shepherd's pipe at a distance, that gloomy spirit ex claims My soul would drink the echoes.-Oh that I were The viewless spirit of a lovely sound, A living voice, a breathing harmony, Vaillant relates, that the Nimiguas of South Africa play upon an instrument resembling a flute, in such a manner, as to produce melodious echoes1. This, he says, is occasioned by the musician's shifting the instrument from his mouth to his nostrils; when, continuing to blow as before, the wind, that issues from the nostril, resembles an echo so exactly, that every one, who listens, is surprised and delighted. Equally agreeable is it to observe those changes of the elements, which Vivaldi has imitated in "the Seasons;" to acknowledge rural sounds in the pastorals of Corelli; and to recognise in one of Handel's oratorios the rich and mellow tones of the nightingale. Perceiving the agreeable effects of an echo in the music of Nature, the poets,-formed by her hand and guided by her precepts, are proud to imitate her. Hence the origin of rhyme; and hence that species of verse, among the Echoes among mountains have been most delightfully imitated by an instrument, invented by Holbein of Prague, which he denominates the Uranicon. One of the properties of this instrument is to produce the most agreeable effects by swelling, progressively, from the pianissimo to the fortissimo; and sinking from the fortissimo to the pianissimo. Greek and Roman poets, which was characterized by the repetition of the last syllable1. The echoicus has not been much practised by the English; though it has been successfully cultivated by the Spanish poets. As I am writing, Harmonica gives me an instance, in music, of what the Italians call ecco; bearing, as a musical writer has remarked, the sense of dolce; intimating, that such passage should be played with all the softness and piano of a gentle echo. Denon describes an organ in the Benedictine convent at Catania, one of the pipes of which gives an echo in a manner, so aerial, that the ear follows its reverberations with rapture, till they are lost in the infinity of space. Reverberations were, doubtless, the causes of many prodigies, related by the Roman historians. Rome, being built on several hills, must, in consequence, have been sensible of many repercussions. This may, in a great measure, account for the extraordinary noises, that are reported to have been heard in the city, at particular crises; and which were considered by that superstitious people as so many prodigies3. 1 Fæmina dira viri nex est, et terribilis-lis. There is another species of echoicus, of which Milton affords an example in the word death.-B. ii. 787. 2 Trav. Sicily and Malta, 8vo. p. 32. ? Many of those, mentioned by Livy, may be accounted for in this manner; particularly as the supposition, that those hills had echoes, is confirmed by Horace. Od. xx. Visi etiam audire vocem ingentem ex summi cacuminis luco.-Liv. lib. i. c. 31. Templo sospitæ Junonis nocte ingentem spreditum exortum.-Lib. xxxi. c. 12. Spreta vox de coelo emissâ.-Lib. xxxi. c. 32. Silentio proximæ noctis ea sylva Arsia ingentem editam vocem.-Lib. ii. c. 7. Vid. Montesquieu de Echo. Есно;- -A CANZONET. (From the Italians'). I. From the grot, where Echo lies, Now on gentle Echo calls; While from her green recess the nymph replies In wildest melodies. II. Every glen and mountain round From hill to hill,-from side to side, Her hovering voice in sweet progression dies In gentlest ecstasies. As this tragedy experienced the most extraordinary opposition, recorded in the history of the stage, I shall take the liberty of alluding to it. I will suppose the reader to have read the various prefaces, published with that tragedy. Some time after its performance I wrote to Mr. Stephen Kemble. The purport of this letter was to inquire at whose suggestion, and on what grounds, he, the manager,—had presumed to perform it. The nature of Mr. S. Kemble's answer may be gathered from my reply. 66 'Sir, "I received your letter, and am concerned to find, that though you state that one of the reasons of my tragedy's being performed arose out of your obedience to the public voice, yet that the main object of your doing so arose out of the 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. 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. |