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

No. 17,219.] LONDON, WEDNESDAY E E
N G

E LATE MR. ROOKE.
GRAND CONCERT, for the BENEFIT of the
WIDOW and SEVEN CHILDREN of the late Mr. Rooko,
wader: the special .patronage of her :Majesty the Queen and his
Royal.hignsiess Prince Albert, will be given at the Hanover-square
RootiiS, oq TEURSDAY EVENING, the 2d of December, on which
Joecailen a selection of favourite piecei from his operas will be per-
•formed. The following eminent Vocalists and Instrumentalists have
kindiy tqpdered their services .—Missep Dolby, Poole, A. Williams,
•Williams, It. Ita•tes ; Messrs. Wilsdn, Hobbs Allen, Leffler,
Machin,' Sterndalo BetMett, Richardson, and J. B.
Chattetton. The: Rand. will ha complete, many of the late Mr.
ROoke's former, aasociotes and admirers .having cheerfully offered
their valultble•assiatancb.—Conductors, Sit-Henry It. Bishop and Mr.
Balfe.-Leaders, Mr. 'I. Cooke and Mr. 'W. Thomas.
. Tickets, 7is.'each ; 'Reserved Sews, 186, 6d., with Programmes,
.may be had at all the Music Maps.
Donations in behalf of the Widow and Family will be most thank-
fully received by the members of the Committee : or by Mr. W. John
Wilson. 47, Gower-street, Treastuer to the Fund.

~l

N ATIONAL LOAN FUND LIFE
ASSI,IRANCF, SOCIETY.
2S, ceinsfirLL, LONDON.
Capital .0100,000. 'Empowered by Act of Parliament.
This Institution ernioacsts Important and substantial advantages
w;th respect to life assurances and deferred annuities. The assured
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&so the option of selecting benefits, and the conversion of his In-
terests to meet other convenlencies or necessity.
Assurances for terms of years on the lowest possible rates.
DIVISION 8W PROFITS.
The increasing prosperity of the. Society has enabled the Directors
at the annual meeting held on the 12th May, 1847, to declare a fifth
Jonus, varying from 35 to 85 per cent. on the premiums paid on each
policy effected, on the profit scale.
IA MPLES.

i ' Perms- Sum the
Al..ti Annual Policy Bonus In nem lie- I Assured
Ay. E g Pre- taken addition Bonus hi duction of imay ber-
me, Initial. out in Assured. Cash. Annual ; row on
i-rn I
i ...____Preiniums.l Policy.
X s. (1. £ s d.l X s. d. I £ s. d.
r 1837 243 9 3 112 8 5 18 4 6 ,494 8 10
f Xs. d.
1838 218 4 8 99 8 10 15 13 5 ;445 0 0
60 1000,'74 3 4
1839 192 1 10 86 9 3 13 4 9 ;395 11 1
1840 143 5 10, 66 8 4 919 1 !346 2 3
1841 138 14 2, 61 17 6 9 9 2 296 13 4
1842 111 6 8 49 10 0 710 4 247 4 5

The Animal Report, with tables of rates, &e., may be had at the
Alec, ol any of Its branches Iu the country ; or, on application. will
be torwarEled poet free.

F. FERGUSON CANIROITX, Secretary.

N A TIO NA L MERCANTILE LIFE
ASSURANCE SOCIETY,
POULTRY, MANSION-HOUSI, LONDON.
Empowered by Special Act of Parliament.
ROBERT IYILCOICON, Esq., Chatrinsa.
Parties desirous of participating in the Profits to be declared in
1852, must send in their proposals before January 1, 1848.
J. JONES, Acta:try and Secretary.

ROYAL POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTION.
TWO LECTURES by Dr. BACITHOFFNER—one on
the Laws of Nature, in reference to the important sub-
ject of SANITARY MEASURES; the other en the various
modes of VENTILATION, In which the PHYSICAL PRO-
PERTIES of a JET of ,TEAM will be exhibited, with Novel and
highly Interesting Experiments, daily at Two and Half-past Three
o'clock. Those Lectures will be given alternately in the Evenings, at
Eight o'clock, except on Saturdays. The ELECTRIC TELE-
GRAPHS worked. The WORKING MODELS, explained. An
entirely New Series of DISSOLVING VIEWS. DIVING HELL and
DIVER, with HYDE'S NEW APPARATUS for CONVERSING
under WATER, &c. &c.
Admission, Is. ; Schools, Half-price.

PUBLICATIONS.

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

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

" Be that opposes his own judgment against the consent of the
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it because of the currency or multitude of other men's opinions."—
De Foe.

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THE RED BOOK FOR 1848.
Just published,
THE ROYAL KALENDAR, and COURT
and CITY REGISTER, for England, Scotland, Ireland, and
the Colonies ; containing an improved and enlarged Peerage and
Baronetage--the House of Commons, with the latest alterations--
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London : R. A. Suttaby, Stationers'-court, and other proprietors.

7' HE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL for
DECEMBER 1.

Edited by JACOB BELL.

Contents :—The Adulteration of Drugs—Vie Apprenticeship
Sys.em—Deptitation to the Secretary of State—Acetic Extract of
Colchicum—On Disinfection, and a Chlorine Fumigator—The Bristol
Chemists' Association—The Birmingham Pharmaceutical Institu-
tion—Acetous Fermentation in Tinctures—lthus Metopium, or Hog-
Tree Gum—Chloroform as a Substitute for Ether—Ellerman's Deo-
dorizing Fluid—lmprovements in the Manufacture of Gas—Acetic
Acid—Opium Smuggling—Opium Stnoking—Night•Soil used for
Manure in China—Excise Prosecution—Curious Circular, &c. Price
One %Wiling.

Published by John Churchill, Princes-street, Leicester-square
Maclachlan and Stewart. Edinburgh ; and Fannin and Co., Dublin.
Of whom may be had, bound in cloth, gilt lettered, price 12s. 6d. each,
Volumes I. t• VI. of THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL.
Any Volume can be had separate.

RAISING WATER discovered by the FOUN.
TAIN PUMPS, which roll .the water upward, with° i
either friction or faltering, therefore can never be surpassed ; cotta
quently this is the most important discovery ever mails for the pre
servation of life and property either at Sea or on Land.

SPORTING INTELLIGENCE.
TATTESRALL'S.—The 100 bet on the Two Thousand
Guineas Stakes was incorrectly quoted in yesterday's
paper ; it should have read thus :-100 even on the field
agst four (Kent's lot barred), viz., Blaze, Assault, Sesos-
tris, and Glendower.
ROYAL LEAMING TON AND WARWICK
STEEPLE CHASES.
Match, 200 soya. h ft., Bst 71b each.
Valiant (G. Whitehouse) beat Mr. Johnson's Rough
and Ready (Marlow) in a canter.

Match, 100 h ft.
Mr. Nuan's b f by Samarcand, out of La Fille mal
Gardee, Bst, walked over.
The Aristocratic Steeple Chase Stakes of 15 soya. each,
10 ft, and 100 added, 12st 71b each, &c. About threw
miles. (17 Subs.)
Mr. W. S. Crawford's Father Mathew (Mr. Wilson) 1
Mr. D. M. Arbuthuott's Thistle 2
Lord Clif den's Congreve 3
The following also ran :—Novice (Captain Broadley),
Khondooz (Lord Strathmore), and Fandango (Captain
Brooke).

Betting-3 to 1 agst Khondooz, 4to 1 each agst
Thistle and Congreve, and 5 to 1 agst Father Mathew.
Handicap of 5 soya. each, 2 ft, and 25 added. Four
miles. (16 Subs., six of whom paid 2 soya. each.)
Captain Little's Carlow, llst
Mr. W. H. Cooper's Forrester, lOst 71b
Mr. F. S. Wilmot's Warwick, lOst 101 b
The following also started ;—Lord Strathmore's The
Roarer (Mason), Mr. De Rhode nd, Red Hawthorn,
lOst 121 b (Turner), and Mr. D. M. Arbuthnott's Sir
William, lOst 51b (Mr. F. Wilson).
Betting-3 to 1 agst Carlow, 3to 1 agst Red Haw
thorn, 4 to 1 agst Warwick, 5 to 1 agst Sir William.
Won by a neck.
The Flat Race Sweepstakes of 5 soya. each, and 25
added. Heats. One mile. (13 Subs.)
Mr. J. Day's Milliner, 4 yrs, 7st 71b
Mr. Parr's Declaration, 4 yrs, itst •••• 0 1 2 2
Mr. Nunn's b f by Samarcan out of La
Fillo mal Gardee, Bst llb 1 0 odr
Mr. Crisp's Seven's the Main, 4 yrs
Mr. W. Smith's Nell Cook, 4 yrs, 7st 71b 0 3 3dr
Mr. W. Cleary's Gamester, 3 yrs, Tat 0 2 odr
Mr. W. H. Johnstone's John Harris
Mr. C. Thorpe's Outpost, 3 yrs, Est 91b
Several others ran,
The first two heats were won by a neck each, the third
was won by a length, and the fourth by a length and a
half. The winner claimed, according to the conditions,
for 701.
BETTING UPON THE OPEN CHASE (TO
MORROW).
7 to 1 agst Standard Guard.
10 1 The Switcher (t).
10 1 St. Ledger (t).
12 1 Latitat.

THE LATE' W. M. ROOKS.
The following anecdotes of the early career of
po.e. Rooke, whose beeutiful opera of Amelie has for
ten years been the delight and admiration of the
musical world, may prove not uninteresting .to our
renders. Rooke was born in Dublin, Sept. 29th,
1794, and his father, a tradesman himself, intended
his eon to follow the same calling. Rooke, however,
was born a musician, and procuring a flute, soon
taught himself to play do that instrument. His father
died, and left his widoWr,and son in poverty. Young
Liooke tupas a blaCking maker in order to earn a
subsistence, still continuing to practice assiduously
on the flute. It had long been his w6h 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 simmered the ingre-
dients 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 400 r 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, but,; nevertheless, there the thing
was,—neither snore nor lees
than the decolated trunk
of a fiddle,' with the tail-ieee dangling from a tie of
catgut. Gracious powers,,a fiddle and he just then,
as it were, dreaming of 010. At the sight his heart
" leaped up," we 3114 Mat ven'erre to say how much,
higher than ever did that or 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
dissevered scroll and finger-board, " here it is ; I've
brought it to you neck and heels, head and tail, all
uoryoot ; u
in joinetry, and a mighty quare looking article it is
any how ; but I dare say you're up to all about it,
and of coorse can tell me where to get it mended."
" Is the fiddle your own ?" was the query.
sur‘e‘ Troth, then,"
master'sreplied,then,'upin thethe
firstman,flare; isf n " itsbeuet
we're just up from the country, and the master say's
to me awhile ago, (oh, he's a 'cute man, and well he
may, for where s 'the attorney that isn't ?)," this a-
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
possession, were it for ever so short a time, of the
long-desired treasure. lie, therefore, told Ned that
he could manage the matter for him as well as any
one in Dublin, and that, if the fiddle were intrusted
to him, he would take care to have it repaired in the
best manner.
"Ah, then, long life to you and many thanks," said
Ned, " and as one good turn deserves another, I don't
care if 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-sized jar of the prime super jet blacking,
a range of which stood upon a shelf, bearing on their
labels 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
be merely a dream by the fire-side ? But no, the
grasp of the old fiddle and the bright tenpenny were
Batts too tangible for doubt, even if the boiling over
of the forgotten blacking-pot had not suddenly de-
cided the reality of the scene. He lost no time, next
day, in taking the violin to Perry and Wilkinson, who
soon 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 pleased that he took hint 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
no ordinary magnitude, 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 he
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. He procured a board of
the same length and breadth as a bench of piano keys,
upon w •hich 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-
sued 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
combinations 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 Woke's, 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,
he remained for tea, and they got up some music. In
the course of their amusements, having g cast many a
wistful loos at the piano, Rooke could not refrain
from whispering to his friend that he had a great de-
sire to try what he could do on the instrument.
" WV," said his friend, laughing, " what do you
know about the piano ? Surely you told me that you
never played on one in all your life." " That is true
enough," replied Rooke, " yet I think I could make
something of it." " Well, then," said his friend,
" you and I will sit them all 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
him as a guest, until they were fairly tired, and when
the conspirators found themselves alone the watch-
man's hollow voice was bawling twelve. Rooke itn-
immediately 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 mode.
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
now explain to you the whole matter."
He then recounted the particulars of his invention,
as already given, and they shortly afterwards sepa-
rated.

In tio year 1813 he embraced music as a profes-
sion, 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 boy of seven years of age, as a violinist to the