ANOTHER INTERVIEW WITH THE EARL OF ONSLOW. London, February 2.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 351, 16 March 1889, Page 3

ANOTHER INTERVIEW WITH THE EARL OF ONSLOW. London, February 2.

had an interview with Lord Onslow, by appointment, en Monday afternoon, fie was exceed inglj' courteous, and much more communicative than on the last occasion — is evidently getting accustomed to bu drawn ; and floes nob requiie so many leading questions aa when " his blushing honours" were " fresh upon him."

FAREWELL FESTIVITIES. I asked His Lords-hip if he didn't find it rather a boio being interviewed, but he said "No;" he didn't mind it a bir— in fact, he thought it a very pood thing that he enould be something ir.oro than a mere name to his kinsmen of the South before ho arrived amongst them. "It isn't that I object to ao all " said His Lordship ; " but I am suffering from a perfect plethora of farewell banquets. Fortunately, however, there's a long ?ea voyage to follow." He then proceeded, at my request, to give me particulars of a few of the^e interesting functions in his honour. Lord Onslow is, above all things, a many, sidt-d man, and enthusiastic in whatever he takes up. Energ6iic, a'>'l therefore sue-ces-ful, in eveiy thing he takes up, he is especially ?oas a Fieemason, and the respect in which he is held by his brother Masons is abu dan'lysho n by the fact that no leas than thiee Masonic banquets are being given to wish him God-speed. Ho is Grand benior Warden of both the Master Masons and the Craft Msisons. His Lordship kindly endeavouied to enlighten my ba>bar;e ignorance as to the meaning of tho«e mystic term*, but beyond n hazy idea that they implied two different decrees in Freemasonry, I fear his explanation was lost on my Jay mind. Last week the Master Masons gave their Grand Se?»ior Warden a splendid farewell banquet, ao which many celebrities, iiasoni", political, and literary, were piesent, and all which Lord On«low made a very graceful speech, in which he said he looked forward to a wa p m welcome norn his brother Masons in New Zealand, and the farewell from hi 3 fellow-craftsmen in the Old Country had been kind Iv. On the Bth ofFebru ry, the Craft Masons give a similar banquet in his honour, and on the 12th the Drury Lane (Actois ) Lodge also entertain their distinguished guest. 'Gus Harris, who, by the way, has just been electe 1 at the top r»f v he poiea? County Councillor for the Strand Division, is the leading member of the Drury Lane Lodge, and the banquet is given as much in recognition of Lord Onslo-v's discriminating patronage of the drama a3 of ins services to the cau-e of Freemasonry. On tho 6th His Lordship, whose country peat is Hlandon Hall, near Guildford, i* to be ontertained at a banquet in the Guildford Town H.ill by the borough (of which he is High Stewa-d) and county of Surrey. This shows the appreciation, in which hi is held by his neighbours, among whom he has spent his life. On the 7th he goes to Osborne to take leave of the Queen, and will dine and sleep at the Pahice. Un the 10th he is to be entertained by the Beefsteak Club, a small coterie of the leading lights in literature and the drama, who meef next door to Toole's Theatre, in King William-street ; and on 14th His L -rdship, who, besides being a banisier him-elf, has been instrumental in ' promoting a large amount of par iarnentary legislation is tho honoured gui st at the faiewell dinner of the Parliamentary Bar. But perhaps the most interesting of all the festivities to which Lord Ons'ow has been invited on his departure from Eng'and is a farewell suppor which Henry Irving is to crive him on the l?th or 18th (the d^te ( has been left" for His Lordship to choo?e) on thu stage of the Lyceum after the performance, to which a perfect galaxy of Lord Onflow's literary, dramatic, and i artistic friends have been invired. Fiom the above it will be seen that Lord Onslow has managed to make friends in many different circles of society.

THE VICE-REGAL PARTY. Lord Onslow, as you know, will pail i the Victoria, of the P. and 0. line, whic leaves London on Februaiy 23rd, and Brin di>i on March 4th. The \ ice regal party will consist, besides His Lordship, of Lady Onflow and their three children a boy and two girls, their son's tutor, the A.D. 0., and prhate secretary; and Lord and Lady Hood, who are friends of the Onflows, will accompany them as far as Ceylon anyhow,

THE VOYAGE. Lord Od c low informed me that the P. and O. Ciimpmv had kindly offeed to hurry up the Victoria a bit 60 a* to let His Excellency's party have a little longer time in Ceylon, which he mean 3 to 82e thoroughly, at least co far as Colombo and Kandy aie concerned. The vice-reeal party disembark at Adelaide, where the new Governor has arranged to meet Sir William Jervois on the 3rd of April. He hopes to have three days with the late Governor theie, and the laser's infoimation will, no doubt, be of great j»er\ice to him, a*, although eminently successful in every thing else that he has attempted, this is Lord Onslow's debut as a colonial Governor. I forgot to mention, by the way, that the Victoria will be doubly honouied in having two lepresentatives of Her Majesty on board, for Lord Kintore will goouttohisnewgoveinmentinthosaineship. But to return. After leaving Adelaide Lord Onflow will at p for a day or two in Melbourne, and then go on to Sydney, where he and his wife, who will proceed direct in the Victoria from Adelaide, will remain as the guests of Lord and Lady Carrington till the 17th. They will then sail in the San Francisco mail packet for ] Auckland.

THE GOVERNOR TO RESIDE AT AUCKLAND. Lord Onslow told me a piece of good news for the Auckland people, which will go far, I think, towards removing the feeling of bitterness enier'ained by the North ever since the removal of the seat of Government to Wellington. His Lordship said that he would stop at Auckland at present only long enough to see Government House and get arrangements made for putting it in thorough repair. He means to Btop in Auckland for several months every year, " for," as hesaid, "I understand that there is a Government House in Auckland, and I suppose the intention was that the Governor should live in it." I asked whether the tinal arrangements were made for the overland journey from Auckland to Wellington. "Oh" vee," said his lordship, ''I have put all that in the hands of that eminent man, Mr Cook. His agent afc Auckland is going to manage it all for me. We go by the Hot Spring*, of course." Lord Onslow is taking out his carriages with him, butno horses, as, apartfrom the length of the voyage, he ha-» heard that he can get very good horses in New Zealand, which if true, and he ought to get them, ton, at a much more reasonable price than in England.

LORD ONSLOVV'S OPINION OF THE AGENT-GEN.ERAL, Lord O/jhlow' . has pot eeen enough of the prominent Now Zealaud politicians resident

in England to be able to form any very definite opinion of them. Ho told me that he w>ts uro'itly struck with Sir J. Vogel's aged and generally broken-down appearance. He thought he looked very ill, and of course his lameness added to his npponrnnce of illhealth. But of Si'- F. I). Bell his lordship spoke in terms of the highest praij-e. H<likes him very much, and considers that at the Colonial Conference he was facile princeps in the art of speaking among the representatives of all fcho Australasian colonies. Some of his speeches Lord Onslow considered worthy of our foremo a fc English statesmen.^ Sir Franci-> has been a personal friend of his lordship's for years, and it was largely through his efforts and representations that Lord Onslow was induced to accept the Governorship. He told me that he had been by no means anxious fora colonial appointment, as he was quite satisfied with his po ition and prospects in English Parliamentary life— as indeed he might well bo ; but Sir Francis Bell came to him and 'represented to him so strongly that it would be for the good of the colony for him to accept the post, that he at last consented. v\ hen the people of Isiew Zealand get to know their new Governor I think they will realise that this is one nwo added to the long list of services which Sir Francis Bell has alieady rendered to the colony.

LORD AND LADY ONSLOW AS PATRONS OF THE DKA3MA. On referring 1 co Lord Onflow's welll known appreciation of the drama, His Lordship got quite confidential. He said : j " Oh yes, we are very fond of thab sorb of thing;. My i brotUer-in-law, y.ou ,l>now, writes plays, for. ladies and gentlemen — drawing-room co,medies, after the sbyie of Robei (ton's ccWe, and Lady Onslow is very | fond of acting in them 1 have already had some of my. scenery in our piivate theatre at Clandon taken off the rolleia, packed up and pent off, By-bhe-uay," ho added, ct you don't suppose they will think it ivtra diy., will they, for the Governor's lady to take part in privtite theatric .Is ?" I assured His Lordship thab, on the contrary, I thought it would be exceedingly popular, especially in the case of eniertain-m-j.ts (private, of course; given in aid or any deserving charity. So I think the Welhngtoniana and Anoklandere tna> look for an occ^ional entertainment of no mean order at Government Hou-e. Her Ladyship's brother, Mr Herbeib Gardiner, M. P. for one of the? divisions of E3sex, is a dramatist decidedly abo\e the average, and his '•i-ter is a no less able exponent of his works.

THE A D.C. AND PRIVATE SECRETARY. I asked His Lordship for some particu Jars aboufc these import mfc functionaries, who are no doubt even greater objects of interest to the younsr ludies o f New Zealand and their mamui <s than the Governov himself, and who, at any rate, will have so mu.'h to do with the social side of his duiies. The aid°-de- camp is Mr Stewart Sa\ilo, a personal friend of Loid Onslow's and a man of private means. He is not an army man, but isanofficei in the Yeomanry. Lord Onsl"w told me that there were several of his army friends whom ho would hue liked to take out with him. but as there is , now no salary at ached to the post, and as moreo\©r office s are not allowed to draw their regimental pay dutince the time they hold such appointments, and, moreover, lose their chance of promotion, they ate by no meaas so popular as they used to be. He Paid that Mr Havile was going out principally to see the colony, but he was afraid would not stop long with him. The p;ivate .secretary is Air W. Riversdale Waliond, son of the late Sir Theodore Walroad, X.C.8., head of the Civil Service Commission. Mr Wairoad, who belongs to a goo 1 old Devonshire family, is a Balliol man and a barrister. He distinguished himself at Oxtord, where he matrieu ated poon after Lord Onslovv himself had gone dow n.

PERSONAL NOTES ABOUT THE GOVERNOR. Lord Onelow has not the imposing presence of some of his predecessor, nofcably Sir George Bowen, but oi)e cannot i be fivu minutes iv his company without i feeling that heis a man of gteat and manysided energy, a man bound to succeed in anything' ho takes up. and moreover a perfect type of a courteous and atfable English yentleman. That he is both energetic ! and able is amply proved by the prominent position in English politics he has already taken. He has been not only a member of the present Ministry, ad Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade, but ho was also (as Under-Secretdiy to the Colonies) a member of the Colonial Conference, and also oneof the British delegates at the Sugar Bounties Conference recently btought to a succossrul issue in London by the efforts of hims-if and Baron Henry do Worms. His Lordship was very pleased in speaking of the result of the Conference. " We simply pushed the thing through by sheer energy and persistence," he said, ''for of courte we had nothing to offer to the | other Powers in exchange for their concessions." He showed me two photographic groups of the delegates to these two Conieiences, in both of which he proudly pointed out "your humble set van'," as he called himself, with his usual affability and condescension. But His Lordship is by no means a mere politician and man of bu-ine&s. He is a thorough sportsman as well, being exceedingly Jond of deer-stalking, fishing, shooting, and, of course, hunting. He had a pack of hounds of his own in Surrey, but had to gi<-e them up a je-ir or two a<>o owing to the difficulty of preserving the foxes in such a very highly-cultivated and populous county. He is also a most popular man in society, and is a member of the smartest clubs, including White's, the Travellers (for which Loid Rosebeny was blackballed not long ago), the Carlton, and the Beefsteak. There is a touch ol romance in his lordship's career too, thorough man of the world as he is. He was educated at Eton and Exeter College, Oxford, but between his school and college days, he was determined to see the world a bit, and served through the earlier part of the Franco-Prus3ian war, attached to the Bavarian Cavalry. When he had had enough of fighting, he quietly came back and matriculated at Oxford. Lord Onslow has a great idea of the New i Zealandere, whom he thinks a very fine people, both physically and mentally. He told nv j that he had been congratulated by his friends on having r-een appointed to New Zealand instead of to one of tbt> Australian colonies. I suppose he had the late Queensland and South Australian episodes in his mind. Anyhow he has gob very good impres&ions of his future home, and ib will not be his fault if they are not confirmed and reciprocated, I think that New Zealand is decidedly to be congratulated on her new Governor Personally, it struck me as I stepped into Whitehall the I other afternoon, after His Lordship had helped me on with my coat, and said a hearty good-bye, that I had seldom had an easier bit of professional work to do or i spent a pleaeanter half-hour.

An uneasy feeling, resulting from the situation in Serviu. is increasing in Vienna. Russia, pbt^ins the conversion of a loan of 700,000,000 francs.