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 48 CASAL-MAGGIORE CASANOVA paign against Austria in 1849 the defences, which had fallen into decay, were rebuilt and enlarged. It was the capital of the ancient marquisate of Montferrat, and has sustained several sieges, and frequently changed its mas- ters. It is the seat of a bishop and of a district court of justice, and has a cathedral, founded in 742, a theatre, and a royal college. The church of San Domenico, containing a tomb in memory of the princes Palreologi, is remarkable for the elegance of its design, and several fine works of art are found in other churches. Among the prominent articles of trade are silk, hemp, fruit, and wine. CASAL-MAGGIORE, a town of Italy, on the Po, in the province and 22 m. S. E. of Cremona ; pop. about 4,500. Tanneries, and the manu- facture of glass, pottery, and cream of tartar, are carried on. The town has a superior school, a hospital, orphan asylum, and theatre. A victory was achieved here by Sforza over the Venetians in 1448. CASAL-PtSTERLENGO, a town of Italy, in the province and 30 in. 8. E. of Milan, on the Brembiolo ; pop. about 5,500. It is the seat of several public offices, has a church and sanctu- ary, manufactures of silk, linen, and earthen- ware, and an extensive trade in cheese. CASAMANZA, a river of Senegambia, rises in the mountains S. of Barraconda, and after a course of 200 m. falls into the Atlantic, about 56 m. S. of the Gambia. Its lower course has been since 1860 within French territory. The French fort of Carabane is situated at its mouth. CASANOVA, Giovanni Giaeomo de Selnpalt, an Italian adventurer, born in Venice, April 2, 1725, died in Austria about 1803. His father, who was of noble descent, was an adventurer and comedian, and married the daughter of a Venetian shoemaker. Giovanni was sent to Padua, and placed under the instruction of Gozzi ; but having been implicated in a brawl between the students and the police, he was forced to leave Padua, and went to Venice. His adventures there are described in his me- moirs, and reveal the frivolous character of the Venetian society of those days. Having be- come notorious for his profligacy, he was final- ly thrown into the dungeon of San Andrea, but effected his escape, and, after wandering over various towns of Italy, succeeded in find- ing at Morterano a prelate to whom he brought letters of introduction which his mother had obtained for him, and who recommended him to his friends at Naples. They in turn supplied him with letters to Cardinal Acquavivain Rome, who brought him into personal contact with Pope Benedict XIV., and this circle of acquaint- ance laid the foundation for his subsequent career. His devotion to the poetical Marchesa Gabrielli, his mental encounters with the litera- ti, his conversational triumphs in the high social circles of Rome, were all brought to a sudden close by his connivance in an elopement which gave offence to the marchesa, who requested Cardinal Acquaviva to dismiss Casanova, whom he employed as secretary. The cardinal gave him a passport for Venice, and he eventually reached Constantinople, in company with the Venetian ambassador, into whose favor he had insinuated himself. He was received with great distinction by Cardinal Acquaviva's friend, the pasha of Caramania, alias count de Bon- neval, who introduced him to Yusuf Ali, whose wife fell in love with him, while his daughter Zelmi was offered to him in marriage. He left Constantinople surfeited with presents and money, which he lost in gambling soon after his arrival at Venice in 1745, where he accept- ed a humble musical employment in the or- chestra of the theatre San Samuele, in order to save himself from starvation. Here he fell in with the rich Venetian senator Bragadio, but was soon again compelled to remove to other places in order to escape the hands of justice. After figuring as a magician at Cesena, as a priest at Milan, and in various characters at Mantua, Ferrara, Bologna, Parma, and Venice, he made his first appearance in Paris on June 1, 1750. There his reputation had preceded him, and he was received with great favor; the marshal de Richelieu became his bosom friend; the duchess de Chartres doted upon him. After two years in Paris he joined his mother, who was then performing at the theatre of Dresden, and subsequently pro- ceeded to Vienna, where he was received with much favor. On his return to Venice, July 25, 1755, he was lodged in the dun- geons of the council of ten. He gives in his memoirs an entertaining but improbable account of the skill and audacity which he displayed in again effecting his escape. Early in 1757 he reappeared in Paris, where the dungeon episode added considerably to his notoriety. He now tried his hand at politics and financiering, and proposed a lottery in order to restore the equilibrium of the French exchequer. A meeting was convened to de- liberate on the subject, and D'Alembert in his capacity of mathematician was invited to at- tend it. Casanova's persuasive power con- vinced the most skeptical minds of the infalli- bility of his project ; it was actually adopted, but he did not remain to observe its develop- ment, being sent as a kind of government spy to Dunkirk. On his return to Paris he met the famous adventurer, the count de St. Ger- main, whom he subsequently found installed at the Hague. After failing in his various indus- tri.-il speculations at Paris, Casanova went to Holland under the auspices of the duko de Choiseul, to contract a loan for the French government, while St. Germain had received the same mission from the hands of Louis XV. himself. The two adventurers were well matched, but as they found the Dutch unwill- ing to advance any money, Casanova resumed his travels. At Roche, in Vaud, he paid his respects to Haller, and at Ferney to Voltniiv. At London he met the chevalier d'Eon, and was introduced to George III., but, implicated in a