the comparison made, and by a nod assented to it. In his living, Foscolo
was remarkably abstemious. He seldom drank more than two glasses of
wine, but he was fond of having all he eat and drank of the very best
kind, and laid out with great attention to order. He always took coffee
immediately after dinner. His house,--I speak of the one he built for
himself, near the Regent's Park,--was adorned with furniture of the most
costly description; at one time he had five magnificent carpets, one
under another, on his drawing-room, and no two chairs in his house
were alike. His tables were all of rare and curious woods. Some of
the best busts and statues (in plaster) were scattered through every
apartment,--and on those he doated with a fervour scarcely short of
adoration. I remember his once sending for me in great haste, and when
I entered his library, I found him kneeling, and exclaiming, "beautiful,
beautiful." He was gazing on the Venus de Medici, which he had
discovered looked most enchanting, when the light of his lamp was made
to shine upon it from a particular direction. On this occasion, he had
summoned his whole household into his library, to witness the discovery
which gave him so much rapture. In this state, continually exclaiming,
"beautiful, beautiful," and gazing on the figure, he remained for nearly
two hours.

He had the greatest dislike to be asked a question, which he did not
consider important, and used to say, "I have three miseries--smoke,
flies, and to be asked a foolish question."

His memory was one of the most remarkable. He has often requested me to
copy for him (from some library) a passage, which I should find in such
a page of such a book; and appeared as if he never forgot any thing with
which he was once acquainted.