The Portland daily press., 1873-01-23

The Mercantile course ended very brilliantly
| last evening witha lecture from Edmund Yates
| the subject of which wasthe British Parliament
| The course has been an excellent one, and will
compare favorably with that of any city in the
| country. The old M. L. A. has grandly sus-
tanned its reputation, and added new laurels
thereto.
Mr. Yates is large man, of commanding
presence and fine form, with face evincing
much power and keen sense of humor, though
the lower portion Of it is almost stolid in its
heaviness. He wears moustache after the
American fashion, but no other hair upon his
face. His voice is full and Mrodty, and the
English accent is but slightly marked. He
is decidedly un-Euglish in his layishness of
rhetoric.
The lecturer began by few facetious alltl-
sions to the American fondness for sightseeing,
and described for the benefit of his hearers the
passage of the Queen to the Parliament House,
which building covers eight acres Oh iano, aau
which he likened to stone empoeiiheu" VI 'io
British constitution come to lts Iu& estate ny
successive additions. The House OF Lords with
IFS assembled notabilities was pictured out in
most vivid and picturesque language, and the
administration and opposition leaders were de-
.cribed with keen perception of character.
In slightly sarcastic tone The spoke of the
Ornamental princes" who lounged in to watch
the proceedings. Then he took his hearers to
the House of Commons, that room which is so
ugly in appearance, but which in its admirable
acoustical arrangements puts to shame our ma
tonal capitol. The great English statesmen,
Lodi Dxs, 4
mention Of Bright's name the audience cheer
edl were described as they sat in their seats and
as they rose to speak. Then "tield-day' in
the House was pictured out. The presentation
Of petitions and the introduction of bills; the
passing of bills to second reading, when the
great fight begins; the afternoon session occu-
pied by the speeches of dummies the even
ing session when the ministerial and opposition
leaders close the debate; the efforts of the
"whippers-in;' the division and the announce
ment of the result, were all graphically set
forth. The lecturer paid warm tribute to the
reporters who he said, had become the fourth
estate of the realm, and spoke in high terms of
their valuable and unremitting labors. Hewas
of the opinion that Oratory, the oratory of the
Pitts and Burke andsFox and Canning and
Brougham, was lost art in the House of Com
mons. Long speeches there were, and witty
and satirical ones, but no efforts that could
compare with those of the older statesmen.
John Bright is the most eloquent Englishman
Of his time.
The lecturer closed by lofty and animated
panegyric on the past history of the House of
Commons, its work and its associations, and
oil
er country to direct their steps to this strong
hold of British liberty.
We are happy to be able to state that the
course of lectures just concluded has not only
been eminently satisfactory to the public, but
has also been highly successful in pecuniary
point of view.
MENDELssHoN QUNTETTE CLUB.-Th's eve
ming the Army and Navy Union finishes its
capital course of entertainments by concert
from the Mendelsshon Quintette Club, assisted
by the accomplished vocalist, Mrs. H. M.
Smith. 1t seems scarcely necessary to more
than call attention to this entertainment, for
the well known musical taste of our people will
not suffer so fine an opportunity to be neglected.
The reputation of the club stands too high to
reed "bolstering" from us. We append the
unusually fine
PROGRAMME:
PART I.
L. Overture-"Zanetta''. ..Aubcr.
Quintette.
2. Sacred Air-"Gratias agimus tibi, with
'e''' MIST Mrs. II. NJ. Smith. '' - - ''''''
8. Fantasia for Flute, on Walachian airs Doppier.
Edward Heindl
4. The Celebrated Adagio-"God save the
EMPEROR with variations from the
Quartette, No. g.. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. Haydn.
5. Fantastic for Clarinette, on German
air. Al0Se.
Thomas Ryan.
PART III.
6. Song-"Wiie Boy''..... ............... Gabriel.
Mrs. H. M. Smith.
:. souvenir de Spa, Solo for Violoneello. Scrvais
Rudolf Hennis.
Q "a. Song without verbs, Ne,a.s.oh,
c. b. Scherzo, e""o'7o"'
Arranged for Quintette.
.. Violin Solo on themes from Masanello .Alard.
Charles Hamm.
10. Soug-''Your Name" composed by
gr.. Thos. Ryan for
Mrs. II. NJ. Smith.
II. Entire act and Air from s'Lc Preaux
Arranged for Quntette.