Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1866-12-28


one reminiscence OF his makes me chcris
a particular remembrance Of this Christina
day. lie had once seen Dr. johnson. " hei
he was very little bOy his father had hel,
him up in a crowd ner Temple Bar, to lool
| at fat man in brown coat and a shove
hat And that Fat man was the great lcxico
/ grapher.
"Did You ever sec Oliver Goldsmith?'
asked
"No, he never saw him."
But you heard a great deal about him,
at that time?
NO; We did mt hear much about Oliycl
Goldsmith. johnson was the great man. o
You can imagine that, can YOU not
The talking nan much heard Of the quiet
man Of thought and modes; genius unre-
garded
Some great t-granlchil lren cam. in in the
evening. One, aged five, pretty little puss.
with blue eyes and 4 ken hair, behaved
quite in a motherly manner towards her
great-granddad; kissed him patronizngly
on botn cheeks, patted his bald head. aud
making him comfortable in HE chair. talked
to him soothingly in babyhnguage There
were four generations round the supper
table. The old man was 50 proud and 30
happy that be would insist upoa sitting 10
long after his usual bedtime when his
daughter saii it vas time for by-by, he
snapped his fingers at her, demanded anoth-
er glass Of p1uch, and declared he would
sing us song. There was a spital song
that Captain Morris used 10 sing. he said
but-but he conldn { remember il lie, he
was & rare blade. Captain Morris. a rare
blade could sing a frst-rate song. No I:
he could Mt remember that song, bat be
would try TO remember another And
presently, after good deal Of cogiiauon.
the nonagenarian struck mp, IN q shrill,
quayering treble
Here's to the maiden q b ushing fifteen,
Here's to the widow Of fifty;
Here's to The Haunting e. 7sysgant queen.
Here's to the
At this point bis momJry failed him, and.
thinking for some time. he SAID
Never mind, Wen sing the chorus.
Let the gias. pass.
Wen drink 90 the Ass,
III warrant she'll Troye 81 excI'- ~ the
glass"
The next verse escaped him altogether, AID
nc said be would sing Us another capital
'
forgot that too, and went lack % the chorus
Of ''Hcre 5 to the maiden and finished up
by drinking his hali-glas- Or weak punch,
vith some faint imitation 90. the manner 90.
the roaring blade he used o. be when he WIS
young.
/, was not till twelve O'Clock struck that ;ae
Id great. .granddad would consent u retire
Ind then his loving daughter took him by
the arm and helped him 10 his room, where
she put hun 70 bed and tucked him up like
4 child
Alas hc sleeps in his lat bed now, the
old hearth Is dcs1late the children arc
scattered. never u meet more until they are
gathered together in the Fathers House Of
many Mansions.
Tie next Christmas day that rises on the
maglc disc OF memory q suggested by the one
I have jus; descTiboi not because it was
IKE II, but because 70 was rery unlike il. IL
Is memorable s> one 0i the coolest, most un-
comfortable Christmas days ever spent.
lad three lnvitauols TO dinner that day.
One u country house, a long distance from
London the second came from q hOmely
imily in the natural wills Of Islington and
ine thIrd was conveyed 10 me by an aristC-
cratic pCIsonagc, with handle 10 his name,
who resided in the unnatural tamenesses Of
Belgrayia. lie was not a duke, nor a lord,
but he was something even more awful,
grand, ami unapprOachablc, for he was 4
sci ,ntiic baronct who wrote D. c. L aud
Ii. D.. and F. K. 5, and F. r. &. :, &c
after his name
The terms in which he c0uchcd his inyi-
fati1n make It clear to me now - though /
iii NO, perceive it at the time - that be H.
,ited me rather IN Ii;y than in spirit Of
genial hospitality. The nJte was written
IN very thick coarse grained V1per,-U
wonder why thick coarse-crainci paper Is
arIst0crauc adorned with a
and the handwriting was an
illegible scientific scrawl. q wonder why
science. which is 20 accurate and precise m
other things, always writes sach a tad
handy And the great nan, Bart, ID. {. L.
l.L d., +. r. ), +. r. :, &c., said, as wei.
| could make out, tha; might come
/. '' eat my Christmas dinner with him.
J lid n't like that phrase, cat my Christ
raas dinner To be sure it was the pur-
TJse OF the thing bur j. was, | thought, a
way Of putting it. Tcmcm-
Der now that | had turned author about that
period dare say he thought q dinner
at any time would he charity to me. My
desire to dine with a barOnet, however,
llInded me to any offence that might have
larked in the terms Of the note and dis
dining humble Islington, where | should
have been supremely happy, | accepted the
invitation.
went in full evening costume, and ar
lived at the grand mansion quarter an
; "ur before the thing appointed, which was
o'clock. was received in the hall by a
ststely ioolman, who conducted Int to the
d itwIng-room. The BArODet was there.
:, ated in his arm chair, absorbed in Re
view with a sombre cover, indicating that It
was solemn and solid and scientific. He did
not rise to bid me welcome but carelesslY
extended three cold fingers for me to shake,
and said "How do?" Nothing about
merry Christmas to me, or any seasonable
greeting of that sort. Indeed, there were
no signs of Christmas in the house. The
drawing room was very elegant, with rich
curtains, soft couches, large mirrors. marble
lusts and statues and great deal OF gliding
bat my eye searched in vain for the pleasant
twinkle of hollYberrY or the CLINT ot
mistletoe leaf. The Baronet's guests drop
ped in one by one. They were all males,
and as they mostly appeared with tumbled
hair, and wore spectaeles, judge that. like
their host, they were scientific, and wrote
capital letters after their names. Ii proved
SO.
There we're no ladies of the family except
her iadyship, and she excused herself from
coming down to dinner on the ground of IN
disposition. So we, the male guests, tum-
bled down to the dIning-room in disorder
" mob. On the stairs heard "superphos-
rhate'' mentioned, also "carbonated'
! 5mething, likewise an allusion to 'caloric."
1t was magnificent dinner, with every
thing proper to the season, and many other
things besides. 1t struck me, however, that
tie viands proper to the season-the turkey,
Il e roast-beef, and the plum-pudding-were
il reduced almost alphabetically, IN defer
erce to prejudice and foolish custom. Ii
VS. long time before We came to the tur-
/. '. nobody took roast beef, and the plum
pudding was little thing made in shape,
v it'll no spring of holly in it. and without
a glory of blazing brandy. Everything was
handed round by two silent foOtmen. And
the guests were almost as silent as the at
tendants. At no time was there a general
but after the champagne had