§ 26. Many Professors are of Opinion, that in Graces there is no room for the marked Divisions, unless mix'd with some of the aforesaid Embellishments or some other agreable Accidents.
§ 27. But it is now time that we speak of the Dragging, that, if the Pathetick should once return again into the World, a Singer might be able to understand it. The Explanation would be easier understood by Notes of Musick than by Words, if the Printer was not under great Difficulty to print a few Notes; notwithstanding which, I'll endeavour, the best I can, to make myself understood.
§ 28. When on an even and regular Movement of a Bass, which proceeds slowly, a Singer begins with a high Note, dragging it gently down to a low one, with the Forte and Piano, almost gradually, with Inequality of Motion, that is to say, stopping a little more on some Notes in the Middle, than on those that begin or end the Strascino or Dragg.[109] Every good musician takes it for granted, that in the Art of Singing there is no Invention superior, or Execution more apt to touch the Heart than this, provided however it be done with Judgment, and with putting forth of the Voice in a just Time on the Bass. Whosoever has most Notes at Command, has the greater Advantage; because this pleasing Ornament is so much the more to be admired, by how much the greater the Fall is. Perform'd by an excellent Soprano, that makes use of it but seldom, it becomes a Prodigy; but as much as it pleases descending, no less would it displease ascending.
§ 29. Mind this, O my beloved Singers! For it is to You only, who are inclined to study, that I have addressed myself. This was the Doctrine of the School of those Professors, whom, by way of Reproach, some mistaken Persons call Ancients. Observe carefully its Rules, examine strictly its Precepts, and, if not blinded by Prejudice, you will see that this School ought to sing in Tune, to put forth the Voice, to make the Words understood, to express, to use proper Gesture, to perform in Time, to vary on its Movement, to compose, and to study the Pathetick, in which alone Taste and Judgment triumph. Confront this School with yours, and if its Precepts should not be sufficient to instruct you, learn what's wanting from the Modern.
§ 30. But if these my Exhortations, proceeding from my Zeal, have no Weight with you, as the Advice of Inferiors is seldom regarded, allow at least, that whoever has the Faculty of Thinking, may once in sixty Years think right. And if you think, that I have been too partial to the Times past, then would I persuade you, (if you have not a shaking Hand) to weigh in a just Ballance your most renowned Singers; who you take to be Moderns (but are not so, except in their Cadences;) and having undeceived yourselves, you will perceive in them, that instead of Affectations, Abuses, and Errors, They sing according to those powerful Lessons that give Delight to the Soul, and whose Perfections have made Impressions on me, and which I shall always remember with the greatest Pleasure. Do but consult them, as I have done, and they will truly and freely tell you, That They sell their Jewels where they are understood; That the Singers of Eminence are not of the Mode, and that at present there are many bad Singers.
§ 31. True it is, that there are some, tho' few, very good Singers, who, when the Vehemence of their youthful fire is abated, will by their Examples do Justice to their delightful Profession, in keeping up the Splendor of it, and will leave to Posterity a lasting and glorious Fame of their Performances. I point them out to you, that, if you find yourselves in an Error, you may not want the Means to correct it, nor an Oracle to apply to whenever you have occasion. From whence I have good Grounds to hope, that the true Taste in Singing will last to the End of the World.
§ 32. Whoever comprehends what has been demonstrated to him, in these and many other Observations, will need no farther Incitement to study. Stirred up by his own Desire, he will fly to his beloved Instrument, from which, by continued Application, he will find he has no Reason to sit down satisfied with what he has learn'd before. He will make new Discoveries, inventing new Graces, from whence after comparing them well together, he will chuse the best, and will make use of them as long as he thinks them so; but, going on in refining, he will find others more deserving his Esteem. To conclude, from these he will proceed on to an almost infinite Number of Graces, by the means whereof his Mind will be so opened, that the most hidden Treasures of the Art, and most remote from his Imagination, will voluntarily present themselves; so that, unless Pride blinds him, or Study becomes tiresome to him, or his Memory fails him, he will increase his Store of Embellishments in a Stile which will be entirely his own: The principal Aim of one that strives to gain the highest Applause.
§ 33. Finally, O ye young Singers, hearken to me for your Profit and Advantage. The Abuses, the Defects, and the Errors divulged by me in these Observations, (which in Justice ought not to be charg'd on the Modern Stile) were once almost all Faults I myself was guilty of; and in the Flower of my Youth, when I thought myself to be a great Man, it was not easy for me to discover them. But, in a more mature Age, the slow Undeceit comes too late. I know I have sung ill, and would I have not writ worse! but since I have suffered by my Ignorance, let it at least serve for a Warning to amend those who wish to sing well. He that studies, let him imitate the ingenious Bee, that sucks its Honey from the most grateful Flowers. From those called Ancients, and those supposed Moderns, (as I have said) much may be learn'd; it is enough to find out the Flower, and know how to distill, and draw the Essence from it.
§ 34. The most cordial, and not less profitable Advice, I can give you, is the following:
§ 35. Remember what has been wisely observed, that Mediocrity of Merit can but for a short time eclipse the true Sublime, which, how old soever it grows, can never die.