A REVERSAL OF THE TRUTH 267 



correspondingly increased power of using them. Or, 

 to put it in seven words : music reacts on and improves 

 our speech. 



Here we have Herbert Spencer at his worst, even 

 as we had him at his best a Httle while ago. He might 

 have found a dozen functions for music, and not one 

 further off the truth than this. It is, in fact, a reversal 

 of the truth — a putting the cart before the horse. 

 To begin with, what he calls music is only the lesser 

 half of it, since it does not include instrumental 

 music. Furthermore, vocal music is comparatively 

 non-progressive — necessarily so, seeing that it is only 

 concerned with certain aspects of life. Whereas 

 speech progresses eternally, being concerned with 

 all life, and if there is any progress at aU in vocal 

 music, it is due to the influence of speech. Singing 

 is a recreation indulged in occasionally or at long 

 intervals, and not by all. Where it is very common, 

 it is little more than the monotonous chant of savages ; 

 and as we go higher we find it less and less common 

 in civilised peoples; but speaking is continual and 

 used by everyone from infancy to death— this being 

 the only incident which can stop the tongue from 

 wagging. And the result of thousands of years and 

 thousands of centuries of practice has given it so 

 marvellous a flexibility and variety, which includes 

 every emotion in every degree and shade and shadow 

 of a shade, that you will get more tones and in- 

 flections and modulations in half-an-hour's talk from 

 any bright-minded voluble child of fourteen than from 

 all the singing you have heard in a life-time. 



