"It appears to me incredible," said a friend of mine, "that neither pope, cardinals, nor generals of orders, have eloquence enough to persuade you to stay in Rome, to be loaded with honours and dignities."
Father Velzi, the Maestro of the Sacred Palace, having some little time before been created Cardinal, and sent as bishop to Monte Fiascone, it was my office, as his vicar, in the discharge of my duty, to be in the midst of all the festivities which are customary on these occasions; and, moreover, to accompany the new Cardinal to his diocese, and to attend upon him. Viterbo being in the immediate vicinity of Monte Fiascone, I often divided my time between the two; and was but too happy to render every service to my excellent friend, who frequently asked me to pass some days with him.
I had a great regard for this man on account of his worthy qualities; with all he was obliging; for me he evinced a particular friendship. I was entirely in his confidence, and he occasionally in mine. Our conversations were very interesting, and the most perfect familiarity existed between us when we were together. Though a cardinal, he assumed no superiority over me, but, as is customary with the Italians, as with the French, in cases of intimacy, addressed me in the second person singular.
Cardinal Velzi was by no means a friend of the Father General Jabalot; consequently, these two friars divided the Order into two parties. As may be imagined, I was on Velzi's side; without, however, making enemies on the other, for some of whom I had a great friendship, and especially for the good old Father Brocchetti, who was then the Provincial. But, as happens in all party matters, and above all among monks, I was frequently reproved by both.
"What says your Brocchetti?" Velzi would ask, smiling.
"Well, what is your Cardinal doing?" Brocchetti and Jabalot would inquire, ironically. I had more than once endeavoured to unite these conflicting spirits, but always in vain. I could never induce Brocchetti to dine with the Cardinal, or the Cardinal to write a friendly letter to the Provincial. These dissensions were chiefly fomented by Buttaoni, the Maestro of the Sacred Palace, and Degola, secretary of the Congregation of the Index, who, holding everything from Velzi, were opposed to Jabalot; and on the other side, by some foolish monks, who, aspiring to certain petty appointments in the gift of the General, paid exclusive court to him.
It appeared as if Father Jabalot wished to gain me over by offering me the rectorship of the Minerva. He now prevented me, as much as was in his power, from visiting Cardinal Velzi as often as I could have wished; moreover, the distance I was from him, and the nature of my employment, which kept me occupied every day in the week, rendered my opportunities of seeing him comparatively rare.
"You have not much time now to pay your visits to Cardinal Velzi," said my good old friend, Brocchetti, to me one day. I could not thereupon forbear reflecting with regret, how two men of talent were, so to say, lost! Here were two most excellent individuals, hating and carping at each other, without any reason. And so it often happens, that for the slightest causes, inveterate enmities are nourished, whence the most deplorable consequences frequently spring.
I had now given my decided opinion, not only against the office of principal, but against any other which would require me to reside in Rome, and especially in that Pandemonium, the Minerva, with the Father General Jabalot.
There were, likewise, other motives which urged me to leave Rome; and those were, my aversion to the government of Pope Gregory and his Cardinal Lambruschini. The prisons were full of honest citizens, who had sacrificed their best interests for the love of their country; hundreds of good men were in exile, and their wives and children were pining in misery, exposed to every insult and derision. These and similar atrocities moved my indignation, and frequently made me speak against the government. It was a miserable sight at that time in Rome, to behold the acts of tyranny and oppression that were daily exercised; and it was beyond endurance to hear the insulting answers which the pope and certain cardinals gave to those who craved grace or justice. We see indeed at the present moment what the Gregorian school of domination is capable of.