This was nothing less than to establish in England a seminary for the education of musical pupils of both sexes, upon a plan of which the idea should be borrowed, though the execution should almost wholly be new-modelled, from the Conservatorios of Naples and Vienna.
As disappointment blighted2 this scheme just as it
[Pg 234]
seemed maturing to fruition, it would be to little purpose to enter minutely into its details: and yet, as it is a striking feature of the fervour of Dr. Burney for the advancement3 of his art, it is not its failure, through the secret workings of undermining prejudice, that ought to induce his biographer to omit recounting so interesting an intention and attempt: and the less, as a plan, in many respects similar, has recently been put into execution, without any reference to the original projector4.
The motives5 that suggested this undertaking to Dr. Burney, with the reasons by which they were influenced and supported, were to this effect.
In England, where more splendid rewards await the favourite votaries7 of musical excellence8 than in any other spot on the globe, there was no establishment of any sort for forming such artists as might satisfy the real connoisseur9 in music; and save English talent from the mortification10, and the British purse from the depredations11, of seeking a constant annual supply of genius and merit from foreign shores.
An institution, therefore, of this character seemed wanting to the state, for national economy; and to the people, for national encouragement.
[Pg 235]
Such was the enlarged view which Dr. Burney, while yet in Italy, had taken of such a plan for his own country.
The difficulty of collecting proper subjects to form its members, caused great diversity of opinion and of proposition amongst the advisers12 with whom Dr. Burney consulted.
It was peculiarly necessary, that these young disciples13 should be free from every sort of contamination, mental or corporeal14, upon entering this musical asylum15, that they might spread no dangerous contagion16 of either sort; but be brought up to the practice of the art, with all its delightful17 powers of pleasing, chastened from their abuse.
With such a perspective, to take promiscuously18 the children of the poor, merely where they had an ear for music, or a voice for song, would be running the risk of gathering19 together a mixed little multitude, which, from intermingling inherent vulgarity, hereditary20 diseases, or vicious propensities21, with the finer qualities requisite22 for admission, might render the cultivation23 of their youthful talents, a danger—if not a curse—to the country.
Yet, the length of time that might be required for selecting little subjects, of this unadulterate description,
[Pg 236]
from different quarters; with the next to impossibility of tracing, with any certainty, what might have been their real conduct in times past; or what might be their principles to give any basis of security for the time to come; caused a perplexity of the most serious species: for should a single one of the tribe go astray, the popular cry against teaching the arts to the poor, would stamp the whole little community with a stain indelible; and the institution itself might be branded with infamy24.
What, abstractedly, was desirable, was to try this experiment upon youthful beings to whom the world was utterly25 unknown; and who not only in innocence26 had breathed their infantine lives, but in complete and unsuspicious ignorance of evil.
Requisites27 so hard to obtain, and a dilemma28 so intricate to unravel29, led the Doctor to think of the Foundling Hospital; in the neighbourhood of which, in Queen-Square, stood his present dwelling30.
He communicated, therefore, his project, to Sir Charles Whitworth, the governor of the hospital.
Sir Charles thought it proper, feasible, desirable, and patriotic31.
The Doctor, thus seconded, drew up a plan for
[Pg 237]
forming a Musical Conservatorio in the metropolis32 of England, and in the bosom33 of the Foundling Hospital.
The intention was to collect from the whole little corps34 all who had musical ears, or tuneful voices, to be brought up scientifically, as instrumental or vocal35 performers.
Those of the group who gave no decided36 promise of such qualifications, were to go on with their ordinary education, and to abide37 by its ordinary result, according to the original regulations of the charity.
A meeting of the governors and directors was convened38 by their chief, Sir Charles Whitworth, for announcing this scheme.
The plan was heard with general approbation40; but the discussions to which it gave rise were discursive41 and perplexing.
It was objected, that music was an art of luxury, by no means requisite to life, or accessary to morality.
These children were all meant to be educated as plain, but essential members of the general community. They were to be trained up to useful purposes, with a singleness that would ward6 off all ambition for what was higher; and teach them to
[Pg 238]
repay the benefit of their support by cheerful labour. To stimulate42 them to superior views might mar43 the religious object of the charity; which was to nullify rather than extinguish, all disposition44 to pride, vice45, or voluptuousness46; such as, probably, had demoralized their culpable47 parents, and thrown these deserted48 outcasts upon the mercy of the Foundling Hospital.
This representation, the Doctor acknowledged, would be unanswerable, if it were decided to be right, and if it were judged to be possible, wholly to extirpate49 the art of music in the British empire: or, if the Foundling Hospital were to be considered as a seminary; predestined to menial servitude; and as the only institution of the country where the members were to form a caste, from whose rules and plodden ways no genius could ever emerge.
But such a fiat51 could never be issued by John Bull; nor so flat a stamp be struck upon any portion of his countrymen. John Bull was at once too liberal and too proud, to seek to adopt the tame ordinances52 of the immutable53 Hindoos; with whom ages pass unmarked; generations unchanged; the poor never richer; the simple never wiser; and with whom, family by family, and trade by trade, begin,
[Pg 239]
continue, and terminate, their monotonous54 existence, by the same pre-determined55 course, and to the same invariable destiny.
These children, the Doctor answered, are all orphans56; they are taken from no family, for by none are they owned; they are drawn57 from no calling, for to none are they specifically bred. They are all brought up to menial offices, though they are all instructed in reading and writing, and the females in needle-work; but they are all, systematically58 and indiscriminately, destined50 to be servants or apprentices59, at the age of fifteen; from which period, all their hold upon the benevolent60 institution to which they are indebted for their infantine rescue from perishing cold and starving want, with their subsequent maintenance and tuition, is rotatorily transferred to new-born claimants; for the Hospital, then, has fulfilled its engagements; and the children must go forth61 to the world, whether to their benefit or their disgrace.
Were it not better, then, when there are subjects who are success-inviting, to bestow62 upon them professional improvement, with virtuous63 education? since, as long as operas, concerts, and theatres, are licensed64 by government, musical performers, vocal
[Pg 240]
and instrumental, will inevitably65 be wanted, employed, and remunerated. And every state is surely best served, and the people of every country are surely the most encouraged, when the nation suffices for itself, and no foreign aid is necessarily called in, to share either the fame or the emoluments66 of public performances.
Stop, then; prohibit, proscribe—if it be possible,—all taste for foreign refinements67, and for the exquisite68 finishing of foreign melody and harmony; or establish a school on our own soil, in which, as in Painting and in Sculpture, the foreign perfection of arts may be taught, transplanted, and culled69, till they become indigenous70.
And where, if not here, may subjects be found on whom such a national trial may be made with the least danger of injury? subjects who have been brought up with a strictness of regular habits that has warded71 them from all previous mischief72; yet who are too helpless and ignorant, as well as poor, to be able to develop whether or not Nature, in her secret workings, has kindled73 within their unconscious bosoms74, a spark, a single spark of harmonic fire, that might light them, from being hewers of wood, and brushers of spiders, to those regions
[Pg 241]
of vocal and instrumental excellence, that might propitiate75 the project of drawing from our own culture a school for music, of which the students, under proper moral and religious tutelage, might, in time, supersede76 the foreign auxiliaries77 by whom they are now utterly extinguished.
The objectors were charged, also, to weigh well that there was no law, or regulation, and no means whatsoever78, that could prevent any of this little association from becoming singers and players, if they had musical powers, and such should be their wish: though, if self-thrown into that walk, singers and players only at the lowest theatres, or at the tea and cake public-gardens; or even in the streets, as fiddlers of country dances, or as ballad79 squallers: in which degraded exercise of their untaught endowments, not only decent life must necessarily be abandoned, but immorality80, licentiousness81, and riot, must assimilate with, or, rather, form a prominent part of their exhibitions and performances.
Here the discussion closed. The opponents were silenced, if not convinced, and the trial of the project was decreed.
The hardly-fought battle over, victory, waving her gay banners, that wafted82 to the Doctor hopes of
[Pg 242]
future renown83 with present benediction84, determined him, for the moment, to relinquish85 even his history, that he might devote every voluntary thought to consolidating86 this scheme.
The primary object of his consideration, because the most conscientious87, was the preservation88 of the morals, and fair conduct of the pupils. And here, the exemplary character, and the purity of the principles of Dr. Burney, would have shone forth to national advantage, had the expected prosperity of his design brought his meditated89 regulations into practice.
Vain would it be to attempt, and useless, if not vain, to describe his indignant consternation90, when, while in the full occupation of these arrangements, a letter arrived to him from Sir Charles Whitworth, to make known, with great regret, that the undertaking was suddenly overthrown91. The enemies to the attempt, who had seemed quashed, had merely lurked92 in ambush93, to watch for an unsuspected moment to convene39 a partial committee; in which they voted out the scheme, as an innovation upon the original purpose of the institution; and pleading, also, an old act of parliament against its adoption94, they solemnly proscribed95 it for ever.
[Pg 243]
Yet a repeal96 of that act had been fully97 intended before the plan, which, hitherto, had only been agitating98 and negotiating, should have been put into execution.
All of choice, however, and all of respect, that remained for Dr. Burney, consisted in a personal offer from Sir Charles Whitworth, to re-assemble an opposing meeting amongst those friends who, previously99, had carried the day.
But happy as the Doctor would have been to have gained, with the honour of general approbation, a point he had elaborately studied to clear from mystifying objections, and to render desirable, even to patriotism100; his pride was justly hurt by so abrupt101 a defalcation102; and he would neither with open hostility103, nor under any versatile104 contest, become the founder105, or chief, of so important an enterprize.
He gave up, therefore, the attempt, without further struggle; simply recommending to the mature reflections of the members of the last committee, whether it were not more pious106, as well as more rational, to endeavour to ameliorate the character and lives of practical musical noviciates, than to behold107 the nation, in its highest classes, cherish the art, follow it, embellish108 it with riches, and make it
[Pg 244]
fashion and pleasure—while, to train to that art, with whatever precautions, its appropriate votaries from the bosom of our own country, seemed to call for opposition109, and to deserve condemnation110.
Thus died, in its birth, this interesting project, which, but for this brief sketch111, might never have been known to have brightened the mind, as one of the projects, or to have mortified112 it, as one of the failures, of the active and useful life of Dr. Burney.
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1
undertaking
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| n.保证，许诺，事业 | |
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blighted
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| adj.枯萎的，摧毁的 | |
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advancement
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| n.前进，促进，提升 | |
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projector
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| n.投影机，放映机，幻灯机 | |
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motives
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| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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ward
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| n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开 | |
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votaries
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| n.信徒( votary的名词复数 )；追随者；（天主教）修士；修女 | |
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excellence
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| n.优秀，杰出，(pl.)优点，美德 | |
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connoisseur
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| n.鉴赏家，行家，内行 | |
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mortification
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| n.耻辱，屈辱 | |
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depredations
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| n.劫掠，毁坏( depredation的名词复数 ) | |
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advisers
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| 顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授 | |
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disciples
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| n.信徒( disciple的名词复数 )；门徒；耶稣的信徒；（尤指）耶稣十二门徒之一 | |
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corporeal
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| adj.肉体的，身体的；物质的 | |
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asylum
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| n.避难所，庇护所，避难 | |
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contagion
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| n.(通过接触的疾病)传染；蔓延 | |
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delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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promiscuously
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| adv.杂乱地，混杂地 | |
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gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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hereditary
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| adj.遗传的，遗传性的，可继承的，世袭的 | |
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propensities
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| n.倾向，习性( propensity的名词复数 ) | |
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requisite
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| adj.需要的，必不可少的；n.必需品 | |
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cultivation
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| n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成 | |
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infamy
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| n.声名狼藉，出丑，恶行 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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innocence
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| n.无罪；天真；无害 | |
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requisites
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| n.必要的事物( requisite的名词复数 ) | |
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dilemma
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| n.困境，进退两难的局面 | |
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29
unravel
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| v.弄清楚（秘密）；拆开，解开，松开 | |
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30
dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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patriotic
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| adj.爱国的，有爱国心的 | |
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metropolis
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| n.首府；大城市 | |
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bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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corps
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| n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组 | |
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vocal
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| adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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abide
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| vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受 | |
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convened
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| 召开( convene的过去式 )； 召集； （为正式会议而）聚集； 集合 | |
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convene
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| v.集合，召集，召唤，聚集，集合 | |
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40
approbation
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| n.称赞；认可 | |
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discursive
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| adj.离题的，无层次的 | |
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42
stimulate
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| vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋 | |
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mar
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| vt.破坏，毁坏，弄糟 | |
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disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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vice
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| n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的 | |
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voluptuousness
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| n.风骚，体态丰满 | |
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culpable
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| adj.有罪的，该受谴责的 | |
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deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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extirpate
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| v.除尽，灭绝 | |
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destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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fiat
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| n.命令，法令，批准；vt.批准，颁布 | |
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ordinances
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53
immutable
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| adj.不可改变的，永恒的 | |
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monotonous
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| adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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orphans
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| 孤儿( orphan的名词复数 ) | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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systematically
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| adv.有系统地 | |
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apprentices
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| 学徒，徒弟( apprentice的名词复数 ) | |
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benevolent
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| adj.仁慈的，乐善好施的 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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bestow
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| v.把…赠与，把…授予；花费 | |
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virtuous
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| adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的 | |
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licensed
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| adj.得到许可的v.许可，颁发执照(license的过去式和过去分词) | |
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inevitably
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| adv.不可避免地；必然发生地 | |
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emoluments
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| n.报酬，薪水( emolument的名词复数 ) | |
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refinements
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| n.（生活）风雅；精炼( refinement的名词复数 )；改良品；细微的改良；优雅或高贵的动作 | |
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exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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culled
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| v.挑选，剔除( cull的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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indigenous
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| adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的 | |
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warded
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| 有锁孔的，有钥匙榫槽的 | |
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mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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kindled
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| （使某物）燃烧，着火( kindle的过去式和过去分词 )； 激起（感情等）； 发亮，放光 | |
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bosoms
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| 胸部( bosom的名词复数 )； 胸怀； 女衣胸部（或胸襟）； 和爱护自己的人在一起的情形 | |
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75
propitiate
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| v.慰解，劝解 | |
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supersede
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| v.替代；充任 | |
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auxiliaries
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| n.助动词 ( auxiliary的名词复数 )；辅助工，辅助人员 | |
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whatsoever
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| adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么 | |
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ballad
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| n.歌谣，民谣，流行爱情歌曲 | |
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80
immorality
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| n. 不道德, 无道义 | |
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licentiousness
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| n.放肆，无法无天 | |
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82
wafted
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| v.吹送，飘送，（使）浮动( waft的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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renown
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| n.声誉，名望 | |
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benediction
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| n.祝福；恩赐 | |
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85
relinquish
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| v.放弃，撤回，让与，放手 | |
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86
consolidating
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| v.（使）巩固， （使）加强( consolidate的现在分词 )；（使）合并 | |
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87
conscientious
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| adj.审慎正直的，认真的，本着良心的 | |
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88
preservation
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| n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持 | |
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89
meditated
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| 深思，沉思，冥想( meditate的过去式和过去分词 )； 内心策划，考虑 | |
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90
consternation
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| n.大为吃惊，惊骇 | |
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91
overthrown
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| adj. 打翻的，推倒的，倾覆的 动词overthrow的过去分词 | |
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92
lurked
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| vi.潜伏，埋伏（lurk的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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93
ambush
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| n.埋伏(地点)；伏兵；v.埋伏；伏击 | |
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adoption
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| n.采用，采纳，通过；收养 | |
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95
proscribed
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| v.正式宣布（某事物）有危险或被禁止( proscribe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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96
repeal
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| n.废止，撤消；v.废止，撤消 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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98
agitating
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| 搅动( agitate的现在分词 )； 激怒； 使焦虑不安； （尤指为法律、社会状况的改变而）激烈争论 | |
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99
previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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100
patriotism
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| n.爱国精神，爱国心，爱国主义 | |
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101
abrupt
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| adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的 | |
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102
defalcation
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| n.盗用公款，挪用公款，贪污 | |
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103
hostility
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| n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争 | |
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104
versatile
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| adj.通用的，万用的；多才多艺的，多方面的 | |
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105
Founder
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| n.创始者，缔造者 | |
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106
pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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107
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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108
embellish
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| v.装饰，布置；给…添加细节，润饰 | |
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109
opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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110
condemnation
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| n.谴责; 定罪 | |
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111
sketch
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| n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述 | |
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112
mortified
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| v.使受辱( mortify的过去式和过去分词 )；伤害（人的感情）；克制；抑制（肉体、情感等） | |
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