taking too much liberty; and yet I flatter myself, that a man of your penetration will easily distinguish a simple good meaning from affectation and impertinence. I am, Sir, with admiration and respect, &c. COUNT ALGAROTTI TO MR. PITT. Pisa, 28 Febbraio, 1763. ECCELLENZA, QUELL' omaggio che io ho reso à vostra Eccellenza in publico, la supplico permettermi di renderle ora in privato, e di ringraziarla nel medesimo tempo della permissione, che mi ha benignamente accordata di manifestare quello, che la virtù sua crea in cuore di tutti coloro che pensono. Ben vorrei, che tale fosse la mia operetta da portare degnamente in fronte un così gran nome come è il suo; vorrei aver formato uno spettacolo, a cui potesse assistere Pericle. (1) Ardirei pregare vostra Eccellenza di offrire à my lord Temple uno dei libretti, che receverà, secondo che ha avuto l'onore di scriverle giorni sono, il suo grande ammiratore, e amico mio, il Signor Guglielmo Taylor How. Mi figuro bene (1) Mr. Pitt says, in a note to Mr. How, "the Essay on the Opera in Music is indeed a master-piece in its kind. What order, light, and interest thrown into a confused, dark, and, till now, but little affecting matter! "Tenuis labor, at tenuis non gloria !'" spesso in ispirito di tornare nel delizioso soggiorno di Stowe, e di far corte à vostra Eccellenza e à my lord, nel Tempio della Concordia (1), in cui ella ha posto la pietra angolare; fabbrica rara, di cui vostra Eccellenza solamente poteva essere in Inghilterra il Palladio. E col più profondo rispetto, ho l'onore di sottoscrivermi, Di vostra Eccellenza, umilissimo, devotissimo, obligatissimo servitor, FRANCESCO ALGAROTTI. (2) (1) This temple, one of the principal ornaments in the gardens of Stowe, was designed by Kent, from the measurements of the maison-carrée at Nismes, but was not completed till 1763; when it was dedicated by Lord Temple to Concord and Victory, as a monument of the glories of the war. (2) "That homage which I have publicly rendered to your Excellency, I now beg leave to pay you in private; and, at the same time, to return you my thanks for the permission you have kindly given me openly to declare, that which your virtues have created in every thinking breast. Would that my little performance were worthy of the great name it bears! — that I had constructed a spectacle at which Pericles might have assisted! "May I request your Excellency to present to my lord Temple one of the little books, which your great admirer and my friend, Mr. William Taylor How, has apprised you you will receive. I often fancy myself in the delightful residence of Stowe, paying my respects to you and to his lordship, in the Temple of Concord; in which you have laid the corner stone. Rare edifice! of which your Excellency, in England, could alone be the Palladio. I am, &c." MR. PITT TO COUNT ALGAROTTI. [From a draught in Lady Chatham's hand-writing.] HAPPY natures, whom science exalts and the humanizing arts adorn, are in nothing more distinguished from the rest of men, than by their peculiar delicacy in dispensing favours. The observation is indeed of very ancient date; yet never did the truth which gave it birth display itself so pleasingly, as in your manner of conferring such accumulated honours upon me. The public suffrage of Count Algarotti could leave nothing for my ambition to desire; but feelings still more affecting could alone receive their gratification from the private flattering pledge of friendship, which your most obliging letter conveys. Thus it is, Sir, that you give fame and happiness; yourself forgetting all the while how invaluable the gift is which you so generously bestow. I did not lose a moment in giving Lord Temple the pleasure of having what you destined for him and he has charged me with assuring you, in the most expressive terms, that he is proud and happy to receive so kind a mark of Count Algarotti's remembrance, and that he begs to offer you his sincerest acknowledgments for the great honour of such a present. His lordship and I count the hours till our Argo arrives; for your work, more impatiently desired than was the golden fleece of old, has not yet reached England. The daily expectation of the ship's arrival has made me postpone till now what I can no longer delay; which is to offer you, Sir, the respectful tribute of my warmest gratitude, and to assure you, that I shall never walk among the Elysian worthies, in that delightful garden you allude to, without my heart concurring with my imagination to place amidst that sacred band an illustrious son of modern Italy, whom old Rome would have viewed with joy, the Scipios have loved, and the court of Augustus have admired; and whom a Monarch, who combines Augustus and Julius in one, has distinguished by his choice, and graced by his auspicious smiles. W. PITT. THE EARL OF BRISTOL TO MR. PITT. SIR, Sunday, March 27, 1763. : LORD TEMPLE has just left me, after acquainting me with the purport of your speech, and the vote you gave in relation to the cyder bill (1), which (1) As one of the ways and means of the year, a bill had been brought in, laying a duty upon cyder, and subjecting the makers of it to the laws of excise. In the course of its progress, Mr. Pitt strongly opposed it. "Every man's house was," he said "his castle; and if this tax was endured, it would necessarily lead to the introduction of the excise laws into the domestic concerns of every private family, and to every species of the produce of land the laws of excise were odious and grievous to : is to be read the second time to-morrow in the House of Lords ('); therefore, in consequence of what you have done, I shall regulate my conduct, without importuning you for any previous conference upon this subject. I own my pride consists in having your fiat; as no one can be with a more perfect esteem or true respect, than I am, Sir, Your most obedient humble servant, BRISTOL. THE EARL OF BRISTOL TO MR. PITT. SIR, Wednesday, April 6, 1763. LORD TEMPLE being now out of town makes me presume to communicate to you some changes in the dealer, but intolerable to the private person." Mr. Grenville, although he admitted that the excise was odious, contended that the tax was unavoidable. "Where," he asked, "can you lay another tax of equal efficiency?" And he repeated several times, "Tell me where you can lay another tax - tell me where?" Upon which Mr. Pitt, in the words of a song at that time popular, replied, in a musical tone, "Gentle shepherd, tell me where!" This anecdote is related by Almon, and also by Mr. Butler in his Reminiscences; who adds, that the effect upon the house was irresistible, and settled on Mr. Grenville the appellation of "the gentle shepherd." (1) On the division upon the second reading, the numbers were, contents 83, not contents 49. This is said to have been the first time the Lords divided upon a money bill. The opposition to it was opened by the Earl of Hardwicke, who spoke in the house for the last time. He was answered by Lord Bute; whose mode of delivery was remarkably slow and solemn. It was in reference to this speech, that Charles Townshend humorously exclaimed, " minute guns!" |