In order to shew the position in which the Artist Musician was placed when the Royal Academy was proposed, and in proof of how much such an Institution was needed, I need only quote the following passage from a periodical which then enjoyed a very considerable reputation. The sentiments it contains are honourable to the feelings of the writer, and at the same time exhibit a most melancholy picture of the actual position of the English Artist. Shut out from all communion with fellow-students, those who shewed an aptitude for music were obliged to bind themselves to some Professor for a term of years, paying a large premium, and sacrificing afterwards, for years, a portion of their hard earnings; and all this but for one branch of their art; harmony, the essential foundation to make a musician, being often entirely neglected.

“Now what advantages has the English Musician enjoyed, to compensate those indulged, to the sensitive Italian, or the industrious German, to say nothing of constitutional temperament, which has been supposed to give to the native of the pure and brilliant climate of Italy especially, a natural superiority? Alas, few or none!