People We Hear About

New Zealand Tablet, 15 October 1908, Page 28

People We Hear About

Hon. William Dillon, brother of Mr. John Dillon, M.P., has been chosen Dean of the Lincoln College of Law of St. Ignatius College, Chicago. _ . t Justin McCarthy, in a letter on the death of Alfred Webb,says : ' No Irish patriot who ever laid down his life for his country was more devoted to the cause' of -Ireland.' The famous Gaelic scholar, Kuno Meyer, a German, has been appointed to the new Celtic chair at Liverpool University. Meyer is considered the most erudite Gaelic scholar -in the world to-day. ... The entrance by the Earl of Wemyss into his ninety-first yearhas brought to the public remembrance . another nonagenarian peer in the person of Lord Gwydyr. This venerable peer was present, it may be recalled, not only at the coronation . of the late Queen Victoria, but at those of her two immediate predecessors — George IV. and William IV. The Earl of Newburgh, a Catholic nobleman, who died in 1 Rome on August 3, in his ninety-first year, was a Roman Prince (Sigismund Guistin'iani Bandini) as well as a British Earl. He had an uncle a Cardinal. His British title came to him fronv his mother, the eighth Countess of Newburgh in her own right. She in turn was descended from King Edward I. There are heirs to the title. _ Madame de Navarro (Mary Anderson) entered on her fiftieth! year on Tuesday, July 28, and the ' statement is borne out bydocumentary evidence of her birth at Sacramento in 1858.. Twelve of those years — from her sixteenth to her twenty-eighth — were spent on the stage. But the glamor of the footlights soon, palled. Miss Andeison settled down to a calm life at oldfashioned Broadway, a quaint spot in the heart ''of England,. where there is an American colony to keep green the memory of Mme. de Navarro 's native land. Lord and Lady Bellew, who recently celebrated their silver wedding, have long been among the most popular of the Irish 1 nobility. Lady Bellew is the eldest sister of Sir Humphrey de Trafford, and consequently a member of one of the most ancient of English Catholic families. But from her early married days, she has completely identified herself with the interests of her adopted country. Indeed, both Lord Bellew and she pass the greater portion of their time at their Irish seat, Barmeath CastleLord Bellew is one of the few Irish Catholic peers who have beeni elected to a seat in the House of Lords by their brother peers. Lord and Lady Bellew have no children, and the heir presumptive is his lordship's brother, Major George Bryan, who is himself at. considerable landowner, having succeeded to his mother's fine property of Jenkinstown, in Kilkenny. The Rev. F. C. Kolbe, the able and talented editor of the Catholic Magazine for South Africa, announces his retirement from the editorial chair at the end of this year. Father Kolbe has edited our South African contemporary for a period nf eighteen years, during which time he has done splendid work for the faith in his native land His retirement will probablymean that the Catholic Magazine will cease publication, and leave, the whole of South Africa without a Catholic, organ. There is some talk of starting a weekly Catholic paper in Capetown, but many are pf opinion that it would not be a financial success. Dr." Kolbe, who is a recognised authority on educational matters, intends to devote l>imself, for a time .at least, to visiting the Catholic schools in various parts of South Africa, and giving such assistance to teachers as would- help them to keep more xin touch" with the educational world. Dr. Kolbe, who is a son of a minister of. the Dutch Reformed Church, .was born in. 1852. After "a, course of study in South Africa, he entered the London University, where he obtained first class honors in mathematics, jurisprudence, and Roman law. Having been received into the - Catholic' Church, -he entered the English College, Rome, in 1877, and was ordained for the English mission; instead, he v returned to work among his own people in South Africa in 1882. .The devoted son - and' his father occupied for some years the same-.district, the one as_a priest, the other as a Protestant clergyman. Dr. Kolbe has long been a leading figure on South African platforms, especially in connection with movements for 1 the extension of educational facilities. General Sir William Butler, in one o,f his works, describes Dr. Kolbe as 'one of South Africa's greatest sons.' J-Ie is the author of several works, while his reputation as a botanist and geologist stands among the highest in South Africa.