CURRENT TOPICS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CI, Issue 11889, 12 May 1899, Page 4

CURRENT TOPICS.

Although it has long bfieii known that in “ The Messiah ” Handel not only adapted the music of other com-

SACRED MUSIC.

posers, but also freely adopted previous writings of his own, the nature of his adaptations has bub recently come to light. The disclosures which hate lately been made will no doubt shock those people Who* believed • that much of the music of “The Messiah’' was, if not actually written for that Wotkj at least composed for sacred subjects. Asa matter of fact, Sir Frederick Bridge,th§ bininent English musician, has discovered that many of the most devotional portions ol Handel’s masterpiece were taken from Italian love duets. He has proved, for instance,! that the music of the famous chorus, “ For Unto Us a Child is Born” was borrowed from a duetrtbe English translation of which is, “No, I will not trust myself to you, blind Love; cruel .beauty, you are too untrustworthy.” Again, he has found, that the chorus, “ All We, like Sheep, have Gone Astray” was copied from a duet which, when translated, reads, “ Formerly you were able to chain me, you Unfaithful heart; I kniowi by experience your deceits } t - you always are two tyrants.” Sir Frederick has ascertained also-that irtits original form the chords “ Their SbuM is-6bh& Out. into All Lands ” was a love ballad either for soprano or tenor; that the-thorns “He Shall Purify the Sons ofLevi” formerlyfigured as the duet “It has its settmgan the -dawn, and loses in one single day its youth,” and that “His Yoke is Easy*’ was-a duet-com-mencing “ That floWet, whidh dt thfe ddM smiles, the sun then kills; and it finds its. grave at night.” Evtenthe imddlemovement of the Hallelujah Chorus,- Sir Frederick declares, was borrowed more on* less remotely frbin an Itaffidn a» bfitid as Sir Arthur Sullivan, insists that, apdifi from its association- with sacred wolds, sacred iiiusic does not hxisfc. The opinion of so gifted a rrmsiciaa, even if hofceUtir'Siy cor- , rect, itnist, of cbdfSb, carry considerable; weight; and no doubt it ik tocfeliitiiiMly titie bridugfi: ' But it fads bfeen sbbwfa. btfdfd - now that by long association Hvb bodies gradually assimilate the properties bf bftS another. So with music and words. Music which has been compdstd or adapted fdf ■ subjects of a religiouS chafacter, eten if ■ in itself as secular as the broadest of condo songs,- gradually achieves a certain sacred valine. The Vell-knowri airs of “ The Messiah ” possess a hallowed sigtiifil;jaihb ! #MlSh dissociation from the words ootild scarcely destroy.

IfeEAXS dF VXCtdPIAN justices.

Fdfilt has been found, sdifidtihies frith rdaiScWl; With the manner in which Newt Zealand jhstifce§ Sdmitiisier the IdWs df their (tefifitiy; .

fiiit, fortunately for . tffe Credit of. those gentlemen, and for the good name of the colony, none of them have yet perpetrated . ffikih grtiSs bliihders as the “ honorary mftgistrdtes ” df Caritdn; Victoria, fitted committed; A Batch df tfiefie orfianldnts to the Bench recently sent a poor woman to ■ goal for six months for '“deserting” an infant.- ■> she was unable to feed, by placing it on tho doorstep of a house iff which she supposed , diid of hdr felativfes lived. The atrocity,of tfai§ ifihuiiian sentence was enhanced by the fact that before it was passed the officials of the Wesleyan Central Mission offered to take chdfgS of tfii jidor Woman,. her infant, and her two other children. Small wonder that the cruelty, df these precious specimefiS of the “gfddt *’ evoked a tumult of indignation from piiblic and Press. A few, days later; as if fiy Why of showing how iitifatliomafale were the depths of honorary magisterial folly; afldtfier Bench of Justices exhibited dxtrkordiriary leniency towards a man flaMed 'Willitth, Btidk, a typ€ 8l the violent offender, according to a Melbourne journal, whoSe repeated conVictidns show tliit lie is a fit sufijfefct for an “ Mdeteripi* hate' ” seriteriee; which wdpld rid tlid fetredfcs of his presence, not for a short fixed period, but until there was good reason to believe lie Woiiid' nd longer fie a dthger tb society.' The jfistices gave tfiw mM the dptidfi. of a fine and a fortnight id pay it ip. The day after this' display of magisterial incapacity, , the JhsticeS agalii fehfrWed.WHat they Were capable of. A case, came before them, in wliicli it appeared that oh the preceding Saturday night a peaceable citizen, when walking quietly aldng Chapel Street, Prahran, had been stopped by a gang of roughs and asked for a piece of tobacco by one of them. On replying that he had none, he Had Been sbt upoii Bjf ,tfid WliplWgafig; tthd maltreated by two of their number. The only miscreant afrtStfed was sentenced to fourteen. days’ impri§6nihetit; with the Option of a fine of forty shillings! As the journal already ijudted reMfirks, it is ihon- . ; Sttous that Pit dfietifie of sush gfaVlty gfidilla fife treated as a vfiniai error; add It is Pot stirprisihg that aii agitation has. been set afddt ffir the tehibVM of tfih lifSrei) df these ihfeapahles frhm the Berich; ;

' AMERICAN TROOPS AT MALTA.

The thcehfc Visit 6f Aihhfican troops to Malta; accßfihiS of which have been received by the last mail; was one of those events, unimportant in

themsfelves, but - . sequences, which help to bind nations together. The troops in question consisted bf trtvb regimeiite of infahtf^, 1 in the gdtb dbbut 2000 jstrbijg; did !irri¥tstl d t Yd s letta m the United States transport, Shtrldarij while on their way to reinfotei? Qfelieral dHS dt the Philippines; /.the. nest inbr& : ihg, by permission of" Sir Francis Grenfell; Goverhor of the islaridj they Wfete lahclbd “to stretch their legs.” Headed by British regimental bands; and with colours flyihg, they march fed to the Marsa Plain, where they were exetcised nil latci iti thb afternoon,- thd tvere reviewed by Sir Francis Grenfell. As they, marched through the. h. town, the British soldiers and sailbrs about the strfeeid sdiiited their bbibiirs; and wer§ received with Oppressions of the heartiest goodwill. They are described as AM, stalwart men | afid their appdafahcc was much admired. ThiS intdfclidiige bf courtesies betitfeeii the sdiflilfy bf thb two gtfeal branches bf the Anglo-Saxon race should be welcome throughout the British Empire; ■ as well as in the United States. “ The spectacle of American soldiers parading before a British general at one of the most important outposts of our empire is.,”; an English; jbiirhdl reihatks, a d‘ novel one, buß none the acceptable on that account. We are in ho degree reflecting upon the " nature or usefulness qf thb nbw pbSSetsiolls that have fallen under thS ibnirbl of t!ib ’ United States,' when" we suggest that _in thb . eitelisibn of liSf ISlfcrfcsts and responsibilities to another .hemisphere Americd .tvill fipd the •>, practical friendship of Great BtiidiH. of inestimable advantage. It will be no small.- ■

jHUnyfor iwr forces* while being transported 'tiA or from the Philippines* to feel at home .whfertVar the Union Jack is flying, while there Will be bvery wish on our part that the precedent of Malta may be followed elsewhere. If a political union of the AngloSaxon people is ever to come about, it will be best helped on by- these little examples of ilio Solid results that are to he'derived from it.” This'is no doubt true, and it is also true that the foundations of AngloSaxon union will be further cemented by the Tolbixi of the Americans and Britishers who fell fighting side by side in Samoa.