He wanteth,
of a truth, little in temporalities that the world can offer, though the
desires of life often lead him who hath most in quest of more. It would
seem that an ancestor of Don Camillo was anciently a senator of Venice,
when the death of a relation brought many Calabrian signories into his
possession. The younger of his sons, by an especial decree, which
favored a family that had well served the state, took these estates,
while the elder transmitted the senatorial rank and the Venetian
fortunes to his posterity. Time hath extinguished the elder branch; and
Don Camillo hath for years besieged the council to be restored to those
rights which his predecessor renounced."
"Can they refuse him?"
"His demand involves a departure from established laws. Were he to
renounce the Calabrian lordships, the Neapolitan might lose more than he
would gain; and to keep both is to infringe a law that is rarely
suffered to be dormant. I know little, daughter, of the interests of
life; but there are enemies of the Republic who say that its servitude
is not easy, and that it seldom bestows favors of this sort without
seeking an ample equivalent."
"Is this as it should be? If Don Camillo Monforte has claims in Venice,
whether it be to palaces on the canals, or to lands on the main; to
honors in the state, or voice in the senate; justice should be rendered
without delay, lest it be said the Republic vaunts more of the sacred
quality than it practises.
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