OUR LONDON LETTER.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5463, 15 January 1896, Page 2

OUR LONDON LETTER.

ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES. [FROM OCR OWN COBBEBFONDENT.] London, Dec. 6. SIB GEORQE GREY. After an unavoidable hiatus of a fortnight, I called on Sir George Grey last Tuesday morning, and found him wonderfully brighter and. better. Mrs Seymour George and.-Miss George had arrived a couple of days previously, and evidently lost no time in taking- him well in< hand. The right honourable .gentleman's bronchial trouble Jiad disappeared,- his voice sounded stronger, and he talked almost gaily, of attending jtheCarlylej'XJentenary meeting on 'Wednesday. I remarked I was not aware he Jmew the sage of _Chelsea so well till I saw a reference to their friend- • ship in the newspaper. "Oh, dear yes," said Sir George; (; Isawft great deal of Carlyle at one time, especially in 1870. When his niece, Mary Aitken, had to go out in .the evenings I used to go down to Cheyno Walk and sit with him. Froude sometimes, formed a ,third, and we had great discussiwis on. Home Rule." Sir George added what you, who have read his life, of course know, viz., that he converted' Carlyle to his famous scheme for solving the Irish difficulty.; The gre'at philosopher warmly supported the excolonial. Governor's election/ campaign at Newark, and several very interesting letters from him about that time appear in Mr Eees's book. Later, speaking to Lord Carnarvon about Grey; Carlyle characteristically . summed- him up thus : .'•He is born.of the Tetrag6nidffl,builfr;f our square, solid,' as one fitted to, strongly .njeet the . winds of Heaven and the waves of fate." If the Auckla^, statue of Sir Geprge comes to. anything, this dictum of Carlyle's should t>e. inscribed on the base. '■ ' v BTiTK BCHOOLS AND 'BBtIQiOUS ' ■ ■ ..-•.. *- .V r^;..^.^ VwraXBXJCTION.;/:,'. ;„'.■. '/ : ; -' : see in :the;attempt)of -Messrs Diggle, and RUey-and ,Co. to -force, upon the London School BQard their own .particular views as to religious instruction :in , the rate-sup-ported schools ;a menace to.'.the civil- and religious liberty of the whole Empire. J3ut Mr Arthur . Clayden . is far-sighted beyond the rest of us, and ppints put in a letter to the editor of tlixe Daily News {'< My brother, y' know "■) that any victory gained .here by the reactionaries (ii«., the clerical party) <wiU go ; to the strengthening of, the., defeated colonial .clerics, "who are ;as fanatical -oyer '.their Bacerdotalism as. Hpjno Anglicans and Romanists." •» A-clericarvic-tory here, says Mr Clayden,.will mean a renewalof r jbhe conflict ,in, the polonies, ."with consequences to;she : .cause; of true religion of. the: most sorious.' nature." He quotes Bishop Sui^r v in. support of the argument that religious ; teaching imperatively; demands religious .teachers^ and in conclusion, devoutly, hopes, that, such . mien -as, Di Guineas Rogers and Dr Cliffprd,.'with their splendid „follo'wing of earnest, men^and women, "will take into consideration as! an additional incentiye to ,in aU-impprtanti.conflict thei-Vjjroungj dettt^ crabies pf our colonies. -, TSie.leastwgcanido ■.to.'' show our. ap^preciation of their splendid adhesion to principle, is to lend them jail possible ; mora]Uhe^ upon our past and; allow a ; rampant priestcraft th€>. control 6£. our State schroja^and this, is r^Uy^-tha r go^.ame<j-at,bys,the-church party-rrwould -be,, to, stankjj- i deadly/ blow, ; ,at . civii and religioual liberty throughput ,the whole ilmpire.^ ; \;v ..■:. .-,■• XENjHTSON.MnTH,-:' ■■: . ■ !-\ ' ' Mr Tennyson. Smitii.faroJairrying on his temperance campaign in th&jprovinces With , great vigours «iji4 ? fl*>t e j^tjite suaJe^;' His; latest;" sensation!" i&^to ters-pf all 4enominaticm^NoncpnfonniBt ja^/we^aaQhurob^^^^^r^haVhe^c^ the^ir. **. pbmpjioitj^iai ta« ; ;liqunr traffic." j It. oreates^asfyoTt ffl^y iiniagine, a %ne^effec!t when.Mr. Smith thunders forth- that he has docum^niwy • > ©Tidflaio»;vjii v .bis .possession showing that ,= many' clerics perapnally encourage, the sal* of drink, and even make money '/out. oi it. • . $fa&i,Y hxrwever, jrou . inquirft into tlio accuracy o I this alarming tftateawnt, ifc U ,' apt fo 'I fizzle" into a LTory graajl matter,' The- fact.,, isrand I told you abtnjt.it:.. some months ago-r-Mr Smith n haei discovered that amongst ;thfit<lint ol: sharoholders., in the j tariouß hvoyr^Ao^} Ba^, Alkopp; : ,(Juine§s, A'c;,ara ia^rtainnumberolclergymenand j ministers^ He is intonsely:«hQcked thereat, and for; months h« has,. been <playing the card for ©Tery ,cdntifSiyo?th. > Person^y, , I may perhaps laa permitted ix> that,, save as a^latfptm-^xiredient to excite the attentionof an audience, I don't think it. worth much. In the first place, the number of culprits is really very small, and in the second it is open to argument whether good light, beer , such as these breweries . manufacture;doo3cauße 'drunkenness. Many i experts tJiink not ! arid Jthat if- onn working men : would? eonfine>tbemselves to, bitter ale they- would-be -asrßteady and healthy as their German brethren. .„ •,*■,..,. . . . V-- - iMPo'sspEie <ntijioaiNTB. . ; •';.'.; „■■.-I t- seemsiquitef in'credible !; that' young' men who' hay© tried' -akd'-failed to' obtain foothold as jburnaKstSßn^ stpryrwriters in their own colonies should yet come boldly overbore seeking recpgnitipn. Nevertheless there 'are such ainazingfools. Two have called at -Hiese offices within a fortnight, and though they came from different parts of the Antipodes their stories were identical. ;In each- case the youth had thrown up a good billet to follow literature. Local editors, did not, .however, offer them much encouijagement. > .Tjiey were (of course) jealous, so. he thought ; he., would come to .London, where there was more.scope. Had been here six. months and reached the end .of his resources.,' The Agent-General couldn't help.him.back to the colony. Were we able to do anything ? , . ■■' ; The < story is always the same in the main, only details differ. I have heard it agam and again and again. •,.;,.., v . .- . " What . on , earth inspired ; you to run such a tremendous risk?" 3J asked one of these latest visitors.- "Hadasingle London editor offered you a scintilla of encourage--ment?" "No," was the reply; "but I thought if Marriott Watson and Chambers and Mrs Baker could do so well at Home, why not I ? I don't think much of their work." " I dare say not ; nor, I should imagine, do you know anything whatever of their lives. Now, I do, and I can tell you this, that the experiences of any one of them fully told would astound those who look upon them as fortune's favourites. Eemember.too, that Chambers and Watson are men of quite exceptional brilliance in their respective lines. It has taken Watson nearly ten years' strenuous struggle to achieve a very moderate degree of eminence. Yet it is the opinion of an acknowledged judge like W. E. Henley that, as a political leader writer, an eighteenth century stylist, and an authority on eighteenth-century literature, he has few equals and no superiors." MISCELLANEOUS. The lecture season has now commenced in earnest, and New Zealand bids fair to be very much before the provincial population, if one may judge from the number of •applications made to the Agent-General for lantern slides. The supply is by no means equal to the demand, so far as the office is concerned, but of course most of our lan-tern-makers have New Zealand scenes on hand. One of the office sets has just started on a fortnight's tour in South Wales, and two others are touring in the Home counties, others being out for the night in various districts. Of Mr Rawei's whereabouts just now no one seems certain, but he should begin to make a show now or never. That he will be able to cover the expenses of his trip Home by means of lecturing I can hardly believe, for, as the foregoing paragraph indicates, New Zealand is a favourite theme with amateur platformers. Still one may harbour just a faint hope that Rawei will prove all prediction wrong and find himself possessed of a cash balance when he draws to a close his somewhat rash and ill-considered trip Home. His chance of possessing such cash, however, seems distinctly faint, unless he manages to Tand one of the many missionary societies for a good big subscription towards his pet project. The "Maori Sanitation Fund" might possibly prove a draw. I am informed that the meridian compass which Messrs Horsbrugh and Lee

patented, and which Lord Kelvin refused to believe was anything but the result of illregulated 'scientific study, has been tested in a practical manner, and has not been found wanting. The patentees have had several offers from influential syndicates for the patent rights, but none of them good enough in their opinion for acceptance. I understand that one of the first orders to be fulfilled will probably be twelve instruments for use on board the vessels of the Channel Fleet. This matter, however, has not been definitely fixed upas Lord Massarene of Ferrard and ' his eldest son, the Hon Oriel Skeffington, are going to spend some time* in touring in New_Zealand. This Irish nobleman has taken no part in public life, and is hardly known outside King's County. Mr H. B, Yogel has wound up his labours in connection with "Hood's Annual," and can, I imagine, congratulate himself on a financial as well as an artistic success. .