The Press.
London, England, 1855-03-10 00:00:00

servant,
Sloane-street, Feb. 28, 1855.

WE very willingly concede to Mr. Timbs whatever
benefit his labours may derive from the publication
of this note ; although we need scarcely say that the
practice of reopening such matters would lead to
great inconvenience. That we have not done Mr.
Timbs any injustice in our notice of his book will be
sufficiently evident from a glance at the points to
which he draws our attention.
1. We did not state that " no" earlier name than
.Londinium or Augusta were noted in his volume ;
but we stated that there was an earlier name than
either which was not noted in his volume. That
name is neither Llyn-dun nor Llong dines, which
Mr. Timbs must know very well were only the early
forms of the name afterwards Latinised into
Londinium, and which, therefore, do not supply the
omission to which we alluded. e thought, and still
think, that in a book intended to contain a descrip-
tion of London, the origin of the city should have
been stated ; and very little research in channels
open to everybody would have enabled Mr. Timbs to
have informed his readers that London was founded
by the Trinobantes, of whose kingdom, including
Middlesex, Essex, and a part of Surrey, it was the
capital, and that its ancient name was Tri now, or
the New City—a name which may be traced through
the various languages of Europe, employed in the
same way to mark the sites of early settlements.
2. We did not say that Taylor, the water poet, was
not " mentioned elsewhere." We said that if he
were worth mentioning at all he ought to have been
mentioned more accurately. The manner in which
his acquaintance with Ben Jonson is alluded to
clearly shows that the information, scanty as it is,
was taken at second-hand, and that the authentic
sources concerning Taylor's relations with Jonson,
touching upon the most curious passages in his life
and writings, were not consulted.
3. We hope we did not express our meaning so
obscurely as to justify the inference that Mr. Timbs
bad noticed only half a dozen coffee-houses. We
have no doubt there are thirty-two coffee-houses
n Aiced, and we perceive that they occupy nearly six
pages, but it was not the number to which we took
exception. Our observations referred to the deft•
ciency in the early history of coffee-houses, taverns,
and ordinaries. Having adopted a system of classifi-
cation, Mr. Timbs had a favorable opportunity of
exhibiting the changes of customs and manners illus-
trated by the annals of these houses. We felt the
want of that kind of information in the early part of
the book, where the reader is likely to look for it ;
and the fact that Mr. Timbs has filled six pages with
notices of thirty-two coffee-houses does not seem to

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THE PRESS.

convey to foreigner an adequate notion of their

historical interest.
5. We have referred to Buckingham Palace, and
must humbly say we do not find the omissions we
complained of respecting the Mulberry Garden sup-
plied. What Mr. Timbs calls Pepys's "description
of the place" consists of two phrases. " Pepys (we
quote the whole passage) refers to it as ' a silly
place,' but with a ' wilderness somewhat large.' "
The anecdote about Dryden, dropping out the inci-
dents of the sword and the ohedreuse, which impart
colour and intent to it, is dwarfed into a ling :
" According to a contemporary, the poet ate tarts there
with Mrs. Anne Reeve, his mistress." Even this im-
perfect quotation is incorrect, for the "contemporary,"
who, we may observe, is supposed to have been
Southern, does not say that Mrs. Anne Reeve was
Dryden's mistress. But these are minor points : the
insufficiency of the description still remains. We are
told nothin? of the origin of the Mulberry Garden,
except that it was planted by James I. ; the fact that
it was planted for the purpose of introducing the silk
worm in England, with a view to the encouragement
of our national manufacture of silk, is passed over in
silence. Granting, however, that these fragmentary
notices are as much as we have a right to expect in
such a compilation, which we certainly cannot admit
without a protest, the place in which we found them
confirms our assertion that the book has not been put
together upon an intelligible plan. We are referred to
the section "Palaces " for an account of the Mulberry
Garden. We might as reasonably be required to look
for it under the head of " Churches." We are aware
that Buckingham Palace was built on a portion
of the ground formerly occupied by the Mul-
berry Garden, but as Mr. Timbs devotes a sepa-
rate section to the " Gardens," the proper place
for a description of the Mulberry Garden was
obviously the chapter expressly dedicated to gardens.
A stranger who desires to know something about the
Mulberry Garden will exhaust all the usual modes of
looking for it without obtaining what he wants.
Finding no such head under the alphabetical arrange-
ment of the articles, he turns to the index. Here,
also, he is at fault. There is no such reference. At
last he lights upon the general head "Gardens," and
he is here directed for an account of the Mulberry
Garden to page 322. Pursuing this direction, the
only one in the index, he finds the following state-
ment :—" Here, too, was a grove of mulberry trees,
planted by James I. ; afterwards the Mulberry
Garden ; '" and this is the whole of the information
to which he can obtain a clue by alphabet or index.
He will, therefore, close the book, as we did, under
a very natural impression that it contains nothing
more on the subject. It is not our fault, but Mr.
Timbs', that we could not find out his account o the
Mulberry Garden. We went over the whole index
in search of it in vain ; and now that we have found
it, we do not think it as coipplete as it ought to be.

y usit.

THE SECOND CONCERT OF THE HARMONIC UNION
took place at the Hanover-square Rooms on Wed-
nesday evening. Mendelssohn's Lobgesang, and
Rossini's Stabat Mater, two works as antipodal in
their character and treatment as it is possible to
bring together, were presented to an audience corn
posed almost equally of talent and fashion. Though
a short work, the Lobgesang is entitled to the highest
consideration as the outpour►ng of a great master in
his happtest mood; whilst the well-known chef-
ttceurre of Rossini, however theatrical and overstrained
it may be in some parts, yet recains its place in public
estimation. Both were performed, on the whole, in
a manner highly creditable to the directors of this
well-known society, who in general secure first Tate
executive talent, and compose their programmes of
excellent classical productions. Tile history and
character of both these great works is so well known
already to lovers of music that we will only proceed
to speak of the actual performances on Wednesday
evening. We may say, without hyperbole, that the
performance of the symyhony to the Lobgesang was
perfect. The leading melody, impressive and solemn
in its character, is exquisitely brought to bear by the
composer throughout the entirety of the three move-
ments, and was enforced by the orchestra with a
distinctness rarely to be met with in performances
of this nature. The "Adagio Religioso" is, perhaps,
the most complete embodiment of devotional feeling
that ever emanated from Mendelssohn's brain; and
in no respect did the performers deteriorate the
native grandeur of this magnificent movement.
After its entrancing strains had merged into the
grand burst of wind instruments which Mendelssohn
employs to impress finally the pervading and chief
melody on the minds of his hearers, the vocal
part commenced, and, though imperfect in many
points, the opening chorus was well and grandly
given. Of Mr. Sims Reeves, who sustained the
principal part in the first performance, we wish we
could speak in terms of praise, but this is not easy.
Except in the well-known recitative. "We called

through the darkness," his singing was in many •
places defective—in all, blatant and exaggerated in
the alto, and ineffective in the mezzovoce. In one
passage his interpretation of the composer's idea was
a positive mistake, and we regret to find that he is
falling into the fatal error of commencing his holding-
notes out of tulle, and only arriving at the proper
tone in the middle of the sostenuto. However, in
the recitative he displayed great taste, and presented
a most effective and artistic reading. "Indisposi-
tion" prevented him from sustaining the part allotted
to him in the Stabat Mater, and his place was con.:
sequently inefficiently supplied on a short notice by
Mr. Herbert, of whom we think little, and will say
less. The consequence of this breach of faith was
that the " Cujus annum " was entirely omitted, and
it was, perhaps, as well ; though we cannot but con-
sider a performance unsatisfactory in which the prin-
cipal air, indeed, the very acme of the whole (impo-
sition, is suppressed. Mrs. Weiss's singing was
throughout most successful, full of feeling and graceful
expression. She manages her voice, in itself both sweet
and powerful, so as to exhibit its qualities to the best
advantage. In music of this description she has found
her rattier. In the duetto, " I waited for the Lord "
(Lobgesang), where the parts are interwoven with ex-
quisite and subtle contrivance, both she and Miss
Lascelles was loudly applauded ; indeed, we never
remember to have heard a difficult =arid better
and more smoothly executed. For Miss Lascellk
we earnestly recommend her to persevere ; she is a
most promising young singer, works indefatigably,
and, though contending with an organ naturally
harsh, she has done much, and we venture to assert
will do much more. Her reading of " Fax utportem"
(Stabat Mater) was highly meritorious. For Mr.
Weiss, his singing was bold and loud as ever, his in-
tonation true, with one exception, but that a most
flagrant one, in Rossini's last and best quartet.
The chorus was, in general, passably good, but it
evidently requires a more energetic leader and stricter
baton than Herr Molique can supply. On the whole,
the best sung chorus in the Lobgesang was " All ye
that cried," the tender and melting strains of which
cannot but awaken a devotional feeling in the mind
of the most rigid detractors of Mendelssohn's compo-
sitions. The orchestral accompaniments, though ad-
mirably performed, were more than an equivalent for
the num per and strength of the voices employed in
the chorus ; the effect of the latter was, therefore,
considerably marred. Light and shade, too, that most
important result of careful training, was not suffi-
ciently attended to, and the only concerted piece on
which elaborate attention tied evidently been
bestowed was the unaccompanied chorus, "Let all
men praise," in the Lobgesang, when the tenori and
bassi really sang admirably well. The room was
filled by a superior and attentive audience, who seemed
most fully to appreciate both the great works pre-
sented to them.
HANOVER-SQUARE Roots.—The great popularity
of the glee and madrigal reunions has induced Mr.
Mitchell to revive some of those excellent composi •
lions by Sir Henry Bishop, and to give four conceits,
the selections for which are to consist solely of the
glees and concerted vocal pieces of our well known
composer. The first concert, which was performed
on Tuesday afternoon, consisted of three glees, four
quartets, one sestet, and two concerted pieces, and
the selection (which was made by Sir Henry Bishop)
was chosen from some of his principal works, Maid
Marian, Don John, The Miller and his Men, &c. It
would be superfluous to enlarge upon the beauty of
Sir Henry Bishop's compositions. His works once
and for a long course of years enjoyed the most
unbounded popularity upon the stage; but because
they are no longer heard upon the stage, they are
not yet, nor ever will be, forgotten by lovers of pure
English melodies. Vocal harmony is becoming daily
more cultivated among all classes, and with this
resuscitation of a pure and graceful species of music
the varied and beautiful compositions of Sir Henry
Bishop, many of them not to be surpassed in melody
and simplicity of expression, will regain, let us hope,
their just and undeniable influence. The concert on
Tuesday was presided over by Sir Henry Bishop at
the piano, and, among the most successful pieces,
the quartets "Breathe, my harp," and " Sleep, gentle
lady" (the latter from the famous opera Clari,)
were very warmly applauded and encored. The
vocalists consisted of Messrs. Francis, Benson,
Ruckland, Lawler, and Land, and several boys
from the cathedral choirs. The concert was
highly successful, and the room crowded. The
second concert takes place this afternoon, between
the hours of three and five, upon which occasion
complete chorus of men's voices will be introduced,
for the more efficient execution of the concerted
pieces with choruses. The programme of this con-
cert is exceedingly well selected.
THE ROYAL ITALIAN OPERA. will reopen about the
10th of April. Mdlle. Fanny Ney, prima donna of
the Royal Opera of' Berlin, will appear earlying e
season, in Verdi's If Trovatore, and -
junction with Mme. Viardot Garcia, whose per-
formance of the contralto part in that opera has

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notices of tuu ti,,,,„ ~—__ _ _
us a satisfactory answer to our objection.
4. The same observation applies to the gardens
i and parks. We give Mr. Timbs all the credit he
•clairns for the facts he has collected, and are still of
'opinion that his account of these places would not