1 pregnable. Here, the defunct human body is preserved so perfectly, that, in the instance of one in particular, although he lived in the time of the First Council, his flesh appears yet lively and fresh; that of his leg, when touched, rising again from the pressure. Here also lives a man, reputedly of the race of Judas; whether this be true or false, (it is denied by himself,) I know not: I however remember a servant of ours, who had resided at Corfú, affirming that some one of the Apostate's descendants still existed there, and that a house was pointed out as that which he inhabited. The town, which is small, has little to recommend it-the buildings having more resemblance to huts than houses; the country, however, is beautiful."* From this account it appears, that the few years of repose, which the island enjoyed, induced its inhabitants to raise dwellings outside the citadel; although they did not think it safe to transfer their Patron Saint thither. The town increased so rapidly, that it was fortified in the modern manner, in the year 1671;† and when the successive loss of Cyprus, Candia, and the greater part of the Morea, caused the Republic to appreciate more fully the * Pinkerton's Collection of Travels. Diedo, Ist. di Venezia, t. iii. advantages they derived from the islands of the Ionian Sea, Corfú became the residence of a Proveditore-General. His authority in the island was supreme, and under him were appointed three functionaries by the Venetian Senate; viz., a "secretary," to whom was confided the detail of the political affairs of the islands; an "interpreter," who assisted in the relations carried on with the Turkish continent; and a "treasurer," who, besides the finances, had charge of the store and commissariat department. The law officers were appointed by the General, and their head was called a Chancellor. The second officer in the island of Corfú was the Proveditore-Captain of the fortress. He had the military command of Corfú, Paxo, and Parga. As Proveditore, he had charge of the night police, and judged in all criminal matters which occurred during that time, for which purpose he had also a Chancellor. The day police, as well as all civil matters, were disposed of by a bailiff assisted by two councillors. All these officers were Venetian nobles, appointed by the Senate, and who, being appointed generally for two or three years, looked upon these positions as merely a means of repairing their dilapidated fortunes; and, though deriving this resource from a people whose interests they were bound to protect, they looked down upon the native signori with almost the same disdain as they did on the villani. But the Corfiot nobles perhaps justified this feeling in a great measure, by the servile way in which they humoured these Venetian Barnabotti, and by the apathy which they evinced in resting contented with positions which, in more civilized countries, appertain to the middle classes of citizens, and which they appear even to have taken a certain pride in occupying; for, out of the small population, one hundred and fifty nobles were annually chosen to fill up the various municipal offices. Once a year, the nobles were honoured with a dinner at the house of the Proveditore-General, upon whom, however, it entailed no expense, as the Corfiots, by way of ingratiating themselves, amply supplied the festive board. Yet, this contribution proving insufficient, each guest slipped underneath his plate, previous to leaving the table, a small memorandum, respecting so many measures of oil, which he was to pay either in kind or money, at the first harvest. These memorandums were afterwards carefully collected by an aide-de-camp, who delivered them up to the Proveditore-General, and, according to the amount of the donations, were regulated the civilities paid to the guests on their leaving. The care of receiving these gifts was usually entrusted to a native noble, who, although G 3 |