The Sun.
London, England, 1862-07-14 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, JULY 14, 1862.

Government now reigns, and where the ladies give
as much trouble as at New Orleans, the clergymen
are also unconquerable. They will not take the
oath of allegiance, and most of them have, there-
fore, been sent to prison ! Clergymen and women
seem to give the Federal Generals no little trouble_
Between the passive resistance of the last, and the
energetic and successful efforts of its armies, the
South, so far as this mail informs us, presents to the
North a problem of increased difficulty. To say,
however, " GOD prosper the right " is no easy
task, when both sides have put themselves so much
in the wrong.

Our veteran Premier has this last year introduced
a notable change in the manner of the distribution
of the annual £1,200 a-year set apart for Civil List
Pensions according to the yearly pleasure of who is
for the time being England's First Lord of the
Treasury. It is a change, too, so really admirable
of its kind that we are eager at once to accord to
Lord PALMERSTON, in this matter, the praise which
modifica-
tion
co m e
t 0
isineen°onutegshtiboflythheisdue
.Itis a simple
arrangement,
when you
look at it. And is consequently one that it is quite
marvellous to reflect has never yet apparently en-
tered into the imagination of any one among Lord
PALMERSTON'S predecessors. All the more odd it
is, that the change we are about to specify has not
been hitherto adventured upon by any other head of
any former Administration, seeing that it is an im-
provement in the mode of distributing these yearly
sums—amounting in all (between the 20th of June
in one twelvemonth to the 20th of June in the one
following) to £l,2oo—that has often and often of late
years been urged upon the attention of our Premiers
one after another. We ourselves have repeatedly
argued, as perseveringly and as earnestly as we
possibly could, in favour of each Premier ad-
vancing in the matter precisely in this given
direction. We have insisted, namely, upon
the urgent necessity of insulting no one by
awarding to him or to her a wretched little dribblet
of £25 per annum—in the name of this great
and wealthy country, and in consideration of ser-
vices done by the recipients in the furtherance (so
far as lay in their power) of the interests of art, of
science, or of literature. We congratulate the coun-
try, we congratulate the Premier upon this decided
and instantly visible change for the better in our
yearly string of Civil List Pensions. Among all
the fourteen recipients of varying proportions of the
annual aggregate of £1,200, not one is pained by
nomination to a pension henceforth of £25 per
annum. The lowest amount awarded to anyone is
150 per annum—not quite £1 sterling for every
week in the year: only just sufficient, with any
degree of comfort, to keep body and soul together.
Looking down the little catalogue of this chosen
group of Fourteen, we observe moreover at a glance
that not only is the annual sum of £5O the lowest that
has been awarded, in the years last past 1861-1862,
by Lord PALMERSTON, between one 20th of June
and another—but that there are only three classes
of recipients among the whole fourteen. The first
class £lOO per annum. The second class, .£75 per
annum. The third and lowest class, as aforesaid,
£5O per annum. In this manner the moderate
aggregate of £1,200 is, of course, soon enough made
up. How ?—may be at once indicated when we
have said that there are three pensions of £5O
per annum, making up £l5O altogether. There are
two pensions of £75, making up another
£l5O altogether. There are, consequently,
distributed under these two heads or classes
—among these five civil list pensioners
—X3OO in all, out of the yearly total of £1,200.
The remaining £9OO are distributed, in separate
hundreds, among nine, for the most part admirably
well selected, recipients of—we won't call it the
national bounty, for it is not that ; but we will
rather call it the national tribute of respect, and of
sympathy, and even in some instances of gratitude
for services done ! Services throughout of the
purest and of the most honourable description—
services in the advancement of the interests of art,
of science, and of literature.
One of the three £5O pensions, it should be ob-
served, added to a previous award of £5O set apart
a few years back to the same identical recipient,
makes up for him henceforth, of course, a yearly
pension of £lOO sterling—a very moderate pen-
sion, indeed, under the circumstance. As—who
will not admit when the name and the reason of
these two little sums now happily clubbed together
come to be mentioned? Mr. R. CORT is the recipient,
and the reason assigned for the giving to him of any
pension at all is—that it is " on account of the great
value and utility of his father's discoveries in the
working of iron, and in his failure to derive any
pecuniary benefit therefrom." That father of Mr.
RICHARD CORT having by those same discoveries in
the puddling of iron added to the material and
realised wealth of the country since then, at the
lowest computation, a vast aggregate of
£200,000,000 ! Reason enough, there, for this addi-
tional £5O pension, making up for the son of that
wonderful benefactor of his country a very moderate
pittance of £lOO per annum. The two other £5O
pensioners are Mr. JOHN WADE and Mr. THOMAS
ROSCOE. The latter in consideration of his literary
labours generally. The former in consideration of
his contributions more particularly to political
literature. The two £75 pensioners are Miss

EMMA ROBINSON and Dr. JOHN HART. The

former in acknowledgment of her numerous "ro-

mances, historical plays, and other contributions to

periodical literature of admitted excellence." The
latter (Dr. HART) in return for his contributions to

the science of anatomy and physiology, and of his

being afflicted with blindness and broken health. As
to the nine 1100 pensioners, it will be sufficient here

simply to enumerate them. One of these nine—a

pensioner for every muse—we have already parti-
cularised : namely, Mr. LEITCH RITCHIE, whose

nomination to the list we were the first to announce.

The other eight are—Mr. (or Dr.) CHARLES
MACKAY, the popular song writer Mr.

JOHN SEYMER, another (like Dr. HART

already mentioned) alas! literally " blind" de-

votee in the self-imposed labours of advancing and

diffusing knowledge.

Mr. GEORGE RAINEY is

another of these rewarded labourers—in his in-

stance, in the fields of "Minute Anatomy and Phy-

siology." Mr. ISAAC TAYLOR is recompensed

in this way also very moderately for no less
than forty long years' meritorious literary toiling
in the paths of history and philosophy. The reel.-

pients of the two remaining £lOO pensions are four

persons, and those four all ladies. Two of
them (Miss ELIZABETH J3ALY and Miss MARIE

JOSEPHINE FAUVET) in consideration of the
merits and labours of Dr. BALY, the late

eminent physician. The two others (Mrs. JANET

WILSON and Miss JESSIE WILSON) in consideration
of the distinguished services and career of the late
Professor GEORGE (not JOHN) WILSON, of Edin-
burgh. Seldom, in fact, have we read a catalogue
of Civil List pensions with more satisfaction. But
006 further improvement would we suggest in the
future distribution of this £1,200 per annum placed
year after year at
Minister of England the disposal of the Prime
And that is, simply,
occasional £2OO or £l5O per s
awarded, now and then, to some annum may be
sufficient in the departmentp
science, or of-art. arsons et eminence
tnacne
of literature, of

ROYAL ITALIAN OPERA.

MADEMOISELLE PATTI AS "NORINA."
If the recent neglect of " Don Pasquale,"—a
comic opera which must be regarded as only rank -
ing second to the " Barbiere,"—is chiefly to be
traced to the loss of Lablache, in his grand per-
formance of its hero—scarcely less is the neglect
to be explained in the diffieulty of finding an ade-
quate Norina—a character whose perfect treatment
demands the greater art of the two. Indeed, as
Norina is the exciting cause of the humour of the
opera throughout, and consequently of all the
comic distinctions of her lover, his entire develop-
ment, as a matter of course, must depend upon her
own. How this was achieved by Grisi, its original
representative, all who beheld her will readily
admit; and, therefore, how much of the opera's
success was originally owing to her efforts. What
person and humour did for her great associate,
equally huge in girth and spirit—genius
itself accomplished for her, in enabling her
to apply by a difficult process her humour
toits great results. This difficulty is ex-
plained in the fact that Norina is a lady who has
to assume the part of a virago. Her danger is,
therefore, of becoming comic at a sacrifice of taste.
Her danger is in fact twofold—that of a want of
force, on the one hand, sufficient to render her
humour palpable, and of delicacy, on the other, to
prescribe its due expression. This is a difficulty
which only a true artist is qualified to conquer by
means of sympathies rightly developed, which en-
able her to render the humorous, the graceful.
Norina must therefore be regarded, in a dramatic
point of view, as a sort of test part for a singer,
whose successful treatment is a voucher for her pre-
tensions as an artist. It was this circumstance
which rendered Mdlle. Patti's announcement for
the character one of the most attractive features of
the programme which Mr. Gye issued for the
present season. So many of the public felt
that the forte of their young favourite lay in
comedy, and knew that in this character her
success must depend so much on her
skill that no ordinary interest was attached to the
performance that would attest it. It
gives us great
pleasure to say that her most ardent admirers could
not have desired an attestation more conclusive.
Her Norina is unquestionably her most artistic
effort. It is not only her most amusing, but be -
yond all measure her cleverest character. She
mingles a refinement with her pleasantry which
not only renders it the most agreeable, but also the
most true. The double danger she is exposed to of
either weakness or excess—the either under or
over acting, from want of humour or of taste—she
steers clear of with an ease and certainty that are
just as admirable as they are delightful. Whilst
this character has all the naturalness—all the play-
fulness—and piquant spirit of her Zerlina, it has
infinitely more art, and shows that whether as pea-
sant or lady she can be equally true and diverting.
But a few references to this performance will indi-
cate its merit. The tender reverie in which she
enters reading Tasso, and in her opening cavatina
" So ancho io" dilates upon the passion which she so
deeply feels, despite her gaiety—charmingly pre,
pares the audience for the stratagem which is so
essential to her happiness, and whici4 when ap-
prised of, she accepts with so much enthusiasm,
and dilates on with so much merriment in the (linen
that closes the first act. In the second, with?'
she enters veiled as the young girl from the con-
vent, whom Don Pasquale is going to marry in
order to punish his nephew's disobedience, her
downcast eyes and trembling words, as she pretends
to shrink from the sight of a man, are admirably
coupled with the arch expression with which she
lifts her veil aside, and intimates the penalty which
her lover will pay for his delusion. Equally good,
when the contract is signed which puts the household
at her command, is the instantaneous, quiet change
with which she proceeds to take possession of it;
and tells her husband he is too old and
fat to gallant a lady, and had better go to
bed, whilst she avails herself of some one
younger, and then proceeds to call in the servants
and give them orders which threaten to ruin him.
In all of this there is no vehemence and nothing
approaching to vulgarity, but a simple comic calm-
ness, which is tenfold as effective from the contrast
it presents to the stupor and rage that it elicits.
Again, in the third act, when Norina is going to
the theatre and Don Pasquale commands her
to stay at home, and she climaxes her
audacity by giving him a box of the ears—a
process which we have seen performed with much
more energy than elegance—Mdlle. Patti with
better taste, taps his face with her fan, and so
merely inflicts the dignity without making it
malicious. These are but a few of the many passages
which affirm the merit of this performance. As re-
spects its vocal claims Norina affords comparatively
but few solo occasions, but all these Mdlle. Patti meets
with the utmost spirit and brilliancy. We must
particularly refer to her first duet—her share in the
sestett of the 2d act—to her delightful piece of
banter when she bids her husband go to bed,
whilst she goes to the play, " Via taro sposino," and
as a contrast to all these, the exquisite tenderness
with which she shares the lovely duet with Ernesto,
" Tornami a dir," which won, as it well deserved,
a very vehement encore. She was for the most part
admirably supported. Signor Mario was the Esnesto
—the prince of lovers and gentlemen, whose delivery
of the " Sogno Soave e Casto," in the first act, and
of the " Come e G3ntil"—the pearl of serenades in
the last, the latter of which was loudly encored_
could not possibly be exceeded. The Malatesta was
Signor Della Sedie,and was also an excellent perform-
ance. This gentleman, whose want of power so much
impairs his efforts in serious opera, frequently forc-
ing him into excess in order to be emphatic, found
himself here quite at his ease; and both in his
singing and his acting delighted the audience
with his spirit. The least meritorious effort was
the Don Pasquale of Signor Ciampi, which was
hard and mechanical throughout, with neither
naturalness nor humour—as much inferior in every
respect to the performance of Signor Zucchini, as
the Norina of Madame Guerrabella is to that of
Madlle. Patti. The short chorusses in this opera
were admirably given ; and saving that it was occa-
sionally a little loud, the band had all its accus-
tomed excellence. The house was very full, and
the applause throughout was very hearty.

HER MAJESTY'S THEATRE.

MADAME TITIENS AS "NORMA."

Bellini's charming opera was produced for the
first time this season at this house on Saturday
evening, in order that Madame Titiens might again
delight the public with her superb assumption of
its heroine. Now that we have lost Modame Grisi,
there can be little question, we presume, that
Norma is another character which becomes entirely
that of Madame Titiens. If wanting in the won-
derful art with which her great precursor so dis-
criminated the various aspects of the devoted
Druid—now lover and now mother, now woman
and now priestess—Mdme. Titiens has an amount
of passion which penetrates entirely to the central
feeling which connects all these aspects in one
bosom—the mingled religious and domestic senti-
ment, whose struggle constitutes her trial—and ,
this she expresses with atruth and grandeur which it
would be mere impertinence to subject to any living
comparison. Throughout the first act, on Saturday
evening,her acting and singing can only be described
as one steady flow of grandeur—a perfect flood
in voice and feeling of all the expressions that were
possible, and which the excited audience acknow-
ledged with a warmth that well responded to its
cause. In the second act she seemed somewhat
exhausted, and scarcely sustained her previous
level; but in the third all her force returned, and a
fitter conclusion to this noble character it would
have been impossible to witness. The terrible fury
with which she delivered the well-known denun-
ciation " Non Tremari o perfido," was only
equalled in its power by the deep pathos of
her last and fainting appeal to the High Priest;
altogether this was a performance which we could
witness at no other hanple. The Pollio was Signor
Armandi, who was tolerably efficient; and the
High Priest, Signor Vialetti, who was as good as
could be wished. The choruses were admirable
from their first note to their last; and the band,
under Signor Arditi, exhibited all its usual excel-
ence. The house was very full, and its satisfac-
tion very great.