was moit thoroughly verfed in; but I really believe his clallic erudition extended little, if any farther. precepts of philofophy, untaught always to vanquish the paffions which were, his frequent errors; Burns makes his own artlets apology in terins more forcible. than all the argumentary vindications in the world could, in one of his poems, where he delineates with his uual m plicity the progreis of his mind, and its firit expantion to the leflons of the “ Tum, telary Mufc." The penchant Mr. Burns had uniformly acknowledged for the fcitive pleafure of the table, and towards, the faster and softer objects of Nature's creation, has been the rallying point where the attacks of his ceniors, both pious and inoral, have been directed; and to there, it must be confeffed, he fhewed himself no Stoic. His poetical pieces blend with alternate happiness of delcription the fro-. lic fpirit of the joy-intpiring bowl, or melt the heart to the tender and impaflionated fentiments in which beauty always But yet the light that led aftray taught him to pour forth his own. But who will wish to reprove the feelings he has.confecrated with fuch lively touches of nature? And where is the rugged moralift that will perfuade us to far to "chill the genial current of the foul," as to regret that Ovid ever celebrated his Corinna, or that Anacreon fung beneath his vine? "I faw thy pulfe's maddening play, des Wild fend thee Picafure's devious way, Miled by Fancy's meteor ray, I will not however undertake to be the apologift of the irregularities even of a man of genius; though I believe it is as certainly understood that Genius never was free of irregularities, as that their abfolution,in great measure, may be justly claimed, ince it is certain, that the world had continued very ftationary in its intellectual acquirements, had it never. given birth to any but men of plain fenfe. Evennels of conduct, and a due regard to the decorums of the world, have been to rarely feen to move hand in hand with Genius, that fome have gone fo far as to fay, though there I cannot acquiefce, that they are even incompatible: Be fides, the frailties that cait their fhade over fplender of fuperior merit are more confpicuously glaring than where they are the attendants of mere mediccrity; it is only on the gem we are difturbed to fee, the duft. The pebble may be foiled, and we never regard it. The eccentric intuitions of Genius too often yield the foul to the wild effervefcence of defires always unbounded, and fometimes equally dan gerous to the repole of others as fatal to its own. No wonder then if Virtue hertelf is fometimes loft in the blaze of kindling animation, or that the calm monitions of realon were not invariably found fufficient to fetter an imagination which fcorned the parrow limits and reftrictions that would chain it to the level of ordinary minds. The Child of Nature, the Child of Sepibility, unbroke to the refrigerative By Paffion driven .. Was light from heaven.". I have already tranfgreffed far beyond.. the bounds I had propofed to myself on firft committing to paper thefe, iketches, which comprehend at least what I have been led to deem the leading features of Burns's mind and character. A critique, either literary or moral, I cannot aim at; mine is wholly fulfilled it, in thefe paragraphs, I have been able to delineate any trong traits that diftinguilhed him, of thole talents which railed him from the plough, where he palled the bleak morning of his life, weaving his rude wreaths of pocty with the wild field flowers that fprung around his cot-tage, to the enviable eminence of literary fame, where Scotland will long cherish his memory with delight and gratitude, and proudly remember, that beneath her cold iky, a genius was ripened, without care or culture, that would have done honour to the genial temperature of climes better adapted to cherishing itsgeims, to the perfectioning of thole luxuriancies, that warmth of fancy and colouring, in which he fo eminently ex-. celled! From feveral paragraphs I have noticed in the public prints, even tince the idea of fending these thither was formed, I find private animofities are not yet fubfided, and envy has not yet done her part. I ftill truft, however, that honot fame will be affixed to Burns's. repatation which he will be found to have merited, by the candid and impartial, among his countrymen; and where a kindred bofom is found, that has been taught to glow with the fires that ani: mated Burns's, fhould a recollection of the imprudence that fullied his brighter quifications interpofe, remember at the laffle time the imperfection of all human DESULTORY REMARKS ON THE STUDY AND PRACTICE OF MUSIC, ADDRESSED TO A YOUNG LADY WHILE UNDER THE TUITION OF ANT ..EMINENT MASTER 1. THE next article under contemplation with me, and to which, permit me, my dear Louifa, to request your particular attention, is that por tion of the fubje&t in Mufical Compofition, called ADAGIO. The Adagio movement is the grand object of regard with the Compofer-equally fo with the Performer; it is the ultimatum in ftudy and in practice; it is, in either, the fummit of perfection, and therefore as ained by few. To acquire excellence herein as a performer, demands a share of application and perfeverance very feldom bestowed by any amateur prac titioner; a chatte ear, a retined rafte, and feelings of the most exquinte kind, are alfo requifites indifpenfibtle to the delivery of a well computed Adagio, with that delicacy, fweetnels, energy, and pathos, which belong to it. In the Adagio the car is but a channel of paffage to the foul-here the performer fhould fpeak to his auditors with folemnity, and here fhould he be strictly chafte to his text, He thould likewife be audible, articulate, and emphatic in the utterance of every note. And here it is that thofe true graces, tone, expreffion, and taste, are best, brought forward to notice; and what execution truly is, in its ftrictest fenfe, becomes manifeft; for I do not conceive the common phrafe, execution, belongs alone to thofe paffages wherem divifions and fubdivifions abound, where in is much found without any meaning, and wherein much celerity of finger is exerted to delight an admiring multi. rude with a much-ado about nothing. The utmoft licence that can be allowed to a performer in the delivery of an Adagio is, that of clofing it with a Cadenza ad libitum; but in which judg ment and feeling thould guide him to be gracefully plaintive, and not floridly trivials fo that having delighted the ear and foothed the foul, he may leave the mind in tweet tranquillity, and receive, as a grateful requiral, the plaudits due to fuperior skill and modest merit; it will make its way to the heart, and its impreffon should there remain paule, therefore, an Adagio, thus rxes cuted, and thus closed, ought to take place ere the Gavot or Rondeau commences ; for, furely, it is most abfurd, a mere quibble in mufie, to run diffimilar moveinents into each other, and thus connect together things in themselves totally different and diftin&t; it is equally ridiculous with what HORACE remarks, "Suppofe a painter to an hu "man head should join a horfe's neck; or, to a beauteous maid above the wart " annex a mermaid's tail, who would "not laugh, fuch a picture to behold Or, who would not defpife the buf foonery of Lingo, clofe following “ breathing time allowed,” a thafte dell very of HAMDET's Soliloquy on Death and Futurity? And might we not here, on parity of reafoning, call this, and many other beautiful speeches of this divine auther, this pride and ornament of our nation, the Adagios of ShakeSpeare? I am not only unaufait in mufi cal knowledge, but unconverfant alfo with every polite accomplishment; therefore my opinion on mufic, or any other matter, can have very little claim to attention; yet, allow me to obterve, that were I to fuperintenda mutical en tertainment, I would, as a trial of its effect on the company, both with res Spect to compofition and performance, make an entire clofe of one act with PLEYELL'S charming Adagio, and of another with YANIEWICZ's execution of "Lord, remember David!" the first a moft fublime compofition; the other as correct and pathetic a delivery as the violin, the fweeteft of all inftruments, is capable of. You will, perhaps, with my Lord HAMLET, fay, "Something too much of this!" on my having dwelt fo long on this my darling theme, I will therefore quit the fubje&t, and proceed to offer you my fentiments on the mere manual part of mufic; first, however, intreating your indulgence to one word more as a clofe to my difcourfe on the Adagio. Among the many cele, brated performers we have on the violin, fome are diftinguished for fpirit and animation, fome for neatnefs; others for rapidity, few, however, have been admired for pathos. Our fombrous friend, YANIEWICZ, is among the few--his Ada. gio's arefolemn,plaintive, and interesting; and his countenance during that time is in Adagio mood. Would it, my Louifa, be out of point, were you to afk of Mr. J. who is killed in mufic, as well as per fect in all that relates to motion and po fition of the body, whether the minuet De la Cour especially may not be termed L'Adagio de dance. Certainly it comprizes a series of the most elegant movements which can adorn and give dignity to the human form divine. 12.Of Graces, Embellishments, Flourishes, Shakes, Brilliancy, Rapidi ty, Cadenzas, and a variety of fuch phrafes, worn out with common ufe, much is faid, and little is meant, becaufe, refpecting them, very little is under food by the generality of those who have them flippant on the tongue. And what, indeed, are they, as commonly practifed, but the offspring of levity, vitiated tafte the excrefcences, the weeds only of that Hea ven-born exalted science, Mufie; asfuch, they are a difcredit to harmony, and are adapted and introduced but as flight-of-: hand tricks to thew dexterity in the performer. To a profeffional musician, hould not fall wholly on them for what the times. To produce that effect which, however unmeaning and tranfient, will gratify any of the lenses, divert the prefent moment, expel ennui," and carry us in fpirits, and without reflec tion, though the day, is all that is now required of the Arts, the Sciences, or even of Philofophy itself.301 13. Among the profeffors of mufic there are, doubtless, men of difcernment, of knowledge, and of refined tafte, who are yet, against their better judgment, conftrained to facrifice at the thrine of Fashion, and to bow fubmiffive to its dictates. For "they who live to pleafe muft please to live." But here only let us allow of this degradation of bars mony and abute of talent, while the independent amateur, the volunteer, and true difciple of Aropte, glowing with love lover of this rational entertainment, lience is derived fuch elevation of foul, fo much of ferene and permanent de fight, is indefatigable and ftedfait in the acquifition of a chafte, correct, and empharic file. I am tedious, perhaps, on this point, as poly I may have been on Tome others; but it is my ardent with to affift your progrefs in the Harmonic Branch of Education, as heretofore I have done, and thall continue en de, if the various parts of your fcho-laftic exercises. Stimulated then, as I am, by laudable motives, verbofity and circumlocution need not, I truft, fee for indulgence at your hands; for, as DOG. BERRY, in the play fays. "Were I as tedious as a King, I could find in my heart to bestow it ail on your worship." It is, I believe, Dr. JOHNSON, the wife of modern fages, who obferves that what is not worth the trouble of doing well, is not worth doing at all. Surely this fententious remark muft, by all true amateurs, be held as Gofpel truth when applied to the doctrine of mufic, and regarded as neceffary for obedience in thele days, when many of your fex devote fo large a portion of their time to mufical udies, that mediocrity in performance is a point which will not procure the leaf attention from any one; for what were once calied difficulties, and held to be fur. mountable by the rigid ttudy of profef fors only, are now fubdued at every boarding-fchool by young Ladies hardly in their teens. She, therefore, who fears at excellence, must take a flight #hrough regions unknown in former tracks, and ferting atide all regard for, and all attention to the frivolous and superficial, muft confine and dedicate her ftudies to what truly is the effence, tience vet à little longer, and let his farther deicant on this prevailing Ton, this Briliancy and Rapidity of Finger-fight called Execution, which, in all companies, we are told is the fine quà non in Performance; and confequently we are to believe, that thofe play beft who play fastest. Such is, we well know, the leading principle in fome Schools, but to them I with not you to belong. If to run over a certain number of Notes fo fpeedily that their utterance is too quick for the acuteft car to catch the found, or, if difinetly heard, too tranfient to make impreffion, be excellence, then am I, from organic defect, as well as from want of talte, incapable of thence res ceiving any pleafure. This may re quire much practice, and be difficult in att inment; but I have faid, that all difficulties are not worth furmounting, for fome, as in the prefent inftance, are in their nature fo trifling, that they de ferve not praife when fubdued, and much more profitably might that time find employment which is bestowed on them. RAPID EXECUTION, in the extreme, has by hafty perfeverance been arrived at on the Siccato, the Jews Harp, and the Salt Bor. But how much exceeding every thing cffe would have been the execution of the famed Horle CHILDERS, had he paced it" over Keyed inftrument, when he ran a mile in a minute! How many frokes found would then have elicited from his four hoofs beyond whatever were, in that time, ftruck from the ten fingers of the most expert Performer that has yet appeared! 15. Among the PIANO FORTE RA, CERS of the prefent day, many of them are reftricted to a few Pieces expressly calculated to produce, as the Phrafe is, the the very foul of mufic, corre&antís, fim- Effect; that is, to ama of plicity, tone, and expreffion. 14. From what hes already been faid, gou will difcover, that I am rather ininical to the rage of the prefent day, or what is now termed l'onderful Execution. may have its merits; it certainly has, in great abundance, its Admirers and as Diciples; but it accords not with By Idea of Mufic, and is, I think, ever exercifed at the expence of Judgment and Feeling. How infinitely fuperior to fuch triviality is the chatte Cantabile file, in Vocal indeed as well as inftru. mental delivery, wherein the Ear be. comes fubfervient to the Heart, and where Pathons, not the Senfes, prefide. - Give me, my dear Friend, your pas wonders of velocity and Finger; let us fuppofe thefe Leffons to be denied them, and that, in their ftead, an efteemed Concerto of HANDEL, Or STANLEY, was placed on the Dek with command that its Text only should be the fubject of Performance think you not that Admiration would cease, and Ditappointment take places while, perchance, fome ene prefent, more humble, but better taught, would, with Exfe to themselves, and Delight to the Company, accomplish the Tak with Precifion, Expreffion, and an enforces ment of the Motion or Sentiment of the Author in each Movement of the Piece, To which of these Performers a wele Xxxdeserved deferved Preference would be given, by all true Lovers of Harmony, need not be pointed out to you, Example more than Precept fways." An old and trite Maxim this, and to which I cannot, without fome referva tion, subscribe; for Precepts are, in my humble conception, as Radicals, indif, penfible in every branch of Tuition. However, for prefent purpofe, let us give Admiffion to the Adage in its ut. moft extent of meaning; and, in Illuftration of my Doctrine in favour of chafe and fimple performance, permit me to have the honour of introducing to Your particular police, on my next Epiftolary vilir, a moft diftinguished Character in the nodern Corps HarmoAique. Af prefent, time allows me only to offer to your confideration a hint or two on the Subject yet untouched by me, and indeed but feldom pointed out by any one. It is a matter much deferving the attention of a Lady, how the is to prefent and deport herself while at the Piano Forte. I have repeatedly noticed fome Capital Performers, who, while they highly gratified the Ear, have very much offended the Eye, by a moft ungraceful, not to fay diftorted, Pofition of their Body, and a difguftingly awkward motion with their arms and hands. I Know w one Lady, whofe demeanor, in general, is admired, but who places her Chair at a distance from the Inftrument, like a Ruftic feated at the table of his Lord with a plate half a yard from him; whence the Body, in either cafe, is bent forward, and the Arms are on the full ftretch to reach their object. This Lady's manner of applying her Fingers, 2 to the Keys, is alfo unpleafing, and rather ludicrous, for, in their whole length, they drop perpendicular on the Inftrument with a laxity and tremulation of every joint, as if they had been wetted and the was thaking them dry. It is, 1 allow, eaner far to point out Defects than to give Inftruction in the cafe before us. Defects are obvious, and ftrike inftantaneously, but to acquire a graces ful deportment and a proper difplay of the Hands and Arms while at the Desk, muft depend greatly on making thefe a conftant object of regard-and though "herein the Patient muft minifter to herfelf," yet can the fkilful and accom plished J-N aflift you with fome prefcriptions that will prove efficacious, To me it feems that the most proper and be coming manner is to bring the Chair near to the Inftrument, to place the Body upright, the Shoulders back, the Head as erect as a very little inclination of the Neck will admit of; but in all. this with fo much of cafe and Aexibility as will enable you gracefully to turn your Head on either fide, the Body and Shoulders ftill retaining their pofition. The Arms fhould be on a level line with the Keys, neither hanging in fharp angles below them, nor fore-fhortened in crippled ftate above them. The Fingers diverging a little, and the Hands rather convexed, while the extreme Joints only of the Fingers drop on the Keys, and are conftantly kept near to them, not high up-lifted and ever jump. ing up and down, in manner refembling the motion of the Jacks withinfide the Inftrument, as you must have noticed during the Process of tuning it. (To be continued.) THEATRICAL 114 SEPT. 21. MR. ELLISTON appeared the firk time at Covent Garden in the character of Shema in The Jew. The popularity which this gentleman had acquired at the Haymar ketartended him to the Winter Theatre. His conception of the character was just, and his performance correct and impreffive. 23. Mrs. NORTON (under the name of GILBERT), from the Birmingham Theatre, appeared the first time at Covent Garden, in the character of Lady Wafer i in The Dra. mitif?^ Her figure, voice, and expreffion, are perfectly adapted for Stage effect, and are fuch as qualify her to fill those characters in LVO XXX. OCT. 1796. JOURNAL. which it is not neceffary that the actress fhould be perfectly amiable. She was res ceived with applause. 30. Mr. MURRAY, from the Bath Theatre, appeared the first time at Covent Garden, în the oppofite characters of "Shylock in The Mer chant of Venice, and Bagatelle, in The Foor Sob dier, and in each was received with great ap plause, Mr. Murray is a veteran actor of fterling merit, which makes it a matter of furprife that he has not been called to one of the London Theatres much earlier. His figure is a goed one, his countenance expreffive, his conception juft, and, though fomething of a mannerist, yet with fufficient vari ety |