Illustrated London Letter.

Auckland Star, Volume XXIII, Issue 102, 30 April 1892, Page 4 (Supplement)

Illustrated London Letter.

(Fkoji Ouu London Cokeesiondent.)

Rhquiescat in Pace.

The bells had scarcely ceased tolling the funeral knell of the young Prince, for whom the future had opened so fair, with all the world could offer of place, power, love, riches, and long life, when strong in the same solemn numbers beat tho deathmarch to the tomb of another Prince, nob of this temporality, bub a ' Prince and a master in Israel.' For him the future had narrowed down to days, life had nothing more to promiso nor to give. Full of years and honour, Cardinal Henry Edward Manning entered on his rest; the Requiem Mass at bhe i'rompton Oratory his loving , lullaby. The congregation presented a sharp contrast to that which gathered in St. George:* Chapel only a fow hours earlier to render royal honours to the heir to a throne. There, in that historic edifice, were tho representatives of the chief thrones in Europe, aud an illustrious assemblage of nobles and famous men. But it was nob tho individual they met to glorify, it was his order. Among the mourners in tho Oratory no prince was there to honour either the individual or his order, and only a few nobles, themselves of the same communion. Tho list is short, and, save for a fow distinguished names, inconsiderable The Oratory was sombre in blnck draperies, relieved by tho emblazonment of the dead Cardinal's arms, which on long bannerets descended from tho pillars eupporting tho central dome. Underneath this dome, on a catafalque, was tho coffin, richly palled, and with again tho heraldic achievements of the deceased prelate. There, too, was his biretta and scarlet hat, tho insignia of Li 3 rank as a Prince of tho Church, while round tho catafalque were ranged tapers of yellow wax and coloured candles, all giving a dim religious light in tho dense fog fchab had penetrated, as if to add to the gloom, tho eacred edifice. Tho High Altar, vestured in dark violet, was also dimly alight with tho regulation six tapers of yellow wax. A long procession of 500 priests defiied before the dead Cardinal, all doing homage to tho High Altar as they passed.

Proud Priest ok Gentle Pjiior?

The question of a successor to the vacant, See is exercising tho Catholic body in London, of priests and laity alke. The pendulum oscillates between Bishops Vaughan

and Gilbert. Of those two the lifter is tho favoured of the Metropolis. Bishop "Vaughan is disliked by the priests, his rule at Salford irf said to bo of extreme severity, and hia demeanour so haughty the laity almost dread him. Moneignor Gilbert is the favourite. He has laboured long and lovingly in Westminster diocese, »md_is rnuch°bo!oved. Tho aristocratic Catholics are pulling the vvices in favour of Bishop Vau»hnn. The Pope will probably decide in favour of the prelate likely to make the most converts, a:u! we all know Lcvo is tho best factor in all religions. It was Love that drew tho straightest Protestant to Cardinal Manning.

The Rival Brothers-in-law

It is» an open secret that the Princess Beatrice coveted the governorship of Windsor Castle for nor lord and -'! So did her elder sister for her lord and ? It was a toss-up between princo and peer, and tho peer won. Henceforth the governorship of tho k'ra;i!.l old koep, with rejjally suitable apartments, is fcho Marquis of Lome's. This is the firafc tit-bib vouchsafed to tho long-eullering Lord of Lome, snd he deserved something cf the power? that be. Ilia marriage, to say tho least, ■was loyal. He is tho eldest son of Scotland's most illustrious duke. If not tho richest, he is a man of parts and of character. That he is not German, or in any degree foreign, is a score in his favour, and then he is so respectable, nob a neceseary attribute of a duke of those times. Prince Henry of must bide a wee. Somo snug sinecure is suro to turn up some day, and that will be his compensation for his present disappointment. About tho Castle they say the small fry of Batten bergs are very brusque in their manners, .ir.d apt to lord it over their attendants, 'so unlike, , said a castlo official, noL of high degree, ' to the little Albany?, tho fiwoetest little folks imaginable. They never meet you in tho corridor bub they do thoir revorenco ! Not like the BuUenborge, who rub past you without notice or word. . The oldest boy'a great amusement is to be saluted, and to humour bio the guard will present anaa ab his

litr.lo round aggressive face in the nursery window over and over again, if when the

young- autocrat is oufa and passes a soldier and does nob receive the salute ab arms, ho orders ib to be made with a stamp of his foot, ' or ho'll tell gran'ma.' 'Governor and Constable of the Round Tower' is t!»o proper stylo of tlio appointment. Tho salary is £1,200 a yoar, and there are no duties. Tho salary is paid out of the Civil List.

Count Tolstoi o.v Russia's Fa.mixi

Count Tolstoi gives us his personal experienco of tho famine-stricken provinces of Russia, a famine tho ' Little Father ' denies, wilfully, eomo say, shutting hia eyes to the people's need and his ears to the people's cry. Bub tho Czar does not see with his own eyes or hear with his own card, and the people starve. Count Tolstoi has pone among them, and the picture he gives in the 'Daily Telegraph' of the condition of tho stricken labourers in tho agricultural districts is appalling. Tho psople are hopeless. 'Tho general evil?,' says the Count, 'are more wide-reaching and intense in their effects than any bad harvest, for they include dearth of land, destructive periodical conflagration?, ruinous quarrels, drunkenness and blank despair.'

Tho farmers aro suffering from chronic, nob extraordinary, evils. They are meek in apathy, and ' aro bound to die of hunger, or of some disease engendered by hunger, as surely as a hive of bees left to face the rigours of a northern winter without honey orsweeta must perish miserably before the advent of spring' But will misery make them exerb themselves ? The Count states that all he 'saw and heard pointed with terrible distinctness to a negative reply. The broad presented to tho starving psoplo by tho Little Father ha 3 boen analysed, from a g&mple, by the " Lancet,' , and the result "ives 10 per cent, adulteration, made up of ••woodv fibre and husks, leafy matters and seeds, and silica and sand to over bwo i)cr cant." The broad itself resembles coarse peat, in some was no rye ab all, only "arrack, potatoes, chaff, and leaves." Typhus fever, as the result of this destructive food (?), lias already broken out, and the outcomo must bo tho dreaded famine fever.'

Goodbye to Mrs Beknard Beere,

Jealousy rules in all professions, in those of the Fine Arts it is especially prominent. It is also ever present in tho calling of literature. It is a first infirmity of noble minds. Even our Laureate is credited with the malady ! Ho never forgets an adverse criticism, it is said, and on ono occasion when a certain poetcritic sent tho great poet a modest volume of his own lucubrations he received for reply a riewspapor cutting, diving the eaid unfavourable review which Tennyson had docketed and kept for somS years. Small —very ! But in the theatrical world tho artists rally round a brother or sistor chip on any special occasion of need or honour. Jealousies are laid aside pro ttm. and help o£ the kind needed is renderd with hearty goodwill.

Mrs Bernard Beere is about to experience their #ood comradeship. This talo ited actress, as we all know, has passed through a time of iciious illness, and partly to thoroughly recruit her strength, and partly to do the SEUno by her finances, »ho leaves us for an Australian tour early in February, so on Wednesday the Haymarket rallies to ita boards some of tho lirst proTessionals of tho day, and fine talented lady's benefit matiueo will show an exceptional caab jsf talent, and repertoire of good

things. She surely will give Lady Teazle I to Mr Wm. Farren's Sir Peter ; Mr Haro i plays 'lord Kilclare in ' A Quiet Rubber ;' i the charming Dacres unite their marital } forces, and Corney Grain is to the Ironb \ '

audience, was not one to forget easily. Poor, bested Dane, lie has indeed suffered the ' slings and arrows of outrageous '—actors, ButMrßeerbohmTree has bid thedead bones live, and the manes of Shaisspere are appeased. There was a splendid first night audience in the Haymarket on the Thursday the play opened. Mr Tree grasps the subtlety of the role admirably. ' Hamlet's ' underlying lovo for ' Ophelia ' is beautifully accentuated by tone and glance. The house was moved en masse at the end of the second act, when bonding over his tablets by the red fire, 'Hamlet , cries, 'Tho play's the thing, wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king.' In the fifth act the churchyard is a spring parterre of blooms, a newrendoriug, and thither , Hamlet' returns to Ophelia's gravo. The fencing scene with Laertes is a magnificent piece of intellectual grasp, shown in tho actor's expression and acting when ho looks Laertes in the eye and reads his treachery. Then again, Mr Tree's subtlety shows its power. Mrs Tree makes a charming Ophelia, delicately as well aa strongly given. Mr Arthur Dacro, as Horatio, also secured a triumph, and Mr Fernandez, as Ghost, and Mr Fred Terry as Laertes were generally successful. Shakspere this season at the Haymarket will not spell ruin.

with a society bib. Mrs Beero takes among other plays to the Antipodes, Mrs Campbell I'raed's ' Ariadne,' which she produced two years ago at the Opera Comiquo with signal success. It is astonishing how to the manner apt Mrs Beero renders Lady Teazle, considering her proportions, it being a wcll-Unown fact that she never presumes to confine nature in corsots. All her charms of nature's mould do perchance stay whoro nature placed them ! Tins Last Resting Place of the Dukk ok Clarence. By the way.itaeemsratherlike prolonging sorrowful memories to keop tho coflin containing the remains of tho luto Duke above ground. It still lice in tho Albert Memorial

Chapel pending its removal to its last resting place in the vault beneath, which was constructed at tho direction of George 111. In tho shelved recesses of tho walls Ho tho collins of a number of deceased members of tho Royal Family.

The Royal Bereavement,

Tho subject most at heart in our own Royal circlos at present is tho marriage of Prince George of Wales. Ono authority names the unmarried daughter of Princess Christian as the likely candidate. The peoplo would wish tho poor Princess May a sort of poetic justice. Bub tho Prince of Wales has a horror of those intermarriages. 'We have suffered long enough from them,' he onco said to a lady.

The General of the Jksuits

Father Antony Anderledy, the General of the Jesuits, died lust week ab his residence ab Fiesolo, near Florenco, his death being the result of a severo attack of influenza. In 1870 he was appointed to assist the General of the ordor, tho late Fstthor Beckx, in its government, and in 1884 he succeeded him as General, tho only post among the Jesuits that in held for life. Ho was a man of untiring industry, a ripe scholar, and an accomplished linguist. He was the firsb of tho Generals of tho .Jesuits who could sped: English, and who had resided in English - speaking lands. l>y the way, it may bo well to note that the title of General has in tho case of the chief of tho Jesuit order no military

significance. It is a mere abbreviation for Superior-General, and is not, like the title assumed by tho chief of tho Salvation Army, an affectation of a kind of military rank. The dignity is conferred by election, and in the nest few weeks the Jesuits all the world over v. ill be called upon to choose delegates to proceed to Florence and vote for his successor.

And tho ma.i that did it was Beerbolim Tree, tho most impersonal and versatile of all our actors. ' Hamlet,' the unspeakable Dane, has of late years been done to death by ambitious artists who successively havo replied to tho 'To bo' with 'not to be. . The sight of Wilson Barrett disporting his cumbrous length on the steps of the throne, and soliloquising bofora a Princsßs