New-York tribune., 1878-04-15
LONDON TOPICS.
1JTERATIrRE AND THE DRAMA.


NORTH AND HIS CRITICS - Mr.. IRVING IN
LOUIS XI.
IyRoM THE REGULAR CORRESPONDENT OF THE TRIBUNEi
LONDON, March 29.-Dr. Tyndall's many Amerl-
can friends will regret to hear that he Is sulerlng
from the malady common among men who use
fheir brains steadily-overwOTk. He has been Ill
for some time past but refused admit it. At last
he has yielded to his physicians orders and gone OIL
for months rest, during which he and his wife oc-
cupy Mr.. TennysOn's house in the Isle OF Wight
which the Laureate has kindly offered them. Aid
worth is one of the most charming places in Eng
land and the climate at this season is or ought to
be, quite perfect What it may actually be, nobody
will venture to say. hear many complaints OF one
of your contemporaries IN New-YOrk for getting
up untimely storms, and sending them over
here to annoy the innocent Bnton, VINO
has a hard enough struggle with his own
weather, and cannot make out why the Amer-
can article should be fOsted him IN this way The
weather is so bad almost to justify the use of it as
topic of conversation. Just at the hour when all
the world is going out to dinner, toward o'clock,
last evening, came up storm of rain, which pres
emily condensed into snow, and there has been
succession OfviOent snow squalls ever snce-squaIs
not unlike those in which the ill-fated Eurydice
went down.
Spite of his iii health, DR.. Tyndall delivered his
promised lecture last Friday evening at the ROyal
Institution on Fog Signals. But for an allusion
with which he prefaced the lecture, nobody would
have suspected that there was anything the matter
There was the same lucid exposition OF principles
and facts the art in interesting his hearers IN
subjects remote from their ordinary occupations the
same admirable style and fOTcible delivery which
long since gave DR.. Tyndal his place among the
very foremost of scientific lecturers III England.
Mr. Tennysou is making his usual visit TO London
and going more or less INTO the world. He has been
gratifying his friends by recting in many different
companies, his ballad of Sir Richard Grenyille.
This he does very finely when in good voice. his
deep tones and skiful elocuton adding new music,
and, perhaps, a better mOdulated rhythm. to the
wilfully rough measures of that stirring lyric.
don't know whether the poet has ever heard the
muttered criticisms of society on bis last ballad.
There's only one fault with it." remarked grmly,
a great authority" the same as in all his later
yerse-the poetry is left out ~ judgment from
which presume you dissent heartily. That his
popularity with the public is undated may be in
ferred from the extraordinary sale of the number of
The Nineteenth Century in which Sir Richard GTen-
vile appeared. Twenty thousand have already been
printed. The number as a whole, to be sure, was an
extraordinary one. Report fixes Mr.. TennySOn's
pay for his ballad rather for the of it in this
periodical, at 81 800.
Another pOet-poet and much else-is also in
London as usual till Easter-Mr. Matthew Arnold
listening serenely to the clamOr about his now
famous lecture on Equality clamOr which, indeed,
has pretty much died away. You have had
chance to read it in the last FOrtRighHg and to
imagine what effect must have been produced on an
arstOcratic audience at the Royal Institution by
this most unexpected plea for democracy; or for
certain forms and influences of democracy. At the
moment there nothing but applause, but when
the full enOrmity of Mr. Arnold's offence was
brought to light in the printed pages of magazine,
great personages began to complain. 1t is rule of
the Royal Institution that neither religion poll
tics shall be discussed there. Mr.. Arnold it was
said had discussed both, for is not primOgeniture
part of the religion Of Engandi Are the land laws
less sacred than the Ten Commandments y There
really feeble effort to take some notice of the
alleged violation of the limits of discussion. 1t was
said that the Duke of Northumberland, president Of
the Royal Institution, to bring the matter be-
fore the Board of Managers. | don't think his
Grace ever had any such intention. What is true is
that he received sundry letters the subject from
sundry OverzeaOus persons, but it obvious that
any step toward official notice of them would only
bring ridicule on everybody concerned in such an
attempt 1t became known, however, that the
Duke had received such letters, and you met every
now and then an unusually timid or unusually con
servative person who discussed what he called Mr..
Arnold's indiscretiOn with soemnity, or with flip
pancy, according to his nature. But never heard
of anybody whose opinion would have weight who
Joined in this criticism. Those who heard the
lecture and those who read the essay agreed in
sidering 1t a masterpiece Of its kind
There is bad news of the very eminent mathema-
tician, Professor Clifford, of University College.
He has been long time in poor health, and his
physician, Dr. Andrew Clark has lately given very
alarming opinion on his case. His only chance of
life seems to be a journey to the south of Europe,
which he will probably be unable TO take His, too,
is a case of overwOrk. Somebody thought it good
occasion to start report that Professor Clifford had
Joined the Romish Church. He replied III pub
shed letter that it was true ne was i'll, but he had
no reason to suppose that his disease insanity.
He is not only great mathematician but meta
physician of remarkable force, and his writings on
some theological questions have made him amarked
man. To the world of science and of independent
thought, his loss would be heavy One
Mr. Ruskins condition has not much altered dur
ing the last two three weeks. There is, perhaps,
some hope of his regaining so much health as will
enable him to go about, but little of his
resuming work. Few living Englishmen would be
moro sincerely lamented. He has place apart in
the affections of multitude of admirers His name
is often on peoples lips the bulletins about his
health appear from time to time, and have seldom
heard it mentioned without some such expression of
regret as is given for the most part only to personal
friends.
The performances of Herr Neville Mortz have
come to a sudden end, in consequence of an acci-
dent. He stepped on a sword the other night and
cut his foot badly. The following night he insisted
on acting but fell three times and has had stop
don't think he was making much headway with the
London public. Nearly ali the published criticisms
continued dead against him; those on his ShyIock
being more hostile than those on his OhelIO. But
Ind, 60 Iox+