And the influences setting In upon me are begetting Purer thoughts than those I felt away among the busy crowd; For the earth hath such a seeming, With its thousand glories teeming, That I dare not always trust myself to utter words aloud. Yes, for me the deep wood solemn, Where full many a leafy column Lifts aloft its crested summit to the beautiful blue sky, And the sunbeams, bright and golden, Gloss the mosses gray and olden, And the brooks, from out them slipping, to the gleaming river hie. * * * * * CHANT OF THE NÉREIDES. FROM THE SECOND PART OF GÖETHE’S FAUST. MUSIC BY ENNA DUVAL. [Illustration] Oh, follow our counsel, And rest thee in gladness; The flow’rs ’neath the willows shall [Illustration] ease thee of sadness. Here slumber thou lov’d one, Thy labours shall cease; We breathe and we warble of gladness and peace. * * * * * THE FINE ARTS. The Opera.—Strange, that Philadelphia, with so much musical taste and cultivation, cannot have an Opera. Once in a while an Operatic troupe wanders along, and rests, for a short time, in our sober town, gives a few representations, then away it goes. Our neighbors of New York manage this thing better—an Opera they will have, even if they run in debt for it. And yet it seems that one, properly managed, might succeed in this concert-loving town of Penn. It must be a moderate one, however; that is, moderate in price. A serious old merchant, well to do in the world, will hesitate at taking even two tickets, at a dollar a-piece, but he would not mind taking a half dozen tickets if they cost only half that sum. The principle is the thing. Brother Jonathan likes a show of economy, at least. Every politician in Congress, who wishes to be popular in Bunkum, invariably makes speeches against appropriations, mileage, &c., in order to prove that he is anxious to save Uncle Sam’s purse; but, at the same time, this same politician will have his pet appropriations, and not refuse his mileage either. The small circle of fashionable people may subscribe and talk, but they can do little in this opera matter, without the support of the plain, unpretending portion of the inhabitants, who, after all, make up the audience, and bring in the money; and they have made up their minds to give only a moderate sum, and they will not give any more.