People

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXX, Issue 28, 10 July 1902, Page 10

People

The Empress Eugenic has passed into her seventy-eighth year, having spent nearly half of her life in exile, and all but thirty years in widowhood. The Papal Envoy to the Coronation, Mgr. Merry del Val, titular Archbishop of Ncaea, and President of the Academy for Noble Ecclesiastics, has presented Sir E. Barton with a gold medal on behalf of his H'oHness the Pope. The Queen-Regent of Spain has conferred the Order of the GoLden Fleece upon President Loubet in recognition, of tho lively sentiments of sympathy and close bonds of friendship existing between Spain and France. The Queen has sent 10,000 francs to aid the victims of the Martinique disaster. His Eminence Cardinal Vaughan is one of the contributors to the new volumes of the ' Encyclopaedia Britannica ; so is Mr. Marion Crawford. On the conclusion of the investiture of the King of Spain with the Order of the Garter, his Majesty~handed the Duke of Connaught a sword to be kept at Windsor Castle. A decree has been issued conferring the Order of the Golden Fleece on the Duke of Connaught. Mr. Patrick O'Sullivan, a young American pianist, who is studying ati present in Berlin, has been spoken of by Liebling, the German musical critic, as likely to do for Ireland what Chopin aid for Poland, and Liszt for Hungary- This high praise has been evoked by the composition of seven piano pieces, entitled 'Irlandese,' which contains some remarkable music. \ A Rome correspondent states that) Cardinal Ledochowski, the Polish noble, one of three surviving Cardinals who received the purple from the hands of Pius IX., has lost the sight of both his eyes, and several members of his family have arrived in Home to remain with the aged prelate for the rest of his days. The Cardinal is the head of the house of Ledochowski, that bore the title of Count before the Hohenzollerns were ever heard of. Prince Henry of Prussia, whilst at Donegal (Ireland) with the German scj.uadron, called at the Fahan Post OUice, and bought specimen stamps of each value obtainable, and then asked for a post-card. He expressed the opinion that it should be sold to him at its face value, but the postmistress hesitatingly pointed out that he must pay also the value attached to the card. Which shows that Prince Henry has all the business genius of his nation. Australia has, it seems, says the ' Westminster Budget,' more members of Parliament per head of population than any other civilised community on earth. The mere statement that, excluding New Zealand, Australia possesses no fewer that 14 Houses pf Parliament, counting 751 members 1 , for a population of less than 4,000,000, is a bit of arithmetic calculated to ' make all sober Australians sigh, and the nest of the outside; world grin.' Germany, with a popu-

lation of 50,000,000, has 459 members of Parliament ; Australia with less than 4,000,000, has 751 members of Parliament. What is it makes the soil of Australia so pro- . line of legislators ? Queen Maria Christina has laid down the Regency — the longest of all Spanish Regencies — and on the occar sion of doing so (says an exchange) ha& addressed to the Spanish people a letter reflecting the dignity and good sense which have marked her conduct of affairs during the 16 years that she has been at the head of the monarchy. She observes that, owing to tho good-will and affection she has received from all classes of the "nation, and their loyalty and confidence, Spain went through a profound crisis under conditions that) augur well for the future. If the Queen retained the confidence of the people as a whole, it is because at a crucial time they could not but recognise her fearless courage and uncommon tact. She has been a true friend to Spain not only as Regent, but also as King Alfonso's moth'en, for he could not have been better fi,t u ted for his higher duties than by the training obtained at her. hands. Victor Hugo,, in hisi work ' La Pitie Supreme,' powerfully depicts the injury, done to subjects by filling with domineering pride the minid of a child, destined to be a ruler. How Queen Maria Christina cautioned her sani against this evil is illustrated- "by an incident which Mdlle. Vacaresco relates in the ' Review of Reviews.' At the age of six the little fellow spoke in a haughty way to an equerry. The Queen then brought a number of children to the palace and placed them and the King before a mirror. He was by no means the handsomest, and his mother said : ' You see, if there can be. any difference between you and others that difference must exist in yo.ur soul, in your kindness and good qualities, since God, Who alone is our master, has created so many human creatures superior to "you in appearance.' From that time forward Alfonso betrayed 1 no traces of unwonthy pride. The members of the Liberal party in Canada, as a token of their esteem for their distinguished leader, have presented Sir W. Laurier with his portrait.