To him I speak.

In vain ye talk of justice when the weight of your power falls on them least able to bear it; and though ye may delude yourselves, the meanest gondolier of the canal knows--" He was stopped from uttering more by his companion, who rudely placed a hand on his mouth.
"Why hast thou presumed to stop the complaints of Antonio ?" sternly demanded the judge.
"It was not decent, illustrious senators, to listen to such disrespect in so noble a presence," Jacopo answered, bending reverently as he spoke.

"This old fisherman, dread Signori, is warmed by love for his offspring, and he will utter that which, in his cooler moments, he will repent." "St.Mark fears not the truth! If he has more to say, let him declare it." But the excited Antonio began to reflect.

The flush which had ascended to his weather-beaten cheek disappeared, and his naked breast ceased to heave.

He stood like one rebuked, more by his discretion than his conscience, with a calmer eye, and a face that exhibited the composure of his years, and the respect of his condition.
"If I have offended, great patricians," he said, more mildly, "I pray you to forget the zeal of an ignorant old man, whose feelings are master of his breeding, and who knows less how to render the truth agreeable to noble ears, than to utter it." "Thou mayest depart." The armed attendants advanced, and obedient to a sign from the secretary, they led Antonio and his companion through the door by which they had entered.