apparently hoping to reduce Venice by famine. Ere they were aware, they found themselves opposed to the fleet of Doge Conterini, a brave old man, who had passed his seventieth year. He had sailed from Venice during the night, and at daybreak he pushed a large round vessel into the narrow channel of Chiozza, and moored her so as to block it up. The Genoese, little aware of his scheme, attacked the vessel, and set her on fire. She burnt to the water's edge, and then sunk, so that the passage, which was very shallow, became entirely unnavigable. This was precisely what the doge had desired; and the Genoese having still two other outlets, he closed one of them by sinking loads of stones, and stationed his fleet at the mouth of the other. Thus the Genoese, instead of besieging the Venetians, were themselves besieged. The situation of the doge, however, was so very precarious, that the senate had serious thoughts of removing their seat of government to the isle of Candia; and Contarini, maintaining his position with the utmost difficulty, declared his intention of raising the siege of Chiozza, if succours did not arrive by the first of January. On the very morning of that day a squadron was descried, which proved to be that of Carlo Zeno, a Venetian admiral, who had been cruizing in the Levant, ignorant of the danger of his countrymen, and who approached with eighteen galleys, abundantly stored with provisions. At this opportune reinforcement, shouts rang through Contarini's fleet, and the confidence of the Venetians revived. After several months' resistance, the Genoese, reduced by famine, and unable to obtain a union with the squadrons sent to support them, were compelled to surrender at discretion. Thus ended a war, the most splendid in the annals of Venice, the most ignominious in those of Genoa*. MICHAEL LANDO. A. D. 1378. AMIDST the perpetual dissensions between the nobles and plebeians of Florence, in their struggles for power, arose Giano della Bella, a man of noble birth, but attached to the cause of the people, who seized the opportunity afforded by his being invested with the office of prior, to introduce several laws which tended to diminish the authority of the nobility. Vide Perceval, vol. i. ch. 2, 3, 4 and 5. Hallam, vol. i. The most remarkable of these was the creation of a gonfaloniere (or standard bearer) of justice, with a guard of a thousand citizens. This officer was appointed to put in execution the decrees of the priors*, to whom he was at first subordinate; but he was soon raised to an equality with them, and was finally placed at their head. New gonfalonieres and priors were chosen every two months, and their place of residence was the public palace. The nobles were excluded from the magistracy, and from all public honours, and thus their high birth became an absolute punishment. These and other enactments made Giano della Bella so unpopular among the higher orders, both of the citizens and nobles, that he was banished from Florence +. The ancient nobility being thus depressed, a new aristocracy sprang up in the families of those who attained the chief magistracies. Among these were the Ricci, the Albizzi, and the Medici: they, of course, soon became equally unpopular with their predecessors. In order to keep the nobles under more control, the government occasionally had recourse to a foreign magistrate, whom they called a "captain of defence," invested with almost unlimited power. The Duke of Athens, a French *Six in number; afterwards increased to ten. adventurer, for a short time possessed this office, of which he made the worst use. His tyranny became intolerable, and the Florentines rose against him with one accord, overpowered his guards, and compelled him to abdicate his signiory, and leave their city for ever*. After the departure of the Duke of Athens, perpetual quarrels broke out between the nobles and citizens. At length a law was made which elevated five hundred and thirty nobles who had not disturbed the public peace, to the privileges of commoners. By this means peace was promoted, which lasted for several years. Domestic harmony was again disturbed by the enmity between the houses of Ricci and Albizzi. As the latter were descendants of a Ghibelin family, the Ricci, who were Guelfs, caused a law to be passed aiming at their rivals, which decreed that any reputed Ghibelin who accepted a public office should be fined, imprisoned, or even lose his life. This iniquitous law, so far from producing its intended effect, was eluded by the Albizzi, and only made the means of punishing many innocent persons. The tyranny of the Guelfs became hateful, and the injured party increased to an alarming number. By a most absurd contradiction, the *A. D. 1343. Guelfs, at the very time they were in arms against Urban the Sixth, were vigorously punishing those whose only offence was being descended from ancestors who, a century or two back, had been hostile to the church, The animosity of the higher orders extended itself to the whole mass of citizens. At length the shops and private houses were closed and barricaded, their inhabitants assembled in arms under their respective banners, and espousing the cause of the injured party, they attacked the houses of the Guelf leaders, and obliged their owners to fly to their country seats. Intoxicated with their success, the mob proceeded to deliver the whole city to fire and pillage; the government had only a small body of cuirassiers in pay, utterly insufficient to oppose the immense numbers who thronged the streets, and the magistrates, trembling at the fury of the people, thought only of their own safety. While the city resounded with clamour and confusion, a sudden whim seized some of the populace, of bestowing knighthood on their favourites; and not only was this honour conferred on their temporary leaders, but on sixty or seventy of the principal citizens, whose houses and furniture had been destroyed before their eyes, and who were forced to receive this chivalrous distinction from the hands of a mob, |