At present I am at Padua, where I perform the functions of canon.

I esteem myself happy to have quitted Venice, on account of that war which has been declared between that Republic and the Lord of Padua.

At Venice I should have been suspected: here I am caressed.

I pass the greater part of the year in the country, which I always prefer to the town.

I repose, I write, I think; so you see that my way of life and my pleasures are the same as in my youth.