For there was an under side to all this gold-tissued splendor that was
sometimes laid bare to the people, in spite of the deftness with which
the Signoria stood tirelessly ready to cover up the flaws; and a recent
sad travesty of justice was one of the weird happenings of this time.
Not long since a formal _decree of pardon_ had been solemnly declared
and published throughout Venetia, at which the people stood aghast. For
the man to whom this clemency was graciously extended had been condemned
and executed between the columns of San Marco and San Teodoro, ten years
before--standing accused of conspiracy against the State. There had been
many murmurings when the name of this old patrician, holding honorable
office in service of the Republic, had been erased from the Golden Book;
and he had suffered his ignominious death protesting that the charge was
false, and that all who had aided in his condemnation should die before
the year was out. His dying words had proved a grim prophecy, which,
encouraged by the pressure of the senators, induced the Signoria to
order a re-investigation of his case, whereby the _manes_ of this
dishonored servant of the State were re-instated in that serene favor
now so worthless.
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