Science, Art, And The Drama.

Science , Art , and the Drama .

CHESS ATJ '' SIMPKIN'S . " - Chess , like coffee and many other things , came from the East . It has ' of course , in passing from India to Europe , become somewhat unlike the original game , for the genius of the Western mind has left its impress upon it—the European , his mark—and certain modifications have resulted . But it was very good of chess to travel westwards , for it might , like those mysterious beings , the Mahatmas , have preferred to remain in some dark

unfathomable region of the East . Its coming hither has certainly given many an hour of enjoyment to thousands , and the number who find pleasure in the game is constantly increasing . The chess centre of London is , as all the world knows , " Simpson ' s , " in the Strand . " The Divan , " as it is called , is the place where , at some time or other , every chess-player of nole may be seen . Here it is that the English professional Bird reigns , and

unlike some reigning monarchs , he is to be seen almost daily . Entering Simpson ' s at any hour after noon , he is the first individual you note , and however long you may remain he is certain to be there when you leave . Bird has been playing chess for fifty years , and he is still in the very front rank of the masters ; yet he is always ready to play with a young amateur , and will readily explain and assist the novice to a right understanding of

the game . Bird is a quick player . During a game , some time ago , with a foreign professional , he made 70 moves in an hour , his opponent occupied nearly four hours in the same number of moves . And Bird won Blackburne , the well-known blindfold player , is sometimes to be seen at Simpson ' s . His advice is never to take the odds of a piece , as a victory gained under such conditions is never satisfactory . Blackburne is , like Bird ,

in the front rank of English players . He moves without hesitation , whether blindfold or otherwise ; and he is undoubtedly the best blindfold player of the day . Blackburne-is getting into years . He is , however , very bright and cheerful , in spite of the fact that he has been playing more years than he cares to remember . It is his ' opinion that amateur play now is better than at any previous period ,

Whilst Blackburne is a rare visitor at Simpson s , a young Frenchman , named Rollond , is there almost daily . This player hails from France , by way of Tonquin . He filled a post of some kind when the French first went to Tonquin ; but as M . Rollond is fond of chess , and is an expert player , he seems to have made a home for himself in England , and a special home , from noon daily , at Simpson ' s . He plays a very strong game , and few

amateurs can beat him . Many other masters of chess may be seen at Simpson's . Theie is a professional there daily , a little old Frenchman , who rarely speaks , and then in his own language . He plays a fairly strong game , and is not usually caught napping . It is said he has beer , playing at Simpson's longer than most people can remember , and has always been known as " the old Frenchman . " If Simpson ' s never suffers for lack of

" masters , " there is also plenty of amateur play going on , and that of the best . Simpson's is a magnet which draws hither those who love chess . Often a clergyman from Exeter Hall hard by drops in for a quiet game . Some play chess very well indeed , being more at home at the chess-board than when in the pulpit . Chess is also played a good deal by professional men , and barristers , solicitors , bankers , stockbrokers , & c ., ' drop in at

Simpson ' s for a game . These amateurs are in many instances strong players , and a " professional" now and again has to acknowledge his master in the shape of a banker or stockbroker . But it is usually the other way about , and many a " strong " amateur— " strong " that is , in his own estimation—sustains a crushing defeat at the hands of Bird , Fenton , or some other professional player . A " strong" man from a provincial town

entered Simpson ' s with an air of assurance , and took a seat opposite Bird . Humming an opera tune , he said , carelessly , "Do you play chess ?" Receiving an answer in the affirmative , he said that he was the strongest player in his town , and that he had defeated a professional who had visited it . Bird expressed his pleasure at hearing this , as he liked to encounter strong players . The amateur then commenced playing , humming a

tune to himself all the while . He moved very rapidly , and appeared to be making the book moves of one of the regular openings . But Bird ' s defence was of a peculiar kind , involving the sacrifice of pieces for a position . Atthe ifi . h move , Bird called " Check , " and at the iSth , he announced " Matt in two . " The face of the amateur was twice as long as at the commencement of the game , and the humming of operatic airs had quite ceased . Other games followed ; but the " strong " amateur lost

three games in less than an hour . It may be guessed that he left the building a sadder and wiser man , and with a special knowledge of the different degrees of strength in chess . But let it not be supposed that strong players do not hail from provincial towns . The strongest players are , of course , in London ; but there are many players who can hold their own wilh the best London men , and there is a continual improvement in this respect . One word of advice to loversof chess . If you wish to improve your play , do not forget to drop in occasionally at Simpson ' s .

State Of Painting Under Edward Vi.

STATE OF PAINTING UNDER EDWARD VI .

( Continued . ) Having mentioned the mint , we may notice that among the patent rolls , is agrant in the Sixth of Edward VI ., to Anthony Deric , of the office of capital sculptor of the moneys , in the Tower of London ; and at the end of the same year , John Brown is appointed , during pleasure , surveyor of the coins . Clement Adams has a grant to instruct the king ' s henchmen or pages—an

office he retained under Oueen Elizabeth . Of the Protector ' s rival , Dudley , Duke of Northumberland , there is a good head in the chamber at Knole , where there are so many curious portraits , supposed to have been assembled by the treasurer , Buckhurst . There are nearly 50 portraits , the majority of which have , certainly , no claim as original . Another person of some note in this reign was Sir John Godsalve , knighted at the . King ' s coronation , commissioner of visitation thc same year , and , in the third year ,

the comptroller of the mint . His portrait is at Kensington Palace and another , in miniature , drawn by John Belts , who is said to have learned of Hilliard ( he lived to be an esteemed painter in the rei gn of Elizabeth ) . The knight was drawn as bearing spear and shield . This picture belonged to Christopher Godsalve , clerk of the victualling office , in 'he reign of Charles I ., in whose cause he lost £ 7000 , and was near being hanged . He was employed by Charles II . in the Navy Office , and Jived to 1604 . Guillim Stretes was painter to K ing Edward in 15151 . "Hehad

State Of Painting Under Edward Vi.

paid him , " says Strope , " 50 marks for recompence of three portraits made by the said Guillim , whereof two were the pictures of his Highness sent to Sir Thomas Hoby and Sir John Mason ( Ambassadors abroad ) , the third a portrait of the late Earl of Surrey , attainted , and by the council's commandant fetched from the said GuUUm ' s house . " This most curious picture is a whole length of large dimensions , and nearly of a square shapeand

, has never been engraved . It was purchased in 1720 at the sale of the Arundel collection at Stafford House , London , for Sir Robert Walpole , who made a presenbof it to the then Duke of Norfolk . It is now at Arundel . This picture was evidently painted after his death , and as his father , the Duke of Norfolk , was still detained in prison during the whole reign of Edward , it cannot be probable that a portrait of the son , with such marks of

honour , should be drawn by order of the Court . On the contrary , its being fetched from GuUUm ' s house by the council ' s commandant , seems to imply that it was seized by their order . As we have stated , it is now in the possession of his Grace the Duke of Norfolk at Arundel Castle . Architecture preserved in this reign the footing it had acquired under the late king . Somerset House is a compound of Grecian and Gothic . It was built

on the site of Chester Inn , where the ancient poet Ocelere formerly lived . As the pension to St . John of Padua was renewed in the third of the young king , one may suppose that he owed it to the Protector , and was the architect of this palace . In the same style , and dating its origin from the same power as Somerset House , is Longleat , though not begun till 1567 . It was built by Sir John Thynne , a principal officer to the Protector .

Our Feathered Visitors.

OUR FEATHERED VISITORS .

The Roller is one of the most beautiful of the feathered visitors to this country . But , as is the case with all brightly-coloured birds , it meets with a hostile reception , and generally , no sooner than it appears on our shoves , it is shot down by some of the coast gunners , who are ever on the look out for any rare specimens to add to the stock of the greedy dealer , or to adorn the cabinet of some unscrupulous collector ; consequently , even if it so

desired , it is unable to make a home with us . It is said that this bird has never been known to nest on the British Isles , but other than the persecution to which it is subjected , there is apparently no reason why it should not , as it breeds on the Continent in latitudes only a little further south of us . With the exception of the lower part of the back , and the larger wing feathers , which are bright brown , the entire plumage of the roller , of both

sexes , is blue , varying from a very light to dark ultramarine . In size it equals nearly that of the jackdaw . As may be imagined , the brilliant colour of the roller , and its large size , makes it very conspicuous , and in consequence it seldom escapes the eyes of seekers after rare specimens . Its name is derived from the habit it has of flying to a good height into the air , and in its descent turning somersaults , somewhat after the manner of the

tumbler pigeons . While so disporting itself , it utters long , harsh guttural cries , which can be heard at a great distance . In fact is is through this cry that the bird mostly reveals its whereabouts , because , apparently conscious of its conspicuous dress , it is a retiring bird , and hides itself , as well as it can , amongst the branches of the high forest trees or on the ground . Its

food consists almost entirely of insects and worms , but failing a plentiful supply of these , it eats fruit of various kinds . Southern Europe is where the Roller is most commonly found , and where it regularly breeds . Its nest consists of a few rootlets and pieces of grass , and is placed in cavities of walls or trees . The eggs are white , and generally four or five in number .

Lyceum Theatre.

LYCEUM THEATRE .

The Signora Duse has appeared in a new part and a new play— " Gioconda " —in which the accomplished Italian actress enacts a noble woman suffering from the infidelity of her husband , a sculptor , who , wavering between his affection for his loving wife and his passion for his model , attempts to commit suicide . The interest culminates in a powerful scene between the two rivals , in which the wife , by her justly indignant

denunciation of the mistress , rouses her to such fury as leads to the courtesan ' s attempt to destroy the sculptor ' s figure , representing herself . As in her rage she topples over the image , the wife , to save it from destruction in the fall , stretches forth her hands , and pays the penalty of this noble act of self-devotion by having both hands crushed beneath the weight of the marble . The lurid tragedy ends in the prostration of the sell-sacrificial wife , maimed in heart and hand , seen bowed down with hopeless misery at

the news of her infatuated husband ' s return to the embraces of his mistress . The morbid action of this story , which may be truly described as more horrible than terrible , none the less gave Signora Duse opportunities for the display of the gentler feminine attributes of patient meekness and faithful endurance , through which her histrionic powers of tender pathos attain their highest and most sympathetic expression . But the play itself , in its realistic presentment of the horrors of a hospital ward , obviously deals with a subject outside the realms of simulative art .

General Notes.

GENERAL NOTES .

A great deal has been written lately about the destruction of fish by otters , and in most cases their slaughter has been advocated on account of the large numbers of fish that these animals destroy . We are sure , however , that otters do not deserve quite such persecution , because , in many , if not in most , cases it will be found that the fish caught by them are diseased , or affected in some other way , and the otters in clearing them from rivers

and streams render , thereby , a service rather than commit an injury . But we "humans" are privileged to pass judgment on the deeds of animals without a fair trial , and , if their misdeeds provoke us in the least degree , we give the animals no quarter .- In the case of the angler and the otter it is quite a question as to whose voracity is the greater , but the otter has ta suffer for that of both .

Among the curious freaks of Nature are abnormal hen ' s eggs . A New York naturalist describes a double egg , one inside the other , the outer one being of the size of a goose ' s egg , and the inner one of the ordinary size of a fowl's egg . It is stated that this is only one of several of these extraordinary eggs that the same bird has laid . Another hen ' s eggol very

, large size , on being opened , was founa to contain three yolks ; this , on being weighed turned the scale at four-and-a-half ounces . On the other hand , there are sometimes small eggs , not larger than a marble , but these do not contain normal yolks and whites , but a mass of opaque coagulated substance , somev / hat resembling the ordinary white , but much thicker .