The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1868-11-16

a.
most sacred duty to oHer his service TO We
! public. and pressed me TO come into the Con
AFTER the very natural declaration of distrust
in my ability TO do any good, told him that l
had made large pecunary eneagements Wh'ch
required close attention TO my profession, and
! which would distress me should the EN- 'lu
! ments derived from il be abandoned. l also
mentioned the assurance had given TO tue
gentleman then candidate, which ] could not
! honorably violate. m go
"He thought that gentleman would still will.
! ingly withdraw in my favor, and that my be-
coming member of Congress for tue present,
! would not sacrifice my practice as lawyer.
! At any rate the sacrifice might be temporary.
CATER continuing the conversation for some
| time he directed my attention to his own con-
duct. He had Withdrawn from office with
declaration of his determination never again,
under any circumstances, to enter pubic life.
No man could be more sincere in making that
declaration, nor could any man ieel stronger
motives for adhering to ii. No man could make
q stronger sacrifice than he did in breaking
resolution thus publicly made, and which he
had believed TO be unalterable. Yet ga him,
in opposition to his public declaration, IN oppo'
siton TO his private feelings, consenting, under
sense of duty, to surrender the sweets OF
retirement, and again TO enter the most arduous
and peIllous station which an individual could
''My resolution yielded to this representation.
After remarking that the obligation which had
controlled bis course was essentially different
from that which bound me-that no other man
could 6ll the place to which his country bad
called him, whereas my service could weigh put
little in the political balance, l consented to
become candidate, aud have continued, ever
since my election, in public lie.
This letter il intended to be private, and you
will readily perceive the undtness OF making 1T
public. 1t is written because 1t has been re-
quested in polite and obliging terms, and
because am willing, should your own views
induce you TO mention the fact derived from
Mr.. Lewis, to give you the assurance OF its
"With very great respect I am, Sir,
'Your obed't serv't,
81. MARSHALL"
We take the following facts and opinions
from "Our Monthly Gossip" as usual one
of the most entertaining portions of the maya
zine:-
The Italian Opera - delicate, beautiful,
exotic as it is - is psrishing slo Wy
but surely from the face OF the earth.
Here and there we 6nd an uneasy ghost
from the burial-place of its departed glores (for
instance, Mario, that luckless stage-over bent
by the weight of nearly sixty years. haunting
! the opera houses OF Europe and still cinglng
| to that spectral mantle for which wait the
shoulders of no successor. Grisi, Rubini, Tam
| burini Persan Lablache, all are either dead
or voiCeess, and the land of their birth sends
out no young singers to seize the sceptres which
| they have let fall, to seat themselves on the
! thrones which they have left vacant. Italy no
| longer produces great musical artists nor even
! extraordinary voices. Her celebrated compo-
| sers, too, belong as much to the past as do her
| great painters, and a second Rossini, even new
Donizett or Bellini, appears to be as unhoped
for and impossible boon as another Raphael
| or Michel Angelo. Aud this decadence has
taken place in spite of all the fostering patron
age which fashion and royalty could bestow.
| lmpressarios have planted and kings have
watered this fragile blossom OF art, but the
| increase has been denied them.
| London, during the season, is the chosen
home of the Italian Opera. This year, two
Italian Opera companies fourished there-one
at Covent Garden aud the other (late of her
| Majesty's Theatre, which was burned down
some months ago) at Drury Lane. These two
establishments comprised nearly all the
were were % Called emphatlcaiy ItlGhs Itsliahn opera Hs
troupes. Looking carefully over the lists
| of the singers OF both companies, we can dud
but three Italians wno are known to fame
Patti, GraziAni, and Mario. Signor Mongini, of
the Coyent Garden troupe, Is also well spoken
! OF, and is said to possess an excellent tenor
world in London were created by Clara Louise
Kellogg and Mad'lle Nlllson-the first named an
American, and the latter swede.
| Nor need we COn6ne our observations to
Italian opera in London. Tltiens whose
9aS greatest pF2RS MePSea" MsPS' SFHi fdeo oS
now on the stage, is n Dutch Ut h. woman; SnHG
| Opera at Par S, and the original "Selka" of
! L'At1IcGtne, whose voice Meyerbeer pronounced
! TO be the finest soprano IN the world, is Bel
| gian. Her predecessor at the Grand Opera, the
! world-renoWned Sophie Cruvelli, was a German,
and her zeal name was Kruvel. Nlllson-the
beautiful, gifted Nillson, who lately aroused
even the bidSe Parisiaus to enthusiasm by her
personation OF "OphelIa" in the dali, heavy
| Hdmtet OF Am broise Thomas, thereby saving the
! opera from total condemnation, and changing
an utter failure into partial pecuniary
success-is, as we have before SAID,
a Swede. Pauline Lucca, the most
renowned marguerite in the world,
who ID equally celebrated Tor voice,
artistic culture, power, ana beauty, Is OF Italian
parentage, it is true but is by birth, musical
education, and residence German. The
charming Deslree Artot is Belgian. Miolan
Carvaho-for whom Gounod wrote his Marquee
rite, his MIreille, and his Juliet, whose Pamina
in the Enchanted Flute was marvel of vocal
and dramatic perfection, and whose Refine
| Topaze still haunts the memory of those so
fortunate to have seen and heardit-is French
woman. ltaly's faYorite primG donna of the
present day is an American lady, Mrs. Jenny
Van Zandt, the daughter OF our we'll
known and patriolc townsman, signor
be heard belong to Wachtel, the German,
and Montaubry, Raudin, and Cspoul, who
are Freuchmen. There are no Italian baritones
10 compare with the Englishman Santley and
rivals Herr Schmidt Of the Imperial Opera
! House at Vienna,
Against this long list we can place but few
names of great Italian singers. The number
comprises the veterans Mario and Ronconi, the
baritone GraZiani, the well-known tenor Gar
doni, Mad'les Pence and Trebelli, aud, last and
greatest, the world renowned siren, Adelina
Patti. Yet even the claims OF this last to be
considered an Italian prima donna are not incon-
testable, as she was born in Spain, and gre " TO
womanhood and received her musical education
IN the United States,
In 1864, Meyerbeer's opera OF LEtoGe du
NOrd was revived with great splendor in Lon
don, and was sung in Italian. Yet before it
could be produced il was found necessary to
engage Mime NJ iolan CarYalho and Messieurs
Naudin and FauTe, all French singers, to play