The Sun.
London, England, 1857-06-20 00:00:00

EVENING, JUNE 2O, 1857

Evangelical seizures of goods-`to pay for Church-
men's churches and worship—all this may be
very spiritual, but if so, we own it is above the
comprehension of us worldly folk. We are apt,
no doubt somewhat profanely, to exclaim, " from
such evangelical spirituality good LORD deliver
us." We have heard of heathens, who, when
told by missionaries that their fathers ware
doubtless in hell, replied, " then we should wish
to go there too ;" and certainly if " we are to be
told that fairness and generosity to Dissenters are
not " evangelical and spiritual"—we should reply,
then leave us without the latter excellencies. We
prefer our old ones.

We put it, however, plainly to Lord SHAFTES-
BURY and his high and dry Tory Claurchmen :
Du the vast majority of Church-rate payers pay
willingly, or not ? If they do, then they want no
law to compel them to do it. If they do not,
what becomes of the tale with which the Earl and
his clique went to Lord PALMERSTON ? Only five
per cent, of the parishes, said they, refused
Church-rates, why, then, should not the ninety-
five per cent. be left as they are ? We ask,
rather, why should they, if they really do not
object? The truth is, that there are no returns
of cases in which the anti-ratepayers were in a
minority ; or of those in which it was hopeless to
contend with the parish magnates, Probably a
Y
largo
majifority of the Church-ratepayers
weoruyld refuse they could. If not, we repeat,
they need no law compelling thew, and others,
too, to pay. Repeal the existing law, and the
Church will still,get all it ought to get, while a
majority of Churchmen, or of votes (not voters)
in a parish will no longer be able to coerce those
who, perhaps, dare not oppose then].
We trust Lord PALMERSTON will not listen to
the Exeter Hall Earl. He has made bishops
enough to please him we hope ; let that satisfy
him. The' Premier ought t) know bettor than to
regard "Evangelicals," whose notion of " Gospel
Liberty" pleads for coercion of their neighbours.
If he don't mean to make a clean sweep of Church-
rates he had better never touch them. Let May-
nooth warn him, that if he charge the " compen-
sation " demanded upon any public fund, he will
have some dissenting SPOONER (only with a better
cause) boring the House, session after session, to
got the act repealed. Dissenters, we have no
doubt, would rather continue to fight the parish
battles than accept a degrading compromise. For
Church-rate compensation Lord SIAFTESBURY and
the bigots, must put their hands in their own
pockets.

" What is protection V' We do not, mean in
the economical, or fiscal, but in the diplomatic,
and political sense. We have seen that it has
been made the pretext for destroying the inde-
pendence of the protected States, for substituting
absoluts government for the quasi security afforded.
But what is the consideration given to the weaker
party t Is it anything of real importance, or
merely a mockery and delusion ? We have, at
length, some means of judging, according to the
views of a British Minister, and can therefore
estimate the value of such a connection to the
weaker party.

We have for centuries " protected" the Mos-
quito territory. Great Britain has flung the
mantle of its protection over the minor State,
and many Englishmen as well as citizens of other
countries depending on its efficacy, have trusted
their persons and property to that which was
universally believed to be an adequate guarantee.
But what has been the result In consequence
of a quarrel between competing companies the
American Government thought proper to send a
Cornetts to enforce redress for some allogod or
fancied wrongs. The proceedings were of a very
summary character--" Hight Captain HOLLINGS"
demanded the immediate payment of 24,000 dol-
lars, a sum far beyond the means of the autho-
rities, or of the inhabitants of Greytown ; and,
because that appeared a fabulous amount to the
parties concerned, proceeded first to bombard and
then to burn down the town. Lord PALMERSTON
has justly declared this to ba " a very violent and
a very cruel proceeding I" We go further and as-
sert it to be a piratical and sanguinary atrocity,
that should consign the inhuman perpetrator to
the gallows, and the Government, which gave a
pretext therefor, to universal detestation.
It was not, as we have stated, merely the bombard-
ment, although that was bad enough, but the subse-
quent incendiarism that was complained of, not
only were grape and canister . served out
with impartiality, but miscreants
clot
hed in the uniform of the United
States,
to act under the authority
tat
diabolical
and claiming
and direction of the Cabinet at Washington, landed
and set fire to the houses that remained untouched
by the cannonade--even the residence of the Bri-
tish Vice-Consul, over which floated the English
standard—

6, The flag that brayed a thousand years,
The battle and the breeze"
was wantonly destroyed, and the houses of French,
of Germans, and the citizens of other nations were
likewise exposed to the torch of the incendiary.
And what has been the result Has the Eng-
lish Government boldly claimed compensation for
those who fondly imagined that they were placed
under its protectorate ? Have they demanded
redress for the insult to the British flag ?
Far from it. " The lion has roared you like any
sucking dove !"—Has put forward his complaints
with " bated breath, and deep humility," and on
the contumelious rejection of his demand, or
rather of his humble petition, has retired from
the field like a whipped cur.

Lord PALMERSTON last night-shirked the ques-
tion. He babbled a little about international law,
which would not justify a claim in such a case.
Then why did he put forward such a demand
and what was the effect or utility of the
quasi protest made. Most assuredly a new
edition of VATTEL is required. English
diplomacy has never been very distinguished, but
at no time has it appeared in so humiliating a
light as in its recent proceedings, in reference to
the infamous bombardment, plunder, and massacre
at Greytown, under the avowed sanction of the
Cabinet at Washington, and the Government of
President PIERCE.

Y,„ E c

THE PARIS CONFERENCE.

(BY SUBMARINE AND BRITISH TELEGRAPH.)
PARIS, SATURDAY, JUNE 20,
8.30 A.m.

The Plenipotentiaries of Austria, France, Eng-
land, Prussia, Russia, Sardinia, and Turkey met
yesterday at 'the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for
the purpose of signing the treaty for the frontier
settlement in Bessarabia, and for regulating the
question of the Isle of Serpents and of the Delta
of the Danube.

The Moniteur confirms the fact that a treaty of
commerce was signed between France and Russia
on the 14th of the present month.

FRANCE.
THE ELECTIONS.
PARIS, FRIDAY.
The Monit,eur contains the following :
PREFCTURE OF THE DEPARTMENT OF THE SEINE.

THE H A NDEL FESTIVAL AT THE

CRYSTAL PALACE.

Yesterday witnessed the last of these great musi-
cal.cominemorations, though in point of attendance,
splendour, and success, it might well be called the
first. Such of the visit ors as only attended on Mon- I
day or during the occasion of the Royal visit can
form but an inadequate notion of the impressive
scene which the interior of the Palace presented.:
Every seat from which one could hear or see, and
many from which it was difficult to do either, had
its occupants, and, notwithstanding the immense
accommodation provided, some hundreds of visitors
were forced to content themselves with promenad-
ing the nave and surveying from a distance the
massive thousands which rank in rank filled every
portion of the central space.
' Not since the great day when her Majesty and
the Emperor of the • French paid a State visit to
Norwood have the roads presented such an appear-
ance. From Dulwich, Sydenhsm, and Vauxhall
the stream of carriages was incessant, and as each
separate avenue poured its tide of vehicles into the
one general road up to the building the numbers
became almost unmanageable.
A vast multitude is at all times a grand and
moving spectacle ; but when the concourse is
assembled and ranged in such a building as the
Crystal Palace, motionless .and almost breath-
less, listening with intense anxiety to solemn hymns
poured forth by two thousand voices, the effect is
too great for description. Such was,• in truto, the
case yesterday, when, at the commencement of the
second part of the oratorio, more than 17,000 visi-
tors were seated before the orchestra, which at a
distance seemed to rise like some colossal bouquet
from out of the garden of colours which spread
around it. The heat was excessive, and to look
down upon the great parterre, where at least 5,000
forms were in perpetual motion, gave to the whole
concourse an aspect of noiseless activity which was
singular in the extreme. Everyth.ng, in fact, was
on a gigantic scale ; the rising of the audience be-
tween the first and second parts made a noise like
the rush of a mighty wind, and the reverberating
applause of 30,000 hands' was in• its -way as well
worth hearing as the orchestra. Messrs. Neigretti
and Zambra were again busy in the upper galleries
and made a most successful attempt to photograph
the whole orchestra, on a large scale, and so per-
fectly was this difficult feat achieved that even the
individual likenesses of each performer can be
found.

As on the previous occasions,' the management of
the refreshment department was admirable. It
would be ungracious on our part were we to con-
clude our notice of these great fetes without bear-
ing testimony the courtesy, civility, and atten-
tion of all connected with their rnenauement.
Both to those who 'represented the Sacred Har-
monic Society and the immediate members of
the Crystal Palace stiff, the highest praise is
due. Never have festivals of such magnitude, and
of which all the arrangements were of so novel
and almost experimental a character, been con-
ducied with more thorough order, propriety, and
actual comfort to the spectators. In the enume-
ration of those who have rendered essential service
Mr. Ferguson, the able manager of the Palace, of
course stands first, and to him, and to Mr. Grove,
the secretary; every lover of music is deeply indebted
for the months of toil, and often extreme discourage-
ment, which they had to undergo before such tri-
umphant results as those of the past week were
achieved. What we have said of these gentlemen
may, as far as zeal and arsiduity in their various
departments is concerned, be said of the entire staff

connected with the building. From first to last
they Imre never flagged or faltered in efforts to pro-
mote the general success of the arrangements, and
so far contribvte to the individual convenience of
each visitor.

" Israel in Egypt " was given yesterday, just as
Handel wrote and as Handel would have loved to
hear it. To describe such a performance is not an
easy task, since, as everything calls for eulogy, the
danger of exhausting the vocabulary of praise be-
comes imminent, and a calumu filled with laudatory
epithets would suggeet rather an idea of romance than
of reality. It is nevertheless true that the execution
of " Israel in Egypt " in the Crystal Palace yester-
day surpassed iu excellence that of the " Messiah"
'on Monday, and of " Judas Maccabeus" on Wed-
nesday, -ivhich, as the difficulties it presents are so
much greater, argued a diligence on the part of the
singers and a determination on that of the conduc-
tor which cannot be too highly recommended'. •
The first chorus, " And the children of Israel
sighed by reason of their bondage," where Handel
has shown himself as grand a master of pathos of
of the elaborations of counterpoint, was a foretaste
of what was to come. The conviction that there
would be a performance of unaccustomed excellence
sprung at once from this beginning, and was folly
warranted by the result. "Theyloathed to drink
of the river ; He turned their waters in blook "
the first of that unexampled chain of choruses by
which the plagues inflicted upon the Egyptians,
the miracle of the exodus, the destruction of Pha-
raoh's host, and the religious awe created in the
minds of the favoured people, are illusttrated—
was delivered with an accuracy and truth of into-
nation the more remarkable since the theme is com-
posed of awkward intervals, chromatic in style and
treated throughout in the strictest and severest
form of fugue. The impression produced by this
most suggestive " tone-picture" was deepenee by
that of the next, " He spake the word," which em-
bodies the plague of the flies, the lice, and the locusts
—one of the double-choruses for which "Israel in
Egypt" is renowned—a composition of a very dif-
ferent character from its predecessors, but equally
distinguished by descriptive eloquence. At the end
of this fine piece the audience broke forth in loud
applause, which, after the termination of the suc-
ceeding chorus, " He gave them hailstones," was
renewed in -a manner so universal and tumultuous
that, notwithstanding Mr. Cosia's disinclination to
" encores," he was compelled to yield to the desire
of the audience. We cannot remember on any
occasion so grand a performance of this marvellous
piece, which, as a combination of simplicity and
power, is wholly without a parallel. The two next
choruses, in which the plague of darkness and the
destruction of the first-born are embodied, were,
from another point of view, quite as impressive.
In the first, remarkable for its daring and singular
progressions of harmony, we were once more de-
lighted at the purity of intonation displayed by
such a multitude of voices, and were not less pleased
to observe that the exaggerated reading of the last
phrase—" even darkness, which might be felt"—
complained of at rehearsal, though not entirely
discarded, was considerably modified. Passing over
the intervening pieces, we came to the prodigiously
fine chorus, in three parts, commencing with " He
rebuked the Red Sea." ere the grandeur of the
opening, which illustrates the Divine decree,
was most admirably contrasted with the passage
by which its accomplishment is so forcibly con-
veyed---" and it was dried up"--delivered in an
undertone than which nothing could be more ex-
pressive. The basses gave out the slow and mea-
sured theme of "He led them through the deep'
with tremendous effect ; and no words can suggest
a notion of the effect produced by the magnificent
climax, "But the waters overwhelmed their ene-
mies," where Handel, putting forth all Nis might to
give significance to the catastrophe that involved
the persecutors of Israel in annihilation, has suc-
ceeded in presenting a musical picture of unequalled
greatness and sublimity. The reiteratou of the-
words "Not one,"—in the sentence "there was
not one of them left"—was literally appalling.
The second part was in all respects as satisfac-
tory as the first, but we cannot attempt anything
like a detailed accouut. The "Horse and. his
rider" was re-demanded by thousands of voices ;
but Mr. Costa, aware that this chorus comes again,
was this time resolute, and proceeded with the
duet, "The Lord is my strength," heedless of the
obstreperous demand for a repetition. When at
the end of the oratorio, it was repeated in its pro-
per place, the effect was just as striking, and doubt-
less all the more so from the judicious decision of
of the conductor in the first instance. •
. .

The principal solo singers were again successful ;
and once more Mr. Sims Reeves was the hero: He
bad not nearly so arduous a task in "Israel" as in
"Judas Maccabteus ;" but of the 'one air which
affords occasion for th exhibition of vocal facility
and skill he availed himself with surprising talent.
His execution of this very difficult song, which
abounds in florid divisions after HandePs peculiar
manner, was masterly throoghout, the declamation
being just as powerful as the vocal enunciation of
the notes was irreproachable. The audience, roused
into enthusiasm, would nut be denied ; and so'
unanimously expressed was their deAre to hear
the song again tlrat there wimp° reciting it. ThuS
another encore was added to the incidents of the
day. Miss Dolby sang both the contralto airs to
perfection, and made a profound sensation in the
second—" Thou shalt 'bring them in." Not 105
happy was
.Madame Novello in "Thou didst blow
with thy wind," which was very finely given, and
but for the misfortune of coming immediately after
Mr. Sims Reeves in " The enemy said" would
hive produced a still greater effect. Where Ma-
dime Novello was most applauded by the audience
was in the recitatives of Miriam the Prophetes,
h
" Sing ye to the Lord," he., preceding the final
chorus, where, while we admired the clear arid
penetrating qualities of her upper tones, we could
not approve her alteration of the text of Handel.
The spirited and always telling duet for basseb,
"The Lord is a man of war," sung with remarkable
power by Herr Formes, and Mr. Weiss, and, as
usual, one of the great features of the performance,
was received with the loudest applause.
After the Oratorio the Natiomq, Anthem was

given, Madame Novelle again be,ing intrusted with
the principal solo) verses.
The Handel Fesfiv judged from a musical
point of view, has been an unquestionable success.
It was a bold experiment ; but the result has proved
that musical performances on a very grand scale are
possible in the Crystal 1),114ca. The committee of
the Sacred Harmonic Society have earned laurels
of a novel kind, and may fairly regard the, projec-
tion and accomplishment of so extraordinary ani
enterprise 'with pride, as the most striking 0"
memorai)la incident in the history of their institn:
tun), which, in the c )urse of 25 years, from a stash
and insignificant knot of amateurs, has grown into
a body sufficiently important to project, and anal,:
cientiy strong to carry out an enterprise of such
unprecedented magnitude. How much they owe
to their accomplished conductor, Mr. Coita—vvh°se IFS'
tival during the progress of the Handel eS.
tival have been as unremitting as his musical eel'
vices have been invaluable—we need not insist:
The cheers, acclamations, and waving of hats that
greeted him yesterday on retiring from the oreheilr4
were tokens of how entirely nis effects had Weil
appreciated by the public.