TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume LV, Issue 9992, 23 March 1898, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Thk news about Mr Mr Gladstone's Gladstone's health is Health. decidedly unsatisfactory in view of the history of his indisposition. His stay at Cannes had not the beneficial effect upon him that has usually been the result of his annual retreat from the rigours of the English winter to the brightness and warmth of the Riviera. Possibly the fact that on this occasion the two climates changed places had something to do with this. A winter of almost unparalleled mildne3s in England had, for once, a foil in the bitter cold of the Mediterranean littoral. That peculiarly unpleasant wind the mistral was mvwontedly busy, and Mr Gladstone's neuralgia naturally did not get much better under such conditions. Mr Gladstone left England in the latter part of last year, while suffering from neuralgia in the left cheek and behind the eyes, for a prolonged stay at the Chateau de Thorenc, Lord Rendel's beautii ful villa at Cannes. Owing to the bad weather to which we have referred he derived no benefit for several weeks from the change, but rather suffered by it, and about the middle of January the most alarming rumours as to his condition were current in England. His family and friends endeavoured t c allay the public anxiety, but their statements, though reassuring to the extent tha( showed there was no immediate danger, they revealed a condition of things which was deeply regretted. He suffered coiv tinuously, often intensely. Speaking ok one occasion to a friend he described the pain in his head ag "terrific,"' so much sc that "at times he wished it would please God to call him." Visitors who saw him described him as growing perceptibly I weaker, and as being very pale and feeble, his step having lost all its wonted elasticity. In previous years he was constantly out on foot, this year he never walked and could onlj T drive out once in every three or fou i days. The neuralgia brought -''insomnia in its train, and Mr Gladstone felt this all the more because he has hitherto been s splendid sleeper, a fact to which he lias no doubt owed his vigorous health. Writing to a friend about his father Mt Herbert Gladstone said— ,1 Hie sight is not good. He writes but little and depends upon his secretary for his correspondence. It is this which makes him nervous and agitates him." At the samo time, everyone who saw him agreed that mentally he was "as magnificent as ever." Towards the end of his stay at Cannes warmer weathei prevailed and Mo Gladstone's neuralgia became more intermittent, while his general health improved; but from recent cableg'ama it appears as if the improvement was only temporary. It must be added, however, that Mr Gladstone's personal medical adviser lately examined him thoroughly and found that none of the vital organs showed signs of more deterioration than might h% fecpeoted in a thoroughly healthy octogfin&v&o, aod that with care the ex-Premier could hope for many 'yeare' enjoyment of life. He hag weathered similar neuralgic attacks before, and he is altogether such a remarkable old man that it is quite possible he may shake oft' his present illness. That this will be the case will be the wish of all. " Pickwick" appears to be •'Pickwick" "booming" just now at Again. . Home. We noticed the other day the publication of a "Pickwick" index, designed to $*ive the fullest information about everybody and everything in the book, and now we have Mr Percy Fitzgerald lecturing on the novel, and telling us all sorts of things which are of general,interest. He began by asserting that no book in the last hundred years had given rise to so many satellite books and illustrations as had "Pickwick." He set out once to collect all that had been written on it, and soon had nearly a roomful. A perfect " Pickwick," with the original green covers to all the numbers, and the original illustrations now cost anything.betweon £50 and £100. The booh? had been translated into all the principal languages of Europe, and even into Japanese* It is rather hard to believe that some of the humour, say, of Sam Welter's jokes.would not be lost in the process of turning them into Japanese. It had also been printed in Braille type for the blind and in ebortf hand. Aβ showing how "Pickwick" had permeated English lite, Mr Fitzgerald said that the author of a great; law book, "Taylor on Evidence," had quoted half a pasje of the novel and referred to Dickeas'a, report of the cause celebre of Bardell v Pickwick with approval. It was further mentioned that the book gave a faithful rendering of the speech of lower class Londoners at the time it was written, and that the use of " v " for " w " wa3 a common peculiarity which had. since died .out. Mi Fitzgerald made a good point when he said that" Pickwick" was to-a large extent a catalogue of thiugs that had disappeared during the present reign. For instance, he said, it mentioned "duels, mail coaches, hackney coaches, debtor*' prisons, warming pans, nightcap 3, rushlights, carpet bags, sealing wax, wafers (though these two might be seen in exceptional cases), half price to the theatre, valentines, the twopenny post, sedan chairs, bastings at elections, elopements to Gretna Green, watchmen, the pound for stray cattle, men's tichta, ruffles, stocks, seals banging to watches, ladies , turbans, and scuttle bonnets, link boys, and flint guns." Many of the old inns which Mr Pickwick and his companions were represented aa visiting have been pulled down, but Mr Fitzgerald remarked that in every one remaining the proprietors showed a room, saying "Mr Pickwick slept there," and although it wag sixty years since Dickens had first mentioned the Great White Hone Hotel, at Ipswich, the owners still complain the house suffered from his misdescripfcion of it. One ot the servant* at the hotel had even hazarded an opinion as to the position of Mr Petei Magnus's room. There is plenty of proof that many people at Home refuse to regard Mr Pickwick and his friende ag creatures oi fiction, but as very real individuals. It is a eururas proof of the unbounded vitality of the book. The annual exhibition of the The Art Art Society was opened last Exhibition, night under conditionswhicb promise well for its success. It may be said at once that the show of pictures is a good, one, as good, probably, as has been seen at any previous exhibition by the society, and greatly superior to at least ono or two in resent years. It is true that outside artists are,, rather scantily represented, but against this has to be put the gratifying fact that some of the young local avtiata havo done much better work this year than usual. The mainstays of the Society's shows- are to the fore again, with, in jnoat cases, very good pictures, and we can .welcome to their ranks at least one new man, Mr W. A. Bowririg, who3e animal painting is thoroughly good.

Mi , Worsley's bright pictures of scene; fa -§ Switzerland are also very welcome. I miss works from one or two local artists who I nsed to exhibit, and whose canvases I always well worth looking at, but, taken as* whole, the exhibition chows a distinct et«n <"' *■ in advance. It is gratifying to learn from i ' the remarks made by the President that the ■ Art Society is in a prosperous condition. , It has had its tips and downs and at one time the breach, now hapmhj ; healed, which existed in local art circles threatened to embarrass it. But there ij now every reason to hope that its early troubles are over, and that it has arrived at a stage in its history from which there will be no looking back. If it receives th»t amount of public snpport which it can fairly claim as its due its career should be one of uninterrupted progress and vj 9 .