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In solitude and anxiety, with barred s and bolted doors, did

the banditti pass the day i Matteo's murder;

every murmur in the street appeared to them a cause of apprehension;

every footstep which approached their doors made them tremble till

it had passed them

In the meanwhile the ducal palace blazed with splendour and

resounded with e celebrated the birthday of his fair

niece, Rosabella; and the feast was honoured by the presence of the

chief persons of the city, of the foreign aers ere at that time resident in Venice

On this occasion no expense had been spared, no source of pleasure

had been neglected The arts contended with each other for

superiority; the best poets in Venice celebrated this day with

powers excelling anything which they had before exhibited, for the

subject of their verses was Rosabella; the musicians and virtuosi

surpassed all their fore of Rosabella The singular union of all kinds of

pleasure intoxicated the iht extended his influence over the whole assembly, over the