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

The case being conchided, their Lordships rose.

MR.WILSON'S ENTERTAINMENTS
Concerts, we have always thought, labour under a
disadvantage from which most tither kinds of enter-
tainments are exempt—namely, the continual inter-
ruption of tilt 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.
tering, 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 ; litst,
because he is not equal to the exertin ; 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-
s9n 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 he 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 ruffed! 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 use 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.
Mr. Wilson has lately been giving concerts in
Edinburgh and Glasgow, and the reception he has
met with in both cities has been most flattering. On
Friday and Saturday last week, he gave two concerts
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
as we ever listened to—resembling much, as Mr.
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left to mention the "Curse of Dunve " gan —a singular
and striking piece of music, which Mr. Wilson
has
lately added to his list of Scottish songs. He first
sang it in the Music-hall, and had to repeat it,
desire, in the Hopetoun-rooms.—Scottish Dramatic
Mirror.

Mr. Wilson is at present giving his entertainments
in the Athenaeum, 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.
RAILWAY TRAFFIC.-1110 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 :