THE PENNY READINGS.

Southland Times, Issue 967, 12 June 1868, Page 6

THE PENNY READINGS.

The third of the series of popular entertainments provided by the Penny Beading Society took place at the Exchange Building, Dee-street, on Friday evening. The attendance was decidedly the largest that we have yet seen, including his Honor the Superintendent and many of the leading business men of the town. The programme was well selected, and good taste was shown by the readers in the reducing of the readings to a reasonable length. The success that has been achieved by Society at its beginning promises for it a long course of usefulness. It will supply a want that has been much felt for a long time. Its object is to induce the public to appreciate the advantages arising from periodical re-unions of every class of the community ; and if the support that has hitherto been given is sustained, we may bespeak for it a long and prosperous career. It is not the province of journalists to minutely criticise amateur entertainments ; therefore we confine our remarks to a simple notice of the entertainment. The prologue read by Mr Irvine, and written by Mr J. G-. Smith, is a production of considerable ment. The instrumental music was unexceptionable, and the thanks of the Society and the public are due to Mrs Stewart for the valuable aid she has given it by presiding at the piano. The readings •were well selected and faithfully rendered, and the vocal and instrumental pieces well executed. Still there was a shortcoming ; but only one that amateurs are almost certain to display. In the rendering of the " Cottar's Saturday Night," the reader, while displaying elocutionary ability, failed occasionally to render his reading distinct in some parts of the house. The same may be said of the vocalists, who sang with marked precision — time and tune — duets and trios. On the whole, the entertainment was creditable to all who took part in it, and we hope that the Society may meet with in creasing support. The following is the prologue to which we have alluded : — A PBOioaTJE say you — well, I'll try my hand To write you something all may understand. Of the ethereal spasmodic stuff This age abounds in, we've had quanlnn suff. We do not want those miracles of art, That miss the warm vibrations of the hearfc, And strike the lyre with melodies sublime, To move the feelings of a far off time ; "When men will angels be, and will aspire To sin^i the anthems of the heavenly choir, Forgetting 'tis the highest power of art, To hit the pocket and to move the heart. What care we for ideal Geraldinea, Ideal empires, and ideal queens, Ideal ]over 3, and ideal snobs, Ideal railways, and prospective jobs. We've got a surfeit of the pure ideal And all our strivings are for something real Real men, and women too, who play their parts, With thinking heads and sympathising hearts ; Whose rank, tho' lowly, may be higher far Than theirs, who wear a ribbon and a star. Kings, Governors, and Supers — what are they ? The paltry baubles of a passing day. Announce a rank more ancient, if you can, And higher yet — the brotherhood of man. Of man, of every clime and every hue, Whose sonl aspires to what is real and true, Whose badge is love to brother — love to all Their Father's creatures, be they great or ema 1 !. This is our badge, this is the rightful aim Our stated meetings here can justly claim, To foster union, and to cast aside The chains of cMque, of rivalry and pride, To draw more closely yet, the ties which bind The heart to heart, the deathless mind to mind To break down prejudice, to drive away The ghosts of error with the beams of day ; To strengthen reason, fancy to adorn, A ad wrong and folly point with hate and scorn j To amuse the young, the aged to improve, And cast o'er all the blessedness of love ; To converse hold with men of wit and lore, And a 7 l the sages of the days of yore, Who mirror nature, teach us truths subl'me, And leave their impress on " the sands of time." These are our aims — no caste, no class we know — Our readings sre for all, the high, the low, The wise, the foolish, old and young — oar plan la wide as is the brotherhood, of man. There was a time, now happly passed away, When Ign'rance held o'er all her despot sway, When man, degraded from his high estate, Obsequious bowed before the titled great, His rights ignored, his freedom bought asd sold, His value measured by his worth in gold Like other " goods and chattels" of the so?l j His only privilege — the leave to toil. To feed, to labor, die, and be forgot, Filled np4he pages of the " common lot." How changed the gcene — the shadows fled away ; The dawn of knowledge brightens into day j The mind of man, emancipate and free, Soars, like an eagle, to its destiny. We're brothers all ; we have one common s* c j And to one common destiny aspire ; One common mission ours — to lead the van Of upward progress with our brother man. Ye men of Invercargill, we invite Your presence at oar feast each Friday night; We'll guarantee a value for your pence, In poetry, plam truth, and common sense; We'll introduce you to the great and high, Who lived and wrote in ages long gone by ; We'll make your close acquaintanceship with those Our brightest stars :*n poetry and prose, Historians you will mcct — Macaulay's page Will charm the old and young of every ago ; Poets, from Chaucer to the ethereal one Who wears the Laureate wreath — famed Tennyson; Sages and patriots, heroes of renown, And nobles of all time — and Heaven will crow a Our efforts with juccess, and bles s our plan To elevate the Beothbbhood op Mas.