A Parisian Scandal.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume X, Issue 3164, 27 March 1889, Page 2

A Parisian Scandal.

London, January 26, The exalted and mysterious personage (said to be either the morganio wife of the late Czar or the Grand Duchess Serge of Russia) who writes, under the nom de plume oP' Ary Eoilaw" is onoe again tlTe talk ■' of " tout Paris," Her first book "Roland," oamo out four or. five years ago, and caused a sensation principally because of the ■ ' intimate JmbwWge.it showed of the inner life of the Russian Court, and of the painful story of Princess Dolgorouki. Her second novel was Mp more remarkable, as the scarS# which forms its basis had been kept. a dead seoret,and has been known, only to the family etc., intimately concerned, Its disclosure in " Une Altesse Imperiale," with the names of real aotors and actresses but simply dumbfounderod everyone. All sorts , of endeavors were made to penetrate " Ary Ecilaw's" identity ; but quite fruitlessly. "Une Altesselmperials'.r has now been dramatised, and was , have been produced at the Gymnase ; Theatre last Tuesday. The Censor, ' ■ ''l however, stepped in and forbade its . production on the ground that the production would give offence to the Czar.The Paris correspondent of the Telegraph says "'Ary Ecilaw'—the mysterious writer, who is said to be very highly connected, and whose last, book, ' Une Altesse Imperial,' was reviewed in your columns some months ago—• is again before the Parisian pjKo with a vengeance. Her book Das been dramatised, and the play was to have been produced by M. Koning at the Gymnase next Tuesday, when the Government stepped in and averred that the drama would give offonje to the Czar. It may be said without exaggeration that the affair has oaused a sensation . , far greater ,;than that which was engendered by the momentary interdiction of M. Zola's "Germinal." The Gymnase play was entitled "L'Officier Bleu," and M, Koning was busily engaged, with the final rehearsals when the Government Ukase came upon him like a thunderbolt. The story resembles in some points M, Barbey d'Aurevilly's" His-, toire sans nom," in which a monk outrages a young lady Bhe is in a state of lethargy. The girl's mother wants to know the name of tho seducer, but the vMtn is, of course, utterly ignorant■ jnt'; and eventually kills herself, The heroine of" L'Officier Bleu "is Vera Dimitrevna, daughter of the King of the Balkans, who is about towed Ivan Petroviok, Grand Duke of Tartary, On the day of tho wedding Vera suddenly faints in church, a doctor is called in, and the bridegroom finds to Lis horror that his bethrothed is miente, After this the lady is badly treated by the Grand Duke, who tries to discover the name of her lover. Vera, however, does not know it herself, and when her child ia bom the Grand Duke orders; it to be put to death.' It' is saved, however! by the Countess Xenia and and a Nihilist named Dimitrii who attends the Grand DucheßS as a teaoher of singing, In tirno Ivan hears that his wife, is carrying on intrigues with a Nihilist, so he has her watched by an : ' officer • in blue'; that is to eay, a member of the tefrible secret police. Notwithstanding the vigilance of the' officer _ in blue,' Yera's friends obtain M' child, who is in the hands oiH,. mountebank, with the aid of {he > chaplain of the Empress, who had seduced the lady while she was in a state of lethargy. . Dimitri, the Nihilist, is however, ©ecuted. Such is the story, the dramatic intensity of which was further heightened by a realistio description of the death of the Czar Alexander 11., which was to have been delivered in the third •act of the play by M. Marais, M. Koning says that the 1 Officier Bleu' . is Prince Oblousky, whose brother was killed at the same time as the Emperor, and who then vowed vengeance on' the Nihilists, entering the ■ ranks of the secret police in order to be able to carry out his purpose more effectively. It was never, intended to make any of the dramatis persona - : represent members of the Russian Imperial Family,, the whole play being one of passion and sentiment - without any • political references or ramifications. M. Koning further declares that a fortnight ago ho offered ,to Bhow the manuscript of the play to Baron von' Mohrenhefo' • ■ the Russian Ambassador, but .9 Excellency said he was quite satisfied with M. Koning's sentiments, and he would leave everything to the manager's tacD—-'f Furthermore, - Baron ! Frcderiflkf Military Attrcbe to tKe

. Embassy, gave M. Mavais, the actor who was to pci'sonatfl Oblousky, full information respecting liis uniform. Koning appealed to M. Looltroy, /■Minister of Puklio Instruction and Fine Arts, when the ukaso had been issued, aud ho was told that the play would give ri6e to diplomatic complications, as the Czar's Government would bo annoyed. This was also the opinion of M. Goblet, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, who brought the matter under the notice of a Council of Ministers. Of course the manager of the Gymnase is furious, as the official censors having made no objection, he had gone to heavy eqpßnse in order to produce the play. He roundly rates JlXLockroy and the cabinet, and to judge from his frank utterances it i 3 hardly probable that the Government will be inclined to change its views. Nevertheless, M. Koning has hope, and, as' Cabinet crises, are not of unlrequent occur-

rence in France, he will, be says, " atow away' the properties and the 'Vscenery of L'Offioier Bleu' until the -qpioxt Ministry comes in, He appeals ' from Philip Drunk to Philip sober 1" —Dunedin Star,

A Lady Squire. A curious little story which according to the German newspapers—and they ought to know—has just come to pass in Mecklenberg, reads exactly like ajcpmioopera, There was a "young person" •in Berlin named Bertha Bother who was unluckily more beautiful than virtuous. She was expelled from the new Kaiserstadt by the police for what the French call" oatrages to good manV ners." But the official who was charged to serve the decree of expulsion upon the frail dame, himself fell

a victim to her charms. Sho first blackmailed and then "rounded" Aion him, and the result was that ™io unfortunate man was dismissed. At Vienna, to which sho then proceeded, she brought to her feet a rich financier, who presented her with a fine estate in Mecklenberg. Then

it was that the fun began, This old & feudal property confers a title of _ some sort upon its possessor, as so ' many ramshackle casles in Italy did until recently. Thus the youug lady of doubtful reputation became ennobled, and, what is more, entitled to a seat in the Mecklenburg Chamber of Representatives I Her Bex precludes her from occupying the seat in person, but she is entitled to be represented in the Chamber by a nominee, whom she has duly appointed, Another of her feudal rights allows her to sit as a magistrate of firet instance, aud to impose sentences of imprisonment not exceeding twenty-four hours in duration, i'raulein Kother takes all these things quite seriously, and is said to discharge her duties as a lady-squire in the most exemplary manner, £ NETTLES. " Seleotor" writing in the Australasian about tho Cape Otway ranges has the following about nettles "In one spot there was a luxuriant •growth of ryegrass, and as caterpillars were in the district, this field of their favorite grass tvas the very

place to look for these depredators, I thought. Singularly, however, I > found caterpillars in great force in a flourishing crop of nettles bordering .the road and the rye-grass field, but I failed to detect any evidence of their ravages on the grass. The caterpillar is very dainty in his taste whon he is afforded a choice, and yet many people will be surprised to leara that he would prefer the despised nettle when there was side by side the option of rye-grass at the most interesting stage of its growth, and on which no stock was being jmzed.' I believe, however, that the nettle is a very superior plant, The opinion is based upon personal experiment, The other year an accident deprived my garden of cabbages. I tried nettles as a. substitute, and found the experiment most successful, I now consider this dreadful plant, when about half grown, superior for making soup to any vegetable that finds ordinarily a place in kitchen gardens, I have reason to believe that nettles also possess high medicinal qualities, so that the general adoption of this plant for culinary purposes might, as one result, lead to a serious interference

with the servicos of family doctors. If an intending selector, while ex- . i amining new country, comes upon a 1 patch of nettles in the virgin soil of a forest, he may rest assured that this would be an unfailing indication of! the very best of soil." The high . jfceem in which the French peasant nolds the nettle is at least shared by an individual of tho Anglo-Saxon race. This should be oalled an age not of weak conviotions, hut of dying prejudices.

A Great OratorMr Bright has let out the secret of his power as a public speaker. He has divulged it in reply to one of those endless correspondents who are for ever asking questions, and wishing to know the why and the wherefore. Nobody in the world is better qualified to express an opinion as to public speaking than the great Tribune of the people, for never since the days of Demosthenes has a public speaker so effectually.held spell-bound and enraptured an audience is has Mr Bright. His simple, plain Saxon words have formed the backbone and tho charm of his platform . oratory, and he explains how ho delivers his speeches. He first thinks out what he has to say, writing a sort skeleton of the ideas on paper, JpPlling two or three slips of note paper with notes. Having the line of . argument clearly before him, he leaves the words to come at call, and the inspiration of the moment never fails that Mr Bright practically discards MS. He is never overburdened with sheets of paper, whioh with.many a publio speaker „ gets him into as great a muddle as the thoughts in his mind. He has a freedom of utterance by this means of having everything compact;, and he avoids wandering and diffusiveness. These are invaluable hints for publio speakers, many of whom are slaves • to their MS., or liko the late Morley Pnnshon, the Wesleyan preacher, oommit every word of their speeches to memory. ,Mr Bright is a born orator. But he owes much of his success to careful preparation and study, and all who wish to cultivate publio speaking as a fine art would not do amiss' to read this letter of the great orator in answer to his Midland correspondent.