People We Hear About

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXV, Issue 5, 31 January 1907, Page 28

People We Hear About

. + . When Madame Melba first thought of entering the musical profession every obstacle was- put in her way, and -the first real encouragement ottered her was when St. Francis' Catholic Church, in her native city of - Melbourne, made -her*- leader of "its splendid choir. • , , The edition of the' Encyclopaedia Britannica \ now • preparing will have _the astronomical "articles, written in some cases, and in others corrected, by an eminent • CathqAc astronomer, Miss Agnes Clerke. ' This lady, it '->vii,l be Remembered, was one of the first two- women members of the. Astronomical Society, and was appointed on the official commission to observe the late eclipse in South Ainca. (■" . General- Gordon, Commandant of the New South , Wales' forces, is a brother of the new Rector of . Stonyhurst College. Our Commandant (says the 'CathoAc Press ') is a native of Cadiz, and his brother Is probably a "Spaniard, too. Two of their uncles were Generals Prendergast , one fighting, under -the Carlist banner, and ' the' other under the banner of Isabella the Catholic. Senor Marat, the recent Prime' Minister o% -'Spain, is a nephew of General "Gordon and of Father Gordon, S.J., and their sister, Miss Gordon, bad charge of the present King of Spain "during . his -infancy. , Sir Antony MacDonnell, who has been" in London for some days past i,says " the ' Monitor ') has paid' daily visits to his' aged mother, at 53 Cornwall Gardens. Sir Antony's two nieces, - the children of his deceased _ brother ~ Maurice,- live with their grandmother, and the. little girls played and sang for their uncle after dinner. The venerable lady celebrated her birthday , early in November, and among, , 'the presents which she received was a -beautiful set ' of sables from -, her son and her daughter-in-law. Her two granddaughters are going to a hoarding-school at Princethorpe early in the new year. ' Lord Congleton, who died in the early part of November, was the head of the Parnell family in Ireland. The Congleton peerage was conferred in 1741 on the great Irish leader's grand-uncle, SAr Henry -Brooke Parnell, who was an earnest advocate of popular 'rights in the' liish" Parliament. me '.Freeman'sJournal ' points ..out that the Parnells were a- ■ great Parliamentary, family; Mr. Parnell's mother -once said, ' with evident pride, - when her son was in the height of . his-, fame, 'Charles ought to do well in "Parliament ; -he belongs to an. old' Irish - Parliamentary - family.' .^.With .-the exception ?of his father and grandfather, indeed, his ancestors were for -four generations memIjers of the ■ Irish House of Commons. . m Mr. Justin Jtf'Carthy, who is seventy-six, "first reported. Parliamentary speeches, when the; present House "- \vas only a year or-, so in -use, and the Reporters' /Gallery was a very- poor ' thing in the matter of ac~commodation compared with what it is to-day. The speech was the first Budget, oration by-" Mr. Glad's tone, and -^ as there was no representation for provincial papers in the Reporters' Gallery, Mr. M'Uarthywas accommodated with a table in the corridor behind the Strangers' Gallery. . From this , disadvantageous position, Mr. M'Carthy and his two colleagues, report--ed Mr. Gladstone's great) Budget speech, • and wrote up ' the oration the, while Mr. ' Gladstone went home - to drink- "soup and negus ' with' his .friends. In connection w>ith~ Father Bernard Vau.ghan's visit to Oxford ' 'Varsity Life Illustrated ' published a.portrait of the strenuous- Jesuit and a letterpress sketch, the,, writer of which -says : 'Those who havei had the privilege of attending "the course of conferences which Father Vaughan has been delivering this term in Oxford will, have realised for themselves what is the great characteristic r 6f his style. -He is essentially the practical preacher for the practical -man. If he cultivates a dramatic style, it is not at the expense of- soundness or' lucidity of reasoning. His words bear the stamp throughout of that deep knowledge -of human nature which • can only be the outcome of wide c-xporience with all sorts and conditions of men. And it is just this experience that gains for him the attention of all classes of . the -community.- He can ap--prcciate the point of view of rich and poor alike, and, " understanding them, lie can preach to them.- A hard hitter, in .the pulpit or on. the public platform, In private life he is the' gentlest and most genial of. men, commanding the respect and affection- of many who, whether .sharing in his beliefs or not. are p~oud ".to be included in the, large circle of his friends.'