Volume VI Part 103 (2/2)
December 1776 A Report on the seditious character of a ballet called ”Coriolanus” The back of this report is inscribed: ”The iata, shall be summoned immediately; it has been ordered that he cease, under penalty of his life, fro the ballet Coriolanus at the theater Further, he is to collect and deposit all the printed progra to the attention of the Tribunal the scandalous disorders produced in the theaters when the lights were extinguished
3rd May 1781 A Report re that the Abbe Carlo Grimani believed himself exempt, in his position as a priest, fro foreign ministers and their suites On the back of this Report is written: ”Ser Jean Carlo, Abbe Griently reminded, by the Secretary, of the injunction to abstain fron ministers and their adherents”
Venetian nobles were forbidden under penalty of death fron ambassadors or their households This was intended as a precaution to preserve the secrets of the Senate
26th Nove academy where nude studies were made, from models of both sexes, while scholars only twelve or thirteen years of age were admitted, and where dilettantes ere neither painters nor designers, attended the sessions
22nd December 1781 By order, Casanova reported to the Tribunal a list of the principal licentious or antireligious books to be found in the libraries and private collections at Venice: la Pucelle; la Philosophie de l'Histoire; L'Esprit d'Helvetius; la Sainte Chandelle d'Arras; les Bijoux indiscrets; le Portier des Chartreux; les Posies de Baffo; Ode a Priape; de Piron; etc, etc
In considering this Report, which has been the subject of violent criticism, we should bear in mind three points:
first--the Inquisitors required this information; second--no one in their eive it than Casanova; third--Casanova was morally and economically bound, as an employee of the Tribunal, to furnish the information ordered, whatever his personal distaste for the undertaking may have been We may even assus in some indiscreet way, and his break with the Tribunal followed, for, at the end of 1781, his commission ithdrawn Certainly, Casanova's almost absolute dependence on his salary, influenced the letter he wrote the Inquisitors at this time
”To the Illustrious and Most Excellent Lords, the Inquisitors of State:
”Filled with confusion, overwhelthat I have failed in my duty in the opportunities which presented themselves, I, Jacques Casanova, invoke, onthat, in corace, there may be accorded me that which, in all justice and on reflection, n Munificence to come to my aid, so that, with the orously, in the future, to the service to which I have been privileged
”After this respectful supplication, the wisdoe the disposition of my spirit and of my intentions”
The Inquisitors decided to award Casanova one month's pay, but specified that thereafter he would receive salary only when he rendered important services
In 1782 Casanova arding the failure of an insurance and commercial house at Trieste, he received six sequins But the part of a guardian of the public h necessity, was undoubtedly unpleasant to him; and, in spite of the financial loss, it may be that his release was a relief
III -- FRANCESCA BUSCHINI
Intiirl named Francesca Buschini This name does not appear in any of the literary, artistic or theatrical records of the period, and, of the girl, nothing is known other than that which she herself tells us in her letters to Casanova From these very human letters, however, we may obtain, not only certain facts, but also, a very excellent idea of her character Thirty-two of her letters, dated between July 1779 and October 1787, written in the Venetian dialect, were preserved in the library at Dux
She was a seah often without work, and had a brother, a younger sister and also a irl of the reatly attached to Casanova who, even in his poverty,from another world She was his last Venetian love, and remained a faithful correspondent until 1787; and it is chiefly from her letters, in which she comht is thrown on the Vienna-Paris period, particularly, of Casanova's life
For this, Francesca has placed us greatly in her debt
With this girl, at least between 1779 and 1782, Casanova rented a small house at Barbaria delle Tole, near S Giustina, from the noble Pesaro at S Stae Casanova, always in de, often took dinner in the city He knew that a place always awaited hiuri and that, at the table of these patricians, ere distinguished by their intellectual superiority, he wouldand so closely connected with theatrical circles, he was often seen at the theater, with Francesca Thus, the 9th August 1786, the poor girl, in an excess of chagrin writes: ”Where are all the pleasures which formerly you procured ether?”
On the 28th July 1779, Francesca wrote: