PARIS

On the night of the 18th or 19th September 1783, Casanova arrived at

Paris.

On the 30th he wrote Francesca that he had been well received by his

sister-in-law and by his brother, Francesco Casanova, the painter. Nearly

all his friends had departed for the other world, and he would now have

to make new ones, which would be difficult as he was no longer pleasing

to the women.

On the 14th October he wrote again, saying that he was in good health and

that Paris was a paradise which made him feel twenty years old. Four

letters followed; in the first, dated from Paris on S. Martin's Day, he

told Francesco not to reply for he did not know whether he would prolong

his visit nor where he might go. Finding no fortune in Paris, he said he

would go and search elsewhere. On the 23rd, he sent one hundred and fifty

lires; "a true blessing," to the poor girl who was always short of money.

Between times, Casanova passed eight days at Fontainebleau, where he met

"a charming young man of twenty-five," the son of "the young and lovely

O'Morphi" who indirectly owed to him her position, in 1752, as the

mistress of Louis XV. "I wrote my name on his tablets and begged him to

present my compliments to his mother."

He also met, in the same place, his own son by Mme. Dubois, his former

housekeeper at Soleure who had married the good M. Lebel. "We shall hear

of the young gentleman in twenty-one years at Fontainebleau."

"When I paid my third visit to Paris, with the intention of ending my

days in that capital, I reckoned on the friendship of M. d'Alembert, but

he died, like, Fontenelle, a fortnight after my arrival, toward the end

of 1783."

It is interesting to know that, at this time, Casanova met his famous

contemporary, Benjamin Franklin. "A few days after the death of the

illustrious d'Alembert," Casanova assisted, at the old Louvre, in a

session of the Academie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres. "Seated

beside the learned Franklin, I was a little surprised to hear Condorcet

ask him if he believed that one could give various directions to an air

balloon. This was the response: 'The matter is still in its infancy, so

we must wait.' I was surprised. It is not believable that the great

philosopher could ignore the fact that it would be impossible to give the

machine any other direction than that governed by the air which fills it,

but these people 'nil tam verentur, quam ne dubitare aliqua de re

videantur."

On the 13th November, Casanova left Paris in company with his brother,

Francesco, whose wife did not accompany him. "His new wife drove him away

from Paris."

"Now [1797 or 1798] I feel that I have seen Paris and France for the last

time. That popular effervescence [the French Revolution] has disgusted me

and I am too old to hope to see the end of it."