And I must not forget to state that
Gilbert's _Palace of Truth_ was cribbed almost bodily from Madame de
Genlis's "Tales of an Old Castle." Mrs. Julia Schayer, of Washington,
has given us a domestic drama in one act, entitled _Struggling Genius_.

STRUGGLING GENIUS.

_Dramatis Personae._

MRS. ANASTASIUS.
GIRL OF TEN YEARS.
GIRL OF TWO YEARS.
MR. ANASTASIUS.
GIRL OF EIGHT YEARS.
INFANT OF THREE MONTHS.

ACT I.

SCENE I. NURSERY.

[_Time, eight o'clock A.M. In the background nurse making bed, etc.;
Girl of Two amusing herself surreptitiously with pins, buttons,
scissors, etc.; Girl of Eight practising piano in adjoining room; Mrs.
A. in foreground performing toilet of infant. Having lain awake half the
preceding night wrestling with the plot of a new novel for which rival
publishers are waiting with outstretched hands (full of checks), Mrs. A.
believes she has hit upon an effective scene, and burns to commit it to
paper. Washes infant with feverish haste._]

_Mrs. A._ (_soliloquizing_). Let me see! How was it? Oh! "Olga raised
her eyes with a sweetly serious expression. Harold gazed moodily at her
calm face. It was not the expression that he longed to see there. He
would have preferred to see--" Good gracious, Maria! That child's mouth
is full of buttons! "He would have preferred--preferred--" (_Loudly._)
Leonora! That F's to be sharped! There, there, mother's sonny boy! Did
mamma drop the soap into his mouth instead of the wash-bowl? There,
there! (_Sings._) "There's a land that is fairer than this," etc.

[_Infant quiet._

_Mrs. A._ (_resuming_). "He would have preferred--preferred--" Maria,
don't you see that child has got the scissors? "He would have--" There
now, let mamma put on its little socks. Now it's all dressed so nice and
clean. Don'ty ky! No, don'ty! Leonora! Put more accent on the first
beat. "Harold gazed moodily into--" His bottle, Maria! Quick! He'll
scream himself into fits!

[_Exit nurse. Baby having got both fists into his mouth beguiles
himself into quiet._

_Mrs. A._ Let me see! How was it? Oh! "Harold gazed moodily into her
calm, sweet face. It was not the expression he would have liked to find
there. He would have preferred--" (_Shriek from girl of two._) Oh, dear
me! She has shut her darling fingers in the drawer! Come to mamma,
precious love, and sit on mamma's lap, and we'll sing about little
pussy.

_Enter nurse with bottle. C