Chapter XVI: Canto IV: stanza i. line 1, et post, act iv. sc. 1, line 75.)

[bd] {141} _To tears save those of dotage_----.--[MS. M.]

[52] {143}[Five sons were born to the Doge, of whom four died of the plague (_Two Doges, etc._, by A. Wiel, 1891, p. 77).]

[53] {144}[The Doge offered to abdicate in June, 1433, in June, 1442, and again in 1446 (see Romanin, _Storia, etc._, 1855, iv. 170, 171, note 1).]

[54] [_Vide ante_, p. 123.]

[55] {148}[For the _Pozzi_ and _Piombi_, see _Marino Faliero_, act i. sc. 2, _Poetical Works_, 1901, iv. 363, note 2.]

[be] _Keep this for them_----.--[MS. M.]

[bf] {149} _The blackest leaf, his heart, and blankest, his brain_.--[MS. M.]

[bg] ----_and best in humblest stations_.--[MS. M.]

[bh]

_Where hunger swallows all--where ever was_
_The monarch who could bear a three days' fast?_--[MS. M.]

[bi] _Their disposition_----.--[MS. M.]

[56] [It would seem that Byron's "not ourselves" by no means "made for" righteousness.]

[bj]

----_the will itself dependent_
_Upon a storm, a straw, and both alike_
_Leading to death_----.--[MS. M.]

[57] [Compare--"The boldest steer but where their ports invite." _Childe Harold_, Canto III. stanza lxx. lines 7-9; and Canto IV. stanza xxxiv., _Poetical Works_, 1899, ii. 260, 353, and 74, note 1.]

[58] {152}[Compare--

"Our voices took a dreary tone,
An echo of the dungeon stone."

_Prisoner of Chillon_, lines 63, 64.

Compare, too--

"----prisoned solitude.
And the Mind's canker in its savage mood,
When the impatient thirst of light and air
Parches the heart."

_Lament of Tasso_, lines 4-7.]

[59] {153}[For inscriptions on the walls of the _Pozzi_, see note 1 to _Childe Harold's Pilgrimage_, Canto IV., _Poetical Works_, 1899, ii. 465-467. Hobhouse transferred these "scratchings" to his pocket-books, and thence to his _Historical Notes_; but even as prison inscriptions they lack both point and style.]

[60] [Compare--

"Run, run, Orlando; carve on every tree
The fair, the chaste and unexpressive she."

_As You Like It_, act iii. sc. 2, lines 9, 10.]

[bk]

_Which never can be read but, as 'twas written,_
_By wretched beings_.--[MS.]

[bl] {154}

_Of the familiar's torch, which seems to love_
_Darkness far more than light_.--[MS.]

[61] {157}[Compare--

"Once more upon the waters! yet once more!
And the waves bound beneath me as a steed
That knows his rider."

_Childe Harold_, Canto III. stanza ii. lines 1-3,
_Poetical Works_, 1899, ii. 217, note 1.]

[bm] _At once by briefer means and better_.--[MS.]

[62] {158} In Lady Morgan's fearless and excellent work upon Italy, I perceive the expression of "Rome of the Ocean" applied to Venice. The same phrase occurs in the "Two Foscari." My publisher can vouch for me, that the tragedy was written and sent to England some time before I had seen Lady Morgan's work, which I only received on the 16th of August. I hasten, however, to notice the coincidence, and to yield the originality of the phrase to her who first placed it before the public.

[Byron calls Lady Morgan's _Italy_ "fearless" on account of her strictures on the behaviour of Great Britain to Genoa in 1814. "England personally stood pledged to Genoa.... When the British officers rode into their gates bearing the white flag consecrated by the holy word of '_independence_,' the people ... '_kissed their garments_.'... Every heart was open.... Lord William Bentinck's flag of '_Independenza_' was taken down from the steeples and high places at sunrise; before noon the arms of Sardinia blazoned in their stead; and yet the Genoese did not rise _en masse_ and massacre the English" (_Italy_, 1821, i. 245, 246). The passage which Byron feared might be quoted to his disparagement runs as follows: "As the bark glides on, as the shore recedes, and the city of waves, the Rome of the ocean, rises on the horizon, the spirits rally; ... and as the spires and cupolas of Venice come forth in the lustre of the mid-day sun, and its palaces, half-veiled in the aerial tints of distance, gradually assume their superb proportions, then the dream of many a youthful vigil is realized" (_ibid_., ii. 449).]

[63] [Compare _Marino Faliero_, act ii. sc. 2, line 110, _Poetical Works_, 901, iv. 386, note 3.]

[64] {159} The Calenture.--[From the Spanish _Calentura_, a fever peculiar to sailors within the tropics--

"So, by a calenture misled,
The mariner with rapture sees,
On the smooth ocean's azure bed,
Enamelled fields and verdant trees:
With eager haste he longs to rove
In that fantastic scene, and thinks
It must be some enchanted grove;
And in he leaps, and down he sinks."

Swift, _The South-Sea Project_, 1721, ed. 1824, xiv. 147.]

[65] Alluding to the Swiss air and its effects.--[The _Ranz des Vaches_, played upon the bag-pipe by the young cowkeepers on the mountains:--"An air," says Rousseau, "so dear to the Swiss, that it was forbidden, under the pain of death, to play it to the troops, as it immediately drew tears from them, and made those who heard it desert, or die of what is called _la maladie du pais_, so ardent a desire did it excite to return to their country. It is in vain to seek in this air for energetic accents capable of producing such astonishing effects, for which strangers are unable to account from the music, which is in itself uncouth and wild. But it is from habit, recollections, and a thousand circumstances, retraced in this tune by those natives who hear it, and reminding them of their country, former pleasures of their youth, and all their ways of living, which occasion a bitter reflection at having lost them." Compare Byron's Swiss "Journal" for September 19, 1816, _Letters_, 1899, ii. 355.]

[bn] _That malady, which_----.--[MS. M.]

[66] [Compare _Don Juan_, Canto XVI. stanza xlvi. lines 6, 7--

"The calentures of music which o'ercome
The mountaineers with dreams that they are highlands."]

[bo] {160} ----_upon your native towers_.--[MS. M.]

[bp] {162} _Come you here to insult us_----.--[MS. M.]

[67] {163}[For "steeds of brass," compare _Childe Harold_, Canto IV. stanza xiii. line I, _Poetical Works_, 1899, ii. 338, and 336, note 1.]

[68] [The first and all subsequent editions read "skimmed the coasts." Byron wrote "skirred," a word borrowed from Shakespeare. Compare _Siege of Corinth_, line 692, _Poetical Works_, 1900, iii. 480, note 4.]

[bq] {165} ----_which this noble lady worst_,--[MS. M.]

[69] {169}[According to the law, it rested with the six councillors of the Doge and a majority of the Grand Council to insist upon the abdication of a Doge. The action of the Ten was an usurpation of powers to which they were not entitled by the terms of the Constitution.]

[70] {170}[A touching incident is told concerning an interview between the Doge and Jacopo Memmo, head of the Forty. The Doge had just learnt (October 21, 1457) the decision of the Ten with regard to his abdication, and noticed that Memmo watched him attentively. "Foscari called to him, and, touching his hand, asked him whose son he was. He answered, 'I am the son of Messer Marin Memmo.'--' He is my dear friend,' said the Doge; 'tell him from me that it would be pleasing to me if he would come and see me, so that we might go at our leisure in our boats to visit the monasteries'" (_The Two Doges_, by A. Weil, 1891, p. 124; see, too, Romanin, _Storia, etc._, 1855, iv. 291).]

[71] {171}[_Vide ante_, p. 139, note 1.]

[br] _Decemvirs, it is surely_----.--[MS. M.]

[72] {172}[Romanin (_Storia, etc._, 1855, iv. 285, 286) quotes the following anecdote from the _Cronaca Dolfin_:--

"Alla commozione, alle lagrime, ai singulti che accompagnavano gli ultimi abbraciamenti, Jacopo piu che mai sentendo il dolore di quel distacco, diceva: _Padre ve priego, procure per mi, che ritorni a casa mia_. E messer lo doxe: _Jacomo va e obbedisci quel che vuol la terra e non cerear piu oltre_. Ma, uscito l'infelice figlio dalla stanza, piu non resistendo alla piena degli affetti, si getto piangendo sopra una sedia e lamentando diceva: _O pieta grande_!"]

[73] [_Vide ante_, act ii. sc. I, line 174, p. 143, note 1.]

[74] {175}[So, too, Coleridge of Keats: "There is death in that hand;" and of Adam Steinmetz: "Alas! there is _death_ in that dear hand." See _Table Talk_ for August 14, 1832, and _Letter to John Peirse Kennard_, August 13, 1832, _Letters of S. T. C._, 1895, ii. 764. Jacopo Foscari was sent back to exile in Crete, and did not die till February, 1457. His death at Venice, immediately after his sentence, is contrived for the sake of observing "the unities."]

[bs]

----_he would not_
_Thus leave me_.--[MS. M.]

[75] {178}[It is to be noted that the "Giunta" was demanded by Loredano himself--a proof of his bona fides, as the addition of twenty-five nobles to the original Ten would add to the chance of opposition on the part of the supporters and champions of the Doge (see _The Two Doges_, and Romanin, _Storia, etc., iv. 286, note 3_).]

[76] {179} An historical fact. See DARU [1821], tom. ii. [pp. 398, 399. Daru quotes as his authorities Sabellicus and Pietro Giustiniani. As a matter of fact, the Doge did his utmost to save Carmagnola, pleading that his sentence should be commuted to imprisonment for life (see _The Two Doges_, p. 66; and Romanin, _Storia, etc._, iv. 161).]

[77] {183}[By the terms of the "parte," or act of deposition drawn up by the Ten, October 21, 1457, the time granted for deliberation was "till the third hour of the following day." This limitation as to time was designed to prevent the Doge from summoning the Grand Council, "to whom alone belonged the right of releasing him from the dukedom." (_The Two Doges_, p. 118; _Diebeiden Foscari_, 1878, pp. 174-176).]

[bt] {188} _The act is passed--I will obey it_.--[MS. M.]

[78] [For this speech, see Daru (who quotes from Pietro Giustiniani, _Histoire, etc._, 1821, ii. 534).]

[79] {190}[See Daru's _Histoire, etc._, 1821, ii. 535. The _Cronaca Augustini_ is the authority for the anecdote (see _The Two Doges_, 1891, p. 126).]

[bu] {192}

_I take yours, Loredano--'tis the draught_
_Most fitting such an hour as this_.--[MS. M.]

[80] {193}[_Vide ante_, Introduction to _The Two Foscari_, p. 118.]

[bv] _The wretchedness to die_----.--[MS. M.]

[81] ["A decree was at once passed that a public funeral should be accorded to Foscari, ... and the bells of St. Mark were ordered to peal nine times.... The same Council also determined that on Thursday night, November 3, the corpse should be carried into the room of the 'Signori di notte,' dressed in a golden mantle, with the ducal bonnet on his head, golden spurs on his feet, ... the gold sword by his side." But Foscari's wife, Marina (or Maria) Nani, opposed. "She declined to give up the body, which she had caused to be dressed in plain clothes, and she maintained that no one but herself should provide for the funeral expenses, even should she have to give up her dower." It is needless to add that her protest was unavailing, and that the decree of the Ten was carried into effect.--_The Two Doges_, 1891, pp. 129, 130.]

[bw] {194} ----_comfort to my desolation_.--[MS. M.]

[82] {195} The Venetians appear to have had a particular turn for breaking the hearts of their Doges. The following is another instance of the kind in the Doge Marco Barbarigo: he was succeeded by his brother Agostino Barbarigo, whose chief merit is here mentioned.--"Le doge, blesse de trouver constamment un contradicteur et un censeur si amer dans son frere, lui dit un jour en plein conseil: 'Messire Augustin, vous faites tout votre possible pour hater ma mort; vous vous flattez de me succeder; mais, si les autres vous connaissent aussi bien que je vous connais, ils n'auront garde de vous elire.' La-dessus il se leva, emu de colere, rentra dans son appartement, et mourut quelques jours apres. Ce frere, contre lequel il s'etait emporte, fut precisement le successeur qu'on lui donna. C'etait un merite don't on aimait a tenir compte; surtout a un parent, de s'etre mis en opposition avec le chef de la republique."--DARU, _Hist, de Venise_, 1821, in. 29.

[bx] _I trust Heavens will be done also_.--[MS.]

[83] "_L'ha pagata_." An historical fact. See _Hist. de Venise_, par P. DARU, 1821, ii. 528, 529.

[Daru quotes Palazzi's _Fasti Ducales_ as his authority for this story. According to Pietro Giustiniani (_Storia_, lib. viii.), Jacopo Loredano was at pains to announce the decree of the Ten to the Doge in courteous and considerate terms, and begged him to pardon him for what it was his duty to do. Romanin points out that this version of the interview is inconsistent with the famous "_L'hapagata_."--_Storia, etc._, iv. 290, note i.]

[84] {196}[Here the original MS. ends. The two lines which follow, were added by Gifford. In the margin of the MS. Byron has written, "If the last line should appear obscure to those who do not recollect the historical fact mentioned in the first act of Loredano's inscription in his book, of 'Doge Foscari, debtor for the deaths of my father and uncle,' you may add the following lines to the conclusion of the last act:--

_Chief of the Ten_. For what has he repaid thee?

_Lor._ For my father's
And father's brother's death--by his son's and own!

Ask Gifford about this."]

[85] [The _Appendix_ to the First Edition of _The Two Foscari_ consisted of (i.) an extract from P. Daru's _Histoire de la Republique Francaise_, 1821, ii. 520-537; (ii.) an extract from J. C. L. Simonde de Sismondi's _Histoire des Republiques Italiennes du Moyen Age_, 1815, x. 36-46; and (iii.) a note in response to certain charges of plagiarism brought against the author in the _Literary Gazette_ and elsewhere; and to Southey's indictment of the "Satanic School," which had recently appeared in the Preface to the Laureate's _Vision of Judgement_ (_Poetical Works of Robert Southey_, 1838, x. 202-207). See, too, the "Introduction to _The Vision of Judgment_," _Poetical Works_, 1891, iv. pp. 475-480.]

CAIN:

A MYSTERY.

"Now the Serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field
which the Lord God had made."
_Genesis_,
_Chapter 3rd, verse 1_.