NEWS AND OPINIONS

Evening Star, Issue 22146, 28 September 1935, Page 2

NEWS AND OPINIONS

A DICKENS INN. Dickensians will jhe interested t'd learn that two members of the Dickens Fellowship, Messrs Jj. “C. and H. V. Staples, have become licensees of the famous George Inn/ at Southwark, which, though some authorities question it, is traditionally known .as- the first meeting place of Mr Pickwick, and Sara Weller, says the ‘ Manchester Guardian.’ The description Of the inn called the White Hart in the novel tallies closely with that of t„e George, and it was certainly well known to the novelist both in his boyhood days in Southwark and in later life, when ho was an occasional visitor to the coffee room. The George and Dragon, as it was originally named,, first finds men-* tion in the sixteenth century, but thepresent building dates from 1677:, It is the only galleried inn now surviving in London. r AIR WEDDING INVALID.' France’s first air wedding, performed recently, has been declared invalid iu . the eyes of , the church, says the .London ‘Daily Express.’ The happy couple' who ascended in an airplane over the airdrome of Toussus le Noble • hare been informed that canon-, law; permits only the priest of the parish, in which the ceremony is taking place to officiate at a wedding unless another, priest obtains special dispensations - The air and thp heavens—including the Seventh Heaven over Toussus le Noble —belong: to vthe-parish, of Toussus le Noble. It was hot, however, the vicar, of Toussus le Noble , who married the fonng couple in the airplane, but Abbe orcioli. His parish, is in the heart of Paris, and he did -not obtain ecclesiastical dispensation, for such a v marriage. if the contracting parties wish to reinforce the civil marriage celebrated before the air . wedding with the blessing of the church they must have it - performed -over again, this time on the ground. RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE. The Gernian Press, of course at official instigation, is , endeavouring to demonstrate that there'vis nothing to choose between religious persecution iu . Germany and in Great Britain. Indeed, since news of . outrages against Jews and Catholics in Germanyfare not published, and extended accounts are given of anything bearing the semblance of a religious fracas in England, Scotland, ■ or Ireland, German readers are left to conclude fiat the real’home of ; religious intolerance is the United Kingdom. England, I think, has so far yielded' no fuel for the _ campaign, butythe Belfast Orange riots,■ .1 with their tale of six dead and numbers injured, have been ; exploited , to - the utmost—and it has to.he admitted that so far as that is concerned the German propagandists eannotbe denied, their due. Then there - rare the protests made by the RomaifvCatholic - Archbishop of St. Andrew’s!" and, Edinburgh evoked by minor 1 disturbances during a Eucharist procession in Edinburgh; there is some drunken brawl, of which I never heard, in .the Gowgate. ' And • even the v Wee Free, storm over- the Provost who permitted dancing has, I believe, _ been pressed into service by, the official news agency. . But there is one pretty good test to apply to all this. How many, British Roman Catholics would like to exchange their lot fop the lot of'the average Catholic in Germany?—“Janus,” in the ‘Spectator.’ OPEN-AIR THEATRE. The open-air theatre in the green fastness of Regent’s Park, London, drew many famous people to the first performance of Milton’s ’ ‘ Comus ’ and Ben Jonsou’ss ‘ Chloridia,’ writes the Londqn correspondent of the ‘ Weekly, Scotsman.’ Milton’s immortal masque had been performed in the same setting last year, but ‘ Chloridia ’ is new; to the Regent’s Park stage, and an audience which incuded Mr Leslie HoreBelisha, Mr H. G. Wells, and many well-known actors and actresses, gave it a delightful reception. * Comus,’* though it contains some of the loveliest poetry in the English language, ia scarcely an. “ acting’,’ piece. It ia doubtful whether it would seem so: exquisite if performed in an ordinary theatre as it did in Regent’s Park under the summer moon. But with the haunted grove actually before one’s eyes, with the lost lady in her stiff satin robes walking tip-toe among the shadows of the mysterious trees, and the “ star that bids the Shepherd fold ”• , shining high above the green stage; it was as lovely to the eye as it is to the ear. The rout of Bacchus, was beautifully done. The dancers in their weird animal masks recalled old tales: of witches’ Sabbaths, and the uncanny, music added to the illusion. The incomparable song to Sabrina sounded magical even when heard through the amplifiers, and the acting of Mr Leslie French as the guardian spirit was ‘aa fiije as his “Puck,” which is saying a great deal. BRITAIN’S TOURIST TRAFFIC. , It is seldom that one sees the tourist' industry included among the great industries of this country, and yet visitors .from the dominions and from foreign countries - probably bring aa much money to Britain as does her export coal trade (writes the correspondent of the Melbourne ‘Age’). Last year there were about 400,000 foreign visitors and 150,000 visitors from the dominions and colonies, who came : to Britain, and this Jubilee year the figures must have been very much | larger. It has been estimated that they together spent here last year about £30,000,000 —a figure within a million or two of those provided by the iron and. steel, coal and woollen industriesSuch paying guests and deserve encouragement. But Britain, in spite of her Travel has not yet set about attracting visitori with 'the deliberation of several European countries, whose travel and information bureaus seem to be overrunning Regent street. A KISSING NATION. England’s reputation as “ a kissing nation ” (says a correspondent to th# ‘ Manchester Guardian ’) was probably based on the experience of foreign visitors. Even Erasmus shared the general opinion. Froude translates one of hi» letters to his friend Faustus thus: “To mention but a single attraction, tho English girls are divinely pretty, soft, pleasant, gentle, and charming as tho Muses. They have one custom which cannot he too much admired. When you go anywhere on _ a visit the girl® all kiss you. They kiss you when you arrive: they kiss you; when you go away,and kiss you again when you return. Go where you wUI, it is all kisses; andmy dear if you bad once tasted how soft and fragrant those lips you would wish to spend your lif* here.” But the Lady Margaret professor of divinity regius professor of Greek who coiild write a ‘ Praise of Folly ’ may be excused his relaxations. THE CHURCH IN RUSSIA. A Warsaw paper, writing about the revival of religious-feelings in-*Soviet. Russia, reports that in the Communist factory at Wladimir the workers col-,? lected 40,000 roubles for the building* •of a new church.—-‘ Observer,’ •