TlIK CAIMl'ANIT.K. . 87 



The tower used to serve another purpose not sentimental at 

 all, not poetical in the least, but grim, horrible and ghastly to 

 the uttermost degree. It was used to hang the chcbba upon. 

 Chcbba is the Venetian for gabbia, and gabbia is the Italian 

 for cage. When a priest committed blasphemy, homicide, for- 

 ^trw or any one of other crimes not named, he had the privi- 

 lege of the clicbba. Laymen accused in like manner were 

 promptly fitted out with cord and stone and drowned where it 

 was death to be seen lounging in a boat. The c/iebba, then, 

 was a wooden cage into which the privileged shaveling was 

 put and hoisted half way up outside of the tower. He had a 

 bit of twine by which he let down a basket for the contribu- 

 tions of the charitable, who were allowed to send him up, if 

 they were so inclined, bread of affliction and water of afflic- 

 tion, but nothing more. And if the poor wretch could for long- 

 endure heat, cold, hunger, scorn and despair he might live for 

 a while. But it is probable that more corpses than living men 

 were taken out of that grim place of torment when it was 

 lowered to earth. Few cities contain such minute records of 

 their own inner doings as Venice, and there are word pictures, 

 quaint and moving, connected with this matter to show what 

 human nature can bear and live. One certain Fra Agostino, 

 convicted of nothing worse than blasphemy, was hung up in 

 the chcbba somewhere about the time that Columbus was sail- 

 ing over to America. He was a priest, but he loved the Lady 

 Perpetua and wrote poetiy to her ; and she wrote to him. It 

 seems probable, too, that all-seducing gold enabled them to 

 get letters to each other. The papers are on record. 



Giocando Ijiasteniiiiai senza rispello 

 E (lispregiai relerno et vero Idio. 



He says : "In jest I shamelessly blasphemed and did despite 

 to the true and ever living God." He had two months of the 

 chcbba and eight months of dark dungeon. I do not know if 

 he lived through it all. It is probable that he did, or we 

 should not have heard of him. The istoric, or accusations of 



