534 THE GERMAN PLAY AT VENICE. 



about him, or of being looked at himfelf ; whether for 

 the fake of fcattering abroad his father's treafures, or 

 for gathering frefh ftores of knowledge, is beyond my 

 knowledge. Suffice, he travelled ; and the only in^- 

 ftance in which he is diftinguifhable from his fore- 

 runners was that he was in company of one of the moft 

 ingenious and learned men of all Germany, the cham- 

 berlain de E — L 



It is eafy to imagine that Venice was not left unvi- 

 iited on this journey; and this magnificent, this in 

 many refpecls peculiar city, pleafed the prince fo much, 

 that he refolved to make a longer ftay than was fettled 

 in his plan. His liberality and gentlenefs gained him 

 univerfal admiration, and during this little prolonga- 

 tion of his refldence there he found himfelf in a focial 



of preliminary. - — I am fo far from being the inventor of it, that 

 I am much in doubt whether it may not be fomewhere or other 

 }n print. The fource from whence I have it affords me no cer-> 

 tainty upon the matter. However, the fimplicity of the narra- 

 tion, the furprifingnefs of the conclulion, the Angularity of the 

 revenge itfelf moved me to draw it up in an idle hour, and then 

 to make diligent inquiry whether it were not already in fome or 

 other of the numberlefs collections of hillories and anecdotes. — - 

 I can find it no where, and none of my friends are acquainted 

 •with it. At the fame time, the adverb numberlefs y with fo much 

 Juftice ufed above, evinces how fallacious fuch refearch may be. 

 At leafl, what I am anfwerable for, is the' ftyle of the narrative, 

 ■ten or twelve omillions, and about as many trifling alterations ; 

 that, on the other hand, I do not approve of it as a national fa- 

 tire, but only as a witty conceit ; and that I as little vouch for the 

 juftnefs of the third german invention will be readily fuppofed by 

 every reader, 



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