316 MYTH AND SCIENCE. 



unconsciously embodied by us, entering into our 

 hearts as they circle round the church, and they 

 become the mysterious language of celestial powers. 

 We are once more immersed in the world of fancy 

 and of myth, purified however by the evolution it has 

 undergone. This exalted state of rnind is also ex- 

 perienced by those who listen to profane music, since 

 the harmony and modulation of sound, and the ex- 

 pression given to it by the combination of various 

 instruments, immediately affect the soul of the listener 

 as a whole, without the aid of reflection, and a sub- 

 stantial entity which deliberately fulfils its sponta- 

 neous cycle of development is thus created; in a 

 word, the harmonies they hear are unconsciously 

 personified. Any one who makes a deep and careful 

 analysis of his states of consciousness in these cir- 

 cumstances will admit the truth of this assertion. 



The ordinary modes of expression respecting music, 

 which are in use not only among uneducated people, 

 but among those who are educated and civilized, dis 

 play the earlier and innate belief in the mythical 

 representations of this art. The expressions may be 

 often heard : What divine music ! What angelic har- 

 mony ! This song is really seraphic ! and the like. 

 Such expressions not only bear witness to the old 

 mythical sentiment, and to the ultimate development 

 of its form, but they also indicate the actual senti- 

 ments of the speaker. The personifying power of the 

 human intelligence is such as to recur spontaneously, 



