It was a matter of a ‘nolenti baculus’; not that I was cruel enough to use force towards an unhappy old man like the count.  I ended my speech by saying that if he would flee with us I would carry him upon my back like AEneas carried Anchises; but if he was going to stay in prison to offer up prayers for our success, his prayers would be observed, as it would be a case of praying God to give success when he himself had refused to contribute the most ordinary aid.

He replied by a flood of tears, which affected me.  He then asked if two sequins would be enough, and I answered in the affirmative.  He then gave them to me begging me to return them to him if after getting on the roof I saw my wisest course would be to come back.  I promised to do so, feeling somewhat astonished that he should deem me capable of a retreat.  He little knew me, for I would have preferred death to an imprisonment which would have been life-long.

I called my companions, and we set all our baggage near the hole.  I divided the hundred fathoms of rope into two packets, and we spent two hours in talking over the chances of our undertaking.  The first proof which Father Balbi gave me of his fine character was to tell me, ten times over, that I had broken my word with him, since I had assured him that my scheme was complete and certain, while it was really nothing of the kind.  He went so far as to tell me that if he had known as much he would not have taken me from my cell.  The count also, with all the weight of his seventy years, told me that I should do well to give up so hazardous an undertaking, in which success was impossible and death probable.  As he was a barrister he made me a speech as follows, and I had not much difficulty in guessing that he was inspired by the thought of the two sequins which I should have had to give him back, if he had succeeded in persuading me to stay where I was: 

“The incline of the roof covered with lead plates,” said he, “will render it impossible for you to walk, indeed you will scarcely be able to stand on your feet.  It is true that the roof has seven or eight windows, but they are all barred with iron, and you could not keep your footing near them since they are far from the sides.  Your ropes are useless, as you will find nothing whereon to fasten them; and even if you did, a man descending from such a height cannot reach the ground by himself.  One of you will therefore have to lower the two others one at a time as one lowers a bucket or a bundle of wood, and he who does so will have to stay behind and go back to his cell.  Which of you three has a vocation for this dangerous work of charity?  And supposing that one of you is heroic enough to do so, can you tell me on which side you are going to descend?  Not by the side towards the palace, for you would be seen; not by the church, as you would find yourselves still shut up, and as to the court side you surely would not think of it, for you would fall into the