Barringer High School - Athenaeum Yearbook (Newark, NJ)

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IO MR. micawber's letter-writing propensity. I dwelt, and saw animals to the number of eleven singing with a song of praise,— “Come into the garden, Maud.” And there was to the single part a bass tenor, and a tenor alto, and a variation between an alto and a soprano; and the chorus was cre- scendo and diminuendo, and flat and sharp with trills and quavers, and semi quavers and demi semi-quavers, with the prelude in the minor and major keys. And it came to pass in the midst of the most im- pressive chorus, I saw eleven other animals like unto those who were singing, come out of the places wherein they did dwell, and they came to greet the other animals, and they all united in their songs, and loud was the singing they did make. Now, grievous to tell, a sudden shower of wonderful things fell upon this mighty host, and they stopped not to give unto one another the brotherly kiss. And I heard a mighty voice saying—“ Drat them cats! ” and I said unto myself, “ It is well.” Now, a naughty host of small animals descended upon me, and great was the affliction they did bring upon me. and they had long bills with a full set of sharp lan- cets within them, and there was to their bodies a great buzz, and they did move quickly with a great noise about my face. And 1 fought bravely with this mighty host, and killed two of them, whereat I re- rejoiced exceedingly, and I went unto my bed well pleased with what I had done. And it was the third watch of the night. And in the fourth watch, I heard a noise ascending unto the heavens, mighty in power, and passing strange in sound, and 1 arose from my bed, and went unto my window, and behold I saw seated in a half- circle, ten beasts, with pug noses and short tails, and each nose was turned to an angle of forty-five degrees, and twenty eyes were lifted unto the “Queen of the Night,” and each mouth was opened widely, and they were singing unto her, “ Silver Moonlight.” And I lifted up my voice and said unto them,—“ Shoo!” and they sang unto the moon,—“ Bow, wow, wow, o-o o-o.” And I said again unto them,—“ Go way, dog- gie. Go way, go way! go way! Shoo!” and they came unto me under my window, and lifted up their voices and said,—“ Bow wow, wow, bow, wow! ” And 1 saw that I could not contend with so mighty a host. Then I went back to my bed, and in the fifth watch I arose and wrote these things. And let not the un- believers say among themselves they never happened, for think’st thou I would bear false witness. MR. MICAWBER’S LETTER WRITING PROPENSITY. BY BRUNO HOOI). ’to. It is a fact which requires no exemplifi- cation that to write a good letter is an ad vantage of great importance which only one out of a thousand possesses. There is a peculiar pleasure in the very nature of correspondence which assumes the propor- tion of delight when graced with excel- lence. We say these things in sober earnestness, and when we refer to Mr. Wilkins Micawber in this connection, it is only to illustrate the old rule how, what in itself is grand and good can be pervert-

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VOICES OF THE NIGHT. 9 the thought of returning a vanquished man without an army to his kingdom was un- endurable to his haughty soul; he plotted to involve the Turks in a war with Rus- sia. At length his plans seemed about to succeed. The Turks marched against the Czar, and, but for the sagacity of the Em- press Catharine, would have captured his entire army. Peace soon followed. Charles still re- mained in Turkey even after the Sultan had withdrawn the hospitality. It was not until news was brought him, that nearly all his possessions in Germany were in the hands of the enemy that he sudden- ly left Turkey, after a residence of five years, and arrived unexpectedly before the gates of Stralsund. The King continued the war for five years without success. In 1716 he fell upon Norway with a small army. It was here that Charles met his death before the fortress of Freidrichshall, which he was besieging. Thus closed the life of a monarch whose military career may be likened to the flight of a meteor, dazzling in its brilliancy, but brief in dura- tion. The ba.ttle of Pultowa may well be reckoned as one of the most decisive battles in history. Had the Swedes been vic- torious, their heroic king might have driven back the semi-barbarous Russians to their Asiatic home, and the glorious banner of Sweden might to-day be floating from the Arctic Ocean to the Black Sea. VOICES OF THE NIGHT. BY CLARA VALENTINE. ’81. It came to pass during the reign of King Dobbins in the province governed by Prince E. O., that one of the rulers in the province came unto me and said, “ Thou shalt write a composition and do thou make it good, so that the girls of this di- vision may shine in the Annual, and be puffed up with righteous pride like unto the rest of womankind. And do thou take for a subject unto thy composition.— “ Voices of the Night. And I lifted up my voice and wept, and said unto her, “ Why hast thou brought this affliction upon me? Have I not always been a faithful servant unto thee? Have I not always said rightly unto thee my les- sons, and is that not sufficient for thee ? And she was wroth against me; and said unto me, ‘‘Oh, thou girl of little wisdom, knowest thou not that it is the custom of this kingdom to give unto the maidens, compositions, when the burden of lessons is more than they can bear? Knowest thou not that it is well for the mind to be crammed ? Get thee away, I am angry with thee for thy blindness. And I went unto my dwelling place, and thought and wondered much concerning the things which had been revealed unto me. And I said unto myself,—“ I will wait until all my people are asleep, then I will arise and go to my window, and 1 will listen unto those things that raise their voices in the night, that I may the more easily judge concerning them. And it came to pass as I said. And behold I heard a grievous cry, like unto six harps with strings broken, and the clashing of untoned cymbals. And I lifted up mine eyes unto the next place wherein

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MR. micawbkk’s letter-writing propensity. 11 ed into the ludicrous and absurd. For Mr. Micawber’s letters not only cease to be objects of pleasure, but become perfect torments ; though he has but little matter to write, yet he always writes too many words. Mr. Micawber, as my readers well know, is the letter-writing hero of Charles Dick- ens. He is the one man to whom life is valueless if not combined with letter- writing. Meet him in joy or in sorrow, in prison or in his lofty position as gov- ernor, and if you find him at all, you will find him either composing a letter in the recesses of his fertile mind, or transferring the same to paper. To such a ridiculous extent does he drive this propensity that, put him in a position where the ordinary man would make use of speech, Mr. Mi- cawber resorts to pen and ink. Witness the following by way of illustration: Mr. Micawber had seated himself close to the table at which “ the friend of his youth ” and several other persons were engaged in discussing an important question. Whether or not the organ of speech of Mr. Micawber was so seriously affected at that time, as to render speech impossible Mr. Dickens fails to tell. Be that as it may, though the distance between him- self and “ the friend of his youth ” did not exceed one yard, he found it absolute- ly necessary to communicate his thoughts jn writing. This worthy gentleman is not a man of few words, nor does he attempt to restrain his flow of language when he sets it forth in correspondence—a fact that is fully il- lustrated by the letter wherein he de- nounces that very “ humble person Uriah Hccp. This piece of literature was of such extraordinary length that the mere sight of it caused the amiable Miss Betsy Trot wood to exclaim “Bless and save the man ! He’d write letters by the ream, if it was a capital offense ! ” Now it may very naturally be presumed that Mr. Micawber had matters of great importance to communicate, and hence the length of his letters. But this is not the case. About the only thing they con- tained is that he expected something to turn up shortly, or that unless ‘‘some- thing did turn up shortly, he would be a ruined man ; either of which he might easily have spared himself the trouble to inform his friends, as they were very well acquainted with his weaknesses. Let me add by way of explanation that to ruin this man. as far as worldly circumstances are concerned, would be an utter impossi- bility. One word more. Had his creditors— who were certainly quite numerous—de- prived him rather of the privilege of let- ter-writing than of freedom, Mr. Micawber might have realized that this world is made for other things than letter-writing alone, and turned his ingenuity into a channel more profitable to his creditors. What more fclicitic can fall to creature Than to enjoy delight with libertie, And to be lord of all the workesof nature, To raine in the aire from earth to highest skic To feed on floweres and weed of glorious feature. —Edmund Spenser. VIRTUE could see to do what virtue would By her own radiant light, though sun and moon Were in the flat sea sunk. —Milton. Nothing is beneath you if it is in the direction of your life; nothing is great or desirable if it is off that. —Emerson.