66 ed African, they yield their homage to the magic of sweet sounds. To attempt to explain the pleasure they receive on the ground of association would be difficult, perhaps ridiculous. The simple fact is, that they listen and are delighted. It is the sound, and nothing but the sound, which excites the joy they exhibit. In this case, as in some others, the fact and the philosophy are one. And if the doctrine which we oppose be true, then the sluggish hippopotamus, if we may credit the statements of Denham, the late distinguished traveller in the interior of Africa, has a power which man, elevated as he is, has not. “We had a full opportunity," he expressly remarks, “ of convincing ourselves that these uncouth and stupendous animals are very sensibly attracted by musical sounds, even though they should not be of the softest kind. As we passed along the waters of the lake Muggaby at sunrise, they followed the drums of the different chiefs the whole length of the water, sometimes approaching so close to the shore, that the water they spouted from their mouths reached the persons who were passing along the banks."* So great is the acknowledged power of music over many brute animals, that the classical traditions which celebrate the achievements of the early poets and musicians scarcely transcend the bounds of truth. "For Orpheus' lute was strung with poets' sinews, Whose golden touch could soften steel and stones, Forsake unsounded deeps to dance on sands." (2.) In the second place, children at an early period of life, before they have had an opportunity of connecting associations with them to any great extent, are highly pleased with musical sounds. This is a fact which we cannot suppose has escaped the notice of any one. Let a wandering musician suddenly make his appearance in a country village with his fife, bagpipe, or hand-organ (instruments which are not supposed to possess the highest claims to musical power), * Denham and Clapperton's Narrative, p. 121, 165. and it is surprising to see with what an outburst of joy the sound is welcomed to the heart of childhood. Delighted countenances cluster at the windows; and merry groups, that just before made the streets ring with their noise, suddenly leave their sports, and rush with a new and delighted impulse to the presence of the strolling minstrel. This is universally the fact; and when we consider the early age at which it takes place, it seems to be inconsistent with any other view than that which ascribes to sounds of a certain character an original or intrinsic attraction. (3.) We witness, furthermore, the same result in Savage tribes when they first become acquainted with the instruments of music, however simple or imperfect they may be, which have been fabricated by European skill. It is said of the native inhabitants of this country that they frequently purchased of the Spaniards, when they first came to America, small bells; and when they hung them on their persons, and heard their clear musical sounds responding to the movement of their dances, they were filled with the highest possible delight. At a later period in the history of the country, it is related by one of the Jesuit missionaries, "that once coming into the company of certain ignorant and fierce Indians, he met with a rude and menacing reception, which foreboded no very favourable termination. As it was not his design, however, to enter into any contention if it possibly could be avoided, he immediately commenced playing on a stringed instrument; their feelings were softened at once; and the evil spirit of jealousy and anger, which they exhibited on his first approach to them, fled from their minds.”*We cannot suppose it necessary to multiply instances to the same effect. § 34. Further instances of the original beauty of sounds. (4.) In the fourth place, deaf persons, who have been suddenly restored to the sense of hearing, and also *See Irving's Life and Voyages of Columbus, chap. ix., London Quarterly Review, vol. xxvi., p. 287. persons who, in consequence of their peculiar situation, have never heard musical sounds till a certain period of their life, and have therefore been unable, in either case, to form associations with such sounds either pleasant or unpleasant, have been found, on hearing them for the first time, to experience a high degree of pleasure. So far as we have been able to learn, we believe this to be the fact. At the same time, as instances of this kind seldom occur, and are still less frequently recorded, we do not profess to rely upon the statement as universally true, with an entire degree of confidence. The circumstances which are related of Caspar Hauser, on hearing musical sounds for the first time, are one of the few instances in point. The statement is as follows: "Not only his mind, but many of his senses, appeared at first to be in a state of stupor, and only gradually to open to the perception of external objects. It was not before the lapse of several days that he began to notice the striking of the steeple clock and the ringing of the bells. This threw him into the greatest astonishment, which at first was expressed only by his listening looks and by certain spasmodic motions of his countenance; but it was soon succeeded by a stare of benumbed meditation. Some weeks afterward, the nuptial procession of a peasant passed by the tower with a band of music close under his window. He suddenly stood listening, motionless as a statue; his countenance appeared to be transfigured, and his eyes, as it were, to radiate his ecstasy; his ears and eyes seemed continually to follow the movements of the sounds as they receded more and more; and they had long ceased to be audible, while he still continued immovably fixed in a listening posture, as if unwilling to lose the last vibrations of these, to him, celestial notes, or as if his soul had followed them, and left his body behind it in torpid insensibility." * Life of Caspar Hauser, chap. iii. § 35. The permanency of musical power dependant on its being intrinsic. On the subject of the original or intrinsic beauty of certain sounds, one other remark remains to be made here.-It will be recollected that the doctrine which we are opposing is, that all the power which musical sounds have, considered as a source of beauty, is wholly resolvable into association. If this be true, then it seems to be the proper business of professed composers of music to study the nature and tendency of associations rather than of sounds. The common supposition in this matter undoubtedly is, that the musical composer exercises his invention and taste, in addition to the general conception or outline of his work, in forming perfect chords, varied modulation, and accurate rhythm. This is a principal, not the only one, but a principal field of his labours; the theatre on which his genius is especially displayed; and without these results of chord, modulation, and rhythm, it is certain that his efforts will fail to please. But if the doctrine which we are opposing be true, would it not be the fact that he could bring together the most harsh and discordant sounds, and compose, by means of them, the great works of his art, provided he took the means to cover their deformity by throwing over them some fascinating dress of association? But we presume it will not be pretended that mere association possesses this power as a general thing, even in the hands of genius. Furthermore, we do not hesitate to say that, from the nature of the case, the musical genius which composes its works for immortality must deal chiefly with the elements and essentialities of things, and not with the mere incidents. and accessories. Permanency in the works of art of course implies a corresponding permanency in their foundation. Associations are correctly understood to be, from their very nature, uncertain and changeable, while the beauty of some musical compositions (we speak but the common sentiment of mankind in saying it) is imperishable; a fact which seems to be in consistent with its being founded on an unfixed and evanescent basis. § 36. Of motion as an element of beauty. Motion also, a new and distinct object of contemplation, has usually been reckoned a source of the beautiful, and very justly.-A forest or a field of grain gently waved by the wind, affects us pleasantly. The motion of a winding river pleases; and this, not only because the river is serpentine, but because it is never at rest. We are delighted with the motion of a ship as it cleaves the sea under full sail. We look on it as it moves like a thing of life, and are pleased without being able to control our feelings, or to tell why they exist. And the waves, too, around it, which are continually approaching and departing, and curling upward in huge masses, and then breaking asunder into fragments of every shape, present a much more pleasing appearance than they would if profoundly quiet and stagnant. With what happy enthusiasm we behold the foaming cascade, as it breaks out from the summit of the mountain, and dashes downward to its base! With what pleasing satisfaction we gaze upon a column of smoke ascending from a cottage in a wood: a trait in outward scenery which landscape-painters, who must certainly be accounted good judges of what is beautiful in the aspects of external nature, are exceedingly fond of introducing. It may be said in this case, we are aware, that the pleasure arising from beholding the ascending smoke of the cottage is caused by the favourite suggestions which are connected with it, of rural seclusion, peace, and abundance. But there is much reason to believe that the feeling would be to some extent the same if it were known to ascend from the uncomfortable wigwam of the Savage, from an accidental conflagration, or from the fires of a wandering horde of gipsies.--And if motion, on the limited scale on which we are accustomed to view it, be beautiful, how great would be the ecstasy of our feel |