‘perfonated and burlefqued. 
‘ 
1801.) 
perhaps inferior to none fince the revival of 
ancient literature, were the moft active in 
employing their pens on fimilar fubjects, 
profticuting their valuable talents in thefe 
whimfical exertions.. The abufe called 
loudly for reformation, and nothing could 
have better anfwered.the purpofe than a 
jeu a’ efprit calculated to cover it with ridi- 
cule. Galiani, catching the opportunity 
of the death of a famous public execu- 
tioner, named Fannaccone, {ported a droll 
funereal ,coileftion: of profe and. verfe in 
his praife, in which the manner and ftyle 
of the refpeStive authors, accuftomed to 
that fort of compofitions, were ingenioufly 
Moliere, by 
his happy comedy, Les Femmes Savantes, 
cured the mania of his countrywomen for 
the ftudy of claffical literature, and the 
Mefdames Daciers, ‘after its appearance, 
were no more to be found in France. -Ga- 
liant, however, was not fo fortunate in cur- 
ing the folly of his countrymen for fune- 
ral colle&tions. To the difgrace of the 
Italian nation, this abfurd cuftom conti- 
nued to prevail many years afterwards ; 
and folate as the year 1733, on the death 
of the Princefs of Roccella, aninfignificant 
woman, in every fenfe of the word except- 
ing one, we witnefled a profufion of com- 
politions in the fame ftrain, by the beft 
Italian poets, including the refpectable 
Bettinelli, in a volume too, prinftd on 
large fuperfine paper; and, to complete the 
farce, with the inimitable types of Bo- 
DONI! 
Much about the fame time, Galiani had. 
an opportunity, in another work, of pro- 
ducing another {pecimen of his humour. 
Pope Benediét XIV. had applied to his 
uncle, the Great Almoner, to procure him 
a complete collection of the various mate- 
rials which, compofe Mount Vefuavius. 
This Prelate intrufted the commiffion to. 
his nephew, who actually. undertook to 
make the collestion, accompanying each 
article with a fhort philofophical comment, 
‘Soon after, he addrefled them. in a box to 
the Pontiff, with an humorous infcription to: 
‘the whole—$z filius Dei.es, fac ut La- 
PIDES 7? PANES fiani.— The turn of this 
motto was eafily apprehended bythe Pope, 
who was himfelfone of the wittieft men of 
his age, and. it could not fail to procure 
Galiani what he hinted at.. He accord- 
ingly received foon afterwards a rich ab- 
bey, worth four thoufand ducats (neaily 
feven hundred pounds) per annurh.. It is 
a defirable condition for men of letters 
when they have to deal with fovereigns 
like Benedi&t XIV.! Bat how feldom do 
we find, in the chronological tables of 
MonTuiy Maa, No, 80, 
~ 
Memoirs of Galiani. ; 
~ nounced in Ital 
Als 
va 
‘ 
princes, men like him, whofe virtues re- 
flected honour on the diadem, and would 
have been an ornament to any church! 
. Thefe exertions, however, were of infe- 
rior moment, compared with the hiftory of 
the human mind. Galiani foon.afterwards 
difplayed his abilities ina philofophical 
line: and we find him, about the year 
1745, publifhing his well-known political 
tract, Traitato deila Moneta (a Treatife on 
Money). ‘This was. unanimoufly pro- 
an original and capital 
publication. The important fcience of 
political-economy_was then, as it were, in: 
its infancy; in England, indeed, a few 
hints had been fuggefted on the fubje& by 
Mr. Locke, and other writers ; and fome 
fewer in France, by Meicn and Tutot; 
no one confequently will difpute the palm 
of originality with M. Galiani. 
It was this work which firmly eftablithed 
his reputation in the world, He was now 
appointed fecretary to the Neapolitan am- 
baflador in Paris, where he foon exhibited 
other {pecimens of his philofopNical abili- 
ties, by publifhing an Effay on the Com- 
merce of Corn. ‘This new work was very 
favourably received in France, where fome 
of their philofophers were candidly wont 
tofay: Le petit italien eff en cela plus inn 
Jiruit que nous.—By the word pert, they 
alluded to the diminutive ftature of the’ 
- author. 
It was not long before he was recalled, - 
to Naples, where he was appointed .a 
counfellor in the tribunal of commerce, 
an office of magiftracy not incompatible 
with the order of a clergyman. He re= 
tained this place-during the remainder of 
his lite; and as it required-much time and. 
application to perform its duties, M. Ga. 
liani after this was not fo active in literary 
exértions as he had been heretofore. In 
1779, he publifhed a work on the Origin. 
of the Neapolitan DialeZ. This pertor- 
mance was thought not to bear an accu~ 
rate correfpondence to the title. Galiani 
might have thrown muclr light upon'this 
branch of Italian philology, as well as on 
the civil viciffitudes of a nation whofe 
misfortune it has been to be fo frequently 
conquered or governed by foreign powers, 
His work wasjudged fuperficial and unf2- 
tisfaétory by thofe who wifhed that the in- 
terefting queftions involved in the fubjeck 
fhould have been profoundly and freely 
canvaffed. In the year 1780, he publifhed ‘ 
a treatile on the Armed. Neutrality, which 
he dedicated to the late Emprefs Cathe- 
rine of Ruflia. This work, on a queftion 
entirely new and complicated in the fyftem 
of public law of Europe, fell likewife 
3 H confiderably 
