COSTA, ISA.AC DA, an eminent poet and religious writer, was b. at Amsterdam, Jan. 14, 1798. His parents were Portuguese Jews, who had settled in Holland. The first aspiration of his poetical genius having been shown by his Hebrew teacher to 1311 derdijk, the latter expressed himself favorably regarding it, and a warm and lasting friendship sprang up between him and Costa. In his twentieth year, C. acquired the degree of doctor at law; and shortly after, having embraced Christianity, was baptized. This subjected him to considerable persecution, which, however, subsided as his genius gradually gained recognition. The most interesting of his writings to the British public are probably his translation of Byron's Cain; his Israel and the Gentiles; and harmony of the Gospels, the last two of which have been translated into English. As a public lecturer, C. specially excelled. His Battle of .Nieuwpoort, the last of his poems, is one of his masterpieces. He died April 28, 1860.
Sir MiertAm„ a very popular musician and composer, was b. at Naples, Feb., 1810. As he early showed a decided talent for music, he was sent to the conserva toire in his native city for education, where he greatly distinguished himself. In
1828, his fame, though he was then hut 18, having reached England, he was invited to take part in the Birmingham musical festival, an invitation he complied with ; and he was so well received in this country that lie resolved to settle in it. In 1830, he was appointed • conductor of the music in the Italian opera, London, an office which, in 1847, he resigned for a similar one in the royal Italian opera, Covent Garden. Ills great work, the oratorio Eli, produced at the Birmingham festival of 1855, raised him to a high rank as a composer. Naar/um, first sung in Birmingham in 1864, was a great success. Ile was knighted by queen Victoria in 1869; and, in the same year, received the royal order of Frederick from the king of Wfirtemberg, in token of his majesty's admiration of Eli, performed under the composer's direction at Stuttgart the previous November. C. is the author of several ballets, and of some operas, the most successful of which was Don Carlos.