Aristoxenus distinguished himself as a writer on music. He composed many treatises, and made many great changes and improvements. He introduced the chromatic scale. We have, on the whole, but little light on the subject of the music of the ancients, as the existing writings are very obscure and unintelligible.

18. The Romans seem to have received their sacred music from the Etruscans, and their warlike music from the Greeks. Stringed instruments were introduced into Rome, 186 B.C. Under Nero, music was cultivated as a luxury. After his death, five hundred singers and musicians were dismissed.

19. In the middle ages, the progress of music was promoted by its being consecrated to the service of religion, and education was not thought complete without some knowledge of music. Guido of Arezzo made great improvements in the manner of writing the notes in music, and in the fifteenth century still further improvement was made by Johannes de Musis.

20. At the same period, music was treated scientifically in the Netherlands, France, and Spain. The invention of the opera, in the sixteenth century, has chiefly contributed to the variety and splendour of modern vocal music, and in the eighteenth century, there were immense improvements in musical instruments.

21. The merit of the advancement of vocal music is claimed by the Italians; that of instrumental music by the

Germans and French.

The English have been great patrons of musical talent, but have produced few celebrated

composers.

QUESTIONS.-1. What are the earliest accounts we have of painting? What of Egypt? Greece? 2. What of the king of Lydia? Zeuxis? Apelles? 3. What of painting in Greece? 4. What of Cimabue? Leonardo da Vinci? 5. What of Angelo? Raphael? Titian? Correggio? 6. What of painters in other countries? 7. What of sculpture? What do we read of in the Bible? 8. What of Egyptian sculpture? Roman? 9. What of Hindoo sculpture? Chinese? What of Dædalus? 10. What of the Chian school? What of the Tonian school? 11. What of Phidias? 12. When did the arts begin to decline in Greece? 13. What of Italian sculpture? What of the art after Constantine? 14. What of Nicholas Pisano? What of sculpture? 15. What of Jubal? What of Miriam's song? Music among the Hebrews? 16. What of the music of the Greeks? What of Labus? Damon? 17. What of Plato and Aristotle? Aristoxenus? 18. What of the Roman music? 19. What of music in the middle ages? Who made improvements in music? 20. What of music in other countries? What of the opera? Musical instruments? 21. What of vocal music? Instrumental music?

English

music?

CHAP. CCI.-GENERAL VIEWS continued.

ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF VARIOUS ARTS.

1. I HAVE attempted to give you some idea of the origin and progress of government, of architecture, agriculture, gardening, painting, sculpture, and music; but there are still many things necessary to be known, in order to understand the manners, customs, feelings, and opinions of mankind in former ages.

2. When you read of such a great man as Julius Cæsar, and know that he had immense wealth at his command, you might imagine that he rode in a beautiful coach, wore a fine beaver hat, silk stockings, leather shoes with silver buckles, and that he carried a splendid gold watch in his pocket.

3. But you must remember that no such things as coaches, hats, stockings, shoes, buckles, or watches, were invented till long after the time of Julius Cæsar. The truth is, that by far the largest portion of the articles of furniture and of clothing, as well as the greater part of the tools and implements now in use, have been invented within the last five hundred years. I will endeavour to give you some little idea of the origin and progress of various inventions which essentially contribute to our comfort and convenience.

4. You know that all edge-tools, such as knives, hatchets, axes, planes, &c. now used for cutting and shaping wood, are made of steel, which is a preparation of iron. Yet it appears probable, although iron is mentioned as being known before the deluge, that the use of it was afterwards lost.

5. There is, therefore, no doubt that the ancient nations were ignorant of the use of iron, and therefore destitute of all those convenient edge-tools now so common among us. In lieu of these, the ancients used sharp stones, flints, horns, bones, and other things.

6. But it is said that iron was discovered by the burning of Mount Ida, in Crete, about the year 1406 B.C. It is probable

that it was in use for various instruments, among the more civilized nations, not long after this period. Among the Romans, two or three hundred years before Christ, iron was used for chains, locks, axes, hoes, spades, and other tools.

7. But fine cutlery, such as is now in use, was not known till hundreds of years afterwards. Knives for the table were not made in England till about 1500. Forks were unknown to the Greeks and Romans, and are not in use even now among the Turks, Chinese, and some other eastern nations. Razors appear to have been of great antiquity, as they are mentioned by Homer; but they were probably not of steel till long after.

8. The weaving of woollen and linen cloth was practised in very early times. The ladies of Rome paid great attention to these arts. Silk was manufactured in Persia several hundred years before Christ, and afterwards in Tyre and Constantinople. In later times, the art of making silk fabrics passed into Italy, France, and other countries.

9. Cotton fabrics are also of great antiquity, and it appears that the inhabitants of India had the art of calico-printing at least as early as the time of our Saviour.

10. The first houses of mankind were made of wood, stone, clay, and various other substances; they were, however, low, rough, and inconvenient. As the arts advanced, improvements were made in the dwellings. But even so late as the time of Nero, almost all the houses of Rome were built of wood; and when the city was set on fire by order, as some

historians say, of that cruel emperor, three-fourths of it were consequently burnt to the ground.

11. The houses of the rich had small windows of transparent stone, horn, or other substances, but most of the dwellings had no other windows than small holes in the walls to admit light and air. Glass windows were not introduced

till the fifth century after Christ.

12. Chimneys were not in use till the twelfth century. i Before this, the smoke escaped through an opening in the roof. It was, however, very troublesome, and we have reason to suppose that even Alexander and Cæsar often had their eyes almost put out with it. As late as the time of Elizabeth, three-fourth of the houses in England were destitute of chimneys.

13. These few remarks will show you that the world presents a very different state of things now from what it did formerly. The poorest person now enjoys a multitude of comforts, conveniences, and luxuries which Cæsar, with all his wealth, did not possess.

14. One of the most wonderful improvements of modern times is that of the steam-engine. This contrivance is now made to do the work which millions of men could not have done before. It is applied to the manufacture of an infinite variety of articles. Nor is this all; it is employed to drive vessels over the water, and to impel carriages upon railroads with immense speed.

15. A steam-boat was some years ago taken to Calcutta,