t it shall be as little worse as I can help. I may,
perhaps, give some little gossip in the notes as to the present
state of Italian literati and literature, being acquainted with
some of their _capi_--men as well as books;--but this depends upon
my humour at the time. So, now, pronounce: I say nothing.

"When you have got the whole _four_ Cantos, I think you might
venture on an edition of the whole poem in quarto, with spare
copies of the two last for the purchasers of the old edition of the
first two. There is a hint for you, worthy of the Row; and now,
perpend--pronounce.

"I have not received a word from you of the fate of 'Manfred' or
'Tasso,' which seems to me odd, whether they have failed or
succeeded.

"As this is a scrawl of business, and I have lately written at
length and often on other subjects, I will only add that I am,"
&c.

* * * * *

LETTER 292. TO MR. MURRAY.

"La Mira, near Venice, August 7, 1817

"Your letter of the 18th, and, what will please you, as it did me,
the parcel sent by the good-natured aid and abetment of Mr. Croker,
are arrived.--Messrs. Lewis and Hobhouse are here: the former in
the same house, the latter a few hundred yards distant.

"You say nothing of Manfred, from which its failure may be
inferred; but I think it odd you should not say so at once. I know
nothing, and hear absolutely nothing, of any body or any thing in
England; and there are no English papers, so that all you say will
be news--of any person, or thing, or things. I am at present very
anxious about Newstead, and sorry that Kinnaird is leaving England
at this minute, though I do not tell him so, and would rather he
should have _his_ pleasure, although it may not in this instance
tend to my profit.

"If I understand rightly, you have paid into Morland's 1500
_pounds_: as the agreement in the paper is two thousand _guineas_,
there will remain therefore _six_ hundred _pounds_, and not five
hundred, the odd hundred being the extra to make up the specie. Six
hundred and thirty pounds will bring it to the like for Manfred and
Tasso, making a total of twelve hundred and thirty, I believe, for
I am not a good calculator. I do not wish to press you, but I tell
you fairly that it will be a convenience to m