94 



ON THE EFFECTS OF MUSIC, &C. 



have been well for the mutineers if their taste for music had been as 

 great as the dolphin's, for the history not only affords a grand instance 

 of the power of music, but of retributive justice, as the sailors acci- 

 dentally going- to Corinth paid the penalty of their evil intentions with 

 their lives." Persons who have been aware of the possibility of attracting 

 animals by music have, according to different writers, resorted to it 

 with great success, when desirous of removing obnoxious animals from 

 their abodes. In Hone's Every D«y Book, p. 1372, is given a re- 

 markable (and the reader, perhaps, will say an incredible) account of 

 this kind, with respect to the rat, from Verstegan's Restitution of 

 Decayed Intelligence. This account (which may be found versified in 

 some works) is thus stated : " Hulberstadt, in Germany, was extremely 

 infested with rats, which a certain musician called, from his habits, the 

 4 Pyed Piper' agreed for a great sum of money to destroy ; whereupon 

 he tuned his pipes, and the rats immediately followed him to the next 

 river, where they were all drowned. But when the piper demanded his 

 pay, he was refused with some scorn and contempt ; upon which he 

 began another tune, and was followed by all the children of the town 

 to a neighbouring hill, called Hamelin, which opened and swallowed 

 them up, and then closed again. One boy, being lame, came after the 

 rest ; but seeing what had happened, returned and related this strange 

 circumstance. The story was believed, for the parents never after heard 

 of their lost children. This incident is said to have happened on the 

 22nd of July, in the year 1376, and that since that time the people of 

 Hulberstadt permit not any drum, pipe, or other instrument, to be 

 sounded in that street which leads to the gate through which the chil- 

 dren passed. They also establish a decree, that in all writings of con- 

 tract or bargain, after the date of our Saviour's nativity, the date also of 

 the year of the children's going forth shall be added in perpetual re- 

 membrance of this surprising event." By similar means to those pur- 

 sued by the revengeful piper towards the rats, the natives of cer- 

 tain countries aresaid to rid themselves of snakes, which by reason of 

 their venom they would not venture to eject from their houses by appli- 

 cation to force. " The eastern Indians will rid their houses of the 

 most venomous snakes, by charming them with the sounds of a flute, 

 which calls them out of their holes. Instances of the same kind, how- 

 ever incredible they may appear, are given not only by ancient writers, 

 such as Pliny and Seneca, but by modern authors of undoubted credit, 

 such as Sir William Jones, Bruce, Shaw, Greaves, Forbes, and Chateau- 



