One morning visitors staying in Venice were told that an ominous
report was in circulation concerning the Campanile, and that so
certainly was a disaster expected that the old architect who
had charge of the Palace of the Doges and of the tower of St.
Mark’s Cathedral had stolen out of the city, unable to bear the
thought of the approaching catastrophe. A guide took visitors to
the tower and pointed out little piles of sand that had trickled
down from between the bricks. It was dangerous to stand there
and the party retreated. The next night news went all over the
world that the Campanile had fallen. But the accident had not
happened suddenly. The Campanile had been through centuries
preparing for its fall. Slowly the moist air of the lagoon had
slaked the lime, and the acid of the smoke had disintegrated the
mortar. A thousand minute injuries were slowly inflicted, and
gradually the foundations settled and cracked.
So it is with character in individuals and communities. Falsehood,
insincerity, vanity, dishonesty, selfishness and infidelity pull down
institutions and bring even empires crashing in ruins.
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