i find a lodging in the house of the chief of the sbirri — i pass a good night there and recover my strength — i go to mass — a disagreeable meeting i am obliged to take six sequins by force — out of danger — arrived at munich — balbi i set out for paris — my arrival — attempt on the life of louis xv
as soon as i saw father balbi far enough off i got up, and seeing at a little distance a shepherd keeping his flock on the hill-side, i made my way-towards him to obtain such information as i needed. “what is the name of this village, my friend?” said i.
“valde piadene, signor,” he answered, to my surprise, for i found i was much farther on my way that i thought. i next asked him the owners of five or six houses which i saw scattered around, and the persons he mentioned chanced to be all known to me, but were not the kind of men i should have cared to trouble with my presence. on my asking him the name of a palace before me, he said it belonged to the grimanis, the chief of whom was a state inquisitor, and then resident at the palace, so i had to take care not to let him see me. finally, an my enquiring the owner of a red house in the distance, he told me, much to my surprise, that it belonged to the chief of the sbirri. bidding farewell to the kindly shepherd i began to go down the hill mechanically, and i am still puzzled to know what instinct directed my steps towards that house, which common sense and fear also should have made me shun. i steered my course for it in a straight line, and i can say with truth that i did so quite unwittingly. if it be true that we have all of us an invisible intelligence — a beneficent genius who guides our steps aright — as was the case with socrates, to that alone i should attribute the irresistible attraction which drew me towards the house where i had most to dread. however that may be, it was the boldest stroke i have played in my whole life.
i entered with an easy and unconstrained air, and asked a child who was playing at top in the court-yard where his father was. instead of replying, the child went to call his mother, and directly afterwards appeared a pretty woman in the family way, who politely asked me my business with her husband, apologizing for his absence.
“i am sorry,” i said, “to hear that my gossip is not in, though at the same time i am delighted to make the acquaintance of his charming wife.”
“your gossip? you will be m. vetturi, then? my husband told me that you had kindly promised to be the god-father of our next child. i am delighted to know you, but my husband will be very vexed to have been away:
“i hope he will soon return, as i wanted to ask him for a night’s lodging. i dare not go anywhere in the state you see me.”
“you shall have the best bed in the house, and i will get you a good supper. my husband when he comes back will thank your excellence for doing us so much honour. he went away with all his people an hour ago, and i don’t expect him back for three or four days.”
“why is he away for such a long time, my dear madam?”
“you have not heard, then, that two prisoners have escaped from the leads? one is a noble and the other a private individual named casanova. my husband has received a letter from messer-grande ordering him to make a search for them; if he find them he will take them back to venice, and if not he will return here, but he will be on the look-out for three days at least.”
“i am sorry for this accident, my dear madam, but i should not like to put you out, and indeed i should be glad to lie down immediately.”
“you shall do so, and my mother shall attend to your wants. but what is the matter with your knees?”
“i fell down whilst hunting on the mountains, and gave myself some severe wounds, and am much weakened by loss of blood.”
“oh! my poor gentleman, my poor gentleman! but my mother will cure you.”
she called her mother, and having told her of my necessities she went out. this pretty sbirress had not the wit of her profession, for the story i had told her sounded like a fairy-tale. on horseback with white silk stockings! hunting in sarcenet, without cloak and without a man! her husband would make fine game of her when he came back; but god bless her for her kind heart and benevolent stupidity. her mother tended me with all the politeness i should have met with in the best families. the worthy woman treated me like a mother, and called me “son” as she attended to my wounds. the name sounded pleasantly in my ears, and did no little towards my cure by the sentiments it awoke in my breast. if i had been less taken up with the position i was in i should have repaid her care with some evident marks of the gratitude i felt, but the place i was in and the part i was playing made the situation too serious a one for me to think of anything else.
this kindly woman, after looking at my knees and my thighs, told me that i must make my mind to suffer a little pain, but i might be sure of being cured by the morning. all i had to do was to bear the application of medicated linen to my wounds, and not to stir till the next day. i promised to bear the pain patiently, and to do exactly as she told me.
i was given an excellent supper, and i ate and drank with good appetite. i then gave myself up to treatment, and fell asleep whilst my nurse was attending to me. i suppose she undressed me as she would a child, but i remembered nothing about it when i woke up — i was, in fact, totally unconscious. though i had made a good supper i had only done so to satisfy my craving for food and to regain my strength, and sleep came to me with an irresistible force, as my physical exhaustion did not leave me the power of arguing myself out of it. i took my supper at six o’clock in the evening, and i heard six striking as i awoke. i seemed to have been enchanted. rousing myself up and gathering my wits together, i first took off the linen bandages, and i was astonished to find my wounds healed and quite free from pain. i did my hair, dressed myself in less than five minutes, and finding the door of my room open i went downstairs, crossed the court, and left the house behind me, without appearing to notice two individuals who were standing outside, and must have been sbirri. i made haste to lengthen the distance between me and the place where i had found the kindliest hospitality, the utmost politeness, the most tender care, and best of all, new health and strength, and as i walked i could not help feeling terrified at the danger i had been in. i shuddered involuntarily; and at the present moment, after so many years, i still shudder when i think of the peril to which i had so heedlessly exposed myself. i wondered how i managed to go in, and still more how i came out; it seemed absurd that i should not be followed. for five hours i tramped on, keeping to the woods and mountains, not meeting a soul besides a few countryfolk, and turning neither to the right nor left.
it was not yet noon, when, as i went along my way, i stopped short at the sound of a bell. i was on high ground, and looking in the direction from which the sound came i saw, a little church in the valley, and many, people going towards it to hear mass. my heart desired to express thankfulness for the protection of providence, and, though all nature was a temple worthy of its creator, custom drew me to the church. when men are in trouble, every passing thought seems an inspiration. it was all souls’ day. i went down the hill, and came into the church, and saw, to my astonishment, m. marc antoine grimani, the nephew of the state inquisitor, with madame marie visani, his wife. i made my bow; which was returned, and after i had heard mass i left the church. m. grimani followed me by himself, and when he had got near me, called me by name, saying, “what are you doing here, casanova, and what has become of your friend?”
“i have given him what little money i had for him to escape by another road, whilst i, without a penny in my pocket, am endeavouring to reach a place of safety by this way. if your excellence would kindly give me some help, it would speed my journey for me.”
“i can’t give you anything, but you will find recluses on your way who won’t let you die of hunger. but tell me how you contrived to pierce the roof of the leads.”
“the story is an interesting one, but it would take up too much time, and in the meanwhile the recluses might eat up the food which is to keep me from dying of hunger.”
with this sarcasm i made him a profound bow, and went upon my way. in spite of my great want, his refusal pleased me, as it made me think myself a better gentleman than the “excellence” who had referred me to the charity of recluses. i heard at paris afterwards that when his wife heard of it she reproached him for his hard- hearted behaviour. there can be no doubt that kindly and generous feelings are more often to be found in the hearts of women than of men.
i continued my journey till sunset. weary and faint with hunger i stopped at a good-looking house, which stood by itself. i asked to speak to the master, and the porter told me that he was not in as he had gone to a wedding on the other side of the river, and would be away for two days, but that he had bidden him to welcome all his friends while he was away. providence! luck! chance! whichever you like.
i went in and was treated to a good supper and a good bed. i found by the addresses of some letters which were lying about that i was being entertained in the house of m. rombenchi — a consul, of what nation i know not. i wrote a letter to him and sealed it to await his return. after making an excellent supper and having had a good sleep, i rose, and dressing myself carefully set out again without being able to leave the porter any mark of my gratitude, and shortly afterwards crossed the river, promising to pay when i came back. after walking for five hours i dined in a monastery of capuchins, who are very useful to people in my position. i then set out again, feeling fresh and strong, and walked along at a good pace till three o’clock. i halted at a house which i found from a countryman belonged to a friend of mine. i walked in, asked if the master was at home, and was shewn into a room where he was writing by himself. i stepped forward to greet him, but as soon as he saw me he seemed horrified and bid me be gone forthwith, giving me idle and insulting reasons for his behaviour. i explained to him how i was situated, and asked him to let me have sixty sequins on my note of hand, drawn on m. de bragadin. he replied that he could not so much as give me a glass of water, since he dreaded the wrath of the tribunal for my very presence in his house. he was a stockbroker, about sixty years old, and was under great obligations to me. his inhuman refusal produced quite a different effect on me than that of m. grimani. whether from rage, indignation, or nature, i took him by the collar, i shewed him my pike, and raising my voice threatened to kill him. trembling all over, he took a key from his pocket and shewing me a bureau told me he kept money there, and i had only to open it and take what i wanted; i told him to open it himself. he did so, and on his opening a drawer containing gold, i told him to count me out six sequins.
“you asked me for sixty.”
“yes, that was when i was asking a loan of you as a friend; but since i owe the money to force, i require six only, and i will give you no note of hand. you shall be repaid at venice, where i shall write of the pass to which you forced me, you cowardly wretch!”
“i beg your pardon! take the sixty sequins, i entreat you.”
“no, no more. i am going on my way, and i advise you not to hinder me, lest in my despair i come back and burn your house about your ears.”
i went out and walked for two hours, until the approach of night and weariness made me stop short at the house of a farmer, where i had a bad supper and a bed of straw. in the morning, i bought an old overcoat, and hired an ass to journey on, and near feltre i bought a pair of boots. in this guise i passed the hut called the scala. there was a guard there who, much to my delight, as the reader will guess, did not even honour me by asking my name. i then took a two- horse carriage and got to borgo de valsugano in good time, and found father balbi at the inn i had told him of. if he had not greeted me first i should not have known him. a great overcoat, a low hat over a thick cotton cap, disguised him to admiration. he told me that a farmer had given him these articles in exchange for my cloak, that he had arrived without difficulty, and was faring well. he was kind enough to tell me that he did not expect to see me, as he did not believe my promise to rejoin him was made in good faith. possibly i should have been wise not to undeceive him on this account.
i passed the following day in the inn, where, without getting out of my bed, i wrote more than twenty letters to venice, in many of which i explained what i had been obliged to do to get the six sequins.
the monk wrote impudent letters to his superior, father barbarigo, and to his brother nobles, and love-letters to the servant girls who had been his ruin. i took the lace off my dress, and sold my hat, and thus got rid of a gay appearance unsuitable to my position, as it made me too much an object of notice.
the next day i went to pergina and lay there, and was visited by a young count d’alberg, who had discovered, in some way or another, that we had escaped from the state-prisons of venice. from pergina i went to trent and from there to bolzan, where, needing money for my dress, linen, and the continuation of my journey, i introduced myself to an old banker named mensch, who gave me a man to send to venice with a letter to m. de bragadin. in the mean time the old banker put me in a good inn where i spent the six days the messenger was away in bed. he brought me the sum of a hundred sequins, and my first care was to clothe my companion, and afterwards myself. every day i found the society of the wretched balbi more intolerable. “without me you would never have escaped” was continually in his mouth, and he kept reminding me that i had promised him half of whatever money i got. he made love to all the servant girls, and as he had neither the figure nor the manners to please them, his attentions were returned with good hearty slaps, which he bore patiently, but was as outrageous as ever in the course of twenty-four hours. i was amused, but at the same time vexed to be coupled to a man of so low a nature.
we travelled post, and in three days we got to munich, where i went to lodge at the sign of the “stag.” there i found two young venetians of the cantarini family, who had been there some time in company with count pompei, a veronese; but not knowing them, and having no longer any need of depending on recluses for my daily bread, i did not care to pay my respects to them. it was otherwise with countess coronini, whom i knew at st. justine’s convent at venice, and who stood very well with the bavarian court.
this illustrious lady, then seventy years old, gave me a good reception and promised to speak on my behalf to the elector, with a view to his granting me an asylum in his country. the next day, having fulfilled her promise, she told me that his highness had nothing to say against me, but as for balbi there was no safety for him in bavaria, for as a fugitive monk he might be claimed by the monks at munich, and his highness had no wish to meddle with the monks. the countess advised me therefore to get him out of the town as soon as possible, for him to fly to some other quarter, and thus to avoid the bad turn which his beloved brethren the monks were certain to do him.
feeling in duty bound to look after the interests of the wretched fellow, i went to the elector’s confessor to ask him to give balbi letters of introduction to some town in swabia. the confessor, a jesuit, did not give the lie to the fine reputation of his brethren of the order; his reception of me was as discourteous as it well could be. he told me in a careless way that at munich i was well known. i asked him without flinching if i was to take this as a piece of good or bad news; but he made no answer, and left me standing. another priest told me that he had gone out to verify the truth of a miracle of which the whole town was talking.
“what miracle is that, reverend father?” i said.
“the empress, the widow of charles vii, whose body is still exposed to the public gaze, has warm feet, although she is dead.”
“perhaps something keeps them warm.”
“you can assure yourself personally of the truth of this wonderful circumstance.”
to neglect such an opportunity would have been to lose the chance of mirth or edification, and i was as desirous of the one as of the other. wishing to be able to boast that i had seen a miracle — and one, moreover, of a peculiar interest for myself, who have always had the misfortune to suffer from cold feet — i went to see the mighty dead. it was quite true that her feet were warm, but the matter was capable of a simple explanation, as the feet of her defunct majesty were turned towards a burning lamp at a little distance off. a dancer of my acquaintance, whom curiosity had brought there with the rest, came up to me, complimented me upon my fortunate escape, and told me everybody was talking about it. his news pleased me, as it is always a good thing to interest the public. this son of terpsichore asked me to dinner, and i was glad to accept his invitation. his name was michel de l’agata, and his wife was the pretty gandela, whom i had known sixteen years ago at the old malipiero’s. the gandela was enchanted to see me, and to hear from my own lips the story of my wondrous escape. she interested herself on behalf of the monk, and offered me to give him a letter of introduction for augsburg canon bassi, of bologna, who was dean of st. maurice’s chapter, and a friend of hers. i took advantage of the offer, and she forthwith wrote me the letter, telling me that i need not trouble myself any more about the monk, as she was sure that the dean would take care of him, and even make it all right at venice.
delighted at getting rid of him in so honourable a manner, i ran to the inn, told him what i had done, gave him the letter, and promised not to abandon him in the case of the dean’s not giving him a warm welcome. i got him a good carriage, and started him off the next day at daybreak. four days after, balbi wrote that the dean had received him with great kindness, that he had given him a room in the deanery, that he had dressed him as an abbe, that he had introduced him to the prince-bishop of armstadt, and that he had received assurances of his safety from the civil magistrates. furthermore, the dean had promised to keep him till he obtained his secularization from rome, and with it freedom to return to venice, for as soon as he ceased to be a monk the tribunal would have no lien upon him. father balbi finished by asking me to send him a few sequins for pocket-money, as he was too much of a gentleman to ask the dean who, quoth the ungrateful fellow, “is not gentleman enough to offer to give me anything.” i gave him no answer.
as i was now alone in peace and quietness, i thought seriously of regaining my health, for my sufferings had given me nervous spasms which might become dangerous. i put myself on diet, and in three weeks i was perfectly well. in the meanwhile madame riviere came from dresden with her son and two daughters. she was going to paris to marry the elder. the son had been diligent, and would have passed for a young man of culture. the elder daughter, who was going to marry an actor, was extremely beautiful, an accomplished dancer, and played on the clavichord like a professional, and was altogether most charming and graceful. this pleasant family was delighted to see me again, and i thought myself fortunate when madame riviere, anticipating my wishes, intimated to me that my company as far as paris would give them great pleasure. i had nothing to say respecting the expenses of the journey. i had to accept their offer in its entirety. my design was to settle in paris, and i took this stroke of fortune as an omen of success in the only town where the blind goddess freely dispenses her favours to those who leave themselves to be guided by her, and know how to take advantage of her gifts. and, as the reader will see by and by, i was not mistaken; but all the gifts of fortune were of no avail, since i abused them all by my folly. fifteen months under the leads should have made me aware of my weak points, but in point of fact i needed a little longer stay to learn how to cure myself of my failings.
madame riviere wished to take me with her, but she could not put off her departure, and i required a week’s delay to get money and letters from venice. she promised to wait a week in strassburg, and we agreed that if possible i would join her there. she left munich on the 18th of december.
two days afterwards i got from venice the bill of exchange for which i was waiting. i made haste to pay my debts, and immediately afterwards i started for augsburg, not so much for the sake of seeing father balbi, as because i wanted to make the acquaintance of the kindly dean who had rid me of him. i reached augsburg in seven hours after leaving munich, and i went immediately to the house of the good ecclesiastic. he was not in, but i found balbi in an abbe’s dress, with his hair covered with white powder, which set off in a new but not a pleasing manner the beauties of his complexion of about the same colour as a horse chestnut. balbi was under forty, but he was decidedly ugly, having one of those faces in which baseness, cowardice, impudence, and malice are plainly expressed, joining to this advantage a tone of voice and manners admirably calculated to repulse anyone inclined to do him a service. i found him comfortably housed, well looked after, and well clad; he had books and all the requisites for writing. i complimented him upon his situation, calling him a fortunate fellow, and applying the same epithet to myself for having gained him all the advantages he enjoyed, and the hope of one day becoming a secular priest. but the ungrateful hound, instead of thanking me, reproached me for having craftily rid myself of him, and added that, as i was going to paris, i might as well take him with me, as the dullness of augsburg was almost killing him.
“what do you want at paris?”
“what do you want yourself?”
“to put my talents to account.”
“so do i.”
“well, then, you don’t require me, and can fly on your own wings. the people who are taking me to paris would probably not care for me if i had you for a companion.”
“you promised not to abandon me.”
“can a man who leaves another well provided for and an assured future be said to abandon him?”
“well provided! i have not got a penny.”
“what do you want with money? you have a good table, a good lodging, clothes, linen, attendance, and so forth. and if you want pocket- money, why don’t you ask your brethren the monks?”
“ask monks for money? they take it, but they don’t give it.”
“ask your friends, then.”
“i have no friends.”
“you are to be pitied, but the reason probably is that you have never been a friend to anyone. you ought to say masses, that is a good way of getting money.”
“i am unknown.”
“you must wait, then, till you are known, and then you can make up for lost time.”
“your suggestions are idle; you will surely give me a few sequins.”
“i can’t spare any.”
“wait for the dean. he will be back to-morrow. you can talk to him and persuade him to lend me some money. you can tell him that i will pay it back.”
“i cannot wait, for i am setting out on my journey directly, and were he here this moment i should not have the face to tell him to lend you money after all his generous treatment of you, and when he or anyone can see that you have all you need.”
after this sharp dialogue i left him, and travelling post i set out, displeased with myself for having given such advantages to a man wholly unworthy of them. in the march following i had a letter from the good dean bassi, in which he told me how balbi had run away, taking with him one of his servant girls, a sum of money, a gold watch, and a dozen silver spoons and forks. he did not know where he was gone.
towards the end of the same year i learnt at paris that the wretched man had taken refuge at coire, the capital of the grisons, where he asked to be made a member of the calvinistic church, and to be recognized as lawful husband of the woman with him; but in a short time the community discovered that the new convert was no good, and expelled him from the bosom of the church of calvin. our ne’er-do- well having no more money, his wife left him, and he, not knowing what to do next, took the desperate step of going to bressa, a town within the venetian territory, where he sought the governor, telling him his name, the story of his flight, and his repentance, begging the governor to take him under his protection and to obtain his pardon.
the first effect of the podesta’s protection was that the penitent was imprisoned, and he then wrote to the tribunal to know what to do with him. the tribunal told him to send father balbi in chains to venice, and on his arrival messer-grande gave him over to the tribunal, which put him once more under the leads. he did not find count asquin there, as the tribunal, out of consideration for his great age, had moved him to the fours a couple of months after our escape.
five or six years later, i heard that the tribunal, after keeping the unlucky monk for two years under the leads, had sent him to his convent. there, his superior fearing lest his flock should take contagion from this scabby sheep, sent him to their original monastery near feltre, a lonely building on a height. however, balbi did not stop there six months. having got the key of the fields, he went to rome, and threw himself at the feet of pope rezzonico, who absolved him of his sins, and released him from his monastic vows. balbi, now a secular priest, returned to venice, where he lived a dissolute and wretched life. in 1783 he died the death of diogenes, minus the wit of the cynic.
at strassburg i rejoined madame riviere and her delightful family, from whom i received a sincere and hearty welcome. we were staying at the “hotel de l’esprit,” and we passed a few days there most pleasurably, afterwards setting out in an excellent travelling carriage for paris the only, paris the universal. during the journey i thought myself bound to the expense of making it a pleasant one, as i had not to put my hand in my pocket for other expenses. the charms of mdlle. riviere enchanted me, but i should have esteemed myself wanting in gratitude and respect to this worthy family if i had darted at her a single amorous glance, or if i had let her suspect my feelings for her by a single word. in fact i thought myself obliged to play the heavy father, though my age did not fit me for the part, and i lavished on this agreeable family all the care which can be given in return for pleasant society, a seat in a comfortable travelling carriage, an excellent table, and a good bed.
we reached paris on the 5th of january, 1757, and i went to the house of my friend baletti, who received me with open arms, and assured me that though i had not written he had been expecting me, since he judged that i would strive to put the greatest possible distance between myself and venice, and he could think of no other retreat for me than paris. the whole house kept holiday when my arrival became known, and i have never met with more sincere regard than in that delightful family. i greeted with enthusiasm the father and mother, whom i found exactly the same as when i had seen them last in 1752, but i was struck with astonishment at the daughter whom i had left a child, for she was now a tall and well-shaped girl. mdlle. baletti was fifteen years old, and her mother had brought her up with care, had given her the best masters, virtue, grace, talents, a good manner, tact, a knowledge of society-in short, all that a clever mother can give to a dear daughter.
after finding a pleasant lodging near the baletti’s, i took a coach and went to the “hotel de bourbon” with the intention of calling on m. de bernis, who was then chief secretary for foreign affairs. i had good reasons for relying on his assistance. he was out; he had gone to versailles. at paris one must go sharply to work, and, as it is vulgarly but forcibly said, “strike while the iron’s hot.” as i was impatient to see what kind of a reception i should get from the liberal-minded lover of my fair m—— m— — i went to the pont- royal, took a hackney coach, and went to versailles. again bad luck!
our coaches crossed each other on the way, and my humble equipage had not caught his excellency’s eye. m. de bernis had returned to paris with count de castillana, the ambassador from naples, and i determined to return also; but when i got to the gate i saw a mob of people running here and there in the greatest confusion, and from all sides i heard the cry, “the king is assassinated! the king is assassinated!”
my frightened coachman only thought of getting on his way, but the coach was stopped. i was made to get out and taken to the guard- room, where there were several people already, and in less than three minutes there were twenty of us, all under arrest, all astonished at the situation, and all as much guilty as i was. we sat glum and silent, looking at each other without daring to speak. i knew not what to think, and not believing in enchantment i began to think i must be dreaming. every face expressed surprise, as everyone, though innocent, was more or less afraid.
we were not left in this disagreeable position for long, as in five minutes an officer came in, and after some polite apologies told us we were free.
“the king is wounded,” he said, “and he has been taken to his room. the assassin, whom nobody knows, is under arrest. m. de la martiniere is being looked for everywhere.”
as soon as i had got back to my coach, and was thinking myself lucky for being there, a gentlemanly-looking young man came up to me and besought me to give him a seat in my coach, and he would gladly pay half the fare; but in spite of the laws of politeness i refused his request. i may possibly have been wrong. on any other occasion i should have been most happy to give him a place, but there are times when prudence does not allow one to be polite. i was about three hours on the way, and in this short time i was overtaken every minute by at least two hundred couriers riding at a breakneck pace. every minute brought a new courier, and every courier shouted his news to the winds. the first told me what i already knew; then i heard that the king had been bled, that the wound was not mortal, and finally, that the wound was trifling, and that his majesty could go to the trianon if he liked.
fortified with this good news, i went to silvia’s and found the family at table. i told them i had just come from versailles.
“the king has been assassinated.”
“not at all; he is able to go to the trianon, or the parc-aux-cerfs, if he likes. m. de la martiniere has bled him, and found him to be in no danger. the assassin has been arrested, and the wretched man will be burnt, drawn with red-hot pincers, and quartered.”
this news was soon spread abroad by silvia’s servants, and a crowd of the neighbours came to hear what i had to say, and i had to repeat the same thing ten times over. at this period the parisians fancied that they loved the king. they certainly acted the part of loyal subjects to admiration. at the present day they are more enlightened, and would only love the sovereign whose sole desire is the happiness of his people, and such a king — the first citizens of a great nation — not paris and its suburbs, but all france, will be eager to love and obey. as for kings like louis xv., they have become totally impracticable; but if there are any such, however much they may be supported by interested parties, in the eyes of public opinion they will be dishonoured and disgraced before their bodies are in a grave and their names are written in the book of history.
