The Sun.
London, England, 1868-12-29 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 29, 1868

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my Establishments are the above-mentioned.

THEATRE ROYAL, DRURY-LANE
Sole Lessee and Manager, Mr. F. B. Chato.rton.
Special Morning Performances of the Grand Pantomime on
every Wednesuay and Saturday during the Christmas Holidays.
THIS EVENING, will b, performed MY WIFE'S OUT.
To he followed by the Great Christmas Pantomime, entitled
GRIMALKIN THE GREAT; OR, HARLEQUIN Puss IN BOOTS,
tND THE MILLERS SONS, with new and magnificent Scenery
tyMr. Wm. Beverley. Characters in the Opening by the entire
lrength of the company. In the Harlequinade a Double Troupe
Pantomimists; and combining the grandest stage effects of
►3Pantomime ever produced at this theatre. Doors open at
)1!-past ti commence at 7. Box-office open from 10 till 5 daily.

THEATRE ROYAL, HA YMARKET.
Sole Lessee, Mr. Buckstone.

THIS EVENING, A HERO OF ROMAN( E. Messrs.
Buckstone, Sothern, Compton, Chippendale, &c.; Mesdames
Ada Cavendish, Chippendale, Burke, Fitzwilliam, &c.
After which, THE FRIGHTFUL HAIR. essrs. Compton,
Kendal, Weaihersby, Buckstone, jun., &c.; Mesdames Gwynn°,
Burke, &c.
Concluding with AN ALARMING SACRIFICE. Messrs. F.
Buckstone, Nhite, Clark, &c.; Mesdames Laws, F. Wright. &c.
Commence at Seven.

THEATRE ROYAL, ADELPHI.
Sole Proprietor and Manager, Mr. B. WEBSTER.
Directress, Mrs. Alfred Mellon.
THIS EVENING, DID YOU EVER SEND YOUR WIFE
TO CAMBERWELL. Mr. G. Selmore, Mrs. L. Murray.
t a quarter to 8, MONTE CRISTO. Mr. Fechter, Mr. Benja-
min Webster, Mr. Belmore, Mr. Arthur Stirling, Mr. Ashley,
Mr. R. Phillips, Mr. Stuart, Mr. C H. Stephenson, Mr. C. T.
smith, Mr. Romer, Mr. W. H. Eburne, Mrs. Alfred Mellon, Miss
Carlotta Leclercq,Mrs. Leigh Murray, and Miss Nelly fiarris.

ROYAL PRINCESS'S THEATRE.
Sole Lessee and Manager, Mr. Vining.
THIS EVENING, THE SECRET.
After which (at 8 o'clock) Dion Boucicault's new drama, in
four acts, entitled AFTER DARN; a. Tale of ~London Life.
Messrs. Vining, Walter Lacy, Dominick Murray, C. Harcourt,
J.G . Shore; Miss Emma Barnet. and Miss Rose Leclercq.
Entirely new Scenery by 'lr. F. Lloyds and assistants.
To conclude with MASTER JONES'S BIRTHDAY.
Doors open at half-past 6, commence at 7. Box-office open
daily from 10 till 5.

ROYAL STRAND THEATRE.
Sole Lessee and Manageress, Mrs Swanborongh.
THIS EVENING, at 7.30, THE WIDOW HUNT. Messrs.
Clarke. Belford, Joyce; Mesdames ButAn and Maitland.
After which, THE FIELD OF TES CLOTH OF GOLD.
Messrs. Thorne, James, and Robson Mesdames M. Long-
more, F. Hughes, L. Maitland, &c.
To conclude ;nth A COMICAL COUNTESS.

`T. GEORGE'S THEATRE (ST. GEORGE'S
HALL).—Great Success of SARDANAPALI7B.—The new
Drama, SAVED, and the original Ninevitish Burlesque of SAR-
DANAPALUS (received with roars of laughter and applause),
evet y Evening at 7.

ROYAL AMPHITHEATRE AND CIRCUS,
HOLBORN.
The Proprietors of this elegant Establishment, in announcing
to their patrons and the public their PROGRAMME for the
Christmas and New Year Holidays, desire to draw attention to
the high character and varied nature of the performances, and
also to the comfortable accommodation provided throughout the
building. The Press has been unanimous in pronouncing the
enterlainment the best, and the Theatre the most comfortable,
in London; and the Proprietors, encouraged by the success of
their past endeavours, will relax no effort to provide an enter-
tainment unequalled and unsurpassable, and in which both old
and young may participate with pleasure and delight. It must
he remembered that the Proprietors of the Amphitheatre and
Circus do not rely on any attempt at outside show, tinselled dis-
play. or pirgeous procez'sion, having every confidence in the
proved talent of the Company, and the well-known character of
the pet ;'ormance. to Inset fcr them the public surport. Still,
at this Festive seas am.). tiona are needed. and these
the Pr6irletorshave eul.pliel. The Pt °gramme embraces every ,
novelty which it has been possible to obtain. The SCENES in
the AILKNA will introduce the most TALENTED ArmsrEs in the
Vcrld, and a tiTto of FlowiEs which are the theme of universal
ad.rnration. The OLYMPIC ItEvELs ere specially attractive, and
embrace several new and astonishing Feats.

n OVAL A MPH ITHEATRE AND CIRCUS.
r, —A spectacular bit of Pantomimic Extravagance, entitled
THE 'M A RVELS OF ELECTRICITY, in which the whole
strength of the establishment will take part, besides 250 troops,
beautiful ponies, and the most extraordinary electric and lime-
light effects ever witnessed, will be produced THIS EVENING.
Doors open at Seven, commence at half past. For the conve-
nience of those residing at a distance it has been decided, during
the HOLIDAYS, to give 'I hree Morning Performances weekly,
viz., Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday. Doors open at Two.
Th Amphitheatre and Circus is easily accescible from all part.,
and the Morning Pcrfjrmauces afford an excellent opportunity
to give the little ones a treat. N.B.—The second grand morning
per:orrnanco on Wednesday, at Half-past Two.

LONDON, TUESDAY, DEC. 29, 1868.

The Conference proposed by Prussia and Russia,

and accepted, as it is said, by England, France, and
Austria, will assemble, according to one of the latest
rumours in circulation, at Paris, and on the 2nd of
January. A Circular, according to a telegram de-
spatched yesterday from Constantinople, has already
been addressed by the Turkish Government to its
diplomatic representatives abroad upon the matter
of this very invitation to a Conference. And, if we
are to believe the statement set forth tersely
by the electric telegraph, the purport of
that Circular is to the effect that the Sublime
Porte, although by no means admitting the necessity
for any such proposed Conference, will, nevertheless,
be prepared to assent to its being holden, but with
the distinct proviso that the five points of the Turkish
Ultimatum, recently addressed to the Hellenic Go-
vernment, shall be recognized by the Po veers of Europe
as the basis of discussion—into which discussion,
however, the Cretan Question is not on any
account to be introduced. According to the
Patrie of last night these very rigid conditions
have been accepted as reasonable by the Great
Powers ; namely, that the terms of the Turkish ulti-

matum, that the integrity of the Ottoman empire,
that the maintenance coute qui coute of the status quo
ante bellunz sball constitute, as required by the Sub-
lime Porte, the basis of discussion at the Conference.
It is even added that only upon these conditions
would England assent to the proposal of any such
Conference. Certainly the restricting thus the scope
of the problem to be submitted to the Conference,
with a view to its solution, if possible, by the assem-
bled European Plenipotentiaries, would very much
simplify the other wise enormous, entangled, and almost
bewildering difficulty which would have without those
conditions to be En-ought immediately under their
consideration. Nevertheless, the same time, as
has already been juditiously remarked, it is some-
what puzzling beforehand to draw very rigidly lines of
demarcation beyond which the repres3ntatives of the
great Powers are not to pass under any circumstances.
It is from Berlin that the announcement comes to us
that Paris is to be the scene, and the second proximo
the date, of the new Conference which has been thus
rapidly arranged. Conferences or Congresses it has
long been known are among the favourite notions of
the Emperor NAPOLEON 111. A Congress is his hobby.

It is more than a whim with him ; it amounts—or has
at any rate upon one or two rather memorable occa-
sions amounted—almost to what Mr. COBDEN would
have called a craze : so implicit, upon these occasions,
bas appeared to be the EMPEROR'S confidence in the
capacity of a group of plenipotentaries, in Con-
ference assembled, to unravel any diplomatic knot
that may be submitted to their subtle and
dexterous manipulation. Besides his Majesty the
Emperor of the FRENCH, however, there are but very
few indeed, we should imagine, who have anything
like this absolute reliance upon the skill or the capa-
bilities of an European Conference. Other knots
besides the Gordian Knot are only unhappily to be
disentangled by being cloven asunder by the stroke
of a sword. It remains even now to be seen whe-
ther the Eastern Question is after all a knot of
that particular character. The Schleswig-Ilolstein
question proved to be so, and was only finally
loosened when the last sword was sheathed, the last
cannon limbered, the last needlegun shouldered upon
the deadly field of Sadowa. Still, there is a possibi-
lity, of course, that, with regard to the Eastern
Question, the wished-for result may even yet be ar-
rived at very differently—through peaceful discus-
sions at a Conference—not through blind-
ing fusillades upon another of the world's great
battlefields. And it is in the thought of that bare
possibility, of course, that the Powers of Europe are
now proposing to assemble once more in solemn con-
clave in the persons of their representatives. That
Turkey, before assenting to anything of the kind,
should make the distinct stipulations already
particularised, is only what might reasonably have
been expected on the part of any Government having
a proper regard for the preservation of its own cha-
racter for independence. Otherwise than by making
some such proviso as this the Sublime Porte would
necessarily have compromised its position before the
whole world by consenting—as England would never
consent, as France could never consent—to admit
that the integrity of its Empire should, under any
conceivable circumstances, become matter for
discussion and deliberation before other great
Powers, howsoever select or howsoever exalted.
Therefore it is, precisely for that reason, in vindi-
cation of its own honour and dignity as an inde-
pendent Sovereignty, that Turkey stipulates, most
naturally and most reasonably, that its ultimatum
to Greece should be the basis of the proposed discus-
sions. Under the actual circumstances of the case the
probabilities are that the result of those proposed
discussions will be that the Greek Government will
be snubbed (as it richly deserves to be) by the final
decision of the Conference, next week to be as-
sembled together iu Paris, for the examination of the
Turco-Greek difficulty. If only for the shame-
less despatch of M. DELTANNI, the Government of
Athens deserves the reprehension of the assembled
Powers of Christendom. The vindication of the
majesty of the law of nations demands that the
Great Powers of the world, now about to be imme-
diately assembled together in Paris, in the persons
of their Plenipotentiaries, should reprehend, with
the acorn and indignation required, these recent acts
of a so-called Chrktiau but a certainly Piratical and
Filibustering Government.

TIIE desire for an improvement in the mode of
conducting public worship has become general.
Although it originated with a party in the English
Church, it now belongs to no party. All sects have
accepted the principle, Dissenters as well as Church-
men. English churches and chapels now generally
boast some architectural merit, instead of being like
unsightly warehouses or hovels ; and a better ordered
ritual has been adopted at the same time. While,
however, the eye is in most cases satisfied, the ear is
not. The music of these services is bad,." And here it
should be noted that the ritualists can claim little
advantage over their brethren. It is not an un-
usual thing, amidst clouds of incense and gorgeous
vestments, to hear music which is simply intolerable:
Perhaps as decided a movement has been made in
the direction of better music as in other parts of the
improved ritual. But it has as yet been attended
with failure. Tho cause, we believe, is not difficult
to find, and we will presently .point it out. But
before doing so it will be interesting to trace the
history of church music, of course only in a super-
ficial manner, during the last twenty years. Twenty
years ago, in most parish churches in towns, the
music was chiefly restricted to the singing of a few
hymns, special favour being shewn to the Psalter of
STEIINIIOLD and HOPKINS ; while of course the psalms
for the day were read by parson and cleric, the con-
gregation exhibiting the most perfect indifference,
whilst divine worship was conducted by deputy. In
those days men deposited a short prayer in their hats
before the commencement of the service, and then
made themselves comfortable to the end, kneeling
being out of the question and infra dig. In some
village churches barrel organs had just been intro-
duced, and these were limited to a few tunes which
would now put an Anglican precentor in a fit.
They were " Mount Ephraim," "Shirland," "Devizes,"
and the like. Before this innovation of barrel
organs there had been in many village churches
no attempt at music whatever, but when local
talent permitted, a very simple orchestra was formed,
composed of the flute, played by the squire's or the
parson's man-servant ; the violin, by the village shoe-
maker ; and the violoncello, by the village tailor ;
while the parish clerk would lead the vocal part.
When we take into consideration the effect of the
tuning of these instruments during the service, and
the occasional absence of the only man with the
slightest pretence to capacity as a musical leader, the
effect was astounding. The music of the Dissenting
chapels was chiefly vocal, and, although of the most
doleful type, was rather better than that of
the Established Church, because congrega-
tional singing was cultivated more. Some
bold innovators in the Church now found that
the Canticles should be chanted.. The " Puseyites"
went so far as to chant the Psalms, to the great in-
dignation of churchwardens and others. All this
time the cathedral, services had been unchanged, and
had maintained to some extent the traditions of
TALLIS and other great masters of English church
music. The cathedral service was not considered, as
it is now, the pattern for other churches in the
diocese, but was held to be a remnant of mediaeval
profanity and frivolity not permissible elsewhere.
Now, all is changed ; ChurChmen and Dissenters
alike recognise the importance of music in
public worship. Some services are now entirely
. musical ; the Low Church party chant the Psalms, and
even adopt choral service, while the chanting of the
Te Deunt and the singing of anthems may be heard
in the conventicle.

With all this we hold that the performance of Eng-
lish church music is generally bad. There are several
reasons for this : among them the excessive meanness
in providing for the musical portions of the services,
the indifference of those to whom music has never
presented itself as an intellectual study, the ignorance
or imperfect training of the clergy, and the jealousy
of those to whom the performance is allotted.
But, above all, the great reason for the failure is to
be found in the strange neglect exhibited in
the cultivation of the human voice. We are
nearly all of us born Iv ith a talent which we are con-
tent to hide in a napkin. We have a musical voice
registering an average of twelve notes (an octave
and a half) which a moderate education would easily
qualify for the ordinary purposes of congregational
singing. If schoolgirls, for instance, would devote
a tithe of the time to this study which they now
give to the torture of the pianoforte, to the great
detriment of art in general and THALBERG
in particular, the result would be eminently
satisfactory. At charity schools children might
easily be taught to read music, to their
great advantage and pismire in after life, There

would then be very few persons in a congregation
physically incapable of taking part in the ordinary
hymns and chants. The elaborate anthems, if
adopted, might be left to the choir. What do we
find now ? Our cathedral services, with well-paid
choirs, are frequently slovenly. There can be no
excuse for this if the choirmaster and the precentor
know anything of their business, and will consent
to work together on any terms. In the large parish
churches may be frequently found the musical portion
of the services conducted by an indifferent choir, the
congregation making the lamest attempt to follow. In
such congregations there is in one part of the church
the well-known and energetic bass, who being perhaps
deaf, and possessing original ideas upon the subjects
of time and tune, betrays the misplaced confidence of
those who follow him, and at last becomes a recog-
nised nuisance. At other parts of the church the
solitary alto, treble, or tenor is heard, each leading a
forlorn hope. In village churches the munificence of the
congregation provides a harmonium at the price of
five pounds, an organist is found in the village school-
master, and a choir in the schoolchildren. In
churches which are recognised as " High," •it
is considered correct to chant Gregorian
tones at a breathless pace, and horribly fiat. If

" Hymns Ancient and Modern " are sung as fast as
they can be, the musical ritual is complete. In some
celebrated metropolitan churches, where processionals
and recessionals are the order of the day, MONK'S
Hymns are not found sensational enough, and a debased
and sometimes coarse ritual is accompanied by such
monstrosities as " 0 Paradise !"

A few Roman Catholic- and Anglican cathedrals
and churches will include all the really excellent con-
gregational singing in the country. In the metro-
polis good music can be heard at St. George's Roman
Catholic Cathedill, the .Brompton Oratory, All
Saints Church Margaret-street, St. Andrew's Wells-
street, and a few others:" At the Temple and the
Foundling, and occasionally at Westminster Abbey,
the music is good, but is in no sense congre-
gational. The Roman Catholics have the advan-
tage of the Anglicans in the use of the
full orchestra upon festivals. There is no reason
why Protestant churches should limit themselves
to the organ. The trumpet is occasionally used in
Westminster Abbey, and the harp in St. Andrew's
Wells-street. There seems to be an idea that a man
scraping a fiddle or beating a kettle-drum cannot be
praising God ; but the same argument might be
urged against the organist at the key-board and the
man at the bellows. For all ordinary use, however,
the organ is ample as an accompaniment. We are
taught that music has ever been the holiest and
chiefest employment of the heavenly hosts. The
discords of chaos resolved theniselves into harmonies
as the Spirit of GOD moved over the face of the
waters. " The morning stars sang together, and the
sons of GOD shouted for joy." Occasionally we hear
the echoes of—

That undisturb4d song of pure consent,
Aye sung before the sapphire-coloured throne.

At this season we are reminded of the first

" Gloria in Excelsis " sung by the hosts of
heaven to celebrate the coming of the Author of all
harmony in the natural and spiritual world. Finally,
we read of the time when, all things being madenew,
the diapason of an emancipated universe shall
thunder round the Throne of GOD, and every tongue
and every heart shall join in those " Hallelujahs"
which are like the voice of many waters and the
roaring of the sea.

LATEST INTELL MEN CB.

(REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.)

TURKEY.

CONSTANTINOPLE, Dec. 28, Evening.

The Russian and Prussian Ambassadors here
have received notice of the meeting of the Con-
ference on the 2d proximo. The other representa-
tives of Foreign Powers are still without official
intimation from their Governments. There is no
foundation for the rumour that M. de Boaree. the
Frencla Ambass tdor, has been recalled.

A SELF-ACCUSED POISONER.

John Cope, a sergeant in the 17th Brigade Itoyal Artil-
lery, now stationed at Dover Castle, delivered himself
into the hands of the police at that place, on Satur-
day evening last, stating that he had murdered his wife
by poisoning her. He was very rational at the time, and
signed the following statement, which he made to Mr.
Coram, the chief constable : "I, John Cope, sergeant
17th Brigade, R.A., do now state that on February 22,
1867, I caused the death of my wife Elizabeth, by ad-
ministering to her a drug in a pure state, called nitric acid,
for the purpose of destroying her life." The prisoner was
confined in a celluntil Monday, when he was brought before
the magistrates at Dover. Mr. Coram then said that
he had made inquiries, and found from papers in
the possession of the prisoner, that on Tuesday, the
26th of February, 1867, au inquest was held at Woolwich
on the body of his wife, who had died from the effects of
poison. Cope was then called as a witness, and stated that
the deceased had confessed to him before her death that
she had taken nitric acid in order to procure abortion,
as she dreaded her approaching confinement, and had a
great aversion to children. The jury returned a verdict
that the deceased had died from the effects of poison
administered by herself. Cope soon after this deserted,
enlisted into. the 10th Hussars, and subsequently gave
himself up at Woolwich as a deserter from the Royal
Artillery. He bad since been very abstemious, and was
of a religious disposition ; but recently lie had been
drinking, and Mr. Coram had doubts as to his sanity.
The magistrates determined to remand the prisoner' for a
week. Cope, who is a decent-looking young man, on
being made acquainted with this decision, said, "It is
right enough if you will only take my word for it, and you
can save yourselves the trouble of remanding me." Among
his papers were "An Ode," addressed to his dead wife, and
several pieces of poetry, in all of which he, in speaking of
her, used thP most endearing terms