"Who art thou?" escaped him, in the impulse of surprise.
"Antonio of the Lamines! A fisherman that owes much to St. Anthony, for
favors little deserved."
"And why hath one like thee fallen beneath the Senate's displeasure?"
"I am honest and ready to do justice to others. If that offend the
great, they are men more to be pitied than envied."
"The convicted are always more disposed to believe themselves
unfortunate than guilty. The error is fatal, and it should be eradicated
from the mind, lest it lead to death."
"Go tell this to the patricians. They have need of plain counsel, and a
warning from the church."
"My son, there is pride and anger, and a perverse heart in thy replies.
The sins of the senators--and as they are men, they are not without
spot--can in no manner whiten thine own. Though an unjust sentence
should condemn one to punishment, it leaves the offences against God in
their native deformity. Men may pity him who hath wrongfully undergone
the anger of the world, but the church will only pronounce pardon on him
who confesseth his errors, with a sincere admission of their magnitude."
"Have you come, father, to shrive a penitent?"
"Such is my errand. I lament the occasion, and if what I fear be true,
still more must I regret that one so aged should have brought his
devoted head beneath the arm of justice."
Antonio smiled, and again he bent his eyes along that dazzling streak of
light which had swallowed up the gondola and the person of the Bravo.
Pages:
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272