regarded as
a myth by some of the best authorities; but the fact that it was so
long believed universally is not without significance. Take another
case, which, though occurring in a ficticious drama, might easily be
true. Faust, in Goethe's drama, when on the point of committing
suicide, is brought back to his senses on suddenly hearing the Easter
hymn. But in this case it might be said it was not the music itself,
but the religious and other associations and memories awakened by it,
that prevented Faust from carrying out his criminal intention. Such
associations must always be taken into account when estimating the
moral value of music; and yet they do not explain everything. A
residue is left which must be placed to the credit of music.

Perhaps the vice best adapted to illustrate the direct influence of
musical culture is cruelty. If you find a boy in the back yard
torturing a cat or a dog, or bullying and maltreating his playmates,
it will probably do no good to sing or play to him by way of softening
his heart. On the contrary, he will probably not appreciate or
understand the music at all, and the interruption will only annoy and
anger him. But if you take that same boy and put him in a house where
there is an _infectious musical atmosphere_, the chances are that
before long his feelings will undergo a change, and he will no longer
derive any pleasure from cruelty. This pleasure is one which boys
share with savages, and the best way to eradicate it is by cultivating
the aesthetic sensibilities. "It cannot be doubted," says Eduard von
Hartmann, in his "Philosophie des Schoenen," "that aesthetic culture is
one of the most important means of softening the moral sentiments and
polishing coarse habits;" and Shelley, in his "Defence of Poetry,"
says, "It will readily be confessed that those among the luxurious
citizens of Syracuse and Alexandria who were delighted with the poems
of Theocritus were less cold, cruel, and sensual than the remnant of
their tribe."

Now, music seems to be better adapted to bring about a regeneration of
the heart than even poetry, and for two reasons: In the first place,
poetry can, and often does, inculcate immoral sentiments, whereas
music, pure and simple, can never be immoral. As Dr. Johnson remarks,
"Music is the only sensual pleasure without vice." Secondly, it is in
childhood that our moral habits are formed, and it is well known that
children are susceptible to the influence of mu