The Sun.
London, England, 1859-02-10 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 10, 1850.

VOCAL ASSOCIATION, ST, ,TAMES'

HALL.

The first dress concert of the season was given
last night by the Vocal Association, in St. James'
Hall. It opened with Beethoven's fine overture
" Leonora," which was exceedingly well played,
and elicited warm applause. Three songs of
Handel's, sung by Mr. Santley, Miss Palmer, and
Mr. Wilbye Cooper, followed—all performed cre-
ditably. The great attraction of the evening, how-
ever, was the production of Professor Sterndale
Bennett's new cantata " The May Queen," which
was a complete success. At its previous perform-
ance at Leeds, and at St. Martin's-hall, its success
was unmistakeable, and the enthusiasm
which it excited last night on the occasion
of its first production at St. James's Hall must
have been very gratifying to the composer. It is
a charming composition, full of fresh and varied
melody, and so simple and unaffected in its charac-
ter, that it disarms criticism.

After a brief overture, it opens with a spirited
chorus, " Wake with a smile, 0 month of May,"
followed by a graceful air for the tenor, " Oh,
meadow clad in early green," which Mr. Wilbye
Cooper, who was unexpectedly called upon to
supply the place of Mr. Sims Reeves, sang with
much taste and expression. One of the gems of
the piece was the charming solo with chorus, "With
the carol in the tree," in which Miss Stabbach
rendered the soprano part most successfully.
An unanimous encore was elicited by this striking
passage, which was followed by a melodious duet
for the May Queen and her lover, " Can I not find
thee a warrant for changing ? " sung by Miss
Stabbach and Mr. Wilbye Cooper. Mr. Santley,
as Robin Hood, took the bass part, and acquitted
himself respectably, though he scarcely did justice
to the, spirited bass song, " 'Tis jolly to hunt in the
bright moonlight," which might have been given
with much more animation and effect. The trio
for soprano, tenor, and bass, was carefully sung;
and the choruses, "111-fated boy," and " Hark their
notes the hautboys swell," though very different
in character, were both very well rendered. Miss
Stabbach sang the last soprano s•lo very grace-
fully, and the chorus finished this charming can-
tata with spirit. The instrumental music was
excellent, and the performance of the chorus,
though not always perfect, was very creditable to
them, considering the novelty of the music. Mr.
Wilbye Cooper acquitted himself satisfactorily,
though it was impossible to avoid regretting the
absence of Mr. Sims Reeves, to whom the tenor
part seems especially suited. At the conclusion
of the piece it was warmly applauded, and there
were enthusiastic calls for the composer, who
acknowledged the compliment from the gallery.
We cannot refrain from felicitating Mr. Chorley
on his graceful and flowing verses, which afford
full opportunity for the composer to display his
varied abilities.

The second part opened with M. Benedict's festi-
val overture, very well played. A new part song,
composed for the Vocal Association by Herr Otto
Goldschmidt, though not rendered with perfect
correctness, was so animated that it was rede-
manded Miss Stabbach sang Weber's difficult scena,
"Ocean, thou mighty monster," with care, but it is an
arduous undertaking for so young a singer. A
tuneful part song by Mendelssohn, and Beetho-
ven's march and chorus from the " Ruins of
Athens," concluded the evening's entertainment.
The hall was attended by a large and fashionable
audience, who appeared highly gratified by the per-
formances.

THE COUNTESS OF DERBY'S

ASSEMBLY.

The Countess of Derby opened the season with a political
reunion last evening, at the family mansion of the First
Lord of the Treasury in St. James's-square.
His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge honoured
her ladyship with his presence, arriving at 11 o'clock, at-
tended by Col. the Hon. James Macdonald.
The party was rather more select than numerous.
Among the members of the corps dtplonzatique we re-
marked :

His Excellency the Turkish Ambassador and the Prince

Vogorides, his Excellency the Belgian Minister, his Excel-
lency the Bavarian Minister, his Excellency the Austrian Mi-
nister and the Countess Apponyi and the Countess Baum-
garten, his Excellency the Spanish Minister, his Excel-
lency the Netherlands Minister, his Excellency the Ame-
rican Minister and Mrs. Dallas and Miss Dallas, his
Excellency the Minister of the Hanse Towns and Madame
Rucker, his Excellency the Swedish Minister and the
Countess Platen, his Excellency the Hanoverian Minister,
his Excellency the Danish Minister, his Excellency the
Sardinian Minister, Capt. de Falbe, Count Jaucourt, M.
Blanpre, Count Blucher, Chevalier de Cavalho, Baron
Aldenburg, Count Chotek, Count Brandenburg, and M. C.
Tricoupi.

Among the general circle were—Their Serene Highnesses
the Prince and Princess Edward of Saxe-Weimar, the
Duchess of Inverness and Miss Wemyss, the Duke of Hamil-
ton, Maria Marchioness of Ailesbury, the Countess of Sefton
and Lady Cecilia Molyneux, Count and Countess Grote,
the Countess Sandwich, the Earl of Hardwicke, the Earl
of Lanesborough, the Earl of Carnarvon, the Earl of
Powis, the Earl of Mornington, Viscount Campden, Vis-
countess Combermere, Viscount and Viscountess Melgund,
Lord and Lady Colchester, the Lord Chancellor and Lady
Chelmsford and the Hon. Miss Thesiger, Lady William
Powlett, the Ladies Murray (2), Lord Downes, Lord and
Lady Claud Hamilton, Lord Wynford, Lord and Lady
Sondes and the Hon. Miss Milles, Lord Henry Gor-
don Lennox, Lady Burghersh, the Right Hon. H. T. L.
Corry, M.P., and Miss Corry, Hon. Capt. Grey, the
Queen's Advocate and Lady Hard inge, the Solicitor-General
and Lady Cairns, Hon. Charles Murray, Sir William
Jolliffe, M.P., Col. R. Taylor, Mr. and Lady Elizabeth
Russell, Sir Roderick Murchison, Sir R. W. and Lady
Carden and Miss Carden, Sir Charles Locock, Sir Hamilton
Seymour, Col. and Mrs. Brooke Taylor, Col. Tyrwhitt,
Col. Lowther and Miss Lowther, Capt.. Archdale,
the Right Hon. Spencer and Mrs. Walpole and Miss Wal-
pole, Hon. Charles Edgcombe, Mr. and Lady Mary Stan-
ley and the Hon. Miss Stanley, lion. Mrs. Spencer
Ponsonby, Col. Airey, Mr. A. Cony, Mr. Wilson Patten,
Mr. Fleming, Mr. R. Perry Nisbet and Miss Nisbet, Mr.
Robertson, Mr. Merivale, Mr. and Mrs. Gaythorne Hardy,
Mr. Hardy, Mr. Alfred Montgomery, Mr. Conolly,
Mr. and Mrs. Seymour Fitzgerald, Mr. and Mrs.
Bovill, Mr. Cavendish Bentinck, Mr. Macartney, Mr.
Graham Vivian, Mr. William Peel, Hon. Henry and
Mrs. Butler Johnstone, Mr. Adams, Mr. and Hon.
Mrs. Higgins, Mr. and Mrs. Maurice Drummond, Mr.
Campbell (of Islay) and the Misses Campbell (2), Mr. New-
degate, Mr. and Mrs. Jones (of Pantglas), Mrs, Disraeli,
Mr. and Mrs. Darby Griffith, Mr. Dundas, Mr. Adderley,
Mr. F. Eliot, Mr. Willis Fleming and Miss Fleming.
Previously to the assembly the Earl and Countess enter-
tained at dinner his Excellency the Ambassador of France
and the Duchess de Malakoff, his Excellency the Prussian
Minister and the Countess de Bernstorff, the Marquis and
Marchioness of Salisbury, Lord and Lady Arthur Hay.
Lord and Lady Colville, the Earl of Malmesbury, Count
Louis Corti, Col. Hon. W. P. Talbot, Hon. C. Eliot, &c.

AMERICAN MAILS.—The Cunard mail steamer
Canada will sail from Liverpool for Boston and Halifax on
Saturday next, with the mails for North America. The
Post-office box will close at 12 noon, with late fees at 1 p.m.,
and on the landing stage at 2 p.m.
THE MAIL SERVICE.—SOUTHAMPTON, Wednes
day.—The Royal Mail Company's steam-ship Tyne, Capt.
Sawyer, left the river this day, with the usual Brazil and
River Plate mails, 76 passengers (among whom is Mr. Cow-
per, her Majesty's consul for Pernambuco), specie value
£40,637, jewellery value £29,200, and a full general cargo.
The steam-ship Fulton left Cowes Roads this day for
New York, with the French and English mails, a full com-
plement of passengers, and a good cargo. The steam-
ship Union, destined for the Mauritius, is still in the Solent.
The Orissa, with the heavy portion of the Bombay mail,
may be looked for on Friday.
LATER DEPARTURE OF MAILS FOR AUSTRALIA.
.—As it appears that the packet by which the Australian
mails of the present month are to be conveyed from Suez to
Sydney cannot reach Suez until at least a week after the
proper time for her arrival, it has been decided to postpone,
for the period of one week, the despatch of those mails from
London. The mails for the Australian colonies, to be con-
veyed via Southampton, will accordingly be made up on the
morning of the 19th instant, instead of on the 12th ; and
those to be conveyed via Marseilles will be made up on the
evening of the 23d, instead of on the 16th inst.—By com-
mand of the Postmaster-General, ROWLAND HILL, Secre-
tary.—General Post-office, Feb. 9, 1859.
NATIONAL EDUCATION IN IRELAND.—Two blue-
books, yesterday issued, contain the 24th Report of the
Commissioners of National Education in Ireland for the
year 1857. Why these reports appear so out of date re-
mains to be explained. It is shown, however, that at the
end of 1857 there were 5,337 schools in operation, an average
daily attendance of 268,397 children, and an average num-
ber of children on the rolls amounting to 514,445. The
increase, as on 1856, is equivalent to 14,386 children actu-
ally attending, and from 26,000 to 28,000 is the average
number on the rolls. There were 13 " district model
schools" at work in 1857, and 166 " national agricultural
schools. The amount expended from the Parliamentary
grant in these latter schools was £6,721. The total receipts
of the commissioners for the year amount to X 302,224, and
the expenditure to £289,425, leaving a balance a £12,799
at the close of the year. We believe that the question has
already been raised in Parliament whether it is worth
while to spend so much of the public money on the printing
of the voluminous details and tabular statements appended
to the " report" properly so called.