The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1881-04-09
Gossip
About Men and Women.

1t is reported that Carlyle left to Harvard
University the materials used by him In the
preparation of his Life of Frederick the Great.
Harvard made him an LID.
Rechefort is described as wearing a Byron
face, stripped of flesh, leaving the muscles and
nerves visible in action, while his sunken eyes
have the appearance of the sunken orbits of
skull with electric lights behind them. He
must be handsome man.
A San Francisco despatch says that the wild
ow and daughter of John Brown are now liv-
ing in obscurity and poverty on a small farm
near San Jose. The widow is about seventy
years of age, and the burden of her support
falls entirely upon the daughter, worthy and
cultured lady, who is lily ftted for rough farm
work, which she is obliged to perform to exc
out scanty maintenance. Their place is
mortgaged for $1,000, and payment of interest
on this debt seriously embarrasses them. A To-
cal paper, the San Jose Mercury, calls on resi-
dents of that place, as well as admirers OF John
Brown elsewhere in the State and country, to
raise fund to pay this debt and assure these
deserving women of a competency for the re-
mainder Of their days. Contributions forward
ed to the bank Of San Jose or the Mercury Of
fee will be applied to the object intended.
Some of the French papers wax hot and furi-
GUS at the close intimacy which has sprung up
between Queen Victoria and the ex-Empress
of France, and endeayor to prove that such pa
rade Of sentiment ON the part of Victoria to-
ward Eugenie ought to be regarded as an in
suit to the French nation. They insist upon
eriticising the conversations which they think
must ensue between these ladies. and main
tain that they cannot mean other than the best
means of substituting "some friendly Bona
parte" for the President at present at its head.
One little infant journal suggests the possibili-
ty OF design to carry out the legal terms Of
the late Emperor's will and proclaim Eugene
Regent vice Grevy.
Nothing will make New Yorker believe in
a gown that does not come straight from
France, and there is no more use in talking of
Sir Joshua and Gainsberough to Knicker-
booker girl than in trying to make Piute ap-
preciate Cloissonne, but everybody does not
know this, and the other day very nice girl
from-well, from another city-went to a little
party in Fifth Avenue wearing a white Bay
onnaise gown Of the quite too straightIy
straight description, with folds hanging as II
each one had a sinker at the end, and no cores
or ruf1es to disturb its sad sincerity. and she
walked about among gowns from Paris and
faneied that everybody was admiring her, and
meantime what were the wild girls saying?
Why, they were asking each other Have you
seen the corpse?'' ~ 2 n G r
Lord Beaconsfield's peerage patent of Au-
gust, 1876, gives his title to his own children.
As Beaconsfeld never had any children, the
patent will expire with him when he dies un-
less he has made some such arrangement as
Lord Brougham made, and has the title divert
to his brother. He has a brother, Ralph Dis
raeli, living, who holds an office under the
(rdvarprnanf which sG1n0n
Ralph has son, Coningsby Disraeli, named
after the hero of one of Beaconsfelds g novels.
If the transfer is made, Ralph will get the
Hughenden estate, with the earldom and other
property of the Earl of Beaconsfield.
The wife Of a north Of England member of
Parliament, who was in the ladies' gallery sew
eral times during the Irish coercion debate,
writes that the passions excited were scarcely
less violent among those helpless, silent lis
teners, cramped and crowded in that narrow
cage, like wild birds just caught, with their
fine plumage all crushed and torn, their bright
colors all faded. Many lovely Irish face,
whose owner had entered all bright and spark
ling full of life and Joy at anticipation Of tri-
umph for the Irish cause, became overshad-
owed by degrees as the debate went on, until
in more than one instance deadly pallor and
shower of big tears had succeeded to the ex-
preston of hope and trust the countenance had
worn. One lady, whose agitation had increased
with each moment, burst into . terrible parox-
ysm of grief as the Irish members disappeared
at the Speakers summons, and the image Of
that face and tightly clasped hands as she
bent over the gayly decorated muff upon her
lap and rocked herself to and fro, the lady
writes, has haunted her ever since.
The Marquis of Lorne, says the London
World, in his grass-widowerhood, maintains,
and perhaps increases his somewhat negative
popularity. He is liked well enough; but there
is no enthusiasm in the l4ing for him, as
there used to be. for the Dufferins. He is a
trifle pragmatic, no. little self-conscious. and
now that he has got rid Of q modicum Of his
shyness, has developed the paternsl inheri-
tance of patronizing demeanor. By the way,
the Duke did his son and heir great deal Of
harm throughout Canada. During his visit he
staggered more suo; he could no more help
staggering than he can help being shabby;
and in the series of magazine articles In which
he recorded his Transatlantic impressions, he
speaks of Canada and the Canadians in way
which the Kanucks will resent while there re-
mains Campbell within their borders.