information on his subject,
until he has examined a large number of these minor offices. He will
probably find some notice of the point he is examining in the papers of
the Senate or of the Ten, and, if it be a matter of home affairs, he can
trace it thence through the various magistracies under whose cognizance
it would come; or if it be a matter of foreign policy, he will find
further information in the papers of the College.

Under the Republic these collections of State papers were not known as
archives, but as chancelleries. The collections of highest interest, the
papers to which the student is most likely to turn his attention, are
those relating to the ceremony, to the home, and to the foreign policy
of Venice. These three groups are contained in the Ducal, the Secret,
and the Inferior Chancelleries. The three chancelleries were committed
to the charge of the Grand Chancellor and his staff of secretaries, who
received, arranged, and registered the official papers as they issued
from the various Councils of State. The Grand Chancellor was not a
patrician; he was chosen from that upper class of commoners known as
_cittadini originarii_, an inferior order of nobility, ranking below the
governing caste, but bearing coat armour. The office of Grand Chancellor
was of great dignity and antiquity, and was held for life. The
Chancellor was head and representative of the people, as the Doge was
head and representative of the patricians; and, when the nobility began
to exclude the people from all share in the government, the Grand
Chancellor was allowed to be present at all sessions of the Great
Council and of the Senate as the silent witness of the people,
confirming the acts of the Government, and bridging, though by the
finest thread, the gulf that otherwise separated the governed from the
governing. The part which the Grand Chancellor took in the business of
the Maggior Consiglio and of the Senate was a constant and an active
part. It was his duty to superintend the arrangements for every
election, to direct the secretaries in attendance, to announce the names
of the candidates for office, and to proclaim the successful competitor.
His seat in the Great Council Hall was on the left-hand of the Doge's
dais, and his secretaries sat below him. But the custody of the State
papers was by far the most important function which the Grand Chancellor
had to perform. To assist him in these labours he was placed at the head
of a l