The Sun.
London, England, 1849-01-30 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, JANUARY 30, 1849

Ilenricus, the Cymrian Bishop, is a limning such as
can never be mistaken even by the most obtuse and
jolter-headed reader in the United Kingdom. It is
not so much a faithful miniature as it is a photograph.
Its excellence is not similitude but identity. The
original could scarcely have been more visibly inti-
mated, if the picture had been labelled " Henry, Lord
Bishop of Exeter :"
" Henricus—so the prelate signed his name—
Was lord high chancellor in things religious;
With him church militant in truth became
(Nam cedant alma toga) church litigious;
He kept his deacons notably in awe
By flowers epistolar perfumed with law.
" No man more stern, more forrter in re,
No man more mild, more suaviter in mock;
When knots grew tough, it was sublime to see
Such polished sheers go clippir:gly in aodo :
A hand so supple, pliant, glib, and quick,
Ne'er smooth'd a Land, orburn'd a heretic.
" Ile seem'd to turn to you his willing cheek,
And beg you not to smite too hard the other;
He seized his victims with a smile so meek,
And wept so fondly o'er his erring brother,
No wolf more righteous on a lamb could sup,
You vex'd his stream—he grieved—and eat you up."
Precisely with the same keen irony is the Count de
Neuilly scourged under the purple of Ludovick the
Vandal—his Minister Guizot coining in for a side-lash,
under the appropriate nickname cf Astutio. Introduced
in Book IL, they are permitted to make an ignomi,
nious exit in Book XL, not, however, without some
virulent derision being scattered over the memory of
the downfal of the French monarch and the esta-
blishment of the Republic, during the outbreak of
February. " A plump of spears," says the satirist,
would hare saved the throne, but No—
" One morn a riot in the streets arose,
And left the Vandal crownless at its close."
Ludovick fell, says he with facetious exactitude--
" Tripp'd by the slide of his own slippery feet."
Hear him further on laughing to scorn the ignoble
cowardice of the Orleans dynasty :
" Er'n at the last, to self and nature true,
No royal heart the breath of danger woke;
To mean disguise habitual instinct flew,
And ihe king vanished in a craftsman's cloak.
While his brave princes scampering for their lives,
Relictis parmulis—forgot their wives."
Much ridicule is subsequently levelled at the ultra-
democrats for the extravagance of the nostrums
vended by them as panacea for all revolutionary dis
eases. Besides the foregoing, there are casual gibes
at the Puseyites, at the Surplice schismatics, at the
Irish agitators, at the preposterous doctrines of the
Utilitarians, and at the mystical absurdities of the
Bentharnites and Coleridgeans. The latter are sub-
jected to a poetical flagellation during the narra-
tive of the mishaps and adventures of Sir
Gawaine—who, by the way, is a kindred spirit
with the merry exquisite so pleasantly pour-
traved as a Norman Knight in the noble
romance of " Harold," we mean of course Messire
William Mallet de Graville. But there are likewise
many more serious and certainly more commendatory
allusions to matters of vital importance to the existing
generation ; and these allusions are rendered the more

Impressive by their association with the wanderings
of the heroic Sovereign, the " Poet-King " Pen-
dragon !

Immediately after the description of Merlin's ad-
dress to the Knights of the Round Table assembled
in conclave, when the Prophet-Magician summons
them to battle and when—
" Sudden every shield
Leapt into lightning with the flashing sword,"
we resume the thread of the narrative which tells of

the pilgrimage of Arthur. His escape from the
Etrurian valley is recounted with surprising vivid-
ness—the egress being through the temple of the
funereal diety, where—
" Betore the inmost Penetralian doors,
Holding a cypress branch, the augur stands;
The King's firm foot strides echoless the floors
And with dull groan the temple veil expands;
Advance the torches and their shaken shine

Glares o'er the wave that yawns behind the shrine."

[From this isolated stanza it may be conjectured
how copiously the scenes are painted in language.]
./Egle endeavours to follow her spouse and is drowned
in the cataract. The discovery of her corpse and of
the insensible body of the monarch by Lancelot is
one of the most thrilling incidents in the poem : and
the contrast presented by the two forms, the reviving
form of Arthur and the inanimate remains of .2Eg►le,
is exquisitely touching—

"Dark—wroth—convulsed, the soul earth holdeth, lay;
Calm from the bier beside it smiled the clay:"
Over the memory of the latter are chaunted the
" Etrurian Ishenim" by the Heathen priesthood and
the " Christian Funeral Hymn" by the monks—those
" hermits of the Lord !" In these elegiac strains are
admirably displayed the influences for good or evil of
the true and the false religion. Arthur's grief for
the departed is profound, and, in depicting its poig-
nancy, the poet ejaculates this golden couplet :
" Three truths unite the children of the sod—
All love—all suffer—and all feel a God!"
In the midst of his secret lamentations, however, the
royal Adventurer is summoned to the fulfilment of
his destinies. He descends with " the weird lady"
into the mere in quest of the sword welded from a
gem. While he tarries in the submarine Halls of
Time the successive eras of English history—per-
sonified in Richard Cceur de Lion, in Henry VII., in
Henry VIII., in Elizabeth, in Charles 1., and ulti-
mately in Victoria—pass before him like a panorama.
Incidentally in the course of this superb pageant, the
bard apostrophizes the shades of Shakspere, of Spenser,
and of Milton, closing with a rythmical outline of the
present reign and of the existing civilization. Its
magnificence and its odium, its deficiencies and its
amplitude, are revealed in a diction at once terse and
melodious. The colossal phantoms of the Past, the
Present, and the Future are grandly conceived, and
seem to be built up, as it were, out of solid " cha-
racters" like granite. Take the mention of the
What Has Been—

" Dead on dead knees the large hands nerveless rest,
And dead the front droops heavy on the breast."
Arthur passes through a tremendous ordeal of
temptations before he obtains the Diamond Sword.
Among others, he is invited to rule over the Cy m-
rians by grinding the populace under an armed des-
potism, the tempter exclaiming—

`• From its own entrails if the worm supply
The silken purple—let it weave and die!"

After repelling the proposition with imperial scorn,
Arthur appeals in these glorious words to the God of
the Christians—

'Thou litsidst, Give due to Casitte—Lord! secure
The mightier tribute Caesars owe to nice!
Thou who het oped G.,d's kingdom to the poor,
Reveal humanity' to kings!—agai❑
Descend, Mi•e,iatil—and to earth make known
How Christ had nign'd if on the Chtsar's throne!'"

Ile acquires, however, in their appointed sequence
the Sword, Knowledge—the Shield, Freedom—and
the Virgin, llappiness. Ilia success is attributable
conjointly to his valour and his magnanimity. By a
lofty and felicitous allegory, it is implied that Free-
dom is the crowning emanation from centuries of
toil, and not the Presto ! of a Parchment Constitution

—the result of ages of preparation, and not the ebulli-
tion of an abrupt outbreak—the Wanderer rending
the silver guerdon of his bravery from the midst of
the bones of departed generations, and from the en-
trails of an extinct volcano. On the completion of
his labours Arthur discovers instinctively that the
Maiden of the Tomb possesses a subtle and mysteri-
ous identity with the guide and guardian of his pil-
grimage. Before the halo of the final vision has dis-
appeared, "their parting ray," says the poet—

_
"On Arthur's brow the faithful memories leave,
And the Dove's heart still beats in Genevieve I"
The music, the plaintiveness, and the indescribable
beauty of that last line can be realised only by those
who have followed the King and the Dove through
their peregrinations. Then do those delicious verses
recur to the memory (B. V. it. 38)—

" The❑ oft, in truth, and oft in blissful hours,
lifiss'd was that faithful guide through stormier life.
Ah, common lot! how oft, mid summer flowers,
tile miss the soother of the winter strife;
flow oft we mourn in Fortune's sunlit vale,
Some silenced heart with which we shared the gale!"
Although Genevieve is not introduced until imme,
diately anterior to the conclusion of the epic the pro-
tracted companionship of the Dove and the Sove-
reign prevents their union from bearing en appear-
ance of suddenness. Their alliance, moreover, requires
no long negotiation, for as Sir E. Bulwer Lytton has
himself remarked with so much truth and sweetness—
" Love wants not speech ; from silence speech it builds;
Kindness lihe light speaks in the air it gilds."

Of " King Arthur," as an heroic poem, we cannot
speak too highly. If, as the author has declared in
one forceful verse—

" Man's noblest poem is man's bravest deed,"
then does the epic under consideration deserve the
encomium of being the record of a thousand of those
acted masterpieces. The whole history of King
Arthur, as narrated by Sir Buisrer Lytton, the death
of the bard Caradoc, the character of the Earl Ilarold,
the budding knighthood of Lancelot, the storming of
Carduel,—all entitle it to that panegyric. It is in
itself an elevated eulogium upon chivalry, an
impassioned memento of romance, a tribute
to the genius of patriotism, an evidence
of devotion to fatherland, an expression of homage to
Christianity, a token of enthusiasm for Liberty, and
a testimony of confidence in Civilization. But beyond
all this, the poem has still a multiplicity of graces ;t
alternates the droll with the pathetic, the witty
with the sublime, satire with solemnity. In this
respect it conveys an accurate impression of the va-
riable temperament of the hall-educated nortbmen in
that primitive epoch of Catholicity. Sir Gawaine is
rendered the medium
groundwork of
his adventures, of
dvenatsurfiesh,coturat rather of Iris mis-
adventures, is-
conveying to us upon the
agclotr'geteiotuhrsesa,B
that
of
an
ormer—
a,glit
pal from Figiiryalnand ye
The

effect of his calamities—especially when he and the
dog (such an unconscionable wag of a dog !) are
about to be roasted as a propitiatory offering to
Freya—is infinitely comical : as also his bridal
nigh!! his exorcism of the tempest ! his first inter-
view with the nasal pigmies ! and his grotesque ab-
horrence of that diabolical scapegrace the raven !
To exemplify at a glance the humour of the mere
style of these jocose episodes—reminding one of the
irresistible tones of " Beppo " and " Don Juan "
take the close of Gawaine's interview with Henricus
—the Bishop loquitur:—
" Depart, my son—at once, depart, I pray,
Pay up your dues, and keep your mind at ease,
And call that creature—no, the other way—
When fairly out, a credo if you please;—
Go—pax vobiscum;—shut the door, I beg,
And stay;—on Friday, flogging—with an egg!'"
Before terminating our observations, we must tran-
scribe one passage from the "Preface" withlut abre-
viation—it breathes en air at once of so much manly
dignity, and yet of so much winning diffidence. It
runs as follows :

"Whatever the defects of this poem, it has not been
hastily conceived or lightly undertaken. From my
earliest youth, the subject I have selected has haunted
my ambition—for twenty years it has rested steadily on
my mind, in spite of other undertakings, for the most
part not wholly ungenial—since a lengthened and some-
what various practice in the conception and conduct
of imaginative story ought to be no disadvantageous
preparation for a poem which seeks to construct, from
the elements of national romance, something approaching
to the completeness of epic narrative. If my powers be
unequal to the task I have assumed, at least I have
waited in patience, until they were matured and disci-
plined to such strength as they might be enabled to at-
tain; until taste, if erroneous, could be corrected,inven-
tion, if sterile, be enriched, by some prolonged appren-
ticeship to the principles of art, by the contemplation of
its masterpieces in many languages, and by such fami-
liarity with the resources of my native tongue as study
and practice could permit me to obtain. But every one
knows the proverb, that The peet is born, the orator
made;' and though, perhaps, it is only partially true
that the poet is born,' and a slight examination of the
higher order of poets will suffice to show us that they
themselves depended very little on the innate faculty,
and were not less diligent in self-cultivation than the
most laborious orator—yet it would be in vain to deny,
that where the faculty is wanting, no labour can supply
the defect: and if certain critics are right in asserting
that that defect is my misfortune, I must content my-
self with the sombre refl,ction that I have done my best
to counteract the original unkindness of nature. I have
given to this work a preparation that, evincing my own
respect to the public, entitles me, in return, to the re-
spect of a
.just hearing and a fair examination: if the
remit be worthless, it is, at least, the worthiest it is in
my power to perform—and on this foundation, however
hollow, I know that I rest the least perishable monu-
ment of those thoughts and those labours which have
made the life of my life."

Having scrutinized the composition throughout with
an exacting eye, we must confess at once that our
judgment has detected but few blemishes, and those
blemishes of such a subordinate character as to admit
very easily of correction. Sometimes the writer in-
advertently repeats himself' (as in the Notes, Vul. 11.,
pp. 273 and 279), and occasionally the repetitio❑
amounts to a plogiarism of his own metaphors, as
where he says (Book VII., stanza 20)—
" The Sybil of the sources of the Deep
Heard nor replied, but indistinct and wan,

Went as a Dream that thro' the worlds of Sleep
Leads the charmed soul of labour-wearied man ;"
having previously written (Book 1., stanza 16)—

" Onwards he went) the invisible controul

.., .
(ompell'd him as a dream compels the soul."

Defects of this insignificance are, however, assuredly,
as nothing when placed in comparison with the lofty
merits of an epic which must henceforth be ranked
amongst our national masterpieces. Cordially and
respectfully do we bid Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton
farewell, now that he has sung of the glories of Ca-
radoc the Bard, of Genevieve the Maiden, of Lancelot
of the Lake, of Gawaine the golden-tongued, of
Merlin the Magician, of Crida the son of Odin, of
Harold the Saxon Earl, of Geriant, of Lolod, of
Dryda‘, and above all of the royal hero King Arthur,
" The knightly Caesar of the Christian North ;"
and now that, in so doing, he has crowned himself
with perennial bay-leaves.

COURT CIRCULAR.
WINDSOR, MONDAY.
Her Majesty walked through the Little Park to
Frogmore this morning, returning the same way.
The Royal Family took their usual exercise.
His Royal Highness Prince Albert went out shoot-
ing this morning. His Royal Highness was attended
by Colonel the Hon. C. B. Phipps and Captain the
Hon. A. Gordon.
The Bishop of Oxford left the Castle to•day.

The Queen will hold a Privy Council to-morrow
(Wednesday) afternoon, at Buckingham Palace.
Summonses were issued yesterday to the Ministers
and Officers of State.

A Cabinet Council was held yesterday afternoon at
the Foreign-office. The Ministers present were Lord
John Russell, the Lord Chancellor, the Marquis of
Lansdowne, the Earl of Minto, Sir George Grey,
Viscount Palmerston, Earl Grey, the Chancellor of
the Exchequer, Sir Francis Baring, Sir John Hob-
house, Lord Campbell, the Right Hon. H. Labou-
chere, the Marquis of Clanricarde, and the Earl of
Carlisle. The Council sat two hours and a half.

Sir Henry T. De la Beche had an interview with
Earl Granville yesterday at the Office of the Board of
Trade.

SPORTING INTELLIGENCE.
TATTERSALL'S.—YESTERDAY.
Inheritress and Geraldine were backed for the Chester
Cup at improved prices, the general transactions, how-
ever, were few, and in small amounts, and the quota-
tions, in most instances, the same as on Ti•ursday last.
The betting, in fact, turned chiefly on the Metropolitan
Handicap, for which Loupgarou was backed very freely,
commencing at 20 to 1, and closing at five points less.
Backbiter and Clarissa were also in favour, and in the
easrly part of the day 8 to 1 was taken about Canezou,
the odds, however, being afterwards offered currently.
Lugar receded to 20 to 1. The Flying Dutchtnan was
backed for the Derby at 9 to 2 to 250/., and anything
above 20 to 1 ,would have been taken about Strongbow,
Nunnykirk, or Oaterley. 2,000 to 60 was taken about
Elthiron, 1,000 to 20, five times, about Chatterer, and
1,000 to 15 about the colt out of Flambeau's dam.
Closing prices:—

METROPOLITAN HANDICAP.
Bto 1 agst Lord Stanley's Canezou—taken and
afterwards offered
15 to 1 agst Mr. Gregory's Loupgarou—taken
16 to 1 agst Mr. B. Green's Flatcatcher—taken
16 to 1 agst Colonel Anson's Backbiter—taken
18 to 1 agst Mr. Greville's Clarissa—take 20 to 1
20 to 1 agst Lord Eglinton's Lugar—taken
30 to I apt Mr. S. L. Fox's Executor—taken
33 to 1 agst Mr. Gordon's Do the-Boys—t to 1001.
CHESTER CUP.
25 to 1 agst Mr. Nolan's Blucher—taken and after-
wards offered
25 to 1 agst Mr. Meiklam's Inheritress—taken and
afterwards offered
28 to 1 agat Mr. Greville's Geraldine—taken
33 to 1 agst Mr. J. B. Day's The Tartar—taken
40 to 1 agst Mr. S. L Fox's Executor
40 to 1 agst Mr. Quin's Farewell
50 to 1 agst Mr. Gregory's Clermont
3,000 to 60 agst Mr. M. Blake's Ballinafad—taken and
afterwards offered
3,000 to 60 got Lord Howth's Peep-o'-Day Boy— taken
and afterwards offered
1,000 to 15 agst Mr. Maughan's Bathmines
1,000 to 15 agat B. Green's Pelham—taken and after-
wards offered
I,SOO to 15 agst Mr. Drinkald's Dulcet —taken and
afterwards offered
The following horses were scratched at Chester up to
post time on Sunday evening:—Bon-Mot, Delusion colt,
Tom Tough, Didsbury, Mogador, Crazy Lad, Tom Tit,
John Orridge, and Parable.

DERBY
4 to 1 agst Lord Eglinton's Flying Dutchman-
-900 to 200 taken
7to 1 agst Colonel Peel's Tadmor—taken to 1001.,
and afterwards offered
12 to 1 agst Lord Clifden's Honeycomb
20 to 1 agst Lord Stanley s Strongbow— taken to
501., and afterwards off, red
20 to 1 agst Mr. A. Nichol's Nunnykirk—tak 25 to 1
20 to 1 agst Mr. Gully's Osterley—take 25 to 1
25 to 1 agst Lord Stanley's Uriel—taken
2,000 to 60 agst Lord Eglinton's Elthiron—taken
40 to 1 agst Mr. Bowes's The Knout
50 to 1 agst Mr. Medley's Old Dan Tucker
50 to 1 agst Mr. Watt's Chatterer—taken and after-
wards offered
1,000 to 15 agst Duke of Rutland's c out of Flambeau's
dam—taken
It was reported yesterday, at the West-end, that The
Cur has been scratched for all his engagements.

OPERA CO1411(113E, ST. JAMES'S THEATRE.—The
second representation of Auber's opera of L'Ambassa-
drice, attracted last evening to this theatre a crowded
and brilliant assemblage. Their Royal Highnesses the
Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, his Royal highness
Prince George of Cambridge, and the Princess Mary of
Cambridge, honoured the performance with their pre-
sence. Their Royal Highnesses were attended by the
Bai on Knesebeck, Baroness Bo:6, and Lady Augusta
Cadogan. There were also present her Serene Highness
the Hereditary Princess of Parma and suite, the Turkish
Ambassador and suite, the Earl of Chesterfield, the
Countess of Tankerville, the Marquis Clanricarde, the
Countess of Oxford, Lord Bateman, Lord Sandwich,
Lord Cratibourne, Sir John Lyster Kaye, the Hon.
George and Mrs. Cadogan, Colonel Dundas, Miss Dor-
mer, Mr. Henry Greville, Mr. Eugene de Gtrlache,
Major and Mrs. Mounijoy Martyn, Mr. and Madame
thtidli, Mr. and Mrs. dam Sandford, Mrs. Fremantle,
Mrs. Dodd, Mr. .Brunel, Colonel Barlow, &c. -
OLYMPIC THEATRE.—Last night a new classical
drama, entitled The Hemlock Draught, was to have been
produced at this favourite little theatre; owing, however,
to the sudden indisposition of Mr. Leigh Murray, who
was to have sustained the principal character, the piece
was necessarily postp 'fled.

EARLY PROGNOSTIC.—There will be but a partial
show of blossoms ou the apple trees.—Plymouth Times.

THEATRICALS AND MUSIC.

As we anticipated last week, the success attending
theatrical representation proceeds on its course as
triumphant as the most ardent admirer of this species
of amusement could desire. We subjoin a list of
novelties and revivals for the week :
HER MAJESTY'S AND ROYAL ITALIAN OPERA.—
As the London " season" draws near, the busy note
of preparation is heard in these two aristocratic places
of resort; numerous important engagements have
already been entered into by the managers of both
these theatres, which, in the course of a few days, we
shall announce. From what we know at present it
promises to be a splendid season.
HATMARIEET.—Mi,S Laura Addison having re-
turned from her provincial engagements, made her
first appearance last evening as the Queen, in Hamlet.
On Thursday we are to have The Housekeeper, with
a cast as near as possible similar to that at the
Windsor Castle theatricals on Thursday last. Buck-
stone, in conjunction with Mrs. Fitzwilliam, join the
company at this theatre.
LYcEust.—The bill at this elegant theatre remains
the same as last week, the present entertainments
securing a house crowded with rank and fashion.
This is not surprising when we take into account the
splendid nature of the performances and the talented
artistes engaged in them.
I IADELPIII.—Kenny's Sweethearts and Wives is an-
nounced for representation here this evening, when
Wright will appear in the same character as, he did
at Windsor Castle, to the infinite delight of the regal
audience.
SADLER'S WELLS.—Shakspere's King John was
performed here last evening with a very excellent
cast ; Phelps sustained the character of King John,
Mr. Marston that of Palconbridge, G. Bennett, Hu-
bert, and Miss Glyn, Constance.
OLratrlc•—A new classical drama (so says the
bill) is to be produced here, by Oxenford, entitled
The Hemlock Draught ; the principal parts to be
filled by Mr. L. Murray and Mrs. Stirling. A new
classical drama is indeed a novelty.
MARYLEBONE.—A new farce, with the quaint title
of ls'nt it a Duck, was performed for the first time
last evening. Mr. G. Herbert sustained the leading
part.

It is generally rumoured that we are to have
another theatre in addition to the number (nearly
twenty) now existing in London. The Rotundo in
Blackfriars'-road is destined to be the place selected.
An ex-lessee and a popular manageress of a metropo-
litan theatre are at the head of the speculation. The
Rotund() possesses peculiar facilities for such a change,
and, if well carried out, a theatre might be con-
structed rivalling in size even the Royal Italian
Opera.
A relative (we believe a brother) of the author and
the inimitable representative of the character of Mon-
sieur Jacques (Morris Barnett) is about to make his
first appearance in that character at one of our prin
cipal theatres.
Mr. T. Matthews, the Clown, received a very gra-
tifying testimonial a few evenings ago. A gentle-
man, who had been enjoying the fun of the panto-
mime at the Surrey Theatre,
,having introduced him-
self, offered for Mr. Matthews 's acceptance Joe Gri-
maldi's snuff-box (a tortoiseshell one, mounted with
gold) ; we need not say the present was duly accepted
and very neatly acknowledged,

That London is without an English Opera at the
present time is a striking and much to be regretted
fact. Whether the want of patronage, or the enor-
mous salaries demanded by some of our English
singers—salaries which it is impossible for a manager
with a view to a remunerative return to give, we will
not now stop to inquire. However, such is the fact,
and we think the singers have themselves to thank.
This want is in a great measure remedied by the
number of delightful concerts and musical entertain-
ments that are now to be met with, and at such mo-
derate prices of admission. The following are an-
nounced to take place during the next few days.;
SACRED HARMONIC SOCIETY.—The next concert
to be given by this society will consist of Beetho-
ven's service in C, a selection of sacred music, and
Mendelssohn's " Hymn of Praise." The vocalists
engaged on the occasion are the Misses Williams, Mr.
Bodda, and Mr. Lockey. Mr. Costa of course con-
ducts the concert.

WEDNESDAY EVENING CONCERTS.—These delight-
ful concerts still attract a crowded audience. On
Wednesday evening the programme contains some
first-rate compositions. Miss Day will perform a
fantasia on themes from Wallace's opera of Maritana,
on the pianoforte, Mr. Sims Reeves will sing the
beautiful Irish melody of "The Last Rose of Sum-
mer," the elder Braham will again with Sims Reeves
sing Lavenu's duet, " A Father's Blessing," and
altogether a delightful evening may be anticipated.
HANOVER-SQUARE Rooms.—Mr. Barker, the talented
composer of several very popular pieces, gives a
musical entertainment here on Saturday evening;
the programme contains among other very pretty
songs " The Irish Emigrant," " The Dream of Life"
and " The Lament of the Irish Chieftain."
LONDON SACRED HARMONIC SOClETY.—Handers
oratorio of Samson will be performed at Exeter-hall
by this society on Friday evening. Miss Birch, Miss
Dolby, Mr. H. Phillips and Braham will sustain the
principal solo parts.
On Thursday Sir H. Bishop delivered the first of
two lectures at the Whittington Club, oa " Secular
Music in England during the 11th and 18th Centu-
ries." The lecture was received with the greatest
attention, and the vocalists that performed the illus-
trations were highly applauded.
The first meeting of the Melodists' Club took
place on Thursday, at the Freemason's Tavern, when
about 50 persons sat down to dinner ; E. Goldsmid,
Esq., in the chair. Several glees, duets and songs
were sung, and the evening passed off most delight-.
fully.

zas," with infinite humour and spirit. Made-
moiselle Vera sang the " Bel raggio,"
from Semiramide very finely, and the duet
" Per piacere," from the Turco in Italia, with F.
Lablache, very excellently. Belletti's fine bass tones
were heard to much advantage in the grand scena,
" Sorgette ! e in si bel giorno," Rossini's
.2lfaonzetto; he afterwards gave Balfe's buffo
song, " The Postilion," with great comic
effect. Miss Bassano sang "Si m'abbandoni" very
tastefully, and afterwards gave the duet from Ros-
sini's Ragata Veneziana with Miss Durlacher; both
young ladies gave this duet admirably. Thalbeig
gave his marvellous Tarantella on the pianoforte
and the concert concluded with the magnificent
preghiera from Mose, given by the whole of the
artistes. The hall was nearly as crowded at the con•
elusion as at the commencement of the concert, and
this we take to be the higlibst compliment that could
be paid to the artistes engaged.
Many distinguished persons were present, among
whom was the Duke of Wellington, who was greatly
applauded on his entrance.

PRESENTS TO MADLLE. LIND AT

NORWICH. • --
THE BISHOP'S PRESENT.—We noticed a fortnight ago
the Bible which the Lord Bishop intended presenting to
Madlle. Lind. This splendidly-bound volume was given
to her before she left the palace, the following texts of
Scripture being written in it by his Lordship.
" The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil; He 511111
preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going
out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even fur
evermore."—Psalm cxxi. 7, 8. _

" And this I pray, that your love may abound yet
more and more in knowledge and in all judgment. That
ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may
be sincere, and without offence till the day of Christ."—
Philippians, i. 9, 10.

THE MAYOR'S PRESENT.—The mayor, knowing that
Mdlle. Jenny Lind was not only acquiring our language,
but had began to read Milton, procured Martin's edition
of Milton's " Paradise Lost," handsomely bound, and
Presented it to her at the palace. She appeared highly
pleased. On the fly-leaf of the book was the following
inscription:—

" To Mdlle. Jenny Lind, from the Right Worshipful
the Mayor of Norwich, Samuel Bignold, in testimony of
his appreciation of her talents and genius, but more espe-
cially of the virtue and benevolence which have prompted
her to consecrate the wonderful gilts with which Provi-
dence has endowed her to the cause of charity; and in
commemoration of her goodness in devoting her ♦ocal
powers to the benefit of the poor of Norwich, on the 22d
and 23d of January, 1849, when two concerts were given,
by which 1,2001. was realised.

" She sang
With notes angelical,"—" and took with ravishmet,
The thronging audience."
—Norfolk Chronicle.

HENLEY AND LONDON WATER-
WORKS AND NAVIGATION.
A highly influential meeting of landowners, mill-
owners, and others interested in opposing the progress
of the contemplated Bill for the construction of these
works was held at the Town Hall, Maidenhead, yester-
day afternoon. George Henry Vansittart, Eq., occu
pied the chair; and the following gentlemen were either
present or represented by their agents: the Earl of
Orkney; Sir John C. Rashleigh, Bart.; C. S. Murray,
Esq.; T. Y. Williams, Esq.; M. Swaby, Esq.; G. E. G.
East, Esq.; H. Skrime, Esq.; John Rogers, Esq.; and
Charles Clowes, Esq.
Mr. 6WAEY moved, and Mr. LOVEGROVE seconded,
the following resolution:—" That it is the conviction of
this meeting that the proposed scheme is uncalled for by
the public exigency, and will occasion serious injury to
the proprietors and occupiers of land in the line of the
intended canal, and especially in the lower ground,
where the requisite embankment of between twenty and
thirty feet in height will much increase and prolong the
mischief occasioned in times of floods; and that as re-
gards the numerous and valuable mills on the River
Thames between Henley and Staines, the water to be
abstracted will cause irreparable damage, approaching
to destruction."
Mr. VENABLES (with reference to the loss which the
project would entail upon the millowners and tenants on
the banks of the Thames) said that if the quantity of
water mentioned in the prospectus of the company were
taken from the Thames, it would, in dry seasons, be
tantamount to an absorption of the whole quantity
coming down the River. As an inevitable consequence,
the mills would for that period be entirely useless.—
(Hear, hear.) Independently of the waterworks at
Windsor, which were constructed at a very large expense
indeed, there were eleven mills that would be effected,
and thus compensation to a very considerable amount
would be required, both by the owners and tenants of
mill property on the banks of the Thames.—(Hear.)
The resolution was put from the chair and carried
unanimously.
Mr. LEWIS ROSE moved the next resolution, which
was also carried unanimously:—That a due regard to
the interests of the proprietors and occupiers of the land
and mills requires that the proposed schemes should be
opposed in the most strenuous manner before the Com-
missioners for the preliminary inquiry, under the recent
Act of Parliament, and the proprietors and occupiers
present (in person or by their agents) pledge themselves
to such opposition."
Several other resolutions of a similar character were
agreed to; and a vote of thanks having been passed to
Mr. Vansittart for his able and efficient conduct in the
Chair, the meeting separated.

DESTRUCTIVE EXPLOSION AND CONFLAGRATION.—
About half-past three o'clock on Thursday afternoon, a
most serious occurrence took place at the works of the
Edinburgh Gas Company, which resulted in the almost
entire destruction of the splendid new gasometer lately
erected, adjoining the working prernises,of the company,
in the North Back of Canongate. The gas-holder,
which is 100 feet in diameter, and 40 in depth, is erected
on a piece of ground entirely isolated from the adjoining
buildings, and completely surrounded by a massive
wall. About the hour mentioned the inhabitants of the
district adjoining the locality in which the gas-bolder is
situated were startled by experiencing a severe shock,
as it from some violent convulsion of nature, though
without an explosive noise at all corresponding to the
intensity of the vibration. The houses were shaken to
their very foundations, while the inmates were stag-
gered or thrown down, and articles of furniture and
household utensils dashed with violence from their
places and broken or destroyed. The glass in the win-
dows was for the most part completely demolished, the
noise of which, coupled with the suddenness of the
occurrence, caused great and general alarm. The cause
of the disaster was soon ascertained, and the at-
tention of the crowds, who now thronged to the
spot, was drawn to a sheet of bright flame arising from
the gas-holder, which told too truly that the immense
quantity of gas which it contained had, by some un
known means, caught fire. In another moment the
whole was one sheet of flame. The fire continued to
blaze with great fury until gradually, as the gas was con-
sumed, the gas holder immerged in the tank amongst
the water beneath, and the conflagration was ultimately
extinguished by means of wet blankets and coarse sack
ing being spread over the shattered remains of the gas•
holder. The most mysterious part of the matter is, by
what means the gas in the holder became ignited. The
gasometer, as before stated, was completely isolated,
surrounded by a wall, and, as we are informed, no fire or
combustible substance allowed inside. The only con-
jecture which can be hazarded is, that the late high
winds with which we have been visited:must have strained
the pillars and framing of the structure, and thus caused
a friction of the chains and guide rods, which occa-
sioned the catastrophe. There were in the gas-holder at
the time nearly 300,000 cubic feet of gas, the greater
portion of which would of course be consumed; and we
have heard the total damage estimated by a mechanical
gentleman at about 2,0001. It is consolatory that no lives
have been lost, nor any one injured by this lamentable
occurrence.—Edinburgh Advertiser.
DETERMINED SUICIDE BY PRUSSIC AClD.—Yes-
terday morning William Vaux, late an estate and house
dead
aiiwonhritsh, frombed,
the
at
ths,
Trafalgar-place,
la)ce, w
effects of a large dose of prussic acid, which he had swal-
lowedlaugzitr;
gaged
lodgings,
NO4. 52 years,r a
during the night. It appears that the deceased
had latterly been so reduced in his circumstances that
he has been living upon his friends, and the circumstance,
it is evident, had very much preyed upon his mind. On
Sunday he dined out, and having returned home, re-
tired to rest about half-past twelve o'clock. Finding
that he did not come down to breakfast at his usual
time, a little girl was sent up stairs to his bed-room to
call him, and, after knocking several times at the door,
she entered the chamber and found him in bed quite
dead and cold. On his table was found a phial contain-
ing about two table spoons full of what was found to be
prussic acid, though the label on the bottle itself had
been carefully scraped off. In a memorandum, also
found on the table, there were some lines, in the de-
ceased's handwriting, to the effect that his friends
should no longer be troubled with his support, as he
should be found dead, and he cared not if they buried
him in a hogst ye:

The weather is still boisterous and generally wet.
Yesterday was one of the worst days we have had for
some weeks ; for although the wind was not so strong
as on that day week, the rain was battering and con-
tinuous during the day, and in the evening wo had some
heavy gusts of wind, with rattling showers of hail, from
the north-east, which, at a later hour, were followed by
sleet and rain. At the time we went to press there
seemed to be a lull.—Culedonian Mercury.

THE YEAR 1849;
THE 1849TH YEAR OF CHRIST.
5798th after the creation of the world, according to
Scaliger'a computation; but the
5853rd year, according to Eusebius.

IT IS THE
6562nd year of the Julian period.
2625th year of the Olympiad.
2602nd year of the building of Rome.
5610th year of the Jewish computation, which begins
with the 17th of September.
1265th year after the Hegira.
7357th year according to the modern Greek calendar.
783rd year of the Norman line i❑ England.
695th y( ar since the conquest of Ireland by England.
685th year of the Plantagenet line.
450th year of the line of _Lancaster.
388th year of the line of York.
364th year of the line of Tudor.
332nd year since the Reformation of Luther.
224th year of the Stuart line.
135th year since the accession of the House of Bruns-
wick.
13th year of our Sovereign Queen Victoria.

ALARMING FLOOD AT
INVERNESS.
On Thursday last Inverness was subjected to an
awful calamity by •he overflowing of the river Ness,
on both sides of Is bleb the town is erected, in conse-
quence of which the old bridge was entirely swept
away, and one-third of the town laid under water.
It appears that for some days previously the wind
blew tempestuously from the west and south-west,
and great quantities of rain fell, but up to Wednes-
day evening no apprehensions of danger were enter-
tained by any one. The river at length overflowed
its banks to an extent never before witnessed, and as
the old bridge, a structure built in 1668, showed
symptoms of giving way, all access to it was about
ten o'clock denied by order cf the magistrates.
During the night the flood continued to increase,
and at five o'clock in the morning the centre arch of
the bridge yielded to the pressure of the waters,
and shortly after six the whole structure was
entirely swept away. In the rnesn time the
waters had spread over the roads and low haughs
above the town, and in the town itself flooded one-
third of its extent, reaching as high as the first floor
windows. As seen from the Castle hill the spectacle
is described as having been one of awful majesty ;
and to this point the inhabitants repaired in the
greatest terror and alarm. Along Bank-street,
Douglas-row, Ness- walk, Huntley-street, and
Gilbert-street, the waters rushed as powerfully as if
they had formed part of the bed of the stream, and
gardens and other open spaces presented all the
appearance of newly formed lakes. The parts of
the town which suffered most were those lying be•
tween the Little Green and lluntley-place, on the
west side of the river, and the Haugh, Bank-street,
and Douglas-row, on the east side. As the inhabi
tants, unapprehensive of danger, had, generally
speaking, retired to rest, many of them experienced
much difficulty in effecting their escape on the alarm
being given, and numerous hair-breadth escapes were
made. In some places people were led from their houses
wading breast-high ; and, as the fall of the bridge had
destroyed the gas-pipes, darkness increased the ge-
neral terror, while the panic was still more heightened
by an unfounded rumour that the Caledonian Canal
had burst its banks, and that the unhappy town was
thus surrounded with water. The number of people
thrown houseless by this calamity is immense; but
they have been temporarily provided for by neigh-
bours and relations, and by the town council and
parochial board. Boats continued during the day to
navigate the flooded streets, for the purpose of• re-
moving the inhabitants, and in some instances when
boats could not be had the sick and infirm were seated
in washing tubs and floated to places of safety. All
communication betwixt the east and west sides of the
river by bridge has been completely shut up, as the
only other bridge that connected them (a wooden
structure) had become unsafe. On Saturday reports
were current in Inverness of other northern rivers
having overflowed their banks and caused much
destruction, but no precise accounts appear to have
been received.

ANOTHER ACCOUNT.
We learn from a correspondent that the weather
, in the north of Scotland, and particularly in Inver-
, ness-shire, has been tempestuous to an almost unprece-
dented degree during all last week. One storm of
wind and rain followed another for several days and
nights, almost without intermission, and with un-
equalled severity and heaviness. Those storms were
frequently accompanied by vivid lightning. Many of
the roads and wide extents of low-lying lands were
flooded, and travelling became exceedingly difficult
and dangerous. But the greatest calamity which
has hitherto come to our knowledge arising from
these storms is the complete destruction, on last
Thursday morning, of the fine old bridge over the
Ness at Inverness, which, after bravely standing the
floods and tempests of more than 160 years, has
been at length, in the apparent plenitude of its
strength, carried away at one fell swoop. There is
much interest of an historical and antiquarian
kind attached to this bridge, and its local posi-
tion and the elementary peculiarities it had to
battle with gave it an uncommon celebrity. It was
built at the foot of the romantic hill on which, ac-
cording to Shakspere, Macbeth's castle stood. The
building of the bridge began in 1685, and was finished
in the year of the revolution (1688). It spanned the
swift waters of the Ness by seven well-constructed
arches. The late eminent engineer, Mr. Telford,
esteemed it the handsomest old bridge in Great Bri-
tain ; although it had a slight rise in the centre, yet
the arches partook more of the modern eliptical form
than was at all common in days of old. It is stated in
the statistical account of Inverness that the ancient
gaol of that burgh consisted only of a single damp
dingy vault of one of the arches of this bridge. This
strange place of imprisonment was always pointed out
as a curiosity to strangers. The bridge (older than any
on the Thames) might have continued to defy the
river currents for another century, because the Ness,
although a copious and rapid stream, is a singularly
agreeable and well-behaved one, seldom overflowing
its banks, and never emulating the furious savage
outbroaks of its neighbours—the Findhorn and Spey.
This equability of current was caused by its waters
being husbanded in Loch Ness, and given out gra-
dually by a narrow outlet. From the great depth of
the lake, and the short rapid course of the river, there
was never any ice to injure the fabric; but a cause
was at work for its demolition which could never
have entered into the calculations of its architect. It
is well known that the Caledonian Canal is carried
through the great glen of Scotland, by joining the
three great lakes of Ness, Oich, and Lochie, by short
cuttings between them. The summitlock of the canal,
on Loch Oich, about 35 miles from Inverness, is
95 feet above high water at Inverness. Some of the
banks and locks of the Oich, near Fort Augustus,
are said to have given way, anti to have allowed the
waters of the upper level to flow into Loch Ness,
which, although possessing a capacious basin of about
25 miles in length, and of about an average breadth
of one mile, became swollen to such a size as to pro-
duce a fresh or speat in the river of unprecedented
violence, causing the lamentable catastrophe to the
bridge we have just mentioned. All the lower part
of Inverness was laid under water, the houses for-
saken, and the inhabitants glad to make their escape
in boats, and such other craft as could be got at.
Happily no lives were lost, but there has been great
destruction of property; and much inconvenience
must follow from the lines of communication being
interrupted. The wooden bridge, now the only
means of land communication between the two dis-
tricts of the town and between the eastern and
northern counties of Scotland, is left tottering to its
base, and in momentary danger of being swept away.
Other accounts ascribe the calamity solely to the rise
of water in Loch Ness from heavy rains and melted
snow, and make no mention of the inundation from
Loch Oich.

GREAT FLOODS.—The weather throughout the
week has been exceedingly bad. One storm of rain and
wind has succeeded another, and lightning has been fre-
quent in the evenings. On Sunday it blew hard frcm
the south-west, heavy squalls occurring frequently, with
rain. The storm increased as night drew on, and the
lighting was particularly vivid till midnight. Some of
the flashes seemed to open up the whole heavens, and
filled the sky with momentary brilliancy. During the
night the storm continued violent, but it gradually sub-
sided towards morning. O❑ Monday night the gale re-
commenced, lightning playing across the sky, and all
night long the rain fell in torrents almost unequalled in
heaviness. On Tuesday and yesterday the weather con-
tinued wet and stormy. The immense quantity of rain
which has fallen has swollen the Ness, and it now flows
discoloured and muddy, heavier than we have seen it for
many a day. It overflows the road behind the Caledo
nian Hotel stables, and on the opposite side it has co-
vered the pathway, and still continues to rise. Meeting
a difficulty in passing through the arches of the old
bridge, the water sweeps over the piers, and it rushes
beneath the bridge in a boiling and foaming flood. By
evening the river had increased so much as to make Ness
Bank and Douglas Row impassable. The Maggot and
other low-lying quarters were flooded. The Ness has
not been so high since the great flood of 1834. The
North mail last night was upwards of two hours behind
time. We learn that the river Conon is flooded almost
beyond precedent. The mail had the greatest difficulty
in getting across the bridge, where the water was from
four to five feet deep on tho road. The Spey is also
overflowing its banks and sweeping, in an immense tor-
rent, over the adjoining lands. Great damage, we fear,
will be done by the floods, which, as we go to press, are
still increasing, and cause the utmost alarm and coaster-
nation.—lnverness Courier.

The
Ofitrheerwtialhieh
FIRE IN EAST SMITHFIELD.—Last night, about
seven o'clock, a considerable alarm prevailed among the
inhabitants of Rosemary-lane,
sequence of a fire having been discovered on th• pre-
mises of Messrs. Tidmarsh and E
Brown,Smdeitahlefiresldinineacfi:trhns-t-
-enware, which, but for the prompt arrival of the engines,
would have involved a vast amount of property, as the
premises adjoining her Majesty's Mint, and
ionnge4itihveeirl,sitdhe
were rows of houses which were entirely built of wood,
that have been erected many years.
with
hitiously turned
observed in one of the crates, which was filled with
straw, and spread rapidly. The alarm he
Wellclose-square engine arrived in the shortest possible0
set at work, e
n o
s6omone•arrlitvewdatsthe speedily
on, and abundantly supplied,
the fire was
checked, much to the satisfaction of a speedily
persons of the Jewish persuasion, wh 1 large number of
ing building called " the London on lad, in an a"
Exchange,,, a large amount scaring
ofazaar," or " The
up in boxes, which would hare b ' appwel locked
THE R l'SrE
ECRUITING S een inevitably destroyed.
m --W
orders have been received here •for e understand that
to their respective regiments the immediate return,
of
officers and men engaged in the non-commissioned
branch of the service, it . the recruiting service. This
com-
mitted to the local pens' is understood, is to be com-
expected to be made - ion corps, by which a saving is
stationed here In the expenditure,
The •
are to leave E • parties
donian Mercury of Monday. Edinburgh to-day.--Cale-
THE 111 Ax •
TIRDOM OF ..- '
is the two hundredth11/sG CHARLES.—ThiS day
anniversary
Charles 1., at Whitehall. of the decapitation of