freed man of Claudius, celebrated for the power and the riches which he obtained. He advised the emperor his master to marry Agrippina, and to adopt her son Nero for his successor. It was through him and Agrippina, that the death of Claudius was hastened, and that Nero was raised to the throne. Nero, however, forgot to whom he was indebted for it. He discarded Pallas, and some time after caused him to be put to death, that he might procure his great riches.

small planet lately discovered, and belonging to the solar system. See Planet.

Pallavicini, Ferrante, an Italian writer, descended from a noble family in Placentia, was born about the close of the 16th century. He soon gave proofs of an extraordinary genius, and quickly improved in classical erudition. He was afterwards sent to complete his education in the monastery of Augustine friars at Milan, where he took the habit, lived much esteemed for piety and learning, and raised great expectations of future fame; but being somewhat amorous inclined, he engaged in an intrigue with a young courtezan of Venice, whose charms proved irresistible; and in order to enjoy them without restraint, he obtained leave from his general to make the tour of France. Accordingly, he pretended to set out for that country; but it was only a blind to cover his real design. He never left Venice, but lived there privately, enchanted in the arms of his Venus; and having too ready a talent at invention, he imposed upon his friends by often sending them in letters feigned accounts of his travels through France; also informing them of several things respecting that court, which he learned from the advices of many considerable persons with whom he corresponded.

His finances were in the mean time greatly reduced; and in this exigence he naturally had recourse to his wits for supplies. He wrote for the booksellers; and composed several pieces, more for the sake of lucre than out of fondness for authorship. Among other things, he wrote a collection of letters, mostly satirical, which he called *The Courier Robbed of his Mail*. The work appeared at first in such a cast, as could not give great offence except to the Spaniards, against whom he had Pallavicini some grudge. The piece was accordingly licensed by the inquisitors; but falling into the hands of the secretary of the republic of Venice, who at that time was licenser of books, he would not give his imprimatur, though great interest was employed for that purpose, neither would he return the manuscript. This enraged Pallavicini so much, that had not his friends restrained him, he would have pursued the affair to his ruin.

At length he found an opportunity of travelling into Germany with the duke of Amalfi, as his chaplain. This journey, as was to be expected, had no good effect either upon his wit or his morals. On the contrary, finding himself, from the manners of the Germans, more at liberty, he indulged his genius and passions with greater ease; and after a residence there of upwards of a year with the duke, he returned to Venice. He was now resolved to have his full measure of revenge against the secretary of the republic for keeping his manuscript; and with him his resentment joined the family of Barberini, Pope Urban VIII. and his nephews, because they also endeavoured, at the instigation of the Jesuits, to get all his manuscripts forbid the press. In this rancorous spirit he cast his Courier into a new model, and enlarged it with many letters and discourses. Thus new modelled, he offered it to a bookseller, who undertook to get it printed; but our author was betrayed by a pretended friend; who acted the part of a spy, and informed the archbishop of Vitelli, then the pope's nuncio at Venice, just as the work was finished at the press: at the same time, this treacherous friend bought the whole impression; and upon the nuncio's complaint, Pallavicini was imprisoned. In this miserable condition he found a friend in one of his mistresses, who, seeing him abandoned by most of his patrons, not only supported him, but conveyed letters to him, by which she gave him such information as enabled him to make a proper defence, and to recover his liberty.

But a war having in the mean time broken out between the Barberini and the duke of Parma; Pallavicini, in order to revenge himself upon the supposed instruments of his imprisonment, wrote a piece entitled "The tinkling Instrument to call together the Barberini Bees;" and dedicated it in terms of the profoundest contempt to the nuncio Vitelli. The nuncio finding that little notice was taken of his complaints on the occasion, procured by bribery one Charles Morfu, a Frenchman of infamous character, who pretended to pass for a gentleman, to ensnare Pallavicini: to which end, the traitor used his best endeavours to insinuate himself into his friendship, and at length exhorted him to accompany him to France. He declared that his fortune would be made by the extraordinary encouragement which was given to men of letters by Cardinal Richelieu: and the better to favour the deceit, he produced feigned letters from the Cardinal, inviting our author to France, and expressing a desire he had to establish in Paris an academy for the Italian tongue, under the direction of Pallavicini. The snare took; and now, fascinated by the prospect of gain, Pallavicini suffered himself to be led like an ox to the slaughter, whithersoever Morfu thought proper. He left Venice much against the advice of his friends, and went first to Bergamo, where he spent a few