The Sun.
London, England, 1863-11-10 00:00:00

A MAUDLIN TEETOTALLER.

It was in Watertord, on anoccasion subsequent to Father
Mathew's first visit, that the foliowing whimsical occur-
rence took place. The hall of the Court House was too con.
fiaed in its space to accommodate the vast numbers that;
pressed on continually to take the pledge, and the weather
being then peculiarly severe, the meetings were necessarily
held in the Catholic Cathedral, a very fine and spacious
building. In ono of the enormous batches, of which there
were several during the day, was a poor fellow who was de-
cidedly " the worse of liquor"—in fact, unmistakably tipsy.
He nevertheless managed to repeat the words of the pledge
with due gravity and decorum ; but no sooner had Father
Mathew approached him to mark his forehead with the
sign of the Cross, as was his custom, than the new member
of the Temperance Society clutched his leader by the skirts
of his coat with a grasp such as a drunken man can take, and,
in a voice much broken by hiccups, cried out—" Father Ma -
ma-thee, darlin', you m-m-ust k-k-iss me 1" "My dear,
do let me go. God bless you, my dear child ; be a good
boy for the future. There—Jo let me go," said Father
Mathew: "No, Father Ma-thee, darlin', I won't 1-1-ave
go my hoult till I get wan k-k-iss 1" "Oh, my dear, do let
me go !" "No; wan is all I ax, an I m-ra-ust have it.
Don't r-r-efuse a poor fellow-craychure wan kiss—only
wan!" persisted the tender soul. Several gentlemen,
including the clergymen in attendance, approached,
and tried to pacify Jim, and induce him to quit
his hold of Father Mathew's coat ; but all to
no purpose. Jim was determined to have his
"wan k-k-iss." " Jim, avick, arn't you ashamed of
yourself—the holy priest I—an' in the chapel, too 1" re-
monstrated an old woman near him. " Jim, you bosthoon
you! quit yer hould of his reverence this moment I" in-
sisted a sturdy friend at the other side, " No, not till I
get wan k-k-iss ; no, of I died for it, L won't lave go."
Father Mathew, seeing that unpleasant consequences wero
likely to ensue if Jim's rather inconvenient request were
not at once complied with, resolved to make him happy,
and accordingly kissed Jim on both cheeks, saying, " NOW,
James, my dear, go home and remain quiet, and be a
sensible boy for the future." The " boy," we may remark,
was not much short of 40 years of age. Jim relinquished
his grasp of the skirt of the coat, and retired, proud of his
achievement.

Another droll anecdote, related, as with a twinkling
eye of appreciative fun, by Father 11/Tathew's
Biographer, is this one about—

TILE VILLAGE BAND.

" Plaze yoar reverence, the gintlemen of the bind would
like to know what chune your reverence would prefer."
" Oh, my dear, anything ; let the gentlemen please them-
selves." " Your reverence, they'd like to have it to your-
self." "Well, my dear," God Save the Queen' is a very
fine air, and so is 'Patrick's Day,' " " I'm geared, sir, we're
only learning them chunes ; but would your reverence like
the Conquering Haro ?' " " Had n't we that before, my
dear ?" " Well, you had, your reverence. Perhaps your
reverence would be after liking Love not ?'—that's a
mighty sweet thing." "It is, indeed, my dear, a very nice
air ; but had n't we that also ?" " Well, you had, your
reverence; but the gintlemen of the band thought you 'd
like to plaza yourself." Father Mathew, of course, un-
derstood the limited nature of the band's repertoire,
and so he gravely called for the " Conquering Hero," and
expressed a hope that it might be followed, in the course of
the evening, by that delightful air, "Love not." The.
band felt the more proud at having paid this graceful com-
pliment, and they executed the doomed pieces of music
several times that night with unabated vigour and un-
diminished discord.

As examples of the more serious and elevated
powers of Mr. Maguire, as the writer of a book
worthy of preservation among our biographical
annals, several passages have been marked by
us as extracts, that wo are,nevertheless, precluded
from giving, here, at once, by way of additional
quotation. It happens, of course, purely as a
coincidence, but still even as a mere coincidence, it is
not unworthy of being here remarked, that in this
late autumn, or early winter season ,71 1863, within.
seven years from the date of the death, in the
66th year of his age, of The Apostle of Tem-
perance, Father Mathew's memory is being
simultaneously commemorated—by the author's
pen and by the sculptor's chisel through the' statue
raised is the city of Cork by the gifted hand
of J. H. Foley, R,A., and through the biography
here completed by the no less gifted hand of J.. F.
Maguire, M.P.—a noble statue—a beautiful L qui
most impressive biography.

A Days Ride ; a Life's Romance. By Charles:
Lever, Author of " Charles O'Malley," &c. Two
Vols. Second Edition. Chapman and Hall.

That pen of magic which before now in the hands
of Charles O'Malley, Harry Lorrequer, and other
dashing favourites "of Ours," has conjured up such
scenes of fun and frolic, of daring and desperation,
has, alas, fallen into the degenerate hands of Algee-
non Sydney Potts, who, with praiseworthy
iperse-
verance, employs it, after the fashion of the mmor,-,
tal Dogberry, in " writing himself down an ass.
Mr. Potts is assuredly related to the Rev. Alfred
Hoblush whom we have rmcently encountered. Both
are singularly ungainly,
proprieties imaginary
and ignoring praises,
ffn dg
uninteresting individuals,
wh about
aisninstg
all
tthheei
awn
the customary civilities of life with most unblushing
offending
effrontery. Such a character may excite a laugh
during a half hour's acquaint .nee, but proves a very
dull and disagreeable compani en for two long weary
volumes. His mishaps and misdemeanours, which
are many and multiform, are Lune and spiritless,
compared with the dashing expl el'ts of the gallant
O'Malley and the reckless Lorreqa •
r. We are in-
clined to regard Mr. Lever's last work—and we say
so in full recollection and apprecievion of his bril-
liant style and vivid powers—as a mist. ke. It origi-
nally appeared, as our readers are aware,. in the pages
of " All the Year Round ;" and it now c owes forth
in two volumes, as a second edition, from the hands
of another publisher. Mr. Lever's great reputation
anti wide-spread popularity may do much %even for
this work, but the work itself will do nothi.er to in-
crease that popularity or to enhance that reputation.
Dismissing Algernon Sydney to his congenial
gal-
lipots, we will hope before long to receive set the
hands of Mr. Lever some more worthy succestior t°
his former masterpieces.

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RAILWAY ACCIDENT NEAR NOTTINCIIAINI.-03
Sunday evening an accident of a rather serious
nature occurred on the Midland Railway, near Nottin 5-
ham. About 520 p.m. the passenger train for Buxton left
the Nottingham station, and upon reaching the Lento=
Gate (two miles from the town), the engine struck a.
horse which had strayed on the line. The shock was very'
severe and turned the last carriage but:one off the line, but,
fortunately, without upsetting it. This was the only car-
riage that left the rails, aad the train was almost, imme-
diately stopped. None of the passengers sustained any in-
jury. The horse was killed on the spot, its body being cut
to pieces,