"Oh, but gold is a chimera! Now the interruption vexed our Englishman. At any time he would have wished the Frenchman in Jerusalem. At present, the whistling so much disturbed him, that he wished him in a far less holy place. Mind!-I do not mean New York, though it be, like Milton's scaly sorceress, close by the "Gate of Hell." Therefore, in a firm and decided tone (which said, as plainly as if he had spoken it, "I wish, sir, you would hold your tongue") he whistled "Oh, but gold is a chimera!! Money all a fleeting dream!" But the Frenchman was in high feather, and not to be bluffed. He had had a dinner, and a gloria of coffee and brandy, and some eau sucrée and a glass of bruleau (which, like crambambuli, consists of burnt brandy or rum, with sugar). He had had a cigarette, or a four-cent government cigar (I forget which), had winked to a pretty girl in the opera, and finally had heard the opera and Grisi. In fact he had experienced a perfect bender. Now a bender is a batter, and a batter is a spree, and a spree is a jollification. And the tendency of a jollification is to exalt the mind and elevate the feelings. Therefore the feelings of the Frenchman were exalted, and in the coolest, indifferentest, impudentest, provokingest manner in the world, he answered in whistling, "Oh, but gold is a chimera! Money all a fleeting dream!" Which, being interpreted, signified "I care not a fig for the world in general,- —or you, sir, in particular! Stuff that you are!-Out upon you! Par bleu! BAH! "Do you think that because you are silent, all the world must be mum? Par-'r-'r-'r-'r-bleu! Am I to sneeze because you snuff? Par-r--r-bleu! Ought I to blush because you are well read? Par-r-r-r-r-'r-'r-bleu! Tra-li-ra! Go to!" All these words were distinctly intelligible in the chimes, intonations, and accentuations of the Frenchman's whistle. And to make assurance doubly sure, he sat himself down at the same tête-à-tête table whereon the Englishman leaned, at the opposite seat; and displacing, with an impudent little shove, his cigar-case, continued to whistle, with all manner of imitating variations, and aggravating Canary-bird trills, his little air, "Oh, but gold is a chimera! Money all a fleeting dream!" What I now wish you to believe is, that John Bull was in no wise either flattered or gratified, by these little marks of attention. Drawing back in his chair, he riveted a stare of silent fury on the Frenchman, which might have bluffed a buffalo, and then, in deliberate, cast-iron accents, slowly whistled, as he rose from the table, and beckoned his foe to follow, the air which had so greatly incensed him. 28 Oh, but gold is a chimera! 1 "Oh, but gold is a chimera! Money all a fleeting dream!" Which was not much more, and certainly no less, than "Oh if you come to that, two can play at that game. Poor devil! what a loss you will be to the worthy and estimable society of muffs and slow coaches! What will that excellent individual, Milady Popkins, remark, when she hears that I have settled the account of her son without a surplus? After you, sir, if you please! I will directly have the pleasure of following, and killing you." Out of the café, and along the Boulevards, strode the Englishman, followed by his new acquaintance, both whistling as they went"-certainly not "from want of thought." Whether it was "to keep their courage up," is not written in history. They soon reached a hall, where the Englishman offered the only weapons in his possession, excepting "maulies," or fists, and these were a pair of rapiers. And here it would appear, gracious reader (if you are gracious), that either I, or the Frenchman, or both of us, made a great mistake, when we understood the Englishman, by the sounds he uttered in his challenge, to signify the whistle of pistol-bullets. It appears that it was the whiz of But the swords, to which he had reference. Frenchman, who believed himself good at all things in general, and the fleurette in particular, made no scruples, but-drawing his sword with a long whistle-struck a salute, and held up a beautiful guard, accompanying every movement with a note from the original air of "Oh, but gold is a chimera! And now, reader, had I the pen of the blind old man of Scio's rocky isle, I would describe thee a duel in the real comme il faut, two, thirty style. Every note of the air was accompanied by a thrust or a parry. When the made a thrust of low carte seconde, the Frenchman guarded with a semicircle parade, or an octave (I forget which). When the Frenchman made an appel, a beat, or a glissade, the Englishman, in no wise put out, either remained firm, or put in a time thrust. Both marking time with the endless refrain, W "Oh, but gold is a chimera! At last, an untimely thrust from the Englishman's rapier, settled the business. The Frenchman fell-dropped his sword—and whistled in slower, slower measure, and broken accents, for the last time, his little melody.. Reader, I have no doubt that you have heard, ere now, the opera of Lucia di Lammermoor, and can well recall the dying struggles, and perishing notes of Edgardo. "Se di-vi-si fummo in ter—ra, Ne conguin-ga ne conguing-a il Nume in ciel! guin- -ga, ah! oh! Num' in ciel-oh! guo! -OH!" Ne con -ti-i-se And so it was with our poor Frenchman, who panted forth, game to the last, "Oh, but g-'g-'gold is a chi-mera! yet. M-'m-'mon-ey but a fleeee-" Now this last instrumento-vocal effort did not express much, but the little it did express, went, like the widow's oil or a Paixhan shot, a great. way It simply signified, fol (15) aut nr 99calie Coffee and pistols for two without the coffee!" To which the Frenchman, with a bow of the intensest politeness, replied, toujours en siflant- Not a word had been spoken by either of the always in whistling, on 15sdisysM to exsmb combatantskyd flow on sys(-a) recod edon yuvièmes And here borne on the wings of a last expiring whistle,—his soul took its flight. BUSINESS ANECDOTES. GOOD FOR A SHAVE." DURING the "Shinplaster" days, a well-known French barber, in Washington, issued certain fippenny bit notes, which purported on the face to be redeemable in specie, at sight, when presented in sums of not less than five dollars; or, singly, "good for a shave" at his establishment. One day, while occupied in lathering down a customer, he was accosted by a boy, who merely held out to him two of his own notes. "Vat you vant-eh?" inquired Monsieur. "Master says I'm to get a shillin' for these notes, sir!" "A sheeling! Par'dieu! can not your mastare read? Does he know vat de note say, 'pay-able ven presented in soms of not less zan five dollare.'-Go you back to your mastare, and tell him to read it!" As the boy vanished, the little barber looked after him, and exclaimed, "I do not sink zat he will come back. Ze note say in soms of five dollare,'-and I did only issue four dollare and seventee-five cents!" PUCK has a friend-there be several such in our city-who never omits an opportunity to inform all present, of the wonderful prices he pays for different articles. On a recent occasion, he displayed a new hat, which overtopped the tallest tile current, by about eight inches. "I think it's rather too high," said Puck. "Ya-s-eight dollars is rather much-consider ing the times," he replied. BUSINESS IN '36. DURING the "paper age" of eighteen-thirtysix, goods were not unfrequently sold on what would at present be deemed anything but satisfactory security. We have heard of a western dealer, who, entering a store in Market Street, announced himself as coming from the town of Waconda, Ralls County, Missouri, with a desire to make a bill in the store aforesaid. "Happy to see you, sir!" exclaimed the merchant addressed,-"John (to his clerk), look at the map,-Do you find Missouri?" 66 "Yes, sir!" "And Ralls County?" "Yes, sir!". "And the town of,-what d'ye call it?" "Yes, sir, there is a town there!" (Merchant, to the western man.) "Sir, your references are most satisfactory, and I shall be happy to sell you, to any amount." OUR readers may have observed, in the upper part of our city, a recently-erected brown corner dwelling, whose "predominant characteristic" consists of a projecting oriel, or large bow window, facing on Walnut Street. "Deary me!" exclaimed an old lady, in Puck's hearing, to her gossip,-" Deary me! what could a-ever made the man put his shop window in the second story! He'll never sell a single good as long as he lives." PUCK'S SCIENTIFIC It is with peculiar and irrepressible pleasure, that we learn that the electro-telegraph wires have been found applicable to yet another purpose! When we first learned that THOUGHT-be it in the form of Love's tender messenger,-an order for fifty shares Reading at 28, or a request to Billings to have a room ready at four o'clock, for a gentleman and lady from New York, could be conveyed on wires, with lightning speed, our heart trembled with joy. When we heard, too, that these wires were still further useful to our virtuous and industrious country maidens, as clothes-lines, our soul thrilled with delight. "Yet another link in the great chain of social amelioration!" said we. What, however, can our present emotions be, when we learn THAT SCIENCE HAS LENT HER AID TO ART! The entire length of the Northern line is to consist, uniformly, of five or more wires, on, and between which, musical notes will DEPARTMENT. Oft will the traveller, in traversing the green hills and sunny vales of that earthly paradise, NEW SPAIN, be astonished at hearing, from behind some verdant bush, voices in sweet accord, uplifted in song. Carefully peeping over the bush alluded to, he may behold the scene portrayed in our cut. It has hitherto been the reproach of our scientific men, that they have seldom thought kindly of Art, but we trust that after this conver sion of telegraph wires into musical mediums. this stain will be at once obliterated. TOUCHING TRAIT OF FIDELITY IN A DOG, WHO ALWAD CURIOUS MUTATION. WE have always been aware that on our canals Paddies generally raise riots, but what was out astonishment to learn from a recent agricultural work, that in certain districts of India, labourers termed ryots raise a sort of rice known as paddy! A TRUE STORY, FILINGS. A LADY from the "far, far West," was, with her husband, awakened on the night of their arrival in the City of Penn, by an alarm of fire, and the yells of several companies of firemen, as they dashed along the streets. "Husband! husband!" she cried, shaking her worser-half into consciousness, "only hear the Injuns! Why this beats all the scalp-dances I ever heard!" "Nonsense!" growled the gentleman, composing himself to sleep,-"There are no Indians in Philadelphia." "No Injuns, indeed!" she replied, " as if I didn't know a war-whoop, when I heard one!" The next morning, on descending to breakfast, they were saluted with the inquiry of "Did you hear the engin's last night? What a noise they made!" Turning to her husband with an air of triumph, the lady exclaimed, "There! I told you they were Injuns !" Lady's Maid. "Madame-will you have your opera-glass, or your prayer-book?" Lady. Both, Julie. After church is over, I am going to hear Lucrezia Borgia!" AN idea of the extremely low degree to which puns have recently sunk may be inferred from the fact, that a friend of ours did not hesitate, in speaking of Louis Napoleon, to affirm openly, before a crowd of shuddering auditors, that the French people would soon repent the error which they had committed in setting up such a bad precedent! DESCRIPTION OF A DESIGN FOR A VILLA IN THE CLASSICAL STYLE. PROPORTION is essential to the idea of the beau- | tiful in architecture; and it is in material objects the relation of individual parts to the whole. In all the arts, it is the realization of the most perfect idea of the height, breadth, outline, and form of the object arrived at, and therefore involves the highest single feeling of pure material beauty. In architecture, proportion is shown, first, in the composition of the outline or mass of the entire building, and from thence carried through all its details. And if it is endowed with this quality, it will exhibit to the eye, at a glance, that nice relation of all the parts to each other, and to the whole, which gives to that whole the stamp of the most suitable and agreeable form. Proportion does not cost anything, and it may be shown in the smallest building, as well as in the largest. It can, too, be applied as well to the form of a window, a moulding, or an ornament, as to the outline of the entire edifice itself. In fact, the minutest object, the smallest details, are equally capable of expressing it. Proportion is one of those qualities of beauty most universally felt and appreciated, even by those who are totally ignorant of architecture as an art. To be able to appreciate it, requires only a natural sensibility to beauty, and therefore the absence of it in a building, or any object, is felt as a great and irremediable defect, a primary want, for which no beauty of parts, however exquísite or elaborate in themselves, can wholly compensate. Many would think that there are rules, according to which a building, or even an ornament, may be put in right proportion; but no such rules exist, and its production must entirely depend on the genius and artistic judgment of the architect. Injurious treatises on beauty of form have been written by English and German artists, and the latter, particularly, have endeavoured to prove that the Greeks were possessed of a system of rules, which enabled them uniformly to produce perfect proportions in their temples; but this has 901 00 85 basolo od vamoob som: again been contradicted by other able writers; and I think with them, that such rules never existed, and that the Greeks were only governed in their compositions by a pure imagination and a pro found knowledge of construction. The truth of this opinion is further evidenced by the fact, that while all the Grecian monuments differ in their proportions, every one of them stands as a perfect model of imagination, taste, and genius. It is undoubtedly true, that education, and study of the best monuments and works of art, will aid in its appreciation and production, but the continual blunders committed in the works of many of our artists and architects prove, that it is one of the qualities of beauty less vividly felt than any other. Symmetry is the second fundamental element of architectural beauty, It is the quality of beauty in material objects, which shows that balance of opposite parts necessary to form a harmonious whole. It is one of the greatest beauties in all architecture, and when governed by and combined with proportion, it conveys at once an idea of agreeableness and completeness in form. It is an element quite distinct from proportion, but like this, it may be bestowed on a cottage, a vila, or any building; and as it is one which appears intuitively to every mind, it ought, therefore, never to be neglected in any artistical production. It must not be understood that symmetry can only exist in regular buildings. This is not the case. On the contrary, the most irregular building, if composed by an artist of genius and taste, will always evince symmetry; that is to say, it will form an outline, in which there will be a central portion, a point, to balance and unite the parts or wings on either side into one symme trical whole; and yet, if they do not balance each other in form and proportion, still balance in the general mass and grouping of the composition. Every building must show some balance in the opposite parts, otherwise it may be called odd, grotesque, or picturesque, but can never be called beautiful. Our design, here, we may call a regular symmetrical, as the outline of the opposite sides are exactly alike. In it we have the central portion (which must always be the most elevated), that unites the two sides in a harmonious whole. The hall, sixteen by eighteen feet, is itself a very DIMENSIONS. 1. Veranda, 2. Hall, 3. Parlour, PRINCIPAL FLOOR. fine apartment, and communicates with the other A. Dining-room, 5. Kitchen, 9. Kitchen veranda, rooms in a satisfactory manner. It is quite suffi- The arrangement of these rooms will be found both convenient and beautiful. All the apartments may be thrown en suite by the communicating doors, or each may be rendered quite separate and distinct. The entrance hall if paved with marble or encaustic tiles, would be a most in summer reeable opening does on the veranda. it The 10. Staircase, 12. Bed-room,' 16. Linen press, 17. Bed-room, 18. Bed-room, very convenient in winter, 06 FIRS as the kitchen door, leading out to the veranda, may be borimng to The second story is divi ded into five spacious bedrooms, the sizes of which are given on the annexed mea surements. There is a fine promnegory after ! bath-room attached, eight by twelve and am half feet. There are two good servant qu'a i ditt bola rooms, finished in the garret, lighted by windows in the stars gables, and ascended to by a flight of steps monize 18 15 and specifications would, ofan qudied prove over course, be required from the fuo ang stizogge architect.19Vn neɔ tud supzatmaq 10 pupastoł 1 |