12 OCTOBER 1861, Page 17

Music flourishes at the Antipodes. The Melbourne papers, among other

musical doings, describe a concert on a great scale, given by the Musical Union in aid of the fund for the families of the soldiers who have fallen in New Zealand. The programme comprised Men- delssohn's Walpurgis Night, Mr. Henry Leslie's oratorio, Judith, and the overture to Ruy Bias. The orchestra and chorus were a hundred and fifty strong, and the principal singers are said to have displayed great talent. The Governor and Lady Barkly, with all the civil and military notabilities, were present, and the Exhibition building, a fine and spacious hall, was filled to the doors with the "beauty and fashion" of Melbourne.