Page:Notes by the Way.djvu/100

30 NOTES BY THE WAY. The English Royal Crown, worn on the back of the head, had to be discarded, as resembling too much an Indian topknot, indicative of renunciation rather than rule. So the handsome crown on the Indian rupee was adopted as a practical and appropriate solution of the difficulty. Another feature of the statue is the 'a'rq-us-Saltanat,' or 'vein of rule,' over the eye or forehead, which Oriental tradition assigns to the person who is destined for sway. The Queen is represented as wearing several Indian orders, and the title 'Kaisar-i-Hind' is inscribed on the stone in Persian and Hindi characters."

ALBERT GRANT AND 'THE ECHO.'

Truth, in its isueissue [sic] of the 7th of September, 1899, contains some interesting personal information in reference to the late Albert Grant's connexion with The Echo. It appears that

"Baron Grant bought The Echo—then a capital property, without a rival in the trade from Messrs. Cassell, Fetter & Galpin, for 20,000l. He did not make much out of it, for he sold it to Mr. Passmore Edwards for a trifle under what he gave."

But within a short time Mr. Edwards sold it for 80,000l. "Not long afterwards he bought it back again at a trifle higher figure." Under Grant's proprietorship The Echo was brought out as a morning paper—"the pioneer, consequently, of halfpenny morning as well as halfpenny evening journalism." Truth states that Grant "was the first person who ever persuaded the morning papers to break their columns for an advertisement" that is, to extend an advertisement horizontally over the width of two or three columns. Although Baron Grant was a Conservative in politics, he made no attempt to alter the Radical principles of The Echo.

MEMORIAL TO THE POET CAMPBELL.

It is pleasant to record that the French have placed a tablet on the house at Boulogne where the poet Campbell breathed his last on the 15th of June, 1844. Advantage was taken of the visit to Boulogne of some of the members of the British Association, and on the 21st of September, 1899, the tablet was uncovered in the presence of a representative gathering of both nations. M. Léon Morel, professor at the Lycèe Louis le Grand, delivered the address, mentioning, among other works of the poet, "le petit poème militaire intitulé ' Napoléon et le Matelot Anglais,' car il interésse notre histoire locale, c'est un récit que connaissent tous les collégiens d'Angleterre, et bon nombre des nôtres." After reference to Campbell's part in the foundation of the London University, M. Morel closed his address by saying that the memorial was "a token of regard to a great man, and a token of old and sincere friendship with a great nation."