The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-01-03 00:00:00

MUSIC AND TILE DRAMA.

IaVEN,POOI._.INEATEIIII, GLEE AND MA.DBIGAL UNION.
—A Christmas performance by this Society was given in
the. leetum.hall of the Mechanics' institution on Friday
evening, and was not only successful, but deserved to be
so. The programme was a singular butvery pleasing one,
consisting entirely of Christmas pieces, The first part
consisted of C.. E. Horn's cantata, " The Christmas Bells,"
an exceedingly pretty and pleasing work.. It is a musical
descripticak-of Christmas-day from the " ringing in" of the
bells in the morning to the " ringing. out" of them in the
evening, ,and. includes a church service. of great beauty.
The- performance of it was not marred, except by a single
triviakerror, and the admirable variety' which the work
afforded prevented the slightest symptom. of fatigue during
its continuance.. The solo pieces with: which it abounds
were-wellrendered. by Miss Maycock,. Miss Williams, Mr.
Johnson;, and. Mr. Santley, to the first of whom especial
praise.-is due for the chaste mannerinswhich she gave the-:
very- sweet musk which she had to sing. We may espe—
cially mention. the part commencing, " A merry Christ-
mac, ,sir, toTon," which she gave-with a child-like sim-t
plicity, admirably in harmony with. the subject. Miss,
Maycock, whom we had not beforeheard in public, appears
to have a highly finished style or singing, and we shall be
glad to have an opportunity of hearing her again. The
piano-forte and organ accompaniments were excellently
given by Mr.. Edmund F. Smith, and Mr. George Hint.
The second. part. of the concert consisted of carols, glees,
and .madriglals —all on the suhject of Christmas—which
were -well, sung. An organ solo (" The Christmas Pre-
sent," by Mendelssohn,) was given. by Mr. George Hirst
so delightfully, that it had as immediate encore. The
concert would have passed off with much greater spirit,
but, for the excessive coldness. of the room—a matter to
which.the attention of the committee ought to be called.

BRANDT...—There are bad:. accounts of the vintage in
Cognac. The brandy is so inferior, that some of the
principal houses have resolved not to quote it in their
lists. Old brandies will belooking up in consequence.
A GOLD-DIGGEN ix Af Fix.—The following, is an
extract from the letter of u. digger established:at Eagle
Hawk Gully, Sept. 3d :—".You remember Dead Horse
Gully,' the scene of on• sporting adventures., Well, I
lately sank a hole therein the deep sinking. Mine ran
about. 17 feet, and, as it,turned out pretty good,. I drove in
about 40 feet towards the side of the hill. Ou,e. day I had
been, more than usually lucky, so next morning betimes I
was stirring, made fast my rope to a tree, andd.own I went
by it hand under hand, lit my slush larap,,and proceeded
along the drive on my' hands and knees,: eager to begin
work, and thinking of the big nuggets. You remember I
was always celebrated for making small drives. Shading
the light with my hand, I crawled in. Near the far end I
stopped to avoid crawling through a small pool of water.
Casting the light, before me to see bow the land lay—
horror of horrors,!—on the other side, of the pool I per-
ceived a pair of small glittering gray eyes intently fixed on
me, the cold, malignant expression of which forced the
warm blood back to my heart with abound which nearly
suffocated me., I knew at once that it was a snake, and a
deadly one, too, Arching its neck. with a hissing noise, it
collected itself for the fatal spring ; starting back, my head:
came in contact with the roof of the tunnel, and I fell back.
stunned and senseless. How long I lay in this state I
know not,. but when I came to consciousness I at first
thought that I was at home. in the `big smoke;' but
gradually the truth forced itself upon me. Where was the
snake ? Was I bitten ? To the last mental query I
cheerfully answered, ' No!' for most of these snakes are
very deadly, and the bitten part swells up immediately.
On consideration, I remembered that the snake had reared
for the spring, so it was clear I had fallen in the.nick of
time, and the reptile had passed over me ; but where was
it now? A cold shudder passed over me when I consi-
dered that the snake must still be in the hole, perhaps
even within a few feet, watching me with its glassy eyes,
or preparing for another spring. I am not easily
frightened, as you well know, but for all the gold in
Bendigo I would not be in that situation again. How was
Ito proceed ? My only weapon was a driving pick ; grasp-
ing it, and creeping cautiously along, I heard a noise in
front. Was it the snake ? I held my breath in fearful
suspense, with the sweat of agony moistening my brow.
No, it was only some loose stones falling from the roof. I
breathed again, and with a forced courage crept stealthily
along. Arrived near the mouth of the tunnel, I was again
startled at seeing a large carpet-snake (my late tormentor)
circling round the bottom of the hole, and gliding half his
length up its slippery sides, darting in and out his forked
tongue, and slowly moving his head as if searching for an
opening to hide itself. Being concealed in the dark tunnel,
I had ample time for deliberation. Evidently I should be
able to strike the first blow if I could succeed in reaching
the mouth without making a noise. I made up my mind
at once, perhaps rashly ;. I might have done better if I had
waited until it was asleep. Muttering a prayer, I crept
cautiously forward, but the head of my pick caught against
a loose projecting stone, and down came a lot of earth.
Cursing my bad luck, I looked to see what effect it would
have on the snake. It was evidently aroused, twisting
and contorting its body into all sorts of knots and circles,
at the same time keeping its piercing glance fixed on the
mouth of the tunnel. Darting quickly from my conceal-
ment, I nailed the snake to the ground through the neck
with my pick. With a hiss of pain it suddenly threw its
folds round my leg and partly drew it towards its head ;
recovering, I planted my leg firmly, pulled out my bowie-
knife with my left hand, and cut the snake in two about a
foot from his head; still the slimy body was contracted
round my leg, and still the forked tongue was playing in
and out, notwithstanding the body was severed in two. I
clambered up the side of the hole with the snake's body
still clinging to my leg ; when I got to the grass, I again
cut the, snake in two and unwound it, thanking God for
my narrow ecsape. The snake measured 8 feet
_6 inches.

I -went home fo my telic44llnadeOlAttileday `fo-
§icking."

TUESDAY, JANTARY 3, 1854.