In October, 1777, Arne and his wife met and became again a united and affectionate pair. This happy reconciliation was brought about by the intervention of their grand-niece, Cecilia Maria Barthelemon. A memorandum written by her, still preserved by one of her descendants, is worth quoting verbatim: “In former days the Doctor [Arne] had taken great pleasure in hearing my mother[27] sing the songs for Mandane in his Opera of Artaxerxes, and latterly she used to visit him for the purpose of receiving her Aunt’s seperate maintenance money, and the last time she called for this purpose, she took her little daughter with her, then about ten years old. The Doctor who was always kind to the child, had her seated on his knee all the time: and when her mother was about to leave, she ventured to say, that she began to be tired of calling for this purpose, and thought it would be far better for him to be reconciled to his good wife, who had always been so irreproachable herself. He, however, answered her in a manner so violent and angry, that the child who both loved and revered her great-aunt, burst into tears and cried aloud; and her mother at once rose to take leave, observing also that she would never take the trouble to call upon him again. A few days after, however, she received a letter from the Doctor, apologizing for his conduct, adding that the tears of the dear child had affected him more than could a host of men, and that if his dear old wife would be reconciled, he would be happy to see her and her niece and nephew Barthelemon, and the dear child also, to dine with him on the following Sunday. The good Mrs. Arne shed tears of joy, gave her ready consent, and lovingly embraced her little grand niece.” The narrative continues: “The Doctor and his wife lived happily together (alas) only for six months after this long wished for reconciliation (after a separation of thirty years)—often expressing the wish that it had taken place years, instead of only months before.”
We learn from an entry made by Mawhood in his diary, dated the 6th of December, 1777, that he saw Dr. Arne, “who has conformed and is now very ill; he has made his will betwixt Mrs. Arne and Michael.” Another entry in the diary, dated the 10th, stated: “Mr. Paxton called, says Dr. Arne is now on the recovery.” The improvement in his health, however, proved only temporary, and on the 5th of the following March, 1778, the diarist wrote, “Dr. Arne died this evening at eight o’clock.”
The grand-niece previously quoted says: “Dr. Arne died a sincere penitent, and a firm Catholic. His confessor buried him according to the ceremony of his Church. A cross was put on his coffin, and he was interred in the burial ground of St. Paul’s, Covent Garden, on the right hand side going in.” There are two contemporary printed accounts of the last moments of the distinguished composer; one from his intimate friend, the popular tenor singer, Vernon, who, at that time engaged in the neighbouring Drury Lane Theatre, was in the habit of visiting Arne daily at his residence in Bow Street. The morning after Arne’s decease he told the company assembled in the music-room at the theatre that he “was talking on the subject of music with the Doctor, who suffered much from exhaustion, when, in attempting to illustrate what he had advanced, he in a very feeble and tremulous voice sung part of an air, during which he became progressively more faint, until he breathed his last, making as our immortal Shakespeare expresses it, a swan-like end fading in music.”
The other account says Arne “died of a spasm on his lungs, retaining his faculties to the last moment of his existence. He had originally been instructed in the principles of the Romish Church: these however he had for many years wholly neglected, as inconsistent with a life of ease and gallantry, in which he indulged to the fullest extent of his purse and constitution. In his last stage, the dormant seeds of early maxims and prejudices, as is usually the case, revived in his bosom, too strong to be checked, or perhaps discriminated by sound reason. The complicated train of doubts, hopes, and fears, operated so forcibly on the Doctor’s feelings at this awful period, that a priest was sent for, by whom he was awed into a state of most submissive repentance. In thus renewing the duties of a Christian, those of his professional line were not forgotten; for about an hour before his death he sung an harmonious Halleluja, a flight of fancy, calculated as it were to usher him into the other world.” These narratives, though not precisely similar in detail, leave no doubt in the mind of the reader that Arne died repentant, doubtless the happier for having been reconciled to his wife. “Notwithstanding the number and excellence of his publications, Dr. Arne left little or no property behind him; a circumstance which will not appear extraordinary to those who consider his real character and life. He was naturally fond of vicious pleasure, to which he sacrificed every other consideration.” The Will he made is at Somerset House, and recites as follows:—“In the Name of God Amen—I Thomas Augustine Arne of Bow Street Covent Garden in the County of Middlesex doctor in Music being of sound mind memory and understanding hereby make and pronounce this to be my last Will and Testament revoking all former Wills made or pretended to be made whatever Whereas I am possessed of a small Personal Estate consisting of goods Chattels and Effects most of them now standing lying or being in the House I rent of Mrs. Woodeville in Bow Street aforesaid and particularized in the Schedule hereto annexed I leave give and bequeath them in manner and form following First to my beloved wife Cecilia and only son Michael I give and bequeath the sad remains of my once excellent Organ mangled trod to pieces and ruined by and through the Villainy of wicked Servants that they may dispose of the same to the best advantage and share the profits equally between them Secondly I give and bequeath to the said Cecilia and Michael all my Worldly Goods Chattels Estate Personal whatever and wherever to be found (except as hereafter excepted) Books musical and for reading Plate and every other thing now situate standing or lying in my house in Bow Street aforesaid or in any other place to be found As to all books Musical or Literary and all Manuscripts in either branch written or composed by me or other Persons My Will is that such as may by performance at any time or in any place produce any profit or Benefit to the said Cecilia and Michael The expenses attending such Performances being first paid and defrayed equally between them The Profits or Benefits arising from the Sale or Public Performance thereof shall be equally divided between them share and share alike And the said Property being liable to an exception before limited I shall make it here viz. That the share and proportion of the said Michael is only circumscribed or limited in this particular viz. that when by sale of the Goods or part of them or by Public Performance or Performances of any of my Works, have received to his share the sum of seventy Pounds that he shall pay or cause to be paid to his Daughter Jemima the sum of ten Guineas as a present from me to his said Daughter for her Love and Kindness to me It is therefore my last will that all my works in particular Shall be and remain in the Possession of my said wife Cecilia subject to their being called forth used and employed for the mutual benefit profit and emolument of my said son as well as my wife, for Security of which to the said Cecilia she has and shall have by virtue hereof (before the delivery of any work) an unquestionable right to be satisfied As to the Probability of Success in the undertaking and an equal right to elect a Trustee or Treasurer to sit in the Treasurers Office on all and every Night whereon any of my works are performed And after all the charges attending such performance or performances shall be duly deducted to take and receive for and to the use of the said Cecilia one clear half or Moiety of the Monies or Profits arising therefrom and then take the Score and Parts of such Work or Works and reconvey it or them in Safety to the said Cecilia And this same just method of Proceeding shall duly be observed for the said Cecilia’s equal Security in Case that either of the said dramatic Productions shall by their mutual consent be disposed of for their mutual Profits or Advantage to either of the Patent Theatres And in case that the said Cecilia shall depart this Life before the Death of the said Michael in such case the whole Personal Estate and Property above mentioned shall devolve or come down in right to the said Michael as sole Successor by this my last Will and Testament And lastly I hereby nominate and appoint the said Cecilia and Michael my joint and sole Executors of this my last will and Testament hereby impowering them to sue for and recover all debts and Demands whatever due to me on any account whatever whether in Law or Equity As Witness my hand and Seal this sixth of December in the seventeenth year of the Reign of Our Sovereign Lord George the third and in the year of our Lord One thousand seven hundred and seventy-seven.
ThoS. AugNE. Arne.
Sealed and delivered being first duly stamp’d in the presence of Stephen Paxton Maria Barthelemon.[28]
On the 6th of March, 1778, the Morning Chronicle had a short paragraph: “yesterday, died Dr. Arne, at his house in Bow-Street, whose musical talents were an honour to himself and this country.”
Arne was interred in the burial ground on the north side of St. Paul’s Church, Covent Garden, on the 15th of March, and the fact was noted in the Parish Register, he being described simply as “Thomas Arne.” No memorial of him was erected, but his son suggested a scheme for placing a monument in Westminster Abbey. This, like most of Michael Arne’s projects, ended in talk; indeed, he only survived his father eight years, and died in South Lambeth on the 14th of January, 1786, leaving a widow, his second wife, in destitute circumstances. His career had been a varied one. His aunt, Mrs. Cibber, taught him as a child how to act on the stage, and he appeared as the Page in Otway’s tragedy “The Orphan.” His father gave him singing lessons, and procured him engagements at the Marylebone Gardens in 1751. He became a skilled harpsichord player, and made a good reputation as a composer of songs and ballads. His music to Garrick’s romance, “Cymon,” produced at Drury Lane in 1767, was very popular. He married one of his father’s pupils, Elizabeth Wright, in 1766, who became a successful stage-vocalist; she died in 1774-5. He inherited much of his father’s talent, but, infatuated with the determination to discover the mystery of the philosopher’s stone, he built a laboratory at Chelsea, and ruined himself. Removing to Ireland, he resumed his profession of music, and revived his fortune; but the old mania returned, and he retired to Clontarf to make experiments which he believed would enable him to manufacture gold, with the result that he again beggared himself, and was arrested and confined in a sponging-house in Dublin. From this, by the exertions of friends, he was released. He returned to London, and again took up work as a teacher and composer, but with only moderate success.
Dr. Arne, as we have seen, died on the 5th of March, and on the 28th of the succeeding month (April) a performance was given at the Theatre Royal in the Haymarket for the benefit of Mrs. Arne, which was attended by the old family friend Mr. Mawhood, and duly recorded in his diary. The programme included Dr. Arne’s Elegy Glee, “Come, shepherds, we’ll follow the hearse,” specially instrumented for the occasion by Dr. Samuel Arnold.
Previous to the reconciliation with her husband, Mrs. Arne had resided with Barthelemon and his wife; after Dr. Arne’s death she again went to live with them at their house in Vauxhall. Here she enjoyed a few years of peaceful happiness, loving and beloved. An extract from a letter addressed to Mrs. Barthelemon in 1788 by a near relative will be read with interest: “We rest in hope Mrs. Arne continues on the mending hand, she has been a good woman, and has long attended to the future rest of her soul, which becomes the most important of all charges, though many of us decline it to a late moment. Mrs. Scott desires to be kindly remembered to Mr. Barthelemon, Mrs. Lampe, Miss Lampe, and dear Mrs. Arne, Yours affectionately, John Scott.”[29]