CHAPTER II.

THE SUBJECT CONTINUED.

MUSIC and poetry considered as conveying a very high degree of pleasure to the ear and the imagination, engage the immediate notice of the critic: painting, which is an equal source of gratification to the eye, as properly belongs to the province of the connoisseur, as music.

I. MUSIC.

"What kinds of musical tones are most grateful to the ear? Such as are produced by the vocal organ. And next to singing what kinds of sound are most pleasing? Those which approach the nearest to vocal. Which are they? Such as can be sustained, swelled, and diminished at pleasure. Of these the first in rank are the violin, flute, and Hautbois. But what instrument is capable of the greatest effects ? The organ; which can not only imitate a number of other intruments, but is so comprehensive, as to possess the power of a numerous orchestra. But has it no imperfections? Yes, it wants expression, and a more perfect intonation. What kind of music is most pleasing to mankind? To practised ears, such as has the merit of novelty, added to refinement and ingenious contriv

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ance; to the ignorant, such as is most familiar and common." Burney's History of Music. Preface.

Music is an object of universal love, and from its prevalence in every age, and by its cultivation in every part of the world, it seems as if there was something in the "concord of sweet sounds" congenial with the mind of man. Among rude and unpolished nations it has ever risen to peculiar importance, and been introduced to aid the expression of joy and grief, upon all solemn and festive occasions. It has ever been the solace and the delight of men of genius, and there is no subject which is praised in more ardent expressions, or expatiated upon with more delight, by Homer, Tasso, Milton, and Shakspeare. It cheers the tra veller as he pursues the journey of life, and produces an innocent and sweet oblivion of his toil.

For a description of the powers of music, recourse can best be had to the sister art, to which sound is so frequently indebted for the most pleasing alliance of sense and perhaps it will not be found easy to produce a short description of its application to the various situations of life, and different feelings of the heart, more beautiful and just, than the following verses

Queen of every moving measure,
Sweetest source of purest pleasure,
Music! why thy powers employ

Only for the sons of joy?
Only for the smiling guests

At natal or at nuptial feasts?
Rather thy lenient numbers pour

On those whom secret griefs devour:
Bid be still the throbbing hearts

Of those whom death or absence parts;

And with some softly-whispered air
Smooth the brow of dumb despair.*

As the notes used to express any sensations may be equally in unison with those of a similar nature, music requires the aid of language to characterize any individual passion. If correspondent words are the associates of sound, they become by this alliance specific indications of the manners and passions; and the pleasure conveyed to the ear is attended by the more refined gratification of the understanding. Mysterious as the mode of the operation of sounds may be, it is clear that nature has connected certain emotions with them, and their effect is sufficiently ascertained and deeply felt; for they are the keys which unlock all the passions of the soul. Sounds variously modified, and judiciously combined with words, can melt with pity, sink in sorrow, transport with joy, rouse to courage, and elevate with devotion. They have a peculiar effect in cherishing the tender passions, and calling up the long forgotten images of the past, with all their attendant train of associated ideas. While the ear is delighted with the strains of harmony, the fancy is busied in the contemplation of the most affecting. images, and the whole soul is exalted to the bright regions of joy and happiness.

The order of sounds in simple melody resembles in their principles that proportion of parts, which constitutes the symmetry of the human form. Our hearing and sight, the noblest of our senses, are indulged by the arts with their proper gratifications. As painting

* See the Medea of Euripides, 1. 192, &c. from whic Dr. Joseph Warton took these ideas.

and sculpture produce the means of enjoyment to the eye, so music supplies entertainment to the ear.

Of

all compositions none are more truly affecting than those which were anciently adapted to the popular ballads of particular countries, such as Switzerland and Scotland.

They come o'er the ear, like the sweet south
That breathes upon a bank of violets,
Stealing and giving odour-

They show in the greatest degree the power of the association of ideas. They can awaken the lively emotions of tenderness and melancholy pleasure in every susceptible mind: but their effect is felt in the highest degree by the natives of those countries, when far distant from home. The instant the sounds of the Rans de Vaches strike the delighted ears of the Swiss in a foreign country, his memory and fancy are busied in recalling the charms of the fair nymph who was the object of his early affection; and they revive the images of the lofty Alps, the rapid torrents, the wild woods, the paternal cottage, and all the scenes and occupations of his youth. His soul is melted with tenderness inexpressible, and his passion to return home produces a deep despondency, which nothing but the enjoyment of these beloved objects can effectually remove.*

Nor is the mind less pleasingly affected by the power of sacred music when the various excellence

*The bands belonging to the Swiss regiments in the French service were prohibited from playing this tune to the Swiss, as it had caused many of them to desert.

of melody and harmony is united in its subjects. How grateful to a good ear are the anthems of Kent, Boyce, and Hayes, when sung by some of the best choristers; whom St. James's Chapel; Magdalen College, Oxford; and Trinity, Cambridge, can boast ;-and how divine are the airs of Handel when warbled from the lips of a Mara, a Billington, and a Harrison! They disengage our minds from the vulgar objects of life, lull our passions and our cares to repose, and remind us of the pleasure enjoyed by our first parents when listening to the music of the angels in the garden of Eden.

How often from the steep
Of echoing hill or thicket have we heard
Celestial voices to the midnight air,
Sole, or responsive each to others note,
Singing their great Creator? Oft in bands

While they keep watch, or nightly rounding walk,
With heavenly touch of instrumental sounds
In full harmonic number joined, their songs

Divide the night, and lift our thoughts to heaven.

The

In perfect and full harmony, the different parts of a musical composition are so combined and justly adapted, that no discord results from their number. various notes are so ingeniously blended, there is such an happy union of the loud and the soft tones, of stringed and of wind instruments, of vocal and instrumental power, that the ear is filled, not overwhelmed ; transported, not distracted. The efficacy of the prin

ciples upon which harmony depends is so great, that they are able even of themselves, without calling in the aid of the passions, to produce considerable plea