Timms Lindgren Steff..

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56 LOWELL LINDGREN AND COLIN TIMMS marchioness. Do you or do you not wish to honour me with any of your orders in this land? I am entirely at your disposal, as I should like to prove. As for the well-known embryo, to give form to which those in Dresden were awaiting information from me, I say to you in this folio that things are now going just as badly as they had begun well. The malignant spirit of parties, which is so natural to the English mind, has been introduced into the [Royal] Academy of Music, with the result that at present things are going sideways, and there is everything but harmony. It is not yet known whether Senesino will stay; Berselli is ill in the country; Durastanti has given birth; Bononcini either laughs or gets angry when he sees how absurdly things are arranged, and thus these affairs are in total disarray, like everything else. If they should ever be reformed, I shall not fail to give you immediately the account that you desire. Keep me in your revered grace. Convey my respects to Marquis Nomis (oh, I have said this once already, but that does not matter, because I could never say it often enough to suffice), to my revered Abbot Mauro, to Bossis, a terrible chess-player whom I esteem less than a fig (how fine it is to play the 'bravo' from afar), and to the rest of my good patrons and friends. Write and tell me whether Baron Bernstorff will return to see Albion again. I am with the usual respect, Your must humble and obsequious servant, Riva [f. 261 GiacchC Vostra Signoria Illustrissima non vuole l'illustrissima, fiat. Andiamo dunque alla buona, o per meglio dire, com'Ella comanda. Questo mio irreverito foglio serve di risposta a1 suo gentilissimo delli 25 febbraio, cui prima d'ora non ho potuto rispondere. Un altro direbbe per occupazioni, che non gli hanno lasciato tempo di compire a1 suo dovere; ma viva la verita, perch6 mi son trovato distratto da incombenze di divertimenti geniali, leciti ed onesti, et salvo iure putei, ora sono a me, come 10 sono sempre a Lei. Mi rallegro del suo felice arrivo a Hannover, ed entro a parte della consolanone che ne avranno avuta tutti i nostri buoni amici. Mi par di vedere il nostro Signor Abbate Mauro liberato dal male di ratto. Ho voluto dire de la perch'& femminino. Non mi son dimenticato affatto l'italiano. Per 10 ritorno di Lei sono debitore di riposta a due Sue carissime lettere. Pagherb il mio debito quanto prima, ed intanto ho fatto buon'uso de' Suoi Parti Aganippei da Lei mandatemi, che sono stati [f. 26v] ben ricevuti da tutto il mondo. Dopo la morte di Mylord Stanhope e di Monsieur Craggs, l'uno la testa e l'altro il braccio del ministero, I'anima, che n'& Mylord Sunderland, essendosi per I'afffizione resa incapace d'ogni ufizio, ha dato camp a Tonshend ed a Walpool di subentrare . . .. Mylord Carteret, sua creatura, L! fatto segre- tario di stato, e credo che Sua Maestd avra tutta la confidenza in esso, in modocchC potrebb'essere che 10 spirito di Sunderland continuasse a governare. Quanto gli giova saper [f. 27) ben giocare a scacco per non ricevere il matto. I1 nostro Signor Marchese Nomis ha una lettera esatissima, come lui L! degli affari della Compagnia del Sud. Ella la vede, onde non La stanco qui con una inutile relazione di quelle cose. Supplico (che diavolo: come fare a non dire V. S. Ill."") V. S. Ill."" dunque a ricordare a lui, ed alla signora marchesa sua i miei rispetti. Ma vuole o non wole Ella onorarmi di qualche suo comando in questo paese? Sono intieramente alla Sua disposizione, onde ne farei la pruova. Per l'embrione consaputo, per dar forma a1 quale si aspettavano in Dresda mie informazioni, dico a Lei in questo foglio, che le cose vanno a1 presente cosi male, come avevano cominciato bene. Si 6 introdotto 10 spirito malign0 de' partiti, ch'6 tanto naturale a1 genio inglese, nell'accademia di musica, in modocchC a1 presente le cose vanno all0 traverso e vi L! tutt'altro che [f. 27v] armonia. Non si sa ancora se THE CORRESPONDENCE OF AGOSTINO STEFFANI AND GIUSEPPE RIVA, 1720-1728 57 Senesino rester+ Berselli i! in campagna malato, la Durastante ha partorito; Bononcino ora ride, ora s'adira, veggendo ordinarsi spropositi, e cosi le cose sono alla immitazione di tutte le altre, in un sommo disordine. Se prendessero mai buona forma, io non mancheri, di dare a Lei subito la relazione che si desidera. Ella mi continui la riverita sua grazia. I miei rispetti a1 Signor Marchese Nomis (oh, l'ho detto un'altra volta, ma non importa, perch6 no1 potrei mai dir tanto spesso che fosse abbastanza), a1 Signor Abbate Mauro mio riverito, a1 Signor Bosis, terribile scacchista che io non stimo un fico (che be1 fare il bravo a longo), ed a1 resto de' miei buoni padroni et amici. Mi scriva se il Signor Baron Bernestroff ritornera a rivedere Albione. Sono col solito rispetto, Semitore umilissimo ossequiosissimo, Riva The Italian text of paragraph 5 was printed in Timms, 'Music and Musicians', 33. The 'discipline of the well', mentioned at the end of the first paragraph, means that Riva was temporarily abstaining from alcohol. He confirmed this on 7 October 1721, when he stated that he had kept his 'muzzle dry' for two years (see no. 19, below). Mauro and Nomis are identified in letters L and P, above, respectively. The Aganippe was a fountain on Mount Helicon sacred to the Muses, which gave poetic inspiration or poetic power or method (Oxford English Dictionary). The 'parti aganippei' sent by Steffani were presumably words of wisdom that Riva found in his letters. James Stanhope, first Earl Stanhope (1673-1721), was a secretary of state for George I in 171421; he and Sunderland controlled the cabinet from 1717 to 1720 (DNB, xviii, 901-6; Jeremy Gregory and John Stevenson, The Longman Companion to Britain in the Eighteenth Century, 1688-1820 (London, 2000), 46-8 and 43940). James Craggs, the younger (16861721), was a secretary of state from 1718 to 1721 (DNB, iv, 1365-6; Gregory and Stevenson, Longman Companion, 47 and 71). Charles Spencer, third Earl of Sunderland (1674-1722), was already a secretary of state in 1706-10; under George I he ousted Townshend to become a secretary of state in 1717 and was promoted to First Lord of the Treasury in 1718; Walpole removed him after the South Sea Bubble burst in 1720 (DNB, xviii, 751-7; Gregory and Stevenson, Longman Companion, 44, 47-8 and 439). Charles, second Viscount Townshend (167&1738), who married Robert Walpole's sister Dorothy in 1713, was appointed a secretary of state in 1714, resigned his post in 1717, was again named a secretary of state in 1721, and resigned in 1730 (DNB, xix, 103-4; Gregory and Stevenson, Longman Companion, 46, 49 and 444). Robert Walpole (167C1745) became First Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer in April 1721 (DNB, xx, 635-64; Gregory and Stevenson, Longman Companion, 48). 'He helped save the gov- ernment and the Hanoverian dynasty in 1720-1 during the aftermath of the South Sea Bubble. Walpole's rise to power was greatly helped by the fortuitous deaths and removal from office of his major rivals, and by his management of the Atterbury plot, which allowed him to use the Jacobite threat to consolidate his power base, and enabled him to accuse his opponents of being Jacobites. His control of the patronage system and his use of the House of Commons as the centre of political power, marked by his refusal to accept a peerage in 1723, contributed to his maintenance of office' (Gregory and Stevenson, Longman Companion, 447). The omitted portion contains further discus- sion of political affairs, including the fact that [John] Aislabie (167&1742), Chancellor of the Exchequer, had been imprisoned in the Tower (DNB, i, 2034; Gregory and Stevenson, Longman Companion, 1415, 47 and 72). John Carteret (1690-1763), later Earl Granville, was appointed secretary of state in 1721 and named Lord Lieutenant of Ireland by Walpole (who thus removed him from the centre of power) in 1724 (DNB, iii, 11 19-24; Gregory and Stevenson, Longman Companion, 49 and 379). The Hanoverian minister Baron [Andreas Gottlieb von] Bernstorff (1649-1726) apparently began his diplomatic service in 1677 (Bittner and GroB, Repertorium, 86-7 and 377;
58 LOWELL LINDGREN AND COLIN TIMMS Hausmann, Repertorium, 445; and Ragnhild M. Hatton, 'New Light on George I of Great Britain', in England's Rise to Greatness, 1660-1763, ed. Stephen B. Baxter (Berkeley, 1983), 224). 8. Steffani to Riva Hanover, 4 April 1721 [Friday, in Bossis' hand] If I did not reply last Tuesday to your most courteous letter of 21 March, I ascribe this to two perfectly valid reasons--one to do with time, of which I was short, the other with my health, which becomes very shaky at this change of season. I tell you this to prevent you from thinking, as a result of this little delay, that I intended to take revenge for your long silence-which you richly deserve, if for no other reason than the persistence of superlatives, as much in the body as in the signature appended to your letter. If you do not correct this immediately, I am determined to fill half a dozen folios of paper with most illustriouses, most humbles, most obsequiouses and as many mosts ['-issimi'] as I can find, to make you spend £10 or £12 in postage. I thank you beyond measure for the news that you send me and implore you, if it is no trouble to you, to continue the practice, for, to speak frankly, I do not greatly value circular letters, supposing England to be no different from other parts of the world, where commend- able care is taken to write down only what one wants others elsewhere to believe. If I tell you that I am not displeased by the case of Mylord Sunderland, I would lie, since I confess that I found him so reasonable on certain quite prickly subjects that he entirely conquered me. I therefore rejoice to hear that, according to your description, Mylord Carteret has the same outlook as his predecessor, since here there are doubters . . . .. I am sorry to hear that musical affairs there are in disarray. Since I want no one to doubt the good will of Piva, it would not be a bad thing if you replied to [Pallavicini in] Dresden about the well-known embryo. You most kindly request commissions from me. Rest assured that, when the opportunity arises, I shall avail myself of your good will without abusing it. If you want a long litany of the friends who greet you, I shall give you one, but on this occasion you must be content when I tell you that everyone does, without naming anyone but Bossis, who is greatly offended by your declaration that he's not worth a fig and that you won't address him until after a series of checkmates. I wish that were tomorrow, in order to have the honour of embracing you and letting you know of my desire to serve you. A S [monogram signature] [f. 71 Se non risposi martedi scorso alla Sua cortesissima delli 21. del passato, 10 ascriva a due cause pur troppo valevoli, una del tempo che me ne manco, e l'altra della salute che non poco in questa mutatione della stagione vacilla; glielo dico afinchc! non creda in questa picciola dilatione qualche motivo di vendetta del Suo lungo silentio, tutto che 10 meriterebbe abbondantemente, quando non fosse per altra causa per la ostinatione di quei superlativi tanto in corpo di lettera quanto nella sottoscrittione, di mod0 che quando Ella prontamente non se ne corregga, io son risoluto di empire una mezza dozzina di fogli di carta d'illustrissimi, umilissimi, ossequiosissimi, e quanti issimi potro mai trovare per farLe spendere dieci o dodeci lire sterline in porto di lettere. 10 La ringrazio Mtamente delle nuove che mi communica, e se non gl'i! d'incommodo La prego continuarmele, perch6 a dirglieLa schiettamente io non faccio gran caso dei biglietti circolari, [f. 7vj supponendo che 1'Inghilterra non sia differente dalle altre parti del mondo, ove si ha lodevol cura di far che si scriva cib che si brama che altrove si creda. Se io Le dicessi che non mi dispiaccia il caso di Milord Sunderland, mentirei, confessandoLe che l'ho trovato tanto ragionevole sopra certe materie per altro spinose ch'egli m'haveva intieramente vincolato. Goder6 dunque di sentire che Milord Carteret sia a riguardo dell'altro, quale Ella me 10 dipinge, ma qui v'i! chi ne dubita . . .. THE CORRESPONDENCE OF AGOSTINO STEFFANI AND GIUSEPPE RIVA, 1720-1728 59 [f. 8v] Che le cose della musica siano sconcertate costi me ne dispiace; ma come non vorrei che si dubitasse della buona volonta del Piva, non sarebbe male che si rispondesse a Dresda sopra l'embrione consaputo. Ella poi troppo gentilmente mi domanda commissioni, sia sicura che alle occasioni mi prevalero della Sua bonta senz'abusarne. S'Ella vuole una lunga litania degl'amici che La riverisce, glieLa faro, ma per questa volta si contenti che Le dico che sono tutti senza nominar altri che Bossis, che S'& offeso infinitamente della dichiaratione di non essere stimato un ficco e non 10 digerira se non doppo una serie di scacchi matti. 10 vorrei che fosse domani per haver l'honore di abbracciarLa e di farLe conoscer il desiderio che ho di ubbidirLa. A S [monogram signature] Steffani presumably knew that Sunderland's 'affliction' (see no. 7, above) was that Walpole had forced him to resign his post after he had been (unjustly) accused of accepting a bribe of £50,000 in South Sea stock (Hatton, George 1, 160, 251-6). The omitted passage concerns Steffani's fear of a new imbroglio at Hanover, where the regent was Friedrich Ludwig (1707-51), grandson of George I and, since 1716, duke of Gloucester. The Jewish brothers Gumpert and Isaak Berens, who were the Oberhoffaktors (bankers and agents) for the Hanoverian court, were bankrupt. Having fled on the very day that payments to a large number of people were due, they had been arrested at Steyerwald, near Hildesheim. Their grandfather, Elieser Leffmann Berens (16341714), had founded the Behrens- Cohen banking family (Hatton, George 1, 94, and Heinrich Schnee, 'Der Hof- und Kamrneragent Leffmann Behrens als Hoffinanzier der Welfen: Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Beziehungen zwischen jiidischer Hochfinanz und modernem Staat. Nach archivalischen Quellen', Niedersachsisches Jahrbuch fur Landesgeschichte, 23 (1951), 11657). The 'well-known embryo' was presumably Tassilone. 9. Steffani to Riva Hanover, 18 April 1721 Friday, in Bossis' hand] Since, with unparalleled kindness, you request and desire commissions, I shall now give you one. I have an agent in Rome named Abbot Giovanni Troisio, of whose ability, application and interventions at that rather difficult court I and various of my friends have remarkable proof. This man wishes to enter the service of the court of Lorraine . . .. I also hope that you will not forget entirely my willingness to serve, and that you will keep it in use by means of your honourable commands, accompanied now and then by some news of that country, since it is from your reports that I seem to gain the best insight into the current affairs of the world. Above all, I am waiting impatiently for news about whether they are thinking of proroguing Parliament, or whether difficulties will render that impossible. In sum, I do not yet see a ray of hope for the calm that all peaceable spirits desire. Preserve your most precious affection for me and consider unalterable the lively desire that I harbour to obey you. A S [monogram signature] [P. S.] Bossis assures you of his most devoted respect and is getting worse at chess than he was before. [f. 91 Poich'Ella con una gentilezza senza pan domanda e vuole commissioni, eccogliene una. 10 ho un agente in Rome che si chiama il Signor Abbate Gioanni Troisio, della di cui capacita, attenzione et entrature in quella corte cosi difficile io e diversi amici miei habbiamo sperimenti assai riguardevoli. Questo desidera entrare a1 servizio della corte di Lorena . . ..
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