30 Particularsrespecting Joanna Southcott and Mr.Carpenter. [Feb.1, sence of the King of the East. Roses open their ruby lips, and breathe soft their choicest fragrance; birds praise his powerful beauty, pouring forth sweetest notes of thrilling eloquence; earth smiles, well pleased; air dances in many a curious maze; and the lake and the river receive, with shining face of joy, the soft impressions of the lovely light. Shall man, Lord of earth and sea, who walketh erect in the majesty of his form, who stampeth on the earth, and saith, "it is mine;" who stretcheth out his right hand for a sceptre, and commands the beasts and the fowls; whose eyes span the Heavens; whose voice is the thunder of terror; whose thought pierces through the Heaven of Heaven, and follows the comet's course, and reaches into the fathomless cavern of futurity; shall God-like man lie buried under the darkness of his eye-lids, in unprofitable and monotonous oblivion, dead to the countless felicities of light!-Awake! thou who art so capable of varied happiness, call into life thy numerous powe rs-thy senses, shake off old sloth, rouse up thy vigour like a lion, go forth, and inhale, at every pore and every the pleasures of the morn, unspeakable in beauty. seuse, To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. SIR, OUR correspondent " Philalethes" You has contradicted a statement made by me, in my sketch of the former and present state of Lambeth, &c. I can have no disrespect for the writer, but I do not like noticing anonymous replies, and, indeed, have but little inclination, or time, for controversy. In the hasty sketch which I gave of remarkable objects or occurrences, I might have mentioned the quarrel between Mr. Carpenter and Joanna South. cott; but felt no wish to dwell more par. ticularly on that subject. But it might pot have occurred to your correspon dent, that negative information is not al ways satisfactory or candid: he has told us that neither Mrs. Southcott nor her friends ever attend Mr. Carpenter's House of God; but has neglected to in form us in what particulars their doc trines now differ; and the ambiguity of lis language might lead some to doubt whether Mr. Carpenter had ever been the supporter of the awful pretensions of this extraordinary female, who considers herself "the Bride, the Lamb's Wife, and the Woman clothed with the Sun." I think my information sufficiently correct to permit me to say that the chief cause of the dispute originated. in Mr. Carpenter's belief in the visitations of the Youth of Neckinger-Mills notoriety. Mrs. Southcott, feeling a natural wish to monopolize fame, could not endure that another should also become popular as a dealer in dreams aud visions. However, the zeal with the prophetess at his chapel, near the which Mr. Tozer defends the opinions of Obelisk, Saint George's Fields, in some measure perhaps counterbalances the loss of Mr. Carpenter. The multitude are fond of the marvellous; and absurdity is sure to be sanctified by Scripture proofs. I was once present when Mr. Carpenter explained the representations of the visions, said to be seen by the aforesaid youth; they were then drawn and coloured on large paper, and held up un der his pulpit, while he named to the audience, the time and place at which those wonders were seen. The absurdities he related, and the confidence with which he declared his firm belief in them, alinost induced me to doubt the evidence of my own senses.-Mr. Hana, who was formerly one of Mrs. Southcott's followers, has, since his recantation, taken up the pen to expose her impudence and falsehoods: according to him, “she opened her commission in 1792," and declared herself to be the woman spoken of in the Revelations; that her business is to warn the world of the near approach of the Millenium, and to seal the people for the enjoyment of the same to the amount of 144,000, &c. &c. (See his Life of Joanna Southcott, Letter to the Bishop of London, &c.) With respect to the letter, or seal, as it is termed, which has excited so much inquiry among the curious, the following is a description of one which was profanely broke open, and presented to me as a curiosity. In the centre of an oval which occupies one side of the paper, is the name of the disciple who is sealed, on the other side appears the following words, "The sealed of the Lord, The elect precious Man's Redemption, To Inherit the Tree of Life, To be made Heirs of God and Joint Heirs with Jesus Christ. May 21, 1803." To this, in a scarcely legible hand, is signed, “Jounna Southcott." S them have these words added-" Not to be opened." J. M. FLINDALL. November 15, 1812. To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. SIR, NDIGNATION always arises in my bosom, when I view, in the Royal Exchange, the statue of that most proBligate monarch Charles II. Greece and Rome erected statues to their heroes, patriots, orators, &c.; when these were seen, their noble actions were recalled to memory. Beholders thought of them with gratitude. The sight of them encouraged others to love their country; reflected shame on self-interest ed men, and despicable traitors; and stimulated youth to obtain such honors. But, when any one sees, in the first place, in the centre of the first city in the world, the statue of this man, how will he be as tonished to hear, that he, whom it represents, was a drunkard—a profligate-a traitor-whose court was a seraglio,who was a patron of vice; who, to support his vicious courses, sold Dunkirk to Louis XV. of France!* Would it not be more grateful to En * Hume, vol. vii., p. 394-Rapin, vol. ii. p. 619, 640, 653, 675. PRIZE OXEN. glishmen, to have one of our great men grace this noble emporium, one whom people of every nation may view and admire, instead of one who is a disgrace to our nation, and an object of "contempt? W. BEEK Herts, Sept. 15, 1812. To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. SIR, N order to ascertain, by an annual Exhibition, which breeds of oxen, sheep, and pigs, respectively, will improve the most in weight of meat, of good quality, for the market, in a given time, and with a given consumption of food; the Smithfield Club, which was instituted in 1798, through the patriotic endeavours of the late Duke of Bedford, distributed their annual prizes in Decenber last, on the award of Mr. George Guerrier of Poplar, Essex; Mr. Wm. Harrison of Folkington, Sussex; and Mr. Emmanuel Pester,of Yeovil, Somersetshire, the three judges appointed for examining the animals exhibited, and considering the several particulars in the certificates of their breeds, ages, food, &c.-Below is a return of the particulars *. See a similar account last year, in vol. xxxiii. p. 209. Head. Fat. Blood lbs. lbs. Mr. James King's 29-weeks old Suffolk Pig, fed on barley-meal and water.... The conditions and premiums offered by the Club, for the ensuing year, differ To speak of either of the mighty inasters of harmony, Handel and Haydn, as having attained the ne-plus-ultra of mu. sical excellence, would be equally idle;. but we may give the palm to one or the other without an imputation of blind atJ. FAREY, Sec. tachment to either. Those of your no material degree from those of last year; and the bills, with printed forms for the certificates required from candidates, may be had as usual. Jan. 16, 1813. To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. H SIR, AVING lately seen Mr. Gardiner's paper on Modern Music, my admiration of the great master of the old school, has drawn from me a few remarks, which possibly you may deem nworthy your notice; though I feel some encouragement in offering them, from recollecting your reception of a former communication, containing an Inquiry concerning the poetical contributors to Handel. In your Magazine for April, 1807, amongst other replies to it, the one from Mr. Evans, of Bristol, by communicating considerable information, laid me under an agreeable obligation to that gentleman, for which my thanks are but a poor return. Your correspondent W. G. whose musical genius and eccentricity equally delight and amuse his friends, has spread over his first paper a blaze of imagina tion, through which it is somewhat difficult to discern the justness of his critieism, as resulting from the soundness of his judgment, and the purity of his taste. Some suspicion of an obliquity of judg ment, or of an aberration from the truth of nature and good taste, can hardly be avoided, when an enthusiast talks of a "menstroum" chord, in which all the chords are chemically changed; of chemical " precipitation," "" volcanic eruptions," &c. It opens a new expectation to me, that the next discovery of musical science will issue from Sir H. Davy's laboratory. Let not Mr. G. take excep. tion at the word enthusiast; I mean to dignify, not degrade, him in it; esteem ing enthusiasm in music to have an alli ance with the great and goud of human character. readers, Mr. Editor, who can understand the scientific points between Oxensis and Mr. Gardiner, will perceive the merits of the question do not rest upon them. No one would measure the powers of Newton's mind by a philosophical trifle; nor of Locke's understanding by a metaphysical subtilty; nor of Shakespeare's genius by a point of grammar; nor would I decide between Handel and Haydn by a chord of the 13th, or 4 minor 3ds. Admitting that they possessed equal science, or even that Haydn refined on that of Handel, I cannot but prefer the latter, on the basis of his truth to nature, and his faithful, powerful, and most affecting language of human sentiments and passion, which the genius of the former has not equally expressed. This is the ground on which we must compare these great composers. They have, in their works, addressed themselves to the most profound, dignified, and amiable emotions of man: query, which of them with most complete success? Thousands have felt something like inspiration after a sacred performance of Handel's,-a holy sentiment and impression, as though a celestial ambassador, with a choir of angels, had been speaking to them; and there has been a consciousness of an exercise of the soul under it, similar in purity and elevation to the enthusiasm of devotion and virtue. A grand sentiment and a high tone of feeling have also been communicated to many by the Creation; but, I do not think it so obvious, Mr. Editor, that Haydn's ambitious splendor, "theatrical" air, elaborate ornament, and brilliant science, have eminently inspired the hallowed feeling, that bears so powerful a testimony to the genius of his rival. I cannot but feel, sir, there is a degree of sophistication (if you will allow the the term in music) in the compositions of the new school; and the admiration they have drawn from me has not always had the according approbation of moral feeling, or religious sentiment; any more than the imposing, but false, sentimentality of a Kotzebue; or the grand, but pernicious, morality of a Goethe or a Schiller. It might be supposed the continental philosophers and musicians had discovered some new region of human nature, to which their works were addressed; bearing some relation perhaps to the seus sation, intellect, moral sense, and ima. gination, we generally ascribe to man; yet not expressly referable to any one of them; for they certainly often succeed by the magic of talent to raise a great feeling, which with difficulty we can define, approve, or account for. I trust, Mr. Editor, that, with all our erotic follies and minicry, there is less adulteration of natural sentiment in this country, than on the continent; and I would wish a jealous veneration of Handel long to remain at once an evidence of it, and a pledge of security to the distinction. Matchless in sublimity as Handel's chorusses are, I conceive, sir, the test of his inspiration and powerful genius is less in them than in the profound emotion he produces by a few simple notes in his sacred songs; as in the three following, of the minor key: "Behold and see," in the Messiah; "Farewel, ye limpid Springs," in Jeptha; and "Total Eclipse," in Sampson. There is no language to describe the feeling these compositions give me; none will be necessary to those who have felt them with a kindred spirit, to that which inspired them. To the grace and sweetness of Haydn's melodies, we can scarcely conceive a rival excellence; and, accompanied as they are with such refinement of scientific skill and exquisite beauty of ornament, they will ever be a feast of the first order to a cultivated taste; but this, sir, is very distinct from the soul-moving awful simplicity of Handel, and certainly evinces a mind of a different order, with less of the divinity stirring within it. Venerating Handel as I do, conceive, sir, how it moves one's spleen to hear, as I have done, quacks in the art deny that Handel has any music of characteristic expression, and then perhaps amble on the keys a scrap of Italian inanity, and call it perfection. There is, indeed, a great deal of quackery in musical science, MONTHLY MAG, No. 237, and inferior writers frequently debase it with tricks and prettinesses, that make sensible men ashamed of it: refinement too has nearly made it incapable of speaking to the honest and genuine affections of the human bosom it is more frequently the language of affectation than of truth; of a sickly sensibility than of good feeling. But I would allude more particularly to a special quack con cet of musical expression, with which some composers have played strange fantastic gambols, and nearly exposed by them the whole science to derision and contempt; but it is, Mr. Editor, a straining of musical sound to represent mechanic motions in nature, which were never intended to be so represented. there is some relation between sound and motion, I acknowledge; and great beauty and effect in one accompanying the other; but, to take one to express the other, is using the former at some hazard—as the ludicrous is ever close at hand to mock the foolish attempt. That Many of your readers will recollect the most notable "Battle of Prague," and the imminent danger they have been in from the flying bullets and charge of cavalry, as exhibited on the keys of the piano; instances might be mentioned, sir, ten times more absurd than these. The greatest masters are in equal danger when they desert the proper sphere of musical expression, and cease to use it as the language of strong or amiable pass sion. My reverence for the "Creation," (which surely has given to Haydn a death less name,) restrains my pen; and will not permit me to particularize incongruities of a similar kind, which I would have ever offensive to good taste, and, scouted by all who have at heart the true dignity and honour of musical science. Beethoven (whom Mr. G. names with great honour) mocks all criticism; a wild insanity of genius bears him to some supra-lunary region, where human judg ment and feeling are equally at fault. Of the greater works of Mozart, I am too ignorant to form an opinion; the elegance, pathos, and chastity, of his minor ones challenge a more general study of his refined genus. Had Mr. Gardiner spoken in much stronger terms of the emasculated character of the Italian opera, many, with myself, would have heartily coincided with him; for certainly that prostituted form of a noble art and science, subserves merely to voluptuousness, and to a spurious refinement of sentiment, which F erects erects itself on the ruin of all manly feeling, pure taste, and virtuous sensibility. In concluding this paper, which I fear, Mr. Editor, you may think tedious, I would express my feeling of the distinc tion between the ancient and modern school, by observing, that the performance of Handel's sacred compositions, I always refer to a Christian temple; while Haydn (did I worship Jupiter) would be equally admired in the Pantheon; and, Star Cross, Devon, MEMOIRS AND REMAINS OF EMINENT PERSONS. SOME ACCOUNT of the LIFE of DON MARIANO MORENO, SECRETARY of the JUNTA of BUENOS AYRES; including a SKETCH of the REVOLUTION of the SPANISH PROVINCES in SOUTH AMERICA. HE subject of this memoir died on The 4th of March, 1811, while on his voyage to England, as deputy from the Revolutionary Junta of Buenos Ayres, to this government. His eloquent exertions in the cause of liberty, and more especially his memorial on the policy of opening a free trade with England, caused him to be regarded by his countrymen as the Fox of South America. This title testified the opinion they had formed of his talents, and perhaps more particularly tended to express the hopes they had formed of his political career, which unfortunately terminated ere he had completed his thirtysecond year. As an accomplished scholar, a bold and enlightened orator, an undaunted and incorruptible champion of liberty, and a decided friend to England, he is an object of interest and respect to the readers of this Miscellany; and, it is hoped, they will gladly admit a few pages as a biographical tribute to his memory. Don Mariano Moreno was the eldest son of Don Manuel Moreno, one of the officers in the Treasury of the Royal Chest, at Buenos Ayres. He received the rudiments of education under his father's roof, and gave early proofs of extraordinary capacity and keen sensibility, a quality which almost uniformly characterizes men of superior minds. From his very infancy he displayed a spirit which could neither brook humiliation, nor give way to violence; and this noble temper was the more remarkable in him, because, being born to a slender patrimony, and in a Spanish colony, he must. have been often tempted to descend to the usual arts of rising in the world. At a proper age he was sent to the King's School, (Escuela del Rey,) a seminary supported by funds from the Royal Trea sury. At the age of eight years, he had nearly fallen a victim to the small-pox, which, as vaccination nor even inoculation had then been introduced, was a mortal plague, carrying off at least a third of those who took the infection. At twelve, he was sent to study the clas sics at the college of St. Carlos, supported also by the crown, and, further, by the property which devolved to it on the expulsion of the Jesuits. This establishment is quite monastic'; it is calculated to make friars and curates, rather than good citizens. At five in the morning, in summer, the pupils are called up to go to the chapel and perform mental devotions, or hear mass; in winter, at seven. They mess all together, and are lodged three or four in a room, in a very homely way. They have a number of out-students, at least double that of the collegians. This seminary, compared with any of the colleges of Oxford or Cambridge, would make a vile figure. The course of studies pursued, tends to form the youths into intolerant theolo gians, who waste their time in agitating and defending abstract questions on divinity, angels, &c. and spend their lives in supporting the ridiculous and exploded systems of the schoolmen. The injury done to the minds of the pupils by these exercises, might be compensated by the lectures on logic, mathematics, natural and experimental philosophy, and ethics; which are given to the students for three years, as preparatory to their studying theology; which, as it is the science they ought to preserve most fresh in their memory, is served up the last. It is painful however to add, that, in these branches, the scholastic system is maintained in all its rigour, and the theories which have been abandoned in Europe |