Page images
PDF
EPUB

insects, the rushing of waters, indeed every object, that moves, produce some vibrative sound. Observing these effects, Archytas, Pythagoras, and Plato', 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.

[ocr errors]

"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!

Here will we sit, and let the sounds of music
Creep in our ears.-Soft stillness and the night
Become the touches of sweet harmony.

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.

[ocr errors]

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.

.

[ocr errors]

III.

To the astronomer how exquisite were the time, when, wrapt in all the enjoyment of meditation, he beholds the path of the galaxy; calculates the movements of the planets, as the sun marshals their seasons; sees the eclipses of the satellites; witnesses the splendour of Mercury and Venus; the crimson aspect of Mars; and the diminutive orbs of the Asteroids. Standing, in imagination, on the convex of Jupiter, the earth appears a globule of silver; while the Herschell wheels its stupendous course, almost to the apparent limit of the solar sphere. Drinking, as it were, the dews of every orbit,-in imagination, he listens to the seraphic notes of the planetary gamut; hears them pass the frontiers of the solar influence; penetrating the unlimited regions of space; rolling from one system to another; each mingling its harmony with theirs; and shedding volumes of sound, more rich and more delightful to the heart, than the powers of language can convey; than the imagination can picture, or the judgment understand. And far more rich and more delightful to the senses, than perfumes, wafted over an Arabian sea'; when spring has renewed the year; and the moon is rising, " in clouded majesty," over the last remnants of day.

1 The simile in Milton, to which this alludes, is from Massinger:—Act iii. sc. i.

BOOK III.

CHAPTER I.

In many parts of America, explosions are heard among mountains, for which no one has been able satisfactorily to account; though it is probable, they proceed from internal volcanoes. Sometimes a single stroke is heard; at other times five or six in succession; sounding like volumes of thunder. Lewis observed them in his progress to the source of the Missouri river; Techo speaks of them in the province of Guayra in Brazil; Vasconcellos heard them in the Serra de Piratininga; Acuna alludes to them in his account of Teixira's voyage down the Orellana; and Humboldt says, they are frequently heard in those districts of Mexico, which abound in coals. At Haddam in Connecticutt, too, similar sounds are heard, accompanied by concussions of the earth'. These explosions have an awful effect upon the minds of those, that hear them; for to the effect, which loud sounds generally produce, they have the still more sublime one,

1 Burckhardt mentions loud explosions, as being frequently heard by the Arabs from the mountain of Om Shommar in the deserts of Sinai. Upon searching it, however, he could find no traces of a volcano. In Chili* noises are frequently heard, indicating subterraneous waters or winds.

*Molina, vol. i. p. 26.

« PreviousContinue »