THE DOGANA. Your mind is tossing on the ocean; Do overpeer the petty traffickers, That curt'sy to them, do them reverence, As they fly by them with their woven wings. THIS noble edifice was erected in the year 1682, after the designs of Giuseppe Benoni. Its front is adorned with a magnificent colonnade of marble pillars, and over these rises a small but beautiful tower, the summit of which supports a statue bearing a large golden globe, to represent the world. Above the sphere stands a figure of fortune, so placed as to turn with every change of the wind, and thus teach the moral most necessary to the frequenters of the Dogana. It is in this building that the customs are paid by foreign ships and on merchandize from abroad. A sort of council was early appointed to assemble here, and take cognizance of every thing pertaining to the commerce of the state; but the structure has lost much both of its importance and elegance; and though it is still a beautiful and striking object when observed from the sea, it owes its present interest principally to the connexion of its design with the earlier glory of the city. The commerce of Venice is invested with a traditional |