peared merely as a reprover of vice, and a preacher of righte oufnefs, many might have looked upon his miracles as inftances of divine power, and even believed his refurrection. But as he avowed himself to be the Meffiah, appealed to his miracles in proof of his pretenfions, and maintained their truth in the prefence of his judges, and even to the laft hour of his life, we cannot admit, that any of the Jews who were not convinced that he was the Meffiah, would efteem him fomething morethan man; or believe that his character and tranfactions were foretold by the facred prophets, and that he rofe from the dead according to their predictions. In the fequel of his difcourfe, Mr. Bryant, among other things, compares the cafe of Jofephus, fuppofing him to be the author of the paragraph, with that of Rouffeau, who, notwithftanding the exalted terms in which he fpeaks of Chrift and of the Gospel, continued an unbeliever, and returns a flight, and, in our opinion, a very unfatisfactory answer to the objections that have been raised against the authenticity of the paffage in queftion, from its not being quoted by any Christian writer before Eufebius, or by Photius who lived in the ninth century; and from the unnatural and irregular manner in which it is introduced. There are other objections of no little weight, of which he has not thought proper to take any notice. Upon the whole, we cannot think that Mr. Bryant has fucceeded in his attempt to vindicate this juftly fufpected paffage, or that by the prefent publication he will add, in any respect, to the great reputation which he hath aequired by his other writings. We fhall close the Article with a judicious remark of Dr. Lardner on the fubject, which we recommend to the confideration, not only of Mr. Bryant, but of all those who are more inclined to defend fufpicious paffages in ancient writers, than to make a proper advantage of thofe which are unquestionably genuine. To conclude, fays that excellent Writer, it appears to me to be the wisdom and the intereft of Christians, to adhere to, and improve the genuine works of Jofephus, and to maintain their integrity, inftead of attempting to vindicate the passages †, which are fo juftly fufpected to be interpolations. Jew. and Heath. Teft. Vol. II. Pref. p. xix. + The Doctor had been fpeaking of the paffage in which mention is made of James the brother of Jefus, referred to in the quotation from Origen in the preceding part of this Article, as well as of that under confideration. Em. ART; ART. XI. An Effay upon Tune: Being an Attempt to free the Scale of Mafic, and the Tune of Inftruments, from Imperfection. Illuftrated with plates. 8vo. 6s. Boards. Edinburgh, Elliot; Cadell, London. 1781. F those who receive delight from mufic, but without understanding the principles of that fcience, were to be apprized of the dry and laborious means by which their entertainment is provided for them; they would fet a high value on the works of those who, like the prefent Author, fubmit to the drudgery of procuring the moft delicate materials for the mufical treat, They would learn that their fleeting and fhort-lived gratification is procured at the expence of fevere ftudy, and of long and laborious calculations. Swift's ludicrous allufion to cookery, and applied by him to poetry, is more juftly applicable to mufic, and particularly to the labours of the Mufical Theorist:"And here a fimile comes pat in: Though chickens take a month to fatten, Among the difficulties which attend the due preparation of the mufical feaft, there are fome which concern the very ele ments, or the effential ingredients of which the treat is to be compounded. Thefe form the fubject of the prefent work, and relate to what is called the fcale of mufic; that is, the tones or notes of which every musical piece is compounded. The imperfections of all keyed and wind inftruments, as well as the caufes of thefe imperfections, are well known, and need not be here enumerated. The violin, however, and inftruments of that kind, though they certainly have four, or more, fixed notes, have hitherto been confidered as exempt from thofe falfities of tune which attend the others, whofe tones are all fixed. The Author, nevertheless, obferves, that the natural tune of the violin'-meaning the tune of its open ftrings,—' is false in all the keys but one. His intention in the first of the two parts into which he has divided this work, is to give rules, eafy to be followed by a performer on the violin, which will direct him towards perfect tune, and enable him to approach it as near as his industry and command of hand will permit; qualifying him alfo to judge of errors with the utmost precision,' In the fecond Part, the Author undertakes to give fuch plans of conftruction for other inftruments, as will afford perfect tune, in every key, free from all defect or excess, even in the relations of the internal intervals of the fcale of mufic; the correction of which has hitherto baffled the most anxious effays.' The Author accordingly begins with the violin; and, in exhibiting the true intervals of tune, fhews that the component Ff3 elements elements of the octave confift of major tones, in the ratio of 8:9; of minor tones, in the ratio of 9:10; and of semitones in the ratio of 15:16; while the ratio of the comma is as 80:81. Without ftopping to exemplify his manner of afcertaining thefe intervals, we fhall confine ourfelves to the giving an account of a few eafy experiments, which the Author propofes as examples of the manner of accurately tuning Comma-that great ftumbling-block of theoretical musicians-which conftitutes the difference between the major and the minor tone. Thefe examples will likewife exhibit the natural imperfections of the violin. We fhall deliver them in our own words. In a vjolin, the four ftrings of which are accurately tuned fifths to each other, the first string is not in perfect tune with the fourth for let E on the fecond string be taken unifon with E on the open first ftring, and be then founded with G on the third ftring; fo ftopped as to conftitute with it a major fixth : this laft mentioned G will fenfibly differ from the G on the fame ftring, which is a true octave to the open fourth ftring; and the amount of this difference will be Comma.Or, experimentally, thus: Ufing the full shift (as furnishing a more convenient pofition of the hand), with the fecond finger on the fecond firing found E, unifon with the open first ftring; and then, with the first finger on the third ftring, find a major fixth to this E. Now, if the note thus acquired (g) be founded together with G, on the open fourth string (its octave below), it will be fenfibly too Sharp; and the finger must be flid upwards, or towards the nut of the violin, to produce a juft octave. Again: Sound B, with the first finger on the fecond ftring, fo as to make a perfect fourth with E, the open first ftring; and then found the fame B with D the open third ftring. This laft interval, if the fcale of the fiddle were perfect, ought to be a true major fixth; but the two notes will be found to be fenfibly out of tune. On the other hand, if the first finger be moved a little, fo as to make this laft fixth perfect; the former perfect chord of faurth, made with the open first firing, will, in its turn, be detroyed: fo that these two concords cannot poffibly be ftruck in tune, from the fame pofition of the finger on the fecond ftring. -The interval, which deftroys the perfection of these chords is Comma-We fhall add one more example, or experiment, in the Author's own words: Stop the third ftring in E, chord of fixth greater to the open fourth ftring G; and after the chord is accurately adjufted, carefully preferve the pofition of this last found E, and take its octave with the fourth finger upon the fecond string.This laft mentioned E, upon the fecond ftring, will be found to to be flatter than the tune of the open first ftring, and the diffe rence is Comma. A fhocking difference it is, when thus brought into direct comparison; and it is not to be doubted, but that a performer would think himfelf highly affronted if he were told, that he is often fo much, and fometimes much more, out of tune," Though thefe matters have been long known, and the precife ratios have been determined by theorifts; yet it is certainly ufeful and agreeable to have the truth of them thus fatisfactorily afcertained by direct experiments: and although fome management and dexterity be required in preferving the fame pofition of the hand, in making thefe trials; thefe experiments, and others which we omit, may eafily, after a little practice, be repeated by any performer on the violin; who will be affifted, as we long ago obferved *, and as the Author likewife obferves, in the procuring of perfect concords, by an attention to the third founds difcovered by Tartini. The Author afterwards de fcribes, and illuftrates by a drawing, a method of making thefe experiments on the violin more accurately, by means of a piece of brass wire, previously foftened in the fire, wrapped round the fore-finger, and which is ufed as an occafional fret. After taking notice of the well-known errors in the tune of the harpfichord, organ, and all the other inftruments whofe tones are fixed, and which often amount to more than comma; he adds, that it may feem difficult to convict à violin-performer of fuch errors; for, it must be acknowledged that the inftrument is capable of perfect tune: but the question is, whe ther ever, in fact, perfect tune has been performed upon it? There is reason to think it has not; and that the errors of the best performers are very frequently not lefs, but still greater, than those found in fixed inftruments.' He adds, that it will not probably be denied, that every violin-performer means to derive the pitch of his tune from the tune of the open ftrings in general; elfe, why tune his fiddle to the pitch of other inftruments with which he is to perform in concert? or indeed why tune it at all? It feems likewife probable, that in performing any piece of mufic in the natural key-major, C, he means to take the tune of the fourth ftring as fifth of the key; and that of the open third ftring as fecond of the key. If fo, then the open fecond and open first ftrings are both out of tune to this key; and the error is comma.. And if, in fuch circumstances, a performer ever admit the tune of thefe open ftrings, or their unisons, he is unquestionably out of tune by comma?' * See M. REVIEW, Vol. xlv. November 1771, pag. 371. Ff4 There There is no difputing, adds the Author, with a nimble, fingered performer, upon what happens during performance. We may fay, that we feel his errors; and he will anfwer, that it is affectation to fay fo. The appeal then must be made to fomething more permanent than the fleeting perception of a note, as it paffes in the act of performance; and fortunately, or rather unfortunately, there is a large ftore of errors in the compofitions of the greatest mafters.' The Author accordingly gives a few fhort examples, in the natural key-major, C, taken from the works of Tartini, Corelli, and Giardini; in which he affirms, that the performer is under the neceffity of using or ftriking fome of the open ftrings, though they are undoubtedly falfe, to the amount of camma. He will pardon us for obferving, that he might have made a better felection; particularly with respect to the examples from Tartini, in the two firft of which the performer, we imagine, ought, independent of the prefent queftion, to take both the paffages on the full shift; in which cafe, neither of the falfe tones of the open ftrings, E, and A, would be heard +. Certain Arpeggios would, we think, have furnished the Author with more unexceptionable examples. To correct these errors, and to give to the violin that perfect tune of which it is undoubtedly capable, the Author paffes in regular order through all the 24 keys, major and minor; affigning to each major and minor tone and femitone its proper ftation on the finger board: thus paffing through an intricate and complicated maze, where few, we apprehend, will have the courage or perfeverance to follow him to the end; though his first steps, in the two natural keys at leaft, will, we hope, attract, as they deferve, the attention of those who laudably aim at excellence. Perfection is not attainable; but it is of use to bave the exemplar fet before our eyes, to enable us to make approximations towards it. In confequence of this refined regulation of tune,' the Author, befides the common fharp, flat, and natural marks, adopts three others, which are occafionally to be placed on the beginning of the staff, and which respectively denote the rise or fall of comma, 80:81; in the fame manner as the former are employed to fignify the rife or fall of the limma major, 128:135. Thefe are, the acute mark, or accent ('), the grave (), and the negative (°); which laft has the fame effect with the natu ral above mentioned. The Author feems to quote a foreign edition of Tartini's work; but the English performer, who is in poffeffion of the twelve Solos of Tartini, published here by Walsh, will find the paffages referred to above in the third Sonata, fecond movement, bars 2d and 9th. |