The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1883-12-06

dUNGAhlAN GYPSY BAND.
There was very large audience present last
evening in City Hall at the second concert by
the Hungarian Gypsy Band. The programme
was even finer than upon the first evening,
and the reception accorded the company was
very fattsring. The very favorable impress
sion made by the first presentation was more
than sustained by the second.
MR.. CABLES READING IN RosToN-A pEL1cHr-
Full ENTERTAINMENT.
From the Boston Advertiser Dec. &.
The selections presented were taken from
"Dr. SEWER" and from parts of that story
which have not yet been publicly printed. The
program was as follows:
l. Narcisse and Kate Riley; in which Narcisse
borrows two dollars and a half.
q Raphael Ristofao: courtship scene
g. Narcisse and Richling: wherein Narcisse dis
courses on literary methods and the death of Lady
Byron.
T. Narcisse and others. Off to the wars Pensa-
cola, Richmond, and the end.
The newness of the matter worked some-
times to the advantage, and sometimes. of
course, to the disadvantage of the listener.
But. on the whole, the entire freshness of the
reading was in its favor, and the occasional
pain OF losing phrase in the hurry of rapid.
the frequent delight of receiving a charming
surprise. 1t is impossible to Judge from such
e1cerpta concerning the literary conference and
consequence of the entire novel; but of the
general fres' ness and brillancy of the style, of
the uniqueness of the diction, of the writer's
felicitous originality in description, the abund-
ance of his humor, and the increased refine-
ment of his observation of men and things, no
listener could have been left in doubt The
views OF latura made of tho
framing as landscapes, and every now and
then 1t was possible to recognize touch even
finer than that felt in 1.-THE Grapdissimes. ~
as, Tor example, where the wren in spring was
depicted singing as If every bone in his tiny
body were golden flute" Only one of the
parsonages figuring in these selections was of a
type unfamiliar to the North, but Narcisse,-a
creole OF the time of the Rebellion
by his vast loquacity, vivacity and
egotism, his wide gift of fattery, his
enormous naif vanity, his gallantry, and
the buoyancy of his entire personality, was
amply satisfying in every scene of which he
was part. All M. Narcisse's literary opin-
ions were difficulties of the poetic and the
''prosalc" form of mposition-condensed in
saying that in the former style ''you had to
keep your eye skinned for de rhyme" while
in the latter "you had to keep your eye skinned
for de sense"-could not by any possibility be
forgotten. Mr.. Cables reproduction of the
sights and sounds of war in 1861 and later. was
keenness of vision and the extraordinary pic
torial power of his mind. And it was odd
and interesting, suggestive and touching, too.
to those mature memories include the whole of
the last quarter of century, to think of a
Boston audience listening with patient sympa-
thy to Sontherner's story of the emotions of
those of his.own blood who babe the marching |
soldier goodbye, and which are to be SO nearly |
the same whatever be the side or the cause,
and whatever its final issue. Mrs. Kate Riley, |
the young Irish widow, was sort we'll known |
to every section of American literature, but |
The shrewdness Of Mr.. Cables art has justified |
her existence.
Mr.. Cables reading excited constant mani |
Iestations of delight in his audience, and its |
quality of exuberant freshness and viyacity |
gave it an undeniably great charm. OF the
irish lady there was enough for an evening"
5he kind, very good but, as was just said,
very familiar, and Mr.. Cables reading, though
in strong strokes aud fine touches,
inst little bit too gushing aud naif at times.
But ofiNarcisie there could be neither too much
,or enough and again the incompatible
1laiect, interpreted by Mr.. Cables high
nlmeuc power and garnished with many fine
ilstrionlc touches, was source of continuous
pleasure
The readings were interSpersed with negro
ongs native to Louisiana. Sometimes The |
melodies were OF barbaric simplicity, like a
cries of "open notes Of the horn" sometimes