People We Hear About

New Zealand Tablet, 27 August 1908, Page 28

People We Hear About

The London Gaze.U&. announces the- style^-aud,. title jpj*thev.f our new Peers included. in the- Birthday Honors 7 list. Sic-\",Aatony MacDonnell- takes the, title^of Baron. MacDonnell of Swiniord; •in the "County. of. Mayo. The very comprehensive given the new Spanish Royal Prince at his baptism on. June 29 was Jaime Leopold Alijandro Isabelino Enrique Alberto Alfonso Victor Juan I?edro?Jßahk> Maria. The sponsors' were the Prince Regent of Bavaria,, and the Infanta Isabella. Mr. Thomas Browne (' Rolf Boldrewood ') received congratulations from numbers of friends .^the .other day on the 82nd anniversary of his birthday. The 'son- of Captain Sylvester John Browne, of the East India Company's service, and after-

wards of Enmore, New South Wales, Mr. T. A. Browne was born in London. on August 6, 1826. He arrived in Sydney "in April, 1830, with his father. From 1844 to 1869., Mr. • Browne was engaged in squatting, first in the Port Tairy district, Victoria, and then on the Murrumbidgee. * From 1870 to 1895 he was a New South Wales police magistrate. His ' Robbe.y Under Arms, 1 one of the most widely-known novels ever published, appeared in 1888. ' Since then no fewer than sixteen novels and sketches of Australian life have been issued by ' Rolf Boldrewood. ' 9

That gifted writer who was known- to readers of fiction a^s , ' John Qliver Hobbes ' was a pupil of University College,, J^ongon, from, 1889 to J902, and a bronze portrait-plaque wjll in future

serve as a memorial of her in the Library of the College. The medallion was subscribed for'bj friends, and with it .has. been goffered to the college about £600 for the foundation of -an - English Literature Scholarship. *j. replica of, the plaque is to be placed in a suitable position in the United States, and a similar scholarship is to be established in an American University. Lord Curzon, who performed the unveiling ceremony in London, paid eloquent tribute to the''character and gifts of Mrs. Craigie. 4 As a writer,' he said, ' though possessed of the dangerous gift of epigram, she was essentially sincere, and so escaped the horrible pitfall of paradox. Her artistic sense sought always to express itself in the most perfect literary form. I remember once receiving a letter from her written in Greek iambics— surely -an unfamiliar feat in the twentieth century.* Beneath the wit and humor that graced all her writings there was, he pointed out, a deep religious sense, and 'in. joining the Catholic Church she found inspiration in its- ideals- and solace in its authority.' The Right Rev. Monsigpor Brown, V.G., also-paid ' a tribute to the deceased writer, who was suddenly cut off- in, the i height of her powers, and when suffering had brought new [ strength to -her work.

Mr. Taft, who was selected as the Republican candidate for j the Presidency at the Chicago Convention, has had a brilliant 1 career as Judge, Administrator in the Philippines, and Secretary ; for War. The Catholics of the States certainly have no special ground for hostility to him. In the Philippines he displayed an [ unswerving love of justice when dealing with Catholic interests. A weaker man, or an administrator less keenly alive to the demands of fair play, might easily have been betrayed into wrpngdoing. As soon as the Spanish power in the islands' was at , an end Protestant ministers who possessed in a high- degree the hustling qualities which are so highly developed at the other sid'i

of the Pacific rushed in. They thought they saw opportunities of reaping, with worldly advantages, where other men had^sojvn. They were concerned for the souls of the Filipinos, but did hot , forget the property of the friars. This not a few of them : sought under one pretext or another to appropriate. But Mr.' > Taft stood firm. Finding that very difficult questions crowed up, he resolved to settle them by direct negotiations with the ;.HoIy v See, and for that purpose he visited Rome and "had-inter-1 views with Leo XIII. By such a policy he won the confidence , of the Catholics, and since then has done much to commend : himself to their good-will. The Chicago Convention was opened i with prayer by Dr. Muldobn, the Catholic Bishop. _ Its' is the . first time that a Republican National Convention has been,opejied - by a Catholic clergyman, though numerically the Catholic Church in the States is the largest of all the. denominations.