DUKE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Treasure "Room Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from Duke University Libraries http://archive.org/details/marinofalierodog04byro MARINO FALIERO, A TRAGEDY. THE PROPHECY OF DANTE, A POEM. LONDON : l'HIKTEl) by THOMAS DAVISON, WHITEFIUARS. . BENINTENDE. Faliero ! hast thou aught further to commend, Compatible with justice, to the senate ? DOGE. I would commend my nephew to their mercy, My consort to their justice ; for methinks My death, and such a death, might settle all Between the state and me. BENINTENDE. They shall be cared for ; Even notwithstanding thine unheard-of crime. DOGE. Unheard-of ! ay, there 's not a history But shows a thousand crown'd conspirators Against the people ; but to set them free One sovereign only died, and one is dying. BENINTENDE. And who were they who fell in such a cause ? DOGE. The King of Sparta, and the Doge of Venice — Agis and Faliero ! M \ 162 MARINO FALIERO, ACT V. BENINTENDE. Hast thou more To utter or to do ? DOGE. May I speak? BENINTENDE. Thou may ? st ; But recollect the people are without, Beyond the compass of the human voice. DOGE. I speak to Time and to Eternity, Of which I grow a portion, not to man. Ye elements ! in which to be resolved I hasten, let my voice be as a spirit Upon you ! Ye blue waves ! which bore my banner, Ye winds ! which flutter'd o'er as if you loved it, And fill'd my swelling sails as they were wafted To many a triumph ! Thou, my native earth, Which I have bled for, and thou foreign earth, Which drank this willing blood from many a wound ! Ye stones, in which my gore will not sink, but Reek up to Heaven ! Ye skies, which will receive it ! Thou sun ! which shinest on these things, and Thou ! Who kindlest and who quenchest suns ! — Attest ! I am not innocent — but are these guildess ? I perish, but not unavenged ; far ages Float up from the abyss of time to be, And show these eyes, before they close, the doom Of this proud city, and I leave my curse sc. in. DOGE OF VENICE. 163 On her and hers for ever ! Yes, the hours . Are silently engendering of the day, When she, who built 'gainst Attila a bulwark, Shall yield, and bloodlessly and basely yield Unto a bastard Attila, without Shedding so much blood in her last defence As these old veins, oft drain'd in shielding her, Shall pour in sacrifice. — She shall be bought And sold, and be an appanage to those Who shall despise her ! — She shall stoop to be A province for an empire, petty town In lieu of capital, with slaves for senates, Beggars for nobles, pandars for a people ( 10 ) ! Then when the Hebrew's in thy palacesO 1 ), The Hun in thy high places, and the Greek Walks o'er thy mart, and smiles on it for his ! When thy patricians beg their bitter bread In narrow streets, and in their shameful need Make their nobility a plea for pity ! Then, when the few who still retain a wreck Of their great fathers' heritage shall fawn Round a barbarian Vice of Kings' Vice-gerent, Even in the palace where they sway'd as sovereigns, Even in the palace where they slew their sovereign, Proud of some name they have disgraced, or sprung From an adulteress boastful of her guilt With some large gondolier or foreign soldier, Shall bear about their bastardy in triumph To the third spurious generation ;, — when 164 MARINO FALIERO, act v. Thy sons are in the lowest scale of being, Slaves turn'd o'er to the vanquish'd by the victors, Despised by cowards for greater cowardice, And scorn'd even by the vicious for such vices As in the monstrous grasp of their conception Defy all codes to image or to name them ; Then, when of Cyprus, now thy subject kingdom, All thine inheritance shall be her shame EntaiTd on thy less virtuous daughters, grown A wider proverb for worse prostitution ;— When all the ills of conquerM states shall cling thee, Vice without splendour, sin without relief Even from the gloss of love to smooth it o'er, But in its stead coarse lusts of habitude, Prurient yet passionless, cold studied lewdness, Depraving nature's frailty to an art ; — When these and more are heavy on thee, when Smiles without mirth, and pastimes without pleasure, Youth without honour, age without respect, Meanness and weakness, and a sense of woe 'Gainst which thou wilt not strive, and dar'st not murmur, Have made thee last and worst of peopled deserts, Then, in the last gasp of thine agony, Amidst thy many murders, think of mine! Thou den of drunkards with the blood of princes 2 ) ! Gehenna of the waters ! thou sea Sodom ! Thus I devote thee to the infernal gods ! Thee and thy serpent seed ! [Here the Doge turns, and addresses the Executioner. sc. IV. DOGE OF VENICE. 165 Slave, do thine office ! Strike as I struck the foe ! Strike as I would Have struck those tyrants ! Strike deep as my curse ' Strike — and but once ! [The Doge throws himself upon his Jcnees, and as the Executioner raises his sword the scene closes. SCENE IV. The Piazza and Piazzetta of Saint MarFs. — The People in crowds gathered round the grated gates of the Ducal Palace, which are shut. FIRST CITIZEN. I have gain'd the gate, and can discern the Ten, Robed in their gowns of state, ranged round the Doge. SECOND CITIZEN. I cannot reach thee with mine utmost effort. How is it ? let us hear at least, since sight Is thus prohibited unto the people, Except the occupiers of those bars. FIRST CITIZEN. One has approach"^ the Doge, and now they strip The ducal bonnet from his head — and now 166 MARINO FALIERO, act v. He raises his keen eyes to Heaven ; I see Them glitter, and his lips move — Hush ! hush ! — no, 'Twas but a murmur — Curse upon the distance ! His words are inarticulate, but the voice Swells up like mutter'd thunder ; would we could But gather a sole sentence ! SECOND CITIZEN. Hush ! we perhaps may catch the sound. FIRST CITIZEN. 'Tis vain, I cannot hear him. — How his hoary hair Streams on the wind like foam upon the wave ! Now — now — he kneels — and now they form a circle Round him, and all is hidden — but I see The lifted sword in air Ah ! Hark ! it falls ! [The People murmur. THIRD CITIZEN. Then they have murder'd him who would have freed us. FOURTH CITIZEN. He was a kind man to the commons ever. FIFTH CITIZEN. Wisely they did to keep their portals barr'd. Would we had known the work they were preparing Ere we were summon'd here, we would have brought Weapons, and forced them ! SIXTH CITIZEN. Are you sure he 's dead ? FIRST CITIZEN. I saw the sword fall — Lo ! what have we here ? sc. IV. DOGE OF VENICE. . 167 Enter on the Balcony of the Palace which fronts Saint Marie's Place, a Chief of the Ten('3), with a bloody sword. He waves it thrice before the People, and ex- claims, " Justice hath dealt upon the mighty Traitor !" [ The gates are opened ; the populace rush in towards the " Giant' 's Staircase,'''' where the execution has taken place. The foremost of them exclaims to tliose behind, The gory head rolls down the " Giant's Steps !" [The curtain falls. NOTES. Note 1, page 21, line 15. / smote the tardy bishop at Treviso. An historical fact. See Marin Sanuto's Lives of the Doges. Note 2, page 34, line 23. A gondola toith one oar only. A gondola is not like a common boat, but is as easily rowed with one oar as with two (though of course not so swiftly), and often is so from motives of privacy ; and (since the decay of Venice) of economy. Note 3, page 74, lines 12 and 13. They think themselves Engaged in secret to the Signory. An historical fact. Note 4, page 113, line 10. Within our palace precincts at San Polo. The Doge's private family palace. 170 NOTES. Note 5, page 121, line 10. " Signor of the Night." " I Signori di Notte" held an important charge in the old Republic. Note 6, page 133, line 15. Festal Thursday. " Giovedi Grasso" "fat or greasy Thursday," which I cannot literally translate in the text, was the day. Note 7, page 133, line 29. Guards ! let their mouths be gagg'd, even in the act. Historical fact. See Sanuto, in the Appendix to this tragedy. Note 8, page 143, line 6. Say, conscript fathers, shall she be admitted? The Venetian senate took the same title as the Roman, of " Conscript Fathers." * Note 9, page 161, line 8. ' Tis tvith age, then. This was the actual reply of Bailli, maire of Paris, to a Frenchman who made him the same reproach on his way to execution, in the earliest part of their revolution. I find in reading over (since the completion of this tragedy), for the first time these six years, " Venice Preserved," a similar reply on a different occasion by Renault, and other coincidences arising from the subject. I need hardly re- mind the gentlest reader, that such coincidences must be accidental, from the very facility of their detection by reference to so popular a play on the stage and in the closet as Otway's chef d'oeuvre. x NOTES. 171 Note 10, page 163, line 13. Beggars for nobles, pandarsjbr a people ! ' Should the dramatic picture seem harsh, let the reader look to the historical, of the period prophesied, or rather of the few years preceding that period. Voltaire calcu- lated their "nostre bene merite Meretrici" at 12,000 of regulars, without including volunteers and local militia, on what authority I know not ; but it is perhaps the only part of the population not decreased. Venice once contained 200,000 inhabitants, there are now about 90,000, and these ! ! few individuals can conceive, and none could describe the actual state into which the more than infernal tyranny of Austria has plunged this unhappy city. Note 11, page 163, line 14. Then when the Hebrew 's in thy palaces. The chief palaces on the Brenta now belong to the Jews ; who in the earlier times of the republic were only allowed to inhabit Mestri, and not to enter the city of Venice. The whole commerce is in the hands of the Jews and Greeks, and the Huns form the garrison. Note 12, page 164, line 25. Thou den of drunkards with the blood of princes! Of the first fifty Doges, Jive abdicated— -jive were ba- nished with their eyes put out— -Jive were massacred — and nine deposed ; so that nineteen out of fifty lost the throne by violence, besides two who fell in battle : this occurred long previous to the reign of Marino Faliero. One of his more immediate predecessors, Andrea Dan- dolo, died of vexation. Marino Faliero himself perished 172 NOTES. as related. Amongst his successors, Foscari, after seeing his son repeatedly tortured and banished, was deposed, and died of breaking a blood-vessel, on hearing the bell of Saint Mark's toll for the election of his successor. Morosini was impeached for the loss of Candia; but this was previous to his dukedom, during which he conquered the Morea, and was styled the Peloponnesian. Faliero might truly say, " Thou den of drunkards with the blood of princes !" Note 13, page 167, line % Chief of the Ten. *' Un Capo de Dieci" are the words of Sanuto's Chronicle. APPENDIX. APPENDIX. I. MCCCLIV. MARINO FALIERO. DOGE XLIX. " Fu eletto da' quarantuno Elettori, il quale era Cavaliere e conte di Valdemarino in Trivigiana, ed era ricco, e si trovava Ambasciadore a Roma, E a di 9. di Settembre, dopo sepolto il suo predecessore, fu chiamato il gran Consiglio, e fu preso di fare il Doge giusta il solito. E furono fatti i cinque Cor- rettori, Ser Bernardo Giustiniani Procuratore, Ser Paolo Lo- redano, Ser Filippo Aurio, Ser Pietro Trivisano, e Ser Tom- maso Viadro. I quali a di 10. misero queste correzioni alia promessione del Doge : che i Consiglieri non odano gli Ora- tori e Nunzi de' Signori, senza i Capi de' quaranta, ne possano rispondere ad alcuno, se non saranno quattro Con- siglieri e due Capi de' Quaranta. E che osservino la forma del suo Capitolare. E che Messer lo Doge si metta nella miglior parte, quando i Giudici tra loro non fossero d'accordo. E ch' egli non possa far vendere i suoi imprestiti, salvo con legitima causa, e col voler di cinque Consiglieri, di due Capi de* Quaranta, e delle due parti del Consiglio de' Pregati. Item, che in luogo di tre mila pelli di Conigli, che debbon dare i Zaratini per regalia al Doge, non trovandosi tante pelli, gli diano Ducati ottanta l'anno. E poi a di 11. detto, misero etiam altre correzioni, che se il Doge, che sara eletto, fusse fuori di Venezia, i Savj possono provvedere del suo ritorno. E quando fosse il Doge ammalato, sia Vicedoge uno de' Consigliere, da essere eletto tra loro. E che il detto 176 APPENDIX. sia nominato Viceluogotenente di Messer lo Doge, quando i Giudici faranno i suoi atti. E nota, perche fu'fatto Doge uno, ch'era assente, che fu Vicedoge Ser Marino Badoero piu vecchio de' Consiglieri. Item, che'l governo del Ducato sia commesso a' Consiglieri, e a' Capi de' Quaranta, quando vachera il Ducato, finche sara eletto 1' altro Doge. E cosi a dx 1 1 . di Settembre fu creato il prefato Marino Faliero Doge. E fu preso, che il governo del Ducato sia commesso a' Consiglieri e a' Capi di Quaranta. I quali stiano in Pa- lazzo di continuo, fino che verra il Doge. Sicche di continuo stiano in Palazzo due Consiglieri e un Capo de' Quaranta. E subito furono spedite letter e al detto Doge, il quale era a Roma Oratore al Legato di Papa Innocenzo VI. ch'era in Avignone. Fu preso nel gran Consiglio d'eleggere dodici Ambasciadori incontro a Marino Faliero Doge il quale veniva da Roma. E giunto a Chioggia, il Podesta mando Taddeo Giustiniani suo figliuolo incontro, con quindici Ganzaruoli. E poi venuto a S. Clemente nel Bucintoro, venne un gran caligo, adeo che il Bucintoro non si pote levare. Laonde il Doge co' Gentiluomini nelle piatte vennero di lungo in questa Terra a' 5. d'Ottobre del 1354% E dovendo smontare alia riva della Paglia per lo caligo andarono ad ismontare alia riva della Piazza in mezzo alle due Colonne dove si fa la Giustizia, che fu un malissimo augurio. E a' 6. la mattina venne alia Chiesa di San Marco alia laudazione di quello. Era in questo tempo Cancellier Grande Messer Benintende. I quarantuno Elettori furono, Ser Giovanni Contarini, Ser Andrea Giustiniani, Ser Michele Morosini, Ser Simone Dan- dolo, Ser Pietro Lando, Ser Marino Gradenigo, Ser Marco Dolfino, Ser Nicold Faliero, Ser Giovanni Quirini, Ser Lo- renzo Soranzo, Ser Marco Bembo, Sere Stefano Belegno, Ser Francesco Loredano, Ser Marino Veniero, Ser Giovanni Mocenigo, Ser Andrea Barbaro, Ser Lorenzo Barbarigo, Ser Bettino da Molino, Ser' Andrea Erizzo Procuratore, Ser Marco Celsi, Ser Paolo Donato, Ser Bertucci Grimani, Ser Pietro Steno, Ser Luca Duodo, Ser' Andrea Pisani, Ser DOGE OF VENICE. 177 Francesco Caravello, Ser Jacopo Trivisano, Sere Schiavo Marcello, Ser Maffeo Aimo, Ser Marco Capello, Ser Pan- crazio Giorgio, Ser Giovanni Foscarini, Ser Tommaso Viadro, Sere Schiava Polani, Ser Marco Polo, Ser Marino Sagredo, Sere Stefano Mariani, Ser Francesco Suriano, Ser Orio Pas- qualigo, Ser' Andrea Gritti, Ser Buono da Mosto. * * * * " Trattato di Messer Marino Faliero Doge, tratto da una Cronica antica. Essendo venuto il Giovedi della Caccia, fu fatta giusta il solito la Caccia. E a' que' tempi dopo fatta la Caccia s' andava in Palazzo del Doge in una di quelle Sale, e con donne facevasi una festicciuola, dove si ballava fino alia prima Campana, e veniva una Colazione; la quale spesa faceva Messer lo Doge, quando v' era la Dogaressa. E poscia tutti andavano a casa sua. Sopra la qual festa, pare, che Ser Michele Steno, molto giovane e povero Gen- tiluomo, ma ardito e astuto, il qual' era innamorato in certa donzella della Dogaressa, essendo sul Solajo appresso le Donne, facesse cert' atto non conveniente, adeo che il Doge comando ch'e' fosse buttato giu dal Solajo. E cosi quegli Scudieri del Doge lo spinsero giu di quel Solajo. Laonde a Ser Michele parve, che fossegli stata fatta troppo grande ignominia. E non considerando altramente il fine, ma sopra quella passione fornita la Festa, e andati tutti via, quella notte egli ando, e sulla cadrega, dove sedeva il Doge nella Sala dell' Udienza (perche allora i Dogi non tenevano panno di seta sopra la cadrega, ma sedevano in una cadrega di legno) scrisse alcune parole disoneste del Doge e della Do- garessa, cioe : Marin Faliero dalla bella moglie : Altri la gode, ed egli la mantien. E la mattina furono vedute tali parole scritte. E parve unabrutta cosa. E per la Signoria fu commessa la cosa agli Avvogadori del Comune con grande efficacia. I qual Avvogadori subito diedero taglia grande per venire in chiaro della verita di chi avea scritto tal lettera. E tandem si seppe, che Michele Steno aveale scritte. E fu N 178 APPENDIX TO THE per la Quarantia preso di ritenerlo ; e ritenuto confessd, che in quella passione d' essere stato spinto giu dal Solajo, pre- serve la sua amante, egli aveale scritte. Onde poi fu pla- citato nel detto Consiglio, e parve al Consiglio si per rispetto all' eta, come per la caldezza d'amore, di condannarlo a compiere due mesi in prigione serrato, e poi ch' e' fusse ban- dito di Venezia e dal distretto per un'anno. Per la qual condennagione tanto piccola il Doge ne prese grande sdegno, parendogli che non fosse stata fatta quella estimazione della cosa, che ricercava la sua dignita del Ducato. E diceva, ch' eglino doveano averlo fatto appiccare per la gola, o saltern bandirlo in perpetuo da Venezia. E perche (quando dee succedere un' effetto e necessario che vi concorra la ca- gione a fare tal' effetto) era destinato, che a Messer Marino Doge fosse tagliata la testa, percio occorse, che entrata la Quaresima il giorno dopo che fu condannato il detto Ser Michele Steno, un Gentiluomo da Ca Barbaro, di natura eolerico, andasse all' Arsenale, domandasse certe cose ai Padroni, ed era alia presenza de' Signori l'Amiraglio dell' Arsenale. II quale intesa la domanda, disse, che non si poteva fare. Quel Gentiluomo venne a parole coll' Amiraglio, e diedegli un pugno su un'occhio. E perche avea un'anello in deto, coll' anello gli ruppe la pelle, e fece sangue. E l'Amiraglio cosi battuto e insanguinato andd al Doge a la- mentarsi, acciocche il Doge facesse fare gran punizione contra il detto da Ca Barbaro. II Doge disse: Che.vuoi cheti faccia f Guarda le ignominiose parole scritte di me, e il modo ch'e stato punito quel ribaldo di Michele Steno, che le scrisse. E quale stima hanno i Quaranta fotto della persona nostra. Laonde l'Amiraglio gli disse : Messer lo Doge, se voi volet e farvi Signore, e fare tagliare tutti quesii becchi Gentiluomini a pfzzi, mi basta Vanimo, dandomi voi ajuto, di farvi Signore di questa Terra. E allora voi potrete castigare tutti costoro. Intese queste, il Doge disse, Come si puo fare una simile cosa ? E cosi entrarono in ragionamento. r DOGE OF VENICE. 179 " II Doge mando a chiamare Ser Bertucci Faliero suo ni- pote, il quale stava con lui in Palazzo, & entrarono in questa machinazione. Ne si partirono di li, che mandarono per Filippo Calendaro, uomo maritirao e di gran seguito, e per Bertucci Israello, ingegnere e uomo astutissimo. E consi- gliatisi insieme diede ordine di chiamare alcuni altri. E cosi per alcuni giorni la notte si riducevano insieme in Palazzo in casa del Doge. E chiamarono a parte a parte altri, videlicet Niccolo Fagiuolo,Giovanni da Corfu, Stefano Fagiano,Niccold dalle Bende, Niccold Biondo, e Stefano Trivisano. E ordino di fare sedici o diciasette Capi in diversi luoghi della Terra, i quali avessero cadaun di loro quarant'uomini provvigionati preparati, non dicendo a' detti suoi quaranta quello, che vo- lessero fare. Ma che il giorno stabilito si mostrasse di far quis- tione tra loro in diversi luoghi, accioche il Doge facesse sonare a San Marco le Campane, le quali non si possono suonare, s' egli nol comanda. E al suono delle Campane questi sedici o diciasette co' suoi uomini venissero a San Marco alle strade, che buttano in Piazza. E cosi i nobili e primarj Cittadini, che venissero in Piazza, per sapere del romore cio ch'era, li tagliassero a pezzi. E seguito questo, che fosse chiamato per Signore Messer Marino Faliero Doge. E fermate le cose tra loro, stabilito fu, che questo dovess' essere a' 15. d'Aprile del 1355. in giorno di Mercoledi. La quale machinazione trattata fu tra loro tanto segretamente, che mai ne pure se ne sospettd, non che se ne sapesse cos' alcuna. Ma il Signor' Iddio, che ha sempre ajutato questa gloriosissima Citta, e che per le santimonie e giustizie sue mai non l'ha abban- donata, ispird a un Beltramo Bergamasco, il quale fu messo Capo di quarant' uomini per uno de' detti congiurati (il quale intese qualche parola, sicche comprese 1' effetto, che doveva succedere, e il qual era di casa di Ser Niccolo Lioni de Santo Stefano) di an dare a di d'Aprile a Casa del detto Ser Niccolo Lioni. E gli disse ogni cosa dell' ordin dato. II quale intese le cose, rimase come morto ; e intese n 2 180 APPENDIX TO THE molte particolarita, il detto Beltrarao il pregd che lo tenesse segretOj e glielo disse, acciocche il detto Ser Niccolo non si partisse di casa a di 15. accioche egli non fosse morto. Et egli volendo partirsi, il fece ritenere a' suoi di casa, e serrarlo in una camera. Et esso andd a casa di M. Giovanni Gradenigo Nasone, il quale fu poi Doge., che stava anch' egli a Santo Stefano ; e dissegli la cosa. La quale paren- dogli, com'era, d'una grandissima importanza, tutti e due andarono a casa di Ser Marco Cornaro, che stava a San Fe- lice. E dettogli il tutto, tutti e tre deliberarono di venire a casa del detto Ser Niccolo Lioni, ed esaminare il detto Bel- tramo. E quello esaminato, intese le cose, il fecero stare serrato. E andarono tutti e tre a San Salvatore in Sacristia, e mandarono i loro famigli a chiamare i Consiglieri, gli Av- vogadori, i Capi de' Dieci, e que' del Consiglio. E ridotti insieme dissero loro le cose. I quali rimasero morti. E de- liberarono di mandare pel detto Beltrarao, e fattolo venire cautamente, ed esaminatolo, e verificate le cose, ancorche ne sentissero gran passione, pure pensarono la provisione. E mandarono pe' Capi de' Quaranta, pe' Signori di notte, pe' Capi de' Sestieri, e pe' Cinque della Pace. E ordinato, ch' eglino co' loro uomini trovassero degli altri buoni uomini, e mandassero a casa de' Capi de' congiurati, ut supra met- tessero loro le mani addosso. E tolsero i detti le Maestrerie dell' Arsenale, acciocche i prowisionati de' congiurati non potessero offenderli. E si ridussero in Palazzo verso la sera. Dove ridotti fecero serrare le porte della corte del Palazzo. E mandarono a ordinare al Campanaro, che non sonasse le Campane. E cosi fu eseguito, e messe le mani addosso a tutti i nominati di sopra, furono que' condotti al Palazzo. E vedendo il Consiglio de' Dieci, che il Doge era nella cospirazione, presero di eleggere venti de' primarj della Terra, di giunta al detto Consiglio a consigliare, non pero che potessero mettere pallotta. "I Consiglieri furono questi : Ser Giovanni Mocenigodel DOGE OF VENICE. 181 Scstiero di San Marco; Ser Almoro Veniero da Santa Ma- rina del Sestiero di Castello ; Ser Tommaso Viadro del Se- stiero di Caneregio ; Ser Giovanni Sanudo del Sestiero di Santa Croce ; Ser Pietro Trivisano del Sestiero di San Paolo ; Ser Pantalione Barbo il Grando del Sestiero d' Ossoduro. Gli Avogadori del Comune furono Ser Zufredo Morosini, e Ser Orio Pasqualigo, e questi non ballottarono. Que' del Consiglio de' Dieci; furono Ser Giovanni Marcello, Ser Tommaso Sanudo, e Ser Michelento Dolfino, Capi del detto Consiglio de' Dieci ; Ser Luca da Legge, e Ser Pietro da Mosto, Inquisitori del detto Consiglio; Ser Marco Polani, Ser Marino Veniero, Ser Lando Lombardo, Ser Nicoletto Trivisano da Sant' Angiolo. Questi elessero tra loro una Giunta, nella notte ridotti quasi sul romper del giorno, di venti Nobili di Venezia de' migliori, de' piu Savj, e de' piu antichi, per consultare, non pero che mettessero pallottola. E non vi vollero alcuno da Ca Faliero. E cacciarono fuori del Consiglio Niccolo Faliero, e un' altro Niccolld Faliero da San Tommaso, per essere della Casata del Doge. E questa provigione di chiamare i venti della Giunta fu molto com- mendata per tutta la Tei'ra. Questi furono i venti della Giunta, Ser Marco Giustiniani Procuratore, Ser' Andrea Erizzo Procuratore, Ser Lionardo Giustiniani Procuratore, Ser' Andrea Contarini, Ser Simone Dandolo, Ser Niccolo Volpe, Ser Giovanni Loredano, Ser Marco Diedo, Ser Giovanni Gradenigo, Ser' Andrea Cornaro Cavaliere, Ser Marco Soranzo, Ser Rinieri da Mosto, Ser Gazano Mai*cello, Ser Marino Morosino, Sere Stefano Belegno, Ser Niccolo Lioni, Ser Filippo Orio, Ser Marco Trivisano, Ser Jacopo Bra- gadino, Ser Giovanni Foscarini. E chiamati questi venti nel Consiglio de' Dieci, fu mandato per Messer Marino Faliero Doge, il quale andava pel Palazzo con gran gente, gen- tiluomini, e altra buona gente, che non sapeano ancora come il fatto stava. In questo tempo fu condotto, preso, e ligato, Bcrtucci Israello, uno de' Capi del trattato per que' di Santa 182 APPENDIX TO THE Croce, e ancora fu preso Zanello del Brin, Nicoletto di Rosa, e Nicoletto Alberto, il Guardiaga, e altri uomini da mare, e d' altre condizioni. I quali furono esaminati, e trovata la verita. del tradimento. A di 16. d' Aprile fu sentenziato pel detto Consiglio de' Dieci, che Filippo Calandario, e Bertucci Israello fossero appicati alle Colonne rosse del balconate del Palazzo, nelle quali sta a vedere il Doge la festa della Caccia. E cosi furono appiccati con spranghe in bocca. E nel giorno seguente questi furono condannati, Niccolo Zuc- cuolo, Nicoletto Blondo, Nicoletto Doro, Marco Giuda, Jacomello Dagolino, Nicoletto Fedele figliuolo di Filippo Calendar o, Marco Torello detto Israello, Stefano Trivisano Cambiatore di Santa Margherita, Antonio dalle Bende. Furono tutti presi a Chioggia, che fuggivano, e dipoi in diversi giorni a due a due, e a uno a uno, per sentenza fatta nel detto Consiglio de' Dieci, furono appicati per la gola alle Colonne, continuando dalle rosse del Palazzo, seguendo fin verso il Canale. E altri presi furono lasciati, perche sen- tirono il fatto, ma non vi furono, tal che fu dato loro ad in- tendere per questi capi, che venissero coll' arme, per pren- dere alcuni malfattori in servigio della Signoria, ne altro sapeano. Fu ancora liberato Nicoletto Alberto, il Guardiaga, e Bartolommeo Ciriuola, e suo figliuolo, e molti altri, che non erano in colpa. " E a di 16. d' Aprile, giorno di Venerdi, fu sentenziato nel detto Consiglio de' Dieci, di tagliare la testa a Messer Marino Faliero Doge sul pato della Scala di pierra, dove i Dogi giurano il primo sagramento, quando montano prima in Palazzo. E cosi serrato il Palazzo, la mattina seguente a ora di Terza, fu tagliata la testa al detto Doge a di 17. d' Aprile. E prima la beretta fu tolta di testa al detto Doge, avanti che venisse giu dalla Scala. E compiuta la giustizia, pare che un Capo de' Dieci andassa alle Colonne del Palazzo sopra la Piazza, e mostrasse la spada insanguinata a tutti, dicendo : E stain fatta la gran giustizia del Traditore. E DOGE OF VENICE. 183 aperta la Porta tutti entrarono dentro con gran furia a ve- dere il Doge, ch' era stato giustiziato. E' da sapere, che a fare la detta giustizia non fu Ser Giovanni Sanudo il Con- sigliere, perche era andato a casa per difetto della persona, sicche furono quatordici soli, che ballottarono^ cioe cinque Consiglieri, e nove del Consiglio de' Dieci. E fu preso, che tutti i beni del Doge fossero confiscati nel Comune, e cosi degli altri traditori. E fu conceduto al detto Doge pel detto Consiglio de' Dieci, ch' egli potesse ordinare del suo per Ducati du' mila. Ancora f u preso, che tutti i Consiglieri, e Avogadori del Comune, que' del Consiglio de' Dieci, e della Giunta, ch' erano stati a fare la detta sentenza del Doge, e d' altri, avessero licenza di portar' arme di di e di notte in Venezia e da Grado fino a Cavarzere, ch' e sotto il Dogato, con due fanti in vita loro, stando i fanti con essi in casa al suo pane e al suo vino. E chi non avesse fanti, potesse dar tal licenza a' suoi figliuoli ovvero fratelli, due perd e non phi. Eziandio fu data licenza dell' arme a quattro Notaj della Cancelleria, cioe della Corte Maggiore, che fu- rono a prendere le deposizioni e inquisizioni, in perpetuo a loro soli, i quali furono Amadio, Nicoletto di Loreno, Stef- fanello, e Pietro de' Compostelli, Scrivani de' Signori di notte. Et essendo stati impiccati i traditori, e tagliata la testa al Doge, rimase la Terra in gran riposo, e quiete. E come in una Cronica ho trovato, fu portato il Corpo del Doge in una barca con otto doppieri a seppelire nella sua area a San Giovanni e Paolo, la quale al presente e in quell' andito per mezzo la Chiesuola di Santa Maria della Pace, fatta fare pel Vescovo Gabriello di Bergomo, e un Cassone di pietra con queste lettere : Heic jacet Dominus Marinus Faletro Dux. E nel gran Consiglio non gli e stato fatto al- cun Brieve, ma il luogo vacuo con lettere, che dicono cosi : Hie est locus Marini Faletro, decapitati pro criminibus. E pare, che la sua casa fosse data alia Chiesa di Sant' Apostolo, la qual era quella grande sul Ponte. Tamen vedo il contrario, 184 APPENDIX TO THE che e pure di Ca Faliero, o che i Falieri la ricuperassero con danari dalla Chiesa. Ne voglio restar di scrivere alcuni, che volevano, che fosse messo nel suo breve, cioe: Marinus Faletro Dux. Temeritas me cepit. Poenas lui, decapitatus pro criminibus. Altri vi fecero un Distico assai degno al suo merito, il quale e questo, da essere posto su la sua se- pultura": Dux Venetumjacet heic, patriam qui prodere tentans, Sceptra, Decus, Censum, perdidit, atque Caput? * * * * " Non voglio restar di scrivere quello che ho letto in una Cronica, cioe, che Marino Faliero trovandosi Podesta e Capi- tano a Treviso, e dovendosi fare una Processione, il Vescovo stette troppo a far venire il Corpo di Cristo. II detto Faliero era di tanta superbia e arroganza, che diede un buffetto al prefato Vescovo, per modo ch' egli quasi cadde in terra. Pero fu permesso, che il Faliero perdette 1' inteletto, e fece la mala morte, come ho scritto di sopra." # # # Cronica di Sanuto — Muratori S. S. Rerum Italicarum — vol. xxii. 628—639. DOGE OF VENICE. 185 II. MCCCLIV. MARINO FALIERO, DOGE XLIX. On the eleventh day of September, in the year of our Lord 1354, Marino Faliero was elected and chosen to be the Duke of the Commonwealth of Venice. He was Count of Valdemarino, in the Marches of Treviso, and a Knight, and a wealthy man to boot. As soon as the election was completed, it was resolved in the Great Council, that a deputation of twelve should be despatched to Marino Faliero the Duke, who was then on his way from Rome ; for when he was chosen, he was Embassador at the court of the Holy Father, at Rome, — the Holy Father himself held his court at Avignon. When Messer Marino Faliero the Duke was about to land in this city, on the fifth day of October, 1354-, a thick haze came on, and darkened the air ; and he was enforced to land on the place of Saint Mark, between the two columns, on the spot where evil doers are put to death ; and all thought that this was the worst of tokens. — Nor must I forget to write that which I have read in a chronicle. — When Messer Marino Faliero was Podesta and Captain of Treviso, the Bishop de- layed coming in with the holy sacrament, on a day when a procession was to take place. Now the said Marino Faliero was so very proud and wrathful, that he buffeted the Bishop, and almost struck him to the ground. And, therefore, Heaven allowed Marino Faliero to go out of his right senses, in order that he might bring himself to an evil death. 186 APPENDIX TO THE When this Duke had held the Dukedom during nine months and six days, he, being wicked and ambitious, sought to make himself lord of Venice, in the manner which I have read in an ancient chronicle. When the Thursday arrived upon which they were wont to hunt the Bull, the Bull hunt took place as usual; and according to the usage of those times, after the Bull hunt had ended, they all proceeded unto the palace of the Duke, and assembled together in one of his halls ; and they disported themselves with the women. And until the first bell tolled they danced, and then a banquet was served up. My Lord the Duke paid the expenses thereof, provided he had a Duchess, and after the banquet they all returned to their homes. Now to this feast there came a certain Ser Michele Steno, a gentleman of poor estate and very young, but crafty and daring, and who loved one of the damsels of the Duchess. Ser Michele stood amongst the women upon the solajo; and he behaved indiscreetly, so that my Lord the Duke or- dered that he should be kicked off the solajo ; and the Esquires of the Duke flung him down from the solajo ac- cordingly. Ser Michele thought that such an affront was beyond all bearing ; and when the feast was over, and all other persons had left the palace, he, continuing heated with anger, went to the hall of audience, and wrote certain un- seemly words relating to the Duke and the Duchess, upon the chair in which the Duke was used to sit ; for in those days the Duke did not cover his chair with cloth of sendal, but he sat in a chair of wood. Ser Michele wrote thereon : — ■ " Marin Falier, the husband of the fair wife ; others Mss her, but he keeps her." In the morning the words were seen, and the matter was considered to be very scandalous ; and the Senate commanded the Avogadori of the Commonwealth to proceed therein with the greatest diligence. A largesse of great amount was immediately proffered by the Avogadori, in order to discover who had written these words. And at length DOGE OF VENICE. 187 it was known that Michele Steno had written them. It was resolved in the Council of Forty that he should be arrested; and he then confessed, that in the fit of vexation and spite, occasioned by his being thrust off the solajo in the presence of his mistress, he had written the words. Therefore the Council debated thereon* And the Council took his youth into consideration, and that he was a lover, and therefore they adjudged that he should be kept in close confinement during two months, and that afterwards he should be banished from Venice and the state during one year. In consequence of this merciful sentence the Duke became exceedingly wroth, it appearing to him that the Council had not acted in such a manner as was required by the respect due to his ducal dignity; and he said that they ought to have con- demned Sir Michele to be hanged by the neck, or at least to be banished for life. Now it was fated that My Lord Duke Marino was to have his head cut off. And as it is necessary when any effect is to be brought about, that the cause of such effect must hap- pen, it therefore came to pass, that on the very day after sen- tence had been pronounced on Ser Michele Steno, being the first day of Lent, a Gentleman of the house of Barbaro, a choleric Gentleman, went to the arsenal and required certain things of the masters of the galleys. This he did in the presence of the Admiral of the arsenal, and he, hearing the request, answered, — No, it cannot be done. — High words arose between the Gentleman and the Admiral, and the Gentleman struck him with his fist just above the eye ; and as he happened to have a ring on his finger, the ring cut the Admiral and drew blood. The Admiral, all bruised and bloody, ran straight to the Duke to complain, and with the intent of praying him to inflict some heavy punishment upon the Gentleman of Ca Barbaro. — " What wouldst thou have me do for thee ?" answered the Duke ; — " think upon the " shameful gibe which hath been written concerning me ; ] 88 APPENDIX TO THE 11 and think on the manner in which they have punished that " ribald Michele Steno, who wrote it ; and see how the " Council of Forty respect our person." — Upon this the Admiral answered ; — " My Lord Duke, if you would wish to " make yourself a Prince, and to cut all those cuckoldy gen- " tlemen to pieces, I have the heart, if you do but help me, " to make you Prince of all this state ; and then you may " punish them all."— Hearing this, the Duke said ; — " How " can such a matter be brought about?" — and so they dis- coursed thereon. The Duke called for his nephew Ser Bertuccio Faliero, who lived with him in the palace, and they communed about this plot. And without leaving the place, they sent for Philip Calendaro, a seaman of great repute, and for Bertucci Isra- ello, who was exceedingly wily and cunning. Then taking counsel amongst themselves, they agreed to call in some others ; and so, for several nights successively, they met with the Duke at home in his palace. And the following men were called in singly ; to wit : — Niccolo Fagiuolo, Giovanni da Corfu, Stefano Fagiano, Niccolo dalle Bende, Niccolo Biondo, and Stefano Trivisiano. — It was concerted that six- teen or seventeen leaders should be stationed in various parts of the City, each being at the head of forty men, armed and prepared; but the followers were not to know their de- stination. On the appointed day they were to make affrays amongst themselves here and there, in order that the Duke might have a pretence for tolling the bells of San Marco ; these bells are never rung but by the order of the Duke. And at the sound of the bells, these sixteen or seventeen, with their followers, were to come to San Marco, through the streets which open upon the Piazza. And when the noble and leading citizens should come into the Piazza, to know the cause of the riot, then the conspirators were to cut them in pieces ; and this work being finished, My Lord Marino Faliero the Duke was to be proclaimed the Lord of DOGE OF VENICE. 189 Venice. Things having been thus settled, they agreed to fulfil their intent on Wednesday, the fifteenth day of April, in the year 1355. So covertly did they plot, that no one ever dreamt of their machinations. But the Lord, who hath always helped this most glorious City, and who, loving its righteousness and holiness, hath never forsaken it, inspired oneBeltramo Bergamasco to be the cause of bringing the plot to light in the following manner. This Beltramo, who belonged to Ser Niccolo Lioni of Santo Stefano, had heard a word or two of what was to take place ; and so, in the before-mentioned month of April, he went to the house of the aforesaid Ser Niccolo Lioni, and told him all the particulars of the plot. Ser Niccolo, when he heard all these things, was struck dead, as it were, with affright. He heard all the particulars ; and Beltramo prayed him to keep it all secret ; and, if he told Ser Niccolo, it was in order that Ser Niccolo might stop at home on the fifteenth of April, and thus save his life. Beltramo was going, but Ser Niccolo ordered his servants to lay hands upon him, and lock him up. Ser Niccolo then went to the house of Messer Giovanni Gradenigo Nasoni, who afterwards became Duke, and who also lived at Santo Stefano, and told him all. The matter seemed to him to be of the very greatest importance, as indeed it was ; and they two went to the house of Ser Marco Cornaro, who lived at San Felice ; and, having spoken with him, they all three then determined to go back to the house of Ser Niccolo Lioni, to examine the said Beltramo : and having questioned him, and heard all that he had to say, they left him in confinement. And then they all three went into the sacristy of San Salvatore, and sent their men to summon the Counsellors, the Avogadori, the Capi de'Dieci, and those of the Great Council. When all were assembled, the whole story was told to them. They were struck dead, as it were, with affright. They determined to send for Beltramo. He was brought in 190 APPENDIX TO THE before them. They examined him, and ascertained that the matter was true ; and, although they were exceedingly trou- bled, yet they determined upon their measures. And they sent for the Capi de' Quaranta, the Signori di Notte, the Capi de' Sestieri, and the Cinque della Pace ; and they were ordered to associate to their men, other good men and true, who were to proceed to the houses of the ringleaders of the conspiracy, and secure them. And they secured the fore- men of the arsenal, in order that the conspirators might not do mischief. Towards nightfall they assembled in the palace. When they were assembled in the palace, they caused the gates of the quadrangle of the palace to be shut. And they sent to the keeper of the Bell-tower, and forbade the tolling of the bells. All this was carried into effect. The before-mentioned conspirators were secured, and they were brought to the palace ; and, as the Council of Ten saw that the Duke was in the plot, they resolved that twenty of the leading men of the state should be associated to them, for the purpose of consultation and deliberation, but that they should not be allowed to ballot. The counsellors were the following : Ser Giovanni Mo- cenigo, of the Sestiero of San Marco ; Ser Almoro Veniero da Santa Marina, of the Sestiero of Castello ; Ser Tomaso Viadro, of the Sestiero of Canaregio ; Ser Giovanni Sanudo, of the Sestiero of Santa Croce ; Ser Pietro Trivisano, of the Sestiero of San Paolo ; Ser Pantalione Barbo il Grando, of the Sestiero of Ossoduro. The Avogadori of the Common- wealth were Zufredo Morosini, and Ser Orio Pasqualigo; and these did not ballot. Those of the Council of Ten were Ser Giovanni Marcello, Ser Tommaso Sanudo, and Ser Micheletto Dolfino, the heads of the aforesaid Council of Ten. Ser Luca da Legge, and Ser Pietro da Mosto, inqui- sitors of the aforesaid Council. And Ser Marco Polani, Ser Marino Veniero, Ser Lando Lombardo, and Ser Nicoletto Trivisano, of Sant' Angelo. DOGE OF VENICE. 191 Late in the night, just before the dawning, they chose a junta of twenty noblemen of Venice from amongst the wisest and the worthiest, and the oldest. They were to give coun- sel, but not to ballot. And they would not admit any one of Ca Faliero. And Niccolo Faliero, and another Niccolo Faliero, of San Tomaso, were expelled from the Council, because they belonged to the family of the Doge. And this resolution of creating the junta of twenty was much praised throughout the state. The following were the members of the junta of twenty : — Ser Marco Giustiniani, Procuratore, Ser Andrea Erizzo, Procuratore, Ser Lionardo Giustinianai Procuratore, Ser Andrea Contarini, Ser Simone Dandolo, Ser Nicolo Volpe, Ser Giovanni Loredano, Ser Marco Diedo, Ser Giovanni Gradenigo, Ser Andrea Cornaro, Cavaliere, Ser Marco Soranzo, Ser Rinieri du Mosto, Ser Gazano Marcello, Ser Marino Morosini, Ser Stefano Belegno, Ser Nicolo Lioni, Ser Filippo Orio, Ser Marco Trivisano, Ser Jacopo Braga- dino, Ser Giovanni Foscarini. These twenty were accordingly called in to the Council of Ten ; and they sent for My Lord Marino Faliero the Duke : and My Lord Marino was then consorting in the palace with people of great estate, gentlemen, and other good men, none of whom knew yet how the fact stood. At the same time Bertucci Israello, who, as one of the ringleaders, was to head the conspirators in Santa Croce, was arrested and bound, and brought before the Council. Zanello del Brin, Nicoletto di Rosa, Nicoletto Alberto, and the Guardiaga, were also taken, together with several sea- men, and people of various ranks. These were examined, and the truth of the plot was ascertained. On the sixteenth of April judgment was given in the Council of Ten, that Filippo Calendario and Bertucci Israello should be hanged upon the red pillars of the balcony of the palace, from which the Duke is wont to look at the Bull hunt ; and they were hanged with gags in their mouths. 192 APPENDIX TO THE The next day the following were condemned : — Niccolo Zuccuolo, Niccoletto Blondo, Nicoletto Doro, Marco Giuda, Jacomello Dagolino, Nicoletto Fidele, the son of Filippo Calendaro, Marco Torello, called Israello, Stefano Trivisano, the money changer of Santa Margherita, and Antonio dalle Bende. These were all taken at Chiozza, for they were en- deavouring to escape. Afterwards, by virtue of the sentence which was passed upon them in the Council of Ten, they were hanged on successive days, some singly and some in couples, upon the columns of the palace, beginning from the red columns, and so going onwards towards the canal. And other prisoners were discharged, because, although they had been involved in the conspiracy, yet they had not assisted in it : for they were given to understand by some of the heads of the plot, that they were to come armed and prepared for the service of the state, and in order to secure certain criminals, and they knew nothing else. Nicoletto Alberto, the Guardiaga, and Bartolommeo Ciricolo and his son, and several others, who were not guilty, were discharged. On Friday, the sixteenth day of April, judgment was also given, in the aforesaid Council of Ten, that My Lord Marino Faliero, the Duke, should have his head cut off, and that the execution should be done on the landing-place of the stone staircase, where the Dukes take their oath when they first enter the palace. On the following day, the seven- teenth of April, the doors of the palace being shut, the Duke had his head cut off, about the hour of noon. And the cap of estate was taken from the Duke's head before he came down stairs. When the execution was over, it is said that one of the Council of Ten went to the columns of the palace over against the place of St. Mark, and that he showed the bloody sword unto the people, crying out with a loud voice — " The terrible doom hath fallen upon the traitor !" — and the doors were opened, and the people all rushed in, to see the corpse of the Duke, who had been beheaded. DOGE OF VENICE. 193 It must be known, that Ser Giovanni Sanudo, the coun- cillor, was not present when the aforesaid sentence was pro- nounced; because he was unwell and remained at home. So that only fourteen balloted; that is to say, five coun- cillors, and nine of the Council of Ten. And it was adjudged, that all the lands and chattels of the Duke, as well as of the other traitors, should be forfeited to the state. And as a grace to the Duke, it was resolved in the Council of Ten, that he should be allowed to dispose of two thousand ducats out of his own property. And it was resolved, that all the counsellors and all the Avogadori of the commonwealth, those of the Council of Ten, and the members of the junta who had assisted in passing sentence on the Duke and the other traitors, should have the privilege of carrying arms both by day and by night in Venice, and from Grado to Cavazere. And they were also to be allowed two footmen carrying arms, the aforesaid footmen living and boarding with them in their own houses. And he who did not keep two footmen might transfer the privilege to his sons or his brothers ; but only to two. Permission of carrying arms was also granted to the four Notaries of the Chancery, that is to say, of the Supreme Court, who took the depositions ; and they were, Amedio, Nicoletto di Lorino, Steffanello, and Pietro de Compostelli, the secretaries of the Signori di Notte. After the traitors had been hanged, and the Duke had had his head cut off, the state remained in great tranquillity and peace. And, as I have read in a Chronicle, the corpse of the Duke was removed in a barge, with eight torches, to his tomb in the church of San Giovanni e Paolo, where it was buried. The tomb is now in that aisle in the middle of the little church of Santa Maria della Pace, which was built by Bishop Gabriel of Bergamo. It is a coffin of stone, with these words engraven thereon : " Heic Jacet Dominus Marinus Faletro Dux." — And they did not paint his portrait in the hall of the Great Council : — but in the place where it ought o 194 APPENDIX TO THE to have been, you see these words : — " Hie est locus Marini Feletro decapitati pro criminibus." — And it is thought that his house was granted to the church of Sant' Apostolo ; it was that great one near the bridge. Yet this could not be the case, or else the family bought it back from the church ; for it still belongs to Ca Faliero. I must not refrain from noting, that some wished to write the following words in the place where his portrait ought to have been, as aforesaid: — " Marinus Faletro Dux, temeritas me cepit, daenas lui, de- " capitatus pro criminibus." — Others, also, indited a couplet, worthy of being inscribed upon his tomb. " Dux Venetum jacet Jieic, patriam qui prodere tentans ** Sceptra, decus, censum, perdidit, atque caput." [I am obliged for this excellent translation of the old Chronicle to Mr. F. Cohen, to whom the reader will find himself indebted for a version that I could not myself (though after many years' intercourse with Italian) have given by any means so purely and so faithfully.] DOGE OF VENICE. 19.5 III. " Al giovane Doge Andrea Dandolo succedetteun vecchio, il quale tardi si pose al timone della repubblica, ma sempre prima di quel, che f'acea d' uopo a lui, ed alia patria : egli e Marino Faliero, personaggio a me noto per antica dimesti- chezza. Falsa era 1' opinione intorno a lui, giacche egli si mostro fornito piu di corraggio, che di senno. Non pago della prima dignita, entro con sinistro piede nel pubblico Palazzo : imperciocche questo Doge dei Veneti, magistrato sacro in tutti i secoli, che dagli antichi fu sempre venerato qual nume in quella citta, 1' altr' jeri fu decollato nel ves- tibolo dell* istesso Palazzo. Discorrerei fin dal piincipio le cause di un tale evvento, e cosi vario, ed ambiguo non ne fosse il grido. Nessuno pero lo scusa, tutti affermano, che egli abbia voluto cangiar qualche cosa nell' ordine della repubblica a lui tramandato dai maggiori. Che desiderava egli di piu? Io son d' avviso, che egli abbia ottenuto cid, che non si concedette a nessun altro : mentre adempiva gli ufficj di legato presso il Pontefice, e sulle rive del Rodano trattava la pace, che io prima di lui avevo indarno tentato di conchiudere, gli fu conferito 1* onore del Ducato, che ne chiedeva, ne s' aspettava. Tomato in patria, penso a quello, cui nessuno non pose mente giammai, e soffri quello, che a niuno accadde mai di soffrire : giacche in quel luogo celeberrimo, e chiarissimo, e bellissimo infra tutti quelli, che o2 1 96 APPEND IX TO THE io vidi, ove i suoi antenati avevano ricevuti grandissimi onori in mezzo alle pompe trionfali, ivi egli fu trascinato in modo servile, e spogliato delle insegne dueali, perdette la testa, e macchid col proprio sangue le soglie del tempio, 1* atrio del Palazzo, e le scale marmoree rendute spesse volte illustri o dalle solenni festivita, o dalle ostili spoglie. Ho notato il luogo, ora noto il tempo : e 1 anno del Natale di Cristo 1355, fu il giorno 18 d'Aprile. Si alto e il grido sparso, che se alcuno esaminera la disciplina, e le costumanze di quella citta, e quanto mutamento di cose venga minacciato dalla morte di un sol uomo (quantunque molti altri, come narrano, essendo complici, o . subirono 1' istesso supplicio, o lo aspettano) si accorgera, che nulla di piu grande avvenne ai nostri tempi nella Italia. Tu forse qui attendi il mio giudizio: assolvo il popolo, se credere alia farrm, benche -abbia potuto e castigare piu mitemente, e con maggior dolcezza vendicare il suo dolore : ma non cosi facilmente, si modera un' ira giusta insieme, e grande in un numeroso popolo principalmente, nel quale il precipitoso, ed instabile volgo aguzza gli stimoli dell' irracondia con rapidi, e scon- sigliati clamori. Compatisco, e nell' istesso tempo mi adiro con quell' infelice uomo, il quale adorno di un' insolito onore, non so, che cosa si volesse negli estremi anni della sua vita : la calamita di lui diviene sempre piu grave, perche dalla sentenza contra di esso promulgata aperira, che egli fu non solo misero, ma insano, e demente, e che con vane arti si usurpo per tanti anni una falsa fama di sapienza. Ammonisco i Dogi, i quali gli succederano, che questo e un' esempio posto inanziai loro occhj, quale specchio, nel quale veggano d' essere non Signori, ma Dueij anzi nemmeno Duci, ma onorati servi della Repubblica. Tu sta sano ; e giacche fluttuano le pubbliche cose, sforsiamoci di governar mode- stissimamente i privati nostri affari." Levati. Viaggi di Petrarca, vol. iv. p. 323. DOGE OF VENICE. 197 The above Italian translation from the Latin epistles of Petrarch proves — lstly, That Marino Faliero was a personal friend of Pe- trarch's, " antica dimestichezza/' old intimacy., is the phrase of the poet. 2dly, That Petrarch thought that he had more courage than conduct, " piu di corrdggio che di senno." 3dly, That there was some jealousy on the part of Pe- trarch ; for he says that Marino Faliero was treating of the peace which he himself had " vainly attempted to conclude.'' 4thly, That the honour of the Dukedom was conferred upon him, which he neither sought nor expected, " che ne chiedeva ne aspettava," and which had never been granted to any other in like circumstances, " cio che non si concedette a nessun altro," a proof of the high esteem in which he must have been held. 5thly, That he had a reputation for tvisdom, only forfeited by the last enterprise of his life, " si usurpo per tanti anni una falsa fama di sapienza." — " He had usurped for so many years a false fame of wisdom," rather a difficult task I should think. People are generally found out before eighty years of age, at least in a republic. From these, and the other historical notes which I have collected, it may be inferred, that Marino Faliero possessed many of the qualities, but not the success of a hero ; and that his passions were too violent. The paltry and ignorant account of Dr. Moore falls to the ground. Petrarch says, " that there had been no greater event in his times" (our times literally) " nostri tempi/' in Italy. He also differs from the historian in saying that Faliero was " on the banks of the Rhone," instead of at Rome, when elected; the other accounts say, that the deputation of the Venetian senate met him at Ravenna. How this may have been, it is not for me to decide, and is of no great importance. Had the man succeeded, he would have changed the face of Venice^ and perhaps of Ttaly. As it is, what are they both ? 198 APPENDIX TO THE IV. Extrait de UOuvrage Histoire de la Ripublique de Venise, par P. Daru de V Academie Francaise, torn. v. livre xxxv. p. 95. &c. Edition de Paris MDCCCXIX. " A ces attaques si frequentes que le gouvernement diri- geait contre le clerge, a. ces luttes etablies entre les differens corps constitues, a, ces entreprises de la masse de la noblesse contre les depositaires du pouvoir, a toutes ces propositions d'innovation qui se terminaient toujours par des coups d'etat ; il faut ajouter une autre cause non moins propre a. propager le mepris des anciennes doctrines, c'etait I'exces de la cor- ruption. " Cette liberty de moeurs, qu'on avait longtemps vantee comme le charme principal de la societe de Venise, etat de- venue un desordre scandaleux; le lien du mariage etait moins sac?e dans ce pays catholique que dans ceux ou les lois civiles et religieuses permettent de le dissoudre. Faute de pouvoir rompre le contrat, on supposait qu'il n'avait jamais existe, et les moyens de nullite, allegues avec im- pudeur par les epoux, etaient admis avec la meme facilite par des magistrats et par des pretres egalement corrompus. Ces divorces colores d'un autre nom devinrent si frequents, que l'acte le plus important de la societe civile se trouva de la competence d'un tribunal d'exception, et que ce fut a la police de reprimer le scandale. Le conseil des dix ordonna, en 1782, que toute femme, qui intenterait une demande en DOGE OF VENICE. 199 dissolution de mariage, serait obligee d'en attendre le juge- ment dans un couvent que le tribunal designerait *. Bientot apres il evoqua devant lui toutes les causes de cette nature t. Cet empietement sur la jurisdiction ecclesiastique, ayant occasionne des reclamations de la part de la cour de Rome, le conseil se reserva le droit de debouter les epoux de leur demande j et consentit a la renvoyer devant l'officialite, toutes les fois qu'il ne l'aurait pas rejetee J. " II y eut un moment, ou sans doute le renversement des fortunes, la perte des jeunes gens, les discordes domestiques, determinerent le gouvernement a secarter de maximes qu'il s'etait faites sur la liberte de mceurs qu'il permettait a. ses sujets: on chassa de Venise toutes les courtisanes. Mais leur absence ne suffisait pas pour ramener aux bonnes mceurs toute une population elevee dans la plus honteuse licence. Le desordre penetra dans 1'interieur des families, dans les cloitres ; et Ton se crut oblige de rappeler, d'in- demniser § merae des femmes, qui surprenaient quelquefois d'importants secrets, et qu'on pouvait employer utilement a ruiner des hommes que leur fortune aurait pu rendre dan- gereux. Depuis, la licence est toujours allee croissant, et Ton a vu non-seulement des meres trafiquer de la virginite de leurs filles, mais la vendre par un contrat, dont l'au- thenticite etait garantie par la signature d'un officier public, et l'execution mise sous la protection des lois ||. * Correspondance de M. Schliek, charge d'affaires de France, depeche du 24 Aout 1782. ■f Ibid. Depeche du 31 Aout. J Ibid. Depeche du 3 Septembre 1785. § Le decret de rappel les designait sous le nom de nostre benemerite mere- trici. On leur assigna un fonds et des maisons appelees, Case rampane, d'ou vient la denomination injurieuse de Carampane. |1 Mayer Description de Venise, torn. 2. etM. Archenholr Tableau de V Italic, iota. 1. chap. 2. 200 APPENDIX TO THE " Les parloirs des couvents ou etaient renfermees les filles nobles, les maisons des courtisanes, quoique la p6lice y en- tretint soigneusement un grand nombre de surveillants, etaient les seuls points de reunion de la societe de Venise, et dans ces deux endroits si divers on etait egalement libre. La musique, les collations, la galanterie, n'etaient pas plus in- terdites dans les parloirs que dans les casins. II y avait un grand nombre de casins destines aux reunions publiques, ou le jeu etait la principale occupation de la societe. C'etait un singulier spectacle de voir autour d'une table des per- sonnes des deux sexes en masque, et de graves personnages en robe de magistrature, implorant le hasard, passant des angoisses du desespoir aux illusions de l'esperance, et cela sans proferer une parole. " Les riches avaient des casins particuliers ; mais ils y vi- vaient avec mystere ; leurs femmes delaissees trouvaient un dedommagement dans la liberte dont elles jouissaient. La corruption des mceurs les avait privees de tout leur empire ; on vient de parcourir toute l'histoire de Venise, en on ne les a pas vues une seule fois exercer la moindre influence." DOGE OF VENICE. 201 Extract from the History of the Republic of Venice, by P. JDarv, Member of the French Academy, vol. v. ,b. xxxiv. p. 95. &c. Paris Edit. 1819. " To these attacks so frequently pointed by the govern- ment against the clergy, — to the continual struggles between the different constituted bodies, — to these enterprises carried on by the mass of the nobles against the depositaries of power, — to all those projects of innovation, which always ended by a stroke of state policy ; we must add a cause not less fitted to spread contempt for ancient doctrines ; this tvas the excess of corruption. " That freedom of manners, which had been long boasted of as the principal charm of Venetian society, had de- generated into scandalous licentiousness; the tie of marriage was less sacred in that Catholic country, than among those nations where the laws and religion admit of its being dis- solved. Because they could not break the contract, they feigned that it had not existed ; and the ground of nullity, immodestly alleged by the married pair, was admitted with equal facility by priests and magistrates, alike corrupt. These divorces, veiled under another name, became so fre- quent, that the most important act of civil society was dis- covered to be amenable to a tribunal of exceptions ; and to restrain the open scandal of such proceedings became the 202 APPENDIX TO THE office of the police. In 1782 the council of ten decreed, that every woman who should sue for a dissolution of her marriage should be compelled to await the decision of the judges in some convent, to be named by the court*. Soon afterwards the same council summoned all causes of that nature before itself f. This infringement on ecclesiastical jurisdiction having occasioned some remonstrance from Rome, the council retained only the right of rejecting the petition of the married persons, and consented to refer such causes to the holy office as it should not previously have rejected J. " There was a moment in which, doubtless, the destruction of private fortunes, the ruin of youth, the domestic discord occasioned by these abuses, determined the government to depart from its established maxims concerning the freedom of manners allowed the subject. All the courtisans were banished from Venice ; but their absence was not enough to reclaim and bring back good morals to a whole people brought up in the most scandalous licentiousness. Depravity reached the very bosoms of private families, and even into the cloister ; and they found themselves obliged to recal, and even to in- demnify § women who sometimes gained possession of im- portant secrets, and who might be usefully employed in the ruin of men whose fortunes might have rendered them dangerous. Since that time licentiousness has gone on in- creasing, and we have seen mothers, not only selling the innocence of their daughters, but selling it by a contract, authenticated by the signature of a public officer, and the * Correspondence of M. Schlick, French charge d'affaires. Despatch of 24th August 1782. •f Ibid. Despatch, 3 1 st August. I Ibid. Despatch, 3d September 1785. § The decree for their recal designates them as nostrc benemerite merelrici. A fund and some houses called Case rampant were assigned to them ; hence the opprobrious appellation of Carampane. DOGE OF VENICE. 203 performance of which was secured by the protection of the laws *. " The parlours of the convents of noble ladies, and the houses of the courtisans, though the police carefully kept up a number of spies about them, were the only assemblies for society in Venice ; and in these two places, so different from each other, there was equal freedom. Music, col- lations, gallantry, were not more forbidden in the parlours than at the casinos. There were a number of casinos for the purpose of public assemblies, where gaming was the principal pursuit of the company. It was a strange sight to see persons of either sex masked, or grave in their magis- terial robes, round a table, invoking chance, and giving way at one instant to the agonies of despair, at the next to the illusions of hope, and that without uttering a single word. " The rich had private casinos, but they lived incognito in them; and the wives whom they abandoned found com- pensation in the liberty they enjoyed. The corruption of morals had deprived them of their empire. We have just reviewed the whole history of Venice, and we have not once seen them exercise the slightest influence." * Mayer, Description of Venice, vol. ii. and M. Archenholtz, Picture of I tali/, vol. i. ch. 2. From the present decay and degeneracy of Venice under the Barbarians, there are some honourable individual ex- ceptions. There is Pasqualigo, the last, and, alas ! post- humous son of the marriage of the Doges with the Adriatic, who fought his frigate with far greater gallantry than any of his French coadjutors in the memorable action offLissa. I 204 APPENDIX TO THE came home in the squadron with the prizes in 1811, and recollect to have heard Sir William Hoste, and the other officers engaged in that glorious conflict, speak in the highest terms of Pasqualigo's ■ behaviour. There is the Abbate Morelli. There is Alvise Querini, who, after a long and honourable diplomatic career, finds some consolation for the wrongs of his country, in the pursuits of literature with his nephew, Vittor Benzon, the son of the celebrated beauty, the heroine of "La Biondina in Gondoletta." There are the patrician poet Morosini, and the poet Lamberti, the author of the " Biondina," &c. and many other estimable pro- ductions; and, not least in an Englishman's estimation, Madame Michelli, the translator of Shakspeare. There are the young Dandolo and the improvvisatore Carrer, and Giu- seppe Albrizzi, the accomplished son of an accomplished mother. There is Aglietti, and were there nothing else, there is the immortality of Canova. Cicognara, Mustoxithi, Bucati, &c. &c. I do not reckon, because the one is a Greek, and the others were born at least a hundred miles off, which, throughout Italy, constitutes, if not a foreigner x at least a stranger (forestiere). DOGE OF VENICE. 205 VI. Extrait de L'Ouvrage Histoire Litteraire d'ltalie, par P. L. Ginguene, Tom. ix. Chap, xxxvi. p. 144. Edition de Paris MDCCCXIX. " II y en a une fort singuliere sur Venise : ' Si tu ne changes pas,' dit-il a cette republique altiere, ' ta liberte qui deja s' enfuit, ne comptera pas un siecle apres la mil- lieme annee.' " En faisant remonter l'epoque de la liberte Venitienne jusqu'a l'etablissement du gouvernement sous le quel la re- publique a fleuri, on trouvera que Selection du premier Doge date de 697> et si Ton y ajoute un siecle apres mille, c'est a dire onze cents ans, on trouvera encore que le sens de la prediction est litteralement celui-ci : ' Ta liberte ne comptera pas jusqu'a l'an 1797.' Rappelez-vous maintenant que Venise a cesse d' etre libre en l'an cinq de la republique Francaise, ou en 1796 ; vous verrez qu'il n'y eut jamais de prediction plus precise et plus ponctuellement suivie de l'effet. Vous noterez done comme tres-remarquables ces trois vers de l'Alamanni, adresses a Venise, que personne pourtant n'a remarques : ' Se rton cangi pensier, Vun secol solo Non contera sopra 7 millesimo anno Tua liberta, che vajuggendo a volo.' Bien des propheties ont passe pour telles, et bien des gens ont ete appeles prophetes a meilleur marche." 206 APPENDIX TO THE DOGE OF VENICE. VII. Extract from the Literary History of Italy, by P. L. Ginguene, vol. ix. p. 144. Paris Edit. 1819. " There is one very singular prophecy concerning Venice: ' If thou dost not change,' it says to that proud republic, 4 thy liberty, which is already on the wing, will not reckon a century more than the thousandth year.' " If we carry back the epocha of Venetian freedom to the establishment of the government under which the republic flourished, we shall find that the date of the election of the first Doge is 697 ; and if we add one century to a thousand, that is, eleven hundred years, we shall find the sense of the prediction to be literally this : * Thy liberty will not last till 1797.' Recollect that Venice ceased to be free in the year 1796, the fifth year of the French republic; and you will perceive, that there never was prediction more pointed, or more exactly followed by the event. You will, therefore, note as very remarkable the three lines of Alamanni, ad- dressed to Venice, which, however, no one has pointed out : ' Se non cangi pensier, I'un secol solo Non contera sopra 'I millesimo anno Tua liberta, chi vafuggendo a volo.' Many prophecies have passed for such, and many men have been called prophets for much less." If the Doge's prophecy seem remarkable, look to the above, made by Alamanni two hundred and seventy years ago. 207 The author of " Sketches Descriptive of Italy," &c. one of the hundred tours lately published, is extremely anxious to disclaim a possible charge of plagiarism from " Childe Harold" and " Beppo." See p. 159, vol. iv. He adds, that still less could this presumed coincidence arise from " my conversation," as he had " repeatedly declined an introduction to me while in Italy." Who this person may be I know not ; but he must have been deceived by all or any of those who " repeatedly offered to introduce" him, as I have invariably refused to receive any English with whom I was not previously ac- quainted, even when they had letters from England. If the whole assertion is not an invention, I request this person not to sit down with the notion that he could have been in- troduced, since there has been nothing I have so carefully avoided as any kind of intercourse with his countrymen, — excepting the very few who were a considerable time resident in Venice, or had been of my previous acquaintance. Who- ever made him any such offer was possessed of impudence equal to that of making such an assertion without having had it. The fact is, that I hold in utter abhorrence any contact with the travelling English, as my friend the Consul General Hoppner, and the Countess Benzoni, (in whose house the Conversazione mostly frequented by them is held), could amply testify, were it worth while. I was persecuted by these tourists even to my riding ground at Lido, and reduced to the most disagreeable circuits to avoid them. At Madame Benzoni's I repeatedly refused to be introduced to them ; — of a thousand such presentations pressed upon me, I accepted two, and both were to Irish women. I should hardly have descended to speak of such trifles publicly, if the impudence of this " sketcher" had not forced me to a refutation of a disingenuous and gratuitously im- pertinent assertion ; — so meant to be, for what could it im- 208 port to the reader to be told that the author " had repeatedly declined an introduction," even had it been true, which, for the reasons I have above given, is scarcely possible. Ex- cept Lords Lansdowne, Jersey, and Lauderdale; Messrs. Scott, Hammond, Sir Humphrey Davy, the late M. Lewis, "W. Bankes, Mr. Hoppner, Thomas Moore, Lord Kinnaird, his brother, Mr. Joy, and Mr. Hobhouse, I do not recollect to have exchanged a word with another Englishman since I left their country ; and almost all these I had known before. The others, — and God knows there were some hundreds, who bored me with letters or visits, I refused to have any communication with, and shall be proud and happy when that wish becomes mutual. THE PROPHECY OF DANTE. " 'Tis the sunset of life gives me mystical lore, " And coming events cast their shadows before." Campbell. DEDICATION. LADY ! if for the cold and cloudy clime Where I was born, but where I would not die, Of the great Poet-Sire of Italy I dare to build the imitative rhyme, Harsh Runic copy of the South's sublime, Thou art the cause ; and howsoever I Fall short of his immortal harmony, Thy gentle heart will pardon me the crime. Thou, in the pride of Beauty and of Youth, Spak'st ; and for thee to speak and be obey'd Are one ; but only in the sunny South Such sounds are utter'd, and such charms display'd, So sweet a language from so fair a mouth — Ah ! to what effort would it not persuade ? Ravenna, June 21, 1819. p2 P K E F A C E. In the course of a visit to the city of Ravenna in the summer of 1819, it was suggested to the author that having composed something on the subject of Tasso's confinement, he should do the same on Dante's exile — the tomb of the poet forming one of the principal objects of interest in that city, both to the native and to the stranger. " On this hint I spake," and the result has been the following four cantos, in terza rima, now offered to the reader. If they are understood and approved, it is my purpose to continue the poem in various other cantos to its natural conclusion in the present age. The reader is requested to suppose that Dante addresses him in the interval between the conclusion of the Divina Commedia and his death, and shortly before the latter event, foretelling the fortunes of Italy in general in the ensuing centuries. In adopting this 214 PREFACE. plan I have had in my mind the Cassandra of Lyco- phron, and the Prophecy of Nereus by Horace, as well as the Prophecies of Holy Writ. The measure adopted is the terza rima of Dante, which I am not aware to have seen hitherto tried in our language, except it may be by Mr. Hayley, of whose translation I never saw but one extract, quoted in the notes to Caliph Vathek ; so that — if I do not err — this poem may be considered as a metrical experiment. The cantos are short, and about the same length of those of the poet whose name I have borrowed, and most probably taken in vain. Amongst the inconveniences of authors in the pre- sent day, it is difficult for any who have a name, good or bad, to escape translation. I have had the fortune to see the fourth canto of Childe Harold translated into Italian versi sciolti — that is, a poem written in the Spenser -earn, stanza into blank verse, without regard to the natural divisions of the stanza, or of the sense. If the present poem, being on a national topic, should chance to undergo the same fate, I would request the Italian reader to remember that when I have failed in the imitation of his great " Padre Alighier," I have PREFACE. 215 failed in imitating that which all study and few un- derstand, since to this very day it is not yet settled what was the meaning of the allegory in the first canto of the Inferno, unless Count Marchetti's in- genious and probable conjecture may be considered as having decided the question. He may also pardon my failure the more, as I am not quite sure that he would be pleased with my success, since the Italians, with a pardonable nation- ality, are particularly jealous of all that is left them as a nation — their literature ; and in the present bitter- ness of the classic and romantic war, are but ill disposed to permit a foreigner even to approve or imitate them without finding some fault with his ultramontane pre- sumption. I can easily enter into all this, knowing what would be thought in England of an Italian imitator of Milton, or if a translation of Monti, or Pindemonte, or Arici, should be held up to the rising generation as a model for their future poetical essays. But I perceive that I am deviating into an address to the Italian reader, when my business is with the English one, and be they few or many, I must take my leave of both. THE PROPHECY OF DANTE. CANTO I. ONCE more in man's frail world ! which I had left So long that 'twas forgotten ; and I feel The weight of clay again, — too soon bereft Of the immortal vision which could heal My earthly sorrows, and to God's own skies Lift me from that deep gulf without repeal, Where late my ears rung with the damned cries Of soids in hopeless bale; and from that place Of lesser torment, whence men may arise Pure from the fire to join the angelic race ; 10 Midst whom my own bright Beatrice bless'd (!) My spirit with her light ; and to the base 218 PROPHECY OF DANTE. Canto 1. Of the Eternal Triad ! first, last, best, Mysterious, three, sole, infinite, great God ! Soul universal ! led the mortal guest, Unblasted by the glory, though he trod "'"' From star to star to reach the almighty throne. Oh Beatrice ! whose sweet limbs the sod So long hath prest, and the cold marble stone, Thou sole pure seraph of my earliest love, 20 Love so ineffable, and so alone, That nought on earth could more my bosom move, And meeting thee in heaven was but to meet That without which my soul, like the arkless dove, Had wander'd still in search of, nor her feet Relieved her wing till found ; without thy light My Paradise had still been incomplete. ( 2 ) Since my tenth sun gave summer to my sight Thou wert my life, the essence of my thought, Loved ere I knew the name of love, and bright 30 Still in these dim old eyes, now overwrought . With the world's war, and years, and banishment, Canto 1. PROPHECY OF DANTE. 219 And tears for thee, by other woes untaught ; For mine is not a nature to be bent By tyrannous faction, and the brawling crowd ; And though the long, long conflict hath been spent In vain, and never more, save when the cloud Which overhangs the Apennine, my mind's eye Pierces to fancy Florence, once so proud Of me, can I return, though but to die, 40 Unto my native soil, they have not yet Quench'd the old exile's spirit, stern and high. But the sun, though not overcast, must set, And the night cometh ; I am old in days, And deeds, and contemplation, and have met Destruction face to face in all his ways. The world hath left me, what it found me, pure, And if I have not gather'd yet its praise, I sought it not by any baser lure ; Man wrongs, and Time avenges, and my name 50 May form a monument not all obscure, Though such was not my ambition's end or aim, 220 PROPHECY OF DANTE. Canto 1. To add to the vain-glorious list of those Who dabble in the pettiness of fame, And make men's fickle breath the wind that blows Their sail, and deem it glory to be class'd With conquerors, and virtue's other foes, In bloody chronicles of ages past. I would have had my Florence great and free : ( 3 > Oh Florence ! Florence ! unto me thou wast 60 Like that Jerusalem which the Almighty He Wept over, " but thou wouldst not ;" as the bird Gathers its young, I would have gather'd thee Beneath a parent pinion, hadst thou heard My voice ; but as the adder, deaf and fierce, Against the breast that cherish'd thee was stirr'd Thy venom, and my state thou didst amerce, And doom this body forfeit to the fire. Alas ! how bitter is his country's curse To him -who for that country would expire, 70 But did not merit to expire by her, And loves her, loves her even in her ire. Canto 1. PROPHECY OF DANTE. 221 The day may come when she will cease to err, The day may come she would be proud to have The dust she dooms to scatter, and transfer ( 4 ) Of him, whom she denied a home, the grave. But this shall not be granted ; let my dust Lie where it falls ; nor shall the soil which gave Me breath, but in her sudden fury thrust Me forth to breathe elsewhere, so reassume 80 My indignant bones, because her angry gust Forsooth is over, and repeal'd her doom ; No, — she denied me what was mine — my roof, And shall not have what is not hers — my tomb. Too long her armed wrath hath kept aloof The breast which would have bled for her, the heart That beat, the mind that was temptation proof, The man who fought, toil'd, travell'd, and each part Of a true citizen fulfill' d, and saw For his reward the Guelf 's ascendant art 90 Pass his destruction even into a law. These things are not made for forgetfiilness, PROPHECY OF DANTE. Canto 1. Florence shall be forgotten first ; too raw The wound, too deep the wrong, and the distress Of such endurance too prolong'd to make My pardon greater, her injustice less, Though late repented ; yet — yet for her sake I feel some fonder yearnings, and for thine, My own Beatrice, I would hardly take Vengeance upon the land which once was mine, 100 And still is hallow'd by thy dust's return, Which would protect the murderess like a shrine, And save ten thousand foes by thy sole urn. Though, like old Marius from Minturnae's marsh And Carthage ruins, my lone breast may burn At times with evil feelings hot and harsh, And sometimes the last pangs of a vile foe Writhe in a dream before me, and o'erarch My brow with hopes of triumph, — let them go ! Such are the last infirmities of those , 110 Who long have suffer'd more than mortal woe, And yet being mortal still, have no repose Canto 1. PROPHECY OF DANTE. 223 But on the pillow of Revenge — Revenge, Who sleeps to dream of blood, and waking glows With the oft-baffled, slakeless thirst of change, When we shall mount again, and they that trod Be trampled on, while Death and Ate range O'er humbled heads and sever'd necks Great God ! Take these thoughts from me — to thy hands I yield My many wrongs, and thine almighty rod 120 Will fall on those who smote me, — be my shield ! As thou hast been in peril, and in pain, In turbulent cities, and the tented field — In toil, and many troubles borne in vain For Florence. — I appeal from her to Thee ! Thee, whom I late saw in thy loftiest reign, Even in that glorious vision, which to see And live was never granted until now, And yet thou hast permitted this to me. Alas ! with what a weight upon my brow 130 The sense of earth and earthly things come back, Corrosive passions, feelings dull and low, 224 PROPHECY OF DANTE. Canto I. The heart's quick throb upon the mental rack, Long day, and dreary night ; the retrospect Of half a century bloody and black, And the frail few years I may yet expect Hoary and hopeless, but less hard to bear, For I have been too long and deeply wreck'd On the lone rock of desolate Despair To lift my eyes more to the passing sail 140 Which shuns that reef so horrible and bare ; Nor raise my voice — for who would heed my wail ? I am not of this people, nor this age, And yet my harpings will unfold a tale Which shall preserve these times when not a page Of their perturbed annals could attract An eye to gaze upon their civil rage Did not my verse embalm full many an act Worthless as they who wrought it : 'tis the doom Of spirits of my order to-be rack'd 150 In life, to wear their hearts out, and consume Their days in endless strife, and die alone : Canto 1. PROPHECY OF DANTE. 225 Then future thousands crowd around their tomb, And pilgrims come from climes where they have known The name of him — who now is but a name, And wasting homage o'er the sullen stone, Spread his — by him unheard, unheeded — fame ; And mine at least hath cost me dear : to die Is nothing ; but to wither thus — to tame My mind down from its own infinity — 160 To live in narrow ways with little men, A common sight to every common eye, A wanderer, while even wolves can find a den, Ripp'd from all kindred, from all home, all things That make communion sweet, and soften pain — To feel me in the solitude of kings Without the power that makes them bear a crown — To envy every dove his nest and wings Which waft him where the Apennine looks down On Arno, till he perches, it may be, 170 Within my all inexorable town, Where yet my boys are, and that fatal she, ( 5 ) Q PROPHECY OF DANTE. Canto 1. Their mother, the cold partner who hath brought Destruction for a dowry — this to see And feel, and know without repair, hath taught A bitter lesson ; but it leaves me free : I have not vilely found, nor basely sought, They made an Exile — not a slave of me. THE PKOPHECY OF DANTE. CANTO II. The Spirit of the fervent days of Old, When words were things that came to pass, and thought Flash'd o'er the future, bidding men behold Their children's children's doom already brought Forth from the abyss of time which is to be, The chaos of events, where lie half-wrought Shapes that must undergo mortality ; What the great Seers of Israel wore within, That spirit was on them, and is on me, And if, Cassandra-like, amidst the din 10 Of conflict none will hear, or hearing heed This voice from out the Wilderness, the sin q2 228 PROPHECY OF DANTE. Canto 2. Be theirs, and my own feelings be my meed, The only guerdon I have ever known. Hast thou not bled ? and hast thou still to bleed, Italia ? Ah ! to me such things, foreshown With dim sepulchral light, bid me forget In thine irreparable wrongs my own ; We can have but one country, and even yet Thou'rt mine — my bones shall be within thy breast, My soul within thy language, which once set 21 With our old Roman sway in the wide West ; But I will make another tongue arise As lofty and more sweet, in which exprest The hero's ardour, or the lover's sighs, Shall find alike such sounds for every theme That every word, as brilliant as thy skies, Shall realize a poet's proudest dream, And make thee Europe's nightingale of song ; So that all present speech to thine shall seem 30 The note of meaner birds, and every tongue Confess its barbarism when compared with thine. Canto 2. PROPHECY OF DANTE. 229 This shalt thou owe to him thou didst so wrong, Thy Tuscan Bard, the banish'd Ghibelline. Woe ! woe ! the veil of coming centuries Is rent, — a thousand years which yet supine Lie like the ocean waves ere winds arise, Heaving in dark and sullen undulation, Float from eternity into these eyes ; 39 The storms yet sleep, the clouds still keep their station, The unborn earthquake yet is in the womb, The bloody chaos yet expects creation, But all things are disposing for thy doom ; The elements await but for the word, "Let there be darkness!" and thou grow'st a tomb! Yes ! thou, so beautiful, shalt feel the sword, Thou, Italy ! so fair that Paradise, Revived in thee, blooms forth to man restored : Ah ! must the sons of Adam lose it twice ? Thou, Italy ! whose ever golden fields, 50 Plough'd by the sunbeams solely, would suffice For the world's granary ; thou, whose sky heaven gilds 230 PROPHECY OF DANTE. Canto 2. With brighter stars, and robes with deeper blue ; Thou, in whose pleasant places Summer builds Her palace, in whose cradle Empire grew, And form'd the Eternal City's ornaments From spoils of kings whom freemen overthrew ; Birthplace of heroes, sanctuary of saints, • Where earthly first, then heavenly glory made Her home ; thou, all which fondest fancy paints, 60 And finds her prior vision but portray'd In feeble colours, when the eye — from the Alp Of horrid snow, and rock, and shaggy shade Of desert-loving pine, whose emerald scalp Nods to the storm — dilates and dotes o'er thee, And wistfully implores, as 'twere, for help To see thy sunny fields, my Italy, Nearer and nearer yet, and dearer still The more approach'd, and dearest were they free, Thou — Thou must wither to each tyrant's will: 70 The Goth hath been, — the German, Frank, and Hun Are yet to come, — and on the imperial hill Canto 2. PROPHECY OF DANTE. 231 Ruin, already proud of the deeds done By the old barbarians, there awaits the new, Throned on the Palatine, while lost and won Rome at her feet lies bleeding ; and the hue Of human sacrifice and Roman slaughter Troubles the clotted air, of late so blue, And deepens into red the saffron water Of Tiber, thick with dead ; the helpless priest, 80 And still more helpless nor less holy daughter, Vow'd to their God, have shrieking fled, and ceased Their ministry : the nations take their prey, Iberian, Almain, Lombard, and the beast And bird, wolf, vulture, more humane than they Are ; these but gorge the flesh and lap the gore Of the departed, and then go their way ; But those, the human savages, explore All paths of torture, and insatiate yet, With Ugolino hunger prowl for more. 90 Nine moons shall rise o'er scenes like this and set ; ( 6 ) The chiefless army of the dead, which late 232 PROPHECY OF DANTE. Canto 2. Beneath the traitor Prince's banner met, Hath left its leader's ashes at the gate ; Had but the royal Rebel lived, perchance Thou hadst been spared, but his involved thy fate. Oh ! Rome, the spoiler or the spoil of France, From Brennus to the Bourbon, never, never Shall foreign standard to thy walls advance But Tiber shall become a mournful river. 100 Oh ! when the strangers pass the Alps and Po, Crush them, ye rocks ! floods, whelm them, and for ever ! Why sleep the idle avalanches so, To topple on the lonely pilgrim's head ? Why doth Eridanus but overflow The peasant's harvest from his turbid bed ? Were not each barbarous horde a nobler prey ? Over Cambyses' host the desert spread Her sandy ocean, and the sea waves' sway Roll'd over Pharaoh and his thousands, — why, 110 Mountains and waters, do ye not as they ? And you, ye men ! Romans, who dare not die, Canto 2. PROPHECY OF DANTE. Sons of the conquerors who overthrew Those who overthrew proud Xerxes, where yet lie The dead whose tomb Oblivion never knew, Are the Alps weaker than Thermopylae ? Their passes more alluring to the view Of an invader ? is it they, or ye, That to each host the mountain-gate unbar, And leave the march in peace, the passage free ? Why, Nature's self detains the victor's car 121 And makes your land impregnable, if earth Could be so ; but alone she will not war, Yet aids the warrior worthy of his birth In a soil where the mothers bring forth men : Not so with those whose souls are little worth ; For them no fortress can avail, — the den Of the poor reptile which preserves its sting Is more secure than walls of adamant, when The hearts of those within are quivering. 130 Are ye not brave ? Yes, yet the Ausonian soil Hath hearts, and hands, and arms, and hosts to bring 234 PROPHECY OF DANTE. Canto 2. Against Oppression ; but how vain the toil, While still Division sows the seeds of woe And weakness, till the stranger reaps the spoil. Oh ! my own beauteous land ! so long laid low, So long the grave of thy own children's hopes, When there is but required a single blow To break the chain, yet — yet the Avenger stops, 139 And Doubt and Discord step 'twixt thine and thee, And join their strength to that which with thee copes ; What is there wanting then to set thee free, And show thy beauty in its fullest light ? To make the Alps impassable ; and we, Her sons, may do this with one deed Unite ! THE PKOPHECY OF DANTE. CANTO III. From out the mass of never dying ill, The Plague, the Prince, the Stranger, and the Sword, Vials of wrath but emptied to refill And flow again, I cannot all record That crowds on my prophetic eye : the earth And ocean written o'er would not afford Space for the annal, yet it shall go forth ; Yes, all, though not by human pen, is graven, There where the farthest suns and stars have birth. Spread like a banner at the gate of heaven, 10 236 PROPHECY OF DANTE. Canto 3. The bloody scroll of our millennial wrongs Waves, and the echo of our groans is driven Athwart the sound of archangelic songs, And Italy, the martyr'd nation's gore, Will not in vain arise to where belongs Omnipotence and mercy evermore : Like to a harpstring stricken by the wind, The sound of her lament shall, rising o'er The seraph voices, touch the Almighty Mind. Meantime I, humblest of thy sons, and of 20 Earth's dust by immortality refined To sense and suffering, though the vain may scoff^ And tyrants threat, and meeker victims bow Before the storm because its breath is rough, To thee, my country ! whom before, as now, I loved and love, devote the mournful lyre And melancholy gift high powers allow To read the future ; and if now my fire Is not as once it shone o'er thee, forgive ! Canto 3. PROPHECY OF DANTE. 237 I but foretell thy fortunes — then expire ; 30 Think not that I would look on them and live. A spirit forces me to see and speak, And for my guerdon grants not to survive ; My heart shall be pour'd over thee and break : Yet for a moment, ere I must resume Thy sable web of sorrow, let me take Over the gleams that flash athwart thy gloom A softer glimpse ; some stars shine through thy night, And many meteors, and above thy tomb Leans sculptured Beauty, which Death cannot blight ; And from thine ashes boundless spirits rise 41 To give thee honour, and the earth delight ; Thy soil shall still be pregnant with the wise, The gay, the learn'd, the generous, and the brave, Native to thee as summer to thy skies, Conquerors on foreign shores, and the far wave, (7) Discoverers of new worlds, which take their name ; ( 8 ) For thee alone they have no arm to save, 238 PROPHECY OF DANTE. Canto 3. And all thy recompense is in their fame, A noble one to them, but not to thee — 50 Shall they be glorious, and thou still the same ? Oh ! more than these illustrious far shall be The being — and even yet he may be born — The mortal saviour who shall set thee free, And see thy diadem, so changed and worn By fresh barbarians, on thy brow replaced ; And the sweet sun replenishing thy morn, Thy moral morn, too long with clouds defaced And noxious vapours from Avernus risen, Such as all they must breathe who are debased 60 By servitude, and have the mind in prison. Yet through this centuried eclipse of woe Some voices shall be heard, and earth shall listen ; Poets shall follow in the path I show, And make it broader ; the same brilliant sky Which cheers the birds to song shall bid them glow, And raise their notes as natural and high ; Canto 3. PROPHECY OF DANTE. 239 Tuneful shall be their numbers : they shall sing Many of love, and some of liberty, But few shall soar upon that eagle's wing, 70 And look in the sun's face with eagle's gaze All free and fearless as the feather'd king, But fly more near the earth ; how many a phrase Sublime shall lavish'd be on some small prince In all the prodigality of praise ! And language, eloquently false, evince The harlotry of genius, which, like beauty, Too oft forgets its own self-reverence, And looks on prostitution as a duty. <9) He who once enters in a tyrant's hall 80 As guest is slave, his thoughts become a booty, And the first day which sees the chain enthral A captive, sees his half of manhood gone — ( 10 ) The soul's emasculation saddens all His spirit ; thus the Bard too near the throne Quails from his inspiration, bound to please^ — How servile is the task to please alone ! 240 PROPHECY OF DANTE. Canto 3. To smooth the verse to suit his sovereign's ease. And royal leisure, nor too much prolong Aught save his eulogy, and find, and seize, 90 Or force, or forge fit argument of song ! Thus trammell'd, thus condemn'd to Flattery's trebles, He toils through all, still trembling to be wrong : For fear some noble thoughts, like heavenly rebels, Should rise up in high treason to his brain, He sings, as the Athenian spoke, with pebbles In 's mouth, lest truth should stammer through his strain. But out of the long file of sonneteers There shall be some who will not sing in vain, And he, their prince, shall rank among my peers, C 11 ) And love shall be his torment ; but his grief 101 Shall make an immortality of tears, And Italy shall hail him as the Chief Of Poet-lovers, and his higher song Of Freedom wreathe him with as green a leaf. But in a farther age shall rise along The banks of Po, two greater still than he ; Canto 3. PROPHECY OF DANTE. 241 The world which smiled on him shall do them wrong Till they are ashes, and repose with me. The first will make an epoch with his lyre, 110 And fill the earth with feats of chivalry : His fancy like a rainbow, and his fire, Like that of heaven, immortal, and his thought Borne onward with a wing that cannot tire ; Pleasure shall, like a butterfly new caught, Flutter her lovely pinions o'er his theme, And Art itself seem into Nature wrought By the transparency of his bright dream. — The second, of a tenderer, sadder mood, Shall pour his soul out o'er Jerusalem ; ISO He, too, shall sing of arms, and christian blood Shed where Christ bled for man ■ and his high harp Shall, by the willow over Jordan's flood, Revive a song of Sion, and the sharp Conflict, and final triumph of the brave And pious, and the strife of hell to warp Their hearts from their great purpose, until wave R 242 PROPHECY OF DANTE. Canto 3. The red-cross banners where the first red Cross Was crimson'd from his veins who died to save, Shall be his sacred argument ; the loss 130 Of years, of favour, freedom, even of fame Contested for a time, while the smooth gloss Of courts would slide o'er his forgotten name, And call captivity a kindness, meant To shield him from insanity or shame, Such shall be his meet guerdon ! who was sent To be Christ's Laureate — they reward him well ! Florence dooms me but death or banishment, Ferrara him a pittance and a cell, Harder to bear and less deserved, for I 140 Had stung the factions which I strove to quell ; But this meek man, who with a lover's eye Will look on earth and heaven, and who will deign To embalm with his celestial flattery As poor a thing as e'er was spawn'd to reign, What will he do to merit such a doom ? Perhaps he'll love, — and is not love in vain Canto 3. PROPHECY OF DANTE. 243 Torture enough without a living tomb ? Yet it will be so — he and his compeer, The Bard of Chivalry, will both consume 150 In penury and pain too many a year, And, dying in despondency, bequeath To the kind world, which scarce will yield a tear, A heritage enriching all who breathe With the wealth of a genuine poet's soul, And to then* country a redoubled wreath, Unmatch'd by time ; not Hellas can unroll Through her olympiads two such names, though one Of hers be mighty ; — and is this the whole Of such men's destiny beneath the sun ? 160 Must all the finer thoughts, the thrilling sense, The electric blood with which their arteries run, Their body's self turn'd soul with the intense Feeling of that which is, and fancy of That which should be, to such a recompense Conduct ? shall their bright plumage on the rough Storm be still scatter'd ? Yes, and it must be, r2 244 PROPHECY OF DANTE. Canto 3. For, form'd of far too penetrable stuff, These birds of Paradise but long to flee Back to their native mansion, soon they find 170 Earth's mist with their pure pinions not agree, And die or are degraded, for the mind Succumbs to long infection, and despair, And vulture passions flying close behind, Await the moment to assail and tear ; And when at length the winged wanderers stoop, Then is the prey-bird's triumph, then they share The spoil, o'erpower'd at length by one fell swoop. Yet some have been untouch'd, who learn'd to bear, Some whom no power could ever force to droop, Who could resist themselves even, hardest care ! 181 And task most hopeless ; but some such have been, And if my name amongst the number were, That destiny austere, and yet serene, Were prouder than more dazzling fame unblest ; The Alp's snow summit nearer heaven is seen Than the volcano's fierce eruptive crest, Canto 3. PROPHECY OF DANTE. 245 Whose splendour from the black abyss is flung, While the scorch'd mountain, from whose burning breast A temporary torturing flame is wrung, 190 Shines for a night of terror, then repels Its fire back to the hell from whence it sprung, The hell which in its entrails ever dwells. THE PROPHECY OF DANTE. CANTO IV. Many are poets who have never penn'd Their inspiration, and perchance the best : They felt, and loved, and died, but would not lend Their thoughts to meaner beings ; they compress'd The god within them, and rejoin'd the stars Unlaurell'd upon earth, but far more blest Than those who are degraded by the jars Of passion, and their frailties link'd to fame, Conquerors of high renown, but full of scars. Many are poets but without the name, 10 248 PROPHECY OF DANTE. Canto 4. For what is poesy but to create From overfeeling good or ill ; and aim At apt external life beyond our fate, And be the hew Prometheus of new men, Bestowing fire from heaven, and then, too late, Finding the pleasure given repaid with pain, And vultures to the heart of the bestower, Who, having lavish'd his high gift in vain, Lies chain'd to his lone rock by the sea-shore ? So be it : we can bear. — But thus all they, 20 Whose intellect is an o'ermastering power Which still recoils from its encumbering clay Or lightens it to spirit, whatsoe'er The form which their creations may essay, Are bards ; the kindled marble's bust may wear More poesy upon its speaking brow Than aught less than the Homeric page may bear ; One noble stroke with a whole life may glow, Or deify the canvas till it shine Canto 4. PROPHECY OF DANTE. 249 With beauty so surpassing all below, 30 That they who kneel to idols so divine Break no commandment, for high heaven is there Transfused, transfigurated : and the line Of poesy, which peoples but the air With thought and beings of our thought reflected, Can do no more : then let the artist share The palm, he shares the peril, and dejected Faints o'er the labour unapproved — Alas ! Despair and Genius are too oft connected. Within the ages which before me pass 40 Art shall resume and equal even the sway Which with Apelles and old Phidias She held in Hellas' unforgotten day. Ye shall be taught by Ruin to revive The Grecian forms at least from their decay, And Roman souls at last again shall live In Roman works wrought by Italian hands, And temples, loftier than the old temples, give 250 PROPHECY OF DANTE. Canto 4. New wonders to the world ; and while still stands The austere Pantheon, into heaven shall soar 50 A dome, ( 12 ) its image, while the base expands Into a fane surpassing all before, Such as all flesh shall flock to kneel in : ne'er Such sight hath been unfolded by a door As this, to which all nations shall repair And lay their sins at this huge gate of heaven. And the bold Architect unto whose care The daring charge to raise it shall be given, Whom all arts shall acknowledge as their lord, Whether into the marble chaos driven 60 His chisel bid the Hebrew, ( 13 ) at whose word Israel left Egypt, stop the waves in stone, Or hues of hell be by his pencil pour'd Over the damn'd before the Judgment throne, ( 14 ) Such as I saw them, such as all shall see, Or fanes be built of grandeur yet unknown, The stream of his great thoughts shall spring from me, ( 15 ) Canto 4, PROPHECY OF DANTE. 251 The Ghibelline, who traversed the three realms Which form the empire of eternity. Amidst the clash of swords, and clang of helms, 70 The age which I anticipate, no less Shall be the Age of Beauty, and while whelms Calamity the nations with distress, The genius of my country shall arise, A Cedar towering o'er the Wilderness, Lovely in all its branches to all eyes, Fragrant as fair, and recognized afar, Wafting its native incense through the skies. Sovereigns shall pause amidst their sport of war, Wean'd for an hour from blood, to turn and gaze 80 On canvas or on stone ; and they who mar All beauty upon earth, compell'd to praise, Shall feel the power of that which they destroy ; And Art's mistaken gratitude shall raise To tyrants who but take her for a toy Emblems and monuments, and prostitute Her charms to pontiffs proud, ( 16 ) who but employ 252 PROPHECY OF DANTE. Canto 4. The man of genius as the meanest brute To bear a burthen, and to serve a need, To sell his labours, and his soul to boot : 90 Who toils for nations may be poor indeed But free ; who sweats for monarchs is no more Than the gilt chamberlain, who, clothed and fee'd, Stands sleek and slavish, bowing at his door. Oh, Power that rulest and inspirest ! how Is it that they on earth, whose earthly power Is likest thine in heaven in outward show, Least like to thee in attributes divine, Tread on the universal necks that bow, And then assure us that their rights are thine ? 100 And how is it that they, the sons of fame, Whose inspiration seems to them to shine From high, they whom the nations oftest name, Must pass their days in penury or pain, Or step to grandeur through the paths of shame, And wear a deeper brand, and gaudier chain ? Or if their destiny be born aloof Canto 4. PROPHECY OF DANTE. . 253 From lowliness, or tempted thence in vain, In their own souls sustain a harder proof, The inner war of passions deep and fierce ? 110 Florence ! when thy harsh sentence razed my roof, I loved thee ; but the vengeance of my verse, The hate of injuries which every year Makes greater, and accumulates my curse, Shall live, outliving all thou holdest dear, Thy pride, thy wealth, thy freedom, and even that. The most infernal of all evils here, The sway of petty tyrants in a state ; For such sway is not limited to kings, And demagogues yield to them but in date 120 As swept off sooner ; in all deadly things Which make men hate themselves, and one another, In discord, cowardice, cruelty, all that springs From Death the Sin-born's incest with his mother, In rank oppression in its rudest shape, The faction Chief is but the Sultan's brother, And the worst despot's far less human ape : 254 PROPHECY OF DANTE. Canto 4. Florence ! when this lone spirit, which so long Yearn'd, as the captive toiling at escape, To fly back to thee in despite of wrong, 130 An exile, saddest of all prisoners, Who has the whole world for a dungeon strong, Seas, mountains, and the horizon's verge for bars, Which shut him from the sole small spot of earth Where — whatsoe'er his fate — he still were hers, His country's, and might die where he had birth — Florence ! when this lone spirit shall return To kindred spirits, thou wilt feel my worth, And seek to honour with an empty urn The ashes thou shalt ne'er obtain — Alas ! 140 "What have I done to thee, my people?" ( 17 ) Stern Are all thy dealings, but in this they pass The limits of man's common malice, for All that a citizen could be I was ; Raised by thy will, all thine in peace or war, And for this thou hast warr'd with me. — 'Tis done : I may not overleap the eternal bar Canto 4. PROPHECY OF DANTE. 255 Built up between us, and will die alone, Beholding, with the dark eye of a seer, The evil days to giflted souls foreshown, 150 Foretelling them to those who will not hear, As in the old time, till the hour be come When Truth shall strike their eyes through many a tear, And make them own the Prophet in his tomb. NOTES TO THE PROPHECY OF DANTE. Note 1, page 217, line 11. Midst whom my own bright Beatrice bless d. The reader is requested to adopt the Italian pronunciation of Beatrice, sounding all the syllables. Note 2, page 218, line 15. My Paradise had still been incomplete. " Che sol per le belle opre " Che fanno in Cielo il sole e 1' altre stelle " Dentro di lui si crede il Paradiso, " Cos! se guardi fiso " Pensar ben dei ch' ogni terren' piacere. Canzone, in which Dante describes the person of Beatrice, Strophe third. Note 3, page 220, line 7- / would have had my Florence great and free. " L' Esilio che m' e dato onor mi tegno. * * * . * * " Cader tra' buoni e pur di lode degno." Sonnet of Dante, in which he represents Right, Generosity, and Temperance as banished from among men, and seeking refuge from Love, who inhabits his bosom. 258 NOTES TO THE Note 4, page 221, line 3. The dust she dooms to scatter. " Ut si quis predictorum ullo tempore in fortiam dicti com- munis pervenerit, talis perveniens igne comburatur, sic quod moriatur." Second sentence of Florence against Dante, and the fourteen accused with him. — The Latin is worthy of the sentence- Note 5, page 225, last line. Where yet my boys are, and that fatal she. This lady, whose name was Gemma, sprung from one of the most powerful Guelf families, named Donati. Corso Donati was the principal adversary of the Ghibellines. She is described as being " Admodum morosa, ut de Xantippe Socratis philosophi conjuge scriptum esse legimus" according to Giannozzo Manetti. But Lionardo Aretino is scandalized with Boccace, in his life of Dante, for saying that literary men should not marry. " Qui il Boccaccio non ha pazienza, e dice, le mogli esser contrarie agli studj ; e non si ricorda che Socrate il piu nobile filosofo che mai fusse ebbe moglie, e figliuoli e uffici della Repubblica mella sua Citta ; e Aris- totele che, &c. &c. ebbe due mogli in varj tempi, ed ebbe figliuoli, e ricchezze assai. — E Marco Tullio — e Catone — e Varrone, e Seneca — ebbero moglie," &c. &c. It is odd that honest Lionardo's examples, with the exception of Seneca, and, for any thing I know, of Aristotle, are not the most felicitous. Tully's Terentia, and Socrates' Xantippe, by no means contributed to their husbands' happiness, whatever they might do to their philosophy — Cato gave away his wife — of Varro's we know nothing — and of Seneca's, only that she was disposed to die with him, but recovered, and lived PROPHECY OF DANTE. 259 several years afterwards. But, says Lionardo, " L' uomo e animate civile, secondo piace a tutti i filosofi." And thence concludes that the greatest proof of the animal's civism is " la prima congiunzione, dalla quale multiplicata nasce la Citta." Note 6, page 231, line 19. . Nine moons shall rise o'er scenes like this and set. See " Sacco di Roma," generally attributed to Guicciardini. There is another written by a Jacopo Buonaparte, Gentiluomo Samminiatese che vi si trovo presente. Note T> page 237> line 17. Conquerors on foreign shores, and the for wave. Alexander of Parma, Spinola, Pescara, Eugene of Savoy, Montecucco. Note 8, page 23 7, line 18. Discoverers of new worlds, which take their name. Columbus, Americus Vespusius, Sebastian Cabot. Note 9, page 239, line 13. He who once enters in a tyrant's hall, &;c. A verse from the Greek tragedians, with which Pompey took leave of Cornelia on entering the boat in which he was slain. Note 10, page 239, line 16. And the first day which sees the chain enthral, fyc. The verse and sentiment are taken from Homer. 260 NOTES TO THE * Note 11, page 240, line 13. And he, their prince, shall rank among my peers. Petrarch. Note 12, page 250, line 3. A dome, its image. The cupola of St. Peter's. Note 13, page 250, line 13. His chisel bid the Hebrew. The statue of Moses on the monument of Julius II. SONETTO. Di Giovanni Battista Zappi. Chi e costui, che in dura pietra scolto, Siede gigante 3 e le piu illustre, e conte Prove dell' arte awanza, e ha vive, e pronte Le labbia si, che le parole ascolto ? Quest' e Mose ; ben me'l diceva il folto Onor del mento, e' 1 doppio raggio in fronte, Quest' e Mose, quando scendea del monte, E gran parte del Nume avea nel volto. Tal era allor, che le sonanti, e vaste Acque ei sospese a se d' intorno, e tale Quando il mar chiuse, e ne fe tomba altrui. E voi sue turbe un rio vitello alzate ? Alzata aveste imago a questa eguale ! Ch' era men fallo 1' adorar costui. PROPHECY OF DANTE. 261 Note 14, page 250, line 16. Over the damn'd before the Judgment throne. The Last Judgment in the Sistine chapel. Note 15, page 250, last line. The stream of his great thoughts shall springfrom me. I have read somewhere (if I do not err, for I cannot recol- lect where) that Dante was so great a favourite of Michel Angiolo's, that he had designed the whole of the Divina Commedia ; but that the volume containing these studies was lost by sea. Note 16, page 251, last line. Her charms to pontiff's proud, tvho but employ, &;c. See the treatment of Michel Angiolo by Julius II., and his neglect by Leo X. Note 17, page 254, line 14. " What have I done to thee, my people ?" " E scrisse piu volte non solamente a particulari cittadin del reggimento, ma ancora al popolo, e intra 1' altre un Epistola assai lunga che comincia: — ' Popule mi, quid feci tibi?'" Vita di Dante scritta da Lionardo Aretino. THE END. LONDON: PRINTED BY THOMAS DAVISON. WHITEFR1ARS. 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