HOME GOSSIP.

Thames Star, Volume III, Issue 1669, 24 April 1874, Page 2

HOME GOSSIP.

(fbom ova. own coeeespondent.) London (via Bbindisi).

'. February 20,1874.

If you were to erect a building covering about four or five acres of ground, the outer walls of which should be massive enough, or rery nearly, to resist the attack of modern artillery; and if you were to make every partition within this building of almost equal strength, besides limner most of them with sheet iron, and making every rafter and girder of the same metal; and were then to fill it with the most combustible articles that could be got together, and by some means set fire to those articles, what would be the consequences P Of course evejrp onewjllsay, r' every article in it musti in that case, be burnt to ashes: there could be no possibility of .saving anything inclosed in such a crucible as that;" and every one would be right. And this quite illustrates, you see, the value of possessing—or rather of practising—in our speech, " the art of putting things." Put m this way, we all see, now that the mischief is done, what a nice bonfire we Londoners have been preparing for ourselves; but before the Pantechnicon took fire as it did last week we never put it in this way i on the contrary, rwe went about saying to each other, with regard to the safe-keeping of valuable chattels, " Oh, put them into the Pantechnicon, of course; quite safe there; iron doors 'and floors ;, walls I don't know how thick," &c. Then there was no gas in the building; nor was any employee allowed to use a light except a safety lamp. Here was additional security. But might no old lady bring a surreptitious candle end in her pocket and a box of vestas P It has not been yet found out whether any one did, and most probably never will be found out, but it is more likely than not that such a thing did occur. Meantime we have seen more than one valuable library consumed; together with collections of: costly articles of ancient and modern art, pictures, etc., and the whole fire brigade of. London—the whole, Or nearly, the whole, police force, and a large body of military standing by, helpless to save a^ single article. That they saved tithe whole district from, being burnt down is saying much; that they, by force of skill and exertion, saved the nearest houses is. saying more. Only five dwelling-houses were actually burnt in this great conflagration. With regard to the property -lost within the Pantechnicon, it has been said that Sir Bichard Wallace's pictures, supposed to have been there, had been removed previously,, but he has lost a valuable collection \of books;, as also. has ; Lord ; Oadogan. \ Every insurance office in London is "in " heavily: the Sun alone, it is said, for over £120,000; and yet, it is also said, that not one half the number

of persons who had property deposited there were insured at all, so confident were they of its safety. By this time to-morrow we shall know "under what government" we live; at present we only know of Mr. D'lsraeli himself. Whether we are to have the lights of the Conservative party; or whether we are to have a Lord of the Admiralty who does not know "the stem from the starn," and a Secretary at War who " never set a squadron in the field, or the division of a battle knows more " -7-we won't complete the hackneyed quotation, but say more than Mrs Brown is yet to be seen. These are freaks of all parties, or rather of each; yet each party gets its work . well done ; , illustrating " the practical applicability of imperfect means."

The Church is looking up again. It had in gloomy prospect seen itself disestablished ; and there be those who say that this "mission' 1 was a movement dictated by fear; and there be also those who say that it was a covert method' of promoting the practice of auricular confession. There is no doubt that some of the. very High Church Priests directed all their discourses to that one subject;»but I believe it was, in good faith, intended for the moral good of those for whom it was profes»edly got up. It was only natural that every man should speak as he thought. As to the good itself, that, it is to be feared, is problematical. Spasmodic religion is not likely to have much influence over persons of dull sensibilities and obtuse feelings. A few more young ladies will put on black cloaks and long veils, and join Anglican sisterhoods or guilds; but it is to be doubted whether our costermonger will refrain from getting drunk and beating his wife, or whether one wife will refrain from pawning her husband's clothes, or, try to keep ier children clean, and make them honest. ' i< Among the new Vpeers to be made Mr. Chichester Fortescue's title is to be "Baron Caslingford," from the name of a town in South Ireland; nothing is said of the titles to be given to Mr. Cardwell, Sir Thomas Freemantle, or Mr. Hammond. The Marquis ot Westminster is to have a Dukedom, it is said. A curious case in"the Irish law courts has just been decided. At Bohola, in the County of Mayo, there had been for some time a bad feeling between the parish priest, the Rev. Mr. Judge, and a Mrs. Sheridan. Some person, while the bickering was going on, got access to the chapel and smeared some of the seats with tar, which did not improve the costumes of the congregations. The Rev. Mr. Judge, hastily jumping to the conclusion that Mrs. Sheridan was the offender, cursed her from the altar with all the accompaniments of "bell, book and candle:" ; and some time after Mrs. Sheridan was arrested, and prosecuted for the offence, but was acquitted, there being no evidence against her; while, in the meantime, Mr. Judge, believing that he had been too hasty a judge in the first instance, retracted his accusation, and apologised for his excommnnication pf Mrs Sheridan. Mrs Sheridan, however, brought an action against him for arrest and false imprisonment, for which he has, in his, turn, been acquitted—it not appearing that lie had ever authorised her arrest, for which the police come rather, foolishly out of tb.3 affair. Itev. gentlemen should be rather more chary of the use of "belli book and candle," for surely the secular authorities may reasonably consider that a person under sentence of damnation must be dangerous to the public peace; and may also conclude that no one would be consigned to " auld clootie" except upon evidence strong enough to warrant being brought before a grand jury. The litigants in the case hare quite realised the proverb of the '' oyster and the tiro shells": they are said not to be merely the poorer, but to be actually impoveruhed by their law suit.

Herr Joachim, the great Hungarian composer and performer, appeared at the Popular Concert last Monday night, and was received with an enthusiasm beyond even what) might have been anticipated* He is declared greater than Paganini, and quite: as fit and as likely to set all London mad as any mmical star, instru* mental or vocal; who ever has set us maid, and they have been legion. We have been promised, by the way, several new stars, vocal,! for the coming season; and t in fact, in honor of our expected Grand Duchess, most likely we are "putting our best leg foremost" in every depart* ment. Even Her Gracious Majesty hai ordered new furniture for the apartment! to be occupied by the young couple .at Windsor. I The officers of Her Majesty's navy are to present the Duchess with ft service of gold plate. The famous, once infamous, Ned Wright comes forward'this weeki&jsnir papers to solicit subscriptions, for'his " mission." The term " infamous" is no more used as a stigma than is the term "famous", as a sneer. They cell the simple facts concerning hhn. He w*e once a London thief: he is now a Londoa missionary, with no small amount of sue* cess,; and as far as any one can judge.• most sincere reformer as well as a most sincere penitent. Penitent, by the way, seems always a sneaking name, and I would not use it, but that it will be best understood. In the Eev. Mr Davies's book X Unorthodox London" he speakt most favorably of what Ued Wright has done for the reformation of those who were once, like himself, criminals: and the man's work is not mere preaching; it is good practical work. He wants now to establish a temporary home for reformed criminals, as well as a home for the children of criminals (there can be little .use in such children merely going to school for a few hours in the day), ana also :to build a new chapel or mission house, that which he has being greatly too small. CcJonel Marous Berei&fd »d

Nodder, Paternoster Bow, hare been tinted to receive subscriptions. Surely is a "mission" worth supporting; the best of it is that it is an " alßhe■•round mission."

ITEMS. he Hortioulturas Society and the jrnational Exhibitions Commissioners expected to come into, the Court of ncery about a disputed item in their aunts of £931. 'he Chief Justice has " come down y hearily in his charge upon Mr. Onslow for his "indecent partizan>of the claimant; and is also very ere upon Dr Kenealy for his endeairs to blacken the characters of the ties at the other side. The demolition of Northumberland >use has been decided on for the>open« of a passage to the Thames embanknt, and to commence immediately. The Master of the Mint has announced it tb#nswers to the circulars sent on tb« feet are so favorable to the continuance the hall-crown as well as the florin in r coinage that orders have been given ■ a new issue immediately.