And now the time in special is, by privilege, to write and speak what may help to the further discussing of matters in agitation. The Temple of Janus, with his two pntroversal faces, might now not unsignificantly be set open : and though all the winds of doctrine were let hose to play » pon the earth, so Truth be in the field, we do injuriously, by licensing and prohibiting, to misdoubt her strength. Let her and falsehood grapple. Who ever knew Truth put to the worse, in a free and open encounter. Her confuting is the best and surest suppressing.— MILTON'S AREOPAGITICA. TIE HALIFAX FREE PRESS. FEBRUARY 11, 1843. No. XXIV. Price One Penny, TO OUR READERS. In compliance with the repeated solicitations of many of our readers, we are making arrange- ments for the delivery of the " Free Press," every Friday afternoon, at the residences of our subscribers. This new arrangement will commence with our twenty- seventh number, on the third of March ; that number being the first of a new quarter. As the payment of single pennies, at the doors of our subscribers, would often be productive of trouble and inconvenience, it is proposed to extend the delivery to quarterly subscribers only ; and the terms will be 13d. per quarter, if paid in advance; or 15d, on credit. Those who desire to have our weekly sheet delivered at their residences, will oblige us by for- warding their names to our publisher. Our terms for advertisements will remain as before, for cash ; and a small per centage will be added, where credit is given. The increased circulation which the proposed arrangement will bring to our periodical, and the lowness of our charges, combine to render it a very advantageous medium for advertisers. SQUEEZE THE PEEL. That meagre, unsatisfactory, cold, hard hearted, unfeeling, and almost unmeaning, piece of state quackery, called, by courtesy, " her Majesty's most gracious Speech," has been more than a week before the people ; and what do they think of it ? The Tory journals [ raise it, as it is their duty to do. ' I hose of the people, and there were a few, who had rashly ventured to entertain some hope of promised good, turned away in disgust and disappoint- ment; but the majority, not having expected aught, looked on with indifference, and read it with no feeling or interest. For ourselves, there was no portion of the document from which we turned with so much loathing, as the paragraph referring to the riots in the manufacturing districts. It was heart- sickening to read it. Regret at the occurrence ofthose " disorders" is expressed with a coldness that is startling; but that was, indeed, to be cxpected from men who could prorogue parlia- ment, and hurry off to their pheasant shooting, at the very time those riots were taking place. The satisfaction, too, with which they notice the " effectual repression of those disorders," is all of a piece with the same callousness of heart: but the most disgusting feature of it is, that they talk of relying, " for the maintenance of tranquillity," upon the strong arm of the law, and not upon any attempt, on the part of " the powers that be," to alleviate those distresses, and remove those legislative oppressions, but for which the riots would not have occurred. The distresses of the government, occasioned by an enormous defalcation of revenue, are dwelt upon at much greater length, and with far more feeling, than the distresses of the people, arising from the diminution of their trade and commerce, that languish, and are almost expiring, under the incubus of the ac- cursed corn law. It is true that " the diminished receipt from some of the ordinary sources of the revenue," is " in part attributed to the reduced consump- tion of many articles, caused by that depression of the manufacturing industry of the country which lias so loDg prevailed ;" but there is as much again said about the revenue having been " materially affected by the extensive reduc- tions in the import duties," that were made, last session, by the new tariff. Here is a false statement; or, at all events, a statement so fallaciously and unfairly made as to produce a false impression. The truth, is, that the main portion of the deficiency is in that part of the revenue which arises from articles of excise and general consumption. In proof of this we refer to Tory authority, and extract from the Halifax Guardian of the 7th of January, part of that Oracle's remarks on the usual revenue return, made up to the 5th of that month. " The greatest falling off," we are there told, " isunder the head of Excise ; the deficiency for the year being £ 1,173,614; that for the quarter, £ 717,202. The customs also exhibit a great, though not equally alarm- ing, diminution in their returns ; the quarter's deficiency being £ 581,185; the year's, £ 824,275." In a subsequent part of the article, we are informed that " the temperance movement, — the late outbreak, and consequent compulsory idleness,— even the late abundant harvest, account for the falling- off in the revenue from articles of excise and general consumption." Here, then, we have the Queen's Speepl] attributing the " material" part of the falling off to the new tariff; but a Tory journal, ignorant of what Peel intended to put into the mouth of royalty, had told us, a month before, that the " greatest " falling off was not in that department, but in the revenue obtained from articles of" excise and general consumption ;" and what he then told us, he proved by quoting the figures of the revenue returns themselves. From the trumpery Speech which Peel and his colleagues drew up for Queen Victoria, we turn to the equally trumpery, and equally unsatisfactory, speech which the Premier himself made, in the debate upon the Address. Mr. Charles Wood had pressed rather closely upon the slippery rejector of velveteens; but it is hard trying to hold an eel bv the tail. The Premier knows how to twist and twirl as cleverly as any politician that ever breathed, not even excepting the notorious Machiavelli; and he seems to have adopted that slippery Florentine's famous maxim that " language was given to man, to enahle him to conceal his thoughts ;" for \ yho can ever tell, from Peel's words, what are Peel's intentions? And who that has not forgotten his Jim- Crow- ism on the Catholic Question, can place the least reliance upon his promises ? He may say, as he did the other night, with reference to the repeal of the Corn Laws and other monopolies, that " her majesty's government have not NOW any such extensive changes in contemplation ;" but who will have the hardihood to maintain that they will not, to retain place and power, again eat their own words; again turn their shabby coats inside- out; and again carry through par- liament, liberal measures which they havealways hitherto opposed, and are " not NOW " prepared to support ? The Premier resemblss, in worth, in quality, and in capacity, the valueless article from which he so appropriately derives his patronymic. Orange Peel, as he used to be called, is but the peel, and nit the orange. Like his namesake, he is bitter, worthless, and unpalatable. The sweet juice of the fruit can only be obtained by one of two processes,— by taking off the peel, and throwing it away ; or by giving it a right good squeezing. When well and vigorously subjected to the pressure from without, Peel will disgorge the good things that he can no longer withhold ; but he must be thoroughly squeezed first. The old Duke, though almost as hard and unsqueezable 3s a cocoa- nut, was compelled to give way to Catholic Emancipation; but Peel is made of more pliable stuff. More de- ceptive, also, are his outward appearances. When he looks like a fine St. Michael's, he turns out as sour as crab verjuice. He looljs like silk ; but he is only dressed cotton. What, then, do wp expect at the hands of Sir Robert ? We answer, much, when he is forced to give, and nothing until he be forced. The mighty exertions of the Anti- Corn- Law League have done much to arouse the country to a sense of its wrongs; and the silent operation of the late bountiful harvest is working power- fully in the agricultural districts. In the face of a greatly diminished price for their produce, the farmers havealso to lament a greatly diminish- ed market for it, even at that reduced price. The distress in the manufacturing districts is operating extensively upon the ability of the people to purchase what the farmers have to sell; and consequently the farmers have now to com- plain of " agricultural distress," because their much- be- praised protection, the corn law monopoly, is ruining their best customers. The cry of " agricultural distress " will be the next to greet our ears ; and when we look back to the operation of the Corn Laws, we cannot but be surprised to observe how much oftener that cry has been raised since the Corn Law was passed, than before. When it again echoes through the houses of parliament, what will Peel st> y, and what will he do ? Will he and the landlord aristocracy again succeed in throwing dust into the eyes of the farmers ? Can he again induce them to believe in the promised benefits of the average and sliding- scale system ? They cannot, surely, be such idiots; but we return to our question,— what Will Peel do? Feel will do nothing, freely, willingly, and graciously ; but he will do any thing by com- pulsion. Lot the League persevere. Let the numerous Anti- Corn- Law Associations strenu- ously exert themselves to ex'. end their operations, to corroborate their resources, and to concentrate the energies of the people, as an all- power- ful battering ram, upon the stronghold of aristocratic monopoly. Let every man, within the circle of his individual influence, bring that influence to bearuponthisparent monopoly, — the monopoly of food ; and it must succumb, — it must be annihilated. Have we, then, any hopes of success ? Yes. Our prospects are most encouraging. There is plenty of good, sweet juice in the orange ; and all that is wanted to get at it, is to give thepeel a good squeezing. How is the squeezing to be effected ? By- continued and persevering agitation of the question, out of doors ; and repeated, unwearied discussion of it within the walls of parliament, " Repeal the Bread Tax," must be the war- cry of the session and of the people. The Repeal of the Bread Tax must be the object of every public movement. The rapid progress of the cause, since the Tories came into office, gives significant augury of a coming triumph. The late national gathering in the metropolis of the repeal move- ment, exhibited the spectacle of many delegates and many contributions from districts that are exclusively agricultural; and as soon as the 2 THE HALIFAX FREE PRESS. 3 farmers generally arouse themselves to a sense of their own perilous position on the swindling pivot of corn- law protection, the doom of the Bread Tax will be sealed. DEANS AT A DISCOUNT. " Billy Dawson," a Methodist Local Preacher, who gained much applause among the common people, by mingling a broad dramatic humour, bordering upon farce, with vehement appeals to the conscience and the heart, had a sermon which strikingly ex- emplified this peculiarity, based upon the text, " Thou art weighed in the balances, and found wanting." The plan of the discourse was, to classify the various descriptions of character, and to act the process of weighing them in the opposite scale to that which was supposed to contain the requirements of the Divine law. The preacher's gestures, and some of his sayings in this " monopolylogue," had in themselves a strong tendency to provoke laughter ; but the sense of the ludicrous was speedily over- powered by the terrible denunciations which he launched at those who were " found" most " wanting." No sooner had a batch of sinners been thrown into the scale, than, as they kicked the beam, " Billy" used to exclaim, in the dialect of bis native county of York, " Light weight! light weight! Tak ' em out! tak ' em out!" And, when hearers with no disposition to irreverence found it impossible to repress a smile, he would come to their rescue with a powerof invective against the particular transgression in question, which struck even the innocent with trembling. In proceeding to weigh the claims and pretensions of the Second Class of Ecclesiastical Dignitaries in England, we foresee that, in the lan- guage of the rude but eloquent preacher, we shall have to pronounce them " Light weight! light weight'." Would that we could catch the spirit of his indignant rebukes of iniquity, and sound a note of merited denunciation that might beget in the people of Englaud an irresistible determination to abrogate the system which enables so much indolence, and pomp, and luxury, to cushion and array themselves in the wrap- pings of Religion. The Deans come next to the Bishops. " And what, pray, is a Dean ?" with excusable ignorance cry a thousand voices at once, the owners of which know, nothing of such a species beyond the confused notions which they have formed from the queer stories they have heard about one Dean Swift in Ireland, and the stories not less queer they have more recently heard of one Dean Ireland in England. We proceed, as well as our knowledge of this branch of preternatural history will allow us, to satisfy the laudable curiosity of such inquirers. Wolves, as we know, have been exterminated from our happy country; but Deans, we regret to say, have not. Indeed, we find that this class of creatures of prey are far more numerous than we suspected. The Buffons of the Established Church class them tinder no fewer than six heads; namely, Deans of Chapters, Deans of Peculiars, Rural Deans, ( apt, no doubt, to decimate pigs and poultry,) Deans of Colleges, Honorary Deans, ( so called, because, being attached to the Court, like the lions in the Tower, they are the best fed,) and, lastly, Bishops' Deans. We cannot be expected to go into the nice shades of difference among these classes. It is said that, in a flock of sheep, there are no two faces exactly alike, and it may be the same with a herd of those who look after the fleece; but, to our undiscerning eyes, a sheep is a sheep, and a Dean a Dean, wherever we find them. In fact, the six varieties inay all be con- sidered as comprehended in the last; namely, Bishops' Deans ; for it is described by the authorities as being the office of a Dean to ." assist the Bishop." Thus we realize the old story : " Bishop, what are you doing ?" " Nothing," candidly. " Dean, what are you doing ?" " Helping the Bishop." The office of a Dean, as now filled, retains little resemblance to the etymology of the word. Some writers have, indeed, suggested, that the Latin name of this class of dignitaries, decanus, derives its origin from the circumstance that Deans, ( who, they tell us, were reserved for the celebration of Divine ser- vice in the cathedral,) were in the first instance ap- pointed, as captains of artillery in the church- militant, to superintend ten canons ( decern canonici) ; but there is no doubt at all that the following is the true derivation of the term ; Dean, decanus, diakonos, from dia through, and koneo to serve, so Parkhurst glosses, as servants at a table, to take care of the poor, to minister to the necessities of others, es- pecially in affliction, and so forth. Now, what is there in all this answerable to the office or practice of these dignitaries? The only thing that we can discern servant- like about a Dean is, that he wears an apron. It is ordered, moreover, that Deans shall always wear surplices, which may be construed as a token that they belong to the surplusage of the Church. Nearly the same farce is enacted in the appoint- ment of Deans as of Bishops. Prior to King John, the disposal of this and other ecclesiastical dignities appears to have been a perfect scramble ; but during the reign of that Prince, the freedom of canonical election, which had formerly been disputed both by Crown and Mitre, was confirmed by royal charter, and subsequently by various statutes. The election of a Dean by the Chapter has, however, by long practice, been degraded into a mere form ; the patron- age really vesting in the Crown. For more than two centuries, the Royal conge d'elire, which, by the charter of John, must precede every election of a prelate, and was, indeed, in use long before, has been invariably accompanied by a " letter missive," recom- mending a particular person ;— a recommendation with which, being backed by the pains of a prcemunire in case of refusal, the submissive Chapters are fain to comply, But, though this gentle " recommen- dation" were not thus formidably urged like the humble petition of the beggar in Gil Bias, the charter itself requires the King's confirmation of the Chapter's choice, which being refused, the election becomes void. It has even been maintained that the election is so whollya ceremony as not to be at all essential; and certainly it is a rule " more honoured in the breach than in the observance." In ancient times, the Bishop, Dean and Chapter, Prebendaries, Canons, Vicars- choral, and so forth to the end of the chapter, held their possessions together in the gross ; " but afterwards," as we learn on good authority, " for the avoiding of confusion and some other causes, one part of the lands was assigned to the Bishop aud his successors, and other parts to the Dean and Chapter, each to ho'd by themselves ; and so they have ever since continued." It would, there - fore, appear that the recent controversy between the the redoubted Canon of St. Paul's and his Diocesan, was but the pleasant revival of an old feud about the division of the spoil. The duties of a Dean, as laid down in the books, are not very onerous. " To exercise the spiritual jurisdiction," he may appoint a " deputy ;" but " such deputy cannot charge the possesions of the Church, or even confirm leases :" in other and plainer words, a deputy may do the duty, but the principal alone can pocket the cash,— a universal law in eccle- siastical affairs ! By the Canon Law, conveniently shelved, and only taken down for the purpose of mulcting or incarcerating stubborn Dissenters, every Dean is required to " reside" at least ninety days in the year, conjunctim vel divisim, " preaching the word of God and keeping good hospitality, unless hindered by weighty and urgent causes," of which the Bishop is the lenient judge, with whose approval " substi- tutes" for the " spiritual" duty may be again ap- pointed. Such, as described by no hostile pen, are the office and duties of several dozen of the veriest drones, to maintain whom in habits of " good hospitality," this hive of industry called England, is robbed at the rate of many thousand pounds a year for each Very Rever- end Drone. We hate to be personal, and the blame shall not be ours, if, in thoroughly sifting the claims and pretensions of the Established Church as a national institution, which we are resolved to do, we be driven into personal allusions to present occupants of various posts of ecclesiastical preferment. We will point to no man by name, whether superior or sub- ordinate, who has not or shall not become obnoxious to particular remark by reason of his own gross mis- conduct, with regard to the duties attaching either to his own position or to the rights of his fellow- subjects ; but we may, without prejudice to the rule of honourable controversy, illustrate our notions of the merits of the Establishment by reference to the ascertained facts of our own times, and even to the personal history of men who have disappeared from the stage of mortal existence. It is manifest, then, that, if every Dean in every cathedral rigidly performed every duty required of him, they would still be the most overpaid class of a body of clergy, who,) those serfs of the Church, the Curates, excepted,) are the most overpaid section of all mankind. This, indeed, has long been virtually admitted by the strongest advocates of cathedral dignities, who now rely exclusively upon the pretext, that such posts are, with a wise economy, reserved as places of learned retirement, to which may be pro- moted those of the clergy whose learning and ability fit them to enlighten their own generation and all succeeding ages by the production of great works in theology. Now, this sounds very fine ; but, with few exceptions, the history of the Church does not bear out the imposing representation. Deans Tucker and Prideaux, and one or two more, might be quoted in its support; but the list would be soon ex- hausted, leaving behind a multitude of dull dignitaries, whose names even have not survived them, and who, in their own day, were distinguished only for an obsequious carriage, or a leg which admirably became a silk stocking,— for being good at a rubber of whist, and better at a bottle of claret— for that ravenish acuteness which taught them to apprehend a futurum esse vacancy with unfailing scent, or for " that quality generally possessed by the dullest sort of men," which a certain Dean denominates an " aldermanly discretion," and describes as " no where so serviceable as to the clergy." On the other hand, bow many of the brightest names in the Esiablished Church have, not unhappily, as we must always think, been left by the dispensers of " posts of learned ease and retirement " in their own untitled, and therefore untarnished, brilliance ! Far beyond and far above the nebulous conglomeration of un- distinguished and undistinguishable Deans, behold two stars of the first magnitude shining on in fade- less splendour, known by no titles common to their class, but catalogued in the Sidereal Table of im- mortality, as " The Judicious Hooker " and " The Illustrious Chillingworth." It is not denied that many Deans, both past and present, might lay claim to the possession of various accomplishments; but what have they done for the interests of religio us truth, so emphatically, as it is pretended, committed to their care ? We could name illustrious classical scholars, profound mathemati- cians, keen politicians, some philosophers, more courtiers, scores of agreeable fellows, and one who enjoyed the reputation of being the first whistler of his age ; but this is nothing to the purpose. Two occur to our recollection as perhaps occupying the extreme points of character in the department of Deans, Swift and Milner ; the one certainly the worst, and the other perhaps the best, of the thou- sands that have worn the title, and pocketed the emo- luments which constitute its worth. What a specimen of Deans was Swift, whose most scriptural action was, with Job, to curse the day when he was born ! He never did anything hut evil as a clergyman ; for the little good he did effect was in matters altogether alien to his profession. It was in relation to his defeat of the scheme for debasing the copper coinage in Ireland, and to his strenuous support of Irish manufactures, that Johnson designated him as " the oracle of the traders, and idol of the rabble,"— the greatest praise or foulest opprobrium ever attached to a Dean. _ It would sicken the reader, were we but to specify one half of the disgusting crimes and vices by which this gifted profligate disgraced his sacred pro- fession ; and yet, a Dean he lived, and a Dean he died, when he slowly reached his miserable end. In the late Dean of Carlisle, we behold a happy contrast to all the vices of the celebrated Dean of St. Patrick's;' but, although a man of great virtue, great talents, and great learning, yes, and even of great industry in his way, will any one presume to say that he achieved anything while living, or left anything behind him when he exchanged a decanal stall for a mansion in light, that can he quoted in vindication of the institu- tion which we admit his personal virtues did certainly adorn ? A single volume of sermons is all that re- mains of the Senior Wrangler Incomparabilis, the successor of Sir Isaac Newton in theProfessor's chair, and, what is more to the purpose, the acknowledged leader of the Evangelical party in the Establishment. Joseph Milner was never a Dean, but will ever be the Historian of the Church. Isaac Milner did attain to that questionable honour; but he fribbled away a long life ; and nearly all that can be said of him is tbis, that, though he penetrated the imposture of the Invisible Girl, he left the hocus- pocus of efficacious Sacraments to delude mankind, assisted rather than explained by the shallow suggestion of a hypothetical signification. But enough of those exceedingly light articles, the Deans, of whom, probably, the latest reminiscence will be the couplet of Pope :— " To sleep, a cushion and soft Bean invite. Who never mentions hell to ears polite." Patriot. GERMAN MUSIC. ( Continued from our last number.) PROFESSOR TAYLOR'S FOURTH LECTURE. Mr. Taylor commenced by observing that he had now arrived at that period of musical history adorned by the talent of Handel, and it might be expected that amongst the musicians of Germany he would not he passed by unnoticed ; but he was connected with Germany by birth alone. His early manhood, riper years, and old age, all belonged to England. His style was formed in Italy, and perfected in England THE HALIFAX FREE PRESS. 3 and Mr. Taylor's collection of his works, extending • to nearly 80 vols, furnished only one single example of a composition by him to German words. His works were long unknown in his native country ; and more than half a century elapsed before Haydn directed the attention of his countrymen to Handel's Messiah; and his operas were still unknown in Germany. As Handel exercised no influence over his art in Germany, and as he adopted as his models the productions of the English and foreign schools, he must be consi- dered as belonging to his adopted rather than to his native country. At this time the Italian opera ( for the German lyric drama was not then called into existence.) began to exert its influence on the German capitals, and to enlist German composers into its service. In Ricco- boni's " General History of the Stage," it was stated, that at Vienna and all the courts of the principal German Sovereigns, the theatres were magnificent; built by foreign architects, and embellished by foreign painters. At Hamburg, the foreign opera and music were the best known throughout Germany ; and this employment of foreigners deprived the native com- poser of his natural and most profitable spheie of exertion. In the early part of the last century, a few German composers aequired not only a national but a Euro- pean fame, by their connection with and contribu- tions to the opera. Amongst the first of these was John Adolphus Hasse, who, like Bach and Handel, was a native of Saxony; born in 1699, he was 15 years their junior. His first musical instructor w„ s Keise. r; and he began his career as a tenor singer in the choir of the court of Brunswick. To this early training might doubtless be attributed those qualities in his compositions which gave them value in the es- timation of singers. At Brunswick lie began to write ; but finding himself embarrassed by the want of a more extensive knowledge of counterpoint, he gave up his situation, went to Italy, studied under Porporo ; and afterwards old Scarlatti voluntarily proposed to become his instructor, and, under him, he acquired all that knowledge in which he was before deficient ; and iu the choirs and theatres of Italy he heard the best music performed in the best manner. His genius thus strengthened by knowledge and matured by ex- perience, he soon rose to eminence as an artist, and all the principal theatres of Italy contended for the possession of the young Saxon. He began hisoperatic career at Venice. The Artaxerxes of Metastasio, which had so often been reset, was originally com- posed by Hasse, and it had been designated by Italian musicians as " musica divtna." The Elector of Saxony invited Hasse to undertake Lhe management of the Italian opera at Dresden, which, under his superintendence, soon rivalled the best appointed theatres of Italy. Rousseau, speaking of the principal orchestras of his time, said, that the first in Europe for the number aud individual talent of the performers, was that of Naples ; but for taste, arrangement, and discipline, so as to produce the best general results, that of Dresden was unequalled. Rousseau bad preserved the plan of the Dresden or- chestra, which was very similar to that now adopted at the Queen's Theatre, London ; and the numbers and proportion of the instruments were nearly the same, except that Hasse had no clarionet or trombone, Mr. Taylor next noticed the feuds which drove Handel from the management in Loudon, and led to tempting offers being made to Hasse, who, in igno- rance of the real circumstances, accepted them ; and, on his arrival in London, in 1733, he found himself supported by the most accomplished singers. Fari- nelli had just arrived, and Cuzzoni and Faustina were in the height of their celebrity; and Hasse brought out his Artaxerxes with the most triumphant success. But, on discovering that he was designed by a malignant faction to be the chief instrument in the disgrace and ruin of Handel, he rejected their gold and their flattery with honest indignation, and, quitting this scene of contention and intrigue, re- turned to the more congenial and peaceful atmos- phere of Dresden. In the war which then desolated a considerable portion of Germany, and displayed the ambition and military skill of Frederick the Great, Hasse received unusual distinction from that extraordinary man. After the battle of Killersdoff, Dresden fell into the hands of the victorious Frederick ; and one of his first exclamations was, " Now I can hear one of Hasse's operas, sung by his own singers, accompanied by his own orchestra, and conducted by himself;" and he commanded that Hasse's company should play Arminio the following evening. Every night that Frederick remained in Dresden, Hasse was sum- moned to his presence, to accompany his flute con- certos, On a subsequent occasion, however, this monarch inflicted a severe blow on himself and his country; for in 1730, Dresden was bombarded by Frederick; and the house in which Hasse resided, and which contained most of his compositions, un- published, was destroyed by fire. Hasse removed to Vienna, and thence to Venice, where he died, at the age of 34 years. Mr. Taylor read Dr. Burney's account of his interview with Hasse, at Vienna, with which this biographical notice terminated. Hasse's pioductions might be classed under two general beads— his compositions for the church, and those for the theatre. Of instrumental music Hasse wrote comparatively little. He excelled in the pro- duction of melody, and his instrumentation was only such as sufficed to sustain and relieve the voice. He objected to any accompaniment which should divert attention from the singer. One of his most celebra- ted compositions for the church was his Salve Regina, to which, however, Mr. Taylor said he could only give qualified praise. Whatever tends to divert the mind from the subject to the singer, and to substitute, for those emotions which devotional music is so fitly calculated to inspire, admiration of a singer's powers of execution, is a perversion and degradation of church music. In this instance, the word Salve or *' Hail," with which the piece commenced, was made the vehicle of a long and elaborate division ; the the sacred character of the subject was forgotten, and the attention of the hearer was directed from the Being addressed, and fixed on the person addressing, namely, the singer. He willingly passed over this movement, for one iu which more coincidence ex- isted between the sound and sense. Miss Leach sang this movement, beginning, " Ad le clamamus." Mr. Taylor next noticed the sacred compositions of Hasse, which formed no part of the church service, — his oratorios. In doing this, Mr. Taylor gave his definition of the oratorio, and cautioned his hearers against the error of trying the inerils of every oratorio by the English, that is, the Handelian stand- ard ; for many of the German oratorios were con- structed on an entirely different model. Handel's oratorios, with one exception, were written in English, Hasse's in Latin, and for a select auditory. The first illustration from these would be taken from that entitled " The Conversion of St. Augustin."— This chorus, beginning " Inspira, 0 Deus alme," a composition rich in flowing harmonies, was verj sweetly sung by the choir. The next piece was a duet, for treble voices, from Hasse's oratorio of Magdalena, containing many of the florid passages common in its author's style ; but which had now a rather formal air, and gave an antiquated character to the piece, which in other parts had some fine effective passages.— This duet of " Jesu, mea pax, mea vita," was given very neatly by Misses Leach and Shankland. The next illustration was derived from Hasse's oratorio " La Caduta di Jerichoto which English words had been adapted by Mr. Latrobe. The in- troduction was striking ; but the simplest form of counterpoint ran through the whole composition. The choir then sang this chorus, " O jrjve thanks unto the Lord ; call upon his name," & c. The next air, though taken from the same oratorio, bad all the form and colour of the opera song of this time. The bass songs of Hasse and Handel were chiefly formed on a similar model, and the very same passage occurring in this air would be found iu one of Handel's bass songs. Here there was no disparity between the two great contemporaries; Hasse was not inferior to Handel.— Mr. Taylor then sang a very elaborate bass song, commencing " Finche sol." Hasse's reputation was chiefly acquired and sus- tained as a composer for the stage. His operas were known and admired throughout Europe ; and had he consented to stay in England, it was quite apparent that, as a dramatic composer, Handel w uld have encountered in Hasse a f irmidable rival. Walsh, the musical publisher of that day, found it expedient to publish several large Volumes of his songs, which had gradually disappeared; and their places had been supplied by fresh importations from Italy and Germany. A few of then) were periodically sung at the ancient concerts ; but, even there, Hasse was now unknown. Perhaps the cause of this was, that his songs, selected for performance there, were chiefly songs of division, and these were the first to pall on the public ear, and were soon cast aside as worthless. But the songs of true expression or of real melody resisted all the attacks of faction, and endured iu un- fading bloom and perennial beauty, while the more showy and brilliant son^ s captivated but for a day. His short selection, from what he regarded as the best songs of Hassse, those in which due regard had been paid to this, comprised th. ise which were remarkable for their expression, or for the purity and freedom of the melody. The following would commend itself to his hearers as an example of the latter quality. Miss Leach sang with great taste the fine air beginning Vagghegai," which was much applauded. The airs which Hasse produced in order to gratify the growing taste for execution, would now fail to excite pleasure ; while those which aimed only to render faithfully the language of the heart, had no symptoms of decay about them, and would never be heard without delight.— Mr. Walton then sang another sweet air, " Cara ti lascio," in such excellent style as to elicit much applause. The concluding illustration of the lecture was a short chorus which displayed the same graceful and melodious character so conspicuous in the songs. The choir sang the beautiful little chorus, " 0 godete." ( To be Continued.) OUR CHATTER BOX. PHRENOLOGY.— B. has sent us an account of the blunders and. contradictions made by a certain phre- nologist, in attempting to explain " the bnmps of a party of boobies who submitted themselves to bis manipulation. B. should be aware that we cannot state, as facts, what we have upon anonymous au- thority alone. Besides, we do not care much to enter, at present, upon a subject so full of rocks and quick- sands as the pseudo- science nicknamed phrenology. Your buinpologists, too, are a litigious race. " Two of a trade can never agree," is an old proverb; and its truth is borne out by the visit of two of those skull- manipulators to our " good old town." How one decries the other, may be learnt from a pithy letter iu last Saturday's champion and oracle of the Halifax bumpologists ; and we strongly suspect, from some inquiries made, the other day, by a conspicuous disciple of the bumpological school, that the writer of the letter, not having had the organ of caution in sufficient exercise, has been honoured with an inti- mation of some pleasant legal interlude of the nature of an action for libel. Stanzas by W. B. shall be inserted. A CONSTANT READER is informed that we shall- not undertake to issue the Free Press in monthly parts, or in any other collected form. With reference to the questiou put by GAIUS, we reply that we shall not object to insert reviews of new publications, when we are of opinion that such articles will be useful or interesting to our readers; but we see no good object to be attained by short paragraphs of commendation, conveying to our readers no i lea of the contents of the books under notice. Such paragraphs may be serviceable to authors and pub- lishers, to quote in puffing advertisements ; but they often mislead the public. A MEMBER OF THE MECHANICS' INSTITUTION asks upon what grounds Sunday School Teachers were admitted, without payment, to the lecture on Chro- nology. He thinks that if the principle of such free admission be sound, it should be adopted at all the lectures ; if not, it should never be resorted to. HE hopes the Directors will take it into their careful con- sideration. PLEASANT WEATHER.— First it thew, then it blew .- then it snew; and then it friz horrid.— American Almanac. THE SPIRIT OF A MISSIONARY.— We have been not a little struck by the following passage in a recenllv published letter from the Bishop of Calcutta. It breathes a devotedness to the cause of Christ, among the perishing heathen, which cannot but excite admiration, and, we trust, imitation also :— " So that I have renounced the prospect of visiting you once more in England before I die. No ; unless His Grace the Archbishop should lay his orders upon me, India is my scene of duty, delight, and useful- ness. The excitement of a short visit would overset me at my time of life. If I can but ' finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I have re- ceived of the Lord Jesus, to testify the Gospel of the grace of God,' I shall have enough. Already have I to bless God for nine years and ten months' health in; my residence in this land of disease and death. The climate of England would, most probably, not suit me ; the joy of my family would break my heart; the voyage to and fro would exhaust my remains of strength. 1 must not, therefore, tempt God, but be content with the intercourse of letters, and the com- munion of the saints in prayer and intercession. Three years ago, I was set upon going home; but my feelings have been subdued tfy a sense of duty gradually since. Where should a Bishop die, but in his diocese ?"— Watchman. THE CONSCRIPTION IN FRANCE.— The following is a statement of the number of young uier, who, at different periods since 1816, have been by law liable to serve in the army, showing such as have been ex- empted on account of being underthe standard height, or from having some infirmity : — Years. Liable. Exempted. 1816 .. 280,300 .. 30,100 1820 .. 288,828 .. 40,912 1824 .. 275,964 .. 61,747 1828 .. 282,985 .. 66,946" 1832 .. 277,477 .. 58,870 1836 .. 317,315 .. 62,917 1840 .. 340,255 .. 64,076 Total .. 2,053,124 .. 385,568 Averages 294,735 .. 55,081 The proportion of the persons exempted to those liable to serve is as 19 5- 10 to 100, but it will be seen that, iu the two last periods particularly, the number has. been out of the average proportion ^ 4* THE HALIFAX FREE PRESS. POETRY. ORIGINAL. STANZAS. I love to see a pretty face. Where maiden modesty doth shine ;— To watch that unaffected grace, Which with each action doth combine. I love to be with the youthful fair, Whose hearts are cheerful, free, and gay; Their beauties still more beauteous are, As the mind's virtues they display. I love to meet with female friends, Whose friendship, constant, knows no change ; Who are not, for some selfish ends, To day well pleased, to- morrow strange. I pity those whose sickening pride Is seen in all their ways; who dress To deck their beauty,— vain outside Within there's nought but emptiness. The graces of the mind shall last, When vouth and beauty both decline j And be the path of life o'ercast With cares and sorrows, still they shine. Then give me one whose gentle heart Is r, either scornful, proud, nor vain ; With love sincere, devoid of art; And I'll return such love again. Her constant mind, by virtue swayed, Shall be to me a crown of joy. No strife shall e'er our peace invade; Nor aught our happiness destroy. Loving, we'll live; and when we die. Oh ! may it be to dwell above. Then, in that perfect world on high. Divinely sweet shall be our love. X. T. -, near H- LOVE AND FOLLY. FROM THE FRENCH OF LA FONTAINE. There's nought but mystery dwells with Love, With its arrows, its torch, and its childish ways ; And he who endeavours its depths to prove, Will soon be lost in its winding maze. Its wonderful nature we ne'er can know; And, ere I proceed, just allow me to say. The end of this fable is merely to show, In a sensible, natural sort of a way, How that sad trickster,— Cupid hight, Some call him God, too,— lost his sight; The effect of this I mean to tell. Which though unlucky, perhaps is well; I bear Love no malice; I owe him no grudge; Between him and me let a lover be judge. As Folly and Love, one day, were playing. Ere the mischievous God had lost'his eyes, They chanced to quarrel. While Love was saying That to Jove's high court the dispute should rise, Wayward Folly angry grew. And, yielding to her wicked spite, She struck the boy ;— he lost his sight. Venus now began to sue To Nemesis and mighty Jove, To Gods below and Gods above, For vengeance due to a wife and m,° ther » No doubt she made a mighty pother ! The guilt pf the action she dwelt on much; Her son couldn't stir without a crutch. She said that no pains could be too severe, For the wretch who had maimed her lovely dear ; And ventured to hint, before she ended, That the urchin's eyesight should be mended. After debates and deliberations On the claims of Love, and those of the nations, This high and mighty court decreed, By wsy of punishment for the deed, That the prisoner should walk by the blind one's side Thus Love always has Folly for his guide. D. OUR SCRAP BOOK. " A tiling of Shreds and Patches." SELECTED. SEVENTY- THREE. The sliding scale is all a hoax. As you shall pUinly see, It told the farmers they should have For wheat— say seventy- three. The sum was flx'd. At nothing less The ports should e'<* r be free; They never would let foreign in At less than seventy- three. This figure made the farmers smile; They cheer'd it merrily, And vow'd it would their cares beguile While fix'd at seventy- three. But seventy- three is fled and gone. And now as certainly, Good wheat is down at forty- six That was at seventy- three. But though the scale has slidden down. All is not down— ah, me ! For up an Income Tax has grown In place of seventy- three. The bounties of God's providence Are ample, good, and free; It is not then for man to fix The price at seventy- three. Away, then, with the sliding scale And all its misery. Nor ever let us hear again Of it, or seventy- three. BLUNDERS OF THE PRESS.— Mr. Wilson, the Scottish minstrel, who is very particular in correcting the lulls ot his entertainments, was not a little annoyed n the country, when he saw the sojng of " Beyond yon hills where Lugar flows," thus announced :— Beyond yon hills, where sugar grows !" When the audeville of the Welsh Girl was played at Liverpool, the hills announced that the music was by Mr. John Parry, the celebrated Welsh methodist, kinstead of melodist ! EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND FORTY- THREE.— On New Year's Day there was a sort of family re- union, which may not occur again for many years— the first day of the week, the first day of the month, the first day of the moon, all happening at tlje same time. When shall these three meet again on a New Year's Day ? THE PRESS IN EUROPE.— There are published in Europe 1,720 daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly journals The two Americas, including the Archi- pelago of the Antilles, and other colonies, produce 403. Five appear in the north, and twelve in tbe cast, of Africa, One only is known in the Oceana, but 124 in Asia, without reckoning those in China and other countries rarely visited. TORY GARBLING.— Tories and churchmen are fond of quoting the words of Lord W. Russell on the scaffold, " I did believe, and do still, that'^ popery is breaking in upon this nation ; and those who advance it will stop at nothing to carry on their designs." But they should complete the last words of his lord- ship, by adding, " And I am heartily sorry that so many protestants give their belpir g hand to it." The latter clause is peculiarly appropriate to this Puseyite period of our history. THE WHIGS AND THE DISSENTERS.— During the latter part of the Whig Administration, a deputation from the country had an interview with certain members of the Cabinet, in the course of which some remarks were made, by the men in| power, on the weakness and supineness of the Dissenters,— a very usual excuse with the Whigs for turning their hacks upon their principles. One of the gentlemen of the deputation had spirit enough to ask the Right Hon. speaker, to whom he owed his own seat ; and he was obliged to admit that every member of his committee was a Dissenter, and that he owed his return to the strength of the Dissenters The late Lord Sydenham when Representative for Manchester, once elicited a similar rebuke. Three or four of tbe membersjof the late Cabinet owed their seats to their Dissenting con- stituents ; and they knew it ; yet they could affect to forget their obligations.— Patriot. The Almanac general de Medecine for 1843 says, " The number ot medical doctors residing in Paris on the 1st instant amounts to 1,423, being 333 more than in tbe year 1833. The annual fees of the most celebrated physicians are estimated at from ( i0,000f. to 150,000f.; but there are not more than 12 who can be included in that category. The incomes of the remaining physicians may be averaged at about 2,500f. each. CONSERVATISM AND INFIDELITY.— It is remark- able that the four most eminent free- thinkers in religion, who have appeared in England ( Hobbes, Bolingbroke, Gibbon, Hume), were men of high monarchical principles in politics— a practical proof of the fallacy of the assertion, so often repeated, that there exists an inseparable connection between democracy and infidelity.— Monthly Magazine. RUSSIAN APPETISER.— By way of digesting our luncheon, a ceremony was performed, which, if we had not undergone the ordeal at a friend's house in the vicinity of Oranienbaum, with our lamented friend Prince Butera, would have astonished us not a little. A dozen soldiers placed themselves in two files close to each other, and took up each of the party in turn in their arms, and tossed them in the air, catching them again on their arms, and throwing them up again, as quickly as possible, a considerable height. This operation is performed very expertly ; the patient who understands the business keeps his arms close to his sides, and bis legs stiffly out, and feels no sort of inconvenience. It is exactly like being tossed in a blanket. This is accompanied with singing some of their many pleasant but monotonous national airs, to which the softness of the language gives a harmony they do not intrinsically possess.— CottralVs Siberia. DONKEY SEDANS.— Something like the old horse- litter ot our ancestors has been revived in Egypt, as an improved means of crossing the desert. These donkey sedans are described as similar in form to the common sedan chair, but much lighter. They have light ash poles, and are to be carried by two Arabian donkeys, one harnessed in front, and the other behind. ENGLISH ENDURANCE.— It is generally difficult to gain the public ear for inquiries into social suffering and disorder ; and the sympathy of the higher classes is at all times dull to tales of misery in which they do not share, and of peril from which they conceive that their station will exempt them. Yet the subject is one of which, to all orders of men, it is impossible to exaggerate the importance or the urgency. The social condition of the poorer classes— their physical sufferings, and their moral deficiencies, their wants and their wishes— form topics of inquiry in the sight of which all party questions, all constitutional changes, all international policy, all colonial disputes, as such, sink into comparative insignificance. To no question, however, is it in general so difficult to attract serious attention. Every day suffering lias become more poignant, every hour discontent has become more turbulent and irrepressible, yet still we have listened, if not carelessly, yet with an indolent and apathetic sigh. Our sympathy has been silent, our regret barren and inactive. This is ever tbe case with our countrymen. No evil is ever remedied till it becomes too grevious to be borne. No abuse is ever rectified till it has reached its climax, and sown all its seeds of mischief. No danger is ever provided against till it becomes the pressing and peculiar danger of the hour. In this national tardiness there is, undoubtedly, some advantage ; but there is also much peril and'much loss. We redress no imaginary wrongs. We appear to bold, with Mr. Burke, that " it is no inconsiderable part of wisdom to know how much of an evi|£ ought to be tolerated." We ascertain the absolute necessity before we incur the expense, or risk the confusion. of a change. But, on the other hand, we allow social anomalies to spring up and gather strength, which timely pruderce would hare forbidden to take root. We let tbe tares grow together with tbe wheat, to a harvest inconveniently remote. We endure burdens which an effort— almost a resolution— might£ remove. We bear much for centuries which ought never to have been borne for an hour.— Westminster Review. How TO TREAT EXTORTIONATE ASSESSORS — In Constantinople, the bakers who endeavour to assess tbe public by giving short weight, are reminded of the impropriety by being nailed by the ears to their own doors. We wish that a similar rule were en- forced with respect to extortionate assessors under tbe Income- tax. Really it is high time [ that some dismissals took place. Some severe examples have become necessary. Many a poor creature is justly sent to the treadmill for a less guilty tb'ngtthan endeavouring to extort a tax from those who are not liable, in order to pocket a per centage on the sum extorted.—* Tory Paper. In that part of his England and the English~"\ vhere, he discusses the social condition of the population, Sir. E. L. Bulwer gives a table, chiefly drawn from par. iamentary returns, which shows the quantity of food obtained by each class, from the independent labourer to the transported felon. It is there made to appear, that " the industrious labotirer^ has less " than the pauper, the pauper less than the suspected " thief, the suspected thief less than the convicted, " the convicted less than the transported, and, by " that time you reach the end of the gradation, you " find that the transported thief has nearly three " times the allowance of the honest labourer." Is there any one who will say that such a state of things is right ? AMERICAN BANKRUPTS.— It is estimated that about 25,000 persons, throughout the Union, have applied for the benefit of the Bankrupt Law, of whom nearly one- fourth are in New York. The smallest quantity is, probably, in New England, except in Maine, The following is a part of a list: — Maine to September 1 2,500 New Hampshire to September 1 200 Kentucky .... to October 1 1,570 Connecticut .. to October 1 1,050 Ohio to September 1 1,200 New York .... about 5,000 The assets of these bankrupts probably amount to from 200,000 dols. to 500,000 dols. ; expenses of getting certificates, over 1,300,000 dols. Debts got rid of, at the lowest legal estimate of 200 dols. each, 50,000,000 dols , but most likely equal to 200,000,000 dols. This amount of private repudiation is equal to the aggregate debts of all the States, and twice rs much as the amount of State repudiation. The dis- honour of individuals is, therefore, double the dis- grace of the States. It is stated in a letter from Xeres, that the quantity of Xeres ( sherry) wine made in 1842 was 9,000 skins less than in 1841. The average quantity contained in a skin is not stated ; but it is probably five or six gallons. The manufacture of cigars at Hamburgh is carried on so extensively, as ( it is asserted) to occupy more than 10,000 persons, chiefly women and children. The total number of cigars manufactured annually is 150,000,000, the value of which is six millions of marcs current ( about £ 350,000 sterling). The smallest coin in circulation in China is of the value of 1- 1,000th part of six shillings, and bears ( in Chinese) tbe inscription, " Reason's Glory's Circu- lating Medium." It is round, with a square hole in the centre. DAMON AND PYTHIAS OUTDONE.— A medical ma- gazine, in a memoir of Soemmering, the naturalist, states that he classed the pterodactylus ( an antedilu- vian animal) with the bat, while Cuvier assigned it to the reptile family. " They never could agree on this point," says the native biographer, " but remained friends notwithstanding !" At one of the appeals against the property and income- tax, a farmer being asked on what g^ quud he appealed, replied with great simplicity, " On seven- teen acres." The Gardener's Chronicle has an article, de- monstrating that in fruit trees, the flower and then the fruit are formed of leaves. The pear, for in- stance, consists of 35 leaves, which may be seen in early stages of its formation. " TIME IS MONEY," SO Franklin said. It is very true, and some people take plenty of it to pay their debts. In France, there are 11 millions of landowners, of whom one- half do not pay more than five francs per annum each in taxes, and the average size of the different estates is about 12J English acres. During the last two years the sums paid to authors for the dramatic pieces represented in Paris and the departments, amounted to 3,967,950fr. ( about £ 160,000, sterling.) The anuual average, however, is 793,590fr. ( about £ 31,000.) HALIFAX -.— Printed and Sold, for the Proprietors, at the General Printing Office of H. Martin, Upper George Yar .