The Sun.
London, England, 1870-12-16 00:00:00

RESPITE OP PATRICK RILEY.

The Governorlof Leeds Gaol has received notice of the
respitelof the sentence of death passed upon Patrick
Riley, for the murder of a waiter at Bradford.

DIVORCE CASE AT DUBLIN.

In the Dublin Provincial Court yesterday, the divorce
suit, Taylor v. Taylor, was concluded. Mr. Justice
Battersby decreed Mrs. Taylor permanent alimony, and
£l5O per annum for the support of her three children.
The same to be paid quarterly.

THE MANCHESTER AND SALFORD !EDUCA-

TION BOARDS.

The first meeting of the Manchester School Board was
held yesterday. Mr. Herbert Birley was elected chairman
by nine votes to six ; and Mr. W. R. Callender, jun., was
appointed vice-chairman. Both of these gentlemen are
Churchmen. Dr. Watts moved that it should be an in-
struction to the sub-committee appointed to frame
bye laws, to consider whether they should not
be framed so as to give the power to enforce
attendance. Mr. W. R. Callender seconded the motion.
The Rev. Canon Toole moved that the consideration of
the question should be postponed. The amendment was
carried by nine votes against six. Several members, how-
ever, who voted for the amendment stated that they were
in favour of compulsion ; and others said they thought
the principle must ultimately be adopted. The chairman
thought compulsion must bo the last resort, and opposed
the motion strenuously.

The first meeting of the Salford Board was also held
yesterday. Mr. Herbert Birley was appointed chairman
here as well.

LIVERPOOL SCHOOL BOARD.

At the first meeting of the Liverpool School Board,
yesterday,Mr. Christopher Bushell;a member of the Church
of England, was elected chairman, and Mr. J. Johnson
Stitt, Nonconformist, vice-chairman.

BIRMINGHAM SCHOOL BOARD.
Mr. W. L. Sargent was unanimously elected chairman
of the Birmingham School Board yesterday afternoon.

SHEFFIELD SCHOOL BOARD.

Sir John Brown was yesterday appointed chairman of
the Sheffield School Board. Mr. Markfirth was elected
vice-chairman.

LEEDS SCHOOL BOARD.

Sir Andrew Fairbairn was yesterday elected chairman
of the Leeds School Board. Mr. Jowitt was chosen vice
chairman.

ST. JAMES'S HALL.-MR. BENEDICT'S
" ST. PETER."

The production of Mr. Benedict's magnificent oratorio,
" St. Peter, " here, on Tuesday last, will hence-
forward be regarded as a great event in musical
circles, because nothing at all approaching it has
been produced since Mendelssohn gave us " St.
Paul" The great hall was crowded in every part by a
most distinguished audience, and from first to last the
oratorio was one continued series of triumphs and ovations.
The first performance of the great work at the last
Birmingham Festival called forth such long, minute,
and complimentary criticism, that on the present
occasion we feel we need only record the won-
derful success with which the oratorio has been re-
ceived in London. The soloists on Tuesday evening
were Mdlle. Titiens, Madame Patsy, Mr. Sims Reeves,
Mr. Raynham, and Herr Stockhausen. The overture
"Evening by the Sea at Galilee ""was superbly given,
and when Madame Patey gave the first contralto recitative
" And Jesus, walking by the Sea," the enthusiasm of the
audience was evoked, and it never subsided until the last
note of the great work had been heard. The quartett 0
come let us sing unto the Lord," by Mdlle. Titiens,
Madame Patey, Mr. Raynham, and Herr Stockhausen
was one of the remarkable features of the first portion of
the work, and so superbly was it given that before silence
could be restored it had to be repeated. Mr. Sims Reeves
sang the two pieces for the tenor in the first part "Repent
ye" and "O house of Jacob" very finely, but his great
effort WAS in the latter portion of the work " The Lord is
very pitiful" and in the recitative and air " Daughters of
Jerusalem," although, perhaps, the great vocalist has
sung with greater power than on Tuesday, yet in our
opinion he has never sung with finer taste. Madame
Titiens, it is almost needless to say, sang with faultless
precision and excellence, and although her portion of the
music abounded with difficulties, she sang it with an ease,
power, and pathos that fairly charmed the audience.
" The Lord hath his way" and " I mourn as a dove"
as sung by Titiens, were the very perfection of vocalisa-
tion. Madame Patey, by her superb rendering of her part of
the oratorio, has taken her place as the first contralto
in the musical world, an honour, we hope, she will long
continue to hold. Herr Stockhausen and Mr. Raynham
sung their portion of the music with great care, and re-
ceived the warmest applause of the audience. The chorus
was equal to the great occasion. The various composi-
tions were given with the greatest steadiness and preci.
sion and the audience were not slow to recognise the
excellence of their performance. The gifted composer,
who conducted the performance, received such an ova-
tion that he seemed almost overpowered, again and
again the applause was renewed, and it was only
after repeated bowing that he was allowed to retire. Mr.
Benedict has, in our opinion, produced a work that
entitles him to a place amongst the greatest composers
the country has ever known, aud his oratorio of St. Peter
will henceforth rank with the works of Handel and
Mendelssohn.

THE BARNSLEY RAILWAY COLLISION.
(CENTRAL PRESS TELEGRAM.)
The inquest on the 14 persons killed by the railway
collision at Stairfoot, near Barnsley, was resumed yester-
day, and occupied over nine hours. Twelve witnesses,
including the various pointsmen on the line where the
accident occurred, and the guards and drivers of the
passenger and goods trains, were examined. The evidence
went to show that the waggons which ran down the in-
cline and caused the collision were going at a speed of not
less than from 30 to 40 miles an hour. The guard of the
goods train attributed the accident to his missing the
coupling hook of one of the waggons, and to the breakage
of a sprag which was intended to hold them. He could
have stopped the detached waggons if he had been able
to .get another sprag. Some- medical evidence having
been taken the eproner summed up; and at nine o'clock
the jury had not returnef/. their verdict

The jury eventually returned the following verdict :
"We are of opinion that William Allerton and others
have come to their death by a collision caused by the
breaking away of a goods train from Barnsley Station;
that such goods' train broke away owing to the guard,
John Heathers, not having properly spragged the waggons,
and to improper shunting. We are also of opinion that
the Railway Company at all inclines where goods wag-
ons have to be shunted to form trains should provide
catchpoints immediately below the siding. In answer to
the coroner, the Foreman said the opinion of the jury was
that John Heathers was guilty of manslaughter. He was
' admitted to bail.

We are informed from the General Post Office
that the wires passing through Leeds, which were reported
to be damaged by fire, have been repaired, and the com-
munication restored.

Mr. Bonamy Price, M.A.., Worcester College,
OXford, will commence his course of lectures as Professor
of Political Economy, on Friday, the 27th of January,
at the Old Clarendon-buildings, Oxford.