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X
That every different Key in Music ought to have a different Effect or Sound.
This is an Error which belongs chiefly to those who play a little upon the Harpsichord; it arises from the Imperfection of their Instrument. As a greater Number of Keys would be inconvenient to the Performer, they are obliged to make one Note serve for another, such as B flat for A sharp, and many others, which necessarily renders some of the Keys imperfect. But we are not to take Notice of the Imperfection of any one Instrument, and regulate our Ear by that alone; we are to consider what is the real Scheme of Music, and what was the Intent of having different Keys introduced into Harmony.
It was intended for the Sake of Variety. When the Ear begins to be surfeited with too much of the Cantilenam eandem Canis, as Terence expresses it, then Contrivances are made, without infringing upon the Laws of Harmony, to have the Burthen of the Song upon a different Note; not that this Key is to differ from the former in it's Mensurations from one Note to another, unless it changes from a flat third Key to a sharp third, or vice versa. For notwithstanding all the different Sounds which an imperfect Instrument will give, in different Keys, there are in Reality but two Keys, viz. a flat third Key, and a sharp third Key; and however the different Keys upon any particular Instrument may sound, we will venture to affirm, that any Piece of Music, let it be set in what Key it will, either is not true Composition, or is performed badly, if it does not sound smooth and harmonious.
For though we do agree, that Variety is grateful in this Case as well as in others, yet that Variety ought to be introduced with as little Inconvenience as possible. When we shift our Scenes, we should order the Carpenters to make as little Noise in the Execution of it as they can help, and take Care that the Pullies are all well oiled. For shall any Man entertain me, by making a most hideous jarring Discord before he begins what he intends to be Harmony? It is as absurd as for a Lady to take you half a dozen Boxes on the Ear, before she permits you to salute her, and then to tell you she only did it, that you might have a more lively Apprehension of the exquisite Happiness which her unparallelled Charms should very soon make you sensible of.
We may apprehend the Difference of perfect and imperfect Instruments, by listening to a Harpsichord, when any Music, where the Key changes often, is played, and to a fine Band, such as the Playhouse or the Opera. We shall find, in the latter, that the Composer has taken Care to make every Transition quite smooth and harmonious; and that tho' the Music be ever so cromatic, yet it never departs from it's melodious Effect. Whereas in an Organ or Harpsichord, even the greatest Performers cannot avoid a disagreeable Roughness in complicated Harmony. Nevertheless, as has been before observed, we must acknowledge the Organ to have Powers which other Instruments have not.
XI
That a Piece of Music which has Flats set before it, is in a Flat Key on that Account, and vice versa with Sharps.
This is so well known to be an Error, by all those who have arrived at any Proficiency in Music, that very little need be said about it; however, it is a very common Error.
A Key is not constituted flat or sharp, by having Flats or Sharps at the Beginning of the Piece of Music; but it depends upon the third Note upwards from that Note in which the Music is composed. For Instance, if the Piece is composed in D, and we find that F is natural, or only half a Note from E, then it is in a flat, or flat third, Key; if F is sharp, or a whole Note above E, then the Piece of Music is composed in a sharp third Key. But as there are so many Books extant about Thorough Bass, which give a full Account of this, it will be needless to say any more about it, only to mention it as an Error, among other Errors. The Reader shall not be tired any more with Music at present, but for Variety we will shift the Scene a little while.
XII
That apparitions or Spectres do exist; or that the Ghosts of Men do appear at, before, or after their Deaths.
We would not be thought, in the following Discourse, to call in Question that great Miracle of our Saviour's rising again the third Day, and appearing to the Twelve: What shall be here said, will rather prove the Miracle to be the greater, and therefore more worthy the interfering Hand of Omnipotence.
But we must not suppose that the Supreme Being will condescend to pervert the Order of Nature for Individuals. The ancient Heathens had a true Notion of the Greatness of him, qui Templa Cœli summa sonitu concutit. Ter. Eun. And Horace observes,
Nec Deus intersit, nisi dignus vindice nodus.
Art. Poet.
Since it must be no less than a Miracle which causes an Apparition, I shall proceed, without any Scruple, to prove that there is no such Thing in Nature really existing.
Of all the Errors with which the Brains of Mankind have been troubled, there is none of such ancient Standing as this. We have Ghosts and Hobgoblins even in Homer; not that there is Reason to suspect that Homer ever believed in them himself; he seemed too well versed in the real Phœnomena of Nature, to entertain any such chimerical Dreams as Truth; for Dreams they are, and no better: the true Somnia Vatum of the Ancients, handed down to Posterity, even to these enlightened Times. How many horrible Nights have been passed in cold Sweats, by otherwise very sensible People, owing to nothing else but the Apprehensions which they have had of these no-existing Gentry! How was even the Metropolis itself terrified the other Day, by the Scratching Ghost at Cock Lane! I think enough has been said, even in this little Book, to prove that no Noise can be made, unless by the Vibration of some elastic Body. If a Noise is made by a Voice, it must be from an Animal, which has Lungs and Breath to do it; if a Scratching is made, it must be done by something which has Hands, and Sinews to move those Hands; and it must have Nails, or some other bodily Substance, to scratch with, before it can cause a Sound to proceed from an elastic Body. So much for Scratching, and dismal Yellings, and Groanings of all Sorts, which have been fabled of Ghosts.
It will require a little Dissertation upon Optics, in order to explain the Cause of Light and Colours, before we can confute the Possibility of seeing an Apparition.
Light is found to be a real Substance; it is swift beyond Comprehension; if I mistake not, it is calculated by Sir Isaac Newton, to be only eight Minutes in passing from the Sun to the Earth; it is very subtle, passing through the hardest transparent Bodies; it is capable of Refraction and Reflection, that is, either of passing through a transparent Body, as a Window, or of being reflected from an even Surface, as a Looking-Glass, or a Piece of polished Steel; so that if we see any Object at my Time, the Cause of our seeing it, if there is no Window between, is by Reflection, or by the Rays of Light being reflected from the Object to the Eye of the Beholder, which is formed for the Reception of the Rays which come from the Object, in the same Manner as a Camera obscura.
When the Rays have found a Passage into the Pupil of the Eye, they fall upon a thin Membrane which is called the Retina, upon which Retina the exact Picture of the Object is represented, as may be seen by the Eye of an Ox, properly prepared and placed in the Hole of a Window-Shutter. This Retina is an Elongation from the Brain; and by this Means it is, that we receive those various agreeable or disagreeable Sensations with which we find ourselves affected, by the Sight of external Objects. So that we may observe, that it must be not only real Substance which must reflect Rays to the Eye, in order to cause Vision, but the Rays themselves, likewise, which come from that Object, are Substance.
If this is the Case, the Apparition of a Person must be a Substance, which is reflected from a Substance, which belongs to the Body of him who is dead, or is going to die. With regard to him who is dead and buried, one would think, that he and his Substance are so safe under Ground, that no Part of him can reflect any Rays; but a Person who is above Ground, either dead or dying, may reflect Rays to the Eye of a Beholder, and if it happens to be a Friend or Relation, such Rays will make so strong an Impression upon the Retina, that they shall in such a Manner imprint themselves upon that pliable Spot, as will cause the Brain and Nerves of the Beholder to have the Sensation of seeing the dead or dying Person some Time after the real Action of seeing him.
This will account for most of those positive Assertions, which we may hear in any Village, of the seeing the Apparitions of People after they are dead, or just before they die, 'tis all one. We very seldom hear of any such Thing in Town, which corresponds with what has been said; for in Town it is so common to have Deaths and Funerals, &c. that People are no more affected with the Sight of a dead Man than a living one. But the Case is quite different in Villages. A Village with fifty Houses in it, situated in a wholesome Country, shall not have above one Person die in a Year; this makes such a Stir, that all the old Women in the Town must have a Peep at the deceased, as he lies in his Coffin, with his Shroud on; which Alteration of Appearance in the dead Person, from what they remember him, a little while since, leaves such an Impression upon the Retinas of these old Women, that 'tis ten to one but some of them think they see him, as soon as the dark Hour comes on. And, very likely, a Person who thinks he sees an Apparition may not be altogether wrong; there may be some of the Picture of the dead Person still faintly remaining upon his Retina; and if so, it certainly will give the same Sensation as if he faintly saw the Person. If this is the Case, it is not the deceased come back again to bully us, as is generally imagined, if we do apprehend we see him; but the Remembrance of him strong in that Organ the Eye, by which we formed the Idea of him in our Minds, when we really did behold him.
Homer seems to allude to this, when he makes Patroclus's Ghost appear to Achilles. When Patroclus was slain by Hector before Troy, the Body, after a long Dispute for it, between the Greeks and Trojans, was brought to Achilles's Tent, where Achilles is described by the Poet, as making bitter Lamentations over the Body of his deceased Friend. At Night he lays himself down upon the Sea Shore, and falls asleep, when the Ghost of Patroclus comes to demand the funeral Obsequies.
Ἦλθε δ' ἐπὶ ψυχὴ Πατροκλῆος δειλοῖο,
Πάντ' αὐτῳ μέγεθός τε καὶ ὄμματα κάλ' ἐικῦια,
Καὶ φωνήν· καὶ τοῖα περὶ χροῒ εἵματα ἕστο·
Hom. Iliad. Lib. 23.
Homer never introduces an Incredulus Odi into his Works; he has an Eye upon Probability in all his Fictions. It seems probable, that Achilles, after he had been hanging over the Body of Patroclus, either quite asleep, or between sleeping and waking, should imagine that he saw his Friend's Apparition. And though Homer might not have heard of such a Thing as the Retina in the Eye, (though it is not at all impossible he should, for he shews himself a great Anatomist) yet he very well knew the Impression which the Sight of a departed Friend is sure to make upon the Mind of the Beholder. By this Propriety of Introduction, he keeps up the Appearance of Probability, so necessary even in Poetry itself, which is generally Fiction.
By this it should seem, that Homer was tacitly of Opinion, that there is really no such Thing in Nature as an Apparition, and that it has no other Existence than in the Imaginations of Men. And we have the more Reason to believe that this was his Opinion, as we find that he did not choose to introduce the Ghost of Patroclus to Achilles, when he was broad awake; but, as he thought it might seem to want the Air of Probability, if he made Patroclus appear to Achilles when awake, he takes Care to compose Achilles into a Nap first, and by that means leaves the Reader to his own Opinion, whether the Ghost did really come, or whether Achilles only thought so. This is one of those Touches of Art with which Homer abounds.
But there is another Reason why we have so many of these Stories told us of Apparitions by our Grandmothers; and that is, the Tricks which the Priests of the Roman Catholic Times found it necessary to put upon their Flock, in order to keep up their Credit.
Chymistry was the Study of those Times, and Lectures were given in them at the Universities, as frequently as they are in Philosophy at present. It is for this Reason, I apprehend, that Shakespeare introduces Friar Lawrence, a Student in a Convent or Roman Catholic College, with several Kinds of Herbs in a Basket, the particular Virtues of which he seems perfectly to understand, and which he is going to extract from them, for physical Uses: Had Shakespeare lived in these Times, most likely he would have introduced him with a Quadrant, a Globe, or a Prism, or some other Philosophical Instrument. Now those who have not seen some little of Chymistry, have no Notion of the Wonders that are to be done by it; and these crafty Priests knew so well how to make Use of their Art to the best Advantage, that they could frighten a whole Village, whenever they had an Inclination to play their Pranks. Friar Bacon, who was perhaps the greatest Chymist in Europe, used to play so many Tricks, that he was thought by the whole Country, to deal with the Devil; and many Stories of him are now extant, to that Effect. One of the most common Pranks amongst these Gentry was this: They used to get one who could draw well, to take some Phosphorus (which is a Chymical Preparation from Urine) in his Pocket; having thus armed themselves, they perhaps would step into the first Alehouse where they saw a Light, and mix with the Company. He who was in Possession of the Phosphorus would get up and go to the Wall, under some Pretence or other, upon which he would draw what Picture came first into his Head, very likely the Picture of the Devil. Nothing is to be seen by Candle-Light, and it must be dark, before the Marks made by Phosphorus upon a Wall will appear like Fire. After sitting a little while, one of them would either introduce some Discourse about the Wickedness of the Times, or would tell some Story about Apparitions; in the middle of which another would run against the Candle, as if by Accident, and put it out. As soon as the Candle is out, another of them pretends to have found out this Figure upon the Wall, which will appear like Fire. You may guess the Surprize of the poor Country People, at seeing the Old Gentleman upon the Wall. – They all take to their Heels. In the mean Time, to improve their Ideas, another of the Confederates sets Fire to Brimstone, or some other stinking Combustible, and pops it against all their Noses, as they run out of Doors; and after these two powerful Sensations of seeing and smelling, it would be quite impossible, by any Arguments, to persuade any of the Company, that they had not actually seen the Prince of Darkness. By these and such like Arts, the Roman Catholic Priests so long kept this now well-delivered Country under their Subjection.
Though this Account appears ridiculous enough, the Effect which such Sort of Pranks have upon the weak Minds of Women and Children, are very serious; and the Ideas which are received at this Time of Life, make such an Impression upon some People, that they are unable to get the better of their Apprehensions, even when they grow up.
I know a Person of the first Sense, and a great Scholar, who retains these Stories so strong in his Memory, that he dare as well put his Fingers into the Old Lion's Mouth at the Tower, as go up to a Monument, which stands in a certain Chapel in this University, after it is dark; not that he really believes any Thing would hurt him there; nevertheless he declares he cannot get the better of it. And I make no Doubt, that not only this Gentleman, but Thousands more of his Majesty's good and bold Subjects, are in the same Way.
I look upon our Sailors, to care as little what becomes of themselves, as any Set of People under the Sun; and yet no People are so much terrified at the Thoughts of an Apparition. Their Sea Songs are full of them; they firmly believe their Existence; and honest Jack Tar shall be more frightened at a glimmering of the Moon upon the Tackling of the Ship, than he would be if a Frenchman was to clap a Blunderbuss to his Head.
I was told a Story by an Officer in the Navy, which may not be foreign to the Purpose.
About half a Dozen of the Sailors on board a Man of War, took it into their Heads, that there was a Ghost in the Ship; and being asked by the Captain, what Reason they had to apprehend any such Thing, they told him, that they were sure there was a Ghost, for they smelt him. The Captain at first laughed at them, and called them a Parcel of Lubbers, and advised them not to entertain any such silly Notions as these, but mind their Work. It passed on very well for a Day or two; but one Night, being in another Ghost-smelling Humour, they all came to the Captain, and told him, that they were quite certain, there was a Ghost, and he was somewhere behind the Small-beer Barrels: The Captain, quite enraged at their Folly, was determined, they should have something to be frightened at in earnest; and so ordered the Boatswain's Mate to give them all a Dozen of Lashes, with a Cat 'o nine Tails; by which means, the Ship was entirely cleared of Ghosts, during the remainder of the Voyage. However, when the Barrels were removed, some Time after, they found a dead Rat, or some such Thing, which was concluded, by the rest of the Crew, to be the Ghost, which had been smelt a little before. Thus we see, that the bravest Men of the Universe, may be terrified, if they give way to their own chimerical Ideas; and that it is only for want of searching into the Causes of the Phœnomena of Nature, that People disturb themselves in this Manner, with such groundless and unphilosophical Apprehensions. However, a great deal may be said in Favour of Men, troubled with the Scurvy, the Concomitants of which Disorder, are generally Faintings and the Hip, and Horrors without any Ground for them; which leads me to say something upon an Error, relative to that Sea Disorder, the Scurvy.
XIII
That Bleeding is proper for a Patient, who is apt to be sick in a Morning.
The first Person I heard remark this Error, was an old Physician, who, though he had but little Practice, on Account of his travelling Disposition, was nevertheless a Man of great Speculation. He had been three Times over the Alps on Foot; and was in many Respects, a curious Man.
The Company did not seem to take much Notice of his Remark, because he certainly was an Oddity; however, if we may believe the Accounts of those Physicians who have lately wrote upon the Scurvy, the Old Gentleman was in the right.
It seems, that among all the dreadful Symtoms, which accompany the Scurvy, a fainting Sickness in a Morning, is the most certain Indication of it. Many, upon Application for Relief, in that Case, have been treated as Consumptive; when, upon a more strict Enquiry, they have been found to have a violent Scurvy, and have been restored to Health by Mineral Waters. If that is the Case, and fainting Sickness in a Morning, is a Sympton of the Scurvy, Bleeding cannot be proper, as nothing is more likely to encrease the Fainting, than Phlebotomy.
I met with an Author somewhere, who reasoned upon the Subject, in this Manner. He alledged, that the Cause of Fainting in the Scurvy, was owing to such a Relaxation in the Blood Vessels, that they had not Power to perform their Operations; and by that Means, were unable to give their Contents, that quick, spirited Motion, which is required, to keep them in the upper Parts of the Body; and that, by the Blood being suffered to fall down to the lower Parts of the Body, the Head, Heart, and other Vital Parts, were left destitute of that Fluid, which is so necessary for the Preservation of Life. This he proves, by the sudden Change which is caused in Patients, afflicted with the Scurvy, on altering their Position. If, says he, you cause a Patient to be raised up in his Hammock, though before he was in very good Spirits (a Thing peculiar to the Sea Scurvy, even in the last Stages of it, at Times) he will faint immediately; if you lay him in an inclined Posture, he will recover again. And he gives this Reason for it, viz. that the Blood settles downwards, in the same Manner, as Humours do in a Dropsy, when the Patient is erect; and that it returns again, when he is supine; and by that Means, it re-invigorates those Parts, which were distressed by its Absence. If this is the Case, and the learned Doctor's Position is true, to take away that little Blood, which is left behind, in the upper Parts of the Body, on a Scorbutic Patient's getting into an erect Posture, or rising in a Morning, is to deprive him of all the Nourishment which his Vital Parts contain for their Preservation, and seems to be a ready way to dispatch him.
It would be prudent therefore, in an Apothecary, before he lets his Patient blood, when he is taken sick in a Morning, to examine him well all over, in order to find out those Eruptions, which denote a Scorbutic Habit of Body. For if he is ignorant of the Patient's Disorder, and lets him blood, though he may survive this Operation, he will most likely have such a Fainting, as to amount to a Fit next Morning; upon which, in his Fright and Hurry, he will let him blood again, thinking it an Apoplexy.
I hope the Physical Gentlemen, will not take it amiss that I interfere thus with their Profession; only, as I have known some Accidents happen in this Case, by not regular-bred Practioners, I hope they will pardon the Liberty, which is here taken.
If any Person should here object, that I have confounded the Land Scurvy with the Sea Scurvy, without making any Distinction between the two Disorders; I answer, that though they may be different in some Respects, yet they are very near related; and moreover, that with Respect to the Faintings in a Morning, they are the same, and the Faintings proceed from the same Cause in both. Their Causes may be different, and yet their Effects be very similar; or, 'till all the Causes of the Sea Scurvy are clearly found out, it is not possible to say, that they do not both proceed from the same Cause. For I suppose it will be allowed, that the Land Scurvy generally proceeds from too high Living, from salt Diet, from too much animal Food, from too little Exercise, &c. Now let us examine into the Sea Scurvy. They are subject to these Inconveniences in a greater Degree at Sea than they are at Land: In the first Place, in long Voyages they have nothing but salt Provisions; then they have no Greens; all animal Diet, except a little dried Biscuit; and then though it must be allowed, that in a Gale of Wind they have Trouble enough to work the Ship, and by that Means receive proper Exercise, yet at other Times, when they have fallen in with the Trade Winds, they sometimes have no Employ for Months together; and (by the bye) any one, who takes Notice of Voyages, will find that it is at those Times, when the Scurvy does the most Mischief. It is then that the Ship becomes almost a Prison. For when they go up aloft, the Air, by it's Friction, braces their Nerves, clears away the bad Vapours, creates an Appetite, and strengthens their Joints; but when a Ship is going before a fine Gale of Wind, so steady as the Trade Winds are, the Men have no Employ, and having no Occasion to go aloft, either loll upon Deck in the Day-Time, or sleep in their Hammocks at Night.
We do not insist here, that there is no Difference between the Land and Sea Scurvy, or that there are no other Reasons for the Sea Scurvy than are here mentioned. We know that some other Causes are assigned, as the being so long absent from Land, and thereby receiving none of those Vapours, which, coming out of the Earth, may be necessary for the Preservation of a Land Animal, &c. and these Causes likewise may correspond with the former, here mentioned.
We shall now beg Leave to offer a little Scheme, for hindering the Progress of the Sea Scurvy, which however we do not insist upon, having no great Opinion of any Proposition, which we start new of our own.
What I would propose is, some Help or Relief to a Ship, when she is on a long Voyage, and sailing before a Trade Wind, and finds the Scurvy begin to attack her. In order to which, it will be necessary to say something concerning the Nature of that Element called the Air.
Air is an elastic Fluid, as has been observed before, and is subject to an easy Motion of it's Parts amongst themselves, as all Fluids are. It is subject to Currents and Eddies, in the same Manner as Water. A Current of Air is commonly known by the Name of Wind; and the greater Quantity of this Air or Wind, an Animal who has Organs for the Reception of it, and who cannot live without it a Moment; the more free Passage (I say) a Current of Air has, by such an Animal, in Health and Motion, the more wholesome it is for him. Now, I will endeavour to prove, that a Ship under Sail, before a Trade Wind, has but little Change of Situation in this Current, notwithstanding her Motion is so swift, with regard to her Change of Place upon the Surface of the Earth.
We will endeavour to explain our Meaning, by a Cork swimming down a current of Water.
If any one throws a Cork into a Stream of Water, he will find that the Cork will be attended, during its Progress down the Stream, by the same Particles of the Fluid, which it happened to fall upon, when it first set off; notwithstanding, it changes its Position, with regard to the Surface of the Earth. This is the Case with a Ship, sailing before the Wind; she receives nothing near the Quantity of Air, upon her Sides and between her Decks, in a full Wind, that she does when the Wind is upon her Beam, or on one Side of her; which may be demonstrated by a second Experiment upon the Cork in the Water.
If any one takes a Cork and ties a long Thread to it, and throws it into a Stream, he will find, that the Cork, when he draws it sideways along the Stream, changes its Place in the Water every Inch he draws it. This is so plain, that there is no Occasion to say any more about it; and we humbly apprehend, that the Case would be the same, with regard to a Ship which is sailing before the Wind, or going down a Current of Air. We do alledge, that the fresh Air running between the Decks of a Ship, would sweeten and clear away the bad Vapours and Filth from the Men in her, as much more in the Position of a Side-Wind, as a Stream of Water would wash more Dirt off a Cork, if it was drawn sideways along it by a Thread, than if it was suffered to swim down by itself. For the Motion of a good Ship, when she has all her Sails up in a moderate Gale before the Wind, is very near, if not quite as swift as the Wind itself.
Therefore, what I would advance here is, that as the Sea Scurvy in long Voyages proceeds as much from the Confinement of a Ship, as from any other Cause, may it not be deemed reasonable, that any Scheme, which serves to make a more free Current of Air through a Ship, may be a great Hindrance to the Progress of the Scurvy?
The Scheme is only this plain and easy one, viz. that when a Ship is upon a long Voyage, before a Trade Wind, the Captain once a Day should give Orders, to lay her upon a Side-Wind, or a Quarters Wind, if he thinks it more safe, for about a League or two, during which Tack, he may open the Port-holes of her Windward Side; and after going a League or two in that Manner, she might be tacked about and laid upon her other Side; and by doing this, he would sweeten every Corner of the Ship, and at the same Time exercise his Men. Now, though this Practice would retard him a little in his Voyage, would it not be better to lose a little Time, and bring a Ship's Crew Home in tolerable good Plight, than to have half of them dead, before they get to the End of their Voyage? I am far from insisting, that this Scheme would answer the End; all that I know is, that if I was Captain of a Ship, I would try; and if it answered no End, it would but be leaving it off afterwards. And I hope the Sea Gentlemen will not be angry at this little Essay, as it is wrote for the Sake of their Health and Constitutions.
They know very well, that Wind travels much slower than is imagined by the Generality of Landmen; which brings me to another Error, (viz.)
