lived, I think, and kept his faculties entire, to have written, had not incessant care been exerted at the time of his first coming to be our constant guest in the country; and several times after that, when he found himself particularly oppressed with diseases incident to the most vivid and fervent imaginations. I shall forever consider it as the greatest honor which could be conferred on any one, to have been the confidential friend of Dr. Johnson's health, and to have in some measure, with Mr. Thrale's assistance, saved from distress at least, if not from worse, a mind great beyond the comprehension of common mortals, and good beyond all hope of imitation from perishable beings." This, in forensic phrase, is her case. That the resolution to live more apart from her venerated friend would have been taken independently of Piozzi, is likely enough; but she had little reason to wonder or complain that it was attributed to her growing affection for her future husband. Her account of the commencement of their acquaintance, and the growth of their attachment, forms one of the most striking fragments of her Autobiography. She says that in August, 1780, Madame D'Arblay recommended him by letter as "a man likely to lighten the burden of life to her," and that both she and Mr. Thrale took to him at once. Madame D'Arblay is silent on the subject of the introduction or recommendation. She told the Rev. W. Harness, who told me, that the first time Mrs. Thrale was in a room with Piozzi, she stood behind him when he was singing, and mimicked his gestures. On August 24, 1780, Madame D'Arblay writes: "I have not seen Piozzi; he left me your letter, which indeed is a charming one, though its contents puzzled me much whether to make me sad or merry." In her Diary, dated Streatham, July 16, 1781, she sets down : "You will believe I was not a little surprised to see Sacchini. He is going to the Continent with Piozzi, and Mrs. Thrale invited them both to spend the last day at Streatham, and from hence proceed to Margate." "The first song he sang, beginning En quel amabil volto,' you may perhaps know, but I did not; it is a charming mezza bravura. He and Piozzi then sung together the duet of the 'Amore Soldato;' and nothing could be much more delightful; Piozzi taking pains to sing his very best, and Sacchini, with his soft but delicious whisper, almost thrilling me by his exquisite and pathetic expression. They then went through that opera, great part of Creso,' some of 'Erifile,' and much of Rinaldo." In February, 1782, Piozzi is thus mentioned in a letter from Mrs. Thrale to Madame D'Arblay: "This morning I was with him (Johnson) again, and this evening Mrs. Ord's conversation and Piozzi's cara voce have kept away care pretty well." It was never asserted or insinuated by her bitterest enemies that her regard for him took too warm a tinge whilst Thrale lived, and it appears to have ripened slowly into love, manifesting no symptoms calculated to excite suspicion till the year before the crisis. Piozzi's attentions to the wealthy widow had attracted Johnson's notice without troubling his peace. On November 24th, 1781, he wrote from Ashbourne: "Piozzi, I find, is coming in spite of Miss Harriet's prediction, or second sight, and when he comes and I come, you will have two about you that love you; and I question if either of us heartily care how few more you have. But how many soever they may be, I hope you keep your kindness for me, and I have a great mind to have Queeny's kindness too." Again, December 3d, 1781: "You have got Piozzi again, notwithstanding pretty Harriet's dire denunciations. The Italian translation which he has brought, you will find no great accession to your library, for the writer seems to understand very little English. When we meet we can compare some passages. Pray contrive a multitude of good things for us to do when we meet. Something that may hold all together; though if anything makes me love you more, it is going from you." Madame D'Arblay, who registers her friend's movements as carefully and minutely as her own, states in August, 1782, that Streatham had been let to Lord Shelburne, and that "My dear Mrs. Thrale, the friend, though not the most dear friend, of my heart, is going abroad for three years certain. This scheme has been some time in a sort of distant agitation, but it is now brought to a resolution. Much private business belongs to it relative to her detestable lawsuit; but much private inclination is also joined with it relative to her long wishing to see Italy." This scheme of visiting Italy was abandoned, and the friends continued living on the usual terms; Mrs. Thrale's time, as we learn from the Diary, being divided between Argyll Street, Brighton, and Bath. In the mean time, Piozzi's suit had been successfully prosecuted, and her growing inclination for him, although she resisted it with might and main, at length got the better of pride and prudence, and in the spring of 1783 she had entered into a formal engagement to become his wife. The repugnance of her daughters to the match was reasonable and intelligible; but to appreciate the tone taken by her friends, we must bear in mind the social position of Italian singers and musical performers at the period. "Amusing vagabonds" are the epithets by which Lord Byron designates Catalani and Naldi, in 1809;* and such is the light in which they were undoubtedly regarded in 1783. Mario would have been treated with the same indiscriminating illiberality as Piozzi. The newspapers took up the subject, and rang the changes on the amorous disposition of the widow and the adroit cupidity of the fortune-hunter. So pelting and pitiless was the storm of taunts and reproaches, and so urgent were the remonstrances, that a temporary reaction was effected her promise was withdrawn; her letters were returned; and Piozzi was persuaded to leave the country. But the sustained effort imposed upon her was beyond her strength her health gave way under the resulting conflict of emotions; and her daughters reluctantly connived at his recall by her physician as a measure on which her life depended. She was married to him on the 25th of July, 1784. : "Well may the nobles of our present race "Naldi and Catalani require little notice; for the visage of the one and the salary of the other will enable us long to recollect these amusing vagabonds.” – English Bards and Scotch Reviewers. Artists in general, and men of letters by profession, did not rank much higher in the fine world. (See Miss Berry's "England and France," Vol. II. p. 42.) Iffland, the German dramatist, had a liaison with a Prussian woman of rank. On her husband's death he proposed marriage, and was indignantly refused. The lady was conscious of no degradation from being his mistress, but would have forfeited both caste and self-respect by becoming his wife. Madame D'Arblay has recorded what took place between Mrs. Piozzi and herself on the occasion: Miss F. Burney to Mrs. Piozzi. "Norbury Park, Aug. 10, 1784. "When my wondering eyes first looked over the letter I received last night, my mind instantly dictated a high-spirited vindication of the consistency, integrity, and faithfulness of the friendship thus abruptly reproached and cast away. But a sleepless night gave me leisure to recollect that you were ever as generous as precipitate, and that your own heart would do justice to mine, in the cooler judgment of future reflection. Committing myself, therefore, to that period, I determined simply to assure you, that if my last letter hurt either you or Mr. Piozzi, I am no less sorry than surprised; and that if it offended you, I sincerely beg your pardon. "Not to that time, however, can I wait to acknowledge the pain an accusation so unexpected has caused me, nor the heartfelt satisfaction with which I shall receive, when you are able to write it, a softer renewal of regard. "N. B. This is the sketch of the answer which F. B. most painfully wrote to the unmerited reproach of not sending cordial congratulations upon a marriage which she had uniformly, openly, and with deep and avowed affliction, thought wrong. "Mrs. Piozzi to Miss Burney. "Wellbeck Street, No. 33 Cavendish Square. "Friday, Aug. 13, 1784. "Give yourself no serious concern, sweetest Burney. All is well, and I am too happy myself to make a friend otherwise; quiet your kind heart immediately, and love my husband if you love his and your "H. L. PIOZzi. "N. B. To this kind note, F. B. wrote the warmest and most affectionate and heartfelt reply; but never received another word! And here and thus stopped a correspondence of six years of almost unequalled partiality and fondness on her side, and affection, gratitude, admiration, and sincerity on that of F. B., who could only conjecture the cessation to be caused by the resentment of Piozzi, when informed of her constant opposition to the union." Of the six letters which passed between Johnson and Mrs. Piozzi on the same subject, only two (Nos. 1 and 5) have hitherto been made public; and the incompleteness of the correspondence has caused the most embarrassing confusion in the minds of biographers and editors, too prone to act on the maxim, that, wherever female reputation is concerned, we should hope for the best and believe the worst. Hawkins, apparently ignorant that she had written to Johnson to announce her intention, says, "He was made uneasy by a report " which induced him to write a strong letter of remonstrance, of which what he calls an adumbration was published in the "Gentleman's Magazine" for December, 1784. Mr. Croker, avoiding a similar error, says: "In the lady's own (part) publication of the correspondence, this letter (No. 1) is given as from Mrs. Piozzi, and is signed with the initial of her name: Dr. Johnson's answer is also addressed to Mrs. Piozzi, and both the letters allude to the matter as done; yet it appears, by the periodical publications of the day, that the marriage did not take place until the 25th July. The editor knew not how to account for this but by supposing that Mrs. Piozzi, to avoid Johnson's importunity, had stated that as done which was only settled to be done." The matter is made plain by the circular (No. 2), which states that "Piozzi is coming back from Italy." He arrived on July 2d, after a fifteen months' absence, which proved both his loyalty and the sincerity of the struggle in her own heart and mind. There is no signature to her first autograph letter, and both Dr. Johnson's autograph letters are addressed to Mrs. Thrale. But she has occasioned the mistake into which so many have fallen, by her mode of heading these when she printed the two-volume edition of "Letters" in 1788. By the kindness of Mr. Salus |