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Show 80 SOUND, A MARK O.ll' WEAKNESS. death on i ~s wings. Lightning, too, is not only much !llore subhme than thunder, but its power is, in some I mstances, tremendous ; so that we cannot set bounds to its effects; and yet it is the harmless din of the thunder which terrifies. The motion of the air ~hich produces sound seems to be quite different in kmd from that which overcomes resistance, and affects the skin and the muscles. The ear will catch th.e tones of a bell at the distance of eight or ten miles on a still evening, though the vibration of the bell does not at that distance prodnoe a motion of the air that will bend the spider's most slender thread; and yet the same ear gives no notice of the approach of a bullet, by which it may be the next instant dashed to pieces; and the first notice given, whether the bullet strikes, or passes near, is a mus- 7 cular impression, and "the wind of a bullet" is a wind that blows, not a wind that sings. It is much the same with noisy things as w.ith noisy people: th~y a.re always less effective in proportion as the n01~e Is louder. A deeply honey-combed ball, which whistles as it flies, goes less fleetly and directly to its ma~k, ~nd does less execution, than one which speeds ~:m. m silen?e: and, in blasting rocks with gunpowder, 1~ IS the stifled smouldering shots that do the execu tlon. Thu~ it would. seem, even in inanimate things, thc:tt ~ound IS the wml of weakness,-the crying, the childishness of the creation, as it were. And it is worthy of remark, that our hearing partakes more of the nature of a child, and must be schooled more nearly like a child, than any of our other faculties. In itself, it is indeed a child; an infant at the very commencement of life: it has sensation, .but it has neither knowledge nor the means of gettmg any ; and unless it is first taught out of the mouths of others, or schooled by the co-operation of the other senses, it never can reveal to us the simplest fact. When, however it is once educated. it can take ' SUPERIORITY OF REASON. 81 the lead of all the senses, and be foremost in the career ~f knowledge. That is a very beautiful confirmatwn of the superiority of man to the other ani.:. mals, and of his reason, which is nothincr without education, to their instincts, which require none 'l~he young partridge of an hour is firm and fleet o~ ~ts legs; some species of aphides are matured even lll a shorter penod; while Newton or Watt, if left to themselves at the first, wo~1ld have soon perished; yet Newton gauged the umverse, and divided the beam of the sun into all its radiant colours. He did not, indeed, give godhead to man, for man is man still· but he opened up a passage whereby those who pro~ ceed aright may approach near the footstool of the t~rone, and admire, and worship, and learn still h~gher knowledge, and taste still more unmingled happmess. Thus, although the ear brings us no direct knowledge of external things until it has been instructed, we must not slight it, or deem it at all imperfect o~ that aceount; for in proportion as it is e~uc~ted, It becomes the gate of wisdom; and it is nch 111 pleasure, and the p1easure which it brings never fatigues and never cloys. Nor must we forcrct !hat the ear is the instructer of the hand in th~s~ Immeasurably small differences of motion in the touch, by means of which skilful musicians repay the ear for its labour in tones so sweet, and cadences so soft and fine, that the sound feels drawn out to the very verge of matter, and ear and instrument are lost n.otice of, and I~aug?t re~ains but the delighting muSIC and ~he dehghtmg mmd. There is probably not one feelmg of our nature-certainly there is not one sensal. fee1ing-w~ere we ~an so completely put off the annnal, and brmg the mmd unclogged to it~ enjoy~ ent, as in the hearing of sweet sounds. AI)d that 1~ the re~son why the pleasure which those s1ounds produc~ 1s so exquisite, so ready, and so constantly on the mcrease. No doubt, if we are to have that |