T H K H IiSPERJANSTUDEN T .
s
siuking gradually, but without regularity or rythm.
Inorganic Naturo produces only nolsos no musical
sounds. The rolling thunder, tho fury of tho tempest,
the rustling of leaves in a forest, tho pleasant prattling
of a mountain brook and tho mighty roar of tho ocean
all theso aro nothing moro than a mass of confused nois
es, and it is only occasionally that mere accident lends
to these sounds a musical charm : such were the utter
ances of tho Mcmnon Statue at tlio rising of tho sun, and
such were tho sounds heard in tho famous Fiugal Cave
on tho island of Staffa, where the falling waters have
given it tho name "Cave of Music."
On tho other hand tho animal world abounds in count
less noises; tho Spaniards on their first arrival in Ameri
ca thought thcro were people living in tho forests who
practiced singing at night, aud the jesulte Kirchcr in his
famous work entitled "Masurgle" said that if music had
becu invented in America, he should not have hesitated
to declare that it originated with tho marvellous song of
the Ai of South America. The nightingale is the queen
of European birds, her song is unsurpassed in real beauty
and sweetness of sound and withal, so loud that it reach
es as far as tho human voice; next to her tho Skylark is
praised for its sweet voice aud wonderful perseverance,
for the higher it mounts, tho greater efforts the brave lit
tle fellow makes to bo heard and finally it seems deter
mined to verify the Poets' words.
"Hark, llark; at tho gate of Heaver, tho lark sings "
Aud again the pretty though fanciful imagination of the
song by the French author, Du Bartiis, who says :
Lagcntlllcnloucttc, avee son tlrcllrc,
Tlrcllro,rclIro ct tlrollrant tiro
Vers la vouto dn ceil ; puis son vol enco lien
vire ct 6cmblo vons dire; ndlcn, adlen, adicnl
Thus there arc a thousand voices continually swelling
the great anthems which nature siug3 to its Creator by
day and night; for even when we fancy that all is still
and silent around us, in deepest solitude, in tho darkest
night, on the highest mountain top, there aro still sounds
uttered which may not lio within tho compass of all cars,
but which become distinctly audible when our hearing
is properly attuned. Every region, moreover, has its
own acoustic nature large cities have an incessant roar,
now low and deep, now loud and over-whelming, the
"confusao sonus urbis" tho result of uuccasing activity
of hundreds of thousands of men, as the bee-hive re
sounds with the hum of busy laborers. The roar of Lon
don may be heard for miles and miles; and yet Paris
noises are louder, because tho city is largely built npon
an clastic soil which overhangs the Catacombs, and
serves like a sounding board to increase their volume.
The country, on the other hand, is filled with nature's
own voices, the singing of birds, the cries of animals
the purling of tho brooks, and the music of the wind in
the branches of the trees.
Man himself has at lerst two kinds of sounds by which
he cau make himself understood, ono he calls language,
the other music: in fact, however, music is language like
all others, which makes up in softness and beauty what
it may lack in precision and accuracy. It has been called,
not inaptly, dreamy speech.
Tho ancients comprehended under the term music the
harmonious order of all things, and hence included be
sides tho music of our day, Daucing, Poetry and even
the Sciences. Tlio great philosophers of Greece, hence,
saw music In the whole system of tho Universe and be
qucathed thus to posterity tho mystic views of a liar
mouy of tho Spheres and tho music of tho Cosmos, which
was long tho favorite themo of Mediaeval writers, rovivv
cd through tho agency of Swcdcnborg and will probably
long survive, in spite of our better knowledge of tho truo
nature of celestial bodies.
All nations agree upon the almost magic power in
dwelling in music; now It enables Orpheus to tamo tho
wild beasts of tho forsst, and induce rocks and mighty
trees to join in merry dance, and now ouables Amphion
to build tho walls ol Thebes, tho stones following will
ingly tho impulso glveu by tho sounds of his lyre; In
ono ago, music builds cities; in another it casts down the
walls of Jerico. Shakespeare called even the drum the
great maker of courage, and history has more than is flat
tering to our raco to tell of the blood sited by men acting
under the impulse given by tho Marseillaise.
.Nevertheless, not all men arc equally susceptible to tho
charms of music; but where it is not, as often must bo
the case, purely the fault of the ear, it draws upon tho
unlucky man in popular estimation, at least, the well
known stigma, that:
'The man that hath no music In himself,
Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds,
Is fit for treasons, stratagems And spoils."
Certain motions of inanimat o nature produce the same
effect as music. Tho cascade that falls from a steep,
rocky hCiglit, tho brook running merrily between sandy
bankc, or the waves which restlessly beat against tho
sea-shore, affect the soul, like visible music. We can sit
for hours watching the waves as they come, one by one,
and ever try to catch each other without success. Their
rythmical change produces a happy, soothing ellect
upon tho mind and teach us tho power of regular, well
ordered motions upon tho eye as well as upen the ear.
D. H. W. Jr.
New York shop-girls carry books too and from their
places of business to give pedestrians tho idea that they
are school-girls; but tho trick decieves no one. They
behave too well. Ex.
In recent number of a respectablo periodical appeared
a new and astounding argument against "Woman's
Rights." The editor fears that the fair sex will be ad
milted to tho professions; it will by competition drive alj
men from their occupations and ono half of tnc world
being thrown out of enploymeut will die of starvation.
We didn't think of that before. It does seem conclusive
indeed! But the unhappy editor seems to lament in some
such strains as follows: 0 woman, why does a mysteri
ous providence permit you to appear in tho world to vex
the life of so many men? Why will you not be quiet?
Why will you pray and preach and teach when you know
that you are depriving so many men of tlio means of
obtaining an honest living? You aro gradually stealing
all the employments men have so long and fondly
called their own. A thousand generations protest against
you being lawyers, doctors, preachers and teachers.
Your sphere is in tho blessed retirement of your hus
bands shadow; to minister to his comfort and conk his
dinner should be your joy and ambition. "Eureka," ex
claimed tho editor with tears of joy in his eyes, "Eureka."