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got his opera on the stage, he should be
entirely at my service. Upon my telling
him that my time for remaining at Na-
ples was very short, that I should even
then have been on the road in my way
home, but for his opera, which I so
much wished to hear; that besides ur-
gent business in England, there was
great probability of a war, which would
keep me a prisoner on the continent: he,
in answer to that, and with great ap-
pearance of sincerity, said, if after I re-
turned to England, any thing of impor-
tance to my plan occurred, he would not
fail of sending it to me.
In short, I went away in high good
humour with this truly great composer,
who is indisputably one of the first of
his profession now alive in the universe;
for were I to name the living composers
of Italy for the stage, according to my
idea of their merit, it would be in the
following order; Jomelli, Galuppi, Pic-
cini, and Sacchini. It is, however, dif-
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