Twice round the clock; or, The hours of the day and night in London . o devotedly rapt in themagnificent performance, that I expect every moment to hear the vastmass of them join in the choruses; and when, at the first bar of thesublime Hallelujah Chorus, the hearers all stand up, the singers inthe orchestra seem to me like priests, In truth, I think that to hearan oratorio, chastens and purifies the mind, and that we go away fromthose grand performances wiser and better men. There is a naturaldisinclination to return—at least, immediately—to frivolous and trivialpursuits, after listening to t
Twice round the clock; or, The hours of the day and night in London . o devotedly rapt in themagnificent performance, that I expect every moment to hear the vastmass of them join in the choruses; and when, at the first bar of thesublime Hallelujah Chorus, the hearers all stand up, the singers inthe orchestra seem to me like priests, In truth, I think that to hearan oratorio, chastens and purifies the mind, and that we go away fromthose grand performances wiser and better men. There is a naturaldisinclination to return—at least, immediately—to frivolous and trivialpursuits, after listening to those solemn and ennobling strains. I knowthat some exist upon whom music has no effect whatsoever; but Ibelieve that the vast majority of mankind are influencec! for o-ood orevil by the sound of music. The most heartless woman in the worldwhom I know, cries when she hears Kathleen ma voumeen. Xapo-leon could never listen to JLascio cliio piango la cruda sorted withoutcrossing himself. How grandly does John Dryden set forth this theory 296 TWICE HOUND THE CLOCK,. ELEVEN —A SCIENTIFIC CONVEKSAZIONE. 297 in his immortal St. Cecilian Ode! with what exquisite art has heshown us Alexander moved to alternate joy, pride, shame, weeping,frenzy, as old Timotheus sweeps the lyre in varied strains ! Now, in sober broughams and in hack-cabs—driven, I hope, byregenerated cabmen, who give tickets before they are asked for them,and never charge more than thirty per cent, above the legal fare—orhaply, if the night be fine, on foot, the serious audience, well cloakedand bonneted, leave the hall. For half an hour afterwards, the ExeterHall side of the Strand, both east and west, is dotted with seriousgroups in search of the last omnibus, or, perchance, boldly walkinghome. I wonder how many of the serious ones know anything of thethoroughfare. They may traverse it at noonday, or pass down it everymorning for twenty years in omnibuses on their way to the city; butdo they know anything
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