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this experiment, it is neceffary' for you to be equally acquainted with both ftyles; otherwife that which fhould happen to be moft familiar, would perpetually prefent itfelf to the mind, to the prejudice of the other. Nor is this fecond condition Iefs difficult than the firft: for among thofe who are acquainted with both kinds of mufic, there is no hesitation of choice? and it is eafy to perceive by the ridiculous arguments of thofe who write a gainst the Italian mufic, how little Knowledge they have of that, or indeed the art in general.

Add to this, that it is very effential to proceed in exact time; but I forefee that this caution, though fuperfluous in any other country, would be ufeful in this, and that this omiffion alone neceffarily carries with it an incompetency of judgment.

Taking all thefe precautions, the character of each kind of mufic cannot fail of declaring itfelf; when it would be difficult not to clothe the paffages with thofe ideas which agree with them; and indeed not to add, at leaft mentally, thofe turns and ornaments, which may be refufed them in finging. We should not reft the matter, alfo, upon a fingle experiment; for one air may please more than another, withoutdetermining the preference of the kind of mufic; nor is it without a great number of trials that a reafonable judgment is to be formed. Befides, in taking away the words, we take away the moft

important part of the melody, which is expreffion; fo that all that can be determined, is, whether the modulation be good, and the tunë natural and beautiful. All this fhews how difficult it is to take fufficient precautions againft pres poffeffions, and how far reafon is neceffary to qualify us to judge properly in matters of tafte."

I made another trial, which requires lefs precaution, and will yet appear probably more decifive. I gave to fome Italian muficians the fineft airs of Lulli, and to fome French ones the felect airs of Leo and Pergolefe, and 1 remarked, that though the latter were very far from entering into the true tafte of thefe pieces, they were fenfible neverthelefs of their melody, and made out of them, in their manner, agreeable and tuneful paffages. But the Italians folfa'd our most pa thetic airs, without discovering either paffage or tune: they found no mufic at all in them, but faw only a fucceffion of notes placed without choice or defign; they fung them indeed exactly as you would read Arabic words written in French characters*,

My third experiment was this: I had an opportunity of feeing at Venice, an Armenian, a man of understanding, who had never before heard any mufic; and to whom were exhibited in the fame concert, a French piece, which began with thefe words,

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Temple facre, fejour tranquille

Our musicians pretend to deduce a great advantage from this difference. We can execute the Italian mufic, fay they, with their ufual vanity, and the Italians cannot execute ours; therefore our music is better than theirs. They do not fee that they ought to deduce a confequence directly contrary and fay Therefore the Italians have a melody and we have none.

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Both the one and the other were fung, very indifferently for a Frenchman, and badly for an Italian, by a man accustomed folely to French mufic, and at that time an enthufiaft for Remeau. I obferved that my Armenian, during the French fong, expreffed much more furprife than pleafure; but every body took notice that his counte. nance and eyes brightened up, and that he was inftantly affected with the very first notes of the Italian. He appeared indeed enchanted, and gave himself up entirely to the impreffions of the mufic; the fimple founds, for he understood hardly any thing of the language, giving him an evident delight. From that time he would never liften to a French air.

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But without going a broad for ex. amples, have we not many perfons among ourfelves who being acquainted only with ourown operas, really conceived they had no manner of tafte for finging, and were undeceived only by the Italian in. terludes. They imagined they did not love mufic, for the very reason that proved they liked only that which was really fuch.

I must confefs that fo many facts måde me doubt of the existence of French melody; and raised a fufpicion that it was only a kind of modulated full chorus, that had nothing in it agreeable of itfelf; pleafing only by the help of certain adventitious and arbitrary ornaments, and to fuch only as were prepoffeffed in its favour. For we find that our mufic is hardly fupport. able even to our own ears, when it is executed by indifferent voices, who cannot make the most of it. It requires a Fel and a Jeliotte to fing French mufic: but every voice is good for the Italian; because the beauties of the latter are in the mufic itself, whereas thofe of the French, if it has any, depend all on the abilities of the finger*.

There are three things which to me appear to concur in the perfec tion of Italian melody. The firft is the sweetnefs of the language, which, making all its inflections eafy, leaves the genius of the mufician at liberty to make a more exquisite choice, to give a greater variety to his combinations; and affign to every actor a particular turn, fo that each may have his own peculiar manner to diftinguish him from the rest.

The fecond is the boldness of the modulations, which, although lefs fervilely prepared than ours, are

It is an error to imagine that the Italian fingers have, in general, fefs voice than the French on the contrary, it is neceffary that they should have stronger Jungs, and be more harmonious, to make themselves heard throughout the fpaci ous theatres of Italy, without ftopping to manage the voice, as the Italian mufic requires. The French fong requires the utmoft effect of the lungs, and the whole extent of the voice. Stronger, louder, cry our finging-matters, feni forth the founds, open the mouth, give out all your voice. On the other hand, the Italian matters fay, fofter, force nothing, fing eafy; let your notes be foft and flowing; 'referve the loud exertions for thofe rare occafions when it is neceffary to strike and amaze. Now, it appears to me, that if people must make themselves heard, thofe have the strongest voice, who can do it without being under the neceffity of fcreaming.

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rendered more agreeable in being rendered more fenfible, and without giving any harshness to the fong, add a lively energy to the expreffion. It is by means of this the musician, paffing fuddenly from one key or mode to another, and fuppreffing, when neceffary, the intermediate and pedantic tranfitions, is capable of exprefling thofe referves, interruptions, and parenthefes, which are the language of the impetuous paffions; and which the glowing Metaftafio, Porpora, Galuppi, Cocchi, Ju mella, Perez, and Terra-Deglia have fo often and fo fuccefsfully employed; while our lyric poets know just as little of them as our musicians.

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that has been more confpi cuous, in almost every relation of life, than the illuftrious family of Nonfenfe. In every age of the world they have fhone forth with uncommon luftre, and have made a wonderful progrefs in all the arts and fciences. They have, at dif ferent feafons, delivered fpeeches from the throne, harangued at the bar, debated in parliament, and gone amazing lengths in philofophical enquiries and metaphyfical difquifitions.

The third advantage, and that which gives to melody its greatest effect, is the extreme exactness of time which is obfervable in the graveft as well as the livelieft movements: anexactnefs which renders the finging animated and interefting, the accompaniments lively and flowing, which really multiplies the tunes, by making in one combination of founds as many different melodies as there are methods of fcanning them; an exact nefs which conveys every fentiment to the heart, and every image to the understanding; which furnishes the mufician with the means of giving to words all imaginable characters, many of which we have no idea of, and which renders the movements proper to exprefs all thofe characters, or á fingle movement proper to contraft and change, the character at the pleasure of the compofer.

In a word, the whole hiftory of the world, moral and political, is but a Cyclopædia of Nonfenfe. For which reafon, confidering the dig nity and importance of the family, and the infinite fervice it has been of to me and many of my cotem. poraries, I have refolved to oblige the public with a kind of abstract of the hiftory of Nonfenfe,

Nonfenfe was the daughter of ignorance, begot on falfehood, many years ago, in a dark cavern in Boetia. As he grew up, the inherited all the qualities of her parents; the difcovered too warm a genius to require being fent to fchool; but, while other dull brats were poring over an horn-book, the amufed herself with fpreading fantaftical lies, taught her by her mamma, and which have, in latter ages, been familiarly known to us under the names of fham, banter, and humbug.

When fhe grew up, the received the addreffes, and foon became the wife of impudence. Who he was, or of what profeffion, is uncertain; fome fay he was the fon of ignorance by another venture, and was

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fuffered to become the husband of nonfenfe in thofe dark ages of the world, as the Ptolemies of Egypt married their own fifters. Some record, that he was in the army: others, that he was an interpreter of the laws; and others, a divine. However this was, nonfenfe and impudence were foon infeparably united to each other, and became the founders of a more noble and numerous family than any yet preferved on any tree of defcent what foever; of which ingenious device they were faid to have been the firft inventors.

It is my chief intent, at prefent, to record the great exploits of that branch of the family, who have made themselves remarkable in England, though they began to Tignalize themfelves very early, and are ftill very flourishing in moft parts of the world. Many of them were Egyptian priefts four thoufand years ago, and told the people, that it was religion to worship dogs, monkeys, and green leeks; and their defcendants prevailed on the Greeks and Romans to build temples in honour of fuppofed deities, who were, in their own eftimation of them, whores and whore-mongers, pickpockets and drunkards.

Others rofe up fome ages after in Turkey, and perfuaded the people to embrace the doctrine of bloodfhed and the fword, in the name of the most merciful God. And others have manifefted their lineal defcent from nonfenfe and impudence, by 'affirming that there is no God at all. There were alfo among them many fhrewd philofophers: fome of whom, though they were racked with a fit of the ftone, or laid up with a gouty toe, declared that

they felt not the leaft degree of pain: and others would not truft their own eyes; but, when they faw an horfe or a dog, could not tell whether it was not a chair or a table, and even made a doubt of their own exiftence.""

We have no certain account of the progrefs of nonfenfe here in England, till after the reformation, All we hear of her and herprogeny before that period of time is, that they led a lazy life among the monks in cloysters and convents,dreaming over old legends of faints, drawing up breviaries and mafs-books, and ftringing together fome barbarous Latin verfes in rhime.

In the days of queen Elizabeth, fo little encouragement was given to her family, that it feemed to have been almost extinct; but, in the fucceeding reign, it flourished again, and filled the moft confider. able offices in the nation.

Nonfenfe became a great favour. ite at court, where she was highly careffed on account of her wit, which confifted in puns and quibbles; and the bonny monarch himfelf was thought to take a more than ordinary delight in her converfation. At this time many of her progeny took orders, and got themfelves preferred to the beft livings, by turning the evangelifts into punfters, and making St. Paul quibble from the pulpit. Among the reft their was a bishop, a fa vourite fon of nonfenfe, of whom it is particularly recorded, that he ufed to tickle his courtly audience, by telling them that matrimony was become a matter of money, with many other right reverend jefts recorded by Joe Miller.

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Several brothers of this family were likewife bred to the bar, and

very gravely harangued against old Women fucked by devils in the hape of ram-cats, &c.

As an inftance of their profound wifdom and fagacity, I need only mention that juft and truly pious act of parliament made against the crying fin of witchcraft, i Jac. I. chap. 12. "Such as fhall ufe in vocation or conjuration of any evil fpirit, or hall confult, covenant with, entertain, employ, fee, or reward, any evil fpirit, to any infent, or take up any dead perfon, or part thereof, to be used in witchcraft, or have used any of the said arts, whereby any perfon fhall be killed, confumed, or lamed in his or her body, they, together with their acceffaries before the fact, Thall fuffer as felons, without benefit of clergy."

In the troublefome times of king Charles the Firft, nonfenfe and her family fided with the parliament. they fet up new fects in religion: fome of them cropped their hair fhort, and called themfelves the enlightened; fome fell into trances, and pretended to fee holy vifions; while others got into tubs, and held forth, with many whinings and groans, and fnuffling through

the nofe.

In the merry days of king Charles the Second, nonfenfe affumed a more gay and libertine air; and her progeny, from fanatics, became down. right infidels. Several courtiers of the family wrote lewd plays, as well as lufcious loye-fongs, and other loofe verfes, which were col, lected together, and greedily bought up in mifcellanies."

In the fucceeding reign, fome of the kindred, who had received their education at St. Omer's, thought themfelves on the point of eftablish

ing nonfenfe in church and state, and were preparing to make bonfires on the occafion in Smithfield, when they were obliged to leave the kingdom.

Since the revolution, the field of politics has afforded large fcope for nonfenfe and her family to make themselves remarkable. Hence arofe the various fects in party, diftinguished by the name of whig and tory, minifterial and Jacobite, Sunderlandians, Oxfordians, Godolphinians, Bolingbrokians, Walpolians, Pelhamians, &c. &c. &c. names which have kindled as hot a war in pamphlets and journals, as the Guelphs and Gibilines in Italy, or the Big and Little Indians in the kingdom of Lilliput.

I have here endeavoured to give a fhort abridgement of the history of nonfenfe; though a very small part of the exploits of the family can be included in fo compendious a chronicle. Some of them were very deep fcholars, and filled the profeffors chairs at the univerfities. They compofed many elaborate difertations, to convince the world, that two and two make four; and difcovered, by dint of fyllogifm, that white is not black. Their inquiries in natural philofophy were no lefs extraordinary many spent their lives and their fortunes in at tempting to discover a wonderful ftone, that fhould turn every baser metal into gold; and others employed themfelves in making arti ficial wings, by the help of which they fhould fly up into the world of the moon. Another branch of the family took to the Belles Let tres, and were the original found. ers of the learned fociety of Grub street.

Never was any æra, in the annals

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