2 2                                     Aldo Caselli

rope. In the course of his long life, the term of which embraced
the birth and death of Byron, Scott, Foscolo, Monti, Leopardi,
Mozart, Beethoven and Napoleon, he had been by turns priest,
poet and professor of rhetoric in Italy; poet to the Imperial The¬
atre and gallant abbe in Austria; librettist and bookseller in Eng¬
land; in America, tradesman, distiller, poet, man of letters, teacher,
bookseller and impressario. He it was who, dreaming of founding
a permanent seat for Italian opera in America, and to this dream
devoting all his enthusiasm and unbounded energy as well as the
feeble resources of his purse, opened the first Italian Opera House
in the United States."

Da Ponte's Memoirs have left us a very accurate picture of his
experiences. Upon his landing he proceeded to New York and
started his new life. His business ventures soon terminating in
bankruptcy, he sold everything he owned in order ro pay his
debts and tried to start again. This time he looked at teaching as a
living. He was fortunate in getting the help of a bookseller named
Riley who owned a store on Broadway, as he intended to start
in New York a school of the Italian language which, to quote
from his memoirs, was not better known in America than Turk¬
ish or Chinese. Through this bookseller Da Ponte met Professor
Clement Clarke Moore' who, fascinated by the personality of the
poet, decided to help him in establishing a class of Italian and to
present him to his father. Bishop Moore," in whose house the first
school was established. The students were Clement A'loore, his

^Clement Clarke .Moore (1779-1863), son of Bishop Benjamin .Moore \\'ho
was President of Columbia College from 1801 to 1811, was born and educated
in New York City. He graduated from Columbia in 1798 and was trained for
the ministry, but devoted himself mainly to oriental and classical literature. He
was a professor of biblical literature and later of Oriental and Greek literatures
in the General Theological Seminary.

^Bishop Benjamin .Moore (1748-1816) was born in Newtown, Long Island.
After completing his studies in King's College (now Columbia University) he
started to teach Greek and Latin, while preparing to enter the ministry. After
spending a few years in England, he was ordained in London and, on his return
to New York (1800), was made rector of Trinirv parish. He was later appointed
President of Columbia College, in which capacity he remained up to 1811 when,
attacked bv paralysis, he retired from further active service.