as also a liar, a
profligate, a boaster, and totally devoid of discretion. In spite of
these defects he was much sought after in society as he told a good tale
and made people laugh. If he had been a student, he would have been a
distinguished scholar, as his memory was prodigious. He it was who vainly
guaranteed the agreement I made with Valerio Valeri for printing my
"History of Poland." I also met at Gorice a Count Coronini, who was known
in learned circles as the author of some Latin treatises on diplomacy.
Nobody read his books, but everybody agreed that he was a very learned
man.

I also met a young man named Morelli, who had written a history of the
place and was on the point of publishing the first volume. He gave me his
MS. begging me to make any corrections that struck me as desirable. I
succeeded in pleasing him, as I gave him back his work without a single
note or alteration of any kind, and thus he became my friend.

I became a great friend of Count Francis Charles Coronini, who was a man
of talents. He had married a Belgian lady, but not being able to agree
they had separated and he passed his time in trifling intrigues, hunting,
and reading the papers, literary and political. He laughed at those sages
who declared that there was not one really happy person in the world, and
he supported his denial by the unanswerable dictum:

"I myself am perfectly happy."

However, as he died of a tumor in the head at the age of thirty-five, he
probably acknowledged his mistake in the agonies of death.

There is no such thing as a perfectly happy or perfectly unhappy man in
the world. One has more happiness in his life and another more
unhappiness, and the same circumstance may produce widely different
effects on individuals of different temperaments.

It is not a fact that virtue ensures happiness for the exercise of some
virtues implies suffering, and suffering is incompatible with happiness.

My readers may be aware that I am not inclined to make mental pleasure
pre-eminent and all sufficing. It may be a fine thing to have a clear
conscience, but I cannot see that it would at all relieve the pangs of
hunger.

Baron Pittoni and myself escorted Zaguri to the Venetian border, and we
then returned to Trieste together.

In three or four days Pittoni took me everywhere, including the club
where none but persons of distinction were admitted. This club was held
at the inn where I was staying.

Amongst the ladies,