taste for principles; nor was he backward, on occasion, in defending his opinions by analogies drawn from the decrees of Providence. With a philosophy that seemed to satisfy himself, he contended that, as God had established orders throughout his own creation, a descending chain from angels to men, it was safe to follow an example which emanated from a wisdom that was infinite, Nothing could be more sound than the basis of his theory, though its application had the capital error of believing there was any imitation of nature in an endeavour to supplant it.

CHAPTER VII.

แ The moon went down; and nothing now was seen
Save where the lamp of a Madonna shone
Faintly."

ROGERS.

JUST as the secret audiences of the Palazzo Gradenigo were ended, the great square of St. Mark began to lose a portion of its gaiety. The cafés were now occupied by parties who had the means, and were in the humour, to put their indulgences to more substantial proof than the passing gibe or idle laugh; while those who were reluctantly compelled to turn their thoughts from the levities of the moment to the cares of the morrow, were departing in crowds to humble roofs and hard pillows. There remained one of the latter class, however, who continued to occupy a spot near the junction of the two squares, as motionless as if his naked feet grew to the stone on which he stood. It was Antonio.

The position of the fisherman brought the whole of his muscular form and bronzed features beneath the rays of the moon. The dark, anxious, and stern eyes were fixed upon the mild orb, as if their owner sought to penetrate into another world, in quest of that peace which he had never known in this. There was suffering in the expression of the weather-worn face; but it was the suffering of one whose native sensibilities had been a little deadened by too much familiarity with the lot of the feeble. To one who considered life and humanity in any other than their familiar and vulgar aspects, he would have presented a touching picture of a noble nature, enduring with pride, blunted by habit; while to him who regards the accidental dispositions of society as paramount law, he might have presented the image of dogged turbulence and discontent, healthfully repressed by the hand of power. A heavy sigh struggled from the chest of the old man, and, stroking down the few hairs which time had left him, he lifted his cap from the pavement, and prepared to move.

"Thou art late from thy bed, Antonio," said a voice at his elbow.

"The triglie must be of good price, or of great plenty, that one of thy trade can spare time to air himself in the Piazza at this hour. Thou hearest, the clock is telling the fifth hour of the night."

The fisherman bent his head aside, and regarded the figure of his masked companion, for a moment, with indifference, betraying neither curiosity nor feeling at his address.

"Since thou knowest me," he answered, "it is probable thou knowest that in quitting this place, I shall go to an empty dwelling. Since thou knowest me so well, thou shouldst also know my wrongs."

'Who hath injured thee, worthy fisherman, that thou speakest so boldly beneath the very windows of the Doge?"

"The state."

"This is hardy language for the ear of St. Mark! Were it too loudly spoken, yonder lion might growl. Of what dost thou accuse the republic?"

'Lead me to them that sent thee, and I will spare the trouble of a go-between. I am ready to tell my wrongs to the Doge on his throne; for what can one, poor, and old as I, dread from their anger ?"

"Thou believest me sent to betray thee?"

"Thou knowest thine own errand.”

The other removed his mask, and turned his face towards the

moon.

Jacopo!" exclaimed the fisherman, gazing at the expressive Italian features; 'one of thy character can have no errand with

me."

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A flush, that was visible even in that light, passed across the countenance of the Bravo; but he stilled every other exhibition of feeling.

"Thou art wrong. My errand is with thee."

"Does the Senate think a fisherman of the lagunes of sufficient importance to be struck by a stiletto? Do thy work, then!" he added, glancing at his brown and naked bosom; "there is nothing to prevent thee !"

Antonio, thou dost me wrong. The Senate has no such purpose. But I have heard that thou hast reason for discontent, and that thou speakest openly, on the Lido and among the islands, of affairs that the patricians like not to be stirred among men of your class. I come, as a friend, to warn thee of the consequences of such indiscretion, rather than as one to harm thee."

"Thou art sent to say this ?"

"Old man, age should teach thy tongue moderation. What will avail vain complaints against the republic, or what canst thou hope for, as their fruits, but evil to thyself, and evil to the child that thou lovest?"

"I know not-but when the heart is sore, the tongue will speak. They have taken away my boy, and they have left little

behind that I value. cared for?"

The life they threaten is too short to be

"Thou shouldst temper thy regrets with wisdom. The Signor Gradenigo has long been friendly to thee, and I have heard that thy mother nursed him. Try his ears with prayers, but cease to anger the republic with complaints."

Antonio looked wistfully at his companion, but when he had ceased, he shook his head mournfully, as if to express the nopelessness of relief from that quarter.

"I have told him all that a man, born and nursed on the lagunes, can find words to say. He is a senator, Jacopo; and he thinks not of suffering he does not feel."

Art thou not wrong, old man, to accuse him who hath been born in affluence, of hardness of heart, merely that he doth not feel the misery thou wouldst avoid, too, were it in thy power? Thou hast thy gondola and nets, with health and the cunning of thy art, and in that art thou happier than he who hath neitherwouldst thou forget thy skill, and share thy little stock with the beggar of San Marco, that your fortunes might be equal?"

"There may be truth in what thou sayest of our labour and our means, but when it comes to our young, nature is the same in both. I see no reason why the son of the patrician should go free, and the child of the fisherman be sold to blood. Have not the senators enough of happiness, in their riches and greatness, that they rob me of my son?"

"Thou knowest, Antonio, the state must be served, and were its officers to go into the palaces in quest of hardy mariners for the fleet, would they, think you, find them that would honour the winged lion, in the hour of his need? Thy old arm is muscular, and thy leg steady on the water, and they seek those who, like thee, have been trained to the seas.'

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"Thou shouldst have said, also, and thy old breast is scarred. Before thy birth, Jacopo, I went against the infidel, and my blood was shed, like water, for the state. But they have forgotten it, while there are rich marbles raised in the churches, which speak of what the nobles did, who came unharmed from the same

wars.

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"I have heard my father say as much," returned the Bravo, gloomily, and speaking in an altered voice. "He, too, bled in that

war; but that is forgotten."

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The fisherman glanced a look around, and perceiving that several groups were conversing near, in the square, he signed to his com panion to follow him, and walked towards the quays.

.

was

"Thy father," he said, as they moved slowly on together, my comrade and my friend. I am old, Jacopo, and poor; my days are passed in toil, on the lagunes, and my nights in gaining strength to meet the labour of the morrow; but it hath grieved me hear that the son of one I much loved, and with whom I have so often shared good and evil, fair and foul, hath taken to a life like that which men

say is thine. The gold that is the price of blood was never yet blessed to him that gave, or him that received."

The Bravo listened in silence, though his companion, who, at another moment, and under other emotions, would have avoided him as one shrinks from contagion, saw, on looking mournfully up into his face, that the muscles were slightly agitated, and that a paleness crossed his cheeks, which the light of the moon rendered ghastly.

"Thou hast suffered poverty to tempt thee into grievous sin, Jacopo; but it is never too late to call on the saints for aid, and to lay aside the stiletto. It is not profitable for a man to be known in Venice as thy fellow; but the friend of thy father will not abandon one who shows a penitent spirit. Lay aside thy stiletto, and come with me to the lagunes. Thou wilt find labour less burdensome than guilt, and though thou never canst be to me like the boy they have taken, for he was innocent as the lamb, thou wilt still be the son of an ancient comrade, and a stricken spirit. Come with me then to the lagunes, for poverty and misery like mine cannot meet with more contempt, even for being thy companion."

"What is it men say, that thou treatest me thus?" demanded Jacopo, in a low, struggling voice.

"I would they said untruth! But few die by violence in Venice that thy name is not uttered."

"And would they suffer one thus marked to go openly on the canals, or to be at large in the great square of San Marco?"

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We never know the reasons of the Senate. Some say thy time is not yet come, while others think thou art too powerful for judgment.'

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Thou dost equal credit to the justice and the activity of the Inquisition. But should I go with thee to-night, wilt thou be more discreet in speech among thy fellows of the Lido and the islands?'

"When the heart hath its load the tongue will strive to lighten it. I would do anything to turn the child of my friend from his evil ways, but forget my own. Thou art used to deal with the patricians, Jacopo; would there be possibility for one clad in this dress, and with a face blackened by the sun, to come to speak with the Doge ?"

There is no lack of seeming justice in Venice, Antonio; the want is in the substance. I doubt not thou wouldst be heard."

"Then will I wait here upon the stones of the square until he comes forth for the pomp of to-morrow, and try to move his heart to justice. He is old like myself, and he hath bled, too, for the state; and what is more, he is a father."

"So is the Signor Gradenigo."

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Thou doubtest his pity-ha?"

"Thou canst but try. The Doge of Venice will hearken to a petition from the meanest citizen. I think," added Jacopo, speaking so low as to be scarcely audible "he would listen even to me."

Though I am not able to put my prayer in such speech as becometh the ear of a great prince, he shall hear the truth from a wronged man. They call him the chosen of the state, and such a one should gladly listen to justice. This is a hard bed, Jacopo," continued the fisherman, seating himself at the foot of the column of St. Theodore, "but I have slept on colder and as hard when there was less reason to do it—a happy night."

The Bravo lingered a minute near the old man, who folded his arms on his naked breast, which was fanned by the sea-breeze, and disposed of his person to take his rest in the square, a practice not unusual among men of his class; but when he found that Antonio was inclined to be alone, he moved on, leaving the fisher man to himself.

The night was now getting to be advanced, and few of the revellers remained in the areas of the two squares. Jacopo cast a glance around, and noting the hour and the situation of the place, he proceeded to the edge of the quay. The public gondoliers had left their boats moored, as usual, at this spot, and a profound stillness reigned over the whole bay. The water was scarce darkened by the air, which rather breathed upon than ruffled its surface, and no sound of oar was audible amid the forest of picturesque and classical spars, which crowded the view between the Piazetta and the Giudecca. The Bravo hesitated, cast another wary glance around him, settled his mask, undid the slight fastenings of a boat, and presently he was gliding away into the centre of the basin. "Who cometh?" demanded one, who seemingly stood at watch, in a felucca, anchored a little apart from all others. "One expected," was the answer.

Roderigo?

The same.

"Thou art late," said the mariner of Calabria, as Jacopo stepped upon the low deck of the Bella Sorentina. My people have long been below, and I have dreamed thrice of shipwreck, and twice of a heavy sirocco, since thou hast been expected."

"Thou hast had more time to wrong the customs. Is the felucca ready for her work?"

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As for the customs, there is little chance of gain in this greedy city. The senators secure all profits to themselves and their friends, while we of the barks are tied down to low freights and hard bargains. I have sent a dozen casks of lachrymæ christi up the canals since the masquers came abroad, and beyond that I have not occasion. There is enough left for thy comfort, at need. Wilt drink?

"I am sworn to sobriety. Is thy vessel ready, as wont, for the errand ?"

Is the Senate as ready with its money? This is the fourth of my voyages in their service; and they have only to look into their own secrets to know the manner in which the work hath been done."

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