My Father--I pray
thee--I am very weary----"
XXIV
The nuncio had declared that Venice no longer required his services and
had withdrawn, with every ceremony of punctilious and honorable
dismissal, to Rome, from whence the Venetian ambassador presently went
forth _without_ the customary compliments.
But if diplomatic relations were severed between Rome and Venice, there
were still chances for private communication which sometimes cast a
curious light upon the subject under discussion, but which made no
change in that irreproachable suavity of exterior or that invincibility
of purpose with which the Venetians held in check any attempt at
disaffection through Roman agency, or averted any schismatic movement
within their own dependencies.
To Sarpi, the Chief Counsellor, had been committed the censorship of the
press; and the supervision of those very papers which had been written
by friends of the Republic to scatter broadcast in defense of its
rights, formed not the least delicate part of his task.
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