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of that portentous thing, called wig. If thou art a plain, honeft, well-difpofed perfon, he trufts they will meet a welcome recep

tion. If not, they may prove troublesome companions, and thou art advised to shut thy door againft them.

ANECDOTES of ILLUSTRIOUS and EXTRAORDINARY PERSONS, perhaps not generally known.

HANDEL

:

COMPOSED with fuch celerity, that many of his beft overtures were written in three hours each. Of his merit as a mufician, Sir John Hawkins gives this extraordinary teftimony: "In all theatrical reprefentations, a part only of the audience can judge of the merit of what they fee and hear; the reft are drawn together by motives in which neither taste nor judgment have any fhare and with refpect to Mufic, it is notorious, that the greater number of mankind are destitute (though not of hearing, yet) of that fenfe, which, fuperadded to the hearing, renders it fufceptible of the harmony of mufical founds; and in times when Mufic was lefs fafhionable than it is now, many of both fexes were ingenuous enough to confefs that they wanted this fenfe, by faying, "I have no ear for Mufic." Perfons fuch as thefe, who, had they been left to themselves, would have interrupted the hearing of others by their talking, were, by the performance of Handel, not only charmed into filence, but were generally the loudeft in their acclamations. This, though it could not be faid to be genuine applause, was a much

ftronger proof of the power of harmony than the like effect upon an audience compofed only of judges and rational admirers of his art.

"Mr. Handel used to affert, that the fineft melodies ufed in the German churches were compofed by Luther, particularly that which is fet to the Hundredth Pfalm.* At a concert in the houfe of Lady Rich, Handel was once prevailed on to fing a flow fong; which he did in fuch a manner, that Farrinelli, who was prefent, could hardly be perfuaded to fing after him."--Sir J. Hawkins.

He was a man of great piety. In the latter part of his life he attended St. George's, Hanoverfquare, and was placed in the middle of the aisle in his fedan chair, After he became blind, he was obferved to be particularly affected at the air of Return, O God of Hofts!" in Samfon, and to hold down his head all the time it was finging.-Handel did not give the organ to the Foundling Hofpital. It was built at the expenfe of the Charity, under the direction of Dr. Smith, the learned Mafter of Trinity College, Cambridge,who added demi-tones,

&c.

This Pfalm is the compofition of an English Musician, Dr. Bull, who lived

in Queen Elizabeth's time.

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DR. ARBUTHNOT. MR. Pope having made a fong for one of the female performers at the Opera House, on her returning to Italy, Dr. Arbuthnot thus happily and farcaftically burlefqued it:

Puppies, whom I now am leaving,

Merry fometimes, always mad, Who lavish moft when debts are craving

On food, on farce, and masquerade! Who would not from fuch bubbles run, And leave fuch bleffings for the fun ?*

Happy foil and fimple crew,
Let old fharpers yield to new;
All your taftes be ftill refining,
All your nonfenfe ftill more fhining;
Bleft in fome Berenstad or Bofci,
He more awkward, the more husky,
And never want, when these are loft

to us,

Another Heidegger and Fauftus.
Happy foil and fimple crew,
Let old fharpers yield to new,
Bubbles all, adieu! adieu ! +

THE following Lines on the prefent taste of public pleasure in London, appeared a few years

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Rowe,

Young's dignity, and Southern's tearful strain,

Solicit now Britannia's fons in vain. Jonfon's ftern humour, Vanbrugh's fprightly cafe,

And Congreve's flashes now no longer pleafe.

Purcell's foft notes, Corelli's melody, And Handel, wond'rous mafter to untie The myftic charms and bands of Harmony,

With unavailing efforts tempt the ear. Their varied powers of magic founds to hear;

Satiate with excellence, to whim we fly, And own no fenfe but the capricious eye;

With transport fee the antic's French grimace,

And geftures never ftealing into grace; The human form, in Nature's high difdain,

Contorted as in agony of pain; Th' extended quiv'ring foot with rap ture view,

Critics fublime of Pantomima's fhoc; Whilft with no linked sweetness founds combin'd

Pafs through the ear as the impaffive wind;

Content to torture the divided string, No tafte, no feeling to the notes we bring;

Mere difficulty's whims alone we prize, And truth and nature gladly facrifice.

HENRY

*During the rebellion of 1745, the Opera-houfe was fhut up, and then, i think, the prices of the boxes were paid towards the neceffary expenses of Gov

ernment.

+ It was once faid by an Opera Princess to one of her admirers behind the fcenes, at a full Opera, "Now, were all these persons to go out of the Theatre, who do not understand our language, and have no real pleasure in our mufic, we should fing to empty benches!''

HENRY THE FOURTH OF that idleness is the mother of all

FRANCE.

"NO perfon," fays Péréfixe, "was fo pleafed with the peace of Vervins as this excellent Prince, who had this fpeech continually in his mouth, "That, it being contrary to the laws of Nature and of Christianity to make war for the love of war, a Chriftian Prince ought never to refuse to make peace, unless it was entirely to his difadvantage." The Duke of Savoy afked this Prince one day, what revenue his fubjects were worth to him. 66 Exactly what I please, Sir," replied Henry; "because, poffeffing the goodwill of my fubjects, I can have whatever I pleafe from them; and if God is fo good as to continue my life a few years longer, I will fo manage matters, that every peafant in my dominions fhall be able to have his fowl in his pot on a Sunday; and I fhall be rich enough, without applying to them for money, to pay my foldiers who are to keep in order all those who refufe to fubmit to my authority." To the Intendants and Governors of Provinces he used occafionally to write: "Take great care of my people; they are my children; God has entrusted them to my keeping; I am refponfible to him for them." "One of the great changes that was made in France," fays Péréfixe, "by the firm eftablishment of this great Prince upon his throne, was the abolition of idleness. All the drones of his kingdom," adds he, "were turned into bees, and made excellent honey. Idlenefs became difgraceful, and was looked upon as a crime, in the true fpirit of the old proverb, which fays

vice.' A mind that will not take pains to occupy itself ferioufly, is ufelefs to itfelf and pernicious to the public; for that reafon the officers of the police made their fearch after the idle and the dif folute, the vagabonds, and meri without any regular calling, and fent them off to ferve his Majefty in his gallies, and obliged them to work in the very despite of themfelves,"

SIGNOR RAIMONDI. VIRTUE is of no particular profeffion; it depends upon the degree of cultivation that is given to it in every foul of the mind. The honeft Tax-gatherer is handed down to us from antiquity; and the humane behaviour of Mr. Akerman and of Mr. Kirby to the prifoners entrusted to their care has immortalized them. Mufical performers have been rather famous, perhaps, for their talents than for their graces; and it is referved to our times, to give as eminent an example of felf-denial and generous difinterefted affection, in one of our prefent celebrated violin players, as ever honoured any country.

Signor Raimondi, when he was in Holland fome years ago, was much attached to an agreeable young Lady of that country, with a fortune of twenty thoufand pounds. She was equally attached to him, and a day was appointed for their nuptials. Before they could, however, take place, the young Lady died, and left all that he was worth to Signor Raimondi. Soon after her funeral, he waited upon the neareft relations of his generous and beloved

friend,

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friend, and by a formal renunciation, made over to them all the fortune fhe had left him; adding, that without her perfon, it could contribute no happiness or comfort to him. This ftory was related by that able negociator, Lord Malmsbury, when he came from Holland, fome years ago.

Virtuous and felf-approving curiofity may, perhaps, be anxious to know in what fituation this virtuous and celebrated Mufician

is now. The Signor has for mamy years played, and often led, at the best concerts in London, with great applaufe; he composed, fome years ago, that exquifite piece of mufic called The Battle."

DIDEROT

SAYS of Painting, "The immenfity of the labour that is required of it, renders painters neg

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The SPEECH of SIR NASH GROSE, on pronouncing SENTENCE on GILBERT WAKEFIELD, in the COURT of KING's BENCH, May 30, 1799, convicted of publishing a LIBEL. "GILBERT WAKEFIELD, you ftand here convicted, and to receive fentence for having written a book most pernicious in its tendency to the inhabitants of this kingdom, difgraceful to an author, who has been educated, and has lived under the protection of its laws, and ftill more fo to a man who is a minifter of its ecclefiaftical establishment. To repeat its contents, however gratifying it might be to you, would notwithstanding be offenfive to the greater part of thofe who It is enough for me to N

hear me.

obferve, that the epithets which
the Attorney-General has given
to it, and the intention which is
imputed to you in this work, has
by different juries, been found on
oath to be true, namely, that the
work has been found to be malev.
olent and feditious :
that one
great end it feems to have an-
fwered was, to traduce, vilify, and
bring into contempt the Confti-
tution of this kingdom, the King's
administration of the
govern-
ment, and the perfons employ-
ed by him in that adminiftra-
tion, and thereby to withdraw

from

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every one, and which have been fo ably, fo aptly, and fo eloquently urged. The aggravation of your crime is, that you are an Englishman; that, profefling to be a

Chriftian, you are of one of the established orders of the govern-. ment; that you should be a Minister of the Gofpel, ordained to preach that, which in your fpeech, for pitiful purposes, you affect to enforce-peace and good will." Recollecting you to be an Englishman, it is impoflible for the inhabitants of this country to read without horror, your recommendtion to Englishmen not to refift that most inveterate enemy, who have profeffedly waged against them a war, not of commerce, aggrandizement, or of religion, but a war of extermination. Their object is the complete deftruction of England, as they have openly proclaimed in their Senate, by that notable denunciation, DELENDA EST CARTHAGO !-He that endeavours to perfuade us not to refift fuch an enemy, invites that enemy. Your conduct as a chriftian is not lefs offenfive and alarming. You invite to thefe fhores 60 or 70,000 men, the inhabitants of that country, who, within ten fhort years, have profeffed to be Catholics, Deifts, Atheifts, and true Muffulmen : men who have abjured their God, trampled upon their altars, execrated their priests, and murdered their King. I know not how to reconcile what is your duty to preach, with that which you have written and published. Your addrefs to this Court abounded with that doctrine, and you seemed as if desirous to enforce it, and yet nothing can be more repugnant to

your addrefs in mitigation of the judgment of the Court, you feem to glory in having committed the offence, and claim on your behalf a right to fpeak your opinion. That right you have, and may exercife it fo long as it is exercifed in a manner, and in terms conformable to the law of the land, inoffenfive to that fociety of which you are a member, and to the individuals, who, with yourself, compofe that fociety. In the eye of the law, the enormity of your offence ftands confeffed; and it is very great, inafmuch as it strikes at the root of all government and all civil fociety. It is impoflible any fociety can exift in fafety, in which the members of it may with impunity libel the kingdom, and vilify that Conftitution by which it is cemented, and which will be an encouragement to its inveterate enemy to effect its total fubverfion. I mean not, however, to comment at length on the compofition or pernicious tendercy of the work. I should lament if any thing which I may fay fhould weaken, I do not flatter myfelf I can add to, those excellent obfervations already made, which are still in the memory of

thofe

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