Note 446 — Scene II.—The Ducal Palace—The Doge's Apartment.
Reading edition
[The Doge overstates his authority. He could not preside without his Council "in the Maggior Consiglio, or in the Senate, or in the College; but four ducal councillors had the power to preside without the Doge. The Doge might not open despatches except in the presence of his Council, but his Council might open despatches in the absence of the Doge."—Venetian Studies, by H. F. Brown, 1887, p. 189.]