vided, turned the large old rusty key upon the antiquated pair, who took leave of him, to lodge at a farm hard by. It was one of those nights which are checkered with occasional gleams of moonshine and darkness, when the clouds are riding in a high wind. He slept well for the two first hours; he was then awaked by a low mournful sound that ran through the apartments. This warned him to be up and accoutred. He descended the turret stairs with a brilliant light, which, on coming to the ground floor, cast a gigantic shadow of himself upon the high embattled walls. Here he stood and listened; when presently a hollow moan ran through the long corridor, and died away. This was followed by one of a higher key, a sort of scream, which directed his footsteps with more certainty to the spot. Pursuing the sounds, he found himself in the great hall of his ancestors, and vaulting upon the large oaken table, set down his lamp, and folding his cloak about him, determined to wait for the appearance of all that was terrible. The night, which had been stormy, became suddenly still: the dark flitting clouds had sunk below the horizon, and the moon insinuated her silvery light through the chinks of the mouldering pile. As our hero had spent the morning in the chase, Morpheus came unbidden, and he fell asleep upon the table. His dream was short, for close upon him issued forth the horrid groan: amazed, he started up and sprang at the unseen voice, fixing with a powerful blow his Toledo steel in the arras.

The blade was fast, and held him to the spot. At this moment the moon shot a ray that illumed the hall, and showed that behind the waving folds, there lay the cause concealed. His sword he left, and to the turret retraced his steps. When morning came, a welcome crowd greeting, asked if he had met the ghost? 'O, yes,' replied the knight, 'dead as a door 'nail behind the screen he lies, where my sword has 'pinned him fast bring the wrenching bar, and 'we'll haul the disturber out.' With such a leader, and broad day to boot, the valiant throng tore down the screen where the sword was fixed; when lo! in a recess, lay the fragments of a chapel organ, and the square wooden trunks made for hallowed sounds were used as props, to stay the work when the hall was coated round with oak. The wondering clowns now laughed aloud at the mysterious voice. It was the northern blast that found its way through the crannies of the wall to the groaning pipes that alarmed the country round for a century past.

CHAPTER XXXVII.

HARMONY AND MELODY.

HARMONY is an effect inherent in nature. Every

sound is a mixture of three tones, as much

so as a

ray of light is composed of three prismatic colors. If we listen to St. Paul's bell, we hear it utter the

following tones, b

which form a conso

nance of the 5th and 10th with the key-note. This union is termed the common chord, and every sound in nature is composed in a similar way.

It is from observing these effects that the musical scale has been formed, which may be called the prism of the art, by means of which, all combinations of sound are divisible into their constituent parts.

Melody is a succession of sounds at harmonic distances. It is only one of the accidents, or forms, of harmony, and its excellence and beauty will always depend on the order of chords through which it is made to pass; or, in other words, on the correctness of the harmony by which it is generated. An ingenious writer* says, 'the reason why the intervals 'that produce harmony produce also melody, seems 'to be, that melody is retrospective harmony, or de'pends on a perception of harmonical relation to 'sounds that have preceded. The connexion is no where so apparent, as in passages of arpeggio. 'The memory of the sounds which have just passed us, linger in the ear, and are accommodated with 'harmonious combinations in those that follow.' A

'T. Perronet Thompson.

succession of sounds is the first thing which catches our attention, while the evolutions of harmony pass over the ear of most persons unnoticed. It is said that in China, and the eastern nations of the world, harmony is not yet introduced into their music. They have no music in parts as we have, and the voices and instruments join in performing the tune only. If that is the case, it betrays a want of apprehension and knowledge, that can only be equalled by their known ignorance in painting; in which art, they have not yet discovered the laws of perspective. Harmony is an intellectual enjoyment; it affects not the passions, it is addressed more to the understanding than the emotions of the heart. It is melody alone that touches the feelings, as it imitates the tones and expressions of the human voice. M. Castil Blaze observes, ' that melody be'longs entirely to the imagination; it is the result ' of a happy inspiration, not of the calculations of 'science.' Indeed we do not learn sentiment. Vigorous and sublime traits, fine or simple thoughts, which we meet with in Corneille and Racine, Molière and La Fontaine, are not the fruit of study. Art may embellish the works of genius, but the gift of invention we receive directly from nature. With imagination and taste, every person is able to form melodies. In the fields of Provence, the laborer following his oxen, the shepherd of Lebanon guarding his flock, sing airs, which they sometimes compose at the moment. In these irregular, and little

varying melodies, we often meet with traits of character, original turns, passages of which the charm strikes the musician in such a lively manner, that he is eager to collect them. The forests and mountains have also their composers. The Russian, Swiss, Scotch, Tyrolian airs, and those of the muleteers of Estremadura, have all been formed by rustic singers. Persons of taste, ignorant of the ⚫ rules of composition, have given us vaudevilles full of openness, charming romances, and hymns of great beauty. Adam, Beaumarchais, Rousseau, and Rouget de l'Isle, are true troubadours: the airs they have invented will remain-Nature has dictated them.

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

THOROUGH BASS

Is the art of expressing by figures any combination of notes to be struck with the right hand upon the organ or piano-forte, to any given note in the bass. These figures are a sort of short hand, which describes the accord, and in which is contained the harmony of the full score. If C is taken as the

tonic or key-note, the natural harmony belonging to it consists of the 3d, 5th, and 8th, making the common chord of C.