The Sun.
London, England, 1844-12-21 00:00:00

The case being concluded, their Lordship rose.

MR. WILSON'S ENTERTAINMENTS
Concerts, we have always thought, labour under a
disadvantage from which most other kinds of enter-
tainments are exempt—namely, the continual inter-
ruption of the interest of the audience by the cessa-
tion of the performances, and the appearing and dis-
appearing of the performer, with all the noise, chat-
terin,, and moving about, which invariably follow.
In ordinary concerts of vocal music, this defect is
irremediable. The performer cannot sing right on,
song after song, till the performances are done ; first,
because he is not equal to the exertion • secondly, the
attention of the audience would be thereby kept too
much on the stretch ; and, thirdly, the agreeable
succession of the humorous and the sentimental,
which so greatly enlivens a concert, would cease to
harmonise. And as nothing could me more absurd
than the performer, in the interval between his songs,
standing twirling his thumbs and looking at the
audience, and the audience twirling their thumbs and
looking at him—off he must go !
Mr. Wilson was among the first to devise a remedy
for this—certainly the first who did so systematically
—by giving, as it were, popular musical lectures
with vocal illustrations. By a well-chosen series of
amusing anecdotes and critical remarks, with which
he introduces each song, he at once keeps up the
interest of his 'audience from first to last, and "adds
novelty and variety to the other attractions of a con-
cert. Never was popularity better merited than that
which Mr. Wilson has thus attained. As was
to be expected, he has had may followers ; but,
we are happy to say, he has had no rival. Too often
have we seen the person who had the talent to strike
out for himself a new path to wealth and distinction,
outstripped by some more fortunate but less deserving
competitor; and we repeat, that we are happy that,
in the present instance, Mr. Wilson's talents have bid
defiance to competition, and have secured the fruits to
him that planted. Ably and pleasingly does Mr.
Wilson go through his performance; anecdotes well-
chosen and well-told--delightful songs as delightfully
sung : indeed, with him, the gems and their setting
are alike admirable.

There is no vocalist whose manner we think equal
to Mr. Wilson's. It is varied and full of animation,
and alike in the humorous and the pathetic, never fails
to carry the audience along with him ; indeed,in the dry
and somewhat caustic humour peculiar to the Scotch,
and with which many of our songs abound, Mr.Wil-
sun is unrivalled. Yet his manner is never forward—he
never o'ersteps the modesty of nature ; everything is
chaste and polished, yet nothing is missed ; it is
nature in its most pleasing delineation. In his style
of singing, Mr. Wilson is simple, tasteful, and
very effective, without seeming to aim at being so;
and the more critically his style in singing any piece
is examined, the more fully will his discrimination
be conceded. his style, too, is quite free of what is
commonly called " stage effect," but which may be,
often more fitly denominated clap-trap; and ho never
indulges in a flourish at the end of a song, as many a
one does, merely to announce to the audience that he
is now ready to be raffled! From the first note of the
song to the last, all is in good taste ; and as he faith-
fully and beautifully expresses the transitions of
feeling—the lights and shadows of the piece—his
singing never wearies by sameness ; yet so de-
licately is this sometimes done, that we rather feel
the transition, than appreciate it by ear—the music
seems still the same, yet ever changing. His voice
is rich, and singularly sweet and pleasing, and seems
not even yet to have reached its full development—
some new perfection (if we may ue the term) be-
coming every year perceptible ; and so smooth and
steady is it, that during his late concerts we failed to
detect a single roughness.
EdlNilnrh.orlgVhilsoanndhGaslalsagtoewly, concertspti o
n he
e hasin
met with in both cities has been most flattering. On
Friday and Saturday last week, 11e gave two c?ncerts
andben thgeivirnegce
in Edinburgh—an evening one in the Music-hall,
and a morning one in the Hopetoun-rooms. On
the latter occasion he gave a selection of German
songs, which were quite new to us. They have very
rarely been performed in this country, and then
only at some of the classical concerts in London.
The " Journey," by Mendelssohn, is a magnifi-
cent composition; but the piece we liked best was
" Fair Annie"—a perfect gem—as sweet a little song
aov we ever
own land,
listened
d observed,
asnt ednae
somedl s o tonof—o
tt rhaeesl eistibe itnwagoedmt
shiuo,
ncuhpg,le sa
some
of ur
of those of the Emerald Isle. We have only space
oi piece o
hie
s s music,ic .t
haol w
Scottish
nd h ihcand
sArotion g.r
se: ialHts oeint hasfibr
first
andslaatne
ys t
iraddedthpte
desire, in the Hopetoun-rooms.—Scottish Dramatic
Mirror.

Mr. Wilson is at present giving his entertainment s
in the Athena um, in Manchester, with great success;
and, after visiting Liverpool and the principal towns
in Lancashire, he will resume his evenings at the
Music-hall, Store-street, in the course of a few weeks.
" Happy Land" is the constant accompanyist of Mr.
Wilson.

RAILWAY RETURNS.
IlArtwir TAAFFIC.—The following are the Total Receipts of
ways for the past week—that is to say, up to the date to which the
respective returns are made, together with the receipts of the same
week in the previous year :

b 5.
Week
z
e 4
Last . e r;
ending NAME OF RAILWAY. r...
week. F cc
,5
----- Ufg,
X X
Doc. 14 Arbroath and Forfar •••• • • •
13 Birmingham and Gloucester.... •
- Braudling Junction . . • - 789
14 Bristol and Gloucester • • ... ••• • • 980 -
13 Chester and Birkenhead .•••••• • • • • • • 432 314
12 Dublin and Drogheda• •••••••• • • • • • • • 636 581
17 Dublin and Kingstown ...• ••••• • • • • • 467 601
15 Dundee and Arbroath .••••••• • • • • • • • 201 211
14 Durham and Sunderland .• •••••• • • • • • 309 604
14 Edinburgh and Glasgow .•••••• • • • • • • 1,825 1,734
15 Eastern Counties and North Eastern • • 4,020 3,239
14 Glasgow, Kilmarnock, and Ayr ••• • • • 1,365 1,091
14 Glasgow and Greenock• •••• • • • • •• • • 635 637
14 Grand Junction ••••• • • • • • 7,350 6,580
14 Great North of England •••••• • • • . • • 1,526 1,321
15 Great Western .•••••••••• • • • • • ' • ' • • 14,845 12,940
13 Liverpool and Manchester • 4,490 3,505
14 London and Birmingham .•••.• • • . • • 15,108 14,264
15 London and Blackwell 606 610
14 London and Brighton .••••••• • • • • • • • 3,542 3,422
17 London and Croydon. 927 192
19 London and Greenwich . •
16 London and South Western. •••• • • • • 4,579 4,840
15 Manchester, Bolton, and Bury ••• • • • 803 696
13 Manchester and Birmingham- . . 2,814 2,552
14 Manchester, Leeds, and hull Assoc . • 5,672 5,179
14 Midland Counties. ••••••••• • • • • • • • • • 8,319 7,634
14 Newcastle and Darlington ••••• • • • • • 1,002
14 Newcastle and Carlisle ••••••• • • • • • • • 1,524 1,345
15 Newcastle and North Shields •• •
13 North Union and Bolton and Freston 1,317
16 Paris, Corbeil, and Orleans...-. •. • • 841
4,325 3,852
16 Paris and Rouen .•••••• • • • • ..
2,045 3,005
14 rICStOII and Wyre.• •••••••• • • • • • • • • 303 229
14 Sheffield and Manchester. • ...... •• • • 579
19 South Eastern 4 470
• ,145 2,806
14 Taff Vale •••• • • • .
15 Ulster .••••• • .• • • • ....... ....
611 591
15 Yarmouth and Norwich
14 York and North Midland ...........
1,540

STATISTICS OF DRUNKENNESS.--A very curious
taeurrnibousttecdu:noTubse:elriteipptoerrtsdiisvtildelati
document has been lately drawn up on the origin, causes,
febetclA the
. various circumstances to
metaphysics, philoscphy,
.and physiology of
results
m mor branch. Among the muzzy,
drunkenness.ltiaiiaiisitOaont.easeborl.eral heads, including the muzzy',
may be traced to spasms, and that
twhich
ee'aot: .
which‘ssi
xii
ceaiis inebriety e
oabulsitoe
01t,,t; may
°t.!,
n
one nineteenth arises. from. birth-days ; that among
confidential clerks inebriety is rare, but when it occurs,
pickled salmon, or the arrival of a friend from the
country, are found to be the most usual causes of the
malady. Drunkenness has also been known to arise
in some instances from taking up a bill ; but as the
latter is an operation which persons given to intoxica-
tion seldom
perform, the number of cases to be attri-
buted to this source is very insignificant. A wife's
birth-day has often been known to lead to a total pros-
tration of the
frequently,
m;
iba.ut
at
kn t ii
;s
ina remarkable
the
these
instances,
fact, that
such
the
imagination,nto theguitetrbeltitgaht tnoarnnine times
has been
known
down power o
in a year, through having fancied that the birth-day of
his wife occurred repeatedly in the course of a twelve-
t
i days
to is
edr op
month.—. Punch.