LITERATURE, MUSIC, AND THE DRAMA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XX, Issue 6667, 31 March 1883, Page 1 (Supplement)

LITERATURE, MUSIC, AND THE DRAMA.

Mfi". D.u.r, long a member of the Princess's Theatre daring the management of Mr. Charles Kean, died at her residence at Hill en January IS. She was in her 60th jear. To thirik we arc able is almost to be so ; to determine upon attainment is frc(|-cntly attainment itself. Thus eirnest resolution has often Beemed to have about it almost a savour of omnipotence. Men's lives should be as the clay—mora beautiful in the evening ; or like the Bummer —aglow with promise ; and like the autumn —rich with goldea leaves, wher- good deeds have ripened in the field. The Queen has accepte 1 the post of patron of the Triennial Musical Festival t.< r c hell at Leeds in October next, i ' tliur Sullivan has be-n appointed a post which ho ably filial at the feetival in ISSO. I he Prize of £25 offered by Sir Theodore Martin, I.ord Rector of St. Andrew's, for the best essay on " .Lyrical Poetry; its dihtinctiTe functions and tho various forms it has assumed," has been awarded to Mr. Wil iam A. Sims, fourth year student in the United College. "So you have twin? at your house," said Mrs. Bezumbe to little Tommy Samaelson. 44 Yes, ma'am ; two of ? em." " What are you going to call thorn?'' " Thuodtr and Lightning." ''Why, those are strauge names to call childr.n," "Well, that's what pa called them as soon as he heard they in the house." The Maharajah of Travancorc has, it is stated, placed the sum of "250rs. at the disposal of the Government of Bengal as a to be awarded to a successful student of the Sanskrit College for an essay written in ti'e Kngliah language on the subject of the " Agricultural Condition of India before the '' -.homr.dan Conquest. " . I. Leroy-Beau-.ieu, tho political economist, will appear shortly in another field of letterß, as the editor of a Volume containing the correspondence pf a Russ:an maid-of-hooour with the Emperor Paul and his wife. The eorresp'v.i ence, which has been placed in his hands by 'he Princess Lisa Trubetzkoy, will, the Academy states, probably throw some light on a dark chapter of history. M'ssrs. Holt and Wilmot, who, as already announced, have secured the lease of the 1 Grand Theatre at Islington (late the Philhari monic). ofl'cr a prize of £iK)O for the best originv drama for their opening attraction. I Two dramas are to be selecte Iby competent judges from MSS. sent in ; both are to be ' well mounted and played, and the prize is ; to be given to the author of that which has L j the most profitable run. . j Pandit Shyamaji Krishcavarma tock his ; decree "t Oxford last week, the Academy ' says, .'.nier somewhat remarkable circumstances. He first came to Oxford in 1579, . \ with n i knowledge of English, and without

any intention of following the 'jiuver-ity course. Tliii he resolved tj do oniy last year. ( I:i the summer of the present y. ar he passed 0 moderations ; and he has now taken all th« J three final examinations at one time. This habit of baby kissing is full of hypoc- j ( risy ; nobody really cares to kiss a baby a except its mother and own home folks, and I besides being hypocritical and foolish, the custom is often the cause of disease. People t with sore throats and fever blisters on their 1 lips are just as 1 eady to "kiss tho baby" as . though their breath were as sweet and pure as the baby's awn. In fact the sore-mouthed < and the sore-eyed, and the people who suffer < from chronic cold in the head are often 1 readier to bestow a hearty smack on the babies of their acquaintance than the really kissable people, who, by the way, are as one i to ten of the unmissable. < Madame "Christine N.lsson is enjoying a triumph at New orlean3, b ir.g in perfect i health a .id voice. She has thus far given twenty-four concerts in America, the gro-s : receipts at which have been 1 lD,9i'2dolljirs. Signer Salviai, who ha-i been studying King Le ir, appeared a fe;v nights ago in that character at the Clobe theatre, l'.oston, before the largest audience ever seen the-e. He is said to haveachicved a great succcss. Madame I'atti has made her farewell appearance at Philadelphia, singing tho pa.tof inda before ; an enormous audience, and exciting boundless enthusiasm. The receipts :it the door exceeded 1 l.OOOdoliars. Mrs. Langtry concluded her two weeks' engagement at Chicago on .Jan. 13. Her fourteen representations iiave produced L'j.OOOdoliars. line has given seventy-three American performances, the gross receipts for which were 14G,000dollars.