The Sun.
London, England, 1842-11-15 00:00:00

COURT CIRCULAR.

Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of
Cambridge entertained last night at dinner, at their
residence at Kew, his Imperial Highness the Arch-
duke of Austria, his Royal Highness the Hereditary
Grand Duke of Mecklenburg Strelitz, Baron Neu-
mann, Baron Lebzeltern, Count Carnlyi, Captain
Marinewitch, Captain Dumont, Chevalier Koeckel,
Captain Fitzroy, Lady Augusta Somerset, Baroness
Ahlefeldt, Colonel Jones, and Baron Knesebeck.

Mr. Rose, of Demerara, had an interview with
Lord Stanley yesterday at the Colonial-office.
Deputations from Rochester had interviews with
Lord Wharncliffe, Lord President of the Council,
yesterday, at the Colonial-office.
The Brazilian Minister transacted business ye r-
day at the Foreign-office.
The Bishop of London had an interview with the
Chancellor of the Exchequer yesterday at his official
residence in Downing-street. _ _

Dispatches from the Governors of New South
Wales, Ceylon, Cape of Good Hope, and St. Helena,
were received yesterday at the Colonial-office.
Dispatches were also received from the Governor of
Newfoundland.

THE GAGGING SYSTEM.—Rumours are afloat that
it is in the design of the Government to require from
Parliament strong powers for the purpose of gagging
the Anti-Corn-law League. Of the intentions of the
Government we can believe anything ; and from the
acquiescence of the Legislature we can fear every-
thing. But, surely, any fresh enactment for the above
purpose is a work of supererogation. According to
the recent proceedings of Tory Magistrates, the
charges of Judges, and the verdicts of panic-stricken
0J r
offenceu ra ine
ys ,
unpalatable
ot; ot
htoercommunicatet contemplateamelioration
mtehlieo rpaot
woa nen r
tneot xhtt
othersahe
tne s
bi
loean, w
nsf the suffrage,
ywahonipciihnn mayoinet indictable
ee..
favourable to the Administration or its supporters is a
conspiracy ; to assemble to express any apprehension
as to the condition of the people and the general state
of affairs is a riot. —Staffordshire Examinier,l.‘
dnnademw direct, t a
destinedr i ff
oftnohre
the firros
rtaf
account
little cargoes of cattle have been landed here,°
THE NEW TARIFF COMING HOME:
second
ehucerogn h operation
fvrioam j
Rotterdam
tl
t,e the
ra
oso
humi
nr
tepur;
noeadfttmhte)aeri
mercantile firm in Aberdeen. Only a few persons
had an opportunity of seeing the first lot, as they were
driven on almost immediately after their arrival ; but
the second lot has been inspected, we may safely say,
17 thousands of all classes of the community.
There is a considerable variety of opinion as to
the quality of the animals • but, on the whole,
they are thought to be good: specimens—showing
that our Continental neighbours have a stock
to begin with, which, by judicious crossing and an
improved system of feeding, may be brought to great
perfection. Some of the oxen already imported may,
it is said, be easily fed to seven or eight hundred
weight. But the quality is not the most startling
feature of the importation; the rumoured price and
the short time spent on the voyage. have created still
more sensation. It is alleged that the animals are
landed free in Aberdeen, at a cost not exceeding Cl.
a-head ; and it is quite certain that the vessel that
brought them left Rotterdam on Friday afternoon
and was here on Monday evening.—Aberdeen Herald.
THE PREVALENT DISTRESS.—AS a further and
melancholy proof of the wide extent of distress and
privation now endured by thousands of the working
classes, we may state that during five nights of the
past week upwards of sixty persons, exclusive of
children, have been received into the Vagrant-office
in this city. They were all in a deplorably destitute
condition, and the great majority of them were appa-
rently decent working men, whom the exigency of
the times had driven forth upon the world in search
of employment. These are facts which speak most
emphatically in behalf of the necessity of Government
making some immediate effort to search into the
causes of,so much sufferings—York Herald.

INJESDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 15, 1841

MUSIC CLASSES-EXETER-HALL.
PRESENTATION OF A MUSIC-STAND TO
MR HULLAH, BY HIS PUPILS.

Last evening was an era deserving of remembrance
not only in the history of musical education in this
country, but in the history of education generally.
It is now some twenty years since that Lord Brougham
announced that the schoolmaster was abroad. The
schoolmaster has now a local habitation and a name,
and the great ones of the earth come and do him ho-
mage. The members of the first workmen's
singing class at Exeter.hall last night, showed
their respect to their teacher, benefactor, and
friend, Mr. John Hullah, by presenting him
with a superb music-stand, value forty gui-
neas, as a testimonial of their respect and
esteem, and Lord Wharncliffe, the President of the
Council, and Chairman of the Committee of Council
for National Education, thought it his duty to be pre-
sent on the occasion, to bear his testimony to the
merits of Mr. Hullah, and to take credit to himself
for the efforts which he had made to promote the
education of the humbler classes in the delightful
science of music. It was a proud and a grati-
fying thing for those who have laboured through
evil report and good report in the cause of education—
who, in spite of the avowed and active hostility of
some the galling sarcasm of others, and, worst of all,
the half support of many who
—Dawn with faint praise, assent with civil leer,
And though not sneering, teach the rest to sneer—
It was a proud and gratifying thing for those who
have been the friends of the education of the masses
in the worst of times, to witness the triumph of last
evening. The doors were opened at six, and the pro-
ceedings were advertised to commence at seven. Long
before that hour the immense area of Exeter-hall was
crammed to suffocation. From the platform it pre-
sented the appearance of a sea of human heads. The
galleries were crowded, and on the platform it was
with great difficulty that even standing room could
be obtained. At seven o'clock Mr. Hullah assumed
his baton, and the proceedings of the evening com-
menced. The classes having gone through their Sol-
fa-ing exercises with a precision which would have
done credit to the best drilled chorus of the most effi-
ciently conducted theatre in Europe,
Mr. EDLIN came forward on the platform, and
presented to Mr. Hullah, in the name of the first
workmen's singing class of Exeter Hall, a most
elegant and elaborately finished music-stand, as a
testimony of the esteem and respect of his pupils be-
longing to that class. In presenting the stand, Mr.
Edlin read a neat complimentary address, in which,
after expatiating on the merits of Mr. Hullah as a
teacher, the advantages to be derived from a know-
ledge of the science of music as cheap and intellectual
amusement for the humbler classes, as an amuse-
ment tending to the increase of the domestic com-
forts and to the improvements of their morals,
were dwelt upon. Its higher merits, as tending
to the praise and glory of the Creator, by introducing
a proper and decent method of congregational singing
in our places of religibus worship, were not left unno-
ticed, and it was with S praiseworthy feeling of self-
respect that the authors of the address adduced the
Progress of the workmen's singing class as a proof that
the humble orders were as capable as any class of so-
ciety of duly appreciating those refined amusements
which have hitherto been placed beyond their reach,
and of acquiring a taste for which too many have
thought them incapable. The music-stand itself is a
most elegant piece of workmanship. The desk is sup-
ported by a cherub bearing a palm branch; the whole
is elaborately carved and gilded.
Mr. HULLAH, in acknowledging the gift, ex-
pressed a hope that the classes were not going to se-
parate, but would still farther pursue their studies.
They had come, he said, not to the end of their
journey, but to the point where two paths separated,
and he trusted they would journey onward with him.
He could not yet let them go.—(Cheers.) He then al-
luded to the success which had attended his method
of teaching, and expressed a hope that the members
of the class had imparted their knowledge. of class-
singing to their wives and families, for the great object
of the illustrious man who had first promulgated the
system, M. Wilhem, of Paris, had been to increase
the domestic comforts of his fellow-creatures by adding
to the stock of innocent amusements.—(Cheers.)
Having dwelt on the great importance of congrega-
tional singing, as adding to the solemnity of religious
worship, he concluded by announcing his intention of
forming a class of the wives and children of working
men. This announcement was received with loud cheers.
The classes then performed several pieces of choral
music in excellent time and tune. At the conclusion
of the proceedings,
Lord WHARNCLIFEE came forward and said that he
could not allow the proceedings to terminate without
expressing his high gratification at all that he had wit-
nessed, and his entire concurrence in the sentiments
and address which had been put forth on presenting Mr.
Hullah with that elegant testimonial of their respect
and esteem. There were few men like Mr. Hullah.
Never had it been his (Lord Wharncliffe's) lot
to meet with a teacher who possessed in such
an eminent degree the art of fixing the atten-
tion of his pupils. He (Lord Wharncliffe) congratu-
lated them on the
progress they had made in the de-
lightful science of music. It was delightful to see the
working man thus adding to his stock of innocent and
intellectual amusements, and he was proud
to think that he had contributed to pro-
mote their instruction in that most delightful
and beautiful science.—His Lordship was loudly
cheered during the delivery of his speech, and at
its conclusion the classes sang " God Save the
Queen," after which the vast assemblage dispersed.
Great credit is due to the classes for the man-
ner in which they have profited by the instruc-
tions given to them. Great credit is due to Mr
Hullah for his unwearied assiduity, his untiring
patience, and his lucid clearness in imparting those
instructions ; but while thus awarding praise
to our own countryman, who has naturalized, as it
were, the system of class-singing among us, let us
not forget to award honour where honour
is due
this Honour
t 0
00f instruction honour to
M. Wilhem, the inventor
of
M. Wilhem, the music-master of the masses
—the friend of the poet Beranger, and the man
who, in setting some of the most soul-stirring lyrics
in e hod
of that poet of the people to appropriate melodies, has
indeed " married music to immortal verse." Honour
to Mr. Wilhem, the benefactor of his species.