Year: 1874

Their is nothing more irrepressibl,
than Vocal Ability. Miss Mary, lately
graduated with a full assortment of ac
complishments from the Pierian Insti
tute, has one song-"Should he Upbraid
and though the friends of the family
have heard the little woman chirp it fiv,
hundred times, at birthday parties an0
on the nights of Thanksgiving and
Christmas. and after extemporaneou>
tea-drinkings, they still demand the
warbling Of that venerable composition
and they still find the maiden quite
willing to warble it. There is no, harm
in this. To be sure it is bore, but 1t Ii
one of the kind to which it is pleasure
to submit When mamma Is so well
please d., and papa likewise, albeit that
song cost him $3.50, it would be sin and
IL shame not to be enraptured. All
society is based upon this amiable sort OF
deceit. So scream and gurgle away, dear
young woman, and sing at your own
sweet Will Your involuntary flats and
Sharps and small liberties with the tempo
are of no consequence. Isn't the ram
shackle old piano quite as much out OF
tune as you are?


Ii we pass from paIlor to vestry, we
find the same mania for melodious exhi-
bitions Everybody knows that there is
always good brother who thinks himself
a perfect King David, minus the harp,
and who puurs forth his praise in way
which puts everybody else out, and oc,
casions an amount OF irritation neon
sistent with brotherly and sisterly emo
tions. But 1t is not usual for him to do
this with an obstinacy which renders it
necessary to subject him to a criminal in
dictment Something quite new in the
annals of Jurisprudence comes to us from
North Carolina. 1t is the report oil the
case of The State VS.. William Linkhaw.
Indictment for misdemeanor. Superior
Court. Spring Term, 1873 and a curl
Gus caseit is. The unfortunate Linkhaw
was prosecuted under the statute for
'disturbing u religious congregation.
This far from sweet William is, it appears
Il member of the Methodist Church. and
is accustomed to sing after fashion so
retarded that "at the end of each verse
his voice is heard when the other singers
have ceased" The effect of this was
duplex. HALF the congregation laughed,
while the moiety got mad" The "Irre
ligious and the frivolous" also attended
to enjoy the fun. The serious and de-
vout' became indignant. Still William
would sing. Sometimes the preacher,
Tor fear of prolane merriment, would
order no singing at all. The presiding
elder refused to preach in the church on
account of William Linkhaw's bad sing
ing. Leading members of the assembly
interfered and privatly labored with
William, beseeching him to sing no more
But he knew his rights, and knowing
dared maintain them. He didn't appeal
to the Personal Liberty Bill-not he!
He fell back upon his vested immunities
as Christian. lie firmly said. with a
courage worthy of Martin Luther that
"he would worship God, and that as
part OF his worship it was his duty to
sing" And so he did; and with such
dellberation that at the end of every
verse he was two and one half bars
behind. Flesh and blood couldn stand
it. The constable was sent for who took
VIII am into custody; the Grand Jury
indicted him; the petit jury lound him
guilty of singing out OF time. He has
appealed The case may 90 up and up !;
but we hope it will not get into the
Supreme Court of the United States
before we have Chief.Justice. Itwould
be too bad to have so delicate point
passed upon by anything less than full
bench.