1799-] 
through part of Germany, France, and_ 
Switzerland ; the following are the words 
of the reviewer : 
¢¢ Of that moft unfortunate clafs of hu- 
‘man beings, the Cretins, the writer (Mr. 
Matthifon) mentions one whofe circumftances 
made us fhudder. At Martinach livesaCretin, 
who is apparently deftitute of animal inftiné 
to fuch a degree, as not evento be able to 
feed alone. His wen is enormous, and his 
eyes are exceflively fmall. In fine weather 
he is expofed to the fun, and lies immoveable 
till carried back. Another Cretin, placed 
lower ftill in the feale of human kind, had 
no other opening in his whole body than his 
mouth. It is a moft remarkable circumftance, 
that women from other parts, after having 
fpent but a few weeks of their pregnancy io 
Vallais, are likewife brought to bed of Cre- 
tins.” Appendix, &c. page 526. 
To the beft of my recollection, Mifs 
Williams, in her *¢ Jour in Switxer- 
land,’ does not once:advert to this melan- 
choly phenomenon of our {pecies ! 
Your’s, &c. Jno. WN. 
ee 
For the Monthly Magazine. 
Mr. EDITOR, 
i oe your Magazine for September lait, I 
notice a biographical fketch of the. 
late Dr. Boyce, whofe talents, as a theo- 
retical mufician, your biographer very 
juftly eftimates to be of the firft kind. Al- 
though his fame has not acquired that 
height which many of his inferiors have 
attained, yet we may with truth aflert, 
that, as a {cientifc compofer, he takes 
place of every Englifh mufician, except 
the immortal Purcell. 
To enumerate the produ€tions of fo great 
a man requires no apology, and with your 
liberty I fhall follow your corre{pondent 
with a lift of the Doétor’s works*, point- 
ing out thofe. in which his tafte and learn- 
ing is particularly difplayed. 
As Dr. Boyce received his education | 
under Dr. Green, we fhall not be fur- 
prized if his ftyle refembles, in fome de- 

Already publifped, 
* Lyra Britannicus.—Chaplet.—Shepherd’s 
Lottery. —Solomon.—Ode and Anthem at the 
Initallation of the Duke of Newcaftle.--T wo 
vols. of Anthems.—Anthem for the Sons of 
the Clergy. —Funeral Anthem King George 
Ii.—Nuptial Anthem King George {il.— 
Eight Coronation Anthems.—Eight Sym- 
phonies.—Twelve Overtures,—-Twelve So- 
natas.—-T welve Voluntaries. 
Manufcripts. 
Ode on St. Cecilia’s Day. —Pythian Qde.— 
Oratorio, Saul and Jonathan.—Dryden’s Se- 
cular Mafque.-Peleus and Thetis ~QOde, 
Unnoticed Warks of Dr. Boyce. 
103 
gree, that of his mafter; and there can 
be no doubt of his tafte for ferious com- 
pofition criginating in the Royal Chap- 
pels. Itis then in the compotitions for 
the church in which we are to look for 
that eminence which I have been {peaking 
of; and I fhall retey your readeis for 
{pecimens of his abilities to the following 
anthems. ‘ If we believe that Fefus 
died; and, %‘ Be ihau my judge, O Lord.” 
(1 vol. of anthems). ‘Thele are pecu- 
liarly fine and impreffive, invariably pre- 
ferving that gravity which beft accards 
with the devotional gloom of our cathe- 
drals. As a mafterpiece in the true 
church fiyle, T fhall mention another an- 
them in the fame work: ‘¢ by the waters 
of Babylon we fat down and wept.’ I¢ 
breathes throughout that pious folemnity 
which cannot but affeét every auditor ; 
and notwithftanding its parts are molt 
{eientifically difpofed, it 1s highly replete 
with that melody which characterifes Dr. 
Boyce’s befk compalitions. A few years 
back was publifhed a fecond volume of 
anthems for the benefit of the widow, in 
which the following excellent ones occur s 
“* T have furely bualt thee aa boufe to dwell 
in;*°’ and, ‘** Sing O, Heavens, and be 
jopful.”’ His ferenata of Solomon is better 
known than any other of his works, and 
your correfpondent has given us its cha- 
racer in appropriate terms. 
It is now with pleafure I come to {peak 
of awork not at all known to the mufical. 
world, not even by name; I believe in- 
deed, that this is the firft time of its title 
appearing with a lift of his other produc- 
tions. It is ‘“* AN ODE To CHaRITy,;” 
and was compofed at the requeft of 
Mr. Jofeph Cradock, of Gumley, in 
Leicelterfhire, who wrote this elegant 
poem for the annual performance in {up- 
port of the Leicelter Infirmary. 
It opens with an overture for a full or- 
cheftra of a pathetic caft, but rifes as it 
proceeds into the fublime. A mafterly 
effect is produced on the fudden and un- 
expected ftroke from the double drum. 
This overture furpaffes every other inftru- 
mental piece of the author. ‘The fongs, 

performed in the Queen’s Garden.—Qde to 
Charity+—-New Year and Birth-Day Odes, 
from 1755 to 1779,—Ode to Shakefpare.—- 
Pindaric Ode.—Prince of Wales Birth-Day 
Odes.—Corydon and Miranda. — Inconftant 
Swain. — Thyrfis, Danae, Cantatas.—Elegy 
on Mr, Gofling.—Mafque in Tempeft.—Dirge 
in Cymbeline and ia Romeo and Juliet.—~ 
Mufic in the Winter’s Tale,--Concerto in D; 
three ditto in BE and B. 
recitatiyes, 
