LONDON CHAT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 10629, 18 December 1897, Page 1 (Supplement)

LONDON CHAT.

1 (from our own correspondent.] London, November 5. Last Wednesday was a sorrowful day in England. : Somehow we all seemed to feet as if the funeral of the late Duchess of Teck was that ■of a personal friend. "Jolly Princess Mary" of Cambridge had endeared herself so deeply to the British public by a. thousand acts of spontaneous human kindness and womanly grace, that everybody had a sort of unexpressed feeling that in her a " friend in need" might one day be found. She was so gracious, so sympathetic, so considerate, so eager to help in any good work, that it is not surprising to find the entire nation at one in genuinely mourning her loss.. I .'*■ ' .- > j; Much as one may dislike and despise outward tokens of mourning, especially when these take the shape of vulgar ostentation, it was impossible to help feeling touched to see all sorts and conditions of met; and women resolved upon showing some outward sign of their sorrow for the loss of one whom most of them had known only by name,' or at the most by sight; to see carters with a bit of crape on their whips ; labourers with a morsel of black stuff wound round their'arms or hats; jaunty city cle'rks laying aside their "loud"coloured ties, and wearing instead quiet black ones; women of all classes dressing as entirely in black as they could in the respective circumstances of each. All this was no mere idle form. lb was a display of honest public grief, beside which all the tawdry frippery of the actual funeral ceremony, with its lavish wealth of costly purchased flowers, 'seemed very commonplace and sordid indeed. I shall not attempt to describe the funeral. I was not present, and if I had been there was nothing of human interest, save only that upon which one's pen shrinks from intruding—the intense griot of the bereaved husband and sons.

But I did attend the public ceremony, that held in London's great Cathedral of St. Paul's, and its memory will remain indelible. Of the formal entry of the Lord Mayor and other municipal dignitaries in their robes of state, I have nothing to say. I did not even see them. I chose my post where I could best'hear the glorious music and best watch the personnel and demeanour of that remarkable assemblage. Some twenty thousand persons, mostly of the middle class, crowded into the vast cathedral at one o'clock in the day to pay their last tribute of respect to the Princess all had loved so well. All vehicular traffic had been stopped in the streets near St. Paul's, and the only sound that broke the deep stillness was the sombre booming of the hugo bell, "Great Paul," at long intervals. Nearly everybody present was in mourning, and wore theairof being sincerely impressed with the sad and solemn character of the occasion. The scene, indeed was one to be long remembered as a remarkable experience, Precisely at one o'clock the procession of clergy and choir ontered to the sweet, sad strains of Chopin's " Marche Fun6brc," to which Sir George Martin's fine interpretation imparted a dignity too often lacking when this popular March is played in its original shape as a movement in a pianoforte sonata. Then came the famous hymn of Dr. Watts, " 0 God Our Help in Ages Past," sung to Denby's grand old tune, " St. Anne." Next followed the sentences from the Burial Service, chanted without; accompaniment to Croft's matchless music ; Psalms xc. and exxx. ; the lessou and several collects and versicles. The anthem, " I Heard a Voice from Heaven," by a former organist of the Cathedral, Sir John Goss, was most perfectly sung. Bub. the most profound impression of all, almost empowering indeed in its emotional thrill, was produced, first by the exquisite singing of the late Dr. Dyke's intensely touching hymn, "Now the Labourer's Task is O'er"—special offset' being secured by a momentary break before the . soft . and prolonged utterance of he word "sleeping"—and - by" an equally

.-._.. ..... u _, an equ». ixquisite performance of Spohr'a lovel [uai'tet and chorus, "Blest are the Dc >arted," frpm the oratorio which is mos aroiliarly ; known by its mistranslated title ' The Judgment." I never heard th atter so 'expressively or impressively given i special effect) was produced by tin hrilling utterance of the last sad ph'rasi ;iven to the solo tenor, " For Evermore,' n which Mr. Kenningham's voice rang oul ibove the other solo voices and the chorus pith singular pathos, sounding almost as i vail of despair. The emotional influence if these two pieces was extraordinary, and iven many men were to be Been in tears, finally came the immortal " Dead- March rom Handel's "Saul," with its thunder oils of the muffled drums and its coricludng almost jubilant outburst of faith and tope. And then the vast congregation [radically filed out of the vast, dimCatheIral into the bright afternoon sunshine, md all was over, But the memory will ong remain. At Westminster Abbey there was nospecial lervice, but Sir Arthur Sullivan's beautiful juarteb, "The Valley of the Shadow of Death" (frain his oratorio, "The Light of ;he World") was sung as the anthem at the ■egular afternoon service. But there was another musical demonstration in honour of the deceased Princess, md one curiously striking in its nature At ■he Queen's Hall symphony concert last Saturday afternoon the performance opened vith the " Dead .March " from " Saul," and b was strangely impressive to notice how at ;he first well-known chord, every member if that large audience rose as if automatically. Handel's March was played with 'are expression. The salient feature of the )rogramme,however,wasan"lnMemoriam" 3erformance of the most sublimely sorrowful vork in existence, the wondrous," Pathetic Symphony " of Tschaikowsky.which holds mtranced every audience before whom it is )layed, and which, during the past year, ias proved the greatest attraction any loncert-giver can offer, notwithstanding hat it occupies 50 solid minutes., It was a remarkable and memorable experience. The Queen's Hall Orchestra (numbering .09 performers) and its young conductor, Hr. Henry Wood, have risen by leaps and rounds to the premier place among all English orchestras and conductors of the lay. And on this occasion they surpassed ■hemselvos. The ; glorious . melodies- and ich harmonies and marvellous orchestral one' colouring of the lamented Russian lomposer (of whom this masterpiece was the 'Swan's Song") were'never heard to such terfection, or with so profound an emotional iffect on its listeners. This mighty work, n which sadness reigns supreme, formed a nost powerful tribute to the memory of the leloved Princess in whose honour ib was so uperbly played, and none could have istened to it unmoved.V -i••< ■ i) ■, Naturally the papers teem with anecdotes if the late Duchess, all tending to show her ;oodness and her kindness of heart. Some ndeed are sadly banal, a few. almost sugjesting the, idea of satire. . Others are ileasant enough. i That for instance of the ;irl who'excused herself : to an 1 inviting riend, on the ground that ■■.',' Stout Mary". lad also asked her so that she was obliged o go, and who, inadvertently putting the lote in the wrong envelope, was surprised o receive a most kindly worded letter from ' Stoub Mary" herself, who, while cautionng her young.friend against such imprulent utterances, fully and frankly forgave ier.; How small that girl must have felt— nusb still feel, when she sees the whole story a the public prints! ]..<';;. iY\ ; Some wonder is expressed as to how. the Feck family will manage now as to pecuniary means, as the public allowance to . the late Duchess was.a personal one!which,' in the ordinary ) course, expires < at her decease. Some years ago . the - locks were ' in ; sore financial straits. To so serious a pitch did matters drift that a distraint) was actually levied . on their household goods. The bailiffs were in possession and the goods were ultimately sold by public auction, to the horror and ■. disgust of the Queen, who, however,.did not come to the assistance of her distressed cousins. i: So it was, too, with the other Royal relations. They were profuse in uttered' sympathy but no monetary aid was forthcoming. Private friends of the Tecks bought for them some of their more valued treasures, I but - the rest • were sold just as they would have been in the case of any common debtor, . ;/ i-^. ■'' • : %' : i

It is thought by''many that Princess Mary, never fully recovered her spirits after this dire disgrace, as she deemed it. Extravagance was alleged as the cause of this painful affair, but it will occur to most people that for the family to maintain the state expected of them on the relatively small allowance made by the nation to the Duchess was an utter and manifest impossibility. What will happen now nobody seems quite to know, but everyone earnestly hopes that pecuniary difficulties will nob be added, as is unhappily so often the case, to the pangs of bereavement. This, one would think, can hardly be. The connection with tho Throne is now so close that such a state of things would be an intolerable scandal. It may, therefore, be presumed that suitable arrangements, will be made for the well-being of the immediate relatives of our future, King and Queen. Deep sympathy is felt with the Duke of Teck in his irreparable loss, for he was known to be attached with passionate devotion to his Royal and amiable wife, and all will be glad to see him and his family comfortably provided for. A new note of alarm has just been sounded in England. Our army, we are told, is utterly inadequate to the increased and increasing requirements involved in our ceaseless efforts after "newmarkets." Mr, Brodrick who of course speaks as one in authority, has been making a speech which is manifestly intended to serve as a " pilot baloon." We must have more soldiers ho declares. And yesterday and to-day the prevalent question has been, How will the public take it? Well, the Westminster Gazette, the ablest and as a rule the finest of all the Liberal organs, replies frankly thab all depends upon the purposes for which tho additional forces are really needed. If, it says, you are going to use your increased force only for "guarding valuable new territories," and nob for " rash adventures into barren mountains or profitless wastes," and if you are getting good value for your present expenditure and are likely to get good value for the new expenditure, then the proposal may be all very well. But these points must first be established satisfactorily. There must be " moderate wisdom in Imperial policy and business-like administration in the War Office."

Yes, but who is to decide when political doctors differ so widely on these points? We are not told. On the other hand, we have the explicit assurance of a Minister, as we previously had of our chief military oracles that an increased army is essential to our Imperial safety. So I suppose we shall get it. And I suppose we shall also get another penny or two on the income tax. Also, I suppose we shall " bear" it, either with or without" grinning," and ! ' pay" with or without looking pleasant. That " Weary Titan," the British taxpayer, h a long-suffering creature ! What all this really means, however, is that any day the British Empire may be suddenly called upon to put forth its utmost force to save itself from absolute destruction. One of the chief factors in its safety is the apparent impossibility of reconciling the divergent aims of its would-be assailants. Bub accident may any day bring about a temporary agreement and then Great Britain may have to fight for bare existence. Let us hope that this day may long be deferred. Meanwhile the military authorities insist that we cannot possibly provide an adequate military force without resorting to conscription, and it is suggested that as a sorb of half-way step the practice of compulsory ballot for the militia should be resorted to. The idea is not popular, but something of the kind will have to come. Opinions differ as to the quarters whence, danger may be looked for. Russia, Francs and Germany are severally indicated as probable foes. That Germany would gladly rob us of our commerce and colonies if she saw her way how to effect this, is likely enough. But the one essential,, a powerful navy, is lacking. Russia would willingly paralyse our opposition to her desired aggression in Eastern Europe, but her;methods are tardy and tortuous and her time has not yet come.

. j France is a puzzle to many people. . I am inclined to suspect) that the omniscient newspaper special is accountable for much of the uneasiness felt as regards our nearest neighbour. When I was in France last week I made a point of chatting' with as many as possible different types of Frenchmen. I also had the opportunity of profiting by the investigations of an impartial and observant English journalist who had studiously interviewed nearly every prominent politician and journalist in Paris. " All the results were identical. No ill-feeling was uttered or displayed as against England. There was some little soreness with regard to 'England's prolonged occupation of Egypt, but not more than a few diplomatic courtesies and ostensible concessions would readily remove. Everybody ridiculed with profuse gesticulation the bare idea of war being possible between England and Franco.

" England is too good a customer of ours," said one business man, " for us to wish to quarrel with her. All these rumours about strained relations and so forth are mere froth. There is nothing in them. No; we are not your enemies. If you seek that you must go to Russia. Russia does not love you.' you stand in her way. ' But we wish to be good friends with you."

Has Lord Salisbury's foreign policy been a brilliant success or a ghastly failure? "The former!" shriek the Conservatives. "The latter!" howl the Radicals. It is claimed by Ministers, and seemingly with good grounds, that the English Premier has achieved a great diplomatic triumph in saving Greece from the worst of the consequences which her own folly, encouraged by still more idiotic English sympathisers —notably the " Silly Hundred" M.P.'s— had brought upon her head. The Opposition leaders point to the difficulties which seem to threaten England on all sides abroad.

It is undeniable that there does seem to be some degree of reaction against the Conservatives. Middleton has to be added to the other four seats (Southampton, Frome, Wick) and Walthamstow) which the Radicals have won back from the Conservatives since the general election in 1895. That mean's a difference of ten votes on a division. Still, even when these ten are deducted' from the original huge ministerial majority of 154 (allowing for the Speaker being' taken from the Opposition side), it leaves Lord Salisbury with 144 votes to the good. A "gross "of votes is a substantial working majority, . .; ■

In f ten other by-elections, however, the Ministerial , majorities hare seriously diminished, while in only three cases has the majority for the Government increased, and Ministers have nob yet won a single seat from their opponents,' does this state of things represent the "writing on the wall ?° It may be so, bub luckily for the Government, the present Parliament has still more than four.years to run. So there is no hurry ! . ' *- • ■

; By far the worst news of this week is the prolongation of the great engineering strike by which 83,000 men are idle. The position seems to become more and more hopeless. Neither side is inclined to accept intervention, unless on the basis of \ a* total'f surrender 'on " the part of the other tj side • being • a primary : condition. Meanwhile .foreign workmen are subsidising . the strikers,' with ■ ' the nob unnatural desire to ■ prolong a situation which diverts English trade into their own hands. Bub the deluded strikers see in this clever dodge mere fraternal sympathy 1 i . : ' '"-'■■■ ■■■