People We Hear About

New Zealand Tablet, Volume 40, Issue 40, 1 October 1903, Page 10

People We Hear About

Mr. Blake, M.P., has been obliged by ill-health to relinquish the position of Chief Advocate of the Canadian Government before the Alaskan Boundary Commis-. sion. The aged Spanish Cardinal, Monsignor Herrero y Espinosa, who was taken so seriously ill at the Conclave that he had to be anointed, has returned to Spain greatly improved in health. Contrary to what the papers say (writes a Rome correspondent) I am in a position to tell you that Pius X. is not a linguist in the common sense of the word But he speaks French well, and German fairly well ; English he reads and writes well, but his conversation is hesitating. A oorresponfient of the London • Catholic Times ' says that few probably (if any) of those who listened to Father Chase's earnest words at the recent Canterbury pilgrimage were aware that som« five or six and twenty years ago he used, as- a young Hussar officer, to march tuhe Catholics to divine service, he being then a Protestant. Times are indeed changed, and we with them. The cavalry subaltern after .all these years comes back a venerable priest. Sir Frederick Matthew Darley, Chief Justice of New South Wales, has just entered on his 74th year. He was born in County Wicklow on September 18, 1830, being son of the late Mr. Henry Darley. He was educated at Dungannon College, and graduated B.A. at Trinity College at the age of 21. Two years later he was called to the Irish Bar, and practised for a time in the Munster Circuit. He came out to Australia early in the sixties, and soon after was admitted to the New South Wales Bar. In 1868 he was called to the Legislative Council, and 10 years later was made Q.C. In 1886 he refused the Chief Justiceship, but being pressed to accept it he was sworn in on the following year, when he? was,^ also knighted. In connection with the recent unveiling of a monument to John Boyle O'Reilly in. Dowth Churchyard, it is interesting to note (says ' New Ireland ') thiat the literary genius which was so strongly .developed in the Irish poet and patriot has been inherited to a large degree by his daughter., Miss Eliza Boyle O'Reilly. This lady has a volume in the press entitled, ' My Candles and other poems.' Referring to the subject, an American critic writes : ' There is surely an inheritance of genius, and it is proved in the case of a gifted daughter of the late lamented John Boyle O'Reilly who offers her first book. The magic of the great name of the man we so much admired would in any case have prepared a welcome for these poems, btut their own merit is sucn that they are independent of any such supporting strength. A very conspicuous figure at the reception given to Mr. Bourke Cockran, at the Irish Club, London, recently, was the veteran Irish patriot, Mr. John O'Leary. Mr. O'Leary, who was on one of his periodical visits to the English metropolis, looks hale and erect, notwithstanding his years, now more than three score and ten. Many of those present who saw him for the first time could not refrain from admiring his splendid features, his finely-shaped head, long grey hair and beard, the piercing bright eyes, which flash from under heavy brows. His frame is lithe, rather than robust, and well-knit. A great reader of books, he is said to possess the largest libralry of any man in Dublin, and during his visits to London he spends a good deal of his time going the round of second-hand bookshops. On Saturday morning, August 8, in St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery, Kensal Rise, the funeral took place of the late Mr. Phil May in the presence of a large number of mourners and friends. Following were .five mourning coaches, containing, amongst others, Mr. Charles May (brother), Sir F. C. Burnand (editor of ' Punch '), Dr. Gibson, Mr. Dudley Hardy, and Mr. A. Ramsden. The service at the graveside was conducted by the Rev. Father Smith, the cemetery chaplain. Among those present at the graveside, in addition to the mourners, were Lord Mountmorres, Mr. Henry Luther, Mr. F. Anstey Guthrie Mr. E. T. Reed, and Sir William Treloar. Wreaths were sent by Mrs. May, inscribed « From his loving wife,' Sir Alexander McKenzie, Sir William Treloar Mr E. T. Reed, Mr. and Mrs. Raven-Hill, Mr. Archibald Ramsden, the ' V.D.C. Club, Mr. John W. Ross Mr. Bernard Evans, Mr. and Mrs. Max Pemberton, members of the Savage Club, members of the Chelsea Arts Club Sir F. C. and Lady Burnand, members of the 1 Punch ' staff,' and old boys of the ' Daily Graphic.' The ■ Catholic Herald ' states that Mr. May was a convert to the Catholic Church.