A LIST OF BOOKS - JScholarship

126 LETTERS.
Adriatic, when the twinkhng reflection of the
stars bespangles the phosphorescent lustre of
the sea, when gondolas laden with singers and
guitar players are gliding across the lagunas,
and the tepid night-wind wafts ashore the
sweet Venetian melodies, when the silence of
the listeners is often attracted, or interrupted
by lenesque sub noctem susurros, the quay of
the Piazza deserves that enthusiasm of admiration,
with which it has so often been hailed.
I have seen Lord Byron, who took me to the
Lido, across the lagunas, in his gondola.
He
is changed into the liveliest and
happiest
looking man, who has thrown
melancholy
overboard, while writing " Don Juan"— a
thing in the style of "Beppo"—of
which
he read me the first canto, and which
will vastly amuse you and
the world at
large. My stay in this wonderful city
being a short one, I will abstain from giving
you a description of it. We
shaU probably