PERSONAL ITEMS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 8306, 12 July 1890, Page 4 (Supplement)

PERSONAL ITEMS.

Sarah Bep.niiahut is ill. In the passion in " Jeanno d'Arc" in ]\u-i~, :i splinter entered her knee and inflammation ensued. The will of the late Mrs. Sftrah Fairbrother (usually known as .Mrs. FitzGeorge), wife of the Duke of Cambridge, who died on January 12, ISfMJ, aged 7~> years, has been proved, the personalty being valued at JLT_\7U3. The new monument erected in Paris to Alphon-e de Neuville, the great French military painter who died at the height of his fame, represents the artist holding his palette in one hand, his brush in tho other, and gazing intently at some object which has just arrested his attention. Dr. F. R. Lees, the temperance advocate, has been presented at Leeds with a purse containing 200 guineas, on the occasion of his leaving the town to take up his residence in London, and as a mark of appreciation on the part of many of his services to tlie temperance cause. Tho Mayor made tlie presentation. Bismarck says that he has to have some immediate relief when his tits of temper come on ; and that on one occasion, when he had been sorely tried in a conversation with the old Emperor, he ran into a room in the palace and sin is hod a wash-bowl. He frequently a.-ks people, "What do you do when you are antrry '! How do you manage ?" The death is announced of the Kev. James A. VVylie, J.L.1)., of Edinburgh, at the ago of eighty-two. Ho \w the author of ".Scenes in tho Holy Lund," "A History of Protestantism' (a partisan pamphlet in three big volumes full of exploded fables, which had better never betyi published;, "A History of the Scottish Nation," and other works, and was also a frequent contributor to serial literature. 'J , his is said to have been the conversation which parsed between the Emperor William and Caprivi on the latter's appointment to the Chancellorship :—" I want you to take Bismarck's two places, as Chancellor and Prussian l'riine Minister." "At your Majesty's orders." " You havo no conditions to make?" "It is not for mo to make conditions, .sire." " Very well, come here to-rnorrow morning. What aro you going to do now'.'" "I shall go home and linis.li my dinner, sire." King William of Wurtemburg, who was in a bad way last year, lias been—so tho Berlin correspondent of the Glasgow Herald assures us—set going in a cranky sort of style by electric shocksatid adiot of koumiss, or Russian fermented mare's milk. "Ho can now conduct himself with a semblance of royal dignity ; but ho is closely watched, for if he could escape he would bo off enjoying himself in France. The fact of starting penniless would not trouble him, for ho has found that ho can always raise money by conferring titles and decorations. Amongst the theatrical profession Mr. George Grossmith, Mr. Rutland Barrington, Mr. Durward Lely, and Mr. Harry Payne, tho clown, arc all successful anglers ; Mr. Gus. Wheatmen and Mr. J. Brockbank, tho smartest cricketers ; Mr. William Terriss, the fastest swimmer ; Mr. Irving, the most accomplished fencer; Mr. A. J. H. Byde, tho best boxer; Mr. G. K. Sims can hold the reins against all comers ; Mr. Forbes Robertson and Mr. Bernard Gould are the best painters ; Mr. Leonard Boyne, Mr. A. W. I'inero, and Mr. Irving all " know" a good dog ; whilst Mr. l'onley does a bit of farming. As an all-round athlete Mr. F. R. Bonsori takes the lead. I shall never (writes a contemporary) forget Liszt as ho stood there in the majesty of his grand old age. His thick, silky hair fell like a veil of snow about his shoulders. His tall, gaunt figure was straight as an arrow. His dark blue eyes were dazzling in their penetrating brilliancy. They were eyes that seemea with one glance to search and know one's inmost soul. His striking aquiline features were full of wonderful expression as he talked. He seemed a god to fear and worship. His sarcasm, his brilliant wit, was beyond conception. I do not believe any man on earth ever contained so much greatness. To call him simply a great musician is to stop at but one quality in his genius. Ho was a great artist, a great writer, a great scholar. He had every accomplishment and every quality which mankind revuros and strives i for.