SIR (!EOR(iE CREY. After an unavoidable hiatus of a fortnight I called on Sir George Grey last Tuesday morn ing, anil found him wonderfully blighter and better. Mrs Seymour George and Miss George arrived a couple of days previously, and evidently lost no time in taking him well in hand. The right hon. gentleman's bronchial trouble had disappeared, his voice sounded stronger, and he talked almost gaily of attending the Carlyle centenary meeting on Wednesday. I remarked I was not aware he knew the sage of Chelsea so well till I saw a reference to their friendship in the newspaper. "Oh! dear, yes," said Sir George ; "I saw a great deal of Carlyle at one time, especially in 1870. When his uiece, Mary Aitken, had to go out in the evening I used to go down to Cheyne Walk and sit with him. Froude sometimes formed a third, and we had great discussions on Home Rule." Sir Geoige added what you who have read his life of course kuow—viz , that he con verted Carlyle to his famous scheme for solving the Irish difficulty. The great philosopher warmly supported the ex colonial Governor's election campaign at Newark, and several very interesting letters from him about that time appear in Mr Rees's book. Later, speakiug to Lord Car narvon about Grey, Carlyle characteristically summed him up thU3: "He is born of the Tetragonidu', built foursquare, solid, as one fitted to strongly meet the winds of Heaven and the waves of Fate." COLONIAL V. EXIiT.ISfI SCHOOLS. Discussing the advantages possessed by the older public schools at Home over similar institutions in the colonies with a practical Antipodean of the Hon. Thomas Play ford's calibre the other day, I was some what posed with a remark of the following kind -. " Apart from pure sentiment, are you sure you can define a distinct difference between our public schools and yours? You admit the masters are in the main equally good: that the systems are the same ; and that in games, athletics, and so on young Australia more than holds her own. What more is there?" " Well," I said, " the difference is not, to be quite frank, very easy to put into words, but I take it to be in the main a matter of nge, traditions, and, abeve all, tone. 