Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1875-05-21

tFrom Belgravia.1

ION 4o0x0s
(From Belgravial
A large party was assembled to
meet him. / must own to feeling
great astonishment at his appearance,
as, if his sister was small, he was
smaller still-that is, for man. He
was what Charles Dickens would
have called a "mite." He came into
the room on tiptoe, at sort of a run,
with his head thrown back; and first
he kissed his sister Ellen most
affectlonately, then he kissed nearly
every other pretty girl he could get
at. He was soon surrounded, and he.
sat there chirping and chattering and
turning his head about like pet
bird. His manner was delightfully."-
frank, genial, and winning. He was
full of the gossip Of the day, and
looked like q well-to-do little gentle
man who had no other occupation
except amusing himself. His head
was nearly bald, and there was just a
fringe Of slightly-grizzled hair round
his temples. His nose was retrousse
(cocked). His complexion rescm-
bled the color of certain apple,
with which as school-boy l was
over-familiar, called russetbrown,
with good tinge of red in it. A
soupcon OF the same color was visi-
BILE on the end of the little mans
nose; but his head, which he carrie1
in a slanting direction, was very
good, and his eye was large, liquid,
lustrous, and full of intelligence. He
had a large double eye-glass, which
he carried suspended round his neck
by black ribbon, and made frequent
use of it. l cannot remember how
he was dressed; but when l met him,
as l did Oh many subsequent occa-
sions, his attire was peculiar. He
wore large oIive-green surtout
coat, a blue neck-cloth, and white
hat, set very much back upon his
head. In society it was almost i'm
possible to get at him; for he was
generally the center of a perfect gal
axy of petticoats. All the prettiest
women seemed to fondle and caress
him, and treat him much as they
would large wax doll; but when he
sang, as he did on that particular
evening, two of his favorite melodies
the "Last Rose of Summer" and "Oft
in the Silly Night" there was vi
bration, flutter, and tendency to
hysterical emotion instantly percept-
ible, such as I have never observed
in any other audience except that of
Mr.. Robertson in his chapel at
Brighton. cannot attempt to des-
cribe either the singing or its electri-
cal effect; but I could perfectly well
understand the meaning of a story
which l remember reading in the
.Memoirs of Sir Jonah Darlington" !"
of how certain lady of quality,
hearing the little man warbling one
of his love ditties, laid her hand upon
his arm and said: "For heavens
sake, Moore, stop, stop! this is not for
the good of my soul!' Earl Russell,
in his "Memoirs," says Moore was the
most brilliant man he ever met. |
suppose he was right; but this bril-
liancy was concealed by manner
which, if you did not know who he
was, would have led to an entirely
different conclusion. He was flip
pant, restless, and seemed never at
ease. except when he was the center
of observation. Looking at hlm, l
could not for the life of me, bring
myself to believe that this was the
individual who had inspired Byron
with the famous lines:
my boat is on the shore,
And my bark is on the sea;
But before go, Tom Moore,
Here's double health to thee"
Yes, there he vas, hopping about,
whispering pretty nothings into the
willing ears of Hibernian beauties,
and comporting himself much like a
boy let loose from school. I could
no longer wonder at the prince reg
ent's proposal, at one Of the Carlton
house banquets, to put him into a
punch bowl, which secured the poets
lasting resentment; but l did wonder
how he contriyed to inspire SO many
great men with such an affectionate
interest and regard. He was in pro-
digious request in that time, l remem-
Der, in Dublin. The marchloness of
Normandy used to send her carriage
to fetch him out for airings in the
Phoenix park, and he was continually
receiving invitations to dine with the
lord lieutenant, or Lord Morpeth,
then the secretary. A covered car,
which is species of conveyance pc
culiar to Dublin, used to fetch
him to these entertainments,
about which he was constantly
making mistakes; for instance, going
to dine with the chief secretary when
he had been invited to dine with the
lord lieutenant, forgetting the date
of the invitation, dropping in on a
day when he was not expected, and
all sorts Of strange blunders In all
the relations of private life Mr..
Moor's conduct was unexceptionable;
a better husband, kinder father,
never existed; and he allowed his
only sister, at whose house made
his acquaintance, out of his own
slender income, sufficient fer her COM
Portable support. But in hi. children
he was peculiarly unfortunate. His
eldest son-for whom, by dint of
great sacrifice, he purchased COM
pany in the English army-lost his
commission by extravaganza, and
died at Algeria in the French service.
The second lost his health in India,
and came home to Sloperton to die.
His only daughter, while in the act
of kissing her hand to him as he was
going out to dine at Lord Lansdown's
fell over the balusters and was killed.
Thus persisted all his hopes, and he
died at last in his own house in the
arms of his faithful wife, having out
lived even his own brilliant intellect.
Good Morning."
n1..Sa (o.co< ~ so,, ero~>J ~, n wns =, ~ -