GOLDONI. 



503 



wards accompanied this officer to Feltre, where, at 

 the age of twenty-two years, he had an appointment, 

 and applied himself with great zeal to his official du- 

 ties. The theatre was at this time his only recrea- 

 tion. A tolerable troop of players performed in 

 Feltre. But a theatre of amateurs, in the governor's 

 palace, in which he made his appearance, was still 

 more attractive to him. He was appointed its direc- 

 tor, and not only arranged two operas of Metastasio 

 for exhibition without music, but also wrote two 

 comedies, The Good Father and The Singer, which 

 met with great applause, as did also his performance. 

 His father had, in the mean time, established himself 

 as a physician at Bagnacavallo, in the delegation of 

 Ravenna, and was anxious that his son should live 

 with him. Goldoni consented. But scarcely had 

 he arrived, when his father died, and left his family 

 in embarrassed circumstances. He now resolved to 

 apply himself in earnest to the law. He was admit- 

 ted to the practice of his profession in Padua, and 

 went to settle in Venice. He found but few clients, 

 however, and was obliged to look out for other em- 

 ployment. He wrote little almanacs, some of which 

 were successful, commenced an opera (Amalasonta), 

 &c. He brought himself into notice by the success- 

 ful issue of a law case, in which the first advocate 

 of Venice was his opponent ; and things would perhaps 

 liave gone well with him, had he not involved him- 

 self in new difficulties by an unhappy intrigue. A 

 hasty promise of marriage brought on new embar- 

 rassments. He left Venice and went to Milan. His 

 opera (Amalasonta) was the only property which he 

 carried with him. His hopes of making his fortune 

 by means of it in this place were disappointed. The 

 celebrated singer Caffarelli received him with that 

 haughty incivility so common to successful players ; 

 and one of the directors showed him, in a friendly 

 way, that his piece could not be set to music. Dis- 

 appointed in his expectations, he burned his manu- 

 script, not knowing to what he should next apply 

 himself. The resident of the republic of Venice, 

 however, took him into his house, and the poet com- 

 posed his musical interlude, The Venetian Gondolier, 

 which was well received, and was theiirst piece that 

 he published. The events of the war in Italy, in 

 1733, interrupted the labours of the poet, who was 

 driven successively from Cremona, Pizzighitone, and 

 Parma, was plundered by marauders, and finally un- 

 expectedly met a troop of comedians in Verona, with 

 which he returned to Venice. Here his tragedy, 

 Belisarius, written at this time, obtained him much 

 reputation. A second tragedy, called Rosamunde, 

 fuiled ; and the author, again placed in uncomforta- 

 ble circumstances, went to Padua, with another com- 

 pany of players, which generally performed no pieces 

 but his. Thus he wandered until 1736, the compan- 

 ion of strolling players, and lived in a continual 

 scene of dissipation and intrigue, until he married 

 the daughter of a notary in Genoa, and removed to 

 Venice. Here he first began to cultivate that de- 

 partment of dramatic poetry in which he was to ex- 

 cel ; namely, description of character and manners, in 

 which he took Moliere, whom he began to study 

 about this time, for his model. But the prevailing 

 taste in his native country for masques and extempora- 

 neous comedy, was a great obstacle in the way of his 

 design to reform the theatre in this respect, and he 

 often found himself obliged to yield to the habits of 

 the people and the players, among whom the fa- 

 mous harlequin Sacclri, and his company, were at 

 that time conspicuous in Venice. In 1739, he was 

 appointed Genoese consul in Venice, a station which 

 he certainly filled with ability and diligence. It 

 brought him little or no profit, however, and, in 

 1741, the poet saw himself under the necessity 



of again retiring from Venice to seek a subsistence 

 elsewhere. He removed with his family to Bolo- 

 gna, Modena, and Rimini, and composed for the 

 company of players in that place. On the way 

 to Pesaro, he was robbed of every thing by Austrian 

 hussars, and a rascally postillion set him and his wife 

 down on their way in the open field, and drove off. 

 Goldoni carried his wife through several streams on 

 his back, and, in spite of all obstacles, finally arrived 

 at the Austrian head quarters, where he had all his 

 baggage restored to him. He HOW took the direction 

 of the theatre in Rimini, and, for some time, lived 

 in comfortable circumstances. He then went to 

 Florence and Sienna, where he met with a good recep- 

 tion ; and at Pisa he was persuaded by the Arcadians, 

 at whose sessions he was present, to return to the 

 practice of the law. Our advocate had now an ex- 

 tensive practice. Sacchi heard of this change, and 

 requested him to prepare a new piece. Goldoni now 

 laboured in the night for the stage, and in the day 

 tune attended to his clients, Sacchi for the most part 

 giving him the subjects of his pieces. At the same 

 time, the Arcadians received him into their society, 

 under the name of Polisseno Fegeio. Having suf 

 fered some neglect in Pisa, he again left the law, and 

 followed a company of players, who adopted him as 

 theatre poet to Mantua. From this place he went 

 to Venice, from which he had been absent five years. 

 Here, composing for the theatre San Angela, he 

 began his contest with the deep-rooted taste for har- 

 lequinades and extemporaneous pieces, and his genius 

 at length brought about a new era in the art. Cares 

 and vexation, however, threw him upon a sick bed. 

 By his industry, the director of the theatre had been 

 made rich, while he himself remained poor ; and 

 when he demanded a reasonable recompense, he ob- 

 tained but the meagre permission to publish one 

 volume of his works every year. Still he remained 

 faithful to his agreement, followed the company to 

 Turin, and, after the expiration of his contract, joined 

 the theatre San Luca, but, at the same time, prepared 

 a new edition of his works by subscription, by which 

 he bettered his circumstances, while his opponents, 

 the advocates of the old Commedia dell' arte, found 

 new matter for censure. In 1758, being invited to 

 the court of don Philip, at Parma, he wrote some 

 operas, which were set to music by Duni and Piccini. 

 In 1761, the Italian players invited him to Paris, 

 where many of his pieces met with uncommon ap- 

 plause. By the influence of the dauphiness, he 

 obtained the situation of reader and master of the 

 Italian language to the daughters of Louis XV. ; 

 but, on account of the death of the dauphin, the 

 dauphiness. and the king of Poland, his employment 

 and pension were suspended. At the end of three 

 years, a yearly pension of 3600 livres was granted 

 him. At the breaking out of the revolution, the 

 poet, now eighty-five years of age, lost his pension, 

 and the decree of the national convention of the 7th 

 of January, 1793, on the motion of Chenier, restor- 

 ing it, and making up the arrears, found him already 

 hi the arms of death. He expired the next day, 

 having almost completed his eighty-sixth year. His 

 widow received the arrears and a pension for herself. 

 Goldoni's merits, in reforming the Italian theatre, 

 cannot be mistaken. Many of his numerous pieces 

 still retain possession of the stage in his native coun- 

 try, and, in translations, of the stages of foreign 

 countries. Among the numerous editions of his 

 works, that published at Lucca, in 1809, hi twenty- 

 six volumes, is the most complete. Translations 

 and imitations of some of his works have been 

 made in French, German, and English. Late writers 

 of comedy have often drawn their materials from the 

 rich mines of his wit and knowledge of the world. 



