The Press.
London, England, 1858-04-10 00:00:00

THE PRESS, APRIL 10, 1858.

he called another of his guard, and said, in a low voice,
" Knock that chap over;" which was no sooner said than
done,—thus putting an end to the conversation in rather
an abrupt manner.

The influence of such a life of " war's alarms " upon
the minds of the children of the gan ison was certain
to be marked. Captain Anderson relates a charac-
teristic trait :

I heard one urchin, of four or five years, say to another
"You fire round shot, and I'll return shell from my battery.'
Another, getting into a rage with his playmates, said, " I
hope you may be shot by the enemy." Others (playing
with grape shot, instead of marbles) would be heard to
say, " That's clean through his lungs ;" or" That wants
more elevation."

He concludes his narrative with a few brief but in-
teresting notes of the final relief in November by Sir
Colin Campbell .

10th November. The commander•in•chief had got
possession of the city. We were driven from the very
gates of the Khizer Baugh, or " palace." A person was
most conspicuous on this day, as we looked from our in-
trenchments. He was mounted on a " white horse," and
was everywhere. We all felt very anxious for this man—
he was in the hottest fire. We found out after it was the
commander•in•chief.

We left Lucknow on the night of the 22nd November,
18,57, at midnight, in silence; and as we left onr outposts,
the rascals were firing on our outer walls. We got sate
out, without the loss of a single man. The whole thing
was most splendidly arranged by the commander-in•chief.

_
• • •
Private Cooney, of her Majesty's 32nd, and another man
went into a battery, and spiked some guns. As they
rushed up, they called out, " right and left extend," and
the aepoys hearing this, fancied there was a strong hotly,
and bolted off. A man, being asked what he got as plun.
der, said," I)—d the happerth we got, air, but an ould
cock and a hen—oh yes," he added, "we did get a sepoy or
two."

This little book, though its range is necessarily
limited—Captain Anderson remaining in one spot
during the whole siege—is yet extremely interesting,
and may be accepted as another valuable contribution
towards a future history of the siege and defence of
Lucknow.

The Poetical Works of Robert Story. London :

Longmans.
THESE poems, the sumptuous appearance of which,
so far as printing and paper are concerned, is due,
the author tells us, to the munificence of the Duke
of Northumberland, are the productions of a self-
educated man, who is perhaps a little older than the
century, and whose verses range over a period ex-
tending from 1816 to the present date. The impulse
to poetic expression was derived, he informs us,
from Dr. Watts's songs; but we do not trace the in-
fluence of that worthy divine in any of the pieces
which compose the volume. Still less are there any
vestiges of the present school of subjective lyrical
poetry, such as we are accustomed to expect as a
matter of course in most of the " minor minstrels "
who come before us : and though our respect for
imitations of any kind is but small, it is to be feared
than an age which has been accustomed to draw its
inspiration from Wordsworth, Shelley, an 4 Tennyson,
may look with a cold and neglectful eye at one who
has obviously nothing in common with these poten-
tates. Mr. Story, in fact, belongs to a past school.
His earlier songs, on "Mary R—," the "stately
and blooming " lady's-maid "at Roddam Hall "
"In Memory of Anna Boer, a fine young woman
from Shropshire "—" my first Gargtave song," and
the like, are imitations of Burns. The more fanciful
love-poems, and the political songs, show the in-
fluence of Moore. The romantic tales are in the
metre of Scott, and bear to him a close resemblance.
The domestic sketches remind us strongly of Rogers.
The most original poems are " The Outlaw," a
drama of average merit, and "The Fountain," an
allegory, which is on the whole the best thing in the
volume. The impression which the last generation
of poets made upon Mr. Story is so strong that his
later works exhibit it in nearly equal force with his
earliest, and do not, in point of poetical power, show
much improvement on them. The strains in which
he celebrates his M'iker in 1857 are not much more
sublime than those in which he sung the charms of
rustic beauties in his salad days. The following
example of what may be called his "second man-
ner" reads like a political parody of those elegant
fairy fables which Moore used to indite in days when
albums were fashionable. We recommend it to
Lord Grey as a motto for his next essay :
When Freedom made this Constitution of ours,
Which you shall not find matched if the wide world you
range,
Two Spirits she chose to keep watch on its powers—
The Spirit of Caution, the Spirit of Change.
"If Caution," she said, "would too slowly proceed,
Then, Change, do thy part, nor allow him to flag;
And if Change urge the engine to perilous speed,
Then, Caution, be ready to slip on the drag !"
Thus ever those Spirits keep watch on its powers,
Retard, or impel, as the need becomes known;
And 'tie by them that this Constitution of ours
In the line of Improvement rolls steadily on,

And Britons have but to preserve it intact--
Secure that its working no cower can derange,
While the Spirit of Change shall force Caution to act,
And the Spirit of Caution shall regulate Change.
But Mr. Story has pretty nearly saved us the trouble
of criticism. He has told us what he thinks of him-
self, and his estimate of his own powers is so
much
more just than is usually the case, that we shall
partially adopt it :
I blame thee not, World! that thy judgments refuse me
The laureate wreath I have coveted long;
I have rather to thank the kind hearts that excuse me
The times I have teased them with efforts in song.
The vision that lured me of Glory's effulgence
Hath passed—like the bow from the cloud of the shower;
I find, after years of self-cheating indulgence,
That the wish to be great I mistook for the power.
• •• • •
Adieu to those fond aspirations, but never—
While breath is within me—farewell to the Muse!
It were easier to turn from its channel yon river,
Than me from the course that she taught me to choose.
I must still feel the changes of sk7 and of season,
Be alive, like the birds, to each impulse they bring;
And, heard or not heard by the children of reason,
Must at times, like those wild•birds, full•heartedly sing !
• • • •
Perchance with myself lies the blame of bereavement
Of the long cherished dream of celebrity won:
Like the birds I have lived, and no worthy achievement,
They say, without care—without labour—is done.
Hence in song, as in life,l too nearly resemble
The light-hearted lyrists that sing in the glen,
Whose note, though it may bid the young bosom tremble,
Wants the bold trumpet-tone that electrifies men.
Then adieu to the hope, to my bosom so pleasing,
Of being remembered and talked of when gone;
And adieu to the hope, more ambitious, of seizing
The mind of the futare, and moulding its tone!
However, there is rather too much self-depreciation
here. Mr. Story, though he may not stamp his fame
on the world at large, has produced a great number
of verses which are calculated to attain a tenacious
local celebrity, and which will undoubtedly impress
the general reader with sympathy for the author's
struggles, and admiration for the sincerity of feeling
which could foster poetic blossoms in the intervals
of so thorny a career.

PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.—APair. 9.
BOOKS.

Essays and Remains of the Rev. Robert Atfred Vaughan.
Edited, with a Memoir, by the Rev. Robert Vaughan,
D.D. Two Vols. J. W. Parker and Son

The Ties of Kindred. By Owen Wyun. Routledge
Billets and Bivouacs. Rontledge
The Human Mind in its Relation with the Brain and Nei.-

your Systens. By Daniel Noble, M.D. Churchill
Memoirs of My Owls Time. By F. Guizot. Volume I.

_
Bentley
The Netherwoods of Otterpool. Three Vols. Bentley
Common Objects of the Country. By the Rev. J. G. Wood.

Routledge
The Rise of the Dutch Republic. By John Lothrop Motley.
Three Vole. Vols. 2 and 3. Routledge
The History of the Factory Movement. Alfred. Two Vole.
Simpkin and Marshall
The Life and Times of Dante. R. de Vericour. Hope
Tracey; or, the Apparition. Mrs. Thomson. Hodgson
Wayside Pictures through France, Holland, Belgium, and
Up the Rhine. Robert Bell. Routledge
Sonya of Early Spring. Rowland Brown. Kent and Co.
A Text-book fur Students. Rev. Thomas Stantial, M.A.
Parts I. and H. Bell and lialcly
Inside Canton. Dr. Yvan. Vizetelly
Some Observations upon the Recent Addition of a Reading-
room to the British Museum. W. Hocking.
E. Stanford
Sermons. 11. Drummond B. Rawnaley, M.A. Hatchard

The Train. Groombridge--The Ladies' Treasury. Ward
and Lock—Art Treasures. Ward and Lock—Le Folkt.
Simpkin and Marshall—The IVestminster Review. Chap-
man—The Art Journal. Virtue and Hall—The Scottish
Review. Houlston--The London Review. Heylin—Col-
burn's New Monthly. Chapman and Hall—Davenport
Dunn. Ditto—The National Review. Ditto—Titan.
Groornbridge—Routkdge's Shakespeare. "Twelfth Night."
Routledge—Mervyn Clitherue. Ditto—London University
Magazinc. Hall and Co.

Messrs. Smith and Elder send us a handsome and
convenient reprint of " Wutbering Heights," and
" Agnes Grey," with the biographical preface written
for the former issue by toe authoress of "Jane
Eyre." Of the literary merits of these works nothing
need now be said. i hey may be read here in a
type which does not afflict the eyes, and in a binding
which does not come to pieces in the hands—more
than can be said for most railway editions.
MESSRS. LEGGATT AND CO. have on view at their
gallery, in Change alley, several of the pictures from
the French Exhibition of last year, including the
" Ecce Homo," by Ary Scheffer, Dubufe's portrait of
Rosa Bonbeur, and Meissonnier's picture of the
"Chess-players." The last is about to be engraved
by Blanchard, whose beautiful plate from the same
artist's " Bar-room " was published last year. Ross
Bonheur's celebrated picture of the " Horse Fair "
bas just been removed, but there is a large collection
of fine paintings of the French, German, and Eng
lish schools, including Ansdell's " Wolf's Lair," and
" Noah's Sacrifice," by Maelise. The collection.'
well worth a visit.

U

`x USxx.

THE VOCAL ABEOCLATION has commenced a series
of six concerts to be given at St. James's-hall daring
the I resent season, the first of which took place last
Wednesday evening. The programme was drawn
entirely from the works of Mendelssohn, and a
similar plan, we understand, will be adopted in the
succeeding concerts ; a selection from the works of
some one composer being presented on each occasion.
The scheme has certain advantages : it enables us,
no doubt, to form a better acquaintance with each
author, and to gain a more intimate knowledge of
his peculiar style than can be derived from any
number of miscellaneous concerts ; but the pro-
grammes must be drawn up with no little care ; the
choice of pieces requires considerable tact ; it is not
easy to avoid monotony. There must be a certain
amount of sameness in the productions of every
author, even the most versatile; and in listening to
a succession of unconnected pieces, we miss the unity
of a longer work, the interest which carries us with-
out fatigue or loss of attention through an opera or
an oratorio. Little fault can be found with Mr.
13enedices selection from Mendelssohn. The first
part contained the Symphony in A major, the violin
concerto, and the finale to the unfinished opera of
Lorely ; the second part included the overture
entitled " The calm and prosperous voyage," and the
First Walpurgis Night. These elaborate works were
relieved by the insertion of some six or seven of the
part songs, the scena " Infelice," and the " Capriccio
Thillante " for pianoforte and orchestra. Here was
variety enough, but the concert was rather too long,
and the Walpurgis Night (perhaps the finest thing
of the evening), being placed at the end of the second
part, was honoured by the departure of a large
portion of the audience—a vexatious disturbance
to those who remained. We might ask, too,
why symphonies and concertos should be per-
formed by the Vocal Association ; hut the
orchestra was a good one, and Mendelssohn
enjoys nearly equal fame in both branches of music,
so the selection from his works was more complete,
and we need not stay to quarrel about words.
Indeed, like most German composers, he was more
thoroughly a master when employed for the
orchestra than when writing for the voice. No one
but a musician would venture to find fault with his
instrumental works, but the defect of his vocal
compositions is evident to every one. It requires
no knowledge of music to be able to say " I can't
hear the words ; " a child is capable of such criticism,
and no learning can devise an answer to it. We
refer, of course, only to some of Mendelssobn's
more elaborate choruses, but in spite of all that may
be said in excuse, the defect is a very grave one.
Surely if a composer undertakes to set a poem to
music, we may fairly complain if the poem is hidden ;
it cannot excuse him to say that the music expresses
that which the words express ; lie may have written
good music, but he has not done what he undertook
to do. We were promised a double pleasure, poetry
and music combined, and he has, given us short
measure—he has cheated us of half our enjoyment.
The words may be there, but they are useless to us,
or worse than useless, for there is no more neutrality
in music than in anything else ; whatever is not doing
good must be doing harm. If words are set so that
they cannot be heard, we may be pretty sure they
are set so that they cannot be sung ; and if we can-
not make out what the chorus-singers are doing,
they are probably engaged in something little better
than a general scramble. It will not do to write for
voices as if they were instruments ; consonants and
vowels must be taken into account ; a word, whether
spoken or sung, is not the same thing as the note of
a violin—the compass of male and female voices is
not all that a composer need know who would write
vocal music. The education of the voice is an art
in itself, but an art little understood in Germany
either by singers or writers ; Handel and Mozart,
indeed, are two notable exceptions, but they both
acquired their knowledge in Italy. Everything in
the programme is well known ; in spite of all pro-
phecies to the contrary, Mimdelssolsn is still the
reigning favourite in London. He was too original
to be lii'ed by all, and some people shrink from
everything new,but he is getting older every day, and
we shall be all of one mind before long. The per-
formance on the whole was good. Miss Stabbach is
always successful in declamatory music, anddelivei ed
the recitatives in Lorely with considerable effect.
Mine. Casteilan, Miss Huddart, Mr. Montem Smith,
and Mr. Winn, were the other vocalists; the two
ladies were encored in the duet " I would that my
love." The orchestra, as we have said, was excellent,
and the chorus did their best, but the part-songs
should not be sung by so many voices—they require
delicacy of expression and purity of tone, which in
these large bodies cannot be attained. M. Sainton
has frequently played the violin concerto, and is well
ittrilified for the task ; be wants the refinement of
Ernst, but his style is bold and masculine; be wab a

THE PRESS, APRIL 10, 1858.

little unsteady at first, but soon recovered himself,
and gave the beautiful cantabile with more than
usual finish. Miss Goddard's execution of the
" Capriccio Brillante " was as pure and perfect as a
Greek statue—almost as calm and cold.

MR. LESLIE'S CHOlR.—Never has chorus-singing
occupied so much attention in this country as at
present. The number of societies formed for its cul-
tivation is increasing every year. The success of
each, and the degree of excellence attained, varies of
course according to the talent and energy of those
intrusted with the management, and in proportion
to the advantages of the locality in which it may be
situated, but there is a good deal of uniformity in
their way of going to work. In general, a certain
number of amateurs enter into a subscription for the
purchase of music, and engage a professional musi•
clan to act as director. In the choice of this director,
they are liabie to two errors; he may be too good as
well as too bad. They may make the mistake of choosing
an incompetent man, but they may also select a man
of too much celebrity ; a man who has his hands too
full of business, whose reputation is too secure, and
who cannot spare the necessary time and trouble.
He comes to rehearsals tired with his day's work,
and the hard task of drilling a crowd of rough, un-
cultivated voices almost nauseates him. The sin-
gular excellence which has been reached by Mr.
Leslie's choir is probably owing to its advantage in
this respect. Here is a company of amateurs under
the direction of an amateur. He is one of them-
selves. They are as proud of him as he or them.
They labour together not for reward, not as a duty,
but from a love of the art ; they strive for the first
place among choral societies, and they spare no pains.
Though one of the youngest of the London associa-
tions, their progress has been so rapid that even
now, in many respects, they are far in advance of
any other. While experiments are being made else-
where with larger bodies of singers than were ever
before assembled, while the public taste is running
after anything monstrous, this choir of scarcely one
hundred voices has been occupied with less noisy
and exciting matters. It has been cultivating a pure
tone, exact time, true intonation, well-balanced
rhythm, clear execution, and refined expression—
very commonplace matters, no doubt, but very ne-
glected matters. They do not busy themselves as
yet with the more elaborate compositions of the great
masters ; they are content •to learn to walk before
they begin to run. When the time comes, if they
go on as they have begun, we shall hear what we
have never heard yet. In the meantime, they sing
the part-songs of Mendelssohn, and the glees and
madrigals of the old English composers, with a
steadiness, purity, and refinement which no other
society in London can match. Their forte is not a
shout, their piano is not a husky whisper ; we do not
shrink from a unison passage, and try to drive away
recollections of dissenting chapels. The programme
of the seventh concert, which took place last Thurs-
day, included Mendelssohn's noble chorale, " The
Triumph of Literature." Here occurs a magnificent
phrase in unison, one of those passages in
which Mendelssohn delighted, and the tone
WAS fine, absolutely fine. Is there another
choir in London of which we can say as
much ? We have got in some sort accustomed to
those three hundred and five hundred voices, and we
are to be hardened to twelve hundred and two thou-
sand; but listen attentively—is it singing? Is it
not shrieking, muttering, shouting, growling ? Is it
not anything but singing ? The reaction, of which
Mr. Leslie's choir is a most welcome sign, ought to
be hailed by every lover of music. The concert of
Thursday was an excellent one • besides the admi-
rable singing of the choir, there was Beethoven's
sonata for pianoforte and N iolin, by Miss Goddard
and Mr. Blagrove; Thalberg's arrangement of
" Home, sweet home," by the former ; and a fan-
tasia on airs from Verdi's Vepres Sic Menne', by the
latter. The room was crowded, and no wonder.

THE SACRED HARMONIC SOCIETY gave a perform-
ance of Mendelssohn's Hymn of Praise and Mozart's
Requiem yesterday evening, being the second this
season. The Hymn of Praise, it will be remem-
bered, was also a principal feature in the programme
of the first concert at St. James's.hall, so that this
one work of Alendelssohn's has been performed three
times to crowded audiences in little more than a
fortnight. The solo singing was of course heard to
better advantage in the smaller hall, and the
smaller orchestra was better adapted to the very in-
tricate and difficult movements of the introductory
symphony. The chorus•singetc at Exeter-hall, on
the other hand, were more thoroughly acquainted
with the music, and Mr. Costa puts a spirit into
everything he conducts which no one else can equal.
Mme. Castellan, Miss Ranks, and Mr. Sims Reeves
were the principal vocalists in the Hymn of Praise.,
and tho solo parts of the Requiem were assigned
to the same artists, assisted by Miss Dolby and Mr.
Thomas. Handel's Israel is Egypt is sanouneed
for Friciisy, the 23rd last,

tint 3 rts

347

THE SOCIETY OF FEMALE ARTISTS.—It 18 a deli-
cate thing to criticise ladies ; but as this society has
just opened its second exhibition, and seems deter-

1.T.11

mined to proceed, we suppose theta is nothing for

us but to get hardened to the work. We meet with

ladies in other exhibitions ; there are always a few,

but we are not bound to meddle with them. If we

cannot compliment, we may be silent and pass on ;
or, if we think ourselves now and then bound to
speak, it is a momentary pang and soon forgotten.
But to go into a gallery of ladies, make a minute
inspection, and then sit down and dissect them de-
liberately, one by one, is a very different matter—a
barbarous duty to be laid upon any man. But how
can we escape? The ladies form themselves into a
society, take rooms at the Egyptian-hall, print
catalogues, and elect their lady-secretary and lady-
keeper, and then send us cards of invitation. The
ladies request us to come and make remarks upon
them; can we refuse a lady's request? The
exhibition contains about one hundred and fifty oil-
paintings, rather more than two hundred and fifty
drawings in chalks and water-colours, and some
twenty pieces of sculpture. There are also nearly
one hundred copies from the old masters
in various styles. Landscapes, flowers, and
fruit are the favourite subjects; a few rustic
figures and domestic sketches are contri-
buted ; but portraits are few, and historical paint-
ings fewer still. " The Bath," No. 47, is one of Mrs.
Ward's pretty nursery sketches, well-drawn and
brightly coloured, the expression true, if not very
forcible. Miss Fox sends a portrait in oils of the
late M.P. for Oldham, and another in chalks of Miss
Dorah Roberts, both boldly drawn and full of cha-
racter. "My Rustic Admirer," by the same lady, is a
very clever little sketch ; the attitude of the boy as
he leans sheepishly against the doorway, and stam-
mers out, " I've brought you some flowers, Minus,"
is happily caught. Mrs. Robbinson's " Othello and
Desdemona" is commonplace, but carefully painted;
and " The Morning Star of Memory," by Mrs. Back-
house, is a graceful drawing of a lady in Greek cos-
tume with a star on her forehead. We do not pro-
fess to be able to explain the exact meaning of the
composition, and the stanza inserted in the cata-
logue, we are ashamed to say, has not enlightened
us ; nevertheless it is a pretty picture. Mrs. Car-
penter gives ns a bold, rough portrait of Dr. Arnett,
and a clever, though rather slovenly, water.colcrar
drawing of " A Contrabandista." The Spanish and
Italian peasants by Mrs. Murray are some of the
best figure-pieces in the room. The saucy, handsome
girl in the "Shopdoor in Rome," and the careless,
ruffianly-looking fellow who is sitting on the corner of
the table, are both full of national character ; but the
attitude of the " Spanish Girl at Prayer" is hardly a
possible one—the figure could not be bent so far
forward without support. " The Peak of Teneriffe;'
by the same artist, is a very singular
landscape, full of strangely bright colours : it bears
some marks of truth about it, but the hardness of
the clouds and the sharpness of the distant hills are
not much like nature. The " Poacher in Embryo,"
by Miss Adelaide Burgess, is a boy with a bird's
nest in his cap and a whole string of eggshells in his
hand. He has a pretty faoe, and must be a very ex-
pert climber not to have torn his clothes in the least
or scratched his bands at all. Miss Stoddart's four
landscapes will attract the attention of most people
on entering the room. They are painted with eem-
siderable confidence, and show a practised head ;
but the colouring is so nearly alike in all, the
character of the rocks and trees and the play of light
and shade so nearly the same, that on a closer in•
spection we rather doubt their truth. The endless
variety there is in nature must show itself in the
works of all who paint what they see. The
" Gypsies' Haunt," by Miss Sarah Linnell, is quite
in the family style. The colours and forms of the
trees are well contrasted; but it is rather roughly
painted, and will not bear too near an examination :
it was well worth a little more labour. Miss Sewell
has two views of Edinburgh, somewhat in the
manner of Callow; and Miss Isabella Jones has
made a very free and picturesque drawing of some
Old Houses in Rouen." Flower and fruit pieces
are very numerous; Mrs. Rimer's "Rhododendrons "
and Mrs. Bartholomew's " Autumn Fruit " are among
the best. Miss Lance has something of her father's
skill in grouping; but colour and finish are necessary
to make this class of pictures attractive, and these
she has yet to acquire. We must not omit to men-
tion Mrs. Withers' beautifal study of " Winter
Berries," and Miss Charlotte James's "Chrysan-
themums from the Temple Gardens," which, as well
as her " Autumn Gatherings," is composed with the
most exquisite taste. In the sculpture Mrs. Thorny-
croft, el course, holds the first place, but a atatne of
Robin Hood, by Miss Ihlnint. bs considorsl4
&Wit.

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