the letter found in his pocket, and I made use
of the Brescian dialect, which I had always
avoided speaking at the university for fear I
should be thought a Brescian.

"I knew that Toldo eagerly desired the destruction
of the sketches I had made of his wife,
and I made use of the circumstance to ensnare
him. The bait took, and I killed him at the
hour and place mentioned. On selecting Holy
Thursday, I had not calculated on the confusion
that might arise from my false name and the
last words of Toldo. The confusion is entirely
a freak of chance.

"I was arrested a few days after the crime had
been committed. The fear of death enabled
me to baffle the judges, and chance favoured me
a second time by the striking resemblance
which existed between the daughter of a tailor
at Padua and the fair Lucrezia. I should thus
have escaped the rigour of the laws, if it were
possible to escape the penetration of this
enlightened state. The words of my benefactor,
the generous-minded Contarini, dissipated the
mystery which hung over my crime. I did not
wish to die without revealing to this most high
council the whole truth— my name, my birth,
and the misfortunes of my family. May you,
most noble sirs, find an excuse for my errors in
my youth and in the strange circumstances
under which I have been living for the last
ten years. And may the sincerity of my
confession and of my repentance touch the
heart of our magnanimous prince and of
this most high tribunal. I declare and swear
by the most Holy Trinity, that in this simple
narrative I have stated the truth without
reserve."

We do not find in the criminal register of
the Council of Ten any sentence recorded
against Pascal Gambara. His crime was
probably of too flagrant a nature for the council
to dare to pronounce an acquittal. It must
rather be supposed that the three inquisitors of
state came to the decision amongst themselves
which restored the young man to his possessions
and his freedom, on the condition that he
should leave immediately for Milan and join
Duke Sforza, to negotiate, in conjunction with
the Marquis of Avalos, a reconciliation between
Charles the Fifth and the republic of Venice.
Young Gambara accomplished his mission
with skill and success. It is not unlikely that
he was the secret agent of the Council of Ten
in negotiating the famous league against the
emperor, between the pope, the Florentine
republic, the Duke of Milan, and the republic
of Venice; history has not as yet informed us
if the Marquis of Avalos was gained over, or
whether he withstood the tempting offers of
the united powers.

The horrid abuses of the prisons of Venice,
brought to light by the trial of the student
Pascal, were boldly attacked by the noble
Contarini, and we find in the registers of the
Council of Ten the following decree, the originality of
which is no less remarkable than the abuses it
proposes to reform:

"The xxiii May, 1525.
"THE TEN IN COUNCIL.

"So many abuses and corruptions (which will
be mentioned in their proper places in this
decree) have been introduced into our office of
prisons, that it can no longer be called an office,
but rather the origin and bed of misdeeds,
homicides, and unpunished enormities from the
perverseness of our ministers, as was seen
within these last few months, to the great
offence against Divine majesty, justice, and the
honour of our state, which abuses must be
remedied; and to which end,

"It be ordained that, notwithstanding the
abuses which have hitherto prevailed respecting
the prisoners in the office of the Cinque (which
prisoners, for the small debt of fifty livres,
might be imprisoned and assassinated), in future
no prisoner is liable to be killed or otherwise
ill-treated, nor his name inserted on the list of
the office of the Cinque (as well as regards
persons actually in prison as future prisoners),
as long as their debts do not exceed fifty livres
inclusively; but that justice shall have its
course against any person or persons who may
have killed a prisoner, just as if he had been a
free man.

"As regards prisoners whose debts exceed
fifty livres, the old law is to remain unchanged,
that they be liable to death or ill-treatment, as
a terror to the wicked and evil-inclined; and
we further decree, that in future no prisoner
whose name has been inscribed on the list of
the said office of the Cinque shall be liberated
until he has paid the last farthing, and, once
seized, his release cannot be granted unless by
order of two magistrates, and by the vote of
four-fifths of the Council of Ten (legal
majority)."

This decree was unanimously carried by
sixteen votes, namely, the votes of the Council
of Ten, to which were added those of the
Seignori.

Now ready, stitched In a cover, price Fourpence,

MUGBY JUNCTION.

THE EXTRA NUMBER FOR CHRISTMAS.

CONTENTS.

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THE SIXTEENTH VOLUME.

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