the minds of the venetians were not so totally engrossed by commercial ideas, as to make them neglect other means of aggrandizing their state. all istria submitted itself to their government: many of the free towns of dalmatia, harassed by the narentines, a nation of robbers and pirates on that coast, did the same. those towns which refused, were reduced to obedience, by peter urseolo, the doge of venice, who had been sent with a fleet against them, in the year 1000. he carried his arms also into the country of the narentines, and destroyed many of their towns.
on his return it was determined, in a general assembly of the people, that the[90] conquered towns and provinces should be governed by magistrates sent from venice. those magistrates called podestas, were appointed by the doge. the inhabitants of those new-acquired towns were not admitted to the privileges of citizens of venice, nor allowed to vote at the general assembly: the same rule was observed with regard to the inhabitants of all the dominions afterwards acquired by the republic. it will readily occur, that this accession of dominions to the state greatly augmented the influence and power of the chief magistrate: this, and the practice of associating the son of the doge with his father, raised jealousies among the people, and a law was made, abolishing such associations for the future.
in the year 1173, after the assassination of the doge michieli, a far more important alteration took place in the government. at this time there was no other tribunal at[91] venice than that of forty judges. this court had been established many years before: it took cognizance of all causes, civil as well as criminal, and was called the council of forty. this body of men, in the midst of the disorder and confusion which followed the murder of the doge, formed a plan of new-modelling the government.
hitherto the people had retained great privileges. they had votes in the assemblies; and, although the descendants of the ancient tribunes, and of the doges, formed a kind of nobility, yet they had no legal privileges, or exclusive jurisdiction; nothing to distinguish them from their fellow-citizens, but what their riches, or the spontaneous respect paid to the antiquity of their families, gave them. any citizen, as well as they, might be elected to a public office. to acquire the honours of the state, it was absolutely necessary for the greatest and proudest venetian, to cultivate the good-will of the[92] multitude, whose voice alone could raise him to the rank of doge, and whose rage had thrown so many from that envied situation. the inconveniences, the discord, and confusion, of such a mixed multitude, had been long felt, but nobody had hitherto had the boldness to strike at this established right of the people.
the city was divided into six parts, called sestiers. the council of forty procured it to be established, in the first place, that each of those sestiers should annually name two electors; that those twelve electors should have the right of choosing, from the whole body of the people, four hundred and seventy counsellors, who should be called the grand council, and who should have the same power, in all respects, which the general assembly of the people formerly enjoyed.
it was pretended, that this regulation was contrived merely to prevent confusion, and[93] to establish regularity in the great national assembly; that the people’s right of election remained as before, and, by changing the counsellors yearly, those who were not elected one year might retain hopes of being chosen the next. the people did not perceive that this law would be fatal to their importance: it proved, however, the foundation of the aristocracy, which was soon after established, and still subsists.
the forty judges next proposed another regulation, still more delicate and important. that, to prevent the tumults and disorders which were expected at the impending election of a doge, they should (for that time only) name eleven commissioners, from those of the highest reputation for judgment and integrity in the state; that the choice of a doge should be left to those commissioners, nine suffrages being indispensably requisite to make the election valid.
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this evidently pointed at the exclusion of the people from any concern whatever in the creation of the chief magistrate, and certainly was the object in view; yet, as it was proposed only as a temporary expedient, to prevent disorders, when men’s minds were irritated against each other, and factions ran high, the regulation was agreed to.
having, with equal dexterity and success, fixed those restraints on the power of the people, the council of forty turned their attention, in the next place, towards limiting the authority of the doge. this was considered as too exorbitant, even for good men; and, in the hands of wicked men, had always been perverted to the purposes of tyranny, and for which no remedy had hitherto been found, but what was almost as bad as the evils themselves; revolt on the part of the people, and all the horrors and excesses with which such an expedient[95] is usually accompanied. the tribunal of forty therefore proposed, that the grand council should annually appoint six persons, one from each division of the city, who should form the privy council of the doge, and, without their approbation, none of his orders should be valid; so that, instead of appointing his own privy-council, which had been the custom hitherto, the authority of the chief magistrate would, for the future, in a great measure, depend on six men, who, themselves, depended on the grand council. to be constantly surrounded by such a set of counsellors, instead of creatures of his own, however reasonable it may seem in the eyes of the impartial, would have been considered by one in possession of the dignity of doge, as a most intolerable innovation, and probably would have been opposed by all his influence; but there was no doge existing when the proposal was made, and consequently it passed into a law with universal approbation.
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lastly, it was proposed to form a senate, consisting of sixty members, which were to be elected, annually, out of the grand council. this assembly was in the room of that which the doge formerly had the power of convocating, on extraordinary occasions, by sending messages, praying certain citizens to come, and assist him with their advice. the members of the new senate, more fixed and more independent than those of the old, are still called the pregadi. this also was agreed to without opposition; and immediately after the funeral of the late doge, all those regulations took place.
they began by choosing the grand council of four hundred and seventy, then the senate of sixty, then the six counsellors, and lastly, the eleven electors. these last were publicly sworn, that in the election now entrusted to them, rejecting every motive of private interest, they should give[97] their voices for that person, whose elevation to the dignity of doge they believed, in their consciences, would prove most for the advantage of the state.
after this, they retired to a chamber of the palace, and orio malipier, one of the eleven, had the votes of his ten colleagues; but he, with a modesty which seems to have been unaffected, declined the office, and used all his influence with the electors to make choice of sebastian ziani, a man distinguished in the republic on account of his talents, his wealth, and his virtues; assuring them that, in the present emergency, he was a more proper person than himself for the office. such was their opinion of malipier’s judgment, that his colleagues adopted his opinion, and ziani was unanimously elected.
as this mode of election was quite new, and as there was reason to imagine that[98] the bulk of the people, on reflection, would not greatly approve of it, and that the new doge would not be received with the usual acclamations, ziani took care that great quantities of money should be thrown among the multitude, when he was first presented to them. no doge was ever received with louder acclamations.
during the reign of ziani, the singular ceremony of espousing the sea was first instituted.
pope alexander the third, to avoid the resentment of the emperor frederic barbarossa, had taken refuge at venice, and was protected by that state. the emperor sent a powerful fleet against it, under the command of his son otho. ziani met him with the fleet of venice. a very obstinate engagement ensued, in which the venetians were victorious. the doge returned in triumph, with thirty of the enemy’s[99] vessels, in one of which was their commander otho. all the inhabitants of venice rushed to the sea shore, to meet their victorious doge: the pope himself came, attended by the senate and clergy. after embracing ziani, his holiness presented him with a ring, saying, with a loud voice, “take this ring; use it as a chain to retain the sea, henceforth, in subjection to the venetian empire; espouse the sea with this ring, and let the marriage be solemnized annually, by you and your successors, to the end of time, that the latest posterity may know that venice has acquired the empire of the waves, and that the sea is subjected to you, as a wife is to her husband.”
as this speech came from the head of the church, people were not surprised to find it a little mysterious; and the multitude, without considering whether it contained much reason or common sense, received[100] it with the greatest applause. the marriage has been regularly celebrated every year since that time.
after the death of ziani, if the terms which had been agreed upon previous to the election, had been literally adhered to, the grand council of four hundred and seventy would have proceeded to choose a doge, simply by the plurality of votes; but, for some reason which is not now known, that method was waved, and the following adopted. four persons were chosen by the grand council, each of whom had the power of naming ten; and the whole forty had the appointing of the doge.
their choice fell upon the same orio malipier, who had declined the dignity in favour of his friend ziani.
under the administration of malipier, two new forms of magistracy were created;[101] the first was that of the avogadors. their duty is to take care that the laws in being shall be punctually executed; and while it is the business of other magistrates to proceed against the transgressors of the laws, it is theirs to bring a process against those magistrates who neglect to put them in execution. they decide also on the nature of accusations, and determine before which of the courts every cause shall be brought, not leaving it in the power of either of the parties to carry a cause to a high court, which is competent to be tried by one less expensive; and no resolution of the grand council, or senate, is valid, unless, at least, one of the three avogadors be present during the deliberation. it is also the duty of the avogadors to keep the originals of all the decisions and regulations of the grand council and senate, and to order them, and all other laws, to be read over, whenever they think proper, by way of refreshing the memories of the senators. if[102] the senators are obliged to attend during those lectures, this is a very formidable power indeed. i am acquainted with senators in another country, who would sooner give their judges the power of putting them to death at once, in a less lingering manner.
the second class of magistrates, created at this time, was that called judges al forestieri; there are also three of them. it is their duty to decide, in all causes between citizens and strangers, and in all disputes which strangers have with each other. this institution was peculiarly expedient, at a time when the resort from all countries to venice was very great, both on account of commerce, and of the crusades.
in the year 1192, after a very able administration, malipier, who was of a very philosophical turn of mind, abdicated the office of doge, and henry dandolo was elected in his place.
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i am a great deal too much fatigued with the preceding narrative, to accompany one of his active and enterprising genius at present; and i have good reason to suspect, that you also have been, for some time past, inclined to repose.
