The New York Herald Newspaper, February 23, 1873, Page 6

6 Wpecial and Solemn Ceremonies in the Catholic Churches in Honor of the Festival. The Prerogatives of the Popes Discussed by Father Brann. The Battles and Triumphs of the Church Viewed by the Rey. Father Preston. Services at St. Michael's. Yesterday was the day on which the feast of the Chair of St. Peter of Antioch 1s aunually celebrated rwith high masses and special rites for the advance- ment of the Catholic Union of New York. These sceremontes took place yesterday in the Church of Bt. Michael, on the west side of town, and also in Bt. Gabriel's, on the east side. The sermon of the slay was preached in the former sanctuary by the jRev. Father Brann, of Washington Heights, and was listened to by an immense congregation with mmarked interest and attention. The text chosen by the reverend gentieman was taken from 8t, Matthew, xvi., 19—“And I give unto thee the keys pr heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever hou shait loose gp earth shall be loosed in heaven,” INFALLIBILITY AND TEMPORAL POWER. Taese words, said Father Brann, from the mass bf the day, were very appropriate to the occasion, pnd this was true because of three reasons: first, yecause it was the occasion of the celebration of the feast of St. Peter’s chair at Antioch; second, cause one of the grand objects of Catholic unton ‘as to keep up the love and admiration of people or the people. The words of the text contain a _ummary of ALL THE PAPAL PREROGATIVES, But it was not for these two reasons that he had hosen the text. It was not necessary now to un- lertake any special defence of any papal preroga- ive. Since the General Council at the Vatican no ‘Catholic had any doubt of their verity. The great- pst of them was tnat of infallibility. None pf the privileges of the popes would ver have been questioned or denied if human passions had not been brought upon he scene. If there had been found in the ast any one to deny them it was because human ride and passion had opposed them. ‘The doc- rines of papal infallibility, now that the text had een 80 Well explained by the General Council, was found to be olearer than any other doctrine in the New Testament. There was no other expression in the Scriptures that coutradicted in any respect he principies of this doctrine, though other dogmas Were found to be embarrassed by conficting texts avhich were scattered all through the Bible, THE POPES CONSERVATORS OF LIBERTY, If, then, any o/ the spiritual prerogatives of the pes have been denied, it is because they implied oral obligations which excited in Kings, princes nd statesmen a repugnance to their performance enerated by human pride, sisted being crushed. But there is, continued the preacher, a third rea- Bon that makes this text more appropriate still on this day, when all our citizens are celebrating a Quasi-national holiday, commemorating the birth f the greatest representative republican of the ‘orid’s time. He found in the text something ap- propriate even to this national holiday. The most wbsolute power ever given to man was given to St. eter and nis successors. How, then, did this be- come ap appropriate theme on the day which com- emorates the birth of the man who resisted with uch great heroism the tyranny of absolute power? t was appropriate because it recorded the appoint- ing of popes to be the friends of the people; to stand between them and kings; to protect them | trom evil despotism. It was shown by the charac- ter of papal control of civil matters in the past that the authority of the popes was THE GREATEST SAFEGUARD Yor the liberties of the masses. They were the pre- decessors of George Washington in the champion- ship of human liberties. No power of the Pope had Pan 80 persistently decried by Protestant and jallican writersas that oi deposing rulers exer- cised in the Middle Ages. It was said by some writers that this power was then publicly admitted by the people as a right. But, however this may be, it cannot be denied that the popes have a power o! control over the governments of the world. The predecessors of Gborge Washington, the conservators of liberty—the popes—in every instance never deposed any man out he was a despot. Ifthey ‘“bound’’ any man it was because he was adespot. Ii they loosed any man it was because he was aslave, Religion has a right to flirect. THE FAMILY AND THE NATION are only an assemblage of diferent families. The fovernment, therefore, is a representative or deputy of the family. The Church is coextensive in jurisdiction with the family, and having, therefore, the right to interfere in the family, the Pope, its head, has the same right in the State. In claiming this I claim what every Christian clergyman must claim by virtue of his profession. If the State makes laws repugnant to humanity it 1s his busi- ness to protest. The Pope is the head clergyman of the world. Therefore his duty is to preach and to teach against private iniquity and public iniquity, whether represented by an emperor, a king, or the overnment of arepublic. The jurisaiction of the Pope must be directive in all matters affecting the welfare of the people. This argument is unanswer- able, and holds good in the minds of those not be- longing to the bosom of the Catholic Church, IN THE MIDDLE AGES despots fell before this power, and the people felt that they could rise, Was not this, the reverend entieman asked, the guardian of civil liberties ? ‘he Pope during the Middle Ages was one of the most powertul influences to create a democratic spirit throughout Europe. He defended the people against the kings and barons, the warriors and princes. This was ,the object of his temporal ower then, and now, although oppression was less common in the world, the necessity for the exercise of such a prerogative at times still existed. Father Brann closed with an eloquent eulogy of he doctrine of the temporal power and the in- dallibility of the Pop: Sermon in St. Gabricl’s Church by the Rev. Father Preston, Yesterday morning a solemn high mass for the Catholic Union was celebrated in St. Gabriel's church, East Thirty-seventh street, between First and Second avenues. The celebrant was Father Canary, and the sermon was preached by the Rev, Father Preston, ther Preston chose for his text St. Mark xvi, 15, 16—‘And He said unto them, Go ye into the whole world and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shail be damned.” Father Preston said THE CATHOLIC UNION OF NEW YORK takes advantage of our national holidays to come before God with prayer and with earnest thanks for the blessings that have been showered uponour iand from the Most High, Whatever may be thought in this age of infidelity of the source from which those blessings come, a Catholic can never forget that national honor and national prosperity are the gitts of God. We live in au age of faithless- ness,an age of danger, an age of infidelity and paganism, an age which, professing to be one of light, is one of darkness, because God is shut out. The text I have read to you this morning gives to the chosen ministers of God & divine commission. ey are sent forth as ambassadors, as con- querors, to bring every land and every clime under the dominion of Christ. The Church is now battling with the adversaries of our faith. For nearly nineteen centuries she has been on the field of con- troversy, and she gone on struggling against every attack that heresy and malice have made upon her, and she has conquered them all. Out ot her own breast came vipers to stimg her, but she has overthrown them, SHE HAS. TRIUMPHED THROUGH FAITH, Which God has given to that mystical body, the Church of Christ, In our own day with what heresy bas not the Church contended! The dog matic heresies of the days that are gone by are as nothing compared with the infidel theories is characterized py a spirit of unbelief and a turn to paganism. Men in their folly, having foi saken the temple of truth, flee into error and for- get the Church wherein the incarnate God abides. rhe faith which was brought into the world by the Son of God ts necessary to salvation, and is found only in the Catholic Church, and those who would flee from the wrath to come must lay hold of her teachings and embrace her tenets. Salvation is the gift ef God. The posterity of Adam as they come into the world are the subjects of wrath, but salvation is the supernatural gift of God, and it opens heaven to those who have no right to enter there from any merit of their own. He has only promised this throngh Jesus Christ our Lord to us throng! Serist our Lord. The death and passion ef the Son of God were necessary for the sal ug eagtem o d no on Of man shall | ever @) 1 jom 0 eaven except he be clothed with the incarnate blood. To attempt to in salvation in amy other way 18 vanity and bit- terness to the heart, and all who deny the truth are paganists and materialists, who in the biaze of {his Christian day are worse than the pagans of Their ambition re- it} whom the Gospel never shene. Out- fide’ the Catholic Church this Church faith be jeund, Look upon the move New YORK HERALD, SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1873—QUADRUPLE SHEET. THE CHAIR OF ST. PRIBR, |e sss themrelves Chriatians. |, How | tions from the Datly Nouns, and «An English Cote, | MUSICAL, AND DRAMATIC NOTES. FREE LANCE AGAIN. babel of confusion as arises from those sects! There are sects outside the Church which profess to be Christians, and yet they alow their members to believe what they please, ominung that this spirit of liberality is in accordance wit the demands of the age. In our own city, go to any one of the Protestant denominations, and you will find that no two clergymen, or even two mem- bers of the same congregation, believe exactly ke, After alluding to the trials of the Supreme Pontiff, Father Preston, concluded with an eloquent exhortation to the members of the Catholic Union to hold fast in the faith and maintain their alle- giance to the Vicar of Christ. The Celebration in Jersey City. The Catholi¢ Union of Jersey City assembled yesterday at St, Peter's church to attend the first mass offered specially for the organization in that city. Solemn high mass was cele- brated, in which the Bishop-elect of the Diocese of Newark, Dr. Corrigan, officiat- ed as celebrant. Within the sanctuary were Archbishop McCloskey, Fathers Beaudevin, McQuade, Corrigan, Hennessey, Vanuta, Killeen, Senez, De Concillo, Dalton and other clergymen, The sermon was preached by Father Hewitt, of the Paulist Order, Fifty-ninth street. MA treating of ceremonials in st, Peter's the music can never be omitted, but on this occasion Neuendorff and his excellent choir surpassed themselves, Vierling, always ef- fective, outstripped his previous eflorts, and Miss Ferretti, the soprano, was the centre of a group of nine that constituted the choir. The church was Set apart exclusively for the members of the Union. The organization ts spreading rapidly throughout Hudson county. TEE DOMINICAN MONK. Departure of Father Tom Burke tor Europe—Grand Demonstration to the Monk Orator—Waving Adieus Ashore and Afloat, Father Tom Burke, the famous Dominican monk orator and preacher, whose successive receptions and lectures throughout the United States have been a series of ovations, took his departure from this port for Europe yesterday morning, and, as was aptly said by a gentleman present, “This last tribute was the grandest and most heartfelt of them all." Father Burke had passed nearly a year in the United States engaged in a mission for the benefit of his Order, and in the series of tco- tures delivered by him drew together as largo and as deeply interested audiences as were ever assembled to listen to a single orator in this coun- try, not including the concourses ‘that rallied to hear him in his world-famous disputations with the English historian James Anthony Froude. Father Burke left yesterday as a passenger on board the Inman lise steamship City of Paris. At about eleven o'clock the steamer William Fletcher cast off her moorings at Castle Garden, having on board a select company including Father Burke and Very Rev. M. D. Lilly and several hundred invited guests and friends of the depart- ing clergyman, Father Lilly is prior of the Dominican church in Sixtysixth street, and sailed for Europe in company with Father Burke, and the occasion was made a joint farewell testimonial to both of the eminent clergymen, The committee of arrangements comprised Messrs, Thomas Crim- mins, John McCoole, Robert McCafferty, Dennis De Courcey and Cornelius O'Reilly. The atmosphere waa beautifully bright and inspiring, though the low temperature and high wind made the occasion one of great activity and some little discomfort, The steamer was trimmed with bunting, and pre- sented quite @ gala appearance with her deck and cabins crowded with several hun- dreds of ladies and gentlemen, The Fletcher steamed rapidly up the North River with the fare- well party on board until she reached pier 45, where the City of Paris was lying at her pier, dressed from Nels arm to yard arm with var{-col- ored flags and streamers. The Fletcher heaved alongside and a ey iene paste was cast from her deck to that of the City ef Paris, the incline of the plank being so great that the ‘ty, With the fa- mous monk leading, had to clamber up almost on their hauds and feet. As he appeared on the steamer’s deck he was greeted with hearty cheers irom the friends already assembled to wave him adieu, and who formed a dense crowd both on the steamship and the pier. Fathers Burke and Lilly shortly descended to the saloon, but were subsequently prevatied upon to return to the deck in response to the clamors of the throng. Quite an enthusiastic scene followed, and cheers and waving bats and handkerchiefs filled the air. The band of the St. Vincent de Fer- rer Church Temperance Society played some appro- priate airs. Among the gentlemen present were Commissioner John Mullaly, Alderman Terence Farley, Professor Thomas apy. P. M. Haver- ty, J. A. McGee, John Burke, Thomas J. Cum- mins, L. Kiernan, John McCoole, Bishop Shanahan, of Harrisburg; Rev. Fathers Gonnoly, of Perth Aimboy; Maher, Kehoe, Daly, Keogh, of Columbus, luo; Slurgir, Latter, McKenna, Mr. J. J. Macklin, Edward Bradburn, J. J. Kennelly, ana “scores of others, too numerous to mention.” In addition to these there were qdelegations representing almost all the Roman Catholic societies of New York, and the Catholic Young Men’s Association and the Emerald Clab of Brooklyn. Among the prominent gentlemen in the Brooklyn dele- gation were Rev, Fathers Taaffe, McGuire, of St. Paul's; McElroy, P. V. Byrne, of St. John’s College; Reagan, of St. John’s College; Ratigans, of St. Augustine’s, and Michael Hickey, of St. John's church. ‘The lay delegates comprised Messrs. P. V. Hickey, editor of the Catholic Review; Cornelius Dever, Thomas Carroll, Frank Curran, Frank Turnerand Mr. M. F.Holahan. Addresses were presented to Father Burke, on the deck of the City of Paris by Major P. M. Hav- ety, representing the New York delegations; P. V. Hickey, repre ane the Emerald Society, and by Rev. Father Kiely, in benalf of the Young Men's Catholic Association of St. James’ church, Brook- lyn. Father BuRKE responded with evident emotion, and said that such a heartfelt demonstration as this evidently has deprived him of the power to adequately express the feelings and emotions that were in his heart, He expressed the most sincere appreciation of and gratitude for the liberal, ever generous cordiality of his reception by the Ameri- can people and for the kind hearing they had everywhere extended te him, and he also desired to convey his warmest thanks to the people of his own race whom he had met for their evidences of attachment and regard, When he had concluded the reverend friar, with extended hands, made the sign of the cross over his assembled friends and gave them a benediction. In the grand saloon of the steamer a splendid collation faa been prepared for the entertainment of the goad friar and his friends, by direction of Mr. Dale, Agent of the Inman Company, and the whole company partook freely of this hospitably extended repast. About one o’clock the steamer cast off her moor- ings and paid out into the stream and soon headed her prow Erinward, Father Burke's friends having meanwhile re-embarked on board the Fletcher. As the City of Paris steamed down the Bay the Fletcher consorted her within easy distance, and together they passed out of the harbor through the Narrows, the crowds upon the decks of either vessel waving and cheering repeated adieus. In coreea ae of the rough weather and her great freignt of passengers, the Fletcher did not accom- pany the steamship as far as had been eoeey preety but returned to the city shortly before dark. LITERARY CHIT-CHAT. Mn. BEPWORTH Dixon's next book will be “The History of Two Queens—Catharine of Aragon, and Anne Boleyn.” Says THE LONDON Publishers’ Circular: We should as soon endure the “Grand Cyrus” over again as we shoud ‘Alice, or The Mysteries,” or even one of Disraeli’s aspiring political ro- mances. The key-note of Sulwer’s stirring, and ‘We will dare to say noble, aspirations was written by himself im one of his best plays, where we are told that “in the bright lexicon of youth there is no such word as fail.’ Alas! we are taken down many pegs from that high note. But in its time this high-fown romance did a great deal of good, and George Eliot's photographs of real life and Mr, Trollope’s prosaic repetitions of actual scemes may be much more true, but they are not half so Pleasant. We are sorry that the ae of the heartily romantic Scott, the purely romantic James and the more sophisticated but even more intensely roman- tic Lytton are entirely passed away. SPEAKING OF ToM Moore’s taste for biography and the number of memoirs he had composed, Rogers one day cynically observed, “—— Why, it 13 not safe to die while Moore's alive!” FRANCIS JOSEPH OF AUSTRIA Offers a prize of five thousand florins ($2,000) to the journalist who will write the best editorial on Austrian affairs in the German language. Said editorial is not to contain more than one thousand words. It is immaterial what political party the , Titer belongs to. The Vienna papers think that there will be several thousand competitors for the prize. Proressorn ASA GRAY, Of Harvard, is preparing a third volume of the series, “Botany tor the Young,” which now includes, “How Plants Live’ and “How Plants Behave.” Bisnop CoLenso’s Elementary Algebra has circu- lated 180,000 copies. Tur Historical Socisty of Berlin will this year begin the publication of @ quarterly historical magazine, StRauaNn & Co., of London, will publish ‘Selec, tions from the Writings of Rev. Charles Kingsiey,'’ “Men of the Third Reoubic,” reprinted, with eddi- Them; & Practical Application of the Science o1 Jurisprudence,” by Sheldon Amos, Tox FOLLOWING GERMAN weekly periodicals have the circulation aMxed to each:—Gartenlaube 320,000 copies; Dahetm, 110,000; Uustritte Zeitung, 48,000; Stuttgart Illustrated News, 125,000 copies; Kladderadatsch, 61,000 copies. Lorp ORMATHWAITE’s “Lessons of the French Revolution, 1789-1872," will be published by Bentley. PRESIDENT THIER'S library embraces 120,000 volumes, WALter Scorr’s accent was very broad. His friend Harness said he sometimes could not under- stand him without dificulty. One day when they had been talking of “Lucia di Lammermutr,"’ which had lately appeared, he changed the subject by ob- serving, “Weel, I think we've a’most had enow of that chie! CoLoneL T. W. Hiagrson has agreed to write for Lee & Shepard a “Child's History of the United States,” somewhat on the plan of Hawthorne's “Grandfather's Chair." A BuRLESQUE History of Napoleon IIL, illus- trated with numerous plain and colored illustra- tions, is to be published in 100 numbers at ten cen- times each, THe SECOND VoLUME of Kohler’s work on the Kindergarten system has been published at Weimar, THE ‘Bibliotheca Mathematica,” a systematic catalogue of allthe works published in Germany on arithmetic, algebra, analysis and geometry up to the year 1870, is out at Halle. Miss BRADDON has @ new work in the press which will be called “Milly Darrell.” 1t will ap- pear in February. Tue Edinburgh Courant has the following squib on Mr. Forster's “Life of Dickens:""— ‘Tis said that a man by his friendship is known, And the truth of the adage I’m willing to own, But that Forster translates it too closely, I’m 07 when he writes his own life as a memoir of Boz. DR, MACAULAY, whose work on America has won such golden opinions on both sides of the Atlantic, has another work, upon Ireland, in the press. Dr. Macaulay has a practised pen, having succeeded Mr. Jordan as editor of the Literary Gazette from 1850 to 1856, He is now editor of the Leisure Hour, Tue LONDON BookseWer laments that publishing in Ireland will shortly be regaraed as among the lostarts. Formerly Ireland had a good, active and receptive class of scholars, but now it nas little or no Uterature. The best [risn intellects are out of Treland. ART MATTERS. The Newest Studio Sensation—“St. An- drew Bearing His Cross.” The article in last Sunday’s HERALD in reference toa very old and valuable painting by Michael Angelo Caravaggio evoked a profound interest in scores of art connoisseurs and archmologists, and the result evinced itself in a more than usual influx of visitors to the atelier of Messrs. Church & Heade, in the Tenth street Studio Building, in which the work reposes. This stadio, by the way, is one of the most picturesquely attractive in this city. The walls are hidden by diversified works of art and various beautiful and tropic Knicknacks which these two distinguished painters have accumulated during their travels. Either Mr. Church or Mr. Heade 1s always to be discovered, and any one who has enjoyed the privilege of watching these gen- tlemen at work knows how finely the elaborations of their brushes are supplemented by their spoken views on art and the encourage- ment that is, and that is not, given to it. It is passing no slight upon their gifts’ and accomplishments, however, to acknowledge that the presence in their studio of an old painting by an acknowledged master has been a very powerful magnet during the past week. To the principal merits of the picture we have already referred. They are strong enough to be used in rebuttal of those who claim that the style of the naturalisti (to which school Caravaggio belonged) reflects savage passion and datk criminality exclusively and ex- promis the poetry of the repulsive alone. A pro- foundly religious sentiment is the keynote to this icture, the face of St. Andrew being that of a man whom all the dross of sensualism has been purged away in the fire that purifies the martyr into saint- ship. Accordingly it was of this work that Homig- man, the artist, said, after having studied and tested it:—‘The old oil painting of ‘St. Andrew Bearing the Cross’ deserves more than ordinary at- tention. It is not only Paenuing oll iting, but it is really the work of an old master, Only a master spirit is able to produce @ composition of such strength and force, while its technical execution and its free and easy handling of the brush show an artist of long years of practice.” What the his- tory of this interesting chef @a@uvre has been it were in vain to conjecture; but if the vicissitudes throu \: which it passed during the first two cen- turies after it left Goenfatle rid hands be any com- arison with those to which it has been subjected uring the last lustrum its record has been roman- tic and curious indeed. Surviving two conflagra- tions—those of Chicago and Boston—and for many ears in the possession of a family descended ‘om the celebrated Earl Godwin, its claims to public attention unite extremely unique and powerful artistic merit to the charm of tradition- ary romance and legitimately sensational episode. It will probably be on view for only a few days longer, as negotiations are already pending which, it 18 not unlikely, may result in placing it among a private collection or enshrining it in the sacred twilight of some church, where reverence for medieval art is one of the forms in which religion expresses itself. Constant Mayer’s New Picture. For some weeks Mr. Constant Mayer has been employed upon a picture to which he is now put- ting the final touches. It is to be entitled ‘“Home- less,” dnd represents a young girl standing alone, with clasped hands and eyes riveted in deep sad- ness, She is barefoot and otherwise scantily clad, and is at that dangerful age when virginal unripe- ness is about to mellow into young womanhood. The expression of the face and attitude justifies the title. We believe it was Mr. Mayer's intention to uso as the motto two or three lines from Hood's “Bridge of Sighs; but a wise reconsideration re- minded him that the very popularity of that poem was in this case a disadvantage, and that the taint upon the poor wail whom Hood so touchingly im- mortalizes would be attributed to the lonely but mot necessarily unchaste wanderer in ‘Homeless.’ The purity of Mr. Mayer's treatment is to be particularly admired; for while he has not so idolized the face as to present the bewildering paradox of an angel. in rags anda seraph with a torn chemise, he has not coarsened his conception by the presence of a single pru- rient accessory. The girl in ‘Homeless’ 1s not one with whom the observer is forced to connect the idea of impurity. If she falls we feel that it will be less from that amative “wandering of the eyes,” which is the indication ot a deeply sensual tem- perament, than from the mistaken impulses of a geneiew confiding but ignorant heart. The ten- ler bloom is still upon the fruit, which yet may be ripe for falling into the deforating hand. Happy use has been made of the means imagined by the artist for emphasizing the situation of the ge figure. The girl stands in shadow, on the outer side of a wall, beyond which glimpses are caught of handsome homesteads and peaceful scenery; but the contrast is not between wealth an verty, but between home anda homelesness. a8 Not ingnored so obvious a reflection as that happiness is not innate in brown stone and Fegaaery, and some of his accessories, therefore, indicate the simple enjoyments that no riches alone can secure, and that poverty, unless it be abject, is not generally a bar to the possession of. The work is about the size of “The Village Hampden,” which left the artist's easel a few months REO, and will take Les rank among the more pleasing in- stances of Mr. Mayer's delicacy of conception and ash ai treatment, and of that fine poetic apti- tude by which he expresses in a single figure a number of valuable thoughts and ennobling feel- ings that are the consequents of repeated observa- tions and @ wide generalization. Foreign Art Notes. The exhibition of water-color drawings in the Dudley Gallery opened February 3, M. 8, Colvin was elected, on January 28, Slade Professor of Fine Arts in Cambridge. The great stained glass window in the church choir at Belfort has been repaired. Jt had been in- jured by Prussian bombs. What was formerly known as Le Bidliophile Frangaisis now named La Chronique [Uustrée, MM. Bonnat and C. Lefebvre are about to repair their pictures in the Palais de Justice. Tne re- markable ceiling (painted by Bon Boulogne) in the Salle d'Assises of the old Palais is to be removed to the new building. Jules Marion’s ‘Monuments Celtiques,”’ an essay on the vitrified forts near Inverness, has been republished a8 @ separate volume, with inustrative etchings. Sir Richard Wallace has bought Count Nieu- werke’s celebrated collection of arms. At the Cercle de l'Union Artistique, in the Place Vendome, French pictures by living artists have been on view previous to going to the Vienna Ex- hibition. fer’s model for the Goethe monument at Mr. Sel Berlin has been accepted. The poet is represented standing. The monument is to be placed in the Thiergarten, with the face toward the KOnigs- ph Strasse. Florence will erect a monument Massimo d'Azcglio, ‘The San Francisco Minstrels close their season at the St. James Theatre with this weck, Mile, Jauneschek plays in the principal towns of New England in April under the management of Mr. Lowell. Mrs, Florence, now at the Convent of the St, Au- gustine Sisters, near Paris, has composed @ mass which was sung for the first time on Christmas Eve. “Alixe,” at the Fifth Avenue Theatre, is such a complete success that we may expect to hear Lucienne speak of the Juke for weeks and perhaps for months yet. A somewhat unusual feature of the audiences at Wallack’s last week was the attendance of “theat- rical parties.” One of them number sixty persons. After the play we understand it is customary for these parties to lunch and close with the dance. The matinée at the Union Square Theatre to-mor- row in ald of the St. Barnabas Home, under the management of Mr. Sheridan Shook, is to be an amateur performance of “Married Life’ and “Rough Diamonds,” the parts being taken by well- known ladies and gentlemen. A musical perform- ance wil] be given in the interlude by Mrs. John Terry, Mme. de Ryther, and Messrs. J. N. Pattison and G. W. Cooney, “Humpty Dumpty" did a large business at the Olympic last week. “One Hundred Years Old” at the Union Square drew full houses, and “David Garrick” at Wallack’s was exceedingly successful, the house being almost “sold up” for more than a week in advance. The duiness of the early part o¢ the season is no longer felt at any of the theatres of the city, though it is possible some of the managers are regarding the approach of Lent with feelings of no great religious fervor. The success of “Leo and Lotos"’ at Niblo’s ts one of those things which confound criticism and con- fute predictions. It has no humor, and yet it amuses. It shows nothing but scenery, the ballet and the circus business, and yet it draws. “How long 1s this confounded plece going to run” said the Black Crook to Harry Palmer. ‘‘A year or two more,” answered Harry. We might suppose the same thing would prove true of “Leo and Lotos,"" judging from its past success. The death of A. W. Fenno, of Booth’s Theatre, was a singularly easy passage from this world to the world beyond. Like an actor changing his parta he changed from mortality to immortality ina moment, Sitting in his chair in an attitude so easy as to show he was not expecting death, he expired without knowing that he was dying. At noon he was in full life, and at night “hunted down” to life’s certain end, Mr. Fenno’s part of Mr. Gibson, in “The Ticket-of-Leave Man," is now played by Mr. Rhyner. Next Saturday evening Mr. Florence will have Played the part of Bob Brierly,in the “Ticket of Leave Man,” 1,060 times. His success at Booth’s has been very great, and he plays to a full house every night. After the run of the piece, which 1s in its last week, he appears as Jules Obenreizer, the Swiss, in “No Thoroughfare,” a part which is among his best. Among the funny things which are told of “The Ticket-of-Leave Man,” we hear that clergymen commend it as better than a ser- mon and bankers and merchants prefer it to a burglar-proof safe, The new piece at the Grand Opera House hada very prosperous first week. It has improved since the first night, and the transformation scene at the close now works charmingly. This scene, which represents the four seasons, is a very fine one. It is poetic in conception, and satisfies the understanding as well as the imagination. Of the play itself we have already spoken at considerable length, and it is not of it that we nave anything to say at this time, but of the class of entertainment to which “Round the Clock” and “Roughing It’’ are-the in- troduction. We may cal! them rubbish, if we will, but all the events which are daily happening about us are mere rubbish in many eyes—things seem- ingly unworthy of a world which God made. Yet the best of men and women are constantly doing Indicrous things. The gravest duties of life have their humorous side, Even devotion to art be- comes Tidiculoug, The expression of these things on the stage is Worthy of encouragement. Until these attempts ét the Grand Opera House anything that was done in this way was by means of what we have been in the habit of calling burlesque, The stories of ancient mythology, the tales of the Arabian Nights, the myths of the Mid- dle Ages, were the staple of this kind of amuse- ment. Hector and Priam, Ali Babi and the Cap- tain of the Forty Thieves, Heloise and Abelard were made to talk bombastic nonsense about the Boss and Andy Garvey. There was no wit in it and nothing that could be called acting. The change, of which “Roughing It’’ is only the begin- ning, Opens the way for both wit and acting. Mrs. John Wood shows how much there is that is exqui- site even in the germ. She makes of Antonietta Macduffie a veritable creation. She depicts the average American girl with rare humor, and touches with singular fidelity the exact border of the real and the extravagant, blending them so finely that it is impossible to tell where one begins and the Other ends. Her only fault is that she does not make Antonietta sufficiently ‘a lady.” If she were a little more real she would be the more exquisitely extravagant, for it is upon these that this class of entertainment depends for suc- cess, The following letter from Wachtel to his former business agent in this country sets at rest all speculations in regard to the coming of the great tenor to this country once more :— My Dear Mr. RapEN—While I deeply regret not having had the time to write before, my spare time being much more limited than when I was in America, and each year becoming more so, yet I can find sufficient to pen a few lines in answer to ‘our kind note, and to state that I am not engaged by Neuendorff or any one else to go to America; but that, on the contrary, I have written to Neuen- dorff direct, intorming him that I had determined I would not again make a journey across the Atlan- tic Ocean, principally for these reasons :— First—that there exists no necessity for my so doing, inasmuch as I can optain all the engage- ments I want here, and if I will only sing I shall be received with open arms and general applause at every theatre I enter, i—That I will not vex myself by engaging to travel with such a troupe again, In leaving the “musical agent,’’ my dear Raden, say for me that it appears that Mr. M. Cohn has made something with the Lucca guarantee this year, or expects te make something, and therefore he thinks he can trot you out with Wachtel and Lucca. Is this not so? You write me that the “star’’ had been taken up; better have said it was against her. How much money must this Mr. M. Cohn expect to spend atthe outset? How much money can he expect to make if he has Lucca, Wachtel and two such other Repo to pay? How is Wachtel and dear Rosa to be paid? 1am certainly pleased to learn that the name of Wachtel has leit so favorable an impression behind and that such @ combination as that proposed under Rosa’s direction might be 80 easily made successful, My principal en; ments are arranged. I starton the 26th of January, and continue travelling until the end of fie) singing at the fol- lowing places—viz., Carisruhe. Coburg, Bremen, Leipzig and Cologne. In May I shall probably be at home, unless they will make me “caper” at the Vienna International Exhibition. But Wachtel is too dear! “Leben Sie Wohl’ is the hearty ex- eet of myself and wife. Your esteemed ‘tend, 3 TH. WACHTEL, JANUARY 22, 1873, THE ARKANSAS EXCITEMENT, Litre Roo, Ark., Feb. 22, 1873, News from Pope county reports that there are lair prospects of the recovery of Sheriff Dodson, who was shot before ye irda: BROOKLYN POST OFFICE, Postmaster Booth, acting for the government, is about to lease the building now occupied as the Post Office, on Washington street, for anotner term of five years, from May 1. It is proposed te enlarge the building by the erection of an extension thirty- two feet in depth in the rear, The cost will be less than five thousand dollars, During the last quarter of 1869 there Were 569,036 letters, while auring the same months of 1872 the number reached 1,11 aes It must, however, be taken into consideration that the progress of a Presidential election canvass had much to do with augmenting the cee of the Mail bags.” Valentines to the number ef 20,000 Bien Ga ith oe Bete Some ae Bue e and 15th of the present ber of valentines inst year 1d was 15,000. The ntal now paid is ; under the new Tent it wilt be $600. Tt has Seen proposed that be somatt the vacant ee on the east side o1 ie f ite for the erection of # new ice 0) as A Extend the Goure over part of the ground after the manner of trussed fowls, Concerning Private Theatricals. “All the world’s a stage” at this stage of the world, “and all the men and women merely Players.” The number of dramatis persone atrut- ting about in society is truly alarming, and to an inquiring mind the question naturally arises where actors are to end and audiences begin. No amuse- ment now in vogue appeals so largely to intellect, taste, grace and refinement as private theatricals. Its universal adoption denotes social aspirations beyond the ballroom, for even fashion requires & certain amount of mental stimulus when compati- ble with external gorgcousness, Thus general s0- ciety raises itself to a somewhat higher level, ex- treme fashion is preserved from drivelling inanity and really clever people develop their talents to their own and the andience’s satisfaction. But Americans are not actors by nature. Superior in this respect to the English, who are less imitative and more awkward, we are vastly inferior to the French and Italians, Indeed, it was not until the introduction of private the- atricals that we learned America’s deficiency in ladies and gentlemen s0 far as breeding is con- cerned, and breeding is to the man what polish is to the diamond, In trying to be distinguished men and'women of “position” give the impression of coachmen and chambermaids. Base coin is readily detected on that stage which truly holds the mirror up to nature. Most observable is the absence of tone, and the voice, that organ by which gentility ts most quickly gauged, is fre- quently vulgar or pitched in the key of the wretched American twang. Little care is given to Pronunciation, and the English often spoken would send Lindley Murray to his grave were he not already “salely stowed.” Our standard is so low that few know how, or, knowing, take the pains to speak English purely. Amateurs should pay more attention to this very important part of their business. Acting is a good school wherein to cultivate those graces of manner and movement in which Americans are sadly deficient. We belong to the class that believe the senses were given for enjoy- ment a discretion; that the eyes were not intended to be mortified; that in the original plan nature designed mankind to be pleasing, and Hogarth’s line of beauty to reign supreme. In enthusiastic moments we believe there is poetry of motion which does not mean the saltations of French dancing, but we find few examples of it 1n private life. If human beings were reduced to éorsos their chances of comfort in society would be greatly en- hanced. At present they seem to. be suf- fering under an eclipse of extremities. Arms and legs are always in the way. They are treated by their unhappy posses- sors as necessary evils, as species of fungi or unnatural outgrowths, rather than as members of utility and beauty. Arms seem to be the especial bétes noires of both men and women; either they describe an acute angle sharp enough to defy Betsy Trotwood or they are pinned to the sides A dignified bearing and firm walk are rarer than Congressional honesty. The great panorama of Broadway sel- dom furnishes an example of a woman who carries herself properly. She hitches in her gals, or shuf- fles, or turng in one foot, or sways her ‘dress, or alks as if constructed in two parts, the waist eing the connecting link, Time and attention alone are necessary to overcome these flagrant de- fects, Venus was not fully herself without her at- tendant graces, and it would be well for American women, Who are attractive in many ways, to take lessons of this goddess, Everything that tends to beautify life is worth learning, As personal defl- ciences are nowhere so easily detected as on the stage, it is to be hoped that amateurs who have no love ior art per se may cultivate it, if for no grander motive than vanity. The defects we specify are not those fair ones “that best conciliate love” or admiration. A grievous lack of judgment in the selection of plays is the prominent characteristic of ordinary rivate theatricals. Assuming amateurs to be ies and gentlemen it is natural to suppose that their selections would be adapted to the drawing room. Facts demonstrate the reverse of this hypothesis, the rule being to choose the most dif- cult of old English comedies or the most artistic of French translations, Parlor pieces, of which the French stage offers many charming examples, are pertinaciously ignored. The “Proverbes” of the Théatre Frangais need little alteration to fit them for private representation. To drag such lays as “London Assurance,’ ‘The School for Seanaal,” “She Stoops to Conquer,” &c., into the salon is a8 presumptuous as it is out of place; yet the error is frequently committed, ‘he offensiveness of portions of these comedies is unquestioned, As relics, as photographs, more or less correct, of past manners, they interest. ‘Ihe public goes to see them as it goes to see cer- tain old pictures in European galleries, which are greatly admired on artistic grounds, but do not create a desire to hang them upin libraries and boudoirs. How amateurs,-with any pretensions to fastidiousness, can so violate good taste 1s one of the modern mysteries. i Another classic in high repute is ‘The Rivals.” In its modern stage dress this threadbare comedy becomes tolerable, but in private, where Herod is systematically outheroded and unities rarely cen- sulted, Sheridan is given in all his length and breadth, and spectators are dosed ad nauseam with the sickly sentimentality of Julia and Falkland. There are no theatrical nuisances comparable with these two characters. Still another favorite is “The Honeymoon,” a fine play—for artists. Amateurs dash headlong into the “leading busi- ness” with an assurance amounting to sublimity, and were Pope now alive he would modify his couplet, rendering it thus:— A man must serve his time at every trade Save acting—actors allare ready made. So ambitious are most histrionic fedglings that none can be found to inform my lord the carriage waits. We have known private managers to appeal vainly and despairingly for supernumeraries while Claude Melnottes by scores stood near. Soon it will become necessary to write plays especially for private theatricals, with all the parts equally od, equaily heroic, and ail attendants abolished. the volunteer’s hankering after a brigadier gen- eralship is no greater than the amateur’s yearning to be hero and heroine ip one. Egotism is the Scylla ‘tnd Charybdis of private theatricals, The unwise, unmerited flattery of friends produces most baneful effects. er: ordinary Julianas and Duke Aranzas are talke into believing themselves equal to the Kembles, and the great god “I Am” is worshipped with a fanaticism worthy of a nobler deity. japerior to teaching, they look down from their Olympian heights on professional actors and deign to criti- cise public performances in the meek and lowly spirit of ‘Iam holier than thou.” Oczasionally, when grown too great for private amusement, the amateur treads the boards in earnest; quickly im- partial crittes stick pins into the human balloon, and tremendous is the explosion thereof. It is but @ repetition of the old fable, wherein the frog came to lef by emulating the size of his burly neighbor, the ox. But, in spite of Scylla and Rite bel private theatricals are productive of more good than evil, and far greater advantage may be derived from an elegant amusement when common sense enters into its management. Meanwhile let amateurs re- memoer that acting is a noble art, not to be toyed eu Lael to be undertaken in all earnestness; that it tool Ts are not the peers of ard-working genius, and that it is not well for them to be wise in their own conceit, though such ignorance be temporary bliss, FREE LANCE, NATIONAL GUARD NOTES, Regimental and company drills in almost all the commands have been rather poorly attended thus far this season. Of course the severity of the weather has done something in deterring the brave soldiers from leaving the cosey firesides to tramp to the armories, but unless the officers bestir themselves and enforce the necessary discipline the fine weather will find a badly demoralized Na- tional Guard in this city. The question of consolidating regiments whose membership falls below the minimum is again broached, and Inspector General Morris is now actively engaged in examining the rolls of the va- rious commands eee ‘will, andoubtedly, draw the reins over them pi tigh' € 1 Conkling), is said to The Bighty-fourth (Colonel 0 ie), A Bd idly; also the First Boceres) saa the Widdy-sixth (Colonel Krehbiel), and if a movement for the better does not take place very soon they will be scarcely worthy the aesigna- tt 1 seenen and Twenty-second are doing better than the other regiments in the way of keeping up rahi} tae Told Guard’? intend to cut adasn at the in- auguration, The commander, Major G. W. McLean, we this city on the 3d for Washington, ani will put neat Willard’s, where quarters have been secured. The bear skin hats and white coats—if the weather be fine enough to warrant the discard- ing of overcoats—will undoubtedly captivate the Washingtonians. Private B. Gurney will have his whiskers trimmed up in most excruciating style. Colonel Spencer, in full uniform, with that helmet, at the head of his noble Teutons, and Quartermaster Nicholas O'Connor, with their os will figure at the inauguration. Their warlike ng and social beer-| will, no doubt, secure for them a hearty reception, The Nilson Hall Armory question will poe end in the court martialling of Colonel Frank Sterry, of the Sixth. General Funk does not in- tend to be quiet on the mg and Colonel Charles W. Brooke, his counsel, has studied up the case, and, Enowing the law, will make the matter up- Dleagant, youthiy Sterry. “CIVILIZED IRISHMEN.” Richelieu Robinson in Reply to Professor John W. Draper—What ‘We’ Can show Tyn- dall—Draper’s Good Taste and Accuracy Questioned. BROOKLYN, Feb. 11, 1873. ‘Fo Professor Joun W. Drarer:— Drak Sin—In your speech at the dinner given to Professor John Tyndall, on Tuesday evening tast, you are reported to have said:— Another friend of mine, Mr. Froude, has set us all talking about Ireland, We can show Dr. Tyn- dail how to take the Irish emigrant, im his corduroy knee-breeches, and smashed-down hat, and his shillelah in hig fist, and, in @ generation or go, turn him into an ernament of professional life, make him a successful merchant, or familiarize him with all the amenities of civilized society, Who are the “us” and ‘we’ you mention ? I pre- sume you refer to the American people; and, as you can’t mean the Indians, you must refer to the descendants of immigrants, for the entire people of the United States, except tie Indians, are tinmi- grants, or their descendants. You seem to infer that Englishmen and their descendants alone are “us” and “we, who can work such wonderfut chemical changes on the raw material of other races in the alembic of American society. I dispute the right and the ability of the English element here to make such experiments or work such wonders on the superior Irish and German races, who were more friendly than tne English to the Revolution, which made us a nation, and are superior to them in numbers and at least equal in intellect, It ia over twenty years ago since I tried, 1 think successfully, at Hamilton College, before the Psi Upsilon Convention, to show that THE IRISH ELEMENT was the strongest and the Anglo Saxon the weakest in the United States. That oration was quoted or criticised in many publications of this country and Europe, and tne claims for Irish superiority then made have grown stronger in the light of truth. Nearly twenty years ago Professor Louis Schade de- moustrated, from the United States census statistica of 1850, that the surplus growth of our white popula- tion was due to the immigrants who came since 1790. A report from the Committee on Foreign Re- lations to the House of Representatives in 1868, shows that about two-thirds of our population are children of immigrants arriving since 1790, There is probably not one percent of our population living to-day without the preserving blood of immigrants of the presen century, which have been overwhelmingly Irish. I doubt whether there are any living de- scendants of the Plymouth and Jamestown colonies without mixture of Immigrant blood, Lam satisied thatthe descendants of the Plymouth colony are not so numerous to-day as those of the Irish colony of Londonderry, mm New Hampshire. More of the American people now land, or have landed for the last twenty years, at Castle Garden in a single - hour than the entire colonies of Plymouth and Jamestown, and all their posterity and increase for a hundred years, Our last census statistics show that more than one-fourth of our entire popu- lation is born of foreign parents. Probably three- fourths of the American people are children or grandchildren of irish and German immigrants, and more than one-half of our total population are more or less Irish, notwithstanding Froude’s bold assertion and Father Burke’s too modest reply. I might justify my assertions by reference to Clib- borne, Kapp, Carlier, Knox and other authorities; but enough has been said to show the absurdity of the weaker race attempting to chaperon the superior, MATCH THEM! Can you show services from any other race ren dered to the United States equal to those rendered Fe Irishmen? It was an Irishman from Maghera, Charles Thompson, who was the guiding spirit of the Congress and Convention that adopted our Declaration of Independence and framed our con- stitution. It was an lrishman’s son from Wexford, John Nixon, that first read the Declaration of In- dependence in public to the people in Indepen- dence square; it was an Irishman from Tyrone, John Dunlap, that first printed and published that Declaration. It was an Irishman, this same John Dunlap, that published the first datly paper printed in the United states. It was an Irishman from Donegal, General Richard Montgomery, that first fell while commanding an army fighting for our independence. it was an Irishman from Wexford, John Barry, who was first commodore of the American Navy. It was an Irisuman’s son, General Henry Knox, that fought in every battle in which Washington was engaged, and was first Secretary of War. It was an Irishman that wrote the first history of the+ United States. It was av Irishman’s son, Robert Fulton, that gave America the credit of inventin, steam navigation, It was an Irishman’s grand- son (Samuel Finlay Breese Morse) that invented telegraphy. It was the descendant of an Irish- man (McCormick) that invented the reaping and mowing machines, and another descendant of an Trish emigrant (Horace Greeley) with a smashed down hat and breeches no better than corduroy: that “founded the Tribune.” It was Irishmen ant their sons, in Philadelphia, merchants and sol- diers, heroes and patriots, who in the darkest hours of the Revolution, when the English element were rejoicing over the disasters of Wash- ington and his army that gave their money and their swords to the cause which, without them, might have been lost, They were mostly members of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, a society then ara | in Philadelphia. General Stephen Moylan, of Cork, and his three brothers, George Meade, one of whose descendants commanded and conquered at Gettysburg: Matthew Mease, who fought with Paul Jones on the Bonhomme Richard, and his brothers; Thomas Fitzsimmons, one of the framers of the constitution; John M. Nesbitt, whose timely efforts in sending provisions saved Washington's army from starvation; Thomas Bar- clay, who gave £5,000 sterling for the relief of Washington’s army; Blair McClenaghan, who gave £10,000; John Barclay, afterwards Mayor of Phil: deiphia; Colonel Ephraim Blaine, John Bleakly, a wealthy citizen and public benefactor; General Richard Butler and his four brothers; Robert Gray, of Gray’s Ferry; Captain John Green, who com manded the first American vessel sailiug to China; General Edward Hand, who was calied THE RIGHT-HAND MAN OF WASHINGTON; General William Irvine, George Latimer, Speaker of the Pennsy}vania Assembly; James Logan, son of the confidential friend and adviser of William Penn; Colonel Francis Nichols, whom Washington appointed first Marshal of the District of Pennsyl- vania; Oliver Pollock, who secured a timely supply of gunpowder to Washington; General ‘Thomas Robinson, General Walter Stewart, “The Boy Colonel;’ General William Thompson, General Anthony Wayne. All these and many more who contribnted liberally in money and service to the cause of Washington were members of this same Irish society (ae Friendly Sons of St. Patrick), composed exclusively of Irishmen and their sons, and of which Washington himself was member, becoming @ naturalized or adopted Irishman, to qualify him for membership. These Irishmen were among the most refined and elegant gentle- men with whom Washington associated in Phila- detphia, whose population even then was very largely Irish. As early as 1728 nine-tenths of the immigrants to that province were Irish. It was Much the same in Virginia, in the Carolinas, in New York and in New England. These men and thousands of others whom I might mention might have set you talking about Ireland if Froude, who is probably himself an Irishman, had never troubled us with his inanities nor conspired agai the truth of history in the interests of despotism. But think, my dear Professor, of your surround- ings when you made this speech, ‘AT THE TABLE WITH YOU WERE TWO JUDGES, and being 4 Did you see any smashed hat or shillelah over their corduroy: ‘ou may. have met James T. Brady or Charles O’Conor or David Gra- ham. It you say that it took a generation or so to turn them into ornaments I beg to say that you had only to look 4 the avenue five blocks and you would find the pastor of the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian church (Dr, Hall), who is scarcely yet long enough here from Ireland to t naturalized, yet he does not require mach te ‘urn him into an ornament of professional life! If you should go further up the avenue you would pass the house of an Irishman (Mr. A. T. Stewart) iv rundown Broadway you could not help seeing two of his stores. It does not require a generation or so to familiarize him with the ameni- ties of civilized society! Ireland i ones children like Sir Hans Sloane, Joseph Black, Edmund Burke, Richard Brinsley sheridan, Thomas Moore, Daniel O'Connell, Oliver Goldsmith, Dean Swift—some of them sons of peasants, yet not iste val even one generation to fit them for society as refined as our own, 1 have many otner names connected with America crowding upon me for mention—Bishop Berkeley, Crawford, the sculptor; Vincent Wallace, the composer—eminent writers, editors, pro- fessors, merchants, lawyers, physicians, orators, statesmen, soldiers; the highest but one in rank in our army (Sheridan), whose parents came to this country but a Mg aged time before he was born, and the second command of our navy (Rowan) is a native of Ireland, as the first in com- =“ . boohe Smee of an Irishman, jut I must confine myself to one single observa. tion more. Is it possible that you forget that your guest, John Tyndall, is himseif an Irishman, bora of worthy and humble parents, on the banks of the Barrow, at Leighiin Bridge, in the county of Car- low, and whose family there are now probabil wearing their corduroy knee-breeches, it not wi mashed hats and shidelahs? Did it requir P ‘ation or so to fit this Irish emi nt fOr yrores. sional life or familiarize him with the ameni! ot vijized society? Very respectfully, W. B. ROBINSON,