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Leader (1850-1860), 25th October 1856, Edition 2 of 2, Page 20

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      The Modern Greeks. Modern Greece : A Nar...

      troduction was ilie signal for opposition from those who were not attached to the I courtly party , and saw no necessity for so considerable an increase of the places in the gift of the throne- It passed the Lower House , however ; but on being brought up in the Senate , although the king had , in anticipation , created three or four new members , that body refused to concur in the proposed act . Thereupon the king prorogued both Houses for the space of some forty days . In the meanwhile ten or more additional senators were appointed , for the most part from , the officers of the king ' own household , or from the ministry , and all of them persons devoted to himself . The party thus reinforced was now enabled to reconsider the bill in the Senate , and it was passed in accordance with the desires of the ministry . Mr . Baird ' s enthusiasni concerning tlic " unexampled progress" of modern Greece does not deter him from , describing the utter neglect by the Government of alL public improvements . N " country in the world stands more in need of good roads ; in . no country , perhaps , are they more difficult of construction . Successive ranges of mountains , with their branching spurs , divide the cultivable ground into an infinite num'ber of narrow valleys , each cut off from its neighbours . Between the various townships none but surefooted horses and mules can grass . The only carriage-roads in Greece are those in the neighbourhood of' Athens , which are few and insignificant ; one , twelve or fifteen miles long , near Lamia ; and others at Corinth and Chalcis . The Government , extorting from a population of one million a revenue of twenty-two million drachms , will not expend a million annually upon ' the most indispensable improvements . ' This statement , we believe , is reliable . There are interesting notices in Mr . Baird ' s volume of the modern Greek press , and the progress of the literature which inny almost be said to have been founded by Coray . The book , with the exception of its classical chapters , is lively , and contains some interesting information .

      1028 _ ^^J^^^Ga^G J^I __ .L Flo-344,.Sat...

      1028 _ ^^ j ^^^ gA ^ g j ^ i __ . L flo-344 ,. SATirRDA . T

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      The London Saturday Concerts. The First ...

      THE LONDON SATURDAY CONCERTS . The first of & series of Concerts for the People , under the title of " The London Saturday Concerts , " wall be given this evening at St . Martin ' s Hall , Long Acre . The promoters of the undertaking are of opinion that the love of good music is sufficiently diffused atnong the English people , both of the middle and the working classes , to > render a set of performances , at low prices of admission , popular among the London public and profitable to the capitalists who risk their money in the scheme . It is not many weeks since we showed that Englishmen have an hereditary tendency to love and appreciate music , and that this has been reawakened within the last few years . We therefore fear nothing for the success of the undertaking , provided it be conducted with intelligence as well as zeal ; and we are fully impressed with the refining and ennobling influence which the extension of musical tastes and musical knowledge may exercise over the habits and ideas o > f the masses . A speaker at a recent anti-Sabbatarian meeting at York attributed the superior manners and . morals of the upper classes , as compared with the state of things only half a . century ago , to the extended love of art and science , including music under the former term—influences from which the a rtizan is shut aut by his work on all days but Sunday , and by an undue strictness on the Sabbath . The promoters of the Saturday Evening Concerts seek in some measure to reduce this evil by falling in . with the

      Saturday half-holiday movement . The idea is excellent ; an evening spent in hear * ~ choice works of great composers will form a fine , harmonious , and truly rPli « - g prelude to the day of rest . The father of Montaigke , the French essavtt , ^ always to wake his son , when a child , by playing softly at his ears some ' oaim melody on a flute , because he thought it put his mind in a placid and bpiilt frame for the work of the day . Mit / ton was in the habit of composing ffi spirit with the strains of an organ played by his own hands ; and manv otW great men have found in music a delight , a comforter , and an aid to moral a a spiritual development . Therefore may the Saturday Evening Concerts ii » htl conducted , be of sonpe service in drawing off the devotees of the bar parlour Z more ennobling pleasures . ° The series will consist of twelve Concerts : should these succeed , we siinnos there will be others- The single admissions are to be—Platforms , 6 d Are Is . ; Balconies , Is . 6 a . ; Reserved Seats , 2 s . ; Stalls , 3 s . To this tariff are added various charges for Family Tickets and Subscriptions . We read in the Preliminary Prospectus : — The recital , by eminent elocutionists of the pulpit , the bar , or the stage , of on of more Detached Poems , or Selections from Great Works , which are not written fo or adapted to dramatic representation , and are , consequently , seldom heard and little known to , or appreciated by , l the many , ' will form a special feature peculiar totke Concerts . In the selection of works the greatest care will be taken to avoid tho < = e of a frivolous , or inelegant character , and , while similar caution -will be taken to avoid works that are heavy , or of a character likely to be unattractive t o a general audience , none will he given that are not of sterling merit in their class . The Programmes will include the best works of the best musicians , rendered by the best available artistes , and will include composers of all nations , but the words trill in all cases be rendered in English , except when the aTtistes cannot speak the langnage . With a recent failure before our eyes , we think it was injudicious to introduce any such feature as recitations . The English public seems to dissent from the opinion of . Shakspeari : — If music and sweet poetry agree , As they must needs , the sister and the brother , & c ; and , judging from a sentence in the Prospectus before us , in which Dr . Mackay is called " our great ballad poet , " we are not disposed to trust the judgment of the projectors in matters of verse . We are sorry , also , to see them adopting the cant of talking about ' artistes . ' However , we decline to prejudge , the mode in which the scheme is to be carried out , while giving our warmest encouragement to the scheme itself .

      ^ The Golden Lectirkeshn?.—Mr. 'Melvill ...

      ^ The Golden LECTirKESHn ? . —Mr . 'Melvill having- resigned this appointment , on his nomination to a canonry in St . Paul ' s Cathedral ., the Court of Assistants of the Haberdashers * Company , in whose gift it is , have given notice that applications and testimonials must be sent to their clerk's office by Monday , the 17 th of November ; that they will meet on Monday , the 24 th of November , to take the same into consideration , on which occasion the candidates must attend ; and that the election will take place on Saturday , the 29 th . of November . The Mats Draxnace Scheme was again brought forward at the meeting , on Wednesday , of the Metropolitan Board of Works , when , after much discussion , the following resolution , proposed by Mr . Deputy Harrison , was carried by 24 to 7 : — " That the engineer ' s plan , marked B in his report dated the 26 th of September , 1856 , be adopted , and presented to the Commissioners of her Majesty ' s Works and Public Buildings ; and that it be intimated to them that this board have also had under consideration other plans for discharging the sewage into the river below Gravcsend , but that , it appearing that such extension would add between 1 , 000 , 0007 . and 2 , 000 , 000 / . to the outlay , and that this Bum would bo spent not to benefit the inhabitants of the metropolis , but to meat the wishes of the people of Kent and Essex who reside on the banks of the river , this board has declined to entertain any such scheme ; nevertheless , if it shall be the . opinion of her Majesty ' s Government tliat such an extension is desirable , this board will readily undertake the work , the Government providing such additional outlay out of the national revenue . " A Berkshire PusEYiTE . —The Standard mentions with , great horror some doings of the Rev . A . A . Cameron , perpetual curate of the pariah of Hurst , in Berkshire , who has lately altered the church at his own expense and for his own ends . In December , 1855 , Hurat church was reopened for divine service , in the presence of th « Bishop of Oxford , with a full choral service a » d other attributes p eculiar to Puseyism , and great was the dismay of the parishioners at beholding for the first tl tho . alterations and innovations that had been effected hv their poacoablo pariah church . The chancel bad been , completel y altered , and there had been introduced small darkened windows , a Burpliced choir , a ifrS J 5 * £ palQted 8 crceJl » eaudy altar cloth and curtain , and other semblances of Popish Titual , tho appearance printed Using that of a Roman ' CathoUc

      chapel . " The bishop supports the curate ; but the in- j habitants , on being polled , have declared by a large ma- ! jority against him . j A Specimen of the Civic Literature of Glasgow . — " \ Ve direct the attention of our readers to the following documents : —" Fourteenth Municipal Ward . —Glasgow , October 10 , I 856 . r-Thos . Boyd , Esq ., Merchant , Glasgow . —Sir , we , the undersigned , Electors in the Fourteenth Ward , assured of your attention to its general I interests , and satisfied with your attachment to the principles on which you were first elected , respectfully request that you will allow us again to nominate you as a representative for the ward in the City Council at the ensuing election . " [ Numerously and influentially signed . ] " To the electors of the Fourteenth Ward . —Gentlemen , i — in responding to your very respectful requisition to j allow myself to be again put forward as a candidate to < represent you at the municipal board , permit me to state , that when I was requested this time two years to do the same ( and had the honour to be returned ) , I did so on the consideration that it is the duty of every citizen , when he is respectfully called upon , as I then was , to take his share in the duties of tho council board ; but as the term of my services has been necessarily limited , I think it fair and respectful to you that , at your renewed request , I should again agree to return , especially considering that it can only bo after some experience and familiarity with the duties of tho council that our assistance can be of any real practical value . I therefore willingly accede to this your respectful requisition . —I am , gentleman , most respectfull y yours , Tiios . 13 ovd . The United Kingdom Aumancb . — The Maine Liquor Law advocates held two meetings at Manchester on Wednesday—one , tho general meeting of the Council of the Alliance in tho morning and afternoon , to consider the policy to be adopted during the coming year in carrying on the agitation ; the other , the annual public meeting of the members and friends of the United Kingdom Alliance at Manchester . The meeting of the general council commenced at about a quarter-past ten in the morning in tho Assembly-room at tho Free Trade Hall , and succeeded a breakfast at which about sixty persona were present . About one hundred and fifty persona were present at the meeting , Sir W . Trevelyan in the chair , and among the principal were—Mr . L . HcyworthJ M . P . ; Dr . Lees , tho Hon . tho Judge-Marshal of Cape Breton ; Dr . M'Cullocli , of Dumfries ; Hon . and Rev . L . Noel , Exton ; Mr . R . Allen , Dublin ; Mr . S . Elliott , Liskeard ; Mr . J . Priestman , Bradford ; Rev . Dr .

      M'Kerrow , and Mr . Alderman Harvey , Manchester , & c . The chief speakers were Sir W . Trevelyan and Mi-. S . Pope , the secretary of the Alliance , who recently had a correspondence on the subject with Lord Stanley . Resolutions in favour of a Maine law having been carried , the subscription commenced , and three subsciiptions of 200 / . each , five of 100 / ., six of 50 / ., and smaller sums were given . It was also mentioned that fifty temperance societies had sent in their adhesion to this movement with a subscription of a guinea each . Mr . DisuAELt » ON Agriculture . —The first annivsrsary of the " Amersham , Chesham , and the Adjacent Parishes Agricultural Association" -was held at Chesham , Buckinghamshire , on Tuesday . There was a ploughing match in the morning , followed by a show of roots and garden produce , after which about two hundred persons sat down to dinner in the Town-hall , under the presidency of the Hon . C . Cavendish . The healths of the county members having been proposed by Mr . W . Lowhdes , Mr . Disraeli rose to acknowledge tlie honour , and while doing so , made some reference to agricultural statistics . He said : — " The deduction I draw is , that we can only obtain general results to guide legislation , and that there « xist in this country the means of ohtaining such results which arc not open to the Minister of any other country in the world . I do not say this to encourage a blind and bigoted opposition to any measures which may be passed on this subject . 1 only sny that we arc living in an age of statistical imposture ( cheers ) , and that many returns in reference to agriculture are made by men who are not acquainted with rural life . We have a groat basis , and on that we may build ; but let us not encourage tho cry—which is the cry of ignorance—that in this country the Minister has no means by which ho can obtain a general estimate of the agriculture of England . " At a subsequent part of tlio evening , Mr . Disraeli , in proposing " Success to tho Association , " remarked on the utility of such societies , and defended them from tho attacks that had been made by their opponents . A Tuscan Prince at Woolwich . — H is Imperial Highness the Prince ( Hereditary Grand Duke ) of Tuscany a few days ago paid a visit to Woolwich under tn « title of his Excellency Count Albareae , and so strictly was his desire to remain incognito observed , that in his inspection of tho departments of tlio Royal Arsenal , whore ho spent several hours , attended by the Marqm * Tanay de Nerli and suite , no official reception was given to him .

      Theatrical Notes. O'Iveefe's Comedy Of W...

      THEATRICAL NOTES . O'Iveefe ' s comedy of Wild Oats was revived at the Haymarket on Monday evening , the new American actor , Mr . Murdoch , performing the character of Rover , Mr . Bucksxonb Sim , Mr . Compton Ephraim Smooth , Mr . Ghii » penda . le Sir George Thunder , and IVliss Talbot Lady Amaranth—a brilliant display of humour and effective stage skill , which insured complete success , and no little enjoyment to the audience . Mrs . Stowe's Dred has been dramatized at the Surrey , where Mr . Creswick glooms upon the audience as the pious ' nigger , ' and Mr . Shepherd tyrannizes , threatens , talks Yankee slang , and enjoys himself and his villany after roaring Yankee fashion , in the person of Tom Gordon , the slaveholder , with full gust and relish , till Dred ( converted by the dramatist into a sort of " poetical justice" Nemesis" ) puts a period to his career by despatching him .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 25, 1856, page 20, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_25101856/page/20/