; but then, those Giustiniani were dead, and we were alive, + and that was one advantage; and, besides, the loneliness and desolation of + the palace had a peculiar charm, and were at any rate cheaper than its + former splendor could have been. I am afraid that people who live abroad + in the palaces of extinct nobles do not keep this important fact + sufficiently in mind; and as the Palazzo Giustiniani is still let in + furnished lodgings, and it is quite possible that some of my readers may + be going to spend next summer in it, I venture to remind them that if they + have to draw somewhat upon their fancy for patrician accommodations there, + it will cost them far less in money than it did the original proprietors, + who contributed to our selfish pleasure by the very thought of their + romantic absence and picturesque decay. In fact, the Past is everywhere + like the cake of proverb: you cannot enjoy it and have it. + </p> + <p> + And here I am reminded of another pleasure of modern dwellers in Venetian + palaces, which could hardly have been indulged by the patricians of old, + and which is hardly imaginable by people of this day, whose front doors + open upon dry land: I mean to say the privilege of sea-bathing from one’s + own threshold. From the beginning of June till far into September all the + canals of Venice are populated by the amphibious boys, who clamor about in + the brine, or poise themselves for a leap from the tops of bridges, or + show their fine, statuesque figures, bronzed by the ardent sun, against + the façades of empty palaces, where they hover among the marble + sculptures, and meditate a headlong plunge. It is only the Venetian + ladies, in fact, who do not share this healthful amusement. Fathers of + families, like so many plump, domestic drakes, lead forth their aquatic + broods, teaching the little ones to swim by the aid of various floats, and + delighting in the gambols of the larger ducklings. When the tide comes in + fresh and strong from the sea the water in the Grand Canal is pure and + refreshing; and at these times it is a singular pleasure to leap from + one’s door-step into the swift current, and spend a half-hour, very + informally, among one’s neighbors there. The Venetian bathing-dress is a + mere sketch of the pantaloons of ordinary life; and when I used to stand + upon our balcony, and see some bearded head ducking me a polite salutation + from a pair of broad, brown shoulders that showed above the water, I was + not always able to recognize my acquaintance, deprived of his factitious + identity of clothes. But I always knew a certain stately consul-general by + a vast expanse of baldness upon the top of his head; and it must be owned, + I think, that this form of social assembly was, with all its + disadvantages, a novel and vivacious spectacle. The Venetian ladies, when + they bathed, went to the Lido, or else to the bath-houses in front of the + Ducal Palace, where they saturated themselves a good part of the day, and + drank coffee, and, possibly, gossiped. + </p> + <p> + I think that our balconies at Palazzo Giustiniani were even better places + to see the life of the Grand Canal from than the balcony of Casa Falier, + which we had just left. Here at least we had a greater stretch of the + Canal, looking, as we could, up either side of its angle. Here, too, we + had more gondola stations in sight, and as we were nearer the Rialto, + there was more picturesque passing of the market-boats. But if we saw more + of this life, we did not see it in greater variety, for I think we had + already exhausted this. There was a movement all night long. If I woke at + three or four o’clock, and offered myself the novel spectacle of the Canal + at that hour, I saw the heavy-laden barges go by to the Rialto, with now + and then also a good-sized coasting schooner making lazily for the + lagoons, with its ruddy fire already kindled for cooking the morning’s + meal, and looking very enviably cosey. After our own breakfast we began to + watch for the gondolas of the tourists of different nations, whom we came + to distinguish at a glance. Then the boats of the various artisans went + by, the carpenter’s, the mason’s, the plasterer’s, with those that sold + fuel, and vegetables, and fruit, and fish, to any household that arrested + them. From noon till three or four o’clock the Canal was comparatively + deserted; but before twilight it was thronged again by people riding out + in their open gondolas to take the air after the day’s fervor. After + nightfall they ceased, till only at long intervals a solitary lamp, + stealing over the dark surface, gave token of the movement of some gondola + bent upon an errand that could not fail to seem mysterious or fail to be + matter of fact. We never wearied of this oft-repeated variety, nor of our + balcony in any way; and when the moon shone in through the lovely arched + window and sketched its exquisite outline on the floor, we were as happy + as moonshine could make us. + </p> +<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0484}.jpg" alt="{0484}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0484}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5> + + <p> + Were we otherwise content? As concerns Venice, it is very hard to say, and + I do not know that I shall ever be able to say with certainty. For all the + entertainment it afforded us, it was a very lonely life, and we felt the + sadness of the city in many fine and not instantly recognizable ways. + Englishmen who lived there bade us beware of spending the whole year in + Venice, which they declared apt to result in a morbid depression of the + spirits. I believe they attributed this to the air of the place, but I + think it was more than half owing to her mood, to her old, ghostly, + aimless life. She was, indeed, a phantom of the past, haunting our modern + world,—serene, inexpressibly beautiful, yet inscrutably and + unspeakably sad. Remembering the charm that was in her, we often sigh for + the renewal of our own vague life there,—a shadow within the shadow; + but remembering also her deep melancholy, an involuntary shiver creeps + over us, and we are glad not to be there. Perhaps some of you who have + spent a summer day or a summer week in Venice do not recognize this + feeling; but if you will remain there, not four years as we did, but a + year or six months even, it will ever afterwards be only too plain. All + changes, all events, were affected by the inevitable local melancholy; the + day was as pensive amidst that populous silence as the night; the winter + not more pathetic than the long, tranquil, lovely summer. We rarely + sentimentalized consciously, and still more seldom openly, about the + present state of Venice as contrasted with her past glory. + </p> + <p> + I am glad to say that we despised the conventional poetastery about her; + but I believe that we had so far lived into sympathy with her, that, + whether we realized it or not, we took the tone of her dispiritedness, and + assumed a part of the common experience of loss and of hopelessness. + History, if you live where it was created, is a far subtler influence than + you suspect; and I would not say how much Venetian history, amidst the + monuments of her glory and the witnesses of her fall, had to do in secret + and tacit ways with the prevailing sentiment of existence, which I now + distinctly recognize to have been a melancholy one. No doubt this + sentiment was deepened by every freshly added association with memorable + places; and each fact, each great name and career, each strange tradition + as it rose out of the past for us and shed its pale lustre upon the + present, touched us with a pathos which we could neither trace nor + analyze. + </p> + <p> + I do not know how much the modern Venetians had to do with this + impression, but something I have no question. They were then under + Austrian rule; and in spite of much that was puerile and theatrical in it, + there was something very affecting in their attitude of what may best be + described as passive defiance. This alone made them heroic, but it also + made them tedious. They rarely talked of anything but politics; and as I + have elsewhere said, they were very jealous to have every one declare + himself of their opinion. Hemmed in by this jealousy on one side, and by a + heavy and rebellious sense of the wrongful presence of the Austrian troops + and the Austrian spies on the other, we forever felt dimly constrained by + something, we could not say precisely what, and we only knew what, when we + went sometimes on a journey into free Italy, and threw off the irksome + caution we had maintained both as to patriotic and alien tyrants. This + political misery circumscribed our acquaintance very much, and reduced the + circle of our friendship to three or four families, who were content to + know our sympathies without exacting constant expression of them. So we + learned to depend mainly upon passing Americans for our society; we hailed + with rapture the arrival of a gondola distinguished by the easy hats of + our countrymen and the pretty faces and pretty dresses of our + countrywomen. It was in the days of our war; and talking together over its + events, we felt a brotherhood with every other American. + </p> + <p> + Of course, in these circumstances, we made thorough acquaintance with the + people about us in the palace. The landlord had come somehow into a + profitable knowledge of Anglo-Saxon foibles and susceptibilities; but his + lodgings were charming, and I recognize the principle that it is not for + literature to make its prey of any possibly conscious object. For this + reason, I am likewise mostly silent concerning a certain <i>attaché</i> of + the palace, the right-hand man and intimate associate of the landlord. He + was the descendant of one of the most ancient and noble families of Italy,—a + family of popes and cardinals, of princes and ministers, which in him was + diminished and tarnished in an almost inexplicable degree. He was not at + all worldly-wise, but he was a man of great learning, and of a capacity + for acquiring knowledge that I have never seen surpassed. He possessed, I + think, not many shirts on earth; but he spoke three or four languages, and + wrote very pretty sonnets in Italian and German. He was one of the + friendliest and willingest souls living, and as generous as utter + destitution can make a man; yet he had a proper spirit, and valued himself + upon his name. Sometimes he brought his great-grandfather to the palace; a + brisk old gentleman in his nineties, who had seen the fall of the Republic + and three other revolutions in Venice, but had contrived to keep a + government pension through all, and now smiled with unabated cheerfulness + upon a world which he seemed likely never to leave. + </p> + <p> + The palace-servants were two, the gondolier and a sort of housekeeper,—a + handsome, swarthy woman, with beautiful white teeth and liquid black eyes. + She was the mother of a pretty little boy, who was going to bring himself + up for a priest, and whose chief amusement was saying mimic masses to an + imaginary congregation. She was perfectly statuesque and obliging, and we + had no right, as lovers of the beautiful or as lodgers, to complain of + her, whatever her faults might have been. As to the gondolier, who was a + very important personage in our palatial household, he was a handsome, + bashful, well-mannered fellow, with a good-natured blue eye and a neatly + waxed mustache. He had been ten years a soldier in the Austrian army, and + was, from his own account and from all I saw of him, one of the least + courageous men in the world; but then no part of the Austrian system tends + to make men brave, and I could easily imagine that before it had done with + one it might give him reasons enough to be timid all the rest of his life. + Piero had not very much to do, and he spent the greater part of his + leisure in a sort of lazy flirtation with the women about the + kitchen-fire, or in the gondola, in which he sometimes gave them the air. + We always liked him; I should have trusted him in any sort of way, except + one that involved danger. It once happened that burglars attempted to + enter our rooms, and Piero declared to us that he knew the men; but before + the police, he swore that he knew nothing about them. Afterwards he + returned privately to his first assertion, and accounted for his conduct + by saying that if he had borne witness against the burglars, he was afraid + that their friends would jump on his back (<i>saltarmi adosso</i>), as he + phrased it, in the dark; for by this sort of terrorism the poor and the + wicked have long been bound together in Italy. Piero was a humorist in his + dry way, and made a jest of his own caution; but his favorite joke was, + when he dressed himself with particular care, to tell the women that he + was going to pay a visit to the Princess Clary, then the star of Austrian + society. This mild pleasantry was repeated indefinitely with never-failing + effect. + </p> + <p> + More interesting to us than all the rest was our own servant, Bettina, who + came to us from a village on the mainland. She was very dark, so dark and + so Southern in appearance as almost to verge upon the negro type; yet she + bore the English-sounding name of Scarbro, and how she ever came by it + remains a puzzle to this day, for she was one of the most pure and entire + of Italians. I mean this was her maiden name; she was married to a + trumpeter in the Austrian service, whose Bohemian name she was unable to + pronounce, and consequently never gave us. She was a woman of very few + ideas indeed, but perfectly honest and good-hearted. She was pious, in her + peasant fashion, and in her walks about the city did not fail to bless the + baby before every picture of the Madonna. She provided it with an engraved + portrait of that Holy Nail which was venerated in the neighboring church + of San Pantaleon; and she apparently aimed to supply it with playthings of + a religious and saving character like that piece of ivory, which resembled + a small torso, and which Bettina described as “A bit of the Lord, Signor,”—and + it was, in fact, a fragment of an ivory crucifix, which she had somewhere + picked up. To Bettina’s mind, mankind broadly divided themselves into two + races, Italians and Germans, to which latter she held that we Americans in + some sort belonged. She believed that America lay a little to the south of + Vienna and in her heart I think she was persuaded that the real national + complexion was black, and that the innumerable white Americans she saw at + our house were merely a multitude of exceptions. But with all her + ignorance, she had no superstitions of a gloomy kind: the only ghost she + seemed ever to have heard of was the spectre of an American ship captain + which a friend of Piero’s had seen at the Lido. She was perfectly kind and + obedient, and was deeply attached in an inarticulate way to the baby, + which was indeed the pet of the whole palace. This young lady ruled + arbitrarily over them all, and was forever being kissed and adored. When + Piero went out to the wine-shop for a little temperate dissipation, he + took her with him on his shoulder, and exhibited her to the admiring + gondoliers of his acquaintance; there was no puppetshow, no church + festival, in that region to which she was not carried; and when Bettina, + and Giulia, and all the idle women of the neighborhood assembled on a + Saturday afternoon in the narrow alley behind the palace (where they + dressed one another’s thick black hair in fine braids soaked in milk, and + built it up to last the whole of the next week), the baby was the cynosure + of all hearts and eyes. But her supremacy was yet more distinguished when, + late at night, the household gave itself a feast of snails stewed in oil + and garlic, in the vast kitchen. There her anxious parents have found her + seated in the middle of the table with the bowl of snails before her, and + armed with a great spoon, while her vassals sat round, and grinned their + fondness and delight in her small tyrannies; and the immense room, dimly + lit, with the mystical implements of cookery glimmering from the wall, + showed like some witch’s cavern, where a particularly small sorceress was + presiding over the concoction of an evil potion or the weaving of a + powerful spell. + </p> + <p> + From time to time we had fellow-lodgers, who were always more or less + interesting and mysterious. Among the rest there was once a French lady, + who languished, during her stay, under the disfavor of the police, and for + whose sake there was a sentinel with a fixed bayonet stationed day and + night at the palace gate. At last, one night, this French lady escaped by + a rope-ladder from her chamber window, and thus no doubt satisfied alike + the female instinct for intrigue and elopement and the political + agitator’s love of a mysterious disappearance. It was understood dimly + that she was an author, and had written a book displeasing to the police. + </p> + <p> + Then there was the German baroness and her son and daughter, the last very + beautiful and much courted by handsome Austrian officers; the son rather + weak-minded, and a great care to his sister and mother, from his + propensity to fall in love and marry below his station; the mother very + red-faced and fat, a good-natured old creature who gambled the summer + months away at Hombourg and Baden and in the winter resorted to Venice to + make a match for her pretty daughter. Then, moreover, there was that + English family, between whom and ourselves there was the reluctance and + antipathy, personal and national, which exists between all right-minded + Englishmen and Americans. No Italian can understand this just and natural + condition, and it was the constant aim of our landlord to make us + acquainted. So one day when he found a member of each of these unfriendly + families on the neutral ground of the grand <i>sala</i>, he introduced + them. They had, happily, the piano-forte between them, and I flatter + myself that the insulting coldness and indifference with which they + received each other’s names carried to our landlord’s bosom a dismay never + before felt by a good-natured and well-meaning man. + </p> + <p> + The piano-forte which I have mentioned belonged to the landlord, who was + fond of music and of all fine and beautiful things; and now and then he + gave a musical <i>soirée</i>, which was attended, more or less + surreptitiously, by the young people of his acquaintance. I do not think + he was always quite candid in giving his invitations, for on one occasion + a certain count, who had taken refuge from the glare of the <i>sala</i> in + our parlor for the purpose of concealing the very loud-plaided pantaloons + he wore, explained pathetically that he had no idea it was a party, and + that he had been so long out of society, for patriotic reasons, that he + had no longer a dress suit. But to us they were very delightful + entertainments, no less from the great variety of character they afforded + than from the really charming and excellent music which the different + amateurs made; for we had airs from all the famous operas, and the + instrumentation was by a gifted young composer. Besides, the gayety seemed + to recall in some degree the old, brilliant life of the palace, and at + least showed us how well it was adapted to social magnificence and + display. + </p> + <p> + We enjoyed our whole year in Palazzo Giustiniani, though some of the days + were too long and some too short, as everywhere. From heat we hardly + suffered at all, so perfectly did the vast and lofty rooms answer to the + purpose of their builders in this respect. A current of sea air drew + through to the painter’s garden by day; and by night there was scarcely a + mosquito of the myriads that infested some parts of Venice. In winter it + was not so well. Then we shuffled about in wadded gowns and boots lined + with sheep-skin,—the woolly side in, as in the song. The passage of + the <i>sala</i>, was something to be dreaded, and we shivered as fleetly + through it as we could, and were all the colder for the deceitful warmth + of the colors which the sun cast upon the stone floor from the window + opening on the court. + </p> + <p> + I do not remember any one event of our life more exciting than that + attempted burglary of which I have spoken. In a city where the police gave + their best attention to political offenders, there were naturally a great + many rogues, and the Venetian rogues, if not distinguished for the more + heroic crimes, were very skillful in what I may call the <i>genre</i> + branch of robbing rooms through open windows, and committing all kinds of + safe domestic depredations. It was judged best to acquaint Justice (as + they call law in Latin countries) with the attempt upon our property, and + I found her officers housed in a small room of the Doge’s Palace, clerkly + men in velvet skull-caps, driving loath quills over the rough official + paper of those regions. After an exchange of diplomatic courtesies, the + commissary took my statement of the affair down in writing, pertinent to + which were my father’s name, place, and business, with a full and + satisfactory personal history of myself down to the period of the + attempted burglary. This, I said, occurred one morning about daylight, + when I saw the head of the burglar peering above the window-sill, and the + hand of the burglar extended to prey upon my wardrobe. + </p> + <p> + “Excuse me, Signor Console,” interrupted the commissary, “how could you + see him?” + </p> + <p> + “Why, there was nothing in the world to prevent me. The window was open.” + </p> + <p> + “The window was open!” gasped the commissary. “Do you mean that you sleep + with your windows open?” + </p> + <p> + “Most certainly!” + </p> + <p> + “Pardon!” said the commissary, suspiciously. “Do <i>all</i> Americans + sleep with their windows open?” + </p> + <p> + “I may venture to say that they all do, in summer,” I answered; “at least, + it’s the general custom.” + </p> + <p> + Such a thing as this indulgence in fresh air seemed altogether foreign to + the commissary’s experience; and but for my official dignity, I am sure + that I should have been effectually browbeaten by him. As it was, he threw + himself back in his armchair and stared at me fixedly for some moments. + Then he recovered himself with another “Per-doni!” and, turning to his + clerk, said, “Write down that, <i>according to the American custom</i>, + they were sleeping with their windows open.” But I know that the + commissary, for all his politeness, considered this habit a relic of the + times when we Americans all abode in wigwams; and I suppose it paralyzed + his energies in the effort to bring the burglars to justice, for I have + never heard anything of them from that day to this. + </p> + <p> + The truth is, it was a very uneventful year; and I am the better satisfied + with it as an average Venetian year on that account. We sometimes varied + the pensive monotony by a short visit to the cities of the mainland; but + we always came back to it willingly, and I think we unconsciously abhorred + any interruption of it. The days, as they followed each other, were + wonderfully alike, in every respect. For eight months of summer they were + alike in their clear-skied, sweet-breathed loveliness; in the autumn, + there where the melancholy of the falling leaf could not spread its + contagion to the sculptured foliage of Gothic art, the days were alike in + their sentiment of tranquil oblivion and resignation which was as autumnal + as any aspect of woods or fields could have been; in the winter they were + alike in their dreariness and discomfort. As I remember, we spent by far + the greater part of our time in going to the Piazza, and we were devoted + Florianisti, as the Italians call those that lounge habitually at the + Caffè Florian. We went every evening to the Piazza as a matter of course; + if the morning was long, we went to the Piazza; if we did not know what to + do with the afternoon, we went to the Piazza; if we had friends with us, + we went to the Piazza; if we were alone, we went to the Piazza; and there + was no mood or circumstances in which it did not seem a natural and + fitting thing to go to the Piazza. There were all the prettiest shops; + there were all the finest caffès; there was the incomparable Church of St. + Mark; there was the whole world of Venice. + </p> + <p> + Of course, we had other devices besides going to the Piazza; and sometimes + we spent entire weeks in visiting the churches, one after another, and + studying their artistic treasures, down to the smallest scrap of an old + master in their darkest chapel; their history, their storied tombs, their + fictitious associations. Very few churches escaped, I believe, except such + as had been turned into barracks, and were guarded by an incorruptible + Austrian sentinel. For such churches as did escape, we have a kind of + envious longing to this day, and should find it hard to like anybody who + had succeeded better in visiting them. There is, for example, the church + of San Giobbe, the doors of which we haunted with more patience than that + of the titulary saint: now the sacristan was out; now the church was shut + up for repairs; now it was Holy Week and the pictures were veiled; we had + to leave Venice at last without a sight of San Giobbe’s three Saints by + Bordone, and Madonna by Bellini, which, unseen, outvalue all the other + Saints and Madonnas that we looked at; and I am sure that life can never + become so aimless, but we shall still have the desire of some day going to + see the church of San Giobbe. If we read some famous episode of Venetian + history, we made it the immediate care of our lives to visit the scene of + its occurrence; if Ruskin told us of some recondite beauty of sculpture + hid away in some unthought-of palace court, we invaded that palace at + once; if in entirely purposeless strolls through the city, we came upon + anything that touched the fancy or piqued curiosity, there was no gate or + bar proof against our bribes. What strange old nests of ruin, what + marvellous homes of solitude and dilapidation, did we not wander into! + What boarded-up windows peer through, what gloomy recesses penetrate! I + have lumber enough in my memory stored from such rambles to load the + nightmares of a generation, and stuff for the dreams of a whole people. + Does any gentleman or lady wish to write a romance? Sir or madam, I know + just the mouldy and sunless alley for your villain to stalk his victim in, + the canal in which to plunge his body, the staircase and the hall for the + subsequent wanderings of his ghost; and all these scenes and localities I + will sell at half the cost price; as also, balconies for flirtation, + gondolas for intrigue and elopement, confessionals for the betrayal of + guilty secrets. I have an assortment of bad and beautiful faces and + picturesque attitudes and effective tones of voice; and a large stock of + sympathetic sculptures and furniture and dresses, with other articles too + numerous to mention, all warranted Venetian, and suitable to every style + of romance. Who bids? Nay, I cannot sell, nor you buy. Each memory, as I + hold it up for inspection, loses its subtle beauty and value, and turns + common and poor in my hawker’s fingers. + </p> + <p> + Yet I must needs try to fix here the remembrance of two or three palaces, + of which our fancy took the fondest hold, and to which it yet most fondly + clings. It cannot locate them all, and least of all can it place that vast + old palace, somewhere near Cannaregio, which faced upon a campo, with + lofty windows blinded by rough boards, and empty from top to bottom. It + was of the later Renaissance in style, and we imagined it built in the + Republic’s declining years by some ruinous noble, whose extravagance + forbade his posterity to live in it, for it had that peculiarly forlorn + air which belongs to a thing decayed without being worn out. We entered + its coolness and dampness, and wandered up the wide marble staircase, past + the vacant niches of departed statuary, and came on the third floor to a + grand portal which was closed against us by a barrier of lumber. But this + could not hinder us from looking within, and we were aware that we stood + upon the threshold of our ruinous noble’s great banqueting-hall, where he + used to give his magnificent <i>feste da ballo</i>. Lustrissimo was long + gone with all his guests; but there in the roof were the amazing frescos + of Tiepolo’s school, which had smiled down on them, as now they smiled on + us, great piles of architecture, airy tops of palaces, swimming in summer + sky, and wantoned over by a joyous populace of divinities of the lovelier + sex that had nothing but their loveliness to clothe them and keep them + afloat; the whole grandiose and superb beyond the effect of words, and + luminous with delicious color. How it all rioted there with its + inextinguishable beauty in the solitude and silence, from day to day, from + year to year, while men died, and systems passed, and nothing remained + unchanged but the instincts of youth and love that inspired it! It was + music and wine and wit; it was so warm and glowing that it made the + sunlight cold; and it seemed ever after a secret of gladness and beauty + that the sad old palace was keeping in its heart against the time to which + Venice looks forward when her splendor and opulence shall be + indestructibly renewed. + </p> + <p> + There is a ball-room in the Palazzo Pisani, which some of my readers may + have passed through on their way to the studio of the charming old + Prussian painter, Nerlÿ; the frescos of this are dim and faded and dusty, + and impress you with a sense of irreparable decay, but the noble + proportions and the princely air of the place are inalienable, while the + palace stands. Here might have danced that Contarini who, when his wife’s + necklace of pearls fell upon the floor in the way of her partner, the King + of Denmark, advanced and ground it into powder with his foot that the king + might not be troubled to avoid treading on it; and here, doubtless, many a + gorgeous masquerade had been in the long Venetian carnival; and what + passion and intrigue and jealousy, who knows? Now the palace was let in + apartments, and was otherwise a barrack, and in the great court, steadfast + as any of the marble statues, stood the Austrian sentinel. One of the + statues was a figure veiled from head to foot, at the base of which it was + hard not to imagine lovers, masked and hooded, and forever hurriedly + whispering their secrets in the shadow cast in perpetual moonlight. + </p> + <p> + Yet another ball-room in yet another palace opens to memory, but this is + all bright and fresh with recent decoration. In the blue vaulted roof + shine stars of gold; the walls are gay with dainty frescos; a gallery + encircles the whole, and from this drops a light stairway, slim-railed, + and guarded at the foot by torch-bearing statues of swarthy Eastern girls; + through the glass doors at the other side glimmers the green and red of a + garden. It was a place to be young in, to dance in, dream in, make love + in; but it was no more a surprise than the whole palace to which it + belonged, and which there in that tattered and poverty-stricken old Venice + was a vision of untarnished splendor and prosperous fortune. It was richly + furnished throughout all its vast extent, adorned with every caprice and + delight of art, and appointed with every modern comfort The foot was + hushed by costly carpets, the eye was flattered by a thousand beauties and + prettinesses. In the grates the fires were laid and ready to be lighted; + the candles stood upon the mantles; the toilet-linen was arranged for + instant use in the luxurious chambers; but from basement to roof the + palace was a solitude; no guest came there, no one dwelt there save the + custodian; the eccentric lady of whose possessions it formed a part abode + in a little house behind the palace, and on her door-plate had written her + <i>vanitas vanitatum</i> in the sarcastic inscription, “John Humdrum, + Esquire.” + </p> + <p> + Of course she was Inglese; and that other lady, who was selling off the + furniture of her palace, and was so amiable a guide to its wonders in her + curious broken English, was Hungarian. Her great pride and joy, amidst the + objects of <i>vertu</i> and the works of art, was a set of “Punch,” which + she made us admire, and which she prized the more because she had always + been allowed to receive it when the government prohibited it to everybody + else. But we were Americans, she said; and had we ever seen this book? She + held up the “The Potiphar Papers,” a volume which must have been + inexpressibly amused and bewildered to find itself there, in that curious + little old lady’s hand. + </p> + <p> + Shall I go on and tell of the palace in which our strange friend Padre L——— + dwelt, and the rooms of which he had filled up with the fruits of his + passion for the arts and sciences; the anteroom he had frescoed to + represent a grape-arbor with a multitude of clusters overhead; the parlor + with his oil-paintings on the walls, and the piano and melodeon arranged + so that Padre L——— could play upon them both at once; + the oratory turned forge, and harboring the most alchemic-looking + apparatus of all kinds; the other rooms in which he had stored his + inventions in portable furniture, steam-propulsion, rifled cannon, and + perpetual motion; the attic with the camera by which one could photograh + one’s self,—shall I tell of this, and yet other palaces? I think + there is enough already; and I have begun to doubt somewhat the truth of + my reminiscences, as I advise the reader to do. + </p> + <p> + Besides, I feel that the words fail to give all the truth that is in them; + and if I cannot make them serve my purpose as to the palaces, how should I + hope to impart through them my sense of the glory and loveliness of + Venetian art? I could not give the imagination and the power of Tintoretto + as we felt it, nor the serene beauty, the gracious luxury of Titian, nor + the opulence, the worldly magnificence of Paolo Veronese. There hang their + mighty works forever, high above the reach of any palaverer; they smile + their stately welcome from the altars and palace-walls, upon whoever + approaches them in the sincerity and love of beauty that produced them; + and thither you must thus go if you would know them. Like fragments of + dreams, like the fleeting + </p> +<p class="poem"> + “Images of glimmering dawn,” +</p> + <p class="noindent"> + I am from time to time aware, amid the work-day world, of some happiness + from them, some face or form, some drift of a princely robe or ethereal + drapery, some august shape of painted architecture, some un-namable + delight of color; but to describe them more strictly and explicitly, how + should I undertake? + </p> + <p> + There was the exhaustion following every form of intense pleasure, in + their contemplation, such a wear of vision and thought, that I could not + call the life we led in looking at them an idle one, even if it had no + result in after times; so I will not say that it was to severer occupation + our minds turned more and more in our growing desire to return home. For + my own part personally I felt keenly the fictitious and transitory + character of official life. I knew that if I had become fit to serve the + government by four years’ residence in Venice, that was a good reason why + the government, according to our admirable system, should dismiss me, and + send some perfectly unqualified person to take my place; and in my heart + also I knew that there was almost nothing for me to do where I was, and I + dreaded the easily formed habit of receiving a salary for no service + performed. I reminded myself that, soon or late, I must go back to the old + fashion of earning money, and that it had better be sooner than later. + Therefore, though for some reasons it was the saddest and strangest thing + in the world to do, I was on the whole rejoiced when a leave of absence + came, and we prepared to quit Venice. + </p> + <p> + Never had the city seemed so dream-like and unreal as in this light of + farewell,—this tearful glimmer which our love and regret cast upon + it. As in a maze, we haunted once more and for the last time the scenes we + had known so long, and spent our final, phantasmal evening in the Piazza; + looked, through the moonlight, our mute adieu to islands and lagoons, to + church and tower; and then returned to our own palace, and stood long upon + the balconies that overhung the Grand Canal. There the future became as + incredible and improbable as the past; and if we had often felt the + incongruity of our coming to live in such a place, now, with tenfold + force, we felt the cruel absurdity of proposing to live anywhere else. We + had become part of Venice; and how could such atoms of her fantastic + personality ever mingle with the alien and unsympathetic world? + </p> +<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0508}.jpg" alt="{0508}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0508}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5> + + <p> + The next morning the whole palace household bestirred itself to accompany + us to the station: the landlord in his best hat and coat, our noble friend + in phenomenal linen, Giulia and her little boy, Bettina shedding bitter + tears over the baby, and Piero, sad but firm, bending over the oar and + driving us swiftly forward. The first turn of the Canal shut the Palazzo + Giustiniani from our lingering gaze, a few more curves and windings + brought us to the station. The tickets were bought, the baggage was + registered; the little oddly assorted company drew itself up in a line, + and received with tears our husky adieux. I feared there might be a remote + purpose in the hearts of the landlord and his retainer to embrace and kiss + me, after the Italian manner, but if there was, by a final inspiration + they spared me the ordeal. Piero turned away to his gondola; the two other + men moved aside; Bettina gave one long, hungering, devouring hug to the + baby; and as we hurried into the waiting-room, we saw her, as upon a + stage, standing without the barrier, supported and sobbing in the arms of + Giulia. + </p> + <p> + It was well to be gone, but I cannot say we were glad to be going. + </p> +<div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> <img src="images/{0520}.jpg" alt="{0520}" width="100%" /><br /> </div> <h5> <a href="images/{0520}.jpg"> <img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> </h5> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK VENETIAN LIFE ***</div> +<div style='text-align:left'> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will +be renamed. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. 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