The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1879-08-08
OUR EUROPEAN LETTER.

OUR EUROPEAN LETTER.
Scenes and Incidents at The London
AgyicuHu1ui Fdir.-Musicdl NJ
Christine Nilsson and
Keilogg. Crossing the atlantic soih
"AbSOiute Rest.
LONDON, Eng, July 2S, 1879.
There is no controlling the weather
The best possible arrangements may oe
destroyed by incessant rain; and such
has been the case with the great Inter-
national Agricultural Exhibition at
Kilburn. Nothing upon grander
scale was ever devised; but the rain
come down in torrents day after day
during the preparations, and although
the opening day was bright and sunny,
there was a return of the deluge imme-
diately afterwards. Difficulties occur
only to be overcome by spirited men,
and no greater difficulties were ever
encountered than those with which the
Royal Agricultural Society has had to
contend during the whole proceedings.
Yet the officials and employees worked
on hopefully through continually oc-
curing difficulties, fighting as it were,
in the face of despair. The result las
not been what was desired = yet it was
an achievement TO be proud of. The
deluge and swamp out of which the
show had emerged were only what the
| farmer has TO encounter every third or
fourth year, so that he would not have
minded If the case had been worse than
it proved to be; but at these agricul-
tural exhibitions we desire and expect
to see other than agricultural visitors,
and the arrangements should therefore
be as pleasant rs possible. All the spe-
cial requirements of modern husbandry
bring man into closer conflict with
the elements. lie has to save labor, he
has TO save time, he has to get in his
crops soon and quick he has TO thrash
and send 10 market, he has TO get tho
ground ready for the winter sowing,
for, if possible, he must not leave that
to the tender mcrcics of spring. His
operations arc conducted with the
promptitudc and alacrity of a forced
march into an encmy's country in or
der TO strike blow at his capital or at
some Unsupported division of his army.
But the farmer does not care to receive
| visitors in the midst of troubles occa-
stoned by bad weather through which
he is struggling; so that it was not
congenial to his wishes to receive Roy.
atty in such condition as the show
ground was in, Notwithstanding the nj.
most superhuman efforts made. In the
midst of the expressions of gratifica
ton which the sight of the cattle and
implements elected l could not fail tC
hear, among complaints of the weather
which has been so exceptionally unfav
orable to farm operations everywhere
other complaints of the depression con
scquent upon low prices and heavy OBJ
legations. Every exhibitor and every
country visitor had his story to tell O
downward prices, of animals bough
dear TO be sold cheap, of high paid, un
remunerative labor, of rents promised
in time of hope TO be paid from the
pit of despair. The market is sadly
against the farmer just now, but as The
depression of trade is the chief cause o
the depression of agriculture, this real
ly is not class, but national question
so that conviction is at last forced upor
the minds of those who have been lon.
contcnding that there was nothing t.
complain of. Still, however. the ole
delusion is chung TO. eve cannot dc
without the wholesome food of on
( breakfast and dinner tables" Tn,
class that is self-habituated to good far,
has increased of late years. Popula
ton is also increasing. The human
mass of large city is added to this me
tropolis every year. The farmer may
thus be assured that his day will re
turn. The world which seems to pas
his door to-day with hungry looks bu
empty pockets, will before long be a
flush Of money, or at least of hopes, a,
it ever was; enterprise will re.appear
and the farmer, even the British farm
er, will find himself, again able TO die
tate, not quite his own terms, but yer,
!, fair terms, to the customer at his owl
door.
The revival ofM. Ambraise Thomas.
opera "Mignon" on Tuesday drew to
gether the largest audience of the pres
: ent season at her Majesty's Theatre
T 1t would be idle TO suppose that the OBJ
era itself was the attraction. There il
certainly much that is charming in this
French setting ola purely German con
ccption, for tho music is generally me.
lodious and full of delicate fancy moi
unmixed with tenderness. NJ. Thomas
version of "COnndiS an le pays" will
compare in Its pathos with any of the
numerous German settings of the poets
glowing lines. Nor has the composer
vcntured beyond his depth, as he after.
wards did in his attempt TO illustrate
Shakespeare's "IIamlet." But when
all has been said, "Mignon'' is not q
work to create any prodigions amount
of interest, and Tuesdays exceptional
gathering was due to the announce
mcnt that Madame Christine Nilsson
/ would resume the Improvisation of the
heroine. This is one OF those parts il
which the Swedish artist is first anf
the rest nowhere, if il is not the mos
striking of them all. The identity O,
, the primd donna becomes merged il
Goethc's ideal conception, and we fol
low the chequercd fortunes of Mignor
with almost personal interest. Madame
Missions natural beauty of form and
feature conducc greatly to this result,
and the melting tones other voice do Tho
rest. There is .wondrous charm il
her rendering of "Connais tn lie pays
for example. Nor does tho dramatic
side of the character suffer In hel
hands. Particularly stirring is hel
acting in the final scene, where Mignor
is restored so unexpectedly to the arm,
of her father and her loyer, Mr.. Ma
: pleson evidently determined to make
the cast of the opera as good rs posi-
BILE, and 1t was not his fault if the re-
suit was not so satisfactory as il NIGH
have been. The inroads made by time
on the voice of Mdlle. Kellogg were
more conspicuous in the part of Films
than they had been in her performance
of Aida, and her singing in the polacca,
$50 SON Titania' was positively disa.
, groeeable. Neither Signor Campanini
nor NJ. Randil appeared in his best
form, but Madame Etelka Gerster has
reserved until late in the season, one OF
her most striking embodiments-I re.
fer to Violetta in ola Travista." Nor
bid as the character is, and surrounded
with false sentiment, 1t is impossible
to resist feeling some amount of inter-
est in an impersonation of such force
and crdiSemJldnoe as that OF Madame
Gerster. In the farewell to Alfredo,