The Express.
London, England, 1862-03-14 00:00:00

WINDSOR CAME, NA= l&

Her Majesty drove oat yesterday afternoon in an
open carriage, ecconipanied by the Crown Princes. of
Prussia (Priem. Royal), sad the Prisons Helena. Colonel
the Hon. A. N. Hood at as bareback

Sir George Cornewall Lewis arrh-sd at the Castle yester
day. and had an audience of her Majesty.
The Queen, accompanied by the Princess Alice, took a
drive to-day is an open carriage. Colonel the Hon. A. N.
Hood attended on horseback.

It mut erroneously stated th►t the Queen rods on Tues-
day.

A depotatioe from the Needlewomen's lostitatios bed en
interview with the Right Hoe. Sir George Comma Lewis
00 Wediusday at the War-office.
Despatches were received at the Colonial-office yeatenlay
from the govereors of Ileligoleod and the Mauritius. De-
@patches were emit to the 'overeat. of Canada.

The Marchioness of Dovrnehire gave a dancing
party La.tevening at the family tuansios is Belanivraquira.

The Kiri and Couuteea of Clarendon have ar-
rived at their residence in Grosvenor-erescent !rota Tbs
Grove, Lear Watford. The Ladies Villiers are on a visit
to Lord and Luly Skelmersdale, at Latham /louse, Lan-
cashire.

The Earl aod Countem Somers have arrived at
that rennin* at Prison-gate frau Eagan Cast* Hem
fordshira, for tlate seams.

Lortnierrier has arrived at Thomas's Hotel,
Ilarkeley square, from Ereriagbazu Park, Yorkshins.

A large awl influeutiAl 'meeting was held at Tavi-
sloth cm Theoday eveniog, foe the purpose at taking mew
soon for erecting a memorial to the late Doke of Bedford.
Au influential committee was appointed to consider the
farm of memorial to bs adapted, and to report to another
public meeting.

A meeting of the College Hietorical Society took
place on Wednesday evening in the diniog.liall of Trinity
College, Dublin. 'The Right floe. Joseph Napier, ez-Lord
Chancellor, presidest of the society, occupied the chair.
The subject of debate war, " Whether the abolition of the
Viceroyalty of Ireland would be a wise measure." Speakers
having been heard on both aides, on a division, the affirms-
Uwe of the question was carried by a majority of 12 to 4.
The prevident expremed his concurrence in the decision ar-
rived at by the majority.
. . .

Mr. Hansard ou Monday will bring iu a bill to
meal the laws relstiog to charitable donations and bequests
is Ireland.

Sir Edwaril Grogan on Monday will abk the Chief
Secretary for IreLod, "If be intend.' to bring forward a
I,llh ,luring the present session, for making the reputed
fathers of illegitimate children in Ireland responsible for
the maintenance of such children."

Atnoug tho passengers ou board the French ship
Descartes, which arrived at Alexandria on the sth, were
Mgr. Mouly, Bishop of Pekin, seven missiossry priests,
sad fifteen sisters of charity for the service of • European
hospital to he foes led at Pekio. The sisters have been also
authorised by Prime Koss, the regent of China, to found
in the capital • dispensary for poor I !biome,. and they carry
with them for that purpose • complete stock of medica-
ments sod other necesatry articles. Mgr. Mouly, the priests,
sad the sisters will embark at Suez on board • vessel of war,
which is to take them to the Bay of Petchili, where • gun.
►eat will be in waiting to take them op the Pei-Ho to Tien-
Tiring, about twenty-five miles from Pekin.

A New York correspondent says :—" Standing
seer me at the enmities et Captain Gordon to-dav was
Edwin James, the celebrated criminal lawyer of England.
He Is getting peeks! in Mr criminal matters. James said it
wee one of the moat delightful allocutions he had ever at•
tended, and what seemed to surprise him the moat was this
feet—that none but gentlemen were present. There were
not over 50 parser's present besides the soldiers of the United
Stake Marino."

MUSIC.

M& uNowars LECTURE&
Last night, at the Marylebone Institution, Mr.
Henry John Lincoln delivered the first of two lectures
"On the Operatic Overture, from its origin to the present
time." Mr. Lincoln bail long been highly distinguished as
• musical lecturer, a vocation for which he is pre-eminently
qualified from his thorough knowledge of the art in all its
branches, his greet talents as a prnatMal muician, and his
attainments as a man of letters. Of late years he seemed to
have 'retired from a field in which be has had m•ay followers,
but no rivals, and it give* us satisfaction to find that he has
now returned to it. His lectures have always been lectures
in reality, and not mere pretexts (u musical lectures often
are) for an inferior sort of concert. They are discourses
on topics connected with the art, full of interest and instruc-
tion, and the music introduced by way of illustration,
thoogh often highly pleasing, is strictly calculated for its
purpose—the elucidation of the subject.
The Operatic Overture is, one might at first be inclined to
think, • narrow subject ; but it is not so, and in the way in
which it is treated by Mr. Lincoln it might furnish mat-
ter for • longer course of lectures than he is giving.
The origin and progress of the operatic overture involves the
origiaand progress of the opera Resit. Mr. Lincoln last
night carried us back to the beginning of the seventeenth
watery, when the musical drama, in its first rode form,
amp in Italy, and when the overture was nothing more than
• few trivial chords struck by the simple orchestra of that
day, merely for the purpose of calling attention to the per-
formance about to brgin. It was not in Italy that the
overture first acquired may musical importance, but in
Franco, where the its rumental preludes to Lulli's operas
were found so inimmiting that they served as models to all
the dramatic communal that age, not excepting Handel
himself. Mr. Lincoln's fat Illustrations were the over-
tures to Ladles Phaeton end Handers Binaldo, simple
compositions, wasintlag of a brief slow move-
ment and • fugue, both out in the same mould,
but showing Handers superiority in masterly coun-
terpoint. It was still in France that further progress con.
tinned to be made. Eamesu—ones one el the greatest

Dm in unwind Winery, though •ow almost toriotien—

introduced greeter bolder end freedom of style, es Mr.
Lincoln showed by the performance of one of his overtures.
But it was not till the time of Gluck that the overture be•

came what it is now, a real prelude, expressing by ward.
patios the feelinp and puler excited by the drama.
As an lila...tutus of this Yr. Limoln gave the overture
to Glades Abate, in which the tender and pathetic &ame-
bic of the risco is dimly expressed. Still, the old forma
were partially preserved, till Nowt appeared and struck
into ma entirely new path of dramatic oompositkm, throw*
his overtures into forms undreamed of by say of his prede-
cessors. To show this, Mr. Lincoln took the overture to
Figaro, exceeding in gaiety the opera to which it is the pre-
lude ; sad the overture to the Ander/kite, that marvellous

combination of the most scholastic tonna of art with the
utmost freedom and boldness. Continuing Ida narrative, and
paring cursorily over several minor composers, Ilr. Lincoln
gave further specimens of progress from theworks of Milani,
Cherabini, and Beethoven ; concluding with a performaeoe
of the Let•named composer's overture to Leonora, the third
and greatest which he wrote for the opera now known by
the title of lidelio.

In this meagre outline of Mr. Lincoln's lecture, given tn
our own words, we have not attempted to reproduce his
lucid and often eloquent language, his just and excellent
remarks and criticisms. The overtures introduced as ilium-
tratioes were performed on two splendid grand pieces of
Broadwood'a, by the lecturer and Yr. Adolph Kies, a well.
known and OriliWWIS young pianist. The arrangements from
the full score were made by Yr. Lincoln himself,
we believe, with great skill and judgment ; and the
admirable execatiou of both performers preserved
le a ressarkable degree the ,isteetime of the eximpoesrs.
There is no way, indeed, in which a great orchestra can be
so well represseted as by two performers:on two pianofortes.
It is the same way (to use Mr. Lincoln's own illustration)
at a psiatieg is repreaseted by a fine engraving. The
colouring is sot there, but there is everything
sise—form, light sad sheds, coestruction, grouping,
and expressive. Avid leased there is ones, in
this kind of performs's, a closeness, precision, and
clearness of hammy, which it is surely possible to obtain
from a multitude of instruments. Accordingly the effect
el some of the pieces—especially the overtures to Figaro, We
.Irewiorfiagg, —4 Za..norsa -wee deligtatial. sad we las • e
seldom beard than fine oompositioes more warmly ap-
plauded whim they were played by • full orchestra.

Mx. limaolaba utiila,ide fish' before him is Meat*

as be 'neat do, of the Inas of the most modern composes.,
the Itoriais, Webers, Meyerbeers, Spobm, Mendelseohns,
and Auer' of our own day ; and his second lecture, thew
fete, promisee to be at least as interesting as his Ant,

ROYAL ENGLISH OPIS.A.-311. HAZIIIBOIIII,
Bran.—We wish to remind ant Moil modem that Mr.
Herne= has his benefit toreatrew even*. _ The enter-
tainment& are very attractive, of,ißalfe's gay and
beilluiot opera, The Rose of Castilla and a new operetta
entitled Court sad Cottage, said to be of much merit.
Mr. Benison well deserves public favour and support, not
only as an exoellent performer, but am a spirited, judicious,
sadliberal manager, who bee done more them soy other
individual of our day in raising the fallen fortunes of the
English musical stage. if wows will compare for a moment
the present state of our 21/61111101 apses with what it was a
few years ago, he will at aaatputasive how much the public
is indebted Wale Mao awl exerlioas of llr. Harrison.