TABLE TALK.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXXIV, Issue 9167, 29 July 1890, Page 6

TABLE TALK.

Loneon, June 14. ABOVE SENIOR WRANGLES. You may, perhaps, remember my mentioning, some months back, that there was a clever young lady, a daughter of the late Professor Fawcett, at Newnbam College, Cambridge, whom many people considered by no means out of the running for this year's Senior Wranglership. As a matter of fact Miss Philippa Fawcett has more than fulfilled these high hopes, for on Saturday last, when the result of the mathematical tripos came out, it was announced that the examiners had placed the young lady "above the Senior Wrangler.” This apparently was the only honour they could confer in the present unsatisfactory state of the University statutes. Mias Fawcett is twentytwo years of age, and was born and brought up at Cambridge. She comes of clever stock on both sides, her father being of course the late lamented blind Professor and Postmaster-General, whose premature death some years back we all deplored, whilst her mother was a Miss Garrett, and sister to the well-known lady doctor, Mrs Garrett Anderson. Miss Fawcett’s success was very well received, tho undergraduates bursting into cheer after cheer.. The nominal Senior Wrangler for the year is Mr Geoffrey Bennett, also twentytwo years of age, and son of a Cambridge resident. He was at school, like so many honours |men nowadays, at University College, London, where he won a scholarship at St John’s College, Cambridge, coming into residence in 1887. A ROYAL confidante. The fatal termination to the Dowager Lady Ely’s long illness deprives the Queen of one of her most valued friends and confidantes. For many years the benign influence of " Mary Ely ” (as Her Majesty called her) was paramount at Windsor and Balmoral, few questions affecting Eoyal Family being settled without reference to her sound judgment and sterling common sense. She was always helpful and to be relied upon when Her Majesty felt worried and ill, ami latterly remained in waiting most of the year. The constant strain and anxiety proved, indeed, in the end too much for the old courtier, aud last year she fell a prey to the complaint which has now carried her off. It speaks volumes for Lady Ely’s tact and natural goodness that never, either by the Boyal Family or by Maids of Honour or Castle officials, was she accused of abusing her intimate friendship with the Queen. The late Marquis of Ely (the deceased lady’s son) was much at Court as a youth, and fell honestly in love with Princess Beatrice, for whose sake, it was said, he remained single up to his death. The Queen, for her old friend’s sake, would (somewhat reluctantly, perhaps) have countenanced the match, but Lady Ely unselfishly forbade it. She pointed out both to the Queen and to her son the uncomfortable, not to say unhappy, results of the Princess Louise’s marriage with a poor nobleman, and asked Lord Ely whether he would care to fill a similar anomalous position to Lord Lome's. The Marquis recognised the rectitude of his mother’s views, and left Court never to return. DIZZY THE SECOND. Mr Coningsby Disraeli, who is to succeed Sir William Cunliffe Brooks as Tory member for Altrincham, was introduced to the electors of that Borough on Monday, and made an evidently carefully prepared speech. In appearance the young man is insignificance itself, but that did not matter, tor (as he modestly remarked), he came forward rather as a name than a person. Dizzy the second was meek in his hopefulness of pleasing the electors, and intellectually prostrate at the notion of following a giant like Sir William Cunliffe Brooks. This was no doubt becoming, yet it somewhat spoilt the illusion of the name. Not thus would the creator of Vivian Grey, the wondrous boy who wrote Alroy, have entered the political arena. Still Mr Coningsby Disraeli is a good nephew, and has obviously carefully studied his uncle’s works. He ' quoted them, indeed, with a felicity which would seem to augur the inheritance of a fair share of the avuncular shrewdness. The phrase rules, as it ruled at the time of the cry, of “ Our Young Queen and our Old Constitution,” and Mr Coningsby Disraeli has an unerring eye for it. Nothing could have been more happily chosen than the excerpt from the body of Disraeliau doctrine in which he defined his position as a Conservative candidate: — " Ho came under no false flag, for he hoped he carried the principles that the name carried with it. He was a Conservative, and as to his principles he might refer them to a speech of his uncle’s, in Manchester, forty years ago, in which his uncle said, f The policy of the Tory party is to maintain the institutions of our country.’ Those institutions might he summed up in a few words. They might be summed up in * Church and State.’ First, the Church, as the oldest of our institutions, must always be maintained whole and undivided, and at the same time he held the Liberal principle of toleration of all religions, all sects, all creeds in this country. Then our institutions —our Monarchy, our Parliament, and our great Empire—must have the goodwill and the support of every Constitutionalist. Especially must attacks against the Empire be vehemently resisted. These were his principles drawn with a broad hand.” No one has a right to ask what this means, but it reads well. The broad hand in itself is good—and even the minor touches are certificates of pedigree. POLITICAL ASPIRANTS. Mr Austin Chamberlain and Mr Lulu Harcourt also enter Parliament (or rather try to) at the dissolution. All three have given indications of promise, and their careers will be anxiously watched. PECULIAR, IF NOT ECCENTRIC. Notwithstanding the well-meant attempts of the Chief of Police to mitigate the nuisance by confining the route of the Temperance procession on Saturday last to some of the less frequented streets, tho entire traffic of the busiest part of the metropolis was stopped and disorganised for over four hours, and thousands of unhappy holiday-makers were in consequence prevented reaching their destinations. One would not mind these demonstrations if they occurred occasionally, or even if they were fairly distributed over different parts of London. But latterly there has been a procession to, or demonstration in ,Hydo Park quite once a week. You, in your orderly Colonial cities, can form no notion what a pest to quiet law-abiding persons, with business to attend to, these constant invasions of East End rowdies are. I confess (after Saturday) my respect for temperance agitators has sunk 50 per cent. They, many of them, looked fairly respectable, but they behaved like blackguards. Amongst the spectators in the Park was General Sir Henry Haveloek-Allan, V.C.M.P., mounted on horseback and surveying the seething crowd surrounding him with good-humoured contempt. All of a sudden a cry was raised to the effect that Sir Henry was Mr Munro, the hated Chief of Police, who had controlled the procession routes to the Park. General HaveloekAllan could easily have corrected the misapprehension, but he did nothing of the sort. In answer to jeers and hooting, the old soldier simply straightened himself, and, expressing a fervent wish that he had had a stick with him, vowed he would then have given the yelping curs something to bowl about. This roused the mob to fury, and stones, sticks, and every available missile were promptly hurled at the General, who was quickly surrounded by police. lu vain the latter endeavoured to persuade him to execute a strategic retreat. “ Eetreat before that canaille ,” he roared. "Never. I spit upon them.” Au ugly rush followed, in which the police were overpowered, and Sir Henry was dragged from his horse. He fought, however, like a demon, letting out right and left with immense effect. The police rallied very soon, fortunately, and Sir Henry, hatless, breathless, and bleeding, remounted. The police then absolutely insisted on his riding off. Before leaving, however, bo once more turned (regardless of e tones and bits of broken glass, on the horde yelling "Lynch him I” and, putting unutterable

contempt into the expression, cried “Try! ” The crowd, to do them justice, did try, and the police had their work cut out to save the old man. His horse was luckily, soon hustled into a canter, and, most of the missiles falling wide. Sir Henry on the whole got off well. I have heard since, the old fellow is peculiar, and somewhat noted for eccentric behaviour. The police say that on Saturday his gestures were even more aggravating and offensive than his remarks. Nothing, however, could justify the conduct of the roughs. Most of them fled howling the instant the police drew their truncheons, which was not till the General had been dismounted. BOTAL TITLES. Prince Eddie's unwieldy double-barrelled litle still forms a fruitful subject for discussion in the society papers, wiiich appear harder up for “ copy ” than usual, considering we are now at the height of the London season. Talking of accumulated titles, such as. “Clarence.and Avondale,” “Cumberland’and Teviotdale,” “Richmond and Gordon,” reminds me of a yarn concerning the late Duke of Hamilton, who was also Duke of Brandon in England and Duke of Chatelhenult in Prance. His Grace was in the habit of signing himself “Ham, Chat, Bran,” and tradition relates that, having once signed a letter to a firm of tradesmen, ho received an answer addressed “Messrs Ham, Chat and Bran,” and beginning “ Gents,” A SENSATIONAL ACTION. The second trial of Wiedemann v. Walpole cornea on to-day, the fair plaintiff conducting her own case. That there is something very quaint about the whole business wa may, I think, fairly conjecture, as Mr Cock, Q.C., who was again instructed for Miss Wiedemann, has thrown up his brief, and the eminent Queen’s counsel (Mr. Harrison) and junior to whom it was then Offered, likewise returned the document after perusal. I also notice that the Pall Mall Gazette and Star, which erstwhile espoused the “injured lady’s” cause with fervour, are now significantly silent, and that the invitation to subscribe funds to fee the lawyers in the case has been discontinued. Miss Wiedemann’s appearance has not improved since the first sensational trial, and she was never a particularly taking personality.