are usually the lot of mankind. The Roman Metellus has been cited as an example of singular felicity; having been blessed with four sons, one of whom was prætor, three were consuls, and two of them were signalized by triumphs. His satisfaction no doubt must have been great; but perhaps it has been exaggerated by posterity, for those trusts have been sometimes bestowed on the unworthy.-Our Doge must not be considered less happy than Metellus; having had, like the Roman, four sons, all virtuously disposed. They too would probably have attained every honor, had not the strictness of our laws forbidden the sons of the Doge to solicit any office during the life of their father; who could nevertheless foresee, that after his death they would be properly recompensed. And even during his life-time, he had the happiness of seeing his son Lorenzo raised to a situation the nearest in dignity to his own; the strictness of the laws being somewhat relaxed through the peculiar difficulties of the times. No father was ever more blessed in seeing sons resembling himself. I speak rather of their mental qualities than their persons. In contemplating Lorenzo, whom I see now before me, illustrious Senators, I find scarcely any cause for regretting our lost Loredano. Behold the same features, the same inspiring eloquence, the same delight in virtue! This is a living monument to our Doge, far more satisfac tory than those innumerable statues scattered throughout the world by the pride of the Roman Emperors. And probably he regretted life the less, since he left his own image stamped on his progeny, and especially on his Lorenzo. Of all the blessings showered upon him by Providence, strong health was alone wanting to complete the amount. For in his youth he was never hale; and his age was beset by various distempers. He counteracted, however, these disadvantages by such temperance and contempt of hurtful indulgences, that he attained nearly his ninetieth year; an age seldom reached by the most robust. And for this we have more reason to admire him, than if he had been endowed with the energies of the Crotonian Milo. And I think, Senators, that he is entitled to our gratitude, for having in the worst crisis of the late war, when afflicted with a severe malady, omitted no means to prolong his life, which probably he would have neglected, had he not been actuated by a sincerer regard for the republic than himself. Can we reasonably imagine that he was anxious at that period to protract his existence; he who had lived so many years, who must have felt a satiety of life from the mortifications which he had experienced in witnessing the disasters of the republic, and, though his private eircumstances were flourishing, had every cause to fear that his future prospects would be clouded by adversity? Add the proba bility of his being subjected to still severer diseases. To what then are we to attribute his anxiety to live? To his wish of rescuing the state from the difficulty of substituting another Doge in his room, which, from the extremely critical state of public affairs, would have been attended with great hazard. Though he might say that he had lived sufficiently long for himself, he did not think he could say so for his country, till he had left her in a tranquil position. We ought not therefore to feel less gratitude towards him for consenting to live, than if he had surrendered his life in the cause of his country, and consequently insured to himself those honors which are usually bestowed for such services; for heroes have often laid down their lives in vain; he, by his firmness in adversity, strengthened your councils by his advice, and contributed to emancipate the state from its difficulties, though bowed down by age, and broken with infirmities. If in the moment of dying, O Senators, we may presume it possible to feel any satisfaction, whose exit can we imagine more enviable than that of Loredano? He was taken off after that he had seen the re public rescued from the fury of the league, and a peace guaranteed on honorable terms. It is moreover probable that he expired without pain; for all things that are done in unison with nature, are attended by pleasure; and since she has prescribed limits to our lives, a natural death (not that I pretend to assert that it is positive pleasure,) must certainly be unattended by pain. It may be otherwise with children; it may be otherwise with those who are cut off in the flower of their age, who are gathered by death like unripe fruit, and are plucked with a certain violence; but aged persons lose their vigor gradually, and quietly sink into the arms of death without a struggle. And now that we have followed our Loredano throughout his career, nothing remains for us but to proclaim him supremely happy. Let this consideration, venerable Senators, outweigh your grief at his loss. Derive consolation from the reflection, that the whole course of his life was singularly fortunate; that nature has assigned to our existence very short limits; that though we may be permitted to bewail those who are taken away in the bloom of life, we should rather have reason to rejoice at the release of one, who had obtained here below the meed of his deserts; that since philosophers of all ages have believed that eternal happiness is the recompense of those who have followed a virtuous career, we may reasonably presume that our Loredano is in possession of the reward held out and bestowed by the great God of the universe. Remember, that since such are the conditions of our existence, it would be impious to wish he had been immortal; for can a miserable immortality here be paragoned with that state of bliss of which he is already in possession? So far am I from entertaining this opinion, that even if it were doubtful that we should enjoy happiness hereafter, I should nevertheless deem it desirable to be released from the agitations and perplexities of this sublunary state. Away then, Senators, with more sorrow for his death; seek to imitate him, who is no more; and implore of the Deity that recompense for yourselves which he has obtained. I address these sentiments in common to you all. But what topics of consolation can I hope to be able to administer to you, ye sons of our illustrious Doge? It is grievous to all to be deprived of a father; but for such sons as ye are, to be deprived of such a father, most grievous: neither does nature allow that your grief should not be poignant. But if you dwell on these considerations, if you bear in mind what you are, and of whom you are begotten, you will resist with firmness every assault of sorrow. Call to mind the magnanimity which your father displayed at the death of your brother Bernardo; at the wounds which your country received, still more trying than the death of his son. It is then your especial duty to imitate the same strength of mind which was so conspicuous in your father. Suffer not yourselves to be unmanned by sorrow. I will insist no longer on this subject, and will close my oration by exhorting you not to lose sight of so glorious an example. But I have no need to strengthen the bent of your determination with the efforts of my argument; for you have already made such progress in your endeavours, as not only to induce us to hope that you will equal, but even if possible surpass him. Prosecute your noble emprise; let the same qualities, so eminent in your father, shine in you with undiminished lustre; and may Providence crown your efforts with the desired success ! REMARKS ON VENICE. Semper apud Venetos studium sapientiæ, et omnis Battista Mantuanus. VENICE eclipses all modern states in the lustre of her annals. I only know of one state in antiquity that can vie with her; and that is Athens. This can The period when Athens strikes us in her exterior relations, with perhaps as much astonishment as Venice, among the leading features of her history, was during her contest with Philip; and this, not so much from the circumstances in which she was placed, as from the consideration that the aggressions of Philip gave rise to the eloquence of Demosthenes. Our wonder at the victory of Themistocles must in some measure be diminished, when we consider that the peculiar element of Athens was the sea. not be said of her adversary Persia. It must be remembered too that the Peloponnesians were engaged in the contest. No one can question the glory due to Athens in consequence of the results of the two great Persian invasions; we may however collect from the testimonies of the Greek historians, that the Persian armies were at best but an unwieldy and ill-organized horde; and that the celebrity which Athens gained, resulted only from disparity of numbers. The military spirit could not have been very great, where the chiefs appeared mounted on high gold cars, and beset with the cumbrous paraphernalia of royalty. We cannot well institute a comparison between Carthage and Venice. History leaves us so much in the dark with respect to the Carthaginians, that we should pause before we suffer ourselves to be surprised at the achievements of their armies (except the personal qualities of Hannibal), in their wars with Rome. For aught we know, Carthage may have been engaged as much in warfare with contiguous states in Africa, as Rome was with her rivals in Italy. She may have derived her resources either from a small territory within a few leagues of her capital; or the states in subjection, or tributary to her may have been bounded only by Egypt on the one side, and Atlas on the other. We know nothing on this head. Rome can be considered as little else than a great military garrison from the foundation of the republic to Augustus. She knew no policy but ferment at home, and aggression and conquest abroad. Her successes, after the acquisition of Sicily, cease to surprise us. I thought it necessary to state these few remarks, which would admit of much greater extension, before taking a view of Venice at the period of the league of Cambray. The origin of Venice may be referred to a force struggling for existence among almost invisible marshes. 2 Her aggressions, when compared with those of most states, were, in her infancy, inconsiderable; apparently not more than her existence required. As soon as her government began to assume a fixed form, the policy of her senate was to encourage commerce and the arts of peace; in which she succeeded so well, as to excite perpetually the envy of the surrounding nations. Her moderation was such, that she even sometimes renounced conquests, which had been bought most dearly with her best blood, and was content with retaining a few strong holds, which might secure the progress of her commerce. Short were the pleasures which the industry of her merchants flattered her with the power of enjoying; for no sooner had she poured a little wealth into her treasury, and strengthened the marshy foundations of her capital with piles, than she roused the ill-will of the Greek Emperors, and subsequently of the Turk, on her left; that of the Emperor, on her rear; and that of the Italian states, on her right. They were however generally prevented from combining their attacks, by the uncommon sagacity of her senate. The Italian states, as well as the Emperor's, were for the most part sufficiently civilised to listen to the intercessions of her ambassadors. As for her inveterate enemy the Turk, there was generally but one mode of negotiation, and that was by swords, lances, and arquebuses. Those who consider, où the one hand, the ferocious policy and powerful means of offence wielded by the Sublime Porte, and ou the other, the almost miraculous energies which little Venice developed in opposing that power, may very plausibly draw the inference, that without Venice, not only would Italy have been 1 Howell in his Parallel of Rome and Venice says: "Old Rome was ever inclined to war, and her ambition was interminable. Old Rome had never such potent foes to cope withal as Venice had; she never had such a confederacy as that of Cambray against her." 2 If ever there existed a state where certain allowances should be made for aggression, that state was Venice.-For how is it reasonable to suppose that a people huddled together as on board a ship, could have existed without securing to their dominion territories sufficient for their subsistence? No doubt we may easily detect several acts of unjustifiable aggression, as in other states and republics; but I say, that the peculiar situation of Venice might authorise acts, which could not be so well justified in other states. Il fallut subsister, observes Montesquieu, Espr. des Loix. NO. XXIII. VOL. XII. Pam. |