Part 16 (1/2)
”Yes, he is indeed; very intelligent. Style Leo XIII.”
”Men of weight.”
”Yes, but neither of the two had Pius IX's spirit.” ”And the present one? He is a poor creature, eh?”
”I don't know, I don't know....”
”And the Society of Jesus, is it on good terms with this Pope?”
”Surely. He is their creation.”
”So that the Society is really powerful?”
”It certainly is! Without a doubt! It has a pleasant rule, and obedience, and knowledge, and money....”
”It has money too, eh?”
”Has it money? More than enough.”
”And in what form? In paper?”
”In paper, and in property, and industries; in steams.h.i.+p companies, in manufactories....”
”I would make an admirable business manager.”
”Well, your uncle, the Cardinal, could get you put in touch with the Society.”
”Is he a friend of theirs?”
”Close as a finger-nail.”
Caesar was silent a moment, and then said:
”And I have heard that the Society of Jesus was, at bottom, an anti-Christian organization, a branch of Masonry....”
”_Macche_!” exclaimed the abbe. ”How could you believe that? Oh, no, my friend! What an absurdity!”
Then, seeing Caesar burst into laughter, he calmed himself, wondering if he was making fun of him.
They went down the hill, where the monument to Garibaldi flaunts itself, to the terrace of the Spanish Academy.
The view was magnificent; the evening, now falling, was clear; the sky limpid and transparent. From that height the houses of Rome were spread out silent, with an air of solemnity, of immobility, of calm. It appeared a flat town; one did not notice its slopes and its hills; it gave the impression of a city in stone set under a gla.s.s globe.
The sky itself, pure and diaphanous, augmented the sensation of withdrawal and quietude; not a cloud on the horizon, not a spot of smoke in the air; silence and repose everywhere. The dome of St. Peter's had the colour of a cloud, the shrubberies on the Pincio were reddened by the sun, and the Alban Hills disclosed the little white towns and the smiling villas on their declivities.
Preciozi pointed out domes and towers; Caesar did not hear him, and he was thinking, with a certain terror:
”We shall die, and these stones will continue to s.h.i.+ne in the sunlight of other winter evenings.”