HOME GOSSIP.

Thames Star, Volume IIII, Issue 1727, 16 July 1874, Page 2

HOME GOSSIP.

(FROM OTJB OWN COBRESPONDENT). London, April 22. It is a wonder that some person equally addicted to the interpretation of sacred prophecy, and to doing a little business in that way on his own account, does not give us his ideas upon the present state of things here. " The elements shall melt with fervent heat:" there's a fine text for him. Our weather is at present as hot as it is supposed to be at midsummer a great deal hotter than it usually is ; our forest trees are nearly in full leaf, and tho hawthorn has distanced the calendar: last year ife did not come out till June. Add to this that the high tide of last month was the highest ever known in the Thames, and I am sure there's room for some speculation on our position among the heavenly bodies. The mercers, drapers, and milliners are speculating to some advantage. "The spring• goods," which were a drug last year, are being sold as fast as they can be manufactured. Exhibitions of all sorts, too, are "jolly;-" that's the only word, and it is really a very good one. Every one knows what a room full of London sight seers looks like when sleet showers or north-east winds prevail. The " cooking lectures" cannot be very refreshing: with the thermometer in its present state, so probably that "school" is not very crowded; but the 'Zoological Society is likely to make a-hit by its late ar/angement. The Council determined to appropriate the interest of the Davis Fund of 1874 to the establishment of a series of lectures to be given in the i'icture Gallery of the Society's Gardens between Easter and Whitsuntide, and three have come off already. The firstwas, of course, only introductory; the others were—two out of the five—to be devoted to the " Geographical distribution of mammals ; " of the remainder of the te riea four are to be on "The clasii-' fication of vertebrates," and two on "The Aquarium and its inhabitants." How scientific all our young ladies will grow to be sure—provided this fine weather continues. .Nothing can be pleasanter than a walk through " The - Zoo," when the weather is propitious; but we had got beyond feeding the elephants, and we were beginning to think the whole concern a little beneath us. Our Chimpanzee died the other day too, as all of the family have died, whom we have been so kind as to adopt. I say " whom " because, really, comparing the Chimpanzee's countenance with some of those of his admirers, on my visit to him, I grew puzzled about the application of the ponouns. But where was I ? Yes, we had almost begun to think, not to say; that the Zoo might be handed over to ladies and " the working man; " when this bright idea dawned upon the Council. JSow we shall be quite en regie in going there again. We can take a cheerful stroll, and then we can sit through a serious lecture. We shan't understand it; but that's of no consequence; we can contemplate the vertebra of. the female " humans " in front of us; and speculate as to what the vertebra of the "lower animals " might come to, if submitted to a similar process at. the hands of a staymaker ; and we shall carry away a conviction that our present fine theories upon female education are being put into practice, which will last as long as convictions similarly produced do last. The most absorbing topic among all of us who can cling on to the skirts of fashionable life, and try to persuade ourselves and our friends that wo belong, to it, is the state of, things at Her Majesty's Opera. All sorts of glosses are thrown over each unfortunate contretemps which has occurred, but there is no doubt that up to this time, the chronicle of its doings comprises little else than failure. JSTo doubt we have Mdlle. Titiens in as splendid voice as ever; and we have other favorites — Madame Vebelli Bettimet — but the new prima donna, Mdlle. Lodi, heralded with such a flourish of trumpets, had to retire after two performances. Her voice was temporarily injured -by indisposition, it was said. That it was never equal to the requirements - of the Opera is very well . known,' at least very confidently affirmed by the best judges; and her successor,' Mdlle Kisarelli, has met with even a less favorable judgment. Mdlle. Lodi was "weak;" the other lady is " harsh," and " inartistic in her singing; in' her Acting, fufssy." The new tenor, Signor Banini, too, is pronounced " very nice, tor a concert room;" but the parts in which he was put at Drury lane were "too much for his powers;" and this seems decisive of his fate. A "nice" bonnet, or a " nice " sermon, is still, by some people, understood to comprehend all that &/ concert or a sermon heed be, although ■ the term generally, even in such cases, is going out of favour; but if we have our bread to win by such gifts as nature has bestowed upon us, we know it won't do to have a-" nice " voice, to paint a " nice " picture, or to write a " nice " book. Of the new baritone, Signor De Eeschi, the critics say " the highest expectations may be entertained;" and we are comfort* ing ourselves by anticipating the arrival o Madame JNillscn, otherwise we should be singing " Oh dear what shall become of us," under such crushers as these disappointments ; especially as Covent Garden has not done much to encourage us neither. There also one singer. Mdlle, Heilbron has disappeared after two nights, and her successor, Mdlle* d f Angeri, is only tolerated by the audience and the critics alike; while great indignation, is expressed at the reappearance of Signor Blum Durinir—re-named M. Blum—who made a signal failure last season. Now, what is tho philosophy of the whole matter? Simply, that the Opera, as we have had it ot late years, cannot hold its ground in this oouafcrg*

Fairly good singers who are yet not up to the mark which the critics and the public expect, have either no chance to be heard at all, or must take miserable pay in subordinate — miserably subordinate — part*; whi'o proprietors and managers are ruined by having to pay the exorbitant demands of the few stars which the public will tolerate, and the critics condescend tor-approve. v ■ . ahis last terrible mining accident, by which fifty lives were lqst, is leading us toreflect.whether with all our science talk we are applying our latter day learning and wisdom in anything like a fair ratio to any useful purposes. " What does it profit us " to have " lectures, «' soaeties," "institutions," "popular science, journals, and so forth .if we cannot or will not make honest labour as safe as ; .science and art, could make it ? Like New. England— " Wedon't no more speakers, hut fewer ;" ; -.««; We've hed plenty o' them, wut we want-is a doer. But the doers are few; ..here and there one, a genuine one, like _ Vr. Livingstone, or Mr. Plimsoll, or Miss Chandler, who by. personally-taking, charge of a couple of poor paralyzed human beings, gradually developed the Hospital for paralysis and epilepsy ; or Miss Gilbert who began her school for the blind in a cellar m.Bolborn ; or i6me more who might be named -And the mention of charitable./' doers' in pis-: tinction to charitable "givers" brings usto the notice of one of the books of the season "FactanonVerba.^bytheauthorof "Contrasts ;'" in which book these ladies, last mentioned, together with Miss Eye and! Miss Macpher.<on, who have been res-' cuing the gutter children from the gutten, while the School Board have been; talking about doing so, have received the acknowledgement which is their due, and no more than their due; while the rest ot us ought to feel small at the statements which show the result of our mere giving. For we are not penurious where charity is concerned ;we give, and liberally; but what do we give for? We find that £500,000 a .year is wasted and job-bed ( away in the management (mismanagement) of our endowed and unendowed Metropolitan charitiei. How many pretty suburban residences and neat little carriages, and annual, tours to the continent, to say nothing of Subscriptions to clubs* select evening parties, new bonrets, or Poole dress coats, this £500,000 supplies is really not pleasant to contemplate, especially to poor people like ourselves who can't even have the, 'satisfaction of seeing ourselves in print as subscribers of " fives and tens, but only squeeze—goodness knows how hardly squeeze—out a crown or a half-crown from our humble expenditure for our favorite institutions or hospitals.^ , To the astonishment of everyone the trial of the indiscreet burglar, who, we were all congratulating ourselves, had teen so cleverly trapped by a maid servant the^other day, has ended in an acquittal. It is rather a long story, but to understand our surprise, indeed discomfiture^ you must know it. This burglar, then> rather a swell we may suppose, accosted an innocent country girl, lately come into service in London, as she was out to fetch beer, and amidst a good deal of compliment and courting, put a few adroit questions to her with respect to the value of the contents of her master's cash-box, and her mistress's: jewel-case, and got a promise frorn^her;to meet him again. The girl went home and told her mistress; and by her advice went _to meet him, and gave him an invitation to a social cup of tea, with, no doubt, something hot to follow, on a certain night; the mistress meantime soliciting the honor of the company of two detectives on the occasion, and arranging that the master should arrive home at the most opportune moment. The burglar kept his appointment, and the girl—as settled nnvdoubt by herself and mistress— showed, him the way to the " swag," and he filled his pockets with brooches, bracelets, and other trifles, which together with a little convenient cash, he was going away with quite comfortably, when .the master "knocked at the street .door, just aa the detectives emerged from the dining parlor, and the gallant burglar was relieved of his little collection of bijoutere and marched off to the lock-up. /Weil, nbthing could exceed our satisfaction, of course. Such a triumph! And "wasn't she a clever girl P " and " wasn't the lady sensible' and plucky ? " and " didn't they manage the thing admirably ?"■ We were positively hoping that every one of our maid-servants might meet a burglar that we might have a similar opportunity of covering ourselves with honor and glory ; and here the jury has acquitted him. The Vt-rdict, of course, took every one in court by surprise ;> and I am happy to be able to say that it did «t do the respectable gentleman on his al much good, as he is still in jail waiting to be put into the dock for two other robberies, and that he is very likely, if not certain, to get penal servitude for one or the other of them; but meanwhile we who don't commit burglaries, and would rather not have them committed on us—unless we could cover ourselves with honor and glory—are rather crestfallen. I sannot understand that the jury gave any reason for the verdict; and I don't J know that juries are obliged to give rea- j sons for tneir verdicts ; indeed, if they I were, I fear that they would find the , reasons in general tougher work than the verdict*: but it is whispered that both mistress and maid were a trifle too clever; that, the burglar having been • actually invited into the house by the servant at her mistress' command, and the keys placed- in his hands, there was a * legal flaw. If so, more's the pity, for it was really a very cleverly planned and executed capture; end, no doubt, the weak point in the scheme was that the lady did not take advice of an attorney as well as of the police authorities before maturing her purpose. - {