The Press. — London, England, 1858-10-30 00:00:00

THE PRESS, OCTOBER 30, 1858. Abet hi deprecating all controversy, they are playing into t h e hands of the e nem y , and helping on their mita chievouti devices. l t is only the corrupters of the Faith who have any reason to fear the result . of controversy. Truth courts discussion; and by . discussion its superior Wins are asserted. The enemies of the truth, most cchatscteristically, would put an arrest upon all controver sial discussions —muzzle the mouth, and padlock the press. In !lowish countries, to this slay, all controversy o n religious q uestions is strictly prohibited. Is this the order of things which any reasonable man would wish to see restored in our own ? It is amazing that any men who read the Scriptures, and profess to regard the examples of. inspired men as equivalent to a divine sanction, can denounce contro versy as unchristian. The Bible is essentially a contro versial book. It contains God's great controversy with wan. It is a history of the controversies that have been .carried on from age to age by His faithful servants with an apostate and revolted world. Noah had a controversy with the antediluvians, —Moses entered into an acted 'controversy with the Egyptian magicians,—Samuel had a controversy with the Israelites,--the Prophets were •connnually, one after another, challenging to a direct con troversy the corrupters of the Faith in their several days. .Our blessed Lord was incessantly engaged in controversy with the Jews. The Apostles, and especially that greatest .of all dialecticians, St. Paul, took up the same line of :attack, and boldly challenged the impugners of truth to an ,apan disputation respecting the claims of Christianity; mid by controversy it was they succeeded in overthrowing both the strongholds of Judaism and the gigantic pile of gorgeous superstition which heathen fancy had erected. Our newspapers are replete with controversial discussions. Our Parliament is the arena of in tense political controversy. It is by controversy that our courts of justice eliminate crime and fix guilt on the guilty head. Wh,y should a weapon of such keenness be repudiated by that religion which courts discussion, challenges investigation, and condemns, as inconsistent with duty and common sense, unconcern and indifference ? Let controversy be truth in love—the vindication of principles,not personal invective—fervour of spirit, not passion—the humility of the Christian and the candour of the man—and falsehood and error, not everlasting truth, may fear and deprecate the .issues. We do most heartily commend this admirable Tatume. It has about it an independence, and am . gour, and an earnestness which are worthy of allvaise. Besides being distinguished for those qualities which we mentioned in our first notice, it is written in a style clear, temperate, and transparent, and cannot fail to create a sound • and healthy sentiment on subjects which passion ..warps and prejudice clouds in the present day. Tow :re an'c Governed ; or, the Crown, the Senate, and tfic:Benelt. A Handbook of the Constitution, Government ; Laws, and Power of Great Britain. By Alliany Fonblanque, Jun., Esq. London : Routledge. "Irtz excellent littie "Handy Book " of Lard S . t. 'LeAuirds has given birth to numerous imitations of its me.hod and Om), all of them supplying wants which had been felt, and a ll, f rom w h at we learn, enjoying. a success proportioned to the popularity of the fields they have respectively undertaken to illustrate. That so many small books should have been produced upon somewhat difficult subjects, involving a good deal of readi ng , an d h av i ng to b ear t h e scrutiny of those most practically interested in their contents, without any serious errors haying been found in them, speaks well for the agcuraey and industry of the compilers of the present day. Those which have hitherto been p ro d uce d, h owever , h ave b e en, in all but their arrangement, derived from larger works. The volume before us would not exactly answer to • this description, for there is a great deal in it. which 'we should in vain look for anywhere else. There are a vast num b er o f peop l e w h o aro continually 'more or less puzzled by allusions in newspapers or . conversation to certain common technicalities of Parliament, law, or finance, which they hastily set 'Jswn as impossible to understand, while they are of 'such frequent occurrence that they think they ought know them and th ere f ore d o no t like to ask an 'explanation. Why an M.P. who desires to vacate his seat accepts tho Chiltern Hundreds—why a bill is moved to be read this day six months '—how great and small tithes arose—what is the exact meaning of Consols, Exchequer Bills, and Sinking Fund—are questions which might be asked in many private undies without receiving a precise answer. Nor, if a mason 'wished for an authoritative explanation, wouldit in all such cases be very easy to tell him where to'loek for it. This sort of knowledge, if not picked apiin Passing through life, is seldom acquired at all, and•thus a person's ideas are apt to remain uncomfortably vague on matters of the commonest occurrence. From Mr. Fonblanque's pages, how ever, he would gain all the information he re quires, " How we are Governed " is a contribution to the knowledge of ' common things' —a phrase which is too often used as if it comprehended nothing but matters of physical science, while its larger ac ceptation, including the laws and customs under and with which we live, is at least as well worthy of atten tion. Mr. Fonblanque's work is divided into nineteen letters, seven of which are allotted to the Constitution and Parliament, six to the Law, while the National Debt, Municipal Government, the Church, the Army, and the Navy have each one letter devoted to them. It is written in a plain, easy, and familiar style, for the supposed benefit of the author's youthful niece and nephew, and contains, in fact, just such discourse as might be expected to flow from an intelligent practical uncle acting as showman in Westminster hall, the Houses of Parliament, Guildhall, the Bank, or the camp at Aldershott. We could not give a fair sample of the book by any extracts which would be short enough for our space, but we warmly recommend it, and we believe there are very many persons who will find their ideas considerably cleared up by reading through its not very laborious pages. Mr. Fonblanque has supplied a want, not so much of a distressing as of an irritating kind, which has been extensively fait, and his readers will be cordially disposed to thank him for the neat and portable information he has afforded them. 1068 friendly pedal, to prevent your being utterly dismembered and eviscerated. If Rossini's tune were not in itself so very pretty, no one would, we believe, take the trouble to snatch it in frag ments from this fiery chaos of wild and whirling notes—no one would probably be found to play at this strange game of melodic " snapdragon." As it is, however, thanks to Rossini rather than to M. Sell 4, this present novel arrangement (or disarrangement) of " Cujus Animam " will doubtless excite curiosity and prove attractive. A considerable portion of the second theme of " La Grazia " (which is in the "minuet and trio" form) has also to be extricated from some very embarrassing positions ; but in this instance the " Melodia " must be dug out, rather than snatched, in consequence of the more ponderous nature of the opposing masses of sound, which consist chiefly of full chords ; and this additional labour is rendered still more unpalatable by the unhappy fact that M. Sell6's tunes are not so good as Rossini's. "La Grazia " may notwith standing find many admirers. The Dark Hour. A Song. Written by H. Story ; composed by Frank de Fonblanque. London: Addison, Ilollier, and Lucas. Wu know not whether the authors of this effusion intended it as a wholesome set-off to the popular ballad of "There's a good time coming," but it certainly is as complete an antidote to mirth and hope as the most gloomy man-hater could desire. The burthen of the lugubrious ditty .is "There's a dark hour coming," and (as we infer from the words) a miserable wretch supposed to be writhing under the terrible con sciousness of approaching madness is the vocalist. The incipient maniac is a baritone, and howls forth his deary lament in the key of E minor. As insanity is the theme of this pleasant bal lad, we presume that considerable latitude must be conceded to the authors, and that it would scarcely be considered fair in us to judge their treatment of so refractory a subject by the ordi nary laws and precedents of art; otherwise, we might protest strongly against the violations of musical grammar and the established rules of harmony which meet us on nearly every page. We might denounce the unprepared dissonances of 5-4 on the dominant with which the piece commences, together with the consecutive oc taves, unmeaning unisons, and ridiculously in correct progressions and notation spread in reck less profusion over the entire score, as so many barbarisms. But madness is an awful matter, and we have not, neither do we wish to have, any well-founded ideas as to how that dire malady should be expressed, either in words or tones. Nevertheless, we are inclined to believe that the originators of " The Dark Hour " have shown a very rare sympathy with the subject, and that the composer at least has produced just the kind of thing one might expect from a madman. We place "The Dark Hour," indeed, quite beyond the ordinary range of ballads, and sincerely counsel all who love the " novel or strange," to furnish themselves with a copy at once. Six Songs. Composed by John Thomas. London : Boosey and Son. MR. Joitx THOMAS possesses a great deal of natural ability as a composer, but he writes at times very carelessly, and thus commits errors which impartial criticism cannot allow to pass without reproach. We need only call Mr. Thomas's attention to a few points in the songs under notice, to prove the justness of our stric tures. In the second half of the last line of page 6 the harmony would more properly be that of the chord of D minor, followed on the last note of the melody by that of the 6-5-3 on the subdomi nant of A minor, than the thin chord of the 6-3 on the subdominant of A minor, which occupies the place where these other chords might have been employed. In bars 3 and 5 of page 7 there occur absolutely objectionable progressions. The imitation in the octave of the melodic phrases of the voice part by no means justifies those very harsh and unmeaning dissonances formed (count ing upwards) by the association of B flat, C and E natural, with F sharp, or of C natural, E natural, B flat, with F sharp. It would have been better to sacrifice the imitations, brief and unimportant too as they are, than thus to violate the laws of harmony. esides, Mr. Thomas usital gtbieiv. The Six Books of " Songs without Words" ( Lieder Ohne Worte ) for the Piaiwforte. Composed by Mendelssohn ; edited by J. W. Davison. London: Boosey and Son. Tun above delightful little compositions have been for so many years familiar to the entire musical world that the critic who might now venture to dilate upon their manifold beauties would but betray a "lated" enthusiasm, and a too fond belief in an unrecognised mission. His essay would be unprosperous because unneces sary ; and were any " Heaven-storming" spirit (as the Germans would call him) to strike into a new path, and dare to find some faults—however little—why he would be well hissed for his pains —so much of prejudice is there always mixed up with truth. For our own part, we shall con tent ourselves with observing that, wherever pianoforte " chamber music" of a high order is cultivated, there are the famous " Songs without Words" known and cherished as intimate house hold friends. For the most part easy to play, and, owing to their brevity, easy to learn by heart—affording expression, and most poetical expression, too, to almost every sentiment and emotion—there is something in them sympathetic to nearly every state of mind, and hence their world-wide popu larity. The present edition is by many degrees the best and cheapest we have met with in this country; and not the least of its attractions is a most interesting and instructive preface, written by Mr. J. W. Davison, whose intimate knowledge of Mendelssohn's works, to the study of which he has devoted many years, invests all his observa tions on this subject with a special and undeniable authority. The preface evidences throughout the genial spirit of a sympathetic artist, no less than the matured judgment of an accomplished critic, and we particularly recommend it to the careful at tention of all who would learn how to give a thoroughly Mendelssohnian reading to the " Songs without Words." The six books are included in one very hand somely-bound volume, and the publication is in every respect highly creditable to Messrs. Boosey. Cujus Animam. Arranged, and an " Andan tino" composed for the pianoforte, by W. C. Selhl. London : A. W. Hammond (Jullien's). ROSSINI'S celebrated air, " Cujus Animam," from the Stabat Mater, is in the first of these pieces treated after the ultra-modern fashion, and with the average amount of success. The " voltige transcendante," as M. Lenz calls it, appears in full force on every possible or impossible occa sion, and the stereotyped but still highly ne cessary direction, " Marcata la Melodia," is considerately engraved beside the charming theme whenever it is (and when is it not ?) in peril of being taken in the rear or flank, and utterly routed by the myriad notes which con stantly fly round it, and threaten its existence. Poor " Melodia !" you do indeed require to be well " marked," and firmly held up too by a 1 PI