RECOLLECTIONS OF A JOURNEY ON THE CONTINENT IN 1867.

When we are nipped by the cold, or as this year, pelted by the rain, and buffeted by the furious gales of an English winter, our thoughts will often turn to the strongest possible contrast; to quiet travels made in the serenity of summer through hot sunny lands. In the Autumn of 1867, the writer made a journey through certain regions of France and Italy, accompanied by two friends, both well known to the inhabitants of this Parish.

On the night of Monday, September 9th, we slept at Folkestone, and the next morning at nine o'clock we went on board the steamer which was to take us across to Boulogne. It is curious to observe the behaviour of people on this little voyage; nearly all are disturbed by the expectation of sea-sickness; but the preparations made to meet this calamity are very different; some lie flat on their backs like dead things, some sit motionless and grimly silent, afraid to move hand, foot or tongue; others, on the contrary, walk restlessly about, talking and laughing at first more than is necessary or natural; some try to imagine themselves in a comfortable room at home, by reading books, ladies by working; five ladies who sat opposite to us "all of a row tried this experiment, but it was terribly unsuccessful, one after another they dropped their crochet pins, their heads toppled on to each others' shoulders, and they presented a very dejected appearance for the rest of the voyage. Happily I did not suffer, and one of my companions was, I believe, saved from illness by a remedy which I strongly recommend, a broad belt tightly strapped round the waist. He called it in consequence, the "magic-wove belt," in allusion probably to a song called "The magic-wove scarf," which had been sung not long before at one of the Choir Concerts. In less than two hours we slide into the harbour of Boulogne; we are in France! It is a bright warm day, we are surrounded in a moment by those sights and sounds which are so strange and amusing to persons who meet them for the first time; so welcome like old familiar friends to those who know them well. There are the fishwomen in their large white frilled caps, blue dresses, and short skirts; there are priests in straight black cassocks reaching to their feet, buckled shoes, and flat three-cornered hats; soldiers are lounging about in blue uniforms, their hands in the pockets of their loose red trowsers; sisters of charity, women bound by religious vows to nurse the sick and do other good works, are flitting about on their errands of mercy in black or dark blue dresses, caps of a snowy whiteness with great flapping sides covering the whole of their heads, handkerchiefs equally white, neatly folded over the shoulders, and across the breast; cabmen are driving little open carriages drawn by horses with jingling bells on their necks, and smartly crack their whips to attract the notice of passengers.

There is an appearance of gaiety and brightness about everything French, even the Railway Station is an instance of this, you would not find such a ragged ugly set of buildings as the Reading Station

in the whole of France. As in their dress, so in all their arrangements, the French are neat and precise. The Station at Boulogne is a handsome building with an arched roof of glass, and every room in it is neat, spacious, almost elegant. For instance, the floor of the refreshment room is of polished wood, the planks arranged in herring-bone pattern, the little tables have marble tops, the seats have velvet covers, waiters in little round jackets, with the whitest of aprons, attend you; fruit, wine, cakes, and all manner of sweet things are ranged on a semi-circular sideboard, called "buffet" in French, whence the whole room bears this name. So too the "salle d'attente," literally "hall of attention" or waiting-room is a comfortable apartment, also with a polished floor, spring velvet-covered cushions, and a table in the centre covered with books for sale. But as their buildings are neat, so their rules are very precise; no running out on the platform before the time; in this waiting-room you must wait, and flatten your nose against the glass door if you like, but it will not be opened till the train is ready, and then an important looking official draws the bolt with a clang, and shrieks in a sharp voice, "en voitures, Messieurs, montez ! montez !" "to your carriages, gentlemen! get in! get in!" as if some fearful punishment would follow the least delay. Now this is French fussiness, which marks the national character quite as much as general civility and smartness. But an Englishman is sometimes amused, sometimes annoyed, by the noise and agitation all made about a trifle or nothing at all.

Well, on this Tuesday, September the 10th, we were pent up in the waiting-room at Boulogne, let out in the alarming manner described, hurried into a carriage, and in about two hours and a half got out at Amiens, the capital of Picardy, about half way between Boulogne and Paris. Our object in staying there was to see the Cathedral, one of the finest in France; but a description of it, and some general remarks on French Cathedrals, must be deferred to another time.

W. R. S.

MUSIC.

Of all the sources from which we derive pleasure, there is probably none which has so deep and so widely-spread an influence as music. Painting and Sculpture can only be enjoyed by the comparatively few who have received special education of eye and taste, but it is otherwise with music. This divine art seems to have a realm as wide as human emotion, and there are very few persons who are not susceptible of its power, in a greater or less degree. Instances of the power of music over the feelings abound in history. We all remember the case of Saul, King of Israel, whose clouded mind, darkened by the absence of God's Spirit, was cheered and softened by the music of David's harp. Ancient History tells us that when the Greeks went into battle, it was the practice to play soft music, in order to prevent their courage from becoming too impetuous, but that on one occasion when the day was going against

them, the musicians so stirred up their courage by changing the character of their music, that they returned to the charge and gained the victory. It is recorded that when a celebrated flute-player played a martial air before Alexander the Great, the influence of the music was such that he sprang from the banquet table and seized his arms. To come nearer our own times, the strains of the bagpipe are said to have quite as great an influence upon the Highlanders of Scotland, as their martial music had upon the Greeks.

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Music may be described as well ordered sound," so that the definition of the unmusical man, who called music "the least objectionable of noises," was not in reality very far wide of the mark. Nature is full of sound, and all sound has in it the elements of music, the discordant and disagreeable sounds being, as is the case in artificial music, only in such proportion as to heighten the pleasure we derive from those which are agreeable. There are two things which form the fundamental conditions of music, rhythm and melody, or in plainer terms, time and tune; both quite distinct from each other, and yet in practice inseparably connected. Both have their foundation deep in natural laws. The elements of melody and musical sound are not more widely distributed in nature than those of rhythmical movement. From the pulsation of the blood in the body, to the march of the planets round the sun, the influence of regular rhythmical motion is every where discernable. We have then as the original conditions of music, sound furnishing the elements of melody, melody deriving from rhythm shape and character. Thus in music, as in everything else, it is to be observed that man creates nothing, but only adapts and arranges substances or forces which exist in nature.

The most ancient notices of music are to be found in the Bible. The invention of musical instruments is ascribed in the book of Genesis to Jubal, who is mentioned as the "father of such as handle the harp and organ." What the instruments were which are designated by the terms " harp" and " organ we have no means of knowing, the words being used by the translators of the Bible as modern equivalents for the names of musical instruments in use amongst the Hebrews, with which we are unacquainted.

We find in the Old Testament abundant proof of the cultivation of music amongst the Jews. It formed an important part of their religious worship, and was used on all festive occasions. King David was himself a musician as well as a poet, and his inspired Psalms were set to music for the purpose of being performed by "the chief musician," and the band or orchestra under his direction, which consisted of numerous singing men and singing women, and players upon different instruments. We find in the history of Elisha (2. Kings, iii. 15.) a remarkable instance of the power of music. Elisha, for some time refusing to exert his prophetic power, becomes inspired under the influence of music, "Bring me a minstrel," he exclaims, "and it came to pass when the minstrel played, that the hand of the Lord came upon him." The pathetic and beautiful Psalm "by the waters of Babylon," furnishes evidence of the superior musical powers of the Jewish captives. "For they that led us away captive required of us then a song, and melody in our heaviness, sing us one of the songs of Zion." The picture which this Psalm

presents to us of the Hebrew captives in their disconsolate exile: their harps hanging upon the willow trees, mourning their banishment from the land of their fathers, and soothing their affliction by recalling the strains of its music, can hardly be exceeded for pathos.

Perhaps however, the most striking and solemn allusion to music. in the whole Bible, occurs in the passage "and when they had sung an hymn they went out into the Mount of Olives."

When we con

sider for a moment who were the singers of this hymn, and the circumstances under which it was sung, we feel that we are contemplating the most impressive example in all history of the use of music.

Of all the nations of antiquity, the Egyptians were probably the the most advanced in music, as well as in the other arts and sciences, and that too, in the most remote ages. Egypt existed as a powerful kingdom at a time when the Jewish nation was represented only by the family of Jacob, and even then the Egyptians appear to have possessed an elaborate civilization.

Among the Egyptian spoils carried to Rome by the Emperor Augustus, was a pillar, still to be seen there, and known by the name of the "guglia rotta ;" on this pillar (which is supposed to have been erected by Sesostris upwards of 1,200 years before the Christian era), there is a representation of a musical instrument of two strings, with a neck somewhat resembling the modern lute. Now the contrivance of giving to stringed instruments a neck or finger-board by which one string can be made to produce a series of notes by the pressure of the different fingers was unknown to the Greeks at a much later period, and this method of increasing the powers of stringed instruments was one of the circumstances which contributed most essentially to the advancement of modern music. The discovery by the Egyptians of this important expedient, and the fact that it was not known to the Greeks would lead to the inference that the Egyptian music was much superior to that of other nations.

Bruce, the African traveller, describes an Egyptian harp, of which he discovered a drawing in an ancient sepulchre adjoining the ruins of Thebes. According to his representation, it closely resembles the harp of the present day, being as elegant in form, and rich in ornament, as those which are seen in our drawing rooms. As described

by Mr. Bruce, it must have been about six-feet and a half in height, with thirteen strings, and would not only from its size have afforded powerful tones, but a scale of considerable extent.

We know very little about the music of the Greeks and Romans, though history tells us that the musical art was much cultivated by them, and that great sums of money were given to the best performers on the flute and harp, which seem to have been their favourite instruments.

We shall hope in our next paper to proceed to the history of modern music.

W. G.

To be continued.

EASTER.

It may be of interest to some of our readers to know that the Jewish feast of the Passover fell this year, on precisely the same day as that on which it was observed at the time of the Crucifixion of our Lord.

SONNING CHURCH.

BAPTISMS.

Feb. 28th,-Annie, daughter of Joshua and Hannah Rackley, Woodley.

March 14th, Alice, daughter of George and Hannah Dalton, Sonning.

March 14th, Frederick Richard, son of Parfit Ford and Rhoda Allwright, Sonning.

SONNING CHURCH.

BURIALS.

Feb. 24th-Mary Thatcher, Wokingham Poor House, aged 72 years. March 13th,-George Ernest Boyd Dedman, Sonning, aged 4 months.

ALL SAINTS'.

February 21st,-James Page, Dunsden, aged 15 years.

Bibles, Prayer Books, and Hymn Books, may be obtained at the
Boys' School, Sonning.

Back numbers of the Magazine can be had on application.