PERSONAL ITEMS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9130, 11 August 1888, Page 4 (Supplement)

PERSONAL ITEMS.

Parnell believes a general election would restore Gladstone to power. Prince Bismarck's health is now so much improved that he is able to think of Boulanger with a smile. Spurgeon does not have to preach unless he chooses to do so. He has saved some money and an admirer has presented him with £8000.

R. M'Vittie, the famous Scottish rifleman, has now settled in Canada, and is at present in the employment of a Scottish builder in Toronto.

King Humbert's palace at Rome contains 2000 rooms, but the King and his family occupy only 125 of them. Smith Kitchens, who died lately at Laurel, Del., aged ninety-eight, cut an entire new set of teeth a few weeks prior to his death.

Queen Victoria is afflicted with insomnia. She is sometimes put to sleep by having her brows stroked gently with a camel's hair brush.

The death is announced of Mr. Richard Brinsley Sheridan, of Frampton Court, Dorset, grandson of the dramatist, and wit of the same name, who died in 1810.

Vanity Fair asserts that the Czar of Russia is afflicted with recurrent fits of insanity. He has to be closely watched to prevent him from injuring either himself or others.

The Queen and one or two members of the royal family are desirous of learning Hindustani, and a young Indian prince is coming to England to act as instructor to these royal students. Foulshiels, the birthplace of Mungo Park, " one of the sacred spots of Ettrick Forest," is at present in the hands of tradesmen with a view to its better preservation as an interesting historical ruin.

The Broughton-Dangan breach of promise case is apparently to be heardprobably after the Long Vacation. The SolicitorGeneral has been retained for Miss Phyllis Broughton ; Sir Charles Russell will lead for Lord Dangan. F. C. Burnand, of London Punch, possesses remarkable skill as a ventriloquist. He was educated for a Jesuit priest, but his inclination to play practical jokes with the ventriloquial power under his control brought him into disfavour with his superiors. The Queen has approved of Lord Wolseley retaining the appointment of AdjutantGeneral of the Forces for a further period of two years from the end of July, that being the date upon which, under ordinary circumstances, his tenure of the post would have ceased.

Mdme. Meissonier, wife of the celebrated painter, has just died, after a brief illness. She was the sister of Steinheil, a painter of religious subjects. The deceased lady was highly esteemed for her benevolence in Poissy, the pleasant suburban town where she resided with her husband.

General Boulanger is an able financier, if reports are true. He has a pension of 12,000f a year, out of which ho pays 10,000f rent for a new and splendid house on the Place des Etats-Unis, and keeps two carriages and his famous black charger. His entertainments also are noted for their costliness.

The Prince of Naples, son of the King of Italy, has earned considerable distinction as a photographer. They say there is none better in Italy. The photograph of the Princess Letitia Bonaparte, who is to be married to her uncle, the Duke of Aosta — which portrait is just now as popular in Italy as Jackson's is in England—is by the Prince.

Mr. William Lloyd Birkbeck, Q.C., Downing Professor of the Laws of England at Cambridge, and Master of Downing College, died recently. He was tha son of the late Dr. George Birkbeck, the founder of mechanics' institutions. He was president of the Birkbeck Institution in London, and for many years acted as hon. secretary of the Literary Association cf the Friends of Poland.

The most conspicuous figure at Ascot races, writes a Leeds Mercury London correspondent, was Mr. Chamberlain. Dressed in a light grey sporting suit, he moved about the royal enclosure an object of considerable interest and attention. Wherever he went he found himself surrounded by a bevy of ladies, and marchionesses and countesses paid flattering attentions to the old leader of the Birmingham democracy.