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TOC
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gross ribaldry and nonsense, it would be
very short-lived: at the same time it
must be confessed, that here and there, as
in Shakespeare's worst pieces, there are
strokes of genius and strong comic wit
that ought to live for ever. Preville
played admirably a clown's part in both
these comedies; his humour is always
easy and natural, and there is a perpetual
laugh runs through the house from the
time he enters, till he quits the stage. I
perceived that the overtures and act tunes
of this theatre, as of the Theatre Italien,
were all either German or Italian; the
French begin to be ashamed of their
own music every where but at the serious
opera; and this revolution in their sen-
timents seems to have been brought about
by M. Rousseau's excellent Lettre sur la
Musique Françoise.
Friday 22. I met to-day with M. L' Abbé
Roussier, and had a long conversation
with him relative to ancient music; his
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