Scan 392
The violin, its famous makers and their imitators, 1887
18 lines. Read by computer on 28 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1he was against Dr. Johnson, was compelled to allow it very high praise. It has been ascribed to Garrick, from its appearing at first with the signature G.; but I heard Mr. Garrick declare that it was written by Dr. Johnson."
3The epitaph of Phillips is in the porch of Wolverhampton Church. The prose part of it is curious:—
5 Near this place lies
6 Charles Claudius Phillips,
7 Whose absolute contempt of riches,
8 and inimitable performances upon the Violin,
9 made him the admiration of all that knew him.
10 He was born in Wales,
11 made the tour of Europe,
12 and, after the experience of both kinds of fortune,
13 Died in 1732.
15DR. JOHNSON'S KNOWLEDGE OF MUSIC.
17He said he knew "a drum from a trumpet, and a bagpipe from a guitar, which was about the extent of his knowledge of music." He further tells us that "if he had learnt music he should have been afraid he should have done nothing else but play. It was a method of employing the mind, without the labour of thinking at all, and with some applause from a man's self." These remarks are better appraised and understood when we bear in mind Dr. Johnson's own estimate of his musical knowledge together with his having derived pleasure from listening to the sounds of the bagpipes. If a performance on those droning instruments was in the Doctor's mind when he said that the reflective powers need not be exercised in performing on a musical instrument, there might be some truth in the observation. The labour of thinking, however, cannot be dispensed with in
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