The Sun.
London, England, 1847-12-01 00:00:00

No. 17 -)19 ] LONDON, WEDNESDAY E E - G

SHE LATE MR. ROOKE.
A GRAND CONCERT, for the BENEFIT of the
WIDOW sad SEVEN CHILDREN of the late Mr. Hooke,
under the special patronage of her Majesty the Queen and his
Royal Highness Prince Albert, will be given at the Hanover-square
Rooms, on THURSDAY EVENING, the Id of December, on which
occasion a selection of favourite pieces from his operas will be per-
formed. The following eminent Vocalists and Instrumentalists have
kindly tendered their services : —Misses Dolby, Poole, A. Williams,
li. Williams, It. Isai ; Messrs. Wilson, Hobbs Allen, Leffler,
Machin, Williams, W. Sterndale Bennett, Richardson, and J. E.
Chatterton. The Band will be complete, many of tile late Mr.
Rooke's former associates and admirers having cheerfully offered
their valuable assistance.—Conductors, Sir Henry It. Bishop and Mr.
Ita!le.—Leaders, Mr. T. Cooke and Mr. IV. Thomas.
Tickets, 75. each : Reserved Sews, 10s. 6d., with Programmes,
may be had at all the Music Sliops.
Donations in behalf of the W dow and Family will be most thank-
fully received by the members of the Convillttee : or by Mr. W..hilm
Wilson, 47, Gower-street, Treasui er to the Ft nd.

ATIONAL 140 AN iI'UND Li 1 14:
1. •
1 ASS UR A N., SOC. PI%
26, CORNIIII.I„ LONDON.
Capital .£600,000. Empowered by Act of Parliament.
This Institatioe embraces Important a,l substantial ..Cantages
with respect to life assurances and deferred annuities. The assurcu
has, on all occasions, the power to borrow, without expeco, or tor-
:eiture of the policy, two•thlrds of the premiums paid (see Table);
also the option of selecting benefits, and the conversion of his in-
terests to meet other convenioncies or iseeessity.
Aissur‘umes for tetme of years on the lowest possible rates.
DIVISION OF PROFITS.
The increasing prosperity of the Society has enabled Um Directors
at the annual meeting held on the !2th May, 1847, to declare a filth
:torus, varying from 35 to 85 per cent. on the premiums paid tat each
policy effected on the profit scale.
XAMPLE..t.

- tke
:1.6: Annual /Policy Bonus Ini
tient Pernia ;stun
As,,ured
E I Pre- taken addition Bonus In duction of may bor-
. miuna. out in Assured. I Cash. Annual row on
Premiums. Policy.
- ---- ---
X s. 4. £ s d. s. d. £ s. d.
1837 243 9 3112 8 5 18 4 6 1494 8 10
£ £s. d.
1838 218 4 8 99 8 10 15 13 5 1445 0 0
60 1000,74 3 4 1
1839 192 1 10 80 9 3 13 4 9 F 395 11 1
1840 143 5 10 co 8 4 919 1 346 2 3
1841 138 14 2 61 17 6 9 9 2 296 13 4
1842 1111 6 8 49 10 0! 7 10 4 247 4 5

The Annual Report, with tablet of rates, &c., may be had at the
Mee, or any of its branches in the country ; or, on application, will
he forwarded post free.

F. FERGUSON CAMROUX, Secretary.

N TIO N L MERCANTILE LIFE
ASSURANCE 60CIETT,
POULTRY, MANSION-HOUSE. LONDON.
Empowered by Special Act of Parliament.
ROBERT WILCOION, Esq., Chairman.
Parties desirous of participating in the Profits to be 'declared in
1652, must send in their proposals before January 1, 1843.
J. JONES, Actuary and Secretary..

ROYAL POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTION.
TWO LECTURES by Dr. BACHHOFFNER —one on
the Laws of Nature, in reference to the important sub-
ject •f SANITARY MEASURES; the other on the various
modes of VENTILATION, in which the PHYSICAL PRO-
PERTIES of a JET of STEAM will be exhibited, with Novel and
highly Iziterestin: Experiments, daily at Two and Half-past Three
o'clock. These Lectures will be given alternately in the Evenings, at
Eight o'clock, except on Saturdays. The ELECTRIC TELE-
GRAPHS worked. The WORKING MODELg, explained. An
entirely New Series of DISSOLVING VIEWS. DIVING DELL and
DIVER, with HYDE'S NEW API'AItATUS for CONVERSING
under WATER, ic. kc.
Admission. Is. ; Schools, Half-price.

PUBLICATIONS.

People's Edition, Price 2s. 6d.

FALLACIES of the FACULTY, with NOTES,
By Dr. TURNER.

Ile that opposes his own judgment against the consent of the
times ought to be backed with unanswerable truths ; and he that has
truth on his side is a fool, as well as a coward, if he is afraid to own
it because of the currency or multitude of other men's opinions."—
De Foe.

RAISING WATER discovered by the FOUN-
TAIN PUMPS, which roll the water upwards, witlio•li
either friction or faltering, therefore can never be surpassed ; cons,
quently this is the most important discovery ever made for the pre
servation oflife and property either at Sea or on Land.
AT SEA

numerous ships it has already saved, and the captains grateMlly ac-
knowledge the glorious results. Two testimonial extracts shall
suffice :
" Captain Gretg, from Quebec to London, states that the Fountain
Pump being fitted in the Caroline, its great power was the menus of
saving the ship and 230 souls on board, two seams in the bottom
being partly lett without calking."
" The Argus brig, from Cadiz, sprung a leak when three days Out
at sea, and soon atter her common pump chocked and became use-
less. Captain Rutherford states all then depended upon her Foun-
tain Pump, which for nineteen days and eighteen nights was in ac-
tion without a minute's respite, when all arrived safely in London,
with a thank God for the Fountain Pump."
_ .

THE LATE W. M. ROOKE.
'lle following anecdotes of the early career of
po Rooke, whose beautiful opera of Amelie has for
ten years been the delight and admiration of the
musical world, may prove not uninteresting to our
readers. Rooke was born in Dublin, Sept. 29th,
1794, and his father, a tradesman himself„ intended
his son to follow the same calling. Rooke, however,
was born a musician, and procuring a flute, soon
taught himself to play on that instrument. His father
died, and left his widow and son in poverty. Young
lioohe set up as a blacking maker in order to earn a
subsistence, still continuing to practipe assiduously
on the flute. It had long been his wish to obtain a fiddle,
and that wish was at length gratified in the following
manner :—He sat one evening in his blacking manu-
factory', all alone, exercising his mind on matters
somewhat akin to those just hinted at—all the while
watching an iron pot, in which sinitnered the ingre-
di.aits of his jet polish, and, ever and anon, wishing
that some piece of good fortune would throw a fiddle
in his way—when his cogitations were disturbed by
his t-loor being gently opened. Looking round, he
became aware that a bush of fox red hair had pre-
sented itself, surmounting a good-humoured, know-
ing-looking phi; which was lighted up by a pretty
broad grin. The owner advanced by degrees, until
the whole man—for such it proved to be—had got
within the precincts of the manufactory, bearing in
his hand,—what, think you, curious reader? Oh,
you could never guess ; yet it is a fact, a most strange
one, it is granted, hut, nevertheless, there the thing
was,—neither more nor less than the decolated trunk
of a fiddle, with the tail-piece dangling from a tie of
catgut. Gracious powers, a fiddle! and he just then,
as it were, dreaming of one. At the sight his heart
leaped up," we shall not venture to say how much,
higher than ever did that of our great poet, when he
first " beheld a rainbow in the sky ;" but, up it
leaped, sure enough, and up he leaped along with it.
The thoughts of jars, customers, and all care of the
simmering pot, quickly vanished. Advancing to meet
the fiddle—for that object alone now filled his mind—
he never asked what brought it there, but, snatching
at the body, exclaimed abruptly, " Where is the
neck ?"
" Oh, by dad, then, we're all right," said the
stranger, drawing forth from a capacious pocket the
disevered scroll and finger-board, "here it is; I've
brought it to you neck and heels, head and tail, all
in jotnetry, and a mighty quare looking article it is
any how ; but I dare say you're up to all about it,
an.! of coorse can tell me where to get it mended."
"Is the fiddle your own ?" was the query.
" Troth, then," replied the man, "it is not ; but
sure its the master's up in the first flure; for you see,
we're just up from the country, and the master says
to une awhile ago (oh, he's a 'cute man, and well he
may, for where's :the attorney that isn't ?)," this pa-
renthetical remark was given with a significant wink,
"says he to me, Ned, says he, I heered somebody' down stairs blasting away on the flute all the morn-
ing, and maybe the chap that blew it knows some-
thing about the fiddle ; so Ned, says he, you'd better
run down and find out if he could tell where it can
he doctored up. With that, you see, down I come,
and made bould to step in and ax you; and," con-
tinued he, observing the strict examination to which
the disjointed violin was subject, "as you handle the
article in a knowledgeable tasty sort of a way, I've
some notion the master wasn't far out in his guess;
but, after all, he'll be a smarter fellow than me that
ever gets music out of that ould battered rattletrap."
During this roll of Ned's tongue, which he ended
with a hearty laugh, the idea occurred to young
Rooke that here was an opportunity of obtaining
t
possession, were it for ever so short a time, of the
long-desired treasure. He, therefore, told Ned that
othone
ehciinin,
oulpdhuembwal
inonau,glaedn
dttahketeha cmatterta,rei if the
to
oh
efhoarfiv
edhdilltien rweapsearvEildnl as
intrusted
in theeyd
best manner.

"Ah, then, long life to you and many thanks," said
Nod, "and as one good turn dwarves another, I don't
care it' I deal with you for a pot of your polish."
So saying he threw down a tenpenny piece, which
he extracted from his left cheek (a far safer reposi-
tory than any of his pockets), and departed, taking
away a large-sised jar of the prime super jet blacking,
a range of which stood upon a shelf, bearing on their
!Owls a judicious intimation that the trade should
have a liberal allowance on any quantity ordered
exceeding one dozen.

When -once more alone poor Rooke remained for
a few moments lost in thought. Might not all this
lw merely a dream by the fire-aide ? But no, the
erasp of the old riddle and the bright tenpenny were
facts too tangible for doubt, even if the boiling over
of the forgotten blacking-pot had not suddenly de-
cided the reality of the scene. Ile lost no time, next
day, in taking the violin to Perry and Wilkinson, who
vot, restored it to working order; and when he got
it home, having begged a loan of it, which was readily
granted, he laboured night and day to overcome the
difficulties of that formidable instrument, with no
other assistance than that afforded by a cheap printed
guide.
Mr. John Fallow, having heard Rooke perform, was
so ple:lsed that he took him under his instruction, and
through life continued his friend. Rooke had set his
heart upon the study of music as a science, and a
piano was indispensable, but, having none, and the
purchase, or even the hire of one, being at that time
immeasurably beyond his reach, he set his wits to
work to overcome the difficulty.
It is recorded of the
celebrated writer and critic, the late Mr. Gifford, who
had in his early days to struggle with difficulties of
1.0 ordinarymagnitude, that, while drudging as a
shoemakers apprentice, his unfeeling master denied
him the use of pen, ink, or paper, lest he should neglect
his work for the study of mathematics, but that ha
contrived to evade the restriction by beating out
scraps of leather, upon which, with the point of a
blunted awl, he traced his algebraic symbols. Rooke's
device, however, for getting over his impediments was
even still more remarkable. lie procured a board of
the same length and breadth as a bench of piano keys,
upon which he marked out the scale, distinguishing
the ivory from the ebony by means of black and white
paint. Provided with this dumb substitute, he pur-
tied his silent and secret studies ; for his plan was not
divulged to even the most intimate of his friends. An
ear naturally most perfect, and a soul attuned to
musical sounds, enabled him, in a certain degree, to
conceive the audible effect that should arise from the
eeenbinations of notes upon which his fingers
descended ; and thus—almost fabulous as it may seem
to persons not skilled in music—he persevered in
his unique system of practice, until he acquired
some knowledge of thorough bass, or harmony,
and no contemptible power of fingering, long before
he had any opportunity of playing on a real piano-
forte. Certainly in all the records of make shift
ingenuity we shall seek in vain for a more singular
instance than this of triumph over a hopeless diffi-
culty.
A valued friend of it( oke'a, to whose excellent
memory we are indebted for these early and interest-
ing facts, has a perfect recollection of the first time
our young musician ever played upon a veritable
piano. His friend, then also a lad, was domiciled in
the family of the late Mr. Daly, of George's-street,
and Rooke had been engaged to give him lessons on
the violin, for even thus early did he endeavour to
turn his musical knowledge to profitable account.
One evening that Rooke made a professional visit,
after having had a hard days' practice on his dummy,
could not retrain
he remained for tea, and they got up some music. In
the course of their amusements, having cast man a
" what do you'
told Inc that you
\t‘r.oi'uti:tivel.lll°i7eraint whispering hpiisanfloienidl°t°hkaet he had a great de-
site to try what he could do on the instrument.
know t.tr;oustaitdhehpisia
never played on one in all your h " That is true
enough, "replied Rooke, " yet I think I could make
friend, d ,
Surely laughing,
you.f
something of it." " Well, then," said his friend,
" you and I will sit then) till out, and when they are
one to bed we shall have the place to ourselves, and
yeu may try your hand on it as much as you please."
According to this agreement, they did sit them out, but
had a longer sitting of it than they reckoned upon ;
for the family, expecting Rooke to depart at a rea-
sonable hour, remained up through courtesy towards
hint as a guest, until they were fairly tired, and when
the conspirators found themselves alone the watch-
-110(11'S hollow voice was bawling twelve. Rooks im-
mediately sat down to the instrument. For some
moments he seemed, as his friend thought, to be
fumbling about, produc'ng no sound; but at last he
pressed the keys, and, to the amazement of his sole
auditor, played off a succession of chords and modu-
lations that would not have shamed an experienced
professor.
" What, in the name of wonder, is all this ?" ex.
claimed his friend, " have you been humbugging us
all this time, pretending that you never played?'
`• No, indeed," said Rooke, looking up with a proud
smile, " I told you nothing but the truth, and I will
flow explain to you the whole matter."
Ile then recounted the particulars of his invention,
as already given, and they shortly afterwards
sepa-
rated.

In the year 1813 he embraced tnusic as a profes-
tzion, and shortly afterwards became musical director
of the Dublin Theatre, in which capacity he continued
to act up to the time of his departure for London. At
this time he had the honour of introducing Balfe, then
a buy of seven yea,r, of age, as a violinist to the