The Sun.
London, England, 1865-03-16 00:00:00

National Choral Society.—Exeter Hall,

A truly grand performance of Mendelssohn's

" Hymn of Praise" and Rossini's " Stabat Mater"
was given yesterday evening to an immense audi-
tory in Exeter Hall. That admirably trained body
of the National Choral Society, under the conduc-
torship of Mr. G. W. Martin, occupied the vast
orchestra, while Mr. J. G. Boardman presided at
the organ. The leading singers were Miss Louisa
Pyne, Miss Palmer, Mr. Sims Reeves (substituted
in the "Stabat Mater" by Mr. Wilbye Cooper), and
Mr. Lewis Thomas.

The sinfonia, with its four movements, was ad-
mirably executed by the band, though its earlier
portions, the maestoso and allegro, were somewhat
marred by the continual arrivals and settling-down
of late comers. The last movement, the adagio
religiose, with its admirable employment of the reed
instruments, was well worth hearing. Miss Louisa
Pyne opened in " Praise thou the Lord," joined by
the semi-chorus, and Mr. Sims Reeves was wel-
comed in the recitative, " Sing ye praise," and the
aria, " He counteth all your sorrows," and the yet
greater air, " The sorrows of death," which he gave
with delicacy and touching pathos ; while in
" Watchman, what of the night ?" he lifted up his
voice like a silver clarion. Miss Pyne, too, earned
applause in the response, "The night is departing,"
and the chorus emphasised the, repetition grandly.
The pleasing simple chorale, " Let all men praise
the Lord," went smoothly. Mr. Sims Reevesand-
Miss Pyne were applauded in " My song shall be
always thy mercy," and the glorious concluding
chorus went most effectively. Miss Louisa Pyne
earned fresh honours in the " Inflammatus" in the
" Stabat Mater ;" and indeed the entire perform-
ance, down to the fine unaccompanied quartett,
" Quando corpus," went in excellent style, and re-
flected the highest credit on the soloists, chorus,
band, and conductor of the National Choral Society.

The Shenandoah.
A letter from Melbourne, dated Jan. 26, says :--Yester-
day all Melbourne was startled by the announcement that
a Confederate war steamer was in Hobson's Bay. Early in
the morning she was sighted off Cape Otway, and was
telegraphed as the Royal Standaid, 52 days out from Eng-
land. In the afternoon the vessel entered the Heads, and
just before sunset she dropped anchor off Sandridge Pier.
By this time the excitement became intense, and numer-
ous were the rumours afloat as to who and what our visi-
tor was. Immediately on anchoring, Captain J. J. Wad-
dell, by whom she is commanded, despatched his first lieu-
tenant to wait upon his Excellency the Governor, to apprise
him of the ship's arrival, and to obtain permission to make
necessary repairs, coal, &c. The name of the vessel is the
Shenandoah, and was formerly the Sea King. As seen
from the railway pier at Sandridge, she seems to
be a very long ship, lying very low in the water,
and has a very rakish appearance. She carries eight rifled
Whitworths, is of 1,160 tons tonnage, and has engine power
of 240 horse. She was fitted out in Madeira last October,
and has since that period captured and destroyed ton or
eleven Federal merchantmen, amongst others the Alma,
the Charter Oak, the Godfrey, the Susan, the Kate Prince,
the Lizzy M. Stacey, the Edwards, the Helena, the Ade-
laide, and the Delphine. All these prizes were burnt, with
the exception of the Kate Prince and the Adelaide, which,
having English goods on board, were allowed to proceed
on their way after ransom. The list of officers of the Shen-
andoah is as follows: James J. Waddell, commander; W. C.
Whittle, John Gimball, S. S. Lee (nephew of Gen. R. Lee),
F. T. Chew, and D. M. Scales, lieutenants; J. S. Bullock,
master ; Mr. O'Brien, engineer ; C. E. Lining, surgeon ;
W. B. Smith, paymaster ; 0. A. Browne, midshipman ;
J. T. Mason, ditto ; F. J. M'Nulty, assistant surgeon ; W.
H. Codd, Ist assistant engineer ; John Hutchison, 2d ditto;
Ernest Muggaffeney, 3d ditto ; C. F. Hunt, master's mate ;
J. T. Muir, ditto ; Lodge Culbon, ditto ; George Harwood,
boatswain ; John O'Shea, carpenter; John L. Guy, sail-
maker ; Henry Alcutt, gunner ; John Lynch, 2d carpenter.
Tie Godfrey was captured on the 7th of November, in
lat. 6 28 N., and long. 27 6 W. ; the Swan on November 10,
in lat. 4 20 N., long. 26 29 W. ; the Lizzie M. Stacey, on
November 13 ; the Edward, December 4 ; the Delphine,
December 29, in lat. 39 10 S., long. 69 E. ; the Helena on
October 30, lat. 16 47 N., long. 26 43 ; the Charter Oak,
in lat. 738 N., and long. 27 49 W. I have just obtained
permission to visit the Shenandoah ; but as the mail
steamer leaves in half an hour my description must neces-
sarily be of the very briefest. Captain Waddell, not having
heard from the authorities, has refused permission to the
general public to visit his vessel. He is a splendid speci-
men of a brave rover, frank, gentlemanly, but very deter-
mined looking, and readily afforded me all information. I
am writing this on board the Shenandoah. Speaking of the
Kate Prince and the Adelaide, which he ransomed, the
former for $40,000, and the latter for $23,.000, Capt. Wad-
doll expressed his intention of not so acting for the future,
"for," said he, "in the time to come I must not regard
neutral cargo in Federal bottoms. An enemy's ship makes
enemy's goods. I have Lord John Russell as my autho-
rity for thus acting. It is only giving our enemies an
opportunity to save their property, and work against us.
I have since been very much vexed that I did not have
those vessels. Let our enemies look out for the future,

Speaking of his vessel, I asked him was she not the Sea
King ? There was a twinkle in his eye as he replied, "I don't
want to know ; she is now the Shenandoah, a Confederate
war steamer." " I find," said Captain Waddell, " not the
slightest difficulty in obtaining men ; half the crews of the
captured vessels jump at the offer to enlist." Judging from
her appearance the Shenandoah is all her captain says of
her—one of the fastest, taughtest, and smartest vessels
afloat, for up to the present time she has not been put to
her utmost speed. In capturing the Kate Prince she over-

hauled her, although the Kate Prince was a remarkably fast
sailer, and had a fair wind, with every stitch of canvas,
in less than six hours. The crew of the Shenandoah

consists of 75 men, and a finer looking set of fellows never
trod a deck. She will probably remain a week in this port,
as the band of her screw-propeller is broken, and several
small repairs are required to her machinery. Since leaving
Madeira she has not touched at any port, but has of course
kept a sharp look out for enemy's vessels. From this port
Captain Waddell purposes going for a cruise in Indian and
Chinese waters, and expresses a confident belief that no
Yanked vessel afloat can come near him if he chooses to
make a run for it. A glance at the list of the Shenandoah's
officers will show that she is in more senses than one
the successor to the Alabama. The well-known names
of Bullock, master ; Grimball and Lee, lieutenants ; and
M'Nulty, assistant-surgeon, will be recognised as having
belonged to the ill-fated Alabama. All the men have been
in perfect health since her departure from Madeira ; and
both officers and men seem to be in the highest possible
spirits. Captain Waddell bewailed bitterly the manner in
which his consort the Florida had been treated. " What
was the conduct of her rascally, blackguardly captors
but cold-blooded murder in shooting down her defenceless
crew ? And yet these Yankees cry out at the way I
prey on their commerce ; but they cannot point to one
single instance in which I or any other officer of the
Confederate navy have in the slightest degree overstepped
the bounds of recognised warfare. What would be said
wore I, as the commander of this vessel, to seize, burn,

or destroy the dozen Yankee vessels now in this
port ? There is, or would be, nothing to prevent
it, and at the most it would be, logically speaking, only a
reprisal ; but sir, the Confederates are, I am happy to say,
gentlemen, and please God wo shall always act up to that

standard." In further conversation he said, "had we a
dozen or a score of vessels we could man them to-morrow,

and could we but run across a few steamers we would
soon drive Yankee merchantmen from the sea." When I
was taking my leave of this splendid specimen of an
American gentleman, he said, " Mind, I notify, and I ask
you to do so for me, that for the future enemies' bottoms
make enemies' goods ; and that under no circumstances
shall I otherwise regard vessels sailing under a Yankee
flag, for" (again he repeated) " I have the authority of
your Lord Russell for thus acting." A number of
prisoners captured from the various vessels taken were
landed this morning at Sandridge Railway pier. A consi-
derable number of prisoners were got rid of ere reaching
this port, having been transferred to a Spanish bark, Capt.
Waddell giving the Helena's chronometer as payment. Did
time permit, I should have forwarded a full description of
the Shenandoah, but as the mail steamer is about to weigh
anchor, I must conclude. I need scarcely say that the ex-
citement in Melbourne is intense ; the Shenandoah is sur-
rounded with crowds of boats; but up to this moment no
one, unless under very peculiar circumstances, has been al-
lowed to put foot on her deck.

GETTING INTO A TRAIN WHILE IN MOTION.-
Last evening an inquiry was held by Mr. Humphreys, the
coroner, at the London Hospital, respecting the death of
Sergeant-Major John Courtenay, aged 49. The deceased
was drill instructor to the Ist Essex Rifle Volunteers, and
on Wednesday last he left Romford to come up to London
on business. In the evening while waiting on the plat-
form of the Great Eastern Railway at Shoreditch, car-
riages were shunted into the station. Numbers of persons
attempted to get into the carriages while they were in
motion, and, among the rest, it would appear the de-
ceased had hold of the handle of the door. He was
whirled round and flung on the buffers, and thence
under the carriages: He was so severely injured
that he had to be carried to the hospital, where he
died on Saturday last from the injuries he received. Both
banes of his right leg were broken. Mr. Doublett, of 6,
Mott gate-street, and Mr. Cannon, of Romford, who had
both seen deceased on the platform, stated that he seemed
to be quite sober; but the employes of the company and
Mr. G. Roper, surgeon, on the other hand, stated that ho
was most certainly the worse for liquor. Notices were
posted about the station warning passengers of the danger
of getting into trains while they were in motion, and Super-
intendent Kent stated that the offence rendered persons
liable to a fine of 40s. The jury returned a verdict of
Accidental death."