France. John Dupuis occupied some position about the court, and was an acknowledged relation of Abraham Dupuis (already memorialized). His son, Thomas, was placed in the Chapel-Royal, and instructed in music by the celebrated Bernard Gates (who died in 1773, and constituted him his ultimate heir). Afterwards he became a pupil of Travers, organist of the King’s Chapel, for whom he officiated as Deputy for a time. He succeeded Dr. Boyce as organist and composer to the Chapel-Royal in 1779, on the nomination of the Bishop of London. In 1784 he was the Assistant-Director of the Handel Commemoration. The University of Oxford conferred on him the degree of Doctor of Music on 26th June 1790. He published “Organ Pieces” and “Chants;” and after his death a “Selection of Services and Anthems,” written by him for the use of the King’s Chapel, was printed in two handsome volumes, displaying “great knowledge and taste,” and “by no means deficient in invention.” He died at his house in King’s Row, Park Lane, on 17th July 1796, and was buried in Westminster Abbey (contrary to his written desire to be buried “at Fulham, on the coffin of his dear wife”). His wife’s maiden name was Martha Skelton. Two of their sons grew up, namely, Rev. Thomas Skelton Dupuis, and Charles Dupuis, Esq., of Mount Street, Grosvenor Square; the latter was the father of the late Rev. Charles Sanders Skelton Dupuis. (“Imperial Dictionary of Biography,” Colonel Chester’s “Westminster Abbey Registers,” Mr. Wagner’s “Dupuis Pedigree.”)
Latrobe. — In noting the connection of the Latrobe family with literature, we begin with Rev. Benjamin La Trobe, a Moravian minister of London, and a very powerful preacher, in whose society Dr. Samuel Johnson felt pleasure. He translated Bishop Spangenburg’s Idea Fidei Fratrum (“Exposition of the Doctrine of the United Brethren”), London, 1784; Translation of Crantz’s “History of the Brethren’s Church,” London, 1780; Translation of Crantz’s “History of Greenland,” containing a description of the country and its inhabitants, and particularly a relation of the Mission, carried on for above these thirty years by the Unitas Fratrum at New Herrnhut and Lichtenfels in that country, London, 1767. As to the last mentioned book Dr. Johnson said, “The style of the translation is quaint and rugged, yet the man who cannot relish the first part is no philosopher, and he who cannot enjoy the second is no Christian.” A conversation is recorded between Johnson and Latrobe, the subject being the beatitude, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” Johnson attempted a definition of poverty of spirit, to which Latrobe partly demurred as implying some self-complacency. Johnson was silent for a short time, and then exclaimed, “You are right, sir, you are right; and if an angel in heaven were to indulge in self-complacency, he would be a devil.”
The Rev. Christian Ignatius La Trobe, son of Benjamin, edited in 1812 some “Letters on the Nicobar Islands,” from Rev. John Gottfried Haensel, the only surviving minister of the Moravian Missionary Station there (which was abandoned in 1787, owing to the impossibility of obtaining supplies of provisions). Mr. Latrobe was appointed by the Moravian Missionary Board to visit the stations of Gnadenthal and Groenekhoof in South Africa, and to confer with the Government of Cape Colony regarding the security of such settlements, that government having previously expressed a wish that the Directors should establish a third settlement. The result was the publication of a handsome quarto volume with several maps and coloured engravings, entitled “Journal of a Visit to South Africa in 1815 and 1816, with some account of the Missionary Settlements of the United Brethren near the Cape of Good Hope,” London, 1818. But Christian Ignatius La Trobe is best known from his contributions to music. He was a student in the University of Barby, and one of several students who, in rotation, were volunteer organists in the chapel. In that capacity Bishop Spangenberg convinced him of the evils of the common style of performance of sacred music, characterised by “flourishes and ill-placed decorations,” “long straggling interludes,” and indifference as to agreement between music and words. When he returned to England in 1784 Latrobe composed sacred music in the truly grand and devotional style. I cannot, however, enter upon his original compositions. He was long well known for his “Selection of Sacred Music,” and I abridge an account of it by one of his sons:—
