. Having obtained the degree of
master of arts, by passing a public examination in logic, physics, and
geometry, he was rewarded by being allowed to attend the riding-school,
a thing he had always ardently desired. He became an expert horseman,
and attributes to this exercise the recovery of his health, which now
rapidly improved.

"Having buried my uncle, changed my guardian into a curator, obtained my
master's degree, got rid of my attendant Andrea, and mounted a steed, it
is incredible how proud I became. I told the authorities plainly that I
was sick of studying law, and that I would not go on with it. After a
consultation, they determined to remove me into the first apartment,
which I entered on the 8th May, 1763."

He now led an extremely idle life, being little looked after. A crowd of
flatterers, the usual attendants upon wealth, sprung up around him, and
he indulged in amusements and dissipations of every kind. A temporary
fit of industry, which lasted for two or three months, came over him,
and he plunged deeply into the thirty-six volumes of Fleury's
_Ecclesiastical History_. Soon, however, he resumed his old course, and
conducted himself so badly that the authorities found it necessary to
place him under arrest, and he remained for some months a prisoner in
his own apartment, obstinately refusing to make any apology, and leading
the life of a wild beast, never putting on his clothes, and spending
most of his time in sleep. He was at length released, on the occasion of
his sister Giulia's marriage to the Count Giacinto di Cumiana, in May,
1764.

On regaining his former position he bought his first horse, and soon
afterwards another, on the pretence of its being delicate. He next
purchased two carriage horses, and went on thus till in less than a year
he had eight in his possession. He also had an elegant carriage built
for him, but used it very seldom, because his friends were obliged to
walk, and he shrunk from offending them by a display of ostentation. His
horses, however, were at the service of all, and as his love for them
could not excite any feelings of envy, he took the greatest delight in
them.

It was now that he first felt the symptoms of love, excited by a lady
who was the wife of an elder brother of some intimate friends of his, to
whom he was on a visit. His transient passion, however, soon passed
away, without leaving any trace behind it. The period had now arrived
for his leaving the acad