Meanwhile there was no arresting of that other message, which came
swiftly, and the placid old Grimani--wise, beloved, and regretted--laid
down his sceptre of state in the moment of the greatest need of Venice,
and passed on to a Court of Inquiry whose findings are inalterably just.
Calmly, as if they knew not the contents of the unopened briefs, or like
men never to be surprised into forgetfulness, the Signoria and
councillors assisted at the crowded ceremonials of the days that
followed, when the Serenissimo lay in state in the _chapelle ardente_,
which was prepared in one of the great chambers of the Palace, with
twenty nobles in ceaseless attendance, the people thronging silently to
pay their duty to their Prince--when, by night, in solemn procession,
with torches and chanting of requiems, they carried him to the church of
San Zanipolo, their gondolas draped in mourning, their banners furled in
crepe, the imposing insignia of the state he had put off forever borne
before him to the giant baldichino before the high altar, where,
surrounded by innumerable candles, he lay until the morning should bring
the closing pomp of the last solemn Mass.
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