not within the State so all such as are of it may when they are at Venice take the Vest enter and ballot in the great Council The Pio's Malateste's and Bentivoglio's are the Principal private Families of Italy to which the Republick hath presented the Venetian Nohility The Martininguo's and the Colalte's both Powerful Lords one in the Country of Brescia and the other in the Marches of Trevisano are two Houses which the Republick have for their Merits jointed to the Body of the Nobility by Reason of the great Credit they have in these Provinces which are Subjects of the State but these Lords live at home without concerning themselves with the Affairs of the Republick The Bennoni and Savorniani who for their Merits were received into the order of Nobility live at Venice they wear the Vest enter into the Council and are engaged in the interests of the Republick the first gave them formerly the City of Crema of which they were Lords the latter were very Powerful in Frivoli they gave the state divers Forteresses which are at present Garrison'd Frontiers against the Emperour Of the Venetian Citizens THey mean by the word Citizen at Venice all the good Families of Venetian Citizens composing the Second State between the Nobility and People I do place here the Citizens before the Nobilty of Terra Firma because this Body hath a greater Affinity with the Government of the Republick than the Nobility of the Country and City 's of the State yet among this Gentry there is a considerable Number that would not yield in either Birth or Riches to the best Houses of Venice if they lived without the dominions of the Republick There are two distinctions in the Venetian Citizens the first are originally Citizens by Birth being descended from these Families which before the Establishment of the Great Council had the same share in the Government that the Venetian Nobility now have alone who did remain in the order of Citizens by their misfortune of being excluded the Great Council upon the new Institution of the Doge Gradenigo In another form of Government several Families of these ancient Citizens may value themselves as the better sort of Gentry for there are several of them which have the same name and bear the same Arms with the Noble Venetians of the first Order The second Order of Citizens is compos'd of such as have either by their Merits or Money obtain'd this place in the Republick both of them enjoy the same Privileges they may wear the Vest as well as the Noble enter into the charges and Employs that the Republick hath design'd to the Citizens who being upon Terra Firma are by their quality of Venetian Citizens equal to the Nobility of the Country enabling them to enter with this Nobility into the Councils of Cities These in return enjoy at Venice the same Privileges of Citizens but the greatest part of them do not esteem themselves much Inferior to the Noble Venetians Infinitely counting below their quality all the privileges of that Order in the City in which are likewise comprehended the Physicians Lawyers Merchants the Manufacturers of Gold and Silver Silks and the makers of Glass at Mouran who pretend themselves to be elevated to the degree of Nobility by Henry the third The Republick doth much honour or at least seemeth to respect the true Citizens either to render their Subjection more tolerable or because they being Modester than the Venetian Gentry are much more beloved of the People They confer upon the Citizens of Merit and such as engage themselves to the Service of the Republick the charges of Secretaries to the Senat and of all Tribunals that take Cognisance of the Affairs of State They are likewise made Secretaries of Embassies and Residents with forreign Princes in short they give them all those Employs which are thought below a Noble Venetian The aim of all the Citizens and the highest of what they can attain unto in the Service of their Several Employs and charges is the dignity of great Chancelour of the Republick the Rank and seeming greatness of him that Possesseth this place would render the execution of it worthy the most principal Senatour if the Republick Jealous of their Authority had not Confin'd this Great Employ to the bare Execution of the Office not allowing him either Voice or Credit in the Courts of Justice as shall be observ'd in the proper Pace Nevertheless this being the highest place a Citizen can pretend to so they limit their Ambition to it boasting with Justice that as the Republick does oftentimes find Taitours among the Body of the Nobility so they have always been exempt of these Reproaches for the Citizens have ever been inviolaby Attach'd to the interests of the State Of the Venetian Gentry upon the Continent ALl the Gentry out of Venice and within the dominions of the Republick are comprehended under the name of Noble's of Terra Firma excepting some Families of the third or fourth Class of Venetian Gentry However antient that the Nobility of the Gentry of Terra Firma is yet the Venetian Nobles will admit of no Comparison with them pretending there is the same difference between them as between the Sovereign and Subject This uncouth and haughty usage does intirely Alienate the Affections of the Nobility upon Terra firma and is frequently attended with dangerous disputes between them and the young Noble's of Venice who being sometimes in the Cities of the States do find themselves opposed as to point of place by the first when they are from Venice without any Publick Imploys The Gentry of Terra Firma do compose the Council of the Cities where they live They can regulate several things in regard of the Government and Publick interest which are no ways relating to the Political part of Government for such the Republick confides intirely to the Management of the Venetian Nobility Yet when ever these Gentlemen do engage themselves in the Service and Armies of the Republick they are consider'd with very good Employs and Governments of Places and Citadels in their Provinces however they are not in this matter us'd more kindly than the Forreign Officers Least this Nobility should become too considerable the Republick is never backward in taking all occasions of reducing their Power their smallest Faults are Capital Crimes for which they are proscrib'd and their Effects Confiscated if a Gentleman of Terra Firma hath the boldness to make or Sustain a Quarrel with a Noble Venetian the Severity of the Punishment does soon discover the difference which the Republick will have between a Noble Venetian who is believ'd born to command and another whose Merits lye in Obedience The Senat knows very well that the Land Nobility cannot bear without Resentments the great Elevating of that Nobility and that they are very uneasy at the thoughts of the Sovereign Power 's being lodg'd only with them to whom they esteem themselves no ways inferior for which Reasons upon the least
THE CITY AND REPUBLICK OF VENICE In Three Parts Originally Written in French by Monsieur De S. Desdier LONDON Printed for Char. Brome at the Gun at the West End of St. Paul's 1699. THE PREFACE WHat hath hitherto been said of Venice hath been either little consonant to Truth or else hath only mention'd the least part of those things which ought to be known The time I spent there which was from the beginning of the year 1672. until the end of the year 1674 during the Embassy of the Count d' Avaux first occasioned me the Thoughts of making a most lively and natural Description of this City their Government with the manner of Living and Customs of the Venetians by comprehending in the Three Parts of this Work whatsoever other Authors hath separately said of it which I can say hath been very imperfect These Affairs do seem to me so extraordinary and particular that I cannot think them less different from the other parts of Europe than the Kingdom of China is from that part of France Yet the better to succeed in this Design and to draw an exact Copy from this admirable Original I have not only applied my self to the strictest Enquiries during my abode there and to the Conversation of Persons thoroughly instructed with all the Maxims of this Repulick but I did likewise consult their Chronicles the Annal Manuscripts of Venice the Register-Book of Families and the Relations which the most experienc'd Ministers have made of them insomuch that by adding these Informations to those which I gathered from the Chief Historians of the Republick and the most exactest Remarks of all the singularities of Venice I ought to believe that I shall no ways deceive my self in the livelyness of my proposed Attempt However it hapned that the Author of the History of the Government Amelot de la Houssaie of Venice who was emploied in the preceding Embassy did likewise resolve upon a Design much like to mine His Book appearing when mine was just ready for the Press occasioned me to believe I had taken all this Labour to no purpose So I thought no farther of the pains I had taken after the Impression of a Book which had so general an Approbation As I know not the Author so I am not possess'd with any partiality to speak either well or ill of him Yet as I am able to judge of his Book with more assurance than they less conversant with the Affairs of this City so I think my self oblig'd to say he hath penetrated into all the Mysteries of the Venetian Republique upon which subject scarce any thing hath escap'd his Enquiries But I leave others to judge if he hath not shewn too much Passion as likewise what reason the Republick had to complain of him Having pass'd over Four Years without any farther Thoughts of what I had written of Venice I should without doubt have been silent all the rest of my Life if some Persons to whom I had communicated my design upon my Return from Venice had not engag'd me to go on with my first Resolution The Draught and subject-matter of the Treatise seem'd so particular and curious especially the First and Third Part that they were so much persuaded as they likewise induced me to be of the same Opinion that the several Descriptions of those Matters there mentioned were not less important to shew the Maxims of the Republick and the Genius of this People than the most refined Argument that can be made upon the Policy of their Government To give the ampler satisfaction in what may be expected from me as likewise to avoid presenting the Publick with a Work filled with the same things that other Persons may possibly already have better express'd than I can here describe I have thought fit to prune this of whatsoever I had said of the Interests and Correspondencies of this Government with the several Potentates of Europe I struck out several Observations that at present seem unnecessary and have likewise abridg'd the Chapters of the Strength and Revenue of the State neither have I spoke of the Dominions they possess because those Matters are amply Treated in another place So I have particularly applied my self to whatsoever I judg'd necessary to my Design I have left it to the Readers liberty to draw such Consequences as may be easily deduc'd from all the most Essential passages and wheresoever I have touch'd upon their Policy and Maxims of Government it hath been with the greatest Care My Description of Venice in the First Part of this Treatise will without all doubt be allowed to be very exact and what I say of this wonderful City will not be only as much to the commedation of it as whatsoever her own Historians hath written to the Glory of her but it is likewise so justly taken from the Life that it will pass free of that flattery which is ever observed in Authors writing of their own Country In the Second Part which is of the Government of the Republick I have added nothing of my own either in relation to the rise of Venice the divers Revolutions that have been in the form of her Government or as to the rigorous Conduct of the Council of Ten and the Inquisitors of State for of one side I have faithfully followed what is found in the Annals of Venice and on the other I have mentioned only such things as might be known to them who have made any stay at Venice for one can scarce be there any time without seeing or hearing of some very extraordinary things In the same Part I have render'd to the Antient Venetian Nobility all the Justice that is due to their Quality The Proofs which I have given of the Antiquity of their Extraction may possibly convince such who either out of Ignorance or Prepossession do contest with them that illustrious Advantage In the Third Part I have amply describ'd the Conduct of the young Nobility with their particular Customs and the better to shew all the singularities of them there is the manner of living of almost all the different degrees of People to which I have added an exact Description of all the publick diversions of Venice to shew the mighty difference between the relish of this People and those of other Nations I am of the Opinion that the Method herein observed will not a little contribute to the Beauty which I have particularly aim'd at in this Treatise I thought it most Expedient first to give an Idea of the City before I entred into the Rise of the Republick and the Particulars of their Government I thought it likewise necessary to have some knowledge of the Nobility before I spoke of their Councils which are the Soul of the State And as the Customs and Manner of Living of the Inhabitants do not less depend on the Laws of the Government than the publick Diversions upon the Nature of the Place so I have handled these two Heads in the
Third Part. I did not think fit to draw into one Chapter all the Laws of the Venetian Policy as judging they would be better dispersed in the several Places according to the Subject of the Discourse so they will be sure to make a greater impression upon the Mind of the Reader whose Memory being fixed and by this means assisted will more easily preserve an Idea of them However I have endeavoured to keep every thing to its proper Place and particular Chapter as well to avoid Repetitions as not to be oblig'd to seek for one and the same thing in several different Places For these Reasons and to avoid tiring the Reader with tedious Digressions and troublesome References I have so ordered it that whatsoever might seem obscure is ever explain'd by what hath been said before I could very much wish I had been able to write with more Politeness yet am in hopes that the singularity of the Subject will make amends for the faults of the Stile and as I have no other end in this Treatise than to shew a great many things of which we were very ignorant without being moved to it by any other Reason or Design so I hope it will be favourably received I only desire that the small pains I have taken to bring this into our Language and to divert the Inquisitive may make amends for what shall be found amiss in the Translation Fra. Terne THE CONTENTS OF THE FIRST PART THE description of the Lagunes in the middle of which is Situated the City of Venice Page 1 Of the Islands which are in the Lagunes p. 8 Of the City of Venice p. 10 Of the Canals and Bridges p. 13 Of the great Canal p. 15 Of the Bridge of Rialto p. 17 Of the Established Ferries or Passages for the publick Conveniency p. 18 Of tbe Streets and Places p. 20 Of St. Mark 's Place p. 22 The Broglio p. 25 Of the Ducal Palace of St. Mark p. 28 Of the Church of St. Mark p. 31 Of the Treasure of Venice p. 36 Of St. Mark 's Steeple p. 41 Of the Religious Houses and Churches of Venice p. 43 Of the Mercery and Rialto p. 47 Of the Arsenal of Venice p. 48 Of the Gondola's p. 55 Of the Activity of the Gondoliers p. 60 The Conveniency of having at Venice all things necessary to a great City p. 62 Of the Trade of Venice p. 64 Of the Merchants Bank or what they call Bank Del Giro p. 67 The goodness of the Air at Venice p. 68 Of the Ebbing and Flowing of the Sea and Lagunes of Venice p. 72 The CONTENTS of the Second PART OF the Rise and Original of the Republick of Venice and their Form of Government p. 3 Of the several Forms of Government that were at Venice p. 10 Of the Antiquity of the Venetian Nobility p. 15 Of the first Order of the Venetian Nobility p. 18 Of the second Order of the Venetian Nobility p. 22 Of the Third Order of the Venetian Nobility p. 23 Of such as have been made Noble by their Merits p. 27 Of the Venetian Citizens p. 30 Of the Venetian Gentry on the Continent p. 32 Of the Procurator of St. Mark p. 35 Of the great Chancellor of the Republick p. 40 Of the Government of the Republick in General p. 42 Of the Ecclesiastical Government p. 44 Of the Patriarch of Venice p. 46 Of the Patriarch of Aquilea p. 48 Of the Election of the Curates or Parish Priests of Venice p. 49 Of the Dependencies in which the Ecclesiastick and Religious live in regard of the Government p. 52 Of the Inquisition of Venice 75 Of the Political Government of the Republick p. 62 Of the College p. 63 Of the Doge p. 65 How the Doge goes Attended upon Solemn Ceremonies p. 77 Of the Election of a Doge p. 83 Of the Six Councellors of the Doge the Three Presidents of the Council Criminal of Forty and of the Vice Doge p. 87 Of the Six Great Sages p. 90 Of the Five Sages of Terra Firma p. 91 Of the Five Sages of the Orders p. 93 Of the Audiences of Ambassadors p. 95 Of the Pregadi p. 102 Of the great Council p. 107 Of the Council of Ten. p. 118 Of the Inquisitors of State p. 121 Of the Two Avogadors p. 126 Of the Council Criminal of Forty p. 131 Of the Method observed in Criminal Cases p. 133 Of the Magistrates of the Pomp. p. 137 Of the Magistrates for the Inspection of the Monasteries p. 141 Of their Secret Spies and Informers p. 143 Of the Podestats Captains of Arms and other Officers that the Republick sends into the several Provinces p. 147 Of the Inquisitors of Terra Firma p. 152 Of the Forces of the Republick both by Sea and Land p. 154 Of the Revenues and Expence of the Republick p. 161 CONTENTS OF THE THIRD PART Of the Education and Manners of the Young Nobility p. 3 Of the Habits of the Noble Venetians p. 11 Of the Venetian Ladies p. 18 How the Noble Venetians wait on the Ladies p. 24 Of the Marriages of the Noble Venetians p. 30 Of the Religious Women p. 35 Of the Liberty of Venice p. 42 Of the Courtizans p. 47 Of the Publick Diversions of the Carneval p. 55 Of the Ridotti or Basset-Banques p. 58 Of the Opera's p. 60 Of the Comedy p. 65 Of the little Balls or those call'd Feasts p. 68 Of the Herculean Exercises and Bull Feasts p 69 Of the Ceremony upon Maundy Thursday p. 72 Of the Fresque p. 75 Of the Festival of the Churches p. 80 Of the Dances of the Girls p. 82 Of the Feast of the Ascension p. 84 Of the First occasion of the Ceremony that is observ'd upon Ascension-Day in Espousing of the Sea p. 87 Of the Feasts of the Doge p. 87 Of the Feasts and Ceremonies that are us'd at the Marriages of the Noble Venetians p. 96 Of the Regate or Rowing Matches of the Gondola's p. 102 Of the Entrances of the Procurators p. 106 Of their Boxing or Fights at Cuffs p. 110 THE FIRST PART OF The Advantagious Situation OF VENICE AND What is most Remarkable there The Description of the Lagunes in the middle of which is situated the City of Venice THere is scarce any one who hath not heard that the City of Venice is situated in the Sea yet it is not an easie matter to form to ones self a true Idea of the particular Disposition of this Place seeing among those who have been there and that have likewise made some stay there are many that do confound the Sea with the Lagunes without ever observing that these are absolutely distinct from the Sea as being certain great Plains which industrious Nature hath purposely overflowed designing to render the Situation of Venice not less strong than agreeable Above those Places in the bottom of the Adriatick Gulph on the West side where the Rivers Fo and Adigè fall into the Sea Nature hath opposed the Violence
which comes to the Church of St. Mark it is a very Ancient piece of Architecture embellish'd with many Figures the entrance is through a long Porch which on the Right Hand hath a communication with the Court That of the Left with the Church of St. Mark The extremity of the Entrance on this side ends at the foot of an open Stair-Case The Court is reasonably large the three parts of the House are the three sides that have been already spoken of and the Piazza or Gallery at the entrance supports one Story Magnificently Built and contiguous to the Church which makes the Fourth Round about the Court ranges a very large Gallery whose Pillars are of Marble cut in Panes and deep Pannels supporting another Gallery which is in the First Story even to that without which looks upon the Place but nothing equalizes the Beauty of the Front of that part of the Palace which you see coming in from the Place answering to that upon the Canal This Building is not so Ancient as the rest of the Palace but seemeth to have been built in the most flourishing Days of the Republick the whole height which is above the Second Gallery being Adorn'd with Demi-Pillars Fesloons Arabian Work and other pieces in Bas relief all which are in Marble of an extraordinary Beauty What is most remarkably fine in the Court of the Palace both for the Marble and the Sculpture is the Front of the Gallery by which you enter for here are several very fine Antick Figures but the Adam and Eve at the Gate of this Gallery which is opposite to the Stairs are Two excellent Figures The Stairs are of Marble of one Range and open conducting you to the Gallery of the first Story terminated by Two Noble Colossus's of Sausouin In the first Story of the Palace there is a very great number of Rooms that look both upon the Court and Place being even with the Galleries on both sides which are frequented for the Assemblies of as many different Magistrates and Officers of Justice A most Magnificent pair of Stairs that begins at the Second Story in the middle of that part in the Center leaves you at the first Landing-place on the Left Hand at the Appartments of the Doge and the next Ascent brings you to the Hall of the College the Pregadi Scrutiny and Council of Ten as likewise to the Inquisitors of the State to the Great Hall of the Great Council In short by a Labyrinth of Communications you pass through all the Rooms of the Palace from whence you descend another great pair of Stairs not very far from the first Here you see in all these places great variety of Wainscoting and Roofs richly Gilt and Painted The Walls are covered instead of Tapestry with noble pieces of excellent Paintings purposely design'd for these places The greatest Masters of the Tuscan School as Georgeon Titien Paul Veronese Palme Tintore and several others have endeavoured to exceed each other in the several Master-pieces of their Profession But according to my Opinion the most admirable of all these is the Paradise of Tintore in the Great Hall of the Great Council where you may count above a Thousand Figures incomparably better finished then any of his other Works and which by an admirable diversity without confusion plainly shew you the excellent Genius of this Painter I shall only touch at these things en passant to the end it may be seen by the Instances of these excellent Works and mighty Buildings what the Greatness of this Republick hath been more especially in the Third and Fourth Ages in which time they could go by Land through their own Dominions from Venice to Constantinople The Doge then joining to his other Titles that of King of Candia and Negropont as likewise Lord of half the City and a Fourth part of the Empire of Constantinople Of the Church of St. Mark ST Mark 's Church is the place where all the Solemn Ceremonies are performed and properly the Chappel of the Doge This is a Collegiate Church without having any Jurisdiction abroad it depends entirely on the Doge therefore he makes the Presentation where he thinks fit which Person is likewise Dean of the Chappel officiating with Mitre and Cross with all other Episcopal Functions For which reason this Preferment is always conferr'd upon a Noble Venetian whose Revenue is about Five Thousand Ducats besides an Abby that commonly goes with it This Prelate hath Six and twenty Canons under him who are all of the Doge's nomination Besides these there is a Seminary of young Men that are designed to the Service of this Church Upon the Principal Solemnities of the Year especially in the Holy Week they follow the Rituals of the Church of Alexandria for according to Ancient Tradition the Body of St. Mark was brought from thence which hath given occasion to this Custom ever since in observing several particular Ceremonies The most remarkable is the Procession of the Holy Sacrament which is carried in great Solemnity upon Good Friday at Nine in the Evening round about the Place in a Coffin covered with Black Velvet The Popes were never able to abolish this Custom it was formerly practis'd throughout the whole State but the Republick have limited the use of it now to the Churches of this City only all which at that time make the like Procession within the districts of their several Parishes Nothing can be more Glorious than Venice upon this Night which is illuminated with Millions of Flambeaux the Place of St. Mark being then one of the finest Sights imaginable for there are two great Flambeau's or Tapors of white Wax at each Window of the Procuratory's that surround the Great Place This double row of Flambeaus regularly placed with those upon the Church Gate have together a very noble Effect illuminating all the Processions of the Confraternity and neighbouring Parishes that purposely come into the Great Place In these Processions you see several Penitents disguised with Caps of Two Foot high upon their Heads who as they march just behind the Cross do so severely lash themselves that the Blood follows every stroke They have for this purpose a Discipline of several strings of knotted Whipcord which they hold between their two Hands and dipping of it in a pot of Vinegar for that use carried by them they whip themselves so exactly and in such a cadence that they must necessarily have studied the Art to acquit themselves of it as they do In the mean time the whole City seems to be on fire by the great numbers of Processions where the white Wax is so little spar'd that one would almost imagine they consume as much there upon this occasion as might serve all Italy a Twelve Month. The Church of St. Mark hath another particular privilege which is to perform the Office of the Mass at six in the Evening upon Christmas-Eve They begin the Office at the 24th Hour Two Hours afterwards they
The same Annals add That Pepin having embarqu'd his Forces upon Floats to transport them by Night to the Rialto there rose so great a Tempest that it broke his Floats and drown'd most part of his Soldiers which bad success so alter'd the Courage of the King that he resolv'd to leave those people in quiet but desiring to see the Rialto was receiv'd there with such Demonstrations of Joy and so many Marks of Honour that in a pure Sentiment of Affection for those People he threw his Scepter into the Sea with this Imprecation Thus may they perish who attempt the Peace of this Republick Nevertheless the following matter of these Annals and the Testimony of several Creditable Authors do plainly prove that Pepin was received at the Rialto rather as a generous Conquerour than a Prince ill treated by bad fortune to whom the Republick would not have consented after the loss of his Army what they had obstinately refused when he was in a condition of getting it by force In short the King Exercis'd all Acts of Sovereignty leaving several marks of liberality to the Doge and Publick as likewise discharging the Republick of the Tribute they annually payed him and presented them with five Miles of extent on Terra firma against the Lagunes with ample liberty of Trafficking both by Sea and by Land It is moreover said that Pepin observing the Doge to wear no External mark of dignity took off one of the Sleeves of his Vest and put it upon the Doge's Head in the form of a Bonnet from whence comes the Original of the Ducal Horn so Named from the pointed end of this Sleeve upon his head It was then that Venice received the first time this appellation for Pepin would have the Isle of Rialto with the other Neighbouring Islands to bear the Name of Venice which was then that of the whole Neighbouring province to the Lagunes and that the Rialto should be from thence forwards the residence of the Doges and Senate of the Republick These were the beginnings and first Progresses of the Republick of Venice who acknowledgeth her Principal Establishment and first Grandeur to be owing to the magnanimity and generous Conduct of a French King Of the several forms of Government that were at Venice BY what hath been said it may be observed that this Republick was subject during her Infancy to many changes and several methods of Government for if we reckon from the beginning of the Year 421 they were the Cousuls of Padua who Govern'd this State The Power of the Tribunes continued without Interruption near upon 300 Years The Doges Reign'd after them with an absolute Power for several Ages Yet before the Government arrived to that Degree of Perfection in Policy they now have there happen'd under the Doges several considerable changes which I shall observe in this Relation From the first Election made in the Year 709 at Heraclea of Paul Lucio Anafeste until that of Sebastian Ziani the Doges reign'd with an absolute Authority the People electing him by their Acclamations whom they Judg'd most worthy of the Dogal dignity who Acted as Monarch for he was Master of his own Council nor accountable to any body for his Administration in short he had a despotick Power both in Peace and War The History of Venice gives us the Examples of several Doges that made their Brothers or their Children to be elected for their Collegues and Successours But the Sovereign Authority of the Prince having oftentimes expos'd the State to many dangerous accidents and the Tumultuary Elections of the People frequently ending with the greatest Inconveniencies The Principal Citizens met together upon the Death of their Prince Vital Micheli to consult how they might prevent those disorders before they proceeded to the election of a new Doge and accordingly chose eleven Persons of Probity who retiring into the Church of Saint Mark elected Sebastian Ziani And to take for the future from the People the right they had of choosing the Doge as likewise at the same time to moderate the great Authority of the Prince they established an Independant Council from which should be drawn by Election the Electors of the Doge An alteration of this consequence that established an intire new method of Government would without dispute have caus'd a Revolution in the State but they found an expedient that pleas'd the People which was to allow them in exchange the liberty of Nominating Twelve Tribunes who should have Power of opposing the Ordinances of the Prince which should be of no validity if they were not approv'd by them resolving in this to follow the Example of the Ancient Government of Rome Their Tribunes who were two in each of the Six Wards of the City had moreover a right of choosing every Year upon the Feast of Saint Michael Forty such Persons as they judg'd proper in each Ward or Quarter to Compose the great Council they then establish'd consisting of Two Hundred and Forty Citizens impartially chosen and without distinction in all the different Estates to wit the Nobility Citizens and Tradesmen as this Council was to be renewed every Year so every one was to be of it in his turn or at least had the right of pretending to it This method of Government continued a Hundred and Seventeen Years unto the Year 1289 At which time the Doge Peter Gradenigue took upon him the intire alteration of the form of this Republick and to establish a perfect Aristocracy in fixing the great Council for ever to a certain Number and their Descendants who taking upon themselves for the future the whole Cognizance of all matters of State were to have the Sovereign Administration exclusive to all the other Families Whether this Doge was desirous to abolish Democratical government out of a good Intention to the welfare of his Country or by a more secret passion of being reveng'd on these Families that opposed his Election is uncertain but he pass'd a Decree in the Council of * A Soveraign Court of Forty Judges Forty which Ordered That all such who had compos'd the Great Council for the Four preceeding Years should be ballotted in this Chamber and those who had Twelve Favourable Balls should be with their Descendants admitted to the Great Council for ever He caused this Decree to be Registred and took his Measures so well that he excluded all such as were disaffected to him However unjust and unequal this proceeding seems to be in regard of several considerable Families yet the Republick owes to it the establishment of the perfectest Government that ever was and which happily continues to this very time It is Nevertheless to be supposed that such a change was not made without occasioning great troubles in the Republick but they were soon quash'd by punishing of the Weak and Satisfying of the more Powerful with such Privileges as exempted them from the Number of the excluded Several Noble Families that did not then foresee the
find a shorter way or a more Honourable method of establishing themselves as likewise to come into Reputation than by purchasing the Alliance of the Ancient Nobles Those of these great Houses which have preserv'd themselves in the highest consideration upon the account of their great Riches and Alliances are the Contarini and the Morosini It is the common Opinion that the first were Counts of the Rhine before they settled here which is now something more than Twelve Hundred Years Yet they have no other Proofs of this Original than the pretended Etymology of their Name This House increas'd to such a degree that it is divided at least into Fifty several Branches neither is there any in the Republick that Counts a greater Number of Heads in the Great Council and consequently can make a more Powerful Faction That of Morosini is likewise one of the most numerous and most considerable for the same Reasons after these two Families follow the Badouari the Tripoli Micheli Gradenighi and the Sanudi which yet continue to be of great consideration in this State The Memmi Falieri Dandoli are neither Rich in Effects or Powerful by their Parties the Polani Barozzi live in obscurity rather through the defect of their merits than by the want of Riches which they might sufficiently find in the more Powerful Families of the New Nobility if they could but distinguish themselves fit to be rais'd by such Alliances Next to these Twelve Electoral Houses there are four Families that do not yield much in antiquity to them for they are established upon the most Authentick Records which were signed in the Year 800 upon a Contract made between the Abbey of St. George Major and the before-mention'd Twelve Houses for which Reason the first are called the Twelve Apostles and the others the four Evangelists They are the Justiniani Cornari Bragadini and the Bembi The Cornari and Justiniani have maintain'd themselves in a much greater Figure than the others the first hath had Alliances with Crown'd Heads it was moreover a Daughter of this House Married to the last King of Cyprus that brought this Kingdom to the Republick which they possess'd until the conquest of it by Mustapha Bassa General to the Emperor Zelim The Justiniani are reckon'd at Venice to be of the Blood of the Emperors of Constantinople for which Reason they bear the Spread Eagle as their Arms. The Annals of Venice do mention a very advantageous Passage to this House The Republick having just Reasons of resentments against the Emperour who did ill by the Venetian Merchants Trading into the Levant they made War with him at Constantinople under the Doge Nidal Micheli about the Year 1156 All of the Family of Justiniani embark'd upon this Fleet of a Hundred Ships which the Republick fitted out to Sea in so many Days to go and revenge themselves for the wrongs they pretended were done them by the Greeks in depriving them of their goods as likewise of their Right to the succession of the Empire After the conquest of the Kingdom of Negepont this Army was ruin'd before Constantinople through Misery and Sickness but more especially by reason of the Waters which the Emperour Emmanuel caus'd to be Poisoned All the Justiniani dyed in this expedition but the Doge Micheli being desirous to re-establish so Noble a Family obtained to this Purpose a Commission from the Pope to take from a Convent Brother Nicolas Justiniani of the order of Saint Benedict to whom he gave his Daughter in Marriage from whence are issued all those of this House who continue to make a very considerable Figure in this Republick But the good Monk having had several Children return'd to his Monastery to follow the course of life he was in before his Marriage They do likewise comprehend with in the first order of Nobility eight more Houses which with the other four make twelve whose Antiquity is in a manner Parallel to those of the first twelve in that long before the Serrar del Consiglio they were considerable and particularly the Quirini Delfini Soransi the Zorzi and the Marcelli which do yet distinguish themselves in the Republick the others are fallen from their former lustre through extream Poverty to which they are reduced After the General Tiepolo had intirely destroyed the City of Acria in Syria for having several times revolted against the Republick who conquered it Several Illustrious Houses of that City retired to Venice where they maintain'd themselves in a more than ordinary Reputation before the establishment of the great Council in which they had Session and are received at present among the Nobility of the first Extraction Of the Second Order of the Venetian Nobility THE Serrar del Consiglio of the Doge Gradenigo by Perpetuating the Government of the Republick in those Families only that have since Compos'd it did at the same time render them all Noble who were of it the second order of the Venetian Nobility is Compos'd out of those Nobles as have no Ancienter Title than the Establishment of the Great Council and who are inserted from that time in the Golden Book that is the Catalogue they then began to make of all the Families of the Venetian Nobility which being now four Hundred Years since the first settlement of the Catalogue occasions this Nobility to be much esteemed more especially since the urgencies of the State have obliged them to a farther augmentation upon two several occasions Of the great Number of Families that were upon this change united to the Body of the Nobility there are yet above Fourscore in Being of which the most considerable are the Mocenighi a Family that is Rich Numerous and Illustrious for the great Men she hath given to the State the Capeli Foscarini Foscari Grimani Gritti Goussoni Loredani Donati Malipierri Nani Pisari Pisani Priuli Ruzzini Sagredi Valieri Venieri the Basadonna and some others most of which have given Doge's to the Republick and have yet very considerable Interests through the great Number of Votes they make in the Council In this second degree of Nobility are reckoned Thirty Families that were admitted in 1380 Ninety one Years after the Serrar del Consiglio they were received at the ending of the War with the Genoueses during which these Thirty Families of Citizens and Burgers of sundry Professions did assist the Republick with such considerable Summs that the Senate Judg'd them worthy of an equal Acknowledgment There are now Eleven of these Thirty Families extinct and of those which remain only the Trevisani Vendramini Reniere the Justi Pasquilighi do distinguish themselves in this great Body of Nobility Of the Third Order of Venetian Nobility IN this Order is comprehended Fourscore Families that purchas'd their Nobility at one Hundred Thousand Ducats each after the Republick had Exhausted her Coffers in the late War of Candia at this juncture the Senate made no distinction among the Persons that offered themselves that is from the
times a Week do take up the third part of this Building so there is sufficient Lodging only for Six Procurators for which Reason the Republick allows the other three reasonable Pensions until such time as they have the Accommodation of the Procuratories Although the sale of this dignity is of very great Advantage to the Republick by Reason of the considerable Summs it raises in the pressing Necessities of the State yet the Inconveniencies of it are very Prejudicial to both the Republick and Particulars for by these means those who ought to maintain the Glory of the Republick in the Extraordinary Expences of Embassies exempt themselves upon the account of this Dignity through which Misfortune the Republick is frequently oblig'd to make use of such Gentlemen who being not able to support the Grandeur as it ought to be bring themselves into Inconveniencies and prejudices the Reputation of the Republick Of the Great Chancellor AS it hath been observed the Republick cannot be without the Ministry of the Citizens therefore to excite their Zeal and to secure the State of the principal Members of this powerful Body they are pleased to honour it with the Illustrious Dignity of Great Chancellor Grande Cancelier which is only to be attained by much Assiduity and very important Services This Station is the height of Glory and the ultimate Aim of all the Secretaries of the Republick and particularly those of the Council of Ten who are allowed the Precedency to all others The Advantages that are annex'd to this great Dignity do in appearance seem to render him equal with the first Senators of the Republick and seem to elevate him several Degrees above the other for excepting the Councellors of the Seignory and the Procurators of St. Mark he takes place of all the other Magistrates He wears the Ducal Vest of Purple hath the Title of Excellency allowed him the Entrance into all the Councils is open to him he keeps the Seals of the Republick he knows the secret of all Transactions is present at the opening of Embassadour's Letters as likewise at all Dispatches made to them and whatsoever is treated upon in the Senate He reads in the Great Council what is to be ballotted and is the Head of the Citizens as the Doge is of the Nobility The Election of a Great Chancellor is made by the Great Council that is by a General Assembly of all the Nobility and when he takes possession of his Office he makes his Entrance into the College with the same Pomp and State as the Procurators of Saint Mark the particulars of which shall be described in the Third Part of this Treatise He goes in the Ducal Garment of Purple attended by several Procurators a great Number of Senators and Nobles and for the more Honour on this occasion to the order of Citizens they do not only accompany the Relations and Friends of the Chancellour but likewise give them the upper hand moreover all the Citizens assisting in this Ceremony do wear without any manner of Distinction the Ducal Garment of Purple with this Pompous attendance which is always very great by Reason of the Honour which the Citizens receive the Chancellour comes to the College where he makes a Speech to the Seignory receives the Seals and takes possession of his Employ To this great Employ is allowed a Pension of Three Thousand Ducats without including the Expeditions of the Chancery and several other casual perquisites which amount unto Three Times that Sum which Joyned to the great Privileges of his Office raises his condition even above that of the Doge's as not being oblig'd to live in that degree of Servitude And to the end that nothing may be wanting to the External greatness of the Chancellour the Republick is pleas'd to take upon them the Charge and Performance of his Funeral Obsequies which are observ'd in the same Magnificence with that of the Doges at least if there is any difference it is only in that the Seignory is assistant at his Funerals in black to shew their grief for the loss of their Chancellor whereas they appear in Purple at the Funerals of the Doge as shall be observ'd in its Proper Place If the Doge of the Republick is in Effect only the Idea and shadow of a Prince the Chancellor is no more than an Honourable Servant that is admitted to the confidence of his Superiors who pay him well for his Services yet after all he hath no deliberative Vote in the Councils all the Privileges and Marks of Honour that are allowed him do not really raise him to any one of the Nobles insomuch this great dignity is but an Honourable Servitude that acknowledges it self inferior to the Nobility for he never makes use of his Right of Precedence in the Administration of his Employ and in particular renders the Nobles that Respect which is due from a private Citizen Of the Government of the Republick in General THE Government of the Republick of Venice may be compar'd to a great and Ingenious Engine whose many secret Springs have an exact agreement with the least of it's External Motions in which may be seen so Just a temperament such an admirable Superiority and Dependance between the Old and Young Nobility between the Rich and the Poor between those Possessing the Principal Dignities and the more private Particulars of the Nobility that from this Incomparable and Reciprocal Subordination must of course Result a Perfect Union and a Fervent Zeal for the Common Welfare which are the basis of the Power and the Lasting Foundations of this Republick Yet it is not to be expected that from this Common Dependance which so divides the Authority of those that are frequently of a quite different Character that there may not possibly happen in several Accidents between the bad and the good many Inconveniencies to the Disadvantage of the Subjects For as art can Extract Poison from what Nature hath produc'd most Sweet and Agreeable so to the contrary she can Procure the most Salutary remedies from the most Pernicious Poisons must it therefore be thought strange that the wise Laws of Policy should be sometimes attended with Troublesome Consequences However it is the most unjust Regulations do oftentimes procure the most Advantageous Effects The Republick is desirous of preserving in the External order of Government a Perfect Appearance of Monarchy Aristocracy and Democracy and hath Effectually found the way of Enjoying all the real Advantages of these three different form's of Government For by the Person of the Doge in whose name are made all Ordinances Dispatches and Negotiations she perfectly represents the Majesty of a Sovereign Prince The Pregadi which is the Senat represents a real Aristocracy where the wisest heads of the Republick do Regulate with an absolute Power the most Important Affairs of State and the Great Council which is the Assembly of all the Nobility by distributing the greatest part of all the Dignities to such as are
Constantinople and that they differ from the Romanists in the five Points in which consists the Schism of the Oriental Church However when the Greeks and Armenians celebrate any Festivals the People flock in Multitudes to them to partake of their Indulgences and they likewise the same to the Catholick Churches As to the Hugenots and Lutherans who are no where tolerated by the Inquisition there are but very few of them at Venice the Republick does not permit to them an open and free Exercise of their Religion yet the Toleration is such that the Republick seems not to observe what they do in that matter neither have they much trouble upon the Decease of any one of them to have the Person publickly interr'd in the Church for these Curates are not very inquisitive whether the Party died in the Catholick or Lutheran Faith The Inquisition draws no Advantages from the Sentence of the Condemnation pass'd upon Hereticks the Republick having granted That all such Effects shall go to their Lawful Heirs This Custom is very different to what is practiâ—'d in Spain where the Inquisition hath not only all the Effects of the Condemn'd Jews but likewise whatsoever they possess that are Converted from their Errours as being ill gotten and which consequently changes the purity of such Effects There is no place in Italy where the Jews are so well used as they are at Venice excepting the Dominions of the Great Duke of Tuscany where this People may be said to be in favour by reason of the mighty Trade they draw to Leghorn But yet at Venice every Noble Family hath an Intimate and Confident Jew for as they are esteem'd to be Men of Secrecy so this good Quality gets them many Protectors among the Nobility who have divers ways of employing them As they cannot be troubled upon the account of Religion so the Crimes they commit upon this Chapter as Blasphemies Sacrileges and many others are reserv'd to the Examinations of the Secular Courts To distinguish themselves they are obliged to wear Red Hats which are of the very finest Scarlet Cloath lined with Black Silk this Fashion seems at first very particular to the Eyes of all Strangers The Jews are not only tolerated at Venice by reason the richest of them that are engag'd in Trade with these Merchants do occasion a mighty Commerce between the Levant and this City but likewise because they afford the Republick very considerable Sums in any times of Necessity besides the usual Impositions that are laid upon them They have a particular Il Cheto place allowed them to live in which they can shut with two Gates they are about five and twenty hundred in number which obliges them to build their Houses six or seven Stories high There are several sorts of Nations among them Hollanders Spaniards Portuguese Germans and Italians who have their particular Synagogues But of all these different Nations the Portuguese are counted the richest who likewise esteem themselves to be in the highest degree above all the rest As a greater Liberty in favour of these before mentioned Religious the Republick hath established a particular Chamber in the University of Padua where several Professors to this purpose have the Power of conferring Doctor 's Degrees upon all sorts of Persons without any distinction of Religion as have pass'd the usual Courses of Study insomuch that being by this means excus'd from making Profession of Faith required by the Bulls of the Popes the Schismaticks Hereticks and Jews do without any farther trouble commence Doctors of Law and Physick After this manner the Republick permits her Subjects to taste the Sweets of Liberty without being oblig'd to cover by other Pretensions the Interest she hath to let every one live quietly in their States and exempt of that Fear which the Inquisition occasions in all other places Of the Political Government of the Republick THE College the Pregadi and the Great Council are the three principal Springs that act in the great Body of this State but as the Regularity of this Motion which composeth the Perfection of this Government does depend upon the coherence there is in the Councils so it is absolutely necessary to know the reciprocal Subordination the Order that attends the Management of the most important Affairs and the Authority they have each in particular yet being it would be contrary to the Natural Order of things to begin the description of an extraordinary Noble Palace rather by the Foundations than the Front that appears first to the Eye so I should occasion more confusion than clearness in the Matter treated of by passing on to the innermost parts of the Government without stopping at the place which is the magnificent Entrance of this Superbous Edifice where the Learned Architects that drew the Scheme have placed the greatest Ornaments of their Art Of the College THE College is the Tribunal in which resides all the Majesty of the Prince Embassadours have Audience there the Letters of all foreign Affairs are there read all Petitions are presented to this Court of Justice to whom belong the hearing of all Priviledge Causes which are those of the Prelates and Benefic'd Clergy all Suits between Relations and the Competitions of the Judges are there decided in short the College is the gate through which all Affairs must pass for the College prepares the Things that are to be debated and Regulated by the Pregadi which is the Senate of the Republick The College is compos'd of the Doge of his six Councellours the three Triumvirs of the Council of Forty the six Great Sages of Terra firma and the five Sages of the orders which make in all Twenty Six Persons which being of different Ages and Dignities forms a Body that represents the whole State There is in the Hall where this Council is kept a sort of Throne that takes up the lowermost part of the Room to which you ascend by foursteps here the Doge sits upon a wrought Wooden Chair after the ancient Fashion which is rais'd six inches higher than the benches on each side a Piece of Flower'd fastened to the back of this Chair with a Carpent and Foot-cloath of the same are all the Ornaments of the Dogal Seat It is nevertheless to be admired that the Republick hath not covered the Majesty of their Prince with a Cannopy and that they should not have the use of them in the Palace of the Doge It may possibly be because Alexander the Third thought not of it at the time he presented Prince Zebastian Ziani with all the Mark of Pomp and Splendour that now render the Dogal Dignity Majestical in the Eyes of the People The six Councellours of the Doge with the Three Presidents of the Council Criminal of Forty are Seated on the right hand of the Prince and take up all the End of that side of this State On the other side of the Prince and upon his left hand are plac'd the six great Sages and
Charges whereof the Republick defrays For which reason the first thing entred upon after the Death of the Doge is to choose three Inquisitors to examine into his Conduct to hear such Complaints as may be made against his way of Living and to do Justice to the meanest Demands at the Expence of the Inheritance whereby the Misery of the Subjection in which he lived appears not to cease with his Life It even looks as if the Republick would moderate the satisfaction which the Doge might possibly have by dying in hopes of being regreated by the Publick for the Senate assists at this Funeral Pomp in Vests of Scarlet to shew the People by the Singularity of this Ceremony that it is not the Government of the Prince which composes the Happiness of the State as likewise that the Republick being free ought not to shew any Marks of Affliction at his Death The Obsequies of the Doge are no sooner over but a Great Council of all the Nobility above Thirty is held where they choose five Persons who are to draw up the Heads of the Inaugural Oath that is the Laws which he solemnly swears to observe upon his Election These Nobles are empowered to add or retrench from them as they shall judge necessary for the good of the State by which means the Republick deprives the Doge of explaining to their disadvantage the terms of these Obligations which compose an in the Volume The Prudence of the Republick is much to be admired in her choice of the one and forty Electors of the Doge by making Merit and Fortune equally to concur to such an important Action for a long circuit of Ballotations and reciprocal Elections has render'd of no effect the designs of all Parties leaving the Families the satisfaction which almost every one of them finds in contributing to the Election of a Prince for all the Nobility that are at the Gâ—eat Council draw each of them one Ball out of an Urn in which are Thirty gilt ones Such as have the gilt Balls are by Lot reduced to the Number of Nine these Nine choose Forty which are by Lot reduced to Twelve who have the nominating of five and twenty that are afterwards reduc'd again to Nine who choose Five and forty Gentlemen out of which Number Eleven are taken by Lot and these have the Nomination of the one and Forty real Electors of the Doge After the Approbation of these Electors by the Great Council they retire into the Palace of St. Mark out of which they cannot stir until they have Elected a Doge Altho these Elections are seldom made very tedious yet the Electors have been five or six Months before they could determine the Matter for the one and forty Votes there must be twenty five of Accord to choose the Doge All the time the Electors are thus shut up they are very carefully kept and treated almost in the same manner as the Cardinals in the Conclave The first thing the Doge does upon his Election after the usual Oaths of observing the Statutes is to shew himself to the People But as the Republick does not permit him the Taste of pure Joys without the Relish of some Bitterness which may make him sensible of the Restraint and Servitude to which his Condition engages him so they bring him down through the Hall where his Body is to be expos'd after his Death Here he is complimented upon his Exaltation by the Great Chancellour to the end he may remember that in this place he shall be Examin'd when he is Dead if he hath quadrated all his Actions according to the Rules of Justice The Doge after this goes into a sort of an Engine which they call a Well that is purposely kept in the Arcenal for the use of this Ceremony It really hath the external resemblance of a Well Supported by a wooden frame like a Litter but of an Extraordinary length the two sides of whose ends are joyn'd together About two hundred men belonging to the Arcenal carry this Engine upon their Shoulders the Doge sitting in this Well with one of his Children or nearest Relations standing upright behind him who hath two Basons full of Gold and Silver medals purposely coin'd for this occasion with such figures and Inscriptions as he thinks fit which he throws among the People whilst the Doge is carrying round about the place of Saint Mark. The custom of bestowing these Liberalities upon the People was first Introduced in the Year 1172 by the Famous Doge Sebastian Ziani that Triumph'd over the Emperor Frederick the second by taking Otho Son of this Emperor Prisoner in the Naval Victory he obtain'd over him in the defence of Pope Alexander the Third The Doge thought it Necessary to shew this Liberality to the People as the sweetest charm and the most proper remedy to allay their indignation for being depriv'd of their Right of Electing the Prince which they had alone enjoyed for several Ages This Doge was moreover so Rich that he built at his own proper charge all the old Procuratories leaving besides very immense Riches to the Church of Saint Mark Insomuch as it was commonly believed among the People that he had found some mighty Treasure Of the Six Councellors of the Doge the three Presidents of the Council Criminal of Forty and of the Vice Doge AS the Dignity of Councellor to the Prince is usually thought more Honouraâ—le than judg'd necessary for them to be converiant in the important affairs of State so they are not generally the best Heads of the Republick who officiate in this Employ for they always bestow these promotions upon the eldest Senatours of the first Nobility They are Councellors for a Year yet they assist at the College no more than Eight Months the other four they preside in the Council Criminal of Forty as the three Presidents of that Chamber have likewise two Months Session in the College The Doge the Six Counsellours and the three Presidents of the Council Criminal of Forty who are called Vice Councellors represent the Seignory and give Judgment in all Priviledge causes that are pleaded at the College There are so many Councellors as there are Quarters in the City but a Noble that lives in one Ward or quarter cannot be Councellor for another for every Councellor is the chief man of the Ward Although they are call'd Councellors of the Doge yet they are in reality Councellors of the Seignory For which Reason they have a greater Power than the Doge himself seeing they can do that without him which he can only do by their presence They are cloath'd in Red and wear the Ducal Vest with great wide Sleeves all the while they are in Office whereas the Presidents of the Criminal of Forty wear the violet vest according to the common custom with narrow Sleeves They advise together upon the heads they are to propose to the Great Council yet a Councellor of the Seignory may
alone make a proposition to the Senate and the Great Council which the Presidents of the Criminal of Forty cannot do unless they all three agree in Opinion These Presidents are however Treated with the Tittle of excellency as likewise all other Nobles who enter into the great Employs Nevertheless the rank of President of the Criminal of Forty is only considerable for the entrance it gives them into the College and Pregadi Therefore these Employs are usually possess'd by the Nobles of the Families the narrowness of whose affairs oblige them to seek these Offices attended with Salaries for the more convenient support of their Quality The Councellors of the Seignory can assemble a Great Council Extraordinary for out of the College they exercise in that Council the greatest part of their Functions although the Pregadi hath a nomination to this Dignity and the great Council the same yet the first have ever the Preference in the Great Council who in this matter respect the Elections of the Senate not but that they can depose them from their places which lately happened to one of the worthiest Senators of the Republick however by the Laws of the Goverment a Noble cannot be depriv'd of his Charge witout trying of him or providing for him with another Employ so one of his ill affected Brethren nominated him for one of the most inconsiderable Governments of the State which are given only among the poorest of the Nobility Thus the faction of his Enemies exposed him to the most sensible Mortification that a Gentleman of his condition was capable of receiving As the Republick is never without the Doge nor the Seignory without their President so the ancientest Councellor assumes the business when he is sick or the place vacant whom he represents in the Administrations of all affairs he marches among the Ambassadors in publick Ceremonies and answers to their Audiences in the College yet he never sits in the Ducal Seat neither doth he assume the habit of Doge distinguishing himself only by the Cap which he never takes from his head but keeps it on as the Doge doth the Ducal Horn. Of the Six Great Sages Isani Grandi THE most worthy Subjects of the Republick are all chosen for the Execution of the place of Great Sages for as they have the conduct of the greatest affairs in the Republick so they ought to have acquir'd a consummate Prudence and a most perfect knowledge of the several Interests of the Republick Those Six Gentlemen are the most intellectual part in the Soul of the Republick Insomuch that the Procurators of St. Mark esteem the officiating of these Employs as an honour to them for the Six great Sages are Masters of the Government during their six Months of Administration They advise upon all things that are to be debated in the Pregadi They Summon the Senate upon any urgent affair that will not permit them to attend the usual Session It is the Senate also that hath the choice of them who observe the same method with them as with the six Councellors of the Doge three whereof are only chang'd at a time that so they may avoid bringing in at once into an Office six new and unexperienced Persons They wear the Ducal Vest of violet Cloth and as a farther mark of Honour the Republick never sends an Embassador to the Emperor to the Pope or the Grand Seignior who hath not been or that is not upon this occasion advanc'd to the quality of Great Sage The six great Sages take their turns by week throughout the course of their whole six Months whereby the Sage for the week is at that time the chief of the Republick for unto him are exhibited all Memorials and Petitions he hath the proposing of affairs to the Pregadi where his Sentiment usually Determines the resolution of the Senate for he Sums up the Deliberations of the Sages and draws such answers as are to be given to the Letters of the Embassadors from the Republick as likewise to those of foreign Princes and Officers that fall before the Senate Of the five Sages of Terra firma THE Sages of Terra firma have not much less Authority in the College than the six Great Sages for they consult with them upon all matters there debated and that are to be presented to the Senate They wear the Ducal Vest of Violet they are treated with the Title of Excellence the Republick confers the quality of Sage of Terra firma upon all Embassadors they send to Kings and Sovereign Princes Those Sages are only six Months in office they are chosen out of the Gentlemen of a middle age who in the several Offices they have executed have shew'd the requisite ability and application for the performing of these places The first is the writing Sage who is properly the Secretary of War all Officers and Souldiers depend absolutely on him he can both break and pass Sentence of Death upon them without appeal as being sovereign Judge through all the Dominions of the State of this Republick The second Sage is the Cashier or Treasurer of War he orders the pay of the Troops the Officers and Pensioners of the State The third is the Sage of the Ordonnances who hath the direction of the Militia upon the Terra firma The two other Sages are for to supply the places of the former in case of indisposition any other occasion of absence The Pregadi hath likewise the Elections of these Sages of Terra firma who Nothwithstanding their Dignity and the considerable Augmentation of their Authority through the large acquisitions of those Inland Provinces which the Republick hath made within those last three hundred years having moreover a deliberative Voice with the six Great Sages in the Debates of all the important affairs that are argued at the College yet Nothwithstanding all these advantages by a particular maxim of this Goverment which tolerates no equality of power in Different Employs these Sages lose their Deliberative Voices in the Assembly of the Senate to which they must be Assisting although those things are there debated which they have already examin'd and digested in their Debates at the College Of the five Petty Sages or Sages of the Orders One cannot admire the wisdom of the Republick that hath found the means to have a lasting Nursery of Great men by the Establishment of these five Sages of the Orders as this Magistracy is without Jurisdiction so it proves an excellent School for the improvement of the young Nobility both to instruct them in publick affairs and to render them capable of exercising the Principal Offices of the State The five places of Petty Sages are intended for the young Nobility of Ancient Extraction who being desirous to enter into the Employs of the Republick may begin to distinguish themselves here by their prudence and good conduct or at least less irregular than most of the Youth whose actions are not much conformable to their qualities The quality
the Republick The Name of Pregadi is given to the Senate because formerly it was assembled but upon extraordinary occasions as when any affair of importance required the advice of the Principal Citizens they were then desired to be there At present the Senate assembles every Wednesday and Saturday But the Sage for the week can Summon an extraordinary Pregadi when the affairs that are to be brought thither require the speedy deliberation of the Senate According to the first Institution the Pregadi was compos'd of Sixty Senators which was called the ordinary Pregadi But as they have been oblig'd to add several others according to the urgency of affairs so they created sixty more which is called la Guinta These Sixcore are always possess'd by Persons of an advanc'd Age and known Merits and of the first Nobility All the Members of the College those of the Council of Ten the Forty Judges of the Council Criminal and all the Procurators of Saint Mark have entrance into the Pregadi as likewise the greatest part of the Magistrates of the City whereby this assembly of the Senate may amount unto about Two Hundred and Fourscore Gentlemen part of them having deliberative voices others are only there to observe and form themselves to business The Doge the Councellors of the Seignory and the Great Sages are the only Persons whose Opinions can be Ballotted which is to avoid the confusion that would proceed from the diversity of sentiments in so great an assembly where the Opinions cannot pass if they have not one half of the voices Yet those who have not the right of voting may harangue in the defence or against the Opinions proposed As the Sixscore ordinary and extraordinary Senators are every year Ballotted in the great Council to be chang'd or continu'd as this assembly thinks necessary so the desire which every one of them have to be continued in the condition that is so very honourable and the fear of being deprived of it by the great Council that never spares any Body inviolably engages them to the Duty of their Employs and prevents them from making any ill use of their Authority No body can imagine but that there must be great Inconvenience's to be feared seeing all affairs are regulated by the plurality of Voices more especially because they are made by balls that are thrown into boxes which the Secretaries carry about the Hall some of which are mark'd with the word YES and the other NO the last are designed for the balls of such that equally reject both pro and the contra which are called the Non Suceres for as these Votes are given so as it shall not be distinguish'd what any one hath done so such a person is oftentimes of an Opinion that he durst not own if he was to declare himself publickly Amongst the multitude of Senators in the Pregadi there are some very Ignorant who are only introduc'd hither in honour of their Age and Family There are others very poor who may be liable to err from the Right way Neither is there any want of those Old fellows who have any other knowledge than that of their Ancient Customes these are the Opiniators that never acommodate their Judgments to the various Junctures of time and who regard Novelty as a Crime against the State Insomuch that the Senate must be often Subject to fall upon those Resolutions which would not be ever conformable to the real Interests of the Republick if the most able heads of this Body who are Sensible of the defects did not prevent these inconveniency's by another that some times ruines their affairs which is by temporizing that so in time and by the force of their Speeches they may prevail upon their Sentiments to give the true motion to these important affairs Secrecy is rarely to be found in a multitude that abounds with Youth and Poverty it is therefore much to be admir'd how it becomes inviolable at Venice seeing the Examples of such who have sold it to the Ministers of Great Princes are not at all considerable in Number but the Republick hath provided against it by the power she hath given the Inquisitors of State to punish the Guilty as shall be observ'd hereafter and by the oaths that are renewed so often as they enter upon any matter of the last importance as likewise by the exclusion of all such as have any relation with the Court of Rome when the affairs lyes that way however far the affinity or dependance is distant for the Senate is not Satisfied with excluding all Ecclesiasticks from the Government but they even distrust their Fathers and nearest Allied insomuch that when any thing is there agitated which may any ways concern the Court of Rome it is Publickly cried in the Pregadi Fuora Papalini that is for all such as have Children or Brothers provided with benefices or other Ecclesiastical dignities to withdraw themselves at that instant least the Secret of the State should be made known to foreign Princes Of the Great Council THE whole Authority of the Republick is divided between the Senate and the Great Council and as the first regulates without controul the affairs of State so the second disposes absolutely of all Magistracy's upon which depend the Order of Government This Council hath power to Erect new Laws choose Senators confirm the Elections of the Senate Nominate to all Employs to Create the Procurators of St. Mark the Podestats Governors and Commanders that are sent in to the several Provinces in short the Great Council hath the rectifying of all publick â—rrors as also to reform the methods of such who use not their Authority to the Satisfaction of the Nobles consequently as the Great Council is the assembly General of the Nobility so it is also the first Tribunal the basis and support of the Government All the Venetian Gentlemen of five and twenty and that have assum'd the Vest may enter into the Great Council and claim the Right of balloting that is of Voting To gratifie moreover the young Nobility of twenty thirty of them are drawn by lot who have the same priviledge with those of five and twenty This ceremony is observ'd upon the day of St. Barbara so the thirty which Fortune hath particularly favour'd from the Names of all the rest in the Urne are called Barbarini The Republick hath often times bestowed this privilege upon the Children of such Nobles as have very eminently served the State in any perticular juncture during the War dispensations of Age were sold at two hundred Ducates this Sum is no ways considerable in regard of the advantages that are acquired by the entrance into the Great Council which renders these Nobles of the Body of the Republick who by the right of Balloting are received into the same consideration with the other more ancient Members of the State The Great Council assembles all Sundays and Holidays excepting that of St. Mark and those of the Virgin This Council is not to
end they may throw the ball into which side they please without being discerned therefore to give several balls to serve a friend or to injure an Enemy is forbidden upon the penalty of being for ever excluded the Council which is the same thing with being deprived of Nobility as hath sometimes happened In these Ballotations the party 's of the Young-men are almost ever the strongest especially when the matter in debate is for the mortification of a Senator either by not continuing him in his Dignity at the end of the year or by fetching a Noble out of the great Employs of the Seignory to execute one of the least considerable Offices in the State as I have already observed for not having regulated his conduct according to their sentiments In the Great Council hatred and Enmity put in Practice all the Artifices of revenge it is there that Dissimulation reigns in the full height where not being Liable to be detected of falsehood they usually protest to the Excluded all the good offices of sincere Friendship Notwithstanding that these secret ways of satisfying their passions are attended with no other effect than that of preventing the Nobility from carrying their resentments higher yet this advantage is very considerable to a Republick which can apprehend nothing so much as the division of her principal Members but the reciprocal dependance in which the Great Council keeps the Nobles and the continual fear of seeing themselves Balloted to the prejudice of their Interest and Honours does not only oblige them to observe the necessary measures of living well with each other at least apparently in a perfect good understanding but these considerations do moreover inspire them with a real Zeal and an intire attachement to the good of the Publick which are the most assured meanes for a Nobleman to attain the principal Employs of the Republick as likewise to acquire the esteem and affection of his equals if he any ways studies their good Opinions All the Ballotations of the great Council are perform'd in a manner before the eyes of the Publick for the doors are not only open but there is likewise an elevated bench for such Strangers who come out of curiosity to see these Gentlemen pass their Suffrages but as the Nobles that come to the Great Council are permitted to speak their sentiments upon the things proposed by the Councellor for the week according to the custom of the Sage for the week in the Senate or to give his Opinion upon any other important matter of State so in these occasions all strangers are oblig'd to go out that they may not enter into the Cognisance of those things that belong to the Nobility only There is in the Hall of the Great Council a sort of a chair which is design'd for the use of such as harangue in the assembly it was there that Marc Attonio Cornaro more than a Year after the loss of Candia made an unexpected Speech upon the Surrender of that place where by the strength of his Arguments he brought the Senate at that instant to resolve upon the Trial of Francis Morosini Captain General who delivered it to the Turks and he made Avogador to give the Instructions and prosecute the matter that was the Person who made the accusation Nevertheless this General who got himself promoted to the Dignity of Procurator of Saint Mark for the assurances he gave to the Republick that he would be buried in the ruines of Candia before he would yield up the place even at that very time when he was forc'd in Necessity to capitulate shewed here no less address to extricate himself out of the Danger He endeavour'd at first to gain time and to assure himself of what votes he could in the Great Council by distributing large Summs of Money among the Poor Nobility who are at Venice called Barnaboti being most of them live in the Ward or Quarter of Saint Barnaby he likewise contriv'd it so that the Chevalier Johannes Sagredo made there an excellent Speech in his behalf wherein he shewed the weakness of the Accuser who could not answer the force of his Reasons and consequently was thought not to be the Author of that harangue he pronounc'd against this General Yet this did not hinder them from suspecting that the Chevelier Sagredo was well rewarded for the trouble as likewise his Son afterwards in another case for having maintain'd a bad cause in the Senate in consideration of two hundred Pistols presented him The Son was banish'd both the City and State of Venice and the Father upon the Point to succeed the Doge of the same Name who did not so long enjoy that Dignity as his merits deserved bad the Mortification of seeing his exclusion Publickly pass'd both by the Nobility and People The Nobility sufficiently demonstrate the distrust they live in by all the precautions they take 〈◊〉 the safety of the Great Council and the 〈◊〉 which the smallest occasions are capable of causing to them Not long since there was near the Place of Saint Mark a litâ—â—e Galiot of people from the Coast of Greece whom they call Maignotes Greeks both by Religion and Nationa but resembling the Turks by whom they are Subdued yet their Upland Countrymen continue to defend themselves by the means of their Mountains the poet Wretches Selling their Cheeses about the City were insulted by a Venetian according to the custom of their Country they went to his House took him by force without doing him any harm to carry him before the Judges of the Palace in order to have Justice done them The Great Council being Assembled that day the Guards at the doors seeing these people make to them stopp'd and drove them away by force but they not understanding the venetian Language took this proceeding for a new affront went back to their Galiot from whence they return'd with the rest of their Countrymen and Seymiters in hand resolutely going to attack the Guards who immediately made a discharge upon them Which join'd with the noise upon the place and the sight of naked Arms before the Door of the Great Council Struck such a Terrour upon the Assembly that it was judg'd to be a Conspiracy against the Nobility Some stood neither able to stir or speak others endeavour'd to save themselves by the Top of the Palace but the more couragious betook themselves to the Armes in the little Arcenal of the Council of Ten which is for that purpose near the Hall But the tumult being appeased by the presence of the Procurators of the Guard the Ignorance of these strangers was excused and the Nobility got clear of their dreadful apprehensions I shall not stop here to enter into the description of all the Magistracies of Venice which particulars would not be less Tedious than they are unnecessary to the understanding the form of Government in this Republick I shall only add that there are above Three Score several Tribunals or Courts of Justice which
advantageously employ a great part of the Nobility as well in the Administration of Justice in both Civil and Criminal matters as likewise in the Magistracy's established for the more exact observation of the Laws of the Republick besides the great Number of other Employs that take up the Nobility in the Provinces of the Republick I will only speak here of some Tribunals which for the greatness of the Authority they have in the Republick and for the Nature of Affairs that are brought to their bars as Masters of the Government of the State are worthy of being known both for the ampleness of their Power and the design of their first Institution Of the Council of Ten. THere is not at Venice a more grave or formidable Tribunal than that of the Council of Ten To this Court appertains the Cognisance of all Criminal Matters happening among the Nobility both in the City and State of the Republick This Tribunal gives Judgment in cases of Publick Treason For so are called those at Venice against the Majesty of the Prince It hath Power to examin into the conduct of the Prodestats Commanders and Officers that govern the Provinces as likewise to receive the complaints of the People against them the care of the Publick Tranquillity is committed to them consequently this Council is the Master of all holy days by permitting or prohibiting of them as they think convenient They are to Prosecute such as profess any particular Sect Sodomites Clippers and Coyners in short this Tribunal hath so large a Jurisdiction as that it is equally Terrible both to the Nobles and People which are Subjects of the Republick It was first of all erected in the Year 1310 to restore the lost quiet and safety of the City after the Famous enterprise of Bajamonte Tiepolo in opposition to those alterations which the Doge Peter Gradenigo had made in the Government but as they perceived this Tribunal was of an extraordinary good effect towards the setling of this new method of Government so it was restablish'd upon several different occasions until at length it was confirmed for ever being then five and twenty Years after the first Establishing of it The Doge comes with his six Councellors to this Council where he presides yet the Senators that compose it have not a less power in the absence of the Doge than if he was present with his Six Councellors These Dignities are executed by Nobles of the first order who are to be all Ten of so many different families They are every year chosen by the Great Council these elect three from among themselves to be Presidents who are chang'd every three Months during which these Presidents take their turns by Weeks He that is for the week receives all Memorials Accusations and the Reports of Spyes which he communicates to his Collegues who upon the depositions of Witnesses and the answers of the Accused that are kept in dismal Prisons proceed to the Trials of the Guilty they are the Accusers before the Council but the Accused are neither permitted by Council or in their own persons to defend themselves this method is not only something Barbarous but likewise severity is inseparable to this Tribunal whereby the Nobility are the more uneasy under this dreadful Authorty as they are directly Subjected to it The Council of Ten is held only once a week but the Presidents may assemble it upon any urgency of affairs It is to be seen in the Histories of the Republick that the Council of Ten hath in several occasions made Treaties of peace and alliance Independently from the Senate but this power does not now extend so far As it belongs to this Council to provide for all things necessary to the safety of the Republick so there are in the Arcenal both Cannon and Gallies to be dispos'd of by this Tribunal that which lyes always ready Arm'd over against the Place of St. Mark is under their command And the better to oppose any Sudden attempt or Conspiracy the Council of Ten hath a little Arcenal in the Palace as hath been observ'd near the Hall of the Great Council One sees in this Arcenal a considerable quanty of Arms of all sorts some small Cannon that may be discharg'd several times as likewise a great many other curious pieces of this Nature the fire Arms are in a Chamber over the others among which there are always Six Hundred Musquets ready charg'd and a Hundred Matches placed about a round Engine which in an instant by the means of a Spring can be lighted all at once Of the Inquisitors of State THE Tribunal of the Inquisitors of State is more formidable than can well be imagined for as the business which is brought before these Lords is the nicest of all Criminal matters even so is their severity as much the more terrible and their rigour inexorable as their method of proceeding is extraordinary The three places of Inquisitors of the State are Executed by two Senators of the Council of Ten and one of the Councellors of the Doge These three Lords have an absolute Power of Life or Death over the Doge the Nobles Strangers and even all the Subjects of the Republick without being oblig'd to shew any reasons for what they do or to Consult with the Council of Ten in case they are all three of an Opinion The Orders and Executions of this Tribunal are not less secret than their Judgments excepting it is upon a Publick offence but otherwise to avoid giving occasion of exclaiming against so much severity that punishes with Death a word accidentally spoken by a miserable wretch against their Rigorous Government The Party offending is by Night sent to the bottom of the Sea without any other formality than confronting him with the two Witnesses if there are any or else upon the report of their Spyes of which the City abounds And by the help of these Pensionary Informers those merciless Judges have Eyes and Ears in all places for which reason a Man accus'd to the Inquisitors of State is esteem'd beyond Redemption if his Innocency is not more clear than the Day As this way of proceeding with so little Regularity and Justice hath been sometimes attended by mighty Inconveniencies so it is now enacted that the Inquisitors of State shall not for the future put to Death a Noble Venetian without hearing what he can say in his Justification It may be Judg'd by this what dangers such Persons incur as have no support and who happen to fall into such terrible hands Seeing bare suspicions in matters of State are punished with more severity at Venice than the Crime it self would be in any other place especially when such trifling things as carrying of Fire Arms and an Hundred several others of but equal moment to it are made Crimes of State which every where else could only be Contraventions to the Orders of the Civil Government The least Infliction that a Stranger of any Consideration hath
they are called advocates of the Common good Avogadors del Commun but they have moreover a particular jurisdiction which is the judging in all cases of Assault and Battery stealing of Young Women as likewise upon cases of Calumny and detraction yet all important affairs are by them carried to the Tribunals which ought to have cognisance of them according to the matter in question The greatest Authority of these two Magistrates is that Power which they have of suspending for three days the sentences of all Tribunals of the Colledge Great Council the Council of Ten as likewise the Inquisitors of State when the matter of fact is not a positive crime but only the execution of the Ordinances which they can make in affairs of the State insomuch that they represent the ancient Tribunes of the Republick their Authority is the same with those of the Roman Tribunes for by interposing they suspend all manner of Execution yet they are obliged in three Days to produce their Reasons for such Interpositions which ought to be so valid as to to cause another Deliberation upon those Affairs The Senate chooses the two Avogadors who are to be afterwards approved of by the Great Council they usually give the Execution of these Offices to Persons of known Integrity and of the first Families They are not always the Richest of the Nobles but are ever such as are sufficiently able to speak in publick whieh they have commonly acquir'd by their professions of Barristers at Law which they have actualy followed as do every day many of the Nobility rather choosing to support themselves by these honourable means which is thought no derogation than by a thousand base shifts that their quality gets off unpunished The Avogadors wear the Ducal Vest of Violet with the red Star upon their usual Functions but they wear the purple Vest without the badge in the great in-be invalid if one of the two Avogadors were not assistant Upon the prohibition in the year 1672 that was made at Venice against wearing of Perukes there happened an accident which for the Singularity of it in regard of the two Avogadors ought not to pass here unmentioned One of the most Ancient and principal Senators of the Republick who was lately made Procurator by merit was at that time Inquisitor of the State who having a Lady of much merit for wife and in humour very different from the other Venetian Ladies as being mightily delighted with the Liberty's of civil conversation he observed that there came to his House some Gentlemen in great lighâ— colour'd Heads of hair which at other timâ—s seemed to be black he grew suspicious upon the matter inferring consequences from it that were not less dangerous to the Publick than inconvenient to particular persons This Inquisitor had Credit sufficient with his Two Collegues to get his Project approv'd of for which Reason from that very day all the Nobility were upon great Penalties forbidden the use of Perukes with Orders to all such who had begun to wear them to forbear the continuance It is no very difficult matter to imagine what a perplexity this Order occasion'd to all the Young Nobility who were then so very curious in their Wiggs that even such as had very fine heads of Hair preferr'd the acquired to their own sparing no Costs to get those that were best made but the indispensable necessity of obeying this Order of the Inquisitors oblig'd the greatest part of the Nobility to retire into the Country as not daring to appear in the City in the Conditions they were in The Avogador Laurence Donat being of the Number of them that wore Wigs did easily believe that they would not have less regard to the rank which his dignity gave him than to the necessity which obliged him to it he went to the Inquisitor and uncovering his Head shewed him the condition he was in representing at the same time that the duty of his Employ engag'd him without any respite to the service of the Republick which made him hope he might be permitted to wear his Peruke but seeing all the answers he could get were positively to the Negative of what he desired he then intimated to the Inquisitor that by Vertue of the Red Srar which he wore on his Shoulder he had power to Suspend the execution of the Decree this remonstrance being express'd with some heat procur'd him an answer that intirely stopp'd his proceeding any farther in that matter for the Inquisitor made him remember that by Vertue of his Office he could have him thrust into a Sack and sent that night to repose in the Sea Of the Council Criminal of Forty ALthough there are three Councils of Forty that is Three Chambers compos'd each of fourty Judges yet I shall only speak of the Criminal as being next to those that have cognisance of affairs of State the most considerable Tribunal in the Republick It is the ancientest of them all for the first use of it was unknown before the Creation of either the New or Old Forty This Chamber did Judge both in Civil and Criminal matters and before the Establishment of the Council of Ten Crimes of State and all others of the Nobility were brought hither Notwithstanding the Jurisdiction of this Tribunal hath suffer'd great Diminutions and the daily disputes between this Chamber and the Council of Ten which draws from hence all important affairs yet this does not hinder it from continuing in much reputation being the Forty Judges that compose the Court have entrance into the Great Council with right of debating and the three Chiefs who are the Presidents have session at the College in the two last Months of their Employs The Doge and his six Councellors of the Seignory did formerly preside in the Criminal of Forty but at present three only of these Councellors do preside here for the four last Months of their year which is to shew the affinity that there is between the College and the Council criminal of Forty who reciprocally know what passeth in these Tribunals by the means of their principal Members The Avogodors do often by their interposition send back to this Chamber the decisions of the College Senate and other Sovereign Courts which decisions are in regard of cases civil and criminal of private persons to be there re-examined whose Sentences are sometimes broke and made void The Doge Peter Gradenigo got this Tribunal to pass the La Parte that is the Decree which was the draught or Instrument of the Serrar del Consiglio that brought about the greatest change of Government that ever happened in this State The rich Nobility of the first Order would be glad to be Judges of the criminal of Forty by reason of the great prerogatives belonging to them but the strict attendance which they are oblig'd to give for Eight Months to the Service of the Publick is more than sufficient to make most of them forbear the thoughts of it Therefore these places
are usually possess'd by Nobles of the first and Second Orders that Scruple not to attain unto these Employs by others that are inferior to them and the less being there are besides the advantage of Thirty Ducates a Month Salary many opportunities of bringing themselves into consideration among the rest of the Nobility by the means of their entrance into the Senate and several other advantages which their Offices give them of attaining the principal Employs The Nobles of rich families that are desirous of the merits that are acquir'd in this Office make use of their utmost endeavors and deepest intrigues to attain unto this Magistacy without passing the other two Councils of Forty which are the usual steps to that of the Criminal but these Offices the rich Nobles infinitely esteem beneath them Of the method of proceeding in Criminal Cases UPon the committing of a Crime at Venice iâ— looks as if they applied themselves more to procure the necessary proofs of the fact than to secure the offenders And after they have got those proofs they send the Captain Grand to force open the door of his House which is searohd in much order and upon this Officers reporting that he could not find him he is Summon'd to appear at such a time more or less ample according to the enormity of the crime during which time the Criminal is safe provided he appears not at the publick places of St. Mark and Rialto he may likewise desire three farther Prolongations of time and if he sees it will not be easy to prove his innocency or to extricate himself out of the affair by the favour of a Protector he provides for his sasety by the lightness of his heels which is no very difficult matter if he hath the assistance of a Noble whose Gondalo will Transport him out of the State setting him upon the Coast of Ferrara or else the first Gondalo Lands him upon Terra firma from whence he can easily get out of the State of the Republick From whence it proceeds that the Major part of Criminals are at Venice condemn'd by contempt this being what they call Bandire but the sentence of Judgment is accompanied with these or other circumstances proportionable to the crime That the condemn'd can never purchase his favour as it is practis'd at Venice that he who kills him within the States of the Republick shall have such a Summ which shall be payed double if he kills him in another Country And if the crime does any ways sensibly touch the Republick they add to this reward the power of pardon to another Criminal that so they may deprive the Offender of all means of Security Yet it happened notwithstanding the Sentence of the Council of Ten against the young Mocenigo for shooting of Foscarini as before observed was accompanied with all the rigour that is usual in the greatest offences against the State the Betrayers of their Country and the intacco di cassa which is the Embezelling of the Publick Treasure that this Noble had his pardon and was re-establish'd in his Estate and Nobility When the Offender is in prison and his case ready to be heard the Avogador orders it upon what day he pleases at which time the Criminal is brought to the feet of the Judges where he alledges all he can against him exaggerating the crime with all the Circumstances that can render it odious always concluding with the merits of a very vigorous punishment In all these publick Actions as likewise in the Speeches that are made in the Senate and in the Great Council the Nobility and Lawyers are to speak no other than the Venetian Language excepting in the Introductions of their discourses where they may make use of the pure Italian if they can or otherwise this affectation would undoubtedly cause a ridiculous Emulation which must at length render them unintelligible to the Publick Besides the natural Language is most consistent with the dignity of the Nation which of late times is much improved in regard to what it was for I have observed that in their Pleadings they affect a masculine stile which words and expressions have much of the Latin Tongue and likewise seem to have a greater force and Energy than those of the Tuscan The Counsel for the Party replies to all the heads of the accusation in short he Employs his whole force and runs through all the figures of Retorick in his pleading to move the Judges to pity he even descends from the chair where he speaks throws himself at their feet with the Offender his wife and his Children all in tears to implore the mercy of the Bench. This Melancholly Spectacle which resembles the custom of the ancient Romans inspires so much pity to the Assenbly that it even causes tears from the most obdurate Natures There is always a great Number of People at these Criminal causes who sit on each side and upon the steps of the Tribunal that is very much raised from the Floor but it is very Surprising to see the most part of them that come hither out of curiosity sitting in masks between the Judge and the Criminal It is one of the Privileges of that Venetian Liberty which this Republick so mightily boasts of After the Council hath spoke every body retires and then they ballot the Opinion of the Avogadors against that proposed by the Judges which is the most moderate so the plurality of balls decides it they do moreover determine by ballotation all the Circumstances of the Punishment and in this manner these Judges pass Sentence of Life and Death without being oblig'd to express the Reason of their Opinions or without knowing who is either for or against the Criminal as they are the Masters and Sovereigns so no Body examines if they have the Necessary knowledge or taken their degrees in the Faculties of the Law to render them Capable of these Judicatures But they Judge according to their Laws as do the Officers in an Army according to the Military Statutes their conscience and their Natural Lights are the Principal Rules of their Judgment The greatest Inconveniency in the Justice of Venice is the great length of time before they proceed to the Trials of Criminal Matters usually letting the offender Lie and Rot in their Miserable Prisons for to Expiate as they say some part of their Crime by this long Punishment Yet what seems to me more Rigorous are the frequent condmnations to dark Prisons for Eight Ten or more Years and often for Life for the Hideousness of their Prisons which are almost under Water is certainly something more Terrible than Death it self Moreover the Republick having great occasions for Slaves Sentence of Condemnation to the Galleys is pass'd for very small Crimes But the abuse that reigneth at Venice of shewing Favour for Money must certainly be a very Dangerous Maxim Notwithstanding the considerable Profit of the invention which brings Great Treasures to the Republick yet it is an Encouragement to
Men of War have likewise their distinct Generals in time of War at present the Republick hath only two Galliasses at Sea whose Station is at Corfu there are likewise some Men of War for the Convoys of Merchants who attribute their frequent losses in the Levant to the want of the Necessary Number of Men of War which the Republick ought to have at Sea for the Security of their Commerce Whether the Republick hath a Naval Army for the execution of some design or that she hath only the usual forces which she maintains in times of Peace and the Squadron of the Gulf Yet she always Creates a Proveditor General of the Sea who hath the command of the Fleet. This Employ is executed by one of first Senators he hath an absolute Power over the Officers Souldiers and Seamen being enabled to put to Death any of them as likewise to dispose of all the Offices of the Fleet. The Proveditor General of the Sea commonly resides at Corfu his Employ continues two Years at the end of which he gives the Senate an account of the administration of his Office When the Republick enters into a War by Sea she does not give the command of her forces to a foreign General as is practis'd in those a-shoar but in these important junctures upon which seems to depend the intire safety of the State the Republick constitutes some Noble Venetian General by Sea who does not only command the other before mentioned General Officers but likewise all Governours of Maritime Places to whom he sends his orders according to the various circumstances of the time and War he moreover disposes and orders without controul all Offices and Revenues appointed for the support of the Army Yet the apprehensions of an Inquiry and the indispensable necesity of giving the Senate an exact report of what he had done makes the General very assiduous in finding out plausible pretences to all the miscarriages for which he is accountable at the expiration of this almost Sovereign Authority which always ceases before he returns to Venice to appear befor the College This most eminent Dignity in the State is only while the War continues The Procurator Francis Morosini was the last that executed it who defended the City of Candia in the late Wars it is thought the Republick had not a more proper Person for the execution of this considerable post and the examination which was made into his conduct for the Surrendring of that Place and the inquiries into his Administration of the Revenues which made him twice a Prisoner and both times in danger is an evident proof how difficult it is to Serve a Republick where a General is in a manner oblig'd to satisfie the the smallest Scruples of his greatest Enimies When the Republick creates a Generalissimo by Sea She sends into the Fleet a foreign General who hath the command of all the Forces that are to be Employed in their descents on shoar yet he is not to undertake any thing upon his own bottom but this General receives his orders from the Generalissimo The Marquess de St. Andrè commanded in that quality at Candia whose acceptable Services were acknowled'd by a considerable Pension from the Senate until such time as he died Of the Revenues and Expence of the Republick IT would be very Tedious to give a long account of the Revenues of the Republick and to make a particular Calculation of what each City and Province amounts to I shall content my self with observing in General how much the usual account is that by the knowledge of the Revenues of the State one may be able to Judge of the greatness of their strength I shall at the same time endeavour to shew what ways and means the Republick hath taken to oppose all the attempts of the Turks both by Sea and Land as likewise to maintain a War for five and twenty years together against so Powerful an Empire It is a difficult matter to know the exact value of these Revenues being the Republick is always Augmenting and Diminishing of them according to the Necessities of the War and occasions in Peace However according to Computation of the Rigister of Receipts before the pressing Necessities of the last War of Candia it appeared that the established Revenue did amount to no more than Fourteen Millions of Livers French Money One half of this Revenue proceeded from the Duties at Venice upon the Importation and Exportation of goods in the excise upon Provisions and all other Merchandises sold at the tenth penny Duty and duties arising from the Islands of the Lagunes as likewise upon all goods in the Limits of the Country near Venice which is called the Dutchy or Dogate The other part of this Revenue rises from the Cities and Provinces of Terra Firma in impositions upon Goods Provisions custom of Merchandise in Tithes and the Tenth Penny as likewise from what is raised in Istria Dalmatia and the three Islands of Corfu Zant and Chefalnia To this Revenue must be added the Casual Emoluments of the Palace Sale of Offices Confiscations and several other Duties that amount to considerable Summs The Salt Works at Corfu produc'd two Millions that at Chiosa one by which it appears that the Republick received above Eighteen Millions In War the Republick Augments the old impositions and establishes new ones Taxes the easy and the Ecclesiasticks from whom by the Pope's consent she draws very considerable Summs in all her Wars against the Turks They likewise obtained the Abolition of several Orders as those of the Holy Ghost and the Croisade the Sale of whose effects amounted to very considerable Summs The Republick doubles the Contributions of all the City Companies as likewise those of the Gondaliers the Six Great Confraternities of the City who are very Rich she draws besides great Summs from the Jews who were oblig'd in the late Necessities of the State to a Loan of Three Millions at three per Cent. Besides the particular Taxes of the Richer Jews which amounted also to three Millions of Livers At the opening of the entrance into the Great Council by the Creation of new Nobles the Republick hath in a manner always acquired Inexhaustible Treasures the great Number of Supernumerary Procurators of Saint Mark who Purchase their Dignities at Thirty Thousand Ducats each have been very Powerful Supplies to the Exigencies of this State insomuch that these extraordinary ways of raising Money the most important of which are here only mentioned have been these Rich Mines from which the Republick have found the means of making that Resistance which hath been the Admiration of all Europe The established expences of the Republick do not annually exceed Ten Millions of Livers which are partly employed to defray the charges of the Doge of Ambassadors the Salaries of Officers the pay of both Horse and Foot upon Terra Firma and in the Levant as likewise to defray the charges of the Navy Arcenal and Fortifications of the State As
of them accidentally proceeding from different Occasions And of these I esteem the dancing Parties of the Nobility as one of the principal Diversions of Venice They frequently happen upon divers accounts but I will here endeavour to describe those that are observ'd at the Marriages of the Nobles which may at the same time set forth the most remarkable Passages in the Nuptial Ceremonies of the Venetian Nobility Yet as it is necessary to know in some Degree the particular disposition of their Houses before one can comprehend their manner of Dancing so you will find that they are generally all after the same Fashion The Entrance is commonly by a long Passage whose Walls are extremely white without any other Furniture than some Benches of a very white Wood with Backs to support the Body from the Wall These Benches are painted in various Colours as likewise the Racks on both sides which are furnish'd with Pikes and Halbards more for the Ornament of them than any other occasion of Defence The Stairs then receive you which lead to another sort of Gallery that is over the Entry below This Place takes up the length of the whole House there are Windows at each of the Ends from whence you have a Communication to all the Chambers both on the Right and Left for they open into each other whereby you are enabled to make the Tour of the whole House upon a Level which may be done several ways The Richer sort of Gentlemen are mightily delighted with Magnificent Furniture in whose Houses may be seen great Quantities of Velvet on Gold-Grounds others Imbroider'd Lac'd and Fring'd with Gold An abundance of fine Tables and Looking-Glasses of great Value but there are no Beds in the Chambers of the first Story which is to leave more Room to the great resort of People that are here upon these Occasions even in spight of the Guards that are placed at the Doors to prevent the confusion and disorder of a Crowd The Day of Betrothing being appointed the first Senators that is the Procurators of Saint Mark the great Sages and others that are their Relations the Nobility and Ladies being usually Invited thither do assemble in the Gallery above-Stairs But before they let in the Crowd at the Door the * La Novizza il Novizzo Noviciate so they call the New-Married People for the first two years appears at this Place in a Brocade of Silver being led by the usual Master of the Ceremonies who is the Dancing-Master that teaches the Lady the Dances she is to know according to the Custom of the Country upon the Day of her Marriage This Man wears a long Robe a short Cloak of Black Damask and a Collar of the same so with Hat in Hand and a grave slow Motion he leads the Spouse to her Father where a Velvet-Cushion is laid for the Lady to kneel who then destres her Father's Blessing In the same manner and upon the same Account he conducts her to her Mother and the rest of her near Relations which is observ'd with so much Modesty and Conduct that it may in reality pass for one of the most extraordinary things that are to be seen at Venice After this the Master of the Ceremonies conducts the Lady to the middle of the Gallery to give her Hand to the Husband and there to receive the Benediction of the Priest or Bishop that is to perform the Function Whereupon the Married Couple are permitted to Salute which they pretend to be the first Favour that the Gentleman receives in Earnest of those he is to have the Night after At this Instant the young Nobility present accompany the Kiss with a many agreeable Wishes crying out aloud Basa Basa c. This Custom of lying together before Marriage is not practised only at Venice for the same is observ'd almost throughout the whole Ecclesiastical State But it is moreover a particular Privilege of the Nobility or rather a Custom introduc'd from an ample Power of Marrying without any other notice given of the Banes than the Declaration which is made in the Great Council For as the Nobles are a separate Body from the other Members of the State and the Lords of the Government so no body but they only of that Body can pretend to enter into the discussion of their Interests After this Ceremony is over the Violins begin to play upon which they make an open Space in the middle of the Crowd where the new-married Lady dances alone two or three several Courrants as likewise so many of this Country-Bourreys However I believe they think to do them according to the French Fashion yet it is no less difficult for us to know their Tunes than the Steps and the Motions of their Bodies seem intirely different from the Liberty and Grace that is Habitual to the French One must have been Born and Bred at Venice to bestow one's Publick Applauses upon these mean Performances of the poor Ladies which are moreover very rarely seen to keep time with the Musick yet they please and the whole Assembly usually cry Ha balato divinamente When the Ball is thus begun a young Gentleman of the nearest Relations to the Lady takes her by the Hand several others do the same by the rest or greatest part of the other Gentledonna's so they walk two and two discoursing from Room to Room through all the Apartments of the House There is Musick in all the Places where the Ball passes but their Tunes are very different and more proper to Inspire a desire of sleeping than that of Mirth for which reason without observing either Measure or Cadence they only apply themselves to entertain the Person they have by the Hand For as the Liberty of Conversation is not a Happiness frequently enjoy'd at Venice so these Balls are regarded as the most favourable Opportunities of unfolding their Sentiments where they make the most use of their Time without any thoughts of Dancing This manner of Walking continues until Night by reason there are ever some new Dancers that are ready to succeed to the first who seldom leave a Lady that is agreeable to them until she is either weary or that they apprehend the two long continuation of it may render their Conduct suspected But the Ladies may well be soon tir'd the Crowd being commonly so great upon these Occasions that one must frequently in a manner force their way through it to pass out of one Chamber into another Besides an endless number of Embarrasments stop them at every turn but especially their mighty long Trains are none of the least Inconveniencies The Gentledonna's that are not taken up with Dancing sit in Elbow-Chairs that are plac'd round about the Gallery Such as are not invited to the Feast appear in their Masques to the end they may not be ask'd to Dance And they of the Invited that are not desirous of it keep their Glove on their Hand which is allow'd for a sufficient Excuse And