The Irish standard., 1895-08-17

when Governor on the island seemed
very laughable to me. Parson Primrose
was another Of hissprime fay0rites, and
Uncle Toby was q person that believed
historical ais child, SO often did hear
him quoted. Of all the books he referred
to, Shakespeare and the Bible held: the
foremost place. His knowledge. Of the
divine book was not exceeded by that
of any clergyman ] ever met, and he con-
tended that in Shakespeare and Solomon
one might find a symposium@of all hui
man wisdom II one only knew the exact
places to look for it, The book Of Job
was especially loved by him, and have
often heard him say II contained much Of
the finest poetry in any Ian guage.
In the quiet leisure OF my fathers old
age great many OF the winter lights
were made pleasant by reading aloud,
but as his /. eyes failed a fondness for
games grew upon him, and the backgam-s
mon board and card table became part
Of every evenings amusement. He never
played for money, no matter how small
the. stake, but the tally Of the games OF
euchre was strupulously kept IN buttons
or counters, which were added together
keen an interest as IL they had represent
past pleasure of a game Of cards.
His taste in music, like his love for
books, was unusually just, little short,
of wonderful when one remembers that
the harmonic sense is mentally the first
to crystallize into q set form. In his
youth my father had possessed a remark
ably fine baritone, and even in his ex-
treme old age. as he moved about the
room, he. would softly hum cid ballads
to himself in a voice that showed just
ness sof pitch and a sweetness that age
and much smoking could not destroy.
He loved tMary's Dream and annie
Laurie, better than any other songs, Ger
.tainly he yhummed them oftenest, but 'Of
a the Arts the Wind Can Blaw" and the
81 Last Rose OF Summer could hardly be
said to take a second place in his affec-
tions. Several Of the airs in the "BOhem-
ian Girl had a warm corner also in his
heart. 1 One would hardly expect from
the: musical model of his own day that
Chopin would have attracted him, yet
do not remember his ever commencing
modern composition SO highly or ask
ing so often for any one song as he did
for the Polen's "Grablied' BY that COM
poser. AS much as he admired the gen
ius. Of the great Pole he detested Snlli-
vans music, which he could not be
brought to toleratej indeed, he did not
care for comic opera as atrule, seeming to
adjudge melody and farce an ill-matehet
pair. Connected with his keen musical.
perception was an acute sensib1ltty to
sharp Or disagreeable voices, and the
quotation 'A low voice Is a most excel
lent thing ia a woman was one with
which he familiarized us before we were
fairly out of long clothes.
Although his habits in, most respects
were extremely simple, my father was
never an eaF4X riser He said laughing
" that he had been Obliged to get up TO
reville for so many years that he had
never been able to make: up for his lost
morning maps The more serious rea-
sons underlying the habit was that he
was martyr to insomnia and found sleep
before midnight an inpossibility. Per
haps it was fellow-feeling for me, when
I was child, that prompted him invari-
ably to beg delay of sentence when bed
time struck If he was reading aloud.
and one chapter only was granted as a
communication of the fiat Of Immediate
Punishment, he would often smile over
the, edge of the book at me in token that
we had reached the limit Of my reprieve,
and quietly continue until either my
nurses protest or my own sleepiness con-
vinced him that it was really a reason
able time for me- to be carried off. His
theory was that there was too much leg
islation in the world and that a healthy
child's own instincts might be relied upon
to dictate his times Of eating and sleep
ing. .f%
There were two faults for which he
entertained no mercy. These were lying
and gluttony. The first we were taught
to look upon as crime, the second was q
disgrace. 81 MI
Personally, my father was most alb
stenious in his food and drink, deeming
it unworthy of a man to care much what
he ate, except so far as his choice should
be dictated by his digestion He was the
easiest person for a caterer to please, and
partook of whatever was set before him
without comment, provided ne might
have his tiny pones of hoe-cake, which
was the only sort of bread
he could digest. Even il these, which
made the staple of his food, were not we'll
prepared the only rebuke he would ad-
minister was to call his cat, Barbara
who never by any chance would touch
any preparation of cornmeal, and ten
dering her a bit of his special plat. say
gently, when she refused It, Yes, Bar
bara, you are right; it is neither good for
man nor beast" Further comment there
was none He always offered. some Of
this corn bread to every one at the table.
His long and varied life had success
fully embraced so many professions and
had passed through such protean phases
that I used to be curious to know what
portion Of it had rendered him most hap
nv. He, my mother and were sitting
together one spring evening at Beauvoir.
ard the conversation drifted on to the
question of the adyisability. Of teaching
women fencing, the exercise which he
considered pre-eminently suited to the de-
yelopment of grace and strength in g.rls,
while It laid no undue strain upon any
one set Of muscles. He began to tell US
stories of the great fencers he had known
in the army, of their queer lives and
sometimes stranger deaths, and thinking,
as I sat listening, of the vast range Tof
vocations ii which he had struggled vic
toriously, Il asked him if he could have
his life to live over again what he would
best like to be. He turned to me, and i
could see his blue eyes shine in the gloama
ing with the light Of other days asthe
without a moments hesitation,
Il would be cavalry officer and break
squares e His love OF the army lay in
the Warmest. corner of his heart.
IN my fathers estimation a West Point
eli was always a gentleman until he prov
ed the reverse, and he considered COM
mission in the army or navy conferred
All und deniable caehet. Never have $Is
seen him show more egenuine delicate
az a.-rnnathv than toward the son Of a friensd