Morning journal and courier., 1885-04-25
MAX O'RELL'S LETTER.

hectfons-HeIp From the Euemy-A
Truly British Proceedfng-French
1mPulsfveness and English Sang
Frofd-s'Honor'' i'm England and
France-A Popular PIay-Chrfstine
Nilsson.
| Especial Correspondence of the JOURNAL AND CoUR-
TER All Rights Reservedl
LONDON, April II, 1885.
To the Editor of the JOURNAL AND COURIER:
The fifty miles of barren and debatable
land north of Afghanistan are still the burn
ing question of the day England having
exhausted her stock of arguments has come
| to the conclusion that Russia can have no
claim to Penjdeh for the Turkomans, because
her locus standi rests upon the fact that she
| stole Nero. Thus speaks the Daily Chroni
Gle. shall not be surprised to see Russia
| answer that England has no right to claim
| the same disputed land for the Afghans, be
cause her locus standi rests upon the fact
| that she stole India. For, entire nous, India
| was not the gift of friend, was it? In the
| meantime the Duke of Connaught's return
| to Europe has been indefinitely postponed,
and General Wolseley recalled from Dongo-
] la, and perhaps the English government will
| go into big war in order to have an excuse
| for getting rid of little one, and the Arch
bishop of Canterbury will have to prepare
new prayer to the Lord of Hosts
| What strange reflections are suggested by
| the destinies of humankind. Here are two
people, the French and the English, the hap
Piest, the richest, the most intelligent and
| industrious in the old world, two people pas
sionately fond of liberty in every shape, and
each possessing the glorious goddess (oh
strange irony of fateD one in reality under a
monarchy, the other in dreams under a re-
| public. Here are two people whose desti-
nies seem at the present moment to hang
upon the decision of two Mohammedans and
a Chinese. 1t is perfectly true, as contem-
| porary remarks, that the dominating factors
at the next appeal to the English people, will
not be Mr.. Gladstone or Mr.. Chamberlain,
Lord Salisbury or Lord Randolph Churchill,
| but Mohammed Achmed, the Mahdi and
Abdur Rahman, the Ameer of Afghanistan.
And in Paris. the capital of civilization, a
| government which for two years has defed
| all the assaults of its internal enemies has
| just collapsed in moment before the touch
| of the commander of Chinese horde on the
| northern frontier of Tonquin.
l q L
a short time ago an invitation to deliver IA
lecture in Glasgow under the auspices of the
| Sunday Lecture society. According to my
| notions of Scotand-but am sorry to say
| that my experience Of that beautiful country
| is very s1nalL-well, according to those
| tions, thought that the fact of my being in
| vited to lecture Scotch audience on a Sun
| day proof that the island Of John Bull,
| to a foreign observer, an inexhaustible
| box of surprises. But I Immediately felt
sympathy for that Sunday association, be-
cause it owes part of its success to the efforts
of its enemies. feel inclined that we un-
| derrate the good offices OF our adversaries,
| and that we ought to be much more grateful
to them for the good they do us than we gen
orally are. There are two ways of causing
an animal to advance, whether that animal
be society, an artist, writer OF prime
minister-frst by kind encouragement. IL
| front, secondly by something less pleasant
on the other side. l firmly believe the sec
! ond process to be more effective than the
| first.
The Times correspondent in the Soudan
| says: During the advance of the column,
| the news which had arrived that Bendigo had
| won the Lincolnshire handicap was hello
| graphed to the Zereba." This is truly
| British proceeding. 1t reminds one of an
/ incident, illustrating British ang-froid,
| which occurred in August, 1715, by the bed
| side of Louis XIV, lying i'll of his last ill
ness. Lord Stair, English ambassador at the
| Court of Versailles, when he heard of the
| nature of the illness the great monarch was
suffering from, Immediately bet, according
| to the genius of his nation, as Voltaire puts
| it, that the king would not outlast the month
| of September He won.
The trial of Mrs. Weldon for a libel upon
| NJ Riviere terminated at the Central Crimi-
nal court yesterday. The poor lady got six
| mouths imprisonment, and was further or
| dered to enter into recognizances herself in
ESQ and two sureties of. ;e25 each to be of
| good behavior for two years. In spite of
what may be seid of her, new lunacy bill
| is in preparation, and this owing to the dis
closures she has brought to light.
Two incidents that took place lately, in
Paris and London respectively, may serve to
illustrate French impulsiveness and English
sang froid. The other evening the opera Les
Huguenots was played at the Grand Opera.
The singer who took the part of Marcel was
out of sorts and sang fiat. An old gentle
man seated in an orchestra stall observed
to be restless during the performance. At
the end of the last act Marcel passes before
the church just at the moment when the
Duke of Nevers aud his partisans come out
| of it. "Qui vive!' cries the duke. ''Hu-
guenot, ;" answers Marcel, and he falls shot
dead by the followers of the duke. This
| part of the opera had no sooner been acted
than the old gentleman from his seat,
| put on his hat, and, shaking his fist at the
dead hero, to the great amusement of the
| public he cried at the top of his voice. lyon
donkey, it serves you right; you have been
singing out of tune the whole evening" In
beautifully appointed house, afternoon tea,
served in costly china, had just been brought
to the drawing room when the mistress OF
the house inadvertently overturned the tea
table. Without the slightest show of vexa-
ton, without Obi or Ali Lady R. calmly
touched the bell, and the appearance of
| the domestic, merely said in her wonted
tones: "Take this away and bring more
tea" ''My dear" whispered Lady ?. to a
friend, "she won't match that china for
ESQ.,"
The same characteristics of the two ma
tions are again we'll illustrated by the fact
| that the day the French sustained a severe
defeat in China M. Jules Ferry was thrown
| overheard, whereas after the fall of Khar-
teum and the death of Gordon Mr.. Gladstone
retained Office. The English climate no doubt
has much to do with it, as talented American
observed lately, and long the English
climate lasts, the moderation of thought and
calmness of temperament, corresponding to
the grey uniform tint of the English skies,
/ Will always make OOuu Dull Iu0 ItdSOudDlt
and rejecting being that we know.
A case similar to that of Mime. Clovis
Hughes has just been tried in France. A
lady had killed with a revolver a too enter
prising neighbor She has been acquitted.
The verdict in the case of Nine. Clovis
Hughes is precedent now constantly placed
before French jury, and the English take
the opportunity of abusing the French for it.
The two people, L am afraid, will never un-
derstand each other, because each will judge
the other by his own standard. When, at
the beginning of this century, the English
hanged man for stealing a sheep, when this
very day they hang man for killing in a
msment of jealousy dispair, we almost
feel ready to exclaim with Voltaire: ''The
English are the only people who murder by
law" When, in France, show little
sympathy with the beautiful and talented
woman, loving and idolized wife, most
tender and devoted mother, who killed like a
dog an infamous man who made living of
robbipg fair women of fair name, the Eng
lish exclaim that we are so deu1oralized, so
perverted. that we have become upholders
of criminals.
When an Englishman's honor, or his wife's
has been attacked when an Englishman has