Mark had proudly rested.
"We are loyal sons of the Church," he said, "but no highest
ecclesiastical court--though with authority from Rome itself--may rule
that any decree of this imperial Senate of Venice, bearing upon Church
and State alike, can be set aside by Church alone."
"We have not subjected ourselves to being put out of the body of this
Church, which we revere, by any failure of duty on our part--duty being
a rendering of that which is owed.
"As citizens of this Republic, our duty in things temporal is owed to
our Prince--by right divine; as men, our duty to our Church, by right
divine, is in things spiritual alone--which we render; but in things
temporal God gave not the Church rule over us. If, at any point, these
two dominions may seem to touch and intersect it is our Prince who
disentangles, by his decree, the twisted thread. For he is Lord over us,
who are Venetians and not Romans."
The words had a ring of victory; enthusiasm spread from face to face,
and the house rose in a tumult of approval to express its loyalty,
unchecked by any sign of dissent from the dais at a demonstration so
unusual.
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