ask of God, and pray to Him for you both every day. I cannot do
honor to the occasion except with some Loretto bells, and wax
tapers, and caps, and gauze when I return. In the mean time,
good-bye, mamma. I kiss your hand a thousand times, and remain,
till death, your attached son.



18.

Io vi auguro d'Iddio, vi dia sempre salute, e vi lasci vivere
ancora cent' anni e vi faccia morire quando avrete mille anni.
Spero che voi impararete meglio conoscermi ni avvenire e che poi
ne giudicherete come ch' egli vi piace. Il tempo non mi permette
di scriver motto. La penna non vale un corno, ne pure quello che
la dirigge. Il titolo dell' opera che ho da comporre a Milano,
non si sa ancora.

[Footnote: "My prayer to God is, that He may grant you health,
and allow you to live to be a hundred, and not to die till you
are a thousand years old. I hope that you will learn to know me
better in future, and that you will then judge of me as you
please. Time does not permit me to write much. My pen is not
worth a pin, nor the hand that guides it. I don't yet know the
title of the opera that I am to compose at Milan."]

My landlady at Rome made me a present of the "Thousand and One
Nights" in Italian; it is most amusing to read.