This vast pile, formed of blocks of Istrian stone, resembling marble, runs along the shore for the space of nineteen miles, connects various little islands and towns with each other, and if completed, would excel in utility, solidity, extent, and perhaps beauty, the Piræus, the mole of Antium and Ancona, and all other similar works of either Greeks or Romans.

Of the churches in Venice, it may be observed in general, that, as some of them have been built by Palladio, and many raised on models designed by him, they are of a better style in architecture; and also, on account of the riches and religious temper of the Republic, adorned with more magnificence than those of any other town in Italy, if we except the matchless splendors of Rome. I need not add, that the talents of the first Venetian artists have been exerted, to adorn them with sculptures and paintings. Of these churches that De Salute, that De Redemptore, two votive temples, erected by the Republic on the cessation of two dreadful pestilences, and that of St. Georgio Maggiore, are very noble; the latter in particular, an exquisite work of Palladio, with some few defects, but numberless beauties. The church of the Dominican friars, SS. Giovanni e Paolo, is gothic; and remarkable for a chapel of the Blessed Virgin, lined with marble, divided into pannels, containing each a piece of gospel history, represented in beautiful basso relievo. But the peculiar and characteristic ornaments of this church are the statues, erected by the republic to many of its worthies, and the superb mausoleums of several heroes and doges. The materials are always the finest marbles, and the ornaments frequently of the best taste. The descriptions as pompous as the tombs themselves, carry us back to the heroic ages of the republic; and in lofty and classical language, relate

the glorious achievements of the doges and warriors of ancient times. The appellations of Creticus, Africanus, Asiaticus, grace the tombs of the most honorable chieftains, and seem to revive and emulate the triumphs and the titles of consular Rome. The conclusion of one of these epitaphs deserves to be recorded; it is the last admonition which the dying hero addresses to his countrymen. Vos justitiam et concordiam, quo sempiternum hoc

sit imperium, conservate."

Next to the churches we may rank the Scuole, or the chapels and halls of certain confraternities, such as that of St. Roch, St. Mark, and that of the Mercatanti; all of noble proportions and rich furniture, and all adorned with paintings relative to their respective denominations, by the best masters.

But why enlarge on the beauty, the magnificence, the glories of Venice? or why describe its palaces, its churches, its monuments? That Liberty which raised these pompous edifices in a swampy marsh, and opened such scenes of grandeur in the middle of a pool, is now no more! That bold independence which filled a few lonely islands, the abode of sea-mews and cormorants, with population and commerce, is bowed into slavery; and the republic of Venice, with all its bright series of triumphs, is now an empty name. The city, with its walls and towers, and streets, still remains, but the spirit that animated the mass is fled. Jacet ingens littore truncus.

It is unnecessary, therefore, at present, to enlarge upon the former government of Venice; suffice it to say, that it is now a petty province of the Austrian empire, and that of all its former territories, the Seven Islands only, once considered as

a very insignificant part of the Venetian dominions, enjoy a nominal and precarious independence. The unjust and cruel deed of destroying a republic, weak and inoffensive, yet respectable from its former fame, belongs to Bonaparte; but the causes that led to it must be sought for in the bosom of the republic itself. Had the same virtues which fostered the infant commonwealth still flourished; had the courage which urged it so often to unequal contest with the then mighty power of the Ottomans, continued to inspire its sons; had the spirit and the wisdom that directed its councils during the famous league of Cambray, influenced its decisions in 1797, it might still have stood, and in defiance of the treachery, and the power of France, have preserved, if not all its territories, at least its honor and independence. But those virtues, that spirit, that wisdom, were now no more; they blazed out for the last time in the war of the Morea,* and even the last spark died away with the gallant Emo. Luxury had corrupted every mind, and unbraced every sinew. Pleasure had long been the only object of pursuit; the idol to whom the indolent Venetians sacrificed their time, their fortune, their talents. To attend the doge on days of ceremony, and act their part in public pageantry; or perhaps, point out in the senate the best mode of complimenting some powerful court, or of keeping or patching up an inglorious peace with the piratical powers of Africa, was the only business of the nobility. To accompany their chosen ladies, to while away the night at their casinos, and slumber away the day in their palaces, was their usual, their favourite employment. Hence Venice, for so many ages the seat of independence, of commerce, of wisdom, and of enterprise, gradually sunk from her eminence, and at length became

* A. D. 1718.

the foul abode of effeminacy, wantonness, and debauchery. Her arsenal, where so many storms once fermented, and whence so many thunderbolts had been levelled at the aspiring head of the Turk, resigning its warlike furniture, became a scene of banquetting; and instead of resounding to the stroke of the anvil, reechoed to the dance and the concert.* In short, this once proud and potent republic, like some of the degenerate Emperors of Rome, seemed to prefer the glories of the theatre to those of the field, and willingly rested its modern claim to consideration, on the pre-eminent exhibitions of its well-known carnival.†

From a people so degraded, so lost to bold and manly sentiments, no generous exertions, no daring enterprize is to be expected in the hour of danger. It is their policy to temporize, to weigh chances, to flatter the great contending powers, and their fate must be to sink under the weight of the victorious. Such

• Several noble halls in the arsenal had been for a long time appropriated to the entertainment of royal guests, and strangers of very great distinction.

+ "In fatti, un certo Egoismo sempre fatale alle repubbliche, un reflessibile raffredamento di quel zelo patrio che tanto distinse gli aristocratici dei passati secoli, una falsa clemenza nei tribunali, onde rimanevano i delitti senza il castigo delle Leggi prescritto, una certa facilità di propalare i secreti del Senato, sorpassata con indolenza dagl' inquisitori dello stato, una non curanza delle cose sacre e religiose, un immoderato spirito di passatempi, una scandalosa impudenza nelle donne, un libertinaggio posato per cosi dire in trionfo negli nomini erano fra gli altri disordini che dominavano in una parte di Patrizi, e di Cittadini d'ogni condizione si in Venezia, che nello Stato. Ne fanno fede gl' interni sconvolgimenti degli anni 1762 e 1780, e la Loggia de Liberi Muratori scoperta nel 1785, in che alcuni rispettabili soggetti avevano ingresso: Queste furono le cagioni estrinseche, che disponevano l'edificio ad un imminente pericolo di crollare."-Such is the acknowledgment of a Venetian author. Raccolta, vol. i. p. 16.

was the destiny of Venice. After having first insulted, and then courted the French republic, it at length, with all the means of defence in its hands, resigned itself to treacherous friendship; and sent a thousand boats, to transport the armies of France from the main land over the Lagune, into the very heart of the city. The English commodore in the Adriatic, protested against such madness, and offered to defend the city with his own ships -in vain! The people, who are always the last to lose a sense of national honor, expressed their readiness to stand forth and defend their country-in vain! The nobles trembled for their Italian estates; and in the empty hope of saving their income, betrayed their country, and submitted to plunder, slavery, and indelible disgrace. Not one arm was raised, not one sword was drawn, and Venice fell, self-betrayed, and therefore unpitied. Her enemies punished her pusillanimity, by pillaging her public and her private treasures, defacing her edifices, stripping her ar senal, carrying away her trophies, and then handing her over aş a contemptible prize, to a foreign despot. A tremendous lesson to rich and effeminate nations to rouse them to exertion, and to prove, if such proof were wanting, that independence must be preserved, as it can only be obtained, by the sword; that money may purchase arms, but not freedom: that submission, ever excites contempt; and that determined, heroic resistance, even should it fail, challenges and obtains consideration and honor.

The population of Venice, previous to the late revolution, amounted to about one hundred and fifty thousand souls; it is supposed, since that event, to have decreased considerably, and