TABLE TALK. Social, Theatrical, and Literary. (From Our London Correspondent,)

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 206, 11 June 1887, Page 2

TABLE TALK. Social, Theatrical, and Literary. (From Our London Correspondent ,)

This East,r Tloudvt Tit WFIC-ANTI-COER-CION iM.MON&mvriON'-SCENK IXIiYOE PARK -Mh Ulwv- tonic and thk Prookssioxists — Tin-. J'A Pkkmik-ii at ILarhow— Rudknkss of Tin, H(n\s— A Glass of \\ atick Thkown" ATI\L til \narO\K-CURKKIjt.'sOONKKBSION~ TIIK Lv!N(. OF TIIK 13KUU VNS IN PaULIAMKNT —Tub Lvik Sir O\vi-.x Lvnyon — "Tuk PjtiK'i* iv rriK Family"— Tub J)i:ciiLss ok NoRrOI.K Mil NICWDEGATK - "TIIP. RED Lami*" - Hlack's Nkw Novhl — "Kniuiit Ehran r "—A Jkwish Idyll.

London, April 20. Glokioi s pring weather — tho lir.st wo havo j had so i ir —accompanied the Easter recess, and en titled holiday-makers to enjoy themselves thoioughly. Tho railway trafiic on Monday was hea\ier than has ever been known .11 this time of the year. To give you some n tea of the difliculties our great lines lvv\e to cope with on such occasions, I may meiuion that the Brighton Company alone (L .patched sixty - six long special trains, 11104 of which wore dragged by two engines The South Western Company, in ] addition L o its oulinary .service, sent thhty- j seven specials to Kempton Pirk, and several to Windsor, as well as numeious relief ti.un* to popular suburbs? like Hamp- ' ton. k^w , and Richmond. There were over i'.\'.(.)<iO pel son at Chingford (Epping j Forest), iO.OOO at the Crystal Palace, 100.000 vi Hampstead Heath, and enormous ciowds at Olympia, and the Albeit and Ah \andia Palaces. Notwithstanding this wholesale exodus of the metropolis-, "the masses " mustered in wowdciful foiee at the Aiiti-Coe-ieion Demon-' iMion in llydo Park on "Monday afteriuxfi Opinions differ as to the pieciae mu. i!>er present, but it probably exceeded 1.10,000 peopie. The crowd was wonde? idly good-tempered, thereby presenting a marked eontrabb to the angi v mob which male "Intimidation Monday" of ISS4 .-(.) ominous. The only name leally \ijrorou 1/ hissed was Joe Chamberlain's; enthu-i i-is groaned a little over Lord Hartingtor. and cheered upioaiiously whenever a spea'vH mentioned Gladstone, but references to Lord Randolph Chui chill meiely pio\ol»ed laughter. Iniii iVly the most popular .speaker was the ni-.piessible " Labby," as ho (tor tho time In. mg) gleefully adopted the lole of " peoples tribune.'' He h.ul anayed himself, a] x'opnately enough, in an old " .sack" coat and low ci owned " pot" hat, and lookeil J for all the w orld like a w. 01 king-man holiday- j 111 akin ir. Mi- 11 lad-tone occu])ied the balcony of t\ holier- in Piccadilly, and in company with Master Herbert and Lady Majoiibanks bowed ,< \ "Ltino--, to each, cheeiiu^ the ' rontin'j-- in as it passed along tov. «udo the Park. The old lady his ,1 rare spint, cv t,n J Consers at nes admitted, for though the pro cc-sioa took ovei two hour.-, marching past, she reiM uned to the last, and gr-'ekd the | final se, tions as cheeifully and uomtoously as the Hi si. B\ -the-bj c, there has been a 1 are " to-do " at H.nrov. o\er Mr Gladstone's \isit to the school. He wtnt there, it seems, to chapel. Afterwaids the boys wore foimcd m two lines, and the veteran statesman and Mrs Gladstone passed down between them. Il.udl) any of the \oung booi s (so 'tis -,\u\) raised their hats. That was bad enough, but "noise lemain^ behind, for (accedingto an e\e-\\itness) one little iufiianab>olutel) Liied to immoitali.se himself by thiOA\ ino; ,1 glas.s of -\\ ater at the ex-li emior. The(-}.O.M. luckil\/ b.nv what was coining and stepped aside, with the result th.it one of thoi'vi-tci's recehed the intended compliment full in liis waistcoat. The most doplouii'k part of tho stony, howoer, is that the lad's conduct was not consideied repreh' iisible by his mates. Cleaily thin^, are \eiy "bad foim " at Harrow or this could not be, Cuiieil has confessed to murdering" his M\eethiai<. He . says he was under the iniluenn. 01 o})inm at the time, and has no notion \\h> he committed the crime. Anoth'-r dynamite scare has taken possession (it S(jotland Yard, and the police protoi_!j < \ of Wcstminstei Palace and other public I ulding- adjacent \ux~> been doubled in con-e juence. The Kum of the Belgians oecuj)ied a seat 111 the gallery of the llou-e of Commons durin'i the animated discussion on the Climbs Bill last Tuesday week. On hnn^ inttMi-ou.ttud subsequently, n-> to whether he lvid heard any debates. His Majesty bmiliugl> ob.sowcd, " All ! dm t't'c^ ; oui, d yOl a i (1 1' /'ln leu/"*." Sir Owen Lanyon, who died the other day, was, ])erhaps, the most popular mombci of the unpopular Wolcslcy cb(]ue. His rise, though well deserved, was rapid, and when, after returning from Kgypt full of honouis, lie married the gieat beauty and hehess. of the season (Miss Lawson), tho godd' -s of Good Fortune seemed to havelittle lelt to bestow on him. Alas ! a year later his wife and infant .son died .suddenly, and ■within a few days of one another. Then a slight affection oi the throat began to tioubie lam. It .seemed a mi,re spot, bub Sir Ovten thought perhapa he had better consult; a specialist. "Can you bear tho wor.stV asked Pr. Morell McKcn/ie. "I can,' w as the bi ief reply. It prosed to bo malignant cancer of the tonsils, which is practically inciuable. At any rate it proved to be so in Sir Ow r en's case. When his doom became a ceitainty, tho gallant .soldier bade farewell to his friends and w ent oIF to Ameiioa to die— alone ! Kistori, who is now living quietly in Rome, has just iinlshed the fir.st portion of her autobiography. It will be published in four languages simultaneously. lleadois of the moie serious English papers may remember a bitter controversy on "The Piiest in tho Family," which ra£?ed for several weLks some six months ago. It was started by a Captain Cailile, who complained in rather immoderate language of the conduct ot a Roman Catholic priest who had broken up his home and ruined his marital happiness by secretly converting- Mrs Carlile. Tho priest defended himseli faiily successfully, but the wrathful Carlile. refused to be appeased, and protected in moving terms against the interference c/f Roman Catholic priests with Protestant families. Wo now read that Captain Carlile himself has just been "received into the Church by Cardinal Manning. Tho death of the Duchess of Norfolk, who succumbed to a painful complaint on Easter Monday, was by no means unexpected. She had been in poor health for years ; in fact, never should have married the Duke, who has himself fi poor physique. : Tho match was strongly discountenanced both by tho Howards and tho Hastings, but the young couple were deeply in love, and had their own way. The birth of the poor little deformed child known as Earl of Arundei and Surrey pi'oved a terrible shock to both. Tho Duchess, indeed, never properly got over it. The Duke, always as much monk as man, became more of a recluse than ever, giving up his life almost entirely to Mother Church. He is said to be quite heart-broken over the Duchess's j death. I

Mr Jfewdegttfcev who died last week, wasfor many years a cognate, and, on the wl»le,, a popular persosiage in Parliaments*^ circles. He might have taken a really good' position, but for one thing — ho had " a b»te; in his bonnet." Roman Catholics were hi* abhorrence, and in, every movement he dis - trusted he sniffed a Jesuit plot. This craze grew to such a pitch lattorly that it became almost a mania. Fo-r example, MrGuildford Onslow secured Mr Nowdegate's support for "Sir Roger," simply through persuading him (tho champion of Prote.stantift.ni) that the claimant was the victim of Jesuit machinations. Mr Newdegate would always spend any amount of time or monoy to thwart a Catholic or an atheist. It was as much his persistent " whipping " as anything else that kept Bradlaugh out of the House so long, and tho news of that perr&istent person's ultimate triumph nearly broke his heart. Tho Prince of Wales has been twice to tho Haymarket Theatre in the hope of bolstering up Mrs Brown Potter and " Man and Wife." Nevertheless, the British public decline to follow suit. The play people pronounce dull, and the actress u failure. Mr Beerbohm-Troe's forthcoming managerial ventuie at the Comedy Theatre excites unusual interest, from the fact that " The Red Lamp " is said to be the first attempt at drama of a highly successful no\elist. The scene is laid entirely in Russia, and we are promised an absolute reproduction of " High Life " in St. Petersburg. Lady Monckton acts the part of a Princess devoted to her husband and the C/.ir, but cursed with a brother who is a Nihilist. Good parts have also been found for Mr Brookfield, Mr Sugden, and Marion Terry. " Held by the Enemy," the new American play at the Pi inros-.es', has hit the popular taste, and will probably run till Missdiaco Hawthorne take-, over the house for "Theodora," which Saidou has promised to superintend personally. The novels most asked for at tho libraries just now arc Black's " Sabina Zembra '' and Edna Lyall's " Knight En ant." The latter, though not so as "We Two" or "Donovan," well deserves to be widely lead. The hero is a young Italian named Carlo Donati, who, in order to watch over his -weak and fiivolou-. su-tei's moials, ghe.-s up both a foitune and hi^ lady-love and embiaL.es the (to him) distasteful career of an opera singer. The common-sense of the proceeding is rightly questioned by almost o\eiy per-onago in the book. One cannon, how ever, help admiiiug Donati's chaiactcr, which Miss Lyall has drawn with true aitistic touch. Coarse, cynical, repulsive, and )ct in all probability horribly tme, is the \erdict which most people ■will pass on "Dr. Phillips," a realistic study of middle-class life among <fc the Jews, ■which has created a big stir both in Chiistian and Hebiaio circles, and now sells like wild-fire. The writer ehos his name as "Frank D.uiby," but unless that gentleman and Mr (100. Moore, of " Mummer's Wife" notoiiety, pro\e to bo identical persons, I shall be siirpmM. Dr. Phillips is a, popular Jewish doctor, who, nevertheless, despises Jews. He pla>s upon their •various little a\ eakne-^es, and amuses himself by intioducing to his wife and her set as a widow, a girl who is really his mistrcs-.. Of the woman he eventually grort s .so fatuou jly fond that he kills his wife with an injection of morphia in order to mai ry her. The woman, unfortunately, luis never really caitd for him, and when the miserable man is making tho culminating .-,'. ci iiice for her sake, positively hates him. The story ends in a young and perfectly unblemished Christian gentleman mariymg this female fiend and dairying her oil in triumph. The Doctor at iiist contemplates shooting himself, but thinks better of the re^ohe, and— according to the gentle author- finds consolation in the black eyes and animal caies-Cs of a trim little parlour maid.