Litchfield enquirer., 1879-04-03
H. M. S. Pinafore.
The counsel remarked that he had never heard of such case.
 "Never?' asked the learned opponent.

"What never 2' retOrted the other.
 'Drop that gentlemen" said the judge,
 smiling, while the courtroom burst into
 laugh.
 It was very complaisant courtroom, for
 there was apparently no jest in the question or answer. Yet it affected bench, bar, and audi
 ence with the same comic emotion, and evil
 dently with complete common understanding.
 And, indeed, every where at this time, ii the
 queston were pressed, it would lead toa laugh
 ing answer, as if by previous concert, "Weh,
 hardly ever."
 It is kind of slang which win seem in-
 comprehensible te some gentle Dryasdust of
 the future who unearths this number of Har-
 per to see what amused his simple old ances-
 tors. He, indeed, is the only person whom 1t
 is necessary to tell that the words are part of
 the most popular burlesque ever known, fl.
 M. g. PinGfore; which at this writing is playing at five theatres in New York and one
 in Brooklyn, and by other companies, local and
 peripatetic, all over the land. It is sheer bur lesque, pure fun, the satire general and ludl-
 creus, not personal, although in London, where it has great ''run," the leading char
 acter was thought to be hit at member of
 the cabinet The fun is of that easy, amusing
 kind that it is immediately current, and while the hand-organs and theatre Orchestras and
 street bands play the gay melodies, and the streets and parlors hum with the familiar re- frains, common conversation, and the news
 papers, and the lawyers, as we saw, and every
 body every where, quote and repeat and re- ech0 the good-natured nonsense. The scene is the deck of the Pinafore the
 drama sets forth the love of the Right Hon.
 Sir Joseph Porter, K c. B., First Lord of the Admiralty, for Josephine, the daughter of Captain Corcoran, and the counterplot is the | love of Josephine, the captains daughter for l Ralph Rackstraw, able seaman. Dick Dead | eye, also able seaman, and the bumboat wo-
 man, little Buttercup assist the development | of the plot, and from first to last the fun is continuous and the music capital. But whence
 came the Right Hon, Sir Joseph Porter, K. C. B.. We do not mean the conception of the | character, but it's creator" upon the stage at ''the Standard ?" Originally it was whispered | that Mir. Smith, called into the Beaconsfield cabinet from news stand, so to speak, was bodied forth by Sir Joseph. That was Lon l don gossip, and they may always wear the cap whom it fits. But here we know nothing of | such Lendon gossip. It is for us creation of pure fun and what we ask is whether the gentleman who plays the First Lord is a we'll known artist-fOr that he may be, and un- | known to the Easy Chair-or whether an actor plods steadily on in his nightly rut unmarked l for especial and superior merit, and then
 some Wednesday nj Int, say, after Tuesday of the ordinary wOrk-suddenly steps forth
 with remarkable cleaverness and becomes i'm.
 mediately and justly famous. | There is no doubt that Mir. Whiffen's Sir Jo- 1 seph is, in the French phrase, a creation" | It is unique and irresistible. Other Sir Josephs
 may be excellent, but this is so conceived in the purest spirit of jOlity it's restraints and re-
 licences and freedom from exaggeration-if
 such words may be used to describe what is all
 exaggeration and nonsense-are SO full of tact
 and genius that it is impossible to escape the
 conviction that this is the real Sir Joseph. | When at anchor here ride, My bosom swels with pride, And snar my finger at foeman's taunts
 Chorus And do his sisters and his cousins and his | aunts-
 His sisters and his cousins and hls aunts. l But when the breezes blow, | generally go below. l And seek the seclusion that a cabin grants.
 Chorus. And do his sisters and his cousins and his | auuts-
 His sisters and his cousins, whom he reckons up by l dozens and his aunts. It is so we'll done that there is an uncom-
 fertable suspicion that very eminent places are open to the dismal suspicion of being some- times filled inadequately and by wrong sys- 1 tem-a suspicion which, of course, the we'll l regulated mind instantly dismsses. When was a lad served a term As office boy to an attorneys firm; I cleaned the windows and swept the floor,
 And polished up the handle of the big front door. polished up the handle careiulee That now am the ruler of the Queens navee. grew so rich that was sent | By pocket borough into Parliament l always voted at my party's ca l And never thought of thinking for myself at al l thought so little they rewarded me | By making me the ruler of the Queens navee. | No one who has not seen Pinaforo can infer
 the fun from the words although there is a great deal of grotesque suggestion in them. | The idea of ship managed with courtesles and l compliments is exceedingly ludcrous, and the
 big bluff captain is also very droll. Though related to peer, | I can h. Ad,,reef, and steer | Or ship selyagee; am never knowH to quail At the fury of gale, And I'm never. never sick at sea. Chorus What! never? CGptGin. No, never | Chorus. What never? CaptGin. Well, hardly ever. Chorus He's hardly ever sick at sea, | Bad language abuse never, never use. Whatever the emergency l Though "Bother it !" may occasionally say, never use big, big D. Chorus. What never? Captain No, never. Chorus. What never? Captain. Well, hardly ever. Chorus Hardly ever swears 8 big, big D. l The solemnity of the captain is irresistible, | and the universal horror, when in a moment
 of great excitement "a big, big D" | drops out of his mouth, is the highest
 testimony to the elevated moral char
 acter of the crew of H. M. s. Pinafore. Not
 less admirable is the standard of refined and | gentlemanly manners which the Right Hon. l Sir Joseph Porter, K. c. B., wishes to, impose l upon the able-bodied seamen and their .eom-
 mander. His point-device lordship does not | see why the courteous amenities of the draw l ing room of Belgravia should not prevail upon 1 the ships of her Majesty's nsvys nor why pO- liteness should not soften and tame rude, r I.
 most decorous of marine Iordships- For hold that on the seas The expre ssion If you please1 A particularly gentIemanly tone implan.s
 chorss md So do his sisters and his cousins and his aunts. So when the, captain directs the boatswain | to serve extra grog at seven bells, the improv-
 ing beatswaiH responds, ''If-what your .her-
 ol!" and' to the captains astonished in- | quiry answers, 'lf.you pteGse, your honor" | The rollicking nonsense is very fascinating, and it has taken possession of the town. Per. haps it has just little higher flavor for US because it is gay hit at our cousin Bull ahd.I | his wooden walls. Certainly no loyal subiect, of Ter Majesty could enjoy more than the,
 most unconpromising Yankee the joyous strn at the end of this amusing drama. '' He is an Englishman, .' ~ For he himself has said 1t .. Aud it's greatly to his credit That he is Englislman For he might hay bee d Roosian, French, Turk, Proosan, Or perhaps I-tali an .-r s.. rH Or pc haps I-tl-l-au. t]ui 'n spite Of ali t.mptaioua To belong to other nations, He remains an EnPlishman, HurPah .. .. For the true born Engiishman! | It is prolonged good -natured laugh set to
 muslc; and, with the Easy Chalr's compli-
 ments to the future discoverer of this page, it would respectfully say that H. M S. Pinafore
 is much more respectable entertainment than
 the opera bouffe of Offenbach which amused
 the town few winters ago.-Harper's Maga- 1 zine. Golley Bond eloped witha neighbors daugh- l ter in Rartlet Tenn Her fathar rl,rsi,nd thnr,,