The Press.
London, England, 1856-08-23 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

operated upon St. Augustine and others then ; the old
blunder was handed down, enshrined in the generally
received text, and a pretty good harvest of controversy
it has borne—Romanist ingenuity endeavouring to draw
the verse into a defence of image worship, and Protestant
boldness averting the inference by daring translation.
Another letter, from Mr. Francis Barham, says :

While I agree with Dr. Cumming that King James's
Bible is, on the whole, admirably executed, he must, like
every biblical scholar in the country,admit that it contains
(especially in the Old Testament) a very considerable
number of acknowledged errors and defects. This fact has
been almost univerially conceded by those who are com-
petent to the critical examination of the original Hebrew
and Greek. The truth must be told and acknowledged at
last, without prejudice, passion, or partisanship ; and here
the truth is clear and demonstrable. It may be thus
stated :—that though the authorised version is correct in
the great majority of instances, especially in the New
Testament, there are many hundreds, yea, thousands of
texts, susceptible of the most important and indubitable
amendment. At present there is no English Bible which
combines correct translation with correct arrangement;
and if this great national desideratum should be executed,
or even facilitated by the biblical scholarship of our times,
it would excel in dignity, utility, and beauty all the literary
works of the age.

A " Brief History of our Present Version" is given
in a little pamphlet just published by the Rev.
Francis Trench, perpetual curate of St. John's, Read-
ing.

gAllsit.

THE MUSICAL FESTIVALS.

BRADFORD.—The rehearsal of the new music to
be executed at the second triennial musical festival
to be held next week at St. George's-hall, Bradford,
has taken place in London, under the direction of
Mr. Costa. The novelties were the 103rd Psalm,
composed by Mr. W. Jackson, the Bradford chorus-
master; the M 3. cantata Robin Hood," the words
by Mr. George Linley and the music by Mr. J. L.
Hatton ; and the MS. cantata " May-day," the words
by John Oxenford and the music by Mr. Macfarren.
The psalm consists of an air for a soprano, an air
for the contralto, and one for the basso. There are
three double choruses and one chorus, the latter
preceded by a recitative for the tenor. Mrs. Sunder-
land, Mr. MontemiSmith, and Mme. Viardot, will be
the principal singers in the psalm. Mr. Hatton has
divided the music of his " Robin Hood " (tenor),
with Maid Marian (soprano), Little John (bantonel,
and Sheriff of Nottingham (bass). Miss Milner, Mr.
Sims Reeves, Mr Winn, and Mr. Weiss, will be the
chief singers. There are half a dozen choruses,
one of which is for forest maidens. Two ballads
for tenor and soprano, a solo for the bass, and a trio
and duo are comprised in the cantata; the success
of which is booked as a certainty, from the sympa-
thetic nature of the melody and the breadth and
British joviality pervading the work. Mr. Mac-
farren's production will, it is anticipated, reflect equal
horour on his recognised musical workmanship.
Miss Sherrington will be the Queen of the May.
There are two choruses and a choral serenade, with
a recitative and air for the May Queen. Costa is
now in Bradford, drilling his forces. The full
orchestral rehearsal will be on Monday next. The
accounts agree in the expectation of a brilliant
gathering of the amateurs of the north to supp•irt
this second festival.
GtorcErreit.—This festival will commence on
Tuesday, the 9th of September, with service in the
cathedral. The new Bishop of Gloucester and Bris-
tol will preach the sermon. The anthems will be
?dendelssohn'e " Hear my prayer," and Handel's
" They shall rejoice;' with the " Dettingen Te Deum"
of the latter. The preces and responses will be by
Tallith There will be a full orchestral service every
morning prior to the performance, and an evening
service after it, at which the members of the three
choirs will assist. On Wednesday, Mendelssohn's
" Elijah ;" and on Friday, Handel's " Messiah " will
be given, the Thursday morning being reserved for
a miscellaneous selection from Haydn's " Creation,"
Mozart's "Requiem," Mendelssohn's "St. Paul,"
Costa's " Eli," and gleanings from Spolies " Last
Judgment," Rosaini's " &abet Mater," and Beetho-
ven's " Mount of Olives." Mrs. Clare Hepworth,
formerly Miss Amott. daughter of the organist of the
cathedral and conductor of the festival, will make her
first appearance at this festival. Mme. Novello,
sirs. Temple, Mrs. Lockey. Mme. Alboni, Mr. Sims
Reeves, Mr. Lockey, Mr. Weiss, Mr. Thomas, and
M. Gassier, will bo the other singers. As there are
no less than thirty-six stewards, the meeting pro-
mises to be brilliantly attended.

MISS CATHERINE HATES, THE SWAN OF ERIN.—The
professional career of this remarkable vocalist is an
evidence of what may be accomplished by energy
and perseverance. Under the patronage of the late
Bisl'op of Limerick, Miss Hayes became first a pupil
of Signor A. Sttpio, in Dublin. In 1843, Manuel
Garcia, the master of Jenny Lind, and the brother of

SATURDAY,

Viardot and Malibran, was her instructor for
eighteen months in Paris. In 1844 she studied at
Milan. On the 10th of April, 1845, Miss C. Hayes
made her first appearance on any stage as Elrira
in Bellini's Puritani. On the 10th of November,
in the same year, she made her debut at the Scala,
in Milan, in Donizetti's Linda. Miss Hayes then
sang in succession at Vienna, Venice, Rome, Florence,
Verona, Genoa, &c. In the spring of 1849 she made
her debut at the Royal Italian Opera, Govern garden,
as Linda, and was the original Berta in Meyerbeer's
Prophite. In 1850, she appeared at Her Majesty's
Theatre, and in the same year sung at Dublin.
Her tour in Ireland was one of the greatest triumphs
exper►enced by any artiste. In September, 1831, she
arrived in New York, and her success was marked
through the United States, although she followed
Jenny Lind. In November, 1852, Miss Hayes went
to California, and for seven months carried all before
her, the sum of 2301. being paid on one occasion for
a single ticket. From the land of gold she travelled
through South America, in regions where no artiste
had ever before penetrated. The Sandwich Islands
were the next localit►es scoured, until her arrival in
Sydney in January 1854. In October of the same
year, she gave concerts at Melbourne, after which
she sang at Adelaide en route to Calcutta, where she
had eleven performances, one of which was for the
Patriotic Fund. After two concerts at Singapore,
Miss Hayes reached Batavia, to the astonishment of
the Dutch British settlers, the former of whom were
electrified by her Ringing of Holland's national melo-
dies. From Batavia Miss Hayes returned to Aus-
tralia, singing in turn at Sydney, Melbourne,
Bendigo gold-field, and at Hobart Town, and Laun-
ceston in Tasmania. Finally, Miss Hayes embarked
at Melbourne for Liverpool, where she arrived last
week after nn absence of five years, less one month.
It is stated to be her intention to return to America
this winter, prior to which Miss Hayes will go to Paris.
Those who heard her originally in London in 1849,
and have subsequently been present at her per-
formances in Australia, state confidently that Miss
Hayes has gained immensely in dramatic force and
in power of voice. Her vocation was formerly in
the light Italian operas, such as Lucia, Linda, La
Figlia, Norma, and Don Pasquale, but now her Norma
and Lucrezia Borgia are cited as fine histrionic as
well as vocal displays.

PRINCESS'S THEATRE.—Sfr. Charles Kean ter-
minated his season at this theatre last night, when
the concluding representation of Winter's Tale was
given to an over-crowded house. Mr. Kean's snecesi
with Winter's Tale has, we believe, been unexampled.
Night after night, duriug the whole season, has the
piece been performed to crowded houses, and though
we differ from Mr. Kean on many material points,
we have yet great pleasure in recording such a result
so justly due to that minute attention to detail, that
lavish expense in putting upon the stage, and that
general managerial ability which usually charac-
terise the productions at the Princess's Theatre.
The house only closes for a brief recess, and will
reopen on Monday, September Ist, with the play of
Pizarro.