XVI
There was no longer any doubt as to the intention of his Holiness toward the rebellious spirit of the Most Serene Republic; the Ambassade Extraordinary which had been appointed to convey to the Holy See the dutiful congratulations of her devoted Venetian sons, on the accession of Paul V, had few amenities to report in those lengthy dispatches to which the Senate listened with a dignity which disdained to show the least outward trace of irritation or forgetfulness, in a presence so exasperating as that of the Papal Nuncio, Orazio Mattei.
Day after day the Senate sat, in solemn state, to hear its delinquencies rehearsed in the words of Paul V, by the graphic pen of his Excellency Agostino Nani, Ambassador from the Republic to the Holy See, with ceaseless repetitions of demand on the part of the Sovereign Pontiff; with ceaseless repetitions of refusal, most deferently couched, from the courtly representative of the offending power; with threats of that most dread compeller of obedience which none but a sovereign pontiff may wield; and very clearly phrased, that all might understand, the declaration in the words of his Holiness himself, that he had determined to \"mortify the over-weening audacity of the secular rulers of the world.\"
With a patience which bore its fruit in a more rigid determination to conquer, they listened, also, to many violent speeches from the Nuncio, explanatory of papal authority, founded upon the dicta of a Gregory, \" That none may judge the Pope. That all princes should kiss the feet of the Pope ,\" and invariably sustained by this axiom of Mattei, delivered as a refrain—so sure were the college of its repetition, \"I am Pope here; I want no replies, only obedience,\" and the reiterated assertion that \"Christianity depends upon the acceptance in its entirety of the doctrine of papal supremacy, and that he has heard much of the vaunted piety of the Venetian Republic, of which he fails to find evidence.\"
In vain the Senate pleaded that on such a point there might be differing views, and that men should be known for Christians by their faithfulness in duty, by their practice of almsgiving and of the sacraments and of all other good and Christian works; but the answer came swiftly, \"Naught else availeth.\"
It was a relief to the stately and grim Giustinian to lose his temper in the sanctity of his home, since that freedom was beneath the dignity of a Venetian ruler in the company of others who were chafing like himself from insults they would have rejoiced to hurl back in the face of the speaker; and he was the less inclined to view favorably the efforts toward conciliation of the embassy to the Holy See, because it would have pleased him to have been named among those six of this Ambassade Extraordinary, on a mission so important, as an honor due to his ancient house.
\"It is repetition ad nauseam ,\" he insisted hotly, \"of demands for abrogation of those laws, for yielding up of those two reverend criminals to the ecclesiastical courts, of Nani''''s soft replies to the quick speeches of his Holiness—an unending farce!\"
\"Giustinian,\" said the Lady Laura quietly, \"the difficulties are great. \"Verily, my lady, I believe thou art not responsible for thine own foolishness!\" her husband exclaimed angrily. \"If that prelate cousin of Saraceni comes again to thy salon, let him be refused! He shall not prate to thee of ''''law'''' and ''''supremacy,'''' who hath sought for this occasion to embroil us with the Holy See. For the Senate hath learned to-day, through the trustworthy open mouth of our watchful Lion, with evidence irrefragable, that it is this reverend father who hath carried the tale to Rome.\"
\"Tell me the right of it,\" she said again. \"How may the honor of the Church be saved, yet the dignity of Venice be maintained? If there be a way, we women should speak for it.\"
\"Is the honor of the Church maintained by standing as a shield to crime? It is Venice who would save the Church; the civil ruler shall purge her sacred courts of such iniquities and leave her the purer for her sons to love. Such is the law—ancient and just—and a right Venice cannot yield. And more than this,\" he continued impressively, \"all Europe is waiting on the issue, for the real contest is on the rights of civil rulers, and these imprisoned ecclesiastics are but the pretext for a quarrel; and ill-judged, verily, on the part of the Holy Father, since if the cases were less heinous there might have been occasion for confusion of judgment. But now, who will dare assert that the honor of the Church is concerned in protecting men who disgrace mankind!\"
\"The Republic is then sure of her ground?\"
\"So sure we are of right that letters are already sent to every Christian court of Europe, announcing the causes of this quarrel and the stand of Venice.\"
\"Marina is greatly troubled,\" said the Lady Laura, with a sigh.
\"Let her go often to San Marco and pray for us—the child is good for nothing else since this trouble came.\"
\"She hath more comfort at San Donato; and the mother superior is a noble woman and beloved by her.\"
\"Ay, it is all one—so that she wear not out the patience of Marcantonio by her importunities. The Senate will stand firm on the issue, and not one of the Ca'''' Giustiniani shall flinch.\"
\"Is there no possible doubt of the ending?\" the Lady Laura questioned, after a little troubled silence. Her heart was very sore for Marina, who slept but little, and was constantly fasting.
\"Only of that which lieth between; the end is triumph for Venice,\" Giustinian declared. \"Tell that to Marina, and calm her fears. Also, let it not be known that she is so weak in courage; it would be held against Marcantonio, to whom the suspicion of being wife-ridden would do an infinite injustice. And bid Marcantonio himself tell her of the vote that hath passed the Senate, without dissent of a single voice, for letters to be sent to the imperious Paul to make an end of his demands, declaring that Venice recognizeth for the temporal government of her states no superior, save God alone.\"