Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1852-1859, 1858-08-09
THE INTEI=lL GENCER.
lTWso MlL..LlLoMs.
tBy w. AllEs Bg1lEa Author Of ,.No,hlae 3 yye,r


the popular taste and the sentiment of the hour
raised its author at once to rank as humorous
poet This rank was recognized when the Phi
Beta Kappa Society of Yale College chose Mr. Z
Butler to deliver its annual poem. The pre-
;duction he Submitted to the assembled literati
of the land atNew Haven, is here printed, in
the neatest style those princes of topographic,
taste, the Appletons. It gains thus the eye and
ear of the great parish of letters.
Firkintis the hero of the poem, a double mill
lionare; his origin is only alluded,to, as are his
.earIy efforts in the packingltne, -. s.
In which, like Venus, he had sprung from brine
heperson, habits and home Of Eirkin are
portrayed at length. Take as sample of the
whole, this skech Of. our hero at church: =
Without much search, -
You might have found, on any Sunday morning,
With. green and gold its sacred front adorning,
g @ naef with
Waited, while Rrkin in tile saDctusrY, ii
Gus hioned the cnrnal man in droKsy peTs, s'it
Dozed oyer, st-edgs rnbrlc PRAYER and psater.
Ga Prt@a ID donnas n1n never kn9Tp to fslter
And stl enchanting when the chant was ended;
Then sat or Inelt, grave as the altar bronzesS
II Those solemn pfayeEs, those lttan,es sublime,
Thesceforth TO sound foreyer-as when first,
Flooded with light, the lipsof Memnon burst
Back totIe Hood Of Day its tide 1pbor6e
or rarest harmony, answering wayeI t'& .As
Deep calling uHto deep, Music to Mornl l5 -.f
Those lofty chants, first echoed underdome ..t
Or starry midnight, or in catacombs
Where. by rude affairs and sepnchralto tombS,
Deep in the rocky earth. the Vestal choirs 44
Now sxslled from lips Of IeorIs or = ot @ 1rsst
To fallon Frtin's eur, without thu least va
Responsive utterance. ortfe faintest notion
He liked the service, but, grieve to state, st.-
Y 4thad been instead a service ofplate,
OF its real value, for in truth our hero g ft
As to religious feeling stood at zero. ssz ss u5
Aud had It chancet the universal Church,
In solid phaanx without break schism,
Had, sudden taken backward Iurch,
Or from the Christian n plpngsd into the Pagan,
aS on @ ssEf s1 sss up or DSg0n
And at the newest shrine deyouty bowed,
sim offered up his weekly stint Of rraise,
With incense, OF burnt offerings, or batops,
Alike unconscious of.the Innovations,
Save that might, perhaps, in Wan street phrase,
Have noticed aslght change in the quotationsl
An adopted daughter, Rachel, stair New
England maiden" comes beautious upon the
stage; she sheds a pure light in Firkin's home,
but is driven thence, because she loves and weds
poet, who is finally ruined by the failure of a
Gold Swamp Company, of which Firkin was
President to the very eve of its failure. Rachel
a widow aud suffering, seeks aid for herself and
starving. child, to,be repulsed with dollar from
the door of Firkin's magnificent mansion
what sight, when au the gas waslighs,
And Firkin, seated with some fellow snob,
Surveyed the beneath the brilliant sreamers,
1gssEsa the % psri9Ts were ~
Or the new Capitol at Washngton!"
And echoed back the truthful observation, las
"There's nothing like 1t in the whole reatlonp'
Firkin5 goes out one day'to punch up his
agentCor being dilatory in collecting rents, when
he blunders upon Rachel, bemoaning the death
other child from starvation.
There, face to face, they stood bEeahless second
Looked At each other, then she sternly beckOned
There was speaking grandeurin her form,
5 eoE storm
ltdreadS to meet, but knows how to iy. g5fs
ne 5 ey sui a she pointed to the bed
Nestled upon the pillow, and hisface s5
| Lit with the solemn and unearthly grace
That That crowns but once ICE the children Of our race
A broken toy, bunch OF withered flowers, .y
In his thin . his brsast above
Had bound the he, saferer-sayea mothsFsioye,
But Firkin had. no taste forstatuary,
| Even orthat fair. style, perfect and pure,
IIesaw and looked away, his dun, dark brow -
The latent ghning IooseI, apd fsshed ed
| The pent-up tempest of her soul; II broke,
p IN guilty. alsS shs home
Her husbands death, her sweet childs msrtyrdom,
TO his account, and bade him pa the score.
RAis t roo Raf SRsd below es sun
4 Threw cut Its setting CLEAN, and lit the tips
or tapering nakts where the great merchant shiPs
Lay at their wharves and tinged the towering spires,
1 With the last flicker Of its waning fires 5sE
i As all along the Wintry sky they streamed.
She turned and saw; like Inspired che seemed
/ With prophetic fury as Of old 80
Son1e Tabled PylhoneBst whose oT4ceB rolled
/ Along the Dtphc shadows and foretod
1 The doom of empires. "Look oh lookl" she cried,
THE sulIsis setting on your pomp and pride;
see the great city stretching through the light;
/ Its million pulses beating toward the night;
l Think not for such you ii tolls and groanS;
Il In ceaseleSS strugEies for the very st0ues
Would cry aloud, were all its wealth like yours;
l KnOWthRt thn righteous Heaven scarce endure6
And with y0utHke my l0RthinE and fc0Ini gFr
\ !Ihehour Is near when you shall colder lie
i Than this poor babe who here has creptto die;
Then know tlat close behind your gorgeous heaIse
Shall follow init train the Widow curse,
4 And heavier than the marble you ptesS
4 The lnaledctton Of the Fatletlessr'
Firkin hurrries home, terrified, to revise his
4 securities and his will. Dire fate was suspended
4 over him:
i Thou fool
The aDsn0fng Deittes are &Eod nth sSOooli
II Nor in the air around, overhead - 81 fR
| Wehear the sound or echo Of their tread,
i Nor catch the rnstllng Of the rapid dart
That wings It's errand to the victims heafH zG
He isfound in an appoPlectic fit apparently
lEdead. "A great will case arises from the fact
that his last testamentsis found is his hands,
torn. His relatives fill the house and quarrel
aboutthe estate. Rachel comes to his side to