METASTASI O, 
-£44 
moft of the mufical dramas that were reprefented in the 
imperial theatre. The emperor was a religious prince, 
and a rigid obfetver of decorum himfelf, which confe- 
quentlv kept licentioufnefs at a diftance from his court. 
And the poet, naturally a friend to virtue and morality, 
feems to have gratified his own feelings, by conforming 
to the ferious fentiments of his imperial patron. 
In 1735 he produced, by command of the emprefs Eli¬ 
zabeth, a little opera, with three characters only, entitled 
Le Cineji, for the lame two archduchefl'es and a lady of the 
court to perform, as an introduction to a Chinefe ballet. 
The fame year he furniflied II Palladio confervato, and II 
Segno cli Scipione, pieces written for the celebration of the 
emperor and emprefs’s name-day. Thefe were a kind of 
birth-day odes,but in a dramatic form, in which the praife 
was delicately difguifed in a fable or allegory. 
1111736, his “ Themiftocles,” let by Caldara, firft ap¬ 
peared ; but, while this was performing, Metaftafio had 
another talk afligned him, the difficulties of which he fre¬ 
quently related to his friends many years after. To Be- 
tinelli, the printer, he writes ; “ I lend you a copy of the 
opera of Achille in Sciro, which I have been obliged to 
write in eighteen days and a half, for the nuptials of the 
archduchefis Terefa with the duke of Lorraine. Three 
months, which I ufed to allow myfelf for writing an opera, 
were never fufficient to finifh it to my mind : imagine 
whether it was poffible to fatisfy myfelf with this.” The 
piece, however, fo much pleal'ed the duke, that he made 
jhim a prefent of a very valuable ring formed of one iin- 
gle brilliant.- 
In 1738 and 1739 h £ produced feveral fmall occafional 
pieces, chiefly for the archduchefl'es to perform; which, 
though elegantly written, have not been of that general 
life to the reft of Europe which fell to the lot of molt of 
his operas on a larger l'cale, for want of length and more 
characters. In 1740, belides the opera of Zenobia, and the 
oratorio of Ifaaco, he wrote II Natale di Giove, and the 
opera of Attilio Regolo, for the birth-day of the emperor 
Charles VI. but, that prince dying before it had been re- 
jjrefer.ted, it was laid aiide, and not performed till 1750, 
when it was fet by Haffe for the court of Drefden. The 
poet laments the death of his patron with great fenli- 
biiity, in a letter to a friend. Indeed it was a calamity 
to all Europe, by the general war which immediately en- 
fued. This prince found in Metaftafio a man who en¬ 
couraged and confirmed his love of virtue, decorum, and 
propriety; and Metaftafio found in his patron a prince 
fufceptible of receiving his recommendations of the mo¬ 
ral and focial, as well as the heroic, virtues. Indeed the 
poet and the patron feem to have been formed for each 
other. 
Between the death of this emperor, in 1740, and 1745, 
when prince Charles of Lorraine, confort to the emprefs- 
queen, was elefted emperor by the title of Francis I. the 
court of Vienna had little leilure for being amufed by the 
peaceful arts of poetry and mufic. We find, among the 
poet’s works, but two complete dramas written during 
all that time : Antigono, and Ipermneflra. Antigono was 
written exprefsly tor the court of Drefden. Bothhvere 
fet by Halle, who ranked high in the favour of Metaftafio, 
as a great compofer and intelligent man. 
The bleffings of peace, after the feven-years’ war, re¬ 
vived at Vienna the innocent pleafures of the lyric thea¬ 
tre ; and in 1751 produced Metaftafio's beautiful opera 
of It Itc Pajlore ; which was followed, in 1753, by I'Eroe 
CineJ'e. Thefe were performed in the imperial theatre by 
perlons of the higheft diftinction, 1'ome of wffiom are laid 
greatly to have furpaffed, in many particulars, profelfed 
opera-fingers of the firft rank. 
* In 1756, at the requeft of his friend Farinelli, and with 
the permiffion of his imperial patrons, he furnillied the 
.Court of Spain with a new opera, entitled Aitteti, which 
was brought on the ftage there, with the utmoft lplendour 
and magnificence, under Farinelli’s direction. 
The lalt .three operas written by Metaftafio, were II 
Trionfo di Clelia, in 1762 ; Remolo ed Erfilia, 17(15; and 
II Ruggiero, in 1771 which were performed at three Se¬ 
veral places : the firft at Vienna, on the delivery of Ifa- 
bella of Bourbon, firft conlort of the emperor Jofeph II. 
the next at Innebruck, on the marriage of the grand duke 
of Tufcany with Maria infanta of Spain; and the laft at 
Milan, on the nuptials of the archduke Ferdinand with 
Beatrice princefs of Modena; which terminated the dra¬ 
matic labours of our admirable lyric bard. His other poe¬ 
tical compofitions, which are very numerous, confift of 
oratorios, occafional Ihort lyric pieces, hymns, and facred 
longs, cantatas, epithalamia, fonnets, canzoni, compli¬ 
mentary verles, &c. all replete with elegance, refined ideas, 
and every beauty of numbers which the Italian language 
fo copioully can furnilh, and melody requires. 
Fabroni thinks that the fun of Metaftafio’s genius was 
at its meridian during the firft ten years of his refidence 
at Vienna; but Metaftafio himfelf prefers his Regolo, 
which was written in the eighteenth year after his arrival 
in that city. His Artaferle had the molt uninterrupted 
fuccefs. 
We have not yet fpoken of his profe-works. Before 
he quitted Italy he had begun a treadle on the dramatic 
art; but, having no opportunity of finiffiing it, he con¬ 
verted it into a work entitled “ An ExtraCt from Arif- 
totle’s Art of Poetry.” He laboured long at the correc¬ 
tion of this work, and his tranllation of Horace, before 
his natural timidity would allow him to publilh them. 
Belides many imperfect works, he had made a collection, 
of oblervations on the Greek tragedies and comedies, 
which were found after his death with this infeription: 
“ For the affiftance of my memory, and not for publica¬ 
tion.” For the fpace of thirty-five years he conftantly 
palled his evenings in company with the Sardinian am- 
baffador (the count de Canale), and baron de Hagen, to 
whom he ufed to read the dallies. When he cealed read¬ 
ing, he frequently wrote down his remarks. Thefe re¬ 
marks were amongft the count of Canale’s papers, and 
after his death were deftroyed. 
“ His Letters (fays the abate Criftini, the moft accu¬ 
rate and ample of all his biographers) will do honour to 
all Italy, while they difcover his moft intimate attach¬ 
ments, his moft fecret thoughts, his favourite opinions, 
and the hiftory of a man who was all heart and all virtue.” 
The lame grace, facility, and elegance of ftyle, appear in 
his profe, as have rendered his poetry fo juftly celebrated. 
What renders thefe Letters infinitely more natural and fa- 
tisfafitory is, that, iike the Epiftolas Familiares of Cicero, 
they were not written with the leaft view to publication; 
as is manifeft by the lively complaints which he makes to 
his correfpondents, who, for the gratification of their own 
vanity, had betrayed his confidence. 
Few writers have been fortunate enough to enjoy the 
favour of the public fo completely during their lives as 
Metaftafio. But this felicity is not to be more aferibed, 
perhaps, to the excellence of his writings, than to hjs 
modefty, candour, and determination neither to give nor 
take offence, by cenluring the productions of others,' or 
refenting the cenfures of his own. In all his productions, 
religion, government, found policy, morals, manners, and 
even innocent prejudices, are fo highly rel'peCted, that the 
moft extreme delicacy never finds the leaft lentiment that 
can offend or alarm. His doCtrines and practice in thele 
particulars fo perfectly agreed, that he conftantly dil- 
countenanced in converfation all tendency to licence, 
difrel'peCt, and deputation, on moral and facred fubjeCts, 
though naturally cheerful, and pleafantly metaphorical, 
in his converfation. This being his invariable practice 
during his long refidence at Vienna, excited as much 
eagernefs in travellers of all ranks to fee and converle 
with him, as the renown which he had juftly acquired by 
his writings: and thus the private virtues of the man, 
and the ft rift propriety of his conduCt, fupporteef the 
efteern which his talents infpired. Confining himfelf to 
the bufinels of his ftation, he never intermeddled in court- 
.£ parties 
