Illustrated London Letter.

Auckland Star, Volume XXIII, Issue 270, 12 November 1892, Page 4 (Supplement)

Illustrated London Letter.

(FKOM ODli LONDON COIIKKSrONDKXT.)

London, Soptombor 17.

A Pilgrim of Faith.

All the religious cults outsido thab of tlio Church of Rome may encor as thoy like (it the motive that impels tlio pilgrim thousands to journey to Lourdes, but] thcro mustbo something of good in if, whether bho healing quality to bo fouud thero bo tmo , or falso. Those who go there aro urgexl by simple faith—which unbelievers call superstition — flovotion, radiant hope, and touching rceicnation. Lonrdes, as a miraclo plnoo, dates from 1853, when a littlo girl had a vision of " a beautiful and radiant lady. Eighteen times tho glorious apparition was seen by tho girl then it was seen no more. 20,000 persons by that time had authored to tho rendezvous. On ono of the last oecnaiona tho girl, na if obeying a sign from hor visitant, went to a corner of tho grotto where tho appearances occurred, and Bcratched in tlio dry earth. Tho Raping crowd caw wator rise and tlio girl drink. Thon a little atroamlot mado it? way to the river. In a short time the spring gave IL'O,OOO litres a day. And tho wonder? of miraculous healing oflectcd by this wator is the theme of tho learned anri tho ignorant alike. In 1872 tho number of pilgriraa amounted to 140,000. and this year the came number appeared at tho health-giving spring. Over 12,000 brought 1,100 sick. They had come from Paris and tho Worth in seventeen pilgrimage trains, and last voek two trainloads steamed out of London for tho earae convent. Thero is a band of trained attendants, who do good service, and tbo sick are dipped by experts and carod for. As the patient is immersed Borne of the assistants, with arms uplifted, pray with him. Some of tho sick quietly undergo tho dip, as it resigned to whatever may befall them. Others boat tlio water in agony, and clutch at hands near, but all pray1— those last with loud cries of despair to heaven. ' Cure us Holy Virgin. Holy Virgin, you must euro us.' There is ureat ecclesiastical ceremonial, elevation of the host, priostß with lighted tapers, and hierb dignitaries be-robed and be-raitred. ' Tho cures ' are duly certified —tlicy are as marvellous as any by a well advertised ppeciiic. To Lourdes tho lato Duchess of Norfolk journeyed yearly, if so it might bo that God would heal lor her—and for tho Dukedom—her little child, stricken blind and foolish. But foi-est-tout. A Military Goat. Several regiments of tho British Army have an animal idontitiod with thorn. Tiio 78th Highlanders had at ono timo an elephant who headed the gallant corps when ■ in marching order. Another regiment hud a bear, the oscapades of which eventually led to its being discharged—if nob, indeed, drummed out—but perhaps tho beat known of all has been the goat which has for years led the 23rd Wel&h Fusiliers on march. "When Billy dies he is succeeded by another Billy—the King never dios. Tho prosont Billy bofding this distinguished post can hardly be called a non-combatant, as whon in Egypt with his regiment ho carried tho soubriquet of 'The Terror of Cairo,'from the pugnacious manner in which he received tho attentions of his admirers. Billy was obtained as a kid in 1886 by tho regiment near Rorke's Drift, on tho borders of Natal, Zululand. He i«a magnificent srjooitwi of tho Angora breed, and has f/ Ik wod tho

regiment wherever it went. He is led ab the head of tbo regiment by the drummajor, and wears the regimental badf;o. He has boen as great an object of interest as tho corps itself during ita march through Sb. David's principality. The New Opera at the Savoy. The Savoy's new comic opera is produced this week. Tho libretto wby Mr Sydney Grundy, the music by Sir Arthur Sullivan, whose recent recovery Ironi his serious lllnoas has boon tho subjoubof much felicitation in musical circled. Haddon Hall, Derbyshire, is the scene of the new opera, and it is just the place to give scope for the aaenic artiet. It is a ghostly old place, with haunted rooms, gloomy and oorio of aspect. It is said that iMra Radclill'o frequently sleph there while writing ' Tho Mysteries of Udolpho,' and many portions of the building give colour to tho statement. An it now stands it is one of dlio most perfect baronial residences preserved from the changes and destruction of timo ; the banqueting hall epoaka of tho days when the barons aud rotuiuora dinod ab tho samo table, and when tnon of inferior rank sab Iwloyv the salt, The. underground portion I

is ovidonco of the vast housohold retained by the anciont owners of the hall, and of the unlimited hospitality thoy oxorcised. There si ill aro to bo scon groat wino and beor collars, immeuao kitchons and fireplaces,

Hugo chopping blocks, and a massive wooden table, hollowed out into basins for Uneading-troughtj. At tho early part of tho last contury liaddou Hall was in tho occupation ot tho Duchoss of Rutland. The iirpt duke, a croation of ljueen Anno, kopt 140 rotainers, and opon house tor 12 day* at Christmas. But gradually Bolvoir Castlo superseded Haddon, which now stands a eles-orted but noble- monumonb of archaic etato and feudalism. Mil WISTEUIiOTHAM. Mr Wintorbotbam was not a vory prominent member of Parliament, but ho was an eminently useful inomber of his party, and a hardworking ropretentativo of his constituents in any local interests which iniirht crop up in the Houho of Common?. His devotion to duty was well exemplified by his attendance at the Houso for tho recont division that decided tho fato of tho Into (iovornment. Ho was so ill that ho hud to lio on a couch until tho bell rang "umrnoning the membera to tho divii-ion libby, through which ho hrsd to bo cupportod by friendly arms, Ho was not able to attend

tho house again, gradually becoming worse, Ho underwent successfully an operation in tho throat a fow days bofore his death, bub ho gradually sank aftorwards, and, on oxproising a wish to dio at home, ho was romoved in an invalid coach, but was unconscious ore ho reached his destination, and diod soon afterwards. Doceasod, who was [A years of ace, was M. P. for tho Cironcastor Division of Gloucestershire. Ho was managing director for a firm of woollen manufacturers.

The Eisteddfod.

Tho happy chance of the Lord Mayor of London being a Welshman, gave fcho eponing of tho National Eisteddfod tho kudos of his lordship's proseuco. The Gorsedd of

tho Bards, with which the Eisteddfod alv/ays opens, is a curious ceremony. Tho word Gorsodd moans, literally, 'throne,' but in an Eiateddfodic senso it signifies fourand-bwenty stones of the Druidie circle, whore a year and a day beforehand Eisteddfod is proclaimed 'in the face of tho Bun, the oye of light,' and whore bardic and musical dogrees are conferred on bhe successful competitors for tho various prizes ollorod. Tho bards stand, each on a Htono, tho chief bard on ono higher than tho rest in tho centre. This chief bardic ovont of the fofltivul took place ab Rhyl, before fully 12,000 poople. The presidonb, Sir W Wynn, gave the prize for the best odo upon 'The Missionary.' The prize was £20, with a carved oak chair. It was won by the Rev. E. G. Jones, Baptist minister, pno oi eight competitors, who

waa chaired in orthodox manner. Variouß obher musical prizes were given. John Gkeenleaj Whittier. In the death of tho venerable poofe, John Greenleaf Whittier, Now England loses the last of the band of literacy men who made her famous for bey pulburs, Whitbier wap born in 1807 of Quakov paranbs, ab Haver-

hill, Massachusetts, whore his father was a farmer, which occupation, alternating with that of shoemaking, the poet followed until his 18th year. In 1825 ho put himself to school for a short time to fit himself for a litorary career. His first inspiration ab tho fount of poetry camo fromßobort Burns, whose songs ho hoard sung by a travelling pedlar. The first book ho possessed was a copy of Burns' poems. Like tho Scotch poot, Whittior was tho bard of the oppres6od, his sympathies in that direction being inborn. In tho early days of the colony the Quakor was subject to cruel persecution, in which tho Whittior family Buffered soveroly. By a stra.igo sequence of ovonts, their gittod dotcendant was mobbod and utonod aa an abolitionist by doHCondants of tho very Puritanß who porsocutod his ancestors. Whittior's groatost work, 'Snowbound,1 depict* his oarly and primitive life. His first olforts in paetry wore published in a nowppapor odited by William Lloyd Garripon, who was the moans of introducing this promising goung contributor to journalism, bub his remuneration was so small that aftor six years' struggle ho returned to work on tho farm. A few years later we find him secretary to tho Anti-Slavery Socioty, when ho became tho object of bitter persecution. But, undaunted by poverty and suffering, Whittior continued to glorify tho cause of freedom by his powerful song and prose. In 1847 he edited the 'National Era,' a proat untielavery organ in which ' Undo Tom's Cabin ' first appeared ; and just before the war ho, with Wondell Holmes, Longfellow, Eraeraon., Proscott, Lowell, and Win, Stowb, made the 'Atlantic Monthly' known all ovor tho English speaking world, a world on which tho sun novor sots. Whittier, whilo apparently tolerant in religious mitborn, waa himself a man of simplo faith. Ho wan a voluminous writer. His latest work, not yet published, is announced as 'Sundown.1 Whittior died on tho 7th Soptombor, at Hampton Falls, Now Hampshire, aftor a short illness. Thk Largest Ship in the World. Tho Campania, launched at Glasgow lost week, is 72 feet lesa in length than tho ' Grout Eastern,' but as the latter leviathan is being broken up, tho now Cunurdcr may bo eafoly doecribed an the largest ship in the world. Tho City of Homo, and hur twin sistor, tho City of Paris oach 56u feub long, with a broadtb of 52 foot 3 inches, nro tho largest vessels at present running. Tho Campania i? to bo 620 feet, with a breadth of beam of 65 feet 3 inches.. Tho Great Eastorn was 692 leot by 85 foot. When fully loadod she will havo a displacement of ovor 19.000 toiiH, which is greator ttwm that of cny ehipof any sort by at loast 3,000 tons. It is expected, when filled fully, that sho will attain a speed of twenty-tlireo knots, porhapn more. Excepting her ruddsr, tlio vesnol in of British construction. The rudder wan caHt at tho Krupp faatory in Austria, as Enclnnd possessed no machinery larije enough to turn out a blado of sufficient size. The Campania is ono'of two now linoiß ordered tor tho Cunard Company, and it is expected that sho will bo ready to tako hor first trip to Now York in April noxfc, in timo for tho oponiug of tho Chicago Exhibition.