The Continental Monthly, Vol. 1, No. 2, February, 1862: Devoted To Literature And National PolicyVarious
History
The Continental Monthly, Vol. 1, No. 2, February, 1862: Devoted To Literature And National Policy
Various
Literature, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals; United States -- Politics and government -- 19th century -- Periodicals
In another recent piece, we are told that a 'procession of nuns, dressed
in white, sing a lay at midnight. In the intervals, a chorus of frogs in
the neighboring swamp croak the refrain in unison. Sax, the great
brass-founder, who made the Last Trumpets for the 'Wandering Jew,' and
the instruments for the Band of the Guides, is engaged upon the
frogpipes required. The illusion will be heightened by characteristic
scenery and mephitic exhalations. M. Sax visited the pool in the Bois de
Boulogne, known as the _Marée d'Auteuil_, and brought back many useful
ideas in reference to the quadruped with whose vocal powers he desired
to become acquainted. The frog voices will be a series of eight,
representing a full octave.'
The Provincial, at Paris, is a standard theme for playwrights; what the
Scotch were to Johnson, Lamb, and Sidney Smith, is the native of
Provence or Brittany to the comic writers of the metropolis,--a nucleus
for wit and an occasion for practical jokes. One of the late pieces,
called 'My Uncle,' turned upon the devices of a wild youth to obtain
money from his simple-hearted relative in the country. For months a
pretended love affair, a marriage, and the birth of an heir, elicited
remittances, which were expended upon banquets, at which a bevy of gay
students applauded the ingenuity of their entertainer. At last the uncle
comes to town, and it becomes quite a study to carry on the game, which
yields occasion for innumerable salient contrasts between rustic
simplicity and city acumen. A diagnosis of the provincial's ways in
Paris, like every form of life there, has been given by a shrewd
observer, who mentions among other signs that the novice may be
recognized by the fact that he keeps his toothpick after dinner and
carries it to the theatre.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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