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

produced since William Tel, and very fe Y have
since seen the light which have ouilIved tue
on of their birth. Verdi, Il Is true, has,
with strange inequality OF power, given to the
world some magnificent scenes In combination
with some utter trash, and he has written
some few entire operas which, by dins
of dram attic librettos, striking efecs;
and abundance of noise, have attained
to something like enduring popularity. But
setting aside his contributions to the lyGlc stage,
what remain? Petrella's lone, Ricci's Ortsptno
e Ia O0nndTe- the list is but a short one. Ot the
three most celebrated COMPOSERS OF the present
day, Meyerbeer was q German, Gounod aud
Auber are Frenchmen.
may listen to the operas of Beethoven, mozart,
Won Weber, Meyerbeer, Gounod, Auber. sung
by fresh, well-trained voices, and With chorus
and orcl estra of magnificent size and unsur-
passable perfection. Go to Paris, and tour opera
houses WOO you to enter and be en-
chanted-namely, Les Italiens, the Grand
Opera, La Lyrique, and the Opera Con1que,
to say nothing OF the Wtchng melohles %
iennes," where 0henbach is king. Go to Italy,
deluded mortal and you will find nothing but
the weakest operas of Verdi and his disciples,
wretChedly sung and worse acted, but accom-
panied by ballet of unparalleled splendor. The
great theatres of Italy given up to the ballet,
which fourishes in rank and unwhoesome
luXuriance over the grave of the Lyric Drama.
Hitherto no authentic portrait Of the founder
of Pennsylvania was generally known to exist,
with the exception of the oil painting In the
poss ession of the Historical Society of Pennsyl-
vania, itself believed to be copied from a medal
lion on ivory painted in Dubin in l666. This
represents William Penn as Il young man of 22
in armor, with the family motto on one side
quite unfit for Quaker)-Pdr quGritIT be'to
Recently, however, an original crayou likeness
OF Penn, as he looked in middle life, has come to
light, together with one of his second wife,
Hannah Callowhlll. They are in the possession
of o gentleman who resides near Darlington,
England, and who says that these portraits
have remained. with others by the same artist
Francis Place, an ancestor of the
present owner - as an heirloom in his
family ever since they were drawn. A
confirmation of this assertion occurs in Surtees'
History of Durham" (vol, III, p. 37l), where
the author speaks of Several admirable crayon
drawings by Francis Place--a fine head of
being among the number. One of the Pening-
ton family formerly lived near Darlington and
Place is known to have been on intimate terms
with the Peningtons. 1t is presumed that
during one of William and Hannah Penn's
visits, Place, who was an amateur artist
drew these portraits; this would account for
their being at Dnsdale, near Darlington,
so far from Penn's residence. Photographs tor
these portraits have been sent to Philadelphia.
aud it is proposed to have them engraved to
illustrate the Historical Society's forthcoming
volumes ofthe Penn and Logan CORES pondence.
William Penn's face is quite handsome, and has
far more character than the ordinary portraits
OF him in later life, all of which are taken from
q bust cut in ivory by Sylvanus Bevan, from
recollections, after Penn's DEATH In addition
to the above there is painting on glass men,
toned in the "Penns and Penningtons," which
has been conjectured to be likeness OF Penn, but
which is far from being we'll authenticated, and
which more probably represents one OF the
Gurney family.