who succeeded to the Spanish throne by the
title of Charles the Third. His dismissal is
ascribed to a change of policy, the new king having
signed the family compact, a measure Farinelli
had always opposed—a proof that the soprano
had been in the habit of influencing important
affairs of state. But although dismissed he was
not disgraced, Charles the Third—the best of
the Bourbons who ever governed Spain—
allowing Farinelli to retain all his pensions, with
the observation that he had never abused the
kindness of the king's predecessors.

It was in 1761 that Farinelli left Spain and
returned to Italy, having been absent from his
native country seven-and-twenty years. He
was now in his fifty-sixth year, and had he been
permitted would have settled at Naples, but
political reasons interdicted his residence there,
and he fixed his abode near Bologna, about a
league from which city he built a sumptuous
palace, where he passed the rest of his days,
absenting himself only once, when he went to
Rome. At Bologna, the large fortune he had
made enabled him to live "en grand seigneur,"
indulging in the tastes and habits of one who
had frequented the best society, and devoting
himself to the Art by which he had achieved
his position. His richly-furnished apartments
were filled with the rarest musical instruments,
to each of which he gave the name of some
celebrated Italian painter. One of these, a gift
from the Queen of Spain, he called his Correggio;
others bore the names of Titian and Guido;
and on his favourite, which he bought at
Florence at the beginning of his career, he bestowed
the appellation of Ratfaele d'Urbino. His
fondness for painting was yet more distinctly shown
in a large saloon filled with pictures by the first
masters of Madrid and Seville, amongst which
were included portraits of the kings, his
protectors, and that of Pope Benedict the
Fourteenth. Rare books were also gathered in his
palace, which he hospitably opened to all who
sought his acquaintance. Dr. Burney paid him
a visit there in 1771, and in his work, "The
Present State of Music in France and Italy," has
recorded a conversation which he had with the
famous soprano. Farinelli expressed great
regret that the happy days which he spent in
Spain were for ever gone, but acknowledged
that the first ten years, during which he always
sang the same songs to his melancholy patron,
had been very hard to bear. Dr. Burney says:
"I found Farinelli looking younger than I had
expected. He is tall, thin, and in excellent
preservation. He had the kindness to conduct me
to the house of Father Martini, in whose library
I passed a part of my time, and when I observed
that my great desire had been to know two
persons so celebrated as Farinelli and Martini,
the great singer replied, with a sigh, 'Oh, what
Father Martini has done will endure, while the
little talent which I possessed is already
forgotten!' " Many other travellers of that time
also spoke in the highest terms of the lucky
singer—amongst them, the German Keyssler,
who, after praising the admirable qualities of
his voice, which had a range of twenty-three
notes, and was, in his opinion, incomparable,
added that the general belief was that he had
been particularly favoured by the Virgin Mary,
for whom Farinelli's mother had a most particular
devotion. Great people, too, were amongst
Farinelli's visitors. In 1772, there came to
see, and also to hear him, the Electress of
Saxony, to whom he gave a grand breakfast, and
then sat down to the piano, to sing an air of his
own composition. Casanova, who relates the
anecdote, says, "I was present on the occasion,
and to my excessive surprise I saw the
Electress suddenly leave her seat, and throw
herself into Farinelli's arms, exclaiming, 'I
can now die content, since I have had the
happiness of hearing you!'" Casanova tells
another story, which reveals the only known
act of Farinelli's life that was not creditable
to him. Farinelli had adopted the son of his
brother, Richard Broschi, the composer, and
had given the young man and his wife, a very
beautiful woman of good family, a suite of
apartments in his palace. This was at first
an act of pure friendship; but another feeling
arose afterwards to diminish its value, for,
strangely enough, the soprano fell in love with
his niece, but the lady remained perfectly
impassive to his pleadings, and, furious at her
disdain, Farinelli sent his nephew on his travels,
while he shut up his faithful spouse in her
apartments, that he might at least have her
constantly near him. On the 15th of July, 1782,
the lucky singer died in his magnificent palace,
at seventy-seven years of age, "a victim to
delicate love."

THE SIXTH VOLUME,
Price 5s. 6d., is published this day.

A STRANGE STORY,
BY THE AUTHOR OF "RIENZI," "MY NOVEL," &C.,
Is now ready, in two volumes, price 24s.
SAMPSON LOW, SON, AND CO., LUDGATE-HILL.

MR. CHARLES DICKENS'S NEW READINGS.
On Thursday, 13th, and Thursday, 20th instant, at ST.
JAMES'S HALL, Piccadilly, at 8 o'clock precisely,
Mr. CHARLES DICKENS will read
DAVID COPPERFIELD
(In Six Chapters),
AND
MR. BOB SAWYER'S PARTY,
FROM PICKWICK.