"Non nobis, Domine--sed tibi gloria!"
And the people, accepting as a favor the pageant which had been
cunningly devised to impress them, followed, thronging, up the giant
stairway, into the halls of the Council Chamber, into the stately
presence of the Serenissimo and the Signoria, to hear their latest
magnate profess his gratitude for the honor of his investiture and the
magnificence of his outfit, with solemn oaths of loyalty.
There was no war, though talk of it had little truce in those days; but
the cardinal nephews were busy in Ferrara and Ancona with the marshaling
of troops, and four of the princes of the Church had been appointed by
the Holy Father--vice-regent of the Prince of Peace--to superintend his
military operations and prepare his army of forty thousand infantry and
four thousand cavalry! Thus, in Venice, the spectacle of a
general-in-chief, with his splendid accoutrements, was timely and
inspiriting.
Meanwhile, in the palazzo Giustiniani the days dragged wearily, and knew
no sunshine; the Senator Marcantonio had been by special favor excused
from attendance in the Council Chamber; in his mind Venice was no longer
regnant; one thought absorbed him wholly through all that miserable
time--he had but one hope--everything centred in Marina.
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