I was very useful
to him, of which he was sensible; and he treated me well. To this he
was also induced by another motive. Since the time of M. de Froulay,
his predecessor, whose head became deranged, the consul from France,
M. le Blond, had been charged with the affairs of the embassy, and
after the arrival of M. de Montaigu continued to manage them until
he had put him into the track. M. de Montaigu, hurt at this
discharge of his duty by another, although he himself was incapable of
it, became disgusted with the consul, and as soon as I arrived
deprived him of the functions of secretary to the embassy to give them
to me. They were inseparable from the title, and he told me to take
it. As long as I remained with him he never sent any person except
myself under this title to the senate, or to conference, and upon
the whole it was natural enough he should prefer having for
secretary to the embassy a man attached to him, to a consul or a clerk
of office named by the court.
This rendered my situation very agreeable, and prevented his
gentlemen, who were Italians, as well as his pages, and most of his
suite from disputing precedence with me in his house. I made an
advantageous use of the authority annexed to the title he had
conferred upon me, by maintaining his right of protection, that is,
the freedom of his neighborhood, against the attempts several times
made to infringe it; a privilege which his Venetian officers took no
care to defend. But I never permitted banditti to take refuge there,
although this would have produced me advantages of which his
excellency would not have disdained to partake.
Pages:
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417