The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Volume 14: SwitzerlandCasanova, Giacomo
History
The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Volume 14: Switzerland
Casanova, Giacomo
Casanova, Giacomo, 1725-1798; Europe -- History -- 18th century -- Biography
"I am not really gay, but I oblige myself to appear so. I shall not be
happy till the scar on my heart has healed. Lebel can only claim my
esteem, but I shall be his alone though my love be all for you. When we
see each other again, as from what you say I hope we shall, we shall be
able to meet as true friends, and perhaps we shall congratulate each
other on the wise part we have taken. As for you, though I do not think
you will forget me, I am sure that before long some more or less worthy
object will replace me and banish your sorrow. I hope it will be so. Be
happy. I may be with child; and if it prove to be so, you shall have no
cause to complain of my care of your child, which you shall take away
when you please. We made an agreement on this point yesterday. We
arranged that the marriage should not be consummated for two months; thus
we shall be certain whether the child belongs to you or no, and we will
let people think that it is the legitimate offspring of our marriage.
Lebel conceived this plan that he might have his mind at rest on the
supposed force of blood, in which he declares he believes no more than I
do. He has promised to love the child as if he were its father. If you
write to me, I will keep you acquainted with everything; and if I have
the happiness to give you a child, it will be much dearer to me than your
ring."
We wept, and Lebel laughed to see us.
I could only reply by pressing her to my breast, and then I gave her over
to her future husband, who told me as he got into the carriage that our
long talk had pleased him very much.
I went to bed sadly enough. Next morning when I awoke, a pastor of the
Church of Geneva came to ask me to give him a place in my carriage. I
agreed, and was not sorry I had done so.
This priest was an eloquent man, although a theologian, who answered the
most difficult religious questions I could put to him. There was no
mystery with him, everything was reason. I have never found a more
compliant Christianity than that of this worthy man, whose morals, as I
heard afterwards at Geneva, were perfectly pure. But I found out that
this kind of Christianity was not peculiar to him, all his
fellow-Calvinists thought in the same way.
Wishing to convince him that he was a Calvinist in name only, since he
did not believe that Jesus Christ was of the same substance as the
Father, he replied that Calvin was only infallible where he spoke 'ex
cathedra', but I struck him dumb by quoting the words of the Gospel. He
blushed when I reproached him with Calvin's belief that the Pope was the
Antichrist of the Apocalypse.
"It will be impossible to destroy this prejudice at Geneva," said he,
"till the Government orders the effacement of an inscription on the
church door which everybody reads, and which speaks of the head of the
Roman Church in this manner."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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