The Evansville daily journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ia. [i.e. Ind.]) 1848-1862, 1856-01-10
Ggt 9ailg yonrnal,
Power of Music.


One stormy night few weeks since, We
were vending our way homeward near mid
might. The storm ragged violently, and the
streets were almost deserted Occupied with
our thoughts, We plodded on when the sound
of music from brilliantly illuminated man.
sion, for a moment arrested our footsteps
A voice of SURPRISING sweetness and brilhancy
Icommenced q well known air. We listened
to few strains, and were turning away when
a roughly dressed, miserable looking man
brushed rudely past us. But, as the music
reached his ears, he stopped and listened in
tently, as if drinking in the melody, and as
the last sound died away, burst into tears.
We inquired the cause of his grief.
| For q moment, emotion forbade utterance,
when he said:
Thirty years ago my mother sang me to
sleep with that song; she has long been dead,
and |, once innocent and happy, am an outcast
ldrunkard-.'
Il know it is unmanly," he continued, after
a pause, in which he endeayored TO wipe with
his sleeve the fastly gathering tears. IL know
lit is unmanly thus to give way, but that sweet
tune brought wildly the thought ofchildhood.
Her form seemed once more before neil
can't stand it,"
And before we could stop him, he rushed
on, and entered a tavern near by, to drown
remembrance of the past in the Intoxicating
bowl
While filled with sorrow for the unfortunate
man, we could not help rejecting upon the
wonderful power of music. That simple
strain, perchence from some gay thoughtless
girl and sung to others equally as thoughtless
still had its gentle mission for it stirred up
deep feelings in an ou tcast's heart, bringing
back happy hours long gone by.
SARCASTIC SENTENcE.-Old Elias Keyes, for
merly first Judge Of Windsor county, Vt was,
a strange composition of folly and good sense,
of natural shrewdness and want of cultivation
The following sentence, it is said, was pro-
nounced upon a poor ragged fellow convicted
of stealing pair of boots from Gen. Curtis,
man of considerable wealth, in the town ofl
Windsor:
"Well," said the Judge, very gravely, be-
for pronouncIng the sentence of the Court un-
dertaking to read the fellow lecture, you're |
a fine fellow to be arragned before the Court
for stealing. They say you are poor-no one
doubts it who looks at you; and how dare you
being poor, have the impudence to steal pair
of boots. Nobody but rich people have a
right to take such things without paying!
Then they say you are worthless--thatis is |
evident from the fact that no one has ever
asked justice to be done to you; all, by unani-
nous consent, pronounced you guilty before |!
you We're tried. Now you might know you
would be condemned. And now, you must
know that it was great aggravation that you |
stole them in that large town of Windsor. Inl
that large town to commit such an act is most
horrible. And not only to go into Windsor to
steal, but you must steal from tha4 great man,
Gen. Curtis. This caps the climax of your iniqui-
ty. Base %retch!why did you not go and steal
the only pair of boots which some poor man
had or could get? and then you would have
been let alone: nobody would have troubled
themselves about the act For your iniquity |
in stealing in the great town of Windsor and
from the great Gen. Curtis, the Court senten- (
ces you to three months imprisonment in the
county JAIL and may God give you something
to eat''