of the towering elms, and glimmering through the graceful poplars that still decorate the foot of Richmond Hill, which rises from West to East. The upper, or eastward garden, was terminated by a fruitwall, that also bounded the neighbouring garden, which rose to the house it belonged to, on the top of the hill. At the corner of this wall, and nearly parallel with the house, was an arbour, clothed with honeysuckle; from which the eye, wandering over the two gardens, rested on the Thames, and Twickenham meadows. The lower garden was bounded by a thick hedge; and a walk, enclosed with lattice work, interwoven with espaliers, and terminated on the southern side by a green mount, propped with a fine elm, and crowned with a seat, overlooking the slated tops of stables beneath; a kitchen garden, the meadows, and the Thames. Before the house was a wild common, since inclosed; up which ascended a road, that approached and turned off to the house. This road led up to the well-known terrace on the hill. Behind the house was a continuation of the common, still uncultivated, and bounded by a pendent wood, rising from Petersham to the Park gate. The songsters in this wood caused the Doctor to give his residence the fanciful name of Nightingale Lodge. In his withdrawing-room a glass reflected the meadows, and the Thames, winding and expanding towards POPE's villa, that closed the beautiful scene, which was variegated with glades, fine seats, vistas, and groves. In this room the Doctor penned many of his finest compositions, and there conceived them, or on the terrace; his favourite, and almost only promenade. Of the rich scene commanded by the terrace a description is needless; and from this enchanting spot, Nightingale Lodge was an object never overlooked; but it has been improved. The public eye has been excluded by aristocratic walls, over which the scarcely visible chimnies, remind us of Hamlet's exclamation : "To a nunnery, to a nunnery go." The genius that earned immortality could not ensure the mulberry of SHAKESPEAR, nor the mansion of POPE, from profanation. There are those to whom the foregoing description will appear very trivial; and there are those to whom description would be intolerable, even from the pen of a ROUSSEAU: but if we apologize to all who may find exceptionable passages in this essay, we shall fall upon Scylla. But we now place our painting in the forum, earnestly enjoining every spectator, to fix his mark of approbation, without scruple, wherever he or she-thinks our attempts have been happy. Valete. BY CLEMENTI AND CO. 26, CHEAPSIDE, LONDON, A SERIES OF MORAL SONGS. Words by W. F. COLLARD-Music by J. C. CLIFTON. No. 1. The Sensitive Plant. 2. My pretty Anne, good night! 3. Awake, O Sleeper sweet, awake. 6. The Wandering Minstrel (Song and Chorus). ADDRESS, It has long been a matter of serious regret to those who are fond of the beauties of melody, that so few songs can be found proper to be placed in the hands of youth. They for the most part treat of a passion, which is of itself sufficiently apt to prevail over the youthful mind without the aid of music; and therefore only tend to stimulate those feelings which it is one of the special duties of instruction to restrain within wholesome bounds. Habit has so long prevailed over good sense in this respect, that it would seem like a received maxim, that nothing but the subject of LOVE were worthy of the lyric poet, or of the musician. But sound judgment must disclaim this assumption, since the great variety of naturally pleasing objects, and the whole range of our affections and moral feelings, cannot possess matter less ample nor less applicable to poetry and music than the hackneyed sentiments pertinent to a single passion. With this view of the subject CLEMENTI and Co. are persuaded, that in bringing forward a series of Songs of the above description, they shall be forwarding the intentions of those ladies who are immediately engaged in the education of youth, as well as gratifying the wishes of parents in whose families the innocent and agreeable accomplishment of music is cultivated. The patronage which may be bestowed on the early numbers of this work, can alone determine the extent to which it may be carried; but the object being a laudable one, and the talent employed in its execution being such as they trust will entitle it to public approbation, they have little doubt of having their intention seconded by so large a body of reflecting people, who must naturally be interested in the design. The following may serve as a specimen of the nature and style of the Moral Songs. THE SENSITIVE PLANT. Beneath a touch as light as air Well worth their careful heeding; The rudest hand this plant will spare, 1 PUBLISHED BY CLEMENTI and CO. 26, CHEAPSIDE, LONDON. "OF GOODNESS O NEVER DELAY THE HOUR." The prayers that are sent by the poor and lowly Up to the skies for the good and kind, Heav'ns bright gates they are sure to find. The ray from the eye of distress uplifted, Is sent back from Heav'n so divinely gifted, The voice of the orphan in joy ascending, Blends with the song of the choirs above, SACRED MUSIC, PUBLISHED AS ABOVE. A Select Collection of the most esteemed SONGS, DUETS, and TRIOS, in score; also arranged with a separate Accompt. for the Piano-Forte; compiled from the works of HANDEL, in 20 vols..... BEETHOVEN's SIX SACRED SONGS, for Voice and Piano- ... ASYLUM HYMNS and PSALMS, for 1 and 2 Voices, with .... 076 WATTS's DIVINE SONGS, set to Music in an easy and familiar Style, by DR. JACKSON, for 1, 2, 3, and 4 Voices... CRAMER's Two Sacred Songs for Voice and Piano-Forte-.... 0 2 6 TO THE EDITOR. ELEMENTS OF VOCAL SCIENCE. CHAPTER 7. ON THE INTELLECTUAL CULTIVATION NECESSARY TO A SINGER. MIND is the directing principle in art. To sing with effect, is, to employ the combined arts of poetry and music in moving the and affections of the hearer, through the agency of the passions voice. As for the actor, all the ground work is laid for the singer by the poet and the composer; and as in the case of the actor, it is chiefly necessary that the singer should be able to seize the conceptions of his author, and demonstrate them by the subtlest and most refined employment of the technical means his art affords. This implies a fine sensibility, a knowledge of the theory of the passions, and their workings-a power of self-excitation, and taste and judgment in the application of the advantages he enjoys from nature and cultivation. To raise these faculties to their highest perfection is the capital object in training the mind of a singer, and to this end I conceive three grand principles are chiefly to be regarded. 1st. To excite, to warm, to feed, and to cherish the fine apprehension that enters into the most delicate conceptions, with a sensibility equally delicate. 2d. To nurture the bold enthusiasm that dares to give way to imagination in expression; and lastly, to cultivate and mature that * LORD KAIMES, in his Elements of Criticism, says, 66 an internal motion or agitation of the mind, when it passes away without desire, is denominated an emotion; when desire follows the motion or agitation, it is denominated a passion." It is common to use the word passion, as applied to the effects of the arts. In their direct operation, however, they excite emotion only in the mind, for it rarely happens that any consequent desire or action occurs. The drum or trumpet in battle are accessories, not principals; they accord only with the present temper of soldiers. Music therefore can never be said to be a sole cause. It serves to awaken dormant feelings, and to re-excite associations of scenes that are passed-to call up ideas which have been acquired, and which bestow the kind and degree of pleasure peculiar to each of these objects. judgment which men call taste, and by which we are taught to understand the various elements of expression, and to apply them in the best manner. There are two ways of arriving at the knowledge of the workings of the passions, as moved by the arts-the one is by the study of the principles which govern the mind, and by a critical comparison of those principles with their illustrations. The other is by making ourselves acquainted with the fine arts through their effects, without deeply considering causes. The tendency of the first course is perhaps to cool the sensibility, while the judgment is chastened and made austere; that of the second, to render the feelings more sensible, and to gain the knowledge sought, by the aid of experience instead of reason. He who pursues the former plan will understand by induction and inference, that certain causes will infallibly lead to certain effects; he who pursues the latter will, by his own mere sensations, ascertain the same fact. The one process forms the critic, the other the artist. The mind is engaged during the same period in the formation and acquirement of the technical means, and in the application of those means. These operations have a reciprocating power of improvement, for in the search after the attainment of technical accomplishments, the student frequently gains lights as to the various occasions. when they may be used, which would never have occurred to him but through such an agency; while on the other hand the endeavour to find out how he may best express certain sentiments, not less frequently directs him to sources of power, purely intellectual, to which he would never otherwise have been led. In training the mind of a singer it is never to be forgotten that the imagination is the reigning faculty. The theory of the passions, as illustrated in the fine arts, is a beautiful study, and is in so far necessary as it may give the enquirer a general notion of the laws which govern the mind, but it ought by no means to be pursued into its minuter details. I should recommend the perusal of such works as Burke on the Sublime and Beautiful, Lord Kaimes' Elements of Criticism, and Alison on Taste, as laying open the springs by which the intellect works. But the principal study of a singer should * "In poetry, in painting, in eloquence, and in all the other fine arts, our success depends on the skill with which we are able to adapt the efforts of our |