Old Age and Death | Page 6

reality, forty-seven] "of high
stature and excellent appearance, vigorous, of a very brown color, the
eye bright, the wig short and chestnut-brown. He is said to be haughty
and disdainful; he speaks at length, with spirit and erudition." [Letter of
information to the Very Illustrious Giovanni Zon, Secretary of the
August Council of Ten at Venice. 2 October 1772.]

Returning to Venice after an absence of eighteen years, Casanova
renewed his acquaintance with many old friends, among whom were:
The Christine of the Memoirs. Charles, who married Christine, the
marriage being arranged by Casanova while in Venice in 1747, was of
financial assistance to Casanova, who "found him a true friend."
Charles died "a few months before my last departure from Venice," in
1783.
Mlle. X---- C---- V----, really Giustina de Wynne, widow of the Count
Rosenberg, Austrian Ambassador at Venice. "Fifteen years afterwards,
I saw her again and she was a widow, happy enough, apparently, and
enjoying a great reputation on account of her rank, wit and social
qualities, but our connection was never renewed."
Callimena, who was kind to him "for love's sake alone" at Sorrento in
1770.
Marcoline, the girl he took away from his younger brother, the Abby
Casanova, at Geneva in 1763.
Father Balbi, the companion of his flight from The Leads.
Doctor Gozzi, his former teacher at Padua, now become Arch-Priest of
St. George of the Valley, and his sister Betting. "When I went to pay
him a visit . . . she breathed her last in my arms, in 1776, twenty-four
hours after my arrival. I will speak of her death in due time."
Angela Toselli, his first passion. In 1758 this girl married the advocate
Francesco Barnaba Rizzotti, and in the following year she gave birth to
a daughter, Maria Rizzotti (later married to a M. Kaiser) who lived at
Vienna and whose letters to Casanova were preserved at Dux.
C---- C----, the young girl whose love affair with Casanova became
involved with that of the nun M---- M---- Casanova found her in
Venice "a widow and poorly off."
The dancing girl Binetti, who assisted Casanova in his flight from
Stuttgart in 1760, whom he met again in London in 1763, and who was
the cause of his duel with Count Branicki at Warsaw in 1766. She
danced frequently at Venice between 1769 and 1780.
The good and indulgent Mme. Manzoni, "of whom I shall have to
speak very often."
The patricians Andrea Memmo and his brother Bernardo who, with P.
Zaguri were personages of considerable standing in the Republic and
who remained his constant friends. Andrea Memmo was the cause of

the embarrassment in which Mlle. X---- C---- V---- found herself in
Paris and which Casanova vainly endeavored to remove by applications
of his astonishing specific, the 'aroph of Paracelsus'.
It was at the house of these friends that Casanova became acquainted
with the poet, Lorenzo Da Ponte. "I made his acquaintance," says the
latter, in his own Memoirs, "at the house of Zaguri and the house of
Memmo, who both sought after his always interesting conversation,
accepting from this man all he had of good, and closing their eyes, on
account of his genius, upon the perverse parts of his nature."
Lorenzo Da Ponte, known above all as Mozart's librettist, and whose
youth much resembled that of Casanova, was accused of having eaten
ham on Friday and was obliged to flee from Venice in 1777, to escape
the punishment of the Tribunal of Blasphemies. In his Memoirs, he
speaks unsparingly of his compatriot and yet, as M. Rava notes, in the
numerous letters he wrote Casanova, and which were preserved at Dux,
he proclaims his friendship and admiration.
Irene Rinaldi, whom he met again at Padua in 1777, with her daughter
who "had become a charming girl; and our acquaintance was renewed
in the tenderest manner."
The ballet-girl Adelaide, daughter of Mme. Soavi, who was also a
dancer, and of a M. de Marigny.
Barbara, who attracted Casanova's attention at Trieste, in 1773, while
he was frequenting a family named Leo, but toward whom he had
maintained an attitude of respect. This girl, on meeting him again in
1777, declared that "she had guessed my real feelings and had been
amused by my foolish restraint."
At Pesaro, the Jewess Leah, with whom he had the most singular
experiences at Ancona in 1772.

II RELATIONS WITH THE INQUISITORS
Soon after reaching Venice, Casanova learned that the Landgrave of
Hesse Cassel, following the example of other German princes, wished a
Venetian correspondent for his private affairs. Through some influence
he believed he might obtain this small employment; but before
applying for the position he applied to the Secretary of the Tribunal for
permission. Apparently nothing came of this, and Casanova obtained
no definite