The Bravo Part 48

"I am here in attendance on a young and n.o.ble lady, who has need of my counsel and prayers. The happy and the miserable, the free and the captive, are equally my care!"

"Ha! Thou art not above thy office? Thou wilt say the prayers for the dead in behalf of a poor man's soul?"

"My son, I know no difference, in this respect, between the Doge and the poorest fisherman. Still I would not willingly desert the females."

"The ladies shall receive no harm. Come into my boat, for there is need of thy holy office."

Father Anselmo--the reader will readily antic.i.p.ate that it was he--entered the canopy, said a few words in explanation to his trembling companions, and complied. He was rowed to the leading gondola, and, by a sign, directed to the dead body.

"Thou see'st that corpse, father?" continued his conductor. "It is the face of one who was an upright and pious Christian!"

"He was."

"We all knew him as the oldest and the most skilful fisherman of the Lagunes, and one ever ready to a.s.sist an unlucky companion."

"I can believe thee!"

"Thou mayest, for the holy books are not more true than my words: yesterday he came down this very ca.n.a.l in triumph, for he bore away the honors of the regatta from the stoutest oars in Venice."

"I have heard of his success."

"They say that Jacopo, the Bravo--he who once held the best oar in the ca.n.a.ls--was of the party! Santa Madonna! such a man was too precious to die!"

"It is the fate of all--rich and poor, strong and feeble, happy and miserable, must alike come to this end."

"Not to this end, reverend Carmelite, for Antonio having given offence to the Republic, in the matter of a grandson that is pressed for the galleys, has been sent to purgatory without a Christian hope for his soul."

"There is an eye that watcheth on the meanest of us, son; we will believe he was not forgotten."

"Cospetto! They say that those the Senate look black upon get but little aid from the church! Wilt thou pray for him, Carmelite, and make good thy words?"

"I will," said Father Anselmo, firmly. "Make room, son, that no decency of my duty be overlooked."

The swarthy, expressive faces of the fishermen gleamed with satisfaction, for, in the midst of the rude turmoil, they all retained a deep and rooted respect for the offices of the church in which they had been educated. Silence was quickly obtained, and the boats moved on with greater order than before.

The spectacle was now striking. In front rowed the gondola which contained the remains of the dead. The widening of the ca.n.a.l, as it approached the port, permitted the rays of the moon to fall upon the rigid features of old Antonio, which were set in such a look as might be supposed to characterize the dying thoughts of a man so suddenly and so fearfully destroyed. The Carmelite, bare-headed, with clasped hands, and a devout heart, bowed his head at the feet of the body, with his white robes flowing in the light of the moon. A single gondolier guided the boat, and no other noise was audible but the plash of the water, as the oars slowly fell and rose together. This silent procession lasted a few minutes, and then the tremulous voice of the monk was heard chanting the prayers for the dead. The practised fishermen, for few in that disciplined church, and that obedient age, were ignorant of those solemn rites, took up the responses in a manner that must be familiar to every ear that has ever listened to the sounds of Italy, the gentle was.h.i.+ng of the element, on which they glided, forming a soft accompaniment.

Cas.e.m.e.nt after cas.e.m.e.nt opened while they pa.s.sed, and a thousand curious and anxious faces crowded the balconies as the funeral cortege swept slowly on.

The gondola of the Republic was towed in the centre of the moving ma.s.s by fifty lighter boats, for the fishermen still clung to their prize. In this manner the solemn procession entered the port, and touched the quay at the foot of the Piazzetta. While numberless eager hands were aiding in bringing the body of Antonio to land, there arose a shout from the centre of the ducal palace, which proclaimed the presence already of the other part of their body in its court.

The squares of St. Mark now presented a novel picture. The quaint and oriental church, the rows of ma.s.sive and rich architecture, the giddy pile of the Campanile, the columns of granite, the masts of triumph, and all those peculiar and remarkable fixtures, which had witnessed so many scenes of violence, of rejoicing, of mourning, and of gaiety, were there, like landmarks of the earth, defying time; beautiful and venerable in despite of all those varying exhibitions of human pa.s.sions that were daily acted around them.

"But the song, the laugh, and the jest, had ceased. The lights of the coffee-houses had disappeared, the revellers had fled to their homes, fearful of being confounded with those who braved the anger of the Senate, while the grotesque, the ballad-singers, and the buffoon, had abandoned their a.s.sumed gaiety for an appearance more in unison with the true feelings of their hearts.

"Giustizia!--" cried a thousand deep voices, as the body of Antonio was borne into the court--"Ill.u.s.trious Doge! Giustizia. in palazzo, e pane in piazza! Give us justice! We are beggars for justice!"

The gloomy but vast court was paved with the swarthy faces and glittering eyes of the fishermen. The corpse was laid at the foot of the Giant's Stairs, while the trembling halberdier at the head of the flight, scarce commanded himself sufficiently to maintain that air of firmness which was exacted by discipline and professional pride. But there was no other show of military force, for the politic power which ruled in Venice, knew too well its momentary impotency, to irritate when it could not quell. The mob beneath was composed of nameless rioters, whose punishment could carry no other consequences than the suppression of immediate danger, and for that, those who ruled were not prepared.

The Council of Three had been apprised of the arrival of the excited fishermen. When the mob entered the court, it was consulting in secret conclave, on the probabilities of the tumult having a graver and more determined object, than was apparent in the visible symptoms. The routine of office had not yet dispossessed the men already presented to the reader, of their dangerous and despotic power.

"Are the Dalmatians apprised of this movement?" asked one of the secret tribunal, whose nerves were scarcely equal to the high functions he discharged. "We may have occasion for their volleys, ere this riot is appeased."

"Confide in the ordinary authorities for that, Signore," answered the Senator Gradenigo. "I have only concern, lest some conspiracy, which may touch the fidelity of the troops, lies concealed beneath the outcry."

"The evil pa.s.sions of man know no limits! What would the wretches have?

For a state in the decline, Venice is to the last degree prosperous. Our s.h.i.+ps are thriving; the bank flourishes with goodly dividends; and I do a.s.sure you, Signore, that, for many years, I have not known so ample revenues for most of our interests, as at this hour. All cannot thrive alike!"

"You are happily connected with flouris.h.i.+ng affairs, Signore, but there are many that are less lucky. Our form of government is somewhat exclusive, and it is a penalty that we have ever paid for its advantages, to be liable to sudden and malevolent accusations, for any evil turn of fortune that besets the Republic."

"Can nothing satisfy these exacting spirits? Are they not free--are they not happy?"

"It would seem that they want better a.s.surance of these facts, than our own feelings, or our words."

"Man is the creature of envy! The poor desire to be rich--the weak, powerful."

"There is an exception to your rule, at least, Signore, since the rich rarely wish to be poor, or the powerful, weak."

"You deride my sentiments to-night, Signor Gradenigo. I speak, I hope, as becomes a Senator of Venice, and in a manner that you are not unaccustomed to hear!"

"Nay, the language is not unusual. But I fear me there is something unsuited to a falling fortune, in the exacting and narrow spirit of our laws. When a state is eminently flouris.h.i.+ng, its subjects overlook general defects in private prosperity, but there is no more fastidious commentator on measures than your merchant of a failing trade."

"This is their grat.i.tude! Have we not converted these muddy isles into a mart for half Christendom, and now they are dissatisfied that they cannot retain all the monopolies that the wisdom of our ancestors has acc.u.mulated."

"They complain much in your own spirit, Signore,--but you are right in saying the present riot must be looked to. Let us seek his highness, who will go out to the people, with such patricians as may be present, and one of our number as a witness: more than that might expose our character."

The Secret Council withdrew to carry this resolution into effect, just as the fishermen in the court received the accession of those who arrived by water.

There is no body so sensible of an increase of its members as a mob.

Without discipline, and dependent solely on animal force for its ascendency, the sentiment of physical power is blended with its very existence. When they saw the ma.s.s of living beings which had a.s.sembled within the wall of the ducal palace, the most audacious of that throng became more hardy, and even the wavering grew strong. This is the reverse of the feeling which prevails among those who are called on to repress this species of violence, who generally gain courage as its exhibition is least required.

The throng in the court was raising one of its loudest and most menacing cries as the train of the Doge appeared, approaching by one of the long open galleries of the princ.i.p.al floor of the edifice.

The presence of the venerable man who nominally presided over that fact.i.tious state, and the long training of the fishermen in habits of deference to authority, notwithstanding their present tone of insubordination, caused a sudden and deep silence. A feeling of awe gradually stole over the thousand dark faces that were gazing upwards, as the little cortege drew near. So profound, indeed, was the stillness caused by this sentiment, that the rustling of the ducal robes was audible, as the prince, impeded by his infirmities, and consulting the state usual to his rank, slowly advanced. The previous violence of the untutored fishermen, and their present deference to the external state that met their eyes, had its origin in the same causes;--ignorance and habit were the parents of both.

"Why are ye a.s.sembled here, my children?" asked the Doge, when he had reached the summit of the Giant's Stairs, "and most of all, why have ye come into the palace of your prince with these unbefitting cries?"

The tremulous voice of the old man was clearly audible, for the lowest of its tones were scarcely interrupted by a breath. The fishermen gazed at each other, and all appeared to search for him who might be bold enough to answer. At length one in the centre of the crowded ma.s.s, and effectually concealed from observation, cried, "Justice!"

"Such is our object," mildly continued the prince; "and such, I will add, is our practice. Why are ye a.s.sembled here, in a manner so offensive to the state, and so disrespectful to your prince?"

Still none answered. The only spirit of their body, which had been capable of freeing itself from the trammels of usage and prejudice, had deserted the sh.e.l.l which lay on the lower step of the Giant's Stairs.

"Will none speak! are ye so bold with your voices when unquestioned, and so silent when confronted?"

"Speak them fair, your highness," whispered he of the council, who was commissioned to be a secret witness of the interview; "the Dalmatians are scarce yet apparelled."

The prince bowed to advice which he well knew must be respected, and he a.s.sumed his former tone.