Any one could make an accusation against a person, who would be speedily arrested and taken to trial. He never knew who were his accusers; and very often he did not know what testimony was to be given against him.
THE BRIDGE OF SIGHS.
From the Council Chamber he was generally taken to execution, though not always; in either case he was led across the famous Ponte di Sospiri, or Bridge of Sighs; and according to tradition the bridge received its name because prisoners, weeping and sighing, were led across it for execution, or were taken from the prison for trial before the Council of Ten.
Byron has written,—
“I stood in Venice by the Bridge of Sighs,
A palace and a prison on either hand.”
Between the Ducal Palace and the prison proper of Venice there is a narrow canal. The bridge is elevated far above the water, and has two passages, each about four feet in width. In regard to these passages traditions differ: one tradition is, that the two were designed, one for noble prisoners, and one for plebeians, while another says that they were used indifferently, patrician or plebeian being allowed either passage without regard to the rank or position he held. The reader can accept whichever explanation suits him best.
Down beneath the palace was a real dungeon: it could never have been an inviting place, and it is very far from being so at this day. No effort is made to keep it in fine condition: it is not carpeted; its walls are not painted, neither are they frescoed. I remember on my first visit that, after we had wandered through the palace, our guide descended a series of stairways, and finally brought us to a place below the level of the water which surrounds Venice. “Here,” said he, “are the dungeons; and here is where many state prisoners, who offended the laws of Venice, passed the portion of their lives immediately preceding their deaths. You can enter them, gentlemen, and see how you would like them.”
IMPRISONED IN THE LOWEST DEPTH.