MUSI C. 
3G8 
or other inUrnments, in our churches or convents, when 
he is very minutely delcribing the manner in which the 
pfalms and hymns were i'ung. 
Perhaps the learned Bingham is our fureft guide in de¬ 
termining this point. He pofitively aflerts, that there were 
nofuch things as organs in ufe in the ancient church; 
and that, though church-mufic was as old as the apoftles, 
inftrumental mufic was not fo. He alfo fays that it was 
the general opinion of the learned in his days, that organs 
were not introduced into churches till after the time of 
Thomas Aquinas, A. D. 1250; and for this opinion, as 
far as the authority of Aquinas will go, we have a pofitive 
proof in thefe words : “ Our church does not ufe mufical 
inftruments, as harps and pfal tries, to praife God withal, 
that llie may not feem to Judaize.” From lienee it -lias 
reafonably been concluded, particularly by the learned 
Gregory, that they were not ufed in churches in his 
time. Mr. Wharton has alfo obferved, that Marinus Sa- 
nutas (who flourifhed A. D. 1290) firft introduced wind- 
organs into churches : from this circumftance he derived 
the name Torcdlus, the name for organ in the Italian 
language. About this fame time Durandus, in his Ra¬ 
tionale, fpeaks of them as generally received in the 
church; and he, in Mr. Gregory’s opinion, is the fir ft 
author who takes notice of it. 
Thefe authorities are ftrong; and the opinions founded 
on them by the learned, render them ftill more convincing. 
It appears, however, from the teftitnony of Gervas, the 
monk of Canterbury, who flourifhed in 1200, that organs 
had been introduced upwards of one hundred years be¬ 
fore that time ; for, in his defeription of Lanfranc’s 
cfhurch, as it was before the fire in 1174, he mentions an 
organ that flood over St. Michael’s chapel, (ubi organa 
Jblent e[je;) and the foundation of its loft remains to this 
day. We do not fay that this invalidates the reafoning 
of the learned Bingham. Of that our readers are to judge; 
and, informing their judgment, they will be determined 
by the credit of the teftimonies which are here oppofed to 
each other. 
But, however we ate difpofed to determine this matter 
(which is in itfelf but of little confequence), it is certain 
that the ufe of the organ was very common in the latter 
ages of the church, and the propriety of it was undifputed. 
In the 17th century, however, during the civil wars, or¬ 
gans were removed from the churches in England ; and 
lb generally reprobated, that, at the reftoration, there 
could fcarcely be found either organifts, organ-builders, 
or lingers. The lawfulnefs of ufing organs in churches, 
has, however, been ably defended by an appeal to the 
ufe which the Jews made of inftrum&nts of mufic in di¬ 
vine fervice; and with much reafon ; for, were the ufe 
criminal in us, as was afl'erted by many well-meaning 
anen of the laft century, and as it is ftill thought by.fome 
in this, it would unquestionably have been equally un¬ 
lawful for the Jews. The Chriftians in Aquinas’s time, 
how'ever, afted wifely in avoiding the ufe of them, if 
fuch ufe would have given offence to their weaker bre¬ 
thren. For, though they are highly ornamental, and 
in fome churches may be produftive of good effedts, yet 
the ufe of them is far from being eflential, and may 
be difpenfed with. Certain it is, that in one of the 
“ Homilies,” fet forth by authority of queen Elizabeth, 
mention is made of “ filthy organs, difpleaiing to God,” 
Sec. See. 
Organs have never yet been ufed in the eftablifhment 
of Scotland, fince that became Prefbyterian ; but they 
are ufed in Holland, where that form of church-govern¬ 
ment alfo obtains. Bifhop Horne, in a Sermon which 
he preached at the opening of the new organ at Canter¬ 
bury, in 1784, fays, that he believes fome Prefbyterian 
diftenters in England have adopted it in their places 
@f worfhip. 
The church-organ confifts of two chief parts; the main 
body, called the great organ, and the choir-organ. The 
Jize of an organ is generally exprefled by the length of its 
largeft pipe : thus they fay, an organ of 8, 32, feet, See. 
The organ in the cathedral-church at Ulmjn Germany, is- 
93 feet high and 28 broad: its largeft pipe is 13 inches- 
diameter, and it has iC pair of bellows. 
The great organ is commonly placed in the fore-part of 
the cafe, for the convenience of planting the largeft pipes 
in the ornamental front, and that it may appear louder. 
The choir-organ is fometimes placed on one fide within 
the cafe of the great organ, and fometimes in a feparate 
cafe, at the back of the player. Hence, it is not unfre- 
quently called the chair organ. 
Plate XVI. Thefeveral parts of the church-organ are 
as follow: HIH, fig. 1. is the found-board; which is 
compofed of two parts, the upper board or cover H HH, 
and the under board H I, which is much thicker than the 
other : each of thefe confifts of feveral planks laid with 
their edges to each other, and. joined very clofe together. 
In the under fide of the low’er board there are made feveral 
channels, which run in the direction L L, MM, Sec. and 
are continued as far as there are Hops in the organ, and 
come almoft to the edge H K. Thefe channels are co¬ 
vered over very clofe with parchment or leather, all the 
way, except a hole that is commonly at the fore-end next 
H K, upon which a valve or puff is placed. Tlie'fe chan¬ 
nels are called partitions. When this valve or flap is Unit, 
it keeps out the air; and admits it when open. On the 
upper fide of the lower board, there arelikewife cut feveral 
broad fq.uare channels, lying crofs the former, but not fo 
deep as to reach them: thefe lie in the dire&ion LN, PQ, 
&c. To fit thefe channels, there is the fame number of 
W'ooden Aiders or regifters, &c. running the whole 
length ; and thefe may be drawn out or thruft in at plea-, 
fure. The number of thefe is the fame as that of the flops 
in the organ. 
IK K K is the w'ind-cheft, which is a fquare box fitted 
clofe to the under fide of the lower board, and made air¬ 
tight, fo that no air can get out but what goes through the 
valves along the partitions. V V are the valves or puffs 
which open into the wind-cheft: they are all inclofed in 
it, and may be placed in any part of it, as occafion (hall 
require. One of thefe valves, with the fpring that fhuts 
it, and the wire that opens it, is reprefented at fig. 2. 
C, D, E, F, See. are the keys on which the fingers are 
placed when the organ is played : thefe keys lie over the 
horizontal bar of wood W, in which are ftuck an equal 
numberof wire-pins, c, z, on which the keys are fixed ; and 
the keys move up and down on the bar, as on a centre. 
There is another bar, againft which the keys fall when put 
down, and which is here marked 3 : on this alfo are feve¬ 
ral wires, which go through the keys, to guide them; and 
on this bar a lift is faftened to hinder the keys from knock¬ 
ing againft the wood. The keys are made to communi¬ 
cate with the valvesfeveral ways, as we (hall now deferibe. 
Firft, s, s, s, are the key-rollers, moving on the pivots, t, t: 
thefe rollers lie horizontally, one above another, and are 
of fuch a length as to reach from the valve to the key : 
a, a, a, are arms or levers fixed to the key-rollers.- w, tt>, 
the valve-wires fixed to the armser, a, and to the valves V, 
and to go through the holes h, h, in the bottom of the 
wind-cheft: b,b,h, arelikewife arms fixed to the key- 
rollers : d, d, d, the key-wires, fixed to the arms b, b, and 
to the keys C, D, E. Now, when the end of any one of 
the keys C, D, E, is put down, it pulls down the arm b, 
by the wire d, which turns about the roller s with the 
arm a, that pulls down the wire w, which opens the valve 
that is fliut by the fpring, as foon as the prefture is taken 
oft’ the key. In this conftrmftion there mult be a wonn- 
fpring faftened to the key, and to the bar W on the fur¬ 
ther fide, to keep down the end 5 of the key. 
Another method of opening the valves is thus : xy, xy, 
are (lender levers, movable on the centres 1,155 x > 5 a-, 
are wires going from the further ends of the keys to the 
ends x of the levers; y\, yV, are other wires, reaching 
from the ends y of the levers, through the holes h, to the 
valves V. So that putting down the key C, D, See. raifes 
