[9] Spectator, No. 18.
[10] "Life of Handel," by Victor Schœlcher.
[11] I adhere to the custom of calling Margarita de l'Epine by her pretty Christian name, without any complimentary prefix, and of styling her probably more dignified competitor, Mrs. Tofts. Thus in later times it has been the fashion to say, Jenny Lind, and even Giulia Grisi, but not Theresa Titiens or Henrietta Sontag.
[12] Spectator, No. 261.
[13] Burnt down in 1789. The present edifice was erected from designs by Michael Novosielski, (who, to judge from his name, must have been a Russian or a Pole), in 1790. Altered and enlarged by Nash and Repton, in 1816—18.
[14] It is to be regretted, however, that in sneering at an Italian librettist who called Handel "The Orpheus of our age," Addison thought fit to speak of the great composer with neither politeness, nor wit, nor even accuracy, as "Mynheer."—Spectator, No. V.
[15] The same trenchant critics who attribute Addison's satire of the Opera to the failure of his Rosamond, explain Steele's attacks by his position as patentee of Drury Lane Theatre. Here, however, dates come to our assistance. The jocose paper on Mrs. Toft's insanity appeared in the Tatler, in 1709. The attacks of the unhappy Clayton on Handel (see following pages) were published under Steele's auspices in the Spectator, in 1711-12. Steele did not succeed Collier as manager or patentee of Drury Lane, together with Wilks, Doggett, and Cibber, until 1714.
[16] Spectator, 290.
[17] The Queen's gardeners.
[18] Tatler, No. 113.