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10 THE QUARRY.
mark of her knowledge of the spirit of the Church of Rome,
and of her defiance of it.
To this exclusion of Papal influence from her councils, the
Romanist will attribute their irreligion, and the Protestant
their success.* The first may be silenced by a reference to the
character of the policy of the Vatican itself; and the second by
his own shame, when he reflects that the English legislature
sacrificed their principles to expose themselves to the very
danger which the Venetian senate sacrificed theirs to avoid.
§ xn. One more circumstance remains to be noted respecting the Venetian government, the singular unity of the families
composing it,—unity far from sincere or perfect, but still admirable when contrasted with the fiery feuds, the almost daily
revolutions, the restless successions of families and parties in
power, which fill the annals of the other states of Italy. That
rivalship should sometimes be ended by the dagger, or enmity
conducted to its ends under the mask of law, could not but be
anticipated where the fierce Italian spirit was subjected to so
severe a restraint: it is much that jealousy appears usually un-
mingled with illegitimate ambition, and that, for every instance
in which private passion sought its gratification through public
danger, there are a thousand in which it was sacrificed to the
public advantage. Venice may well call upon us to note with
reverence, that of all the towers which are still seen rising like
a branchless forest from her islands, there is but one whose office
was other than that of summoning to prayer, and that one was a
watch-tower only: from first to last, while the palaces of the
other cities of Italy were lifted into sullen fortitudes of rampart, and fringed with forked battlements for the javelin and
the bow, the sands of Venice never sank under the weight of a
war tower, and her roof terraces were wreathed with Arabian
imagery, of golden globes suspended on the leaves of lilies, f
* At least, such success as they had. Vide Appendix 5, "The Papal
Power in Venice."
f The inconsiderable fortifications of the arsenal are no exception to this
Statement, as far as it regards the city itself. They are little more than a
•emblance of precaution against the attack of a foreign enemy.
| Title | The stones of Venice - 1 |
| Creator | Ruskin, John |
| Publisher | J. Wiley |
| Place of Publication | New York |
| Date | 1889 |
| Language | eng |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Title | 00000031 |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Transcript | 10 THE QUARRY. mark of her knowledge of the spirit of the Church of Rome, and of her defiance of it. To this exclusion of Papal influence from her councils, the Romanist will attribute their irreligion, and the Protestant their success.* The first may be silenced by a reference to the character of the policy of the Vatican itself; and the second by his own shame, when he reflects that the English legislature sacrificed their principles to expose themselves to the very danger which the Venetian senate sacrificed theirs to avoid. § xn. One more circumstance remains to be noted respecting the Venetian government, the singular unity of the families composing it,—unity far from sincere or perfect, but still admirable when contrasted with the fiery feuds, the almost daily revolutions, the restless successions of families and parties in power, which fill the annals of the other states of Italy. That rivalship should sometimes be ended by the dagger, or enmity conducted to its ends under the mask of law, could not but be anticipated where the fierce Italian spirit was subjected to so severe a restraint: it is much that jealousy appears usually un- mingled with illegitimate ambition, and that, for every instance in which private passion sought its gratification through public danger, there are a thousand in which it was sacrificed to the public advantage. Venice may well call upon us to note with reverence, that of all the towers which are still seen rising like a branchless forest from her islands, there is but one whose office was other than that of summoning to prayer, and that one was a watch-tower only: from first to last, while the palaces of the other cities of Italy were lifted into sullen fortitudes of rampart, and fringed with forked battlements for the javelin and the bow, the sands of Venice never sank under the weight of a war tower, and her roof terraces were wreathed with Arabian imagery, of golden globes suspended on the leaves of lilies, f * At least, such success as they had. Vide Appendix 5, "The Papal Power in Venice." f The inconsiderable fortifications of the arsenal are no exception to this Statement, as far as it regards the city itself. They are little more than a •emblance of precaution against the attack of a foreign enemy. |
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