I am not eating Cakes and Gingerbread all Day, neither am I always reading Boiardo or Ariosto; but yet I fit down to my Repast on the Writings of these divine Men with pretty keen Relish, I promife you! I think my loved Father, whofe Will to me is Law, (and quite as much Law as I want!) would be wiser in letting me follow the Bent of my Inclinations, which run precifely in the fame Channel as his own, than in directing me to Studies I abhor. Jurifprudence I hate, whereas Poetry I love!"

"And Mufic too, I doubt not?"

Hum,--I touch the Lute a little." "And are not indifferent to Dancing?" "Aha! Come fi ballono a Comacchio!'" flipping his Feet out of the Stirrups, and gavotting, or rather pivotting on his Saddle, till I wondered he did not fall off.

"Doubtless, you have also been in Love?"

"Ser Pantaleone! your Inquiries become rather too fearching-" and he coloured extremely.

"Your Pardon," said I. Affairs at Padua?"

"And how go

"Furiously. The Pupils of two of our Profeffors, Sigonio and Robertello, are at Daggers-drawing, and have frequent Street Frays. For my Part, I fide with Sigonio, who is an amiable Man, and a profound Aristotelian. Give me the Pleasure of your Company this Evening, and I will make you acquainted with him. Annibale di Capua and I, who lodge together, are engaged to meet him in the Apartments of our mutual Friend, Scipio Gonzaga. Will you

come?"

As I hefitated a little, he preffed me more urgently, faying, with a gay Laugh, "You know what a poor Scholar's Portion is,—a bare Larder, a Bed without Sheets, Walls without Hangings, Shirts without Buttons, and Shoes that want mending. Concerning which, my only Reply is, give me an empty Larder, and a Closet full of Books; let me read a Romance while I dine, and I know not what I am eating. I need no Sauce but Salt;

and if my Bed be small, I can go to it the earlier and lie in the Middle."

In short, he won me over to accept his Invitation, which, after all, was to another Man's House. When we entered Padua, Dondi's great old Clock in the Piazza de' Signori was just ftriking the Hour at which one of the most popular Profeffors concluded his Lecture; and the vaulted Footways were crowded with Students, not only from every Capital in Christendom, but from Turkey, Arabia, and Persia. My young Companion nodded gaily to one and another among the Crowd; and presently we reached a very handfome Lodging, where, having discharged our Vetturini, we afcended a wide Staircase and entered a lofty Apartment furnished with Opulence, at the upper End of which a handsome young Man lay carelessly flung on some Velvet Cushions, intently reading, while Wine and Fruit stood near him on a Silver Salver.

I raised my Eyebrows and faid foftly, "Is this the poor Student's Lodging?" On which,

Torquato burst out laughing, and faid, "All is one. We Bookmen know both how to want and how to abound. I owe all to my dear Friend here"

And, embracing the young Man, who rofe to receive him, he introduced him to me as the Signor Annibale di Capua. He it was that has fince been made Cardinal.

C

CHAPTER II.

Of Meffer Torquato's first Introduction to a Court

Life.

INES, Cofines,-Angles, right, obtufe, ifosceles Triangles, right-angled Triangles-Rhombs, Spheroids,—

Cycles, Epicycles,-Things that are and are not, that appear to be, and appear not to be, -Judgments, contradictory, contrary, diftributed,—Ideas, fimple, complex,--Definitions, Propofitions, Syllogifms, Examinations, Degrees, Stars, Satellites, circumjovian Planets, Fees, Regulations,-Gowns, Caps, Sizes,- Prefects, Vice-prefects, AlmonersProfeffors of Canon Law, Protonotaries— Ices, Jellies,-Flesh-wounds, Rapiers, - Man found ftabbed.