Personalities.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 389, 22 October 1903, Page 7

Personalities.

MOTHER OP CLEVEB CHILDREN. SSK.HE Countess of Minto is a remark'§s% able clover woman, and it is a %s&s point with her that whatever she takes in hand she does well and thoroughly, This is the reason, I suppose, that her two delightful daughters, Ladies Ruby and Eileen, are such clever girls. The,likeness to their mother is, in a sense, *';.yery marked. As many remember, the.Countsss was the daughter of the late Hon. Charles Grey, and married the Earl in 1883, when he was secretary to the Governor-General of Canada. £

THE CZAR OPE THE RACK. ' Uneasy lies the head th*t wears a crown,' is a proverb the truth of which events conspire to prove. If what one hears is true the most uneasy head is that of the ' Czar of all the Russias/ whose title of the 'father of his people,' would seem to be a misnomer, so elaborate are the preparations which one is always assured are taken to protect the imperial life from designs of Nihilists and others. There" are times when the Czar is able to put eff his crown, metaphorically speaking at all ovents, and with it to put aside an appreciable portion of the uneasiness which it brings. This he does wbea he is at Livadia, where, a iih the Czarina and their four children, His Mijesiy haa been staying for some time. Nothing could be lean pretentious than the simple mode of existence of the monarch who is the richest in the whole world-a* the present time;

THE LITTLE ARCHDUCHESS. The two elder of the four Archduchesses, as the clildren are styled, invariably lunch with their pirents, buag only absent if they have company. The Czarina herself speaks in the most unaffected manner possible of them, and if an honoured guest talks of the little ones with their proper title as ' Archduchesses,' she will interrupt and speak of ' the children.' To such a guest she recently said that the only reason why the children were absent from the meal which he was invited to share was that • they are so lively they might disturb us with their chatter, and she added, ' they are very grieved when thej are excluded irom tab'e.' I was shown some photographs of them the other day. They all certainly appear to be very attractive children, but, for my own part I should be inclined to awaid the palm for looks to the Princess Maiie, the third of the children.

THE 'FOOLHARDY.' It is of a Dr. Williamson, who during part of the eighteenth century was vicar of Moulton, Lincolnshire, that he had a violent quarrel with ona of his parishioners, of the name of Hardy, who showed considerable resentment. On the following Sunday the doctor ia said to have preached from the following text, which h9 pronounced with particular emphasis, and with a significant look at Mr Hardy, who was present: 'There is no fool like the foolhardy.' It was an irreverent, but witty perversion, illustrating, says the writer, the manner and taste of the period.

HEREDITARY RIGHTS. At a recent debate amoag the members of a literary society in the Unite d States on the question, ' Should Capital Punishment be Abolished P' a speaker in the negative took the position that as the general sense of justice of mankind for centuries had justified the death penalty for great crimes, therefore those of this generation ought not to abolish it. * for,' said he, 'if hanging was good enough for my father, it is good enough for me.'

THE DATS OP HiRD DKINKING. The following may prove- interesting in these days of temperance reform. In the ' Gentlemen's Magazine' of 1736 is recorded a proposal made in Parliament in February of: that year,' to lay such a duty on distilled spirituous 'liquors as might prevent the ill-consequences of the poorer sort drinking them to excess.' It is uither stated that tbe inecription in a tavern of that day of ' Drunk for a penny, dead drunk for twopence, clean straw for nothing,' was no uncommon thing. One of the most singular pieces of legislation connected with early liquor reform was, the ' Tippling Act' of George 11, passed in 1751. By this Act it was solemnly enacted that no debt should be recoverable which tvas contracted in respect of spirituous liquor, unless it amounted to twenty shillings or upwards, and had been incurred at.one time. The result is obvious, but -we understand it is law to this day.