The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1895-07-04
THE FALL OF VENICE.
Compile to Humiliation Of the Proud
S OligGrchy by Eonaparte.
The French Conqueror Declared tho ln-
hAbitant, n Miserable. COwardly Peo-
ple, Unfit for Liberty - Occu-
.". pancy by the French.

Since the days Of Carthage no gov
eminent like that of the Venetian
ol:garchy had existed on the Garth. At
its best it was dark and remorscless;
with the disappearance Of its vigor it's
despotism had become somewhat
milder, but even yet no common man
might draw the veil froIa its t.lysteri-
Gus, Irresponsible councils and live. A
few hundred families administered
the country os they did their. private
estates. All Intelligence, al liberty. all
| personal indc;>>ntlcncc. were rei,r."scd
by such a system. The more cnlight-
ened from the mainland, E2any even in
the city, had fclt tho i1.tiucn:es of the:
| time, and had long been uneasy under
| their government. however smoothly it
| seemed to be running.
Now that the earth was quaking UNI
| der the r,ar.h Of DonaDarte's troops,
| that government was not only helpless,
but it actually grew contemplate in it's
| panic. There was, indeed, the most
! urgent necessity for change. The
senate ha! a powerful leet, three
| Thousand native troops, and eleven
thousand rlcrccaarics; but they struck
only single futile blow on their own
| account, permitting rash captain to
open fire from TIC runboats against the
French vanguard when it appeared.
| But Immediately. Us if in fear of their
own temerity. they dispatched On en-
bassy to learn t.,c VIII Of Tic approach
| ing general, That his dealings might be
| merc;fnl. they tried the plan Of Modena,
| and offered Bonaparte bribc Of seven
| million francs; but, as in the case Of Mo-
dena, he refused Next day. the grand
| council having been summoned, it was
determined l.y a nearly unanimous
| vote of the patricians (six hundred and
| ninety TO twenty-one) that they would
| remodel their institutions On demo-
| cratic lines.
Not for 4 moment did La!!ciHont and
Villetar>,. TIE two French agents, in
| termit their revolutionary agitation in
| the town. Disorders grew more fire.
quent. and uncertainty both paralyzed
| and disintegrated the patrician party.
| A week later the government virtually
| abdicated. Two utter strangers ap-
| peared il theatrical way at its doors
| and suggested in writing to the great
council that to apnease the spirit of the
times they should plant the liberty
tree OF tn. Place Of ST. Mark and
| speedily ;lo:*.>ie to all the propositions
| for iberalizing Venice which the popu-
| lar temper seemed to demand. Such
| were the terror and disorganization of
| the aristocracy that insteadl-o punish
! ing the intrusion by death, according
| to the traditions OF their rerciless pro-
cedure, they took measures to carry
| out the suggestion. The fleet was dis
mantled and the army disbanded.
By the end of the month the rcvolu-
! ton was virtually accomplished; for a
rising of their supporters having been
mistaken by the great council, in its
pusillanimous terror, for a rebellion of
| their antagonists, they decreed the alb
| clifton of all existing institutions, and,
| after hastily organizing provisional
government, disbanded. Four thou
! sand French soldiers occupied the
town, and an ostensible treaty was
! made between the new republic Of
Venice and that of France.
This treaty was really nothing but
pronunciamento of Bohaparte He
decreed general amnesty to all Of
tenders except the commanders of Fort
Luco, who had recently fred on the
French vessel. He also guaranteed
the public debt, and promised to oc-
cupy the city only as long as the public
order required it. BY a series of secret
| articles Venice was to accept the stipu-
pay an indemnity of six million francs,
| and furnish three ships of the line and
two frigates, while, in pursuance of
the general policy of the French repub-
| lie, experts were to select twenty pic
lures from her galleries and five hun
dred manuscripts from her libraries.
Whatever was the understanding of
those who signed these crushing con-
ditions, the city was never again
treated by any European power as an
| independent state. Soon afterwards a
| French expedition was dispatched to
| occupy her island possessions in the
| Levant. The arrangements had been
| carefully prepared during the very
believed itself to be paying the price of
it's new liberties. And earlier still-on
May q, three days before the abdica-
ton of the aristocracy-Bonaparte had
already offered to Austria the entire
republic in its proposed form as an ex-
change for the German lands on the
left bank Of the Rhine. -.-
Writing to the directory on that day,
he declared that Venice, which had
been in decline ever since 1.-The dis
covery of the Cape Good Hope and the
rise of Trieste and Ancona, can with
difficulty survive the blows we. have
| just given her. This miserable, coward
~ people, unfit for liberty, and with
out land or water-it seems natural to
me that we should hand them over to
those who have received their mainland
from US. We shall take all their ships,
we shall despoil their arsenal, we shall
remove all their cannon, we shall
wreck their bank, we shall keep Corfu
and Ancona for ourselves"
! On the Goth d letter to his friends"
of the Venetian provisional govern
| ,nent had assured them that he wO11ld