1755

 

 

January

To Mr. Handel.  On the Loss of Sight.

 

HOmer and Milton might complain

They roll’d their sightless orbs in vain;

Yet both have wing’d a daring flight,

Illumin’d by celestial light.

Then let not old * Timotheus yield,

Or, drooping, quit thadvent’rous field;

But let his art and vet’ran fire

Call forth the magic of his lyre:

Or make the pealing organ speak

In sounds that might the dead awake:

Or gently touch the springs of woe,

Teach sighs to heave, or tears to flow:

Then with a more exalted rage

Give raptures to the sacred page,

Our glowing hearts to heaven raise

In choral songs and hymns of praise.

 

* A musician, in the time of Philip of

Macedon, banish’d by the Spartans for adding

a tenth string to the lyre.[1]

 

 

 

Feb 1

It it [sic] no small Pleasure to the Lovers of Musick in

particular, and to those of their Country in general, to hear, that

the Musick of the new English Opera, to be performed next

Week at Drury-Lane Theatre (the Words of which are

partly taken from Shakespear) is composed by an Englishman,

Mr. Smith, who was a Pupil of Mr. Handel, and

has studies Musick for many Years, under that great and

excellent Master.

[...]

We hear there will be a grand Musical Performance at

the King’s Theatre some Time in Lent, for the Benefit and

Increase of the Musicians Charity.[2]

 

 

 

Feb 1

            A Courier which arriv’d late last Saturday Night from the King’s Theatre in the Hay-Market, brought Advice, that some Ladies of Distinction who were seated in the Pit, had, out of Regard to their own Persons this cold Weather, and to prevent the Exclusion of many other Lovers of Musick, been so very obliging as to leave their Hoops at home.[3]

 

 

 

Feb 3

            As the Fairy Creation, of our immortal Shakespear, has ever afforded great Delight, merely in the Reading; or when exhibited, unadorn’d, in our Theatres:  It may be presum’d, that it will be far more entertaining, when heightened with the magical Charm of Opera Musick, (the Opera Stage being properly Fairy Land;) in which Form it will this Evening appear, under the Title of the Fairies.  This Drama is judiciously extracted from the Midsummer Night’s Dream, which composes the Recitative; and the Airs are borrow’d from the most delicate Touches of our ablest Lyrick Poets; but in so artful a Manner, as to make one entire English Opera; a Species of Entertainment which Multitudes are (very naturally) desirous of seeing establish’d among us.[4]

 

 

 

Feb 3

[George Harris’s Diary, 3 February 1755]

 

February 3  The Fairies — an English opera — Passerini, Guadagni, Poitiers,

Beard[.] — Composed by Smith — first time of performing[.] — Prologue spoke

by Garrick.[5]

 

 

 

Feb 6

[George Harris to James Harris, 6 February 1755]

 

The English opera went off very well last Monday, & met with great

applause. — Just after the overture was begun, Garrick stepped in upon the stage

& advancing to the orchestra bid the music stop, & then he spoke a prologue, very

satyrical upon the Italian operas; ’twas all of it full of drollery, except towards the

conclusion, when he mentioned Handel & his compositions with very high

encomium. — After the prologue was ended, the overture began again, and then

every thing went on regular. — This opera I believe, won’t be considered as a

capital performance. — I daren’t upon only once hearing presume to criticize; but

can safely say, there were some very pleasing songs, & one duette sung by

Passerini & Guadagni seemed to me something very elegant. — Passerini did her

part extremely well. — Guadagni was defective as to his pronouncing his recitative;

of which he had too large a share. — But in this respect he’ll certainly mend,

the oftener the piece is perform’d. — ’Tis like to have a run, if that prologue

doesn’t stirr up a party to oppose from among the friends of the Italian opera.[6]

 

 

 

Feb 7

            For the Benefit of Signora Bugiani and Signor Murranesi, at the King’s Theatre in the Hay-Market, on Thursday the 13th of March will be perform’d an Opera, with Dances.[7]

 

 

 

Feb 8

            If the artful Representation of Beauty[,] merely on Canvas, shall attract Multitudes to an Auction Room, and give great Pleasure:  With what Rapture must a curious Eye survey the Circle of living Belles, who are expected next Monday Night at the English Opera of the Fairies, in Drury-Lane Theatre; in Honour of the Manes of our Shakespeare; and in Compliment to the Composer of the Musick, for whose Benefit it will then be perform’d![8]

 

 

 

Feb 14

AT the Theatre-Royal in Covent-Garden,

This Day will be performed

ALEXANDER’s FEAST.

With an Interlude call’d

The CHOICE of HERCULES.

Pit and Boxes to be put together, and no Person to be admitted

without Tickets, which will be delivered this Day at the Office in

the Theatre at

Half a Guinea each.  First Gallery 5 s.  Second Gallery 3 s. 6 d.

Galleries to be open’d at Half an Hour after Four o’Clock,

Pit and Boxes at Five.

To begin exactly at Half an Hour after Six o’Clock.[9]

 

 

 

Feb 15

            On Monday the 17th of March will be a Concert at the King’s Theatre in the Hay-Market, for the Benefit of the Musicians Charity.[10]

 

 

 

Feb 19

AT the Theatre-Royal in Covent-Garden,

This Day will be performed

ALEXANDER’s FEAST.

With an Interlude call’d

The CHOICE of HERCULES.

Pit and Boxes to be put together, and no Person to be admitted

without Tickets, which will be delivered this Day at the Office in

the Theatre at

Half a Guinea each.  First Gallery 5 s.  Second Gallery 3 s. 6 d.

Galleries to be open’d at Half an Hour after Four o’Clock,

Pit and Boxes at Five.

To begin exactly at Half an Hour after Six o’Clock.[11]

 

 

 

Feb 21

AT the Theatre-Royal in Covent-Garden,

This Day will be performed

L’ALLEGRO ED IL PENSEROSO.

By MILTON.

And a SONG for St. Cecilia’s Day, by Dryden.

Pit and Boxes to be put together, and no Person to be admitted

without Tickets, which will be delivered that Day at the Office in

the Theatre at

Half a Guinea each.  First Gallery 5 s.  Second Gallery 3 s. 6 d.

Galleries to be open’d at Half an Hour after Four o’Clock,

Pit and Boxes at Five.

To begin exactly at Half an Hour after Six o’Clock.[12]

 

 

 

Feb 21

[Thomas Harris to James Harris, 22 February 1755]

 

I am sorry to give so bad account as I am obliged to do about oratorios, Handel

has performed Alexanders Feast twice, and yesterday Allegro & Pens[eroso] &

the new ode: his houses have been very thin, especially last night when he hardly

paid his expences.  I am told that Lady Coventry has routs at her house on

Wednesdays and Lady Carlisle on Fridays[,] where the world assemble to the no

small detriment of our great genius[,] now almost worn out with age and loss of

sight.  Tom Arne has advertised a subscription for three oratorios next month on

Handels days, which from the perverse spirit of the generation may probably be crowded. {...}[13]

 

 

 

Feb 21

[Mrs. Delany to Mrs. Dewes, 22 February 1755]

 

[...] At one went to Lady Wallingford and Dash

by appointment — both but indifferent.

From thence I went to Mrs. Pointz, found her in

distress for somebody to go to the oratorio with Miss

Pointz, so I undertook the charge; (matters go on very [334]

well there.)  Appointed her to call on me at Mrs.

Granville’s in Craven Street, where I was to dine, and where

Miss Sutton also was to call for me.  My brother and

Mr. Thynne dined with us at Babess’s and at six went to

the Oratorio Penseroso, &c. — very well performed.  I

hope you will come time enough for an oratorio or two.

Mr. Spencer was upon duty, and seemed to have no

attention for anything but his fair lady, and the music; my

brother was in the box with us; my letter is now a

fair roundelay.[14]

 

 

 

Feb 22

[Mrs. Delany to Mrs. Dewes, 22 February 1755]

 

[...] I went to Mrs. Pointz, found her in

distress for somebody to go to the oratorio with Miss

Pointz, so I undertook the charge; (matters go on very [334]

well there.)  Appointed her to call on me at Mrs. Granville’s

in Craven Street, where I was to dine, and where

Miss Sutton also was to call for me.  My brother and

Mr. Thynne dined with us at Babess’s and at six went to

the Oratorio Penseroso, &c. — very well performed.  I

hope you will come time enough for an oratorio or two. 

Mr. Spencer was upon duty, and seemed to have no

attention for anything but his fair lady, and the music; my

brother was in the box with us; my letter is now a

fair roundelay.[15]

 

 

 

Feb 26

AT the Theatre-Royal in Covent-Garden,

This Day will be performed an Oratorio, call’d

SAMSON.

Pit and Boxes to be put together, and no Person to be admitted

without Tickets, which will be delivered this Day at the Office in

the Theatre at

Half a Guinea each.  First Gallery 5 s.  Second Gallery 3 s. 6 d.

Galleries to be open’d at Half an Hour after Four o’Clock,

Pit and Boxes at Five.

To begin exactly at Half an Hour after Six o’Clock.[16]

 

 

 

Feb 28

AT the Theatre-Royal in Covent-Garden,

This Day will be performed an Oratorio, call’d

JOSEPH and HIS BRETHREN.

Pit and Boxes to be put together, and no Person to be admitted

without Tickets, which will be delivered this Day at the Office in

the Theatre at

Half a Guinea each.  First Gallery 5 s.  Second Gallery 3 s. 6 d.

Galleries to be open’d at Half an Hour after Four o’Clock,

Pit and Boxes at Five.

To begin exactly at Half an Hour after Six o’Clock.[17]

 

 

 

[Mrs. Delany to Mrs. Dewes, 3 March 1755]

 

I wrote you a letter last week with a full account of

my travels to and in London.  The oratorio was

miserably thin; the Italian opera is in high vogue, and [339]

always full, though one song of the least worthy of Mr.

Handel’s music is worth all their frothy compositions.[18]

 

 

 

Mar 1

[4th Earl of Shaftesbury to James Harris, 1 March 1755]

 

I only write to give you notice that Theodora

is to be performed next Wednesday, and very probably no more than

that day.  The singers Frazi and Guadagni do incomparably this

season.[19]

 

 

 

Mar 5

AT the Theatre-Royal in Covent-Garden,

This Day will be performed an Oratorio, call’d

THEODORA.

Pit and Boxes to be put together, and no Person to be admitted

without Tickets, which will be delivered this Day at the Office in

the Theatre at

Half a Guinea each.  First Gallery 5 s.  Second Gallery 3 s. 6 d.

Galleries to be open’d at Half an Hour after Four o’Clock,

Pit and Boxes at Five.

To begin exactly at Half an Hour after Six o’Clock.[20]

 

 

 

Mar 7

AT the Theatre-Royal in Covent-Garden,

This Day will be performed an Oratorio, call’d

SAMSON.

Pit and Boxes to be put together, and no Person to be admitted

without Tickets, which will be delivered this Day at the Office in

the Theatre at

Half a Guinea each.  First Gallery 5 s.  Second Gallery 3 s. 6 d.

Galleries to be open’d at Half an Hour after Four o’Clock,

Pit and Boxes at Five.

To begin exactly at Half an Hour after Six o’Clock.[21]

 

 

 

Mar 11

[C. Gilbert to Elizabeth Harris, 11 March [1755]]

 

{...}

Still after all opera’s do not give way to this or any thing.  They flourish

beyond any that have been in England for many years.  The Mingotti grows more

charming every time one sees & hears her[;] at present she is ill & there are none.

[304] She sings every Wednesday at Mrs Lanes & at so many other places that I

have the joy of hearing her continually.  Yesterday was seven-night, there was a

magnificent entertainment at Lady Rockinghams.  The opera orchestra & singers,

in one great room, & cards in the rest, all the house open, & I dare say above four

hundred people[;] an immense supper for a chosen number & afterwards a ball.  I

never saw any thing so fine.  Thus the world goes on inventive of new fineries

every day.

I am really sorry to tell you, that though I was never worthy of him myself

poor Handel has been most ungratefully neglected this year, and whoever were

admirers of him when in perfection ought I think to protect him in his decline.

Fashion in every thing will have most followers, and consequently he is quite

forsaken.  I can’t charge myself with any part of it for never going to his oratorios

because I never did.  I always confess’d his scientifick merit, but it never gave me

pleasure.  I am convinced if Mr Harris was to see & hear the Mingotti he would be

extreamly pleased.  She is a female Garrick, so expressive in every thing[,] her

figure so perfectly fine, and so good a singer that I think it makes all that fancy can

imagine of the kind most excellent & perfect.

I am Mingotti mad but as you are resolved not to come into this infected air, I

won’t make you sick at such a distance.

{...}[22]

 

 

 

Mar 12

AT the Theatre-Royal in Covent-Garden,

This Day will be performed an Oratorio, call’d

JUDAS MACCHABAEUS.

Pit and Boxes to be put together, and no Person to be admitted

without Tickets, which will be delivered this Day at the Office in

the Theatre at

Half a Guinea each.  First Gallery 5 s.  Second Gallery 3 s. 6 d.

Galleries to be open’d at Half an Hour after Four o’Clock,

Pit and Boxes at Five.

To begin exactly at Half an Hour after Six o’Clock.[23]

 

 

 

Mar 14

AT the Theatre-Royal in Covent-Garden,

This Day will be performed an Oratorio, call’d

JUDAS MACCHABAEUS.

Pit and Boxes to be put together, and no Person to be admitted

without Tickets, which will be delivered this Day at the Office in

the Theatre at

Half a Guinea each.  First Gallery 5 s.  Second Gallery 3 s. 6 d.

Galleries to be open’d at Half an Hour after Four o’Clock,

Pit and Boxes at Five.

To begin exactly at Half an Hour after Six o’Clock.[24]

 

 

 

Mar 19

AT the Theatre-Royal in Covent-Garden,

This Day will be performed a Sacred Oratorio, call’d

MESSIAH.

Pit and Boxes to be put together, and no Person to be admitted

without Tickets, which will be delivered this Day at the Office in

the Theatre at

Half a Guinea each.  First Gallery 5 s.  Second Gallery 3 s. 6 d.

Galleries to be open’d at Half an Hour after Four o’Clock,

Pit and Boxes at Five.

To begin exactly at Half an Hour after Six o’Clock.[25]

 

 

 

Mar 21

AT the Theatre-Royal in Covent-Garden,

This Day will be performed a Sacred Oratorio, call’d

MESSIAH.

Pit and Boxes to be put together, and no Person to be admitted

without Tickets, which will be delivered this Day at the Office in

the Theatre at

Half a Guinea each.  First Gallery 5 s.  Second Gallery 3 s. 6 d.

Galleries to be open’d at Half an Hour after Four o’Clock,

Pit and Boxes at Five.

To begin exactly at Half an Hour after Six o’Clock.[26]

 

 

 

Mar 27

[4th Earl of Shaftesbury to James Harris, 27 March 1755]

 

It was not possible for me to acknowledge the favour of your letter (accompanied

by one to my wife from Mrs Harris) by the last post: and by staying till this,

I can acquaint you with Read’s being now return’d to St Giles’s, so that, on sending

over to him, you may have the score you have occasion for.  It will be right (as

you propose) to guard against any copy of this getting out of your hands.[27]

 

 

 

[“Princesses Amelia and Caroline’s Officers, &c.”]

Musick-Mr. —— Handel, 200l.[28]

 

 

 

March

67.  Abel, an Oratorio.  1s.  Franklin.[29]

 

 

 

March

PLAYS and ENTERTAINMENTS acted at both THEATRES.

DRURY-LANE.

[...]

12.  Abel, an Oratorio.  Musick by Arne.

[...]

14.  Abel.

[...]

19.  Alfred, an Oratorio.

[...]

21.  Abel.

[...]

 

COVENT-GARDEN.

Feb. 28.  Joseph and his Brethren, an Ora[torio].

[...]

[March] 5.  Theodora, an Oratorio.

[...]

7.  Samson, an Oratorio.

[...]

12.  Judas Maccabaeus.

[...]

14.  Judas Maccabaeus.

[...]

19.  Messiah, an Oratorio.

[...]

21.  Messiah.[30]

 

 

 

March

A Register of THEATRICAL ENTERTAINMENTS.

Drury-Lane.                                        Covent-Garden.

[...]

[Mar.] 12.  Abel.—An Oratorio.                      Judas Maccabaeus.  An Oratorio.

[...]

[Mar.] 14.  Abel.  An Oratorio.                       Judas Maccabaeus.  An Oratorio.

[...]

[Mar.] 19.  Alfred.  An Oratorio.                     Messiah.  An Oratorio.[31]

 

 

 

April

A Register of THEATRICAL ENTERTAINMENTS.

Drury-Lane.                Covent-Garden.

[...]

[Mar.] 21.  An Oratorio.         An Oratorio.[32]

 

 

 

May 1

            Yesterday the Messiah, composed by Mr. Handel, was performed at the Foundling Hospital for the Benefit of the Charity, to a very numerous and polite Audience.[33]

 

 

 

May 22

[Thursday 22 May 1755]

 

[...] if we observe the behaviour of the polite part of this nation (that is, of all the nation) we shall see that their whole lives are one continued race; in which every one is endeavouring to distance all behind him, and to overtake, or pass by, all who are before him: every one is flying from his inferiors in pursuit of his superiors, who fly from Him with equal alacrity. [....] Every tradesman is a merchant, every merchant is a gentleman, and every gentleman one of the nobless. [... 171 ... 172 ...]

            THE same foolish vanity, that thus prompts us to imitate our superior, induces us also to be, or to pretend to be, their inseparable companions; or, as the phrase is, to keep the best company; by which is always to be understood, such company as are much above us in rank or fortune, and consequently despise and avoid us, in the same manner as we ourselves do our inferiors. [...]

 

            IT is pleasant to observe how this race, converted into a kind of perpetual warfare between the good and bad company in his country, has subsisted for half a century last past; in which the former have been perpetually pursued by the [174] latter, and fairly beaten out of all their resources for superior distinction; out of innumerable fashions in dress, and variety of diversions; every one of which they have been obliged to abandon, as soon as occupied by their impertinent rivals. [...]

            WITH as little success have opera’s, oratorio’s, ridotto’s, and other expensive diversions been invented to exclude bad company: tradesmen, by enhancing their prices, have found tickets for their wives and daughters, and by this means have been enabled to insult the good company, their customers, at their own expence: and, like true conquerors, have obliged [175] the enemy to pay for their defeat.  But this stratagem has in some measure been obviated by the prudence of the very best company, who, for this, and many other wise considerations, have usually declined paying them at all.[34]

 

 

 

Apr 5

From the INSPECTOR, April 5.

To the AUTHOR.

SIR,

A Pamphlet was delivered to me some few days since, containing the Plan of an Academy for the Encouragement of Genius, and the Establishment of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture in Britain. [...]

            It would be of little importance, that the artists of the present time have formed so excellent a design for the encouragement of genius, if there wanted patrons to support, establish, and protect the institution: Nor would it be nearly of the advantage to our country, that the nobility had taste and spirit to admire and patronize these arts, if all they could approve were to be of ancient and of foreign origin.  It is our peculiar happiness, that the same age has produced genius and emulation among the artists, and generosity in those on whom they must depend.  In musick we have seen the composer of the Messiah, rewarded by the universal voice, with honourable advantages, continued to him many years; and such as even caprice itself could never supersede more than for some short interval.  As life declines in him, we see the master who has given examples of his abilities for succeeding him [i.e. John Christopher Smith], distinguished much to his advantage, and yet more to his honour: The most warmly, by the most judicious.[35]

 

 

 

Aug 8

[“LETTER XX.”]

Miss EVELYN to Lady EVELYN.

Mrs. Macknamara’s Grandeur.

Tunbridge-Wells, August 8.

[...] Tuesday, Mrs. Macknamara was at the Concert, full of Rapture (tho’ formerly a Concert was her Aversion) was asked her Opinion of every Song and Tune, till she fancied herself so possessed an Admirer of Music, that she sat beating Time with her Fan, like Handel at an Oratorio[.][36]

 

 

 

Nov 20

20 November

TOM OF THE MILL

 

Close by the side of Thaua, silent stream,

Of Wallia’s bards the sweetly-flowing theme,

There stands a mill,—with which nor Mansfield fair,

Nor Patties’, fam’d in sonnet, can compare;

Here Tom harmonious plies the sounding strings,

While with his notes around the valley rings.—

 

Some talk of Handel, and some say

  Geardini tunes it finely,

And whosoever heard Tom play,

  Has own’d he plays divinely.

 

’Tis he can all the virgins move,

  And set the youths on fire;

At every shake, they pant with love,

  At every trill, expire.

 

Hearts hard as oak, and harder still,

  (Such hearts as Britons wear)

Have often known his matchless skill,

  Mov’d by a string and hair.

 

See Moggy, once a cruel maid

  As e’er at wake was seen,

Is now grown kind, since late he play’d

  With Rosser on the green.

 

And, men of taste, full well, I vow,

  He knows to entertain ye:

Allegro swift, adagio slow,

  Now heer, now piani.

 

His name to every village dear,

  His name to every town;

From Lantwitt up to Aberdare,

  Thy skill, O Tom, is known.

 

  Could I number all the sand

  Yellowing over Newton-Strand!

  Could I every fair one name

  In Glamorgan, endless theme!

  Then thy music I would trace,

  Every harmony, and grace;

  Whether solo sweet you play,

  Frolic dance, or plaintive lay.

 

O Tom of the Mill, may your life wear away

As sweet as your fiddle, not fast as your play!

And may no mischance that sweet fiddle attend,

But always prove good, like yourself, to the end.[37]

 

 

 

Nov 29

I leave it to the consideration of my fair readers, whether the protection of true genius of our own would not do them more honor, than the ill-judged patronage some of them lavish on Italian singers and dancers, for which we have been deservedly laughed at all over Europe, and which I am sorry to see likely to rise much higher than ever.  Farinelli, it is true, was paid extravagantly; but he was paid for singing; but we have now a female at the Opera [i.e. Mingotti], who, with a salary near double to what the best theatrical performer ever had, dares to absent herself from the stage, whenever she chuses to be out of humor, and notwithstanding this, is sure to be applauded whenever she condescends to honor us with her appearance.  I will suppose the ladies who protect these people imagine they are encouraging arts; and that it is only for want of having had their thoughts early turned to proper subjects, that they give their approbation to trifling accomplishments, to the neglect of real merit.[38]

 

 

 

Dec 10

[Mrs. Delany to Mrs. Dewes, 11 December 1755]

 

I had two musical entertainments offered me yesterday

— a concert at Lady Cowper’s, and Mr. Handel at

Mrs. Donnellan’s.  She has got a new harpsichord of Mr.

Kirkman’s, but public calamities and private distress

takes up too much of my thoughts to admit of amusement

at present. [...][39]

 

 

 

Dec 25

William Mason to Thomas Gray

Thursday, 25 December 1755

 

[…]

There is a sweet Song in Demofoonte called Ogni Amante sung by Riccarelli. Pray look at it. Tis almost Notatim/verbatim the Air in Ariadne, but I think better. I am told tis a very old one of Scarlattis wch if true Handel is almost a musical Lauder. […][40]

 

 

 

The Establishment of their Royal Highnesses the Princess Amelia, and the Princess Caroline.

[…]

Musick Master,

Geo. Fred. Handel, Esq 200l[41]

 

 

 

[“The Establishment of their Royal Highness the Princess Amelia and the Princess Caroline.”]

Musick-Master, Geo. Fred. Handel, Esq;       200      0          0 [Sal. Per Ann.][42]

 

 

 

[“The History of ARCHIBALD and Mr. MOLESWORTH continued. / Archibald dances with a beautiful Venetian.  Their Conversation about the Taste and Diversions of the English.”]

“[...] the Lady of our Ambassador told me, that some of the principal Personages of the Kingdom had once assembled to see an Elephant creep into a Thimble, and suffered at the same time the Discouragement and Ruin of the Opera, which is, in my Opinion, Sir, one of the finest Entertainments in the World.”

[... 73 ...]

“[...] The ill Success of the Opera, Madam, does not only give Encouragement to such Hopes as these [“that in a few Years {...} the British Theatre will be confessedly the most accomplished in the World”], but more frequent Opportunities of fine Concerts of Music and the Oratorio; [...][43]

 

 

 

LETTER XXXII.

From a young Gentleman to a Lady of superior Fortune, whom he had seen in public.

Madam,

I Am sensible of the many Disadvantages under which any Man must appear, who presumes to write to a Lady to whom he is unknown: But [64] it is not much that I have to request in this; it is only to be pardoned for the Trouble; and to know whether the Person who was so happy to sit by you Yesterday at the Oratorio, and who has very long wished for such an Opportunity of speaking with you; could, if all Things were favourable to his Wishes, be admitted to the Honour of your Acquaintance.[44]

 

 

 

[“Books lately publish’d, printed for, and sold by J. Wren, in Salisbury Court, Fleet Street.”]

XXVI. The Musical Miscellany; being choice Songs and Lyric Poems, set to Musick by Mr. Handel and other Masters, in six Vols.  12s.[45]

 

 

 

XXVII. Of Music.  The Italian music is that which is most esteemed in England, where it is in some measure naturalized.  And as the English composers have insensibly adapted it to their own accent and taste, they have made a kind of music of it a little different from the Italian, so as to be looked upon as the growth of their own country.  The English before that time had no national music; the remains of their oldest ballads are a most melancholy ditty.  This kind of poet was [112] consecrated, among all nations, at the times of barbarism, to the history of tragical events; they sang only to be afflicted.

The English musicians compose in good taste and with great success for the theatres without being looked upon in general as very learned composers.  Not but that they have had, and still have, some authors among them of reputation in this way.

When the English want to have an opera, they send for most of the instrumental performers, and for all the voices to Italy; from whence they sometimes have even the compositions, when they happen not to be supplied by the celebrated Mr. Handel.  This great musician is a German: by a most exquisite taste he has joined the completest parts of the Italian music, to that tempting harmony so natural to his country.

The English have so good an ear, that a foreigner at his first coming to London, is surprized how well even a common ballad singer performs in the streets.  They generally prefer such compositions as are [113] tender, languishing, and pathetic; and are not near so fond of those which are lighter, and more expressive of gaiety.  The women have a soft, flexible voice, sing very agreeably and very true.

In the winter season they have a great many good concerts in London, which are generally supported by subscription.  There are also several others in summer, in the neighbourhood of this great city, and upon a very extraordinary footing, of which it would be difficult to give a just idea.

 

[/description of Ranelagh. 114]  But all this is only the additional, the concert is the essential part. [115]  As soon as the season approaches, which is generally in the month of March, they begin to advertise breakfasting and a concert in this hall....This amusement lasts till about two in the afternoon, then every body orders their coach, or else walks back to London, which is only a mile’s distance.

It is said however, that notwithstanding the passion the English have for music, still on this occasion it is only a pretext, and that of all the senses the hearing is that which they least intend to satisfy. [116]  For the evening entertainment they advertise a second concert of music in the same hall: there are several others of the same kind in the neighbourhood of London.

...Thus the opportunities of diverting the time are numberless in England, and especially in London; but music forms their principal entertainment.”[46]

 

 

 

[LETTER XII. / To the Reverend Father FABIO MARETTI at Rome.]

[“The reception of Italian fiddlers, and Englishmen of letters.”]

[...]

            AT present, all attention is turned from sense to sound, and an Italian fiddler of note coming [184] from Rome, would find admission and countenance, where a genius to Horace, travelling [sic] from the same place, would meet no reception.

            MUSIC is the fashionable favourite of the ladies; a fiddler is received in this country as an emissary from the skies; and I am convinced, if the ladies were to order a picture of our Saviour’s being received into heaven, they would follow the Dutch taste, only instead of angels playing on the violin, they would think to honor him more by the company of Italian fiddlers.

            ONE of these gentlemen is considered of consequence enough, to divide a nation into two parties in his favour.  The distinction of Whig and Tory is almost at an end, and the concertists and operasts [sic] will probably take their place with equal vehemence; for this nation must be divided by something.

            THE money which these performers get in this city is amazing; they are no longer considered as creatures of entertainment, but rank; [185] they keep better company than men of letters, and often very arrogantly refuse playing at the houses of great men where they have dined; how would an Italian nobleman consider such behaviour?

            SO much sound has gained on sense, and the talents of one performer obtained upon those of the other, that for one who sighs after the genius of Shakespear, there are thousands who pant with desire to play like Digardino [?Giardini]; and so much he profits of his skill, that I believe myself but little mistaken, when I assert, that he gets as much money by his violin, as the whole number of writers in the kingdom do by their knowledge.  This will in a great measure explain the reason of their being more enamoured of sounds, than understanding; and preferring the modulations of n artful musician, to the finest productions of the most vivid and just imagination.

            PERHAPS, the security which attends criticism on music, is the great cause of its being promoted by the patrons of fiddlers; there are no treatises written on the composition of [186] concertos, trios, overtures, and solos, as there are on heroic poems, tragedy, comedy, pastoral, elegy, and satire; these, tho’ they never impart taste, furnish rules which the people of pretension to literature apply; with these they combat the opinions of those who have never read them, tho’ probably of better taste, and make their judgment controverted.

            IN music taste is more arbitrary; and if a lady who has travelled [sic] into Italy, who does not know one note in the gamut, or when an instrument is in or out of tune, talks much of the Cantabile and Cromatic [sic], she shall be esteemed a spirit of choice discernment in harmonic knowledge, and followed as blindly as the oracles which the priestess of the god of music delivered to his votaries of old.

            I HAVE known more than one instance of this, I assure you, where a lady has been dying in raptures at the sound of a fiddle, that was squeaking out of tune, and the upper part of the composition had no more music in it, than the whetting a knife, filing a saw, or the crying of a sow hung by the head in the stye [sic]; at [187] the same time, nine parts in ten of the company screwing faces in concert and complaisance to her ladyship, which would have made a study or academy for artists who carved heads of sticks, or paint in Caracatura [sic].

            IT is amazing in all countries, how much pretension to taste finds means of dissipating, but no where more remarkable than in England; here are men of fortune who sacrifice a thousand pounds in exhibiting a tragedy, only to convince the world how ill they are made for the representation of great things.

            MANY a man of quality entertains the world with concerts, to shew that of the thousand requisites which are necessary to make a complete fiddler, he wants but two, stopping in tune, and playing in time; however, there was yet a more extraordinary reason which induced an English Jew who resided at Paris, to give a public concert, which was to shew, that his lady’s gallant was not an eunuch, for no human head could divine to what other intent he was desired to sing. [188]

            IT is become the fashion in this city to procure charities by musick; that power has found the way of aiding in the support of hospitals, melting from hearts as hard as stone, the sum of one guinea for a concert ticket.  I imagine Amphion was an Italian fiddler, and the walls of Thebes were built much in this manner, perhaps by subscription concerts; I think operas were not then in fashion, that insipid taste of chanting frigid nonsense, thro’ three acts, is an invitation of the moderns, and owes its rise to our nation.

            THE genius of the English is not much turned for music, tho’ much more so than that of France, fashion makes its present prevalency; the conversation which is continued at concerts whilst the finest pieces are performing, puts this remark beyond contradiction; or, it must be a strange degree of self-love, which prefers the sound of its own voice, to the finest compositions of Corelli, Handel, or Geminiani.

            NOTWITHSTANDING the protection and encouragement which are given to the natives of our country, I should with pleasure see the [189] revival of letters, and the languid flame of science cherished by that generous fuel, which it merits from the attention of great men; when it happens, I shall not fail of communicating it to your knowledge.[47]

 

 

 

[“LETTER LI. / To the Reverend Father FILIPPO BONINI, at Rome.”]

[“On the French and English language as adapted to musical composition.”]

DURING the time I tarried in Paris, I could never perceive that the French music was ever adapted to the words which accompanied them; no passion whether love or hatred, anger or despair, were attended with those sounds, which are uttered by those who are under the influence of either of these passions.

            THE lover, but for his action in his tender passages, would to my hearing have been indistinguishable from those in his rage; the music seem’d as well adapted for the expressing one sensation as the other in each circumstance; this made the French opera a most displeasing entertainment to my ears, especially when every thing was accompanied with a squawl [sic], which is as much out of tune, as the crying of cats, or a pig leading to the slaughter. [205]

            NOTWITHSTANDING this, to the sense of seeing, an opera in France is an agreeable amusement; even the chorus of singers, which made my ears thrill with horror, offered an agreeable entertainment to my eyes, and in some measure abated the distress of hearing; and thoJelliot gave me pain in his singing, yet Duprés charmed me with his graceful attitudes in dancing; the eye is exquisite, and the ear almost void of distinction in the natives of France.  Yet it must be acknowledged, that the little chansons à boire, and gay sonnets, are set naturally and well, and all the others insufferable; theses are innate to every French creature.

            PERHAPS the French language, which seems but badly adapted for poetry, is not capable of being set to music, in parts which express the pathetic or any other passion; and the same fault has crept into the sounds which form their language, thro’ want of accuracy in the organs of hearing, that has into their music from the same cause. [206]

[...] the language is absolutely repugnant to the measures and sweetness of true versification; yet it becomes prose extremely well in most kinds of writing, particularly the narrative, airy, and trifling, in which it excells [sic] all languages that I understand.

            THE language of Great Britain is well adapted for poetry; it has a strength which is not to be found in the French, and a variety which is wanting in the Italian, from that kind of monotony which attends our words being terminated in vowels.

            INDEED, after having lived long amongst these sounds, I am inclined to think, that no language is better form’d for being well put to music than the English; and Mr. Handel, and others of their own composers, have shewn, that this observation is true beyond contradiction; a thing which I never could perceive in the French compositions. [207]

            YET, this does not seem to have much influenced the opinion of the inhabitants of this island; a few women, and a few men, who are judges of harmony, for the same reason that birds are of pneumatics, because one has fled thro’ Italian music, as the others have thro’ the air, determine all in favour of Italy, and a castrato is the only singer, and Italian the only melody on earth.

            TO such a degree is this carried, that in complaisance to the most miserable set of Italian singers that ever accompanied any instrument above a salt-box, or a Jews harp, an English opera, composed by an English musician, was prohibited being presented; and the living language of a country, capable of equal graces with the Italian, well set to music, which was universally understood, has been postponed in preference to bad voices, unknown languages, old scenes, and dirty cloaths.  This is encouraging foreigners in a true sense, and outdoing the good Samaritan, who, tho’ he poured wine and oil into the wounds of a stranger, did not presume [208] to starve the natives of his own country; this then is the land of true hospitality.[48]

 

 

 

[...] In the center of this beautiful spot, he saw a vill, that seemed to him of wood, and consisted of ground-rooms.  Many open little summer-houses, various in charms, were scattered up and down, by banks of flowers, and on the margins of streams, and in one of them, that was grandly lighted by a lustre that hung, were twenty ladys sitting round a table.  Most of them had their instruments in their hands, and others joyned their heavenly voices, in performing the oratorio you have heared [sic] by the echo of the hills so plane.  They are all divinely fair, (captain Scarlet continued) and looked like favorite Seraphs performing a musical religious act:[49]

 

 

 

            THIS Accident then, of being surprized in Mrs. Chambers’s Bed [“Charles, at fifteen Years of Age, was surprized by his Lady-mother between a Pair of Sheets with her Waiting-woman”], was a Matter of great Consolation to the right honourable Peer [i.e. Charles’s father]; he boasted of it in all Companies, and swore that all the clever Heroes of Old were damn’d whoring Fellows; I was just such another.  “Your Alexanders, says he, as I find in Mr. Handel’s Alexander’s Feast, set a Town on Fire to please his Wench; and I doubt not, adds his Lordship, but Charles will be as great as any Alexander of them all, damme.”[50]

 

 

 

In the Bristol Journal of December 20th, 1755, is the following advertisement:—“On Wednesday, the 14th January, 1756, will be open’d The New Musick Room, with the oratorio of ‘The Messiah.’  The band will be compos’d of the principal performers, vocal and instrumental, from London, Oxford, Salisbury, Gloucester, Wells, Bath, &c….A concerto on the organ by Mr. Broderip.”  The tickets were 5s. each.  The Journal did not notice the performance, but a correspondent, in praising its excellence, observed, “’Twill be superfluous to mention the elegance of the room, chandeliers, &c.[51]

 

 

 

[“EPISTLE II.”]

But saucy still, shou’d he [i.e. her priest] pretend

To warn you to be wise and mend,

Direct you, in a pious tone,

To leave your sins, at least bemoan;

Say, that illustrious by your birth,

You want no heaven, but that on earth; [23]

From which, you chuse not to remove,

For all his boasted scenes above;

The bliss, to which your soul aspires

Is only found in HANDEL’s wires;

When his soft fingers touch the strings;

When LOW, or BEARD, or FRASI sings.[52]

 

 

 

ACT II.  SCENE I.

Semibrief with a fiddle, is discovered, sitting at a table composing music.

(writes over notes, then touches the violin)

Semi.   SUppose I double tie and slur it, (plays it over again) ’tis better; it goes.—(pricks it down, then plays another part) as harsh as any air of Worgan’s! (plays it again) that will never do—(studies over it) why thus puzzle my brain about one passage? No author retains the same spirit through all his works: sometimes they grow dull.  Nay, even my master Maggot, the greatest in his way; is not always the same.—I have seen him on one journal, merry and melancholy, in grammar and out of grammmar; sometimes as musical as myself; and at others, as dull as a humstrum—but let me once more try it—though judges contemn Maggot in his sphere: let them not have cause to laugh at Semibrief.—(plays the last part over—then studies over it)[.]  The harshness lies in that squaling, c fa, ut, in alt.  try [sic] it in an octo lower: (plays it lower) incomparable! Deliciously fine! Bravissimo!—now for the close. (sings) la de, da de, da da, da.—that’s good.  But I should remember a similar passage either in Handal [sic] or Corelli—what then?  Writers in notes as well as letters, borrow from one another.  However I’ll alter it a little: it shall [25] go by threes——(sings) la de de, ta de de, da da, Da.  Glorious, delightful, heavenly harmony!—gods, were Orpheus alive ’twou’d put him mad!  But let me search Corelli; I hope the passage differs. (looks over books of music: a knock) damn these pestilential knockers!—I know no so enemy to men of study and erudition as that same noise—tis gone—I remember it no more, than how to find Benhadad in the history of Oliver Cromwel—— […][53]

 

 

 

[description of Miss Barter’s unattractive physique]

            MISS Barter […] was as tall as her Mother […] described to be six Foot [… 63 …] Her Neck was like a Skeleton covered with a transparent Cloth, the Bones being visible enough; and in the new-fashion’d Negligée, she really was, at some Distance, in Shape not unlike a Hungary-Water Bottle; […] Her Voice was neither Treble nor Base, but of such a singular Kind, that Handel or Geminiani would have run mad at the hearing it; it would have succeeded in the Opera at Paris to a Miracle.[54]

 

 

 

            Asp[asio].  In this Retirement, We hear none of the wanton and corrupting Airs of the Opera; no, nor the majestic and ennobling Melody of the Oratorio *.—But We have a Band of Music, stationed in the Grove; and a Concert of native Harmony, warbling from the Boughs.  We are entertained with the Music, which charmed the human Ear, long before Jubal found out his Instruments; and Thousands of Years before Handel composed his Notes.—The Bullfinch, and a Multitude of little tuneful Throats, strike the Key.  The Thrush below, and the Sky-lark responsive from above, diversify and exalt the Strain.  The Blackbird, somewhat like the solemn Organ, with Notes perfectly mellow, and gracefully sonorous, crowns the Choir.  While the Turtle’s melancholy Voice, and the murmuring Water’s plaintive Tone, deepen and complete the universal Symphony.

            This is the Music, which constituted the first Song of Thanksgiving, and formed the first vocal Praise, [279] that the All-gracious CREATOR received, from his new-made World.  This is neither the Parent of Effeminacy, nor a Pander for Vice; but refines the Affections, even while it amuses the Imagination.[55]

 

 

 

            Charlotte.  ‘Well but, gentlemen, how are we to pass the evening,—I hope in somewhat more agreeable than mere chit-chat?—Clerimont talk’d of play, and I see you have implements ready.’

            Count Cogdy.  ‘Sir, we amuse ourselves that way sometimes,—and if you chuse it shall be ready to oblige you.’

            Charlotte.  ‘Oh by all means;—I love play extravagantly,——the music of a dice-box is to me beyond all Handel’s operas and oratorios;—here is more real harmony than in the spheres themselves, and I could dance eternally to the sound.’

            In speaking these last words she snatch’d up a dice-box, and began to rattle it with all her force; [...][56]

 

 

 

THE

PREFACE.

            OF all the Sciences, Musick affords us the most exquisite Delight.  When the trembling Strings are touch’d by a HANDEL or a STANLEY, all our Disquietudes are lost in Pleasure: But when MIRA raises her harmonious Voice, and tunes some Love-inspiring Strain, our Souls partake of Raptures never before felt, and we are entranc’d in an Elyzium of thrilling Joy! [57]

 

 

 

[“CONUNDRUMS.”]

227      Why is Mr. Handel so much talked of?

[…]

227      Because he is a Man of Note.[58]

 



[1] Benjamin Martin, Miscellaneous Correspondence ... Vol. I. For the Year 1755 and 1756 (London: W. Owen and the author, 1759), 5; partly repr., William C. Smith, “Handeliana,” Music & Letters 31 (1950), 125-32: 128.

[2] The Daily Advertiser, no. 7486, Saturday 1 February 1755, [1].

[3] The Daily Advertiser, no. 7488, Tuesday 4 February 1755, [1].

[4] The Daily Advertiser, no. 7487, Monday 3 February 1755, [1].

[5] Donald Burrows and Rosemary Dunhill (eds.), Music and Theatre in Handel’s World: The Family Papers of James Harris (1732–1780) (Oxford and New York, 2002), 300.

[6] Donald Burrows and Rosemary Dunhill (eds.), Music and Theatre in Handel’s World: The Family Papers of James Harris (1732–1780) (Oxford and New York, 2002), 301.

[7] The Daily Advertiser, no. 7491, Friday 7 February 1755, [1].

[8] The Daily Advertiser, no. 7492, Saturday 8 February 1755, [1].

[9] The Public Advertiser, no. 6333, Friday 14 February 1755, [1].

[10] The Daily Advertiser, no. 7516, Saturday 15 February 1755, [1].

[11] The Public Advertiser, no. 6337, Wednesday 19 February 1755, [1].

[12] The Public Advertiser, no. 6339, Friday 21 February 1755, [1].

[13] Donald Burrows and Rosemary Dunhill (eds.), Music and Theatre in Handel’s World: The Family Papers of James Harris (1732–1780) (Oxford and New York, 2002), 302.

[14] The Autobiography and Correspondence of Mary Granville, Mrs. Delany, ed. Lady Llanover, 3 vols. (London: Richard Bentley, 1861), 3:333-34.

[15] The Autobiography and Correspondence of Mary Granville, Mrs. Delany, ed. Lady Llanover, 3 vols. (London: Richard Bentley, 1861), 3:333-34.

[16] The Public Advertiser, no. 6343, Wednesday 26 February 1755, [1].

[17] The Public Advertiser, no. 6345, Friday 28 February 1755, [1].

[18] The Autobiography and Correspondence of Mary Granville, Mrs. Delany, ed. Lady Llanover, 3 vols. (London: Richard Bentley, 1861), 3:338-39.

[19] Betty Matthews, “Handel: More unpublished letters,” Music and Letters 42 (1961), 127-31: 129; Donald Burrows and Rosemary Dunhill (eds.), Music and Theatre in Handel’s World: The Family Papers of James Harris (1732–1780) (Oxford and New York, 2002), 303.

[20] The Public Advertiser, no. 6349, Wednesday 5 March 1755, [1].

[21] The Public Advertiser, no. 6351, Friday 7 March 1755, [1].

[22] Donald Burrows and Rosemary Dunhill (eds.), Music and Theatre in Handel’s World: The Family Papers of James Harris (1732–1780) (Oxford and New York, 2002), 303–4.

[23] The Public Advertiser, no. 6355, Wednesday 12 March 1755, [1].

[24] The Public Advertiser, no. 6357, Friday 14 March 1755, [1].

[25] The Public Advertiser, no. 6361, Wednesday 19 March 1755, [1].

[26] The Public Advertiser, no. 6363, Friday 21 March 1755, [1].

[27] Donald Burrows and Rosemary Dunhill (eds.), Music and Theatre in Handel’s World: The Family Papers of James Harris (1732–1780) (Oxford and New York, 2002), 305.

[28] Millan’s Universal Register, of Court and City-Offices...Fourteenth Edition, to 1 Jan. 1755 (London: J. Millan, [1755]), 70; Millan’s Universal Register, of Court and City-Offices...Fifteenth Edition, being the Second Edition to April, 1755 (London: J. Millan, [1755]), 70; Chrissochoidis, 839.

[29] The Gentleman’s Magazine 25 (1755), 142; Chrissochoidis, 839.

[30] The London Magazine: or, Gentleman’s Monthly Intelligencer 24 (1755), 141; Chrissochoidis, 839.

[31] Miscellaneous Correspondence…Vol. I.  For the Year 1755 and 1756 (London: W. Owen, 1759), 49; Chrissochoidis, 839-40.

[32] Miscellaneous Correspondence…Vol. I.  For the Year 1755 and 1756 (London: W. Owen, 1759), 64; Chrissochoidis, 840.

[33] The Public Advertiser, no. 6399, Friday 2 May 1755, [2].

[34] Adam Fitz-Adam [= Edward Moore, Lord Chesterfield, R.O. Cambridge and others], The World...Volume the Fourth (London: R. and J. Dodsley, 1757), 170-72, 173-75; Chrissochoidis, 840-41.

[35] The London Magazine: Or, Gentleman’s Monthly Intelligencer 24 (1755): 166; Chrissochoidis, 841.

[36] [John Kidgell], The Card, 2 vols. (London: the Maker, 1755), 2:167; Chrissochoidis, 841.

[37] The Gentleman’s Magazine 25 (1755), 517; Chrissochoidis, 841-42.

[38] The Old Maid, no. 3, Saturday 29 November 1755, 17.

[39] The Autobiography and Correspondence of Mary Granville, Mrs. Delany, ed. Lady Llanover, 3 vols. (London: Richard Bentley, 1861), 3:383.

[40] http://dx.doi.org/10.13051/ee:doc/graythOU0010450a1c

[41] The Court and City Register.  For the Year 1755 (London: J. Barnes, et al., [1755]), 103; Chrissochoidis, 842-43.

[42] John Chamberlayne, Magnae Britanniae Notitia: Or, the Present State of Great-Britain (London: S. Birt, et al., 1755): “A General List, or Catalogue, of all the Offices and Officers employ’d in the several Branches of his Majesty’s Government,” 263; Chrissochoidis, 843.

[43] [John Kidgell], The Card, 2 vols. (London: the maker, 1755), 2:72-73; Chrissochoidis, 843.

[44] Charles Hallifax, Familiar Letters on Various Subjects of Business and Amusement.  Written in a natural, Easy Manner; and publish’d, principally, for the Service of the Younger Part of Both Sexes, 3rd edition, revised and corrected ([London]: R. Baldwin, 1755), 63-64; Chrissochoidis, 843.

[45] Colden Cadwallader, The History of the Five Indian nations of Canada, 3rd edition, 2 vols. (London: Lockyer Davis, J. Wren, and J. Ward, 1755), 2:non-paginated; Chrissochoidis, 843-44.

[46] [Jean André] Rouquet, The Present State of the Arts in England (London: J. Nourse, 1755), 111-17; Chrissochoidis, 844.

[47] Batista Angeloni [= John Shebbeare], Letters on the English Nation: By Bat[t]ista Angeloni, a Jesuit, who resided many years in London, 2 vols. (London: [?], 1755), 1:183-89; Chrissochoidis, 844-46.

[48] Battista Angeloni [= John Shebbeare], Letters on the English Nation: By Battista Angeloni, a Jesuit, who resided many years in London, 2 vols. (London: [?], 1755), 2:204-08; Chrissochoidis, 846-47.

[49] [Thomas Amory], Memoirs of Several Ladies of Great Britain (London: John Noon, 1755), 322; Chrissochoidis, 847.

[50] [John Shebbeare], Lydia, or Filial Piety.  A Novel, 4 vols. (London: J. Scott, 1755), 1:59; Chrissochoidis, 847.

[51] John Latimer, The Annals of Bristol in the Eighteenth Century (Bristol: [the author,] 1893; reprinted, Bath: Kingsmead Reprints, 1970), 308; Chrissochoidis, 847-48.

[52] Female Taste: A Satire.  In Two Epistles.  Inscribed to a Modern Polite Lady.  By a Barrister of the Middle-Temple (London: S. Crowder and H. Woodgate, 1755), 22-23; Chrissochoidis, 848.

[53] [Lindesius Jones], The Authors: A Dramatic Satyr (London: Timothy Typus [fictitious name], 1755), 24-25; Chrissochoidis, 848.

[54] [John Shebbeare], The Marriage Act.  A Novel.  Containing a Series of Interesting Adventures, 2 vols. (London: J. Hodges, and B. Collins, 1754), 1:62-63; second edition: The Marriage Act.  A Novel.  Containing a Series of Interesting Adventures, 2 vols. (London: J. Hodges, and B. Collins, 1755), 1:62-63; Chrissochoidis, 849.

* Majestic and ennobling.—This, I think, is the true Character, and expresses the real Tendency, of the Oratorio.  Nevertheless, it may not be improper to observe; that if We carry a trifling or irreligious Spirit to the Entertainment; if We attend to the musical Airs, but disregard those sacred Truths, which enter into the Composition; such a Behaviour will be little better than a Profanation of holy Things.  I fear, it will be a Species of taking GOD’s adorable and glorious Name in vain.

Gen[esis]. iv. 21.

[55] James Hervey, Theron and Aspasio: Or, A Series of Dialogues and Letters, upon the most Important and Interesting Subjects, 3rd edition, 3 vols. (London: John and James Rivington, 1755), 1:278-79; Chrissochoidis, 849.

[56] [Eliza Haywood], The Invisible Spy.  By Exploralibus, 4 vols. (London: T. Gardner, 1755), 4:252; The Invisible Spy.  By Explorabilis, 2nd edition, 2 vols. (London: T. Gardner, 1759), 2:279; Chrissochoidis, 849-50.

[57] The Wreath.  A Curious Collection of above Two Hundred New Songs...with all those sung by the most Eminent Performers, at Vauxhall, Ranelagh, Marybon, Cuper’s-Gardens, and all Publick Places of Diversion, 3rd edition (London: H. Slater, et al., 1755), no pagination; Chrissochoidis, 850.

[58] Ben Johnson’s Jests: Or the Wit’s Pocket Companion, 3rd edition with additions and improvements (London: R. Baldwin, [1755]), 89, 113; Chrissochoidis, 850.