HOME GOSSIP FOR THE EVENING STAR.

Thames Star, Volume VIII, Issue 1890, 23 January 1875, Page 2

HOME GOSSIP FOR THE EVENING STAR.

London, November 18th.

The Duchess of Edinburgh having bestowed another royal bairn on us, " the maidens of England," in deputation* headed, however, by a matron, as was but seemly, have presented unto Her Royal and Imperial Highness a Bible. Far be it from anyone to jet>t at such a gift in the abstract, yet one may ask, what particular connection there is between a royal—or indeed any other—accouchement and a Bible, except that the general injunction " increase and multiply" no doubt extends to Grand Duchesses as well as to "cattle and creeping things, fowls of the air and fishes of the sea." On the question of utility, it is not to be supposed that the Duchess, being a religious and well-conducted young woman, was without a Bible: whereas she may not yet be provided with a cradle, still less with a perambulator—and even if she is, another year may bring her another claimant for another of those useful articles; whereas it will be several years, even though royal intellect is usually precocious, before any of the claimants shall be able, to make use of any Bible ; and then, we may be^ure,Her Royal Highness will, like all careful mothers who have an . eye to probable dogs-ears and thumb marks, make, over her oldest to nursery ©r school-room use. Therefore, though a Bible be, in general, an acceptable as well as a handsome present, always supposing it is not one of the cheap articles put forth by the Bible Society, there really was no niore reason for its being presented in'this case than there would have been for Mr Kenwig's tying up the street door-knocker of any house three miles off, because his wife had been confined of a son, in his residence, near Golden Square. We have got into a dust here literally, or rather the dust is getting the upper hand of us. Having been so often admonished that " filth, bad sewerage, decaying refuse" breed fevers and so forth, we were really beginning to see about our "slopping," as the vestry authorities call it, and, instead of deterring the periods of clearing our dust-bins, were determined to call upon those authorities to " slop " us, or otherwise empty said bins oftener. Lo ! the Vestries declare that the dust contractors have struck, and that, wheareas dust was a profitable commodity, creating a competition in its removal, it has fallen below discount, and wont be contracted for at any price. Of course we must fall upon the vestries, and, it is stated, that in some parishes public opinipn has fallen so heavily upon them that, they are "dusk ing themselves ;" otherwise, cleaning or "slopping" their respective parishes, without the intervention of the contractors. All that can be said is, that we, the inhabitants of the parishes, would be glad to find those. families which are so dusted, or which are indeed dusted at all, as they ought to be. • Professor Tyndall, who lately discovered that the universe and all "its vitalities and intelligencies" not only had no intelligent creator, but did not need one, inasmuch as " every organism was capable of being produced from molecules," has now found out that no molecules or atoms are capable of producing the germs of typhoid fever. As he has not yet condescended to inform us what is capable of producing them, we, any of us who accepted his former statement, are nearly as impatient for his next utterances as the worshippers of Baal were when that god was either obstinately or of necessity silent. As our vig-ilance concerning our dust bins was> however, a good deal attributable to the dread occasioned by some slight belief in his molecular theory; which, as it had produced—according to his assertion-— every phenomena already known might produce phenomena never yet known, and which we might not at ail care to know, it is a consolation, in this strike of the dust contractors, that some limits have been found to these "potential molecules." One of said "potential molecules," indeed, has lately protested iv The Times against this sudden desertion of Professor Tyndall from his allegiance, and asks indignantly if capable of producing "every existing organism, and every known phenomena, every vitality and intelligence in the univery," every " thing of which we have any notion;" in short, as Lindley Murray says, " why ifc should be declared incapable of producing so simple a matter as the germ of typhoid fever." The Professor has not answered yet; but a good many other professors have, only unfortunately as yet they have only given an uncertain sound. • Next to this discussion—which is a very hot one—we have the little controversy between the Pope andMr Gladstone. We are all talking about it yet. -No one cared a straw about the matter. No one believes that the Pope meant anything offensive or otherwise, meant anything at all in fact, except to say something because he must say something occasionally; or that Mr Gladstone thought he meant anything, or indeed meant -anything in return himself when he wrote his pamnlefc, except to write something because ho must, or thought, he must write something ; but you see there is very little else to talk about just now, so we made the most,of it. Also we make the most of the lately published Essays of John Stuart Mill, his last works on " Nature," " The Utility of Religion," and V: Theism ; " and when we have made the most, that most is very little. Had they been published without John Stuart Mill's name few would have considered arguments so feeble, theories so absurd, and speculation so wild worth Faying anything whatever about; as it is they have, with his name, given much offence to those who hold his creed—if we may so call it—of unbelief;

i assuredly they have excited no apprehension in those who believe. ■ •■■"■''"'■' /We have been promised tho " Biography of the <late Prince; Consort by Mr Ihedore Martin" beftre Christmas ; and "The true life of the late Henry Fothergill Chorley by his brother, Mr William Brownsford Chotfey, before Eas«er. It may be remembered that Mr W. CKorley, on the publication of Henry Chorley's biography which appeared shorfjk after his death, published a statement "3b the effect that the said biography hd£ been written without consent of tho -jgktiveß of the deceased, and was extremely?ncorrect and incomplete. Our friends the Spiritualists are likely to occupy a considerable portion of the Rev. Mr Davies' forthcoming book " Mystic London," an appendage to his three; other works " Orthodox,*' " Unorthodox," and "Heterodox, London." Most probably Mr Pine's "Spiritual telegraph." has given the rev. author information which he had not been able to obtain a,fc the time he wrote " Heterodox London." Whether it has had a more powerful effect upon the inhabitants of another world than the inventor calculated on, or whether like the maker of the burgomaster's leg he has unfortunatly lost his remembrance of the necessary restaining power over its activity, it is hard to say; but ghosts have been starting up in quite unwelcome as well as unexpected, places and, cop&paaies of late—more especially at H*2jijjh, where one ghost of very unprepossessing appearance has been for sometime frightening the inhabitants." Mr Pine has cow advertised a "Key to the spiritual telegraph," and possibly this may give us some information as to the means of. restraining the exuberant "vitalityand intelligence "of our ghosts when we have caught them. i: .

An extremely intelligent gentleman, by trade a builder, contrived to do two other individuals—one a solicitor, the other a merchant's clerk—out of a hundred pounds the other day here in London; but unfortunately for himself in doing the two, he carried his doing propensity a little too far; and so was obliged to refund his spoils. The clerk, whose name is Sadler, while passing through Lombard-street in company with this builder, Mr Ackworth, found ten thousand pounds in a roll of notes of a thousand each. A reward of a hundred being offered next day for recovery of the money this intelligent Mr Ackworth accompanied Mr Sadler to tne office of a Mr Clarke in Gresham House, the owner of the money. He had when the money was picked up cautioned young Sadler to say nothing about it until the reward should be offered. Arrived there he proceeded up stairs to Mr Clarke's office, having persuaded his companion to stay belbw, and let him " arrange the busi. ness.". Mr Clarke gladly received back his ten thousand pounds, and handed over a hundred pound note; when Mr Ackworth explained that he was not the actual finder—to whom he wouldhave, of course, to give the note—but only a friend and "adviser, also a pious and public spirited man, who among other good works was then building a chapel; and requested a small acknowledgment of his services as well as a trifling subscription to his chapel. When a man has, probably uhexpectedly,recoveredtenthousandpounds he may be excused for being very easily persuaded to part with a larger portion of it than though it had never left his keeping. Mr Clarke immediately tipped this intelligent adviser fifty pound?, and a donation of ten for the chapel, without, it is to be feared, even enquiring where the chapel was, still less where and who was the actual finder of his lost notes, Mr Ackworth finding fifty pounds were to be had so easily from a sage, and steady, and possibly rather knowing solicitor, considered that the getting of some- - thing more from a clerk—a mere boywould be a stitf more easy achievement: and so it proved, for having handed the hundred pounds to the expectant Sadler (prudently abstaining from mention of his already received douceur), and intimated that he deserved some rewarck for his advice and trouble, Sadler immediately gave him £40, beside—and this is really ■ the best point in the whole business-— another pouud towards his chapel. The next day, alas! Mr Clarke published in the morning papers the restoration of his money, with an accompanying statement that he had given the finders one hundred and sixty pounds. Mr Ackworth's ingenious little speculation was thus brought to the knowledge-of his friend Sadler, . who immediately proceeded against him for recovery of the forty he had Jwen done out ot'—and go.t it too; the (Kftrt advising Mr Ackworth, when his chapel shall be completed, to place above it the inscription, " Thou shalt not steal." We are still having conflicting statements as to the identity of the prisoner said to be JS'ana Sahib. By the latest account, we are informed that he looks scarcely forty, while the real Nana Sahib must be considerably over fifty.-