PERSONAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2368, 20 July 1899, Page 59

PERSONAL NOTES.

— Count Tolstoi, although such an idealist and lover of peace, was a soldier when a young man. j — Lord Bute is not only highly distin- = guished as an antiquary, but he is probably the mosl_ eminent amateur architect in the world. — Lord Salisbury has often expressed regret for the fact that he has no profound knowledge of English classics. He is said to be " a man of few authors," but those he has studied he knows well. — Miso Frances Powers Cobbe is one of the ! oldest living lady journalists. It has been claimed (or her that she was actually tho first lady to do regular office work on the editorial staff of a London daily. > — Lord Wolseley has now entered upon the forty-eighth year of his military service, j During, that time ha has earned 11 war medals ! and eight other decorations, and about a do- j zen clasps for battles and actions. I — Tho Prince of Wales, fashionable though i he is in most respects, keeps religiously to-one style of 3lik hat. No matter now abruptly • the fashion may change, he is unaffected by it. The Prince prefers ease and suitability to the discomfort produced by constant chang- — Mr* Langtry's racing establishment at Regal Lodge, Keniford, is only a small place, although most beautifully famished and decorated. Indeed, says a gossip, of all the racing boxes of the English great world in and around Newmarket, there is not one that can compare in comfort, taste, and luxury with Mrs Langtry's place. She has about 'd\i horses in training. — Lord Russell, of Killowen, owes his marvellous advancement as much. to his indomitable pluck as to his great ability. Bom nearly 67 years ago in Ireland, he was called to the bar at the age of 27, and after nearly abandoning the law in despair, reached in 1886 the dignity of Attorney-general, arid, what was more gratifying still, an income of £30,000 a year. — The Emperor William, on his return from i the Orient, presented the Sultan of Turkey j with a perfect model of the most modern ! Krupp field gun introduced into the German army. This shrewd move on the part of the Emperor has resulted in an order from the Sultan for the purchase of 162 Krupp field gunp, together with 30,000 shrapnel shells. —Mr Herbert Spencer is now living in strict seclusion at Brighton, the state of his health being such that his replier are limited to letters of immediate personal concern, A friend, inquiring .as to the health of Mr Spencer, had tho pleasure of receiving th« following reply : — -?' Thanks for your inquiry. lam about up to par, and not without hope of rising above 'it presently. — H. S.*' —Dr Hicks, fii&hop of Bloemfontein, presided over the- largest episcopal see_ in the world. His diocese consists of the' Orange Free State, and of Basuloland, Griqualand, and Bcchurtimland. Thisvast see covers an area of 100,000 square miles. The bishop is one of the few clergymen who are experts in natural science. He studies medicine, and has the degrees of M.D., M.R.C.P., and F.R.C.P. He is the author of a text book on inorganic chemistry. — General Sir Arthur Cotton, R.E., EC.S.L, tlte doyen of the military profession, has just completed his ninety-sixth year. He entered the Madras army in 1819, became Colonel of Engineers in 1854-, and served in the Burmese war. In 1861 he received the honour of knighthood for his activity in developing the cotton-growing capabilities of India. Sir Arthur has enjoyed remarkably good health ir his old age — a gratifying circumstance, which he attributes to total abstinence from alcohol and tobacco, and great moderation in eating. • — The Marquis of Bute, in his love of all things ancient, is the Lord Elgin of to-day, with all the enthusiasm of the ambassador to whom we owe the Elgin marbles and even more than his wealth. His reading is largely antiquarian, and he has made many valuable contributions to our knowledge of past ages. He has spent thousands of pounds in exploring and renovating the House of Falkland, his Fifeshiro seat, and has had many happy hours in superintending the excavations and in helping to unearth secret corridors and chambers which . had not seen the light for centuries. —M. Rochef ort, who at 66 retains much of the fiery ardour which consumed him at 26, is in some ways the most remarkable journalist in the world. His extreme views and intemperate words havo brought on him as many convictions in courts of law as the years he has spent in journalism. Two of his sentences have been foi life, and he would have required as many lives as the proverbial cat to complete the term of his sentences. By his skill in exiling himself he has reduced his term of actual imprisonment to an average of

abt)uf"one month, for each sentence. He has spent- many years of exile, and some ot his most fiery effusions have been sent from London to his Paris paper, L'lntransigeant. He has, however, the "quality of his defects," and is as warm-hearted as he is rash," and ag, charming to .those who know him as he is clever. — Monsignor Brindle, who has been consecrated in Rome bishop to. assist Cardinal Vaughan in the diocese of Westminster, will ba sorely missed in the army, where he was idolised by officers and men of all coeds. Monsignor Brindle, who is 62 years of age, studied for the priesthood at the English College in Lisbon, and during the early days of his careei was assistant priest at Plymouth. Cathedral.' In 1874- he was appointed Chaplain to the Forces. In 1885 he became a firstclass chaplain, with the rank of colonel. He has seen much active service, and Jias been mentioned four timer in official dispatches, mid possesses a greater number of medals than any other military chaplain, Protestant or Catholic. He especially distinguished himself at the battle of lel-el-Kebii\ and has received the Distinguished Service Order.* During the last Soudan wai he walked on one> occasion a distance of 20 miles to "administer religious c'onsolatioh to a dying soldier. — Lord Hugh Cecil is now regarded as one of the ablest debaters in the House. He is to-day what his father was when Lord Robert Cecil. There is the same - fearlessness, the same ineisiveness, the same readiness. Every speech adds evidence of his intellectual adroitueps. If he were not the son. of the Prims Minister he would bo certain of the offer of the first vacancy in the Government. Several members have made brilliant maiden speeches or have shone _ oii some- particular occasion, but Lord Hugh' Cecil alone has sustained and oven increased the reputation made on a suecessf til first appearance. * Lord Hugh is entirely a man of intellect. In him the body seems as nothing. Very tall he is, also very thin ; he stoops, like his father, he drags his long legs, and his face is excessively pale. The House is thoroughly convinced of Lord Hugh's sincerity, ancl listens to his speeches with the respect due to a man of exceptional cupacity -who thinks and who says what he thinks. This respefct is not lessened by his zeal for the Church of England.