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When I left Streatham in a pet, quite resolved te have no
further connection with the gracious mrs. Thrale, she sent for
a mr. Povoleri to continue her eldest daughter in the study of
the Italian language; but that schema could not talee place for
a reason, that her very scanty and slovenly knowledge ofthat
tongue did noi permit her to discover before she sent for that
man. To find, therefore, some employment for that same
daughter, doctor Burney was invited to teach her music, and
Povoleri was turned over to the two younger ladies. It happened
towards the end of that summer, that the whole family went
to Bath, or Brightheimston, I don’t recollect vvhich; and, as
doctor Burney had no cali that way, he recommended Piozzi to
her, that her daughter might not be backwarded in her new
study during so long a vacation. Thus was Piozzi introduced
to the acquaintance of our heroine, who, sic placuit Veneri,
was so irresistibly struck with his multiform endowments,
multifarious qualifications, multiplicious accomplishments, multitudinous perfections, multilateral, multinominal, multipliable,
multiplicate and multipotent powers of mind and body, as to
give him the most precipitous admission to her most desirable
affection, friendship and familiarity; so that Johnson and ali her
other former friends, admirers and adherents were ali knocked
down in an instant, and thrown les quatre fers eri Pair, not able
to make any resistance to such a torrent, that came down with
as great a force, ponderosity and violence, as the cataract at
Niagara.
When the season was over, mr. Thrale and family returned to town and Piozzi engaging in concerts by subscription, madam declared herself his patroness, teazed every lady and every gentleman that touched her threshold, or only looked at it, out of five guineas for the dear man’s emolument; and in one particular season proved so very succes^ful at this kind of work, that with great elation of heart she boasted to me of her having put no less than two hundred and fifty good guineas in his pocket, and triumphantly made me read in what she called «her list» the names of the subsciibers. Her ardour in procuring
