PERSONAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2509, 16 April 1902, Page 66

PERSONAL NOTES.

-Lord St. Le\ an, one of the meet genial and popular members of the Peerage, is ,iUo one of the mart youthful septuagonanan.s in Kngland. He not only looks many years younger than his age, but in most athletic feuts could lompete successfully w ith men young enough to be his sons. He io a splendid swimmer, and is, in fact, as much at home in the water as on land; and tan still walk 40 miles a day. He is immensely rich, and as «ineerely unaffected and popular as he is wealthy. — The Earl of Clarendon, as Lord Chamberlain, derides what plays may be licensed am! what may not on the recommendation of his reader. Lord Clarendon, who wafe 56 on February 11, sat for a year or two in the House of Commons, a* M.P. for Brecon, having been returned when he was only 23. The death of his father in 1870, however, railed him to the Upper Hou-e. He i-> one of the A.D.C's of tho King, and has for 10 years been Lord Lieutenant of Hertfoulshire. — Loid Colchester is well known by reason <<f the fact that he was some yeais ago a member of the London School Board ; while at Oxford, where ho had a brilliant career, he was at one time examiner in law and history He was private secretary to the late Sir Stafford Northcotc when president of the Board of Trade and to the late Lord Derby \v hen Fin?t Lord of the Treasury. Among the books he hab published are those relating to the political career of the first Lord Ellenborough, who was his grandfather. He attained the age of 60 on Febiyary 13. — A distinguished mihtaiy career hat been that of Lieutenant-colonel Sir Henry Seymour Rawlinson, who was 38 on February 20. Early in his career he was A.D.C. to the then Sir Frederick, now Lord, Roberto, when ho was Cummanclor-iii Chief in India, and he -erwd with tho mounted in fanny dining the Jimma campaign, for which he obtained the- nied.il ami < lai-p. Later on he cm haiiß'-d into the Coldi-trcam Guardi-, and was D.A.A G. in the Egyptian Expeditionary Foi cc of 1898. yen ing in that capacity to the Sirdar in the Soudan campaign, and he was pre-ent ;it the battles of Atbara and Khartoum. In mihtaiy rinles he is well known by reason of hi 1 - publication, "The Offiec-ib' >>ot<- book."' — yntil tho recent appointment of ViceAdmiral Sn Harry Rawson to the- Governcr&hjp A New South Wale-, the office wa* held from 1899 by Earl Beauchamp, who completed his thirtieth year on February 20 When he ffa- only 23 ho wa^ elected mayoi of Worcester, while a couple of yeais latei on ho filled a scat on the London School Board. Perhaps all that iva» expected of his loid-iiiip'- (Jo\ernor»hip of the colony pias not boon i<\ih-od: but tie will long be [l enu inhered n~ one oi tin- \i un<;e = r i:cn ,'oiu from honi- to lijuc-'iit tin. Ciow.n a s itlig kt^id of a colony.

f —Mr Clark Russell, the famous novelist, was 58 years of age on February 24-. It is curious to think of the writer of .the most successful sea stories of our time living far away from the sea, but so it is, for Mr Russell is crippled by rheumatism and lives afc Bath. His great knowledge of the sea is derived from the fact that between the ages of 13 and 21 he was in the British merchant service, but he gave it up for literature. "John Holdsworth, Chief Mate," was pxiblished in 1874, while the "Wreck of the Grosvenor,"' which may be said to have made his reputation, appeared in the following year. Mr Russell's father, Henry Russell, was one of the greatest song-writers of hij time. — There was a decided appropriateness in the selection of the Duke of Argyll as. representative of the King at the funeral of Lord Dufferin. Not only is his Grace one of the greatest of Scotch nobles and brother-in-law of his Majesty, but he immediately succeeded the Earl of Dufferin (as he then was) as Governor-General of Canada. Lord Dufferin reigned in Ottawa in somewhat difficult times (1872-78). When he loft Canada he had the pleasure of handing over to his successor the management of a great dominion in which all ran smoothly. It is curious to reflect that at that time the Duke, although son-in-law to Queen Victoria, wasi a Commoner, his official style being the Right Tlon. Sir .John Campbell, K.T. He is now the MacCallum More — head of the great Campbell Clan, as well as a minor poet. Ho is also by way of being an amateur journalist. —Dr Kuyper, the Dutch Prime Minister, is regarded as tho most powerful man in. Holland. He seems to have won this position by his amazing powers of work, his splendid, if pompous, oratory, and his energy and even fury in debate. As a theologian he is a man after Mr Kruger's own heart, and in many parts of Holland Dr Kuyper'a church is much better attended than its State rival. An American writer who saw him some years ago has described his appearance: — "His clothes were rather illfitting; he wore a brown flannel shirt and! a stained collar. His thin black hair was parted in »he middle. He slipped quietly into a corner of the church, apparently oblivious of the fact that every eye was bent o.i him. I was so seated that I could study him quietly, and soon detected that this unconsciousness was only apparent. His black eye. glittering as dark steel, scanned his surroundings ; it ib tho very centre of his power. I saw him in oratorical motion the next day, when he swept tho masses as does the storm, a field of grain. Dr Kuyper is in his sixtyfifth year. — ■ Sir West Ridgeway leaves Ceylon for London in April and will attend the Coronation as representative for all the Eastern colonies — i.e., Singapore, Hongkong, and Borneo, a- well as that islo Where every prospect pleases, And only man is vile, though the last statement, pace Bishop Hcber, can be accepted only in a Pickwickian sense. Sir Joseph West Ridgeway has just been elected a member of the Athencpum under the rule admitting men distinguished in literature, science, and art. He will worthily represent that part of the " gorgeous East " ruled by the Colonial Office. His experiences as soldier, diplomat, and administrator have been very varied. With Afghan and Muscovite, Manxman andi Moor, Irish and Cingalese, he has wrestled} successfully. His present post he has ao ably filled that his appointment, which expires this month, has, at Mr Chamberlain's request, been extended until October, 1903. — Viscount Clandeboye, who has now succeeded to the Marque&site of Dufferin, rendered illustrious by his distinguished father, is assuied of the sympathy of everyone in the difficult position he ib called upon to fill. He had been heir for two years only, the Earl of Ava, his lder brother, beingmortally wounded whilst acting as galloper to Sir George White during the siege of Liulysmith. Lorji Clandeboye did not assume 1m brother's title : it was felt that ifc should be held s-acred in honour of him who had borne it so well. The Blackwood estates in County Down are not extensive, and in reci nt yean, the rent roll has decreased nearly 50 per cent. Hence it is probable that the now peer may retain the clerkship at the Foreign Office. A.s attache and junior secretary hi" lordship has served at Constantinople, Faru, and Stockholm, and he holds the rank of second secretary in the diplomatic service. His wife makes one more American lady in the ranks of the peereses-. Slip was formerly Miss Flora Davis, daughter of Mr John H. Day is, of New York, and; was married to Lord Clandeboye in 1893. — A distinguished Irishman has remarked that the only thing the English are good for in Ireland ib to govern. The confessed inability of the sons of Erin «o govern themselves does not prevent them ruling over other people We might instance Lord Duffcrm and many another distinguished Irishman. The example most apropos, however. i-i Lord Ranfurly, whose Governorship of New Zealand has been &o successful that he had been asked to continue in that office another year. Like many of the best Ulster families the ancestors of the Earls of Ranfurly came from Scotland. Phey are of than same border clan of which John Knox, tho lcfcrmer, was a member. The present peeiib a comparatively young man, he is 46. Succeeding to the family estates at the age of 20, he devoted himself to their management. He also acquired large interests in the "irrigation colonies" in Victoria. In 1895 ho became a Lord-in-Waiting, and having fallen under the keen eye of Mr Chamberlain, he was chosen in 1897 to go out as Governor of the most democratic country in the world' — for such is New Zealand. Both Lord Ranfurly and his wife are extremely popular with the colonists of that land — Last, lonelie-st, loveliest, exquisite, apart. Lord Ranfurly has a bent for natural lmtoiy. and has enriched the collections of the British Museum with many birds and beasts.