From time to time, as the informal summary progressed, there was an
outburst of indignation.
"Could an aggression be more palpable than that _Index Expurgatorius_
demanded by Rome in 1596, when the ruling doctrine of exclusion involved
no question of morality or irreligion, but solely concerned books
upholding rights of consciences and rulers!"
"It was a contest honorable to Venice, and one which Italy will
remember," responded a secretary of the Senate, who was a regular member
of this ridotto. "I am proud that it was my privilege to transcribe for
the records of the Republic the papers relating to that Concordat which
secured so great a measure of freedom for our press."
There had been a short truce between Rome and Venice since the accession
of Paul V, who had been so immediately concerned with a certain prophecy
foretelling the death of a Leo and a Paul that his fears were only set
at rest by a further astrological announcement, judiciously arranged in
the palace of his eminence the brother of the Pope, to the effect that
"the evil influences were now conquered.
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