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Show Venice Peopled by Creations of Fancy. (Special Correspondence.) SHE recent fall of the tall bell-tower bell-tower of St. Mark's at Venice has attrncted tho attention and tho thoughts of tho rending rend-ing world to that city In tho sea. Tho memories associated with It through long centuries historic, poetic, romantic and tragic arc being brought before the mind. And those with which the great poet of tho English Eng-lish speaking world has peopled it, mlnglo with memories that aro better founded In fact, though less Interesting. Interest-ing. Slmkcspcnre has created a number of fictitious dwellers In Venice, whoso names have becomo "familiar as household words," who to tho minds of the readers of his works aro moro real than tho historical personages who uctually lived nnd acted tho deeds that havo mado thorn known. So closely has ho depleted tho characteristics of the Venetians of tho ICth century, nnd so familiar does ho seem with places nnd customs nnd modes of expression and nctlon, that authors of note havo seriously maintained main-tained that he could not havo known details so Intimately unless ho travelled trav-elled In tho country. To thoso who hold that Shakespeare was unacquainted with tho special characteristic of Venice as a city In tho sea, tho stago directions at the beginning of tho play, "Tho Merchant of Venice," may bo quoted: "Scene, partly nt Venice and partly at Belmont, Bel-mont, the seat of Portia, on the continent." con-tinent." Why this distinction should be mado between Venice and Bof- ginning of tho last century , when oven at Venice man was considered only as a pleco of merchandise); and ho was disposed of as any othor object of salo and purchaso that he was, In fact, a slave. The commerco in slaves, which wns a source ot great gain, had spread to Venlco, and Dal-matin. Dal-matin. Greoce, tho Ilomagna, tho Duchy of liar I, that of Dcncvcnto and Tuscany, where tho mlserablo chass was carried on. Tho forohcads and tho checks of theso unhappy beings were marked with cuts In order that they might bo recognized, and they wero afterwards sold to tho pagans of Africa. "In vain did provincial synods prohibit In sovorcst terms this commerce," Bays Mutlnelll. "In vnln did tho Vatican launch Its anathemas against tlteso trnlllckcrs; tho greed of gnln overpowered over-powered nil scruples, and In the very port of Ostla In tho vicinity ot I ho city whenco the pontllle.il excem-munlcntlons excem-munlcntlons Issued, tho Venetians filled their boats with captives to bo sold ns slaves." Pompco Molmentl, tho modern nnd nblo writer on "The Story of Venlco In Private Life, from Its Origin to the Fall of tho Republic," tcllH that In the notaries' archives there exist wholo volumes of contracts of buying nnd selling, exchange, donation, cession, etc., of slaves, which being in tho 12th century and comu down even to tho end of tho lflth, but In a decreasing degree. He also relates that In Venlco Ven-lco slaves were baptized, and tho baptismal bap-tismal n a mo was substituted for their original name. Their llfo was not BASILICA OF ST. PAUL'S (ROME). mont, "on tho continent" Is not otherwise other-wise easy of explanation. Shakespeare docs not furnish a clew to tho actual scene of tho trial further than tho scant mention: "Venice. A Court of Justice," In tho stago directions. Yet thero aro many reasons for believing that the actual scene of this celebrated trial ono can scarcely holp regarding It as real, rather than Imaginary, and much moro real to the world nt largo than many actual lawsuits took place In tho great hall of the Doge's palace known as tho Sala do'I'regadl. Tho Venetian chronicler, Marin Sanudo, who wrote tho records of this city during a part of tho 16th century, tells constantly tho story of tho trials or discussions held In tho Pregadl. In He present aspect this Is ono of tho noblest and most richly decorated halls within tho Doge's palace. On n dais, to which ascent Is mado by seven steps, and which stretches I 'lAk-iiiiitftftiT I On the Applan Way (Rome), ncross ono end of tho room, Is tho chair of tho duko or chief official ot tho court, and on each sido tho scats ot tho councillors or assistants. On this high platform Imagination bodies forth tho figures of Antonio, tho merchant, and Bnssanlo, hs friend, of Portia disguised as "a young nnd lenrned doctor," como from Padua, from Hclario, under tho name of Dalthasar, recommended by that samo nellarlo, whom the duko had sent for to dctcnnlno this cause, hut who was "very sick" and could not come. Padua, which In another of his plays Shakespeare, describes as tWe "nursery of nrts," was celebrated for its school of law. And here, beforo tho majesty of the republic ot Venlco, and In the presence pres-ence of tho pcrsonngrs In tho piny lu whoso deeds readers nro so Interested, and tho crowd of curious and Idle Venetians who thronged Into this Sala do'Pregadl, tho famous trial wao conducted, Thero was n time, says tho Venetian Vene-tian writer, Fablo Mutlnelll, at the be- ! a sad one, nnd they were better treated treat-ed than tho ordinary domestics. Exception may justly oo raised to tho poet's mention of "mules" in Venice. It Is one of tho standing Jokes ngalnst tho Venetians that, as a rule, tho stay-at-homes havo never seen a Ilvo horse, nor even a mule. When Lord Dyron lived at Venice, ha was wont to boast that he was tha only denizen of tho city who rodo on horseback. |
