Saturday press. [volume] (Honolulu, H.I.) 1880-1885, 1883-12-29


Angels shall conformity start and edit
a newspaper The Byronic views OF
what a newspaper should be, and his
opinions on the English newspaper
press in his own day, are highly enter
tanning. "There must always be in
it, he writes, alluding to the projected
journal, "a piece of poetry from one
or other of US two: leaving room, how
ever, for such dilettante rhymers as
may be deemed worthy of appearing in
the same column but this must be a
sine 9n0 nan. and also as much prose
as we can compass We will take an
office our names not announced. but
suspected-and, by the blessing of
Providence, give the age some new
lights upon policy poesy, biography,
criticism, morality, theology and all
other ism, dhfr, and 0A0gV whatsoever
..,...l doubt not that we could dis
place the commonplace blackguards
who have so long disgraced common
sense and the common reader They
have no merit but practice and impu-
denCe, both of which we may acquire :;
and as for talent and culture, the
devils in it if such proofs as we have
given of both can't furnish out some
thing better than the funeral baked
meats which have so coldly set forth
the breakfast table of all Great Britain
for so many years"
Sir Walter Scott, it would appear.
thought a little more about Christmas
in its holiday aspect than, to Judge
from Byron's letters, the author of
"Childe Harold" did. In Lockhart's
Life of Scott are preserved some
extracts from the journal of Captain
Basil Hall, who was guest at Abbots-
ford during Christmas very grandly
kept in 1924. Captain Hall describes
the state rooms at Abbotsford as
lighted with oil gas in a style of ex-
traordinary splendor.' At the present
day, coil gas" lends extraordinary
splendor " chiefly to costermongers'
barrows on the kerb in Goodge street,
Tottenham-court road, on Saturday
nights. The passages, also, and the
bedrooms" continues the gallant cap
tain, are lighted in a similar manner
The whole establishment is on the
same footing-I mean the attendance
and entertainment-all in good order,
and an air OF punCtuality and method,
without any wash or ostentation, per
vades everything" But the grandest
festivities of the season were reserved
for Hogmanay or New Years Eve,
when there was constant succession
of Guisards," or boys dressed up in
fantastic caps, with their shirts over
their jackets, and with wooden swords
in their hands. These youthful mum
mers paraded in the grounds of
Abbotsford, and acted a rustic play, of
which the hero was one Goloshin, who
"got killed in battle for love" but
was presently brought to life again by
a doctor of the party. "Supper at
Abbotsford was over just at midnight +;
and as the clock was striking twelve,
We all stood up, after drinking hearty
bumper TO the old year, and, having
right hand Selling his neighbours left,
all joined chorus in an appropriate
song sung by Sir Adam Ferguson, a
worthy knight possessed OF infinite
drolery. Then followed other toasts
rof loyal description, and then song,
a good, red-hot Jacobite song, TO ihe
king, beginning
Here's 10 the king, boys,
We ken wha' mean, boys
a merry Christmas and a memorable
Hogmanay, indeed "Still still" en-
phatically adds Captain Basil Hall, at
was ponderous Not all the humor
and miraculous vivacity and readiness
of our host could save it-long blank
pauses occurred, and then feeble
whisper-but little more, and the roar
of Jolly toast subsidized into a hollow
calm. dwell upon all this merely to
make people consider how useless a
thing 1t is to get up such things now
a-days. If Walter Scott, with all APP
pliances and means to boot-in his
noble house, surrounded by his own
choice friends-full of health and all
he can wish, is unable to exempt a
Hogmanay party from the soporific
effect proverbially attendant upon
manufactured happiness, who else need
venture on the experiment" As
for good Sir Walter, | must not let his
Chrstmasses at Abbotsford pass with
10, ,slN h.
home at Yuletide, 1897. My retlec-
tons on entering my own gate to-day
were OF a very different and more
pleasing cast than those with which |
had felt this place about six weeks ago
was then in doubt whether ! should
fly my country, or become avowedly
bankrupt and surrender my library and
household furniture with the life-rent
of my estate, to sale No doubt, had
taken this course at once, might
have employed the money | have
made since the Insolvency of Constable
and Robinson's houses in compound
ing my debts BIT c0aid net haze
sifPt S0und, as now can, under the
comfortable impression of receiving
the thanks OF my creditors, and the
conscious feeling of discharging my
duties as man of houor and honesty
80. II die in the harrows, as is very
likely, | shall die with honor; il |
achieve my task shall have the thanks
OF all concerned, and the appreciation
of my own conscience. And SO think
can fairly face the return of Christ
mas Day" All honor to Walter Scott,
of Abbotsford Not wholly without
reason had Captain Basil Hall moral
ised on "the soporilic effect attendant
ON manufactured happiness = but in
the case of Scott he had deliberately
manufactured happiness for himself