“Upon my word, Mr. Seymour,” cried Mr. Twaddleton, “you are getting out of your depth; pray let us take leave of this subject, for I am quite sure that my young friends have already received more than they can carry away.” “I submit, my good sir; and in return for my compliance,” said Mr. Seymour, “use your influence over Miss Villers, and induce her to favour us with a practical illustration of our subject upon the piano-forte.” “Most cheerfully; but my intercession is quite unnecessary, for I am sure that our fair friend is no disciple of Tigellius.”[56] “I am ever ready, sir, to comply with the wishes of those I respect. I consider the caprice which our sex too often displays upon these occasions, as not only a breach of good manners, but an evidence of unpardonable vanity.” “Pray, Miss Villers, may I be allowed to ask whether you have ever directed your enquiries into the nature of ancient music? it must have been very superior to that of modern ages,” said Mr. Twaddleton. “Upon a question of such doubt and difficulty, I feel that it would ill become a person of my very limited knowledge to offer an opinion; although I am willing to confess that the subject has often engaged my attention; and you could not afford me a greater gratification than by clearing up some of those doubts which have perplexed me. It is, I believe, admitted, that we are unable to ascertain the real nature of ancient music: but it is evident that it was an art with which mankind was extremely delighted; for not only the poets, but the historians and philosophers, of the best ages of Greece and Rome, are as diffuse in its praises, as of those arts concerning which sufficient remains have descended to evince the truth of their panegyrics.”