The Sun.
London, England, 1856-07-16 00:00:00

RESIGNATION OF VISCOUNT
HARDINGE.

GENERAL ORDER.

HORSE GUARDS, July 15.
Field Marshal Viscount Hardiuge, having been
compelled by the state of his health to tender to
the Queen his resignation of the command of the
army, which her Majesty has been graciously
pleased to accept, desires to record his deep sense
of the conduct of the troops, and the obligations he
is under to the general, and other officers, for their
uniform support, while he has had the honour and
happiness to be at their head.
On assuming the command of the army, succeed-
ing as he did the greatest commander which this
country has produced, Viscount Hardinge felt the
weight of the duty which, by her Majesty's favour,
was entrusted to him ; but he confidently relied on
the zealous exertions of its officers to maintain it in
that high state of discipline and efficiency for which
it had been distinguished.
A period of war ensued ; and it was then seen
how fully this confidence was justified. After a long
peace a British army took the field, unsurpassed in
any of the qualities required of soldiers. Under a
leader whose loss has been deplored by the Sove-
reign, the army, and the country, a series of vic-
tories was achieved, which shed an additional lustre
on the British arms.

The instructions for the conduct of the war, and
her Majesty's thanks to the troops during its ope-
rations, have been, according to invariable custom,
conveyed to the army in the field by her Majesty's
Secretary of State for War. Her Majesty's senti-
ments have on all these occasions been expressed
with great force and truth ; but Lord Hardinge
cannot on this occasion deny himself the satisfaction
of recording his conviction that at no former period
of the military history of this country has the de-
voted conduct of the troops been surpassed. Their
soldier-like qualities stood the test of a siege, car-
ried on through a rigorous winter, and for eleven
months of open trenches.

The valour and perseverance of that gallant army,
and of its brave allies, were at length rewarded by
the capture of the enemy's fortress, and the attain
ment of an honourable peace.
Whilst the Field Marshal records his admiration
of the conduct of the troops who took part iu that
great achievement, he desires to convey to the
army at large his thanks for their zealous obedience
and devotion, and to express the regret with which
be separates from them. Viscount Hardinge can
only add the expression of his sincere gratification,
that the command of the army is, by her Majesty's
pleasure, about to be assumed by General H.R.H.
the Duke of Cambridge, K G., G.C.8., the illus-
trious Prince whose name is associated with some
of the most splendid triumphs of the war just con-
cluded, and whose devotion to the interests of the
service is so well known.
By command of the Right Hon. Field-Marshal
Viscount Hardinge, Commanding-in-Chief ;
G. A. WETIIERALL, Adjutant-General-

OPENING OF THE CONCERT HALL,
ROY AL SU.KREY GARDENS.

Those among our readers who have never attended any
of the great provincial music meetings which take place
annually in various parts of England must, if they were
present yesterday afternoon at the inauguration festival
for the opening of the new concert ball in Surrey Gar-
dens, have had an excellent notion of what they really
are. There was the same bustle, animation, and excite-
ment, wbile everything was on the same grand sea's—
grander, indeed, if numbers may be taken into conside
ration, since in the orchestra directed by M. Jullien
there was something like 1,000 performers, vocal and
instrumental. A more auspicious beginning to a new and
important undertaking could scarcely have been desired
by its warmest well-wishers. The weather was superb,
and that was already an incitement to attend a fete which
in a great measure might be denominated as a fete " al
fresco," and from a musical and even popular point of
view both respectability and cc/at were given to the event
by a very fine performance of Handel's "Messiah."
How many more great occasions, noble charities, and
splendid monuments are destined to be commemorated
by this immortal oratorio ! No work in any sister art
holds the same position with regard to others as the
" Messiah" with regard to the bulk of musical compo-
sitions. It was therefore wisely chosen to inaugurate
the Surrey Festival ; and, as has been continually ob-
served, seemed to bring good fortune with it. All the
world of connoisseurs was present—besides some thou-
sands of persons, attracted, no doubt, as much by the
novelty of the speetacle as by the expectation of a musi-
cal performance on an unusually grand scale.
We may at once say that the coup d'essai was won-
derfully successful. Proceedings commenced with Dr.
Samuel Sebastian Wesley's arrangement of the " Old
Hundredth Psalm," sung by all the voices, with accom-
paniments to the last verse, and conducted by the cele-
brated organist himself. The harmonisation of this truly
solemn and at the same time simple melody is masterly,
and the correctness with which it was intoned gave a
promise of excellence in the chorus which was more than
fulfilled by the "Messiah." The National Anthem fol-
lowed, Mr. Sims Reeves and Madame Clara Novelio
declaiming the solo verses in a style so emphatic as to
raise the enthusiasm of the audience, who of coure re-
mained standing until the end.
Long before the conclusion of the first part of the
" Messiah" the adaptation of the Surrey Music-hall for
sound was placed beyond a doubt. In this essential no
other building in Great Britain can be compared with it.
The fugued allegro in the overture proved at the outset
that the stringed quartets could be heard quite as well
as the instruments of wood and their louder companions
of brass. The effect of the choruses was remarkable.
Not merely the masses in aggregate, but the various parts
separately, came out with a clearness seldom paralleled.
"Pianos" and even "pianissimos were audible at the
remotest points of the building, and indeed no part acces-
sible to the audience seemed deficient in this invaluable
quality of resonance without superfluous reverberation.
Those fine choruses, "The glory of the Lord" and "He
shall purify," at once raised the impression we have
described, but which was irrevocably confirmed by
the still finer " Unto us a child is born." This last was
admirably rendered, and at the end the audience broke
out into acclamations of approval, and insisted upon a
repetition. The point and delicacy of the part singing
here were worthy of unqualified praise, more especially
when the multitude of voices employed is taken into
consideration. The climax, too, attained in that sub.
lime passage, " And his name shall be called ' Wonder-
tul, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father,
the Prince of Peace,' " was thrilling, Another most
striking performance was, " All we like eheep,,, one of
the magnificent chain of choruses which impart such dig-
nity and interest to the second division of the oratorio,
illustrating the passion and sufferings of the Saviour.
Here the florid passages, delivered with a fluency and
truth of intonation for which our native chorus singers
are wholly unrivalled, and which they doubtless owe to
the constant study of Handel's music, stood out detached
and in strong relief, against the long-sustained notes
which, in the instance of the soprani, the higher in the
scale they ascended the more bright and penetratin
was their tone. As a specimen of fugue lingiug Iwo
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