Glen Collection of printed music > Printed text > Account of the First Edinburgh Musical Festival, held between the 30th October and 5th November, 1815

1 66 ESSAY.
tional prejudice to make me insensible to her
great inferiority (generally speaking) to Italy,
Germany, and now even to France, in the art of
musical composition.
In a former part of this Work, I have at-
tempted to indicate some of the causes of the
imperfection of musical taste in this country,
and its consequences ; the former consisting in
want of critical sagacity, the latter in the in-
discriminating favour, and even avidity of ap-
petite for musical compositions, possessing nei-
ther genius nor science. In Music, as well as
in the other fine arts, whatever is most gene-
rally intelligible becomes most popular. The
bulk of mankind are ever best pleased by those
effects in art, which, coinciding with the ordi-
nary current of their ideas, require no immedi-
ate exertion of mind, or preparatory instruc-
tion, in order to be fully understood. This in-
duces many men of high talent and extensive
knowledge, to prostitute their powers to the
gratification of the " profanum vulgus ;" and to
raise their fortunes upon the ruins of art and
the corruption of public taste. Others again,
who have neither skill nor experience, take
Time by the forelock ; and, confiding in the
general want of discernment, and perversion of
judgment, add to the mischief occasioned bjr