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Old Age and Death The Memoirs Of Jacques Casanova De Seingalt ...

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56<br />

the servant had delayed with his wine; he had not been introduced to some<br />

distinguished personage who had come to see the lance which had pierced<br />

the side of the great Wallenstein; the Count had lent a book without<br />

telling him; a groom had not touched his hat to him; his German speech<br />

had been misunderstood; he had become angry <strong>and</strong> people had laughed at<br />

him."<br />

Like Count Waldstein, however, the Prince de Ligne made the widest<br />

allowances, underst<strong>and</strong>ing the chafing of <strong>Casanova</strong>'s restless spirit.<br />

"<strong>Casanova</strong> has a mind without an equal, from which each word is<br />

extraordinary <strong>and</strong> each thought a book."<br />

On the 16th <strong>De</strong>cember, he wrote <strong>Casanova</strong>: "One is never old with your<br />

heart, your genius <strong>and</strong> your stomach."<br />

<strong>Casanova</strong>'s own comment on his trip away from Dux will be found in the<br />

<strong>Memoirs</strong>. "Two years ago, I set out for Hamburg, but my good genius made<br />

me return to Dux. What had I to do at Hamburg?"<br />

On the 10th <strong>De</strong>cember, <strong>Casanova</strong>'s brother Giovanni [Jean] died. He was the<br />

Director of the Academy of Painting at Dresden. Apparently the two<br />

brothers could not remain friends.<br />

Giovanni left two daughters, Teresa <strong>and</strong> Augusta, <strong>and</strong> two sons, Carlo <strong>and</strong><br />

Lorenzo. While he was unable to remain friendly with his brother,<br />

<strong>Casanova</strong> apparently wished to be of assistance to his nieces, who were<br />

not in the best of circumstances, <strong>and</strong> he exchanged a number of letters<br />

with Teresa after her father's death.<br />

On the occasion of Teresa <strong>Casanova</strong>'s visit to Vienna in 1792, Princess<br />

Clari, oldest sister of the Prince de Ligne, wrote of her: "She is

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