384 THE REGATTA AT VENICE. May not a brightness gild them when more near? Life is before ye: oh, could ye but look Strong as ye are in youth, and hope, and faith, Which overtake ye must in life's long doom, Life is before ye: from the fated road Ye cannot turn; then take ye up your load. What though the brightness dim, the pleasure fade, -MRS. BUTLER. THE REGATTA AT VENICE. VENICE, from her peculiar formation and the vast number of her watermen, had long been celebrated for this species of amusement. Families were known and celebrated in her traditions for dexterous skill with the oar, as they were known in Rome for feats of a far less useful and of a more barbarous nature. It was usual to select from these races of watermen, the most vigorous and skilful; and, after invoking aid in prayer and arousing their pride and recollections by songs that recounted the feats of their ancestors, to start them from the goal with every incitement that pride and love of victory could awaken. As soon Most of these ancient usages were still observed. as the Bucentaur was in its station, some thirty or forty gondoliers were brought forth, clad in their gayest habiliments, and surrounded and supported by crowds of anxious friends and relatives. The intended competitors were expected to sustain the long established reputations of their several names, and they were admonished of the disgrace of defeat. They were cheered by the men, and stimulated by the smiles and tears of the other sex. The rewards were recalled to their minds; they were fortified by prayers for success; and then they were dismissed amid the cries and wishes of the multitude to seek their allotted places beneath the stern of the galley of state. The city of Venice is divided into two nearly equal parts by a channel much broader than the ordinary passages of the town. This dividing artery from its superior size and depth, and its greater importance, is called the Grand Canal. Its course is not unlike that of an undulating line, which greatly increases its length. As it is much used by the large boats of the bay-being in fact a sort of secondary port-and its width is so considerable, it has throughout the whole distance but one bridge-the celebrated Rialto. The regatta was to be held on this canal, which offered the requisites of length and space, and which, as it was lined with most of the palaces of the principal senators, afforded all the facilities necessary for viewing the struggle. In passing from one end of this long course to the other, the men destined for the race were not permitted to make any exertion. Their eyes roamed over the gorgeous hangings, which, as is still wont throughout Italy on all days of festa, floated from every window, and on groups of females in rich attire, brilliant with the peculiar charms of the famed Venetian beauty, that clustered in the balconies. Those who were domestics rose and answered to the encouraging signals thrown 386 THE REGATTA AT VENICE. from above, as they passed the palaces of their masters, while those who were watermen of the public, endeavored to gather hope among the sympathising faces of the multitude. At length every formality had been duly observed, and the competitors assumed their places. The gondolas were much larger than those commonly used, and each was manned by three watermen in the centre, directed by a fourth, who, standing on a little deck in the stern, steered, while he aided to impel the boat. There were light, low staffs in the bows, with flags that bore the distinguishing colors of several noble families of the republic, or which had such other simple devices as had been suggested by the fancies of those to whom they belonged. A few flourishes of the oar, resembling the preparatory movements which the master of fence makes ere he begins to push and parry, were given; a whirling of the boats, like the prancing of curbed racers, succeeded; and then, at the report of a gun, the whole darted away as if the gondolas were impelled by volition. The start was followed by a shout which passed swiftly along the canal, and an eager agita tion of heads that went from balcony to balcony, till the sympathetic movement was communicated to the grave load under which the Bucentaur labored. For a few minutes the difference in force and skill was not very obvious. Each gondola glided along the element, apparently with that ease with which a light-winged swallow skims the lake, and with no visible advantage to either. Then, as more art in him who steered, or greater powers of endurance in those who rowed, or some of the latent properties of the boat itself came into service, the cluster of little barks which had come off like a closely united flock of birds taking flight together in alarm, began to open till they formed a broad and vacillating line in the centre of the passage. The whole train shot beneath the bridge so near to each other as to render it still doubtful which was to conquer, and the exciting strife came more in view of the principal personages of the city. But here those radical qualities, which insure success in efforts of this nature, manifested themselves. The weaker began to yield, the train to lengthen, and hopes and fears to increase, until those in front presented the exhilarating spectacle of success, while those behind offered the still more noble sight of men struggling without hope. Gradually the dis tances between the boats increase, while that betwe and the goal grew rapidly less, until three of those in came in, like glancing arrows, beneath the stern of th taur, with a length between them. The prize was conquerors were rewarded, and the artillery gave f usual signals of rejoicing. Music answered to the cannon and the peals of bells, while sympathy with that predominant and so often dangerous principl nature, drew shouts even from the disappointed. THE glory of the farmer is, that, in the division of labor, it is his part to create. All trade rests at last on his primitive authority. He stands close to nature; he obtains from the earth, the bread and the meat. The food which was not, he causes to be. The first farmer was the first man, and all historic nobility rests on possession and use of land. Men do not like hard work, but every man has an exceptional respect for tillage, and the feeling that this is the original calling of his race, that he himself is only excused from it by some circumstance which made him delegate it for a time to other hands. If he had not some skill which recommends him to the farmer, some product for which the farmer will give him corn, he must himself return into his due place among the planters. And the profession has in all eyes its ancient charm as standing nearest to God, the first cause. Then the beauty of nature, the tranquillity and innocence of the countryman, his independence and his pleasing arts-the care of bees, of poultry, of sheep, of cows, the dairy, the care of hay, of fruits, of orchards and forests, and the reaction of these on the workman in giving him a strength and plain dignity, like the face and manners of nature-all men acknowledge. All A |