SEBASTIAN BACH AND HIS WORKS. O 



Other words, before the dictum of individuals. Now such a dictum, 

 to be at all valuable, must proceed from one really competent to 

 judge of the point on which he decides. We must, before we re- 

 gard him as an authority, first ascertain that he has given the sub- 

 ject mature consideration, and then that, having done so, his mental 

 faculties and their cultivation are such as will enable him to decide 

 in a satisfactory manner. This mode of inquiry, however, even 

 when properly conducted — which, unfortunately, it seldom or never 

 is — furnishes us at best with a probability only, by no means with 

 a certainty. Thus, the more attention any one has bestowed on a 

 given subject the more likely he will be to give a correct opinion 

 with regard to it ; but that he should do so is altogether uncertain, 

 for this simple reason, that the wisest and least prejudiced of mor- 

 tals is liable to error, and if so, how are we to be satisfied that the 

 very point to be determined is not that in which he will err ? It is 

 simply seeing with the eyes of others and neglecting the use of our 

 own. No, no ! see with your own eyes, hear with your own ears, 

 and think with your own minds ; use the faculties of others only to 

 consult, not to follow their dictates. Let this be your rule in every 

 matter, as well of opinion as of taste, and your safe-guard against 

 the undue influence of authority. Almost all whom the English 

 public has been accustomed to look up to on the subject of music, 

 have either dismissed the name of Bach with a sneer, or else have 

 awarded him so small a share of praise as almost to produce the 

 same effect upon the reader. To adduce an example or two : Bur- 

 ney, in his History of Music, condescends to assign our author a 

 niche in the temple of fame, with the limitation, however, that he 

 would have merited one more honourable if he had been more assi- 

 duous in courting popular applause ! This is the dictum of one of 

 the wise ones by whom the public has been " tenderly led by the 

 nose, as asses are." Dr. Crotch, of whom one should have expected 

 something very different, owns that Bach's Preludes and Fugues 

 are the finest ever produced, and that after hearing them almost all 

 other music appears common and insipid ; but, almost in the same 

 breath, the Doctor dismisses his vocal works with the very negative 

 praise that they are inferior to Handel's, and the equally positive 

 accusation — which we shall, in the sequel, prove to be unfounded — 

 that they arc wanting in variety of excellence. Such a charge can 

 only come from one who is either unable or unwilling to see things 

 and judge of them as they exist, unless they contribute to the glory 

 of a pre-established favourite. We have brought these two exam- 

 ples, in one of which the weak point of a really great man is con- 



