The evening Argus. [volume] (Rock Island, Ill.) 1861-1871, 1869-01-15
Az ITINHRANT nsELL. |"

There are as many sorts OF yagabonds as
there are colors and modulations Of colors
in an autumn sunset There is the vaga-
bond in seedy coat who claims subsistence
from a wondering community for swallow
ing a broad.sword and jerrymandering with
cups and balls: and thence ascending or de-
scending through the scale Of vagabondism,
there are innumerable people who levy du.
ty on human curiosity and take the pro.
ceeds as legitimate annuity, founded upon
tie fact Of their superior intelligence. The
vagabond princes Of the blood, however,
the Bamfylde Carews Of exhibiting Bohe
mians, are the parlor concerizers, and the
fanatcally progressive lecturers Of the low
er order, who by some fortuitous talent, or
by dint of special preparation, present to
the public, with a charlatan assurance, either
a wretched amateurIsh musical performance
ora lecture which is mosaic of nonsense
originality. These men, who confne them
selves to provincial towns, are generally
successful, from the fact that the press per.
mits itself to be suborncd for the sake of a
pitiful advertisement, and gives them a no
toriety which they deserve no more than the
revenue Of the same, which is often very
large. Such an one was the concert Of
Thompson and Parkhurst, which came off
at Darts Hall last evening. They had been
eGcellently recommended to us by our ex.
changes and a gentlemanlyappearing agent
neither one of whom had sufficient candor
to acknowledge their convictions, or had
sufficient taste to discriminate. We &C.
cordingly paid them some handsome com.
pliments, and there assembled to hear them
a rather slim audience Of people who were
nearly all endowed with n degree of artistic
taste. We will endeavor to give an idea of
how they were remunerated
The troupe was composed Of man Of
the name of Thompson, and two young men
of the name of Parkhurst, who evidently
relied for rapport on human simplicity and
readiness to be pleased. One of them
Thompson by name, pretends to be com
poser Of eminerce, and the other two have
nothing to recommend them, save hybrid
base and baritone voices, and one of them
the most quiet and unostentatious of the
three, might, within certain compass o
tone, be employed to advantage as q church
chorister, bat having no vocal or initiative
gifts to warrant his calling q crowd Of PEG
pie together TO witness. Mr.. Thompson
was afflicted with severe cold, and the
charity of the audience was asked on his
account. None was accorded, however, &c
the other two, and the whole thing was vot.
ed a bore. Old tunes made classic by
persistent dissemination through the medi.
ums Of industrious Italians with monkeys,
were ground out lfelessly by the trio. The
songs Of recent inaiction upon the commu'
nifty, which have attained the notoriety Of
being whistIed by boot.backs and street.
urchins, were claimed as the productions of
Mr.. Thompson; whether justly or not, we
have not sufficient interest to investigate
We would mention two, however, which his
bills claim for him, "Lilly Dale" and "Im
lonely since my mother died" Neither of
them have sufficient merit as musical com
positions to warrant any great amount Of
wrsngling. As a contradiction to Mr.. Thomp.
sons claim to them we would state that, one
of the most eminent periodicals in this
country has accredited the plaiutiye ballad
Of Lilly Dale to Stephen C.. Foster, in q
sketch Of him, and that the words Of
the other ore claimed TO have been
written by Charles Il. School, a Phil
sdelphia journalist, and the music com
posed by friend of his, not Mr.. Thompson,
Mr.. T., who when not straning his voice on
falsetto, sang unsteady through his nose,
favored the audience with number of his
compositions, and the rest of the entertain,
ment consisted IN the comicalities of one
Mr.. Parkhurst, and the rather lifeless per.
formance of the other. J. G. Psrkhurst,
who reminds one, in his prodigious efforts to
raise a laugh, Of g poor music hall low
comedian working for faint applause and a
corresponding increase of salary, filed in e
large proportion of the mOnOtonOus bill,
and closed with song in reference to "old