HOME GOSSIP FOR THE EVENING STAR.

Thames Star, Volume VI, Issue 1856, 14 December 1874, Page 2

HOME GOSSIP FOR THE EVENING STAR.

'London, Oct. 6th, 1874

According to our laudable custom of "arranging all our friends' affairs," we have been for a long time giving ourselves considerable anxiety concerning the financial affairs of the Prince of Wales". Mrs Grundy was decidedly of opinion that he •' owed a lot more money, bless you, than anyone supposes ; " that estimable gentleman Mr Paul Pry knew exactly where, how, arid why, the money' Was owing, but with his usual delicacy declined to give his knowledge to the world. Mrs Candour was of opinion that " no doubt, poor dear, he was heavily in debt; but as almost all former Prinzes of Wales had been also heavily in debt, it was very wrong j:o blame him; " and Sir Benjamin Backbite was able to tell all his acquaintances—on the best.authority, of course— of some signal instance of meanness or extravagance on the part of every other member, not only of royalty, but nobility, which had contributed to the impecuniosity of the heir apparent. Well, we have had a very simple statement which has satisfied simple people, though I need scarcely say that-Mrs Grrundy, Mrs Candour, Mr Paul Pry, and Sir Benjamin are far from being satisfied. The Prince does not owe a guinea. Stop! let us be precise. It is possible His Eoyal Highness has not yet paid for his last twelve dozen of gloves, or that the Princess may notha ye settled for her autumn bonnet, or for the royal children's sea-side hats; but in the ordinary acceptation of the word, our Prince does not owe a guinea. What, then, has the Prince been doing that he has not got into debt ? For while the ladies and gentlemen above mentioned are incredulous on that point, others of their set are decidedly inclined to think that if he is not he ought to be; that a Prince of Princes who won't give them anything to talk about is really not worth having. Simply, then, the Prince of Wales, having but a very modest income, a tolerably large family, and an expenditure necessarily as great, under any circumstances, as that of the Queen herself, but, from many circumstances, at present, much greater, has been obliged to draw on the capital accumulated by the savings of his minority. We, plain-minded people as I have said, are satisfied with this statement. Truly when a gentleman sacrifices some of his means in order to pay his way honestly, ; though we are sorry, he is dbligect to do so, we may well refrain from blaming him; but, oh! dear, such a fertile subject of gossip being taken away from us, how we are stranded as regards conversation. " The Congress of Orientalists," held lately at the JJoyal Institution, Albemarle street, gave us a little fillip. But unfortunately a good many of ua did not know what was meant by a Congress of Orientalists; and, more unfortunately still, a good many of those who did not were ready to admit their ignorance; so it was only the few who really knew, and the not a few who indulge in talk on every subject whether they know anything about it or not, who could get a fillip from that. We know, now, that the Congress has said its say and. is over, that it was meant for the promotion of research in Oriental languages, literature, antiquities, etc. We know this in general; and we know in particular, that Professor Max Muller has just finished his translation of the Big Vedas; a work which has taken him twenty-five years, translating at the rate of sixteen hundred pages each current year ; and that. General Cunningham, of " The Archaeological Survey of India," has just discovered the wonderful ruins of the Buddhist Temple of Bharahut; and that Dr. Anpecht of '■ The Literary Survey of India" had just completed for the Bodleian Library a catalogue of all the valuable manuscripts as yet found in the various ancient language? of the East $

also that Dr. Bachmaisr's system of Passigraphy, or universal writing, was brought under notice of the said Congress assembled. We know too that Sir Bartie Frere entertained the members of the Congress at breakfast at Wressil Lodge, Wimbledon Common, and the Lord Mayor entertained them at a banquet in Guildhall; and that the display of oriental costumes at either entertainment was astounding, to say nothing of the display of oriental learning, and that we all feel we have done something meritorious, and are in a most complacent state generally as regards our relations, past, present and future with the east; for after all, if we did commit some little indiscretions formerly among " Orientalists" — at Rohilcund, for instance, and elsewhere —have we not succeeded in doing what Hosea Biglow evidently thought impossible in anolher case, namely " thrashed them right into brotherly kindness," and that too while we are keeping in our prophets of the old pagoda tree.

Our executive authorities here are waking up at last to the propriety of protecting our lm sas well as our property. Indeed it was impossible for them to sleep any longer on the subject. The domestic barbarities of wife beating and wife kicking have for a considerable time been supplemented by the beating and kicking and otherwise maltreating of apy individual whose decency of appearance or harmlessness of demeanour rendered him or her obnoxious to the roughs. Respectable matrons returning from an evening shopping, modest young women coming out of, church or chapel, inoffensive men going home to supper after an evening stroll, hare been attacked and treated to blackened eyes, teeth knocked out, occasionally to broken limbs and fractured ribs. Not more than a few weeks ago a gentleman doing a bycicle journey against time, between Bath and London, was set upon near Beading and beaten in a most cruel manner; while a provincial paper gave us, at a little earlier date, an account of a regular muck run by four or five miscreants, who broke into a house and attacked every inmate indiscriminately, they being mostly women and children ; and, as appeared from the account, completely unknown, and consequently inoffensive to the ruffians. In this state of things the magistrates have come to the determination of giving the full penalty allowed (six months and hard labour)to everyone brought before'them for an aggravated assault; and it i« very well understood that every possible influence will be used to procure the passing of a bill which will award the lash to all such offenders ; in spite of the maudlin sentimentality of those republican gentlemen, and strong-minded ladies who air their protests against the cat-o'-aine-tails andthe contagious diseases bill in some of our " advanced" weekly journals. "Advanced," as you are aware, is now the term appropriated for defining their political and social opinions by those who wish to get rid of the inconvenient restraints of religion, the laws, and morality. The buildings for the Catholic University College, at Kensington are nearly completed. The main building is old Abingdon House—where the mother of Rajah Dhuleep Singh lived and died— repaired and enlarged; and besides lecture rooms, class rooms, etc., it is said theje is to be a billiard room, a ball alley, a cricket ground and a gymnasium. There has been a good deal of gossip here as to whether natural science is to form part of the curriculum, and, if so, under what restrictions. I don't mean that any of us knew what were the' intentions of the founders or promoters, whichever they are, as regarded this point, or were admit-' ted to any of their .■discussions. I only mean that, after the usual fashion, some cf the " advanced " among us protested that the Catholics would not. or could not teach science; upon no better ground than because they themselves find it impossible to reconcile science with any religion, and therefore insist upon everybody else finding it equally impossible: while some of our very orthodox protestants—both High and Low—protested the same thing, but v while bringing it forward as a new proof* of the lasting bigotry of Romanism, were, as a matter of course, convinced, on their own part, that science could not safely be taught except on sound protestant principles. The simple question "whether it is to be taught or not" is set at rest, however, as the. various branches are included in the curriculum, and the professors, it is said already appointed. To accept the chair of classics Mr Paley leaves Cambridge; and Mr Seager (exprofessor of Hebrew at Oxford) takes the chair of Philology and Eastern languages. Six months having elapsed since the Claimant was consigned to Millbank, he was allowed one day last month to receive three visitors —the three being, his wife, Lord Rivers, and-Dr Cenealy. One Mr Anthony Wright Biddulph was exceedingly indignant that on his applying for an interview he was refused, the prison rules admitting but three. Had Mr Biddulph been a clearer headed man, he would, instead of wasting his anger and his eloquence on'rules, which are not likely to be altered for his convenience, have protested more reasonably against the erroneous interpretation of those rules made'by the prison authorities. Surely those officials must have forgotton that a man and his wife are still one in the eye of the, law: the presence, therefore, of the Claimant's wife was not a reason for •xcluding Mr Biddulph; he would only have made the third at the interview. He had better look to this when another six monthly reception comes round. Very few of us would care very much for the privilege of making our bow to Arthur Orton; but Mr Anthony Biddulph does, and it is a pity the honest gentleman should be disappointed.

PARLIAMENTARY WIT AND HTJMOTJB. It is sjtid of Vincent Scully, $,n Irish

member, that during the progress of a debate on some Catholic question, a protestant member said to him " For my part I can't see any difference in this world between the Protestant and Catholic religions." " Never mind, my dear fellow," said Scully " you'll not be five minutes in

the other world before you'll see it plainly enough." Canning once ridiculed a young ppliti-' cal opponent by parodying a portion of Moore's song commencing." Believe me if all those endearing young charms; " the last verse of which ho changed as follow*— ■ " Oh, the fool that is truly so never forgets, "But as truly fools on to the close, ' „ "Ai P leaves the debate when he «ifs/ " Just as dark as it was wlien ho rose." '

LEGAL WIX,

Judge Eobinsoa, the author of many stupid and scurrilous political pamphlets, once, while on the bench, threatened to commit Curran for having just said ' something which displeased him. "If you do, my Lord," replied Curran, "we shall both kave the consolation of reflecting that I am not the worst thing your Lordship has committed,"