The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1855-03-15
4bilaaslpbia Correspondence.
Mrs. EUet- W0mdn's Sphere. dc.

| Mrs. ELtet- WODedns Sphere, dc.
A large and respectable audience convened
lately, at the Assembly Building, to listen to
Reading" by Mrs. E. F. Ellet.
Prepossessng in appearance, graceful i,
gesture-in manner, varying with the nat a
of the subjects which severaly occupied hi.
attention, and unclaimed that of her listeners,
the heroine of the evening presented herself
| before us.
| In honor of the occasion, published letter,
written during Revolutionary times, by General
| Washington, to an, obscure colored woman,
concerning matter of pressing importance to
| her-a truly courteous letter, doing credit to
| the old Patriot-was read by Mrs. Ellet. 1t
was delivered easily, smoothly seemingly not
for effect, and formed a good introduction for
her succeeding more impassioned recitations.
Then came Hoods Song of the Shirt"-of
its kind inimitable in its wealth of pathos, and
in its perfect truth to nature. In how exquisite
| IL charming style was it readi How was
awakened within us the gushing, warm, up
| springing sympathies of our nature We had
been scarcely prepared, by the calmly spoken
Introduction, for the utterance, which I" in do
| lorous accents rang" through the whole house,
when "Work, work, work" fairly groaned out,
as if from the very heart of the speaker 1t
must require skill Of no common acquisition,
and genius of high order, to give to those
| syllables that peculiarly intensified expression
To heighten the effect still more, there was but
needed in our speaker the haggard air, the
| shabby garments, the attenusted form, and
| sunken cheek, so graphically described by the
| gifted Hood, and the illusion would have been
perfect. 1t was already so, as it regards the
| voice and manner.
l may remark here on the appropriateness of
| this selection. Mrs. Elects services were pro-
| cured by an association of benevolent ladies.
whose purpose 1T is to commence another of
| those Homes" for which this city is so widely
noted, and to rescue from starvation, misery,
and crime, those whose history finds in this
| poem SO striking counterpart.
| Mary Howitts "Ordeal of Touch" was next
recited. Wild startling, almost unearthlv, the
sounds, which attached to words, fairly shrieked
out. The glowing cheek the flashing eve, and
| rapid gestures, were exhibited in excellent
taste; and then all suddenly changed into the
| exultant tones and altered demeanor of the
publicly acknowledged innocent man; then.
bursting out anew, with indignant reproaches
upon the truly guilty object, who stood COVER
| ing by.
| After listening to several minor pieces, the
Story of paddy the Piper" one of Lovers
variations, was read. A perfect tissue, it is, of
| laughable scenes, from beginning to end Mrs.
| Ellet eXcels particularly in this class of SUBJ
| jects. Nothing was over-acted her tones, her
| gestures, were performed to the very life She
brought the scenes before our minds in their own
living power, fresh from the lips of their origi
nal narrator. We had the erich Irish brogue"
| of Paddy and his friends the horror with which
he shrank from approaching the rebels corpse
as it hung, in the misty light of the early morn
| ing, dangling from the tree; his hesitancy be-
fore committing the robbery; his Welding to
the temptation, and his own original manner
| of doing so; the soldiers apprehension of Pad
| dy; the surprise of his friends, upon finding
| the stolen books, and their singular accom-
| paniments, in the hay, instead of Paddy him.
| self; the surmises against the old COW, who
| stood meekly by, unconscious of the crime
alleged against her; the driving the poor crea-
| ture to the market fair; the bargainings which
ensued; and finally, the sudden appearance of
the veritable Paddy, playing as merrily as ever
| to the assembled multitudes, notwithstanding
| the severe accusation against good brindle-al
these scenes, and others, weresrecited by our
| dramatiste with heightened effect The only
| drawback, and that to some of us was a seri-
Gus one, was the profanity that escaped, here
and there, throughout the narrative. This
| is to be regretted.
This ended, we were entertained with selec-
tons from Millman and Sheridan, both very
| fine.
Then followed Longfellow's Excelsior"
excellently read. 1t was almost, perhaps quite,
equal to the Hutchinsons performance
Rienzis address to the Romans " was, it
seemed to us, delivered too much in the style
| of mere boisterous declaimer This har-
angue needs the deeper and sterner tones of
| manhood.
| Byron's "Waterloo" seemed to some of us
improbable, although for the most part well
| read.
| This was followed by another of Lovers
" The Subscription List 1t abounds in true
Irish wit, and is so beautifully original. The
recitation did full credit both to writer and re-
| hearser.
| To the author, who can rouse at will the
| slumbering emotions of the human soul, it
must be more than gratifying to meet, among
his crowd of professed admirers, here and there
one, who can enter with him into the spirit of his
own enthusiasm, and utter his glowing express
| sions more ably than he himself could. In
| deed. it is sometimes the case that writers are
| not aware of the true beauty of their own pro-
auctions. until they hear them recited with that
| appreciative eloquence which adds new force
| to the language, and proves the speaker to
possess the rare faculty of enchanting the list
| eners attention under the double spell of poesy
| and oratory.
AS illustrative of this, the wellknown anec-
dote of Thomas Campbell is In place. bis
sublime ode, "The Last Man" was just fresh
from the publishers hands, and had as yet
scarcely elected any notice. Campbell, and
some of his brother poets, were, one night,
seated in the gallery of a theatre; and between
the plays the ode referred to was, to them, un-
expectedly read. 1t was eloquently uttered /;
the effect was electric; it spread rapidly
through the entire mass the low, deep tones
crept chillingly through the veins, and the voice
of the orator, rising with the sentiment in SUBJ
Inner strains, thrilled through every nerve.
i And there sat the author of those lines in his