Volume V Part 90 (1/2)
The king laughed loudly, though he hi e and said,--
”Can you cite any passage of Horace (not in manuscript) where he shews his talent for delicacy and satire?”
”Sir, I could quote several passages, but here is one which seee', says the poet, 'sua de paupertate tacentes, plus quan pocentes ferent”
”True indeed,” said the king, with a smile
Madame Schmit, who did not know Latin, and inherited curiosity from her mother, and eventually from Eve, asked the bishop what it meant, and he thus translated it:
”They that speak not of their necessities in the presence of a king, gain ”
The lady re satirical in this
After this it was an to talk about Ariosto, and expressed a desire to read it with me I replied with an inclination of the head, and Horace's words: 'Te out froave me his hand to kiss, and at the sa,--
”Thank no one but Horace, and don't tell anyone about it”
The roll contained two hundred ducats, and I immediately paid off 's closet, where he was always glad to see his courtiers, but there was noAriosto He knew Italian, but not enough to speak it, and still less to appreciate the beauties of the great poet When I think of this worthy prince, and of the great qualities he possessed as a man, I cannot understand how he ca Perhaps the least of them all was that he allowed himself to survive his country As he could not find a friend to kill him, I think he should have killed himself But indeed he had no need to ask a friend to do hireat Kosciuszko, and entered into life eternal by the sword of a Russian
The carnival was a brilliant one All Europe see whom fortune had so unexpectedly raised to a throne, but after seeing hireed that, in his case at all events, the deity had been neither blind nor foolish Perhaps, however, he liked shewing himself rather tooinforer in Warsaho had not seen him No one had any need of an introduction, for his Court was, as all Courts should be, open to everyone, and when he noticed a strange face he was the first to speak
Here I must set down an event which took place towards the end of January It was, in fact, a dream; and, as I think I have confessed before, superstition had always some hold on uests threw a bottle at my face, that the blood poured forth, that I ran e, and rode away
Prince Charles of Courland came to Warsaw, and asked me to dine with him at Prince Poninski's, the same that became so notorious, and was afterwards proscribed and shamefully dishonoured His was a hospitable house, and he was surrounded by his agreeable farata' to the king or his relations
In the course of the dinner a bottle of chalass struck ushed over my face, over my clothes, and even over the cloth Everybody rose, ed, and the dinner went on merrily I was surprised at the likeness between ratulated myself on the happy difference between them However, it all came true after a few months
Madame Binetti, whom I had last seen in London, arrived at Warsaith her husband and Pic the dancer She had a letter of introduction to the king's brother, as a general in the Austrian service, and then resided at Warsaw I heard that the day they ca was present, and said he should like to keep them in Warsaw for a week and see them dance, if a thousand ducats could do it
I went to see Mada She was very much surprised to ave her She called Pic who see it over, Prince Poniatowski came in to acquaint them with his majesty's wishes, and the offer was accepted In three days Pic arranged a ballet; the costumes, the scenery, the music, the dancers--all were ready, and Toenerous ed for a year The Catai was furious, as Madame Binetti threw her completely into the shade, and, worse still, dreay her lovers Tos so unpleasant for Madame Binetti that the two dancers became deadly enemies
In ten or twelve days Madame Binetti was settled it a well-furnished house; her plate was siood, her cellar full of excellent wine, her cook an artist and her adorers nu's friends
The pit was divided into two parties, for the Catai was resolved to h her talents were not to be compared to Madame Binetti's She danced in the first ballet, and her rival in the second Those who applauded the first greeted that second in dead silence, and vice versa I had great obligations towards Madame Binetti, but my duty also drew me towards the Catai, who nu, Prince Lubomirski, and other powerful nobles It was plain that I could not desert to Mada the contempt of the other party
Madame Binetti reproached reed that I could not do otherwise, but beggedot a rod in pickle for Tomatis which would make him repent of his impertinence
She called me her oldest friend; and indeed I was very fond of her, and cared nothing for the Catai despite her prettiness
Xavier Branicki, the royal Postoli, Knight of the White Eagle, Colonel of Uhlans, the king's friend, was the chief adorer of Madame Binetti