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 following whimsical occur-
rence took place. The hall of the Court House was tou con.
fined 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 one 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-chee, darlin', you m-m-ust k-k-iss me I" "My dear,
do let me go. God bless you, my dear child ; be a good
boy for the future. There—do let me go," said Father
Mathew; "No, Father Ma-chee, darlin', I won't 1-1-ave
go my hoult till I get wan k-k-iss I" "Oh, my dear, do let
me go I" "No ; wan is all I ax, an I m-m-wit have it.
Don't r-r-efuse a poor fellow-craychure wan kiss—only
wan 1" 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 I" re-
monstrated an old woman near him. " Jim, you bosthoon
you! quit yer hould of his reverence this moment !" in-
sisted a sturdy friend at the other side, " Na, not till I
get wan k-kiss; no, of I died for it, I won't lave go.''
Father Mathew, seeing that unpleasant consequences were
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, "
James, my dear, go home and remain quiet, and be a
sensible boy for the futuro." 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 Mathew's
Biographer, is this one about—

THE VILLAGE BAND.
dg plaza your reverence, the gintleraen of the band 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 lave it to your-
self." "Well, my dear," God Save the Queen' is a very
fine air, and so is 'Patrick's Day,' " " I'm afeared, 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 place 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 nousin
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 we axe,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 ,seasori of 1863, within
seven years from the date the death, in the
66th year of his age, of The Apostle of Tem'
perance, Father Mathew's laemory is being
simultaneously commemorated—by the aUthor'l3
pen and by the sculptor's chisel though the statue
raised in 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 and
most impressive biography.

A Day's Ride ; a Life's Romance. By Charles
Lever, Author of " Charles O'Malley," Su. TO

Vole. Second Edition. Cnapman 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 SUCK
scenes a fun and frolic, of daring and desparation,
has, alas, fallen into thy: degenerate hands of Alger-
non Sydney Potts, who,, with praiseworthy perse-
verance, employs it, after the fashion of the immor-
tal Dogberry, in " writing himself down an ass.'
Mr. Potts is assuredly relr.ted to the Rev. Alfred
Hoblush whom we have recently encountered. Both
are singularly ungainly, uoioteresting individuals,
who go about singing their cre\vvh imaginary praises,
offending against all the prop.,ietina and ignoring
the customary civilities of life wkth most unblushing
effrontery. Such a character may excite a laugh
during a half hour's acquaintance, but proves a very
dull and disagreeable companion for two long weary
volumes. His mishaps and misde meanours, which
are many and multiform, are tame' and spiritless,
awnidthotehereekless
dashingLeozrrPelq°uitesr.
comparedo, ofmrthee garaellainn!
clined to regard Mr. Lever's last work- -and we 01
so in full recollection and • Uri!'
Mal ley
appreciation of his
liant style and vivid powers—as a mistake. It origi-
nally appeared, as our readers are aware, i the pages
of " All the Year Round ;" and it now comes forth
in two volumes, as a second edition, from the haouth
of another publisher. Mr. Lever's great repatati°ll
and wide-spread popularity may d.o much even fa
this work, but the work itself will do nothing to inv
crease that popularity or to enhance th at reputation.:
Dismissing Algernon Sydney to his congenial g?l
~
lipots, we will hope before long to receive at Oat;
hands of Mr. Lever some more worthy suenessa
his former masterpieces.

RAILWAY ACCIDENT NEAR NOTTINGRAIir."`";
Sunday evening an accident of a rather acrieu-
nature occurred on the Midland Railway, near Nooipg;
ham. About 520 p.m. the passenger train for Buxton
till
the Nottingham station, and upon reaching the Lco:
Gate (two miles from the town), the engine struck
horse which had strayed on the line. The shock was veir
severe and turned the last carriage but:one off the line, bu:
fortunately, without upsetting it. This was the only 03r.
riage that left the rails, and the train was almost
diately stopped. None of the passengers sustained anY
cu
jury. The horse was killed on the spot,
its body being
to pieces, g'