The Sun.
London, England, 1864-06-10 00:00:00

The Charity Children at St, Paul's.

This most interesting of festivals—all idea of
abolishing which seems now, happily, at an end—
took place yesterday morning, as usual, under the
dome of the Cathedral. The attendance was more
enormous than even on previous occasions. Often
as the scene has been wit nessei it is always new and
always exciting. To enter into a fresh description
of it, however, would be wholly superfluous. Enough
that the general arrangements, superintended by
Mr Arthur S. Newman, festival architect, to which
inventive genius in a great measure London owes
a sight to which no other city in the world can offer
a parallel, were on the accustomed scale of grandeur
and completeness—indeed, in almost every parti-
cular, the same as have elicited wonder and delight
at former anniversaries. The 4,000 children were
seated as comfortably as though there bad been only
400 to accommodate, and presented to the eye of the
lookeraon a spectacle as orderly and unconfused as
it was incomparably picturesque.

That there was full Cathedral service with anthems,
&c., accompanied not merely by the organ, bat, in
the full pieces, by brass instruments and drums
(Messrs. f. Harper, Macfarlane, Irwin, Phasey, and
Chipp), to aid in preserving the balance of sound—
which where so vast and comparatively untutored a
congregation of singers is engaged, might otherwise
be seriously imperilled—it is scarcely requisite to
add. But when such an officer as Mr Goss,
the able and respected organist of St. Paul's
Cathedral, is at the head of affairs, and at his
side Mr George Cooper (of St. Sepulchre's and
Christ Church) his intelligent and talented
deputy, it may
be taken for granted that the
musical part of the ceremony will leave nothing to
desire. Mr Goss is generalissimo on this impos-
ing field-day ;Mr George Cooper—whose assistance
in drilling the army of youthful vocalists for the
annual grand display is so invaluable to Vicar-
Choral H. Buckland (conductor)—the chief of his
staff. Under their presiding care all is pretty sure
to go well. These zealous gentlemen work together
in advance, and share the post of organist—some-
times playing separately, sometimes (as in the
"Hallelujah") together—on the day. It would be
very difficult to replace them.

Prayers were intoned by the Rev. B. M. Cowie,
and Lessons were read by the Rev. J. V. Povah—
minor canons in the cathedral. The choir—com-
posed of singers belonging to St. Paul's, with dele-
gates from St. George's Chapel (Windsor), Temple
Church, Westminster Abbey, Chapel Royal (St
James's), &e.—was nearly 80 strong; and upon its
component members, it may easily be understood,
devolved important duties. Mr. H. Buckland was
at his ordinary post, on an elevated rostrum within
sight of all the children, and in direct and well prac-
tised communication with the organist.
Again at this anniversary there was only one
change in the musical part of the service, and this a
change of little or no importance. That the chant
to the Psalms (45 and 46—" My heart is inditing a
good matter," and " God is our hope and strength")
should be no longer "Jones in D," is under any
circumstances a consolation. Not, however, that
much can be said for" Dr. Crotch in C," which was
substituted for it at the last anniversary, or for that
otber " Dr. Crotch in C" which was used yesterday,
and by which the choir, to judge by its occasionally
dragging, did not seem greatly inspired. To Dr.
Crotch, though a good musician, a thought of genuine
melody rarely occurred. We suppose that it is out of
the question to expect anything new in this direction.
The chant, however, is of little consequence when
compared with the anthem—the " To Deum" to suc-
ceed the first and the "Jubilate" to follow the second
Lesson. " ' Te Deum' and Jubilate,' as com•
posed in the key of A with the greater lizard (A major)
by William Boyce, Doctor in Musick,,ltuight fairly
be replaced by something else more modern, and
(their merits not denied) more interesting. That
Dr. Boyce bequeathed a valuable legacy to the
library of Church music is unquestionable ; never-
theless his Te Deum and Jubilate, written for the
Coronation of George 111., are out of date. They
have done good service; but not being composed of
the same imperishable stuff as the Coronation
Anthem of Handel (for George II.), they have be-
se a familiar expression—" aged." Why
set them aside ? Mr. Goss—one of the
nc
mostbe-
come--louse
e—o
le
then,
at
runed and accomplished musicians we pos-
sess—woulds sllrelyti find a pleasure in enriching; at
one a
n same d
theme, his art and the resources of
the Cathedral to which he belongs, with some com-
positions from his pen. His anthem for the funeral
of the " Great Duke" is one of the most solemn and
impressive pieces of Church music this age has pro-

duced; his eight-part anthem (" Lift thine eyes"),
for the celebration of the Festival of the Epiphany,
at the Chapel Royal, is one of the most ingenious.
These anthems are pure an i unadulterated, void of
" exhibitionary" harmony and " sensation" points
—genuine Church music, in a word. Besides, ii
Mr. Goss can write for the festivals of the Sons of
the Clergy, why not for the anniversary meetings of
the children under the dome of St. Paul's? It is
his prerogative and, we may add, his duty. Bat
to begin from the beginning—the 100th Psalm—
: thatv‘o ul d dearhave Old
said Hundredth," All
people that on earth do
dwell")—was sung by the children, girls and boys,
more glorious than ever. Such a sonorous, massive,
etaeastvoeufnredmedththeeepyleasceidf
genial
unison
Haydn,
syodnh iaghhdt wellhre gh
ha have
that indefatigable searcher after overwhelming
" effects,"M. Hector Berlioe—Haydn's very anti-
with deference—have
anti-
podes. It would—to speak
given poor Meyerbeer an idea for a new Benediction
of Swords. In its particular sphere there is nothing
music never uttered so
likemue
h it. w
th Themleaanhge
eg e
simple,
ple. What could more
prepare the mind for the
earnest
tly saeertvoefthapnratyheis to r
p
The Hundredth Psalm
could never be omitted from this festival, nor could
a hope be entertained of finding anything more
solid, majestic, and, at the same time, devotional,
than the work of Thomas Tallis—Elizabettes com-
poser and organist—for the Preces and _Responses
—a solid rock of harmony, as has been justly said,
against which the waves of time may beat in vain for
ever. This man's feeling for harmony—although
he lived long before Purcell, for whom so many
apologies on the plea of antiquity have been ima•
gined—must have been extraordinarily profound,
seeing what he has done with means so scanty, how
richly he has clad a "plain-song" of so few notes.
To the Chant and the Anthems sufficient allusion
splendid Corona-
g"--137 years old,
Nathan, the
teiaeshbAerthmemat.„
Anthem--" Lade);,
the
eanpdriest,
and
column might be
yetpr o ph
stillt,
ya
onuo
ni rgt eadu
dS ovl
gmoorno u Ks ian
written. The stately " perambulation," which so
nobly ushers in the chorus, was admirab.y played
by Messrs. Goss and George Cooper, notwithstand-
ing acertain refractory
occasionally
persist than was set
down for it, as if to show that even organs are in
a; s
sable); more
~ which would
i
some degree influenced by hot weather. The rest
was to match. The parts of the United Choirs was
in e
done to a wish; while the children, in the unison
passages allotted to them—such, to cite one striking
instance, as the pompous phrase, " May the King
live for ever"—covered their infant brows with well.
earned laurels. The effect was indescribable.
George 11. was, indeed, a fortunate monarch in
finding a Haudelto immortalize his corenation. The
innovation suggested and carried out by Mr. Goss,
which last year rfforded such universal satisfaction
—viz., that of sutstituting for the 113th Psalm (4. Ye
saints and servans of the ) Lord"e, which was wont
to precede the sermon, the superb and imaginative
chorale which farms a climax to the impressive
scene of Saul's conversion, in the oratorio of " St.
Paul," was happily repeated ; and it is to be hoped
that, for a lorg time at least, Mendelssohn's
" Sleepers awake" may be retained as part of the
musical service on these highly interesting occa-
sions. It was, on the whole, perhaps, even more
admirably perfcrmed than last year. The passage,
" Hallelujah! awake I—His kingdom is at hand"—
with the slowly ascending scale up to F sharp; the
superb interludes that divide each section of the
chorale from that which follows—the trumpets
penetrating, clear and shrill, through the waves of
harmony that rushed from the stupendous pipes of
the organ; the grand sumined unison on every
vocal r bruse,were alike impressdve and soul-moving.
In short, it may be taken for granted that Men-
delssohn having once got into St. Paul's Cathedral,
it will not be very advisable, or very easy, to turn
him out again. Pity that ho did not live to do
something expressly for the children's unison, in
combination with the harmony of the choir and the
instrumental accotnpanitnrnts ut disposal. After
the sermon, preached by the Lord Bishop of Ripen,
who took for his text chap. 17, verse 17, Gospel of
Sr. John—" Sanctify them through Thy word ;
Thy word is truth"---there was, as usual, for the
children, the Ist and 4th verses of the 104th Psalm
(" My soul praise the Lord") the tune of which--
whether by Dr. Croft, or by Handel, or by neither,
is a very fine one. Last, and greatest of all, came
the sublime "Hallelujah," from an oratorio which,
founded on the sublimest of possible subjects, is all
sublimity—the "Messiah:. To the chiidren, as on
the last occasion, Was
assigned a more important
share of this than used to be the case, which, it
must be owned—although the time of the chorus is
taken necessarily slower than would otherwise be
the case—rendered the the more
performance all
impressive. To dwell on minor points would be
superfluous; but it is impossible not to allude to
the magnificent unison in " The Lord God omnipo-
tent reigneth " to the finely subdued delivery of
nely
the phrase, " The kingdom of this world is become
the kingdom of Our Lord;" and to the astonish-
ing effect of the slowly rising scale, from D to
G—" King of Kings; Lord of Lords,"—which,
amid reiterated shouts of responsive " Hallelujahs,"
brings back the subject e
Wita such overpowering
majesty. Nothing could be steadier in time or
better in tune.

day;
a 4
It has been remarkedfrtebat the anniversary meet-
ingl of the children is frequently held on the Ascot
Cup a
y'
the Sons of the Clergy is
on tnh
that the effect of this
g
is in souse roeusure prejudicial. No
doubt, it keeps away man—
y noble and rich families
who might otherwise patronise these festivals, and
liberally aid them with
arrangement
enl Derby jestnt a a y that ;of
donations. Their Royal
Highnesses, the Prince and Princess of Wales too—
who knows P—might be induced to attend. The
expenses of the scaffolding and other preparations
are very considerable—amounting to more than
£5OO ; and notwithstanding a new regulation of the
Society of Patrons, which admits of the sale of
tickets at 10s. for the north, and
at 58, for the south
door, the amount contributed Yesterday at these
only 2909 while at the
-- Much as £213 was
obtained. The advisability of restorin—
ehxacmi übslievre a
aeuntthreainv
ec
se
ts
ewnatrsance as
:hilivtehdovvnee:tahcearne Was a short
Es- the rehear-
sals, at which the friends.and relations of the chil-
been suggested ;
and we think reasonably. The vergers, who used
resumption.
eheor
sreneuvrut
service,
anwepu:sete
iwrdoenni admittedsot.ihnaeaLe
without
seloor n
impedimentr6,
received
a a
also
to profit by these rehearsals (which
have been
pensation, and
as ill as it
the design
Hill to b
stohuen
polited s
atten-
tion
not least—.when
of which, we are
Messrsloarngga-nwbaunitletdbycase
who act for the Committee
informed, has been for sonde time completed, and
ally of Mr
w h which c
ofh
the without it
gentlemenlooks
to acknowledge
P. J. Fuller, who
to the choir, and
whose zeal is only equalled h 1 his affAbi ity.—
Times.
superintendsof WP ae trhoanvse a
againnadl all es
matters

CURIOSITIES OF COMMERCE.--When free trade
was still in the future we were often told how round.
tariffs
bend y which hostile tagoods to their desti-
aye its marvels. During
desti-
nation. ba ot
iuo sometimesabout
. andFreecompelle
d trade
t wereomerchants
aoyt
ohs
the last ten days several cargoes of wheat, arriving atLiverpool
from San Francisco, have been at once despatched to Mel-
bourne; that being, in the present state of the markets of
the two countries the destination most likely to retu. n a profit,
and there is now lying at New York a cargo of hemp which
was shipped from Manilla to New York, was on its arrival
there sent to Liverpool, and on its arrival in Liverpool was
sent back to New York. It is now under orders to return
to Liverpool, and it is quits within the range of possibility
that a further change of price may cause it to be again sent
to New York. These are not common cases, and ocean
telegraphs will make them rarer than they are, but they
are remarkable.