LONDON TABLE TALK.

Evening Star, Issue 8549, 23 June 1891, Page 4

LONDON TABLE TALK.

(From Ocb Special Correspondent.] London, May IC. Despite the delightful sunny spring weather we are having, the ravages of the influenza epidemic Eeeai to grow more and more severe. Over fifty members of the House of Commons, and quite one-third of the attendants, were laid up yesterday ; and the bar, the clergy, the theatrical and other professions Eufl'er proportionately. Mr Gladstone is amongst the recent victims, but his attack was only a mild one, and he has already partially recovered. There appears to be little danger in the malady, providing the right remedies are applied early, and the patient does not imagine himself, or herself, well again too soon. It is nearly always the complications which follow on neglected cases of Russian influenza which are fatal. Various preventives and remedies have been suggested, the most generally accepted being apparently " ammoniated quinine. 1 ' Quinine, by the way, has, owing to the epidemic, increased enormously in prie3, and become very difficult to obtain. Chemists and ■doctors are simply coining money, though the latter get, of coarse, sadly overworked. A medico in our neighborhood attended 134 cases yesterday, several of them twice over. There seem to be some persons sick in every family. Moreover, ones the epidemic seizes upon a household it goes the rounds steadily, and seldom departs antil all and sundry have endured its pains and penalties. MADAME Er..VVAT.SKY, Whether Madame Blavatsky, who succumbed to a commonplace attack of the prevalent epidemic just like ordinary people, was a mere charlatan or sotnethi g more will never now be known. One thing, howaver, is certain: the woman had an extraordinarily potential personality. She thrilled sensitive souls through and through directly she entered a room, and even such terribly prosaic persons as Professor Ray Lankester and Co. had to admit that there was something curiously uncanny about her. Scoffers at theo3ophy profes3 utter amazement that e&ue persons should ever have permitted themselves to be humbugged by madame's miraculous teapot, her letters from Heaven, and her spiritualist phenomena generally; but then they never Baw la Blavatsky, or assisted at one of her &.anrj ?. I nevei went myself, but I know several men who did at the period of the Blavatsky craze, tome years ago. In almost every instance these fellows started in a mocking mood. Some returned scared, others puzzled, others simply amused, The eo-ealled phenomena or conjuring tricks were of a childish description, but " H. P. Blavatsky " —as she preferred to be called—had "a way with her" which forbade laughter. Files of the ' Pall Mall Gazette' for 1884 reveal the fact that Mr Stead aßd the present editor took Madame Blavatsky ttnd the Esoteric Buddhißt furor? quite aeriously. To read the lady's obituary notice in that variable print one certainly would not suspect anything of the sort. Madame Blavatsky was a very imperious person with regard to the affairs of everyday life, and made quite as many enemies as friends. She finally quarrelled with her amanuensis and high priestess Madame Coulomb. The woman revenged herself by repealing, or pretending to reveal, the miraclemonger's modui operandi, and by describing the painfnllv practical meanß by which oertain famous mysteries had been brought about. The Psychical Research Society took the matter up, and sent Mr Hodgson, of St. John's College, Cambridge, to India, to investigate matters. His report, which openly charged Madame Blavatsky with imSosfcur*, would, it was thought, kill Esoteric luddhism, but it did nothing of the sort. On the contrary, Madame continued to bob op serenely, and Esoteric Buddhists are more numerous to-day than then.

At the ceremony of cremating " Madame Blavatsky's latest incarnation " on Monday, her private secretary pronounced a panegyrie, which wound up thas :—" We believe that if H. F. Blavataky could stand here in the body and speak to us now, this would be her message to all the members of the Thaosophical Society; not simply to those who are present, but to all who, without distinction of race, creed, or sex, •re with us in heart and sympathy to-day. She would tell us, as she has told many of ju already, that' a clean life, an open mind, a pare heart, an eager intellect, an unveiled •pintail perception, a brotherliuesß for all, a readiness to give and receive advice and instruction, a courageous endurance of personal injustice, a brave declaration of principles, a valiar.fc defence of those who are unjustly attacked, and a constant eye to the ideal of human progression and perfection which the Sacred Science depicts—these are the golden stairs up the steps of which the learner may climb to the Temple cl Divine Wisdom.'"

MB PARNEUi, Mr Parnell'a obstinacy, or tenacity, or fortitude, or sheer impudence, or whatever you like to call it, has practically triumphed. Though nominal rivals, he and M'Carthy and Sexton are now on moßt friendly terms, and when Dillon and O'Brien are released from prison, and the ex-chief has married " beautiful Kitty O'Shea," there seems every probability of his slipping quietly back into the old plaoe. This, at least, is what the Conservatives think. Tim Healy, Mr W. T. Stead, and the "Nonconformist conscience" take a different view. But Mr Stead's screams and screeds have, m Parnell's case, proved lamentably abortive.

THEATRICAL NOTES. A few more Buoh performances as that of 4 The Lady from the Sea' at Terry's Theatre on Monday and the Ibsen craze will be dead as Queen Anne. Neither the genius of an Elizabeth Robins, nor the talents of a Janet Achurch, nor the reserve force and red hair of little Miss Norreys could make Mrs Wangel (or Waggle as most of the characters called her) anything but a drivelling idiot. The heart and soul and stomaoh of this grotesque creature are filled with aching for the sea. She dreams of «' its phantasies," and pines for a "stupefying draught" of the briny. Consequently, when a melodramatic red-haired seaman, pervaded with a healthy atmosphere of bad tobacco and bilge-water, appears on the scene, what more natural than that Frau Waggle should " mash" him. She ha 3 a husband, of _ course an imbecile, whose wonderment at his wife's vagaries finds expression in such potent phrases as "Fancy that now!" "What a woman !" and " Dear, dear, me." Ultimately Mrs Wangel convinces Mr Wangol that her " early betrothal to the fascinating element" ia responsible for her armorous leanings towards the seaman. He replies ia lb:cene language and with Ibscene prolixity (i.e., four pages of brevier): "Go to him and be to you." Mrs Wangel absurdly and incontinently observes "That changes everything," and flings herself into her husband's arms. Neither Wangel nor the sailor seem, however, in the least surprised by this curious non sequitur. The sailor says : " Good-bye, Mrs Wangel. Henceforth you are but a shipwreck in my life that I have tided over." He swings himself gracefully over the garden wall, and the curtain descends. The moat mischievous of Zola's noyels is in many ways ' Therese Raquin.' The Lord Chamberlain very properly refused to license an English dramatic version of this precious work, so Mr Grein has determined to bring one out at his Theatre Libre (the Royalty). George Moore is, appropriately enough, the adapter. «Lady Bountiful ! has for some inexplicable reason failed to draw at the Garrick Theatre, and on the 23rd Mr Hare will revive ' A Pair of Spectacles,' preceded by ' A Quiet Rubber,' for a limited number of nights, The cast of • Handiast' at the Shaftesbury Theatre looks a3 though Mr Cuthbert Rathbone's salary list would amount to no inconsiderable sum. Artistes of the calibre of Lewis Waller, Cyril Maude, William Herbert, H. Reeves - Smith, Winifred Emery, Annie Hughes, and Carlotta Leclerq must together cost a pretty penny. The bumptious editor and proprietor of the «Era' (Mr Edward Ledger) is, perhaps, the most hated journalist in London, and tha "snubbing" he has lecently received from the London leading managers causes general rejoicing. In list Saturday's issue Mr Ledger tried to put himself rightj but failed signally, and many more advertisements of leading actors and actresses have in consequence been withdrawn. : LITERARY NOTES. The question pf how far it is permissible for a novelist to make use of his or her friends and acquaintances in fiction will come before the law courts shortly in the form of a libel action. Two of the wellknown characters unmistakeably caricatured in Lady Lindsay's «Bertha's Earl' have resolved to take action, claiming that they "have been seriously and praotically injured by the author's malicious wordpainting." Mr A. W. Macdougall, who obtained a certain amount of dubious notoriety by holding sensational meetings during the Maybrick agitation, appears to have existed ever since on that miserable woman's misfortunes. According to a bulky half-guinea volume of padding and puffery on the case just issued by the Macdougall, he is the secretary of a committee which energetically collects so-called "new evidence," and periodically lays it before the Home Secretary. Hitherto Mr Matthews has remained callow to these good people's representations, but they live in hopes of melting his stony heart some day. A Liverpool paper recently stated that the prisoner had admitted her guilt to the chaplain at Wokhog, and was truly repentant, but the rumcr lacks confirmation.

Simultaneously almost with the news of Captain Verney'a imprisonment came the announcement of the publication of a volume of stories calitd ' The Grey Pool,' by the late Lady Verney, the culprit's step-mother. Lady Yerney was one of the most gifted writers of her day. Sister to Florence Nightingale, she possessed many of that heroine's noblest attributes. Her name was a synonym for wise benevolence, and her stepchildren and grand-children adored her, It is some consolation to the aged Sir Harry Verney that his wife died before the present trouble overtook the family.

Mr Henry C re 3iwell's annual contribution to Mudie—his stories sever, somehow, reach a cheap edition—is scarcely as entertaining as some of its predecessors, notably ' Incognita ' and ' A Modern Greek Heroine.' . { The Hermits of Crfzebeck' desoribes the mischief wrought by a well-meaning band of High Church clergymen, who rebuild an ancient monastery and reside there in monastic secludon. For a few years, whilst the original plan of never Btirring outside the walls of the abbey is adhered to, the Fathers (as they call themselves) do little harm. Then, unfortunately, the ruling spirit die?, and dissensions arise. From being monks the Fathers become monkish missionaries, and bring trouble wherever they go. The tragedy which involves Father Eustace Nolan with his brother's jlancet, and the terrible fall of that self-righteous young priest, are ably described. ;i;Mr Creswell, who is, or was, a clergyman himself, understands the genus thoroughly. He paints for us parsons of all sorts—in fact, there are only two or three lawmen in the novel. Walter Besant adviseß young novelists to avoid commencing their stories with lengthy descriptions of scenery. It is better, he says, to select a striking phrase, such as " You are a liar !" There is cited a good yarn of an author who began hia book with " • Here's a pretty flare up !' said the Princess, whose modesty had hitherto kept her silent." Unhappily the poor man got no farther ; but it was a brilliant beginning, wasn't it ?

Lady Dilke's • Shrine of Love' is a companion volume to ' The Shrine of Death,' and calls for but little notice. The ordinary edition costs ss, large paper 7s 6d. Those who desire to form some sort of idea of Madame Blavatßky's exceptional abilities and at the same time to penetrate the secrets of theosophy should purchase •Isis Unveiled.' Even Madame's enemies admit this is a remarkable book.

Sir George Chesney, the author of ' The Battle of Dorking' and 'The Dilemma' (one of the best stories ever written of the Mutiny), is .on his way Home from India on furlough. He brings with him the MSS. of two new novels. • The Dilemma' has just been added to Blackwood's S3 6d series, SPORTING NOTES, The Kempton Great Jubilee Stakes, which is far the heaviest betting race of the spring nowadays, was this anniversary a tragic business for backers, or, as they are satirically styled, "the talent." Never were so many really good things at speculators' disposal. " Surefoot is a certainty," said Mr Merry to all and sundry, "Lord Esterling can't lose," declared the contriver of the Rosebery-Goldfinder-Tyrant coups. " The Imp will be there or thereabouts," John Porter assured H.R.fi. "Back Garter; I've two thousand on," advised John Hammond. Sherwood's stable stood FitzSfmon all save that obstinate old person Colonel North, who, ignoring his trainsr-'s assurances that Nunthorpe could not poabibly concede the youDger horse the weight, bade Morny Cannon don " the lucky old jacket, and, plunging into the ring, took some big bets about the City and Suburban winner. The Nitrate King's commission brought Nunthorpe to the nominal

priod of 100 to 7, but had any of the publio j oared to back the heavy weight a muobj longer prioe could have been obtained. Aa } the time for the decision of the big eventj drew on the wagering grew faßt and furious. Surefoot and Lord Estsrling finished up equal favorites at 9 to 2, 5 to 1 being laid against The Imp, 9 to 1 FitzSimon, 100 to 9 Garter, 100 to 7 Nunthorpe and Screech Owl, 20 to 1 to 100 to 1 the others, Surefoot gave a lot of trouble at the post, and so did FitzSimon. Altogether nearly half an hour was wasted in fake starts before Mr Coventry finally despatched the nineteen runners fairly evenly. Surefoot, especially, got well off, and so did most of the other j strong favorites. All, indeed, seemed in the race till approaching the turn for home, where Surefoot compounded and FitzSimon and Lord Esterling ran wide. The 100 to 1 outsider Busticus now led, and for some moments looked very dangerous. Nunthorpo and Martagon, however, presently closed up, and, catching Mr Bass's old horse at the half-distance, ran home a dingdong race. The Eing howled •'Martagon wins"; but Nunthorpe had always a bit the best of the struggle, and, running gamely under the whip, defeated Mr Baird's uncertain four-year-old by a head. Rusticus, two lengths off, was third, just in front of Lord Esterling, who would certainly have been upsideß with the the winner but for running wide. FitzSimon, too, was unfortunate, though under no circumstances is it possible to conceive the youngster beating Nunthorpe. Colonel North beamed as he led the latter to Bcale, but Sherwood looked vexed and perplexed. The majority of the RiDghad a good race, as neither of the three placed were fanoied by the public. Surefoot ran fast for five furlongs, and has probably become a nonstayer j but neither Garter nor The Imp showed in the van at any period of the race.

As good a field of three-year-olds as we are likely to Bee out this year faced the Btarter on Wednesday for the Newmarket Stakeß. There were a dozan runners altogether, the favorite being the Duke of Westminster's Orion, who had, on dit, beaten Gone Coon in a trial at least as easily as Common did. The fielding was, notwithstanding this, remarkably strong, the One Thousand winner Mimi, aud the Two Thousand second and third, Orvieto and Peter Flower, finding plenty of friends. Finally 11 to 10 could be had Orion, 9 to 2 being offered Mimi, 100 to 15 each Orvieto and Peter Flower, 20 to 1 each Siphonia, Melody, and Henry VIII,, and 25 to I St, Simon of the Rook. The latter (belonging to the was well backed at 5 to 1 for a place. The field got away at the first attempt to a capital start, the two fillies Melody and Mimi making the running by themselves on the left. Approaching the distance it was expected Orion would challenge the two leaders; but instead Barrett took up his whip, a-id directly after Peter Flower_ and Orvieto were likewise in troubla. Mimi had consequently only her stable companion to beat, and this, as in the One Thousand, she aohieved easily by a length, St. Simon of the Rock close up third. The effect of the race was to make Common an even money chance for the Derby, and bring Simonian (pounds better than St. Simon of the Rock) to 100 to 8. At this price Orion and The Deemster were also on offer, Peter Flower being driven to 20 and Orvieto to 25 to 1.