LONDON TOWN TALK.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 4952, 5 February 1877, Page 3

LONDON TOWN TALK.

(From the Argus correspondent.)

I have as yet seen in no London paper the very best bon-mot I have ever heard upon a public matter. How did it happen; that the late Arctic Expedition came to misa the North Pole ? Because those on the Discovery were not on the Alert. ' Nothing, by-the-bye, has excited more public indignation against Mr. Ward Hunt than his rumored conduct towards the Arctic captains.' I say rumbredy because I have not seen it contradicted, and because it is-characteristic-;enough to-be true. He is said t’b have reprimanded them for pbming up to' toivn 1 without' reporting themselves, and to have- sent them'b'aok to their ships at Spithead.;’Nowi’thoughlthis may have lain within the strict lines of his duty, every man with anintelligence beyond that of a common policeihan would have avoided under the circumstances exercising such an act of authority. Moreover, in his case, it ‘is - especially • “ bad form,” since no man has made more mistakes, for coat the country so much, as Mr. Ward Hunt—not, indeed, by leavihg'his post, but by stbpping'in it. I ‘ ' •; : The - Case of accusedjof throwing.lus wife over the Stelvio Pass Has become J a J ßubject ot much public,’ interest. ‘ The. whole ‘story ,was common talk enough this| autumn among tourists in that district whoj had returned to [England, long before any legalprocsedingswefe .taken. And that the law’ was. 'put'irimbiibn In the matter' was owing, T'am; informed, to a well-known novelist, who being 'on the spot—and having perhaps a professional, feeling' for ' the romance of the adventurecaused the affair to be taken up. Of course it ;is -freely‘stated.’that , this is not the first wife •'this accused 'hM/tre»ted.in. a, similar (manner. One would imagine, indeed, to hear •some folks, talk, that he had marie a practicp pf (pushing wive? dowu-mountain.passes' every long vana-' tio>| (for beds a barrister) but j belijeve thatit fs reaUytru® thdtjin addition to this present “ unpleasantness 11 he had the misfortunc to shoot his naothar-in-law, with,a' revolvet-j-quite accidentally.' The.revolver web* °®> (and the' old lady happened to, be within/range ; that; is really all, and even if;it was/pot altogether aimless, she wan.his mother-in-law, and some, temptations are irresistible.,‘ J Talking of shooting, a Jew has shot] another. Jew at Ramsgate,'and -a Hebrew gentlemaif writes to the papers tbpay that suchj a_ thing has never .before: been heard, off A Jiew may have killed a Gentile or'frvyo, ages ago, he says,. but for 200 years np.rHebjewr.has ever suf-; fered in England -on_a-capital-charge; I bah only say that if <thid fid so, the Jews—(judging from 1 my own ipbrsbrial acquaintance! of them] —must have bad.great .luck. ■ ’Lately) L'savvy 1 one“ 8.L.” wrote that he though tit “highly un ; desirable ” that the Jews should'be considered better, than other people, .and pointed put that r; it was only twelve years, instead' of 200, since one;Mr. Levy, a Jew, was hung! in ydur .part. of the world,; >namely,: at'iNelson, in yNew, Zealand—for ; helping’; to■ murder “between' twenty arid thirty people’”—a very crfedl&Jilr. endeavor, it must be-confessed, upon his part to “ restore the ayyrage.” ’ ■ t*:-M _ j It is extraordinary how'people! besides,thofee' in; want; of: money still contrive to interest; themselves in the chosen face. In a Ipte will! case’iirDubliri a lady is proved tofH'ave'speqt vast sums in T ‘f facilitating the return] of ‘the* Jews td.Balestine.” . H6'w, shC‘did-this, 1 except by paying:their;fares thither, 'ls'not] stated/ She - spent much- of -her “ time- inr copying' the four Gospels in '’[needlework/ and an. Italian duplicate of them, to ihave been German,' - ’since' ‘ ! it Wari* in Berlin wool. Believing' also >that after, the resurrection the Just would be without clothes,. she employed herself in making garments]fbr them —but all of a Lilliputian size—to enable [ them to make a decent ; appearance in public. In the case of .this ladyis>will a compromise' has been effected, the jury, thinking it i.n'piJen. question whether she wias mad or not. I, need not add thatit wasanflrish 'one. J „ Some curious incidents;'have recertly ‘.ocf---curred in our competitive 'examinations There 1 is a gentlemamcadel a,t Woolwich, who, though only sixteen, and the’ youngest in hit batch, has passed 3000 -marks:'ahead of any" other competitor y hut Kerisjso'shbrt of statv ire .that’ the authorities .can ,only, allow of his admittance upofi his ’ solemn .promise to i grow. He actually; Obtained the full-number of marks] that it r was: possible to get J inobligatory ■mathematics.”;;::'.';'; ;[ '■"'[ [[’ [”T”.[ - I ! . Because I;hare no love fori the r Turks, I do not therefore Wjsh it tb be believed that I have any high .opinion of the .[Russians. The late, trial of i'Dri Stronsberg—whose liljp Is a romance of- commerce 1 hot 'second in interest and splendor to that of John Law himself—proves hew barbarous is-that nation; which is in the habit of calling herself “ hblyi” The cburi.sel for the Grown demanded a conviction •tapbri%b' : grblmd that.Strpusberg was a Ger-J ’man,-and had been » Jew, and the jmy .found; every Q«Si&& flftkmer guilty, and afrufttftl ifc .is fair ta a®; that the Emperor,.hwj; mit|g»tea- the,, verdict sb far.as “tb sencl’Stroush'efg out of country, Instead’ lpf' «UU

stands-revealed*--To.'Bhow .the; contrast between; a civilised.and savage: country, we had an lEngliSh Judge-recently-sentencing a foreigner, to half.his due<amountef imprisonment, ;with the remark, " Had you been an Englishman, I should have punished you twice as much." He may have been wrong (I think he was), but he certainly erred on the right side;; As for a " mixed jury," I suppose the jßussians could no more realise such an institution ;than they could imagine an official who didn't take bribes ! --- \ ■'. '"■ It must not be supposed that all the failures of our diplomatic system: take" place; at Constantinople. In a certain,capital nearer homethough still not so very near—there ip an ambassador with a temper.; To :call him hasty is to use a.vpry moderate, expression j indeed ; only'to counterbalance this he' has an attache who is /as .cool., as.' a : On a: certain important, occasion this young gentleman was sent, for'„ by hjs chief,' and directed 'to " start ; for ' England l on , a critical; errand.' : ".Very: good, sir; how am I to go ?". " Go,? , Walk if you like ;' what do I care?"' It'was'not atime to discuss a quesspecial trains,.aiid .besides that was a subject for another department. The cool young man took six weeks to' reach; what is called is diplomatic jargon.'Vthe Court,of St. James'B." Everybody thought he had been robtied'and''murdered, and his place was only, • not filledup because it.was;of no consequence. He was summoned, of, course, before the ■ Foreign Office'aTithoritieSj'but stuck to it. that he had been told to "walk if he liked,",and he .AacUiked. ... ' • r> ■-,"•' ! The "Portrait of the Duchess of Devonshire," purchased for £IO,OOO, and stjole from the exhibition in Bondr-street, is still advertised' as missing. The advertisement i 8 stated by. the cynical to contain three flaws. They don't believe—l. That, it was .the, portrait -of .the Duchess ; 2, that £IO,OOO was ever really i .given for" it ';'. and; 3j that it was everi stolen. This is worse than -the commentary upon; the usurer's statement trnit he but honest —"Wo' liesiri'threewords." ■'.■ ~ The Pope, by-the-bye, you will have heard, has* been so good as to .cause a requiem to be sung for the souls'of his-departed jenemies. One would, .almost think-he read Pickens' works, and taken asa model Mr. There is an unctuous hypocrisy l in thefeafet that reminds one. exceedingly,of. that gopd man. At' the same time I am afraid it is not all generosity' 'and - forgiveness' of- 'or 'he' would scarcely have the name of Mazzini with that' of Gavazzi, "for he mupt surely be aware that the former would have Ireserited that, even in, purgatory.. I really don't think this requiem ' business is going to any very great length in the way of forgiveness. : •As for me, I can't sing • but I never wiphed:iny ' deadliest enemy (even a critic) in any worseplace than heaven, when he was oiice dead, and gone; and I lay no particular (claim to generosity of spirit either. : Ts there no one at the elbow of the Holy Father, now that Antonelli is gone, to tell him that these iare-very shallow tricks? '■'■'• i- - j The sentence passed; upon Dr. Slade, _and against which he has appealed, has given almost universal satisfaction, I "but the people who coquet with these .spiritual humbugs pretend to fear that such persecution fan the flame of superstition. Why they have • not used this argument in favor of the :poor fortune-tellers all these; years T do not understand ; for if it is worth a farthing any vagabond who has been sent to prison for,tricking ■servant-maids out of their wages have, given rigour to the practice.. That it is high time something should be r done with, these " mediums," is evident, ;from ;the fact that a house is actually advertised this week as being suitable for persons' of this claps, being 5 "in the centre of a highly-spiritual neighborhood." , ,', .* j • ■'' :