with the good luck which had attended our journey, and, taking
post-horses, I reached Venice in the evening. I remarked that it was the
and of April, 1744, the anniversary of my birth, which, ten times during
my life, has been marked by some important event.

The very next morning I went to the exchange in order to procure a
passage to Constantinople, but I could not find any passenger ship
sailing before two or three months, and I engaged a berth in a Venetian
ship called, Our Lady of the Rosary, Commander Zane, which was to sail
for Corfu in the course of the month.

Having thus prepared myself to obey my destiny, which, according to my
superstitious feelings, called me imperiously to Constantinople, I went
to St: Mark's Square in order to see and to be seen, enjoying by
anticipation the surprise of my acquaintances at not finding me any
longer an abbe. I must not forget to state that at Revero I had decorated
my hat with a red cockade.

I thought that my first visit was, by right, due to the Abbe Grimani. The
moment he saw me he raised a perfect shriek of astonishment, for he
thought I was still with Cardinal Acquaviva, on the road to a political
career, and he saw standing before him a son of Mars. He had just left
the dinner-table as I entered, and he had company. I observed amongst the
guests an officer wearing the Spanish uniform, but I was not put out of
countenance. I told the Abbe Grimani that I was only passing through
Venice, and that I had felt it a duty and a pleasure to pay my respects
to him.

"I did not expect to see you in such a costume."