n to take place in honour of any
newly-elected doge. In order to do this, the workmen of the harbour had
the new Doge seated in a splendid palanquin, and carried him on their
shoulders in great pomp round the Piazza San Marco. But another still more
characteristic ceremony distinguished this magisterial election. On
Ascension Day, the Doge, entering a magnificent galley, called the
_Bucentaur_, which was elegantly equipped, and resplendent with gold and
precious stuffs, crossed the Grand Canal, went outside the town, and
proceeded in the midst of a nautical _cortege_, escorted by bands of
music, to the distance of about a league from the town on the Adriatic
Gulf. Then the Patriarch of Venice gave his blessing to the sea, and the
Doge, taking the helm, threw a gold ring into the water, saying, "O sea! I
espouse thee in the name, and in token, of our true and perpetual
sovereignty." Immediately the waters were strewed with flowers, and the
shouts of joy, and the clapping of hands of the crowd, were intermingled
with the strains of instruments of music of all sorts, whilst the glorious
sky of Venice smiled on the poetic scene.

The greater part of the principal ceremonies of the Middle Ages acquired,
from various accessory and local circumstances, a character of grandeur
well fitted to impress the minds of the populace. On these memorable
occasions the exhibition of some historical memorial, of certain
traditional symbols, of certain relics, &c., brought to the recollection
the most celebrated events in national history--events already possessing
the prestige of antiquity as well as the veneration of the people. Thus,
as a memorial of the consecration of the kings of Hungary, the actual
crown of holy King Stephen was used; at the consecration of the kings of
England, the actual chair of Edward the Confessor was used; at the
consecration of the emperors of Germany, the imperial insignia actually
used by Charlemagne formed part of the display; at the consecration of the
kings of France at a certain period, the hand of justice of St. Louis,
which has been before alluded to, was produced.

[Illustration: Fig. 390.--Standards of the Church and the Empire.--Reduced
from an Engraving of the "Entry of Charles V. and Clement VII. into
Bologna," by Lucas de Cranach, from a Fresco by Brusasorci, of Verona.]

After their consecration by the Church and by the spiritual power, the
sovereigns had simply to take actual possession of the