TOPICS OF THE DAY. (FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.) RUMOURED CONVERSION OF THE GRAND OLD MAN. London, October 11,

Te Aroha News, Volume II, Issue 425, 4 December 1889, Page 3

TOPICS OF THE DAY. (FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.) RUMOURED CONVERSION OF THE GRAND OLD MAN. Lon don, October 11,

Thk ancient story anenb tlie Grand Old -Man haying become a convoifc to Roman Catholicism has been resuscitated during this last week with rather more than the usual amount of circumstantiality. 'Tia .said, forexample, Mr Gladstone has been received secretly by Cardinal Manning, and that in the best interests of Kome no public disclosurewillab present be made, as it is nob desired to give the aged statesman's opponer.tsopportunity of making political capital out of the affair. Of course, the tale is pure bunkum. It was in all probability simply founded on the fact that one of the exPremier's irons (the Rev. Stephen, I think) has become rather •• high " of late, and that Mr Gladstone occasionally reads lessons in his church.

WILKIE COLLINS WILL. Wilkio Collins has loffc £20,000 behind him, and Mr H. B. jfarme's (the comic opera librettist's) will is proved at over £23,000. The rewards of literature are distinctly growing larger, and the more frivolous the literature the better seemingly it pays. Matthew ArnoKl died, comparatively speaking, penniless, and Darwin didn'o leave much behind him. On the other hand, Geo. K. Sims is worth £100,000 odd to-day, and Robert Louis Stevenson can command £3,000 for a onovolume novel the length of " The Master of Ballantrao.' Good" poetry, strangely enough, pays too. Tennyson, Browning and Swinburne all diaw largo incomes from theii copyrights.

MUSICAL NOTES. Michael Watson, who died the other day at the comparatively early age of fifty, was one of the most successful of what may bo termed the pseudo-nautical school of ballad ists. Ho first came into notice about eight yeara ago, when "The Powder Monkey" caught the popular fancy. Of this soncr over 60,000 copies were sold, and "Anchored," which followed, proved e\ en a greater triumph. Tho last named, indeed, is frequently aaked for now and will de?er\-edly remain a favourite much longer than such ephemeral compositions usually do. Watson's other hito included " Ailoat," ♦' The Press Uang." " Somebody's Pride," and '-The Quaker's Daughter." Altogether he wrote 'some feixty odd songs in se\en years, tho majority of which paid their way. When he died Michael Watson was earning about £1,000 a year. The most successful of the now eeason'p baritone songs promises to be Louis Dre lll's "Captain of tho Life-boat," a rollickinjr naatical ditty with a specially jovial chorus. Lovers of sickly waltz tongs may also derive satisfaction from " When the Lights are Low," which is having an immense sale. The plot of Tito Mattei's now opera " The Prima Donna," due at tho Avenue Theatie on Monday next, is founded on oue of tho (First Series) "Tales fioin Blackwood " called "The Duke's Dilemma " The late Mr H". B. Favme suggested tho subject to the librettist (Mr Alfred Mutray), who has already achieved some success as a writer of \erses for ransic.

DRAMATIC KOTES. The now piece at the Savoy cannot, in consequence of Sir A. Sullivan's engagement at Leeds, bo ready till the first week in December. The scene is partially laid in China and partially in France, and Sir Aithuris modullitig hi« score on the best of the lighter French comic opera?. The revival of "Casto" i\i the Criterion proved a success, though the pei formers who wojc expected to do best did worst, and vice rtmi. David James and Brook- 1 Held had played Eccles and Sam Gen idge in jthe Haymarket revival of 1883 but the others iwere fresh to their parts. Leonard Boyd and Miss Olga Brandon as D'Alroy and Esther, left absolutely nothing to be desired, Miss Brandon especially pcoring a palpable hit. On the other hand, Lottie Venne made the inimitable Polly a vulgar 'little creature of the Betsy time, and Mr Elw ood was quite at 6ea as iiawtree. Mrs Charles Poole, too, rendered the Marquis© an even greater bore than u&nal. The Olympic Theatre is being levelled to Hie ground, and will be rebuilt after the manner of the CJarrick for Wilson Barrett, who takes possession next September. Mra Langtry has resolved to revive "Antony and Cleopatra" in London piobably at the Princesses' at Christmas. Jusfc now she is doing big business in the provinces in Mrs Rousby'w great part of Princess Elizabeth in Tom Taylors historical drama " 'Twixt Axe and Crown." Mr F. Bourchier is tho Courtenay. A dramatic version of Chrihtie Murray's novel, " The Way of the World," is being specially written for little Penlcy (of '• Private Secretary " fame), who hopes to score as tho shy, awkward, goodhearted millionaire, " Balsover Kimberloy." Unless Mr Hare can provide an engagement for Mrs Boinaid-Beere (to whom he Is now paying £80 a week for doing nothing) he will have to cut short the run of %t The Profligate," and produce "La Tosca " ab the Garrick forthwith. Tho last named piece J3 already in rehearsal, and may sco light first at a matineo. The veteran author of " Box and Cox " (now, like " Colonel Newcome," a pensioner at the Charterhouse) takes a bumper benefit nt the Haymarket next Wednesday, when Irving, Bancroft and most of tho " stars " of the profession will appear. The bulk of the programme consists of "Box and Cox," "Done on Both Sides," and •• Masks and Faces." Madipon Morton was born fifty years too soon. Had he written nowadays, he would, like Sims andPinero, have become a millionaire. Tho new Tivoli Music Hall in the Strand which will beoneof the mosbi?orgeous places of entertainment in London when complete, opens the first week in December with a somewhat higher class programme than the Pavilion or Empire. Paulas, from Paris, and Edouard Strauss and his world-famous "etting band, from Vienna, will bo amongst the initial attractions.

LITERARY NOTES. The "inexorab'o critic" to whom Lady Colin Campbell dedicates " Darell Blake " is not Edmund Yates, but Air Wilfred Meynell, the editor of the "Tablet" and her ladyship's life-long friend. The gossips at first thought the fair author had modelled her hero on Mr Meynell, but this proved not to be so. Messrs F. Y. White and Company'f. forthcoming work* include " Sheba," by "Rita" (Mra E. .M.J. Yon Booth) ; "Mrs Bob," by John Strange Winter, and " Mount Eden," by Florence Marryat. Algernon Charles Swinburne's " Study of Ben Jonson " will bo published at 6s on the 25th inst. by Chalto and Windus. The snme firm announce Frank Bariett's " Fettered For Life," Richard Ashe Kings "Passion's Slave," and Besant's "Bell of St. Vaul'e," »Il for about November Ist. Mr William " Breechless " OBrien is occupy ing the reces6 writing a novel.