The morning times., 1896-01-01

Leighton, president ol tue Royil Acdueiny,
and Mr.. Henry Hucks Gibbs. formerly a
meIn5er OF the house of commons and late
a director OF the Bank of England, and has
knighted the Hon. II. +. Z Crease, senior
puisne judge OF British Columbia.
AIR. Henry IL. Gibbs has been large
donor to the purse of the Conservative
party.
Her Majesty has also appointed Alfred
Austin Poet Laureate. an office which las
been vacant since the death of Lord Tenny-
son, on October 6, 1882.
Alfred Austin, the new poet laureate, is
poet, critic and journalist. He wa born
at Headingley, near Leeds, May 80, 1888.
His father was Il merchant and magistrate
of the borough of Leeds, and his mother was
the sister OF Joseph Locke, the eminent
civil engineer and NJ. Z. for the borough
of Honiton, of which he was Lord OF the
Manor.
-. HIS EDUCATION.
Both his parents being Roman Catholics.
he was sent to Stonyhurst College and
afterwards to st. Mary's College, Oscott.
From OSCott he took his degree at tic
University of London in S53. and in s57
he was called to the bar of the Inner
Temple.
But the publication, although anony-
Inously, OF a poem entitled "Randolph'
Wutu Ht was tlShttNu' shpW'i 'hV
OF his disposition. and il may be stated
-on the authority ot Mr.. Austin himself. that
he ostensibly embraced the study of the
law only IN Difference TO the wishes of his
parents. and from his earliest years was
ilnbucd with the desire and determination
to devote his life mainly tolitcraturc. The
expression OF this resolve is found i'll Il
novel written and published while ne WIS
yet a minor. On the death of his father
IN SCI he quilted the northern circuit and
went to Italy
HIS first acknowledged volume of rersc.
The Season; Satire" appeared in 1861.
A third and revised elition OF the Season
appeared in 1869. His other poetical pro-
ductions are: THE Human Tragedy"
1862; repubishch in an amended form in
1876 and again finally revised in 1889;
The Golden Age: Satire" 1871; Inter
ludes.' 1872; Rome or Death" 1878:
..Madonna's 5 Child" 1873: The Tower OF
Babel" Il drama. 81 i; "Lcszko. Blstard;a a
Tale of Z dish Grief 1877; "Sa vonarola,"
tragedy, 1881; "Soliloquics in Song"
AT the Gate of the Convent Loves
widowhood and Other Poens,' Prince
.Lucifer'' and English Lyrics all pub
lished between 1881 and 1890.
OTHER PUBLICATIONS..
He has published three novels-''Fiye
Years OF It. 1865; An Artists Proof"
The Poetry of the Period" reprinted from
Temple Bar, 1870, and "A VindiCation OF
Lord Byron 1863. Occasiuned by Mrs.
Stoves article. The True Story Of Lord
Byron's Life" He has written much for
the London Standard and for the Quarterly
Review During the sittings OF the Ecu
menicai Council of the Vatican he rep
resented the Standard at Rome, and he was
Il special correspondent OF that Journal at
the headquarters of the King of Prussia in
the FraDco-German war.
His political writings include Russia
Before Europe" 1876: Tory Horrors"
1876, a reply to Mr.. Gladstone's Bulgarian
Horrors" and "Englsnd's Policy and PERIL
Il letter to the Earl of Beaconsfield, 1877.
In 1888, in conjunction with Mr.. W. J.
Courthope, he founded the National Review
and continued to edit that periodical until
the summer of 1898. In 1892 Messrs. Mac
nfffan Issued a collected edition of his
poems in volumes, since which time
they have published "FortuDatus, the Pes
simist. = and ..Engiand's Darling and Other
Poems and prose work entitled The
Garden / Love-