The Sun.
London, England, 1863-09-15 00:00:00

'--,

N°. 22,220.

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 15, 1863.

3,.ZEIV NOVEL BY MRS. THOMSON.
Now ready at all the Libraries, in 3 vols.,
E X 'r D 0 0 R.
By Mrs. THOMSON,
Author of "Constance." Sze.
Hurst and Blackett, 13, Great Marlborough-street.

Naval and Military Intelligence.

tested by firing a double-proof service charge, of
361 b. of powder, and a cylinder gradually in-
creased in size. The gun was fired upwards of
100 rounds without manifesting the slightest
signs of giving way, and burst at the 107th round.
The result is considered exceedingly favourable, and
has been reported accordingly to the War Depart-
ment. A number of cast-iron service guns have
been consequently placed at Capt. Palliser's dis-
posal, to bo bored and altered in accordance with
his principle, and to be similarly tested at the
Arsenal proof butt at Woolwich. Capt. Palliser,
it appoars, has for many years applied himself to
'he study of cast iron ordnance. His plan consists
in removing a portion of the existing metal from
the interior of the gun and inserting a combination
of steel and iron tubes in such a manner as to re-

restoration of which have made rapid progress, under the
superintendence of Mr. T. D. Barry (surveyor to the Coun-
cil of the city of Norwich and architect to the Corporation),
since the last festival. The building itself—aptly designated
as a "noble structure in the perpendicular style of archi-
tecture, with some parts of earlier date"—has mere than once
been fully described in reports of the music-meetings. What
has recently been effected in the way of restoration may be
seen by the subj 3ined extract from the official description,
prepared by Mr. Barry :—" The roofs have been entirely
stripped, thoroughly repaired, and covered with new

THE NAVY.
VALETTA, Sept. 9.—Her Majesty's screw frigate
Phoebe, 35, Capt. T. D. A. Fortescue, went out of
port on the 7th inst. to try her engines, and returned
the same afternoon. She left a few hours afterwards
for Athens with a mail and the despatches received by
the overland mail from Marseilles for the Com-
mander-in-Chief. The Queen, 76, Captain C. F,
Hillyar, will take up the next mail, on the 14th, and
the Foxhound, 4, Commander W. H. Anderson,
the following one of the 21st inst. The Queen will
also convey stores and provisions for the fleet. This
ship, which has been so long expecting to be sent
home, is to remain on the station another three
months. A court-martial was held on the sth inst.

Wi MRS. GREY'S NEW NOVEL.
On Friday, in 3 vols.,
GOOD SOCIETY.
By MI IS. GREY,
Author of " The Gambler's Wife," &c.
Hurst and Binh:at, Publishers, 13, Great Marlborough-
str:et.

lead. The internal decorations of the roof have a very

ight and elegant effect; the panels are coloured deep

blue, filled in with gold stars ; the hollow moulded parts
of the timbers are coloured bright vermilion ; those form-

MR. HOSKINS' NEW WORK ON EGYPT.
Just ready, in Bvo., with Illustrations, 11s.,
A-WINTER IN UPPER AND LOWER
EGYPT. By G. A. HOSKINS, Esq., F.it.G.S.,
Author of " Travels in Ethiopia," " Spain As it Is," &c.
Hurst and Blackett, 13, Great Marlborough-street.

[ng the arched ribs of the roof, and those surrounding the

cletestory windows, being ornamented with gilt flowers
at stated distances ; and the lower members of the

arch ribs being coloured alternately dark and oak colour
in a spiral form, to develope its rounded character. 'I he de-

on board her Majesty's ship Hibernia, in Malta har-
bour, to try W. B. Calder, Royal Marine Light In-
fantry, of the Phoebe, on a charge of having de-
serted from the said ship on or about the 13th

lieve the outer cast-iron case from all strain,
whereby the gun acquires all the advantages of the
present wrought iron ordnance. Capt. Palliser, it
is understood, maintains the principle that steel and
wrought-iron tubes of limited thickness can be so
inserted into cast-iron skins or outer portions of the
existing service guns to relieve the structure from
all strain, and that only a small portion of the gun
is required to resist explosion, the remaining por-
tion being useful merely to prevent recoil. Several
guns are being prepared on Capt. Palliser's plan,
and, should the issue of further experiments be such
as to establish more fully the correctness of his
theory, the cast-iron guns now in store in vast num-
bers may be utilised with economy and advantage.

T" ox.FORD,
6, OXFORD STREET, W. _

- -
THIS EVENING, will be performed Operatic Selections
from Sir Henry R. Bishop's THE SLAVE and Halevy's
MUSKETEERS (first time in England).
Principal Artistes—Miss Russell; Miss Ellison, Messrs.
Green, Bernardi, Huish, &c., with full band and chorus.

of December, 1862. The Court was composed of
the following officers :—Capt. C. F. Hillyar, of the
Queen, President; Capt. T. A. B. Spratt, C. 8., of
the Medina ; Commander It. B. Harvey, of the
Hibernia ; Commander W. H. Anderson, of the Fox-
hound; and Commander H. B, Woollcombe, of th€
Queen. W. H. Fitz Patrick, Esq., R.N., officiAting
Judge-Advocate. Capt. T. A. D. Fortescue, of
the Phoebe, prosecuted. The Court found the pri-
soner not guilty of desertion, but guilty of ab-
sence without leave, and in consideration of the
high testimonials produced, only adjudged him to
be placed at the bottom of the list, there to remain
for two years, and to be dismissed his ship. Her
Majesty's ship Growler, 2, tender to the surveying
ship Medina, Capt. T. A. B. Spratt, C. 8,, left
Malta harbour on the 3d inst., for Sicily, under the
command of Mr. J. Stokes, RN., Master of the
Medina. Her Majesty's gunboat Boxer is to be
sent to the Piraeus, in charge of Lieut. F. S. D.
Broughton, of the Queen, for particular service, to
carry despatches and telegrams between the Piraeus
and Syra, &c, _

three of large size, and the aisles having each three of

Conductor, Mr. F. Jonghmans.
Flute Solos by Drew Dean &C.
Comic, by UNSWORTH (" or any oi,her man "), Eugene,
W. Randall, A. Lloyd, and George Hodson.
Also, a Pei tormance by Herr SCHALKENBACH on his
wonderful instrument, the PIANO ORCHESTRE, contain-
ing a full baud of 40 instruments.
The HALL has just been newiy.Decorated and Ventilated,
and is one of the most Beautiful in the Metropolis.
Open at 8 o'clock. Admission, ed. ; stalls and balcony, ls. ;
private boxes, 10s. 6d•

CANTERBURY HALL " GHOST."—In order
to gratify the curiosity of nightly-increasing crowds,
Mr. C. MORTON has transferred the representation of Pro-
f ebsor Pepper and Henry Dirks, Esq.'s, world-famed spectral
Illusion, " THE (41106 T," from the ricture Gallery to the
Concert Hall, where a new and elegant stage is erected,
affording
a more ample view of the Illusion from Stalls, Bal-
of.the ll.all. e has also arrawred for Mr.
conand ba d y
Ay,. Silvester to give
provements and efl. (with all that gentleman'tilatest hn-
ects), REPRESENTATIONS EACH
EVENING, at Ten o'clock.

NORWICH MUSICAL FESTIVAL.

NORWICH, Sept. 14.

The 14th triennial festival, in aid of the principal charities
in the county of Norfolk and city of Norwich, begins this
evening with a grand performance of Handel's " Judas
MacceLmls. "The Jewish Oratorio," as it has been called

All the other Musical and Pictorial attractions as usual,
including Operatic Selections, &c. ; IJusworth (the modern
Demosthenes), Eugene, Arthur Lloyd, George Hodson, &c.

—in consequence of the great favour it at one time enjoyed
with the Jews,who recognized in the book the elements of a
national story, and in the hero one of the greatest captains
and deliverers of their often oppressed nation—is well
chosen for Monday evening, the single occasion of which a
large number of very worthy people who cannot meet the
high prices charged for the subsequent performances on
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, morning and
evening, and whose business occupations render it virtually
impossible for them to attend in the morning, are able to
avail themselves. The prices of admission for Monday
night—half a guinea to the reserved seats in the Patron's
Gallery,and 58. to the unreserved seats in area and galleries
—are, it must be allowed, still a little too high, the main
object of this preliminary concert being kept in view.
The present meeting bids fair to be one of the most in-
teresting on record, and let us hope, for the sake of the ad-
mirable charities on behalf of which the triennial festival
was instituted, it may also be one of the most productive.
It would be a great advantage if the use of the splendid old
cathedral, the pride and ornament of the East Anglian
capital, could be obtained for the morning oratorios ; but that
favour is ineyorably denied by the ecclesiastical authori-

ARGYLL ROOMS, Windmill-street, Piccadilly.
These elrfrant Rooms are NOW OPEN for the Winter
Season. They have been entirely redecorated.
Musical Director, Mons. Jullien, of monster concerts cele-
brity. The band is selected from the Crystal Palace, the
Italian Operas, and the Household Troops of her Majesty.

The paddlewheel steam yacht Salamis, 835 tons,
250 horse-power, fitting at Chatham for special
service, took on board at the dockyard yesterday
one 40. pounder and one 9-pounder Armstrong gun,
together with the usual supply of shot and shell.
She is being rapidly completed for sea, but no
orders have yet been received at the dockyard as to
the particular service on which she will be
employed.
The drawings and plans for Mr. Reed's new iron
frigate Bellerophon, proposed to be constructed at
Chatham, have been prepared by the draughtsmen
at that dockyard from the designs sent down from
the office of the chief constructor at Whitehall, in
readiness for the immediate commencement of that
vessel on the completion of the Achilles, which
occupies the same dock at Chatham as that in which
the new iron frigate is intended to be built. In
the construction of the Bellerophon several impor-
tant improvements will be introduced by Mr. Reed,
the result of the experience acquired during the
progress of the Achilles, Research, and other iron
ships of war now building. The thickness it is pro-
posed to make the sides of the Bellerophon
has not yet been determined, the Admiralty
awaiting the result of some experiments which
are to be made upon a target constructing
by the Millwall Ironworks Company before
this is finally decided upon. The target which
is new under construction is formed of 10in. iron

•
Doors open at 8 o'clock.
Admission, ls.

Manager—M. GRENET.

ROYAL ALHAMBRA PALACE. The
G-HOST ! The Polish Giantess, Countess Demolnth,
will be introduced in the Ghost illusion this Week—The
beautiful FAIRY FOUNTAIN--Grand Divertissement by
Twenty young Ladies—Operatic Selections, by 31 is s 31`Gregor,
Mr. Albert, Vernon Rigby, and Signor Georgini—Band and
Chorus of 60 Performers.
First appearance of RAPHAEL DE SOLLAS. the Infant
Tenor, and LANGLOIS VELOCIIIAN, the Great Indian
Juggler, THIS DAY (MONDAY).

'ROYAL ALHAMBRA PALACE. Great
Musical Attraction —lmmense success of SIGNOR.
ICOSIA, the eminent Violinist, who will appear Every
Evening.

ties, although while the Bishop of Norwich, as before.
withholds both his influence and name from the proceedings,
the Dean, Archdeacon, and four Canons are conspicuous
among a list of vice-presidents upwards of 70 strong. It is
consoling,at any rate,to know that the Church is not wholly
unrepresented. The president of the festival is the Earl of
Leicester, Lord-Lieutenant of the county ; the patrons are
the Queen, the Prince and Princess of Wales, the Duchess,
the Duke, and the Princess Mary of Cambridge ; and
Lord Suffield is chairman of the general committee of
management, which, with the sub-committee, numbers
about GO noblemen and gentlemen. In short, not one of
our great festivals is more powerfully represented, if a pro-
fusion of distinguished names from the highest ranks of
society count for anything, It is to be wished that on this
occasion there may be something in " a name," something,
indeed, in more than a name; for it must be borne in mind
that the Norwich Festival, like that of Birmingham, de-
pends entirely on the profits declared in the balance-sheet
of the hon. treasurer (Mr. J. F. Blake), added to such do-
nations as the wealthy are inclined to bestow—there being
no collections at the door =, as at the meetings of the Three
Choirs. The number of charitable institutions which de-
rive benefit from these very costly and responsible under-
takings, and the gross amount of the sums received by each
respectively, at various periods, from 1824 to 1860 (the date
of the 13th and last festival), inclusive, may be seen in the
following table :
Norfolk and Norwich Hospital ..
West Norfolk and Lynn Hospital

SSPECTACLES.--The Patent Newly-invented
Tinted Spectacles are patronised by the majority of the
Nobility, including- Viscount I'almerston.
. They afford extra-
ordinary relief to weak, dun, and detective vision.—S. and B
SOLOMON S, Opticians, 39, Albemarle-street, Piccadilly.

TEA.—MOORE BROTHERS respectfully inti-
mate that their New Prospectus is now ready. 'l hey
especially recommend their improved Family 'Pea, reduced
to 3s. 2d. ; Souchong, reduced to 3s. ed. ; mixed Assam, re-
duced to 3s. Bd. ; and the finest Assam, reduced from 48'. 4d.
to 3s. lid. per lb.
MOORE BROTHERS, 33, London-bridge, City, E.C.

frames, about 2ft. apart, covered first with iron
nearly 2in. thick, then with teak 12in. in thickness,
and finally with Gin. armour-plating. The utmost
confidence is entertained that this construc-
tion of sides will exceed in shot• resisting strength
every other system hitherto actually adopted in any
ship yet built, and should the proposed arrangement
be found to succeed on the occasion of the trial, the
Bellerophon will be built after the same manner
from stem to stern. The Admiralty have determined
to fit the Bellerophon with engines of the most
powerful description, in order that she may steam
at least 14 knots per hour, and this, coupled with
her enormous strength and her shot-resisting power,
will render her by far the most formidable of the
iron vessels yet constructed.
The whole of the remaining stores have now been
removed from Deal Dockyard to Chatham, Drepara•
tory to the yard being handed over to the parties
who have hired it of the Government for conversion
to a private shipbuilding establishment. Among the
stores landed at Chatham are some 50 anchors of all
sizes, from 105 cwt. to 40cwt. each, and these have
been tested and deposited in store in readiness for
reissue. Tho naval transport Aid is now at Dept-
ford, discharging a cargo of stores belonging to the
victualling department at Deal.
The whole of the armour-plates required for the
iron frigate Achilles, 6,079 tons, building at
Chatham, having been forwarded to that dockyard
by the Parkgate Ironworks Company, in ncenrcl.

.. £5,768 2 0
.. 795 0 0

Yarmouth llosidtal 770 0 0
Norwich Dispensary .. .. 387 7 0
Eve Infirmary .. .. 292 7 0
Blind Hospital 287 7 0
Sick Poor Society .. .. .. 230 0 0
Lying-in Charity .. 140 0 0
District Visiting Society .. .. 140 0 0
Shipwrecked Mariners' Association .. 105 0 0
Jenny Lind Infirmary .. 65 0 0
Benevolent Society for Decayed Tradesmen 50 0 0
National Lifeboat Association .. 30 0 0
Stanley Hom© . 40 .. 00 10 0 0

X 9,070 1 0

The Norfolk and Norwich Hospital further enjoys a per-
manent annual income of £75 from £9,500 Consols invested
after the first festival of 1824.

The zealous and intelligent Mr. R. Kerrison has seceded
from the post of hon. secretary to the festival, the duties of
which he performed so admirably ; but in revenge he con-
tiaues to prepare the literary descriptions of the pro-
grammes, which are more than usually full of information.
His place as hon. secretary is filled up by Mr. I. 0. Howard
Taylor, one of the most active members of the sub-com-
mittee.

That the musical arrangements will leave little to desire
the name of Mr. Benedict, director of all the performances,
is a warrant. The services rendered by this accomplished
musician since he was first appointed conductor have been
dwelt upon frequently, and are acknowledged far and wide
by none more emphatically, it should be stated, tkan by the
general committee of management, who, as is well known,
postponed the festival of 1351 to a year latter in consequence
of Mr. Benedict's absence with the then Mademoiselle Jenny
Lind in the then United States. Mr. Benedict has provided a
company of principal singers hardly to ba surpassed in effi-
ciency :—Sopranos, Mademoiselle Tietjens, Madame Lem•
mens Sherrington, Madame Weiss, and Miss Eleonora
Wilkinson ; contraltos, Mademoiselle Trebelli and Miss
Palmer ; tenors, Mr. Sims Reeves, Mr. Montem Smith, and
Signor Bettini ; barytone, Mr. Santley ; basses, Mr. Weiss
and Signor Rossi. The band consists of 14 first fiddles (prin-
cipals, Messrs. Blagrove and Sainton) ; 14 second fiddles
(principals, Messrs. Watson and Newsham) ; 11 violas
(principals, Messrs. H. Webb and Glanville) ; 9 violoncellos
(principal, M.Paque) ; 10 double basses (principals, Messrs.
Howell and Severn)-58 "strings," with the usual comple-
ment of wood and brass instruments, &c., represented by
eminent members of the London orchestras,—making in
all a thoroughly competent force of upwards of 80 players.
Messrs. Sainton, Blagrove, and Paque are each to perform
a solo at the evening concerts; and Mr. Harcourt, of Nor-
wich, will occupy his accustomed post as organist at the
oratorios in the morning, The chorus—comprising 76 trebles
60 altos, 64 tenors, and 75 basses—total, 275—is derived
from the usual local sources (including the cathedral choir),
with th e addition of some experienced singers from London,
Birmingham, Glocester, and elsewhere. The performances
of sacred music are as follows :—Tonight (Monday) "Judas
Maccalseus ;" Wednesday, the new sacred drama called
" Joash," composed expressly for the festival by Mr. Silas
(who will take the conductor's stick in his own hand), fol-
lowed by a scene from Mr. H. Leslie's " Immanuel," se-
lections from the various settings of the " Stabat Mater" by

ROYAL FREE HOSPITAL, Gray's-inn-road
in the immediate vicinity of the Great Noirtiern
way Terminus, at King's-cross.
Patron—The QUEEN.
President—The Duke of BUCCLEUCIT, K.G.
Treasurer—Edward Masterman, Esq.

This was the first hospital to introduce the principle of free
and instant admission to the destitute sick, without the for-
mality of governors' letters. It is entirely devoted to desti-
tution in its most pitiable form—viz., that which is accom-
panied by sickness and disease, and is now of sufficient
magnitude that,. with adequate support, it may be rendered
capable of admitting into its wards a very large proportion of
the casual sick of this great metropolis. It requires but the
funds in order to have 500 beds available for the reception of
these the most wretched of our fellow-creatures. Moreover,
it gratuitously affords medical advice and medicine to more,
on the average, than 3,000 out-patients a week.
The Weekly Board feel it their imperative duty to make an
EARNEST APPEAL to the public for continued support,
to enable them to admit and relieve the distressing cases that
daily present themselves.
Contributions are received by the Treasurer, Edward
Masierman, Esq., Nicholas-lane; also by Messrs. Coutts and
Co. ; Drummond and Co. ; Ilerries and Co.;Ransom and
aaCnno ; Prescott,d
ecoo..
wJones,i l
ar
Lso, Grote,yD Loyd
IndodnC,odao;n.
lioat.rh
oaryva
eyarnneend, and'dc o
Gurney,C; Co.
c;
uG
asl yno
Denisonn
d
Co. ; Nisbet and Co. ; Messrs. J. Earned and CO., Liverpool
and at the HospitaL

STANFORD S. SMITH Secretar

ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT
INSTITUTION
(Incorporated by Royal Charter).
PATRONESS-11CP Most Gracious Majesty the Queen.
rRESIDENT—VICE-AdMliiral the Duke of Northinnberland,
.G., F.R.S.
CHATTIMAN—Thos. Raring, Esq., M.P., F.R.S., p.p.
DEPUTY-CHAIRMAN—Thomas Chapman, Esq., F.R.S., p.p.
APPEAL.
The Committee of Management have to state that, since
the beginning of the year 1800, the Royai National Lifeboat
Inmtitution has expended £32,000 on various Lifeboat Estab-
lishments
has also
on the Coasts of England, Scotland, and Ireland.
The number of lives saved by the Life-boats of the
nnd4„:ictahretriai,ieesa,ns, since its formation, is 12,800;
2.r.,,' which servicer 3 8" Gold Medals, 718 Silver Medals, and
.:cei,egtiina cash have- been paid in rewards. The Institu-
Trans • "P ' .100 on Life-boats, Lie-boat
The Comte ' ended Xf 7
their sense of
the R. Committee desire to express grateful.
cross they have received from the
Brats] na,,, support which.
1 ' ''''' Jo d • I years, a support which
has enrabitd during the past few
and lloat-houses.
of ;^...5 ...ateboats on the shores of the United Kingdom
".. T. them to establish their resent magnificent fleet
Dr,eply kr,
--ns",lo, however, of the "mat' responsibility that
boats, whi ,1., can only be effected by a and
rests on them to maintain their fleet in a thorougnly efficient
state, and i• ',Crews practised in the management of their
irn
in l
tyt
eneagt 'real, Ili;
annual income, they earnestly appeal to largeall classes of their
countrymen to aid them 1 1 1 'and perpetuating so
permanent
11 lip to diug perp,
grie,ahteacnodmt
oarekknowledge the following con-
tributions:—

Pcrgolesi, Haydn, and Rossini—so combined as to appear
in the form of a single work (a most infelicitous arrange-
ment, the styles of the three composers having absolutely
nothing in common)—and a miscellaneous compilation from
Handel, Cherubini, Beethoven, and Thouless, whoever
" Thouless" may happen to be; on Thursday " Elijah ;"
and on Friday " The Messiah." Wednesday's selection
looks very long, if not very inviting; but the result will
show whether quantity and quality, in this instance, go
hand in hand. Tho chief features of interest at the first
evening concert are "Beethoven's "Pastoral Symphony;"
Mr. W. H. Cusius' " Royal Wedding Serenata" (pro-
duced under such unfavourable circumstances at Her
Majesty's Theatre, and deserving of a new and better
chance) ; the overture to " Oberon " ; some pieces from M.
Gounod's "Faust ;" and selections from the opera of " Ruy
Bias," and the graceful little operetta, "Once too Often,''
both the composition of Mr. Howard Glover. Wednesday
evening's concert includes a promising selection from
Mozart's operas, " Idomeneo, Le Nozze di Figaro," and
Cosi fan Tutti ;" a manuscript " war song," by Weber ;
a selection from Mr. Sullivan's "Tempest" music ; and the
overtures to "La Gazza Ladra " and " Fra Diavolo." The
third and last concert, on Thursday evening, besides a
symphony of Haydn (~ The Surprise''), includes the over-
ture to Mr. Macfarren's opera, "Don Quixote.," and the
"cantata " prepared expressly for the festival by Mr. Bene-
dict, entitled "Richard Coaur de Lion," with the merits of
which rumour is already busy. Tho chief points in these
miscellaneous concerts have alone been named, the remain-
der being composed of interminable series of songs, duets,
&c., so made out as to afford each of the principal singers a
chance of display, and the audience no chance of repose.
All the performances are to take place, as on former ocea-
SIOTA 41 St, A 114005 jiall, the repairs, decoration, and

•
s. d
Tier Majesty the Queen
•• annual 50 0 0
Campbell, the lion. Mrs. G, • - annual 5 0 0
Clerk. Colonel, ILA. ••
.. annual 1 1 0
.•
Coutts and Co., Messrs., Bankers animal 10 0 0
don. 10 10 0
2d don. 25 0 0
• - . 4th don.lo 0 0
uFar
Erie,
owl
rVedm,
C. , Ei
est Justice
••
Vice-Admiral
'
Sir A., ••
Fenwick, G. 3., Esq., cost of a Lifeboat and. Tran-
sporting' Carriage .. • • • • 250 0 0
Harvey, Rev. G. G. and Mrs. •• .. don. 30 0
Martin, Sir Henry, Bart. .. • • .. 7th don. 10 0 0
Moore, Rev. G. B. • • • • • • • • don. 15 15 0
Smith, Mrs. George, Greenwich • • • • 30 0
Stirling, Col. Sir Anthony, K.C.B. _ annual 2 0 0
Thomas,Lady, Weston-super-Mare, collected by her
Ladyship .. • • • • • • • • • • 16 16 0
Willoughby d'Eresby, Lord .• annual 5 0 0
Donations and Annual Subscriptions will be thankfully re-
ceived by the Bankers of the Institution, Messrs. Willis,
Percival, and Co., 76, Lombard-street; Messrs. Coutts and
Co., sp, Strand; Messrs. Berries, Farquhar. and Co., 16, St.
James's-street, London ; by ad the Collectors of Customs
and Bankers in the UuitedKingdom; and by the Secretary
Richard Lewis. Esq., at the Office of tho lustit4tio,
J9llll•fitreet AtiVIDI24 L9111;190)

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corations of the aisles include the blue panels and gold stars,
together with the vermilion in the hollows of mouldings—
the remainder being oak colour. The lighting of the hall is

effected by nine magnificent brass corona;, pendant from the
centres of the roof timbers—the nave being provided with

smaller diameter—the effect when lighted up being truly

beautiful, bringing out the coloured and gilt decoration of
the roof to the greatest advantage. Several excellent rooms

have been erected on the north side for the use of commit-

tees and as retiringrooms. The whole of the internal stone-
work has been scraped and restored, including the beautiful
moulded bases of the columns, which had been nearly de-

stroyed. The east wall of the wive has been entirely re-
moved, and a magnificent stone arch, nearly the entire
breadth of the nave, has been inserted, by which the space

formerly known as the Tower of the Dutch Church, is added

to the hall; within this increased space, and extending as
far as the dais in front, the organ and orchestra are placed,

by which arrangement accommcdation for nearly 300 addi-
tional sittings has been obtained in the hall. A new western
window, of great beauty, has been erected instead of the old
one, and is thrown open to the hall, producing an internal
Effect which it is impossible to convey to those who have not
seen the hall with the west window thrown open to the in-
terior. The side windows at the north, south, and east
have been restcred and reglazed, and the walls repaired and
faced with flintwork. A new south porch of suitable cha-
racter has been erected in connection with the principal
door. The west wall has been almost rebuilt and flintfaced,
and a spacious and handsome door provided under the great
west window."

Besides the preliminary rehearsals of the new works un-
der Mr. Wilkins (leader of rehearsals) and Mr. J. F. Hill

(choms m aster), Mr.B ened ict has attended several in person.
The grand rehearsal taking place to-day, and that which is
to take place to-morrow (there being no oratorio on Tuesday
morning), may be regarded as public performances rather
than private rehearsals, inasmuch as the public are
admitted for the moderate consideration of half-a-guinea a
ticket. Those who are lured by this temptation must be

uncommonly fond of music ; hut the example is a bad one,
- - - - - •

and it is to be hoped may not be imitated elsewhere.
The Norwich Festival has always been honourably dis-
tinguished, among other good qualities, for its spirit of en-
terprise. It has never been afraid of venturing upon new
or unknown works, as was shown by the production of
Spohr's " Last Judgment," " Calvary," and " Fall of
Babylon," Herr Molique's " Abraham," Mr. Benedict's
" Undine," and other pieces of less importance. This year,
as in 1860, we have a new sacred drama in the morning, and
a new secular cantata in the evening. The Joash of Mr.
Silas ventures on high ground, the subject being so nearly
related to that of Racine's "Athaliah," which inspired
Mendelssohn with some of his most wonderful music. Let
us hope that the clever Dutch composer may not lose ground
by a comparison which is inevitable. The characters intro-
duced in Mr. Silas's work aro Jehoiada, the Jewish High
Priest (bass); Mattan,Priest of Baal (barytone) ; Ishmael,
Jehoiada's confidant and captain of the Levites (tenor) ;
Joash, the boy-king (contralto) ; Zebiah, his mother
(soprano) ; and Athaliah, usurper of the throne of Judah
(soprano). How closely the subject is allied to that which
Mendelssohn has treated may be gathered from the follow-
ing argument :—" Ahaziah, King of Judah, having been
killed, his mother, Athaliab, seized upon the crown, and or-
dered every descendant of King David and her own grand-
children to be destroyed ; but Joash, the infant son of the
late king, was wonderfully preserved by Jehosheba—the
daughter of King Joram, the sister of Athaliab, and wife
of the High Priest Jehoiada, who stole him from among
the king's sons who were slain, and secretly hid him in the
Temple for six years, where he was brought up and edu-
cated by Jehoiada, unknown even to his mother, Zebiah,
who believed that her child had been murdered with the
rest—(2 Kings, xi., verses 2 and 3.) When Joash was
seven years old, the High Priest, Jehoiada, informed
the Levites that one of the royal house of David
still lived, produced the child, and annointed him King,
and the people ' clapped their hands, and said, God save
the King.'—(ver. 12.) When Athaliah heard the noise of
the guard and of the people, she was informed that her
Jewish subjects were in a state of revolt, and went to the
temple to quell the tumult by her presence.—(ver. i 3.)
' And when she looked, behold, the king stood by a pillar, as
the manner was and the princes and trumpeters by the King,
and all the people of the land • rejoiced and blew with
trumpets, and Athaliah rent her clothes, and cried, Treason,
treason,'—(ver. 14.) ' But Jehoiada the Priest commanded
the captains of the hundreds, the officers of the host, and
said unto them, Have her forth without the ranges ; and
him that followeth her kill with the sword. For the priest
had said, Let her not be slain in the house of the Lord,'—
(ver. 15). 6 And they laid hands on her; and she went by
the why by;which the horses came in to the King's house;
and thero she was slain' (ver. 16.) ' And all the people
of the land went into the house of Baal, and broke it down ;
his altars and his images brake they in pieces thoroughly,
and slew Mattan, the priest of Baal, before the altar' (ver.
18.)" "And Jehoiada made a covenant between him, and
between all the people, and between the King, that they
should be the Lord's people (ver. 16.)"
The introduction of the Pagan element, it is true, dis-
tinguishes " Joash" from "Athaliah," but here again Mr.
Silas will have to encounter Mendelssohn, in his " Elijah."
For Mr. Benedict's "Richard Coeur de Lion" the author
of the book has invented a new and for musical purposes
extremely effective variation on the popular legend of
Blondel de Nesle, the favourite minstrel of the "Lion
King." In this cantata the old story has been modified to
admit the introduction of a French character. The castle
in which the King of England is confined its supposed by
the neighbouring villagers to be haunted by a spectre
called the White Lady, whose appearance they dread,
while they commiserate her fate as a victim of un-
requited love. None regard the legend with greater
interest than Mathilde, daughter of the governor of
the castle, who, though ignorant of the prisoner's rank, has
become deeply enamoured of him, and compares the unhap-
piness of the White Lady with her own. When Blonde',
to the surprise of the villagers, arrives at the place, and nar-
rates the trials he has undergone in his endeavours to dis-
cover a lost friend, he has almost begun to regard his enter-
prise as hopeless. However, the sound of his lute elicits a
response from the castle ; Blondel recognises the person of
his royal master ; and they accompany each other in an old
song of the lifinnielicd kind. Mathilde overhears the song,
learns the mission of Blonde', and promises to assist him by
assuming the character of the White Lady, and thus terri-
fying the guards. The plan succeeds, and Richard is libe-
rated ; but Mathilde, finding too late that the object of her
affections is a king, already blessed with an august consort,
resolves to end her days in the seclusion of a convent. How
Mr. Benedict has dealt with these materials it would be pre-
mature to discuss; for although the cantata is already in
print, what looks admirably well on paper does not always
in performance exactly respond to expectation. Mr. Bene
diet, nevertheless, to judge by previous efforts, and especially
his romantic and beautiful " Undine"—with which
" Richard Coeur-de-Lion" will naturally be compared—is
not a musician about whom to be particularly apprehensive.
The scene chosen from Mr. Henry Leslie's oratorio of
"Immanuel" (Wednesday morning) is the incident of the
widow and her son at the gates of Nain. The selections
from the three settings of the "Stabat" comprise the
"Stabat Mater" (quartet and chorus), " Cujus animam"
(tenor air), " Quis est home" (duet, soprano, and contralto),
and " Pro peccatis" (bass air), of Rossini ; " Eia mater"
(contralto air), and "Fab ut ardeat" (duet for soprano and
centralist), of Pergolesi; "Fab me yore tecum fibre" (con-
tralto air), and " Virgo virginum prteclara" (quartet and
chorus), of Haydn; " Inflamruatus" (soprano air, with
chorus), and " Quando corpus" (unaccompanied quartet),
of Rossini ; and "Paradise gloria" (chorus, finale), of
Haydn. In this singular concoction—in which Rossini
has the lion's share, to the detriment of his highly re-
spectable Italian and German predecessors—Mademoiselle
Tietjens, Madame Lemmens Sherrington, Mademoiselle
Trebelli, Miss Palmer, Mr. Santley, and Mr. Sims Reeves
are to take part, besides a second tenor and second bass from
Her Majesty's Theatre. It may be presumed therefore that
the Committee of Management view it as a sure card, likely
b
to support "Joash," which, being a new work by a com-
poser hitherto unknown to Norfolk and Norwich, could
hardly be relied upon as an attraction on the Wednesday,
with "Elijah" to threaten it on Thursday and "Messiah"
to overwhelm it on Friday. If so, " Joash" may bo con-
gratulated on such an acquisition of strength, however
questionable the procedure by which it has been enlisted.
The sufferers are Pergolesi and Haydn, who being dead
could not be asked their consent to the premeditated
jumbling together of their " Stabats," and Rossini, who,
though not dead, is indifferent to any liberties that may tie
taken with his music, and who, had he been applied to,
would have responded laconically—Rites cc qui goes
pla flgt

PR1CE.....—..4d.
STAMPED ....sd.

Homage to the Divinity of Our Lord.

(PROCESSION AT ROME, AS DESCRIBED BY THE CORE,ES
PONDENT OP TILE " HERALD" IN THE ETERNAL CITY.J
The painting of the Saviour, which is the princi-
pal object of the devotion, is of remote antiquity'
and is traditionally attributed to St. Luke. It is
of the very earliest school of art, and though rude
enough in its execution is a very impressive picture,
the traces of the Passion of Our Lord being ren-
dered with almost painful truth and vigour. It was
covered by Pope Innocent 111. with exquisite gold
and jewelled wrought platings, to preserve it from
inner
chapel injury of time, and it has been kept in the
chapel of the Scala Santa, on the altar called
" Sancta sanctorum" from time immemorial, and
carried from time to time in solemn state to one of
the great Basilicas, when any crisis menaced
Christendom. In the war of the Ghibellines, when
the Turks attacked Dalmatia, and before Lepanto,
and in the last century, before the outbreak of the
French Revolution. So much for historical remi-
niscences. In the present crisis the Pope was
requested to order it in 1860, and again in 1862, and
refused to accede to it, not wishing to create an
alarm. The reason his Holiness is said now to have
acceded to it is not on account of now political com-
plications, but on account of the great increase of
open atheism, and the spread of works denying the
truth of Scripture and Our Lord's divinity; and more
especially Renan's "Vie de Jesus," which is being
now translated into Italian all over the kingdom
of Italy, and is recommended by the Independants
as the " most evangelical work since the Gospels,"
and another book of Proudhon's " La Justice de la
Revolution," dedicated openly " a Satan," par
Joseph Proudhon, which is doing infinite mischief
in all the towns of Upper Italy, where nothing is
read but the reproductions of the most infidel and
blasphemous French works. This procession, which
is especially a devotion to the divinity of Christ, was
at length ordered by the Pope as an act of public
reparation for the scandals of infidelity and avowal
of Christian faith. Prayers were also ordered for
the peace of Italy and Poland, but neither of them
in any sense save the religious one. The revolu-
tionists here and in the kingdom of Italy, however,
chose to give a political significance to the order,
and sent a counter circular round on Sunday morn-
ing to prevent people attending, and containing
threatening notices—a measure which only served
to show the little hold they have on the Roman
population by increasing the attendance. At four
o'clock the piazza and church of the Lateran were
crowded with persons of all ranks and classes.
Every window, wall, and gallery within sight
of the line of procession was occupied, and when
it issued from the Basilica, headed by the clergy
of the seven great churches, of the Maria Mag-
giore, Maria in Cosenedaro, Maria in Traste-
vere, St. Lorenzo in Damaso, St. Lorenzo Fuori
le Muore, St. John Lateran, and St. Peter's, and
followed by committees, guilds, religious orders,
bodies of clergy, and thousands of people of every
grade joining in the chaunt of the litanies, it would
be difficult to imagine a more picturesque scene.
There was a spirit of enthusiasm among those fol-
lowing the procession that was very striking from its
depth and reality. A number of Poles were very
conspicuous by the rather gesticulatory fashion of
their devotions. They had attempted to make a
demonstration of it by going barefoot and keeping
in a separate body, but this was very wisely pre-
vented by the authorities, who refused to allow
anything liable to be diverted from a simple act of
prayer for peace and a speedy settlement of vexed
questions either in Poland or Italy. The Pope did
not assist himself, but was represented by the Car-
dinal Vicar. The picture was carried from the
Lateran to the Esquilene down the Via Bumerna-
tans, and was placed in St. Maria Maggiore, where
it remained some days, and has been already visited
by thousands of persons. ?he Ppe went in full
state to the church cf St. Maria del Popolo this morn-
ing, and was looking well. The cardinals and house-
hold attended him, and there was great cheering in
!he crowd on the Piazza and all down the Bipetta
12. rough which he passed.