HOME GOSSIP.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 5306, 13 February 1879, Page 3

HOME GOSSIP.

(By.'". Atlas," in the " World.") When the history of cricket for 1878 is written much will be said of the falling off of the champion. The reason, however, is easily found. When, a few yearsiago, he was making such huge scores, the great v cricketer lived for the game ; nothing was ' eaten but the plainest food, nor was wine drunk, except to restore the wearied forces of nature. Now we hear of breakers of champagne, prepared for luncheon in the pavilion, . and that the county eleven, when on a trip to the provinces with all expenses paid, to say the least of it, does itself well. High feeding is incompatible with running; the cricketer becomes blown, the eye is affected, and an insidious shooter finds its way to the wicket. Charlie Buller often told me that no very fat man could get more than fifty runs. , The Prince of Wales will create quite a sensation in Bard-land on taking possession of his Breconshire sporting estate. To have a real Prince of "Wales in V* ales itself will be quite an original experience, and the loyal Welshmen are already on the war-path. The Freemasons in the eastern division of South Wales, under their popular P.G.M. Sir George Elliot, have concerted measures for proper reception of their Royal Brother . and Master. If the Prince is as good a brother' of the angle as he is of the square he will 'Have/ rare sport, seeing that all round Brecon are concentrated the finest trout aiid salmon streams in England or Wales.. The Welsh will insist upon attributing,to. the Earl of Beaconsfield some of the credit of this eminently popular purchase. If the Druids will only leave him alone, the Prince wiliget on well with his Welsh neighbors. Patti, it may be remembered, has a house near Bridgend. It is of rare occurrence that a person will prove his own guilt ; but a case of the Kind occurred last week in the Divorce Court. The wife, who had previously obtained a decree of judicial separation on the ground of the cruelty of her husband, an ex-sergeant of the police, presented a second petition charging him with infidelity, the suit being undefended. There was a difficulty in proving the case, owing to the absence of witnesses ; but the husband, who was in Court, intimated that he was the respondent ; whereupon he was sworn and examined, when he frankly acknowledged "that he had been unfaithful, and a 'decree nisi was pronounced. An old " gallery reporter," in his merry moments, used to drink to the memory of the King of Abyssinia, on the ground that he was indebted to the dusky Monarch for a winter session of Parliament. Most gallery-men will have the same grateful remembrance of Shere Ali. The representatives of the D.T., however, cannot be enthusiastic in that way ; for the untitled managing-proprietor of the Peterborough- court establishment has determined that Shere' Ali should not be borne in friendly memory by his staff. With consistent generosity, the D.T. parliamentary staff has not been engaged for the session, but only for a portion of the session before Christmas. The Ameer is not the goose of the golden , eggs for Edward Lawson's employees ; f but Edward Lawson will save £100 or so ; and " down in Judee" is considsred to have done a smart thing. A very near-aighied friend narrates an experience and makes a suggestion. "I am one of the moss near-sighted persons, I am, however, a fanatical believer in Turkish baths. When in the bath I see less directly than ever. Yesterday I went up to one of the attendants, and said, I was ready to be shampooed. To my consternation he replied, * Are you, indeed? So glad?' And I then discovered that -I had been address- *, ing a most awful nob' and mistaking him for a shampooer. Now-, this is too dreadful. To identify one's fellow-creatures when divested of their normal garments is most difficult for. anyone to do. Would itnot be a good thing if the attendants in Turkish baths were made to wear some distinguishing mark, suppose a red calecon, or a little red band on the arm ] It is a fearful thing to make such mistakes as I have made— fearful to both the misfcaker and the mistaken," In a first-class carriage by the five o'clock train from Euston square sat two gentlemen, up to that time, and probably since, strangers to each other. The elder lived near Crewe ; the younger, en route for Ireland, intended to sleep at Chester. The conversation between them grew animated. Saith the elder presently, " Give up your idea of sleeping, at Cheater, and do me the honor of passing the night at my house." The offer was accepted witk great effusion. On leaving in the morning, said the guest, " Answer my question frankly. What induced you, on , such an insufficientacquaintanc\ to confer so great a "benefit on me V Hu plied the host, "As you press me, your question shall be frankly answered. My wife always tells me that I am the ugliest man in. Great Britian ; I wished to show her that there was an uglier." Australia is becoming popular with the British traveller. Captain "B," Coventry, Mr. Arthur Coventry, and, I believe, one of the Bouveries, are about to start for Melbourne. It is expected that they will i be absent about six months. The well-

known gentleman jockey, Mr Hugh Owen, was to have joined tho party, but has been tinavoidably prevented. Economy has been entered in the programme of Lord BeaconefieJd's Government ; for in future the green ribbon with which bills for Jthe consideration of Parliament used to be tied up is to be abolished. This will effect a saving of some fifty pounds a year— something to be uproariously grateful for for in these extravagant timed. . - • A inanageir.and a burlesque writer .'were standing at the dta'ge-doo'r of the Gfaietjjr 1 looking across to the Lyceum.' , " What ii the meaning of all that scaffolding ?" said the manager. " The ' sticks' lrvine turned out of the Lyceum !" answered the burlesque writer. Lord Beaconsfield once said that Lord Salisbury's invectives were " wanting in finish f but, judging by his reference to Lord Lytton in Thursday's debate, I like him less in eulogium than in vituperation. Lord Lytton's friends are well aware tiiat; although a man of imagination, he is not dencieu^i nractical ability; but to say that he, has ".the shrewu^!? ° f a Scotc^ . man," is to draw his portrait without tast© or discrimination. There is no one, probably, more free than the preseni Viceroy from, that narrow-hearted, self-seeking caution, which is generally associated with the character of a typical Scotchman. One of the last visits paid by the Princess Louise in England was a farewell call on Mr Whistler, The most artistic of all our princesses _ favours eccentric painters signally ; not only the development of art which belongs to the much- talked'-of American, but the modem phases of pre-Raphaelitism have greatly attracted and interested her. A very disagreeable story is told about a neighbor of Mr Whistler's whose works are not exhibited io the vulgar herd } the Princess, in her zeal, therefore. graciously sought them at the artiste's studio, but ' was rebuffed by a " Not at home," and an intimation that he was not at the beck and call of princesses. I. trust it is riot true that so mediffivally-minded a gentleman is really a stranger to " that generous loyalty to rank and sex, that dignified obedience—" I hope I need not go on with that passage of noble English, which will stir the pulses of man and boy as long as the language lasts. A gallant young foxhunter, qualifying for a seat in Parliament, amused himself recently by giving instruction in Roman history to the schoolboys in, bis village. After having eloquently expatiated on the death of Csesar, which took place on the steps of the Senate-house, he preceeded to examine the children, in order to prove their attainments. In answer to his question, " Where did Ocesar meet with his death 1" one boy eagerly respon ded "In the synagogue ;" while another as promptly corrected him by the remark ; "No ; it was in the summer : house. " The rural intellect does not appear quite equal as yet to the assimilation of lectures on Roman history. The Duke of .Connaught, despite the little snobbishness and petty jealousies which> his visit to a western county occasioned, about the sole right of exhibiting " me and the Duke," made himself universally popular in Ireland ; and lam glad to hear the Irish Presentation Fund is making giant strides. There have been a good many meetings, purporting to decide the color and quality of the Irish white elephant. The latest suggestion i 9 the purchase of a " big house." In the event of "Paddy Connaught"— H.R.H.'s western sobriquet — succeeding the present Viceroy, I cannot think of a gift-horse that would stand looking in the mouth better than a country residence in Galway or " Royal" Heath by such a declared lover of le sport ; and a Royal shootingbox would be a well-baited trap to catch all discrowned kings and German princes on the wing, the entertaining of whom " the kingdom of kings" would, I believe, prefer to Home Rule any day.