d. I was so certain that I had right
on my side, that I reasoned accordingly; but this was not the attitude I
should have assumed towards a court which stands aloof from all the
courts in the world for its unbounded absolutism. To prove anyone guilty,
it is only necessary for the Inquisitors to proceed against him; so there
is no need to speak to him, and when he is condemned it would be useless
to announce to the prisoner his sentence, as his consent is not required,
and they prefer to leave the poor wretch the feeling of hope; and
certainly, if he were told the whole process, imprisonment would not be
shortened by an hour. The wise man tells no one of his business, and the
business of the Tribunal of Venice is only to judge and to doom. The
guilty party is not required to have any share in the matter; he is like
a nail, which to be driven into a wall needs only to be struck.

To a certain extent I was acquainted with the ways of the Colossus which
was crushing me under foot, but there are things on earth which one can
only truly understand by experience. If amongst my readers there are any
who think such laws unjust, I forgive them, as I know they have a strong
likeness to injustice; but let me tell them that they are also necessary,
as a tribunal like the Venetian could not subsist without them. Those who
maintain these laws in full vigour are senators, chosen from amongst the
fittest for that office, and with a reputation for honour and virtue.

The last day of September I passed a sleepless night, and was on thorns
to see the dawn appear, so sure was I that that day would make me free.
The reign of those villains who had made me a captive drew to a close;
but the dawn appeared, Lawrence came as usual, and told me nothing new.
For five or six days I hovered between rage and despair, and then I
imagined that for some reasons which to me were unfathomable they had
decided to keep me prisoner for the remainder of my days. This awful idea
only made me laugh, for I knew that it was in my power to remain a slave
for no long time, but only till I should take it into my own hands to
break my prison. I knew that I should escape or die: 'Deliberata morte
ferocior'.

In the beginning of November I seriously formed the plan of forcibly
escaping from a place where I was forcibly kept. I began to rack my
brains to find a way of carrying the idea into execution, and I conceived
a hundred schemes, each one bolder than the other, b