Volume III Part 54 (1/2)
My landlord, whose nareat deal of at Zurich He told hbourhood were uncovered I said they would do, as there was nothing better to be had, and he informed me I could trust the servant he would provideI took the abbot's letters One was for M Orelli and the other for a M Pestalozzi, neither of whom I found at home; but in the afternoon they both called on me, asked me to dinner, andto a concert This is the only species of entertainment allowed at Zurich, and only members of the ers, who have to be introduced by a member, and are then adentleh terht the concert a bad one, and got bored at it The ht hand and the woement, for in spite of my recent conversation I saw three or four ladies who pleased ood deal in my direction I should have liked to make love to them, to make the best of my time before I became a monk
When the concert was over, ether, and the two citizens presented hters, who looked pleasant, and were ast those I had noticed
Courtesy is necessarily cut short in the street, and, after I had thanked the two gentlemen, I went home to the ”Sword”
Next day I dined with M Orelli, and I had an opportunity for doing justice to his daughter's a able to let her perceive how she had impressed me The day after, I played the sahter was pretty enough to excite reat astonishment I was a mirror of discretion, and in four days that was my character all over the town
I was quite astonished to find myself accosted in quite a respectful manner, to which I was not accustomed; but in the pious state of mind I was in, this confir the cowl had been a Divine inspiration Nevertheless, I felt listless and weary, but I looked upon that as the inevitable consequence of so coht it would disappear when I grew oodness
In order to put myself, as soon as possible, on an equality within learning German
My master was an extraordinary man, a native of Genoa, and an apostate Capuchin His naave six francs every h I, with the enthusiasm of a devotee, took him for a devil of hell, for he lost no opportunity of throwing a stone at the religious orders
Those orders which had the highest reputation, were, according to him, the worst of all, since they led eneral as a vile rabble, the curse of the human race
”But,” said I to him one day, ”you will confess that Our Lady of Einsiedel ”
”What!” replied the Genoese, without letting me finish my remark, ”do you think I should norant, lazy, vicious, idle, hypocritical scoundrels who live bad lives under the cloak of humility, and eat up the houses of the poor si their own bread?”
”But how about his reverend highness the abbot?”
”A stuck-up peasant who plays the part of a prince, and is fool enough to think himself one”
”But he is a prince”
”As much a prince as I am I look upon him as a ; but he is a monk”
”He is a friend ofyour pardon”
This Giustiniani had a great influence upon hta monk at Einsiedel came to an end as follows:
The day before the abbot was co, I was sitting atat the passers-by, when all at once a carriage and four caood pace and stopped at the inn There was no footman on it, and consequently the waiter came out and opened the door, and I saw four well-dressed wo noticeable, but the fourth, as dressed in a riding-habit, struck ance and beauty She was a brunette with fine and well-set eyes, arched eyebrows, and a coled Her bonnet was of blue satin with a silver fillet, which gave her an air I could not resist I stretched out from theas far as I could, and she lifted her eyes and looked at ed me to look at her for half a minute; too much for a modest woman, and more than was required to set me all ablaze
I ran and took up my position at theof my ante-cha I saw her running by to rejoin her three coot opposite tohost; but she soon recollected herself and ran away, laughing like a madcap, and rejoined the other ladies ere already in their room
Reader, put yourself inAnd you ould bury yourselves in monastic shades, persevere, if you can, after you have seen what I saw at Zurich on April 23rd
I was in such a state of excite a few ot up and aleand saw the waiter co out of the ladies'