425 
181 j.j Dismery of America by ike Carihagmians, 
pronounced the hestg by Haydn, Mozart, 
and other masters of hannony.” But 
wiiere liave they done so, or this system 
of Mr. B. ever before been heard of? I 
beg to ask. I am equally at a loss to 
discover, whence Mr. B. inferred tiiat I 
undertook in your October number to 
“ prove the error of rohatever he may 
advance,” as to the “ proper fifth in the 
teFf)perament called the equal lempei-a^ 
7nenty' since I there pointed out (as I 
have frequently before done) the schhma 
(neglecting only the almost insensible 
fraction •0006552 of this small interval 
T) as the truth, which he ought to ad¬ 
vance, and to practise also, unless he 
wishes to persist in imposing on tlie world 
a system of twelve notes as “ the equal 
tetnperament,” which has no pretensions 
to that character ; and assert ins instru- 
ineiits when so tuned fit to be used alike 
in all heps, as has too often, to my know¬ 
ledge, been asserted by their vendors, 
tuners, &c. 
Before Mr. B. attempts any further re¬ 
ply, let him consider that 1 am not now 
contending with him whether the equal 
temperament be a good or a bad system, 
the assertion being yet unproved, that as 
many strains of modern music are set and 
played in one key as in any other (as I 
intimated in my first letter), on which 
account alone, harmony so coarse and 
imperfect as the isotonic could be tole¬ 
rated; and still less can tliat of Mr. 
Broadvvood’s practical method,” pro¬ 
duced as he directs; where, according to 
a table of the transmitted to me in 
Derbyshire, by a most able theorist and 
calculator, the Rev. C. I. Smyth, of Nor¬ 
wich, within a few days ui' Mr. B.’s new 
system appearing (at page 106), it appears 
that the fifths on his notes C^,- 
G:^, and B, noiess than about 
15, 20, 23, 12, and 27, times respectively 
in one sccoiid of time!! in bis foundation 
or first tuned octave, whence those above 
and below are to be derived. 
Before Mr. B.'s bold assertion, that 
*Gnathematical speculations cannot be 
of any practical use” in tuning, can have 
any weight, he must prove that be under¬ 
stands the nature and object of these 
speculations, sni fur at least as to define 
accurately what he tneans, as I have 
challenged him to do, and had a l ight to 
do, after he had volunteered in assigning 
the quantity of Ins temperament, (though 
it happens to be 1—40ih oi au undefined 
semitone) and had himself brought his 
melkad strictly .viihin the province of 
what he i.^ now pleased to cal! mathama-. 
tical speculation ; and, to suit his present 
purpose, wishes to treat, as ‘Ga mere me¬ 
chanical operation,” {meckanicul enotiiili, 
it is true,) in the hands of most of th- 
professional tuners of the day, and is 
ever like to rei.nain while such assertions 
and reasonings as those! have been com¬ 
menting on can pass current; but, hoping 
that the day of such things is now nearly 
past in all the sciences and liberal arts, I 
remain, &c. John Fahey, Sen, 
Upper Croii n-street, 
Nuv. 5, 1811. 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine* 
SIR, 
M ontesquieu, in one of his 
Persian Letters, (exxi) says, tljat 
Ees Carthaginois avoient, comme les 
Espagnols, decouvert i'Amcrique, ou an 
moms des grandes isles dans lesquelles ils 
faisoient tin commerce prodigieux : metis, 
quand Us virent le nombre de leurs ha- 
bitans diminuer, cette sage rcpubliqne 
defendit a ses sujects ce commerce et ctLLs 
navigation. 
iiow the Carthaginians discovered. 
America, or great islands, in whicli they 
carried on a prodigious trade, I should 
be-glad to learn. The whole letter is, 
liowever, well worthy of the attention ot* 
the Spaniards, even at this time. }’er- 
iiaps his ideas of colonisation are not 
exactly correct; I fear, however, that 
they will closely apply to Spain even 
now. James Jennings. 
Hunt spill, Nov. 1, loll. 
To the Editor (f the Monthly Magazine^ 
SIR, 
AN any of your corre.spondents 
oblige me and the puldic with an 
accurate list of all the islands in the 
south seas, discovered within the reign 
of George ill. indicating also after 
whom they have severally been called. 
In a history of discovery this appears to 
be highly curious, a?ul in the future des¬ 
tiny and civiiisalioit of those islands, the 
history ot their discoverers, and of the 
persons after whom they have by con¬ 
sent of geographers been called, cannoc 
fail to be interesting. 
Mr. Arrowsmiih could give better in¬ 
formation on the subject than any living; 
person; but the enquiry would be assisted 
by turning over the V^oyages of Wailis, 
Byron, Cooke,- Bougainville, Collins. 
Meuros Dixon^ Wiisoui Peyrouse, En- 
trccasteaux. 
