TOPICS OF THE DAY. (FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.) London, May 10.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 381, 3 July 1889, Page 3

TOPICS OF THE DAY. (FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.) London, May 10.

MISS WIE DEM ANN'S GRIEVANCES. The Court of Appeal has granted Fraulein Wiedemann's application for a now trial, , so we may after all get to the bottom of the young lady's peculiar relations witlv Mr Robert YVajpole. It is worth remarking that though the Walpoles loudly expressed regret at'ttie tirst trial fallinpr through, and Said' they could have 'proved this, that and the other had it gone on, they nevertheless opposed Mis^ Wiedemann's application for a re-hoarinj* tooth ' and nail. We were also shown the, line which they now mean to take up, aa .the Solicitor-General hinted the unfor.tiin.ate girl had become mentally irresponsible. Miss W.'s friends will surely take care after this timely hint to present her in the wit-ness-box, Cool, calm and resolved no); to be* made angry.

THE DUCHESS'S DEBUT. Whatever may be said of the ex-game-* keeper's ' wife, who is now Duchess of Sutherland, it cannot be denied thab she has pluck. Barely ten days have elapsed since Her Grace arrived .in England, yet this evening the doors of JitafiTord House are to be thrown hospibably open, and the Duke s old friends are invited to come and make the acquaintance of his new wife. This bold stroke-has many points to recom- 1 mend it. Tho Duke's family must 'now cither meet the Duchess or else make a public scandal by lepudiating their father's wife. Being Scotch, arid in-" tensely proud, they will, Hbr" •Grace probably calculates, not do the' latter. On what soK of terms she and the -family will meet is a matter of the purest indifference to the Duchess, as London society will accept her gladly so long as the :Xeveson Gowers don't absolutely "cut" her.

'-- PICTUKES OF THE YEAR. ■~The pictures 6i the year are all at the Academy this seaaon. The, New and the C4rosvenorE\ihibitions, though fair all-round shows, contain nothing much Lo talk about. At' the.. Academy there are at least five pictures that even the Philistine of the period mju>l take in and carry away indelibly impressed on h&'mind. The most striking is, 'perhaps, Frank Dicksee's "Passjng.ot Arthur, "'-a '-weird-aftd. gloomy yet noble • scene. 'AH the poet's sense of .silence and of mystery and of the passing away of a heroic life into the great unknown jis subtly eo"hveyed by the painter. "All the decks were dense with stately forms, Blaek-stoled, black-hooded like a drown— by these Three Queens with crowns of gold ; and from them ro;e A cry that shivered to the t'najline: stars, And as ifc were one voice, an agony Of lamentation." > -, Mr Orchardson has once more the popular picture of the^'ear. " The Young Duke " shows the coming-of-age banquet o\ a great noblemaa and landowner. The moment is. selected when his health is being d) unk by effusive courtiers. The Duke himself looks j bored and tired.' This is a story -telling canvas, every figure suggesting sonletfhing significant. The table appointments, orniamentp, china, etc., are , painted as\only v Orchardson can paint such things — with the minutest care and most exquisite finish. Herkomer's "Charterhouse Chdpel " is a companion to his famous "Last. Muster,", and represents the aged pensioners trooping into service. You remember Thackeray's description: — "Yonder sit some three score old geutlemen pensioners oF the hospital listening to the prayer and psilms. You hear them coughing feebly in the twilisrht, the old reverend • blackgowns. A plenty of candles lights up this chapel, and this scene of age and youth, and early memories, and pompous deaths , . . . Amongst them sate Thomas iNewcome The steps of this good man, had been ordered hither by Heaven's decree : to this Almshouse ! Here it was ordained that a life all love,, and kindness and honour, should end !" With wonderful skill'Herkomer manages to convey a different expression of " rest after stormy scenes !' on each, venerable tace. Colonel New,combe .himself (the Colonel of poor Dicky Doyle) looks wonderfully happy and peaceful. The President's finest picture is. in my opinion, "Invocation," a gloriously idealised aud magnified edition of Dorothy Dene, draped in dazzling robes and throwing up a pair of plump, pink arrfts to heaven. To turn from the picture itself to -the little pearlpowdery model/who happened to be in the room as I passed through on Fiiday, gave one the oddest sensation. Tt fil&o showed what trifling Inspiration is necessary to a really great artist. Another great picture— rpne, "in fact, that completely dominates tha chamber in which it bangs— is Ernest Norma,rid's " Death of the First-born," a sombro ni«ht scene, ia which the terrified Pharaoh watches the completion of Moses' appalling threat. The King's so-n and two other boys have fallen back dying, the attendanteare trying vainly to revive them, whilst the Egyptian priests murmer frantic incantations over gleaming braziers.

A shocking murder and suici,de occurred at Finchintield village, near j&raintree, Essex, recently, when a farmer named David \Vakeling was shot dead by his son Ernest, aged 19, who then ,shot himself. Mr Wakeiing, who was 61, years of age, was sitting by the fire, and his three sons were also in the room. About 1 o'clock one of the sons became restless, and paced the room. Unobserved by his brothers, who were' reading, he seized a gun, and placing the muzzle close against his father's head, blew out his brains.. The patricide immediately fled, and the police were sent for. Shortly afterwards a gunshot was heard from a field near the house, and in this field fcbe murderer was found shot in the head,' with the top of the skull blown off, and the brajns scattered in all directions. Shortly afterwards the elder Wakelinc's 'vifo and two other sons reached the house, and a terrible scene of grief ensued. No motive can at present be assigned for the deed beyond that the father and son hayo for some time b,een unfriendly.^