The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-05-03
THE NEWS FROM LONDON
BY HENRY DEvEREAux.
Venezuelan Affair Chagrns the Britonswi Russia Fight

London, April 25-It is deadly dull Americans, of course, and some Brtens have been interested by the marriage of a Vanderbilt. The father-in-law of the Duke of Marlborough would be import ant even If he were not the great owner of American railroads. The duke and duchess were present at the ceremony which was hurried and secret affair. This is the second marriage of MT. w. K. Vanderbilt and the third of the happy bride She was widowed Ice, They say she Is very rich. so it is not to be sup posed mercenary motives influenced her. What we are most interested in is Rus sia. Does 1t mean another war? The na- tion is weary with war. war, war. Rus sias growth and development will sooner or later plunge Europe into war. Amer ica's friendship is now much needed and the recollection of that silly Venezuelan business stands like a specter before us Russia would like war with England.
 
 Napoleon I. described the English as "a nation of shopkeepers:" it would be more correct now to call England an sland of 1dlers. An epidemic of likeness
 vails in this country. It Is not apathy
 are suffering from but incidence. The
 litician the government official, the officer, the tradesman, and the laborer, all alike do their work indolently and reluctantly. If you wish to see the mod ern Englishman work watch him as he plays; he will follow the football until he drops; he will row until he sinks ex- hausted beside his oars he will play cricket, golf tennis, or almost any oth-
 
 the result But work he will not. If half -..e attention were paid to the business part of life in this country that Is paid to sport and games, the nation would be immeasurably more prosperous than it Is.
 And this epidemic Is accompanied by a development of trickiness which Is new to the British character. Thickness in politics has become fine art The min ister will answer plain question so that an incorrect suggestion will be conveyed. In buliness and in trade all kinds of tricks are practiced with unblushing effrontery. An article, for inst ,ce is de- scribed as being composed of a certain material. When 1t is discovered to be composed of other material than that which has been described. the tradesman says: Certainly, but this is the term used by the trade"
 Lord Crewe's unique collection of the works of William Blake, which ~old last week at Sothebys for close upon $50.- 0OO was formed by his father, Lord Houghton, more than half century ago. at a cost of about $25OO.
 I understand that we are on the eve of an important series of Dickens produc- tions an influential syndicate being about to open ia the West End with version of David Copperfield." of which my in- formant speaks highly. In t4.e meantime, Dickens lovers might do worse than go to the Grand at Islington, where Mir. Oswald Brand Is running a. series of dramas founded on the -ssovel8st's- stories. The second of these, "Oliver Twist" which saw the other evening, gave very vividly a series of incidents in the life of the workhouse boy, and if it was not wholly a good play, l am inclined to at- tribute that more than anytl.-ng to the inherent impossibility of selecting from a crowded canvas satisfactory material for coherent drama. There are scores of characters in Dickens, round any one of which 2 good play:light be written; but the adapter who tries to dramatize a complete novel is always handicapped by ths surfeit of material. MT. Berlyn seem ed to me very effective Fagin (what an admirable Fagin MT. Tree would makeD and several of the mems P-rts were fair ly good; but 1t is a noticeable fact that tfS women of Dickens do not come out well on the stage They are colorless often enough in the books: on the stage they are sentimental nonentities. This shoul not be tne case with Nancy, who in the story of Oliver Twist, is a virile enough sketch, if I may use the term in tA.s connection; but Miss Bancroft at the Grand never came near my conception of the character. She mingled a drawing room manner with slang, and the East with the West End, in a manner most confusing; nor did Miss ayne as Oliver please me much better. would prefer to see a boy play the character, even though he should be a worse actor as is usually the case in a juvenile part
 A morning paper recently described the Duke of Cambridge as having once been heir to the English throne, the prince nominated by the English people as the most fitting suitor for the hand of Queen Victoria, and Knight of the Garter for sixty-five years. The duke was never really the heir to the English throne, as both Queen Victoria and the late King George of Hanover (both born in the same year) came before him. Prince George of Cambridge was certainly never seriously mentioned as a candidate for the hand of Queen Victoria between 1887 and 1S40. and | his nomination as a suitor by the Eng | fish people Is an absolute fiction. The |