"Ravenna, April 9. 1820.
"In the name of all the devils in the printing-office, why don't
you write to acknowledge the receipt of the second, third, and
fourth packets, viz. the Pulci translation and original, the
_Danticles_, the Observations on, &c.? You forget that you keep me
in hot water till I know whether they are arrived, or if I must
have the bore of re-copying.
"Have you gotten the cream of translations, Francesca of Rimini,
from the Inferno? Why, I have sent you a warehouse of trash within
the last month, and you have no sort of feeling about you: a
pastry-cook would have had twice the gratitude, and thanked me at
least for the quantity.
"To make the letter heavier, I enclose you the Cardinal Legate's
(our Campeius) circular for his conversazione this evening. It is
the anniversary of the Pope's _tiara_-tion, and all polite
Christians, even of the Lutheran creed, must go and be civil. And
there will be a circle, and a faro-table, (for shillings, that is,
they don't allow high play,) and all the beauty, nobility, and
sanctity of Ravenna present. The Cardinal himself is a very
good-natured little fellow, bishop of Muda, and legate here,--a
decent believer in all the doctrines of the church. He has kept his
housekeeper these forty years * * * *; but is reckoned a pious man,
and a moral liver.
"I am not quite sure that I won't be among you this autumn, for I
find that business don't go on--what with trustees and lawyers--as
it should do, 'with all deliberate speed.' They differ about
investments in Ireland.
"Between the devil and deep sea,
Between the lawyer and trustee,
I am puzzled; and so much time is lost by my not being upon the
spot, what with answers, demurs, rejoinders, that it may be I must
come and look to it; for one says do, and t'other don't, so that I
know not which way to turn: but perhaps they can manage without
me.
"Yours, &c.
"P.S. I have begun a tragedy on the subject of Marino Faliero, the
Doge of Venice; but you sha'n't see it these six years, if you
don't acknowledge my packets with more quickness and precision.
_Always write, if but a line_, by return of post, when any thing
arrives, which is not a mere letter.
"Address direct to Ravenna; it saves a week's time, and much
postage."
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