Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes County, Ohio) 1856-1865, 1860-11-15
A Picture of Venice.

A letter from Venice, of October 4,
says:
I have now been here fortnight, and
shall never forget that time as long as l
live, SO dull and monotenous has it been.
Have you ever taken walk to Vincennes
on week dayG If you have, of course
you saw none but soldiers. 1t is just the
same here; as, with the exception of few
petty traders people and artizans, nothing
but uniforms can be seen in the streets of
Venice. Where are the mobiles and
wealthy citizens! They all keep within
doors, and Austria would very much like
to know what they say and do. l am as
ignorant as she is on that point, as all
houses of any importance have become so
many citadels, into which there is no ad-
mittance without good letters of introduc-
ton, and brought none with me. All l
have learned is therefore limited to what l
have seen with my own eyes or picked up in
conversation with ciceroni and goudoliers.
As soon as-these people are certain that
they are speaking to foreigner, especially
a Frenchman, they throw off the restraint,
assure you, and make no secret of their
feelings and hopes. They think liberty SO
near as to be already in their possession,
and are convinced that the hour of deliver
ance has struck. 1 have several times Civ
en- mortal offence bv venturing to insinu-
ate that there would not parhaps be any
great change in Venitia before next spring.
At Venice the state of war is not posted
on the walls; it is in the very air you
breathe. No imperial rescript has forbid
den the in habtants to frequent the thea
ter of La Fenice, but for two years past no.
body goes to it.
There has been no curfew proclaimed,
and yet after nigbtfall there is not living
thing in the streets but patrols. The Aus
trians do not like this state of things any
more than the Venetians do; they are no
longer arrogan! even; they are uneasy,
gloomy, silent, and even attempt to appear
polite. All the coffee houses in the city
have been tacitly abandoned to them,
with the single exception of the Florian,
where foreigners and Venitians meet, un-
der pretext of business. They appear to
have accepted this arrangement, for though
I went to the Florian every night, never
saw uniform or heard word of German
there. One remarkable fact is that, with
the exception of few invalids, not sim
gle young man, from eighteen to twenty
five, is to be seen in Venice; they have all
fled to avoid the conscription. l have
been told that there are 5000 of them
with Garibaldi, and at least as many in
Victor Emanuel's army. Austria at first
imposed on families, and then on the conf
munes, fine of from 2,40O0f. and 4,0OOf.
for each absent conscript. This measure
caused many bitter tears to flow at first,
but it has now become ilusory, since, as
neither families nor communes possess any
thing, they cannot pay, The very excess
of the evil has put an end to it. The
same may be said of the taxes; there was
great suffering when the government de-
manded one half or one-fourth of every
body's income; but there is less now, the
demand is equal to the whole, or even
double and triple the amount. People
have simply ceased to pay, that is all.