G r A 



began to form a Teutonic intereft and Germanic body Iierc, 

 which, before Giardini's departure from London, became 

 very formidable rivals to him and his Roman legion. 



At the end of 1784, he went to Italy, and refided a con- 

 fulerablc time at Naples, with fir William Hamilton, one of 

 his firil fcholars on the violin after his arrival in England. 



Remaining on the continent till the fammer of 1789, 

 Giardini returned to this country, bringing with him a 

 female pupil and her whole family, attempting a burletta 

 opera at the little theatre in the Haymarket, while the great 

 opcra-houfe, which had been burned down, was rebuilding ; 

 but his prima ilonr.a not being approved, their fpeculation 

 failed, and he iiad her and her whole family on his hands. 

 During his al^ fence the public had learned to do v.-ithout 

 him, and reeonciled themfelv -s to his lofs ; his health, hand 

 and eyes were impaired ; lie was dropfical, his legs were of 

 an enormous fire, and little of his former fiiperiority on his 

 inilrmnent remained, but his line tone. He compofed 

 quartets that pleafed very much, but in which he never 

 played any other part in public than the tenor. The ftyle 

 of mufic was changed ; he printed many of his old conipofi- 

 tions which ufed to pleafe ; but now could gain neither 

 purchafers nor hearers, fo that about the year 1793, ^^'' 

 went to Peterfturg with his burletta troop ; which fcems to 

 have pleafed as little th -re and at Mofcow, as in London ; 

 and he is faid to have died in this laft city in great wretched- 

 nefs and poverty ! 



But before we try to account for this melancholy termina- 

 tion of To brilliant a career, let us endeavour to do jullice 

 to his profefiional abilities. 



It is the bufinefs of every artifl to endeavour to arrive at 

 the head of his profeffion during the age in which he lives, 

 but no one can beexpeiiled to afpire at fuperiority over all 

 mankind, part, prefent, and to come. Homer, our own 

 Shakefpeare, and Miltop, have, perhaps, fucceeded in that 

 wi(h, if ever they foi-med it, and Dryden and Pope have 

 gained two out of three of thefe eras. If Giardini has been 

 furpaffed by a few in talle, exprefflon, and execution, his 

 tone and graceful manner of playing are ftill unrivalled, nor 

 does any one, of all the admirable and great performers on 

 the violin, furpafs all others fo m.uch at prefeiit, as Giardini 

 did, when at h:s bell, all the violinifts in Europe. 



That a man with fuch talents and intellects as art and 

 nature fcarcely ever allowed to the fame individual, who might 

 liave realized 40 or 50,000/., iliould, by extraN agance, ca- 

 price, and a total want of benevolence and retlitude of 

 heart, die a beggar, unfriended and unpitied, is fcarcely 

 credible ! It is painful to probe the private character of 

 fuch a man ; yet it (hould not be concealed. Truth and 

 morality require it to be recorded. The kings of Egypt 

 ufed to be tried after their deccafe. 



And if young muficians of great talents, who are prone 

 to deviate from propriety of conduft, (Tiould chance to read 

 this article, it may ferve as a beacon, and remind them of 

 the poilibility of furviving favour and talents, hov.ever 

 great, and terminating their ejiiftence in mifery and mortifi- 

 ca:ion. 



A refpeclable profeiTor, who, from Giardini's firft arrival 

 ■in England, was conftantly attached to him, and a finccre 

 admirer of his talents, his wit, and even the ingenuity of his 

 fpleen and fpite ; before he quitted this country in 17S4, de- 

 lineated his tharaclcr in the following manner, a copy of 

 which came lately to our hands, accidentally. 



SkfUh of ths prrjatc charoMir of a great mnfician. — " There 

 cxiils a man who would rather gain half a crov.Ti by fivperior 

 ftlbtilty and cunning, than a guinea by ufual and fair means ; 

 who is of fo difficult a commerce, that the utmoil circum- 



G I A 



fpcftion, attention, and complaifance, can only prevent an 

 open rupture, but never put liim oft' hio guard, or warm 

 l.is heart with t'lefainteil glow of friendftiip ; fo capricious 

 and f[)lriirtic, that he has had di'.agrcements and quarrels 

 with all the tirfl perfonages, as v.'ell as profflTors of the fame 

 art, in tlie nation, with wlioin he has had any intcrcourfe ; 

 ye'- fuch are his talents, and entertaining qualities, that, in 

 a {liort time, all elfc is forgotten, and thofe whom he had 

 offended, arc as ready to court his a.-qUaintancc as ever; 

 though Ids rank in hii; profeflion and great abilities Iliould fct 

 him above the envy and petulance of indigent inferioiitv ; 

 yet the fuccels of any one of his acquaintance is as torturing 

 and intolerable to his mind, as the gout or ilone could be to 

 l;is body. He can bear no raufician who d^cs not folcly de- 

 pend on his favour, whom he can lift up and put down with 

 a coup de bagiictU, bring into light, or extinguifli, at pleafurc. 

 He feems, hiinfclf, to deipife all favour from fupcriors or 

 even equals, yet he is coi.llantly at war with favourites of 

 every kind, public and priv.ite. His difpof.ticn is fo truly 

 dii'.bolical, tiiat, preferring the evil principle of the Maiii- 

 cheans to the good of the Chriftians, if it is a matter of in- 

 diiference to his intcrcll, v, hether he ihall ferve or injure an 

 individual, he would always chufe the latter. He has con- 

 Itaiitly trifled witii tortune as well as favour, and having, m 

 the coiufe of his life, acquired great fums, is indigent, and 

 though fo much courted, has not one friend ; with the 

 brighteft intellects, and the clearell head for bulinefs, liis 

 temper renders it fo impoflible for any enterprize to thrive 

 under his direction, that tlie moll favourable and aufpicious 

 beginnings conllantly ended in enmity and misfortune. He 

 13 as inveterate and powerful an enemy to the opera, oratorio, 

 pantheon, and public and private conceits, when they arc 

 not under his direction, as an cx-miniller ufuallv is to tlir 

 government ; and yet, iiotwithilandiiig the attractions of liis 

 performances, abilities as a compofer, and experience as a 

 mani'gcr, lo much are his tricks and tyranny held in ab- 

 horrence by patentees and proprietors, that they would (hut 

 their fliops, rather than open them by his aliillance. His 

 intereil is nuw as totally annihilated in the nation, as that of 

 the Stuart family, who, whatever convulfions or revolutions 

 were to happen in the ftatc, would never be called imt>- 

 po'.ver." 



GIARECAN, in Geography, a town of Grand Buclia- 

 ria ; 45 miles N. of \'elhgerd. 



GliVRGA, a town of the ifland of CorCca ; nine miles 

 E. of Calvi. 



GIARITCHAS, a group of fmall iflands, among tl:p 

 Moluccas. N. lat. o 3'. E.iong. 127' ifJ'. 



GIARM.-i.L, a town of Hungary; :o miles E.S.E. of 

 Levcns. 



GIAROLA, in Ornid'ohgy. See .^l..\UD.\ f/rtAV.-i. 



GIAROLO, a niiin.e by which a fm.iU bird of the fnipfe 

 kind, remarkable for ito v,-hite tail, is known in the nnrkcts 

 of Italy. Aldrovandus has called it the r/nf/« /<T/n«. Srt; 

 TKiX(i.\ olhroptis. 



GIARUD, 'u\ Gfograpby, a town cf Perfia, in the pro- 

 vince of Kerman ; 20 miles W.of Rauand. 



GTAH-UllA, a town of the kingdom of Gandahar; 

 25 miles S.W. of Candal.ar. 



GLvSAN, a town of l\Tlla,iii the province of Segeftan % 

 25 miles N.E. of Kin. 



GIAT, a town of France, in the depaitmcnt of tlic 

 Puy-de-D6me ; 27 miUs W. of Clermont. 



GI/vVENNA, a town of France, in the department of 

 the Po, fituated at the fv>ot of the Cottian Alps, nciu- the 

 Sangou ; furrouuded » j'.h an ancient -.Tnil having four gstec, 



a..il 



