The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1875-09-18

| WV" S"oiu"u heley mad some entertaining
adventures, as did all who knew him, except
his creditors. Kelley had the i'll fortune once
to be arrested as security for one of Sheridan's
debts, but the dramatist soon procured his
surety's release and managed to borrow e2OO
of the creditor before he could get out of the
room Sheridan's quickness at raising money
was equalled by his quickness with the pen.
The fifth act of his play of "Pizarro'' was
| written by him in the green-room during
| the progress OF the other acts on the
| stage the first night. From all accounts
| he was the LATEST man that ever breathed He
| took it into his head one day that good way
to excite popular sympathy would be to write
an article for the papers, villifying his charac.
ter and containing atrociouS calumnies about
him, and then to write a reply showi ng the
falsenesS and groundless nature Of the attack.
| So he wrote one Of the most vituperative arti-
cles about himself that mortal ever penned.
and it was published. But he never could
| persuade himself to take the trouble to write
one line in his own vindication; and the libels
which be invented against himself remain to
this hour wholly uncontradicted.
| Of John Taylor, the third of the men whose
memoirs Mr.. Stoddard has served up to u.s.
| little is known. He had great aversion to
dates, and has not even told US when he was
| born. He was educated an oculist, but in
| 1880 began to turn his attention toward literary
| pursuits, particularly toward the public press.
| What journals he was connected with, and in
| what capacity, we are left to conjecture.
We only know that he was one of the owners
| of "The SUM-, with William Jordan. He
| died in 1892 His memoirs are made up of
amusing incidents he had seen or amusing
stories he had heard. OF the stories the one
told of Jack Spencer, kinsman of the Duch-
ess of Marlborough, and an eccentric character,
is good example. One of Spencer's whimsi-.
cal freaks was to take a hackney coach with
three friends in dark evening, and order the
man to set them down in gloomy part of the
| strand at the side of the new church. He had
| previously opened the door opposite to that
where the coachman waited, and as Spencer
and bis friends quilted the coach on one side
| they went round and entered at the other.
| The coachman was at first surprised.th that more
| issued from the carriage than he had taken in.
| As they continued to go round and come out,
| he became dreadfully alarmed, and at length
his terror was so great that he ran from the
| coach, and rushed into the first public house,
telling the people there he must have taken in
a legion of devils; for he added, with every sign
of horror. that he had only taken four in, but
had counted eighteen out, and that more were
coming when he left the coach. 1t is said that
he ouce contrived to collect party of hunch-
backed men to dine with him, some of whom
| Indignantly quilted the table. Another whim-
| sical party which he assembled at his house
| consisted merely of number of persons all of
| whom suffered; but this meeting at first
threatened serious consequences, for each sup
| posed that he was Knocked by the other, and it
was with great difficulty that their host restored
peace, by acknowledging the ludicrous pur-
| pose of his invitation.
| ANNALS OF A FORTRESS. By e. Viollet-Le Due.
Translated by Benjamin BuckneIl Boston: j. r.
Osgood & Co. For sale by Bailey & Noyes.
Viollet-le, Dues STORY of House" printed
| in this country last year, has made the eminent
| French engineer familiar as an author to
| Americans. His "Annals of Fortress" will
be likely to widen his acquaintance in this
country. 1t is in effect work on the science
of fortifcaton, adapted to uuprofessional peo-
pie. The history of military defenses from the
old times of balf-barbarous tribes down to
i
an imaginary one, but is supposed TO be situa-
ted on the Cousin, an afluent of the Saone.
The characteristics of the country are described
when it was wild region, inhabited by SIM
| pie people using the bow and arrow and stone
hatchets, who were driven away or subdued by
a fairhaired people who came with horses and
chariots. These fair-haired people built an
| oppidum for their protection, which was be-
seiged and captured. The captors still preserv-
the oppidum, but greatly improved it and in.
| stituted new system of military service to
defend it. But it was beseiged again, this
time by the Romans under one Of Casar's lieu
| tenants, by whom it WINS captured. Then by
Caesars orders permanent camp was estab-
lished, and soon became the site of Gallo
Roman town, the Cite Julana, fortified in the
most skillful manner by Philostratus About
the year 800 it was besieged by the Franks, and
reduced after long and terrible struggle, when
the conquerers destroyed all the defensive
works. But in the twelfth century the name
of the place having meantime become St. Ju-
lien, an abbey was built there, and the feudal
eastla of Roche-pont This castle was after
a time besieged by the Duke of Burgundy, and
was heroically defended by han dful of men,
and relieved by the King OF France, who
possessed himself of the Duchy of Burgundy
and added it to his crown. In the time of Louis
XI, the venerable castle was put in condition to
repel the attack with the new weapon of war
fare, fire artillery. The fifth siege was near
the close of the fifteenth century, the town
having revolted, but King Louis reduced it al
ter plenty of hard fighting. In the early part
of the seventeenth century, the site of La
Rochpont is fortified in the most.thorough man
ner by Errad de Bar-le- Due, engineer to the
most Christian King of France and of Navarro,
Henry w., and shortly after stood its sixth
siege. NJ. de Vauban next tried his hand at
these Notifications. BY him they were. greatly
extended and improved, and in the time of the
Napoleonic war sustained long siege, conduct
ed with all the skill and vigor then available.
In the Franco-German war the fortress was not
attacked, but the author says that although it
| Is as strong as Vauban left it, it could not
have held out forty eight hours against the
German artillery. The remainder of the book
gives plan of defence adapted to the present
times, represented to be the scheme Of a
wounded officer, a native of the place who
passed his last days devising plan to make the
fortress impregnable.
i The story is rendered entertaining by much
j incident and description, and the different
stages of the fortress are illustrated by fine
drawings, SO that the theme is rendered INTEL
4 ligible TO those without even the slightest
knowledge of engineering. The volume is
elegantly gotten up, and the translator has
aimed to preserve the archaic style of the
original French.
KNGsBURY SKETCHES. By John Fl. Kingsbury,
New York: G. W. Carleton s. Co. For sale by
| Bailey s. Noyes.
This volume purports to be "a truthful and
succnct account of the doings and misdoings
of the inhabitants of Pine Grove; their private
trials and public tribulations." 1t must be
confessed that Pine Grove from the showing Of
the author, is very stupid place, that its in
habtants are chiefly fools, and that their trib-
uiations, public and private, are anything but
entertaining. The work is desperate but un-
successful attempt at fun. The book has two
| or three funny illustrations