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Show . ' LITERARY LIGHTS. ' The first poet laureate was J0h Kay. in the reign of Edward IV. One of the perqut-sites perqut-sites of the office was $500 a year. Murat Halstead has been writing for the papers continuously for forty years. He is one of the hardest workers in the profession. Andrew Lang and Rider Haggard have written a novel in collaboration, which is called "The World's Desire," and has for its hero Ulyssei Archduchess Valerie, youngest daughter of the emperor and empress of Austria, is a rival of Carmen Sylva, queen of Roumania, as a royal poetess. Henri Rochefort still refuses to take rooms In Loudon except from week to week, and will not learn the English language; he receives re-ceives very few callers, aud passes his evenings even-ings playing dominoes with a friend, M. Coureau, with half a crown a game as the ktake. M. de Cassagnao is formidable because of the skill with which he wields the throe terrible ter-rible weapons tongue, pen and sword. He Is a man of powerful stature, dark skinned, dark eyed, aud wearing his mass of jet black hair brushed straight back from his forehead. He speaks with a lisping cadence peculiar to southern France. Sir Edwiu Arnoid says of Walt Whitman: "1 think he is the handsomest old man I ever saw, with the head of Jupiter and strength In every feature; I had a pleasant interview, sitting for a long time face to face, with his hand on my knee and my hand on his; I am more than ever convinced that he is oue of the greatest of American writers, for bis poetry is wonderful!" Marion Crawford is pictured as follows: "He is over six feet in height, with broad shoulders, small feet and a large head, the i latter being well covered with a profusion of brown hair; a beard of the same conceals the lower part of his face; a fine hut rather large mouth is partially hidden by a mustache of the same hue as his lieard; his teeth are handsome hand-some and his smile exceedingly sweet." David Christie Murray, the novelist, is a little above the medium height, but looks older than his years, which are not quite 43; he has a sparse brown beard plentifully streaked with gray, and the most sympathetic of manners; lie began his literary life ns a reporter, and having gone through the Russo-Turkish Russo-Turkish war, abandoned journalism for fiction, fic-tion, to which he has since contributed many readable volumes. |