more cruel and despotic than any of his peers. 
A passionate lover of the fine arts, and more-
over an excellent connoisseur, he was truly in-
satiable of pleasure. Indifferent enough where 
men and morals were concerned, himself a 
true artist, he knew no enemy so dangerous as 
boredom, and the bizarre efforts that he made 
to flee from or to conquer that tyrant of the 
world would certainly have endowed him (on 
the page of a severe historian) with the epithet 
of monster; if in his dominions it had been 
permitted to write anything at all whose sole 
tendency was not towards pleasure, or towards 
wonder, which is one of the most delicate 
forms of pleasure. 
The great misfortune of this Prince was that 
he had never possessed a theatre vast enough 
for his genius. These are young Neros who are 
stifled within too narrow limits, and whose 
name and goodwill posterity will ignore; an un-
foreseeing Providence had given to this Prince 
capacities larger than his dominions. 
Suddenly the rumour ran about that the 
Sovereign intended to pardon all the conspira-
tors, and the origin of this rumour was the an-
nouncement of a grand night when Fanciullo 
should play one of his chief and best rôles, and 
at which would be present (the rumour ran) 
even the condemned noblemen, a clear sign,