audience was at the end of a play, Valeté et plaudite! Dr. Busby might with truth, and "without overleaping the bounds of modesty," have said that his book contains a greater number of words and definitions than any dictionary added to a book of instructions; and indeed it ought, when we consider how much trouble has heen taken off his hands by his four precursors just mentioned, whom he had to consult, translate, and copy; besides the numerous volumes lately written on the history, theory, and practice of the art :-not one of which the author has deigned to name in the whole course of his work. The Crusca and Dr. Johnson quote classical authority, to illustrate and confirm their definitions; and Padre Martini, whose authority was oracular to all others, never himself rested on it. Not a rule did he venture to give in all his writings, without the support of some master anterior to himself.

The time-table, or chronometer for measures that succeeded points, has been so clearly proved to belong to Majister Franco, who flourished a considerable time before John de Muris, that the old prejudices on these subjects should not have had admission into a new work. Some important articles seem to be too slightly mentioned, to convey to a musical student any clear idea of their import; such as harmonics, harmoncial, arithmetical, and geometrical proportions and divisions of the monochord, &c.

The language of this book is in general clear and correct; except in the two instances of Cliff and Stave Clef, Fr. in music, from Clavis, Lat. Chiave, Ital. literally implies a key; and though colloquially pronounced Cliff, it is always written Clef. No such word is to be found in good writers as the substantive Stave. The plural of staff is staves.

We have long observed that authors, beauties, wits, and men of talents, who ask too much admiration, obtain too little. Arrogance ..on one side excites injustice on the other; and we are rendered fas tidious, and unwilling to be pleased, when we are not suffered to judge for ourselves, but are told what and how much we are to admire. May this reflection be not wholly useless to more authors than the writer of the present work!

Art. 37. A. F. C. Kollmann's Vindication of a Passage in his Practical
Guide to Thorough-Bass, against an Advertisement of Mr. M. P.
King. Folio. 1s. 6d. Sold at the Music Shops.

We have here a furious attack on one side for invaded property, and a still more furious defence of injured honour on the other. It can hardly be called plagiarism to make use of old rules, without which it is impossible to write on thorough-bass; and the first accusation of Mr. Kollmann, concerning Mr. King's having taken the rule for suspensions from his book, may certainly be retaliated: - the rule belongs to neither of these gentlemen. Dr. Pepusch, p. 28. and many others, have said that all notes treated as discords must be prepared in the unaccented part of a bar, by being then struck as concords; in the next accented part of a bar, the same note, holding on, must be made a discord by striking with it the note next above it, or its replicate; and in the following unaccented part of the bar,

DrB.y.

the

the discord must be resolved by descending a single degree to a Concord." The having the 6th at the top of the chord in a suc cession of 6ths is a rule given by Lampe, Pasquali, Dr. Pepusch, and all masters who know how to teach thourough-bass; so that here is no theft on either side.

The terms suspension and anticipation are modern in our musical language, and have superseded binding-notes and ligatures. Rameau seems to have been the first who used them in French. There is no plagiarism, nor any novelty, in writing on the scale, in three parts, to prepare the new 5th by a 6th 56 56 56 56 56 56 56 8

3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 CDEFGA B C

Whoever has taught, or learned, accompaniment from Corelli's Sonatas, must be familiarized to these figures.

What these ingenious gentlemen call transitions, Dr. Pepusch has treated better than either of them, under the denomination of passing or transient notes; which are seldom expressed in the figuring, and have nothing to do with the fundamental harmony. This quarrel, in which the combatants have treated each other so harshly, will do no honour to their tempers, but may be of service to their books: since, as Dr. Johnson used to say, "an author had better hire somebody to abuse his book, than it should be suffered to remain unnoticed."We are sorry, however, that these professors of a liberal art should behave to each other so illiberally. There are useful precepts for young students in harmony in both their treatises; and we should have been glad if, among the musical doctrines, there had been a few instances of urbanity and good breeding.-On the whole, it is to be hoped that these angry disputants have not flattered themselves with being the inventors of the rules for which they contend; since there has been no book written on thorough-bass or composition for these hundred years, that has not inculcated the same doctrine in one form of words or another.

MISCELLANEOUS.

Art. 38. Three Letters signed Aristides, first published in the Kentish
Gazette, with a Letter from a Bystander on some probable Epoch
of the Revolution in France. By a Friend to Mankind. 8vo.
Pamphlet. 1802.

This author, a zealous Protestant, views with complacency the operation of the French Revolution in the subversion of the dominion of Popery, preaches comfort to us on the present state of Europe, and is full of hope that ages to come will reap benefit, especially respecting religion, from the confusion, rapine, and confiscation to which France has been a prey; since it is the conduct of Providence to educe good out of evil. Hence the prospect before us must be bright.

Art. 39. An Enquiry concerning the Influence of Tubes upon Agricul
ture, whether in the Hands of the Clergy or the Laity. Toge-
ther with some Thoughts respecting their Commutation.
which are added, Remarks on the Animadversions of Mr. A.

Young

DrB.y.

Mo-y.

Young and his Correspondents relative to the Subject of Tithes; as well as those of the County Agricultural Surveyors employed under the Direction of the Board of Agriculture. By the Rev. John Howlett, Vicar of Great Dunmow, Essex. 8vo. 38. Richardsons. 1801.

When alterations are proposed to be made in the legal provision for the clergy, it is reasonable that they should consider the effect of these suggested changes; and no apology is necessary for their arguing the case as it affects themselves. Mr. Howlett needs not claim the merit of 'unbiassed impartiality,' in order to secure attention to his view of the subject; and though he may have an income independent of tithes, the esprit de corps will be supposed to incline him to be an advocate for the order to which he belongs. If he argues fairly, however, his pamphlet is not of the less value on account of this bias; and it is certain that he ingeniously discusses the questions relative to tithes, in their various bearings. He strenuously resists the reasoning employed against their continuance, and opposes the adoption of those alterations which have been suggested by several of the laity.

Tithes are a species of property sui generis: their real worth advances faster than that of the land whence they arise; and the mode of collecting them is calculated to excite unpleasant irritations. It has also been objected that their influence on agriculture is injurious; and that the clergy would be more comfortable, and the country more flourishing, if a commutation or substitute for tithes in kind could be universally adopted. In opposition to these arguments, it is contended by Mr. H. that, so far from tithes having checked our agriculture, the clerical demand of them is beneficial to it: but we apprehend that very few farmers will subscribe to this view of the subject, which he himself terms ، paradoxical; for, since the clerical incumbent cannot bind his successor, the tithes of the clergy are not capable of being leased like those which are in the hands of layimpropriators, and in course the farmer cannot be placed in a state of certainty. A corn-rent, in lieu of tithes, Mr. H. does not approve ; and as to commutation, in general, he observes that it would be difficult to give the clergy a full equivalent both for the present and the future; and that the commutation would be defective and iniquitons, indeed, if it gave them not considerably more than they have ever yet received, owing to their inability to enforce their just claims."

If it were determined to create a substitute for tithes, Mr. H. would prefer landed estates in the hands of trustees for the benefit of the clergy; and in reply to the objection that this landed peculium may be a temptation to a needy unprincipled minister, he remarks that, to such a minister, tithes in their present state may also be a. temptation; of which position, France has afforded an example A set of atheistical, conceited, profligate men, (he says,) vainly fancying themselves great philosophers and sound politicians, and arrogantly styling themselves a Constituent Assembly, with wonderful facility and the calmest sang froid, took possession, not only of the church lands, but of its tithes also.'

At the end of the pamphlet, Mr. H. remarks on some extracts from Mr. A. Young's Travels in France, &c. and from his Annals;

.

in which the clergy of England are accused of "horrid greediness,"
and tithes are termed a pinching point." Against these attacks he
directs his artillery, as well as against some passages from County Agri.
cutural Reports: but, as the legislature firmly espouses the cause of
the clergy, and as the system of tithes will probably remain in statu
quo, they need not be alarmed at intemperate expressions. Had
danger really existed, Mr. H. could not have more manfully de-
fended their cause.
Mo-y.
Art. 40. A few brief Hints on the Subject of Tithes. Addressed to
the Kentish Farmers. 8vo. 15. Wilkie.
The Kentish Clergy will be better pleased with these brief hints
than the Kentish Farmers. The author, if no bigot,' is very ener
getic in favour of the tithe-owner, whose property,' we are re-
minded, is a tenth of the produce;' and we are told that the consi-
deration of the expence of culture is to be acceded to the farmer as
an indulgence, not as a matter of right. In a discussion of the sub-
ject of tithes, the interest of the clergy ought, doubtless, to be re-
garded: but we cannot in justice admit that the increased price of
culture on the part of the farmer is not to be taken into considera-
tion: for otherwise the value of a clear tenth of the produce, after it
be separated from the soil, is made to bear an increased proportion to
the value of the whole, after having deducted the expences of the
crop, which are sustained by the owner of the nine-tenths.-We
pretend not to ascertain how this gentleman feels, but his brief hints
seem to have been conceived in anger.

Art. 41. Observations and Advices for the Improvement of the Manu-
facture of Muscovado Sugar and Rum. Part I. and II. By Bryan
Higgins, M. D. 8vo. 8s. sewed. Printed at St. Jago de la
Vega; and sold in London by Cadell jun. and Davies

The scientific merits of Dr. Higgins are so well known, that his
name must be sufficient to recommend the perusal of this publication
to the manufacturer of sugar and rum. To the generality of our
readers, we do not conceive that it would appear interesting; and,
as it chiefly consists of descriptions of utensils employed in sugar.
works, with references to plates, it is impossible for us to give a
satisfactory view of it.

Art. 42. An Universal Biographical, and Historical Dictionary. Con-
taining a faithful Account of the Lives and Characters of the most:
Eminent Persons, of all Ages and all Countries; also the Revolutions a
of States, and the Successions of Sovereign Princes, ancient and
modern. By John Watkins, A. M. LL. D. 8vo. 12s. Boards.
R. Phillips.

Epitomés of this kind must ever be useful in those libraries, which
are not furnished with the larger works of Bayle and other learned
compilers of biography, &c were it only for the convenience of
those references, and other occasional points of inquiry, on which al-
most every reader is frequently glad to consult them.

The present compendium is prefaced by the following, among other, remarks:

Do

Hatch.

In drawing up the various articles, considerable pains have been taken to introduce every prominent and characteristic event and cir. cumstance; and the most remarkable events in the lives of the more active characters, as in those of sovereign princes, warriors, and statesmen, have been perspicuously narrated, and the dates affixed and determined with scrupulous exactness.

The author has endeavoured to render his work complete by inserting every interesting name and event likely to be sought for; and, although he cannot presume that there are not many defects and omissions, yet it will be obvious, on comparison, that his work con tains from one to two thonsand articles more than will be found in any similar book in the English, or perhaps in any other, language.' Dr. Watkins farther observes that the chronology has been carefully formed from Usher, Blair, and Priestley.

Art. 43. A Practical Guide during a fourney from London to Paris, with correct Descriptions of all the Objects deserving Notice in the French Metropolis. Illustrated with Maps, &c. 12mo. 55. bound. R. Phillips. 1802.

This compilement seems to be an useful and amusing companion to persons who mean to make the Parisian tour, both to those who perform it for the first time, and to those who now visit the French metropolis in a state so different from that in which they may have formerly seen it.

Art. 44.

SINGLE SERMONS.

Preached in the Parish Church of Woburn, March 14, 18c2; the Sunday after the Interment of the late most noble Francis, Duke of Bedford. By Edmund Cartwright, A. M. Rector of Goadby Marwood, Leicestershire, and Prebendary of Lincoln. 8vo. is. Murray and Co.

In this funeral oration, Mr. C. has rendered due and ample justice to the great and amiable character of his truly noble Friend. As a specimen of the style of the worthy preacher, on so affecting a sub ject, we extract the following particulars:

The tide of grief with which we are overwhelmed, is not confined to our limited circle; it flows in every direction. Our affliction makes but a small part of the general sorrow. The death of that truly noble and most excellent personage, whom I allude to, is a public calamity; a loss, (I assert it not lightly nor at random,) a national loss, which will be long and severely felt to the remotest corners of the empire, through all ranks of society, from the monarch on his throne to the peasant in his cottage.

With every ingredient of this world's happiness in his possession, rank, fortune, private friendship, and public veneration; he cometh forth like a flower-this day in the full vigour of health, and bloom of life! the next he is cut down, he fleeth as a shadow, and continueth not!

، The memory of his virtues, however, shall long continue. When all the vain trappings of mortality are forgotten or mouldering in the dust, these flowers of unperishable beauty shall still survive, and blos. som on his grave! Whether we contemplate him as a public or a

private