Volume VI Part 18 (2/2)
”Find me if you can,” said I, ”a poet who can order his supper between the lines of his tragedy, or discuss the weather whilst he is cou his defeat, he invariably becae of fifty, and is regarded by posterity as a Stoic philosopher, a scholar, and a compendium of all the virtues; and this opinion raphy of hi of Spain This panegyric is a reat painter, and nothing else; and if he had only produced the splendid picture which hangs over the high altar of the chapel royal at Dresden, he would deserve eternal fareat Raphael for the idea of the painting
We shall hearwith him at Rome, two or three years later
I was still weak and confined to o with hiive a grand official dinner to the ambassadors of the other powers, and as I have not been presented at Court I a present However, if I travel, ive rise to any remarks We shall be back in five or six days”
I was delighted to have the chance of seeing Toledo, and of e, so I accepted We started the nextof the sah, and the next day ent out under the charge of a cicerone, who took us to the Alcazar, the Louvre of Toledo, fors Afterwards we inspected the cathedral, which is orthy of a visit, on account of the riches it contains I saw the great tabernacle used on Corpus Christi It ismen to lift it The Archbishop of Toledo has three hundred thousand duros a year, and his clergy have four hundred thousand, a to two million francs in Frenchthe relics, told me that one of them contained the thirty pieces of silver for which Judas betrayed our Lord I begged him to lethimself would not have dared to express such indecent curiosity
I hastened to apologise, begging hier's heedless questions; and this seeer
The Spanish priests are a band of knaves, but one has to treat them with more respect than one would pay to honestday ere shewn the museum of natural history It was rather a dull exhibition; but, at all events, one could laugh at it without exciting the wrath of the st other wonders, a stuffed dragon, and the entleht there was more of art than nature about the beast He then shewed us a basilisk, but instead of slaying us with a glance it only reatest wonder of all, however, was nothing else than a Freeely declared, proved the existence of such an order, whatever soht say
The journey restored me to health, and when I returned to Aranjuez, I proceeded to pay my court to all the ministers The ambassador presented me to Marquis Grimaldi, hom I had some conversations on the subject of the Swiss colony, which was going on badly I reiterated my opinion that the colony should be composed of Spaniards
”Yes,” said he, ”but Spain is thinly peopled everywhere, and your plan would a one district to make another rich”
”Not at all, for if you took ten persons who are dying of poverty in the Asturias, and placed theotten fifty children This fifty would beget two hundred and so on”
My scheme was laid before a coovernor of the colony if the plan was accepted
An Italian Opera Co the Court, with the exception of the king, who had no taste for music His majesty bore a considerable resemblance to a sheep in the face, and it seemed as if the likeness went deeper, for sheep have not the slightest idea of sound His favourite pursuit was sport, and the reason will be given later on
An Italian musician at the Court desired to compose some music for a new opera, and as there was no time to send to Italy I offered to compose the libretto My offer was accepted, and by the next day the first act was ready The music was composed in four days, and the Venetian ambassador invited all the rand hall of his palace The music was pronounced exquisite; the two other acts ritten, and in a fortnight the opera was put upon the stage The rand to work for money and my reas paid lad to see that the ambassador was proud of me and that thethe libretto I had become acquainted with the actresses The chief of thely, with a slight squint, and but er sister was pretty if not handsoer, while the elder was a universal favourite Her expression was pleasant, her s Her husband was an indifferent painter, plain-looking, and more like her servant than her husband
He was indeed her very hureat kindness The feelings she inspired me ere not love, but a sincere respect and friendshi+p I used to visit her every day, and wrote verses for her to sing to the Roracefully
On one of the days of rehearsals I was pointing out to her the various great personages ere present The er of the coe the company there in September to play comic opera in a small theatre which had been built on purpose Italian opera had hitherto never been presented at Valentia, and Marecalchi hoped to ood deal of money there Madame Pelliccia knew nobody in Valentia, and wanted a letter of introduction to soht she could venture to ask the Venetian ambassador to do her the favour, but I advised her to try the Duke of Arcos
”Where is he?”
”That gentle in your direction now”
”How can I dare to ask him?”
”He is a true noblee you Go and ask hie to do so Come with ; he must not even think that I a to leave you; you must make your request directly afterwards”
I walked towards the orchestra, and looking round I saw that the duke was approaching the actress
”The thing's as good as done,” I said to myself
After the rehearsal was over Madaive her the letter on the day on which the opera was produced He kept his word, and she received a sealed letter for a o Valencia