iterary criticism; but even there, in
the words of Archbishop Trench, "they either say nothing at all or say
something erroneous." Classical has more to defend it than Romantic,
because it has greater antiquity and, in one sense, has been used with
less arbitrariness.

"The term," says Trench, "is drawn from the political
economy of Rome. Such a man was rated as to his income in
the third class, such another in the fourth, and so on, and
he who was in the highest was emphatically said to be of the
class, _classicus_, a class man, without adding the number
as in that case superfluous; while all others were _infra
classem_. Hence by an obvious analogy the best authors were
rated as _classici_, or men of the highest class; just as in
English we say 'men of rank' absolutely for men who are in
the highest ranks of the State."

Thus Trench, and his historical definition, explains why in music also
there is something more than a lurking suggestion of excellence in the
conception of "classical;" but that fact does not put away the quarrel
which we feel exists between Classic and Romantic.

[Sidenote: _Romantic in literature._]

[Sidenote: _Schumann and Jean Paul._]

[Sidenote: _Weber's operas._]

[Sidenote: _Mendelssohn._]

As applied to literature Romantic was an adjective affected by certain
poets, first in Germany, then in France, who wished to introduce a
style of thought and expression different from that of those who
followed old models. Intrinsically, of course, the term does not imply
any such opposition but only bears witness to the source from which
the poets drew their inspiration. This was the imaginative literature
of the Middle Ages, the fantastical stories of chivalry and knighthood
written in the Romance, or Romanic languages, such as Italian,
Spanish, and Provencal. The principal elements of these stories were
the marvellous and the supernatural. The composers whose names first
spring into our minds when we think of the Romantic School are men
like Mendelssohn and Schumann, who drew much of their inspiration from
the young writers of their time who were making war on stilted
rhetoric and conventionalism of phrase. Schumann touches hands with
the Romantic poets in their strivings in two directions. His artistic
conduct, especially in his early years, is inexplicable if Jean Paul
be omitted from the equation. His music rebels against the formalism
which