munication are the Roman Catholic clergy, and they are the men who guide, govern, and direct the confciences and opinions of that very numerous and diffatisfied body of men, the Roman Catholics of Ireland. I am informed, that there are at this moment in that country two thousand three hundred Roman Catholic ecclefiaftics, perfectly independent of the government, moft of them m'n educated in a foreign country, acknowledging and obeying a foreign jurifdiction, looking up to a foreign power for their advancement, and depending upon voluntary contribution for their bread; attached to the government under which they live by no bonds of intereft, duty, or affection to fociety; by none of thofe endearing ties which control ordinary men in their conduct, and which even check those of the most daring minds in their projects of unlawful ambition, by the dread, left their failure should entail reproach and poverty upon their children and defcendants.

"Such has been the condition of the Roman Catholic clergy of Ireland fince the days of Elizabeth; and the confequence has been, that fuch numbers of them have openly appeared in, or fecretly abetted every confpiracy and rebellion which has afflicted Ireland from that day, down to the eventful times in which we live." P. 41.

His next pofition, that Catholic Emancipation will produce Catholic afcendancy, requires only to be read, to be allowed with the most unequivocal conviction. Will not the Catholics naturally at elections of every kind fupport the candidate of their own religion and party? Moft affuredly they will: and what a scene of ftrife and religious animofity muft arife!

"In a word", fays the author, "whenever the oath of fupremacy is difpenfed with in favour of Roman Catholics, they will be thereby enabled to do by law, what James II. attempted in their favour without law, viz. to feize upon all the corporations in Ireland,

"Will the collifion of parties and interefts that must take place daring the ftraggle for power, calm the religious animolities of either party?

"Will the despair of the Proteftant, and the triumph of the Catholic produce a "brotherhood of affection among men of all religious denominations?"

"Are fuch to be the fruits of this great measure for tranquillizing Ireland? tranquillizing Ireland!!!

"If all the difturbers of the peace of fociety, were to combine to devife a measure, which was calculated to throw a country into a ferment, by letting loofe all the turbulent and ambitious men within its circumference; which was intended to divide man from man, by the collifion of oppofite political and religious parties, their most mifChievous wit could not devife a fcheme more effectual for thefe pur poses, than Catholic emancipation.

"If I am to speak without difguife (faid the late Lord Clare) civilization has not made any confiderable progrefs amongst us; and therefore, the kingdom of Ireland is, of all the nations of Europe, the most dangerous to tamper with, or to make experiments upon. Her prefent difturbed and distracted state has certainly been the confequence of 2 feries

a series of experiments, practifed upon her for a courfe of years."

P.

• 55.

The pamphlet concludes with a recapitulation of the author's arguments, proving that the Irish Roman Catholics do now enjoy an equal fhare of civil liberty with their Proteftant fellow fubjects, and that they are exempted from moft of those disabilities to which their Roman Catholic brethren in this country are flill liable. He obferves, that Parliament cannot, in juftice, admit them to a full fhare of the political powers of the flate, without repealing the Tefts, Oaths, and Laws, by which other Diffenters are reftrained. Would not this repeal, he afks, be a dire&t violation of that conflitution which our Sovereign at his coronation has worn to preferve? Roman Catholics and Proteftants, either in England or Ireland, never have agreed in adminiftering together the powers of government, and they never will. The doctrines and principles of the Church of Rome flourish, at this day, in as full vigour as ever. power of the Court of Rome is as implicitly acknowledged, at this day in Ireland, as in any former period of our history. Having ftated thefe, and other pofitions with great clearness and ability, the writer concludes with this animated apoftrophe.

The

"Finally, let us never forget, that our wife ancestors (even without the awful example of the French revolution before their eyes) were cautious how they tried innovations in government; let us keep in mind, that they never indulged the theoretical hope of gaining over a difcontented party in the ftate, by timidly yielding to their claims; and never were guilty of the weakness of difgufting their tried and firm fupporters, by hazardous experiments to conciliate their opponents-But by manfully meeting the dangers with, which they were conftan ly furrounded, they fecured the confidence of their friends, and while they appalled their adverfaries, extorted their respect.

"If, in the infcrutable decrees of Providence, it be ordained tha the venerable fabric of the conftitution, which our ancestors have raised, muft at length fall, let us at leaft have the confolation to reflect, that we ourselves have not, by fhaking the pillars, accelerated its deftruction." P. 59.

A more able or more excellent appeal to the understandings of Englishmen has feldom been made. At this juncture it fhould be perufed by all to whom the welfare of the United Kingdom is dear; and that, we have great fatisfaction in believing, is a defeription which will apply to a proportion of our countrymen, fufficient to preferve unimpaired and entire the perfect fabric of our faith; to the fupport of which, we hold even life itfelf of far inferior confideration.

ART.

ART. VIII. An Introduction to Mufic, &c.

(Concluded from our last, p. 72.)

IN our laft number, we prefented the public with Mrs. Gunn's firft kind of leffons, and fhall now lay before our musical readers fome confiderations on her second exercise, that of the Rule of Olave, or Harmony of the major and minor Scales; Chap. VII. p. 177. We fhall here give Mrs. G.'s own explanation first.

110. As every degree of the Scale is found among the component notes of one or other of the three principal chords, viz. of the key, of the 4th, and the 5th; fo where they occur in mufic, they may have the other notes of the chord to which they belong for their bats and harmonical accompaniment.-Hence the proper chords or accompaniments to be adapted to the notes of mufic, when they afcend or defcend diatonically, or by the degrees of the fcale, may be cafily found.

"111. The key note, at the beginning or conclufion of a piece of mufic, or compleat ftrain, muft have its own chord.-The 2d of the ftale, when it fucceeds the first and is followed by the 3d, or when it fucceeds the 3d and is followed by the firft, is moft properly and most generally referred to the chord of the dominant, in which it ftands as 5th; in other words, it has the 5th of the fcale for its fundamental bafs, and may have the other notes of the dominant chord, not excepting the added difcord, for accompaniment. The 3d of the fcale, following the 2d, fo accompanied, ought to have the chord of the tonic, or key note, to which the preceding chord paffes by regular cadence. The 4th of the fcale, fucceeding the 3d, will properly have its own chord, to which the chord of tonic, played to the 3d, paffes allo by regular cadence. When these afcending notes are in the melody, or upper part, the regular cadence upon the 4th of the fcale may be occafionally rendered more ftriking and conclufive, by adding to the leading chord, or the chord of the key played to the 3d, its minor 7th, which is the 7th of the scale flattened, or lowered a femitone. This gives a modulation, or temporary change of key, from the original tonic to the 4th of the fcale; or the 4th now appears, for a time, as the key note. When the 5th of the fcale comes after the 4th, in this fituation, it ought to have the chord of the tonic of the fcale, and not its own chord, both to avoid any disagreeable confecution, and to announce the return to the original key. When the afcending scale again is in the bafs, or loweft part, as the 4th rifing to the 5th in that part is generally confidered as indicating the gradation upon the 5th, the latter degree will have its own chord in preference to that of the key. The chord of the 4th, thus leading in gradation, may have its added 6th; and, as this precludes the idea of a medial close, or modulation upon the 4th, the chord of the key which is played to the 3d of the scale must be taken perfect, or without the added difcord.

When

When the 6th, 7th, and 8ve of the scale occur in fucceffion, the refpective harmonies are generally the chords of the 4th, the 5th, and the key, giving a paffage of gradation, and clofing the ftrain by a regular cadence." P. 177.

In the fubfequent articles (too long for infertion here) the variations of the defcending major fcale, and of both the af cending and defcending minor scales, are explained at fome length; and the paffage of gradation continually referred to, as the proper fource of the afcending 6th and 7th in both modes, and of the fame defcending in the minor only.

We are pleased to find the error, which has long pervaded the mufical theories of Europe, nearly overthrown, and to fee the doctrine of gradation making part of the modern fyftem of harmony. The ancients, indeed, in the time of Palestrina, not only ufed perfect harmonies diatonically, upon the fix regular chords of the scale; but also, when the feventh was required, it was made accidentally flat, on account of the imperfect fifth, which was not admitted in their harmonies as it is at prefent. The progrefs of melody, and the true eftimation of a key note, checked this wild irregularity; diatonic fucceffions became lefs frequent; paffing notes were introduced; harmonics were inferted between the chords of gradation; and, as if theory was always to overftep the golden mean, at the time of Rameau, no fundamental progreffion but that of the 4ths and 3ds afcending or defcending were confidered as allowable. This prejudice arofe from the fuppofed neceffity of a common found (or liaison) to connect every chord to the following one; and which, in the gradation of the fubdominant to the dominant, is provided for by the introduction of the added fixth.

Mercadier de Belefla was the firft who ventured to oppose the doctrines of Rameau; and we fhall just give a fketch of the reafons he adduced, in fupport of his opinions, concerning the diatonic rife and fall of the bafs, to and from the fifth of the key note. In the Preface, p. xxxviii. he obferves, that,

"deducing the principle of the fcale from the perfect chord, he forms and completes it by making the dominant and fubdominant fundamentals; and that, befides the ufual cadences, he is obliged to introduce two diatonic cadences, the one afcending from F to G, which he terms hyper-diatonic; the other from G to F, hypo-diatonic.”

In a note to this paffage, M. Mercadier cites the work of M. Levens* (1743) who afferted (p. 33) "that the fixth of

Effai de M. la Borde, tom. iii. p. 645; 1780.

the

the fubdominant ought to rife one degree, or to remain as on ginally placed." This affertion did not pafs u

7

M. de la Borde, who, although he allows the fixth when added in the first inftance, confiders it in the alt an inversion of the feventh on the fecond of

inftance as

the key.

M. Mercadier (p. 28) thus further explains himself, (Art. 59, 60.)

"Thefe two cadences ferve to fix the attention on the principal generator (the tonic), by comparing together the two fubordinate generators; for, as in the isolated comparisons of two inds at the diftance of a fifth, the ear naturally affumes the lowelt as the term of comparifon, it is clear, that to prevent the tonic appearing inferior to the fubdominant it is neceffary that the dominant fhould be alfo compared with the tonic. Now thefe comparifons are never fo powerful when made fingly as when united; therefore, if after having used the subdominant and dominant feparately with the tonic, they are taken in immediate fucceffion, the ear, already impreffed with the principal harmony, will more readily perceive the want of connection between the other two harmonies; and the impreffion of the tonic will become much more powerful. Even if this diatonic fucceffion be firft taken (before the comparisons are made feparately) the car will refer the harmonies to the tonic, and the fubfequent paffuges will appear as the developement of this fucceffion.

"Hence we are authorized and induced to establish diatonic cadences, although no confonant interval exifls between their fundamental notes."

Mr. M. alfo fhows, p., 160, (Art. 293) that the second of the key cannot be fundamental, referring back to p. 121, (Art. 239) where he contends, that when two feparate fifths are found in a chord, as D : A, and F: C, in the fubdominant of C, that the greater third determines the fundamental bass.

We have been more diffufe on this fubject than perhaps the doctrine, fo plain and almost felf-evident, requires; but the fcarcity of M. Mercadier's work, and the clear point of view in which he has placed this branch of theory, would even juftify our infertion of the original text, if we did not recollect the nature of our periodical limits.

Sorry we are, that on this occafion a fimilar compliment cannot be paid to Kirnberger. Aware of the difficulties arifing from the want of connection between the harmonies of F and G, he calls in to his afliftance the figure ellipfis; and

* Die wahren Grundsätze, &c. p. 52. Berlin, 1773.

fuppofes,