we here renewed an intimacy which,
by the restoration of peace, had been interrupted. As I wished to see
the curiosities of this city, and as the prince was waiting only for the
arrival of remittances to return to his native country, he easily
prevailed on me to tarry till his departure. We agreed not to separate
during the time of our residence at Venice, and the prince was kind
enough to accommodate me at his lodgings at the Moor Hotel.

As the prince wished to enjoy himself, and his small revenues did not
permit him to maintain the dignity of his rank, he lived at Venice in
the strictest incognito. Two noblemen, in whom he had entire
confidence, and a few faithful servants, composed all his retinue. He
shunned expenditure, more however from inclination than economy. He
avoided all kinds of dissipation, and up to the age of thirty-five years
had resisted the numerous allurements of this voluptuous city. To the
charms of the fair sex he was wholly indifferent. A settled gravity and
an enthusiastic melancholy were the prominent features of his character.
His affections were tranquil, but obstinate to excess. He formed his
attachments with caution and timidity, but when once formed they were
cordial and permanent. In the midst of a tumultuous crowd he walked in
solitude. Wrapped in his own visionary ideas, he was often a stranger
to the world about him; and, sensible of his own deficiency in the
knowledge of mankind, he scarcely ever ventured an opinion of his own,
and was apt to pay an unwarrantable deference to the judgment of others.
Though far from being weak, no man was more liable to be governed; but,
when conviction had once entered his mind, he became firm and decisive;
equally courageous to combat an acknowledged prejudice or to die for a
new one.

As he was the third prince of his house, he had no likely prospect of
succeeding to the sovereignty. His ambition had never been awakened;
his passions had taken another direction. Contented to find himself
independent of the will of others, he never enforced his own as a law;
his utmost wishes did not soar beyond the peaceful quietude of a private
life, free from care. He read much, but without discrimination. As his
education had been neglected, and, as he had early entered the career of
arms, his understanding had never been fully matured. Hence the
knowledge he afterwards acquired served but to increase the chaos
of his ideas, because it was built on an unstable