steadier light, both on the state of the language in this most ancient of Italian cities, and on the extent of her commerce, and the character of her citizens, in an age when they were at once merchants and soldiers, travellers and conquerors. From these materials, trivial as they at first sight appear, we derive most valuable information for determining our judgment of that proud and singular Democracy, which, with progressive modifications, and through sanguinary vicissitudes, subsisted in the republic for nearly a thousand years.

We shall now endeavour to lay before our readers a rapid survey of this constitution, from its origin, in the beginning of the fourth century, to its subversion by the Aristocracy, at the beginning of the fourteenth.

An accurate knowledge of these memorable institutions, of the circumstances in which they originated, and the corruptions into which they passed, must appear the more desirable and curious, when it is considered, that as this remarkable state arose before the empire of Rome was swept away, endured through the barbarism of the northern irruptions, and was finally extinguished within our own times, its history forms a connecting chain-we believe the only one that can now be traced-between the Europe of the Romans, of the middle ages, and of modern history! It is as if we were questioning the sole survivor of these great and overwhelming revolutions, and inquiring into the habits and constitution of a yet living antediluvian.

But, independently of this consideration, the mere fact that this state preserved its independence for fourteen hundred years, would offer ample inducements to investigate the cause of a political longevity without a parallel in the annals of human society: And the curiosity which this phenomenon is calculated to excite, is further increased by the recollection, that Venice owed its existence to a handful of fugitives, who sought shelter among the rocks and marshes of the Adriatic; that her power rose to a formidable height with astonishing rapidity, while her commercial prosperity kept pace with her power, and soon reached a pitch unknown to the greatest states of antiquity; and that this double power, maintained almost without interruption for nearly eleven centuries, declined at last, not from any principle or accident of internal decay, but through the unavoidable influence of extrinsic events, which surrounded her with formidable rivals, or raised up against her new and irresistible enemies. The invasion of her possessions and colonies in the Levant and the Mediterranean by the new-sprung power of the Turks; the maritime expeditions of the Portuguese, and their consequent trade with India-the discovery of America-the powerful military

establishments set on foot by all the monarchs of Europe, and the occupation of a great part of Italy by one or other of them, all combined to rob Venice of her supremacy, and to beset her with growing dangers.

But however unlooked for were these events, and however irresistible their nearly simultaneous operation, though they unavoidably abridged the power and undermined the greatness of the Republic, they were not necessarily inconsistent with the maintenance of her independence. They coincided, however, in point of time, with the gradual subversion of her Popular institutions-the mainspring of her internal prosperity, and of her former influence in Europe. The pomp and splendour, however, of her latter days still remained unimpaired; and for more than three centuries after these events, her new constitution underwent no change; and after being so long stationary in appearance, though in fact verging to decay, the last seventy years of her political existence were passed in profound peace.

This state of things would doubtless have continued, had not the mighty shocks of that revolution which has agitated nations and overthrown monarchies of much greater strength, combined with her own decrepitude to hasten her dissolution. In that mighty convulsion, she fell-unresisting, and almost unnoticed. What were the peculiarities of the government and the people, who could thus maintain their independence and substantial prosperity for a period so much beyond the ordinary duration of separate and especially small nations, has never been very satisfactorily explained. Her history has been attempted, with various degrees of fidelity and talent, by many native and some foreign authors; but the documents most essential to the inquiry were, by the very laws of the Republic, long concealed among the mysteries of the State Inquisition; and we may form some notion of the difficulty of obtaining any accurate knowledge of her internal affairs, when we recollect that even Cardinal Bembo, though a patrician of Venice, a zealous champion of her fame, and the most distinguished writer of his time, could not overcome the jealousy excited by his connexion with the Court of Rome. His native city, indeed, appointed him her historiographer, but denied him access to her archives.* His work is

* We learn this fact from a writer who was at once Doge and historian of the literature of the Republic:

"Se la storia del Bembo paresse a taluno un po' troppo asciutta, e vi desiderasse ricercati più a fondo i nascosti pensieri de' Principi, è da sapere che per essere il Bembo uomo di Chiesa, e però non partecipe del Governo, gli fu chiuso l'adito ai pubblici archivi; onde penuriò di

consequently without spirit or authority, and remarkable rather for an ostentatious display of a classical style, than for the clear statements and fearless devotion to truth which should characterise a historian. Accordingly, it is not read,—and, in fact, is not readable.

The archives, containing the more important secrets of the state, were, for the first time, disclosed, at the fall of the Republic, by the French; when, among those who eagerly explored that chaos of interminable documents, no one laboured with so much zeal and discernment as M. Daru. His history, accordingly, possesses very high merits, though combined with many defects, some of which we shall now endeavour to supply. In particular, he does not appear to have perceived that the State Inquisition insinuated itself into the very vitals of a constitution previously free, and resting on the two great principles of hatred to monarchy, and jealousy of all political dependence upon, or even close connexion with, any other people. In this point of view, the history of the ten centuries of the Venetian Democracy acquires a new and most important interest for the philosopher as well as for the statesman. If we should ever continue our dissertations beyond that epoch, M. Daru shall certainly be our historical leader, as his industry, learning, and sagacity, well entitle him to be. But with regard to this earlier period, and the first rudiments of that State Inquisition, which gives its character to all later transactions, we cannot adopt him as our guide.

That the seeds of this all-powerful and most despotical tribunal were sown in the very foundations of the Venetian constitution, and were striking their roots, deeply, though in secret, for the first ten centuries of its existence, had long been our impression and belief, though resting upon little else than the general character of the people and the course of the government. Recent discoveries, however, have turned these impressions into certainty; and the facts and documents now brought to light have sufficiently cleared up this important part of its story.

Detestation of the government of one man, and an inflexible determination to remain a separate and distinct people, were, as we have already said, the two principles by which the Venetians were guided from their birth as a nation, and upon which they

notizie, e fu costretto a cercarle alla meglio da memorie private. che molto si duole egli medesimo, particolarimente in una lettera a Giambattista Rannusio, Segretario del Consiglio di Dieci."-Foscarini, Litteratura Venezia, lib. 3.

Di

continued to act with the steadiness and success of a natural instinct. This will appear in the first concoction of her government-in the gradual development of her institutions-and in all their oscillations, up to the period when they acquired a stability, which resisted all farther shocks and alterations. In submitting to the common necessity, of obeying one leader in war, and having a supreme magistrate to guard their laws, maintain their religion, and preside over the ordinary tribunals, the Venetians never for a moment relinquished their right of conferring these powers by election; they continually asserted their power to degrade their possessor from the throne to which they had raised him, nor did they deem any means for the attainment of this end unlawful: they gradually limited his authority, till at length they subjected him to the control of an Aristocracy, which derived its constitutional claim to represent the people, from the natural influence of wealth, and the respect derived from a long line of renowned ancestors. To vest the substantial power in an oligarchy like this, arising from the very nature of civil society, it is only necessary that its members should act with some degree of concert; but the Venetian Few at last matured this concert into an artful and organised conspiracy; and, by carefully preserving the republican forms, together with the inveterate hatred of monarchy, and the national independence, continued to increase their power without awakening suspicion; while, as a means of accommodating the primitive laws of the land to their own exclusive interest, they seized eagerly on every opportunity of enforcing, and bringing into operation, such arbitrary expedients as, in former ages, had only been resorted to in cases of extraordinary emergency. The authority and number of these unconstitutional precedents thus gradually increased, until they came to be regarded as practical parts of the constitution, and, in fact, furnished the elements out of which the State Inquisition was eventually formed.

To illustrate what we have now said, we shall proceed to lay before our readers such a series of facts, in the first ten centuries of Venetian history, as we think will exhibit a comprehensive view of the stages by which Democracy gradually dwindled into hereditary Aristocracy; and that, in its turn, into a mysterious and unrelenting Oligarchy,

The small band of fugitives, who, escaping from the devastations of the Goths, first peopled the lagunes of the Adriatic Gulf, (A. D. 420,) were governed by magistrates sent from Padua. The names and posterity of some of these men are not yet extinct. Antonio Calvo, Alberto Faliero, Tomaso Candiano,

Albino Moro, Hugo Fosco, Cesare Danlo.* From the four first sprang the patrician families of the Calvi, Candiani, Moro, and Falieri, which were in existence up to the time of the destruction of the republic. From the fifth, the Foscolo, Foscari, and Foscarini derived their origin; and Danlo is thought to have been the parent stem of the house of Dandolo.

In the lagunes, which are navigable at high water, but are left partially dry in the ebb, the fugitives found numerous spots amid the rocks and little islands, sufficiently extensive to admit of cultivation. Their natural produce and aliment was, however, fish; and their only marketable commodities, the salt which they collected in their lagunes, and the fish which they cured with it. Their occupations consisted in building and navigating small boats for their neighbours. Such was their first acquaintance with that element which was afterwards to bear the proud fleets of their daring navigators, victorious warriors, and enterprising merchants. The greater number of the islands were marshes. The most elevated of them, called Rialto, was situated nearly in the middle. In progress of time, several of them were united by bridges, and formed the site of the city of Venice.

Meanwhile, Padua was still the metropolis; but having been shortly after devastated by the incursions of barbarians, (A. D. 450-60,) her little colonies were emancipated from her guardianship, and left to maintain as they could their feeble independence. From that time, each island elected a tribune; and it appears that the assembly of these magistrates constituted a national council. But as the necessity of carrying on offensive and defensive wars with their neighbours increased, the executive power, not very precisely separated, indeed, from the legislative and judicial, was vested in a single tribune. (A. D. 503.) Though, however, this functionary was elective, and bound in most things by the deliberations and decrees of the other tribunes, his authority was too extensive to be viewed without jealousy and apprehension; and was soon distributed among ten, and afterwards among twelvethough occasionally this number was diminished to seven. They were chosen annually, and were bound to govern the republic with the concurrence of a popular assembly, and the assistance of a council of forty persons, both chosen by the people, and who also performed the functions of judges.

This extremely pure Democracy lasted for more than two centuries and a half; when, as wealth and population increased, the

Daru, Hist. de Venice, Pièces Justif. section 6, vol. vii. p. 1. VOL. XLVI. NO. 91. F