ABOUT PEOPLE.
At the banquet giwi to Mark Twain by Harper's directors to celebrate his 67th birthday,.when the huinowrist got a chance at hat to k>ply he let himself loose for about thiiiy-five minutes. He wae never brigbter, lie was never more sardonic, he was never sweeter, he never more successfully brought humour and pathos into closer or finer relationship in all his lift. He eimply revelled in renuLniscence, characterisation, and gratitude. This, much foreshortened, is what he said about John Hay:—"More tiun fifty years ago both of us were barefooted boys, getting stone bruises, and not breaking the Sabbath more than once a week, out West. And now look at us. He has been poet, author, soldier, diplomat, orator, historian, and is now Seotetary of State. Amd I—l1 —I «ni a gentleman. It ie given to every American to become what he ia fit for." And this he also aaid):—"There are tifty-four men here. Of them thirty-nine are my <z*nr personal friends. They know me end; I know tihem. Of the remaining fifteen lam confldient. <thaA I can borrow money." And he eadd very much more, closing with a eplend'idi tribute to hie wife as the oett of consorts, the truest of ifdends, the kindest of critics, and adding:—"Her heart, my heart, our single heart, you will find full of love and memory for you all. My birthday will be Sunday, and hers, Gcd ole*s 'hsi , ! was Thursday."
In tlie last full working year before ho became Loi-d Chief Jusbice of England, Lord Russell earned meariy £1000 a fortnight, in four months of 1894, before he succeeded to the beaioh, Lord Russell's income was over £10,000, the total for 1899 being £22,517. In 1892 the. total reached £15,299; in 1891, £13J83; in 1890, £16,077; in 1899, £17,913; in 1888, £14,028; and in 1887, £16,651. In six years, therefore, this famous lawyer earned £100,000—in epite »f the Irish, brogue which, somebody once told him would lose ihim £500 a yea,r. "I would not giv« it up for five bundrcd pounds," said the loyal Irishman.
A marriage has been arranged between Mr Charles Grant and Lady Sybil Primrose, elder daughter of Lord Kosebery. Mr Oharke Grant ie a ision of Sir Robert Grant, an officer in the Goldstream Guards, and a very keen soldier. He served in South Africa, em& wbb present -with Lord Metkiens foroe at Belmont. Lady Sybil Primrose has for several years been an important personality in the higthest society. She would be the first to disclaim the description of a beauty, but she has a face of brilliant intoUtgeace and the brain of a man in politics and literature. She may not possess *be gafetv and ready wit- of her sieter, Lady Crewe, cays "M.A.P.," but ehe hue bexxo. deeply educated, iiae a keen interest in serious subjects, and a remarkable power for organisation.
~The officdftl biogirapher of the late Poet Laureate left little, of importance for other gleaners in the same field, but attempts are occasionally made'to euipplenveßt what iwe already know of the poet. The latest effort ia tthis direction ie a little book, "Glimpses of Tennyson of v&onte of hk Rektiona and Friends." by Agnts Grace I Wevd..a niieoe by inannage of th« late Laureate, w9io enjoyed his close friendk sihip. Tennyson* sympathy with Nature led him to mourn the cutting' down of tbeea "as if -iiuey were, .lake tlie grove in Dante's Inferno, the abode'of his personal friends, and specially dlid he grieve if the axe emote them in the summer-time. I well remember ibis gazing long upon a horse chestnut that had continued to put forth flowers after it had been felled to the earth. .'Look at it, , he said, 'staetcihing' out a ueseecuing arm and <bkssomdng on, its bloom* unfolding in all «&eir beauty," quite uoconecious tihat tJaey can never torn to fruitage. How like they are to eoine men, who appear bloemrjig outwardly and think that they are liviag, wihikt they are dead within.'" He eoolded'the author on one occasion severely when he met her trundling along a wheelbawow thai ehe had filled with daffodMe picked , in Farringford Home Park, telling her "how wrong it was U> waste in that, way the good gifts of GodV since, wihile I would derive no more enjoynienit' from' these of plucked Wofleoios than from r haif "a dozen, if left on tOjeir own jwote they would iiave lasted double the time as a joy for many to look upon. , Tennyson, we are told, ielfc that the gift of poetry had , been bestowed , on him as
"■ a great trust" thai it might be " a vehicle in which ne was permitted to convey, to his fellow-men the message he had received from the Master ": —" Hβ told me that hie sense of the divine source of thie gift waa almost awful to him, jtince he felt that every word of his should be consecrated to the service of Him who had touched his lips with thatfire of Heaven which was to enable ton to speak in God'e' same to hie »ge." He used to say that " nothing I h>» had ever written seemed to him to have reached that perfection short' of which he must never rest, and that all be could hope was that he had brought men a little i nearer to God." t Th* preparations for euoh &' visit as that which the King and Queen recently paid to Lord and . Lady Howe are not small. The suites of apartments for their Majes. ties must be painted, decorated, and famished absolutely de novo." Not "even a window curtain or a chair must have been used before. The list of gueste to be invited is submitted 1 for tie King's approval, and the invitation* which have the force of a Royal command are sent in the King's .name. Even the menus of the meals to be served must receive the Royal approval, as eleo the programme of each day** events. Arrangements have also to "be made with the Poet Office for telegraphic facilities, the King being accompanied everywhere by his private telegraphist. When Queen Alexandra visit* the photographer, she usually arranges that her fitting ehall take place in the morning. A special studio is set apart for the Queea and other members of the Royal family. It is approached by a private door, which leads to an ante-room provided with easy chairs, and a plentiful supply of illustrated papeiw. A small chamber us fitted up as a dressing-room, and her? i.v to be found a maid from -Buckingham P-ilacc who has preceded her Royal mistress with a dresaing-ease containing brunlies and other toilet accessories. The Queen, having discussed the pogitkm in which nhe J* to be taken, arranges heinelf, and the operation proeeede. It is etiquette on these occasions (" CaseeHY Saturday Journal" tells us) for the photographer to address any remark he uiav ):ave u> mat? \ to the lady-in-waiting in attendant*, fh; j in turn addresses her Majesty, who re- j plies through her also. I
Of Mr W. S, Gilberts .cau*t;? wit th" FtotSes are endlmv and «••> man excels him in power of repaitee. Hi« description,.of Mr Tree's Hamlet w> being " funnj' ant being vulgar" ie'nr. excdltnt spsiimen of his style. ar*i rtry trtti:itj, iv.-y, wae lii* reU»rt to the Jaciv «:,.> refvK'.i <ffl gronnd* of propriety Vt |i:;,tlut a sUukijitr froB! Imt pocket in "Tiiui by Jniy." "'Very fnnnv. ,, said the Hl>rf-ttj«t.' *' M-h*en-fttt anyone showu a c- stage it'a- considered improper unlesi jt haa a leg inside it.* . And, again, when at a «tttuß p nmfert it vm {oisUd out to him
that Mr Blank was, for a •wonder, eiag£ng in "tone, he answered, " Oh, that'e antfi first-night's nervousness. It'll wear off.'*
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Press, Volume LX, Issue 11496, 31 January 1903, Page 5
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1,288ABOUT PEOPLE. Press, Volume LX, Issue 11496, 31 January 1903, Page 5
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