In the Public Eye

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 48, 24 August 1935, Page 21

In the Public Eye

Recently Mr. John Masefield, the Poet Laureate, presented Dr. W. B. ] Yeats, the distinguished Irish poet, ; with a pen-and-ink drawing by Dante: : Gabriel Rossetti on behalf of 150 Bri- , tish writers, painters, musicians, and , sculptors who subscribed to present , I this gift to Dr. Yeats to mark the occasion of his seventieth birthday. The drawing, which is one of the finest examples of Rossetti's work, depicts Lucrezia Borgia and a young lover seated in a garden eating grapes while an eager-faced boy leans from a tree| and whispers to her. . I The gift was made at a complimentary dinner given to Dr. Yeats in Dublin by the Irish P.E.N. Club, according to the "Manchester Guardian." Lord Longford, president of the club, presided over'the 200 guests, among whom were many famous British and Irish ■literary men, including Mr. Francis Hackett, Mr. L. A. G. Strong, Mr. Compton Mackenzie, Mr.- Desmond MacCarthy, Mr. Brinsley Macnamara. Mr. F. R. Higgins, Mr. A. E. Malone. and Mr. Scan O'Faolain. "''!.., In making the presentation Mr. Masefield said ithey were proud to be present to honour the greatest living writer of English. They knew Mr. Yeats as a master of beautiful prose and as a most exquisite lyric poet; they knew: his incalculable:services to Irish literature:and how great a'share his skill as a dramatist and his indefatigable care ' had in making the Abbey Theatre the .most famous in the world outside 'Paris. The : hallmark that stamped the really: great man was the steady, continual growth? arid development of his; intellect .throughout a long life. Titian and Ibsen, had this quality, and Dr. Yeats shared '.it- in a marked degree.' Hoskusai, the Japanese painter, said on his hundredth birthday, "Now I shall begin to paint," and it'might well be that Mr. Yeats would produce' his masterpiece in thirty .years' time. - - ■ -.'-.'■. -. Dr. Yeats, replying, spoke of his lifelong' friendship ;w;ith Mr. Masefield. He recalled Friow they'had discussed and criticised their earlier manuscripts be-fore-submitting them to a publisher. He expressed the opinion that .Mr. Masefield's work expressed the soul of the British'people to a far greater extent than could be said of any previous Poet Laureate. • /. ; Mr. M. F- Bruxner. ,The Deputy Premiei- and Minister of Transport of New South Wales (Mr. M. F. Bruxner) was recently, the-guest of his supporters and other friends at • a largely-attended dinner at the Royal Automobile Club. The assemblage included many of Mr. Bruxner's colleagues in the Ministry, including the Premier (Mr. B. S. B. Stevens), and it was also representative of/ both Houses of;the State Parliament, .the Chambers of Commerce and of manufactures, the Royal Agricultural Society, the Graziers' Association, the Royal Automobile Club, and many other organisations. The Mayor, aldermen, and staff of the Municipal Council of Tenterfield, and the people of that district, in a telegram, asked to be linked with the function in a recognition of the distinguished service rendered by Mr. Bruxner to New South Wales. The president of the State Country Party (Mr :s A. K. Trethowan, M.L.C.) presided. :s The Premier, responding to the toast n Parliament," proposed by Mr. C. M :s McDonald, said that Mr. Bruxner n throughout his long and honourable )f service to the State, had never : fal :r tered in his allegiance to those prin iv ciples that made for the integrity 01 i- the/institution-of Parliament. Public 1- service of the highest type meant manj ;r sacrifices. One sometimes wonderec if whether those services were assessec w at their proper. worth by the peopL n whom public men represented, but ti ie one of Mr. Bruxner's .type the consid eration whether such sacrifices wer properly assessed and appreciated wa of secondary importance, n. Mr. Stevens, proceeding; recalled, th critical period during which he an 3n his colleagues took office, : and addei that he was delighted to pay a tribut to one who had worked loyally wit' him. He' trusted that Mr. Bruxne would live long in enjoyment of th knowledge and consciousness that hi 5. work was appreciated. Mr.. Steven ■V referred to the legislative and adminii ■ s* trative reforms in which, he said, Mi m Bruxner had played a conspicuou part. Mr. Bruxner's signal cqntribi nt tion to the great changes that ha v- been effected was, he added, one ths n- must bring vwith it a satisfaction ths id only he himself and those who ha been associated with him could aj en preciate. '.-'"." is Mr. A. K. Trethowan, in proposin ist the toast, "Our Guest," and Sir Free >le crick Tout, Mr. E. C. Sommerla< ty M.L.C., Mr. W. J. Bradley, K.C., pn ite sident of the Royal Automobile Clul tiy Mr. J. H. S. Angus, representing th ice Royal ■ Agricultural Society,, Mr. . ist Baird.-and Dr. George Bell, in su] - porting the toast, warmly praised M Bruxner's public-spirited service as soldier in the Great War and iri tt " Legislature. :ks Mr. Bruxner, who was accorded c 2ar ovation ■-on rising. to respond, sa: mg there was no solution of Australia ick problems unless they were' tackled I be men animated, not by the spirit > Ids mere gain, but by the spirit of servii 's," and of sacrifice. He added that 1 igh would like to pay to the Premier tl in tribute that the latter deserved. WhE ever the Government had been able to accomplish had been due largely to the fact that it had been working v :uc- der the leadership of a man who w th not only capable and well equipp' r's" for his great task, but who inspir it, confidence in those with whom he w un- associated/and one, furthermore, )ro- whom one could give the fullest mci ure of loyalty: and comradeship. T \rin- composite Government had been >me spired by one ideal—to make this gre country safe and sound, and a count iold in which people could live withe ,2s fear of the interference and disrupti that faced them some years ago.

Captain Albert William Pearse occu pies a prominent position in Australiand his name and his strong person ality are well known throughout the Commonwealth and in New - Zealand especially in his capacity as representa tive of the Port of London Authoritj Although in his seventy-ninth year, he is as active and as able as many mci of half his age, and the recent be stowal of the Knig's Jubilee Medal ir recognition of his long career of pub lie service has brought him the con gratulations of many friends in th< shipping industry who know of hi: great work on behalf of Empire trans port. In his rare moments of leisuri Captain Pearse can look back upon ; life packed with incident. Born it London in 1857, he went to sea at thi age of seventeen and in due coursi gained his second, chief mate's, ahe master's certificates. He served fo; some years as an officer in vessels o the Royal Mail Steam Packet Com pany trading to the West Indies ane Brazil, and then transferred to: thi Orient Line, but in 1887 he "swal lowed the anchor'", and went gold-min ing in New Zealand.. He left the. Do minion in 1891 for Australia, where, ii association with the late Mr. R. E. — Twopeny, he founded "The Pastora Review," of which he is the proprietor and' in this leading commercial orgai of the Southern Hemisphere he stil impresses his views on Australia] shipping,. political, and agricultura topics. For many years; past he ha earned for. himself a reputation as ; f.andid and outspoken critic of Stat interference in industry, and he is staunch upholder of Conservatism ii Australian politics. During the wa he was in Egypt as Chief Commis sioner of the Australian Comforts Func An expert on—ll produce shipping mal ters, Captain Pearse represented Aus tralia at the Third International Cor gress of Refrigeration at Chicagc U.S.A.. in 1913;-and his pen during th past half-century has been wielde. trenchantly for the progress and irr provement of Australia's meat export; I He is a Fellow of the Royal Colonic Institute and the Royal Geographies Society, a liveryman of the Honourabl Company of Master Mariners, and Freeman of the City of London; and h ■ has written several books, includin; ■ "A Windjammer 'Prentice" and "Wine ; ward Ho!" which' contain records o 1 his experiences afloat. ■ Mr. Walter Frampton. ' I There is something mildly humorou _ in the fact that Mr. Walter Frampto i ranks'as a "junior" at the British Bai - for he is neither a "junior" in appeal ance nor a "junior" in experience. ; In fact, there is probably nobod * at the Bar today who has had sue far-flung experience of every type c case known to ' the law than this "p j ceedingly • appealing and genial cour i sel, whose name is continually croppin - up' in English courts. '" He is rather short, a bit on.the stov . side, but with a pleasing appearanc which makes him look more like comfortable pater familias than a r< [ morseless prosecutor or a subtle di .' fender of accused persons, g One of the , most popular figure [. among his brethren, one sees him po [. up here and there in all sorts of case f One leaves him in the morning engage c at the Old Bailey in some importar y criminal case. After lunch one ma d stroll Into the Divorce Court to liste d to a case that has attracted widesprea c attention, to find Walter Frampton o ,o his feet gently leading some- tearfi 1- petitioner through the1-initial stages ( ■c her. story of unhappiness, or puttin is blunt and ruthless questions to tl* erring husband who happens to t ie defending the case. '•■■■- [d In the meantime he has prbbabl :d dashed up to. Bow Street or Mar ie borough Street Police Court to pros ;h cute a shoplifter or defend a confident; -r trickster, and, : after leaving tlie Divorce . Court, he will just as like] is return to his chambers to have a coi is sultation with another client. s- ~ You will gather, therefore, thi r. Walter Frampton is a.very busy mai is and when it is said that in legal circle a- he is regarded as being as clever i id he is busy, one can understand why at is that his practice is so extensive. at In common law, divorce, custom id licensing, criminal work, or any othe p- kind of case, he is equally at horn and it is small wonder that he he lg ever been reluctgnt to venture froi d- the certainty of plenty of work as d, "junior" to the more ambitious thoug c- frequently less certain and lucrativ b, work nf a "silk." ie For it sometimes happens that 3. counsel who takes "silk" and enjoj p- ail the dignity attaching to the ten [r. "King's Counsel" pays a heavy pric a for his ambition. he This is easy of understanding whe one realises that it is not every litigar an who can afford to nay the extra amour id in fees which a King's Counsel fee i's entitled to charge, particularly whe: by in addition, a further sum amountir* of to two-thirds of that fee has to be pai cc to a "junior," without whom a '"X.C he cannot anoear in court, he And when one realises that M at- Walter Frampton was "called" thirt; to five years ago. one can understand ho to it is that he has been able to crow m_ his career with so much experienc ,as that many "silks" "now call him in f< ied consultation, knowing full well th, 'ed they would have to go far before the 'as could hope to garner the wisdom . *9 the ages such as is carried in the som as- w hat leonine head of Walter Frampto he Twenty-eight years agej—years befo: •n" many of our, "silks" of today.had bee eat called to the Bar even^Mr. Framptc try was defending Richard Brinkley, tl put Fulham carpenter, in connection wi ion what was known '#s "The Croyde Foisoning ' Case." ■