and, I must say, I proved my opinion of them by copious libations! Fortunately, Signor Guarduci was a liberal and hospitable landlord, and I shall ever retain a grateful sense of his kindness. Nay, so far does this ruling passion carry him, that he cannot help, after praising one of his patrons, the Marquis of Bevi Aqua, saying, that his early objection to him was his name, which, being translated, is drink water. This nobleman took him to see the monument of Juliet at Verona; so much is it an object of interest, that its sides are a good deal mutilated by strangers breaking off pieces to keep as relics. On the subject of the stage he mentions with very high, and, we believe, just praise, Schroeder at Vienna, called the Garrick of Germany. Schroeder had been in England, and praised the English actors as true to Nature. We are sorry not to be able to agree with him in this eulogium. Had he seen Garrick it might have been just; but it seems to us of the old school, that at present Nature is often forgot both by the writers of plays and the actors. To Garrick's memory he mentions a compliment, the institution of a club, called The School of Garrick, which subsisted till very lately, composed of the cotemporaries or scholars of that most eminent actor. Few of them now remain, of whom, however, Kelly is one. The great actors, as well as singers of operas, he naturally commemorates; and his authority, at least as to their musical powers, cannot be questioned. One particular department of Italian acting is that of the extempore Harlequin. Every body has heard of the fame of Carlin in this department. Kelly mentions one quite as wonderful as Carlin, Sacchi, with whom Kelly met at the House of the Conte Pisarri. Nothing could be to me more delightful (says he) than the innumerable stories and anecdotes with which this old man's conversation abounded; he was as sprightly as a boy, full of good humour and good nature. I remember one day he told us a story, that a short time previous he was passing near the church of St. Giovanni, with a nobleman of very singular character, who was of very ob. scure origin; but his father having made an immense fortune in the Levant trade, purchased an estate and barony in Friuli for his son. The inordinate pride of this novus homo rendered him universally ridiculous; but he was much flattered with having the witty Sacchi in his train, who laughed at him even while loading him with adulation. As they were walking along one day, some priests, carrying the host to a dying person, passed them; every one in the street, as it is the custom in all Roman Catholic countries, fell on their knees, with their heads bare, bowing to the ground; amongst the rest, the proud baron knelt with great devotion; Sacchi, who was close to him, only took his hat off, and slightly inclined his head as the host went by, and did not go on his knees. The baron, quite shocked at this apparent want of religion and respect, exclaimed with affected humility, "Signor Sacchi, I am petrified; to a poor miserable mortal like myself you pay every obsequious homage; yet when the holy host passed you, instead of prostrating yourself before it, you only made a slight inclination with your head." Very true, my Lord," replied Sacchi; "I admit the fact, but the host must not be made game of, and that makes all the difference." this book a trait of French honesty, It may not be amiss to quote from as Kelly ironically calls it, which he met with at Plymouth, where the French prisoners were allowed to make and sell certain articles of handicraft. Amongst other things which I saw there, was a trait of French honesty, which amused me extremely. A fellow who was locked up, had a large bench in front of the place where he was confined, on which were several articles for sale; an old man, who could speak a little English, stood by the side of them, and kept bawling out to all the passers-by: "Come here, Monsieur le Capitaine, look here, my pretty things-Monsieur le Capitaine, come buy de pretty things for Madame." Capitaine, there, looks very like a simpleton." I replied, that I would give no more than the guinea; and also speaking to him in French, which he had no notion I understood, told him that, simpleton as I was, I could purchase just such another writing-desk for a louis d'or in Paris, either in the Palais Royal or on the Boulevards. He made me a low bow, and said, smiling, "Ma foi, Monsieur, vous avez de l'esprit et pour çà-for that, you shall have the desk for one guinea." I gave him the money, with a few complimentary observations upon his honesty and good manners. We recommend this anecdote to the perusal of those travellers who go to France for bargains, and who speak of the politeness of Parisian tradesmen. Kelly gives a more particular account of the poor maniac Hatfield's attempted assasination of the late King than I remember to have met with in any other publication; and it is of the more authority, as he was in the theatre at the time, and so situated, as to have a distinct view of the whole transaction. When the arrival of the King was announced, the band, as usual, played "God save the King." I was standing at the stage-door, opposite the royal box, to see his Majesty. The moment he entered the box, a man in the pit, next the orchestra, on the right hand, stood up on the bench, and discharged a pistol at our august Monarch, as he came to the front of the box. Never shall I forget his Majesty's coolness,-the whole audience was in an uproar. The King, on hearing the report of the pistol, retired a pace or two, stopped, and stood firmly for an instant; then came forward to the very front of the box, put his opera-glass to his eye, and looked round the house, without the smallest appearance of alarm or discomposure. The late Marquis of Salisbury, then Lord Chamberlain, was behind his Majesty, in attendance in the box; and on hearing the report of the pistol, fearing some further attack might follow, respect fully requested his Majesty would retire from the box into the adjoining room. His Majesty's reply to him was, "Sir, you discompose me as well as yourself, -I shall not stir one step." The Queen and Princesses then entered the box. On ascending the staircase, the Queen asked Mr Sheridan what all the noise and up roar was about? He replied, it arose from some boys, who had been firing off squibs. Hatfield, the ruffian who committed the crime, was seized by the performers in the orchestra, and dragged over its spikes into the music-room, which was under the stage; the audience from all parts vociferating, "Bring forward the assassin, bring him on the stage -shew him, shew him." I was at that moment on the stage. The Queen called me to her, and asked me if the man was in custody; I told her Majesty that he was secured. I then came forward and addressed the audience, assuring them, that the culprit was in safe custody, undergoing an examination by his Royal Highness the Duke of York, Mr Sheridan, and Sir William Addington; but with the immense crowds about the doors, and under the stage, in the confusion, he might possibly escape, should they insist on his being brought forward. This appeal produced tranquillity. "God save the King" was then called for, and received with shouts of applause, waving of hats, &c. During the whole of the play, the Queen and Princesses were absorbed in tears;-it was a sight never to be forgotten by those present. At the end of the play, "God save the King" was again demanded by the whole house; and while we were singing it, a paper was sent to me by Mr Sheridan, with a verse which he had written on the spur of the moment. It was handed to me by Mrs Jordan, and I It was as follows:sang it, although with an agitated voice. From every latent foe, This stanza was three times repeated, with the most rapturous approbation. His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales was assisting in the music-room at the examination, and evinced the most anxious solicitude and joy for the safety of his royal and august father. The play was Cibber's comedy," She would, and she would not." Never was a piece so hurried over, for the performers were all in the greatest agitation and confusion. When it concluded, his Majesty left the theatre, amidst the shouts of the audience within, and the enthusiastic cheers of the populace without. This book contains accounts and anecdotes of several hundreds of persons, more or less celebrated, particularly in the department of music, which naturally, from the author's profession and excellent performance, as well as skill in music, makes the prominent part of this publication. It will of course more deeply interest persons fond of, or conversant in that science; but it will, I think, interest, though not, perhaps, in so great a degree, every one who attends to the history of varied life, by the adventures of the author, in his progress through a considerable part of Italy. He visit ed Rome, Naples, Venice, Florence, Bologna, Padua, and other cities and towns of Italy and in Germany, besides occasional residences at Berlin, Stutgard, Gratz, at all of which places he was cordially received. He was resident two or three years at Vienna, where, from the favour of the Emperor, and the introductions which he procured to some persons of the highest rank, and, among others, to Mr Murray Keith, our Ambassador there, he lived in society of the highest kind, and enjoyed a degree of favour which it is rarely the lot of any British subject to enjoy. The great musical talents of the author introduced him to the society, and procured him the patronage of the most eminent men of this and of foreign countries. It has been often objected to this delightful accomplishment, that it brings gentlemen into the society of very inferior, and sometimes very objectionable, persons; but the society of a man so eminent in that science as Kelly, was courted by persons of the highest rank and respectability; and his acquaintance was cultivated without any of those bad effects which prudent men are apt to fear from the love of music. His professional talents lifted him into a sphere which he could not otherwise have reached; but it did not degrade his associates; the aristocracy of genius is the most legitimate of any. It is one of the boasts of the British Constitution, that wealth and honours, and the highest consideration, are open to every rank, if the aspirants are endowed with talents and virtue. This affords a salutary counterpoise to the influence of great wealth and high birth. One of the causes of the French Revolution was the insolence of an exclusive aristocracy, disposed to look down from the heights of profligacy and folly on the virtue and talents of the middling ranks of the people. This roused the people to resistance and revolution, which was not to be wondered at; it was rather surprising that such exclusive privileges and insolence were endured so long. The non-musical anecdotes (if I may use the expression) which he introduces in his Journal, of his residence in those cities, will interest those who are strangers to the science of music. Still, no doubt, the sympathy of musicians will be more strongly awakened by the narrations connected with that delightful science, and the amusing anecdotes of the great musicians which he introduces in those narratives. Of those the most conspicuous was Mozart, who seems to have struck him the most; and from his great intimacy with that celebrated composer, he had the best opportunities of knowing his talents as a musician, and his qualities as a man. Of the excellence of the first the world is sufficiently informed, and the last appears not less entitled to our applause. It is pleasant for an old inhabitant of Edinburgh to read in this work the names, and sometimes the musical characters, of persons who performed at the Edinburgh Concert, (called the Gentlemen's Concert,) who occasionally were engaged, for a certain time, under the direction of a committee of Gentlemen, all amateurs of music, and some of them performers of considerable excellence. There were Pinto, his wife, Alas! for the Edinburgh Concert! the most elegant, and let not the expres sion be ridiculed) the most innocent amusement in the then list of the delicia of a town, now absurdly, and, I fear unjustly, called the Modern Athens. Of this concert, to which, being one of subscription, money could not get access, the gover. nor was the Earl of Haddington, the deputy-governor Lord Kelly, whose musie was often played under his own leading and direction; and among the directors (in her maiden state, Miss Bront,) Corri, Puppo, Fischer the Hautboy, but, above all, Tenducci, a vocalist of high celebrity, and the best singer of Scotch songs of any foreigner that ever existed, which, unlike other foreigners, (and under that denomination we must rank some very much-admired English singers,) he sung with that pastoral simplicity, pathos, and sweetness, by which those melodies are distinguished; those qualities, though taste and feeling admire them, are often for gotten, or, if we may use the expression, overlaid with ornament perfectly unnatural, and foreign to their spirit and effect. Tenducci was a professed admirer of the Scotch song, and revived many, which had been in a great measure forgotten, and have since got into great favour on the English stage on ten eid soft Kelly's opinion of French actors is more liberal, and we think more just, than is frequently expressed by the stage critics of Britain. Of this sort is his euloguim of La Rive, the great French tragic actor, the rival, I believe the master of Talma. which, on my return to London, I gave John Kemble. I had the satisfaction of seeing La Rive in several of his best parts; one, in particular, I admired of his, Guillaume Tell. His manner of shooting at the apple, and the strong contrast of passions which he exhibited, ing plaudits from his delighted auditory. were masterly, and called down thunder. To rise from the mention of Talma to his admirer Buonaparte, Kelly gives an anecdote of him, which we do not remember to have seen mentioned in any of the innumerable accounts of his peculiar habits. *། At Cloud' we were shown every thing worth seeing, and, amongst other curiosities, the chair in which Buonaparte used to sit when he held a council. The person who explained every thing to us, made us examine the number of made in it by Buonaparte, who, while of notches giving audience, or transacting business, had a habit of holding a pen-knife in his hand, and was continually making cuts in the chair, more or less, as he felt pleased, or otherwise. It was said, that when in the council-chamber, he would never sit formed us, that he was seated in it when in any other chair. Our cicerone in he gave an audience to the Russian amsaid, "Read, sign, and be off." That bassador; and on giving him a paper, was said to be the only conversation Which passed between them; and from the tyrant's genuine character, it seems very probable to have been so. The am bassador made no reply, and retired. Never shall I forget his recitation it was the very essence of the histrionic art. Johnstone, Mrs Crouch, and my self, had not, words to express our ad. miration. In his library he had a print of Mrs Siddons, as the Tragic Muse, from the picture by Sir Joshua. He la mented that he had not the gratification to be known to her personally, but beg ged of me to say to her, that if she would honour him by visiting him in Paris, he would, for the sole purpose of having her an inmate in his house, go to Calais and meet her; and added, that it would be a proud day for him to embrace so great a genius. He made me a present of a fine print of Le Kain, the great tragedian, his I was much pleased (says he) with the predecessor at the Théâtre Français, performance of that great actor; but there The different reception of Mr Fox at the theatre of Paris, compared with that of Buonaparte, is of as singular a kind, and not at all like what the accounts of the enthusiasm in favour of the Emperor which most travellers in France have mentioned. Kelly went to see Talma. r were Sir William Forbes, and Messrs Tytler and Mitchelson, both most zealous musicians, and excellent performers on the German flule; and other gentlemen, whose business, being finished by 6 o'clock, when the concert commenced, left the remainder of the evening for this elegant relaxation, very different from the present fashionable parties, crammed and crowded to excess, where there is no motion for the body, nor food for the mind. Of corporeal nourishment, some very indifferent ice, carried round by a waiter, hustled amidst the mob of ladies and gentlemen, who sometimes have a portion of his ice or lemonade applied to silk gowns or dress coats; while the poor mistress of the entertainment stands at the door, like the landlady of an inn, doing the honours of her house to people with one-half of whom she is un. acquainted, and some of whom she never saw, nor even knows their names, till and nounced by the servant on the stairs. lo tribə VOL. XVIII. 3 U was a scene performed in front of the house more curious to an Englishman, Charles Fox, accompanied by his lady, and some male friends, occupied a box in the first tier. After the first act of the play, there was a buzz through the parterre that Charles Fox was in the house: the moment it was known, there was a general call from the parterre for him to come forward and shew himself. The cry from all parts of the house was, "Monsieur Fox! Monsieur Fox! come forward, we want to see you." For se veral minutes he was deaf to the call, but the audience seemed determined not to let the performance go on until he did for Mr Fox was naturally a favourite with the revolutionary French, as Mr Pitt was the contrary. At length his friends pushed him forward. The moment he appeared there was very general, ap. plause, which continued for some time, he bowing most respectfully to the audience. Just as the applause ceased, Buona. parte, accompanied by some of his officers, entered his box, which was vis-à-vis to the one Fox occupied. On his entrée he was received with the clapping of a few hands. He seemed somewhat dissatis fied with his reception; at all events, he did not remain above a quarter of an hour in the box, and left it without taking the slightest notice of the, audi ence. The reception of Lord Guildford, as related by Kelly, was quite in character of that insolent despot. He was introduced by the Préfet du Palais as Lord Guildford, son of Lord North, at one time prime minister of His Britannic Majesty. Buonaparte, darting one of his spiteful looks at him, said, “My Lord, your fa ther was a very great man" and, turn. ing to the Marshall, said, sneeringly, "Was it not he who lost, America for England?—Yes, he was a very great man indeed," then turning upon his heel, he walked on. The vulgar rudeness and uncalled-for impertinence of the remark were received by the noble Earl with contemptuous silence. Those general anecdotes (if I may apply that word to those which do not relate to his own professions of musical composer and manager of a theatre) are very interesting, as they contain a sort of minor biography of men, eminent in politics, literature, or on the stage; they are occasionally enlivened by bon mots and jokes of some of these persons most celebrated for wit and humour. Some of them such as the question put by one of are puns now and then far-fetched, those wits to a country man, with whom he met carrying a hare: "Friend, said he," "is that your own hair or a wig?" The countryman did not understand the joke, which we do not wonder at. I recollect another pun on the same word, made by Mr Hare himself, who lodged in the same house with Mr Fox, when there came officers with an execution against that gentleman. Mr Hare immediately hurried out of the house, saying, "These gentlemen have be gun with Fox-hunting, but it is ten to one they end with Hare-hunting." Mr Hare could not boast of the same advantage as enjoyed by Mr Mens tone, who expressed himself happy that his name was not obnoxious to a pun Mr Fox seems never to have punned, which is rather surprising, considering the quickness of his inMention, as well as his knowledge of different languages. 1 Kelly, as well as his friend Sheridan, were fond of telling anecdotes of their native country, Ireland, and did not spare their remarks on the laughable peculiarities of Irishmen, some of which, as we have mentioned the license of the Italian proverb, Si above, Mr Sheridan invented, with non e vero, e ben trovato. This book affords an explanation of a paper in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, when Gregory, Capulet's servant, says, "I will bite my thumb if they will bear it." at him, which is a disgrace to them, The Neapolitans (says the book) are proverbial for their gesticulation: if you ask a man in the street what o'clock it is, he looks at the sun, and by his fingers makes you understand the hour, but does not condescend to speak. The natives of every part of Italy are perfect mimics; and the strongest indication of either menace or revenge you can receive from an Italian, is to see him bite his thumb well aware of this, when he wrote the at you. Our immortal Shakspeare was quarrelling scene between the servants in the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet; there, Gregory, Capulet's servant, says, “I will bite my thumb at him; which is a disgrace to them, if they will bear it.” Malone, the commentator, says, that |