The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1875-11-12

con one occasion, writes Mrs Mos
chelcs, eve had the happiness Of enter
| tanning the famous SOntag at Il large
party at our house. She was enchant-
ing, as usual. Sir Walter Scott, who
happened to be in London, was present
He was delighted at meeting SOntag,
whose introduction to Sir Walter, on
the eve Of her appearance in the Donna
del Lago, was singularly well-timed
Lockhart, it IS true, tells us, in his
biography, that Sir Walter feltannoyed
at being besieged by crowd Of fatter-
crs and strangers who made pilgrim
| age to AbbotsfOrd, and overwhelmed
him with compliments, their knowledge
Of his works being based possibly on Il
| single attendance at the Donna del
Lago, at the Italian opera; but in the
! presence Of Sontag the great man was
all ears, and eyes, too, | think. When
| she questioned him about her costume
as the Lad " Of the Lake, he described
to her with the utmost minuteness
every fold Of the plaid, and was greatly
pleased when | produced a genuine
satin clan plaid, the present of Lady
Sinclair, while in Edinburgh, the loan
Of which | was delighted to promise to
| Sontag. He showed her the particular
way the brooch should be fastened at
the shoulder, and would not allow any
alteration. Henrietta had two wor-
shippers that evening, the second being
| Clement, who seemed as much tascina-
ted as Scott. He got up from his chair
and said, Tonight | should like toplay
also The proposition was received
with acclamation. "He extemporized
with all the freshness of youth, writes
| Moscheles, land we listened with in
tense delight, for Clement very rarely
played before company. You should
have seen the ecstasy Of the two old
men, Scott and Clement; they shook
each other by the hand, took it in turns
to hirt with Sontag without seeming
jealous of one another, it was a pretty
duet Of joint admiration Of course the
poet, musician, and songstress were the
| observed Of all observers"
PRINCIPAL DAWSON, who is the
most distinguished defender of the
Scriptral account Of creation among
American geologists, in his address be-
fore Section B of the American Asso-
citation at Detroit, after showing that
there have been in past ages alterna-
tions Of expansion and contraction in
the life of the world, pointed out that
the globe is now apparently in 4 state
Of rest, so far as the introduction of
new forms Of life is concerned. He
said: " Another general truth, obvious
from the facts which have been already
collected, Is the periodicity of introduc-
ion ofspecies. They come in by burst
Or fIood-tideS at particular points of
time, while these great lifewaves are
followed and preceded by times Of ebb,
in which little that is new is being pro-
duced. We labor in our investigation
of this matter under the disadvantage
that the modern period is evidently
one Of the times Of pause in the crea-
| tive work. Had our time been that
of the early tertiary or early mesozoic,
our veiws as to the question Of origin
of species might have been very diff
ferent 1t is striking fact, and in
illustration Of this, that since the
glacial age no new species of mammal
can be proved to have originated On
our continent, while a great number
Of large and conspicuous forms have
disappeared. 1t Is possible that the
proNimate or secondary causes Of the
ebb and flow of life production may
be in part at least physical, but ether
and more important efficient causes
may be behind these. In any case
these undulations in the history of life
are in harmony with much that we see
in other departments of nature.
"Pm two years older than YOU" said
a little girl to New Bedford boy the
other day. Il don't care" was the re-
ply, ''I'm going to wear trousers soon.
! and that you'll never do"