eye-witness of these events: allow me, then, to bring Baron von F*** on in my place and make up this deficiency with extracts from his letters. Although my friend F***’s way of looking at things is not always my own, I have nevertheless chosen not to alter his words, from which the reader will be able to discover the truth with little difficulty.
Baron von F** to Count von O***
First letter
May 17**
Thank you, my dear friend, for granting me permission, despite your absence, to continue those confidential relations with you, which, while you were here, constituted my chief joy. Here, as you know, there is no-one whom I would dare to speak freely to upon certain matters—whatever you might say to the contrary, I find these people quite hateful. Since the Prince became one of them, and since you were snatched away from us, I have, in the midst of this populous city, felt quite alone. Z*** is taking it more easily, and the fair ones in Venice know how to make him forget the insults he has to share with me at home. Besides, what reason would he have to complain? He sees and asks for in the Prince nothing but a master, whom he might find anywhere—but I! You know how close the weal and woe of our Prince is to my heart—and how many reasons I have for this. I have been at his side now for sixteen years and have lived only for him. I was a nine year-old boy when I entered his service and since that timeno stroke of fate has separated me from him. I grew up under his watchful eyes and long association has bound me to him; I have gone through all his adventures with him, both great and small. I live in his happiness. Until this wretched year I have seen in him only my friend, my elder brother; I have lived in his sight as in bright sunshine—no cloud ever darkened my joy; and now all this is to be shattered in this accursed Venice!
Since you have been away, all kinds of things have changed here. The Prince von **d** arrived here last week with a large retinue and has injected new and riotous life into our circle. Since he and our Prince are so closely related and are now on reasonably good terms, they will seldom be apart during his stay here, which, as I hear, is to last up to the Festival of the Ascension. This started in the best possible way; for the last ten days the Prince has hardly had time to catch his breath. The Prince von **d** began straightaway in the liveliest fashion and may well continue so, since he is leaving again soon; but the bad news is that he has infected our Prince with this, who could not really avoid joining in, and who, in view of the special relationship prevailing between the two houses, believes he owes something to the contested status of his. Moreover our own departure from Venice in not many weeks’ time is also approaching, which will mean he will anyway be spared having to continue at length with this inordinate expense.
The Prince von **d** is here, it is said, on matters pertaining to the Order of ***, in which he imagines he has an important part to play. His immediate appropriation of the entire circle of our Prince’s acquaintanceswill not come as a surprise to you. He was intitated into the Bucentauro in particular with great pomp, since for some time it has pleased him to play the great and witty thinker and powerful intellect, styling himself simply the
‘Prince philosophe’
in all his extensive correspondence. I do not know if you have ever had the good fortune to see him. His outward appearance holds much promise: darting eyes, the air of a connoisseur, widely read—of which he makes great show—, a widely accomplished nature (if you will permit the expression) and a princely condescension to human feeling, along with a heroic self-confidence and an eloquence that brooks no argument. Who could refuse to do homage to such brilliant qualities in a prince? Only time can tell, meanwhile, how the quiet, inarticulate and thorough-going worth of our Prince will hold up alongside
Baron von F** to Count von O***
First letter
May 17**
Thank you, my dear friend, for granting me permission, despite your absence, to continue those confidential relations with you, which, while you were here, constituted my chief joy. Here, as you know, there is no-one whom I would dare to speak freely to upon certain matters—whatever you might say to the contrary, I find these people quite hateful. Since the Prince became one of them, and since you were snatched away from us, I have, in the midst of this populous city, felt quite alone. Z*** is taking it more easily, and the fair ones in Venice know how to make him forget the insults he has to share with me at home. Besides, what reason would he have to complain? He sees and asks for in the Prince nothing but a master, whom he might find anywhere—but I! You know how close the weal and woe of our Prince is to my heart—and how many reasons I have for this. I have been at his side now for sixteen years and have lived only for him. I was a nine year-old boy when I entered his service and since that timeno stroke of fate has separated me from him. I grew up under his watchful eyes and long association has bound me to him; I have gone through all his adventures with him, both great and small. I live in his happiness. Until this wretched year I have seen in him only my friend, my elder brother; I have lived in his sight as in bright sunshine—no cloud ever darkened my joy; and now all this is to be shattered in this accursed Venice!
Since you have been away, all kinds of things have changed here. The Prince von **d** arrived here last week with a large retinue and has injected new and riotous life into our circle. Since he and our Prince are so closely related and are now on reasonably good terms, they will seldom be apart during his stay here, which, as I hear, is to last up to the Festival of the Ascension. This started in the best possible way; for the last ten days the Prince has hardly had time to catch his breath. The Prince von **d** began straightaway in the liveliest fashion and may well continue so, since he is leaving again soon; but the bad news is that he has infected our Prince with this, who could not really avoid joining in, and who, in view of the special relationship prevailing between the two houses, believes he owes something to the contested status of his. Moreover our own departure from Venice in not many weeks’ time is also approaching, which will mean he will anyway be spared having to continue at length with this inordinate expense.
The Prince von **d** is here, it is said, on matters pertaining to the Order of ***, in which he imagines he has an important part to play. His immediate appropriation of the entire circle of our Prince’s acquaintanceswill not come as a surprise to you. He was intitated into the Bucentauro in particular with great pomp, since for some time it has pleased him to play the great and witty thinker and powerful intellect, styling himself simply the
‘Prince philosophe’
in all his extensive correspondence. I do not know if you have ever had the good fortune to see him. His outward appearance holds much promise: darting eyes, the air of a connoisseur, widely read—of which he makes great show—, a widely accomplished nature (if you will permit the expression) and a princely condescension to human feeling, along with a heroic self-confidence and an eloquence that brooks no argument. Who could refuse to do homage to such brilliant qualities in a prince? Only time can tell, meanwhile, how the quiet, inarticulate and thorough-going worth of our Prince will hold up alongside
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