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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of To Paris And Prison: Under the Leads
+by Jacques Casanova de Seingalt
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: To Paris And Prison: Under the Leads
+       The Memoirs Of Jacques Casanova De Seingalt 1725-1798
+
+Author: Jacques Casanova de Seingalt
+
+Release Date: October 30, 2006 [EBook #2960]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNDER THE LEADS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Widger
+
+
+
+
+
+MEMOIRS OF JACQUES CASANOVA de SEINGALT 1725-1798
+
+TO PARIS AND PRISON, Volume 2e--UNDER THE LEADS
+
+THE RARE UNABRIDGED LONDON EDITION OF 1894 TRANSLATED BY ARTHUR MACHEN TO
+WHICH HAS BEEN ADDED THE CHAPTERS DISCOVERED BY ARTHUR SYMONS.
+
+
+
+
+UNDER THE LEADS
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+Under The Leads--The Earthquake
+
+What a strange and unexplained power certain words exercise upon the
+soul! I, who the evening before so bravely fortified myself with my
+innocence and courage, by the word tribunal was turned to a stone, with
+merely the faculty of passive obedience left to me.
+
+My desk was open, and all my papers were on a table where I was
+accustomed to write.
+
+"Take them," said I, to the agent of the dreadful Tribunal, pointing to
+the papers which covered the table. He filled a bag with them, and gave
+it to one of the sbirri, and then told me that I must also give up the
+bound manuscripts which I had in my possession. I shewed him where they
+were, and this incident opened my eyes. I saw now, clearly enough, that I
+had been betrayed by the wretch Manuzzi. The books were, "The Key of
+Solomon the King," "The Zecorben," a "Picatrix," a book of "Instructions
+on the Planetary Hours," and the necessary incantations for conversing
+with demons of all sorts. Those who were aware that I possessed these
+books took me for an expert magician, and I was not sorry to have such a
+reputation.
+
+Messer-Grande took also the books on the table by my bed, such as
+Petrarch, Ariosto, Horace. "The Military' Philosopher" (a manuscript
+which Mathilde had given me), "The Porter of Chartreux," and "The
+Aretin," which Manuzzi had also denounced, for Messer-Grande asked me for
+it by name. This spy, Manuzzi, had all the appearance of an honest man--a
+very necessary qualification for his profession. His son made his fortune
+in Poland by marrying a lady named Opeska, whom, as they say, he killed,
+though I have never had any positive proof on the matter, and am willing
+to stretch Christian charity to the extent of believing he was innocent,
+although he was quite capable of such a crime.
+
+While Messer-Grande was thus rummaging among my manuscripts, books and
+letters, I was dressing myself in an absent-minded manner, neither
+hurrying myself nor the reverse. I made my toilette, shaved myself, and
+combed my hair; putting on mechanically a laced shirt and my holiday suit
+without saying a word, and without Messer-Grande--who did not let me
+escape his sight for an instant--complaining that I was dressing myself
+as if I were going to a wedding.
+
+As I went out I was surprised to see a band of forty men-at-arms in the
+ante-room. They had done me the honour of thinking all these men
+necessary for my arrest, though, according to the axiom 'Ne Hercules
+quidem contra duos', two would have been enough. It is curious that in
+London, where everyone is brave, only one man is needed to arrest
+another, whereas in my dear native land, where cowardice prevails, thirty
+are required. The reason is, perhaps, that the coward on the offensive is
+more afraid than the coward on the defensive, and thus a man usually
+cowardly is transformed for the moment into a man of courage. It is
+certain that at Venice one often sees a man defending himself against
+twenty sbirri, and finally escaping after beating them soundly. I
+remember once helping a friend of mine at Paris to escape from the hands
+of forty bum-bailiffs, and we put the whole vile rout of them to flight.
+
+Messer-Grande made me get into a gondola, and sat down near me with an
+escort of four men. When we came to our destination he offered me coffee,
+which I refused; and he then shut me up in a room. I passed these four
+hours in sleep, waking up every quarter of an hour to pass water--an
+extraordinary occurrence, as I was not at all subject to stranguary; the
+heat was great, and I had not supped the evening before. I have noticed
+at other times that surprise at a deed of oppression acts on me as a
+powerful narcotic, but I found out at the time I speak of that great
+surprise is also a diuretic. I make this discovery over to the doctors,
+it is possible that some learned man may make use of it to solace the
+ills of humanity. I remember laughing very heartily at Prague six years
+ago, on learning that some thin-skinned ladies, on reading my flight from
+The Leads, which was published at that date, took great offence at the
+above account, which they thought I should have done well to leave out. I
+should have left it out, perhaps, in speaking to a lady, but the public
+is not a pretty woman whom I am intent on cajoling, my only aim is to be
+instructive. Indeed, I see no impropriety in the circumstance I have
+narrated, which is as common to men and women as eating and drinking; and
+if there is anything in it to shock too sensitive nerves, it is that we
+resemble in this respect the cows and pigs.
+
+It is probable that just as my overwhelmed soul gave signs of its failing
+strength by the loss of the thinking faculty, so my body distilled a
+great part of those fluids which by their continual circulation set the
+thinking faculty in motion. Thus a sudden shock might cause instantaneous
+death, and send one to Paradise by a cut much too short.
+
+In course of time the captain of the men-at-arms came to tell me that he
+was under orders to take me under the Leads. Without a word I followed
+him. We went by gondola, and after a thousand turnings among the small
+canals we got into the Grand Canal, and landed at the prison quay. After
+climbing several flights of stairs we crossed a closed bridge which forms
+the communication between the prisons and the Doge's palace, crossing the
+canal called Rio di Palazzo. On the other side of this bridge there is a
+gallery which we traversed. We then crossed one room, and entered
+another, where sat an individual in the dress of a noble, who, after
+looking fixedly at me, said, "E quello, mettetelo in deposito:"
+
+This man was the secretary of the Inquisitors, the prudent Dominic
+Cavalli, who was apparently ashamed to speak Venetian in my presence as
+he pronounced my doom in the Tuscan language.
+
+Messer-Grande then made me over to the warden of The Leads, who stood by
+with an enormous bunch of keys, and accompanied by two guards, made me
+climb two short flights of stairs, at the top of which followed a passage
+and then another gallery, at the end of which he opened a door, and I
+found myself in a dirty garret, thirty-six feet long by twelve broad,
+badly lighted by a window high up in the roof. I thought this garret was
+my prison, but I was mistaken; for, taking an enormous key, the gaoler
+opened a thick door lined with iron, three and a half feet high, with a
+round hole in the middle, eight inches in diameter, just as I was looking
+intently at an iron machine. This machine was like a horse shoe, an inch
+thick and about five inches across from one end to the other. I was
+thinking what could be the use to which this horrible instrument was put,
+when the gaoler said, with a smile,
+
+"I see, sir, that you wish to know what that is for, and as it happens I
+can satisfy your curiosity. When their excellencies give orders that
+anyone is to be strangled, he is made to sit down on a stool, the back
+turned to this collar, and his head is so placed that the collar goes
+round one half of the neck. A silk band, which goes round the other half,
+passes through this hole, and the two ends are connected with the axle of
+a wheel which is turned by someone until the prisoner gives up the ghost,
+for the confessor, God be thanked! never leaves him till he is dead."
+
+"All this sounds very ingenious, and I should think that it is you who
+have the honour of turning the wheel."
+
+He made no answer, and signing to me to enter, which I did by bending
+double, he shut me up, and afterwards asked me through the grated hole
+what I would like to eat.
+
+"I haven't thought anything about it yet," I answered. And he went away,
+locking all the doors carefully behind him.
+
+Stunned with grief, I leant my elbows on the top of the grating. It was
+crossed, by six iron bars an inch thick, which formed sixteen square
+holes. This opening would have lighted my cell, if a square beam
+supporting the roof which joined the wall below the window had not
+intercepted what little light came into that horrid garret. After making
+the tour of my sad abode, my head lowered, as the cell was not more than
+five and a half feet high, I found by groping along that it formed
+three-quarters of a square of twelve feet. The fourth quarter was a kind
+of recess, which would have held a bed; but there was neither bed, nor
+table, nor chair, nor any furniture whatever, except a bucket--the use of
+which may be guessed, and a bench fixed in the wall a foot wide and four
+feet from the ground. On it I placed my cloak, my fine suit, and my hat
+trimmed with Spanish paint and adorned with a beautiful white feather.
+The heat was great, and my instinct made me go mechanically to the
+grating, the only place where I could lean on my elbows. I could not see
+the window, but I saw the light in the garret, and rats of a fearful
+size, which walked unconcernedly about it; these horrible creatures
+coming close under my grating without shewing the slightest fear. At the
+sight of these I hastened to close up the round hole in the middle of the
+door with an inside shutter, for a visit from one of the rats would have
+frozen my blood. I passed eight hours in silence and without stirring, my
+arms all the time crossed on the top of the grating.
+
+At last the clock roused me from my reverie, and I began to feel restless
+that no one came to give me anything to eat or to bring me a bed whereon
+to sleep. I thought they might at least let me have a chair and some
+bread and water. I had no appetite, certainly; but were my gaolers to
+guess as much? And never in my life had I been so thirsty. I was quite
+sure, however, that somebody would come before the close of the day; but
+when I heard eight o'clock strike I became furious, knocking at the door,
+stamping my feet, fretting and fuming, and accompanying this useless
+hubbub with loud cries. After more than an hour of this wild exercise,
+seeing no one, without the slightest reason to think I could be heard,
+and shrouded in darkness, I shut the grating for fear of the rats, and
+threw myself at full length upon the floor. So cruel a desertion seemed
+to me unnatural, and I came to the conclusion that the Inquisitors had
+sworn my death. My investigation as to what I had done to deserve such a
+fate was not a long one, for in the most scrupulous examination of my
+conduct I could find no crimes. I was, it is true, a profligate, a
+gambler, a bold talker, a man who thought of little besides enjoying this
+present life, but in all that there was no offence against the state.
+Nevertheless, finding myself treated as a criminal, rage and despair made
+me express myself against the horrible despotism which oppressed me in a
+manner which I will leave my readers to guess, but which I will not
+repeat here. But notwithstanding my brief and anxiety, the hunger which
+began to make itself felt, and the thirst which tormented me, and the
+hardness of the boards on which I lay, did not prevent exhausted nature
+from reasserting her rights; I fell asleep.
+
+My strong constitution was in need of sleep; and in a young and healthy
+subject this imperious necessity silences all others, and in this way
+above all is sleep rightly termed the benefactor of man.
+
+The clock striking midnight awoke me. How sad is the awaking when it
+makes one regret one's empty dreams. I could scarcely believe that I had
+spent three painless hours. As I lay on my left side, I stretched out my
+right hand to get my handkerchief, which I remembered putting on that
+side. I felt about for it, when--heavens! what was my surprise to feel
+another hand as cold as ice. The fright sent an electric shock through
+me, and my hair began to stand on end.
+
+Never had I been so alarmed, nor should I have previously thought myself
+capable of experiencing such terror. I passed three or four minutes in a
+kind of swoon, not only motionless but incapable of thinking. As I got
+back my senses by degrees, I tried to make myself believe that the hand I
+fancied I had touched was a mere creature of my disordered imagination;
+and with this idea I stretched out my hand again, and again with the same
+result. Benumbed with fright, I uttered a piercing cry, and, dropping the
+hand I held, I drew back my arm, trembling all over:
+
+Soon, as I got a little calmer and more capable of reasoning, I concluded
+that a corpse had been placed beside me whilst I slept, for I was certain
+it was not there when I lay down.
+
+"This," said I, "is the body of some strangled wretch, and they would
+thus warn me of the fate which is in store for me."
+
+The thought maddened me; and my fear giving place to rage, for the third
+time I stretched my arm towards the icy hand, seizing it to make certain
+of the fact in all its atrocity, and wishing to get up, I rose upon my
+left elbow, and found that I had got hold of my other hand. Deadened by
+the weight of my body and the hardness of the boards, it had lost warmth,
+motion, and all sensation.
+
+In spite of the humorous features in this incident, it did not cheer me
+up, but, on the contrary, inspired me with the darkest fancies. I saw
+that I was in a place where, if the false appeared true, the truth might
+appear false, where understanding was bereaved of half its prerogatives,
+where the imagination becoming affected would either make the reason a
+victim to empty hopes or to dark despair. I resolved to be on my guard;
+and for the first time in my life, at the age of thirty, I called
+philosophy to my assistance. I had within me all the seeds of philosophy,
+but so far I had had no need for it.
+
+I am convinced that most men die without ever having thought, in the
+proper sense of the word, not so much for want of wit or of good sense,
+but rather because the shock necessary to the reasoning faculty in its
+inception has never occurred to them to lift them out of their daily
+habits.
+
+After what I had experienced, I could think of sleep no more, and to get
+up would have been useless as I could not stand upright, so I took the
+only sensible course and remained seated. I sat thus till four o'clock in
+the morning, the sun would rise at five, and I longed to see the day, for
+a presentiment which I held infallible told me that it would set me again
+at liberty. I was consumed with a desire for revenge, nor did I conceal
+it from myself. I saw myself at the head of the people, about to
+exterminate the Government which had oppressed me; I massacred all the
+aristocrats without pity; all must be shattered and brought to the dust.
+I was delirious; I knew the authors of my misfortune, and in my fancy I
+destroyed them. I restored the natural right common to all men of being
+obedient only to the law, and of being tried only by their peers and by
+laws to which they have agreed-in short, I built castles in Spain. Such
+is man when he has become the prey of a devouring passion. He does not
+suspect that the principle which moves him is not reason but wrath, its
+greatest enemy.
+
+I waited for a less time than I had expected, and thus I became a little
+more quiet. At half-past four the deadly silence of the place--this hell
+of the living--was broken by the shriek of bolts being shot back in the
+passages leading to my cell.
+
+"Have you had time yet to think about what you will take to eat?" said
+the harsh voice of my gaoler from the wicket.
+
+One is lucky when the insolence of a wretch like this only shews itself
+in the guise of jesting. I answered that I should like some rice soup, a
+piece of boiled beef, a roast, bread, wine, and water. I saw that the
+lout was astonished not to hear the lamentations he expected. He went
+away and came back again in a quarter of an hour to say that he was
+astonished I did not require a bed and the necessary pieces of furniture,
+"for," said he, "if you flatter yourself that you are only here for a
+night, you are very much mistaken."
+
+"Then bring me whatever you think necessary."
+
+"Where shall I go for it? Here is a pencil and paper; write it down."
+
+I skewed him by writing where to go for my shirts, stockings, and clothes
+of all sorts, a bed, table, chair, the books which Messer-Grande had
+confiscated, paper, pens, and so forth. On my reading out the list to him
+(the lout did not know how to read) he cried, "Scratch out," said he,
+"scratch out books, paper, pens, looking-glass and razors, for all that
+is forbidden fruit here, and then give me some money to get your dinner."
+I had three sequins so I gave him one, and he went off. He spent an hour
+in the passages engaged, as I learnt afterwards, in attending on seven
+other prisoners who were imprisoned in cells placed far apart from each
+other to prevent all communication.
+
+About noon the gaoler reappeared followed by five guards, whose duty it
+was to serve the state prisoners. He opened: the cell door to bring in my
+dinner and the furniture I had asked for. The bed was placed in the
+recess; my dinner was laid out on a small table, and I had to eat with an
+ivory spoon he had procured out of the money I had given him; all forks,
+knives, and edged tools being forbidden.
+
+"Tell me what you would like for to-morrow," said he, "for I can only
+come here once a day at sunrise. The Lord High Secretary has told me to
+inform you that he will send you some suitable books, but those you wish
+for are forbidden."
+
+"Thank him for his kindness in putting me by myself."
+
+"I will do so, but you make a mistake in jesting thus."
+
+"I don't jest at all, for I think truly that it is much better to be
+alone than to mingle with the scoundrels who are doubtless here."
+
+"What, sir! scoundrels? Not at all, not at all. They are only respectable
+people here, who, for reasons known to their excellencies alone, have to
+be sequestered from society. You have been put by yourself as an
+additional punishment, and you want me to thank the secretary on that
+account?"
+
+"I was not aware of that."
+
+The fool was right, and I soon found it out. I discovered that a man
+imprisoned by himself can have no occupations. Alone in a gloomy cell
+where he only sees the fellow who brings his food once a day, where he
+cannot walk upright, he is the most wretched of men. He would like to be
+in hell, if he believes in it, for the sake of the company. So strong a
+feeling is this that I got to desire the company of a murderer, of one
+stricken with the plague, or of a bear. The loneliness behind the prison
+bars is terrible, but it must be learnt by experience to be understood,
+and such an experience I would not wish even to my enemies. To a man of
+letters in my situation, paper and ink would take away nine-tenths of the
+torture, but the wretches who persecuted me did not dream of granting me
+such an alleviation of my misery.
+
+After the gaoler had gone, I set my table near the grating for the sake
+of the light, and sat down to dinner, but I could only swallow a few
+spoonfuls of soup. Having fasted for nearly forty-eight hours, it was not
+surprising that I felt ill. I passed the day quietly enough seated on my
+sofa, and proposing myself to read the "suitable books" which they had
+been good enough to promise me. I did not shut my eyes the whole night,
+kept awake by the hideous noise made by the rats, and by the deafening
+chime of the clock of St. Mark's, which seemed to be striking in my room.
+This double vexation was not my chief trouble, and I daresay many of my
+readers will guess what I am going to speak of-namely, the myriads of
+fleas which held high holiday over me. These small insects drank my blood
+with unutterable voracity, their incessant bites gave me spasmodic
+convulsions and poisoned my blood.
+
+At day-break, Lawrence (such was the gaoler's name) came to my cell and
+had my bed made, and the room swept and cleansed, and one of the guards
+gave me water wherewith to wash myself. I wanted to take a walk in the
+garret, but Lawrence told me that was forbidden. He gave me two thick
+books which I forbore to open, not being quite sure of repressing the
+wrath with which they might inspire me, and which the spy would have
+infallibly reported to his masters. After leaving me my fodder and two
+cut lemons he went away.
+
+As soon as I was alone I ate my soup in a hurry, so as to take it hot,
+and then I drew as near as I could to the light with one of the books,
+and was delighted to find that I could see to read. I looked at the
+title, and read, "The Mystical City of Sister Mary of Jesus, of Agrada."
+I had never heard of it. The other book was by a Jesuit named Caravita.
+This fellow, a hypocrite like the rest of them, had invented a new cult
+of the "Adoration of the Sacred Heart of our Lord Jesus Christ." This,
+according to the author, was the part of our Divine Redeemer, which above
+all others should be adored a curious idea of a besotted ignoramus, with
+which I got disgusted at the first page, for to my thinking the heart is
+no more worthy a part than the lungs, stomach; or any other of the
+inwards. The "Mystical City" rather interested me.
+
+I read in it the wild conceptions of a Spanish nun, devout to
+superstition, melancholy, shut in by convent walls, and swayed by the
+ignorance and bigotry of her confessors. All these grotesque, monstrous,
+and fantastic visions of hers were dignified with the name of
+revelations. The lover and bosom-friend of the Holy Virgin, she had
+received instructions from God Himself to write the life of His divine
+mother; the necessary information was furnished her by the Holy Ghost.
+
+This life of Mary began, not with the day of her birth, but with her
+immaculate conception in the womb of Anne, her mother. This Sister Mary
+of Agrada was the head of a Franciscan convent founded by herself in her
+own house. After telling in detail all the deeds of her divine heroine
+whilst in her mother's womb, she informs us that at the age of three she
+swept and cleansed the house with the assistance of nine hundred
+servants, all of whom were angels whom God had placed at her disposal,
+under the command of Michael, who came and went between God and herself
+to conduct their mutual correspondence.
+
+What strikes the judicious reader of the book is the evident belief of
+the more than fanatical writer that nothing is due to her invention;
+everything is told in good faith and with full belief. The work contains
+the dreams of a visionary, who, without vanity but inebriated with the
+idea of God, thinks to reveal only the inspirations of the Divine Spirit.
+
+The book was published with the permission of the very holy and very
+horrible Inquisition. I could not recover from my astonishment! Far from
+its stirring up in my breast a holy and simple zeal of religion, it
+inclined me to treat all the mystical dogmas of the Faith as fabulous.
+
+Such works may have dangerous results; for example, a more susceptible
+reader than myself, or one more inclined to believe in the marvellous,
+runs the risk of becoming as great a visionary as the poor nun herself.
+
+The need of doing something made me spend a week over this masterpiece of
+madness, the product of a hyper-exalted brain. I took care to say nothing
+to the gaoler about this fine work, but I began to feel the effects of
+reading it. As soon as I went off to sleep I experienced the disease
+which Sister Mary of Agrada had communicated to my mind weakened by
+melancholy, want of proper nourishment and exercise, bad air, and the
+horrible uncertainty of my fate. The wildness of my dreams made me laugh
+when I recalled them in my waking moments. If I had possessed the
+necessary materials I would have written my visions down, and I might
+possibly have produced in my cell a still madder work than the one chosen
+with such insight by Cavalli.
+
+This set me thinking how mistaken is the opinion which makes human
+intellect an absolute force; it is merely relative, and he who studies
+himself carefully will find only weakness. I perceived that though men
+rarely become mad, still such an event is well within the bounds of
+possibility, for our reasoning faculties are like powder, which, though
+it catches fire easily, will never catch fire at all without a spark. The
+book of the Spanish nun has all the properties necessary to make a man
+crack-brained; but for the poison to take effect he must be isolated, put
+under the Leads, and deprived of all other employments.
+
+In November, 1767, as I was going from Pampeluna to Madrid, my coachman,
+Andrea Capello, stopped for us to dine in a town of Old Castille. So
+dismal and dreary a place did I find it that I asked its name. How I
+laughed when I was told that it was Agrada!
+
+"Here, then," I said to myself, "did that saintly lunatic produce that
+masterpiece which but for M. Cavalli I should never have known."
+
+An old priest, who had the highest possible opinion of me the moment I
+began to ask him about this truthful historian of the mother of Christ,
+shewed me the very place where she had written it, and assured me that
+the father, mother, sister, and in short all the kindred of the blessed
+biographer, had been great saints in their generation. He told me, and
+spoke truly, that the Spaniards had solicited her canonization at Rome,
+with that of the venerable Palafox. This "Mystical City," perhaps, gave
+Father Malagrida the idea of writing the life of St. Anne, written, also,
+at the dictation of the Holy Ghost, but the poor devil of a Jesuit had to
+suffer martyrdom for it--an additional reason for his canonization, if
+the horrible society ever comes to life again, and attains the universal
+power which is its secret aim.
+
+At the end of eight or nine days I found myself moneyless. Lawrence asked
+me for some, but I had not got it.
+
+"Where can I get some?"
+
+"Nowhere."
+
+What displeased this ignorant and gossiping fellow about me was my
+silence and my laconic manner of talking.
+
+Next day he told me that the Tribunal had assigned me fifty sous per diem
+of which he would have to take charge, but that he would give me an
+account of his expenditure every month, and that he would spend the
+surplus on what I liked.
+
+"Get me the Leyden Gazette twice a week."
+
+"I can't do that, because it is not allowed by the authorities."
+
+Sixty-five livres a month was more than I wanted, since I could not eat
+more than I did: the great heat and the want of proper nourishment had
+weakened me. It was in the dog-days; the strength of the sun's rays upon
+the lead of the roof made my cell like a stove, so that the streams of
+perspiration which rolled off my poor body as I sat quite naked on my
+sofa-chair wetted the floor to right and left of me.
+
+I had been in this hell-on-earth for fifteen days without any secretion
+from the bowels. At the end of this almost incredible time nature
+re-asserted herself, and I thought my last hour was come. The
+haemorrhoidal veins were swollen to such an extent that the pressure on
+them gave me almost unbearable agony. To this fatal time I owe the
+inception of that sad infirmity of which I have never been able to
+completely cure myself. The recurrence of the same pains, though not so
+acute, remind me of the cause, and do not make my remembrance of it any
+the more agreeable. This disease got me compliments in Russia when I was
+there ten years later, and I found it in such esteem that I did not dare
+to complain. The same kind of thing happened to me at Constantinople,
+when I was complaining of a cold in the head in the presence of a Turk,
+who was thinking, I could see, that a dog of a Christian was not worthy
+of such a blessing.
+
+The same day I sickened with a high fever and kept my bed. I said nothing
+to Lawrence about it, but the day after, on finding my dinner untouched,
+he asked me how I was.
+
+"Very well."
+
+"That can't be, sir, as you have eaten nothing. You are ill, and you will
+experience the generosity of the Tribunal who will provide you, without
+fee or charge, with a physician, surgeon, and all necessary medicines."
+
+He went out, returning after three hours without guards, holding a candle
+in his hand, and followed by a grave-looking personage; this was the
+doctor. I was in the height of the fever, which had not left me for three
+days. He came up to me and began to ask me questions, but I told him that
+with my confessor and my doctor I would only speak apart. The doctor told
+Lawrence to leave the room, but on the refusal of that Argus to do so, he
+went away saying that I was dangerously ill, possibly unto death. For
+this I hoped, for my life as it had become was no longer my chiefest
+good. I was somewhat glad also to think that my pitiless persecutors
+might, on hearing of my condition, be forced to reflect on the cruelty of
+the treatment to which they had subjected me.
+
+Four hours afterwards I heard the noise of bolts once more, and the
+doctor came in holding the candle himself. Lawrence remained outside. I
+had become so weak that I experienced a grateful restfulness. Kindly
+nature does not suffer a man seriously ill to feel weary. I was delighted
+to hear that my infamous turnkey was outside, for since his explanation
+of the iron collar I had looked an him with loathing.
+
+In a quarter of an hour I had told the doctor all.
+
+"If we want to get well," said he, "we must not be melancholy."
+
+"Write me the prescription, and take it to the only apothecary who can
+make it up. M. Cavalli is the bad doctor who exhibited 'The Heart of
+Jesus,' and 'The Mystical City.'"
+
+"Those two preparations are quite capable of having brought on the fever
+and the haemorrhoids. I will not forsake you."
+
+After making me a large jug of lemonade, and telling the to drink
+frequently, he went away. I slept soundly, dreaming fantastic dreams.
+
+In he morning the doctor came again with Lawrence and a surgeon, who bled
+me. The doctor left me some medicine which he told me to take in the
+evening, and a bottle of soap. "I have obtained leave," said he, "for you
+to move into the garret where the heat is less, and the air better than
+here."
+
+"I decline the favour, as I abominate the rats, which you know nothing
+about, and which would certainly get into my bed."
+
+"What a pity! I told M. Cavalli that he had almost killed you with his
+books, and he has commissioned me to take them back, and to give you
+Boethius; and here it is."
+
+"I am much obliged to you. I like it better than Seneca, and I am sure it
+will do me good."
+
+"I am leaving you a very necessary instrument, and some barley water for
+you to refresh yourself with."
+
+He visited me four times, and pulled me through; my constitution did the
+rest, and my appetite returned. At the beginning of September I found
+myself, on the whole, very well, suffering from no actual ills except the
+heat, the vermin, and weariness, for I could not be always reading
+Boethius.
+
+One day Lawrence told me that I might go out of my cell to wash myself
+whilst the bed was being made and the room swept. I took advantage of the
+favour to walk up and down for the ten minutes taken by these operations,
+and as I walked hard the rats were alarmed and dared not shew themselves.
+On the same day Lawrence gave me an account of my money, and brought
+himself in as my debtor to the amount of thirty livres, which however, I
+could not put into my pocket. I left the money in his hands, telling him
+to lay it out on masses on my behalf, feeling sure that he would make
+quite a different use of it, and he thanked me in a tone that persuaded
+me he would be his own priest. I gave him the money every month, and I
+never saw a priest's receipt. Lawrence was wise to celebrate the
+sacrifice at the tavern; the money was useful to someone at all events.
+
+I lived from day to day, persuading myself every night that the next day
+I should be at liberty; but as I was each day deceived, I decided in my
+poor brain that I should be set free without fail on the 1st of October,
+on which day the new Inquisitors begin their term of office. According to
+this theory, my imprisonment would last as long as the authority of the
+present Inquisitors, and thus was explained the fact that I had seen
+nothing of the secretary, who would otherwise have undoubtedly come to
+interrogate, examine, and convict me of my crimes, and finally to
+announce my doom. All this appeared to me unanswerable, because it seemed
+natural, but it was fallacious under the Leads, where nothing is done
+after the natural order. I imagined the Inquisitors must have discovered
+my innocence and the wrong they had done me, and that they only kept me
+in prison for form's sake, and to protect their repute from the stain of
+committing injustice; hence I concluded that they would give me my
+freedom when they laid down their tyrannical authority. My mind was so
+composed and quiet that I felt as if I could forgive them, and forget the
+wrong that they had done me. "How can they leave me here to the mercy of
+their successors," I thought, "to whom they cannot leave any evidence
+capable of condemning me?" I could not believe that my sentence had been
+pronounced and confirmed, without my being told of it, or of the reasons
+by which my judges had been actuated. I was so certain that I had right
+on my side, that I reasoned accordingly; but this was not the attitude I
+should have assumed towards a court which stands aloof from all the
+courts in the world for its unbounded absolutism. To prove anyone guilty,
+it is only necessary for the Inquisitors to proceed against him; so there
+is no need to speak to him, and when he is condemned it would be useless
+to announce to the prisoner his sentence, as his consent is not required,
+and they prefer to leave the poor wretch the feeling of hope; and
+certainly, if he were told the whole process, imprisonment would not be
+shortened by an hour. The wise man tells no one of his business, and the
+business of the Tribunal of Venice is only to judge and to doom. The
+guilty party is not required to have any share in the matter; he is like
+a nail, which to be driven into a wall needs only to be struck.
+
+To a certain extent I was acquainted with the ways of the Colossus which
+was crushing me under foot, but there are things on earth which one can
+only truly understand by experience. If amongst my readers there are any
+who think such laws unjust, I forgive them, as I know they have a strong
+likeness to injustice; but let me tell them that they are also necessary,
+as a tribunal like the Venetian could not subsist without them. Those who
+maintain these laws in full vigour are senators, chosen from amongst the
+fittest for that office, and with a reputation for honour and virtue.
+
+The last day of September I passed a sleepless night, and was on thorns
+to see the dawn appear, so sure was I that that day would make me free.
+The reign of those villains who had made me a captive drew to a close;
+but the dawn appeared, Lawrence came as usual, and told me nothing new.
+For five or six days I hovered between rage and despair, and then I
+imagined that for some reasons which to me were unfathomable they had
+decided to keep me prisoner for the remainder of my days. This awful idea
+only made me laugh, for I knew that it was in my power to remain a slave
+for no long time, but only till I should take it into my own hands to
+break my prison. I knew that I should escape or die: 'Deliberata morte
+ferocior'.
+
+In the beginning of November I seriously formed the plan of forcibly
+escaping from a place where I was forcibly kept. I began to rack my
+brains to find a way of carrying the idea into execution, and I conceived
+a hundred schemes, each one bolder than the other, but a new plan always
+made me give up the one I was on the point of accepting.
+
+While I was immersed in this toilsome sea of thought, an event happened
+which brought home to me the sad state of mind I was in.
+
+I was standing up in the garret looking towards the top, and my glance
+fell on the great beam, not shaking but turning on its right side, and
+then, by slow and interrupted movement in the opposite direction, turning
+again and replacing itself in its original position. As I lost my balance
+at the same time, I knew it was the shock of an earthquake. Lawrence and
+the guards, who just then came out of my room, said that they too, had
+felt the earth tremble. In such despair was I that this incident made me
+feel a joy which I kept to myself, saying nothing. Four or five seconds
+after the same movement occurred, and I could not refrain from saying,
+
+"Another, O my God! but stronger."
+
+The guards, terrified with what they thought the impious ravings of a
+desperate madman, fled in horror.
+
+After they were gone, as I was pondering the matter over, I found that I
+looked upon the overthrow of the Doge's palace as one of the events which
+might lead to liberty; the mighty pile, as it fell, might throw me safe
+and sound, and consequently free, on St. Mark's Place, or at the worst it
+could only crush me beneath its ruins. Situated as I was, liberty reckons
+for all, and life for nothing, or rather for very little. Thus in the
+depths of my soul I began to grow mad.
+
+This earthquake shock was the result of those which at the same time
+destroyed Lisbon.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII
+
+Various Adventures--My Companions--I Prepare to Escape--Change of Cell
+
+To make the reader understand how I managed to escape from a place like
+the Leads, I must explain the nature of the locality.
+
+The Leads, used for the confinement of state prisoners, are in fact the
+lofts of the ducal palace, and take their name from the large plates of
+lead with which the roof is covered. One can only reach them through the
+gates of the palace, the prison buildings, or by the bridge of which I
+have spoken called the Bridge of Sighs. It is impossible to reach the
+cells without passing through the hall where the State Inquisitors hold
+their meetings, and their secretary has the sole charge of the key, which
+he only gives to the gaoler for a short time in the early morning whilst
+he is attending to the prisoners. This is done at day-break, because
+otherwise the guards as they came and went would be in the way of those
+who have to do with the Council of Ten, as the Council meets every day in
+a hall called The Bussola, which the guards have to cross every time they
+go to the Leads.
+
+The prisons are under the roof on two sides of the palace; three to the
+west (mine being among the number) and four to the east. On the west the
+roof looks into the court of the palace, and on the east straight on to
+the canal called Rio di Palazzo. On this side the cells are well lighted,
+and one can stand up straight, which is not the case in the prison where
+I was, which was distinguished by the name of 'Trave', on account of the
+enormous beam which deprived me of light. The floor of my cell was
+directly over the ceiling of the Inquisitors' hall, where they commonly
+met only at night after the sitting of the Council of Ten of which the
+whole three are members.
+
+As I knew my ground and the habits of the Inquisitors perfectly well, the
+only way to escape--the only way at least which I deemed likely to
+succeed--was to make a hole in the floor of my cell; but to do this tools
+must be obtained--a difficult task in a place where all communication
+with the outside world was forbidden, where neither letters nor visits
+were allowed. To bribe a guard a good deal of money would be necessary,
+and I had none. And supposing that the gaoler and his two guards allowed
+themselves to be strangled--for my hands were my only weapons--there was
+always a third guard on duty at the door of the passage, which he locked
+and would not open till his fellow who wished to pass through gave him
+the password. In spite of all these difficulties my only thought was how
+to escape, and as Boethius gave me no hints on this point I read him no
+more, and as I was certain that the difficulty was only to be solved by
+stress of thinking I centered all my thoughts on this one object.
+
+It has always been my opinion that when a man sets himself determinedly
+to do something, and thinks of nought but his design, he must succeed
+despite all difficulties in his path: such an one may make himself Pope
+or Grand Vizier, he may overturn an ancient line of kings--provided that
+he knows how to seize on his opportunity, and be a man of wit and
+pertinacity. To succeed one must count on being fortunate and despise all
+ill success, but it is a most difficult operation.
+
+Towards the middle of November, Lawrence told me that Messer-Grande had a
+prisoner in his hands whom the new secretary, Businello, had ordered to
+be placed in the worst cell, and who consequently was going to share
+mine. He told me that on the secretary's reminding him that I looked upon
+it as a favour to be left alone, he answered that I had grown wiser in
+the four months of my imprisonment. I was not sorry to hear the news or
+that there was a new secretary. This M. Pierre Businello was a worthy man
+whom I knew at Paris. He afterwards went to London as ambassador of the
+Republic.
+
+In the afternoon I heard the noise of the bolts, and presently Lawrence
+and two guards entered leading in a young man who was weeping bitterly;
+and after taking off his handcuffs they shut him up with me, and went out
+without saying a word. I was lying on my bed, and he could not see me. I
+was amused at his astonishment. Being, fortunately for himself, seven or
+eight inches shorter than I, he was able to stand upright, and he began
+to inspect my arm-chair, which he doubtless thought was meant for his own
+use. Glancing at the ledge above the grating he saw Boethius, took it up,
+opened it, and put it down with a kind of passion, probably because being
+in Latin it was of no use to him. Continuing his inspection of the cell
+he went to the left, and groping about was much surprised to find
+clothes. He approached the recess, and stretching out his hand he touched
+me, and immediately begged my pardon in a respectful manner. I asked him
+to sit down and we were friends.
+
+"Who are you?" said I.
+
+"I am Maggiorin, of Vicenza. My father, who was a coachman, kept me at
+school till I was eleven, by which time I had learnt to read and write; I
+was afterwards apprenticed to a barber, where I learnt my business
+thoroughly. After that I became valet to the Count of X---. I had been in
+the service of the nobleman for two years when his daughter came from the
+convent. It was my duty to do her hair, and by degrees I fell in love
+with her, and inspired her with a reciprocal passion. After having sworn
+a thousand times to exist only for one another, we gave ourselves up to
+the task of shewing each other marks of our affection, the result of
+which was that the state of the young countess discovered all. An old and
+devoted servant was the first to find out our connection and the
+condition of my mistress, and she told her that she felt in duty bound to
+tell her father, but my sweetheart succeeded in making her promise to be
+silent, saying that in the course of the week she herself would tell him
+through her confessor. She informed me of all this, and instead of going
+to confession we prepared for flight. She had laid hands on a good sum of
+money and some diamonds which had belonged to her mother, and we were to
+set out for Milan to-night. But to-day the count called me after dinner,
+and giving me a letter, he told me to start at once and to deliver it
+with my own hand to the person to whom it was addressed at Venice. He
+spoke to me so kindly and quietly that I had not the slightest suspicion
+of the fate in store for me. I went to get my cloak, said good-bye to my
+little wife, telling her that I should soon return. Seeing deeper below
+the surface than I, and perchance having a presentiment of my misfortune,
+she was sick at heart. I came here in hot haste, and took care to deliver
+the fatal letter. They made me wait for an answer, and in the mean time I
+went to an inn; but as I came out I was arrested and put in the
+guard-room, where I was kept till they brought me here. I suppose, sir, I
+might consider the young countess as my wife?"
+
+"You make a mistake."
+
+"But nature----"
+
+"Nature, when a man listens to her and nothing else, takes him from one
+folly to another, till she puts him under the Leads."
+
+"I am under the Leads, then, am I?"
+
+"As I am."
+
+The poor young man shed some bitter tears. He was a well-made lad, open,
+honest, and amorous beyond words. I secretly pardoned the countess, and
+condemned the count for exposing his daughter to such temptation. A
+shepherd who shuts up the wolf in the fold should not complain if his
+flock be devoured. In all his tears and lamentations he thought not of
+himself but always of his sweetheart. He thought that the gaoler would
+return and bring him some food and a bed; but I undeceived him, and
+offered him a share of what I had. His heart, however, was too full for
+him to eat. In the evening I gave him my mattress, on which he passed the
+night, for though he looked neat and clean enough I did not care to have
+him to sleep with me, dreading the results of a lover's dreams. He
+neither understood how wrongly he had acted, nor how the count was
+constrained to punish him publicly as a cloak to the honour of his
+daughter and his house. The next day he was given a mattress and a dinner
+to the value of fifteen sous, which the Tribunal had assigned to him,
+either as a favour or a charity, for the word justice would not be
+appropriate in speaking of this terrible body. I told the gaoler that my
+dinner would suffice for the two of us, and that he could employ the
+young man's allowance in saying masses in his usual manner. He agreed
+willingly, and having told him that he was lucky to be in my company, he
+said that we could walk in the garret for half an hour. I found this walk
+an excellent thing for my health and my plan of escape, which, however, I
+could not carry out for eleven months afterwards. At the end of this
+resort of rats, I saw a number of old pieces of furniture thrown on the
+ground to the right and left of two great chests, and in front of a large
+pile of papers sewn up into separate volumes. I helped myself to a dozen
+of them for the sake of the reading, and I found them to be accounts of
+trials, and very diverting; for I was allowed to read these papers, which
+had once contained such secrets. I found some curious replies to the
+judges' questions respecting the seduction of maidens, gallantries
+carried a little too far by persons employed in girls' schools, facts
+relating to confessors who had abused their penitents, schoolmasters
+convicted of pederasty with their pupils, and guardians who had seduced
+their wards. Some of the papers dating two or three centuries back, in
+which the style and the manners illustrated gave me considerable
+entertainment. Among the pieces of furniture on the floor I saw a
+warming-pan, a kettle, a fire-shovel, a pair of tongs, some old
+candle-sticks, some earthenware pots, and even a syringe. From this I
+concluded that some prisoner of distinction had been allowed to make use
+of these articles. But what interested me most was a straight iron bar as
+thick as my thumb, and about a foot and a half long. However, I left
+everything as it was, as my plans had not been sufficiently ripened by
+time for me to appropriate any object in particular.
+
+One day towards the end of the month my companion was taken away, and
+Lawrence told me that he had been condemned to the prisons known as The
+Fours, which are within the same walls as the ordinary prisons, but
+belong to the State Inquisitors. Those confined in them have the
+privilege of being able to call the gaoler when they like. The prisons
+are gloomy, but there is an oil lamp in the midst which gives the
+necessary light, and there is no fear of fire as everything is made of
+marble. I heard, a long time after, that the unfortunate Maggiorin was
+there for five years, and was afterwards sent to Cerigo for ten. I do not
+know whether he ever came from there. He had kept me good company, and
+this I discovered as soon as he was gone, for in a few days I became as
+melancholy as before. Fortunately, I was still allowed my walk in the
+garret, and I began to examine its contents with more minuteness. One of
+the chests was full of fine paper, pieces of cardboard, uncut pens, and
+clews of pack thread; the other was fastened down. A piece of polished
+black marble, an inch thick, six inches long, and three broad, attracted
+my attention, and I possessed myself of it without knowing what I was
+going to do with it, and I secreted it in my cell, covering it up with my
+shirts.
+
+A week after Maggiorin had gone, Lawrence told me that in all probability
+I should soon get another companion. This fellow Lawrence, who at bottom
+was a mere gabbling fool, began to get uneasy at my never asking him any
+questions. This fondness for gossip was not altogether appropriate to his
+office, but where is one to find beings absolutely vile? There are such
+persons, but happily they are few and far between, and are not to be
+sought for in the lower orders. Thus my gaoler found himself unable to
+hold his tongue, and thought that the reason I asked no questions must be
+that I thought him incapable of answering them; and feeling hurt at this,
+and wishing to prove to me that I made a mistake, he began to gossip
+without being solicited.
+
+"I believe you will often have visitors," said he, "as the other six
+cells have each two prisoners, who are not likely to be sent to the
+Fours." I made him no reply, but he went on, in a few seconds, "They send
+to the Fours all sorts of people after they have been sentenced, though
+they know nothing of that. The prisoners whom I have charge of under the
+Leads are like yourself, persons of note, and are only guilty of deeds of
+which the inquisitive must know nothing. If you knew, sir, what sort of
+people shared your fate, you would be astonished, It's true that you are
+called a man of parts; but you will pardon me.... You know that all men
+of parts are treated well here. You take me, I see. Fifty sous a day,
+that's something. They give three livres to a citizen, four to a
+gentleman, and eight to a foreign count. I ought to know, I think, as
+everything goes through my hands."
+
+He then commenced to sing his own praises, which consisted of negative
+clauses.
+
+"I'm no thief, nor traitor, nor greedy, nor malicious, nor brutal, as all
+my predecessors were, and when I have drunk a pint over and above I am
+all the better for it. If my father had sent me to school I should have
+learnt to read and write, and I might be Messer-Grande to-day, but that's
+not my fault. M. Andre Diedo has a high opinion of me. My wife, who cooks
+for you every day, and is only twenty-four, goes to see him when she
+will, and he will have her come in without ceremony, even if he be in
+bed, and that's more than he'll do for a senator. I promise you you will
+be always having the new-comers in your cell, but never for any length of
+time, for as soon as the secretary has got what he wants to know from
+them, he sends them to their place--to the Fours, to some fort, or to the
+Levant; and if they be foreigners they are sent across the frontier, for
+our Government does not hold itself master of the subjects of other
+princes, if they be not in its service. The clemency of the Court is
+beyond compare; there's not another in the world that treats its
+prisoners so well. They say it's cruel to disallow writing and visitors;
+but that's foolish, for what are writing and company but waste of time?
+You will tell me that you have nothing to do, but we can't say as much."
+
+Such was, almost word for word, the first harangue with which the fellow
+honoured me, and I must say I found it amusing. I saw that if the man had
+been less of a fool he would most certainly have been more of a
+scoundrel.
+
+The next day brought me a new messmate, who was treated as Maggiorin had
+been, and I thus found it necessary to buy another ivory spoon, for as
+the newcomers were given nothing on the first day of their imprisonment I
+had to do all the honours of the cell.
+
+My new mate made me a low bow, for my beard, now four inches long, was
+still more imposing than my figure. Lawrence often lent me scissors to
+cut my nails, but he was forbidden, under pain of very heavy punishment,
+to let me touch my beard. I knew not the reason of this order, but I
+ended by becoming used to my beard as one gets used to everything.
+
+The new-comer was a man of about fifty, approaching my size, a little
+bent, thin, with a large mouth, and very bad teeth. He had small grey
+eyes hidden under thick eyebrows of a red colour, which made him look
+like an owl; and this picture was set off by a small black wig, which
+exhaled a disagreeable odour of oil, and by a dress of coarse grey cloth.
+He accepted my offer of dinner, but was reserved, and said not a word the
+whole day, and I was also silent, thinking he would soon recover the use
+of his tongue, as he did the next day.
+
+Early in the morning he was given a bed and a bag full of linen. The
+gaoler asked him, as he had asked me, what he would have for dinner, and
+for money to pay for it.
+
+"I have no money."
+
+"What! a moneyed man like you have no money?"
+
+"I haven't a sou."
+
+"Very good; in that case I will get you some army biscuit and water,
+according to instructions."
+
+He went out, and returned directly afterwards with a pound and a half of
+biscuit, and a pitcher, which he set before the prisoner, and then went
+away.
+
+Left alone with this phantom I heard a sigh, and my pity made me break
+the silence.
+
+"Don't sigh, sir, you shall share my dinner. But I think you have made a
+great mistake in coming here without money."
+
+"I have some, but it does not do to let those harpies know of it:"
+
+"And so you condemn yourself to bread and water. Truly a wise proceeding!
+Do you know the reason of your imprisonment?"
+
+"Yes, sir, and I will endeavour in a few words to inform you of it."
+
+"My name is Squaldo Nobili. My father was a countryman who had me taught
+reading and writing, and at his death left me his cottage and the small
+patch of ground belonging to it. I lived in Friuli, about a day's journey
+from the Marshes of Udine. As a torrent called Corno often damaged my
+little property, I determined to sell it and to set up in Venice, which I
+did ten years ago. I brought with me eight thousand livres in fair
+sequins, and knowing that in this happy commonwealth all men enjoyed the
+blessings of liberty, I believed that by utilizing my capital I might
+make a little income, and I began to lend money, on security. Relying on
+my thrift, my judgment, and my knowledge of the world, I chose this
+business in preference to all others. I rented a small house in the
+neighbourhood of the Royal Canal, and having furnished it I lived there
+in comfort by myself; and in the course of two years I found I had made a
+profit of ten thousand livres, though I had expended two thousand on
+household expenses as I wished to live in comfort. In this fashion I saw
+myself in a fair way of making a respectable fortune in time; but one,
+day, having lent a Jew two sequins upon some books, I found one amongst
+them called 'La Sagesse,' by Charron. It was then I found out how good a
+thing it is to be able to read, for this book, which you, sir, may not
+have read, contains all that a man need know--purging him of all the
+prejudices of his childhood. With Charron good-bye to hell and all the
+empty terrors of a future life; one's eyes are opened, one knows the way
+to bliss, one becomes wise indeed. Do you, sir, get this book, and pay no
+heed to those foolish persons who would tell you this treasure is not to
+be approached."
+
+This curious discourse made me know my man. As to Charron, I had read the
+book though I did not know it had been translated into Italian. The
+author who was a great admirer of Montaigne thought to surpass his model,
+but toiled in vain. He is not much read despite the prohibition to read
+his works, which should have given them some popularity. He had the
+impudence to give his book the title of one of Solomon's treatises--a
+circumstance which does not say much for his modesty. My companion went
+on as follows:
+
+"Set free by Charron from any scruples I still might have, and from those
+false ideas so hard to rid one's self of, I pushed my business in such
+sort, that at the end of six years I could lay my hand on ten thousand
+sequins. There is no need for you to be astonished at that, as in this
+wealthy city gambling, debauchery, and idleness set all the world awry
+and in continual need of money; so do the wise gather what the fool
+drops.
+
+"Three years ago a certain Count Seriman came and asked me to take from
+him five hundred sequins, to put them in my business, and to give him
+half profits. All he asked for was an obligation in which I promised to
+return him the whole sum on demand. At the end of a year I sent him
+seventy-five sequins, which made fifteen per cent. on his money; he gave
+me a receipt for it, but was ill pleased. He was wrong, for I was in no
+need of money, and had not used his for business purposes. At the end of
+the second year, out of pure generosity, I sent him the same amount; but
+we came to a quarrel and he demanded the return of the five hundred
+sequins. 'Certainly,' I said, 'but I must deduct the hundred and fifty
+you have already received.' Enraged at this he served me with a writ for
+the payment of the whole sum. A clever lawyer undertook my defence and
+was able to gain me two years. Three months ago I was spoken to as to an
+agreement, and I refused to hear of it, but fearing violence I went to
+the Abbe Justiniani, the Spanish ambassador's secretary, and for a small
+sum he let me a house in the precincts of the Embassy, where one is safe
+from surprises. I was quite willing to let Count Seriman have his money,
+but I claimed a reduction of a hundred sequins on account of the costs of
+the lawsuit. A week ago the lawyers on both sides came to me. I shewed
+them a purse of two hundred and fifty sequins, and told them they might
+take it, but not a penny more. They went away without saying a word, both
+wearing an ill-pleased air, of which I took no notice. Three days ago the
+Abbe Justiniani told me that the ambassador had thought fit to give
+permission to the State Inquisitors to send their men at once to my house
+to make search therein. I thought the thing impossible under the shelter
+of a foreign ambassador, and instead of taking the usual precautions, I
+waited the approach of the men-at-arms, only putting my money in a place
+of safety. At daybreak Messer-Grande came to the house, and asked me for
+three hundred and fifty sequins, and on my telling him that I hadn't a
+farthing he seized me, and here I am."
+
+I shuddered, less at having such an infamous companion than at his
+evidently considering me as his equal, for if he had thought of me in any
+other light he would certainly not have told me this long tale, doubtless
+in the belief that I should take his part. In all the folly about Charron
+with which he tormented me in the three days we were together, I found by
+bitter experience the truth of the Italian proverb: 'Guardati da colui
+che non ha letto che un libro solo'. By reading the work of the misguided
+priest he had become an Atheist, and of this he made his boast all the
+day long. In the afternoon Lawrence came to tell him to come and speak
+with the secretary. He dressed himself hastily, and instead of his own
+shoes he took mine without my seeing him. He came back in half an hour in
+tears, and took out of his shoes two purses containing three hundred and
+fifty sequins, and, the gaoler going before, he went to take them to the
+secretary. A few moments afterwards he returned, and taking his cloak
+went away. Lawrence told me that he had been set at liberty. I thought,
+and with good reason, that, to make him acknowledge his debt and pay it,
+the secretary had threatened him with the torture; and if it were only
+used in similar cases, I, who detest the principle of torture, would be
+the first to proclaim its utility.
+
+On New Year's Day, 1733, I received my presents. Lawrence brought me a
+dressing-gown lined with foxskin, a coverlet of wadded silk, and a
+bear-skin bag for me to put my legs in, which I welcomed gladly, for the
+coldness was unbearable as the heat in August. Lawrence told me that I
+might spend to the amount of six sequins a month, that I might have what
+books I liked, and take in the newspaper, and that this present came from
+M. de Bragadin. I asked him for a pencil, and I wrote upon a scrap of
+paper: "I am grateful for the kindness of the Tribunal and the goodness
+of M. de Bragadin."
+
+The man who would know what were my feelings at all this must have been
+in a similar situation to my own. In the first gush of feeling I forgave
+my oppressors, and was on the point of giving up the idea of escape; so
+easily shall you move a man that you have brought low and overwhelmed
+with misfortune. Lawrence told me that M. de Bragadin had come before the
+three Inquisitors, and that on his knees, and with tears in his eyes, he
+had entreated them to let him give me this mark of his affection if I
+were still in the land of the living; the Inquisitors were moved, and
+were not able to refuse his request.
+
+I wrote down without delay the names of the books I wanted.
+
+One fine morning, as I was walking in the garret, my eyes fell on the
+iron bar I have mentioned, and I saw that it might very easily be made
+into a defensive or offensive weapon. I took possession of it, and having
+hidden it under my dressing-gown I conveyed it into my cell. As soon as I
+was alone, I took the piece of black marble, and I found that I had to my
+hand an excellent whetstone; for by rubbing the bar with the stone I
+obtained a very good edge.
+
+My interest roused in this work in which I was but an apprentice, and in
+the fashion in which I seemed likely to become possessed of an instrument
+totally prohibited under the Leads, impelled, perhaps, also by my vanity
+to make a weapon without any of the necessary tools, and incited by my
+very difficulties (for I worked away till dark without anything to hold
+my whetstone except my left hand, and without a drop of oil to soften the
+iron), I made up my mind to persevere in my difficult task. My saliva
+served me in the stead of oil, and I toiled eight days to produce eight
+edges terminating in a sharp point, the edges being an inch and a half in
+length. My bar thus sharpened formed an eight-sided dagger, and would
+have done justice to a first-rate cutler. No one can imagine the toil and
+trouble I had to bear, nor the patience required to finish this difficult
+task without any other tools than a loose piece of stone. I put myself,
+in fact, to a kind of torture unknown to the tyrants of all ages. My
+right arm had become so stiff that I could hardly move it; the palm of my
+hand was covered with a large scar, the result of the numerous blisters
+caused by the hardness and the length of the work. No one would guess the
+sufferings I underwent to bring my work to completion.
+
+Proud of what I had done, without thinking what use I could make of my
+weapon, my first care was to hide it in such a manner as would defy a
+minute search. After thinking over a thousand plans, to all of which
+there was some objection, I cast my eyes on my arm-chair, and there I
+contrived to hide it so as to be secure from all suspicion. Thus did
+Providence aid me to contrive a wonderful and almost inconceivable plan
+of escape. I confess to a feeling of vanity, not because I eventually
+succeeded--for I owed something to good luck--but because I was brave
+enough to undertake such a scheme in spite of the difficulties which
+might have ruined my plans and prevented my ever attaining liberty.
+
+After thinking for three or four days as to what I should do with the bar
+I had made into an edged tool, as thick as a walking-stick and twenty
+inches long, I determined that the best plan would be to make a hole in
+the floor under my bed.
+
+I was sure that the room below my cell was no other than the one in which
+I had seen M. Cavalli. I knew that this room was opened every morning,
+and I felt persuaded that, after I had made my hole, I could easily let
+myself down with my sheets, which I would make into a rope and fasten to
+my bed. Once there, I would hide under the table of the court, and in the
+morning, when the door was opened, I could escape and get to a place of
+safety before anyone could follow me. I thought it possible that a sentry
+might be placed in the hall, but my short pike ought to soon rid me of
+him. The floor might be of double or even of triple thickness, and this
+thought puzzled me; for in that case how was I to prevent the guard
+sweeping out the room throughout the two months my work might last. If I
+forbade them to do so, I might rouse suspicion; all the more as, to free
+myself of the fleas, I had requested them to sweep out the cell every
+day, and in sweeping they would soon discover what I was about. I must
+find some way out of this difficulty.
+
+I began by forbidding them to sweep, without giving any reason. A week
+after, Lawrence asked me why I did so. I told him because of the dust
+which might make me cough violently and give me some fatal injury.
+
+"I will make them water the floor," said he.
+
+"That would be worse, Lawrence, for the damp might cause a plethora."
+
+In this manner I obtained a week's respite, but at the end of that time
+the lout gave orders that my cell should be swept. He had the bed carried
+out into the garret, and on pretence of having the sweeping done with
+greater care, he lighted a candle. This let me know that the rascal was
+suspicious of something; but I was crafty enough to take no notice of
+him, and so far from giving up my plea, I only thought how I could put it
+on good train. Next morning I pricked my finger and covered my
+handkerchief with the blood, and then awaited Lawrence in bed. As soon as
+he came I told him that I had coughed so violently as to break a
+blood-vessel, which had made me bring up all the blood he saw. "Get me a
+doctor." The doctor came, ordered me to be bled, and wrote me a
+prescription. I told him it was Lawrence's fault, as he had persisted in
+having the room swept. The doctor blamed him for doing so, and just as if
+I had asked him he told us of a young man who had died from the same
+cause, and said that there was nothing more dangerous than breathing in
+dust. Lawrence called all the gods to witness that he had only had the
+room swept for my sake, and promised it should not happen again. I
+laughed to myself, for the doctor could not have played his part better
+if I had given him the word. The guards who were there were delighted,
+and said they would take care only to sweep the cells of those prisoners
+who had angered them.
+
+When the doctor was gone, Lawrence begged my pardon, and assured me that
+all the other prisoners were in good health although their cells were
+swept out regularly.
+
+"But what the doctor says is worth considering," said he, "and I shall
+tell them all about it, for I look upon them as my children."
+
+The blood-letting did me good, as it made me sleep, and relieved me of
+the spasms with which I was sometimes troubled. I had regained my
+appetite and was getting back my strength every day, but the time to set
+about my work was not yet come; it was still too cold, and I could not
+hold the bar for any length of time without my hand becoming stiff. My
+scheme required much thought. I had to exercise boldness and foresight to
+rid myself of troubles which chance might bring to pass or which I could
+foresee. The situation of a man who had to act as I had, is an unhappy
+one, but in risking all for all half its bitterness vanishes.
+
+The long nights of winter distressed me, for I had to pass nineteen
+mortal hours in darkness; and on the cloudy days, which are common enough
+at Venice, the light I had was not sufficient for me to be able to read.
+Without any distractions I fell back on the idea of my escape, and a man
+who always thinks on one subject is in danger of becoming a monomaniac. A
+wretched kitchen-lamp would have made me happy, but how am I to get such
+a thing? O blessed prerogative of thought! how happy was I when I thought
+I had found a way to possess myself of such a treasure! To make such a
+lamp I required a vase, wicks, oil, a flint and steel, tinder, and
+matches. A porringer would do for the vase, and I had one which was used
+for cooking eggs in butter. Pretending that the common oil did not agree
+with me, I got them to buy me Lucca oil for my salad, and my cotton
+counterpane would furnish me with wicks. I then said I had the toothache,
+and asked Lawrence to get me a pumice-stone, but as he did not know what
+I meant I told him that a musket-flint would do as well if it were soaked
+in vinegar for a day, and, then being applied to the tooth the pain would
+be eased. Lawrence told me that the vinegar I had was excellent, and that
+I could soak the stone myself, and he gave me three or four flints he had
+in his pocket. All I had to do was to get some sulphur and tinder, and
+the procuring of these two articles set all my wits to work. At last
+fortune came to my assistance.
+
+I had suffered from a kind of rash, which as it came off had left some
+red spots on my arms, and occasionally caused me some irritation. I told
+Lawrence to ask the doctor for a cure, and the next day he brought me a
+piece of paper which the secretary had seen, and on which the doctor had
+written, "Regulate the food for a day, and the skin will be cured by four
+ounces of oil of sweet almonds or an ointment of flour of sulphur, but
+this local application is hazardous."
+
+"Never mind the danger," said I to Lawrence; "buy me the ointment, or
+rather get me the sulphur, as I have some butter by me, and I can make it
+up myself. Have you any matches? Give me a few."
+
+He found some in his pockets, and he gave me them.
+
+What a small thing brings comfort in distress! But in my place these
+matches were no small thing, but rather a great treasure.
+
+I had puzzled my head for several hours as to what substitute I could
+find for tinder--the only thing I still lacked, and which I could not ask
+for under any pretense whatsoever--when I remembered that I had told the
+tailor to put some under the armpits of my coat to prevent the
+perspiration spoiling the stuff. The coat, quite new, was before me, and
+my heart began to beat, but supposing the tailor had not put it in! Thus
+I hung between hope and fear. I had only to take a step to know all; but
+such a step would have been decisive, and I dared not take it. At last I
+drew nigh, and feeling myself unworthy of such mercies I fell on my knees
+and fervently prayed of God that the tailor might not have forgotten the
+tinder. After this heartfelt prayer I took my coat, unsewed it, and
+found-the tinder! My joy knew no bounds. I naturally gave thanks to God,
+since it was with confidence in Him that I took courage and searched my
+coat, and I returned thanks to Him with all my heart.
+
+I now had all the necessary materials, and I soon made myself a lamp. Let
+the reader imagine my joy at having in a manner made light in the midst
+of darkness, and it was no less sweet because against the orders of my
+infamous oppressors. Now there was no more night for me, and also no more
+salad, for though I was very fond of it the need of keeping the oil to
+give light caused me to make this sacrifice without it costing me many
+pangs. I fixed upon the first Monday in Lent to begin the difficult work
+of breaking through the floor, for I suspected that in the tumult of the
+carnival I might have some visitors, and I was in the right.
+
+At noon, on Quinquagesima Sunday, I heard the noise of the bolts, and
+presently Lawrence entered, followed by a thick-set man whom I recognized
+as the Jew, Gabriel Schalon, known for lending money to young men.
+
+We knew each other, so exchanged compliments. His company was by no means
+agreeable to me, but my opinion was not asked. He began by congratulating
+me on having the pleasure of his society; and by way of answer I offered
+him to share my dinner, but he refused, saying he would only take a
+little soup, and would keep his appetite for a better supper at his own
+house.
+
+"When?"
+
+"This evening. You heard when I asked for my bed he told me that we would
+talk about that to-morrow. That means plainly that I shall have no need
+of it. And do you think it likely that a man like me would be left
+without anything to eat?"
+
+"That was my experience."
+
+"Possibly, but between ourselves our cases are somewhat different; and
+without going any farther into that question, the Inquisitors have made a
+mistake in arresting me, and they will be in some trouble, I am certain,
+as to how to atone for doing so."
+
+"They will possibly give you a pension. A man of your importance has to
+be conciliated."
+
+"True, there's not a broker on the exchange more useful than myself, and
+the five sages have often profited by the advice I have given them. My
+detention is a curious incident, which, perchance, will be of service to
+you."
+
+"Indeed. How, may I ask?"
+
+"I will get you out of here in a month's time. I know to whom to speak
+and what way to do it:"
+
+"I reckon on you, then."
+
+"You may do so."
+
+This knave and fool together believed himself to be somebody. He
+volunteered to inform me as to what was being said of me in the town, but
+as he only related the idle tales of men as ignorant as himself, he
+wearied me, and to escape listening to him I took up a book. The fellow
+had the impudence to ask me not to read, as he was very fond of talking,
+but henceforth he talked only to himself. I did not dare to light my lamp
+before this creature, and as night drew on he decided on accepting some
+bread and Cyprus wine, and he was afterwards obliged to do as best he
+could with my mattress, which was now the common bed of all new-comers.
+
+In the morning he had a bed and some food from his own house. I was
+burdened with this wretched fellow for two months, for before condemning
+him to the Fours the secretary had several interviews with him to bring
+to light his knaveries, and to oblige him to cancel a goodly number of
+illegal agreements. He confessed to me himself that he had bought of M.
+Domenico Micheli the right to moneys which could not belong to the buyer
+till after the father of the seller was dead. "It's true," said he, "that
+he agreed to give me fifty per cent., but you must consider that if he
+died before his father I should lose all." At last, seeing that my cursed
+fellow did not go, I determined to light my lamp again after having made
+him promise to observe secrecy. He only kept his promise while he was
+with me, as Lawrence knew all about it, but luckily he attached no
+importance to the fact.
+
+This unwelcome guest was a true burden to me, as he not only prevented me
+from working for my escape but also from reading. He was troublesome,
+ignorant, superstitious, a braggart, cowardly, and sometimes like a
+madman. He would have had me cry, since fear made him weep, and he said
+over and over again that this imprisonment would ruin his reputation. On
+this count I reassured him with a sarcasm he did not understand. I told
+him that his reputation was too well known to suffer anything from this
+little misfortune, and he took that for a compliment. He would not
+confess to being a miser, but I made him admit that if the Inquisitors
+would give him a hundred sequins for every day of his imprisonment he
+would gladly pass the rest of his life under the Leads.
+
+He was a Talmudist, like all modern Jews, and he tried to make me believe
+that he was very devout; but I once extracted a smile of approbation from
+him by telling him that he would forswear Moses if the Pope would make
+him a cardinal. As the son of a rabbi he was learned in all the
+ceremonies of his religion, but like most men he considered the essence
+of a religion to lie in its discipline and outward forms.
+
+This Jew, who was extremely fat, passed three-quarters of his life in
+bed; and though he often dozed in the daytime, he was annoyed at not
+being able to sleep at night--all the more as he saw that I slept
+excellently. He once took it into his head to wake me up as I was
+enjoying my sleep.
+
+"What do you want?" said I; "waking me up with a start like this."
+
+"My dear fellow, I can't sleep a wink. Have compassion on me and let us
+have a little talk."
+
+"You scoundrel! You act thus and you dare to call yourself my friend! I
+know your lack of sleep torments you, but if you again deprive me of the
+only blessing I enjoy I will arise and strangle you."
+
+I uttered these words in a kind of transport.
+
+"Forgive me, for mercy's sake! and be sure that I will not trouble you
+again."
+
+It is possible that I should not have strangled him, but I was very much
+tempted to do so. A prisoner who is happy enough to sleep soundly, all
+the while he sleeps is no longer a captive, and feels no more the weight
+of his chains. He ought to look upon the wretch who awakens him as a
+guard who deprives him of his liberty, and makes him feel his misery once
+more, since, awakening, he feels all his former woes. Furthermore, the
+sleeping prisoner often dreams that he is free again, in like manner as
+the wretch dying of hunger sees himself in dreams seated at a sumptuous
+feast.
+
+I congratulated myself on not having commenced my great work before he
+came, especially as he required that the room should be swept out. The
+first time he asked for it to be dote, the guards made me laugh by saying
+that it would kill me. However, he insisted; and I had my revenge by
+pretending to be ill, but from interested motives I made no further
+opposition.
+
+On the Wednesday in Holy Week Lawrence told us that the secretary would
+make us the customary visit in the afternoon, the object being to give
+peace to them that would receive the sacrament at Easter, and also to
+know if they had anything to say against the gaoler. "So, gentlemen,"
+said Lawrence, "if you have any complaints to make of me make them. Dress
+yourselves fully, as is customary." I told Lawrence to get me a confessor
+for the day.
+
+I put myself into full dress, and the Jew followed my example, taking
+leave of me in advance, so sure was he that the secretary would set him
+free on hearing what he had to say. "My presentiment," said he, "is of
+the same kind as I have had before, and I have never been deceived."
+
+"I congratulate you, but don't reckon without your host." He did not
+understand what I meant.
+
+In course of time the secretary came, and as soon as the cell-door was
+opened the Jew ran out and threw himself at his feet on both knees, I
+heard for five minutes nothing but his tears and complaints, for the
+secretary said not one word. He came back, and Lawrence told me to go
+out. With a beard of eight months' growth, and a dress made for
+love-making in August, I must have presented a somewhat curious
+appearance. Much to my disgust I shivered with cold, and was afraid that
+the secretary would think I was trembling with fear. As I was obliged to
+bend low to come out of my hole, my bow was ready made, and drawing
+myself up, I looked at him calmly without affecting any unseasonable
+hardihood, and waited for him to speak. The secretary also kept silence,
+so that we stood facing each other like a pair of statues. At the end of
+two minutes, the secretary, seeing that I said nothing, gave me a slight
+bow, and went away. I re-entered my cell, and taking off my clothes in
+haste, got into bed to get warm again. The Jew was astonished at my not
+having spoken to the secretary, although my silence had cried more loudly
+than his cowardly complaints. A prisoner of my kind has no business to
+open his mouth before his judge, except to answer questions. On Maundy
+Thursday a Jesuit came to confess me, and on Holy Saturday a priest of
+St. Mark's came to administer to me the Holy Communion. My confession
+appearing rather too laconic to the sweet son of Ignatius he thought good
+to remonstrate with me before giving me his absolution.
+
+"Do you pray to God?" he said.
+
+"From the morning unto the evening, and from the evening unto the
+morning, for, placed as I am, all that I feel--my anxiety, my grief, all
+the wanderings of my mind--can be but a prayer in the eyes of the Divine
+Wisdom which alone sees my heart."
+
+The Jesuit smiled slightly and replied by a discourse rather metaphysical
+than moral, which did not at all tally with my views. I should have
+confuted him on every point if he had not astonished me by a prophecy he
+made. "Since it is from us," said he, "that you learnt what you know of
+religion, practise it in our fashion, pray like us, and know that you
+will only come out of this place on the day of the saint whose name you
+bear." So saying he gave me absolution, and left me. This man left the
+strongest possible impression on my mind. I did my best, but I could not
+rid myself of it. I proceeded to pass in review all the saints in the
+calendar.
+
+The Jesuit was the director of M. Flaminio Corner, an old senator, and
+then a State Inquisitor. This statesman was a famous man of letters, a
+great politician, highly religious, and author of several pious and
+ascetic works written in Latin. His reputation was spotless.
+
+On being informed that I should be set free on the feast-day of my patron
+saint, and thinking that my informant ought to know for certain what he
+told me, I felt glad to have a patron-saint. "But which is it?" I asked
+myself. "It cannot be St. James of Compostella, whose name I bear, for it
+was on the feast-day of that saint that Messer-Grande burst open my
+door." I took the almanac and looking for the saints' days nearest at
+hand I found St. George--a saint of some note, but of whom I had never
+thought. I then devoted myself to St. Mark, whose feast fell on the
+twenty-fifth of the month, and whose protection as a Venetian I might
+justly claim. To him, then, I addressed my vows, but all in vain, for his
+feast came round and still I was in prison. Then I took myself to St.
+James, the brother of Christ, who comes before St. Philip, but again in
+the wrong. I tried St. Anthony, who, if the tale told at Padua be true,
+worked thirteen miracles a day. He worked none for me. Thus I passed from
+one to the other, and by degrees I got to hope in the protection of the
+saints just as one hopes for anything one desires, but does not expect to
+come to pass; and I finished up by hoping only in my Saint Bar, and in
+the strength of my arms. Nevertheless the promise of the Jesuit came to
+pass, since I escaped from The Leads on All Hallows Day; and it is
+certain that if I had a patron-saint, he must be looked for in their
+number since they are all honoured on that day.
+
+A fortnight after Easter I was delivered from my troublesome Israelite,
+and the poor devil instead of being sent back to his home had to spend
+two years in The Fours, and on his gaining his freedom he went and set up
+in Trieste, where he ended his days.
+
+No sooner was I again alone than I set zealously about my work. I had to
+make haste for fear of some new visitor, who, like the Jew, might insist
+on the cell being swept. I began by drawing back my bed, and after
+lighting my lamp I lay down on my belly, my pike in my hand, with a
+napkin close by in which to gather the fragments of board as I scooped
+them out. My task was to destroy the board by dint of driving into it the
+point of my tool. At first the pieces I got away were not much larger
+than grains of wheat, but they soon increased in size.
+
+The board was made of deal, and was sixteen inches broad. I began to
+pierce it at its juncture with another board, and as there were no nails
+or clamps my work was simple. After six hours' toil I tied up the napkin,
+and put it on one side to empty it the following day behind the pile of
+papers in the garret. The fragments were four or five times larger in
+bulk than the hole from whence they came. I put back my bed in its place,
+and on emptying the napkin the next morning I took care so to dispose the
+fragments that they should not be seen.
+
+Having broken through the first board, which I found to be two inches
+thick, I was stopped by a second which I judged to be as thick as the
+first. Tormented by the fear of new visitors I redoubled my efforts, and
+in three weeks I had pierced the three boards of which the floor was
+composed; and then I thought that all was lost, for I found I had to
+pierce a bed of small pieces of marble known at Venice as terrazzo
+marmorin. This forms the usual floor of venetian houses of all kinds,
+except the cottages, for even the high nobility prefer the terrazzo to
+the finest boarded floor. I was thunderstruck to find that my bar made no
+impression on this composition; but, nevertheless, I was not altogether
+discouraged and cast down. I remembered Hannibal, who, according to Livy,
+opened up a passage through the Alps by breaking the rocks with axes and
+other instruments, having previously softened them with vinegar. I
+thought that Hannibal had succeeded not by aceto, but aceta, which in the
+Latin of Padua might well be the same as ascia; and who can guarantee the
+text to be free from the blunders of the copyist? All the same, I poured
+into the hole a bottle of strong vinegar I had by me, and in the morning,
+either because of the vinegar or because I, refreshed and rested, put
+more strength and patience into the work, I saw that I should overcome
+this new difficulty; for I had not to break the pieces of marble, but
+only to pulverize with the end of my bar the cement which kept them
+together. I soon perceived that the greatest difficulty was on the
+surface, and in four days the whole mosaic was destroyed without the
+point of my pike being at all damaged.
+
+Below the pavement I found another plank, but I had expected as much. I
+concluded that this would be the last; that is the first to be put down
+when the rooms below were being ceiled. I pierced it with some
+difficulty, as, the hole being ten inches deep, it had become troublesome
+to work the pike. A thousand times I commended myself to the mercy of
+God. Those Free-thinkers who say that praying is no good do not know what
+they are talking about; for I know by experience that, having prayed to
+God, I always felt myself grow stronger, which fact amply proves the
+usefulness of prayer, whether the renewal of strength come straight from
+God, or whether it comes only from the trust one has in Him.
+
+On the 25th of June, on which day the Republic celebrates the wonderful
+appearance of St. Mark under the form of a winged lion in the ducal
+church, about three o'clock in the afternoon, as I was labouring on my
+belly at the hole, stark naked, covered with sweat, my lamp beside me. I
+heard with mortal fear the shriek of a bolt and the noise of the door of
+the first passage. It was a fearful moment! I blew out my lamp, and
+leaving my bar in the hole I threw into it the napkin with the shavings
+it contained, and as swift as lightning I replaced my bed as best I
+could, and threw myself on it just as the door of my cell opened. If
+Lawrence had come in two seconds sooner he would have caught me. He was
+about to walk over me, but crying out dolefully I stopped him, and he
+fell back, saying,
+
+"Truly, sir, I pity you, for the air here is as hot as a furnace. Get up,
+and thank God for giving you such good company."
+
+"Come in, my lord, come in," said he to the poor wretch who followed him.
+Then, without heeding my nakedness, the fellow made the noble gentleman
+enter, and he seeing me to be naked, sought to avoid me while I vainly
+tried to find my shirt.
+
+The new-comer thought he was in hell, and cried out,
+
+"Where am I? My God! where have I been put? What heat! What a stench!
+With whom am I?"
+
+Lawrence made him go out, and asked me to put on my shirt to go into the
+garret for a moment. Addressing himself to the new prisoner, he said
+that, having to get a bed and other necessaries, he would leave us in the
+garret till he came back, and that, in the mean time, the cell would be
+freed from the bad smell, which was only oil. What a start it gave me as
+I heard him utter the word "oil." In my hurry I had forgotten to snuff
+the wick after blowing it out. As Lawrence asked me no questions about
+it, I concluded that he knew all, and the accursed Jew must have betrayed
+me. I thought myself lucky that he was not able to tell him any more.
+
+From that time the repulsion which I had felt for Lawrence disappeared.
+
+After putting on my shirt and dressing-gown, I went out and found my new
+companion engaged in writing a list of what he wanted the gaoler to get
+him. As soon as he saw me, he exclaimed, "Ah! it's Casanova." I, too,
+recognised him as the Abbe and Count Fenarolo, a man of fifty, amiable,
+rich, and a favourite in society. He embraced me, and when I told him
+that I should have expected to see anybody in that place rather than him,
+he could not keep back his tears, which made me weep also.
+
+When we were alone I told him that, as soon as his bed came, I should
+offer him the recess, begging him at the same time not to accept it. I
+asked him, also, not to ask to have the cell swept, saying that I would
+tell him the reason another time. He promised to keep all secrecy in the
+matter, and said he thought himself fortunate to be placed with me. He
+said that as no one knew why I was imprisoned, everyone was guessing at
+it. Some said that I was the heresiarch of a new sect; others that Madame
+Memmo had persuaded the Inquisitors that I had made her sons Atheists,
+and others that Antony Condulmer, the State Inquisitor, had me imprisoned
+as a disturber of the peace, because I hissed Abbe Chiari's plays, and
+had formed a design to go to Padua for the express purpose of killing
+him.
+
+All these accusations had a certain foundation in fact which gave them an
+air of truth, but in reality they were all wholly false. I cared too
+little for religion to trouble myself to found a new one. The sons of
+Madame Memmo were full of wit, and more likely to seduce than to be
+seduced; and Master Condulmer would have had too much on his hands if he
+had imprisoned all those who hissed the Abbe Chiari; and as for this
+abbe, once a Jesuit, I had forgiven him, as the famous Father Origo,
+himself formerly a Jesuit, had taught me to take my revenge by praising
+him everywhere, which incited the malicious to vent their satire on the
+abbe; and thus I was avenged without any trouble to myself.
+
+In the evening they brought a good bed, fine linen, perfumes, an
+excellent supper, and choice wines. The abbe ate nothing, but I supped
+for two. When Lawrence had wished us good night and had shut us up till
+the next day, I got out my lamp, which I found to be empty, the napkin
+having sucked up all the oil. This made me laugh, for as the napkin might
+very well have caught and set the room on fire, the idea of the confusion
+which would have ensued excited my hilarity. I imparted the cause of my
+mirth to my companion, who laughed himself, and then, lighting the lamp,
+we spent the night in pleasant talk. The history of his imprisonment was
+as follows:
+
+"Yesterday, at three o'clock in the afternoon, Madame Alessandria, Count
+Martinengo, and myself, got into a gondola. We went to Padua to see the
+opera, intending to return to Venice afterwards. In the second act my
+evil genius led me to the gaming-table, where I unfortunately saw Count
+Rosenberg, the Austrian ambassador, without his mask, and about ten paces
+from him was Madame Ruzzini, whose husband is going to Vienna to
+represent the Republic. I greeted them both, and was just going away,
+when the ambassador called out to me, so as to be heard by everyone, 'You
+are very fortunate in being able to pay your court to so sweet a lady. At
+present the personage I represent makes the fairest land in the world no
+better for me than a galley. Tell the lady, I beseech you, that the laws
+which now prevent me speaking to her will be without force at Venice,
+where I shall go next year, and then I shall declare war against her.'
+Madame Ruzzini, who saw that she was being spoken of, asked me what the
+count had said, and I told her, word for word. 'Tell him,' said she,
+'that I accept his declaration of war, and that we shall see who will
+wage it best.' I did not think I had committed a crime in reporting her
+reply, which was after all a mere compliment. After the opera we set out,
+and got here at midnight. I was going to sleep when a messenger brought
+me a note ordering me to go to the Bussola at one o'clock, Signor
+Bussinello, Secretary of the Council of Ten, having something to say to
+me. Astonished at such an order--always of bad omen, and vexed at being
+obliged to obey, I went at the time appointed, and my lord secretary,
+without giving me a word, ordered me to be taken here."
+
+Certainly no fault could be less criminal than that which Count Fenarolo
+had committed, but one can break certain laws in all innocence without
+being any the less punishable. I congratulated him on knowing what his
+crime had been, and told him that he would be set free in a week, and
+would be requested to spend six months in the Bressian. "I can't think,"
+said he, "that they will leave me here for a week." I determined to keep
+him good company, and to soften the bitterness of his imprisonment, and
+so well did I sympathize with his position that I forgot all about my
+own.
+
+The next morning at day-break, Lawrence brought coffee and a basket
+filled with all the requisites for a good dinner. The abbe was
+astonished, for he could not conceive how anyone could eat at such an
+early hour. They let us walk for an hour in the garret and then shut us
+up again, and we saw no more of them throughout the day. The fleas which
+tormented us made the abbe ask why I did not have the cell swept out. I
+could not let him think that dirt and untidiness was agreeable to me, or
+that my skin was any harder than his own, so I told him the whole story,
+and shewed him what I had done. He was vexed at having as it were forced
+me to make him my confidant, but he encouraged me to go on, and if
+possible to finish what I was about that day, as he said he would help me
+to descend and then would draw up the rope, not wishing to complicate his
+own difficulties by an escape. I shewed him the model of a contrivance by
+means of which I could certainly get possession of the sheets which were
+to be my rope; it was a short stick attached by one end to a long piece
+of thread. By this stick I intended to attach my rope to the bed, and as
+the thread hung down to the floor of the room below, as soon as I got
+there I should pull the thread and the rope would fall down. He tried it,
+and congratulated me on my invention, as this was a necessary part of my
+scheme, as otherwise the rope hanging down would have immediately
+discovered me. My noble companion was convinced that I ought to stop my
+work, for I might be surprised, having to do several days' work before
+finishing the hole which would cost Lawrence his life. Should the thought
+of gaining my liberty at the expense of a fellow-creature have made me
+desist? I should have still persisted if my escape had meant death to the
+whole body of Venetian guards, and even to the Inquisitors themselves.
+Can the love of country, all holy though it be, prevail in the heart of
+the man whose country is oppressing him?
+
+My good humour did not prevent my companion having some bad quarters of
+an hour. He was in love with Madame Alessandria, who had been a singer,
+and was either the mistress or the wife of his friend Martinengo; and he
+should have deemed himself happy, but the happier a lover is, so much the
+more his unhappiness when he is snatched from the beloved object. He
+sighed, wept, and declared that he loved a woman in whom all the noble
+virtues were contained. I compassionated him, and took care not to
+comfort him by saying that love is a mere trifle--a cold piece of comfort
+given to lovers by fools, and, moreover, it is not true that love is a
+mere trifle.
+
+The week I had mentioned as the probable term of his imprisonment passed
+quickly enough, and I lost my friend, but did not waste my time by
+mourning for him; he was set free, and I was content. I did not beg him
+to be discreet, for the least doubt on that score would have wounded his
+noble spirit. During the week he was with me he only ate soup and fruit,
+taking a little Canary wine. It was I who made good cheer in his stead
+and greatly to his delight. Before he left we swore eternal friendship.
+
+The next day Lawrence gave me an account of my money, and on finding that
+I had a balance of four sequins I gave them to him, telling him it was a
+present from me to his wife. I did not tell him that it was for the rent
+of my lamp, but he was free to think so if he chose. Again betaking
+myself to my work, and toiling without cessation, on the 23rd of August I
+saw it finished. This delay was caused by an inevitable accident. As I
+was hollowing out the last plank, I put my eye to a little hole, through
+which I ought to have seen the hall of the Inquisitors-in fact, I did see
+it, but I saw also at one side of the hole a surface about eight inches
+thick. It was, as I had feared all the time it would be, one of the beams
+which kept up the ceiling. I was thus compelled to enlarge my hole on the
+other side, for the beam would have made it so narrow that a man of my
+size could never have got through. I increased the hole, therefore, by a
+fourth, working--between fear and hope, for it was possible that the
+space between two of the beams would not be large enough. After I had
+finished, a second little hole assured me that God had blessed my labour.
+I then carefully stopped up the two small holes to prevent anything
+falling down into the hall, and also lest a ray from my lamp should be
+perceived, for this would have discovered all and ruined me.
+
+I fixed my escape for the eve of St. Augustine's Day, because I knew that
+the Grand Council assembled on that feast, and there would consequently
+be nobody near the room through which I must pass in getting away. This
+would have been on the twenty-seventh of the month, but a misfortune
+happened to me on the twenty-fifth which makes me still shudder when I
+think of it, notwithstanding the years which have passed since then.
+
+Precisely at noon I heard the noise of bolts, and I thought I should die;
+for a violent beating of the heart made me imagine my last hour was come.
+I fell into my easy chair, and waited. Lawrence came into the garret and
+put his head at the grating, and said, "I give you joy, sir, for the good
+news I am bringing you." At first, not being able to think of any other
+news which could be good to me, I fancied I had been set at liberty, and
+I trembled, for I knew that the discovery of the hole I had made would
+have caused my pardon to be recalled.
+
+Lawrence came in and told me to follow him.
+
+"Wait till I put on my clothes."
+
+"It's of no consequence, as you only have to walk from this abominable
+cell to another, well lighted and quite fresh, with two windows whence
+you can see half Venice, and you can stand upright too."----I could bear
+no more, I felt that I was fainting. "Give me the vinegar," said I, "and
+go and tell the secretary that I thank the Court for this favour, and
+entreat it to leave me where I am."
+
+"You make me laugh, sir. Have you gone mad? They would take you from hell
+to put you in heaven, and you would refuse to stir? Come, come, the Court
+must be obeyed, pray rise, sir. I will give you my arm, and will have
+your clothes and your books brought for you." Seeing that resistance was
+of no avail, I got up, and was much comforted at hearing him give orders
+for my arm-chair to be brought, for my pike was to follow me, and with it
+hope. I should have much liked to have been able to take the hole--the
+object of so much wasted trouble and hope--with me. I may say with truth
+that, as I came forth from that horrible and doleful place, my spirit
+remained there.
+
+Leaning on Lawrence's shoulder, while he, thinking to cheer me up,
+cracked his foolish jokes, I passed through two narrow passages, and
+going down three steps I found myself in a well-lighted hall, at the end
+of which, on the left-hand side, was a door leading into another passage
+two feet broad by about twelve long, and in the corner was my new cell.
+It had a barred window which was opposite to two windows, also barred,
+which lighted the passage, and thus one had a fine view as far as Lido.
+At that trying moment I did not care much for the view; but later on I
+found that a sweet and pleasant wind came through the window when it was
+opened, and tempered the insufferable heat; and this was a true blessing
+for the poor wretch who had to breathe the sultry prison air, especially
+in the hot season.
+
+As soon as I got into my new cell Lawrence had my arm-chair brought in,
+and went away, saying that he would have the remainder of my effects
+brought to me. I sat on my arm-chair as motionless as a statue, waiting
+for the storm, but not fearing it. What overwhelmed me was the
+distressing idea that all my pains and contrivances were of no use,
+nevertheless I felt neither sorry nor repentant for what I had done, and
+I made myself abstain from thinking of what was going to happen, and thus
+kept myself calm.
+
+Lifting up my soul to God I could not help thinking that this misfortune
+was a Divine punishment for neglecting to escape when all was ready.
+Nevertheless, though I could have escaped three days sooner, I thought my
+punishment too severe, all the more as I had put off my escape from
+motives of prudence, which seemed to me worthy of reward, for if I had
+only consulted my own impatience to be gone I should have risked
+everything. To controvert the reasons which made me postpone my flight to
+the 27th of August, a special revelation would have been requisite; and
+though I had read "Mary of Agrada" I was not mad enough for that.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII
+
+The Subterranean Prisons Known as the Wells--Lawrence's Vengeance--I
+Enter into a Correspondence With Another Prisoner, Father Balbi: His
+Character--I Plan With Him a Means of Escape--How I Contrived to Let Him
+Have My Pike I Am Given a Scoundrelly Companion: His Portrait.
+
+I was thus anxious and despairing when two of the guards brought me my
+bed. They went back to fetch the rest of my belongings, and for two hours
+I saw no one, although the door of my cell remained open. This unnatural
+delay engendered many thoughts, but I could not fix exactly on the reason
+of it. I only knew that I had everything to fear, and this knowledge made
+me brace up my mind so that I should be able to meet calmly all possible
+misfortunes.
+
+Besides The Leads and The Fours the State Inquisitors also possess
+certain horrible subterranean cells beneath the ducal palace, where are
+sent men whom they do not wish to put to death, though they be thought
+worthy of it.
+
+These subterranean prisons are precisely like tombs, but they call them
+"wells," because they always contain two feet of water, which penetrates
+from the sea by the same grating by which light is given, this grating
+being only a square foot in size. If the unfortunates condemned to live
+in these sewers do not wish to take a bath of filthy water, they have to
+remain all day seated on a trestle, which serves them both for bed and
+cupboard. In the morning they are given a pitcher of water, some thin
+soup, and a ration of army bread which they have to eat immediately, or
+it becomes the prey of the enormous water rats who swarm in those
+dreadful abodes. Usually the wretches condemned to The Wells are
+imprisoned there for life, and there have been prisoners who have
+attained a great age. A villain who died whilst I was under the Leads had
+passed thirty-seven years in The Wells, and he was forty-four when
+sentenced. Knowing that he deserved death, it is possible that he took
+his imprisonment as a favour, for there are men who fear nought save
+death. His name was Beguelin. A Frenchman by birth, he had served in the
+Venetian army during the last war against the Turks in 1716, under the
+command of Field-Marshal the Count of Schulenbourg, who made the Grand
+Vizier raise the siege of Corfu. This Beguelin was the marshal's spy. He
+disguised himself as a Turk, and penetrated into the Mussulman quarters,
+but at the same time he was also in the service of the Grand Vizier, and
+being detected in this course he certainly had reason to be thankful for
+being allowed to die in The Wells. The rest of his life must have been
+divided between weariness and hunger, but no doubt he often said, 'Dum
+vita superest, bene est'.
+
+I have seen at Spiegelberg, in Moravia, prisons fearful in another way.
+There mercy sends the prisoners under sentence of death, and not one of
+them ever survives a year of imprisonment. What mercy!
+
+During the two mortal hours of suspense, full of sombre thoughts and the
+most melancholy ideas, I could not help fancying that I was going to be
+plunged in one of these horrible dens, where the wretched inhabitants
+feed on idle hopes or become the prey of panic fears. The Tribunal might
+well send him to hell who had endeavoured to escape from purgatory.
+
+At last I heard hurried steps, and I soon saw Lawrence standing before
+me, transformed with rage, foaming at the mouth, and blaspheming God and
+His saints. He began by ordering me to give him the hatchet and the tools
+I had used to pierce the floor, and to tell him from which of the guards
+I had got the tools. Without moving, and quite calmly, I told him that I
+did not know what he was talking about. At this reply he gave orders that
+I should be searched, but rising with a determined air I shook my fist at
+the knaves, and having taken off my clothes I said to them, "Do your
+duty, but let no one touch me."
+
+They searched my mattress, turned my bed inside out, felt the cushions of
+my arm-chair, and found nothing.
+
+"You won't tell me, then, where are the instruments with which you made
+the hole. It's of no matter, as we shall find a way to make you speak."
+
+"If it be true that I have made a hole at all, I shall say that you gave
+me the tools, and that I have returned them to you."
+
+At this threat, which made his followers smile with glee, probably
+because he had been abusing them, he stamped his feet, tore his hair, and
+went out like one possessed. The guards returned and brought me all my
+properties, the whetstone and lamp excepted. After locking up my cell he
+shut the two windows which gave me a little air. I thus found myself
+confined in a narrow space without the possibility of receiving the least
+breath of air from any quarter. Nevertheless, my situation did not
+disturb me to any great extent, as I must confess I thought I had got off
+cheaply. In spite of his training, Lawrence had not thought of turning
+the armchair over; and thus, finding myself still possessor of the iron
+bar, I thanked Providence, and thought myself still at liberty to regard
+the bar as means by which, sooner or later, I should make my escape.
+
+I passed a sleepless night, as much from the heat as the change in my
+prospects. At day-break Lawrence came and brought some insufferable wine,
+and some water I should not have cared to drink. All the rest was of a
+piece; dry salad, putrid meat, and bread harder than English biscuit. He
+cleaned nothing, and when I asked him to open the windows he seemed not
+to hear me; but a guard armed with an iron bar began to sound all over my
+room, against the wall, on the floor, and above all under my bed. I
+looked on with an unmoved expression, but it did not escape my notice
+that the guard did not sound the ceiling. "That way," said I to myself,
+"will lead me out of this place of torments." But for any such project to
+succeed I should have to depend purely on chance, for all my operations
+would leave visible traces. The cell was quite new, and the least scratch
+would have attracted the notice of my keepers.
+
+I passed a terrible day, for the heat was like that of a furnace, and I
+was quite unable to make any use of the food with which I had been
+provided. The perspiration and the lack of nourishment made me so weak
+that I could neither walk nor read. Next day my dinner was the same; the
+horrible smell of the veal the rascal brought me made me draw back from
+it instantly. "Have you received orders," said I, "to kill me with hunger
+and heat?"
+
+He locked the door, and went out without a word. On the third day I was
+treated in the same manner. I asked for a pencil and paper to write to
+the secretary. Still no answer.
+
+In despair, I eat my soup, and then soaking my bread in a little Cyprus
+wine I resolved to get strength to avenge myself on Lawrence by plunging
+my pike into his throat. My rage told me that I had no other course, but
+I grew calmer in the night, and in the morning, when the scoundrel
+appeared, I contented myself with saying that I would kill him as soon as
+I was at liberty. He only laughed at my threat, and again went out
+without opening his lips.
+
+I began to think that he was acting under orders from the secretary, to
+whom he must have told all. I knew not what to do. I strove between
+patience and despair, and felt as if I were dying for want of food. At
+last on the eighth day, with rage in my heart and in a voice of thunder,
+I bade him, under the name of "hangman," and in the presence of the
+archers, give me an account of my money. He answered drily that I should
+have it the next day. Then as he was about to go I took my bucket, and
+made as if I would go and empty it in the passage. Foreseeing my design,
+he told a guard to take it, and during the disgusting operation opened a
+window, which he shut as soon as the affair was done, so that in spite of
+my remonstrances I was left in the plague-stricken atmosphere. I
+determined to speak to him still worse the next day; but as soon as he
+appeared my anger cooled, for before giving me the account of my money he
+presented me with a basket of lemons which M. de Bragadin had sent me,
+also a large bottle of water, which seemed drinkable, and a nice roasted
+fowl; and, besides this, one of the guards opened the two windows. When
+he gave me the account I only looked at the sum total, and I told him to
+give the balance to his wife with the exception of a sequin, which I told
+him to give the guards who were with him. I thus made friends with these
+fellows, who thanked me heartily.
+
+Lawrence, who remained alone with me on purpose, spoke as follows:
+
+"You have already told me, sir, that I myself furnished you with the
+tools to make that enormous hole, and I will ask no more about it; but
+would you kindly tell me where you got the materials to make a lamp?"
+
+"From you."
+
+"Well, for the moment, sir, I'm dashed, for I did not think that wit
+meant impudence."
+
+"I am not telling you any lies. You it was who with your own hands gave
+me all the requisites--oil, flint, and matches; the rest I had by me."
+
+"You are right; but can you shew me as simply that I gave you the tools
+to make that hole?"
+
+"Certainly, for you are the only person who has given me anything."
+
+"Lord have mercy upon me! what do I hear? Tell me, then, how I gave you a
+hatchet?"
+
+"I will tell you the whole story and I will speak the truth, but only in
+the presence of the secretary."
+
+"I don't wish to know any more, and I believe everything you say. I only
+ask you to say nothing about it, as I am a poor man with a family to
+provide for." He went out with his head between his hands.
+
+I congratulated myself heartily on having found a way to make the rascal
+afraid of me; he thought that I knew enough to hang him. I saw that his
+own interest would keep him from saying anything to his superiors about
+the matter.
+
+I had told Lawrence to bring me the works of Maffei, but the expense
+displeased him though he did not dare to say so. He asked me what I could
+want with books with so many to my hand.
+
+"I have read them all," I said, "and want some fresh ones."
+
+"I will get someone who is here to lend you his books, if you will lend
+yours in return; thus you will save your money."
+
+"Perhaps the books are romances, for which I do not care."
+
+"They are scientific works; and if you think yours is the only long head
+here, you are very much mistaken."
+
+"Very good, we shall see. I will lend this book to the 'long head,' and
+do you bring me one from him."
+
+I had given him Petau's Rationarium, and in four minutes he brought me
+the first volume of Wolff's works. Well pleased with it I told him, much
+to his delight, that I would do without Maffei.
+
+Less pleased with the learned reading than at the opportunity to begin a
+correspondence with someone who might help me in my plan of escape (which
+I had already sketched out in my head), I opened the book as soon as
+Lawrence was gone, and was overjoyed to find on one of the leaves the
+maxim of Seneca, 'Calamitosus est animus futuri anxius', paraphrased in
+six elegant verses. I made another six on the spot, and this is the way
+in which I contrived to write them, I had let the nail of my little
+finger grow long to serve as an earpick; I out it to a point, and made a
+pen of it. I had no ink, and I was going to prick myself and write in my
+blood, when I bethought me that the juice of some mulberries I had by me
+would be an excellent substitute for ink. Besides the six verses I wrote
+out a list of my books, and put it in the back of the same book. It must
+be understood that Italian books are generally bound in parchment, and in
+such a way that when the book is opened the back becomes a kind of
+pocket. On the title page I wrote, 'latet'. I was anxious to get an
+answer, so the next day I told Lawrence that I had read the book and
+wanted another; and in a few minutes the second volume was in my hands.
+
+As soon as I was alone I opened the book, and found a loose leaf with the
+following communication in Latin:
+
+"Both of us are in the same prison, and to both of us it must be pleasant
+to find how the ignorance of our gaoler procures us a privilege before
+unknown to such a place. I, Marin Balbi, who write to you, am a Venetian
+of high birth, and a regular cleric, and my companion is Count Andre
+Asquin, of Udine, the capital of Friuli. He begs me to inform you that
+all the books in his possession, of which you will find a list at the
+back of this volume, are at your service; but we warn you that we must
+use all possible care to prevent our correspondence being discovered by
+Lawrence."
+
+In our position there was nothing wonderful in our both pitching on the
+idea of sending each other the catalogues of our small libraries, or in
+our choosing the same hiding-place--the back of the books; all this was
+plain common sense; but the advice to be careful contained on the loose
+leaf struck me with some astonishment. It seemed next to impossible that
+Lawrence should leave the book unopened, but if he had opened it he would
+have seen the leaf, and not knowing how to read he would have kept it in
+his pocket till he could get someone to tell him the contents, and thus
+all would have been strangled at its birth. This made me think that my
+correspondent was an arrant block-head.
+
+After reading through the list, I wrote who I was, how I had been
+arrested, my ignorance as to what crime I had committed, and my hope of
+soon becoming free. Balbi then wrote me a letter of sixteen pages, in
+which he gave me the history of all his misfortunes. He had been four
+years in prison, and the reason was that he had enjoyed the good graces
+of three girls, of whom he had three children, all of whom he baptized
+under his own name.
+
+The first time his superior had let him off with an admonition, the
+second time he was threatened with punishment, and on the third and last
+occasion he was imprisoned. The father-superior of his convent brought
+him his dinner every day. He told me in his letter that both the superior
+and the Tribunal were tyrants, since they had no lawful authority over
+his conscience: that being sure that the three children were his, he
+thought himself constrained as a man of honour not to deprive them of the
+advantage of bearing his name. He finished by telling me that he had
+found himself obliged to recognize his children to prevent slander
+attributing them to others, which would have injured the reputation of
+the three honest girls who bore them; and besides he could not stifle the
+voice of nature, which spoke so well on behalf of these little ones. His
+last words were, "There is no danger of the superior falling into the
+same fault, as he confines his attention to the boys."
+
+This letter made me know my man. Eccentric, sensual, a bad logician,
+vicious, a fool, indiscreet, and ungrateful, all this appeared in his
+letter, for after telling me that he should be badly off without Count
+Asquin who was seventy years old, and had books and money, he devoted two
+pages to abusing him, telling me of his faults and follies. In society I
+should have had nothing more to do with a man of his character, but under
+the Leads I was obliged to put everything to some use. I found in the
+back of the book a pencil, pens, and paper, and I was thus enabled to
+write at my ease.
+
+He told me also the history of the prisoners who were under the Leads,
+and of those who had been there since his imprisonment. He said that the
+guard who secretly brought him whatever he wanted was called Nicolas, he
+also told me the names of the prisoners, and what he knew about them, and
+to convince me he gave me the history of the hole I had made. It seems I
+had been taken from my cell to make room for the patrician Priuli, and
+that Lawrence had taken two hours to repair the damage I had done, and
+that he had imparted the secret to the carpenter, the blacksmith, and all
+the guards under pain of death if they revealed it. "In another day," the
+guard had said, "Casanova would have escaped, and Lawrence would have
+swung, for though he pretended great astonishment when he saw the hole,
+there can be no doubt that he and no other provided the tools." "Nicolas
+has told me," added my correspondent, "that M. de Bragadin has promised
+him a thousand sequins if he will aid you to make your escape but that
+Lawrence, who knows of it, hopes to get the money without risking his
+neck, his plan being to obtain your liberty by means of the influence of
+his wife with M. Diedo. None of the guards dare to speak of what happened
+for fear Lawrence might get himself out of the difficulty, and take his
+revenge by having them dismissed." He begged me to tell him all the
+details, and how I got the tools, and to count upon his keeping the
+secret.
+
+I had no doubts as to his curiosity, but many as to his discretion, and
+this very request shewed him to be the most indiscreet of men.
+Nevertheless, I concluded that I must make use of him, for he seemed to
+me the kind of man to assist me in my escape. I began to write an answer
+to him, but a sudden suspicion made me keep back what I had written. I
+fancied that the correspondence might be a mere artifice of Lawrence's to
+find out who had given me the tools, and what I had done with them. To
+satisfy him without compromising myself I told him that I had made the
+hole with a strong knife in my possession, which I had placed on the
+window-ledge in the passage. In less than three days this false
+confidence of mine made me feel secure, as Lawrence did not go to the
+window, as he would certainly have done if the letter had been
+intercepted. Furthermore, Father Balbi told me that he could understand
+how I might have a knife, as Lawrence had told him that I had not been
+searched previous to my imprisonment. Lawrence himself had received no
+orders to search me, and this circumstance might have stood him in good
+stead if I had succeeded in escaping, as all prisoners handed over to him
+by the captain of the guard were supposed to have been searched already.
+On the other hand, Messer-Grande might have said that, having seen me get
+out of my bed, he was sure that I had no weapons about me, and thus both
+of them would have got out of trouble. The monk ended by begging me to
+send him my knife by Nicolas, on whom I might rely.
+
+The monk's thoughtlessness seemed to me almost incredible. I wrote and
+told him that I was not at all inclined to put my trust in Nicolas, and
+that my secret was one not to be imparted in writing. However, I was
+amused by his letters. In one of them he told me why Count Asquin was
+kept under the Leads, in spite of his helplessness, for he was enormously
+fat, and as he had a broken leg which had been badly set he could hardly
+put one foot before another. It seems that the count, not being a very
+wealthy man, followed the profession of a barrister at Udine, and in that
+capacity defended the country-folk against the nobility, who wished to
+deprive the peasants of their vote in the assembly of the province. The
+claims of the farmers disturbed the public peace, and by way of bringing
+them to reason the nobles had recourse to the State Inquisitors, who
+ordered the count-barrister to abandon his clients. The count replied
+that the municipal law authorized him to defend the constitution, and
+would not give in; whereon the Inquisitors arrested him, law or no law,
+and for the last five years he had breathed the invigorating air of The
+Leads. Like myself he had fifty sous a day, but he could do what he liked
+with the money. The monk, who was always penniless, told me a good deal
+to the disadvantage of the count, whom he represented as very miserly. He
+informed me that in the cell on the other side of the hall there were two
+gentlemen of the "Seven Townships," who were likewise imprisoned for
+disobedience, but one of them had become mad, and was in chains; in
+another cell, he said, there were two lawyers.
+
+My suspicions quieted, I reasoned as follows:
+
+I wish to regain my liberty at all hazards. My pike is an admirable
+instrument, but I can make no use of it as my cell is sounded all over
+(except the ceiling) every day. If I would escape, it is by the ceiling,
+therefore, that way I must go, but to do that I must make a hole through
+it, and that I cannot do from my side, for it would not be the work of a
+day. I must have someone to help me; and not having much choice I had to
+pick out the monk. He was thirty-eight, and though not rich in common
+sense I judged that the love of liberty--the first need of man--would
+give him sufficient courage to carry out any orders I might give. I must
+begin by telling him my plan in its entirety, and then I shall have to
+find a way to give him the bar. I had, then, two difficult problems
+before me.
+
+My first step was to ask him if he wished to be free, and if he were
+disposed to hazard all in attempting his escape in my company. He replied
+that his mate and he would do anything to break their chains, but, added
+he, "it is of no use to break one's head against a stone wall." He filled
+four pages with the impossibilities which presented themselves to his
+feeble intellect, for the fellow saw no chance of success on any quarter.
+I replied that I did not trouble myself with general difficulties, and
+that in forming my plan I had only thought of special difficulties, which
+I would find means to overcome, and I finished by giving him my word of
+honour to set him free, if he would promise to carry out exactly whatever
+orders I might give.
+
+He gave me his promise to do so. I told him that I had a pike twenty
+inches long, and with this tool he must pierce the ceiling of his cell
+next the wall which separated us, and he would then be above my head; his
+next step would be to make a hole in the ceiling of my cell and aid me to
+escape by it. "Here your task will end and mine will begin, and I will
+undertake to set both you and Count Asquin at liberty."
+
+He answered that when I had got out of my cell I should be still in
+prison, and our position would be the same as now, as we should only be
+in the garrets which were secured by three strong doors.
+
+"I know that, reverend father," I replied, "but we are not going to
+escape by the doors. My plan is complete, and I will guarantee its
+success. All I ask of you is to carry out my directions, and to make no
+difficulties. Do you busy yourself to find out some way of getting my bar
+without the knowledge of the gaoler. In the meanwhile, make him get you
+about forty pictures of saints, large enough to cover all the walls of
+your cell. Lawrence will suspect nothing, and they will do to conceal the
+opening you are to make in the ceiling. To do this will be the work of
+some days, and of mornings Lawrence will not see what you have done the
+day before, as you will have covered it up with one of the pictures. If
+you ask me why I do not undertake the work myself, I can only say that
+the gaoler suspects me, and the objection will doubtless seem to you a
+weighty one."
+
+Although I had told him to think of a plan to get hold of the pike, I
+thought of nothing else myself, and had a happy thought which I hastened
+to put into execution. I told Lawrence to buy me a folio Bible, which had
+been published recently; it was the Vulgate with the Septuagint. I hoped
+to be able to put the pike in the back of the binding of this large
+volume, and thus to convey it to the monk, but when I saw the book I
+found the tool to be two inches longer.
+
+My correspondent had written to tell me that his cell was covered with
+pictures, and I had communicated him my idea about the Bible and the
+difficulty presented by its want of length. Happy at being able to
+display his genius, he rallied me on the poverty of my imagination,
+telling me that I had only to send him the pike wrapped up in my fox-skin
+cloak.
+
+"Lawrence," said he, "had often talked about your cloak, and Count Asquin
+would arouse no suspicion by asking to see it in order to buy one of the
+same kind. All you have to do is to send it folded up. Lawrence would
+never dream of unfolding it."
+
+I, on the other hand, was sure that he would. In the first place, because
+a cloak folded up is more troublesome to carry than when it is unfolded.
+However, not to rebuff him and at the same time to shew him that I was
+the wiser, I wrote that he had only to send for the cloak. The next day
+Lawrence asked me for it, and I gave it folded up, but without the bar,
+and in a quarter of an hour he brought it back to me, saying that the
+gentleman had admired it very much.
+
+The monk wrote me a doleful letter, in which he confessed he had given me
+a piece of bad advice, adding that I was wrong to follow it. According to
+him the pike was lost, as Lawrence had brought in the cloak all unfolded.
+After this, all hope was gone. I undeceived him, and begged him for the
+future to be a little more sparing of his advice. It was necessary to
+bring the matter to a head, and I determined to send him the bar under
+cover of my Bible, taking measures to prevent the gaoler from seeing the
+ends of the great volume. My scheme was as follows:
+
+I told Lawrence that I wanted to celebrate St. Michael's Day with a
+macaroni cheese; but wishing to shew my gratitude to the person who had
+kindly lent me his books, I should like to make him a large dish of it,
+and to prepare it with my own hands. Lawrence told me (as had been
+arranged between the monk and myself) that the gentleman in question
+wished to read the large book which cost three sequins.
+
+"Very good," said I, "I will send it him with the macaroni; but get me
+the largest dish you have, as I wish to do the thing on a grand scale."
+
+He promised to do what I asked him. I wrapped up the pike in paper and
+put it in the back of the Bible, taking care that it projected an equal
+distance at each end. Now, if I placed on the Bible a great dish of
+macaroni full of melted butter I was quite sure that Lawrence would not
+examine the ends. All his gaze would be concentrated upon the plate, to
+avoid spilling the grease on the book. I told Father Balbi of my plan,
+charging him to take care how he took the dish, and above all to take
+dish and Bible together, and not one by one. On the day appointed
+Lawrence came earlier than usual, carrying a saucepan full of boiling
+macaroni, and all the necessary ingredients for seasoning the dish. I
+melted a quantity of butter, and after putting the macaroni into the dish
+I poured the butter over it till it was full to the brim. The dish was a
+huge one, and was much larger than the book on which I placed it. I did
+all this at the door of my cell, Lawrence being outside.
+
+When all was ready I carefully took up the Bible and dish, placing the
+back of the book next to the bearer, and told Lawrence to stretch out his
+arms and take it, to be careful not to spill the grease over the book,
+and to carry the whole to its destination immediately. As I gave him this
+weighty load I kept my eyes fixed on his, and I saw to my joy that he did
+not take his gaze off the butter, which he was afraid of spilling. He
+said it would be better to take the dish first, and then to come back for
+the book; but I told him that this would spoil the present, and that both
+must go together. He then complained that I had put in too much butter,
+and said, jokingly, that if it were spilt he would not be responsible for
+the loss. As soon as I saw the Bible in the lout's arms I was certain of
+success, as he could not see the ends of the pike without twisting his
+head, and I saw no reason why he should divert his gaze from the plate,
+which he had enough to do to carry evenly. I followed him with my eyes
+till he disappeared into the ante-chamber of the monk's cell, and he,
+blowing his nose three times, gave me the pre-arranged signal that all
+was right, which was confirmed by the appearance of Lawrence in a few
+moments afterwards.
+
+Father Balbi lost no time in setting about the work, and in eight days he
+succeeded in making a large enough opening in the ceiling, which he
+covered with a picture pasted to the ceiling with breadcrumbs. On the 8th
+of October he wrote to say that he had passed the whole night in working
+at the partition wall, and had only succeeded in loosening one brick. He
+told me the difficulty of separating the bricks joined to one another by
+a strong cement was enormous, but he promised to persevere, "though," he
+said, "we shall only make our position worse than it is now." I told him
+that I was certain of success; that he must believe in me and persevere.
+Alas! I was certain of nothing, but I had to speak thus or to give up
+all. I was fain to escape from this hell on earth, where I was imprisoned
+by a most detestable tyranny, and I thought only of forwarding this end,
+with the resolve to succeed, or at all events not to stop before I came
+to a difficulty which was insurmountable. I had read in the great book of
+experience that in important schemes action is the grand requisite, and
+that the rest must be left to fortune. If I had entrusted Father Balbi
+with these deep mysteries of moral philosophy he would have pronounced me
+a madman. His work was only toilsome on the first night, for the more he
+worked the easier it became, and when he had finished he found he had
+taken out thirty-six bricks.
+
+On the 16th of October, as I was engaged in translating an ode of Horace,
+I heard a trampling noise above my head, and then three light blows were
+struck. This was the signal agreed upon to assure us that our
+calculations were correct. He worked till the evening, and the next day
+he wrote that if the roof of my cell was only two boards thick his work
+would be finished that day. He assured me that he was carefully making
+the hole round as I had charged him, and that he would not pierce the
+ceiling. This was a vital point, as the slightest mark would have led to
+discovery. "The final touch," he said, "will only take a quarter of an
+hour." I had fixed on the day after the next to escape from my cell at
+night-time to enter no more, for with a mate I was quite sure that I
+could make in two or three hours a hole in the roof of the ducal palace,
+and once on the outside of the roof I would trust to chance for the means
+of getting to the ground.
+
+I had not yet got so far as this, for my bad luck had more than one
+obstacle in store for me. On the same day (it was a Monday) at two
+o'clock in the afternoon, whilst Father Balbi was at work, I heard the
+door of the hall being opened. My blood ran cold, but I had sufficient
+presence of mind to knock twice-the signal of alarm--at which it had been
+agreed that Father Balbi was to make haste back to his cell and set all
+in order. In less than a minute afterwards Lawrence opened the door, and
+begged my pardon for giving me a very unpleasant companion. This was a
+man between forty and fifty, short, thin, ugly, and badly dressed,
+wearing a black wig; while I was looking at him he was unbound by two
+guards. I had no reason to doubt that he was a knave, since Lawrence told
+me so before his face without his displaying the slightest emotion. "The
+Court," I said, "can do what seems good to it." After Lawrence had
+brought him a bed he told him that the Court allowed him ten sous a day,
+and then locked us up together.
+
+Overwhelmed by this disaster, I glanced at the fellow, whom his every
+feature proclaimed rogue. I was about to speak to him when he began by
+thanking me for having got him a bed. Wishing to gain him over, I invited
+him to take his meals with me. He kissed my hand, and asked me if he
+would still be able to claim the ten sous which the Court had allowed
+him. On my answering in the affirmative he fell on his knees, and drawing
+an enormous rosary from his pocket he cast his gaze all round the cell.
+
+"What do you want?"
+
+"You will pardon me, sir, but I am looking for some statue of the Holy
+Virgin, for I am a Christian; if there were even a small crucifix it
+would be something, for I have never been in so much need of the
+protection of St. Francis d'Assisi, whose name I bear, though all
+unworthy."
+
+I could scarcely help laughing, not at his Christian piety, since faith
+and conscience are beyond control, but at the curious turn he gave his
+remonstrance. I concluded he took me for a Jew; and to disabuse him of
+this notion I made haste to give him the "Hours of the Holy Virgin,"
+whose picture he kissed, and then gave me the book back, telling me in a
+modest voice that his father--a galley officer--had neglected to have
+him taught to read. "I am," said he, "a devotee of the Holy Rosary," and
+he told me a host of miracles, to which I listened with the patience of
+an angel. When he had come to an end I asked him if he had had his
+dinner, and he replied that he was dying of hunger. I gave him everything
+I had, which he devoured rather than ate; drinking all my wine, and then
+becoming maudlin he began to weep, and finally to talk without rhyme or
+reason. I asked him how he got into trouble, and he told me the following
+story:
+
+"My aim and my only aim has always been the glory of God, and of the holy
+Republic of Venice, and that its laws may be exactly obeyed. Always
+lending an attentive ear to the plots of the wicked, whose end is to
+deceive, to deprive their prince of his just dues, and to conspire
+secretly, I have over and again unveiled their secret plans, and have not
+failed to report to Messer-Grande all I know. It is true that I am always
+paid, but the money has never given me so much pleasure as the thought
+that I have been able to serve the blessed St. Mark. I have always
+despised those who think there is something dishonourable in the business
+of a spy. The word sounds ill only to the ill-affected; for a spy is a
+lover of the state, the scourge of the guilty, and faithful subject of
+his prince. When I have been put to the test, the feeling of friendship,
+which might count for something with other men, has never had the
+slightest influence over me, and still less the sentiment which is called
+gratitude. I have often, in order to worm out a secret, sworn to be as
+silent as the grave, and have never failed to reveal it. Indeed, I am
+able to do so with full confidence, as my director who is a good Jesuit
+has told me that I may lawfully reveal such secrets, not only because my
+intention was to do so, but because, when the safety of the state is at
+stake, there is no such thing as a binding oath. I must confess that in
+my zeal I have betrayed my own father, and that in me the promptings of
+our weak nature have been quite mortified. Three weeks ago I observed
+that there was a kind of cabal between four or five notables of the town
+of Isola, where I live. I knew them to be disaffected to the Government
+on account of certain contraband articles which had been confiscated. The
+first chaplain--a subject of Austria by birth--was in the plot. They
+gathered together of evenings in an inn, in a room where there was a bed;
+there they drank and talked, and afterwards went their ways. As I was
+determined to discover the conspiracy, I was brave enough to hide under
+the bed on a day on which I was sure I would not be seen. Towards the
+evening my gentlemen came, and began to talk; amongst other things, they
+said that the town of Isola was not within the jurisdiction of St. Mark,
+but rather in the principality of Trieste, as it could not possibly be
+considered to form part of the Venetian territory. The chaplain said to
+the chief of the plot, a man named Pietro Paolo, that if he and the
+others would sign a document to that effect, he himself would go to the
+imperial ambassador, and that the Empress would not only take possession
+of the island, but would reward them for what they had done. They all
+professed themselves ready to go on, and the chaplain promised to bring
+the document the next day, and afterwards to take it to the ambassadors.
+
+"I determined to frustrate this detestable project, although one of the
+conspirators was my gossip--a spiritual relationship which gave him a
+greater claim on me than if he had been my own brother.
+
+"After they were gone, I came out of my hiding-place and did not think it
+necessary to expose myself to danger by hiding again as I had found out
+sufficient for my purpose. I set out the same night in a boat, and
+reached here the next day before noon. I had the names of the six rebels
+written down, and I took the paper to the secretary of the Tribunal,
+telling him all I had heard. He ordered me to appear, the day following,
+at the palace, and an agent of the Government should go back with me to
+Isola that I might point the chaplain out to him, as he had probably not
+yet gone to the Austrian ambassador's. 'That done,' said the lord
+secretary, 'you will no longer meddle in the matter.' I executed his
+orders, and after having shewn the chaplain to the agent, I was at
+leisure for my own affairs.
+
+"After dinner my gossip called me in to shave him (for I am a barber by
+profession), and after I had done so he gave me a capital glass of
+refosco with some slices of sausages, and we ate together in all good
+fellowship. My love for him had still possession of my soul, so I took
+his hand, and, shedding some heartfelt tears, I advised him to have no
+more to do with the canon, and above all, not to sign the document he
+knew of. He protested that he was no particular friend of the chaplain's,
+and swore he did not know what document I was talking about. I burst into
+a laugh, telling him it was only my joke, and went forth very sorry at
+having yielded to a sentiment of affection which had made me commit so
+grievous a fault. The next day I saw neither the man nor the chaplain. A
+week after, having paid a visit to the palace, I was promptly imprisoned,
+and here I am with you, my dear sir. I thank St. Francis for having given
+me the company of a good Christian, who is here for reasons of which I
+desire to know nothing, for I am not curious. My name is Soradaci, and my
+wife is a Legrenzi, daughter of a secretary to the Council of Ten, who,
+in spite of all prejudice to the contrary, determined to marry me. She
+will be in despair at not knowing what has become of me, but I hope to be
+here only for a few days, since the only reason of my imprisonment is
+that the secretary wishes to be able to examine me more conveniently."
+
+I shuddered to think of the monster who was with me, but feeling that the
+situation was a risky one, And that I should have to make use of him, I
+compassionated him, praised his patriotism, and predicted that he would
+be set at liberty in a few days. A few moments after he fell asleep, and
+I took the opportunity of telling the whole story to Father Balbi,
+shewing him that we should be obliged to put off our work to a more
+convenient season. Next day I told Lawrence to buy me a wooden crucifix,
+a statue of Our Lady, a portrait of St. Francis, and two bottles of holy
+water. Soradaci asked for his ten sous, and Lawrence, with an air of
+contempt, gave him twenty. I asked Lawrence to buy me four times the
+usual amount of garlic, wine, and salt--a diet in which my hateful
+companion delighted. After the gaoler was gone I deftly drew out the
+letter Balbi had written me, and in which he drew a vivid picture of his
+alarm. He thought all was lost, and over and over again thanked Heaven
+that Lawrence had put Soradaci in my cell, "for," said he, "if he had
+come into mine, he would not have found me there, and we should possibly
+have shared a cell in The Wells as a reward for our endeavours."
+
+Soradaci's tale had satisfied me that he was only imprisoned to be
+examined, as it seemed plain that the secretary had arrested him on
+suspicion of bearing false witness. I thereupon resolved to entrust him
+with two letters which would do me neither good nor harm if they were
+delivered at their addresses, but which would be beneficial to me if the
+traitor gave them to the secretary as a proof of his loyalty, as I had
+not the slightest doubt he would do.
+
+I spent two hours in writing these two letters in pencil. Next day
+Lawrence brought me the crucifix, the two pictures, and the holy water,
+and having worked the rascal well up to the point, I said, "I reckon upon
+your friendship and your courage. Here are two letters I want you to
+deliver when you recover your liberty. My happiness depends on your
+loyality, but you must hide the letters, as they were found upon you we
+should both of us be undone. You must swear by the crucifix and these
+holy pictures not to betray me."
+
+"I am ready, dear master, to swear to anything you like, and I owe you
+too much to betray you."
+
+This speech was followed by much weeping and lamentation. He called
+himself unhappy wretch at being suspected of treason towards a man for
+whom he would have given his life. I knew my man, but I played out the
+comedy. Having given him a shirt and a cap, I stood up bare-headed, and
+then having sprinkled the cell with holy water, and plentifully bedewed
+him with the same liquid, I made him swear a dreadful oath, stuffed with
+senseless imprecations, which for that very reason were the better fitted
+to strike terror to his soul. After his having sworn the oath to deliver
+my letters to their addresses, I gave him them, and he himself proposed
+to sew them up at the back of his waistcoat, between the stuff and the
+lining, to which proceedings I assented.
+
+I was morally sure that he would deliver my letters to the secretary in
+the first opportunity, so I took the utmost care that my style of writing
+should not discover the trick. They could only gain me the esteem of the
+Court, and possibly its mercy. One of the letters was addressed to M. de
+Bragadin and the other to the Abbe Grimani, and I told them not to be
+anxious about me as I was in good hopes of soon being set at liberty,
+that they would find when I came out that my imprisonment had done me
+more good than harm, as there was no one in Venice who stood in need of
+reform more than I.
+
+I begged M. de Bragadin to be kind enough to send me a pair of fur boots
+for the winter, as my cell was high enough for me to stand upright and to
+walk up and down.
+
+I took care that Soradaci should not suspect the innocent nature of these
+letters, as he might then have been seized with the temptation to do an
+honest thing for me, and have delivered them, which was not what I was
+aiming at. You will see, dear reader, in the following chapter, the power
+of oaths over the vile soul of my odious companion, and also if I have
+not verified the saying 'In vino veritas', for in the story he told me
+the wretch had shewn himself in his true colours.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX
+
+Treason of Soradaci--How I Get the Best of Him--Father Balbi Ends His
+Work--I Escape from My Cell--Unseasonable Observations of Count Asquin
+The Critical Moment
+
+Soradaci had had my letters for two or three days when Lawrence came one
+afternoon to take him to the secretary. As he was several hours away, I
+hoped to see his face no more; but to my great astonishment he was
+brought back in the evening. As soon as Lawrence had gone, he told me
+that the secretary suspected him of having warned the chaplain, since
+that individual had never been near the ambassador's and no document of
+any kind was found upon him. He added that after a long examination he
+had been confined in a very small cell, and was then bound and brought
+again before the secretary, who wanted him to confess that he told
+someone at Isola that the priest would never return, but that he had not
+done so as he had said no such thing. At last the secretary got tired,
+called the guards, and had him brought back to my cell.
+
+I was distressed to hear his account, as I saw that the wretch would
+probably remain a long time in my company. Having to inform Father Balbi
+of this fatal misadventure, I wrote to him during the night, and being
+obliged to do so more than once, I got accustomed to write correctly
+enough in the dark.
+
+On the next day, to assure myself that my suspicions were well founded, I
+told the spy to give me the letter I had written to M. de Bragadin as I
+wanted to add something to it. "You can sew it up afterwards," said I.
+
+"It would be dangerous," he replied, "as the gaoler might come in in the
+mean time, and then we should be both ruined."
+
+"No matter. Give me my letters:"
+
+Thereupon the hound threw himself at my feet, and swore that on his
+appearing for a second time before the dreaded secretary, he had been
+seized with a severe trembling; and that he had felt in his back,
+especially in the place where the letters were, so intolerable an
+oppression, that the secretary had asked him the cause, and that he had
+not been able to conceal the truth. Then the secretary rang his bell, and
+Lawrence came in, unbound him, and took off his waist-coat and unsewed
+the lining. The secretary then read the letters and put them in a drawer
+of his bureau, telling him that if he had taken the letters he would have
+been discovered and have lost his life.
+
+I pretended to be overwhelmed, and covering my face with my hands I knelt
+down at the bedside before the picture of the Virgin, and asked, her to
+avenge me on the wretch who had broken the most sacred oaths. I
+afterwards lay down on the bed, my face to the wall, and remained there
+the whole day without moving, without speaking a word, and pretending not
+to hear the tears, cries, and protestations of repentance uttered by the
+villain. I played my part in the comedy I had sketched out to perfection.
+In the night I wrote to Father Balbi to come at two o'clock in the
+afternoon, not a minute sooner or later, to work for four hours, and not
+a minute more. "On this precision," I wrote, "our liberty depends and if
+you observe it all will be well."
+
+It was the 25th of October, and the time for me to carry out my design or
+to give it up for ever drew near. The State Inquisitors and their
+secretary went every year to a village on the mainland, and passed there
+the first three days of November. Lawrence, taking advantage of his
+masters' absence, did not fail to get drunk every evening, and did not
+appear at The Leads in the morning till a late hour.
+
+Advised of these circumstances, I chose this time to make my escape, as I
+was certain that my flight would not be noticed till late in the morning.
+Another reason for my determination to hurry my escape, when I could no
+longer doubt the villainy of my detestable companion, seems to me to be
+worthy of record.
+
+The greatest relief of a man in the midst of misfortune is the hope of
+escaping from it. He sighs for the hour when his sorrows are to end; he
+thinks he can hasten it by his prayers; he will do anything to know when
+his torments shall cease. The sufferer, impatient and enfeebled, is
+mostly inclined to superstition. "God," says he, "knows the time, and God
+may reveal it to me, it matters not how." Whilst he is in this state he
+is ready to trust in divination in any manner his fancy leads him, and is
+more or less disposed to believe in the oracle of which he makes choice.
+
+I then was in this state of mind; but not knowing how to make use of the
+Bible to inform me of the moment in which I should recover my liberty, I
+determined to consult the divine Orlando Furioso, which I had read a
+hundred times, which I knew by heart, and which was my delight under the
+Leads. I idolized the genius of Ariosto, and considered him a far better
+fortune-teller than Virgil.
+
+With this idea I wrote a question addressed to the supposed Intelligence,
+in which I ask in what canto of Ariosto I should find the day of my
+deliverance. I then made a reversed pyramid composed of the number formed
+from the words of the question, and by subtracting the number nine I
+obtained, finally, nine. This told me that I should find my fate in the
+ninth canto. I followed the same method to find out the exact stanza and
+verse, and got seven for the stanza and one for the verse.
+
+I took up the poem, and my heart beating as if I trusted wholly in the
+oracle, I opened it, turned down the leaf, and read;
+
+'Fra il fin d'ottobre, a il capo di novembre'.
+
+The precision of the line and its appropriateness to my circumstances
+appeared so wonderful to me, that I will not confess that I placed my
+faith entirely in it; but the reader will pardon me if I say that I did
+all in my power to make the prediction a correct one. The most singular
+circumstance is that between the end of October and the beginning of
+November, there is only the instant midnight, and it was just as the
+clock was striking midnight on the 31st of October that I escaped from my
+cell, as the reader will soon see.
+
+The following is the manner in which I passed the morning to strike awe
+into the soul of that vicious brute, to confound his feeble intellect,
+and to render him harmless to me.
+
+As soon as Lawrence had left us I told Soradaci to come and take some
+soup. The scoundrel was in bed, and he had told Lawrence that he was ill.
+He would not have dared to approach me if I had not called him. However,
+he rose from his bed, and threw himself flat upon the ground at my feet,
+and said, weeping violently, that if I would not forgive him he would die
+before the day was done, as he already felt the curse and the vengeance
+of the Holy Virgin which I had denounced against him. He felt devouring
+pains in his bowels, and his mouth was covered with sores. He shewed it
+me, and I saw it was full of ulcers, but I cannot say whether it was thus
+the night before. I did not much care to examine him to see if he were
+telling me the truth. My cue was to pretend to believe him, and to make
+him hope for mercy. I began by making him eat and drink. The traitor most
+likely intended to deceive me, but as I was myself determined to deceive
+him it remained to be seen which was the a cuter. I had planned an attack
+against which it was improbable that he could defend himself.
+
+Assuming an inspired air, I said, "Be seated and take this soup, and
+afterwards I will tell you of your good fortune, for know that the Virgin
+of the Rosary appeared to me at day-break, and bids me pardon you. Thou
+shalt not die but live, and shalt come out of this place with me." In
+great wonderment, and kneeling on the ground for want of a chair, he ate
+the soup with me, and afterwards seated himself on the bed to hear what I
+had to say. Thus I spoke to him:
+
+"The grief I experienced at your dreadful treason made me pass a
+sleepless night, as the letters might condemn me to spend here the
+remnant of my days. My only consolation, I confess, was the certainty
+that you would die here also before my eyes within three days. Full of
+this thought not worthy of a Christian (for God bids us forgive our
+enemies) my weariness made me sleep, and in my sleep I had a vision. I
+saw that Holy Virgin, Mother of God, whose likeness you behold--I saw her
+before me, and opening her lips she spoke thus:
+
+"'Soradaci is a devotee of my Holy Rosary. I protect him, and I will that
+you forgive him, and then the curse he has drawn on himself will cease.
+In return for your generosity, I will order one of my angels to take the
+form of man, to come down from heaven, to break open the roof of your
+prison, and set you free within five or six days. The angel will begin
+his task this day at two o'clock precisely, and he will work till half an
+hour before sunset, since he must ascend again into heaven while the
+daylight lasts. When you come out of this place, take Soradaci with you,
+and have a care for him if he will renounce his business of spying. Tell
+him all.'
+
+"With these words the Holy Virgin vanished out of my sight, and I awoke."
+
+I spoke all the while with a serious face and the air of one inspired,
+and I saw that the traitor was petrified. I then took my Book of Hours,
+sprinkled the cell with holy water, and pretended to pray, kissing from
+time to time the picture of the Virgin. An hour afterwards the brute, who
+so far had not opened his mouth, asked me bluntly at what time the angel
+would come down from heaven, and if we should hear him breaking in the
+cell.
+
+"I am certain that he will begin at two o'clock, that we shall hear him
+at his work, and that he will depart at the hour named by the Holy
+Virgin."
+
+"You may have dreamt it all."
+
+"Nay, not so. Will you swear to me to spy no more?"
+
+Instead of answering he went off to sleep, and did not awake for two
+hours after, when he asked if he could put off taking the oath. I asked
+of him,
+
+"You can put off taking it," I said, "till the angel enters to set me
+free; but if you do not then renounce by an oath the infamous trade which
+has brought you here, and which will end by bringing you to the gallows,
+I shall leave you in the cell, for so the Mother of God commands, and if
+you do not obey you will lose her protection."
+
+As I had expected, I saw an expression of satisfaction on his hideous
+features, for he was quite certain that the angel would not come. He
+looked at me with a pitying air. I longed to hear the hour strike. The
+play amused me intensely, for I was persuaded that the approach of the
+angel would set his miserable wits a-reeling. I was sure, also, that the
+plan would succeed if Lawrence had not forgotten to give the monk the
+books, and this was not likely.
+
+An hour before the time appointed I was fain to dine. I only drank water,
+and Soradaci drank all the wine and consumed all the garlic I had, and
+thus made himself worse.
+
+As soon as I heard the first stroke of two I fell on my knees, ordering
+him, in an awful voice, to do the like. He obeyed, looking at me in a
+dazed way. When I heard the first slight noise I examined, "Lo! the angel
+cometh!" and fell down on my face, and with a hearty fisticuff forced him
+into the same position. The noise of breaking was plainly heard, and for
+a quarter of an hour I kept in that troublesome position, and if the
+circumstances had been different I should have laughed to see how
+motionless the creature was; but I restrained myself, remembering my
+design of completely turning the fellow's head, or at least of obsessing
+him for a time. As soon as I got up I knelt and allowed him to imitate
+me, and I spent three hours in saying the rosary to him. From time to
+time he dozed off, wearied rather by his position than by the monotony of
+the prayer, but during the whole time he never interrupted me. Now and
+again he dared to raise a furtive glance towards the ceiling. With a sort
+of stupor on his face, he turned his head in the direction of the Virgin,
+and the whole of his behaviour was for me the highest comedy. When I
+heard the clock strike the hour for the work to cease, I said to him,
+
+"Prostrate thyself, for the angel departeth."
+
+Balbi returned to his cell, and we heard him no more. As I rose to my
+feet, fixing my gaze on the wretched fellow, I read fright on every
+feature, and was delighted. I addressed a few words to him that I might
+see in what state of mind he was. He shed tears in abundance, and what he
+said was mostly extravagant, his ideas having no sequence or connection.
+He spoke of his sins, of his acts of devotion, of his zeal in the service
+of St. Mark, and of the work he had done for the Commonwealth, and to
+this attributed the special favours Mary had shewn him. I had to put up
+with a long story about the miracles of the Rosary which his wife, whose
+confessor was a young Dominican, had told him. He said that he did not
+know what use I could make of an ignorant fellow like him.
+
+"I will take you into my service, and you shall have all that you need
+without being obliged to pursue the hazardous trade of a spy."
+
+"Shall we not be able to remain at Venice?"
+
+"Certainly not. The angel will take us to a land which does not belong to
+St. Mark. Will you swear to me that you will spy no more? And if you
+swear, will you become a perjurer a second time?"
+
+"If I take the oath, I will surely keep it, of that there can be no
+doubt; but you must confess that if I had not perjured myself you would
+never have received such favour at the hands of the Virgin. My broken
+faith is the cause of your bliss. You ought, therefore, to love me and to
+be content with my treason."
+
+"Dost love Judas who betrayed Jesus Christ?"
+
+"No."
+
+"You perceive, then, that one detests the traitor and at the same time
+adores the Divine Providence, which knows how to bring good out of evil.
+Up to the present time you have done wickedly. You have offended God and
+the Virgin His Mother, and I will not receive your oath till you have
+expiated your sins."
+
+"What sin have I done?"
+
+"You have sinned by pride, Soradaci, in thinking that I was under an
+obligation to you for betraying me and giving my letters to the
+secretary."
+
+"How shall I expiate this sin?"
+
+"Thus. To-morrow, when Lawrence comes, you must lie on your bed, your
+face towards the wall, and without the slightest motion or a single
+glance at Lawrence. If he address you, you must answer, without looking
+at him, that you could not sleep, and need rest. Do you promise me
+entirely to do this thing?"
+
+"I will do whatsoever you tell me."
+
+"Quick, then, take your oath before this holy picture."
+
+"I promise, Holy Mother of God, that when Lawrence comes I will not look
+at him, nor stir from my bed."
+
+"And I, Most Holy Virgin, swear by the bowels of your Divine Son that if
+I see Soradici move in the least or look towards Lawrence, I will throw
+myself straightway upon him and strangle him without mercy, to your
+honour and glory."
+
+I counted on my threat having at least as much effect upon him as his
+oath. Nevertheless, as I was anxious to make sure, I asked him if he had
+anything to say against the oath, and after thinking for a moment he
+answered that he was quite content with it. Well pleased myself, I gave
+him something to eat, and told him to go to bed as I needed sleep.
+
+As soon as he was asleep I began to write, and wrote on for two hours. I
+told Balbi all that had happened, and said that if the work was far
+enough advanced he need only come above my cell to put the final stroke
+to it and break through. I made him note that we should set out on the
+night of the 31st of October, and that we should be four in all, counting
+his companion and mine. It was now the twenty-eighth of the month.
+
+In the morning the monk wrote me that the passage was made, and that he
+should only require to work at the ceiling of my cell to break through
+the last board and this would be done in four minutes. Soradaci observed
+his oath, pretending to sleep, and Lawrence said nothing to him. I kept
+my eyes upon him the whole time, and I verily believe I should have
+strangled him if he had made the slightest motion towards Lawrence, for a
+wink would have been enough to betray me.
+
+The rest of the day was devoted to high discourses and exalted
+expressions, which I uttered as solemnly as I could, and I enjoyed the
+sight of seeing him become more and more fanatical. To heighten the
+effect of my mystic exhortation I dosed him heavily with wine, and did
+not let him go till he had fallen into a drunken sleep.
+
+Though a stranger to all metaphysical speculations, and a man who had
+never exercised his reasoning faculties except in devising some piece of
+spy-craft, the fellow confused me for a moment by saying that he could
+not conceive how an angel should have to take so much trouble to break
+open our cell. But after lifting my eyes to heaven, or rather to the roof
+of my dungeon-cell, I said,
+
+"The ways of God are inscrutable; and since the messenger of Heaven works
+not as an angel (for then a slight single blow would be enough), he works
+like a man, whose form he has doubtless taken, as we are not worthy to
+look upon his celestial body. And, furthermore," said I, like a true
+Jesuit, who knows how to draw advantage from everything, "I foresee that
+the angel, to punish us for your evil thought, which has offended the
+Holy Virgin, will not come to-day. Wretch, your thoughts are not those of
+an honest, pious, and religious man, but those of a sinner who thinks he
+has to do with Messer-Grande and his myrmidons."
+
+I wanted to drive him to despair, and I had succeeded. He began to weep
+bitterly, and his sobs almost choked him, when two o'clock struck and not
+sign of the angel was heard. Instead of calming him I endeavoured to
+augment his misery by my complaints. The next morning he was obedient to
+my orders, for when Lawrence asked him how he was, he replied without
+moving his head. He behaved in the same manner on the day following, and
+until I saw Lawrence for the last time on the morning of the 31st
+October. I gave him the book for Barbi, and told the monk to come at noon
+to break through the ceiling. I feared nothing, as Lawrence had told me
+that the Inquisitors and the secretary had already set out for the
+country. I had no reason to dread the arrival of a new companion, and all
+I had to do was to manage my knave.
+
+After Lawrence was gone I told Soradaci that the angel would come and
+make an opening in the ceiling about noon.
+
+"He will bring a pair of scissors with him," I said, "and you will have
+to cut the angel's beard and mine."
+
+"Has the angel a beard?"
+
+"Yes, you shall see it for yourself. Afterwards we will get out of the
+cell and proceed to break the roof of the palace, whence we shall descend
+into St. Mark's Place and set out for Germany."
+
+He answered nothing. He had to eat by himself, for my mind was too much
+occupied to think about dinner--indeed, I had been unable to sleep.
+
+The appointed hour struck--and the angel came, Soradaci was going to fall
+down on his face, but I told him it was not necessary. In three minutes
+the passage was completed, the piece of board fell at my feet, and Father
+Balbi into my arms. "Your work is ended and mine begun," said I to him.
+We embraced each other, and he gave me the pike and a pair of scissors. I
+told Soradaci to cut our beards, but I could not help laughing to see the
+creature--his mouth all agape-staring at the angel, who was more like a
+devil. However, though quite beside himself, he cut our beards admirably.
+
+Anxious to see how the land lay, I told the monk to stay with Soradaci,
+as I did not care to leave him alone, and I went out. I found the hole in
+the wall narrow, but I succeeded in getting through it. I was above the
+count's cell, and I came in and greeted the worthy old man. The man
+before me was not fitted to encounter such difficulties as would be
+involved in an escape by a steep roof covered with plates of lead. He
+asked me what my plan was, and told me that he thought I had acted rather
+inconsiderately. "I only ask to go forward," said I, "till I find death
+or freedom." "If you intend," he answered, "to pierce the roof and to
+descend from thence, I see no prospect of success, unless you have wings;
+and I at all events have not the courage to accompany you. I will remain
+here, and pray to God on your behalf."
+
+I went out again to look at the roof, getting as close as I could to the
+sides of the loft. Touching the lower part of the roof, I took up a
+position between the beams, and feeling the wood with the end of the bar
+I luckily found them to be half rotten. At every blow of the bar they
+fell to dust, so feeling certain of my ability to make a large enough
+hole in less than a hour I returned to my cell, and for four hours
+employed myself in cutting up sheets, coverlets, and bedding, to make
+ropes. I took care to make the knots myself and to be assured of their
+strength, for a single weak knot might cost us our lives. At last I had
+ready a hundred fathoms of rope.
+
+In great undertakings there are certain critical points which the leader
+who deserves to succeed trusts to no one but himself. When the rope was
+ready I made a parcel of my suit, my cloak, a few shirts, stockings, and
+handkerchiefs, and the three of us went into the count's cell. The first
+thing the count did was to congratulate Soradaci on having been placed in
+the same cell as myself, and on being so soon about to regain his
+liberty. His air of speechless confusion made me want to laugh. I took no
+more trouble about him, for I had thrown off the mask of Tartuffe which I
+had found terribly inconvenient all the time I had worn it for the
+rascal's sake. He knew, I could see, that he had been deceived, but he
+understood nothing else, as he could not make out how I could have
+arranged with the supposed angel to come and go at certain fixed times.
+He listened attentively to the count, who told us we were going to our
+destruction, and like the coward that he was, he began to plan how to
+escape from the dangerous journey. I told the monk to put his bundle
+together while I was making the hole in the roof by the side of the loft.
+
+At eight o'clock, without needing any help, my opening was made. I had
+broken up the beams, and the space was twice the size required. I got the
+plate of lead off in one piece. I could not do it by myself, because it
+was riveted. The monk came to my aid, and by dint of driving the bar
+between the gutter and the lead I succeeded in loosening it, and then,
+heaving at it with our shoulders, we beat it up till the opening was wide
+enough. On putting my head out through the hole I was distressed to see
+the brilliant light of the crescent moon then entering in its first
+quarter. This was a piece of bad luck which must be borne patiently, and
+we should have to wait till midnight, when the moon would have gone to
+light up the Antipodes. On such a fine night as this everybody would be
+walking in St. Mark's Place, and I dared not shew myself on the roof as
+the moonlight would have thrown a huge shadow of me on the place, and
+have drawn towards me all eyes, especially those of Messer-Grande and his
+myrmidons, and our fine scheme would have been brought to nothing by
+their detestable activity. I immediately decided that we could not escape
+till after the moon set; in the mean time I prayed for the help of God,
+but did not ask Him to work any miracles for me. I was at the mercy of
+Fortune, and I had to take care not to give her any advantages; and if my
+scheme ended in failure I should be consoled by the thought that I had
+not made a single mistake. The moon would set at eleven and sunrise was
+at six, so we had seven hours of perfect darkness at our service; and
+though we had a hard task, I considered that in seven hours it would be
+accomplished.
+
+I told Father Balbi that we could pass the three hours in talking to
+Count Asquin. I requested him to go first and ask the count to lend me
+thirty sequins, which would be as necessary to me as my pike had been
+hitherto. He carried my message, and a few minutes after came and asked
+me to go myself, as the count wished to talk to me alone. The poor old
+man began by saying with great politeness that I really stood in no need
+of money to escape, that he had none, that he had a large family, that if
+I was killed the money would be lost, with a thousand other futilities of
+the same kind to disguise his avarice, or the dislike he felt to parting
+with his money. My reply lasted for half an hour, and contained some
+excellent arguments, which never have had and never will have any force,
+as the finest weapons of oratory are blunted when used against one of the
+strongest of the passions. It was a matter of a 'nolenti baculus'; not
+that I was cruel enough to use force towards an unhappy old man like the
+count. I ended my speech by saying that if he would flee with us I would
+carry him upon my back like AEneas carried Anchises; but if he was going
+to stay in prison to offer up prayers for our success, his prayers would
+be observed, as it would be a case of praying God to give success when he
+himself had refused to contribute the most ordinary aid.
+
+He replied by a flood of tears, which affected me. He then asked if two
+sequins would be enough, and I answered in the affirmative. He then gave
+them to me begging me to return them to him if after getting on the roof
+I saw my wisest course would be to come back. I promised to do so,
+feeling somewhat astonished that he should deem me capable of a retreat.
+He little knew me, for I would have preferred death to an imprisonment
+which would have been life-long.
+
+I called my companions, and we set all our baggage near the hole. I
+divided the hundred fathoms of rope into two packets, and we spent two
+hours in talking over the chances of our undertaking. The first proof
+which Father Balbi gave me of his fine character was to tell me, ten
+times over, that I had broken my word with him, since I had assured him
+that my scheme was complete and certain, while it was really nothing of
+the kind. He went so far as to tell me that if he had known as much he
+would not have taken me from my cell. The count also, with all the weight
+of his seventy years, told me that I should do well to give up so
+hazardous an undertaking, in which success was impossible and death
+probable. As he was a barrister he made me a speech as follows, and I had
+not much difficulty in guessing that he was inspired by the thought of
+the two sequins which I should have had to give him back, if he had
+succeeded in persuading me to stay where I was:
+
+"The incline of the roof covered with lead plates," said he, "will render
+it impossible for you to walk, indeed you will scarcely be able to stand
+on your feet. It is true that the roof has seven or eight windows, but
+they are all barred with iron, and you could not keep your footing near
+them since they are far from the sides. Your ropes are useless, as you
+will find nothing whereon to fasten them; and even if you did, a man
+descending from such a height cannot reach the ground by himself. One of
+you will therefore have to lower the two others one at a time as one
+lowers a bucket or a bundle of wood, and he who does so will have to stay
+behind and go back to his cell. Which of you three has a vocation for
+this dangerous work of charity? And supposing that one of you is heroic
+enough to do so, can you tell me on which side you are going to descend?
+Not by the side towards the palace, for you would be seen; not by the
+church, as you would find yourselves still shut up, and as to the court
+side you surely would not think of it, for you would fall into the hands
+of the 'arsenalotti' who are always going their rounds there. You have
+only the canal side left, and where is your gondola to take you off? Not
+having any such thing, you will be obliged to throw yourself in and
+escape by swimming towards St. Appollonia, which you will reach in a
+wretched condition, not knowing where to turn to next. You must remember
+that the leads are slippery, and that if you were to fall into the canal,
+considering the height of the fall and the shallowness of the water, you
+would most certainly be killed if you could swim like sharks. You would
+be crushed to death, for three or four feet of water are not sufficient
+to counteract the effect of a fall from such a height. In short, the best
+fate you can expect is to find yourselves on the ground with broken arms
+and legs."
+
+The effect of this discourse--a very unseasonable one, under the
+circumstances--was to make my blood boil, but I listened with a patience
+wholly foreign to my nature. The rough reproaches of the monk enraged me,
+and inclined me to answer him in his own way; but I felt that my position
+was a difficult one, and that unless I was careful I might ruin all, for
+I had to do with a coward quite capable of saying that he was not going
+to risk his life, and by myself I could not hope to succeed. I
+constrained myself, therefore, and as politely as I could I told them
+that I was sure of success, though I could not as yet communicate the
+details of my plan. "I shall profit by your wise counsels," said I to
+Count Asquin, "and be very prudent, but my trust in God and in my own
+strength will carry me through all difficulties."
+
+From time to time I stretched out my hand to assure myself that Soradaci
+was there, for he did not speak a word. I laughed to myself to think what
+he might be turning in his head now that he was convinced that I had
+deceived him. At half-past ten I told him to go and see what was the
+position of the moon. He obeyed and returned, saying that in an hour and
+a-half it would have disappeared, and that there was a thick fog which
+would make the leads very dangerous.
+
+"All I ask," I said, "is that the fog be not made of oil. Put your cloak
+in a packet with some of the rope which must be divided equally between
+us."
+
+At this I was astonished to find him at my knees kissing my hands, and
+entreating me not to kill him. "I should be sure," said he, "to fall over
+into the canal, and I should not be of any use to you. Ah! leave me here,
+and all the night I will pray to St. Francis for you. You can kill me or
+save me alive; but of this I am determined, never to follow you."
+
+The fool never thought how he had responded to my prayers.
+
+"You are right," I said, "you may stop here on the condition that you
+will pray to St. Francis; and that you go forthwith and fetch my books,
+which I wish to leave to the count."
+
+He did so without answering me, doubtless with much joy. My books were
+worth at least a hundred crowns. The count told me that he would give
+them back on my return.
+
+"You may be sure," I said, "that you will never see me here again. The
+books will cover your expenditure of two sequins. As to this rascal, I am
+delighted, as he cannot muster sufficient courage to come with me. He
+would be in the way, and the fellow is not worthy of sharing with Father
+Balbi and myself the honours of so brave a flight."
+
+"That's true," said the count, "provided that he does not congratulate
+himself to-morrow."
+
+I asked the count to give me pens, ink, and paper, which he possessed in
+spite of the regulations to the contrary, for such prohibitions were
+nothing to Lawrence, who would have sold St. Mark himself for a crown. I
+then wrote the following letter, which I gave to Soradaci, not being able
+to read it over, as I had written it in the dark. I began by a fine
+heading, which I wrote in Latin, and which in English would run thus:
+
+"'I shall not die, but live and declare the works of the Lord.'"
+
+"Our lords of state are bound to do all in their power to keep a prisoner
+under the Leads, and on the other hand the prisoner, who is fortunately
+not on parole, is bound also to make his escape. Their right to act thus
+is founded on justice, while the prisoner follows the voice of nature;
+and since they have not asked him whether he will be put in prison, so he
+ought not to ask them leave to escape.
+
+"Jacques Casanova, writing in the bitterness of his heart, knows that he
+may have the ill luck to be recaptured before he succeeds in leaving the
+Venetian territory and escaping to a friendly state; but if so, he
+appeals to the humanity of the judges not to add to the misery of the
+condition from which, yielding to the voice of nature, he is endeavouring
+to escape. He begs them, if he be taken, to return him whatever may be in
+his cell, but if he succeed he gives the whole to Francis Soradaci, who
+is still a captive for want of courage to escape, not like me preferring
+liberty to life. Casanova entreats their excellencies not to refuse the
+poor wretch this gift. Dated an hour before midnight, in the cell of
+Count Asquin, on October 31st, 1756."
+
+I warned Soradaci not to give this letter to Lawrence, but to the
+secretary in person, who, no doubt, would interrogate him if he did not
+go himself to the cell, which was the more likely course. The count said
+my letter was perfect, but that he would give me back all my books if I
+returned. The fool said he wished to see me again to prove that he would
+return everything gladly.
+
+But our time was come. The moon had set. I hung the half of the ropes by
+Father Balbi's neck on one side and his clothes on the other. I did the
+same to myself, and with our hats on and our coats off we went to the
+opening.
+
+     E quindi uscimmo a rimirar le stelle.--DANTE.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX
+
+The Escape I Nearly Lose My Life on the Roof I Get out of the Ducal
+Palace, Take a Boat, and Reach the Mainland--Danger to Which I Am Exposed
+by Father Balbi--My Scheme for Ridding Myself of Him
+
+I got out the first, and Father Balbi followed me. Soradaci who had come
+as far as the opening, had orders to put the plate of lead back in its
+place, and then to go and pray to St. Francis for us. Keeping on my hands
+and knees, and grasping my pike firmly I pushed it obliquely between the
+joining of the plates of lead, and then holding the side of the plate
+which I had lifted I succeeded in drawing myself up to the summit of the
+roof. The monk had taken hold of my waistband to follow me, and thus I
+was like a beast of burden who has to carry and draw along at the same
+time; and this on a steep and slippery roof.
+
+When we were half-way up the monk asked me to stop, as one of his packets
+had slipped off, and he hoped it had not gone further than the gutter. My
+first thought was to give him a kick and to send him after his packet,
+but, praised be to God! I had sufficient self-control not to yield to it,
+and indeed the punishment would have been too heavy for both of us, as I
+should have had no chance of escaping by myself. I asked him if it were
+the bundle of rope, and on his replying that it was a small packet of his
+own containing manuscript he had found in one of the garrets under the
+Leads, I told him he must bear it patiently, as a single step might be
+our destruction. The poor monk gave a sigh, and he still clinging to my
+waist we continued climbing.
+
+After having surmounted with the greatest difficulty fifteen or sixteen
+plates we got to the top, on which I sat astride, Father Balbi imitating
+my example. Our backs were towards the little island of St. George the
+Greater, and about two hundred paces in front of us were the numerous
+cupolas of St. Mark's Church, which forms part of the ducal palace, for
+St. Mark's is really the Doge's private chapel, and no monarch in the
+world can boast of having a finer. My first step was to take off my
+bundle, and I told my companion to do the same. He put the rope as best
+he could upon his thighs, but wishing to take off his hat, which was in
+his way, he took hold of it awkwardly, and it was soon dancing from plate
+to plate to join the packet of linen in the gutter. My poor companion was
+in despair.
+
+"A bad omen," he exclaimed; "our task is but begun and here am I deprived
+of shirt, hat, and a precious manuscript, containing a curious account of
+the festivals of the palace."
+
+I felt calmer now that I was no longer crawling on hands and knees, and I
+told him quietly that the two accidents which had happened to him had
+nothing extraordinary in them, and that not even a superstitious person
+would call them omens, that I did not consider them in that light, and
+that they were far from damping my spirits.
+
+"They ought rather," said I, "to warn you to be prudent, and to remind
+you that God is certainly watching over us, for if your hat had fallen to
+the left instead of to the right, we should have been undone; as in that
+case it would have fallen into the palace court, where it would have
+caught the attention of the guards, and have let them know that there was
+someone on the roof; and in a few minutes we should have been retaken."
+
+After looking about me for some time I told the monk to stay still till I
+came back, and I set out, my pike in my hand, sitting astride the roof
+and moving along without any difficulty. For nearly an hour I went to
+this side and that, keeping a sharp look-out, but in vain; for I could
+see nothing to which the rope could be fastened, and I was in the
+greatest perplexity as to what was to be done. It was of no use thinking
+of getting down on the canal side or by the court of the palace, and the
+church offered only precipices which led to nothing. To get to the other
+side of the church towards the Canonica, I should have had to climb roofs
+so steep that I saw no prospect of success. The situation called for
+hardihood, but not the smallest piece of rashness.
+
+It was necessary, however, either to escape, or to reenter the prison,
+perhaps never again to leave it, or to throw myself into the canal. In
+such a dilemma it was necessary to leave a good deal to chance, and to
+make a start of some kind. My eye caught a window on the canal sides, and
+two-thirds of the distance from the gutter to the summit of the roof. It
+was a good distance from the spot I had set out from, so I concluded that
+the garret lighted by it did not form part of the prison I had just
+broken. It could only light a loft, inhabited or uninhabited, above some
+rooms in the palace, the doors of which would probably be opened by
+day-break. I was morally sure that if the palace servants saw us they
+would help us to escape, and not deliver us over to the Inquisitors, even
+if they recognized us as criminals of the deepest dye; so heartily was
+the State Inquisition hated by everyone.
+
+It was thus necessary for me to get in front of the window, and letting
+myself slide softly down in a straight line I soon found myself astride
+on top of the dormer-roof. Then grasping the sides I stretched my head
+over, and succeeded in seeing and touching a small grating, behind which
+was a window of square panes of glass joined with thin strips of lead. I
+did not trouble myself about the window, but the grating, small as it
+was, appeared an insurmountable difficulty, failing a file, and I had
+only my pike.
+
+I was thoroughly perplexed, and was beginning to lose courage, when an
+incident of the simplest and most natural kind came to my aid and
+fortified my resolution.
+
+Philosophic reader, if you will place yourself for a moment in my
+position, if you will share the sufferings which for fifteen months had
+been my lot, if you think of my danger on the top of a roof, where the
+slightest step in a wrong direction would have cost me my life, if you
+consider the few hours at my disposal to overcome difficulties which
+might spring up at any moment, the candid confession I am about to make
+will not lower me in your esteem; at any rate, if you do not forget that
+a man in an anxious and dangerous position is in reality only half
+himself.
+
+It was the clock of St. Mark's striking midnight, which, by a violent
+shock, drew me out of the state of perplexity I had fallen into. The
+clock reminded me that the day just beginning was All Saints' Day--the
+day of my patron saint (at least if I had one)--and the prophecy of my
+confessor came into my mind. But I confess that what chiefly strengthened
+me, both bodily and mentally, was the profane oracle of my beloved
+Ariosto: 'Fra il fin d'ottobre, a il capo di novembre'.
+
+The chime seemed to me a speaking talisman, commanding me to be up and
+doing,--and--promising me the victory. Lying on my belly I stretched my
+head down towards the grating, and pushing my pike into the sash which
+held it I resolved to take it out in a piece. In a quarter of an hour I
+succeeded, and held the whole grate in my hands,--and putting it on one
+side I easily broke the glass window, though wounding my left hand.
+
+With the aid of my pike, using it as I had done before, I regained the
+ridge of the roof, and went back to the spot where I had left Balbi. I
+found him enraged and despairing, and he abused me heartily for having
+left him for so long. He assured me that he was only waiting for it to
+get light to return to the prison.
+
+"What did you think had become of me?"
+
+"I thought you must have fallen over."
+
+"And you can find no better way than abuse to express the joy you ought
+to feel at seeing me again?"
+
+"What have you been doing all this time?"
+
+"Follow me, and you shall see."
+
+I took up my packets again and made my way towards the window. As soon as
+were opposite to it I told Balbi what I had done, and asked him if he
+could think of any way of getting into the loft. For one it was easy
+enough, for the other could lower him by the rope; but I could not
+discover how the second of us was to get down afterwards, as there was
+nothing to which the rope could be fastened. If I let myself fall I might
+break my arms and legs, for I did not know the distance between the
+window and the floor of the room. To this chain of reasoning uttered in
+the friendliest possible tone, the brute replied thus:
+
+"You let me down, and when I have got to the bottom you will have plenty
+of time to think how you are going to follow me."
+
+I confess that my first indignant impulse was to drive my pike into his
+throat. My good genius stayed my arm, and I uttered not a word in
+reproach of his base selfishness. On the contrary, I straightway untied
+my bundle of rope and bound him strongly under the elbows, and making him
+lie flat down I lowered him feet foremost on to the roof of the
+dormer-window. When he got there I told him to lower himself into the
+window as far as his hips, supporting himself by holding his elbows
+against the sides of the window. As soon as he had done so, I slid down
+the roof as before, and lying down on the dormer-roof with a firm grasp
+of the rope I told the monk not to be afraid but to let himself go. When
+he reached the floor of the loft he untied himself, and on drawing the
+rope back I found the fall was one of fifty feet-too dangerous a jump to
+be risked. The monk who for two hours had been a prey to terror; seated
+in a position which I confess was not a very reassuring one, was not
+quite cool, and called out to me to throw him the ropes for him to take
+care of--a piece of advice you may be sure I took care not to follow.
+
+Not knowing what to do next, and waiting for some fortunate idea, I made
+my way back to the ridge of the roof, and from there spied out a corner
+near a cupola; which I had not visited. I went towards it and found a
+flat roof, with a large window closed with two shutters. At hand was a
+tubful of plaster, a trowel, and ladder which I thought long enough for
+my purpose. This was enough, and tying my rope to the first round I
+dragged this troublesome burden after me to the window. My next task was
+to get the end of the ladder (which was twelve fathoms long) into the
+opening, and the difficulties I encountered made me sorry that I had
+deprived myself of the aid of the monk. [The unit of measure:'fathoms'
+describing the ladder and earlier the 100 fathoms of rope, is likely a
+translation error: Casanova might have manufactured 100 feet of rope and
+might have dragged a 12 foot ladder up the steep roof, but not a longer.
+D.W.]
+
+I had set the ladder in such a way that one end touched the window, and
+the other went below the gutter. I next slid down to the roof of the
+window, and drawing the ladder towards me I fastened the end of my rope
+to the eighth round, and then let it go again till it was parallel with
+the window. I then strove to get it in, but I could not insert it farther
+than the fifth round, for the end of the ladder being stopped by the
+inside roof of the window no force on earth could have pushed it any
+further without breaking either the ladder or the ceiling. There was
+nothing to be done but to lift it by the other end; it would then slip
+down by its own weight. I might, it is true, have placed the ladder
+across the window, and have fastened the rope to it, in which manner I
+might have let myself down into the loft without any risk; but the ladder
+would have been left outside to shew Lawrence and the guards where to
+look for us and possibly to find us in the morning.
+
+I did not care to risk by a piece of imprudence the fruit of so much toil
+and danger, and to destroy all traces of our whereabouts the ladder must
+be drawn in. Having no one to give me a helping hand, I resolved to go
+myself to the parapet to lift the ladder and attain the end I had in
+view. I did so, but at such a hazard as had almost cost me my life. I
+could let go the ladder while I slackened the rope without any fear of
+its falling over, as it had caught to the parapet by the third rung.
+Then, my pike in my hand, I slid down beside the ladder to the parapet,
+which held up the points of my feet, as I was lying on my belly. In this
+position I pushed the ladder forward, and was able to get it into the
+window to the length of a foot, and that diminished by a good deal its
+weight. I now only had to push it in another two feet, as I was sure that
+I could get it in altogether by means of the rope from the roof of the
+window. To impel the ladder to the extent required I got on my knees, but
+the effort I had to use made me slip, and in an instant I was over the
+parapet as far as my chest, sustained by my elbows.
+
+I shudder still when I think of this awful moment, which cannot be
+conceived in all its horror. My natural instinct made me almost
+unconsciously strain every nerve to regain the parapet, and--I had nearly
+said miraculously--I succeeded. Taking care not to let myself slip back
+an inch I struggled upwards with my hands and arms, while my belly was
+resting on the edge of the parapet. Fortunately the ladder was safe, for
+with that unlucky effort which had nearly cost me so dearly I had pushed
+it in more than three feet, and there it remained.
+
+Finding myself resting on my groin on the parapet, I saw that I had only
+to lift up my right leg and to put up first one knee and then the other
+to be absolutely out of danger; but I had not yet got to the end of my
+trouble. The effort I made gave me so severe a spasm that I became
+cramped and unable to use my limbs. However, I did not lose my head, but
+kept quiet till the pain had gone off, knowing by experience that keeping
+still is the best cure for the false cramp. It was a dreadful moment! In
+two minutes I made another effort, and had the good fortune to get my two
+knees on to the parapet, and as soon as I had taken breath I cautiously
+hoisted the ladder and pushed it half-way through the window. I then took
+my pike, and crawling up as I had done before I reached the window, where
+my knowledge of the laws of equilibrium and leverage aided me to insert
+the ladder to its full length, my companion receiving the end of it. I
+then threw into the loft the bundles and the fragments that I had broken
+off the window, and I stepped down to the monk, who welcomed me heartily
+and drew in the ladder. Arm in arm, we proceeded to inspect the gloomy
+retreat in which we found ourselves, and judged it to be about thirty
+paces long by twenty wide.
+
+At one end were folding-doors barred with iron. This looked bad, but
+putting my hand to the latch in the middle it yielded to the pressure,
+and the door opened. The first thing we did was to make the tour of the
+room, and crossing it we stumbled against a large table surrounded by
+stools and armchairs. Returning to the part where we had seen windows, we
+opened the shutters of one of them, and the light of the stars only
+shewed us: the cupolas and the depths beneath them. I did not think for a
+moment of lowering myself down, as I wished to know where I was going,
+and I did not recognize our surroundings. I shut the window up, and we
+returned to the place where we had left our packages. Quite exhausted I
+let myself fall on the floor, and placing a bundle of rope under my head
+a sweet sleep came to my relief. I abandoned myself to it without
+resistance, and indeed, I believe if death were to have been the result,
+I should have slept all the same, and I still remember how I enjoyed that
+sleep.
+
+It lasted for three and a half hours, and I was awakened by the monk's
+calling out and shaking me. He told me that it had just struck five. He
+said it was inconceivable to him how I could sleep in the situation we
+were in. But that which was inconceivable to him was not so to me. I had
+not fallen asleep on purpose, but had only yielded to the demands of
+exhausted nature, and, if I may say so, to the extremity of my need. In
+my exhaustion there was nothing to wonder at, since I had neither eaten
+nor slept for two days, and the efforts I had made--efforts almost beyond
+the limits of mortal endurance--might well have exhausted any man. In my
+sleep my activity had come back to me, and I was delighted to see the
+darkness disappearing, so that we should be able to proceed with more
+certainty and quickness.
+
+Casting a rapid glance around, I said to myself, "This is not a prison,
+there ought, therefore, be some easy exit from it." We addressed
+ourselves to the end opposite to the folding-doors, and in a narrow
+recess I thought I made out a doorway. I felt it over and touched a lock,
+into which I thrust my pike, and opened it with three or four heaves. We
+then found ourselves in a small room, and I discovered a key on a table,
+which I tried on a door opposite to us, which, however, proved to be
+unlocked. I told the monk to go for our bundles, and replacing the key we
+passed out and came into a gallery containing presses full of papers.
+They were the state archives. I came across a short flight of stone
+stairs, which I descended, then another, which I descended also, and
+found a glass door at the end, on opening which I entered a hall well
+known to me: we were in the ducal chancery. I opened a window and could
+have got down easily, but the result would have been that we should have
+been trapped in the maze of little courts around St. Mark's Church. I saw
+on a desk an iron instrument, of which I took possession; it had a
+rounded point and a wooden handle, being used by the clerks of the
+chancery to pierce parchments for the purpose of affixing the leaden
+seals. On opening the desk I saw the copy of a letter advising the
+Proveditore of Corfu of a grant of three thousand sequins for the
+restoration of the old fortress. I searched for the sequins but they were
+not there. God knows how gladly I would have taken them, and how I would
+have laughed the monk to scorn if he had accused me of theft! I should
+have received the money as a gift from Heaven, and should have regarded
+myself as its master by conquest.
+
+Going to the door of the chancery, I put my bar in the keyhole, but
+finding immediately that I could not break it open, I resolved on making
+a hole in the door. I took care to choose the side where the wood had
+fewest knots, and working with all speed I struck as hard and as cleaving
+strokes as I was able. The monk, who helped me as well as he could with
+the punch I had taken from the desk, trembled at the echoing clamour of
+my pike which must have been audible at some distance. I felt the danger
+myself, but it had to be risked.
+
+In half an hour the hole was large enough--a fortunate circumstance, for
+I should have had much trouble in making it any larger without the aid of
+a saw. I was afraid when I looked at the edges of the hole, for they
+bristled with jagged pieces of wood which seemed made for tearing clothes
+and flesh together. The hole was at a height of five feet from the
+ground. We placed beneath it two stools, one beside the other, and when
+we had stepped upon them the monk with arms crossed and head foremost
+began to make his way through the hole, and taking him by the thighs, and
+afterwards by the legs, I succeeded in pushing him through, and though it
+was dark I felt quite secure, as I knew the surroundings. As soon as my
+companion had reached the other side I threw him my belongings, with the
+exception of the ropes, which I left behind, and placing a third stool on
+the two others, I climbed up, and got through as far as my middle, though
+with much difficulty, owing to the extreme narrowness of the hole. Then,
+having nothing to grasp with my hands, nor anyone to push me as I had
+pushed the monk, I asked him to take me, and draw me gently and by slow
+degrees towards him. He did so, and I endured silently the fearful
+torture I had to undergo, as my thighs and legs were torn by the
+splinters of wood.
+
+As soon as I got through I made haste to pick up my bundle of linen, and
+going down two flights of stairs I opened without difficulty the door
+leading into the passage whence opens the chief door to the grand
+staircase, and in another the door of the closet of the 'Savio alla
+scrittura'. The chief door was locked, and I saw at once that, failing a
+catapult or a mine of gunpowder, I could not possibly get through. The
+bar I still held seemed to say, "Hic fines posuit. My use is ended and
+you can lay me down." It was dear to me as the instrument of freedom, and
+was worthy of being hung as an 'ex voto' on the altar of liberty.
+
+I sat down with the utmost tranquillity, and told the monk to do the
+same.
+
+"My work is done," I said, "the rest must be left to God and fortune.
+
+"Abbia chi regge il ciel cura del resto, O la fortuna se non tocca a lui.
+
+"I do not know whether those who sweep out the palace will come here
+to-day, which is All Saints' Day, or tomorrow, All Souls' Day. If anyone
+comes, I shall run out as soon as the door opens, and do you follow after
+me; but if nobody comes, I do not budge a step, and if I die of hunger so
+much the worse for me."
+
+At this speech of mine he became beside himself. He called me a madman,
+seducer, deceiver, and a liar. I let him talk, and took no notice. It
+struck six; only an hour had passed since I had my awakening in the loft.
+
+My first task was to change my clothes. Father Balbi looked like a
+peasant, but he was in better condition than I, his clothes were not torn
+to shreds or covered with blood, his red flannel waistcoat and purple
+breeches were intact, while my figure could only inspire pity or terror,
+so bloodstained and tattered was I. I took off my stockings, and the
+blood gushed out of two wounds I had given myself on the parapet, while
+the splinters in the hole in the door had torn my waistcoat, shirt,
+breeches, legs and thighs. I was dreadfully wounded all over my body. I
+made bandages of handkerchiefs, and dressed my wounds as best I could,
+and then put on my fine suit, which on a winter's day would look odd
+enough. Having tied up my hair, I put on white stockings, a laced shirt,
+failing any other, and two others over it, and then stowing away some
+stockings and handkerchiefs in my pockets, I threw everything else into a
+corner of the room. I flung my fine cloak over the monk, and the fellow
+looked as if he had stolen it. I must have looked like a man who has been
+to a dance and has spent the rest of the night in a disorderly house,
+though the only foil to my reasonable elegance of attire was the bandages
+round my knees.
+
+In this guise, with my exquisite hat trimmed with Spanish lace and
+adorned with a white feather on my head, I opened a window. I was
+immediately remarked by some lounger in the palace court, who, not
+understanding what anyone of my appearance was doing there at such an
+early hour, went to tell the door-keeper of the circumstance. He,
+thinking he must have locked somebody in the night before, went for his
+keys and came towards us. I was sorry to have let myself be seen at the
+window, not knowing that therein chance was working for our escape, and
+was sitting down listening to the idle talk of the monk, when I heard the
+jingling of keys. Much perturbed I got up and put my eye to a chink in
+the door, and saw a man with a great bunch of keys in his hand mounting
+leisurely up the stairs. I told the monk not to open his mouth, to keep
+well behind me, and to follow my steps. I took my pike, and concealing it
+in my right sleeve I got into a corner by the door, whence I could get
+out as soon as it was opened and run down the stairs. I prayed that the
+man might make no resistance, as if he did I should be obliged to fell
+him to the earth, and I determined to do so.
+
+The door opened; and the poor man as soon as he saw me seemed turned to a
+stone. Without an instant's delay and in dead silence, I made haste to
+descend the stairs, the monk following me. Avoiding the appearance of a
+fugitive, but walking fast, I went by the giants' Stairs, taking no
+notice of Father Balbi, who kept cabling: out "To the church! to the
+church!"
+
+The church door was only about twenty paces from the stairs, but the
+churches were no longer sanctuaries in Venice; and no one ever took
+refuge in them. The monk knew this, but fright had deprived him of his
+faculties. He told me afterwards that the motive which impelled him to go
+to the church was the voice of religion bidding him seek the horns of the
+altar.
+
+"Why didn't you go by yourself?" said I.
+
+"I did not, like to abandon you," but he should rather have said, "I did
+not like to lose the comfort of your company."
+
+The safety I sought was beyond the borders of the Republic, and
+thitherward I began to bend my steps. Already there in spirit, I must
+needs be there in body also. I went straight towards the chief door of
+the palace, and looking at no one that might be tempted to look at me I
+got to the canal and entered the first gondola that I came across,
+shouting to the boatman on the poop,
+
+"I want to go to Fusina; be quick and, call another gondolier."
+
+This was soon done, and while the gondola was being got off I sat down on
+the seat in the middle, and Balbi at the side. The odd appearance of the
+monk, without a hat and with a fine cloak on his shoulders, with my
+unseasonable attire, was enough to make people take us for an astrologer
+and his man.
+
+As soon as we had passed the custom-house, the gondoliers began to row
+with a will along the Giudecca Canal, by which we must pass to go to
+Fusina or to Mestre, which latter place was really our destination. When
+we had traversed half the length of the canal I put my head out, and said
+to the waterman on the poop,
+
+"When do you think we shall get to Mestre?"
+
+"But you told me to go to Fusina."
+
+"You must be mad; I said Mestre."
+
+The other boatman said that I was mistaken, and the fool of a monk, in
+his capacity of zealous Christian and friend of truth, took care to tell
+me that I was wrong. I wanted to give him a hearty kick as a punishment
+for his stupidity, but reflecting that common sense comes not by wishing
+for it I burst into a peal of laughter, and agreed that I might have made
+a mistake, but that my real intention was to go to Mestre. To that they
+answered nothing, but a minute after the master boatman said he was ready
+to take me to England if I liked.
+
+"Bravely spoken," said I, "and now for Mestre, ho!"
+
+"We shall be there in three quarters of an hour, as the wind and tide
+are in our favour."
+
+Well pleased I looked at the canal behind us, and thought it had never
+seemed so fair, especially as there was not a single boat coming our way.
+It was a glorious morning, the air was clear and glowing with the first
+rays of the sun, and my two young watermen rowed easily and well; and as
+I thought over the night of sorrow, the dangers I had escaped, the abode
+where I had been fast bound the day before, all the chances which had
+been in my favour, and the liberty of which I now began to taste the
+sweets, I was so moved in my heart and grateful to my God that, well nigh
+choked with emotion, I burst into tears.
+
+My nice companion who had hitherto only spoken to back up the gondoliers,
+thought himself bound to offer me his consolations. He did not understand
+why I was weeping, and the tone he took made me pass from sweet
+affliction to a strange mirthfulness which made him go astray once more,
+as he thought I had got mad. The poor monk, as I have said, was a fool,
+and whatever was bad about him was the result of his folly. I had been
+under the sad necessity of turning him to account, but though without
+intending to do so he had almost been my ruin. It was no use trying to
+make him believe that I had told the gondoliers to go to Fusina whilst I
+intended to go to Mestre; he said I could not have thought of that till I
+got on to the Grand Canal.
+
+In due course we reached Mestre. There were no horses to ride post, but I
+found men with coaches who did as well, and I agreed with one of them to
+take me to Trevisa in an hour and a quarter. The horses were put in in
+three minutes, and with the idea that Father Balbi was behind me I turned
+round to say "Get up," but he was not there. I told an ostler to go and
+look for him, with the intention of reprimanding him sharply, even if he
+had gone for a necessary occasion, for we had no time to waste, not even
+thus. The man came back saying he could not find' him, to my great rage
+and indignation. I was tempted to abandon him, but a feeling of humanity
+restrained me. I made enquiries all round; everybody had seen him, but
+not a soul knew where he was. I walked along the High Street, and some
+instinct prompting me to put my head in at the window of a cafe. I saw
+the wretched man standing at the bar drinking chocolate and making love
+to the girl. Catching sight of me, he pointed to the girl and said--
+
+"She's charming," and then invited me to take a cup of chocolate, saying
+that I must pay, as he hadn't a penny. I kept back my wrath and answered,
+
+"I don't want any, and do you make haste!" and caught hold of his arm in
+such sort that he turned white with pain. I paid the money and we went
+out. I trembled with anger. We got into our coach, but we had scarcely
+gone ten paces before I recognised: an inhabitant, of Mestre named Balbi
+Tommasi, a good sort of man; but reported to be one of the familiars of
+the Holy Office. He knew me, too, and coming up called out,
+
+"I am delighted to see you here. I suppose you have just escaped. How did
+you do it?"
+
+"I have not escaped, but have been set at liberty."
+
+"No, no, that's not possible, as I was at M. Grimani's yesterday evening,
+and I should have heard of it."
+
+It will be easier for the reader to imagine my state of mind than for me
+to describe it. I was discovered by a man whom I believed to be a hired
+agent of the Government, who only had to give a glance to one of the
+sbirri with whom Mestre swarmed to have me arrested. I told him to speak
+softly, and getting down I asked him to come to one side. I took him
+behind a house, and seeing that there was nobody in sight, a ditch in
+front, beyond which the open country extended, I grasped my pike and took
+him by the neck. At this: he gave a struggle, slipped out of my hands,
+leapt over the ditch, and without turning round set off to run at, full
+speed. As soon as he was some way off he slackened his course, turned
+round and kissed his hand to me, in token of wishing me a prosperous
+journey. And as soon; as he was out of my sight I gave thanks to God
+that, this man by his quickness had preserved me from the commission of a
+crime, for I would have killed him; and he, as it turned out, bore me no
+ill will.
+
+I was in a terrible position. In open war with all the powers of-the
+Republic, everything had to give way to my safety, which made me neglect
+no means of attaining my ends.
+
+With the gloom of a man who has passed through a great peril, I gave a
+glance of contempt towards the monk, who now saw to what danger he had
+exposed us, and then got up again into the carriage. We reached Trevisa
+without further adventure, and I told the posting-master to get me a
+carriage and two horses ready by ten o'clock; though I had no intention
+of continuing my journey along the highway, both because I lacked means;
+and because I feared pursuit. The inn-keeper asked me, if I would take
+any breakfast, of which I stood in great need, for I was dying with
+hunger, but I did not dare to, accept his offer, as a quarter of an
+hour's delay might, prove fatal. I was afraid of being retaken, and of
+being ashamed of it for the rest of my life; for a man of sense ought to
+be able to snap his fingers at four hundred thousand men in the open
+country, and if he cannot escape capture he must be a fool.
+
+I went out by St. Thomas's Gate as if I was going for a short walk, and
+after walking for a mile on the highway I struck into the fields,
+resolving not to leave them as long as I should be within the borders of
+the Republic. The shortest way was by Bassano, but I took the longer
+path, thinking I might possibly be expected on the more direct road,
+while they would never think of my leaving the Venetian territory by way
+of Feltre, which is the longest way of getting into the state subject to
+the Bishop of Trent.
+
+After walking for three hours I let myself drop to the ground, for I
+could not move a step further. I must either take some food or die there,
+so I told the monk to leave the cloak with me and go to a farm I saw,
+there to buy something to eat. I gave him the money, and he set off,
+telling me that he thought I had more courage. The miserable man did not
+know what courage was, but he was more robust than myself, and he had,
+doubtless, taken in provisions before leaving the prison. Besides he had
+had some chocolate; he was thin and wiry, and a monk, and mental
+anxieties were unknown to him.
+
+Although the house was not an inn, the good farmer's wife sent me a
+sufficient meal which only cost me thirty Venetian sous. After satisfying
+my appetite, feeling that sleep was creeping on me, I set out again on
+the tramp, well braced up. In four hours' time I stopped at a hamlet, and
+found that I was twenty-four miles from Trevisa. I was done up, my ankles
+were swollen, and my shoes were in holes. There was only another hour of
+day-light before us. Stretching myself out beneath a grove of trees I
+made Father Balbi sit by me, and discoursed to him in the manner
+following:
+
+"We must make for Borgo di Valsugano, it is the first town beyond the
+borders of the Republic. We shall be as safe there as if we were in
+London, and we can take our ease for awhile; but to get there we must go
+carefully to work, and the first thing we must do is to separate. You
+must go by Mantello Woods, and I by the mountains; you by the easiest and
+shortest way, and I by the longest and most difficult; you with money and
+I without a penny. I will make you a present of my cloak, which you must
+exchange for a great coat and a hat, and everybody will take you for a
+countryman, as you are luckily rather like one in the face. Take these
+seventeen livres, which is all that remains to me of the two sequins
+Count Asquin gave me. You will reach Borgo by the day after to-morrow,
+and I shall be twenty-four hours later. Wait for me in the first inn on
+the left-hand side of the street, and be sure I shall come in due season.
+I require a good night's rest in a good bed; and Providence will get me
+one somewhere, but I must sleep without fear of being disturbed, and in
+your company that would be out of the question. I am certain that we are
+being sought for on all sides, and that our descriptions have been so
+correctly given that if we went into any inn together we should be
+certain to be arrested. You see the state I am in, and my urgent
+necessity for a ten hours' rest. Farewell, then, do you go that way and I
+will take this, and I will find somewhere near here a rest for the sole
+of my foot."
+
+"I have been expecting you to say as much," said Father Balbi, "and for
+answer I will remind you of the promise you gave me when I let myself be
+persuaded to break into your cell. You promised me that we should always
+keep company; and so don't flatter yourself that I shall leave you, your
+fate and mine are linked together. We shall be able to get a good refuge
+for our money, we won't go to the inns, and no one will arrest us."
+
+"You are determined, are you, not to follow the good advice I have given
+you?"
+
+"I am."
+
+"We shall see about that."
+
+I rose to my feet, though with some difficulty, and taking the measure of
+his height I marked it out upon the ground, then drawing my pike from my
+pocket, I proceeded with the utmost coolness to excavate the earth,
+taking no notice of the questions the monk asked me. After working: for a
+quarter of an hour I set myself to gaze sadly upon him, and I told him
+that I felt obliged as a Christian to warn him to commend his soul to
+God, "since I am about to bury you here, alive or dead; and if you prove
+the stronger, you will bury me. You can escape if you wish to, as I shall
+not pursue you."
+
+He made no reply, and I betook myself to my work again, but I confess
+that I began to be afraid of being rushed to extremities by this brute,
+of whom I was determined to rid myself.
+
+At last, whether convinced by my arguments or afraid Of my pike, he came
+towards me. Not guessing. What he was about, I presented the point of my
+pike towards him, but I had nothing to fear.
+
+"I will do what you want," said he.
+
+I straightway gave him all the money I had, and promising to rejoin him
+at Borgo I bade him farewell. Although I had not a penny in my pocket and
+had two rivers to cross over, I congratulated myself on having got rid of
+a man of his character, for by myself I felt confident of being able to
+cross the bounds of the Republic.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII
+
+The Minister of Foreign Affairs M. de Boulogne, the Comptroller--M. le
+Duc de Choiseul--M. Paris du Vernai--Establishment of the Lottery--My
+Brother's Arrival at Paris; His Reception by the Academy
+
+Once more, then, I was in Paris, which I ought to regard as my
+fatherland, since I could return no more to that land which gave me
+birth: an unworthy country, yet, in spite of all, ever dear to me,
+possibly on account of early impressions and early prejudices, or
+possibly because the beauties of Venice are really unmatched in the
+world. But mighty Paris is a place of good luck or ill, as one takes it,
+and it was my part to catch the favouring gale.
+
+Paris was not wholly new to me, as my readers know I had spent two years
+there, but I must confess that, having then no other aim than to pass the
+time pleasantly, I had merely devoted myself to pleasure and enjoyment.
+Fortune, to whom I had paid no court, had not opened to me her golden
+doors; but I now felt that I must treat her more reverently, and attach
+myself to the throng of her favoured sons whom she loads with her gifts.
+I understood now that the nearer one draws to the sun the more one feels
+the warmth of its rays. I saw that to attain my end I should have to
+employ all my mental and physical talents, that I must make friends of
+the great, and take cue from all whom I found it to be my interest to
+please. To follow the plans suggested by these thoughts, I saw that I
+must avoid what is called bad company, that I must give up my old habits
+and pretensions, which would be sure to make me enemies, who would have
+no scruple in representing me as a trifler, and not fit to be trusted
+with affairs of any importance.
+
+I think I thought wisely, and the reader, I hope, will be of the same
+opinion. "I will be reserved," said I, "in what I say and what I do, and
+thus I shall get a reputation for discretion which will bring its
+reward."
+
+I was in no anxiety on the score of present needs, as I could reckon on a
+monthly allowance of a hundred crowns, which my adopted father, the good
+and generous M. de Bragadin, sent me, and I found this sum sufficient in
+the meanwhile, for with a little self-restraint one can live cheaply at
+Paris, and cut a good figure at the same time. I was obliged to wear a
+good suit of clothes, and to have a decent lodging; for in all large
+towns the most important thing is outward show, by which at the beginning
+one is always judged. My anxiety was only for the pressing needs of the
+moment, for to speak the truth I had neither clothes nor linen--in a
+word, nothing.
+
+If my relations with the French ambassador are recalled, it will be found
+natural that my first idea was to address myself to him, as I knew him
+sufficiently well to reckon on his serving me.
+
+Being perfectly certain that the porter would tell me that my lord was
+engaged, I took care to have a letter, and in the morning I went to the
+Palais Bourbon. The porter took my letter, and I gave him my address and
+returned home.
+
+Wherever I went I had to tell the story of my escape from The Leads. This
+became a service almost as tiring as the flight itself had been, as it
+took me two hours to tell my tale, without the slightest bit of
+fancy-work; but I had to be polite to the curious enquirers, and to
+pretend that I believed them moved by the most affectionate interest in
+my welfare. In general, the best way to please is to take the benevolence
+of all with whom one has relation for granted.
+
+I supped at Silvia's, and as the evening was quieter than the night
+before, I had time to congratulate myself on all the friendship they
+shewed me. The girl was, as I had said, fifteen years old, and I was in
+every way charmed with her. I complimented the mother on the good results
+of her education, and I did not even think of guarding myself from
+falling a victim to her charms. I had taken so lately such well-founded
+and philosophical resolutions, and I was not yet sufficiently at my ease
+to value the pain of being tempted. I left at an early hour, impatient to
+see what kind of an answer the minister had sent me. I had not long to
+wait, and I received a short letter appointing a meeting for two o'clock
+in the afternoon. It may be guessed that I was punctual, and my reception
+by his excellence was most flattering. M. de Bernis expressed his
+pleasure at seeing me after my fortunate escape, and at being able to be
+of service to me. He told me that M---- M---- had informed him of my
+escape, and he had flattered himself that the first person I should go
+and see in Paris would be himself. He shewed me the letters from
+M---- M---- relating to my arrest and escape, but all the details in the
+latter were purely imaginary and had no foundation in fact. M---- M---- was
+not to blame, as she could only write what she had heard, and it was not
+easy for anyone besides myself to know the real circumstances of my
+escape. The charming nun said that, no longer buoyed up by the hope of
+seeing either of the men who alone had made her in love with life, her
+existence had become a burden to her, and she was unfortunate in not
+being able to take any comfort in religion. "C---C---- often comes to see
+me," she said, "but I grieve to say she is not happy with her husband."
+
+I told M. de Bernis that the account of my flight from The Leads, as told
+by our friend, was wholly inaccurate, and I would therefore take the
+liberty of writing out the whole story with the minutest details. He
+challenged me to keep my word, assuring me that he would send a copy to
+M---- M----, and at the same time, with the utmost courtesy, he put a
+packet of a hundred Louis in my hand, telling me that he would think what
+he could do for me, and would advise me as soon as he had any
+communication to make.
+
+Thus furnished with ample funds, my first care was for my dress; and this
+done I went to work, and in a week sent my generous protector the result,
+giving him permission to have as many copies printed as he liked, and to
+make any use he pleased of it to interest in my behalf such persons as
+might be of service to me.
+
+Three weeks after, the minister summoned me to say that he had spoken of
+me to M. Erizzo, the Venetian ambassador, who had nothing to say against
+me, but for fear of embroiling himself with the State Inquisitors
+declined to receive me. Not wanting anything from him--his refusal did me
+no harm. M. de Bernis then told me that he had given a copy of my history
+to Madame la Marquise de Pompadour, and he promised to take the first
+opportunity of presenting me to this all-powerful lady. "You can present
+yourself, my dear Casanova," added his excellence, "to the Duc de
+Choiseul, and M. de Boulogne, the comptroller. You will be well received,
+and with a little wit you ought to be able to make good use of the
+letter. He himself will give you the cue, and you will see that he who
+listens obtains. Try to invent some useful plan for the royal exchequer;
+don't let it be complicated or chimerical, and if you don't write it out
+at too great length I will give you my opinion on it."
+
+I left the minister in a pleased and grateful mood, but extremely puzzled
+to find a way of increasing the royal revenue. I knew nothing of finance,
+and after racking my brains all that I could think of was new methods of
+taxation; but all my plans were either absurd or certain to be unpopular,
+and I rejected them all on consideration.
+
+As soon as I found out that M. de Choiseul was in Paris I called on him.
+He received me in his dressing-room, where he was writing while his valet
+did his hair. He stretched his politeness so far as to interrupt himself
+several times to ask me questions, but as soon as I began to reply his
+grace began to write again, and I suspect did not hear what I was saying;
+and though now and again he seemed to be looking at me, it was plain that
+his eyes and his thoughts were occupied on different objects. In spite of
+this way of receiving visitors--or me, at all events, M. de Choiseul was
+a man of wit.
+
+When he had finished writing he said in Italian that M. de Bernis had
+told him of some circumstances of my escape, and he added,
+
+"Tell me how you succeeded."
+
+"My lord, it would be too long a story; it would take me at least two
+hours, and your grace seems busy."
+
+"Tell me briefly about it."
+
+"However much I speak to the point, I shall take two hours."
+
+"You can keep the details for another time."
+
+"The story is devoid of interest without the details."
+
+"Well, well, you can tell me the whole story in brief, without losing
+much of the interest."
+
+"Very good; after that I can say no more. I must tell your lordship,
+then, that, the State Inquisitors shut me up under the Leads; that after
+fifteen months and five days of imprisonment I succeeded in piercing the
+roof; that after many difficulties I reached the chancery by a window,
+and broke open the door; afterwards I got to St. Mark's Place, whence,
+taking a gondola which bore me to the mainland, I arrived at Paris, and
+have had the honour to pay my duty to your lordship."
+
+"But.... what are The Leads?"
+
+"My lord, I should take a quarter of an hour, at least, to explain."
+
+"How did you pierce the roof?"
+
+"I could not tell your lordship in less than half an hour:"
+
+"Why were you shut up?"
+
+"It would be a long tale, my lord."
+
+"I think you are right. The interest of the story lies chiefly in the
+details."
+
+"I took the liberty of saying as much to your grace."
+
+"Well, I must go to Versailles, but I shall be delighted if you will come
+and see me sometimes. In the meanwhile, M. Casanova, think what I can do
+for you."
+
+I had been almost offended at the way in which M. de Choiseul had
+received me, and I was inclined to resent it; but the end of our
+conversation, and above all the kindly tone of his last words, quieted
+me, and I left him, if not satisfied, at least without bitterness in my
+heart.
+
+From him I went to M. de Boulogne's, and found him a man of quite a
+different stamp to the duke--in manners, dress, and appearance. He
+received me with great politeness, and began by complimenting me on the
+high place I enjoyed in the opinion of M. de Bernis, and on my skill in
+matters of finance.
+
+I felt that no compliment had been so ill deserved, and I could hardly
+help bursting into laughter. My good angel, however, made me keep my
+countenance.
+
+M. de Boulogne had an old man with him, every feature bore the imprint of
+genius, and who inspired me with respect.
+
+"Give me your views;" said the comptroller, "either on paper or 'viva
+voce'. You will find me willing to learn and ready to grasp your ideas.
+Here is M. Paris du Vernai, who wants twenty millions for his military
+school; and he wishes to get this sum without a charge on the state or
+emptying the treasury."
+
+"It is God alone, sir, who has the creative power."
+
+"I am not a god," said M. du Vernai, "but for all that I have now and
+then created but the times have changed."
+
+"Everything," I said, "is more difficult than it used to be; but in spite
+of difficulties I have a plan which would give the king the interest of a
+hundred millions."
+
+"What expense would there be to the Crown?"
+
+"Merely the cost of receiving."
+
+"The nation, then, would furnish the sum in question?"
+
+"Undoubtedly, but voluntarily."
+
+"I know what you are thinking of."
+
+"You astonish me, sir, as I have told nobody of my plan."
+
+"If you have no other engagement, do me the honour of dining with me
+to-morrow, and I will tell you what your project is. It is a good one,
+but surrounded, I believe, with insuperable difficulties. Nevertheless,
+we will talk it over and see what can be done. Will you come?"
+
+"I will do myself that honour."
+
+"Very good, I will expect you at Plaisance."
+
+After he had gone, M. de Boulogne praised his talents and honesty. He was
+the brother of M. de Montmartel, whom secret history makes the father of
+Madame de Pompadour, for he was the lover of Madame Poisson at the same
+time as M. le Normand.
+
+I left the comptroller's and went to walk in the Tuileries, thinking over
+the strange stroke of luck which had happened to me. I had been told that
+twenty millions were wanted, and I had boasted of being able to get a
+hundred, without the slightest idea of how it was to be done; and on that
+a well-known man experienced in the public business had asked me to
+dinner to convince me that he knew what my scheme was. There was
+something odd and comic about the whole affair; but that corresponded
+very well with my modes of thought and action. "If he thinks he is going
+to pump me," said I, "he will find himself mistaken. When he tells me
+what the plan is, it will rest with me to say he has guessed it or he is
+wrong as the inspiration of the moment suggests. If the question lies
+within my comprehension I may, perhaps, be able to suggest something new;
+and if I understand nothing I will wrap myself up in a mysterious
+silence, which sometimes produces a good effect. At all events, I will
+not repulse Fortune when she appears to be favourable to me."
+
+M. de Bernis had only told M. de Boulogne that I was a financier to get
+me a hearing, as otherwise he might have declined to see me. I was sorry
+not to be master, at least, of the jargon of the business, as in that way
+men have got out of a similar difficulty, and by knowing the technical
+terms, and nothing more, have made their mark. No matter, I was bound to
+the engagement. I must put a good face on a bad game, and if necessary
+pay with the currency of assurance. The next morning I took a carriage,
+and in a pensive mood I told the coachman to take me to M. du Vernai's,
+at Plaisance--a place a little beyond Vincennes.
+
+I was set down at the door of the famous man who, forty years ago, had
+rescued France on the brink of the precipice down which Law had almost
+precipitated her. I went in and saw a great fire burning on the hearth,
+which was surrounded by seven or eight persons, to whom I was introduced
+as a friend of the minister for foreign affairs and of the comptroller;
+afterwards he introduced these gentlemen to me, giving to each his proper
+title, and I noted that four of them were treasury officials. After
+making my bow to each, I gave myself over to the worship of Harpocrates,
+and without too great an air of listening was all ears and eyes.
+
+The conversation at first was of no special interest as they were talking
+of the Seine being frozen over, the ice being a foot thick. Then came the
+recent death of M. de Fontenelle, then the case of Damien, who would
+confess nothing, and of the five millions his trial would cost the Crown.
+Then coming to war they praised M. de Soubise, who had been chosen by the
+king to command the army. Hence the transition was easy to the expenses
+of the war, and how they were to be defrayed.
+
+I listened and was weary, for all they said was so full of technicalities
+that I could not follow the meaning; and if silence can ever be imposing,
+my determined silence of an hour and a half's duration ought to have made
+me seem a very important personage in the eyes of these gentlemen. At
+last, just as I was beginning to yawn, dinner was announced, and I was
+another hour and a half without opening my mouth, except to do honour to
+an excellent repast. Directly the dessert had been served, M. du Vernai
+asked me to follow him into a neighbouring apartment, and to leave the
+other guests at the table. I followed him, and we crossed a hall where we
+found a man of good aspect, about fifty years old, who followed us into a
+closet and was introduced to me by M. du Vernai under the name of
+Calsabigi. Directly after, two superintendents of the treasury came in,
+and M. du Vernai smilingly gave me a folio book, saying,
+
+"That, I think, M. Casanova, is your plan."
+
+I took the book and read, Lottery consisting of ninety tickets, to be
+drawn every month, only one in eighteen to be a winning number. I gave
+him back the book and said, with the utmost calmness,
+
+"I confess, sir, that is exactly my idea."
+
+"You have been anticipated, then; the project is by M. de Calsabigi
+here."
+
+"I am delighted, not at being anticipated, but to find that we think
+alike; but may I ask you why you have not carried out the plan?"
+
+"Several very plausible reasons have been given against it, which have
+had no decisive answers."
+
+"I can only conceive one reason against it," said I, coolly; "perhaps the
+king would not allow his subjects to gamble."
+
+"Never mind that, the king will let his subjects gamble as much as they
+like: the question is, will they gamble?"
+
+"I wonder how anyone can have any doubt on that score, as the winners are
+certain of being paid."
+
+"Let us grant, then, that they will gamble: how is the money to be
+found?"
+
+"How is the money to be found? The simplest thing in the world. All you
+want is a decree in council authorizing you to draw on the treasury. All
+I want is for the nation to believe that the king can afford to pay a
+hundred millions."
+
+"A hundred millions!"
+
+"Yes, a hundred millions, sir. We must dazzle people."
+
+"But if France is to believe that the Crown can afford to pay a hundred
+millions, it must believe that the Crown can afford to lose a hundred
+millions, and who is going to believe that? Do you?"
+
+"To be sure I do, for the Crown, before it could lose a hundred millions,
+would have received at least a hundred and fifty millions, and so there
+need be no anxiety on that score."
+
+"I am not the only person who has doubts on the subject. You must grant
+the possibility of the Crown losing an enormous sum at the first
+drawing?"
+
+"Certainly, sir, but between possibility and reality is all the region of
+the infinite. Indeed, I may say that it would be a great piece of good
+fortune if the Crown were to lose largely on the first drawing."
+
+"A piece of bad fortune, you mean, surely?"
+
+"A bad fortune to be desired. You know that all the insurance companies
+are rich. I will undertake to prove before all the mathematicians in
+Europe that the king is bound to gain one in five in this lottery. That
+is the secret. You will confess that the reason ought to yield to a
+mathematical proof?"
+
+"Yes, of course; but how is it that the Castelletto cannot guarantee the
+Crown a certain gain?"
+
+"Neither the Castelletto nor anybody in the world can guarantee
+absolutely that the king shall always win. What guarantees us against any
+suspicion of sharp practice is the drawing once a month, as then the
+public is sure that the holder of the lottery may lose."
+
+"Will you be good enough to express your sentiments on the subject before
+the council?"
+
+"I will do so with much pleasure."
+
+"You will answer all objections?"
+
+"I think I can promise as much."
+
+"Will you give me your plan?"
+
+"Not before it is accepted, and I am guaranteed a reasonable profit."
+
+"But your plan may possibly be the same as the one before us."
+
+"I think not. I see M. de Calsabigi for the first time, and as he has not
+shewn me his scheme, and I have not communicated mine to him, it is
+improbable, not to say impossible, that we should agree in all respects.
+Besides, in my plan I clearly shew how much profit the Crown ought to get
+per annum."
+
+"It might, therefore, be formed by a company who would pay the Crown a
+fixed sum?"
+
+"I think not."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"For this reason. The only thing which would make the lottery pay, would
+be an irresistible current of public opinion in its favour. I should not
+care to have anything to do with it in the service of a company, who,
+thinking to increase their profits, might extend their operations--a
+course which would entail certain loss."
+
+"I don't see how."
+
+"In a thousand ways which I will explain to you another time, and which I
+am sure you can guess for yourself. In short, if I am to have any voice
+in the matter, it must be a Government lottery or nothing."
+
+"M. de Calsabigi thinks so, too."
+
+"I am delighted to hear it, but not at all surprised; for, thinking on
+the same lines, we are bound to arrive at the same results."
+
+"Have you anybody ready for the Castelletto?"
+
+"I shall only want intelligent machines, of whom there are plenty in
+France."
+
+I went out for a moment and found them in groups on my return, discussing
+my project with great earnestness.
+
+M. Calsabigi after asking me a few questions took my hand, which he shook
+heartily, saying he should like to have some further conversation with
+me; and returning the friendly pressure, I told him that I should esteem
+it as an honour to be numbered amongst his friends. Thereupon I left my
+address with M. du Vernai and took my leave, satisfied, by my inspection
+of the faces before me, that they all had a high opinion of my talents.
+
+Three days after, M. de Calsabigi called on me; and after receiving him
+in my best style I said that if I had not called on him it was only
+because I did not wish to be troublesome. He told me that my decisive way
+of speaking had made a great impression, and he was certain that if I
+cared to make interest with the comptroller we could set up the lottery
+and make a large profit.
+
+"I think so, too," said I, "but the financiers will make a much larger
+profit, and yet they do not seem anxious about it. They have not
+communicated with me, but it is their look-out, as I shall not make it my
+chief aim."
+
+"You will undoubtedly hear something about it today, for I know for a
+fact that M. de Boulogne has spoken of you to M. de Courteuil."
+
+"Very good, but I assure you I did not ask him to do so."
+
+After some further conversation he asked me, in the most friendly manner
+possible, to come and dine with him, and I accepted his invitation with a
+great pleasure; and just as we were starting I received a note from M. de
+Bernis, in which he said that if I could come to Versailles the next day
+he would present me to Madame de Pompadour, and that I should have an
+opportunity of seeing M. de Boulogne.
+
+In high glee at this happy chance, less from vanity than policy I made M.
+de Calsabigi read the letter, and I was pleased to see him opening his
+eyes as he read it.
+
+"You can force Du Vernai himself to accept the lottery," he said, "and
+your fortune is made if you are not too rich already to care about such
+matters."
+
+"Nobody is ever rich enough to despise good fortune, especially when it
+is not due to favour."
+
+"Very true. We have been doing our utmost for two years to get the plan
+accepted, and have met with nothing beyond foolish objections which you
+have crushed to pieces. Nevertheless, our plans must be very similar.
+Believe me it will be best for us to work in concert, for by yourself you
+would find insuperable difficulties in the working, and you will find no
+'intelligent machines' in Paris. My brother will do all the work, and you
+will be able to reap the advantages at your ease."
+
+"Are you, then, not the inventor of the scheme which has been shewn me?"
+
+"No, it is the work of my brother."
+
+"Shall I have the pleasure or seeing him?"
+
+"Certainly. His body is feeble, but his mind is in all its vigour. We
+shall see him directly."
+
+The brother was not a man of a very pleasing appearance, as he was
+covered with a kind of leprosy; but that did not prevent him having a
+good appetite, writing, and enjoying all his bodily and intellectual
+faculties; he talked well and amusingly. He never went into society, as,
+besides his personal disfigurement, he was tormented with an irresistible
+and frequent desire of scratching himself, now in one place, and now in
+another; and as all scratching is accounted an abominable thing in Paris,
+he preferred to be able to use his fingernails to the pleasures of
+society. He was pleased to say that, believing in God and His works, he
+was persuaded his nails had been given him to procure the only solace he
+was capable of in the kind of fury with which he was tormented.
+
+"You are a believer, then, in final causes? I think you are right, but
+still I believe you would have scratched yourself if God had forgotten to
+give you any nails."
+
+My remarks made him laugh, and he then began to speak of our common
+business, and I soon found him to be a man of intellect. He was the elder
+of the two brothers, and a bachelor. He was expert in all kinds of
+calculations, an accomplished financier, with a universal knowledge of
+commerce, a good historian, a wit, a poet, and a man of gallantry. His
+birthplace was Leghorn, he had been in a Government office at Naples, and
+had come to Paris with M. de l'Hopital. His brother was also a man of
+learning and talent, but in every respect his inferior.
+
+He shewed me the pile of papers, on which he had worked out all the
+problems referring to the lottery.
+
+"If you think you can do without me," said he, "I must compliment you on
+your abilities; but I think you will find yourself mistaken, for if you
+have no practical knowledge of the matter and no business men to help
+you, your theories will not carry you far. What will you do after you
+have obtained the decree? When you speak before the council, if you take
+my advice, you will fix a date after which you are not to be held
+responsible--that is to say, after which you will have nothing more to do
+with it. Unless you do so, you will be certain to encounter trifling and
+procrastination which will defer your plan to the Greek Kalends. On the
+other hand, I can assure you that M. du Vernai would be very glad to see
+us join hands:"
+
+Very much inclined to take these gentlemen into partnership, for the good
+reason that I could not do without them, but taking care that they should
+suspect nothing, I went down with the younger brother, who introduced me
+to his wife before dinner. I found present an old lady well known at
+Paris under the name of General La Mothe, famous for her former beauty
+and her gout, another lady somewhat advanced in years, who was called
+Baroness Blanche, and was still the mistress of M. de Vaux, another
+styled the President's lady, and a fourth, fair as the dawn, Madame
+Razzetti, from Piedmont, the wife of one of the violin players at the
+opera, and said to be courted by M. de Fondpertuis, the superintendent of
+the opera.
+
+We sat down to dinner, but I was silent and absorbed, all my thoughts
+being monopolized by the lottery. In the evening, at Silvia's, I was
+pronounced absent and pensive, and so I was in spite of the sentiment
+with which Mademoiselle Baletti inspired me--a sentiment which every day
+grew in strength.
+
+I set out for Versailles next morning two hours before day-break, and was
+welcomed by M. de Bernis, who said he would bet that but for him I should
+never have discovered my talent for finance.
+
+"M. de Boulogne tells me you astonished M. du Vernai, who is generally
+esteemed one of the acutest men in France. If you will take my advice,
+Casanova, you will keep up that acquaintance and pay him assiduous court.
+I may tell you that the lottery is certain to be established, that it
+will be your doing, and that you ought to make something considerable out
+of it. As soon as the king goes out to hunt, be at hand in the private
+apartments, and I will seize a favourable moment for introducing you to
+the famous marquise. Afterwards go to the Office for Foreign Affairs, and
+introduce yourself in my name to the Abbe de la Ville. He is the chief
+official there, and will give you a good reception."
+
+M. de Boulogne told me that, as soon as the council of the military
+school had given their consent, he would have the decree for the
+establishment of the lottery published, and he urged me to communicate to
+him any ideas which I might have on the subject of finance.
+
+At noon Madame de Pompadour passed through the private apartments with
+the Prince de Soubise, and my patron hastened to point me out to the
+illustrious lady. She made me a graceful curtsy, and told me that she had
+been much interested in the subject of my flight.
+
+"Do you go," said she, "to see your ambassador?"
+
+"I shew my respect to him, madam, by keeping away."
+
+"I hope you mean to settle in France."
+
+"It would be my dearest wish to do so, madam, but I stand in need of
+patronage, and I know that in France patronage is only given to men of
+talent, which is for me a discouraging circumstance."
+
+"On the contrary, I think you have reason to be hopeful, as you have some
+good friends. I myself shall be delighted if I can be of any assistance
+to you."
+
+As the fair marquise moved on, I could only stammer forth my gratitude.
+
+I next went to the Abbe de la Ville, who received me with the utmost
+courtesy, and told me that he would remember me at the earliest
+opportunity.
+
+Versailles was a beautiful spot, but I had only compliments and not
+invitations to expect there, so after leaving M. de la Ville I went to an
+inn to get some dinner. As I was sitting down, an abbe of excellent
+appearance, just like dozens of other French abbes, accosted me politely,
+and asked me if I objected to our dining together. I always thought the
+company of a pleasant man a thing to be desired, so I granted his
+request; and as soon as he sat down he complimented me on the
+distinguished manner in which I had been treated by M. de la Ville. "I
+was there writing a letter," said he, "and I could hear all the obliging
+things the abbe said to you. May I ask, sir, how you obtained access to
+him?"
+
+"If you really wish to know, I may be able to tell you."
+
+"It is pure curiosity on my part."
+
+"Well, then, I will say nothing, from pure prudence."
+
+"I beg your pardon."
+
+"Certainly, with pleasure."
+
+Having thus shut the mouth of the curious impertinent, he confined his
+conversation to ordinary and more agreeable topics. After dinner, having
+no further business at Versailles, I made preparations for leaving, on
+which the abbe begged to be of my company. Although a man who frequents
+the society of abbes is not thought much more of than one who frequents
+the society of girls. I told him that as I was going to Paris in a public
+conveyance--far from its being a question of permission--I should be only
+too happy to have the pleasure of his company. On reaching Paris we
+parted, after promising to call on each other, and I went to Silvia's and
+took supper there. The agreeable mistress of the house complimented me on
+my noble acquaintances, and made me promise to cultivate their society.
+
+As soon as I got back to my own lodging, I found a note from M. du
+Vernai, who requested me to come to the military school at eleven o'clock
+on the next day, and later in the evening Calsabigi came to me from his
+brother, with a large sheet of paper containing all the calculations
+pertaining to the lottery.
+
+Fortune seemed to be in my favour, for this tabular statement came to me
+like a blessing from on high. Resolving, therefore, to follow the
+instructions which I pretended to receive indifferently. I went to the
+military school, and as soon as I arrived the conference began. M.
+d'Alembert had been requested to be present as an expert in arithmetical
+calculations. If M. du Vernai had been the only person to be consulted,
+this step would not have been necessary; but the council contained some
+obstinate heads who were unwilling to give in. The conference lasted
+three hours.
+
+After my speech, which only lasted half an hour, M. de Courteuil summed
+up my arguments, and an hour was passed in stating objections which I
+refuted with the greatest ease. I finally told them that no man of honour
+and learning would volunteer to conduct the lottery on the understanding
+that it was to win every time, and that if anyone had the impudence to
+give such an undertaking they should turn him out of the room forthwith,
+for it was impossible that such an agreement could be maintained except
+by some roguery.
+
+This had its effect, for nobody replied; and M. du Vernai remarked that
+if the worst came to the worst the lottery could be suppressed. At this I
+knew my business was done, and all present, after signing a document
+which M. du Vernai gave them, took their leave, and I myself left
+directly afterwards with a friendly leave-taking from M. du Vernal.
+
+M. Calsabigi came to see me the next day, bringing the agreeable news
+that the affair was settled, and that all that was wanting was the
+publication of the decree.
+
+"I am delighted to hear it," I said, "and I will go to M. de Boulogne's
+every day, and get you appointed chief administrator as soon as I know
+what I have got for myself."
+
+I took care not to leave a stone unturned in this direction, as I knew
+that, with the great, promising and keeping a promise are two different
+things. The decree appeared a week after. Calsabigi was made
+superintendent, with an allowance of three thousand francs for every
+drawing, a yearly pension of four thousand francs for us both, and the
+chief of the lottery. His share was a much larger one than mine, but I
+was not jealous as I knew he had a greater claim than I. I sold five of
+the six offices that had been allotted to me for two thousand francs
+each, and opened the sixth with great style in the Rue St. Denis, putting
+my valet there as a clerk. He was a bright young Italian, who had been
+valet to the Prince de la Catolica, the ambassador from Naples.
+
+The day for the first drawing was fixed, and notice was given that the
+winning numbers would be paid in a week from the time of drawing at the
+chief office.
+
+With the idea of drawing custom to my office, I gave notice that all
+winning tickets bearing my signature would be paid at my office in
+twenty-four hours after the drawing. This drew crowds to my office and
+considerably increased my profits, as I had six per cent. on the
+receipts. A number of the clerks in the other offices were foolish enough
+to complain to Calsabigi that I had spoilt their gains, but he sent them
+about their business telling them that to get the better of me they had
+only to do as I did--if they had the money.
+
+My first taking amounted to forty thousand francs. An hour after the
+drawing my clerk brought me the numbers, and shewed me that we had from
+seventeen to eighteen thousand francs to pay, for which I gave him the
+necessary funds.
+
+Without my thinking of it I thus made the fortune of my clerk, for every
+winner gave him something, and all this I let him keep for himself.
+
+The total receipts amounted to two millions, and the administration made
+a profit of six hundred thousand francs, of which Paris alone had
+contributed a hundred thousand francs. This was well enough for a first
+attempt.
+
+On the day after the drawing I dined with Calsabigi at M. du Vernai's,
+and I had the pleasure of hearing him complain that he had made too much
+money. Paris had eighteen or twenty ternes, and although they were small
+they increased the reputation of the lottery, and it was easy to see that
+the receipts at the next drawing would be doubled. The mock assaults that
+were made upon me put me in a good humour, and Calsabigi said that my
+idea had insured me an income of a hundred thousand francs a year, though
+it would ruin the other receivers.
+
+"I have played similar strokes myself," said M. du Vernai, "and have
+mostly succeeded; and as for the other receivers they are at perfect
+liberty to follow M. Casanova's example, and it all tends to increase the
+repute of an institution which we owe to him and to you."
+
+At the second drawing a terne of forty thousand francs obliged me to
+borrow money. My receipts amounted to sixty thousand, but being obliged
+to deliver over my chest on the evening before the drawing, I had to pay
+out of my own funds, and was not repaid for a week.
+
+In all the great houses I went to, and at the theatres, as soon as I was
+seen, everybody gave me money, asking me to lay it out as I liked and to
+send them the tickets, as, so far, the lottery was strange to most
+people. I thus got into the way of carrying about me tickets of all
+sorts, or rather of all prices, which I gave to people to choose from,
+going home in the evening with my pockets full of gold. This was an
+immense advantage to me, as kind of privilege which I enjoyed to the
+exclusion of the other receivers who were not in society, and did not
+drive a carriage like myself--no small point in one's favour, in a large
+town where men are judged by the state they keep. I found I was thus able
+to go into any society, and to get credit everywhere.
+
+I had hardly been a month in Paris when my brother Francis, with whom I
+had parted in 1752, arrived from Dresden with Madame Sylvestre. He had
+been at Dresden for four years, taken up with the pursuit of his art,
+having copied all the battle pieces in the Elector's Galley. We were both
+of us glad to meet once more, but on my offering to see what my great
+friends could do for him with the Academicians, he replied with all an
+artist's pride that he was much obliged to me, but would rather not have
+any other patrons than his talents. "The French," said he, "have rejected
+me once, and I am far from bearing them ill-will on that account, for I
+would reject myself now if I were what I was then; but with their love of
+genius I reckon on a better reception this time."
+
+His confidence pleased me, and I complimented him upon it, for I have
+always been of the opinion that true merit begins by doing justice to
+itself.
+
+Francis painted a fine picture, which on being exhibited at the Louvre,
+was received with applause. The Academy bought the picture for twelve
+thousand francs, my brother became famous, and in twenty-six years he
+made almost a million of money; but in spite of that, foolish
+expenditure, his luxurious style of living, and two bad marriages, were
+the ruin of him.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of To Paris And Prison: Under the Leads
+by Jacques Casanova de Seingalt
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