As Mrs. Kendal has recited the poem in public on several occasions, it may be taken for granted that it contains nothing indelicate, or objectionable, although the outcry raised in the States was so great that the principal newspapers took sides on the question, and debated the merits of the poem with almost as much heat as a Presidential Election. One well-known humorist attempted to ridicule “Ostler Joe” in the following ballad:―― TEAMSTER JIM. It ain’t jest the story, Parson, to tell in a crowd like this, With the virtuous maiden a-frownin’ an’ chidin’ the giggling miss, An’ the good old deacon a-noddin’, in time with his patient snores, An’ the shocked elect of the Capital, stalkin’ away through the doors. But then, it’s a story that happened, an’ every word of it’s true, An’ sometimes we can’t help talkin’ of the things that we sometimes do. An’ though good society coldly shuts its door on to Teamster Jim, I’m thinkin’ ther’s lots worse people, that’s better known than him. I mind the day he was married, an’ I danced at the weddin’ too; An’ I kissed the bride, sweet Maggie, daughter of Ben McGrew. I mind how they set up housekeepin’ two young, poor, happy fools, When Jim’s only stock was a heavy truck an’ four Kaintucky mules. Well, they lived along contented, with their little joys an’ cares, An’ every year a baby came, an’ twice they came in pairs; Till the house was full of children, with their shoutin’ and playin’ and squalls, An’ their singin’ an’ laughin’ an’ cryin’ made Bedlam within its walls. An’ Jim, he seemed to like it, an’ he spent all his evenin’s at home, He said it was full of music, an’ light, an’ peace from pit to dome. He joined the church, an’ he used to pray that his heart might be kept from sin―― The stumblin’est prayin’――but heads and hearts used to bow when he’d begin. So, they lived along in that way, the same from day to day, With plenty of time for drivin’ work, an’ a little time for play. An’ growin’ around ’em the sweetest girls and the liveliest, manliest boys, Till the old gray heads of the two old folks was crowned with the homeliest joys. Eh? Come to my story? Well, that’s all. They’re livin’ just like I said, Only two of the girls is married, an’ one of the boys is dead, An’ they’re honest, an’ decent, an’ happy, an’ the very best Christians I know, Though I reckon in brilliant comp’ny they’d be voted a leetle slow. Oh! you’re pressed for time――excuse you? Sure, I’m sorry I kept you so long; Good-bye! Now he looked kind o’ bored like, an’ I reckon that I was wrong To tell such a commonplace story, of two such commonplace lives, But we can’t all git drunk, an’ gamble, an’ fight, an’ run off with other men’s wives. ROBERT T. BURDETTE. “OSTLER JOE” IN THE HANDS OF A “POTTER.”