G R E 



only againll liini, but the moderns in general. Racine, La 

 Briiyere, and Fontenelle, took fides in the quarrel, which in 

 France was kept alive, with great animofity, for near thirty 

 years. 



In England, the controverfy between fir William Tern- 

 pie and Mr. Wooton, Mr. lioyle and Dr. Ik-ntley, and 

 S.vift's " Battle of the Bjoks,'" were coiifequcnces of this 

 quarrel. 



Tiiofe who had written ex profejfo on mufic, had frequently 

 differed in their opinions concerning counterpoint haviim- 

 been known by the ancients, previous to the learned, in ge- 

 neral, interefting thcmfelves in the difpute ; and before we 

 J give our own opinion, as an indi/idual, it is incumbent on 

 I us, as an hillorian, to inform our readers, who were the prin- 

 cipal champions on both fides. Would it not render our 

 rticle too long, the reafons afllgned bv each for feizing his 

 ' '-orJ, that is, his pen, in the quarrel, fliould hkewifc have 



place here. But our limits will only allow us to fay, that 



e moll eminent defenders of ancient harmony in our fenfe 



r the word, are Gaffurio Zarlino, Gio. Battida Doni, 

 Iliac Vofiius, Zaccharia Tcvo, the abbe Fraguier, and Mr. 

 '^ illingfleet, author of " Principles and Power of Har- 

 mony." 



Theif oponents are Glarianus, Salinas, the cavalier Her- 

 . ';!es Bottrigari of Bologna, Artufi, Cerone, Kepler, Mer- 



:;iU3, Mariiiius Ficinus, Kircher, Claude Perraiilt, and the 

 i^ie elegant and learned poet Mr. Mafon, who had Ihidied 

 nioderu mulic, and has left his decided opinion againil the 

 ancient Greeks having cultivated counterpoint. (Hill. Muf 

 v.jl. i. p. 125.) To thefe we may add Bontempi, th; firil 

 I-dian muiical hiilorian, the learned Dr. Wallis, M. Burette, 

 '..lio has explored the fuhieCl, and conudered it in all its ra- 

 ..ilications. Padri M:irtini of Bologna, a learned and dili- 

 : at inquirer, has given a fpecimen (Stor della Muf. t. i. 

 . 174.) of fuch meagre counterpoint as was likely to have 

 - -en produced without the ule of imperfecfl concords, which 

 the Greeks termed difcords. The late flirewd and pene- 

 trating critic J. J. Rouffeau is very explicit upon this fub- 

 ■d in his" Muiical Diftionary,'' at the article Counlerpoint, 



liich he terminates by faying, " It has long been difputed 

 \. iiether the ancients knew counterpoint ; but it clearly ap- 

 r -ars from the remains of their mulic and writings, efpe- 



lly the rules of practice, in tlie third book of Ariltoxenus, 

 1 . i -It th^y nev^r had the kajl idea of it.'' 



After tliis liil of the moil refpeftable writers on both 

 "lies of this long difputed quellion, it now remains to tell 



e reader ingenuoufly our own fentiments : and to confefs 

 ':e truth, we will venture to fay, that we do no! believe the 

 ■;eients ever did ukjimu/taneoiis harmony, that is, mufic in dif- 

 f rent parts ; for without thirds -and tixths it mull have been 

 i.iiipid ; and with tlum, the combination of many founds 

 and melodies moving by different intervals, and in different 

 times, would have occafioned a confufion, which the refpeft 

 that the Greeks had for their language and poetry would 

 not fuffer them to tolerate. 



Sscl. IX. — Of the Dramatic Miific of ths Ancients. See 



D H A M A TIC Mujlc . 



The Greek dramas confided of foUloquy, dialogue, and 

 chorus, and it has naturally been fuppofed, that thefe were 

 fung to different kinds of mufic. Soliloquies full of fenti- 

 ment and pailion had probab'y a diiferent, more elaborate, 

 and refined melody, than the dialogues ; but the chorus muil 

 necelTarily be fet to meafured mufic, or the performers, if 

 left ad libitum, could never have kept together. 



S.'H. X. —Of the eji-ds attrib:!ted to the mufic of the ancients. 



Materials for tiiis part of our dilfertation are fo numerous, 

 that if we were only to prefcnt the reader with all the llorics 



G R E 



that have been related by the mod grave and rcfpec'table hit- 

 torians and phiiofopherj of Greece and Rome, concerning 

 the moral, medicinal, and fupernalural powers of ancient 

 mufic, this fedtion would be as full of the miraclct of mu- 

 ficians, as the " Golden Legend" is of thofe operated by 

 the faints. The credulous and cxclufive admirers of antii 

 quity have, however, fo long read and reverenced all thefe 

 narrations, that they arc impreffcd by them witli an extra- 

 vagsnt idea of the excellence of ancient mufic, wliich tlicy 

 are very unwilling to relinquifh ; and yet, after a moll care- 

 ful invelligation of the fubject, and a i:.inute analyfis of this 

 mufic, by examining its conftituent parts, we have not been 

 able to difcover that it was fuperior to the modem in any 

 other refpedts than its fimplicity, and ftrict adherence to 

 metrical feet, when applied to poetry. For, as nmftc, con- 

 fidcred abilraftedly, it appears to li..ve been much inferior 

 to the modern, in the two great and elFcntial parts of the 

 art, melody and harmony. 



We have coiifidercd the marvellous effefts afcribed to an- 

 cient mufic, under three feveral head^ : 



Firll, in foftening the manners, promoting civilization, 

 and humanizing men, naturally favage and barbarous : 



Secondly, its effedls in excitmg, or reprefling the paf- 

 fions : 



And thirdly, its medicinal power, in curing difeafcs. 

 And we think, tiiat the whole may be conllrued into 

 poetical fables, allegories, and vulgar errors. Many itrange 

 llories of the power of mufic over man and bead have 

 gained admidion into books, even in this philofophical and 

 unbelieving age, at which pofterity will doubtlefs dare ! 

 GuEEK Crofs. See Cross. 

 GitKEK Empire. See E.mpire. 

 Gkkek Grammar. Sec Grammar. 

 Greek Language, the language of the Greeks. Whether 

 we confider the high antiquity of tiiis tongue, its varied excel- 

 lencies, the unrivalled models of compoi.tion which it con- 

 tains, or the extenfive influence which the dudy of it has 

 produced on the more modern dialetts of Europe, it clai.nis, 

 in an eminent degree, the attention of learned men, as a 

 fubjecl no lefs curious than ufeful. The advantages to be 

 derived from the dudy of thofe authors who have written 

 in this tongue, are too notorious to need defcription, and 

 are recommended to us by the united tcdiinony cf tie 

 learned in every age and country. The Greeks have Icit 

 the mod durable monuments of human wifdom, fortitude, 

 magnificence, and ingenuity, in their improvement oi every 

 art and fcicnce, and in the fined writings upon every lubjccl 

 nece'fary, profitable, elegant, or entertaining. They ba»e 

 furnidied the brighted examples of ever)- virtue and accon - 

 phdunent, natural or acquired, politica', moral, or military ; 

 they excelled in mathematics and philofophy ; in all the 

 forms of governments, m architcilure, navigation, comir.erce» 

 war; as orators, poets, and hidorians, they dand as yet 

 unrivalled, and are hkely to continue unrivalled for ever; 

 nor are they lefs to be admired for the cxercifes and amufe- 

 ments they invented and brought to perfeclion, in the indi- 

 tution of their public games. Nor can we become lenfiblc 

 of thefe admii-ed excellencies in any of the bed lr.inil.<tions 

 from the Greek. They may indeed communicate lome 

 knowledge of what the originals contain : they may prelent 

 us with propofitions, charaders, and events ; but allowing 

 them to be more faithful, more accurate than they really 

 are, or can well be, dill they are no better than copies in 

 which the fpirit and ludre of the originals are in a great 

 degree neceffarily loll. The powers ot the Greek are »-adly 

 beyond thofe of any oth.er tongue. Wiwitever the Greek 

 writers defcribc is always feJt, and almoll feeu ; motion and 



mutift 



