CHAPTER VIII. NEXT to the solemn emotion, excited in the soul while listening to the echoes, which render musical the vast forests, through which the Amazon and the Mississippi wind their majestic courses, is the feeling, with which we pause to observe the effects of music, heard among the aisles of Gothic cathedrals'. Where the imagination, having the power of adding purity even to solemn and sacred notes, recognises the sublimity of that passage in Milton, where he represents the return of the Messiah from completing the creation. 1 Whispering galleries are formed upon the simple principle, that a voice being sounded at one end of an arch will naturally and easily roll to the other. The principle was known as early as the age of Dionysius of Syracuse, who constructed one in a manner, so perfect, that the slightest whisper would increase to a loud discourse; and the clapping of the hand to a sound, equal to a peal of thunder. It may not be irrelevant to remark, that the aqueduct of Claudius would convey a voice to the distance of nearly sixteen miles. hope of improving the treasury of the theatre:-at a time, too, when you must have known the injury, that would accrue to me. I am the best guardian of my own interests; and I wrote to you earnestly to intreat, that you would not play it. For I knew, and you knew, and the whole theatrical world knew, that a strong, active, and violent party had been marshalled against it. A party, that no merit could conciliate; and to ensure the malignant success of which no efforts were spared, and no little money spent. Even critical opinions were bought and paid for. ✦✦✦. The receipts of the house were large; and my expense of time, effort, and money were also large. Let us divide the profits The etherial music of echoes naturally recals to our recollection, also, Plato's idea, with respect to the harmonic movements of the planets; which he terms the music of the spheres ;--a harmony, resulting from the motions of the planets, in their relative distances and magnitudes. This idea is not only elegant, but, in all probability, equally just. For, in observing the operative effects of moveable bodies, we find, that the flight of birds and of of the house. If you have no power in this matter, I request, that you will write to the committee upon the subject. You have injured me; repair the injury in the best manner, you can. The committee are either honest or dishonest: they must either consent or refuse. If they consent, your time will be well employed in bringing them to a sense of honour and justice. If they refuse to make any remuneration, your name, at least, will be exempted from the odium, such a transaction must necessarily entail upon them; not only as a body, but as individuals. For it must pursue them into the recesses of private life. That one man should plough (to use an humble, but expressive illustration), harrow, buy the seed, sow it, weed it, watch it, reap it, bind it, carry it into the barn; thrash it, winnow it, carry it to market; then grind it, bolt it, knead it, and bake it; and then to have it forcibly taken out of his own oven, and laid upon the table of five rich persons to eat, without being permitted to taste a morsel of it himself, is, I think, an injury not to be tolerated in a christian land! *** "All the persons, of whom I complain, drink claret and burgundy. Water is enough for me. I despise the puerile luxuries of life. But, I confess, I like salt with my bread, and sufficient clothing to save me from the weather." To this letter Mr. S. Kemble replied, that if he had injured me, he was extremely sorry; but that he had no authority himself, and no influence with the *My application to the committee, in the first instance, was merely for my expenses; which, in the plenitude of their wisdom, they thought proper to refuse; and that, too, with no small share of insolence. insects, the rushing of waters, indeed every object, that moves, produce some vibrative sound. Observing these effects, Archytas, Pythagoras, and Plato1, conceived it to be impossible, that bodies so large, and revolving in an orbit so extensive, as the planets, should move their giant courses without some sensible repercussions. So that the heavens might be said to modulate with that true harmony, to which the deities themselves might be delighted 1 Also Philo Judæus, St. Ambrose, St. Augustine, and St. Isidore. Against this idea; St. Irenæus; St. Epiphanius, and St. Basil. In Job it is written, "when the morning stars sang together."-Ch. xxxviii. committee. I then wrote to Colonel Douglas of York-place, Baker-street; and to Mr. Richard Wilson of Lincoln's Inn Fields. Mr. Moore (member for Coventry) was, I knew, ready to do me justice, at all times; I therefore did not write again to him; because he could do nothing of himself. Nor did I write to Alderman Cox, nor to Mr. Iremonger. The former I knew to be the friend of the adversary; and the latter I had not the honour to know. But the secretary of the committee (under the immediate sanction of Colonel Douglas) replied, that no remuneration could be allowed, on the plea, ( * * * !) that my tragedy, notwithstanding all that had past, was-public property! I should not have stooped to mention these illustrious personages; but it is right they should be remembered;—not for their own importance;—but for the general interests of dramatic literature. The following letter from one of the most elegant critics of the age atoned, in no small degree, for the injuries, I had sustained. I should take pride in alluding to a critic of such eminence, and a physician of so much science and humanity, but I am, of course, unwilling to make him a party in the suit. "I beg you to receive my best acknowledgments for your elegant and interesting volume, including The Fall of the Leaf and other Poems,' and The Italians.' I some years ago experienced very peculiar gratification from reading your 'Philosophy of Nature;' a work abounding with the most delightful descriptions of scenery, with indisputable proofs of a pure and highly to listen. A harmony, as Maximus Tyrius has observed, too transcendent for the imbecility of man; and the excellence of which etherial beings are alone capable of appreciating. How beautifully does Shakespeare allude to this poetical thought, where Lorenzo leads Jessica into the grove, and, after desiring Stephano to order cultivated taste; and with the expression of feelings which, (clothed as they are in language of great energy and beauty), make an irresistible appeal to the best and noblest faculties of our common nature. 'It was, therefore, with no trifling anticipation of enjoyment, that I sate down to the perusal of your poems and your drama; and I can, with perfect sincerity, assure you, that I have not been disappointed. Of the poetical collection, the first and last pieces have great and singular merit; more especially the Hymn to the Moon,' which is rich, and curiously happy, in the selection of its imagery; and, whilst it glows with enthusiasm, breathes, at the same time, in every line, a soothing and delicious melancholy. It is, indeed, a most lovely production; and alike calculated to touch the heart, and warm the imagination. "There cannot, in my opinion, be a doubt, that had your tragedy not encountered the most illiberal and envenomed opposition, of which there is any record in the annals of dramatic literature, it must have succeeded to the full extent of your wishes. There is a romantic interest about it, and a novelty in several of its characters, powerfully adapted to arrest and fix attention. The mental aberrations in the character of Albanio, forming a species of hallucination, the result of an excess of sensibility, appear to me well and correctly drawn; and are finely relieved by the pathetic scenes, which occur between Fontano and his fascinating page. Scipio is, in fact, throughout, a creation of uncommon beauty and effect; and, together with the sublime and masterly character of Albanio, should have rendered the Italians' as great a favourite on the stage, as it is likely to prove in the closet. "I have only to hope that the unparalleled persecution, which you have undergone, will not deter you from future efforts in the same department; and believe me, Sir, with great esteem, and many thanks for the reiterated pleasure, which I have derived from the study of your writings, "Yours most truly," &c music to be brought into the garden, accosts her after the following manner : How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon the bank! Sit, Jessica; look how the floor of heaven Is thick inlaid with patterns of bright gold. There's not the smallest orb, which thou behold'st, But in his motion, like an angel, sings, Still quiring to the young-eyed cherubim. Merchant of Venice, act v. s. 1.-Vid. also Milton's Arcades, v. 61. This idea is, in some measure, sanctioned by the Hebrew writings:-"the stars move in their course rejoicing," and other analogous expressions, seem to allude to the probable harmony of the planets. Servius says, that the idea originated with Orpheus; and that the followers of Pythagoras asserted, that their master was the only human being, ever permitted to hear it. There is a passage in Euripides, where, referring to this aerial music, he bursts out; Thee I invoke, thou self-created Being, who gave birth to Nature, and whom light and darkness, and the whole train of globes and planets, encircle with eternal music." Fontenelle remarks, that it was believed, in ancient times, that the moon was a place of residence for the good men of this earth, whose principal happiness consisted in listening to the music of the spheres. The universe, indeed, may be considered as being compounded of a multitude of bodies, which we may call notes: and, as harmony necessarily implies contrast, this world may, not improbably, be one of the discords. VOL. I. U |