ed that he should paint
a full-length portrait of Mr. Thicknesse for the Viol da Gamba.
Gainsborough was delighted with the arrangement, and said "Keep me
hungry; keep me hungry! and do not send the instrument until I have
finished the picture." The Viol da Gamba was, however, sent the next
morning, and the same day the artist stretched a canvas. He received a
sitting, finished the head, rubbed in the dead colouring, &c., and
then it was laid aside--no more was said of it or done to it, and he
eventually returned the Viol da Gamba.

Jackson tells us that Gainsborough "disliked singing, particularly in
parts. He detested reading; but was so like Sterne in his letters,
that, if it were not for an originality that could be copied from no
one, it might be supposed that he had formed his style upon a close
imitation of that author. He had as much pleasure in looking at a
Violin as in hearing it. I have seen him for many minutes surveying,
in silence, the perfections of an instrument, from the just proportion
of the model and beauty of workmanship. His conversation was
sprightly; his favourite subjects were music and painting, which he
treated in a manner peculiarly his own. He died with this
expression--'We are all going to heaven, and Vandyke is of the
party.'"

GARRICK AND CERVETTO.

Cervetto, the famous Violoncello-player, occupied the post of
principal Violoncello at Drury Lane for many years. His fame as a
performer was almost matched by the celebrity of his nasal organ, the
tuberosity of which often caused the audience in the gallery to
exclaim, "Play up, Nosey!" In Dibdin's "Musical Tour," 1788, we are
told that "When Garrick returned from Italy, he prepared an address to
the audience, which he delivered previous to the play he first
appeared in. When he came upon the stage he was welcomed with three
loud plaudits, each finishing with a huzza. As soon as this
unprecedented applause had subsided, he used every art, of which he
was so completely master, to lull the tumult into a profound silence;
and just as all was hushed as death, and anxious expectation sat on
every face, old Cervetto, who was better known by the name of 'Nosey,'
anticipated the very first line of the address by--aw----a tremendous
yawn. A convulsion of laughter ensued, and it was some minutes before
the wished-for silence could be again restored. That, however,
obtained, Garrick delivered his address in that happy, irresistible
manner in whic