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Programming Microsoft SQL Server 2000 with Microsoft
Visual Basic NET 1st edition Edition Rick Dobson Digital
Instant Download
Author(s): Rick Dobson, Paul Cornell
ISBN(s): 9780735615359, 0735615357
Edition: 1st edition
File Details: PDF, 10.60 MB
Year: 2002
Language: english

Programming Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2000 with Microsoft Visual
Basic® .NET
Foreword
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Who’s the Book For?
What’s Special About This Book?
How’s the Book Organized?
System Requirem ents
Sample Files
Support
1. Getting Started with Visual Basic .NET for SQL Server 2000
Visual Studio .NET, the Visual Basic .NET IDE
An Overview of ADO.NET Capabilities
A Starter ADO.NET Sam ple
Using Query Analyzer
2. Tables and Data Types
Chapter Resources
Data Types for Tables
Scripting Tables
3. Program m ing Data Access with T-SQL
I ntroduction to Data Access with T-SQL
Aggregating and Grouping Rows
Processing Dates
Joins and Subqueries
4. Program m ing Views and Stored Procedures
I ntroduction to Views
Creating and Using Views
Views for Remote and Heterogeneous Sources
I ntroduction to Stored Procedures
Creating and Using Stored Procedures
Processing Stored Procedure Outputs
I nserting, Updating, and Deleting Rows
Programm ing Conditional Result Sets
5. Program m ing User-Defined Functions and Triggers
I ntroduction to User-Defined Functions
Creating and I nvoking Scalar UDFs
Creating and I nvoking Table-Valued UDFs
I ntroduction to Triggers
Creating and Managing Triggers
6. SQL Server 2000 XML Functionality
Overview of XML Support
XML Formats and Schemas
URL Access to SQL Server
Template Access to SQL Server
7. SQL Server 2000 Security

Overview of SQL Server Security
I ntroduction to Special Security I ssues
Samples for Logins and Users
Samples for Assigning Perm issions
8. Overview of the .NET Fram ework
An I ntroduction to the .NET Fram ework
An Overview of ASP.NET
XML Web Services
9. Creating Windows Applications
Getting Started with Windows Forms
Creating and Using Class References
I nheriting Classes
Programm ing Events
Exception Handling for Run-Tim e Errors
10. Programm ing Windows Solutions with ADO.NET
An Overview of ADO.NET Objects
Making Connections
Working with Command and DataReader Objects
DataAdapters , Data Sets, Forms, and Form Controls
Modifying, Inserting, and Deleting Rows
11. Programm ing ASP.NET Solutions
Review of ASP.NET Design I ssues
Creating and Running ASP.NET Solutions
Session State Management
Data on Web Pages
Validating the Data on a Web Page
12. Managing XML with Visual Basic .NET
SQL Server Web Releases
Overview of XML Technologies
Generating XML Documents with the .NET Framework
Dynam ically Setting an XML Result Set
The I nterplay Between XML and Data Sets
Creating HTML Pages with XSLT
13. Creating Solutions with XML Web Services
Overview of Web services
A Web Service to Return a Com puted Result
A Web Service to Return Values from Tables
The SQL Server 2000 Web Services Toolkit
More on Populating Controls with Web Services
About the Author

Forew ord
During m y five years at Microsoft, I ’ve been helping developers understand
technologies such as Microsoft Visual Studio, Microsoft SQL Server, and Microsoft
Office Developer. During the past two years, I have worked on the Microsoft
Office XP Visual Basic Language Reference, and now, the MSDN Office Developer
Center. I n the m onthly column on MSDN, Office Talk, I have written articles to
help Office developers understand the .NET platform and how it affects their
current and future development efforts.
As I write this foreword to Rick Dobson’s book on programm ing Microsoft SQL
Server solutions with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET, I think back to my own
experiences developing software applications with Visual Basic. My first
experience with Visual Basic was learning the language using version 3.0. I
rem ember picking up m y first Visual Basic beginner’s book and being excited as I
developed my first few “Hello, World” applications. I couldn’t believe how quick
and easy it was to develop software applications that operated sim ilarly to other
popular shareware program s of that tim e.
However, during that time I also discovered som e of the shortcom ings of Visual
Basic as an enterprise-level development language. It was then that I turned my
attention to C+ + . I rem ember being very frustrated at trying to learn the
language, trying to understand concepts such as pointers, m em ory allocation,
and true object-oriented programm ing. I took classes on C+ + at the local
university, but I got even m ore frustrated having to wait m onths until I was
taught how to create the sim plest Microsoft Windows form, something I did in
just a couple of m inutes using Visual Basic. I n my frustration, I gave up trying to
learn C+ + and have been using Visual Basic to develop software applications ever
since.
As each new version of Visual Basic was released, I readied myself to learn new
software developm ent technologies. First it was ActiveX control development.
Then it was calling the Windows API . Next it was DHTML Applications. Then it was
database developm ent using Microsoft SQL Server. I t always seem ed as though I
had to learn a new language and a new developm ent paradigm for every new
technology that came along. I kept thinking that there had to be an easier and
more unified approach.
Well, now we’ve reached the advent of the Microsoft .NET platform , and with it, a
revolution in the Visual Basic language, Microsoft Visual Basic .NET. I believe that
Visual Basic .NET will provide software developers with new opportunities for
quickly and easily designing integrated software applications that connect
businesses and individuals anytime, anywhere, and on virtually any software
device. With advances in the Visual Basic .NET language, Visual Basic .NET
developers will finally be on a par with their C+ + and C# counterparts,
participating in many high-end developm ent projects. With Visual Studio .NET
features such as cross-language debugging, along with Visual Basic .NET
conformance to the com mon type system and the com mon language runtime,
organizations can drive down their development costs by tapping into the wide
range of skills that Visual Basic .NET developers now possess.
True object-oriented programm ing is now available in Visual Basic .NET, including
features such as inheritance and m ethod overloading. I t’s now simpler to call the
Windows API by using the .NET Fram ework Class Libraries. Web application
developm ent is now as easy as developing Windows form s–based applications.
Database application developm ent is made easier by uniting disparate data object
libraries such as DAO, RDO, OLE DB, and ADO under ADO.NET, utilizing the
power of XML to consume and transm it relational data over com puter networks.
And a new technology, XML Web services, allows Visual Basic .NET developers to
host their software applications’ logic over the Web. Additionally, a big issue for

software developers today is that of software application deploym ent and
versioning. I f you don’t agree, just ask any software developer about “DLL hell,”
and you’re bound to get an earful. For m any .NET applications, the .NET platform
features “copy and paste” or XCOPY deploym ent. (Users simply copy your
application files from the source media to any single directory and run the
application.) And because .NET no longer relies on the registry, virtually all DLL
compatibility issues go away.
With this book, Rick aim s to give you the skills you need to program SQL Server
solutions with Visual Basic .NET. I know you will find Rick’s book helpful. Rick
brings his experience to bear from three previous books: Programm ing Microsoft
Access Version 2002 (Microsoft Press, 2001), Program m ing Microsoft Access 2000
(Microsoft Press, 1999), and Professional SQL Server Development with Access
2000 (Wrox Press I nc., 2000). Rick also brings his experience of leading a
successful nationwide sem inar tour. More important, I know you will enjoy Rick’s
book because of his deep interest in Visual Basic .NET and SQL Server, and in
helping you, the professional developer, understand and apply these technologies
in your daily software application developm ent projects.
Paul Cornell MSDN Office Developer Center
http: / / msdn.m icrosoft.com/ officeMicrosoft Corporation February 2002

Acknow ledgm ents
This section offers me a chance to say thank you to all who helped make this
book possible. I wish to offer special recognition to five support resources.
First, the folks at Microsoft Press have been fantastic. Dave Clark, an acquisitions
editor, selected me to write the book just months after I completed another book
for Microsoft Press. Dick Brown, m y project editor, staunchly stood up for his
perception of how to m ake the book’s organization and content clear to you
without being petty or boring to m e. Dick also lightened my load substantially by
showing a real knack for editing my text without distorting the original intent.
When Dick was especially busy, he handed off some of his load to Jean Ross, who
also did an adm irable job. Others at Microsoft Press who contributed to my well-
being in one way or another include Aaron Lavin and Anne Hamilton.
Second, I had excellent working relations with several professionals within
Microsoft. Paul Cornell, a widely known technical editor at Microsoft, was kind
enough to share his insights on how to present .NET concepts compellingly. I
want to thank Paul especially for writing the Foreword to this book. Karthik
Ravindran served as the MSXML Beta Product Lead Engineer at Microsoft Product
Support Services during the time that I wrote this book. He provided valuable
technical content about the SQL Server 2000 Web releases. Other Microsoft
representatives providing moral and technical support for this book include
Richard Waym ire and Jan Shanahan.
Third, I want to express m y appreciation to the many readers, sem inar
attendees, and site visitors who took the time to tell m e what I did right or wrong
for them, and also to those who shared their technical support questions with me.
It is through this kind of feedback that I am able to know what’s important to
practicing developers. I encourage you to visit my m ain Web site
(http: / / www.programm ingmsaccess.com) and sign the guest book. The entry
form includes space for you to leave your evaluation of this book or your question
about a topic covered in the book. I prom ise to do my best to reply personally. I n
any event, I definitely read all m essages and use them so that I can serve you
better with future editions of this, and other, books.
Fourth, I want to tell the world how grateful I am to my wife, Virginia. Without
Virginia’s warm support, love, and care, this book would be less professional. She
relieves m e of nearly every responsibility around the house when I undertake a
book project. In addition, she offers strategic advice on the issues to address and
their style of coverage. When I run out of tim e, she even pitches in with the
proofreading.
Fifth, it is important for me to give praise and glory to my Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ, who I believe gave m e the strength and wisdom to write this book. I n
addition, He gave m e health during the long gestation period that resulted in the
birth of this book. I t is my prayer that the book prove to be a blessing to you.

I ntroduction
Anyone who buys a book—or considers buying it—wants to know who the book is
for, what sets it apart from others like it, and how the book is organized. This
introduction covers those three questions, and it also discusses system
requirem ents, sample files, and support.
• First, w ho is the book for? There are at least two answers to this
question. One answer is that the book targets professional developers
(and others aspiring to be professional developers). The second group the
book addresses is those who want to build full-featured, secure SQL
Server solutions with Visual Basic .NET.
• Second, w hat’s special about the book? I hope you com e to believe
that the m ost important answer to this question is that the book
considered quality and depth of coverage more important than rushing to
market. The book will arrive on bookshelves m ore than three months after
the official release of the .NET Framework. I t is my wish that you derive
value from the extra time taken to develop the m any code samples and
the in-depth discussions of advanced topics, such as class inheritance,
ASP.NET, and XML Web services.
• Third, how is the book organized? The short answer is that there are
two main sections. One section introduces SQL Server concepts as it
dem onstrates T-SQL (Transact SQL) programming techniques. After
conveying SQL Server basic building blocks in the first part, the second
part reveals how to put those parts together with Visual Basic .NET and
related technologies into SQL Server solutions for handling common
database chores.
The three support item s include a brief description of the book’s companion CD
and how to use it, Microsoft Press Support I nformation for this book, and a
summary of system and software requirem ents for the sample code presented in
the book.
W ho’s the Book For?
This book targets professional Visual Basic and Visual Basic for Applications
developers. From my seminar tours and Web sites
(http: / / www.programm ingmsaccess.com and http: / / www.cabinc.net), I know
that these professionals are driven by a passion to deliver solutions to their
clients through applying the m ost innovative technologies their clients will accept.
In-house developers are the go-to persons for getting results fast— particularly for
custom in-house systems and databases. I ndependent developers specialize in
serving niche situations that can include under-served business needs and work
overflows. I n both cases, these professionals need training m aterials that address
practical business requirem ents while showcasing innovative technologies without
wasting their tim e. This book strives to serve this broad need in two specific
areas.
This book is for developers looking for code samples and step-by-step instructions
for building SQL Server 2000 solutions with Visual Basic .NET. The book focuses
on the integration of SQL Server 2000 with .NET technologies tapped via Visual
Basic .NET. I t is my firm belief that you cannot create great SQL Server solutions
in any programm ing language without knowing SQL Server. Therefore, this book

goes beyond traditional coverage of SQL Server for Visual Basic developers. You’ll
learn T-SQL program m ing techniques for data access, data manipulation, and
data definition. A whole chapter equips you to secure your SQL Server solutions.
In addition, there’s plenty of content in this book on Visual Basic .NET and related
technologies, such as ADO.NET, ASP.NET, XML (Extensible Markup Language),
and XML Web services. The presentation of these technologies demonstrates
coding techniques and explores concepts that equip you to build better solutions
with SQL Server 2000 databases. I n addition, the book highlights innovations
introduced through the Web releases for SQL Server 2000 that integrate SQL
Server 2000 tightly with Visual Basic .NET.
This isn’t a book about XML, but three of the book’s 13 chapters focus in whole or
in part on XML. Therefore, those seeking practical dem onstrations of how to use
XML with SQL Server and Visual Basic .NET will derive value from this book. I f
you have looked at any of the computer magazines over the past couple of years,
you know that XML is coming to a solution near you. However, the rapid pace of
XML innovation m ay have dissuaded som e from jum ping on the bandwagon while
they wait to see what’s going to last and what’s just a fad. I n the book’s three
chapters on XML technology, you’ll learn about XML documents, fragm ents, and
formatting as well as related technologies, such as XPath (XML Path Language)
queries, XSLT (Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformation), and WSDL (Web
Services Description Language).
W hat’s Special About This Book?
There are several features that make this book stand apart from the flood of
books on .NET. One of the m ost important of these is that this book didn’t rush to
market but rather shipped m onths after the release of the .NET Framework. This
allowed me enough tim e to filter, exam ine, and uncover what were the m ost
useful and innovative features for Visual Basic .NET developers building SQL
Server solutions. For example, the book includes a whole chapter on creating
solutions with XML Web services. That chapter includes two major sections on the
SQL Server 2000 Web Services Toolkit, which didn’t ship until the day of the .NET
Framework release.
The .NET Framework content is at a professional level, but it isn’t just for techies.
This book doesn’t assume any prior knowledge of the .NET Framework. I t does
assume that you get paid for building solutions programmatically and that at least
some of those solutions are for SQL Server databases. Therefore, the book
explains basic .NET concepts and dem onstrates how to achieve practical results
with those concepts through a huge collection of .NET code samples.
This book is about building solutions for SQL Server 2000. I include coverage of
the many special features that tie Visual Basic .NET and SQL Server 2000 closely
to one another. Although there is coverage of general .NET database techniques,
this book dives deeply into T-SQL programm ing techniques so that you can create
your own custom database objects, such as tables, stored procedures, views,
triggers, and user-defined functions. I n addition, there is separate coverage of
the XML features released with SQL Server 2000 as well as separate coverage of
the XML features in the first three Web releases that shipped for SQL Server
2000. There are num erous code samples throughout the book. These will equip
you to build solutions with Visual Basic .NET, T-SQL, and combinations of the two.
Finally, this book is special because of the unique experiences of its author, Rick
Dobson. I have trained professional developers in Australia, England, Canada,
and throughout the United States. This is my fourth book in four years, and you
can find my articles in popular publications and Web sites, such as SQL Server
Magazine and MSDN Online. As a Webmaster, my main site

(http: / / www.programm ingmsaccess.com) serves hundreds of thousands of
sessions to developers each year. I constantly exam ine their viewing habits at the
site to determ ine what interests them. I n addition, my site features scores of
answers to technical support questions subm itted by professional developers. My
goal in offering answers to these questions is to stay in touch with practicing
developers worldwide so that my new books address the needs of practicing,
professional developers.
How ’s the Book Organized?
There are two main parts to this book tied together by an introductory part. Part
II , the first main part, dwells on SQL Server techniques. Part I II builds on the
SQL Server background as it lays a firm foundation in .NET techniques for Visual
Basic .NET developers. Part I, the introductory part, demonstrates ways to use
SQL Server and Visual Basic .NET together.
Part I , I ntroduction
Part I , which includes only Chapter 1, has three main goals. First, it acquaints you
with the basics of Visual Basic .NET within Visual Studio .NET. You can think of
Visual Basic .NET as a major upgrade to the Visual Basic 5 or 6 that you are
probably using currently. This first section introduces some concepts that you will
find useful as you initially learn the landscape of Visual Basic .NET. The second
goal of Chapter 1 is to introduce ADO.NET. I f you think of Visual Basic .NET as a
major upgrade to Visual Basic 6, ADO.NET is m ore like a major overhaul of ADO.
In two sections, you get an introduction to ADO.NET classes— particularly as they
relate to SQL Server— and you get a chance to see a couple of beginner sam ples
of how to create SQL Server solutions with Visual Basic .NET and ADO.NET. The
third goal of the introductory part is to expose you to Query Analyzer. This is a
SQL Server client tool that ships with all comm ercial editions of SQL Server 2000.
You can think of it as an IDE for T-SQL code. Most of the book’s first part relies
heavily on T-SQL, and therefore having a convenient environment for debugging
and running T-SQL code is helpful. The final section of Chapter 1 addresses this
goal.
Part I I , SQL Server
Part I I consists of six relatively short chapters that focus substantially on
programm ing SQL Server 2000 with T-SQL. Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 introduce T-
SQL and SQL Server data types. I f you are going to program SQL Server and
create efficient, fast solutions, you m ust learn SQL Server data types, which is
one of the main points conveyed by Chapter 2. Many readers will gravitate to
Chapter 3 because it introduces core T-SQL program m ing techniques for data
access. You’ll apply the techniques covered in this chapter often as you select
subsets of rows and colum ns in data sources, group and aggregate rows from a
table, process dates, and join data from two or more tables. Chapter 3 also
considers special data access topics, such as outer joins, self joins and
subqueries.
The next pair of chapters in Part I I , Chapter 4 and Chapter 5, take a look at
programm ing database objects that you will use for data access and data
manipulation, such as views, stored procedures, user-defined functions, and
triggers. These database objects are im portant for many reasons, but one of the
most important is that they bundle T-SQL statements for their easy reuse. I t is

widely known that the best code is the code that you don’t have to write.
However, if you do have to write code, you should definitely write it just onc, and
then reuse it whenever you need its functionality. Stored procedures are
particularly desirable database objects because they save compiled T-SQL
statements that can deliver significant speed advantages over resubm itting the
same T-SQL statement for compilation each tim e you want to perform a data
access or data manipulation task. Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 are also important
because they convey T-SQL syntax for using parameters and conditional logic
that support dynam ic run-tim e behavior and user interactivity.
One of the m ost important features of SQL Server 2000 is its XML functionality.
Because XML as a topic is changing so rapidly, Microsoft adopted a strategy of
upgrading the SQL Server 2000 XML functionality through Web releases. Although
those with SQL Server 2000 can download the Web releases without charge from
the Microsoft Web site, the Web releases are fully supported. Chapter 6
introduces core XML functionality introduced with SQL Server 2000 as well as
functionality from the first two Web releases. I n particular, you can learn in this
chapter about I IS virtual directories as well as form ats for XML docum ents and
schemas. You also learn about templates in virtual directories that facilitate data
access and data manipulation tasks over the Web.
Chapter 7 closes out the SQL Server part of the book with an in-depth look at
programm ing SQL Server security. I n these tim es, security has grown into a
monum ental topic, and this chapter can keep you out of trouble by blocking
hackers from getting into or corrupting your database. You learn such topics as
how to create and manage different types of login and user accounts and how to
control the perm issions available to individual accounts as well as groups of
accounts. By learning how to script accounts and perm issions with T-SQL, you
simplify revising and updating security as conditions change (for exam ple, when
users leave the company or when new, sensitive data gets added to a table).
Part I I I , .NET
Chapter 8 starts the .NET part of the book with a review of selected .NET topics
that are covered in the initial look Chapter 1 offered at the .NET Fram ework. This
chapter provides an overview of the architecture for .NET solutions, and it drills
down on two topics: ASP.NET and XML Web services. The general purpose of this
chapter is the same as Chapter 1, which is to introduce concepts. The emphasis
in Chapter 8 isn’t how you do som ething, but rather what are the major
technologies enabling you to do som ething. Chapter 1 and Chapter 8 are both
relatively short chapters, but you may find them invaluable if you are the kind of
person who benefits from high-level overviews of a collection of topics.
Chapter 9 starts with a close exam ination of how to use Windows Form s with
Visual Basic .NET. I t then shifts its focus to a review of traditional class
processing concepts via Visual Basic .NET as an introduction to class inheritance,
a new object-oriented feature that makes its first appearance in Visual Basic with
Visual Basic .NET. Next the treatm ent of classes progresses to the handling of
built-in events as well as the raising of custom events. Finally the chapter closes
with an exam ination of the new exception handling techniques for processing run-
time errors.
Chapter 10 is a how-to guide for solutions to typical problems with ADO.NET.
Before launching into its progression of sam ples showing how to perform all kinds
of tasks, the chapter starts with an overview of the ADO.NET object m odel that
covers the main objects along with selected properties and m ethods for each
object. The how-to guide focuses on data access tasks, such as selecting rows
and columns from SQL Server database objects, as well as data manipulation
tasks, such as inserting, updating, and deleting rows in a table. Working through

the samples in the how-to guide offers a hands-on feel for using the
System .Data.SqlClient namespace elem ents to perform typical tasks.
Chapter 11 switches the focus to the Web by addressing the creation and use of
ASP.NET solutions. This chapter starts by introducing basic elem ents that you
need to know in order to use ASP.NET to create great Web solutions with Visual
Basic .NET. These include learning what happens as a page does a round-trip
from a browser to a Web server and back to the browser— particularly for data
associated with the page. Other prelim inary topics that equip you for building
professional Web solutions include running the same page in m ultiple browser
types and sniffing the browser for cases in which you want to send a page
optim ized for a specific kind of browser type. Managem ent of session state is a
major topic in the chapter, and you learn how to use enhancem ents to Session
variables for Web farms as well as the new view state variables, a non-server-
based technique for managing state in ASP.NET solutions. The last two sections in
the chapter deal with ADO.NET topics in ASP.NET solutions and the new
autom atic data validation features built right into ASP.NET.
The last two chapters in the book explore how XML interplays with Visual Studio
.NET and SQL Server 2000. For example, Chapter 12 exam ines special tools in
Visual Studio .NET to facilitate the design and editing of XML docum ents and
schemas. I n addition, you learn how to designate XPath queries that accept run-
time input for returning SQL Server result sets inside Visual Basic .NET programs.
The chapter dem onstrates techniques for processing the XML document
associated with all ADO.NET data set objects. I n the chapter’s last section, I
present a couple of code sam ples that illustrate how to program static HTML
pages based on XML documents with XSLT.
Chapter 13 drills down on XML Web services by dem onstrating several different
approaches for creating Web services as well as consum ing XML output from Web
services. Web services behave somewhat like COM objects in that you can set up
server applications for client applications. The server applications expose m ethods
to which the client applications can pass param eters. XML comes into play with
Web services in a couple of areas. First, Web services represent their inputs and
outputs via WSDL, an XML-based language that form ally describes an XML Web
service. Second, Web services return data to their clients as XML documents or
document fragm ents.
System Requirem ents
The requirem ents for this book vary by chapter. I developed and tested all
samples throughout this book on a com puter equipped with Windows 2000
Server, SQL Server Enterprise Edition, and the Enterprise Developer Edition of
Visual Studio .NET, which includes Visual Basic .NET. To use this book, you’ll need
to have Visual Basic .NET or Visual Studio .NET installed on your computer. (See
Chapter 1 for m ore information on versions of Visual Basic .NET and Visual Studio
.NET.) I n addition, you’ll need SQL Server 2000, and for som e of the chapters,
you’ll need SQL Server 2000 updated with Web releases 1, 2, and 3. Chapter 6
gives the URLs for downloading Web releases 1 and 2. Chapter 12 gives two
different URLs for downloading Web Release 3— one with the SQL Server 2000
Web Services Toolkit and the other without it.
For selected chapters, you can run the samples with less software or different
operating systems than the one that I used. For example, chapters 2 through 5
will run on any operating system that supports a comm ercial version of SQL
Server 2000, such as Windows 98 or a m ore recent Windows operating system.
Chapter 7 requires an operating system that supports Windows NT security, such
as Windows 2000 or Windows XP Professional. Chapter 6, Chapter 11, and

Chapter 13 require Microsoft I nternet Inform ation Services (I I S). I n addition,
Chapter 6 requires the installation of Web releases 1 and 2. For Chapter 11, your
system needs to m eet the m inim um requirem ents for ASP.NET. (See a note in the
“How Does ASP.NET Relate to ASP?” section of Chapter 8.) Several of the
samples in Chapter 1 3 require Web Release 3 and its associated SQL Server
2000 Web Services Toolkit.
Sam ple Files
Sample files for this book can be found at the Microsoft Press Web site, at
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Content link takes you to a page from which you can download the sam ples.
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computer’s CD-ROM drive and make a selection from the menu that appears. I f
the AutoRun feature isn’t enabled on your system (if a m enu doesn’t appear when
you insert the disc in your computer’s CD-ROM drive), run StartCD.exe in the root
folder of the com panion CD. I nstalling the sam ple files on your hard disk requires
approximately 15.3 MB of disk space. I f you have trouble running any of these
files, refer to the text in the book that describes these programs.
Aside from the sample files that this book discusses, the book’s supplem ental
content includes a stand-alone eBook installation that will allow you to access an
electronic version of the print book directly from your desktop.
Support
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of the companion CD. Microsoft Press provides corrections for books through the
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To connect directly to the Microsoft Press Knowledge Base and enter a query
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Chapter 1. Getting Started w ith Visual
Basic .NET for SQL Server 2 00 0
This book aims to give professional developers the background that they need to
program SQL Server applications with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET. This overall
goal implies three guidelines:
• First, the book targets practicing developers. I n my experience, these are
busy professionals who need the details fast. These individuals already
know how to build applications. They buy a book to learn how to build
those applications with a specific set of tools.
• Second, the book is about building applications for SQL Server 2000. This
focus justifies in-depth coverage of SQL Server program m ing topics— in
particular, T-SQL, Microsoft’s extension of the Structured Query Language
(SQL).
• Third, the book illustrates how to program in Visual Basic .NET, but with
particular emphasis on database issues for SQL Server 2000. Special
attention goes to related .NET technologies, such as the .NET Fram ework,
ADO.NET, ASP.NET, and XML Web services.
My goal in this chapter is to equip you conceptually for the rest of the book.
Therefore, this chapter includes material that acquaints you with application
developm ent techniques and topics for SQL Server 2000 and Visual Basic .NET.
The discussion of the samples in this chapter generally aim s to convey broad
approaches instead of how to run the sample. All the remaining chapters except
for Chapter 8, another conceptual chapter, have sam ples with instructions aim ed
at professional developers.
I believe that the overwhelm ing majority of professional Visual Basic developers
have no hands-on fam iliarity with Visual Basic .NET and its related technologies.
If you already knew Visual Basic .NET, it wouldn’t make any sense to buy a book
describing how to use it. This chapter therefore focuses on how to get started
with Visual Basic .NET and one of its core related technologies for those building
SQL Server applications— ADO.NET. I also believe that m ost Visual Basic
developers don’t have an intimate knowledge of SQL Server— especially for
creating user-defined objects, such as tables, views, and stored procedures. This
capability can em power you to build m ore powerful and more secure applications.
As you learn about database objects and how to create them in Chapter 2
through Chapter 7, reflect back on the Visual Basic .NET coverage in this chapter
and how to marry database creation techniques and Visual Basic .NET
developm ent techniques. One of the best tools to build database objects is SQL
Server 2000 Query Analyzer. This chapter’s closing section conveys the basics of
Query Analyzer that you need to follow the sam ples in Chapter 2 through Chapter
7.
Visual Studio .NET, the Visual Basic .NET I DE
Visual Studio .NET is the new m ultilanguage integrated developm ent environm ent
(I DE) for Visual Basic, C# , C+ + , and JScript developers. I f you are developing
solutions for Visual Basic .NET, I definitely recom mend that you use Visual Studio
.NET as your developm ent environm ent. This section dem onstrates how to get
started using Visual Studio .NET for developing solutions with Visual Basic .NET.

Visual Basic .NET is available as part of Visual Studio .NET in four editions:
• Professional
• Enterprise Developer
• Enterprise Architect
• Academ ic
All four editions of Visual Studio .NET include Visual Basic .NET, Microsoft Visual
C# .NET, Microsoft Visual C+ + .NET, and support for other languages. I n
addition, Microsoft offers Visual Basic .NET Standard, which doesn’t include Visual
C# .NET or Visual C+ + .NET.
Because this book targets professional Visual Basic developers creating SQL
Server applications, it uses the Enterprise Developer Edition of Visual Studio
.NET. You may notice some differences if you’re using another edition.
Visual Studio .NET can be installed on computers running one of five operating
system s: Windows 2000, Windows NT, Windows XP, Windows ME, and Windows
98. Not all the .NET Framework features are available for each operating system.
For example, Windows 98, Windows Me, and Windows NT don’t support
developing ASP.NET Web applications or XML Web services applications. The
samples for this book are tested on a computer running Windows 2000 Server,
which does support all .NET Fram ework features.
Starting Visual Studio .NET
To open Visual Studio .NET, click the Start button on the Windows taskbar,
choose Programs, and then choose Microsoft Visual Studio .NET. Visual Studio
displays its integrated developm ent environm ent, including the Start Page (unless
you previously configured Visual Studio to open differently). From the Start Page,
you can configure Visual Studio to work according to your developm ent
preferences, and you can start new solutions as well as open existing projects.
Configuring Visual Studio .NET for Visual Basic .NET
Use the links on the left side of the Start Page to begin configuring Visual Studio
.NET for developing solutions in Visual Basic .NET. Click the My Profile link to
open a pane in which you can specify an overall profile as well as individually
indicate your preferences for Keyboard Schem e, Window Layout, and Help Filter.
You also can designate the initial page that Visual Basic .NET displays. When you
are beginning, it m ay be particularly convenient to choose Show Start Page. As a
Visual Basic developer who has worked with Visual Basic 6, you m ight feel m ost
familiar with a layout that reflects your prior developm ent environm ent. Figure 1-
1 shows these My Profile selections.
Figure 1 -1 . My Profile selections for starting Visual Studio .NET for a
Visual Basic developer.

Using the Start Page
After setting your profile, you can return to the initial Start Page pane by
choosing the Get Started link from the menu on the left border. I f you had
created previous solutions, the last four m odified projects would appear on the
Projects tab of the Start Page. The tab shows project nam es along with date last
modified. I f a project you want to view doesn’t appear on the list, you can click
the Open Project link to display the Open Project dialog box and then navigate to
a directory containing the previously created solution. Select the project’s folder
that you want to open in the I DE, and double-click the solution file (.sln) for the
project. The next section illustrates this process in the context of a sample
project.
To create a new solution, click the New Project link to open the New Project
dialog box. I f you saved preferences such as those shown in Figure 1-1, the
dialog will automatically select Visual Basic Projects in the Project Types pane of
the New Project dialog box. On the right, you can select a template for launching
a project. Table 1-1 shows the project template nam es along with a brief
description available from the Enterprise Developer Edition of Visual Studio .NET.
Choosing a template (by clicking OK after selecting a template) opens a project
ready for creating the type of solution that you want to develop. When Visual
Studio .NET saves the tem plate to start a new project, it specifies either a file
folder or a Web site for the template’s files; you can override the default nam es
for the file folder and Web site.

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sing, or play the piano eight hours a day, which inspired me with an
insurmountable detestation of that instrument.
If my master complained of my inattention, I was shut up in the music-
room from six in the morning till eight in the evening and given hardly
anything to eat. If by chance I got a good report, I was pretty well treated,
my father made me a present of twopence, and my mother told me ghost
stories, which terrified me to such an extent that I scarcely dared to be alone
during the night.
One day when they had forgotten to open my prison at the usual hour, I
was suddenly seized with a panic of terror, and, quite beside myself, I opened
the window and threw myself out into the garden, without doing myself any
harm, however.
About this time great rejoicings were taking place in Pisa in honour of their
Neapolitan Majesties, who were on a visit to the Grand Duke Leopold.
My mother, wishing to take the opportunity of going to see her sister, who
lived in that town, my father gave his consent, on condition that my aunt and
I should be of the party.
With what transports of joy did I receive this agreeable news! What a
delightful and lively satisfaction it would be to let my dear piano rest!
Great preparations were made for my toilette; several frocks were bought
for me; my father gave me two gold watches and a very valuable ring. He did
not forget to make me take my shoes with their very high red heels, whose
sound much delighted me.
We embarked on a public boat, and, although it was my first journey by
water, my young imagination, far from dreading the perils of the furious
element, was at once wonderfully diverted.
In twenty-four hours we landed at Pisa, where my uncle and aunt Fillipini,
as well as their son and daughters, received us with open arms. They were
greatly surprised to see me so richly clad, and said to my mother that no
doubt her husband was very well off.
She answered only that I was a bastard, a name she gave me pretty often,
and the meaning of which I did not understand.
Profiting by my father’s absence to treat me with greater harshness, she
was eternally scolding and tormenting me; she went so far as to take away
my watches and my ring, to give them, as she said, to the great Madonna.

Unluckily for me, she managed to procure a piano, at which I was pitilessly
forced to work.
One day, having suddenly sent for me, she ordered me to sing for the
amusement of two ragged and unpleasant-looking women she told me were
intimate friends of hers.
Indignant at such a proposal, I said that a bit of bread was all they needed
just at present.
She rose; I rushed to my room; but nothing could save me from her fury.
In vain did I beg her pardon, in vain entreated for mercy; a hail of blows fell
upon me; my body was a mass of bruises; the blood streamed from my nose.
I could not stand the overcoming pain; I went to bed, and did not rise from it
again till we set out for Florence.
In this fashion my visit to Pisa became a real martyrdom for me instead of
an amusement.
During my infancy I had been very subject to eruptions which from time to
time appeared all over my body; but none had ever equalled that which was
caused after my return by weariness and wretchedness. After the doctors had
prescribed a lengthy course of cooling remedies, my parents, to rid
themselves of such a nuisance, determined to send me to a hospital
maintained at the expense of the Grand Duchess, and the admission to which
needed great interest. Nevertheless, my father got an order without any
difficulty.
I stayed there several weeks, and I must proclaim aloud that I felt as if I
had refound my dear Countess in the person of each of the sisters who
managed the hospital. Their constant care soon cured me; they were always
near me, caressing me, and giving me fruit and sweetmeats.
No, no one could have been kinder, more courteous than those charitable
women, to whom I vowed eternal gratitude, and whom I could not leave
without anguish.
II
Fresh Tortures—My Parents’ Talks—Theatres—Mysterious Letter—
Troublesome Visits—Useless Prayers—My Protests.

Nature had given me a good figure; nevertheless, my father maintained
that I stooped, that one of my shoulders was higher than the other, and that
my feet grew large too quickly.
To remedy these imaginary defects he made me wear an iron collar, which
was taken off only at meal-time, a steel corset that increased the torture and
really made me deformed, and shoes so narrow and short that I could hardly
walk.
When I begged him to take off this painful apparatus, a box on the ear was
his usual answer.
He often took me to the opera, to teach me, he said, to hold myself
properly; to move my arms easily; to behave with grace.
All this rigmarole was an enigma to me, until at last he explained it to me in
these terms—
“Isn’t it about time, my dear Maria, that you repaid what I have spent on
your education?”
“How can I do that?” I answered quickly, and with a smile, “since all I have
comes from you.”
Instantly he replied—
“This is the way you are going to do it. I have got you an engagement at
the Piazza-Vecchia, where you will certainly make a great success.”
Dismayed by these words, I blushed, I trembled, and, concealing some of
my trouble, I exclaimed—
“But the thing would be impossible. Don’t you know, father, that the
presence of two or three lookers-on is enough to confuse me when I am
taking my lessons?”
Vain subterfuge.
“Make a beginning,” he said harshly; “after you’ve done it a few times you’ll
find all the courage you need.”
There was one last expedient left me. I flew to my mother and, with tears,
begged her to remember how often she had told me that actresses deserved
the most profound contempt. You may judge of my astonishment when I
heard her answer thus—
“It was so formerly, my daughter; nowadays all that is changed; on the
contrary, those ladies are admired and loved by everybody, and if they sing

well they gain great wealth, and even sometimes marry great noblemen.”
After that I saw there was nothing more to hope for; my doom was fixed
and my misfortune inevitable.
I was made to study my part, which my unwillingness made a very slow
business, and when the day for acting it arrived, my parents themselves came
to introduce me.
When my turn came I found it impossible to open my mouth. My youth and
my simplicity stirred the pity of the whole audience, while my father
endeavoured to express his displeasure and anger to me by frightful grimaces,
which at last forced me to stammer out a few notes.
The spectators made the building echo with their loud cries of brava! brava!
coraggio! and at the end of the play several ladies of quality asked to see me,
praising me repeatedly and lavishing all sorts of endearments upon me.
All the time the carnival lasted I was compelled to carry out the painful task
imposed on me. One day, having tried to play the invalid, my father
discovered the trick, and made me pay for it so dear that I did not again think
of making that sort of excuse.
God alone knows how delighted I was when my engagement came to an
end; but, alas! the relief was a short one. After a few months’ rest, my father
announced to me that I was about to have the honour of appearing on a
larger stage, adding that everything was arranged and settled and there was
nothing left for me but to obey his orders.
The news came upon me like a clap of thunder. Putting aside my
nervousness, I felt myself degraded and debased.
More especially did I feel ashamed when I heard the actresses saying to
one another: “It is disparaging to us to have the daughter of a constable put
amongst us.”
At this period I had two brothers and one sister, three little tyrants all of
whose whims I had to humour; for if I made the smallest objection my
mother encouraged them to abuse me and beat me, and throw stones at me.
Fed and brought up delicately, nothing was good enough for them; but I had
no difficulty, nevertheless, in realizing that they were being prepared for no
better fate than mine, and they, too, were destined for my degrading
profession.
Too unfortunate already in that I belonged to such a family, I was far from
expecting fresh troubles, when my father read aloud to us the following letter,

which he had just received, addressed to me—
“I have seen you, you beautiful star, and listened to the melodious tones of
your angelic voice; they have intoxicated my heart. I implore you, my angel,
to come at ten o’clock to the least frequented walls of the town; there you will
receive the faithful promises of your unknown adorer.”
This letter sent us into fits of laughter; my father alone was angry, and
declared that if he could discover the impertinent author of such an
anonymous letter he would severely punish him for his temerity.
The next day a messenger asked for me at the door. My father went in my
stead, had a long talk with him, and I heard nothing further about it, till one
day, having dressed me up like a goddess and given me all my mother’s rings
—carefully reduced in size with wax—to wear, I was told of the coming visit of
an illustrious personage whom I was ordered to welcome.
At his arrival my parents bent themselves nearly double to show their
respect, and motioned me to do the same.
I was inclined to mockery and could hardly contain myself, when I saw
enter an old greybeard, from behind whose few and discoloured teeth came
forth an offensive breath.
He was dressed in a blue coat braided with red, and wore a little white
cloak with gold fringe, over which hung a thin queue, an ell long.
This gentleman, who, moreover, was stout, and might have been a fine-
enough-looking man in his earlier years, introduced himself as Lord
Newborough, an English nobleman, and, as he entered, told me he had come
solely for the pleasure of hearing me sing.
How great was my reluctance to do as he asked! With what bad grace I
sang!
My bravura ended, I made some excuse and retired.
A few days later milord appeared again; his visits became more and more
frequent; soon they were daily.
Each time he talked to me of his wealth; boasted of his immense
possessions; gave me the most magnificent descriptions of England; and was
constantly repeating that he was a widower with only one son.
His Italian was so bad that I should never have understood his jargon
without my father’s help.

I understood no better why I was always so well got-up, so adorned with
jewels and diamonds. When I asked the reason, I was told that all this finery
would induce the great lord to increase the value of the presents he could not
fail to make me.
In vain I did my utmost to convince my parents that I hated the very idea
of receiving the least thing from him. They overwhelmed me with reproaches,
asking me if this was the way I meant to repay them; representing to me that
they had to provide for the education of three other children; and at last
saying plainly—
“How would it be if you had to marry this man whom you had no right to
look for, and who is so much above you?”
Unhesitatingly I cried, “O Dio! Dio! I would rather die!”
Then my father bade me remember that his power over me was absolute
and that I was bound to obey his commands; my mother joined in and
declared, with an oath, that, willing or not, I should be the wife del signore
inglese.
Realizing that it was not a joke, I implored them to let me become a nun, or
to do with me what they pleased so long as I was not forced to make such a
detestable match; but my words, my tears, my sighs, resulted only in making
them more angry and eliciting more hateful oaths.
Then I ran to my grandmother and my aunt, begging them to take my part.
They did as I asked, but without success; they were only forbidden to
mention the subject again.
Wounded to the very depths of my heart, I gave myself up wholly to my
grief, scarcely alive or able to breathe.
Milord himself came to rouse me from my stupor.
At the sight of him I gave a wild cry, and, falling at his knees, with sobs
implored him not to exact such a sacrifice from me; to think of my youth; to
see that I could not reasonably give my hand to a man old enough to be my
grandfather and for whom I felt an insurmountable aversion.
He did nothing but laugh at my pitiful simplicity; and, raising me from my
lowly attitude, he said to me that if I did not love him yet, I would later on;
that his rank, his estates, his wealth, and all the fine things I should enjoy,
would oblige me to love him dearly.
At these words my whole being was possessed by fury; I violently thrust
back my insupportable persecutor, looking at him with blazing eyes; I abused

him, passionately declaring that I would rather endure any plague than the
union he offered me; that I would rather face all the miseries in the world;
that death itself would be nothing to dread; that, besides, my hatred of him
had come to its height; that it was so deeply rooted in my heart that nothing
could tear it up, and that my greatest happiness would be to be rid of his
presence for ever.
III
Arrangements with Milord—His Son—Brain-fever—Fruitless Attempts—My
Marriage—My Husband’s Conduct—The Avarice of my Parents—An
Envoy from England.
Though my engagement at the theatre was to end in a fortnight, my father
got a substitute for me, and himself gave up his post; maintaining that all that
was henceforth incompatible with the high rank I was to attain.
Nevertheless, he did not forget to take his precautions, but effected an
agreement greatly to his own advantage, and, with no thought for my future,
simply put me at the mercy of my elderly adorer in consideration for a sum of
fifteen thousand francesconi, a pension of thirty ducats a month, and the
proprietorship of a magnificent country house at Fiesole, very well furnished,
with a courtyard, gardens, and two immense vineyards.
Moreover, milord promised to pay the expenses of the whole family during
his whole stay in Italy on condition that he and his son were allowed to live
with us.
That young man was then sixteen years old, tall and well made; Nature had
endowed him with ability and a good heart, but he was so ignorant and
uncouth that it was pitiful to see him. He could neither read nor write, and
used the coarsest expressions; his greatest pleasure was the company of low
people or servants.
He talked a great deal about a Signora Bussoti, wife of milord’s cook, telling
any one who choose to listen that this very respectable person had caused his
mother’s death, and was daily eating up his father’s fortune; that she had
children whose legitimacy was anything but certain, and for whose sake he
himself had often been beaten.

These speeches, and many other blemishes I caught sight of through the
trouble my future husband took to prevent my being entirely disgusted with
him, finished by making me realize completely the depth of the abyss into
which I was to be thrown. My youthful imagination took fright, and I could no
longer bear the weight of my misery.
All at once I was seized with violent pain, my senses were benumbed, my
head turned, and for twenty-six days my life was despaired of. Even in my
delirium the thought of my unhappiness did not leave me; I cried aloud; I
breathed complaints; I made incoherent murmurs. My grandmother and my
aunt were inconsolable; they were always with me, and their constant and
affectionate care greatly contributed to my recovery.
Alas! as soon as I recovered consciousness, I regretted that I was alive; I
rose and rushed to the balcony; but my father came in, took hold of me and
stopped me.
Vainly I took the opportunity to repeat my humble remonstrances and to
swear perfect obedience to him in every other respect; he only put before me,
in his turn, all the supposed advantages I should gain, and averred that the
Grand Duke, knowing all about me, absolutely required me to be ennobled.
As soon as I was well enough to go out, the doctors advised country air,
and we went to Fiesole, a little town three miles from Florence.
There a new idea came to me, which at first I believed might be very
useful. I urged the difference of religion and the impossibility of my marrying
a Protestant.
But the old heretic did away with that difficulty at once.
“I’ll turn Jew!” he exclaimed; “I’ll turn Mussulman; I’ll turn idolater; I’ll turn
anything you like so long as you’ll consent to be my wife.”
And he called in priests and monks to instruct him, and neglected nothing
necessary for becoming a member of the Roman Church.
After that there was nothing to be done but fix the day for my immolation.
The fatal day arrived, and by the first light of dawn we made ready to start
for Florence.
Before getting into the carriage, for the last time I threw myself at the feet
of my inexorable parents, watering them with my tears, while sobs choked my
voice.

My mother grew angry and heaped abuse on me; my father raised me
roughly, saying crossly, “The Grand Duke wishes it; there’s no way of going
back now.”
We set off at once, and fearing that the populace might rise against the
unjust violence done to a girl of thirteen, we went not to a public church but
to a private chapel.
I was led to the foot of the altar and placed by the side of the man I
abhorred.
Questioned by the minister, I had nearly answered in the negative, when
my father pinched me, and, with a muttered threat that he would kill me,
somehow extorted from me the fatal vow which put the seal on my wretched
fate.
The ceremony over, we returned to Fiesole, where a number of friends
came to offer their congratulations.
Instead of receiving them, I shut myself up in my room, and it was in vain
that they sent for me. I took no food but what my grandmother and aunt
brought to me in secret.
At the end of four days my father burst open the door, forced me to go out,
and put me into the arms of my husband, or rather my insufferable keeper;
for he was so full of jealousy that he could not endure the presence of a man.
If I went out, he wanted to accompany me, or sent some one after me.
Scores of times he was guilty of rudeness to people who honoured me with
their salutations, and on every hand he thought he saw favoured rivals or
dangerous emissaries.
Every day the fumes of wine upset his weak mind; he gave way to frightful
fits of anger, and after having infinitely increased the usual discomforts of our
dreary household, he would fall into a deep sleep in which he snored loudly.
He speedily conceived such an antipathy for the various members of my
family that he never spoke of them but by the most filthy names.
When I reminded him of the affectionate and loving names he constantly
called me by, he always answered, “As for you, my dear better-half, you may
feel quite sure there is nothing in common between your charming self and
that odious stock.”
And truly I was often astonished myself that there was so obvious a
difference, whether in the colour and shape of the face, whether in the

disposition and temperament, the bearing and speech, or the mental faculties
and the inclinations of the heart.
The contrast was especially striking between my generosity and the well-
known avarice of the Chiappinis.
They were in constant torment from this passion; they were for ever
exhorting me, urging me to ask for money, to demand ornaments, to go to
shops to buy them whatever they wanted.
My humouring them, their own extravagances, and, even more, the
insatiable claims of the charming Bussoti, soon exhausted the exchequer of
milord, whose credulity let him be robbed of nearly his last farthing.
I don’t know what would have become of him if Mr. Price, his man of
business, had not opportunely arrived.
This gentleman handed over some ready money to him, and prepared to
return and send him back some larger sums.
There was waiting, and impatience, and counting of days and hours! At last
the post brings a letter. My father goes to fetch it, breaks the seal, has it
translated, and its contents are known before it reaches the person to whom
it is addressed.
It announces the sending off of several trunks. Joyful news! Clapping of all
hands!
But what a surprise! When the trunks, so longed for, were opened, nothing
was to be seen but a heap of old rubbish that Mr. Price had doubtless got
together from the wardrobes of milord’s grandmamas, and by which he had
thought he might temporarily assuage the raging thirst of my greedy relatives.
I could not help laughing, while my mother, bawling at the top of her voice,
accused me of carelessness, declaring that if there was nothing better, it was
because I had not been willing to ask for anything.
IV
Return to Florence—Rupture and Reconciliation—The British Minister—
English Lady’s-maid—Milord’s Imprisonment—My Flight—Presents and
Promises—My Father’s Avowal—My Behaviour Towards Him—His
Obliquity.

My husband soon wearied of the country and wanted to return to Florence.
There he hired a fine house, big enough to hold us all; the first storey was to
belong to him, his son and me; my parents occupied the second. We were to
be independent of each other, but Lord Newborough was still responsible for
the expenses of the double household.
Although forty-five years old, my mother was then enceinte, and gave birth
to a fifth boy, who was named Thomas, after milord, his godfather.
LORD NEWBOROUGH
FROM A PICTURE AT GLYNLLIFON

The education of my brothers took a quite different direction from what had
seemed probable at first. My husband placed them in a large school, with his
own son, who could not stay there more than a few months. Afterwards an
attempt was made to give him a tutor; but the young man was irrevocably
ruined. When the tutor saw him he said, “I have come too late.”
In changing my abode I had in no way changed my situation; milord kept
up his usual style of living, giving me endless trouble; and those who ought to
have been a comfort to me, treated me with contempt, only saying, “Really,
you are not worthy of your lot; don’t you understand that you are on the eve
of becoming a very wealthy widow, and that soon you will be able to do just
what you please?”
But in spite of these fine words, they did not show themselves very willing
at times to put up with the fits of rage of the irascible old man.
One day, when the intoxicating fumes had got greatly into his head, he
provoked my father by his abuse and rushed at him to strike him. Armed with
a big stick and wild with rage, my father vigorously returned the assault, till
the noise they made and their outcries attracted a crowd which separated
them.
The assailant left his house and ordered me to follow him. As I clearly and
positively refused to do so, I received a note in which he informed me that if I
did not do as he asked, he should put an end to his life. I seized a pen and
wrote him these few words—
“My old fool, if you wish to give me a proof of your
affection, make haste and carry out what you announce to
your unhappy victim,
“Maria.”
Several days went by without my hearing anything about him, and I was
almost happy; but this calm was but the prelude to the storm.
One of his servants came to tell me that he was dangerously ill, and that,
feeling his last hour to be at hand, he begged to see me that he might make
important communications to me.
It was in vain I answered that I had no wish to receive any; my father
pointed out to me that such conduct on my part could not fail to be very
prejudicial to us.

He added that he would go with me, and swore that he would bring me
back with him.
Reassured by this promise, I agreed, on condition that our visit should be a
short one.
As I entered, I was greatly astonished at seeing the British Minister beside
milord’s bed.
The supposed sick man held out his hand to me and assured me that it
needed only my presence for his complete recovery; that he was very sorry
for having given me so much trouble, and that it should not happen again.
“I wish you good health,” I replied quickly; “but to return to you is quite
impossible; and I declare to you that if it had not been to please my father,
you would never have seen me here.”
I got up at once, and signed to my father to leave.
He did not stir; his look revealed the plot to me, and I realized his
deceitfulness.
The Minister did all he could to lessen my vexation, and averred that he
took upon himself the responsibility for the conduct of my husband in the
future.
From that moment that gentleman showed me much attention; he
introduced me to his wife, and procured me the acquaintance of several
English ladies, among others the Misses C., with whom I became very
intimate, especially the second, afterwards the Marchioness of B., my greatest
friend.
Still I had to endure numberless mortifications; the Italian nobility looked
down on me, and milord was invited by himself to the great receptions.
Moreover, my domestic circumstances had become more unbearable than
ever.
My husband had insisted on giving me a lady’s-maid of his own country and
choice, the most worthless of women. In a short time she had succeeded in
wholly captivating her old master, and even more, his son, so that she ruled
despotically in the house; nothing was done without her, her advice was
received like an oracle, and her words were commands no one dared disobey.
If I allowed myself a comment, she treated me like a child, and took pleasure
in secretly taunting me with my lowly origin and the contemptible part I had
played in my own despite. I could not take a step without having her at my
heels, finding fault with everything I did; and as my most innocent doings

were always malignantly misconstrued, I made up my mind to give up all
outside amusements.
Keeping to my own room, I had no recreation but music and the care of my
birds.
One day when I was petting my favourite sparrow, they came to tell me
that milord was asking for me to go out driving with him. I went down, quite
resolved to make my rightful complaints to him.…
Our carriage, having crossed the town, was stopped at the barrier. We went
to another of the gates and were treated in the same fashion.
My husband, in a fury, accused Chiappini of this, and swore to have his
revenge. He forbade me to hold any communication with him, and ordered his
abominable confidante never to let me out of her sight. Paying no attention to
his reproofs, I went back quietly to my room.
Suddenly there arose a great uproar in the next room; I opened the door
and saw milord, followed by three constables, who seized him and dragged
him away to the fortress.
The lady’s-maid screamed aloud and hurled a torrent of abuse at me.
The next morning she received a letter and went to the prison, after putting
me in charge of two footmen, who took advantage of her absence to empty a
bottle or two.
Having myself taken the opportunity to go out on my balcony and breathe
freely, a note which I saw came from my father was thrown up to me. Joyfully
I picked it up.
It told me to hold myself in readiness at a certain hour.
I hastily put on all my most valuable things, and at the appointed moment
went quickly downstairs and jumped into a carriage that was at the door.
There I found my aunt, who tenderly welcomed me, and in no time we
reached Fiesole, where my father told me that, having heard by public report
that my husband wished to get away without paying his debts, he had got
leave from the Grand Duke to have him put into safe keeping.
Walking in the garden on the Sunday, I saw the arrival of his son, who, as
he met me, said,
“Milady, allow me to offer you some trifles my father sends you.”
I declared that I would take nothing from him, and that his gifts were as
hateful to me as their giver.

But the parcel had already fallen into the hands of my mother, who
welcomed its bringer with jubilation, and begged him to repeat his visits.
“Oh, how beautiful!” she cried as she opened the box; “who would have
believed milord had such good taste? I’ll wager that several of these fine
things were bought for me.”
I retorted that she might take them all, and that never in my life would I
touch one of them.
It needed nothing further to induce her to take possession of the whole lot,
except the flowers, which she looked upon as worthless.
The same messenger reappeared towards the end of the week, and handed
me the following letter—
“My angel, I cannot live without you. Oh! if you knew how I
weary for you, I am convinced your tender heart would break.
Come, come, to comfort me. Happiness awaits you with me. A
large sum of money is being sent to me to meet all my
obligations, and we will leave Florence soon and go to my own
dear country, where you will be admired by all the world,
especially by your humble and affectionate slave.”
While reading these curious sweet things, I had noticed the delight of my
family at hearing that a large sum was coming from England, and in it I saw
the omen of a distressful reconciliation.
My father left us at once, and the very same evening I had the misery of
seeing him return with milord, who fell at my feet, saying, “Dear jewel of my
heart, behold your faithful adorer.”
At the same time he offered me a bouquet, which I threw in his face.
Far from being offended, he pressed me to his bosom; and while I
struggled to free myself, my father joined in, declaring that he had no power
over my person, that he could not keep me away any longer, and that the law
obliged me to live with my husband.
I felt my blood freeze in my veins; I gave full vent to my indignation; I
stated its causes unreservedly; but the only satisfaction I could obtain was the
dismissal of my infamous persecutrix.

V
Integrity of Milord—Preparations—Secret Union—Stay at the Hague—
Arrival in England—The Country of Wales—My Exaltation—My Griefs—
My Relations—The Eldest of my Brothers.
The pretended report of Lord Newborough’s projected flight was a pure
invention of my father’s; for I feel bound to say to the credit of the first that
his integrity stood all proof, and that his too great generosity placed him
infinitely above any suspicion of meanness. If he had prolonged his stay in
Italy, it was simply to enable him to meet all his family’s engagements by
cutting off for a time a host of superfluous expenses his presence in his own
country would have necessitated.
Mr. Price had written that he was coming to us; he came, and the
preparations for our journey were begun; the accounts were all made up, all
engagements were met. My father received his 15,000 francesconi and all the
arrears of his pension. It was settled that he should accompany us to
Boulogne, and that my aunt should go with us to England.
As we were to travel by land as far as the Hague, my mother managed to
instil into us a dread of robbers, and insisted on keeping back some of my
diamonds to wait for a safe opportunity for sending them direct to me. I need
not say that she never found it!…
On the eve of our departure it was perceived that the son of milord was
missing; he was called for, sought for, in vain. My father set to work all the
constables of his acquaintance, and one of them at last succeeded in
discovering him with my former maid, who had fainted. He protested that he
would never abandon his lawful wife; but as this wonderful title rested on
nothing more than a kind of clandestine marriage, the Archbishop of Florence
promptly absolved him from his vows. He was made to listen to reason, and
some assistance was given to the forsaken beauty.
On leaving this town, I felt the liveliest regret at the separation from my
grandmother, who had always been so kind to me; as for the rest of my
family, indifference was all they aroused in me.
At Boulogne I took leave of my father, who, as a final consolation, assured
me I should become a maid-of-honour at the English Court, and acquire all
the titles that had belonged to Lady Catherine Perceval, Lord Newborough’s
first wife.

When we reached the Hague, Mr. Price left us to make preparations in
London and Wales.
We took up our quarters in an hotel, and my husband hastened to leave his
card on the British Minister, who, being absent, was represented by Lord H.
Spencer, son of the Duke of M., who came to call on us, and offered to
present me to the Dutch Royal Family, who received me with extraordinary
affability.
He also made me acquainted with several of the best families, and my stay
in Holland was a round of drives, games and amusements.
When we had been there six months, Mr. Price wrote that everything was
ready for our reception.
When we arrived in London, my husband introduced me under the name of
the Marchesina di Modigliana, the name I still bear in the English Court
Circular.
As it was summer, and the greater number of the best families were in the
country, there were but few ladies for me to meet, amongst whom I was
especially attracted by Lady Ford, and we became very intimate friends.
After spending a couple of months in the capital of the British Empire, we
set forth for Wales, where Lord Newborough’s largest estates and his finest
mansion, called Glynllifon, were situated. Glynllifon is about six miles from
Carnarvon in North Wales, and in that town we had the most magnificent
reception; the horses were taken out of the carriage, and the young men
dragged us in their place. We were escorted home by six hundred men, all
people or friends of milord’s. In the evening our park, as well as the town and
the surrounding estates, were brilliantly illuminated and filled with a vast
crowd that begged at intervals to be allowed to look at me. When I complied
with their wishes, the air was rent with loud applause.
All the noble families of the neighbourhood came to call on us, and for six
consecutive months it was like a perpetual fête, and we had as many as fifty
guests every day.

GLYNLLIFON
FROM A DRAWING BY THE LATE SIR JOHN ARDAGH
Towards the end of the winter we went back to London, where my act of
naturalization was at once set about. As my husband had arranged everything
beforehand, there was no difficulty about the matter, and in less than a month
the necessary preliminaries for my presentation at Court were accomplished.
I was presented by Lady Harcourt, chief lady-in-waiting to the Queen, and
was received with the most wonderful marks of regard and admiration. My
dress of cloth-of-silver, adorned with precious stones, dazzled everybody, and
I was regarded with the greatest interest.
From that moment I had the entry into the highest society, and, instead of
the humiliations I had so often experienced at the hands of my compatriots, I
found myself surrounded by respect and honour.
Personages of the highest rank sought my acquaintance, and thought
themselves happy to be received by the wife of a noble peer, illustrious
descendant of the ancient Princes of North Wales, and grandson of the
intimate friend of George I.
In spite of all this, I was far from tasting the sweets of happiness; my
aversion for the man to whom I owed all these good things made me envy
the lot of women belonging to even the lowest classes of society.
My only consolation was in pouring out my griefs to my aunt, and even that
comfort I was to lose. She had never been able to get used to either the
climate or the customs of my new country; absolutely ignorant of its

language, she could not join in any conversation, and, rosary in hand, from
morning till night she told her beads.[2]
As her health visibly declined, I felt obliged to give way to the wish she had
long expressed to return to her native land; but her departure filled me with
sadness and trouble, and I could not endure the thought that the protectress
of my childhood would no longer be with me.
I insured her enough to live upon in comfort, and handed over to her
several trunks, either for herself or for my other relatives, from whom I was
always receiving importunate requests, and to whom I constantly replied by
the perpetual sending of packets.
More than half the pin-money milord allowed me went to Italy, not to speak
of the goods of all kinds I was always sending to the same destination.
Not content with all this, my father sent us his eldest son, who was a pretty
good historical painter, and begged us to look after him. We kept him with us
for a year, and then my husband sent him to the East Indies, where he cost
us a heap of money, as Messrs. Coutts & Co. of London can testify.
He stayed three years in Calcutta, and then went to the Cape of Good
Hope, where he married the daughter of the Danish Consul, to whom Lord
Newborough had given him an introduction. His wife’s brother taking him into
partnership, in a short time he made a large enough fortune to be able to
enjoy all the comforts of life and to bring up his numerous family, consisting, I
believe, of fourteen children.
VI
Consumption—Death of my Step-son—Birth of my Children—The Arrival of
Several Members of my Family—Domestic Cares—Milord’s Death—My
Second Marriage—Much Travel—Fresh Sojourns in Italy—My Third
Brother—My Behaviour to my Father—His Death.
The eruptions which had been so great an affliction in my childhood
continued making their appearance at intervals; but when I was twenty-six,
the evil having settled on my chest, it was believed that I showed strong
symptoms of consumption. I was so weak that after walking a few steps I
could not breathe; bathed in a cold sweat, I could get no rest.

Several remedies were tried on me without any good result. The doctors
advising change of air, we set out for Wales; but it was soon seen that that
cold and damp climate was more hurtful than helpful to me. Not knowing
what else to do, I was ordered to Tunbridge Wells, and it was that marvellous
specific that gradually restored me.
I was still only just convalescent, when milord’s son was himself attacked
with a decline, which carried him to his grave.
His constitution had been a robust one, but long undermined by his own
errors it could not make any resistance. He succumbed, after every medical
expedient had been tried in vain.
His father was broken-hearted; in addition to the loss of his only son, he
saw that his vast estates would pass to relations of whom he had good reason
to complain.
To provide against this misfortune as much as possible, he made a will to
the effect that, if he should die without issue, the larger part of his property
should go to the second son of the Minister, Perceval, brother of his first wife,
leaving me at the same time an annuity of £1400, on condition that I granted
him a favour, until then persistently refused.…
His grief was so great, and he had always shown me so much kindness,
that at last I felt it to be my duty to make the most painful sacrifices for his
sake—I consented to become a mother!…
With what transports of gratitude did he not welcome the first signs of the
fulfilment of his hopes! But even they did not equal his delight when I gave
birth to a son. Beside himself with joy, he ordered that no expense was to be
spared, and gave the most brilliant of entertainments; the best families came
to it and offered us their heartiest congratulations.
As for myself, I felt then the most delightful emotion, quite new to my heart
and which I recognized as maternal love.
This happiness was increased the next year by the birth of a second son,
whose baptism was celebrated with great pomp. Mr. Perceval and Lord
Bulkeley were his godfathers.
My father, having heard that I was now sole mistress in my husband’s
house, hastened to bring his daughter, to give me, as he said, a pleasant
companion.
They both appeared in sailor costume, which made me feel greatly
ashamed; and I had them dressed in a proper fashion.

My father ran all over London, visited all the places of interest, laid his
hands on everything he could get in our house, and departed with well-lined
trunks.
I kept my sister with me, furnished her with a magnificent wardrobe, and
gave her in abundance everything she could desire; but in spite of it all, I
could never conquer her hardness of heart, and every day she distressed me
by her constant rudeness.
Her connection with Lord Newborough brought her in contact with a
distinguished ecclesiastic, whom she subsequently married.
We had just heard that my second brother had got into terrible trouble in
Italy, when he made his appearance in order to secure himself from the hands
of justice, which would have infallibly consigned him to the same fate as one
of his cousins, who was sent to the galleys for ten years.
My consternation may be imagined!
My husband was furious, and expressed very forcibly to me his disgust at
being so tormented by this insaziabile canaglia, as he called it. I was almost
as angry as he; nevertheless, I did my best to quiet him, thinking to do good
to my brother; but his bad conduct soon obliged us to send him away.
I got him placed with a merchant at Leghorn, but he, too, could not keep
him for more than a few months.
Since my father’s visit I noticed that milord often forbad me to go to
entertainments frequented by the French nobility, especially the Bourbon
Princes.
This fresh antipathy greatly amused me, though I wondered over so odd a
warning; since at that time I was living in absolute retirement with my
children. Having no thought but for them, I lavished endearments on them
and all the care their growing infirmities needed; for I had the grief of seeing
that I had bequeathed them a very sad inheritance. The eruptions which had
caused me so much suffering made their appearance very early on their little
bodies; the eldest was quite covered with them. Many remedies were tried,
but the root of the evil was never wholly destroyed.
Although their father had never suffered in a similar way, his health,
shattered by other causes, gave way completely; he fell ill of a terrible disease
which lasted a year and ended in his death. In the midst of his severe pains
he would take no help but mine; he gave me constant marks of love, and to
give it effectual expression he considerably increased my annuity.

It was in my arms that he drew his last breath, on the 11th of October,
1807.
His funeral was solemnized with all the pomp befitting his rank and fortune;
all the people of distinction made a point of attending it and did not fail to pay
their touching tributes of condolence to my grief.
The deceased had assigned for his children’s education a sum which was
thought insufficient; a larger was put at my disposal by the Lord Chancellor;
but it was ruled that I should lose it, as well as my guardianship, if I married
again.
My youth was so far past that at first this condition seemed useless and
ridiculous to me.
Meanwhile, I went to drink the waters at Cheltenham, and there I met a
Russian Baron, called Ungern Sternberg, who paid me immense attention; I
was charmed with his kindness, enchanted with his fine manners. He loved
music, dancing, riding, and a hundred other things I, too, liked. This peculiar
similarity of tastes brought us together and soon formed a strong tie between
us.
Later on I met him in the best houses in London, especially and on several
occasions at that of General Hughes, whose wife constantly entertained me
with accounts of the wonderful merits of the gentleman, never tiring of
exalting his talents and virtues.
Thinking she saw that I thoroughly agreed with her, she told me that he
intended to ask for my hand. Such an idea never having entered my head, I
looked upon it as an idle tale and laughed at it. But she returned to the
charge; her husband joined in, and the Baron himself made me a formal offer.
Seeing that this was a serious matter, I did not hesitate in giving an
absolute refusal; alleging my position with regard to my two sons.
Every possible step was taken to make me believe that it would be easy for
me to obtain permission to retain all my rights over them.
My objections were contested so cleverly; I was so lulled with hopes; such
earnest and well-worded entreaties were made to me, that it became well-
nigh impossible to make any further opposition. I yielded, and made up my
mind to contract a second union which everything around me combined to
represent to me in the most tempting light.
My consent given, my future husband went to carry the news to his own
family, while I went to Lady Charlotte Bellasis, my late husband’s niece by

marriage, at Newborough Park.
The Baron joined me there, and our wedding was celebrated on the 11th of
September, 1810.
Immediately afterwards we returned to London to prepare for our
departure.
I will not attempt to describe the grief I felt at having to dismiss my
servants; still less will I try to describe the anguish of my heart when I
realized that it was vain to dream of keeping the guardianship of my children.
Milord’s executors were inexorable, they tore them from me.
Having left at the beginning of November, we travelled across Switzerland in
severe cold, and did not arrive in Petersburg until the last fortnight of January.
Count Pahlen, our uncle, First Minister to the Emperor, received us in the
most friendly fashion; he introduced me to the highest society, and, but for
the bitter coldness of the weather, I should have taken part in all their
gaieties.
If I was not presented at Court, it was because, as an English lady, such a
presentation should have been made by the English Ambassador, and at that
time there was not one, in consequence of the war between the two
countries.
Nevertheless, I was admitted to look on at a brilliant entertainment inside
the Palace; and the Emperor Alexander, having noticed me amongst the other
lady spectators, commanded his first gentleman-in-waiting to show me all the
splendours of that delightful residence.
Everything I looked at, and still more the universal courtesy of manner,
promptly convinced me of the great mistake it is to look upon the Russian
nation as behindhand in European civilization.
Spring having brought back warmth, we went to Reval, to offer our respects
to my mother-in-law, who welcomed us warmly, and showed me much
kindness.
A little later we set sail for the Island of Dago, where lay the Baron de
Sternberg’s principal estates.
All his acquaintances there received me with enthusiasm, and did their best
to divert my mind; but with no success until the birth, in the following month,
of a third son, whom I called Edward, after his father.

How can I describe what this newly-born son was to me, especially when
his first signs of intelligence made me foresee that he would become more
and more worthy of my love?
Feeling unable to let him be out of my sight for a moment, I took him with
me the first time I went to see his brothers.
I had the comfort of finding them pretty well in health; but alas! it was but
too evident to me that perfidious skill had been at work in filling their minds
with unjust prejudices against her who had always loved them so tenderly. In
spite of their goodness of heart, they could not help showing a certain
coolness which greatly grieved me.
I set to work to revive their old love for me, and flatter myself I succeeded.
At the end of a year my husband came to fetch me in one of his own
vessels, manned by his own people, in which I lived as in a house of my own.
While in England I had been given several very great curiosities, among
others a fan from the East Indies and a magnificent bird-of-paradise feather; I
added to these a little piece of work I had made out of the rarest shells then
known, and took the liberty of sending the whole to her Majesty the Empress
Elizabeth, who most graciously had a delightful and flattering letter written to
me, and sent with it a magnificent clasp set with brilliants.
But I will tell nothing more of my return to Russia nor of another journey to
England I made. Let us go back to my parents.
My father had written to me of the deaths, one after another, of my second
brother, my grandmother and my mother; and he was constantly expressing
the most intense wish to embrace me once more before he himself followed
them to the grave.
At last I yielded to his pressing entreaties, moved greatly by a vague hope I
had always kept of seeing again the old Countess Borghi, of whose death I
had never positively heard.
When I got to Italy I made inquiries about her which resulted in my hearing
that she had died when I was scarcely nine years old.
My father, aunt and brother joined me at the hotel where I had put up for
the time; they were all in excellent health.
My brother became my intimate confidant; I told him all my affairs and put
all my concerns into his hands, delegating my authority to him.

Very soon I noticed that he was received very coldly in the good houses to
which I took him; I asked one of my old friends the reason for this, to be told
by her that the young man, having behaved very badly during the course of
his studies at the University of Pisa, where he took his degree in Law, had
brought back with him a doubtful reputation, which day by day grew worse.
My own experience promptly showed me that these suspicions were far
from being without foundation; and thenceforth I left off confiding in him.…
For two consecutive years I took every care of my father; not only did I
provide for his wants, but I invited him to my table; I desired him to come to
the parties I gave; I tried to cheer him up by my talk; I made much of him;
while, on his side, he always showed me the most profound respect, never
calling me anything but milady, and behaving to me like a humble retainer.
In vain I implored him to remember that I owed my existence to him; to
call me his daughter and to treat me like one; I saw that my loving
reproaches awoke no sweet transports of paternal affection. He scarcely
ventured to look me in the face, and spoke only of his gratitude, constantly
repeating that I had been his lucky star and mumbling the word “Borghi” and
another that he never finished.
This confusion and these many mysterious speeches seemed to me the
signs of approaching mental aberration and made me very uneasy.
At last he fell dangerously ill, and I was inconsolable. I sent for doctors; I
got three attendants for him, and ordered that he was to have every comfort.

MARIA STELLA, LADY NEWBOROUGH
FROM A BUST AT GLYNLLIFON
One day they came to tell me that on recovering from a sudden attack he
had uttered my name and asked to see me. I flew to his bedside, kissing him
and weeping over him. He looked at me with eyes full of sorrow, pressed my
hand, and struggled hard to make himself understood; but his paralysed
tongue refused to articulate anything but: “Mio Dio!—Barant, Baranto——”
I was overcome with grief at his state; I was advised to go; they led me
away and put me into my carriage.

On the morrow my brother sent me word that the poor dying man being no
better than on the previous day, a visit from me could not fail to be hurtful
rather than helpful. On the following days he wrote to me in the same
fashion, and at last came himself to tell me, with every sign of grief and
affliction, that our father was no more.

SECOND PART
FROM THE DEATH OF HIM I HAD BELIEVED MY
FATHER UNTIL THE PRESENT TIME
I
The Funeral—Sea-baths—Rupture with my Brother—My Establishment at
Siena—Chiappini’s Letter—My Reflections—First Steps—Various Pieces
of Information—Verification of Handwriting—Visit of my Elder Son—
Stay in Rome—The Marchioness of B.—Departure of my Children.
My brother appeared to be so much affected by his recent loss that, in spite
of the coolness existing between us for some time past, I kept him to sleep at
my country house.
All the evening he seemed to be sunk in deep thought and overwhelming
grief, which greatly surprised me in a young man who up to then had shown
so many signs of a want of filial affection. He left very early the next morning
without taking leave of me.
I at once sent him the sum necessary for having the funeral solemnized in a
fashion in accordance not with the lowly condition of the deceased, but with
all the dignity due to my own rank.
The marble beneath which lie his mortal remains bears witness to my
liberality, very unlike that of my sister, who, being present at her mother’s
death, allowed her body to be cast into the common pit, when a dozen
crowns would have procured her a more honoured grave.
My constantly recurring eruptions had induced my doctors to prescribe sea-
bathing; my father’s illness having deferred the carrying out of their orders, I
prepared to do so a fortnight after his death, which took place towards the
end of January 1821, and went to spend three weeks at Leghorn, where I
should have been horribly bored if it had not been for the company of my
Edward, who never left me.

On my return to Florence I found out the various tricks my brother had
played on me, first in concealing from me the real condition of my father,
who, I learnt, had recovered his power of speech before breathing his last,
and whose death had not taken place until thirty-six hours after the time
reported to me; secondly, in persuading me to pay the purchase money of a
fine house, supposed to be for me, but the deed of purchase of which he had
had made out in his own name, on the pretext that a married woman could
not do so validly.
Justly incensed at his conduct, I not only upbraided him bitterly, but
ignominiously cast him out and gave him up absolutely and finally.
Surrounded as I was by nothing but gloomy memories, in a place where
everything recalled troubles and misfortunes, I resolved to go to Siena, and
began at once to make my preparations.
There were several reasons that induced me to fix on that town, among
others its pure air and the famous School of Design which is its chief
ornament.
I was well acquainted with the head master of this school, and he had
kindly promised me to take the greatest pains with my young son, who
already showed decided taste and talent for this admirable art.
I had been living in this town about a week when I received by post the
letter I give here, with its translation.
Miledi.
Giunsi finalmente al termine di miei giorni senza vere
svelato ad alcuno un segreto che riguarda me e la vostra
persona direttamente.
Il segreto è l’appresso:
Il giorno dell a vostra nascita da persona che non posso
nominare, e che già è passata all’ altra vita, a me pure nacque
un figlio maschio. Fui richesto à fare uno scambio, e mediante
l emie finanze, di quei tempi, accedi alle molteplici richieste
con vantaggio; ed allora fù che vi adottai per mia figlia, in
quella guisa che mio figlio fu adottato dall’ altra parte.
Vedo che il cielo ha supplito alle mie mancanze, con porvi in
uno stato di miglior condizione del vostro padre, sebbene esso

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