Springfield weekly Republican. [volume], January 08, 1914, Page 6, Image 6

About Springfield weekly Republican. [volume] (Springfield, Mass.) 1851-1946

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6
OF MUSIC AND MUSICIANS
NEWS. CRITICISMS, NOTIONS
EVOLUTION OF THE DANCE
Ernest Newman Says That to Reach
Perfection the Dance Has
Dissolved Partnership with
Words and With Physical
Movement.
An article by Ernest Newman entitled
“Evolution of the dance” appeared in a
1 erent issue of Musical America, har
ing been published by courtesy of Harold
Bauer, for whom tbe article was written.
This essay was inspired by Mr Bauer s
unique program of dance music, to be
given for the first time in New lork at
his recital on the 11th, and is designed
to show the relationship between music
and the dance. It will appear on the pro
gram of this recital, but will have a
general interest for music lovers.
Mr Newman writes: As the most purely
physical form of self-expression, dancing
is almost as ancient as humanity itself:
it almost seems, indeed, as if certain ani
mals indulge in a rudimentary kind of
dancing. And as in all eases in which the
tnedium of expression is limited, the dance,
in primitive times, was made to fulfil of
itself a number of functions that in later
davs became separate. It is well known
that races that have not developea a system
of harmony cultivate melody with the
more thoroughness and project it into
form far more richly tloreate than those
harmonic music needs to use. Similarly,
when rhythm pure and simple is the main
outlet for feeling it is put to uses of
which civilized man. with his specializing
habits, has little notion. Any ordinary
citizen would find it very hard, for ex
ample, to express his grief by means of
a dance: the expression of emotion of this
kind has become specialized for us in words
or music. But in more primitive times
the dance covered a far wider are of
human life. Like all the arts, in the proc
ess of the ages it has ceased to be utili
tarian. and indeed the loss in direct utility
has been a necessary condition of purely
esthetic progress. Only when beauty is
worshipped for its own sake does it come
to its perfect flower.
Architecture may at first sight seem to
be a contradiction of this. But the purely
utilitarian function of a building—the keep
ing out of bad weather and the provision
of storing spaces for food and clothes and
furniture —would be as well performed by
four hare walls and a roof as by the di
vinest of our cathedrals or the most sump
tuously decorative of our palaces. All over
and above this that man lavishes upon
his buildings is simply the rapturous cry
of his heart for beauty for her own sake.
To-day we meet in our concert rooms
and theaters to share in a purely ideal
sense in the evolutions of the dance or the
joys and sorrows of our kind. The actual
dance too has become an idealized form of
activity in that we pursue it only for the
pure joy it can give us. But for primitive
man the dance was for long a serviceable
rather titan an ideal thing. In the days
before either speech or music had attained
any great range of freedom it was in the
dance that man strove to make himself
articulate to his fellow-men and to the
gods. Many dances had their origin in
what modern anthropologists call sympa
thetic magic; the savage hopes to induce
a desired event —such as the death of an
enemy or the cdming of the harvest—by a
mimetic representation of it. Even the
religious dance must have been originally
utilitarian: its purpose was to cajole the
Great Spirit into granting a favor or with
holding an injury. It was because the
dance was first used for practical purposes
that it assumed among savages such a
great variety of forms. War dances, veg
etation dances, funeral dances, resurrection
dances, devil dances, reconciliation dances,
initiatory dances, rain dances, sun dances
—these are but a tithe of the forms that
the dance takes among the most primitive
races.
to-day is less intent upon the religious
well en the way toward the liberation of
may have been conscious of the religious
symbolism underlying the dance the dom-
By the time we reached the religious or
the dance from utilitarian servitude. For
just as the. singer or orchestral player of
however deeply the priests and assistants
ritual dances of civilized antiquity we are
»ne of delight in the dance as a dance—
uaaq eaaq jsnm ’sqnnp ano ‘Suqaaj taunt
bearings of sacred music than upon the
beauty of it purely as music. And so in
process of time the dance ceases to serve
any purpose other than that of making
clad the heart of man by the sheer beauty
of its evolutions and the pure joy of the
outpouring of physical energy. The old
religious dance apparently survives no
where now in Europe except in the cathe
dral of Seville. It is a pity, in many ways,
that the Christian church in general, in
the Middle Ages, came to adopt a more
and more hostile attitude toward danc
ing, partly because of its pagan associ
ations. partly because of the excesses it
often led to among the people. For the
religious dance of Christianity could have
.been made as divinely beautiful as the
religious dances of ancient Greece —a sin
cere and beautiful expression of adoration
of the Creator, who may he imagined to
find joy in the approach of his creatures
to perfection.
Is there not something fundamentally
religious in the harmony of body and soul
that the dancer attains? Is not Nijinsky’s
body, in the last resort, a better hymn of
praise than all the pious platitudes of the
oratorio writers?
But before the dance could reach its
ideal perfection it had not only to rid itself
of all utilitarian suggestions, but to dis
solve partnership Imth with words and
With physical movement. Probably all
ettrly dances were combined with singing.
The connection of the primitive poetic
rhapsody with a sort of ball play is shown
in the word "ballad." and in our modern
name —"a ball"—for an assembly of dan
cers. To win its ideal freedom the music
of the dam e had to cease to be either sung
or m-ted. It was in the 16th century that
composers everywhere began enthusiasti
cally cultivating the dance forms for their
purely musical possibilities. Dances were
grouped into suites, and the command over
technical and expressive resources acquired
through these made it possible, in time,
for composers to launch themsetvee upon
the wider sea of the sonata and the
symphony. Even the symphony of to-day,
with its division into four or five move
ments. suggests visibly its kinship with the
older suites, while the modern scherzo is
a direct development from the minuet and
trio of the 18th century symphony, which
in turn came from the light dance move
ments always inserted in the suite between
the slow sarabande and the roystering
glgue that constituted the finale
But the ending vitality of the dance is
shown most coßvincipgly by the way in
which practically all the great composers
have turned back to it even after its work
in assisting the historical development of
the symphony was done. The gravest of
them have found in it an outlet for lovely
music that must otherwise have remained
unsung. They have used it as a sort of
chapel of ease; and one may hazard the
Suess that some of the simple services in
these r-hapela will linger in the memory of
wan long after some of the more imposing
ceremonials in the parent church have been
forgotten. There may possibly come a
time when Brahms’s symphonies will mean
no more to mankind than the Bible son-
! ares of Kuhnau; but it is impossioie to
j imagine a time when his waltzes shall
: have ceased to charm. Can it be that in
the course of the ages the greater musical
: forms are doomed to perish one bj one.
• like the larger fauna, and that it is the
> smaller forms, the song and the dance, that
I will inherit the earth’.' The proposition is
i at least arguable: and, if there is any truth
iin it the composers are wise in resting
I these perfect little things that will serve
i to keep their memory alive when every-
I thing else they have done may be forgot
| ten. The Koh-i-noor will survive the
I Taj Mahal. Composers seem to hare a wise
1 instinct in this matter: even Behemoth
I Reger has condescended to trip it on the
i irelatively) light fantastic toe.
Whatever mortality may lie in store for
s he rest of music, the dance can never
grow old; here if anywhere, man sees him
self in his ideal aspect, unvexed by dis
eases of the soul and body, in his rhythmic
joyousness one with the rhythmic soul of
the world. It is because of this sense of
release of life that it gives that composers
and hearers turn to it with endless delight.
। Well might old Timocrates say. after wit
nessing some dancers. “What exquisite
enjoyment is this 1 have so long sacrificed
to the false pride of philosophy r“ He
was right. The dance, as Nietzsche saw.
is in the end wiser than philosophy and
truer than science.
THE SPRINGFIELD SYMPHONY.
Mozart. Beethoven and Wasner Well
Played by the Amateur Organiza
tion-—I. mberto Sorrentino the So
loist.
The Springfield symphony orchestra, con
ducted by Emil K. Janser, gave one of
the best concerts it has yet presented Mon
day evening in the Auditorium. The soloist
was Umberto Sorrentino, tenor. The or
chestral program included Mozart's “Magic
Flute” overture, the prelude to Wagner's
"Lohengrin.” and the andante from Bee
thoven's fifth symphony for its more clas
sical numbers, and for light relief a pretty
"Maerchen” for strings by Komzuk and a
gay "Spanish Suite” by Tavau-Marehetti.
To close, there was the sonorous "Pomp
and Circumstance” overture by Elgar.
The orchestra now numbers about 50,
with a good balance of parts, and the skill
of the individual players, as well as the
ensemble, has been steadily improving.
The maintenance year after year of such
'an amateur body of musicians has meant
much to the city, and it deserves cordial
support. It has helped to build up a taste
for orchestral music and has been a valu
able training school for young players,
while not a few professionals have been
glad to take part for the sake of the
chance to study the standard symphonies
and other orchestral works. Beginning in a
small way more than a decade ago. under
Mr Janser's direction, as a little club of
players, with a piano to till in the missing
parts, it has gradually brought together
the amateurs of the city and added younger
players as they became ready, until the
present large and flourishing organization
was evolved. It does not give many con
certs, for the time for preparation is lim
ited. but when it does appear in public, it
is after thorough rehearsal, and the stand
ard of performance is steadily raised.
On the whole, the best thing Monday
was the favorite andante by Beethoven,
one of the most beautiful of symphonic
movements, and difficult to play well. The
ending might have been more impressive
by contrast and shading, but aside from
this there was little to find fault with,
and the graceful flowing figures of the
variations were played smoothly and taste
fully aud with good quality of tone.
Unfortunately the singer, Umbesto Sor
rentino, of whom much was expected, was
not able to do himself full justice. On the
previous day he had suffered an accident
which not only prevented him from comiug
in time for a rehearsal, but did not leave
him in the best condition for singing. Un
der the circumstances an appraisal is not
possible.
Dippel’s Liaht Opera Project.
Andreas Dippel, having retired from the
management of the Chicago opera com
pany, has devoted himself to the produc
tion of light operas. A repertoire is to be
given by the Dippel opera comique com
pany in New York city, beginning next
fall at. a theater yet to be announced, in
the New York Times. Mr Dippel is quoted
as follows "Though I expect to produce
novelties written by American composers,
it is my principal intention to form a
repertory of an entirely international char
acter, and for this purpose I Lave so far
acquired the following novelties by inter
national composers: 'Barbara,' by Oscar
Nedbal (Bohemian); 'La Keginetta delle
Rose’ t"The Queen of Hoses"), by It.
Leoncavallo (Italian): The Purple Dom
ino.’ by Charles Cuvillier (French); The
Dancing Princess," by Leo Ascher (Ger
man). and ’Beglaja,’ by N. N. Ewreinow
(Russian). The well-known French com
poser. Claude Terrass", is writing a spe
cial opera for me, and options ou new
operettas by Franz Lehar, Stranes and
others have been secured. The season will
run for a continuous period of eight
months and the operas will be sung in
English, with the exception of one month
in the spring of 1915. when elaborate re
vivals. such as 'La Belle Helene.’ ’Orphee
aux Enters.' 'Le Petit Duc.’ ‘La Grknde
Duchesse.’ ’La Jolie Parfumeuse.’ etc.,
with prominent French artists, are con
templated. The company is to be organ
ized with a capital stock of s2uO,t)oo, a
considerable part of which has already
been subscribed by my personal friends
and patrons."
Canto and Nedda.
Mr Fontana gave a notable perform
ance of Canio in "Pagliacci” at the Bos
ton opera house on the 29th nit. Philip Hale
said: "There are tenors—and Mr Caruso
is among them—to whom 'Pagliacci' is only
a noisy entrance on the donkey cart and
a gigantic sob at the end of the first act;
but Mr Fontana does not rely solely upon
the one set song, emotional and artistic as
was Iris delivery of it. His impersonation
was one of sustained power from beginning
to end. without a touch of exaggeration,
without consciousness of an audience. His
facial expression and his tonal coloring
during the scene with the two villagers
should alone have provoked a storm of
applause. Such exhibitions of oiwratic
art are rare on any stage. Ou the same
occasion Alice Nelson sang Nedda. Mr
Hale said that the part of Nedda was
not “one of those most favorable to ner.”
He said further: “She was not wholly
’in voice' but her. action in the piay with
in a play was more spirited than it has
been in the past, and the sudden terror
of Nedda when she realized the inevitable
end was skilfully portrayed. Nedda is usu
ally represented as a lionnet-headed co
quet. Only one woman, to our knowl
edge. Miss Geraldine Farrar, has shown
us a girl of native coarseness, a reckless,
sensual creature. Miss Farrar played the
part in the manner of Mimi Aguglia in a
Sicilian peasant drama."
With one-third of its season already be
hind it. the Boston opera ■,», ~n y an
nounces the repertoire for is fevrnth
week. No new opera is to ic rrcSHiucd.
but the repetitions of the five urillim-t and
popular works that are scheduled m ex
pected to find favor with the public, it
is opportune at this time to calf attention
to the. fact that the attec»ss of the LocUm
opera company is one rather of ensemble
and perfect coordinitidfi < ' facial's than
of particular stars. It ha- always be.u
Director Russell's aim to ;»■ - nt an opera
as a complete work of art io itself, worthy
of presentation for its own antic instead
of making it merely a vehicle for brim. Ing
some prominent artist before the public.
The seventh week opened with a repeti
tion of Puccini’s “La Bobeme," on Mon
d«y
THE SPRINGFIELD WEEKLY REPUBLICAN: THURSDAY, JANUARY 8. 1914:
A LITERARY JOURNAL OF 1795'
SOME EARLY NEW ENGLAND WITS .
Contributors to the Short-Lived Tab
let and to the \ew Hampshire and
Vermont Journal anti Farmer’s Mu- •
seum.
[Written by Charles H. Rarrows for The i
Republican!
There has lately come to hand a volume j
of a magazine published in 1795 which •
may he called the Atlantic Monthly of its ;
day; Atlantic Monthly because, published j
in Boston, it was in its time, as the At
lantic is to-day, the only magazine given ’
i » belle lettres. Its full title is "The Tab- i
let, a Miscellaneous Paper devoted to the ’
Belle Lettren.” Each number consists of '
four pagrs quarto and yet. although its
motto was Shakespeare’s "As a Stranger ’
give it AVch emc.” the 13th number, dated
\ugusi 11. 1795. closed its short life.
Th" several num bets have been hound in
a paper - over and the thin volume bears
the marks of various ownership. In the :
year of puhluntipn Cornelius Sturtevant. ,
Jr., has written his name: in 1813 the
volume seems to have been owned by Hen-
i
[Miss Catharire Maria Sedgwick was born
in Stockbridge December 28, 1789. the
daughter of Theodore Sedgwick, who, at
the time of his death, was a justice of
the Massachusetts supreme court. She was
a successful novelist and writer of short
stories, her tales dealing chiefly with
early and contemporary American ’life.]
ry Dwight, and a girl's scribhlings of "C.
Sedgwick." "C. Sedg.” "Catharine." in
dicate a connection with a well-known lit
erary family of the last and preceding cen
turies. The magazine is from the press
of William Spotswood, 55 Marlborough
street, Boston.
An analysis of the contents of the num
bers from a literary standpoint shows En
glish influences predominant. The spirit
and reading of the editor and his con
tributors have a decided suggestion of
England, the Gentleman's magazine, the
poetry of Popo and the prose of Addison,
but the imitation is pleasing. Even the
anecdotes and jokes, the latter called, "lev
ities." of both of which there are one or
two in each number, are English imported
and originate from the Ic'ndon literary
set of Sheridan. Johnson, Fanny Burney
ami the rest. There is a column of "orig
inal criticism" and another of “biogra
phy," under which we find such characters
as Lord Lyttelton, Edmund Burke. Adam
Smith. John O'Keefe, and the Scotch poet,
Diummond. The sketch of Adam Smith
has a rather uncommon anecdote of Dr
Johnson. "Of the late Dr Samuel John
son, Dr Smith had a very contemptuous
opinion. '1 have seen that creature,’ said
be. 'bolt up in the midst of a mixed com
pany and. without any previous notice,
fall upon his knees behjnd a chair, repeat
the Lord's Prayer, and then resume his
seat at table. He has played this freak
over and over, perhaps five or six times
in the course of an evening. It is not
hypocrisy, but madness.' " This agrees
fairly well with what is told by Johnson's
own biographers concerning his strange
disease and its bodily manifestations so
well brought out by Percy Fitzgerald’s
statue recently placed iu the churchyard
of St ('lements Danes in the Strand. The
poetry in the magazine goes under the
head of “The Parterre,” evidently a word
of the period.
It is time to inquire who was ihe pro
jector of this Atlantic of an earlier day.
No names appear on the numbers as print
ed but a previous owner has inscribed in
a good, plain hand, the words "By Jo
seph Dennie. Esq.” Dennie is not un
known to literary encyclopedias and in
the Harvard quinquennial he appears as
the sole person of that name and spelling
who has graduated, and this was in 1795.
11l one of his essays, which make a dis
tinctive feature of the magazine under
the head of "The Farrago." he discloses
something of his college life:—
It would scarcely Inform my readers t 0 as
sure them that, when I was at college, my
mathematical tutor shook Ills head and
dubbed me a stupid fellow. Whatever stress
might be laid ou the multiplication and
pence tables by rhe sedate shopkeepers of
State street and CornhiU. it always appeared
to me that a scholar could attain the obiect
of Ma mission to the university without
any assistance from the four first rules.
Hence, J was more ashamed to be surprised,
solving a sum of Pike, then a reputed virgin
would b P to have Ihe unchaste poems of
Rochester plucked from her pillow. I con
tented myself with studying Ihe ways of
men aud the works of Roman and English
wits, without gaping with a foolish face
of wonder when told of the ' square of the
hypothenuse." and the miracles thar com
pound interest would perform in a term of
years. Geometrical progression was not
half so delightful to me as vehicular pro
gression in a crazy Charlestown car. That
portion of arithmetic among merchants
■ ailed fellowship, or company. I left to them
to ascertain their shares of a cargo nf sugar
and molasses by; while the rules of good
fellowship I made familiar bbth to my con
ception and practice. In fine, those of my
prudent friends who observed the lankness
of iny purse, long before the expiration of
a college term, merrily remarked that re
duction was (he only part of arithmetic in
which 1 made a figure.
Of Dennie’s after life one may read in
Duykehinck's Cyclopedia and in Buck
ingham’s "Reminiscences of Newspaper
Literature." Before starting the Tablet
he had studied Jaw in Charlestown. N, H..
and the Tablet was but a brief incident
preceding the work which gave him lit
erary fame. This fame came tn him as
the editor of the New Hampshire and
Vermont Journal and Farmer’s Museum,
a paper which had already hern estab
lished by the noted Isaiah Thomas in the
little town of Walpole, N. H. With a
purpose not unlike that of Dr Holland in
liis "letters of Timothy Titeomb" and
"Letters to Young People.” which intro
duced both himself and The Republican
to a widening circle, the editor of the
Farmers’ Museum appeared each week
as "The lay preacher" and discoursed to
the public in a manner which, as be tells
us, was intended to unite "the familiarity
of Franklin with the simplicity of Sterne."
Some of his subjects were, "The pleas
ures of study." "On meditation," “On
cleanliness."
Buckingham, who had himself been a
Walpole compositor, says that these lav
sermons were republished in nearly all the
newspapers of the country; that they
found a place in the columns of city jour
nals, sometimes to the exclusion of adver
tisements, and wherever a newspaper was
printed in a rural district, they were wel
comed by both editors and readers as a
kind of godsend. As an editor, also. Den
pie was particularly stiecessfni, and the
same authority, writing in 1850, says that
tlm Museum was more richly supplied
wUh communications of a literary ehar
acter than any other paper that bad then,
or bar since, been published in the United
States. The weekly summary of “inci
dents at home" and “incidents abroad"
was prepared by the editor and, says
Buckingham, "though this feature of the
Museum baa bad many imitators, J know
of none which r*n claim any near rela
tionship or striking resemblance.”
As a literary periodical the Museum had
no riyal. It circulated from Maine to
Georgia ami required an extra mail bag
to supply the subscribers in New York,
Philadelphia. Charleston and points be
tween. The name of Walpole, which
would now arouse no particular associa
tions except in the way of good inns and
horses, became known far and near. The
little town was a Palmyra in the desert,
and recalls the fact that a few years later
books were published in the remote town
of Wendell in Franklin county and about
this time hi Suffield. Ct., in which town
"The History of the Holy Jesus” was pub
lished in 1803. But Walpole's fame was
temporary, for in a few years Dennie was
called to Philadelphia, where he spent the
rest of his life in a similar enterprise.
On turning over the pages of the Tablet
the reader is struck with a curious head
ing. "From the Shop of Mess. Colon &
Spondee.” under which is found some orig
inal verse, or. it may be. some short prose.
This was a pseudonym chosen by Royal
Tyler, whose contributions under the same
head afterward went into the Museum
and late;- followed Donnie to Philadel
i phia. Dennie was essentially a literary
mau, who failed as a lawyer, having nev
er appeared but on *e in court, at which
time he displayed s» much oratory and
classical illusion on a motion for contin
uance. ns to amaze the judge, amuse the
bar and cover himself with confusion and
disaster. Tyler, on the otbei hand, was
a lawyer his life long. Boston boru, who
had JO years the start of Dennie in Har
vaid college, and eventually became chief
justice of Vermont. He was practicing
at Guilford in the days of the Farmer’s
museum. In the first number of the Tab-
Jet there is a piece of verse from the shop
of “Colon & Spondee,” signed ”C.” which
evidently stands for Colan, the senior
member of the imaginary firm:—
Dozing to-day in dark brown study.
With tortur'd heart, and brain pan muddy,.
Spleen lowly whispers in my oar.
"Consumptive Joe. gaunt death is near.”
J sigh'd, and. with an exclamation,
Aver’d I rt make due preparation:
In doleful dump, being fully bent
To draw my will and Testament.
in days of yore, Testators gave
The lifeless body to the grave:
And. servile to your scrivener forms;
Profusely cater’d for the worms:
Such quaint examples I can't use.
; Eccentric burial forced to choose.
I My ghostly form so thin has grown.
That nought remains but skin and bone,
lienee, worms would call me cursed cheat,
To give them bones and promise meat:
Keptiles, one usual meal forego,
No body have I to bestow:
Then prick your ears, ye churchyard clan,
At death of burly Alderman:
Bui. when the muses’ deathbell tolls
At requiem to poor Poets’ souls.
Let worm to brother worm declare.
"Expect to-day Duke Humphry’s fare.” ,
Nothing is more easy for a pert collegian
who has read Pope's pastorals than to fa
tigue yawning readers with 400 or 500 lines
of ode or elegy if he can be allowed the
phrases »f "lawn, glade, azure, phllomel,"
and the like. Those versemen who have hu
mility enough, discerning errors, to strive
for amendment, 1 earnestly exhort to clothe
their Ideas even in coarse homespun rather
than in the frippery of foreign garniture.
"It offends me to the sbul” to hear a pettv
poetaster ring his changes upon borrowed
bells, and, to the vexation of common sense,
cover his papers with a beadroll of transat
lantic phrases, unintelligible even to himself.
Indeed, if fancied Apollo should sit as judge
I know not a more terrible penalty which
he could inflict upon these disturbers of
poetical order than to require a definition of
the terms they so lavishly employ. I am ig
norant of the necessity of importing, either
• rom France or England, their exotic Im
ages. when we have an abundance of Native
growth. The expressive and picturesque
word "intervale” is as harmonious as "dale,”
and not a villager but would understand its
force. The names of some birds, selected
from those multitudinous flocks which cheer
our forests perhaps might steal as softlv
upon delicate earg. as phllomel. and. if em
ployed. would save the poet a journey to
Greece and the reader a hunt In the diction
ary. Oak and elm,are as good wood to sup
ply poetical fire as. cypress and yew. and
have this advantage, that they grow within
bowshot of each bhtd. It is therefore recom
mended to poets In general to enter into a
sort of nonimportation agreement, and or
dain that, from and after the 25th day of
August, next, every rhymester guilty of vio
lation should be exiled from the purlieus of
Parnassus as an alien and enemy.
In a later number is a severe criticism
by Tyler on the habit of American versi
fiers servilely copying ’mages and expres
sions, apt enough for England, but ridicu
lous in this country; a fault from which
Longfellow was not free in bis early work.
In the last number of the Tablet, Tyler
himself carries his revolt against. ’‘Philo
mel on the Lawn'* to an extreme in his
"Ode to a Hog on His Birthday”;—
Never as yet the unjust muse
•As if by those old precepts hound
Which tie the suprestitious Jews)
One line to praise a Hog has found.
Never till now as T remember.
Has any poet sung a swine.
O. Hog! this twentieth of November,
I celebrate—the day is thine.
Three years ago thy little eyes
Peep'd on the day with optics weak;
Three years ago thy infant cries.
By mortal men were call’d a squeak.
Ev’n then the muse prophetic saw
Thy youthful days, thy tatter state,
And sigh'd at the relentless law.
r l hat doom’d thee to an early fate.
Yes. the fond muse has anxious looked.
While thou a roaster, careless play'dst.
amrliSu
Ur tY— Jr X/
। al Masago
PART OF ROMAN PAVEMENT, BIGNOR.
Thoughtless how soon thou might'st lie
cook'd.
(A Hue appe-irance then thou mad’st).
The dancers of a roaethig past.
3he saw thee rear'd a hamosonie Rhoat;
Saw thee a full grown hog at last.
And heard thee grunt a deeper note.
T'nj eharma .nature with Joy she view'd,
As waddling on short legs about.
Or rolling in delirious mud.
Or rooting with sagacious snout
But thy last hour is near at hand.
Before a year, a month, a week.
Is past, 'tia fates severe eommaud.
That death shall claim thy leteat squeak.
And this shall be thy various doom;
Thou shalt be roasted, fry'd and boil'd,
Black puddings shall thy blood become.
Thy lifeless flesh, shall work be styl'd.
Thy rars and feet In souse shall lie;
Minc'd sausage meat thy guts shall cram;
And each plump, pretty, wiidling thigh,
Salted and smoak'd shall be a ham
Yet it is fruitless to complain;
"Death cuts down all both great and
small";
And hope and fear alike are vain.
Tn those who by his stroke must fall.
Full many s hero, young and brave.
Like thee. O Hog: resign'd his breath:
The noble presents Nature gave.
Form'd hot a surer mark for death.
Achilles met in early doom.
Eurynlus and NUua, young.
Were slain; but honour'd was their tomh;
That, Homer, these, sweet Maro, sung.
On the rude clUa of proud Quebec,
In glory « arm Montgomery dy'd;
And freedom's genius loves to deck
His early grave with verdant .pride
Nor shait thou want a sprig of bays
To crown thy namt. When set agog.
The niuse shall tune eccentric lays.
And. pleas’d, immortalize a Hog.
Royal Tyler died Hn Fra tile Llio in T>2O.
in eddy IK.- ho ban L >ou on Gin Lhieolp's
staff in Shays's rebellion, and. it may be
supposed, apinarerj in Sininxiidd when
Lincoln relieved Shepard after the fiasco
near rhe armory in 1787. In the intervals
of his military service he wrote a romedy
which was successfully put on in New
York, and followed it by another which
was performed in Boston. He is said to
have been the first playwright to use for
the stage the Yankee dialect and the
country grocery: In fart,.to he ihe i ionver
of the Denman Thompson class of plays.
Another of the Walpole wits was David
Everett, a Dartmouth graduate, who was
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MOSAIC FROM ROMAN VILLA, BIGNOR.
practicing lav. in Amherst, N. H. Thou
sands of schoolboys are indebted, to him
for the declaration beginning
You'd scarce expect one of my age,
To speak tn public on the stage.
This he had written when leaching school
before entering college for <ne of his
pupils to recite. His papers in the mu
seum are called "Common Sense in Desha
bil’c.’;
Another of the wits was Isaac Story, of
the family of the eminent, jurist; a Har
vard man who .wrote under the name of
Peter Quince. From his "Consolatory ode
dedicated with Christian i-iety to those
unfortunate beings who labor under the
malignant influence of the democratic
mania.” it is evident that, like the Farm
er® museum, he was a strong federalist.
The last of the Walpole quintet was
Thomas G. Fessenden, a Dartmouth grad
uate and son of the local clergyman. He
was studying law in Rutland, Vt., and
meanwhile amused himself with penning
verses for the museum and the Dartmouth
Eagle. Of these, the most popular was
"The Country I^overs, or Mr Jonathan
Joethead’s Courtship With Miss Sally
Snapper," which, when sung, went to the
tune of "Yankee Doodle," with the re
frain of “Y’ankee Doodle keep it up," etc.,
to every one of the 49 verses. Fessenden
afterward went, to -London to introduce
an hydraulic machine, which failed, and
then invested what he had in a scheme
for a water-mill on the Thames; but he
turned his literary wit to account and
two editions were published in London of
a satire on .the medical profession and the
clergy for indorsing a device of one Per
kins for curing vellow fever with 19 ap
pheations of galvanism by neans of a
’’tractor." Perkins subsequently came to
America, and by reason of English intro
ductions was allowed to try his method in
a New York hosoital. but himself died of
the disease ho expected to cure. Like
Lowell in his "Fable for Critics." Fessen
den put some of his satirical wit into the
title which is "The terrible tractoration; a
poetical petition against galvanizing trum
pery and the Perkins'isne. institution; io
four Cantos, most respectfully ad^feased
to the Royal college of physicians, by
Christopher Caustics. M. D., I.L. D.,
ASS., fellow of the Royal college of physi
cians, Aberdeen and honorary member of
no less than 19 very learned societies."
Fessenden practiced law for a time in
Bellows Fells, but ended his life in Bos
ton. whore for years lie was editor of the
New England Farmer and also of the Hor
ticulture Resister.
The last number of the Tablet contains
no notice of its immediate dissolution or
removal of its editor from Boston to Wal
pole. Upon the last column is on "Orig
inal Epigram":-
Orpheus, ’tls said, by music charm'd the
devil,
And made even ranting Proserpina civil:
But. find the Grecian been so dqll a brute,
As tn have dar'd attempt It with a flute,
The sequel, doubtlees, would have taught
him well.
Thal each vile whistling bad ne power In
ne lb
Rev Dr AVashington Gladden has enmed
release from 'abors of love carried so long
and well, and a. host of friends in this city
and throaghout the. comitry T.iU wish him
many more serene and fruitful jears.
A ROMAN VILLA IN ENGLAND
TREASURES AT BIGNOB. SUSSEX
Rnlns of n Fine Reotdence Ostins
Buck- to Ancient Days—Fine Mosaics.
; [Written by Ethei. Mather Bags for The
Republican.!
In motoring through Englund 1 wonder
how many of your readers hare peer come
across the little village of Bienor in Sus
sex. with its remains of a Roman villa.
I have been in this part <.f England a
great deal, bat it came as an absolute sur
prise to me to know that such remains
existed in England.
In case some motorists would like to
look up this "out-of-the-beaten-track”
place 1 will tell them a little about it.
We drove about 30 miles from where I
w as staying all through this lovely Sussex
country. The villages followed closely,
one upon the other, with sweet old cot
tages, each with its own garden. Such a
mass Of flowers everywhere on this beau
tiful August day! In Englund the instinc
tive love of flowers is frequently developed
by the owner of a place giving an annual
prize to the best cottage garden. This
stimulates the people to vie with one an
other and to take great pleasure and pride
in their flowers. It seems such a pity that
here in America the love of flowers is not
more developed.
When we were close to Arundel castle
(the duke nf Norfolk’s seat) we found our
selvea on the top of a hign hill, with a
wonderful stretch of rolling < ountry before
us. It all looks so neat, this English coun
try, hedges everywhere dividing up the
fields and these great big trees, mostly
oak, dotted about.
We branched off the main road into a
little country lane and passing through,
the village of Bigner, one of the quaintest
and most attractive around here, found
ourselves in a few minutes at "the Roman
villa."
We got the key at the house a few steps
down the road, and a dear little old lady
came out with the keys to i-how us over
the "villa." As we walked up she ex
plained to us that the grandfather, Mr-
Tupper, in plowing in his field one day
in 1811 hit upon something uncommon,
and on further investigation discovered
some Roman mosaics. He must have been
a very unusual and also wealthy farmer,
for he seems to have been inspired by
bis discoveries to do all he could to solve
the mystery. A great deal of work whs
accomplished, and the result was the un
earthing of the remains of the "Roman
villa." Fifty-two 'ooms it had.
Bignor lies about 10 miles from Chiches
ter, on the old Roms.i road. All the
country around here was the scene of
treat activity at the time of the Roman
occupation, and this was no doubt the
site chosen by some wealthy governor for
bis residence. He must have bad great
artistic appreciations, for even now we can
still see beautiful mosaics on the floors,
and also bits of marble (C.lnmns which
served to decorate his halls. Here is a
photograph which will give the reader
some idea of the beauty of design and the
perfect state of preservation of these mo
saics. (The part in the middle is where
the floor has caved in over (he heating
pines.)
The Tupper family have taken groat
care and interest to preserve these re
mains. Some of the rooms that were not
considered worth while keeping exposed
or perhaps because land in those days
wax very precious, were covered np again.
But about a dozen of the mosaic floors
hare had little huts built over them. For
those of us who hare been iu South
Africa, these huts resembD nothing so
much as a kaffir hut—or ondavel. They
have o( aN 4pr .... ills wiib ihai nod roofs,
and look very picturesque with the roses
scrambling over them. In another pic
ture is Mrs Tupper, the granddaughter-in
law of the original discoverer, standing
by one of the huts.
Mrs Tupper brought a ring to show me
which had been found on the place. It
was in a perfect condition; beautiful col
ored gold with a cameo of carueiiau imset.
We had our picnic luncheon in the square
field in one corner of' which -oere some
huts covering the principal mosaics, and in
another corner the remains ■ f the bnth*.
One cannot help feeling ihat there must
bo many treasures still to be ievealed of
all this life now long since passed. As
we were preparing to leave, one of the
children exclaimed, "Oh, look!” and there
was a balloon floating above. Strange con
trast of three phases of existence. The
Roman remains, the little old lady, and
(his new form in the air which was coin
ing to supplant so much.
THE HOPE IN OHIO.
[From the Columbus State Journal.]
The Springfield Republican has thia to
soy about Ohio's new method of treating
criminals:—
When America Was a country of farma and
villages. Its Ideal of caring for delinquents
and dependents waa in a big brick Institu
tion. Now that urban conditions have devel
oped. even to rather too great an extent. w»
see a natural and wholesome reaction toward
the farm colony as an Ideal. Thus Ohio has
a new place of detention beautifully situated
in a virgin forest, which no one is to be al
lowed to speak of as a penitentiary.
Ohio has adopted a prison penalty with
more sympathy than revenge in it, not con
dolence for the .rime, but sympathy for
the criminal. This very treatment will
make crime ashamed of itself. A man
sent to the prison for some crime will be
apt to say to himself, "To think that I
have attacked the peace and order of a
state that treats me so considerately and
kindly!” There is reformation in that kind
of n thought, nnd reformation is two
thirds of punishment.
THE NEW YEAR.
It lies before us, [lke a sea
O'er which no man has launched his bark;
We know not what life's voyage will bo,
The future days are strange and dark.
The coming year is like a book
With weighty pages closely sealed.
Who would into its mysteries look?
lor God will have its truth revealed.
The new born year is like a path
0 er which our busy feet must tread.
'Mid Fortune's smiles, or frowns of wrath.
Our Father's love is on us shed.
Who would of.some bright angel ask:
"Now tell us what this year will bring?'*
With patience may we do each task
And in our trials smile and sing.
We greet with joy the dawning year.
Io Its events our eyes are blind;
Why should we doubt, or grieve, or fear?
The Lord is loving, wise and kind.
Josiah Greene Willis.
Wilbraham. Dtarmbcr sa, I^l3.
PRINCIPLE IS UPHELD.
National Association of Junior Re
public Officials Pass Resolutions.
Directors of the national association of
junior republics, meeting in New York
Saturday adopted a resolution expressing
their faith in the self-government princi
ple as n means of training hoys and took
occasion to reply to criticisms of the
George Junior republic at Freeville. N. Y..
ns set fort h in a recent report of the New
York state hoard of charities. Brief
speeches were made by the following di
rectors: -fudge Ben B. Lindsey of Den
ver. Robert Garrett of Baltimore. Dr
Alexander Forbes of Boston. Leonard S.
I.evin of Pittsburg and Lyman Beecher
Stowe, secretary of the association.
IXCOME TAX SLIT DOCKETED.
The: first suit concerning the income-tax
law was docketed i’ridr.y in the su
preme court at Washington. It was an
appeal from the decision of the federal dis
trict court of northern Illinois, holding
that it was without jurisdiction to enter
tain the suit of Elsie De Wolfe against
the Continental and Commercial trust com
pany to enjoin the payment of the tax on
the ground that it was unconstitutional.
The supreme court wiil consider only the
question of jurisdiction and will not go into
the merits of the question of whether the
income-tax law is constitutional.
LOST STORY OF THE WEST.
Mannecripts Fonnd In Mexico Promise
io Throw New Ltwht on History.
(From the New York Evening PoetJ
The history of all the Southwest, from
California to Louisiana, will, uow have
to be rewritten, it is asserted, because of
vast treasures, hitherto unknown, that
Prof Herbert E. Bolton of the university
of California has discovered in the ar
chives of state and church in Mexico. The
story of these historical treasures is now
open to any scholar through the publica
tion by the Carnegie institution of AV ash
ington of a "Guide to Materials for the
History of the United States iu the Prin
cipal Archives of Mexico.” In this volume
of 553 pages. Prof Bolton tells of the
extraordinary wealth of unknown manu
scripts, recording the romantic history of
the Spaniards in North America, which he
has brought to light through a dozen years
of investigation. The highest officials of
church and state in Mexico gave aid to
Prof Bolton in his search for document#
that should open up the past.
It was an exciting quest, with the zest
of expectation that each new bundle of
papers drawn forth from some dark corner
might contain a pioneer's narrative, a
governor’s official report of the establish
ment of a city, a mission father’s careful
account of the language and the customs
of some native people now vanished from
the earth At the college of the Holy
Cross, for a single instance, founded ii»
1683 at Queretaro, on the site of a mon
astery then already old. Prof Bolton was
told that the archives nad long since dis
appeared. Only an aged servingman re-'
membered an old trunk and a chest of
drawers in an attic. There, inches deep
in dust. Prof Bolton found the annual re
ports for 100 years of missions in ths
Southwest, for it was from the college ofi
the Holy Cross that the young apostles!
had been sent out to explore and Christian-!
H 'Zw
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«I J ’
r I
R I
FART OF ROMAN PAVEMENT, BIGNOB*
ite the northern provinces of New Spain.
The publication of I’rof Bolton’s survey
of the Mexican archives as a source of
American history is part of the task which
the endowed Carnegie institution has un
dertaken. of publishing guides for the
archives of all the nations with which the
United States has had intimate relations.
Particularly is this important for Califor
nia and the Southwest. Western history
cannot be understood without knowledge
of the Spanish civilization on which later
times have builded. English-speaking oc
cupation of California and all the south
western United States is only a matter of!
yesterday, while the 16th. 17th and 18th
centuries, and much of the 19tb saw
Spanish institutions everywhere. In ar
chitecture, land matters. Indian affairs,
agriculture, use of words and place names,
legal institutions, traditions and ways of
life, the whole Southwest of to-day is pro
foundly influenced by its Spanish inher
itance.
After having been treated shamefully
by Dr Cook, ('apt Evelyn B. Baldwin in
forms the public that jnst the same he
believes that the doctor actually reached
88 degrees and 21 minutes north on his
celebrated polar journey. "I believe in
giving even to the devil his due*," says
the captain, who holds a respectable rank
as an Arctic explorer.