308 Literary Institutions and Eminent Natives of Geneva. [May 1, brated French refugees who found a retreat at Geneva, was the great THEODORE DE BEZA, who here translated the Psalms, which are still sung in the churches. It was CALVIN who in 1558 founded here the first seminary, which is still the only public school at Geneva, and is called the College The site of a vineyard was cleared, and on the same spot rose in six months this building, where in 1809 upwards of 800 scholars I received instruction. It was at first divided into seven classes, and since into nine. Through his persuasions the council of Geneva founded a second institution-the Academy, for the higher studies, which still subsists upon its original plan. The library, which now contains 143,000 volumes, was established about the same time. In short there is scarcely any thing but what attests the extraordinary influence of this man, of whom Sennebier very characteristically remarks, that "Geneva is indebted to him for her ecclesiastical regulations; her Consistory and her College; by reforming their manners, he changed and modelled the character of the people, and impressed upon it those forms of simplicity and austerity, of order and wisdom, which have since marked and advantageously distinguished it among the varied characters of other nations. He infused into the Genevese a love of industry, a fondness for letters, a deep sense of duty. . ." I purposely quote this passage, because it delineates the present citizen of Geneva, who indeed possesses the qualities here enumerated in a high degree, but who also knows that he does, and seldom misses an opportunity of telling you so, though without ostentation. The people of Geneva are in truth proud, but their pride is not only venial but laudable, as it is unaccompanied with presumption, and founded on a just estimate of their own worth. It strongly reminded me of a similar national trait in the English, to whom the Genevese in general are strongly attached. I have therefore admitted their right to be proved, especially since I have made myself a little better acquainted with their literary history. In all the branches of the sciences and of active life, the literati of Geneva-and these are almost all at the same time statesmen or men of business and artists, have had extensive influence. Cotemporary with Calvin and de Bcza, were ROBERT STEPHANUS, who here published many works, and his more celebrated son, HENRY STEPHANUS, the confident of It is Besides the College from which, on account of the very great number of scholars, nothing extraordinary can be expected, there are abundance of private institutions for young people, but to these a stranger cannot obtain access without great difficulty, and to most of them not at all. This I don't like. On leaving the College the pupils attend the lectures of the Academy. Notwithstanding the high-sounding division into La Salle des Belles lettres, de Philosophie, de Droit, and de Theologie, all these, excepting the last, are not superior to the first class of a German gymnasium. It is moreover the prevailing practice at Geneva for well-educated persons of both sexes to hear a private course of lectures, which are held chiefly in winter, but sometimes also in summer. Thus I am now attending such a private course To this list the author might justly have added the names of MALLET DU PAN and Sir FRANCIS D'IVERNOIS, who have distinguished themselves by their political writings, and the American statesman ALDERT GALLATIN-EDITOR. 1815.] The Christ-church Bells. by M. GOSSE, apothecary, who reads to us on botany. He is particularly conversant with the structure of vegetables, the general system, and the plants of Geneva, and delivers himself in a very pleasing manner. He takes every opportunity of extolling the omnipotence, the wisdom, and the goodness of God; and all the other teachers here do the saine. Gossé, though a very agreeable man, is remarkable for various eccentricities; he is fond of coining new words; has built himself a hermitage on the Salève, and laid out a botanic garden around it, to which he rides upon an ass; is a professed amateur and collector of all monsters, and has broached a perfectly novel theory of generation to account for their production. Of my excursions in the vicinity of the town I may perhaps give you an account another time. I anticipate the pleasure of a visit to Chamouni, to which the Genevese resort in flocks like the birds of passage in autumn. Montblanc in towering majesty is every evening an object of my admiration, and fills the mind with sublime emotions. The prospect from Ferney over the lake to Buet and Montblanc, which, after the setting of the sun, are long tinged with purple radiance, and seem to pierce the azure firmament that is gradually studded with glistening stars, might well suggest the idea that this is the entrance of heaven, the ascent to the blissful abodes of the Gods. MR. EDITOR, THE sportive translation into Greek of Three Children sliding on the Ice,' by the learned Porson, which you have given us, is an ingenious classical hoax. What your correspondent Logos said of it I have not seen, but am perfectly astonished at the strangely offensive assumption of such a signature. I now send you, as its companion, a similar version into Greek of the "Christ-church Bells" of Dean Aldrich, said to be by some Oxford man, whose name I should be glad to learn. To this I prefix the original, together with a Latin version, which I once framed out of a very wretched attempt of this sort, which was found in a fragment of some old song book. The Christ-church Bells. Hark! the merry Christ-church bells, One, two, three, four, five, six, they sound So woundy great, so wond'rous sweet; And they troll so merily, merrily. I cannot, indeed, compliment the Rev. Dean on either the wit, or the wisdom of the above effusion. It may be observed too, that whatever was the case formerly, a peal of bells are now found to occasion much more pain and annoy ance to the sick and nervous, than plea sure to the healthy; whence or facetious poet, Huddesford, both wittily and wisely says, in his Miller's Wedding," (see Salmagundi) And the bells of St. Andrew's, so loud and so clear ring, You'd have given ten pounds to have been out of hearing. I am afraid I have not recollected the original quite correctly. I am not an Oxford man, but a little account I have says, that Tom rings always at nine o'clock. The last line but two was at first written, Eis oixoy pihomoles; I have taken the liberty to substitute the above, because, as the original seemed to aim at alternate rhiming in the last stanza, I thought it proper that both translations should resemble it in this respect. 310 Strictures on the Character of Macbeth. The whole however together is a curiosity, and may serve to point out the difference of manners at different periods; since we here see students, not ordering dinners and wine from taverns to their collegiate apartments, as at present, but as beerers meeting together to enjoy a common conversation over their cans at a pot-house. Which is most academical I shall not enquire. Upon the whole, I send it you because as the translations are adapted to the same popular air as the original, it cannot fail, I should think, to be an acceptable present to your musical readers. Scribblethorpe-hall. MR. EDITOR, ARCHY MAC-SCRIBBLE. IT has been remarked in all ages, that those who are eminent for wit, or renowned for judgment, have been occasionally subject to that common casualty-Dulness, which is imprinted on the face of humanity as a strong emblem of its fallibility. Of all the poets, ancient or modern,perhaps the opposite extremes of sublimity and dulness have not been more powerfully exemplified than in the productions of Shakspeare. He had, of all moderns, the highest genius, and made greater use of his materials than any other author whose acquisitions doubled his own. As it was said of Dryden, that any subject grew poetical under his hand; so it may be remarked of Shakspeare, in a much more-eminent degree. Under the government of his powerful intellect, common subjects became elegant, ordinary topics fruitful, and great ones sublime; whether his fables were taken from the readings of Cynthio, the miserable doggrel of early writers, or transplanted from the narrative of historical facts, he was equally noble in his thoughts, felicitous in his sentiments, rich in his colouring, and striking in his characters; under his controuling genius, possibilities became probabilities, and probabilities facts; so happy was his logic, so commanding was bis elocution. If, in examining the character of Macbeth, an instance is required to illustrate these observations, we are not bound to abide by this conclusion; to me, it appears, that the character of Macbeth is, in point of greatness, of a subordinate description he is an agent, rather than a principal; he acts from habit, that which had otherwise been dispensed to him by nature; originally of a noble diposition, corrupt example ultimately under : [May 1, mined the citadel of virtue, and left the fortress a prey to ruinous ambition, and uncontroulable passion; irresolution was his greatest fault, and bravery his greatest virtue. Perhaps these qualities can hardly be supposed to subsist together, without some explanation of their boun daries. Macbeth's character being originally virtuous, it required some strong attraction to bias its leaning from its genuine purity. Ambition flamed in his front, and presented with one hand a dagger, in the other a crown. Conscience, that inward monitor, whose voice will be heard, even in the hurricane of the passions, or in the dead insensibility of habitual turpitude, perpetually in vited him to reason and to peace, and this struggle between vice and virtue produced irresolution, the strongest feature in this hero's character. If this play be strictly examined, an objection may be taken to the characters of the witches, who have a larger share of intelligence appropriated to their nature, than any other writer of fiction has ventured to allot to themthe gift of prescience; the sole possessor of this property is He, before whom all nature dwindles into insignificance: that the witches should know that Macbeth was a proper object to fulfil their purposes, is to conjecture improbable, and more than poetical to illustrate by fact. As Adam was to Eve, so Macbeth was to his wife-each fell for the wretched ambition of possessing more than nature intended to bestow; the evil contagion of bad advice is traced through this character to the deepest shade of meditated villany; never was argument more strongly urged against complicated crime, and never was resolution so defeated by reasoning so shallow and so horrible. Lady Macbeth advises her husband to undertake murder, at the suggestion of the devil, and to the inevitable ruin of his and her soul's peace; breaking through the sacred rites of hospitality, sinning against gratitude, and in one fell swoop," staking every exalted principle against the possession of a bauble, that was ultimately to make their lives unhappy, and their death miserable. So irrecoverably sunk is this once admired warrior, that the common consolation attending all sinners, genuine repentance, seems quite lost to him; furious and infatuated, his mind imbibes a principle, that it is better to go on in blood than to step out to avoid it; thus we behold him murdering his friend Banquo, Macduff's wife and children, 1815.] Question relative to the Comparative Degree. and driving from his presence every trace of humanity but the name. His character becomes terrible; suspicion attends his waking moments, and guilt becomes the companion of his sleep; every reader exults in his miscarriage, every auditor rejoices in his fall. If the sentiments of this play be seriously examined, they must be found to possess a powerful influence over the mind. Shakspeare may be supposed not barely to have endured the character of a warrior, but to have absolutely loathed it. So horrible a monster as Lady Macbeth is not to be met with in any production, either in savage or in civilized life; and it is probably a consolation, that it is found only in poetry, and not in real life. A character like this never existed; it has no counterpart. It is mournful and distressing to contemplate that heroic fortitude, amiable courage, and exalted qualities, are all liable to be destroyed by the pernicious influence of evil counsel and ridiculous ambition. Lady Macbeth tells us, that her husband's heart was "full of the milk of human kindness;" he himself informs us that his nature was disposed to tenderness and to sympathy. It is wonderful that these amiable propensities should so suddenly disappear, and leave no trace to discover where they existed; the plea is magnificent; it excites that leading character of the drama, terror, in all its stern impressions, yet pity is perhaps not called forth so often as might be desirable. MR. EDITOR, L. A FEW evenings since being in company with an intimate friend, after a variety of subjects had been discussed, the merits of actors became the topic of conversation. Our opinions differed widely; and perceiving my friend, who is of a hasty disposition, grow somewhat more warm than the subject seemed to deserve, I was anxious to draw his attention to matter on which we might converse more calmly. Knowing him to be fond of subjects connected with the study of the English language, I touched him upon an inaccuracy of speech of which he had been guilty, expecting it would produce some pleasant dispassicnate argument; but in this I was mistaken: he grew so heated, that it became necessary for me to take my leave of him; for the coolness with which I argued but irritated him so much the more; and he dismissed me by saying, "You are totally incompetent to 311 argue upon any points relating to the intricate study of language; therefore take this advice from me-ne sutor ultrà crepidam." Now, Sir, this has caused a breach between us, which can be healed only by the kind mediation of some of your correspondents; and in order to furnish them with the means of settling the dispute, I shall briefly acquaint them with the particulars. I argue, that it is not allowable in ou language to use the superlative form of an adjective, when comparing or bringing in opposition two persons or things, and therefore that such expressions as the best of the two, the worst of the two, the wisest of the two, &c. are incorrect. I would say, the better of the two, the worse of the two, the wiser of the two, &c.; for I maintain that the superlative degree is not allowable, except when three or more persons, or things, are compared. My friend argues obstinately in favour of the former mode of expression, and produces the following examples from Addison to support his argument, viz. "An evil intention perverts the best actions"-" We made the best of our way"-" Our sport is at the best"--and he further adds, that Mr. Murray, in his English Grammar, in speaking particu larly of words of two syllables, calls one of them the first, and the other the last syllable; and in another part of his Grammar, in defining particularly the application of the words this and that, which of course generally refer to two persons or things brought in opposition to, or comparison with, each other, he says, this refers to the nearest person or thing, and that to the most distant. He concludes by retailing to me the indecisive opinion of Dr. Johnson, who says, "The comparison of adjectives is very uncertain, and being much regulated by commodiousness of utterance, or agreeableness of sound, is not easily reduced to rules.” I have now furnished your readers with all my opponent's arguments, and, to act handsomely by him, shall forbear giving my own, lest they should cast the bias in my favour. Hoping sincerely for an answer to this from some one of your numerous correspondents, I am, &c. P. H. W. March 21, 1815. 312 Church Music-Arguments against Popery. by the article on Church Music (p. 107) At a chapel where I generally attend, even standing during the singing seems to be too fatiguing; and I doubt, were it not for the expense, we should have some of the theatrical performers engaged, as is the case at some of the fashionable chapels near the squares, where plain psalmody is neglected for lighter compositions, and those who would wish to join in this part of the service are prevented either by the difficulty of the music, or the notice they [May 1, I will venture to affirm, that if they were MR. EDITOR, AT a time when the endeavours of all true Protestants are united in supporting encroachments of their Catholic oppothe good old cause, and in repelling the sers, it will not surely be amiss to set before them a brief summary of the arguments on which the doctrines of their church are founded; to recal to their minds, more especially, those strong and convincing reasonings by which the completely exposed. In order in some principles of their opponents are degree to accomplish this important end, I take the liberty of presenting to your readers the following 80 BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE ARGUMENTS would attract from the beau monde. As Verité has confined his opinion to the better regulating cathedral music only, I beg leave to offer a plan for churches I. On the Supremacy of St. Peter and and chapels, where plain psalmody is used, and where the congregation would be able to join if the following plain rules were adopted. First, It should be the duty of the clergyman to select a proper portion of the Psalms, with an appendix of hymns on various occasions, as the Morning, Evening, New Year, Easter, Sacramen tal, &c. Secondly, The organist should select the easiest and plainest tunes attending principally to those whose melodies are most pleasing. Thirdly, The clerk should be able to lead the congregation; this is more requisite than any other part of his duty, and must be obvious to every musical person. Fourthly, Families and schools, whose ladies play the piano-forte, should be in possession of the music, which surely may be had of the organist copied for a small remuneration. Lastly, The church or chapel should be opened one evening in the week for such of the congregation as would like to attend, to practise with the organist and clerk, who should be paid for this additional attendance. We never can expect, Mr. Editor, although a musical age, to arrive at any perfection in church music, unless some sach rules as those are established; and the Bishops of Rome. 1. There is no mention of such an officer as the Pope in Scripture. 2. Our Lord himself has frequently declared against a superiority among his apostles. (Vid. Matth. xx. 20, and Luke, ix. 46.) 3. Neither did the Apostles, after Our Lord's ascension, adinit of it. 4. We have no positive or convincing proof that St. Peter was Bishop of Rome. 5. Even if he was, the grant of the supremacy might be only personal, and terminate with himself. 6. If we should grant, for argument's sake, that the supremacy descended to St. Peter's successors at Rome, we shall, find it impossible to derive the succession in an uninterrupted line. The rock, mentioned in the 16th and 19th verses of the 16th chapter of Matthew, is interpreted by many learned men as the "confession of Peter's faith." Jesus Christ is the only head of his church, and to him alone are they united. A supreme jurisdiction and authority over the Christian Church is the very mark and character of the Man of Sin and Son of Perdition (Vid. 2 Thessal. ii. 3 and 4.) As a confirmation of the above arguments, consult the following Scriptures: Ephes. ii. 20; 2 Corinth, i. 24; 1 Corinth. xii. 26; Ephes, iv. 11; 2 Corinth. xi. 5; Galat. ii. 11; Psalms, cxxvii. 1; Acts, iii. 6; and the Epistles of St: Peter, |