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arc able to associate every note th a t they sing w ith its repre sentatives on the stave. At the very first lesson, therefore, ev ery one feels th a t he is really reading music, although that mu- sic_is composed of only three notes. III. Even from the first lesson, Mr. Mainzer educates the m u sical taste, by making his pupils feel the power and beauty of different musical effects; at one time making them sing their | lesson'I'o softly as to be heard only in a whisper, and at anoth er time making them sing with all their pow e r; at one time making the ladies sing, at another time the gentlemen ; or, with the corresponding exercises of sol la s i and si la sol , producing most beautiful harmony, by the ladies singing the one and the gentlemen the other. IV. In teaching time, Mr. M ainzer does not burden the mem ory with the English names of the notes,— semibreve, minim, j crotchet, quaver, &c.. which are quite arbitrary, or r a th e r con- 5 tradictory and confusing in their interpretation ! he adopts the German names, wholes, halves, quarters, eighths, &e., w h ich are their own explanations. V. In the exercises upon time, the attention is not distracted by being directed to two things at once ; that is to say, the first exercises on time are all w ritten on one note. By this means, 1 the pupils, in ten short exercises, become acquainted w ith al most every group of notes which can occur. This would be u t terly impossible were their attention divided between the length of each note and its proper elevation. VI. Mr. Mainzer does not require his pupils to beat tim e by any conspicuous movement of the hand, but r a th e r to count or pulsate in their own mind. Every person is naturally endowed w ith an appreciation of emphasis and pulsation. Even chil dren have it in a high degree, and, therefore, it is more impor tant to educate this faculty as an internal feeling , than by me- chanical gestures, to indicate the length of the notes. W ere it necessary for teaching accurate time, it m ight be tolerated ; but when we find in practice , th a t it is not only unnecessary, but actually fatiguing to both body and mind, (because the pupils have to attend to two things at once,) we cannot conceive any reason why we should be encumbered with it. In some cases, particularly where the voice is not engaged, (such as long rests,) it is necessary to give expression to the internal feeling by a slight mechanical m o v e m ent; but to set two or three hun dred hands swinging backwards and forwards, and upw a rds and downwards, as signals when the notes are to begin and when they are to stop, is not at all conducive to the cultivation of th a t refinem ent of feeling and delicacy of execution, w ith out which a singer becomes a mere musical box, whose notes come forth when the pegs of the barrel touch the keys. VII. At a very early period, Mr. Mainzer directs the attention of his pupils to the semitones, both in the natural and the a r ti ficial scales; and leads them to watch the effect of the minor thirds, in giving to the passage a plaintive air. By this means they are gradually and pleasantly introduced to the exercises in other keys, w ithout being aw a re that they are encountering any difficulty, or that they are escaping the perplexities of no less than tw enty-four scales. VIII. A fter the pupils have learned to read music, they begin to learn the grammar, but under the most favorable circum stances. It is the science and gram m ar of a language which they now understand, and whose analogies they have been i n voluntarily observing. When, therefore, any gramm atical tru th is brought before them, they are fully prepared to under stand, if they have not already anticipated it. W hen Mainzer commenced operations in Paris, he struck out the new idea of leaching great masses simultaneously , thereby saving much time and labor, and by the force of spmpatliy se curing more correct execution, both of tim e and tone, and im parting a life an 1 an energy to the classes which never existed before. “ In London he opened his classes w ithout the language, w ith out patronage, and w ithout support. At first he even paid his pupils for attending him,—so great was his confidence in the power which ho could exercise over the popular feeling,— and ! h e was not disappointed. His classes gradually swelled into large assemblies, and m u ltiplied themselves throughout Lon don. M usical professors, who at first looked upon him with contempt, began to wonder, and then to adm ire, and in a short I time were ready enough to offer him assistance. Invitations from the surrounding country began to pour in upon him ; and England, in every corner, claimed a visit from the wonderful stranger. All this is sufficiently surprising ; but i t is more in- | teresting to know th a t all this was done in the period of only eighteen months.”— The Witness , (an E d inburgh newspaper.) There is little probability that for a long period yet to come, America would have to fear any of the unfavorable results at tributed t d y g |!^t&^|£luction of the arts. On the contrary, now is the veryGh«$g§pFntroduce them w ith virtuous effect. The ! u sual course of nations is no doubt first to rise to wealth by great in d u s t r y ; art is then introduced, m inistering to lu x u r y ; and lu x u r y leads to national ruin. This is more commonly true of m aritim e than of agricultural nations. The United States have hitherto aimed at eminence by the former, but they are now falling into th e ir natu ral position as the latter. We have seen, we now witness, in New-England, how im p o rtantly whole generations have been influenced by the religion and literature of the early settlers. E n tire races seem to be made partakers | of noble c h a racter in the initiative. Tem p er and tone of mind are modified to the rem o test offspring. In the less bustling, less speculative, and less precarious pursuits of r u r a l life, there is also less danger of an unwholesome indulgence in objects of art. W h ere w ealth is not accum ulated in vast heap 3 by a few, but is more evenly diffused over society; where each one feels the weight of life on his own shoulders, and has to supply his needs through his own hands, there is little hazard of falling into a luxurious adoration of music, or of carrying it to an en ervating extent. So small, indeed, is this chance, that music seems needful, as the most universal medium, to save m ankind from falling into the more probable evils of ignorance, and the lowest anim al gratifications. We are to be an aspiring or a falling people. And w ithout som ething which can enter into the whole tem p eram ent of our being, like the thread of gold through the hard ore in which it is imbedded/ thc chances are tnat we shall not be saved from the grossness attendant on full anim al supplies, and the sourness so often commingled with po litical freedom. Amendment of the tem p er may appear to be a low ground from which to gather reasons for the cultivation of so sublime an art. But the r ig h t regulation of a nation’s tem p er is some thing more than a secular business: it is more than a contri- j vance to oil the wheels of the Stale machine. A general im provem ent in the feelings and tem p eram ent of individuals or masses m u st originate in a more c e n tral point than th a t of mere amusement or innocent pastime. Unless music issues from a better motive than either of these men w ill not be much aided to do good by it. They who have bought largely and paid lib erally in this design, like w ayw ard children, have become r a th er more ill-tem pered by each indulgence. So excellent a result as temporic (not temporal) improvement m u st arise from a h e a rt amendment. Blandishm ent of manners, suavity in deportm ent, elegance of gait, are consistent w ith im m o rality, and are, not less frequently than charity, employed to cover a m u ltitude of sins. And these external representative virtues can be found in circles where music holds no sway. B u t a perpetual sweet ness of temper', ah unfailing real regard for the neighbor, an inw ard serenity, can only be found w h ere the harmonic law prevails in full vigor, unsuppressed, unsubdued by the weight of social vices. Music is the very odor of the moral bouquet.
