432 IL BANCOLO. 
their badges and decorations, and cast them at the feet of him who 
had so well understood the paramount duties of a comedian. 
The figure of Bancolo was observed to bend forward: he wept ! 
He raised his hand, and silence was instantly restored. ‘“ Gentle- 
men,” said Bancolo, “this is the last day of the Carnival at Venice. 
In one hour this magnificent theatre will be transformed into a ball- 
room, and you will return to it under different costumes. The no- 
bleman will be lost under the vestments of the peasant, the baron will 
appear as a page, the page as a man whose hair is silvered with age, 
and the virgin as a dowager : every age, every rank, will be inverted 
until the first rays of Aurora announce the return of day. Great 
will be the delight which you will derive from the amusements in 
which you are about to participate. But, Gentlemen, allow me to 
ask you if you would not feel an emotion of gratitude towards that 
man who, though only a poor stage-player, would suggest to you the 
means of sanctifying, by a holy and beneficent action, the diversions 
to which you are about to resign yourselves? At the moment, Gen- 
tlemen, when to the accents of enchanting music you dance in the 
midst of delicious perfumes, brethren and christians languish in 
chains, or struggle in the agonies of death. Gentlemen, I implore 
you, in the name of Heaven, to succour those unfortunate beings 
who groan beneath the iron hand of the infidel, and who at this mo- 
ment, perhaps, extend their hands to you as their only resource. 
Let us place beneath the gracious protection of a pious act our seve- 
ral satisfactions : you the pleasures which you will this evening enjoy, 
I my repose in the bosom of my household gods. A holy monk of 
the order of the Redemption awaits your offerings in the Square of 
St. Mark. Thither I go; follow me, Gentlemen, and you, noble 
Ladies: it is, perhaps, the first time that an act of christian charity 
has been advocated by the voice of Polichinelle.” 
The audience rose. Polichinelle slowly descended the steps of the 
theatre, followed by the whole of the brilliant assembly which had 
been collected within its walls. They were received by the acclama- 
tions of the crowd. The cavalcade proceeded in this order, escorted 
by gondolas, which attended it as pages until it arrived at the Square 
of St. Mark. In the centre of this Square, on a pedestal of bronze, 
stood the ancient lion of Venice, the genius of the city, who was 
doubtless conscious of the scene which was passing—a scene which 
recalled those mellow days when Venice was conquered from the do- 
minions of Neptune, and proudly raised, for the first time, its stately 
head above the waters. 
