The Press. — London, England, 1853-12-17 00:00:00

tions to those persons who have any ear and any mire. We should like to know what is to become of those who have no ear and no voice. Secondly, this plan involves the adoption of the old nomish canto frrnso and Gregorian tones, Jimmie so Mt meaning and unintelligible that even the most aneemplished 1111Uhleill1114 are unable to master its difficulties : how, then, can it be performed by the unedueated poor? We will cite two other passages to show what gentlemen in their senses will sometimes write : The enrolee of our parish tells DIV that the CI Mgr... gatitmal singing lu e‘ter heard iu his lit was ill a elitireh in Normandy, at %espeno, where the proesauts rimmed their psalms, resisonosem, WIN, in a way thist. oe,be nicked him, and would astounds our dumb Anglo•Sasoon elongreptio 1 never unroll( loam Nn gINNI 1'0140V:41d if Mill Singing 11% in the . hutch of St ..I aviine‘ at I nip... Both at 1114,0414 W e.sperts all till• 411111111 W Col,gn•ostlutl, nowt of fiselll !HMV, i Handing 14111111a111111.0 of ii/41INI linen and isvie.ants in their fantastic coattail's., sang out untllt glorion,ly. They hang rerponose, by , entitiele, anthem, and (Tees], 1.1'1.1') • thing its roust ; in tines• tool tome, and out ut thaw nod tone, through noose and throng!' tla ; they sang ids seronr isanieneut and without ; even w leant the organ was play i lug a t•ulunta►?•, swine of thew helped with, minging. I nowt heartily wr.lsed that o u r people would Isle II 1110.4)11, We trust that our people may never take such a lesson, or that appalling discords and hideous nasal sounds may be deemed good congregatismal singing. To any of our readers yvho have ever heard two/m.(4.m0 in France, accompanied with an opheeleide or a double bass, comment would be superfluous : those who have not may gather the result from the author's account of the tansies' powers of the fishwives of Dieppe. In our opinion eongregne 1 singing ought to leave an agreeable impression on the nand should quit the church really believing that we and those around us have been actually ociuyiity the praises of (ital. The music, there to e, should be simple, intelligible, full of nu•aning and expression, so that it c a n lie easily caught and retained by the ear. It follows, therefore, that the Gregiitiout tones which are so much advocated by the ultra High Church party are most oluectionable. Not to speak of their want of melody and mu sical eadenee. their metre is so irregular and ditlieult that it is literally impossible to use them for the psalms without utter annihilation of sense and aceent. Mr. Winton., it would seem, iM aware of this, fir in his" Psalter Noted " Ire has in the most unscrupulous manner al temd the melody of the tones whenever it suited his purpose. His system, then, call neither be termed 1 iregorian, • l ob opted unless every person in the church is provided with a marked book. In spite, too, of all this patching. the " Psalter Noted " is full of hope less diffieultieS, and violates sense. metre, emphasis. and all the fundamental rules of music as much as its most ardent opponent could desire. The truth is, that the Gregorian tunes ought to be conveyed to oblivion with other defunct practices of Popery. Tullis, Tarrant, and all the abler early church musi cians felt this, and themforti established a new system of chanting which has survived to its. and which may speedily be acquired by any person of the most ordinary musical caps city. The double chant, too, like the anti phonal cathedral services, is the offspring of the Anglican ritual, and ought always to be preferred in eliturches which possess 11 double choir. The discussion upon m•hich we entered meals to our recollection Nt r . T ur ii c ' h little volume. The chants it contains are, ill our opinion. and me may add in that of many of the most eminent church 11111bielitlIS of the day, the best that have emanated from the pen of any individual ill Modern times. The author is well known as the able organist of Westminster Abbey, 111111 in the compo sition of theme chants he hits shown so much originality that it is a matter of regret he does not oftener employ himself ill writing for the service of the Church. In this collec tion we find chants of every style, some suited only to cathedral or collegiate choirs. others within the reach of country congregations. Perhaps the best chant is No. I a chant always used at the annual commemoration of Pur cell in Westminster Abbey. No. 10. It. and 19 are perfect models of the grave elturch style. No. 19, as a specimen of a ehangeable chant. and No. lt4, as one of a more modern style, are THE PRESS. great favourites in all the metropolitan choirs; and the single chants are unusually good. We conscientiously recommend this book to the notice of our readers: it is so cheap that no church choir ought to be without a copy. Tht Lift qfa Racehorse. By John Mills. London : " Fi e ld " 1 office. TIW, is an amusing amplilicat• of an old idea. The same theme was brwtly handled by I)ibdin at the close of the last century, in his " High-nettled Racer," which ha', been turned to account by the " Arundines Canii." The style of this brochure is easy and nnatPenl, and the author is evidently ex perienced in men and manners; but there must have been more talent than honesty in the composition of those who furnished Mr. Mills at first hand with the information lie has detailed to the sporting public. The uremia of the turf and racing circles had better lan kept secret. /I“ping, and inwttosing, and selling, and paistkd bits, are terms of an which it would be as well were not fully explained with practical illus trations. hi England we are too fond, in imitation of French models, of parading vice more promi neatly than virtue. In the present ease, !lam Dale, Ned the Jockey, Jack `wiggle, Slippery Mo, Tom Shybird, and Samuel Ilitchem, nre un mistakable portraits; but, as we cannot spare the services of our respectable publisher, just at present, we must decline, by quoting what is said concerning them, to suhjecting him to the chance of an impri filliMellt fior libel. There is one slight sketch which, from its undeniable accuracy, we wig insert : " A tall, gentlemanlike INTSIon. although dIVSKeII most strangely in a !oink and white broad-stripiA shirt, in the from of which were two i 111 l 'tense gold mid enatmellvd lorooel le , of mounted meehorses. Low Ilan his head a shaggy white Ismer but was squeezed, and his neck was totally &visid of anything bearing the smallest resemlllanee to a cravat. A snuffeoloured cutaway coat, light waiseoat, and silvery drab knee breeches awl gnitetw—the latter purposely Li) unfastened to crease about his ankles and fret, and exhibit a white silk stockite; of the finest texture —eomplettsl the Cost of one who has long since gume and left his chair Imo ecupirol. - Pooh we saw him the other day at Cheltenham, looking as well as when he patted his mare's neck tOr winning the Oaks, two days after that injudicious riding had extinguished her chance of carrying out' the Iberby. Scenes fy . Country Lit?. Ity E. Jesse. London : M lirray. .1 . 11 a new and revised edition of Mr. jeSSeS Mull known and interesting work on country life. The alterations are considerable; the Tales of Country Lite are omitted, and many new fuels and circum stances relating to natural history are added. The latter are in the form of rough notes, printed as they were written at the time, but all interesting and in structive to the observer of nature. The following si Id be widely known. Captain Fitzroy, who eonn ttttt idea the Beagle in her surveying voyage, "tells us that he profited much by 'asserting the flight of bleats when out tar sight of I J I. Ile thinks that land, especially smolt islands or reefs, limy be discovered in consequence of watching the partiettlar kinds of birds, said noticing the direction in which they tly in the even ing, ahead sunset. 'rhos. after n severe gale of wind, he was in doubt whether those re to islands, called the Keelings, were to the east I.l' west. Ile was inclined to steer eastward, %alien a nuitils.r of gannets flew past the ship towards the west. He immediately steered after them and early next morning saw the Keelinga right ahead. Ile says. that generally speaking, if there is land within fifty miles of a vesselt, its existence will be indi caned. and the direction in which to look for it will be plitited oath, by lairds. Ile elaseixed Pique tern, however, itloxitt 1"0 miles from any known hurl. and this fact may help to show within what limits the sprennitiee of those birds should be considered to indicate the vie' • of A similar circumstance. we believe, assisted Colum bus on his first voyage. when near, but, not in sight of. land. By the permission of Mr. Gould, some extraordinary facts are related from his work on Australian birds. The satin anti spotted bower birds make beautiful bowers of feathery grass, ornament them with shells, white bones, .(c., in front, and then run through them playing. A speeies of jungle fowl, callcd the fah calla, does not sit on its eggs, but •• collucts together an immense heap of decaying vegetable lustier as a depository for its eggs, and trusts to the heat cogendere•d by the process of decomposition f or the hatching them. Mr. 4;1,18141 says. that the heap em ployed ti a• this purl ese is eollected by the birds dating sevend weeks previously to the period o f laying; th a t it varies in moss from two to four eartloads, a n ti i s o f a p er . feetly pyramidal to The construction of the ruoaud is not the work of out. pair of birds, but is effected by the united labours o f several; tl►e saute site appears, from the great size and the entire decomposition o f the l o w er pars. to 14'111 , 0114A to for severed years ill StltTeS%itin; th e bi r d s adding it fresh supply of materials on each occasion, pre viously to laying their eggs." SATURDAY ; But the Zoological Gardens now bring most of these wonders to our doors: the little calf hippopotamus which Hemet carried struggling in his arms to the boat far up the White Nile is now a good-humoured monster, weighing more than two tons. What the Zoological Gardens are to the eye Mr. Jesse's book is to the mind—a very interesting collection of facts relating to natural history. The Tretherbys—Father a►►d Son. By John Lang. London: Chapman and Hall. Tuts is a reprint from Fraser's Magazine of a clever sslies of papers, in which the author describes his Indian experiences. Though very sketchy in its manner it indicates considerable talent, and it is certainly very readable. In style it belongs to the imitators of Mr. Thackeray's school. We are intro (Weed to a set of persons who illustrate the wrong side of human nature. While we read we fancy our selves enveloped in the smoke of cigars, and that we hear the roll of the billiard balls. The author could do more if he chose. lie etches cleverly in acids; and we think that he is equal to giving us a social picture of the "fashionable " phases of the life of the English in India. It is a description of life that has never been well portrayed, and it abounds in the contrasts and vicissitudes in which novelists delight. Its realities are, however, not within the range of experience possessed by our professional writers, mums and it therefore re ; midepieted. Wages ►ritlrout Stoppages. ltd J. Briggs. Lenclou : l'avey. Tut: author of this work is an attorney. The work consists of denunciations of the truck system, and a reprint of the well known act of Parliament against it, together with expositions of law from which we learn that the Court of Queen's Bench and the author differ in opinion. Reflections, moral and religious, are interwoven with the text, and Scripture is quoted, of which the following is an instance. We are being told of a stockinger whose em ployer had not paid him as much as he wanted for his work, and for that wrong he thus touchingly ,forgarr his hard-hearted master:— '• I thought of my work. and of the night before, when he shrove me from his door, but still 1 forgave him, and went home. I also ha►e a Bible, I opened it, and there read, " nab. nor mull ihol mirth him nrighbttne's rerriee r•iNwul trogex urul girelh hint tint for his work; he fiholl IN buried with the burial ni nit us.., drawn and cast forth bey o nd Me !laical 4.lrrmsulent: " The pamphlet begins and ends with one and the same sentence eulogistic of lawyers. Its object is obvious. The Lores of an Apothecary. London: Chuie, Becton, and Co. Awe Li.- NV I; ITT t ale, recounting the fortunes in love of John Godwin. an apothecary. He breaks the faith he had pledged to pretty Jessy, and transfers his af fection to the bold and dashing Sybilla, whom lie marries:. To check an incipient cold in the head he covers his curls with a nightcap, and' Love's young dream " begins to vanish in Ow morning light : '• Romance judiciously shakes hands and loos with lovets when they shakehands with their friends upon re• turtaing from the altar. Romanee knows no more of theta On any consideration except that f • years after might be seen, gambolling in sportive innocence upon the lawn of a sweet cottage in one of those valleys for which the county of is so remarkable, two fairy-like beings. The one. a noble looking boy of some three years old, beau's a striking resemblance to that Leonard St. Aubyn whom and the other is a witching girl, a gushing thing of some year and nine months, who promises to prove a no mean rival of the lovely and accomplished Seraphine, her mother. 'My own wile ' says St. Aubvn, as, with his anti thrown tenderly about her waist, he calls her attention to the beautiful scene betore them, 'My wife !my own ! Be hold those sweet buds ! And, yet, methinks, they are not half so beautiful as the parent rose!' ' 0 Leonard,' Leo mint, I fear you are as sad a flutterer as 14 old ! The End. That is all Romance knows about it." This book is well written, with here and there some satiric power. There is another tale, " The Shining Ladder," in this little volume of IIPS pages. Ihme Pictures. Loudon: Clarke, Beeton, and Co. A TUT, by Mrs. M. A. Benison, for the first time, we believe, published in England, in which American society and manners are sketched with a vivid life like touch. A country b:auty marries a gentleman who is both wealthy and an ornament of the fashion able world. That world in America comprises many honourables, spends much money in stores, and luxuriates amidst " rich but fast wilting roses." The husband is ruined in the middle of the book, but at the close the curtain falls on "a happy family." The tale is written in the form of a journal.