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while it still vibrates on the ear, and is
recent in the memory; this, no doubt
may be, and often is, carried too far; but
not by men of true genius and taste.
At night, Saturday 23d, just before
my departure from Paris, I went to the
Italian theatre, to hear On ne s'avise ja-
mais de tout, and Le Huron. The Huron
is an entertaining drama, taken from M.
de Voltaire's Ingenu; the music is by M.
Gretry, in which there are many pretty
and ingenious things, wholly in the buon
gusto of Italy, which convinced me, that
this composer had not been eight years
in that country for nothing. But I could
not help remarking that our young com-
posers, who are professed imitators of
Italian music, though they have never
been in Italy, less frequently deviate into
absolute English music, than M. Gretry
into French; for several of his melodies
are wholly French: but it seems not
difficult to account for this; in France
there are no genuine Italian operas, ei-
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