People We Hear About

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXIV, Issue 1, 4 January 1906, Page 10

People We Hear About

Mr. Timothy Francis Quinlan, the new Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of West Australia, was born in County Tipperary, Ireland, in 1861, and was still in his infancy when his pareuts left for Western Australia. At the age of 29 he was- returned by the electors ofl West Perth as their representative. He now representsToodyay, for which he was returned in 1897. Sir Henry Irving was once chatting with some brother actors about stage animals, and a certain pony was referred to as having proved an excellent actor' when engaged in a well known play. ' Why, 1 said afamous player, as if to prove the fact, 'he used to go on the stage and yawn all the time I was busy at thefootlights.' '■ H'm,' said Sir Henry, slyly ;' I don't know, about his being a good actor, bub 1 should say he. was a good critic' A correspondent of the ' Daily Chronicle ' writes :—: — ' The other morning I. went to " see off"' a friend whowas going north by the train leaving King's Cross at ten o'clock. As we pusned our way searching in vain, for a vacant seat, we saw two uniformed Salvationists putting into a specially reserved first-class carriage baggage that boldly proclaimed itself the property of " General Booth." My friend, after turn,ing a rather envious glance at the spare seats in the carriage by now occupied by the Citizen General and one attendant^, changed his ticket for a third-class one, and got a thoroughly comfortable compartment all to himself.' 'It was a pleasure,' adds the correspondent, 'in these days of the simple life, to see among > the third-class passengers an iron magnate of the North country ; also a Catholic Bishop.' Lord Brampton, better known as Mr. Justice Hawkins, was appointed a judge in November, 18-716, and resigned the post in January, 1899. He was created a peer under the title of Baron Brampton immediately, after his retirement. Lord Brampton became a Catholic when he was abou+ 80. Asked soon after as to the reasons which led him to become a Catholic, he replied as follows :— ' It is not very easy to write a definite reply to the question— Why I became a Catholic ? I will not, therefore, make the attempt. To reason the matter out would require much more time than I have at my command, and I would not undertake the task unless I felt that I could accomplish it thoroughly and. with satisfaction to myself. To undertake a work and fail to perform it would distress me. Tliose, -therefore, who look for my reasons for taking the important step I took so late in life cannot have their expectations satisfied by me. It must suffice them to knowthat it was the result of my deliberate conviction that the truth— which was all I sought— lay within the Catholic Church. I thought the matter out for myself anxiously and seriously, uninfluenced by any human be^ ing, and I have unwavering satisfaction in the conclusion at which I arrived, and my conscience tells me it is right.' A few weeks ago Mr. Justin McCarthy launched thelast volume ol his ' History of Our Own Times ' on which he has been engaged for more than a quarter of a century. It was in the ' Daily News ' office that theplan originated. To Sir John Robinson, then manager" ?■ t^e Daily News,' a leading firm of publishers mentioned their intention of publishing a history of the reign of Queen Victoria, and Sir John suggested Mr Justin McCarthy, a member of the staff, as the man. lor the work. It was entrusted to him, and iie wasbusy on the earlier chapters when an event which altered the course of his life occurred. Mr McCarthy was invited to stand as Nationalist candidate for Longford County, for which he was returned unopposed That was m 187,9. With that kind of wisdom which' haJ. fS ?<w ny^ n - terpr if cs ', Mr \ McC arthy's publishers beheved that their author's political support of Parnell in the Commons would be fatal to the fortunes of the projected history. So they proposed the cancellation or the agreement, offering Mr. McCarthy compensation An arbitration committee, presided over by Sir John Robinson satisfactorily settled the terms. -Afterwards Mr McCarthy showed the opening- chapters of the- work toMr Andrew Chat to, of the firm of Chatto and Windus a r nd^ he greed to P ublish under the title of ' a Historvof Our Own Times.' *

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