Personalities, .

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 404, 4 February 1904, Page 2

Personalities, .

BUSSES HEIB SfJSRHE Bobbish succession is the moat ■ gfefflb uncertain in ■ the world. The, Qw Grand Duke Michael still atond* ,- , /' v next to the throne, and a at?oke of fate4»-morrow might put Mm iafpbwer. He ewes his dazzling position to a series of pathetic accident* 5 * almost without parallel in the stories of The Grand Duke Michael was. the' younger of the Czar's two brothers, and seemed: a long way from the.throne when he was | born. Bat; the pathos of circumstances has brought him very near to the crown. His elder brother, the Grand Dnke George and the sons of Czsr Nicholas seemed destined to come between the Grand Dnke Michael and the crown, but the incurable illness of the Grand Dnke George compelled him to abandon his claim to the throne before he met his death in the | Caucasus, and the Czar's hope for a son has been five -times disappointed. It ia not easy to avoid contusion in speaking of the Enseian Heir-Apparent, There are three Grand Dukes Michael. The Grand Duke who seems destined to reign over Bussia some day is a young man of 23, whom the Society paragraphista have engaged to nearly every manageable princess in Europe. He will be twenty-four in December, but he is still free from a formal engagement, in spite of hia frequent visits to foreign courts. As he cannot, owing to his religion marry a first cousin, and the Pope is sad to decline to countenance the 'conversion' of a Boman Catholic princess, the Grand Duke has little chance save to do as the Czars have done ,for over a hundred years, and marry into a German family.

SIB CHABIES DILKE. Sir Charles has bad a lengthy Parliamentary career, and is in a fair way to become the 'Father' of the House of Commons. Thirty years ago Six Charles was a Bcrutineez of the Civil List, and he eat below the gangway, one of the little group of rather nebulous political stars, nicknamed 'the Dilkey Way.' Ten years later he was already on the path of political promotion. One night at his bouse in Sloane Street, two mysterious ladles came with a message of pressing importance. By the mere chance they had become aware of a secret plot discussed by two men standing in the street below; they came with their information to Sir Charles, and by this timely warning was frustrated an attempt to blow up the yard at Purfleet. The name of Dilke will always be thus most closely associated with the ' Athesseum,' but the grandfather of the present Sir Charles Dilke was not, as he is often stated to have been, the actual originator of the paper. Mr. James 8. Buckingham, who after some rather unlucky newspaper experiences in Calcutta, returned to England in 1823, and afterwards started the ' Atherseum,' disposing of it before he went into Parliament for Sheffield in 1632. Dilke, the purchaser, never spent £SOO tu better purpose.

DB. HYDE, The very life of the Gaelic Bevival movement in the Emerald Isle* is Dr Douglas Hyde, whose play in Irish, •Casadh an t-Sugan I '—'The Twisting of the Rope '—is being produced in London. He is the president of the Gaelic League, an organisation which has taken a very remarkable hold on the Irish people—a far stronger hold than the political organisation. A Trinity College man of great distinction as a scholar, Dr. Hyde is the Bon of a Connaught clergyman From his earliest years he has spoken in the Irish tongue, that being the language of the peasantry of his native locality. His collection of Irish Folk-lore stories and his translation of 'The Love Songs of Connaught' are amongst his most interesting works. An indefatigable worker, he has never lost heart in the Gaelic Bevival movement even when the support it received in Ireland was worse than lukewarm. It was his cheerful spirit and never-failing hope in the future of the movement which helped more than anything else to arouse that enthusiasm which is now its distinguishing feature.

ANIHONY HOPE. * Antf ony Hope' began his career as a barrister, tried for Parliamentary honours and failed; took to writing novels and succeeded; and now seems likely to end in tbe forefront of English dramatists. His new play,' Pinkertoa's Peerage/ was produced recently in London, at the Garriok Theatre. The dramatist was educated at Marlborough, and became a scholar at Balliol College, Oxford, where he gained first-class honours. The author ot' The Prisoner of Z ends' is one of the best known bachelors in London society. He loves the great city. Mr Hope is most sociable by nature; not only does he dine out incessantly, but he is one of those men who take the trouble to entertain their lady friends. 'Anthony Hope' is not his real name. He was born a Hawkins, being the second son of the Rev. E. C. Hawkins, the well-known vicar of St. Bride's, Fleet Street, and nephew of Mr. Justice Hawkins, now known as Baron Brempton. He is a busy man, and not only writes four' or five hours a day, but attends endless charity meetings, and he take 3 an energetic part among other things in the working of the Society of Authors of which he is chairman.

LOED AND LADY LONDONDERRY. Although the study of politics is his chief hobby, Loid Londonderry is an ardent lover of the tnrf. To him the football field ptesents a world of miniature, and the game teaches the lesson ' Do yonx best while yon have power to do it.' Though a cricketer and a keen rider, the Marquis has now to take second place to his eon, Viscount Castiereagh; in the hunting fisld. The Marchioness of Londonderry has always been the greatest assistance to her husband ever since the early day when she helped him to gain his seat in Parliament. A woman of great beauty, charm of manner, and high intelligence, she occupies in London Scciety the high position to which she is justly entitled. A charming hostess, she possesses the art of combining tbe dignity of a grand dame wita the ease and courtesy necessary to make her guests feel at home. The hospitality < flexed to the German Emperor and Empress in 1891 at Londonderry House was One of the greatest events of the yea?, and their Majesties had as fellow guests the present King and Queen and the cream of the aristocracy of England, Saofcland and Ireland. At Wjnyatd and Seaham Lady Londonderry entertained the Prince and Princess of Wales in 1890. Lady Londonderry has taken an active part in founding of schools for the. training of housewives and servants. In the colliery districts of Durham she has established excellent district nursing institutions, which have done much good. Her ladyship was President of the Queen Victoria Memorial Fund Committe, which collected .£66.000 for the endowment of district nurses. An ideal Lady Bountiful, Bhe makes it a rule to shed sunshine wherever she goes. I ;%*■? ■■?;...■ 'J-,-.',;- .. ■■■ .',-;■:.:■

Vincent de Frensy's landlady had been a pearl among women to him, and, generous soul that he was, he felt that some reward was due to her. And bo with fine courtesy he presented her one morning with a small sealed envelope. ' There, madame,' he said, ' is a present such as I would give to few. 'Tis an or-rder, madame—an order-1 for the pit. Come to-night, madame, and see me in my finest part, Herbert Sandbag.' And that night the old lady went to the theatre and saw Vincent. But when he returned to her house after the performance, great was his surprise to find his luggage neatly piled up on the doorstep, and the door itself being barred against him. Viciously he plied the- knocker, and presently the old lady's head appeared. 'Madame,' queried Vincent, 'what means this outrage P* «Look here,' replied the old lady, ' for twenty years I've been a respectable widder-woman, and if you think I'm going to have a villian like you lodging in my , house, why you're mistaken, that's all. I never see such a scoundrel in all my days. Go and make it up with that young feller you've been trying to ruin all the evening. Pr-r-r-hl' -

How It Looked.—Gladys: Has he ever loved bef ore P—John: I judge so. He says he can't remember a Christmas that he hasn't gone broke. ,