Chicago Daily Tribune Newspaper, December 6, 1874, Page 11

THE CHICAGO DAILY TRIBUNE: SUNDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1874---SIXTEEN PAGES, n e E——————— CLASSICAL MUSIC. Perpetrated in Its ; auds o F Name. fearful Stato of Boredom to Which Tt generally Reduees Its Listeners, —_— tors and Critics Are Driven, o Rudi 3 w Inio Hypocrisy,— sng Bapturo When They Feel Wm}%athing ‘but Torture. test of 8 Scnsible Old Gen- 4 s Pro @ tloman. o circnlar of the Harvard fueical Aseocia- vmw by its Prosident at the closo of {he § B, contcins certain utterauces which 1 ¥ pusing and pathotic. Tho roorgani- 4 tuo various musical socioties for tho - csmpaign, and tho cunouncoment of the 2 wics of receptions end recitals, revive & ot the speculations and discssions avouscd T*’awucsto in question. 'The Association Y eamceal that thera is o (REAT FALLING OFF IN INTHUSIASM o its former dovotees and supporters. ' Tho 10d besuts, tho 2ze and culture, which e endured its longost regitals, and shed tho el fashion aud dissinction over the chilliest ‘gsoberconcerts, are mow atraying fo the 4 balla of tho Opers, or intho diroction of ' aomization known 28 * popular music.” o than 2!, there is & deceitful temparizer o ss Thomes, who, by artfully scudwiching Jyver sizains of ‘Déch, Haudcl, and Boetho- 1 betnoen the most caticing melodies of Weg- . Bo:sini, and Gounod, has converted many 7 hadlong rosisted tne unadulterated truth gpeented by their Aegocistion, and even led frbs vory oleot. Tho Association scesin 4 intimations of s deplorsble declins in mu- Jalhse; it socs ground for renowed exertion aspart to, restoro tho backeliders to the old 351-it sacs everything bub tho luminous fact 48 some wayor other, wholly or in part, it MISSED THE CONSECTICN fzun the voices of tho Pas: and the living ixicf To-Day. What tho scciety needs isnot, 4 President urges in his circatar, frezh zeal stpeseverance in the cld way, but o new way, s to become & power over tho ifo of the psch. The opisodo is of vers general inter- = wsuse tho Harvard Association is by no sunvalono in its oxperience. Its discourage- iaand perplexities belong to the wholo sub- joof dlassical makic and its presentation fn & emotry. Tho torm *'olessical musio™ is 4 redinavague way by most of us to indicate 1 s voks of preat composers £ad 5 phair dieciples and imitatora. - A moro exact 1dea . of its tme mopo =nd character may be { otaized by observing that, from the earlist ap- { prenoeof theart, two varieties of music are i istiedly spparont : one created to sccompany % words, adspting iteclf to the thought contained { o ihem, end thorefore subordinato to them 3 the ber, uming to expiess thought independontly, ~setring, in fact, A LANGTAGE OF ITS OWX. 0f the first kind was that of the Geeek pocts, “§ vhre the music was only {he means of present- oz ther songe o ibe world, Ttaé the sccond .3 I34 whieh couvered ijdens withont the aid of § wordy was coeval with this, is evideat from zuytreditions,—the myth of Orpheans, for in- “4 fante; the power of David's music over Baul § 3 slitat of Timothevs over Aloxauder, Ao oxs itely told by Dryden in the familiar ** Odeon { N lacilie’s Day.” Of the msic which ia subordinato to words, & bas, in zll sagos, presented the sim- form, and thoe Iyric drama is its most com- 4 Perend perfect developmont. Of tho sccond i gre, plainls, the works of Palestriva, 4 &, Brethoven, Mendelesohn, and the whole £xl6f classical composers; smeo the chief ' fl_lllfl tesult of thewr works were to give “a rfea Jannage of its own, capabilo of oxpress- %l variclies of thoughi. Tihe ancients ted that this was a universal Inoguage, fn- pible to tha illiterats as to tho leurned, and ‘fmnscending comnon spe But, at tho et Gay, & mejority of the siudents and Zvof this kind of mitsic claim {hat it can be % pucinted only by tho tochnidally inztractod, 4 sn pacred few specially initisted into its - § wwaries. If tins olaim be jus:,we mey assume 4 bithis form of rusic has eoen its best days 1 et the now thoaght of the now cpoch will { Bidooso ib es s medium. In every work of deiined to immortality, ficra is o least one Exgiving ray capable of IDITRATING TIE FEART OF THE MULTITUDE. Ligeat poet ever wrote, no great singer ever -; Bty an aristocratic few. When Lear behds i 12 the dead Cordelia, and utters that heart~ mitg ery, “She'll como no moro!" it is not 52y the scholars and 3 nloue that lips reisand eyes grow dim. Nof that the great witied come dowa to the level of the mul- fde Toeir great indebtedness to him is, Ut ke Difted them, for n momeont 2t {86 bz own. How is it with olassical } iseintlis respect? To tho great majority of kfinhsz commonly pneses under that name i % of inoxpréssible dreariness. Tho { txzber of ‘sociotics in Buston and elsewhero de- § Tt tho study and presentalion of this kind 4 Umiio, and ihe high stendivg of tho indi- 2embers § the warm support given Iast ittotho new society orgnnized 1n this eity, Sitesumber and character of the aidieiéas, — #iniz 5o diaproof of this asgertion. Nothing tréligion has ever been bumrdened with so L dunber of unconscious hypocrites as Eflmm . The essumption that whatover ® Teprescnis the best in music, g&n prociition of it 18 indicative of & {8 fegree of culture, is tho natural gouteo of 4 brooeriey. The practical effect i8 some- Ik {his : Do vou admire a_certain compo- by & celebfated master? Ko ; you frank- 658 tiat to you it is uninferesting aca naomein the extreme. The illuminated look . '_l'hrnhu- significantly sud weg their heads : w-l!nu!educ:l.sd up toiz!” What Ametican ufess (hat he is not aducated upto any- il ang othor American knows? The jou are interrozated, you declare your E’m admiration of the work in question. ki b} Uit gy JOUR SEATERY DEGIS. ot more bediitiful Uiin opers or ballad, ¥ill o et ooeasions profer a concert whoso ] PR rends : - Grieg, Goarerto in A Mino: Spohr, Symphony in € Minc e xiiey ollérs yot “ Al! ché Ia morte,” and P Hese of Bumtmer.” Itis tho old & o thh jiarted sprals over sgain, When “’? f things attsins a little fuller devél- By, 207 timid Jovers of musie will be foreed A thelk preatest praaanres under the plea ons to tho jgnoraut,—ns, in certan “pyjies, the mitrons all go to tho circus Tier L8 children.” p ¢ Elhm-f‘-"[ honesty reacis far moré fatally on 8 iteelf,—Gitat, by filling the contert- Bachpeaplo wio havono pentine interpst cangs ,10eir applause de, therefore, indis- s ud stigleading, - or their apathy is 2 tiy ;% OPon tue peiformers. Secondly, it Sy, independent criticism of composer L. For, becauso music which bas a o its’ onn ia seeumed, | and B i e of n bigher type {ban UPoe "Mtk " §s merely | tho andmaid g s does it foliuw that evorything which :5%’ fesumes the titlo of **classical” has g, hlo 55 called the best in mingic? What Mgl reariness can equal that inflicted by tlusnga} concert, where all tho per- here rigidly to thfim-“:fl“ WHICK KiLLS, i gy otliing of the splrit which givas iife? 50 the "+ Arcadian snexfmcrda " gavea 2 certaid city. The first performer Tyriticguiched artiste, Madame Toto, ’&hfl'}}l The lady hed a firm, neat, £ome- ant touch, with a pronounced tendency by ,éuuto we. Her number upon the programmo olfiations sur un ihemo do Dezier.” "hy mild statement o eay that nine- hhm the audienco bad nover heard of Znuggly v BOr what the theme was, nor why Y bo vaned. Matame Toto struck Tinging blow, which. brogght mifl'lfllboibupng t position. 'Then slte ! ‘gup &nd down the piano for fivo ery pretty littlo mile, but by that tl’mn they became menotonous, aud we were all slad when they were merged in o thundering ataract of chords. Suddeniy she stopped. A group of miscrablo young journalista sitting in tho {ront seaty barst fato rapturous applause, Itwas this expression of sincere gratitude. Thoy bad sllotted her twenty minutes ot loast, and hero they wero let off with five, Put their joy was premature. The lady continued. Sho struck iwo potes in tho treblo. A prolonged pauso. Two notes in the bass. A littlo longer pause, “his was understood to bovery cxpressive. Then gla suddenly repented of. ° her inertia, aud started off at a rattling pace, subjecting the poor pinno to overy form of mavement, till onecould not help thinking of it as 2 soutient being, and feoling that overy bonsinits body sehed. Sho tnilled ; sho played staceato, legato, piano, fotte, planissimo, fortissimo, allegrotto. Quces there came o little melody of about a doz. cn bars, and eversbody brightenad up for a mo- meut; but this fecble hoo was spcedily quencked, and wo went on from that timo in un- complaining dreariness to the end. Near tho Ppiauo gat an elderly and learned Professor, with genial mannersand _kindly eyes. - His woll-die- ciplined features and martinl bearing exprossed heroic enduranco, Belind. him sacas old gen- tleman of fino, Boo-Franklin czst of counte- uanco, who shot towards the performer glancos of growing irdignation. Flevon pages, twolve, thiricen, ificon, sixtcon—yes, it was tho last. Tho room shock with applauso. The epithets ** Wonderful * Aagnificont “Su- perb filled the air. Tho Professor was re- revlying to thelady on hisright, *“Ah! I'vo no doubt. *But T baveno musical training what- ever. Wauld you bolieve it >—the whole of that is a8 uninteresting to mo a3 a line of Sapscrit would bo to you." The old gentleman Lohind him was saying, in a very boyish voico, and with = perceptible accession of colo: ** WELL, OF ALL THE TIN PANS—!" A young lauy then eame forward, and seng, in very subdued toncs, in which sho curefully re- pressed any inclination towards fresdom or meledy, a gong which, o few linesin tho pro- gramme oxplainod 0 us as the feelings of a maiden whoee lover had wandored oif 1o the Arctic regions and died there, ‘The notes wers intended to depict the wasts of enow and ice, the colorless eky and dreary solitudes, to- gether with the stots of mind 1 harmony with tisis and with her buried hopes.. Certainly theso impressions wete well conveyed. Wo woro chilled through by the time she was dono. I eaw the old gontleman pass his band fartively across his car, 28 if ho expeeted to find it frost- bittea. “[he remaining numbers of the progrimme woro of a charactor mmilar to these. During thointerval betwoen Purts 1. aud IL, the otd gentleman was in earnest converaation with tho Conductor, who finally, beckoed o bright-faced young woman, sitting among the Society. At tho beginming of Part IL, iomend of the performer ot down upan tho pro- gramme, this youny singer came forward. 4he pisno preluded a mote or two, and then . volce. frosh, joyous, and s fall of o certaun delightful abandonment as a Inrk’s, bures into tbo old ballad of *Younz Lochinvar.” What life there was in this veico !—what SWEETNLSS, FRESINISS, AND SPONTANEOUSSESS! Ouo could feel the swell of the Solway, mell tho seaweed of tha Irith, and the perfumed heather of Canuobie Lee, Bl.e ostablishod cloctnie com- munication with cach of cs. The Professor's slowing faco reflected inward eatisfaction; tnis music did not demand a special tdacation. Tha Society were 2 jitile cbagrined by the ontbusi- sam which greeted this nong. The Conductor seid 1o them, npologetioally, a: the closo of tho coneert, that some concessions must be made to those meapable of understanding anx thing highor than 2 staple bellad.! Tho best muile could net become immediately POpuiar iu £ new & commii. vity. The old gentleman overieard him, and lifted his head like a war-horso unpatient for Dbattle, He walked out with tie musical critic o the Utapian, m whom Lo rec nain; $ his caughter, ard, 6 ofiice, hio sut down iu tho big aud freed his mind. - Of all tho meunstrous forms of slaves €aid, ‘*this whicl is fwsteninie upos rheape of music i the most intolorabl: tho ideal claszieal musie, ideally p ba tho L, t, doey it suck to-uipht isany hiug. TOYCST CHILS AND SAWDUST toa geoaine lover of me ? Lcransa the cpic is tiao hizhest form of podity, aud bocatise I grant Homor's Hiad tho proforcnea over Bappho's lyrics, must 1 prefer Jones' Jeremiad 10 Ra cxquisito love-soax? Locauso a boul once ontpoured in wmmeio its passion, ity longings and desoair, its berole struggles witha cruel fate, its sublimo victory and wards tho infinits; and becauso theso ult euces are far giander tiun any opera or Lails that has yer boen written,—must I endure tho rivgs of & Loulovatd luu d 2 ng over the vanity of ex show a bigher tasts or culwurs by tlem to tho geruine life dad feeling o Duadee.’ or tho *Land o' the Leal'? T, ity il & mopsirous pretense. Timotheus made Alexander ready to laugh, woep, fight; bnt bow cid thet musio uffect tho eudience to-night? I Jooked aronud, and nobody lookea sad, glad,—xot cven mad,—but bored, ines; ily bored. Tell me that that is hizh a; produces such an cifect on the rudest multituda! Yeughey all went cus felicitasing themselves and the eity on our advanca tonerds 3 higher tosto in music, and nobudy darea oy what his counte- pauco oxpreseed, foar bis cultuie ehould be called in queetion. It is Jike Henn Audoisen's stocy of the weaver who mada tha Ling a mar- mont which ho declered would be 1wwisible to any ono unilt for Ing ofiice; sud ko tho city pronouncea 1t lovely, exquisite, i were delivered from the bondsge of this risy by 2 little cbild, wlo crled ott: hag nothing enl’ *t Aad the cnitics ARE THE WORST OF ALL. Wil your nelghber cf the Ghroticie say to- morrow that Mazamo Toto's perforntanco wey vexing o car aud Lrain, sud tho composition to- tally devoid of any ideas whatever ? or, o tho otler hand, that she playea well, and Lo liked 1v exceedivply ? Notasull. He will say that hor lechnique was_excellont. and bor rendition of the picce highly consctetisus. This diplomatic jargon is eqtial 1o Tallcyraud’s, ahd 1 notico that it is vety fashionablo in'musical circtes. Its ad- vautage to the critie is thai, ehould the miblic herenfter pronouace etrougly against tho per- formance in question, he can defr you to show that he cver snid dewdedly thed it was gocd. How disastrous it is to music itsclf, I don't need to &ay to anybody who bas noticed how powerfil is the effect of ivdepondent and inteiligible eriti- cinmm ia bringing any art to perfection.” “ DPut it seems to me,” said o ligtener hero, * that you heve rather o projudico agulnst this gort of musie.” *That mey be,” replicd tho old genileman. “ 8o I ought. What miserics bavo I not endured as an escort at such concorts : after the day's fatigue, sittingon o hard chnir in frontof & glating light, bearing an everlasting ti-ti-tum- um go on, and groaning iu bittervess of spirit, YO musie, what agonics are intlicted in thy name ! But I am resdy to bo charmed if you can charm wo. Quee, how I hated oratorios! To hedr the eoprano mildly meandering through her deecriptions, the base thundering boldly his dentincidtions, aud ths tenor warbliug his ingip- idities, and not a spark of fecling among singers nce to epliven the long tedium! Dut ‘oné, in the midst of sazh & perlorinancd &5 thnt, o great singer came forsrara and savg, * L Inow that 3y Redeemer Liveth.! She flooy in- to tho midst of that room of spathatic people A DRAXD OF THAT CELESTIAL FIRE which Prometheus brought down from Heaven. That mighty thrill, that overuastering cmotion which we call The bublime, passed over each ous of us. Then Ieaw what an oratorio might be. Anid, a few yecrs ago, I went to honr tho Handel and Haydn Society of Boston perform *Llijub.’ '[he cliorused wero in éxeellent time and tune, and we roted it nppmrin;:ly. We said that that was o mignificnt noto of cho bass, and that the fenor's was an admirablo voice xnd very ex- prossive. Then wo Jooked aronnd to seo who was there, congratulated ourgelves on the seleot character of the aundionce, and feit sure that no- trhere ¢ould that oratorio bo 8o irreproaclinbly rendered 08 ifs Doston. Thrtis, this 18 what the descendants of tho Mayflower around me did. As for me, I seknowledged gratefully that it Fag likely to bo n littlo less dreary than nsual, and awaited the end with- patience. At that moment, a voice, clear, and sweet, and true, flonted out upon tho air, saying these words: * O! restin the Lord, Wit phtiently for him, aud Ho ehall give thee iho desires of thine heart.' g - B « Iow cen ono describe sounds like those! Every noto was_ perfoct as & sphere of molteh silver, wonderfully sastained, and produced without the eligl.teat offort. Bt that was the loast of tho charm of this voice. Its modula- tions were exquisito ; it Lnd oo undertone of un- speakable pathos ; and eho 5 BAKG BTRAIGIIT TO MY NEART. Bo I supposo she did to that of my neighibors, for tho room was gtill as death. Ilow often sincy, lying awake at night, a8 old folks will, tiio ghosts of familiar worries takiog that time to call upon me, Ican hear that voice floating into the etillness, ¢ O! rest in tho Lord. 4 Tho namo on tho programme was Antoinetto Sterling. She wag from New York, and eame specially to aing for tha Séciety. 1 Beo by the popers that she sang lact winter before the finest masical society of London, which is, I believe, the very finest audience in the world for that Bort of music,—deecendants of the vory people to whom WMendclsdohn first presented his *Elijab,’—aud that sho ochieved a yvery great and truo snccess, with an engagement to return this winter ; and I'm not at all surprised. With a fow moro singars like her, you would have no difficulty in meking tho best mueic popular. A siren singing peoplo to virtus may bs a novel idea; but, if you couldgr.‘t o voico like that to siug the Biblo to a crowd on Sunday evenings, you conld dispense with a good deal of preach- ing. and reach a good many fotke who nover go to hear sermons. ¢ Ag to classical music,"—hero tho old gentle- man roused up from the pleasaut reminisconcas into which be had 1ailen, aud looked very bellig- orent,—*! it must look to its ways. It must om- body tho thougbt and fecling of tho lifo that now is, or it must give mosomething better than wy daily life, and convey it to mo iatelligibly and powerfully. It must not be for mo to learn lo- boriously to like it, as people do olives; but it must come to me and win me. In that case, it has a marvelons future boforo it, for no art has &0 great capacities undeveloped. Dut, if it con- tents itsclf, a3 it60 often does, with the dry boues of literalism, it is . DOOMED TO CERTALN DECAT, orit will be somo day repudiated by tho: over- strained gnzmuce of an outraged public.” Hero the old gentleman nodded kindly to the attentive group which had gathered abput Inm in tho sanctum, and trotted awey, saying, “ Thauk you, I feel much botter.” The old gentleman represents a very large class, and ouo which o society can afford to ig- nore. ‘Thoy rendor a great service to classical music by protesting against that which, in oharaoter or presentatio, is falge. 1t remnins for the musiciau to unfold the nospeakablo charms of tho truo; to show that it is not an anstore podagozuo imposing on us taeks, but a wonder- ful magician, who knows all the cnords of the Luman heart, and plays upon them at witl. CranLEs LiNpon. o e S maaa _.THE NEW SCRIPTURES. According to Tyndall, kiuxley, Spen= cery and Darvwin, From the Cincinnati Commereial. GENESIS—CHAPT. 1. 1. Primarily the Unknowsble moved upon cosmos and evolved protoplasm. 2. Aund protoplasm was inorganic and undif- ferentisted, containing all things in potential oueray ; and a spirit of evolution moved uponthe fluid mass. 8. And tho Unknowzble eaid, Le: atcms at- tract; and their contact begat light, heat, and electricity. 4. And the Unconditioned difforentiated the atoms, cach after its kind; and thelr combina- tions begat rock, 2ir, and water. 5. And thers went ont a_ spirit of evolation from tho Uncoaditions}, and, working 1n proto- plasm, by accretion and absorptiou produced the organic cell, G. And ccll by nutrition evolved primordial germ, and germ developed protogene; aud pro- togens begnt cozoon ; and eozoon begat monad, and monad begat animaleule, 7. Aud eniwmalcule begat eYhemcra: then began creeping things to muliiply on the face of tha carth. 8. And carthy atom in vegetable protoplasm begat the molecule, and thence came nil grass and every hoth in tho earth. 4. And anfmalculic in the water ovolved fins, taily, clews, oud vealos ; and in Lhe air wings aud Leakas and on the land they eprouted such oraans o8 wero necestary as played upon by the euvizoiment. 10. And by acerotion and absorption camo the radiata znd mollugea, aud mollusex begat arucu- 1ata, and articulats bogat vortebrata, > v these are the generation of the highor vertebrata, fu the cozme period that the Un- kuowable evoluted the bipedal mammal 12, Andevery mau of the cartt, whils he was yot a moukay, nnd the horsa while Lo was lupierion, and tho Lipparion bofuro Lo was an orgdou. 14. Cut of the ascidian camo the smphibjan aod begat {ho pentadsctyio; nud the penta- ductyle wy inperitanco und seléction preduced hate, frowm w e tie wumadw in all . And out of tho simiada tho lamur fros aicd abovoe his fellows and produced tho uo moniey. 15, Aud the plaiyrhine bogat the catarrhine and tho eatarrhine monkoy bogat tho anturopoid ape, aud Lhe ape begat the lougimanous orang. sud the orang begas thy chimpunzey, snd tho chimpanzon evoluiod the whntei-it. 16, And the what-1e-it wen: inso tho land of Nod wnd toak Bin 2 wife of tho longimsnous gibbous. 17. And in procoss of tha cormic poried weto born unto tnem aud ther chiidron the antire- poworphio primardiel typag. 3. 'Yhe bonuculus, tiro prognathus, the trog- the ausochthon, tuo tarrugen—ilisso are simeval man. % nakel and not 'anhous innuocuce, and siruggled mighuly to harmonize with the ouviroumeht. 2. And dld ho progreys front thesiable and homot: to the compiex and hetérozencoti~{or t! eat d:ed and tie strongess grow and muitivliad. 21, Aud men grew s thumb for that lio kad of it, and developed capacities fot rxey. T'or, beho!d, the swiftest men canght the most anitials, and the s#iftest animsls 7ot amay from the wmost men: wherfure the slow mni- élnl‘:‘ wero szten and the slow nien slarved to eath. 23. And rs types were differentiated the weaker types continnally disaprented. 2%, And the exrth way Glled with violence ; for and bribe vith tribs, whoro- ihe weak and Toolish, and se- tho rurvival of the lite —_—— A POEM BY CHARLOTTE GUSHRMAN. cldiig vor n voiums of the Now York Mérror T cufuo across tho folluwing hoem, written by Aman. A notesin‘ey that b was wrilten on foture of f peasent-boy, it & 6] rofasap shouldar, trudsing to Lis dully tuil, 1t ratfsty tliat lady'a numcrous admirers tha oniy att unap;roechable reeder and en uuos T34%, but 4 $neo: pucs s wail~F.) THE FEASANT-5OT. ‘Theres poetry, Lok, In that step of thiae, Fionly and free on the green-sward prodsed 3 kb that over HY templee ebine Tlow wild n the wind of the Koft Suu'west, Cage lurks not, Loy, in that lnughing ese Ro frowns olorcadt thy forehead's now And the mellow tints of the mornnigeky Lenil to tliy cheek an cloghent g Iy beirloom i pure, unbroken health, A chearful hearl to ondure thy toil § And aff thou needest of fhis world’s wealth “hou can’st sturdily win from the grateful soil. With the lari’s first song thon art up and away, Drusbing the dew from the gletemng sql, And chianting the shinplo rousde Which Innuconce sings to the car of God, From tho drdent sun of clondless nooa, Thou sockest the shade of a sheltated nook, Wisore tho ring-dove mUrmurs its aworont tohe 'Po the nuswering sound of the gubhing brook, There, resting fhy limbs on tho mossy brink, ‘Fuou takekt in peace thy Lioor repast,— ‘Bending thy feverieas ips (0 drin From the wave that glideth go cool and fast, Thied, fo Tabor.apain, tilf the waritng éun Fadeth atag in the Western eky, « Afd the shuiles of twilight bre creeping on, Vilifle tho birds nesti low in the covert nigh, - Thes are coming fo meot thee, tho peasant-band, e fair-licied girl und tawny bos, hile the Laby-pratéler clasps th hand, Axa breathes thy namo u sping joy. To the céltage awar ] to thy mother's knés, To thy father's side,—thou art wcleoze thero; That mother'a smile i ever for thee, And that tather gives thoe his warmest prager, Asjd thou shalt rest In sltniber weet, iflowed bithieath tho raftered eaves, Wiule the Summer rain-treps geatly beat, And tho night-wind atirs tho woodbine-leaves. There’s poetry, boy, In that form of thine And thio gazor covets thy painless life: that thy starmless Jot swera mine,— sionless, careless, aud free from strife, ‘Bhe Last Muritio. Mention hae beon made in the joiirnais of the strango dieappearance of the famous picturo of tho Sgouish panter, the *“‘Saint Anthony of Padus,” stolen from the Cathedral of Seville, in spite of the double row of railings set up to protect it from_tho too zealous edmiration of tho faithful. The Irancais publishes some carious dotails about that chef-d ceuvre: * ¥aint Autbony was one dey reading tho Holy Seriptures upon his ineey in bis Franciscan coll, when his faith was staggered by a passage of which he could mnot seize the bidden meaning. Ho implored tho child God to como down in person and cxplsin it, uud tho Savior. yielding ta bis ardent prayor, deigned to descond, surrounded by a eplendid balo nnd s legion of angels, into the humblo abodo of the aschborite. — Such is the subject of Murilio’s picturs. Notbing can bo finer than the suppliant expression of the saint, or more touch- ing thon the divine lovo which beams from his eyes ; nothing mora noble than the conntenance of tho obild" Jesus, who, while preserving his delicate feztures, bears in his aspect a msjesty which is not of this world. Theopkile Gautier, in his work Tra loe Montes, eays, iu speaking of this picture, * Never was the i i carried farther.'” Wouls Pt inheritance 2nd natural selection | GOTHAM. . One of the Streets of New York. The Prominent Buildings and Memorabls Associations of Twenty-third Street. Fisk’s Opera-House, the Nathan Man- sion, and the Fifth Avenue Hotel. The Pressing Neceds of the Em- aire City. Special Correapondencs of The Chicago Tribuns. New Yonx, Dec, 2, 187 Thankegiving-Day hes como and gone again, and loft us all happicr and more contented. 'To many hearts snd homes smong the poor, it brought onoe good eolid meal; and, for that ono day at least, they had no reason to repine ap their bhard fate. Fashiouabls congrogations gathered in'all the churches that were open, and, clad in velvet and silk, from thoir comfort: able pews they probably geve thanks for their luxurinus surroundings. In the many charitable institutions of wbich our city is o justly proud, the poor and needy gathered around well-filled tables, and ochildron and the old alike wero not forgotten. In the avening, which came on werm, balmy, and ploasant, the streats wero filled with happy people, and all places of amusemont were thronged. Tbo well-fod,;and therofore good-natured, crowds on TWENTY-THIND STRELT alone formed one steady, cownpact mass, 0 that it was hard to olbow one’s way through the orowd, Stroots, as well as individusls, have a history, and Twenty-third street has many essociations, pastand pregent, tomakoit memorable. Down this stract, all ablazo with torcllights and pyrotechnic display, surrounded by onthusiastic citizens, rode Miss Cusbman, Queen of Tragedy, and flushed with her final victorious exit from the Now York stage. On this street stands Dooth's immenso theatro, thot cost £1,000,000; and that, after swallowing up bis means, left him 2 ruinod man, 2t the mercy of hia credilors. Opwosito this theatre stands tho Mesomic Temple, alto of granite, and nat yet completed, aithough it bas cost nearly £1.000,000. Coloesal in proportions, and of great architectural Veauly, it almozt scems a * remplo not mado with hands.” so classical and fimshed are 1ts proportions. Cross- iog Sixth avenue, fast rivaling Brozdway with its buey, busthing lngy-shoppors, aud styl facing cn Twenty-third sireet, we find an Uryaut's cosy little white marble opera-house; and, rawsing tho luxurious homes of dovn-town mer- chants on tho ono sida, and the showr plate- glaze-frout stores on tho othier, we comoe to the corner of Twenty-third street and Righth av- cnue, whero stands, in shuwy, glaging whito wmarblo, THE GRAND OFLEA-HOUSE. This building, built by Jim Figk, was finished internally in & stylo of almost regal grandeur; and lerec the Lroe Compauv have their odlces, restauzant, etc., potten up by Fiek with great mepuificonce. lloro, in his golden dzys, ho flomrisucd and rulod, owned the enliro square, and _threatcoed to control tho wholo strect by moving the forry to the Lrie de- not, aud the dopot itaclf to the foot of thostreot. Hero ulso bo had lus extensivo stables, with twulve Lorses, Englial: drags, coaches, clarences, and servants o sbundance. Iiere Lo justalled tho Mansticld 1n o superb mansion ; and, a liztlo further down the stzeet, his own dwolllng stood. But tho judgment sbat sont the fasal bullet fol- lowed bin 1li-gott, ziops, for tho iic Company Arc sooit 3 1z thoir offices back tothe foot of Duane streot, a good 2 miley awar; and then iho Opera-Houee, lone and voiccless, will be left & monumeut of the fallure of all such visionary protongess. The Mancfield isin groat poverty. avd wanders Tsmoraciees in Paris ; andeven tha rtables ara abandonod, ns if lm‘t ing should be loit of all tlis short-lived aplen rCur pg away from tho Opsra-Tlouse, which hss nover been a eticcess to any et of managers, wo pass old Calvary Church, aud its wealthy bul o!d-style-worshipiug congregation, and scel elo- ant 1caidences as thosc of Mr. Arnold, of Ar- nold & Congteble, and otber wealthy mer- chepiprinces, and of leading phy And now we pause befure tho famous NATUAN HUUSE, fnst being merged into a warehouso, Long it etood unoccupicd. scle witness of the brutal mitted at midnight within its beauti- Opuozito, with fts sldé-garden filled witl blooming exoticy, atands the Fifth Avenne Hotel, nhere the Princa of Wales dud suite were cntettained. With a yoarly rensal of §100,000, wiih an averngo of 500 guests and 300 eervants, it stands fneing Madison Squero and tho Worths Movument. Passing down Taenty-third street etill, wo. pango st tho Acadonsy of - Desizn, and the five building opporite, occupicd by the Young Men's Christzan Aceocintion, aud euch noted publishers a8 Putasm & Co. Aud eo Now York has one memorablo street, that, from the East to the Nerth Liver, hasa Jiatéry with o moral to adorn it; and that oints out, in i's buildings, its people, fud its uturo, tho lescon of {he siability and incecurity, beauty and dceny, downfall and prosperity, of its awners and accupanis. o have been promiged o new 6ra in the new Tammany rulcrs whoare to govern us. _Wo Liavo soen §6,000,000 swellowed up in the *‘Ring™ of a Trweed and his offiaials, and millions mor¢ have dieappcared under the distribution of Haye- meyer and Green. New York scems to be going down in her molropolitan greatness, and, it the papers be true, wo sro fast becoming a city of raud, mistake, misrule, zod feebleness. ftis very easy to cry aloud and to plan upon paper, but oo not our taxes and city debt incrensing, and is not our public cnterprise dying out? . CHICAGO WILL §00N QUTDO TS in sendivg grain in bulk to Liverpool; Boston will get. our foreign trado, with her new tun- nol and short routo; Laltimore has wrested our coffes trado from us; aud our wharses and docks aro a disgrace to tho city. And, iwhen {ho papers say that wo need rapid trapeit, under- ground and air-line ratlroads, woll-drained and well-greded strects, and clean tencment-houses ; that the malana of diphtheria, typhus fever, and small-pox should be banished forever by . proper drainago; that we _sbould bridge our Fast ~ River, mekg of our Yifth and Madison avenues a second “ Champa Tlvpueos " and * *Picadilly,” brinj; down the reats of lines of unoccupied Louses; and build docks, {0 outrival Liverpool, along our river-fronts, we say Amen to ilie proposals, abd bid theday epeedily dawn when all this shall ba dope, even if it increnses our debt. Dut we -fear tho briltiant fature predicted exists only in tho vivid imagination .of the newspaper-men, and flial tho project will not be accomplished 1n_our day. Yot Major Wickham is 3 msn of public epmnt. aud it all rests npon him to make our really beantiful city all that Paris was made by public improvements. To him, thetefore, 2nd to Gov. Tilden, our hopes turn; aud our future euccess 25 B groat, prosperous city—a3_great in pros- perity as in crime and destitution—lies, ina largo measure, in their judicious executive mau- sgoment. Let us sea what their new reign will inuugurate before we complain. BauLan. Sai i LA = BISHOP LEE AND THE IOWA EPISCOPATE. To the Editor of The Chicazo Tribuns: Stx: Your Des Moines correspondent, in last Monday's pper, ropeats an error which has ap- peared elsewhere in Lis reminiecences of Biekop Lee. Ho states that Bishops Lee and White- houso wore * clagsmates,”"—in college is doubt- less mennt,—and * about of anage.” Dishop Leo is credited with alluding to this_in his sermon ot the funeral of Bishop Whitehouse. The old adage, “You must go from home to get the news,” proves true in this case. Bishop Lee eaid nothing of thesort. He never was o **classmate” of Dishop Whitchounse, and never graduated ab any college whatever. I say not thiy to his disparagement, but a8 encoitrag: ment to others who may not have had thoad vantages of a collegiato cducation. Several of our well-known Bixhops owe to 1o college in tho 1and their attainments or their usefulness in the Churcn. Their promotion to its highest honora did not depend on tho diploms of university or college, but on the possession of *‘sound learu- mg"” and special adaptation to the work ap- pointed them. Two others may bo mentioned in;this connection: Bishops Whipple, of Minne- sots, and Talbot, of Indiana. No college has the bonor of graduating either of them. The same was true of Biehop Lee. . 5 Again, your correspondent ssys tha two Bishops, Leo and Whitehouse, were *“ abont of an age; ™ to speak more correctly, ho would Lavo naid, **of about the same nge.” Not vory nunrtil;l! t(x;m.h here. fho;fflmu died o few months after passiog his fifty-ninth year, and tho latter only a few ?h:s ahor{ of h.lg seventy- .w’iv{‘ld birthday. 'he quotation from Shakspearo indunlged in b the DesMoines writer can :nly ucitngs. Bmflz from those who knew the two men. Thero are sevoral other inaccuracies in_the latter of your correspondent, only two of which I will notice. The beautiful cathedral, called by Homo tho Bishop's church, cost less tuan 70,000, and not 100,000 ns stated. It isa model buid- ing in every appointment, reflocting great credit on the architect. Thero is no $30,000 to the credit of the Epls- copal fuud ; but, as over one-half of the lands remain undold for the * endowment of the Episcopate,” it is hoped that, ere long, a much larger sum than named may be realized. Tho future Bishop of Iowa may be sum of this : an amplo support, a residence sacond to uone in any dioceso, an earnest and dovoted ?udy (;X cluf‘Ri !:ld ln‘i!y among whom to minis- er, a largo territory to travel over, and plent; of hard work. g i Tho foundations have been woll Iaid by the late Dishop for purocbial and educational work. Who will go in and build thereupon ? Ho should be o man of breadth ; tolerant of others' opin- ions ; fitted by education and -exnerienco for a wise master-builder ; & Low-Churchman of con- servative viows and reads adaptation to the work befora bim ; one who realizos that we are now living in the nineteenth century, aud not in the Middle Ages; » good rather than great preacher; of mood administrative ufimzy **sound in tho faith ; in doctrine showing nncor- ruptuces, gravity, sincority; without offense, that tho sword of God be not blasphemed.” Such aBishop is nceded for Iowa, and such a one, wo may hopo, will bo clected nexc week to proside over that important diocese. He may not yet 1havo been named by any newspaper-correspond- ent, though there aro soveral among the num- ber to whom little objection could be made, if they would coneent to serve. An Esstern man will most likely be chosen. Crinees B. Stour. Ciieaco, Dec. 4, 1874 AMERICAN METHODISM. Groavih of the Denomination in 100 Years—Increnso in IResources and Mcmbership in 1574, . Statistics just published show that thero aro in round pumbers 8,200,000 Methodists in the United Statos and Canads. Some idea may be formed of tho growth of American Mcmmfium by companing these Sigures with the beginning made 108 years ago in New York, with fivo mom- bors, Ly Philip Embury; 500,000 added to the ebovo figures will givo tha number of Methodiet communicanss throughout the world—8,900,000. This result shows that thoincrease of Methodiem 1n this country is beyond all comparieon greater than that of tho parent churches in England. The different Lranches of the denomination in ke United States and Canade stand in tho fol- lowing order u8 to numbers : Methodist Eptaoopal. Methodist Eiccoyol Sontis Africun M tiodist Episcopal. Africun Methodist Episcopal Zion. United Lrethren.... Methodist Church of Canada Evangelical Associztfon. .., Colored Methodies Episcopal. Methoaist. ezhodiat Methodlst Frea sMethodi Trimitive Meth There are a fow other bodics, ruch as Congre- gationul and Welsh - Calvinistic Blethodists, which in the aggregato have only a small num. ber of members. Tho statistios of the Methodist Episcopal Church by decades sbhow an increaso in every matanca but oue—1846—whenadecreaso was noted of 5,574, oauned by ihe separation of the Southern wing of th:e Church. The follow- ing Is the record : ‘ear. Mewbers, Increase. | Year. Members, Increane. 4,020 J 1825, 0 ; 7 156,008 51,052,180 231,857 creage iho Jast fen years, from 1864 to 0. Tbo following table n of tho Churen : The 1874, ias been £15,71 shows the presoat con In- erease. 4 274 and parsonages 875,104 $78,510,693 $3,641,%x: Sunday 13,031 18,558 7 Sumk: . 1,018,603 1383227 7463 The Xethodist Episcopal Church Boutn, which began its oxistenco in 1844, 18 a very acuvo orgasization, especially in missionary _work, in tho circulation of rehigious ~ literature, and in ecfforts to improve and enlarge its cducationel institutions. Tho statistics of tho Chinroh for 1874 show that they have 35 Ancual Conforences, 8 Bishops, 8,715 preachers; increase, 849 ; 667,835 miem- bers; increase, 32,000; 7,019 Bunday-schools ; increaso, 119; §21,572 Sunday-school scholars; increese, 8,813 e A NIGHT ON THE BORDER. It chianced that once, a weary wight, 1 wandered in the gatberitig night, O'ercomo with cold nnd Lubger qute, And soro fatigne ; - For 1 had passed, #ince morning-light, Full many a league. At lagt Teaw, with giad surprise, A flash of Ught. Alas! it dies Like weteors in the Northern siies, And 14 last beam Makcs double darkuess as It fies,— A transieat gleam. Agnin it ehines; the dreary acene 15 lighted up, and now, befwoen The piant forms of trecs, {8 seen & cottago low,— A barrier to the blasts, Tween, And wintry snow, G ¥ith hasty steldo T xenchied the door, Attd xo0m had passed its threshold o'er Aind tood a littl group before, 1n ead array, And craved them, from the tempest sore, To rest Lill dax. Uprose the eire, a sturdy man : 1 sitw hin close Ty bedting acan, ‘And then the ehades of pity ran Through oll his featiires, ‘While 7 read i Lis faco of tony “*One of God's creatures,” Tie bade mo welcomo with & tone That showed bis words and acts wers one, And to the firo ho goon bind drawn. A cosy chafr; I mieed o'er all my wanderings gone, 1In comfort there, Hicanwhilo thé wife had for me epread A feagal meal of meéat atid bréad, That served me well a feast instead Of fullest measure ; Its mibsmory, though long seats have fled, Gires solid pleasuze. ¥ noted with what thrifty care Tite bousewifo ordercd all things there ; Nor gaped tho chilidren with rude stare, Tat decent rtood, Or pinyed upon the hearthstone bare, In merry mood. ‘The ovening passcd amid the flow 0f conversatlon, till the glow 0f {lie great firc, Lurnisg losr ‘With fitful gleams; Forewarned 1t the for each to g0 And court eweet dreams, ‘Then, rising rlow, the father took. With reverent hand, the Sacred Bank, And, glancing with benignant look From each to other, E'en to the emellest in the nook ide his mother, Began, with mellowed voice, to raad Of 3an's despito and woful Deed, And Ope who came his cause to plead With i on high, And en upon the Crass to blesd, For all to die. Then of fhe Iove thus shown to Max, Whilo yet in sin's dark ways he run, He &poke, a8 only Christian can; Then sought His care, As, in tho fading firelight wan, We knelt {n pray’r. Then forth bis fervent soul he poursd Tnto the God he loved, adored ; And, as bis faith trinmphant soared o 'The hoighta slorie, T felt that suppitance fo the Lord Would resch His Throae. “Then first T saw, with glad tmpress, Tho beauty of true Loliness, “That sootizes and comforts n distress, And e'en 1 death s Tte memory of that night I bless ‘With latest breath, With mornh‘lg-]lghi procialming day, 1 rtarted forth upon my Way3, My soul was filted with Hope's bright 137, That's peverset: The_pexce I galned in Ciat swést sty 1a with me set, w6, MonsisoF, MY GRANDFATHER'S WEDDING. A Story of Ireland in the Olden Time. £ My ancestors had been setled for generations in the vicinity of a small soaport in the west of !n]n_nfl. 1 doubt if richer or more varied scen- ery is to be met with anywhere. Landwards streiches a broad lake, studded with green isl- anda and begirt by lofty bills, most of tho latter beisg wooded to tho top. On every command- ing point stands a ruined stronghold; and ‘in overy oue of the many pleaeant valleys molders a long-Geserted shrine. While some of these ruius are renowned in bistory, all havo their tra~ ditions of surpassing interest, oven when told by the rude peasznts. _Wsalwards' tho parrow harbor expands intoa ?Vlde bay, which in its turn opons out into'the iltimitable ecean. The coast is a wild one; it consists in great part of a'range of stupendous cliffs stretching for miles, and rising in many places moro than a thousaud feet sheer above Lb:v{nlcr.u What with its magnificent scenory and its ‘c::al;‘l la‘ onds, tBe—mmjtx: :;ighborhoufl is pre- ly the spot to nouriul 0 8pirit of post: nng ndvfnntgm. 5 el ur family was one of cight or nino which had divided two counties between them in the timo of James L. Towards tho close of tho last century, the period of my story, its prosperity bad long been on the Aeciing, | A NuSoE of represoitalives given to ducling, gambling, drinking, rollicking, and unlimited hospitality, had sadly diminished its resources. They wora & raco unusually reckless for even the Ireland of the olden time. ir spccimen of thom was my grandfather. Whilo yot » mere vouth ho Lad succoeded to the headship of thio house, with its fortunes and liabilities. The latter in- cluded 2 foud with a neighboring clan, the com- mencement of which nobody remembered. but whicti had been transmitted from sire to son, exasperating esit went. Yhrce months never passed without riot and homicide—sometimeson an extensive scale—betwoen the partics. As it happened the Gregg chicftain of tho day wag also young, though some years the senior of my grandfa:ber—a fine, powerful man of 26. Fortune willed that tho pair should become ri- vals in love, both wooing the beauty of the prov- ince. She was iudeed a beauty. I saw her fifty yeara lator, withered with age and worn with troubles of no ordinary kind, yet atill handsomes and her portrait, taken in her prime, fully justic fiod the high praise swarded to her attractions in song, aud the atill higher praize jucluded in the fiery affections which they excited, and in the deeds as fiery to which they impelled. Here I shall take leavo to remarlk that tho world con- taios no finer bpecimens of humanity than abound among the Iugher classes of \estern Ircland. In tho case of my grandmother. 8 strong infusion of Spanish blood Lad added the @ash and brilliance of the South to the native grace of the ** handsome Hamiltons.” "My grandfathor, one of the wildest spirita of hin ago and country, was an enthusisstic sports- mao. He delighted in high excitement, was an unerring shot 2nd & daring horseman, ‘and no less elidliful in bandling #ail and oar thanin guid- ing too steed. Indeed, * Little™ Allan Grant’s desperato feats aud bairbreadth cecapes to this day form the theme of fireside etory in the land of his birth. Ho was about the last of mortals whom one would think of turning rhymer. But love effects etrange transformations. I have before me & bunale of mildewed papers, written over with verses addressed to * Pretty Fanny Hamilton.” They migkt be more polished, per- haps, but thoy could hardly be mor® earnost and original, or more free from affectation and conceit. My ancestor’s rival was favored of the rola- tives of the beauty, sud my ancestor wos fa- vored of the boauty horself, whose heart was completely carried away by the impotuosity of the frank, fearlcss rhymer. In thoso stormy days, Lowever, tho relatives of Irish beauty were accustomed to bestow it in marriage with- ont much regard to the feoling of ita possessor. And =o ‘* Pretty Fanny.” ns ehe was called to the day of her death, was condemaed to wed Mr. Gorala Gregy, though the fact that her affec- tions weroe fixed elvewhero was notorious. Her prayers and her tears were unavailing to move the'despots of the domestic circlo. Her threats —for o beauty of spirit can threaten—were de- spised. Aod when she took to pining, they moroly remarked with o laugh, “Marrisge will 5000 roues ber out of that.” But, if they treatod Pretty Fauny thus lightly, they took anotlier course with her lovo. When he avowed, as he goon did, that he would make her bis own *“inspite of all tho Greggs snd Hamiltone in existenco,” every precaution that rudonce could suggest was adopted. ‘This, be t remembered, way the ers of abduction, and *Littlo Allan " was just the man to condnct an abduction with success. Hero, perlaps, it may be as well to explain the_cognomen which, as in the case of most other Irish gentlemen of the day, attached to bim. A man standing 5 feat 7, and walghiug over 15 stona, can bardly bo termed *‘littlo.” But Allno Grant was so broad in the shoulder and =o massive of Iimb that his height was quite out of proportion with his width, and mado him look somewhat dwarfiish. 4 Little Allan " was daning, full of stratngem, and not to be moved from a purpose, even if Satan and all his host stood in the way. Tho Hamiltons, therefore, pot considering their countrs-rosidence safo from his practices, re- moved to a house in the ceotre of the town. ‘T'his they barricaded and garrisoned, planting iron bars'in all the windows, strengthening the outer doors, stationing sentinels behind tho houso, and keeping watch and ward witlun ; in fact, taking all the measures of people expecting slego and storm ; whilo the beauty was confinod 10 a chawher three storios from tho ground. My grapdiather wado several nttempts to en- tor, but always iooffectually. lis spies wero digcovered, his tampering with the servants de- tacted, aud cue or two efforts.at eacalade repellod by forco. Eventually it was whispered tat the discomfited suitor was making preparations to quit the country, if not forever, at least formany years,—that 18, should the Inat desperate effort which ho was known to meditato bappen to fail. That it should fail, the Hamiltons and Greggs were resolved. To prevent any interferenco with tho mnni:fia-ncmm_nn{, it “was arranged that it should take place in {he drawing-rcom,— & common thiog in tnose days ;—and, to frustrate any attack on tho houee inforce, or any attempt to carry off the bride on her way home, the par- tisaus of the Greggs and Hamiltons mustered by hundreds the night before, keepinga watch around from sundown. 'There was a good deal of bard drinking among tho bsnd, and not a lit- tle roaring, aloug with a quantity of {riondly rioting and head-breaking, ** Just to keep their bande In.” Contrary to all expectation, howev- e, the foo thoy expécted did not put in an ap- pearanco that nfght. But that he wonld como some time or other, nobody doubted ; and most of the reckless spirits thers looked forward to g eacountar with high glea, The morning, early in BMarch, dawned at loagth. Betoro it had_fally expanded into day, pricst, bridegroom, witnesaes, ctc., wero gath- ered for the rito, and waited only the bride. That last night, the faithful servant who bad shared her aparimeut was nided 1n her warden- ehip by & martied sistor of the beauty, who, for reasons of her own, was known to cherish tho fiercest hostillty towards *‘Little Allan,” and who, thoreforo, was just tho damo to bo in- trusted with such & duty. A few minutes went by, but oeither bride, nor sister, nor servant, ap- peared. A little further delay rendered the com- pony in tho drawing-room impationt. But, when a quarter of =n hour elapsed without bringing any one from tho prison-chamber., Greggs and Hamiltons alike began to feel aisrmed. They looked at ono another father blenkly, and then, seized by the same jmpulto and without uttering one word, they quitted tho drawing-room in a body and hastened up-stairs. They reached tho threshold and paused ; not a souud came from within, They koocked; po answer. Thoy callod, shouted, kicked, clattered ; still no reply. Thean they dasbed in the door. And what think you they found? Well, thoy found the married sister bound 2nd gagged 1n oue corner, and the servaut bound and gazged in another corner, but ot a trace of the benuty. A largo hole in tho wall dividing tho Lonso from the next revesled Lhe manucr of ber es- cape. Somo of tho eroup paaged to finger the rubbish and peer at the hole with all the solem- nity of a donkey poking his head through a pate. Others deshed through the said hote, and kicked up s terrible row in the nexs honse ; but with no setfefactory recult. The nows sprend to the friends and retainers in the efreet. Inon inatant the whole of them, and with them the majority of tho townepeople ; were busy search- ing in all sorts of smprobable places for the run- away and her presumed compenion. It isas- tonshing what queer things even the wisc: people Feme!ma iu such cases. The butler a tually climbed np and poked through a dovecot ; wlule a troop of jolly farmers, tumbling sbout 1m the cellars, knocked i toe haad of a cask, and not finding the fugitives thers, com- forted themselves for the _disappoini- mont by imbibing what they did find,—3 quanti- ty of choico old wine. Then the footman—a re- markably nice voung man—couducted his por- tion of the scratiny in a way thaf roused the jealonsy of the coachman, aud won himsél? as neat a specimen of a broken head as ever wasin- flicted with the handle of s stable-fork. ‘Tho suarch, however, was unavailing a8 to its main object Towards ovening Mr. Gerald Gregg and his faction elunk out of town,—most of tue followers being tipey, and all crestfallen and quarrelsome. 3 1t seemed that.all my grandfather's plotting and escalading were just #o many devices sot on foot to be detected, and thus attract atcention from tho real project, than which nothing could bavo been moro simple. He had merely to pay 2 good price for the uso of the adjoining houss, and the rest was easy. As for the brido, it turned out that, about the - moment her flight was discovered, sho. was o ceiviug a plain gold ring from tho hands of my grandfather in o church some ten muies off. Defeated thus egreziously,—bafled as a lover, and, what ho felt periaps a3 keenly, as tho head of bis houee,—r. Gregg made oath to slay hus rival. Thero was, however, & difliculty, irremoy- able for tho time, in the way of eiYecting his pur- pose. He couid not “call him out.” It was renerally allowed that my grandfather had fairly won his brido, and deserved to enjoy his bappic ness without molestation on that account. A cartel, therefore, womld havo evoled umiversal reprogation against the sender, and was not to be thought of. Mr. Gregy dotcrmined, then, to bido Lis ime. Ho felt that his vongeful purpose would loge nothing by a lttle keepivg ;- and ho was contident that the usages of the day would goon provide him with a fiir opportunity of .meeting his foe sword to sword, as became s man of honor. Nor was he disappointed. In thnt old umo o fair was tho'chosen scene of Irish revelry und riot. About three months after the elopement came the fair of M—, It was the resort of all classes for miles round, and never had it been known to close without one or more murderous allrays, some of which occa- sionally attained tho dimensions of a serious combat. My grandfather dotermuned to attond the fair, and 8o did Lis foe. Thero was no com- manication betwean them on tlus poiut. Each was assured of meeting the otber there, longed mdeed to &0 fo, and made his arrangemonts ac- cordigly. No secret was mado of the purposo on eitlor side; tor weeks before it was generally anticipated that this particular fair would be en~ livened by a drawn kattle botween the Grants and tho Greggs. The day caine and the fair was crowded, many Demxlnttrncted thither by the hope of ‘ secing the fun.” About noon tho rivals, each with a formidable band at bis back, mot in the middle of iho High street, and instantly assaled one another. Their partisans fmitated their exam- plo with oqual good will ; tho gentlomen among them drawing their swords, xnd:the plebeiang bandling their cudgels. Norwas the fray con- fined to thia factious. Tho very fow peace-lovers present in_the growded town vanished on the first indication of a riot. . Of tho multitude that remaiued, every ono Joved a row forits own sa%o, and most nourished privato grievances, for the fratification of which the occaston offered irre- sistible temptations. Those who had weapons at bend plusged at once into the fray, and those who had not lecaeindiigzunblu ‘hastoned toim- provise them. Bome did g0 by smashing the chairs in the tap-rooms and appropratiog thoiz legs. Others titted themselves for combet by breaking tho poles of tent and stall into bandy lengths. Ioth proceedings of course begot a seriea of by-quarrels, which cdded much o the uproar. The last was tremendous. It wasa scene of wildest confusion. The air vibrated with one incessant, ear-picrcing yell. There were solid masses of men surgivg to and fro. A sez of fieads snd a perfect forost of sticks, with hore and thero a fiashing blade, was all that could be scen from tho windows. Sometimes a vigorous charge of the Grants rolled the conflict to the southern extremity of the long Iigh street, while the foe went down before them by dozens, to be trampled I:Eon by the roanag tide of com- batants. Here the Grants would scatter; some rushing eagerly forward in pursuit and othera spent, peusing to tako breath. Then the Gregga would rally, close their ranks, and, charging again in one dense masa, sweep the town in pre- asely similar fashion, At'times themain conflict would subside in order that *‘amplo space and verge enough™ might be given to the struggle between two re- doubtable champione. This being decided, the mobs would close agnin with redoubled fury, and so the fight rolled on. My grandiather and his sntagonist had ex- changed but a fow passes ere they were hurled asunder by the torrent of their partisans. Nor was it until near an hour had passed that they onconatered'again. -By this time the majority of the rioters was nearly worn out, and the chiefs therefora were allowed to fight out their partic- ular quarrel to the end. . Their adherents gathered round them in ring, onconraging them by their cheers of approval at every dex: terons parry, home-thrust, or ekiliful cut. I bave already described my grandfather. His antagomst was much taller, over 6 feet, and a largo, heavy man to boot. Soth were skillful swordsmen, aud both as brave as men could be. The contest was_sn obstinate one; bat Gregg was overmatched from the first. He carried moro flesh than o man ehould do who hasto battlo for his life, while constant exercise had rendered my grandfather os tough as steel in overy muscle. The latter, too, was renowned for immonse Jength of arm.” The fight, howover, did not go aitogether in his favor. By some means s slash reached the littls finger of hig sword-hand and drvided the bone. It hung noi only useless, but geriously impeded the manzge« ment of his weapon. Taking ndvantage of g rush that interrapted the struggle for a moment, be wrung the finger off and turned again on hif foe. The latter stood up to his man with deter- mined hardihood, until he was litcrally slashed to picces. He fell at last through sheer exe Laustion. T goneral fight was then resumed, but the Gregga were dispirited by the fall of their chief, and, after & ehort struggle, were driven from the town. Thon took place a tolerable amount of what the natives of the Green Island used ta term *rim-wrackin'.” Thatisto ¢ay, the victors assailed such dwellings of their oppouents az Lappened to be hondy, tore off the roofs, and destroyed the Turniture. Having completed this last crowning achieve- ment, tho Grants and their partisans mustered in long array, and marched in_trivtmph through tho place, with Lalf-a-dozen pipers plaging be- fore them. The town-crier was pressed into tha ranks, and every fow minutes tho procession would halt, while that worthy in his most sono- rous tones made proclamation offering *any ‘money for the ears of 3 rascally Gr-gg." Tho day closed with 8 general carouse. Dar- rels of ale and spirits were rolled out into the High street, st on ond, the heads knocked in, and_every ono invited to help himself. Ilun- dreds availed themeclves of tho means of get- ting gloriously drunk. Further, passengers wera compelled to accept one of two alternatives,— either to drink a deep draught in- honor of tha Grants, or to accept a beatiugas partisans of the Greggs. *Little Allan's Fair became a thing of last- ing renown,~in short, one of the landmarks of {ime among the residents of that quarter. For two geuerations at least, local events wera dated therefrom,—births, marriages, deaths, ete., be- ing epoken of as occurring within such and such o time thereof. . Gerald Gregg was cerried home, to die a fore- night afterwards of his wounds. Having been a man of mark, his *‘woke” was attended by hundreds. It lasted for a week, during which a fabulous smount of spirits was cousamed, and au endless number of vows of vengoance wera made against his slayers by kinsmen and fol- lowers, s » And hera I bave to record an incident which I deeply regret, and would willingly supprees. Tho event, however, is too illustrative of Irish mauners 1n tho olden time uot to be recorded. And, besides, this narrative is in all respectsa narrative of facts, and must not be mutilated. On the last and wildest ovening of the wake, my grandfather, and a darc-devil friend koown 23 *Yellow Billy,” determined to pay a vieit to the hiouse of mourning. It was sbout the rash- cst enterprige that two lrish gentlomen coutd undertale,—sometbing oxceedingly liko beard- ing a herd of hungry tigers o their fungle. o tho two, Llowever, the freak presented attraction boyond their power to resist, Despising all re- monstrance, they girt on their swords, mounted their horses, and rode off. Having reached the house, they tied their steeds to the gate, and, ewagpering in, olbowed their way through to the room where tho dead man lay in'his coffin. Not o finger was lifted in opposition. Some wore stupefied at their unhieard-of daring ; otherseald to themeclves, * Thoy rogret tho deed, and are como to expresa their feelings.” 'The two paused to contemplate the mangled faco of their Izte foe, whila those aronud losked ou in silent expectation. Then n hoary gentle- man--s relative of all three—rose np, “and, ad- dressing some conctliatory remarka to my grand- father and bis comrade, presented a flowing cap, with the request that they would drink to the memory of the dead. “Away, old man!” ‘eaid my grandfathor, thrusting him aside. Heo then drew a flask out «of one pocket and & glass aut of the other. Yel- Jow Billy followed his example. *Here, Dill," aid be ; *‘Lero’s to our noble gelves. e havo beaten tbe scoundrel into —; and, by —, we'll go there after him acd beat bim out agail in & The pairdrank this extraordinary toast, dashed flasks and glassea to tho floor, and, drawiag their_swords, gained their horses bofore the crowd could recover from ita amazoment. Vell for them tuey did so. ‘The drunken crowd rushed forth in pursait, with yoll whose ferocity, stariling even the territle pair, told them what their fate wouid bavebeen had they delared but another instant, As it was3, they cscaped with ease.—English magi azine,