TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume XXVI, Issue 130, 1 June 1895, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

(FROM OCR SPE-lAIi CORRESPONDENT;)

, ■'-... London, April 19.' j OfiOAK IN DURANCE VILE—H IS DEBTS AND Extravagance. , | The Master of.'Balliol was one day con vera- ] Ing on ebbics.; His friend propounded what he believed to bo a difficulb question. 'Do yon'think,' said he, ' thab a good man could ever look happy on bhe rack?' 'Well, i replied Jowibb, wibh a judicial air, '' I j think oh the whole ho mighb—bhab is if he were a very good man and ib were a very, bad: rack.' I have quoted the foregoing because ib seems singularly apropos to the abbitude of the press towards Oscar Wilde jusb. now. Nob content with complaining that Mr. Wilde looks miserable on the rack afc the, Police Courb, they invite us to infer bis guilt from the fact. How they would have him look I can'b imagine. Even bhe most blameless of beings might be excused for displaying considerable emotion whilsb listening to such infamdus^nllegations as those ■of bhe blackmailer- Parker and Abkins. If the case rested on bheir depositions alone, Wilde would soon be freo. But thore aro many obher witnesses, hotelkeepers, chambermaids, landladies and fellow lodgers of Taylor's proteges who are' welding together a chain of circumstantial evidence which Sir Edward' Clarke {who will conduct the defence), J may find ib impassible to destroy. The smart / London . tradesmen apd hotelkeepers are even sadder bhan the1 aesthetes over the fall cf the apostle of culture." He owed money everywhere, though earning a big income nowadays j from his plays. Bub only a millionaire's \ resources would havo stood such exbrava-1 gancci as' his.: A dinner ab. bhe Savoy) seldom cost him less than £40, and 1 am told hia small party's bill ab the Hoiborn Viaduct Hotel for the three days con-! eluding the Queenßberry trial amounbed bo £150 odd. Three writs were found on him when he was arreßbed. ! / A Philosophic Moral. There is a philosophic moral to the Wilde case which some of Ua would do well nob to overlook. Oscar was nob always the combination of artist and brute he ia bo-day. /Walter Paber was hia evil genius. Ib was /that accomplished stylist's gospel of epicureanism (carried to excess), which has landed him in the dock. Wilde's case is the natural and regular physiological result of a literary and aesthetic effort. It demonstrates the influence which the deviation of certain literary faculties in the direction of a refined sensualism can exerciee over the intelligence and over the morale of men undoubtedly gifted. Fatal degeneracy will ensue when intellectual efforb is made the result and nob the principle of Bensations. :'," Finally. Finally, for Heaven's sake, don'b leb us be humbugs about this Wilde trial. Mr' Jerome poinbs bub in his own pleasanb fashion that whilst everybody haa been loudly eulogising the ' Sb. Jamea'a Gazette' for/nob reporting the Wilde case, nobody has been observed reading thab rigidly virtuous journal. It was jusb the same at the time of the 'Maiden Tribute.' We howled with horror ab Stead's filthy narrative—and eagerly bought every freah is^ue of the 'Pall Mall.Gazette ' containing it Moreover, society will do well to remember that there may be such a thing as over-reticence. In our dosire not to .ouch pitch, and get defiled, we decent people have speecbleosly conspired. together not to ace the facts which have led at last to thiß esclandrc. In doing so we absolutely protected the gang. Whab society now demands is the absolute extinction of the Oacarian cult. This can -jnly-lje achieved-by. putting deadly,, fear into the hearti' "cf two br threo"hiandred .•well-known characters, and, to rAanagethe work efficiently, a certain amount of publicity is imperatively necessary. . The New Speaker. Perhaps the greatest complimenb the House of Commons could have paid to the latoSpeaker was the scene—almost amounting to eorioua disorder —which occurred during the election of his successor/ The Chair stood empty for barely two hours, buVbbab was quite long enough to emphasizebbe losb of bhe strong guiding hand. And here leb me say a word or two regarding Mr Peel's farewell. M r Lucy's account, which I senb you lasb week, does justice to lbs matter, bub scarcely gives a fair idea of its admirable manner. The speech was in tho -first place judiciously brief and couched in excellenb taste and felicitous language. Its delivery waa perfect. Mr Peel inherits from his father the beautiful and exquisitely modulated voice which enabled the repealer of the Corn Laws to—in the words of Disraeli—play withthe Houseof Commons aa on ar\ old fiddle, and this voice was never heard to greater advantage than in bis valedictory address. The disturbance on Wednesday was due entirely to Mr Balfour, whose tact, temper and Belfcbribrol for once entirety gave way. Till the Tory leader, contrary to all precedent, intervened, the election of the new Speaker had progressed on conventional lines. Mr Whibbread proposed Mr Gully. And who, I' hear some of you colonists ask, is Mr Whitbread ? In the words of these two diametrically opposed authorities "Pay Pay'" O'Connor ; and tbe 'St. Jamea' Gazette' ' probably the mosb respected man in the House.' Liberals, Tories, Irishmen and Free Lances alike have long recognised his sterling worth and capabilities. Offered office oh many occasions he has always refused ib, and eleven years ago bhe House would—bub for bbc honorable member's eligbt deafness—have unanimously alected bim Speaker. In appearance the personification of grave dignity, and blessed with a singularly gracious manner "and considerable oratorical powers, Mr Whitbread yet seldom speaks. When he does his in#u.e;n<&. falls little; if ab a]), jbprt ofn party leader's. '1 'commend to your notice ihe simple,' earnest, self -restrained •': sentences fn which the veteran Parliamentarian proposed Mr Gully. It could 'nob possibly have been better done. Mr Augustine BirreH'e little speech waa alao in quiet good taste, and Sir1 John Mowbray and Mr Wharton, in proposing Sir Matthew White Ridley.likewise showed to much advantage. Then the two candidates submitted themselves to the House, Mr Gully making the best speech ahd looking a more ideal Speaker than the stoub and shorb Sir Matthew. Up to this point; harmony had reigned, and whab demon of mischief prompted Mr Balfour to defy precedent and interpose, no one could imagine. His speech was so unlike him, too. Ho made no direct attack on Mr Gully, but' managed to suggesb he was an undesirable man for ilie post.' Thab mighb have passed. When, however, the right honourable gentleman went on to accuse the Governmenb of reducing the question of the Speakership to a party fighb, bhe Chamber rang wibh cries of 'Courbney, Courtney, Courtney.' This, of course, signified that ho far from having made a party business of the Speakership, the Governmenb had euggeflted the obviously suitable Mr Court-ney^-bhough a Liberal Unionist—for the posb, and Mr Balfour himself had joined Sir Chamberlain in persuading bhat gentleman to withdraw. For once Mr Balfour was completely, knocked over, and—sab down- i The, cheers and howls which greeted Sir Wm. Harcourt's rising, showed that the blood of bhe House waa up, and quieter soulb gazed with melancholy foreboding on the empty choir. Sir William was in great form, and danced a Bort of breakdown on the Opposition leader. Mr Balfour's objections to Mr- Gully were confuted out .of the mouth of; his own side. . In, the 7*Pall Mall Gazette' of the .previous nighb appeared an' article by*' that slever young Tory, Sir Herbert

Maxwell, ;who= showed conclusively!* that. in ISB- Mr; Peel: was as unknown and aa Boverely-criticised by the Tories as Mr. Gully is (or was) now. Ib iB,, says 'Tay Pay' (of whoso description of whab followed I musb, evenab the risk of repetition^ quote a bit), the peculiarity of an orator—and especially of an orator ofthe impressionable temperature of Sir VVHliam Harcourt —to rise wibh the rising tide, to grow stronger with strength, more successful with success. And soon ib was felt that Sir William was about to make a weightier, stronger, even more emphatic atback on Mr Balfour. In other wards, he was | approaching the name of' Mr Courbney. The reader will have already seen whab a j frightful opening Mr" Balfour had lefb on j bhis question, when he charged tbe Governmenb with makingthe Speakership a parby question by bringing forward one of their own followers. Who had made- it a parby question, asked Sir William Harcourt, with finger pointedto Mr Balfour— and in a loud and almost menacing voice— and with all the force of a pile-driver, giving the huge block of wood its lasb stroke home. The Chancellor felb allthe passion ho expressed and aroused : for ib is wellknown bhab he had pub forward bhe candidabure of Mr Courbney wibh gre&b and almosb desperate eagerness, and in_ spite of some opposition from his own friends. If Mr Courtney, who was not a supporter of the Governmenb, had nob been elected, whose was the responsibility ? Again, Sir William pointed at Mr Balfour; and co fierce and loud and prompb was bhe sborm of cheers thab came up from bhe Liberals and the.lrish bhab Sir William was* unable more than once to end his sentences. All the sense of the ingratitude, the betrayal, the meanness, with which Mr Courtney had beeh hustled out of the Speakership by the Tories, came backto the memory of the House; never waß a man so deeply avenged, never waa a mean intrigue so mercilessly exposed. Mr Chamberlain is always pale ; and in theso later dayß he nearly always looks sour, depressed, baffled, uneasy. He was positively and palpably miserable during thia exposure of—shall" I call ib an intrigue or a defeat ?—in which he has played 80 ignoble a parb ; and what mueb have added to hia discomfort waa the fact thab Mr Courtney sab beside him-self-re-strained and decorous, bub still unable to .conceal the natural smile of triumph at his tardy but emphatic vindication after the .knifing by hia foes and his treacherous friends." Bub bhe effect on Mr Balfour was more striking than even'this. I havo seen him go through many Bcenes of sbcrm and difficulty; I have watched him all through tbe dread and hostile struggle over coercion ; and for the first time I aaw him lose nerve and courage and all readiness on this occasion. When Sir William Har* courb sab down he roso. He uttered only a eentence. Bub it waa certainly a significant sentence. He denied thab Sir William Harcourt had accurately described, 'mi/share ' in the knifing of Mr Courtney. There was an unmistakable emphasis on tho'my.' Whab does ib mean . Mb Balfour's Strange Case. Amongsb Tories as well as Liberals bhe question ' Whab has come to Balfour?' is the'moat urgent of the hour. The general impression seems to be that he has notgob over the influenza, and bhab his hoalbh ia so broken he has lost courage for his work and may have- to take a long holiday. We know, too, the alliance with Mr Chamberlain is Btrained bo breaking point, in fact, the •Spectator ' this week threatens that he, also may in disgust throw up public life. Bits of.Pefx. Mr Peel is said to have givon his auccoasor tho same advice which Mr Brand gave him when he took tho chair. 'You'll make,' said tbe ex-Speaker, 'errors lijce pther people no doubb— hamanuvi est, bub what .ever yoamy.piindyou stick to it.' ' . } During the period 'when the Commons ■ wero utterly disorganised by Irish obatruc- i tion, ib was assumed Mr Speaker musb be i personally on bad termß with Parnoll, j Biggar and Co., bub this was nob so. He had one privoro ' brush ' and one only with ■ Mr Parnell. Tho Irish leader had boen 1 extra - adventurous, and tho Chair had interfered. The incident being over, Mr Parnell was passing Mr Peel's seat later in'! the evening, and said as lie walked by, * I think Mr Speaker that you dealt excessively hardly with me jusb now.', Mr Peel drew himself up, and his eyes blazed, * How dare you, air,' be cried, 'how dare you address such, remarks tome.' Parnell, surprised, walked away *, but ever after in private spoke with groab respecb to Mr Peel. '.■'".'. Mr Speaker Gu%_y. The doubb wibh. regard to the new Speaker soems to be whether he willpoaaeas the noceasary qualities to dominate tho House in momenta of greab excitement. Mr Mellor appeared likely to make an admirable Chairman of Committees, yeb proved, when-his hour of trial arrived, a melancholy failure. Mr Gully's Buccesß6B have been principally in arbibrabionß and ns loader of the Northern Circuit. A very fair sketch of him in the ' Weekly Sun' says :— Arbitration, in its frequency and its succees, is one of the signs of times of great business depression and straitened incomes end expenditure: and Mr Gully waa the very embodiment of thia change in our methoda of settling; business disputes. Hie fairness, his spotless integrity — 0 temperament so incapable of being ruffled as to be almosb angolic, and a perfectly judicial mind—these are tho bhing3 which made suitors with all their fierce passions and their conflicting interests gladly submit their disputes to his arbitrament. At the Bar, and when he appeared as an advocate instead of a judge, there was anr obher quality which came out, and which will have an opportunity of revealing itself in his new position. That is Ms grit. r Quiet bub tenacious, he never flustered and worried tho solicitors who instructed him with those moments of depression and •funk'—bo use a familiar phrase—by which somel of our greabcßb advocates now and then paralyse a stirring and hard fight Whatever case and whatever view Mr Gully took up, ho stuck to with equal mind through good fortune and evil, with judges who were fair nnd judges who /were adverse. This is one of the rea.onM of the strong hold he has always maintained ovor the solicitors as a class.

And now, whab manner of man is this, and whab has boen his method of life . I don'b .know that there is in London a household more typically English in its highest and puresb development bhan bhab of the Gully family. Ib is presided over by a woman emphatically of tho o'd school in maternal tenderness and wifely absorption and devotion. You remember that beautiful tribute which Thackeray pays in ono of his novels to the tenderness, the purity and tho sanctity of the women of this country. I often wish thafc Thackeray had had an opportunity ot seeing the pirls of the Gully family. In succession they grew up, tall, fair, with perfecb regularity of feabure, with beautiful complexions, and with the nameless softneaa and gentleneas and sweet ehyness of the young . Engliah girl. It is, perhaps, part of the' , refinement that belongs to them, . that is the characteristic expreaaion of their faces, tbab they are a musical family. The musical even•ingß at the home of tho Gu^lys, in Harleystreet— that street of large, somewhat gaunb, bub spacious and comfortable and central houses— -rrore a pleasanb, social landmark in bhdir circle, of acquaintancee. Every player was an amateur, and I havo heard that on some occasions no less a person than LordChaocellorHerßcheHmightbo seen playinp the violincello under the, vigilant eye and the, harmonious ear of the gentleman who conducted the _little orchestra. Mr Gully's character ib written in his face. •He ia tall; slim, erect, >hd wonderfully youthful-looking for a man above the

sixties. White hair surmounts "a face., that- still retains ; the7rruddineßß of, youth. His ■ physique is Vfine.,;i,^ The: nose and 'tho mouth areVbeautifully chiselled ; he is emphatically a> handaome and a distinguished - looking/ man. He, has rather a low voice-and .a' very quieb. manner; altogether gives the impression of', bhab evenness of temper, and that spontaneous self-control that can belong only to a sweet and tranquil rlature. He has nob taken a very active part in the House^ of Oommona; but there iB one little legislative achievement of hie which ia characteristic. By a curious omission in the law the impuv tation of unchaatity against a woman waß nob a punishable offence, civil or criminal. In aiv outline Bill, Mr Gully sought, to remedy the evil. He was violently opposed by Captain Verney on the ground thab no such distinction should be made bebween imputation on the chastity of a man and.a woman. Bub 1 believe the Bill, after being, destroyed in one session, passed in another. Woman—the new and the old—haa a warm friend in the new Speaker of tbe Houae of; Commons. ,; >. I wonder to how many people the name, of Gully suggests a famous cause celcbre which just nineteen years ago; set London by the ears, and was known as the Balham mystery. The new Speaker's Biro,_ Dr. Gully, was unpleasantly mixed up in it.'^r,.. rather dragged into it by an unscrupulouswoman. The prosecution failed altogether to connect him in anyway with the catastrophe. 'The victim, Mr Bravo, was a well bo-do genblemon of considerable privabe fortune, residing in a large house-standing in its own grounds at Balham. He had married shortly before the widow of Lieut. Ricardo of the Guards, a young woman pt considerable personal attractions, but cursed, wibh a violent temper, and liable to outbreaks of intemperance. These oubbreaka were the misery of her hueband'a life. He had tried hia best to cure the woman and failed. One nighb eborbly after dinnor Mr Bravo was taken terribly ill and after some hours violent sickness died. He had. it was presently proved,-beon poisoned by tartar emetic administered .in a bottle of claret. Bravo's friends maintained Mra Bravo had dono the deed in anger, after a vioienb quarrel with her husband the same afternoon. This, quarrel, which had to do with Mra Bravo's drinking sherry, wsb nob denied, but the defence declared ib led to Bravo'a committing suicide, and pointed to a (if I remomber*right) rather enigmatic speech of the poor fellow's whilst dying to prove their contention. At the coroner's inquest, which lasted several weeks, Mrs Bravo confessed to an intrigue with Dr. Gully before hor marr.age with her husband, to whom, however, she had confessed the incident. Nevertheless, ho was, she said, very jealous, of a morbid temperament, always suspecting her, and constantly threatening suicide. The jury, after a prolonged inquiry, returned im open verdict, and thero the affair ended, the Crown nob considering the evidence againsb Mrs Bravo sufficient to justify a prosecution. Some years after, Mrs Bravo died, ib waa stated, of internperanco, and her maid declared aho had confessed to bhe murder. But this reporb never received practical confirmation. Dr. Gully, I fancy, lived down the scandal and died comparatively recently, Ho had a big reputation as a hydropathic expert, and was an immense favourite with the fair sox. ~-.'.7;' Another and even more notable relative ofthe new Speaker was John Gully, the fumoua prize-fighter, who developed into a leviathan book maker, entered Parliament, bocamo a pillar of bho burf, and .won the Derby once or bwico early in tho century. Two Ducal Marriages. Sir Alberb Rollit contradicts with as much emphasis as polfteneaa permits, the rjimbur of lils pending marriage to the Dowager Duchess of Sutherland, commonly colled"! Duchess-Blair. >: •& far*mofePputt-" able marriage, And hrie thftft will eonVb off too, is tho union of Lord 'Bill' Beresfbfd to the liiy Duchess of Marlborough. This lady was originally Miss Price, daughter of Commodore Price of the U.S. Navy. The belle of hor first season, she enrried offa great parti in Mr Louis Hammorsley, a' millionaire, who had the good tosto bo dio in a fow yoars, leaving hor large life interests (only) in hia property. The Duke of Marlborough in tho character of n rather dubious divorcee visiting the States, feliinlovewith Mrs Hnmmerslev and hor life interests, nnd transferred both to Blenhoim. The lady's money had much improved the Churchill's ■ family seat and built some fine houses, whon His Grace incontinently expired unexpectedly. His widow has now, however, so many English friends that though of course obliged to leave Blenhoim, eho stayed ab bhi3 side. Latterly Her Grace cither bought or leased Deepdone, bho beautiful country seat owned by Lord Francis Hope. Lord 'Bill' Beresford has been secretory, guide, philosopher and friend to threo Viceroys of India, and ia the moat popular person in Hindostnn. He now, I imagine, meana to rest and relax a bit. j Theobald Verdict. The Theobald case, of which I senb you the etory last mail, ended in a verdicb for the defendant. The jury, after hearing tho evidence on both sides, came to the conclusion that Mrs Theobald _■ plebeian first husband. Algar. wns Head when she married Mr Theobald, M.P.. and that tho man whom her greedy relatives represented na thab individual, had a totally different identity. I«nac Dunham, the brother who clnimed the late Mra Theobald's fortune on the ground that she was nob Theobald's wife, nnd that ho (Theobald) could not in consequenco bo her heir-at-law, cut a wretched figure in the witness,box. The deceased gentleman had, Dunham was forced to admit, been most generous to nil his wife's poor relations, yet here thoy were trying to rob Mr* Theobnld of her good name and Mr Thoobnld's heir? of the moncv he had, ib was admitted, morely ror form's sake; settled on' his wife nfl dowry. At Last.! ,'.'' .' So Jabez Spencer Balfour is .really coming, to England—is actually on bonrd tho good ship Tnrtnr Prince, now-some tendays out from Bucno3'Ayre«." Unless. Reutor lies these nro facts, and within a week tho 'Grent Liberator' will bo safe in Holloway. 'Jabez,' snys the cable, -■■'. is, entirely withoub funds,' and thia sentonce explaina amply why Balfour has been, yioldod up te tho British authorities. The moment Jabez'a power to bribe ceased, tho difficulties in the way of hia extradition simultaneously disappeared.. In a written statement supplied to tho ' Timea Argentina' Balfour assorts that hi? is fully prepared to meeb tho charges brought ngninsb him. Hi maintains that they are 'nil hnsed unon an erroneous assnmntion.' Likewiso he complains bittorly of the 'hostile attitWe of the British press and public authorities whereby he was induced not, to return; to fiondon ab the beginning, of 1894, as he.had originally intended.' Jabez, of course, only, wenb to' Argentina for a holiday, nnd all bhe chatter about tho brewery ab Salta, the Argentine citizenship, etc, was mere invention. He wanted te come home, but the British Government and the Argentine authorities began to fight about him. He was put into gnol and could not do as he wished. Very hard, Jabez, indeed Ie: r"■ T4IE Temi'ep.'anoe Crusade. '.. The United Kingdom Alliance nnd other leading temperance bodiesiahave been circling on their armour to fight for the Lopal Option Bill under the banners of Sir Wilfred Lawson,\ Lady Henry Somerset, Rev. Canon Wilhsrforce, Rev. Hugh Price Hughes, and other doughty champions; of the cause.- At; a "crowded meeting in Exeter Hall, resolutions in support of the measure were passed,- unanimously, of course, though Sir Wilfred Lawson, while

favouring the principle, regretted the necessity' for imposing .'.legislative restrictions.-' Tfie Alliance have ahm. issued, a manifesto in support of local option, which,they declare, * is the speediest method yeb suggesbed of overthrowing the liquor traffic.' Thiß ia plain speaking. Ib c -ia just as well for the trade to know thab local option is merely fa stepping atone to ■tptal prohibition. The new Bill allowa a bare majority instead of a two-tbirda vote to repeal the veto. There is also a douse providing that where a reduction in the number of licensed houses is ordored, all ; applications for renewals shall be treated I aa being for now licenses. The compenaa-1 tion clauses are practically cutout. ■~._ Lady ,Henry Somerset, whose activity in the Women'e Suffrage '■'movement and.. the establishment of Women's Cluba has been very greab, tbink3 the female vote will have a very decisive, influence in turning the scale "in favour of local option. On the other hand many old Parliamentary hands "believe that the Bill i? doomed and that Sir . Wm. Harcourbis ridihgfora fall. At present theGovernmenb can counbbna majority of 11, bub tbie may be morebhanneutraliaed by the defection ot at leaseeightLiberal brewers. It is certainly not reassuring to the advocates of total abstinence to learn on high authority that claret drinking in England is rapidly falling awny owing principally to the increased consumption of whisky and water.» Last year the im ports of wine from Bordeaux into the Unibed Kingdom showed a falling off of 200,000 gallons, while'the shipments of clareb to other countries exhibited a large increase. However, ns one person's misfortune is another's opportunity, the wine growers of, Australia will bo conßoled by the fact thab many ofthe French vineyards have suffered from, that disease of the blossom-which the French call ' colure,' while the old enemy phylloxera appeared in niany districts. .Sardines Becoming Scarce. The 6upply of sardines and smaller fish from the Continenb is being reduced bo a minimum. These fish have almosb entirely disappeared from the French, Spanish and Portuguese coasts. What fish have been taken are large and unsaleable, and fancy prices were realised for medium sizes. Ib is feared that the small fish trade of the Continent is practically extinct Now, the coaab of Now Zealand Bwarms with edible fish of all varieties, and thero is no reason why, if a proper amounb of enterprise were shown, bho frozen fish trade ehould not develop inbo an imporbanb industry. •