The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1805-06-25 00:00:00

VINCENT LUNARDI. ESQ.

A. I?ie stupendous Balloon now exhibitinz at the Pantheon
kin engaged., much of the public attention, it may new be
ononteroAing to out Reale•s to peruse the following Sketch
el the Biography of Vincent Lunartir, Eva.

This celebrated aeronaut was born in the republic
of Lucca. in Tuscany, in the month of Janua'y,
1759. His father was a Colonel in the service of
the Emperor of Germany ; his mother, whose
maiden name was FITZGIERA La, was of IfiSII
ex-
traElion.. His father dying while he was very
young, the care of him d:volved en his mother,
Ishii gave him a liberal education.
A. th.! age of 14 he went to Rome, where his
natural grind rapacity and retentive memory ac-
quired him the first honours he enjoyed. At a public
catechism, he evinced so complete a knowledge of
the il:larminio, that be obtained the highest distinc-
tion by being crowned Roman Emperor,* and was
ia consequence presented by Cardinal Vic aa to to
hi; Ilioness Pope Pins the Sixth, who received him
very kindly:, and did him the honour to con arse with
him for above an hour.
Although only 15 years old at this period, the
young theologian condOled himself in such a man-
ner as to inspire his Holiness with the most favour-
able opinion of his talents; and, as a testimony of
his approbation, he presented him svith 300 ducats,
fir the purpose of equipping and preparing himself
for an introduction to the principal colleget at
Rome, where he was shortly after admitted, and
maintained at his Holiness's charge for the space of
three years.
During this time he applied himself to the s•udy
of the mathematics, and to drawing figures under
the thitiOO of :his countryman Po m el US BAT TONI.
At the expiration of the term allotted for the
completion of his Holiness's indulgence, being un-
willing to embrace an t ecleshistical life, he remained
in the collage two years more in the caisacity of
agent.t
At the in:ereals of Icispre he cont: iced to indulge
in his favorite pursuits of the mathematics and
drawing, and every evening exer:;sed himself in the
a:teen-4)l4llmoms of fencing and dancing. 1110
pr-cress he mad. in the two latter may be estimated
by the conduel of his masters, the celehi :test NI -
hLT 1 I and MoNAini, who would receive no emolu-
ment for their instructions beyond the first month,
and invited him to frequent their academies, and to
avail himtelf of every opportunity of improvement,
requiting, as the only recomperse for their trouble,
that he should state the time they had inatrOled
conscious that their reputation would be ennui-
de: ahly en!ianced by the relied progress ha had
trade in these accompli.hmeets.
In the 19th year of his age he qnitteel the college,
cid merit to Naplrs, wbero, through the means of a
meant relation of his mother, mauled to the Mar-
g.:is A a EZZU. h: obtained an introduaion to Prince
t:saamanico, who, being aepointrsi Ambassador
by the King of the two Sicilies, brought last u his
p: irate Staaetary to London.

• In Rome there ie arirpctlle herd in the church belonging
to the IFrail,eno of Uerthaor, • poilhe evainination tw the
!nun, Stmt....its in tier. C4i and, lot the purpote peile
mo.tn4 .he :.etiulittect of th,dirateal learrhog ; and, ao 1.
C""'. to the eintilatim, tit the e am:omits, he cite euete-s
r eu.nat pet to him the twrnt ent.ee•lr,, and thmneers the
reA,..t Patent of inhoelatettl. la /rattled .eut entwitzd Enr
ht,,T. The two neat in nobly are h.tt rant ith the appella-
tiur. (.1 Mine., mod ate amitioestetl to tte.h! the fictiti,us ft:e
rte.. Ills MA oPel ennui( 'taller rei‘iirge., it entitled to
Lira f the doe liunattai .4 a condemned criminal,
*414010 'lie gm.itoi In "he t /orris/es,
ih- sue% the mid] e ot the eet-n ; an intleloaea only content...l
Si. the Cardinal, n.,t fore,en Ata.ba.satk
t celleee e. tl tl L'Ae .datub Ecen,s.ties, awl res
C 461 , I, m. ii.
11. e dray 1.0 o us keep the aeressitt.i of likle
Cot ..61,1suw..eutelert tbes ceded with.; r.1.:et.4•
T. be guotioosi

- A11i.....

IIE.OPFR.;I.

TO Tilt 1:141Olt 'l'llE BRITIS;1 PRESS.
SIR,
After An absence of two years, cruelly compelled,
as I then thought, to live in P.nis, under the mild
influence of NA eoLaow's power, I was delighted
to return m London. Among other objets of corn-
palison, the Opera was one t.f the first. Having
frequented the Imperial Academy of Music, as it
is now called, I will say nothing at present of the
music ; but merely make a few remarks on the man-
ners and coucluft of our Opera.
The first night 1 went with a foreign Gentleman ;
the house Was ful! ; Mrs. Btt.LINGTON was singing
in a manner not to be surpassed in Europe ; but,
somehow or other, I found it difficult to hear her—

I went nearer ; finally, looking round, I perceived
more than half the curriritly engaged in conversa-
tion with a volubility which, I knew, was natural to
Frenchmen, but was gunz unetpeaed from my re-
served and retilafti•,g countrymen. Something is
wrong, thought I ; let us wait till the neat air.
Baena ‘t came on; still the noise cintinued, and
increased at last to a degree of indecency that rais-
ed a blush of indignation, heightened by the idea
that I had represented to my friend the superior or-
der and elegance of our Opera. " Your Opera at
Paris," I said, " is composed of a pit of all sorts of
people, at halt-a-crown ; and the boxes of a similar
gentry, and a poivsarde nobility I" Notwith..tandins,
there is a pr' found silence, an Attention to the music,
that will atone encourage and elevate the .cieuce,
and refine the taste.

There is also a proper mode of applause. It is
not every blockhead that pretends to decide in a Pa-
risian audience; much less are the men of judgment
over-ruled, as at !WI!, bone here, by a gantry that is
surc! to applaud a- I encore the greatest noise or Me
punning. I,‘ e are very apt to Mink ail goes
un well. till an opportunity of c:smparison di,cuvns
our error.

Here I would suggest to all the theatres the pro-
priety, nav, the absulute necessity, of abandoning
the degrading custom of the aflors taking notice ut
applause by profound bows, to gratity the tyranny,
not to say vanity, of the audience—it destriyr, ea-
tirely, the illusion. Mrs. SIDDOIII was, not long
since, loudly aui! justly applauded on enteriag in the
charaeler of Zara; she, with much propriety, and
possessed with all the proud I,:elings of a great and
captive Princess, reproachfully r...sisted the 6-riarous
custom, but was finally compelled to drop a courtesy,
acknowledge" her obligations !—Generous au-
dience!

- - -
My fikmd observed the high Dadies who lead the
fashion, or who ought, continually playing the part
of a leader of a band. by noddinwtheir heads, and
flourishing their tans in time, a'.d often out of time,
with the music : as much as to say—' it is I who
feel that this is good ; observe me, ye gaping spec-
tators, ye vulgar cite, talk as meth as you please
while SPAGMOLITTI plays his solos; Sir John claps
loudly to every step of PAmtsor, while I take care,
by my nodding plumes, that he shall keep time.'
Such things would not be tolerated in a Parisian
theatre of the lowest class. I have even known a
play stopped by a lady eteedentalle hanging a shawl
over the boles, the audience conceiving it to be
.1 a fair Cyprian" offering an insult or an invita-
tion; and I could scarcely persuade my !liens' that
every shawl or tippet here was not liable to the same
inference.
A few words more. Would it not be an improve-
ment, with due respect to the Manager, to curtail
the gallery of the Opera, or station there keepers .f Ore
peace? W ould it not be more agreeable that the
hammering and bustle behind the scenes, during the
performance, be dispensed with, and the gentlemen
scene-shifters and candle-snuffers driven off ? I
would ask whether the Grand dregur, in the-Ora:al
et Curia:zi, ought to bear the Poet's crosier ? They
carried wands. but not a papal instrument. Why.
was that omitted in the Roman banner ?—lt
sioul be S. P. Q. R. These may be trifles ; but, it
is by attending to such things that the Opera at
Paris has acquired the reputation of classical correct-
ness. Historical truth is adhered tu.
Ctssoa.

An Attorney of a very fair charaner in a neigh-
bouring county has been committed to the county
gaol for unlawfully obtaining the sum of 2001. from
a client under pretence of prOcuring for him a situ-
ation in the Revenue ; the poor man, at length find-
ing neither place nor cash forthcoming. became
clamorous, and the Man of the Law declining to
give him a fair accovnt of either, he complained to
a Mag;strate, who, upon examination of the Attor-
ney, discovered sufficient to warrant his committal
for trial.
Yesterday afternoon about four o'clock, a fatal
accident happened in Westminster, to Mr. SraNcta,
Bricklayer, of Great Peter-street. He was em-
ployed to remove a part of the wall between Dean-
street and Dean-yard, when, owing to the badness
of the foundation, the whole of the wall, near 20 feet
long and 10 feet high, fell down upon him, by
which he was so dreadfully bruised, that he died
ill a few minutes. A man who was assisting him
escaped, but with some severe bruises, and was
taken to the Westminster Hospital.
On the Kis o's birth-day, a novel circumstance
occur: ed : tiVrt.ti st KlaKerT, a travelling musi-
cian, and it parishioner of Rockliff, near Carlisle,
called his children, amounting to six (most of them
grown up to maturity) to the parish church, where
.t'uy were all baptised. The gond old man, in order
to do honour both to His M a j esT Y's birth-day, and
the solemnisation of his children's christening, after-
wards ;mumbled his rustic neighbours, and the new
made Christians to his house, whom he regaled with
plenteous draughts of liquor, and the harmonious
notes of his instrument, till a late hour. Both Ilia.
kart and his wife are professed members of the
Church of England.
A young nun and woman were married at a PA•
fish church in the West Riding of Yorkshire, during
the last week.who provtd, on inquiry, to be brother
And sister by marriage. The officiating Clergyman.
apprehensive that be had acted improperly in unit-
ing this pair, attempted to artarearry them —This
novel ceremony' he performed by taking the bilJe's
bonnet from her head, and placing the Church Bible
there t but the charm proved not sufficiently power-
ful—the being couple insisted on the validity of the
i marriage, and firmly resisted the dangerous inno-
vation cf attefflpting to untie (Lc liyareneal knot.

clrr BUS(NES'S.

Yesterday being Midsummer Day, a Common
Hall was held, according to annual custom, at
Guildhall, for the election of Sheriffs and other Of-
ficers. when JOHN Aosr.xv, Esq. Alderman and
Merchant Tailor • and TnouAs Slam', Esq. Al-
derman and Le;herseller, being the two senior
Aldermen who had not served the Office, were 'una-
nimonsly elefted Sheriffs of London and Sheriff of
Middlesex for the ensuing year.
Ricsi•ars CLANK, Esq. the late Chamberlain,
was unanimously re-eleCted ; as were Jonis Wie-
LIM4 GALABIN, and S•OIVEL MANILIOr-T, Bridge-
masters.

Rosen &onyx*, Ricirann SANDERS. and Josati
BROOM, were re-eleaed ; and WHAIDON JONES
eleded Aleconners.
THOMAS SHONE, Citizen and Clothworker, And
WILLIAM UTAVWARD, Merchant Tailor, were con-
tinued Auditors, having served but one year; and
Samutr. BosrocK, Citizen and Plaisterer, and W.
P. HAYWARD, Merchant Tailor, were eleded.
The LORD MAYOR laid before the Common Hall
a letter from Earl Sr. Vinczsr, nn the suhjed of
the thanks voted him by the Livery on the 19th day
of April last, expressing his high sense of the honour
conferred on him; which was read.
After which the Hall was adjourned, and the
Loan MAYOR and Aldermen proceeded to the
Council Chamber, and held a Court of Aldermen,
at which RICHARD CLARK, Esq. was sworn into the
office of Chamberlain; and Joan WILL A ass GA-
LARIN. and SAMUEL M•RRICITT, Bridgetonsters, for
the year ensuing ; as were also the Rulers of the
WA:curie:l and Lightermen's Company.