Charles Russell, Esq., Attorney-General for Ireland, is the brother of the Rev. Mathew Russell, S. J., editor of that excellent and popular magazine, the _Irish Monthly_, and is married to a sister of Rosa Mulholland, the gifted Irish poet and novelist. Right Rev. Thomas A. Becker, Bishop of the diocese of Wilmington, Del., has been transferred to the vacant See of Savannah, Ga. Bishop Becker was consecrated on August 16, 1868, having previously taught in the College of Mount St. Mary's, at Emmittsburg, Md. He is distinguished for his skill as a linguist, being a master of more than half the modern languages of Europe. He is about 50 years of age. President Cleveland has expressed himself emphatically in favor of the enforcement of the eight-hour law in the government departments. He is reported to have said, with reference to the subject, that it ill became a government to evade the spirit and the letter of its own enactments. The Right Rev. Stephen V. Ryan, Bishop of Buffalo, has gone on a health visit to Florida. There is not, probably, in the whole United States, a more beloved bishop, than this modest, hard working and most heavenly-minded spiritual father. Despite the heavy cares of an extensive diocese, Bishop Ryan has found time to make some valuable contributions to doctrinal and ascetic literature. His great work, "The Apostolic Succession," which has gone through several editions, is a standard authority on that important question. Bishop Ryan is a Pennsylvanian (Canadian by birth), of direct Irish descent; of a family whose very name is a synonym of piety and patriotism. Before he was made bishop, he was a prominent member of the Congregation of the Vincentians, better known in America as the Lazarist Fathers. The Venerable Rector of the Irish College at Rome, celebrated, on New Year's Day, his 86th birthday. High Mass was pontificated in the Church of St. Agatha, attached to the college, by the Archbishop of Cincinnati, U. S. A., after which Bishop Kirby entertained at dinner Cardinal Howard, the Archbishop of Cincinnati, the Bishops of Galloway, Argyll and the Isles, and Davenport, U. S. A., Mgr. Stonor, Abbot Smith, O. S. B., the Rectors of the Foreign Colleges, the Priors of the National Institutes, the Very Rev. Father Lockhart, Mgr. O'Bryen, and several other dignitaries. The Holy Father sent his congratulations and apostolic benediction, in honor of this anniversary of his old and highly valued friend. The veteran leader of the Centre Party in Germany, Dr. Windthorst, has completed his seventy-fourth year. Like so many aged Ministers and leaders of political parties, the "little excellency" is as full of energy and strength as the youngest of his followers. We heartily join our fellow Catholics in Germany in wishing their distinguished chief many years of health and strength in which to continue to labor for the good cause.