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women Friends preached . I was told afterwards that it vu to me they preached , and that they had admonished me , and hoped good for me and my consistent walk through life , most beautifully . I did not hear a word of it . I knew somebody was speaking , but the words conveyed to my mind no more meaning than the sound of the waves as they ripple on the shore . One of the speakers was my own new sisterin-law . Ever her voice , which was very peculiar , did not rouse me out of that dreamy state which the lengthened restraint I was compelled to keep myself in , while the public exhibition lasted , had sent me into .
?• Our dinner party was very large . All our respective fathers and mothers , uncles and aunts , brothers and sisters , brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law , nephews and nieces , and first cousins , had been invited for a month beforehand ; and from far and near they came . We assembled over eighty altogether , and the feasting and merry-making continued for nearly a week . Some of my near relatives were not Quakers . They drew me aside from the crowd , and prayed for me , and blessed me ; so did my own dear father and mother , but no one else . That such a service is desirable , I believe rarely enters into the head of a true Quaker .
** My father had spared no pains or cost to provide an entertainment worthy of the occasion . Even one of his own pet beautiful peacocks , was sacrified to do us honour . Venison and pine-apples , &c . &c , were sent him by his noble acquaintances ; and the lord bishop of the diocese actually sent his own French cook to dress the dinner . Quakers boast of being « a self-denying people . ' It would be curious to analyse in what the . ' self-denial consists . The ministers , elders , and overseers , who rule over each Meeting , are certainly very strict in denying the young people those indulgences , and that liberty of thought and action , which is the inherent birth-right of us all . To maintain their order , to uphold their system , is necessary to them . It is a pleasure , not a cross to them , to wear
the garb , and use the language , and live isolated from even Christian communion with their fellows ; and it is a pleasure , not a eross , to tyrannize , as they do , over the mass , by enforcing on them those burdens which few , comparatively , have sufficient energy of mind to reject . The great body of the Society tamely submits to the arbitrary dictum of the few ; but that cannot be called self-denial . I have asked different individuals , both in England and in Ireland , dozens of times , Wh y does thee wear the bonnet or the hat ?' —and the general answer was , ' I wear it to please my father and mother . I hate it , and can see no earthly good in it ; but the overseers would torment us if I left it off . ' This was not self-denial ; and I am sure , that in the matter of appetite , some Friends are the most self-indulgent in the world . "
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BOOKS ON OUR TABLE . The Preacher in the House ; or , Family Sabbath Headings Edited , by the . Reverend L ) . T . K . Druiiunond . Hamilton , Adams , and Co A volume of sermons by celebrated preachers ; adapted for family reading . The Steam-Kngiiiu ; a Popular Account of its Construction , Action , and History , lly Hui ^ o Ueid . Illustrated by Forty Wood-Engravings . Third edition , revised and iui |> ro \ i / d . Groom bridge and Sons . There have been many books on the steam-engine ; among the very best is that of Hugo Reid , the third edition of which lies open before us . It is comprehensive in design , and familiar in treatment . A succinct statement of the general laws of Heat and Pneumatics , on which the action of the steam-engine depends , forms the introduction to the history and description of the great power of modern times . In the appendix there are some analytical remarks on Arago ' s Eloge de Watt , combating Homo of its tjtatcments and rectifying ita mistakes . How to See the Exhibition . In Four Parts , Hy \ V . Khmchard Jerrold . Itradbury and Evans . Wo have already , in noticing the first part of this little work , expressed our opinion on its utility an a supplemental catalogue , or portable guide-book , which visitors to the Inhibition will lind savo them incalculable time and trouble . The three last parta justify what we said of the first .
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Thk Statuh of thk Amazon . —The power of ( In : Amazon , the strength of expression , the agony of the horse—a grand and terrible mixture of dismay and desperation — arc triumphant proofs of the artist ' s genius ; and it is , therefore , all the more to be regretted , that ho noblo a work should be marred by one or two very obvious blemishes . Observe the attitude of the Amazon . Sh (; has lost her seat , and is thrown back in an impossible position on the haunches of the home . Turn to the buck of thi >
8 tutue , and look nt the horse ' s tail . Jt is cast up lashing tho air , as if the creittnro were in utnte of hig h exultation , instead of being drawn in between its legs by tho effort of terror , which Would inevitably make it coil up all ita muscle * These faults are deductions from tho meiits of trie work as a perfect tudy ; but enough remains behind to justify tho hiifhobt encomiumw . — Vraser ' a Mug mine .
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SPONTINI . BY HECTOR BEltLIOZ . ( Translated and abridged expressly for the Leader . ) On the 14 th of November , 1779 , there came into the world at Jesi , in the March of Ancona , a child , whose name was Gasparo Spontini . I am not going to say of him , what most biographers are never weary of recording when writing the lives of celebrated artists— " He early manifested extraordinary dispositions for bis art . He was hardly six years old when he already produced remarkable works , " &c . My admiration for his genius is too great and
too well founded to allow of my using the commonplaces of vulgar praise when speaking of him . Besides , every one knows what the value of the chefs d ' eeuvre of wonderful children really are , and how much more in the interest of the fame of those children when grown into men , it would be to destroy those foolish memorials of their much-vaunted infancy . All that I know of Spontini ' s early years is what I have myself heard him tell , and is limited to a few facts which I will merely record without attaching to them more importance than they deserve .
He was twelve or thirteen when he entered the Conservatore della Pieta at Naples . "Was it in accordance with the child ' s desire that his parents gave him the advantages of that famous school of music ? or did his father , who was doubtless not rich , think that in placing him there he was furnishing him with the means of pursuing an easy and humble career , never dreaming of his becoming more than themaitre
de chapelle to some convent or second-rate church ? I do not know . I should incline to the latter hypothesis , considering the tendencies to a religious life manifested by all the other members of Spontini's family . One of his brothers was cure of a Roman village ; the other ( Anselmo Spontini ) died a monk in a Venetian monastery , a few years back ; and his sister likewise ended her days in a convent , where she had taken the veil .
However this might be , his studies alia Pieta , soon bore sufficient fruit to enable him to write , with no great show of originality , one of those unmeaning trifles , which in Italy , as elsewhere , are pompously termed operas , and was called / Puntigli delle Donne . I do not know if this first essay was ever performed . It inspired its author , nevertheless , with sufficient ambition and confidence in his own powers to induce him to run away from the Conservatore and go to Rome , where he hoped to be more easily able to obtain a hearing at the theatre than in Naples . The runawaj' was soon overtaken ; and , under penalty of
being brought back to Naples as a vagabond , compelled to justify his escapade , and the pretensions which had led to it , by composing an opera for the Carnival . A libretto was given him , called Gli Amanti incimento , which he at once set to music , and it was almost directly performed with success . The public treated the young maestro to the transports usual with the Romans on such occasions . Ilia age , moreover , and the episode of his flight had predisposed the dilettanti in his favour . Spontini was therefore applauded , called for , carried in triumph , and—forgotten at the end of a fortnight . This shortlived success brought him his liberty ( he was
permitted to leave the Conuervatore ) , and a tolerably advantageous engagement to go and ( an it is called in Italy ) write at Venice . lie was thus emancipated and left to himself after a stay of no great length in the Neapolitan Conservatore . . This is the proper place for solving the question which naturally presents itself : Who was his master ? Some have said the Padre Martini , who died long before Spontini . entered the Conservatore , and , I believe , even before he wus born ; others , a person of the name of ISaroni , whom it was poHsible he might have become acquainted with at Home ; others again have given the credit of bis musical education to Sula , Traettu , and even to Ciniarosa .
1 never had the ( ui iosit . y to question Spontini on the subject , nrul lie unvcr mentioned it to me . Hut L collected this confession from his conversations , that the real masters of the author of La Ventitle ., Cortex , and Ohjmpia were the great works of Giluck
which he first became acquainted with on his arrival in Paris in 1803 , and instantly began to study passion , ately . I believe that not only Gluck , but Mehul " who had already written his admirable Euphroaine and Cherubini , by his first French operas , must have developed the latent germ of his dramatic faculties and hastened their magnificent development . ' On the contrary , I find no trace in his works of the influence which the German masters , Haydn , Mozart and Beethoven , might have been supposed to exercise over him in a purely musical point of view . The latter was hardly known by name in France when Spontini arrived there , and La Vestale and Cortez had long shone on the boards of the opera at Paris when their author visited Germany for the first time
To take up the thread of my biography once moiei I must confess my ignorance of the doings of young Spontini after the appearance of his third opera in Italy . I do not know with any certainty on what theatres those that followed were performed . They brought him doubtless as little profit as renown since he determined to try his fortune in France without having been summoned there either by the public voice or a powerful patron . The names of the thirteen or fourteen Italian operas written by Spontini during the seven years which succeeded his first ephemeral triump h are as follows : —L'Amor secreto , L'Jaola ditdbitata , L'Eroismo ridicolo , Teseo riconosciuto , La Finta Jilosofa , La Fuaa in maschera , I Quadri Parlanti , II Finta
Pittore , Gli Elisi delusi , It Geloso e I'Audace , Le Metamorfosi di Pasqnale , Chi Pi& guarda non vede , La Principessa d'Amalfi , Berenice . He preserved in his library the manuscripts and even the printed libretti of these washy compositions ; and pointed them out occasionally to his friends , with a smile of disdain , as the toys of his musical infancy .
Spontini , I believe , suffered much on his arrival in Paris . He contrived to exist by giving lessons , and got his Finta Jilosofa performed at the Italian Opera , where it was favourably received . It appears certain , although most of his biographers differ on this point , that the opera of Milton , with words byM , Jouy , was Spontini ' s first attempt with French words , and preceded the slight and insignificant work called Julie , or Le Pot de Fleurs .
The printed copies of these operas tell us that Milton was performed at the Opera Comique on the 27 th of November , 1804 ; Julie on the 12 th of March , 1805 . Milton was tolerably well received ; Julie , on the contrary , sank under the indifference of the public , like thousands of similar productions which daily appear and disappear unnoticed . One of its melodies alone has survived . The famous actor Elleviou having taken a liking to Spontini , and being anxious to obtain for comic
him another hearing , procured a libretto for a opera in three acts , which the imprudent musician had the weakness to accept . La Petite Maison fell so completely that no trace has remained of it . It was not even completely performed . Elleviou filled an important part in it ; indignant at a few hisses , ho forgot himself so far as to betray his contempt for the audience . The most frightful tumult ensued , the pit in its fury rushed into the orchestra , drove out the musicians , and destroyed everything that came la its
way . After this double disaster , it seemed p robable that the young composer would be shunned , every door necessarily be closed against him . Hut the patronage of the Empress Josephine remained to him ; she < not forsake him , and it is certainly to her alone tni ^ the genius of Spontini , which ran the risk of being extinguished before it had fairly dawned , owed i ^ ascension two years later into the highest rt ' gi ° " art . M . Jouy had long treasured in his desk a libretti for a grand opera , La Vestale , which both Mfth "' . " Cherubini had rejected . » pontini begged for it * earnestly , that tho author at last determined to
mtnhim with it . Poor , decried , and hated by the ignoble musician" - of Paris , Spontini forgot all to fall < agle-1 'ke on i noble prey , lie shut himself up in a miserable garr ^ , neglected his pupils ; and careless of the * ? " ' jial saries of life , he laboured at his work wll . , m feverish eagerness and tremulous passion whie i ^ the certain indications of the first eruption < n musical volcano . When the opera was completed , the l ' ' » l > 1 ' j li 1 " ]
stantly gave it to be studied at the O pera ; ana ^ for Josephine ' s protege began the torture ° u ( hearsals ; a fearful torture for an innovator wi ^ acquired Authority , and to whom the entire <»• ' ^ performers wan naturally nnrl systematically '" JV ^ perpetual struggles against ill-natured int <; n wanIl heart-rending effort o to inovo obstacle * , to ' ^ icicles , to reason with madmen , to talk o r ( ., n , eunuchs , of imagination to idiots , of art to In > ° ()) of sincerity to liars , of enthusiiiHin to the <; U Y (> t jjl 0 courugo to cowards . Every one rebelled "b' "" '
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We should do onr utmost to encourage the Beautiful , for the Useful encourages itself . —Gokthe .
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780 4 f !> e 3 L $ a& * tf * [ Saitoriuy ,
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Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 16, 1851, page 780, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1896/page/16/
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