LECTURE ON MOORE.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2194, 31 March 1880, Page 2

LECTURE ON MOORE.

Aii entertainment of an exceedingly choice and pleasing nature, was given to a rather select audience in the Oddfellows Hall last evening. Professor Hughes, delivered a lecture on Ireland’s National Bard —Thomas Moore. The lecture was composed in a florid and attractive style. It consisted f of brief biographical notes of the poet’s career, interspersed with racy sketches and original anecdotes of a personal nature, illustrative of Irish character. Mr Hughes combines a pleasing delivery with musical gifts of a rare quality, His language is pure, his style simple and unaffected; he possesses a fund of humor, and a retentive memory, and if we mistake not from the way in which he dealt _ with the theme of his remarks, he is a most ardent admirer of the great lyric genius of his native laud. Not only did

he relate the story of Moore’s happy and exemplary life, but he embellished his remarks by appropriate poetical selections. ' These were recited with pathos and expression. But it is as a musician, and a vocalist—as an exponent of the beautiful plaintive melodies of the Irish bard, that Mr Hughes chiefly excels. The audience was not by any means exclusively an Irish one, yet everyone present seemed warmed up to the highest pitch of enthusiasm by the manner in which such simple and elegant lays as “Go where glory waits thee,” “ The Minstrel Boy,” “ Rich and Rare,” “ The Meeting of the Waters,” and a long list of other gems were rendered. The story of the Irish patriot and martyr, Thomas Emmett, was recited in connection with the memorable lines, “Oh, breathe not his name,” in a way well calculated to arouse the sympathies of his audience. Other poems in a similar manner were embellished and explained by the narration of the romantic incidents and legends to which they owe their existence. The lecturer has a soft, flexible, pleasing voice, and he has the faculty of being able to accompany himself with singular precision and effect on either violin or pianoforte Mr Morgan varied the entertainment by performing “ The Sprig of Shillelah.” “ Men of Harlech,” and a variety of other solos on the harp, in a way that brought down the house, and elicited imperative encores. We have heard the harp played by some of the greatest of Welsh celebrities, but wo never heard anything, in delicacy of touch, precision, and expression, to eclipse Mr Morgan’s rendition. Mrs Morgan also proved herself an excellent pianist, and altogether the entertainment was a delightful one from beginning to end. This evening it will be repeated, with a change of programme, and we can recommend every lover of pure Irish melody to patronise it.