DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.55699#0097
THE RIALTO.
71
careful and parsimonious in treasuring up the small re-
venues they possessed. They bore heat and cold with
equal indifference, fed on the coarsest fare, and, despising
every kind of ornament, clothed themselves in the meanest
kind of raiment. But, frugal and careful as they were,
neither avarice nor usury had yet appeared among them,
and the golden age, it is said, would have again visited
and been the lot of the humble islanders, had it not been
for the anarchy and envy of other states. The coast of
Italy was every where infested with numerous corsairs,
some of whom were private adventurers, and others be-
longing to the petty marine towns, which were prin-
cipally supported by their marauding expeditions. From
these lawless wanderers the Venetians suffered severely,
being sometimes attacked by them in their houses, and
at others losing their vessels, freighted with their humble
merchandise, in which the wealth of their republic con ¬
sisted.
But notwithstanding this drawback to theix’ felicity,
the infant state continued to increase in strength, and
the virtue and devotion of the people kept pace with the
growth of the republic. Religion, it is reported, had be-
come, since the fire in the Rialto, a distinguishing trait
in the Venetian character, and the reason alleged to ac-
count for this circumstance, is the dangei’ to which the
principal men of the state were exposed by the attacks
of the corsairs. Not a bark could traverse the lagunes
without the crew’s being in peril of a bloody engage-
ment with the pirates. The service of the sea, therefore,
and it was that to which most of this merchant-people
were devoted, was one of extreme hazard. It was sei-
71
careful and parsimonious in treasuring up the small re-
venues they possessed. They bore heat and cold with
equal indifference, fed on the coarsest fare, and, despising
every kind of ornament, clothed themselves in the meanest
kind of raiment. But, frugal and careful as they were,
neither avarice nor usury had yet appeared among them,
and the golden age, it is said, would have again visited
and been the lot of the humble islanders, had it not been
for the anarchy and envy of other states. The coast of
Italy was every where infested with numerous corsairs,
some of whom were private adventurers, and others be-
longing to the petty marine towns, which were prin-
cipally supported by their marauding expeditions. From
these lawless wanderers the Venetians suffered severely,
being sometimes attacked by them in their houses, and
at others losing their vessels, freighted with their humble
merchandise, in which the wealth of their republic con ¬
sisted.
But notwithstanding this drawback to theix’ felicity,
the infant state continued to increase in strength, and
the virtue and devotion of the people kept pace with the
growth of the republic. Religion, it is reported, had be-
come, since the fire in the Rialto, a distinguishing trait
in the Venetian character, and the reason alleged to ac-
count for this circumstance, is the dangei’ to which the
principal men of the state were exposed by the attacks
of the corsairs. Not a bark could traverse the lagunes
without the crew’s being in peril of a bloody engage-
ment with the pirates. The service of the sea, therefore,
and it was that to which most of this merchant-people
were devoted, was one of extreme hazard. It was sei-