The Adventures Of Don Pasquale.

"I own , too , that I Hke a little scandal ; I like to know what heroes thought and said ; I like to hear how Pitt put out his candle j What time , exactly , Fox got into bed ; And whether Burke preferred Mozart or Handel ; What kind of nightcap wrapt Lord Kelson ' s head . One loves to see all these important facts , Elucidated by authentic tracts . "

But biography is not autobiography , and Avhile I praise the one , I denounce the other . Yet it is just possible , that reasons like these I have recently quoted animated the author of this autobiography , ( in his usual kindly consideration for the frailties and feelings of others ) , when he prepared his papers so carefull y for public perusal , and Ave will therefore proceed with them .

That he is a man of uncommon parts , the following chapters will shoAv I think clearly , that he is a person of thorough veracity and reliability there need , I apprehend , be no question . His Avords speak for themselves . I have taken the liberty for obvious reasonsto suppress

, the egotistical assertion of the first person all through the chapters , aud if the words of this striking autobiography may lose a little in forcibility of individual utterance , they yet gain I make bold to think , in lucidity and terseness of expression .

I may be Avrong in this , as in all other matters , ( for no one is infallible here , ) but the fact can , after all , only be decided by the suffrages of my readers , and I leave the question , for the present , in the fullest

confidence m the hands of a critical and impartial jury ! Benedito Paesiello was the real name of my hero , ( the Avriter of this autobiography , ) Avbich I have ventured to reproduce and adapt for my readers—though he Avas generally called " Don Pasquale . "

It is often very difficult to knoAV the actual reason of this or that nickname , Avhich sticks to a man—aye , and to a woman , for the matter of that—for life . Sometimes there is a cause , sometimes no cause at all . It arisesas much as

any-, thing , often , from the perversity of us all alike , who like to invest the ridiculous and the passing Avith the attributes of the permanent and the serious ! Some little incident , some ludicrous

" contretemps , " some human infirmity , some sense of the ridiculous confers upon the individual a " soubriquet '' which he or she never loses . Benedito Paesiello , Italian as he was , was very fond of the opera , and was

noted for his attendance at the performance of the masterpieces of the old and new Italian schools , and , in fact , any school at all , —though Wagner then had not burst on the astonished world in the plenitude and harmony of the " coming

man . " So , Avhether it was that he was attracted by the " songs of sirens , " the energy of the orchestra , or the smiles of the prima donna , must remain a mystery . Some facetious acquaintance , in an hour of exuberant mirthand harmonious

, " furore , " dubbed him " Don Pasquale , " and "Don Pasquale" he has ever since remained to friend or foe . Now our "Benedito , " as I have said before , was an Italian . He was a native of a little independent principality , the

name of Avbich matters nothing , which , partly by its OAvn insignificance , politically speaking , and partly by the happy arrangements of its rulera , hymeneally considered , had preserved its independence through many vicissitudes and through changing years !

It was quite a bijou principality after all , with its little capital and its little court , and so peaceable Avere the inhabitants , that it Avas comfortably governed by ten " sbirri , " ( Italian for a policemen , ) and one Superintendentone Inspectorand two

, , detectives . Its army contingent consisted of twenty-five men , one lieutenant , and one captain—a retired major was its commander-in-chief ; and its navy was composed of one gunboat and the royal yacht .

But this Court had its officials and its little struggles nevertheless . Benedito's father was the grand Arquebusier ( unpaid ) , ancl a proprietor of some acres and a " lang pedigree ! " He was a very important person in that slender coterie .

He was a man , too , of singular clearness of vision and decision of character . When the Prince , who had taken the " grand tour , " and returned home to the long galleries and orange groves of his palace , found everything so humdrum and quiet , he determined on a great innovation ,