Volume II Part 15 (2/2)

I repaired to the senator who had espoused my cause, in order to expressthat I had received the letter, he replied with gravity: ”I a,” I continued, ”of paying that gentleman a visit He has been twice to ainst him, and can excuse the errors into which his heated temper drove him, I should like to assure hinor Renier dissuadedthis course ”You have ability and penetration,” he observed, ”but you do not sufficiently understand the nature of men puffed up with pride In case you meet Gratarol, and only if he should be the first to raise his hat, you may return the salute with reserved politeness Do not extend your civility to words or any inconsiderate demonstrations A man so perversely proud as he is may stir up new mischief and involve you in further embarrassments I take it that now the actors will continue to perform your comedy” ”I do not know,” I answered, ”but fro, very wrong!” he rejoined; ”that arrogant felloill try to iven as an equivalent for the suspension of the perforht at least to put your co the public know that people of importance have bespoken it” I could only answer that, so far as I was concerned, the production, repetition, continued presentations, and suspension of the play had taken place without my interference

Comedians, I added, only looked to their own pecuniary interests The senator proceeded to deliver an eloquent and singularly penetrative discourse upon the corruption of the age, and the ill-regulated ways of thinking which had been introduced and widely diffused ast us I have never heard this ent truth I aue I do not pretend to see into the inmost hearts of men[79]

When I took nor Renier to the letter In obedience to this determination, I told Sacchi what he had said about the repetition of my comedy He replied that he should not have withdrawn it except for the behaviour of Signora Ricci During the last two evenings she abbled out her part in a way to provoke the audience Catcalls froallery and opprobrious epithets froether with the reproaches of her comrades, she bore with stolid indifference ”Verily,” cried I, ”Gratarol owes a great deal to that poor woman For his sake she fell down a staircase, and now she bears the brunt of public outrage! You have done well to stop a coht to have been daht”

To wind up the episode of Signor Gratarol, I may say, in conclusion, that I often met him both in Venice and at Padua To his credit let it be spoken, that he never stooped one inch frohtiness His hat stuck to that cage of cockchafers he called his head, as though it had been nailed there Mindful of the advice I had received, and which a I should have liked to be on good terms with him, and felt uncomfortable at the rudeness I was bound to display Had he drawn his sword upon me, I could have understood that his retractation had been forced But there was nothing in his stupid inurbanity to justify this supposition Who could have divined that he was planning a flight to Stockholm, and that he would draw his sword upon me there and stab me ords, while I reic accident, with a happy termination_

A few months after these occurrences, my brother Gasparo, who had fallen ill of toocares, went to Padua to consult the physicians of that faer shared the saarded him as my friend and master The news I received of his sad state of health, which declined from bad to worse, in spite of the ravest uneasiness

One ht me a letter which she had received froether with a note froed me to repair to her at once The letter contained news of far more serious import From it I learned that my poor brother, whether oppressed by dark andfever which attacked him, had thrown himself in a fit of exaltation from ainto the Brenta He had fallen with his chest upon a great stone; and though he had been brought alive out of the river, he was speechless, spat blood continually, and lay insensible, plunged in profound lethargy, and consumed with a mortal fever, which left but little hope of his survival

In spite of h deprived me of my wits, and I ran in a state of distraction to that noble lady I found her stretched upon a sofa, drowned in tears No sooner did she cast eyes upon me than she rose, and rushed into”Dear friend,” she sobbed out, as soon as she found power to speak, ”go to Padua at once; save my father for me, save my father!”[80] Then she fell back upon the sofa and shed a torrent of tears

What though I needed co to go upon the spot to Padua, and by reht not be so desperate as was supposed

I shall not describe ainst Count Carlo di Coloredo, who askedastir in Venice I believe that I brutally said ”Nothing,” as I juloorew upon th as I approached the walls of Padua, shutting out the sense of water, earth, trees, animals, and hted at , and was received, as always, with open arms Sadness ritten on the faces of all his family I hardly dared to inquire after e to do so, I was told that he was yet alive, but in a state which left too little hope

I repaired at once to his lodgings in the Prato della Valle There I found Mme Jeanne Sarah Cenet, a Frenchwoman of some five-and-fifty years, ly to the invalid, half-ave me a detailed account ofcorpse, afflicted with continuous fever, incapable of speech, taking no nourish a few drops of water The haeed with blood

I asked what doctor was attending hi their ability, I was terrified at the number of them Then she added that a fifth physician, the celebrated Professor della Bona, had been called into one consultation He had suggested certain remedies, which the other four doctors rejected as frivolities, and none of them had been employed ”Very well!” said I

At this point they ca my voice from his bedroom, had opened his eyes and spoken these words very faintly: ”My brother Charles!” I went to hiy, he ht I could detect upon his face some spark of relief

One of the four doctors boasted of having restoredthe istrates of Public Health for the resuscitation of drowned persons I went to offer this man an honorariued in drawing up a ious energy hich he, the doctor, had successfully employed their methods on the person of Count Gasparo Gozzi, and wound up with an energetic petition for the golden medal awarded in such circumstances to the operator He was anxious to relate the whole event, to enlarge upon his ed him to spare es of sorrow Then I placed some sequins in his hand, and left him to the elaboration of his petition

Afterwards, I heard that he had received the ainst the needy expeditious son of science

My brother passed soy and ardent fever, without taking nourishment Mme Cenet used to force open his jaws and insinuate little balls of butter between his teeth in a coffee-spoon This was all the food he had, licking the spoon and sing the butter without consciousness The four doctors came to see hiently besought to do so by Mme Dolfin Tron They looked at the water, examined the expectoration, felt the pulse, affired their shoulders, and went away again

The anxious thoughts which weighed uponcares for the sick reat heat of the season, contributed to tax th But, in addition, I had to carry on a volu letters to Mme Dolfin Tron, to the secretary of the Riformatori di Padova,[81] and to other persons My brother held an office under the Riforht hundred ducats a year One day I received a pressing letter froand canvassing for this post, in the expectation of my brother's death Her husband, who presided at the board, and herself were both of opinion that I ought to apply in writing for the office She guaranteedmy mind, this letter only added to rateful for the counsels she had given, and for her generous proht to know my temper, and to remember that I had refused to compete for the far more important and lucrative office of Master of the Posts to Vienna, which she had recoed the influence of her powerful consort I had undertaken heavy charges for the sake of my family, but I did not care to burden my shoulders with affairs which involved public responsibility I had neither wife nor children, was averse to taking place areat, disliked the ceremonies and observances which office necessitates, did not want to become rich, and was satisfied with ain, I would willingly strip myself to my shi+rt of all that I possessed: but I civilly declined the offer which she generously made

This called forth an answer, in which the lady treated me as a Quixotic hero of romance She insisted that I should send in a petition for the office, and repeated that various applicants wereheaven and earth to secure the reversion of it In conclusion, she told me that I was in duty bound to accept a post of emolument which would enable me to assist my brother's faed her to ainst my inclination I was embittered when I remembered how much I had already done for more than thirty years to protect the interests ofoff their debts, and fighting their battles with a host of litigious clai the chain of an onerous and troublesome office, for which I felt myself entirely unfit

I replied that no pricks of conscience with regard to my brother's family impelled me to seek what I neither desired nor deserved If an application were made in my name (for I well knew thatsuch a step), I should feel ed to utter a protest Here I was at Padua, ready to spend my blood for my brother If he survived, by the favour of God, I hoped that the Riformatori would not deprive him of his post If he died, to my infinite sorrow, the tribunal would be able to award it to so person, who deserved it more than I did