The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction

y hand about stiff _rum-punch--punch_, by my palate; and this they think English. I would not disabuse them of so agreeable an error--'no, not for Venice.'

"Last night I was at the Count Governor's, which, of course, comprises the best society, and is very much like other gregarious meetings in every country--as in ours--except that, instead of the Bishop of Winchester, you have the Patriarch of Venice; and a motley crew of Austrians, Germans, noble Venetians, foreigners, and, if you see a quiz, you may be sure he is a consul. Oh, by the way, I forgot, when I wrote from Verona, to tell you that at Milan I met with a countryman of yours--a Colonel ----, a very excellent, good-natured fellow, who knows and shows all about Milan, and is, as it were, a native there. He is particularly civil to strangers, and this is his history--at least an episode of it.

"Six-and-twenty years ago, Colonel ----, then an ensign, being in Italy, fell in love with the Marchesa ----, and she with him. The lady must be,