Science, Art, And The Drama.

Science , Art , and the Drama .

WHEN ARE WE OLD ?

" A man is as old as he feels , and a woman as old as she looks . " In this venerable epigram is crystallised much deep-seated wisdom . The actual number of years is of little importance . There are old men , like the late Oliver Wendell Holmes , in whom youth—the youthful outlook—is perennial . Lord Palmerston was once asked when he considered a man to be in the prime of life . His lordship immediately replied , " Seventy-nine . But , " he

added , -with a playful smile , " as I have just entered my Soth year , perhaps I am myself a little past it . " Leigh Hunt quotes the following , which he calls " a delicious memorandum , " from Mrs . Inchbald ' s ( the dramatist ) diary : " I dined , drank tea , and supped with Mrs . Whitfield . At dark , she and I and her son Will walked out , and rapped at the doors in Newstreet , and ran away . " The narrator of this feat of a woman who was then

middle-aged and a most popular authoress , adds " but such people never grow old . " We have known middle-aged men who think it a hardship not to be allowed to play marbles , and even leap-frog . If they dared , they would still take part in boyish " larks . " The death of Matthew Arnold , the apostle of "sweetness and light , " was caused in his 65 th year by leaping over a fence in a fit of juvenile high spirits . Swedenborg imagines

that in heaven the angels advance continually to the prime of youth , so that those who have been there longest are the youngest . Some of us , perhaps , have friends who seem to fulfil this idea . They preserve the freshness , guilelessness , hopefulness , and elasticity of youth . They have put away the weakness , imperfection , and immaturity of childhood ; they retain its open mind and heart . " In wit , a

man ; simplicity , a child . " Many young men are more blaze than their fathers ; and there are girls who are more worldly wise , and , alas , world-worn than their mothers . After talking with the venerable missionary , Dr . Marsh , a young man once said : " What is the use of being young when one sees a man of 80 in better spirits than the jolliest among us ? " When an old lady , who had devoted her life to others , was congratulated at

the age of 87 , on her remarkable vigour , she said : "They never so often told me I was young as since I have grown old . " This reminds us of the lady of 90 , who said to Fontenelle , then S 5 : " Death appears to have forgotten us . " " Hush ! " whispered the witty old man hastily putting his finger on his lips , " He needs no reminder ! " We know a lady who is " so well preserved , " that she looks almost as young , and is as much admired as

her handsome daughter , who is engaged to be married . " How does she do it 1 " is the question of friends , who wonder and envy as they see her from time to time looking " younger than ever , " To some extent , no doubt , she does not do it at all . It is done for her by the splendid constitution , which she has inherited from a long-lived race . Then she had the advantage of being brought up simply and in the country . The roses of her

youth were not blighted by late hours , heated ball rooms , and indigestible suppers . She has had few sorrows of her own ; but she never withholds her kind and loving sympathy , and help to the sorrows of others . And this last fact is , perhaps , the chief reason why she wears so well , for nothing tends to keep the heart young and , therefore , the outward appearance , as the mixture of kindly feelings and the practice of doing good .

" The Lord hath kept me alive , " said Caleb , a young man of 85 ( Joshua 14 , 10-11 ) . " Even the youths shall faint and be weary , and the young men shall utterly fail ; but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength ; they shall mount up with wings as eagles ; they shall run and not be weary ; and they shall walk , and not faint . " So spoke the prophet Isaiah , from his own experience . This was the secret of Caleb's prolonged

youth . He had " followed wholly" the Lord his God . Old age , then , does not depend on years so much as is generally supposed ; but if we think only of years , when does it tap us on the shoulder and say that it has come to keep us company 1 This varies with each individual , and the circumstances of his life . Aristotle said that a man is not at his best until 45 . Other writers say that he is old then . The three-score years and ten of the

Psalmist has been adopted by most people as the normal standard . Dr . John Gardner , who has written on " Longevity , " remarks : " Long observation has convinced me that 63 is an age at which the majority of persons may be termed old . " This last age , however , is mere infancy compared with the ages said to have been attained by many people . Mr . C . Walford , in his Insurance Guide , g ives a list of 220 persons who , he thinks , can be shown to have reached the age of 120 years and upwards .

An American ( Mr . Joseph Perkins ) has published a work in which he records over 10 000 cases of centenarianism . " The old Countess of Desmond , " who is said to have died at the age of 140 , and then from the effects of an accident , is mentioned by Lord Bacon , Archbishop Usher , and Sir William Temple . The first assures us that " she did dentry ( renew her teeth ) twice or thrice , casting her old teeth , and others coming in their place . " ( To be continued . )

Painters And Other Artists In The Reign Of James I.

PAINTERS AND OTHER ARTISTS IN THE REIGN OF JAMES I .

( Continued . ) Miniatures make a great figure in this reign by the lustre given them by Peter Oliver , the eldest son of Isaac Oliver , and worthy of being compared with his father . In some respects the son even appears the greater master , as he did not confine his talent to single heads . Peter copied in watercolours several capital pictures with signal success . By the catalogues of

King Charles I . and King James II ., it appears that there were 13 pieces of this master in the royal collection , chiefly historic miniatures j seven of them are still preserved in Queen Caroline ' s closet at Kensington . Isaac and Peter Oliver employed ~ themselves so frequently upon the same picture , particularly after the former had grown old , that it becomes a difficult task to attribute some of their works exclusively to either . Vanderdoort , in his catalogue of King Charles ' s collection , gives 13 pieces to Isaac Oliver and 14 to

his son , by whom were most of the copies from Titian and Correggio . The whole collection of limnings and miniature portraits by Holbein , Hilliard , the Olivers , Hoskins , kc , amounted to 75 , of a si ; : e varying from two to seven inches in diameter . Some of these had been preserved from the dispersion ordered by the Parliament , or had been repurchased : as the whole number in Chiflinch ' s Catalogue of Pictures , belonging to King James II ., was increased to 71 , of which 30 were by the Olivers ; and among them were singularly fine heads of P . Oliver and Laniere , by the first mentioned ,

Painters And Other Artists In The Reign Of James I.

Seven only of the historical subjects by him have descended to the prese Royal Family . At the Earl of Exeter ' s , at Burleigh , is the story of Vem and Adonis , painted by Peter Oliver , and dated 1631 . Vertu e mention another , which was in Mr . Halsted ' s sale in May , 1725 ; it repre sented J oseph , the Virgin , and the Child asleep , eight inches wide and five hioh

Un it was written his name , with the termination French , P . Olivier fecit , 162 s ' Another piece , a fine drawing in Indian ink , was copied by him from a picture " by Raphael , in thecollection of KingCharles—St . John presentingacrosstothe Chiid kneeling before the Virgin . Theoriginal wassold after the King ' s death to the Spanish Ambassador for ^ 600 . Jerome Laniere bought Peter ' s drawing , and sold it for 20 guineas to Mr . John Evelyn , from which it to the Sir John Evel

came present yn . The Duke of Devonshire has the portrait of Edward VI ., when an infant , the drapery highly ornamented and finished—a copy from Holbein . Lady Elizabeth Germayn has , at Drayton the Madonna and Child . The finest work of Peter Oliver is considered to be that of his own wife , in the cabinet of the Duchess of Portland ; it is life itself . It is a question whether his father ever excelled this piece . There is also a head of the same woman , drawn in black lead , on the leaf of a vellum book the

pocket ; on reverse is his own portrait in profile—both masterly—in black and red chalk ; also a boy ' s head , larger than he generally painted , of great nature and vivacity . At Kensington , below stairs , is the portrait of Peter Oliver , by Hanneman , who painted the wife too ; but it is not known where the latter now is . Some time since a valuable treasure of the works of this master and his father Isaac was discovered in an old house in Wales , which belonged to a descendant of Sir Kenelm Digby . The latest are dated 1633 , but being enclosed in ivorvand

ebony cases , and the whole collection locked up in a wainscot box , they are as perfectly preserved as if newly painted . They all represent Sir Kenelm and persons related to or connected with him . There are three portraits of himself , six of his beloved wife at different ages , and three triplicates of his mistress , all three by Isaac Oliver , as is Lady Digby ' s mother before mentioned . But the capital work is a large miniature , copied from Vandvck

ot bir Kenelm , his wife , and two sons , the most beautiful piece of the size that exists . There is a duplicate of Sir Kenelm and Lady Digby from the same picture , and though of not half the volume , still more highly finished . This last piece is set in gold , richly inlaid with flowers in enamel , and shuts ' like a book . These were purchased at a great price , and are not to be matched . ( To be continued . )

Vaudeville Theatre.

VAUDEVILLE THEATRE .

" Alice in Wonderland , " which some time ago reached its 100 th performance , still continues its successful career . The clever adaptation seems to have caught the public taste , and the genial , harmless fun of the author , is thoroughly appreciated . Having , on two previous occasions , alluded to this charming production , we will merely add that Lewis Carroll ' s fairy stories are highly approved of in their dramatic version , not only by little children , but even by those of a larger growth .

WYNDHAM'S TAEATRE . The other evening we attended a representation of " Mrs . Dane ' s Defence , " at the above theatre . " In spite of the painful nature of the story , we cannot but admire the clever manner in which the author has developed his plot , the interest is well maintained , and culminates in the third act , which is powerfully written . We consider Mr . Henry Arthur

Jones has achieved a well deserved success . The chief parts were well sustained by Mr . Chas . Wyndham , Miss Lena Ashwell , Miss Alice de Winton , Mr . Alfred Kendrick , and Mr . Alfred Bishop . A well pleased and appreciative audience guaranteed present and future success of this important work .

GARRICK THEATRE . There has been running for some time a very clever and interesting version of the famed comedy " Nos Intimes , " by Victorien Sardou . It is entitled " Peril , " by Clement Scott and B . C . Stephenson . The details of the epigrammatic story are fairly adhered to . It is ably interpreted by talented artistes—Messrs . Brandon Thomas , Fredk . Kerr , Leonard Boyne , Graham Browne , Eric Lewis , and Misses Violet Vanbrugh , Lily Grundy , and Helen Rous . We understand that the piece will only be played for five nights during Easter , we would strongly advise a visit before its withdrawal .

MESSAGES FROM MARS . The idea of Mars really desiring to send us a message is surely one of the most extravagant in the world of astronomical speculation . When the red planet is nearest he is 35 , , 000 miles away . Prof . Ball has said a signal flag as large as Great Britain would not be seen at that distance , even if Mars had inhabitants to see . An illuminated Union Jack as large as Europe would hardly be a spec visible . To give some idea of the

inconceivable distance Mars is from us we may mention that in one of the Southern constellations is a star named Centauri . Let us suppose that a railway has been constructed from our Earth thither . At a penny a mile , a passenger booking a seat would have to provide himself with money enoug h to buy up the National Debt of England and several other countries . Then supposing he travelled at the rate of 60 miles an hour , it would take him 4 S , 063 , ooo hours to reach Centauri .

GENERAL NOTES . It is delightful to know that Bro , Sir Henry Irving is back in town again , and once more at work at the Lyceum . For some of us London is not quite itself when our premier actor and manager is not in our midst . The cast of " Coriolanus " is very promising . Virgilia has been given to Miss

Mabel Hackney , a pretty and clever girl , who came to the front at the St . James ' s , in the prologue to " The Prisoner of Zenda . " We believe she has been Miss Ellen Terry ' s under-study during the past season—a distinction in itself .

Mrs . Langtry would appear to have had some difficulty in casting "A Royal Necklace . " Mr . Frank Cooper and Mr . Edmund Maurice were both engaged by her , but have , it is said , obtained permission to resign their parts . On the other hand , Miss Braithwaite and Mr . Fuller Mellisn have just joined the company , and no doubt Mrs . Langtry will triump hantly overcome any little preliminary difficulty . She should be a handsome ana even a queenly Marie Antoinette ,