Page:An Essay on the Opera's After the Italian Manner.pdf/32

 the one is artful, the other aburd; the one beneficial, the other pernicious; in short, the one natural, and he other montrous. And the modern Tragedy in Muick, is as much oppos’d to the Chorus, which is the Muical part of the Ancient Tragedy, as it is to the Epiodique; becaue in the Chorus the Muick is always great and olemn, in the Opera ’tis often mot trifling and mot effeminate; in the Chorus the Muick is only for the ake of the Sene, in the Opera the Sene is mot apparently for the ake of the Muick.

When I affirm that an Opera after the Italian Manner is montrous, I cannot think that I deal too everely with it; no not tho’ I add, that it is o prodigiouly unnatural, that it could take its beginning from no Country, but that which is renowned throughout the World, for preferring montrous abominable Pleaures to thoe which are according to Nature.

But yet this mut be allow’d, that tho’ the Opera in Italy is a Monter, ’tis a beautiful harmonious Monter, but here in England ’tis an ugly howling one. What then mut not only Strangers, but we our elves ay, with all our Partiality to our elves, when we conider that we not only leave a reaonable Entertainment for a ridiculous one, an artful one for an aburd one, a beneficial one for a detructive one, and a very natural one for one that is very montrous; but that we forake a mot noble Art, for ucceeding in which we are perhaps the bet qualify’d of any People in Europe, for a very vile one for which Heaven and Nature have not at all deign’d us, as having given us, neither Ears, nor Voices, nor Languages, nor Climate proper to it. England may certainly with a little Encouragement produce the greatet Tragick Poets in Europe, but there is carce one Nation in the Chritian World, but is fy’d