A VISIT HOME.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXVIII, Issue 9541, 29 November 1893, Page 4

A VISIT HOME.

[BY R.M.N.I

London, Ootober 6, 1893. Since my last letter I spent a month at Scheveninsen, revelling In the fresh Bea breezes, after the very trying Parisian heat. Tne Dutch watering place, like all similar reaotts tLia tropical summer, was crowded to oveilliwing, and those who had neglected to teenro rooms long in advance at the hotels facing the boaeh were reduced to 6tuffy lodgings in tho, village, pervaded with the local very fashionable perfume of new-caught herring. Anyone having vhitei Scheveingenfn winter only could scarcely imagine the atir and bustle in the qualDt little place during the brief bathing seisou— the incessant traffic from early morn till 12 p.m. on the three tram lines, the throng of elegant equipages and jffaneurs la the delightfal mile-long sombre avenue of ash trees leading to the village, and, above all, the fine esplanade and broad, dazzling beach crowded, teeming like a Parisian boulevard at night when the theatres are emptying themselves. The tall, ungainly, but very cou>fort&ole " windetnols " are often co closely picked on the sands that circulating between them la quite impossible, and neither patient waiting nor extravagant tips will proonre a vacant! Beat, for tho simple reason that the slow and cautious Dutch managers will probably take a few more seasons to consider the advisablenefs of rushing into so venturesome a specu lation as an increase of their present stock of chairs. Still, great pains are taken to make th? place attractive. No one could be more obliging than the various attendants, from the hotel proprietors and their dignified major domos down to the tram conductors and bathing women, all of whom smile graciously at the guests, anri speak, or at any rate make heroic attempts tn speak, Frenoh, German, and Eogliah. As many as 1500 baths were taken in one day this sanimer, the highest number yet attained. The bathing is divided into three sections, for men, women, aud bains mytes, but the latter were little patronised except by boys and girls, possibly because the Dutch and German baigneuses have not yet mastered that elegant suggestiveness of costume and motion admired in their French sisters at Frottville and Honfhur. Meanwhile the section des dames was evidently the favorite promenade for men, and shocking to relate, no one interfered. Lucky possessors of chairs c»n spend long ond hippy days near the sad sea waves, wading, smoking, working, and even flirting, tor, skilfully placed, three or four chairs almost offer the privacy of a room. Nor is there any necessity to rush to the hotels for lnnob, as Btalls along the esplanade and boarded pathway leading to the sands supply all manner of refreshments, and juvenile waiters prowl about in every direction for orders. The centre of attraction in the evening is the Knrsaal, the most conspicuous, tbongb not thegrandest, hotel on the esplanade, comprising; an extensive library, reading, music, billiard, ball and conversation roomß, and a wide terrace ronnd whose sociable little tables the upper ten thousand "Hagueltes" gather night after night to listen to the band whilst refreshing tbe inner rann. The stolid Hollander is really a festive individual, but oh, how he does like " his wittles 1 " An exeellont Berlin orchestra, engaged for the season, played twice daily ontsids and in the vast) concert hull —likewise supplied with refreshment tables— bat on one olas&ioil evening, once a week, the waiters, during the chief item of the programme, one of Beethoven's symphonies for instance, were obliged to suspend their fanctionß. Rither hard on the audlenoee 1 Saturday night is bill night, when foreign gueits mix freely, without introduction, with, the town dike, whose oharmiog daughters ar& sometimes maliciously accused ot angliog for German Hochbeiten. Several of these honored Schevenigen this summer, including their Majesties of Saxony, who proclaimed their delight with the place and its management in various Dutch and German newspaper*. They, with other nofcabilitios, resided at the Hotel d'Orange, built at the extreme end of the esplanade, where it proudly overlooks the sea undisturbed by the vulgar hubbub of a " madding crowd." But in spite of German princes, in spite of many attractions, and in spite of that substantial luxurlousnees Ssculiar to wealthy Holland, Schevenigeu oes net impress one as the resort of fashion and elegance. Dowdy and gaudy beat describes the gueßts, aud a really weli-dresßed person, even when neither young nor good looking, achieves a signal success. Germany, aud more especially Frankfort, are answerable for this, as other nationalities, not excepting England, are only represented by a few individuals. The yearly increasing Jewish influx Is much lamented —possibly on acoount of marriageable daughterfl-by the Dutch e"i)te, whose unti-Ssmitio prejudices are exceedingly strong. London cub of season may be dull for fashionable pleasure seekers, but I certainly fonnd tbe world's metropolis intensely interesting during a recent drive through historical parts with a delightful guide, whose well stared memory conjure'! np old faces and ocenes, transforming our silent, dreary buildings into a series of the vivid pictures of an age and society perhaps more openly wicked, but certainly more fisclnatlng than our modern dead level of insipidity. We saw the houses of Lord Chesterfi .-Id, Lady Blesslngton, Lidy Byron, Queen Caroline during her trial, Horace Walpole, the Misses Berry— where the footman alighted and was going to inquire whether they received, I suppose 1— and scores of others all about Mayfair, but tbe goal of our pilgrimage was Chelsea Ctmren, considered by antiquarians one of tbe greatest London curiosities. An accurate description would entail architectural knowledge which I cannot claim, and in any oase wonld probably convey little to the readers of this letter, It dates from the 14th century, and every column, every pew, every chapel of course— in fact, every stone has its history. Thomas Moore was its most distinguished patron, and his body, though not his head, is said to be there ; also the unfortunate Duchess of Northumberland, Guildford Dudley's mother, whose well-preserved monument is very handsome. Lady Jane Grey, and Queen Elizabeth as a girl, were frequent 'worshippers at Chelsea Climch, and Henry VIII. certainly once, Beelng that an authentic record states that he was married there to Jane Seymour the day after Ana Boleyn's execution ! The silver-haired incumbent, who boasts 35 years' duty, but wears a rosy, stalwart countenance, suddenly emerged from the vestry, dwelt con amore on the historical merits of his premises, aud requested us to sign our names in tbe visitors' book. " Oh, you come from New Zealand I " he exclaimed, bis fine face beaming " I have a dear daughter settled near Giaborne these many years, and she would be glad to meet anyone who has seen me ' From Chelsea ohurch we wandered on to Cheyna Row to have another look at Carlyle's house, which on previous oo casions we had vainly attempted to visit. A young man peering through the keyhole politely made room for us, and whilst following bis example we heard him inquire whether we might go inside. To our surprise a dull voic° below situs replied :'" Yes, if you like," and in another minute we were inspecting the various rooms, inhabited for nearly fifty years by one of England's greatest thinkers, It appears that the last tenant, whose numerous cats and dogs had been the plague of the neighbors hood for some time past, is now in a lnnatio asylum, whore she onght to have gone long ago, ere tbe house had reached its present dilapidated state. Our cicerone, a servant of the former occupant, knew the Chelsea sage, but evidently did not appreciate him. "He was a disagreeable man, who often did not answer when spoken to," she in< formed us. I hardly wondered. The squalid, evil eyed creature with a huge dishevelled fringe is not engaging, "He died there," she explained in the drawingroom, pointing to a corner near the window. Bire walls and woolen floors are all that is left. The famous sound-proof

study, fitted by Mrs Carlyle's tender care, with a second wooden wall, leaving a space between to deaden all noise, and lighted with k glass roof, Is completely stripped like the rest of the rooms, and doubtless was the favorite playgtonnd of those dreadful cats and doge! I saw a photograph of that room once, comfortably famished and lined with bookshelves, bnt, thongh the stranger with ns (evidently " meaning business ") eagerly peered into every recess and corner, not a vestige or linger* Ing trace was discovered ot the great presence, the genius who so long thought, wrote, advised, railed at human folly there, famed and fretted when the work would not get on, or Mb liver was dis ordered, and sighed and longed for hia dead Jeanie, so ofteu and terribly tiied by him, bnt oh, how deeply and honestly regretted! "Tennyson need often to come and sit) with Carlyle here ?" queried the stranger, determined to gather some Information. "Oh, yes," replied tbo laggard one, "the President of the Stat?s, you mean, don't yon?" We harried downstairs tnto the garden— a ftw equate feet ot wilderness deoorated with clothes-Hoes and a few linen rags! Bat oar guide grow eloquent. She was hoping for ft good tip, and Bhov.ed the dog's grave— not her mistress's, but Mis - Carlyle'g— and'tbe tree under which the thinker sat smoking his pipe, where she .'-often' watched him out of the window, •■ : text door. "Terrible, tenible/'mnimnred the stranger," that he should have lived : bere who did bo muob for his countrymen, j 'jjrtyltt mere pgney grubben, who on'y

think of themselves, are In palaces I" Then we paesed through the ■ narrow passage and front door Into the street, leaving the tousle head ourtseying on the steps. I wonder what Carlyle would have said of Zola's rccect reception in London 1 The French writer probably has supplied matnrinl to papcM and magazines for some time to come. The Financial Nem —of all papers !— enteis a protest against the apotheocis indnlged in by the Press in its reception nf the " dirtiest writer in France. 1 ' Thi' flippant ignorance of many English jwrii.'iaifl who boldly talk of ZoK • )>■ ' '■ '• i ns as a criterion of French fiction !■« inrfhly diverting. But no less comical is tho siniden enthusiasm for the nove'ist whose publisher of English translations, M. Vizetelli, languished three months in prison as recently as 1888. And this novelist distinguished English journalists delight to honor, and whilst the Recorder of the City Corporation denounces tiia works as of the most repulsive description, the Lord Mayor entertains M. Zola at the Mansion Honse. What does M. Zola himself think of his visit? Evidently he meant to create a favorable impression, having carried French politeness so far as to express bis delight at witnessing a fog. Does he really admire England, or does he laugh in his sleeve ? Has he returned to Paris permeated with the highly moral English atmosphere, resolved henceforth to write only good tales for the young ? Or will he regale his countrymen with another Assommoir whose scene is laid in Bow Common or some other English back slum visited by him ? In my next letter I hope to dwell on the theatres now reopened with "new pieces and powerful casts " as the playtills announce, but I must In conclusion mention George Grossmith's amusing performance at St. Johu's Wood last night. Opinions as to his me>its are divided, some preferring him to Corney Grain, whilst others indignantly declare the two cannot be named in the same day. At any rate both succeed in exciting roars of laughter. Grcssmith was exceedingly funny in bis Illustrations on the art of entertaining the people who could if they would, and those that don't know how but will, the dismal dinner patty so well'known to most of us— the anxious, fussy hostess, the dogmatic, Interfering host, and the guests so anxious to escape, yetfograteful fora verycharmlngevenlog. Very amusing also are his American impressions, proving his fine sense of humor and comio talenP. His descriptive songswords and rnudo written by himself —are received with frantic applause, and as tbo New York Herald has it, the audience la talked to and ta'ked at, laughed with and laughed at by a most graceful and amusing man who is never dull, ponderous, or tiresome. His presence in London this time is somewhat meteoric, for in a very few weeks he is to start anew for America, where last year he made such a successful tour.