Music And The Masonic Ritual.—No. I.

pressions as to its beauty . We could have beheld the sun setting amid the glowing tints of a summer evening , without thinking of anything beyond the advantage of a serene weather ; we might have contemplated the glassy expanse of ocean , reflecting the tranquil beams ofthe moon ,, without any other feeling than the comfort of a safe ancl easy voyage ; and the varieties of hill and daleshadwoods and

, y luxuriant verdure mig ht have been pleasant only in the eyes of farmers and graziers . So , also , we could have listened to sounds with equal indifference to anything beyond the mere information they conveyed to us ; and the sighing of the breeze , or the murmuring ol the brook , while we learned from them nothing of which we could avail ourselves , mi ght have been heard without pleasure . It is evident that the

perception of external objects for the sole purpose of making use of them has no connexion with the feeling of their beaut y , and that the great Creator has bestowed on us this additional gift for the purpose of augmenting our happiness ; for had he not had this design he might have left us without the sense of beaut y or deformity , aud Paley tells us " If God had wished our misery he might have made sure of his

purpose by forming our senses to he as many sores and pains to us as they are now instruments of our gratification and enjoyment , or by placing us among objects so ill-suited to our perceptions as to have continually offended us , instead of ministering to our refreshment and delight . He might have made for instance , everything we saw loathsome , everything we touched a sting , and every sound a discord * . "

In the place of every sound being a discord , the majority of the sounds which we hear are more or less agreeable to us . The infinite variety of sounds produced b y the winds and waves , the cries of animals , the notes of birds , aud above all , the tones of the human voice , all affect us ivith various kinds and degrees of pleasure ; and in general it may be said that it is such sounds as indicate something to

be feared or avoided , such as the howling of wild beasts , the hissing of serpents , or the roaring of fire , that are positively painful to the ear . In this sense all nature may be said to overflow with music , the discordant and disagreeable sounds being ( as in artificial music ) , in such proportion only as to heighten the pleasure derived from those sounds which are agreeable . The human voice is that which leases us chiefl

p y ancl affects us most powerfully ; its natural tones and accents are calculated lo penetrate the heart of the listener ; and the union of tone and accent results in speech , which , in every language produces a melodic pleasure to tho ear , as well as an effect of which mere words ivould be incapable . These natural tones of the voice , either by themselves or joined to articulate languageconstitute music in its

, simplest state , and the feelings and pleasures derived from such simple music must necessaril y have existed in every form of society , and render both the history and practice of music coeval with that of our own species .