Untitled

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XV, Issue 56, 5 March 1880, Page 4

■->. • . ' . . \ . . . Little Master Roddy had been in the habit X>f puttine his pennies'-into the box at Sunday school, till last Sunday, he came running into the house in a breathless hurry, and shouted :" Mamma, I sha'n't save up my pennies any more. The money don't go up to God. I saw Mr Kelly take it and put it in his pocket I" • A correspondent writing from London, says, " I have been to the performance of the 'Children's Pinafore,' at the Opera Comique Theatre, and in my memory London has not given 'a prettier performance. Every youngster in a sailor's costume, and every dainty 'lass that loves a sailor' looking charming. Dear me ! there is such a little duck of a round child who plays Little Buttercup, a quaint, little, comical woman, who sings as clear as a bell in perfect tune. It ig Miss Everard. seen through the wrong end of the opera-glass. And then there is the First T ord, who reproduces the quaint tricks of Grossmith ; and a charming Captain Corcoran,.and Miss Corcoran, both natural, childlike, and with none of the forced affectation of stage children ; and the most comical little atom of a midshipman that was ever seen, who will make the children scream with delight ; and a Dick Deadeye, who is no doubt a born actor. Bnt tbe boy who delighted me most was Ralph Rackstaw, a lad with one of those heavenly voices that we hear in cathedrals, and whose pure sobbing notes send a cold shiver down the back and tears into the eyes. The absolute simplicity of his acting, the mild melancholy in his interesting face, the expression of his eyes, and the purity of that wonderful voice relieve' the humour of the rest of the performance, with- just sufficient sentiment and no more. I am a very old playgoer, and am said to be strangely particular, but I have not for some time witnessed a performance that pleased me more." It would be incorrect to say that the sympathy of Irishmen in -America for their ? countrymen in Ireland is out of place, but we think thai the ' spirit in whichthe sympathy is manifested is altogether unbecoming. That there is great distress among the poor classes' in Ireland no one will deny, and if Americans can relieve that distress it! is well that they should do so. ; But the sympathy shown should not take a political shape. " Resolutions " condemning English laws, and blaming the British Government for the Irish -troubles, can accomplish nothing. Everybody knows, or should know, that the tenure of land in Ireland is almost precisely the same as theteriure of land here. The system has its evils, but to remedy those evils the first statesmen of the century racked theirbrains in vain. As long as the world lasts there will be rich people and there will be poor, and the poor must go to th&wall. The truth is as apparent and its' results are as deplorable in England and in Scotland— aye, and everywhere else, including "America— as they are in Ireland. The only difference lies in the temperament of the people who have to suffer under an unchangeable social law. The Euglish Government has done everything it could to mitigate tbe misfortunes of the sister isle; but the Irish are a hot-headed, impatient, and turbulent race, and would be satisfied with nothing but the fate of the Kilkenny cats. Their agitation is always political and never practical. If they are* hungry they do not look for bread, but immediately growl at the syßtem of Government under which they experience want. And when they butt againßt the Constitution aid statutes of England they invariably come out of the quarrel [with sore heads. Americans should not encourage them in this folly. If we can send them food and clothing and money, let us do'so by all means; but;for us to adopt or indorse their political views, and lend ourselves to the senseless abuse of England on their account, is very fooli3h on our part. — News Letter.