336 YOUNG 
Boleiia. Payne was afterward appointed 
American Consul at Tunis, where lie died, 
and whence his remains quite recently 
were brought to America. Some of his 
miseries may be guessed from his own 
words: " How often have I been in the 
heart of Paris, Berlin, London, or some 
other city, and have heard persons sing- 
ing or hand-organs playing 'Home, 
Sweet Home,' without having a shilling 
to buy myself the next meal or a place to 
lay my head. The world has literally 
sung my song till every iieart is familiar 
with its melody; yet I have been a wan- 
derer from my boyhood, and in my old 
fige have to submit to humiliation for my 
ibread." Foster's "Old Folks at Home'' 
was the best song he ever wrote. Over 
iour hundred thousand copies were sold 
by the firm that flrst i)ublished it, and 
the author is said to have received $15,000 
for his share in its sale. Christy, the 
noted minstrel, paid $400 for the privilege 
of having his name printed on one edition 
of "Old Folks at Home" as the author 
and composer. The song is thus often 
erroneously attributed to him. " Eock 
me to Sleep " was written by Mrs. Allen, 
of Maine. She was paid $5 for it; and 
Bussell & Co., of Boston, who had in three 
years gained $4,000 by ils sale, offered 
her $5 apiece for any songs she might 
write. Some years after, when a ])oor 
widow and in need of money, she sent 
them a song, which was promptly re- 
flected. " A Life on the Ocean Wave," by 
'Epes Sargent, was pronounced a failure 
by his friends. The copyright of the 
;s6ng became very valuable, though Sar- 
;gent never got anything for it himself. 
*' What are the Wild Waves Saying ?" was 
;suggested to Dr. Carpenter by a scene 
from Dickens' novel, " Dombey and Son," 
and the music was by Glover. " Poor 
Jack "was from the pen of Charles Dib- 
den, the author of the Lam] slighter. 
*' Poor Jack " netted $25,000 for its pub- 
lisher, and almost nothing for its author. 
*' Stars of the Summer Night," a very 
famous song, especially for serenaders, 
was written by Alfred H. Pease, the noted 
pianist, whose sad death in St. Louis a 
few months ago was so greatly deplored 
by his friends. " Love's Young Dream " 
was one of Moore's best, but the tune to 
which it is commonly sung is from an 
Irish ballad called " The Old Woman." 
Moore sang his own songs so well that 
both his auditors and himself were often 
moved to tears. Once, when he was sing- 
ing this song, a lady who heard him im- 
plored him to stop. "For heaven's sake, 
stop! This is not good for my soul." 
"Auld Kobin Gray" was the work of 
Lady Anne Lindsay, who tells a curious 
story of the circumstances of its composi- 
tion': "I called to my little sister, the 
only person near, and said, ' I have been 
SCIENTIST. 
writing a ballad, my dear. I am op- 
pressing my heroine with many misfor- 
tunes. I have already sent her Jamie to 
the sea, and broken her father's arm, 
and made her motlier fall sick, and giveji 
her Auld Eobin Gray for a lover, but I 
wish to load her with a fifth sorrow with- 
in the four lines, poor thing. Help me to 
one.' 'Steal the cow,' said the littlle 
Elizabeth. The cow was immediately 
lifted by me, and the song completed." 
"Kathleen Mavourneen " was sold by 
Crouch, the author, for $25, and brought 
the publishers as many thousands. 
Crouch was hopelessly improvident, and 
in his latter days became a tramp. When 
Mme. Titiens was in this country a num- 
ber of years ago, she sang " Kathleen 
Mavourneen " in New York, when a dirty 
aamp introduced himself as Crouch, was 
recognized, and thanked her for singing 
the song so well. "Bonnie Doon " was 
the only English song that the Emperor 
Napoleon liked. " I'll Hang my Harp 
on a Willow Tree " is said to have been 
written by a young English nobleman in 
love with Princess (now Queen) Victoria. 
"Annie Laurie " is two hundred years 
old, and was the production of a man 
named Douglass, to celebrate the praise 
of a girl named Laurie. The lady after- 
wards deserted the man who made her 
famous, and married a man named Fergu- 
son. 
A Beautiful Python. 
pli^'tM ^ Zoological Gardens, Lon- 
^ ^^^^ ^® seen in all the 
velvety sheen of its first splen- 
^^liSnm dor, a python that has just cast 
its skin, and the great snake is a very 
miracle .of reptillian loveliness. Not even 
the birds of paradise can compare with 
its purples, blues, and gold, while an in- 
finite interest underlies those iridescent 
charms, from the fact that its coils, soft 
as a butterfly's wings, and shot with 
colors like a dove's ])reast, can crush the 
life out of a strong man, can I] old the 
tiger in its range, and slowly squeeze it 
into pul]^. Watch its breathing; it is as 
gentle as a child's. And the beautiful 
lamia head rests like a crowning jewel 
upon the softly heaving coils. Let dan- 
ger threaten, however, and lightning is 
hardly quicker than the dart of those 
vengeful convolutions. The gleaming 
length rustles proudly into menace, and, 
instead of the voluptuous, lazy thing of a 
moment ago, the python, with all its ter- 
rors complete, erects itself defiantly, 
thrilling, so it seems, with eager, passion 
in every scale, and measuring in the air 
with threatening head the circle within 
which is death. Once let those recurved 
fangs strike home, and, though there is 
