torn page from the Bible found by the corpisantari. His scant familiarity with the Holy Scriptures now coincided with his revelations concerning the right of regalia, which permitted the King of France to make an abbot of whomsoever he wished.
I was, then, not in the presence of a true churchman, but of a mere castrato singer who had received a title and a living from Louis XIV.
'Do not place overmuch trust in Venetians,' resumed Atto, breaking in on my thoughts at that very moment. 'To understand their nature, one need only observe how they behave with the Turks.'
'What do you mean to say?'
'The truth is that the Venetians, with their galleys full of spices, fabrics and all manner of goods, have always maintained a rich commerce with the Turks. Now, their trade is falling off, with the arrival on the scene of superior competitors, among them the French. And I can well imagine what else Brenozzi will have told you: that the Most Christian King hopes Vienna will fall so that he can then invade the German Electorates and the Empire and share all the spoils with the Sublime Porte. That is why Brenozzi mentioned Donhoff: he meant that perhaps I was in Rome to lend a hand to some French plot. It is indeed from this city that, by the will of Innocent XI, money is convoyed for the relief of besieged Vienna.'
'While in fact that is not the case,' I added, almost as though I were demanding some confirmation.
'I am not here to set traps for Christians, my boy. And the Most Christian King does not conspire with the Divan,' was his grave reply.
He then added solemnly: 'Remember: crows fly in flocks; the eagle flies alone.'
'What does that mean?'
'It means: use your head. If everyone tells you to go to the right, you go to the left.'
'But, in your opinion, is it or is it not legitimate to form an alliance with the Turks?'
There followed a long pause, until Melani, without once raising his eyes to meet mine, pronounced these words: 'No scruple should prevent His Majesty from renewing today the alliances which so many Christian kings before him have formed with the Porte.'
There had, he went on to explain, been dozens of cases in which Christian kings and princes had made pacts with the Ottoman Porte. Florence, to name only one example, had sought Mehmet II's assistance against Ferdinand I, King of Naples. Venice, in order to expel from the Levant the Portuguese who were disturbing its trade, had used the forces of the Sultan of Egypt. Emperor Ferdinand of Habsburg had not only allied himself with but become a vassal and tributary of Soliman, of whom he had, as a humble supplicant, begged to be granted the throne of Hungary. When Philip II set out to conquer Portugal, in order to obtain the good offices of the king of nearby Morocco, he had made a present to him of one of his possessions, thus placing Christian lands in the hands of the Infidels: and this, for the sole purpose of despoiling a Catholic monarch. Even Popes Paul III, Alexander VI and Julius II had, when necessary, gone to the Turks for assistance.
Naturally enough, the question had been raised several times among the casuist fathers and in the Catholic schools as to whether those Christian princes had sinned in so doing. However, almost all the Italian, German and Spanish authors considered that this was not the case, and they had arrived at the conclusion that a Christian prince might succour an Infidel in war against another Christian prince.
'Their opinion,' the abbot expounded, 'is grounded in authority and in reason. The authority is drawn from the Bible. Abraham fought for the King of Sodom, and David against the children of Israel; not to mention the alliances formed by Solomon with King Hiram, or that of the Maccabees with Sparta and with Rome-in other words, with pagans.'
How well Atto knows the Bible, I thought, when it deals with politics.
'Reason, however,' continued the abbot with an expression of firm conviction, 'is founded on the notion that God is the author of nature and of religion: therefore, it cannot be said that what is just in nature is not just in religion, unless some divine precept obliges us to consider it so. Now, in this instance, there are no divine precepts which condemn such alliances, especially where they are necessary, and the right of nature renders honest all reasonable instruments upon which our preservation depends.'
Having thus concluded his diatribe, Abbot Melani scrutinised me again from under didactically raised eyebrows.
'Do you mean to say that the King of France may form an alliance with the Divan for purposes of legitimate self-defence?' I asked, still a trifle dubious.
'Of course: in order to defend his states and the Catholic religion from the Emperor Leopold I whose base scheming runs contrary to all laws, both human and divine. Leopold in fact formed an alliance with the heretical Dutch, and was thus the first to betray the True Faith. But in that event, no one uttered so much as a word of comment or condemnation. Everyone is, however, always ready to inveigh against France, which is guilty only of having rebelled against the constant threat of the Habsburgs and the other princes of Europe.
Louis XIV has, since the beginning of his reign, fought like a lion in order not to end up being crushed.'
'Crushed by whom?'
'By the Habsburgs, in the first place, who surround France on the east and the west; on the one hand, the Empire of Vienna, on the other, Madrid, Flanders and the Spanish dominions in Italy. While, from the north, heretical England threatens, together with Holland, which commands the seas. And, as though all that were not enough, the Pope himself is France's enemy.'
'But if so many states say that the Most Christian King endangers Europe's liberty, there must surely be some truth to the assertion. You too told me that he…'
'What I said to you about the King is completely irrelevant. Never, never make irrevocable judgements, and consider every single case as though it were the first you had ever encountered. Remember that, in relations between states, absolute evil does not exist. Above all, never assume that condemnation of one party implies the honesty of the other: in most cases, both are guilty. And the victims, once they have changed places with their tormentors, will commit the same atrocities. Remember all this, otherwise you will play into the hands of Mammon.'
The abbot paused, as though to reflect, and heaved a melancholy sigh.
'Do not chase after the mirage of human justice,' he continued, with a bitter smile, 'for when you reach it, you will find only that from which you hoped to flee. God alone is just. Be wary especially of whoever loudly proclaims justice and charity, while accusing his adversaries of being creatures of the devil. That is no king, but a tyrant; no sovereign, but a despot; he is faithful not to the gospel of God but to that of hatred.'
'It is so difficult to judge!' I exclaimed disconsolately.
'Less than you think. I told you, crows fly in flocks, the eagle flies alone.'
'Will knowing all these things help me to become a gazetteer?'
'No. It will be a hindrance to you.'
We proceeded for a while without another word being uttered. The abbot's maxims had left me speechless, and silently I turned them over in my mind. I was especially surprised by the ardour with which Melani had defended the Most Christian King, whom he had presented to me in a dark and arrogant guise when narrating the Fouquet affair. I admired Atto, even if my youth did not yet enable me fully to comprehend the precious teachings which he had just imparted to me.
'Know, in short,' added Abbot Melani, 'that the King of France has no need to plot against Vienna: if the Empire should fall, it will have been brought down by the cowardice of the Emperor Leopold himself: when the Turks drew too close to Vienna, he fled like a thief in the night, while the desperate and angry populace rained blows against his carriage. Our Brenozzi should know this perfectly well, since the Venetian ambassador to Vienna was also a witness to that wretched scene. Hearken to Brenozzi's words, if you will; but do not forget that when Pope Odescalchi enjoined Europe to resist the Ottomans, apart from France, only one power ignored the call: Venice.'
I was thus doubly silenced. Not only had Atto Melani convincingly refuted Brenozzi's accusations against France, diverting them against Leopold I and Venice; he had also clearly understood the mistrust which the glass- blower had tried to engender against him. I was, however, allowed no time in which to reflect upon my companion's sagacity for we had already reached the dark lair in which, a day or so before, Ugonio and Ciacconio had tried to ambush us. A few minutes later, as promised, the pair of tomb robbers appeared.
As I had occasion to observe later, it was never possible to know with any certainty where these two obscure beings had emerged from. Their arrival was generally heralded by a pungent odour of goat, or of mildewed food, or
