Undoubtedly the best people in the best society of Venice are the
advocates, an order of consequence even in the times of the Republic,
though then shut out from participation in public affairs by a native
government, as now by a foreign one. Acquaintance with several members of
this profession impressed me with a sense of its liberality of thought and
feeling, where all liberal thinking and feeling must be done by stealth,
and where the common intelligence of the world sheds its light through
multiplied barriers. Daniele Manin, the President of the Republic of 1848,
was of this class, which, by virtue of its learning, enlightenment, and
talent, occupies a place in the esteem and regard of the Venetian people
far above that held by the effete aristocracy. The better part of the
nobility, indeed, is merged in the professional class, and some of the
most historic names are now preceded by the learned titles of Doctor and
Advocate, rather than the cheap dignity of Count, offered by the Austrian
government to all the patricians who chose to ask for it, when Austrian
rule was extended over their country.

The physicians rank next to the advocates, and are usually men learned in
their profession, however erroneous and old-fashioned some of their
theories of practice may be. Like the advocates, they are often men of
letters: they write for the journals, and publish little pamphlets on
those topics of local history which it is so much the fashion to treat in
Venice. No one makes a profession of authorship. The returns of an
author's work would be too uncertain, and its restrictions and penalties
would be too vexatious and serious; and so literary topics are only
occasionally treated by those whose main energies are bent in another
direction.

The doctors are very numerous, and a considerable number of them are