Page:The Life of Benvenuto Cellini Vol 1.djvu/87

Rh trifles. For instance, when he baptized an illegitimate daughter at Paris in 1543, he calmly remarked: "This was the first child I ever had, so far as I remember." Afterwards, he made up to some extent for any previous omissions; for he informs us with circumstantial details how he killed the postmaster at Siena, and how he disabled two of his enemies at Paris, carving them about the legs and arms with his sword, in order to avoid a homicide and display his skill at fence.

Bloodshed, accordingly, played a prominent part in Benvenuto's life experiences; and those who are best acquainted with him know that it was hardly his fault if this feature is not more prominent in their records. Paolo Micceri and Baccio Bandinelli, for example, owed their narrow escape from assassination less to his forbearance than to their own want of pluck. At this point, then, it is necessary to advance some arguments in his defence. In the first place, it will be noticed that he speaks with pride and imperturbability about these murderous exploits. Whatever ceremony of phrase he used in describing his departure from Paris, there is nothing of this sort when he comes to relate the details of a homicide. All is candid and above board upon these occasions, except when he exhibits a slight sense of shame at being obliged to waylay his brother's slayer. The causes of this good conscience are not far to seek. I have already stated that murder at that epoch passed for a merely venial error. It