BASKET OF FLOWERS.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXII, Issue 7928, 17 December 1887, Page 3

BASKET OF FLOWERS.

There was a fair attendance at the Theatre Royal last evening to witness the production of the Sunday schools' industrial exhibition cantata, "The Basket of Flowers," by an efficient chorus of nearly 200, under the leadership of Mr Sturrock, and a strong orchestra. The soloists were the Misses Mayson (2), Blackmore, Chegwidden, and Arnold, and Mr Arnold. The Rev. Mr Paterson presided, and the Key. Mr Baumber read the text in an impressive manner. The story conveyed in the cantata is altogether too twilling and exciting for an ordinary audience, and with the addition of a stray murder and an odd case of bigamy, would have incident enough for a dime novel. Divested of the flowery language in which our Elijah Billingsley, the Rifted author, has clothed it, the tale may be thus told. Mary, a good little girl with an old father, meets a Countess in a wood and presents her with some lillies. The Countess is so struck with Mary's deportment and her evident piety that she promptly becomes her friend. Presently, Mary decides to present the Countess with a basket of flowers on her birthday, and forthwith took one to the castle. Here she was well received, and the Countess proposed to present her with one of her cast-off gowns— a truly regal tliiugin reds and whites on a dark green ground. .Such reckless generosity was naturally resented by her ladyship's maid, Julietta, who would seem to have been an abandoned young woman. Directly after Mary's "departure a diamond ring was missed, and the pious maiden having been suspected of the theft was promptly chained up, and cast on a bed of straw till morning, when with her father she was dragged before a judge. This gentleman had her whipped and scourged, a little, and then told her she need not plead not guilty, as lie knew she was a bold bad thin", and he wonld therefore sentence her and her father to death. The father, he said, didn't steal anything, but he should have brought her up more honesfc. Next day, however, they were only banished, instead of Being killed, and as they were driven away Julietta ran out, threw the basket of flowers at them, and slammed the castls door, and the old man died and Mary knelt on his grave, and the Countess was there, and the ring was , found in a magpie's nest, and Julietta died and confessed that Mary was innocent, and that she had accused her wrongfully, and Mary and Ameliana fell upon each other's bosoms and wept, and lived happy ever after, excepting only those who died or got hung or were otherwise down on their luck. This moral little story was once very familiar, to young readers, but for the -benefit of juvenile martyrs to "standard readers" a brief resuri)6 is given.