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e, Grecian Lyre; b, Roman Lyre, from a Coin of Nero : c, Lyre of Timotheus; d, Lyre, from a Jewish shekel of Simon Maccabeus,

d, e, Roman Lyres; f, Form and Mode of using the Plectrum,

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VARIOUSLY CONSTRUCTED LYRES.

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APOLLO MUSAGETES WITH AN IMPROVED FORM OF LYRE, TAKEN FROM A GRECIAN STATUE,

which the player carried in his hand or on his arm, and might walk and dance the while. In fact, Scripture describes the kinnor as being used in such a manner, and on such occasions, as we know the lyre to have been by the ancients, who indeed had not, so far as we know, any harps large, and resting on the ground, like ours. We speak only of the Greeks and Romans, however, for the Egyptians had large standing harps; from which we shall, in a future note, take occasion to conclude that such were also known to the Hebrews, while we retain our impres sion that the lyre is denoted by the kinnor. This instrument was known before the flood, being one of the two invented by Jubal, "the father of such as handle the kinnor and the organ." (Gen. iv. 21.) It is not again mentioned till six hundred years after the deluge, and then so as to denote that it was used on festal occasions; since Laban complains that the private departure of Jacob precluded him from sending him away "with songs, with tabret, and with kinnor." The kinnor is not again noticed in the Pentateuch, nor till the time of Samuel, when we first find it mentioned so as to show that it was used by the prophets in their sacred music; for Samuel foretold Saul that he should meet a company of prophets, "coming down from the high place, with a psaltery, a tabret, and a pipe, and a kinnor." (1 Sam. x. 5.) Next we find it noticed as used by private persons, such as shepherds and others, for their own solace; and that, when skilfully played, it was considered to have much influence upon the human passions, and in soothing the disturbed mind. For when Saul was afflicted with his melancholy madness, it was recommended that recourse should be had to "a man who is a cunning player upon the kinnor: the shepherd David was selected, and when the evil spirit came upon Saul, "David took a kinnor, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him." From this time we read frequently of the kinnor. The example of David, as king, probably recommended it to more extensive use; besides which the kinnor acquired a very distin

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MUSE WITH A LYRE OF A FURTHER IMPROVED SIZE AND FORM, TAKEN FROM A GRECIAN BAB-RELIEF.

guished place in the musical establishment which David formed for the tabernacle, and, prospectively, for the Temple. It is remarkable indeed, that in the Law there are no regulations concerning music, except as to the blowing of horns and trumpets on stated occasions. As to David himself, his kinnor is so often mentioned, and he is so frequently described as playing on it, that we seem to have a sort of notion that he had this favourite instrument always at hand. Such indeed was the idea entertained by the Christian fathers; one of whom, Eusebius, says that David carried his lyre (so he calls it-and we doubt not correctly) with him, wherever he went, to console him in his affliction, and to sing to it the praises of God. And. in his preface to the Psalms, he asserts that this prince, as head of the prophets, was generally in the tabernacle with his lyre, amidst the other prophets and singers; and that each of them prophesied, and sung his canticle as inspiration came upon him. Another intimation informs us that the frame of the kinnor was of wood; for we are told that Solomon "made of the almug-trees...harps (kinnoroth) also, and psalteries for singing." (1 Kings x. 12.) It was the kinnor also which the captives at Babylon suspended upon the willows by the Euphrates; and from the Babylonians being desirous to hear them sing to the lyre their native songs, it would seem that the Hebrews had become celebrated for their music, and particularly for their skill on the kinnor. Other notices concerning the kinnor are, that it was used in feasts (Isa. v. 12.); that females sometimes played it (Isa. xxiii. 16); that it was common at Tyre (Ezek. xxvi. 13); that its notes were cheerful (Job xxi. 2; xxx. 31); and might be mournful (Isa. xvi. 11.) We believe these are the principal points of information which the Scripture offers concerning this instrument. It would be interesting, but it would occupy too much of our space, to adduce from ancient poetry, sculpture, and painting, instances of the use of the ancient lyre, similar to those which the Scriptures give of the

kinnor.

We may mention another reason in favour of the lyre, as the national and favourite instrument of the Hebrews; this is its high antiquity, which is allowed to have far exceeded that of all other instruments in the class to which it belongs: and we know that the konnor is one of the two instruments which the Scriptures assign to an antediluvian age. Indeed, it may be said that the lyre, in its various modifications of form, seems to have been the most common 4 D 2 571

EGYPTIAN LYRES.-FROM ANCIENT EGYPTIAN PAINTINGS ENGRAVED IN ROSELLINI.

PLAYING AND TUNING LYRES.-DRAWN FROM VASES FOUND AT HERCULANEUM.

stringed instrument of all ancient nations; whence it is impossible to suppose that it was not known to the Jews; or that, being known, it could be denoted by any other of the names of musical instruments than that of the kinnor. We are not however to suppose that the Hebrew lyre was at all times of the same form and power, or that different forms and powers did not at the same time coexist. The diversity of the forms which the lyre bore among ancient nations will appear from our woodcuts; the different representations in which have been selected with great care from ancient monuments. It is of course not suppossd that all these forms were known to the Hebrews; but it is probable that many of them were so; and we may be tolerably sure that, whatever we judge as to precise details of form, the principle of the instrument was the same as these cuts exhibit, and that the applications of the principle were similarly diversified. A large proportion of our figures are Greek and Roman, and it may be asked how these can illustrate Hebrew instruments, since the Greeks certainly claimed the invention of the instruments used by themselves? The answer is easy:-There is every reason to believe that the instruments used by the Greeks and Romans did come from the East, and were originally the same as those used by the Egyptians, Chaldeans, Phoenicians, and Syrians. It is therefore not impossible to recover, through the representations left by the Greeks and Romans, forms of lyres and other instruments nearly approximating to, if not identical with, those used by the Jews and other Orientals. The Greeks, always vain, and always jealous of their own glory, asserted that most of the musical instruments used by them were the invention of their gods or ancient poets. So they said of most other inventions in science and art. But in the present instance, the Scripture alone suffices to overthrow such pretensions, since it mentions some of the instruments thus claimed as existing in times long anterior to even the ages of Greek fable. The Romans derived many

of their instruments, and the traditions connected with them, from the Greeks; but their writers intimate that additions were made to them from Syria: their musical instruments came from the East. Thus Juvenal (Sat. iii.) sneers at the influx of Syrian customs and musical instruments; and Livy (lib. xxxix.) mentions the great number of instrumental performers which came to Rome from Syria, after the wars between the Romans and Antiochus the Great. But even the Greeks are not consistent in their tales, being sometimes obliged to recur to the true source of most of their musical instruments: and this is always in the East-in some instances Phrygia or Lydia, in others Egypt, Syria, or Persia. As for the Hebrews, we need not suppose that they were themselves the inventors of the instruments they employed. They do not appear to have been ever remarkable for invention; and the instruments of neighbouring nations are in general so similar, that it is not necessary to seek anything peculiar in them. They were probably supplied from the same sources which supplied Greece and Rome:-the Chaldeans, from among whom their fathers came; the Egyptians, among whom they so long lived; the Arabians, Syrians, and Phoenicians, by whom they were surrounded,-probably furnished them with the models of most of the instruments they possessed.

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Many of the remarks we have made will serve as introductory to the general subject of musical instruments, as well as being applicable to the lyre in particular. With respect to the particular forms of lyres we shall not add much, as our cuts will convey far more satisfactory information than any quantity of written statement.

One account of the origin of the lyre, and consequently of all stringed instruments, attributes it to an observation made by Apollo upon the twanging of a bow-string. Of this view we shall, in due season, be prepared to adduce some pictorial corroborations; and at present only direct attention to the illustration which the cuts we now give afford to the other, which is that given by Apollodorus, who states that a dead tortoise having been left by the retiring waters of the Nile, the flesh was soon wasted, and nothing left within the shell but nerves and cartilages, and these being braced and contracted by desiccation were rendered sonorous. Mercury happening to strike his foot against it as he passed along was so attracted by the sound produced, that it suggested to him the idea of a lyre, which he afterwards constructed in the form of a tortoise, and strung it with the dried sinews of dead animals. Assigning the discovery to some human being, this story has so much probability as can be afforded by the fact that many figures of ancient lyres, and these apparently the most ancient, do actually bear the figure of a tortoise. This lyre was called by the Greeks chelys (xiaus), and by the Romans testudo, that is, tortoise. It seems that in these the magas, or concavity formed towards the base of the lyre, to augment the sound, was really formed of the shell of the tortoise; for Pausanias speaks of a breed of tortoises on Mount Parthenius excellently suited to furnish bellies for lyres. The arms of the instrument seem to have been furnished by two horns approaching each other at the extremities which were connected by a bar from which the strings were extended to the base. The general form thus produced-and preserved in many other forms of the lyre in which the tortoise shell, or any thing in its shape, is absent-has considerable resemblance to a tortoise. But the variations in the framework of lyres are so numerous and fanciful (some are perfectly quadrangular) as to confuse any attempt at classification. And, therefore, were we to attempt a classification of ancient lyres, we would take no notice of external outline, but would first attend to those that have at the base the magas, of whatever form, for the sake of the resounding effect: then we would attend to those, more simple, which are without such an appendage. We cannot doubt that these were considered anciently to form grand distinctions, although we cannot discover the terms by which they were discriminated. Another great distinction, applicable however to lyres of every form, arose from the number of strings. The number belonging to the kinnor is nowhere expressly mentioned in Scripture. Instruments of three, six, eight, and ten strings are supposed to be mentioned. It is however uncertain whether the two middle terms refer to musical instruments at all: and although the first and last certainly do so, it is not certain that the kinnor is intended. We think, however, that the word, which may be literally rendered "three," without addition, does refer to the kinnor; but without implying that there were not others with more strings. The most ancient lyre is said to have had three strings, and was very famous, the strings being managed with so much art that the instrument was said to produce more potent effects than those with a greater number of strings, afterwards introduced. The strings ultimately amounted, in some kinds of lyres, to as many as twenty; and it was so much the ancient opinion that the real effect of the music was weakened in proportion as the strings in creased, that every addition was at first unpopular. The lyres of three and of seven strings were most famous. Our cuts contain some specimens of lyres with the magas at the base for the sake of resonance. These sometimes ren

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