676 



Monthly Review of Literature. 



[JUNE, 



lanously bad, in country churches espe- 

 cially. One of the main points of Mr. 

 La Trobe's well-written book is to urge 

 upon the clergy the necessity of bestir- 

 ring themselves for its amendment. He 

 is himself, as may be supposed, a musi- 

 cian, an d the son also of a man distinguish- 

 ed in the amateur world of music, and of 

 course considers the love of music one of 

 the first virtues, as the practice of it is 

 of the duties of life. With taste or with- 

 out voice or no voice every clergy- 

 man must hereafter qualify himself suf- 

 ficiently at least to shew his superiority 

 over a country choir, and take the con- 

 trol into his own hands. He proposes 

 music shall, henceforth, be as imperative 

 for the attainment of a degree in arts as 

 mathematics or the classics; and of course 

 every candidate must be tried by the 

 standard with which the chapters of ca- 

 thedrals actually do try their readers. 

 Mr. La Trobe enters minutely and fami- 

 liarly into the mode on which the exist- 

 ing clergy, not thus academically drilled, 

 may, by a little dexterous management 

 and very slight qualifications, at once set 

 about reforming his choir. He must go 

 very gently to work first he will make 

 himself acquainted with the nature and 

 extent of the evil then mingle with the 

 performers in conversation talk to them 

 of the importance of their office tell 

 them of nobler principles than pride 

 inquire after their tunes taking care to 

 throw in, occasionally, a few pertinent 

 remarks, just to shew that he knows 

 something of what he is talking about, 

 and above all to make them feel that he 

 takes an interest in their employment. 

 He must then propose an hour's practice 

 every week at the parsonage, where all 

 are to come, bad voices, bad instruments, 

 &c. He will solemnize the meeting with 

 a short prayer, and then, having won 

 their confidence, take the first step in the 

 path of reform. The tunes are the first 

 objects of attack, especially the boisterous 

 anthems and fugues (as Mr. La Trobe, 

 with becoming indignation, says they im- 

 pudently term them), which he is to re- 

 place with simpler and soberer compo- 

 sitions, and advance by degrees to such 

 melodies as, though formed upon the 

 rich combinations and stern dignity of 

 the chorale, yet attract by the fluency 

 of their measure, and readily approve 

 themselves to the popular taste. This 

 successfully accomplished, he will me- 

 ditate a stroke at the instruments. The 

 bassoon must be expelled at all hazards, 

 and fiddles, flutes, and pipes are all to be 

 replaced by a violincello, if practicable, 

 of which Mr. La Trobe is with some 

 reason doubtful. Then come the singers 

 and a pretty task the reformer is likely 

 to have in curing such evils as singing 

 out of tune, frequently too flat, and with 



a nasal twang straining the voice to an 

 unnatural pitch, as though it were a con- 

 test of physical strength introducing 

 awkward drawls and tasteless ornaments, 



None but an enthusiast of course would 

 dream of any practical good to be effected 

 in this wav, by men themselves without 

 any taste for the science. The good man 

 himself sees the difficulties, and verily 

 believes, he says, that had the taming 

 and bringing into order a country choir 

 been appointed for one of the labours of 

 Hercules, he would have been defeated. 

 Mr. La Trobe regrets the " glorious 

 days" are gone by when God was 

 pleased to appoint 50,000 servants to mi- 

 nister to the service of his temple, and 

 a large portion of them singers and mu- 

 sicians ; but he anticipates with a con- 

 fiding piety the musical raptures of a 

 millenium Sabbath, and finally of a ce- 

 lestial one, when he shall join in the 

 " everlasting song," &c. 



But notwithstanding occasional ab- 

 surdities, the volume is written with re- 

 markable eloquence materiam opus su- 

 perabat. The historical part is full of 

 information relative to church music, 

 such as cannot anywhere else be so 

 readily found. 



Practical Treatise on Rail-Roads, fyc., 

 by Nicholas Wood. Second edition. 

 When Mr. Wood, about six years ago, 

 first published his book, rail-ways were, 

 as far as regards their application to 

 general purposes, quite in their infancy. 

 They were confined almost exclusively 

 to private purposes for the conveyance 

 of coals, lead, iron, &c. from the great 

 coal, lead, and iron works. The Surrey, 

 Stockton, and Darlington were the only 

 exceptions, and even the two latter were 

 not brought into actual operation. The 

 Liverpool and Manchester rail-way has 

 since been completed ; and the question 

 is settled of their utility, both as to 

 speed and cheapness, for conveyance of 

 goods and passengers between places of 

 considerable intercourse. Mr. Wood's 

 well executed volume the second edi- 

 tion, just published embraces an histo- 

 rical sketch of the different modes of in- 

 ternal communication another, of the 

 introduction of rail-roads with their suc- 

 cessive improvements descriptions of 

 the form and construction of carriages 

 used upon these roads angles of incli- 

 nation best suited for each kind of mo- 

 tive power experiments on the strength 

 and deflection of cast and malleable iron 

 rails others on the friction of carriages 

 and of ropes experiments on the effects 

 of self-acting planes, fixed steam-engine 

 planes, horses, and locomotive steam- 

 engines and finally, a comparative esti- 

 mate of the advantages of canals and 



