New-York daily tribune., 1858-02-03
Nsw1lork daily Gribnste
BaYa,d TayIor in Northern Europe.
No. Xiv.
,pporrsT-CHANGE OF PLASs'


,oss;n contingency the ancient kraehtes
.xon,sa man from all military duty Tor the space
~ fons year; but, in our e1acting times, have no
~, ~ s,pect that the same dispensation Of Prov'
aepce will iastfy me in laying aside my steel pen)
70, longer space than one month. Not that writ
mo ia necessity 10 me. On the contrary am
sometimes heartily tired Of it, and wish that had
been born with a spade in my hand instead OF
ouiu My Nemesis is the word contract, anu
MY only consolation, when she sometimes dnNe'
mo too hard IL the saving clause inserted, that
,houla only write when had COR supposed had)
something to say. During the past month"; nave
written nothing, and you have lost nothing. For
ner.s, in the antiouaed idea that the public has no
robt 10 know ANYTHING about the private life of an
sntbor. His household gods are as sacred as those
efany other individual whatever; and if he chooses
to keep skeleton, that is his own business.
That certain portions of my life have been be.
trayed 10 the world, is a thing for which ! am not
accountable. have always resisted and protested
against any such revelation, either in my own case
o. 10 that Of others. You, anonymous America
females, who still persist in sending letters TO
the most part either silly or experimentation
you be well pleased, I, knowing you personally
were 70 entertain the public with the secrets OF
your hearts or your tOlettes Reverse the case, IN
Jour unsginations, and you may perhaps spare me-
benceforth, the bore Of your advice and your med
ding criticism.
There il scarcely an American author of any
reputation who s not subjected to this private an
noyance, in addition 10 published misstatements of
bis life, plans, finances, political and religious
cneed &c Two years ago. the newspapers insisted
on marrying me to somebody in OhiO-I never
could discover precisely to whom-and the result
was shower of anonymous letters some Of which
were positively insulting. i have since learned
that English authors are subjected to the same an
noyance, though in a less degree. In Germany,
there is not much of it-which is rather to be Won
dered at. have read lately, in American papers,
statements that Tennyson was running himself by
opum-eating, and that Thackeray formerly made
living by shaving, at an enormous usury, the bills
Of young heirs. Knowing both the men, as do
and they are two of Gods own noblemen-I prov \
nOunce these stories outrageous lies. There is not
the shadow of a foundation for either of them. If
these things are the inevitable shadow Of an ao-
ther's fame, then, as TennysOn sings:
Better the life of bush and brier,
The bird that pipes his lone desire
And dies unheard within his tree,
Than him who wal bes long and loud,
And falls at GlOrys temple gates
For whom the carron vuture waits,
To tear his heart before the crowd
Issk pardon for this digressiOn which is not
wholly personal since the annoyance is so general.
Perhaps this protest which make for the first and
last time, may save me future lamentations over
"lost IDEAL" ! wish it to be understood that
never set up for an IDEAL Quite the contrary. My
tastes are really of the realest kind including rock
,pp chairs oysters fast horses, Chrstys Minstrels,
lager bier, macaroni, Havana cigars, Flemish
artists sausages salt bathing, picked herrlngs the
raising of vegetables, Newfoundland dogs, camp
fires. sailors, lumbermen, uneducated men, and
sinners generally IfyOur ideal embraces all these,
We anony- mice (the plural i suppose, of anony-
nous, hold on to it, and may il comfort you'
know an American author who was once bored
for long time by q female acquaintance for sym
patby and tender appreciation Of her ideas OF
spiritual duty" "Mr. Plutarch, she would
saw. "is there more serene and sublime satistae-
lion in life than that of discovering your spiritual
duty. and then conscientiously performing it
Have you not often, in your own soul, felt this
TRANQUIL bliss I" The author bore this for time,
tut human patience has its limits. NO." he
answered at last; d" ! hate to do my spiritual duty
I know what il is won't do it; but, Madam,
there is one thing which does fll me with serene
and sublime satifaction, and reconcles lie to the
holowness of lfe." Pray, pray, what is 1t "
she asked eagerly. Madam, it is pigs nose,
boiled with cabbage was his quiet answer. He
was never forgiven.
am not afraid of applying the moral Of this
story--every word Of which is true-to my own
case.
OF NE pss. month, spent twenty days ia Lon
don; but the principal topic Of interest there-the
financial erisis--was only reperformance, on a
smaller stage, Of the great American melodrama.
We had unprecedented Autumnal weather-mld,
calm and sunny. Roses were in bloom in the open
AIR when we left, Just week ago, and the gera-
NUNS and hehotrOpes had not been taken indoors.
The turf was as green as in June, and many OF the
eims had not hundred yellow leaves. did not 60
70 see the Leviathan launched, because had pre-
sentiment that the work would not be finished in
one day and consequently did not see her not
launched We went to see 1.-The Tempest" got
zen up by Charles Kean, and found the stage ma
chiDery ss marvellous as the acting was bad. Very
pleasant evenings had We with astronomer Airy, at
his observatory in Greenwich Park, with Thack-
cray with FreiEgath, and with the genial Ameri-
L NI.It