PERSONAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Volume 11, Issue 2159, 11 July 1895, Page 42

PERSONAL NOTES.

• . • The King of the Belgians makes only one appearance at public worship in the course of the year. Taia is on the day which commemorates bis accession to the throne. ■ , * Although Henrik Ibsen is the greatest figure in Norwegian literature, he has really no Norwegian blood in bis veins, his ancestors, remote and near, having been Scottish, Danish, and German. ••• Lord Rjsebery has greatly improved as a public speaker of late. Before attaining to the Premiership he had not paid especial attention to his delivery, but Binca his accession to office as Prime Minister he has spent many of his hours of leisure in elocutionary exercise. •.■ Admiral Ting, of the Chinese Navy, and Admiral Ito, of the Japanese Navy, were great personal friends. A few days before the former surrendered at Wei-Hai-Wei the latter advised him in a letter to take refuge in Japan until the war was over. • . • Lord Wolseley has accepted the office of " Gold Stick," vacant by the death o£ Sir Patrick Grant, and will now for the first time don a cavalry uniform. Needless to say, the selection of Lord Wolseley is exceedingly popular with all ranks of the Blues. •.' Prince Bismarck onco declared that lying was part of the duty of a diplomatist, but he preferred to speak the truth, and so did the late Emperor William, who disliked to diverge publicly from it. "H >w hard it was for the old Emperor 1 " said Biomarck. "He invariably blushed on such occasions, and I could net look at him, but turned away." * . * Wagnerian enthusiasts are pleased to learn that the new Cz*r of Russia has a great fondness for German music. He has been a warm admirer of Wagner's operas for several years, and is, like a good many adherents of the German school, apt to be rather extravagant both in his praise of the works of the German masters and in his denunciation of the Italian and French schools. • . • Frederick Yates, the comedian, father of Edmund Yates, introduced the phrase, •' First catch your hare." Among other characters he represented on the stage was that of Mrs Giasße. In this he appeared as a frumpish old lady, ostensibly reading out of a well-thumbed cookery book the following words, written expressly for him by Tom Hood : " Ahem I Hare. First catch your hare. Then do him till he'a done 1 " • . ■ Lord llosbbery has obviously made a complete recovery from his recent illness. His cheeks again wear that ruddy look of healih which is so agreeable and fitting an accompaniment to his extraordinary youthfulness of feature. But in one respect Lord Rosebery has undoubtedly aged, and even with great rapidity. His hair has become most uncompromisingly grey. • . • The Rev. Professor Thoumaian, one of the best-known Armenians in England, is an exile from bia native land, and be owes his life to the influence of bis wife, a talented Swiss lady, who, during her charitable work, has made many friends in England. When her husband was lying under sentence of d^ath on a charge of sedition, she induced the British Government to take up his case*, and was successful in procuring his release. Both the professor and his wife spsak English fluently, but they prefer to converse in French. ■ . • The supposition that all authors are bibliomaniacs is very far from true. Mr William D. Howells, in answer to an inquiry the other day as to whether he was a collector of first editions, replied, with sarcastic emphasis: "No, sir. I am not ju3t that kind of a crank. I have not^even first editions of my own works." Mr John Bunoughs alao declared that he is in "no sense a bibliolater," and that he has no first editions even of his own works, and, furthermore, that he has "little sympathy with this craze." •.• Professor Max Muller has recently received an illuminated parchment address from India, enclosed in a silver casket, which itself represents an Indian manuscript. This offering was the result of a desire, first among the Pandits, or native Smskrit scholar?, to join in the congratulations to the great Orientalist on the occasion of his academical jubilee. Now, however, the address represents the gratitude of all the educated classes of the Indian empire, Mussulmans and Parsee3, as well as Hindus and IndoEuropeans. •.•Mr Erakine, the serjeant-at-arms at the House of Commons, has never yet baen detected with the shadow of a smile on his countenance, even when the whole Chamber, includiog the Speaker and the officials at the table, have been convulsed with laughter at tbo witticism of some popular orator. He conceives it to ba his bounden duty to preEerve absolute gravity on these and all other occasions when in the House. Oatside his duties at St. Stephen's, Mr Erskine is an amiable gentleman and enjoys a joke as heartily as most men. •.■The Queen of England is the oldest reigning sovereign in Europe, but she is only two years the senior of the Grand Duke of Luxemburg, and the King of Denmark is tbree years her junior. The King of Saxony is 66, and the King of Norway and Sweden 65. The youngest European sovereign is the little King of Spain, who is eight years old. Excluding Russia, the most liberal country in regard to the civil list is Austria, which allows nearly one million pounds sterling per annum — more than twice our Queen's allowance ; but tbe pensions given to the Royal Family ia England alone equal the total of the Austrian civil list. • . • Dr W. J. O'Sullivan, the famous New York lawyer and chemical expert, has a curious.collection of relics of criminal ca3es. Ho has a group of skeletons of murderers who wero executed, and each skeleton is articulated like the ostGologicil curiosities in medic '1 museum.*. Hn also po&ecgres a siries of hkuils of notorious evil-doors, burglar^, and others, interesting to the student of crime. A biographical notice is attached to each. These ghastly mementoes have been bought or otherwise acquired in all countries, and amongst them is a pair of human hands, mounted as candjesticks, which once belonged to the body of a French actress who was guillotined for having, through jealoußy, poisoned one of her admirers.

1 . • In spite of hia phenomenal success, M. Zola is not rich. He docs not care for wealth, and spends most of what he makes by his pen. He has, however, handsome apartments in Paris, and a suburban chateau at Medan, which is decorated and furnished after the style of the Middle Ages. This residence was bailt wing by wing with the profits from bis novels. M. Zola's greatest ambition is to become a member of the French Academy. He has presented himself as candidate for the green coat and oocked hat a number of times, but has always failed. The author of " L'Assommoir " declares that he will present himself at each vacancy until he succeeds or until his death, because he thinks that as long as there is an academy his work entitles him to be a member.

• . • A correspondent writes to the West-, minster Gazette: "Mr Gully, the new Speiker, is a gentleman of great general information and of -the highest literary culture. I once travelled with him some years ago from Carlisle to Euston. He knew the name of every stream, even the smallest, over which our train passed. He also pointed out the various spots of historic interest, the scenes of battles and of skirmishes in the Wars of the Roses and of the Rebellion. In passing .through Warwickshire Mr Gully became quite enthusiastic in his praises of George Eliot's country, and of its effect on her genius and her writings."