Harpsichord

“ While the power, compass, and variety of organ tone, as well as the mechanism of the instrument, made steady progress throughout the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the science of harmony in the largest sense kept even pace with it, and, perhaps, received even a [Pg 27] greater relative development. Meantime, the orchestral instruments of the day had received a fair share of improvement. The harpsichord had been invented, and sufficiently perfected to be worthy of the powers of such a master as Sebastian Bach. ”

“ The most striking is that which opens the third act of the Choice of Hercules. It depicts turn by turn the fury of Hercules and the sad force of Destiny which weighs down on his soul.
[430] Volume XLVIII of the Complete Works.
[431] The work was an immediate success. A first Edition very incorrect and incomplete was published in London about 1720, by Walsh. Arrangements for harpsichord with variations by Geminiani were also published. Both the Water Music and the Firework Music are published in Volume XLVII of the Complete Edition. ”

“ The walls shook under the surf of an invisible organ. Weariness—exhaustion—faded out! He felt his body from head to foot to be one single instrument of blissfulness—all strings stretched to bursting point, yet tuned together into the purest, hottest, most radiant accord, in which his whole being hung, quivering.
He longed to stroke with his hands the stones on which he knelt. He longed to kiss with unbounded tenderness the stones on which he rested his head. God—God—God—beat the heart in his breast, and every throb was a thank-offering. He looked at the girl, and yet he did not see her. ”

“ From a consciousness of the mystery of his own being and of the universe about him, the earliest perception of the infinite nature of each and of their relation, came to Harper in the discovery of what he was wont to call "the rule of law." In Nature he found it first. In Nature there was no chance, all was cause and effect ; there was constant change, but no final destruction. "Immortal growth was the prophecy which Nature made for man." What the eye of the senses discovered in the physical world, the eye of the soul discerned to be true of the inner life. ”

“ Likewise the remedy applied, to wit, playing on the harp, was an extremely proper one. For physicians have long since taught us, that symphonies, cymbals, and noises, were of service towards dissipating melancholic thoughts; [63] the power of which we have accounted for in another place [30] upon geometrical principles. [64] Hence also it more plainly appears, that the disorder was owing to natural causes; for otherwise how could the music of a harp drive it away? Counsel and prudence in a man was, in the Hebrew language, usually stiled the Spirit of God ”

“ It is, perhaps, impossible to convey, save to those who have known the experience, any conception of what a constant association of this kind with Nature really means. It proves, to use Harper's own words, "how beauty, grandeur, sublimity and purity in God's world, find a ready response in the human heart unfettered." Yet it is this perception of God, this communion of soul between the creature and the Creator as He is revealed in Nature, that is the conscious or unconscious secret of all the refreshment and joy which comes from a contact of this kind. ”

“ The harp is an instrument which, when used by a skilled performer, brings happiness and cheer to those who listen. The harp of God, when understood and skillfully used, brings peace of mind and gladness of heart. The title of this book suggests the thought of good cheer and happiness. The message herein contained, taken from the Word of God, is sent forth with the prayer that it may be a blessing to many, that it may cheer some who are sad, bind up some broken hearts, comfort some that mourn, and give all who earnestly read a deeper appreciation of Jehovah and the Savior of mankind. ”

“ I said to my father: 'I wish to go to the cathedral....' He let me go. I was no captive. As I reached the cathedral the organ was thundering like the Trump of Doom. Singing from a thousand throats. Dies Irae.... The incense clouded above the head of the multitude, which was kneeling before the eternal God. The crucifix hovered above the high altar, and, in the light of the restless candles, the drops of blood on the thorn-crowned brow of the son of Mary seemed to come to life, to run. The saints in the pillar niches looked at me sadly, as though they knew of my evil dream.
"I sought Maria. ”

“ If thou wilt carry out this thy last desire, understand, royal Harmachis, that now this very night thou must die for a while in the flesh, what time thy soul shall look on spiritual things. And if thou diest and any evil shall be found within thy heart, when thou comest at last into that awful presence, woe unto thee, Harmachis, for the breath of life shall no more enter in at the gateway of thy mouth, thy body shall utterly perish, and what shall befall thy other parts, if I know, I may not say. ”

“ And Harpocrates is not to be regarded as an imperfect and an infant god, nor some deity or other that protects legumes, but as the representative and corrector of unseasoned, imperfect, and inarticulate reasoning about the gods among mankind. ”

“ The word Blood has nothing of grandiloquence about it, for it signifies a substance which we have before our eyes and can touch; but before such titles as Spirit and Calidum Innatum [or inherent heat] we stand agape.”
Harvey begins his Treatise on the movement of the Heart and Blood with the clear statement that the [193] heart must be examined whilst it is alive; but he says, “I found the task so truly arduous and so full of difficulties that I was almost tempted to think with Fracastorius that the movement of the heart was only to be comprehended by God. ”

“ Demosthenes, being amazed to feel how heavy it was, asked him what weight it came to. "To you," said Harpalus, smiling, "it shall come with twenty talents." And presently after, when night drew on, he sent him the cup with so many talents. Harpalus, it seems, was a person of singular skill to discern a man's covetousness by the air of his countenance, and the look and movements of his eyes. For Demosthenes could not resist the temptation, but admitting the present, like an armed garrison, into the citadel of his house, he surrendered himself up to the interest of Harpalus. ”

“ The young man’s heart softened to see the mingled emotions which swelled the stately Senator’s breast, and he heartily returned the vigorous clasp of his hands.
‘You are yet hale and strong, and such a friend as I can be, I hope to be, for many a year to come,’ he answered.
‘The end cannot be far away now,’ said Fabricius, shaking his head. ‘I stand in no fear of it, for in truth I have nothing left to live for. The gods preserve thee from a solitary old age such as mine. This gloomy house was once bright and happy enough; death has reaped a rich harvest in its walls. ”

“ Nature, however, does nothing in vain; nor does she form parts before there is a use for them. But animals receive their organs as soon as the offices of these are required. The first basis of Fabricius, therefore, is distinctly overthrown by his own observations on the egg, and the comparison drawn by Galen.{405}
He appears to have come nearer the truth where he says: [289] “The other basis of the parts to be formed first or last is obtained from nature, that is, from the vital principle by which the animal body is ruled and directed. ”

“ Many times, by night and by day, he found solace in notes and lays. Some one asked him why he had such delight in minstrelsy, and he told why he held the harper dear: "The virtue of the harp will destroy the fiend's might, and rightly the harp is likened to the cross. Another thing comforts me,—if God has given to a piece of wood the power to make men hear so much joy, even more joy, there must be where God Himself dwells. The harp often reminds me of the joy and bliss where God is. ”

“ Pupils came in flocks from all parts of Europe to attend his lectures, and among them were some who, like William Harvey of England, afterward attained great celebrity for the effective work which they did in advancing the science of medicine. One of the attractive features of Fabricius’ teaching was to be found in his practice—something quite new at that period—of showing to the students, not only the particular organ [352] (human) upon which he happened then to be lecturing, but also the corresponding organ in one or several of the animals ”

“ And this was a very wonderful woman Old Harpeth had cradled in the hollow of His hand, nurtured on the richness of the valley and breathed into her with ever-perfumed breath the peace of faith—in God and man, for to any but an elemental, natural, faith-inspired woman of the fields would have come crushing, cruel, tearing doubts of the man beyond the hills who said so little and yet so much. ”

“ These gorgeous beings with their kingliness of mien, these children of the sun who spoke with the accent of the gods meant much more to the primitive soul of Henry Harper than as yet it could understand. In the intoxication of the hour, with the sun and the birds, the trees, the green earth, the bright flowers paying their homage to the grace and beauty of his countrywomen, he felt like an angel who has fallen out of heaven, who after aeons of time in a bottomless hell is permitted to see again a fair heritage that once was his. ”

“ It is impossible, it is said, to touch pitch and not be defiled. The worth of that aphorism was about to be tried by the clairvoyant soul of Henry Harper.
At this time, while he was drawing very painfully and yet rapturously upon his inner life, he was like an expanding flower. ”

“ Then the harpman became so sad that he could not live in the midst of other men, but was off to the forest, and sate upon the hills both day and night, weeping, and playing on his harp so that the woods trembled and the rivers stood still, and hart shunned not lion, nor hare hound, nor did any beast feel rage or fear towards any other for gladness of the music. ”

“ The harpies (i.e. snatchers) in Greek mythology are creatures like vultures as to their bodies, but with the faces of women, and armed with sharp claws.
"Of Monsters all, most Monstrous this; no greater Wrath God sends 'mongst Men; it comes from depth of pitchy Hell: And Virgin's Face, but Womb like Gulf unsatiate hath, Her Hands are griping Claws, her Colour pale and fell." ”

“ As we are, ourselves, possessed of the authentic evidences, by means of which, the species of Fabricius can be immediately identified, we have no occasion to wander into the labyrinths of conjecture: we at once arrive at the certainty of truth. ”

“ The end, as well as the whole history of the Harpist, excites the greatest interest. I have already said how excellent I find your thought of deriving the terrible destinies of the Harpist and of Mignon from religious extravagance. The priest's notion of describing a small transgression as monstrous, in order that a great crime—which he will not mention for humanity's sake—may be atoned for by it, is sublime of its kind and a worthy representative of this whole mode of thinking. ”

“ For the Gods love those who love them, but with a wider and deeper love, and under One who is as far from Me as I am from thee, mortal, I am a God of Gods. Therefore I have caused thee to be brought hither, Harmachis; and therefore I speak to thee, my son, and bid thee commune with Me now face to face, as thou didst commune that night upon the temple towers of Abouthis. For I was there with thee, Harmachis, as I was in ten thousand other worlds. It was I, O Harmachis, who laid the lotus in thy hand, giving thee the sign which thou didst seek. ”

“ In the work on the Heart, he sets out with the certainty that the whole of the notions of the ancients on the heart and blood are untenable; and then, taking Nature for his guide, his fine intellect never once suffers him to stray from the right path. In the book on Generation, on the other hand, he begins by putting himself in some sort{lxxii} into the harness of Aristotle, and taking the bit of Fabricius between his teeth ”

“ Harpagas:
Only the gods.
Ludibras:
The gods? There are no gods now. We have been civilised over three thousand years. The gods that nursed our infancy are dead, or gone to nurse younger nations.
Ichtharion:
I refuse the listen to—— O, the sentries are gone. No, the gods are no use to us; they were driven away by the decadence.
Harpagas:
We are not in the decadence here. Barbul-el-Sharnak is in a different age. The city of Thek is scarcely civilised. ”

“ The world at last shall burn, and then it will be day; and by the light of that conflagration the youthful Hargrave is doubtless expected to rise, Phœnix-like, and soar into the realms of eternal bliss! ”

“ Henry Harper lay down with a feeling of relief and burrowed among the sacks as far as he could get. A mass of aches in body and soul, anything was better than the darkness and damp fog and icy substances cutting into his bare feet. ”

“ And unworthy of so holy a memory Harper never was. While spared to him, the love and affection of his father and mother were his greatest inspiration, and his great reward; taken from him, the remembrance of their example, and belief, in their continued life. Existence, constituted an abiding presence, helping him ever to nobler conduct and aim. ”

“ If it was a piece of good fortune for Harvey to enjoy the teachings of Fabricius, it was a happy thing, and a thrice fortunate thing, for the world, that the study of the circulation should have fallen into the hands of a man so well fitted to investigate it and to elaborate the true theory of the motion of the heart and blood. ”