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diff --git a/old/42770-0.txt b/old/42770-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 942dd7a..0000000 --- a/old/42770-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,45308 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's The Story of My Life, volumes 4-6, by Augustus J. C. Hare - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: The Story of My Life, volumes 4-6 - -Author: Augustus J. C. Hare - -Release Date: May 22, 2013 [EBook #42770] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF MY LIFE, VOLUMES 4-6 *** - - - - -Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images available at The Internet Archive) - - - - - - -Every attempt has been made to replicate the original book as printed. -Some typographical errors have been corrected. (a list follows the -text.) No attempt has been made to correct or normalize all of the -printed accentuation of names or words in French. (etext transcriber’s -note) - - - - - -THE STORY OF MY LIFE - -VOL. IV - -[Illustration: Augustus J. C. Hare] - - - - -THE STORY OF -MY LIFE - -BY -AUGUSTUS J. C. HARE - -AUTHOR OF “MEMORIALS OF A QUIET LIFE.” -“THE STORY OF TWO NOBLE LIVES.” -ETC. ETC. - -VOLUME IV - -LONDON -GEORGE ALLEN, 156, CHARING CROSS ROAD -1900 - -[_All rights reserved_] - -Printed by BALLANTYNE, HANSON & CO. -At the Ballantyne Press - - - - -PREFACE - - -With the exception of the last two chapters, these three volumes were -printed at the same time with the first three volumes of “The Story of -my Life” in 1896, therefore many persons are spoken of in them as still -living who have since passed away, and others, mentioned as children, -have since grown up. - -Reviews will doubtless, in general, continue to abuse the book, -especially for its great length. But personally, if I am interested in a -story, I like it to be a long one; and there is no obligation for any -who dislike a long book to read this one: they may look at a page or two -here and there, where they seem promising; or, better still, they can -leave it quite alone: they really need have nothing to complain of. - -In the later volumes I have used letters for my narrative even more than -in the former. Many will feel with Dr. Newman that “the true life of a -man is in his letters.... Not only for the interest of a biography, but -for arriving at the inside of things, the publication of letters is the -true method. Biographers varnish, they assign motives, they conjecture -feelings, but contemporary letters are facts.” - -AUGUSTUS J. C. HARE. - - - - -CONTENTS - PAGE - - -IN MY SOLITARY LIFE 1 - -LITERARY WORK AT HOME AND ABROAD 162 - -LONDON WALKS AND SOCIETY 352 - - - - -LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS - -VOL. IV - - -AUGUSTUS J. C. HARE. _From a photograph by Hill and -Sounders._ (_Photogravure_) _Frontispiece_ - - PAGE - -HIGHCLIFFE, THE KING’S ORIEL 9 - -FRANCIS GEORGE HARE. (_Photogravure_) _To Face_ 20 - -THE CHURCHYARD AT HURSTMONCEAUX 15 - -GIBRALTAR FROM ALGECIRAS. (_Full-page woodcut_) _To face_ 34 - -TOLEDO. (_Full-page woodcut_) _To face_ 38 - -SEGOVIA. (_Full-page woodcut_) _To face_ 42 - -FOUNTAIN OF S. CLOUD 45 - -FROM THE LIBRARY WINDOW, FORD 52 - -HATFIELD 75 - -FIDENAE 86 - -VIEW FROM THE TEMPIETTO, ROME 91 - -SUBIACO. (_Full-page woodcut_) _To face_ 96 - -ISOLA FARNESE 96 - -PONTE DELL’ ISOLA, VEII 97 - -CASTEL FUSANO 100 - -CYCLOPEAN GATE OF ALATRI 104 - -THE INN AT FERENTINO 105 - -PAPAL PALACE, ANAGNI 106 - -TEMPLES OF CORI 107 - -NINFA 108 - -S. ORESTE, FROM SORACTE 109 - -CONVENT OF S. SILVESTRO, SUMMIT OF SORACTE 111 - -SUTRI 112 - -CAPRAROLA 113 - -PAPAL PALACE, VITERBO 114 - -FROM THE WALLS OF ORVIETO 115 - -PORCH OF CREMONA 120 - -PIAZZA MAGGIORE, BERGAMO 121 - -THE HOSPICE, HOLMHURST 130 - -LANGLEY FORD, IN THE CHEVIOTS 138 - -RABY CASTLE 146 - -LAMPEDUSA FROM TAGGIA 167 - -STAIRCASE, PALAZZO DELL’ UNIVERSITA, GENOA 168 - -CLOISTER OF S. MATTEO, GENOA 169 - -COLONNA CASTLE, PALESTRINA 172 - -GENAZZANO 173 - -SUBIACO 174 - -SACRO SPECO, SUBIACO 175 - -S. MARIA DI COLLEMAGGIO, AQUILA 176 - -SOLMONA 177 - -HERMITAGE OF PIETRO MURRONE 178 - -CASTLE OF AVEZZANO 179 - -GATE OF ARPINUM 180 - -TRIUMPHAL ARCH, AQUINO 181 - -PORTO S. LORENZO, AQUINO 182 - -FARFA 190 - -GATE OF CASAMARI 191 - -LA BADIA DI SETTIMO 195 - -AT MILAN 197 - -PARAY LE MONIAL 198 - -THE GARDEN TERRACE, HIGHCLIFFE 210 - -THE HAVEN HOUSE 211 - -THE LIBRARY, HIGHCLIFFE 214 - -THE FOUNTAIN, HIGHCLIFFE 216 - -GATEWAY, LAMBETH PALACE 220 - -THE BLOODY GATE, TOWER OF LONDON 221 - -COMPIÈGNE 225 - -HOLLAND HOUSE 227 - -HOLMHURST, THE ROCK WALK 229 - -HOLLAND HOUSE (GENERAL VIEW) 231 - -HOLLAND HOUSE, THE LILY GARDEN 234 - -COBHAM HALL 238 - -LOUISA, MARCHIONESS OF WATERFORD. (_Line engraving_) _To face_ 256 - -THE SECRET STAIR, FORD 257 - -NORHAM-ON-TWEED 259 - -THE KING’S ROOM, FORD 263 - -THE PINETA, RAVENNA 302 - -IL SAGRO DI S. MICHELE 313 - -CANOSSA 314 - -URBINO 315 - -GUBBIO 316 - -LA VERNIA 319 - -CAMALDOLI 320 - -BOBBIO 321 - -FRANCES, BARONESS BUNSEN. (_Line engraving_) _To face_ 322 - -LOVERE, LAGO D’ISEO 322 - -LAMBETH, INNER COURT 324 - -DORCHESTER HOUSE 332 - -CROSBY HALL 337 - -THE GARDEN PORCH, HIGHCLIFFE 341 - -THE SUNDIAL WALK, HIGHCLIFFE 342 - -FOUNTAIN COURT, TEMPLE 361 - -IN FRONT OF ST. PAUL’S 364 - -CHAPEL AND GATEWAY, LINCOLN’S INN 372 - -STAPLE INN, HOLBORN 373 - -JOHN BUNYAN’S TOMB, BUNHILL FIELDS 377 - -TRAITOR’S GATE, TOWER OF LONDON 378 - -THE SAVOY CHURCHYARD 380 - -RAHERE’S TOMB, ST. BARTHOLOMEW’S, SMITHFIELD 381 - -THE SLEEPING SISTERS, ST. MARY OVERY 382 - -CHARLTON HALL 389 - -COURTYARD, FULHAM PALACE 399 - -HOLMHURST 405 - -LOUISA, MARCHIONESS OF WATERFORD. _From a photograph -by W.J. Reed._ (_Photogravure_) _To face_ 406 - -CHURCHYARD OF ST. ANNE, SOHO 413 - -LONDON BRIDGE FROM BILLINGSGATE 485 - - - - -XVI - -IN MY SOLITARY LIFE - - “Console if you will, I can bear it; - ’Tis a well-meant alms of breath; - But not all the preaching since Adam - Has made Death other than Death.”--LOWELL. - - “Whoever he is that is overrun with solitariness, or crucified with - worldly care, I can prescribe him no better remedy than that of - study, to compose himself to learning.”--BURTON, _Anatomy of - Melancholy_. - - “E certo ogni mio studio in quel temp’ era - Pur di sfogare il doloroso core - In qualche modo, non d’acquistar fama, - Pianger cercai, non già del pianto onore.” - --PETRARCH, _In Morte di Laura_, xxv. - - “Why should we faint, and fear to live alone, - Since all alone, so Heaven hath willed, we die, - Nor even the tenderest heart, and next our own, - Knows half the reasons why we smile or sigh?” - --KEBLE. - - “Let us dismiss vain sorrows: it is for the living only that we are - called to live. Forward! forward!”--CARLYLE. - - -I spent the greater part of the fiercely cold winter of 1870-71 in -complete seclusion at Holmhurst, entirely engrossed in the work of the -“Memorials,” which had been the last keen interest of my Mother’s life. -In calling up the vivid image of long-ago days spent with her, I seemed -to live those days over again, and I found constant proof of her loving -forethought for the first months of my solitude in the materials which, -without my knowledge, and without then the slightest idea of -publication, she must have frequently devoted herself to arranging -during the last few years of her life. As each day passed, and the work -unravelled itself, I was increasingly convinced of the wisdom of her -death-bed decision that until the book was quite finished I should give -it to none of the family to read. They must judge of it as a whole. -Otherwise, in “attempting to please all, I should please none: shocking -nobody’s prejudices I should enlist nobody’s sympathies.” - -Unfortunately this decision greatly ruffled the sensibilities of my -Stanley cousins, especially of Arthur Stanley and his sister Mary, who -from the first threatened me with legal proceedings if I gave them the -smallest loop-hole for them, by publishing a word of their own mother’s -writing without their consent, which from the first, also, they declared -they would withhold. They were also “quite certain” that no one would -ever read the “Memorials” if they were published, in which I always -thought they might be wrong, as people are so apt to be when they are -“quite certain.” - -My other cousins did not at first approve of the plan of the -“Memorials,” but when once completely convinced that it had been their -dear aunt’s wish, they withdrew all opposition. - -Still the harshness with which I was now continually treated and spoken -of by those with whom I had always hitherto lived on terms of the utmost -intimacy was a bitter trial. In a time when a single great grief -pervades every hour, unreasonable demands, cruel words, and taunting -sneers are more difficult to bear than when life is rippling on in an -even course. I was by no means blameless: I wrote sharp letters: I made -harsh speeches; but that it was my duty to fight in behalf of the -fulfilment of the solemn duty which had devolved upon me, I never -doubted then, and I have never doubted since. In the fulfilment of that -duty I was prepared to sacrifice every friend I had in the world, all -the little fortune I had, my very life itself. I felt that I must learn -henceforth to act with “Selbständigkeit,” which somehow seems to have a -stronger meaning than independence; and I believe I had in mind the -maxim of Sœur Rosalie--“Faites le bien, et laissez dire.” - -A vivid impression that I had a very short time to live made me more -eager about the _rapid_ fulfilment of my task. I thought of the Spanish -proverb, “By-and-by is always too late,” and I often worked at the book -for twelve hours a day. My Mother had long thought, and latterly often -said, that it was impossible I could long survive her: that when two -lives were so closely entwined as ours, one could not go on alone. She -had often even spoken of “when we die.” But God does not allow people to -die of grief, though, when sorrow has once taken possession of one, only -hard work, laboriously undertaken, can--not drive it out, but keep it -under control. It is as Whittier says:-- - - “There is nothing better than work for mind or body. It makes the - burden of sorrow, which all sooner or later must carry, lighter. I - like the wise Chinese proverb: ‘You cannot prevent the birds of - sadness from flying over your head, but you may prevent them from - stopping to build their nests in your hair.’”[1] - -I had felt the _gradual_ separation of death. At first the sense of my -Mother’s presence was still quite vivid: then it was less so: at last -the day came when I felt “she is nowhere here now.” - -It was partly owing to the strong impression in her mind that I could -not survive her that my Mother had failed to make the usual arrangements -for my future provision. As she had never allowed any money to be placed -in my name, I had--being no legal relation to her--to pay a stranger’s -duty of £10 per cent on all she possessed, and this amounted to a large -sum, when extended to a duty on every picture, even every garden -implement, &c.[2] Not only this, but during her lifetime she had been -induced by various members of the family to sign away a large portion of -her fortune, and in the intricate difficulties which arose I was assured -that I should have nothing whatever left to live upon beyond £60 a year, -and the rent of Holmhurst (fortunately secured), if it could be let. I -was urged by the Stanleys to submit at once to my fate, and to sell -Holmhurst; yet I could not help hoping for better days, which came with -the publication of “Walks in Rome.” - -Meanwhile, half distracted by the unsought “advice” which was poured -upon me from all sides, and worn-out with the genuine distress of my -old servants, I went away in March, just as far as I could, first to -visit the Pole Carews in Cornwall, and then to the Land’s End, to -Stephen Lawley, who was then living in a cottage by the roadside near -Penzance. I was so very miserable and so miserably preoccupied at this -time, that I have no distinct recollection of these visits, beyond the -image on my mind of the grand chrysoprase seas of Cornwall and the -stupendous rocks against which they beat, especially at Tol Pedn -Penwith. I felt more in my natural element when, after I had gone to -Bournemouth to visit Archie Colquhoun,[3] who was mourning the recent -loss of both his parents, I was detained there by his sudden and -dangerous illness. While there, also, I was cheered by the first -thoughts for a tour in Spain during the next winter. - - * * * * * - -_To_ MARY LEA GIDMAN. - -“_Penzance, March 13, 1871._--I know how much and sadly you will have -thought to-day of the last terrible 13th of March, when we were awakened -in the night by the dear Mother’s paralytic seizure, and saw her so -sadly changed. In all the anguish of looking back upon that time, and -the feeling which I constantly have now of all that is bright and happy -having perished out of my life with her sweet presence, I have much -comfort in thinking that we were able to carry out her last great wish -in bringing her home, and in the memory of the three happy months of -comparative health which she afterwards enjoyed there. Many people since -I left home have read some of the ‘Memorials’ I am writing, and express -a sense of never having known before how perfectly beautiful her -character was, and that in truth, like Abraham, they ‘entertained an -angel unawares.’ Now that dear life, which always seemed to us so -perfect, has indeed become perfected, and the heavenly glow which came -to the revered features in death is but a very faint image of the -heavenly glory which always rests upon them.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS WRIGHT. - -“_Stewart’s Hotel, Bournemouth, March 30, 1871._--The discussion of a -tour in Spain comes to me as the pleasant dream of a possible future.... -It is of course easy for us to see Spain _in a way_ in a few weeks, but -if one does not go in a cockney spirit, but really wishing to _learn_, -to open one’s eyes to the glorious past of Spain, the story of Isabella, -the Moorish dominion, the boundless wealth of its legends, its proverbs, -its poetry--all that makes it different from any other country--we must -begin in a different way, and our chief interest will be found in the -grand old cities which the English generally do _not_ visit--Leon, -Zaragoza, Salamanca; in the wonderful romance which clings around the -rocks of Monserrat and the cloisters of Santiago; in the scenes of the -Cid, Don Roderick, Cervantes, &c. - -“You will be sorry to hear that I am again in my normal condition of day -and night nurse, in all the varying anxieties of a sick-room. I came -here ten days ago to stay with Archie Colquhoun, whom I had known very -little before, but who, having lost both father and mother lately, -turned in heart to me and begged me to come to him. On Tuesday he fell -with a great crash on the floor in a fit, and was unconscious for many -hours.... It was a narrow escape of his life, and he was in a most -critical state till the next day, but now he is doing well, though it -will long be an anxious case.[4] You will easily understand how much -past anguish has come back to me in the night-watches here, and I feel -it odd that these duties should, as it were, be perpetually _found_ for -me.” - - * * * * * - -In May I paid the first of many visits to my dear Lady Waterford at -Highcliffe, her fairy palace by the sea, on the Hampshire coast, near -Christ Church, and though I was still too sad to enter into the full -charm of the place and the life, which I have enjoyed so much since, I -was greatly refreshed by the mental tonic, and by the kindness and -sympathy which I have never failed to receive from Lady Waterford and -her friend Lady Jane Ellice. With them, too, I was able to discuss my -work in all its aspects, and greatly was I encouraged by all they said. - -[Illustration: HIGHCLIFFE, THE KING’S ORIEL.][5] - -For many years after this, Highcliffe was more familiar to me than any -other place except my own home, and I am attached to every stone of it. -The house was the old Mayor’s house of Les Andelys, removed from -Normandy by Lord Stuart de Rothesay, but a drawing shows the building as -it was in France, producing a far finer effect than as it was put up in -England by Pugin, the really fine parts, especially the great window, -being lower down in the building, and more made of. In the room to which -that window belonged, Antoyne de Bourbon, King of Navarre, died. The -portraits in the present room of the Duchess of Suffolk and her second -husband, who was a Bertie, have the old ballad of “The Duchess of -Suffolk” inscribed beneath. They fled abroad, and their son Peregrine, -born in a church porch, was the progenitor of the present Berties. I -have myself always inhabited the same room at Highcliffe--one up a -separate stair of its own, adorned with great views of the old -Highcliffe and Mount Stuart, and with old French furniture, including a -chair worked in blue and red by Queen Marie Amélie and Madame Adelaïde. -The original house of Highcliffe was built on land sold to Lord Stuart -by a Mr. Penlees, who had had a legacy of bank-notes left him in the -case of a cocked-hat--it was quite full of them. Mr. Penlees had built a -very ugly house, the present “old rooms,” which Lord Stuart cased over. -Then he said that, while Lady Stuart was away, he would add a few rooms. -When she came back, to her intense consternation, she found the new -palace of Highcliffe: all the ornaments, windows, &c., from Les Andelys -having been landed close by upon the coast. I always liked going with -Lady Waterford into the old rooms, which were those principally used by -Lady Stuart, and contained a wonderful copy of Sir Joshua which Lady -Waterford made when she was ten years old. There was also a beautiful -copy of the famous picture of Lord Royston, done by Lady Waterford -herself long ago; a fine drawing of the leave-taking of Charles I. and -his children--Charles with a head like the representations of the -Saviour; and a portrait of the old Lady Stuart, “Grannie Stuart,” with -all the wrinkles smoothed out. “Oh, if I am like that, I am only fit to -die,” she said, when she saw it.[6] - -I have put down a few notes from the conversation at Highcliffe this -year. - - * * * * * - -“Mr. M. was remonstrated with because he would not admire Louis -Philippe’s régime. He said, ‘No, I cannot; I have known him before so -well. I am like the peasant who, when he was remonstrated with because -he would not take off his hat to a new wooden cross that was put up, -said he couldn’t _parceque je l’ai connu poirier_.’” - -“Some one spoke to old Lady Salisbury[7] of Adam’s words--‘The woman -tempted me, and I did eat.’ ‘Shabby fellow,’ she said.” - -“Lady Anne Barnard[8] was at a party in France, and her carriage never -came to take her away. A certain Duke who was there begged to have the -honour of taking her home, and she accepted, but on the way felt rather -awkward and thought he was too affectionate and gallant. Suddenly she -was horrified to see the Duke on his knees at the bottom of the -carriage, and was putting out her hands and warding him off, when he -exclaimed, ‘Taisez-vous, Madame, voilà le bon Dieu qui passe.’ It was a -great blow to her vanity.” - -“Old Lord Malmesbury[9] used to invent the most extraordinary stories -and tell them so well; indeed, he told them till he quite believed them. -One was called ‘The Bloody Butler,’ and was about a butler who drank the -wine and then filled the bottles with the blood of his victims. Another -was called ‘The Moth-eaten Clergyman;’ it was about a very poor -clergyman, a Roman he was, who had some small parish in Southern -Germany, and was a very good man, quite excellent, absolutely devoted to -the good of his people. There was, however, one thing which militated -against his having all the influence amongst his flock which he ought -to have had, and this was that he was constantly observed to steal out -of his house in the late evening with two bags in his hand, and to bury -the contents in the garden; and yet when people came afterwards by -stealth and dug for the treasure, they found nothing at all, and this -was thought, well ... not quite canny. - -“Now the diocesan of that poor clergyman, who happened to be the -Archbishop of Mayence, was much distressed at this, that the influence -of so good a man should thus be marred. Soon afterwards he went on his -visitation tour, and he stopped at the clergyman’s house for the night. -He arrived with outriders, and two postillions, and four fat horses, and -four fat pug-dogs, which was not very convenient. However, the poor -clergyman received them all very hospitably, and did the best he could -for them. But the Archbishop thought it was a great opportunity for -putting an end to all the rumours that were about, and with a view to -this he gave orders that the doors should be fastened and locked, so -that no one should go out. - -“When morning came, the windows of the priest’s house were not opened, -and no one emerged, and at last the parishioners became alarmed, for -there was no sound at all. But when they broke open the doors, volleys -upon volleys of moths of every kind and hue poured out; but of the poor -clergyman, or of the Archbishop of Mayence, or of the outriders and -postillions, or of the four fat horses, or of the four pug-dogs, came -out nothing at all, for they were all eaten up. For the fact was that -the poor clergyman really had the most dreadful disease which bred -myriads of moths; if he could bury their eggs at night, he kept them -under, but when he was locked up, and he could do nothing, they were too -much for him. Now there is a moral in this story, because if the people -and the Archbishop had looked to the fruits of that excellent man’s -life, and not attended to foolish reports with which they had no concern -whatever, these things would never have happened. - -“These were the sort of things Lord Malmesbury used to invent. Canning -used to tell them to us.” - -“I call the three kinds of Churchism--Attitudinarian, Latitudinarian, -and Platitudinarian.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS WRIGHT. - -“_Holmhurst, June 12, 1871._--In a few days’ solitude what a quantity of -work I have gone through; and work which carries one back over a wide -extent of the far long-ago always stretches out the hours, but how -interesting it makes them! I quite feel that I should not have lived -through the first year of my desolation without the companionship of -this work of the ‘Memorials,’ which my darling so wisely foresaw and -prepared for me. Daily I miss her more. Now that the flowers are -blooming around, and the sun shining on the lawn, and the leaves out on -the ash-tree in the shade of which she used to sit, it seems impossible -not to think that the suffering present must be a dream and that she is -only ‘not yet come out;’ and what the empty room, the unused pillow are, -whence the sunshine of my life came, I cannot say. On Thursday I am -going for one day to Hurstmonceaux, to our sacred spot. The cross is to -be put up then. It is very beautiful, and is only inscribed:-- - -MARIA HARE, -Nov. 22, 1798. Nov. 13, 1870. -Until the Daybreak. - -No other words are needed there; all the rest is written in the hearts -of the people who loved her. - -[Illustration: THE CHURCHYARD AT HURSTMONCEAUX.] - -“I have been thinking lately how all my life hitherto has been down a -highway. There was no doubt as to where the duties were; there could be -no doubt whence the pleasures, certainly whence the sorrows would come. -Now there seem endless byways to diverge upon. But all the interest of -life must be on its highway: the byways may be beautiful and attractive, -but never interesting.” - - * * * * * - -“_Sept. 26._--I much enjoyed my Peakirk visit to charming people (Mr. -and Mrs. James) and a curious place--an oasis in the Fens, the home of -St. Pega (sister of St. Guthlac), whose hermitage with its battered but -beautiful cross still remains. I saw Burleigh, like a Genoese palace -inside; and yesterday made a fatiguing but worth while pilgrimage, for -love of Mary Queen of Scots, to Fotheringhay. One stone, but only one, -remains of the castle which was the scene of her sufferings; so people -wondered at my going so far. ‘Why cannot you let bygones be bygones?’ -said young W. to me. However, the church is very curious, and contains -inscriptions to a whole party of Plantagenets--Richard, Earl of -Cornwall; Cicely, Duchess of York; Edward, father of Edward IV.--for -Fotheringhay, now a hamlet in the fen, was once an important place: the -death of Mary wrought the curse which became its ruin.” - - * * * * * - -I have said little for many years of the George Sheffield who was the -dearest friend of my boyhood. He had been attaché at Munich, Washington, -Constantinople, and was now at Paris as secretary to Lord Lyons. In this -my first desolate year he also had a sorrow, which wonderfully reunited -us, and we became perhaps greater friends than we had been before. -Another of whom I saw much at this time was Charlie Dalison. A younger -son of a Kentish squire of good family, he went--like the young men of -olden time--to London to seek his fortunes, and simply by his good -looks, winning manners, and incomparable self-reliance became the most -popular young man in party-giving London society; but he had many higher -qualities. - -I needed all the support my friends could give me, for the family feud -about the “Memorials” was not the only trouble that pressed upon me at -this time. - -It will be recollected that, in my sister’s death-bed will, she had -bequeathed to me her claims to a portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds. It was -the very fact of this bequest which in 1871 made my poor Aunt Eleanor -(Miss Paul) set up a counter-claim to the picture, which was valued at -_£_2000. - -Five-and-twenty years before, the picture had been entrusted for a time -to Sir John Paul, who unfortunately, from some small vanity, allowed it -to be exhibited in his own name instead of that of the owner. But I -never remember the time when it was not at Hurstmonceaux after 1845, -when it was sent there. Sir Joshua Reynolds, who was an intimate family -friend, painted it in the house of Bishop Shipley, when my father was -two and a half years old. It was painted for my great-aunt Lady Jones, -widow of the famous Orientalist. Lady Jones adopted her nephew Augustus -Hare, and brought him up as her own son, but, as she died intestate, her -personalty passed, not to him, but to her only surviving sister, Louisa -Shipley. Miss Shipley lived many years, and bequeathed the portrait to -her youngest nephew, Marcus Hare. But Marcus gave up his legacy to my -Uncle Julius, who always possessed the picture in my boyhood, when it -hung over the dining-room chimney-piece at Hurstmonceaux Rectory. Uncle -Julius bequeathed the portrait, with all else he possessed, to his -widow, who transferred the picture at once to my adopted mother, as -being the widow of the adopted son of Lady Jones. - -The claim of the opposite party to the picture was that Mrs. Hare -(“Italima”) had said that Lady Jones in her lifetime had promised to -give her the picture, a promise which was never fulfilled; and that my -sister, after her mother’s death, had said at Holmhurst, “If every one -had their rights, that picture would belong to me, as my mother’s -representative, for Lady Jones promised it to my mother,” also that she -proved her belief in having a claim to it by bequeathing that claim to -me. But the strongest point against us was that somehow or other, _how_ -no one could explain, the picture had been allowed to remain for more -than a year in the hands of Sir John Paul, and he had exhibited it. -Though the impending trial about the picture question was very different -from that at Guildford, the violent animosity displayed by my poor aunt -made it most painful, in addition to the knowledge that she (who had -inherited everything belonging to my father, mother, and sister, and had -dispersed their property to the four winds of heaven, whilst I possessed -_nothing_ which had belonged to them) was now trying to seize property -to which she could have no possible moral right, though English law is -so uncertain that one never felt sure to the last whether the fact of -the picture having been exhibited in Sir John Paul’s name might not -weigh fatally with both judge and jury. - -For the whole month of November I was in London, expecting the trial -every day, but it was not till the evening of the 6th of December that I -heard that it was to be the next morning in the law-court off -Westminster Hall. The court was crowded. My counsel, Mr. Pollock, began -his speech with a tremendous exordium. “Gentlemen of the jury, in a -neighbouring court the world is sitting silent before the stupendous -excitement of the Tichborne trial: gentlemen of the jury, _that_ case -pales into insignificance--pales into the most _utter_ insignificance -before the thrilling interest of the present occasion. On the narrow -stage of this domestic drama, all the historic characters of the last -century and all the literary personages of the present seem to be -marching in a solemn procession.” And he proceeded to tell the really -romantic history of the picture--how Benjamin Franklin saw it painted, -&c. I was called into the witness-box and examined and cross-examined -for an hour by Mr. H. James. As long as I was in the region of my -great-uncles and aunts, I was perfectly at home, and nothing in the -cross-examination could the least confuse me. Then the counsel for the -opposition said, “Mr. Hare, on the 20th of April 1866 you wrote a -letter, &c.: what was in that letter?” Of course I said I could not -tell. “What do you think was in that letter?” So I said something, and -of course it was exactly opposite to the fact. - -[Illustration: _Francis George Hare_ - -(Photogravure)] - -As witnesses to the fact of the picture having been at the Rectory at -the time of the marriage of my Uncle Julius, I had subpœnaed the -whole surviving family of Mrs. Julius Hare, who could witness to it -better than any one else, as they had half-lived at Hurstmonceaux -Rectory after their sister’s marriage. Her two sisters, Mrs. Powell and -Mrs. Plumptre, took to their beds, and remained there for a week to -avoid the trial, but Dr. Plumptre[10] and Mr. (F. D.) Maurice had to -appear, and gave evidence as to the picture having been at Hurstmonceaux -Rectory at the time of their sister’s marriage in 1845,[11] and having -remained there afterwards during the whole of Julius Hare’s life. Mr. -George Paul was then called, and took an oath that, till he went to -America in 1852, the picture had remained at Sir John Paul’s; but such -is the inattention and ignorance of their business which I have always -observed in lawyers, that this discrepancy passed absolutely unnoticed. - -The trial continued for several hours, yet when the court adjourned for -luncheon I believed all was going well. It was a terrible moment when -afterwards Judge Mellor summed up dead against us. Being ignorant, -during my mother’s lifetime, of the clause in Miss Shipley’s will -leaving the picture to Marcus Hare, and being anxious to ward off from -her the agitation of a lawsuit in her feeble health, I had made -admissions which I had really previously forgotten, but which were most -dangerous, as to the difficulty which I then felt in establishing our -claim to the picture. These weighed with Judge Mellor, and, if the jury -had followed his lead, our cause would have been ruined. The jury -demanded to retire, and were absent for some time. Miss Paul, who was in -the area of the court, received the congratulations of all her friends, -and I was so certain that my case was lost, that I went to the solicitor -of Miss Paul and said that I had had the picture brought to Sir John -Lefevre’s house in Spring Gardens, and that I wished to give it up as -soon as ever the verdict was declared, as if any injury happened to it -afterwards, a claim might be made against me for £2000. - -Then the jury came back and gave a verdict for ... the defendant! - -It took everybody by surprise, and it was the most triumphant moment I -ever remember. All the Pauls sank down as if they were shot. My friends -flocked round me with congratulations. - -The trial took the whole day, the court sitting longer than usual on -account of it. The enemy immediately applied for a new trial, which -caused us much anxiety, but this time I was not required to appear in -person. The second trial took place on the 16th of January 1872, before -the Lord Chief Justice, Judge Blackburn, Judge Mellor, and Judge Hannen, -and, after a long discussion, was given triumphantly in my favour, Judge -Mellor withdrawing his speech made at the former trial, and stating -that, after reconsideration of all the facts, he rejoiced at the -decision of the jury. - -As both trials were gained by me, the enemy had nominally to pay all the -costs, but still the expenses were most heavy. It was just at the time -when I was poorest, when my adopted mother’s will was still in abeyance. -There were also other aspirants for the picture, in the shape of the -creditors of my brother Francis, who claimed as representing my father -(not my mother). It was therefore thought wiser by all that I should -assent to the portrait being sold, and be content to retain only in its -place a beautiful copy which had been made for me by the kindness of my -cousin Madeleine Shaw-Lefevre. The portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds was -sold at Christie’s in the summer of 1872 for £2200, and is now in the -National Gallery of America at New York. - -A week after the trial, on the 13th of December, I left England for -Spain. It had at first been intended that a party of five should pass -the winter there together, but one after another fell off, till none -remained except Miss Wright--“Aunt Sophy”--who joined me in Paris. The -story of our Spanish tour is fully told in my book “Wanderings in -Spain,” which appeared first as articles in _Good Words_. These were -easily written and pleasant and amusing to write, but have none of the -real value of the articles which I afterwards contributed on “Days near -Rome.” I will only give here, to carry on the story, some extracts from -my letters. - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS LEYCESTER. - -“_Paris, Dec. 14, 1871._--How different France and England! At Holmhurst -I left a green garden bright with chrysanthemums and everlastings: here, -a pathless waste of snow up to the tops of the hedges became so deep -near Creil that, as day broke, we remained fixed for an hour and a half -in the midst of a forest, neither able to move backwards or forwards. -And by the side of the rail were remains of a frightful accident of -yesterday--engine smashed to bits, carriages cut in half, the linings -hanging in rags, cushions lying about, &c. The guard was not -encouraging--‘Oui, il y avait des victimes, pas beaucoup, mais il y a -toujours des victimes.’ ... The state of Paris is unspeakably wretched, -hillocks of snow, uncarted away and as high as your shoulder, filling -the sides of the streets, with a pond in the intervening space. The -Tuileries (after the Commune) looks far worse than I -expected--restorable, but for the present it has lost all its form and -character. We went inside this morning, but were soon warned out on -account of the falling walls weakened by the frost.” - - * * * * * - -“_Pau, Dec. 20_.--I was glad to seize the opportunity of Aunt Sophy’s -wishing for a few days’ rest before encountering Spain to pay a visit to -the Taylors.[12] ... This morning I have walked on the terrace of the -park, and lived over again many of those suffering scenes when we were -here before. Truly _here_ I have no feeling but one of thankfulness for -the Mother’s release from the suffering body which was so great a burden -to her. I went to the Hotel Victoria, and looked up at the windows of -the rooms where, for the first time, we passed together through the -valley of the Shadow of Death.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ MARY LEA GIDMAN, - -“_Jan. 2._--You will imagine how the long-ago came back to me at -Pau--the terrible time when we were hourly expecting the blow which has -now fallen, and which we both, I know, feel daily and hourly. But I -think it was in mercy that God spared us then: we were better prepared -for our great desolation when it really came, and in the years for which -our beloved one was given back to us, she was not only our most precious -comfort and blessing, for her also they were filled with comfort, in -spite of sickness, by the love with which she was ever surrounded. When -I think of what the great blank is, life seems quite too desolate; but -when I think of her _now_, and how her earthly life must have been one -of increasing infirmity, instead of the perfected state from which I -believe she can still look down upon us, I am satisfied. - -“Do you still keep flowers or something green in her room? I hope so.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS LEYCESTER. - -“_Convent of Montserrat, in Catalonia, Jan. 4, 1872._--At the best of -times you would never have been able to travel in Spain, for great as is -the delight of this unspeakably glorious place, I must confess we paid -dear for it in the sufferings of the way. The first day introduced us to -plenty of small hardships, as, a train being taken off _al improviso_, -we had to wade through muddy lanes--and the Navarre mud is _such_ -mud--in pitch darkness, to a wretched hovel, where we passed the night -with a number of others, in fierce cold, no fires or comforts of any -kind. From thence (Alasua) we got on to Pamplona, our first picturesque -Spanish town, where we spent part of Christmas Day, and then went on to -Tudela, where we had another wretched posada; no fires; milk, coffee, -and butter quite unknown, and the meat stewed in oil and garlic; and -this has been the case everywhere except here, with other and worse -in-_conveniences_. - -“At Zaragoza we were first a little repaid by the wonderful beauty of -the Moorish architecture--like lace in brick and stone, and the people -as well as the place made a new world for us; but oh! the cold!--blocks -of ice in the streets and the fiercest of winds raging.... No words -certainly can describe the awful, the hideous ugliness of the railway -the whole way here: not a tree, not a blade of grass to be seen, but -ceaseless wind-stricken swamps of brown mud--featureless, hopeless, -utterly uncultivated. However, Manresa is glorious, a sort of mixture of -Tivoli (without the waterfall) and Subiaco, and thence we first gazed -upon the magnificent Monserrat. - -“We have been four days in the convent. I never saw anything anywhere so -beautiful or so astonishing as this place, where we are miles and miles -above every living thing except the monks, amid the most stupendous -precipices of 3000 feet perpendicular, and yet in such a wealth of -loveliness in arbutus, box, lentisc, smilax, and jessamine, as you can -scarcely imagine. Though it is so high, and we have no fires or even -_brasieros_, we scarcely feel the cold, the air is so still and the -situation so sheltered, and on the sunlit terraces, which overlook the -whole of Catalonia like a map, it is really too hot. The monks give us -lodging and we have excellent food at a _fonda_ within the convent -walls, and are quite comfortable, though it must be confessed that my -room is so narrow a cell, that when I go in it is impossible to turn -round, and I have to hoist myself on the little bed sideways. - -“It has been a strange beginning of the New Year. We breakfast at eight, -and all day draw or follow the inexhaustibly lovely paths along the -edges of the precipices. Yesterday we ascended the highest peak of the -range, and were away nine hours--Aunt Sophy, the maid, and I; and -nothing can describe the sublimity of the views across so glorious a -foreground, to the whole snowy Pyrenean ranges and the expanse of blue -sea. - -“I act regular courier, and do all the work at inns, stations, &c., and -Miss Wright is very easy to do for, and though very _piano_ in -misfortunes, is most kind and unselfish. The small stock of Spanish -which I acquired in lonely evenings at Holmhurst enables me to get on -quite easily--in fact, we never have a difficulty; and the kindness, -civility, and helpfulness of the Spanish people compensates for all -other annoyances. No one cheats, nor does it seem to occur to them. All -prices are fixed, and so reasonable that my week’s expenses have been -less than I paid for two dismal rooms and breakfast only in Half-Moon -Street.” - - * * * * * - -“_Barcelona, Jan. 9_.--We arrived here on the evening of the Befana--a -picturesque sight. It was coming into perfect summer, people out walking -in the beautiful Rambla till past 12 P.M., ladies without bonnets and -shawls. It is a very interesting place, full of lovely architecture, -with palms, huge orange-trees, and terraces, and such a deep blue sea.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ MARY LEA GIDMAN. - -“_Barcelona, Jan. 17._--We have good rooms now, but everywhere the food -is shocking. At the _table-d’hôte_ one of the favourite dishes is -snail-soup, and as the snails are cooked in their shells, it does not -look very tempting. If the food were improved, this coast would be -better for invalids in winter than the Riviera, as it is such a splendid -climate--almost too dry, as it scarcely ever rains for more than fifty -days out of the 365. The late Queen ordered every tree in the whole of -Spain which did not bear fruit to be cut down, so the whole country is -quite bare, and so parched and rocky that often for fifty miles you do -not see a shrub, but in some places there are palms, olives, oranges, -and caroubas. - -“We are very thankful for the tea which Miss Wright’s maid makes for us -in a saucepan.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS LEYCESTER. - -“_Tarragona, Jan. 19._--We delighted in Barcelona, and wondered it did -not bring people to this coast instead of to the south of France.... We -get on famously with the Spaniards. I talk as much as I can, and if I -cannot, smile and look pleased, and everybody seems devoted to us, and -we are made much of and helped wherever we go. It is quite different -from Italy: and we are learning _such_ good manners from the incessant -bowing and complimenting which is required.” - - * * * * * - -“_Cordova, Feb. 6._--We broke the dreadful journey from Valencia to -Alicante by sleeping at Xativa, a lovely city of palms and rushing -fountains with a mountain background, but the inn so disgusting we could -not stay. Alicante, on the other hand, had no attraction except its -excellent hotel, with dry sheets, bearable smells, no garlic, and -butter. The whole district is burnt, tawny, and desolate beyond -words--houses, walls, and castle alike dust-colour, but the climate is -delicious, and a long palm avenue fringes the sea, with scarlet -geraniums in flower. With Elche we were perfectly enraptured--the -forests of palms quite glorious, many sixty feet high and laden with -golden dates; the whole place so Moorish, and the people with perfectly -Oriental hospitality and manners. We spent four days there, and were out -drawing from eight in the morning to five in the afternoon; _such_ -subjects--but I lamented not being able to draw the wonderful -figures--copper-coloured with long black hair; the men in blue velvet, -with _mantas_ of crimson and gold and large black sombreros. - -“It was twenty-three hours’ journey here, and no possible stopping-place -or buffet. But as for Miss Wright, she never seems the worse for -anything, and is always equally kind and amiable. She is, however, very -_piano_ in spirits, so that I should be thankful for a little pleasant -society for her, as it must have been fearfully dull having no one but -me for so long. - -“We were disappointed with Murcia, though its figures reach a climax of -grotesque magnificence, every plough-boy in the colours of Solomon’s -temple. But though we had expected to find Cordova only very -interesting, it is also most beautiful--the immense court before the -mosque filled with fountains and old orange-trees laden with fruit, and -the mosque itself, with its forest of pillars, as solemn as it is -picturesque.” - - * * * * * - -TO MARY LEA GIDMAN. - -“_Seville, Feb. 10._--The dirt and discomfort of the railway journey to -Cordova was quite indescribable, but the mosque is glorious. It is so -large that you would certainly lose your way in it, as it has more than -a thousand pillars, and twenty-nine different aisles of immense length, -all just like one another. We made a large drawing in the court with its -grove of oranges, cypresses, and palms, and you would have been quite -aghast at the horrible beggars who crowded round us--people with two -fingers and people with none; people with no legs and people with no -noses, or people with their eyes and mouths quite in the wrong place. - -“The present King (Amadeo) is much disliked and not likely to reign -long. Here at Seville, in the Carnival, they made a little image of him, -which bowed and nodded its head, as kings do, when it was carried -through the street, and all the great people went out to meet it and -bring it into the town in mockery; and yesterday it was strangled like a -common criminal on a scaffold in the public square; and to-day tens of -thousands of people are come into the town to attend its funeral. - -“The Duchesse de Montpensier, who lives here, does a great deal of good, -but she is very superstitious, and, when her daughter was ill, she -walked barefoot through all the streets of Seville: the child died -notwithstanding. She and all the great ladies of Seville wear low -dresses and flowers in their hair when they are out walking on the -promenade, but at large evening parties they wear high dresses, which -is rather contrary to English fashions. Miss Wright’s bonnet made her so -stared at and followed about, that now she, and her maid also, have been -obliged to get mantillas to wear on their heads instead, which does much -better, and prevents their attracting any attention. No ladies ever -think of wearing anything but black, and gentlemen are expected to wear -it too if they pay a visit. - -“I often feel as if I must be in another state of existence from my old -life of so many years of wandering with the sweet Mother and you, but -_that_ life is always present to me as the reality--this as a dream. -There is one walk here which the dear Mother would have enjoyed and -which always recalls her--a broad sunny terrace by the river-side edged -with marble, which ends after a time in a wild path, where pileworts are -coming into bloom under the willows. I always wonder _how_ much she -knows of us now; but if she can be invisibly present, I am sure it is -mostly with me, and then with you, and in her own room at Holmhurst, -whence the holy prayers and thoughts of so many years of faith and love -ascended.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS LEYCESTER. - -“_Seville, Feb. 13._--Ever since we entered Andalusia it has poured in -torrents, but even in fine weather I think we must have been -disappointed with Seville. With such a grand cathedral interior and such -beautiful pictures, it seems hard to complain, but there never was -anything less picturesque than the narrow streets of whitewashed houses, -uglier than the exterior of the cathedral, or duller than the -surrounding country. Being Carnival, the streets are full of masks, many -of them not very civil to the clergy--the Pope being led along by a -devil with a long tail, &c. Every one speaks of the Italian King -(Amadeo) as thoroughly despised and disliked, and his reign (in spite of -the tirades in his favour in English newspapers) must now be limited to -weeks; then it must be either a Republic, Montpensier, or Alfonso. Here, -where they live, the Montpensiers are very popular, and they do an -immense deal of good amongst the poor, the institutions, and in -encouraging art. Their palace of San Telmo is beautiful, with a great -palm-garden. When we first came, we actually engaged lodgings in the -Alcazar, the great palace of the Moorish kings, but, partly from the -mosquitoes and partly from the ghosts, soon gave them up again.” - - * * * * * - -“_Algeciras, Feb. 25._--Though we constantly asked one another what -people admired so much in Seville, its sights took us just a fortnight. -Our pleasantest afternoon was spent in a drive to the Roman ruins in -Italica, and we took Miss Butcher with us, who devotes her life to -teaching the children in the Protestant school, for which she gets well -denounced from the same cathedral pulpit whence the _autos-da-fé_ were -proclaimed, in which 34,611 people were burnt alive in Seville alone! - -“What a dull place Cadiz is. Nothing to make a feature but the general -distant effect of the dazzling white lines of houses rising above a -sapphire sea. We had a twelve hours’ voyage to Gibraltar. I was very -miserable at first, but revived in time to sketch Trafalgar and to make -two views in Africa as we coasted along. At last Gibraltar rose out of -the sea like an island, and very fine it is, far more so than I -expected, though we have not seen the precipice side of the rock yet. As -we turned into the bay of Algeciras, numbers of little boats put out to -take us on shore, and we are so enchanted with this place that we shall -remain a few days in the primitive hotel. Our sitting-room opens by -large glass doors on a balcony. Close below is the pretty beach with its -groups of brilliant figures--Moors in white burnooses, sailors, peasants -in sombreros and _fajas_. Across the blue bay, calm as glass, with white -sails flitting over it, rises the grand mass of the Rock, with the town -of Gibraltar at its foot. All around are endless little walks along the -shore and cliffs, through labyrinths of palmito and prickly pear, or -into the wild green moorlands which rise immediately behind, and beyond -which is a purple chain of mountains. It is the only place I have yet -seen in Spain which I think the dear Mother would have cared to stay -long at, and I can almost fancy I see her walking up the little paths -which she would have so delighted in, or sitting on her camp-stool -amongst the rocks.” - -[Illustration: GIBRALTAR FROM ALGECIRAS] - - * * * * * - -“_Gibraltar, March 2._--It was strange, when we crossed from Algeciras, -to come suddenly in among an English-talking, pipe-smoking, -beer-drinking community in this swarming place, where 5000 soldiers -are quartered in addition to the crowded English and Spanish population. -The main street of the town might be a slice cut out of the ugliest part -of Dover, if it were not for the numbers of Moors stalking about in -turbans, yellow slippers, and blue or white burnooses. Between the town -and Europa Point, at the African end of the promontory, is the beautiful -Alameda, walks winding through a mass of geraniums, coronillas, ixias, -and aloes, all in gorgeous flower: for already the heat is most intense, -and the sun is so grilling that before May the flowers are all withered -up. - -“I am afraid we shall not be allowed to go to Ronda. Mr. Layard has sent -word from Madrid to the Governor to prevent any one going, as the famous -brigand chief Don Diego is there with his crew. We had hoped to get up a -sufficiently large armed party, but so many stories have come, that Aunt -Sophy and her maid, Mrs. Jarvis, are getting into an agony about losing -their noses and ears. - -“The Governor, Sir Fenwick Williams, has been excessively civil to us, -but our principal acquaintance here is quite romantic. The first day -when we went down to the _table-d’hôte_, there were only two others -present, a Scotch commercial traveller, and, below him, a rather -well-looking Spaniard, evidently a gentleman, but with an odd short -figure and squeaky voice. He bowed very civilly as we came in, and we -returned it. In the middle of dinner a band of Scotch bagpipers came -playing under the window, and I was seized with a desire to jump up and -look at them. Involuntarily I looked across the table to see what the -others were going to do, when the unknown gave a strange bow and wave -of _permission_! With that wave came back to my mind a picture in the -Duchesse de Montpensier’s bedroom at Seville: it was her brother-in-law, -Don Francisco d’Assise, ex-King of Spain! Since then we have breakfasted -and dined with him every day, and seen him constantly besides. This -afternoon I sat out with him in the gardens, and we have had endless -talk--the result of which is that I certainly do not believe a word of -the stories against him, and think that, though not clever and rather -eccentric, he is by no means an idiot, but a very kind-hearted, -well-intentioned person. He is kept here waiting for a steamer to take -him to Marseilles, as he cannot land at any of the Spanish ports. He -calls himself the Comte de Balsaño, and is quite alone here, and -evidently quite separated from Queen Isabella. He never mentions her or -Spain, but talks quite openly of his youth in Portugal and his visits to -France, England, Ireland, &c. - -“I have remained with him while Miss Wright is gone to Tangiers with her -real nephew, Major Howard Irby. This beginning of March always brings -with it many sad recollections, the date--always nearing March 4--of all -our greatest anxieties, at Pau, Piazza di Spagna, Via Babuino, Via -Gregoriana. It is almost as incredible to me now as a year and a half -ago to feel that it is all over--the agony of suspense so often endured, -and that life is now a dead calm without either sunshine or storm to -look forward to. - -“The King says that of all the things which astonish him in England, -that which astonishes him most is that the Anglo-Catholics (so called), -who are free to do as they please, are seeking to have confession--‘the -bane of the Roman Catholic religion, which has brought misery and -disunion into so many Spanish homes.’ One felt sure he was thinking of -Father Claret and the Queen, but he never mentioned them.” - - * * * * * - -“_March 6._--The poor King left yesterday for Southampton--a most -affectionate leave-taking. He says he will come to Holmhurst: how odd if -he does!” - - * * * * * - -“_Malaga, March 17._--Our pleasantest acquaintances at Gibraltar were -the Augustus Phillimores, with whom we spent our last day--in such a -lovely garden on the side of the Rock, filled with gigantic daturas, -daphnes, oranges, and gorgeous creeping Bougainvillias. Admiral -Phillimore’s boat took us on board the _Lisbon_, where we got through -the voyage very well, huddled up under cloaks on deck through the long -night. There is nothing to see at Malaga--a dismal, dusty, ugly place.” - - * * * * * - -“_Hôtel Siete Suelos, Granada, March 19._--We had a dreadful journey -here--rail to Las Salinas and then the most extraordinary diligence -journey, in a carriage drawn by eight mules, at midnight, over no road, -but rocks, marshes, and along the edge of precipices--quite frightful. -Why we were _not_ overturned I cannot imagine. I could get no place -except at the top, and held on with the greatest difficulty in the -fearful lunges. We reached Granada about 3½ A.M., seeing nothing that -night, but wearily conscious of the long ascent to the Siete Suelos. - -“How lovely was the morning awakening! our rooms looking down long -arcades of high arching elms, with fountains foaming in the openings of -the woods, birds singing, and violets scenting the whole air. It is -indeed alike the paradise of nature and art. Through the first day I -never entered the Alhambra, but sat restfully satisfied with the -absorbing loveliness of the surrounding gorges, and sketched the -venerable Gate of Justice, glowing in gorgeous golden light. This -morning we went early to the Moorish palace. It is beyond all -imagination of beauty. As you cross the threshold you pass out of fact -into fairyland. I sat six hours drawing the Court of Blessing without -moving, and then we climbed the heights of S. Nicolas and overlooked the -whole palace, with the grand snow peaks of Sierra Nevada rising behind.” - - * * * * * - -“_Granada, April 1--Easter Sunday._--To-day especially I do not feel as -if I was at Granada, but in the churchyard at Hurstmonceaux. I am sure -Mrs. Medhurst and other loving hands will have decorated our most dear -spot with flowers. Aunt Sophy is most kind, only too kind and indulgent -always, but the thought of the one for and _through_ whom alone I could -really enjoy anything is never absent from me. I feel as if I lived in a -life which was not mine--beautiful often, but only a beautiful -moonlight: the sunlight has faded.” - -[Illustration: TOLEDO.] - - * * * * * - -“_Toledo, April 11._--We had twelve hours’ diligence from Granada, saw -Jaen Cathedral on the way, and joined the railroad at the little station -of Mengibar. Next morning found us at Aranjuez, a sort of Spanish -Hampton Court, rather quaint and pleasant, four-fifths of the place -being taken up by the palace and its belongings, so much beloved by -Isabella (II.), but since deserted. We went to bed for four hours, and -spent the rest of the day in surveying half-furnished palaces, unkempt -gardens, and dried-up fountains, yet pleasant from the winding Tagus, -lilacs and Judas-trees in full bloom, and birds singing. It was a nice -primitive little inn, and the landlord sat on the wooden gallery in the -evening and played the guitar, and all his men and maids sang round him -in patriarchal family fashion. - -“On the whole, I feel a little disappointed at present with this -curious, desolate old city: the cathedral and everything else looks so -small after one’s expectations, and the guide-books exaggerate so -tremendously all over Spain. - -“My last day at Granada was saddened by your mention of what is really a -great loss to me--dear old Mr. Liddell’s death,[13] so kind to me ever -since I was a little boy, and endeared by the many associations of most -happy visits at Bamborough and Easington. I had also sad news from -Holmhurst in the death of dear sweet Romo, the Mother’s own little dog, -which no other can ever be.” - - * * * * * - -“_Madrid, April 20._--We like Madrid better than we expected. It is a -poor miniature of Paris, the Prado like the Champs Elysées, the Museo -answering to the Louvre, though all on the smallest possible scale. It -has been everything to us having our kind friends Don Juan and Doña -Emilia de Riaño here, and we have seen a great deal of them. They have a -beautiful house, full of books and pictures, and every day she has come -to take us out, and has gone with us everywhere, taking us to visit all -the interesting literary and artistic people, showing us all the -political characters on the Prado, escorting us to galleries, &c., and -in herself a mine of information of the most beautiful and delightful -kind--a sort of younger Lady Waterford. She gives a dreadful picture of -the immorality of society in Madrid under the Italian King, the want of -law, the hopelessness of redress; that everything is gained by influence -in high places, nothing by right. A revolution is expected any day, and -then the King must go. The aristocratic Madrilenians all speak of him as -‘the little Italian wretch,’ though they pity his pretty amiable Queen. -All seem to want to get rid of him, and, whatever is said by English -newspapers, we have never seen any one in Spain who was not hankering -after the Bourbons and the handsome young Prince of Asturias, who is -sure to be king soon. - -“The pleasantest of all the people Madame de Riaño has taken us to visit -are the splendid artist Don Juan de Madraza and his most lovely -wife.[14] - -“The Layards have been very civil. At a party there we met no end of -Spanish grandees. The Queen’s lady-in-waiting (she has only two who -will consent to take office), Marqueza d’Almena, was quite lovely in -white satin and pearls--like an old picture.” - - * * * * * - -“_Segovia, April 28._--I was quite ill at Madrid with severe sore throat -and cough, and this in spite of the care I was always taking of myself, -having been so afraid of falling ill. But it is the most treacherous -climate, and, from burning heat, changes to fierce ice-laden winds from -the Guadarama and torrents of cold rain. I was shut up five days, but -cheered by visits from Madame de Riaño, young Arthur Seymour an attaché, -and the last day, to my great delight, the well-known Holmhurst faces of -Mr. and Mrs. Scrivens (Hastings banker), brimming with Sussex news. Mr. -Layard was evidently very anxious to get us and all other travelling -English safe out of Spain, but we preferred the alternative, suggested -by the Riaños, of coming to this ‘_muy pacifico_’ place, and waiting -till the storm was a little blown over. Madrid was certainly in a most -uncomfortable state, the Italian King feeling the days of his rule quite -numbered, houses being entered night and day, and arrests going on -everywhere. I do not know what English papers tell, but the Spanish -accounts are alarming of the whole of the north as overrun by Carlists, -and that they have taken Vittoria and stopped the tunnel on the main -line. - -“It was a dreadful journey here. The road was cut through the snow, but -there was fifteen feet of it on either side the way on the top of the -Guadarama. However, our ten mules dragged us safely along. Segovia is -gloriously picturesque, and the hotel a very tolerable--pothouse.” - - * * * * * - -“_Salamanca, May 5._--One day at the Segovia _table-d’hôte_ we had the -most unusual sight of a pleasing young Englishman, who rambled about and -drew with us all afternoon, and then turned out to be--the Duchess of -Cleveland’s younger son, Everard Primrose.[15] - -“May-day we spent at La Granja, one of the many royal palaces, and one -which would quite enchant you. It is a quaint old French château in -lovely woods full of fountains and waterfalls, quite close under the -snow mountains; and the high peaks, one glittering mass of snow, rise -through the trees before the windows. The inhabitants were longing there -to have the Bourbons back, and only spoke of the present King as ‘the -inoffensive Italian.’ Even Cristina and Isabella will be cordially -welcomed if they return with the young Alfonso. - -[Illustration: SEGOVIA] - - * * * * * - -“On May 2nd we left Segovia and went for one night to the Escurial--such -a gigantic place, no beauty, but very curious, and the relics of the -truly religious though cruelly bigoted Philip II. very interesting. -Then we were a day at Avila, at an English inn kept by Mr. John Smith -and his daughter--kindly, hearty people. Avila is a paradise for -artists, and has remains in plenty of Ferdinand and Isabella, in whose -intimate companionship one seems to live during one’s whole tour in -Spain. It was a most fatiguing night-journey of ten hours to Salamanca, -a place I have especially wished to see--not beautiful, but very -curious, and we have introductions to all the great people of the place. - -“I shall be _very_ glad now to get home again. It is such an immense -separation from every one one has ever seen or heard of, and such a long -time to be so excessively uncomfortable as one must be at even the best -places in Spain. Five-o’clock tea, which we occasionally cook in a -saucepan--without milk of course--is a prime luxury, and is to be -indulged in to-day as it is Sunday.” - - * * * * * - -“_Biarritz, May 12._--We are thankful to be safe here, having seen -Zamora, Valladolid, and Burgos since we left Salamanca. The stations -were in an excited state, the platforms crowded with people waiting for -news or giving it, but we met with no difficulties. I cannot say with -what a thrill of pleasure I crossed the Bidassoa and left the great -discomforts of Spain behind. What a luxury this morning to see once more -tea! butter!! cow’s milk!!!” - - * * * * * - -“_Paris, May 20._--Most lovely does France look after Spain--the -flowers, the grass, the rich luxuriant green, of which there is more to -be seen from the ugliest French station than in the whole of the -Spanish peninsula after you leave the Pyrenees. I have spent the -greater part of three days at the Embassy, where George Sheffield is -most affectionate and kind--no brother could be more so. We have been -about everywhere together, and it is certainly most charming to be with -a friend who is always the same, and associated with nineteen years of -one’s intimate past.” - - * * * * * - -“_Dover Station, May 23._--On Monday George drove me in one of the open -carriages of the Embassy through the Bois de Boulogne to S. Cloud, and I -thought the woods rather improved by the war injuries than otherwise, -the bits cut down sprouting up so quickly in bright green acacia, and -forming a pleasant contrast with the darker groves beyond. We strolled -round the ruined château, and George showed the room whither he went to -meet the council, and offer British interference just before war was -declared, in vain, and now it is a heap of ruins--blackened walls, -broken caryatides.[16] What a lovely view it is of Paris from the -terrace: I had never seen it before. Pretty young French ladies were -begging at all the park gates for the dishoused poor of the place, as -they do at the Exhibition for the payment of the Prussian debt. George -was as delightful as only he can be when he likes, and we were perfectly -happy together. At 7 P.M. I went again to the Embassy. All the lower -rooms were lighted and full of flowers, the corridors all pink geraniums -with a mist of white spirea over them. The Duchesse de la Tremouille was -there, as hideous as people of historic name usually are. Little fat -Lord Lyons was most amiable, but his figure is like a pumpkin with an -apple on the top. It is difficult to believe he is as clever as he is -supposed to be. He is sometimes amusing, however. Of his diplomatic -relations with the Pope he says, ‘It is so difficult to deal -diplomatically with the Holy Spirit.’ He boasts that he arrived at the -Embassy with all he wanted contained in a single portmanteau, and that -if he were called upon to leave it for ever to-day, the same would -suffice. He has collected and acquired--nothing! He evidently adores -George, and I don’t wonder!” - -[Illustration: FOUNTAIN OF S. CLOUD.][17] - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS WRIGHT. - -“_Holmhurst, May 24, 1872._--You will like to know I am safe here. I -found fat John Gidman waiting at the Hastings station, and drove up -through the flowery lanes to receive dear Lea’s welcome--most tearfully -joyous. The little home looks very lovely, and I cannot be thankful -enough--though its sunshine is always mixed with shadow--to have a home -in which everything is a precious memorial of my sacred past, where -every shrub in the garden has been touched by my mother’s hand, every -little walk trodden by her footsteps, and where I can bring up mental -pictures of her in every room. In all that remains I can trace the sweet -wisdom which for years laid up so much to comfort me, which sought to -buy this place when she did, in order to give sufficient association to -make it precious to me; above all, which urged her to the supreme effort -of returning here in order to leave it for me with the last sacred -recollections of her life. In the work of gathering up the fragments -from that dear life I am again already engrossed, and Spain and its -interests are passing into the far away; yet I look back upon them with -much gratitude, and especially upon your long unvaried kindness and your -patience with my many faults.” - - * * * * * - -“_May 26._--To-night it blows a hurricane, and the wind moans sadly. A -howling wind, I think, is the most melancholy natural accompaniment -which can come to a solitary life. After this, I must give you--to -meditate on--a beautiful passage I have been reading in Mrs. -Somerville--‘At a very small height above the surface of the earth the -noise of the tempest ceases, and the thunder is heard no more in those -boundless regions where the heavenly bodies accomplish their periods in -eternal and sublime silence.’” - - * * * * * - -It is partly the relief I experienced after Spain and the animation of -ever-changing society which make me look back upon the summer of 1872 as -one of the happiest I have spent at Holmhurst. A constant succession of -guests filled our little chambers, every one was pleased, and the -weather was glorious. I was away also for several short but very -pleasant glimpses of London, and began to feel how little the virulence -of some of my family signified when there was still so much friendship -and affection left to me. - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS WRIGHT. - -“_Holmhurst, June 21, 1872._--I am feeling ungrateful for never having -written since my happy fortnight with you came to a close, a time which -I enjoyed more than I ever expected to enjoy anything again, and which -made me feel there might still be something worth living on for, so much -kindness and affection did I receive from so many. It is pleasant too to -think of your comfortable home, which rises before me in a gallery of -happy pictures, and I know it all so well now, from the parrot in Mrs. -Jarvis’s room to the red geraniums in your window. I have had Mrs. and -Miss Kuper here, and now I am alone, no voice but that of the -guinea-fowls shrieking ‘Come back’ in the garden. I miss all my London -friends very much, but suppose one would not enjoy it if it went on -always, and certainly solitude is the time for work: I did eleven hours -of it yesterday. As regards my books, I feel more and more with Arnold -that a man is only fit to teach as long as he is himself learning -daily.” - - * * * * * - -“_Holmhurst, June 25._--‘Poor Aunt Sophy’ would not have thought she had -done nothing to cheer me, could she have seen the interest with which I -read her letter and returned to it over and over again. Such a letter is -quite delightful, and here has the effect of one reaching Robinson -Crusoe in Juan Fernandez, so complete is the silence and solitude when -no one is staying here. - - ‘The flowers my guests, the birds my pensioners, - Books my companions, and but few beside.’[18] - -“How I delight in knowing all that the delightful human beings are -about, of whom I think now as living in another hemisphere. I should -like to see more of people--perhaps another year I may not be so busy: -that is, I long for the cream which I enjoyed with you, but I should not -care for the milk and water of a country neighbourhood. If one has too -much people-seeing, however, even of the London best, one feels that it -is ‘a withering world,’[19] and that if-- - - ‘The world is too much with us, late and soon, - Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers.’[20] - -“I have been made very ill-tempered all day because Murray, during my -absence in Spain, has published a second edition of my Oxfordshire -Handbook, _greatly_ altered, without consulting me, and it seems to me -utterly spoilt and vulgarised. He is obliged by his contract to give me -£40, but I would a great deal rather have seen the book uninjured and -received nothing.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS LEYCESTER (after a long visit from her at Holmhurst). - -“_Holmhurst, August 18, 1872._--There seems quite a chaos of things -already to be said to the dear cousin who has so long shared our quiet -life, and who has so much care for the simple interests of this little -home. Much have I missed her--in her chair, with her crotchet; sitting -on the terrace; and especially in the early morning walk yesterday, when -the garden was in its richest beauty, all the crimson and blue flowers -twinkling through a veil of dewdrops, and when ‘the gentleness of Heaven -was on the sea,’ as Wordsworth would say. I am grieved to think of you -in London, instead of in your country home. - -“Our visit to Hurstmonceaux was thoroughly enjoyed by Mr. and Mrs. -Pile.[21] For myself, I shall always feel such short visits produce -such extreme tension of conflicting feelings that they are scarcely a -pleasure. Most lovely was the drive for miles through Ashburnham beech -and pine woods and by its old timber-yard. At Lime Cross we saw Mrs. -Isted at her familiar window, and the dear woman sat there all the -afternoon to have another glimpse on our return. We drove to the foot of -the hill and walked up to the church. Our sacred spot looked most -peaceful, its double hedge of fuchsia in full flower, and the turf as -smooth as velvet. We had luncheon in the church porch, and then went to -the castle, and back through the park uplands, high with fern, to -Hurstmonceaux Place. How often, at Hurstmonceaux especially, I now feel -the force of Wordsworth’s lines: - - ‘Thanks to the human heart by which we live, - Thanks to its tenderness, its joys and fears, - To me the meanest flower that blows can give - Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears.’” - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS WRIGHT. - -“_Holmhurst, Sept. 6, 1872._--If my many guests of the last weeks have -liked their visits, I have most entirely enjoyed having them and the -pleasant influx of new life and new ideas. Dear old Mrs. Robert Hare is -now very happy here, and most grateful for the very small kindness I am -able to show. I have pressed her to make a long visit, as it is a real -delight to give so much pleasure, though humbling to think that, when -one can do it so easily, one does not do it oftener. She is quite -stone-deaf, so we sit opposite one another and correspond on a -slate.[22] On Tuesday I fetched Marcus Hare from Battle. He also is -intensely happy here; but his aunts, the Miss Stanleys, have written to -refuse to see him again or allow him to visit them, because he has been -to see the author of the ‘Memorials.’ I took him to Hurstmonceaux -yesterday, and lovely was the first flush of autumn on our dear woods, -while the castle looked most grand in the solemn stillness of its misty -hollow. Next week I shall have George Sheffield here.” - -[Illustration: FROM THE LIBRARY WINDOW, FORD.][24] - -In September I paid a pleasant visit to my cousin Edward Liddell, whom I -found married to his sweet wife (Christina Fraser Tytler) and living in -the Rectory in Wimpole Park in Cambridgeshire, close to the great house -of our cousin Lord Hardwicke, which is very ugly, though it contains -many fine pictures.[23] In the beginning of October I was at Ford with -Lady Waterford, meeting the Ellices, Lady Marion Alford, and Lady -Herbert of Lea, who had much to tell of La Palma, the _estatica_ of -Brindisi, who had the stigmata, and could tell wonderful truths to -people about their past and future. Lady Herbert had been to America, -Trinidad, Africa--in fact, everywhere, and in each country had, or -thought she had, the most astounding adventures--living with bandits in -a cave, overturned on a precipice, &c. She had travelled in Spain and -was brimful of its delights. She had armed herself with a Papal permit -to enter all monasteries and convents. She had annexed the Bishop of -Salamanca and driven in his coach to Alva, the scene of S. Teresa’s -later life. The nuns refused to let her come in, and the abbess -declared it was unheard of; but when Lady Herbert produced the bishop -and the Papal brief, she got in, and the nuns were so captivated that -they not only showed her S. Teresa’s dead body, but dressed her up in -all S. Teresa’s clothes, and set her in S. Teresa’s arm-chair, and gave -her her supper out of S. Teresa’s porringer and platter. “Can you see -Lady Jane Ellice’s face,” I read in a letter from Ford to Miss -Leycester, “as Lady Herbert ‘goes on’ about the Blessed Paul of the -Cross, the holy shift of S. Teresa, and the saintly privileges of a -hermit’s life?” The first evening she was at Ford Lady Herbert said:-- - - * * * * * - -“Did you never hear the story of ‘La Jolie Jambe’? Well, then, I will -tell it you. Robert, my brother-in-law, told me. He knew the old lady it -was all about in Paris, and had very often gone to sit with her. - -“It was an old lady who lived at ‘le pavillon dans le jardin.’ The great -house in the Faubourg was given up to the son, you know, and she lived -in the pavillon. It was a very small house, only five or six rooms, and -was magnificently furnished, for the old lady was very rich indeed, and -had a great many jewels and other valuable things. She lived quite alone -in the pavillon with her maid, but it was considered quite safe in that -high-terraced garden, raised above everything else, and which could only -be approached through the house. - -“However, one morning the old lady was found murdered, and all her -jewels and valuables were gone. Of course suspicion fell upon the maid, -for who else could it be? She was taken up and tried. The evidence was -insufficient to convict her, and she was released, but every one -believed her guilty. Of course she could get no other place, and she was -so shunned and pointed at as a murderess that her life was a burden to -her. - -“One day, eleven years after, the maid was walking down a street when -she met a man, who, as she passed, looked suddenly at her and exclaimed, -‘Oh, la jolie jambe!’ She immediately rushed up to a sergeant-de-ville -and exclaimed, ‘Arrêtez-moi cet homme.’ The man was confused and -hesitated, but she continued in an agony, ‘Arrêtez-le, je vous dis: je -l’accuse, je l’accuse du meurtre de ma maîtresse.’ Meanwhile the man had -made off, but he was pursued and taken. - -“The maid said at the trial, that, on the night of the murder, the -windows of the pavilion had been open down to the ground; that they were -so when she was going to bed; that as she was getting into bed she sat -for a minute on its edge to admire her legs, looked at them, patted one -of them complacently, and exclaimed, ‘Oh, la jolie jambe!’ - -“The man then confessed that while he had been hidden in the bushes of -the garden waiting to commit his crime, he had seen the maid and heard -her, and that, when he met her in the street, the scene and the words -rushed back upon his mind so suddenly, that, as if under an irresistible -impulse, his lips framed the words ‘Oh, la jolie jambe.’ The man was -executed.” - - * * * * * - -Lady Herbert also told us that-- - - * * * * * - -“Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd, had a sheep-dog to which he was quite -devoted, and which used to go out and collect his sheep. One day in -winter a thick snow came on, and Hogg was in the greatest anxiety about -his flocks. He called his dog and explained all the matter to him, -telling him how he was going all round one side of the moors himself to -drive in his sheep, and that he was to go the other way and collect. The -dog understood perfectly. Late in the evening the Shepherd returned -perfectly exhausted, bringing in his flock through the deep snow, but -the dog had not come back. Hour after hour passed and the dog did not -return. The Shepherd, who was devoted to his dog, was very anxious about -it, when at last he heard a whining and scratching at the door, and -going out, found the dog bringing all his sheep safe, and in its mouth a -little puppy, which it laid at its master’s feet, and instantly darted -off through the snow to seek another and bring it in. The poor thing had -puppied in the snow, but would not on that account neglect one iota of -its duty. It brought in its second puppy, laid it in its master’s lap, -looked up wistfully in his face as if beseeching him to take care of it, -and--died.” - - * * * * * - -Lady Marion Alford is a real _grande dame_. Some one, Miss Mary Boyle, I -think, wrote a little book called the “Court of Queen Marion,” -descriptive of her and her intimate circle. At Ford she talked much of -the pleasure of Azeglio’s _Ricordi_, how he was the first Italian -writer who had got out of the ‘_conciosiachè_ style,’ and she was -delightful with her reminiscences of Italy:-- - - * * * * * - -“Once when I was spending the summer in Italy I wanted models, and I was -told by an old general, a friend of mine, that I had better advertise, -send up to the priests in the mountains, and tell them to send down all -the prettiest children in their villages to be looked at: the lady -wanted models; those she chose she should pay, the others should each -have sixpence and a cake. I was told I had better prepare for a good -many--perhaps a hundred might come. When the day came, I never shall -forget our old servant’s face when he rushed in--‘Miladi, Miladi, the -lane is full of them.’ There were seven hundred. It was very difficult -to choose. We made them pass in at one door of the villa and out at the -other. Those we selected we sent into the garden, and from these we -chose again. Some were perfect monsters, for every mother thought her -own child perfection. Those we selected to come first were a lovely -family of three children with their mother. They were to come on a -Wednesday. The day came, and they never appeared: the next, and still -they did not come. Then we asked our old general about it, and he said, -‘The fact is, I have kicked my carpenter downstairs this morning because -he said you were sending for the children to suck their blood, and they -all think so.’ They none of them ever came. - -“Our old maid Teresa was of a very romantic turn of mind. We used, when -I was a child, to live in the Palazzo Sciarra, where the ‘Maddalena -della Radice’ is. She used to stand opposite to the picture and exclaim -in gulpy tones, ‘Sono bestia io, e non capisco niente, ma questo me -pare--pittoresco.’ My little sister, when our father was away, stood one -day at the top of the stairs and said, ‘Io son padrona di casa, e no son -padrona di casa: voi siete la servitu, e non siete la servitu.’ Teresa -exclaimed, ‘Questa diavola, com’ é carina.’ We used to hear Teresa -talking to our other maid, and they boasted of the number of times they -had been beaten by their husbands. One day--it was during the French -occupation, when the bread was doled out--Teresa took her tambourine -with her when she went to get it, for they all loved flirting with the -soldiers; and when her husband asked her what it was for, she said it -was to bring back the bread in. But when she got inside the circle of -soldiers, they had a merry _saltarello_. The husband was kept back -outside the circle, and stood there furious. At first she laughed at -him, but then when he went away and came back again, she got really -frightened. And when she came out of the circle he flogged her with a -whip all the way back to the Trastevere, and she ran before him -screaming. - -“How curious it is that ‘_Est locanda_’ is still to be seen in Roman -windows of houses to be let--the one little relic of Latin: and how odd -the word for lodgings being the same in all languages--Quartier, -Quartos, Quartiere, Quarter, &c.” - -Lady Marion also said:-- - - * * * * * - -“As we were leaving Gibraltar, three of the shells from the practising -fell quite close to our yacht. ‘Are you not very much frightened?’ said -a French gentleman on board. ‘Not in the least,’ I said. ‘How could I -be? our men are such perfect marksmen;’ but of course I was dreadfully.” - - * * * * * - -This story is wonderfully characteristic of the speaker: the Empress -Catherine might have given such an answer. About ghosts Lady Marion was -very amusing:-- - - * * * * * - -“When I went to Belvoir with Lady Caroline Cust, they danced in the -evening. I went upstairs early, for I was tired. As I was going to my -room, Lady Jersey--it was wrong of her, I think--said, ‘Oh, I see you -are put into the ghost-room.’ I said, ‘I am quite happy; there are no -real ghosts here, I think.’--‘Well,’ said Lady Jersey, ‘I can only say -Miss Drummond slept there last night, and she received letters of -importance this morning and left before breakfast.’ Well, I went into my -room, and lit the candles and made up the fire, but very soon I gave a -great jump, for I heard the most dreadful noise close at my -elbow--Oh-o-oo-oo!’ I thought of course that it was a practical joke, -and began to examine every corner of the room, thinking some one must be -hidden there; then I rang my bell. When my maid came in I said, ‘Now -don’t be frightened, but there is some one hidden in this room -somewhere, and you must help me to find him.’ Very soon the noise came -again. Then Lady Caroline came, and she heard it: then her maid came. -The noise occurred about every five minutes. We examined everything and -stood in each corner of the room. The noise then seemed close to each of -us. At last Lady Caroline said, ‘I can stand this no longer, and I must -go,’ and she and her maid went away and shut themselves into the next -room. Then I said to my maid, ‘If you are frightened you had better go,’ -but she protested that she would rather stay where she was; after what -she had heard, anything would be better than facing the long lonely -passages alone. However, just at that moment ‘Oh-o-oo-oo!’ went off -again close to her ear, and with one spring she darted out of the room -and ran off as hard as ever she could. I went courageously to bed and -determined to brave it out. But the thing went to bed too, and went off -at intervals on the pillow close to my face. And at last it grated on my -nerves to such a degree that I could bear it no longer, and I dragged a -mattress into Lady Caroline’s room and slept there till dawn. The next -morning I also received letters of importance and left before breakfast. - -“Before I left, I sent for the housekeeper, and said, ‘You really should -not put people into that room,’ and told her what had happened. She was -much distressed, and told me that there really was no other room in the -house then, but confessed it had often happened so before. Some time -after I went over to Belvoir with some friends who wanted to see the -castle, and the housekeeper then told me that the same thing had -happened again in that room, which was now permanently shut up.” - - * * * * * - -Other guests at Ford were Mrs. Richard Boyle (known as E. V. B.), and -her daughter--very quaint and original, and the mother a capital artist. -We went to the Rowting Lynn, a beautiful spot surrounded with rocks -overhung by old oak-trees. “Did you enjoy your walk?” said Lady -Waterford to Mrs. Boyle as we came in. “Yes, excessively. You never told -me you had a waterfall. You offered me a coal-pit, but the waterfall you -forgot to mention.” - -Lady Waterford was herself more delightful than ever. As Marocetti said -of her, “C’est un grand homme, mais une femme charmante.” Here are some -scraps from her conversation:-- - - * * * * * - -“That is a sketch of L. H. She did not know I was drawing her. She looks -sixteen, but is quite middle-aged. Mama used to say she was like -preserved green peas. Preserved green peas are not quite so good as real -green peas, but they do very nearly as well.’ - -“I always take a little book with me in the train and draw the things as -I pass them. That is some railings against a sunset sky when it was -almost dark: I thought it was like a bit of Tintoret. - -“How trying it is to be kept waiting for people. Don’t you know the -Italian proverb?-- - - ‘Aspettare e non venire, - Star in letto e non dormire, - Vuol piacer, e non gradire.’ - -Miss Boyle had a much better one, though-- - - ‘To do, to suffer, is a glorious state, - But a more noble portion is to _wait_.’ - -“How beautiful the singing was in our young days--Grisi and Mario and -Lablache, who went straight to one’s heart and fluttered there. - -“Some one, old Madame de Flahault I think it was, asked what she could -give as a present. It must be ‘très rare et pas coûteux,’ and it was -suggested that she should give a lock of her hair. - -“You are like the old lady who said she had never had a ripe peach in -her life, because when she was young all the old people had them, and -when she grew old all the young people had them. - -“I am longing to read ‘Marjory,’[25] but I cannot when I have my house -full--my novel _en action_. When people are here and tell me their -little stories, that is what I like best to read.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS WRIGHT. - -“_Crook Hall, Lancashire, Oct. 20, 1872._--My visit at Ford was -perfectly enchanting, and I made several new friendships there in what -you think my sudden way, especially one with Lord Ronald Gower, which I -think may become a pleasure. I much enjoyed, too, making friends with -Mr. Beaumont and Lady Margaret B., one of the very best types of a fine -lady it is possible to meet, almost funnily aristocratic in all her -ideas, and high-minded in proportion. Her little person is arrayed in -gowns which were as much things of beauty _in their way_ as a mountain -landscape; there is such a difference between ‘smart dress,’ and such a -lovely harmony of shade and colour, as one can scarcely think of as mere -clothing. Then I saw a great deal of the dear Lady Waterford, and am -more than ever instructed and touched by her beautiful, noble, holy -life. It is absolutely impossible to her to ‘think any evil,’ and so, to -her, the best side of every one comes out. As an easier ‘let down’ than -anything else, I accepted an invitation from thence to Lord and Lady -Grey for three days at Howick on the wild sea-coast, and enjoyed my -visit immensely. No one has more completely ‘l’art de narrer’ than Lady -Grey, and he is full of old-fashioned courtesy and kindness, such -winning manners and heart-whole goodness. - -“My ‘Memorials’ are out! Ere this all will have it. I know there will be -much abuse and many varieties of opinion, but I am conscious of having -carried out the book as I believe to be best for others, not for myself, -and in this consciousness can bear what is said. ‘Je laisse couler le -torrent,’ as Mme. de Sevigné used to say. One thing I dread is, that -people should think I am a better person than I am, on reading the book: -for I suppose it is always the fact that a man’s book is the best of -him, his thought better than his life. But in any case, it is a relief -to have it out (as Arthur and Mary Stanley, at the last moment, -persuaded Mr. Murray to go to my publishers to try to stop the -publication), yet it is also a wrench to part with the occupation and -chief thought of two desolate years.” - - * * * * * - -“_Dalton Hall, Oct. 28._--A second edition of the ‘Memorials’ was called -for before it had been out three days. I have had many letters about -it--charming ones from Mrs. Arnold and the old Baroness de Bunsen. The -olive-bearing dove has gone out with healing on his wings, and all the -mists are cleared off and the long-standing feuds of the Hare family -healed by the book. Still the Stanleys make no sign. - - ‘Alas! how easily things go wrong! - A sigh too much or a kiss too long, - And there follows a mist and a weeping rain, - And life is never the same again.’[26] - -“I certainly do suffer very much when people mean me to do so, to a -degree which must be quite satisfactory to them; but then in -compensation I always enjoy very much when it is the reverse. It is as I -read somewhere--‘He who is the first to be touched by the thorns is -soonest awake to the flowers.’ - -“From the Oswald Penrhyns’ at Huyton I saw in the same day two great -houses--the vast and hideous Knowsley, which interested me from its -connection with my Mother’s youth, and the glorious old hall of Speke, -which has an air of venerable beauty quite unrivalled. Then I went for -some days to Lord Brougham’s, a delightful place, full of tapestry and -pictures, but though it looks old, really a modern castle, with the -ruins of the truly ancient castle on the river-bank hard by.” - - * * * * * - -In November I went north again to stay for the first time at Bretton -near Wakefield, a great house in the Black Country, built by the famous -“Madam Beaumont,” who followed the example of her ancestors in making an -enormous fortune by her skilful management of her lead-mines. It is -recorded that when Mr. Pitt was dining with her, and all her magnificent -plate was set out, she exclaimed, with pardonable pride, “That is all -the lead-mines,” when he replied, “Oh, really, I thought it was silver,” -and would talk on, to her great annoyance, and never allow her a moment -to explain. I had made friends with her grandson, Wentworth Beaumont, at -Ford, when he was there with his wife Lady Margaret, whom I have always -regarded as the most thoroughly pleasant specimen in existence of a -really fine lady. Her powers of conversation were boundless, her gift of -repartee unequalled, and her memory most extraordinary. She was the -daughter of Lady Clanricarde, celebrated for her conversational talents, -and whom I remember Lady Carnarvon describing as “the most agreeable -woman in England, because she was not only massive, but lively.” Lady -Margaret was like a little queen amongst her guests, entertaining with -the simplicity of real kindness and thoughtfulness for others, whilst -her manner was equally agreeable to all, and she never usurped -attention, but rather exerted herself to draw others out and to show the -best side of them. She could be alarming as an enemy, but she was a most -faithful friend, and would exert herself to take definite trouble for -her friends, never deserting them unless they were proved to be really -unworthy. She was not exactly pretty, but her animation was more -charming than mere beauty. Dress with her was not a mere adjunct, but -was made as much a thing of poetic beauty as a landscape or a flower. -She was devoted to her husband, but theoretically she disapproved of -love in a general way. Still she was only worldly in principle and not -in practice, and she was ever a devoted mother to her children, seeking -their real happiness rather than their advancement before the world.[27] -I have often been at Bretton since my first visit there, and always -enjoyed it from the constant animation which the hostess shed around -her; the excessive comfort of the house and of the thoroughly -well-regulated household; the plenty of time for work and writing, and -yet the constant variety afforded by the guests coming and going: while -with the children of the house I was very intimate, and with the -youngest, Hubert, long on terms of almost elder-brotherly affection. -Lady Francis Gordon was generally at Bretton when I have been there, -rather an amusing than an agreeable person, but an immense talker. One -of her first remarks to me was characteristic--“I am quite past the age -of blushing: when I want to do anything of that kind, I what they call -_flush_ now.” I have frequently seen Colonel Crealock[28] at Bretton, -who drew animals so splendidly. He told me once-- - - * * * * * - -“Old Lady Selby of the Mote at Ightham had been out to some grand party -in all her diamonds and jewels. She slept in a room which still remains -the same, hung all round with tapestry representing events in the life -of Julius Caesar. Through this room was the dressing-room, in which she -kept her jewels and valuables. On the night of her return from the -party, as she was undressing and taking off her jewels, she looked up at -the figure of Julius Caesar in the tapestry, and thought she saw -something peculiar in one of his eyes. She looked again, and felt sure -the eye moved. She quietly proceeded, however, to take off her jewels -and put them away. Having done that, she locked the jewel-case, left it -in the dressing-room, and went to bed. - -“She had not been in bed long when a man appeared in the room with a -candle and a knife. Coming up to the bed, he passed the light again and -again close before her eyes. She bore it without flinching in the least, -only appeared to become restless and turned over in her sleep. Then he -proceeded to the dressing-room and became occupied over the jewels. As -soon as she was aware that he was entirely engrossed, she darted out of -bed, banged to the door of the dressing-room, locked it on the outside, -and rang violently for assistance. When help came, and the door was -opened, they found the man strangled from trying to get through the iron -bars of the window. - -“The portrait of old Lady Selby still remains at the Mote.”[29] - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS LEYCESTER. - -“_Bretton Park, Nov. 21, 1872._--To-day we went--Lady Francis Gordon, -Mrs. Lowther, Mr. Doyle, and I--to luncheon at Walton, an extraordinary -house in the middle of a lake, which belonged to the Roman Catholic Mr. -Waterton, the great ornithologist. It is approached by a long drawbridge -and is most curious. A Mr. Hailstone lives there now, a strange man, -who spends his large fortune on antiquities, and has a wife who writes -on lace, and wonderful collections.[30] Their son has never eaten -anything but buttered toast, cheese, and port-wine (has never tasted -meat, vegetables, or fruit), but is eight years old and very -flourishing. - -“Lord and Lady Salisbury are here. The latter can only be described by -the word ‘jocund,’ except when she does not wish to make acquaintance or -desires to snub people, when she becomes hopelessly impenetrable. There -is a party of fourteen, all new to me, but I get on very well. They look -upon me as an aboriginal from another hemisphere, and indeed they are -that to me; but it is too new a set to feel the least shy in. There is -great satisfaction in being only a _background_ figure, and Lady -Margaret is quite charming, the house handsome, and the park pretty. We -all went to church this morning in a sort of family drawing-room in the -grounds, the vulgar herd screened off by red curtains, only the -clergyman in his pulpit visible above the screen.” - - * * * * * - -I made a very interesting excursion with Lady Margaret and some of her -guests to Haworth, the wild weird home of the Brontës on the Yorkshire -fells, where the steep street with the stones placed edgeways, up which -the horses scramble like cats, leads to the wind-stricken churchyard, -with its vast pavement of tombstones set close together. On one side of -this is the dismal grey stone house where the three unhappy sisters -lived, worked, and suffered, with the window at the side through which -Patrick Brontë used to climb at night. Not a tree is to be seen in the -neighbourhood except the blackened lilac before the Rectory door. Nature -is her dreariest self, and offers no ameliorations. The family were -buried beneath their pew in the church,[31] so that Charlotte, the last -survivor, sat in church over the graves of her brothers and sisters. The -people seemed half savage, most of all the Rector, who violently hurled -Lady Margaret and Lady Catherine Weyland from his door when they asked -to see the house, being bored, I suppose, by the pertinacity of -visitors. - -The Brontës were really Pronty--Irish--but when old Mr. Brontë went to -college, he did the wise thing of changing his name, and the family kept -to it. - -I went for two days from Bretton to Lord Houghton at Fryston, which has -since been burnt, but which was so filled with books of every kind that -the whole house was a library, each bookcase being filled with a -different subject--the French Revolution, Demonology and Witchcraft, -&c., &c. Lady Houghton was living then, a most gentle, kind woman, a -sister of Lord Crewe. From Lord Houghton I received constant kindness -and protection from my first entering upon a literary life, and, in -spite of his excessive vanity, I was always sincerely attached to him. -“Butterfly to the hasty eye, he was firm in his friendships, firmest of -all in his fearless championship of the weak, the strugglers, the -undeservedly oppressed.” As Johnson says of Garth--“he communicated -himself through a very wide extent of acquaintance.” His conversation -was always interesting, but I have preserved scarcely any notes of my -visit to Fryston, and chiefly remember his mentioning that Sydney Smith -had said to him, what I have so often thought, “It is one of the great -riddles of life to me why good people should always be so dreadfully -stupid.” He also spoke of the many proverbs which discouraged exertion -in “doing good,” from the Persian “Do no good, and no harm will come of -it,” to the French-- - - “Pour faire du bien - Ne faites rien.” - -Talking of the Baroness Burdett Coutts, Lord Houghton said, “Miss -Coutts likes me because I never proposed to her. Almost all the young -men of good family did: those who did their duty by their family -_always_ did. Mrs. Browne (Miss Coutts’ companion) used to see it -coming, and took herself out of the way for ten minutes, but she only -went into the next room and left the door open, and then the proposal -took place, and immediately it was done Miss Coutts coughed, and Mrs. -Browne came in again.” - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL. - -“_Dec. 10, 1872._--Went to visit the Ralph Duttons at Timsbury near -Romsey. The house is in a flat, and sees nothing but clipped laurel -hedges. Mr. Dutton is a sporting politician: Mrs. Dutton a politician -too, but _on the other side_. Both are full of pleasant conversation, -and most kind. Regarding English country-houses, however, it is as -Carlyle truly says, ‘Life may be as well spent there as elsewhere by the -owners of them, who have occupations to attend to. For visitors, when -large numbers are brought together, some practice is required if they -are to enjoy the elaborate idleness.’ - -“We drove to visit Mr. Cowper Temple at Broadlands--a pleasant liveable -house with beautiful flowers and pictures, the most remarkable of the -latter being Guercino’s ‘Hagar and the Angel’--an angel which poises and -floats, and Sir J. Reynolds’ ‘Infant Academy’ and ‘Babes in the Wood.’ -In Mr. Cowper Temple’s room upstairs is Edward Clifford’s family group -of the ‘Maimed and Halt’ being called in to the feast, the figures being -those of the Cowper-Temples, Augustus Tollemaches, Lord Roden, Lady -Palmerston, and Clifford’s favourite drummer. They are wonderful -likenesses, but it is a strange picture, with our Saviour looking in at -the window.” - - * * * * * - -“_Dec. 13._--I arrived at Hatfield in the dark. A number of carriages -from the house met the guests at the station. As I emerged from it, a -little groom touched his hat and said, ‘Please, sir, are you the Lord -Chancellor?’ I thought I must have grown in dignity of aspect. The Lord -Chancellor was expected, and came later in the evening. - -“I found Lord and Lady Salisbury in the library, lined with Burleigh -books and MSS. Mr. Richmond the artist was with them. He has the most -charming voice, which, quite independently of his conversation, would -make him agreeable. He talked of the enormous prices obtained for -statues and pictures at the present time, while Michelangelo only got -£90 and a block of marble for the great David at Florence, and Titian -the same for his Assumption at Venice. He spoke of the amount of -chicanery which existed amongst artists even then--how the monks, and -the nuns too, would supply them with good ultra-marine for their -frescoes, and how they would sell the ultra-marine and use smalt. He -described how Gainsborough never could sell anything but portraits: -people came to him for those, but would not buy his other pictures, and -his house was full of them when he died. Gainsborough gave two pictures -to the carrier who brought his other pictures from Clifton to London: -the carrier would take no fare, so he painted his waggon and horses and -another picture and gave them to him: these two pictures have been sold -lately for £18,000. - -“Besides the Lord Chancellor Selborne with his two pleasant unaffected -daughters, Miss Alderson was here the first day, and Sir Henry and Lady -Maine. With the last I rambled in search of adventures in the evening, -and we walked in the long gallery, which is splendid, with a gilt -ceiling, only it is incongruous to see the old panelled wall brilliantly -lighted with gas. - -“Lord Salisbury is delightful, so perfectly easy and unaffected: it -would be well if little great men would take pattern by him. Lady -Salisbury is equally unassuming, sound sense ever dropping from her lips -as unconsciously as Lady Margaret Beaumont’s bon-mots.” - - * * * * * - -“_Dec. 14._--Lady Salisbury showed us the house. In the drawing-room, -over the chimney-piece, is a huge statue of James I. of bronze. It is -not fixed, but supported by its own weight. A ball was once given in -that room. In the midst of the dancing some one observed that the bronze -statue was slowly nodding its head, and gave the alarm. The stampede was -frightful. All the guests fled down the long gallery. - -“In the same room is a glorious portrait of Lord Salisbury’s grandmother -by Reynolds. It was this Lady Salisbury who was burnt to death in her -old age. She came in from riding, and used to make her maid change her -habit and dress her for dinner at once, as less fatiguing. Then she -rested for two or three hours with lighted candles near her, and read or -nodded in her chair. One evening, from the opposite wing of the house, -the late Lord Salisbury saw the windows of the rooms near hers blazing -with light, and gave the alarm, but before anybody could reach his -mother’s rooms they were entirely burnt--so entirely, that it would have -been impossible to identify her ashes for burial but for a ruby which -the present Lady Salisbury wears in a ring. A little heap of diamonds -was found in one place, but that proved nothing, as all her jewels were -burned with her, but the ruby her maid identified as having put on her -finger when she dressed her, and the ashes of that particular spot were -all gathered up and buried in a small urn. Her two favourite dogs were -burnt with her, and they are probably buried with her.[32] It was this -Lady Salisbury who was inadvertently thrown down by a couple waltzing -violently down the long gallery, when Lord Lytton, who was present, -irreverently exclaimed: - - ‘At Hatfield House Conservatives - Become quite harum-scarum, - For Radical could do no more - Than overturn Old Sarum.’[33] - -[Illustration: HATFIELD.] - -“In ‘Oliver Twist,’ Bill Sykes is described as having seen the fire at -Hatfield as he was escaping from London. - -“In the dining-room there is a portrait by Wilkie of the Duke of -Wellington, painted when he was here after the battle of Waterloo. There -is also at Hatfield a beautiful picture of Mary Queen of Scots at -fifteen.[34] This, however, is not the authentic portrait. There is -another, a replica of that at Hardwicke, taken in a widow’s dress -shortly before her execution, which is one of the three portraits -certainly painted from life. It was sent by the Queen to the Duke of -Norfolk and intercepted by Lord Burleigh. One of the other two -portraits belonged to Louis Philippe. As Sir Henry Bulwer was waiting -for an audience of the king, another gentleman was in the room with him. -The portrait of Queen Mary hung on the wall. The stranger looked at it, -walked backwards and forwards to it, and examined it again and again. At -last he walked up to Sir Henry Bulwer and said, ‘Can you tell me, sir, -whom that portrait represents?’--‘Yes, I can,’ said Sir Henry; ‘but will -you tell me why you ask?’--‘Because it is the lowest type of criminal -face which is known to us.’ The stranger was Fouché the famous -detective. - -“In Lady Salisbury’s own room is a picture of Miss Pine, Lord -Salisbury’s other grandmother, by Sir Joshua; also the Earl and Countess -of Westmoreland and their child, by Vandyke; also a curious picture of a -lady. - -“‘She looks dull but good,’ said Miss Palmer. - -“‘She looks clever but bad,’ said I. - -“‘She _was_ desperately wicked,’ said Lady Salisbury, ‘and therefore it -is quite unnecessary to say that she was very religious. She endowed -almshouses--‘Lady Anne’s Almshouses,’--they still exist, and she sent -her son to Westminster with especial orders that he should be severely -flogged, when he was seventeen, and so soured his temper for life and -sent him to the bad entirely; and none but ‘a thoroughly -highly-principled woman’ could do such a villainous action as that. The -son lived afterwards at Quixwold, and led the most abominably wicked -life there, and died a death as horrible as his life. He sold everything -he could lay hands on, jewels and everything, all the old family plate -except one very ugly old flat candlestick and six old sconces, which -were painted over mahogany colour, and so were not known to be silver. -His is the phantom coach which arrives and drives up the staircase and -then disappears. Lord Salisbury heard it the other night when he was in -his dressing-room, and dressed again, thinking it was visitors, and went -down, but it was no one.’ - -“There is a picture of Elizabeth by Zucchero in the famous dress, all -eyes and ears, to typify her omniscience, and with the serpent of wisdom -on her arm: she loved allegorical dress. Her hat is here--an open-work -straw hat--and in the recess of the gallery her cradle, with A. R. for -Anne Boleyn. Elizabeth hated Hatfield. She was here in her childhood and -all through Mary’s reign, and she constantly wrote from hence complaints -to her father, to Mary, and to the Ministers, and they told her she must -bear it; but she hated it, and after she became queen she never saw -Hatfield again. The relics of her remain because James I. was in such a -hurry to exchange Hatfield for Theobalds, on account of the hunting -there, that he did not stop to take anything away. - -“In the afternoon we had games, charades--Pilgrim, Pirate, Scullion, and -stories.” - - * * * * * - -“_Dec. 15._--Breakfast at a number of little round tables. I was at one -with Miss Palmer, the Attorney-General, and his daughter Miss Coleridge. -The Attorney-General told a story of a Mr. Kerslake, who was 6 feet 8 -inches in height. A little boy in the Strand, looking up at him, said, -‘I say, Maister, if you was to fall down, you’d be halfway t’ome.’ - -“My cough prevented my going out, but we had Sunday-afternoon service in -the chapel, with beautiful singing. In the evening Lady Salisbury asked -me to tell stories to all the party, and it was sufficiently alarming -when I saw the Lord Chancellor in the first row, with the -Attorney-General on one side of him and Lord Cairns on the other. In -repeating a story, however, I always think of a bit of advice Mr. Jowett -gave me long ago--‘Try to say everything as well as you can say it.’ The -Attorney-General afterwards told us-- - -“There is at Clifton a Mr. Harrison, who is the second medical authority -there, a man of undoubted probity and reputation. He told me this. - -“At Clifton lived a Mrs. Fry with her brother-in-law and his two -daughters, Elizabeth and Hephzibah. These were persons who, like many -Bristol people, had large property in the West Indies--the Miles’s, for -instance, made their fortunes there. The elder daughter, Elizabeth, had -been born in the West Indies, and when she fell into bad health, her -father took the opportunity of taking her back to benefit by her native -air, when he went to look after his West Indian property, leaving his -younger daughter, Hephzibah, with Mrs Fry. - -“They had not been gone long when Hephzibah took a chill, and in a very -few days she died. Mr. Harrison attended her. Some days after he called -as a friend upon Mrs. Fry, when she said, ‘I want to tell you something -which has happened to me: I have seen Elizabeth.’--’ Impossible,’ said -Mr. Harrison. ‘No,’ she said, ‘it was so. I was sitting reading the -“Promise”’ (so I believe ‘Friends’ always call the Bible), ‘when I fell -into a state which was neither sleeping nor waking, and in that state--I -was not asleep--I saw Elizabeth standing by me. I spoke to her, and, -forgetting what had happened in my surprise, I told her to call her -sister. But she said to me that she had seen her sister already, and -that she was in a box, and had a great deal of sewing about her chest. -She especially used the word “sewing:” then she vanished away, and the -place in the Promise where I had left off was changed: some one had -turned it over.’ Mr. Harrison noted all this. - -“Some time after came a letter from the father to Mrs. Fry, written -before he had heard of Hephzibah’s death. After speaking of other -matters he said, ‘I must now tell you of a very curious circumstance -which has occurred, and which is much on my mind. The other day -Elizabeth, who had been much better, and who is now nearly well, -surprised us by falling into a stupor, and when she came to herself she -would insist upon it that she had been to Clifton, and that she had seen -you and Hephzibah, and that Hephzibah was in a long box, with a great -deal of sewing upon her chest: and she says so still.’ The dates were -precisely the same. - -“Hephzibah’s death was so sudden that there was a post-mortem -examination, though it was not considered necessary to distress Mrs. Fry -by telling her of it. On this occasion Mr. Harrison was unable to be -present. He went afterwards to the student of the hospital who was -there, and who remembered all about it, and he said--what Mr. Harrison -had not previously known--that after the examination the body was sewn -up, with a great deal of sewing upon the chest.” - - * * * * * - -“_Dec. 16._--The Archbishop of Canterbury and Mrs. Tait arrived before -afternoon-tea, at which there was much lively conversation. Apropos of -Radicalism and the conversation of Bishops, Lord Salisbury mentioned -Sydney Smith’s saying that he would ‘rather fall a victim to a -democratic mob than be sweetly and blandly absorbed by a bishop.’ - -“In speaking of Jenny Lind, Mr. Richmond said that she had ‘none of the -warm ruddy glow of the sunny South in her character, it was rather the -soft calm beauty of Swedish moonlight.’ He spoke of the faces he had -drawn--of the interest of the ugly faces, if the lines had character; of -the difficulty of translating a face like a moon or a footstool; that -still such faces were quite the exception, and that he believed the -reason why he succeeded better than some others of his confraternity was -that he was better able to realise to himself the good in the character -of his subjects.” - - * * * * * - -“_Dec. 17._--Mr. Richmond was at the same little table at breakfast. He -talked of great writers and talkers, how their art was not the creation -of something new, but the telling of old things well in a new dress--the -bringing up the thoughts long bedridden in the chambers of their own -brain. - -“He talked of Carlyle--of how his peculiarities began in affectation, -but that now he was simply lost in the mazes of his own vocabulary. One -night, he said, he met a man at Albert Gate at 12 P.M., who asked for a -light for his cigar. He did not see who it was till, as he was turning -away, he recognised Carlyle, who gave a laugh which could be heard all -down Piccadilly as he exclaimed, ‘I thought it was just any son of Adam, -and I find a friend.’ It was soon after the Pope’s return to Rome, and -Mr. Richmond spoke of him. ‘The poor old Pope,’ said Carlyle, ‘the -po-o-r old Pope! He has a big mouth! I do not like your button-holes of -mouths, like the Greek statues you are all so fond of.’ - -“Our third at the breakfast-table was a Mr. Jeffreys. Mr. Richmond said -afterwards that he was a conchologist, which he regarded as the very -tail of science--the topmost twig of the tree looking up at the sky.” - - * * * * * - -“_Dec. 19._--Yesterday I drew the gallery and chapel. There is something -mediæval in the band playing all dinner-time, yet without the sound -being overwhelming, from the great size of the room; in the way the host -and hostess sit in the middle like royalty, and in the little lovely -baskets of hot-house flowers given to each lady as she goes down the -staircase to dinner.” - - * * * * * - -“_Dec. 20._--The last collection of guests have included the Duke of -Wellington, the Cowleys, Lord and Lady Stanhope, and M. and Madame de -Lavalette--all full of interest. Certainly Hatfield is magnificent and -grandly kept up. I had much talk with Mrs. Lowe,[35] who delights in -tirades against Christianity. She said how absurd it was to expect -belief in the Bible, when no one could agree upon so recent a subject as -Lord Byron: that half the Bible was contrary to all reason: that it was -monstrous to suppose that the Deity could enjoin a murder like that of -Isaac, &c.” - - * * * * * - -“_Dec. 27, East Sheen._--Mrs. Stuart Wortley came to luncheon. She -remarked how that which was most striking in Italy was not the effect of -light, but of shadow. Into the shadows of England you could not -penetrate, but the shadows of Italy were transparent; the more you -looked into their cavernous depths, the more you saw there, discovering -marvels of beauty which existed there in repose. - -“She told us that the secret of ‘the Haunted House in Berkeley Square’ -is that it belonged to a Mr. Du Pré of Wilton Park. He shut up his -lunatic brother there in a cage in one of the attics, and the poor -captive was so violent that he could only be fed through a hole. His -groans and cries could be distinctly heard in the neighbouring houses. -The house is now to be let for £100 the first year, £200 the second, -£300 the third, but if the tenant leaves within that time, he is to -forfeit £1000. The house will be furnished in any style or taste the -tenant chooses.” - - * * * * * - -To MISS WRIGHT. - -“_Holmhurst, Jan. 10, 1873._--I have had a pleasant visit at Battle -Abbey. The Duchess (of Cleveland) received me very kindly. The house is -comfortable and the library is first-rate, and there is always a -pleasure in a house which has ruins, cloisters, haunted yew -walks--history, in fact--in its garden. The Duke, who is one of the few -living of my father’s old friends, was very cordial; and Lord and Lady -Stanhope, whom I am devoted to, arrived with me. The rest of the guests -were Harry Stanhope, a clergyman, Colonel and Mrs. Heygarth, Colonel and -Mrs. Byng, Mr. Newton the Lycian archæologist, Mr. Planché the Somerset -Herald, and Mr. Campbell of Islay--a party which had plenty of good -materials. We drew, acted, and all tried to make ourselves agreeable. -The Duchess was a perfect hostess, amused us all very much, and was -intensely amused herself.” - - * * * * * - -My book “Wanderings in Spain,” came out in the autumn of 1872, and met -with a more enthusiastic reception from the public than anything I have -ever written. Three editions were called for in six weeks, but there the -sale ended.[36] The reviews were rapturously laudatory, but I felt at -the time how little reliance was to be placed upon their judgment, -though for the moment it was agreeable. The _Times_ declared that no -one ought to go to Spain without the book; the _Athenæum_, that only in -one instance had pleasanter sketches fallen under its notice; while the -_Spectator_ blew the loudest trumpet of all:-- - - * * * * * - -“In this least commonplace, and yet most comprehensive of works of -travel, we find everything we have previously learnt of that -comparatively unworked mine of history, art, poetry, and nature, Spain, -as well as a great deal which is entirely novel. But the old is placed -in a dazzling light of fancy, association, and suggestion, and the new -is captivating. The skies of Spain shine, the wide-sweeping breezes -blow, the solemn church music swells, the ancient grandeur, gravity, and -dignity of the history and life of the country, the old Moorish -magnificence, the splendid chivalry, the religious enthusiasm, the stern -loyalty and narrow pride of the races of Arragon and Castile, all live -again in the vivid pages of this book.” - - * * * * * - -The unusual success which was attending my “Walks in Rome,” and the many -notes which I already possessed for a similar work in the neighbourhood, -made me now devote my time to “Days near Rome,” and in January I left -England to make Rome a centre from whence to revive my recollection of -the towns I had already visited in the Campagna and its surrounding -mountains, and to examine and sketch those I had not yet seen. -Altogether, “Days near Rome” is the one of my books in the preparation -of which I had the greatest enjoyment, and from which I have had least -disappointment since its publication.[37] I was, however, terribly ill -soon after my arrival at Rome, and nearly died there. - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS LEYCESTER. - -“_Paris, Jan. 19, 1873._--I have felt most dolorous on the journey, and -often repented having decided to come abroad: I so dread seeing Rome -again. Still, as last year I added £252 to my income by small writings -exclusive of the ‘Memorials,’ I must look upon it as a profession, and -of course as _such_ it is very pleasant. This morning I am cheered by -George Sheffield’s pleasure at seeing me, and I am going to dine with -the Comte and Comtesse de Clermont-Tonnerre.” - - * * * * * - -“_Florence, Jan. 23._--All descriptions of ‘sensations’ in the Mont -Cenis tunnel must be pure imagination. It is exactly like any other -tunnel. I came all the way from Paris with two American ladies, one of -them very handsome, but the sort of person who said, ‘I guess I am -genteelly well satisfied’ when she had finished her dinner, and that she -had read ‘Walks in Rome,’ which ‘was a very elegant book, a very elegant -book indeed.’” - -[Illustration: FIDENAE.][38] - - * * * * * - -“_81 Via della Croce, Rome, Jan. 27._--I left Florence on a still, -mizzly morning. How familiar all the dear places seemed on the way, and -yet how changed the feeling with which one saw them--Thrasymene, -Perugia, Assisi, Spoleto--all so much to _us_, so woven into _our_ -lives, and I was thankful for the twilight obscurity before the steep of -Fidenae rose beside us, and then the towers of the beloved city crested -the hill, the hill down which my darling drove so often in her little -carriage to the Ponte Salario and the Ponte Nomentano, drinking in the -full beauty of the historic loveliness. On Saturday I removed to these -rooms in the house of Voight, a German artist, much beloved by the -Bunsens, and indeed married to his old still-existing Signora from their -house. I think that the rooms will answer sufficiently, though, as the -Voights have never let rooms before, there is a terrible amount of -talking over everything I need. The whole family, of three generations, -were called into council the first time I desired to have an egg for -breakfast, and then it came in raw, and yesterday the scene was -repeated. However, ‘_pazienza_.’ - -“On Sunday I went up first to the Pincio, and I cannot say--indeed no -one could understand--all that that walk is to me, where day after day, -for so many feeble winters, we helped my darling along; whence she -looked down upon the windows so sacred to her in the San Sebastianello; -where every shrub was familiar and commented upon, as not even those in -the garden at Holmhurst have ever been. Nothing has been more _our_ -garden. It seemed almost sacrilege to see the changes, and they are not -many. In the afternoon I went again with my old friend Stopford -Sackville. - -“It has been a great effort--a gasp--coming here, but I am thankful now -that I came. There is something in the simple greetings of all our poor -friends--‘Lei stá solo adesso--ahi poverino!’--far more to me than -anything else could be, and the very trees and ruins talk to me, only -that as _she_ saw her Augustus’s, so I see my Mother’s name engraven on -every stone. In some ways I seem every day to make fresh acquaintance -with my solitary life. - -“It is perfect summer here, the Villa Doria a sheet of flowers, anemones -of every hue, violets almost over. ‘How full of sources of comfort has -God made this lovely woe-world,’ as Mrs. Kemble says.” - - * * * * * - -“_Feb. 1._--I have been very ill for the last three days with Roman -fever, which has brought on a violent return of my cough. It all came -from going out for one _instant_ upon the balcony at night without extra -clothing: in that instant I felt the seizure like a stab, and the most -violent shivering fits came on immediately. Perhaps the chill of these -rooms has something to do with it. I feel much the absence of the -sympathising help I have had here in illness before, especially of Lea’s -good food and attentions; and now, if I ask even for a cup of tea, the -commotion is enough to bring the house down.... I am especially sorry to -be shut up at this time, as there are so many pleasant people in Rome, -not least the really charming Prince Arthur, to whom I was presented the -other day, and whom I think most engaging, and hope--if I can only get -better--to see more of next week, when I have been asked, and have -promised, to go with him to several sights. Amongst his suite is Sir -Howard Elphinstone, a capital artist, who is quite a friend of mine, and -went out drawing with me before I was taken ill. - -“The _old_ interest of Rome has wonderfully passed away, not only to me, -but I think also to many others. The absence of pope, cardinals, and -monks; the shutting up of the convents; the loss of the ceremonies; the -misery caused by the terrible taxes and conscription; the voluntary -exile of the Borgheses and many other noble families; the total -destruction of the glorious Villa Negroni and so much else of interest -and beauty; the ugly new streets in imitation of Paris and New York, all -grate against one’s former Roman associations. And to set against this -there is so very little--a gayer Pincio, a live wolf on the Capitol, a -mere scrap of excavation in the Forum, and all is said. - -“Old Beppino (the beggar of the Trinità steps) escaped from a bad -accident the other day and announced it thus--‘Ho mancato póco d’andare -in Paradiso, che Dio me ne guarda!’” - - * * * * * - -“_Il Tempietto, Feb. 4._--Since I last wrote I have been terribly ill. -On Friday night I was seized with feverish convulsions, and with loss of -speech for four hours. The first night I was too ill to call for any -help, but next morning kind Dr. Grigor came, and I decided to forfeit -the rent of my other rooms and move up here to our dear old apartment, -having more than ever the immoral conviction I have always had, that one -never does anything economical without doing something very foolish -also. These dear rooms have all their old homelike charm. I sit in the -Mother’s chair with her little table by my side, and Madame da Monaca, -our old landlady, is perfectly charmed to have me back.” - - * * * * * - -“_Feb. 9._--I have still some sparks of life in me, which really two -days ago I did not feel, it has been such a suffering illness and the -cough has quite worn me out. I am sure, in thinking of dangerous illness -henceforward, I shall always remember the long nights here, nights of -pain and fever, tossing restlessly and longing for the morning, and -first knowing it had dawned by the tinkling bells of the goats coming to -be milked under the windows, followed by the familiar cry of-- - - ‘Acqua Acetosa - Buona per la sposa.’ - -“Charlie Dalison, who has been in Rome, has been most kind, and the -Archbishop of Dublin and Mrs. Trench, living just underneath, have been -incessant in their attentions. Endless little comforts have also been -supplied to me by the constant kindness of two ladies who live together, -Miss Freeman Clarke, an American authoress, who has visited all the -places in Italy connected with Dante, and drawn and described them; and -Miss Foley, a most charming young sculptress, as clever as she is -attractive.”[39] - - * * * * * - -“_Feb. 16._--Last week I felt as if life was really passing away--such -was my utter exhaustion and suffering.... After a most kind touching -note about the ‘Memorials,’ I have had an hour’s visit from Lord -Chichester, and he is coming again often. I constantly see Lady -Ashburton, who rains her benefits upon me. I am doing all I can to be -able to go out with the Prince soon, having put him off again and again -with a greater pang each time, but I wish I could feel a little less -dreadfully weak. - -“I think the ‘Memorials’ will soon reach a sale like that of the _Récit -d’une Sœur_. Hatchard is pushing the ‘Alton Sermons’ under its -shadow. ‘Wanderings in Spain’ also sells beyond all expectation.” - -[Illustration: VIEW FROM THE TEMPIETTO, ROME.] - -It was on the 18th of February that I was first able to have one of my -lectures for Prince Arthur. It was arranged for the Palace of the -Cæsars. I had asked him if Lady Ashburton and her daughter might go with -us, and to this he had consented. Lady Ashburton insisted upon coming -to fetch me, but, knowing her unpunctual habits, I was most unwilling -she should do so. Nothing else would serve her, however, and she -promised again and again to be punctual. However, the time came and she -did not arrive. Having secured no other carriage I waited minute after -minute in an agony, and not till after the time at which we ought to -have been at the Palatine did Lady Ashburton appear on the Pincio. When -we reached the Palatine, the Prince and all his suite were still in the -road, unable to enter without my order. “I have been waiting ten -minutes,” he said, “and they wouldn’t let me in.” It was a terrible -beginning. However, his lively pleasure and active interest in all that -was to be seen soon made me at home with him. If anything especial -attracted his notice, he generally asked, “Do you think my brother and -sister (the Prince and Princess of Wales) saw this?” - -A few days after, I had another lecture for the Prince on the Cœlian. -This time I refused altogether to go with Lady Ashburton, and when I -arrived ten minutes before the time at the steps of S. Gregorio, found -that she had already been there half-an-hour, walking up and down in the -dew! This time the Prince was even pleasanter than before. Generally he -begged that his name might not be mentioned, but this was necessary to -get into the garden of SS. Giovanni e Paolo, which at that time was -always closed. While we were in the church, a monk came up to me and -said that the General of the Passionists was coming to pay his respects -to the Prince. I said, “Sir, the General of the Passionists is coming to -have the honour of being presented to you.” The Prince began to say “No, -no, no,” but at that moment the white robes of the abbot appeared in the -doorway, followed by a whole train of monks. The Prince immediately did -the right thing, receiving them and speaking to them on the steps of the -tribune, and I have often thought what a picture the scene would have -made. In the shadow of royalty, Lady Ashburton was the first woman -allowed to visit the Passionist garden, but to the Prince’s great -annoyance, three Americans (probably not knowing who it was) got in too, -by pretending to belong to our party. They followed us afterwards to the -Villa Mattei. The Prince then asked Lady Ashburton to sit down near the -entrance, and we raced up and down the walks, with the Americans -cantering after us, and eventually slipped under one of the high box -hedges, returned by the concealed way, snapped up Lady Ashburton, and -escaped from the Villa, the gates of which were locked behind us; and -how those Americans got out I have never known. - -I was truly sorry when the Prince went away to Naples. He sent me from -thence some friends of his--Colonel Crichton and his most sweet wife -Lady Madeleine (a daughter of Lord Headfort, who has died since), and -asked me to do what I could for them. I knew that this meant lectures of -the same kind which I had given for the Prince himself, and thus was -originated my long course of Roman lectures. - -At one of my lectures at the Palace of the Cæsars a curious thing -happened. We were about forty in number, and I had taken my company all -over the palace, explaining and telling the story of the different rooms -as we went. Finally, as was my habit, I assembled them on the slope -towards the Forum for a sort of recapitulation and final discourse on -all we had seen. I had observed a stranger who had attached himself to -our party looking more and more angry every minute, but the “why” I -could not understand. When I had concluded, the stranger stepped -forward, and in a very loud voice addressed the whole party--“Gentlemen -and ladies, it is not my habit to push myself forward, and it is -excessively painful to me to do it on the present occasion; but there -are some things which no gentleman ought to pass unnoticed. All that -this _person_ has been telling you about the Palace of the Cæsars, he -has had the effrontery to relate to you as if it were his own. You will -be astounded, gentlemen and ladies, to hear that it is taken, word for -word--word for _word_, without the slightest acknowledgment, from Mr. -Hare’s ‘Walks in Rome!’” - -I only said, “Oh, I am _so_ much obliged to you. I did not know there -was anybody in the world who would defend my interests so kindly. I am -Augustus Hare.” - - * * * * * - -_TO_ MISS LEYCESTER. - -“_Il Tempietto, Rome, March 9, 1873._--I am much better, but still have -fever every three days. The weather is glorious, and Miss Wright, who -arrived ten days ago, is revelling in the hot sunshine. - -“On Monday we had an enchanting expedition to Veii; there were twelve -riders and five carriages. I went with Miss Baring[40] and her -governess, and we had quite a banquet near the waterfall, with the old -castle of Isola Farnese opposite, and the woods around us carpeted with -cyclamen, violets, and blue and white anemones, while the cliffs were -snow-drifted with laurustinus. After luncheon, the adventurous part of -the company, the Sackvilles, Miss Wright, &c., went on with me to the -Ponte Sodo and the painted tombs--_such_ a hot walk through the woods, -but we came back to Rome before sunset. - -[Illustration: ISOLA FARNESE.][41] - -“At the end of this week I have a lecture on the Christian history of -the Trastevere. - -[Illustration: VALLEY OF SUBIACO.] - -[Illustration: PONTE DELL’ ISOLA, VEII.][42] - -“I think a Republic here will soon follow that of Spain. Victor Emmanuel -is so hated, and the profligacy of the Court and the cruel taxes are -hastening the end. People already shout ‘Viva la Republica’ and bawl -Garibaldian hymns all night. I wonder whether you would think the -freedom of religious worship a compensation for the moral changes -here--the shops always open on Sundays, which were formerly so strictly -closed, the churches deserted, stalls for infidel books in the streets, -and an ostentatious immorality which was formerly unknown. In the -Carnival, in insulting reference to the Pope, a pasteboard dome of St. -Peter’s was made to travel up and down the Corso in a car, with a -parrot imprisoned in a cage on the top, ‘_pappagallo_’ being Italian for -a parrot, and ‘Papa Gallo’ a nickname given to Pio Nono during the -French occupation. The parrot struggled and fluttered through the first -day, but it died of sea-sickness in the evening, and afterwards it -appeared stuffed. The Pope has felt bitterly the confiscation of the -convents and other religious institutions which the Sardinian -Government, when it first entered Rome, promised so strictly to respect; -and _triduos_ have been held at St. Peter’s and at S. Ignazio to implore -that the spoliation may be averted, or that a judgment may follow the -spoiler. In St. Peter’s twenty thousand persons were collected on Sunday -afternoon to join with one voice in this supplication. Pius IX. took no -part in the manifestation: on Sunday afternoon he is quietly occupied as -a bishop in the Sala Regia, in explaining the Epistle and Gospel for -the day, and praying with the people of the different Roman parishes, -who come to him in turn, attended by their priests. Amongst the nuns who -have suffered most are the Poor Clares of S. Lorenzo Panisperna, who, -when they were driven out of the greater part of their convent in -February 1872, were allowed to retain and fit up a few small rooms, from -which they are now forcibly ejected altogether. The nuns of S. Antonio -on the Esquiline, who plaited all the palms used in the processions at -St. Peter’s, were driven out more than a year ago, though their convent -has never hitherto been used for anything else. The nuns of S. Giacomo -alla Lungara are reduced to absolute beggary. The Carmelites of S. Maria -Vittoria have been driven out, and their Superior died of a broken heart -on the day of their ejection. The nuns of S. Teresa, when driven out of -their convent, were permitted to take refuge in that of Regina Cœli, -where they were allowed to fit up a corridor with canvas partitions: now -they are driven out again, in spite of solemn promises, and without any -compensation. If the dowries of all these ladies, given to them by their -parents exactly as marriage portions are given, were restored, -comparatively little could be said, but their fortunes are all -confiscated by the Government. A pitiful allowance is promised, just -sufficient to keep body and soul together, but even this is seldom paid; -for instance, in the case of the nuns of S. Teresa, the ‘_assegno_’ for -the first half of 1871 was not paid till October 1872, and since then -nothing has been paid. In the same way it is supposed that the -conventual buildings and gardens are paid for at a valuation, yet the -real value of those of the Cappuccini, in one of the most important -situations of the town, is £40,000, and it is expropriated at 4000 -francs (£160), while even this is to be paid in paper and at great -intervals of time. Amongst the last institutions seized are the Orphan -Asylum of the Quattro Incoronati, and the Conservatorio Pio, an especial -and beloved institution of Pio Nono, intended as a school for servants -and for instructing young girls in household work.[43] - -“The heads of the clerical schools have inquired from Pius IX. whether -their pupils were to salute Queen Margaret when she passed them. -‘Certainly,’ answered the Pope; ‘is she not a member of the royal house -of Savoy?’ - -“There is a stall for Bibles now opposite S. Carlo. A great dog manages -it, such a fine beast. He cannot be expected to do all the business, so -he just receives the customers, and, when any one wants a Bible, he puts -his feet up and barks. - -“I am very glad to hear of Sir George Grey having given the ‘Memorials’ -to the Queen, and I have a most kind letter from Lord Stanhope, -delighted with ‘Wanderings in Spain.’” - - * * * * * - -“_March_ 17.--Yesterday I drove with Lady Ashburton to Castel Fusano; -Miss Wright, Miss Howard, and Walter Jekyll going in another carriage, -and we picnicked under the grand old pine-trees, and had a delicious -day, wandering through the labyrinths of sweet daphne and rosemary, and -over carpets of cyclamen in fullest bloom. - -[Illustration: CASTEL FUSANO.][44] - -“I have had several more lectures. There was a party of forty, which is -the largest I can manage, at the one on the Early Christian Church in -the Trastevere. We met on the Island, where I gave a sort of preliminary -discourse, and led my troop to everything connected with the Christian -martyrs. To-morrow I have the same kind of lecture on the Esquiline. -Mrs. Locke and her pretty charming little grand-daughter[45] -unexpectedly joined us at S. Cecilia, and seemed much interested, never -having visited the Roman sights before. I dined with them last night--an -exceptionally pleasant party, as Mrs. Locke, the Duchess, and the little -Countess move about constantly all evening, and do their utmost to amuse -their guests, unlike most stiff Italian hostesses. They seem to me to -have three grades of beauty, the grandmother’s being the highest.” - -“_14 Trinità de’ Monti, March 29._--There are many quiet hours here, -such as one gets nowhere else, and yet endless society of the most -interesting kind; troops of visitors of every sort, and what contrasts -those of a single day furnish--Madama de Bonis at breakfast, for help -with her photographs; then Rosina the poor donna; then Lady Howard de -Walden and a daughter; then Signor Monachesi, the Italian master; then -the Marchese Carcolo, fresh from Perugia; then three ugly old ladies, -whose names I failed to discover, who wanted to be told where to live, -how to live, and what to live upon; then Mrs. Foljambe from Villa -Savorelli; then Signor Altini the sculptor, to ask for recommendations: -and this is only an ordinary Roman day, yet I cannot feel it is a -_useless_ life.” - -“_Albano, April 6._--Yesterday, after dining with Mrs. Lockwood, I went -to meet Princess Alice at the S. Arpinos’. They have a beautiful suite -of rooms in the Bonaparte Palace, the same in which ‘Madame Mère’ died. -Many ambassadors and Roman princes and princesses were there, but only -five English. I was presented at once to Prince Louis, who is very -German and speaks very broken English, but is much better-looking than -his photographs. He talked for a long time about Rome and my book. Later -in the evening I was presented to the Princess. She said at once, ‘Oh, I -know your face, I have seen you before,’ and with royal memory -recollected all about coming to see my Mother, &c. She said, ‘I have -gone about everywhere with your book, and I am so pleased to be able to -say that I have found out a mistake in it: you say that the church at -the Navicella was designed by Michelangelo, and it was not; it was -designed by Raffaelle: I know all about it, for my dear father had the -original plan and sketch for it. My dear father always took a great -interest in the Navicella. I have been to see the martyrdoms at S. -Stefano: they are quite shocking.’ She talked for some time, then some -one else was brought up. She is grown much fatter and prettier, and was -very simply dressed in high slate-coloured silk with a pearl necklace. -We all stayed till she left at 11 P.M., and then made an avenue down the -reception rooms, through which she passed, saying a little separate word -to each lady. - -“Mrs. Locke[46] said Princess Margherita was deep in ‘Walks in -Rome,’[47] and had desired her to get me to tell _her_ (Mrs. Locke) a -ghost-story, and then come and retail it immediately! - -“Yesterday I went with Lady Howard and her daughter and Miss Wright to -Tusculum and Frascati. I never saw the Villa Mondragone before. How -_very_ grand it is, and the view was exquisitely lovely--such blue -shadows cast by the clouds upon the pink campagna. All the ascent to -Tusculum was fringed with cyclamen, large purple violets, laurustinus, -and blue and white anemones, also the loveliest little blue squills. - -“On Wednesday I met Miss Wright and Miss Howard at Albano, and we had an -interesting afternoon amongst the huge Cyclopean remains of Alatri, -driving on in the beautiful gloaming to Ferentino, where we slept at a -primitive but clean Italian tavern. The next day we reached Segni, a -Pelasgic city on the very highest peak of the Volscian mountains. On -Friday I joined Lady Howard de Walden and her two daughters, and with -them revisited the glorious old Papal citadel of Anagni, where Boniface -VIII. was imprisoned, and where there are many relics of him, though to -me Anagni has an even deeper interest, because from its walls you can -see, on the barren side of the mountain, the brown building of Acuto, -where my sister’s revered friend Maria di Matthias preached the sermons -which had such an extraordinary influence throughout this wild -country.” - -[Illustration: CYCLOPEAN GATE OF ALATRI.][48] - - * * * * * - -“_Subiaco, April 16._--We spent Good Friday on the seashore at Porto -d’Anzio, a delightful place, overgrown with gorgeous pink -mesembryanthemum, and with huge remains of Nero’s palace projecting far -into the sea. For Easter we were at Velletri, and on Monday drove -through the blooming country to Cori, where, after seeing the beautiful -temple, we rode along the edge of stupendous precipices to Norba, and -the man-deserted flower-possessed fairy-like town of Ninfa, returning -by the light of the stars--‘le Ninfe eterne’ of Dante. Tuesday we went -to Palestrina, an extraordinary place with a perfectly savage -population; and Wednesday we came hither through Olevano, which is a -paradise of beauty. This place seems quite as grandly beautiful as we -thought it fifteen years ago.” - -[Illustration: THE INN AT FERENTINO.][49] - - * * * * * - -“_Rome, April 28._--I parted with my kind Miss Wright at Tivoli, and -next day returned to Rome in the public omnibus.”[50] - -[Illustration: PAPAL PALACE, ANAGNI.][51] - -[Illustration: TEMPLES OF CORI.][52] - -[Illustration: NINFA.][53] - -A few days later I left Rome again with Mr. and Mrs. Arbuthnot Feilden -and the Misses Crawford (daughters of Mrs. Terry, and sisters of Marion -Crawford) for a tour in the Ciminian Hills, which always comes back to -me as a dream of transcendent loveliness. - -We left the railway at Civita Castellana, an unspeakably beautiful -place, which I drew in the early dewy morning, sitting on the edge of -its tremendous rocky gorge, above which Soracte, steeped in violet -shadows, rises out of the tender green of the plain. On May-day we -ascended Soracte, queen of lovely mountains, mounting gradually from the -rich lower slopes into the excelsior of olives, and thence to steeps of -bare grey rock, crowned--in the most sublime position--by the ruined -monastery of S. Silvestro. It is the most exquisite drive from Civita -Castellana, by Nepi, with a great machicolated castle overhanging a -foaming waterfall, and Sutri--“the key of Etruria”--with its solemn -Roman amphitheatre surrounded by some of the grandest ilexes in the -world, to Ronciglione. Hence we visited Caprarola, and I will insert a -little extract from “Days near Rome” about this expedition, it reminds -me of so wondrously beautiful and delightful a day. - -[Illustration: S. ORESTE, FROM SORACTE.][54] - - * * * * * - -“From the little deep-blue lake of Vico it is a long ascent, and oh! -what Italian scenery, quite unspoilt by the English, who never come here -now. The road is generally a dusty hollow in the tufa, which, as we -pass, is fringed with broom in full flower, and all the little children -we meet have made themselves wreaths and gathered long branches of it, -and wave them like golden sceptres. Along the brown ridges of thymy -tufa by the wayside, flocks of goats are scrambling, chiefly white, but -a few black and dun-coloured creatures are mingled with them, mothers -with their little dancing elf-like kids, and old bearded patriarchs who -love to clamber to the very end of the most inaccessible places, and to -stand there embossed against the clear sky, in triumphant quietude. The -handsome shepherd dressed in white linen lets them have their own way, -and the great rough white dogs only keep a lazy eye upon them as they -themselves lie panting and luxuriating in the sunshine. Deep down below -us, it seems as if all Italy were opening out, as the mists roll -stealthily away, and range after range of delicate mountain distance is -discovered. Volscian, Hernican, Sabine, and Alban hills, Soracte nobly -beautiful--rising out of the soft quiet lines of the Campagna, and the -Tiber winding out of the rich meadow-lands into the desolate wastes, -till it is lost from sight before it reaches where a great mysterious -dome rises solemnly through the mist, and reminds one of the times when, -years ago, in the old happy _vetturino_ days, we used to stop the -carriage on this very spot, to have our first sight of St. Peter’s. - -[Illustration: CONVENT OF S. SILVESTRO, SUMMIT OF SORACTE.][55] - -“Near a little deserted chapel, a road branches off on the right, a -rough stony road enough, which soon descends abruptly through chestnut -woods, and then through deep clefts cut in the tufa and overhung by -shrubs and flowers, every winding a picture, till in about half-an-hour -we arrive at Caprarola. Why do not more people come here? it is so very -easy. As we emerge from our rocky way, the wonderful position of the -place bursts upon us at once. The grand, tremendous palace stands backed -by chestnut woods, which fade into rocky hills, and it looks down from a -high-terraced platform upon the little golden-roofed town beneath, and -then out upon the whole glorious rainbow-tinted view, in which, as -everywhere we have been, lion-like Soracte, couching over the plain, is -the most conspicuous feature. The buildings are so vast in themselves, -and every line so noble, every architectural idea so stupendous, that -one is carried back almost with awe to the recollections of the -great-souled Farnese who originated the design, and the grand architect -who carried it out. S. Carlo Borromeo, the great patron of idle -almsgiving, came hither to see it when it was completed, and complained -that so much money had not been given to the poor instead. ‘I have let -them have it all little by little,’ said Alessandro Farnese, ‘but I have -made them earn it by the sweat of their brows.’ - -[Illustration: SUTRI.][56] - - * * * * * - -“Are we really in Arcadia, when the old steward opens the door from the -dark halls where the Titanic forms of the frescoed figures loom upon us -through the gloom, to the garden where the brilliant sunshine is -lighting up long grass walks between clipped hedges, adding to the -splendour of the flame-coloured marigolds upon the old walls, and even -gilding the edges of the dark spires of the cypresses which were planted -three hundred years ago? From the upper terraces we enter an ancient -wood, carpeted with flowers--yellow orchis, iris, lilies, saxifrage, -cyclamen, and Solomon’s seal. And then we pause, for at the end of the -avenue we meet with a huge figure of Silence, with his finger on his -lips. - -[Illustration: CAPRAROLA.][57] - -[Illustration: PAPAL PALACE, VITERBO.] - - * * * * * - -“Here an artificial cascade tumbles sparkling down the middle of the -hillside path, through a succession of stone basins, and between a -number of stone animals, who are sprinkled with its spray, and so we -reach an upper garden before the fairy-like casino which was also built -by Vignola. Here the turfy solitudes are encircled with a concourse of -stone figures in every variety of attitude, a perfect population. Some -are standing quietly gazing down upon us, others are playing upon -different musical instruments, others are listening. Two Dryads are -whispering important secrets to one another in a corner; one impertinent -Faun is blowing his horn so loudly into his companion’s ears that he -stops them with both his hands. A nymph is about to step down from her -pedestal, and will probably take a bath as soon as we are gone, though -certainly she need not be shy about it, as drapery is not much the -fashion in these sylvan gardens. Above, behind the Casino, is yet -another water-sparkling staircase guarded by a vast number of huge lions -and griffins, and beyond this all is tangled wood and rocky -mountain-side. How we pity the poor King and Queen of Naples, the actual -possessors, but who can never come here now. The whole place is like a -dream which you wish may never end, and as one gazes through the stony -crowd across the green glades to the rosy-hued mountains, one dreads the -return to a world where Fauns and Dryads are still supposed to be -mythical, and which has never known Caprarola.” - -[Illustration: FROM THE WALLS OF ORVIETO.] - - * * * * * - -We spent several days at Viterbo--“the city of beautiful -fountains”--which has never been half appreciated by travellers, and -made many curious excursions into Etruria, which are all described in my -book; and then proceeded to Orvieto--all-glorious Orvieto. Once more I -will quote “Days near Rome.” - - * * * * * - -“Long before reaching Orvieto, one comes in sight of it. It occupies an -Etruscan site. On turning the crest of the hills which shelter Bolsena, -one looks down into a wide valley filled with the richest -vegetation,--peach-trees and almonds and figs, with vines leaping from -tree to tree and chaining them together, and beneath, an unequalled -luxuriance of corn and peas and melons, every tiniest space occupied. -Mountains of the most graceful forms girdle in this paradise, and, from -the height whence we first gaze upon it, endless distances are seen, -blue and roseate and snowy, melting into infinity of space; while, from -the valley itself, rises, island-like, a mass of orange-coloured rock, -crowned with old walls and houses and churches, from the centre of which -is uplifted a vast cathedral, with delicate spray-like pinnacles, and a -golden and jewelled front,--and this is Orvieto. - -“The first impression is one which is never forgotten,--a picture which -remains; and the quiet grandeurs of the place, as time and acquaintance -bring it home to one, only paint in the details of that first picture -more carefully. - -“We descend into the plain by the winding road, where wains of great -oxen are always employed for the country-work of the hillside, and we -ascend the hill on which the city stands and enter it by a gate in rocky -walls. The town is remarkably clean, but one has always the feeling of -being in a fortress. Unlike Viterbo, gaiety and brightness seem to have -deserted its narrow streets of dark houses, interspersed with huge tall -square towers of the Middle Ages, and themselves, in the less frequented -parts, built of rich brown stone, with sculptured cornices to their -massive doors and windows, and resting on huge buttresses. From one of -the narrowest and darkest of these streets we come suddenly upon the -cathedral, a blaze of light and colour, the most aërial gothic structure -in the world, every line a line of beauty. There is something in the -feeling that no artists worked at this glorious temple but the greatest -architects, the greatest sculptors of their time, that no material was -used but that which was most precious, most costly, and which would -produce the most glorious effect, which carries one far away from all -comparisons with other earthly buildings--to the description in the -Revelation of the New Jerusalem. The very platform on which the -cathedral stands is of purple Apennine marble; the loveliest jaspers and -_pietre dure_ are worked into its pinnacles and buttresses; the main -foundation of its pictured front is gold. A hundred and fifty-two -sculptors, of whom Arnolfo and Giovanni da Pisa are the greatest names -handed down to us, worked upon the ornamentation near the base: -sixty-eight painters and ninety workers in mosaic gave life to the -glorious pictures of its upper stories. All the surroundings are -harmonious--solemn old houses, with black and white marble seats running -along their basement, on which one may sit and gaze: a tower surmounted -by a gigantic bronze warrior, who strikes the hours with the clash of -his sword upon a great bell: an ancient oblong palace with gothic arches -and flat windows, where thirty-four popes have sought a refuge or held -a court at different times--all serving as a dark setting to make more -resplendent the glittering radiancy of the golden front of the temple in -their midst. - -“No passing traveller, no stayer for one night, can realise Orvieto. -Hours must be passed on those old stone benches, hours in reading the -wondrous lessons of art, of truth, of beauty and of holiness which this -temple of temples can unfold. For Orvieto is not merely a vast -sculpture-gallery and a noble building, but its every stone has a story -to tell or a mystery to explain. What depths of thought are hidden in -those tremendous marble pictures between the doors! First the whole -story of Genesis, then the Old Testament story which followed Genesis, -leading on to the birth of Christ; then the story of our Saviour’s life -upon earth; and lastly, the lesson of His redemption wrought for us, in -the resurrection of the dead to the second life. Even the minor figures -which surround these greater subjects, how much they have to tell us! -Take the wondrous angels which surround the story of Christ; the -Awe-stricken Angel of the Salutation, the Welcoming Angel of the Flight -into Egypt, the Praying Angel of the Temptation, the Suffering Angel of -the Betrayal, the Agonised Angel (and, oh, what a sublime figure, with -its face covered with its hands!) of the Crucifixion, the Angel, rapt in -entire unutterable beatitude, of the Resurrection. Or let us look at the -groups of prophets, who, standing beneath the life of Christ, foresee -and foretell its events,--their eager invocation, their meditation, -their inspiration, their proclamation of that which was to be.” - - * * * * * - -My companions returned to Rome from Orvieto and I went on to Florence, -where I found two old friends of my childhood--Ann-Emilia and Kate -Malcolm, the latter of whom has always been one of the most agreeable -and charming women I have ever known.[58] I remember her telling me, on -this occasion, of a friend of hers who was one day sitting at the end of -her terrace at a retired watering-place, and heard a bride and -bridegroom talking together beneath. “My dear,” said the bridegroom, “I -think it would not be unpleasant if a friend were to turn up this -evening.”--“My dear,” retorted the bride, “I should be thankful to see -even _an enemy_.” She had also a story of an old Scotch minister, who, -being summoned to marry some couples, thus addressed them:--“Ma freends, -to many, marriage is a great curse: ma freends, to some marriage is a -great blessing: ma freends, to all marriage is a great uncertainty: wull -ye risk it?” and they all said “Yes.” With the Malcolms I saw much of -Sir James Lacaita. He was very full of convents and their abuses. He -told me that he had personally known a nun who was forced into a convent -to prevent her from marrying the man she loved; but he made a silken -ladder, and, by bribing the gardener, got it fixed to her window. The -nun escaped, but was in such a hurry to descend, that she slid down the -cords, cut open both her hands, and bore the marks all her life. Her -lover was rich, had relays of horses, and they escaped to Sicily, were -married at once, and had eleven children. Lacaita also told me:-- - -[Illustration: PORCH OF CREMONA.][59] - - * * * * * - -“A beautiful girl of good family was left £6000 by her father, on -condition that she did not enter a convent. To prevent her doing so, he -ordained that the money should revert to her brother in case of her -becoming a nun. - -[Illustration: PIAZZA MAGGIORE, BERGAMO.][60] - - * * * * * - -“The girl hated the very idea of a convent, but the brother made a -compact with an abbess to give her a third of the girl’s fortune if they -could force her to take the veil. She resisted vigorously, though the -brother’s wife ill-treated her in every possible way, and she had no -other home. She possessed a lover, who professed great devotion, but -never would come to the point. At last the time came when the brother -had arranged for her to go to the convent. Her treatment was such that -she had no other course. Her lover came and pitied her. She implored -him: she knelt at his feet: she stretched out her hands: she said, ‘You -know you can save me;’ but he feared the priests, the Church, and her -brother too much. As she knelt there, her sister-in-law opened the door. -Then her horror at her position was so great, she at once declared that -she would take the veil: she only wished the event hurried on. - -“At last the day of the sacrifice arrived. Lacaita was present. The -bride came in, in her wedding splendour, _fière_, darting defiance at -them all; but Lacaita said he never should forget the shriek she gave -when all was over and the grille closed upon her. - -“The remorse of the lover began at once: he never spoke to a woman for -twenty years: then he---- married!” - - * * * * * - -Lacaita also told me a most interesting story concerning persons whom he -had known, of which I forget the details, but the substance was that-- - - * * * * * - -A beautiful girl in Sicily, of very noble family, was engaged by her -parents to make a magnificent marriage with an Italian prince of the -highest rank, who had never seen her, and had only heard the report of -her beauty. As she loved another, she made great friends with the -gardener’s daughter, and persuaded her--for she was very lovely also--to -personate her, which the peasant girl, pleased at the notion of being a -princess, was very willing to do. Meantime the young Countess, supposed -to have gone to her nuptials, eloped with the lover she preferred. The -peasant bride was married, but her prince soon began to think she was -wonderfully little educated, for he had heard of her great learning as -well as her beauty, and especially of her wonderful artistic powers, and -two years after he obtained a divorce on the plea that she was married -under a false name. - - * * * * * - -From Florence I went to Cremona and Bergamo, lingering at them and -seeing them thoroughly in glorious weather, which made one observe that, -though the Southern Italian skies are the opal ones, the Northern are -the blue. - - * * * * * - -I spent June (1873) in London. At luncheon at Lady Marion Alford’s I met -Mr. Carlyle, who was full of the “Memorials.” He said, “I do not often -cry and am not much given to weeping, but your book is most profoundly -touching, and when the dear Augustus was making the hay I felt a lesson -deep down in my heart.” He talked of Lady Ashburton--“Ah! yes, Lady -Ashburton is just a bonnie Highland lassie, a free-spoken and -open-hearted creature as ever was; and Hattie Hosmer, she is a fanciful -kind of a being, who does not know yet that art is dead.” Finally he -went off into one of his characteristic speeches. “That which the warld -torments me in most is the awful confusion of noise. It is the devil’s -own infernal din all the blessed day long, confounding God’s warks and -His creatures--a truly awfu’ hell-like combination, and the warst of a’ -is a railway whistle, like the screech of ten thousand cats, and ivery -cat of them all as big as a cathédral.” - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL.--_To_ MISS LEYCESTER. - -“_London, June 14, 1873._--I have seen and heard much that is -interesting. Yesterday I met Lord Aberdeen at luncheon, and liked him -very much. Then I went to old Lady Wensleydale’s afternoon reception, -intending to stay ten minutes, and did stay two hours and a half, it was -so agreeable, and I saw so many old friends. Mrs. W. Lowther is always -pleasant, the rooms are delightful, and the charming garden full of -flowers.” - - * * * * * - -“_June 19._--Dined with Lord Ravensworth--a very pleasant party, to meet -poor Lord Durham, whom I had not seen since his great sorrow. He looks -as if he had cried night and day ever since, and _did_ cry in a corner -when a touching song was sung about a young wife. I was very glad to -meet him again. He is quite devoted to his thirteen children, and the -eldest girl, of thirteen, manages everything.” - - * * * * * - -“_July 3._--The most extraordinary thing the Shah has done has been -offering to buy Lady Margaret Beaumont (to carry off to Persia) for -£500,000!” - - * * * * * - -“_July 24, 1873._--I went to luncheon with Lady Barrington, and found -her still in tears for the Bishop of Winchester’s[61] death. He had -dined with her a few days before, and she had spoken of the pleasure it -would be to him to go to Farnham. ‘Oh, I shall _never_ go to Farnham,’ -he said; ‘the old Bishop of Winchester will long survive me;’ and so it -was. ‘Oh, what a joyful surprise for him!’ said Carlyle when he heard of -the Bishop’s sudden death. ‘He is our _show_ man for the Church of -England,’ Hugh Pearson used to say. - -“Dined at Lord Salisbury’s, and sat between Miss Alderson and Lady Cork. -I had always heard of Lady Cork as one of the best talkers in London, -but was not prepared for such a display of summer lightning as it was. -Here is a trifling specimen. - -“_Lord Salisbury._--‘I am so glad he speaks English. I find it such an -extra fatigue to have to struggle with a foreign tongue, and to think of -the words as well as the ideas.’ - -“_Lady Cork._--‘Well, I am afraid when I talk, I think neither of the -one nor the other.’ - -“_Lord S._--‘Yes, but then you come of a race’ ... - -“_Lady C._--‘Wha-a-at, or I had better use that most expressive French -expression ‘Plait-il?’ ... We have only one English sentence which would -do as well--‘I beg your parding’--with a _g_.’” - - * * * * * - -“_July 26._--I reached Chevening about 6 P.M. It is a dull square white -house with wings, but was once red, and was designed by Inigo Jones, -from whom it retains the old plan, not only of the building, but of the -straight avenue, the lake, and the fountain with water-lilies before the -door. Between the house and the lake is the loveliest of flower-gardens, -a wilderness of old-fashioned flowers, most perfectly charming. Here -Lady Stanhope was sitting out with Lord and Lady Carnarvon and Lord and -Lady Mahon. Lord Carnarvon is agreeable and his wife most lovely and -piquant. Lady Mahon, very prettily dressed _en bergère_, looked like a -flower herself as she moved in her bright blue dress through the living -labyrinth of colour. - -“Lady Carnarvon gave an amusing account of her visit to Dulwich College, -of which her husband is a governor, and how she had produced a great -effect by remarking that they used a new pronunciation of Latin; ‘and my -little girl behaved very well too, and, though she was most awfully -bored, smiled and bowed at all the right moments.... We came away before -the speeches, which were all quite horrid, I believe, except -Carnarvon’s, and that I am quite sure was very nice indeed.” - -“Lord Stanhope talked of chess--a Persian game: in Germany they retain -the old names: checkmate is _Shahmate_. He said when the Shah of Persia -was in London it was quite impossible to make him understand how the -telegraph worked, until some one had the presence of mind to say, ‘If -your Majesty will imagine an immense dog, so big that his tail is in -London while his head is in Teheran, your Majesty will see that if some -one treads upon his tail in London, he will bark in Teheran.’ - -“Lord Stanhope spoke of the total absence of commissariat management in -England, so that, if there was an invasion, the salvation of the country -would positively have to be abandoned to Messrs. Spiers & Pond. - -“Lord Carnarvon asked why Oxford was like an old Roman arsenal ‘Because -the honours are _classes_, the men are _puppes_, and the women are -_nautes_.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Sunday, July 28._--We had a dull missionary sermon at church, in which -the clergyman spoke of the poor Bishop of Winchester’s death as if it -was a judgment for his crimes. After service Lady Airlie talked of the -‘Memorials,’ which she discussed as we walked round the lake. She spoke -much of prevailing religious opinions, and said that it would be as -difficult to believe in complete inspiration now as to believe in -witchcraft. I startled her by telling her I did believe in witchcraft, -and told something of Madame de Trafford. In the afternoon we drove with -Lord Stanhope to Knockholt Beeches and back by the steep park drive. The -country was quite lovely. Lord Stanhope entertained us constantly with -that essence of courtesy and good-breeding which almost makes you feel -as if you were the entertainer and the obliging, instead of the -entertained and the obliged--indeed such perfection of courteous -kindness I have never seen elsewhere in any one. I walked with Lady -Airlie up to the beeches, and she talked of Lady Waterford, whom, she -said, she worshipped afar off, as I did nearer.” - - * * * * * - -“_July 29._--A long talk about art and drawing and Italy with old Mr. -Cheney, who said, speaking of the best buildings, ‘They are much too -good for this generation: it will destroy them because they are so -beautiful.’ He is so pleasant that I could understand a bit of a -dialogue I overheard between him and Lady Airlie. - -“_Lady A._--‘I am so sorry Englishwomen are not like French: they have -not always _le désir de plaire_.’ - -“_Mr. C._--Well I confess I always like Englishwomen best, and even -their manners seem to me far more charming.’ - -“_Lady A._--‘Oh, yes; I can quite understand that _all_ must have _le -désir de plaire_ when they are near _you_.’ - -“I walked with Mahon in the gardens and up the hill, crushing the wild -thyme and sweet marjory, and then drove with Lord Stanhope, a long -charming drive up the Brasted hill, by poor Vine’s Gate and Chartwell, -both of many associations. He stopped the carriage to have some -foxgloves gathered, and said how the name pleased him, for the plant was -the fairies’ own special flower, and the name came from folks’ love. He -would only have one great stem of each foxglove gathered, the rest must -be left for the fairies. Lord Stanhope told me that when he took -Macaulay up that hill he looked long at the view and then said, ‘How -evident it is that there has never been, can never have been, an -invasion here: no other country could supply this view.” - -“Lord Stanhope talked much of the poet Claudian, so superior to -Statius--his descriptions so picturesque, especially that of an old man -who had never been outside the walls of his native city, and how they -took him out in his extreme old age, and of all that he said, &c.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS WRIGHT. - -“_Holmhurst, Sept. 10, 1873._--I enjoy your detailed letters. In them a -breeze from the outer world sweeps in upon my solitude. Not that it is -quite solitude either, for Charlotte Leycester is still here, and Fanny -Tatton is at Hastings, and often coming up to luncheon, and Miss Cole -has been here for ten days, and her sister Louisa for three. Both these -old friends are most pleasant and charming, and I was very glad to -receive here again those whom the dear Mother was so fond of seeing in -her little home. And we talked much of her, they so truly feeling all -that she was, that it is as if a fragrance out of her beautiful past was -hallowing their lives. - -“The little Hospice has been full all summer. The present inmates are -most romantic in title as well as dress--‘Sister Georgina Mary, Sister -Mildred, and Sister Lilian.’ They come from St. Alban’s, Holborn, so -you may imagine that Charlotte Leycester has already had some passages -at arms with them. But they are truly excellent as well as pleasant -guests, and I console Charlotte by telling her that if she likes to -supply me with any suffering Methodists when they are gone, I shall be -equally glad to see them. Certainly, the only real pleasure in having -any money is the opportunities it gives. - -[Illustration: THE HOSPICE, HOLMHURST.] - -“Admirable, holy, saint-like, as I think dear Charlotte Leycester, her -Sabbatarianism is a sore small trial to me when she lives with me for -months. I love her most dearly, but I often long to say to her something -like the words of Bussy-Rabutin, ‘Souvent on arrive à la même fin par -différentes voies: pour moi, je ne condamne pas vos manières, chacun se -sauve à sa guise; mais je n’irai point à la béatitude par le chemin que -vous suivez.’” - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS LEYCESTER. - -“_Holmhurst, Sept. 19, 1873._--Yesterday I took Hugh Pearson[62] to -Hurstmonceaux. The walk through the wild ferny park and its decaying -beeches was most delightful, with the softest lights and shadows -glinting over the delicate distances of the Levels. What a place of -memories it is! every tree, every pathlet with the reminiscences of so -many generations.” - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL. - -“_Sept. 30._--I came to Binstead Wyck[63] from Thornhill. It is a -charming family home on the edge of a deep declivity, with wide views -into the purple hollows between the beech-trees. From the windows we -could see Blackmoor, whither we went the next day--the great modern -mediæval house of the Lord Chancellor Selborne, set down, as it were, -anywhere in an utterly inexpressive part of his large low-lying -property, but with pleasant Scotchified views of heath and fir -plantations. The Chancellor, pleasant and beaming, was kind, Lady -Selborne very nice, and the four daughters charming. The next day we -went to ‘White’s Selborne,’ through bowery lanes, where the hedges are -all bound together by clematis. It is a beautiful village, just under a -wooded hill called ‘the Hanger.’ The old house of Gilbert White is now -inhabited by a striking old man, Mr. Bell, a retired dentist, the -beneficence, the ‘Bon Dieu,’ of the neighbourhood. He showed us his -lovely sunny lawn, with curious trees and shrubs, sloping up to the rich -wooded hillside, and, in the house, the stick, barometer, and spectacles -of Gilbert White. - -“The adjoining property belonged to Sir Charles Taylor. His father was a -fine old man, and some of his jokes are still quoted. - -“‘How are you, sir? I hope you are quite well,’ said a young man who -came on a visit. - -“‘_Well_, sir! I am suffering from a mortal disease.’ - -“‘A mortal disease! and pray what may that be?’ said the young man, -aghast. - -“‘Why, I am suffering, sir, from--Anno Domini.’ - -“Close to Selborne we saw the source of the Wey--a pretty spring -tumbling over a rock near the road.” - - * * * * * - -“_Oct. 4-10._--A charming visit at Shavington, the great desolate brick -house of Lord Kilmorey.[64] It has very little furniture, but some fine -pictures, the best of them, by Gainsborough, representing an Hon. -Francis Needham of the Grenadier Guards, who was poisoned at a -magistrates’ dinner at Salthill in 1773. Lady Fanny Higginson[65] talked -much of their old neighbours the Corbets of Adderley: how, when Lady -Corbet was a child, she squinted very much, and how Dr. Johnson, when -she was introduced to him, said, ‘Come here, you little -Squintifinko’--which gave her the greatest horror of him. When the -family doctor called at Adderley, it was generally just before dinner, -and Lady Corbet used to ask him to stay for it, and he found this so -pleasant that he came very often in this way, merely for the sake of the -dinner; but when his bill came in, she found all these visits charged -like the others. She returned it to him with his visits divided into two -columns, one headed ‘Official’ and the other ‘Officious,’ and she always -afterwards spoke of him as ‘the officious official.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS LEYCESTER. - -“_Ford Castle, Oct. 18, 1873._--The long journey and the bitterly cold -drive across the moors from Belford almost made me think before arriving -that absence must have exaggerated the charms of this place; but the -kind welcome of the hostess in the warm library, brilliant with flowers -and colour, soon dispelled all that. There is only a small party here, -what Lady Waterford calls a _pension des demoiselles_--the two Miss -Lindsays (Lady Sarah’s daughters), Mrs. and Miss Fairholme, Lady Taunton -and her daughter, and Lady Gertrude Talbot. All are fond of art and not -unworthy of the place. - -“I _should_ like you to see it. No description gives any idea, not so -much of the beautiful old towers, the brilliant flower-beds in the -embrasures of the wall, the deep glen of old beeches, the village -clustering round its tall fountain, and the soft colouring of the -Cheviots and Flodden,--as of the wonderful atmosphere of goodness and -love which binds all the people, the servants, the guests, so -unconsciously around the beautiful central figure in this great _home_. -Each cottage garden is a replica--the tiniest replica--of Lady -Waterford’s own, equally cared for by her; each village child nestles up -to her as she appears, the very tiny ones for the sugar-plums which she -puts into their pockets, the elders to tell her everything as to a -mother. And within the house, everything is at once so simple and so -beautiful, every passage full of pictures, huge ferns, brilliant -geraniums, tall vases, &c. In the evening Lady Waterford sings as -delightfully as ever, and in all the intervals talks as no one else -can--such exquisite stories of olden times, such poetical descriptions -of scenery, and all so truth-inspiring because so wonderfully -simple.”[66] - - * * * * * - -“_Oct. 19._--You will never guess what I was doing yesterday--preaching -to the children! - -“In the morning, to my great surprise, Mr. Neville, the clergyman, came -while Lady Waterford was at the school, to say he had no help that day: -would I help him? There was a service for children in the church: would -I undertake the sermon part? I thought it quite impossible, and utterly -refused at first, only promising to read the Morning Lessons. However, -in the afternoon, when I found it was not only wished but _wanted_, I -consented. I took one of Neale’s Sermons as a foundation, and then -discoursed--half story, half sermon; the story being of the departure of -the swallows from Etal and Ford and Flodden at this time of year; the -training from their parents--so much depending upon whether they -attended or not, whether they practised their wings in preparation for -the long journey or were idle; then of the temptations they had to -idleness, &c.; of the journey, the crossing the sea (of death in the -moral), of the difficulty of crossing alone, of the clinging of some to -the mast of a ship (the Saviour), which bore them through the -difficulties. I was dreadfully alarmed at the idea, but, having once -begun, had no difficulty whatever, and it all came quite fluently -without any seeking, though beforehand I could think of nothing to say; -so that Lady Waterford said the only fault the children would find was -that it was so much longer than their usual sermons. There was a great -congregation of children, and all the guests in the house, and many of -the servants.” - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL. - -“_Oct. 16._--Mrs. Fairholme talked of her visit to Jedburgh--that she -had said to the old man who showed it, ‘Do you know, I admire your abbey -a great deal more than Melrose.’--‘Yes,’ he said, ‘there is no doubt it -is a great deal the finer; but then you know, Ma’am, Sir Walter has cast -such a halloo over Melrose that it has thrown everything else into the -shade.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Oct. 17._--Mrs. Fairholme brought down a beautiful miniature of an -unknown lady to breakfast, which was the subject of much discussion. -Lady Waterford said how she had designed a series of drawings for the -whole ‘Story of a Picture.’ - -“1. A Louis XIV. beauty sitting to a painter, with all her adorers--a -whole troop of them--behind her, quite beautiful, radiant, and -vain-glorious. - -“2. The portrait hanging in the room in another generation. - -“3. A young girl _à l’Empire_, with her waist in her mouth, waving her -hand towards the portrait, and telling the servant to take that ugly old -picture up to the garret. - -“4. Boys in the garret shooting at the old picture as a target. - -“‘Do you know,’ said Lady Waterford to-day, ‘that Jane Ellice has got -one convert to her teetotalism; and do you know who that is? That is -_me_. I have not touched wine for six months. I think it is good for the -household. They used to say, if they saw me as strong as a horse, “Ah! -there, look at my lady; it is true she is as strong as a horse, but then -she always has all the wine she wants,” but now they say, “My lady has -no wine at all, and yet you see she is as strong as a horse.”’ - -“Mrs. Fairholme spoke of Curramore, and how she disliked somebody who -pretended that the beautiful terraces there were designed by herself and -not by Lady Waterford. With her generous simplicity, Lady Waterford -said, ‘Oh, I don’t see why you should do that at all: I think it was -rather a compliment, for it showed she admired the terraces, or she -would not have wished it to be supposed that they were due to her.’ - -“Miss Fairholme was tired. ‘Now do rest,’ Lady Waterford said--‘there is -the sofa close by you--qui vous tend les bras;’ and then she talked to -us of old Lady Balcarres, ‘the mother of Grandmama Hardwicke’--the -severe mother, who, when one of her little boys disobeyed her, ordered -the servants to fling him into the pond in front of the house. He -managed to scramble out again; she bade them throw him in a second time, -and a second time he got out, and, when she ordered it a third time, he -exclaimed in his broad Scotch accent, ‘Woman, wad ye droun yer ain son?’ - -“In the afternoon we were to have gone to the Heathpool Lynn, but did go -to Langley Ford by mistake--a very long walk, after leaving the -carriage, up a bleak moorland valley. I walked chiefly with Miss -Lindsay. She talked of the extraordinary discovery of the well at Castle -Hedingham by ‘a wise woman’ by the power of the hazel wand--the hazel -twig bending on the right spot, not only upon the ground itself, but -upon the representation of it on the map. She talked of the blind and -dumb Sabbatarianism of the Presbyterians. She asked a respectable poor -woman how she liked the new preacher. ‘Wad I presume?’ she replied.” - - * * * * * - -“_Oct. 18._--This morning Lady Waterford wished that the Misses Lindsay -had been dressed alike even in details. ‘It is a law of nature, I think, -that sisters should dress alike. A covey of partridges are all alike; -they do not want to have feathers of different colours; and why not -children of the same family?’ - -[Illustration: LANGLEY FORD, IN THE CHEVIOTS.][67] - -“We had a charming walk to Etal in the afternoon--lovely soft lights on -the distant hills, and brilliant reflections of the autumnal foliage in -the Till. We went to the castle, and then down the glen by St. Mary’s -Oratory and Well. Lady W. talked of the beauty of the sedges and of -their great variety--of the difficult law, or rather no law, of -reflections. Then of marriages--of the number of widows being so much -greater than that of widowers, and of the change which the loss of a -husband made in all the smallest details of life: of the supreme -desolation of Lady Charlotte Denison, ‘after a honeymoon of forty-three -years.’ Old Lady Tankerville was of another nature. She was urging a -widowed friend to do something. ‘Oh, but my cap, my cap!’ groaned the -friend. ‘Comment,’ exclaimed Lady Tankerville, ‘c’est le vrai bonnet de -la liberté.’ - -“Speaking of complexions--‘My grandmother used to say,’ said Mrs. -Fairholme, ‘that beauty “went out” with open carriages. “Why, you are -just like men, my dear,” she said, “with your brown necks, and your -rough skins, and your red noses. In our days it was different; young -ladies never walked, ate nothing but white meat, and never washed their -faces. They covered their faces with powder, and then put cold cream on, -and wiped it off with a flannel: that was the way to have a good -complexion.’” - -“‘I think it was Henri III.,’ said Lady Waterford, ‘who used to go to -sleep with raw veal chops on his cheeks, and to cover his hands with -pomade, and have them tied up to the top of the bed by silk cords, that -they might be white in the morning.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Oct. 21._--Lady Waterford talked of her maid Rebekah, who lived with -her so long. ‘The mistake was that we were together as girls and used to -romp together; and so, when I married, she thought she was to rule me. -But she became the most dreadful tyrant: Tina used to say I wore her as -a hair-shirt.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Oct. 23._--Lady Waterford talked of ‘Grandmama Hardwicke’--how -terrified she was of robbers: that one day, when she was going to cross -a wide heathy common, she said, ‘If any one comes up to the carriage, I -shall give up all I have at once: I shall give him no chance of being -violent.’ Soon after, a man rode up. ‘Oh, take my money, but spare my -life,’ exclaimed Lady Hardwicke, and threw her purse at him. ‘My good -woman, I don’t want your purse,’ said the man, who was a harmless -traveller.” - - * * * * * - -“_Oct. 24._--Lord Houghton arrived. He is rather crusty, but most -amusing. His conversation is always interesting, even when no one else -can speak, and he seems to be saying, with Sydney Smith, to the art -circle here--‘My dears, it’s all right; you keep with the dilettanti: I -go with the talkettanti.’ He talked of Alnwick. ‘It was there I first -met Père Hyacinthe. He did not strike me as anything remarkable. One -evening he gave us a “Meditation.” It was just a falling into a topic -and going on upon it; but nothing original or particular. I heard his -sermons at Rome. He used to say a thing and then back out of it; but -under the pulpit sat three Inquisitors, and they were finding him out -all the time. One thing he said--speaking of religious differences--was, -“N’oublions jamais que le premier crime du monde était une querelle -entre deux sacerdos.”’ - -“Lord Houghton talked of the Bonapartes, and of the graves of Josephine -and Hortense at Rueil, and of Madame Mère. ‘I had a very narrow miss of -seeing Madame Mère, and I am very sorry I did not do it, for it would -only have cost a scudo. She was a very long time dying, it was a kind of -lying in state, and for a scudo the porter used to let people in behind -a screen which there was at the foot of the bed, and they looked at her -through the joinings. I was only a boy then, and I thought there was -plenty of time, and put it off; but one day she died.’ - -“Lord Houghton also said-- - -“‘One of the prettiest ghost stories I ever heard is that of General -Radowitz. He was made Governor of Frankfort, and not being able to go -himself, and having servants who had lived with him a long time and knew -all his tastes, he sent them on before him to secure a suitable house -and get everything ready. They chose an excellent house, with a large -garden full of lilacs and laburnums, overlooking the glacis. When -General and Madame Radowitz arrived some time after, they found -everything as they wished, and began to question their old servants as -to how they had got on, and especially as to the neighbours. The -servants said that the next villa was inhabited by a person who was -quite remarkable--a lady who was always known in Frankfort as the -“weisse Frau,”--a very sweet, gentle person, who was full of charity and -kindness, and greatly beloved. She had, however, quite lost her memory -as to the past since the death, very long ago, of her lover in battle: -she had even forgotten his name, and answered to all questions about him -or her own past, “Ich weiss nicht! ich weiss nicht!” but always with a -sweet sad smile. And she had lived in the place so long, that, every one -belonging to her having passed away, no one really knew her history. -Yet, while her mind was gone as to the past, as to the practical present -she was quite herself, went to market and transacted her own affairs. - -“‘Gradually the confidential maid of Madame Radowitz made friends with -the servants of the “weisse Frau”--for the gardens of the two houses -joined--and from servants’ gossip the Radowitz family learnt a good deal -about her, and from all around they heard of her as greatly respected, -but always the same, sad and sweet, always dressed in white, never -remembering anything. - -“‘One day the “weisse Frau,” who had taken a great fancy to the maid of -Madame Radowitz, invited her to come to her at twelve o’clock the next -day: she said she expected some one; indeed, she pressed the maid to -come without fail. The maid told her mistress, who said certainly she -had better go; she should on no account wish so excellent a person as -the “weisse Frau” to be disappointed. - -“‘When the maid went, she found the little salon of the “weisse Frau” in -gala decoration, the table laid and bright with flowers, and places set -for three. The Frau was not in her usual white dress, but in a curious -old costume of rich brocade, which was said to have been intended for -her wedding-dress. She still said she expected some one, but when asked -who it was, looked distressed and bewildered, and only said “Ich weiss -nicht!” - -“‘As it drew near twelve o’clock she became greatly agitated--she said -_he_ was coming. At length she threw the windows wide open, and gazing -out into the street, looked back and said, “Er kommt! er kommt!” She had -a radiant expression no one remembered to have seen before; her eyes -sparkled, every feature became animated--and as the clock struck twelve, -she went out upon the landing, appeared to enfold some one invisible in -her arms, and then walking very slowly back into the room, exclaimed -“Hoffmann,” and sank down dead! - -“‘In the supreme moment of life she had remembered the long-forgotten -name.’ - - * * * * * - -“On Wednesday Lady Waterford took her books and drawing, and went to the -forge to spend the afternoon with ‘Frizzle’--a poor bedridden woman -there, to whom _thus_, not by a rapid visit, she brings enough sunshine -and pleasure once every week to last for the other six days. Often she -sings by the bedside, not only hymns, but a whole variety of things. I -drove Mrs. Fairholme to the Routing Lynn, and we came in for one of the -fiercest storms I ever knew; not rain or snow, but lumps of ice, an inch -and a half long, blowing straight upon us from the Cheviots. Lady -Waterford came in delighted. ‘I do enjoy a difficult walk. When it is -winter, and the ground is deep in snow and the wind blowing hard, I -steal out and take a walk and enjoy it. I try to steal out unobserved; I -do not like the servants to get into a state about me, but I am -generally betrayed afterwards by a wet petticoat or something.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Oct. 25._--Last night Lord Houghton talked much about Mrs. Harcourt’s -diaries, which he had edited (she was lady in waiting to Queen -Charlotte), but the royal family had cut out so much as to make them -not worth publishing. When the poor Princesses heard of another German -prince marrying, they used to say in a despairing tone, ‘Another chance -lost.’ - -“At Weymouth, Mrs. Harcourt described going to see the royal family in -the evening. ‘I ventured,’ she said, ‘to express my regret that the -Queen should have had so unfavourable a morning for her water -expedition,’ whereat Prince William somewhat coarsely replied, ‘I only -wish the accursed bitch would have spewed her soul up, and then we -should have had some peace in the house.’ - -“The Duke of York was the only one of his sons the King really cared -for, and he said that the Duke’s faults were the cause of his madness. - -“This morning, before leaving, Lord Houghton talked of Howick, that he -thought it a very dull place, while Lady Waterford and I maintained that -it was a most pleasant, attractive family home. He said the Greys were -very self-important but not conceited: that he agreed with Charles -Buller, who said, ‘No, the Greys are certainly not conceited: they only -demand of you that you should concede the absolute truth of one single -proposition, which is, that it has pleased Providence in its inscrutable -wisdom to endow one family with every conceivable virtue and talent, -and, this once conceded, the Greys are really rather humble than -otherwise, because they feel they do not come up to their -opportunities.’ - -“He said, ‘It is very interesting to remember that all the beasts are -Saxon, but when they become meat they become Norman.’ - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS WRIGHT. - -“_Raby Castle, Oct. 31, 1873._--My visit here has been very pleasant, -the Duchess cordial, and a delightful party. It includes Count Beust, -the Austrian Ambassador, the Duchess of Bedford and Lady Ela, Sir James -and Lady Colville, Mr. and Mrs. Leo Ellis, Mr. Doyle, Mr. Burke, Lady -Chesham and her daughter, Lord and Lady Boyne, Lord Napier and his son, -Henry Cowper (most amusing), Mr. Duncombe Shafto, and several others; -but my chief pleasure has been making friends with young Lord Grimston, -whom I think out and out one of the very nicest fellows I ever met.” - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL. - -“_Raby Castle, Nov. 1._--The first morning I was here, as I was walking -on the terraced platform of the castle with Lady Chesham, she talked of -the silent Cavendishes, and said it was supposed to be the result of -their ancestor’s marriage with Rachel, Lady Russell’s daughter; that -after her father’s death she had always been silent and sad, and that -her descendants had been silent and sad ever since. ‘Lord Carlisle and -his brother were also silent. Once they travelled abroad together, and -at an inn in Germany slept in the same room, in which there was also a -third bed with the curtains drawn round it. Two days after, one brother -said to the other, “Did you see what was in that bed in our room the -other night?” and the other answered, “Yes.” This was all that passed, -but they had both seen a dead body in the bed.’ - -“The Duchess expects every one to devote themselves to _petits jeux_ in -the evening, and many of the guests do not like it. There is also a book -in which every one is expected to write something when they go away. -There is one column for complaints: you are intended to complain that -your happy visit has come to an end, or something of that kind. There is -another column of ‘Why you came’--to which the natural answer seems to -be ‘Because I was asked.’ Some one wrote-- - - ‘To see their Graces - And to kill their grouses.’ - -[Illustration: RABY CASTLE.] - - * * * * * - -“I have, however, really enjoyed my visit very much indeed, and on -taking leave just now I wrote-- - - ‘In the desert of life, so dismal and wide, - A charming oasis is sometimes descried, - Where none are afraid their true feelings to own, - And wit never takes a satirical tone; - Where new roots of affection are planted each hour, - By courtesy, kindness, and magical power; - Where fresh friendships are formed, and destined to last, - In a golden chain fettered and rivetted fast. - Such a garden is Raby:--those who gather its flowers, - In grateful remembrance will think of the hours - Which, enjoyed, do not vanish, but seem to display - In riplets of silver the wake of their way.’ - -“One evening I told a story, unfortunately; for if I ever afterwards -escaped to my room after five o’clock, there came a tap and a -servant--‘Their Graces want you to come down again’--always from their -insatiable love of stories.” - - * * * * * - -“_Nov._ 7, 1873, _Bretton_.--After three days with the dear cousins at -Ravensworth, I am glad to find myself again in this pleasant house, -where I have been rapturously welcomed by the children, especially by -little Hubert. I have found the Motleys here. He is very agreeable; and -the daughters, especially Mrs. Ives,[68] to whom her husband left £6000 -a year after one month of married life, are very pleasant. Motley was -shut up for a long time in his room the other day, and when he came in -announced that he had just finished the preface (which was the winding -up) of his new book. All the other ladies began fulsome compliments, but -Miss Susie Motley, jumping up and throwing her arms round his neck, -exclaimed, ‘Oh, you dear foolish old thing, how could you go and spend -so much time over what you may be quite sure nobody will ever read?’ -Lady Margaret has just said-- - -“‘Now, Mr. Hare, what do you do with your eyes(_i_’s)?’ - -“‘Dot them.’ - -“‘Then why don’t I dot mine? Now there is an opportunity for you to make -a pretty speech.’ - -“‘I don’t know how.’ - -“‘Why, how stupid you are! Because they are capital eyes (_i_’s). And -now, having provided thus much food for your mind, I will go and look -after your body by ordering the dinner.’ - -“I was very sorry to leave the happy cordial party at Ravensworth of -eleven young cousins, most easy to get on with certainly, though I had -never seen some of them before. But, directly I arrived, one of them -came forward and said, ‘Please remember, Augustus, that my name is only -Nellie, and my sisters are Har and Pem and Vicky, and my cousins are,’ -&c. At Lamesley Church we had the oddest sermon, with such sentences -as--‘Our first father would insist upon eating sour fruit, and has set -all his descendants’ teeth on edge ever since.’” - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS WRIGHT. - -“_Highclere Castle, Nov. 12, 1873._--This is a beautiful park, with -every variety of scenery, hill, valley, woods, with an undergrowth of -rhododendron, a poetical lake! and is so immense--thirteen miles -round--that one never goes out of it, and rather feels the isolation of -the great house in the centre, which, though very handsome, is not equal -to the place. Lady Carnarvon is very lovely and winning, and boundlessly -interesting to listen to: one understands Mr. Delane saying that he -believed that there could be no successor to Lady Palmerston till he saw -Lady Carnarvon. She says that she has hitherto been too exclusive; that -henceforth she shall wish to fill her house more with people of every -shade--‘for Carnarvon’s sake.’ As I watch her, I am perpetually reminded -of Longfellow’s lines-- - - “‘Homeward serenely she walked, with God’s benediction upon her; - When she had passed, it seemed like the ceasing of exquisite music.’ - -“The guests are Sir Stafford, Lady, and Miss Northcote, Mr. and Mrs. -Chandos Leigh, Mr. Herman Merivale, the Charles Russells, and Mr. -Forester and his son and daughter-in-law, all pleasant people, yet on -the whole not so well-fitting a party as I have usually fallen in with. -The little daughter of the house--Winifred--is the most delightful and -unspoilt of children.” - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL. - -“_Highclere, Nov. 13._--Mr. Herman Merivale told us-- - -“A captain was crossing to America in his ship, with very few sailors -on board. One day one of them came up to him on the deck and said that -there was a strange man in his cabin--that he could not see the man’s -face, but that he was sitting with his back to the door at the table -writing. The captain said it was impossible there could be any one in -his cabin, and desired the sailor to go and look again. When he came up, -he said the man was gone, but on the table was the paper on which he had -written, with the ink still wet, the words--‘Steer due south.’ The -captain said that, as he was not pressed for time, he would act on the -mysterious warning. He steered due south, and met with a ship which had -been long disabled and whose crew were in the last extremity. - -“The captain of the disabled ship said that one of his men was a very -strange character. He had himself picked him up from a deserted ship, -and since then he had fallen into a cataleptic trance, in which, when he -recovered, he declared that he had been in another ship, begging its -captain to come to their assistance. When the man who had been sent to -the cabin saw the cataleptic sailor, he recognised him at once as the -man he had seen writing. - -“Mr. Merivale said that a case of the same kind had happened to himself. - -“He was staying at Harrow, and very late at night was summoned to -London. Exactly as the clock struck twelve he passed the headmaster’s -door in a fly. Both he and the friend who was with him were at that -moment attracted by seeing a hackney-coach at the door--a most unusual -sight at that time of night, and a male figure, wrapped in black, -descend from it and glide into the house, without, apparently, ringing, -or any door being opened. He spoke of it to his friend, and they both -agreed that it was equally mysterious and inexplicable. The next day, -the circumstance so dwelt on Mr. Merivale’s mind, that he returned to -Harrow, and going to the house, asked if the headmaster, Dr. Butler, was -at home. ‘No,’ said the servant. Then he asked who had come at twelve -o’clock the night before. No one had come, no one had been heard of, no -carriage had been seen; but Dr. Butler’s father had died just at that -moment in a distant county. - -“Sir Charles Russell told us-- - -“When the 34th Regiment was quartered at Gibraltar, it had the stupidest -and dullest set of officers that can possibly be imagined; they not only -knew nothing, but they preferred to know nothing; and especially were -they averse to learning anything of Spanish, which was certainly very -short-sighted of them, as it cut them off from so many social pleasures. -But nevertheless they all very much admired a beautiful young Spanish -señorita who was living at Gibraltar, and pretended that they were not -otherwise than in her good graces, which of course was simply bombast, -as none of them knew a word of Spanish and scarcely a word of French, so -that not one of them had ever spoken to her. - -“One day, while the regiment was at Gibraltar, a young ensign came to -join, who had never been abroad before, and who knew even less of any -foreign language than his comrades. Nevertheless, in a short time he -had taken cue by them, and pretended more than all the others to be in -the good graces of the young lady, and was well laughed at accordingly. - -“One evening at mess one of the officers mentioned that the señorita was -going to Cadiz. ‘No, she is not,’ said the young ensign. ‘Oh, you young -jackanapes,’ said his fellow-officers, ‘what can you know about it? You -know nothing about her.’--‘Yes,’ he said sharply, ‘I do. She is not -going to Cadiz; and what is more, I beg that her name may not be brought -forward in this way at mess any more: I am engaged to be married to -her.’ - -“There was a universal roar, and an outcry of ‘You don’t suppose we are -going to believe that?’ But the ensign said, ‘I give you my word of -honour as an officer and a gentleman that I _am_ engaged to be married -to her.’ - -“Then the Colonel, who was present, said, ‘Well, as he represents it in -this way, we are bound to believe him.’ And then, turning to the young -ensign, said, ‘Now my dear fellow, as we do accept what you say, I think -you need not leave us up in the clouds like this. Will you not tell us -how it came about? You cannot wonder that we should be a little -surprised, when we know that you do not speak a word of Spanish and only -two or three words of French, that you should be engaged to be married -to this young lady.’ - -“‘Well,’ said the ensign, ‘since you accept what I say, yes, I do not -wonder that you are a little surprised. I do not mind telling you all -about it. It is quite true I do not understand a word of Spanish, - - * * * * * - -and only three or four words of French, but that does not matter. After -the ball at the Convent the other day (the house of the Governor of -Gibraltar is called ‘the Convent’) we went out upon the balcony, and we -watched the moonlight shimmering on the waves of the sea, and I looked -up into her eyes, and I said, “Voulez vous?” and she said, “Quoi?”--and -I said, “Moi;” and she said, “Oui”--and it was quite enough.’ - -“In the churchyard here is an epitaph ‘To the memory of J. T. C., a man -of great uprightness and integrity, and, as far as is consistent with -human imperfection, an honest man.”[69] - - * * * * * - -“_Sonning, Nov. 17, 1873._--It is quite curious how intimately this -parish and its Rector (Hugh Pearson) are bound together. The Rectory is -less his house than that of all his parishioners, and it is perfectly -open to them at all times. The choir is most amusing, the ‘poor dear -chicks,’ as the Rector calls them, combing each other’s hair in the -vestry before coming into church. A number of young men are constant -intimates of the house, especially ‘Ken,’ Kenneth Mackenzie; ‘Spes,’ -Hope; and ‘Francis,’ Lord Francis Harvey. There was once a bishopric -here, a fact which was disputed by Professor Stubbs at Oxford, who said -it was at Ramsbury, upon which the Vicar immediately left his card on -him as ‘Bishop of Sonning.’ - -“Speaking of Arthur Stanley’s absence of mind, H. P. has been -describing how one day driving from Monreale to Palermo with their -carpet-bags on the seat before them, Arthur suddenly complained of the -cold. ‘Well, you had better put something on,’ said H. P. ‘I will,’ said -Arthur. H. P. went on with his book, till, after some time, suddenly -looking up, he saw Arthur, who was also busily engaged in reading, -entirely clothed in white raiment. He had put on his night-shirt over -all his other clothes, without thinking what he was doing, and they were -just driving into the streets of Palermo!” - - * * * * * - -“_Ascot Wood, Jan. 5, 1874._--I came to London three weeks ago in a -thick fog, such as Charles Lamb would have said was meat, drink, and -clothing. One day I went with Lady Ashburton to visit Mr. Carlyle. It -was most interesting--the quaint simple old-fashioned brick house in -Cheyne Row; the faded furniture; the table where he toiled so long and -fruitlessly at the deification of Frederick the Great; the workbox and -other little occupatory articles of the long dead wife, always left -untouched; the living niece, jealous of all visitors, thinking that even -Lady Ashburton must have either testamentary or matrimonial intentions; -and the great man himself in a long grey garment, half coat, half -dressing-gown, which buttoned to the throat and fell in straight folds -to the feet or below them, like one of the figures in Noah’s Ark, and -with the addition, when he went out with us, of an extraordinary tall -broad-brimmed felt hat, which can only be procured at a single village -in Bavaria, and which gave him the air of an old magician. - -“He talked of Holman Hunt’s picture of the Home at Nazareth, ‘the most -unnatural thing that ever was painted, and the most unnatural thing in -it the idea that the Virgin should be keeping her “preciosities” in the -carpenter’s shop. - -“He talked of Landor, of the grandeur and unworldliness of his nature, -and of how it was a lasting disgrace to England that the vile calumnies -of an insolent slanderer had been suffered to blight him in the eyes of -so many, and to send him out an exile from England in his old age. - -“He complained much of his health, fretting and fidgeting about himself, -and said he could form no worse wish for the devil than that he might be -able to give him his stomach to digest with through all eternity. - -“We walked out with him in the street, one on each side. I saw the -cab-drivers pointing and laughing at the extraordinary figure, and -indeed it was no wonder. - -“At Mrs. Thornton’s I met Miss Thackeray at dinner, and have seen her -since. She is charming, well worthy to be the authoress of her books. -She said till the money for ‘Old Kensington’ was spent, she should rest. -She spoke of the happiness of bringing up her little niece, of the -surroundings of young life which it gave her. She talked much of the -‘Memorials,’ and of the problem how far it was well to be contented with -a quiet life as God sent it, and how far one ought to _seek_ for work -for Him. When I said something of her books and their giving pleasure; -she said, ‘Now let us skip that last sentence and go back to what we -were saying before.’ - -“Colonel and Mrs. Henderson (of the Police Force) were at dinner. He -said his father had been executor to old Lord Bridport, who had a box -which no one was ever allowed to open, and of the contents of which even -Lady Bridport was ignorant. After Lord Bridport’s death, the widow sent -for Colonel Henderson to look into things, and then said, ‘I wish you -would open that box; one ought to know about it.’ Colonel Henderson did -not like doing it, but took the box into the library and sat down before -it, with candles by his side. Immediately he heard a movement on the -other side of the table, and, looking up, saw old Lord Bridport as -clearly as he had ever seen him in his life, scowling down upon him with -a furious expression. He went back at once to Lady Bridport and -positively refused to open the box, which was then destroyed unopened. -He said, ‘I shall never to my dying day forget the face of Lord Bridport -as I saw him after he was dead.’ - -“In Wilton Crescent I saw Mrs. Leycester, who was just come from -Cheshire. She said:-- - -“A brother of Sir Philip Egerton has lately been given a living in -Devonshire, and went to take possession of it. He had not been long in -his rectory before, coming one day into his study, he found an old lady -seated there in an arm-chair by the fire. Knowing no old lady could -really be there, and thinking the appearance must be the result of an -indigestion, he summoned all his courage and boldly sat down upon the -old lady, who disappeared. The next day he met the old lady in the -passage, rushed up against her, and she vanished. But he met her a third -time, and then, feeling that it could not always be indigestion, he -wrote to his sister in Cheshire, begging her to call upon the Misses -Athelstan, sisters of the clergyman who had held his living before, and -say what he had seen. When they heard it, the Misses Athelstan looked -inexpressibly distressed and said, ‘That was our mother: we hoped it was -only to us she would appear. When we were there, she appeared -constantly, but when we left, we hoped she would be at rest.’ - -“About ‘ghost-stories’ I always recollect what Dr. Johnson used to -say--‘The beginning and end of ghost-stories is this, all argument is -against them, all belief is for them.’ - -“I have had a charming visit here at Ascot to the Lefevres, the only -other guest being old Mr. Cole of South Kensington, the incarnation of -‘Father Christmas’ or of ‘Old King Cole.’ He talked of the facility of -getting money and the difficulty of keeping it. He said that when he -wanted money for a Music School, he asked Sir Titus Salt for a -subscription. Sir Titus asked him what he wanted him to give. ‘Whatever -you think will look best at the day of judgment,’ said Mr. Cole. Sir -Titus signed a cheque for £1000. - -“Sir John Lefevre described a place in Essex belonging to a Mr. (now Sir -William) and Mrs. Stephenson. When they first went there, the -housekeeper said there was one room which it was never the custom to -use. For a long time it continued to be unoccupied, but one day, when -the house was very full and an unexpected arrival announced, Mrs. S. -said she should open and air it, and sent for the key. All the people -staying in the house, full of curiosity, went with her when she visited -the room for the first time. It was a large panelled room containing a -bed like a catafalque, with heavy stuff curtains drawn all round. They -drew aside the curtains, and there was the mark of a bloody hand upon -the pillow! The room was shut up again from that time forward.” - - * * * * * - -“_Holmhurst, Jan. 22._--George Sheffield is here. He says that the -Russian Minister’s wife at Washington called her dog ‘Moreover,’ because -of ‘Moreover the dog came and licked his sores.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Holmhurst, Jan. 24._--‘No,’ says Lea, ‘everything is not improving. I -always say that everything has been going to the bad since the pudding -lost its place.’ - -“‘Why, what can you mean?’ - -“‘Oh, in the old days, the good old days, the pudding always used to be -before the meat, and then people were not so extravagant at the -butcher’s. Why, old Mr. Taylor[70] used to say to me, “You know, marm,” -says he, “we used to tak’ a bit of the dough when the bread was rising, -and slip in an apple or two without peeling ’em, and bake ’em in the -oven, and that was our dinner you know, marm.”’ - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL (The Green Book). - -“_Jan. 25, 1874._--Somehow I have felt as if this volume was closed for -ever--closed away with the sweet presence which was so long the sunshine -of my life. Yet to-day, while I am alone, sitting once more in the -sacred chamber where I have watched her through so many days and nights, -I feel constrained to write once more. - -“How all is changed to me since then: I can hardly feel as if the two -lives were related--hardly as if they _could_ belong to the same person. - -“Wonderfully, mysteriously, time has healed--no, not healed, but -soothed, even this wound. At first I felt this must always be -impossible, life was _too_ blank, but imperceptibly, stealthily, other -interests asserted their power, and though the old life is always _the_ -life to me, yet I feel all is not over. - -“I have always talked of my Mother, and it has been a great comfort. At -first it almost shocked people that I should do it. Perhaps the very -fact of talking and writing about her myself, and her life being now so -much talked of by others, has dried up the agony of my own inner -desolation by force of habitude. Yet, oh, my darling! there is never a -day, seldom an hour, in which I do not think of her; and sometimes when -I am alone, - - ‘When to the sessions of sweet silent thought, - I summon up remembrance of things past,’ - -I take one of her sketch-books, one of her journals or mine, and with -them go back into our old life--thus she looked--thus she spoke--thus -she smiled. - -“At first I was kept up by the sacred work of the ‘Memorials,’ and the -necessity of fighting against the violent family opposition to them. -This seemed a duty which rose out of her grave, the one duty for which -I was prepared to sacrifice everything else in the world. I was -determined to fulfil it at whatever cost to myself. And I have fulfilled -it--not so well perhaps as I might have done if Arthur and Mary Stanley -had not tried to trample and stamp all the spirit out of it. They -condemned the book violently and furiously before they read it, and, -after reading it, they never had the courage to rescind opinions -expressed so frequently and publicly. Still, the world says that it is -well, and it will still keep her lamp burning brightly, so that her -earthly work is not over yet, and she can still guide others heavenward -through the darkness. Besides, not only in the ‘Memorials,’ but in all -else, I have felt the truth of Joseph Mazzini’s advice--‘Get up and -work; do not set yourself apart. When the Evil One wanted to tempt -Jesus, he led Him into a solitude.’ - -“I was one winter in Spain with Miss Wright. Then not much more than my -first desolate year had passed, and I had still that crushed lacerated -feeling of utter misery; but I tried to be as bright as I could for my -companion’s sake. Last year I was in Italy, and though very ill, and -though I felt poignantly the first return to the old scenes, it was -better, and all old friends were most kind. - -“The dear cousin of my mother’s life, Charlotte Leycester, has been here -each year for some months, and other guests come and go through the -summer, so that little Holmhurst still gives pleasure. - -“At first I was very, very poor, and it was a struggle to have a home; -but latterly my books have brought in enough to keep the house, and a -great deal to give away besides, which has been most opportune, as -several members of the family have sorely needed helping. I have also a -little Hospice, where I receive those whom I hear of as in need of -thorough change, mental and physical, for a month, sets of -sunshine-seekers succeeding each other. My dear Lea is still left to me, -and is my greatest comfort, so associated with all that is gone. - -“My books have made me almost well known after a fashion, and people are -very kind, for, with what Shakspeare calls ‘the excellent foppery of the -world,’ many who used to snub me now almost ‘make up to me,’ and all -kinds of so-called ‘great people’ invite me to their houses. Sometimes -this is very pleasant, and I always enjoy being liked. I do not think it -is likely to set me up; I have too strong a feeling of my own real -inferiority to the opinion formed of me. Intellectually, I am so ill -grounded that I really know nothing well or accurately; and if I am what -is called ‘generous,’ certainly that is no virtue, for it pleases myself -as well as others. I think it is still with me as George Sand says of -herself, ‘Je n’ai pas de bonheur dans la vie, mais j’ai beaucoup de -bonheurs.’ - -“To-morrow I am going abroad again. It is almost necessary for my books; -and though I feel bitterly leaving Lea and the little home, I like my -mother’s adopted son to earn a reputation; that is all I care for, -except that it is always a pleasure to give pleasure. There is a -sentence, too, of Carlyle’s which comes back to me--‘We are sufficiently -applauded and approved, and ought now, if possible, to go and do -something _deserving_ a little applause.’” - - - - -XVII - -LITERARY WORK AT HOME AND ABROAD - - “Ohne Hast, aber ohne Rast.”--GOETHE. - - “Leisure and I have taken leave of one another. I propose to be - busy as long as I live, if my health is so long indulged to - me.”--JOHN WESLEY. - - “To seek fame is even a solemn duty for men endowed with more than - ordinary powers of mind. First, as multiplying the ways and chances - by which a useful work comes into the hands of such as are prepared - to avail themselves of it; secondly, as securing for such a work - that submissiveness of heart, that docility, without which nothing - really good can be really acquired; and lastly, because the - individuality of the author, with all the associations connected - with his name and history, adds greatly to the effect of a - work.”--COLERIDGE _to_ SIR G. BEAUMONT. - - “For ever I wrastle, for ever I am behind.”--GOWER, _Confessio - Amantis_. - - “’Tis not in mortals to command success; - But we’ll do more, Sempronius--we’ll deserve it” - --ADDISON, _Cato_. - - -The success of “Walks in Rome,” and the great pleasure which I had -derived from the preparation of my “Days near Rome,” made me undertake, -in the spring of 1874, the more ambitious work of “Cities of Northern -and Central Italy,” in preparation for which I left England at the end -of January, accepting on the way an oft-repeated invitation from Mr. and -Mrs. de Wesselow to their beautiful home at Cannes. - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL. - -“_Villa La Cava, Cannes, Jan. 30, 1874._--What a view I look upon here -from my beautiful room!--a pure blue sky all around, fading into the -softest most delicate golden hues where it meets the waveless expanse of -sea, upon which the islands seem asleep in the sunshine; on one side the -old town of Cannes, with its pier and shipping and the white sails of -its boats; on the other, the endless villas, and Mougins, and the -mountains--all rising from a wealth of orange and cypress groves; and, -close at hand, masses of geraniums and roses and the ‘sunshine tree’ -(golden mimosa) in full blossom,--and thus, they say, it has been all -winter. - -“Paris was at its ugliest. I had a pleasant dinner at the Embassy, and I -went to see old Madame Dubois at the top of a house, in her room which -is at once sitting-room, bedroom, and kitchen. She was full of the -wretchedness of living in a country where your servant had no scruple in -telling you she was your equal, and that she was jealous of your being -richer than herself. She showed her household treasures, especially a -little silver owl, ‘qui est restée longtemps sans se marier, et puis a -fait un petit hibou.’ - - * * * * * - -“I left in the evening for my four-and-twenty hours’ journey. The train -was crowded, every place full, but, in spite of my seven companions and -their twenty-eight handbags, which obliged me to sit bolt upright the -whole way, I rather enjoyed it. There is something so interesting in the -rapid transitions: the plains of Central France: the rolling hills of -Burgundy in the white moonlight: the great towns, Dijon and Lyons, deep -down below, and mapped out by their lamps: the dawn over the Rhone -valley: the change to blue sky melting into delicate amber: the first -stunted olives: the white roads leading, dust-surrounded, to the white -cities, Avignon and Tarascon and Arles: the desolate stone-laden Crau: -the still blue Mediterranean, and Marseilles with its shipping, and then -the granite phase of southern Provence and its growth of heath and -lavender and pines. - -“On this, the eastern side, Cannes is a new world to me, but on Sunday, -with Marcus Hare and G., I went up to the other side, to the Villa S. -François and our beloved pine-wood, alive still with sacred memories, -where the dear form still might seem to wander with her sunshade and -camp-stool, and where we sat on the very stone she used to rest on in -‘the Shepherdesses’ Walk.’ G. is too matter of fact to enjoy this -country. When I exclaimed over the glorious beauty and variety of the -view of the Rocher de Bilheres, standing out as it does from the supreme -point of the forest promontory, with the purple shadows behind it in the -deep rift, she could only say, ‘I should be better satisfied if I could -ascertain exactly what it is mineralogically.’ - -“I went with Frank de Wesselow to Vallauris, the walk a perfect series -of pictures--the winding road with its glorious sea-views; then, at the -chapel, the opening upon all the Alpine range; then the deep hollow ways -overhung by old gnarled olives, and peopled by peasants with their mules -and baskets. - -“Yesterday I had a visit from George Sutherland, whom I looked after in -his fever at Rome, full of his spiritualism, of his drawings made under -the influence of spirits, who ‘squeeze out just the amount of colour to -be used and no more,’ and of his conversations with his dead mother, -whom he described as ‘touching him constantly.’ - -“In the evening we talked of the De Wesselows’ faithful servant Mrs. -Manning, of her wonderful power of making people understand her, and how -her appreciation of foreigners was entirely in proportion to their doing -so. Frank was standing by her one day in the garden when their maid -Thérèse passed by. Mrs. Manning said quickly, ‘Teresa, acqua fresca -pully, and these things want lavering,’ and, without giving another -moment’s attention, went on with what she had been doing. Thérèse, in -her slow way, said ‘Yees,’ thinking that she talked English very well, -and understood perfectly that she was to give some water to the chickens -and that the things wanted washing.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS LEYCESTER. - -“_Villa Heraud, Cimies, Feb. 6, 1874._--I am writing from a beautiful -country villa, where, in sweet Mary Harford,[71] I find the friend of my -childhood quite unchanged, though it is fifteen years since I have seen -her. In spite of being the mother of six daughters and two sons, she -looks still as young as the Mary Bunsen who was carried quite helpless -into Hurstmonceaux Place twenty-three years ago. It is a most united -family, and you would admire the ‘way in which the six daughters take -arms and sing a hymn behind their mother (who plays) after family -prayers.” - - * * * * * - -“_Parma, Feb. 12, 1874._--I had so many kind invitations at Nice, I -rather longed to remain there. On Sunday I went home after church with -Lady Jocelyn and her little grand-daughter. I had not seen her since the -loss of her children. Her sweet sad face quite haunts me. I said to her, -‘Do you often drive out.’--‘No,’ she said; ‘I must always walk, or else -the days would be _too_ long.’ - -“I had an interesting railway journey on Monday with Madame Franzoni, -who lives in the house at Taggia described in ‘Dr. Antonio.’ She was -Swiss. Her husband, of an old Swiss-Italian family, was disinherited on -becoming Protestant, and was obliged to become an engineer. His father, -still living, has been prevented by his priests from speaking to him for -five-and-twenty years, though devotedly fond of him. She took her two -little children and made them sing a hymn beneath the tree in which -their grandfather was sitting. Tears streamed down the old man’s cheeks, -but he would not look at them; he said it must be a lesson to his other -children. The mother offered her whole fortune if her son would consent -to hear one mass; she believed that one mass would reconvert him. Since -then the Protestant part of the family have been dreadfully poor, whilst -the rest are immensely rich. Madame Franzoni said that the priests of -Taggia were very kind to them privately, but would not recognise them in -public. - -[Illustration: LAMPEDUSA FROM TAGGIA.][72] - -[Illustration: STAIRCASE, PALAZZO DELL’ UNIVERSITA, GENOA][73] - -“When we parted, I gave her my card. Some Americans in the carriage saw -it and almost flew into my arms. ‘Oh, the “Quiet Life”--too great -happiness,’ &c. Afterwards I had a warning to be careful what subjects -one touched upon with strangers, for I said something about the loss of -the _Ville de Havre_. The lady (Mrs. Colt) burst into tears, and her -daughter said, ‘Mother’s brother was the judge who was lost; he would -not leave his wife, and went down with her in his arms, saying, “Let us -die bravely!”’ Afterwards at Genoa I met a young lady (Miss Bulkeley) -who went down with her mother. The mother was lost. As the daughter -rose, something hurt her head; she put her hand to it and caught a -chain, and finding her head above water, called, ‘A woman! help!’ She -heard men say, ‘American sailors are saving you,’ but became unconscious -and knew nothing for long afterwards. She said it was quite a mistake to -say drowning was painless--the oppression on the lungs was agony. - -[Illustration: CLOISTER OF S. MATTEO, GENOA.][74] - -“I enjoyed Genoa and my work there, and made several pleasant Italian -acquaintances, the Genoese are so hospitable. The Marchese Spinola -showed me all the treasures and pictures of his old palace himself. I -suppose I must take this as a great compliment, for I was amused the -other day by an anecdote of the Marchesa Spinola, who made herself most -agreeable to an Englishman she met at the Baths of Monte Catini. On -taking leave, he politely expressed a hope that, as they were both going -to Rome in the winter, they might meet there. ‘Mais non, Monsieur,’ she -replied; ‘à Monte Catini je suis charmée de vous voir, mais à Rome c’est -toute autre chose.’ Yesterday I spent in correcting my account of -Piacenza--bitterly cold, children sliding all over the streets, which -were one mass of ice.... I had forgotten the intense interest of Parma -and its glorious pictures, especially what a grand master Pordenone -was.” - - * * * * * - -“_59 B. Mario de’ Fiori, Rome, Feb. 22._--Rome is fearfully modernised, -such quantities of new houses built, such quantities of old buildings -swept away--the old shell fountain in the Felice, the lion of the -Apostoli, the Vintner’s fountain at Palazzo Simonetti, the ruins of the -Ponte Salara, and ... all the shrines in the Coliseum, even the famous -cross on the wall. The last nearly caused a Revolution. On the Pincio a -Swiss cottage is put up, strangely out of place amongst the old statues, -and a clock which goes by water. Even the most ardent Protestants too -are a little shocked that the famous Quirinal Chapel, so redolent of -Church history, should be turned into a cloak-room for balls, and the -cloak-tickets kept in the holy water basins. The poverty and suffering -amongst the Romans is dreadful, the great influx of Torinese taking the -bread out of their mouths. - -“You would be amused with the economy of my servants Ambrogio and Maria. -They think it most extravagant if I have both vegetables and a pudding, -and quite sinful to have soup the same day; and the first day, after I -had seen the kitchen fire blazing away all afternoon, and ‘Il Signorino -è servito’ was announced very magnificently, behold the dinner -was--three larks! But what a pleasure it is to hear again from -servants--‘Felicissima notte,’--that sweetest bidding of repose, as -Palgrave calls it.” - - * * * * * - -“_March 1._--I know, as usual, far too many people here for comfort, -nearly three hundred. But I have enjoyed constant drives with Lady -Castletown and her most sweet and charming daughter, Mrs. Lewis -Wingfield. The Miss Seymours also are here, and very agreeable, with -their very handsome sister, married to the Austrian Count von Lutzow. -The Duchesse S. Arpino and her mother and engaging little daughter make -their house as pleasant as ever. Mr. Adolphus Trollope has a pretty -little daughter who sings most enchantingly.[75] I also like Lady Paget, -the Minister’s wife, who is a clever artist in her own way. - -“The spoliation of Rome continues every day. Its picturesque beauty is -_gone_. Nothing can exceed the tastelessness of all that is being -done--the Coliseum, Baths of Caracalla, and the temples are scraped -quite clean, and look like sham ruins built yesterday: all the pretty -trees are cut down: the outsides of the mediæval churches (Prassede, -Pudentiana, &c.) are washed yellow or painted over: the old fountains -are stripped of their ferns and polished: the Via Crucis and other -processions are forbidden: and the Government has even sent out the -‘pompieri’ to cut down all the ivy from the aqueducts. I have, however, -got back one thing--the Lion of the Apostoli! I went round to a number -of people living in that neighbourhood, and engaged them to go in the -morning to the Senators in the Capitol and demand its restoration: and a -message was sent that the lion should be restored at once. So the little -hideous beast goes back this week to his little vacant sofa, where he -has sat for more than six hundred years. - -[Illustration: COLONNA CASTLE, PALESTRINA.][76] - -“The cardinals have been dying off a good deal lately, and a curious -relic of old times was the lying in state of Cardinal Bernabo in the -Propaganda Fide--the chapel hung with black, the catafalque with cloth -of gold, a chain of old abbots and cardinals standing and kneeling round -with tapers, and all the students singing. Pius IX. is well, and -Antonelli has never been the least ill, except in the _Times_, in which -he has received the last sacraments.” - -[Illustration: GENAZZANO.][77] - -[Illustration: SUBIACO.][78] - -“_Tivoli, March 22._--I have been greatly enjoying a little mountain -tour with Lady Castletown and Mrs. Lewis Wingfield. On Wednesday we -spent the day in the villas Aldobrandini and Mondragone at Frascati, and -the next morning had the most charming drive by Monte Porzio and Monte -Compatri, chiefly through the desolate chestnut forests, to Palestrina. -It was the fair of Genazzano, and the whole road was most animated, such -crowds of peasants in their gayest costumes and prettiest ornaments. At -beautiful Olevano we had just time to go to the little inn and visit my -friend of last year, Peppina Baldi. It was a tiring journey thence to -Subiaco after such a long day, and we only passed the worst precipices -by daylight, so it was quite dark when we reached Subiaco, where we -found rooms with difficulty, as, quite unwittingly, we had arrived on -the eve of the great festa of S. Benedetto. Most delighted we were, -however, of course, and most picturesque and beautiful was the early -pilgrimage, with bands of music and singing, up the stony mountain -paths. Lady Castletown travels with a second carriage for her maids, so -prices naturally rise at first sight of so grand a princess.... On the -way here we diverged to the farm of Horace in the Licenza valley, all -marvellously unaltered--the brook, the meadows, the vines, the -surrounding hills and villages, still just as he described them eighteen -hundred years ago. It is a wonderful country, one lives so entirely in -the past.” - -I have seldom enjoyed Tivoli more than in this spring of 1874. It was -then that, sitting in the scene I describe, I wrote the paragraph of -“Days near Rome” which I insert here. - -[Illustration: SACRO SPECO, SUBIACO.][79] - - * * * * * - -“Nothing can exceed the loveliness of the views from the road which -leads from Tivoli by the chapel of S. Antonio to the Madonna di -Quintiliolo. On the opposite height rises the town with its temples, -its old houses and churches clinging to the edge of the cliffs, which -are overhung with such a wealth of luxuriant vegetation as is almost -indescribable; and beyond, beneath the huge pile of building known as -the Villa of Maecenas, the thousand noisy cataracts of the Cascatelle -leap forth beneath the old masonry, and sparkle and dance and foam -through the green--and all this is only the foreground to vast distances -of dreamy campagna, seen through the gnarled hoary stems of grand old -olive-trees--rainbow-hued with every delicate tint of emerald and -amethyst, and melting into sapphire, where the solitary dome of St. -Peter’s rises, invincible by distance, over the level line of the -horizon. - -[Illustration: S. MARIA DI COLLEMAGGIO, AQUILA.][80] - -[Illustration: SOLMONA.][81] - -“And the beauty is not confined to the views alone. Each turn of the -winding road is a picture; deep ravines of solemn dark-green olives -which waken into silver light as the wind shakes their leaves--old -convents and chapels buried in shady nooks on the -mountain-side--thickets of laurustinus, roses, genista, and -jessamine--banks of lilies and hyacinths, anemones and violets--grand -masses of grey rock, up which white-bearded goats are scrambling to -nibble the myrtle and rosemary, and knocking down showers of the red -tufa on their way;--and a road, with stone seats and parapets, twisting -along the edge of the hill through a constant diorama of loveliness, and -peopled by groups of peasants in their gay dresses returning from their -work, singing in parts wild canzonetti which echo amid the silent hills, -or by women washing at the wayside fountains, or returning with brazen -_conche_ poised upon their heads, like stately statues of -water-goddesses wakened into life.” - - * * * * * - -Great was the difficulty of securing any companion for the desolate -excursion to the Abruzzi, but at length I found a clever artist, Mr. -Donne, who agreed to go with me. - -[Illustration: HERMITAGE OF PIETRO MURRONE.][82] - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS LEYCESTER. - -[Illustration: CASTLE OF AVEZZANO.][83] - -[Illustration: GATE OF ARPINUM.][84] - -“_Sora in the Marsica, April 2._--Mr. Donne and I left the train at -Terni, taking diligence to Rieti, the capital of the Sabina. Next day we -had a long dreary drive to Aquila, a dismal place, but full of curious -remains, surrounded by tremendous snow mountains. Thence we crossed a -fearful pass in ghastly barren mountains to Solmona, a wonderful -mediæval city seldom visited. On Sunday we clambered up the mountains -above the town to the hermitage of Pietro Murrone, afterwards -Cœlestine V., and then, as the snow was too deep to make it possible -to cross the mountain, returned by night to Aquila. On Tuesday our -journey of a whole day was through perfectly Lapland scenery, the road a -mere track in the deep snow, which covered hedges and fields alike. -Fortunately the weather was lovely, but it was a relief to come down -again to even partial civilisation at Avezzano, on the borders of what -was once the Lago Fucino, now dried up and spoilt by Prince Torlonia. -Here I had an introduction to Count and Countess Restà, to whom I paid -a most curious visit. On Wednesday we drew at S. Maria di Luco, a -picturesque church on the site of a temple above the lake, and in the -evening came on here, arriving at 2 A.M.--glorious moonlight and grand -scenery, but the diligence unspeakably wretched. We have just been -spending a charming day, partly at Arpino, the birthplace of Cicero, -where there are wonderful Pelasgic remains, and a gateway which is the -oldest architectural monument in Europe, and partly at Cicero’s island -home on the Liris, a lovely place, all primroses and violets as in -England, but with a background of snow mountains.” - -[Illustration: TRIUMPHAL ARCH, AQUINO.][85] - -[Illustration: PORTO S. LORENZO, AQUINO.][86] - -“_Easter Sunday, 1874._--The Count and Countess de Lützow, the two Miss -Seymours, and Miss Ellis[87] met me at S. Germano, and we have been -spending to-day in the monastery of Monte Cassino, gloriously beautiful -always, with its palatial buildings on a mountain-top, and all around -billows of purple hill tipped with snow. An introduction from the Duke -of Sermoneta caused the gentle-looking Abbot to receive us, and then the -great bent figure of the great Tosti came forward, his deep-set eyes -excessively striking. After the service in the church they entertained -us to an excellent dinner, finishing with delicious Aleatico wine. They -were ‘_spogliati_,’ they said, but ‘_La Providenza_’ still watched over -them.” - - * * * * * - -“_April 7._--In the second-class carriage of the train on our way to -Velletri sat a venerable and beautiful old man, to whom we talked of -Aquino, the birthplace of St. Thomas Aquinas, where we spent yesterday. -Gradually we found out that he was the Abbot of Monte Vergine, and he -told us much that was interesting about that wonderful place--of the -intense love and veneration of the Neapolitan people for the sanctuary, -which is connected with the different events of their domestic life; -that no betrothal or marriage or birth was considered entirely -consecrated without receiving a benediction at the sanctuary; that -peasant women had it entered in their marriage contracts that they -should be allowed to make the pilgrimage from time to time, and after -the birth of each child; that because, on account of the suppression, -two miles of the road to the sanctuary still remained unfinished, the -peasants voluntarily undertook to finish it themselves, 30,000 persons -subscribing one soldo apiece; that when, at the same time, he, the -Abbot, was obliged to give up keeping a carriage, five Neapolitan -families insisted upon undertaking to keep one for him, one paying the -horses, another the coachman, &c. The Abbot gave us his benediction on -taking leave, and invited us to Monte Vergine.”[88] - - * * * * * - -“_April 14._--I met Mademoiselle von Raasloff at Mrs. Terry’s. She -narrated to me some facts which had been told to her by the well-known -Dr. Pereira. - -“An acquaintance of his, a lady, was travelling with some friends in an -out-of-the-way part of Poland. Suddenly, late at night, their carriage -broke down and they were obliged to get out, and as they knew of no -shelter near, they were in great difficulties. At this juncture a -gentleman appeared, who said to the lady that if she would take the -trouble to walk a few steps farther, she would come to the gate of his -house; that he was unable to accompany her, but that if she would -mention his name she would be received, and would find all she required. -She thanked him and followed his directions. The servant to whom she -spoke at the house seemed very much surprised, but seeing her plight, -brought her in, left her in a library, and went to get some refreshment. -When she was alone, a door in the panelling opened and the unknown -master of the house came in and sat down by her. As he said nothing, she -felt rather awkward, and more so when the servant, coming in with a -tray, seemed to brush up close to him in a very odd way as he set it -down. When the servant left the room, the unknown said, ‘Ne vous étonnez -pas, Mademoiselle, c’est que je suis mort;’ and he proceeded to say that -he was most thankful she had come, and that he wished her to make him a -solemn promise; that the people who were now in possession of the -property were not the rightful heirs, but that he had left a will, -deposited with a certain lawyer in a certain place, the name of which he -made her write down. She listened as in a trance, but did as she was -bid. The servant, coming in again about this time, walked straight -_through_ the unknown. Presently the carriage, being mended, was -announced to be at the door, upon which the unknown walked with her to -the porch, bowed, and disappeared. - -“When the lady got to Warsaw, she had an _attaque des nerfs_, was very -ill, and sent for Dr. Pereira. She told him all she had seen, and also -gave him the paper with the directions she had written down. Dr. -Pereira, finding that the person and place mentioned really existed, -inquired into the matter, and the result was that the will was found, -the wrongful possessors ejected, and the rightful owners set up in their -place.” - -“One evening at the Palazzo Odescalchi, when everybody had been telling -stories, and nothing very interesting, Mademoiselle von Raasloff -suddenly astonished us by saying, ‘Now I will tell you something.’ Then -she said-- - -“There was a young lady in Denmark, whose family, from circumstances, -had lived very much before the Danish world, and with whom, in so small -a society as that of Copenhagen, almost every one was acquainted. -Consequently it was a subject of interest, almost of universal interest, -at Copenhagen, when it became known that this young lady, with the full -approval of her parents and joyful consent of every one concerned, had -become engaged to a young Danish officer of good family and position. - -“‘Now in Danish society a betrothal is considered to be almost the same -thing as a marriage: new relationships date from that time, and if -either the affianced bride or bridegroom die, the family of the other -side mourn as for a son or brother, as if the marriage had actually -taken place. - -“‘While this young lady of whom I have spoken was only engaged, her -betrothed husband was summoned to join his regiment in a war which was -going on; and very soon to the house of his betrothed came the terrible -news that he was dead, that he was killed in battle. And the way in -which the news came was this. A soldier of his regiment was wounded and -was taken prisoner; and as he was lying in his cot in the hospital, he -said to his companion who was in the next bed, “I saw the young -Colonel--I saw the young Colonel on his white horse, and he rode into -the ranks of the enemy and he never came back again.” And the man who -said that died, but the man to whom he said it recovered, and, in -process of time, he was ransomed, and came back to Copenhagen and told -his story with additions. “My comrade, who is dead, said that he saw the -young Colonel on his white horse, and that he saw him ride into the -ranks of the enemy and the soldiers of the enemy drag him from his horse -and kill him, so that he never came back again.” This was the form in -which the story reached the family of the affianced wife of the young -Colonel, and they mourned him most truly; for they loved him much, and -they put on all the outward signs of deepest grief. There was only one -person who would not put on the outward signs of mourning, and that was -his affianced bride herself. She said, and persisted in saying, that she -_could_ not believe that, where two persons had been as entirely united -as she and her betrothed had been, one could pass entirely out of life -without the other knowing it. That her lover was sick, in prison, in -trouble, she could believe, but that he was dead--_never_, without her -having an inner conviction of it; and she would not put on the outward -signs of mourning, which to her sense implied an impression of ill omen. -Her parents urged her greatly, not only because their own reality of -grief was very great, but because, according to the feeling of things in -Copenhagen, it cast a very great slur upon their daughter that she -should appear without the usual signs of grief. They urged her -ceaselessly, and the tension of mind in which she lived, and the -perpetual struggle with her own family, added to her own deep grief, had -a very serious effect upon her. - -“‘It was while things were in this state that one day she dreamt--she -dreamt that she received a letter from her betrothed, and in her dream -she felt that it was of the most vital importance that she should see -the date of that letter; and she struggled and laboured to see it, but -she could not make it out; and she laboured on with the utmost intensity -of effort, but she could not decipher it; and it seemed to her the most -wearisome night she had ever spent, so incessant was her effort, but she -could not read it: still she would not give it up, and at last, just as -the dawn was breaking, she saw the date of the letter, and it was May -the 10th. The effort was so great that she woke; but the date remained -with her still--it was May the 10th. - -“‘Now she knew that if such a letter had been really written on the 10th -of May, by the 1st of June she must receive that letter. - -“‘The next morning, when her father came in to see her before she was -up, as he had always done since their great sorrow, he was surprised to -find her not only calm and serene, but almost radiant. She said, “You -have often blamed me for not wearing the outward signs of mourning for -my betrothed: grant me now only till the 1st of June, and _then_, if I -receive no letter from him, I will promise to resign myself to believe -the worst, and I will do as you desire.” Three weeks of terrible tension -ensued, and the 1st of June arrived. She said then that she felt as if -her whole future life hung upon the postman’s knock. It came--and there -was the letter! Her lover had been taken prisoner, communication with -him had been cut off--in fact, till then it was impossible she should -hear. Soon afterwards he was exchanged, came home, and they were -married. - -“‘Now,’ said Mademoiselle von Raasloff, as she finished her narrative, -‘that is no story which I have heard. The young lady was my dear mother; -she is here to testify to it: the young officer was my dear father, -General von Raasloff; he is here to confirm it.’ And they were both -present.” - - * * * * * - -“_April 15._--There is a pretty young American lady at the -_table-d’hôte_--most amusing. Here are some snatches from her lips:-- - -“‘I wonder if the old masters who painted such absurd figures of saints -and angels _meant_ to be funny, or if they were only funny by mistake.’ - -“‘Pity is like eating mustard without beef, and you wouldn’t like that, -would you?’ - -“‘I was at a pension at Castellamare--Miss Baker’s. Avoid it. There -were places for fifty at dinner, and forty-nine of them were old maids. -No gentleman stayed--of course he couldn’t: they would have gobbled him -up alive.’ - -“‘I went to the Trinità to hear the nuns sing. The nun who opened the -door said, “You’re too late!”--“Well,” I said, “you declared I was too -early yesterday. When _am_ I to come?”--“Well, I don’t know,” she said; -“we’re always changing.”--“Well, you _are_ a civil old party, _you_ -are,” I said--and the old tigress actually slammed the door in my face.’ - -“‘Somebody said to me about a nigger I was abusing that I shouldn’t, -because he was a man and a brother. “Well, sir, he may be your brother,” -I said, “but most certainly he is not mine.” I should think not indeed, -with a leg that comes down in the middle of his foot.’ - -“‘I shall be burnt, I hope, when I die. I feel like the old lady I heard -of the other day who knew she was getting immensely old and could not -live long, so paid down three thousand dollars to have a good big stove -made right off at once.’ - -“‘I hope when I’m dying my people won’t be able to go on pegging away at -their dinner just as if nothing was happening: I should not like that at -all.’” - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS LEYCESTER. - -[Illustration: FARFA.][89] - -[Illustration: GATE OF CASAMARI.][90] - -“_Assisi, April 26._--I had a proposal from the Miss Seymours and Miss -Ellis that if I would wait at Rome till Saturday the 18th, they would -set off with me in search of the lost monastery of Farfa, which was, of -all places, the one I wanted most to see, and from which fear of -brigands had previously caused all my companions to fail at the last -moment. If you have read any old histories of Italy, you will remember -how all-important Farfa was in the Middle Ages, and will wonder that no -one, not even the best Roman antiquarians, knew anything about its -present state, or even where it is. We could only judge by old maps and -chronicles. However, the excursion completely answered, and, after -divers little adventures, which ‘Days near Rome’ will narrate, we not -only arrived at Farfa, but found the Father-General of the Benedictines -accidentally there to receive us. Greatly astonished he was at our -arrival, but said that one enterprising stranger had reached the place -three years before--I need hardly add, an English lady. Really Farfa is -one of the most radiant spots in Italy, and the sheets of wild-flowers, -and the songs of nightingales and cuckoos enhanced its charms. My -companions were so delighted that they consented, if I would stay till -Wednesday, to set off again on a long, wild, and very rough tourette to -the monasteries of the Hernican mountains. So on the 22nd we went by -rail to Frosinone, and thence drove to Casamari, going on by a grand -mountain road to sleep at Alatri. The next day we rode up a jagged rock -path for many hours to the Carthusian Trisulti, a huge monastery in a -mountain forest, amid Alpine flowers and close under the snows. Then we -saw the famous Grottoes of Collepardo--a sort of underground Staffa, -very grand indeed, and returned at night to Frosinone, and next day to -Rome.” - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL. - -“_May 4, Florence._--General von Raasloff is here, and says that a -friend of his going to China received endless commissions for things he -was to bring home, but that only one of the people who gave them sent -money for the things they wanted. On his return, this commission was the -only one he had fulfilled. His disappointed friends upbraided him, and -he said, ‘You see it was very unfortunate, but when we were nearing -China, I spread out all my different commissions on the deck that I -might examine them, and I put the money for each on the paper to which -it belonged: and--it was very unfortunate, but my attention was called -away for an instant, and behold a great gust of wind had come, and all -those commissions which were not weighted by money had been blown far -out to sea, and I never saw them again.’ - -“Mademoiselle von Raasloff told me that-- - -“Count Piper, an ancestor of the present Count Piper, was a very -determined gambler. Being once at one of his desolate country estates, -he was in perfect despair for some one to play with him, but he was -alone. At last, in a fit of desperation, he said, ‘If the devil himself -were to come to play with me, I should be grateful.’ Soon a tremendous -storm began to rage, during which a servant came in and said that a -gentleman overtaken by night was travelling past, and implored shelter. -Count Piper was quite enchanted, and a very gentlemanlike man was shown -in. Supper was served, and then Count Piper proposed a game of cards, in -which the stranger at once acquiesced. Count Piper won so enormously, -that he felt quite ashamed, and at last he proposed their retiring. As -they were leaving the room, the stranger said, ‘I am very much concerned -that I have not sufficient money with me to pay all my debt now; -however, I shall beg you to take my ring as a guarantee, which is really -of greater value than the money, and which has very peculiar properties, -one of which is that as long as you wear it, all you possess is safe -from fire.’ The Count took the ring, and escorting the stranger to his -room, wished him good-night. The next morning he sent to inquire after -him: he was not there, his bed had not been slept in, and he never was -heard of again. Count Piper wore the ring, but after some time, as it -was very heavy and old-fashioned, he took it off and put it away. The -next morning came the news that one of his finest farm-houses had been -burnt down. And so it always is in that family. The descendants of Count -Piper always have to wear the ring, and if ever they leave it off for a -single day, one of their houses on one of their great estates is burnt.” - - * * * * * - -“_Florence, May 10._--Ten days here in the radiant spring-tide have been -very delightful. I have seen a great deal of Mrs. Ross, Lady Duff -Gordon’s beautiful daughter, who is now writing the story of her -mother’s life. She has a noble head, which is almost more full of -expression than that of any one I know, and I am sure that her character -is noble too, with all the smallnesses of life, which make a thoroughly -anglicised character ignoble, washed out, and its higher qualities -remaining to be mingled with the Italian frankness and kindly simplicity -which _English_-English do not possess, and consequently cannot -understand. Her singing to a guitar is capital--chiefly of Italian -_stornelli_, rendered with all the _verve_ which a _contadina_ herself -could give them. It is no wonder that Italians adore her. Each summer -she and her husband spend at Castagnuolo with the Marchese Lotteria -della Stufa, the great friend of her father, who died in his arms. This -is ‘Il Marchese’ _par excellence_ with the Florentines, to whom he is -public property. When a child accidentally shot him with a pistol -through the crown of his hat, thousands of people thronged the street -before his house to inquire, and in all the villages round his native -valley of Signa the price of wax went up for a fortnight, so many -candles were burnt to the Madonna as thank-offerings for his escape. The -next day, as he was crossing one of the bridges, he met Giacomo, a -flyman he knew, driving a carriage full of very respectable old Scotch -ladies. Giacomo flung his reins on the box, and rushing up to the -Marchese, threw himself sobbing on his breast. - -[Illustration: LA BADIA DI SETTIMO.][91] - -“I have been out with Mrs. Ross to the Stufa villa of Castagnuolo, seven -miles off, near the Badia di’ Settimo, in a tiny _baroccino_, drawn by -Tocco, the smallest of spirited ponies, and with Picco, the weest -terrier ever seen, upon our knees. As we turned up from the highroad to -the villa on the hills through the rich luxuriant vineyards, the warmest -welcome met us from all the peasants, and Mrs. Ross received them with -‘Ah, caro Maso, e come va la moglie,’--‘Addio, caro Guido mio.’ In a -house in the grounds--a ‘_podere_’--the whole family of inmates thronged -round her with ‘Vi pigliero un consiglio, Signora,’ about a sick child. -We wandered up the woods, gathering lovely wild orchids, and then went -to the farm, where the creatures, like the people, seemed to regard Mrs. -Ross as one of themselves: the cows came and licked her, the sheep came -and rubbed against her, the pigeons perched, and even the wild boars -were gentleness itself. She was first able to make her way at -Castagnuolo by nursing day and night an old _contadino_ who died in her -arms. She described comically, though pathetically, the frantic grief -which ensued: how the son, Antonio, tried to drown himself, and was -pulled out of the water by his breeches: how the whole family insisted -upon being bled: how a married daughter, a niece, and a cousin came and -had strong convulsions; and how, when she ventured to leave them for a -little to go to her dinner, the _fattore_ rushed after her with--‘Ma -Signora, _tutte_ le donne son svenute;’[92] how eventually she locked up -each separately for the night with a basin of soup, having made them a -little speech, &c. Whenever any of the _contadini_ have burns, they are -cured by poultices of arum-leaves. - -“All is simple, graceful goodness at Castagnuolo.” - - * * * * * - -“_Venice, May._--I feel that I am now learning much about masters I -never knew before. One is introduced to them at one place and continues -the acquaintance at another, till one becomes really intimate. Marco -Basaiti is the best of these new friends, with his sad shadowy figures -always painted against an afterglow. One learns how, as Savonarola says, -‘every painter paints himself. However varied his subjects, his works -bear the sign-manual of his thought.’[93] - -“At Milan, on the Eve of S. Ambrogio, an American next me at the -_table-d’hôte_ said to his neighbour opposite, ‘I have been, Marm, to -see St. Ambrose; and I say, Marm, do you know that to-morrow they are -going to tootle the old gentleman all round the town?’” - -[Illustration: AT MILAN.][94] - -[Illustration: PARAY LE MONIAL.][95] - - * * * * * - -In returning from Italy this year I made the excursion to the curious -shrine of Paray le Monial which I have described in an article in -_Evening Hours_. All the time I had been abroad, as during my tour in -Spain, I had sent monthly articles to _Good Words_, for which I was paid -at the rate of five guineas a page--a sum, I believe, given besides only -to Dean Alford and Arthur Stanley. But those were the palmy days of the -magazine. I was paid much less afterwards, till it came down to a fifth -of that sum. I spent the rest of the summer in London. It was during -this year that I became a member of the Athenæum Club--an incalculable -advantage. Twelve years before, old Dr. Hawtrey, the Provost of Eton, -had said to me, “You ought to be a member of the Athenæum,” and I had -answered “Then I wish you would propose me.” But I had quite forgotten -about this, and had never known that the kind old man, long since dead, -had really done it; so the news that my name was just coming up for -ballot was a joyful surprise. I have since spent every London morning in -steady work at the Athenæum, less disturbed there than even at -Holmhurst. The difficulties which the club rules throw in the way of -receiving visitors are a great advantage to students, and my life at the -Athenæum has been as regular as clockwork. At breakfast I have always -occupied the same table,--behind the door leading to the kitchen, the -one which, I believe, was always formerly used by Wilberforce. In the -afternoons, when all the old gentlemen arrive, to poke up huge fires in -winter and close all the windows in summer, I have never returned to the -club. - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL. - -_“London, June (in the Park)._--_Fine Lady._--‘How strange it is to see -all these smart carriages driving about and nobody in them.’ - -“_My simple self._--‘Nobody in them! why, they are quite full of -people.’ - -“_Fine Lady._--‘Ah, ye-es--_people_, but nobody all the same. _We_ never -drive in the Park now. It was only to show you this mob that I came. We -are obliged to retreat, though, before their advancing battalions. They -pursue us everywhere. There is no humiliation and suffering they won’t -undergo in the chase. They drove us out of the Row long ago, and this -year we took a row of chairs on Sunday afternoons on a little rising -ground between Albert Gate and Stanhope Gate;[96] but the enemy pursued -us, and as they always get the better of us, we shall be obliged to -yield that position too. There is never any safety from them but in -flight, for they are certainly our superiors in--numbers.’” - - * * * * * - -“_June 22._--Went to see Madame du Quaire,[97] whom I found in her low -French-looking room in Wilton Street, perfectly covered with pictures -and _oggetti_. She talked of spiritualism--how she had been to a meeting -at Mrs. Gregory’s--‘a truthful woman, who would not stand imposture if -she knew it.’ She ‘cottoned’ up the medium, ‘parcequ’il faut mieux -s’adresser à Dieu qu’à ses saints.’ They sat in the dark, which was -depressing. Soon after she felt a shock ‘like a torpedo,’ and something -like the leg of a chair came and scratched her head. A voice called her -and said, ‘I am John King, and I want you, Madame du Quaire; I have got -something for you.’ ‘Then,’ said Madame du Q., ‘he gave me a sort of -chain of sharks’ teeth; the kind of thing of which, when it was given to -some one at Honolulu, the recipient inquired, “C’est un collier?”--“Mais -pardon,” said the donor, “c’est une robe.”’ - - * * * * * - -“_June 24._--I dined with Lord Ravensworth at Percy’s Cross, and he told -me-- - -“When I was a young man, I was staying at Balnagowan with Lady Mary -Ross. She had a son and daughter. The daughter was a very handsome, -charming girl. One day I was walking with her, and she told me that when -her brother was ill of the measles, at their other place, Bonnington, -where the Falls of the Clyde are, an old nurse who lived at the lodge -some way off used to come up and sit by him in the day, returning home -at night. One morning when she arrived, she was most dreadfully -depressed, and being questioned as to the cause, said, ‘I am na lang for -this warld; and not only me, but a greater than I is na lang for this -warld--and that is the head o’ this hoose.’ And she said that as she was -walking home, two lights came out of the larches and flitted before her: -one was a feeble light, close to the ground; the other a large bright -light higher up. They passed before her to the park gates and then -disappeared. ‘And,’ she said, ‘I know that the feeble light is myself, -and the greater light is the head o’ this hoose.’ - -“A few days afterwards the old woman took a cold and died, and within a -fortnight Sir C. Ross died too,[98] while the little boy recovered and -is alive still.” - - * * * * * - -Captain Fisher, who is engaged to be married to Victoria Liddell, told -me that-- - - * * * * * - -‘When Mr. Macpherson of Glen Truim was dying, his wife had gone to rest -in a room looking out over the park, and sat near the window. Suddenly -she saw lights as of a carriage coming in at the distant lodge-gate, and -calling to one of the servants, said, ‘Do go down; some one is coming -who does not know of all this grief.’ But the servant remained near her -at the window, and as the carriage came near the house, they saw it was -a hearse drawn by four horses and covered with figures. As it stopped at -the porch door, the figures looked up at her, and their eyes glared with -light; then they scrambled down and seemed to disappear into the house. -Soon they reappeared and seemed to lift some heavy weight into the -hearse, which then drove off at full speed, causing all the stones and -gravel to fly up at the windows. Mrs. Macpherson and the butler had not -rallied from their horror and astonishment, when the nurse watching in -the next room came in to tell her that the Colonel was dead. - - * * * * * - -“I was surprised to hear that Mrs. Hungerford was in London, and asked -why she had left Ireland so unexpectedly. I was told she had had a great -fright--then I heard what it was. - -“She was in her room in the evening in her beautiful house, which looks -out upon a lake, beyond which rise hills wooded with fir-trees. -Suddenly, on the opposite side of the lake, she saw a form which -seemed--with sweeping garments--to move forward upon the water. It was -gigantic. Mrs. Hungerford screamed, and her sister, Miss Cropper (who -afterwards married Mr. Jerome), and the nurse came to her from the inner -nursery. The three remained at the window for some time, but retreated -as the figure advanced, and at length--being then so tall that it -reached to the second floor--looked in at the window, and disclosed the -most awful face of a hideous old woman. - -“It was a Banshee, and one of the family died immediately afterwards.” - - * * * * * - -Captain Fisher also told us this really extraordinary story connected -with his own family:-- - - * * * * * - -“Fisher may sound a very plebeian name, but this family is of very -ancient lineage, and for many hundreds of years they have possessed a -very curious old place in Cumberland, which bears the weird name of -Croglin Grange. The great characteristic of the house is that never at -any period of its very long existence has it been more than one story -high, but it has a terrace from which large grounds sweep away towards -the church in the hollow, and a fine distant view. - -“When, in lapse of years, the Fishers outgrew Croglin Grange in family -and fortune, they were wise enough not to destroy the long-standing -characteristic of the place by adding another story to the house, but -they went away to the south, to reside at Thorncombe near Guildford, and -they let Croglin Grange. - -“They were extremely fortunate in their tenants, two brothers and a -sister. They heard their praises from all quarters. To their poorer -neighbours they were all that is most kind and beneficent, and their -neighbours of a higher class spoke of them as a most welcome addition to -the little society of the neighbourhood. On their part the tenants were -greatly delighted with their new residence. The arrangement of the -house, which would have been a trial to many, was not so to them. In -every respect Croglin Grange was exactly suited to them. - -“The winter was spent most happily by the new inmates of Croglin Grange, -who shared in all the little social pleasures of the district, and made -themselves very popular. In the following summer, there was one day -which was dreadfully, annihilatingly hot. The brothers lay under the -trees with their books, for it was too hot for any active occupation. -The sister sat in the verandah and worked, or tried to work, for, in the -intense sultriness of that summer day, work was next to impossible. They -dined early, and after dinner they still sat out in the verandah, -enjoying the cool air which came with evening, and they watched the sun -set, and the moon rise over the belt of trees which separated the -grounds from the churchyard, seeing it mount the heavens till the whole -lawn was bathed in silver light, across which the long shadows from the -shrubbery fell as if embossed, so vivid and distinct were they. - -“When they separated for the night, all retiring to their rooms on the -ground-floor (for, as I said, there was no upstairs in that house), the -sister felt that the heat was still so great that she could not sleep, -and having fastened her window, she did not close the shutters--in that -very quiet place it was not necessary--and, propped against the pillows, -she still watched the wonderful, the marvellous beauty of that summer -night. Gradually she became aware of two lights, two lights which -flickered in and out in the belt of trees which separated the lawn from -the churchyard, and as her gaze became fixed upon them, she saw them -emerge, fixed in a dark substance, a definite ghastly _something_, which -seemed every moment to become nearer, increasing in size and substance -as it approached. Every now and then it was lost for a moment in the -long shadows which stretched across the lawn from the trees, and then it -emerged larger than ever, and still coming on--on. As she watched it, -the most uncontrollable horror seized her. She longed to get away, but -the door was close to the window and the door was locked on the inside, -and while she was unlocking it, she must be for an instant nearer to -_it_. She longed to scream, but her voice seemed paralysed, her tongue -glued to the roof of her mouth. - -“Suddenly, she never could explain why afterwards, the terrible object -seemed to turn to one side, seemed to be going round the house, not to -be coming to her at all, and immediately she jumped out of bed and -rushed to the door, but as she was unlocking it, she heard scratch, -scratch, scratch upon the window, and saw a hideous brown face with -flaming eyes glaring in at her. She rushed back to the bed, but the -creature continued to scratch, scratch, scratch upon the window. She -felt a sort of mental comfort in the knowledge that the window was -securely fastened on the inside. Suddenly the scratching sound ceased, -and a kind of pecking sound took its place. Then, in her agony, she -became aware that the creature was unpicking the lead! The noise -continued, and a diamond pane of glass fell into the room. Then a long -bony finger of the creature came in and turned the handle of the window, -and the window opened, and the creature came in; and it came across the -room, and her terror was so great that she could not scream, and it came -up to the bed, and it twisted its long, bony fingers into her hair, and -it dragged her head over the side of the bed, and--it bit her violently -in the throat. - -“As it bit her, her voice was released, and she screamed with all her -might and main. Her brothers rushed out of their rooms, but the door was -locked on the inside. A moment was lost while they got a poker and broke -it open. Then the creature had already escaped through the window, and -the sister, bleeding violently from a wound in the throat, was lying -unconscious over the side of the bed. One brother pursued the creature, -which fled before him through the moonlight with gigantic strides, and -eventually seemed to disappear over the wall into the churchyard. Then -he rejoined his brother by the sister’s bedside. She was dreadfully hurt -and her wound was a very definite one, but she was of strong -disposition, not given either to romance or superstition, and when she -came to herself she said, ‘What has happened is most extraordinary and I -am very much hurt. It seems inexplicable, but of course there is an -explanation, and we must wait for it. It will turn out that a lunatic -has escaped from some asylum and found his way here.’ The wound healed -and she appeared to get well, but the doctor who was sent for to her -would not believe that she could bear so terrible a shock so easily, and -insisted that she must have change, mental and physical; so her -brothers took her to Switzerland. - -“Being a sensible girl, when she went abroad, she threw herself at once -into the interests of the country she was in. She dried plants, she made -sketches, she went up mountains, and, as autumn came on, she was the -person who urged that they should return to Croglin Grange. ‘We have -taken it,’ she said, ‘for seven years, and we have only been there one; -and we shall always find it difficult to let a house which is only one -story high, so we had better return there; lunatics do not escape every -day.’ As she urged it, her brothers wished nothing better, and the -family returned to Cumberland. From there being no upstairs in the -house, it was impossible to make any great change in their arrangements. -The sister occupied the same room, but it is unnecessary to say she -always closed her shutters, which, however, as in many old houses, -always left one top pane of the window uncovered. The brothers moved, -and occupied a room together exactly opposite that of their sister, and -they always kept loaded pistols in their room. - -“The winter passed most peacefully and happily. In the following March -the sister was suddenly awakened by a sound she remembered only too -well--scratch, scratch, scratch upon the window, and looking up, she -saw, climbed up to the topmost pane of the window, the same hideous -brown shrivelled face, with glaring eyes, looking in at her. This time -she screamed as loud as she could. Her brothers rushed out of their room -with pistols, and out of the front door. The creature was already -scudding away across the lawn. One of the brothers fired and hit it in -the leg, but still with the other leg it continued to make way, -scrambled over the wall into the churchyard, and seemed to disappear -into a vault which belonged to a family long extinct. - -“The next day the brothers summoned all the tenants of Croglin Grange, -and in their presence the vault was opened. A horrible scene revealed -itself. The vault was full of coffins; they had been broken open, and -their contents, horribly mangled and distorted, were scattered over the -floor. One coffin alone remained intact. Of that the lid had been -lifted, but still lay loose upon the coffin. They raised it, and there, -brown, withered, shrivelled, mummified, but quite entire, was the same -hideous figure which had looked in at the windows of Croglin Grange, -with the marks of a recent pistol-shot in the leg; and they did--the -only thing that can lay a vampire--they burnt it.” - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL. - -“_Highcliffe, June 30, 1874._--It is delightful to be here again. I came -on Friday with Everard Primrose,[99] a friend who always especially -interests me, in spite of the intense melancholy which always makes him -say that he longs for an early death. - -“This place, so spiritually near the gates of heaven, is a great -rest--quite a halt in life--after London, which, though I thought it -filled with all great and beautiful things, packs in too much, so that -one loses breath mentally. Here all is still, and the touching past and -earnestly hopeful future lend a wonderful charm to the quiet life of the -present. ‘Les beaux jours sont là; on ne les voit pas, on les -sent.’[100] - -“The dear lady of the castle is not looking well. I believe it is owing -to her conversion to Lady Jane Ellice’s teetotalism; but she says it is -not that. Lady Jane herself is a perpetual sunshine, which radiates on -all around her and is quite enchanting. Miss Lindsay is the only other -guest. In the evening Lady Jane sings and Miss Lindsay recites--most -wonderfully--out of Shakspeare, with great power and pathos. - -“It has not been fine weather, but we have had delightful walks on the -sand, by the still sad-looking sea, with the Isle of Wight and its -Needles rising in the faint distance, or in the thick woods of -wind-blown ilex and arbutus. One day we went to ‘the Haven House,’ which -is a place that often comes back to my recollection--picturesquely, -gauntly standing on a tongue of land at the meeting of river and bay, at -the end of a weird pine-wood, where the gnarled roots of the trees all -writhe seawards out of the sand. Here groups of children were at play on -the little jetties of sea-weedy stones and timber, while a row of herons -were catching fish--solitarily--at great intervals, in the bay. - -“Lady Mary Lambart came last night--a simple, self-composed girl, with a -pale face and golden hair. She lives exclusively with her aunt, Lady -Alicia Blackwood. - -“Yesterday, in the ‘Lady Chapel’ of the great church at Christ-Church, I -suddenly came upon the tomb of Mary Morgan, who died in 1796. She was -companion to my great-aunt, the unhappy Countess of Strathmore, and this -monument was dedicated ‘to the most rare of all connections, a perfect -and disinterested friend, by the Countess of Strathmore, who, conscious -of the treasure, valued its possession and mourned its loss.... To her -heroic qualities, her cool deliberate courage, and her matchless -persevering friendship, the tears of blood shed by one who despises -weakness, the records of law and justice, and perhaps even the historic -page, will bear witness to an astonished and admiring posterity.’ - -[Illustration: THE GARDEN TERRACE, HIGHCLIFFE.][101] - -[Illustration: THE HAVEN HOUSE.][102] - -“On the whole, Christ-Church is dull inside: it is so vast, and chiefly -perpendicular. The old tombs are used as pedestals for modern monuments, -and the old gravestones, stripped of their brasses, have modern epitaphs -inserted between the ancient gothic inscriptions. Outside, the position -is beautiful, on a little height above the river, near which are some -old ruins, and which winds away to the sea through flat reedy -meadow-lands, still marked by sails of boats where its outline is lost -in distance.” - - * * * * * - -“_June 30._--Mrs. Hamilton Hamilton came last night. She was a daughter -of Sir G. Robinson. Her father’s aide-de-camp, Captain Campbell, a poor -man, wanted to marry her, and she was attached to him; but it was not -allowed, and they were separated. She was married to Mr. Hamilton -Hamilton, but Captain Campbell never ceased to think of her, and he was -ambitious for her sake, and became Sir Colin Campbell and Lord Clyde. -Afterwards, when she was free, it was thought he would marry her. He -sent her an Indian shawl, and he wrote to her, and he came to see her, -but he never proposed; and she waited and expected, and at last she -heard he had said, ‘No, it could not be; people would say it was -absurd.’ But it would not have been absurd at all, and she would have -liked it very much. - -“One always feels here as if one did not half appreciate the perfection -of each day as it goes by. It needs time to recognise and realise the -warmth and colour which a noble mind, a true heart, and an ever -heaven-aspiring soul can throw into even the commonest things of life. I -often wonder how these walks, how these rooms with their old boisserie -would appear with another inhabitant; quite unimpressive perhaps--but -now they are simply illuminated. Beautiful pictures remain with one from -everything at Highcliffe, but most of all that of the noble figure, -seated in her high tapestried chair, painting at her little table by the -light of the green lamp, and behind her a great vase filled with -colossal branches of green chestnut, mingled with tall white lilies, -such as Gabriel bore before the Virgin. As Lady Jane sings, she is -roused to call for more songs, for ‘something pathetic, full of -passion--love cannot be passionate enough.’--‘What! another?’ says Lady -Jane. ‘Another, two nothers, three nothers: I cannot have enough.’ - -“‘In the perfect Christian, the principal virtues which produce an -upright life and beauty of form are fervent faith and the love of our -crucified Redeemer. As faith and love deepen, so external grace and -beauty increase, until they become able to convert the hearts of men.... -The soul that is beloved of God becomes beautiful in proportion as it -receives more of the Divine grace.’ These words are from Savonarola’s -Sermons, and do they not apply to our Lady? - -“Lady Caroline Charteris[103] came to luncheon--plain in features, but -in mind indescribably beautiful and interesting. She brought with her a -most touching letter she had received from Dr. Brown[104] after his -wife’s death. He spoke of the wells of salvation which men came to when -they were truly thirsty, otherwise most people either passed them -altogether, or stayed an instant, gazed into them admiringly, and still -passed on. With Lady Caroline came Mrs. David Ricardo in a beautiful -pink hat, like a Gainsborough in flesh and blood.” - - * * * * * - -“_July 1._--A delightful morning in the library, fitful sunlight -gleaming through the stained windows and upon the orange datura flowers -in the conservatory, Lady Waterford painting at her table, Lady Jane and -Miss Lindsay and Lady Mary Lambart[105] (a noble-looking girl like a -picture by Bronzino) working around. Lady Waterford talked of the odd -mistakes of words--how an old lady always said ‘facetious’ for -‘officious’--that when she came by the railway the porters had been so -very ‘facetious,’ &c. Miss Mary Boyle condoled with an old woman at the -Ashridge almshouses on the loss of her old husband. ‘Oh, yes, ma’am, -it’s a great loss; but still, ma’am, I’m quite happy, for I know that -he’s gone to Beelzebub’s bosom.’--‘I think you must mean -Abraham.’--‘Well, yes, ma’am, since you mention it, I think that _was_ -the gentleman’s name.’ - -[Illustration: THE LIBRARY, HIGHCLIFFE.][106] - -“In the afternoon we had a delightful walk to Hoborne, across a common -on which a very rare kind of ophrys grows. Lady Waterford talked of a -visit she had had at Ford from Mr. Wayte, the new Rector of Norham, who -told her that a few nights before, his curate, Mr. Simon, had been -obliged to go to fetch some papers out of the vestry at night. When he -opened the church door, the moonlight was streaming in at the west -window, and the middle of the nave was in bright light, but the side -aisles were dark. He walked briskly down the middle of the church to the -vestry, and, as he went, was aware that a figure dressed in white was -sitting motionless in the corner of one of the pews in the aisle. He did -not stay, but went into the vestry to get his papers, and, as he -returned, he saw that the figure was still in the same place. Much -agitated, he did not go up to it, but hurried home, and waited for -daylight, when he returned at once to the church. The figure was still -there, and did not move as he approached. When he uncovered its face, he -saw that it was a dead body. The body had been found in the Tweed the -day before, and the finders had not known what to do with it, so they -had wrapped it in a sheet, and set it up in the church.” - - * * * * * - -“_July 3._--We drove to Ashley Clinton--a charming place. Lady Waterford -talked of the origin of words--of weeds as applied to dress. Mrs. -Hamilton said how the Queen of the Sandwich Islands always spoke of -flowers as weeds. ‘What pretty weeds there are in the cottage gardens.’ - -[Illustration: THE FOUNTAIN, HIGHCLIFFE.][107] - -“Lady Waterford spoke of the picture of Miss Jane Warburton near her -bedroom door; how she was appointed maid of honour to Queen Caroline at -a time when maids of honour were rather fast, and how, at dinner, when -the maids proposed toasts, and one gave the Archbishop of Canterbury, -another the Dean of St. Paul’s, or some other old man, she alone had the -courage to give the smartest and handsomest man of the day, the Duke of -Argyll.[108] She was so laughed at by her companions that it made her -cry, and at the drawing-room somebody said to the Duke of Argyll, ‘That -is a young lady who has been crying for you,’ and told him the story. He -was much touched, but unfortunately he was married. Afterwards, however, -when his Duchess died, he married Miss Warburton, and, though she was -very ugly, he thought her absolute perfection. In the midst of the most -interesting conversation he would break off to ‘listen to his Jane;’ and -he had the most absolute faith in her, till once he discovered that she -had deceived him in something about a marriage for one of her daughters -with an Earl of Dalkeith, which was not quite straightforward; and it -broke his heart, and he died.” - - * * * * * - -“_July 5._--I came up to London with Lady Waterford on Friday, and as -usual I find what Carlyle calls ‘the immeasurable, soul-confusing uproar -of a London life’ rather delightful than otherwise. To-day I have been -with Mary Lefevre to Marylebone, to hear Mr. Haweis[109] preach. He is -like a Dominican preacher in Italy, begins without a text, acts, -crouches, springs, walks about in the pulpit--which is fortunately large -enough, and every now and then spreads out vast black wings like a bat, -and looks as if he was about to descend upon his appalled congregation. -Part of his sermon was very solemn, but in part preacher and audience -alike giggled. ‘He was converted last Sunday week: he was converted -exactly at half-past four P.M., but since then they say that he has been -seen at a theatre, at a ball, and at a racecourse, and that therefore -his conversion is doubtful. Now you know my opinion is that none of -these things are wrong in themselves. The question is not what the -places are, but with what purpose and in what spirit people go to them. -Our Saviour would not have thought it wrong to go to any of these -places. John the Baptist certainly acted altogether on a lower level and -went out as an ascetic into the wilderness. But our Saviour was both -charitable and large-hearted. When _He_ was asked to a feast, he went. -He never sacrificed Himself unnecessarily, and so the ‘religious people’ -of that day abused him for eating with publicans and sinners. It is just -what ‘religious people,’ the Pharisees of our own day, say now.... Oh, -let us leave these perpetual judgments of others.’ - -“I went afterwards to luncheon at Lady Castletown’s; she was not come in -from church, but I went up into the drawing-room. A good-looking very -smart young lady was sitting there, with her back to the window, -evidently waiting also. After a pause, I made some stupid remark to her -about heat or cold, &c. She looked at me, and said, ‘That is a very -commonplace remark. I’ll make a remark. If a woman does not marry, she -is nobody at all, nothing at all in the world; but if a man ever marries -at all, he is an absolute fool.’ I said, ‘I know who you are; no one but -Miss Rhoda Broughton would have said that.’ And it was she. - -“Mr. Browning came and sat on the other side of her at luncheon. She -said something of novels without love: I said something of black dose as -a cure for love. Mr. Browning said that Aristophanes spoke of ‘the -black-dose-loving Egyptians.’ Miss Broughton said, ‘How do you know the -word means black dose?’--‘Because there is a similar passage in -Herodotus which throws light upon the subject, with details on which it -would not be delicate to dwell.’” - - * * * * * - -“_July 6._--Dined with Madame du Quaire, meeting Mr. and Mrs. Wigan and -Mr. and Mrs. Preston. Mrs. Wigan talked of children’s odd sayings: of -one who, being told that God could see everywhere, asked if He could see -the top of His own head; of another, at a school-feast, who being asked -to have another bun, said, ‘Oh no, want to go home.’--‘Nonsense! have -another bun.’--‘No, want to go home;’ upon which the giver of the feast -took him up, and the child exclaimed, ‘Oh don’t, don’t _bend_ me.’” - - * * * * * - -“_July 8._--A drawing-party at Lambeth. Madeleine Lefevre and I went -afterwards to show our drawings to Mrs. Tait, and had luncheon in the -large cool pleasant rooms. In the afternoon I went with the Lefevres to -the camp at Wimbledon. It is an immense enclosure, with streets of -tents, lines of flags. In front of the officers’ tents are masses of -flowers in pots sunk in a substratum of tan, as by law the turf may not -be broken. Lady Ducie’s tent, whither we went, was most luxurious. We -went on afterwards to Lady Leven’s garden, which was a beautiful sight, -with brilliant groups of people. At the end, children were watching the -manœuvres of some cats, who sat quiet with garlands of mice and birds -upon their heads.” - -“_July 10._--Drew in the Tower of London, and dined at Lord Castletown’s -to meet Mr. and Mrs. Godfrey Pearse (she Mario’s daughter), Madame du -Quaire, and the truly extraordinary M. Vivier. - -[Illustration: GATEWAY, LAMBETH PALACE.][110] - -“He talked incessantly, but expected what Lady Castletown called ‘a -gallery,’ and perfect silence and attention. ‘Je suis intéressant, moi! -La petite de C. elle n’a rien: elle chante, elle fait les oiseaux, voilà -tout. Pour entendre les oiseaux, vous ferez mieux d’aller dans vos -squares: vous les entendrez, et vous payerez rien. Mais la petite de C. -elle est moralement malsaine: moi je ne le suis pas, et je -suis--intéressant.’ - -“He was so surprised at the number of servants: ‘And does all _that_ -sleep in the house?’ he said. - -[Illustration: THE BLOODY GATE, TOWER OF LONDON.][111] - -“In the evening he sang ‘Nellie,’ and his ‘Drame’--of a blind Spanish -musician with a violin, watching windows for money, a perfect passion of -avarice and expectation.” - - * * * * * - -“_July 11._--Luncheon with Lady Morley, meeting Miss Flora Macdonald, -who has still a reminiscence of the great beauty which brought such a -surprise to the old Duchess of Gloucester when she asked Victor Emmanuel -what he admired most in England, and he answered so promptly, ‘Miss -Flora Macdonald.’ Lady Katherine Parker described--‘because, alas! it -was discovered that we date just a little farther back than the -Leicesters,’ having to sit near ----, the most airified man in London. -She was congratulated afterwards upon his having condescended to speak -to her, but said he wouldn’t, only his neighbour on the other side was -even more insignificant than herself, and to her he did not speak at -all. He said, apropos of a dinner at Dorchester House, ‘Pray who _are_ -these Holfords?’--‘Oh,’ said Lady Katherine, ‘I believe they are people -who have got a little shake-down somewhere in Park Lane.’ - -“I was at the ‘shake-down’ in the evening--something quite beautiful. -The staircase is that of an old Genoese palace, and was one blaze of -colour, and the broad landings behind the alabaster balustrades were -filled with people, sitting or leaning over, as in old Venetian -pictures. The dress of the time entirely lends itself to these effects. -I sat in one of the arcades with Lady Sarah Lindsay and her daughters, -then with Lady Carnarvon. We watched the amusing contrasts of the people -coming upstairs--the shrinking of some, the _dégagée_ manner of others, -the dignity of a very few--in this, no one to be compared with Princess -Mary. The Prince and Princess of Wales were close by (he very merry, -talking with much action, like a foreigner), also the Prince and -Princess of Prussia. Lady Somers looked glorious in a black dress -thickly sprinkled with green beetles’ wings and a head-dress of the -same. - -“With Lady Carnarvon I had a long talk, and could not help feeling how -truly one might apply to her Edgar Poe’s lines:-- - - “Thou would’st be loved, oh! then thy heart - From its present pathway part not: - Being everything that now thou art, - Be nothing that thou art not. - So, with the world, thy winning ways, - Thy grace, thy more than beauty, - Shall be the theme of endless praise, - And love, and simple duty.” - - * * * * * - -“_July 12._--Yesterday there was a great party at Hatfield. I drove with -the Woods to King’s Cross for the special train at 4 P.M., but was -separated from them at the station, and joined Lady Darnley and Raglan -Somerset. A tremendous storm was brewing over London, but we left it -behind at first. Quantities of carriages from the house were in waiting -at the Hatfield station. The street was lined with wreaths and flowers, -and a succession of triumphal arches made the steep hill look like a -long flowery bower. In the park, the grand old limes were in full -blossom in front of the stately brick house. On the terrace on the other -side the mass of guests was assembling. I went off with Lady Braybrooke -to the labyrinth, then with Lady Darnley and the E. de Bunsens over the -house. The storm now broke with tremendous lightning and loud peals of -thunder, and in the Golden Gallery it was almost dark. Just as it began, -the royal party drove up, the Prince and Princess of Wales, Prince and -Princess of Prussia, Prince Arthur, the Tecks, the Duchess of -Manchester, and a great quantity of suite--a very pretty procession, -vehemently cheered by the people. When the storm cleared, we went out -upon the terraces; the royal party went to the labyrinth. As it -returned, I was standing with the Leghs of Lyme at the head of the -steps, when Prince Arthur came up to me, was very cordial, and talked -for some time about Rome, &c. I asked him if the Queen drew still. ‘Oh, -yes,’ he said, ‘she is quite devoted to it: and I am very fond of it -too, but then _I_ have so little time.’ - -“Owing to the rain, the dinner for eight hundred had to be moved into -the Armoury. The royal guests and a few others dined in the Marble Hall; -the Princess of Prussia was forgotten as they were going in, and had to -be hunted for. We all dined at little tables; I was at one with Mrs. -Stuart Wortley, Mrs. W. Lowther, and Lord Sydney. Afterwards the -terraces and house were beautifully illuminated with coloured lights, in -which, through what looked like a sea of fire and blood, the cascades of -white roses frothed up. Every one walked out. The royalties seemed to -spring up everywhere; one was always running against them by mistake. -There was a pretty procession as they went away, and immediately -afterwards I returned with Miss Thackeray, her sister, and the Master of -Napier. - -“An excursion of this kind from London is delightful. _C’est -l’entr’acte!_” - -[Illustration: COMPIÈGNE.][112] - - * * * * * - -“_July 13._--Yesterday (Sunday) I had luncheon with Lady Castletown; -young Mr. Astley was there, and Miss Trollope. Lady Castletown talked -of Vivier, of the marvellous versatility of his genius, of his absolute -refusal to go any way but his own; that except for love he never sang a -single song under three thousand francs; that when he gave a concert at -Nice he asked ‘cent francs chaque,’ and the rooms were crowded; that at -Compiègne he did some things, but he only allowed three persons to be -present--the Emperor and two others. He excluded the Empress, because, -in his Spanish scene, she had dared, Spanish-wise, to throw a bracelet -into his hat, which so offended him that he told the Emperor he should -never let her see him again. The Emperor quite delighted in him, and -could not bear him to go away. He persuaded Vivier to go with him to -Vichy, and there some of the great men of the court called to him from a -window, as he was walking in the garden, and begged him to come to them. -He was furious, and complained to the Emperor. ‘Sire, ce n’est pas comme -cela qu’il faut appeler Vivier.’ On one occasion he stopped and threw up -his whole comedy in the middle before a large audience because Lord -Houghton sneezed. It was therefore necessary carefully to select his -audience, otherwise he might take offence and never return. He has -discovered powers in a French horn which no one had any idea of before, -and he can sit close by you and play it with a degree of delicacy which -perfectly transports you--the most sublime philosophy of music. - -[Illustration: HOLLAND HOUSE.][114] - -“We went afterwards to Holland House. I sat in the carriage at first -under the shadow of the grand old red pile, but Lady Holland sent Mr. -Hayward out to fetch me in, which he did with a bad grace.[113] Lady -Holland is a very little woman, simply dressed, with a white cap. She -has sparkling eyes, which give her face a wonderful animation; which is -almost beauty in itself, and which, in the setting of that house and its -historic memories, makes her quite a person to remember. Mrs. Locke was -there, and Lord Tankerville, whom I was very glad to see again. -Outside, on a comfortable bench, we sat some time with the old Duc de -Richelieu. Mrs. Wingfield and I wandered about in the gardens, which -were glorious!--such blazes of flowers between the trees, such splashing -fountains, such armies of scarlet lilies looking over the clipped yew -hedges; and the house itself so rich in colour and in shadow. Then there -is a glade--a grass walk of immense length, completely shut in by trees -and forest-like tangle, so that you might think yourself in the deep -recesses of Sherwood instead of close to London. - -“Everard Primrose called to us out of a window, and we went up to him in -the old library. He was in a melancholy mood, and would not come down -with us; but Mrs. Wingfield went back to him alone, and, with that -wonderful sympathy which is natural to her, she soon tamed him, and he -came to us and was as pleasant as possible. - -“The picture of Marie, Princess Lichtenstein, hung, pale and sad, -looking down on us from a corner, and seemed to say, ‘Hence I am now -banished; even my portrait is put away.’” - - * * * * * - -“_July 14._--Dined at Lady Carnarvon’s to meet Lord Stanhope. Only the -two mothers of the house, Lady Chesterfield and Lady Carnarvon--a -charming good-humoured old lady, and a Mr. Townshend were there. Lord -Carnarvon talked much of the interests of regular work and the -unutterable weariness of interruptions. Lord Stanhope was very agreeable -at dinner, but fell asleep afterwards. The younger Lady Carnarvon, with -her hair sprinkled with diamonds, looked unspeakably lovely.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS WRIGHT. - -[Illustration: HOLMHURST, THE ROCK WALK.] - -“_Holmhurst, July 19, 1874._--I know half my friends wonder how I can -like the change from the intellectual interests and luxurious life of -London to the society of the bumble-bees and butterflies in this little -hermitage; but I am sure the absolute quietude is very good for one, and -I rush into my work at once, and get through no end of it. I came away -from London, however, rather pining to stay for the party at Holland -House, because I thought it was a duty to Lea and Miss Leycester, and I -experienced the bathos, which so often comes when one is rather -conceited about a little piece of self-sacrifice, of finding they would -both much rather I had gone to the party, that they might have heard all -about it! - -“Miss Leycester is very cheerful, and greatly enjoys her summer retreat -here--sitting out amid the scent of the lime-flowers: being wheeled -about in her chair amongst the baskets of geraniums: having tea upon the -terrace, &c. Another sweet old lady cousin, Miss Tatton, who cannot walk -at all, is just arriving for a fortnight, and the Hospice is quite full -of dear feeble beings. - -“As to the little troubles about which you ask me, I can only reply in -the words of Delatouche to George Sand, ‘Patientez avec le temps et -l’expérience, et soyez tranquille: ces deux tristes conseilleurs -viendront assez vite.’ - -“I shall be very anxious to hear about your German travels.... To me, if -one is not in a fever about going on, the lingering in the wonderful old -towns by the way, so full of a past deeply written still on their -remains, is far more interesting than that part of the tour which all -the world takes, and the little glimpses of people and life which one -gets in them give one far more to think about afterwards. Würtzburg and -Ratisbon I forbid you to pass unseen: they used to be reached, toiled -after with such labour and fatigue; and now, in these railway days, they -are generally--_passed_.” - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL. - -_“July 29._--I have been in London again for two days. On Tuesday Sir -Howard Elphinstone, the Lefevres, and I went to Holland House, where -Lady Castletown and Mrs. Wingfield joined us. We drew in the Arcade, and -then Miss Coventry came out in her Spanish hat and called us in to Lady -Holland. She was in the west room, sitting in the wide window, and, like -a queen, she sat on, moving for nobody. She was, however, very kind, and -pleased with our drawings. She talked of the royal ball, and said that -the two little Princes were so delighted with Puss in Boots that they -pulled his tail incessantly, till at last Puss said, ‘Remember I have -got teeth and claws as well as a tail,’ and then they were frightened -and left off. - -[Illustration: HOLLAND HOUSE (GENERAL VIEW).][115] - -“Wednesday was Victoria Liddell’s wedding-day.[116] All Fulham turned -out, and Walham Green was a succession of triumphal arches, garlands, -and mottoes. I went with Victor Williamson, and they mistook us for the -bridegroom and best man. They told us to go up and wait near the altar, -and the Wedding March struck up, but stopped abruptly as we went into a -pew.” - - * * * * * - -“_July 30._--Yesterday I dined at Lord Castletown’s, and met, as usual, -an interesting party. Lord Castletown[117] talked of his youth at -Holland House, when he was brought up there as the ward of Lord Holland. -‘Lord H. was most indulgent, and was always finding amusements for me. -One day, two days before the end of the Eton holidays, he asked me to go -somewhere. “No, sir,” I said, “I cannot do that, because I have got my -holiday task to finish.”--“And what is your task?” said Lord Holland. -“Latin verses on St. Paul preaching at Athens, seventy lines.”--” Oh, -what a grand subject,” said Lord Holland; “leave it for me. I will do -your task for you, and do you go out and amuse yourself.” And he did it -all but four lines, and then some important business called him away, -and he gave them back to me, saying I must finish them as well as I -could. It was a most grand set of verses, and when I gave them up to -Keats, he would read them aloud before the whole school. In the middle -he said, “Who wrote these, sir?”--“I, sir.”--“You lie, sir,” said Keats. -At last he came to the last four lines. “You wrote these, sir,” he said. -I heard no more of it, but I never got back my copy of verses. - -“‘Once I escaped from Eton, and Lord Holland caught me--found me in the -streets of London. He made me get into his carriage at once, and told -the man to drive to the White Horse Cellar, whence the coach started for -Eton. Unfortunately for me, there was one starting at once, and he made -me get in. I remonstrated, saying that I had not got my things. “They -shall be sent after you,” he said. “But I shall be flogged, -sir.”--“Serve you right, too; I hope you will be flogged,” he said. I -looked very piteous, and as I got into the coach he said, “Well, -good-bye, John; I hope you’ll be flogged,” and he shook hands with me, -and in my hand I found a five-pound note. He was always doing those kind -things. - -“‘At Holland House I saw everybody most worth seeing in Europe. All that -was best flowed in to Lord Holland, and he was equally hospitable to -all. The Whigs, not only of England, but of all the world, came to him.’ - -“Lady Castletown told a story of a Russian Princess who had a very -hideous maid. One morning her maid came to her looking very much -agitated--perfectly _défaite_. The Princess asked her what was the -matter, when she said, ‘Oh, I have had the most extraordinary night. As -I was going to bed, I saw a man’s foot under the bed. I was going to -ring the bell when he stopped me by saying, “Oh, don’t ring; I have been -brought into this predicament by my hopeless passion for you. I felt -that there was no other chance of seeing you, so I ran this risk.” -Seeing that he was serious, and never having had a proposal before, I -could not but talk to him; and we talked all night, and now it is all -settled, and we are to be married.’--‘Well,’ said the Princess, ‘that is -very strange; and now I am going to court, so where are my -diamonds?’--‘Oh, of course where they always are,’ said the maid; but, -when she looked, they were gone: the lover had taken them. ‘Of course -that is what he came for,’ said the Princess; ‘do you think he would -have come for _you_?’ And the diamonds were never recovered.” - -[Illustration: HOLLAND HOUSE (THE LILY GARDEN).][118] - - * * * * * - -“_August 8._--Came to Chevening. The house strikes one by its -overwhelming impression of sadness. The sunshine is all blotted out -since last year by the death of its beloved mistress last winter;[119] -but I am glad I came, as it gives pleasure, and I am glad I was asked so -soon, as it shows their liking to have me. Walking with Lady Mahon[120] -between the same beds of tall flowers amongst which I walked with Lady -Stanhope last year, she spoke of her very touchingly, how, though there -might be many pleasures and interests left in life, there was always the -feeling that there never could be what _had_ been--the warm interest in -others, the cheerful sunny nature which radiated on all it came in -contact with. The illness was very sudden, and little alarm felt till -just the end. Her last words to her poor broken-hearted husband were, -‘Do not fret, love; I shall soon be quite well now.’ Lady Mahon said -that Lord Stanhope’s heroic determination to bear up for all their sakes -enabled them to follow his example.” - - * * * * * - -“_August 10, Sunday._--This afternoon I drove with Lord Stanhope in the -long grassy glades of the park, the highest and prettiest of which gave -a name to the place--Chevening, ‘the Nook in the Hill.’ We drove -afterwards from one fine young Wellingtonia which he had planted to -another, examining them all, and came back by the Spottiswoodes’. It is -a fine old place, intended as an imitation of the Villa Doria at Rome, -and though in nowise like Villa Doria, it has a look of Italy in its -groves of ilexes and its cypresses. Lady Frederick Campbell[121] lived -here. Her first husband was the Lord Ferrers who was hanged, and some -evidence which she gave was instrumental in bringing about his -condemnation. Lord Ferrers cursed her, saying that her death would be -even more painful than his; and so in fact it was, for in 1807 she was -burnt in one of the towers of the house, from spontaneous combustion it -is said. Nothing was found of her but her thumb, she was so completely -consumed, and ever since it is said that the ghost of Lady Frederick -Campbell wanders in the grounds at night, brandishing her thumbless -hand, and looking for her lost thumb. The place lends itself to this -from its wonderful green glades lined with cedars and guarded by huge -grey stone vases. - -“Coomb Bank was afterwards bought by the Claytons, who spent all they -had in the purchase and had nothing left for keeping it up, so -eventually they sold it to Mr. Spottiswoode, the King’s Printer, to whom -the monopoly of printing Bibles and Prayer-books has been the source of -a large fortune. Mr. Spottiswoode himself is a most remarkable man, who, -for hours before his daily walk to the City, is occupied with the -highest mathematical speculations, and returns to spend his evenings in -studies of the most abstract nature. It is said that the present -generation is more indebted to him than to any other person for its -improved powers of analysis. He has made no important discoveries yet, -but he probably will make them, if he lives long enough. His character -seems to be a wonderful combination of profound knowledge and power and -profound humility.” - - * * * * * - -“_August 11._--A semi-wet day, spent chiefly in the library, which is -attached to the house by a corridor full of portraits. In the afternoon, -though it poured, we had a long drive on the Chart. The Spottiswoodes -dined, and Mrs. Spottiswoode sang very old music.” - - * * * * * - -“_August 12._--Came to Cobham. It has a beautiful approach across the -broken ground of a very wild park with grand old trees. In the hollow is -the old house, which is immense, of red brick with projecting oriels and -towers. Lady Darnley[122] received me in the library; she has an -unintentionally haughty manner, but when you are accustomed to her, you -find that she is charming-- - - ‘Si sta placido e cheto, - Ma serba dell’ altiero nel mansueto;’[123] - -and soon it seemed as if one had known her all one’s life. The children -came dropping in--two grown-up daughters, two little girls, Lord -Clifton, and two fine frank younger boys--Ivo and Arthur. There are many -guests.” - - * * * * * - -“_August 13._--A most pleasant morning sitting with Lady Darnley under -the fine old trees drawing the house, and seeing the rooms and the -pictures, which are mostly dull--chiefly nymphs and satyrs with very few -clothes on--two very fine Titians being the redeeming part of the -gallery. The pictures are wisely devoted to the public; they are too -uncomfortable to live with, and the Chatham people adore them. - -[Illustration: COBHAM HALL.] - -“I find this house, where no one is too clever, but every one is -pleasant nevertheless, a great rest after Chevening, where I always felt -struggling up to an intellectual level which I have no right to and -which I cannot attain. Apropos, the last morning Lord Stanhope talked -much of the origin of words, and said ‘Beldam’ came from ‘Belle dame’ -used satirically.” - -“_August 15._--Returned to Holmhurst. Mr. Thomas, the landscape -gardener, travelled with me. He spoke of an obnoxious American coming -into a great hotel at Liverpool and boasting of how much finer American -hotels were--‘a hundred times the size,’ &c. The man he addressed -listened quietly and then said, ‘But you have not yet seen our great -hotel at Southampton, sir; it is a mile long, will accommodate 5000 -people, and all the waiters wait on horseback.’--‘I guess that’s a lie, -sir,’ said the American. ‘Yes, it is,’ replied the Englishman, ‘but then -I thought you were telling lies.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Sept. 28._--A very pleasant visit of two days to the Shaw-Lefevres. -They are certainly one of the happiest and most united of families. We -made a delightful excursion of sixteen miles to Sutton Court, where they -lived formerly. It must be very seldom that, after a lapse of ten years, -a father and mother can return to such a place in old age with their -family of the original seven unbroken, only many others added. Sutton, -the beautiful old house of the Westons, inlaid with terra-cotta, is just -the place for a story, with the closed wing where the ivy forces its way -through the walls and wreaths round the frames of the old family -portraits, which, rent and forlorn, flap in the gusts of wind whenever a -distant door opens. Then there is the still-used Roman Catholic chapel, -with its priest and its country congregation.” - - * * * * * - -“_Powderham Castle, Oct. 4._--A week here has been most delightful. I -had not felt certain how much I might like it, how much my dear friend -of old days might be changed by lapse of time and new relations. I can -only say that, if he is changed, it is in being more entirely and -perfectly delightful than ever, more indescribably thoughtful for -others, more filled with plans for the good of every one, and withal so -simple, so free from cant, that all else seems unchristian and mundane -by comparison. Lady Agnes is the one person I have seen who is quite -entirely worthy of him, and it does seem as if a reward of such -perfectly beautiful lives was given even in this life, that they should -have been thrown together. - -“I arrived about half-past five. Powderham has a low park, rising into -high ground as it approaches the castle, which has a gateway and -courtyard. Here Charlie was walking about amongst orange-trees in large -boxes like those at the Tuileries. The bedrooms are dilapidated and -falling into decay: Lord Devon will not restore them, nor will he set -any of his estates free by selling the rest, but he goes on planting -quantities of Wellingtonias in his park and making expensive fences -round them. In himself he is charming, with a perfect and entirely -courteous manner. Colonel and Mrs. Heygarth have been here, he still -lame with shot in the leg from the battle of the Alma, where he was -wounded again while lying on the ground, having been noticed because he -tried to save Lord Chewton, who was lying near him, and whom a Russian -soldier was about to murder. - -“With Charlie and Lady Agnes I have been completely at home and -perfectly happy. One day we went to the sands, and walked along them to -Dawlish. But yesterday was quite charming; I had much wished to go to -Lady Morley at Whiteway, and after luncheon we set off--Charlie, Lady -Agnes, and I. When the narrow lanes grew too steep for the -pony-carriage, we left it under a hedge, and putting a saddle on Jack -the pony, rode and walked by turns up the hill and across the wild heath -of the open moor: Charlie rode pick-a-back behind Lady Agnes. In the -woods we met Morley, greatly surprised to see us arrive thus. The others -were out, but Morley showed all the curiosities of the house, which were -many in a small way. Just as we were setting off, Lady Morley and Lady -Katherine returned, and, after many pro’s and con’s, we stayed to a most -amusing dinner, and only set off again at 10 P.M. with lanthorns in -pitch darkness. Morley and Lady Katherine walked with us the first three -miles over the wild moor with _their_ lanthorn, and then we dived down -into the eerie lanes closely overhung with green and fringed with ferns, -and most lovely were the effects as the lanthorn revealed one gleam of -glistening foliage after another out of the darkness. When we reached -home at 11 P.M., we found the servants alarmed and a horseman sent out -to search for us; and no wonder. - -“I was ill all night from having eaten junket at Whiteway. Charlie says -this Devonshire dainty is so called from the Neapolitan -_joncetta_--cream on rushes. In Devon they pretend it is a relic of the -Roman invasion! - -“We have just been to church at Kenton. An immense funeral party (from -last week) walked in, two and two, with great importance and occupied -three pews. They sat through the whole service, as if too overwhelmed -by their late grief to rise, and the women held handkerchiefs to their -faces, and rocked, and shook the crape bows upon their bonnets, while -waiting for the expected ‘funeral discourse.’ The people here are -delightfully primitive. The other day, at a dinner Lord Devon gave, a -man of the place rose to propose his health, and comprised all that -needed to be said in--‘I don’t know what Lord Devon du, but all I du -know is that if more would du as Lord Devon du du, there wouldn’t be so -many as would du as they du du.’ - -“The wife of a neighbouring clergyman was very seriously ill of a -strange and mysterious complaint. It was observed that her worst attacks -always came on after her husband had administered the Sacrament to her. -Mr. O., who was attending her, studied her case very much, and came to -the conclusion that, if the peculiar symptoms she exhibited came from -unnatural causes, they could only be produced by a single and very rare -drug. Forthwith he set himself to find out if there was any place in the -neighbourhood where that drug was sold, and at last he did find it. He -asked at the place if they had sold any of it. ‘Oh, yes; to the parson -at ----; he bought some yesterday.’ As Mr. O. was going home he met the -clergyman himself. He stopped him and said, ‘I have just found out that -yesterday you bought some drugs at M.: now if Mrs. X. is worse -to-morrow, I shall know what has caused it.’ That afternoon the -clergyman went down to the shore to bathe, and he never returned. He was -known to be a splendid swimmer, and he was seen to swim far, far out to -sea. - -“To-night Lady Agnes talked of her grandmother, who, at sixteen, was -sent down to speak to the housekeeper at Audley End. The woman, who was -raving mad, shut the door and said, ‘Now you must say your prayers at -once, for I have a commission from heaven to kill you.’--‘Oh, you cannot -dare to do that,’ said the girl without hesitation, taking up a white -napkin which lay upon the table and giving it to her with an air of the -utmost conviction, ‘for here is a reprieve.’ And the woman gave in at -once.” - - * * * * * - -“_Anthony, Plymouth, Oct. 7._--On Monday I went to Exeter to my Aunt -FitzGerald,[124] who was greatly pleased to see me. Her house is -charming, full of relics, and, as she says, certainly ‘shows that she is -_somebody_.’ Over the dining-room chimney-piece hangs a magnificent -Mignet of the Duchess of Portsmouth. There are interesting pictures of -Lord Edward FitzGerald, and beautiful china given by Frederick the Great -to the Duchess of York, and by her to Pamela. Most of the drawing-room -furniture is from Malmaison. - -“Yesterday I came here to Anthony (the Pole-Carews). It is a strange -drive from Plymouth, through endless courts, dockyards, &c., and then -crossing an arm of the sea by a ferry, which was very rough when I came, -and worse at night, when the family crossed to a ball; but, as Mr. Carew -says, it is very well to have the sea between him and such a population -as that of Plymouth. - -“This house is perfectly charming--the old hall and its pictures, the -oak staircase, the warm tapestried sitting-room--all, as it were, -typical of the broad christian kindness and warm-hearted cordiality of -its inmates. It is a house in which no ill is ever spoken, and where -scandal sits dumb; where, with the utmost merriment, there is the most -sincere religious feeling, and yet an entire freedom from cant and what -is called ‘religious talking.’ There is here a mutual spirit of -forbearance, and an absence of all egotism and self-seeking, which is -more instructive than a thousand sermons; and it almost seems as if it -were arranged that what might be the asperities of any one member of the -family should be softened and smoothed out by the qualities of another. -Mrs. Carew is the picture of a warm-hearted, most loving English mother, -who enters into and shares all the interests, all the amusements, of her -children; and between the father and his sons there is none of the -shadow which so often exists, but the truest confidence and -friendship.”[125] - - * * * * * - -“_Oct. 11._--It is only by a long stay that one learns all that the -Carews really are--the perfect charm of this most united and beautiful -family life. Just now their goodness has been especially drawn out by -the parting of Captain Ernest Rice and his wife in this house, he going -to India for three years. The Carews especially _wished_ it to be here, -that they might soften it to both, and wonderfully have they helped -them through--cheering, enlivening, nerving, where it was possible, but -never intruding comfort when the natural burst of grief must come. - -“It has been very pleasant seeing the different guests come and go. The -Dean of St. Paul’s and Mrs. Church have been here. He is an excellent -person, but very nervous and twitchy.[126] She has a repose of goodness -which sets you at rest with her, and imparts a confidence in her at -once. - -“Sir John and Lady Duckworth were here for two days. His father was -military governor of Portsmouth. One day his mother was crossing the -green at Mount Wyse when the sentry stopped her. ‘Do you know who you -are speaking to?’ she said. ‘No, I don’t,’ he replied, ‘but I know you -are not the governor’s cow, and that is the only thing which has any -business here.’ - -“Lord Eliot[127] was also here. I found great grace in his sight, and -was most pressingly invited to Port Eliot. I went on Saturday. He met me -at the station, and I was almost walked off my feet for four hours, -being shown every picture in the house, every plant in the garden, and -every walk in the woods. There is a limit in what ought to be shown, and -Lord Eliot has never found it out. - -“Still Port Eliot is a beautiful place. The house and the grand old -church of St. German’s Priory--chiefly Norman--stand close together, on -shaven green lawns, radiant with masses of flowers and backed by -luxuriant woods, amid which walks open here and there upon glimpses of -rock and terraces near one of the salt fiords which are so common in -this country. - -“Lord St. Germans,[128] who is paralysed, is a beautiful and venerable -old figure, with white hair and beard, wheeling himself about in a -chair. Lord Eliot returned with me to Devonport, and introduced me to -the frightful sights of that most hideous place. - -“Some of the pictures at Port Eliot are beautiful, the most so that of -Lady Cornwallis--so simple and stately in its lines. It is engraved, but -without the figure of a child, probably not born at that time, but -introduced afterwards in the picture. - -“On Friday I had a charming drive with Mrs. Carew to ‘the Hut,’ through -the narrowest lanes imaginable. An old clergyman near this, Mr. Wood, -was driving there, who told things in a most slow and solemn manner. He -said, ‘Mrs. Wood was dreadfully frightened as we were driving, and said -we should be upset. I said, “ My dear, it is imposs”----“ible,” I could -not say, for we were over.’ - -“Last night (Sunday) the family sang hymns beautifully in the hall. ‘No -horrid Gregorians,’ said Miss Julia, ‘for the old monks only sang those -by way of penance, so why should we sing them?’” - - * * * * * - -“_Stone Hall, Plymouth, Oct. 13._--Another pleasant family home! I came -on Monday to the George Edgcumbes. I had known Mrs. Edgcumbe well -before at Rome, but had never seen her ‘dear old man,’ her ‘bird,’ &c., -as she calls her kind old husband.[129] They do not dislike having -married their three daughters at all. It is less _embarras_ in their old -age, and they enjoy having a constantly open house full of kindly -hospitalities to their neighbours. Young Alwyn Greville has been here -twice since I came, and I like him increasingly. It is a charming old -house, close to the town, but its tall trees and disordered garden give -it a quaint look, which one would be sorry to see rectified. There is a -view across the still reaches of the harbour, with masses of timber -floating close by and great ships lying far off, nearer the beautiful -woods of Mount Edgcumbe. Close by are many delightful walks amongst the -rocks, and varied views. We went to ‘the Winter Villa,’ a luxurious -sun-palace with a great conservatory, backed by natural rock. The late -Lord Mount Edgcumbe lived here for many years, quite helpless from -rheumatic gout. It was his mother[130] who was buried alive and lived -for many years afterwards. It was known that she had been put into her -coffin with a very valuable ring upon her finger, and the sexton went in -after the funeral, when the coffin was put into the vault, to get it -off. He opened the coffin, but the ring was hard to move, and he had to -rub the dead finger up and down. This brought Lady Mount Edgcumbe to -life, and she sat up. The sexton fled, leaving the doors of the vault -and church open. Lady Mount Edgcumbe walked home in her shroud, and -appeared in front of the windows. Those within thought it was a ghost. -Then she walked in at the front door. When she saw her husband, she -fainted away in his arms. This gave her family time to decide what -should be done, and they settled to persuade her it had been a terrible -delirium. When she recovered from her faint, she was in her own bed, and -she ever believed it had been a dream. - -“On Monday we went in the Admiral’s steam-pinnace to Cotehele; Mrs. -Wilson, Mrs. Freemantle, and Charlie Williamson with us. I sat outside -the little cabin, and it was charming--gliding up the quiet river past -the richly wooded banks. Up steep woods we walked to Cotehele, an -unaltered old house, with gate-tower, courtyard, chapel, armour-hung -hall, and dark tapestried bedrooms. Within the entrance are ever-fresh -stains like blood, which you can mop up with blotting paper. Sir Richard -Edgcumbe went out, bidding the porter, on peril of his life, to let no -one in without a password. To prove his obedience, he came back himself -and demanded entrance. The porter, recognising his master’s voice, let -him in, upon which Sir Richard cleft open his skull with his battle-axe -as he entered. The so-called blood forms a dark pool, and looks as if it -had been spilt yesterday. Some say it is really a fungus which only -grows where blood has been shed, and that the same existed on the site -of the scaffold on Tower Hill. - -“In the wood of Cotehele is a little chapel standing on a rock above the -river. It was built by one of the Edgcumbes in the Wars of the Roses, -who, closely pursued, vowed it if he escaped in safety. In desperation -he threw his cap and coat into the river from hence, and concealed -himself in a hollow tree: his enemies thought he was drowned.” - - * * * * * - -“_Rockwood, Oct. 16._--I came from Plymouth here to the John Boyles’. -Mr. Boyle is failing rapidly, tenderly cared for by his son Edmund and -his daughter Mrs. Quin. The house is delightful and most comfortable. We -have been a charming drive by Babbicombe and Watcombe. At St. Mary -Church we saw the two great churches--Roman Catholic and High Church. In -the churchyard of the latter Bishop Phillpotts and his wife are buried -under simple crosses of grey Cornish granite. Watcombe is a curiously -tumbled valley, full of grassy knolls interrupted by red rocks.” - - * * * * * - -“_Abbots Kerswell, Oct. 26._--I have been very glad to see this -place--my cousin Marcus Hare’s home. We have been several excursions--to -Berry Pomeroy, an old castle too much overgrown by woods, named from the -Cotentin family of Pommeraye: to Sharpham, a pretty place on the Dart -with lovely grounds: and to Darlington, a fine old place of the -Champerownes. Two more days at Powderham have given another most happy -sight of Charlie and Lady Agnes. Quite a large party were there--the -Dowager Lady Fortescue and her pleasant Irish sister Miss Gale; Lord -Fortescue with his three daughters and a pleasant and very good-looking -midshipman son, Seymour; Sir Edward, Lady, and Miss Hulse, and Miss A. -Grosvenor, &c. - -“Lord Fortescue[131] talked much of Mr. Beresford Hope, his oddities and -his wisdom--how at Oxford he puzzled all the Dons and frightened them -very considerably by his questions from the Fathers and obscure -Churchmen: how some friend of his, seeing in one of Mr. Hope’s books the -family motto, ‘At Spes non fracta,’ wrote beneath, ‘So Hope is not -cracked.’ - -“‘In these days of Homeopathy and Romanism,’ said Lord Fortescue, ‘one -never knows where one is. I never knew what peace or comfort was till I -took to leaving out the prefix to the word “vert.” Neither party can be -offended by your speaking of “a vert to Homeopathy” or “a vert to -Romanism.”’ - -“He talked much of different public men--of the accuracy of Disraeli’s -name for Mr. Cardwell--an inferior imitation of Peel--‘Peel and water:’ -of Lord Russell, the ‘abruptness and deadness’ of most of his remarks, -and yet how some of them had passed into a proverb; for instance, his -definition of a proverb, ‘One man’s wit and every man’s wisdom:’ of -Peel’s personal shyness and his awkward way of walking up the House, on -which occasions O’Connor used to say, ‘Oh, there goes Peel with his two -left legs.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Ford Castle, Oct. 29._--I came here yesterday after a weary journey -from Devonshire to Northumberland. Only Lady Sarah Lindsay, her two -daughters, and Alick Yorke are here. This morning we had most -interesting visitors. Two women were seen coming in under the gateway, -one in a red cloak, the other carrying a bundle. It was Her Majesty -Queen Esther Faa and the Princess Ellin of the Gipsies! - -“When she had had her breakfast, the Queen came up into the library. She -has a grand and beautiful old face, and she was full of natural -refinement and eloquence. She said how she would not change places with -any one, ‘not even with the Queen upon the throne,’ for ‘God was so good -to her;’ that she ‘loved to wander,’ and that she wanted nothing since -she ‘always drove her own pair,’ meaning her legs. - -“She spoke very simply of her accession--that she was the last of the -Faas; that she succeeded her uncle King William; that before him came -her great-uncle, of whom we ‘must have read in history, Jocky Faa;’ that -as for her subjects, she ‘couldna allude to them,’ for they were such a -set that she kept herself clear of them; that she had had fourteen -children, but they were none of them Faas. She spoke of her daughter as -‘the Princess that I have left downstairs,’ but all she said was quite -simple and without any assumption. She sang to us a sort of paraphrase -of Old Testament history. Lady Waterford asked her if there was anything -she would like to have. She said she cared for nothing but rings--all -her family liked them; that her daughter, Princess Ellin, had wished to -have the ring Lady Waterford gave her when she last came to Ford, but -that she had told her she ‘never meant to take off her petticoats till -she went to bed;’ that next to rings, she liked ‘a good nate pair of -shoes,’ for she ‘didna like to gang confused about the feet.’ - -“When she went away she blessed us. She said to Alick, ‘You _are_ a -bonnie lad, and one can see that you belong to the Board of Health.’ She -said to me that she loved Lady Waterford, so that, ‘if it wouldna be too -bould,’ she should ‘like to take her in her arms and kiss her and cuddle -her to her old bosom.’”[132] - - * * * * * - -“_Oct. 30._--It has been very pleasant having Alick Yorke here. He is -most amusing. His impersonations are wonderful, and his singing very -good. Owing to his being here, Lady Waterford has talked much of her -childhood at Wimpole,[133] the delights of visits to the dairy, and -receiving great hunches of brown bread and little cups of cream there, -and how, with her ‘mind’s nose,’ she still smelt the smell of a -particular little cupboard near her nursery, &c. - -“Yesterday we walked to Crookham, as Lady Waterford wished to visit a -man dying there of consumption. Lady Sarah Lindsay went in the -donkey-chair. She talked of Stichill, the old Pringle place on the other -side of the Tweed. It is now inhabited by a coal-master named Baird, who -has amassed an immense fortune, but retains all the old simplicity of -his character. He bought a quantity of books, from the idea of their -being proper furniture for the house, but when there was a discussion as -to whether they should be bound in Russia or Morocco, said, ‘Na, but I -will just ha’ them bound i’ Glasgow, my ain native place.’ In the -evening Lady Waterford sang to us--her voice like a silver clarion and -most touching--‘Far away, far away,’ till with the melting words dying -into such indescribable sweetness, one’s whole soul seemed borne -upwards.” - - * * * * * - -“_Oct. 31._--Lady Waterford said, ‘Now I must tell you a story. -Somers[134] came to Highcliffe this year. I like having Somers for a -cousin, he is always so kind and pleasant, and tells me so many things -that are interesting. I felt it particularly this year, for he was -suffering so much from a piece of the railroad that had got into his eye -and he was in great pain, but he was just as pleasant as ever. “Oh, love -has sore eyes,” he said, but he _would_ talk. The next day he insisted -on going off to Lymington to see Lord Warwick,[135] who was there, and -who had been ill; and it was an immense drive, and when he came back, he -did not come down, and Pattinson said, “Lord Somers is come back, but he -is suffering so much pain from his eye that he will not be able to have -any dinner.” So I went up to sit with him. He was suffering great pain, -and I wanted him not to talk, but he said, “Oh, no; I have got a story -quite on my mind, and I really must tell it you.” And he said that when -he got to Lymington, he found Lord Warwick ill in bed, and he said, “I -am so glad to see you, for I want to tell you such an odd thing that has -happened to me. Last night I was in bed and the room was quite dark -(this old-fashioned room of the inn at Lymington which you now see). -Suddenly at the foot of the bed there appeared a great light, and in -the midst of the light the figure of Death just as it is seen in the -Dance of Death and other old pictures--a ghastly skeleton with a scythe -and a dart: and Death balanced the dart, and it flew past me, just above -my shoulder, close to my head, and it seemed to go into the wall; and -then the light went out and the figure vanished. I was as wide awake -then as I am now, for I pinched myself hard to see, and I lay awake for -a long time, but at last I fell asleep. When my servant came to call me -in the morning, he had a very scared expression of face, and he said, ‘A -dreadful thing has happened in the night, and the whole household of the -inn is in the greatest confusion and grief, for the landlady’s daughter, -who slept in the next room, and the head of whose bed is against the -wall against which your head now rests, has been found dead in her -bed.’”[136] - - * * * * * - -“_Nov. 1, Sunday._--Lady Waterford has talked much of how few people in -the world each person has to whom their deaths would make a real void; -that she had scarcely any one--General Stuart perhaps, and Lady Jane; -that others would be sorry at the time, but that it would to them make -no blank; that somehow it would be pleasant to leave more of a void, but -that even with brothers and sisters it was seldom so. I spoke of her own -sister and of the great grief her death had been. ‘Yes,’ she said, ‘a -great grief, but still it is wonderful how little we had been -together--scarcely three years, putting all the weeks together, out of -the fourteen years we had been married. Of all my relations, Mama is -certainly the greatest loss to me, we had been so much together -latterly, and were so much to each other.’ - -“Lady Waterford talked much of her mother’s life in Paris as -ambassadress, and of her own birth there at the Embassy. ‘I went many -years after with Mama to Spa, and there was a very agreeable old -gentleman there, to whom we talked at the _table-d’hôte_. He found out -that we knew Paris and the people there, and then he talked, not knowing -who we were, of the different ambassadresses. “Celle que j’ai preféré de -toutes les ambassadrices,” he said, “c’était Lady Granville.” He saw -somehow that he had not said quite the right thing, and next day he -wanted to make the _amende_, and he talked of the Embassy again before -all the people, of this room and that room, and then he said, “Est ce -que c’était dans cette chambre, Miladi, que vous êtes accouchée de -Miladi Waterford!” He was a M. de Langy, and was a very interesting -person. His family belonged to the _petite noblesse_, and at the time of -the flight to Varennes, after the royal family was captured, theirs was -one of the houses to which they were brought to rest and refresh on the -way,--for it was the custom then, when there were so few inns. M. de -Langy’s mother was a staunch royalist, and when she knew that the King -and Queen were coming, she prepared a beautiful little supper, -everything as nice as she could, and waited upon them herself. When they -were going away, the Queen, who had found it all most comfortable, said, -“Où est donc la maîtresse de la maison? j’ai ête si bien ici, je -voudrais la remercier avant de partir.” Madame de Langy, who was -waiting, said simply, “J’étais la maîtresse de la maison avant que votre -majesté y est entrée.”’ - -“We went to church at Etal in the afternoon. Both there and at Ford, it -being All Saints’ Day, the sermons were wholly in exaltation of the -saints, church services, and salvation by works. Lady Waterford was -pained by it: coming back she spoke of a simple rule of doctrine:-- - - ‘Just before God by faith, - Just before men by works: - Just by the works of faith, - Just by the faith which works.’ - -In the evening she talked much of her first visit to Italy, her only -visit to Rome. ‘Char. was just married then, and I was just come out: we -went _pour un passe-temps_. We travelled in our own carriage, and the -floods had carried away the bridges, and it was very difficult to get -on. It was the year of the cholera, and we had to pass quarantine. My -father knew a great many of the people in authority, and we hoped to get -leave to pass it in one of the larger towns. Mantua was decided upon, -but was eventually given up because of the unhealthiness, and we had to -pass ten days at Rovigo. We arrived at last at Bologna. The people were -greatly astonished at the inn when we asked if the Cardinal Legate was -at home: it was as if we had asked for the Pope: and they were more -astonished still the next day when he came to call upon us. We went to a -party at his palace. He was Cardinal Macchi. I shall never forget -that party or the very odd people we met--I see them now. The Cardinal -was in despair because the theatres were closed--“Je vous aurais preté -ma loge, et je vous aurais donné _des glaces_!” The next day Rossini -came to see us--“Je suis un volcan éteint,” he said. Afterwards we went -to Rome and stayed four months there. I liked the society part best--the -balls at the Borgheses’ and those at the Austrian Embassy: they were -great fun.’ - -[Illustration: THE SECRET STAIR, FORD.][137] - -[Illustration: _Louisa, Marchioness of Waterford_] - -“On Saturday we went to Norham--the Lindsays and I. Even coming from -Devonshire, the interest of this country strikes one excessively. It is -bare, it is even ugly, but it is strangely interesting. There is such -breadth and space in the long lines and sweeping distances, amidst which -an occasional peel-tower stands like a milestone of history, and there -is such a character in the strange, jagged, wind-tossed, storm-stricken -trees. But it became really beautiful when we descended into the lovely -valley of the Tweed with all its radiant autumnal tints, and sat under -the grand mass of ruin, with great flights of birds ever circling round -it and crying in the still air.” - - * * * * * - -“_Nov. 4._--Yesterday we went quite a round of visits, seeing different -phases of Border family life. We lunched at the Hirsel (Lord Home’s)--a -great Scotchy-looking house in a rather featureless park. There were two -tables and an immense party at luncheon--Mr. and Lady Gertrude Rolle, -Lord Romney, and others. I did not think it an interesting place, though -it contains a fine portrait of Sir Walter Scott by Raeburn; but Lady -Waterford delighted in the happy family life, and says whenever she sees -Lord Home she is reminded of the Frenchman who said, ‘Oh, mon Dieu! -pourquoi est ce qu’il n’est pas mon père?’ - -“We went next to Sir John Marjoribanks of Lees. He was just come in from -hunting, and his wife was fishing in the Tweed. We went to her there: -she was standing up at the end of a boat which a man was rowing, and -the whole picture was reflected in a river so smooth that it looked as -if they were floating on a mirror. - -[Illustration: NORHAM-ON-TWEED.][138] - -“Then we went to the Baillie Hamiltons at Lenels, another and prettier -place on the Tweed near Coldstream Bridge. The house contained much that -was interesting, especially two enormous Chelsea vases representing -‘Air’ and ‘Water.’ Mrs. Baillie Hamilton was a daughter of Lord -Polwarth--very pleasing, and her sister came in with the most perfect -manners of good-breeding, &c. Then we went to the Askews. - -“Lady Waterford stopped to take our luncheon--prepared but not eaten--to -a poor man in a consumption. She beguiled the way by describing her -visit to Windsor, and the Queen showing her the Mausoleum. - -“She talked also of the passion for jewels: that she could understand it -in the case of such persons as Madame Mère, who, when remonstrated with -on buying so many diamonds, said, ‘J’accumule, j’accumule,’ for it had -been very useful to her. Apropos of not despising dress, she gave me the -quotation from Pope’s Homer’s Odyssey[139]-- - - ‘A dignity of dress adorns the great, - And kings draw lustre from the robe of state.’ - -“Last Monday, having a great deal of natural talent for singing, -reciting, &c., in the castle, Lady Waterford would not keep it to -herself, and asked all the village people to the school, and took her -guests there to sing, &c., to them. At the end, just before ‘God save -the Queen,’ she was surprised by Miss Lindsay’s ode:-- - - ‘All hail to thee, sweet lady, all hail to thee this night, - Of all things bright and beautiful, most beautiful, most bright; - Thou art a welcome guest alike in cottage and in hall, - With a kindly word and look and smile for each one and for all. - May every blessing life can give be thine from day to day, - May health, and peace, and happiness for ever strew thy way; - May the light thou shedd’st on others be reflected on thy brow, - May a grateful people’s love and pride like a stream around thee flow, - And all our prayers unite in one upon this festive e’en, - That long thou may’st be spared to Ford, to reign its Border queen.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Nov. 7._--Lord and Lady Warwick have been here for some days. She is -so simple and genial, that the Italian word _simpatica_ is the only one -to describe her.[140] - -“Yesterday, Lady Waterford, Miss Lindsay, and I had a delightful long -walk across the moor and through charming relics of forest. It was a -succession of pictures--long extents of moss backed by ferny hills, -downy uplands breaking into red rocks, lighted here and there by the -white stem of an old birch-tree, and overlooking the softest expanses of -faint blue distance. We found several curious fungi. Lady Waterford said -that at Balmoral the Duchess of Edinburgh shocked the royal household by -eating almost all she found. They thought she would be poisoned; but in -Russia they are accustomed to eat fungi, and they make little patties of -them which they eat in Lent when meat is forbidden--‘and they taste so -like meat that there is almost the pleasure of doing something which is -not quite right.’ - -“The objects of the walk were two. One was the fall of the Rowling Lynn -in a chaos of red and grey rocks overhung by old birch-trees, a spot -which seems photographed in Coleridge’s lines-- - - ‘Beneath yon birch with silver bark - And boughs so pendulous and fair, - The brook falls scattered down the rock, - And all is mossy there.’ - -The other was the sacrificial stone covered with the mysterious rings -which have given rise to boundless discussion among Northumbrian -archæologists. When we reached home, we found the Bloomfields -arrived.[141] In the evening Lady Bloomfield told a curious story. - -“‘I was very intimate at Vienna with the Princess Reuss, whose first -husband was Prince of Anhalt. She was a niece of Queen Teresa of -Bavaria. She told me that her aunt was at Aschaffenberg with the -intention of going next day to Munich. In the evening the -lady-in-waiting came in and asked the Queen if she was intending to give -an audience. The Queen said, “Certainly not,” and that “she could not -see any one.” The lady then said that there was a lady sitting in the -ante-chamber who would not go away. Queen Teresa then desired her -brother to go out and find out who it was. He came back much agitated, -and said it was _sehr unheimlich_ (very uncanny), for it was the Black -Lady, and that when he came up to her she disappeared; for the Bavarian -royal family have a Black Lady who appears to them before a death, just -as the White Lady appears to the Prussian royal family. The next day the -Queen left Aschaffenberg, but being a very kind-hearted woman, she sent -back her secretary to fetch some petitions which had been presented, but -which she had not attended to, and when the secretary came into her -room, he found the Black Lady standing by the table where the papers -were, but she vanished on his approach. That night, when the old -castellan of Aschaffenberg and his wife were in bed, the great bell of -the castle began to toll, and they remembered that it could toll by no -human agency, as they had the key of the bell-tower. - -“At that moment Queen Teresa died at Munich. She arrived at three: at -five she was seized with cholera: at eleven she was dead.’” - -[Illustration: THE KING’S ROOM, FORD.][142] - -“_Nov. 8._--The two Miss Lindsays and I have been for a most wild -excursion into the Cheviot valleys to the Heathpool Lynn--a ravine full -of ancient alders and birch, and a mountain torrent tossing through grey -rocks. The carriage met us at a farmhouse--a most desolate place, cut -off by snow all through the winter months, and almost always cold and -bleak.” - - * * * * * - -“_Nov. 9._--Lady Waterford, Miss Lindsay, and I walked to distant -plantations to see some strange grass, which, from being surrounded by -water at times, had been matted together so that it formed a thick -trunk, and branched out at the top like a palm-tree, with the oddest -effect. Lady Waterford talked of an old woman she knew, whose husband -was very ill, dying in fact. One day when she went to see him, she found -his wife busy baking cakes, and she--the old woman--said that as he was -dying she was getting them ready for his funeral. Going again some days -later, Lady Waterford found the man still alive, and she could not -resist saying to the woman that she thought her cakes must be getting -rather stale. ‘Yes, that they are,’ said the wife; ‘some folks are _so_ -inconsiderate.’ - -“When we returned to the castle, we found that old Mr. Fyler, the Vicar -of Cornhill, had arrived, and he was very amusing all evening. He talked -much of Sir Horace St. Paul (a neighbour here), who had become a -teetotaler, and had thrown away all the wine in his cellar. His mother -was a daughter of Lord Ward, who had challenged and run through with his -sword a brother officer, who, when he was engaged to his wife, had -snatched away a brooch he had given her and exhibited it at mess as her -present. It was the Lord Ward who was brother of Lady St. Paul, who was -made the prominent figure in the picture by Copley of the death of the -Earl of Chatham. It is a grand portrait in a fine picture, and Copley -gave the life-size sketch which he made for it to the Ward family. - -“When Sir Horace St. Paul was at college, he found a man lying drunk in -the quadrangle and tried to make him get up. ‘You’re drunk,’ he said; -‘you don’t even know who I am.’--‘Yes, I know very well who you are,’ -said the man; ‘you’re the fellow that wrote an epistle to Timothy and -never got an answer.’ I have heard this quoted as one of the naturally -clever retorts of drunken men. - -“Lady Waterford told Lord Grey’s story of the death--in a court in -Edinburgh--of a naval captain who had been noted for his cruelties at -sea, but especially in the slave trade. Mental terror made his death-bed -most appalling. According to Scottish custom, the family opened the door -for the spirit to pass more easily, when, to their horror, the bloody -head of a black man suddenly rolled into the room. - -“The dying man gave the most fearful scream, and his relations rushed to -his bedside. When they looked round, the head was gone, but there was -fresh blood upon the floor. To them it seemed inexplicable, but the fact -was that Professor Owen had been attending an anatomical séance at which -the body of a black man had been dissected, and there was something so -curious in the way in which the head had been attached to the body, that -he had obtained leave to carry it home in a cloth, that he might examine -it more carefully. It was a very slippery, wet day, and as he was -passing the open door of the dying man, the Professor had stumbled, and -the head, slipping out of the cloth, had rolled into the house; then, in -the moment when they were all occupied with the dying man, he had -pursued it and whipped it up into the cloth again, and hoped it had not -been observed.”[143] - - * * * * * - -“_Nov. 10._--Last night Mr. Fyler told his famous story of ‘the nun.’ It -is briefly this:-- - -“A son of Sir J. Stuart of Allanbank, on the Blackadder, where Lady -Boswell lives now, was in Rome, where he fell in love with a novice in -one of the convents. When his father heard of it, he was furious, and -summoned him home. Young Stuart told the nun he must leave Rome, and she -implored him to marry her first; but he would do nothing of the kind, -and, as he left, she flung herself under his carriage; the wheels went -over her, and she was killed. The first thing the faithless lover saw on -his return to Scotland was the nun, who met him in the bridal attire she -was to have worn, and she has often appeared since, and has become known -in the neighbourhood as ‘Pearlin Jean.’ On one occasion seven ministers -were called in to lay her, but with no effect. - -“Mr. Fyler says that when people on the Border are not quite right in -their heads, they are said to ‘want twopence in the shilling.’ A poor -cooper at Cornhill was one of these, and one day he disappeared. The -greatest search was made for the missing man, for he was a Johnson, and -almost all the village at Cornhill are Johnsons--fishermen. So every one -went out to look, and though nothing was found, they came to the -conclusion that he had been drowned in the Tweed. - -“That evening Mr. Fyler observed that his church windows had not been -opened as he desired, and going up to them and looking in, he saw a -white figure wrapped in a sheet walking up and down the aisle and -flapping its arms. He went back and said, ‘I’ve found the lost man. He -is in the church, and two of the strongest men in the place must go with -me and get him out.’ But if any one else had looked into the church, -they would have thought it was a ghost. As it was, one of the men who -came to get him out fainted dead away.” - - * * * * * - -“_Winton Castle, Nov. 14._--Dear Lady Ruthven is stone deaf, almost -blind, and her voice like waggon-wheels, but--in her eighty-sixth -year--she is as kind and good and as truly witty as ever. - -“On Friday we went to Gosford--five in the carriage. It is a dull flat -park, redeemed by being so near the sea, and contains two great houses -close to each other, of which one--the modern one--has never been -inhabited, as sea-sand was mixed with its mortar. We found old Lady -Wemyss[144] sitting behind a screen, much like a lady-abbess in -appearance. I was most warmly received by two child-friends--little Lady -Eva Greville and her brother Sidney--a charming boy with dark eyes and -light flowing hair. Then Lady Warwick came in with Lady Jane Dundas, -and, with one hand-candle, showed us the pictures, just as Lady Elcho -did many years ago. - -“Yesterday we went to Ormistoun, an attractive place, to see the -Dempsters, the uncle and aunt who brought up the authoress of -‘Vera’--charming old people. He talked much of former times in Scotland, -and said that much the most agreeable women in the country were -considered to be Lady Ruthven and Mrs. Stewart Mackenzie. He described -the attachment of one of Mrs. Stewart Mackenzie’s sisters--a certain -very untidy Frances Mackenzie--to Thorwaldsen, but they were not allowed -to marry. The last word Thorwaldsen spoke was ‘Francesca.’ - -“In the garden of Ormistoun is a yew six hundred years old, but with -every appearance of being still quite in its prime, growing hard, and -likely to do so for another six hundred years. John Knox is said to have -preached under it. - -“I sat by Lady Ruthven at dinner. She talked of the quaintnesses of her -village people. The schoolmaster was very particular about -pronunciation. When his wife died, some one came in and said, ‘What a -very lamēntable,’ &c.--‘Oh, do say lamentable,’ interrupted the -schoolmaster. When the minister was marrying a couple he said, ‘Art thou -willing to take this woman,’ &c.?--‘Yes, I am _willing_,’ replied the -bridegroom, ‘but I had rather it had been her sister.’ - -“To-day Lady Ruthven walked with me to the kirk. She had neither her -‘speaking tubes’ nor her slate, so I could not answer her, but she told -me the whole story of Lady Belhaven’s death, how it was ‘all arranged as -was best for her, just a gentle passing away, almost unconscious, but -perfectly happy;’ yet how, though one glibly _said_, ‘God’s will be -done,’ it was _so_ hard to feel it. In returning, she talked of the -trees, how the forester wished her to cut one down where there were two -close together, but how she was ‘unwilling to separate friends who had -lived together so long.’ - -“One day Lady Ruthven had a letter asking for the character of her -footman, John Smith, who was leaving her--if he was ‘clever, honest, -sober, a Christian, a recipient of the Holy Communion,’ &c. She -answered, ‘If John Smith could answer to half your demands, I should -have married him long ago.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Raby Castle, Nov. 20._--A week here with a large party, which I began -to think delightful as soon as I could cure myself of the uncomfortable -sensation of being so much behind my kind, all the other people knowing -each other better, and being more in possession of their tongues and -faculties than myself. ‘Be insignificant, and you will make no enemies,’ -is, however, a very good piece of advice I once received. Interesting -members of the circle have been the Fitzwilliams from Wentworth, and the -Quaker family of Pease, of whom the mother is one of the sweetest, most -charming people I ever saw, like a lovely picture by Gainsborough, and -with the expression of one of Perugino’s angels. But the great feature -of the visit has been the Butes, and I have been absorbed by them. I -never expected to make much acquaintance, but from the first Lord -Bute[145] annexed himself to me, perhaps because he thought I was shy, -and because of other people he felt very shy himself. He has great -sweetness and gentleness of manner, and a good-looking, refined face. - -“Lady Bute[146] says the happiest time in her life was the winter they -spent in Majorca, because then she got away, not only from all the fine -people, but from all the people who wanted to know what they thought -must be the fine people; but that it was such a bore even there bearing -a name for which the natives _would_ raise their prices. Next winter -they mean to spend at Nazareth, where they will hire the Bishop’s house; -‘no one can get at us there.’ They are supposed to long very anxiously -for the birth of a son, for now-- - - ‘That little something unpossess’d - Corrodes and poisons all the rest.’[147] - -“I walked with Lord Bute each day. It was like reading ‘Lothair’ in the -original, and most interesting at first, but became somewhat monotonous, -as he talks incessantly--winding into his subject like a serpent, as -Johnson said of Burke--of altars, ritual, liturgical differences; and he -often almost loses himself, and certainly quite lost me, in sentences -about ‘the Unity of the Kosmos,’ &c. - -“He spoke much of Antichrist--the mark 666, the question if it had been -Nero, or if Nero was only a type, and the real Antichrist still to come; -and of the other theory, that the reason why no ten thousand were sealed -of Dan was that Antichrist was to come from that tribe, the dying words -of Jacob tending to this belief. - -“He talked much of fasting; that he had often fasted for twenty-four -hours, and that he preferred fasting as the practice existed ‘before -the folly of collations.’ I asked if it did not make him ill. He said -‘no,’ for if the hunger became too great he took a cigar, which allayed -it, and that he went out and ‘ate the air’ while taking plenty of -exercise; that poor people seldom became thin in Lent, because what they -did eat was bread and potatoes. I said I thought it must make him -dreadfully ill-tempered to be so hungry, and thus conduce rather to vice -than virtue. He said he did not think it made him vicious; but he agreed -with me that persons naturally inclined to be ill-tempered had better -fast _alone_. - -“From what he said it was evident that he would like to give up all his -goods to the poor, and that the Island of Bute stands a chance of -becoming a vast monastery. He talked much of the Troitska in Russia, -where he had been; that the monks there were too lax, and that the -really desirable monastic life was that of those who lived in the cells -established some miles off by Philaret, which were subterranean, with a -stove, and no other furniture. When mass was celebrated in their chapel, -these anchorite monks could faintly discern, down a channel hollowed in -the rock, the glitter of the candles on the altar, and occasionally, -mingled with this, appeared a ray or two of bluish light, and this was -daylight. It was the only time they ever saw it. - -“Amongst the young men here is a young Ashburnham, third son of Lord -Ashburnham, who reads Greek in his room for his amusement, and is a -lawyer, but says he has not yet been able to realise the hymn, ‘Brief -life is here our portion.’ He told me that the expression of minding -your _p_’s and _q_’s came from toupets and queues.” - - * * * * * - -“_Whitburn Hall, Nov. 24._--I returned here from Raby with my Williamson -cousins,[148] who are always so kind that they make one feel at Whitburn -‘où peut’on être mieux qu’au sein de sa famille?’ The place has much -interest of its own kind. There is something even fine in the vast black -cloud of Sunderland smoke, obliterating the horizon and giving such an -idea of limitless and mysterious space with the long lines of white -breakers foaming up through the gloom; while at night the ghastly shriek -of the fog-horn and the tolling of the bell, and the occasional boom of -a cannon through the storm, give such dramatic effect that one forgets -the waste inland landscape, the blackened hedges and wind-stricken -coalfields.” - - * * * * * - -“_Ravensworth, Nov. 29._--I was one night with poor Cousin Susan -(Davidson), much aged and altered. She lay chiefly on a sofa in her own -sitting-room, with her two favourite white dogs--the ‘boy and -girl’--Fritz and Lulu, by her side, and half the birds in the -neighbourhood pecking bread and potatoes outside the windows. It seemed -a dreary life to leave her to, but she does not feel it so; hers is one -of the cases in which only the body, and not the mind, seems to require -nourishment. Thursday, when I came away, was her rent-day, and she -wished me to go and see her tenants and speak to them at dinner, and -said to the agent, ‘I wish that all my tenants should see my cousin;’ -but fortunately the train came at the right moment to save me from this -alarming encounter, which would have given a (probably) wrong -impression--at least to the tenants. - -“Lord Ravensworth[149] welcomed me with such cordial kindness, and has -been so genial and good to me ever since, that I quite feel as if in him -I had found the ideal uncle I have always longed for, but never before -enjoyed. He is certainly the essence of an agreeable and accomplished -scholar, with a faultless memory and apt classical quotations for every -possible variety of subject. He told me, and made me write down, the -following curious story:-- - -“It is going back a long time ago--to the time of Marie Antoinette. It -will be remembered that the most faithful, the most entirely devoted of -all the gallant adherents of Marie Antoinette was the Comte de Fersen. -The Comte de Fersen was ready to lay down his life for the Queen, to go -through fire and water for her sake; and, on her side, if Marie -Antoinette had a corner in her heart for any one except the King, it was -for the Comte de Fersen.[150] When the royal family escaped to Varennes, -it was the Comte de Fersen who dressed up as coachman and drove the -carriage; and when the flight to Varennes failed, and when, one after -another, he had seen all his dearest friends perish upon the scaffold, -the Comte de Fersen felt as if the whole world was cut away from under -his feet, as if life had nothing whatever left to offer, and he sunk -into a state of apathy, mental and physical, from which nothing whatever -seemed to rouse him; there was nothing whatever left which could be of -any interest to _him_. - -“The physicians who were called in said that the Comte de Fersen must -have absolute change; that he must travel for an unlimited time; that he -must leave France; at any rate, that he must never see again that Paris -which was so terrible to him, which was stained for ever with the blood -of the Queen and Madame Elizabeth. And he was quite willing; all places -were the same to him now that his life was left desolate: he did not -care where he went. - -“He went to Italy, and one afternoon in November he drove up to what was -then, as it is still, the most desolate, weird, ghastly inn in -Italy--the wind-stricken, storm-beaten, lava-seated inn of Radicofani. -And he came there not to stay; he only wanted post-horses to go on as -fast as he could, for he was always restless to be moving--to go farther -on. But the landlord said, ‘No, it was too late at night; there was -going to be a storm; he could not let his horses cross the pass of -Radicofani till the next morning.’--‘But you are not aware,’ said the -traveller, ‘that I am the Comte de Fersen.’--‘I do not care in the least -who you are,’ said the landlord; ‘I make my rules, and my rules hold -good for one as well as for another.’--‘But you do not understand -probably that money is no object to me, and that time is a very great -object indeed. I am quite willing to pay whatever you demand, but I -must have the horses at once, for I must arrive at Rome on a particular -day.’--‘Well, you will not have the horses,’ said the landlord; ‘at -least to-morrow you may have them, but to-night you will not; and if you -are too fine a gentleman to come into my poor hotel, you may sleep in -the carriage, but to-night you will certainly not have the horses.’ - -“Then the Comte de Fersen made the best of what he saw was the -inevitable. He had the carriage put into the coach-house, and he himself -came into the hotel, and he found it, as many hundreds of travellers -have done since, not half so bad as he expected. It is a bare, dismal, -whitewashed barracky place, but the rooms are large and tolerably clean. -So he got some eggs or something that there was for supper, and he had a -fire made up in the best of the rooms, and he went to bed. But he took -two precautions; he drew a little round table that was there to the head -of the bed and he put two loaded pistols upon it; and, according to the -custom of that time, he made the courier sleep across the door on the -outside. - -“He went to bed, and he fell asleep, and in the middle of the night he -awoke with the indescribable sensation that people have, that he was not -alone in the room, and he raised himself against the pillow and looked -out. From a small latticed window high in the opposite whitewashed wall -the moonlight was pouring into the room, and making a white silvery pool -in the middle of the rough boarded oak floor. In the middle of this pool -of light, dressed in a white cap and jacket and trousers, such as masons -wear, stood the figure of a man looking at him. The Comte de Fersen -stretched out his hand over the side of the bed to take one of his -pistols, and the man said, ‘Don’t fire: you could do no harm to me, you -could do a great deal of harm to yourself: I am come to tell you -something.’ And the Comte de Fersen looked at him: he did not come any -nearer; he remained just where he was, standing in the pool of white -moonlight, half way between the bed and the wall; and he said, ‘Say on: -tell me what you have come for.’ And the figure said, ‘I am _dead_, and -my body is underneath your bed. I was a mason of Radicofani, and, as a -mason, I wore the white dress in which you now see me. My wife wished to -marry somebody else; she wished to marry the landlord of this hotel, and -they beguiled me into the inn, and they made me drunk, and they murdered -me, and my body is buried beneath where your bed now stands. Now I died -with the word _vendetta_ upon my lips, and the longing, the thirst that -I have for revenge will not let me rest, and I never shall rest, I never -can have _any_ rest, till I have had my revenge. Now I know that you are -going to Rome; when you get to Rome, go to the Cardinal Commissary of -Police, and tell him what you have seen, and he will send men down here -to examine the place, and my body will be found, and I shall have my -revenge.’ And the Comte de Fersen said, ‘I will.’ But the spirit laughed -and said, ‘You don’t suppose that I’m going to believe _that_? You don’t -imagine that you are the only person I’ve come to like this? I have come -to dozens, and they have all said, “I will,” and afterwards what they -have seen has seemed like a hallucination, a dream, a chimæra, and -before they have reached Rome the impression has vanished altogether, -and nothing has been done. Give me your hand.’ The Comte de Fersen was a -little staggered at this; however, he was a brave man, and he stretched -out his hand over the foot of the bed, and he felt something or other -happen to one of his fingers; and he looked, and there was no figure, -only the moonlight streaming in through the little latticed window, and -the old cracked looking-glass on the wall and the old rickety furniture -just distinguishable in the half light; there was no mason there, but -the loud regular sound of the snoring of the courier was heard outside -the bedroom door. And the Comte de Fersen could not sleep; he watched -the white moonlight fade into dawn, and the pale dawn brighten into day, -and it seemed to him as if the objects in that room would be branded -into his brain, so familiar did they become--the old cracked -looking-glass, and the shabby washing-stand, and the rush-bottomed -chairs, and he also began to think that what had passed in the earlier -part of the night was a hallucination--a mere dream. Then he got up, and -he began to wash his hands; and on one of his fingers he found a very -curious old iron ring, which was certainly not there before--and then he -_knew_. - -“And the Comte de Fersen went to Rome, and when he arrived at Rome he -went to the Swedish Minister that then was, a certain Count -Löwenjelm,[151] and the Count Löwenjelm was very much impressed with the -story, but a person who was much more impressed was the Minister’s -younger brother, the Count Carl Löwenjelm, for he had a very curious and -valuable collection of peasants’ jewelry, and when he saw the ring he -said, ‘That is a very remarkable ring, for it is a kind of ring which is -only made and worn in one place, and that place is in the mountains near -Radicofani.’ - -“And the two Counts Löwenjelm went with the Comte de Fersen to the -Cardinal Commissary of Police, and the Cardinal also was very much -struck, and he said, ‘It is a very extraordinary story, a very -extraordinary story indeed, and I am quite inclined to believe that it -means something. But, as you know, I am in a great position of trust -under Government, and I could not send a body of military down to -Radicofani upon the faith of what may prove to have been a dream. At any -rate (he said) I could not do it unless the Comte de Fersen proved his -sense of the importance of such an action by being willing to return to -Radicofani himself.’ And not only was the Comte de Fersen willing to -return, but the Count Carl Löwenjelm went with him. The landlord and -landlady were excessively agitated when they saw them return with the -soldiers who came from Rome. They moved the bed, and found that the -flags beneath had been recently upturned. They took up the flags, and -there--not sufficiently corrupted to be irrecognisable--was the body of -the mason, dressed in the white cap and jacket and trousers, as he had -appeared to the Comte de Fersen. Then the landlord and landlady, in true -Italian fashion, felt that Providence was against them, and they -confessed everything. They were taken to Rome, where they were tried -and condemned to death, and they were beheaded at the Bocca della -Verità. - -“The Count Carl Löwenjelm was present at the execution of that man and -woman, and he was the person who told the Marquis de Lavalette, who told -Lord Ravensworth, who told me. The by-play of the story is also curious. -Those two Counts Löwenjelm were the natural sons of the Duke of -Sudomania, who was one of the aspirants for the crown of Sweden in the -political crisis which preceded the election of Bernadotte. He was, in -fact, elected, but he had many enemies, and on the night on which he -arrived to take possession of the throne he was poisoned. The Comte de -Fersen himself came to a tragical end in those days. He was very -unpopular in Stockholm, and during the public procession in which he -took part at the funeral of Charles Augustus (1810) he was murdered, -being (though it is terrible to say so of the gallant adherent of Marie -Antoinette) beaten to death with umbrellas. And that it was with no view -to robbery and from purely political feeling is proved by the fact that -though he was _en grande tenue_, nothing was taken away.” - - * * * * * - -“_Hutton, Yorkshire, Nov. 30._--I came here yesterday, arriving in the -dark. It was a great surprise, as I expected to find the place amid the -Middlesborough smoke, to see from the window on awaking a beautiful view -of high moorland fells beyond the terraced gardens. I laugh when I think -how the Duchess of Cleveland rejoiced in giving Mrs. Pease such a -pleasant change to Raby, to see this intensely luxurious house by -Waterhouse, filled with delightful collections of books, pictures, and -carved furniture, and its almost Arabian-Night-like conservatories. - -“We have been through bitter wind to Guisborough Abbey--only a grand -church front standing lonely near a fine avenue of trees in the grounds -of Colonel Challoner. - -“Mr. and Mrs. Pease are excellent. He is member for Darlington, son and -nephew of the famous Pease Brothers. She, formerly a Fox of Falmouth, is -one of the most charming people I ever saw, full of the sweetest and -simplest natural dignity. She lives in and for her children, and though -the mother of six girls and two boys, looks about six-and-twenty -herself.[152] - -“There is a Mr. Stover here who is amusing. An uncle of his lives in the -haunted house at Biddick. One day when he came in from shooting, he hung -his hat on a pole-screen, and sat down by the fire to read his -newspaper. Presently, looking over his paper, he saw, to his amazement, -his hat on the top of the screen nodding at him. He thought he must be -dreaming, but watched, and it certainly nodded again. He got up and -walked round it, when it seemed still. Then he sat down again and -watched it, and it nodded again, and not only that, but the screen -itself seemed to be moving bodily towards him. He watched it, and it -certainly crossed part of the pattern of the carpet: of this there could -be no doubt. Then he could bear it no longer, and he rushed at the -screen and knocked it over. Underneath was his tame tortoise.” - - * * * * * - -“_Wentworth Wodehouse, Dec. 3._--This house has a very stately effect as -you approach it, with a truly majestic portico. On the first floor is an -immense hall like those in the great Roman houses, and on either side -diverge the reception rooms, hung with pictures. Amongst the portraits -are several of the great Lord Strafford, with his parents, his son, and -his two daughters--Anne and Arabella. Of these, the elder married the -Marquis of Rockingham, from whom the present owners are descended. The -picture by Vandyke of Lord Strafford and his secretary is glorious. The -rooms themselves want colour and effect. Sixty guests can stay in the -house, and a hundred and twenty can dine without any crowd, but the -place needs great parties of this kind, for smaller ones are lost in -these vast suites of too lofty rooms. Lord Fitzwilliam[153] is the very -type of a high-bred nobleman, and Lady Fitzwilliam[154] has a sweet and -gentle manner; but Lady F. is calm and placid, her two daughters calmer -and placider, and Lord F. calmest and placidest. - -“To-day we were taken by Lord Fitzwilliam to the two churches. One by -Pearson is new and most magnificent; the other is old and very ugly, but -has interesting monuments. That of Lord Strafford is mural, with his -figure kneeling near the altar. The epitaph does not allude to the -manner of his death, but, after setting forth his virtues, simply says -‘he died May 8th, 1641.’ The ghost of Lord Strafford is still said to -walk down the oak staircase at Wentworth every Friday night, carrying -his head. An old gateway with several fragments of the house of his time -remain, and many of his books are preserved in the library. My bedroom -is hung with white worked with red by his daughter Lady Rockingham.” - - * * * * * - -“_Dec. 4._--Lady Fitzwilliam has been showing us the house. It contains -much of interest, especially in the pictures, and they are repeated so -often that one learns to know the family faces--Lord Strafford and his -three wives, his son and his two daughters by his second wife, and the -second Lord Strafford with his wife, who was the daughter of James, Earl -of Derby, and Charlotte de la Tremouille. His inscriptions in the Bibles -of her father and mother, which are here, and the many memorials he -raised to her, are so touching that it is quite a shock to find he -married again after her death; but in his will he always speaks of the -second as only his “wife,” the first as his “deare wife.” He restored -the old church in her memory, and enjoined upon his descendants always -to keep it up for her sake. - -“Lady Albreda drove us about the park and to the ‘Mausoleum,’ a -commemorative monument raised to the Minister Lord Rockingham by his -son. It is copied from the Roman monument at S. Remy near Aries, and -contains, in a kind of Pantheon, a statue by Nollekens of Lord -Rockingham surrounded by his friends. The face is from a mask taken -after death, and the figure is full of power and expression, with a -deprecatory ‘Oh, pray don’t say such a thing as that.’” - -“_Temple Newsam, Dec. 6._--This great house is four miles from Leeds, by -a road passing through a squalid suburb of grimy houses and muddy lanes, -with rotten palings and broken paving-stones, making blackened pools of -stagnant water; then black fields succeed, with withered hedges, -stag-headed trees, and here and there a mountain of coal refuse breaking -the dismal distances. It was almost dark as I drove up the steep park to -the house. - -“In an immense gallery, hung with red and covered with pictures, like -the gallery at Chesney Wold in Bleak House, I found Mrs. Meynell Ingram -and Freddie Wood[155] sitting. It was like arriving at a bivouac in the -desert; the light from the fire and the lamps gleamed on a little -tea-table and a few chairs round it, all beyond was lost in the dark -immensity.... Soon other guests arrived--Judge Denman, come for the -assizes at Leeds, and his marshal, young Ottaway, the cricketer; Admiral -Duncombe, the High Sheriff; Mr. Glyn, Vicar of Beverley, the chaplain; -and Sir Frederick Grey and his wife ‘Barberina.’ Some of the pictures -are very fine--a portrait by Titian, several Vandykes, Reynolds’ -‘Shepherd Boy,” and some fine Reynolds portraits of Lord and Lady -Irvine, the former possessors of this place--the Templar’s Stow of -‘Ivanhoe.’ They left it to their five daughters in turn. The eldest was -Lady Hertford, and, if she had two sons, it was to go to the second, -but she had only one; the second daughter was Lady Alexander Gordon, who -was childless; the third was Mrs. Meynell, mother-in-law of the present -possessor.” - - * * * * * - -“_Dec, 7._--Deep snow all to-day and a furious wind. But yesterday we -reached Leeds for the assize sermon from the Sheriff’s chaplain, Mr. -Glyn,[156] a really magnificent sermon on ‘What is thy life?’ The music -also was very fine, and the great church filled with people. - -“This house, where Lord Darnley was born, and whence Lord Strafford -issued his summons to the Cavaliers to meet in defence of the King, is -very curious. In point of amusement, the Judge is the principal feature -of the present party, and how he does trample on his High Sheriff! He -coolly said _to_ him yesterday that he considered a High Sheriff as -‘dust under his feet;’ and he narrated _before_ him a story of one of -his brother judges, who, when his High Sheriff had left his hat in -court, not only would not let him go to fetch it, but would not wait -while his servants fetched it, and ordered him instantly to take him -back to his lodgings without his hat! In court, Judge Denman was annoyed -by some stone-breakers outside the window, and was told it would cost a -matter of _£_40 to have them stopped. ‘Stop the noise instantly,’ he -said; and the Mayor had to pay for it out of his own pocket. Yesterday, -when the snow was so deep, the High Sheriff timidly suggested that they -might be snowed up. ‘That is impossible,’ said the Judge; ‘whatever the -difficulties, Mr. High Sheriff, you are bound to see me conveyed to -Leeds by the opening of the court, if the whole of Leeds is summoned out -to cut a way for me.’ - -“Lord Strafford was here because he borrowed the house of Sir Arthur -Ingram as the largest to which to summon the Cavaliers. Sir Arthur was -rewarded by Charles II. for his devotion to the Stuarts by being made -Viscount Irvine.” - - * * * * * - -“_Ripley Castle, Dec. 12._--In this pleasant hospitable house I greatly -miss the gentle presence of the beloved Lady Ingilby, who was so long a -kind and warm-hearted friend; but it is pleasant to find her cordial -welcome still living in that of her son, Sir Henry, and her pretty -graceful daughter-in-law, who is a daughter of Lord Marjoribanks of -Ladykirk. - -“I found here Count and Countess Bathyany, people I was very glad to -see. They retain their old castle in Hungary, where they are magnates of -the first rank, but for some years they have lived chiefly in England, -at Eaglehurst on the Solent, and receive there during the yachting -season. The Countess has remains of great beauty and is wonderfully -agreeable. As I sat by her at dinner, she talked much of Lady William -Russell,[157] and told me the story of Lord Moira’s appearance, which -she had heard from her own lips. - -“Lady William was at Brighton, where her friend Lady Betty ---- was also -staying. One day when Lady Betty went to her, she found her excessively -upset and discomposed, and she said it was on account of a dream that -she had had of her uncle, who, as Lord Moira, had brought her up, and -who was then Governor of Malta. She said that she had seen a very long -hall, and at the end of the hall a couch with a number of female figures -in different attitudes of grief and despair bending over it, as if they -were holding up or attending to some sick person. On the couch she saw -no one, but immediately afterwards she seemed to meet her Uncle Moira -and embraced him, but said, with a start, ‘Uncle, how terribly cold you -are!’ He replied, ‘Bessie, did you not know that I am dead?’ She -recollected herself instantly and said, ‘Oh, Uncle, how does it look on -the other side?’--‘Quite different from what we have imagined, and far, -far more beautiful,’ he replied with a radiant smile, and she awoke. Her -dream occurred just when Lord Hastings[158] (formerly Lord Moira) died -on a couch in a hall at Malta; but she told the circumstances to Lady -Betty long before the news came.[159] - -“Another story which Countess Bathyany told from personal knowledge was -that of Sir Samuel Romilly. - -“Lord Grey[160] and his son-in-law, Sir Charles Wood, were walking on -the ramparts of Carlisle. The rampart is there still. It is very narrow, -and there is only one exit; so if you walk there, you must return as -you came. While they were walking, a man passed them, returned, passed -them again, and then disappeared in front of them over the parapet, -where there was really no means of exit. There was a red scarf round his -throat. ‘How very extraordinary! and how exactly like Sir Samuel -Romilly!’ they both exclaimed. At that moment Sir Samuel Romilly had cut -his throat in a distant part of England. - -“We have tea in the evening in the oak room in the tower, where Miss -Ingilby has often had much to say that is interesting, especially this -story.[161] - -“A regiment was lately passing through Derbyshire on its way to fresh -quarters in the North. The Colonel, as they stayed for the night in one -of the country towns, was invited to dine at a country-house in the -neighbourhood, and to bring any one he liked with him. Consequently he -took with him a young ensign for whom he had taken a great fancy. They -arrived, and it was a large party, but the lady of the house did not -appear till just as they were going in to dinner, and, when she -appeared, was so strangely _distraite_ and preoccupied that she scarcely -attended to anything that was said to her. At dinner, the Colonel -observed that his young companion scarcely ever took his eyes off the -lady of the house, staring at her in a way which seemed at once rude and -unaccountable. It made him observe the lady herself, and he saw that she -scarcely seemed to attend to anything said by her neighbours on either -side of her, but rather seemed, in a manner quite unaccountable, to be -listening to some one or something behind her. As soon as dinner was -over, the young ensign came to the Colonel and said, ‘Oh, do take me -away: I entreat you to take me away from this place.’ The Colonel said, -‘Indeed your conduct is so very extraordinary and unpleasant, that I -quite agree with you that the best thing we can do is to go away;’ and -he made the excuse of his young friend being ill, and ordered their -carriage. When they had driven some distance the Colonel asked the -ensign for an explanation of his conduct. He said that he could not help -it: during the whole of dinner he had seen a terrible black shadowy -figure standing behind the chair of the lady of the house, and it had -seemed to whisper to her, and she to listen to it. He had scarcely told -this, when a man on horseback rode rapidly past the carriage, and the -Colonel, recognising one of the servants of the house they had just -left, called out to know if anything was the matter. ‘Oh, don’t stop me, -sir,’ he shouted; ‘I am going for the doctor: my lady has just cut her -throat.’ - -“I may mention here a very odd adventure which the other day befell my -cousin Eliot Yorke. He had been dining with the Duke of Edinburgh at -Buckingham Palace, in company with Captain Fane, commander of H.M.S. -_Bellerophon_ on the Australian Station, who had been well known to the -Duke and Eliot when the former was in the South Pacific in command of -the _Galatea_. At a late hour Eliot and Captain Fane left the Palace to -go to their club. The night was cold and wet, and, at a crossing in -Pall-Mall, their attention was attracted by a miserable-looking little -boy, ragged and shoeless, who, even in the middle of the night, was -still plying his broom and imploring a trifle from the passers-by. -Eliot, according to his usual custom, stopped to talk to the boy before -relieving him. The child told him he was a stranger in London, that he -had walked there to seek his fortune from some place on the south-west -coast, that he was friendless, homeless, and penniless. The proprietor -of the crossing had lent it to him, with his broom, for that day only: -he had earned very little, but Eliot’s gift would secure him a lodging -for that night, and then--he supposed there was nothing for him but -starvation or the workhouse. ‘And have you really no friends or -relations in the world?’ said Eliot. ‘Well, sir, it’s the same as if I -had none; I’ve one brother, but I shall never see him again: I don’t -even know if he is alive.’--‘What is your brother’s name?’--‘He is---- a -signalman on board the _Bellerophon_, and he’s been away so long, he -must have forgotten me.’--‘It’s perfectly true,’ said Captain Fane; -‘that is the name of my signalman, and a very smart fellow he is, and I -see a strong likeness between him and the boy.’ The end of the story -was, that the two gentlemen secured a lodging for the boy, bought him -some clothes, and, through Captain Fane’s influence, he has been placed -on board one of the training vessels, the _Dreadnought_, for the -merchant service, to become a good sailor like his brother. But the -combination of coincidences is most striking and providential. The boy -only had the crossing for that one night. Captain Fane, almost the only -person in the world who could testify to the truth of the story, was -only in London for two nights; and he chanced to be walking with Eliot, -probably the only person who would have thought of stopping to talk to a -crossing-sweeper.” - - * * * * * - -“_Hickledon, Dec. 12._--I came here yesterday, cordially welcomed by -Lord and Lady Halifax, and was glad to find the John Greys here. In the -evening my dear Charlie and Lady Agnes came, but our meeting was sadly -clouded by the terrible news of poor George Grey’s[162] death at -Sandringham. Charlie had brought back many stories from Bedgebury. Mr. -Beresford Hope told him that:-- - -“His uncle Lord Decies, who had lived very much in Paris, met, somewhere -abroad, young Lionel Ashley, a brother of Lord Shaftesbury, then about -twenty-two, and living abroad, as he was, very much out at elbows. Lord -Decies remarked upon a very curious iron ring which he wore, with a -death’s-head and cross-bones upon it. ‘Oh,” said young Ashley, ‘about -that ring there is a very curious story. It was given to me by a famous -conjuring woman, Madame le Norman, to whom I went with two friends of -mine. She prophesied that we should all three die before we were -twenty-three. My two friends are already dead, and next year I shall be -twenty-three: but if you like I will give you the ring;’ and he gave it -to Lord Decies. When Lord Decies returned to Paris, Lionel Ashley came -there too, and he frequently dined with him. A short time before the -expiration of the year, at the end of which Ashley was again engaged to -dine with him, Lord Decies was sitting in his room, when the door -opened, and Lionel Ashley came in. As to what was said, Mr. Hope was not -quite clear, but the circumstances were so singular, that when he was -gone, Lord Decies rang the bell, and asked the servant who had let Mr. -Ashley into the house. ‘Mais, Milord, M. Ashley est mort hier,’ said the -servant.’[163] - -“Another curious story was that-- - -“Lord Waterford (the third Marquis) was one day standing talking to the -landlord of the little inn in the village close to his place of -Curraghmore, when some one rushed up looking very much agitated, and -said that there had been a most dreadful murder in the neighbouring -hills. ‘Then it must be the little one,’ exclaimed the landlord. ‘What -can you possibly mean?’ said Lord Waterford, feeling that the landlord’s -knowing anything about it was at the least very suspicious. ‘Well, my -lord,’ he said, ‘I am afraid you will never believe me, but I must tell -you that last night I dreamt that two men came to my inn, a tall man and -a little, and in my dream I saw the tall man murder the little man with -a very curious knife, the like of which I never saw before. I told my -wife when I woke, but she only laughed at me. To my horror, in the -course of the morning, those very two men came to my inn, and I was so -possessed by my dream, that I refused them admittance; but coming back -some time after, I found that my wife had let them in when my back was -turned. I could not turn them out of my house when they were once in it, -but going in, some time after, with some refreshments, my horror was -increased by seeing on the table between them the very knife I had seen -in my dream. Then they paid for their refreshments and went away.’ - -“The dream of the landlord and the coincidences were considered so -extraordinary, that as the bridge at Carrick-on-Suir was the only bridge -in that part, and so in a sort of sense divided the country, a watch was -put there, and in course of time a man exactly answering to the -landlord’s description crossed the bridge and was arrested. In prison, -he confessed that he had been in the cod-fishery trade with his -companion, who had boasted to him of his great earnings. He forthwith -attached himself to him, travelled with him, and watched for the -opportunity of murdering him. His weapon was a knife used in the -cod-fishery, quite unknown in those parts.”[164] - - * * * * * - -“_Hickledon, Dec. 15._--I have been indescribably happy here with -Charlie Wood, and every hour spent with him makes one more entirely feel -that there is no one like him--_no one_. - - ‘He is indeed the glass - Wherein the noble youth may dress themselves.’ - -To be with him is like breathing a pure mountain air of which one cannot -imbibe enough, and which strengthens one for weary months of other -people. One cannot give greater praise to Lady Agnes than by saying that -she is quite worthy of him. Charlie’s relation to his parents is -perfect. They often cannot agree with his High Church opinions, but he -never obtrudes his views or annoys them, and while his whole life is -what it is, could they grudge or regret what is so much to him?” - - * * * * * - -“_Dec. 27._--I have been staying at Brighton with old Mrs. Aïdé, who -looks like Cinderella’s godmother or some other good old fairy. It -amused me exceedingly to see at Brighton an entirely new phase of -society--two pleasant old ladies, daughters of Horace Smith, being its -best and leading elements. Every one was full of the ‘Rink,’ where all -the young gentlemen and all the young ladies skate all morning on dry -land, come home to luncheon, and skate again all afternoon. No balls or -picnics can promote the same degree of intimacy which is thus -engendered, young men walking about (on wheels) all day long, holding up -and assisting their partners. I heard this curious story:-- - -“The Princess Dolgorouki had been a great heiress and was a person of -great wealth and importance. One day she was driving through a village -near S. Petersburg, when she heard the clear glorious voice of a young -girl ringing through the upper air from a high window of one of the poor -houses by the wayside. So exquisitely beautiful was the voice, that the -Princess stopped her carriage to listen to it. The voice rang on and on -for some time, and, when it ceased, the Princess sent into the house to -inquire who the singer had been. ‘Oh,’ they said, ‘it is one of your own -serfs: it is the girl Anita;’ and they brought the singer out, a sweet, -simple, modest-looking girl of sixteen, and at the bidding of the -Princess she sang again, quite simply, without any shyness, in the road -by the side of the carriage. The Princess was greatly captivated by her, -and finding that she was educated beyond most of those in her condition -of life, and being at that time in want of a reader in her palace at S. -Petersburg, she took her to live with her, and Anita occupied in her -house a sort of intermediate position, arranging the flowers, and -reading when she was wanted. Gradually the Princess became very fond of -her, and gave her masters, under whom she made such astonishing -progress, that she became quite a well-educated young lady, while her -glorious voice formed the great attraction to all parties at the -Dolgorouki Palace. - -“The Princess Dolgorouki never foresaw, what actually happened, that -when her son returned from ‘the grand tour,’ which young men made then, -and found a very beautiful, interesting girl domesticated with his -mother, he would fall in love with her. When she saw that it was so, she -said to her son that she had a great regard for the girl and could not -have her affections tampered with, so that he had better go away again. -The young prince answered that he had no idea whatever of tampering with -the girl’s affections, that he loved her and believed that she loved -him, and that he meant to marry her. - -“On hearing this the fury of the Princess knew no bounds. She tried to -reason with her son, and when she found him perfectly impracticable, she -expelled him from her house and got him sent to France. She also sent -for the parents of Anita, and told them that they must look out at once -for a suitable person for her to marry, for that she must be married -before Prince Dolgorouki returned. She said that she had no complaint to -make of the girl, and that she would help her to make a good marriage by -giving her a very handsome dowry; all that she required was that she -should be married at once. Before leaving, however, Prince Dolgorouki -had found means to be alone for a few minutes with Anita, and had said -to her, ‘I know my mother well, and I know that as soon as I am gone she -will try to insist upon your marriage. She will not consider you, and -will sacrifice you to the fulfilment of her own will. Have faith, -however, in me, hold out, and believe that, however impossible it may -seem, I shall be able at the last moment to save you.’ - -“The bridegroom whom Anita’s father found was a certain Alexis -Alexandrovitch, a farmer near their village and a person in a -considerably higher position than their own. He was rich, he was much -esteemed, he was greatly in love with Anita, but he was vulgar, he was -hideous, he was almost always drunk, and Anita hated him. He came to her -father’s house and proposed. She refused him, but he persisted in -persecuting her with his attentions, and her own family tried to force -her consent by ill-treatment, half-starved her, cut her off from all -communication with others and from all her usual employments, and shut -her up in a room at the top of the house. - -“At last, when the girl’s position was becoming quite untenable and her -courage was beginning to give way, Prince Dolgorouki contrived to get a -note conveyed to her. He said, ‘I know all you are suffering; it is -impossible that you can go on like this. Pretend to accede to their -wishes. Accept Alexis Alexandrovitch, but believe that I will save you -at the last moment.’ - -“So Anita said to her father and mother that she gave in to their -wishes, that she would marry Alexis Alexandrovitch. And the wedding-day -was fixed and the wedding-feast was prepared. And the old Princess -Dolgorouki gave not only a very handsome dowry, but a very splendid set -of peasant’s jewellery to the bride. She did not intend to be present at -the ceremony herself, but she would send her major-domo to represent -her. - -“The wedding-day arrived, and the bride went with her family to the -church, which was darkened, with candles burning everywhere. And Alexis -Alexandrovitch also arrived, rather more drunk than usual. The church -was thronged with people from end to end, for the place was within a -drive of S. Petersburg, and it was fine weather, and hundreds of persons -who remembered Anita and had admired her wonderful voice at the -Dolgorouki palace drove out to see her married. According to the custom -of the Greek Church, the register was brought to be signed before the -ceremony. He signed his name ‘Alexis Alexandrovitch,’ and she signed -her name ‘Anita.’ And the service began, and the crowd pressed thicker -and thicker round the altar, and there was a constant struggle to see. -And the service went on, and the crowd pressed more closely still, and -somehow in the press the person who stood next to Anita was not Alexis -Alexandrovitch, and the service went on, and Anita was married, and then -the crowd opened to let the bridal pair pass through, and Anita walked -rapidly down the church on the arm of her bridegroom, and it was not -Alexis Alexandrovitch, and it was Prince Dolgorouki. And a carriage and -four was waiting at the church door, and the bridal pair leapt into it -and were whirled rapidly away. - -“The old Princess Dolgorouki sent at once to stop them at the frontier, -but the flight had been so well arranged, that she was too late. Then -she swore (having everything in her own power) that she would cut off -her son without a penny, and that she would never see him again. Happy -in each other’s love, however, the young Prince and Princess Dolgorouki -lived at Paris, where, though they were poor, Anita’s wonderful voice -could always keep them from want. There, their two children were born. -Four years elapsed, and they heard nothing from their Russian home. Then -the family lawyer in S. Petersburg wrote to say that the old Princess -Dolgorouki was dead. Whether she had repented of disinheriting her son -and had destroyed her will before her death, or whether she had put off -making her unjust will till it was too late, no one ever knew. The will -of disinheritance was never found, and her son was the heir of all his -mother’s vast estates. - -“The young couple set out with their children for Russia to take -possession, but it was in the depth of winter, the Prince was very -delicate, and the change to the fierce cold of the north made him very -ill, and at some place on the frontier--Wilna, I think--he died. The -unhappy widow continued her journey with her children to S. Petersburg, -but when she arrived, the heir-at-law had taken possession of -everything. ‘But I am here; I am the Princess Dolgorouki,’ she said. -‘No,’ was the answer; ‘you have been residing for four years with Prince -Dolgorouki, but the person you married was Alexis Alexandrovitch, and -the register in which you both signed your names before your marriage -exists to prove it.’ A great lawsuit ensued, in which the young widow -lost almost all the money she had, and eventually she lost her lawsuit -too, and retired in great penury to Warsaw, where she maintained herself -and her children by singing and giving music lessons. - -“But at Warsaw, as at Paris, her beauty and gentleness, and the patience -with which she bore her misfortunes, made her a general favourite. -Amongst those who became devoted to her was a young lawyer, who examined -into the evidence of the trial which had taken place, and then, going to -her, urged her to try again. She resisted, saying that the case was -hopelessly lost, and besides, that she was too poor to reopen it. The -lawyer said, ‘If you regain the vast Dolgorouki inheritance, you can pay -me something: it will be a drop in the ocean to you; but if the lawsuit -fails I shall expect no payment.’ So she let him try. - -“Now the lawyer knew that there was no use in contending against the -register, but he also felt that as--according to his view--in the eyes -of God his client had been Princess Dolgorouki, there was no harm in -tampering with that register if it was possible. It was no use, however, -to alter it, as hundreds of witnesses existed who had seen the register -as it was, and who knew that it contained the name of Alexis -Alexandrovitch as the husband of Anita, for the trial had drawn -attention to it from all quarters. It was also most difficult to see the -register at all, because it was now most carefully guarded. But at last -there came a time when the young lawyer was not only able to see the -register, but when for three minutes he was left alone with it. And he -took advantage of those three minutes to do what? - -“He scratched out the name, or part of the name of Alexis -Alexandrovitch, and he wrote the name of Alexis Alexandrovitch over -again. - -“Then when people came and said, ‘But here is the register--here is the -name of Alexis Alexandrovitch,’ he said, ‘Yes, there is certainly the -name of Alexis Alexandrovitch, but if you examine, you will find that it -is written over something else which has been scratched out.’ - -“And the case was tried again, and the young widow was reinstated in the -Dolgorouki property, and she was the grandmother of the present Prince -Dolgorouki.” - - * * * * * - -“_Holmhurst, Dec. 28._--Lea says, ‘You may put ought to ought (0 to 0) -and ought to ought till it reaches to London, and it will all come to -nothing at last if you don’t put another figure to it’--apropos of Mr. -G. P. neglecting to do his duty.” - - * * * * * - -“_Battle Abbey, Jan. 26, 1875._--The news of dear Lady Carnarvon’s death -came yesterday as a shadow over everything. Surely never was there a -more open, lovable, unselfish, charming, and truly noble character. She -was the one person in England capable ‘tenir salon,’ to succeed--in a -far more charming way--to Lady Palmerston’s celebrity in that respect. - - ‘Sat vixit, bene qui vixit spatium brevis aevi: - Ignavi numerant tempore, laude boni.’ - -Apparently radiant with happiness, and shedding happiness on all around -her, she yet had often said latterly that she ‘did not feel that the -compensations made up for the anxieties of life,’ and that she longed to -be at rest. - -“In the agreeable party at Battle it has been a great pleasure to find -the French Ambassador and the Comtesse de Jarnac. Lord Stanhope is here, -and has talked pleasantly as usual. Apropos of the custom of the living -always closing the eyes of the dead, he reminded us of the admirable -inscription over the door of the library at Murcia, ‘Here the dead -_open_ the eyes of the living.’ - -“He said how the Pineta at Ravenna was really a change in gender from -the original name Pinetum in the singular: first it had become the -plural of that; then Pineta itself had become a singular word. - -“He described a dreary Sunday spent in Sabbatarian Glasgow, and how, -everything else being shut up and forbidden, he had betaken himself for -hours to examining the epitaphs in the churchyard, and at length found a -single verse which atoned for the badness of all the rest:-- - - ‘Shed not for me the bitter tear, - Nor pour for me the vain regret, - For though the casket is not here, - The gem within it sparkles yet.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Jan. 27._--Count Nesselrode has come. He has been describing to the -Duchess how parents are always proposing to him for their beautiful -young girls of fifteen or sixteen. He says that he answers, ‘Est que à -mon âge je puis songer à me marier?’ and that they reply, ‘Avec le nom -que vous portez, M. le Comte, on est toujours jeune.’ ... ‘et ça me -donne le chair de poule.’ - -“On the Duchess asking Count Nesselrode after his sons, he said they -were at a tutor’s, ‘pour former le cœur et l’esprit.’ - -“There used to be a ghost at Battle Abbey. Old Lady Webster told Mr. -Hussey of Scotney Castle how she saw it soon after her marriage, an old -woman of most terrible aspect, who drew the curtains of her bed and -looked in. Immediately after, Sir Godfrey came into the room. ‘Who was -that old woman?’ she said. ‘There could have been no old woman.’ ‘Oh, -yes, there was, and you must have met her in the passage, for she has -only just gone out of the room.’ In her old age Lady Webster would -describe the pattern on the old woman’s dress, and say that she should -recognise it anywhere.” - -[Illustration: THE PINETA, RAVENNA.][165] - - * * * * * - -“_Holmhurst, Feb. 1._--A long visit to Lord Stratford de Redcliffe in -Lady Jocelyn’s singular house at St. Leonards, which you enter from the -top story. Lord Stratford is a grand old man with high forehead and -flowing white hair. He can no longer walk, and sits in his -dressing-gown, but his artistic daughters make him very picturesque, -hanging his chair with a shade of purple which matches the lining and -cuffs of his dressing-gown, &c. He talked of many different people he -had seen, of Goethe, ‘who had a very high forehead’ (but ‘the highest -forehead known was that of the immortal Shakspeare, who had every great -quality that could exist phrenologically’), and then he spoke of -Mezzofanti, whom he had known personally in Italy, and who had told him -the story of his life. He had been a carpenter’s apprentice, and had one -day been at his work outside the open window of a school where a master -was teaching. Having a smattering of Greek, which he had taught himself, -he felt sure that he detected the master in giving a wrong explanation. -This worried him so much that he could not get it out of his head, and, -after the school and his own work were both over, he rang the bell and -begged to see the master. ‘I was at work, sir, and I heard you speaking, -and I think you gave such and such an explanation in Greek.’--‘Well, and -what do you know about Greek?’--‘Not much, sir; but, if you will forgive -my saying so, I am sure you will find, if you examine, that the -explanation was not the correct one.’ The master found that the young -carpenter was right, and it led to his obtaining friends and being -educated. Lord Stratford said that Mezzofanti spoke English perfectly to -him, and excellent modern Greek to his servant, and yet that, apart from -his wonderful versatility in languages, he seemed to be rather a dull -man than otherwise, utterly wanting in originality. - -“Lord Stratford described going to dine one day with his agent, and -meeting there a lady whose name he did not catch, but whom he was told -to take down to dinner. In the course of dinner the conversation turned -upon some subject of mathematics, ‘And then,’ said Lord Stratford, ‘I -did what I have never done at any other time on a mathematical -question. I tried to explain it and make it easy for my companion, who -listened with polite attention. When I went upstairs I inquired her -name, and it was ... Mrs. Somerville! I knew her intimately afterwards, -and she told me something of her early life, which I regret should not -have appeared in her memoirs. Her childhood was passed in Burntisland, -whither her brother returned for his holidays, having some school-work -to do whilst at home. One day, when he was called out, she took up the -Euclid he had been studying. ‘Ah! what curious little designs! let me -see if I can understand what it is about.’ And she found that she could, -and devoured Euclid with avidity. Afterwards she got hold of her -brother’s Æschylus and taught herself Greek in order to read it. - -“Lord Stratford talked much of the extraordinary change, not only in -politics, but in ‘the way of carrying on politics,’ since he was young.” - - * * * * * - -“_69 Onslow Square, Feb. 4._--Aunt Sophy[166] had a pleasant party -yesterday of Theodore Martins, Lady Barker, &c. Mrs. Theodore Martin’s -is a fine illuminative face, like that of Madame Goldschmidt. As Helen -Faucit she was celebrated as an actress and as having done her utmost to -elevate the stage; but I do not admire her reading of Shakspeare, in -which I think there is too much manner. He is evidently most excellent. -He talked perfectly simply, but only when asked, of his intercourse with -the Queen, with whom he must be on happy terms of mutual confidence. - - * * * * * - -“_Feb. 7, 1875._--Yesterday, when I was with Louisa, Lady Ashburton, at -Kent House, which is being beautifully arranged, Lady Bloomfield came in -and then Mr. Carlyle--weird and grim, with his long coat and tall -wizard-befitting hat. He talked in volumes, with fathomless depths of -adjectives, into which it was quite impossible to follow him, and in -which he himself often got out of his depth. A great deal was about -Garibaldi, who was the ‘most absolute incarnation of zero, but the -inexplicable perversity and wilfulness of the human race had taken him -up, poor creature, and set him on a pedestal.’ Then he went on about -‘the poor old Pope, so filled with all the most horrible and detestable -lies that ever were conceived or thought of.’ He was like the man who -asked his friends to dinner and said, ‘I am going to give you a piece of -the most delicious beef--the most exquisite beef that ever was eaten,’ -and all the while it was only a piece of stale brown bread; but the host -said to his guests, ‘May God damn your souls for ever and ever, if you -don’t believe it’s beef,’ so they ate it and said nothing. - -“Then he talked of the books of Mazzini, which were ‘well worth -reading,’ and of Saffi, ‘made professor of something at Oxford, where he -used to give lectures in a moth-eaten voice.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Feb. 11._--Sir Garnet and Lady Wolseley, Miss Thackeray, and others -dined. I was not prepared to like Sir Garnet much, a hero is usually so -dull, but he is charming, so frank and candid, and most natural as well -as good-looking. He has a very young face, though his hair is grey, -almost white. Lady Wolseley is remarkably pretty and attractive; Sir -Garnet was quite devoted to drawing, and had a great collection of -sketches, the work of his life. In the Crimea he drew everything, and it -was a most precious collection; but in returning it was all lost at sea. -The rest of his drawings he put into the Pantechnicon, where they were -every one of them burnt. Miss Thackeray has a sweet voice, which is -music in every tone. - -“I have frequently seen lately, at the Lefevres’, old Lord Redesdale, -with whom we have some distant cousinship through my Mitford -great-grandmother. He is very kind, clever, old-fashioned, and always -wears a tail-coat. He took us into the far-away by telling us of having -heard his father, Speaker Mitford, describe having known a man in -Swaledale named Rievely, whose earliest recollection was of being -carried across the Swale by Henry Jenkyns (who lived to 160), who -recollected having gone as a boy, with a sheaf of arrows and his elder -brother on a pony, from Ellerton in Swaledale to Northallerton, to join -the army before the battle of Flodden. He would tell all about the -battle in a familiar way--‘the King was not there; but the Duke of -Suffolk was there,’ &c. - -“Much of the conversation in certain houses is now about Moody and -Sankey, the American ‘revivalists,’ who are supposed to ‘produce great -effects.’ Moody preaches and Sankey sings. They are adored by some, -others (including most Americans) think them ‘mere religious -charlatans’--and altogether they offer a famous opportunity for all the -barking and biting which ‘truly religious people’ often delight in.” - - * * * * * - -“_Feb. 20._--Dined with the Rafe Leycesters in Cheyne Walk, where they -have a charming old manor-house with a stone gateway, flagged walk, -ancient bay-trees, a wide staircase, and panelled rooms. Mrs. Leycester -was picturesquely dressed like a picture by Millais. The company were -Mr. and Mrs. Haweis, Mr. and Mrs. Tom Taylor, and the Augustus -Tollemaches. It was an agreeable party, and a pleasant dinner in a room -redolent of violets.” - - * * * * * - -“_Feb. 21._--Dined with Lady Margaret Beaumont, who talked of dress and -the distinction of a gown by Worth, which ‘not only looked well, but -_walked_ well.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Thorncombe, Feb. 27._--This place is a dell in the undulating hills -about five miles from Guildford, very pretty and pleasant; and our new -cousin, Edward Fisher, to whom it belongs, is one of the kindest, -cheeriest, pleasantest fellows who ever entered a family. - -“We have been to see Loseley, which belongs to my old college -acquaintance Molyneux--a grand old house, gabled and grey, with a great -hall, and richly carved chimney-pieces of white chalk, which looks like -marble. It has three ghosts, a green-coated hunter, a sallow lady, and a -warrior in plate-armour. The last appeared to the kitchen-maid as she -was drawing some beer in the cellar, and almost frightened her out of -her wits.” - - * * * * * - -“_London, March 7, Sunday._--Breakfast at Lord Houghton’s, who has -adopted Rogers’ custom of social breakfasts. It was a very amusing -party--Joaquin Miller[167] the American writer, Henry Cowper, Lord -Arthur Russell, &c. There was a young man there whom I did not notice -much at first, but I soon found that he was very remarkable, and then -that he was very charming indeed. It was Lord Rosebery. He has a most -sweet gravity almost always, but when his expression does light up, it -is more than an illumination--it is a conflagration, at which all around -him take light. Joaquin Miller would have been thought insufferably -vulgar if he had not been a notoriety: as it was, every one paid court -to him. However, I ought not to abuse him, as he suddenly turned round -to me and said, ‘Do you know, I’m glad to meet you, for you write books -that I can read.’ Quantities of good stories were told--one of a party -given by George IV. as Prince Regent to the Irish peer Lord Coleraine. -Smoking was allowed. After supper, when Lady Jersey drank, the Regent -kissed the spot upon the cup where her lips had rested: upon which the -Princess took a pipe from Lord Coleraine’s mouth, blew two or three -whiffs, and handed it back to him. The Prince was quite furious, but it -was a lesson.” - - * * * * * - -“_Holmhurst, March 14._--Went to see Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, who -talked incessantly and most agreeably for an hour. He said how surprised -he had been to read in the ‘Greville Memoirs’ of himself as -ill-tempered; he always thought he was ‘rather a good-tempered sort of -fellow.’ It was Madame de Lieven who said that, and she had always -hated him. She prevented him having an embassy once, but they made -peace afterwards through a compliment he paid her at Paris. He talked of -Madame de Lieven’s extraordinary influence, arising chiefly from our -inherent national passion for foreigners. - -“I asked Lord Stratford which he thought the most interesting of the -many places in which he had lived. He said, ‘Oh, England is the most -interesting by far.’ He described his first going out to Constantinople, -before he had taken his degree, only going for four months, and staying -for four or five years in a position equal to a Minister. He took his -degree afterwards, and by literary merit, though there was a way then of -giving degrees to those who were employed in the public service, and -since then they had made him a doctor of both Universities. Now, in his -helplessness, he amused himself by writing Greek verses. Once, walking -about his room, he thought, ‘Well, I have often written Latin verses; -let me see if I can write Greek.’ And his Greek has all come back to -him.” - - * * * * * - -The enormous circulation of the “Memorials of a Quiet Life” in the two -years which had elapsed since its publication astonished those who were -opposed to it; and in America the sale had been even greater than in -England. Numbers of Americans had come to England entirely from the -desire to visit the different scenes of my mother’s quiet life, and had -gone in turn to Toft, Stoke, Alton, Hurstmonceaux, Holmhurst, and some -even to the distant grave of Lucy Hare at Abbots Kerswell. At Holmhurst -there were frequently many sets of visitors in a day--“pilgrims” we used -to call them,--and even if I was at home I could never bear to refuse -them admittance, while to my dear old Lea, who was in very poor health -at this time, they were a positive benefit, in rousing her from dwelling -upon sad recollections. It was in answer to a constantly expressed -desire that, in the autumn of 1874, I occupied myself with the third -volume of the Memorials, containing more of my mother’s thoughts upon -especial subjects, and photographs from family portraits and of the -places described in the first two volumes. The book was, as it were, a -gift to the public. It had a large circulation, but no remuneration -whatever was ever looked for or obtained. Soon after the publication of -the volume, a review appeared in the _Spectator_ (July 8, 1876), -speaking of “the veiled self-conceit” with which Mr. Hare had placed -himself “upon the voluminous records of his family as upon a pedestal;” -that Mrs. Hare was far from being honoured by “the capital” her adopted -son had made of her, though, “if his public likes and is willing to pay -for the contents of the family album, there is nothing more to be -said.... Here, however, let us be thankful, is, so far as anything can -be predicated safely on such a subject, the last of the ‘Memorials,’ and -that is so grateful a thought as to justify tolerance of what already -is.” It seemed a singular review to have been admitted by the -_Spectator_, which, four years before (December 11, 1872), had written -of the “Memorials” as containing “passage after passage worthy of -comment or quotation,” and as “an interesting record of spiritual -conflicts and spiritual joy, free from narrowness and fanaticism, and -marked throughout by the most guileless sincerity.” I suppose that -editors of reviews, when biassed by intense personal feeling, often -trust to the public having forgotten what has appeared before in their -pages. - -Annually, I had tried to make my dearest mother’s home as useful as -possible to all those in whom she was most nearly interested, as well as -to keep up her charities, especially at Alton. It had also been a great -pleasure, with what my books produced, to fit up a cottage close to -Holmhurst as a Hospice for needy persons of a better class. These I have -always invited to come for a month at a time, their travelling expenses -being fully paid, and firing, linen, farm and garden produce, with an -outfit of grocery, being supplied to them. Many are the interesting and -pleasant persons whom I have thus become acquainted with, many the -touching cases of sorrow and suffering with which I have come in -contact. In the month of October the Deaconesses of St. Peter’s, Eaton -Square, for several years occupied the Hospice, and they generally -remained over All Saints’ Day, when they sang the Te Deum in the field -round the twisted tree where the dear mother used to sit--“the Te Deum -tree.” - -In the spring of 1875 I was obliged to go to Italy again, to continue -collecting materials for my “Cities of Northern and Central Italy.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ MARY LEA GIDMAN. - -“_Rimini, April 4, 1875._--I made my first long lonely expedition from -Turin, going for an hour by rail to the town of S. Ambrogio, and then -walking up through the forests to the top of the high mountain of S. -Michele, where there is a famous monastery in which the sovereigns of -the country--Dukes of Savoy--used to be buried many hundreds of years -ago. It is a wonderful place, quite on the highest peak, looking into -the great gorges of snow. As I was sketching, the old Abbot was led by -on his mule, and stopped to speak to me. I found he was a famous -missionary preacher--Carlo Caccia--and had been in England, where he -knew Lord Bute well, and was very glad to hear of him. So we made great -friends, and as he was going to Turin for Easter, we travelled back -together. - -[Illustration: IL SAGRO DI S. MICHELE.][168] - -“From Turin I went to Parma, where I had a great deal of work to finish. -The cold there was ferocious, but I made the great excursion I went -for--to Canossa, where the Emperor Henry IV. performed his famous -penance, though it is a most dreadfully fatiguing walk, either in snow -above the knees, or in the furrows of streams from the melted snow. At -Bologna I never saw anything like the snow--as high as the top of the -omnibus, and darkening the lower windows, with a way cut through it -down the middle of the street. I had the same room at the Hotel S. Marco -which you and the dear Mother had for those anxious days in 1870, and of -course I seemed to _see_ her there, and it was a very sad visit. The -Librarian told me that hundreds of people had been to look at the -portrait of Clotilda Tambroni since reading the ‘Memorials.’ - -[Illustration: CANOSSA.][169] - -“We slept here once in 1857, but did not appreciate Rimini properly -then, I think, for it is a charming place, with a delightful seashore -and interesting old town; but the country is strange and wild, and -there is not a sign of vegetation on the hedges; so that when I remember -the buds on the deutzia opposite your window at Holmhurst, it seems most -dismal in Italy.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS WRIGHT. - -[Illustration: URBINO.][170] - -“_Citta di Castello, April 12, 1875._--It is very cold in Italy, but -glorious weather now--ceaseless sunshine and the pellucid skies of -Perugino. I have been many great excursions already; to the Sagro di S. -Michele, to desolate Canossa, and to S. Marino and the extraordinary S. -Leo near Rimini. Then from Forli I paid an interesting visit to Count -Saffi, one of the Roman triumvirate, whom I had known well at Oxford, -and who lives, with his wife (Miss Craufurd of Portincross) and many -children, in a farmhouse-like villa near the town. At Ancona, Charlie -Dalison came to meet me, a pleasant change after much silence and -solitude. We went together to Loreto, and next day a dreary journey to -Urbino, which is more curious than beautiful, though there is a noble -old palace of its Dukes. It was a thirteen hours’ drive thence through -hideous country to Gubbio, where the inns are wretched, but the town -full of interest. Charlie left me at Perugia, and I came on here into -the Piero della Francesca country, which is more instructive than -captivating.” - -[Illustration: GUBBIO.][171] - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL. - -“_Forli, April 2._--In one of the old churches here is the tomb of -Barbara Ordelaffi, wife of the Lord of Forli, who was one of the most -intensely wicked women of her own or any other age. But her tomb is -indescribably lovely, her figure, that of quite a young girl, lying upon -its marble sarcophagus with a look of innocence and simplicity which can -scarcely be equalled. - -“The tomb is in a side-chapel, separated by a heavy railing from the -church. Inside this railing, in an arm-chair, with his eyes constantly -fixed upon the marble figure, sat this morning a very old gentleman, -paralysed and unable to move, wrapped in a fur cloak. As I looked in at -the rails, he said, ‘And you also are come to see Barbara; how beautiful -she is, is not she?’ I acquiesced, and he said, ‘For sixty years I have -come constantly to see her. It is everything to me to be here. It is the -love and the story of my life. No one I have ever known is half so -beautiful as Barbara Ordelaffi. You have not looked at her yet long -enough, but gradually you will learn this. Every one must love Barbara. -I am carried here now; I cannot walk, but I cannot live without seeing -her. My servants bring me; they put me here; I can gaze at her figure, -then I am happy. At eleven o’clock my servants will come, and I shall be -taken home, but they will bring me again to see Barbara in the -afternoon.’ - -“I remained in the church. At eleven o’clock the servants came. They -took up the old gentleman and carried him up to the monument to bid it -farewell, and then out to his carriage; but in the afternoon, said the -Sacristan, they would come again, for he always spent most of the day -with Barbara Ordelaffi; when he was alone with the marble figure, he was -quite quiet and happy, and as they always locked him into the chapel, he -could never come to any harm.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ MARY LEA GIDMAN. - -“_Florence, April 28._--On Monday I went to the excellent inn at Lucca, -and on Tuesday to the Bagni. Never was a place less altered--only one -new house, I think, and very pretty and rural it all looked. I went up -to the dear old Casa Bertini, and into the little garden looking down on -the valleys, quite as pretty as my recollection of it. Quintilia (our -maid) was enchanted to see me, but has grown into a very old woman, -though only sixty-three. - -“I liked Lucca better than all the other places. It was the festival of -S. Zita when I was there, who was made a saint because she had been such -a good servant for forty years. I thought, if my dear Lea had lived in -those days, how she would have had a chance of being canonised.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS WRIGHT. - -“_Florence, May 2, 1875._--No words can express the fatigue or -discomfort of my Tuscan tour. The food, in the mountain convents -especially, was disgusting--little but coarse bread with oil and garlic; -the inns were filthy and the beds damp; and the travelling, in carts or -on horseback, most fatiguing, often sixteen hours a day. And yet--and -yet how thrilling is the interest of Monte Oliveto, S. Gemignano, -Volterra, La Vernia, Camaldoli!” - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL. - -[Illustration: LA VERNIA.][172] - -“_Castagnuolo, May 3._--I am writing from the old country palace of the -Marchese Lotteria Lotharingo della Stufa. It is reached by driving from -Florence through the low envineyarded country for five miles. Then, on -the left, under the hills, one sees what looks like a great old barrack, -grimy, mossy, and deserted. This is the villa. All outside is decay, but -when you enter, there are charming old halls and chambers, connected by -open arches, and filled with pictures, china, books, and beautiful old -carved furniture. A terrace, lined with immense vases of lilies and -tulips, opens on a garden with vine-shaded pergolas and huge -orange-trees in tubs; and beyond are the wooded hills. - -[Illustration: CAMALDOLI.][173] - -“The Marchese is charming, living in the hearts of his people, sharing -all their interests, working with them--taking off his coat and tucking -up his sleeves to join in the sheep-shearing, gathering the grapes in -the vintage, &c. But the presiding genius of the place is Mrs. Ross -(Janet Duff Gordon), who has redeemed lands, planted vineyards, -introduced new plans for pressing the grapes--whose whole heart and soul -are in the work here.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS WRIGHT. - -“_Vicenza, May 20, 1875._--I have been to Genoa and Pegli, and to -Piacenza again for a tremendous excursion of sixty-eight miles, -eighteen riding on a white mule, to the grave of S. Columbano in the -high Apennines. After this, the Italian lakes were comparative rest. I -thought the Lago d’Iseo far the most beautiful of them all. To-day I -have been on a family pilgrimage to Valdagno, where my grandmother lived -so happily, and where my uncle Julius Hare was born. There is much also -here in Vicenza to remind me of a later past, for opposite the window of -this room are the trees in the Marchese Salvi’s garden, where my dearest -Mother took her last walks.” - -[Illustration: BOBBIO.][174] - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL. - -“_Herrenalb, in the Black Forest, June 14._--A week at Venice was a -great refreshment. Then I crossed the S. Gothard to Lucerne and came on -here. The semi-mountain air of this lovely place is as refreshing to the -body as the pure high-minded Bunsen character is to the soul. A little -branch railway brought me from the main line to Gernsbach, a pretty -clean German village with picturesque gabled houses girding a lovely -river. Hence it is a charming drive of two hours through forest into the -highlands, where the wood-clad hills break occasionally into fine crags. -Herrenalb itself takes its name from the abbey on the little river Alb, -while a monastery for women on the same stream a few miles off gives its -name to ‘Frauenalb.’ The former is Protestant now, the latter is still -Catholic, but in the valley of Herrenalb are the immense buildings of -the abbey, its great granaries with wooden pillars, and the ruins of its -Norman church. - -[Illustration: LOVERE, LAGO D’ISEO.][175] - -[Illustration: _Frances Baroness Bunsen 1874_] - -“Frances de Bunsen and one of her Sternberg nieces met me in the -valley, and we were soon joined by the dear old Frau von Bunsen in her -donkey-chair. At eighty-six her wonderful power of mind and charm of -intellect and conversation are quite unimpaired. She has still the rare -art, described by Boileau, ‘passer du grave au doux, du plaisant au -sévère.’ The whole family breakfast at seven, and for an hour before -that the dear Grandmother is in the little terraced garden, examining -and tending her flowers. The house is full of souvenirs: in the -Baroness’s own room is a large frame with photographs of all her -numerous descendants, sent by the Grand Duchess of Baden to greet her -first arrival in this her new country home.” - - * * * * * - -To this happy visit at Herrenalb, and to the long conversations I used -to have with my dear old friend, walking beside her donkey-chair in the -forest, I owe the power of having been able to write her Memoirs two -years afterwards. It was my last sight of this old friend of my -childhood. I returned from Herrenalb to England. - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL. - -“_London, June 23, 1875._--Called on Mrs. Leslie in her glorious old -house in Stratford Place, which is beautiful because all the colour is -subdued, no new gilding or smartness. She herself sat in the window -embroidering, with the bright sunlight just glinting on her rippled hair -and sweet face, at once a picture and a poem.” - - * * * * * - -[Illustration: LAMBETH, INNER COURT.][176] - -“_June 26._--A great party at Lambeth Palace, the lawn and its many -groups of people very charming. Going in to tea with Miss Elliot down a -narrow passage, I came suddenly upon Arthur Stanley. In that moment I am -sure we both tried hard to recollect what had so entirely separated us -for five years, but we could not, and shook hands. The Spanish Lady -Stanley seeing this, threw up her hands--‘Gratias a Deo! O gratias a -Deo! una reconciliatiōn!’ - -“In the evening there was an immense party at Lady Salisbury’s to meet -the Sultan of Zanzibar.[177] He had a cold, so sent to say he could not -have the windows opened; the consequence of which was, that with -thousands of wax-lights and crowds of people, the heat was awful, -positively his native climate. The Sultan has a good, sensible, clever, -amused face, but cannot speak a word of any language except Arabic, of -which Lady Salisbury said that she had learnt some sentences by the end -of the evening, from hearing them repeated so often through the -interpreter, and at last ventured to air her new acquirements herself. -When the Sultan went away, the suite followed two and two--a picturesque -procession. Lord Salisbury walked first, leading the Sultan, or rather -holding his right hand in his own left, which it seems is the right -thing to do. The Sultan was immensely struck by Lady Caithness, and no -wonder, for her crown of three gigantic rows of diamonds, and then huge -diamonds and emeralds, had the effect of a sunlit wave in the -Mediterranean.” - - * * * * * - -“_June 27, Sunday._--To Holland House. Lady Holland sat at the end -window, looking on the garden, with a group round her. I went out with -Lord Halifax, then with Everard Primrose, who appeared as usual from the -library, and a third time with Lord Stanhope, who took me afterwards in -his carriage to Airlie Lodge. There the garden was in great beauty, and -we met Lady Airlie sauntering through its green walks with the Duke of -Teck. We went to sit in a tent, where we found Mr. Doyle, Mr. Cheney, -and a young lady who greeted me with, ‘Now, Mr. Hare, may I ask if you -never _can_ remember me, or if you always intend to cut me on purpose?’ -It was Miss Rhoda Broughton. - -“Lady Airlie talked of the death of Madame Rossetti. Her husband[178] -felt so completely that all his living interests were buried with his -wife, that he laid his unpublished poems under her dead head, and they -were buried with her. But, after a year had passed, his feeling about -his wife was calmed, while the longing for his poems grew daily, and -people urged him that he was forcing a loss upon the world. And the -coffin of the poor lady was taken up and opened to get at the poems, and -behold her beautiful golden hair had grown and grown till the whole -coffin was filled with it--filled with it and rippling over.[179] Lady -Airlie had the account from an eye-witness. For one moment Madame -Rossetti was visible in all her radiant loveliness, as if she were -asleep, then she sank into dust. She was buried with her Testament under -her pillow on one side and her husband’s poems on the other. - -“The Duke of Teck looked very handsome and was most pleasant and -amiable. He said that an old lady in Germany, an ancestress of his, had -the most glorious pearl necklace in the world, and when she died, she -desired that the pearl necklace might be buried with her. And the family -were very sorry to part with their aged relative, but they were still -more sorry to part with the family jewels; and in time their grief for -the old lady was assuaged, but their grief for the pearl necklace was -never assuaged at all, and at last there came a moment when they dug up -the coffin, and took the pearl necklace from the aged neck. But behold -the pearls were quite spoilt and had lost all their lustre and beauty. -Then pearl-doctors were summoned, men who were learned in such things, -and they said that the only thing which would restore the beauty of the -pearls would be if three beautiful young ladies would wear them -constantly, and let the pearls drink in all their youth and beauty. So -the eldest daughter of the house took them and wore them constantly, and -all the beauty and brilliancy of her loveliness flowed into the pearls, -which grew brighter and better every day. And as her beauty faded, -another daughter of the house took them, and so three beautiful young -ladies took them and wore them in three generations, till, when sixty -years were passed, the pearls were so beautiful and glorious, so filled -with youth and radiancy, that there is no such pearl necklace in the -whole world.” - - * * * * * - -“_June 28._--Luncheon with dear old Lady Grey. Then to Lady Wharncliffe, -who looked very lovely seated beneath a great blue-green vase filled -with lilies. - -“The way young men now weary their friends to ask for invitations for -them is almost as contemptible as the conduct of the ladies who ask -others to invite their guests for them that they may ‘get into society.’ -‘Que ne fait-on pour trouver un faux bonheur!’ says Fénélon; ‘quels -rebuts, quelles traverses n’endure t’on point pour un fantôme de gloire -mondaine! quelles peines pour de misérables plaisirs dont il ne reste -que des remords.’” - - * * * * * - -“_June 29._--With the Archbishop of Dublin, Miss Trench, and Lady -Charles Clinton to Strawberry Hill, the ‘little plaything house’ of -Horace Walpole. It had been so wet that one had almost to wade from the -station to the house, and the beautiful breakfast was sopping in a tent -on the mossy lawn, so little being left in the house that the Princess -of Wales had to drink her tea out of a tumbler in a corner. Still the -interior of the house was full of interest--the historic pictures, -especially those of the three beautiful Waldegrave sisters, and of -Maria, Duchess of Gloucester; and then in the gallery are, by Sant and -Bucknor, all the especial friends of the house--all the beautiful -persons who have stayed there. - -“Lady Waldegrave[180] (assisted by art) looked twenty-five years younger -than she did twenty-five years ago. The Princess of Wales, in a pink -dress under black lace and a little hat to match, copied as a whole from -pictures of Anne Boleyn, looked lovely. - -“In the evening I went to Lady Salisbury’s reception. At the latter was -the Sultan of Zanzibar. Suddenly, in the midst of the party, he said to -Lady Salisbury, ‘Now, please, it is my time to say my prayers: I should -like to go into your room, and to be alone for ten minutes.’ And he did, -and he does it four times a day, and never allows anything whatever to -interfere with it. The Archbishop of Dublin, when presented, said, ‘I am -glad to have the honour of being presented to a man who has made a -promise and _kept_ it.’ The Sultan answered, ‘It can only be your -goodness which makes you say that.’” - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS LEYCESTER. - -“_How_ glad I am that we do not agree about Sunday. I think your view of -‘the Sabbath’ so entirely derogatory to all the dignity and beauty of -Christianity, and I cannot understand any one not becoming an infidel, -if they think God so _mean_ as to suppose that He would consider ‘His -day’ (though Sunday is only the Church’s day, all days are God’s days) -dishonoured by walking with one’s intimate friends in a garden, or -having tea in another garden with several persons, all infinitely better -and wiser than oneself. ‘I am amazed,’ says Professor Amiel, ‘at the -vast amount of Judaism, of formalism, that still exists, eighteen -centuries after the Redeemer’s declaration that the letter killeth.... -Christian liberty has yet to be won.’” - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL. - -“_June 30._--A very pleasant party in the Duke of Argyll’s garden, in -spite of a wet afternoon; all the little golden-haired daughters of the -house very kind in entertaining the guests. I returned with Louisa, Lady -Ashburton, to her beautiful Kent House. The rooms, hung with yellow, -with black doors and picture-frames, are very effective. There are some -semi-ruined cartoons of Paul Veronese upon the staircase. - -“In the evening I went to Lady Margaret Beaumont’s to meet the Queen of -the Netherlands, ‘La Reine Rouge,’ as she is often called from her -revolutionary tendencies. She sat at the end of the room, a pleasant -natural woman, with fuzzy hair done very wide in curls, and a quaint -little diamond crown as an ornament at the back. She was most agreeable -in conversation, and, as Prosper Merimée says in one of his letters to -Panizzi, ‘would have been quite perfection, if she had not wished to -appear a Frenchwoman, having had the misfortune to be born in -Würtemburg.’” - - * * * * * - -“_July 1._--Luncheon at Lord Stanhope’s to meet Miss Rhoda Broughton. -Lord Stanhope aired one of his pet hobbies--the virtues of the novel -‘Anastasius.’ Mrs. Hussey says that his father used to say of him, ‘My -son is often very prosy, but then he has been _vaccinated_;’ for the -fourth Earl Stanhope had a familiar of whom he always spoke as ‘Tesco,’ -and Tesco had inveighed against vaccination to him, and had told him -that to be vaccinated had always the effect of making the recipient -prosy. - -“Mrs. Hussey mentioned this at a dinner to Mr. John Abel Smith, who -exclaimed, ‘Oh, that accounts for what has always hitherto been a -mystery to me. I went with that Lord Stanhope to hear a man named -Belloni lecture on “the Tuscan Language,” and we sat behind him on the -platform. He was most terribly lengthy. Suddenly, Lord Stanhope caught -him by the coat, and, arresting the whole performance, said, “Pray, sir, -have you ever been vaccinated?”--“Certainly, my Lord,” said the -astonished lecturer. “Oh, that is quite enough; pray continue,” said -Lord Stanhope, and the lecture proceeded, and Lord Stanhope composed -himself to sleep.’” - - * * * * * - -“_July 2._--A large sketching party at Holland House. We sat for three -hours in the Lily Garden, with birds singing, fountains playing, and -flowers blooming, as if we had been a hundred miles from London. Our -sketches were all sent in afterwards to Lady Holland, who sent them out -in the order of merit--Mrs. Lowther’s first, mine second. - -“I dined with the Ralph Duttons and sat by Lady Barker, who was full of -Moody and Sankey, to whom she has been often with the Duchess of -Sutherland, who insists upon going every day. She says the mixture of -religious fervour with the most intense toadyism of the Duchess was -horribly disgusting; that the very gift of fluency in the preachers -contaminated and spoilt their work. Sometimes they would use the most -excellent and powerful simile, and then spoil it by something quite -blasphemous. Speaking of the abounding grace of God, Moody compared Him -to a banker who scolded the man who only drew for a penny, when he might -draw for a pound and come again as often as he liked. So far the sermon -was admirable, and all understood it; but then he went on to call it the -‘Great I Am Bank,’ and to cut all sorts of jokes, whilst the audience -roared with laughter; that when a man presented his cheque, however -large--‘Here ye are, says I Am,’ &c. - -“Went on to the ball at Dorchester House, which was beautiful; the -Prince and Princess of Wales and the Tecks were there. The great charm -of the house is in the immensely broad galleries, which are so effective -when filled with beautiful women, relieved, like Greek pictures, against -a gold background. Miss Violet Lindsay, in a long white dress -embroidered with gold and a wreath of gold oak-leaves, was quite -exquisitely lovely.” - -[Illustration: DORCHESTER HOUSE.][181] - - * * * * * - -“_July 3._--Breakfast with Sir James Lacaita to meet Mr. Gladstone, Lord -Napier and Ettrick, and the Marchese Vitelleschi. The great topic was -Manning. About him and Roman Catholicism in general, Gladstone seems to -have lost all temperance, but told much that was curious. He described -the deathbed of Count Streletski and Manning’s attempts to get in. -Lacaita said that there was a lady still living to whom Manning had -been engaged--‘fatto l’impégno’--and that he had jilted her to marry one -of two heiress sisters: now, whenever she hears of any especial act of -his, she says, ‘As ever, fickle and false.’ - -“‘False,’ said Gladstone, ‘always, but never fickle.’ - -“Lacaita described the illness, the apparently hopeless illness, of -Panizzi, when he and Mr. Winter kept guard. The Padre Mela came and -tried to insist upon seeing the patient. He told the Padre it was quite -impossible, but, upon his insisting, he assured him that if Panizzi -rallied, he would at once mention the Padre’s wish. At that time it was -‘impossible, as Panizzi was quite unconscious.’ When the Padre heard -that Panizzi was insensible, he implored and besought an entrance ‘basta -anche un’istante,’ but was positively and sternly refused. - -“The next day Panizzi rallied, upon which both Lacaita and Mr. Winter -thought it necessary to mention the strong wish of the Padre Mela to see -him. ‘Oh, il birbone!’ said Panizzi, ‘vuol dunque convertirmi,’ and he -was so excited, that in order to content him they were obliged to engage -a policeman to stand constantly at the door to keep the priests out. - -“Gladstone said he knew that the Pope (Pius IX.) had determined against -declaring the doctrine of _personal_ infallibility, till Manning had -fallen at his feet, and so urged and implored him to do so, that at -length he had consented. He (Gladstone) upheld that there was no going -back from this, and that even in case of the Pope’s death, the condition -of the Roman Church was absolutely hopeless. Vitelleschi agreed so far, -that if a foreign Pope were chosen, for which an effort would be made, -there was no chance for the Church; but if an Italian were elected--for -instance, Patrizi or Bilio, who had especially opposed the doctrine of -personal infallibility--the sense of the doctrine would be so far -modified that it would practically fade into nothingness, and that every -advantage would be taken of the Council not being yet closed to make -every possible modification. - -“Vitelleschi lamented the utter want of religious education in modern -Italy--that he had been in schools where, when asked who Jesus Christ -was, all the boys differed, one saying that he was a prophet, another -something else; that when the question was put to Parliament how -morality was to be taught without religion, the answer was, ‘Faremmo un -trattato morale.” - -“Lord Napier every now and then insisted on attention, and delivered -himself of some ponderous paragraph, on which occasions Gladstone -persistently and defiantly ate strawberries.” - - * * * * * - -“_July 4._--Tea at the Duchess of Cleveland’s. Lord John Manners was -there. They were full of the dog Minos and his extraordinary tricks. In -invitation cards to parties, ‘To meet the dog Minos’ is now constantly -put in the corner. When told to take something to the most beautiful -woman in the room, however, he made a mistake, and took it to the Queen, -who flicked him with her pocket-handkerchief; and then he took it to the -Princess of Wales. Being left alone in the room with a plate on which -there were three sandwiches, he could not resist eating them, but found -three visiting cards and deposited them in their place!” - - * * * * * - -“_July 7._--A party at Holland House. The old cedars, the brilliant -flowers, and more brilliant groups of people, made a most beautiful -scene.” - - * * * * * - -“_July 8._--A party at Lady Airlie’s for the Queen of Holland--very -pleasant.” - - * * * * * - -“_July 9._--Luncheon at Mrs. Harvey of Ickwellbury’s. The whole family -were full of Nigger stories:--of a man who, being pursued by an Indian -for the sake of his scalp, and finding escape hopeless, pulled off his -wig and presented it with a bow, upon which the Indian fell down and -worshipped him as a god!--Of a negro who, on being told that the strait -path to heaven was full of thorns and difficulties, said, ‘Den dis ere -nigger take to the woods!’” - - * * * * * - -“_July 11._--To hear Mr. Stopford Brooke preach. It was most -interesting--upon the love of God. He began by saying that he would not -undertake to prove the existence of God, for ‘God is, and those who love -Him know it.’ - -“He said, ‘Think in everything which you are about to do, whether it -will be for the good of the human race; if not, if it is only good for -yourself, your family, your society, don’t do it: that is the love of -God. - -“‘Fight against all power which in the name of religion seeks to narrow -it. Fight against all, whether of caste or family, which seeks to -elevate one power to the exclusion of another; for the perfection of the -_whole_ human nature, that is God’s will. This is the service we must -give to Him, which separates worship from selfishness, and makes it more -praise than prayer: thus, with our sails filled with the winds of God, -may we drive over the storms of the human race to the harbour of -unity.’” - - * * * * * - -“_July 12._--To luncheon at Lord Northampton’s, but, except Lady Marion -Alford, I do not much like the Comptons. Lady Alwyn, who is charming, -was very amusing about them. ‘Lord Alwyn pretends not to hear; that is -because he is displeased, for he thinks I am abusing the Comptons. He -cannot bear me to find fault with any of his ancestors, however remote -they may be, for he thinks that the Comptons are quite perfect, and -always have been. When I first married, I hoped to have made a -compromise, and I told Lord Alwyn that if he would give up to me his -great-grandfather, I would spare all the rest; but he wouldn’t.... After -all, the Comptons were quite ruined, and we owe everything to old Sir -John Spencer who lived at Crosby Hall in the City, and _he_ had so poor -an opinion of the Comptons, that he wouldn’t let the Lord Northampton of -that day marry his daughter on any account. But Lord Northampton dressed -up as the baker’s boy and carried his bride off on his head in a basket. -He met Sir J. Spencer on the stairs, who gave him a sixpence for his -punctuality, and afterwards, when he found out that his daughter was in -that basket, swore it was the only sixpence of his money Lord -Northampton should ever see. But the next year Queen Elizabeth asked him -to come and be ‘gossip’ with her to a newly-born baby, whom she hoped he -would adopt instead of his disinherited daughter, and he could not -refuse; and you may imagine whose that baby was.’ - -[Illustration: CROSBY HALL.][182] - -“Five-o’clock tea at Ashburnham House. The pictures there are -beautiful, a Mantegna and several Ghirlandajos, and it is a charming old -house in itself. In the evening to a party at the Duchess of Cleveland’s -given to the blind Duke of Mecklenburg and his Duchess.” - - * * * * * - -“_Highcliffe, July 18._--The usual party are here.... Lady Jane Ellice -is full of a theory that she is an Israelite, that we are all members of -the lost tribes of Israel, that our royal family are the direct -descendants of Tepha, the beautiful daughter of Zedekiah, who was -brought to Ireland by Jeremiah, and married to its king. - -“Mrs. Hamilton Hamilton has much that is interesting to tell of her old -embassy life in France. She was at S. Leu the day before the Duc de -Bourbon’s death. She would not go in, though urged to do so, because -‘that woman, Madame de Feuchères,’ was there, but heard how well the -Duke was, preparing for the chase, ‘never better in his life.’ The next -day, in returning to Paris, their carriage was passed and repassed by -quantities of royal servants riding to and fro. At last they asked why -it was. The Duc de Bourbon was dead, found hung up to the blind of the -window. - -“A few days before, the Duke had declared his intention of altering his -will in favour of the Comte de Chambord. Previously Chantilly had been -settled upon the Duc d’Aumale. Madame de Feuchères had said long before -to Louis Philippe, ‘Leave it all to me.’ - -“Madame de Feuchères (once an orange-girl at Southampton) was left -enormously rich. She promised to settle all her property on the Duc -d’Aumale if the Duchess of Orleans would receive her. Mrs. Hamilton -Hamilton was seated at the end of the room between the Duchesse Decazes -and another great lady of the old régime. Suddenly the Duchess of -Orleans got up and crossed the whole room to receive some one at the -door. Generally she remained in her place, making only one step even for -a duchess. It was Madame de Feuchères who entered. - -“At the Court of Charles X. it was the Dauphine who received. She was -very severe in her manner and had a very harsh voice: it was as if the -shadow of the Temple always rested upon her. The Duchesse de Berri was -of gentler manners, but less wise. When the family of Charles X. fled -after the revolution of four days, the deputation going to offer the -crown to Louis Philippe found he was out; they found only the Duchess of -Orleans. She was horrified at the very idea and refused point-blank, -saying that her husband would never do such a wrong to his -cousin--‘Grace à Dieu! mon mari ne sera pas usurpateur.’ Going through -the garden at Neuilly, however, the deputation met Madame Adelaïde, who -asked what their business was, and being told what the Duchess had -answered, said, ‘Oh, mais mon frère accepte, certainement il accepte;’ -and her view was definitive. She never separated from her brother -afterwards, and he always deferred to her opinion; indeed, as Napoleon -used to say, she was ‘the only man of the family.’ The whole family paid -her great attention. She was enormously rich, and made the Prince de -Joinville her heir. Louis Philippe chose her epitaph in the vaults at -Dreux. It is from Gen. xii. 13: ‘Thou art my sister, and it has been -well with me for thy sake.’ - -“Mrs. Hamilton Hamilton was the first person Queen Marie Amelie sent for -after her accession. She went in the evening, and found the Queen -sitting at a table with Madame Adelaïde and one other lady, the wife of -the Swedish Minister. A place was given to her between the Queen and -Madame Adelaïde. The first words of the Queen seemed ominous--‘Nous -avons laissé notre bonheur à Neuilly, Madame Hamilton.’ But Madame -Adelaïde instantly took up the conversation, and talked of a bullet -which she had found in her mirror, saying that she should never have the -mirror mended, but should preserve it as ‘un souvenir historique.’ - -“Lady Waterford says how much brighter and happier people are for having -something young about them,--a young lady, a child, a young dog even. -She says, ‘I want to make a picture of Hope painting the future in the -brightest colours. It will be such a beautiful subject. A rainbow will -pour into the room and all its colours be reflected on her palette.’” - - * * * * * - -“_July 20._--Lady Waterford and the Ellices went to Broadlands, and -returned in the evening radiant, and full of the Conference, with which -they were delighted. I was very sorry indeed to be too ill to go, these -Broadland ‘Conferences’ being quite a type of the times. - -“They had a delightful drive through the forest and halted at Lyndhurst, -visiting the ‘King’s House’ and seeing the stirrup which is said to have -belonged to William Rufus. It is of gigantic size, and was probably -really intended, when dogs were forbidden in the forest, as a sort of -standard of measurement, only dogs which could pass through that stirrup -being allowed. - -[Illustration: THE GARDEN PORCH, HIGHCLIFFE.][183] - -[Illustration: THE SUNDIAL WALK, HIGHCLIFFE.][184] - -“At Broadlands, after luncheon, they went out on the lawn, where the -Conference was proceeding under some fine beech-trees. ‘It was like a -Claude,’ said Lady Waterford, the view being over the water, with a -temple on one side and a cypress cutting the sky.’ Mr. Cowper Temple -opened the afternoon meeting with a little speech; a Nonconformist -minister followed, and then the High Church Mr. Wilkinson gave an -address. The most remarkable thing he told was a story of a young lady -who went to a meeting and returned resolved to dedicate herself to God. -She wrote down her dedication, and then said, ‘It shall be from to-day.’ -Then she considered that there was so much to be done, &c.--‘It shall be -in three years.’ Again she hesitated and altered what she had -written--‘I may not live: it shall be to-night.” But finally she thought -again how much there was she wanted to do first, and finally wrote--‘In -three weeks I will dedicate myself to God.’ In the morning the paper -was found with all the different erasures and alterations, but the young -lady was dead.... Several other speakers followed, and then Mr. Cowper -Temple knelt on the gravel and prayed: all was most simple and earnest. - -“Here at Highcliffe we have sat in the library in the morning, the great -Brugmantia bursting into its bloom of scarlet bells in the conservatory -beyond, Lady Waterford painting at her table, the rest working beneath -the stained window.” - - * * * * * - -“_Heckfield Place, August 13._--This is a beautiful open country with -lovely woods and purple heaths studded with groups of fine old firs. The -grounds of Heckfield itself are delightful, and the house, of red brick, -stands upon a high bastioned terrace filled with brilliant flower-beds -and overlooking undulating green lawns and an artificial sheet of water. - -“Lord Eversley and his daughter Emma received me with most cordial -kindness and a real family welcome, and it was pleasant to see so many -interesting pictures of our common ancestors,--on the staircase a -full-length of my great-grandmother Mrs. Hare, as a young girl tripping -along with her apron full of flowers. There are fine portraits of her -father and mother; and her sister, Helena Lefevre, is represented again -and again, from youth to age. - -“Lord and Lady Selborne have been here. He has a stiff manner, but warms -into much pleasantness, and she is very genial: their daughter, Sophy, -is a union of both. I went with Lord Selborne and Miss Palmer to -Strathfieldsaye. The Duke (of Wellington), dressed like a poor -pensioner, received us in his uncomfortable room, where Lord Selborne, -who has a numismatical mania, was glad to stay for two hours examining -coins. Meanwhile the Duke, finding we were really interested, took Miss -Palmer and me upstairs, and showed us all his relics. It was touching to -see the old man, who for the greater part of his lifetime existed in -unloving awe of a father he had always feared and been little noticed -by, now, in the evening of life, treasuring up every reminiscence of him -and considering every memorial as sacred. In his close stuffy little -room were the last pheasants the great Duke had shot, the miniatures of -his mother and aunt and of himself and his brother as children, his -grandfather’s portrait, a good one of Marshal Saxe, and the picture of -the horse Copenhagen. Most of the bedrooms were completely covered with -prints pasted on the walls. It was the great Duke’s fancy. Some of them -are amusing, but the general effect is poor and bad, and the medley -curious, especially in some rooms where they were framed in crowds--Lord -Eldon, Melancthon, and views of the Alhambra together. In the hall hung -a fine beginning of a picture of the great Duke, painted by Goya at -Madrid. Before it was finished the army had moved on to Salamanca. The -Duke had then been made Captain-General of the forces, and upon the -Spanish commander saying in a huff, ‘I will not serve under a -foreigner,’ Goya rejoined, ‘And I will not finish his portrait.’ And he -never did. - -“Strathfieldsaye is an unprepossessing house--as the Duke himself said, -‘like a great cottage.’ - -“Lord Eversley gave, as a curious instance of the awe in which the great -Duke kept his Duchess, that Mrs. Lefevre, going one day to visit her, -found her dissolved in tears. When she asked the reason, the Duchess -said, sobbing, ‘Look there,’ and from the window Mrs. Lefevre saw -workmen cutting down all the ivy which made the whole beauty of the -trees before the house; and when Mrs. Lefevre asked the Duchess why she -did not remonstrate, she showed her a written paper which the head man -had just brought in, having received it from the Duke--‘Field Marshal -the Duke of Wellington desires that the ivy may immediately be cut down -from every tree on his estate.’ They had begun with those nearest home; -the Duke had evidently forgotten to except those, but his order could -not be trifled with. - -“One day the great Duke was much surprised by receiving a letter which -he read as follows:--‘Being in the neighbourhood, I venture to ask -permission to see some of your Grace’s best breeches. C. London.’ He -answered to the Bishop of London that he had great pleasure in assenting -to his request, though he must confess it had given him very -considerable surprise. London House was thrown into confusion. The note -was from Loudon, the great gardener, and ‘breeches’ should have been -read ‘beeches.’[185] - -“We went on to Silchester, which is one of the three walled Roman towns -of England, Wroxeter and Risborough being the others. The walls, three -miles in circumference, are nearly perfect. In the centre is the forum, -an immense square, 315 feet by 276, surrounded by shops, amongst which -those of the oyster-monger, game-seller, butcher, and jeweller have been -identified. One house retains its curious apparatus for warming very -perfect.” - - * * * * * - -“_Heckfield, August 14._--Yesterday Colonel Townley came to dine, -celebrated for his ride of eight hundred miles without stopping. It was -of great importance that certain despatches from our Government should -reach Constantinople before the Austrian messenger could deliver his, -and Colonel Townley accomplished it. When within a few hours of -Constantinople, an old wound opened from his exertion, and he felt -almost dying; but just then he caught sight of the Austrian envoy coming -over the brow of a distant hill, and it nerved him, and he rode on and -arrived first. It gained him his colonelcy. He is a pleasant, handsome, -unaffected man.” - - * * * * * - -“_Deanery, Salisbury, August 15._--I came here yesterday morning to the -Venerable Dean Hamilton of eighty-two, and his wife of seventy-two. He -was a Cambridge friend of my uncle Julius Hare, and lived in the same -circle, of Thirlwall, Whewell, Sedgwick, and the Malcolms, &c. His mind -has all its old power, and he has much that is most interesting to tell -of all the people he has seen. He gave a curious account of breakfasts -at the house of Ugo Foscolo, where everything was served by the most -beautiful maidens in picturesque dresses. He described the eccentric Mr. -Peate, who lived in Trinity, but never came out of his rooms except to -dinner or supper, when he always appeared to the moment. When Dr. Parr -dined, Mr. Peate drew him out in Combination Room, but retired at the -usual hour; only on going away, he walked up to Dr. Parr and said, ‘I -will take leave of you, sir, in words which may possibly not be -unfamiliar to you,’ and made a long set complimentary speech in honour -of learning; it was all taken word for word from an essay Dr. Parr had -published many years before; Peate’s memory was so very extraordinary. -It was not, however, always very convenient, for if a neighbour at -dinner affirmed an opinion, Peate would sometimes say, ‘On such a day or -such a year you expressed such and such an opinion, which was exactly -the reverse of this,’ for he never forgot anything, even the very terms -of an expression. - -“There is here in Salisbury the usual familiar society of a cathedral -close--the Canon in residence and the other inhabitants meeting and -going in and out of each others’ houses at all hours. With Canon Douglas -Gordon I have been to the Palace, where we found the Bishop in his -garden, which is quite lovely, the rich green and brilliant flowers -sweeping up into and mingling with the grey arcades and rich chapels of -the cathedral; and from all points the tall heaven-soaring spire is -sublime, especially in the purple shadows of evening, with birds -circling ceaselessly round it. - -“The Palace has a grand dull room full of portraits of deceased bishops, -where we had tea. Bishop Moberly, who is still rather schoolmasterish, -has no end of daughters, all so excellent that it has been observed -that whenever a colonist sends home for a commendable wife, you may, -with the most perfect confidence, despatch a Miss Moberly.” - - * * * * * - -“_August 16._--To Breamore, the fine old Elizabethan house of Sir Edward -Hulse, almost gutted by fire some years ago. I was taken up to the -housetop to survey several surrounding counties, and sat the rest of the -afternoon with the family in the shade of the old red gables. Two very -handsome boys, Edward and Westrow, asked for a story.” - - * * * * * - -“_Stanmer Park, August 18._--I came here yesterday to Lord Chichester’s. -It is a moderate house in a dullish park, with fine trees and a bright -flower-garden. We pray a great deal, and Lord Chichester--who is -intensely good--makes little sermons at prayers.... Lord Pelham is very -amusing under a quiet manner. ‘I thought I heard your dulcet tones, my -love, so I am coming out to you,’ he is just saying, as he steps through -the open window to his wife upon the verandah.” - - * * * * * - -“_Oct. 4._--A most charming visit to Lady Mary Egerton at Mountfield -Court. Mr. Charles Newton[186] of the British Museum is here, who is -always charming, with ripple of pleasantest anecdote and kindly, genial -manners. He says:-- - -“General Skenk had a monkey and a parrot, which hated each other. One -day he imprudently went out, leaving them alone together in a room. When -he came back, the monkey was sitting in his arm-chair, bleeding -profusely, and looking very sheepish and ashamed of himself, while the -floor was covered with feathers. The parrot had disappeared, but while -General Skenk was looking for any further remains of it, out from under -a sofa walked a perfectly naked bird, and said, ‘What a hell of a time -we’ve had!’ - -“Mr. Newton was at a spiritual séance. An old man of the party was told -that the spirit manifested was his wife, upon which he said:-- - -“‘Is that you, ’Arriet?’ - -“‘Yes, it’s me.’ - -“‘Are you ’appy, ’Arriet?’ - -“‘Yes, very ‘appy.’ - -“‘’Appier than you were with me, ’Arriet?’ - -“‘Yes, much ‘appier.’ - -“‘Where are you, ‘’Arriet?’ - -“‘In ‘ell.’ - -“Mr. Newton says that the cry of the wood-pigeon is ‘Sow peas, do, do.’ -There is a bird in Turkey of which the male seems to say a string of -words meaning ‘Have you seen my sheep?’ when the female replies, ‘No, I -have not seen them.’ They are said to be a shepherd and shepherdess who -lost all their sheep and died of a broken heart, when they were turned -into birds. But the interesting point is that the story is found in an -old Greek novel--‘Longus.’ - -“‘The origin of the Torlonia family,’ said Mr. Newton, ‘is very curious. -When Pius VII. wished to excommunicate Napoleon I., he could not find -any one who was bold enough to affix the _scomunica_ to the doors of the -Lateran. At length an old man who sold matches was found who ran the -risk and did it. On the return of the Pope in triumph, the old man was -offered any favour he liked, and he chose the monopoly of tobacco. From -that time every speculation that the Torlonias entered upon was sure to -answer.’ - -“The late Prince Torlonia, being at Naples, went into the room where the -public appointments were sold by auction. He left his umbrella there, -and went back to get it while the sale was going on. The bidders, -chiefly Neapolitan nobles, were aghast to see the great Torlonia -reappear, and at last, after some consultation, one of them came up to -him and said they would give him 60,000 francs if he would leave. -Instead of showing the intense astonishment he felt at this most -unexpected proposal, Torlonia only shrugged his shoulders and said, ‘È -póco,’ and they gave him 100,000. - -“The only other guests at Mountfield are a Mr. Baker, a Gloucestershire -squire, and his wife. He is an excellent man, and was the first who -instituted a Reformatory. This he did first at his own expense, but the -Government bought it from him. He speaks with the most dreary voice. Mr. -Newton says it is ‘just the sort of utterance he should be grateful for -if he was making his last speech upon the scaffold.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Sonning, Dec. 30._--My ever-kind friend Lord Stanhope died on -Christmas Eve. It was only two years from the time of dear Lady -Stanhope’s death, on New Year’s Eve, 1873. She left a paper for her -husband--what she called her ‘Last Words’--imploring him, for her sake, -to go back to his literary interests, not to give up what had been his -work, to try to fill up the blank in his life. - -“When Lord Stanhope was dying, he said touchingly to Lady Mohun, ‘You -know what my dearest Emily asked of me in her last words. I have tried -to do as she wished, and you, my dear, have been such a good and kind -daughter to me, _you have almost made me wish to live_.’ - -“I have been spending charming days with Hugh Pearson. He says, ‘What -will become of a country in which the upper classes are content to be -fed upon Farrar’s ‘Life of Christ’ and the middle classes upon Moody and -Sankey?’ He told me of Justice Knight Bruce’s capital lines-- - - ‘The ladies praise our curate’s eyes; - I cannot see their light divine: - He always shuts them when he prays, - And, when he preaches, closes mine.’” - - - - -XVIII - -LONDON WALKS AND SOCIETY - - * * * * * - -“It is an inexpressible pleasure to know a little of the world, and to -be of no character or significancy in it.”--STEELE. - - “Arranging long-locked drawers and shelves - Of cabinets, shut up for years, - What a strange task we’ve set ourselves! - How still the lonely room appears! - How strange this mass of ancient treasures, - Mementos of past pains and pleasures.” - - “Be wisely worldly, be not worldly wise.”--QUARLES. - - “No, when the fight begins within himself, - A man’s worth something.”--BROWNING. - - - -My three thick volumes of the “Cities of Northern and Central Italy” -appeared in the autumn of 1875, a very large edition (3000 copies) being -printed at once. They were immediately the object of a most violent -attack from Mr. Murray, who saw in them rivals to his well-known red -handbooks. A most virulent and abusive article appeared upon my work in -the _Athenæum_, accusing me, amongst other things, of having copied -from Murray’s Handbooks without acknowledgment, and quoting, as proof, -passages relating to Verona in both books, which have the same singular -mistake. It was certainly a curious accident which made me receive the -proof-sheets of Verona when away from home on a visit at Tunbridge -Wells, where the only book of reference accessible was Murray’s -“Handbook of Northern Italy,” which I found in the house, so that the -mistakes in my account of Verona _were_ actually copied from Murray’s -Handbook, to which I was indebted for nothing else whatever, as (though -much delighted with them when they first appeared) I had for years found -Murray’s Handbooks so inefficient, that I had never bought or made any -use of them, preferring the accurate and intelligent Handbooks of the -German _Gsel-fels_. Mr. Murray further took legal proceedings against -me, because in one of my volumes I had mentioned that the Italian Lakes -were included in his Swiss rather than his Italian Handbooks: this -having been altered in recent years, but having been the case in the -only volumes of his Handbooks I had ever possessed. On all occasions, -any little literary success I met with excited bitter animosity from Mr. -Murray. - -Another curious attack was made upon me by the eccentric Mr. Freeman, -the historian of the Norman Conquest. He had published in the _Saturday -Review_ a series of short articles on the Italian cities, which I always -felt had never received the attention they deserved, their real interest -having been overlooked owing to the unpopularity of the dogmatic and -verbose style in which they were written. Therefore, really with the -idea of doing Mr. Freeman a good turn, I had rather gone out of my way -to introduce extracts from his articles where I could, that notice might -thus be attracted to them--an attention for which I had already been -thanked by other little-read authors, as, whatever may be the many -faults of my books, they have always had a large circulation. But in the -case of Mr. Freeman, knowing the singular character of the man, I begged -a common friend to write to his daughter and amanuensis to mention my -intention, and ask her, if her father had no objection to my quoting -from his articles, to send me a list of them (as they were unsigned), in -order that I might not confuse them with those of any other person. By -return of post I received, without comment, from Miss Freeman, a list of -her father’s articles, and I naturally considered this as equivalent to -his full permission to quote from them. I was therefore greatly -surprised, when Mr. Freeman’s articles appeared soon afterwards in a -small volume, to find it introduced with a preface, the whole object of -which was, in the most violent manner, to accuse me of theft. I -immediately published a full statement of the circumstances under which -I had quoted from Mr. Freeman in sixteen different newspapers. Mr. -Freeman answered in the _Times_ by repeating his accusation, and in the -_Guardian_ he added, “Though Mr. Hare’s conduct was barefaced and -wholesale robbery, I shall take no further notice of him till he has -stolen something else.”[187] - -Mr. Freeman made himself many enemies, but he did not make me one; he -was too odd. His neighbour, the Dean of Wells, Johnson, could not bear -him. When there was an Archæological Meeting at Wells, it was thought -that peace might be made if the Dean could be persuaded to propose the -historian’s health at the dinner. The Dean was quite willing, but he -began his speech unfortunately with--“I rise with great pleasure to -propose the health of our eminent neighbour, Mr. Freeman the historian, -a man who--in his own personal characteristics--has so often depicted -for us the savage character of our first forefathers.” - -But in spite of these little catastrophes attending its publication, I -am certain that “Cities of Northern and Central Italy,” which cost me -far more pains and labour, and which is more entirely original, than all -my earlier books put together, was by far the best of my writings, up to -that time. - -Before the book was out, I was already devoted to a new work, suggested -by the great delight I had long found in London, and by the desire of -awakening others to an enjoyment of its little-known treasures. A set of -lectures delivered at Sir John Shaw-Lefevre’s house in Seymour Street, -and a series of articles in _Good Words_, laid the foundation for my -“Walks in London.” When employed in this work, as in all my others, I -felt all those portions of life to be the most interesting which were -spent in following out any one single purpose. - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL. - -“_Jan. 18, 1876._--I went to Cobham for three days last week. Deep snow -was on the ground, but the visit was delightful. I was delighted to find -Lady Pelham there, always so radiant and cordial, and so perfectly -simple. Of the other guests, the most interesting were Lord and Lady -Harris. There were also a great many Kentish men, hunting clergy, who -dressed in top-boots, &c., _during_ their visit, but departed in -ecclesiastical attire.” - - * * * * * - -“_Jan. 19._--Yesterday I went to Lady Taunton. She has a beautiful -portrait of her daughter by young Richmond--a sort of play upon every -possible tone of yellow--a yellow gown, a yellow background, a great -cushion worked with yellow sunflowers, yellow hair looped up with -pearls, only a great white living lily to throw it all back. It is a -most poetical picture. - -“In the evening I went to a supper at the house of young F. P. to meet a -whole society of young actors, artists, &c. Eden was there, known in the -stage world as Herbert, a name he took to save the feelings of his -episcopal uncle, Lord Auckland. His is a fine and a charming face, but -rather sad.... There were about fourteen men present, very good singing, -and then supper, much kindness and cordiality, and not a word which all -their mothers and sisters might not have heard. It would not have been -so at college or in a mess-room: so much for maligned actors.” - - * * * * * - -“_Jan. 21._--To see Frederick Walker’s pictures. It is an interesting -collection, as being the written mind of one man. You see the same -picture over and over again, from its first sketch of an idea--merely a -floating idea--to its entire completion, and it is interesting to know -how slow a growth of thought was required to lead up to something, -which, after all, was not so very wonderful in the end. The pictures are -not beautiful, but the man who did them must have been charming, such a -simple lover of farmhouse life, apple-orchards, and old-fashioned -gardens, with a glory of flowers--all the right kinds of flowers -blooming together. - -“It poured, so I sat some time with R. on one of the seats. He talked -long and openly of all the temptations of his life, and endlessly about -himself. I urged that the best way of ennobling his own nature must be -through others, that self-introspection would never do, and could only -lead to egotism and selfishness, but that in trying to help others he -would unconsciously help himself. I find it most difficult to say -anything of this kind without making illustrations out of my own life, -which I have certainly no right to think exemplary. - -“As we were going away, a lady who had stared long and hard at us, and -whom I thought to be some waif turned up from my Roman lectures, came up -to me. ‘I think, sir, that you were standing close to my sister just -now, and she has lost her purse.’--‘I am very sorry your sister has lost -her purse; it is very unfortunate.’--‘Yes, but my sister has _lost_ her -purse, and you, _you_ were standing by her when she lost it.’--‘I think -after what you have said I had better give you my card.’--‘Oh, no, no, -no.’--’ Oh, yes, yes, yes: after what you have said I must _insist_ upon -giving you my card.’ What an odd experience, to be taken for a -pickpocket! R. thought the lady had really picked _my_ pocket, but she -had not.” - - * * * * * - -“_Jan. 22._--An anonymous letter of apology from the lady of the picked -pocket; only she said that if I had been as flurried as she was, and had -been placed in the same circumstances as she was, I should have acted -exactly as she did; in which I do not quite agree with her.” - - * * * * * - -“_Monk’s Orchard, Jan. 23._--This is a fine big house, be-pictured, -be-statued, with a terraced garden, a lake, and a great flat park. A Mr. -and Mrs. Rodd are here with their son Rennell, a pleasant-looking boy, -wonderfully precocious and clever, though, as every one listens to him, -he has--not unnaturally--a very good opinion of himself: still one feels -at once that he is the sort of boy who will be heard of again some day. - -“Our host, Mr. Lewis Loyd, is in some ways one of the most absent men in -the world. One day, meeting a friend, he said, ‘Hallo! what a long time -it is since I’ve seen you! How’s your father?’--‘Oh, my father’s -dead.’--‘God bless me! I’m very sorry,’ &c. The next year he met the -same man again, and had forgotten all about it, so began with, ‘Hallo! -what a long time since I’ve seen you! How’s your father?’-‘Oh, _my -father’s dead still_!’ - -“We have been to church at Shirley--one of Scott’s new country churches. -In the churchyard is a cross to poor Sir John Anson, and beside it a -granite altar-tomb with an inscription saying that it is to Ruskin’s -father--‘a perfectly honest merchant,’ and that ‘his son, whom he loved -to the uttermost, and taught to speak the truth, says this.’ - - * * * * * - -“_69 Onslow Square, Jan. 28._--A long visit to F. and S. It is quite a -new phase of life to me. They are perfect gentlemen, at least in heart, -and one cannot be with them long without seeing a kindly, chivalrous -nature, which comes to the surface in a thousand little nothings. Yet -they are what the world frowns upon--beginning to seek fortune on the -stage, neglected or rejected by unsympathetic relations, living from -hand to mouth, furnishing their rooms by pawning their rings and -watches, &c. S. in terrible illness, totally penniless, ignored by every -one, is taken in, nursed, doctored, and paid for by F., upon whom he has -no claim whatever. F., abused, snubbed, and without any natural charm in -himself, is henceforth loved, defended, regarded with the most loyal -devotion, by his more popular companion. - -“I dined on the 26th with Lady E. Adeane. Mr. Percy Doyle was very -amusing. Talking of the anxiety of ministers in America to change their -posts, he said, ‘If my father had bequeathed to me Hell and Texas, I -should have lived in Hell and let Texas.’ - -“Yesterday I went to luncheon with the Vaughans at the Temple, and met -there Miss Rye, who has a home for homeless children at Clapham, and -takes them off by batches to America, to establish them there as -servants, &c. She produced from her pocket about a hundred -cartes-de-visite of the children, wild, unkempt, and wicked-looking, and -of the same children after they had been under cultivation. Certainly -the change was marvellous, but then she had employed a good photographer -for the redeemed children and a very bad one for the little ruffians.” - -[Illustration: FOUNTAIN COURT, TEMPLE.][188] - - * * * * * - -“_Feb. 5._--Dined at Lady Sarah Lindsay’s. Sir Robert Phillimore was -there, whom I had not seen since I was a child. He is most agreeable -and has a noble nature. There was a young man there, a Bridgeman, just -entering the law, and I thought the picture quite beautiful which Sir -Robert drew without effort for his encouragement, of all that the -profession of the law might become and be made by any one who really -took to it,--of all the great aims to be fulfilled, of all the ways of -making it useful to others and ennobling to one’s own nature. I felt so -much all that I should have felt that sort of encouragement, drawn from -practical experience, would have been to myself.” - - * * * * * - -“_Feb. 8._--The opening of Parliament. I went to Lord Overstone’s. At a -quarter to two the procession passed beneath--the fine old carriages and -gorgeous footmen, one stream of gold and red, pouring through the black -crowd and leafless trees. We all counted the carriages -differently--eight, twelve, fifteen; and there were only six! All one -saw of royalty was the waving of a white cap-string, as the Queen, -sitting well back in the carriage, bowed to the people.” - - * * * * * - -“_Feb. 13._--Dined at the Dowager Lady Barrington’s--the great topic -being dinner past, present, and prospective. George, Lord Barrington, -said that he had dined at the Brazilian Minister’s, and he was sure the -cookery was good and also the wine, for he had eaten of every dish and -drunk fourteen kinds of wine, and had passed a perfectly good night and -been quite well the next morning. He also dined with Mr. Brand the -Speaker, and complimented Mrs. Brand upon the dinner. She told her cook. -He said, ‘We are three, Lord Granville’s, Mr. Russell Sturgis’s, and -myself; there are only three cooks in London.’ When Lord Harrington -afterwards saw Mrs. Brand, she told him the cook had asked who had -praised him, and ‘when he heard,’ continued Mrs. Brand, ‘he also gave -you his little meed of praise.’ ‘Ah, M. Barrington,’ he said, ‘c’est une -bonne fourchette.’ He had been at Kinmel, but said he had ‘dismissed Mr. -Hughes.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Feb. 14._--Dined at Lord Halifax’s to meet Lord and Lady Cardwell. -They are most pleasant, interesting, interested company, and it was -altogether one of the happiest dinners I remember. The conversation was -chiefly about the changes in spelling and their connection with changes -in English history and customs. - -“Lord Cardwell was in the habit of using the Church prayers at family -prayers. One day his valet came to him and said, ‘I must leave your -lordship’s service at once.’--‘Why, what have you to complain -of?’--‘Nothing personally, but your lordship _will_ repeat every -morning--“We have done those things which we ought not to have done, and -have left undone those things which we ought to have done:”--now I -freely admit that I have often done things I ought not, but that I have -left undone things that I ought to have done, I utterly deny: and I will -not stay here to hear it said.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Feb. 19._--A charming walk with Charlie Wood to St. Paul’s, along the -Embankment and then a labyrinth of quaint City streets. He called it his -half-holiday, and I am sure it was so to me to mount into his pure -unworldly atmosphere even for two hours. He is really the only young man -I know who at once thinks no evil, believes no evil, and does no evil.” - - * * * * * - -“_Sunday, Feb. 20._--Luncheon with Mrs. Harvey of Ickwellbury, meeting -Colonel Taylor, the Whip of the House of Commons--a very amusing man. He -talked a great deal about Ireland. He said that when he congratulated -Whyte-Melville upon the engagement of his daughter to Lord Massereene, -he said, ‘Yes, I have every reason to be satisfied: first, my future -son-in-law is an Irishman, and then he speaks his native tongue in all -its purity.’ - -[Illustration: IN FRONT OF ST. PAUL’S.][189] - -“He spoke of landing in former days at Kingstown, how the car-drivers -fought for you, and, having obtained you, possessed you, and made all -out of you that they could. Passing a mile-post with G. P. O. upon it, -the ‘fare’ asked its meaning. ‘Why, your honour,’ said the driver, ‘it’s -aizy to see that your honour has never been in ould Ireland before--why, -that’s just God preserve O’Connell, your honour, and it’s on ivery -mile-post all through the country.’ It was of course ‘General Post -Office.’ - -“Coming to a river, the ‘fare’ asked, ‘What do you call this -river?’--‘It’s not a river at all, your honour; it’s only a -strame.’--‘Well, but what do you call it?’--‘Oh, we don’t call it at -all, your honour; it just comes of itself.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Feb. 24._--Dined at Lord Strathmore’s, and went on with Hedworth and -Lizzie Williamson to Lady Bloomfield’s, where sixty-eight cousins -assembled to take leave of Lord and Lady Lytton on their departure for -India.” - - * * * * * - -If any one has ever the patience to read this memoir through, they will -have been struck by the way in which, for many years before the time I -am writing of, the persons with whom I lived were quite different from -those amongst whom my childhood was spent. Arthur Stanley had never got -over the publication of the “Memorials of a Quiet Life,” though he was -always at a loss to say what he objected to in it, and Mary Stanley I -never saw at all. From Lady Augusta alone I continued to receive -frequent and affectionate messages. - -In 1874 Lady Augusta represented the Queen at the marriage of the Duke -of Edinburgh, and she never really recovered the effects of the cold -which she then endured in Russia. In the summer of 1875 she was -alarmingly ill in Paris, was brought home with difficulty, and from that -time there was little hope of her recovery. She expired early in March -1876. I had not seen her for long, but had always a most affectionate -recollection of her, and the last letter she was able to dictate was -addressed to me. - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL. - -“_Holmhurst, March 12._--I have been again up to London for dear Augusta -Stanley’s funeral on the 9th. It was a beautiful day. All the approaches -to Westminster were filled with people in mourning. - -“It seemed most strange thus to go to the Deanery again--that the doors -closed for six years were opened wide by death, by the death of one who -had always remained my friend, and whom no efforts of others could -alienate. Red cloth showed that royalty was coming, and I went at once -to the library, where an immense crowd of cousins were assembled. As I -went down the little staircase with Kate Vaughan, four ladies in deep -mourning passed to the dining-room, carrying immense wreaths of lovely -white flowers: they were the Queen and three of her daughters. The Queen -seemed in a perfect anguish of grief. She remained for a short time -alone with the coffin, I believe knelt by it, and was then taken to the -gallery overhanging the Abbey. - -“Soon the immense procession set out by the cloisters, and on entering -the church, turned so as to pass beneath the Queen and then up the nave -from the west end. The church was full of people: I felt as if I only -saw the wind lifting the long garlands of white flowers as the coffin -moved slowly on, and Arthur’s pathetic face of childlike bewilderment. -The music was lovely, but in that vast choir one longed for a village -service. It was not so in the second part, when we moved through one -long sob from the poor of Westminster who lined the way, to the little -chapel behind the tomb of Henry VII., where the service was -indescribably simple and touching. - -“The procession of mourners went round the Abbey from the choir by a -longer way to the chapel on account of the people. As it passed the -corner of the transept, the strange little figure of Mr. Carlyle slipped -out. He had been very fond of Augusta, was full of feeling for Arthur, -and seemed quite unconscious of who and where he was. He ran along, -before the chief mourners, by the side of the coffin, and in the chapel -itself he stood at the head of the grave, making the strangest -ejaculations at intervals through the service.” - - * * * * * - -Arthur stood at the head of the grave with his hands on the heads of -Thomas Bruce’s two children. When the last flowers fell into the grave, -a single voice sang gloriously, “Write, saith the Spirit.” Then we moved -back again to the nave, and, standing at the end, in a voice of most -majestic pathos, quivering, yet audible through all that vast space, -Arthur himself gave the blessing. “The Queen was waiting for him upon -the threshold as he went into the house, and led him herself into his -desolate home.” - -I insert some poor lines which I wrote “In Memoriam.” - - “Lately together in a common grief - Our Royal mistress with her people wept, - And reverently were fairest garlands laid - Where our beloved one from her sufferings slept. - - Seeing the sunshine through a mist of tears - Fall on the bier of her we loved so well, - Each, in the memory sweet of happy years, - Some kindly word or kindlier thought could tell. - - And tenderly, with sorrow-trembling voice, - All sought their comfort in a meed of love, - Unworthy echoes from each saddened heart - Seeking their share in the great loss to prove. - - For she so lately gathered into rest - Was one who smoothed this stony path of ours, - And beating down the thorns along the way, - Aye left it strewn and sweet with summer flowers. - - In the true candour of a noble heart, - She never sought another’s fault to show, - But rather thought there must be in herself - Some secret failure which she did not know. - - While if all praised and honoured, she herself - Meekly received it with a sweet surprise, - Seeking henceforth to be what now she deemed - Was but a phantasy in loving eyes. - - When the fair sunshine of her happy home - Tuned her whole heart and all her life to praise, - She ever tried to cheer some gloomier lot, - From the abounding brightness of its ways. - - And many a weary sufferer blest the hand - Which knew so well a healing balm to pour; - While hungry voices never were denied - By her, who kept, as steward, a poor man’s store. - - Thus when, from all the labour of her love, - She passed so sadly to a bed of pain, - And when from tongue to tongue the story went, - That none would see the honoured face again: - - It was a personal grief to thousand hearts - Outside the sphere in which her lot was cast, - And tens of thousands sought to have a share - In loving honour paid her at the last. - - E’en death is powerless o’er a life like hers, - Its radiance lingers, though its sun has set; - Rich and unstinted was the seed she sowed, - The golden harvest is not gathered yet.” - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL. - -“_March 25._--A ‘Spelling Bee’ at Mrs. Dundas’s. I was plucked as I -entered the room over the word Camelopard. - -“Dined at the Tower of London with Everard Primrose; only young Lord -Mayo there. At 11 P.M. the old ceremony of relieving guard took place. I -stood with Everard and a file of soldiers on a little raised terrace. A -figure with a lanthorn emerged from a dark hole. - -“‘Who goes there?’ shouted the soldiers. - -“‘The Queen.’ - -“‘What Queen?’ - -“‘Queen Victoria.’ - -“‘And whose keys are those?’ - -“‘Queen Victoria’s keys.’ - -“Upon which the figure, advancing into the broad moonlight, said ‘God -bless Queen Victoria!’ and all the soldiers shouted ‘Amen’ and -dispersed.” - - * * * * * - -“_March 28._--My lecture on ‘The Strand and the Inns of Court’ took -place in 41 Seymour Street. I felt at Tyburn till I began, and then got -on pretty well. There was a very large attendance. I was very much -alarmed at the whole party, but had an individual dread of Lord -Houghton, though I was soon relieved by seeing that he was fast asleep, -and remained so all the time.” - - * * * * * - -“_April 4._--My lecture on Aldersgate, &c. Dinner at the Miss Duff -Gordons, meeting the Tom Taylors.[190] He talks incessantly.” - - * * * * * - -“_April 6._--Dined with Lady Sarah Lindsay, where I was delighted at -last to meet Mrs. Greville.[191] She recited in the evening, sitting -down very quietly on the sofa with her feet on a stool. Her voice is -absorbing, and in her ‘Queen of the May’ each line seems to catch up a -fresh echo of pathos from the last.” - - * * * * * - -“_April 7._--Dined at Sir Stafford Northcote’s.[192] Mrs. Dudley Ryder -was there, who told me she had paralysis of the throat, yet sang -splendidly. Sir Stafford told a capital story in French in the evening, -something like that which I tell in Italian about the Duke of Torlonia.” - - * * * * * - -“_April 14._--Dined at the Shaw-Lefevres’. Dear Sir John talked much, -when we were alone, of the great mercies and blessings of his life--how -entirely he could now say with Horne Tooke, ‘I am both content and -thankful.’ He described his life--his frequent qualms at having -sacrificed a certain position at the bar to an uncertain post under -Government: then how the Governorship of Ceylon was offered to him, and -how he longed to take it, but did not, though it was of all things what -he would have liked, because an instant answer was demanded, and he -could not at once find any means of providing for the children he could -not take with him: how through all the year afterwards he was very -miserable and could apply to nothing, it was such a very severe -disappointment; and then how he was persuaded to stand for Cambridge, -and how, though he did not get in, the effort served its purpose in -diverting his thoughts. Eventually the place in the House of Lords was -offered, in which he worked for so many years. - -[Illustration: CHAPEL AND GATEWAY, LINCOLN’S INN.][193] - -“Sir John spoke most touchingly of his boy’s death. ‘We had another -little boy once, you did not know perhaps. It died. It was the dearest, -most engaging child. When it died it took the shine out of life.’ Then -he dwelt on the law of compensations, how the anxiety for his eldest -girl Rachel, so very ill, ‘brought in on a cushion, and suffering so -much, poor thing,’ diverted his thoughts from the great loss. In his old -age he said, ‘And now at eighty all is blessing--_all_ ... but it is -difficult to remember how old one is. The chief sign of age I feel is -the inability to apply regularly to work, the having no desire to begin -anything new.’ One could not but feel as if it was Sir Thomas More who -was speaking, so beautiful his spirit of blessed contentment, so perfect -the trust and repose of his gentle waiting for what the future might -bring.” - -[Illustration: STAPLE INN, HOLBORN.][194] - - * * * * * - -“_Holmhurst, April 30._--Lea has been in saying, ‘It’s May Day -to-morrow, the day to turn the cows out to grass. The poor things must -have a bit of a treat then, you know; they always have done. But there’s -not the good clover now-a-days there used to be. Eh! what a fuss there -used to be, to be sure, putting the cows out in the clover; and we used -to watch that they did not eat too much, and to see that they did not -swell; if they did, they had to be pricked, or they’d have burst. And -then next day there was the making of the first May cheese.... Old John -Pearce at Lime used to take wonderful care of Mr. Taylor’s oxen, and -proud enough he used to be of them. “Well, you give them plenty to eat, -John,” I used to say. “Yes, that’s just about it, Miss Lea,” he said; “I -do put it into them right down spitefully, that I do.”’ - -“Here are some more of her sayings:-- - -“‘Here’s a pretty how-d’ye-do! It’s the master finding fault!--it’s one -day one thing and one another. Old bachelors and old maids are all -alike. They don’t know what they want, _they_ don’t; but _I_ know: the -old maids want husbands, and the old bachelors want wives, that’s what -they want.’ - -“‘It’s the mischief of the farming now-a-days that the farmers always -say ‘Go.’ ... My father used to say a farmer never ought to say ‘Go;’ if -he did, the work was sure to be neglected: a farmer should always say -‘Come, lads,’ and then the work would be done.’ - -“‘It’s hailing is it? then there’ll be frost, for - - “Hail, hail, - Brings frost at its tail!” - -as the saying is.’ - -“‘Why, girl, the moon’s waning. I would never kill a pig when the moon’s -on the wane. Why, it would not break out; it would shrivel up. No, you -must kill a pig with the new moon. I daresay folks laugh at me, but I -know what’s what.’ - -“‘How you do make him (a sick young man) laugh! - -“‘Well, and there’s nothing does him so much good. He’d mope, mope, -mope, and that’s nothing. It makes him fat, like babies. Boys must -laugh, or they won’t get fat. Girls may cry: it always does them good: -it stretches their muscles and such like: but boys mustn’t cry; it’s bad -for them: that’s how the old saying goes.’ - -“‘How do you like them? - -“‘Eh! how do I know? We must summer ’em and winter ’em afore we can -tell, must’na we, wench: aye, and a good many summers and winters it -must be too, and then they may deceive ye. I have’na lived more than -twenty years over half a century, but I’ve found that out.’ - -“I have’na heard the cuckoo this spring. I don’t know what’s come over -the things. Heathfield fair is over ever so long, and “The old woman -lets the cuckoo out of her basket at Heathfield fair,” that’s the old -saying.’” - - * * * * * - -“_May 6._--In London again, which is full of interest as ever, and now -especially beautiful from its trees just bursting into leaf with -indescribable wealth of lovely young green. It is certainly a most -delightful time. People think I ought to feel dreadfully depressed by a -most spiteful paragraph upon ‘Cities of Italy’ in the _Saturday_, and a -more spiteful review in the _Athenæum_, but I do not a bit: they are -most disagreeable doses to take, but I believe they are most wholesome -medicine for one’s morals and capital teachers of humility.” - - * * * * * - -“_May 7._--An amusing tea at the Duchess of Cleveland’s--young Lord -Stanhope and Mr. Bourke there. The Duchess talked of Pimlico, the bought -property of Lord Grosvenor, formerly called ‘The Five Fields.’ The Court -wished to buy it because it was so close to Buckingham Palace, but -thought the sum asked was too much. Lord Grosvenor gave £30,000 for it. -Lord Cowper had wished to buy it, and sent his agent for the purpose, -but he came back without having done so, and when Lord Cowper upbraided -him, said, ‘Really, my lord, I could not find it in my heart to give -£200 more for it than it was worth.’ Cubitt afterwards offered a -ground-rent of £60,000.” - - * * * * * - -“_May 8._--Dined with Mrs. Thellusson to meet Lady Waterford. Whistler -the artist was there. He has a milk-white tuft growing out of his black -hair, a peculiarity which he declares to be hereditary in his family, as -in that of the Caëtani.” - - * * * * * - -“_May 10._--I was ‘at home’ in the morning to a sketching-party in -Bunhill Fields Cemetery. It was very sunny there and very quiet, till -the Militia and a troop of attendant boys found us out. One of the -latter stole my umbrella, but I pursued him and captured it again as he -passed through the gate. - -“A very pleasant gathering in the afternoon in the beautiful new room of -Lowther Lodge, where the great characteristics are the white Queen Anne -chimney-pieces, and the vast space of floors, not parquetted, but of -closely fitted oak boards. Dined at the Peases’ to meet Woolner the -sculptor, &c.” - -[Illustration: JOHN BUNYAN’S TOMB, BUNHILL FIELDS.][195] - - * * * * * - -“_May 11._--A lovely day. My ‘Excursion’ to the Tower. Forty-six people -met me there. All the curious chambers and vaults were open to us in -turn. In the White Tower we saw the prisons of Little Ease. I had given -my little explanation and returned into the sunshine with the greater -number of the party, when Mrs. Maxwell Lyte, who had arrived late, went -in. Being told that the cell of Sir Thomas More was to be seen, and -seeing a railing by the flickering torchlight, she thought that marked -the place, and went underneath it, and stepped out into--nothing! With a -piercing shriek she fell into a black abyss by a precipice of fourteen -feet. Every one thought she was killed, but after a minute her voice -came out of the depths--‘I am not seriously hurt.’ It was a tremendous -relief. - -[Illustration: TRAITOR’S GATE, TOWER OF LONDON.][196] - -“We went on to the Queen’s Head Restaurant, Emily Lefevre and I running -before to order luncheon. When we arrived, we found volleys of smoke -issuing from the house and the kitchen-chimney on fire. However, we -waited, the party bore the smell, and eventually we had our luncheon. -Tom Brassey wanted to order wine, &c., but Emily stopped him with, -‘Remember, Mr. Brassey, we are limited to fourpence a head.’ - -“The Prince of Wales arrived (from India) at 7 P.M. I waited two hours -at the Spottiswoodes’ house in Grosvenor Place to see him, and saw -nothing but the flash of light on his bald head. It was a pleasant -party, but how seldom in London society does one hear anything one can -carry away. Most people are like those Mme. du Deffand describes--‘des -machines à ressort qui vont, viennent, parlent, vivent, sans penser, -sans réfléchir, sans sentir, chacun jouant son rôle par habitude.’” - - * * * * * - -“_May 12._--Trouble with Murray the publisher, who insists on believing -that because some points in my ‘Cities of Italy’ resemble his Handbooks, -they must be taken from them, which they most assuredly are not. I had -no Handbooks with me when I was writing, but where there is only one -thing to say about places, two people sometimes say it.” - - * * * * * - -“_May 13._--A delightful morning, drawing in the Savoy Churchyard.” - - * * * * * - -“_May 15._--Drawing-party in dirty, picturesque St. Bartholomew’s. For -the first time this year no one asked me to dinner, and I was most -profoundly bored.” - - * * * * * - -“_May 16._--Dined at Sir Charles Trevelyan’s. Old Lord Hatherley was -very interesting. He said much that was curious about the Milton houses -in the City, and how as a boy he used to go to study at the Williams -Library in Redcross Street: how Lady Hatherley had property in the City, -in an ancient conveyance of which there was a signature of Shakspeare. I -never saw people whose every word breathed more of old-fashioned -goodness than Lord and Lady Hatherley.” - -[Illustration: THE SAVOY CHURCHYARD.][197] - - * * * * * - -“_May 17._--A sketching-party in the City. The going thither down the -river, with its varieties of huge barges with their sails, quite as -striking as many things abroad. In the great Church of St. Mary Overy -we drew the wonderful figures of the ‘Sisters’--sleeping deeply with -their rakes and prongs over their shoulders while waiting for the great -final harvest.” - -[Illustration: RAHERE’S TOMB, ST. BARTHOLOMEW’S, SMITHFIELD.][198] - - * * * * * - -“_May 26._--Dined at Lord Ducie’s. Lord Henry Scott talked of his place -on the Solent, and his different rights to flotsam, jetsam, and lagam; -that it never arrived at the third: that the second had only brought -him two dead sailors to bury.” - -[Illustration: THE SLEEPING SISTERS, ST. MARY OVERY.][199] - - * * * * * - -“_May 27._--Dined at Lord Egerton of Tatton’s, Old General Doyle was -very amusing with his stories of duels in which he had a personal share. -He also told of his visit to Ireland as a young man with the present -Lord Enniskillen as Lord Cole. At the first house they went to, his -friend escaped after dinner, but he had not time. The host locked the -door, and they began to drink at seven, and went on to eleven. At -eleven his host fell under the table, and he then picked his pocket of -the key and got out. The next day his host seriously consulted Lord Cole -as to whether it was not his duty to call him out, because he would not -stay for another drinking bout. - -“He told the story of a man in France, condemned to death for the murder -of his father and mother, who, when asked if he could give any reason -why he should not undergo the extreme penalty of the law, clasped his -hands, and said, ‘Ayez pitié d’un pauvre orphelin.’” - - * * * * * - -“_May 31._--An evening party at Lord Houghton’s, an omnium-gatherum, but -very amusing. It recalled Carlyle’s speech, who, when some ecclesiastic -gloomily inquired in his presence ‘What would happen if Jesus Christ -returned to earth _now_?’ retorted--‘_Happen!_ why Dickie Milnes would -ask him to dinner, to be sure, and would ask Pontius Pilate to meet -him.’ - -“It took half-an-hour to get up the staircase. Miss Rhoda Broughton was -there, beautifully dressed, pressed upon by bishops and clergy: Salvini -and Irving were affectionately greeting: Lady Stanley of Alderley, under -a perfect stack of diamonds, was declaiming very loud in her unknown -tongue to an astonished and bewildered audience; and through all the -groups upstairs the young King of the Belgians was smiling and bowing a -retreat to his escape by a back-staircase.” - - * * * * * - -“_June 6._--Left London for Devonshire, struck more than usual with the -interest of the Great Western Railway, which has no exceptional beauty, -but most characteristic changes of scenery, even the botany along the -banks showing in its different plants the varied conformations of the -soil. - -“First, close to London, the endless brick-kilns, and the last streets -stretching out into the blackened fields like fingers of a skeleton -hand. Then across the green meadows, all intersected by elms, branchless -and tufted like great brooms, the grey coronal of Windsor. Then the red -houses and pretentious prison of Reading and the glassy reaches of the -Thames, with its vigorous growth of sturdy water-plants at Pangbourne -and Maple Durham. - -“Next we enter Berkshire, bare and featureless except near the river and -where the White Horse appears, a scraggy creature rudely scratched in -the turf above a soft hollow in the downs. Chippenham is a little town -in a wooded hollow, with a grey spire and stone bridge over the Avon. -Then one reaches a stony country. The houses are no longer of brick, but -all of stone. The Box tunnel is a result of the hills. The villas near -Bath, of grey stone, cling to the sides of the heights from whose -quarries they were taken. In the valley are Hampton church and ferry. - -“Bath, an entirely stone city, has a consequent greyness of its own. The -streets have a desolate stateliness, and are still the abode of old -maids and card-playing dowagers as when described by Miss Austen; so -Bath-chairs are still the popular mode of conveyance to the frequent -tea-parties. Beechen Cliff is a fine feature. In the centre of the town -the Abbey tower shows the poverty of perpendicular architecture. - -“By Kelsey Oaks we rush on to smoky Bristol, all energy and ugliness: -then a great strange rift in the hills shows where the Avon winds -beneath the rocks and hanging bridge of Clifton. - -“Now there is a change to softer scenery at Clevedon, Woodspring Priory, -the odd hill of Weston. The houses grow warmer as well as the -country--no longer of grey, but of red sandstone: the Somersetshire -churches, proverbially fine, have pink-grey towers, their projections -gilded with lichen. Now we pass through apple-orchards, and the thorns, -snow-drifted with bloom, stand knee-deep in the long mowing grass. In -the flats rises Bridgewater, then Taunton with its beautiful and -picturesque towers standing out against the low grey hills; Exeter, -capped by the stumpy towers of its cathedral; and then the salt estuary -of the Teign laps the bank of the railway and we enter the woods of -Powderham.” - - * * * * * - -“_Powderham, June 9._--I found the door open last night and walked -straight into the hall. Charlie Wood and Lady Agnes were there at tea, -and people kept dropping in--a very pleasant party.... Lord Devon[200] -is the kindest of hosts, full of small courtesies; but he is a great -deal away, flying up to London after dinner and returning next day: they -say he performs the circumference of the globe every year, and chiefly -on his own lines of railway. - -“Lord Devon’s only son, Lord Courtenay, is seldom here, but when he is, -amuses every one. One evening ‘Mademoiselle Bekker’ arrived late at -Powderham, coming in the hope to obtain a chairman for a meeting which -was going to be held at Exeter in favour of the Rights of Women. There -was a very distinguished party in the house--the Bishop of Winchester, -Lord Halifax, the American Minister (Motley), &c., and they each, while -refusing, made a speech in answer to hers, which was most eloquent. -Eventually Mademoiselle Bekker declared herself so indignant as to be -led to unsex herself: she was Lord Courtenay.” - - * * * * * - -“_June 12._--On Saturday we were called at daybreak, and went to Totness -by rail, and thence in waggonettes eighteen miles through deep bosky -lanes, and then over breezy uplands to the Moult, Lord Devon’s -enchanting little place near Salcombe. Here the blue-green transparent -sea glances through the thick foliage deep below the windings of the -road, and the quiet bay is encircled by rocky hills tufted with wood, -which in parts feathers down into the water. We rested at North Sands -Cottage, a lovely wee place of Lord Devon’s, and then walked through the -grounds of his larger place of the Moult. Aloes grow and flourish here -to an immense size. Beyond this a path--‘Lord Courtenay’s Walk’--runs -half-way up the steep precipices above the sea. - -“It was an enchanting day, white wreaths of cloud drifting above in the -blue, deep below the sea gloriously transparent, with all its -weed-covered rocks visible through the waters, great white gulls -swooping around with their wild outcries, and the pathlet winding up and -down the cliff, bordered by cistus and thrift in masses of pink -luxuriance. On the steep descent to a cove, we were met by a welcome -luncheon, and ate it high above some rock caverns which are very curious -at that point. - -“One of the principal farmers belonging to an agricultural club near -this lost his wife lately, and in his kind way Lord Devon alluded to her -at the annual club dinner,--speaking of her as an admirable, kind, and -industrious woman, and saying how he could feel with such a loss, having -had himself a bereavement which was ever present to him. But at last the -farmer interrupted him--‘I doan’t know what his Lordship be a talking -about; but I du know that she was an awful cranky, tiresome old woman, -and God Almighty’s very welcome to she.’ - -“Yesterday was Sunday. I went to the service at Powderham with Lord -Devon and Lady Mary Fortescue in a chapel opposite the white recumbent -marble figure of Lady Devon. The afternoon was spent in the ‘plantation -garden,’ where an Australian gum-tree was in full flower. In the evening -there were prayers--‘Compline,’ they called it--a very living, earnest -service in the chapel.... Truly I felt, as I took leave of Charlie, that -above the door of every house that is his home might be inscribed the -words of S. Bernard engraved over the threshold of many Cistercian -houses--‘Bonum est nos hic esse, quia homo vivit purius, cadit rarius, -surgit velocius, incedit cautius, quiescit securius, moritur felicius, -purgatur citius, praemiatur copiosius.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Abbots Kerswell, June 15._--Yesterday Sir Samuel and Lady Baker dined -here. He is most agreeable, and possesses _‘l’art de narrer’_ to -perfection. He told a ghost-story in the evening, without either names, -dates, or any definite material, and yet it was quite admirable, and -kept the company breathless for three-quarters of an hour.” - - * * * * * - -“_June 16._--Yesterday we paid a long visit to Sir Samuel Baker. He has -bought and made his place with the money he received from the Khedive -for his African discoveries.[201] The house is full of skeleton heads, -horns, &c. Many others were destroyed in the African depot by an insect -which forces out the bone as with a gimlet, but fortunately it will not -live in England.” - - * * * * * - -“_Charlton Hall, June 17._--I spent several hours in Bath on my way -here. It was an exquisite day, and everything was in great beauty. Bath -seems a town exclusively intended for the rich. Everything being built -of stone gives it a foreign character, and the height of the surrounding -hills causes you to see green down every street. I felt age in the way -in which everything looked so small in proportion to my recollection. - -“At Chippenham a dogcart from Lord Suffolk’s was waiting for me, and we -rolled away down the dull lanes to Malmesbury. It was curious in one day -to revisit, as it were, six years out of my former life. At Bath I had -walked up the hill to where I could look down upon Lyncombe, and what -memories it awakened of miserable longings after a fuller, more -interesting life, which lasted through the whole of two years and a half -of wasted, monotonous, objectless time. Now in my full life, looking -down upon that richly wooded glen, it seemed quite beautiful; but in the -wretched bondage of those weary years, how hideous it all was! - -[Illustration: CHARLTON HALL.] - -“At Chippenham, as I passed the park at Harnish, I went back farther -still to three years and a half of private school imprisonment and the -pettiest of petty miseries. They do not matter much now certainly, but -one does grudge six years of youth denuded of all that makes life -pleasant and beautiful. - -“Charlton is a magnificent old house of yellow-grey stone, Jacobean, -open on all sides, a perfect quadrangle. Inside, there was once a -courtyard, but a former Lord Suffolk closed it in. It remained for many -years a mere gravelled space: lately Lady Suffolk has had it paved, and -to a certain extent furnished. The rooms are handsome in stucco -ornaments, but not picturesque. The pictures are glorious. There is one -of the noblest known works of Leonardo da Vinci--‘La Vierge aux -Rochers,’ the figures all with the peculiar Leonardo type of face, -grouped in a rocky valley--strange, wild, and fantastic.[202] The -picture which to me is most charming is ‘Le Raboteur,’ attributed to -Annibale Carracci. The Virgin, a sweet-looking peasant woman, yet with -an expression of ‘pondering these things in her heart,’ is sitting -outside her cottage door with her work-basket by her side. The boy -Jesus, in a simple blue tunic, is standing at the end of the carpenter’s -table--‘subject to his parents’--doing some measuring for old Joseph, -who is at work there. It is a quiet village group such as one has often -seen, only elevated by expression. - -“There is a glorious old gallery with a noble ceiling, full of portraits -and of old and interesting books. In the ‘rose parlour’ are more -pictures, and a ceiling the design of which is repeated in the -flower-garden. Many of the pictures belonged to James II. When he fled, -he sent them to be taken care of by Colonel Graham, who had married the -Earl of Berkshire’s daughter, and William III. afterwards allowed them -to remain.” - - * * * * * - -“_June 18._--Yesterday it rained at intervals all day. I drew the -gallery, and enjoyed talking to Lady Suffolk,[203] who sat by me, with a -charm of face and manner and mind which recalls Donne’s lines-- - - ‘No spring or summer beauty hath such grace - As I have seen on one autumnal face.’ - -She lives so far more in the heavenly than the earthly horizons, that -one feels raised above earth whilst one is with her. She spoke of the -impossibility of believing in eternity of punishment, yet of the mass of -difficulties besetting all explanations. She talked of a woman in the -village in failing health and unhappy. Being asked if she was not -troubled in her mind, she confessed that she was, but said, ‘It is not -for want of light; I have had plenty of light.’ She said her father had -said to her, ‘Now if you go to hell, Hannah, it will not be for want of -light.’ - -“Some one had urged Lady Suffolk to go and hear Moody and Sankey, -because their sermons on heaven were such a refreshment and rest: she -had gone, and the sermon had all been about hell. - -“Lady Victoria drove me to Malmesbury. The town cross is beautiful. The -Abbey is a gigantic remnant of a colossal whole; the existing church -being about two-thirds of the nave of the original abbey-church, entered -by a magnificent Norman door. By the altar is a tomb to King Athelstan, -erected some centuries after his death, and there is a gallery like -Prior Bolton’s in Smithfield.” - - * * * * * - -“_June 18._--I sleep at Charlton in the ‘king’s room,’ so called from -James II. It is hung with tapestry and old pictures. As we were going to -bed, Andover said, ‘You sleep in the haunted room.’ Consequently every -noise, which I had never observed before, troubled me through the night. -One ought never to be _told_ that a room is haunted. - -“Conversation has been much about Mrs. Wagstaff, a homœopathic -clairvoyant, wife of an allopathic doctor at Leighton Buzzard. She comes -up to London if desired, and works wonderful cures. _In_ her trances her -conversation is most remarkable, but out of them she is a very ordinary -person. She never remembers when awake having seen any one (with her -eyes half-open) in a trance, but meets as a perfect stranger the person -she has just been talking to for half-an-hour. - -“It was odd on Sunday having no service in church till six in the -evening, but certainly very pleasant. We walked in the park beforehand -to Sans Souci, a pretty wood in which a clear stream has its source, -throwing up the sand in the oddest way in a large round basin. Numbers -of trees were lying about, cut down, as Andover said, ‘to meet the -annual demand for the needy.’” - - * * * * * - -“_June 19._--The Andovers’ little girl is most amusing. At six, if she -catches a new word, she uses it without the slightest idea as to its -meaning. Her maid Sabina went to her to-day and said, ‘Now, Miss Howard, -I must put on your things, for you must go out.’--‘No, Sabina, you must -not,’ promptly said ‘Tiny-Wee.’--‘But I really must, Miss Howard,’ said -Sabina.--‘No, Sabina, you must not,’ persisted Tiny-Wee.--‘And why, Miss -Howard?’ said Sabina.--‘Because, Sabina, it is _co-eternal_,’ said -Tiny-Wee very solemnly; and Sabina was utterly quelled and gave way at -once. It is needless to say that Tiny had been to church and heard the -Athanasian Creed. - -“Andover has been describing a clergyman who preached on the fatted -calf, and sought his words as well as his ideas as he proceeded -extempore, and said, ‘He came home, my brethren, he came home to his -father, to his dear father, and his father killed for him the fatted -calf, which he had been saving up for years, my brethren--saving up for -_years_ for some festive occasion.’ - -“He told of an American who never was in time for anything in his life, -was unpunctual for everything systematically. One day, in a very -out-of-the-way place, he fell into a cataleptic state, and was supposed -to be dead. According to the rapidity of American movement, instead of -bringing the undertaker to him, they took him to the undertaker, who -fitted him with a coffin and left him, only laying the coffin lid -loosely on the outside of it. In the middle of the night he awoke from -his trance, pushed off the lid, and finding himself in a place alone -surrounded by a quantity of coffins, he jumped up and pushed off the lid -of the coffin nearest to him. He found nothing. He tried another: -nothing. ‘Good God!’ he cried, ‘I’ve been late all my life, and now I’m -late for the resurrection!’” - - * * * * * - -“_June 20._--Yesterday we had a delightful drive to see Lady Cowley at -Draycot, a most charming place of happy medium size, in a park full of -fern and old oaks. Lord Mornington, who left it to the Cowleys, was -quite a distant cousin, and they expected nothing. He came to dine with -them occasionally at Paris, he mounted Lady Feodore for the Bois de -Boulogne, and one day they suddenly found themselves the heirs of -Draycot, perfectly fitted up with everything they could possibly wish -for. It was like a fairy story, and Lady Cowley has never attempted to -conceal her enchantment at it. - -“To-day we went to a different place--Mr. Holford’s new house of -Westonbirt. It is an immense building in a flat, ugly situation. The -hall goes up the whole height of the house, with open galleries to the -bedrooms, so that every one sees who goes in and out of them. The -dining-room has a fine Jacobean chimney-piece and modern Corinthian -pillars. There is a great chimney-piece in another room, which was an -altar in a church at Rome. All is huge, and seemed very comfortless. - -“It has been a most happy visit to the Suffolks, with whom one is -completely at home. As Lady Suffolk says, though they have often wished -to be rich, they have been much happier for being poor, for they have -all been obliged to do their part in the house and place, and all that -has to be carried on there, and so it is to them not only the scene of -their life, but of their work.” - - * * * * * - -“_June 22._--Yesterday I went to Oxford, and came in, without intending -it, for Commemoration. I will never go there again if I can help it. It -is like visiting a grave of happy past years.” - - * * * * * - -“_June 28._--Went to Holland House. The deep shade of its lofty avenue -is enchanting as one turns in from the baking street of Kensington. Lady -Holland sat in the inner room, with her sweet face encircled by the -prettiest of old-fashioned caps. Beau Atkinson was with her, with a -lovely little Skye dog in his arms, and Lady Lilford with her two fine -boys. After talking some time, we wandered into the gardens under the -old cedars. When we came in, old Mr. Cheney was leaning over Lady -Holland’s chair, chuckling to himself over the dogmatic self-assertion -of Mr. Hayward,[204] who was talking to her of books, the value of which -he considered to be quite decided by his opinion of them. Especially he -talked of Ticknor’s Memoirs, so remarkable because, though he was an -American of the most lowly origin, it is evident that when he came to -Europe he not only saw the best society of every country he visited, but -saw it intimately--which could only have been due to his own personal -charm. - -“Dined at Lady Barrington’s. She said I must be presented, and George -Barrington said he should present me. - -“L. was full of a dinner she had been at at Count Beust’s. The Prince -Imperial was there, who had always hitherto been regarded as only a -pleasant boy, but who electrified them on this occasion by a remarkable -flash of wit. It had been impossible to avoid asking the French -Ambassador, but Count Beust had taken especial pains to make it as -little offensive as possible. He took in the Princess of Wales to supper -and placed her at the same table with the Prince Imperial. The Comte and -Comtesse d’Harcourt were at another table with the Prince of Wales. -Suddenly an offensive pushing man, first secretary to the French -embassy, brought Mademoiselle d’Harcourt to the Prince Imperial’s table -and sat down. The Prince was very much annoyed. Looking up at a picture -of the Emperor of Austria, he asked if it resembled him--‘I do not -remember him, I was so very young when I saw him,’ and then in a louder -tone, ‘I wonder how the French Ambassador represents the Republic of -France on the walls of his rooms.’” - - * * * * * - -“_June 29._--Yesterday I went down into Kent for Miss Virginia Smith’s -wedding with young Francis Villiers,[205] toiling in a cab with Lady -Craven over the hot chalky hills. The breakfast was at Selsden Park, a -lovely place belonging to a child-heiress, Erroll Smith’s daughter. - -“Dined with Lady Head, and we went on together to Baroness Burdett -Coutts’, where Irving read _Macbeth_ to an immense company, chiefly -bishops and archbishops and their belongings. The reading was stilted -and quite ineffective.” - - * * * * * - -“_June 30._--A most pleasant party at Lord Ducie’s--Mr. and Miss Froude, -Sir James Lacaita, Miss Grant the sculptress, Lord Aberdeen and Lady -Katherine, Lord Northbrook and Lady Emma Baring, Lord Camperdown, Mr., -Mrs., and Miss Gladstone, Lord Vernon, George and Lady Constance -Shaw-Lefevre, &c. - -“There was very agreeable conversation, chiefly about Macaulay’s -Life--of his wonderful memory and the great power it gave him. Gladstone -said the most astonishing thing about him was that he could remember not -only the things worth knowing, but the most extraordinary amount of -trash. He described another man he knew who, after once reading over the -advertisement sheet of the _Times_, could repeat it straight through. - -“In the evening I was asked to tell a story, and did, feeling that if -Irving amused people for about three hundred nights of the year, it was -rather hard if I declined to amuse him on one of the remaining -sixty-five. He enjoyed it more than any one else, and lingering behind, -when all were gone but Mrs. Gladstone and one or two others, said, ‘Now -that we are such a very small party, do tell us another.’” - - * * * * * - -“_July 6._--Went by rail with Mr. Ralph Dutton and ‘Beauty Stephens’ to -Syon. It is a great house in a low-lying park, on the edge of which the -Thames is marked by its great lines of tall sedges and the barges going -up and down with music through the flat meadow-lands. On the parapet of -the house is the poor old lion from Northumberland House. The lime-trees -were in flower, scenting the whole air. - -“Lady Percy received in the gallery, and about two thousand guests were -collected on the lawn. I took courage and went and talked to the -Japanese ambassadress, who was very smiling, but did not say much beyond -‘Me speak leetle English and no moosh French.’” - - * * * * * - -“_July 7._--Went by water with Mrs. Mostyn, Miss Monk, and Miss Milnes -to Fulham. The steamer was actually two hours and a half on the way. -There was an interest in recognising a whole gallery of De Wint’s -sketches in the tall bosky trees, the weirs, the great water-plants, and -still more on the causeway leading from Fulham Church to the palace. It -was a gloriously hot day, and very pleasant sitting under the old -gateway looking into the sunlit court, with full light on the rich -decorations of the brickwork and the massy creepers. - -“Afterwards, I was at a beautiful and charming party at Holland House. A -number of grown-up royalties and a whole bevy of royal children sat -under the trees watching Punch and Judy. The Prince Imperial, with -charming natural manners, walked about and talked to every one he knew. -I was happy in finding Lady Andover and many other friends. Towards the -end, Lady Wynford said the Princess Amelie of Schleswig[206] desired -that I might be presented to her, as she had read my books, &c. She is -elderly, but enjoys life and dances at all the balls she is asked to, -especially at Pau, of which she talked with animation.” - -[Illustration: COURTYARD, FULHAM PALACE.][207] - - * * * * * - -“_July 8._--At luncheon at Lady Alwyn Compton’s I met Lady Marion -Alford. There was much talk of the wills of old London citizens--how Mr. -Bancroft had desired in his that for a hundred years a loaf of bread and -a bottle of wine should be placed in his vault every year on the -anniversary of his death, because he was convinced that before that time -he should awake from his death-sleep and require it, and the hundred -years had only just expired;--of how Jeremy Bentham’s body, in -accordance with his will, was produced a year after his death at the -feast of a club he had founded, and how all the company fled from it. - -“I was afterwards at a breakfast at Lord Bute’s. There were few people I -knew there, and the grass was very wet, so I sat under the verandah with -the Egertons. Presently an old lady was led out there, very old, and -evidently unable to walk, but with a dear beautiful face, dressed in -widow’s weeds. She seemed to know no one, so gradually--I do not know -how it came about--I gave her a rose, and sat down at her feet on the -mat and she talked of many beautiful things. She was evidently sitting -in the most peaceful waiting upon the very threshold of the heavenly -kingdom. When I was going away she said, ‘I should like to know whom I -have been talking to.’ I said, ‘My name is Augustus Hare.’ She said, ‘I -divined that when you gave me the flower.’ I have not a notion who she -was.[208] - -“I dined at Sir John Lefevre’s, and was pained to see how weak and -failing he looks. The Rianos were there and Sir James Lacaita, and in -the evening Lady Ducie came in, radiant with goodness and beauty.” - - * * * * * - -“_July 11._--A very pleasant dinner at Lord Ebury’s. He overflows with -kindness. He said, ‘If this hot weather is trying for you and me, it is -very good for the corn: that hardens, while we melt.’” - - * * * * * - -“_July 13._--Luncheon with Sir C. Trevelyan, who showed me Macaulay’s -library, and then drove me to see the remnant of the house of Villiers, -Duke of Buckingham, in Villiers Street. Peter the Great lived there when -in London, and David Copperfield is made to lodge there by Dickens. - -“Dined at Lord Cardwell’s, where I sat by George Otto Trevelyan, the -author of Lord Macaulay’s Life. At Lord Sherborne’s in the evening I -found Irving, with all the three hundred nights of his _Hamlet_ written -on his face. I was introduced to Dr. Ellicott, Bishop of Gloucester and -Bristol, a little dapper man in a violet coat.” - - * * * * * - -“_July 14._--Luncheon at Mrs. Lowe’s. She was most amusing about her -pets. ‘Mr. Lowe, you know, is always going out and bringing home a new -animal: he does like pets so. He went and he bought a dog, and then he -went and bought a parrot, and then he bought a cockatoo and a cat, and I -said, “Mr. Lowe, if you go and buy any more pets, I will go out of the -house, because I will _not_ bear it,” and then Mr. Lowe went and bought -Bow-wow, the little white dog, and it had not cut its teeth, and it was -so dreadfully ill, and we had to nurse it, and it gave us more trouble -than all the other pets put together; and I like Bow-wow the best of -them all, and Mrs. Scutt (that’s the housekeeper) is just the same. - -“‘I said to Mr. Lowe, “If you will go downstairs with that cockatoo on -your shoulder, it will fly away out of the window, and you’ll lose him,” -but Mr. Lowe would do it, you know, he’s so obstinate; and it was just -as I said, and the cockatoo flew out of the staircase window, and Mr. -Lowe was in a fine way about him. There are a lot of boys watching for -him now, and he’ll come back some day, for every one knows Mr. Lowe’s -cockatoo: but he won’t come back yet. And finely he’s enjoying himself, -that bird is; he’s never had such a fine time in his life; he’s finished -all the cherries in Eldon Grove, and he’s just beginning upon the -gooseberries. - -“‘When we drive down to Caterham, Bow-wow and Elfin, the two dogs, sit -upon the back-seat, and the cat sits in the middle. They look out of the -windows and amuse themselves wonderfully, and finely the people stare. - -“‘When I first married Mr. Lowe we lived at Oxford. It was quite -delightful: we had all the interesting society of the University, and -Mr. Lowe was a tutor and taught all the clever young men. When we went -up to London, we hired a coach, and had six first-class men inside, all -Mr. Lowe’s pupils. Then Mr. Lowe’s eyes failed, and we threw it all up -and went to Australia, and were away six years; but it answered to us, -for I had some money left to me at that time, and Mr. Lowe had some -money left to him, and we invested it there in houses, and they pay us -60 per cent., and we made our fortunes. - -“‘How sad the Duchess of ---- going away is! She cried so dreadfully when -she went, that I am sure it’s for ever. Don’t you think, if I had had a -dreadful quarrel with Mr. Lowe, and we had parted for ever, that I -should cry too? It is a very different thing when it is not for ever. I -go off to Wiesbaden for six weeks, and I wish Mr. Lowe good-bye, and I -say, “Well, good-bye, Mr. Lowe; in six weeks you’ll have me back -again,” and if we have quarrelled, it does not signify; but it would be -very different if it was for ever. Why, I should cry my eyes out.’ - -“One day, however, when Mrs. Lowe was inveighing against the absurdity -of the marriage service--of the bridegroom’s statement, ‘With all my -worldly goods I thee endow,’ even when he possessed nothing and it was -just the other way, and when she was saying, ‘Now when I married Mr. -Lowe, he had nothing whatever but his brains’--a deep voice from the end -of the room growled out, ‘Well, my love, I certainly did not endow you -with those.’ - -“‘Why contend against your natural advantages?’ said Mr. Lowe one day to -a deaf friend who was holding up an ear-trumpet to listen to a bore. - -“In the afternoon I drove down with Lady Sherborne, Miss Dutton, and -Miss Elliot to see Lord Russell at Pembroke Lodge. It is a beautiful -place; not merely a bit of Richmond Park, but a bit of old forest -enclosed, with grand old oaks and fern. The Queen gives it to Lord -Russell, who, at eighty-four,[209] was seated in a Bath-chair in the -garden, on a sort of bowling-green, watching his grandsons play at -tennis. Though he no longer comprehends present events, he is said to be -perfectly clear about a far-away past, and will converse at any length -about Napoleon, the escape from Elba, &c. When I was presented to him, -by way of something to say, I spoke of having seen the historical mound -in his garden, and asked what it was that Henry VIII. watched for from -thence as a death-signal, ‘was it a rocket or a black flag?’ - -“‘It was a rocket.’ - -“‘Then that would imply that the execution was at night, for he would -hardly have seen a rocket by day.’ - -“‘No, it was not at night; it was very early in the morning. She was a -very much maligned woman was that Anne Boleyn.’ - -“We all sat by a fountain under the oak-trees, and then went into the -house to a sort of five-o’clock tea on a large scale.” - - * * * * * - -“_Holmhurst, July 15._--Returned to the dear little home, where I found -Charlotte Leycester sitting on the terrace surrounded by the dogs, -looking on the lovely view from our greenery. The intense freshness of -the air, the glory of the flowers, the deep blue sea beyond our upland -hayfields, and the tame doves cooing in the copper beech-tree, are -certainly a refreshing contrast to London, though I should never have -been able to leave it unless Duty had pulled at me.” - - * * * * * - -“_Highcliffe, July 24._--In this most unearthly Paradise all looks like -last year going on still--the huge stems of chestnut, and the white -lilies and bulrushes in the great vase relieved against the old boiserie -of the saloon; the wide window-porch open to the fountain and -orange-trees and sunlit terraces and sea; Lady Waterford coming in her -hat and long sweeping dress through the narrow wind-blown arbutus -avenue; old Mrs. Hamilton-Hamilton in her pleasant sitting-room, with -Miss Lindsay hovering about and waiting on her like a maid-of-honour; -the Ellices, so cordial and pleasant, so beaming with kindness and -goodness, their largeness of heart quite preventing their being able to -indulge in the sectarian part of their own religious ideas.... I have -felt, as I always do very shy at first, and then entirely at home.” - -[Illustration: HOLMHURST.] - - * * * * * - -“_July 25._--We have all, I think, basked as much in the mental sunshine -of this beautiful life as in the external sunshine which illumines the -brilliant flowers and glancing sea. - -“We walked on the shore this afternoon. ‘See what festival the sea has -been making, and what beautiful coloured weeds she has been scattering,’ -said Lady Waterford. We found two little boots projecting from the sand, -and as we dug them out and found them _filled_ and stiff, we really -expected a drowned child to follow; but it was only sand that filled -them, and the little Payne child of Chewton Bunny had lost them when -bathing. As we sat on the shore while Lady Waterford looked for fossils, -a staith came down from the Bunny and flooded the little stream into a -river, cutting off our return. We, the male part, crossed much higher -up: Lady Waterford plunged in and walked: Lady Jane took off shoes and -stockings and waded. - -“Lady Waterford has talked much of marriages--how even indifferent -marriages tone down into a degree of comfort which is better for most -women than desolation.” - - * * * * * - -“_July 26._--We walked in the evening to the Haven House. The old -pine-wood, with its roots writhing out of the sand, and its lovely -views, over still reaches of water to the great grey church, and the -herons fishing, are more picturesque than ever. Afterwards Lady Herbert -of Lea arrived with her beautiful daughter Gladys.[210] Lady Herbert is -suffering still from the bite of a scorpion when she was drawing in the -ruins of Karnac.” - -[Illustration: Louisa, Marchioness of Waterford. - -From a Photograph by W. J. Reed. Bournamouth.] - - * * * * * - -“_July 29._--In the afternoon I went with Lady Waterford to General -Maberly, who talked, as it seemed to me, very sensibly about the -exaggerations of teetotalism. He thought that every one should do as -they pleased, and that it was wrong of a great landowner to prevent the -existence of a public-house on his estate: that it was following the -teaching of the Baptist rather than that of our Saviour, for ‘was not -our Saviour a wine-bibber?’ - -“Lady Waterford has been speaking of sympathy for others; that there is -nothing more distressing than to see another person _mortified_. - -“‘Mama could never bear to see any one mortified. Once at Paris, at a -ball they had, there was a poor lady, and not only her chignon, but the -whole edifice of hair she had, fell off in the dance. And Mama was so -sorry for her, and, when all the ladies tittered, as she was Madame -l’Ambassadrice and a person of some influence, I don’t think it was -wrong of her to apply the verse, and she said, “Let the woman among us -who has no false hair be the first to throw a stone at her.”’ - - * * * * * - -“_July 30._--Hamilton Aïdé says he went to visit two or three times at a -lunatic asylum. The matron, a very nice person, said, ‘There is here a -very extraordinary example of a person who has become quite mad, and -only from vanity.’ He went to see her. It was a very old lady, with -great traces of beauty and dignity of manner, but she wore the most -extraordinary bonnet, very large, and from the fringe hung a pair of -scissors, a thimble, and a needle-book. He made a civil speech to her -about being glad to see her looking so well, or something of that kind. -In reply she only just looked up and said, ‘For further information -refer to the 25th chapter of the second Book of Kings,’ and took no more -notice whatever.” - - * * * * * - -“_July 31._--Lady Jane Ellice says that there are three shades of people -one likes--those whom one must see in heaven, for it would not be heaven -without them: those whom one hopes to see in heaven and to meet there: -and those whom one hopes will be _in_ heaven but that one will not see -them there. Her singing this evening of ‘Zurich’s Blue Waters,’ ‘Three -Blue Bottles,’ &c., has been perfectly charming. - -“Lady Waterford has been telling of Ruskin ‘like a little wizened rat.’ -‘He likes to be adored, but then Somers and I did adore him, and he -likes to lash his disciples with rods of iron. I do not mind that: it is -his jokes I cannot bear; they make me so sorry and miserable for him.’” - - * * * * * - -“_August 3._--Lady Waterford said that Lady Stuart, when a Frenchman -tried to talk to her in very bad English, told him she preferred talking -French. ‘Ah,’ he said, ‘vous aimez mieux, Madame, écorcher les oreilles -des autres, qu’on vous écorche vos oreilles.’” - - * * * * * - -“_August 5._--I have left Highcliffe, and the gates of Paradise seem -closed for a year. There has been the usual perfect confidence about -everything through the whole party: the pleasant going backwards and -forwards to ‘Hamilton Place,’ and the waiting upon old Mrs. Hamilton of -her ‘equerry’ and her ‘maid-of-honour:’ the many friendly snubs and -contradictions which rail at all the smallnesses and ennoble all the -higher aims of life. After luncheon we all sat in the porch surrounded -by the great lilies and geraniums in flower and we had coffee there, -looking upon the Isle of Wight with the Needles looming through the -mist: then we parted. - -“It was a long drive in pouring rain from Southampton to Sydney Lodge, -where I found a warm welcome from dear old Lady Hardwicke.[211] It is a -moderate house, with large gardens, into which bits of old forest are -interwoven. This morning we drove to Eliot Yorke’s house at Netley Fort, -an old tower of the monks, in front of which the _Mayflower_ set sail. -The situation is lovely, close to the sea, with a hilly garden in -miniature and a machicolated tower rising out of ivy walls like a scene -in a play. But the great charm is in Eliot himself, so handsome, with -such a pleasant smile and melodious voice. His Jewess wife, Agneta -Montagu, and Hinchinbroke were there. From the garden we went to the -Abbey, where I drew while Hinchinbroke amused himself by pretending to -make love to an old lady (‘Jemima Anne’) who was peering about in -spectacles amongst the arches. When we went back, boats were arriving -from Cowes at the little wharf--the Prince Imperial with the Duke and -Duchess of St. Albans and a crowd of others. The Prince has the most -pleasant, frank, simple manners, and makes himself agreeable to every -one. He was much amused with the quantities of Yorkes who seemed to crop -up from every house round, and said he ‘thought he must have landed by -mistake on the coast of Yorkshire.’ His arm was in a sling, and he -looked pale and fagged, for somehow, in playing at leap-frog with his -‘camarades,’ he had tumbled into a camp-fire, and, to save his face, had -instinctively put out his hands, and burnt the whole skin off one of -them. It must have been terrible agony, but he never complained.” - - * * * * * - -“_August 6._--The Yorkes are absolutely devoted to each other. There is -such family loyalty that every peccadillo is consecrated. I certainly do -not wonder at their love for Eliot; he has such a sweet though frank -manner, and is so genial and kind to every one.[212] L. has been talking -of the advantages of even an unhappy married life over a single one, as -exemplified by the poor Empress, who herself said, ‘C’est mieux d’être -mal à deux que d’être seule.’ - -“L. was at a party at Mrs. Brand’s, sitting by Lady Cork, when Lady -Francis Gordon came up to her. ‘Come, Lady Cork, can you spell in five -letters the three scourges of society?’ (drink, rink, ink). ‘No,’ said -Lady Cork instantly, ‘that I cannot do, but I can spell in two letters -the two blessings of society--U and I.’ - -“Mrs. Eliot Yorke is exceedingly pleasing and much beloved in her -husband’s family. Amongst the few Jews I have known, I have always found -the women infinitely superior to the men, and this is especially the -case with the Rothschilds. Some one once made an observation of this -kind to Rogers the poet. ‘Yes,’ he said, ‘the men crucified Him, but -the women--wept.’” - - * * * * * - -“_August 12._--Last Monday I went to Cobham for a few days, arriving -just as the setting sun was illuminating the grand old red brick house -deeply set in its massy woods. A large party was assembled, its most -interesting element being Fanny, Lady Winchilsea, who is always -delightful. Archdeacon Cust told me a curious story of a Mr. Phipps, a -clergyman at Slough. He asked him if he was related to Lord Normanby’s -family, and he said they were related, but that they had never known one -another, and that the reason was a strange one. His father had been -residing at Caen, where they had become very intimate with a French -family called Beaurepaire. After his father left Caen, the great -Revolution occurred, and all the Beaurepaire family perished on the -scaffold except the youngest daughter, who, for some unknown reason, was -spared. Having no relation left alive, she was utterly desolate, and -felt that no one in the world cared for her but young Phipps, the son of -her former neighbour, who had evinced an attachment for her. So to the -Phipps family she somehow made her way; but they, disapproving the -attachment, were all excessively unkind to her, except one sister, who -received her, and went out with her to India, where her brother was then -supposed to be. But when they reached India, they found, with despair, -that Phipps had left and gone to Egypt. Thither, however, they pursued -him, and there Mademoiselle de Beaurepaire was married to him. Young -Phipps would never forgive the unkindness which had been shown to his -wife by his family, and the two branches of the Phipps family were never -afterwards friends. - -“A schoolmaster near Cobham, named King, for some reason best known to -himself, has abolished the game of football--a most unpopular move. The -boys were furious, and one day, when the master entered the schoolroom, -he found ‘King is a donkey’ chalked up in large letters on a board. For -an instant he was perplexed; but it would never do to take no notice. He -left the inscription, but added the single word--‘driver.’ The boys -quite saw the joke, and the master’s prestige was restored.” - - * * * * * - -“_Ampthill Park, August 29, 1876._--I came here on Monday, stopping some -hours in London on the way, and finding out ancient treasures in the -purlieus of Soho and St. Giles’s, which, black and filthy as they are, -are still full of reminiscences. - -“At St. Pancras Station I saw a very ancient lady in a yellow wig step -into a railway carriage by herself, and her footman guard the door till -the train started, and I felt sure it was the Dowager Duchess of -Cleveland. At Ampthill Station the Lowther carriage was waiting for both -of us, and we drove off together. She talked the whole way, but the -carriage rumbled so that I could hardly hear a word she said, except -that when I remarked ‘What a fine tree!’ as we entered the park, she -answered rather sharply ‘That _was_ a fine tree.’ She spoke too of the -Lowther boys--‘They are having their vacancies. I like that word -vacancies,’ she said. - -[Illustration: CHURCHYARD OF ST. ANNE, SOHO.][213] - -“It is a fine wild park, with most unexpected ups and downs and a great -deal of grand old timber, on a ridge rising high above the blue -Bedfordshire plain, in the midst of which a spire rising out of a little -drift of smoke indicates the town of Bedford. On one of the highest -points of the ridge a cross raised on steps marks the site of the royal -residence where Katherine of Arragon lived for most of her -semi-widowhood, and where Anne Boleyn shot stags in a green velvet -train. The later house, approached on the garden side by a narrow -downhill avenue half a mile long, is in the old French style, with posts -and chains, broad steps widening at the top, and a _perron_.... The -Duchess, at eighty-four, talked most pleasantly and interestingly all -evening. Lady Wensleydale, in her high cap and large chair, with her -sweet face and expression, sat by like an old picture. There is a -picture of her thus, by Pointer, surrounded by great white azaleas, but -it does not do her justice. - -“Yesterday I drove with James, Mildred, and Cecil Lowther to Wrest. It -is a most stately place, one of the stateliest I have ever seen. The -gardens were all laid out by Le Nôtre, and the house was of that period. -Lord De Grey pulled down the house, and found it rested on no -foundations whatever, but on the bare ground. It was so thin, that when -the still-room maid complained that her room was rather dark, the -footman took out his penknife and cut her a square hole for a window in -the plaster wall. Capability Brown was employed to rearrange the -gardens, which were thought hideous at one time; but though he spoilt so -many other places, he had sense to admire the work of Le Notre so much -here, that he made no alterations, except throwing a number of round and -oblong tanks into one long canal, which, on the whole, is rather an -improvement. The modern house is magnificent, and like what Chantilly -must have been. - -“On the vast flagged terrace in front of the windows we found Lady -Cowper[214] sitting in an old-fashioned black silk dress and tight -white bonnet. She has a most sweet face, and was very kind and charming -in her manner. I walked with her for a long time on the terrace, looking -down on the brilliant gardens, and beyond them upon equally brilliant -groups of people, for it was the annual meeting of the great -Bedfordshire tennis club, for which she always gives a breakfast. She -told the whole story of the place, and took me to see all the finest -points of view and the great collection of fine orange-trees brought -from Versailles. She greatly lamented the prudishness of her great-aunt -(Lady De Grey), through whom her grandmother had derived the place, who -thought most of the old French statues--which, according to the custom -of that day, were made of lead--to be insufficiently dressed, and so -sold them for the value of the metal, at the same time that she sold an -incomparable collection of old plate, for the same reason, for its -weight in silver. She showed one of the statues, backed by a yew hedge -some centuries old. ‘That poor lady, you see, was saved when all the -others were sent away, because she had got a few clothes on.’ Lord De -Grey had replaced some of the statues, and Lady Cowper herself had added -a most beautiful fountain from Carrara, with a very flat basin. - -“Lady Cowper talked much of my mother and the ‘Memorials’ and of ‘my -sister Lady Jocelyn.’ She spoke of the extreme quietude of her own life. -‘A day like this (pointing out the crowd below) shows me that what this -place wants is--_people_, and I never have any. I think I must hire some -puppets to walk about and represent them.’ There are a number of -inscriptions in the grounds to different past-members of the family and -their friends. Lady Cowper said that Lady Palmerston, who was very -matter-of-fact, thought that of course they were buried there, and said, -‘How I do pity Anne, living alone at Wrest, surrounded by all those -graves of her family.’ Graves, however, there are, but of deceased dogs, -a regular burial-ground, with headstones like those in a churchyard, -surrounded by a wall of clipped yew. - -“I was very glad to find Henry Cowper, who showed me the rooms, which -were full of people for the ‘breakfast,’ but I saw the two great Sir -Joshuas, which are magnificent, especially that of Lady Lucas and Lady -Grantham, as very young girls, with a bird. - -“In the evening at Ampthill I told the story of Mary-Eleanor, Lady -Strathmore, to which Lady Wensleydale added her reminiscence of having -been told, at four years old, of Stoney Bowes having ‘nailed his wife’s -tongue to a table.’” - - * * * * * - -“_August 30._--Yesterday I drew with Miss Lowther at the ruins of -Houghton Hall, the old home of the Russells, where Philip Sidney wrote -verses under the trees. It is a very stately though not a large house, -and beautiful in colour, from the mixture of red brick and -yellow-lichened stone. A great avenue, now utterly ruined, leads away -from it direct to Bedford, which lies six miles away in the elm-lined -plain. It was deserted because Lord Tavistock, returning from hunting, -was thrown from his horse and killed on the spot in the presence of his -wife, who was waiting for him on the doorstep: the family could never -bear to live there again.[215] - -“After luncheon, I walked with the old Duchess in the avenue. She -described being couched. ‘Did you take chloroform?’--‘Oh, certainly not: -no such thing: I should not have thought of it. Don’t _you_ know that -couching is a very dangerous operation? the very slightest movement -might be fatal to it. I did not know what might happen under chloroform, -but I knew that _I_ should never flinch if I had my senses, and I never -did: and in three weeks, though I was still bandaged up, I was out -walking.’ - -“‘What was worse than becoming blind in my case,’ said the Duchess, ‘was -breaking my knee-pan, for then, you know, one bone goes up and the other -goes down, and you never really have the use of your knee again.’ - -“‘And yet here you are walking, Duchess.’ - -“‘Yes, certainly _I_ am. Prescott Hewitt said I never should walk again, -and I said “Yes, I should,”--and he answered, “Ah! well, with you -perhaps it is different; you belong to a family that have got a will;” -and I walk, but I walk by the sheer force of _will_.’ - -“The Duchess said she remembered old Lady Penrhyn and her pugs, and -their being dressed like children, and keeping a footman, and having a -key of Grosvenor Square. - -“In the evening I drove with Mr. Lowther to Haynes, till lately written -Hawnes, the fine old place of Lord John Thynne (Sub-Dean of -Westminster), which he inherited from his uncle, Lord Carteret. We met -the old man riding in his park, and so much taken up with a sick cow -that he almost ignored us. But when we had walked round by the charming -old-fashioned gardens, we found him waiting for us on the garden -doorstep, all courtesy and kindness. Several sons and daughters-in-law -dropped in to tea in a kind of passage-room, but Lord John took me to -see all the curiosities of the house himself, and warmed up over them -greatly. There is a most noble staircase and a very fine collection of -family portraits. In the drawing-room is that of Lady Ann Carteret in a -white satin dress, which she always wore, and is always remembered still -as ‘The White Lady.’ Her husband was Jack Spencer, of whom there is also -a fine picture. His grandmother, Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, one day -said to him suddenly, ‘Jack, you must marry, and I will give you a list -of the ladies you may propose to.’--‘Very well, grannie,’ he said, and -he proposed to the first on the list. When he came back with his wife -from their wedding tour they went to pay their respects to the old lady. -‘Well, now,’ she said, ‘I am the root and you are only the branches, and -therefore you must always pay me a great deal of deference.’--‘That is -all very well,’ said Jack impertinently, ‘but I think the branches would -flourish a great deal better if the root was under ground.’ - -“There is a great collection of small treasures at Haynes--snuff-boxes -of royal persons, of Lord Chesterfield, &c., and one with a portrait of -a lady ancestress,--‘not a good woman, she had nothing but her -beauty,’--which takes off and puts on a mask. But the great relic of all -is, in its own old shagreen case, the famous Essex ring--a gem -beautifully set. With it is a most interesting letter from Weigall, the -famous jeweller, explaining a great number of reasons why it must be -_the_ ring. There is also the pedigree of the ring, which came through -the hands of a great number of females--heiresses. - -“To-day the Duchess (Dowager of Cleveland) has been talking much of the -wicked Duchess of Gordon, her ancestress. She married all her daughters -to drunken Dukes. One of them had been intended to marry Lord Brome, but -his father, Lord Cornwallis, objected on account of the insanity in the -Gordon family. The Duchess sent for him. ‘I understand that you object -to my daughter marrying your son on account of the insanity in the -Gordon family: now I can solemnly assure you that there is not a single -drop of Gordon blood in her veins.’ - -“The Duchess of Cleveland went out walking this morning in beating rain -and bitter wind--blind, broken-kneed, and eighty-four as she is. ‘Well, -you _are_ a brave woman, Duchess,’ some one said as she came in. ‘You -need not take the trouble to tell me that: I know that I _am_ a brave -woman,’ she answered. - -“Old Miss Thornton called--Lady Leven’s sister. She talked much of the -misuse of charitable funds in dinners to directors, payment of matrons, -ex-matrons, &c., and said, ‘There really ought to be a society formed -for the demolition of charitable institutions.’ - -“At dinner the Duchess vehemently inveighed against the deterioration -of the times. ‘Was there ever _anything_ so ridiculous and uncalled-for -as a school-feast?’--‘But it is such a pleasure to the -children.’--‘Pleasure to them! In my days people were not always -thinking how children were to be amused. Children were able to amuse -themselves in my day. It is not only with the lower classes: all classes -are the same--the same utterly demoralising system of indulgence -everywhere. Why are not the children kept at home to learn to wash and -sew and do their duty?’--‘But the school-feast is only one day in the -year.’--‘One day in the year! Fiddlesticks! don’t tell me. I tell you -it’s utterly demoralising. Why, if the feast is only one day, it -unhinges them for ten days before and ten days after. - -“‘Formerly, too, people knew how to live like gentlemen and ladies. When -they built houses, they built houses fit to live in, not things in which -the walls were too thin to allow of the windows having any shutters.... -Why, now people do not even know how to keep a great house. Look at ----, -do you think she knows it, with her alternate weeks for receiving -visitors. _That_ is not what ought to be; that is not hospitality. A -great house ought to be open always. The master and mistress never ought -to feel it a burthen, and if it was properly managed, they never would. -There should always be a foundation of guests in the house, a few -relations or intimate friends, who would be quite at home there, and who -would be civil and go out to walk or drive, or do whatever might be -necessary to amuse the others. There ought to be no _gêne_ of any kind, -and there ought to be plenty of _equipages_--that should be quite -indispensable.’ - -“The conversation fell upon Rogers the poet. ‘Mr. Rogers came here -once,’ said Lady Wensleydale, ‘and I did not like him; I thought him so -ill-bred. He came with the Duchess of Bedford of that time, who was the -most good-natured woman in the world, and when he went out into the park -and came in quite late for luncheon, she said he must have some, and -went into the dining-room herself to see that he had it properly, and -while he was eating cold beef, mixed him herself a kind of salad of oil -and vinegar, which she brought to him. He waited a moment, then took up -a piece of the beef in his fingers, rolled it in the sauce, and, walking -round the table, popped it into the Duchess’s mouth. She went into the -drawing-room afterwards and complained to his friend Luttrell about it, -“What can I have done that Mr. Rogers should treat me so?” Luttrell -said, “I have known Rogers for sixty years, and have never yet been able -to account for any one of his vagaries.” - -“‘Rogers and Luttrell were great friends, though they always quarrelled. -When they walked out together, they never walked side by side, but -always one behind the other. - -“‘Rogers met Lord Dudley at one of the foreign watering-places, and -began in his vain way, “What a terrible thing it is how one’s fame -pursues one, and that one can never get away from one’s own identity! -Now I sat by a lady the other night, and she began, ‘I feel sure you -must be Mr. Rogers.’”--“And _were_ you?” said Lord Dudley, looking up -into his face quite innocently. It was the greatest snub the poet ever -had. - -“‘Rogers hated Monckton Milnes. He was too much of a rival. If Milnes -began to talk, Rogers would look at him sourly, and say, “Oh, _you_ want -to hold forth, do you?” and then, turning to the rest of the party, “I -am looking for my hat; Mr. Milnes is going to entertain the company.”’ - - * * * * * - -“_Holmhurst, Sept. 1._--I had rather dreaded the _tête-à-tête_ journey -with the Duchess to-day, and truly it was a long one, for we had an hour -to wait at Ampthill Station, and then missed the express at Bletchley. -When we first got into the carriage the Duchess said, ‘Well, now, I am -going to be quiet and rest my eyes,’ which I thought was a hint that I -was to take my book; but very soon she got bored and said, ‘I can’t see, -and am obliged to go on asking the names of the stations for want of -being amused;’ so then I was obliged to talk to her all the rest of the -way. - -“At Ampthill she told me how she was going to London to meet Admiral -Inglefield, who was going to help her to ‘pick a child out of the -gutter.’ ‘That child,’ she said, ‘will some day be Earl Powlett. Lord -Powlett took a wager that he would run away with the lady-love of one of -his brother-officers, and he did run away with her; but she made it a -condition that he should marry her before a Registrar, which he believed -was illegal, but it was not, and they were really married. Her only -child, a boy, was brought up in the gutter. His name is Hinton, and he -is presentable,[216] which his wife is not, for she is a figurante at -the opera; but she gets more than the other danseuses, because she has -the courage to stand unsupported upon a tight-rope, which the others -have not. Powlett offered his son £400 if he would go away from England -and never come back again, but he refused, so then he would only give -him £100. He lives by acting at small theatres, but sometimes he does -not live, but starves. He had four children, but one is dead. It is the -eldest I mean to take away and place with a clergyman and his wife, that -he may learn something of being a gentleman. I shall undertake him for -three years, then I shall see what he is likely to be fit for. If I live -so long, I can settle it; if not, I must leave the means for it. Facts -are stranger than fiction.’ - -“At the stations, the Duchess was perfectly furious at the bonnets she -saw. ‘If any respectable persons had gone to sleep twenty years ago and -woke up now, they would think it was Bedlam let loose.’ She said how -Count Streletski, who had travelled everywhere, said there was no -country in which people were satisfied with nature: if tall, they wished -to make themselves short; if short, tall: if they were light, they -wished to be dark, and _vice versâ_. She talked of the peculiarities of -vanity in different people--how the first Lady Westmoreland made the -coiffeur wait and touch her up when she was _in_ the carriage. - -“The Duchess parted from me at Euston Station, with a cordial invitation -to Osterley.” - - * * * * * - -“_Sept. 27._--I have had a constant succession of visitors at my little -Holmhurst. - -“A singular subject of interest has been Mr. Freeman’s virulent letters -against and about me. He seems insane on the subject of creating -imaginary injuries.[217] Certainly it is a little annoying to be called -a thief in the public papers, though it may be useful for one’s morals. -However, ‘Experience is the best teacher, only the school fees are -heavy.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Conington Castle, Sept. 29._--I came here yesterday to old Mr. -Heathcote’s. It is a low-lying place in the Fens, close to what was once -Whitlesea Mere, but is now drained, only patches of reeds and marshy -ground remaining here and there. The house is near the site of an old -castle, but its only claim to be called a castle itself arises from its -having been partly built out of the ruins of Fotheringhay, from which a -row of arches remain. To ordinary eyes the country is frightful, but Mr. -Heathcote, as an artist, sees much beauty--which really does exist--in -the long unbroken lines where the mere once was, and the faint blue -shadows in the soft distances. And he has preserved very interesting -memorials of all that the district has been, within his memory, in an -immense series of sketches of the mere in summer, and in winter, when -covered with people skating; and of the mere life--its fisheries, wild -birds, and its curious draining mills, now all of the past. - -“We have been to draw at Peterborough, a wonderfully foreign-looking -town, more so, I think, than any other in England. I saw Bishop Jeune’s -grave: it almost looks old now, and it really is many years since we -lost him; yet, on looking back, the time seems nothing, so quickly does -life pass, and living become out-living.” - - * * * * * - -“_Sept. 30._--We have been to Hinchinbroke. Lord and Lady Sandwich were -alone. She was the Lady Blanche Egerton[218] of my long ago Chillingham -days. Lord Sandwich took me all over the pictures. The best is that of -Lady Castlemaine, afterwards Duchess of Cleveland, very young and -lovely, with all her hair down. There is also a fine full-length of -Charles II., and a curious picture of Charles II. of Spain by Herrera. -By Gainsborough there is a beautiful portrait of Miss Martha Ray. Mr. -Hackman, who saw her with Lord Sandwich, fell in love with her, and took -orders in order to be able to marry her. Afterwards, when he saw her in -Covent Garden receiving the attentions of somebody else, he shot her in -a fit of jealousy, and suffered for it at Tyburn. In the ‘Ship Room’ is -an interesting picture by Vanderwelt of the naval action in which the -first Lord Sandwich died. His ship was fired by a fireship and blown up, -and he was drowned. Ten days afterwards his body was recovered, and the -garter and medal found upon it are preserved in a glass case near the -picture. - -“The rooms at Hinchinbroke are very pleasant and livable, but the oldest -parts of the house are burnt and the oak staircase is painted. Near the -foot of it, the skeletons of two prioresses (for the house was once a -monastery) were found in their stone coffins, and were buried again in -the same place! Lord Sandwich showed us the MSS. of the great Lord -Sandwich--journals and letters in many volumes; also many letters of -George III., showing his great interest in very minute public matters. -He has also a splendid collection of Elzevirs. - -“When Lady Sandwich was going to visit a school the next day, Miss Mary -Boyle heard the mistress say, ‘Now, girls, to-morrow my Lady is coming, -and so, recollect, pocket-handkerchiefs must be the order of the day: -there must be no _sniffling_.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Conington, Oct. 1._--This is one of the clockwork houses, with a -monotonous routine of life suited to the flat featureless country. -To-day, after church, the male part of the family set off to walk a -certain six miles, which they always walk after church, and, when we -reached a certain bridge, the female part said, ‘Here we turn back; this -is the place where we turn every Sunday through the year: we always go -as far as this, and we never go any farther.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Sarsden House, Chipping Norton, Oct. 4._--I came here on Monday. At -Paddington Station I met Lady Darnley and Lady Kathleen Bligh, and a -procession of carriages in waiting showed that a large party was -expected by the same train. It came dropping in round the five-o’clock -tea-table--Lord and Lady Denbigh; Lord and Lady Aberdare and a daughter; -Mr. and Mrs. J. A. Symonds; two young Plunketts; George, Lady Constance, -and Madeleine Shaw-Lefevre; Lord Morton.... I like Lord Denbigh very -much, and feel sure that no Roman Catholic plotter would induce him to -do what he did not believe to be right, or say what he did not believe -to be true. - -“On Tuesday afternoon I drove to Heythorp with Lady Darnley, Lady -Denbigh, and Lady Aberdare. A long unfinished avenue leads up to the -very stately house, which has been well restored by Albert Brassey. - -“In the evening Lord Denbigh told us:-- - -“‘Dr. Playfair, physician at Florence, went to the garden of a villa to -see some friends of his. Sitting on a seat in the garden, he saw two -ladies he knew; between them was a third lady dressed in grey, of very -peculiar appearance. Walking round the seat, Dr. Playfair found it very -difficult to see her features. In a farther part of the garden he met -another man he knew. He stayed behind the seat and asked his friend to -walk round and see if he could make out who the odd-looking lady was. -When he came back he said, “Of course I could not make her out, because -when I came in front of her, her face was turned towards you.” Dr. -Playfair then walked up to the ladies, and as he did so, the central -figure disappeared. The others expressed surprise that Dr. Playfair, -having seen them, had not joined them sooner. He asked who the lady was -who had been sitting between them. They assured him that there had -never been any such person. - -“‘The next morning, Dr. Playfair went early to see the old gardener of -the villa, and asked him if there was any tradition about the place. He -said, “Yes, there is a story of a lady dressed in grey, who appears once -in every twenty-five years, and the singular part is that she has no -face.” Dr. Playfair asked when she had appeared last. “Well, I remember -perfectly; it was twenty-five years ago, and the time is about coming -round for her to appear again.”’ - -“Lord Aberdare said that when Edward Lear was drawing in Albania, he was -in perfect despair over the troops of little ruffians who mobbed him and -would not go away. Suddenly his india-rubber tumbled down and bobbed -down some steps--bob-bob-bob. The boys all ran away as hard as they -could, screaming, ‘Thaitan! Thaitan!’ and never came back again. - -“A delightful old Mrs. Stewart has arrived from Scotland. I sat by her -at dinner. She talked much of Mrs. Grote. She described an interview -Mrs. Grote had with Madame George Sand. She said to Madame Sand that it -was a pity she did not employ her great powers for the leavening and -mellowing of mankind, as Miss Austen had done. ‘Madame,’ said Madame -Sand, ‘je ne suis pas philosophe, je ne suis pas moraliste, et je suis -romancière.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Oct. 4._--While Madeleine has been drawing my portrait, Mrs. Stewart -has talked delightfully, contradicting the theory of De Tocqueville that -‘the charming art of conversation--to touch and set in motion a -thousand thoughts without dwelling tiresomely on any one--is amongst the -lost arts, and can only be sought for in History Hut.’[219] She -described her visit to Ober Ammergau. Her anxiety to go was intense, but -all the means seemed to fail. The Princess Mary of Hanover and the Grand -Duchess Elizabeth (to whom she had intended to annex herself) _walked_. -But, to be in waiting upon them, went Baron Klenck, her Hanoverian -son-in-law, and he came back greatly impressed, and said to his wife -when he came in, ‘If thy mother still wishes to go, in God’s name let -her set forth;’ and she went. She described the life at the village--the -simplicity, the cheapness; then, in the play, the awful agony of the -twenty minutes of the Crucifixion, the sublimity of the Ascension. ‘I -have seen hundreds of “ascensions” on the stage and elsewhere, but I -have never seen anything like that simple _re-presentation_.’ - -“At luncheon Mrs. Stewart described a sitting with Mrs. Guppy the -spiritualist. Count Bathyany, her daughter, and others were present. -They were asked what sort of manifestation they would have. They -declared they would be satisfied with nothing less than a ghost. There -was a round hole in the table with a lid upon it. Presently the lid -began to quiver, gradually it was thrown on one side, and a hand came up -violently agitating itself. ‘Mrs. Guppy said, “Dear spirit” (we are -always very affectionate you know), “would you like the glass?” and a -great tall fern-glass was put over the place: otherwise, I should have -touched that hand. Then, inside the glass (but we could not touch it, -you know) came up something wrapped in muslin: Mrs. Guppy said it was a -head. Afterwards we were asked to go down to supper: there was quite a -handsome collation. A young American who was with us was so disgusted -with what he had seen that he would touch nothing--would take neither -bread nor salt in that house. I was weak: I did not quite like to -refuse, and I ate a few strawberries. Of course, as far as the moral -protest went, I might as well have eaten a whole plateful. Bathyany made -a very good supper. He took a rose away with him for his Countess, for -at the end of our séance quantities of flowers appeared, we knew not -whence, quite fresh, dewy, beautiful flowers: they appeared on the table -close to Count Bathyany. - -“‘The spirits are very indulgent. They think we are in better humour if -our spirits are kept up. After I have been sitting there for some time -they generally say, “Harriet is exhausted; let her have a glass of -wine.” Then sometimes they give us nicknames--beautiful nicknames; my -daughter they called “Mutability,” and me they named “Distrust.”’ - -“We have been a long drive to a charming old house, Chastleton, -belonging to Miss Whitmore Jones, who lives there alone, ‘le dernier -rejeton de sa famille.’ It is in a hollow with fine old trees around it, -manor-house, church, arched gateway, and dovecot on arches grouped close -together, all of a delicate pink-yellow-grey. Inside is a banqueting -hall with very fine old panelling and curious furniture, and upstairs a -long gallery and nobly panelled drawing-room.” - - * * * * * - -“_Sarsden, Oct. 5._--Last night Mrs. Stewart talked much of Hanover and -her life there. Her daughter was lady-in-waiting to the Queen. She -described how all the royal family might have their property back at -once, but the King would make no concession--‘God has given me my crown; -I will only give it back to Him.’ - -“Mrs. Stewart was with the Queen and Princess for five months at -Herrenhausen after the King left for Langensalza, when ‘like a knight, -he desired to be placed in the front of his army, where all his soldiers -could see him, and where he was not satisfied till he felt the bullets -all whizzing around him.’ The people in Hanover said he had run away. -When the Queen heard that, she and Princess Marie went down to the place -and walked about there, and, when the people pressed round her, said, -‘The King is gone with his army to fight for his people; but I am here -to stay with you--to stay with you till he comes back.’ But alas! she -did not know! - -“All that time in Herrenhausen they were alone: only Mrs. Stewart and -her daughter went out occasionally to bring in the news; the others -never went out. At last the confinement became most irksome to the -Princesses. They entreated Mrs. Stewart to persuade mama to let them go -out. Mrs. Stewart urged it to the Queen, who said, ‘But the Princesses -have all that they need here; they ought to be satisfied.’--‘Pardon me, -your Majesty,’ said Mrs. Stewart; ‘the Princesses have not all they -need; it is necessary for young people to have some change.’ ‘So,’ said -Mrs. Stewart, ‘at last the Queen saw that it was well, and she -consented. She said, “We will not take one of our own carriages, that -would attract too much attention, but we will take Harty’s--that is, my -daughter’s--carriage, and we will drive in that;” for the Queen had -given Harty a little low carriage and a pony. So they set off--the -Queen, Princess Marie, and only the coachman besides. And when they had -gone some way up the hills, the pony fretted under the new traces and -broke them, and, before they knew where they were, it was away over the -hedges and fields, and they were left in the lane with the broken -carriage. Two Prussian officers rode up--for the Prussians were already -in Hanover--and seeing two ladies, beautiful ladies too (for the Queen -is still very handsome), in that forlorn state, they dismounted, and, -like gentlemen as they were, they came up hat in hand, and offered their -assistance. The Queen said, “Oh, thank you; you see what has happened to -us: our coachman has gone after the pony, which has run away, and no -doubt he will soon come back, so we will just wait his return.” But the -coachman did not come back, and the gentlemen were so polite, they would -not go away, so at last the Queen and Princess had to set out to return -home; and the officers walked with them, never having an idea who they -were, and never left them till they reached the gates of Herrenhausen. -So the Queen came in and said, “You see what has happened, my dear; you -see what a dreadful thing has befallen us: we will none of us ever try -going out again,” and we never did. - -“‘We used to go and walk at night in those great gardens of -Herrenhausen, in which the Electress Sophia died. The Queen talked then, -God bless her, of all her sorrows. We often did not come in till the -morning, for the Queen could not sleep. But, even in our great sorrow -and misery, Nature would assert herself, and when we came in, we ate up -everything there was. Generally I had something in my room, and the -Queen had generally something in hers, though that was only bread and -strawberries, and it was not enough for us, for we were so very hungry. - -“‘One night the Queen made an aide-de-camp take the key, and we went to -the mausoleum in the grounds. I shall never forget that awful walk, -Harty carrying a single lanthorn before us, or the stillness when we -reached the mausoleum, or the white light shining upon it and the -clanging of the door as it opened. And we all went in, and we knelt and -prayed by each of the coffins in turn. The Queen and Princess Marie -knelt in front, and my daughter and I knelt behind; and we prayed--oh! -so earnestly--out of the deep anguish of our sorrow-stricken hearts. And -then we went up to the upper floor where the statues are. And there lay -the beautiful Queen, the Princess of Solms, in her still loveliness, and -there lay the old King, the Duke of Cumberland, with the moonlight -shining on him, wrapped in his military cloak. And when the Queen saw -him, she, who had been so calm before, sobbed violently and hid herself -against me--for she knows that I also have suffered--and said in a voice -of pathos which I can never forget, “Oh, he was so cruel to me, so very, -very cruel to me.” And after that we walked or lingered on the -garden-seats till daylight broke. - -“‘The Queen was always longing to go away to her own house at -Marienberg, and at last she went. She never came back; for, as soon as -she was gone, the Prussians, who had left her alone whilst she was -there, stepped in and took possession of everything. - -“‘The Queen is a noble, loving woman, but she is more admirable as a -woman than a queen. I _have_ known her queenly, however. When Count von -Walchenstein, the Prussian commandant, arrived, he desired an interview -with her Majesty. He behaved very properly, but as he was going away--it -was partly from gaucherie, I suppose--he said, “I shall take care that -your Majesty is not interfered with in any way.” Then our Queen rose, -and in queenly simplicity she said, “I never expected it.” He looked so -abashed, but she never flinched; only, when he was gone out of the room, -she fainted dead away upon the floor. - -“‘The mistake of our Queen has been with regard to the Crown Prince. She -has had too great motherly anxiety, and has never sent out her son, as -the Empress Eugenie did, to _learn_ his world by acting in it and by -suffering in it.” - -“To-day Mrs. Stewart has been talking much of the pain of age, of the -distress of being now able to do so little for others, of being ‘just a -creature crawling between heaven and earth.’ She also spoke much of ‘the -comfort of experience,’ of scarcely anything being quite utterly -irrevocable; that ‘in most things, most crimes even, one can trail, -_trail_ oneself in the dust before God and man.’ - -“In the morning Mrs. Stewart sat for her portrait to Madeleine, in her -picturesque square head-dress. She was pleased at being asked to sit. -‘Il faut vieillir être heureuse,’ she said. She talked much whilst she -was sitting--much of Lady H.’s insolent and often unfeeling sayings. She -spoke of a doctor who had the same inclination, and said to her, ‘Ça ne -me repugne pas de dire les vérités cruelles.’ Talking of self-respect, -she quoted the maxim of Madame George Sand-- - - ‘Charité envers les autres; - Sincérité envers Dieu; - Dignité envers soi-même.’ - -And added, ‘But who should one be well with if not with oneself, with -whom one has to live so very much.’ - -“This morning Lady Ducie’s pet housemaid gave warning, because, she -said, Lady Ducie was not so sympathetic to her as she was six weeks ago. -She said that as Lady Ducie was now not nearly so nice to her as she had -been, she should be obliged to marry a greengrocer who had proposed to -her. - -“In the afternoon we drove to Daylesford--Warren Hastings’ so beloved -home. It is a very pretty place, picturesque modern cottages amid tufted -trees, and a very beautiful small modern church on a green. This church -was built by Mr. Grisewood, and supplants a so-called Saxon church, -restored after a thousand years of use by Warren Hastings. The -inscription commemorating his restoration still remains, and ends with -the text--‘For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday.’ The -tomb of Warren Hastings, a yellow urn on a pedestal, stands in the -churchyard just under the east window. He left the place to his wife’s -son by her first husband, Count Imhoff. Lady Ducie remembers Countess -Imhoff coming to visit her mother, always with a great deal of state, -and always dressed in white satin and swansdown, like one of Romney’s -pictures. Mr. Grisewood succeeded the Imhoffs, and, when his son became -a Roman Catholic, sold the place to Mr. Bias. We drove to the house, -which stands well--a comfortable yellow stone house in pretty grounds, -with a clear running stream. Its reminiscences and the power of calling -them up made Mrs. Stewart speak with great admiration of those who -‘could find the least bit of bone and create a mastodon.’ - -“In returning, Mrs. Stewart told the story of Miss Geneviève Ward, the -actress. In early life she was travelling with her mother, when they -fell in with a handsome young Russian, Count Constant Guerra. He -proposed to her, and as the mother urged it, thinking it a good match, -she married him then and there in her mother’s presence, without -witnesses, he solemnly promising to make her his wife publicly as soon -as he could. When he could, he refused to fulfil his promise; but the -mother was an energetic woman, and she appealed to the Czar, who forced -Guerra to keep his word. He said he would do what the Czar bade him, but -that his wife should suffer for it all her life. To his amazement, when -the day for the marriage arrived, the bride appeared with her mother, -led to the altar in a long crape veil as to a funeral. Her brothers -stood by her with loaded pistols, and at the door of the church was a -carriage into which she stepped as soon as the ceremony was over, and -he never saw her again. She is Madame Constant Guerra, and has acted as -‘Guerrabella.’ - -“When we came home, I told a story in Lady Ducie’s sitting-room. Then -Lord Denbigh told how-- - -“‘Sir John Acton (whose son was Lady Granville’s first husband) was a -great friend of Lord Nelson, who was at that time occupied in a vain and -hopeless search for the French fleet.[220] One day Sir John was in his -wife’s dressing-room while she was preparing for dinner. As her French -maid was dressing her, a letter was put into her hand, at which she gave -such a start that she ran a pin she was holding into Lady Acton. This -caused Lady Acton to inquire what ailed her. She said the letter was -from her brother, a French sailor, from whom she had not heard for a -long time, and about whom she had been anxious. Sir John Acton, with -great presence of mind, offered to read her the letter while she went on -doing her mistress’s hair. As soon as he had read it he went off to Lord -Nelson. The letter gave all the information so long sought in vain, and -the battle of the Nile was the result of the prick of a pin.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Prestbury, Oct. 6._--It poured so hard this morning that I put off -leaving Sarsden till late. Mrs. Stewart again talked much of the -Hanoverian Court, of the Guelph love of doubtful stories; how she saved -up any story she heard for the blind King. One day she was telling him -a story ‘about Margaret Bremer’s father’ as they were driving. Suddenly -the horses started, and the carriage was evidently going to be upset. -‘Why don’t you go on?’ said the King. ‘Because, sir, we are just going -to upset.’--‘That is the coachman’s affair,’ said the King; ‘do you go -on with your story.’ - -“With the Greatheeds, in whose cottage I am staying, I went a long -excursion yesterday up the Cotswold Hills, which have a noble view of -the great rich plain of Gloucestershire. Winchcombe, on the other side, -is a charming old town of quaint irregular houses. We passed through it -to Hailes Abbey, a small low ruin now, of cloisters in a rich meadow, -but once most important as containing the great relic of the Precious -Blood, which was brought thither by Edmund, son of the founder, Richard, -King of the Romans. Thirteen bishops said mass at different altars at -the consecration, and three of the Plantagenets--the founder, his wife, -and his son Edmund--are buried in the church. It is now a peaceful -solitude, with a few ancient thatched cottages standing round the wooded -pastures. - -“In returning, we turned aside to Sudeley Castle, the old Seymour house, -where Katherine Parr is buried. It is a picturesque and grand old house, -partially restored, partly now a green courtyard surrounded by ruined -walls and arches. The Queen’s (modern) tomb has a touching sleeping -figure[221] guarded by two angels. As we were coming out of the chapel, -Mrs. Dent[222] pursued us--a picturesque figure in a Marie Antoinette -hat--and brought us in to tea. The Dents made their fortunes as glovers, -and, in their present magnificence, a parcel of their gloves, as from -the shop, is always left in a conspicuous place in the hall, to ‘keep -them humble.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Tettenhall Wood, Oct. 12._--Whilst with the Corbets at Cheltenham, I -visited Thirlstone, a curious house which belonged to Lord Northbrook. -It was afterwards bought by Sir J. Philipps, the bibliomaniac, and -contains the most enormous and extraordinary collection of books and -pictures imaginable; a few gems, but imbedded in masses of rubbish, -which the present possessor, Mrs. Fenwick, daughter of the collector, is -forbidden to sell or destroy. - -“I have been working hard for Mrs. Moore at the Memoir of her husband -the Archdeacon (the object of my visit), and have read through all his -speeches, &c. I see, however, how impracticable it is to help in work of -this kind. Mrs. Moore implores me to cut out what should be omitted. I -select what seems to me utterly trivial and commonplace, and she is -annoyed, saying it comprises the only matters of real importance. She -implores me to correct her diction and grammar: I do so, and she weeps -because her pleasure is destroyed in a work which is no longer her own.” - - * * * * * - -“_Donington Rectory, Oct. 13._--This is a pleasant place in itself, and -any place would be pleasant within view of the beloved Wrekin.[223] On -arriving, I went on at once to Boscobel, and saw the oak which grew from -an acorn of the tree that sheltered Charles II., and in the ancient -half-timbered house, the hiding-place under the floor at the top of the -turret-stairs, where the Prince is said to have crouched for forty-eight -hours, with his trap-door concealed by cheeses. Well smothered he must -have been, if Staffordshire cheeses smelt then as they do now. There is -a good portrait of Charles, which he presented to the house after the -Restoration. I went on with Henry de Bunsen to White Ladies, now a low -ruin of red walls in a meadow, but entered still by a fine Norman -archway. Inside is a quiet burial-ground for Roman Catholics, amongst -whose lichen-tinted headstones is that of ‘Mistress Joan, who was called -friend by Charles II.’--being one of those who assisted in his escape. -Beyond, in Hubble Lane, is the ruin of the Pendrill house. The -Pendrills[224] were seven brothers, common labourers, but went up to -London and had a pension after the Restoration. - -“We went on to Tong--a glorious church, quite a church of the dead, so -full of noble tombs of Stanleys and Vernons. Near it, in low-lying lands -with water, is Tong Castle, the old house of the Durants. The last Mr. -Durant brought in another lady to live with his wife, which she -resented, and she left him. There was a long divorce suit, which they -both attended every day in coaches and six. Owing to some legal quibble, -he gained his suit, though the facts against him were well known, and he -was so delighted at the triumph over his wife that he erected a monument -in honour of his victory on the hill above the castle. The sons all took -part with their mother, and when Mr. Durant was lying in his last -illness, they set barrels of gunpowder surreptitiously under the -monument, and had a match and train ready. They bribed a groom at the -house to ride post-haste with the news as soon as the breath was out of -their father’s body; and the news of his death first became known to -the county by the monument being blown into shivers. The Durants sold -Tong to Lord Bradford.” - - * * * * * - -“_Bretton, Yorkshire, Oct. 30._--I have been here for a very pleasant -week with a large party of what Lady Margaret (Beaumont) calls her -‘young men and maidens.’ ... There has been nothing especial to narrate, -though our hostess has entertained the whole party with her -never-failing charm of conversation and wit. - -“One day I went with Henry Strutt,[225] whom I like much, to Wakefield, -to draw the old chapel on the bridge. What an awful place Wakefield -is--always an inky sky and an inky landscape, and the river literally so -inky that the Mayor went out in a boat, dipped his pen, and wrote a -letter with it to the Commissioners of Nuisances.” - - * * * * * - -“_Raby Castle, Nov. 1._--I came here on Monday, meeting the delicately -humorous Mr. Dicky Doyle at Darlington, yet with much fear that there -were few other guests; but I was relieved to find ‘Eleanor the Good,’ -Duchess of Northumberland, seated at the five-o’clock tea-table, and -have had much pleasant talk with her. She spoke of her absorbing -attachment to Alnwick and the pain it was to leave it; that the things -which make the greatest blanks in life are not the greatest griefs, but -the losses which most affect daily life and habits.... Frederick Stanley -and Lady Constance[226] came in the evening, he very pleasant, and she -almost more full of laughs than any one I ever saw. Other guests are -Colonel and Mrs. Duncombe, young Gage, who will be Lord Gage,[227] and -just before dinner a good-looking youth came in, who turned out to be -Peddie Bennet.[228] - -“Yesterday Lord and Lady Pollington came, and old Lord Strathnairn, -looking thinner and more of an old dandy than ever.” - - * * * * * - -“_Nov. 3._--Yesterday, while I was walking with the Pollingtons through -the beech-woods deep in rustling leaves, the castle bell announced the -advent of guests, and returning, we found the Warwicks and Brooke -arrived.” - - * * * * * - -“_Whitburn Hall, Nov. 7._--There is a great pleasure not only in the -affection, but in the _demonstration_ of affection which one receives -here. Dear old Lady Williamson, in her beautiful tender old age, wins -all hearts by the patience with which she bears her blindness, and the -sweetness with which she sometimes imagines she sees; and Lady -Barrington’s lovely and lovable old face brings sunshine to all around -it.... In the younger generation, all is hospitality and kindness.” - - * * * * * - -“_Brancepeth Castle, Nov. 8._--Yesterday I went with Augusta Harrington -to visit Edward[229] and Tunie Liddell in their new home at Jarrow. It -is startling to see how the spirit that animated the early martyrs has -induced them to exchange competence for penury, and to give up the elms -and flowers and pleasant sunny rooms of the Rectory at Wimpole. Now they -are amidst a teeming population of blackened, foul-mouthed, drunken -roughs, living in miserable rows of dismal houses, in a country where -every vestige of vegetation is killed by noxious chemical vapours, on -the edge of a slimy marsh, with a distance of inky sky, and furnaces -vomiting forth volumes of blackest smoke. All nature seems parched and -writhing under the pollution. Their days are perfectly full of work, and -they have scarcely ever an evening to themselves.... They said our visit -did them good, and I shall go again. - -“Edward had been perplexed by an old woman, one of his parishioners, -always declaring herself to be at least ten years younger than he felt -certain she must be, yet he did not think she was of the kind who would -tell a lie. At last he found that she dated her age from her baptism. -‘The clergy were not so quick upon us then,’ she said, ‘as they are now; -so my father he just waited till we were all born to have us baptized, -and then had us all done together: there were eleven of us.’ - -“I reached this great castle in pitch darkness. It is a magnificent -place--a huge courtyard and enormous fabric girdled in by tremendous -towers of Henry III. The staircase is modern, but most of the rooms have -still the vaulted ceilings of Henry III.’s time, though the arms of the -Nevilles, with which they were once painted, are gone now. The beer and -wine cellars, with some cells called dungeons, are very curious. The -butler pointed out with pride the _black_ cobwebs which hung in festoons -and cover much of the wine, a great deal of which was in the huge -bottles called ‘cocks’ and ‘hens.’ The white cobwebs he had less opinion -of: they are less healthy. - -“Pleasant Lady Haddington[230] and her daughter are here. Lady -Boyne[231] is a most pretty and winning hostess, and her children are -thoroughly well brought up, and take a pleasant easy part in everything. -In the evenings the whole party dance ‘Durham reels’ in the great hall. - -“It was disappointing to have snow to-day, but there is much to interest -in the house and in the old church of St. Brandon close by, where some -grand figures of the Nevilles sleep before the altar. The very curious -pews and reading-desk of the time of Bishop Cosin were destroyed in a -mutilation of the church under the garb of ‘restoration’ sixteen years -ago. - -“There are several curious pictures by Hogarth here, in which the Lord -Boyne of that day is introduced; but the most remarkable is one of Sir -Francis Dashwood as a monk of Medmenham worshipping a naked woman and -all the good things of life.” - - * * * * * - -“_Kirklands, Nov. 14._--On Friday I was again at Jarrow, and was warmly -welcomed by the Edward Liddells. Next morning I went with Edward to the -wonderful old church of the seventh century, where Bede’s chair still -stands under the Saxon arches. All around vegetation is blasted; dead -trees rear their naked boughs into the black sky, and grimy rushes -vainly endeavour to grow in the poisonous marshes. The very horror of -ugliness gives a weird and ghastly interest to the place. Edward finds -endless work, and enjoys the struggle he lives in. As Montalembert says, -‘Ce n’est pas la victoire qui fait le bonheur des nobles cœurs--c’est -le combat.’ His is literally a Christian warfare. If he has spare time, -he employs it in looking about the streets for drunken men. As he sees -them come reeling along, he offers to help them, and walks home with -them clinging to his arm. On the way he draws them out, and having thus -found out where they live, returns next day, armed with the silly things -they have let fall, to make them ashamed with. While I was making a -little sketch of the church, a wedding party came in, the bridegroom -being tipsy. Edward accused him of it, and he confessed at once, saying -that he had been in such a fright at the ceremony, he had been obliged -to take some spirits to keep his courage up. Edward said he wondered he -could care for that sort of courage, that was only Dutch courage, real -English courage was the only right sort; and as he supposed he wished -to make his wife happy, that was the sort of courage he must look for; -but being drunk on the day he married was a bad omen for her happiness. -And yet, in the midst of his little scolding, Edward was so charming to -them all that the whole wedding party were captivated, and an -acquaintance, if not a friendship, was founded. It all showed a power of -work in the real way to win souls. And-- - - ‘He prayeth best who loveth best - All things both great and small; - For the dear God who loveth us, - He made and loveth all.’[232] - -“I came here by a bitterly cold journey of ten hours through the snow. -The train went off the line, and we were delayed so late that I had to -drive all the way from Kelso--a dark bitter drive. Har Elliot[233] -received me most warmly, with her little Admiral, and dear old George -Liddell. The place was built by old Mr. Richardson, the Writer to the -Signet, and now belongs to his daughter Joanna. On Sunday afternoon we -went to Ancrum, the burnt house of Sir William Scott, now being rebuilt -in the old Scotch style; its situation is lovely.” - - * * * * * - -“_Edinburgh, Nov. 19._--I have been four days at Winton with dear old -Lady Ruthven. She is now blind as well as deaf, and very helpless, but -she is still a loving centre of beautiful and unstinted beneficence. -She says, ‘It is a great trial, a very great trial, neither to see nor -hear, but it is astonishing the amount of time it gives one for good -thoughts. I just know fifty chapters of the Bible by heart, and when I -say them to myself in the night, it soothes and quiets me, however great -the pain and restlessness. It is often a little trial to me--the -unsatisfied longing I have to know just a little more, just _something_ -of the beyond. If I could only find out if my husband and my sister knew -about me. There is a little poem I often think of-- - - ‘The soul’s dark cottage, battered and decayed, - Lets in new light through chinks that time has made.’[234] - -Perhaps it will be so with me; but soon I shall know all, and meantime -God is very good. Since my last great illness I have not been able for -it, but till then I just always went on reading prayers to my servants, -that is, I could not really read, you know, but I just _said_ a chapter -out of my own remembrance, and then I prayed as I felt we needed.’ - -“Lady Ruthven can repeat whole cantos of Milton and other poets, and her -peculiar voice does not spoil them; rather, when one remembers her great -age and goodness, it adds an indescribable pathos. She likes to be read -to down her trumpet, which is not easy; and the person she hears best -thus is George the under-footman; but, as she says, she ‘has formidable -rivals in lamps.’ - -“One of her occupations is feeding her pheasants with bread and milk at -the castle door. ‘Ah! I see you are early accustoming them to bread -sauce,’ said Mr. Reeve of the _Edinburgh Review_, when he saw her thus -employed. - -“One day we drove to Yester (Lord Tweeddale’s), only remarkable for its -pretty wooded approach. In leaving Lady Ruthven, one could not but feel -one left her for the last time, and _what_ for her the change--which at -ninety must be so near--will be, from blindness, deafness, helplessness, -after her entirely noble and holy life--to light, and hearing, and -power.” - - * * * * * - -“_Edinburgh, Nov. 20._--A visit to the Robert Shaw Stewarts has given me -a pleasant glimpse of Edinburgh society. - -“Certainly Edinburgh is gloriously beautiful, but never was there a city -so richly endowed by Nature contaminated by such abject and ludicrous -public monuments!--the enormous monument of Walter Scott, a ludicrous -copy in stone of the Bishop’s throne at Exeter: the sort of lighthouse -which closes Princes Street (a monument to Lord Nelson, I was told): the -statue of the Duke of Wellington, who has lost his hat in a perfectly -futile struggle with his restive horse, which is standing on its -tail:--worst of all, the figure of the Prince Consort (in Charlotte -Square), being adorned by specimens of each class of society, the most -ridiculous of all being a peer and peeress in their robes. - -“This morning I drew in the Grassmarket. The crowd was most tiresome -till it took the idea that I was Sir Noel Paton, the popular Edinburgh -artist. I tacitly encouraged the idea, when I found the result -was--‘Dinna ye see it’s Sir Noel Paton hissel drawing the cassel? then -let Sir Noel see, mon.’ - -“In the afternoon I went with Mrs. Stewart to the exhibition of -Raeburn’s pictures--nothing but Raeburns, though many vast rooms are -filled with them; and deeply interesting it is thus not only to follow -one great, too little appreciated, painter through life, but to be -introduced to the whole world of his illustrious contemporaries. -Raeburn’s pictures may be slight, and may have faults of colouring, and -even of drawing, but his men never fail to be gentlemen and his women -are always ladies--very pleasant people too generally, and people it is -delightful to live with. ‘A great portrait should be liker than the -original,’ wrote Coleridge. The noblest portrait here seemed to me to be -that of Alexander Adam, Rector of the High School, a serious and holy, -but engaging old man. Lady Mackenzie of Coul is a sweet, refined, and -beautiful woman. As a rule, the old men’s portraits are the best--their -shaggy eyebrows, their vigorous old age, the sharp shadows of their -chins, so vividly and carefully drawn, and all the _delicacies_ of -expression centred in the eyes. There were numbers of such old men’s -portraits, in which the dead grandfather must still often seem to share -the inner family life of many a quiet country-house. It shows the -extraordinary change in the value popular feeling places upon art when -one recollects that the works of Watts and Millais cost from £2000 to -£3000, while these pictures--far more pleasing, far more like those they -represent, and, though more sketchy, cleverer and more original--used to -cost only £10.” - - * * * * * - -“_Nov. 21._--We have been out to New Hailes, the old Dalrymple house, -now inhabited by Lord Shand. The characteristic of the house is its -library, which, however, is rather useless, as the bookcases are -seventeen feet high, and there is no ladder to reach the upper shelves -by.” - - * * * * * - -“_Nov. 22._--Excursion to Pinkie, the fine old house of the Hopes, near -Musselburgh--crenellated, machicolated, picturesque as possible. Charles -Edward slept there when triumphant from Prestonpans. There is a noble -gallery upstairs with a painted ceiling, and a secret passage and -staircase. Lady Hope was very kind.[235] - -“In Edinburgh I have been, for the first time, received as a sort of -mild literary lion, and have found it very amusing. A quantity of people -came to call--professors, the bishop, and others.” - - * * * * * - -“_Ravensworth Castle, Nov. 26._--I have been much enjoying a visit here, -and the cordial affection which abounds in my dear Liddell cousins. Old -General Stanhope[236] is here, and told us-- - -“‘A gentleman was riding over the Yorkshire Wolds late in the gloaming, -when his horse started at something. With the perseverance of a good -rider, he forced the horse to return to the spot where he had started, -when he saw with horror that he had been frightened by a dead body, -evidently of a murdered man, lying by the side of the road. A dog was -sitting by the body, and as he rode up it ran away. - -“‘Without losing his presence of mind for an instant, without thought of -lingering to hunt up police, &c., the rider set spurs to his horse and -pursued the dog. He pursued it a great distance, and eventually saw it -enter a low solitary public-house. - -“‘He then put his horse into the wretched stable of the place and -entered the house. In the brick kitchen three men were drinking, one man -by himself, two men together; curled up by the fire was the dog. - -“‘The rider called for beer or whisky and sat down. Meanwhile he -observed his companions. The two men talked together of quite -indifferent subjects; the solitary man said nothing. At last the -gentleman got up and gave the dog a great kick. It ran to the lonely -man, who said in a fury, “What do you mean, sir, by kicking my dog?”--“I -mean that I chose to do it,” he replied; “and furthermore, I mean that I -arrest you for murder, and I call upon _you_ (turning to the other two -men) to assist me in arresting this murderer.” - -“‘And the man confessed.’ - -“General Stanhope also gave an interesting account of how old Lord -Braybrooke, going to a farm to see some cows, was struck by something in -one of the farming men. At last, suddenly slapping him on the shoulder, -he exclaimed, ‘Good God! you are De Bruhl!’ and it was a man who had -been well known in the world, son of the Bruhl of the famous Terrace at -Dresden, the friend of Augustus of Saxony, who had been ruined by the -Prince Regent, and had sunk lower and lower, till he came to be a farm -labourer, unrecognised and unnoticed for years. - -“Talking of dreams, General Stanhope said-- - -“‘Lady Andover, who was the daughter of Lord Leicester, was with her -husband[237] at Holkham, and when one day all the other men were going -out shooting, she piteously implored him not to go, saying that she had -dreamt vividly that he would be shot if he went out. She was so terribly -eager about it, that he acceded to her wishes, and remained with her in -her painting-room, for she painted beautifully in oils, and was copying -a picture of the “Misers” which was at Holkham. But the afternoon was -excessively beautiful, and Lady Andover’s strong impression, which had -been so vivid in the morning, then seemed to wear off, till at last she -said, “Well, really, perhaps I have been selfish in keeping you from -what you like so much because of my own impressions; so now, if you care -about going out, don’t let me keep you in any longer.” And he said, -“Well, if _you_ don’t mind, I should certainly like to go,” and he went. - -“‘He had not been gone long before Lady Andover’s impression returned -just as vividly as ever, and she rushed upstairs and put on her bonnet -and pursued him. But, as she crossed the park, she met her husband’s own -servant riding furiously without his coat. “Don’t tell me,” she said at -once; “I know what has happened,” and she went back, and locked herself -into her room. His servant was handing him a gun through a hedge, it -went off, and he was killed upon the spot.’ - -“‘The same Lady Andover had a dream of a minor kind which came curiously -true. She said to her sister that she had dreamt most vividly that she -was standing with her under the portico at Holkham; that they were both -dressed in deep mourning--thick black bombazine; and that they were -watching a great funeral leave the house, but that it was not going in -the natural direction of the churchyard, but the other way, up the -avenue. - -“‘A month after, the two sisters were standing under the portico, -dressed in deep mourning for old Queen Charlotte, and the funeral of -Lady Albemarle, who had died in the house, was going away up the avenue. -Lady Andover said to her sister, “Don’t you remember?”’ - -“Apropos of second sight, General Stanhope said-- - -“‘Did you ever hear of a man they used to call Houghy White? When I was -young, I went with him down to Richmond on a water-party, which was -given by Sir George Warrender. Houghy was then engaged to be married to -a niece of Beau Brummel, as he was called, and when we returned from -Richmond, we went to spend the evening at her mother’s house, and there -Houghy told this story. - -“‘He was aide-de-camp to the old Duke of Cambridge when he was in -Hanover, and was required by the Duke to go with him on a shooting-party -into the Hartz Mountains. He, and indeed two of the Duke’s other -aides-de-camp, were then, I am sorry to say, very much in love with the -wife of a fourth--a very beautiful young lady--and they were all much -occupied by thoughts of her. At the place in the Hartz to which they -went, there was not much accommodation, but there was one good room with -an alcove in it and four beds. The two German equerries slept in the -alcove, and the two English aides-de-camp in two beds outside it. In the -night White distinctly saw the lady they all so much admired come into -the room. She came up to both of the beds outside the alcove and looked -into them; then she passed into the alcove. He immediately heard the -equerry on the right cry out “Was haben sie gesehn?” and the other--the -husband--say, “Ach Gott! Ich habe meine Frau gesehn?” - -“‘White was terribly impressed, and the next day entreated to excuse -himself from going out shooting with the Duke. The Duke insisted on -knowing his reason, upon which he told what he had seen, and expressed -his conviction that his friend was dead. The Duke was very much annoyed, -and said, “You are really, as a matter of fact, so much occupied with -this lady that you neglect your duties to me: I brought you here to -shoot with me, and now, on account of whimsical fancies, you refuse to -go: but I insist upon your going.” However, White continued to say, “I -must most humbly beg your Royal Highness to excuse me, but I cannot and -will not go out shooting to-day,” and at last he was left at home. That -evening, the mail came in while they were at dinner, and the letters -were handed to the Duke. He opened them, and beckoned White to him. -“You were quite right,” he said; “the lady died last night.”’ - -“Lizzie Williamson said:-- - -“‘I remember quite well how a very charming young surgeon came into this -neighbourhood, a Mr. Stirling; he was beloved by everybody, and though -he was as poor as a church-mouse, he had not an enemy in the world. -After his medical rounds, he was in the habit of riding home through a -lovely wooded lane which there is near Gibside, with trees on each side -and the river below. One day--one Friday--as he was riding home this -way, he was shot by some men concealed amongst the bushes. His body was -dragged into the wood and was searched and rifled; but he was very poor, -dear man; he had nothing but his watch, and the brutes took that: and -that is all I have to say about him. - -“‘On the night before, the wife of Mr. Bowes’s agent, who was in the -habit of going every week to receive money at the lead-mines, some miles -distant from Gibside, awoke dreadfully agitated. She told her husband -that she had had a most terrible dream, and conjured him, as he loved -her, to stay at home that day, and not to go to the mines. She said she -did not know the place herself, but she saw a wooded lane above a river -and some men hiding in bushes, and she saw him come riding along, and -the men shoot at him from behind, and drag him into the bushes. He -laughed at her, and said of course he could not neglect his duty to his -master for such an idle fancy as that, and that he must go to the mines. - -“‘She fell asleep again, and she dreamt the same thing, and she -urgently entreated and implored him not to go. He said, “I must; the men -will be expecting me; they are to meet me there, and I have really no -excuse to give.” - -“‘She fell asleep the third time, and she dreamt the same thing, and -awoke with agonised entreaties that her husband would accede to her -wishes. Then he really began to be frightened himself, and at last he -said he would make a concession; he would go to the mines, but he would -not go by the wooded lane at all (for he was obliged to allow there was -such a place), but would both go and return by the high moorland way on -the other side the river. - -“‘So the agent was saved and the poor young surgeon was murdered in his -place. - -“‘The watch which had been taken was found afterwards in a pawnbroker’s -at Durham, and the men who pawned it were traced and taken: Cain and -Rain were their odd names. In the hand of the murdered man was found a -button of pink glass, imitation amethyst, which exactly matched those on -Cain’s waistcoat, with a bit of the stuff hanging to it, as if the dead -man’s hand had clenched it in a struggle. But Cain’s friends got hold of -the discovery, and sowed the wood with similar pink buttons, which were -found; so _that_ evidence went for nothing and Cain got off, but every -one believed that he and Rain did it. - -“‘Years afterwards, Cain was ill and sent for Harry,[238] and confided a -secret to him under strict vows of secrecy, and no one knows what that -secret was.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Kinmel, Nov. 30._--I left Ravensworth early on Monday to go to Ridley -Hall. In a few minutes after arriving, White the butler came to say that -Cousin Susan would see me. She was in her little sitting-room, half -sitting up on her sofa before an immense fire. At above eighty, her face -and figure have still the look of youth which they had at thirty-five, -and that quite unaided by art, though not by dress. She has now quite -lost the use of her feet, and is cut off from all her usual employments, -her garden, her walks, her china, and, if it were not that she is so -long inured to solitary habits, her life would be indeed most desolate. -She talked all afternoon and evening, chiefly about Tyneside politics or -family reminiscences. She asked me whom _I_ thought she had better leave -her fortune to. I said, ‘After Mr. Bowes, to one of the Strathmore -boys.’ She would not take leave of me at night, pretending she should -see me next day, but I knew then that she did not mean to do it. She -said, as I went out, ‘You may think that you have given me _one_ happy -day.’ - -“I slept at Chester on Tuesday, and walked round the walls by moonlight, -most picturesque and desolate, with only the tramp of an occasional -wanderer making the night more silent by its echoes. - -“Yesterday I came here. A beautiful ascent through woods leads from the -seaboard to this house, magnificent in the style of a Louis XIV. château -externally, with Morris paper and colour inside. There is a man party -here--Lord Colville, Sir Dudley Marjoribanks, Lord de Lisle, Hedworth -Williamson, Lord Delamere. Hedworth is most amusing, and Lord de Lisle -not without a quaint humour.” - - * * * * * - -“_Dec. 1._--To-day being a hunting day, most of the men breakfasted in -pink in the hall. We drove with the Harringtons to the old Shipley house -of Bodryddan,[239] where young Mrs. Conwy received us. The fine old -house has been altered by Nesfield--‘restored’ they call it--but, though -well done in its way, the quaint old peculiar character is gone. This -generation, too, has sent its predecessors into absolute oblivion. Only -the pictures keep the past alive at all, and they very little. There was -a lovely portrait of a little girl with a dog in Mrs. Conwy’s -sitting-room. ‘Who was it?’ I asked. ‘Oh, somebody, some sort of -great-aunt,’ she supposed, ‘the dog was rather nice.’ It was Amelia -Sloper,[240] Dean Shipley’s most cherished niece, the idol of that house -and of all that lived in it in a past generation. One could not help -remembering how that child’s little footsteps were once the sweetest -music that house ever knew, and now her very existence is forgotten -there, but her picture is preserved because ‘she had rather a nice -little dog.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Tatton Park, Dec. 2._--This is a very pleasant, roomy country-house in -an ugly park. The great feature is the conservatories, in one of which a -gravel walk winds between banks of rock and moss and groves of tree-fern -like a scene in Tasmania. - -“Lady Egerton[241] shows to great advantage in her own house. On small -subjects her conversation is frivolous, but on deeper subjects she has -acute observation and a capital manner of hitting the right nail on the -head, and she certainly gives her opinion without respect of persons. -Yesterday, Wilbraham Egerton and Lady Mary[242] dined, the latter most -attractive. Lady Egerton was very amusing, especially about old Lady -Shaftesbury and her having ‘established a lying-in hospital for cats.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Dec. 4._--Yesterday we went to church at Rostherne. Going through the -park gates, Mrs. Mitford (Emily Egerton) told the story of Dick -Turpin--whose propensities were not known to his neighbours, and who -constantly dined with her grandfather--having been terrified at that -gate one night as he rode away, by thinking that he saw the ghost of one -of his victims, and that it was believed to be haunted ever since. - -“Rostherne Church stands on a terrace above the mere, into which one of -its bells is said to have slipped down, and a mermaid is supposed to -come up and ring it whenever one of the family at Tatton is going to -die. It is the most poetical legend in Cheshire. Old Mrs. Egerton[243] -told it one day at dinner. A short time after, the butler rushed into -the drawing-room, and begged the gentlemen of the house to come and -interfere, for two of the under-servants were murdering one another. -Mrs. Egerton’s special footman had told the story of the mermaid in the -servants’ hall, and another servant denied it. The footman declared that -it was impossible it should not be true, for his mistress had said it, -and a desperate fight ensued. - -“Miss Wilbraham[244] is here from Blyth--a most pleasant, easy, natural -person, who draws beautifully, and makes herself most agreeable. - -“To-day we have been to luncheon at Arley. It is a noble house, raised -by the present Mr. Warburton[245] on the site of an old moated building, -which was, however, spoilt before his time. In front is a leaden statue -of a Moor, like those at Knowsley and Clement’s Inn. The blind Mr. -Warburton wrote the well-known hunting songs. He lived through his eyes, -but bears the loss of them with a noble cheerfulness. All around are -devoted to him, not only his own family, but tenants and workmen, and it -is a touching proof of this, that, when anything new is to be -constructed, the workmen always make a ‘blind plan’ of it, that he may -feel and know it--a bit of wood representing one kind of wall, a ridge -of sealing wax another: and so he is still the adviser and soul of it -all. - -“Mr. Gladstone is an old friend of his, and, with silence as to -politics, was come to cheer and amuse him. - -“Lady Egerton was most comical with Mr. Gladstone. ‘I told you you would -never rest,’ she said; ‘how could you be so stupid as to think it? A man -with brains cannot rest. Now how can you have come to do such a number -of foolish things? However, if I was you, I would quiet down: indeed I -do not despair of you yet.’ At luncheon Mr. Gladstone said she did a -good deal of work in a very short time, for she totally demolished the -Board of Education and the Church of England, and eventually established -the Pope as the head of Christianity throughout the world. - -“Before luncheon, Mr. Warburton took me away to see some prints in the -library. We found there a Mr. Yates, a clergyman, and there was a most -animated and interesting conversation between him and Mr. Gladstone on -the logical difference between ‘Obedience’ and ‘Submission,’ which Mr. -Yates considered to be the same and I thought so too, but quite see from -Mr. Gladstone’s explanation that it is not so. He illustrated it by -Strossmeyer, who was quite willing to _submit_ to the doctrine of Papal -infallibility, but turned restive at _obedience_, which involved -subscription, and prevented any power of antagonistic action on his own -faith any more. They spoke much of obedience to the decrees of a judge -in Church matters. Mr. Gladstone said that while clergy were bound to -_submit_ to a judge’s decree, and while they had no right to inquire his -reasons (two judges often arriving at the same decision from perfectly -different reasons), he did not see why they might not state that the -views they maintained, according to their own conscience, were at -variance with the decision, though, as members of the Church of England, -they were bound to submit to it. - -“Altogether, it was a very interesting visit, and I was glad Mr. -Gladstone said he wished it had not been such a short one. He and Mrs. -Gladstone were both most cordial. - -“Here, at Tatton, is a number of pictures set into panels round the -staircase, full-lengths of Cheshire gentlemen, moved hither from Astbury -Hall, where the originals met to decide whether they should rise for -Prince Charlie, and finally elected not to risk their estates. In the -dining-room is a picture of a hand shaking out an empty purse by Rubens, -signed; it was sent to Charles V. when he had forgotten to pay the -painter for his work, to remind him. Lord Egerton has many charming -miniatures in his room, and--a gift to one of his ancestors--Queen -Elizabeth’s ‘horn-book,’ being the alphabet and the Lord’s Prayer set in -a frame of silver filagree and covered with talc (horn). He told us of -some one who, wishing effectually to protect his land from poachers, put -up--‘Aspleniums and Polypodiums always on these premises.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Dec. 6._--Yesterday we drove to Wythenshawe.[246] It is a most -engaging old house, very well restored, all the historical points -retained--the low narrow door inside the other, through which the -defenders forced the conquerors to pass as their condition of surrender -after their siege by the Commonwealth, when the family was heavily -fined: the ghost-room, where a soldier shot in the siege still appears: -the difference in the panelling of the oak drawing-room, where the -panels were smashed in by a cannon-ball. There is another ghost--a -ghastly face of a lady, who draws the curtains and looks in upon a -bride on the first night she sleeps in the house after her marriage: the -late Mrs. Tatton saw it.”[247] - - * * * * * - -“_Betton House, Dec. 9._--Wednesday morning was lovely. We drove to -Rostherne Manor, Lady Mary Egerton’s charming modern house, with a -lovely view over the wide shining mere to the Derbyshire hills; on the -right, the church tower on a wooded hill, and in the foreground the -terraced garden with an old leaden figure of Mercury. - -“I came away to Hodnet, where the great new house perfectly swarmed with -Heber Percy cousins, and next morning I went with Ethel Hood to Stoke. -There is nothing but the ghost of our memories there now--even the -church pulled down, all that made the place touching or beautiful to us -swept away.” - - * * * * * - -“_Betton, Dec. 10._--It has been a great pleasure to go to church with -the Tayleurs at dear old Market Drayton, and to sit in the great green -baize room in the family gallery, with a large fire burning in an open -hearth--a pleasant contrast to the wretched open seats which are the -fashion now, though it might recall the exclamation of a Frenchman on -seeing a similar pew--‘Pardi! on sert Dieu bien à son aise ici.’ Yet -even at Drayton the respectable red-cloaked singers have given place to -bawling choristers. - -“I always feel, in the neighbourhood of the winding Terne, as if I were -carried back into my child-life with my dear adopted grandparents, the -one happy part of my boyhood, so different from the many bitter days at -Hurstmonceaux.” - - * * * * * - -“_Sherborne Park, Dec. 12._--At Bourton-on-the-Water were many people -waiting. In the dark I recognised Lord and Lady Denbigh, and then a -young lady came up with her husband and spoke to me. ‘I cannot see in -the least who you are.’--‘Oh, then I shall leave you to guess, and you -will find out by-and-by.’ It was Sir Garnet and Lady Wolseley. With him -and Lord Powerscourt, and a fat old gentleman much muffled up, whom I -took for Sir Hastings Doyle, and who turned out to be Mr. Alfred -Denison, I travelled in a carriage to Sherborne. It is a very fine house -of Inigo Jones, of rich yellow stone, with short fluted columns between -the windows; but in effect it is overwhelmed by the church, which is -close upon it, and crushes it with its spire. The living rooms are -delightfully large, airy, and filled with books, flowers, and pictures. - -“I had a pleasant dinner, seated by Mr. Denison, who told me much about -his curious collection of books on angling, of which he has some of the -early part of the fifteenth century, and about 500 editions of Izaak -Walton. He has even a Latin treatise on the Devil’s fishery for souls. -He was just come from Chatsworth, and had seen there a volume for which -£12,000 had been refused, the original of Claude’s ‘Liber Veritatis.’ - -“Lord Sherborne is both very fond and very proud of his wife, but her -music he pretends to detest, though her singing is quite lovely--not -much voice, but intense pathos and expression. - -“This afternoon I have been with Miss Dutton and charming Miss Ruth -Bouverie to the old chase and the deer-park, in which there is a -beautiful deserted hunting-lodge by Inigo Jones. Lady Sherborne wanted -to make a garden in front of it, but was only allowed by her lord to -have grass instead of potatoes. We also went into the church adjoining -the house, which contains many family monuments. The most remarkable is -that of John Dutton, who was ‘possessed of large estate and of mind -æquall to his fortune;’ yet he lost a great part of his estates by -gambling, and staked Sherborne too, and would have lost it if he had not -been carried off to bed by his butler. - -“Speaking of concealment of the whole truth, Miss Dutton related a story -her uncle, John Dutton, used to tell of the French governess sliding on -the ice, when one of the children said to her, ‘Mr. Lentil said, -Mademoiselle, that he hoped the boys would trip you up upon the ice, and -I really could not tell you what Mr. Davis said.’ Mr. Davis had said -_nothing_, but the intended impression was conveyed. - -“I forget how, apropos of Bible ignorance, Miss Dutton told of an -American, who, entering a coffee-house at New York, saw a Jew there, and -seized him violently by the throat. ‘What, wh--at do you do that for!’ -exclaimed the nigh strangled Jew.--‘Because you crucified my -Lord.’--‘But all that happened more than 1800 years ago.’--‘That does -not matter; I have only just heard of it.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Dec. 14._--Yesterday we went to Biberry, a beautiful old house of Lord -Sherborne’s. Mr. and Lady Augusta Noel joined the party in the evening, -she a Keppel,[248] the authoress of ‘Wandering Willie,’ and very -pleasant. Several neighbours came to dinner. The astronomical -conversation of Mr. Noel was very engaging. I deduced from it that the -flames in the sun were 96,000 miles long, and that we were all liable to -meet our end in three ways--_i.e._, by going fizz if a particle of the -sun (‘as big as this room’) broke off and struck the earth in any -direction: by being slowly consumed, the pools drying and the trees -shrivelling up: or by being gradually frozen under an ice-wave. The -earth has already perished once by the last-named contingency, and there -are geological features, especially at Lord Lansdowne’s place in -Ireland, which prove it.” - - * * * * * - -“_Osterley, Dec. 16._--I came here about tea-time to what Horace Walpole -calls ‘the Palace of Palaces.’ It is a magnificent house. Sir Thomas -Gresham was the original builder, and entertained Queen Elizabeth here. -Then it passed through various hands till it fell to the Childs, for -whom it was partially rebuilt and splendidly fitted up by the brothers -Adam. An immense flight of steps leads through an open portico to a -three-sided court, beneath which is the basement storey, and from which -open the hall and the principal rooms. There is a gallery like that at -Temple Newsam, but much longer and finer, and in this case it is broken -and partitioned by bookcases into pleasant corners--almost separate -rooms. The walls and ceilings are ornamented with paintings (let in) by -Zucchi and Angelica Kauffmann, but the great charm lies in the -marvellous variety, delicacy, and simplicity of the wood carvings, each -shutter and cornice a different design, but a single piece. In one room -are exquisite pink Gobelins, the chairs quite lovely; one of them -represents a little girl crying over the empty cage of her lost bird; on -its companion a little boy has caught the bird and is rushing to restore -it to her. There is a fine picture of Lady Westmoreland, Robert Child’s -daughter. When Lord Westmoreland, whom he considered a hopeless -ne’er-do-weel, asked for her hand, he had firmly refused it; but when -Lord Westmoreland some time after took him unawares with the question, -‘Now, if you were in love with a beautiful girl, and her father would -not consent to your marrying her, what would you do?’ answered, ‘Run -away with her, to be sure.’ Lord Westmoreland took him at his word, and -eloped with Miss Child in a coach-and-four from Berkeley Square; and -when, near Gretna Green, he saw that the horses of his father-in-law, in -hot pursuit, were gaining upon him, he stood up in the carriage and shot -the leader dead, and so gained his bride. - -“The Duchess Caroline (of Cleveland) was often here with Lady Jersey, -and, when she sold her own place of Downham, determined to rent -Osterley. Since then, though only a tenant, she has cared for it far -more than its owner, Lord Jersey, and has done much to beautify and keep -it up. Only Miss Newton and Mr. Spencer Lyttelton[249] are here, the -latter with tremendous spirits, which carry him he knows not where. The -Duchess is very amusing. Ordering a very good fire to be made up in -church, she added drily to the servant, ‘Just such a fire as you make up -on a very hot day, you know.’ She mentioned a clever _mot_ of Count -Nesselrode. Speaking of Sir William Wallace’s marriage he said, ‘Il -avait une mauvaise habitude, et depuis il a épousé cette habitude.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Dec. 17._--The Duchess is a most interesting remnant of bygone times. -She is so easily put out by any one doing too much, that every one at -luncheon was afraid to get up and ring the bell for her, till she was -close to the bell herself, when a nervous young man jumped up and rang -it before she could reach it. ‘Sir, officiousness is not politeness,’ -she said very slowly and forcibly. - -“To young ladies she frequently says, ‘My dear, _never_ marry for love: -you will repent it if you do; I _did_:’ and yet she was fond of her Lord -William. - -“Mr. Spencer Lyttelton rails at everything supernatural, so we spoke of -the story in his own family, and he told us the _facts_ of the Lyttelton -ghost, declaring that everything added to them about altering the clock, -&c., was absolutely fictitious. - -“‘Thomas, Lord Lyttelton, my father’s first cousin, was at Peel House, -near Epsom, when a woman with whom he had lived seemed to appear to him. -He spoke of it to some friends--the Misses Amphlett--and said that the -spirit had said he should die in three days, and that he believed that -he should certainly do so. Nevertheless, on the following day--he went -up to London, and made one of his most brilliant speeches, for he was a -really great speaker--in the House of Lords. He was not well at the -time. On the third evening, his servant, after the custom of that time, -was in his room assisting him to undress. When the clock struck twelve, -Lord Lyttelton counted the strokes, and when it came to the last, -exclaimed, “I have cheated the ghost,” and fell down dead: he must have -had something the matter with his heart.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Hinchinbroke, Dec. 26._--Lord Sandwich is a charmingly courteous host, -and Lady Sandwich a warm, pleasant friend. The three sons, Hinchinbroke, -Victor, and Oliver, are all cheery, kindly, and amusing. ‘You see what a -set you’ve landed amongst,’ said Lord Sandwich; ‘it will take you some -time to know them.’ Agneta Montagu is here with her charming children; -Lady Honoria Cadogan; Miss Corry, a handsome, natural, lively -lady-in-waiting to the Duchess of Edinburgh; and the kind old Duchess -Caroline, with relays of walking-sticks, which she changes with her caps -for the different hours of the day. - -“Yesterday I went with Miss Corry and Hinchinbroke to Huntingdon, a -picturesque old town on the sleepy Ouse. In the market-place, opposite -the principal church, is the old grammar-school where Oliver Cromwell -was educated. Mr. Dion Boucicault, of theatrical fame, is going to -restore it in memory of his son, killed hard by in the Abbots Repton -railway accident, and is going to destroy the one characteristic feature -of the place--the high gable front of twisted and moulded brick, which -recalls Holland and records the Flemish settlers in the Fen country.” - - * * * * * - -“_Christmas Day._--The damp, sleepy weather is far from an ideal -Christmas, but I have liked being here in spite of a miserable cold, and -being accepted as a sort of relation by this warm-hearted family.”[250] - - * * * * * - -“_Ascot Wood, Jan. 22, 1877._--I have been working quietly at home for -nearly three weeks--a halt in life as far as the outer world is -concerned; and how good these silences are, when, from the turmoil of -the living present, one can retire into the companionship of a dead -past--past associations, past interests, passed-away friends, who, -though dead, are living for ever in the innermost shrines of one’s -heart, of which the general world knows nothing, at which very few care -to knock; which, even to those who knock, are so seldom opened. - -“I have almost a pang when one of these breaks comes to an end, and the -outside world rushes in. ‘On ne se détache jamais sans douleur.’[251] -But it was a great pleasure to come here again to the companionship of -this perfectly congenial cousinhood. Sir John Lefevre, as usual, is full -of interesting conversation--not general, but with the one person next -him, and that one is generally myself! He described a visit in Sussex at -Sir Peckam Micklethwait’s (‘a man with other and more wonderful -names’).[252] When the Princess Victoria was at Hastings with the -Duchess of Kent, their horses ran away. They were in the greatest peril, -when Mr. Micklethwait, who was a huge and powerful man, stood in the -way, and seized and grappled with the horses with his tremendous -strength, and they were saved. One of the first things the Queen did -when she came to the throne was to make him a baronet. - -“Sir John said how few people there were now who remembered the origin -of the word ‘fly’ as applied to a carriage. In the last century people -almost always went out to parties in sedan-chairs--a great fatigue and -trouble to their bearers. Gradually the sedans had wheels, and were -drawn. Then it began to dawn upon people to substitute a horse for a -man. At that time the ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’ was being acted and very -popular, and, in allusion to a line in it, the new carriages were called -‘Fly-by-Night.’ Then the sobriquet was abridged--‘by night’ was omitted, -but ‘fly’ remained. Sir John remembered, when flys were first invented, -meeting a man who said he had just ‘encountered’ a fly with a wasp -inside and a bee (B) outside. It was Lord Brougham’s carriage. - -“We went this afternoon to Lady Julia Lockwood’s.[253] Her odd little -house is quite full of relics of her sister, the Duchess of -Inverness--the Queen’s ‘Aunt Buggin,’ wife of the Duke of Sussex. - -“To-night, talking of my little diaries, Sir John said that he had a -name for them--‘Seniority’--adapted from Nassau Senior’s journals. When -Senior went about, however, people knew that what they said would be -taken down, so acted accordingly, and produced their sentiments and -opinions as they wished them to be permanently represented. The Khedive -was told what Mr. Senior would do before he was admitted to his -interview. ‘Oh, yes, I quite understand,’ said the Khedive; ‘Mr. Senior -is the trumpet, and I am to blow down it.’ - -“Sir John described how in the Upper House of Convocation the members -amused their leisure moments by suiting each of the bishops with texts. -That for the Archbishop of York[254] was, ‘And _she_ was a Greek;’ for -Bishop Wilberforce, ‘She brought him _butter_ in a lordly dish.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Jan. 24._--When I arrived at the Ascot station, a little lady was -there, with glistening silver hair, waiting to go up to the house. It -was Mrs. William Grey. She was here two days and very pleasant--a -bright, active, simple mind, which finds its vent in excitement for the -superior education of women. - -“Yesterday we went to Windsor for the day. We went to the castle -library, where Natalli, the sub-librarian, showed us everything. It is -very interesting regarded merely as a building--not one room, but a -succession of rooms, irregularly added as space allowed and comfort -dictated, by a succession of sovereigns. Queen Elizabeth’s library (the -only part of the castle unaltered outside) has an old chimney-piece of -her time, into which the Prince Consort cleverly inserted a bust from -her figure by Cornelius Cure, and it once had a ceiling painted by -Verrio, which was destroyed by William IV., who put up a stucco ceiling -instead. Of Anne there is the charming little boudoir, where she was -sitting with the Duchess of Marlborough when a letter (a facsimile of -which is preserved there) was brought in from the Duke telling of the -victory of Blenheim. The later rooms are of George III. and William IV. -We saw Miles Coverdale’s Bible, all the early editions of Shakspeare, -Charles I.’s Prayer-book, Elizabeth’s Prayer-book, Sir Walter Scott’s -‘Lay of the Last Minstrel’ with his corrections and alterations; but -better far was the view from the end window, with the terrace and its -final tower standing out in burly shadow against the misty and flooded -country.” - - * * * * * - -“_Thorpe, Jan. 26._--We went to-day to St. Anne’s Hill. Lady Holland was -sitting in the innermost of the richly furnished bright warm little -rooms, but was bandaged up still from a frightful fall she had received -by mistaking a staircase for a passage in the dark. One always feels -one’s own talk on waggon-wheels with a person who has the conversational -reputation she has, and I was glad when Madame de Jarnac came in and -undertook to show us the house. Lady Holland followed, and took us to -her bedroom, which is charming, with a view towards Chobham. Then we -went to the gardens, with a temple to Friendship (_i.e._, to Lord -Holland’s friendship), and the summer-house in which the preliminaries -of the Peace of Amiens were signed. Other summer-houses are paved with -encaustic tiles from Chertsey Abbey.” - - * * * * * - -“_69 Onslow Square, Jan. 27._--Mr. Byng preached a capital sermon to-day -upon ‘religious hypochondriacs’--people who say, ‘You know I was always -so spoilt when I was a child, you must make allowance for my being a -little selfish now,’ &c.” - - * * * * * - -“_6 Bury Street, Feb. 13._--Last night I dined with the Haygarths, to -meet the Woods and Leslies. The Dowager Lady Spencer[255] was there, who -gave an amusing account of her Irish experiences, when her stepson was -Lord Lieutenant. One day he was hunting, and had just leapt a hedge into -a lane, when he was aware that a funeral was coming up. He thought it -might hurt the feelings of the mourners if he passed them hunting, so he -hid himself. But as the funeral came by the hounds appeared, and -instantly, setting the coffin down in the road, mourners, pall-bearers, -and all started in hot pursuit, and Lord Spencer found himself left -alone with the body. - -“Lady Spencer talked of one Irish gentleman, a Master of Hounds, who, -being very much puzzled by the two Lady Spencers, and how to distinguish -them, settled the matter by calling them, like dogs, one ‘Countess,’ and -the other ‘Dowager.’ ‘The absurdity never struck me much,’ she said, -‘till the last day of all, when Charlotte’s eyes were so red with -crying, and he, coming in, exclaimed, “Dowager, Dowager, what can we do -to comfort Countess?”’ - -“I have just been with Lady Halifax and the Corrys to see the Duke of -Suffolk’s head at the church in the Minories--a most awful object. - -“Mr. Bodley[256] told us last night that when he was staying at St. -John’s College, Oxford, he saw a ghost. He could swear to it. He was in -a room which was in the broad moonlight of a summer’s night, for it had -no shutters. Suddenly he heard a movement like that of a man under the -bed, and then something thrown on the floor like a stick. He jumped up, -but there was nothing. He then went to bed again, when out of the floor -in the moonlight rose the head and shoulders of a man. He saw it against -the chest of drawers. It hid two of the handles of the drawers, but not -more. Farther than that out of the ground it did not rise. He is quite -certain that he saw it, and quite certain that he was awake.” - - * * * * * - -“_Feb. 14._--Luncheon at Miss Davenport Bromley’s to meet Mr. Portal. -Lord Houghton and his son and daughter were there. Mr. Portal has a -scheme for educating the unfortunate Americans of gentle birth who have -fallen from wealth to poverty owing to the changes on the cessation of -the slave trade in South Carolina, and he has been eminently successful. -He described the South Carolina reverses of fortune as most -extraordinary. One of his friends died in his house who had once -possessed an estate worth £300,000; yet, when his will was opened, it -only contained these words--‘I leave to the old and tried friend of my -youth, the Rev. ---- Portal, my only son!’ He had nothing else whatever -to leave except £9 towards his funeral expenses. Mr. Portal described -how the ‘darkies’ had been ‘done’ since the change by those who had too -much of the theory of religion to have any power left for the practice -of it. Being at a place on the border, where some of the greatest -battles were, he asked some of the ‘darkies’ why, when they saw the -Northerners gaining the upper hand, they did not join them. A ‘darkie’ -said, ‘Mossieu, did you ever see two dogs fighting for a bone?’--‘Yes, -very often.’--‘But, Mossieu, did you ever see the bone fight?’ - -“The conversation fell on Philadelphia, ‘the most conservative place in -America, with its narrow streets and narrow notions.’ Lord Houghton said -that his son Robin had been shocked by the non-observance of Sunday in -the native city of Moody and Sankey. Mr. Portal said that Moody and -Sankey were utterly unknown, entirely without influence in their own -country; that it could only be the most enormous amount of American -cheek which had enabled them to come over to England, ‘exactly as if it -was a heathen country, to bring the light of the Gospel to the English;’ -that America had heard with amazement and _shock_ how they were run -after; that they owed their success partly to their cheek, and partly to -their music. - -“Mr. Portal described his feeling of desolation when he first arrived in -England--‘not one soul he knew amongst all these millions;’ that the -next day a lady asked him to conduct her and her child to a pantomime. -He consented, without understanding that a pantomime meant Drury Lane -Theatre, and his horror was intense when he ‘found himself, a clergyman -of forty years’ standing,’ in such a place. This, however, was nothing -to what he felt ‘when a troop of half-naked women rushed in and began to -throw up their legs into the air;’ he ‘could have sunk into the ground -for shame.’ ‘Was not the mother of our Lord a woman? was not my mother a -woman? is not my wife a woman? are not my daughters women? and what are -these?’ - -“Mr. Knowles, the ex-editor of the _Contemporary Review_, who was at -luncheon, said that he had taken Alfred Tennyson to see a ballet with -just the same effect. When the ballet-girls trooped in wearing ‘une robe -qui ne commence qu’à peine, et qui finit tout de suite,’ Tennyson had -rushed at once out of the box, walked up and down in an agony over the -degradation of the nineteenth century, and nothing would induce him to -go in again. Mr. Knowles said, however, that a general improvement in -the stage had dated from a climax of impropriety in ‘Bedel and Bijou:’ -it had since been much leavened by Irving. Lord Houghton described how -much of Irving’s success had been due to the entirely original view he -had taken of his characters; that in Hamlet he had taken ‘the domestic -view, not declaiming, but pondering, saying things meditatively with his -legs over a chair-back.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Feb. 24._--I have been seeing a great deal of Willie Milligan lately, -and cannot help thinking of the characteristics so distinctive of him -whom for twenty-six years I have never ceased to feel _honoured_ in -being allowed to call my intimate friend. - -“He is a thorough-bred gentleman in all the highest senses of the term. -Always without riches, he has never complained of having less than was -sufficient for his wants, which are most modest. Without being -cultivated, he is very clever. He never talks religion, but his life is -thoroughly christian. He is the soul of honour, pure, truthful, -blameless, and without reproach; yet in conversation no one is more -witty, original, and amusing. He is celebrated as a peace-maker, and -never fails to show that chivalry is the truest wisdom. He has never -done a selfish act, and never omitted to do a kind one.” - - * * * * * - -“_Feb. 25._--A visit to Mrs. Lowe. She talked of the contemptible state -of politics now; that it was all only playing at the old game of brag; -that the object with every one seems to be who can tell most lies, and -who can get any one to believe his lies most easily. If she ‘was -minister it would be different; she would nail men down to a point--what -will you do and what will you not do? and have a direct answer; _then_ -one would know how to act.’ - -“Mr. Lowe described his life in Australia. Money then scarcely existed -there: payments were made either in kind or in bills of exchange. He -said, ‘When we played whist, we played sheep, with bullocks on the -rubber; and when a man won much, he had to hire a field next morning to -put his winnings in.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Feb. 28._--A charming visit to old Lord John Thynne, who told me many -of his delightful reminiscences of Sydney Smith, Milman, and others. - -“Then to Mrs. Duncan Stewart, who was sitting almost on the ground, -covered with an eider-down. She talked of our ‘Memorials’ and of Mrs. -Grote, who said, when she read of the dear mother’s marvellous trances, -‘My dear, she was thinking more than was good for her; so God in His -great mercy gave her chloroform.’ She spoke of the difficulties of a -like faith, of the effort of keeping it up when prayer was _not_ -answered, believing in the power of prayer just the same. She told how, -when her child was dying--she knew it must die--the clergyman came (it -was at Wimbledon) and used to kneel by the table and pray that -resignation might be given to the mother to bear the parting, and -resignation to the child to die; and how she listened and prayed too; -and yet, at the end, she could not feel it. She did not, and--though she -knew it was impossible--she could not but break in with, ‘Yet, O Lord, -yet _restore_ her.’ - -“‘Do you know,’ said Mrs. Stewart, ‘that till I was thirty, I had never -seen death--never seen it even in a poor person; then I saw it in my own -child, and I may truly say that then Death entered into the world for me -as truly as it did for Eve, and it never left me afterwards--_never_. If -one of my children had an ache afterwards, I thought it was going to -die; if I awoke in the night and looked at my husband in his sleep, I -thought--“He will look like that when he is dead.” - -“‘Do not think I murmur, but life _is_ very trying when one knows so -little of the beyond. The clergyman’s wife has just been, and she said, -“But you must believe; you must believe Scripture literally; you must -believe all it says to the letter.” But I cannot believe literally: one -can only use the faith one has, I have not the faith which moves -mountains. I have prayed that the mountains might move, with all the -faith that was in me--_all_; but the mountains did not move. No, I -cannot pray with the faith which is not granted me. - -“‘I think that I believe all the promises of Scripture; yet when I think -of Death, I hesitate to wish to leave the certainty here for what -is--yes, must be--the uncertainty beyond. Yet lately, when I was so ill, -when I continued to go down and down into the very depths, I felt I had -got so far--so very far, it would be difficult to travel all that way -again--“Oh, let me go through the gates now.” And then the comforting -thought came that perhaps after all it might _not_ be the will of God -that I should travel the _same_ way again, and that when He leads me up -to the gates for the last time, it might be His will to lead me by some -other, by some quite different way.’” - - * * * * * - -“_March 4._--Breakfast with Lord Houghton--a pleasant male party--Dr. -Ralston, Henry James the American novelist, Sir Samuel Baker, and three -others. Harriet Martineau’s Memoirs had just arrived, and were a great -topic. Lord Houghton, who had known her well, said how often he had been -sent for to take leave of Miss Martineau when she had been supposed to -be dying, and had gone at great personal inconvenience; but she had -lived for thirty years after the first time. Her fatal illness (dropsy) -had set in before she went to America. Her friends tried strongly to -dissuade her from going, suggesting that she would be very ill received -in consequence of her opinions. ‘Why, Harriet,’ said Sydney Smith, ‘you -know, if you go, they will tar and feather you, and then they will turn -you loose in the woods, and the wild turkeys will come and say, “Why, -what strange bird are you?”’ - -“Of course, much of politics was talked, especially about the Turkish -atrocities. Sir S. Baker said that at the old Duchess of Cleveland’s he -had met Lord Winchester, now quite an old man. He said that he had -ridden from Constantinople to the Danube in 1832, and had passed thirty -impaled persons on the way. He himself (Sir Samuel) had seen the -impaling machine on the Nile--a stake tapered like a pencil, over which -a wheel was let down to a certain height, and when the man was impaled, -he was let down on the wheel and rested there; he often lived for three -or four days; if the machine was in the market-places of the country -towns, the relations of the victims gave them coffee. ‘It is not worse,’ -said Lord Houghton, ‘than the stories we are told every Sunday: “he -destroyed them all, he left not one of them alive;” especially of the -cruelties of David, who made his enemies pass under the harrow, a -punishment much worse than impalement. How grateful David would have -been for a steam-roller! what a number of people he would have been able -to despatch at once!’ - -“At Mrs. Tennant’s I saw the three girls who have been so much admired, -and painted by Millais and so many others; their chief beauty consisting -in their picturesqueness as a group.” - - * * * * * - -“_March 5._--To Mr. Brandram’s recitation of the ‘Merchant of Venice’ at -Lord Overstone’s. He said the whole play by heart, giving different -character and expression to each person--an astonishing effort of -memory. Hearing a play in this way certainly fixes it in the mind much -more than reading it, though not so much as seeing it.” - - * * * * * - -“_March 8._--Luncheon at charming old Mrs. Thellusson’s, where I met -Madame Taglioni, the famous _danseuse_. She is now an old lady, with -pretty refined features, perfect grace of movement, and a most -attractive manner. She has begun in her old age to give lessons again -for the benefit of her family, though she is, at the same time, -presenting her princess grand-daughter--the Princess Marguerite -Trubetskoi, a simple natural girl. Madame Taglioni spoke of her dancing -as ‘un don de Dieu,’ just as she would of music or any other art. We -asked her if she would like to be young again. ‘Oh, yes, indeed,’ she -said; ‘how I _should_ dance!’ She said her father, a ballet-master, made -her practise nine hours a day; ‘however great a talent you may have, you -never can bring it to perfection without that amount of practice.’ - -“Lady Charlemont was there, and after luncheon we asked her to recite. -She made no difficulties, but said nothing; only, while we had almost -forgotten her, she had glided round the room to where there was a red -curtain for a background, and suddenly, but slowly, she began. It was -only a simple ballad of Tennyson--‘Oh, the Earl was fair to see’--but -she threw a power into it which was almost agony, and the pauses were -absolute depths of pathos. You felt the power of her unfaltering -vengeance, you _heard_ the raging of the storm ‘in turret and tree;’ -and, when the moment of the murder came, you quivered in every nerve as -she stabbed the Earl ‘through and through.’ It was absolutely awful. - -“Afterwards Mrs. Greville recited ‘Jeanne d’Arc.’ It is her best part. -She cannot look refined, but an inspired French paysanne she can look -and be thoroughly. - -“Sir Baldwin Leighton made himself so pleasant, that when he asked me to -go to their box at the Lyceum in the evening, I promised to go, though I -never like seeing any, even the very best plays, twice. However, the -nearness of the box to the stage enabled me to see many details -unobserved before. Richard III. will always, I should think, be Irving’s -best part, for he looks the incarnation of the person. In Shakspeare, -Richard III. is most anxious to become king, and perfectly determined to -remain king when he has become so; but Irving carries out far more than -this. Irving’s Richard is perfectly determined that vice shall triumph -over virtue, and utterly enraptured when it does triumph, in a way which -is quite diabolical. The night before Bosworth Field is most striking -and beautiful. You are with the king in his tent. He draws the curtain -and looks out. On the distant wind-stricken heath the camp-fires are -alight, and the lights in the tents blaze out one by one, eclipsing the -stars overhead. Richard says little for a time; your whole mind is -allowed the repose of the beauty. The king, who has been through the -last acts trying (you feel him striving against his personal -disadvantages) to be kingly, is all-kingly on that night, in the -immediate face of the great future on which everything hangs. He gives -his orders--simply, briefly, royally. He lies down on the couch, folding -himself in the royal velvet robe, which, like Creusa’s cloak, is -associated with all his crimes. He falls asleep. Then, out of the almost -darkness, just visible as outlines but no more, rise the phantoms; and, -like a whiffling wind, the voice of Clarence floats across the stage. As -each spirit delivers its message in the same faint spiritual harmonious -monotone, the sleeping figure shudders and groans, moans more sadly. - -[Illustration: LONDON BRIDGE FROM BILLINGSGATE.][257] - -“Then there is a powerfully human touch in the way in which he, so -coldly royal as he lay down, turns human-like for sympathy in his great -horror and anguish to the first person he sees, the soldier who wakens -him.” - - * * * * * - -“_March 10._--Went with Victor Parnell down the river in search of the -old houses at Limehouse and Stepney. We found them, but the accounts in -the _Daily News_, which had led us to the excursion, were so exaggerated -that the houses were scarcely to be recognised. We came back by -Ratcliffe Highway. It all looked very clean, and thriving, and decent, -very different indeed from the descriptions in religious magazines.” - - * * * * * - -“_March 11._--Luncheon with Sir Robert and Lady Cunliffe, who showed me -a volume of portrait sketches by Downman, a little-known master of -George III.’s time, but a wonderfully charming artist.” - -END OF VOL. IV. - -_Printed by_ BALLANTYNE, HANSON & CO - -_Edinburgh and London_ - - - - -ERRATA - - -_Page_ 60, _for_ “Marocetti” _read_ “Marochetti.” - - “ 136, “ “Curramore” _read_ “Curraghmore.” - - “ 232, “ “Keats” _read_ “Keate.” - - “ 435, “ “vieillir être heureuse” _read_ “vieillir pour être -heureuse.” - - “ 478, “ “Bedel and Bijou” _read_ “Babil and Bijou.” - -“Story of my Life.”--End of Vol. IV. - - - - -THE STORY OF MY LIFE - -VOL. V - -[Illustration: Mary Lea Gidman. - -from a miniature by Barber.] - - - - -THE STORY OF -MY LIFE - -BY - -AUGUSTUS J. C. HARE - -AUTHOR OF “MEMORIALS OF A QUIET LIFE,” -“THE STORY OF TWO NOBLE LIVES,” -ETC. ETC. - -VOLUME V - -LONDON -GEORGE ALLEN, 156, CHARING CROSS ROAD -1900 - -[_All rights reserved_] - -Printed by BALLANTYNE, HANSON & CO. - -At the Ballantyne Press - - - - -CONTENTS - - PAGE - -WHILST WRITING THE BUNSEN MEMOIRS 1 - -ROYAL DUTIES AND INTERESTS 75 - -A HALT IN LIFE 241 - -HOME SORROWS 326 - -IN THE FURROWS OF LIFE 382 - - - - -LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS - -VOL. V - - -MARY LEA GIDMAN. _From a miniature by Barber._ -_Photogravure_ _Frontispiece_ - - PAGE -CHANTRY OF HENRY V., WESTMINSTER 12 - -LOWTHER LODGE 23 - -HOLMHURST, THE POULTRY-YARD 31 - -TITTENHANGER 51 - -SOPHIE, QUEEN OF SWEDEN AND NORWAY. _Photogravure_ _To face_ 80 - -THE ROSENBORG PALACE, COPENHAGEN 100 - -ROESKILDE 101 - -CASTLE OF ELSINORE 102 - -THE JUNCTION OF LAKE MALAR AND THE BALTIC, STOCKHOLM 103 - -RIDDARHOLMEN 104 - -THE CHURCH OF OLD UPSALA 105 - -GRIPSHOLM 107 - -BOLKESJÖ 111 - -THE CHURCH OF HITTERDAL 112 - -THRONDTJEM FIORD 114 - -THRONDTJEM CATHEDRAL 115 - -S. OLAF’S WELL, THRONDTJEM 116 - -IN THE ROMSDAL 117 - -GUSTAF, CROWN PRINCE OF SWEDEN AND NORWAY. _Photogravure_ - _To face_ 138 - -CORNETO 142 - -CATHEDRAL OF CORNETO 143 - -PERUGIA 154 - -ASSISI 155 - -IN THE ENTRANCE-HALL, HOLMHURST 165 - -AUGUSTUS J. C. HARE. (_Full-page woodcut_) _To face_ 176 - -IN THE FIR-WOOD, HOLMHURST 189 - -LA SAINTE BAUME 192 - -THE JERUSALEM CHAMBER 197 - -THE LOLLARDS’ PRISON, LAMBETH 206 - -THE WAKEFIELD TOWER, TOWER OF LONDON 207 - -IN THE VERANDAH, HOLMHURST 235 - -VERANDAH STEPS, HOLMHURST 236 - -FROM S. GREGORIO, MESSINA 245 - -TAORMINA 246 - -ROMAN AMPHITHEATRE, SYRACUSE 248 - -FROM THE WALLS OF EPIPOLAE 249 - -ON THE RIVER CYANE 250 - -ACI CASTELLO 251 - -TEMPLE OF CONCORD, GIRGENTI 252 - -IN THE TEMPLE OF JUNO LUCINIA, GIRGENTI 254 - -IN THE TEMPLE OF HERCULES, GIRGENTI 255 - -TEMPLE OF CASTOR AND POLLUX, GIRGENTI 256 - -PALERMO, FROM S. MARIA DI GESU 259 - -SOLUNTO 261 - -CLOISTERS, MONREALE 263 - -GATE OF MOLA 267 - -TARANTO 268 - -CASTEL DEL MONTE 269 - -TOMB OF BOHEMUND, CANOSA 270 - -MRS. DUNCAN STEWART. (_Full-page woodcut_) _To face_ 288 - -NORWICH FROM MOUSEHOLD 331 - -LAKE OF AVERNUS, NEAR NAPLES 345 - -CAPRI 347 - -SCILLA 349 - -FROM THE CAMPO DELLA CARITÀ, VENICE 351 - -REV. CANON HUGH PEARSON. _Photogravure_ _To face_ 354 - -GATEWAY, KENSINGTON PALACE 361 - -SASSENPOORT, ZWOLLE 364 - -MILL NEAR AMSTERDAM 365 - -HURSTMONCEAUX CASTLE GATEWAY 379 - -ON THE TERRACE, HOLMHURST 388 - -IN THE KITCHEN, HOLMHURST 389 - -CATHEDRAL OF ST. ISAAC, ST. PETERSBURG 391 - -ST. SOPHIA OF NOVGOROD 393 - -KREMLIN, MOSCOW 394 - -THE NEW JERUSALEM 395 - -THE DNIEPER, KIEFF 396 - -THE HOLY CHAPEL OF KIEFF 397 - -CITADEL OF CRACOW 398 - -NOYON 409 - -SOISSONS 410 - -CHÂTEAU DE COUCY 411 - -SHRINE OF ST. ERASMUS, WESTMINSTER ABBEY 429 - -LE CROZANT 434 - -SOLIGNAC 435 - -ROCAMADOUR 436 - -CLOISTER OF CADOUIN 438 - -ARCADES OF MONTPAZIER 439 - -AT FONTEFROIDE 441 - -CONQUES 443 - -CROMER 450 - -GATEWAY OF BUCKHURST 456 - - - - -XIX - -WHILST WRITING THE BUNSEN MEMOIRS - - * * * * * - - “Here we have no communion; company enough, but no fellowship. - Meanwhile, the grand perennial Communion of Saints is ever open to - us. Let us enter in and worthily comport ourselves - there.”--CARLYLE. - - “Ce n’est ni le génie, ni la gloire, ni l’amour, qui mesurent - l’élévation de l’âme; c’est la bonté.”--PÈRE LACORDAIRE. - - -It was soon after the death of my dear and honoured old friend, the -Baroness Bunsen, that her daughters, Frances and Emilia, wrote to -consult me about a Memoir of her beautiful and helpful life. I promised -all the help I could give, but did not understand, till several months -later, that they wished me to undertake the whole biography myself. -This, however, I rejoiced to do, being assured that beyond her own -children, no one had a warmer love and appreciation for the friend of my -whole life, and delighting to be raised, whilst dwelling amongst her -written words and thoughts, into the serene and lofty atmosphere of her -inner life. - -The work which I had undertaken began at this time to bring me into -constant and intimate connection with all the branches of the Bunsen -family, especially with Lady Llanover, the sister of my dear old friend. - - * * * * * - -“_Llanover, March 18, 1877._--I left London on my birthday and went to -the Harfords at Blaise Castle. It was bright but bitter March weather, -and though the woods were full of flowers, there was no enjoyment of -them. I had much talk with sweet Mrs. Harford about old days and the -many passed-away things and people dear to us both. Sir George and Lady -Grey were staying at Blaise, to my great pleasure. - -“Yesterday I came here by the ferry over the Severn. Lady Llanover’s old -ramshackle carriage met me at the Nantyderry Station, and brought me to -Llanover. I had received endless solemn warnings about what I was to say -and not to say here, what to do and not to do; but with a person of whom -one is not likely to see much in after life, one never feels any alarm. -Lady Llanover is very small and has been very pretty. We have a mutual -bond in our love for her sister, whose memory is enshrined in her inmost -heart with that of her mother, Mrs. Waddington, to whom she was quite -passionately devoted. Of the Bunsen family she talked from 4 till 10.30 -P.M. ‘You see I have still the full use of my lungs,’ she said. - -“At eight we had tea. There is no dinner, which I like, but every one -would not. After tea she gathered up all the lumps of sugar which -remained and emptied them with a great clatter into a box, which she -locked up. With £20,000 a year, the same economy pervades everything. -Her great idea is Wales--that she lives in Wales (which many doubt), and -that the people must be kept Welsh, and she has Welsh schools, Welsh -services, a Welsh harper, always talks Welsh to her servants, and wears -a Welsh costume at church.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS WRIGHT. - -“_March 24, 1877._--I may tell you now, as it is no longer a secret, -that I have acceded to the wish of all her family in undertaking to -write the Life and edit the beautiful letters of my dear old friend the -Baroness de Bunsen. How perfectly great and noble her character was, and -the intense interest of all she wrote, few know better than myself, and, -beyond her own family, no one loved her more; so, when my ‘London’ is -done, I shall give myself gladly to this sacred task, and trust that it -may be, as _her_ writings cannot fail to be, a blessing to many.” - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL. - -“_Holmhurst, April 6, 1877._--I look back on my visit to Llanover as -quite a bit apart in my life. It was important that I should please, as -much of the success of the memorials of her sister, which I have -undertaken to edit, must depend upon Lady Llanover’s favourable -co-operation. It was equally important that I should assert my own -absolute independence of will and action, and knock under in nothing. So -it was a difficult course to steer. The very warnings I had received -were enough to annihilate self-confidence. I was not to believe anything -Lady Llanover said about different members of her family, for she was -always guided by her own prejudices and sympathies. I was not to be -guided by her opinion on any subject, yet was never to contradict her. I -was not to make to her any one of the promises she was sure to attempt -to exact from me: above all, I was never to leave any letter or paper -about in my room, as there were always ‘tame panthers stealing about the -house,’ who would master the contents and make it known to their -mistress. - -“I began by disregarding _all_ this advice, and taking Lady Llanover as -if I had never heard a word about her, and I am sure that it was the -best way. I listened to all she had to say, and received part of it to -profit by. I left all my papers about, and if the mistress of the house -learnt what was in them, I hope it was beneficial to her. I found her -difficult to deal with certainly, but chiefly because, with endless -power of talking and a vocabulary absolutely inexhaustible, it is next -to impossible to keep her in the straight conversational path along -which she ought to be travelling: she will linger to pick all the -flowers that grow in the lanes diverging along the wayside. Thus, though -on an average we talked for six hours a day, not more than one of those -hours could be utilised. - -“There is a great deal to admire in Lady Llanover: her pertinacity in -what she _thinks_ right, whether she _is_ right or not: her insistence -on carrying out her sovereign will in all things; but chiefly her -touching devotion to the memory of the mother from whom she, the -youngest and favourite daughter, was scarcely ever separated. The -whitewashed ‘Upper House’ in the park is kept fresh and bright and -aired, as if the long-lost mother were constantly expected. In her -sitting-room a bright fire burns in winter, and fresh flowers are daily -placed on the little table by her old-fashioned sofa. The plants she -loved are tended and blooming in the little garden; the pictures and -books are unremoved from the walls; the peacocks she used to feed, or -their descendants, still spread their bright tails in the sun under her -windows. - -“It is in the kitchen of the ‘Upper House’ that Lady Llanover’s Welsh -chaplain performs service on Sundays, for to the church she and her -people will not go, as the clergyman is--undesirable. Lady Llanover on -Sundays is even more Welsh than on week-days. She wears a regular man’s -tall hat and short petticoats like her people, and very becoming the -dress is to her, and very touching the earnestness of the whole -congregation in their national costume, joining so fervently--like one -person--in the services, especially in the singing, which is exquisitely -beautiful. I suppose it may be only from the novelty, but this earnest -service, these humble prayers on the worn benches in the brick-floored -kitchen, with the incidents of manual labour in the background, and -farmhouse scenes outside the windows, seemed more of a direct appeal to -God than any formal prayers I ever heard in a church--the building -called a church. I feel more and more that I shall probably end my -days--a Dissenter! - -“We had more of the Welsh music in the evening. We went and sat in the -armchairs in the hall, and the household filed in above, and filled the -music-gallery, and sang most gloriously, especially the burial-hymn ‘It -is finished,’ which was sung in parts all the way from the house to the -churchyard at the funerals of Mrs. Waddington and Lord Llanover and his -son. At other times, the blind harper attached to the house came in and -harped to us, and four little boys sat in a circle on the floor and -sang. - -“One afternoon we went to the churchyard overlooking the Usk. A great -pine-tree, the seed of which was brought from Rome by Mrs. Waddington, -overshadows the burial-place of the family, and, in accordance with a -line in some poet she liked, her grave is covered with the simple -camomile. By its side is the colossal altar-tomb of Lord Llanover. It is -generally supposed to be merely commemorative, but Lady Llanover herself -unlocked a door concealed beneath the carving, and we went in. There are -three coffins--of Lord Llanover, his eldest son, and his grandson -Stephàn, son of Mrs. Herbert of Llanarth, whom she, the Roman Catholic -mother, insisted should be brought here, the priests accompanying the -corpse to the churchyard gate, and there delivering it to the Welsh -people, who sang their beautiful hymns over it. There was a fourth place -in the tomb, which Lady Llanover, tearless in her desolation, showed me -as hers, which she must soon occupy. The poor Welsh women were busy -‘dressing the graves’ in the churchyard--the graves are always dressed -for Palm Sunday. - -“At Llanover, in the weird house of dead associations, it was a relief -when pleasant, handsome young Arthur Herbert came the last day. Almost -the only other guest was Miss Geraldine Jewsbury, the intimate and -faithful friend of Mrs. Carlyle. I found it difficult to trace in the -ancient spinster the gifted brilliancy I had heard described, though of -her strong will there was abundant evidence.[258] During an illness of -Mrs. Carlyle there was a comic instance of this. Miss Jewsbury had -unlimited faith in black currant jelly for a cold. Now Mrs. Carlyle’s -throat was very bad, and Miss Jewsbury took some of her jelly to her. -‘But I will not take it; I will not take it, Geraldine,’ said Mrs. -Carlyle, with her strong inflexion on the ‘ine.’ So Miss Jewsbury sat by -the head of the bed and kept her black currant jelly well out of sight. -But a moment came when Mrs. Carlyle fell fast asleep, and--if the truth -must be told--opened her mouth very wide. It was Miss Jewsbury’s -opportunity, and she filled a spoon full of jelly, and popped it into -the open mouth. ‘Good God! Geraldine, what was that?’ exclaimed Mrs. -Carlyle, waking up. ‘_That_ was the black currant jelly.’--‘Good God, -Geraldine! I thought it was a leech gone the wrong way.’ - -“Since I returned, I have greatly enjoyed a fortnight’s halt in life at -home. When here, with charming rooms full of books and pictures, -inexhaustible employment within and without, and the dear Lea, the one -living relic of _our_ past, I wonder how I can ever go away.” - - * * * * * - -“_April 14._--The other day I dined at Lord Charlemont’s. Lady -Charlemont[259] is astonishing. I sat near her at dinner. First she -startled me by saying what a bore her neighbour on the other side was: -it was Lord Campbell. Then she said, ‘I am so happy. I have found some -one who breaks the first commandment.’--‘What! “Thou shalt have none -other gods but me?”’--‘Yes, and the man who breaks it is Dr. Schliemann; -he adds Jupiter and Venus and a lot of others, all on the same level.’ - -“Sir Julius Benedict was at dinner, a most amusing person. He described -how he was at Mentmore, and sat up very late in the hall reading, the -rest of the gentlemen having gone to the smoking-room, and Baron -Rothschild having gone to bed. He was surprised after some time to see -Baron Rothschild come down again and cross the entrance hall in -conversation with a strange gentleman. Soon after, when Sir Julius had -gone to his own room, a guest in the house knocked at the door and -apologised for disturbing him, but begged to know if he knew Sir James -Fergusson by sight. He said, ‘Yes, perfectly,’ and then he remembered -who the stranger was whom he had seen crossing the hall with the Baron: -it was Sir James Fergusson; he had not recognised him at the moment. - -“The guest said, ‘You do not know what an awkward difficulty you have -relieved us from; a gentleman has arrived who seems to think he is -expected, and whom nobody knows, and he says he is Sir James Fergusson.’ -And it was. - -“Sir James had been called out from dinner by a servant from Mentmore, -who said that there had been no time to write, but that he had been -sent off to fetch him, for the Baroness was so alarmingly ill that there -was not a moment to be lost. Sir James rushed off in a cab to Euston -Square, and asked for a special train. It was Sunday, and there was none -to be had without great delay; but the station-master, hearing the -urgency of the case, and whom it was for, said that the express, just -starting, should be allowed to stop at the station for Mentmore. On -arriving there, Sir James was surprised to find no carriage, but -procured a trap from the inn, and drove as hard as he could. As they -reached the house, the servant got down and went round it, saying he was -going in the other way. - -“The servant was quite mad, and the insanity first showed itself in this -odd form. - -“Sir Julius also told us that-- - -“‘One day an American bishop called in his carriage at Hunt & Roskell’s. -He asked to see some bracelets, mentioning that he was returning to -America and wished to take a present to his wife. ‘Nothing very -expensive,’ he said; ‘he could not afford that, but something about £70 -or £80.’ Eventually he agreed to take a bracelet that cost £100. He said -that he would pay for it with a £100 note which he had with him: it -happened to be the only money he had at the moment, but he would wait -while they sent it to the bank to ascertain that it was all right; he -should really prefer doing this. They sent it to the bank and received -answer that it was perfectly correct. - -“‘Having paid for his bracelet, the bishop took it, and was just about -to step into his carriage, when a policeman tapped him on the shoulder -and said, ‘Hallo, Jim! you’re up to your old tricks again, are you? -You’ll just come along with me,’ and he brought him back into the shop. -Hunt & Roskell said there was some mistake, that the gentleman was an -American bishop, that he had just bought a £100 bracelet and paid for it -with an excellent £100 note. ‘Just let me look at the note, will you?’ -said the policeman. He looked at it and said, ‘Yes, it’s just as I -thought; this note is one of a particularly clever batch of forgeries, -which are very difficult to detect, and the man is no more a bishop than -you are. We will go off to the police-station at once. I will take the -note and go on with the prisoner in the carriage, and you must send your -men in a cab to meet us and bear witness.’ So the policeman took the -bishop and the bracelet and the note, but when Hunt & Roskell’s men -reached the police-station, they had not yet arrived; and they have -never been heard of since!’” - - * * * * * - -“_April 15._--Dined with Mrs. Rogerson, daughter of my dear Mrs. Duncan -Stewart. Irving was there. I ventured to tell him how I thought his play -was spoilt by the changes he had recently made, and _why_, and he was -quite simple, as he always is, not the least offended, and in the end -agreed with me, and said he should alter the changes as I suggested, and -send me a box that I might come and see the improvement. He said how, -ever since he heard me tell a story at Lord Ducie’s, he had wished I -should do something in public. He ‘did not know if I wanted money, but -thought I could make any sum I liked.’ He ‘believed he could guarantee’ -my making £8000 a year! He advised my doing what he had intended doing -himself when he had been ‘making a mere nothing of ten guineas a week, -and felt _that_ could not go on.’ He intended to have got Wilkie Collins -to write him a story, and to take a room at the Egyptian Hall, fit it up -in an old-fashioned way, sit down by the fire, and then take the -audience, as it were, at once into his room and confidence. ‘But in your -case,’ he said, ‘you need not apply to Wilkie Collins.’” - - * * * * * - -“_April 16._--Miss Northcote’s wedding in Westminster Abbey. I had a -capital place in a stall just behind Princess Louise and Princess Mary -of Teck. The church was crowded, and though it was a bitter wind -outside, it was quite glorious within, all the forest of arches tinted -with golden sunlight. Arthur gave the blessing _magnificently_, as he -always does. There were 350 people at the breakfast afterwards, which -was at Lord Beaconsfield’s house in Downing Street. There were endless -little tables. I sat at one with Lady Aberdare, Lady Middleton, and -young Lord Colchester. I was glad to see the dear little Lady Winifred -Herbert again, growing up fast, but with the same sweet innocent -expression, walking about with Jim Cranbourne, who is a charming boy.” - - * * * * * - -“_April 23._--Dined with Lady Charlemont. Old Mr. Planché was there, and -talked much about the favourable characteristics of the present Duke of -Wellington; how before his father died he said how grief for his death -would be aggravated by perpetual consciousness of his own name and -position. ‘Think what it will be when the Duke of Wellington is -announced and only _I_ come in!’ Poor Mr. Planché, celebrated as a wit -and story-teller in former times, is becoming painfully aware of having -outlived the patience of his auditors! - -[Illustration: CHANTRY OF HENRY V.][260] - -“Lady Charlemont said, ‘Whenever I make a _very_ naughty quotation from -‘Don Juan,’ I always preface it by saying, ‘As Dr. Watts touchingly -observes.’” - - * * * * * - -“_April 26._--Dined at Mrs. Stratford Dugdale’s. Lord Crewe was there, -with the most extraordinary and diabolic-looking red flower in his -button-hole. He always has one of these weird orchids, and delights to -surprise people with them.” - - * * * * * - -“_April 28._--A pleasant morning with Mrs. Hollond, Sir Hampton -Lorraine, and others at Grosvenor House. The rooms were quite lovely, -and the flowers more so--great blue-green bowls filled with cowslips; -great glasses of blue bells, with a few yellow jonquils intermixed. - -“Luncheon afterwards at Mrs. Duncan Stewart’s. Mrs. Rogerson told the -story of a cat she had known who would lie on the rug with its head on -the side of a little dog called Flossy. People said, ‘How selfish the -cat is; she only lies there because it is warm.’ But Flossy died and the -cat was missing. It was found on Flossy’s grave, and lay there all -night. It was brought in and milk was given to it, but it refused to -eat, and as soon as it was left alone in the room where it was shut up, -it dashed straight through the window and went back to the grave again. -If they took hot milk out to it at the grave, it ate it, but away from -the grave it would eat nothing. It lay there day and night. At last they -built it a little pent-house over the grave, and it lay there, partially -sheltered, till, six weeks afterwards, it died. - -“Mrs. Rogerson knew another story of a terrier and a cat, who were -deadly foes and always quarrelling. The cat had kittens, and the kittens -were all put out of the way and were buried. The cat was inconsolable -and went mewing about the house. The terrier could not make it out, and -followed her everywhere; he did not snap at her any more; on the -contrary, he seemed to do all he could to console her. At last he had an -inspiration. He found out where the kittens were buried, and scratched -and scratched till he got them up, and one by one he brought the dead -kittens and laid them down before the cat. It was a very small -consolation to poor pussy, but she and the terrier never quarrelled -again, and were the greatest friends as long as they lived.” - - * * * * * - -“_May 2._--A pleasant party at Lady Leslie’s beautiful house to meet the -Tecks. She looked more amenable than ever, yet the Princess all over.” - - * * * * * - -“_May 4._--Dined with Sir Dighton and Lady Probyn in the strange houses -built like the Tower of Babel by Mr. Hankey. Went to a quaint collection -of anybodies and nobodies at Lord Houghton’s afterwards. He spoke of the -‘unexpected places in which gold is found’ in literature.” - - * * * * * - -“_May 6._--To Lady Salisbury, whom I found in her bright sunny boudoir -looking on the Park. Lord Edmond Fitzmaurice and Mr. Ralli came in and -talked politics furiously. Lady Maude told me of Lord Sligo’s visit to -Paris immediately after the siege, and how he had driven about in the -same cab for some days, and then found he had been sitting all the time -on an explosive bomb which was under the seat. The cabman, when -remonstrated with, as the slightest jolt might have made it explode, -said he ‘had not left it at home, because he thought the children might -get playing with it.’” - - * * * * * - -“_May 11._--At dinner at Lady Jane Ellice’s I met Lady Waterford and -Lady Folkestone.[261] The latter sang most beautifully and pathetically. -She _felt_. ‘One cannot feel always,’ she said; ‘one cannot feel with an -audience who say, “How sweet.” Lady Waterford told of Sir Philip and -Lady Durham. Lady Durham died quite suddenly. She had been out in the -garden the day before, seeing the gardener and ordering some bouquets -she wanted. After her sudden death, Sir Philip found a paper in her -dressing-box. It said--‘Something so very odd has happened to me, that I -think I had better write it down. In the garden I saw a figure which -beckoned to me and beckoned to me, and I followed it. I followed it a -long way, and at last it reached the churchyard, and then it -disappeared.’” - - * * * * * - -“_May 12._--Dined at Mrs. Rogerson’s, where I took down the Countess -Bremer, who has always lived at the Hanoverian Court. She is that -‘Margaret Bremer’ who is celebrated for her answer to the blind King, -who loved to shock her by his improper stories. ‘What do you think of -that, Margaret?’ he asked, after telling her one of his worst. ‘I think -that your Majesty has a very clean way of telling a very dirty story,’ -she replied.” - - * * * * * - -“_May 15._--Dined at Sir John Shaw-Lefevre’s. Having two round tables -made the party most pleasant. It included the beautiful and charming -Lady Granville, Lady Russell, Lady Aberdeen, and Wallace of the Russian -book.” - - * * * * * - -“_May 17._--A party at Lord Houghton’s; every one there, from Princess -Louise to Mrs. Anthony Trollope, a beautiful old lady with snow-white -hair turned back. These crowded parties remind me of Madame de Staëls -description--‘Une société aux coups de poing.’” - - * * * * * - -“_May 26._--I have been for three days at Cobham, where the woods -covered with bluebells were like expanses of Italian sky brought down -and laid on the earth. There was a large party in the house--Lady -Haddington and her bright Lady Ruth; Murray Finch Hatton and his wife, -as delicate as a drooping lily; Meysey Clive, a charming natural fellow, -and his Lady Catherine; Lord and Lady Pelham, &c. The life was most -easy; we drew, read, talked, and showed the house to Lord and Lady -Onslow, who arrived while touring in a four-in-hand.” - - * * * * * - -“_May 30._--On Saturday I was at a pleasant party at Lord Houghton’s, -meeting scarcely any one but authors, and a very odd collection--Black, -Yates, and James the novelists; Sir Francis Doyle and Swinburne the -poets; Mrs. Singleton the erotic poetess (Violet Fane), brilliant with -diamonds; Mallock, who has suddenly become a lion from having written a -clever squib called ‘The New Republic,’ and Mrs. Julia Ward Howe with -her daughter. I was introduced to Mrs. Howe, having asked Lord Houghton -who was the charming, simply-dressed woman with the sensible face, and -then found she was sister of my Roman friend Mrs. Terry. She wrote the -hymn, singing which the troops took Pittsburg. We asked her about it. -She said she could not help feeling the little annoyance so many felt on -similar occasions--that she should be only known as the authoress of one -thing, one little waif out of all her work, and that people should treat -her as if she had _only_ written that.” - - * * * * * - -“_June 3._--I have dined several times with Miss Wright to meet the -Charles Wilbrahams. She sings beautifully. He had much that was curious -to tell about the project of a French engineer for deepening the course -of the brook Kishon, so as to let in the Mediterranean. Kishon rises -near Tabor, and if the Mediterranean could once pass the watershed, it -would run down on the other side into the great hollow of the Dead Sea, -which is now so far below its own level. The engineer, of course, had -never thought of Ezekiel xlvii., in which the fishermen of Engedi, now -some 3000 feet above the level of the sea, are described as casting in -their nets. - -“Mr. Wilbraham was amusing with some of his American experiences. He -told of two young girls who were stopped going through a turnpike gate. -‘What are your charges?’--‘Half a dollar for man and horse.’--‘Well, -then, just stand on one side, will you, for we are two girls and a -mare, so we’ve nothing to pay.’ He said he had asked an American at -Florence what he thought of the Venus de Medicis. ‘Wal, I guess I’m not -so partiklar overpowered by stone gals,’ was the reply. - -“I constantly meet Froude the historian at Miss Wright’s, a somewhat -shy, sardonic, and silent man. His sphinx-like character, the very doubt -about him, makes him interesting: one never really knows what he would -be at.”[262] - - * * * * * - -“_June 4._--Dined at Lord Egerton of Tatton’s. Old Mrs. Mildmay told a -rather improper story there, which was received with shouts of -merriment. She was at a country-house where there was a very pleasant -man named Jones, and there was also a lady who had a maid called Jones: -the people in the house knew this, because there was a confusion about -letters. The lady’s husband went away for the day, and, as she was going -to walk to the station in the evening to meet him, the mistress of the -house asked Mr. Jones to walk with her. When the train came in, the -husband was not there, but just then a telegram was brought in. ‘Oh,’ -said the lady, ‘Oh-o-o, I’m sure my husband is dead: I can’t open -it.’--‘Nonsense!’ said Mr. Jones; ‘if he is dead, he cannot have sent -you a telegram.’--‘Well, I can’t open it; I know it’s something -dreadful--I can’t, I can’t, I can’t.’ So at last, Mr. Jones opened it -for her and read it aloud, not seeing at once what it contained. It -was--‘I am all right, unavoidably detained. If you are at all nervous, -_get Jones to sleep with you!_’” - - * * * * * - -“_June 6._--Lady Manners and her daughters drove me down to Osterley. -The great wide park looked dark and dull under a leaden sky, the house -gloomy and ghostly as Bleak House. The old Duchess, stumping about with -her inlaid ebony stick, seemed part of the place. I dined at Sir Edward -Blackett’s, a beautiful house with Raffaellesque and pink tapestry -decorations, prepared for the Duke of Gloucester on his marriage with -the Waldegrave, but never lived in by him.” - - * * * * * - -“_June 7._--Dined with George Lefevre. Mr. Bright was there, said to be -the man who reviewed me so unmercifully in the _Athenæum_, and I was -very glad to see the kind of man he is. He talked incessantly, never -allowing a word to any one else; still after a time one found out he was -interesting. He talked most of Miss Martineau, then of Hawthorne with -great praise--‘the kindest, most generous of men and friends.’ Of his -son, Julian Hawthorne, he said that he had ‘written a book which it took -_very_ long to read.’” - - * * * * * - -“_June 13._--An excursion with the Lefevres to the Rye House, which I -knew so well in my boyhood. It was like spending an afternoon in -Holland, so very Dutch are those long expanses of rich meadow-lands, -those streams with their boats and tall water-plants. We sat in burning -sunshine to draw the old terra-cotta tower, and then had tea and eggs -and bacon in the garden of the little inn, which was covered with -scarlet geranium in full flower up to the attic windows.” - - * * * * * - -“_June 19._--The news of poor old Cousin Susan’s[263] death. It is the -glueing down of another much-read page of life, which can never be seen -again. I feel ashamed of not grieving more for one whom I have known so -well, but have always more feared than loved. The agent wrote desiring -me to come down at once, but, backed by Lady Barrington’s decision that -I had better keep out of the way till the will was decided, I excused -myself. Yet I am sorry not to be at the funeral, and the old house of -many associations, and the little Beltingham chapel with its view over -the gleaming Tyne, are very constantly in my mind. All the cousins are -quite sure that I am the heir, but I do not think that it is so. Cousin -Susan knew that I did not wish it, and I have always urged the claims of -the Strathmore boys.” - - * * * * * - -“_June 20._--I have received from Milligan the news of Cousin Susan’s -will. It is exactly the will I begged her to make--all to Mr. Bowes for -life, then to the Strathmores. These pleasant boys deserve their good -fortunes. I would only rather she had selected _one_ of them to have -more definitely preserved her memory.” - - * * * * * - -“_June 28._--After a party at Lowther Lodge, I went to Lady Marian -Alford, whom I found with a very ancient aunt, Lady Elizabeth Dickens. -Lady Marian showed me her drawings. There was one glorious sketch of a -Roman model, yet most unlike a model. ‘She is,’ said Lady Marian, ‘the -model who is so hated by the other models because of her stateliness. -“She walks down the Corso as if it belonged to her,” they say. She had -two beautiful children--a boy and a girl. Last time I went to Rome, I -saw her alone. “Where is your boy?” I asked.--“Oh, dead,” she -answered.--“And the girl?”--“Oh, dead, _dead_ too,” she replied, -pressing her hands to her forehead. And I pitied her, and I asked her -about it, and she said, “I will tell you how it was.” And she told me -how she was coming downstairs with her boy in her arms and the girl -behind her, and that just as she reached the house-door, a church-bell -began to toll. “E un giustiziáto!” said one of the neighbours. And then, -she could not tell how, it was somehow borne in upon her that her -boy--her son--might, if he grew up, also some day fall into sin, also -some day, perhaps, even be _giustiziáto_; and she turned round to the -Madonna on the wall, and prayed that, if it were to be so, if such agony -were possible for her, that she would take her son _then_, that she -would take him away _then_, from the evil to come. And her husband, who -heard her, said angrily, “Che sono queste stragonfiáte;” and he beat -her; but the Madonna had heard her, and that night her boy was taken -ill, and in twenty-four hours he was dead. - -“‘And then she said, “That night I went again to the Madonna, and I -said, ‘You have taken my boy, and, oh! if I may ever have _arrossire_ -for my girl, take the girl also, take her away in her innocence;’ _e la -Madonna mi ha fatto anche questa caritá_, and I, I am alone, but my -children are safe.”’ - - * * * * * - -“_July 1._--To Holland House, most lovely in all the freshness of -new-mown hay, and the old elm avenue dewy from a shower. It was a -delight to see Mrs. Augustus Craven, altered from the lovely ‘Pauline de -la Ferronays,’ but still beautiful, and I had the happiness of finding -that she liked to talk to me about her loved and lost ones. - -“A very interesting dinner at Miss Davenport Bromley’s. Signor -Francheschi described his life in Corsica, especially the weird women, -who come like the Fates, as hired mourners, to bewail the dead, yet -throw themselves so completely into their profession that they become -quite absorbed in grief, and torrents of tears flow down their cheeks. - -“One night he had to travel. In a desolate road he saw two strange -ghastly horsemen approaching, with men walking on either side of their -horses and holding them. The moonlight glared upon their fixed and -horrid countenances. As they came near he heard the footmen talking to -them. ‘We must hasten; they are waiting for you; they are even now -lamenting you.’ Then he saw that the riders were dead. They were -murdered men found by the highway, and had been set on horseback to be -brought home. In Corsica it is the custom never to cease speaking to the -dead.” - - * * * * * - -“_July 7._--A capital party at Lowther Lodge to meet Princess Louise and -Lord Lorne. The garden was illuminated with magnesium light, and looked -both beautiful and--boundless!” - -[Illustration: LOWTHER LODGE.][264] - - * * * * * - -“_July 15._--Luncheon at Lady Combermere’s, where Lord Houghton -described his experience of executions. He had been to numbers of those -in Newgate. Up to the time of George III. the sign-manual was necessary -for every execution, and it was an odd thing that George III., usually a -humane man, used to hang every one. He would sit at the council-board -and ask each of the ministers in turn whether a man was to suffer death. -They would bow their heads in assent. Lord Melbourne was especially -ready to do this when he was sitting at the council-board. One day, -however, there was a case of a man who had murdered his wife under most -brutal circumstances. The evidence was quite incontrovertible, and all -were surprised that Lord Melbourne, usually so ready, shrugged his -shoulders and seemed to have the greatest difficulty in making up his -mind to give an assent to the death-warrant. One of the ministers, in -going out, asked why it was. ‘Why, poor man, those women are so damned -provoking,’ said Lord Melbourne. - -“Mr. Browning said he recollected seeing as many as twenty-one persons -sitting together on the condemned bench in Newgate Chapel, many only for -stealing a handkerchief. One day in chapel he was jostled by some one -pushing in past him, and turned round annoyed. ‘I beg your pardon, sir, -but I am going to _suffer_,’ said the man.” - - * * * * * - -“_July 12._--Monday was a most beautiful day for the party at Chiswick, -for its beautiful Italian gardens with glorious cedars. All London was -there, including the Prince of Wales, with his little boy George, and -the Tecks.” - - * * * * * - -“_July 29._--Since I wrote last the curious episode of Mrs. L. has -occurred. - -“On the 14th I left my lodgings in the afternoon to go to the Athenæum, -when a tremendous cataract of rain came on, in which I took refuge in -the covered entry of Pall Mall Place. A number of other people took -refuge there also. Amongst them, I was attracted by the agonised face of -a woman crouching in a corner--a lady, for so she seemed by her face, -and in a certain degree by her dress; for though her gown looked as if -it had been dragged through every Slough of Despond in Europe, the rest -of her dress seemed to belong to the better class. As for her -expression, I cannot forget it, it was of such agonised, hopeless, -bewildered despair. I suppose I looked pityingly at her, for she turned -to me, and in sharp wolfish accents said, ‘I am not a beggar, I am not, -I am only starving to death, I am starving to _death_!’ I think I begged -her to tell me what had brought her to such a pass; at any rate she told -me--‘I am Mrs. L.’ To many this would not convey anything, but, from -having always been occupied with architecture, it conveyed something to -me, and I said, ‘What! the widow of L., the architect?’--‘Yes,’ she -said, and she described in the same sharp, broken, gasping accents how -she had been with her husband in Paris at the time of the siege, and how -he had wished to get her away and had arranged for her escape to -England, and how at the moment that he was parting with her and putting -a purse into her hand to pay the expenses of her journey, a shell burst -near them, and her jaw was blown off. ‘When I came to myself in the -hospital,’ she said, ‘I found that the shell which had blown off my jaw, -had blown my husband to pieces.’ She then described how she came to -England, and how the Soane Museum, which takes care of the widows of -architects, had given her a pension of £75 a year. ‘You wonder,’ she -continued, ‘that, having this pension, I should have reached the -condition I am in, but the fact is I have been a very wicked woman. When -our pension is granted, we take a vow never to lend money, which is -absolutely forbidden by the rules of the Museum; but a friend of mine -was in great want, and I trusted her and became security for her, and -she has absconded, and they have come upon me for the debt, and -yesterday morning early all my things were seized, and I could not apply -to the Museum, because then they would take away my pension, and I was -turned adrift in the streets with nothing at all in the world.’ And then -the poor woman corrected herself and said, ‘I have told a lie. I have -not quite nothing in the world. I have a silk gown. I had that on when I -was turned out, but I knew it would be worse for me to spend a night -homeless in the streets in a silk gown, and I went to a servant I knew, -and got her to take care of it for me, and to lend me the worst gown she -had.’ - -“‘Since yesterday morning,’ she said, ‘I have tasted nothing whatever. -You wonder I have not fainted. I have not done that because I am so -dreadfully ill; I am in a burning fever. Yesterday I walked up to -Hampstead, because there was a governess I knew there, and I thought she -would help me; but when I arrived, I found her gone to Scotland with her -family, and I walked all about Hampstead and Highgate, and the police -insulted me, they did not protect me, they insulted me worst of all; and -all through the day I have walked in the streets.’ I asked her, ‘Have -you no friend in the world?’--‘Yes,’ she said, ‘I have one person who is -a friend; at least there is one person who I think would help me if I -could get to her, because my mother was once very kind to her, and that -is Mrs. H. of the Mansfield Park School at Uxbridge, and to her, if I -could have even a cup of coffee to strengthen me, I should set out and -walk.’ - -“I got her to go and have some tea, which, as I foresaw, made her -violently sick; and then, when she was a little better, I sent her by -the train to Uxbridge. Immediately returning to the Athenæum, I wrote a -lady who lives close to Uxbridge, briefly telling her the story, that -Mrs. L. would probably arrive very ill, perhaps almost dying, and -begging her to go at once to Mansfield Park and look after her. - -“This was on Saturday. On Sunday there is no postal delivery. On Monday -morning I received two letters. One was from Mrs. H., overwhelmingly -grateful for what I had been able to do for Mrs. L., saying that she had -received benefits from her mother which nothing could ever repay, and -that she had been only too thankful to receive and care for the -daughter. The other letter was from the lady to whom I had written, -saying that there was no such place as Mansfield Park, that there was no -such person as Mrs. L., and enclosing letters from the police and -post-office at Uxbridge certifying this. I explained this in my own mind -by remembering that, while telling me her story under the entry, Mrs. L. -had said, ‘There is a little affectation about the name of Mansfield -Park; it misleads people, for after all it is only a farmhouse.’ - -“On Monday evening the servant at my lodgings said that Mrs. L. herself -had called: I was gone out to dinner. The next morning before I was up -she came again, and waited till I was dressed. - -“She was then quite calm and happy. She told how, when she got to -Uxbridge, after being dreadfully ill in the train, her heart failed -her--‘perhaps after all Mrs. H. would not receive her.’ However, she -described with tears the touching kindness of Mrs. H.--that she had -washed her, dressed her, put her in her own bed, tended her, and finally -given her a cheque for £20, which she showed me. Her brother also, a -travelling wine merchant in France, whom she had not seen for years, and -to whom she had written without a hope of finding him, had also -telegraphed that he was on his way to her assistance. - -“She was overwhelmingly grateful to me. - -“Then I asked her of her past. She said she had been the daughter of a -planter in Havannah, but her fine voice induced her, against the will of -her family, early to take to a public life. At the Exhibition of 1851 -she (as Mademoiselle Mori) sang the anthem of which Jenny Lind sang one -verse. She afterwards became a sculptress, and studied under Gibson at -Rome (and she described his peculiar studio accurately). She was his -only female pupil, and had the charge of his studio. He taught her his -mode of colouring marble, and in her statue of ‘Waiting for the Spring,’ -she used it in colouring the primroses and violets in a girl’s lap. The -Queen bought this statue in the Exhibition building of 1862 before the -Exhibition opened. Then she married Mr. L. and went to Paris. - -“‘While I was in Paris,’ she said, ‘a very curious thing happened to me. -I gave birth to three boys at once. When such an event occurs in France, -the sovereigns are always god-parents, and the Emperor and Empress were -pleased to have the christening of my three boys in Notre Dame, where -they stood sponsors at the font.’--‘And are the boys all dead?’ I said. -‘Oh, dear no, they are all alive.’--‘Then where in the world are they?’ -I said. ‘Oh, they live with the Empress: she would not part with them, -and my three boys are her little pages. Now they are gone with her into -Spain to see her mother.’ - -“She then described how the Empress often sent her money to go down to -Chislehurst to see her boys, and how the Prince Imperial often called to -see her, and called her ‘Grannie’ because of the boys, or left her a £10 -note. ‘I should have gone at once to the Empress had she been in -England,’ said Mrs. L., ‘but I would have died rather than have begged -from any one: I would have died on a doorstep.’--‘Then what made you -confide in me?’ I asked. ‘Oh, surely you must see that,’ she replied. -‘Of course you must see that. It was the likeness. Of course people must -have told you of the great, the wonderful likeness before. I was quite -prepared for death, I had made up my mind to die, and then God in His -great mercy sent the likeness of my Emperor to me; and I knew then that -God did not mean me to die yet.’ - -“She wants to paint a picture in memory of what she calls my ‘saving -her.’[265] - -“On the 18th, I had an interesting visit to Apsley House, for which the -Duke had sent me the following order:--‘Admit Mr. Hare to see Apsley -House on any day _on which the street outside is dry_.’ The street was -quite dry, and, moreover, I went in a cab and arrived perfectly spick -and span; but the servant laughed as he produced a pair of huge list -slippers to go on over my boots, before I was allowed to go into any of -the rooms. ‘His Grace left these himself, and desired you should wear -them when you came.’ Yet the floors of Apsley House are not even -polished. - -“On the 19th I went to Lady Ducie’s, to see the Macdonald family act the -Pilgrim’s Progress. They go through the whole of the second part, George -Macdonald,[266] his wife, his twelve children, and two adopted children. -Christiana (the eldest daughter) was the only one who acted well. -Nevertheless, the whole effect was touching, and the audience cried most -sympathetically as Christiana embraced her children to go over the great -river. - -“On the 21st there was a delightful party at Holland House to meet the -Prince of Wales, and on Wednesday I was thankful to come home. - -“Never has little Holmhurst been pleasanter than this year, and I have -so enjoyed being alone, the repose of the intense quietude, the radiance -of the flowers, the delicious sea-breezes through windows open to the -ground, the tame doves flitting and cooing in the branches of the tall -lime-tree.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS WRIGHT. - -“_August 6, 1877._--I came home on Wednesday week, and have been alone -ever since, and over head and ears in work. I have seen nobody except -last Tuesday, when, though I thought no one knew I was at home, -fourteen afternooners appeared. Miss Hamilton, who has taken a fancy to -do my portrait, has done it very cleverly against a window, with ivy -hanging down outside, only it is a sentimental suggestion of - - ‘He sat at the window all day long - And watched the falling leaves.’” - -[Illustration: HOLMHURST, THE POULTRY-YARD.] - - * * * * * - -“_August 19._--I have had a pleasant visit of three days to Cobham, and -felt much inclined to accede to Lord and Lady Darnley’s wish at the end, -that I would consider my visit just begun, and stay another three days. -It is indeed a glorious old place externally, and the gardens and -immense variety of walks under grand old trees, are enchanting in hot -weather. I had many happy ‘sittings out’ and talks with Lady Darnley, -and could not sufficiently admire, though I always observe it, how her -perfectly serene nature enables her to carry out endless people-seeing, -boundless literary pursuit, and inexhaustible good works, without ever -fussing herself or any one else, leaving also time to enter into all the -minute difficulties of her friends in the varied gyrations of their -lives.... I was taken to see Cowling Castle, a romantic old place; just -on the edge of those marshes of the Thames which Dickens describes so -vividly. We also saw his house, close to Dover road.” - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL. - -“_Walton Heath, Oct. 6._--After a delightful visit from Harry Lee at -Holmhurst, I have come here to Miss Davenport Bromley at a quaint -cottage, partly built out of a church, in a corner of the vast Walton -Heath, but full of artistic comfort and brightness within. We drove on -Thursday to Box Hill, which is most beautiful, the high steep chalky -ground covered with such a luxuriance of natural wood, box grown into -trees and the billows of pink and blue distance so wonderfully luxuriant -and wooded. The time of year is quite beautiful, and all the last -festival of nature in the clematis wreaths and the bryony with its red -berries dancing from tree to tree. - -“We have been to see a quaint old house of the Heathcotes. There is a -great stone hall with a high gallery, from which a young lady threw -herself in her rage at her lover marrying some one else, and was killed -on the spot. Her picture hangs on the staircase wall, and her ghost -walks on the stairs, pretty, in white, something like a shepherdess. A -housemaid cut a great cross in the picture, ‘to let the ghost out,’ as -the old woman who showed the house said, and the hole has never been -mended. This country is full of little traditions. There is a green lane -close by, down which a headless lady walks, and a phantom coach drives -along the road: a countryman who met old M. de Berg on the common -declared that he had seen it--that it had driven over him. - -“Yesterday we went to Gatton (Lord Monson’s), which formerly belonged to -Sir Mark Wood. It is a curious place: the ugly church fitted inside with -beautiful Flemish carving and glass, and the house having a hall of -coloured marbles, copied from the Corsini Chapel at Rome--minus the -upper story. - -“I have much enjoyed learning to know Miss Bromley better. She is the -kindest of women, wonderfully clever and full of insight into every -minutest beauty of nature. Her devotion to animals, especially pugs, is -a passion. Another pleasure has been finding Mrs. Henry de Bunsen here. -She told me-- - -“‘There was, and there is still, living in Cadogan Place, a lady of -middle age, who is clever, charming, amiable, even handsome, but who has -the misfortune of having--a wooden leg. Daily, for many years, she was -accustomed to amble every morning on her wooden leg down Cadogan Place, -and to take the air in the Park. It was her principal enjoyment. - -“‘One day she discovered that in these walks she was constantly followed -by a gentleman. When she turned, he turned: where she went, he went: it -was most disagreeable. She determined to put an end to it by staying at -home, and for some days she did not go out at all. But she missed her -walks in the Park very much, and after a time she thought her follower -must have forgotten all about her, and she went out as before. The same -gentleman was waiting, he followed her, and at length suddenly came up -to her in the Park and presented her with a letter. He said that, as a -stranger, he must apologise for speaking to her, but that he must -implore her to take the letter, and read it when she got home: it was of -great importance. She took the letter, and when she got home she read -it, and found that it contained a violent declaration of love and a -proposal of marriage. She was perfectly furious. She desired her lawyer -to enclose the letter to the writer, and say that she could not find -words to describe her sense of his ungentlemanly conduct, especially -cruel to one afflicted as she was with a wooden leg. - -“‘Several years elapsed, and the lady was paying a visit to some friends -in the country, when the conversation frequently turned upon a friend of -the house who was described as one of the most charming, generous, and -beneficent of mankind. So delightful was the description, that the lady -was quite anxious to see the original, and was enchanted when she heard -that he was likely to come to the house. But when he arrived, she -recognised with consternation her admirer of the Park. He did not, -however, recur to their former meeting, and after a time, when she knew -him well, she grew to esteem him exceedingly, and at last, when he -renewed his proposal after an intimate acquaintance, she accepted him -and married him. - -“‘He took her to his country-house, and for six weeks they were -entirely, uncloudedly happy. Then there came a day upon which he -announced that he was obliged to go up to London on business. His wife -could not go with him because the house in Cadogan Place was dismantled -for the summer. “I should regret this more,” he said, “but that where -two lives are so completely, so entirely united as ours are, there ought -to be the most absolute confidence on either side. Therefore, while I am -away, I shall leave you my keys. Open my desk, read all my letters and -journals, make yourself mistress of my whole life. Above all,” he said, -“there is one cupboard in my dressing-room which contains certain -memorials of my past peculiarly sacred to me, which I should like you to -make yourself acquainted with.” The wife heard with concern of her -husband’s intended absence, but she was considerably buoyed up under the -idea of the three days in which they were to be separated by the thought -of the very interesting time she would have. She saw her husband off -from the door, and as soon as she heard the wheels of his carriage die -away in the distance, she clattered away as fast as she could upon her -wooden leg to the dressing-room, and in a minute she was down on all -fours before the cupboard he had described. - -“‘She unlocked the cupboard. It contained two shelves. On each shelf was -a long narrow parcel sewn up in canvas. She felt a tremor of horror as -she looked at them, she did not know why. She lifted down the first -parcel, and it had a label on the outside. She trembled so she could -scarcely read it. It was inscribed--“In memory of my dear wife Elizabeth -Anne, who died on the 24th of August 1864.” With quivering fingers she -sought for a pair of scissors and ripped open the canvas, and it -contained--a wooden leg! - -“‘With indescribable horror she lifted down the other parcel, of the -same form and size. It also bore a label--“In memory of my dearest wife -Wilhelmine, who died on the 6th of March 1869,” and she opened it, and -it contained--another wooden leg! - -“‘Instantly she rose from her knees. “It is evident,” she said, “that I -am married to a Blue Beard--a monster who _collects_ wooden legs. This -is not the time for sentiment, this is the time for action,” and she -swept her jewels and some miniatures that she had into a handbag and she -clattered away on her own wooden leg by the back shrubberies to the -highroad--and there she saw the butcher’s cart passing, and she hailed -it, and was driven by the butcher to the nearest station, where she just -caught the next train to London, intending to make good her escape that -night to France and to leave no trace behind her. - -“‘But she had not consulted Bradshaw, and she found she had some hours -to wait in London before the tidal train started. Then she could not -resist employing them in going to reproach the people at whose house she -had met her husband, and she told them what she had found. To her -amazement they were not the least surprised. “Yes,” they said, “yes, we -thought he ought to have told you: we do not wonder you were astonished. -Yes, indeed, we knew dear Elizabeth Anne very well; she was indeed a -most delightful person, the most perfect of women and of wives, and when -she was taken away, the whole light seemed blotted out of Arthur’s life, -the change was so very terrible. We thought he would never rally his -spirits again; but then, after two years, he met dearest Wilhelmine, to -whom he was first attracted by her having the same affliction which was -characteristic of her predecessor. And Wilhelmine was perhaps even a -more charming person than Elizabeth Anne, and made her husband’s life -uncloudedly happy. But she too was, alas! early snatched away, and then -it was as if the whole world was cut from under Arthur’s feet, until at -last he met you, with the same peculiarity which was endeared to him by -two lost and loved ones, and we believe that with you he has been even -more entirely, more uncloudedly happy than he was either with Wilhelmine -or Elizabeth Anne. - -“‘And the wife was so charmed by what she heard, that it gave quite a -new aspect to affairs. She went home by the next train. She was there -when her husband returned; and ever since they have lived perfectly -happily between his house in the country and hers in Cadogan Place.’ - -“Mrs. De Bunsen said that a cousin of hers was repeating this story when -dining at the Balfours’. Suddenly he saw that his host and hostess were -both telegraphing frantic signals to him, and by a great effort he -turned it off. The lady of the wooden leg and her husband were both -amongst the guests.” - - * * * * * - -“_Milford Cottage, Oct. 8._--I came here with Miss Bromley on Saturday -to visit Mrs. Greville and her most engaging mother, Mrs. Thellusson. It -is a red house, standing almost in the village street, but with a -French-looking garden behind, with clipped hedges and orange trees in -tubs. It was left to Mrs. Greville by her husband, an old gentleman whom -she married when the Thellussons were ruined, and he said, ‘You had -better marry me; there is nothing else that I can do for you.’ He always -treated her with the greatest generosity and kindness, but died very -suddenly, intending to leave his wife very rich. There was, however, -some mistake about the will, and she only inherited this cottage and -just enough to live upon. I found at Milford, Lady Elizabeth Bryan, a -Paget, who goes out visiting with four dogs, one of whom, Constance -Kent, is most beautiful, and she has adopted a little cousin and -presented her with six-and-thirty dolls. I went to see the adopted -daughter in bed; two little dogs were cuddled in her bosom, and seven -dolls lay at her feet with their heads out. Lately, the little girl has -displayed signs of vanity, paraded her small person before a mirror, and -exulted in fine clothes, and on these occasions she is always dressed in -‘Sukey,’ a little workhouse girl’s gown, to remind her that ‘in the -sight of God she is no better.’ - -“This afternoon I have been with Mrs. Greville to Mr. Tennyson at -Haselmere. It is a wild, high, brown heath, with ragged edges of birch, -and an almost limitless view of blue Sussex distances. Jammed into a -hollow is the house, a gothic house, built by Mr. Knowles, the editor of -the _Nineteenth Century_--‘that young bricklayer fellow that Alfred is -so fond of,’ as Mr. Carlyle calls him. Though the place is a bleak, -wind-stricken height, where the flowers in the garden can never sit -still, the house is pleasant inside and well and simply furnished, but -is without any library whatever. Tennyson is older looking than I -expected, so that his _unkempt_ appearance signifies less. He has an -abrupt, bearish manner, and seems thoroughly hard and _un_poetical: one -would think of him as a man in whom the direst prose of life was -absolutely ingrained. Mrs. Greville kissed his hand as he came in, which -he received without any protest. He asked if I would like to go out, and -we walked round the gardens. By way of breaking the silence I said, ‘How -fine your arbūtus is.’--‘Well, I would say arbūtus,’ he answered, -‘otherwise you are as bad as the gardeners, who say Clemātis.’ When -we returned to the house, Hallam Tennyson brought in his mother very -tenderly and put her on a sofa. She is a very sweet-looking woman, with -‘the glittering blue eyes’ which fascinated Carlyle, and a lady-abbess -look from her head-dress--a kind of veil. Mrs. Greville revealed that -she had broken her promise of not repeating an unpublished poem of -Tennyson’s by reciting it to Mr. Carlyle, who said, ‘But did Alfred give -you leave to say it?’ and Tennyson said, ‘You are the wickedest old -woman I ever met with: it is most _profligate_ conduct’--and he half -meant it too. Tennyson then insisted that I should tell him some -stories. I did not like it, but found it was no use to resist; I should -have to do it in the end. He asked for ‘a village tragedy,’ so I told -him the story of Caroline Crowhurst: he said he should write it in a -play or a poem. Then I told him the stories of Mademoiselle von Raasloff -and of Croglin Grange. He was atrociously bad audience, and constantly -interrupted with questions. He himself repeated a little story, which -Mr. Greene of the ‘English History’ had told him--of a man who felt that -his fiddle, to which he was devoted, was the source of temptation to him -by leading him to taverns where he got drunk. On the Mississippi river, -he said, he heard a voice saying to him that he must destroy the fiddle; -so he went down, kissed the fiddle, and then broke it to pieces. ‘_I_ -put in that kiss,’ said Tennyson, ‘because I thought it sounded better.’ - -“On the whole, the wayward poet leaves a favourable impression. He could -scarcely be less egotistic with all the flattery he has, and I am glad -to have seen him so quietly. The maid who opened the door was Mrs. -Cameron’s beautiful model, and there were pictures of her by Mrs. -Cameron all about the house. - -“For the poet’s bearish manners the Tennyson family are to blame, in -making him think himself a demigod. One day, on arriving at Mrs. -Greville’s, he said at once, ‘Give me a pipe; I want to smoke.’ She at -once went off by herself down the village to the shop, and returning -with two pipes, offered them to him with all becoming subservience. He -never looked at her or thanked her, but, as he took them, growled out, -‘Where are the matches? I suppose now you’ve forgotten the -matches!’--‘Oh dear! I never thought of those.’ - -“Mrs. Greville has a note of Tennyson’s framed. It is a very pretty -note; but it begins ‘Dear Madwoman.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Babworth, Oct. 14._--This house overflows with loveliness in the way -of amateur art, and the drawings of its mistress, Mrs. Bridgeman -Simpson, are most beautiful. She is the kindest and most good-natured of -hostesses.... Yesterday we went to Sandbeck, an ugly dull house in a -flat, and looking bare within from paucity of furniture. Lord -Scarborough, once a bold huntsman, is now patiently awaiting a second -stroke of paralysis in a wheel-chair. Lumley, a pleasant boy, just going -to join his regiment at Dublin, drove me after luncheon to Roche Abbey, -a very pretty ruin in a glen.” - - * * * * * - -“_Oct. 15._--Mrs. Simpson’s very charming Polish sister-in-law, Mrs. -Drummond Baring, recounted yesterday evening a curious story out of the -reminiscences of her childhood, of which her husband from knowledge -confirmed every fact. Her father, Count Potocka, lived in Martinique. -His wife had been married before, and her beautiful daughter, Minetta, -idolised by her second husband, had made a happy marriage with the -Marquis de San Luz, and resided at Port Royal about five miles from her -parents. The father was a great naturalist, and had the greatest -interest in introducing and naturalising all kinds of plants in the West -Indies. Amongst other plants, he was most anxious to introduce -strawberries. Every one said he would fail, and the neighbouring -gardeners especially said so much about it that it was a positive -annoyance to them when his plants all seemed to succeed, and he had a -large bed of strawberries in flower. His step-daughter, Minetta, came to -see them, and he always said to her that, when the strawberries were -ripe, she should have the first fruit. - -“A ball was given at Port Royal by the Governor, and there her parents -saw Minetta, beautiful and radiant as ever; but she left the ball early, -for her child was not well. As she went away, she said to her -stepfather, ‘Remember my strawberries.’ - -“Her parents returned home in the early morning, and a day and a night -succeeded. Towards dawn on the second morning, when night was just -breaking into the first grey daylight, the mother felt an irresistible -restlessness, and getting up and going to the window, she looked out. A -figure in white was moving to and fro amongst the strawberries, -carefully examining each plant and looking under the leaves. She awoke -her husband, who said at once, ‘It is one of the gardeners, who are so -jealous that they have come to destroy my plants;’ and jumping up, he -put on his _gola_--a sort of dressing-gown wrapper worn in -Martinique--and, taking his gun, rushed out. On first going out, he saw -the figure in white moving before him, but as he came up to the -strawberry beds it seemed to have disappeared. He was surprised, and -turning round towards the house, saw his wife making agonised signs to -him to come back. Such was her livid aspect, that he threw down his gun -upon the ground and ran in to her. He found her in a dead faint upon the -floor. When she recovered, she said that she had watched him from the -window as he went out, and that, as he reached the strawberry beds, the -figure seemed to turn round, and she saw--like a person seen through a -veil and through the glass of a window, and, though perfectly distinct, -transparent--her daughter Minetta. Soon after describing this, she was -seized with violent convulsions. Her husband was greatly alarmed about -her, and was just sending off for the doctor, who lived at some -distance, when a rider on a little Porto Rico pony came clattering into -the court. They thought it was the doctor, but it was not; it was a -messenger from Port Royal to say that Minetta was dead. She had been -seized with a chill on returning from the ball, and it had turned to -fatal diphtheria. In her last hours, when her throat was so swelled and -hot, she had constantly said, ‘Oh, my throat is so hot! Oh, if I had -only some of those strawberries!’” - - * * * * * - -“_Thoresby, Oct. 17._--Lord Manvers sent for me after luncheon three -days ago, and we came with a horse fleet as the wind through the green -lanes of Clumber, and across part of the (Sherwood) forest, to this -immense modern palace by Salvin. All around is forest. No one was at -home when I arrived, so I went out for a walk, and was joined by Lord -Manvers on returning.... Lady Manvers is quite delightful, and so are -her son and daughter, so I have been very glad of two days alone with -the family; and the forest is enchanting from its varieties of gnarled -oak, silver birch, endlessly contorted fir, and gigantic beeches, with -ever-varying lights on the golden and crimson fern in its first -beautiful decay. Now guests have arrived, including Mr. Frederick -Tayler, the artist,[267] whose blottesque treatment of the green in the -forest with only gamboge, indigo, and sepia is very interesting to see. -He was very funny about the late Lord Manvers, who was a wit, and who, -when Lord Ossington was rather boastful about his lake, said--‘Come, -come now, Ossington, don’t speak of a lake; just wipe it up and say no -more about it.’ - -“In the afternoon we drove through ‘the Catwhins’ to Clumber--a dull -ugly low-lying house. There is much fine china, but it is a dreary -place.” - - * * * * * - -“_Glamis Castle, Oct. 26._--I had a delightful visit to the salt of the -earth at Hutton,[268] where Mr. and Mrs. Pease were entertaining a large -party, chiefly of semi-Quaker relations, including Miss Fox of Falmouth, -who is most interesting and agreeable. Mrs. Pease is as delightful as -she is beautiful, and the place is an oasis of good works of every kind. -Thence I came here, meeting Mr. Waldegrave Leslie and Lady Rothes at the -station. As we drove up to the haunted castle at night, its many turrets -looked most eerie and weird against the moonlit sky, and its windows -blazed with red light. The abundance of young life inside takes off the -solemn effect--the number of charming children, the handsome cordial -boys, the winning gracious mistress; only Lord Strathmore himself has an -ever sad look. The Bishop of Brechin, who was a great friend of the -house, felt this strange sadness so deeply that he went to Lord -Strathmore, and, after imploring him in the most touching manner to -forgive the intrusion into his private affairs, said how, having heard -of the strange secret which oppressed him, he could not help entreating -him to make use of his services as an ecclesiastic, if he could in any -way, by any means, be of use to him. Lord Strathmore was deeply moved, -though he said that he thanked him, but that in his most unfortunate -position _no one_ could ever help him. He has built a wing to the -castle, in which all the children and all the servants sleep. The -servants will not sleep in the house, and the children are not allowed -to do so. - -“I found a large party here, and was agreeably surprised to see Lady -Wynford come down to dinner. Then Lady Holmesdale appeared, with her -piteous little white-mouse aspect; Mr. and the charming Mrs. -Streatfeild, Lady Strathmore’s sister; Miss Erica Robertson, and Lord -and Lady Rosehill. - -“There is much of interest in the life here--the huge clock telling the -hours; the gathering in early morning for prayers by the chaplain in the -chapel, through a painted panel of which some think that the secret -chamber is concealed, though others maintain that it is entered through -Lord Strathmore’s study, and occupies the space above ‘the crypt’--an -armour-hung hall where we all meet for dinner, at which the old Lion of -Lyon--gold, for holding a whole bottle of claret, which the old lords -used to toss off at a draught--is produced. There are lions everywhere. -Huge gilt lions stand on either side in front of the drawing-room -fireplace, lions are nut-crackers, a lion sits on the letter-box, the -very door-scraper is guarded by two lions. - -“The boys are charming, so very nice that one cannot believe any curse -can affect them. Claudie (Glamis) is very handsome, and looks strikingly -so in his Scotch dress. Frank is ill now, but most engaging. - -“To-day, as I was drawing, Mr. Waldegrave Leslie gave a curious account -of his life at Lady Rothes’ castle--that they themselves inhabit the -ghost-room, and that the ghost comes frequently, and not only groans, -but _howls_; they often hear it. When Lady Rothes’ brother died, the -episcopal service was read over him in the house by a clergyman, and the -ghost then howled so horribly that the service was quite inaudible, and -eventually had to be stopped. He said they did not mind the ghost, but -that Lady Rothes’ Dandie Dinmont dog was distracted with terror when it -came, and crept upon the bed quivering convulsively all over. - -“Lady Rosehill has been meeting Mr. (Dicky) Doyle, the genial fairy -lover, who told her that one day when a man was walking down Pall Mall -with a most tremendous swagger, somebody walked up to him and said, -‘Sir, will you have the kindness to tell me, _are_ you anybody in -particular?’” - - * * * * * - -“_Oct. 29._--Yesterday was Sunday, and we had three services in the -chapel, which is painted all over with figures of saints by the same man -who executed the bad paintings of the Scottish kings at Holyrood. The -sermons from Mr. Beck, the chaplain, head of ‘the Holy Cross’ in -Scotland, were most curious: the first--apropos of All Saints--being a -mere catalogue of saints, S. Etheldreda, S. Kenneth, S. Ninian, &c., -and their virtues; and describing All Saints’ festival as ‘the Mart of -Holiness’: the second--apropos of All Souls--speaking of prayers for the -dead as a duty inculcated by the Church in all ages, and taking the -words of Judas Maccabeus as a text.” - - * * * * * - -“_Gorhambury, Nov. 20._--It was dark when I reached the St. Albans -Station yesterday. Lord Verulam’s carriage was in waiting for guests: I -got into it with three others. ‘Lord Beaconsfield was with us in the -train,’ said the young lady of the party, ‘and I am sure he is going to -Gorhambury, and oh! I _am_ so glad he has taken a fly.’ We drove up to -the great porticoed house in the dark, and a small winding staircase -took us to a great lofty hall, furnished as a sitting-room. Here we -found Lady Verulam, two of her daughters, Lady Catherine Weyland, &c. -Other guests appeared at dinner--the sallow basilisk face of Lord -Beaconsfield: his most amusing secretary, Montagu Corry: Lord Exeter, -with long black hair: Lady Exeter, tall, very graceful and -refined-looking, but with the coldest manner in the world: a young Lord -Mount-Charles: Scudamore Stanhope, remarkably pleasant: Charlie -Duncombe, very pleasant too: Lady Mary Cecil: Dowager Lady Craven, -always most agreeable. - -“Lord Verulam is permanently lame and on two crutches, but most -agreeable and kindly. This morning I sat to draw the ruin of Lord -Bacon’s house (Lady Craven saved it when it was going to be pulled -down). The place is full of relics of him, his observatory in the park: -the ‘Kissing Oak,’ beneath which Queen Elizabeth embraced him: the -‘Queen’s Ride,’ used when she came to visit him: curious painted -terra-cotta busts of his father and mother and of himself as a child, in -the library: and in the dining-room a large portrait of his brother, -which he (the brother) painted himself, the most prominent feature being -his legs, of which he was evidently exceedingly proud. - -“In the afternoon I drove with Lady Exeter, Lady Catherine Weyland, and -Lady Jane Grimston to St. Albans, and went over the abbey with Mr. -Chapel, the delightfully enthusiastic clerk of the works, who repeatedly -exclaimed, ‘It is the pride of my life, sir; it is the pride of my -life.’ He has most beautifully put together, from the fragments found, -the two great shrines of the place, of St. Alban and St. Amphipolis -(Arthur Stanley doubts the existence of the latter saint, and thinks the -name was only that of a cloak), not adding or inventing a single bit; -and the whole interior of the abbey has been hitherto done in the same -way, being perhaps the one church in England really restored, not -remodelled. In returning we stopped at St. Michael’s to see the tomb of -Lord Bacon, represented as he sat in his chair--‘sic sedebat.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Nov. 21._--At dinner last night and all day Lord Beaconsfield seemed -absorbed, scarcely noticed any one, barely answered his hostess when -spoken to. Montagu Corry[269] said that his chief declared that the -greatest pleasure in life was writing a book, because ‘in that way alone -man could become a creator:’ that his habit was to make marionettes, -and then to live with them for some months before he put them into -action. Lately he had made some marionettes; now he was living with -them, and their society occupied him entirely. - -“To-day Lord Verulam showed me many of the relics of the house--the -decision of his ancestor, Judge Crook, releasing Hampden: a deed of -free-warren from Henry II. confirming to one of his ancestors another -deed of his grandfather Henry I.: the portrait of Edward Grimston -(1460), the oldest known authentic portrait in England, representing a -man who fought at Towton, but afterwards made peace with Edward IV., -lived in retirement, and is mentioned in the Paston Letters. - -“Lord Verulam told me of his discovery that Lord Lovat was seventy-three -at the time of his execution, not eighty, as is generally affirmed. The -supposed date of his birth and the date of his learning to fence tend to -confirm this, and his _smiling_ when he looked upon his coffin-plate on -the scaffold and the line he quoted from Horace.” - - * * * * * - -“_Nov. 25._--On Friday I drove with Lord Verulam in his victoria to -Wrothampstead. The old house there is one of the long many-gabled -houses, vine-covered, with windows and chimneys of moulded brick, -standing, backed by fine trees, in a brilliant garden. Inside it is -gloriously panelled, and has a staircase approached by balustraded gates -with a tapestried room at the top of it. It belongs to a Mr. Lawes, who -for a long time was supposed to be wasting all his time and most of his -money in chemistry, but at length by his chemistry he discovered a cheap -way of making a valuable manure, and ‘Lawes’s manure’ has made him a -millionaire. - -“Yesterday we went to Tittenhanger, already familiar to me from Lady -Waterford’s descriptions. It is a charming old house, utterly -Cromwellian, most attractive and engaging, depending for its effect upon -its high overhanging roofs, and the simple, admirable brick ornaments of -its windows. The rooms are full of beautiful pictures and china, but -Lady Caledon was not there, and it is always a loss not to see the owner -_with_ a place. - -“It was on hearing some one mention this house that Sydney Smith made -the impromptu-- - - ‘Oh, pray, where is Tittenhanger? - Is it anywhere by Bangor? - Or, if it is not in Wales, - Can it, perhaps, be near Versailles? - Tell me, in the name of grace, - Is there really such a place?’ - -“Lady Lilian Paulet was very absurd at dinner with her story of an -American who said that, going down Piccadilly, he met a mad dog, so, as -he could not avoid him, he thrust his hand down its throat and pulled -out its inside; after which the dog ran on still, but it could no longer -say ‘bow-wow,’ it could only say ‘wow-bow.’ - -“It was amusing _seeing_ Lord Beaconsfield at Gorhambury: _hear_ him I -never did, except when he feebly bleated out some brief and ghastly -utterance. His is an extraordinary life. He told Lord Houghton that the -whole secret of his success was his power of never dwelling upon a -failure; he ‘had failed often, _constantly_ at first, yet had never -dwelt on it, but always gone on to something else.’” - -[Illustration: TITTENHANGER.][270] - - * * * * * - -“_Burghley, Nov. 29._--I have been glad to come to the place which is -often called ‘the finest house in England’--a dictum in which I by no -means agree. The guests are a row of elderly baronets of only hunting -and Midland-county fame. An exception is Sir John Hay, a thorough old -_gentleman_ (an Admiral) and very agreeable. I took a Miss Fowke in to -dinner, and complained to her of the number of old baronets. ‘Yes,’ she -said, ‘they are old and they are numerous, and the central one is my -father.’ - -“The house is immense, but has little internal beauty. There is a series -of stately rooms, dull and oppressive, with fine tapestry and china, and -a multitude of pictures with very fine names, almost all misnamed--a -copy of the well-known Bronzino of the Medici boy being called Edward -VI.; a copy of the well-known Correggio in the National Gallery being -marked as an original by Angelica Kauffman, &c.[271] In a small closet -is a number of jewelled trinkets, including Queen Elizabeth’s watch and -thimble, and there hangs the gem of the picture collection--‘The Saviour -Blessing the Elements,’ a very expressive but most unpleasing work of -Carlo Dolci. It is the halo of the great Lord Burghley which gives the -place all its interest. He lies on his back in a scarlet robe under a -canopy in St. Martin’s Church at the entrance of the town, and close by -is a cenotaph to his father and mother, who are buried at St. -Margaret’s, Westminster. All the five churches of Stamford have merit, -and the town is interesting and picturesque. - -“Lord Exeter, with his lank black hair and his wrinkled yellow -jack-boots high above the knee, looks like a soldier of Cromwell. In the -evening he and the whole family dance incessantly to the music of a -barrel-organ, which they take it in turn to wind.[272] - -“The great idol of family adoration is ‘Telemachus’--the memory of -Telemachus, or rather a whole dynasty of Telemachi, for they are now -arrived at Telemachus X. The bull Telemachus I. gained more than £1000 -at small county cattle-shows. His head is stuffed in the hall; his -statue in silver stands in the dining-room (where there are also silver -statues of Telemachus II. and III.), and his portrait hangs on the -wall.” - - * * * * * - -“_Dec. 6._--On Tuesday, at King’s Cross, I met Elizabeth Biddulph, Marie -Adeane, Alethea Grenfell, and the Dalyells, and we came down together, a -merry party, to Hertford, whither the Robert Smiths sent to fetch us to -their picturesque new house of Goldings. Alethea is full of the story of -Jagherds (near Corsham)--that ‘in the difficulty of finding a house -there suitable for the clergyman, an old manor-house was suggested, -which seemed to meet all requisites. The Bishop (Ellicott) himself went -to see it, and was quite delighted with it, and the clergyman went to -reside there. But his servants would not stay, his governesses would not -stay; all said they were worried out of their lives by the figure of a -lady in blue, which appeared all over the house and on all possible -occasions; and at last the clergyman himself gave in and went away. With -the next clergyman the same thing happened, and he appealed to the -Bishop. The Bishop said he never could tell why he suggested it, but in -his answer he said, “If the apparition comes again, I should advise you -to throw as much sympathy as you can into your manner, and ask what you -can do for it.” Soon after he heard from the clergyman that this had -quite succeeded. The blue lady had appeared again, and the clergyman -immediately, with an appearance of the utmost sympathy in his -countenance, said, “Madam, is there nothing in the world I can do for -you?”--upon which a seraphic smile came over the face of the spirit, and -it vanished away and never appeared again.’ - -“Lately the Bishop had a letter from an old clergyman at Wisconsin in -America, who wrote to him that an aged parishioner of his had sent for -him on his deathbed, saying that he could not die happy without -recounting the facts of a crime which he had witnessed in his boyhood. -He had been taken by a gang of highwaymen who held their headquarters at -Jagherds Court in Wiltshire, and while there was witness to many deeds -of violence committed by them. Amongst others, they carried off a young -lady, and in the row and quarrels which ensued, the young lady was -murdered at Jagherds Court. - -“The old clergyman, not knowing what to do with this confession, thought -the best way was to write it to the Bishop of the diocese in which -Jagherds was situated, and he wrote it to the Bishop of Gloucester, who -verified the whole, finding his correspondent a veritable clergyman, &c. -The Bishop of Gloucester told the story last week at Lord Ducie’s.” - - * * * * * - -“_Holmhurst, Dec. 16._--I have been intensely busy. The life of Madame -de Bunsen _unfolds_ itself in her letters more than any life I have ever -heard of. I long for the time to come when I may begin to unite, my -links, but at present I have only been making extracts--such extracts! -Her power of expression is astonishing. I discover so much that I fancy -I have felt myself, and never been able to put into words. I see in the -vast piles of MS. the means of building a very perfect memorial to her.” - - * * * * * - -“_Ampthill, Christmas Day, 1877._--I came here yesterday from -Holmhurst.... It was a great pleasure to find charming old Sir Francis -Doyle here with his son and daughter. Sir Francis talks incessantly and -most agreeably, and makes the mornings as interesting as the evenings. -‘C’étaient des matinées excellentes, pour lesquelles je me sentirais -encore du gout,’ as Talleyrand used to say. Sir Francis has just been -saying, apropos of how little one knows the true characters of those one -meets:-- - -“‘H. told me a curious thing one day. He went to dine with a cabinet -minister (I suppress the name), and there came down a lady, the -governess, cherished by the family--“a perfect treasure.” He recognised -her at once as a lady he had known very well, very intimately indeed. -She sank after that, sank into the lowest depth of that class of life. -“I used to help her with money,” he said, “as long as I could, but at -last she sank too low even for that, quite out of my sphere of -possibilities altogether, and here I found her reinstated. As I was -questioning what I ought to do, she passed near me and said only, ‘I -have sown my wild oats.’ I never told of her: I had nothing to do with -placing her where she was.”’ - -“With the same intention Sir Francis told a curious story of ‘Two -Shoes,’ a boy at Eton:-- - -“‘Two Shoes took a box to a boy-friend of his who was in another house -and said, “A number of curious things are happening in my house, and -this box contains things of value to me; I wish you would let it stay -here for a little.” The boy said, “Yes, you may leave your box, provided -only that it contains no money: I will not be responsible for anything -with money in it.” Two Shoes said there was no money in the box, and it -was left. Afterwards, when the box was moved, a great rattle as of -sovereigns was heard inside, and as the tutor of the house whence it had -been taken declared himself robbed at the same time, the boy in whose -charge the box was left thought it necessary to declare what had -happened. The sixty sovereigns lost by the tutor were found in the box. -Two Shoes was expelled.... H. went down into ---- shire lately, and there -he found Two Shoes confidential solicitor to half the county.’ - -“Apropos of the secret crimes of so-called ‘religious people,’ Sir -Francis said-- - -“‘I am quite sure that Abigail murdered her husband; that one is quite -left to understand. He could not have died of the shock of having -escaped David. Oh, no; she was a religious woman, so she waited till six -o’clock on the Sabbath evening, and then she poisoned him.’ - -“His stories of old times and people are endless. He said-- - -“‘I always keep a reminiscence of poor Lady Davy to laugh at. It was one -of those great days at Stafford House, one of their very great gala -days, and Lady Davy was in the hall in the greatest anxiety about her -carriage; and she, little woman, walked up to one of those very -magnificent flunkeys, six feet high at least and in resplendent livery, -and besought him to look after her carriage. I never saw any one _so_ -civil as that man was. “I have called your Ladyship’s carriage three -times,” he said, “and it has not answered, but if your Ladyship wishes, -I will try again.” - -“‘I saw the second act of that little drama. I went through the door, -beyond the awning, just when the footman was stalking haughtily and -carelessly among the link-boys and saying disdainfully, “Just give old -Davy another call.”’ - -“At dinner the conversation turned on Lord and Lady Lytton. She was a -Miss Doyle, a distant cousin of Sir Francis, and shortened his father’s -life by her vagaries and furies. After his father’s death Sir Francis -left her alone for many years; then it was represented to him that she -had no other relations, and that it was his duty to look after her -interests, and he consented to see her, and, at her request, to ask Sir -E. Bulwer to give her another hundred a year. This Sir Edward said he -was most willing to do, but that she must first give a written -retractation of some of the horrible accusations she had brought against -him. When Lady Bulwer heard that this retractation was demanded of her, -she turned upon Sir Francis with the utmost fury, and abused him with -every vile epithet she could think of. She afterwards wrote to him, and -directed to ‘Sir Francis Hastings Doyle, Receiver of her Majesty’s -Customs (however infamous), Thames Street, London.’ ‘But,’ said Sir -Francis, ‘I also had my day. I was asked as to her character. I -answered, “From _your_ point of view I believe her character to be quite -immaculate, for I consider her to be so perfectly filled with envy, -hatred, malice, and all uncharitableness, as to have no possible room -left for the exercise of any tenderer passion.”’ Lady Bulwer appeared on -the hustings against her husband. His son told Sir Edward, ‘Do you know -my Lady is here?’--‘What, Henry’s wife!’--‘No, _yours_.’ She said, ‘He -ought to have gone to the colonies long ago, and at the Queen’s -expense.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Ampthill, Dec. 26._--This morning Sir Francis was attracted by the -portrait of old Lady Carlisle hanging by the drawing-room door, and he -said, ‘That portrait always reminds me of something Lady Carlisle said -once. I was speaking to her of the death of one of her sisters, and she -said, “We were all very sorry, very sorry indeed; but she (pointing to -another sister), she _cared_.”’ - -“For my benefit Sir Francis narrated the story of the thirty-nine -Yaconines. - -“In Japan, there was one Daimio who was in rivalry with another, and who -was superseded by him, and of course his honour could not stand that, so -he committed ‘the happy despatch.’ His followers ought to have avenged -him, it was Japanese etiquette that they should, but they did not; they, -lamented and howled, but they did nothing, and the chief of them in his -agony lay down in the gutter and remained there fasting for several -days. Then one day the head-follower of the successful Daimio, passing -by, saw him in the gutter, and spurned him with his foot and said, ‘You -beast, you coward, you brute! do you intend to lie there and let your -master go unavenged?’ but the man still lay crouched and grovelling and -took no notice. - -“But a time came when the followers of the successful Daimio were -dispersed, and then the thirty-eight servants of the dead man arose and -went to him, and kneeling around him said with courtesy, ‘We do not wish -to cut your throat, do not compel us; take the happy despatch;’ but the -Daimio would not take their advice, he could not bring his mind to it; -so then the Yakonines performed their duty, and they cut his throat. -When they had done that, the thirty-eight Yakonines summoned all the -people together to attend them, for they were about to perform their -final duty, their ‘happy despatch’ to the manes of their master, and the -thirty-eight performed it, amid the acclamations of the people over -their fidelity even to death. But when, afterwards, men came to count -the corpses, behold there were thirty-nine: the enemy who had spurned -the Yakonine as he lay in the gutter repented when he saw that he had -accused him falsely, and had silently joined the procession of death: -there were thirty-nine Yakonines who died.” - - * * * * * - -“_Dec. 27._--Last night a French play was acted, ‘Madame Choufleuri -reçoit chez elle.’ Mr. Lowther, who was merely an old French gentleman -spectator, created for himself a part which was a whole dumb dramatic -performance in itself. - -“I had a charming drive to-day with Lady Ashburton to Woburn, the rest -having preceded us. There is a long winding double avenue in the park. -The stables are so enormous that we mistook them for the house, and were -surprised when we turned the other way. However, the door of the real -house was most dilapidated and unducal. Long passages, surrounding an -open court, and filled with portraits, led to a large sitting-room, -where we found most of our own party and the guests of the house. The -Duchess was kind and cordial. We all went to luncheon in the Canaletti -room, enlivened by endless views of Venice, which, regardless of their -artistic merits, are most pleasing to the eye through their delicate -green-grey tints. Afterwards we went through the rooms, full of -portraits, one of Lucy Harington in a ruff, very fine. In one corner is -a set of interesting Tudor portraits, including a large one of Jane -Seymour; hideous I thought, though Froude, when he saw it, said he did -not wonder Henry VIII. cut Anne Boleyn’s head off to marry so bewitching -a creature. A great portrait of the famous Lord Essex in a white dress -has a mean feeble face and stubby red beard. The Duke[273] offered to -take us to the church. Lady Ashburton, Lady Howard of Glossop, and I -drove there with him. We passed ‘the Abbot’s Oak,’ where the last abbot -was hung. Froude says he went up to London and was swallowed up by his -fate. The Duke asked what this meant. It did mean that he was hung, -drawn, and quartered, ‘but Froude was very angry at the question; -historians never like being asked for details.’ The banks of a stone -quarry are planted with cedars and evergreens, and the drive to the -church is very pretty. The church was built by Clutton, who was turned -loose into a field and told to produce what he could. He _did_ produce a -very poor mongrel building, neither gothic nor romanesque. The Duke -said, ‘Would you like to see what is going to be done with me when I am -dead?’ and he showed us the hole in the floor where he was to be let -through ‘to the sound of solemn music,’ and then took us down into the -vaults beneath to see the trestles on which his coffin was to repose! I -long tried in vain to get Lady Ashburton to leave the endless letters, -some of Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, who stayed with her -grand-daughter and complained that the house was so dreadfully out of -repair that the rain came into her bedroom, but another year that was to -be remedied. We were deep in a ‘Boethius de Consolatione,’ printed in -Tavistock Abbey, when the Duchess came in. ‘Would you like to see my -golden image?’ So we went by a long open cloister, with wooden pillars -rose-entwined, to see where the statue of the Duchess stands on a hill, -all gilt like the figure of the Prince Consort, so that one really could -_see_ nothing except that it was a standing figure, and I could _say_ -nothing except that it was very well placed. Then we were taken through -the sculpture-gallery, in which the great feature is a glorious -sarcophagus, with a relief of the body of Hector being weighed against -gold, Priam and Hecuba standing by with tears upon their cheeks.” - - * * * * * - -“_Dec. 28._--The hours at Ampthill were especially pleasant from five to -seven, when one was allowed to sit with Lady Wensleydale, who, in the -beautiful halo of her evergreen old age, is all that is most winning and -delightful--with full memory of her ‘wealthy past’ and gratitude for -present peace, hemmed in by loving care of children and grandchildren.” - - * * * * * - -“_Ascot Wood, Dec. 29._--Sir John Lefevre has been talking of an old -acquaintance of his named Balm, who was very extravagant. Some one said -to him once, ‘_Balm, Balm_, if you are not _sage_, you’ll spend a _mint_ -in time (_thyme_), and then you’ll _rue_.’ - -“He described a dinner-party at which he was present with ten others, -including Sydney Smith, who made them all laugh so much that they were -obliged to _stand up_. It was the only time he ever saw it--‘Laughter -holding both its sides.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Jan. 6, 1878._--At Ascot Station I met Mark Napier, who resigned his -first-class ticket and the companionship of Plato’s ‘Republic,’ his -usual reading in the train, to travel with me. His conversation is -always full of thought and interest. I went to Cobham in the evening, -and liked my visit, as I always do, meeting many people, including Mrs. -Russell Barrington, who dresses like a figure by Burne Jones, and is -even ambitious of becoming a Botticelli.” - - * * * * * - -“_Crewe Hall, Jan. 6._--The number of hats in the hall told me on -arriving here that there was a large party in the house, but I find no -remarkable elements except Lord Houghton and Mr. Nugee, a clergyman -still in appearance, but one who has gone out of the Church at the High -end, and has a sort of monastery for training ecclesiastics somewhere in -London. He preached to-day in the chapel, standing on the steps of the -altar, a discourse like that of a French preacher, most dramatic, most -powerful, most convincing--yet, oh! how difficult it is to carry away -anything even from the sermons one likes best. - -“Lord Crewe welcomed me very cordially, and made himself so pleasant -that I thought his eccentricities had been exaggerated, till suddenly, -at dinner, he began a long half-whispered conversation with himself, -talking, answering, _acting_, and nothing afterwards seemed able to -rouse him back to ordinary life. During the fire which destroyed the -interior of Crewe some years ago, Lord Crewe bore all with perfect -equanimity, and said not a word till the fire-engines came and were at -work. Then he turned to his sister, Lady Houghton, who was present, and -said, ‘I think I had better send for my goloshes.’[274] - -“It is a very fine house, with noble alabaster chimney-pieces inlaid -with precious marbles, but since the fire all has been too much overlaid -with decoration, and in many respects indifferent decoration. The Sir -Joshuas are glorious and numerous. - -“This afternoon Lord Houghton told an interesting story which he heard -from Mrs. Robert Gladstone:-- - -“‘She went to stay in Scotland with the Maxwells of Glenlee. Arriving -early in the afternoon, she went to her room to rest. It was a lovely -day. Mrs. Maxwell lay upon the sofa at the foot of her bed. Soon it -seemed to her as if the part of the room opposite to her was filled with -mist. She thought it came from the fireplace, but there was no fire and -no smoke. She looked to see if it came from the window; all without was -bright clear sunshine. She felt herself _frisonner_. Gradually the mist -seemed to assume form, till it became a grey figure watching the clock. -She could not take her eyes from it, and she was so terrified that she -could not scream. At length, with terror and cold, her senses seemed -going. She became unconscious. When she came to herself the figure was -gone. Her husband came in soon after, and she told him. He took her down -to five-o’clock tea. Then some one said, “You are in the haunted room,” -and she told what had happened. They changed her room, but the next -morning she went away. - -“Soon afterwards Mrs. Stamford Raffles went to stay at Glenlee. It was -then winter. She awoke in the night, and by the bright firelight burning -in her room saw the same effect of mist, collecting gradually and -forming a leaning figure looking at the clock. The same intense cold was -experienced, followed by the same unconsciousness, after a vain -endeavour to awaken her husband, for her limbs seemed paralysed. - -“‘The Maxwells soon afterwards became so annoyed that they gave up -Glenlee.’ - -“Lord Houghton also told the story of General Upton:-- - -“‘Whilst at Lisbon he saw a military friend of his in England pass -across the end of the room. On reaching England he went to see his -friend’s family, found them in deep mourning, and learnt that his -friend was dead. “Oh, yes,” he said, “I know that; he died on such a -day, for I saw him.” Upon this the family became greatly agitated, and -vehemently denied that he had died till several days later. “_Nothing_ -will convince me,” said General Upton, “but that he died on that -particular day.” Upon this the widow flung herself on her knees before -him and implored him for God’s sake not to bring utter ruin upon her by -saying this to any one else. “Very well,” he said; “I do not want to -injure you, but the best way will be to tell me the whole truth.” Then -she confessed. It was one of those cases in which the time for a pension -was not quite due for a few days, and she concealed the death till those -days were past.’ - -“Lady Egerton, who is here, told of young De Ritchie, whose wife died in -Fiji. He obtained leave of absence immediately, and wishing to break the -shock of his wife’s sudden death to her friends, merely telegraphed that -they were coming home at once, for Ranee was very ill. On the day they -were expected to arrive, the grandparents said to the little boy left in -their charge that they were going to meet his papa and mama, who were -coming home. The child looked very grave and said, ‘Papa, yes; Mama, no: -poor Mama sleep in Fiji;’ and nothing would make it say any more. Dr. De -Ritchie (the grandfather) was so impressed with this, that he was hardly -surprised when, on going to Southampton, he met his son alone. - -“Sir Watkin Wynne described a curious event on his property. A poor -woman earnestly implored that a certain tree near her cottage might be -cut down, for she had dreamt that her husband would be killed by it. She -besought it so earnestly that the tree was ordered to be cut down. In -falling, the rope attached to the tree caught the poor man, and crushed -him against the wall, and he was killed.” - - * * * * * - -“_London, Jan. 22._--A very pleasant dinner at Lady Ashburton’s. Miss -Hosmer[275] was there, very full of her strange discovery of being able -to turn limestone into marble, and then to colour it to any tint she -wishes--a discovery perhaps not unknown to the ancient Romans.” - - * * * * * - -“_Jan. 26._--Dined with old Lady Lyndhurst,[276] who has all the clever -vivacity acquired by her early life in France. Speaking of bullying at -public schools, she said, ‘I discovered that my Lord had been a bully -when he was a boy, and I can assure you I thumped him well at eighty for -what he had done at fourteen.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Battle Abbey, March 10, 1878._--I came here yesterday, finding Lady -Marian Alford, and to-day Lord Houghton came. Speaking of Mrs. L. E---- -‘s poverty, the Duchess said, ‘It is so sad; really often she has -actually not bread to eat.’--‘Yes,’ said Lord Houghton, ‘but then she -has so many kind friends who give her _cake_.’ - -“Lady Marian described the railway adventure of a friend of hers. Two -ladies got into a carriage at King’s Cross, one old and the other young. -Into the same carriage got a gentleman and sat down between them. As -soon as the train started, he looked round at one and then at the other. -Then he took from his pocket six razors and laid them upon the seat -opposite to him. Then he looked round at each of them again. Then he -took from his pocket an orange and laid it down in front of the razors. -Then he began to cut up the orange, using one razor for each pig. He -looked round at each of his victims again. Then he walked across the -carriage and sat down opposite the old lady, who instantly wound her boa -three times round her throat. He said, ‘Do you like orange?’ She said, -‘Very much indeed,’ and he took up a pig on the point of one of the -razors and popped it into her mouth. He then said, ‘Will you have -another?’ She said, ‘Yes, presently, but wait a few minutes: I like to -have time to _savourer_ my orange.’--‘How many minutes?’ he demanded. -She answered, ‘Five.’--‘Very well,’ he said, and he took out his watch -and counted the minutes, and then he took up another pig on the end of -another razor and popped it into her mouth. Each time she prolonged the -minutes, and the gallant old lady actually kept the madman at bay till -an hour had elapsed and the train stopped at Peterborough, and she and -the other lady were able to escape. - -“Lord Houghton’s vanity is amusingly natural. Something was said of one -of Theodore Hook’s criticisms. ‘You know even _I_ never said anything as -good as that,’ said Lord Houghton, and quite seriously. Yet how truly -kind Lord Houghton is, and how amusing, and he does most truly, as -Johnson said of Garth, ‘communicate himself through a very wide set of -acquaintance.’ In his _histoires de société_ he is unrivalled.” - - * * * * * - -“_March 12._--Yesterday Lord Houghton and I sat very long after -breakfast with the Duke, who talked of his diplomatic life. He was -appointed from St. Petersburg to Paris, and the revolution which -enthroned Louis Philippe occurring just then, he hurried his journey. -When he reached Frankfort, Chad, who was minister there, assured him -that he would not be allowed to enter France, but, provided with a -courier passport, he pushed on, and crossed the frontier without -difficulty. At Paris the barricades were still up. The town was in the -hands of the Orleanists (they bore the name then). On the evening of his -arrival the Duke was introduced to Lafayette, ‘quite a grand seigneur in -manner.’ Lafayette asked him if he did not know Lord and Lady Holland, -and on his answering in the affirmative, begged that he would write to -assure Lord Holland that he meant to save the lives of the late -ministers, because he was accused of intending to have them executed. - -“The Duke talked much of the wonderful gallantry of the Emperor -Nicholas--how when the rebel troops were drawn out opposite his own in -the square at St. Petersburg, he stalked out fearless between them, -though the Governor of St. Petersburg was shot dead at his feet. The -rebel troops were only waiting to fire till they saw a rocket, the -signal from Prince Troubetskoi, whose courage failed him at the last. -Troubetskoi was sent to Siberia, whither his wife insisted upon -following. He was sentenced for life, so was legally dead, and she -might, had she preferred it, have married any one else. - -“We drove to Normanhurst in the afternoon. Mrs. Brassey showed her -Japanese and Pacific curiosities; the house is full of them, like a -bazaar. We returned through a very lovely bit of Ashburnham.” - - * * * * * - -“_April 3._--I came to London on the 19th, and dined that day with Lady -Margaret Beaumont, hearing there of the dear kind old Lord Ravensworth -being found dead that day on the floor of the Windsor rooms at -Ravensworth, when his daughter Nellie sent for him because he did not -come in to luncheon.” - - * * * * * - -“On Monday, March 25, as I was breakfasting at the Athenæum, I glanced -into the paper, and the first thing which met my eyes was the news of -the total loss of the _Eurydice_, with dear good Marcus Hare and more -than three hundred men. It was a terrible shock, and seemed to carry -away a whole mass of one’s life in recollections from childhood.... It -is many days ago now, and the dreadful fact has seemed ever since to be -hammering itself into one’s brain with ceaselessly increasing horror. -How small now seem the failings in Marcus’s unselfish and loving -character, how great the many virtues. It is difficult also to realise -that there is now scarcely any one left who really cares for the old -traditions of the Hare family, the old portraits, the old memorials, -which were always so much to him, and which I hoped, through him, would -be handed down to another generation.” - - * * * * * - -“_April 14._--On the day on which the _Eurydice_ was lost, Sir J. Cowell -and Sir John McNeill were standing together in a window of Windsor -Castle which overlooks a wide extent of country. Suddenly Sir J. McNeill -seemed to be dreaming and speaking aloud. ‘What a terrible storm,’ he -said. ‘Oh, do you see that ship? It will be lost: oh, how horrible! Good -God, it’s gone!’ It was at that moment that the _Eurydice_ went -down.[277] - -“I have little to tell of London beyond the ordinary experiences, except -perhaps having been more than ever shocked by the slanderous malignity -of so-called ‘religious people,’ as I have been charmed by the -chivalrous disinterestedness of many who do not aspire to that -denomination. One often finds Archbishop Whately’s saying too true--‘The -God of Calvinists is the devil, with God written on their foreheads.’ Of -the many dinner-parties I have attended, I cannot recollect anything -except that some one--I cannot remember who--spoke of D’Israeli as ‘that -old Jew gentleman who is sitting on the top of chaos.’ - -“Last Sunday I went to luncheon at Mrs. Cavendish Bentinck’s. I arrived -at two, having been requested to be punctual. No hostess was there, and -the many guests sat round the room like patients in a dentist’s -anteroom, or, as a young Italian present said, when I made his -acquaintance--‘like lumps of ice.’ Lady Waterford came in and Mr. -Bentinck, and we went in to luncheon. There was a table for about -forty, who sat where they liked. Mrs. Bentinck came in when all were -seated, greeting nobody in particular. The lady next me, a perfect -stranger, suddenly said, ‘I want you to tell me what I must do to get -good. I do not feel good at all, and I want to be better: what must I -do?’ - -“‘That depends on your peculiar form of badness,’ I replied. - -“‘Well, I live where I have a church on each side of me, and a church on -the top of the hill under which my house is situated. But they do me no -good. Now I wonder if that is owing to the inefficiency of the churches, -or to the depravity of my own heart?’ - -“‘Probably half to one and half to the other,’ I said. - -“I asked afterwards who the lady was, but neither her hostess nor any -one else had an idea. - - * * * * * - -“Yesterday I dined with the Pole-Carews. Mrs. Carew told me that Dr. -Benson, Bishop of Truro,[278] told her:-- - -“‘At my table were two young men, one of them a Mr. Akroyd. He began to -talk of a place he knew in one of the Midland counties, and how a -particular adventure always befell him at a certain gate there. - -“‘Yes,’ said the other young man, ‘your horse always shies and turns -down a particular lane.’ - -“‘Yes,’ exclaimed Mr. Akroyd, ‘but how do you know anything about it?’ - -“‘Oh, because I know the place very well, and the same thing always -happens to me.’ - -“‘And then I come to a gateway,’ said Mr. Akroyd. - -“‘Yes, exactly so,” said the other young man. - -“‘And then on one occasion I drove through it and came to a house.’ - -“‘Ah! well, _there_ I do not follow you,’ said the other young man. - -“‘It was very long ago,’ continued Mr. Akroyd, ‘and I was a boy with my -father. When we drove down that lane it was very late, quite dark, and -we lost our way. When we reached the gateway, we saw within a great -house standing on one side of a courtyard, brilliantly lighted up. There -was evidently a banquet inside, and through the large windows we saw -figures moving to and fro, but all were in mediaeval dress: we thought -it was a masquerade. - -“‘We drove up to the house to inquire our way, and the owner came out to -speak to us. He was in a mediaeval dress. He said he was entertaining -his friends, and he entreated us, as chance had brought us there that -night, to come in and partake of his hospitality. We pleaded that we -were obliged to go on, and that to stay was impossible. He was -excessively civil, and said that if we must really go on, we must allow -him to send a footman to guide us back into the right road. My father -gave the footman half-a-crown. When we had gone some distance I said, -“Father, did you see what happened to that half-crown?”--“Yes, my boy, I -_did_,” said my father. It had fallen _through_ the footman’s hand on to -the snow.’ - -“‘The gateway really exists in the lane. There is no house, but there -was one once, inhabited by very wicked people who were guilty of -horrible blasphemies--a brother and sister, who danced upon the altar in -the chapel, &c.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Seaton, Devon, May 7._--I came here on Friday to visit Lady Ashburton, -but found that erratic hostess gone off to Torquay, so had two days here -alone with Mrs. Drummond’s two pleasant, lively boys. This is an -enchanting little paradise, looking down over the sea from a cliff. -Delightful walks ramble along the edge through miniature groves of -tamarisk and ilex. On one side rises the bluff chalk promontory and high -down of Bere Head; on the other, one looks across a bay to the cliffs -near Lyme Regis, and Portland is seen in the blue haze.” - - * * * * * - -“_May 7._--Drove with Lady Ashburton and her daughter to Shute, a -beautiful old house of the Poles, now a farmhouse, with a gateway like a -college gate at the entrance of the park. We sat to draw in the -courtyard, full of colour and beauty, and afterwards had a delicious tea -in the farmhouse kitchen. In returning, we went to an old ruined house -which was the original homestead of the great Courtenay family.” - - * * * * * - -“_May 8._--We were off at 7 A.M. into Somersetshire by train. We got out -at Yeovil, in a lovely country of orchards in full bloom, and drove -first to Brympton, the lovely old house of the Ponsonby Fanes. They -inherited it from Lady Georgiana Fane, who is represented in the church, -having had her own head added to the body of an ancestress who was -headless. The place is perfectly delightful--such a broad staircase -winding endlessly away, and quaint but fresh and airy rooms opening upon -a terrace with balustrades and a staircase, and close by the most -picturesque of churches. - -“We went on to Montacute, Mrs. Phelips’s--a most grand old house of -yellow-grey stone, partly of Edward VI.’s time.” - - - - -XX - -ROYAL DUTIES AND INTERESTS - - “Montre ce qui est en toi! C’est le moment, c’est l’heure, on - retombe dans le néant! Tu as la parole! à ton tour! fournis la - mesure, dis ton mot! revèle ta nullité, ou ta capacité. Sors de - l’ombre! Il ne s’agit plus de promettre, il faut tenir. Le temps - d’apprentissage est terminé!”--HENRI FREDERIC AMIEL. - - “Stop thine ears to whatsoever men think of thee; accept it for - nothing, but regard only the judgment of God.”--PICO DELLA - MIRANDOLA. - - “Let me never hear the word ‘trouble.’ Only tell me how the thing - is to be done, to be done rightly, and I will do it if I - can.”--QUEEN VICTORIA OF ENGLAND.[279] - - “Look at the duty nearest hand, and what’s more, _do_ it.”--JANE - WELSH CARLYLE. - - -Being at Lowther Lodge on the 21st of May, I was sent for by the Crown -Princess of Germany, who was most kind and gracious. “I have read all -your books. I always buy them as soon as ever they come out, and I have -so much wished to see you.” She told me that she had been to -Hurstmonceaux to visit my mother’s grave, and that she had one of her -strong presentiments as to the place coming back into our family, -adding, “And I do so hope it will.” She talked of the dear Madame de -Bunsen with the greatest affection, and then of the many branches of the -Bunsen family. When my little audience of about ten minutes was over, -she said with great sweetness, “I am afraid I am keeping you much too -long from all your other friends.” She pressed me to come to stay with -her at Potsdam. I said that I was going to Berlin to visit the Bunsens. -She said, “Oh, but you must come to _me_; I can show quite as many -things, and I can certainly show you a great many more people than the -Bunsens can.” I said that I feared my visit to Berlin would be during -her approaching absence in Switzerland. She said, “Well, you can go to -the Bunsens in the summer when I am away, and then in the winter you can -come again to see me: Berlin is not so very far off.” - -As spring advanced my Life of the Baroness Bunsen was so far completed -as to be ready for the inspection of her children. I therefore decided -to take it to them in Germany. Feeling how impossible it would be to -meet all the various wishes and tastes of such a hydra-headed family, I -determined only to feel bound by the wishes of the two unmarried -daughters, Frances and Emilia, and any one of their brothers whom they -might choose. They selected George. - -I turned first towards the Rhineland to visit the Dowager Princess of -Wied, and profit by her recollections of one who had ever been one of -the most valued of her friends. - -On the last day of May I reached Cologne, and found there a succession -of telegrams from the Princess of Wied desiring me to come to her. She -did not exactly say that she expected me to stay beyond the day, so I -did not like to take my luggage, and was sorry, when I found my room -ready and that I was expected for a long visit, that I had sent it on. - -Early on June 1, I went to Bonn. The place struck me much from its being -so embowered in green and flowers. In a villa thus surrounded I found -the well-known authoress Fräulein von Weling,[280] whom I surprised in -bargaining for ready-plucked chickens at her door. She is a very -interesting person, received me with that cordial simplicity which is so -charming in Germans, and in a minute had put on her bonnet to go with -me to the cemetery by a quiet walk through nursery-gardens. The -churchyard itself is half hidden in pinks and roses. In the centre -stands an old chapel of extreme beauty, transferred stone for stone by -the King of Prussia from a solitary position in the fields. Buried in -flowers is the grave where the dear friends of my childhood rest side by -side. Close by is that of their brother-like friend, the noble old -Brandis, his invalid wife, and his son Johannes. Farther off, but still -near, are the graves of the old Arndt, Niebuhr and his Gretchen, -Schumann, and the widow and son of Schiller. Then we went to Bunsen’s -house, with the three-windowed room where he died, the garden with its -view over the Rhine to the Sieben Gebirge, and the pavilion where he -gave his last birthday feast. - -It is a long ascent of an hour and a half from Neuwied through orchards -and meadows radiant with wild-flowers to Segenhaus, standing on the -crest of the mountain, which is literally “the House of Blessing” to all -around it. The beautiful spacious rooms, full of books and pictures, -look down over a steep declivity upon an immense view of the Rhineland. -The Princess came in immediately with a most warm welcome--a noble, -beautiful woman in a black dress, something like that one sees in -pictures of Spanish Queens-Dowager, with snow-white hair drawn back -under a long black veil. After a life of love, having lost all those who -gave its greatest charm, she still finds much happiness in making -herself the mother of her people, and the centre of good to the -Rhineland from her high forest-home. After a few minutes spent in -explaining the towns in the vast map-like view below us, she said, -“There is a lady here who is anxious to make your acquaintance, and who -was delighted to hear that you were coming: it is the Queen of Sweden.” -At that moment the doors were thrown open, and the Queen entered--of -middle age, with a beautiful expression, and possessing, with the utmost -regal dignity, the most perfect simplicity and even cordiality of -manner. She desired me to sit by the Princess upon a divan facing her. -She said that I must consider her at once as a friend; that, in a life -of great troubles, the “Memorials” had been her greatest comfort; that -she never went anywhere without them; that my mother had been for -several years the intimate friend to whom she always had recourse, and -in whose written thoughts she could always find something which -answered to her own feeling and the difficulty of the moment. She asked -after “Mary Lea,” and how old she was now. She also talked much and -naturally of my Bunsen work, and entirely entered into all the -difficulties of meeting the views of so large a family of varying -dispositions. - -The Princess took me away to see her own room with her family portraits -and photographs. She spoke of her daughter, the Princess of -Roumania,[281] “in her terrible position between Russia and Turkey.” -Then she said, “I want to prepare you for something. At my daughter’s -court there is a blind Roumanian noble who has an only daughter. She is -deaf and dumb. I could not bear that they should never communicate, so I -have taken her home with me, and I am teaching her to speak by making -her hold her hand _on my throat_ as I speak very slowly; and she is -already learning, and, though it takes almost all my time, I am already -rewarded by her making sounds which are intelligible to me.” When we -went back into the other room, the young lady was there, a most strange -being, making sounds inarticulate, but intelligible to the Princess. -When she saw that the Princess was going to speak, she rushed -across the room and held her hand on her throat, which had an almost -terrible effect, like garrotting. - -[Illustration: Sophie. - -Queen of Sweden and Norway.] - -After tea the Queen ordered her donkey, which was brought round by a -handsome Swedish chasseur. We went out into the forest. The Queen rode: -the Princess led the donkey: I walked by the side, and only the chasseur -followed. We actually went on thus for three hours, through beautiful -forest glades with exquisite sylvan views, the whole reminding me of -descriptions in Auerbach’s “Auf der Höhe.” The Queen never ceased -talking or asking. She wished to know the whole story of my mother’s -trances at Pau, of Madame de Trafford, of Prince Joseph Bonaparte--“a -sort of cousin of my husband’s.” She talked much and most touchingly of -her own life and its anxieties. “What I feel most,” she said, “is the -impossibility of ever being alone. I have much happiness, much to be -thankful for, but I feel that what one has really to look forward to -must come after death, and I do not wish to live.” With her truly “la -grandeur est un poids qui lasse,” as Massillon said. When alone with her -sister at the Segenhaus in the quiet forest-life, she finds most -happiness, and they live in a higher world, mentally as well as -physically. As we went down a steep bank the donkey stumbled, and the -Queen cried out. “Pardon me that I have seemed to be afraid,” she said; -“I have been so very ill, that my nerves are quite shattered;” and in -fact a severe illness, long supposed to be mortal, had at this time -obliged her for several years to leave Sweden in the winter, to be under -a great doctor at Heidelberg. She asked me to come to Norway to visit -her. “You must also know my husband,” she said, “and my four sons, my -four blessings of God.” She repeatedly expressed her wish that I should -be at Rome in the winter with the Prince Royal. “I am sending him out to -learn his world.” She asked most warmly after Lea, and sent a message to -her--“I know her so well.” She also desired I would give her tender -sympathy to Hilda Hare,[282] “For can I not feel for her? my second boy -is at sea.” She gave a charming description of her first tour through -Norway to her coronation. “I sat in my carriole by myself, and a peasant -sat upon the little portmanteau behind which held my things, and told me -all about the places and people.” We walked on and on through the vast -woods, with lovely glimpses of country through the open glades, and -masses of huge foxgloves where the wood was cut down, and one really -forgot the queen, the almost _tête-à-tête_ of three hours with a queen, -in the noble great-souled woman, whose high ideal of life and all that -it should be seemed for the time to ennoble all the world to one. - -At the top of a high declivity the Princess unlocked a small gate. -Within, in a little circular grove of lime-trees, were two marble -crosses over the grave of the Prince of Wied and his martyr-like son -Otto.[283] “And here,” said the Princess very simply, “is my grave -also.” The plan of these green mausoleums has been adopted by the -present family, and two more are planted to be ready for two -generations. - -Behind the palace of the Princess is the great white château of -Monrepos, where her son lives with his wife, who is Princess Royal of -the Netherlands. Above the lower range of windows is a line of huge -stags’ heads, trophies of the chase of some former prince in the -forest. The House of Wied are “_ehenwürdig_,” and so may always marry -royalty. - -I said something about never having seen the kitchen-garden of a German -house, so when we came home the Princess took me to hers. The Queen then -walked with us. The Princess prunes and grafts her own roses, &c., but -she seems to have no perception whatever of any beauty in wild-flowers. -We went in, and I was shown to a room, whence I came down to that in -which the court ladies were assembled. It was rather formidable, but the -Countess Ebba von Rosen, dame du palais of the Queen, talked pleasantly -in English. Doors were thrown open, and the Queen and Princess entered -and we went in to supper. The Queen made me sit by her: the four court -ladies sat opposite: the Princess, on the other side of the Queen, made -tea. Thick slices of bread and butter, like those of English -school-feasts, and mutton-chops were handed round. When we went into the -other room, I wrote down some names of books as desired, and then at -9.30 took leave. The Princess most cordially invited me to return, and -the Queen again pressed me to visit her in her own country. The vision -of the Queen’s serene noble face as she took leave has ever since -remained with me, and I parted from both the royal sisters with a -stronger feeling of affectionate regard than I have ever felt towards -any one else upon so short an acquaintance.” - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL _and_ LETTERS _to_ MISS LEYCESTER _and_ MISS WRIGHT. - -“_June 2._--I slept at Neuwied, and then crossing the Rhine in the -morning mist, passed a few hours at Boppart, where the colouring of the -river and old houses and the peculiar grey hills was most lovely. -Charles de Bunsen met me at the station of Mosbach, and took me to his -villa, much like one in Italy, with the same rich intermingled -vegetation of fruit and flowers growing around it.” - - * * * * * - -“_June 4._--Yesterday, a very sultry day, we went to Wiesbaden. The -heavy trees in the gardens looked dripping even more with heat than with -rain, and there is a splendid dulness in the great rooms, formerly the -gambling-house, and in the park beyond, with the many chairs under the -trees on which people sit to listen to the band; but the fountain is -pretty. - -“Mrs. de Bunsen[284] was very amusing in her account of the crowded -musical festival at Baireuth. When they complained that there were not -enough carriages there, a native replied, ‘Pardon me! of carriages there -are quite enough, but of people there are too many.’ - -“In and out, whilst I have been here, has come the next neighbour--‘the -Herr Major.’ He is quite a character, and devotes his whole life to his -garden. From Holland he--a poor man--ordered some fruit-trees for a very -large sum, but they have been a total failure and have borne nothing. -The other day Charles, driving with him, passed these trees, and knowing -they were a sore subject, turned his head the other way and pretended -not to see them. ‘Oh, thank you, dear friend; I appreciate what you are -doing,’ said the Herr Major, enthusiastically clasping his hand. When -the boys of Mosbach stole his fruit, he put up an electric wire on the -wall which caused a bell to ring in his bedroom whenever any one got -over it. A few nights ago the bell rang violently; the Herr Major took -his stick and rushed down the garden in his night-shirt: it was only his -own bulldog, which had jumped over the wall to pay a visit to a friend -in Mosbach. Another time, when his fruit was stolen, the Herr Major -issued a placard offering a reward of a hundred marks to any one who -would deliver up the thief. The placard was read by two men sitting -outside a beer-house, who were the men who had stolen the fruit. They -immediately agreed upon their course of action; one man delivered the -other up to justice, and he was sentenced to pay ten marks or to three -days’ imprisonment; the other claimed the hundred marks, of which they -had ninety to divide and to spend in drinking for whole days together to -the health of the Herr Major.” - - * * * * * - -“_June 15._--I have had a charming week at Herrenalb, whither Charles -and Theodore de Bunsen accompanied me. It was a real pleasure to be -again with the dear Frances and Emilia de Bunsen, who are so like -sisters to me, and the kind pleasant Sternbergs. We were occupied almost -entirely with my book, the sisters taking it in turn to talk over all -the different parts, but there were also delightful intervals of forest -rambles, and sittings out under the old apple-trees with Emilia. -Reinhold von Ungern Sternberg came for the Sunday with Herr von Klüden, -the ‘_Bräutigam_’ of his sister Dora. The place is just what my sweetest -mother would most have enjoyed for a summer residence--no grand scenery, -but very high forest-clad hills all round the rich green meadows, with -the crystal Alb tossing through them. The village of quaint black and -white houses clusters round the old-fashioned inn and the water-cure -establishment in the buildings of the suppressed monastery, of which a -beautiful ruin of red sandstone--‘The Paradise’--still stands in the -churchyard. In all directions are well-kept walks and drives, and -comfortable seats at every picturesque point. The people are most -friendly and primitive, all the men taking off their hats, and all -greeting strangers with a friendly ‘Morgen’ or ‘Tag.’ - -“A terrible sensation has been created by the attack on the Emperor, and -still more by the first false report of his death. Men and women were -alike in tears, and the national disgrace is intensely felt. I hope, if -the Emperor is better, that I may see the Crown Princess again at -Berlin. - -“I spent four hours at Heidelberg, and revisited all our old haunts, the -gardens most lovely in their luxuriance of green. Thence I had intended -to go to Weimar to visit the Grand Duchess, but at Eisenach received a -telegram from her lady-in-waiting, the Countess Kalkreuth, to put off my -visit, as they were gone off to Berlin, the Empress Augusta being sister -of the Duke of Weimar. A wet morning at the Wartburg and an afternoon at -Erfurth brought me to Jena. There my cousin Alexander Paul met me at the -station, a pleasant, fat, frank Prussian officer, with a face very like -that of the first Napoleon.[285] - -“There is much charm in this old town of Jena and its simple population, -increased by the five hundred students of the university. The houses of -Schiller, Alex. v. Humboldt, &c., have inscriptions in honour of those -who lived there: the streets wind picturesquely around the old Schloss -and its gardens, and the trumpet still sounds every quarter of an hour -from the tall grey tower of the noble old church. From my own window in -Alexander’s house in the Cahl’sche Allée, I see on one side a robber -castle, on the other a wonderful old church of the time of the ‘Heilige -Bonifacius.’ - -“On Thursday afternoon we went to Dornberg, where three castles crown -the cliff above the village with a narrow terrace running in front of -them along the edge of the precipice. One castle is occasionally -inhabited by the Grand Duke; another, very old and picturesque, was -given by Carl August to Goethe, and having been inhabited by him in the -last years of his life, still contains much furniture of his time: the -third was the palace of--the Sleeping Beauty in the Wood. - -“Yesterday we went a fatiguing excursion to Schwartzberg, the palace of -the Prince of Rudolstadt, by which we saw the finest parts of -Thuringia. A railway took us to Schwarza, where, in a ball on the top of -the church steeple, is a dart thrown by a Cossack as the Russian army -passed through Germany. Thence we took an omnibus to the little -Chrysopraz Hotel at Blankenberg, where, after beer and brown bread and -butter under the trees, we walked up the Schwarzthal to Oppelei, where a -Swiss cottage has been built by the Prince to indemnify a forester, -whose daughter he had made his mistress! Hence, by a steep path, we -ascended the Treppstein, whence there is a lovely view over the hollow -in the forest-clad mountains, in the midst of which the great castle of -the Prince of Rudolstadt rises above the little town. The Prince is not -unpopular, though his life has an Eastern license. On the day when he -succeeded to his tiny sovereignty he happened to be at Berlin. ‘Bonjour, -souverain,’ said the Emperor when he met him, and, when he took off his -hat--‘Pray put on your crown.’ - -“We dined at the charming little inn, where thousands of wild stags -often assemble under the windows in the evenings, when the place is -comparatively empty, but take flight into the woods before the summer -guests. In returning, we were much amused with the old ‘Herr Apotheke’ -of Rudolstadt, who had come out with a tin case to gather simples, and -who insisted upon stopping to drink a tankard of beer wherever one was -to be had. - -“To-day we have been in a different direction, by rail to Roda, a -charming little Thuringian town, and thence by carriage to the Fröhliche -Wiederkunft, the old moated castle built by Friedrich Johann, father of -Friedrich der Weise, on the spot where he met his family on his return -from a long captivity abroad. The old Princess Therèse of -Saxe-Altenbourg now lives there, she and her sisters--the Queen of -Hanover, the Grand Duchess of Oldenbourg, and the Grand Duchess -Constantine of Russia--having been daughters of the old Duke Josef, by -whom the castle was restored. The news of the King of Hanover’s death -had just arrived. ‘How many tears,’ said the old man who showed the -castle, ‘did the old Duke my master shed in that chair over the King’s -misfortunes.’ The story of the founder is most quaintly told in -paintings on panels round one of the rooms, and there are pictures and -memorials of Luther and of Friedrich Johann and his wife Sibylla over -and over again.” - - * * * * * - -“_June 23._--A vision of many great towns is all that I carry away from -the varied journey which has brought me to Hildesheim--the old cities of -Wittenberg and Eisleben, with their glorious works of Lucas Cranach and -varied memorials of Luther and Melancthon: Magdeburg, great and noisy, -with its dull, restored cathedral: Halberstadt, also restored, but -glorious in spite of its injuries, and with intensely picturesque -streets of old houses: the romantic beauty of imperial Goslar: stately -Quedlinburg, where German princesses constantly reigned as abbesses: -beautiful Thale, at the entrance of the Harz, with its exquisite -combination of wood and rock and water: Brunswick and its many -market-places, full of old houses: dull Hanover, with the great deserted -gardens of Herrenhausen. - -“Aunt Marcia (Frau Paul von Benningsen[286]) and my cousins Jane and -Clementine met me here at the station.” - - * * * * * - -“_Berlin, June 27._--My visit at Hildesheim had much of quiet interest. -The town is wonderfully picturesque, and I was glad to make acquaintance -with my cousins, who are perfectly _grandes dames_ and highly educated -young ladies, though they cook and do almost all the housework -themselves. I drew in the early mornings, and went to dinner each day -with them at 12.30. - -“The Hildesheim churches are magnificent, but spoilt, ruined, by -so-called restoration--the old pavements torn up, the old ornaments -removed and replaced by tawdry and vulgar imitation of Munich -wall-painting. - -“On Monday George de Bunsen met me with his carriage at the Berlin -station, and brought me through the Thier-Garten, like a bit of wild -forest, to the charming airy Villa Bunsen, standing in its own garden on -the extreme outskirts of the town. Here I have a most luxurious room, -filled with royal portraits, and every possible luxury. We dined _al -fresco_ on the broad terrace amid the flowers. On the next evening there -was a party of about fifty people--tea, and the garden and terrace -lighted up, a very pretty effect; the ladies in bright dresses, the men -with uniforms and orders, moving and sitting amongst the shrubs and -flowers, amid which endless little supper-tables were laid at a late -hour. Many were the historic names of those to whom I was -introduced--Falk of the Falk laws, Mommsen the historian, Austin the -poet, Mohl, and many ministers and generals. I found also Arthur -Balfour, and many waifs and strays of old acquaintance. The ‘Congress’ -is going on, but excites little or no general interest, and is scarcely -mentioned here, German affairs being far too important. - -“Berlin interests me extremely, though without preparation it can be of -small interest. It is almost entirely modern. In the sixteenth century -it must have been a tiny electoral town, the houses encircling the old -Schloss by the Spree in the time of the Great Elector, whose statue, a -grand though rococo work, stands close by on the bridge. Friedrich I., -who got a kingdom by bribery, added the enormous castle, which, -ludicrous as it then was in a kingdom of five millions, is now -satisfactory in a kingdom of twenty millions. Close by, Frederick the -Great built two domes, merely as features in the distant view of an -otherwise featureless city, and to these his son added buildings which -turned them into churches. Under Friedrich Wilhelm III. and IV. the -great classical revival took place and endless fine buildings arose. The -library is one of the few buildings which date from Frederick the Great. -The architects were an endless time disputing over the designs, and at -last he said, ‘Damn you all, don’t waste any more time; this commode -opposite me is of a very good design, copy that,’ and accordingly the -design of the commode was copied. - -“The Museum was begun when the country was poor and had no money to -spend. After the French war, when the country became rich, the design -expanded and became magnificent. Of the sculptures, four works deserve -especial attention--the ‘Adorante,’ the exquisite bronze boy who, in the -early morning, stretches out his arms in adoration: the noble vivid bust -of Julius Caesar in basalt, with agate eyes, so speaking though -voiceless, so never to be forgotten, of which Rauch had three copies in -different parts of his house that it might never be long absent from his -mind: the bust of Sappho, with banded hair, recognised as the poetess -from a Hermes; and the Augustus statue, more noble than that of Livia’s -villa, because taken in earlier youth, when his one feeling was that he -was born to command, and when no furrow of disappointment or care was -yet traced on his brow. - -“The collection of casts is most interesting, as showing the important -statues of each subject, Venus, Minerva, Mercury, &c., side by side for -instruction or contrast. - -“The pictures are a grand collection, spoilt by over-cleaning. -Especially worthy of remembrance are an Adoring Madonna by Filippino -Lippi, with God the Father above in glory; two noble portraits by -Giorgione; one by Lorenzo Lotto (possibly of Sansovino); some -marvellously graphic pictures, eloquently expressed in well-considered -touches, by Franz Hals; and a noble Holbein of ‘Kaufmann Georg Gigge aus -Basel.’ - -“Last night we went late to the Zoological Garden. The most interesting -thing was a solemn congregation of ibises listening in a row, each bird -with one foot in the air, and its head attentively on one side, to an -ibis preacher, who never ceased a continuous discourse to them, standing -on a stone. The elephant is said to be five hundred years old; what a -solemn silent witness! Apropos of the future of beasts, George de Bunsen -talked much of the absence of all allusion to _any_ future in the Old -Testament--that it grew up, partly in the Talmud, partly in the -Apocryphal writers, in what Luther beautifully calls ‘the great empty -leaf between the Old and New Testaments.’ - -“Montbijou, the curious little one-storied palace of Sophia Charlotte, -wife of Friedrich I., is now a museum for relics of the House of -Brandenbourg. The chairs, sledges, and table of Friedrich I. are very -curious; the wheel-chairs of his unhappy second wife: the wax figures of -his grand-daughters as babies; and their portraits as grown -women--queens and duchesses. Here also are three masks from the dead -face of the lovely Queen Louisa, that taken immediately after death most -exquisitely beautiful.” - - * * * * * - -“_June 30._--The day after I last wrote, I went with the Bunsens and Mr. -Waddington, the French Minister[287] (come for the Congress of Berlin) -to Charlottenbourg. The palace there is charming--the large gardens, the -groves of orange-trees in tubs, the great lawns sweeping away into -woods, and above all the mausoleum in one of the thick groves, with the -tombs of Queen Louisa and her husband. Hither the old Emperor and all -the royal family come still once a year, on the anniversary of her -death, to look upon the beautiful form of his young mother, snatched -away in the very zenith of beauty and popularity, not living to see the -re-establishment of the kingdom in whose cause she sacrificed her life. -Exquisitely, perfectly beautiful is the intense repose of her lovely -countenance, in what I must ever feel to be the most beautiful and -impressive statue in the world. The statue of the King is very fine too, -but in her angelic presence he is forgotten. And such was the feeling -for _her_, that though he did not marry again for many years after he -had lost her in his youth, his people at first would not believe it, and -then never forgave it. Mr. Waddington felt nothing in the presence of -this sublime statue. ‘Yes, it is very clever, it is a very clever figure -indeed,’ he said. Never was any remark more completely out of tune, -making it difficult for one to believe in the great power of the man. - -“The next day I went to Potsdam--quite a place by itself in the world, -with its endless great ultra-German palaces and stiff gardens, arid and -dusty, though surrounded by many waters. Without Carlyle’s ‘Frederick -the Great,’ they would be mere dead walls enclosing a number of costly -objects; illuminated by the book, each room, each garden walk, thrills -with human interest. In the Residenz Schloss are the rooms in which -Frederick the Great passed his winters, with massive silver furniture -and priceless ornaments, amid which the portrait of Wilhelmina in her -childhood is a touching feature. In the Garrison Kirche is the tomb of -the great king. The terrace at Sans Souci, in this dried-up land, is -quite lovely with its fountains and orange-trees. Close behind is the -famous windmill. - -“When I returned to the station, I was surprised to find the Bunsens’ -servant, sent on with my evening clothes, that I might accept an -invitation (by telegram) to dine with the Crown Princess. I had only -eight minutes before the royal train came up, and it was an awful -scramble to wash and dress in a room the servant had taken at the -station. However, when the royal train set off, I was in it. The -palace-station of Wildpark was a pretty sight, red cloth laid down -everywhere, and sixteen royal carriages waiting for the immense -multitude of guests--quantities of ladies in evening dress (all black -for the King of Hanover) and veils, splendid-looking officers, an -Armenian archbishop and bishop in quaint black hoods and splendid -diamond crosses. I went in a carriage with the Greek minister, and we -whirled away through the green avenues to the great Neue Palais, with -the sun striking warm on the old red and grey front. Count Eulenborg, -Master of the Household, stood on the steps to receive us, and we passed -into an immense hall, like a huge grotto, decorated with shells and -fountains, where several of the court ladies were. - -“At the end of the hall were some folding-doors closely watched by two -aides-de-camp, till the rapping of a silver stick was heard from a -distant pavement, when the doors were flung open, and Count Eulenborg -came out, preceding the Prince and Princess. She immediately went up to -Mrs. Grant (General Grant’s wife) and several other ladies, and then -began to go the round of the guests. I had more than my fair share of -her kindly presence. ‘Oh, Mr. Hare, I am so glad to see you again so -soon. How little I expected it, and how sad the causes which have -brought it about!’ And she went on to speak of how, at our last meeting, -the Duchess of Argyll had been sitting with her at tea, and how three -days after she died. ‘And for me it was only the opening act of a -tragedy,’ she said. She talked of the shock which the news of the attack -upon the Emperor was to her, coming to her in the picture-gallery at -Panshanger, and of her hurried journey to him. The Crown Prince came up -then, and led her away to dinner. Mrs. Grant was on his other side -(General Grant, a very vulgar officious man, was also there). I had been -directed to a place near the Archbishop and Bishop of Armenia, but as -they only spoke Armenian, I was glad that a very handsome, agreeable -aide-de-camp eventually took his place between me and them. The dinner -was excellent, in a huge long marble hall, with windows opening to the -ground on the terrace above the flower-garden. Occasionally I met a -bright kindly smile as the Princess looked to see how I was getting on. -There were about fifty guests, servants waiting noiselessly, not a -footfall heard. - -“After dinner we all went out on the terraces, and there the Crown -Princess had the goodness to come again to me. She talked of all I had -seen at Berlin, and of Sweden and Queen Sophie. She talked also of Queen -Louisa, her husband’s grandmother, preferring her statue at Potsdam even -to that at Charlottenburg, and wished to have sent an aide-de-camp with -me to see it. She was so good as to desire that I should return to -Potsdam, and when I showed her that I could not, said, ‘Oh, but you will -now find your way again to Berlin to see me.’ The scene on the terraces -was very pretty, looking upon the bright flowers beneath in the subdued -light of a fine evening in this transparent atmosphere, the whole air -scented with lime-flowers. - -“At a quarter to nine all the carriages came again to take us away: -Count Eulenborg announced them. In the ante-chamber I found the Crown -Princess again. I kissed her hand, and she shook mine with many kind -words, and sent affectionate messages to the Queen of Sweden. - -“How we whirled away through the green avenues to Potsdam, where all the -people turned out to see the cavalcade! I travelled back to Berlin with -the young and very handsome Prince Friedrich of Hohenzollern (brother of -the Prince of Roumania and the Comtesse de Flandres), who was saved in -the annihilation of his regiment of guards in the second battle of Metz -by being sent back with the standard.” - - * * * * * - -“_July 5._--I spent Sunday at beautiful old Lübeck, full of colour and -rich architecture, rising spire upon spire above the limpid river. In -the streets and market-place are the quaintest towers, turrets, -tourelles, but all end in spires. A great fat constable went about on -Sunday morning, keeping everybody from following any avocation whatever -during church-time: when the services were over, they might do what they -liked. - -“Then came the long weary journey across West Holstein--peat flats -varied by marshy swamps--and a night at Schleswig, a white, colourless -old town moored as if upon a raft in the marshes, where the Princess of -Wales’ grandmother and other royal potentates lie in exposed coffins -upon the floor of the ugly rugged old cathedral, which has a belfry like -a dovecot. Everywhere roses grew in the streets on the house-walls. The -children were hurrying along, _carrying_ the shoes they were to wear in -school. - -[Illustration: THE ROSENBORG PALACE, COPENHAGEN.][288] - -“Peat and marsh again for many hours, the interminable straight lines of -landscape only broken by the mounds, probably sepulchral, which are so -common here. A straight line with humps at intervals would do for a view -almost anywhere in Jutland, Fuhnen, or Seeland. After hours upon hours -of this engaging scenery, we crossed the Middelfardt at Fredericia into -Fuhnen, which we traversed by rail, and embarked again on the Great Belt -at Nyborg. Then came four hours’ more rail in Seeland, and, at 10.30 -P.M., long lines of light glistening on streets of water showed that we -had reached Copenhagen. Here I met the two daughters of Sir Henry -Holland (Caroline and Gertrude), with whom I had arranged to go on to -Norway, and their niece, Miss Chenda Buxton. As they had already been -waiting for me several days, I felt obliged to give up a visit to Baron -Troll (the stepson of Madame de Bülow) and the château of Gaüno, but I -had three full days for Copenhagen, and greatly enjoyed them, the air -being that of the high mountains in Switzerland with a mixture of -sea--the most bracing place I ever was in. There is a ‘Dragon Tower,’ -which is quite ideally Danish; and the old palace of the Danish kings, -Rosenborg, surrounded by a moat, is fairy-like in the beauty of its old -age, in the midst of a stately and brilliant old garden, and filled with -historical memorials, which carry you back into marvellous depths of -Danish history, in which the Christians and Friedrichs, always -alternating with each other, are most bewildering. The museums also are -full of interest, especially the Thorwaldsen collection, with casts of -all the works of the great sculptor, and many most grand originals, -especially interesting to me, as being described in Madame de Bunsen’s -letters from Rome in their first conception and progress. - -[Illustration: ROESKILDE.] - -“One day we went out to Roeskilde, to the great church near a fiord -where the kings are buried. Some of the older sovereigns have grand -tombs, but those of later date than the grandfather of our Charles I. -lie in their black and silver coffins unburied upon the floor of the -church, with very odd effect.” - - * * * * * - -“_Stockholm, Grand Hotel Rydberg, July 13._--On the evening of the 5th -we crossed to Helsingfors in Sweden by a very rough passage of ten -minutes, and had a wild evening walk in the storm, looking upon the -opposite Danish coast, and Helsingborg with the great traditional castle -of Hamlet, whose father was really a pirate-chief in Jutland. - -[Illustration: CASTLE OF ELSINORE.] - -“A journey of twenty-four hours brought us to Stockholm. We only -lingered on the way to see the very fine Cathedral of Lund, the Oxford -of Sweden. The scenery is not beautiful, but pretty--an exaggerated -Surrey, low hills and endless fir-woods, with tiny glistening lakes. - -[Illustration: THE JUNCTION OF LAKE MALAR AND THE BALTIC, STOCKHOLM.] - -“Stockholm has deeply interested us, and there is an odd feeling in -being at a place and knowing that it is for once and once only in a -lifetime. It is a modern city of ugly streets, but in a situation quite -exquisite, on a number of little rocky islets between Lake Malar and -the Baltic, surrounding, on the central islet, the huge palace, which is -very stately and imposing from its size, and the old church of -Riddarholmen, where Gustavus Adolphus and many other kings and queens -are buried under the banner-hung arches. Next to the palace, the -stateliest building is certainly this hotel, where our windows overlook -all that is most characteristic in the place, the bridge which crosses -the junction of the Baltic and Lake Malar, the mighty palace dominating -the central island, the great white seagulls poised upon the blue -waters, and the steam-gondolas, filled with people, darting to and from -one island to another. These are the chief means of communication, and -we make great use of them, the passages costing twelve öere, or one -penny. - -[Illustration: RIDDARHOLMEN.] - -“We shall not go to see the midnight sun at Hammerfest; it would be very -fatiguing, and indeed there can be little to see which we have not here; -for we have only about two hours’ night in Stockholm, and by 2 A.M. it -is light enough to read the smallest print. This has a very odd effect -at first, but one soon gets used to it. - -[Illustration: THE CHURCH OF OLD UPSALA.] - -“Alas! we have been here a week, and, except one day, it has rained -almost incessantly. One pities the poor Swedes in losing their short -summer, for there are only about three months without snow, and every -day is precious. The streets are sopping, but we have managed several -excursions in the covered gondolas to quiet damp old palaces on the -banks of lonely fiords. On our one fine day we went to Upsala by rail, -and saw the cathedral where Gustavus Wasa lies aloft on a great tomb -between his two pretty little wives, and we drove on to Old Upsala, -where Odin, Thor, and Freya reigned as human beings and were buried as -gods. In the tomb of Thor--a grassy mound--the Government still gives -the mead of ancient times to foreign visitors. It is a very delightful -place, like a dip in the Sussex downs, the quaint church, of immemorial -antiquity, probably once a pagan temple, nestling behind the mounds of -the heroes. - -“Yesterday we heard a hundred Upsala students, the best singers in the -world, sing the best national music in the Caterina Church. The King was -there, a noble royal figure. He is _the_ sovereign of the age, artist, -poet, equally at home in all modern languages and several ancient ones, -profoundly versed in all his duties and nobly performing them. The Crown -Prince was with him, a fine young fellow, spoilt in appearance by his -mother’s Nassau mouth, and the Prince Imperial, who is here with his -cousins on a visit. The Queen is still away. I had many introductions -here, but as the Court is at the country palace of Drottningholm, have -not thought it worth while to present them; generally, however, Swedes -are quite charming, especially in their manner to strangers. - -“Cheating or imposition in hotels or elsewhere is utterly unknown; the -only fear is lest you should not be charged enough. We asked what we -should do with our luggage if we went to Dalecarlia--‘Oh, you can leave -it anywhere under a bush, no one would touch a thing,’ and I am sure -that it is so. - -“The Hollands are delightful companions, full of interest in everything, -glad to draw, reading up all the history, learning Swedish, holding -historical and retrospective examinations once a week. We do a great -deal of ‘lessons’ together. Certainly that one’s travels should ‘leave a -good taste’ behind entirely depends upon one’s companions. And we are -never even reduced to the state which I find alluded to in a French -guide-book--‘Dans une voiture découverte, quand il y a une personne de -mauvaise humeur, les autres admirent le paysage.’ Mr. and Mrs. Eric -Magnusson are in this hotel, and we see a good deal of them. He is an -Icelander, but now a Professor at Cambridge, and sent here by the -University to investigate and inspect the Runic inscriptions.” - -[Illustration: GRIPSHOLM.] - - * * * * * - -“_July 15._--Yesterday we steamed down Lake Malar to Gripsholm, a very -quaint castle with domed red towers, full of ancient pictures, and with -the wonderful old room and bed where Queen Catherine Jagellonica -(delightful name!), whose tomb we saw at Upsala, gave birth to her son -Sigismund, afterwards King of Poland.” - - * * * * * - -“_Throndtjem, July 28._--Surely this old cradle of Northern Christianity -is one of the most beautiful places in the world. No one had ever told -us about it, and we came here only because it was the Throndtjem of -sagas and ballads, and expecting a wonderful and beautiful cathedral; -but it is really a dream of loveliness, so exquisite in the soft silvery -morning lights on the fiords and purple mountain ranges, and the nearer -hills covered with bilberries and breaking into steep cliffs, that one -remains in a state of transport, which is at a climax when all is -engraven upon an opal sunset sky, and when ships and buildings meet -their double in the still transparent water. Each old wide street of -curious wooden houses displays a new vista of sea, of rocky -promontories, of woods dipping into the water, and at the end of the -chief street is the grey massive cathedral of St. Olaf, where Northern -art and poetry have exhausted their loveliest and most poetic fancies -around the grave of the national hero. Here alone in Scandinavia I have -gone back perpetually to the old days of my life, and felt how happy the -mother would have been here, so much--almost everything--being within -her own walk; and I seem to see our trio spending a quiet month at this -homelike hotel (where the landlord and landlady--highly educated people -of good family--receive their guests like friends in a country-house), -and sallying forth to draw in all the sheltered coves and wooded rocks -by the side of fiord or river. The air too is most bracing, an arctic -feeling combined with the brightest sunshine. - -“My companions and I get on perfectly, and I am filled with admiration -of Miss Holland’s strong, decided nature, and her perfect knowledge of -all she wishes and intends, combined with great good-nature. Both -sisters take boundless interest in all they see, and the journeys seem -shortened by alternate lessons in history, Norsk, &c., and games of -different kinds, even charades, one side of the carriage acting against -the other! - -“But I must go back to Kristiania, which was steaming in intensity of -heat when we reached it, the wet of Stockholm having cleared in Norway -into cloudless sunshine which had hatched all the mosquitoes. There is -no beauty in the mean little town, which was built by Christian IV. -(brother of our Anne of Denmark), and has a good central church of his -time. We went by rail to Kongsberg, a primitive place with a nice little -hotel kept by a Dane, where, however (and at many other places), we were -annoyed by the ludicrously consequential advent of General Grant and Co. -Here we hired a carriage and carriole for a five days’ excursion in -Tellemarken. What a drive!--by silent lakes or through deep, beautiful, -ever-varying woods of noble pine-trees, rising from thickets of juniper, -bilberries, and cranberries. The loveliest mountain flowers grow in -these woods--huge larkspurs of rank luxuriant foliage and flowers of -faint dead blue, pinks, stagmoss--wreathing around the grey rocks, and -delicate lovely soldanellas drooping in the still recesses. But what a -road, or rather what a want of one!--hills of glassy rock, up which our -horses scrambled like cats, abysses where they gathered up their legs -and flung themselves down headlong with the carriages on the top of -them, till at the bottom we were all buried in dust, and picked -ourselves up, gasping and gulping, and wondering we were alive, to begin -the same pantomime over again. - -“Our midday halt was at Bolkesjö, where the forest opens to green lawns, -hill-set, with a charming view down their smooth declivities upon a -many-bayed lake with mountain distances. Here, in a group of old brown -farm-buildings, covered with rude picturesque painting and sculpture, is -a farmhouse inhabited by its primitive owners through many generations. -The little rooms and their furniture are painted and carved with mottoes -and texts, and portraits with autographs of royal visitors hang on the -walls. The entrance to the cellar was under the bed. ‘Ajö, ajö,’ -exclaimed Miss Buxton, in our newly acquired Norsk, as the old landlady -descended into it to get us some ale. - -“We arrived at the little châlet of Tinoset on the wrong day for the -steamer down its lake, and had to engage a private boat. The little lake -was lashed by the wind into furious purple billows, and the voyage was -most wretched. A horrid male creature from Middlesborough, whom we -surnamed the ‘Bumble Bee,’ accompanied us. I was brutal enough to make -him over to Miss Holland, by saying, ‘This lady will be deeply -interested to hear all you have to say,’ and to her he buzzed on -perpetually. He told us that the people of Middlesborough were -astonished--and no wonder--at his building in the midst of that hideous -red manufacturing place a black and white timber house in imitation of -one at Coventry, and designing to be carved on its barge-board the -charming inscription-- - - ‘Ye beastes who passe admire ye goode - Which thys manne didde whereer he coulde.’ - -[Illustration: BOLKESJÖ.] - -“From our landing-place at Strand we had several hours’ drive along an -unprotected precipice to the Rjukan-foss, the 560 feet high fall of a -mountain torrent into a black rift in the hills. It is a boiling, -roaring abyss of waters, with drifts of spray which are visible for -miles before the fall can be seen itself, but the whole is scarcely -worth the trouble of getting there, though a little mountain inn, with a -well-earned dinner of trout and ale, and a quiet hour amongst the great -grey larkspurs, furnish pleasant recollections. - -[Illustration: THE CHURCH OF HITTERDAL.] - -“As we returned to Kongsberg, we stopped to see Hitterdal, the -date-forgotten old wooden church so familiar from picture-books. Here we -were told by our landlady that she would not give us any dinner--‘Nei, -nei, nothing would induce her; perhaps the woman at the house with the -flag would give us some.’ So, hungry and faint, Miss Holland and I -sallied out as _avant-couriers_ to the house with the flag. All was -silent and deserted except for a dog, who received us furiously. Having -pacified him, and finding the front door locked, we made good our -entrance at the back, examined the kitchen, pried into all the -cupboards, lifted the lids of all the saucepans, and not till we had -searched everything for food ineffectually, were met by the lady of the -house, a pleasant young lady, speaking English perfectly, who informed -us, with no small surprise at our conduct, that we had been committing a -raid upon her private residence. Afterwards we found a lonely farmhouse, -where also there had once been a flag, where they gave us a very good -dinner. Two young girls, whom we had first met at the Rjukan-foss, dined -with us, and made us acquainted with their parents. The father, an old -man who smoked an enormously long pipe, turned out to be the Bishop of -Christiansand. - -“On the 25th we started from Kristiania for Throndtjem, the whole -journey of three hundred and sixty miles very comfortable and only -costing thirty francs. There is no great beauty in the scenery, but -pleasant variety--rail to Eidswold, with bilberries and strawberries in -birch baskets for sale at the railway-stations: a vibrating steamer on -the long dull Miosen lake: railway again, with some of the carriages -open at the sides: a night at Koppang, a large station, where several -people, strangers to each other, are expected to share the same room. On -the second day the scenery improves; the railway sometimes runs along, -sometimes over the river, till the gorge of mountains opens beyond -Storen into a rich open country, with turfy mounds which reminded us of -the graves of the hero-gods of Upsala, till, beyond the deep cleft in -which the river Nid runs between lines of old painted wooden warehouses, -rises the burial-place of St. Olaf, the centre of Northern Christianity, -the shrine of Northern faith, the stumpy-towered cathedral of -Throndtjem. - -“The most northern railway station and the most northern cathedral in -Europe.” - -[Illustration: THRONDTJEM FIORD.] - - * * * * * - -“_August 8._--To the last the unspeakable beauty of Throndtjem grew upon -us. It is not at first sight of its wide streets of low timber houses, -or even of its fiord with purple mountain background, or of its glorious -cathedral in the wide-spreading churchyard, which is the town-garden as -well as the centre of all its sympathies, that you learn to admire it, -but after many sunsets have turned the fiord into rippling gold, and -sent an amethystine glow over the mountains, and after many rambles -along the shores to rocky points and bosky hillocks. - -[Illustration: THRONDTJEM CATHEDRAL.] - -[Illustration: S. OLAF’S WELL.] - -“After much indecision, we determined to return from Throndtjem by road, -and engaged two carriages at Storen, with a pleasant boy named Johann as -a driver. At every ‘station’ we changed horses, which were sent back by -a boy who perched on the luggage behind, and we marked our distances by -calling our single carriole horses after the kings of England. Thus, -setting off from Storen with William the Conqueror, we drove into the -Romsdal with Edward VI., but (after a drive with Lady Jane Grey) setting -off again with Bloody Mary, our kings of England failed us long before -our driving was over, and we used up the kings of Rome also. It was a -very wild interesting life, and there was a great charm in going on and -on into the unknown, meeting no one, dining on trout and pancakes at a -station at midday, sleeping in odd, primitive, but always clean rooms, -and setting off again at 5.30 or 6 A.M. There are bears and wolves in -the forest, but we never saw any. Their skins, shot during the winter, -are hanging up in almost all our sleeping-places. The prices are -extraordinarily low, and the homely, cordial people kissed our hands -all round on receiving the smallest gratuity, twopence halfpenny being -a source of ecstatic bliss. But the journeys were tremendous, as we were -sometimes called at four, and did not get in till twelve at night. - -[Illustration: IN THE ROMSDAL.] - -There was for a long time nothing especially fine in the scenery, except -one gorge of old weird pine-trees in a rift of purple mountain, and the -high moorland above Jerkinn, where the great ranges of white Sneehatten -rise above the yellow grey of the Dovre Fyeld, hoary with reindeer moss. -From Dombaas, we turned aside down the Romsdal, which soon became -beautiful, as the road wound above a chrysopraz river, broken by many -rocky islets, and swirling into many waterfalls, but always equally -radiant, equally transparent, till its colour is washed out by the -melting snows in a ghastly narrow valley which we called the ‘Valley of -Death.’ - -“The little inn at Aak is very delightful, with a large garden on the -hillside, and the views indescribably glorious--of the tremendous peaks -of pink granite, or fields of pathless snow embossed against a sky -delicately blue above, but melting into clearest opal.... There was much -in the place, as at Throndtjem, which recalled my former life, and I -seemed to go back into a lost past, to read a page long pasted down and -put away. In both places _we_ should have stayed for weeks; in both, I -could see our trio sallying out every morning with campstools and books, -making friends with the natives, or in the quiet of home life, with its -home occupations in the little inn. - -“And now, after many more stations, we have passed through Lilliehammer, -and are again on the Miosen lake, speeding through the closing days of -our tour.” - - * * * * * - -“_Orkeröd near Moss, on the Kristiania Fiord, August 9._--On reaching -Kristiania last night, I found a most gracious telegram from the Queen, -through Countess Rosen, desiring that I would spend my last days in -Norway with her. So I came this morning by the early steamer. Most -beautiful were the long changing reaches of the fiord, with the rocks -covered with foliage, already waving towards autumn, the rich russet and -golden tints of the trees repeating themselves in the water. At Moss (to -the intense astonishment of a very vulgar American family on board, who -had given themselves indescribable airs to me) a royal carriage with two -chasseurs in cocked hats and plumes was in waiting, and the King’s -chamberlain was standing on the pier to receive me. We drove swiftly up -a rocky forest road to the large villa which a merchant of Kristiania -has lent to the Queen for the benefit to her health from the pine air. -Another merchant close by has lent his to the King, as the immense -personnel of the court could not possibly live in one house. As we drove -up through the garden, a tall figure in a wide-awake hat emerged from -one of the windows upon the terrace. ‘Sa Majesté le Roi!’ said the -chamberlain; so I jumped out of the carriage, and he came forward at -once with ‘Is it Mr. Hare? The Queen has spoken of you so much, that you -are not like a stranger. The Queen will be delighted to see you, and so -am I. We were so glad to hear that you would come to see us in our quiet -country life. You will find nearly the whole family, only my second son, -Oscar, has left us to-day. I am especially glad that you will see the -Prince Royal, my eldest son, Gustaf. You will have a very little room -with us, for we are so full, but you will have a good bed, and that is -the essential. Come now and take a walk with me in the garden.’ So we -walked and he talked, chiefly about Rome. Then he took me to the Prince -Royal, who was sitting under the trees with the Countess Rosen, two -maids of honour, and Baron Holtermann, the marshal of the palace. There -we sat some time and talked till the Queen emerged from the house. I -went towards her, and met her amongst the flower-beds. She looks -wonderfully well, far better than at Segenhaus. Nothing could be more -cordial or kind than her reception of me. We walked on the terrace for -some time, and she talked of the great event since we parted, the attack -on the Emperor, and of the Crown Princess. - -“Then we went to sit under the trees and we talked of Throndtjem. The -Queen described her first journey thither to her coronation. The King -had been making a tour round by the North Cape, and she went to meet -him. She went in a succession of carrioles by Lilliehammer and then by -the Romsdal. At all the little stations people met her with flowers. -‘Art thou the mother of the land?’ they said, ‘art thou the mother of -the land? Thou lookest nice, but thou must do more than _look_ nice; -that is not the essential.’ She said that even at Throndtjem the -peasants touchingly and familiarly always called her ‘Du.’ ‘Art thou the -mother of these tall boys?’ they said, and they would pray aloud that -she might be blessed--in her husband, in her children, and in her home. -One old woman asked the Countess Rosen to beg the Queen to go upon the -roof of the house--‘then we shall all see her.’ The Queen also described -her last journey back from Segenhaus. Her two horses, her dog, and her -donkey travelled with her. - -“Soon the beautiful donkey of our Segenhaus walk was brought round, with -its crimson trappings, and the Queen mounted, and went off through the -forest to the King’s house. I went in a kind of large open car with the -Countess Rosen, the maids of honour, and the chamberlain. We reached the -King’s villa before the Queen, and all drew up in two lines in the porch -to receive her. There were also a great number of the people of Moss to -see her arrive, as it is known she always does so at this hour. The King -gave his arm to the Queen, and we all went to luncheon in a garden -pavilion. Here the two youngest Princes came in,--Carl, a very handsome -boy of seventeen, and Eugène, of twelve. The King called me to come up -to a tiny round table at the end of the room on a daïs, where he and the -Queen were alone, and made me sit with them on their divan. He said, ‘I -shall now leave out your Mr. and only call you Hare, and upon that we -will all drink healths;’ and he made me clink my glass with his and the -Queen’s. The King talked much of the Prince Royal and his education, of -all the languages he thought he ought to learn, and (perfectly without -ostentation) of his own very great facility for -learning--‘catching’--languages, and of the great advantage it had been -to him through life. I had had no food since six o’clock in the morning -and was almost fainting with hunger, so, in spite of the honour of -sitting with the King and Queen, I greatly envied the court at their -good luncheon below, as their Majesties (and consequently I) had only -coffee cups for their soup, and a tiny slice of bread and cheese apiece. - -“Then the Queen mounted her donkey again, the King lifting her up, while -the young Princes, climbing the pillars of the verandah behind their -mother, made a pleasant family group. The cap of the Queen’s chasseur -fell off, and the King picked it up for him and playfully pushed it -tight down upon his head. Then the King and Princes started to walk, and -I for a long drive with the Countess Rosen and some of the court. And -now I am resting and the Queen has sent me a number of English -newspapers to read. A propos of the picture of Lord Beaconsfield -receiving the Garter in the _Illustrated_, the King said, ‘Now, let us -talk a little politics. I like and admire most things English, but I -will not conceal from you that I do not admire Lord Beaconsfield. I did -not think his conduct about Cyprus was quite straightforward.’” - - * * * * * - -“_August 10._--At four o’clock yesterday the whole court met in the -drawing-room, so many gentlemen turning up from hidden corners, that it -made twenty-four persons in all. The Prince Imperial recognised me -immediately when he came in, and was exceedingly cordial and friendly. I -was really glad to see him again. He is as nice as he can be, but as to -appearance, his photographs flatter him, as he has such a bad complexion -and his legs are too short. He is, however, quite delightfully frank and -winning. He kissed the Queen’s hand very prettily and gracefully as she -came in, looking very well with large bunches of natural double geranium -upon the white lace of her dress and in her hair. He took the Queen, the -King took Countess Rosen, and we all followed to dinner. I was desired -to sit by the Prince Royal. His peculiar features are redeemed by a good -expression when animated. He talks no English and atrocious French, and -was difficult to get on with at first. Prince Carl, the third son, is -very handsome, and seems to have a charming disposition. After dinner -the princes were to go out fishing, and the head fisherman sent to say -that there would be no room for little Prince Eugène, as there were so -many of the Prince Imperial’s suite to be taken. Prince Carl came to the -Queen and begged that Eugène might not be told, he would be so -disappointed, and that he might stay at home in his place; and the Queen -said, ‘Charles is always like that; he never can be persuaded to think -of himself.’ I tried to talk of Rome to the Prince Royal, but whenever a -maid of honour on the other side claimed his attention, was glad to -subside into conversation with an old chamberlain. The King drank -healths at dinner, the Prince Imperial’s, mine, Count Murat’s. The -Prince Royal asked me to clink glasses with him. ‘Do you like that -custom?’ he said. A Swedish noble, appointed to wait on the Prince -Imperial, stood up when the King drank his health. Then I saw the other -side of the King--in very cold stern rebuke. ‘In good society gentlemen -do not stand up when their healths are drunk,’ and that in the severest -tones. The Queen looked surprised, and a momentary chill fell upon the -whole party. I am sure that the Swede, who was a very bumptious young -man, had done or said something before which had displeased the King. - -“When the princes were gone to their fishing, the Queen made me come and -sit by her. She returned at once to the subject of the Prince Royal and -her great anxiety that I should be much with him abroad. ‘He must -_learn_ his world,’ she said, ‘he knows so little of it. He is -thoroughly good, but what he wants is enthusiasm, he wants to be incited -to knowledge, to learning his future out of the past, and oh! you can -help him so much, and if you will, I shall always be so grateful to you: -but remember, and I know it will always help you to be kind to my boy -if you do remember, what my boy’s future must in all probability be. Oh, -Mr. Hare, do when there is a chance, sow some little seeds of good in my -son’s young heart, and remember that what you do is not only done for -the Prince Royal, not even for his mother, who entirely trusts you, but -for the thousands upon thousands of people whom he may one day be called -upon to influence. Whatever happens, if you will only interest yourself -for my boy, you will believe in his mother’s gratitude.’ - -“The Queen continued to talk long in this manner with the utmost -animation, till the Countess Rosen, suddenly seeing some sign of illness -unobserved by us, ran round and said, ‘Dear Majesty, you must not now -speak any more,’ and led her away with a charming mixture of motherly -affection and playful deference. - -“When Countess Rosen returned, she said, ‘The King desired that as soon -as the Queen had ceased speaking to you, you should go to him: he -especially wishes to talk to you alone.’ I found the King under a tree -in the garden, reading a book (the ‘Odes of Horace,’ I think), and, -fearing to disturb him, I pretended to occupy myself with the flowers, -but he perceived me at once, closed the book, and coming to me, took my -arm, and walked up and down on the terrace. ‘The Queen has been speaking -to you of our son,’ he said; ‘I know what the Queen has been saying, and -I wish to continue her conversation. He is a good boy, but he has not -been tried; he has no idea what the world is like, nor of the many -temptations which lie in wait for a young man, above all for a prince. -Now the Queen and I are quite agreed that it is our wish that you -should be as much to our son as possible, and I wished to see you alone -that you might believe that all that his mother wishes, his father -wishes also.’ The King then talked in detail of the Prince’s probable -life in Rome, of the places and people he must see. ‘Please understand -at once that my son must go to the Quirinal,’ he said. He went on to -talk more earnestly of England, of the difficulties of all the lines to -be drawn, and of all the individual persons whom it might be well for -the Prince to see, and also some to be avoided. He wished the Prince to -have a quiet month in England, to accustom himself to language and -people, before going to London: he thought of Torquay; I suggested St. -Leonards. He talked of Lady Waterford, whom he remembered many years -ago, and admired almost more than any woman living, and wished that she -might be persuaded to give an invitation to his son. - -“Speaking of the course of study which would be best for the Prince led -the King to talk of the great pleasure a thorough knowledge of Latin had -been to himself, both for its own sake and as making all other languages -easy to him. - -“The King talked much of the anxieties at Berlin, and of the cloud over -the royal life there. ‘Oh, how thankful I ought to be, how thankful I -continually _am_, for our quiet corner, for a reign which is one of -love. I never felt this more than in the Queen’s lonely carriole journey -to her coronation at Throndtjem, and it was renewed lately in our son’s -journey to Tellemarken. And though our people care for us, they do not -flatter us. When the Queen was in the little village churches, near the -different small stations where she passed her Sundays, the simple -village curates of those mountain districts did not hesitate to preach -to their Queen of all that she ought to do, of all that her life ought -to be for herself and others, and oh! we are so grateful to them.’ - -“While we were talking, the court ladies were playing at croquet on the -lawn. The King afterwards joined them, and I took a short walk with -Baron Holtermann, marshal of the palace, and then went in and sat down -to read in the drawing-room. Presently the King put in his head from the -Queen’s room--‘Yes, he is here,’ he said, and then he called me to come -in to the Queen. They then both of them took my hands and spoke to me in -a most touching manner about the Prince Royal. The Queen also spoke of -the uncertainty of her life, and of renewed meetings in distant Norway, -and of her hope of seeing me in another world. She gave me her portrait. -I could not but feel it a very solemn moment and very affecting. They -took me out on the balcony of the room for one quiet moment. ‘Remember -_how_ we trust you,’ they said. And we looked down upon the fountain -playing and the burnt grass and brilliant flowers in the moonlight and -then we went back to the public rooms. - -“The Prince Imperial and the Swedish princes now returned from fishing, -singing at the pitch of their voices through the woods, and we all went -upstairs to supper. Their Majesties and the whole court had--Swedish -fashion--each a great bowl of sour milk, with a great hunch of bread and -two preserved peaches in a glass. The Prince Royal, by whom I again -sat, fortunately asked for sweet milk, so I was able to do so also. Then -the King and princes went to the other house, and I took a sad farewell -of the beloved Queen. If ever there was a woman who united the truest, -widest spirit of Christianity with every earthly grace, it is Queen -Sophie of Nassau. - -“The Queen’s dresser was turned out of a room for me--a good room, but -with neither soap nor bath, no chance or understanding of hot water, and -the looking-glass quite unavailable! Swedes are accustomed to none of -these things as necessaries in houses where they visit. - -“At 8 A.M. Baron Holtermann fetched me to walk through the woods to the -King’s house to breakfast, after which I walked with the King to the -pier at the end of the garden. There the younger princes kissed their -father, and the Prince Imperial (who was going away at the same time and -whom the King would accompany to Kristiania) took leave of the court. It -was an intensely hot day, the town of Moss and the shore of the fiord -seeming to steam with hot mist and the flowers all drooping. A little -steam-pinnace took us all to the luxurious steamer, where there was -boundless space for sitting or walking or whatever we liked. The voyage -was very long--five hours. I sat reading ‘Ticknor’s Memoirs,’ and the -King and Prince Imperial came occasionally to talk to me. I found in the -book an account of the Prince’s grandmother, Comtesse de Téba, in her -prime, which interested the King very much. He said, ‘The Prince -Imperial keeps me in a perpetual state of mental tension: he does ask -me _such_ questions. I am always wondering what he will say next. He is -almost _too_ intelligent a young man. He has just asked me to tell him -how long a steamer takes to get up steam. I have seen hundreds of -steamers getting up steam, but I never thought before how long it took. -However, I have had to think now, and it takes five quarters of an hour. -Oh, the Prince Imperial is very good mental exercise.’ - -“Half-way down the fiord, the Prince Imperial insisted upon it that he -must bathe. At first the King said it was impossible, that the moment of -his arrival at Kristiania was fixed, that the people were waiting to see -him, that the steamer could not be delayed--in fact, that it was out of -the question. But while the King was discoursing, the Prince Imperial -stripped off every article of clothing he had on, and after rushing up -and down the deck perfectly naked, jumped into the sea over the poop and -swam like a fish. The King then was obliged to stop the steamer, as he -could not leave the Prince Imperial in the middle of the fiord, and he -told an aide-de-camp to undress and go to pick out the Prince. The -Prince lay on the breast of the waves laughing at the King till the -aide-de-camp reached him, and then he dived, disappeared for some time, -and came up on the other side of the vessel. The Prince Royal then -undressed and went in too, and two aides-de-camp, and they all swam and -pursued each other like mermen. When at last the Prince was persuaded to -re-embark, he sang and shouted in most uproarious spirits. Then came -luncheon. The King proposed the Prince’s health--‘Mon cher hôte et mon -cher neveu’--and then he proposed mine, saying, ‘I drink to your -meeting with the Prince Royal at Rome, and you _will_ be kind to my -boy?’ - -“We entered Kristiania in triumph--all the towers, houses, and masts of -the vessels in the harbour decorated with flags, cannon firing, and -crowds of people on the quays. At the station were crowds too, waiting -for the royal carriages as they drove up. There was quite a procession -of them. I went in the second carriage with Count Murat. At the station -I had just time to present the Miss Hollands, then I took leave of the -king.” - - * * * * * - -“_August 17._--The Prince Imperial travelled with us from Kristiania. It -was an ovation to him the whole way--crowds at all the stations, and -shouts of ‘Hoch, Hoch!’ instead of ‘Hurrah.’ - -“We parted company with the Prince at Helsingor, whence we went to -Fredensborg, a dull château and pretty garden, and then to -Frederiksborg, really magnificent, one of Christian IV.’s grandest -buildings, on three islands in a lake. - -“We have since seen Bremen with the grand calm face of the gigantic -Roland-Säule raised above the busy market, and Münster with its old -cathedral and Congress-hall, and now we are at Tournai, where there is a -noble cathedral, contrasting in its serious thoughtfulness of design -with the frippery and sameness of Cologne. And to-day, being in the -octave of St. Roch, Tournai is hung with flags for a really beautiful -procession--crosses, banners, images, reliquaries carried aloft by -troops of young girls in white and blue and little boys in mediaeval -dresses. Some of the tiny children in golden oak-chaplets, and with -great golden oak-bouquets or golden lilies, are quite beautiful. - -“And to-day, too, we pass out of the peculiar existence of the last two -months into ordinary working life again. Great is the thankfulness I -feel for all, especially for my kind and pleasant companions.” - - * * * * * - -I spent the late summer of 1878 very quietly at home, busied in -completing the Life of the Baroness Bunsen. Many guests came and went, -amongst them Miss Wright, whose constant kindness and affection had been -so much to me for many years. Whilst with me she was very ailing, but it -was only supposed to be rheumatism, and doctors, who examined her -carelessly, sent her from Holmhurst to Buxton, which was fatal to her, -for her real disorder was heart-complaint. I never shall forget the -bitter anguish of the shock, gently and tenderly broken as it was by -Mary Lefevre, when I read that I should never see again the loving -devoted friend of so many years, who alone was always ready to help me -in any difficulty, always glad to fight a battle for me, and whose -humble nature so terribly overrated me, making me, however, long to -struggle up in reality to that higher shelf on which I saw she had -mentally placed me. Hers was one of-- - - “The many lives, made beautiful and sweet - By self-devotion and by self-restraint, - Whose pleasure is to run without complaint - On unknown errands of the Paraclete.”[289] - -Wonderfully, though simply and unconsciously, did she fulfil the ideal -of a holy life which is given us in the 15th Psalm. But it was not till -she was gone, till her outpouring of gentle tenderness was silenced for -ever, that one realised all she had been, and that her loss left a void -for life which could never be filled up. Constantly have I gone back -with useless self-reproach--would that I had done more to make her -happy! would that I had always been more grateful in reciprocating so -much kindness!--and most constantly have I been reminded-- - - “How each small fretting fretfulness - Was but love’s over-anxiousness, - Which had not been had love been less.” - -Years have passed away as I write, but I can scarcely bear to speak of -her, even to write of her, even now. “How holy are the holy dead! How -willingly we take _all_ the blame to ourselves which in life we were so -willing to divide.”[290] “Nevermore” is one’s echo of regret, but “too -late” is that of repentance. - -Dear Lady Williamson passed away from us in the same autumn, deeply -loved too, but in her blindness and deafness one felt that her life--her -entirely noble and beautiful life--was lived out, which one could not -feel dear “Aunt Sophy’s” to be. She seemed to die, her life unfulfilled. - -Throughout the autumn I had heard frequently from the Queen of Sweden -and Norway, through the medium of her principal lady in waiting, the -Countess Ebba von Rosen. The entire confidence and noble friendship -expressed in these letters made it impossible for me to hesitate, when, -after the Prince Royal had spent some time in Paris, it became the -strong wish of her Majesty that I should join him at Rome. It was in -entire concert with the King and Queen that I drew up the scheme of a -series of peripatetic lectures for the Prince, in which, by describing -historic events on the places with which they were connected, I hoped to -fix those events and their lessons in his recollection. Their Majesties -also agreed to the plan of my inviting others to join the excursions of -the Prince. It was, however, with great misgiving that I left England, -feeling that I gave up my pleasant home and congenial occupations in -England for the constant companionship of a young man who had not, in -our short previous acquaintance, made a very favourable impression upon -me, and who might--should he take that line--resent my exertions in his -behalf, and look upon me rather as a spy for his parents than as a -friend to himself. When I once reached Rome, however, these fears were -soon set at rest, and during the whole nine months which I passed in -constant intimacy with the Prince, I never once had to reproach him with -want of consideration for myself personally, but, on the contrary, -always received from him marks of the utmost esteem and affection. - -On the evening of November 16 I left Holmhurst, having worked at the -index of my Bunsen Memoirs till within ten minutes of my departure. Upon -the passage of the Mont Cenis I came in for terrible snowdrifts. -Suddenly, after passing the tunnel, the walls of snow increased on each -side of the train so as almost to block out the light, and, with a dull -thud, the train came to a standstill near the wretched village of Oulx. -An avalanche had fallen upon the luggage train which was pioneering our -way, and three poor men were engulfed in it. The cold was terrific, and -the suffering was increased in my case, because, having usually been -much tried by the overheating of foreign trains, I had brought no -carriage-rug or other wraps with me. After some time a way was cut -through the snow walls to a miserable tavern, where sixteen ladies -decided to sleep or cower in one wretched room and twelve gentlemen in -another, but I gladly made my way back to the carriage before the -passage was blocked again. It was then two in the afternoon, and wearily -the day wore on into night, and still more wearily passed the night -hours, with snow always falling thickly. I had a little brandy in the -carriage, but no food. The suffering from cold was anguish. There were -several invalid ladies in the train, for whom I felt greatly, knowing -what this catastrophe would have been in times past before I was alone. -Before morning two more avalanches had fallen behind us and the return -to France was cut off. The telegraph wires were all broken, and the -guard assured us that it was possible we might be detained days, or even -weeks. At midday, cold and hunger made me try the hovel once more, but -the filth and smells again drove me back to the carriage. At 4 P.M., -however, on the second day, a welcome shouting announced that our -deliverance was at hand. No trains arriving at Turin, our position was -suspected, and the town-firemen were sent out _en masse_ to cut a way -for us. At 6 P.M. we were released from our twenty-eight hours’ -imprisonment, but the way was so dangerous, that we did not reach Turin -till long after midnight. - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS LEYCESTER. - -“_26 Piazza di Spagna; Rome, Nov. 25, 1878._--You will imagine how -touching--I shall never grow used to it--was the slow approach by rail -round the walls of Rome, crossing all the little lanes _we_ knew so well -in our drives, and seeing, one after another, S. Paolo, the Caius -Cestius, the Porta S. Sebastiano, S. Giovanni in Olio, Porta Maggiore, -the Minerva Medica, and then the vast space once occupied by the -beautiful Villa Negroni, but now parcelled out for straight streets and -stuccoed houses. - -“Yet, considering it is four years since I was here last, the changes -are not great yet: the same old man with peaked hat and long beard and -the same pretty girls stand waiting as models: the same old stonecutter -is grinding away under the Tempietto, and Francesco threw open Miss -Garden’s door and announced (simply) ‘Il Signorino,’ as if I had been -there the day before. - -“On Sunday, Umberto and Margherita of Savoy made a triumphal entry into -Rome, and I went to the Palazzo della Consulta to see them arrive at the -Quirinal. It was an exquisitely beautiful evening--not a breath of air -stirring the many flags: the obelisk and statues and the grand fountain -of Pius VII. were in deep shadow, but the sun was glinting through the -old ilexes in the Colonna Gardens and illuminated S. Peter’s and the -town in the hollow. There was an immense crowd of every class, from -ex-guardia nobile to peasants in the costumes of Sora and Aquino, and -through them all the vast procession of sixty carriages moved to the -palace, with flags flying, and flowers falling, and cannon thundering, -and the one little bell of the royal chapel tinkling away as hard as it -could, because the other churches would make no sign. ‘I Sovrani,’ as -all the people called them, looked very proud and happy, and Queen -Margherita marvellously graceful, and pleased to see the millions of -marguerites, which people were wearing in honour of her. The little -Principe de Napoli is quite hideous, but they say well brought up under -an English governess, and King Umberto in every way seems to wish to -reform his dissolute father’s court, as well as to screen his memory, -having taken the whole of his enormous debts upon himself, besides -paying off Victor Emmanuel’s eight ‘domestic establishments’ out of his -private purse. The King and Queen came out upon the balcony of the -Quirinal, and were triumphantly received. (Next after the royal -carriages had come a fourgon with the bouquets presented at the -station.) Last night there was a torchlight procession, tens of -thousands bearing torches, with music, banners, and gigantic -marguerites, who passed through the Piazza di Spagna on their way to the -Quirinal. _Still_, taxes are rather increasing them otherwise; the -misery of the formerly prosperous Romans is extreme, and many think a -revolution imminent. - -“Monsignor Prosperi is dead. I wonder if you remember about that most -extraordinary person, who was supposed to have the evil eye. The Romans -believe that all the many misfortunes of this year, and the attacks on -royalty, &c., are because it fell to his turn to _cantare la missa_ at -S. Maria Maggiore on the first day of the year. No end of shipwrecks and -railway accidents are attributed to him, and so the poor man’s death is -a subject of general rejoicing. It is recollected that after the last -visit he ever paid, the servant of the house fell down on the stairs, -and cut his eye open with the Monsignore’s visiting-card which he held -in his hand.” - - * * * * * - -On arriving in Rome, I had found a tolerable little apartment for myself -in 29 Piazza di Spagna, and the Prince Royal established in the charming -sunny first floor of the Palazzo Rocca-Giovine in the Forum of Trajan. -Thither I used daily, often twice a day, to go to the Prince. From the -first he welcomed me very cordially, and I could see that he was really -glad of my coming, still I was uncertain whether there would ever be -more than an interchange of courtesy and duty between us. I never hoped -to be able to give him the real affection I afterwards so sincerely -felt. Somewhat to my consternation, I was desired by the King to fix my -first lecture for the Prince for one of the very first days after my -arrival, in order that Baron Holtermann, marshal of the palace, who was -returning to Stockholm, might take back a full account of “how it went” -to their Majesties. The Queen added her special request that I would say -nothing except in English, in order to force the Prince-Royal to learn -that language. - -As being the central feature and axis of ancient Rome, I chose the -Capitoline for my first lecture. General and Mrs. Stuart and Lady Agnes -Douglas met me there at the top of the steps, and waited for the Prince, -who arrived on foot with Baron Holtermann and two other Swedish -gentlemen. I doubt at first whether they understood a word I said in -English, and the being obliged constantly to translate into French or -bad German did not add to the liveliness of the lecture. Our procession -passed from point to point in the most funereal manner. The Prince made -no observation whatever, Romulus, the Tarpeian Rock, Marcus Aurelius -passing equally unnoticed; only when we came to Palazzo Caffarelli he -said, “Oh, that was where Mim Bunsen was born:” it had touched a -chord of human interest. - -[Illustration: Gustaf, Crown Prince of - -Sweden-Norway.] - -I wonder what sort of account of this lecture Baron Holtermann can have -taken to the Swedish court; but we did better next time, when, on the -Palatine, the Prince’s spirits quite rose over all the murders of the -emperors and empresses. In the latter part of the winter, the lectures, -which took place three times a week, were quite an enjoyment, he was so -merry, so kind and pleasant to every one, so glad to know everything. - -Very soon, after consultation with M. de Printzsköld, the Queen’s -chamberlain, who had accompanied the Prince to Rome, I proposed going -twice a week to read English with the Prince in the late afternoon, -which was gladly accepted, and on those occasions we read “Mademoiselle -Mori” alternately, and translated “Tolla” into English. It was in the -little conversations which inevitably interspersed themselves with these -readings that I first learnt to know my Prince really well. The readings -themselves he found it very difficult to attend to, and the exercises he -prepared for me were much against the grain, so we did not make much -progress till I obtained an order from the Queen that the equerries -should do the same exercises as the Prince, which roused his ambition, -and he went ahead at once, and always did much better than his -companions. I think it is Adam Smith who says that “the great secret of -education is to direct vanity to proper objects.” After our lessons, I -always dined with the Prince, sitting on his right hand. Afterwards the -Prince and his Swedish gentlemen smoked, and as soon as it was possible -to do it, I took my leave, except on evenings when I went out into the -world with the Prince. But for the most part the Prince’s evenings were -spent at home, the Italian court showing him no attention, and scarcely -any of the Roman princes inviting him, except during the Carnival. Old -Lady Morton was throughout exceedingly kind and helpful where the Prince -was concerned, and gave several parties for him. At these, the Prince’s -distant cousins, Princess Gabrielli, Countess Primoli, and Countess -Campello, the round fat elderly daughters of Lucien Bonaparte, were -always present.[291] They were pleasant sensible women, especially -Countess Primoli (Princess Charlotte Bonaparte). Having all married -beneath their rank, they always made a point of going in and out of a -room in the order of their age, which had often a funny effect. - -Of all the people who welcomed me back to Rome, the most cordial were -the blind Duke and the Duchess of Sermoneta, whom I was delighted to -find established for the winter in the upper floor of the old Caëtani -Palace. Since her marriage, the Duchess had contrived to conciliate the -whole Caëtani family, not only to herself, but to each other. She had -also ransacked the unknown corners of the palace, and had found endless -old hangings, old portraits, &c., things almost valueless in themselves, -but which gave the bare walls a look of historic antiquity. I often took -the Prince to the evening receptions of the Duchess, at which, as at all -the princely Roman houses, some tea and very sour lemonade were -considered quite sufficient as refreshments. Without the Prince, I often -dined with the Sermonetas at their homely early excellent Italian -dinner, and an oasis in commonplace life was meeting there the Abbot -Marcaldi of La Cava, the Abbot Pescitelli of Farfa, and a most beautiful -old Don Pietro Tailetti, canon of St. Peter’s--like a mediaeval picture. -They had all wished to see me, from their pleasure in the chapter on the -Benedictine rule in “Days near Rome.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ MARY LEA GIDMAN. - -[Illustration: CORNETO.][292] - -[Illustration: CATHEDRAL OF CORNETO.][293] - -“_Dec. 11, 1878._--I always see the Prince now with increased -satisfaction and an increasing certainty that he likes having me with -him. I also feel that I _am_ able to be to him all that the Queen of -Sweden wished, of which at first I was uncertain. In our walks he asks -so many questions about what he sees, that I have to work hard in the -evenings before to prepare myself to answer properly, for I find that I -have forgotten much of the detail of my Roman history, &c.... Last week -we went for the whole day to Corneto, eating an excellent breakfast -provided by the Prince’s cook in the train. Professor Helbig, who had -preceded us, met us at the station with a little omnibus. With this we -went up into the high hills above old Tarquinii, and then descended with -torches into the great sepulchres, where the dead of two thousand years -ago are seen (in terra-cotta figures as large as life) sitting round at -imaginary banquets, while the walls are covered with paintings of their -deeds in life--hunting, fishing, dancing, &c., as fresh in colour as -when they were painted. Then we went to visit a Countess Bruschi, who -had a great collection of jewels and other beautiful things found in the -tombs. This lady was the only person to whom we revealed who the Prince -Royal was; but whilst we were at dinner the secret transpired, for there -came from the Bruschi palace a bouquet of the most magnificent roses, -like a sheaf, carried by two footmen, and another bouquet of camellias, -arranged in a huge citron; and then the governor of the town arrived to -make a little speech, to which the Prince gave a suitable answer, which -I had to translate into Italian; and then all the people found out, and -came to look at the Prince.” - - * * * * * - -On Christmas Day I received a telegram from the Queen of Sweden -expressing her good wishes, and thanks for the kindness shown to her -son. From a letter received about the same time from Countess Rosen I -extract:-- - - * * * * * - -“_Stockholm, Dec. 18, 1878._--H.M. the Queen charges me to convey to you -her thanks for your letters, which are very welcome. The Queen says you -manage to tell just what interests her most about the doings of the -Crown Prince. Both the Queen and the King thank you heartily for all -your kind interest in the Crown Prince, and they perceive already that -you have succeeded in gaining a good and useful influence over him, and -that you have kindled up his interest for all that now surrounds him. -The Queen is charmed if you write often, but she is afraid that it takes -up too much of your time, which is much taxed already through all that -you do for the Prince.... - -“The Queen begs you to write with perfect frankness, even when -everything is not quite as one would wish it to be. Be sure that what -you say will never be misunderstood.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS LEYCESTER. - -“_Dec. 5, 1878._--I think my last letter may have expressed some of the -depression I certainly felt as to the uncertainty of my position with -the Prince Royal, and I know with how much pleasure you will hear that -these clouds have completely cleared away. I have increasing, indeed I -have now _perfect_ satisfaction in my position with the Prince, and in -the internal conviction that I can and may be to him all that the Queen -has wished. The great secret is, I suppose, that I am becoming really -very fond of him. He not only daily unfolds new gifts and graces for -every one, but he is hourly pleasanter and more charming in all his -relations to me, and I have now the certainty that I am most welcome to -him; but indeed he has always treated me with entire confidence, though -you will easily understand that had he possessed the slightest shadow of -small-mindedness, he must have looked upon me with a sort of suspicion, -from the intimacy with which his parents have honoured me, and my -constant letters--which he knows _must_ be about himself--to the Queen. - -“To-day my lecture for him was on the Aventine. At S. Sabina I sent in -notice of their visitor to the Abbot and the Father-General of the -Dominicans, and in his honour the two ladies of our party, Countess -Barnekow and Lady Agnes Douglas, were allowed to penetrate the inmost -recesses of the convent, and to visit the cell of S. Dominic, with his -exquisitely beautiful picture, and the cell of S. Pius V. As we came out -of the church, the Abbot presented the Prince with a large basket of -oranges and apples, and some leaves from the sacred tree of S. Dominic, -and the Father-General with photographs of the convent pictures and -view. Afterwards we visited the lovely Priorato garden, still full of -flowers, and S. Prisca, and the wild, beautiful Vigna dei Gesuiti.” - - * * * * * - -It was one of the wise and kind thoughts of the Queen at this time to -make it appear to the Prince that an eagerly coveted permission to go to -Bucharest and Athens upon leaving Rome was granted in consequence of my -petition in his favour. And indeed it was granted--as a Christmas -gift--in consequence of my letters to the Queen as to the progress he -was making, &c. I often wonder whether my letters to the court of Sweden -of this winter have been preserved: I wrote such volumes, often -illustrating them with sketches, &c.--“Memoires _pour servir_ pour la -vie du Prince Royal.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS LEYCESTER. - -“_Dec. 19, 1878._--Ere this you will probably have received Madame de -Bunsen’s Life ‘from the author.’ There is much in it which will interest -you, some things you will not like. So it is with everything and -everybody. But I am quite satisfied that it is the most truthful -portrait _I_ could have painted, and I trust it may worthily commemorate -my dear old friend. - -“The news of Princess Alice’s death, announced in a sermon on Sunday, -was quite a shock, as I had not heard of her being ill; and she was so -kind to me when here, and so interested and amused in correcting ‘Walks -in Rome.’ - -“My dear Prince is very well and happy and enjoying everything. I see -him daily, generally for half each day, but have very little new to say -about it. I have found a passage about Charles I., by Cowley I think, -which expresses just what I hope may be said of him some day: ‘Never was -there a more gracious Prince or a more proper gentleman. In every -pleasure he was temperate, in conversation mild and grave, in friendship -constant, to his servants liberal, to his Queen faithful and loving, in -battle brave, in sorrow and captivity resolved, in death most Christian -and forgiving.’ - -“The Queen writes through the Countess Rosen that she is delighted that -I am going with the Prince to Florence, and that it was quite the -Prince’s own idea; but she fears I shall find him rather a dull -companion there, as he has very little taste for picture-galleries.” - - * * * * * - -“_Jan. 6, 1879._--I was very glad to part with 1878--a year of many -sorrows--dear Miss Wright’s death the greatest. On the last evening I -went to Mrs. Terry’s, where Miss Trollope sang exquisitely ‘Should auld -acquaintance be forgot’ in the last minutes of the year. - -“My last lecture for the Prince was upon the last days of S. Paul, going -to the pyramid of Caius Cestius, the last surviving witness of his life, -to the desolate Tre Fontane, and then to the huge basilica which sprung -from his martyrdom. At the Tre Fontane the Prince found a beautiful -piece of old marble railing and a fine fragment of pietra-dura pavement, -used to wall in a flower-bed; bought them, and he and I lugged them back -to the carriage between us. He is now very happy, and (though there -_are_ black days) enjoys everything very much. We have increased our -little party by the handsome widowed ‘Anne, Countess of Dunraven,’ and -the charming Countess Schulenberg, a North Prussian. - -“The Prince and I dined with Lady Morton the other day, meeting Prince -and Princess Altieri, Prince and Princess Sulmona, Countess Apponyi, &c. -I was very glad that he should meet this completely ‘black’ party, as he -has had few opportunities of meeting that phase of politics. On Thursday -the Duchess Sermoneta gives another party for him, to which she has -taken the fancy to ask all the ‘learned’ people in Rome. My poor Prince -will not make much of them, but will be amused with many, especially -with Donna Ursilia Lovatelli, who likes to converse in Sanscrit, and who -had to be told that she must not bring with her more aides-de-camp than -the Prince (four); as her ‘court,’ as she calls it, which likes to -follow her, sometimes numbers sixty persons. Madame Minghetti will also -bring _her_ court, which is far more Bohemian, amusing, and agreeable. - -“But daily I feel more the force of something which I think was said by -Charles V. of France: ‘On doit nourrir les princes des vertus, afin -qu’ils surmontent en mœurs ceux qu’ils doivent surmonter en -honneurs.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Dec. 29._--I am glad to hear of my book, which I have not seen, though -it reached Stockholm long ago. It is a pleasure to have an outburst of -approval from the Bunsens. Of reviews I think little, knowing how they -scarcely ever have anything to do with the merits or demerits of a work, -but only with the wish of an editor to advantage or injure an author: -besides, the newspapers all copy one another, only changing the words. - -“We have had burning sun and intense scirocco here, which of course -means a great deal of rain, and there have been torrents each day, but -lovely effects between, such masses of cloud rolling over St. Peter’s, -with brilliant light falling through upon the many-domed town, and -tremendous conflagrations at sunset. I spent Christmas Eve at the -Palazzo Colonna, where the Duchess Marino had an immense Christmas-tree -for her servants and friends, and a merry party of children. A prettier -sight than the tree was the little Duchess herself, in a white silk -dress, with a long lace veil looped upon her head and enveloping her -figure, ceaselessly carrying presents to servants, poor women, &c. She -is really charming, with simple, sincere, cordial manners, and her -husband is most pleasant, the very best type of an Italian gentleman. -Donna Olympia Colonna was at the tree--very bridal-looking, bright, and -pretty. - -“With the Prince I have ever more entire satisfaction. I constantly see -more of him, and have daily increasing affection for him. Of course the -position is not perfect, but I expect this in everything, and am quite -sure of his absolute confidence to a degree which I never expected. I -am happy in feeling that Rome _is_ doing for him all that the Queen -hoped, but which I did not, and that he will return to her indescribably -improved in every way. I suppose people who have children of their own -are familiar with it, but I could not have conceived before the interest -of watching the gradual unfolding and expansion of a character to which -one utterly devotes oneself; and with him all was new, it was entirely -fallow ground to work upon. - -“One day we went to Frascati by rail, taking with us Count and Countess -Barnekow and Count and Countess Lievenhaupt, Swedes, and Lady Agnes -Douglas. While Lady Agnes did the honours of some of the villas, M. de -Printzsköld and I got an excellent though thoroughly Roman dinner ready -at the little inn, and afterwards the ladies had donkeys, the Prince a -horse, and we others walked up to Tuseulum. Here the Prince was very -happy picking up mosaics in the long grass, and eventually insisted on -excavating, and lugging back to Rome in his arms, a great mass, as big -as that in the verandah at Holmhurst. We came down by the great desolate -villa of Mondragone, and returned to Rome in the evening laden with fern -and butcher’s-broom, which, with its bright scarlet berries, is the -Roman apology for holly. - -“The Prince _hates_ the churches, and generally has to be bribed to bear -them with equanimity by the promise of a little marble-hunt in some -vineyard afterwards, when it is amusing to see the whole party fall to -grubbing simultaneously among the artichokes. It has been hard work -refusing the endless people who want to go with us, but besides Lady -Dunraven we have only admitted pretty little Miss Trollope, the -historian’s daughter. I like Princess Teano very much, and am charmed -with her anxiety to make the very most of all she sees, and Lord -Hylton’s boy, George Jolliffe, is delightful, brimming with enthusiasm -and intelligence.” - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL. - -“_Feb. 20, 1879._--Each day, as I have known the Prince Royal better, I -have liked him more. He has no sense of beauty and no care for it, and -he has naturally very few of my tastes, but he has the most transparent, -truthful, simple, loyal character I have ever known, and he has ever -been unspeakably kind and affectionate to me. We have been wonderfully -thrown together, even all the little circumstances intended by others to -divide us having acted the other way, and made us cling to each other -with truest friendship. - -“All the earlier part of the winter I continued my lectures for him, in -which we visited almost every remarkable object in Rome. Our party was -much increased latterly, one of its most interesting elements being the -Prussian Countess Schulenberg, with whom I formed a great friendship. I -wish now that I had written down the many conversations of interest I -had with her; she left suddenly in January to take care of a sick cousin -in Germany. - -“One of the last evenings of the year was spent in the Palazzo Colonna -with the sweet little Duchess of Marino. She is a great addition and -enlivenment to the dull egotistical Roman society, and is brimming with -good intentions and high aspirations, many of which she is really able -to carry out. Greatly, for instance, did she astonish modern Rome, with -its vulgar attempts at exclusiveness, by opening her rooms for a grand -party in the noble old Roman style, in which princes and sculptors met -on equal terms, and artists were as cordially received as if they were -ambassadors. - -“Amongst the acquaintance who came to me with the New Year were the -Dutch Minister and Madame de Westenberg, his American wife, from whom I -have received much cordiality. Other people with whom I have been -intimate are the admirable Swedish Count and Countess Barnekow, the -latter especially charming, and full of life and intelligence. The Count -has been taking the post of consul here this year, but they have been -welcomed in all societies. There is something quite charming in their -relation to their children--little girls--and their influence over them. -Of these, the second, Elisabet, was compelled at six years old to have -her finger amputated. The mother prepared her for it, and told her how -terribly it would add to her distress if she did not bear the operation -bravely. The child said she could bear it if only they did not tell her -it was nothing: she knew it was dreadful, but if no one attempted to -deceive her she could bear a dreadful thing. She sat on the surgeon’s -knee while the finger was being taken off; she never uttered a sound, -and when the operation was over, she kissed him to show she bore no -malice! - -[Illustration: PERUGIA.][294] - -“On the 16th of January I went, away with my Prince for a tour in -Tuscany. I very soon found that for me the trial of the tour would be -his hatred of fresh air. He never would have the carriage window -opened, even on the hottest day and with steaming hot-water pans. -Otherwise all was luxury, kindness, and comfort. We arrived at Perugia -on the most glorious evening I ever remember: violet mists were rolling -through the valleys, the snow mountains were rosy in the sunset. It was -such a scene as can only be enjoyed in Italy, and in Italy can only be -found in Umbria, perhaps only at Perugia. But the Prince was much more -interested in an illuminated church where there was a function in honour -of S. Mauro. Next day we drove to Assisi, where he was far more -delighted at buying a little old silver box in a sidestreet than with -all the old churches and monasteries. He travelled under the name of the -Comte de Tullgarn, and at Perugia no one found out who he was, which -made him very happy. At Florence, however, he was unfortunately -discovered, and we found great preparations--two smart carriages waiting -at the station, twenty-six candles and three lamps burning in our rooms, -with prices in proportion, and a serenade of music outside the windows. - -[Illustration: ASSISI.][295] - -“Therefore, as soon as we arrived, I began to look up Florentine -acquaintance, and called on the charming Marchesa Elisabetta Torrigiani, -who lives with her four sons, three of them married, in the greatest -harmony, in the fine old Torrigiani palace. We dined with them, and were -greatly delighted with the three beautiful daughters-in-law, especially -the Marchesa Cristina, wife of Don Filippo, a member of the -once-sovereign house of Malaspina. The Marchese Pietro placed his -carriage at our disposal. The family of Corsini were also most civil to -us, and their head, the Marchesa Lajatico, gave a great ball in honour -of the Prince. Other parties were given to us by the Marchesa Cavoni, -Baron de Talleyrand, Sir Digby and Lady Murray, and the Fenzis. One -evening we spent with the C. de Bunsens, who asked many interesting -people, including Sir James Lacaita, Villari the historian, and the old -Duc de Dino, to meet us. One beautiful day we drove out to Castagnuolo, -where we were entertained in the ancient hill-set villa by the Marchese -della Stufa and Mrs. Ross, and the Prince fed all the rare birds, and -visited the farm and the wine-making. - -“On leaving Florence, the Prince and I had a really happy day together -at Pisa. M. de Printzsköld was then sickening with Arno fever, and when -we were at Siena was unable to go out with us: with the others we drove -to the mediaeval castle of Belcaro, whose owner, the Marchese Camajori, -had long been slightly known to me, and wandered much about the old -streets and into the shops of the antiquaries.” - - * * * * * - -We returned to Rome on the 25th. My regular lectures were over then, but -as the Prince missed our little parties, I had some for him to the -villas and galleries. At this time, as often afterwards, those who -surrounded the Prince gave me the opportunity of testing the truth of -Lord Chesterfield’s observation, that “courts are the best key to -characters; there every passion is busy, every character analysed,” as -well as the dictum of La Bruyère, that at court “les joies sont visibles -mais fausses, et les chagrins cachés mais réels.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS LEYCESTER. - -“_Rome, Feb. 3, 1879._--I feel as if it must be dull reading letters -only about the Prince, but as I have not even the possibility of seeing -much of any one else, what else can I say? I am obliged to give up -everything to his lessons, his invitations, and to trying to help him to -make the most of all he sees. He enjoyed Pisa, where I saw the -Limosins,[296] and we drove through the forest of San Rossore to the -Gombo, where the Prince and I sat long in the warm afternoon upon the -little pier above the sea waves, which the dear Mother enjoyed so much -there in 1857. I often wonder if she knows what I am doing now, but I -feel sure she would be glad and satisfied that so much time should be -given up to one who must one day influence tens of thousands. I have -many struggles now and much to contend with in the _position_, but with -the Prince himself have nothing but satisfaction. I tumbled downstairs -on Saturday night, and was so much hurt as to be all yesterday without -seeing him: so to-day at eleven the donna announced--‘Un signorino.’ I -was sitting for my picture and was afraid of moving, so waited for the -visitor to come round from behind my chair, when behold the Prince, who -had escaped from his gentlemen, seized a little carriage in the street, -and come off to me. I mention this as an example of the ever-pleasant -terms I am on with him, and which make it impossible not to be fond of -him. - -“I am glad you like the Bunsen Memoirs on the whole. I knew you would -not agree with details. She always wondered, as I have always done, -_how_ those who really love their Saviour, and wish to follow His -precepts, can reconcile themselves to setting up the great idol of -Sabbatarianism, _the_ sin against which He was most eager and earnest in -warning His disciples, and against which more of His teaching was -directed than any other single offence. She also thought, as I have -always done, that, next to churches (often misused), theatres (also -often misused) were instruments which could be made most widely useful -in leavening great numbers of people at once; and therefore she -considered that an immaculate company and a play of high principles -ought always to be encouraged.” - - * * * * * - -“_Feb. 13._--I have had a series of lectures for the Prince in the -Vatican galleries and St. Peter’s, and at the latter, by kindness of -Monsignor Théodoli, had all the chapels of the crypt illuminated, and -the precious plate and vestments (Charlemagne’s robes, &c.) exhibited. -We climbed up to the cross, but the ladies of our little party succumbed -on the different roofs, except Lady Dunraven, who went with us to the -ball. - -“On the 4th I was with the Prince at a ball at the Palazzo Caffarelli, -the German embassy, which is much done up since Bunsen’s days and -exceedingly magnificent. The great hall was entirely surrounded with -palm-trees, under one of which I stood, with the Swedish Countess -Barnekow, to watch the procession come in and the state quadrille--which -Queen Marguerite danced with M. de Keudel, and my Prince with Mme. de -Keudel--alone on the long sides of the room, with a perfect tourbillon -of ambassadors and ambassadresses at the narrow ends. A much prettier -ball was that at Palazzo Caëtani. This the Prince had to open with the -Queen, so we had to be there by eleven, but _because_ the King and Queen -were to be there, all the great nobles stayed away, so for once Palazzo -Caëtani did not shine. The Queen looked lovely, but, ever since the -attack on the King, has been more nervous than ever, perpetually picking -at her gloves, twisting her fan, and shaking out the folds of her dress. -Her beautiful hair was full of marguerites in diamonds. The King looked -glaring and demoniacal, yet really is going on very well, and does all -he can to sweep away the abuses and immoralities of his father’s court, -unpopular as it makes him with his father’s sycophants. Yesterday I was -with the Prince at a great ball at Prince Altieri’s--the blackest of the -‘black’ houses--where I had the great pleasure of seeing again my -sister’s dear friend the Duchess Sora, who has lived in a sort of exile -hitherto, ever since the Sardinian occupation of Rome. - -“Yesterday morning I went with the Prince to the antiquity market in the -Campo de’ Fiore. We left the carriage in the courtyard of the -Cancelleria, and made a raid upon the old bookstalls, till our arms -were quite full, and then we deposited our burthens and made another. -The Prince is getting on wonderfully with his English, and will talk -fluently by the time he reaches London. I see him ceaselessly. He has -been twice to my lodgings to-day, and I have been out with him besides. -He dances till 4 A.M. every night now (it is Carnival), but is never -tired, and up at eight.” - - * * * * * - -“_Feb. 24._--My present work is likely to end for a time on Thursday, -when my dear Prince goes to Naples and Sorrento. On looking back, I have -unmixed satisfaction that I came. He leaves Rome quite a different -person from the Prince I found here--much strengthened, and I am sure -much improved in character, as well as speaking and reading English and -French (which he did not know before), and being able to take a lively -animated part in a society in which he was previously a cypher. Of -course, I personally have been able to do very little more than -introduce him and constantly throw him with those who have influenced -him, and I have been most ably seconded and helped in everything I -wished for him by Lady Morton, the Sermonetas, Princess Teano, and--in -her own way--by Lady Paget. To me he has been unfailingly pleasant. I -have never had a difficulty with him. - -“We have been together several times in the Vatican, with Monsignor -Pericoli, at the sale of Pius IX.’s things--quantities of things, from -valuable pictures and sculptures to empty jam-pots; but touching in many -ways, especially the boxes of the well-worn Papal slippers. All is -obliged to be sold, as the produce is divided into three parts--one to -the family, one to the cardinals-in-waiting, and the third to the -Church. The Prince bought some valuable amethysts, and I have the Papal -despatch-box engraved with his arms, a picture which hung in his room, -and a pair of the Papal slippers. - -“For the last ten days we have been in all the dirt and squalor of the -silly, filthy Carnival, which is more _mesquin_ and contemptible than -ever; but the Prince is only twenty, and it has amused him. I have only -been obliged to go with him to the Corso one day, when we went to -one-o’clock luncheon with the Dutch Minister, and were astonished to -find every shutter closed, chandeliers and candles lighted, ladies in -white satin and diamonds, gentlemen in evening dress; in fact, midnight -at midday! so that the Prince and I felt rather shy. However, Mrs. Bruce -cheered us by appearing in a bonnet.” - - * * * * * - -I saw much at this time of Madame Minghetti, the wife of the senator, -still wonderfully beautiful and captivating, though a grandmother. Her -rooms were draped with every possible nuance of colour which can -harmonise together, great palm-trees and bananas shaded the sofas and -arm-chairs, and the heavy curtains only let in witching rays of half -light upon a gorgeous gloom. Here, in her receptions in the early Sunday -afternoon, she would sit upon the floor and sing, break off in the -middle of a line to receive or embrace some one, and, in an instant, be -again in her place, singing as before and taking up the line which was -left unfinished. - -Another new friend was the pretty lively Princess of Salm Reifferscheid, -whom, with her husband, I invited to accompany us to Tivoli, when the -Prince gave me a carriage and told me to ask whom I liked. At Tivoli our -party had a charming day, riding on eleven donkeys, penetrating into the -depths of the cascades, having luncheon in front of the temple, and -sitting in the sun opposite the cascatelle. At sunset we were at the -Villa d’Este, and went down into the hollow to look up at the grand old -villa, golden through the dark cypresses. - -I saw, however, comparatively little of those who usually make the -pleasure of my Roman winter, and devoted myself to the Prince. There is -no use--none--in trying to be, or to do, two things at once. - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL. - -“Here is a story which I have heard lately:-- - -“Lady Vernon[297] dreamt. She dreamt that she saw the butler, with a -knife in one hand and a candle in the other, crossing the entrance hall, -and she woke with a great start. After a little she composed herself to -sleep again, and she dreamt--she dreamt that she saw the butler, with a -knife in one hand and a candle in the other, on the middle of the -staircase, and she woke with a great shock. She got up; she thought she -could not be quite well, and she took a little sal-volatile. At last she -fell asleep again, and she dreamt--she dreamt that she saw the butler, -with a knife in one hand and a candle in the other, standing at her -bedroom door; and she awoke in a great terror, and she jumped out of -bed, and she said: ‘I’ll have an end of this, I’ll have an end of these -foolish imaginations,’ and she rushed to the door, and she threw the -door wide open. And there at the door _stood_ the butler, with a knife -in one hand and a candle in the other. And when he suddenly saw Lady -Vernon in her white night-dress, with her hair streaming down her back, -_he_ was so dreadfully frightened that he dropped the candle on the -ground and rushed off down the staircase, and off to the stables where -there was a horse ready saddled and bridled, on which he meant to have -ridden away when he had murdered Lady Vernon; and he rode away without -ever having murdered her at all, and he was never, never, _never_ heard -of again.” - - * * * * * - -On the 3rd of March, a well-known partnership of upwards of sixty years -was closed at Rome by the death, in his little apartment at 55 Via -Sistina, of William Howitt the author leaving his sweet old Mary[298] -alone with her unmarried daughter Margaret. Though never very -remarkable, the many books of William and Mary Howitt were always -excellent, and the writers were deeply respected. I attended Mr. -Howitt’s funeral on the 5th, walking with Mrs. Terry, Baron Hoffmann, -and Prince George of Solms, immediately after the daughter and -son-in-law. The ceremony was a very touching one, and the coffin buried -in wreaths of camellias, lilies, and violets. As William Howitt was a -Quaker, the service was different from ours, but hymns were beautifully -sung over his coffin in the chapel and at the grave, where the American -clergyman, Dr. Nevin, gave a really touching and beautiful address, as -the daughter was pouring basket after basket of flowers into the open -grave. - -I dined with the Prince on the day before that fixed for his departure -to Naples. When our last moment together came, he took me into his room -and parted from me there, with many most affectionate words, and gave -me the Order of St. Olaf, which the King of Sweden and Norway had -conferred upon me, begging me to wear it for his sake.[299] I left him -with the truest affection, and with, I think, unbounded confidence and -regard on both sides. - - * * * * * - -_From the_ COUNTESS ROSEN. - -“_February 23._--As the Prince’s stay in Rome is now drawing to its -close, their Majesties charge me once more to express to you their most -heartfelt thanks for all your kindness to the Prince, all the good and -useful influence you have had over him, and all your arrangements to -combine the useful with the amusing in order to kindle his interest. -Their Majesties have always been so happy to know that you were at his -side and smoothed all his difficulties. In his own letters the Prince -shows that he has learnt to love and appreciate you, and is thankful for -all you have done for him.” - -[Illustration: IN THE ENTRANCE HALL, HOLMHURST.] - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS LEYCESTER. - -“_Feb. 28, 1879._--You ask if I was alarmed over my lectures with the -Prince, and found them difficult. No, not very. From the first I thought -of what Johnson told Sir J. Reynolds, and I tried to do the same. He -told him that he had ‘early laid it down as a fixed rule to do his best -on every occasion, and in every company: to impart whatever he knew in -the most forcible language he could put it in, and that by constant -practice and by never suffering any careless expressions to escape him, -or attempting to deliver his thoughts without arranging them in the -clearest manner, it had become habitual to him.’ So you see that I have -been fortifying myself by wise advice! And I am sure that it is the -_way_ in which things are said that fixes them in the mind.” - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL. - -“Fabj. Altini, the sculptor, says Thorwaldsen declared clay to be the -life of art, plaster its death, and marble its resurrection. - -“Mrs. F. Walker told me how she went out one evening at Freshwater to -meet her brother-in-law and niece as they were returning from an -excursion along the cliffs. On her way she saw a lady in deep mourning, -with a little boy, emerge apparently from a side path to the one on -which she was, and walk on before her. She noticed the lady’s peculiarly -light step. Mother and son stopped at a little railed-in enclosure at -the top of the hill, and gazed over the railings; then they went on -again in front of her. At length, beyond them, Mrs. Walker saw Mr. -Palmes and his daughter coming to meet her. Between her and them she saw -the lady and boy suddenly disappear--apparently go down some side path -leading to the sands; but, when she came to the place, there was _no_ -path, the cliff was perfectly precipitous. Miss Palmes equally saw the -lady and boy coming towards her, and was greatly agitated by their -sudden disappearance. - -“Afterwards they found that the same sight was constantly seen there. It -was the little boy’s grave into which the two had gazed. He had fallen -over the cliff just there and been killed, and was buried by his -mother’s wish inside that little circular railing.” - - * * * * * - -The Prince was in Rome for one night on his way from Naples to Munich, I -went to him in the early morning, and was with him till 2 P.M., when he -left, spending the time in driving about with him, chiefly to the -antiquity shops, in which he always had the greatest delight. The very -day after he left I fell in with other royalties, of whom at first I -seemed likely to see a great deal. I was at the Princess Giustiniani -Bandini’s, when the Hereditary Grand Duke and Duchess of Saxe-Weimar -were announced--a very simple homely pair. The lady-in-waiting, hearing -my name, most cleverly recollected all about me, and I was presented, -and very cordially and kindly received. A few days after, Princess Teano -asked me to meet them at dinner. Only the Keudells of the German Embassy -and the Minghettis dined besides the family, but an immense party came -in the evening. The Hereditary Grand Duke is a weak-looking little man -with a very receding forehead. The Grand Duchess (who was his cousin) is -a fine big woman--“bel pezzo di carne”--with intense enjoyment and -good-humour in everything. “How can anybody be ill, how is it possible -that anybody can be unhappy in Rome!” Both talked English perfectly. -They arranged then that I should show them the Palatine. But a few days -afterwards I heard from the Duchess Sermoneta that the Grand Duchess -had said to her that, owing to the furious jealousy of the German -archaeologists, she was unable to go with me. - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL. - -“_March 17, 1879._--At Mrs. Terry’s I have met again her sister, Mrs. -Julia Ward-Howe, the American poetess. When she wanted me to talk to her -and I did not, she said, ‘In your case, Mr. Hare, I must pervert a text -of Scripture--“to do good and to _communicate_ forget not.”’ - -“I have seen much, almost daily, of Lord Hylton’s young son, George -Jolliffe, for whom I have an affection ever increased by his confidence -in me, which makes me feel more of responsibility as an instrument of -possible good in his case than I have ever done in any other. He is a -delightful companion in Rome, so full of interest and enthusiasm in all -we see.... We went together yesterday to the Palazzo Massimo alle -Colonne, where the old blackened portico was hung with bright tapestry, -and the whole staircase and rooms strewn with box, because it was the -day on which S. Filippo Neri raised the Massimo child from the dead. -Most surprising were the masses of people--cobblers and contadini -elbowing cardinals up the long staircase, washerwomen on their knees -crowding princesses round the altar. Prince Massimo, in full evening -dress, received in the anteroom of the chapel, and the Princess -(daughter of the Duchesse de Berri) invited every one she knew to have -ices and coffee. - -“I went afterwards to Miss Howitt, who talked cheerfully about her -father. ‘Rome might possibly not be the place to live in, but it -certainly was the place to die and be buried in.’ She spoke of the -extraordinary shots made at her father’s life by the English -newspapers--how one of them described her mother’s daily walk on the -Pincio by the side of a Bath-chair which ‘contained an ancient man,’ -&c., the fact being that her mother never walked, that her father always -walked, and moreover that there was no Bath-chair in Rome. - -“Last night I was at the British Embassy till 1 A.M. I conquered shyness -sufficiently to go and talk to the Grand Duchess, though she sat in a -row of princesses. The younger Marchesa Lajatico was there--most -graceful and charming.” - - * * * * * - -“_March 20._--A young American drove me to the meet at Centocelle. It -was a lovely day of soft scirocco, fleecy clouds floating over the pale -pink mountain distances and the Campagna bursting into its first green, -across which the long chains of aqueduct arches threw their deep -shadows. Crowds of people and carriages were out, but we followed -Princess Teano, who knew all the ups and downs of the ground, and drove -with young Lady Clarendon so cleverly, that we were in at the death in -the great ruins of Sette Basse.” - - * * * * * - -“_March 21._--Tea with Countess Primoli (Princess Charlotte Bonaparte) -in her little boudoir at the end of a long suite of quaint old-fashioned -rooms. She talked very pleasantly, but with too constant reference to -the Empress and Prince Imperial as ‘my family.’ I went afterwards to see -the Favarts at Ville Lante. It is a beautiful place, and the noble face -of Madame Favart is worthy of its setting. Consolo was there and played -marvellously on the violin, every nerve seeming to vibrate, every hair -to leap in unison with his chords.” - - * * * * * - -“_March 23._--Once more I am on the eve of leaving Rome, more sorry to -part with my little winter rooms than I ever expected to be; even my -ugly squinting donna, ‘Irene,’ having proved very good and faithful. The -time here has been full of interests, independent of royal ones--one of -them, the going out to India of Frank Marion Crawford, the son of my -dear friend Mrs. Terry. He would probably have done no work in Europe, -though he has evinced an ambitious perseverance by voluntarily pursuing -the study of Sanscrit--‘because it was so difficult,’ and this has -enabled him to accept a vacant professorship in the University at -Bombay.”[300] - - * * * * * - -“_Florence, March 27._--I left Rome on Tuesday--a lovely morning, and I -looked my last at the glorious view from the Medici Terrace with a heavy -heart. - -“Now I am in the old Palazzo Mozzi at Florence, as the guest of the -Sermonetas. On the side towards the Via dei Bardi the palace rises up -gaunt and grim like a fortress, but at the back it looks into a -beautiful garden, with terraces climbing up the steep hillside to the -old city wall. The rooms are large and dreadfully cold, but the Duchess -has made them very picturesque with old hangings and furniture. The Duke -talks incessantly and cleverly. I asked him why his Duchess signed -‘Harriet Caëtani,’ not ‘Sermoneta,’ and he explained how all the -splendour of the family arose from the fact that they were Caëtani; that -many of the greatest of the old families, such as the Frangipani, had no -titles at all: that even the Orsini had no title of place, and that it -was only modern families, like the Braschi, who cared to air a title. -The oldest title in Italy was that of Marchese, which came in with the -French: Duke came with the Imperialists; but the title of Prince, for -which he had the utmost contempt, was merely the result of Papal -nepotism: Borghese was the first Prince created. - -“The Duke declared that the word ‘antimonial’ was really ‘antimonacal.’ -The alchemists who lived in the old convents used to throw out of the -windows the water which they had used in their search after the -philosopher’s stone: pigs drank the poisoned water and died: monks -(monaci) ate the pigs and died also: hence the expression. - -“The Duke is very adverse to open windows: ‘If I want the air I can go -out into the piazza,’ he says. To his relations, for the most part, he -greatly objects--‘Questi sono i flagelli di questo mondo.’ A monk or -nun, he says, is ‘Un insétto chi puo vivere senza aria a senza acqua.’ - -“We have been at a large party at the Palazzo Torrigiani, and it has -been a great pleasure to see again the many members of the large, -pleasant, amiable Florentine society.” - - * * * * * - -Having undertaken to devote myself exclusively to the Prince Royal had -made me give up all my usual employments during this Roman winter of -1878-79. The chief event in my life disconnected with the Prince was my -being asked to open the session of the British and American -Archaeological Society. This I long refused, urging that many others -were more worthy and competent, but it was insisted upon, and, to my -great surprise, I found myself speaking to a crowded meeting words which -I had written down before, but which I never found any need of referring -to. Here they are (for I have preserved them nowhere else) from the -notes I made:-- - - * * * * * - -“The Secretary of this Society conferred upon me a most unexpected -honour when he asked me to open this meeting. I could have wished that -he had selected some one more worthy of that honour, for not only am I -unaccustomed to public speaking, but I may truly say that I never made a -speech in my life. I will therefore hope that my many deficiencies--my -more than many deficiencies, may be either overlooked or pardoned. - -“But, though the Secretary could have found many persons in Rome better -able to address you, with more power of doing justice to their subject -than myself, he could not have found one to whom Rome was dearer, about -whose heart all its sympathies were more tenderly and closely entwined. -Long and intimate family association, perhaps the very fact of having a -birthplace in the once beautiful Villa Strozzi, have added to that sense -which comes to so many, of looking upon Rome as a second home--a home as -familiar almost, quite as tenderly beloved, as the home in far-away -England. How truly Chateaubriand has said that those who have nothing -left in life should turn their footsteps to Rome: there the very stones -can waken into speech; there the very dust beneath our feet can kindle -into memories of a past ever fresh and ever sacred. To those who come -here first as strangers, the decay, the stagnation, the ruin of -everything may be oppressive; they may see only the bareness of the -stuccoed streets, they may grumble at the rough pavements, they may be -wearied with the petty discomforts and difficulties of daily and -practical life:--but no matter! If they only stay here long enough, the -love of Rome will insidiously creep upon them; they will feel it -difficult to tear themselves away from it; and, when they have left it, -it will ever come back to them--in silent hours, in visions of the -night--grand ruins lying in silent slumbrous solitude; desolate -vineyards flower-carpeted; beautiful villas, where the ancient ilex -avenues are peopled with marble statues, relics of a mythical past -which in Rome seems almost as real as the present; and above all, the -recollection of a mighty purple dome embossed upon a sky whose sunset -glory recalls the splendours of the New Jerusalem--first a sapphire, -then a chalcedony, then an emerald, then a chrysopraz, last an amethyst. - -“In regard to how many Roman scenes do we echo such thoughts as Clough -has expressed in his beautiful lines to the Alban Mount:-- - - ‘Alba, thou findest me still, and, Alba, thou findest me ever, - Now from the Capitol steps, now over Titus’s arch, - Here where the large grassy spaces stretch from the Lateran portal, - Towering o’er aqueduct lines lost in perspective between, - Or from a Vatican window, or bridge, or the high Coliseum, - Clear by the garlanded line cut of the Flavian ring. - Beautiful can I not call thee, and yet thou hast power to o’ermaster, - Power of mere beauty; in dreams, Alba, thou hauntest me still.’ - -“What Madame Swetchine says of life, that you find in it exactly what -you put into it, is also true of Rome, and those who come to it with -least mental preparation are those least fitted to enjoy it. That -preparation, however, is not so easy as it used to be. In the old days, -the happy old days of vetturíno travelling, there were so many quiet -hours, when the country was not too beautiful, and the towns not too -interesting, when Gibbon, and Merivale, and Milman were the pleasantest -of travelling companions, and when books of art and poetry served to -illustrate and illuminate the graver studies which were making Italy -not only a beautiful panorama, but a country filled with forms which -were daily growing into more familiar acquaintance. Perugia and Spoleto, -Terni and Civita Castellana, led fitly up then to the greater interests -of Rome, as courtiers to a king. But in the journeys of the present, the -hurried traveller has not these opportunities of preparation, and must -rest upon his home-knowledge, and such reading as he can find time for -in Rome itself. To such travellers--to those, I mean, who wish to take -away from Rome something more than a mere surface impression--I would -give one piece of advice gathered from long experience: Never see too -much; most of all, never see too much at once; never try to ‘do’ Rome. -Better far to leave half the ruins and nine-tenths of the churches -unseen, and to see well the rest, to see them not once, but again and -often again, to watch them, to learn them, to live with them, to love -them, till they become a part of your life and your life’s -recollections. - -“Thus, too, in the galleries. What can be carried away by those who -wander over all the Vatican at once but a hopeless chaos of marble -limbs, at best a nightmare of Venuses and Mercurys and Jupiters and -Junos? But if the traveller would benefit by the Vatican, let him make -friends with a few of the statues, and pay them visits, and grow into -greater intimacy:--then will the purity of their outlines, the majestic -serenity of their godlike grace, have power over him, raising his spirit -to a perception of creations of beauty of which he had no idea before, -and enabling him to discern the traces of that noblest gift of God which -men call ‘genius’ in the humblest works of those who, while they have -found the true and right path which leads to the great end, are still -very far off. - -“I would urge those who are sight-seeing at Rome to read twice about -that which they see, before they see it, to prepare themselves for the -sight, and after they have seen it, to fix the sight in their -recollection. I would also urge all archaeologists to believe that it is -not in one class of Roman interests alone that much is to be learnt; -that those who devote themselves exclusively to the relics of the kings -and the Republic, to the walls, or to the vexed questions concerning the -Porta Capena, and who see no interest in the reminiscences of the Middle -Ages, and the memorials of the saints and of the popes, take only half -the blessing of Rome, and the half which has the least of human sympathy -in it. They are blind of one eye, because they see with the other: they -are like the foolish Athenians, who have lately pulled down the noble -Venetian towers on the Acropolis because they were not Greek. - -“Besides this, one should recollect that important relics of Pagan Rome -are to be found elsewhere--at Nismes and Treves beyond the Alps, and at -many places in Northern Italy; but the memorials of Christian Rome, and -of its early bishops and martyrs, are to be found only in Rome and its -neighbourhood. - -[Illustration: AUGUSTUS J. C. HARE - -1879] - -“Those who wish to fix the scenes and events of Roman history securely -in their minds will do best to take them in groups. Suppose, for -instance, that people wish to study the story of St. Laurence. Let them -first visit the beautiful little chapel in the Vatican, where the whole -story of the saint’s life is portrayed in the lovely frescoes of -Angelico da Fiesole. Let them stand on the green sward by the Navicella, -where he distributed the treasures of the church in front of the house -of St. Ciriaca. Let them walk through the crypto-porticus of the -Palatine, up which he was dragged to his trial. Let them lean against -the still existing bar of the basilica, where he knelt to receive his -sentence. Let them visit S. Lorenzo in Fonte, where he was imprisoned, -and baptized his fellow-prisoners in the fountain which gives the church -its name. Let them go hence to S. Lorenzo Pane e Perna, built upon the -scene of his terrific martyrdom, which is there portrayed in fresco. Let -them see his traditional chains, and the supposed gridiron of his -suffering at S. Lorenzo in Lucina; and, lastly, at the great basilica of -S. Lorenzo fuori le Mura let them admire the mighty church which for -1200 years has marked the site of that little chapel which Constantine -built near the lowly catacomb grave in which the martyr was laid by his -deacon Hippolytus. - -“Let us turn to a very different character. Let us turn to Rienzi. How -vivid will his story seem to those who go first to the old tower of the -Crescenzi near the Bocca della Verità, which belonged to his ancestors, -and then to the street behind S. Tommaso where he was born--the son of a -publican and a washerwoman, for to such humble offices were the -Crescenzi then reduced. They will find Rienzi again at the little church -of S. Angelo in Pescheria, whither he summoned the citizens at midnight -to hold a meeting for the re-establishment of ‘the Good Estate,’ and in -which he kept the Vigil of the Holy Ghost--and at the Portico of -Octavia, on whose ancient walls he painted his famous picture -allegorical of the sufferings of the Romans under the oppression of the -great patrician families, thus flaunting defiance in the eyes of the -Savelli, who could look down upon the picture from the windows of their -palace above the Theatre of Marcellus. At S. Giorgio in Velabro the -pediment still remains under the old terra-cotta cornice where an -inscription proclaimed that the reign of the Good Estate was begun. We -must follow Rienzi thence, bareheaded, but in full armour, to the -Capitol, and to the Lateran, where he took his mystic bath in the great -vase of green basalt in which Constantine is falsely said to have been -baptized. We must think of his flight, after his short-lived glories -were over, by the light of the burning palace, down the steps of the -Capitol, and of his wife looking out of the window to witness his murder -at the foot of the great basaltic lioness, which looks scarcely older -now than on the night on which it was sprinkled with his blood. Lastly, -we may remember that his body was hung, a target for the stones of those -by whom he was so lately adored, in the little piazza of S. Marcello in -the Corso, and that, in strange contradiction, it was eventually burnt -by the Jews in the desolate mausoleum of Augustus, surrounded by Roman -emperors, in a fire of dried thistles, till not a fibre of it remained. - -“Let us take one more character from a much later time. Let us take -Beatrice Cenci. In the depths of the Ghetto, ghastly and grim, still -stands the old palace of Francesco Cenci, whose colossal rooms and dark -passages were the scene of her long misery. Hard by is the little -church which one of that wretched family built in the hope of expiating -its crimes. As we walk through the wearisome Tor di Nona on our way to -S. Peter’s, we may think of the old tower which gave the street its -name, in which the beautiful young girl is said to have undergone for -forty hours the torture of the ‘vigilia,’ followed by the still more -terrific agony called ‘tortura capillorum.’ At Sta. Maria Maggiore we -may look upon the stern face of Clement VIII., the cruel judge who knew -no mercy, and who, in answer to all pleadings in their behalf, bade that -the whole Cenci family should be dragged by wild horses through the -streets of Rome. The ancient Santa Croce palace still stands, in which -the Marchesa Santa Croce was murdered by her two sons on the night in -which a last effort was being made for the pardon of Beatrice--an event -which sealed her fate. In the Corte Savelli we may think of her terrible -execution. Before the high altar of S. Pietro in Montorio she reposes -from her long agony. And finally, we must go to the Palazzo Barberini, -where, in the picture which Guido Reni is said to have painted in her -prison, we may gaze upon the pale composure of her transcendent -loveliness. - -“It is by thus entwining one sight with another, till they become the -continuous links of a story, that they are best fixed in the mind. They -should also be read about, not merely in guide-books, but in the works -of those who, from long residence in Italy and the deep love which they -bear to it, have become impressed with the true Italian spirit. Amongst -such books none are more delightful than the many volumes of -Gregorovius, from his ‘History of the City of Rome’ to his enchanting -‘Lateinische Sommer,’ and his graphic little sketches of the -burial-places of the Popes. I have often been laughed at for constantly -recommending and quoting novels in speaking of Rome and its interests; -yet in few graver works are such glimpses of Rome, of Roman scenery, -Roman character, Roman manners to be obtained as in Hawthorne’s ‘Marble -Faun,’ which English publishers so foolishly call ‘Transformation;’ in -‘Mademoiselle Mori;’ in the ‘Improvisatore’ of Hans Christian Andersen; -in the ‘Daniella’ of George Sand; and, will my audience be unutterably -shocked if I add, in the Pagan-spirited ‘Ariadne’ of Ouida. The writers -of these books have really known Rome and loved it, and yet several of -them have only spent one or two winters here. The same knowledge, the -same inspiration, is open to all of us, and the reason why English and -American visitors so seldom carry away from Rome more than they bring to -it is because they have never seen it at all; because the life in a -hotel, with its English and French dinners, its English or -French-speaking waiters, its newspapers and reading-rooms, is not a -Roman life; because the shop-keepers in the Via Condotti, their -washerwomen, or their masters of music and languages, are the only -Italians these visitors have come in contact with; because their sights -are doled out to them by conceited couriers or ignorant ciceroni; -because they have no ideas of the peasants and their costumes beyond the -models of the Via Felice and the Trinità de’ Monti. - -“And all this might be so different! Can one look at the amethystine -mountains which girdle in the Campagna around Rome without wishing to -penetrate their recesses? In the mountain towns which hang like eagles’ -nests to their rocks there are not only costumes, but every one wears a -costume: there the true Italian life may be seen. By the railway which -leads to Naples it is very easy now to reach many of these beautiful -places and to have glimpses of a true Italy. The grand temples of Cori, -the rock-perched Norba, and mysterious beautiful flower-peopled Ninfa -may now be visited in one day from the station of Velletri, returning to -Rome in the evening. At Sora near Arpino, the gloriously situated home -of Cicero and of Marius, and at San Germano, close to Monte Cassino and -to Aquino with its beautiful Roman arches of triumph, there are now very -tolerable hotels; and oh! believe me, there is no enjoyment more intense -than that of spring days on these lonely mountain heights carpeted with -sweet basil and thyme, or in these old desolate cities where the women -come up from the fountains with great brazen _conche_ poised upon their -black locks, like animated caryatides. - -“But I would also urge those who cannot make these excursions to do at -least something which will give them an individual interest, a personal -property in Rome itself. Let them collect marbles or plants, or even -photographs, or let them make sketches, choosing perhaps some special -line of interest, either the ancient Roman remains, or the memorials of -the saints, or the mediaeval tombs, thus appropriating and having their -own little personal share in the great field of archaeology. I remember -that two English ladies,[301] long valued members of the society here, -made a perfect collection of drawings of all the mediaeval towers in -Rome, whether campanile of the churches, or old brick fortresses of the -Anicii and Frangipani. I have known another lady, a much honoured -American resident in this place,[302] who spent much of her time in -making a perfect collection of drawings and photographs of all Italian -subjects connected with Dante. And, depend upon it, that the very fact -that these persons thus created for themselves a private centre around -which all other interests should circle, gave them a wider grasp and an -easier remembrance for all that came across them. - -“Archaeology is generally regarded as a dead and dry study, though it -need not be so. But its animating power is history, and to bring it into -life it must be combined with history, not in its narrowest, but in its -widest sense. To a life-long student of classical details, it may be a -matter of vital importance whether a stone on the Palatine is of the -time of the kings or the Republic; but to the casual visitor to Rome, to -the ladies who form so great a portion of my present audience, this can -scarcely be a question of thrilling excitement. To the unlearned, I -believe it to be of more interest to reflect upon the gladiatorial -combats and the Christian martyrdoms in the Coliseum than to discuss the -exact manner in which its sheltering velarium was sustained. - -“Let our Roman archaeology, then, be unlimited as to ages, let it grasp -as much as it can of the myriad human sympathies which Rome has to -offer or awaken; for thus, and only thus, can it do a great work, in -arousing highest thoughts and aims, as it opens the ancient -treasure-house and teaches the vast experience of more than two thousand -years. Then, as John Addington Symonds says:-- - - ‘Then from the very soil of ancient Rome - You shall grow wise, and walking, live again - The lives of buried peoples, and become - A child by right of that eternal home, - Cradle and grave of empires, on whose walls, - The sun himself subdued to reverence falls.’ - -“Let archaeology help the beauties of Rome in leaving their noblest -impress--in arousing feelings which are worthy of the greatest of Pagan -heroes, of the sweetest of Latin poets, of the most inspired of -sculptors and painters, as well as of Paul of Tarsus, who passed into -Rome under the arch of Drusus, upon whom the shadow of the pyramid of -Caius Cestius fell as he passed out of Rome to his martyrdom, in that -procession of which it is the sole surviving witness, and who here in -Rome is sleeping now, with thousand other saints, till, as St. Ambrose -reminds us, he shall awaken _here_, in Rome, at the great resurrection. - -“Rome, as Winckelmann says, is the high-art school which is open to all -the world. It can supply every mental requirement, if people will only -apply at the right corner of the fountain. This is what an -archaeological society ought to help us to find: this is what I trust -the British and American Archaeological Society may help us to find.” - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL. - -“_April 29, 1879, London._--I have heard again the curious story of Sir -T. Watson from Mrs. T., to whom he told it himself, so will write it -down. - -“Sir Thomas Watson, better known as Dr. Watson, was a well-known -physician. During the last years of his life he was in failing health, -and only saw patients at his own house, but till then he went about in -England wherever he was sent for. One day he was summoned to attend an -urgent case at Oxenholme in Cumberland. There was only one carriage in -the train which went through to Oxenholme, and in a compartment of that -carriage he took his seat. He tipped the guard, and said he should be -glad to be alone if he could. - -“The train at Euston was already in motion, when a young lady came -running down the platform, with a porter laden with her hand-bags and -cloaks. The man just contrived to open the carriage door, push the young -lady in, throw in her things after her, and the train was off. The young -lady, a very pretty, pleasing young lady, took the seat opposite Dr. -Watson. Being a polite, gallant old gentleman, very soon Dr. Watson -began to make himself agreeable: ‘What beautiful effects of cloud there -were. How picturesque Harrow church steeple looked through the morning -haze,’ &c. &c., and the young lady responded pleasantly. At last, as -their acquaintance advanced, Dr. Watson said, ‘And are you travelling -far?’ ‘Oh yes,’ said the young lady, ‘very far, I am going to Oxenholme -in Cumberland.’ ‘How singular,’ said Dr. Watson, ‘for that is just where -I am going myself. I wonder if you happen to know Lady D. who lives -near Oxenholme.’ ‘Yes,’ said the young lady, ‘I know Lady D. very well.’ -‘And Mrs. P. and her daughters?’ said Dr. W. ‘Oh yes, I know them too.’ -‘And Mr. Y.?’ There was a moment’s pause, and then the young lady very -naïvely and ingenuously said, ‘Yes, I do know Mr. Y. very well; and -perhaps I had better tell you something. I am going to be _married_ to -him to-morrow. My own parents are in India, and I am going to be married -from his father’s house. Since I have been engaged to him, I have made -the acquaintance of many of his friends and neighbours, and that is how -I know so many people near Oxenholme, though I have never been there -before.’ - -“Dr. Watson was charmed with the simple candour of the young lady. They -went on talking, and they became quite friends. The train arrived at -Rugby, and they both got out and had their bun in the refreshment-room. -They were in the carriage again, and the train was already moving, when, -in great excitement, the young lady called out: ‘Oh stop, stop the -train, don’t you see how he’s urging me to get out. There! that young -man in the brown ulster, that’s the young man I’m going to be married -to.’ Of course it was impossible to get out, and the young lady was -greatly distressed, and though Dr. Watson assured her most positively -that there was no one standing where she described, she would not and -could not believe him. - -“Then Dr. Watson said, ‘Now, my dear young lady, you’re very young and -I’m very old. I am a doctor. I am very well known, and from what you -have been seeing I am quite sure, as a physician, that you are not at -all well. Now, I have my medicine chest with me, and you had better let -me give you a little dose.’ And he did give her a little dose. - -“The train arrived at Stafford, and exactly the same thing occurred. -‘There, there! don’t you see him! _that_ young man with the light beard, -in the brown ulster, don’t you see how he’s urging me to get out.’ And -again Dr. Watson assured her there was no one there, and said, ‘I think -you had better let me give you another little dose;’ and he gave her -another little dose. - -“But Dr. Watson naturally felt that he could not go on giving her a dose -at every station all the way to Oxenholme, so he decided within himself -that if the same thing happened at Crewe, the young lady’s state -indicated one of two things: either that there was some intentional -vision from Providence, with which he ought not to interfere; or that -the young lady was certainly not in a state of health or brain which -should allow of her being married next day. So he determined to act -accordingly. - -“And at Crewe just the same thing happened. ‘There, there! don’t you see -him! he’s urging me more than ever to get out,’ cried the young lady. -‘Very well,’ said Dr. Watson, ‘we will get out and go after him,’ and, -with the young lady, he pursued the imaginary figure, and of course did -not find him. But Dr. Watson had often been at Crewe station before, and -he went to the hotel, which opens on the platform, and said to the -matron, ‘Here is this young lady, who is not at all well, and should -have a very quiet room; unfortunately I am not able to remain now to -look after her, but I will leave her in your care, and to-morrow I shall -be returning this way and will come to see how she is.’ And he slipped a -five-pound note into the woman’s hand to guarantee expenses. - -“Dr. Watson returned to the railway carriage. There was another young -lady there, sitting in the place which the first young lady had -occupied--a passenger who had arrived by one of the many lines which -converge at Crewe. With the new young lady he did not make acquaintance, -he moved his things to the other side of the carriage and devoted -himself to his book. - -“Three stations farther on came the shock of a frightful accident. There -was a collision. The train was telescoped, and many passengers were -terribly hurt. The heavy case of instruments, which was in the rack -above the place where Dr. Watson had first been sitting, was thrown -violently to the other side of the carriage, hit the young lady upon the -forehead and killed her on the spot. - -“It was long before the line could be sufficiently cleared for the train -to pass which was sent to pick up the surviving passengers. Many hours -late, in the middle of the night, Dr. Watson arrived at Oxenholme. -There, waiting upon the platform, stood the young man with the light -beard, in the brown ulster, exactly as he had been described. He had -heard that the only young lady in the through carriage from London had -been killed, and was only waiting for the worst to be confirmed. And -Dr. Watson was the person who went up to him and said: ‘Unfortunately it -is too true that a young lady has been killed, but it is not your young -lady. Your young lady is safe in the station hotel at Crewe.’” - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS LEYCESTER. - -“_Holmhurst, May 3._--I have had a visit from the people who formerly -lived here, so surprised at the changes--at the continuation of the walk -in the firwood, &c., but most at the number of pictures and books -everywhere inside the house, a clothing of walls which they evidently -thought most unsuitable in a dining-room and passages, and most of all -were they rather shocked at finding an ancient Madonna and Child of the -Luca della Robbia school over the kitchen fireplace, though in an -Italian house you might almost expect one there. - -“I have nothing else interesting to tell you, so I will send you some -scraps from my notebook. Lord Brownlow, at a public meeting, heard a -schoolmaster say--‘Education is that which enables you to despise the -opinions of others, and conduces to situations of considerable -emolument.’ Miss Cobbe told me--‘Conscience is that which supplies you -with an excellent motive for doing that which you desire to do, and -which, when it is done, leaves you filled with self-satisfaction.’ - -“Mrs. L. (who has plantations in South America) has been telling me of a -nigger preacher there who said in the pulpit, ‘I am so blind I cannot -see; I’ve left my specs at home,’ and all the congregation thought he -was giving out the line of a hymn, and sung it lustily.” - -[Illustration: IN THE FIR-WOOD, HOLMHURST.] - -[Illustration: DINING-ROOM FIREPLACE, HOLMHURST.] - - * * * * * - -“_May 13, 1879, 34 Jermyn Street, London._--This morning I went with -Mrs. Duncan Stewart and a very large party to Whistler’s studio--a huge -place in Chelsea. We were invited to see his pictures, but there was -only one there--‘The Loves of the Lobsters.’ It was supposed to -represent Niagara, but looked as if the artist had upset the inkstand -and left Providence to work out its own results. In the midst of the -black chaos were two lobsters curvetting opposite each other and looking -as if they were done with red sealing-wax. ‘I wonder you did not paint -the lobsters making love before they were boiled,’ aptly observed a -lady visitor. ‘Oh, I never thought of that,’ said Whistler! It was a -joke, I suppose. The little man, with his plume of white hair (‘the -Whistler tuft,’ he calls it) waving on his forehead, frisked about the -room looking most strange and uncanny, and rather diverted himself over -our disappointment in coming so far and finding nothing to see. People -admire like sheep his pictures in the Grosvenor Gallery, following each -other’s lead because it is the fashion.” - - * * * * * - -“_May 14, Sunday._--An immense luncheon at Mrs. Cavendish Bentinck’s. I -sat near Mr. Herbert, the artist of the great fresco in the House of -Lords. He described things over which he became almost inspired--how in -the Bodleian he found an old MS. about the Magdalen which made him -determine to go off at once to St. Maximin in Provence (near La Sainte -Baume, the mountain hermitage where she died) to see her skull: that -when he reached St. Maximin, he found that the skull was in a glass case -upon the altar, where he could not really examine it, and he was told -that it was never allowed even to kings and emperors: that he -represented with such fervour his object in making the pilgrimage, that -at last the priests of the church consented to his sending twelve miles -for a _vitrier_ and having the case removed: then he was allowed to -place a single candle behind, and in that moment, as he described it, -with glowing face and voice trembling with emotion--‘I saw the outline -of her profile; the Magdalen herself, that dear friend of our Blessed -Lord, was revealed to me.’ - -“Miss Leslie, who was sitting near, asked how it was known that the -Magdalen came to St. Maximin. ‘How can you help knowing it,’ said Mr. -Herbert, ‘when it is all written in the Acts of the Apostles!!’” - -[Illustration: LA SAINTE BAUME.][303] - - * * * * * - -“_May 15._--Dined with Lord and Lady Aberdeen--a very large party, -seventy-four pots of flowers upon the table. The dinner was very fine, -but rather uninteresting--the after-dinner better. - - * * * * * - -“_May 16._--I received the sad news that poor Sir Alexander Taylor was -on his death-bed in Lady Dashwood’s house at Hampstead, and went to him. -He knew me and was pleased to see me, but immediately relapsed into -unconsciousness. It was sad to stand by the utter wreck of one whom I -had known so well.” - - * * * * * - -“_May 17._--News of poor Sir Alexander’s death. Even at such a solemn -time one could not help smiling at his characteristic _last -words_--‘Present my duty to the Princess Amalie’ (of -Schleswig-Holstein).[304] - -“At luncheon at Lady Florentia Hughes’s I met George Russell, who told -me a story which Lord and Lady Portsmouth had just brought back from -Devonshire. - -“‘On the railway which runs from Exeter to Barnstaple is a small station -called Lapford. A farmer who lives in a farmhouse near that station -awoke his wife one night, saying that he had had a very vivid dream -which troubled him--that a very valuable cow of his had fallen into a -pit and could not get out again. The wife laughed, and he went to sleep -and dreamt the same thing. Then he wanted to go and look after the cow. -But the wife urged the piercing cold of the winter night, and he went to -sleep instead, and dreamt the same thing a third time. Then he insisted -upon getting up, and, resisting his wife’s entreaties, he went out to -look after the cow. It was with a sense of bathos that he found the cow -quite well and grazing quietly, and he was thinking how his wife would -laugh at him when he got home, and wondering what he should say to her, -when he was aware of a light in the next field. Crawling very quietly to -the hedge, he saw, through the leafless branches of the hawthorns, a man -with a lanthorn and a spade, apparently digging a pit. As he was -watching, he stumbled in the ditch and the branches crackled. The man, -hearing a noise, started, threw down the spade, and ran off with the -lanthorn. - -“‘The farmer then made his way round into the next field and came up to -the place where the man had been digging. It was a long narrow pit like -an open grave. At first he could make nothing of it, then by the side of -the pit he found a large open knife. He took that and the spade, and -began to set out homewards, but, with an indescribable shrinking from -the more desolate _feeling_ of the fields, he went round by the lane. He -had not gone far before he heard footsteps coming towards him. It was -two o’clock in the morning, and his nerves being quite unstrung, he -shrank from meeting whoever it was, and climbed up into the hedge to -conceal himself. To his astonishment, he saw pass below him in the -moonlit road one of the maids of his own farmhouse. He allowed her to -pass, and then sprang out and seized her. She was most dreadfully -frightened. He demanded to know what she was there for. She tried to -make some excuse. “Oh,” he said, “there can be no possible excuse; I -insist upon knowing the truth.” She then said, “You know I was engaged -to be married, and that I had a dreadful quarrel with the man I was -engaged to, and it was broken off. Well, yesterday he let me know that -if I would meet him in the middle of the night, he had got something to -show me which would make up for all the past.”--“Would you like to know -what he had to show you? It was your grave he had to show you,” said the -farmer, and he led her to the edge of the pit and showed it to her. - -“‘The farmer’s dream had saved the woman’s life.’” - - * * * * * - -“_May 19._--The Prince (of Sweden and Norway) has arrived with his suite -at Claridge’s. He received me most cordially and affectionately. We made -many plans for sight-seeing and people-seeing, but in England I have no -responsibility; Count Piper, the Swedish Minister, has it all. - -“I dined at charming Lady Wynford’s, sitting near Lord Delamere, who was -very full of a definition he had heard of the word ‘deputation.’ ‘A noun -of multitude, which signifies many, but not much.’ It was attributed to -Gladstone, who said, ‘I only wish I _had_ made it.’ Lord Eustace Cecil -produced a definition of ‘Independent Member’ as ‘a Member on whom -nobody can depend.’ - -“There was an immense gathering at Lady Salisbury’s afterwards; my -Prince there and much liked. There, for the first time, I saw the -Empress Augusta of Germany.” - - * * * * * - -“_May 22._--A party at Lady Denbigh’s to meet Princess Frederika of -Hanover, a very sweet-looking and royal woman of simple and dignified -manners.” - - * * * * * - -“_May 24._--Lady Salisbury’s party at the Foreign Office, the staircase, -with its interlacing arches and masses of flowering shrubs, like the -essence of a thousand Paul Veroneses. My Prince was there in a white -uniform.” - - * * * * * - -“_May 27._--At dinner at Sir John Lefevre’s I met Mr. Bright. He has a -grand old lion-like head in an aureole of white hair, and his -countenance never seems to wake from its deep repose, except for some -burst of enthusiasm on a subject really worth while. He spoke of -Americans, ‘who say an infinity of foolish things, but always do wise -ones.’ Mr. Bryce of ‘The Holy Roman Empire’ was there, a bearded man -with bright eyes, who talked well. Afterwards there was a party at Lady -Beauchamp’s to meet Prince and Princess Christian. How like all the -princesses are to one another.” - - * * * * * - -“_May 29._--A dinner at Lord Carysfort’s and ball at Lady Salisbury’s. I -presented so many relations to the Prince that he said that which -astonished him more than anything else in England was ‘the multitude of -Mr. Hare’s cousins.’” - - * * * * * - -“_May 30._--With the Prince to Westminster Abbey, after which Arthur met -us in the Jerusalem Chamber and took us into the Deanery. In the evening -with the Prince to Lady Margaret Beaumont’s.” - - * * * * * - -“_June 6._--With the Prince Royal to the Academy.” - - * * * * * - -“_June 7._--To the National Gallery with the Prince.” - -[Illustration: THE JERUSALEM CHAMBER.][305] - - * * * * * - -“_June 8._--Luncheon with the Prince. We drove afterwards to see Lady -Russell. Pembroke Lodge looked enchanting with its bright green of old -oaks and its carpet of bluebells--a most perfect refuge for the latter -years of an aged statesman. Lady Russell was waiting for us at the -entrance, with Lady Agatha and Rollo. On the lawn we found many other -members of the family, with Mr. Bouverie and Mr. Froude the historian. I -presented them all, and we walked in the grounds. At tea Lord Bute came -in from a neighbouring villa--always most pleasant and cordial to me.” - - * * * * * - -“_June 11._--Dined with old Lady Harrington, and left as early as I -could to go to Mrs. Schuster’s, where Sarah Bernhardt was to act. She -appeared first in the great scene of the ‘Phédre’--her face bloodless, -her arms rigid, her voice monotonous and broken. Gradually, under the -influence of her love, she became animated, but the animation began at -the tips of her fingers, till it burst all over her in a flood of -irrepressible passion. - -“She did not seem to see her audience or to think of them. For the time -being she was _only_ her part, and, when it was over, she sank down -utterly exhausted, almost unconscious. - -“She appeared again in a small part, in which she was a great lady -turned sculptress. The part was nothing; she had little more to say than -‘Let me see more of your profile; turn a little more the other way;’ yet -the great simplicity of her perfect acting made it deeply interesting, -and, in the quarter of an hour in which the scene lasted, she had done -in the clay a real medallion which was a striking likeness.”[306] - - * * * * * - -“_June 12._--Dined with Madame du Quaire--her table like a glorious Van -Huysum picture from the fruit and flower piece in the centre. The -hostess is famous for the warmth and steadfastness of her friendships. -Mrs. Stewart says--‘Fanny du Quaire is the only person I know who would -do _anything_ for her friends. If it were necessary for my peace that I -should have poison, I should send for Fanny du Quaire, and she would -give it me without flinching.’” - - * * * * * - -“_June 13._--Dined at Sir Charles Trevelyan’s. I took down a lady whose -name seemed to be ‘Mrs. Beckett.’ I did not interest her, and she talked -exclusively to Lord O’Hagan, who was on the other side of her. Towards -the close of dinner she said to me, ‘We have been a very long time at -dinner.’--‘To me it has seemed quite endless,’ I said.--‘Well,’ she -exclaimed, ‘I do not wonder that you were chosen to speak truth to -Princes.’ - -“I asked her how she knew anything about that, and she said, ‘I have -lived a long time in a court atmosphere myself. I was for twelve years -with the late Queen of Holland.’--‘Oh,’ I said, ‘_now_ I know who you -are; you are Mrs. Lecky!’ and it was the well-known author’s wife.”[307] - - * * * * * - -“_June 14._--Luncheon with Lady Darnley, and a long quiet talk with her -afterwards, then a visit to young Lord Lansdowne in his cool, pleasant -rooms looking upon the garden. - -“Dined with Count Piper, the Swedish Minister,[308] to meet the Prince -Royal. I sat by Madame de Bülow, who is always pleasant. The only other -lady unconnected with the Embassy was Mademoiselle Christine Nilsson, -who sang most beautifully afterwards till Jenny Lind arrived. Then the -rivalry of the two queens of song became most curious, Nilsson planting -herself at the end of the pianoforte with her arms akimbo, and crying -satirical bravas during Jenny’s songs, and Jenny avenging herself by -never allowing Nilsson to return to the pianoforte at all. The party was -a very late one, and supper was served, when the Prince offered Jenny -his arm to take her down. She accepted it, though with great diffidence; -which so exasperated Nilsson, that with ‘Je m’en vais donc,’ utterly -refusing to be pacified, she swept out of the room and out of the house, -though how she got away I do not know.” - - * * * * * - -“_June 15._--A quiet luncheon with Lady Reay. Afterwards to Mrs. Duncan -Stewart, who told me:-- - -“‘A great friend of mine was living lately in Brittany, and, while -there, made acquaintance with a lady and her daughter who were staying -in the same place--the mother a commonplace woman, the daughter a -pleasant interesting girl. - -“‘A short time after, the mother and daughter came to England, and my -friend, who was in very delicate health at the time, invited them to -visit her. The mother was prevented coming at first, but sent her -daughter and said that she would follow. - -“‘One day my friend was sitting in her boudoir, of which the door was -ajar, very little open. The girl had gone to her own room, which was -immediately above the boudoir, saying that she had letters to write. - -“‘Suddenly my friend was aware that _something_ was coming in at the -door, not pushing it wider open, but gliding through the opening which -already existed, and, to her horror, she saw, perfectly naked, -propelling herself serpent-like upon her belly, with her hair rising -like a crest over her head, and her eyes, without any speculation in -them, staring wide open, the figure of a young girl, whom she recognised -as her guest. - -“‘With snake-like motion the girl glided in and out of the furniture, -under the chairs, sofas, &c., but touching nothing, and with her eyes -constantly fixed upon my friend, with an expression which was rather -that of fear than anything else. At length she glided out of the room as -she came in. - -“‘As soon as my friend could recover herself a little, she pursued the -girl to her room and quietly opened the door. To her horror, all the -articles of crockery in the room, jug, basin, &c., were dispersed about -the floor at regular intervals and in a regular pattern, and through -them all, in and out, without touching them, the girl was gliding, -snake-like, with her head erect, and her vacant eyes staring. - -“‘My friend fled to her room and began to think what she should do; but -such was her horror that she thinks she fainted; at any rate the power -of action seemed to fail her. When she could move, she thought it her -duty to go up to the girl’s room again, and perhaps was almost more -horrified than before to find the room in perfect order and the girl -seated dressed at the table, writing. She sent for the girl’s mother, -who was terribly distressed. She allowed that her daughter had had these -utterly inexplicable attacks before, but long ago, and she had hoped -that she was cured of them.’ - -“Mrs. Stewart told this story to Mr. Fergusson the great naturalist, who -only said, ‘I am not the least surprised: there is nothing extraordinary -in it. There have been many other instances of the serpent element -coming out in people.’” - - * * * * * - -“_June 16._--Met the Prince early at Paddington, whence we had a saloon -carriage to Oxford, with Sir Watkin Wynne as director to watch over us. -We went a whole round of colleges and to the Bodleian, where Mr. Coxe -exhibited his treasures. Then the Prince wished to see the boats, so we -walked down to the river. Just before us I saw an undergraduate in -boating costume and ran after him. - -“‘Can you take us on board the University barge?’ - -“‘No-o-o-o, I think not.’ - -“‘But my companion is the Prince Royal of Sweden and Norway.’ - -“Upon which the boy very soon found that he could take a Prince -anywhere, and proud he probably was afterwards to narrate to whom he had -been acting cicerone. In the barge, a number of undergraduates were -looking at the Prince’s portrait in the _Graphic_. He looked at it too, -over their shoulders, but they did not recognise him. - -“It was a fatiguing day, and I felt greatly the utter apathy and want of -interest in all the Swedes, who scarcely noticed anything, admired -nothing, and remembered nothing.” - - * * * * * - -“_June 18._--Again to Oxford with the Prince. This time the town was in -gala costume, and we drove through a street hung with flags, and through -crowds of people waiting to see the Prince, to the Vice-Chancellor’s -Lodge at Pembroke. Here the Prince dressed, and I went on at once with -his gentlemen to the Theatre, where places were reserved for us just -under the Vice-Chancellor’s throne. My Swedish companions were amused -with the undergraduates’ expression of their likes and dislikes, till -the great moment came and the great doors were thrown open, and, amid a -flood of sunlight, the procession streamed in headed by all the gold -maces. Immediately after the Vice-Chancellor came my Prince, looking -tall and handsome in his white uniform with the crimson robe over it, -and perfectly royal. _I_ knew that he felt nervous, but he could not -have been half as nervous as I was. He played his part, however, -perfectly. He received his degree standing by the Vice-Chancellor’s -side, and the whole body of undergraduates sang a little impromptu song, -to the effect of ‘He’s a charming Swedish boy.’ - -“We adjourned from the Theatre to the green court of All Souls, where, -in the sunlit quadrangle, I brought up, one after another, all the -principal persons to be presented to the Prince--Lord and Lady Dufferin, -Rachel and Sir Arthur Gordon, Lord Selborne, the Dean of Christ Church -and Mrs. Liddell, &c. There was a luncheon for 300 in the All-Souls -library, and afterwards we drove with Mrs. Evans, the Vice-Chancellor’s -wife, to the Masonic fête in the lovely Wadham garden, and then paid -official visits, before leaving, to the Vice-Chancellor and Dean. - -“In the evening I was with the Prince at Mrs. E. Guiness’s ball, on -which £6000 are said to have been wasted. It was a perfect fairy-land, -ice pillars up to the ceiling, an avenue of palms, a veil of stephanotis -from the staircase, and you pushed your way through a brake of papyrus -to the cloak-room.” - - * * * * * - -“_June 19._--We dined with the Aberdeens. I went before the Prince, and -was with Aberdeen to receive him at the door, and then presented a -quantity of people--Lord and Lady Carnarvon, Lord and Lady Brownlow, -Lady Balfour, Dowager Lady Aberdeen, &c. The London Scottish Volunteers -played soft music during dinner. Soon afterwards the Prince went away to -the Scandinavian ball, rather disappointing many people who came to see -him in the evening.” - - * * * * * - -“_June 20._--Oh, what a shock it has been that, while the balls last -night were going on, telegrams announced the death of the dear young -Prince Imperial! I am sure I cried for him like a nearest relation; -there was something so very cordial and attaching in him, and there is -something so unspeakably terrible in his death. The Prince was -overwhelmed, and could not dine at Lowther Lodge, where there was a -large party expressly to meet him, but he was quite right.” - - * * * * * - -“_June 21._--We can think of nothing else but the Prince Imperial and -the awful grief at Chislehurst. Immediately on hearing the telegram, -Lord Dorchester wrote to M. Pietri a letter of condolence. M. Pietri was -away in Corsica, and the Empress opened his letter. It begged Pietri to -offer deep sympathy to the Empress in her overwhelming affliction. She -felt her son was dead, and when Lord Sydney and Mr. Borthwick arrived, -they found her in tears; but when she heard the awful truth that her -darling had been deserted and assegaied, she gave terrible shrieks and -fainted away. - -“Most of the day she was unconscious. Those who went to Chislehurst -describe the scene as too heart-rending. The old servants could not -rest, and walked in the garden in groups, wringing their hands and -crying ‘O mon pauvre petit Prince! O mon pauvre cher petit Prince!’ - -“In the morning I went with the Prince to Lambeth,--all of us very sad -and tearful. I had mentioned a rather later hour to the Archbishop, so -that he was not ready to receive us, and Lord and Lady Charles Clinton, -who were there, were dreadfully shy. When the Archbishop came, he showed -us his library treasures, and climbed up the high Lollards’ Tower to -take the Prince to the prison of the early Reformers; but I felt how -fearfully dull the Archbishop must think all the Swedes, who made no -observation whatever upon anything they saw.” - - * * * * * - -“_June 23._--With the Prince to the Rose and Crown Coffee-House. Lord -and Lady Aberdeen and Lady Cairns met us there. It is a beautifully -managed institution, and fresh and clean to a degree. All the workmen -crowded in for dinner before we left, but I would not let Aberdeen let -them know who was there till the last moment, when the news gave great -satisfaction; but they behaved beautifully--no crowding or staring: the -Prince wrote his name in their book. - -[Illustration: THE LOLLARDS’ PRISON, LAMBETH.][309] - -“Luncheon afterwards with Lord and Lady Garvagh, meeting only Madame -Rouzaud (Christine Nilsson).” - - * * * * * - -“_June 25._--Dinner at Lord Sandwich’s--a particularly good party. I sat -by Lady Elcho, whose mind seems to be in perpetual moonlight, very -calming and refreshing.” - -[Illustration: THE WAKEFIELD TOWER, TOWER OF LONDON.][310] - -“_June 26._--To the Tower of London with the Prince, who was very -good-humoured and absurd. It is a long fatiguing sight. Our being at -Trinity Square was curious in its results, as persons were just then -visiting it (the site of the block at which More, Fisher, Laud, -Strafford fell) with a view to its destruction, and the fact, afterwards -adduced before the House of Lords, that the Prince Royal of Sweden and -Norway was at that very moment being taken to see it as one of the great -historical sites of London, proved its salvation. - -“How wearisome it is to steer the Prince through people’s little -intrigues. They have to-day involved a letter of six sheets to the Queen -of Sweden. Yesterday I was free, as he went with the ‘Four-in-Hand -Club,’--an odd arrangement for _me_ to have to make for him.” - - * * * * * - -“_June 27._--Went with the Prince by appointment to Hertford House, -where Sir R. Wallace received us. His riches are untold and -indescribable. He showed them very pleasantly, and had much that was -interesting to tell about them.” - - * * * * * - -“_July 3._--To Syon with the Lockers and Leslies. So few people came at -first, owing to the wet, that we were most cordially welcomed by the -Duke and Lady Percy. Soon it cleared and half London began to pour in; -but the long wide galleries never seem crowded. I reached the -conservatories with Mary and Lily Hughes, and the gardener showed us -some bamboos which, he said, grew twelve inches a day!” - - * * * * * - -“_July 4._--Oh, the constant variety of the tangle of London life! This -morning was occupied by a special farewell service in Henry VII.’s -chapel at Westminster for Arthur Gordon and Victor Williamson going out -to Fiji. Arthur Stanley preached, standing behind the altar over Edward -VI.’s grave, a most pagan little sermon about Alexander and Priam and -the sacred fire of Troy as a comfort to wandering souls! We all received -the Sacrament together, and then took leave of the travellers in the -Chapter-House.” - - * * * * * - -“_July 5._--A reprieve from duties to the Prince, who has gone to -Windsor and Aldershot. I had the great happiness of seeing Lady -Castletown and Mrs. Lewis Wingfield again after four years. It is -delightful to see any one who ‘knows how’ to enjoy themselves: every one -wishes it, but scarcely any one has an idea how it is to be done. - -“At dinner at Sir Rutherford Alcock’s I heard the startling news of the -death of Frances, Lady Waldegrave.[311] To me she was only a lay figure, -receiving at her drawing-room door, but I remember her thus ever since I -was a boy at Oxford, when she was living at Nuneham. In spite of her -faults, she had many and warm friends: Lord Houghton sobbed like a child -on receiving the news in the midst of a large party. News which affected -me more personally was the death of dear young Charlie Ossulston[312] -from cholera in India.... I heard it at the Speaker’s party, which was -most beautiful, with windows wide open to the river in the glory of full -moonlight, with which the many lamp-reflections were vainly contending, -gold against silver, upon the wavelets.” - - * * * * * - -“_Sunday, July 6._--To Bedford Chapel to hear Mr. Stopford Brooke preach -on the world as an arena and men as gladiators. ‘But who are the -witnesses on the encircling seats?’ These he described, from dwellers -in the present life to a crowd, such as that painted ‘by artists of -illimitable ideas but limited powers,’ of the glorious army of apostles, -confessors, and martyrs, who all diverge from Christ as a centre.” - - * * * * * - -“_July 10._--A charming party at Syon, where I walked about with dear -old Lady Barrington. A very pleasant dinner at Lord Brownlow’s, where -was a whole succession of beautiful ladies--the lovely hostess herself, -Lady Pembroke, Lady Lothian, Lady de Vesci, Lady Wharncliffe, Mrs. -Reginald Talbot, &c. These high-bred beauties are indeed a contrast to -those known as the ‘professional beauties.’ Most exquisite singing in -the evening, then a party at the Duchess of Cleveland’s to meet the Duke -and Duchess of Edinburgh.” - - * * * * * - -“_July 11._--Dined at Sir Dudley Marjoribanks’--Brook House a beautiful -interior with marvellous china. There was such a procession of Earls and -Countesses, that it fell to my share to take Mrs. Gladstone in to -dinner. Disraeli had said to her, ‘Now _do_ take care of Mr. Gladstone; -you know he is _so_ precious.’” - - * * * * * - -“_July 12._--The dear Prince Imperial’s funeral. I was very sorry not to -go, but my Prince evidently thought I could not, having known him so -well and yet having no recognised place. - -“Our whole hearts are with the Empress. How many instances there have -been of her perfectly noble character since she has been in England. -None are more striking than that which regarded M. Guizot. He had hated -the Imperial government, he had reviled the Emperor: there was no ill -which he did not wish him. But his youngest son, Guillaume, got into -serious money troubles, and eventually he borrowed a large sum--£4000 it -is said--from the Emperor. It was concealed from his father. Long, very -long afterwards, when the Emperor was dead, M. Guizot found it out. It -was agony to him. It was most difficult to him to pay the money, but he -determined to do it at any sacrifice, and he wrote to tell the Empress -so. The Empress answered by telegraph--‘L’Impératrice donne, mais elle -ne prête pas.’” - - * * * * * - -“_July 15._--Lady Ashburton had asked the Hereditary Grand Duke of Baden -to dinner as well as my Prince, so I went to help her by acting Master -of the Ceremonies and receiving the royalties in the hall of Kent House. -While I was waiting, watching at the window, a fair young man arrived -unattended and ran upstairs. I took no notice of _him_. Then I received -the Prince Royal properly, escorted him as far as Lady Ashburton’s -curtsies, and came back to wait for the young Grand Duke. At last Lady -Ashburton sent down to tell me he was _there_, had been there the whole -time: he was the young man who ran upstairs. - -“I had much talk with him afterwards--a tall, simple, pleasing-mannered -youth, much more responsive than my Prince, and good-looking, though -very German in appearance. There were glees at dinner, sung in the -anteroom, and a large party and concert in the evening.” - - * * * * * - -“_July 16._--A beautiful party at Holland House. There was quite a mass -of royalty on the lawn--the Prince and Princess of Wales and their -little girls (in pink trimmed with red), the Edinburghs, the Connaughts, -the Tecks, with their little girl and two nice boys in sailor’s dress, -the Duchess of Mecklenbourg, the Prince of Baden, and my Prince. The -royal children were all in raptures over some performing dogs, which -really were very funny, as a handsome Spitz looked so ecstatically -delighted to ride about on the lawn on a barrel pushed by a number of -other dogs. - -“Dined at Lord Muncaster’s, where I sat by Lady Cairns and Mrs. Cross, -both worth listening to. The Muncasters, by M. Henri’s aid, have given -quite an old Flemish interior to a handsome commonplace house in Carlton -Gardens. - -“A concert afterwards at Lady Brownlow’s--all the three beautiful -sisters were there, and most lovely in their different phases.” - - * * * * * - -“_July 18._--Luncheon with young Lady Morley and dinner with her -mother-in-law, then to a concert at Stafford House. The Duchess (of -Sutherland) talked much and affectionately of my sister, whom so few -remember now. The Spanish Students were ranged with their instruments on -the broad landing of the staircase, and the whole scene was like that -of the play of ‘Hamlet.’ The Prince of Wales walked about and talked, -winning good opinions by the attention with which he always seems to -listen to whoever is speaking to him.” - - * * * * * - -“_July 19._--Went down with the special train to Hatfield, and drove up -from the station to the house with old Lady Ailesbury. An immense party -of Dukes and Duchesses, &c., were already collected to welcome the -royalties, Lady Salisbury receiving them in a large rough straw -garden-bonnet. The Hereditary Grand Duke of Baden arrived early, and I -was sent off with him to see the old Elizabethan buildings, the stables, -&c. He is extremely pleasing, responsive, and conversable, and his -admiration of the place was most intense and natural. I walked about -with different friends till the royal party drove up in six carriages. -They were all going to stay at Hatfield till Monday, fifty people, -besides servants. I came back at eight.” - - * * * * * - -“_July 21._--Met the Prince Royal at Waterloo Station, where a great -many people were collected to see him off. Lady Marian Alford joined us, -and we floated into Hampshire in a royal saloon carriage. I went to my -Prince in the little private compartment, and had a long talk with him, -in which all the growing mists of the London season seemed to be swept -away at once, and our intimate trust and affection for each other -restored upon its old footing. - -“Carriages from Lady Waterford met us at Holmsley, and we had a -pleasant but rather cold drive through the forest. In the gothic porch -of Highcliffe, Lady Waterford was waiting with Mr. and Lady Jane Ellice, -and Miss Lindsay. Alwyn Greville came in the evening, and a few people -to dinner. The ladies sang, Miss Lindsay recited, and the Prince also -sang a little.” - - * * * * * - -“_July 22._--A misty day, but still, and Highcliffe delightful. - -“The King had said so much to the Prince about Lady Waterford, that he -is at his very best here, and he has had well-worth-while conversation -with Lady Marian. We drove with Colonel Thursby’s four-in-hand to Herne -Park, and in the afternoon looked for fossils on the cliffs, where M. de -Printzsköld sank up to his knees in a bog of black mud. In the evening -there was a little ball, opened by the dear Lady herself with the -Prince.... The Prince was enchanted with everything, and said he would -rather sit by either of ‘the three ladies’ at Highcliffe[313] than by -the most beautiful young lady in England.” - - * * * * * - -“_July 23._--The Prince was so anxious that I should go with him to -Devonshire that I consented to leave Highcliffe with him after -breakfast. We had a pleasant journey through the rich Somersetshire -orchards, and during a wait at Templecombe, a ramble with the Prince to -the church. We have met the Swedish equerries again, and life is not -always quite as easy as it has been without them: however, though we -have our ups and downs, we have also our downs and ups, and ‘si gravis, -brevis,’ is a proverb one can always remember.” - - * * * * * - -“_July 24._--Torbay is bluer than I ever saw the Bay of Naples, and the -sun shines on the red rocks of Paignton and the white sails flitting -over the limpid water. My windows look into the grounds of Rockend--the -steep field, the little wood, the very windows of the house connected -with many of the miseries of my childhood.[314] I have wandered on the -terraces--to the rock walk; the seat where I used to see Uncle Julius -and Aunt Esther sitting in the first year of their marriage; ‘Cummany’s -Corner,’ where ladies-finger and coronilla grow still; the tower where -Aunt Lucy used to meditate and pray. Almost all the friends--and enemies -too--of my childhood have passed away now, and it is in places like this -which recall them so vividly, that I feel the longing Webster describes -in the ‘Duchess of Melfi’:-- - - “‘O that it were possible we might - But hold some two days’ conference with the dead! - From them I should learn something I am sure - I never shall learn here.’” - -“_July 26._--I took leave of the Prince in his bedroom before he was -dressed. Our real separation must come soon; and though in many ways I -shall feel wonderfully set free when my responsibility is over, my heart -always yearns toward him.” - - * * * * * - -“_Lyme Hall, August 6._--After two days at Thornycroft in familiar -scenes, I have come to Lyme to receive the Prince Royal. Only Mr. and -Mrs. Davenport are here, with their pretty daughter, engaged to marry -Tom Legh.” - - * * * * * - -“_August 7._--The Prince arrived from Manchester. I went to receive him -at Disley Station and to present Mr. Legh, who had never seen him -before. James II.’s rooms were prepared for him.” - - * * * * * - -“_August 8._--I sat out much of the day with Mrs. Legh, while the Prince -played at lawn-tennis, and in the afternoon I drove with Mrs. Legh and -Mrs. Davenport along the hills and moor, while he rode with the others. -He is much delighted with the great Lyme dogs, and is to have one of -them; to his great disappointment the wild cattle have almost ceased to -exist. He will only be interested in facts, never in vision or its -emotions, and it is no use to tell him that-- - - “‘Man’s books are but man’s alphabet, - Beyond and on his lessons lie-- - The lessons of the violet, - The large gold letters of the sky: - The love of beauty, blossomed soil, - The large content, the tranquil toil.’”[315] - - * * * * * - -“_August 9._--Left Lyme with the Prince and the Davenports in a saloon -carriage to Crewe. I sat alone with the Prince most of the time in the -inner compartment. We parted at Crewe intending to meet again in three -days’ time.” - - * * * * * - -“_Betton House, August 10._--With the dear old Tayleurs. To church at -Mucklestone, and afterwards to Mr. Hinchcliffe’s charming vicarage -garden. From the church tower Margaret of Anjou watched the battle of -Blore Heath, and in the village the same family (with the same name) -still officiate as blacksmiths, one of whose members shoed the Queen’s -horse backwards to be ready for her escape if it was needed, and thus -saved her.” - - * * * * * - -“_August 11._--To Buntingsdale, beautiful as in childish -remembrance,[316] with the real scent of the lime-trees, which has often -come back to me in dreams.” - - * * * * * - -“_Glamis Castle, August 13._--I arrived at Glamis at 9 P.M., and found -an immense party in the house--Sir James and Lady Ramsay, Lord and (the -very charming) Lady Sydney Inverurie, Lord and Lady Northesk, and many -others. Lord Strathmore has made great preparations, and the Prince -would have had the most royal reception here which he has met with -anywhere; but, to the great inconvenience of every one, he has put off -leaving Hopetoun, where he is, being ill with toothache. - -“I have been sitting out much with Lady Sydney Inverurie, who went for -her wedding tour to--Japan! She is most amusing about her children and -the agony they keep her in as to how to answer their questions. One had -just asked her ‘Who cut God’s hair?’ and upon her describing the events -of Eden, asked why Adam and Eve did not climb over the walls and get out -the other way, because the angel could not come after them, as God had -commanded him to _stay_ at the gate.” - - * * * * * - -“_August 15._--I have greatly enjoyed this visit at Glamis, and am glad -to feel the cousinly tie drawn closer to the Lyon boys individually as -well as collectively. Miss Macdonald was very amusing in her stories. - -“A Bishop (Wilberforce of course) remonstrated with a country curate in -his diocese for driving tandem. The curate said, ‘Well, my Lord, I -cannot see that there is more harm in my driving my horses before each -other than in my driving them side by side.’ ‘Oh, yes,’ said the Bishop, -‘there really is a fitness in things; for example, if I put my hands so -(folding them together), no one can reproach me, but if I put them _so_ -(cutting a snooks), they might reproach me very much indeed.’ - -“In the winter the Duchess of Leinster had a large Christmas party for -her servants, and took particular pains to make it agreeable for them. -Afterwards she asked her old housekeeper how she had enjoyed it. ‘Oh, -your Grace, I should have enjoyed it very much indeed, if something most -dreadful had not happened, which has made me perfectly -miserable.’--‘What can it have been?’ said the Duchess. ‘Oh, it was -something so dreadful, I really cannot tell your Grace: I was so -dreadfully insulted by the butler, I really cannot repeat his -words.’--‘Oh, but you really must,’ said the Duchess. ‘Well, your Grace, -if I really must, I must tell your Grace that I was coming out from -supper, and I had only had the wing of a pheasant and a little bit of -jelly, and I met the butler, and he said to me “Is your programme -_full_?” Now your Grace will allow that _that_ was so insulting that -pleasure was not to be thought of afterwards.’ - -“Miss Erica Robertson said:-- - -“‘Bishop Wilberforce was going, in a visitation tour, to stay at a very -humble clergyman’s house. The maid was instructed that, if he spoke to -her, she was never to answer him without saying “My Lord.” When the -Bishop had written his letters, he asked who would take them to the -post. “The Lord, my boy,” said the terrified maid.’” - - * * * * * - -“_August 24._--I left Glamis on Monday, and went by Dalmally to Oban -through the Brender Pass--beautiful exceedingly, the mountains so varied -and encircling such varied waters. - -“On Thursday, at dawn, I saw all the mountains meeting their shadows in -the still waters of Oban Bay, and determined to go to Staffa. It was a -crowded, rolling, smelly steamer, and I was very miserable, but rather -better than worse when the fresh air in the Atlantic made up for the -additional rolling. At twelve we reached Iona--different from what I -expected, the island larger and the ruins smaller, and without the -romantic effect of those on Holy Island. Still, of course, the interest -is intense of the cradle of Scottish Christianity, the Throndtjem of -Scotland. I found some pleasant boys, sons of a Glasgow merchant, -sketching, and made great friends with them. An agony of Atlantic swell -brought us to Staffa, but oh! how grand it is!--the grandest cathedral -of nature, black with age and roofed with golden vegetation, rising out -of the blue sea and lashed by the white foam. I drew a little on the -basaltic columns opposite Fingal’s Cave, whilst the mass of the -passengers were landing and scrambling about the cavern, and then my boy -friends and I climbed the long staircases to the top, where the breezy -downs are enamelled with flowers, and the view is most sublime--of the -Atlantic, the islands in their fantastic shapes, the distant ghost of -shadowy mountains in Skye, and the turbulent waves beneath. I never saw -any single place which makes such an impression of natural sublimity. - -“How the interests and emotions of life are mingled! In the train, on -leaving Glamis, I heard of the death of my dear uncle-like cousin Lord -Bloomfield, and while I was drawing Dunolly Sir John Lefevre was passing -away! Though the delicate thread which bound his life to earth was so -indescribably frail, it _had_ lasted so long, that it is difficult to -realise that his loving sympathy and the holy example of his beautiful, -humble, and self-forgetful life are removed from us. He was the best man -I have ever known and the truest friend. His sweet courtesies were -unbounded. His advice was always worth taking, for it was always -unselfish, always carefully considered, and it always came from the -heart. While I honoured him like a father, he was so genial that I could -also love him as an intimate friend.” - - * * * * * - -“_Ascot, August 25, 1879._--I am thankful to have come here to the -Lefevres’ to-day, so filled with crushing sorrow to all my dear cousins, -though no one can help being comforted in the beautiful recollections of -the beloved father--of his boundless love to all, and his painless -passage, full of thankfulness and love to the last, to the full fruition -of that love in the unseen. - -“I walked with his children to the church, where his coffin already -lay[317] in the chancel covered with garlands. Lord Eversley and Emma -Lefevre were there, and many others. The grave was in a sheltered corner -of the churchyard, a sunny peaceful spot, and there, with aching hearts, -we laid him.” - - * * * * * - -“_Ledbury Court,[318] Sept. 13._--This is just the sort of place which -is pleasantest--great comfort and no pretension, rather under than over -a very good income. The house, many-gabled and quaint, is _in_ the old -street of the town, but you drive into a large paved court with a -porter’s lodge and pavilion, and clipped bay-trees in tubs like those of -an old hotel in the Faubourg St. Germain. Behind, pleasant modern rooms -and an oak library open upon lawns with brilliant flowers, beyond which -a deer-park extends up wavy hills to a high terrace with a noble view -over the western counties. - -“On Wednesday we went to the musical festival at Hereford. The cathedral -is entirely ruined by restoration--a disgusting polychrome roof, and a -piteous glazed-tile floor replacing the ancient pavement consecrated by -five centuries. After the Oratorio we went to luncheon with the Bishop, -Dr. Attley, and at the palace I met many old friends. - -“Yesterday we went to Eastnor. Lord and Lady Somers were away, but we -saw the gardens, which would be beautiful if they were not spoilt by too -many pines and araucarias, and the house, a hideous castle of Otranto, -so unworthily occupying a noble situation. It contains a few fine -pictures, but the rooms are frightful.” - - * * * * * - -“_Holme Lacy, Sept. 14._--My visit at Ledbury was a very happy one, -Libbet so cheerful and pleasant, Charlie Adeane so engaging and -affectionate, dear Lady Hardwicke so delightful, and Alick Yorke so -amusing. - -“I came here last night, met at the station by Sir Henry Stanhope. It -has been a magnificent place, but was injured as much as possible by the -late possessor with the assistance of the ignorant architect who built -Lord Dudley’s house in Park Lane, who tried hard to turn it from a -French château into a Grecian villa. Some of the ceilings, however, are -quite glorious, and there are many fine portraits.... Lady Scudamore -Stanhope, ‘the most popular woman in the county,’ was Sir Adam Hay’s -eldest daughter Dora.”[319] - - * * * * * - -“_Cheltenham, Sept. 15, 1879._--I do not know when, if ever, I have seen -anything so beautiful as the park at Holme Lacy. All Sunday afternoon I -wandered with Sir Henry Stanhope in its glorious glades, with fern nine -feet high, grand old oaks, white-stemmed beeches, and deep blue depths -of mossy dingle. The garden too is quite a poem--such a harmony of -colour backed by great yew hedges and grand old pine-trees. Seven -hundred people on an average come to see it on the days it is shown, and -no wonder.... We went to service at an old church full of tombs of the -family, and afterwards to the rectory close by, where there is a -wonderful old pear-tree, of which the branches always take root again -when they fall off, and cover an immense extent, sometimes producing as -much as 2000 gallons of perry. - -“In coming hither I stayed to see Gloucester--scarcely worth while, all -is so modernised. Yet the cathedral tower and crypt are beautiful, and -the Norman nave fine. I saw there the tomb of an ancestor, Sir -Onesiphorus Paul, of whom I knew nothing before, but it appears from his -epitaph that he was ‘the first to put into practice the humane designs -of Howard as to prison discipline.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Cheltenham, Sept. 16._--Mrs. Orlando Kenyon is staying here with the -Corbetts. She was a Cotton, and is a very charming person. She described -going with her cousin Miss Cotton (now Dowager Marchioness of Downshire) -to Peover for a ball. Just as they were setting off news arrived of the -death of her cousin’s grandfather, old Mr. Fulke Greville. However, as -the visit was settled, it was decided that it should take place, only -that Miss Cotton should not go to the ball and her cousin should. They -slept together at Peover. In the night Miss Cotton woke Mrs. Kenyon and -said, ‘I have had such an extraordinary dream. I have seen my mother -moving backwards and forwards between the doors at the end of the room, -not walking, but apparently moving in the air--floating with a quantity -of gossamer drapery round her; and when I close my eyes, I seem to see -her still.’ In the morning the cousins returned to Combermere. - -“Just before dinner a servant called Mr. Cotton (Mrs. Kenyon’s father) -and said Lord Combermere wanted to speak to him. ‘Oh,’ said Miss Cotton, -springing forward, ‘then I am sure some news has come by the post,’ and -she tried to insist upon following her uncle, but he would not allow -her. Mr. Cotton came back greatly agitated, but insisted on their all -going in to dinner. It was a most wretched meal. Afterwards he told the -son and daughter that their mother had died (just after her father’s -funeral) very suddenly, just when she had appeared at Peover. - -“We went yesterday to Southam, the beautiful old house of the De la -Beres. After the De la Beres became extinct, it was bought by Lord -Ellenborough, and it contains a mixture of relics of the two -families--charming old furniture and pictures, including a grand Holbein -of Edward VI. One of the De la Beres saved the life of the Black Prince -at Crecy, and a Prince of Wales’s helmet and feathers over a -chimney-piece commemorate the fact. Three Miss Sergisons of Cuckfield -Park inhabit the house now--kindly, pleasant old ladies.” - - * * * * * - -“_Llanover, Sept. 20._--From Cheltenham I went to the Vaughans at -Llandaff. It is a hideous drive from Cardiff, but at length you ascend a -little hill which is crowned by a knot of buildings--deanery, canonry, a -few houses, a cross, and the picturesque ruins of the old palace, while -the lofty steeples of the really beautiful cathedral shoot up from the -depths below. It is, in fact, far more picturesque than many more -important places, and the graveyard around the cathedral, and many -picturesque corners inside, make it very attractive. - -“Kate took me to Castle Coch--a restored castle of Lord Bute, -beautifully situated. We went to the Palace and saw Mrs. Oliphant, the -charming old wife of the Bishop of Llandaff. Bishop Perry and his very -amusing wife took us with them to dine at Dufferin with a brother of -Lord Aberdare, whom we found there. - -“Yesterday I went for an hour to Caerphilly on the way here to Llanover, -where I arrived at 7 P.M. The Hereditary Grand Duke of Baden had already -arrived and gone up to his room. I first saw him when the party was -assembled for dinner--Lord and Lady Raglan, Miss Johnes, Mr. Ram, Mr. -and Mrs. Sandford, and Mr. and Mrs. Herbert of Llanarth, with two sons, -daughter, and daughter-in-law. The Duke received me most cordially and -pleasantly. - -“After a very long dinner we all went into the hall, when, from the -curtains at the end, all the servants tripped in, each footman leading a -maid by each hand, in most picturesque Welsh costumes, made obeisance -to the Prince, went backwards, and then danced the most complicated and -picturesque of reels, with ever-varying figures. Lady Llanover’s own -maid was the great performer, and nothing could exceed her consummate -grace and dignity. Then a board was brought in and placed in the centre -of the floor and three candles upon it, around and between which the -footmen and the harper’s boys performed the wonderful candle-dance with -the greatest agility. - -“Lady Llanover’s excess of courtesies and overwhelming deference were -rather oppressive to us all, and evidently frightened the poor boyish -Prince dreadfully last night; but this morning she did not come down, -and we have got on splendidly, and he delighted in being talked to like -other people, and was as natural and nice as he could be. He is -certainly a most bewitching Prince, so full of animation and fun, so -right-minded and so courteous and simple. - -“In three carriages we went to Llanarth to luncheon. I went with the -royal carriage, which, with its smart scarlet postillions, certainly -went slow enough; for the dear old lady, to do the Prince more honour, -had engaged for the occasion not only the two horses used for the -weddings at Abergavenny, but also the two used at funerals, and the -steeds of death outweighed those of mirth, and kept us down to a -funereal pace. - -“Llanarth is a sunny, well-kept place. Its great relic is the portrait -of Pope’s Arabella Fermor, whose sister was a direct ancestress of the -present possessors. After luncheon, we all ranged on the steps and were -photographed, and then went on to Raglan, where Lord and Lady Raglan -(she a very charming person) did the honours of the really beautiful -ruin. To my surprise, I heard the Duke beginning to compare it to -Hurstmonceaux, not knowing my connection with the latter. I drove back -with him, and told him many stories, and we made pleasant friendly -acquaintance. He ran after me when we came in, and kept me to talk to -him quietly, and spoke very nicely and kindly of his mother’s liking for -my books. He has one of the most open, frank countenances I have ever -looked upon.” - - * * * * * - -“_Llanover, Sept. 21._--This morning the Herberts went to mass at -Llanarth, and we (English Church) had a queer service in the -drawing-room, with a congregation of eight, and a clergyman in a -surplice, &c. He gave a capital little sermon, but illustrated his text, -‘Pray without ceasing,’ by the story of the Welsh Prince for whom all -the birds sang when they were asked. He was taken captive, and the birds -immediately became silent. Then his captors commanded them to sing, but -still all the birds in Wales held silence. Then they asked the captive -Prince to desire them to sing, and he, kneeling down, prayed that God -would open the mouths of the birds, upon which they all sang lustily. -This was to prove that prayer was worth while even in the smallest -things of life! - -“The poor Prince has been victimised to-day to see all the relics of -Mrs. Delany, the fetish of this house, and was afterwards taken to the -lake to see two coracles, the boats of ancient Wales, in which Ivor and -Arthur Herbert besported themselves.” - - * * * * * - -“_Holmhurst, Sept. 27._--On Monday, all Llanover was in motion for the -Prince’s departure, more scarlet cloth than ever all over the place, the -Welsh harpers harping at the door, the Welsh housemaids, in high hats -and bright scarlet and blue petticoats, waiting with bouquets in the -park, and every guest in the house compelled to go to the station to see -the Prince off. Highly comical was the scene on the platform--the yards -of red cloth hurriedly thrown down by two footmen wherever the poor -boyish Prince, in his brown frieze suit and wideawake hat, seemed likely -to tread. I wished to have travelled to Windsor by Gloucester, which is -two and a half hours’ less journey; but no, that was impossible: the -Queen of England sometimes has her own way; the Queen of South Wales -_always_. - -“Mrs. Herbert of Llanarth was sent to travel with the Prince to Malvern, -Mr. Ram to Worcester, I to Oxford. However, one could hardly see too -much of him, he is such a nice Prince--kind, courteous, clever, -intelligent, simple, and sincere. Captain Sommer, the gentleman in -waiting, is also a most superior person. - -“I reached Ronald Gower in the evening. He met me at the Windsor -station, and took me to his really charming little house, which is full -of lovely things. It is an odd _ménage_, with the artistic valet, Robert -Stubbs, supreme. It was a great pleasure to take up with Ronald the -links of a much-relaxed, never-forgotten friendship, and to find him far -nicer than I had remembered him. - -“We spent Tuesday at Cliveden, a pouring day, but it did not matter. The -Duchess of Westminster[320] is Ronald’s favourite sister, and was very -pleasant and cordial to his friend. She is gloriously handsome, though -so large. We talked for four hours without ceasing, and she took us into -every corner of the beautiful house full of charming pictures, and then -put on an ulster and hood and walked with us through the torrents of -rain to the conservatories. One felt that she was a person to whom one -could say anything without being misunderstood, and who would become an -increasingly true friend. Her daughter, Lady Beatrice Cavendish, was -there, and the handsome young husband, Compton Cavendish, Lord Chesham’s -son, came in to luncheon and tea. All saw us off at 5 P.M. in the little -cart with Piggy the pony. - -“On Wednesday morning we went into the castle to see Lady Ponsonby, who -lives in the old prison over Edward III.’s gateway--most curious, and -fitted up in admirable taste, despairing to Mr. Ayrton.” - - * * * * * - -“_Osterley Park, Nov. 13._--I came here yesterday, most kindly welcomed -by the good old Duchess of Cleveland, who is delightful. The greatness -of her charm certainly lies in the absence of charm: no one ever had -less of it. But what bright intelligence, what acute perceptions, what -genuine kindness, what active beneficence! I found Julia, Lady Jersey, -here, and Mr. Brandling, and a Mr. and Mrs. Bramston, relations of the -Cleveland family. After dinner, the Duchess made me sit exclusively by -her, saying kindly that she could not waste any of my short visit. She -talked in a very interesting way of the great Duke of Wellington, and -then of the present Duke. She said that when she asked the latter if -the great Duke had never shown him any kindness, he said, ‘No, he never -even so much as patted me on the shoulder when I was a boy, but it was -because he hated my mother.’ - -“After luncheon to-day I walked with Brandling and Colonel Bramston to -Boston Hall, the fine old house of the Clitherows. - -“As Lady Caroline Paulet, the Duchess of Cleveland used to be very proud -of her little foot. She wore an anklet, and would often sit upon a -table, and let it fall down over her foot to show it. It was inscribed, -‘La légèreté de Camille et la vitesse d’Atalante.’ One day Lady Isabella -St. John, who was equally proud of her little foot, said, ‘I wish you -would let me try if I can get your anklet over my foot, Lady Caroline.’ -And she put it on, and, to Lady Caroline’s great disgust, _kicked it -off_, to show how easily her foot would go through it. - -“In those long-ago days--one cannot imagine it now--she used to be very -_décolletée_, and the Duchess Elizabeth (Miss Russell), who did not like -her, once flung a napkin at her across the table, saying, ‘Caroline, -here is something to cover your nakedness with.’ - -“How many and amusing are the anecdotes remembered of that Duchess -Elizabeth, who went on receiving a pension from the Duke of Bedford, as -his cast-off mistress, after she was married to the Duke of Cleveland. -She had been a washerwoman. She left Newton House, where she lived as a -widow, to her nephew Mr. Russell, whose grandson married a Lushington. -She gave £70,000 to her niece Laura when she married Lord Mulgrave, and -the marriage very nearly went off because the Normanbys stuck out for -£100,000. ‘Laura is not my only niece, remember that,’ she said, and -then they became frightened. She used to call Lord Harry Vane ‘My -‘Arry.’ One day, with Mr. Francis Grey, the conversation turned upon -Venus. ‘I do not like her,’ she said; ‘she had a bad figure, and by no -means a good character.’ Her companion laughed and said, ‘She mistakes -her for a living person,’ and so she did.” - - * * * * * - -“_Nov. 14._--Life is very pleasant in this fine old house, and its long -sunny gallery full of books and pictures is a delightful resort on -winter mornings. We breakfast at ten, during which Mr. Spencer -Lyttelton, who is frequently here, does his best to shock people for the -day, but is certainly very clever and amusing. I never saw any one who -called a spade a spade as he does, but I believe he likes every one to -think him worse than he is. This morning I walked with Brandling in the -long shrubberies, the great trees casting perfectly blue shadows upon -the park white with hoar-frost and the lake thinly coated with ice. - -“In the afternoon we went to Ham House--a most curious visit. No -half-inhabited château of a ruined family in Normandy was ever half so -dilapidated as this home of the enormously rich Tollemaches. Like a -French château too is the entrance through a gateway to a desolate yard -with old trees and a sundial, and a donkey feeding. All the members of -the family whom I knew were absent, but I sent in my card to Mr. -Algernon Tollemache, who received us. As the door at the head of the -entrance-stair opened, its handle went through a priceless Sir Joshua -of Louisa, Countess of Dysart: it always does go through it. We were -taken through a half-ruined hall and a bedroom to an inner room in which -Mr. Algernon Tollemache (unable to move from illness) was sitting. It -presented the most unusual contrasts imaginable--a velvet bed in a -recess backed by the most exquisite embroidery on Chinese silk; an -uncarpeted floor of rough boards; a glorious Lely portrait of the -Duchess of Lauderdale; a deal board by way of washing-stand, with a -coarse white jug and basin upon it; a splendid mirror framed in massive -silver on a hideous rough deal scullery table without a cover; and all -Mr. Tollemache’s most extraordinarily huge boots and shoes ranged round -the room by way of ornament. - -“The vast house is like a caravansary; in one apartment lives young Lord -Dysart, the real owner; in another his Roman Catholic mother, Lady -Huntingtower, and her two Protestant daughters; in a third, his -great-aunt, Lady Laura Grattan; in a fourth, his uncle, Mr. Frederick -Tollemache, who manages the property; in a fifth, Mr. and Mrs. Algernon -Tollemache, who made a great fortune in Australia. - -“We were sent over the house. All was of the same character--a glorious -staircase with splendid carving in deep relief; the dismal chapel in -which the different members of the family, amongst them Lady -Ailesbury[321] and Lady Sudeley,[322] have been married, with the -prayer-book of Charles I., in a most wonderful cover of metallic -embroidery; marvellous old rooms with lovely delicate silk hangings of -exquisitely beautiful tints, though mouldering in rags; old Persian -carpets of priceless designs worn to shreds; priceless Japanese screens -perishing; beautiful pictures dropping to pieces for want of varnish; -silver grates, tongs, and bellows; magnificent silver tables; black -chandeliers which look like ebony and are solid silver; a library full -of Caxtons, the finest collection in the world except two; a china -closet with piles of old Chelsea, undusted and untouched for years; a -lovely little room full of miniatures, of which the most beautiful of -all was brought down for us to examine closer. ‘Do you see that mark?’ -said Mr. Tollemache. ‘Thirty years ago a spot appeared there upon the -miniature, so I opened the case and wetted my finger and rubbed it: I -did not know paint came off(!). Wasn’t it fortunate I did not wipe my -wet hand down over the whole picture: it would _all_ have come -off!’[323] - -“And the inhabitants of this palace, which looks like that of the -Sleeping Beauty in the Wood, have wealth which is inexhaustible, though -they have scarcely any servants, no carriage, only bread and cheese for -luncheon, and never repair or restore anything. - -“All the family have had their peculiarities. The late Lord Huntingtower -was at one time separated from his wife, and when he was persuaded that -he ought in common justice to allow her to return to Ham, he assented, -but he draped the gates and portico with black cloth for her reception, -and he put a band of black cloth round the left leg of every animal on -the estate, the cows in the field, the horses in the stable, even the -dogs and the cats. _His_ grandfather, Lord Huntingtower, was more -extraordinary still. When he bought a very nice estate with a house near -Buckminster, he bought all the contents of the house at the same time. -There was a very good collection of pictures, but ‘What do I want with -pictures? All that rubbish shall be burnt,’ he said. ‘But, my lord, they -are very _good_ pictures.’ ‘Well, bring them all down here and make a -very great fire, and I will see them burnt.’ And he did. - -“There is a ghost at Ham. The old butler there had a little girl, and -the Ladies Tollemache kindly asked her to come on a visit: she was then -six years old. In the small hours of the morning, when dawn was making -things clear, the child, waking up, saw a little old woman scratching -with her fingers against the wall close to the fireplace. She was not at -all frightened at first, but sat up to look at her. The noise she made -in doing this caused the old woman to look round, and she came to the -foot of the bed, and grasping the rail with her hands, stared at the -child long and fixedly. So horrible was her stare, that the child was -terrified, and screamed and hid her face under the clothes. People who -were in the passage ran in, and the child told what she had seen. The -wall was examined where she had seen the figure scratching, and -concealed in it were found papers which proved that in that room -Elizabeth, Countess of Dysart, had murdered her husband to marry the -Duke of Lauderdale.”[324] - -[Illustration: IN THE VERANDAH, HOLMHURST.] - - * * * * * - -“_Holmhurst, Nov. 24._--Here I am at home again, and we are very busy -increasing the walks round the tiny property with the money which dear -Aunt Sophy left. They will present quite a miniature variety of scenery -now--the ilex walk recalling Italy, and the fir-wood the Black Forest, -but the thick wood at the bottom, and its tiny glens and brook and -bridges, could only be in England. In this wood we are trying to coax a -thousand interesting flowers to ‘grow wild,’ and puzzle the botanists of -the twentieth century. - -[Illustration: VERANDAH STEPS, HOLMHURST.] - -“I spent the last three days of my absence with Hugh Pearson in his -canonry at Windsor, a delightful old house overlooking the steep ascent -of the hill, where different members of the royal family are constantly -dropping in to visit the dearest man in the world, as the princesses of -George III.’s time did to visit Mrs. Delany--and no wonder! - -“Willie Stephens[325] and I had much interesting talk with the beloved -H. Pearson; after being with other people, there is an ease in talking -to him which is like exchanging a frock-coat for a shooting-coat. - -“On Friday poor Prince Alemayu of Abyssinia (King Theodore’s son) was -buried in Windsor Castle. After he came from Abyssinia the Queen adopted -him, and he had no one else to look to, for his mother died of -consumption on her way to England, and his only other near relation, his -uncle, the present King, would certainly have cut his head off at once -if he had returned to Abyssinia. He was at Rugby at Jex Blake’s house, -and then at a private tutor’s to prepare him for the army, but he always -passed his holidays in the castle with Lady Biddulph, and was like a -younger brother to Victor Biddulph, her son. Every one liked him. Lately -he had been at a tutor’s near Leeds, where he became ill of inflammation -of the lungs, probably rapid consumption. Lady Biddulph did not believe -in the danger, but Mrs. Jex Blake went to him, and her account of his -last hours was most touching. He said to her, ‘No doubts: no doubts at -all,’ and then he died. - -“On Thursday he was brought to Windsor, and we went to look at his -coffin in the little mortuary chapel, draped with black and white, in -front of Princess Charlotte’s monument. - -“The funeral was at twelve on Friday. The chapel was full. Most -exquisitely beautiful was the singing--the gradual swell of ‘I am the -Resurrection and the Life’ as the procession formed at the west door and -moved slowly up the nave into the choir. The coffin was piled with -flowers upon a violet and white pall. Lady Biddulph and her children -knelt on one side. Prince Christian, the Chancellor of the Exchequer (as -guardian of the Prince), and Mr. Lowe were amongst the mourners. The -Dead March was played most grandly as the procession moved out again to -the little graveyard by the west door, where the snow had fallen thick -upon the flowers by which the newly-made grave was surrounded. - -“I have heard a very eerie story from Lady Waterford:--There is a place -in Scotland called Longmacfergus. Mr. and Mrs. Spottiswoode lived there, -who were the father and mother of Lady John Scott, and they vouched for -the story. The villagers of Longmacfergus are in the habit of going to -do their marketing at the little town of Dunse, and though their nearest -way home would be by crossing the burn at a point called ‘the Foul -Ford,’ they always choose another and longer way by preference, for the -Foul Ford is always looked upon as haunted. There was a farmer who lived -in Longmacfergus, and who was highly respected, and very well-to-do. One -night his wife was expecting him back from the market at Dunse, and he -did not appear. Late and long she waited and he did not come, but at -last, after midnight, when she was very seriously alarmed, he knocked -violently at the door and she let him in. She was horrified to see his -wild and agonised expression, and the awful change which had taken place -in his whole aspect since they parted. He told her that he had come home -by the Foul Ford, and that he must rue the day and the way, for he must -die before morning. He begged her to send for the minister, for he must -see him at once. She was terrified at his state, and implored him rather -to send for the doctor, but he said, ‘No, the minister--the minister was -the only person who could do him any good.’ However, being a wise woman, -she sent for both minister and doctor. When the doctor came, he said he -could do nothing for the man, the case was past his cure, but the -minister spent several hours with the farmer. Before morning he died, -and what he said that night to the minister never was told till many -years after. - -“Naturally the circumstances of the farmer’s, death made the inhabitants -of Longmacfergus regard the Foul Ford with greater terror than before, -and for a few years no one attempted to use it. At last, however, there -came a day when the son of the dead farmer was persuaded to linger -longer than usual drinking at Dunse, and after being twitted by his -comrades for cowardice in not returning the shortest way, he determined -to risk it, and set out with a brave heart. That night _his_ wife sat -watching in vain for his return, and she watched in vain till morning, -for he never came back. In the morning the neighbours went to search for -him, and he was found lying dead on the bank above the Foul Ford, -and--it is a foolish fact perhaps, but it has always been narrated as a -fact incidental to the story, that--though there were no marks of -violence upon his person, and though his coat was on, his waistcoat was -off and lying by the side of his body upon the grass; his watch and his -money were left intact in his pockets. - -“After his funeral the minister said to the assembled mourners and -parishioners, that now that the second death had occurred of the son, he -thought that he should be justified in revealing the substance of the -strange confession which the father had made on the night he died. He -said that he had crossed the wooden bridge of the Foul Ford, and was -coming up the brae on the other side, when he met a procession of -horsemen dressed in black, riding two and two upon black horses. As they -came up, he saw amongst them, to his horror, every one he had known -amongst his neighbours of Longmacfergus, and who were already dead. But -the man who rode last--the last man who had died--was leading a -riderless horse. As he came up, he dismounted by the farmer’s side, and -said that the horse was for him. The farmer refused to mount, and all -his former neighbours tried to force him on to the horse. They had a -deadly struggle, in which at last the farmer seemed to get the better, -for the horseman rode away, leading the riderless horse, but he said, -‘Never mind, you will want it before morning.’ And before morning he was -dead.” - - * * * * * - -It was with a feeling of strangeness that, in the autumn of 1879, I felt -that my royal duties were over. I did not see the Prince of Sweden again -after his return from Scotland. - -I have heard since at intervals from the Prince (whose career I always -follow with deepest interest), and from the beloved Queen, by the hand -of Countess Rosen; but their letters have referred rather to the past -than to the present or future: my part in the Prince’s life is probably -over. - - - - -XXI - -A HALT IN LIFE - - “When I recall my youth, what I was then, - What I am now, ye beloved ones all; - It seems as though these were the living men, - And we the coloured shadows on the wall.” - --MONCKTON MILNES. - - “Pain and joy, deception and fulfilled hopes, are just the rain and - the sunshine that must meet the traveller on his way. Button or - wrap your cloak around you from the first, but do not think for a - single moment that one or the other have anything to do with the - _end_ of your journey.”--JOSEPH MAZZINI. - - “Quand la vie cesse d’être une promesse, elle ne cesse pas d’être - une tâche; et même son vrai nom est épreuve.”--AMIEL. - - “Non aver tema, disse il mio Signore, - Fatti sicur, chè noi siamo a buon punto: - Non stringer, ma rallarga ogni vigore.” - --DANTE, “_Purgatorio_,” Canto ix. - - -In May 1878, my publishers, Messrs. Daldy and Isbister, had astounded -the literary world by becoming bankrupt. They had been personally -pleasant to deal with; I had never doubted their solvency; and I was on -terms of friendly intercourse with Mr. Isbister. In April 1878 he wrote -to me saying that he knew I applied the interest of money derived from -my books to charitable purposes, and that he would much rather bestow -the large interest he was prepared to give for such purpose than any -other, and he asked me to lend him £1500. I had not the sum at the time -he asked for it, but, about a week later, being advised to sell out that -sum from some American securities, I lent it to him. Then, within a -month, the firm declared itself bankrupt, owing me in all nearly £3000, -and the £1500 and much more was apparently lost for ever.[326] In -accepting contracts for my different books, I had always fully -understood, and been given to understand, that I never parted with the -copyright. I believe that most publishers would have informed an -ignorant author that the very unusual forms of agreement they prepared -involved the copyright, but I was allowed to suppose that I retained it -in my own hands. I first discovered my mistake after their bankruptcy, -when, besides owing me nearly £3000, Messrs. Daldy and Isbister demanded -a bonus of £1500 (which I refused, offering £850 in vain) for giving me -the permission to go on circulating my own books through another -publisher. - -As it was impossible to come to terms, my unfortunate books lapsed. In -the autumn of 1879 Messrs. Daldy and Isbister offered to submit to an -arbitrator the question of the amount to be paid to my so-great debtors -for the liberty of continuing to publish my books. Three eminent -publishing firms chose an arbitrator, but when he sent in his estimate -they would not agree to it. - -These circumstances made such a discouragement for any real work, that -for two years I did nothing of a literary character beyond collecting -the reminiscences contained in these volumes. The first year was chiefly -occupied by my duties towards the Crown Prince of Sweden and Norway. In -the second year I had a comparative holiday. It is therefore that I call -it “A Halt in Life.” - - * * * * * - -In November 1879 an event occurred which would at one time have affected -me very deeply--the death of the Mary Stanley who for many years ruled -my adopted family by the force of her strong will, and who, after my -dearest Mother was taken away from me, remorselessly used that power to -expel me from the hearts and homes of those over whom she had any -influence, in her fury at the publication of the “Memorials of a Quiet -Life.” Yet, when her restless spirit was quieted by Death, I could only -remember the kind “Cousin Mary” of my childhood, when my greatest -delight was to go to her room at Norwich, and so many of my little -pleasures came from her. - - “Where thou hast touched, O wondrous Death! - Where thou hast come between, - Lo, there for ever perisheth - The common and the mean. - No little flaw or trivial speck - Doth any more appear, - And cannot, from this time, to fleck - Love’s perfect image clear.”[327] - -Hard to those in her own class, and with them ever occupied in asserting -and insisting upon her own little imaginary dignities, Mary Stanley did -more unselfish work for the poor than almost any one, and hundreds of -whom nothing is known in the society in which she lived miss and mourn -her. Probably only the poor knew the best, the really beautiful side of -Mary Stanley’s life, which was _most_ beautiful. - -I often wish, as regards her, I could have profited more by words of -Mrs. Kemble which I read too late to apply them--“Do you not know that -to misunderstand and be misunderstood is one of the inevitable -conclusions, and I think one of the especial purposes, of our existence? -The principal use of the affection of human beings for each other is to -supply the want of perfect comprehension, which is impossible. All the -faith and love which we possess are barely sufficient to bridge over the -abyss of individualism which separates one human being from another; and -they would not, or could not, exist, if we really understood each -other.” - -[Illustration: FROM S. GREGORIO, MESSINA.][328] - -In December I went abroad to join the two Miss Hollands--my Norwegian -companions--at Ancona, and go on with them to Sicily, a journey through -deep snow and agonising cold. After I met the Hollands and their friend -Miss Lily Howard, we went rapidly south, with Sir George Baker, his wife -and daughter, semi-annexed to our party, and at Reggio we found -summer--palms, bananas, blue skies and sunshine. - -[Illustration: TAORMINA.][329] - -Our wretched journey made the first morning at Messina quite enchanting, -as we climbed the heights, looking down upon the straits and to the -purple peaks of Italy, their tips glistening with snow. Nespoli, -daturas, and camellias grew as trees in full bloom; the gardens were a -mass of salvias, trumpet-flower, and roses; heliotrope in full blossom -hung over the high walls, and quantities of scarlet geraniums grew wild -upon the beach. - -More lovely still was Taormina, hanging like an eagle’s nest on the -ledge of the mountain, and looking down into the blue sea, which breaks -into emerald near the snowy line of breakers. On one side is Etna, quite -gigantic, with pathless fields of snow even upon the lower heights; on -the other are the grand ruins of the Theatre, from which, above the -broken arches and pillars, the queen of fire and snow looms unspeakably -sublime. Our pleasant primitive inn was in a quiet street, where all the -daily incidents were lovely--the goats coming in the early morning to be -milked: the peasants riding in upon their asses: the convent bells -jangling: the women returning from the fountain with vases of old Greek -forms upon their heads, burnished yellow, green, or red: the singing at -Ave Maria and Benediction. We spent several days at Taormina, drawing -quietly in the mornings amongst the rocky beds of pinks, and snapdragon, -and silene: reading aloud in the evenings--Thucydides, Gregorovius, and -then a novel for relaxation: the four ladies and their maid -occasionally singing in parts as in Norway. - -[Illustration: ROMAN AMPHITHEATRE, SYRACUSE.][330] - -We were sorry to go on to Syracuse, for though many had told us of its -intense interest and curiosity, no one had spoken of its extreme -loveliness. Of its five towns, only the island-town of Ortygia remains. -Acradina, Neapolis, Tycho, and Epipolae are desolate hillsides covered -with pink-grey limestone, overgrown with wild figs, olives, prickly -pears, and ten thousand lovely flowers; and from their sunny slopes you -look to the blue mountains of Hybla and the rose-coloured rocks of -Megara. Here and there, in the most exquisite situations, are Roman, and -still more beautiful Greek ruins, which seem to have grown into the -scenery and become part of it, gilded by lichen, fringed with flowers. - -[Illustration: FROM THE WALLS OF EPIPOLAE.][331] - -[Illustration: ON THE RIVER CYANE.][332] - -Each morning at Syracuse we engaged little carriages (costing one -shilling the hour) for the day, and took with us a well-filled luncheon -basket for ourselves and our charming young drivers, and we wandered, -and studied, and drew for hours. We spent a whole day on the grand -heights of Epipolae, looking on one side across a luxuriant plain to -snowy Etna, and on the other across the vast ruined city to the blue -sea, with Ortygia gleaming upon it like a jewel. Another whole day was -given to ascending the rivers Anapus and Pisma to the mystic blue -fountain of Cyane: the most romantic of boating excursions, the boatmen -every now and then being obliged to jump into the water and push the -boat over the shallows or through the thick water-plants: the papyrus -with its exquisite feathery crests almost meeting overhead, or grouped -into the most glorious masses on the islets in midstream: enchanting -little views opening every now and then to palms and cypresses and blue -rifts in the roseate rocks of Megara; now a foreground of oleanders, -then of splendid castor-oil plants. In returning, we walked up a hill to -the Temple of Jupiter Olympus, through a perfect blaze of dwarf blue -iris, the loveliest flowers I ever saw. - -[Illustration: ACI CASTELLO.][333] - -We spent the four first days of the New Year at Catania, a dull town, -though backed by the glorious snow-fields of Etna, and we made thence -two excursions--to Aci Castello, a beautiful old castle on lava rocks, -and to Aci Reale, with the spring into which Acis, the lover of Galatea, -is supposed to have been changed. - -[Illustration: TEMPLE OF CONCORD, GIRGENTI.][334] - -At Girgenti we found an excellent hotel, with rooms opening to -delightful balconies, overhanging--at a great height--one of the -noblest views in the world, billow upon billow of purple hill, crested -with hoary olives, and with masses of oranges and caroubas in all the -sheltered nooks, a vast expanse of glistening sea, and a range of Greek -temples in desolate loveliness. The landlord, Don Gaetano de Angelis, -was a stately old Sicilian, who treated us far more like honoured guests -than customers, and fed us so luxuriously and magnificently that we -wondered how it was possible he could repay himself. He had lately -married for the second time, a pretty merry child-wife in huge gold -earrings, who paid us frequent visits, and was delighted with us and -our drawings, and to sit for her portrait. They quite enjoyed the -preparation of the luncheon basket, with which we always set off at 9 -A.M., not returning till the sunset had turned the sea rose-colour and -set the mountains aflame. Each day we picnicked amongst the asphodels -and lilies in the shadow of one of the Greek temples, and were glad to -find a shelter from the burning sun, which blazed in a sky that only -turned from turquoise to opal. Some of the temples are nearly perfect, -some mere masses of ruin, or one or two pillars with a beautiful bit of -yellow architrave set in the most exquisite landscape--delicate pink -mountain distances, and foregrounds of grand old olive-trees or almonds -flushing into richest bloom, above a ground enamelled with flowers of -every hue. We all agreed in thinking Girgenti more beautiful than any -other place, and its people even more charming than the scenery, so full -of kindly simplicity, from the Syndic to Pasqualuccio, the little -goatherd, with coins in his earrings after the old Greek fashion, who -gives each of his goats a _colazione_ of acanthus leaves, set out like -plates on a dinner-table, on the fallen columns in the Temple of Juno. - -[Illustration: IN THE TEMPLE OF JUNO LACINIA.] - -[Illustration: IN THE TEMPLE OF HERCULES.][335] - -[Illustration: TEMPLE OF CASTOR AND POLLUX, GIRGENTI.][336] - -The second day after our arrival, as we were returning home up the hill -in the still warm evening light, we turned aside to the old deserted -convent of S. Niccola. A merry crowd of gentlemen and ladies and little -boys and girls were shouting and singing on the terrace, and dancing the -tarantella to the music of three peasants on a bagpipe, tambourine, and -triangle. Like a Bacchanalian rout of old times they came rushing down -to meet us, twenty-six in number, chained together with garlands, and -the girls all wreathed with wild scarlet geranium. They escorted us all -over the garden, gathering flowers and fruits for us, the crowd of -little children gambolling and dancing in front. Then they begged us to -go back with them to the terrace, and began dancing again, and were -delighted when Miss Howard and Miss G. Holland danced with them. -Afterwards, standing on the terrace, our three ladies sang one of their -beautiful part songs, tumultuously applauded with _prosit_ and _evviva_. -The result was showers of visiting-cards from all the notables in -Girgenti, especially from a family who rejoice in the singular name of -the _Indelicati_. Then came invitations to a party and ball at Casa -Gibilaro, the sons of the house, Cesare and Salvatore, coming to escort -us up the steep street. Italian ladies sang, and so did our party, and -all danced, and we taught the Girgentines Sir Roger de Coverley, which -greatly enchanted them. The family of twenty-six--grandmother, uncles, -aunts, cousins, were all there, living in the happiest union and -affection, no daughter of the house ever marrying out of the place, and -all meeting constantly. Carmela and Pasqualina Gibilaro were so -enchanted with our two younger ladies, that they scarcely ever let go of -their hands, and expressed their delight over them in the most naïve -manner, and I became great friends with Salvatore and Antonio. One day, -Salvatore and Pasqualina dined with us, and we afterwards went again to -their house, where there was another dance, at which all the professors -of the university (on delightful terms of merriment with their pupils) -assisted, the Professor of Theology frisking about in the tarantella, -and the Professor of Philosophy leading the cotillon. We wished this -time to leave early, but our hosts insisted on our waiting till the -arrival of ices, an unwonted luxury with them, but ordered in our -honour. We had dined before, and since coming to the dance had been -obliged to eat quantities of _pasticcie_, so were aghast when we found -that we were each expected to eat an ice larger than an ordinary -tea-cake. We managed as well as we could, but it was dreadful. I -deposited more than half mine under a table. Miss Holland thought she -was getting on pretty well with hers, when a Contessa Indelicato, on the -opposite side of the room, seeing her flagging, filled a large spoon -with her own ice, and rushing across, popped it into her mouth. With -great promptitude Miss Howard instantly popped a spoonful of _her_ ice -into the mouth of a Contessina Indelicato! Great were the lamentations -and embraces from this amiable family when we left Girgenti, dear little -Antonio Gibilaro going with us to the station. - -I spent the last morning at Girgenti in drawing the sea glistening -through the pink almond-trees, and the rocky road with its troops of -goats and donkeys, and in the afternoon of January 11 we went on to -Palermo. - -Under the later Bourbon kings Sicily was perfectly safe and brigandage -utterly unknown, for the principal officials in each village and parish -were made responsible for its security; but the annihilation of the -rural police under the Sardinian Government taking place at the same -time with the abolition of capital punishment, had introduced -brigandage; and though it had become rare since the formation of -railroads, it was not considered safe for us to go far from Palermo -without an escort, and we were obliged to give up Segeste. When we were -at Palermo, murders for _vendetta_ were of constant occurrence, and only -cost three hundred francs, as the punishment was so slight,--generally -two years’ imprisonment without labour, and with a life of much greater -comfort than the culprit could have enjoyed at home. Besides, the -murderers are scarcely ever given up, as the _vendetta_ would then fall -upon those who betrayed them. Some of our party went to visit -Calatafimi, the brigand who carried off a gentleman from Cefalu, and, -when he got only half the ransom required, laboriously snipped with -scissors till his head came off, in a cave on Monte Pellegrino. He was -found very merry, in most comfortable quarters, with quantities of -fruit, newspapers, &c. When he was tired of being there, his family -would bribe the gaoler, and he would get out. - -[Illustration: PALERMO, FROM S. MARIA DI GESU.] - -The glorious weather we enjoyed in the south of the island turned to -torrents of rain at Palermo, but it is said that there are only -forty-two days in the year without rain there. On the rare occasions -when it clears, Palermo is most lovely, backed by such grand mountains, -the nearer ones rugged purple rocks, over which the snow-peaks peep out. -The cathedral also is very beautiful, with a great courtyard in front of -it planted with palm-trees and geraniums; but there are none of the -glorious flowers of Girgenti; the climate is a constant damp chill, like -that of Pau and Pisa, and I shall always associate the place with the -ceaseless melancholy roar of the sea, the drip and splash of the rain, -which fell day and night, and the monotony of the mouldy deserted walks. -In the Lazaretto cemetery--a lovely little spot hedged with Barbary -aloes--it was touching to see the tomb of my almost unknown father. He -also hated the place and was deeply depressed there. - -Our one really fine day was delightful. We drove along the shore to -Bagaria, where all the old nobility have their country palaces, enormous -and stately in form, with huge courts and immense armorial shields over -their gates, but the windows generally half choked up or glassless, the -courts overgrown with weeds, and the roofs tumbling in. Sad indeed -would be the shock to an English girl who married a Sicilian prince for -his title and his “palace,” upon her arrival at one of these old -barracks, where she would be lucky if she could find one weathertight -chamber. - -[Illustration: SOLUNTO.] - -Beyond Bagaria, Capo Zafferano strides into the sea--a grand mountain, -covered with cactus almost to the top; and here, high on the rocks, are -the ruins of Solunto, a Carthaginian city--broad streets edged by -diminutive houses and temples in the style of Pompeii. We picnicked at -Solunto in the cactus shade, and drew all day the glorious view across -the bay to the purple crags and fantastic forms of Monte Griffone. - -Another day we went to Monreale, the grand semi-Saracenic cathedral, -covered with mosaics, on the heights behind Palermo. It reminds me of a -story the late Lord Clanwilliam used to tell, which I will insert -here:-- - - * * * * * - -“A Knight of Malta, who, by the rules of his Order, was both a soldier -and a priest, was once travelling in Sicily. Being at Palermo, he -strolled up to Monreale; it was a lovely evening, and in the great -cathedral, where the shade was so welcome after the heat of the way, the -effect was exquisitely beautiful, as the sunset streamed through the -long windows upon the mosaic walls. Being an artist, the knight took out -his sketch-book and began to draw, first one lovely arch and then -another, till the waning light warned him that night was approaching. -Then he made his way to the western door, but it was closed. He turned -to the side doors, to the sacristy; they were closed also. It was -evident that he was locked into the cathedral, and though he shouted and -kicked at the door, he could make no one hear. Spending the night alone -in a church had no terrors for him: it was only on account of the -discomfort that he objected to it; so he found his way to a confessional -far up the church, and made himself as comfortable there as he could -with all the cushions he could collect. - -[Illustration: CLOISTERS, MONREALE.][337] - -“Most wondrously beautiful is the cathedral of Monreale when the moon -casts its magic halo over the ancient mosaics, and so it was on this -night, when the artist-soldier-priest sat entranced with its unspeakable -loveliness. The whole building was bathed in softest light, each avenue -of arches at once a poem and a picture, when the clock struck twelve. -Then from the west door a figure seemed to be approaching, a cowled -figure in monastic robes, and the stranger felt with satisfaction that -he had been missed and that one of the monks of the adjoining monastery -was come to seek him. But, as he watched the figure, he observed its -peculiar movement, rather floating than walking up the nave, enveloped -in its sweeping draperies, and as it passed he heard a low musical voice -like a wiffling wind which said, ‘Is there no good Christian who will -say a mass for my poor soul?’ and the figure passed on swiftly, on -behind the altar, and did not return. - -“Through an hour the Knight of Malta sat watching and expecting, and -then, as the clock struck one, the figure again floated up the nave, and -again the same sad low voice murmured, ‘Is there no good Christian will -say a mass for my poor soul?’ Then the Knight came out of the -confessional and pursued the vanishing figure, pursued it to a -particular spot behind the altar, where it disappeared altogether. - -“When the clock struck two, the figure appeared again, and when it again -uttered the words, ‘Will no good Christian say a mass for my poor soul?’ -the priest-soldier answered, ‘I will; but you must serve the mass,’ for -there can be no mass without a server. The holy vessels were upon the -altar, and the soldier-priest began the mass. Then the monk threw back -his cowl and displayed a skull, but he served the mass, which the priest -courageously went through to the end: then he fell down unconscious in -front of the altar. - -“In the morning, when the monks came into the church, the stranger was -found still unconscious upon the altar steps. He was taken into the -convent, and, when he came to himself, he told what had happened. Great -search was made in the archives of the monastery, though nothing was -found to account for it. But long after, when some repairs were being -made in the cathedral, the body of a monk in his robe and cowl was -found walled up, evidently for some crime, near the altar, just at the -spot where the Knight had seen him vanish.”[338] - - * * * * * - -A railway took us from Palermo to Caldane, almost on the opposite coast, -and there we were transferred to a wretched tumble-down diligence, which -went swinging and jolting over the deep pools in the rocky road. Though -there were no regular brigands on this road, the peasants, who were too -idle to work, constantly formed themselves into great bands and attacked -the diligences; so the Sardinian Government, too feeble to attempt -managing the people themselves, sent a guard to defend us from them. Two -soldiers with guns sat on the luggage, and loaded pistols peeped -ominously from under the cloaks of the Sicilians within, one of whom was -an _impiégato per la caccia dei briganti_. However, late at night we -reached Caltanisetta, a great poverty-stricken city, with white houses, -white rocks, and no vegetation, high in the sulphur district. - -[Illustration: GATE OF MOLA.][339] - -[Illustration: TARANTO.][340] - -On going to the station the next morning, we heard that the railway near -Messina was washed away, and that the last train had narrowly escaped a -Tay Bridge disaster by the breaking of the high bridge at Ali. So we -telegraphed to Taormina to send a carriage to meet us at Giardini, the -place nearest the scene of the disaster. We did not reach Giardini till -it was pitch-dark; the sea was raging close to the railway, and the rain -had been falling all day in torrents. It was such a night as one -scarcely ever sees, so tempestuous, so utterly black! There was no -carriage for us, and no one to meet us; the telegraph had been swept -away in the storm. Blankly and grimly did the officials see the large -party deposited at the desolate station surrounded by waters, and great -was the consternation of my four female companions when they found that -it was just going to be closed and abandoned. We got a man to wade -through the marsh to Giardini to try to get a carriage to come to us: -the carriage tried, but an intercepting torrent was so swollen, it was -impossible for it to cross without being swept out to sea. The man came -back along the railway parapet, and told us that we must give up all -hope of getting away. The officials refused to send any one with us; no -one would face the furies of the night; nor could they lend us a -lanthorn; they wanted it themselves. Happily I had made friends with a -young man of Taormina--_capo della musica_--who happened to be at the -station. He had a lanthorn, and kindly waited for us, till at last my -companions consented to kilt up their dresses and venture out into the -blackness. It was four miles by the road, about a mile and half by the -precipices; we chose the latter. But the path through the precipices, -which we had toiled up before in burning sunshine, was now a roaring -torrent. However, there was nothing for it but to plunge in absolute -blackness from stone to stone of the steep ascent, holding on to the -broom and asphodels. At the most dangerous points the _capo della -musica_, who made the little joke of “Io _solo_ sono sole,” kindly -waited with his lanthorn till each of the party of eight was safely -round the corner. Fortunately the rain almost ceased during the ascent, -and at last, by scrambling, jumping, or grovelling, we found ourselves -in the street of Taormina. The people of the inn were gone to bed, but -soon the great event of a large party with ladies arriving on such a -terrific night caused many windows to open in the friendly primitive -street, and heads and candles to appear: the hotel was roused, and we -were warmly welcomed. - -[Illustration: CASTEL DEL MONTE.][341] - -[Illustration: TOMB OF BOHEMUND, CANOSA.][342] - -For three days we remained in a state of siege with the elements howling -around in our rock-fortress of Taormina, sometimes seeing Etna reveal -itself above the black storm-clouds. Then we crossed to Reggio, and went -on by night to Taranto, where we spent the morning in drawing the -curious island-town, and took the train again to Trani. Hence we made -an excursion--three hours in a carriage and one on foot--to Castel del -Monte, the favourite castle of the great Frederick II., long since a -ruin, but not roofless, and presenting a more perfect picture of -mediaeval splendour in its suites of marble halls than any castle I ever -visited. Yet it must always have been a most desolate place and the most -uninteresting of royal residences. Trani itself is full of interest, and -has a beautiful cathedral. Accounts we had read of “the all-glorious -cathedral of Andria” beguiled us to toil next to that old episcopal -city, which we found a complete delusion, and went on to Barletta, -visiting thence the battlefield of Cannae and the curious old town of -Canosa, where Ariosto’s hero Bohemund is buried. Then we proceeded to -Foggia, where we saw the remains of Frederick II.’s palace, and thence -we made another excursion to his favourite town of Lucera, full of -Saracenic remains. The next day we saw Beneventum, another glorious -cathedral, mosque, and a grand Roman gateway, and arrived at Naples on -the 12th of February. My last days with my companions were spent at -beautiful Amalfi, and after a few lovely days at Naples and Rome, I -followed them to England. - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL. - -“_Elton Hall, Peterborough, April 1, 1880._--I have been two days here -at Lord Carysfort’s.... The house is a jumble of architecture of every -style and age, from Henry VII. to the present, and, without ever being -very picturesque, is thoroughly satisfactory and comfortable, with a -delightful library and a number of fine portraits. The park overlooks -long lines of flat, amid which rises Fotheringhay Church. An old -watermill is called ‘Pereo Mill,’ because when Mary Queen of Scots -arrived and saw all the waters out, as they so often are to this day, -she thought all was over with her and exclaimed, ‘Pereo,’--I perish. We -have driven to Fotheringhay, and seen again the mound and the one -remaining stone of the castle. The church is like a lanthorn, so full of -windows, and very fine, though perpendicular. By the altar are tombs -with stately inscriptions on the wall over them to Richard and Cicely -Plantagenet, father and mother of Edward IV., and to his grandfather -Edward Plantagenet, who was killed in the battle of Agincourt. We went -on to Oundle, a charming old town with a noble church. Here, in the -street, is the house of Lord and Lady Lyveden, with a large garden on -the other side. The two Lady Lyvedens were there. The old one, Lord -Castletown’s sister, was once the beautiful little girl of Sir T. -Lawrence’s masterpiece; the younger, a plain, simple, sensible woman, -well fitted for a poor peer’s wife, is perfectly adored in the town of -Oundle. - -“Sir Frederick Peel is here with his young wife, who is charming, so -very pretty, with quantities to say on all subjects.” - - * * * * * - -“_St. James’s Place, May 8._--To Mrs. Stewart’s. Lord Houghton was -there, very cheery and kind. I was struck the other day by hearing some -one say, ‘Lord Houghton is not only a friend in poverty, he is a friend -in _disgrace_.’ Can there be higher praise? He was very amusing apropos -of my employing Henningham and Holles to leave my cards, and said that -Miss Martineau at first absolutely refused to conform to the ways of the -world in paying visits, it was ‘such a waste of time;’ but it was -suggested to her that she should send out ‘an inferior authoress’ with -her trumpet in a hackney-coach to represent her and do her work, and -that if the authoress only let the trumpet appear out of the -coach-window, she would do just as well as herself. - -“Dined at Lord Sherborne’s, meeting, amongst others, Lady Powerscourt, -surely one of the sweetest of God’s creatures.” - - * * * * * - -“_May 13._--Having heard of George Paul’s death, I went to see -Auntie.[343] It was strange to find the familiar figure of my childhood, -who had been inexplicably separated from me for twelve years, and with -her to see again many of the silent objects connected with Esmeralda and -those sealed chapters of life. We spoke only on indifferent subjects, -but I cannot think poor Auntie can have felt indifferent, though she -refused to show me the slightest affection, or evince the least pleasure -at seeing me.” - - * * * * * - -“_May 15._--I paid £50 into Auntie’s account at Coutts’s, and shall -continue to do so at this date annually. More I think she would reject, -but she will allow this to pass, and I am thankful even in the smallest -degree to contribute to her comfort.” - - * * * * * - -“_May 19._--A luncheon party at Lady Ducie’s. Mrs. Stewart was there. -Some one said Sir William Harcourt’s late election failure would be as -good as a dose of physic to him--‘No,’ she answered, ‘it will be no good -at all; it has been a dose of castor-oil administered to a marble -statue.’” - - * * * * * - -“_May 25._--Luncheon at Lady Sherborne’s. Dear old Mrs. Stewart was -there in great force, and recited Swinburne’s really grand lines apropos -of the Prince Imperial’s proposed monument, exhorting the illustrious -dead to veil their faces and leave Westminster Abbey on the arrival of -his statue. - -“Lady Airlie was at luncheon. She spoke of the almost necessity for a -cloud over the most beautiful lives. She said how one might observe that -in almost all the finest summer days the sun was clouded over for some -hours.” - - * * * * * - -“_May 26._--Dined at the Thorntons’. Lord Houghton was there. He said -how he had discussed with George Sand the question how far it was well -to know authors whose works you admired. She had urged him never to know -them, that they all put their best into their books; whatever you find -afterwards can only be inferior material. Carlyle, Lord Houghton -allowed, was just like his books; in his case you could know the man and -not be disappointed: it is the same mixture of grim humour, irony, and -pathos, of which his books are composed, which enables the man -personally to produce such an indescribable impression. Carlyle always -hated having his picture taken, but was persuaded to sit to Millais. -When he went there, to the beautiful house full of priceless -art-treasures, he asked what brought them there. ‘My art,’ answered -Millais proudly. ‘Then there are more fools in the world than I -imagined,’ said Carlyle.” - - * * * * * - -“_May 30._--Sat a long time with Lady Airlie, who talked of the power -of prayer and the number of people who really believed in it. She said -she prayed for everything, but always left it to God to decide for her, -making a complete act of submission, but adding, ‘I should _like_ this -or that best.’ The mystic Mr. Laurence Oliphant came in and talked for a -long time. Being asked as to his past and future, he said he could only -act ‘under direction,’ _i.e._, of spirits. He said the separation from -the spiritual world was entirely dependent upon the constitution of the -individual. No wonder that the hallucinations of this brilliant and -fascinating visionary wreck the comfort as well as the practical -usefulness at once of his own life and the lives of those dearest to -him. - -“A few days ago Ronald Gower came and took me to Frank Miles’s studio--a -new-old house in Tite Street, Chelsea. Frank Miles is a charming -handsome young Bohemian, who has a delightful garden in the country -filled with every lily that ever was heard of. He paints all the -‘professional beauties,’ who hover round him and his studio like moths, -but his pictures have no great power.”[344] - - * * * * * - -“_May 31._--I was at Stafford House in the evening, the hall brilliantly -lighted, a deafening band on the staircase, and all the -Campbell-Percy-Gower connection looking on.” - - * * * * * - -“_June 1._--I dined with the Boynes, and went afterwards to Lady Sudeley -and Mrs. Cavendish Bentinck. At these great parties I find my difficulty -in recognising people an immense disadvantage. Then, with those who do -not care for contemporary history or art, there are so few topics of -conversation, for almost every one in London is occupied ‘de rien faire, -ou de faire des riens.’”[345] - - * * * * * - -“_June 4._--A party, where I heard Mrs. Caulfield sing and Genevieve -Ward recite--first only some fables of La Fontaine, to which she gave a -marvellous infinity of expression, and then a ballad. She is a simple -and very striking-looking woman.” - - * * * * * - -“_June 9._--Dined with the Haygarths. Mr. Bouverie was there, and very -entertaining with stories of the old Duke of Wellington, of whom he -justly said that his character had greatly risen through the publication -of his letters, while other characters had been lowered. ‘They will -knock down a great many statues,’ the Duke had said in speaking of them -to Mr. Bouverie in his lifetime. - -“Apropos of the Duke’s love of military discipline, Mr. Bouverie -mentioned how, when he was at Walmer, all the officers of the -neighbouring garrison called except Lord Douro, who thought it would be -absurd, as he was seeing his father every day. Consequently, the Duke -asked all the officers to dinner except his own son, and at dinner said -to the Colonel, ‘By-the-bye, who is your Major? for he has not called on -me.’ - -“Another example of the Duke’s character as a martinet was that Lord -Douro once met him in plain clothes. The Duke took no notice of him -whatever. Lord Douro, knowing how angry his father must be, rushed in, -changed his clothes for uniform, and met his father again. ‘Hallo, -Douro! how are you? it is a long time since I have seen you,’ said the -Duke; but he had seen him quite well a quarter of an hour before.” - - * * * * * - -“_June 10._--Dined with the Miss Duff Gordons, meeting Tosti the singer -and tall young Carlo Orsi from one of the old _castelli_ in the Tuscan -valley of Signa. He was very naïve about his coming to London, and his -asking himself when he woke, ‘And can it be thou, Carlo, who art here?’ -Mrs. Caulfield (_née_ Crampton[346]) and Tosti sang exquisitely in the -evening.” - - * * * * * - -“_June 14._--With Mrs. Stewart to Alma Tadema’s studio--a small house on -the north of the Regent’s Park. Inside it is a labyrinth of small rooms -with gilt walls and ceilings, and doors hung with quaint draperies. A -vague light fell through alabaster windows upon Madame Tadema in a cloth -of gold dress backed by violet draperies. The Dutch artist, her husband, -thinks her red hair glorious, and introduces her in all his pictures. In -his studio is a strange picture of ‘The Triumph of Death’ by Breughel -the Devil. I was glad to meet again Madame Riaño--Doña Emilia de -Guyangos--gliding through the half-dark rooms after the ubiquitous wife -of Tom Hughes.” - - * * * * * - -“_June 15._--Luncheon with Lady Dorothy Nevill in her charming house in -Charles Street, which has all the attractions of an old manor. Lady -Dorothy is very pretty still, like a piece of Dresden china. She and -Lord Houghton were very amusing over Mr. Wolff,[347] who married her -aunt, Lady Georgiana. Nothing could persuade him to cleanliness. Once -they tried to insist upon his washing his hands, and took him to a jug, -basin, and clean towel for the purpose, but he would only dip the ends -of his fingers in the jug and dry them on his pocket-handkerchief. If he -went to stay anywhere, he would never take any luggage. He was, however, -persuaded for three days to take three clean shirts, but he arrived with -them all _on_, and peeled gradually. - -“Mr. Wolff went to stay with George Anthony Denison, who was frightfully -bored with him. He stayed a week. As he was in the carriage going off -from the door, Mr. Denison said to him, ‘Well, good-bye, my dear fellow; -I’m sorry you’re going.’--‘Are you sorry I’m going?’ said a gruff voice -from the carriage; ‘then I’ll stay another week.’” - - * * * * * - -“_June 16._--A huge party at Devonshire House--the staircase most -beautiful.” - - * * * * * - -“_June 17._--To Lady Airlie to meet Miss Farrer and Emmeline Erskine--a -long talk quietly about spirituality and the Quietists. Miss Farrer told -me first-hand a story I have often heard before:-- - -“Her brother knew well a shopkeeper in Plymouth, who felt one day, he -could not tell why, that he must go to Bodmin. To get there, it was -necessary that he should cross a ferry. It was late at night, and he -expected to have great difficulty in getting across, but, to his -amazement, he found the boat ready for him. The ferryman said, ‘I am -ready, because you called me an hour ago.’ - -“When the shopkeeper reached Bodmin, the town was full of crowds and -confusion; the assizes were going on. He made his way to the court. A -man was being tried for murder, and likely to be condemned. He protested -his innocence in vain, and in an agony was just saying, ‘I was in -Plymouth at the time, if I could only prove it.’ The shopkeeper was just -in time to hear him, and exclaim, ‘I can prove it, my Lord; I remember -the prisoner perfectly: he came into my shop at the very time in -question.’ And it saved the man’s life. - -“Emmeline told of Mr. Richmond’s little children, who, playing in a long -almost dark gallery, saw their dead mother standing at the end, and went -to their father and told him, ‘Mama is come back.’ An open cistern was -found at the spot where they had seen her.” - - * * * * * - -“_June 18._--Dined with the Owen Grants. At ninety-three old Lord -Kilmorey is dying. He took his immense drives as usual till a few days -ago. Then, returning from one of them, he sent for George Higginson and -Owen Grant, and said, ‘Now I am going to die; I think it is time, and I -wish you to stay with me to the end.’ They sent for the doctor, who -persistently declared that Lord Kilmorey had nothing whatever the matter -with him. They remonstrated as to the pain it would give to many. -‘Well,’ he said, ‘yes, my sister Georgiana, perhaps she will feel it; I -will wait till I have seen her.’ And he waited till he had seen old Lady -Georgiana, talked to her very affectionately, took leave of her, and -since then has eaten nothing.” - - * * * * * - -“_June 20._--Lord Kilmorey died to-day.” - - * * * * * - -“_June 24._--With the Mark Woods to Charlton, the fine old house of Sir -Thomas Maryon Wilson, near Greenwich. It was built by James I. for his -son Prince Henry, and is in wonderful keeping with its surroundings of -broad terraces, old pine-trees, &c. In the richly polished chimney-piece -of one of the rooms, a lady while dressing is said to have seen a murder -reflected while it was being committed in the park, and her evidence to -have found the man guilty.” - - * * * * * - -“_June 26._--In the evening I was at the Speaker’s party. His beautiful -rooms were additionally illuminated by the glare from a great fire on -the opposite bank of the river. The bridge, and the chain of omnibuses -and cabs, with their roofs crowded with the black figures of spectators, -and the background of flames, gave the whole scene the aspect of the -Devil’s funeral with appropriate fireworks. In a great hooded car, -nodding against the flame, the Devil’s widow seemed to follow. We -watched from the windows for nearly two hours--inside, bright uniforms, -low dresses, glistening diamonds: outside, flames and a black shimmering -river. At last the fire-engines got the victory, a roof fell in, the -glare began to fade, the bereaved demons returned from the ceremony, and -the illuminations were extinguished. No human life was lost, only the -two great bloodhounds which were the guards of the timber-yard, and -which for years have gained the prize in every dog-show.” - - * * * * * - -“_June 29._--Lady Lucy Grant had a pleasant party in her pretty garden. -Old Madame Mohl was there, a wreck, but a curious reminiscence of the -past. In the little garden-studio Miss Grant’s reredos for Edinburgh -Cathedral was lighted up. In the main features it is fine, but the women -are all exactly the same height as the men, and all the figures stand in -a line, with an equal amount of individuality, too little occupied with -each other.” - - * * * * * - -“_July 7._--Dinner at Lord Ducie’s. I was delighted to sit once more by -Madame de Riaño[348] and enjoy the flow of her ever-fresh originality.” - - * * * * * - -“_July 8._--The Duchess of Norfolk’s ball. The house had not been opened -to a great party for forty years, but the noble suite of rooms, with -their old ceilings and pictures, is well adapted for it.” - - * * * * * - -“_July 9._--Lord Denbigh has sent me what he calls ‘a bundle of -wonders.’ It contains one curious history related by Henry Malet in -August 1869. - -“‘In the winter of 1854-55, at the end of December, I was in Paris, and -among other people of whom I saw a good deal was Palgrave Simpson, the -dramatic author. There was something about him I liked, and a certain -originality in the tone of his mind interested me. One evening, after a -bachelors’ dinner at Charlie Webster’s rooms, the conversation turned on -clairvoyance. Palgrave Simpson expressed himself a believer in many of -the clairvoyant phenomena which were then astonishing people in Paris, -but nearly all the rest of us, except myself, laughed in his face, and -told him that he must be insane to credit such nonsense. He and I walked -home together, and I believe that I told him I should be glad of an -opportunity of investigating some of the stories which had impressed -him. - -“‘Within a few days I received a sudden order to return at once to -London and hold myself in readiness to embark for the Crimea with a -large detachment of my regiment. - -“‘Our departure was delayed from day to day, but about the end of March -it was fixed for the first week in April. When the day was finally -settled, I prevailed on my mother, who was in despair at the idea of my -going on active service, to leave London with my brother and go to -Frankfort, as I concluded that the actual blow of the separation would -be lessened by this means. - -“‘I am not quite positive as to the date of our sailing, but it was two -or three days after my mother arrived at Frankfort. - -“‘We were to parade in Wellington Barracks at 5 A.M., and, after -midnight on the last night, I looked in at the Guards Club, and found -there a note enclosing an antique ring. The note was from Palgrave -Simpson and said, “Do not laugh at me, but while you are in the Crimea -wear the enclosed ring. It was given to me by the last representative of -an old Hungarian family on her death-bed. In her family it was an -heirloom, and considered as a most precious talisman to preserve the -wearer from any external harm.” - -“‘I slipped the ring on my finger, I must own, without attaching any -great importance to the matter, and turned in, after writing Palgrave -Simpson a note to thank him for his kindness. - -“‘The next morning I sailed at 10 A.M. from Portsmouth. We touched at -Gibraltar, but it was not till our arrival at Malta that I heard from my -family. Then I found a letter from my mother dated from Frankfort on the -very day of our sailing from England. It said, “I have been quite -broken-hearted about you, and could find no comfort anywhere; but now -all is changed, for a most extraordinary reason. This morning, as I lay -in bed in broad daylight, and after my maid had brought my hot water, -just as I was about to get up, a most beautiful young lady, very fair, -and dressed in grey silk, drew aside the curtain of my bed and leant -over me and said, ‘Do not be unhappy about your son: no harm shall -happen to him.’ I am quite certain I have had a vision, yet it seemed as -if I were awake: certainly I was so the moment before this happened. The -whole thing is as distinct as possible, and as unlike an effect of -imagination. Of course I cannot account for it, but it has made me quite -happy, and I _know_ you will come back safe.” - -“‘On receipt of this letter I bethought me of the ring, and begged my -mother in reply to describe minutely the appearance of the mysterious -visitor. My mother said it was a young woman about twenty-seven years of -age, rather pale, with very straight features, large grey eyes, and an -abundance of brown hair worn in rather an old-fashioned manner: the -sleeves of the grey silk dress were what we call “bishop sleeves.” - -“‘I sent copies of my mother’s letters to Palgrave Simpson, and he -answered me that the description was in the _minutest_ particular the -counterpart of the lady who on her death-bed had given him the ring some -sixteen or seventeen years before. - -“‘It is to be observed that no communication whatever passed between me -and my mother between the receipt of the ring and my arrival at Malta, -and I will swear that I told no one the story. - -“‘On my return from the Crimea I restored the ring to its owner, but he -sent it back to me, begging me to keep it. Last year he wrote to me that -he was threatened by a certain danger, and he wished to have back the -talisman. I at once returned it to him, and it is now in his hands.’” - - * * * * * - -“_July 10._--Dining at Louisa, Lady Ashburton’s, I sat near George N. -Curzon, eldest son of Lord Scarsdale, the sort of fellow I take to at -once, and we made great friends in one evening, unfolding ourselves in a -way which makes me sure we shall meet again.” - - * * * * * - -“_July 11._--Dined at Lord Foley’s. George Russell was there. He said he -had said something about Lord Salisbury’s carriage to the Duchess -Dowager of Cleveland. ‘I did not know Lord Salisbury had a carriage,’ -said the old lady. ‘Surely, my dear Duchess?’--‘No; I have even heard it -said that the present Marquis of Salisbury goes about in a vehicle -called a brougham!’ - -“Sir Robert and Lady Sheffield were going down to visit some friends -near West Drayton, where a carriage was to meet them. Arriving in the -dark, they found a carriage waiting and jumped into it. After driving -some way, they entered a park and drove up to the door of a great house. -They were shown up to a long gallery, where a little old lady was -arranging some books. ‘Ah! some companion,’ they thought, and for a time -they took no notice of her. At last they said, ‘Is Lady ---- not coming -down soon?’--‘I am not cognisant of the movements of my Lady ----,’ said -the old lady very sharply, rapping her ebony stick violently on the -floor; ‘but you are under a misapprehension. This is Osterley Park, and -I--am the Duchess of Cleveland.’ And then subsiding into her most -gracious manner,--‘And now, whilst my carriage is getting ready to take -you on to Lady ----, I hope you will allow me to have the pleasure of -giving you some tea.’” - - * * * * * - -“_July 14._--Dinner at Lady Charlemont’s. Mr. Synge, who declared at -once his belief in ghostly apparitions, told a pretty story of a -clergyman in Somersetshire who had ridden to the bank and drawn out all -the money for his poor-club, which he was taking back with him, when he -became aware of another horseman riding by his side, who did not speak, -and who, at a certain point of the road beyond a hollow, disappeared. In -that hollow highwaymen, who knew the clergyman was coming with the -money, were waiting to attack him; but they refrained, ‘for there are -two of them,’ they said. It was his guardian angel. - -“Mr. Synge told us that his grandfather was the magistrate to whom the -man came who said that he ought to warn Mr. Percival because he had -twice dreamt of a man in a white plush coat with purple glass buttons -who was going to murder him. But his grandfather restrained the man from -saying anything on so slight a foundation as a dream. After the murder -of Mr. Percival, the man went up to London, and in the prisoner in -Newgate recognised at once the man he had seen, and found him wearing -the white plush coat with the purple glass buttons. - -“Lady Charlemont talked much of the Lord Chancellor Thurlow. He asked -for the Bishopric of Durham for his brother. George IV. replied that he -thought Lord Thurlow should have known that that Bishopric, being a -principality, could only be given to persons of the very highest rank -and connections. ‘It is therefore, your Majesty,’ said Lord Thurlow, -‘that I have asked for it for the brother of the Lord High Chancellor of -England.’ - -“A clergyman desirous of a living went to the Bishop of London and asked -him for an introduction to the Lord Chancellor Thurlow. The Bishop said, -‘I should be willing to give it, but an introduction from me would -defeat the very end you have in view.’ However, the clergyman persisted -in his request, and the introduction was given. - -“The Lord Chancellor received him with fury. ‘So that damned scoundrel -the Bishop of London has given you an introduction: as it is he who has -introduced you, you will certainly not get the living.’--‘Well, so the -Bishop said, my lord,’ replied the clergyman. ‘Did the Bishop say so?’ -thundered Lord Thurlow: ‘then he’s a damned liar, and I’ll prove him so: -you _shall_ have the living,’ and the man got it. - -“At Arundel the guests were astonished by the butler coming in one day -abruptly and saying to the Duke, ‘May it please your Grace, Lord Thurlow -has laid an egg.’ It was one of the owls which existed at Arundel till -the time of the present owner. Lord Thurlow’s daughter, going round -their cages in the wall, had stopped opposite one of them, and, looking -at the blinking bird, said, ‘Why, he’s just like papa.’ The bird was -ever after called Lord Thurlow.” - - * * * * * - -“_July 16._--At Mrs. Ralph Dutton’s I took Mrs. Procter in to -dinner--Barry Cornwall’s widow, always full of interest and excellence, -and of many unknown kindnesses. She talked of her early days, of the -charm of Monckton Milnes when young--his brightness and vigour: of the -decadence of society now, when at least a thousand persons were invited -to Grosvenor House whom our grandmothers would not consent to be in the -same room with; but that society now required high seasoning, and -royalty the strongest pepper of all: that in former days no guest would -have continued in a house where he was received on entering by a wet -sponge from ----: that the abbreviation of P. B.’s in use for -‘professional beauties’ was a sign of the depth to which we have fallen. - -“Mrs. Stewart told me a characteristic story of Mrs. Procter’s wit. ‘The -Lionel Tennysons--dear good excellent people--asked that woman Sarah -Bernhardt, the actress, to luncheon, asked her to go all the way to them -in Kensington, and invited some good, quiet, simple folk to meet her, -just trusting in his prestige as the laureate’s son. I need hardly say -that, though they waited luncheon for Sarah Bernhardt till four o’clock, -she never came. She knew the company she was to meet, and she did not -think it worth while. They told Mrs. Procter of it. ‘Why,’ she said, ‘if -people will invite monkeys, they must provide them with _nuts_.’ - -“‘Dear Mrs. Procter is so satirical,’ says Mrs. Stewart, ‘that when I go -to her and find other people in the room, I always stay till the last, -that she may have no one to discuss me with.’ - -“When Mrs. Procter dies, her last daughter will probably go into a -convent. She has had three daughters; two have become Roman Catholics, -and one is already in a convent. ‘I have another daughter, but you will -never see her,’ is the only way in which the mother alludes to this.” - - * * * * * - -“_July 17._--Sat by Matthew Arnold at breakfast. Speaking of the odd -effect misspelt words often produced, he quoted a begging letter he had -just received from a lady who said she had a decided claim upon charity, -being ‘the sole support of an aged Ant’ (_sic_). - -[Illustration: MRS. DUNCAN STEWART] - -“Called on Mrs. Stewart. She said that the evening before she had asked -Mr. Froude what she should reply to Mr. Tennyson if he asked her what -she thought of his last wretched poems. ‘Oh, say, “Blessed sir, would I -presume?”’ returned Mr. Froude. - -“Two days ago I went to Lady Airlie’s, where a large party was collected -to hear Mr. Browning read. I never heard any one, even a child of ten, -read so atrociously. It was two of his own poems--‘Good News to Ghent’ -and ‘Ivan Ivanowitch,’ the latter always most horrible and unsuitable -for reading aloud, but in this case rendered utterly unintelligible by -the melodramatic vocal contortions of the reader.” - - * * * * * - -“_July 23._--By invitation of Mrs. Stephen Winkworth to see Lewis -Campbell’s translation of the ‘Agamemnon’ acted. Mrs. Fleeming Jenkin -took the parts of both Clytemnestra and Cassandra, and was very grand in -both, especially the latter. She has an infinity of action, but it is -all graceful and very Greek. The chorus loses much, because each of the -old men is made to say his speech separately, whereas in the original -Greek they evidently all talked together.” - - * * * * * - -“_July 24, Milford._--I have ended a very happy season by leaving London -immediately after the marriage of Evelyn Bromley Davenport with Tom Legh -of Lyme. Here, at Mrs. Greville’s, I find Lady Archibald Campbell, a -pale, beautiful young woman, strangely occupied with spiritualism, and -Mr. Watts, one of the principal writers in the _Athenæum_, and the man -who, living with Swinburne, has, by his personal influence, cured him of -the habit of drinking.” - - * * * * * - -“_July 25._--A hot Sunday afternoon, spent chiefly in sitting on the -terrace, where great orange-trees are set in tubs as in a French garden, -and in listening to the discursive conversation of Mr. Watts and Lady -Archie about Swinburne and Rossetti. - -“I am very sorry, now that it is too late, that, in my last visit here, -when asked to choose which I would be taken to see, I did not say George -Eliot instead of Tennyson. Mrs. Greville went to see her with an aching -heart after Lewes’s death, and ‘found them all in the drawing-room -playing battledore and shuttlecock, nothing changed but the man.’ - -“Mrs. Greville’s mother, sweet Mrs. Thellusson, was one of the claimants -for the great Thellusson fortune--an unsuccessful claimant. She is -lovely still in her old age. Mrs. Greville has a picture of a young man -in a dress of the beginning of this century. She described his return -lately from India. ‘He came to Milford, and paid me endless attentions -and made me endless presents; I really thought he wished to marry me, -until he proposed to--my mother!’”[349] - - * * * * * - -“_Ammerdown Park, August 2._--I have been several days with Lady -Waterford--always charming, always so full of holy teaching, that she -recalls the closing lines of St. Patrick’s Hymn-- - - ‘Christ in every eye that sees me, - Christ in every ear that hears me.’ - -Yet this visit leaves nothing especially to remember except a story of -Lord Waterford pursuing a robber who had broken into his house, finding -him in a public-house some four miles off, and convicting him amongst a -number of other men by insisting upon feeling all their hearts; the man -whose heart was still beating quickly was the one who had just done -running. - -“On Saturday I came to Wells, the lovely old city of orchards and clear -running brooks, whence Lord Hylton fetched me to Ammerdown. Sir Augustus -Paget and all his family are here, the daughter a lovely, bright, -natural girl,[350] and the sons, Victor and Ralph, most charming, -kind-hearted, winning fellows. We have been to Mells--an overgrown park -with pretty natural features, which was the favourite manor of the Abbot -of Glastonbury. At the dissolution, Mr. Horner was sent to take up the -parchments of the abbatial lands to Windsor, and for better security -took them in a pasty. On the way he put in his thumb and pulled out for -himself the title-deeds of Mells, the best plum of all, which has ever -since remained in the family of ‘Little Jack Horner.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Ryde, Oct. 10._--I have spent a quiet, peaceful summer: so little from -the outer world seems to ruffle me now, and the storms of four terrible -years have been succeeded by six years of calm. It has been a constant -pleasure to visit the dear Mrs. Grove, now confined to the upper floor -of her house. Charlotte Leycester has been long at Holmhurst, and other -guests have come and gone, relics from my dearest Mother’s life, and -waifs and strays from my own, by many of whom I am sadly overrated; the -moral of which is, I suppose, that one should try really to clamber up -to that high shelf on which one is placed in imagination. Of original -work I have done little enough, except one article on ‘Lucca’ for _Good -Words_. - -“One of my chief occupations has been editing the life of the nun Amalie -von Lassaux, translated from the German by Fräulein von Weling. As -‘Sister Augustine,’ her story possesses that interest which is always -attached to a struggle in the cause of truth amid many persecutions and -torments, rather mental than physical. - -“I was away twice for a few days--first with young Mrs. Hamilton Seymour -at Aylesford, a charming little old town on the sluggish Medway, with -‘The Friars’ close by, where pleasant Lady Aylesford lives in a -beautiful old house, with oak staircase, gateway, water-gate, clipped -yew-trees and terraces. Then I was two days at Hampton Court with witty -old Lady Lyndhurst, and greatly delighted in the glories of the old -palace and its gardens. And now I am with dear old George Liddell,[351] -enjoying this otherwise dull watering-place through his genial -hospitality.” - - * * * * * - -“_Melchet, Hants, Oct. 23._--From Ryde I went to Amesbury to stay with -Sir Edmund and Lady Antrobus, who are some of the kindest and most -hospitable people in London, and have a fine house in Piccadilly. Their -house in Wiltshire is very fine too, though it has never been finished. -Gay’s Duchess of Queensberry lived there, and in the grounds are a cave -and summer-house where the poet wrote verses to her. But the great -interest of Amesbury lies in its being the scene of Guinevere’s penance, -and it recalls Tennyson’s poem in the swirling mists which arise with -morning and evening. Each morning we drew at Stonehenge amongst the -hoary and mighty stones standing out against the ethereal lights and -shadows of the plain. - -“Next, I went to Rushmore, to which the Lane Fox’s have succeeded, with -the name of Pitt Rivers and £36,000 a year, since the death of the 6th -Lord Rivers. It is a dull country-house on Cranbourne Chase--swooping -moors sprinkled with thorn-trees or thick woods of hazel. I was taken to -see Shaftesbury; Cranbourne, the fine old house of the Salisburys; and -Wardour, with noble cedars too closely overhanging the ruins of its -castle. Lord Arundel lives in the Park at Wardour, in an immense house -which he is too poor to keep in repair. He has another place somewhere -near the sea, where his grandfather went to reside, to the great -discomfiture of a gang of smugglers, who had previously had sole -possession, and who tried to frighten him away by ghostly sights and -sounds, but in vain. One night Lord Arundel was sitting in his room, -having locked the door, when some one knocked. He demanded who was -there, when a voice said, ‘Open and you will see:’ He opened it, and -found a very rough-looking man with a keg of spirits under his arm. The -man said, ‘Well, my Lord, we’ve done our best to frighten you, but you -won’t be frightened, so I’ve, come to make a clean breast of it, and -I’ve brought you a little offering. I only hope you won’t be hard on -us.’ ‘Oh, dear no, I won’t be hard on you,’ said Lord Arundel; and Lady -Marian Alford, to whom he told the story at Rome when she was four years -old, vividly remembers his vigorous assertion, ‘And the smuggler gave me -the very best Hollands I ever had in my life.’ - -“From Rushmore, after a visit to the old Shipley home at Twyford, I came -here to Lady Ashburton. Melchet is a magnificent house in a beautiful -country, and is filled with art-treasures of every kind. Lady Marian is -here, always pleasant with her ripple of conversation and anecdote. She -has been very amusing about her mother’s parrot, which used to hop about -upon the lawn. One day it was carried off by an eagle. Old John Tooch, -one of the dynasty of John Toochs who worked in the garden, was mowing -the lawn, and as the parrot, in the eagle’s gripe, was sailing over his -head, he heard a voice in the air call out, ‘We’re ridin’ noo, John -Tooch, we’re ridin’ noo;’ at which strange sound the eagle was so -dreadfully frightened that he let the parrot fall, so that John Tooch -took it home to its cage again.” - - * * * * * - -“_Melchet, Oct. 28._--Yesterday we went to Longford--Lord Radnor’s--a -great castellated house in a dull park, with no view, but very fine -pictures. - -“In the morning the (Melchet) footman woke me with the news that the -house had been broken into. The robbers had entered through the -drawing-room window, perambulated the lower apartments, drunk up all the -wine in the dining-room, and found all the valuables too big to carry -off!” - - * * * * * - -“_Oct. 29._--A charming visit to Broadlands, Lord Mount-Temple’s--the -people so full of genial goodness, the house most comfortable and -gardens lovely. Lady Mount-Temple--in whom, as Miss Tollemache, Ruskin -saw such statuesque severity with womanly sweetness joined--a marvellous -union of beauty, goodness, and intelligence. The grounds, with fountain, -river, well-grouped trees, and a Palladian summer-house, are like a -beautiful Claude-Lorraine picture. The same landscape--of a river, -winding amongst cedar-shadowed lawns--forms the predella to Rossetti’s -picture of ‘The Blessed Damozel.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Holmhurst, Nov. 13._--Mr. and Mrs. Paterson have been here for the -day. He told me two stories:-- - -“A lady was awoke in the night with the disagreeable sense of not being -alone in the room, and soon felt a thud upon her bed. There was no doubt -that some one was moving to and fro in the room, and that hands were -constantly moving over her bed. She was so dreadfully frightened that at -last she fainted. When she came to herself, it was broad daylight, and -she found that the butler had walked in his sleep and had laid the table -for fourteen upon her bed. - -“A lunatic, who had escaped for some time from his asylum, was -eventually captured. When he came in and saw the keeper who was -accustomed to take care of him, he said, ‘Well, I’ve been very much -occupied since I went away: I’ve been occupied in being -married.’--‘Well, and whom have you married?’ said the keeper. ‘Oh, I’ve -married the Devil’s daughter.’--‘Well, I hope it’s a happy union?’--‘Oh, -very, thank you,’ said the lunatic; ‘only I don’t much like the old -people.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Holmhurst, Nov. 24._--Last week I was for two days at Cambridge as the -guest of Jock Wallop, the best and kindest of hosts, under whose popular -auspices I saw the present undergraduate life to perfection. There is a -most charming set of fellows there now, all delighted to be young, and -not aiming at juvenile senility, as was the fashion in my day at -Oxford.” - - * * * * * - -“_Dec. 16._--Several Midland county visits afford nothing to recollect. -Certainly country-house visits are a lottery. One old lady said, ‘My -dear, I _am_ so glad to see you. It is so delightful to see any one _at -all_ pleasant. In London one can have any agreeable company one likes, -but you know God Almighty fills one’s house in the country.’ - -“I have, however, been to George Curzon at Oxford. He is most -delightful, and sure to become distinguished. At the meeting of the -Conservative ‘Canning Club’ I heard a most capital paper on Ireland by -young Edward Arnold. Afterwards I was three days at Sherborne, meeting, -amongst other less interesting elements, the ever-charming Dowager Lady -Craven. Lady Sherborne sang in a way which would move the heart of a -basilisk. The country around Sherborne was the scene of innumerable -battles in Saxon times, commemorated in the names of the fields and -farms, which are supposed to owe their fertility to the carnage with -which they had been covered. This supposition makes the peasants eager -for the use of bone-dust, which they believe to be imported from the -plains of Waterloo. If a field, after having been thus manured, still -yields no crop, they say ‘Waterloo bean’t no use here!’” - - * * * * * - -I spent the Christmas of 1880 again with the kind Lowthers at Ampthill, -meeting, as before, Louisa, Lady Ashburton, and going, as before, to -spend a day at Woburn. In January 1881 I was at Bretton with the -Beaumonts, meeting Julia, Lady Jersey, and a large party. - -We went to see Nostell, a very grand but little known house of the -Winns, full of splendid things, glorious tapestries, china, Chippendale -furniture, but, most remarkable of all, a doll’s house of the last -century, with miniature fairy furniture, exquisitely carved and painted, -a doll trousseau with point lace, and a Liliputian service of plate. - -We also went a long drive to Stainborough (Wentworth Castle), through a -country which may be pretty in summer clearness, but which is hideously -black in winter. The house is a great Italian palace, half Queen Anne, -half older, with little temples in the grounds, the building of one of -which is described by Evelyn. Inside there are fine tapestries, and many -pictures of the Stuarts, ascribed to Vandyck, but probably copies. Lady -Harriet Wentworth, who showed us everything herself, gave us the -characteristic of her life when she said “I do so hate the _thraldom_ of -civilisation.” Her stately rooms have no charm for her, and, though they -are so immense, she declares she cannot breathe in them, and she lives -entirely and has all her meals in the conservatory, with a damp, warm, -marshy climate, from which she does not scruple to emerge through the -bitter winds of the Yorkshire wolds (for the conservatory does not join -the house) with nothing extra on. From Bretton I went to Tortworth--Lord -Ducie’s--in Gloucestershire. - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL. - -“_Jan. 11, 1881._--There is a large party here (at Tortworth), but one -forgets all its other elements in dear Mrs. Duncan Stewart. ‘L’esprit -pétille sur son visage.’ Never was there a more marvellous coruscation -of wit and wisdom; and she not merely evades ever saying an ill-natured -thing of any one, but, where there is positively _nothing_ of good to be -said, has some apt line of old poetry or some proverb to bring forward -urging mercy--‘Mercy, so much grander than justice.’ - -“Last night she wanted to introduce me to Mrs. Grey, an American lady -who is staying here. ‘I cannot do it better,’ she said, ‘than in the -words of Alfred d’Orsay when he brought up Landseer to me, saying, -“Here, Mrs. Stewart, is Landseer, who can do everything better than he -can paint,”--so here, Mrs. Grey, is Mr. Hare, who can do everything -better than he can write.’ - -“To-day, at luncheon, Mrs. Stewart talked much of Paris, and of her -intercourse with a French physician there. Dr. ---- spoke to her of the -happy despatch, and unhesitatingly allowed that when he saw a patient -condemned to hopeless suffering, he practised it. ‘But of course you -insist on the acquiescence both of the patients and of their families,’ -said Mrs. Stewart. ‘_Never_,’ shouted Dr. ----. ‘I should be a mean sneak -indeed if I waited for _that_.’ - -“She talked much of George Sand and of her journey to Italy, from which -three books resulted, _her’s_, ‘Elle et Lui:’ _his_, ‘Lui et Elle,’ and -‘Lettres d’un Voyageur.’ - -“She said his was most horrible. - -“Afterwards Lord ---- was in a box at the opera in Paris with a number of -other young men. There was a knock at the door, and George Sand came in. -‘Il y a place pour moi?’--‘Certainly,’ they said. By-and-by one of them -inquired, ‘Et Musset?’--‘Oh, il voyage en Italie,’ she replied. -Presently the door opened, and a man came in--haggard, dishevelled, worn -to a degree. It was Musset. He shook hands with one and other of the -young men. ‘Et pas un mot pour moi?’ said George Sand. ‘Non,’ he -exclaimed. ‘Je vous haïs, je vous deteste! c’est que vous avez tué le -bonheur de ma vie.’ - -“Mrs. Stewart talked of the great want of appreciation of Byron--of his -wonderful satire, evinced by the lines in the ‘Age of Bronze’ on Marie -Louise and Wellington: of his philosophy, for which she cited the lines -on Don Quixote: of his marvellous condensation and combination, for -which she repeated those on the burning of Moscow. - -“She also talked of Trollope’s novels, and said how Trollope had told -her of the circumstances which led to the death of Mrs. Proudie. He had -gone up to write at the round table in the library at the Athenaeum, and -spread his things all over it. It was early in the morning, and there is -seldom any one there at that time. On this occasion, however, two -country clergymen were sitting on either side of the fire reading one of -his own books: after a time they began to talk about them. ‘It is a -great pity Trollope does not get some fresh characters,’ said one. -‘Yes,’ said the other, ‘one gets so tired of meeting the same people -again and again, especially of Mrs. Proudie.’ Then Trollope got up, and -planting himself on the rug between them with his back to the fire, -said, ‘Gentlemen, I do not think it would be honest to listen to you -talking about my books any more, without telling you that I am the -victim; but I will add that I quite agree with what you have been -saying, and that I will give you my word of honour that Mrs. Proudie -shall die in the very next book I write.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Jan. 12._--Dr. Asa Grey, who is here, a Professor of Harvard -University, is one of the most famous botanists living; but he is also a -very charming person. Lowell describes how his - - ‘indefatigable hours - Have been as gaily innocent - And fragrant as his flowers.’[352] - -“Mrs. Stewart talked of Madame Jerome Bonaparte, _née_ Paterson--her -beauty, her cleverness, her father to whom she always wrote of her -_succès de société_, looking down upon him; but he could always avenge -himself; he could always write to her, ‘My dear Betsy.’ ‘She would tell -him how she had been received at this court and at that, and then would -come his answer with “My dear Betsy.” Oh, it was a terrible revenge.’ - -“She talked of the society of her youth, when it was real society, for -people were never in a hurry. ‘One of the marked figures then was Lady -Cork,[353] who, after eighty, always dressed in white, with a little -white pulled bonnet and a gold-headed stick. Another, whom you are none -of you old enough to remember, was Lady Morgan, a little old lady, who -used to rouge up to the eyes. M. Fonblanque--he was the editor of the -_Examiner_--used to say, “She is just a spark of hell-fire, and is soon -going back to her native element.” - -“‘I wonder,’ said Mrs. Stewart, ‘what has become of an early picture -which I remember of Leighton’s. A lady went to all the great artists in -London to get them to paint a dream of hers, and they refused, and -Leighton, who was quite a young man, undertook it. She dreamt that she -had died, and that she had gone up--up to Christ, and that He had turned -her back, and she said, “Why, Lord?” and He replied, “Because your work -on earth is not yet done.” - -“‘Leighton painted the Saviour in a glory of yellow light, and the woman -being turned back by Him.’ - -“This reminiscence led to one of a different kind from Mr. Ashley -Ponsonby. - -“‘Creswick the actor was once at a dinner where Irving absorbed all the -conversation and allowed no one else to speak. At last he could stand it -no longer, and turning round to his next neighbour, said, “I had such an -extraordinary dream last night.” Of course, the whole party were -attention at once.’ - -“‘Yes,’ he said, ‘I dreamt that I was dead, and that I went up to the -gates of heaven and knocked at them. ‘Who are you?’ said St. Peter. ‘I -am Mr. Creswick.’--‘What, Creswick the Academician?’--‘No, Creswick the -actor.’--‘Oh, then I can’t let you in here; we don’t admit any actors -here,’ said St. Peter, and he turned me away. Dreadfully crestfallen, I -went and sat down under a juniper-tree, and watched other people -arriving at the gates. Many of my friends came and were let in. Then I -took heart and went and knocked again, and when St. Peter said again -that I must go away, for he could not admit any actors, I said, ‘But -really that is not the case, for you have let in Mr. Irving.’--‘That is -true,’ said St. Peter, ‘but--he _was no actor_.’” - -“‘Take care,’ said Mrs. Stewart, ‘or you will become that most dreadful -of all things, a self-observant valetudinarian. I was once in the house -with a lady, who, after talking of nothing else for an hour, said, “I -won’t speak of my own health, for, when I was young, a dear old wise and -judicious woman said to me, ‘When anybody asks you how you are, always -say you are very well, for nobody cares.’” - -“‘Many people fall into sin,’ said Mrs. Stewart, ‘merely because they -are tired of the monotony of innocence.’ - -“‘He was very fallible,’ she said, ‘and yet capable of becoming that -greatest of all things--a good man.’ - -“‘I think it was a bishop who said, “Most people now go to seek their -ancestors at the Jardin des Plantes; for my part, I am content with the -Garden of Eden.”’ - -“‘Mr. Pigott is a finished critic, but with the innocence of a child -picking daisies.’ - -“‘It was one of the cases in which the highest and the lowest motives -combine, and oh! in life there are so many of those cases.’” - - * * * * * - -“_January 12._--Mrs. Stewart has been talking of the cases in which a -lie is justifiable. Of herself she said, ‘There was once a case in which -I thought I ought to tell a lie, but I was not sure. I went to Dr. and -Mrs. Bickersteth, and I asked them. They would only answer, “We cannot -advise you to tell a lie;” they would not advise it, but they did not -forbid it. So when a husband came to question me about his wife, I -equivocated. I said, “She was certainly not seduced by that man.” He -said to me very sternly and fiercely, “That is no answer; is my wife -innocent? I will believe you if you say she is.” And I said, “She is.” -I said it hesitatingly, for I knew it was false, and _he_ knew it was -false; he knew that I had lied to him, and he did not believe me in his -heart; but he was glad to believe me outwardly, and he was grateful to -me, and that husband and wife lived together till death. I believe that -was one of the cases in which it is right to tell a lie. You will say -that it might lead me to tell many others, but I don’t think it has. -Stopford Brooke once said that strict merciless truth was the most -selfish thing he knew.” - -“Mrs. Stewart also told us-- - -“Dudley Smith, as a very young man, went out to China, and was employed -in the opium trade. He then married and had several children. When he -was thirty-three his conscience began to work, and he felt the abuses of -opium. He left the trade and became a wharfinger, in which profession he -made some money, though it was not nearly so lucrative as the occupation -he had given up, in which he had made £12,000. - -“When he was thirty-five, though he had then a wife and several -children, Dudley Smith brought the £12,000 to his man of business, -saying that it burnt a hole in his pocket, and desiring him to so invest -it as to realise £500 a year for a mission to the Chinese, from whom it -was taken. This story is delightful to me. It reminds me of a saying of -old Mr. Planchet’s, which meant, though I cannot remember the exact -words-- - - ‘Of heroes and heroines I am sick grown; - The only real ones are those that are unknown.’ - -We have been to luncheon at Berkeley Castle to-day. Lady Fitzhardinge, -fat to a degree, is charming, and has the most wonderful knowledge of -all the delicate _finesses_ of form and colour, and the application of -them to furniture. Her rooms are quite beautiful, everything composing -the most harmonious picture, down to a string of blue beads suspended -from a yellow vase. Lord Fitzhardinge came in to luncheon with Lord -Worcester, Lord Guildford, and another man--four statues! Not one of -them spoke a word, I believe because not one of them had a word to say, -except about racehorses, about which we none of us could say anything. -The castle relics are most interesting--Sir Francis Drake’s furniture, -Queen Elizabeth’s plate, bequeathed to her cousin Lord Hunsdon, and the -last prayer of Edward VI., written out by his sister herself, in the -tiniest of little jewel-embossed volumes.” - - * * * * * - -“_Jan. 15._--Mrs. Stewart has been talking much of her great delight in -the works of Ampère, and of the intense devotion, the passionate love of -the younger Ampère for Madame Recamier. She was guilty of a _trahison_ -to him, though. When he was at Weimar, he wrote to her a private letter, -telling her particulars about all the people there, which he had better -not have told, but he wrote them in strict confidence. She made that -letter public. ‘My dear Mr. Hare,’ said Mrs. Stewart, ‘I have never read -any letter more exquisitely, more tenderly pathetic than that which -Ampère wrote her when he heard this--a letter struggling between his old -respect and admiration and the feeling that his idol had fallen, that he -could not but reproach her. - -“When Lowell (the American poet and minister) was describing his wife’s -terrible illness, he said, ‘My dear Mrs. Stewart, I would have given Job -ten and won.’ - -“After Lady Fitzhardinge came, Mrs. Stewart talked much of her -acquaintance with Brother Ignatius. She was at the place of her -son-in-law, Mr. Rogerson, in Scotland. One day out walking, Mrs. -Rogerson met a young man, of wonderful beauty, dressed as a monk, with -bare feet and sandals. He asked her whether they were near any inn, and -said, ‘The fact is, I have with me two sisters, Sister Gertrude and -another, and a brother--Brother Augustine. And the brother is very ill, -possibly ill to death, and we cannot go any farther.’ So Mrs. Rogerson -made them come to her house, and showed them infinite kindness, ‘giving -them at once water for their feet and all Scripture hospitality.’ -Brother Augustine was very ill, very ill indeed, and they all remained -at Mrs. Rogerson’s house three weeks, during which Mrs. Stewart became -very intimate with them, especially with Brother Ignatius and Sister -Gertrude. They used to go out for the day together, ‘and then, in some -desolate strath, Brother Ignatius would sing, sing hymns like an -archangel, and then he would kneel on the grass and pray.’ - -“Many years afterwards, Mrs. Stewart heard that Brother Ignatius was -going to preach in London--‘some very bad part of London,’ and she went. -The room was packed and crowded, but she was in the first row. He -preached, a beautiful young monk, leaning against a pillar. ‘There were -at least a hundred of his attitudes worth painting,’ but there was -nothing in his words. At last a little girl thought he looked faint, and -brought him a smelling-bottle, which she presented to him kneeling. ‘He -smelled at it, and then seeing me, an old woman, near him, he sent it on -to me, and I smelled at it too. Afterwards I stayed to see him, and we -talked together in a small room, talked till midnight. Then he gave me -his blessing, gave it me very solemnly, and afterwards I said, ‘And God -bless you too, my dear young man.’ - -“In the evening Mrs. Stewart spoke much of the Sobieski Stuarts--their -gallant appearance when young, and their change into ‘the mildew of -age.’ - -“Apropos of the last words of St. Evremond, ‘Je vais savoir le grand -peut-être,’ Mrs. Stewart mentioned Mrs. Grote having said to her at -their last meeting, ‘I trust, dear, that you are living, as I am, in -_respectful hope_.’ - -“This led to much talk of Mrs. Grote, who had died (Dec. 29, 1878) when -I was away at Rome with the Prince Royal, and Mrs. Stewart described -how, when she returned from Hanover after the fall of the royal family, -and was quite full of events there, she went down at once to visit the -Grotes in the country. ‘My dear,’ said Mrs. Grote, ‘I cannot enter into -your feelings about all your princesses and duchesses, but as regards -your king, I can enter into them fully: he has lived “as it is -written.”’ Mrs. Stewart wrote this to the King, who knows Shakspeare to -his finger-ends, and he said it did him more good than anything else -anybody wrote or said to him. As long as he lived, he and Mrs. Grote -exchanged stories and messages afterwards, through Mrs. Stewart. - -“Lady William Russell said with much truth of Mr. and Mrs. Grote, ‘He is -ladylike, and she is such a perfect gentleman.’ - -“When Lady Catherine Clive was painting her town-hall at Hereford, she -was very anxious to find new, not conventional, attributes for some of -her allegorical figures; she especially wished for something instead of -the scales of ‘Justice.’ Mrs. Stewart wrote this to Mrs. Grote: ‘Tell -your friend,’ she answered, ‘not to try to struggle against -conventionalities. Tell her to be content with the scales: she will come -to find the cross conventional next.’ - -“When Lady Eastlake undertook to write Mrs. Grote’s life after her -death, she asked Mrs. Stewart for all her ‘jottings’ of Mrs. Grote’s -conversations, but she made no use of them. She was so anxious that -every one should find the book too short, that she really omitted almost -everything characteristic. She wrote her regrets afterwards to Mrs. -Stewart, who answered, ‘You are suffering, my dear, from a granted -prayer,’--for, in fact, the book was so short and dry that it passed -almost unnoticed. - -“Mrs. Stewart spoke again of how far a lie might be made right by -circumstances--giving a wrong direction to a man who was in pursuit of -another to kill him, &c., and, when some one objected, dwelt upon its -being far greater to be noble for others than holy for one’s self. Some -one said that in this case all should follow the inner voice, which -would tell them truly what their real duty was. She replied, ‘Yes, -having formed your character by the Master without, you may then act in -a crisis by the voice within, which will never be false to your life’s -teachings.... But perhaps,’ she added, ‘I should say, like Dr. Johnson, -“I have been speaking in crass ignorance, according to the failings of -my fallible human nature”’ (and she repeated some lovely lines on Mary -Magdalen, from Moore’s ‘Rhymes of the Road’);[354] ‘and yet, may we all, -whilst acting like fallible human beings as we are, trust respectfully -in God’s mercy,--though speaking of no glorious future as reserved for -us, lest He should say, “What hast thou done to deserve that?”’ - -“The letters written to the _Morning Post_ from Hanover during the last -days of the monarchy, and signed H. S., were by Mrs. Stewart: those in -the _Times_, bearing the same signature, were by another lady. - -“After being for a time with Mrs. Stewart and hearing her talk, I feel -how great the decay of conversation is since my childhood, when there -were many people who knew how to _converse_, not merely to _utter_. -Scarcely any one now ever says what they really think, and there is an -unwholesome striving after aestheticism, Louis Quatorze, blue china, -&c., which another age, if it remembers it, will think most -ridiculous.” - - * * * * * - -“_London, Jan. 24._--To Miss Bromley, who had been on Saturday to take -leave of Carlyle, to whom she has been the most faithful of friends for -many years. He has been sinking for some time, full of power, pathos, -and patience. He woke out of what was supposed to be a death stupor to -recognise her, and pressed her hand to his lips.” - - * * * * * - -“_Feb. 26._--Went by appointment to see the Queen of Sweden, who is at -Claridge’s Hotel for two nights. She was most kind and gracious, and -said that she was glad to thank me in person for all that I had been to -the Crown Prince. She talked of her illness and its anxieties; but there -were many other people waiting for an audience, and there was no time -for any real conversation.” - - * * * * * - -“_March 1._--Met Lady Lyveden at dinner at General Higginson’s. She -described Mrs. Grote saying one day, ‘I have to go out this morning, my -dear; it’s not my usual time, and in fact it’s very inconvenient to me, -but then you know, my dear, it’s _an affliction job_.’ - -“Mrs. Grote, to the last, was very proud of her appearance. Her hands -and feet she was especially proud of. One day Lady Lyveden asked her to -come in the evening to meet some pleasant people in her neighbouring -house in Savile Row. She would not do it. ‘I shall not come, my dear,’ -she said, ‘because I never go out; but besides that, I _could_ not come, -for, if I did, I should have to put my well-formed figure into one of -your abominably low arm-chairs.’[355] - -“There was a charm about her primitive household. There was not one of -her servants who spoke of her otherwise than ‘the Missis.’ - -“After dinner, she would leave ‘the historian,’ as she called him, in -his study, and come up to the drawing-room, where she would talk to her -guests and be most entertaining. At nine o’clock, tea would be brought -up--such a tea as one never sees now, with tablecloth, muffins, cakes, -&c. Then she would say to the servant, ‘Bring up the historian’--and the -historian was ‘brought up.’ He was vastly civil, of the old school, and -wore a great deal of frill. He would take his place opposite the table, -and immediately taking a large clean pocket-handkerchief from his -pocket, spread it very deliberately over his knees, after which a dog -jumped up and sat upon it. Then he would say, as to a perfect stranger, -‘And now, Mrs. Grote, will you kindly favour us with a sonata?’ and Mrs. -Grote, who was an admirable musician, would play a very long sonata -indeed; after which he would say, ‘Thank you, Mrs. Grote. I am sure Lady -Lyveden joins with me in being very much obliged to you for your -beautiful sonata.’[356] - -“Lady Eastlake’s written portrait misses all the wit, all the acted -comedy of Mrs. Grote’s real life. She made, however, a capital pencil -sketch (which Lady Lyveden has) of Mrs. Grote, who was greatly pleased -with it.” - - * * * * * - -“_March 9._--Met Princess Mary at luncheon at Lady Harrington’s, who -only presented me by ‘Here is Augustus.’ The Princess was good enough to -talk to me for a long time afterwards.” - - * * * * * - -“_March 22._--Dined at Lady Airlie’s, sitting by Lady Herbert of Lea, -who talked much of her long residence in Sicily, with which she was -connected through her mother. She went about a great deal amongst the -poor at Palermo, generally accompanied by a Sister of Charity, and on -one occasion nursed a sick brigand. Soon afterwards, her children, going -to the Bay of Mondello to pick up shells, were seized by brigands, but -as soon as they found whose children they were, they sent them back to -her safe. Another day, Lady Herbert was returning from a village, -whither she had been on some office of charity, to Palermo, as it was -almost dark. There were high walls on either side of the way. Suddenly -the Sister of Charity who was with her began to go so fast that she -could not keep up with her. ‘Non posso, Sorella mia, non posso cammináre -più,’ she said. ‘But look behind you,’ said the Sister. She looked, and -saw three brigands following them. It would have been impossible to get -away, so she waited till they came up and said, ‘Che vuole?’ They begged -her to excuse them: they were sent by their chief to protect her as far -as the walls of Palermo: _they_ knew her, but others might not, and -they were ordered to ascertain that she came to no harm. - -“A Hungarian Count and Countess were at dinner. He talked of fashion -very amusingly. He said he had learnt much from his herdsman, a very -clever man (‘he was hung afterwards, poor man, but he was very clever’), -who chose the animal to bear the bell, which was accustomed to go in the -centre of the herd. He asked why this was, and the herdsman answered, -‘Because the one who goes first naturally runs first into all dangers, -and when he has done it once or twice, the herd begin to find it out, -and they cease to follow him; and the one who goes last is constantly -left behind, and the herd begin to find it out, and they cease to follow -_him_; but the one that is in the middle, and chooses the safest place, -that is the one they know to be wise, and so, in any time of danger, -they will assuredly follow him. The Count spoke of the mania for -husband-murder which prevailed at Marseilles till it became quite a -fashion. Six women were tried at the same assizes for murdering their -husbands. In some of these cases there seemed something of reason or -excuse, but at last there came a lady whose husband had been all that -was most charming and delightful, and where the crime seemed -incomprehensible. The judge pressed her as to her motive, and at first -she said, ‘Ces dames me l’ont mis dans l’esprit,’ and, when urged -further, ‘Mais, cela se fait à Marseilles!’ - -“The London world has been full of the ‘Reminiscences of Carlyle,’ -published with furious haste by Froude a fortnight after his death. They -have dwarfed their subject from a giant into a pigmy. His journal and -letters speak well of no one except his own family, and assail with the -utmost vituperation all who differed from him. For his wife there is a -long wail of affection, which would be touching if the devotion had not -begun after her death. ‘Never marry a genius,’ she said to Lady -Ashburton; ‘I have done it, and suffered from it; but then, after my -death I shall have an apotheosis’--and she has had it. Much of Carlyle’s -virulence arose from the state of his health: he used to say, ‘I can -wish the devil nothing worse than that he may have to digest with my -stomach to all eternity; there will be no need of fire and brimstone -then.’” - - * * * * * - -“_March 28._--Dined at Lady Lyveden’s. Sat by Lady S., who was very -pleasant. She talked of Tennyson, who had been to stay with her. He -desired his sons to let her know that he should like to be asked to read -some of his poems in the evening. Nevertheless, when she asked him, he -made a piece of work about it, and said to the other guests, ‘I do it, -but I only do it because Lady S. absolutely insists upon it.’ He read -badly and with too much emotion: over ‘Maud’ he sobbed passionately. - -“Afterwards, at Lady Ridley’s party, Lord Houghton talked to me about -Carlyle--of how his grimness, which was unrelieved in the -‘Reminiscences,’ was relieved in the _man_ by much kindly humour. He -said that he and Lady Houghton were almost the only people spoken well -of in the book. Mr. Spedding used to say that Carlyle always needed that -kind of indulgence which most of us need in a fit of violent -toothache.” - - * * * * * - -“_April 3._--Dined with old Lady Combermere, who declared that only two -people ever had any excuse for living in the country, and they were Adam -and Eve!” - - * * * * * - -“_April 8._--An amusing luncheon at Lady Sebright’s, with an immense -party of actors, actresses, painters, literati, and ‘great ladies.’ It -seemed a reversion of the old order of things when the actresses had -said they ‘must inquire a little into the characters of the great -ladies’ they were asked to meet!” - - * * * * * - -“_Holmhurst, April 9._--Lea says, ‘It’s seven weeks from Guttit to -Aaster, and seven weeks from Aaster to Whissuntide.... You needna’ to -tak’ any trouble about the clocks, for when Lady Day comes it ‘ull mak’ -’em all right, for there’s just twelve hours of sunshine on Lady Day.’ - -“‘After New Year’s day every day is just a cock’s ted longer than the -last: a cock’s ted, you know, is just the time a cock stops between its -crowings.’ - -“‘When we were any ways contrairy, my father used to say, “Yes, it’s -always too wet or too fine: it’s always too hot or too cold: that’s the -way of the world.’” - - * * * * * - -“_London, May 12._--To Mrs. Duncan Stewart, whom I found, after her -severe illness, sitting in a picturesque wrapper reading old _Figaros_. -‘So much in them, you know, so much more than in any other newspaper.’ -They called up reminiscences of Lady Blessington, whom she thinks Lady -Airlie like, though without her perfect beauty: then of the trial of ... -for forgery, she being a grand-daughter of Stephanie Lafitte, ‘whom I -remember, not in her wedding-dress, but in one of her trousseau dresses, -for it was velvet. All French girls--and I was a French girl then--are -brought up to observe and think a great deal about dress, and it is -terrible, quite horrible to them, that an unmarried girl should have a -velvet dress: thus the remembrance clings to me.’ - -“Mrs. Stewart had been most alarmingly ill, but said she had rallied -from the moment Alfred Denison paid her a visit. She had said to him -that she had a presentiment she should not recover, and he had answered -her that he had never been ill without such a presentiment, and that it -had never come true. - -“Yesterday I went to the Hollands to meet Princess Louise, and to tell -her some stories which she had graciously wished to hear. I knew that I -was to do this, but it was sufficiently formidable notwithstanding. The -Princess felt that it must be so, and was very sympathetic, and as nice -as she could be, talking first of my books, and saying that my Italian -volumes were never out of her hands when she was in Italy, &c. I had -been allowed to choose the rest of the audience, and the Childers, -Northcotes, Goschens, Lady Taunton, and Mrs. Dundas were there.” - - * * * * * - -“_May 18._--Luncheon with Catherine Vaughan at the Temple. She was very -full of a story of Sir F. Gore Ouseley. He took a house near London, and -a young man went to stay with him, an atheist and a reprobate. The next -morning this man came down an altered person, saying that he had heard a -supernatural voice in the night, which had so horrified him that it -would change his whole life--the voice had blasphemed in the most awful -language. That day was November 22. The young man went away, and he -really did change his life. - -“The following year, on November 22, Sir F. Gore Ouseley suddenly opened -his door at night, and saw at the end of the passage a brilliant light, -and in the light the figure of an old man in a dressing-gown--luminous, -and all the rays of light issuing from his figure. Suddenly the light -went out: there was nothing more to be seen. - -“Some time after, Sir F. Gore Ouseley went to visit the owner of the -house he had rented, who lived at a distance. Whilst waiting for him, he -was attracted by the picture of an old gentleman over the chimney-piece, -and recognised the very man he had seen. When the master of the house -came in, he said, ‘Pray excuse me, but whom does that portrait -represent?’--‘Oh,’ answered the owner, ‘that is no one you are likely to -have heard of: it is a grandfather of mine, who was a very bad man -indeed: so bad, that, in fact, we never mention him.’ Afterwards, Sir -Frederick found that he had strangled his wife in the very passage where -he appeared, and had then committed suicide. - -“Mr. Austen, Rector of Whitby, was present when Catherine told this. He -said that Professor Owen had gone to stay at a house in Essex, where the -hostess apologised for putting him into the haunted room. The next -morning he was asked if he had heard anything. ‘Yes,’ he said, ‘I have -heard something, but I should like to say nothing about it till I have -slept in that room again.’ The second morning he said that each night he -had heard loud cries of a child proceeding from the hearthstone, and -begged that a mason might be sent for and the stone removed. This was -done, and the skull of a child was found beneath the stone. They buried -it in the garden, and the cries have never been heard since.” - - * * * * * - -“_Holyrood Palace, May 27._--On the evening of the 14th, at Cleveland -House, first Lady Aberdeen, and then Aberdeen, asked me to come hither -with them as equerry, during their residence for the Lord High -Commissionership. I stayed in London for Miss Beaumont’s wedding with -Coplestone Bampfylde, and joined them on Friday, arriving at 9 P.M., -when ninety guests were at dinner in the brilliantly lighted picture -gallery, in which all the kings of Scotland were, painted to order by -the same hand and from the same model. After dining by myself in a small -room, I joined the party in the reception-rooms, where I entered at once -upon my duties, which, for the most part, seem to be to talk right and -left to every one I see. Each evening the Synods of the different -districts dine, some eighty or a hundred clergymen, and I have generally -found from my clerical neighbours that they regard it as their carnival, -looked forward to throughout the whole year, and giving them much to -talk of when they return home. Sometimes military, legal, or other -classes are mixed with them. In the afternoons we have generally gone -in state to visit institutions of one kind or other, the most -interesting being the really beautiful Infirmary, built entirely by the -people of Scotland, and the marvellous printing establishment of Messrs. -Nelson. When we were at the latter, most hands were busy over the -revised New Testament, in which there are 7000 alterations from the -older edition, 2000 of them being important.” - - * * * * * - -“_Holyrood Palace, May 28._--It is an interesting life here, but a very -fatiguing one--the hours and hours of standing, as for real royalty; the -etiquette of always addressing Aberdeen as ‘Your Grace,’ and getting up -when he comes into a room; the whirlpool of invitations to be sent, in -which one is always being swallowed up. - -“I have had little enough of individual conversation, except with Ally -Gordon, the very pleasant aide-de-camp, and with Dr. Russell the -chaplain, who has talked much of Carlyle. He said to a friend who -visited him a short time before his death, ‘We are both old men now, and -I daresay you find, as I do, that it is well to rest upon the simple -answer to the first question in our Shorter Catechism--‘What is your -object in life?’--‘To glorify my Maker and to enjoy Him for ever.’ - -“On Sunday we were at St. Giles’s in the morning, and in the afternoon -had a long service and sermon in the picture-gallery. These Scotch -services are most wearisome, and the long prayers, _informing_ the -Almighty upon subjects on which He is all-wise and we are utterly -ignorant, are most revolting. - -“One especially feels the length of these prayers in standing, in great -heat, in the General Assembly, where we occupy places near the throne, -which is raised in a gallery: the Moderator and ex-Moderator sit at a -table beneath, and the five hundred members occupy the body of the -house. The Moderator, Dr. Smith, is a most beautiful and benign old man, -full of simple and true Christianity, who looks, with his courtly -manners, as if he never could wear anything _but_ his court dress. -To-day we and about a hundred other guests breakfasted with him at his -hotel. - -“The Holyrood which struck such ‘dismay and terror’ into the hearts of -the French emigrant princes is to me most captivating. I am often -reminded of Hogg’s admirably descriptive lines:-- - - ‘When Mary turned her wond’ring eyes - On rocks that seemed to prop the skies; - On palace, park, and battled pile; - On lake and river, sea and isle; - O’er woods and meadows bathed in dew, - To distant mountains wild and blue; - She thought the isle that gave her birth - The sweetest, wildest land on earth.’ - -“On Sunday afternoon I went up Arthur’s Seat with Ally Gordon and the -ladies-in-waiting--Lady Margaret Hely Hutchinson and Lady Mary -Ashburnham. Most exquisite was the view over the sunlit slopes of -Edinburgh in its purple haze. Besides this, I shall have many -recollections of the delightful gardens of Holyrood in this still hot -weather, the apple-trees bursting into bloom, the hoary chapel with its -gothic arches and windows, the Salisbury Crags, deeply purple above, -and fading into mist below.” - - * * * * * - -“_May 29._--All has gone well and smoothly, and there is great interest -in the Holyrood life--the moving diorama of people, with the varying -lights and shades of character which they display, the old-world aspect -of all that has to be done, with the pages in their crimson and white -liveries, the chaplain and purse-bearer in their court dresses, and the -mounted guard. It has all been made especially pleasant by being on such -thoroughly friendly terms with the ladies-in-waiting and with one of the -aides-de-camp, Ally Gordon: the extreme goodness of the other, who has -been vehemently ‘converted,’ being a sort of barrier to intimacy. - -“Old Miss Louisa Hope has been amongst the people who have come to -Holyrood. She talked much of her friendship with Lord Brougham, with -whom she corresponded constantly for many years. She had many religious -conversations with him, and he often used to dwell with her, as in his -public lectures, on the sublimity of that description of God, ‘eternal, -immortal, invisible,’ which has been spoilt in the revised translation -by changing the word ‘immortal’ into ‘incorruptible.’ After he had been -betrayed into especially bad language in her presence, she wrote a -strong remonstrance to him. He said nothing definite in answer, but -thenceforth always addressed her as ‘Dearest Miss Hope.’ When she heard -that he was not likely to live, Miss Hope wrote to him, saying that she -trusted that, if he was able to write himself, he would give her some -sign of his assurance as to a future life; but that, if he were not -able to write himself, he would not notice her request. Lord Brougham -wrote, ‘I trust entirely in the _graciousness_ of Him who died for me,’ -and she was satisfied. - -“Yesterday we drove out to Winton to Lady Ruthven. It was a lovely day, -the sea deep blue, and the trees, especially the sycamores, in their -richest foliage. We found the house just set in order after its -devastation during the fire which consumed the dining-room three weeks -ago, when everything was thrown out of the windows. Dear old Lady -Ruthven herself sat all the time on a chair on the lawn watching the -flames. She asked if every one was out of the castle, and being assured -that it was so, said, ‘Is Peppy (her dog) safe?’--‘Yes, my lady.’--‘Is -my blue vase safe?’--‘Yes, my lady.’--‘Then I am quite satisfied.’ And -she bade every person on the property go to church the next day to -return thanks for her preservation. She received me with the greatest -affection, and bade me kiss her.[357] - -“At the great dinner at Holyrood in the evening I took in a Mrs. Murray, -who talked pleasantly about the old phase of Edinburgh society which she -remembered. ‘There were three subjects--wine, law, and contradiction: -wine is extinct now as a topic, but the other two, and especially the -last, are as much to the fore as ever.’ She said that she had studied -law herself, because it was the subject on which her husband was most -interested, and she liked him to be able to discuss all his occupations -with her. - -“Another day I took in Mrs. Fleeming Jenkin, the marvellous amateur -actress. She described her home life and the reading aloud to her boys. -She read Landor, Alison, Scott. Only Byron’s ‘Childe Harold’ was a -failure. They got through the first two cantos, then the youngest boy -said, ‘Did the Childe never cheer up?’ and she was obliged to allow that -he did not: so the book was closed. - -“Yesterday I talked much with Mrs. Fraser--Professor Fraser’s wife. She -described her visit to Hurstmonceaux--a week spent at the Rectory after -her wedding tour, and going down twice to Lime, and my dear Mother -sitting by the open window looking on the sunny lawn and flowers and the -sparkling water. - -“To-day, at St. Giles’s, Professor Flint preached a magnificent sermon -on ‘I am the True Witness,’ describing how the doctrine which Christ -preached was that of the kingdom; ‘that of the Church He left to -others.’ His whole teaching was that inculcated by Diderot--‘Elargissez -Dieu, montrez-lui à l’enfant, non dans le temple, mais partout et -toujours.’”[358] - - * * * * * - -“_May 30._--Our stay is nearly at an end, and I am very sorry.... It is -impossible to live with the two charming old sisters (Lady Aberdeen and -Lady Ashburnham), so one in every thought and act, without being -impressed by their extreme simplicity and goodness; and Scottish ideas -of clanship are more captivated by the fact of ‘His Grace’ being -followed everywhere by his mother and aunt, and their going hand in -hand with him in every good work, than they could be by the most -brilliant court. Yesterday the preaching and praying were tremendous. -Now we are just off to a luncheon, then to visit the castle in state, -then a soldiers’ home, a sculptor’s studio, an artist’s studio, a dinner -of a hundred, and the Assembly again in state at 10 P.M. I cannot say -how kind every one is to me at Edinburgh.” - - * * * * * - -“_London, July 10._--With Lady Paget to hear Spurgeon preach at his -great Tabernacle near the Elephant and Castle. The vast congregation, -the united sound of the thousands of voices in the hymn, the earnestness -and zest of everything, were very striking: but far more so the strange, -common, coarse preacher. The text was from Rev. xxii. 17, ‘Let him that -heareth say Come.’ He described a sinner as like Leviathan, in whom -there must be some weak spot betwixt its thousand scales, between which -the dart of the exhorters could penetrate before death intervened and -set the ‘wax-tablet’ of his character for ever. He spoke of the -different ways of saying ‘Come,’ and acted them: that a ‘plain English, -not half Dutch-Latin-Hebrew way of speaking,’ should be employed: that -‘prayer was as necessary as that a servant should tell her master who -had called: that no servant was equal to answering for herself without -referring to her master.’ - -“The rough similes just suited the congregation, and also the jokes, at -which the people laughed aloud, but not irreverently. ‘A friend of mine -was preaching in the street the other day, and one of those fellows -passed by who has felt the hand touched by a bishop’s lawn sleeve upon -his blessed pate (not that I think there is any good in that; I do not -know if you do), and asked him by what authority he was preaching, and -my friend answered, ‘By the authority of Jesus Christ, who said, “Let -him that heareth say Come.”’ ‘Popes were represented sometimes with a -dove whispering the words which they should speak into their ears--they -were represented with a dove; I hope it was not really a raven.’” - - * * * * * - -I was suddenly called away in the middle of the season by the alarming -illness of my dearest old nurse, and for several weeks was at Holmhurst -with her, in the mysterious solitude of the shadow of death, in which so -many of my earlier years were passed, and then I had the intense -thankfulness of seeing life return into the dear old face connected with -so much that no one else remembers. - - - - -XXII - -HOME SORROWS - - “Faire le bien, connaître le vrai, voilà ce qui distingue un homme - d’un autre; le reste n’est rien. La durée de la vie est si courte, - ses vraies besoins sont si étroits, que quand on s’en va, il - importe si peu d’avoir été quelqu’un ou personne. Il ne faut à la - fin qu’un mauvais morceau de toile et quatre planches de - sapin.”--DIDEROT. - - “Happy are they to whom the solemn angel comes unannounced and - quietly, and who are mercifully spared a long baptism of - suffering.”--WHITTIER. - - “There is a melancholy in sunbright fields - Deeper to me than gloom: I am ne’er so sad - As when I sit amid bright scenes alone.” - --GEORGE DARLEY, “_Sylvia_.” - - -It was on the 11th of July, after I had returned to London, that I was -drawing in the cloisters of Westminster with Alethea Grenfell, when Miss -Johnes (the charming correspondent of Bishop Thirlwall) passed by, and -told me that Arthur Stanley was ill. I thought little of it at the time, -as he was so often sick, and I had lately seen him looking better and -happier than he had done since his sister Mary’s death. On Thursday 14th -there was a great dinner-party at the Deanery. Catherine Vaughan dined, -and as, at the last moment, Arthur was not well enough to appear, she -went in to sit with him after dinner, and finding him very dispirited -and unwell, gave up her intention of going to Llandaff next day, and -moved to the Deanery instead. That day erysipelas came on, and she was -prevented seeing him till 3 A.M. on the morning of Monday the 18th, when -the doctors called her, saying that an alarming change had come on. -Canon Farrar was then summoned, and administered the Sacrament, but when -he came to the blessing, Arthur motioned him to silence, and gave the -words of the longer Benediction himself, with the same solemnity with -which he spoke them at Augusta’s funeral. Then also Arthur spoke some -farewell words--of grateful affection for the Queen, of trustful -exhortation for his successor in the Deanery, of thankful appreciation -of the fidelity of his housekeeper, Mrs. Waters, and the services of his -butler and Charlotte the housemaid. Those who surrounded him then -thought that he was sinking, but he rallied, and in the morning all the -symptoms were favourable. - -At 10 A.M. on Monday, I broke through the cordon which surrounded the -Deanery, and made my way up to Catherine, who was glad to have me with -her. The large rooms were silent and hushed, though many persons, -chiefly Bruces and Baillies, were moving in and out. It was the dead -heat of July, not a leaf stirring. In the afternoon, Arthur was so much -better that I went away, and even kept an engagement to dine out. But -next morning came the shock of his death--Arthur--the “Cousin Arthur” of -my childhood. He had become worse at 9.30 P.M. The Archbishop read -prayers in the room; they all knelt around; he never spoke more; and -before midnight it was over. - -Catherine and I both took leave of the Deanery for ever the next -morning, but I went back to Westminster for the sad services of Sunday -and Monday. The funeral sermons were much more affecting than the -funeral itself; _that_ was far less touching than Augusta’s, for _he_ -was not there to be felt with and for; and yet the number and the -unusual variety of true mourners made it a very remarkable sight. - -To me it was a reopening of many beloved memories, and then a sealing -them away for ever. On the day after his death his sister and Hugh -Pearson, his dearest friend, wrote to me, asking me to undertake his -biography, to which I gladly assented, feeling sure that I could do it -well, and that no one could possibly know his life as well as myself. -But Sir George Grove, one of his literary executors, did not permit my -undertaking it. - -The following weeks at Holmhurst were occupied on an article which I -wrote upon Arthur in _Macmillan_[359] (Sept. 1881), or rather in hunting -up material for it amongst the few papers I myself possessed, as the -literary executors allowed me access to nothing else. Yet, in doing it, -I could feel that, though somewhat estranged from him in late years, -there was no other who knew _all_ his life, its surroundings, motives, -and interests as I did. I went afterwards to Catherine, but first paid a -short visit in Suffolk to the ever-kind and pleasant Mrs. Paterson and -her husband at their charming Rectory of Brome. I extract from my -journal. - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL. - -“_Brome Rectory, Sept. 15, 1881._--On Tuesday I came here ... into -thickly wooded Suffolk, which thoroughly needs its shelter of trees from -its exposure to the north-east winds, for they say there is not a hill -between it and the Ural Mountains. I only just missed meeting two Mr. -Tyrrells, who have been building a church, not uncalled for, they said, -as an expiatory offering, for one of their ancestors murdered William -Rufus, and another the Princes in the Tower. We saw Eye, with its fine -church and pretty black and white grammar-school. The magnates of this -neighbourhood are Sir Edward and Lady Caroline Kerrison, who possess two -places, of which Brome Hall has delightful old gardens, while Oakley -contains the trunk of the tree under which St. Edward was said to have -been shot by the Danes, and in which, when it was cut down, an -arrow-head was found imbedded. Sir E. Kerrison has just demolished a -fine old wooden bridge, the successor of that under which the king -concealed himself, and where he was discovered to a newly married couple -by the light gleaming on his spurs. They betrayed him to the Danes, who -shot him. Dying, he cursed all persons who should cross that fatal -bridge over the Waveney on their way to or from a marriage, and on such -occasions the country people will always go two miles round to avoid it. -Close by is a spot where the discovery of flint weapons in a -pre-historic stratum has compelled an entire re-arrangement of geology, -as proving the existence of the world some millions of years before it -was supposed to have been created. - -“Yesterday I went to Norwich, and how many memories were awakened by the -first sight of its beautiful spire! The river, the gateways, the ferry, -the cathedral were the same: only the beautiful palace was turned into a -common fifth-rate house. All who met there have now passed away except -Catherine Vaughan and Lea; but one seemed to see them all--the venerable -white head of my uncle the Bishop in his stall; Sedgwick emerging from -his house; Aunt Kitty in the broad garden-walk; my dearest Mother in the -Abbey Room; Sarah Burgess[360] in her still existing little room down -the steps; Arthur and Mary, Owen and Charlie--all gone!” - -[Illustration: NORWICH FROM MOUSEHOLD.][361] - - * * * * * - -“_Sept. 25._--We went from Brome to see Roydon. Mr. G. E. Frere is -squire there, an eccentric man of old family, who has planted the -churchyard with flowers appropriate to each of the graves near them. One -is covered with wormwood: it is that of two old sisters in the parish, -horribly ill-tempered, who both became bedridden, but each was provided -with a stick that she might whack her companion as she lay in the bed -near her. We met Mr. H., an ugly man, intensely. proud of his worthless -pictures. Warren, the son of ‘Ten Thousand a Year,’ the clergyman who -preached such a capital sermon on the single word ‘but,’ dined with him, -and when Mr. H. pointed out what he calls a Murillo, said, ‘Really a -Gorillo--a family portrait, I suppose!’ We also went to see Wingfield, -an interesting old fortified manor of the De la Poles, and their -magnificent tombs in the church. One of them married Chaucer’s -grand-daughter and was murdered at Calais in the time of Henry VI.; -another married the sister of Edward IV. - -“On leaving Brome, I made a tourette into Norfolk--to dilapidated -Walsingham, once the most celebrated shrine in England: to Lynn, with a -custom-house worthy of Flanders: to Castle Rising, a Norman tower almost -hidden in its green ballium: to Wymondham, with a splendid semi-ruined -church, perpendicular outside, but Norman within: and to the glorious -ruins of Castle Acre. The Coke of Elizabeth’s time bought so much land -in Norfolk, that the Queen ordered him to be told that he must not buy -any more, he would own too much for a subject. He petitioned, however, -that he might just buy three acres more, which would complete his -estate. The Queen said, ‘Yes, he might certainly do that;’ and he bought -Castle Acre, West Acre, and South Acre, three huge properties, only the -nucleus of which has descended to Lord Leicester. - - * * * * * - -“On the 20th I came to Llandaff.... We have been to see the ruins of a -deserted manor-house which belonged to Sir George Aubrey. It was -abandoned on account of a family tragedy. Sir George’s only son, a -little boy, one day refused to eat his pudding. ‘You must,’ said the -father. The child said he really could not, and implored with strange -anguish to be excused, but the father insisted. Three hours after the -child died in frightful agonies. That day the cook, by mistake, had put -arsenic into the pudding instead of sugar. - -“Yesterday Lord and Lady Romilly[362] fetched me to their pretty little -house of Porthkerry, overhanging the Bristol Channel, and to-day we have -driven through pouring rain to visit Fon Mon (pronounced Fun-Mun), a -very curious old house of the thirteenth century.” - - * * * * * - -“_Penrhos, Anglesea, Oct. 9._--From Llandaff I went to Tenby, an -indescribably delightful place, with its varied coast, its wonderful -caves, its rich festoons of clematis hanging over the cliffs, and its -sapphire and chrysoprase seas. A girdle of old castles and abbeys -surrounds the place, affording an endless variety of excursions. I saw -something at Tenby of many members of the kindly respectable family of -Allen, and the Dean of the same name welcomed me to St. Davids, which is -truly marvellous in charm and interest--the cathedral, richly, -exquisitely beautiful; the ruined palace and college; and the village, -with its fine old cross, isolated in the solitude of a hollow in the -vast swooping hills, sixteen miles from a railway, almost from any other -inhabited place. It is said that if you take a sod from the churchyard -and stand upon it on the shore of the neighbouring sea, you look across -the mist of waters into all the glories of fairyland; and truly this -seems almost the case without the assistance of the churchyard sod, all -is so wondrously, uniquely, weirdly beautiful. - -“On my way to this Stanley home of many memories, I went to visit the -Williams’s of Parcian, in central Anglesea, where the very savageness of -the country gives it an interest, and the desolate coves of its -sea-shore, in one of which, with the beautiful name of Moelvra, the -_Royal Charter_ was lost. - -“Mr. (William) Stanley[363] is very kind, and has a great deal of shrewd -cleverness of its own sort; but a great deal has been written about the -charms and moral advantages of the life of a country gentleman who never -leaves his own place; nothing of its still more evident disadvantages. -Surely no life has so strong a tendency to generate self-importance, -exclusive possession, tenaciousness of authority, jealousy of -interference, hatred of independence in others.” - - * * * * * - -“_Kinmel, Oct. 14._--A kind invitation from Lord and Lady Penrhyn took -me from Penrhos to Penrhyn Castle, which is a very stately building -outside, though the huge stone corridors and richly decorated Norman -rooms are very unsuited for home comfort. A regiment of young ladies, -Miss Pennants--daughters, step-daughters, and step-grand-daughters of -Lady Penrhyn[364] appeared at every meal. The lady of the castle herself -is one of the most natural and unworldly women in the world; and Lord -Penrhyn[365] was most agreeable with his personal reminiscences. He -described the coronation of George IV., where he stood close to Queen -Caroline as she entered the carriage to drive away, and he said the -expression of her countenance was the most diabolical thing he ever -looked upon. Lord Penrhyn rode after Lord Anglesea, the Waterloo hero, -when he was followed by a hooting mob through St. James’s Park. Lord -Anglesea backed his horse between the trees, set his teeth, and hissed -back at the yelling people. Then he said, ‘If every man of you were a -hundred men, and each of them had a hundred hands, and a bayonet in each -hand, I should still do my--_duty!_’ Then the people cheered him. - -“Lord and Lady Penrhyn took me to Pennisinant, Ogwen Bank, and the slate -quarries. The two first cannot be much altered since my mother’s -descriptions of them in her childhood, except by the growth of trees, -and are very lovely, with mossy rocks breaking the cascatelle of the -Ogwen, and old sycamores--now glorious in colour--on the grassy knolls, -relieved against a wild background of purple mountains. At Ogwen Bank, -the representation of our Lady Penrhyn’s pugs remains over the -chimney-piece. - -“The life at Penrhyn Castle was most easy and agreeable, with the -freedom which only exists in very great houses, the plenty of time to -oneself, and yet interesting society. The same may be said of Kinmel, -which is like a great château in France. - -“And here it has been a real pleasure to meet my sweet cousin Lizzie, -Lady Loch,[366] and her charming husband, Sir Henry, Governor of the -Isle of Man: she is really one of the best people I ever saw, as well as -one of the pleasantest.” - - * * * * * - -“_London, Nov. 1._--Dined with Lady Lyndhurst in Eaton Square. She -talked of her early life. ‘I lived in Paris with my father, and I saw -nobody. I never expected to marry; why should I? I had no fortune and no -attractions. The first time I saw my Lord was when he came to Paris with -his first wife. He came to see my father, and we went out driving with -him. He and my father sat forward, and another young lady and I sat -back, and most terribly afraid I was of him, and not a word did I -speak--a shy, awkward girl sitting bolt upright. - -“‘When my Lord was a widower, he came to Paris again. I was -seven-and-twenty then, and was keeping my father’s house. Lord Lyndhurst -came to breakfast with my father, and I gave them their coffee and -whatever they wanted, and then sat there reading my _Galignani_, and not -thinking a bit about them. Suddenly Lord Lyndhurst asked me if I knew of -any very sunny apartment to let. “Oh, yes,” I said; “there is a friend -of mine who wants to let just what you wish for, and, if you will wait a -minute, I will run and get the keys, and can show it you.” So I got the -keys, and he went with me, and the apartment was a capital one and -suited him very well; and then, to my surprise, he asked me if I should -be at home in the afternoon, and I thought, “What on earth can the old -man want to come again for?”--and I answered him that I did not know. -And, in fact, I forgot all about it, and went out driving to the Bois; -and when I came in, the servant said Lord Lyndhurst had been. It gave me -a sort of shock, and I went to my room, and said to myself, “What on -earth can this mean?” But the next day before I was up--_before I was -up_, if you please--I had a note from Lord Lyndhurst asking when I -should be at home; and he came at that hour, and he came twice a day for -three months, and it became quite awkward, every one talked of it--Paris -is so small a world. However, at the end of that time he proposed. -Afterwards I said, “Now do tell me what the dickens made you want to -marry me--a woman without family, without fortune, and most decidedly -without beauty?” and he said he did not know. After he had engaged me to -marry him, he had to go back to England to his law-courts, and my father -told me that I had better begin to get my things ready and buy my -trousseau; but I said, “No, I should most certainly do nothing of the -kind, for I did not believe for an instant that my Lord would ever come -back again.” - -“‘But he did come back, and we were married, and I had twenty-six years -of the most perfect happiness ever allotted to woman. My Lord had the -most perfect temper in the world, and in all the years we were together, -we never had even a difference of opinion. He never came in to -breakfast, and he never took luncheon, so he never appeared in our rooms -till dinner-time, but I trotted in and out of his library, and the -oftener I went in, the better he was pleased. - -“‘I had seen nothing of the world before I was married, but I saw plenty -of it afterwards: indeed, a few years after, he was made Lord -Chancellor, and that was the top of everything. The world was the one -drawback to my happiness, for through almost the whole time of my -married life I had to go out. My Lord’s eldest daughter was married -three years after I married my Lord, and four years after, Soph, his -second girl, was married; and then very soon there was my own girl to -take out. Oh, how I hated it, but I never let my Lord know what I felt. -We dined with him, and afterwards there was his whist, or people came to -see him, and at ten o’clock he went to bed; then I went to my daily task -of dressing to take the girls out, and sometimes I fairly cried as I was -dressing. - -“‘I was always up so late at night that I breakfasted in my own room, -but there was always breakfast downstairs for the girls and Auntie--for -my Lord’s elder sister, Miss Copley, always lived with us. Auntie was no -trouble in the house, and I was very fond of her, for she perfectly -adored my Lord. When I married, people wondered at my wishing to have my -sister-in-law to live with me, but I said, “Bless you, have I not been -brought up in France, where whole families live together, and have to -accommodate themselves to each other? and it would be hard indeed if I -could not get on with poor old Auntie, when she is so fond of my Lord.” - -“‘It was at the marriage of my daughter to Sir Charles Du Cane that my -Lord said he had nothing left to live for, his work was done. He -comforted me by telling me that he was so very old--and so he was,--and -that if he lived he must become helpless, and so perhaps would be -unhappy, and then perhaps even his mind might go. He said, “You will -take care of Auntie?” and I said, “Of course I will,” and Auntie was -always with me afterwards, and I loved her dearly, and she died in this -very room at ninety-three. She was always well and cheerful, but one day -she asked for her cup of tea as usual, and afterwards she--fell -asleep,--she was so very old. - -“‘My dear Lord was very old too when he died, but to me he was always -like a young man, he was so bright and cheerful and so kind--always the -pleasantest of companions. However, I could believe it was time that he -should go, because _he_ told me so. - -“‘That is the story of my life, Mr. Hare, and now I am only waiting, -hoping that some day,--perhaps some day not very far off,--I may see my -dear Lord again.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Athenæum Club, Dec. 13._--Sir G. Dasent, sitting at the next table at -breakfast this morning, said, ‘I see you always sit in the historical -corner.’--‘Do I? how?’--“Why, it is the place where Sam Wilberforce -always sat (behind the door leading to the kitchen), and so did Theodore -Hook. It was from that corner that, when he had finished two bottles of -port, he used to be heard calling out “Waiter, lemonade: bring more -_lemonade_.” And they all knew what it meant: he hadn’t the face to ask -for another bottle of port.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Heckfield Place, Dec. 30._--I have had a pleasant visit here, meeting -Sir Erskine May, a most winning and agreeable person. He revived for me -the old story of Mrs. Blomfield, who forgot her Royal Academy ticket for -the ‘private view,’ and, when they tried to prevent her coming in, said, -‘Oh, but you must let me pass: I am the Bishop of London’s lady.’--‘No, -Ma’am, I could not let you in,’ said the doorkeeper, ‘if you were the -Bishop of London’s _wife_.’ - -“We went with Lord Eversley to see Bramshill, one of the places intended -for Prince Henry, a most noble and beautiful old house.” - - * * * * * - -“_Jan. 13, 1882._--With Ronald Gower and Hugh Pearson over the three -great houses of London in the same morning. Grosvenor House is the -pleasantest to live in, but Stafford House the most magnificent. When -the Queen was being received there by the late Duchess, she said, with -her happy power of expression, ‘I come, my dear, from my house to your -palace.’ - -“Hugh Pearson talked of Archbishop Longley’s singular tact in saying the -right thing. Some one asked him what tact was. He said, ‘It will be -difficult for me to describe what it is, but I will give you an instance -of what it is _not_. This morning I received a letter from a clergyman -beginning--“In consideration of your Grace’s many infirmities and -failing powers.” Now the beginning of that letter was not tact.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Jan. 14._--To Lady Lyndhurst, whom I found in her room ill, and in -great grief for the death of General Macdonald, her oldest friend, ‘who -was the pleasantest, frankest, and handsomest of young men when I first -came to England, and whom everybody has liked ever since. He was so well -known, that when Mrs. Norton directed a letter to him “Jem at his Club,” -the postman made no difficulties at all, but took it straight to him at -White’s. There have been several pleasant notices of him in the papers -since his death, but they have all committed the fatal blunder of -calling him “Jim,” the thing of all others he would have disliked--he -was always Jem with an _e_.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Athenæum, Feb. 3._--Sir G. Dasent sat by me at breakfast. He described -how he had almost bought the famous Vercelli MS. for £150, when ‘a -stupid old canon interfered, and thought it ought not to be taken out of -the place. It was taken to Italy from England by a Cardinal S. Andrea, -who was tutor to Henry II., and who collected everything relating to St. -Andrew, because of his name, and the MS. begins with the legend of St. -Andrew. It ought some day to be restored to England by an interchange, -England sending over some Italian MSS.; and now that it has been -removed to the National Collection, this has been facilitated.’ - -“Sir G. Dasent talked of St. Olaf again. ‘He is what I call a good -wearing saint, for he has lasted nine hundred years. It was just when -St. Olaf was “coming up” that Earl Godwin and his sons were banished for -a time. Two of them, Harold and Tosti, became Vikings, and in a great -battle they vowed that, if they were victorious, they would give half -their spoil to the shrine of St. Olaf, and a huge silver statue which -they actually gave existed at Throndjem till 1500, and, if it existed -still, would be one of the most important relics in archaeology. The old -kings of Norway used to dig up the saint from time to time and to cut -his nails. When Harold Hardrager was going to England, he declared he -must see St. Olaf again--“I must see my brother,” he said: and he also -cut the saint’s nails. But then he thought that from that time it would -be better that no one should see his brother any more--it would not be -for the good of the Church; so he took the keys of the shrine and threw -them into the fiord; but at the same time he said that it would be a -good thing for men who came after to know what a king was like, and he -caused St. Olaf’s measure to be engraved upon the wall of the church at -Throndjem--his measure of six feet.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Feb. 21._--I sat at dinner by Mrs. Duncan Stewart, who talked with her -usual power. ‘When I was young, I lived with my guardian and his wife at -Havre de Grâce, and thence I married Mr. Duncan Stewart, who was a -Baltic merchant, a prosperous and well-to-do man then, though he was -ruined afterwards. We lived in Liverpool; but my husband loved hunting -and fishing, and at certain times of the year he was “away after the -grouse,” as every Scotchman is. I stayed with my children then, but I -too had my time of the year for going away, and I always went to London, -where I became very intimate with Lady Blessington and all that set--a -very bad set, it must be allowed. - -“‘One day when I was sitting alone in my house in Liverpool, and my -husband was away with the grouse, a note of introduction was brought in -for me from Mrs. Milner Gibson, whom I had known in London, with the -cards of Mr. and Mrs. Disraeli. He was a young man then, all curly and -smart, and his wife, though so much older than himself, was a very -handsome, imperial-looking woman. I told them that I should be delighted -to show them everything in Liverpool, as Mrs. Milner Gibson asked me. - -“‘When I went to see them next day at the hotel, I asked Mrs. Disraeli -how she had slept, and she said, “Not at all, for the noise was so -great.” Then I said, “Why not move to my house, for my house is very -quiet, and I am alone, and there is plenty of room?” And they came, and -a most delightful ten days I had. We shut out Liverpool and its people, -and we talked, and we became great friends, and when we parted it was -with very affectionate regard on both sides; and afterwards they wrote -to me every week, and when I went to London, my place was always laid at -their table, and if I did not appear at their dinner, they always asked -me why I had not come to them. - -“‘After she died, we drifted apart, he and I, and though I saw him -sometimes, it was never in the old intimate way. The last time I saw him -though, we had a really good talk together. It was not till we were -parting that I said to him, “I hope you are quite well,” and I shall -never forget the hollow voice in which he said to me, “_Nobody_ is quite -well.” After that I never saw him again, but I had a message from him -through William Spottiswoode. “Tell Mrs. Stewart always to come to talk -to me when she can: it always does me good to see her.”’ - -“Mrs. Duncan Stewart described Lady Beaconsfield as originally a -factory-girl. Mr. Lewis first saw her going to her factory, beautiful, -and with bare feet. He educated her and married her, died, and left her -very rich, and then she married Disraeli. When asked _why_ she married -her second husband, she would say, as if it was a feather in her cap, -‘My dear, he made love to me whilst my first husband was alive, and -therefore I know that he really loved me.’ - -“It was at ‘Greenmeadow,’ a house four miles from Llandaff, that -Disraeli served his apprenticeship as secretary to Mr. Lewis, living in -the house with him and Mrs. Lewis in the position of a dependant. When -the house overflowed with visitors from London, as was often the case, -he was sent out to sleep at ‘The Holly Bush,’ a little public-house in -the village. Both Greenmeadow and the Holly Bush exist still.” - - * * * * * - -On the 11th of March I again left England for Italy. I could not endure -leaving Holmhurst and my dear old nurse, but it seemed necessary to go -to finish collecting materials for my book on Southern Italy, as there -were still so many places which I had not seen. At Rome I paid an -interesting visit to the blind Duke of Sermoneta, still full of mental -vigour, and of indignation at “la stupidézza del Vaticano e l’infámia -del Quirinale.” Miss Garden had been to see him, and defended the policy -of the Quirinal, saying Italy was a young country, would come round, &c. -He retorted, “If you say that from politeness, as I think you do, you -are wrong; but if you really think so, you must be an idiot.” This was -my last visit to the kind old Duke, for he died in the following autumn. - -[Illustration: LAKE OF AVERNUS, NEAR NAPLES.][367] - -[Illustration: CAPRI.][368] - -At Naples, returning at night from the hotels in the lower town to those -on the ridge of the hill, a gentleman engaged me in conversation and -strolled along by my side. Suddenly, in the most desolate part of the -road, he blew a whistle, and another man leapt out of the bushes, and -both rushing upon me demanded “L’orológio e la bórsa.” I declared that I -had neither watch nor purse. They insisted on my turning out all my -pockets, which contained only three francs in paper and sixteen soldi in -copper. Then they demanded my ring. I refused, and said it was no use -for them to try to get it; it had not been off my finger for more than -thirty years: it would not come off. They struggled to get it off, but -could not. Then they whispered together. I said, “I see what you mean to -do: you mean to cut off my finger and then drop me into the sea (which -there--opposite the Boschetto--is deep water); but remember, I shall be -missed and looked for.”--“No, we took good care to ascertain that -first,” said my first acquaintance; “you said you had only been two days -in Naples (and so I had): people who have been only two days in Naples -are never missed.”--“But I do know Naples well--bisogna esaminarmi sopra -Napoli,” I protested. “Dunque chi fu la Principessa Altamonti?”--“Fu -figlia del Conte Cini di Roma, sorella della Duchessa Cirella.”--“E chi -è il Principe S. Teodoro.”--“Fu Duca di S. Arpino, se maritava con una -signora Inglese, Lady Burghersh, chi sta adesso Lady Walsingham.” After -this they decided to let me go! But the strangest part of all was that -the first brigand said, “After this scene you will not be able to walk -home, and a carriage from the _guardia_ costs sixty centesimi; therefore -that sum I shall give you back,” and they counted twelve soldi from the -sum they had taken. It is this fact which makes me speak of the men who -attacked me at Naples as brigands, not as robbers. - -I spent a few days delightfully in beautiful Capri, but most miserable -were my after travels in the desolate wind-stricken plains or -malaria-teeming swamps of wretched Calabria, of which I had formed a -lofty estimate from Lear’s almost wholly imaginary drawings. Each place -I had to visit seemed uglier and more poverty-stricken than the last, -but perhaps came to a climax at Cotrone, where the windowless prison-van -(being the only vehicle in the town) was sent to meet us, arriving by -the night-train at the distant desolate station, and where the stairs of -the hotel were crowded with beggars, who had nowhere else to sleep, -lying in heaps, and swarming with vermin. - -I see that I wrote to Miss Leycester--“Calabria was indescribably -horrible, its poisonous swamps and arid plains too hideous for words: -nothing whatever but dry bread to eat: the so-called inns the filthiest -of hovels: the people ruffians: the remains of the Greek cities a few -stones apiece.” I pushed on to Reggio and Scilla. But soon I became so -ill that I fled to Venice, where I was fit for nothing but to float in -a gondola on the breast of ocean till I grew better. - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL. - -[Illustration: SCILLA.][369] - -“_Venice, April 25, 1882._--It was by a happy accident that I found -myself here on St. Mark’s Day. Madame von Usedom[370] called for me in -her gondola, and we went together to S. Marco at 10 A.M. Most glorious -it looked, glints of sunlight falling here and there on the golden -walls and waving peacock-hued pavement, and violet shadows resting on -all the inner recesses of arcades and cupolas, through which the grand -mosaic forms of the saints were dimly visible. Crowds of people were -present, yet in that vast space many thousands can move with ease. It is -only a few days since the Patriarch, newly elected and a cardinal, -entered Venice in triumph, followed by three hundred gondolas, standing -at the prow of his barge, in his new scarlet robes, blessing the people. -He is a young man, but is greatly beloved,[371] and every eye followed -him as the grand procession swept chaunting round the church, and he was -almost borne along by his huge golden robes, held up by the white-mitred -attendant bishops of Chioggia and Torcello. - -“I returned afterwards with the Usedoms to luncheon, and Madame von -Usedom talked, as usual, of the great change which is sweeping over -religious belief, but of how, in most thinking minds, the great -essentials remained untouched. She had told Tholuck that she was -troubled about her belief in the Trinity. He replied that in being so -she confounded Religion with Theology: that the doctrine of the Trinity -was a purely theological question, and not the least necessary to -religion. - -“In the afternoon the Comtesse de Lützow took me to see Besarel, a very -remarkable self-taught genius, and a very good simple man and sculptor -in wood and marble: and then we floated peacefully for hours through the -labyrinthine streets of this wonderful water-city. In the evening, as I -was sitting with the Lützows and Lady Augusta Cadogan at one of the -tables in the piazza in front of Florian’s caffè, a table near was -occupied by a party in which the conspicuous figures were a lady, not -old, but with snow-white hair, and a very beautiful young woman, sipping -_graniti_ and listening to the music: they were Queen Mary and Princess -Mary of Hanover. - -[Illustration: FROM THE CAMPO DELLA CARITÀ.][372] - -“And all this late evening, as I am sitting up writing, a monotonous -song is wafted through the windows from the boats on the canal-- - - ‘One sombre sweet Venetian slumbrous tune,’ - -as J. A. Symonds calls it.” - - * * * * * - -I returned to England by way of Nüremberg, which seemed to me strangely -smaller and less interesting than when I saw it as a boy, and was more -thankful than ever before to find myself again, on the 10th of May, at -Holmhurst, where my dear old Lea’s most sweet and beautiful old face -welcomed me with a brighter smile than ever, and where I spent a happy -month alone with her, going back into our “wealthy past,” and living -again in memory many happy scenes in our long-ago. - -At Venice a great sorrow had come to me--another blank in the narrowing -circle of my beloved ones. It was the sort of sorrow from which “all at -once one awakes and finds a whole wing of one’s palace has fallen,” as -Emerson says. Dearest Hugh Pearson was dead. He was altogether the most -perfectly good man I have ever known, and, strange to say, at the same -time the most perfectly charming. He was, from his earliest youth, as -free from self-consciousness as he was from selfishness, but rippled -over with geniality, cordiality, warmth of interest, affection to all -around him. He was really, not nominally, the father of his parish, and -I believe there was scarcely one of his parishioners who was not fonder -of him than of most of their own nearest relations. To the children of -his village he was simply adorable, and his manner to them, his fun, his -sympathy, his solicitude, the prettiest and most enchanting thing -imaginable. “He was like James amongst the Apostles, who wrote nothing -at all, and said nothing we know, and yet was one of the chosen three -who were with the Master that day when His glory was revealed, and that -night when His soul was exceeding sorrowful, even unto death. Trust came -to him; he never sought it. He was at home in the human heart, but he -never seemed to probe it.”[373] - -I suppose dear Hugh Pearson was very ugly, but one loved him so much, -one thought there was no face like his. Though he was so very much older -than I was, there was no one with whom I was more intimate, and nothing -I would not have confided to him. His goodness, his religion, were -equally attractive and charming to all. One never felt with him as if -God had been rather unfortunate in His good intentions. His christian -spirit christianised everything it came in contact with. His memory is a -possession, and I may exclaim like the Duke of Ormonde, “I would not -exchange my dead friend for any living friend in Christendom.” In the -later years of his life, he had yielded to urgent request in accepting a -canonry at Windsor, where I had delighted to visit him; but his heart -was always in his country vicarage of Sonning on the Thames, and with -his dear people there. He had refused the Queen’s persistent offer that -he should succeed Arthur Stanley at Westminster, saying that he wished -to die as he had lived--“a private person.” - -The end came suddenly. On Easter Sunday (April 9) he told his people -that it was his fortieth Easter Sunday amongst them, but he was taken -ill whilst he was preaching, and two days after mortification came on. -On Wednesday, the last evening of his life, when it was known that there -was no hope of saving it, he desired that all his people--his true -children--might be admitted to see him once more, and for three hours -multitudes of his parishioners, men, women, and children, passed weeping -through his room. He was able to speak separately to many of them, to -give them all his blessing, and with a message of peace--the last -effort of his great loving heart--upon his lips, he passed into the -perfect life. - -[Illustration: Rev. Hugh Pearson. - -From a Photograph.] - -He has left the most undimmed memory it is possible for man to leave. To -none of those who knew him is it possible that there can be even a -breath upon the mirror of his perfectly beautiful and lovable life. To -no one could the words of Dante be applied with greater truth:-- - - “E se’l mondo sapesse il cor ch’ egli ebbe, - Assai lo loda e più lo loderebbe.” - -“O ye holy and humble men of heart, praise Him and magnify Him for -ever.” - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL. - -“_London, June 4, 1882._--In the last week I have spent three pleasant -days with the Husseys at Scotney, a lovely place, where an old tower of -Richard the Second’s time and a ruined house by Inigo Jones stand in a -wooded hollow, surrounded by a moat so clear that its reflections are -even brighter than the reality. On the hill above is a handsome modern -house with a glorious garden of azaleas and herbaceous flowers formed -out of an old quarry. Here at this season ‘tout fourmille de vie,’ as -Buffon would say. In the Roman Catholic persecution a priest was long -imprisoned in the dungeon of the old tower, but escaped by persuading -his gaolers that robbers had broken into the stables and were carrying -off the horses, and by swimming across the moat whilst they were gone to -the rescue. - -“The whole country-side is full of traditions of smuggling days. -Goudhurst church, which crowns a steep hill-set village on the horizon -of hills opposite Scotney, was fortified by smugglers, who held out -there for three days against the military sent against them in George -the Third’s time. They were forced to capitulate at last and a number of -them were executed, one of them, no one knows why, being afterwards -buried under the hearthstone in one of Mr. Hussey’s cottages. This siege -of Goudhurst church is described in James’s novel. One of the best -remembered instances of successful smuggling was when a great funeral -was announced as arriving from the Continent. A gentleman, who had died -in France, and who had lived far on the other side of London, was being -taken home to be buried with his ancestors. A hearse with four horses -met the coffin at Dover. Relays of horses were ordered, and they were -changed at Ashford, at Lamberhurst, and several other places. But the -funeral never went beyond London, for the coffin was full of lace, which -was soon dispersed over the city. - -“To the same wild times belongs the story of the outlawed Darrell, a -former owner of Scotney. News came that he had died abroad, and his body -was brought home to be buried at his native place. Great was the -concourse of neighbours and acquaintance at his funeral, but amongst the -mourners was a tall figure wrapped in a cloak, who, as the body was -lowered, said, ‘That is not me!’ to the mourner who stood nearest to the -grave, and immediately disappeared. - -“A few years ago, Mr. Hussey mentioned the tradition that Darrell had -attended his own funeral to the old sexton, and asked if he could throw -any light upon it. He said, ‘Yes, forty years ago, when your uncle was -buried, the coffin next to which he was placed was that of Mr. Darrell, -which was falling to pieces, and so I looked into it, and was surprised -to see no remains whatever of a body, but only fragments of stone.’ - -“On the first day of my visit an old Lady Smith Mariott dined, bringing -with her a magic crystal ball, in which she was very anxious that we -should ‘see something,’ and was greatly disappointed when we did not. -The ball was given to her by the old Lord Stanhope,[374] a firm -believer, and many strange things had been seen in it--figures, and -sometimes figures in armour. Mr. Hussey heard of a curious -sixteenth-century MS. on magic balls in the British Museum, and went to -look at it, and it was strange to find it say that ‘men in armour -frequently appeared, especially on Sundays.’ - -“In the evening the conversation turned on witchcraft, and on Mr. -Maitland, author of the ‘Church in the Catacombs,’ chaplain of -Archbishop Howley, who undertook to prove the absurdity of belief in -witchcraft, but, on examination, found such incontrovertible evidence of -its reality, that he abandoned the subject. Talk of strange relics led -to mention of the heart of a French king preserved at Nuneham in a -silver casket. Dr. Buckland, whilst looking at it, exclaimed, ‘I have -eaten many strange things, but have never eaten the heart of a king -before,’ and, before any one could hinder him, he had gobbled it up, and -the precious relic was lost for ever. Dr. Buckland used to say that he -had eaten his way straight through the whole animal creation, and that -the worst thing was a mole--that was utterly horrible.[375] - -“Speaking of Lady Waterford, led Mr. Hussey to recall some of the wild -escapades which he remembered in Lord Waterford’s youth. At one time, -when he was living in Dublin with his uncle the Primate, coming home -late at night, he had a great quarrel with his carman about the fare, -and left the man swearing outside the door. Coming into the hall, he -found his uncle’s gown and trencher lying on the side-table, and putting -them hastily on, and going out with a stick and gruff voice, said, ‘What -do you mean by coming here and trying to cheat my nephew? I’ll teach you -not to do such things for the future,’ and he thrashed him soundly. The -man went away, saying that he had been thrashed by the Archbishop of -Armagh in person.” - - * * * * * - -“_London, June 22._--Tea with Mrs. Duncan Stewart, who, talking of her -youth, recounted how Washington Irving had taken her eleven nights -consecutively to see Talma act, and of the acting of Madame Rachel; -how, in the ‘Cinna’ of Corneille, she sat quietly in a chair whilst all -the people were raging round her, and of the wonderful power with which -she hissed out-- - - ‘Je recevrois de lui la place de Livie, - Comme un moyen plus sur d’attenter à sa vie.’ - -“Mr. and Mrs. Kendal were there, a pleasant handsome pair; and Madame -Modjeska came in, and taking a live chameleon, which was clinging to the -breast of Miss Thompson, her pet, posed with it perched on her finger, -though it looked the very incarnation of devildom.” - - * * * * * - -“_June 23._--Drew with Windsor and the Husseys at Ham House. Lady -Huntingtower had said to us the other day, ‘You have heard about the -poor Duke of Richmond?’ We thought it was the live Duke, and inquired -anxiously after him, but she said, ‘No, it is the portrait at Ham: we -can see nothing but the Duke’s legs now.’ And thus at Ham we saw it--the -utter ruin of a glorious Vandyke. They had sent for a common upholsterer -from Richmond to varnish it, and he had covered it with something which -had annihilated it altogether. - -“An American being urged to go to see the Park at mid-day as a typical -London scene, returned saying, ‘I was disappointed, the attendance was -so slim.’” - - * * * * * - -“_July 5, 1882._--Dined with Miss Courtenay. Kinglake of the Crimea sat -close to me--old now and very feeble, but apparently greatly beloved by -those who know him well. Mr. Burton was on the other side, receiving -congratulations on his purchases at the Hamilton sale. We had all been -reading and generally enchanted with Mrs. Kemble’s ‘Later -Reminiscences,’ and Mr. Reeve of the _Edinburgh Review_ was delighted to -have much to say of his personal remembrance of her, much that certainly -was not favourable. She says little of the separation from her husband -(Mr. Butler) in her book, but Mr. Reeve remembered her intensely -overbearing manner to him. Once when he was travelling with them in -Belgium, Mr. Butler, with great difficulty, procured a very beautiful -bouquet for her for the evening. He gave it to her. ‘I have been all -over the town, my dear, to get this bouquet for you,’ he said. She -sniffed at it, said contemptuously, ‘There are no gardenias in this -bouquet,’ and threw it to the back of the fire. - -“‘One day,’ said Mr. Reeve, ‘I was talking to Mr. Butler at a party, -when she came up with “Pearce, I want to go.”--“In a minute, my dear.” -In another moment she came again with “Pearce, I want to go -directly.”--“Very well, my dear,” and he prepared to order the carriage. -I said, “It is cruel of you to take him away just now; we were having a -very deep conversation,” and I shall never forget the contemptuous tone -in which she said, “Deep, with--Pearce!” - -“‘Mrs. Kemble always disliked those who were afraid of her, but she -hated those who were not. - -“‘She loved scenic effect, and so did her sister Adelaide, who was her -superior in many ways. When their father took his leave of the stage, -all the audience wept; but Fanny and Adelaide, who had the stage-box, -leant forward as much as possible over the side and wept copiously with -their pocket-handkerchiefs. - -[Illustration: GATEWAY, KENSINGTON PALACE.][376] - -“‘No one could do the Semiramide now, but Adelaide was sublime in it. -She was very grand in the Norma, but in the Semiramide no one ever came -up to her. Passion she understood, but in softer and quieter parts she -was a failure.’” - - * * * * * - -“_July 10._--Luncheon in Sir Francis Seymour’s apartments at Kensington -Palace to meet Don Carlos. He is an immense man, almost gigantic, and -very handsome, and had a magnificent boar-hound with him--a very prince -amongst dogs. He asked if I spoke Spanish. I said that I had spoken it -in Spain, but was afraid of venturing upon it in London. So then he -proposed Italian, in which it was easy to get on with him.” - - * * * * * - -“_Chevening, July 15._--Yesterday I came here to a house where I have -much memory of past kindness, and where I find the young Lord and Lady -Stanhope eminently desirous of carrying it on. Lochiel and his Lady -Margaret are here; she a daughter of the Duke of Buccleuch, and most -unusually natural and pleasant.” - - * * * * * - -“_July 16._--After luncheon, we had a pleasant walk to Knockholt -Beeches--Lady Northcote, the two Stanhope brothers, Mr. Banks Stanhope, -Lady Margaret, and I. Afterwards, sitting on the stone platform in front -of the house, Sir Stafford Northcote told us-- - -“‘The great A. B. was tremendously jostled the other day in going down -to the House. A. B. didn’t like it. “Do you know who I am?” he said; “I -am a Member of Parliament and I am Mr. A. B.”--“I don’t know about -that,” said one of the roughs, “but I know that you’re a damned -fool.”--“You’re drunk,” said A. B.; “you don’t know what you’re -saying.”--“Well, perhaps I am rather drunk to-night,” said the man, “but -I shall be sober to-morrow morning; but you’re a damned fool to-night, -and you’ll be a damned fool to-morrow morning.”’ - - * * * * * - -“_July 18._--Dined with Lady Ossington, the most charming, kindest, and -richest of old ladies, to meet the Duchess of Sermoneta. Lady Enfield -was there, with white hair turned back high on her head, like a Sir -Joshua in real life. Mr. Newton was very amusing with his riddles:-- - - ‘My first Gladstone loves, - My second Gladstone hates: - My whole, pronounced slow, is what Gladstone wishes: - My whole, pronounced quick, is where Gladstone ought to be.’ - Answer, _Reformatory_. - -“On the Greeks sending marble for a bust of Gladstone, he related the -lines:-- - - ‘When Woolner’s hand, in classic mood, carving the Premier’s pate is, - Hellas, to show her gratitude, sends him the marble gratis. - Oh, could this nation, but in stone, repay the gift genteelly, - This country would send back her own Glad-stone to Hell-as freely.’” - -[Illustration: SASSENPOORT, ZWOLLE.][377] - -In the beginning of September, my friend Harry Lee came to Holmhurst as -usual for his autumn holidays, and, with the wish of giving him change -and pleasure, I took him with me for a fortnight to Holland. We saw the -whole of that little country, and enjoyed several of the places very -much, especially the so-thoroughly Dutch Dort; quiet Alkmaar, with its -charming old weigh-house; and Zwolle, with its fine old gateway. But the -tour is not one which leaves much interest behind it. There is such a -disadvantage in not being able to understand what people say, and all -the Dutch we had anything to do with were so unaccommodating, so -excessively grasping and avaricious. Besides, all my luggage, registered -through to Brussels, disappeared and could not be traced, so that I had -the odd experience of traversing a whole country with nothing more than -a comb and a tooth-brush. Two months afterwards the luggage arrived -quite safe at Holmhurst, covered with labels, quite intact, having made -a long tour by itself quite in a different direction from the one we -took, and without any explanation or any expense.[378] - -[Illustration: MILL NEAR AMSTERDAM.][379] - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL. - -“_Babworth Hall, Notts, Oct. 7, 1882._--I have been spending four -pleasant days with kind Mrs. Bridgeman Simpson, to meet old Lady -Westminster,[380] who is the most winning, courteous, and charming of -old ladies, finding something pleasant to say to every one, putting -every one at their ease, and possessing that real dignity of simplicity -which is so indescribably charming. On Wednesday I went with her to -Clumber, where we saw the new and very ugly hall, with Italian artists -putting down a mosaic pavement. - -“Yesterday we went by appointment to Welbeck, arriving by the darksome -tunnel, more than two miles long, upon which the late Duke spent -£60,000, and £60,000 more apiece upon banking up (and spoiling) his -sheet of water with brick walls and building a gigantic riding-school. -The house itself stands well, considering the ugliness of the park, and -is rather handsome. We were shown through a long suite of rooms -containing a good many treasures, the most interesting being a glorious -old chest of metal, in which the Bentincks, who came over with William -III., brought over their jewels. In the last room we found Lady -Bolsover, the Duke’s stepmother. - -“The house, vast as it is, has no staircase worth speaking of. The late -Duke lived almost entirely in a small suite of rooms in the old part of -the house. He inherited the peculiarity of his mother, who would see no -one, and he always hid himself. If he gave permission to any one to -visit Welbeck, he always added, ‘But Mr. So-and-so will be good enough -not to _see_ me’ (if they chanced to meet). He drove out, but in a black -coach like a hearse, drawn by four black horses, and with all the blinds -down; and he walked out, but at night, with a woman, who was never to -speak to him, and always to walk exactly forty yards in front, carrying -a lanthorn. When he went to London, it was in a closed brougham, which -was put on a railway truck, and which deposited him at his own house at -Cavendish Square, his servants all being ordered out of the way: no one -ever saw him go or arrive. When he needed a doctor, the doctor only came -to the door, and asked questions through it of the valet, who was -allowed to feel his pulse. - -“The Duke’s mania for a hidden life made him build immense suites of -rooms underground, only approachable by a common flight of steps leading -to a long tunnel, down which the dinner is conveyed from the far-distant -kitchen on a tramway. From a great library one enters a billiard-room -capable of holding half-a-dozen billiard-tables. A third large room -leads to an enormous ball-room, which can contain 2000 people. The -approach to this from above is by means of a gigantic hydraulic drop, in -which a carriage can be placed, or twenty persons can be -accommodated--the guests being thus let down to the ball-room itself. A -staircase through the ceiling of one of the rooms, which is drawn up by -a windlass, leads hence to the old riding-school, which is lighted by -1000 jets of gas. Hence a tunnel, 200 yards long, leads to a -quadrangular piece of ground, unbuilt upon, but excavated in preparation -for a large range of bachelor’s rooms, smoking rooms, and nurseries, to -cover four acres of ground. Another tunnel, three-quarters of a mile -long, leads thence to the stables, cow-houses, and dairies, like a large -village. At the Duke’s death there were ninety-four horses in the -stables, only trained for exercise or feeding. Beyond the stables is a -large riding-school, in which there are 8000 jets of gas, an exercising -ground under glass, with a gallop on straw and sawdust for a quarter of -a mile. Close by is an enormous garden, of which six acres are used for -strawberry beds, every alternate row being glazed for forcing the -plants. Alongside of this is a glazed wall a quarter of a mile long. The -garden is about thirty acres in extent, and requires fifty-three men. In -the late Duke’s time there were forty-five grooms and helpers in the -stables. The cow-houses are palaces, with a covered strawyard attached, -and are surrounded by hydraulic screens, which are let down or raised -according to the wind. There were eighty keepers and underkeepers. - -“All is vast, splendid, and utterly comfortless: one could imagine no -more awful and ghastly fate than waking up one day and finding oneself -Duke of Portland and master of Welbeck. - -“Coming home through the tunnel, Mr. Watson told me the curious story of -the Misses Offley of Norton Hall. These ladies (descended from King -Offa) saw in a vision their only brother, who was with a tutor in -Edinburgh, upon the ridge of the house. Dreadfully alarmed, and -perfectly certain of what they had seen, they went to a neighbour, a -Mr. Shore, and told him they were sure that their brother was dead. -Utterly failing to reassure them, in order to comfort them, Mr. Shore -undertook to ride to Edinburgh (it was before the time of railways), and -find out the truth. As he was crossing the boundary of Yorkshire, he met -the funeral of the young man, who was being brought back to be buried at -his own home. However, he went on to Edinburgh to see the tutor, and -then discovered that, in his illness, young Offley had been persuaded to -make a will entirely in favour of the tutor and his wife. Mr. Shore at -once said that he would give the tutor £20,000 if he would give up all -his claims under this will, but the tutor refused. The next day Mr. -Shore went back and offered £10,000, and it was taken. The property was -then worth £10,000 a year, but is now worth £20,000 a year. - -“Staying here with Lady Westminster is her friend Mrs. Hallyburton -(_née_ Owen, and first married to a Mr. Williams), who is the widow of -Judge Hallyburton--‘Sam Slick.’” - - * * * * * - -Alas! whilst I was enjoying this Babworth visit, the greatest sorrow -which still remained possible for me was preparing, and a few days later -it fell. It would be difficult for any one who had not shared our life -to understand how much my dearest old nurse, Mary Lea, was to me, or the -many causes which, with each succeeding year, had drawn closer and -closer the tender tie, as of mother and son, which existed between us. -And since 1870 she had been more than ever dear to me--the one precious -link with _our_ past which no other knew: the only person to whom I -could talk on all subjects with entire certainty of understanding and -sympathy. Each year, too, had made her more beautiful in her old age, -and there were none who visited Holmhurst and failed to carry away an -attractive remembrance of the lovely old woman, with her pretty -old-fashioned dress and snowy cap, set in the homely surroundings of her -sitting-room, full of pictures and curiosities, or in the poultry-yard, -which was her pride and joy, brimming over with quaint proverbs, wise -sayings, and interesting memories. - -My dear Lea had not forgotten any of the places she had seen, or any of -the varied circumstances of her life; and these scenes and events formed -a mental picture-gallery in the circle of her inner consciousness, where -she could amuse herself for ever. Life was never monotonous to her; -there was so much that was beautiful, so much that was good, so much -that was even grand to recollect; and then the surroundings of the -present were full of simple pleasures; her room furnished with treasured -memorials of the long-ago; her farmyard, with its manifold life, -recalling her girlhood in a Shropshire farmhouse; her many kindly -thoughts and deeds towards her neighbours at the hospice or in the -village, one or other of whom loved to come in and chat for an hour -daily with the beautiful old woman who had so much of mild wisdom in her -discourse; her many visitors of the higher class to see the house, in -whose coming she recognised and welcomed a kind of homage to her beloved -mistress, and to whom consequently she would often pour out the most -precious of her recollections; the garden and fields, which brought -fresh interest with each succeeding season; but most especially her -master, her nursling, the child of her heart, whose every employment, or -friendship, or amusement, or duty, or work, or honour, was more to her -than anything else in the world. - -In this year especially I had been much with her, and the elder and -younger relation seemed almost obliterated in the intimacy of our -friendship and communion. Daily I used to take a little walk with my -sweet old nurse upon my arm, and the upper path leading to the little -pool above the field will always be connected with her, walking thus, -and recalling a thousand memories out of the rich past, which was common -to us, and to us alone. Here I walked with her the day before I went to -Babworth, and am thankful that I did not give up doing so because a -young man was staying with me. She seemed even more calmly happy than -usual that day. Autumn tints and tones were pervading everything, but -when I spoke of our seeing the plants again in their full beauty in -spring, she said sweetly, “Those who _live_ till the spring will see -them, dear sir.” There are some lines of Lewis Morris which recall what -my dear nurse was at this time:-- - - “There is a sweetness in autumnal days, - Which many a lip doth praise: - When the earth, tired a little and grown mute - Of song, and having borne its fruit, - Rests for a little space ere winter come. - - * * * * * - - And even as the hair grows grey - And the eyes dim, - And the lithe form which toiled the live-long day, - The stalwart limb, - Begins to stiffen and grow slow, - A higher joy they know: - To spend the season of the waning year, - Ere comes the deadly chill, - - * * * * * - - In a pervading peace.” - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL. - -“_Oct. 11, 1882._--Yesterday two terrible telegrams met me when I went -to my breakfast at the Athenæum, telling me that my dearest Lea was -dangerously ill, and bidding me return at once. In half-an-hour I was in -the train, Ronald Gower travelling with me to Hastings, and an -agonising journey it was. I found the carriage at St. Leonards, having -been waiting five hours, with a perfectly hopeless account. - -“Yet I found my dearest old nurse better than I had hoped, able to be -glad to see me, even, though very suffering, to tell me little things -which had occurred during my week’s absence. But at night she grew much -worse, and hour after hour I had the anguish of watching, with Harriet -and Mrs. Peters, over terrible suffering, which we were unable to -alleviate. God sends one no discipline so terrible as this. Happy indeed -are those who have only to suffer themselves, not to witness the -suffering of their dear ones. - -“To-day she is weaker. Yesterday she spoke of ‘when I am better.’ To-day -she speaks of ‘when I am gone.’ - -“I sit all day in her room, watching the beloved beautiful old face, -fanning her, repeating words of encouragement and comfort to her; and -she always has a smile for me. - -“Outside the window the beautiful laburnum tree which she loves is -shaking off its leaves and preparing for winter, and oh! when its golden -blossoms come again, this dearest friend of my whole life will be away!” - - * * * * * - -“_Thursday, Oct. 12._--Last night she slept quietly, and her two nurses -by her. I went in and out continually, and she scarcely moved. In the -morning she was better, and able to sit in the arm-chair near her bed. -It was the day on which we always used to try to leave for Rome, and she -spoke of it, and this drew her into many pleasant recollections, such -as the dear Mother had on her last day here; of the anemones in the -Villa Doria at Rome, and the especial corners in which the best were to -be found; of the daisies in the Parco S. Gregorio, and of many happy -hours spent in other favourite places. She also asked after all the -different members of the family, and sent messages to some of them. In -the afternoon she was so well that, by her wish, I went down to Hastings -to see Ronald Gower, and when I came back, she liked to hear about it. - -“But to-night (9 P.M.) she is weaker and the pain and wheezing have -increased. I have just read to her, as usual, a litany for the -night-watches and several other prayers. She said the ‘Amen’ to each -most fervently, and repeated the ‘Lord’s Prayer’ after me. Afterwards I -spoke of the comfort prayers and hymns were to the Mother in her -illness: ‘Yes, her’s _were_ prayers,’ she said. - -“Then she said, ‘I did not think I should be taken away from you so soon -as this.’ I said, ‘Perhaps, dear Pettie, it may still be God’s will that -you may be raised up to us again, and this is what we must wish and try -for.’--‘Yes,’ she answered, ‘and I _do_ try for it--too much perhaps, -more than is right perhaps; and yet I am quite resigned either to go or -stay: the Lord’s will, that is the best.’ - -“Then she said, ‘Open that top drawer and take out a box. There are some -things in it I wish you to have, things connected with your family which -you will value, and my large silver brooch; I wish you to keep that. And -I would like you to keep the little bits of chaney that were my -mother’s--the lions, and the little cups and saucers that are in your -Mother’s room; she liked to see them, and you will: I do not wish them -ever to leave this house.’ - -“‘Dearest Pettie,’ I said, ‘if it should be God’s will that you should -not be given back to us, would you wish to be laid by Mother at -Hurstmonceaux, or should you be taken to your own mother’s grave at -Cheswardine? Whatever you wish shall be done.’ ‘If you please,’ she -murmured, ‘Hurstmonceaux would be best. I have been always with you. All -my own are passed away. You are more to me than any one else. I should -wish to be laid near your dear Mother, and then you would be laid there -too.’--‘Yes, dear, we should all be together,’ I said. - -“Then she said, ‘You have been _everything_ to me all your life: quite -like my own child: _all_ that a child of my own could have been.’ - -“She always smiles sweetly to see me near her; but she is weaker, and -everything is difficult. As Aurora Leigh says-- - - ‘The poor lip - Just motions for a smile, and lets it go.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Oct. 14._--Two terrible nights have we passed in trying to alleviate -my dearest Lea’s great sufferings, but last night especially it was -anguish to hear her moans and to be able to do _so_ little: but I flit -in and out, and whether it is day or night, am seldom many minutes away -from her, and I think _that_ is a comfort.” - - * * * * * - -“_Oct. 15._--Last night was better, but all to-day she has been terribly -ill. It is such a struggle to breathe through her worn-out frame. I sit -constantly by her side, and chafe her hands and bathe her forehead, and -can be quite cheerful for her sake; and she smiles to see me always -there whenever she wakes. ‘Oh, how good you are to me,’ she said to-day. -‘I cannot be good enough to you, my own dearest Pettie, to you who have -always been so very good to me.’ - -“But I feel, though no one tells me so, that I am sitting in the shadow -of Death.” - - * * * * * - -“_Monday, Oct. 16._--The doctor says she is sinking. She suffers less -to-day, but is overwhelmed by the pressure on the lungs. I sit -there--feed her--watch her, and smile.... I can do it for her sake. -There will be time enough for grief when she cannot be grieved by it. - -“She is all thankfulness,--only afraid of wearing us all out. ‘Thank -Thee, O Lord, for my good victuals,’ she said, after taking her glassful -of milk. - -“Last night, waking from her sleep, she said, ‘Oh, I thought I was away -and so very happy, and now I am come back to all this.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 17._--She is still here--still suffering. Oh, -my poor darling! what anguish it is to see her, and how thankful I shall -be to God now when He will set her free. One can bear to part with one’s -beloved ones, but their suffering tears one to pieces. How truly Heine -says, ‘Der Tod ist nichts; aber das Sterben ist eine schändliche -Erfindung.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Wednesday, Oct. 19._--Yesterday morning there was agonising pain for -three hours and then a respite. At 12 A.M. Hubert Beaumont walked in, -having come off at once on hearing a hopeless account. He was much -broken down at seeing his old friend so ill, but full of kindness and -help for me and all of us.... All afternoon she was worse. Two doctors -came.... At night she was terribly worse. Oh, it was so hard to see her -suffer,--so very, very hard. Soon after midnight I gave dose after dose -of laudanum, and when she was still, lay down--sank down, utterly -worn-out. At 3 A.M. I heard Harriet’s voice, ‘Aunt is gone.’ All was -still then--the agony lived through, the fight fought. As I rushed into -the room, the colour was fading out of my darling Pettie’s cheeks, but -her face and hands were still warm. A wonderful look of rest was -stealing over the beloved features. I knelt down and said the bidding -prayer. Truly we ‘gave thanks’ that our dearest one was at rest. Yet I -felt--oh, so stunned, so helpless! Dear Hubert was a great comfort. - -“All day we have sobbed at intervals. Many touching notes have come in; -but I have felt dead in body and mind.” - - * * * * * - -“_Oct. 20._--My dearest Lea is laid in her coffin. It has been a day of -bitter anguish. All have tried to console, but - - ‘Console if you will, I can bear it, - ’Tis a well-meant alms of breath: - But not all the preaching since Adam - Can make Death other than Death.’”[381] - - * * * * * - -“_Oct. 21._--Hubert has been summoned away by his parents,--very -miserable to go, poor boy. There has been a terrible storm all day, -which has seemed more congenial than the lovely sunshine yesterday. - -“In the evening Mrs. Peters had put lights in the room, and I went to -look at my dearest Pettie in her coffin. The ‘afterglow’ had come on. -All her old beauty had come back to her. There was not a wrinkle on her -lovely dignified old face. Her snow-white hair just showed at the edge -of her pretty little crimped cap: all was peace and repose. It comforted -me to see her, and we surrounded her coffin with large branches of -Michaelmas daisies, enlivened by sprays of fuchsia, and the autumn -lilies which she loved.” - - * * * * * - -“_Oct. 23._--In the morning I went into her room to see my dearest -Pettie for the last time. Lady Darnley had sent a box of lovely flowers, -and I laid them round her. The marvellous beauty of her countenance -continued: it was the most sublime majesty of Death:-- - - ‘That perfect presence of His face, - Which we, for want of words, call Death.’[382] - -“John[383] came in to see her too, but can think of nothing but his own -future. That does not seem to occur to me--not yet: I can think of -nothing but her wealthy past, so rich, so overflowing in deeds of love, -in endearing ways which drew all hearts to her, in noble, simple trust -and faith, in heart-whole devotion and self-abnegation for the Mother -and me. - -[Illustration: HURSTMONCEAUX CASTLE GATEWAY.] - -“At eleven I set off alone, in a little carriage, by the familiar lanes. -It was the loveliest of autumnal days, and all was in its richest, most -touching beauty: the Ashburnham woods; the long Boreham hill, with the -group of weird pine-trees called ‘The Crooked Aunts;’ Sybil Filiol’s -paved walk winding by the roadside; Windmill Hill; Lime Cross; Lime; -Flower’s Green and the Mother’s little school; Hurstmonceaux Place; and -then the ascent to the church through the deep hollow way overhung by -old oaks. - -“Soon after 2 P.M. the little procession appeared over the brow of the -hill, the bearers, in white smock-frocks, walking by the carriages. The -coffin was laden with flowers, wreaths sent by different friends, and a -long garland of Michaelmas daisies and laurustinus falling over the -side. I followed the coffin alone first, then all the servants from -Holmhurst and many poor women from Lime Cross. - -“The first part of the service was in the chancel amidst all the old -family monuments. The grave was by my Mother’s side, in the same little -garden enclosure. It was strange to feel that the next funeral there -must be my own, and to look down upon her coffin on which my own will -rest some day. - -“After the others were gone I walked in the old deer-park. I felt as if -I was a spirit haunting the place. All was peace and loveliness, but how -great the change from the time when I was there so constantly! ‘On -dépose fleur à fleur la couronne de la vie.’[384] All the familiar -figures of my childhood are swept away--all the uncles and aunts, -brothers and sister; all the old neighbours; nearly all the old friends; -the dear Mother; Marcus Hare; Arthur and Mary Stanley; and now my own -dear Lea: all the old homes too are broken up, pulled down, or -deserted; only I and the ruins of the castle seem left. - - ‘So live I in spirit, - Lonely, my hidden life, by none to be known of, - Never a sound nor cloud-picture but brings to my fancy - Matter for thought without end and keen-edged emotion.’”[385] - - * * * * * - -“_Holmhurst, Nov. 14._--The winds are howling round and I sit alone in -my home. The silence is sometimes awful, for I never hear the human -voice now, for my only attendant, the faithful Anne, who waits upon me, -is stone-deaf, so that all communication with her is in writing. - -“It may seem odd, but my dear Lea’s removal really makes a greater blank -in my life than even the Mother left behind. My Mother had so long taken -the child’s place to be loved and taken care of: Lea, to her last hour, -took as much care of _me_ as in the first year of my life. I have the -piteous feeling that there is none now to whom I _signify_: it can -really ‘matter’ to no one whether I live or die. My friends are very -kind, and would be sorry to lose me, but in this rapid world-current a -few days would see them well out of their grief. And my dearest Lea, who -cared--who would have cared while life lasted, rests now under a white -marble cross like my Mother’s, inscribed-- - -MARY LEA GIDMAN, -June 2, 1800: Oct. 19, 1882. -Through fifty-four years -Devoted, honoured, and beloved -In the Hare family.” - - - - -XXIII - -IN THE FURROWS OF LIFE - - “Days--when gone-- - Gone! they ne’er go; when past they haunt us still.” - --EDWARD YOUNG. - -“What used to be joy is joy no longer: but what is pain is easier -because they have not to bear it.”--GEORGE ELIOT. - -“To live for the shorter or longer remainder of my days with the simple -bravery, veracity, and piety of her that is gone, that would be a right -learning from her death, and a right honouring of her memory.”--CARLYLE. - - “Dieu donne la robe selon le froid.”--PASCAL. - -JOURNAL. - -“_Dec. 1882._--With what a numbed feeling of desolate sadness do I look -back upon the last chapter. My home existence is so intensely changed by -the blank which the dear old friend of my whole life has left. It was -long before I could bear to go into her changed rooms, and I still wake -nightly with the sad inward outcry, ‘Can it be--can it be? Is every one -gone who shared _our_ home life? Is there no one left who is associated -with all our wealthy past?’ ‘Entbehren sollst du--sollst entbehren.’ And -when my friends urge me to marry, I feel the utter desolateness of -attempting to make new ties with any one who knows nothing and cares -nothing of those with whom all my earlier life was bound up. I have -happily still a great power of enjoyment when anything pleasant comes to -me, but oh! how seldom it happens. Griefs and worries--griefs and -worries come round with wheel-like recurrence. I often think of Aubrey -de Vere’s lines:-- - - ‘When I was young, I said to Sorrow, - “Come, and I will play with thee.” - He is near me now all day; - And at night returns to say, - “I will come again to-morrow, - I will come and stay with thee.” - -“Archbishop Tait, long a kind friend, is dead. I hear that at his -funeral, in the beautiful churchyard at Addington, a little robin -perched on an adjoining tombstone and poured forth a flood of song, -apparently unconscious of all present. ‘How our father would have liked -to have seen it,’ said one of the daughters.” - - * * * * * - -“_Jan. 12, 1883._--Tea with Dowager Lady Donoughmore,[386] who was very -pleasant. She described walking in Ireland with a stingy old gentleman. -A beggar came up to them, and he said, ‘I have not got a penny to give -you.’ The beggar retorted, ‘You’ve got an awful ugly face: I hope you -may die soon, but I pity the worms that will have to eat you.’ - -“Lady Donoughmore, however, said that she had boundless experience of -the natural poetry in the Irish peasantry. On receiving a shilling, an -old woman said to her, ‘May ivery hair of yer honour’s head become a -torch to guide yer sowle to heaven.’” - - * * * * * - -“_June 19._--Dined with Lady Airlie, only meeting Mrs. Duncan Stewart -and Lady De Clifford. Mrs. Stewart talked much of Mr. Carlyle. - -“‘Mr. Hannay knew Carlyle very well, and often went to see him, but it -was in his poorer days. One day when Mr. Hannay went to the house, he -saw two gold sovereigns lying exposed in a little vase on the -chimney-piece. He asked Carlyle what they were for. Carlyle looked--for -him--embarrassed, but gave no definite answer. “Well, now, my dear -fellow,” said Mr. Hannay, “neither you nor I are quite in a position to -play ducks and drakes with sovereigns: what _are_ these for?”--“Well,” -said Carlyle, “the fact is, Leigh Hunt likes better to find them there -than that I should give them to him.” - -“‘I was sitting once by Mr. Bourton,’ said Mrs. Stewart, ‘and he was -talking of Leigh Hunt. He said, “He is the only person, I believe, who, -if he saw something yellow in the distance, and was told it was a -buttercup, would be disappointed if he found it was only a guinea.”’ - -“Lady Airlie said she had known Leigh Hunt very well when she was a -child. He had taken her into the garden, and talked to her, and asked -her what she thought heaven would be like, and then he said, ‘I will -tell you what I think it will be like: I think it will be like a most -beautiful arbour all hung with creepers and flowers, and that one will -be able to sit in it all day, and read a most interesting novel.’ - -“Of her early acquaintance with Washington Irving, Mrs. Stewart said, -‘It was at Havre. My guardian was consul there. People used to say, -“Where is Harriet gone?” and he answered, “Oh, she is down at the end of -the terrace, busy making Washington Irving believe he is God Almighty, -and he is busy believing it.”’ - -“Mrs. Stewart told of Miss Ruth Paget, one of many sisters, who went -down at night to the kitchen to let out her little dog for a minute, and -found her brother Marco, who was a midshipman in the Mediterranean, -sitting on the kitchen-table, swinging his legs, but pouring with wet. -She said, ‘Good heavens, Marco, how did you come here?’ He looked at -her, and only said, ‘Do not tell any one you have seen me.” She looked -round for an instant to see if any one was coming, and when she turned, -he was gone. - -“Ghastly pale, she went upstairs. Her sisters said, ‘You look as if you -had seen a ghost,’ and they tried to insist on her telling them what had -happened to her. She put them off by complaining of headache and -faintness; but she was terribly anxious. - -“Three months afterwards she heard her brother was coming home, then -that he had arrived at Portsmouth, then he came. The first time she was -alone with him she said, ‘I must tell you something,’ and she told him -how he had appeared to her, and then she said, ‘I wrote it down at the -time, and here is the paper, with the date and the hour.’ - -“He looked shocked at first, and then said, that at that very moment, -being absent from his ship without leave, his boat had been upset, and -he had been as nearly drowned as possible--in fact, when he was taken -out of the water, life was supposed to be extinct. His first fear on -recovering was that his absence without leave would be detected by his -accident and become his ruin, and his first words were, ‘Do not tell any -one you have seen me.’” - - * * * * * - -“_June 21._--At Madame du Quaire’s I met Oscar Wilde and Mrs. Stewart. -He talked in a way intended to be very startling, but she startled him -by saying quietly, ‘You poor dear foolish boy! how can you talk such -nonsense?’ Mrs. M. L. had recently met this ‘type of an aesthetic age’ -at a country house, and described his going out shooting in a black -velvet dress with salmon-coloured stockings, and falling down when the -gun went off, yet captivating all the ladies by his pleasant talk. One -day he came down looking very pale. ‘I am afraid you are ill, Mr. -Wilde,’ said one of the party. ‘No, not ill, only tired,’ he answered. -‘The fact is, I picked a primrose in the wood yesterday, and it was so -ill, I have been sitting up with it all night.’ Oscar Wilde’s oddities -would attract notice anywhere, but of course they do so ten times more -in the _plein midi_ of London society, where the smallest faults of -manner, most of all of assumption, are detected and exposed at once.” - - * * * * * - -“_July 2, 1883._--I have just heard again the ghost story so often told -by Mrs. Thompson Hankey: - -“Two beautiful but penniless sisters were taken out in London by an -aunt. A young gentleman from the north, of very good family and fortune, -fell in love with one of them, and proposed to her, but she was with -difficulty persuaded to accept him, and afterwards could never be -induced to fix a date for their marriage. The young man, who was very -much in love, urged and urged, but, on one excuse or another, he was -always put off. Whilst things were in this unsettled state, the young -lady was invited to a ball. Her lover implored her not to go to it, and -when she insisted, he made her promise not to dance any round dances, -saying that if she did, he should believe she had ceased to care for -him. - -“The young lady went to the ball, and, as usual, all the young men -gathered round her, trying to persuade her to dance. She refused any but -square dances. At last, however, as a delightful valse was being played, -and she was standing looking longingly on, she suddenly felt herself -seized round the waist, and hurried into the dance. Not till she reached -the end of the room, very angry, did she succeed in seeing with whom she -had been forced to dance: it was with her own betrothed. Furious, she -said she should never forgive him. But, as she spoke, he disappeared. -She begged several young men to look for him, but he could not be found -anywhere, and, to her astonishment, every one denied altogether having -seen him. On reaching home, she found a telegram telling her of his -death, and when the hours were compared, he was found to have died at -the very moment when he had seized her for the dance. - -“Mrs Thompson Hankey knew all the persons concerned. - -[Illustration: ON THE TERRACE, HOLMHURST.] - -“Catherine Vaughan has just been taken to see an old woman in Scotland, -whose daughter was married last year. She asked if she was getting on -well. ‘Aye, she’s gettin’ on varra weel, varra weel indeed. She’s got a -pig, and she’s got a cock, and she’s got a son: it’s true that she hates -her mon, but one must aye have ae thing.’” - -[Illustration: IN THE KITCHEN, HOLMHURST.] - -“Charlotte Leycester is to be left in possession of my little Holmhurst -whilst I am away, and has such complete enjoyment of it, that I shall -have no sense of wasting my home by a long absence, as would otherwise -be the case.” - -During the summer of 1883, I left England to join my oft-times -travelling companions, the Miss Hollands, for a tour in Russia. I did -not greatly enjoy this tour, partly because I felt so terribly knowing -almost nothing of the language of the country, not being able to read -even the names of the streets. I also suffered from not having had time -to teach myself anything of the country before I went there: for, after -I came home, and tried to instruct my mind by every book I could get -hold of about Russia, I found my travels had been much more interesting -than, from the very intensity of my ignorance, I believed them to be at -the time. - -At Kieff I left my companions, and found my way home alone by Warsaw and -by Cracow, with its curious monuments and odious Jew population. After -the great discomforts of Russia, a very few days in Germany seemed very -charming, and I was especially glad to see beautiful old Breslau, and -afterwards Wilhelmshohe near Cassel, in a perfect conflagration of -splendid autumnal tints, truly realising Hood’s lines-- - - “How bravely Autumn paints upon the sky - The gorgeous fame of Summer which is fled.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS LEYCESTER. - -“_St. Petersburg, August 22, 1883._--A rest in the interesting group of -North-German cities, Dantzic, Marienburg, Königsberg, prepared us for -the thirty-six hours’ journey through monotonous fir-woods and -cornfields, unvaried through 1000 miles, till two great purple domes -rose on the horizon--St. Alexander Newski and the Cathedral of St. -Isaac. - -[Illustration: CATHEDRAL OF ST. ISAAC, ST. PETERSBURG.][387] - -“It was difficult to believe we were in Europe on emerging from the -station and seeing the endless droskies--sledges on wheels--drawn up, -with their extraordinary-looking drivers, in long blue dressing-gowns -(wadded like feather-beds, so as to make the wearer look like a huge -pillow), with a girdle, and low cap. Then the gigantic streets, each -about as broad as St. James’s Square, and the huge squares, in which the -palaces, however vast, are so disproportioned to the immensity of space, -that their architectural features are lost. Then the utter desolation, -one carriage and two or three foot-passengers in the apparently -boundless vistas. Altogether, St. Petersburg is quite the ugliest place -I ever saw, even the Neva, huge as it is, so black and grim, and the -smoke of the steamers giving the worst aspects of London. But yesterday -evening we had a delightful drive of four hours on the islands in the -Neva, which answer here to the Park, and are exquisitely varied--lovely -winding alleys, bosquets of flowering trees, green meadows, little -lakes, rushing brooks, every variety of cottage and villa and garden and -bridge, at least twenty miles of them. Coming back, we stopped at the -fortress-church to see the royal tombs--stately marble sarcophagi in -groups; first Peter the Great and his family, then two groups of -intermediate sovereigns, then the present family, surrounded (inside the -church) by a grove of palms and laden with flowers. Close by is Peter -the Great’s cottage, and the tiny early church in which he worshipped, -and, at the former, the famous ‘icon’ which he carried in his wars, -before which crowds of people were incessantly prostrating and kissing -the pavement.” - - * * * * * - -“_Sept. 4._--We returned last night from Finland, of which I am glad to -have visited a specimen, though there is not much to see, except gloomy -little lakes, flat country, hundreds of miles of monotonous forests of -young firs and birch, and little wooden villages. All is very much like -an inferior Sweden, and the people understand Swedish, and have the -Swedish characteristics of honesty and civility, which, at so short a -distance off, make them an extraordinary contrast to the Russians. Our -journey was amusingly varied by endless changes of rail, steamer, walk, -char-a-banc, as the country allowed. At Imatra, our destination, a lake -tumbles into a river by curious rapids.” - -[Illustration: ST. SOPHIA OF NOVGOROD.][388][Illustration: KREMLIN, -MOSCOW.][389] - -[Illustration: THE NEW JERUSALEM.][390] - - * * * * * - -“_Moscow, Sept. 9._--We left St. Petersburg on Monday, and went to -Novgorod the Great, one of the oldest cities in Russia, once enormous, -but now dwindled to a large village, with a decaying kremlin and a -wonderful cathedral like a mosque, a blaze of beautiful ancient colour -within, quite splendid in its gold and silver decorations, and the -shrines of sixteen famous saints (the Greek saints are most puzzling) -who are buried there, and whose mummified hands, left outside their -cerecloths, are exposed to the kisses of the faithful. A journey of -nineteen hours’ rail brought us here on Thursday morning. The first -impression of Moscow is disappointing--commonplace omnibuses at the -station, ugly vulgar streets like the back-streets of Brighton, and, as -the town is above twenty miles round and nine miles across, they seem -endless. But you enter the Chinese town, in which we are now living, by -gates in the strangest walls imaginable, and the street has all the -crowd and clamour of Naples. Another series of very tall battlemented -red walls and lofty gates announces the Kremlin. This is more striking -than I expected--the three mosque-like cathedrals (there are five -cathedrals and three hundred churches in Moscow), and the splendid view -from the high terrace in front of them, which recalls that from the -Pincio at Rome, only the Moskva is a very broad river, and every church -has the strangest of towers--like bulbs, pine-apples, melons, fir-cones, -gilt or blue or brightest green, covered with network, with stars, -discs, moons, hung with chains like veils, every device that the wildest -dream or maddest imagination can invent, and yet in this clear -atmosphere of intense burning heat and with the arid low hills or burnt -plains which surround the town, it all looks right. Inside, the -cathedrals put all the churches in Italy and Spain to shame by their -splendour, but one is sorry not to know more of their history. I can -speak enough Russian now to get on humbly; but the alphabet beats me -still: it is not only that there are so many letters, but that the old -familiar forms of written letters mean something new.” - -[Illustration: THE DNIEPER, KIEFF.][391] - -[Illustration: THE HOLY CHAPEL OF KIEFF.][392] - - * * * * * - -“_Kieff, ‘The Holy City,’ Sept. 21._--We made excursions from Moscow to -all the great monasteries. There are few other sights of importance, -but these, in Russia, are quite unique--immense spaces surrounded by -walls, towers, and gates, which have stood many a siege, and which are -like the towns in old woodcuts, and contain gardens, cemeteries, -cathedrals, usually six churches with gilt domes and minarets, besides -accommodation for 600 or 800 monks and nuns, who have their wells, -gardens, farms, &c. One of those which I thought most attractive was -Novo Devichi, rising from an arid sandy plain close to the town, but -full of lovely flowers, which a kind old prioress came and gave us -handfuls of. Then we went to the New Jerusalem, where the famous Nikon -lived and is buried--many hours jolting along a no-road through the -forests in a rough tarantass, but a beautiful place when you get there. -Nikon chose it because he thought it so like the real Jerusalem, and -changed the name of its river to Jordan, and _made_ a Kedron. It was a -quiet countrified spot, and the only one I have seen which the Mother -and Lea would have enjoyed in the old days, and there was a primitive -inn with kindly, gentle people. We also went to the famous Troitsa, the -home and grave of Philaret. In all these excursions, as everywhere else, -we found the ‘difficulties’ of Russian travel entire imagination: -nothing can be easier. - -[Illustration: CITADEL OF CRACOW.][393] - -“Nevertheless, the journey to Kieff by a slow train was terrible, -lasting two days and a night, and awfully hot--across a hideous brown -steppe the whole way, with scarcely a tree to vary it. (There are -forests _till_ Moscow, only steppes afterwards.) I was ill and wretched -enough before this interesting place rose on its low hills above the -Dnieper. - -“To-day, however, has quite satisfied me that it was worth while to -come. It is a most unique and beautiful place, the vast town, or rather -three great towns, so embosomed in trees and gardens, that the houses -are almost lost. But the greatest charm lies in the constant view over -the glorious Dnieper, and the immense aërial plain beyond, with its -delicate pink lights and blue shadows. Then Kieff is the Mecca of -Russia, full of tombs of saints and holy images, and, though this is no -special season, the thousands and thousands of pilgrims are most -extraordinary--in sheep-skins and goat-skins, in fur caps, high-peaked -head-dresses and turbans; in azure blue, bright pink, or pale primrose -colour. I never could have believed without seeing it the reverence of -the Russian religion, and it has seemed the same everywhere and in all -classes. The bowing and curvetting and crossing before the icons is most -extraordinary, and still more so the three prostrations which all make -on approaching any holy place, bending down and kissing the dust in a -way worthy of an acrobat, though treated as a matter of course by the -devotees themselves. But the intense expression of devotion borne by -these pilgrims (who have often _walked_ from Archangel!) is such as I -have never seen on other faces, and some of the old men and women -especially would make the grandest studies for pictures of saintly -apostles and matrons. To see a smart young officer unhesitatingly -prostrate himself and kiss the ground on sight of an icon (in the mud of -this morning even), in the presence of equally smart companions, has -something deeply touching in it, and one wonders if any young guardsman -in England would do the same if and because he thought it right.” - - * * * * * - -“_In the Warsaw train, Sept. 25._--In this smoothly gliding train, which -takes one in fifty-four weary hours across the steppes, it is as easy to -write as in the study at home. I should be most comfortable if it were -not that my companion (in the compartment for two) is the most odious -type of American I ever came across. ‘I guess you will not want to have -the windows of this carriage opened till you get to Warsaw, because I -will not submit to it: I am in my right, and I will _not_ submit to it.’ - -“We were arrested again yesterday at Kieff, though then only by -priests--veiled priests--for daring to sketch the outside of one of -their sacred chapels; but after being hurried about from place to place -for an hour, and shut up in a courtyard, with a wooden bench to sit -upon, for another, we were regaled with a pile of beautiful grapes and -apples, and sent about our business. This constant worrying when drawing -has really made Russia very tiresome; but for those who do not want to -draw, I do not see what difficulties travelling in the country can -present, and Russians are always civil, even when arresting you.” - - * * * * * - -“_Warsaw, Sept. 27._--We arrived at the junction station of Brest more -than two hours late, for on some of the Russian lines no hours are -obligatory, and you are quite at the mercy of conductors and their whims -for spending ten, thirty, or even forty minutes in gossiping at side -stations. So the Warsaw train had left Brest, and we had five hours to -wait for another. Ill and wretched, I left the horrible room where a -crowd of people were smoking, spitting, and _smelling_, and made my way -to a sort of deserted public garden, where cows were browsing on the -lilacs. Here, from mere want of something to do, I began to sketch some -cottages and bushes, when I was suddenly seized by two soldiers and -carried off to the guard-house. Here a very furious bombastical old -major cross-examined me, and went into a passion over each sketch in my -book, with volleys of questions about each, and then he sent me with a -military escort to the station to fetch my passport. It was right, of -course, and at last, after several hours, I was dismissed with -‘Maintenant c’est fini;’ but after a quadruple walk of two miles each -way, and over such a pavement as only Russia can supply. - -“I never was at Warsaw before, and should not care to stay. The Vistula -divides the town, which is full of palaces and gardens, but has older -quarters full of Jews, which are like the old streets of Paris. This -afternoon I drove to the old Sobieski palace of Villanov. Two horses -were necessary, for just outside this capital city the roads are like -the roughest of ploughed fields.” - - * * * * * - -I spent the autumn of 1883 very quietly at Holmhurst, but paid some -visits in the winter. - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS LEYCESTER. - -“_Palace, Lichfield, Jan. 1, 1884._--After a pleasant Christmas at -Kinmel, I came here yesterday to dear Augusta Maclagan. The immense -quantity of work she does suits her, though it seems too much to those -who do not know her. Town, Diocese, Chapter, and the society of the -neighbourhood all work the willing horse alike. I cannot sufficiently -admire the marvellous versatility of the Bishop, or his wonderful power -of conversation, recalling that of Dean Alford in its simplicity and -vivacity. He has led the most varied of lives, and has much of interest -to tell of each part of it. He was for three years a soldier. When he -was born, the whole house was disturbed by the most fearful row, and -when they inquired what it was, the servant said, ‘Eh, it’s just Sandie -and Nellie fighting over the bit bairnie.’ Sandie, who had been military -servant to the father, an army doctor, said it must be brought up as a -soldier. Nellie said, ‘Nay, it’s the seventh bairn, and if it’s a -soldier, it must be the Lord’s soldier: the bairn must aye be a -minister;’ and he was both. The Bishop is still passionately fond of -riding and driving, and as soon as he gets out of Lichfield, mounts the -box of his carriage and drives his own horses, ‘Pride’ and ‘Prejudice.’ -He says people may consider it a terrible thing for a Bishop to be drawn -hither and thither by these passions, but then it is assuredly a fine -thing to have them well under control. - -“The Lonsdales dined last night, and afterwards we sat up for a touching -little midnight service in the palace chapel, in which the Bishop -preached, but very briefly, saying just what I have so often felt, that -it is not the expected, but the _unexpected_ events which come with the -New Year--that God’s hand is full of ‘surprises.’ - -“Augusta has written so admirable, so intensely interesting a Memoir of -her dear mother, that I cannot say how delightful I find it, or how -beautifully it portrays that lovely and lovable life from life to death. -It is only in MS., though one of the best biographies I ever read--‘the -history of a life, not a stuffed animal.’ - -“The cathedral is most uniform in its beauty, even the modern monuments -so fine. Of the older ones, the most interesting is that of Bishop -Hackett, who was appointed by Charles II. after the destruction caused -by the Puritans. He found the church a ruin, and it is touching to hear -how he called his choir and the one remaining canon into the only bit -which had still a roof, and prayed that he might have life and energy to -restore it. Going back to his palace, he harnessed his coach-horses to -the first cart that drew materials for the cathedral, and, though his -income was so small, he spent £8000 upon it. - -“The statue of our Lord over the west front was put up by the present -Bishop in the place of a statue of Charles II., which was due to a Mrs. -Wilson. She was of an old Lichfield family, and married far beneath her, -a mere mason; but she said to him, ‘Now you are a clever man: you know -how to carve; make a good statue of his Majesty for the cathedral, and -it will be heard of at court, and you will be knighted, and I shall die -“my lady.”’ And all this actually happened. When the statue of Charles -was being taken down, the present Dean gave a groan of ‘Poor King -Charles!’--‘Why do you call him poor King Charles?’ said the Bishop. -‘Because he is being dethroned by a _restoration_.’ - -“Bishop Selwyn always desired that he might not be buried in the -cathedral, so a little mortuary chapel on the outside was restored for -him, and you look from the church through arches upon his beautiful -sleeping figure by Adams. When the Maori chiefs were in England, they -came down especially to see it, and gazed upon it with their eyes -streaming with tears. ‘They have laid him on a New Zealand mat, as a -chieftain should lie,’ they said.” - - * * * * * - -“_Fawsley, Jan. 8, 1884._--I came here from Lichfield to find a very -large party in this large and most comfortable house, with a hall of -Henry VII.’s time. Sir Rainald Knightley, its owner, is a splendid type -of an English gentleman, very conservative, very courteous, very clever, -and devoted to country sports and interests, which alternate with the -politics in which his more serious moments are spent. The only blemish -on his perfectly happy married life with Miss Bowater, who enters into -all his pursuits, whether duties or pleasures, politics, country -business, hunting, &c., is that they have no children. He is surrounded -by cousins--Charleses and Valentines--repeating in actual life the many -Charleses and Valentines to whom there are monuments in the fine old -church near the house. In the autumn, rheumatism takes him to Homburg, -but he refuses to learn German, ‘the grinding gibberish of the -garrulous Goth.’ - -“The parish has a population of fifty-eight, and there is only service -once on Sundays, performed by the cousin who is in orders. It is -alternately in the morning and afternoon, the difference being that the -morning service begins at noon, and the afternoon service at a quarter -past. - -“Mrs. Charles Knightley drove me to Canons Ashby, the beautiful and -romantic old place of the eccentric and impoverished Sir H. Dryden. I -thought it looked like the background of a novel, and afterwards found -that it was the background of--‘Sir Charles Grandison’! - -“Lady Knightley took me to Shackborough--a pretty place. When Charles I. -was going to the battle of Edgehill he met its proprietor of that day -merrily hunting. He had never heard that there was a civil war going on, -such was the paucity of political news! But he turned about and went -with the king into the fight and was wounded there. - -“At the beginning of this century, the daughter of the house became -engaged to be married to an officer quartered at Weedon--a mésalliance -which was greatly disapproved by her family. At last she was induced to -break it off. But the officer persuaded her to grant him one last -interview at the summer-house on the hill that he might give her back -her letters. He gave her the letters with one hand, and with the other -he shot her dead, and then shot himself. - -“At Marston St. Lawrence, near this, is an old house, beautiful and -moated. Here a Mrs. Blencowe was one day being dressed by her maid -before the toilet-table. Suddenly she said, ‘Did you see -anything’--‘Yes,’ said the maid. A hand had come out from behind the -curtain. They had both seen it, and both screamed violently. Help came, -and the room was searched, but no one was there.” - - * * * * * - -“_Ickwellbury, Jan. 27._--A man here, being asked by Mrs. Harvey how he -liked going to church, said, ‘Well, I like it very much: I goes to -church, and I sits down, and I thinks o’ nowt.’” - - * * * * * - -“_London, Feb. 23._--My dear Mrs. Duncan Stewart is dead. She never -rallied from the sudden death of her son-in-law Mr. Rogerson. But she -was able to see several people, to whom she spoke with that all-majestic -charity which was the mainspring and keynote of her life. Her last words -were ‘Higher, higher!’ and we may believe that she has passed into those -higher regions where her thirst after life, not repose, meets its full -fruition. I went to see her in the solemn peace of the newly dead, and -last Thursday I saw her laid in a grave of flowers at Kensal Green, many -faithful hearts mourning, many sad eyes weeping beside her coffin.[394] - -“There were few equal to her. Mrs. Procter is most so. I met her the -other day, and some one made her a pretty speech. She said, ‘When I was -very young, Sydney Smith said to me, “My dear, do you like -flattery?”--“Very much indeed,” I answered, “but I do not like it put on -with a trowel.” What I really do like is--in the words of Sterne--a few -delicate attentions, not so vague as to be bewildering, and not so -pointed as to be embarrassing.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Firle, Lewes, April 18, 1884._--I came here to find a party of twenty -in the house, including Sir Rainald and Lady Knightley. It is a large -house, like a French château, close under the downs, but as my kind but -singular little host, Lord Gage, likes every window open in these bitter -winds, the cold is ferocious. On Wednesday I got Lady Knightley to walk -with me (the inhabitants of this place had never heard of it!) 2½ -miles across the marshes to Laughton Place, the ancient and original -residence of the Pelhams--a moated grange, having an old red brick tower -with terra-cotta ornaments, and many other curious remains, -looking--stranded in the desolate fen, and with an abundance of animal -life--like an old Dutch picture. - -“Yesterday I walked with Sir Rainald to Glynde. It is a curious old -house, approached through a gateway and stableyard and by clipped yew -hedges, having a pleasant view over upland country and high gardens. A -fine black oak staircase leads to a noble gallery-room, with deep -alcoves, so pleasantly furnished with fine pictures, &c., that, though -suitable to an enormous party, a single individual would never feel -solitary in it. Miss Brand did the honours of the many good portraits -very pleasantly, and, before we left, Lady Hampden came in from walking, -and I was very glad to see her in her country home, having so often -been in her house in the palace at Westminster.” - - * * * * * - -Ill-health in June made a happy excuse for my spending a delightful -month abroad. I saw first the group of towns around Laon, charming -old-fashioned Noyon, beautiful Soissons, and Coucy with its grand -castle. Then Alick Pitt met me at Thun, and we spent a delightful time, -joining the Husseys of Scotney Castle at Mürren and Rosenlaui, sketching -and flower-picking, and reawakening every slumbering sense of the -delights of Switzerland. - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS LEYCESTER. - -“_Pension Baumgarten, Thun, June 25, 1884._--You will be wishing to hear -from this well-remembered place, where the mountains are quite as rugged -and purple, the lake as limpid and still, the river as green and -rushing, and the old town and castle as picturesque, as any youthful -recollection could paint them. This pension, too, is perfectly -delightful, with its coloured awnings over the wide terrace, its tubs of -pomegranates and oleanders, its garden of roses, and its meadows behind, -with the wooden châlets and the women making hay, and the delightful -pathlets through the dark woods on the mountain-side. - -“I had a calm crossing on Friday, and reached Laon by seven. On Saturday -morning I saw the stately cathedral at St. Quentin, and spent the -afternoon at Noyon, which has an exquisite cathedral, Calvin’s curious -old house, and a most attractive little inn. Sunday I was at Coucy, -where there is the finest ruined château in existence after Heidelberg, -beautifully situated amongst wooded hills, in scenery so pretty, you -would take it for the Vosges, not Picardy. Monday morning I spent at -Soissons, with two fine cathedrals, one in ruins, and an interesting -town, and then came on by night to Berne. - - * * * * * - -[Illustration: NOYON.][395] - - * * * * * - -“The last night I was in London I dined with the Reptons to meet the -Kildares--Lady Kildare quite the most beautiful creature I ever saw.” - -[Illustration: SOISSONS.][396] - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL. - -“_Oct. 10._--Since I returned from Switzerland, my home life has been -quite happy and uneventful. Only ten days ago I had a telegram from ‘my -Prince’ (of Sweden and Norway), asking me to come and spend Sunday -afternoon and evening with him at Eastbourne, as he was only there for -two days. He met me most cordially and affectionately, making me feel as -if the seeming neglect of several years was only ‘royalty’s way,’ and -pleasantly taking up all the dropped threads of life. We were several -hours together, and while we were talking a sweet-faced young lady -looked in. ‘I must come in: you are such a friend of the Prince: I have -heard of you, too, all my life. I am so very glad to see you at -last,’--and I felt at once that the Crown-Princess was a friend. - -“She wanted to know what I thought of the Prince--the Prince wanted to -know what I thought of her: I was glad to be able to answer both most -satisfactorily. - -[Illustration: CHÂTEAU DE COUCY.][397] - - * * * * * - -“I saw her again at dinner, and she talked most delightfully, and was -full of animation and interest. I came away with a happy feeling that my -affectionate occupation of many months for the Prince had, after all, -not been thrown away.” - - * * * * * - -“_Highcliffe, Oct. 26, 1884._--Lady Waterford says that the father of -that Thérèse Longworth who called herself Lady Avonmore was a young -clerk at Bordeaux at the time of the Noyades. Two beautiful young girls -were tied together, and were going to be drowned. Suddenly a poissarde, -seized with compassion from their looks, jumped upon a barrel and -shouted, ‘Are there no young men here who will save the lives of these -two beautiful girls by marrying them?’ Longworth and another young -fellow were looking out of a window at the time and heard it, and said -to one another, ‘Shall we do it?’ It was rather a gulp, for they were -both very young at the time; but they went down and said they would, and -they were both married there and then, by joining hands after the -fashion of the Commune. The daughter of one of those marriages was -Thérèse Longworth.” - - * * * * * - -Early in October I paid a visit to my distant cousins, Mrs. Quin and her -brother, Edmund Boyle, who were staying at Ramsgate. The health of Sir -Moses Montefiore, at the great age of one hundred, was then a great -topic of the place. Mrs. Quin said something to him about another year -at his age being only a waiting time, when he answered sharply, “What do -you mean by feeling old? I only feel forty.” He said no one had ever -mentioned the name of Christ to him except one person, and that was -Cardinal Antonelli! - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL. - -“_Ruxley Lodge, Oct. 30._--I am enjoying a pleasant visit to Lady Foley -and her sons; only Lady Jane Repton here besides. It is a charming -house, full of books and pictures, in a beautiful country, with fine -views of Windsor and Claremont. Once there was an old priory here, but -only the fishponds are left. We went to-day to see the tomb of Pamela, -mother of my Uncle Fitzgerald, at Thames Ditton. It was brought there -from Montmartre, where it was broken by a bomb in 1870. It is inscribed, -‘Pamela, Ladye Edward Fitzgerald, par son ami dévoué, L. L.;’ and no one -now knows who L. L. was. Close by are the graves of her daughter, Lady -Campbell, and several of her grand-daughters. - -“The Foleys are said to descend from ‘Foley the Fiddler,’ a mechanic who -determined to make his fortune by finding out the secret of making nails -by machinery in Sweden. Up to that time the secret had been successfully -kept: the ironfounders had shut every one out, and let no one see their -process. But Foley the Fiddler, pretending to be half-witted, went and -played in the neighbourhood of the manufactory. The Swedish workmen -danced to his music, and eventually were so delighted with him that they -could not resist taking him to play inside the factory. When he had been -there some time, he fancied he had seen all he wanted, and went home. He -set up ironworks on the plan of what he had seen, but when he came to -completing them, found that, after all, he did not understand the -process perfectly. He went back, and the Swedish workmen were quite -delighted to find him again fiddling outside the factory--‘a daft -fiddler’--and they brought him in, and he learnt all he wanted, and went -home and made a great fortune.” - - * * * * * - -_“Goldings, Herts, Nov. 20._--Isabel Smith says that a lady in Wales, a -friend of Miss Frances Wynne, looked up suddenly one day after reading -the obituary in the _Times_, and exclaimed, ‘Now, at last, my lips are -unsealed.’ Then she told this:-- - -“One day she had been alone at her country-house in Wales, with her son -and a friend of his. She had received all the money for her rents that -day--a very large sum--and put it away in a strong box. Being asked, she -said she did not mind the least having it in her room, and should sleep -with the key under her pillow. - -“When she had been in bed some time, she was aware that her door opened, -and that a man in a cloak came into her room with a candle. He passed -the candle before her face, but she lay with closed eyes, perfectly -motionless. Then he felt for the key; he felt for a long time, but -somehow he failed to find it. At last he went away. - -“As soon as the door closed, she sprang out of bed, intending to go to -her son’s room to warn him that a robber was in the house. But his room -was a long way off, and she thought it would be better to go instead to -the friend, whose room was nearer. - -“As she opened the door suddenly, she saw a figure muffled up in a long -cloak put down the candle. It was the same figure who had come into her -room. She looked at him fixedly. ‘To-morrow at 9 A.M.,’ she said, ‘the -dogcart will come to the door which was to have taken my strong box to -the bank: you will go in that dogcart, and you will never enter my door -again. If you never attempt to do this, I will never say a word on what -has happened as long as you live.’ And she never did, even to her son.” - - * * * * * - -“_Nov. 21._--We have spent the day at Knebworth, an interesting place, -though full of shams--a sham old house, with a sham lake, sham heraldic -monsters, sham ancient portraits, &c. Lord Lytton, with his velvet -collar and gold chains, recalled his father, who is represented on the -walls, with his boots pointed like a needle, in a picture by Maclise. -The ‘old’ rooms are chiefly modern in reality, but there is one really -ancient bedroom--a room in which Queen Elizabeth once slept. Lady -Lytton, beautiful, charming, and courteous, looked like a queen in the -large saloons and galleries. We found Lady Marian Alford, Lady -Colley--the pretty widow of Sir George--and Lady Paget, with her nice -son Victor, amongst the guests. - -“I wish one did not know that the real name of the Lyttons is Wiggett. -William Wiggett took the name of Bulwer on his marriage with Sarah -Bulwer in 1756, and his youngest son (the novelist) took the name of -Lytton on succeeding to his mother’s property of Knebworth, she being -one Elizabeth Warburton, whose very slight connection with the real -Lytton family consisted in the fact that her grandfather, John Robinson -was cousin (maternally) to Lytton Strode, who was great-nephew of a Sir -William Lytton, who died childless in 1704. - -“I have had the small trial of another ‘call’ of £300 on those -unfortunate Electric Lights in which St. George Lane Fox involved me. I -had saved up the money, so it was there, but it was provoking to have to -pay what is almost certain to be lost, yet to be obliged to do so, as -the only chance of seeing again any part of the £7000 which had gone -before it. However, I am never more than very temporarily troubled by -such things--there is no use. All I have ever made by my writings in -fourteen very hard-worked years is gone now through St. G. Lane -Fox--there is nothing else left to lose.” - - * * * * * - -“_Thoresby Park, Dec. 12._--This has been a most delightful visit at one -of the great houses I like the best. Its inmates are always so perfectly -brimming with kindness, goodness, and simplicity, and every surrounding -is so really handsome, even magnificent, without the slightest -ostentation. I arrived with Lord and Lady Leitrim--he quite charming, so -merry, pleasant, and natural, and she one of the delightful sisters of -charming Lady Powerscourt. It has been a great pleasure to find the -Boynes here, and Lady Newark, who is an absolute sunbeam in her -husband’s home--perfect in her relation to every member of his family. I -have been again to Welbeck and Clumber, only remarking fresh at the -former a fine Sir Joshua of a Mr. Cleaver, an old man in the -neighbourhood, dressed in grey, and the melancholy interesting portrait -of Napoleon by Delaroche, given by the Duc de Coigny. - -“A Mrs. Francklin (sister of Lord St. Vincent), staying here, says that -a young man, going to stay with Millais, saw distinctly a hand and arm -come out of the fireplace in his room, and do it repeatedly. At last he -told Millais, who said it had often happened before, and they had the -hearthstone taken up, and found the bodies of a woman and child.” - - * * * * * - -“_Babworth, Dec. 14._--Mrs. Drummond Baring has been most agreeable in -her talk of the society at Paris under the Empire, the _soirées -intimes_, at which all etiquette was laid aside, and Prosper Merimée, -Théophile Gautier, &c., were seen at their best. No one knew so much -about the Empress as Merimée. He had known her well as a girl, and all -the letters about the marriage had passed through his hands. Nothing -could be more naïve than the Empress in her early married days. She -_would_ go shopping. She clapped her hands with delight at the -opera-bouffe, and the Emperor took them and held them, to the great -delight of the people, who applauded vehemently. - -“In the last days at the Tuileries, all the court ladies were only -occupied in packing up their own things; all deserted their mistress -except Madame le Breton. She and the Empress stayed to the last. The -Empress asked General Tronchin how long the palace could hold out. He -said, ‘Certainly three days.’ It did not hold out three hours. They fled -as the people entered, fled precipitately by the long galleries of the -Louvre, once in agony finding a door locked and having to look for the -key. The Empress had no bonnet. Madame le Breton, with a bit of lace, -made something for her head. They reached the street and hailed a cab. -‘Eh! ma petite mère,’ said the driver, ‘il parait que nous nous sauvons: -où est le papa donc?’ But he took them and did not recognise them. They -went in the cab to the Boulevard Haussmann. Then they found that they -had no money to pay it, and Madame le Breton took off one of her rings. -‘We have forgotten our money,’ she said, ‘but you see how suffering my -friend is. I _must_ take her on to the dentist, but I will leave this -with you; give me your address and I will redeem it.’ And he let them -go. - -“They took a second cab to the house of Evans, the American dentist, and -there found he was gone to his villa at Passy. They followed him there, -but when they reached the villa, the servant said he was out, and -positively refused to let them in. But Madame le Breton insisted--her -friend was so terribly ill: Mr. Evans knew her very well: she was quite -certain that he would see her: and at length she almost forced her way -in, and, moreover, made the servant pay the cab. At last Mr. Evans came -in. He had been to Paris, in terrible anxiety as to the fate of the -Empress, knowing that the mob had broken into the Tuileries. - -“Mrs. Baring said that when Plonplon, commonly called ‘_Fatalité_,’ was -ill, the people said he was ‘_Fat alité_.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Hickledon, Dec. 17._--No words can say how glad I am to be here with -the dearest friend of my young life--dearer still, if possible, with -all his six children around him, who are learning also to be fond of me. -We walk and talk, and are perfectly happy together in everything. - -“We have been to visit Barnborough Church. A man met a wild-cat in Bella -Wood, some distance off. He and the cat fought all the way along the -hillside, and they both fell down dead in this church porch. - -“Yesterday we went to Sprotborough to visit old Miss Copley. It is a -very pretty place, a handsome house on a terrace upon a wooded bank -above the river. Sir Joseph Copley and his wife Lady Charlotte (Pelham) -quarrelled early in their married life. He overheard her at Naples, -through a thin wall of a room, telling a friend that he was mad, and he -never forgave it. They were separated for some years, then they lived -together again, but there was no cordiality. They were really Moyles. A -Moyle married a Copley heiress, and the Copleys long ago had married the -heiress of the Fitzwilliams, for Sprotborough was the old Fitzwilliam -place, and many of the family are buried there in the church. The -Copleys divided into two branches, of Sprotborough and Wadsworth, and it -is a pretty story that when the Copley of Sprotborough had nothing but -daughters, he left the estate to the Copley of Wadsworth, and then, when -the Copley of Wadsworth had nothing but daughters, he left it back to -the representative of the other branch. Not far from Sprotborough, -Conisborough stands beautifully on the top of a wooded hill: in -‘Ivanhoe’ its castle is the place where Athelstan lies in state when -supposed to be dead. - -“The Bishop of Winchester told Charlie Wood that his predecessor, Bishop -Wilberforce, had always very much wished to see a portrait at Wotton -(the Evelyns’ place) of Mrs. Godolphin, whose life he had written whilst -he was at Alverstoke. This wish he had often expressed; but Mr. Evelyn -had not liked the Bishop, and he had never been invited. - -“On the day on which the Bishop set off with Lord Granville to ride to -‘Freddie Leveson’s,’ Mr. Evelyn, his brother, and a doctor were sitting -late in the dining-room at Wotton, when the brother exclaimed, ‘Why, -there is the Bishop of Winchester looking in at the window.’ They all -three then saw him distinctly. Then he seemed to go away towards some -shrubs, and they thought he must have gone round to the door, and -expected him to be announced. But he never came, and an hour after a -servant brought in the news that he had been killed only two miles off. - -“Mrs. George Portal of Burgclere told Charlie Wood that when Allan -Herbert was so ill at Highclere--ill to death, it was supposed--the -nurse, who was sitting up, saw an old lady come into the room when he -was at the worst, gaze at him from the foot of the bed, and nod her head -repeatedly. When he was better, and after he could be left, the -housekeeper, wishing to give the nurse a little distraction, showed her -through the rooms, and, in Lord Carnarvon’s sitting-room, the nurse -suddenly pointed at the portrait over the chimney-piece and said, ‘That -is the lady who came into the sick-room.’ The portrait was that of old -Lady Carnarvon, Allan Herbert’s mother, and the servants well -recollected her peculiar way of nodding her head repeatedly. - -“Mrs. George Portal was niece of Lady Anne Townshend, who was also aunt -of that young Lord George Osborne who was killed at Oxford when -wrestling with Lord Downshire in 1831. On the day of his death, she saw -him pass through the room; she called to him, and he did not answer; she -rang the bell for the servant, who declared he had never entered the -house, and then she wrote the fact of having seen him to her husband, -who was absent. Next morning came a messenger to tell Lady Anne of the -death of her nephew, with whom she had been very intimate, and to beg -her to break it to her sister--his mother, the Duchess of Leeds. Years -after, when Mrs. George Portal was sorting her aunt’s letters after her -death, she found amongst them the very letter to her husband in which -she told what she had seen.” - - * * * * * - -“_Mount St. John, Dec. 20._--To-day was Lord Halifax’s birthday. The -hounds met at Hickledon, wishing to do him honour, but it was almost too -much for him. With me, I think it has been a pleasure to him to go back -into old days, old memories, old sketch-books, &c. I cannot say how much -I enjoyed my visit to the kind old man, as well as to my own dear -Charlie--better, dearer, more charming than ever, and more in favour, -one feels sure, with God as well as with man. - -“Yet Charlie does not wish to die: his life here is so perfectly happy -and useful, but he says that it must be ‘very unpleasant to God to feel -that His children never wish to come home: he is sure _he_ should feel -it so with his children.’ He says he is quite certain what the pains of -Purgatory will be--‘they will be the realising for the first time the -love of God, and not being able to do anything for Him: this life is our -only chance.’ He says he is ‘sure that the next life will be in a more -beautiful world, like this, only glorified, and so much, oh! so much -better in everything. “Such cats!” my Uncle Courtenay says, “_such_ -cats!”’ - -“Young Charlie came home yesterday, a most delightful boy, only less -engaging perhaps than little Francis.[398] To me, these children of my -dear brother-like friend are what no other children can ever be. - -“This Mount St. John (where I am now visiting Mrs. J. Dundas, Charlie -Wood’s sister) is a beautiful place, very high up in hills which are now -snowy. There is a long chain of them, ending in Rolleston Scaur, where -it is said that, in the earliest times of Christianity, the followers of -the Druids met the first missionaries in a public discussion. The devil -was disguised in the ranks of the former, who, for a long time, had the -best of it; but, when Christian truth began to prevail, he was so -disgusted that he flew away to the neighbouring isolated height of -Hode’s Point, and a stone which stuck to his red-hot foot was deposited -on its summit--a tangible proof of the story, as it is of a wholly -different geological formation from its surroundings. The view from -these hills is intensely beautiful, comprising York Minster in the hazy -plain, and the many places which take their name from the god -Thor--Thirkleby, Thirsk, &c.” - - * * * * * - -“_Dec. 24._--Yesterday we spent at Newburgh, cordially received, and -shown all over the house by Lady Julia Wombwell--a most simple, -pleasant, winning person. There is the look of an old Dutch house -externally, in the clock-tower, clipped yews, and formal water. Inside, -the house is very uncomfortable and cold, and has no good staircase. -Mary, Lady Falconberg, Cromwell’s daughter, is said to have rescued her -father’s body from Westminster at the Restoration, and to have buried it -here at the top of the stairs leading to the maids’ rooms. The family, -however, prudently refuse to open ‘the tomb’ and see if there is -anything inside. Two portraits are shown as those of Mary, Lady -Falconberg, and there really is an old silver pen which belonged to her -father. There is a beautiful Vandyke of a Bellasye in a red coat, and a -good Romney of a lady. The church has an octagonal tower and some tombs -of Falconbergs. At the end of the village is the house of Sterne, who -was curate there, with an inscription.” - - * * * * * - -“_Whitburn, Dec. 28._--Lizzie Williamson[399] says she wonders very much -that, when our Saviour was on earth, no one thought of asking Him if -people ill of hopeless and agonising complaints, idiots, cretins, &c., -might not be put out of the way--‘the Bible would have been so much more -useful if it had only given us a little information on these points.’ - -“I stayed a few hours in Durham as I passed through, and found what is -so picturesque in summer unbearably black and dismal in winter. The -present Dean (Lake), who has so spoilt the cathedral, is most unpopular. -One day he had taken upon himself to lecture Mr. Greenwell, one of the -minor canons, for doing his part in the service in thick laced boots. -Greenwell was furious. Rushing out of the cathedral, he met Archdeacon -Bland, the most polite and deliberate of men, and exclaimed, ‘I’ve been -having the most odious time with the Dean, and I really think he must -have got the devil in him.’--‘No, Mr. Greenwell, no, no, not that,’ said -Archdeacon Bland in his quiet way; ‘he is only possessed by three imps: -he is imperious, he is impetuous, and he is impertinent.’ - -“People are full of ‘The Unclassed,’ a powerful novel, though, as a very -pretty young lady said to me the other day, ‘not at all the sort of book -one would give to one’s mother to read!’ - -“Coming through Roker, I heard a woman say, ‘Wal, geese is geese, and ye -canna mak um nought else.’ But some one else had this to report as a -specimen Northumbrian sentence: ‘I left the door on the sneck, and, as I -was ganging doun the sandy chare (lane), I met twa bairnies huggin a can -o’ bumblekites, and a good few tykes were havin a reglar hubbledeshoo o’ -a midden.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Brancepeth Castle, Jan. 3, 1885._--Mr. Wharton dined. He said, ‘When I -was at the little inn at Ayscliffe, I met a Mr. Bond, who told me a -story about my friend Johnnie Greenwood of Swancliffe. Johnnie had to -ride one night through a wood a mile long to the place he was going to. -At the entrance of the wood a large black dog joined him, and pattered -along by his side. He could not make out where it came from, but it -never left him, and when the wood grew so dark that he could not see it, -he still heard it pattering beside him. When he emerged from the wood, -the dog had disappeared, and he could not tell where it had gone to. -Well, Johnnie paid his visit, and set out to return the same way. At the -entrance of the wood, the dog joined him, and pattered along beside him -as before; but it never touched him, and he never spoke to it, and -again, as he emerged from the wood, it ceased to be there. - -“‘Years after, two condemned prisoners in York gaol told the chaplain -that they had intended to rob and murder Johnnie that night in the wood, -but that he had a large dog with him, and when they saw that, they felt -that Johnnie and the dog together would be too much for them.’ - -“‘Now that is what I call a useful ghostly apparition,’ said Mr. -Wharton.” - - * * * * * - -“_London, Feb. 22, 1885._--At dinner at Miss Bromley’s I met the Misses -Bryant, who live in 17 Somerset Street. On the ground-floor of the house -is a large room said to be haunted, and in which such terrible noises -are heard as prevent any one sleeping there. A man with a grey beard -once committed suicide in that room. The other day some children, -nephews and nieces of the Misses Bryant, came to spend the afternoon -with them, and, to amuse them, one of the ladies got them to help her in -arranging her garden upon the leads. While they were at work, the little -boy looked over the parapet into the court below, and said, ‘Who is that -old man with the grey beard who keeps looking at me out of that window? -Oh! he is gone now, but he has put out his head and looked up at me -several times.’ The window was that of ‘Greybeard’s room.’ Miss Bryant -immediately ran down and asked the servants if any one with a grey beard -had come into the house, but no one had entered the house at all, and -‘Greybeard’s room’ was locked up.” - - * * * * * - -“_March 7._--Two days ago I dined with Lady Sarah Lindsay to meet -Colonel Hugh Lindsay and Lady Jane. Colonel Lindsay was full of -spiritualism and the wonderful discoveries this generation seems on the -verge of. He had himself seen a large table, which had been first set in -motion, after the hands which touched it were taken away, float up to -the ceiling, remain there for some time over their heads, and then float -down again. ‘The conjurors Maskelyne and Cook could not have done this; -they might have raised the table (by wires), but it would not have -floated.’ - -“Colonel Lindsay spoke much of the wonderful Providence which keeps down -voracious animals. He said that the aphis (of the rose, &c.) reproduced -itself in such intense multitudes, that, if not kept down by weather -and other insects, it would, _in ten days_, have assumed proportions -equal in volume to many thousand times the inhabitants of the earth, the -whole air would be darkened, and every living thing upon earth would be -utterly consumed by them! - -“Lady Sarah told of her grandmother, old Lady Hardwicke,[400] with whom -a young lady came to stay. They dined at three o’clock, but when the -girl came down, she was dreadfully agitated, and looked as if she had -seen a ghost. When Lady Hardwicke pressed her as to the reason, she, -after a time, confessed that it was because there was a spirit in her -room. It came to her lamenting its hard fate whilst she was dressing, -and she was sure there had been a murder in that room. Lady Hardwicke -said, ‘Well, my dear, to-morrow you must let me come and stay with you -when you are dressing,’ and she did. Soon the girl said, ‘There--there -it is!’ and Lady Hardwicke really did hear something. ‘Oh, listen!’ -cried the girl. ‘Once I was hap-hap-hap-y, but now I am me-e-e-serable!’ -a voice seemed to wail: it was the old kitchen jack!” - - * * * * * - -“_March 19._--Edward Malet was married to Lady Ermyntrude Russell in -Westminster Abbey at 4 P.M. Seldom was there a greater crowd in the -streets near Westminster. I met Lady Jane Repton in the crush, and we -made our way in together through the Deanery. The glorious building was -crowded from end to end, and the music most beautiful. Perhaps the -greatest of smaller features was Lady Ermyntrude’s dress, which the -papers describe as ‘more pearly than pearl, and more snowy than snow.’” - - * * * * * - -“_March 28._--Dining at Mrs. Quin’s, I met Mrs. Ward, who was very -amusing. - -“She described the airs of Frances-Anne, Lady Londonderry.[401] One day -she was extremely irritated with her page, and sent him to Lord -Londonderry with a note, in which she had written in pencil, ‘Flog this -fellow well for me: he has been quite unendurable.’ But the page read -the note on the way, and meeting one of the great magnificent flunkeys, -six feet high, said, ‘Just oblige me by taking this note in to my lord: -I am forced to do something else.’ The flunkey brought out the answer, -and met the page, who took it in to his lady. She was rather surprised, -for it was--‘I’m afraid.’ Mrs. Ward was in the house when this happened. - -“Mrs. Ward recollected, in her own childhood, when she was not three -years old, sitting on the floor in her mother’s sitting-room cutting up -a newspaper with a pair of blunt scissors. A lady came in to see her -mother, and brought with her two very fat children, with great round -staring eyes. The children were told to sit down by her on the floor, -and she was bidden to amuse them. It was impossible: they only stared in -hopeless irresponsiveness. Soon her mother began to talk as loudly as -she could. It was to drown the voice of her own little girl, whom she -heard repeating aloud a verse of the psalm she had been learning that -morning, ‘Eyes have they, but they see not: ears have they, but they -hear not: neither speak they with their lips.’ - -[Illustration: SHRINE OF ST. ERASMUS, WESTMINSTER ABBEY.][402] - -“In the afternoon I went with a crowd to see Herkomer’s portrait of my -friend Katharine Grant--a magnificent _tour de force_, white upon -white.” - -On the 1st of May 1885 I set off on the first of a series of excursions -in France for literary purposes, oftentimes of dismal solitude, and -always of weary hard work, though full of interest of their own. I found -then, as I have always done, how different seeing a thing with intention -is to ordinary sight-seeing. A dentist at Rome once said to me, “Mr. -Hare, you do not brush your teeth.”--“Yes, indeed I do,” I answered, -“every night and morning.”--“Ah! yes; you brush them from habit, but not -from motive;” and I discovered the result from my many past tours in -France had been just the same. As usual, I found that the ordinary -English travellers, who are always occupied in playing at “follow my -leader” all the time they are abroad, had missed the best part of -France, and that the churches and abbeys of the Correze and -Creuse--almost unknown hitherto--are absolutely glorious; and some -places in that part of France--Rocamadour, for instance--worthy of being -compared with the very finest scenes in Italy. I described much of this -tour in a series of papers in the _Art Journal_, as well as in my books -on France. In the central provinces the accommodation was very good in -its way, and the food always excellent, but in some of the places in the -Eastern Pyrenees the dirt was scarcely endurable. The excellent hotel -at Montpelier came as a real respite. Whilst there, I made some -acquaintance with a banker of the place, who had a poetic Ruskin-like -way of describing the wildness of the Cevennes, the grey rocks, desolate -scenery, long lines of russet landscape. This so took hold of me, that I -went to Lodêve and engaged a carriage for several days to explore the -Cevennes thoroughly. It was wild enough certainly and rather curious, -but an unbroken monotone; every view, every rocky foreground, even each -dreary ruinous village, repeated the last, and after eight or nine hours -I was utterly wearied of it; thus it was an intense relief when my -driver came in the evening, with no end of apologies, and said he had -received a telegram, bidding him return at once to Lodêve; and I was -free to jump into the first diligence and reach the nearest station. -Railway then took me to Mende, an exceedingly beautiful place, and -afterwards to Rodez. Hence I went south again by S. Antonin and -Bruniquel, whence beautiful recollections of the spring verdure and -clear river come back to me. I made a little tour afterwards to Luchon -and other places in the Pyrenees which I had not seen before, and -returned straight home from Bordeaux. During this two months’ tour I do -not think I ever once saw an English person, even in the railway, and I -made no acquaintances. - -I found Lourdes entirely changed since I was there last by its enormous -religious pilgrimages, and no doubt, whether from the healing waters or -the power of faith, many wonderful cures had taken place. It was -strange, on nearing the miraculous fountain, to read the inscription, -“Ici les malades vont au pas,” &c. A story was told of an officer who -had a wooden leg and came to the fountain. When he put in his legs (he -put them both in, the wooden leg and the other), as he did so he uttered -a little prayer--“Faites, Seigneur, O faites que mes jambes soient -pareilles.” When he drew them out, they were both wooden legs! - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS LEYCESTER. - -“_Châteauroux, May 6, 1885._--What weather! bitter north-east winds and -torrents of rain ever since I landed in France.... I spent Sunday at -Etampes, a little narrow town, one street wide and three miles long, -with four churches of the utmost architectural importance.... Leaving -Orleans, my ‘Untrodden France’ began, and very pleasantly, at pretty -Vierzon on the rushing river Cher. There are rather oppressive moments -of solitude, but in this awful weather I am especially glad not to have -any grumblers against disagreeables which cannot be helped.” - - * * * * * - -“_Argenton, May 8._--Yesterday I was called at five for an excursion of -forty miles up the valley of the Creuse, but it rained in such torrents -it was impossible. At eight it cleared a little, and I set off, and -_did_ it all, returning at eight, but it rained in a deluge more than -half the time. There were, however, beautiful moments of sun-gleam, and -the scenery very lovely. At Le Crozant, the great rendezvous of French -artists, where a most charming old woman keeps a very primitive inn, it -is even magnificent, finer than anything on Rhine or Moselle--stupendous -rocks and a grand castle. Gargilesse, the place where Mme. George Sand -lived so oddly, and wrote ‘Promenades autour de mon Village,’ is also a -very curious and charming place, the village clustering around a -romanesque church in the _enceinte_ of a great ruined castle above the -river.” - - * * * * * - -“_Brive, May 15._--I feel like a child eating through a cake, feeling it -a duty not to leave anything remarkable unseen in this part of France, -so little known to the English. How unfairly those judge this country -who measure France by what they see from the well-known railways to -Strasbourg or Marseilles. Nothing can be more beautiful than these hills -and valleys of the Creuse and Correze, nothing more rich than the -forest-clad country, besides the interest of endless castles and later -châteaux, of old towns where the greater proportion of the houses date -from the thirteenth century, and of perfectly honest, primitive, and -unspoilt people. - -“I came to Limoges last Friday, and remained there five days, that is to -say, was scarcely there at all, but returned to a good hotel there at -night. I saw the great castle of Chalusset; the romanesque Abbey of -Solignac; S. Junien, a most grand church; Le Dorat, almost as fine; -Montmorillon, full of curiosities; and Chalus, where Richard Cœur de -Lion was killed, and where, under the old castle he was besieging, the -stone called Rocher de Malmont still rises in the water-meadows, upon -which he was standing when the fatal arrow struck him. - -[Illustration: LE CROZANT.][403] - -“Then I came here, and am staying here in the same way, breakfasting -daily at seven, off at half-past seven, and only returning to go to -bed. All yesterday I was at the wonderful sanctuary of Rocamadour--the -La Salette of these parts--a most curious place, beautiful exceedingly; -indeed, though it sounds a very grand comparison, rather like--Tivoli! -But it poured all day, with a bitter wind, and this has been the case -every day, only this afternoon there have been lovely lights at the -falls of Gimel in the exquisite mountain forests. I am so glad I have no -companions: they would never have endured the discomfort. No words can -say how tired I am every day, nor how wet, nor how dirty; but I shall be -glad afterwards to have done it all.” - -[Illustration: SOLIGNAC.][404] - -[Illustration: ROCAMADOUR.][405] - - * * * * * - -“_Sarlat in the Dordogne, May 21._--We are still in swelching torrents -... but this is a pleasant little hotel in an old cathedral town, with -marvellous streets of houses of fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth -centuries. The weather makes no end of hindrances and discomforts, yet -in this tour, as in all others, I have found that expected misfortunes -never happen: there are plenty of others, but what one looks for never -comes, and I have gone on steadily, missing nothing of the plan marked -out, only sometimes delayed. The people are beyond measure pleasant and -kind, and the cheapness of everything is a perpetual amazement.” - - * * * * * - -“_Carcassonne, May 28._--On Friday 23rd it poured in torrents, but I -could not give in, so went by the earliest train as far into the hills -as it penetrated, and then by omnibus to Souillac, one of the grand and -glorious abbey churches, now parochial, which are so common in that part -of France and nowhere else--full of colour and solemnity, though rugged -to a degree, and into which you descend by long flights of steps. - -“It poured in returning too, but I stopped at a wayside station, and a -long walk through chalky mud and a ferry over the Dordogne took me to -Fénelon, which is a noble old château splendidly placed on a peninsula -looking down upon the meeting of many valleys and streams. It has always -been kept up; its terraces were in luxuriant beauty of flowers, and the -owner, Comte de Morville, was excessively civil in showing everything. I -drew under an umbrella in torrents. - -[Illustration: CLOISTER OF CADOUIN.][406] - -“Saturday I was up at five, and off by rail and road to Cadouin, another -of those grand abbey churches, of the same character as the rest, but -with the addition of a splendid gothic cloister. I arrived at nine, -perished with wet and cold, but was resuscitated by the kind woman at -the little inn, who made a hot fire on the great dogs of her hearth, and -soon had hot coffee ready. It was, however, a long day, and I did not -arrive till near midnight at Montpazier. This curious Bastide was built -by Edward III. of England, and has never been touched since his time, -and, whilst all is so changed in England, it was interesting to find in -this remote French hill-country a town the same as when the Black Prince -lived there, with old walls and gates, gothic house-windows, rectangular -streets, and in the centre of all the market, surrounded by arcades -like those at Padua, only here the arcades are so wide that you can -drive _in_ them. It was a quaint, charming place, and I stayed till -Monday, spending Sunday in the magnificent old Château de Biron. - -[Illustration: ARCADES OF MONTPAZIER.][407] - -“Then, by Cahors, with its wonderful old bridge over the Lot, I came to -Montpezat, a very simple place and primitive inn--wild open down, old -church, arcaded streets, flowers, goats, and old women in white-winged -caps. Late that night I reached Moissac, a place where there is a -wonderful church and cloister, which has been extolled as one of the -archaeological marvels of the world, but its describers have evidently -never seen St. Junien, Le Dorat, Souillac, Cadouin.” - - * * * * * - -“_Narbonne, June 4._--The wet weather has changed to intense heat. -Saturday was an interesting day at Alet, a ruined cathedral, and pretty -desolate place on the edge of the Eastern Pyrenees, with a very -admirable old curé, with whom I made great friends. That afternoon -brought me to Perpignan, an almost Spanish town on the -frontier--filthily dirty, but I was obliged to stay there to see Prades, -the fine lonely monastery of S. Michel de Cuxa, Amélie les Bains, and -Arles-sur-Tech. The great excursion to the latter place was indeed a -penance--ten hours in a jolting diligence, five each way, with burning -sun and stifling dust, and four passengers forced into each place meant -for three, so that _any_ movement was impossible, and as the diligence -started at five, one was breakfastless. However, all miseries have an -end, and Aries had to be visited, for St. Abdon and St. Sennen are -buried there; but oh! how glad I was I had no companion to suffer too! -On the way here I saw Elne, most Spanish and picturesque, with perhaps -the most beautiful cloister in the world. Yesterday too was an -interesting day, spent entirely at the great convent of Fontefroide, in -the mountains nine miles from hence, spared at the late suppression of -monasteries on account of the beneficent and useful lives of its -monks--of whom there are still more than fifty--the benefactors of the -whole of this part of the country, not only in teaching and preaching, -but by taking the lead in all industrial and agricultural work. They -receive all strangers, and gave me an excellent luncheon, though, being -Wednesday, they had only boiled beans for themselves. The mountains all -round the monastery were ablaze with cistus--white, pink, and -rose-coloured, with yellow salvia and honeysuckle in masses.” - -[Illustration: AT FONTEFROIDE.][408] - - * * * * * - -“_Lodéve, June 8._--From Montpelier I went to Aigues-Mortes, the old -sea-town where St. Louis embarked for the Crusades, little altered since -his time, unless, indeed, the mosquitoes are worse, for they are -terrible.” - - * * * * * - -“_Lexos, Aveyron, June 15._--From Rodez and its great cathedral, and -Mareillac in the heart of the vine country, I had an excursion of -transcendent beauty through the most exquisite mountain valleys and -chestnut forests, by rocks and waterfalls, to Conques. I was taken there -by a single line in Fergusson’s ‘Architecture’ comparing it with -Souillac, which I had already seen, but found perhaps the most beautiful -spot in France, and, in that desolation, a glorious romanesque abbey -church, grand as a cathedral of the first rank, in which, owing to its -lonely position, all the curious mediaeval treasures remain unspoilt. -Here, and indeed everywhere, I found the greatest kindness from the -charming well-to-do peasantry. Every one seems well off: every one full -of courtesy and goodness; and though all the men in blouses expect to be -treated as equals, they are indescribably pleasant. - -“Anything so cheap as ‘Untravelled France’ it is impossible to imagine. -Even at Mende, where it is quite a good hotel, prices were: room--very -good, 1 fr., dinner 2 fr., breakfast 50 c., service 50 c., bougie never -anything, and these are the usual prices. - -“Nothing can describe what the delicious, sweetness of the acacias has -been, so abundant in all these town-villages, and now it is giving way -to that of the limes. - -“This is a wooden inn of the humblest kind, close in the shadow of a -great junction station, at which I am for convenience, but the -pleasantness of the people gives it a charm. This solitary existence is -a placid, peculiar halt in life.” - - * * * * * - -I was the greater part of July in London. - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL. - -[Illustration: CONQUES.][409] - -“_July 25, 1885._--Mrs. Rogerson, working in the east end of London, met -with a family of poor children--very hopelessly poor children--whom she -knew, with a dog. She stopped and told them that, as they could not keep -themselves, she wondered they could keep a dog. The eldest boy answered -rather savagely, ‘Father bought it: father gave sixpence for the dog, -and right well he did too, for the rats wos so many, they wos, they -used to eat our toes at night, and the dog keeps them all off.’ - -“The Maharajah of Johore asked me to his ball. When he goes out to -luncheon or dinner he sends on his own cook to prepare for him, taking -with him, to kill on the spot, the chicken which his master is to eat. -When the cook kills it he says a sort of little prayer--‘Dear little -brother, forgive me for the pain I am going to inflict upon you: it will -only be momentary, and it really cannot be helped.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Campsea Ashe, Suffolk, August 22._--On the way here I saw Ipswich, its -great feature being ‘the Ancient House,’ adorned outside with -representations of the Seasons. Close to St. Peter’s Church is Wolsey’s -Gate, covered with ivy, which led to his college. This place, which the -William Lowthers have bought, in the flat corn-lands of Suffolk, has a -fine old garden, with clipped yew hedges and long tanks like Wrest. It -has been a most pleasant visit. I heard some one say once, ‘Mrs. Lowther -is a most extraordinary woman: she never will let the grass grow under -any one of her children’s feet even for a single instant;’ but it has -made them all very agreeable, from the immense variety of occupations in -which they are interested, and in which, consequently, they interest -others. James Lowther, who is at home now, is certainly one of the -pleasantest and best-informed young men of the day. He has just been -very amusing about answers in Board Schools, telling, amongst others, of -a child who was asked ‘If King Alfred had been alive now, what part -would he have taken in politics?’ and replied, ‘If King Alfred had been -alive now, he would have been far too old to have taken part in politics -at all!’ - -“We had a pleasant picnic at Framlingham, a noble ruined castle, which, -for Suffolk, stands almost on a height, and went to Sanbourn, the -luxurious home of the rich family of Heywood, and to Glemham, where Lady -North, mother of Lord Guildford, lives in a fine old house, which -contains much good old furniture and china. - -“We spent a long interesting day at the noble old moated house of -Helmingham, where Lady Tollemache apologised amusingly for only having -nine of her sons at home to assist her in doing the honours! It is a -delightful place, with beautiful old gardens, and its inhabitants are -delightful too. Lord Tollemache especially brims with goodness to all -around him. He was very amusing in urging Miss Lowther, when she had as -many sons as he has (!), to make their home pleasanter to them than any -other place in the world, so that they should always prefer it to -everything else. He showed us all his relics, especially his Anglo-Saxon -MS. of the time of Alfred the Great, and several beautiful Bibles of the -time of Edward I. There is a pretty picture of Mary Tudor as a child. -Queen Elizabeth was at Helmingham, and stood godmother to a baby there, -who lived to become Sir Lionel Tollemache: that baby is represented, -with its three little sisters, in a curious picture in the hall. - -“In the church is the tomb of Colonel Thomas Tollemache, who was -distinguished in the wars of Queen Anne’s time. The Duke of Marlborough -ordered him to attack Brest. There were reasons which made him very -doubtful of success, and he represented to the Duke that the only chance -of it lay in a surprise: still the Duke ordered him to attempt it. Brest -was found thoroughly prepared, the hoped-for surprise was an utter -failure, and Tollemache fell in the attack. The French Government had -been forewarned, and it was afterwards found that it had been forewarned -by Marlborough! When the Duc d’Aumale came to Helmingham, he said that -the thing he was most anxious to see was the monument of this -unfortunate officer, and that he had himself read, in the archives at -Brest, the letter of the Duke of Marlborough warning the garrison of the -coming attack. - -“The last owner of Campsea Ashe, Mr. Shepherd, was the grandson of a -gardener. The Mr. Shepherd who then owned Campsea adopted a nephew, a -young Frere, grandfather of the well-known Sir Bartle. The nephew -invited his friends to Campsea, and, after the fashion of the time, they -sat up drinking. Very late, young Frere rang the bell and ordered -another bottle of port. The butler, very cross, went up to his master’s -room and woke him, saying that Mr. Frere wanted some more port and that -he must have the key of the cellar. Old Mr. Shepherd, furious, gave the -key, but next morning sent for a lawyer and disinherited his nephew, -and, no one else being handy, and having a gardener he liked who bore -his own name of Shepherd, he left him his fortune.” - - * * * * * - -“_Holmhurst, August 23._--In returning from Campsea Ashe I spent some -hours at Colchester, and saw its two abbeys and its castle--rather -curious than beautiful.” - - * * * * * - -“_Drayton House, Northamptonshire, Sept. 20._--I have been spending -several days in this most pleasant old house, which is full of charm and -interest--many-towered, with an entrance court, a deserted Georgian -chapel, a grand hall full of fine pictures, a vaulted room dating from -Edward III., cellars probably from Henry III., admirable buildings of -Elizabeth and James I. - -“The place belonged to the Greenes, who, with the Earl of Wiltshire, who -married a daughter of the house, have grand tombs in the church. Then it -passed to the Mordaunts, and was left by Lady Mary Mordaunt, the -divorced wife of the Duke of Norfolk, to her second husband, Sir John -Germaine, whose second wife, Lady Betty, left it to Lord George -Sackville, from whom it descended to its present owner, sweet engaging -Mrs. Sackville, who inherited it from her uncle, the last Duke of -Dorset, and who has all the perfect simplicity of the truest -high-breeding. - -“The gardens are full of terraces, staircases, fountains, pleached -walks, avenues, and leaden statues--beautiful exceedingly. There is a -gallery of Mordaunt portraits in the house; in the old library at the -top are no end of treasures, and out of it opens the Duchess of -Norfolk’s boudoir, with old Japanese ornaments. Through a plank missing -in the floor of an upper gallery you can look into quite a large room -which no one has ever entered. Its windows are darkened by the -overgrowth of the creepers outside, and the only object in it is a large -box like a portmanteau. The Sackvilles have always lived here, yet not -one of them has had the curiosity to descend into that room or to look -into that portmanteau! - -“I have been taken to see the curious old house of Lyveden--never -finished--one of the three strange semi-religious erections of the -Tresham of the Gunpowder Plot. This is supposed to be in honour of the -Virgin, and is covered with the oddest devices, such as ‘the Seven Eyes -of God,’ the money-bag of Judas, with the thirty pieces of silver round -it, &c. The second of Tresham’s buildings is Rothwell townhall; the -third a lodge at Rushton in honour of the Trinity, in which everything, -down to the minutest ornament, is three-cornered. - -“Then we have been to Boughton, the Duke of Buccleuch’s great desolate -house, which contains two cartoons attributed, without any cause, to -Raffaelle. The house was built by the Duke of Montagu, who was -ambassador to Louis XIV., and the king lent him a French architect and -gardener. He made it as like a French château as possible. Then he told -his friends that he must plant an avenue to drive to London by, and when -they remonstrated that an immense part of the way to London did not -belong to him, he said, ‘Well, at any rate I will have an avenue of the -same length,’ and he planted seventy-two miles of it in his park. These -trees, hemming in the view in all directions, make the place -indescribably dull. Just outside the park is the pretty village of -Geddington, with a fine old church and bridge, and a beautiful Eleanor -cross with slender detached columns. We went on thence to tea at Warkton -with Mrs. Bridges, wife of the clergyman, a real patrician Venetian -beauty, who has set all Northamptonshire quarrelling as to whether the -glorious colour of her hair can be real; but it is. Half of the church -her husband serves is a mausoleum of the Dukes of Buccleuch, who have -four large and magnificent monuments in it. - -“The old Duchess of Buccleuch, a homely-looking person, was very fond of -joining people who came to see the place and talking to them. One day -she walked by a visitor and said, ‘You know, all this belongs to the -Duke of Buccleuch.’--‘And pray, whom did he marry?’--‘ME!’” - - * * * * * - -“_Cromer, Sept. 22._--I came yesterday to stay with the Lockers, who -have lately taken the additional name of Lampson, with a fortune from -her father, Sir Curtis Lampson. They are exceedingly happy together. ‘My -winsome marrow,’ Mr. Locker has just said to his wife, ‘you know I never -can go anywhere without you.’ In the evening, Mr. Locker was very -pleasant in describing Rogers and his stories. Apropos of the dictum -that the postscript of a well-told story is often its best feature, he -told of Rogers describing a duel between a Frenchman and an Englishman, -which was to be fought in the dark. The Englishman was a very humane -man, and when it came to his turn to fire, fired up the chimney, that he -might do his adversary no harm, but brought down the Frenchman, who had -taken refuge there. ‘But when I tell that story in Paris,’ added -Rogers, ‘it is the Englishman who is up the chimney.’ - -[Illustration: CROMER.] - -“He told of a Mr. Egerton who was with his regiment in Canada. Coming -into the messroom one morning, he seemed much depressed, and being asked -the reason, said he was troubled by an oddly vivid dream, in which he -had seen his own coffin on the deck of a vessel, and in the dream had -been even able to read the plate upon the coffin, which bore his name -and the date June 16. He was so full of it, that the Colonel, to humour -him, wrote down the circumstances and the date. This was in April. -Afterwards he went to Upper Canada, where he was killed by Indians on -the 16th of June, and his coffin was brought down the river as he had -seen it. Mr. Locker told this story to Lord Algernon St. Maur, who said, -‘I can corroborate that story, for I was in the messroom when what you -describe occurred.’ - -“Mr. Locker described Dickens’s way of telling stories. He heard him -tell that of Lincoln’s dream, and of his describing the oppressive -feeling he had, how he was ‘drifting, drifting, drifting,’ and how at -that moment the members of council came in and he said, ‘Now we must go -to business.’ It was on leaving that council that he was shot, so no one -heard the end of that dream, or whether there would seem to be any -forewarning in it. - -“We have been to-day to Felbrigge, the fine old house of the Windhams, -sold to a Norwich tradesman named Catton, whose daughters have adopted -the older family as if it were their own, and are quite worthy of the -old pictures, MSS., &c., all left in the house, _nothing_ having been -taken away when the place was given up. ‘Mr. Windham comes every night -to look after his favourite books in the library,’ said Miss Catton; ‘he -often comes, and he goes straight to the shelves where they are: we hear -him moving the tables and chairs about: we never disturb him though, for -we intend to be ghosts ourselves some day, and to come about the old -place just as he does.’ In the hall there is a grand bust of the -statesman by Nollekens. Formerly it was on his monument in the church, -but after some years the family put a copy there, and moved the original -into the house. The church, however, still retains the most glorious -brasses. One is that of a lady in waiting who came over with Anne of -Bohemia, and whose daughter was herself invited to share the throne. But -the man she really married was one of the early owners of Felbrigge.” - - * * * * * - -“_Sept. 24._--We have been with the Dick Gurneys in their fleet -waggonette to Blickling, quite glorious, so perfect in colour, with an -exquisite entrance, and a splendid herbaceous garden. In the church is -the tomb which Lady Lothian has erected to her husband,[410] a most -grand one, with the head of the reclining statue turned to one side, and -the long beard drifted over the pillow. - -“The innumerable Gurneys, Buxtons, and Hoares who populate Cromer come -in and out of this house, as of each other’s, whenever they like, -without ringing the bell. - -“Last night Mrs. R. Hoare dined here. She says the people here always -address their superiors in the third person, as in French. They always -say ‘I’m very much fatagued,’ for bothered. ‘Well, Mrs. Smith, are you -going to take the blue dress or the brown?’ she said when keeping a -charity shop. ‘Why, ma’am, I’ve not fairly averdupoised,’ replied the -woman; and it is a common expression for balancing. - -“There are many remnants here in Cromer from Danish occupation. The -ghosts, as in Denmark, are always without heads. There is great faith in -the story of ‘Old Strop,’ a Danish dog who was washed ashore with the -bodies of two Danish sailors, one of whom was buried at Overstrand and -the other at Cromer. Every night the dog, headless, is believed to run -from one grave to the other, and fishermen will always go round by the -shore at night rather than by the shorter lane, which the dog is -supposed to take.” - - * * * * * - -“_Sept. 25._--Mrs. Ritchie (Miss Thackeray) is here, most charming and -interesting, as I have always thought her. She describes Tennyson and -Mrs. Kemble as the noblest man and woman she knows. - -“Mrs. Kemble found, when in England, that her husband was going to take -advantage of an American law which allowed him to obtain a divorce if -she was away from him two years. For her children’s sake it was -imperative that she should prevent this. She hurried back, and just -arrived in time by two or three days. Afterwards she herself quietly -obtained a divorce in some way which gave her the charge of her -children.... One of her daughters is Mrs. Leigh, whose husband, the -Vicar of St. Mary, Bryanston Square, she is always trying to persuade to -go out to the family plantations in Georgia. The other, Sarah, is the -wife of a merchant in New York, and a replica--a much feebler -replica--of her mother. - -“Now, Mrs. Kemble is generally to be found knitting by her fireside. One -day Mrs. Ritchie took her little girl to see her. ‘Here I am,’ Mrs. -Kemble said to the child, ‘an old woman who never allows another person -to put in a word when she is talking; and now, what do you think of me?’ -The little girl, who was shy, did not know what to say, and looked as if -she was going to cry. Mrs. Ritchie, to fill up the gap, said, ‘Oh, she -thinks, Mrs. Kemble, that no one could possibly wish to put in a word -when they could listen to you.’ ‘Ma fille, ne dites pas des choses -comme ça,’ cried Mrs. Kemble furiously; and then, more quietly, ‘You -should not say such things before the child: it is not right to teach -her to be artificial.’ - -“‘Right is right,’ she said one day, ‘and wrong is wrong, but God forbid -that I should judge of another whether he is right or wrong.’ - -“‘One day,’ said Mrs. Ritchie, ‘I found Mrs. Kemble sitting by her -fireside looking rather disconsolate, and asked her what she was doing. -“Oh, I’m knocking my head against the wall, my dear; that man who was -here was so dreadfully stupid, I’m obliged to knock it out of me.”’ - -“Mrs. Kemble was at an inn in Switzerland with a lady with whom she -never made acquaintance. They were both reading ‘Middlemarch,’ and came -down with their books into the public room, and were engrossed in them. -But one day the lady was so enchanted with a passage in her volume that -she burst out with, ‘Well, this woman is one of the noblest of authors: -whatever the peculiarities of her views on life may be, I will never -believe that the woman who can write thus can be other than one with the -very noblest aims.’ Then Mrs. Kemble turned upon her furiously with, -‘Who are _you_ that you should presume to _dare_ to judge such a woman -as George Eliot? how can you _dare_ to judge her?’ and the lady jumped -up, and, instead of being angry, embraced Mrs. Kemble upon the spot. - -“For her own sharp sayings, Mrs. Kemble is repaid by her grandchildren. -She wrote to one of her grandsons that she did not care for Wagner’s -music, she could not understand what he meant by it. He answered, that -a fly crawling up the wall of Cologne Cathedral might as well presume to -judge of its architectural glories as she of Wagner! She did not seem to -know whether to be angry or pleased at this. - -“Dear Lady Marian Alford used to tell of her first meeting Mrs. Kemble -at a garden-party. She had scarcely sat down by her when Mrs. Kemble -said slowly, with her peculiar intonation and inflection upon each -syllable--‘I do per-ceive a ... stink!’ - -“Being asked if she would employ Pakenham or M’Crackem as agent for -sending her goods from Italy to England, Mrs. Kemble said, ‘Why, rather -Pack’em than Crack’em, to be sure.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Sept. 30._--A charming visit to the Delawarrs at Buckhurst. I had no -idea there was such a beautiful place in Sussex, such moss-grown oaks -and beeches; such deep ferny and heathy glens; such still pools, in -which all the autumnal tints are reflected; such winding forest-paths, -up and down and in and out of which Lady Delawarr has driven me with her -two ponies tandem; an infantine Medway, nearly to the source of which -the eldest boy, Cantilupe, rowed me through channels so narrow that one -could touch the great water-plants on either side. Then the house has -many delightful books and pictures, including two Sir Joshuas; and there -are two other old houses, semi-deserted, but with grand castellated -gateways, infinitely picturesque; and there is a monumental chapel, -where a marble Duke and Duchess of Dorset kneel eternally by the tomb of -the many children who died before them. - -[Illustration: GATEWAY OF BUCKHURST.][411] - -“The ‘company’ has been varied and amusing--Miss (Doll) Farquharson of -Invercauld, a perfect Niagara of amusing Scottish anecdote; Mr. -Broadley, of terrible review reputation; and the Roman Catholic Bishop -of Portsmouth, who has propounded many quaint riddles of his own -invention. - -“Miss Farquharson described a minister at Invercauld, who, wishing to -flatter the family, stated in his sermon that the Farquharson tartan was -one of the oldest dresses in the world, as it was evident that Joseph’s -coat of many colours was made of it, ‘thereby giving mortal offence to -the Duffs, who sat in the opposite pew.’ - -“When the minister was changed, Miss Farquharson asked an old woman if -she liked the new one as well as the old. ‘Eh, I like him weel eneuch, -but he’s na sae frolicsome in the pulpit.’ - -“I made great friends with all the family at Buckhurst, down to the -little Margaret of three, who peoples all the forest with imaginary -bears and elephants, and talks to them, and of her adventures with them, -exactly as if they were realities. We picnicked on an island in the -lake, dreadfully damp, but it was very merry and pleasant.” - - * * * * * - -_“Burwarton, Shropshire, Oct. 23._--This is a beautiful place of Lord -Boyne’s, high in the Clee hills, with glorious views of the Welsh and -Malvern ranges, beyond exquisite wooded scenery. The house is modern, -but has good pictures, several representing members of the Medmenham -brotherhood, and one a Lady Paisley, an ancestress, who declared that -she did not wish to go to heaven if poor people went there. Many -pleasant people are here, especially a Mr. Bankes, who is very amusing -about the primitive ways of the Isle of Purbeck. At one time the people -of Corfe had been very good for some time, so that the lock-up had not -been used, and the Mayor, one Robert Taylor, had filled it with his -potatoes after they were dug up. But at last there was a man who was -very naughty indeed, and he had to be put in the lock-up, though there -was scarcely room for him even to stand in it, it was so full of the -Mayor’s potatoes. Late that night, some people going past stumbled over -a great heap lying in the middle of the road--quite a huge heap. It was -the Mayor’s potatoes, which the prisoner had amused himself by throwing -through the bars of the window: so then the Mayor was obliged to -compromise matters, and to let his victim out on condition of his -picking up all the potatoes and putting them back again. - -“This Mayor, Robert Taylor, used to say, ‘I shall have to adjudicate -upon such and such a case to-morrow.’ He kept a shop where he sold hats. -One day he saw a neighbour walking by with a very smart shiny hat, and -called out, ‘Thomas, good-day, Thomas; you’ve got a new hat, may I ask -where you got it, Thomas?’--‘Well, I bought it at Wareham, Mr. -Taylor.’--‘Oh, you bought it at Wareham, did you? Very good, Thomas.’ -Some days afterwards Thomas was set upon by a man in a lonely road and -very badly beaten, really very much hurt. He went to the Mayor and said, -‘Really, Mr. Taylor, I think I must take out a summons.’--‘A summons! -must you, Thomas? Well, you may just go and take it out where you bought -your hat.’ - -“The ignorance of the people in Purbeck is intense. A clergyman preached -about Zachaeus climbing into the fig-tree, &c. An old widow woman, who -had stayed at home, asked her son if he could tell her what the sermon -was about. ‘Yes, that he could,’ he said, ‘for it was all about Jack Key -(a bad character in the village), who had been up to summut, and was to -have to give half of all his goods to the poor.’ - -“Here, at Burwarton, witchcraft is generally believed in. A tenant said -the other day that his pig was bewitched by an old woman, and that it -would certainly die, unless he could have her blood; by which he meant -nothing murderous--a prick of a pin would do. Many of the neighbouring -clergy are bad. At a small hill-parish near this an old woman asked the -clergyman what he did for his rheumatism. ‘Well, I swear like hell,’ he -said.” - - * * * * * - -“_Oakley Park, Oct. 17._--A lovely place, with glorious old oaks -mentioned in Domesday Book. Ludlow is only 2½les off. Its castle, -which stands grandly opposite the entrance to the drive, is associated -with Prince Arthur, ‘Comus’ was acted there, and it was thence that the -Princes were taken to the Tower. It was also from Ludlow that the -pilgrims came who were met in the Holy Land by St. John when he gave -them the ring to take back to Edward the Confessor, and this story is -represented on the windows of the grand old church. Stokesay, which we -have been to sketch, is inimitably picturesque. Nothing can be kinder -than my present hostess, Lady Mary Clive, so considerate of all that can -interest or amuse one,[412] even whilst talking incessantly of her two -hobbies--Conservatism and Church matters. In the latter she is just now -in her glory, as the house is full of clergy for the Church Congress at -Ludlow, where all the ecclesiastics in the county are delighting, like -dogs, to bark and bite. There is _table-d’hôte_ for them here at every -meal, and the house is like a clerical hotel.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS LEYCESTER. - -“_Nov. 22, 1885._--Mother’s birthday! on which for so many years we have -been through the Catacombs (lighted up this one day of the year) to -visit the grave of S. Cecilia. My pleasant holiday and happy visits are -already becoming dreamlike, and it is as if my last time alone here -going on still, as I sit in my hill-set solitude. The wind whistles in -the fir-trees; a cow lows in the meadow for a lost calf; Rollo snorts -with fat, but is always ready to play with Selma the cat, though greatly -annoyed at her having given birth to a numerous progeny _in_ his bed; -new pigstyes are built, and a Lawsoniana hedge is planted round the -little garden up the steps. ‘The Holmhurst muffin-bell,’ as St. Leonards -calls it, already rung for a tea-party next Tuesday; and ‘the boys’ (now -Heddie Williamson and Freddie Russell) are due for their half-holiday on -Wednesday; George Jolliffe is coming to stay on the 4th; and for myself, -there is constant work to be done on ‘Paris,’ where, as I labour down -the highways, a thousand by-ways of interest and instruction are ever -opening up. - -“I have, however, a little disappointment in Smith and Elder’s account, -nearly £300 to the bad again this year, and no gain whatever: so much -for the supposed riches of ‘a very successful author.’ - -“Just now also I am being most tremendously bored with the visit of -young ----, and am wondering if he will profit by one of George -Washington’s admirable ‘Rules of Civility,’ which I am going to read -aloud to him. ‘In the presence of others, sing not to yourself with a -humming voice, nor drum with your fingers or feet.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Powderham Castle, Nov. 14._--I have been spending a week with Charlie -Halifax in this beautiful place, which recalls the Little Gidding of -‘John Inglesant’ in its intense, its real saintliness--in the constant -chapel services with wonderful singing of the servants, in the -commemorative hymns for such saints as Martin and Bricius, in the spirit -of harmony and universal love, which rules everything. Lord Devon[413] -is absolutely seraphic. Charlie says he knows only two perfect forms of -happiness, reciting the Holy Office or attending the Board of Guardians. -‘I know one thing troubles you in respect of heaven,’ says Charlie, ‘it -is, that there are no boards of guardians there; but, dearest Lord -Devon, if they are quite essential to your happiness, I am sure that a -board will be created in some planet, with celestial paupers for you to -relieve.’ - -“When with the Halifaxes, I always become brimful of good intentions. -But then something comes back to me that I once heard a Countess Zitchi -say, ‘Moi, je suis tout-à-fait comme Jésus Christ, seulement il me -manque--la conduite!’ - -“We have had a delightful twenty-seven miles’ excursion to the very -curious old desolate house of Fulford and a picnic in its deserted -deer-park. Another day, Charlie, his uncle Francis Grey, and I, went to -Berry Head, a wild rock-girt promontory, with ruined walls of an old -fortress, looking on the bay crowded with Brixham trawlers.” - - * * * * * - -The latter months of 1885 found me quietly at home, exceedingly busy -over my work on France. As at all other times, except in fine summer -weather, I was chiefly alone, save when on Sundays some of my young men -friends--“the boys”--were generally at Holmhurst for two nights, being -usually those whose whole life is spent in bearing-- - - “The work-day burden of dull life, - About the footsore flags of a weary world;”[414] - -for I have always felt how much, in similar circumstances, I should have -cared myself to have a friend and a homelike little refuge to go to. -Besides, “although in a very humble and apparently confined sphere of -action, who can tell the effect which our influence or that of our -conduct may have upon others, and its reaction throughout future -ages?”[415] - -In latter years I have had better “material” in this respect; but it -must be allowed that, except in very rare cases, those I tried to be -useful to in former days turned out very ill. Here are just a few -instances:-- - - * * * * * - -No. 1 was a gentleman once in a good position, who had fallen into -extreme poverty. I gave up being in London, I gave up going abroad, I -always went in an omnibus instead of a cab, always travelled second -class instead of first, to have £50 a year to give to No. 1. But when I -found that my poor gentleman always took a hansom even to cross Eaton -Square, I drew in my purse-strings. - -No. 2 seemed very different. Rudely nurtured, he minded no difficulties, -and was willing to live hardly. He only cared for work, and his work was -science. He threw his whole life into it, and seemed on the eve of great -discoveries--in fact, he made them. But he had no one to help him to buy -the patents that were necessary, and I spent £800 for this, and -altogether many thousand pounds in his behalf. He was to have repaid -this sum if he became successful in life, but he made a very large -fortune, and “forgot to pay it.” Then, having lost his fortune again, -his originality and cleverness took another direction: he suddenly -turned Buddhist, cared for nothing but the divine essence, and went off -to India to join a brotherhood in which, after years of prayer and -fasting, he might hope to obtain the distinction of “a little yellow -garment.” He wrote then that his religion itself would prevent his ever -again forgetting that he owed me four thousand pounds with interest. -Yet, after his return, he repudiated his debt altogether, and denied -that he had even the slightest obligation to me. All I had spent was -thrown away! No. 2 was an utter collapse. - -No. 3 wanted to be married. He had led a wild life, and his marriage -would “be the saving of him;” with his marriage a new page of his life -would be turned over; but to enable the marriage to be, a loan of money -was necessary. I sent the money, but the marriage never took place, and -the loan was never returned. No. 3 vanished into chaos. - -No. 4 was very engaging and I became very fond of him. He was -perpetually at my home, where I always treated him as a younger brother, -giving him money when I was away for whatever he wanted. When he wished -to give a party to his friends in London, the food, the wine, the -flowers, came from Holmhurst. He had to work hard in a public office, so -every year I gave him money for the change of a Continental tour, and on -one occasion, when he had no other companion, I took him myself, and -showed him the whole of a foreign country. This went on for nine years. -Then a circumstance occurred which made me feel that he, in his turn, -might, not even for one day, but for one hour, be useful to me. Under -these circumstances I asked a favour of him. “No,” it was refused at -once, “it might not be to his advantage: it might even possibly be -rather inconvenient.” No. 4 collapsed. - -No. 5 was a very young and ingenuous boy. I met him first when he was at -Oxford, when his family--country gentlefolk--were trying to compel him -to take Orders. He confided to me his misery about it, and his utter -unfitness. I backed him up in resisting. From that time I saw a great -deal of him. He was very affectionate to me, and I grew very fond of -him. His family, irritated at his opposition to taking Orders, refused -to go on spending money upon his education. I continued it, or thought -I did, by letter, sending him daily questions to answer by post, and -receiving _précis_ of History from him and correcting them. He was also -very frequently at Holmhurst for a long time together, and had more of a -real home there than with his own parents. Once, without my knowledge or -that of his family, he went to London, and got into terribly bad -companionship and disgracefully bad habits. He was plundered of all he -possessed, and had to pawn his watch to get away. To prevent the -discovery of this, which would have hopelessly estranged him from his -family, I redeemed his valuables for a considerable sum. He then seemed -penitent, promised amendment, and took refuge at Holmhurst again. About -a year after I found him on the eve of wilfully making an acquaintance -which was sure to cause his ruin. I pointed out to him the misery he was -bringing upon himself, and he promised to give it up. Then I found that -all the while he was promising to do nothing of the kind, he had been -constantly writing to the person in question, with whom he had no -previous acquaintance, making assignations for meetings, &c. From that -time he got into one miserable scrape after another. He sank and sank. -Whenever he has made a promise, he has always broken his word; nothing -he says can be believed; his every act must be mistrusted.... Now, he -has taken Holy Orders! This is the end of No. 5. - -No. 6 was very dear to me. I had known him intimately from his earliest -childhood. Exceedingly unprepossessing in appearance, he gave the most -brilliant promise of a distinguished career. To me he showed the most -unbounded affection and confidence, but he never told the truth. This -led to a series of miserable deceptions which caused his expulsion from -school and brought about his failure everywhere. Dreaded, mistrusted, he -became alienated from his family, almost from his fellow-men. No -opportunity of extravagant folly occurred but was greedily seized upon, -to be followed by fresh falsehood. His whole life has been a sorrow to -those who know him, and who think mournfully of its beautiful “might -have been.” - -I met No. 7 when he was eighteen. Of very lowly origin but gentle -instincts, he had been turned adrift at seventeen upon London to earn -his own living, and he seemed at first to be earning it bravely and -honestly. He was clever and was anxious to improve himself, and he spent -all his evenings in reading, and succeeded in teaching himself French. -By his own unaided efforts he had really given himself an education. At -first I used only to lend him books and do what I could to help his -reading. Then I frequently invited him to Holmhurst, and paid for his -coming there. He had a bad illness in London, when I went constantly to -him in his miserable garret, and supplied all his little comforts. About -a year after I first knew him, he yielded to a great temptation in -misappropriating a large sum of money belonging to the firm he was -serving, and spending it in a very disgraceful manner. It seemed as if -he really did this under a diabolic influence, and as if he really -believed that he should be able to replace the money before the theft -was discovered. But the time drew very near when his accounts would be -examined, and there was no chance--there never had been--that they would -be found correct. Then the full agony of his position came upon him, and -he confessed the whole to me and implored me to save him. The day before -the examination of accounts I replaced the stolen money, and the -defalcation was never discovered. - -From this time he seemed to go on well, and I became much attached to -him. Five times a year I paid his expenses to Holmhurst, to give him -country air, treating him like my own son when he was with me. Then came -a time when, after several years, he fell into feeble health, and had to -leave his situation. I was then not perfectly satisfied with the way in -which he was going on, and did not think him as frank and candid as he -had been, but I took him home with me for a month to recruit. At -Holmhurst he had every kindness and indulgence, and was received not -only as an equal, but almost as a child of the house. At the end of a -month, he told me that he had heard of some very suitable employment in -London, and hoped that I would not object to his going to town to see -about it. I said, “Certainly not; but what is the employment?” To my -surprise, he said that he could not tell me then, but I should know -later. I was more surprised because, when he left, he was so unusually -affectionate--“I am very glad you are so fond of me, but I cannot -imagine why you should show it especially to-day, as you are coming back -in a few hours.” He never came back. It was many days before he wrote. -Then I had a formal letter saying that, when he went up to London, he -had been received into the Church of Rome at Brompton Oratory, and -enclosing a list of his possessions left at Holmhurst, and directions -for sending them. Since then he has sunk lower and lower. I have often -heard of him, and always a worse account. He is utterly lost to me. That -is the end of No. 7. - -No. 8 was excessively good-looking, had pleasant manners, and was -especially winning to ladies. I had known his family long ago, and his -home, a very quiet rectory in a desolate fen district. When he was at -Oxford, I found him, like No. 5, very unhappy at being expected to take -Orders, for which he honestly felt himself unfitted, and I persuaded him -to tell his father that it was impossible. Then, as he was penniless and -had no prospects, it was necessary that a profession should be found for -him, and I obtained a nomination for him for the Foreign Office from -Lord Granville. He came to London to work for this, and he worked well. -Feeling that it would be most undesirable for him to go on in London, -especially to enter the Foreign Office, knowing no one in society, I -took him out with me every day to parties, and introduced him -everywhere, claiming all kindness for him as my intimate friend. His -good looks and pleasing manners made him very welcome. But he fell in -love with an Earl’s daughter. Strange to say, his suit was not rejected, -though a probation of two years was required, during which he must begin -to make an income. With this view, he abandoned all thought of the -Foreign Office and took to the Stock Exchange. A week before the end of -the two years’ probation, the lady, of her own accord, threw him over, -but, as far as love went, her place was soon supplied. By this time, -too, the young man had acquired _l’habitude de société_, had begun to -despise his humble relations, to cut his old friends, and a shake of the -Prince of Wales’s hand finally turned his head. He scarcely speaks to me -now when we meet. He openly says that, as he has gained all he can from -me, he naturally prefers “those who can be more useful” to him. - -No. 9, poor fellow, was long a great anxiety to me. He was of good -family. He fell often--fell into the most frightful vice and shame. He -repented bitterly, and then fell again worse than before. But in one of -his best and truest times of repentance, God saw that he was positively -unable to cope with temptation, and he died--died most mercifully, full -of faith, hope, and gratitude. This was the end of No. 9. Thinking of -him has often brought to my mind Rossetti’s lines-- - - “Look in my face: my name is Might-have-been, - I am also called No-more, Too-late, Farewell.” - -And yet-- - - “La bontà infinita ha sì gran braccia, - Che prende ciò che si rivolve a lei.”[416] - -As I retrace here, on paper, the story of my failures, a sentence of -Balzac comes into my mind: “Il vous arrivera souvent d’être utile aux -autres, de leur rendre service, et vous en serez pen récompensé”; mais -n’imitez pas ceux qui se plaignent des hommes et se vantent de ne -trouver que des ingrats. N’est-ce pas se mettre sur un piédestal? puis -n’est-il pas un peu niais d’avouer son peu de connaissance du -monde?”[417] - -And then Bunyan said in his last sermon (1692):--“Dost thou see a soul -that has had the image of God in him? Love him: love him: say, This man -must go to heaven some day. Do good to one another, and if any wrong -you, pray to God to right you, and love the brotherhood.” - -And there is a line of Tasso which comes back to me in all times of -disappointment-- - - “Brama assai--poco spera--nulla chiede.” - -END OF VOL. V. - -_Printed by_ BALLANTYNE, HANSON & CO - -_Edinburgh and London_ - - - - -ERRATUM - - -_Page 405_, _for_ “Shackborough” _read_ “Shuckborough.” - -“Story of my Life.”--End of Vol. V. - - - - -THE STORY OF MY LIFE - -VOL. VI - -[Illustration: Charlotte Leycester] - - - - -THE STORY OF -MY LIFE - -BY - -AUGUSTUS J. C. HARE - -AUTHOR OF “MEMORIALS OF A QUIET LIFE,” -“THE STORY OF TWO NOBLE LIVES,” -ETC. ETC. - -VOLUME VI - -LONDON - -GEORGE ALLEN, 156, CHARING CROSS ROAD - -1900 - -[_All rights reserved_] - -Printed by BALLANTYNE, HANSON & CO. - -At the Ballantyne Press - - - - -CONTENTS - - - PAGE - -BEYOND THE TOP OF THE HILL 1 - -IN PLEASURE AND PAIN 118 - -AT HOME AND ABROAD 192 - -SOCIAL REMINISCENCES 252 - -A KNOCKING AT THE DOOR 295 - -WRITING THE GURNEY MEMOIRS 337 - -IN MANY PLACES 393 - -FAREWELL 526 - -INDEX 539 - - - - -LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS - -VOL. VI - - -CHARLOTTE LEYCESTER. (_Photogravure_) _Frontispiece_ - - PAGE - -THE DEANERY, BATTLE 5 - -L’ARICCIA 10 - -GALLERIA DI SOTTO, ALBANO 11 - -LAKE OF BOLSENA 12 - -S. DOMENICO, SIENA 13 - -MONTE OLIVETO 14 - -SENS 15 - -THE PARACLETE 16 - -THE PORCH, HOLMHURST 27 - -RIEZ 36 - -GRIGNAN 37 - -CLOISTER OF CAVAILLON 38 - -MONTMAJOUR 40 - -LES BAUX 41 - -LES S. MARIES DE LA CAMARGUE 42 - -LA SALETTE 43 - -DOMREMY, VILLAGE STREET 45 - -HOUSE OF JEANNE DARC 46 - -EMBRUN 47 - -CHÂTEAU DE VIZILLE 49 - -QUAYS OF GRENOBLE 51 - -SCOTNEY CASTLE 55 - -AT WESTMINSTER 64 - -THE GARDEN, HOLMHURST 98 - -THE MANOR WALK, HOLMHURST 110 - -ROSNY 113 - -ALNWICK CASTLE 137 - -HOLMHURST FROM THE SHRUBBERY 140 - -S. FLOUR, FROM THE SOUTH 147 - -CHÂTEAU DU ROI, S. EMILION 148 - -AUGUSTUS J. C. HARE, 1888. (_Photogravure_) _To face_ 150 - -S. NECTAIRE 151 - -GATE OF LA GUERANDE 153 - -PONT S. LOUIS, MENTONE 165 - -IN S. FRANCESCO NEL DESERTO 169 - -THE ROCKY VALLEY, HOLMHURST 171 - -FROM THE WALKS, HOLMHURST 174 - -ST. MICHAEL’S MOUNT 176 - -CEMETERY OF PERA, CONSTANTINOPLE 195 - -THE BATHS, BROUSSA 213 - -OBER-AMMERGAU 218 - -TOMB OF LADY WATERFORD, FORD 251 - -THE OAK WALK, HOLMHURST 254 - -THE VENETIAN WELL, HOLMHURST 255 - -BISHOP’S BRIDGE, NORWICH 260 - -SASSO 265 - -AT BORDIGHERA 266 - -AT REBEKAH’S WELL, NEAR S. REMO 267 - -AT S. REMO 268 - -GLEN AT S. REMO 269 - -CLAUDIAN AQUEDUCT 274 - -REMAINS OF TEMPLE OF JUPITER LATIARIS, MONTE CAVI 281 - -VENETIAN POZZO 292 - -BROADHURST 322 - -GROOMBRIDGE PLACE 323 - -AUGUSTUS J. C. HARE (_Photogravure_) _To face_ 336 - -EARLHAM HALL 338 - -MONT S. MICHEL 344 - -S. JEAN DU DOIGT 345 - -AT CARNAC 346 - -LES ROCHERS 347 - -QUEEN ANNE AT HOLMHURST 349 - -BELLA’S LOGHOUSE, ALDERLEY MERE 352 - -STOKESAY 382 - -PITCHFORD 383 - -IN THE WALKS, HOLMHURST 395 - -THE TERRACE DOOR, HOLMHURST 426 - -THE NAYLOR LANDING, HOLMHURST 430 - -THE ARSON STEPS, HOLMHURST 450 - -IN THE WALPOLE CORRIDOR, HOLMHURST 469 - -WARBLETON PRIORY, ON APPROACHING 471 - -WARBLETON PRIORY, SEEN FROM BEHIND 472 - -PORCH OF HOSPICE, HOLMHURST 477 - -THE AVE-VALE STEPS, HOLMHURST 481 - -IN THE CHURCHYARD, HURSTMONCEAUX 489 - -THE AVE-VALE GATE, HOLMHURST 492 - -IN THE UPPER CORRIDOR, HOLMHURST 503 - -THE PORCH, HOLMHURST 511 - - - - -XXIV - -BEYOND THE TOP OF THE HILL - - “Un jour tout sera bien, voilà notre espérance! - Tout est bien aujourd’hui, voilà l’illusion. - - * * * * * - - Que tout soit mal ou bien, faisons que tout soit mieux.” - --ROUSSEAU. - - “Il faut travailler en ce monde, il faut souffrir el combattre. On - aura bien le temps de se reposer toute l’érnité. - - “Si nous comprenions bien notre bonheur, nous pourrions presque - dire que nous sommes plus heureux que les saints dans le ciel. Ils - vivent des leurs rentes; ils ne peuvent rien gagner; tandis que - nous, nous pouvons à chaque instant augmenter notre trésor.”--LE - CURÉ D’ARS. - - “La debolezza umana piange, sorride l’imortale speranza.”--_Epitaph - at Pisa._ - - -There is an old print at Holmhurst which represents life in its -successive stages as the ascent and descent of a hill. At fifty the top -of the hill is reached and the descent begins. I have passed the top, -and every year must bring less power of work and action, though I -scarcely feel older now than I did at five-and-twenty. But certain marks -in the forehead show that age has left his card upon one; we do not -know when he called, but the visit has been paid. Well, it is the more -necessary to do all we can whilst power lasts, never talking, but -acting, and recollecting that a duty once divined binds one from that -moment; while as for the abuse, public and private, received for -anything attempted out of the ordinary groove, we ought ever to follow -the simple advice of Sœur Rosalie, “Faites le bien, et laissez dire.” - -Certainly the longer one lives one feels how, of all shams, the -religious sham is the worst--the man who talks “goody” without any heart -to sympathise with sorrow or _shame_, and who thus can never help those -who struggle sadly against vice and meanness, whilst tremulously aiming -at a nobler life. The same, in a wider sense, is true of almost all -sermons one hears-- - - “Two lips wagging, and never a wise word.”[418] - -So few clergymen _feel_ what they say, that it only does harm. It was a -saying of Pope Pius II., “Bad physicians kill the body, unskilful -priests the soul.” - -It ought not to be, but it certainly is true that the Church and -Religion are _two_; and, _apropos_ of sermons and religious -discussions, another saying of Pope Pius often comes back to me, “The -nature of God can be better grasped by believing than disputing.” “Let -us not be the slaves of any human authority, but clear our way through -all creeds and confessions to Thine own original revelation.” With -Thomas Chalmers, can I not feel this? - -I have endless compensations for a lonely life in my pretty little home, -my sufficient means, my multitudes of friends. Besides, it is as Madame -d’Houdetot wrote to Madame Necker, “Vous savez que le seul être -malheureux est celui qui ne peut ni aimer, ni agir, ni mourir, et je -suis bien loin de cette situation.” I often feel, however, that this -book would give a very false idea of my life. I recount my many visits -and what I hear there because it is amusing, and I leave unnoticed the -months and months when nothing happens, and in which I am probably -employed in quiet work at Holmhurst. With every one naturally it must be -true that - - “The life of man is made of many lives, - His heart and mind of many minds and hearts.”[419] - -This, however, is enough of sentimentalising. I will return to facts. - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL. - -“_Jan. 9, 1886._--I am just come back from a very pleasant visit at -Battle Abbey, where I met the Powerscourts, Lord and Lady George -Campbell (she lovely and like a beautiful Gainsborough), Lord Hardinge -and a very nice daughter, Lord Wolmer and Lady Maude, Sir Prescott -Hewitt, a young Ryder, and Lady Dorothy Nevill. The latter was most -amusing, and well understands the famous principle--‘Glissez, mortels, -n’appuyez pas.’ She and the Duchess of Cleveland, who was in very good -vein, were quite charming together.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS LEYCESTER. - -“_Holmhurst, Feb. 20, 1886._--Do you know that, except for ten days, I -have been at home just three months to-day, and nearly all the time -quite alone. I cannot say how much I have enjoyed the quietude of study -and communing with great and wise people through many books. There is -certainly the greatest pleasure in thus acquiring new thoughts, and, in -a small way, fresh knowledge: indeed, I always feel that to give myself -up to overwork is quite as great a temptation to me as over-idleness to -some people. - -“Each different literary work I have had has seemed to me, at the time, -more interesting and engrossing. The little accidental discoveries are -so amusing. Amongst those of this week, who do you think invented a -wheel-barrow?--Blaise Pascal. - -[Illustration: THE DEANERY, BATTLE.][420] - -“My diversion has been reading masses of old family letters, unearthed -by Lady Hartopp. They are very curious, and a complete portrait of the -family at the beginning of the century. My grandfather, Mr. Hare Naylor, -must have been quite odious--so imperious and arrogant: Lady Jones, the -incarnation of a rod in pickle, but with very fine qualities: -great-uncle Robert, the rector, more of a rowdy farmer than anything -else. Penelope Shipley (Mrs. Warren), a very fine unselfish creature: -Dean Shipley, selfish and dictatorial: Francis Hare, a self-indulgent -dandy: Julius, a miracle of boyish learning, talking like a Solon: -Augustus (it must be allowed), very priggish, but very amiable: Marcus, -indulged in everything by his aunts: the second Mrs. Hare Naylor, -foolish and querulous, but by no means an unjust stepmother. The -religious letters of consolation which the whole party write to one -another when little Anna dies are so stilted as to be truly comic. What -is touching is that over the harsh letters of her fierce elder sister, -the beloved memory of the first Mrs. Hare Naylor ever broods as a -softening influence: however much trouble the Hare brothers give her, no -pains or expense are too great for them, because ‘they were hers.’” - - * * * * * - -On the 9th of February I went up to London for Miss Jolliffe’s wedding, -and came in for--a revolution! On returning from the City, I found -Trafalgar Square one mass of people, and many orators addressing them, -but expected nothing more. Soon, however, a Socialist leader named Burns -suggested a reign of terror and offered himself as captain. Thousands of -men--well fed, well dressed, but still the scum of London--rushed down -Pall-Mall, breaking windows as they went--a very carnival of outlawry. -Their passions grew with their progress, and in St. James Street they -wrecked the University Club, which had expelled Hyndman, one of their -leaders, from its society. They seized certain carriages, turning out -the ladies they contained, and stripped a footman of his livery. They -pulled Lady Claude Hamilton out of her carriage and boxed her ears, but -when, _after_ this, she denounced them as dogs who ought to be flogged -as curs, they applauded her courage, and let her go on. Breaking windows -and wrecking many shops in Piccadilly, they entered the Park at Hyde -Park Corner and left it at Stanhope Gate. Then they rushed on through -South Audley Street, which they left much like Paris after the excesses -of the Commune. How truly Milton said-- - - “License they mean when they cry Liberty.” - -I went the next day to see Lady Foley, whose house in Grosvenor Square -had been on their line of route. It had not only no pane of glass -unbroken, but not even fragments of glass left, and stones heaped in the -library enough to mend a good piece of road with. Lord Percy’s house, -next door, was so ruined that they went away next day. - -For the two following days London had indeed a miserable aspect--windows -all broken, streets littered with fragments, shops shut, streets paraded -constantly by bands of entirely victorious and triumphant ruffians, and -shop-keepers, in some cases, guarding their property with revolvers. - -The call for a fresh edition of my “Walks in Rome” made me suddenly -determine to go to Italy at the end of February. At Florence I was the -constant guest of the ever-kind Duchess Dowager of Sermoneta, with whom -I made delightful excursions in the hills. - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS LEYCESTER. - -“_Hotel Paoli, Florence, March 7, 1886._--France was covered with snow -from end to end, yet next day we were speeding through lemon-groves -laden with fruit, and carpeted with a blaze of iris and scarlet geranium -in full flower. Here, after reading about the snowstorms in England, I -am glad in the gardens of Arcetri to sit to draw in the shade of the -cypresses, and all the hills are pink with almond-blossom. I spent one -evening with the Duchess at Palazzo Torrigiani, alone with the family -there, which is the most perfect type of a grand old Italian household, -consisting of between eighty and ninety persons. The kind and charming -old Marchesa Elisabetta has four sons, who have all married as soon as -they came of age, yet none have gone farther than to an apartment of -their own under the maternal roof, and eighteen children and -grandchildren dine with her daily, besides other guests. The four -daughters-in-law all live in the utmost harmony; the Marchesa Giulia, -wife of the eldest son Pietro, and the Marchesa Margherita, who was a -Malespina (which in Italy means great things), quietly giving -precedence to the Marchesa Cristina, who is a princess (Scilla) by -birth. All sat with work round a table, visitors dropped in, and it was -most easy and pleasant. - -“Another day, the Duchess, Miss Phillimore, and I went out by the -steam-tram to spend a day at the Marchese della Stufa’s[421] old castle -of Castagnolo. We had an amusing luncheon of Italian dishes, guitar -music and singing, a walk to pick violets, with which the hedges are -full, a visit to the green-houses and aviaries of rare birds, and we -were taken back to the tram-line, where the station is built of -sunflower-stalks, which are like bamboo in their qualities.” - - * * * * * - -I reached Rome on the 10th of March, warmly welcomed by a large circle -of friends. In the hotel were Mrs. Tilt and Letitia Hibbert, very -familiar to me in early days at Birtles, and with them and their very -charming sister-in-law, Mrs. Frank Hibbert (_née_ Cholmondeley), I made -delightful excursions to familiar places--Tivoli, Frascati, Albano. Sir -John Lumley was now reigning at the Embassy and making it delightful to -his countrymen. - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS LEYCESTER. - -“_Hotel d’Italie, Rome, March 17, 1886._--What lovely June weather this -is, so very hot, so unspeakably beautiful.... I find an immense deal to -do in correcting and writing, chiefly, however, in taking away from my -‘Walks in Rome,’ so very much is destroyed; indeed, Lanciani, the -archaeologist in power, says, ‘If they go on like this for twenty years, -there will be nothing left of older Rome but St Peter’s and the -Coliseum--_if_ those.’” - -[Illustration: L’ARICCIA.][422] - - * * * * * - -“_March 21._--What expeditions we have had! On Monday we walked through -the glen at Ariccia and round the glorious old woods of the Parco Chigi, -full of cyclamen, cytisus, blue squills, green iris, and masses of dark -violets. Then, whilst the others went on to the convent of Palazzuola, I -sat to draw above the still lake, and, when they came back, we went to -the grand pine-groves of the Villa Barberini, to Castel Gandolfo, and -through the ilex galleries in time for the evening train.... I have -dined out every day, just as in London.” - -[Illustration: GALLERIA DI SOTTO, ALBANO.][423] - - * * * * * - -“_March 31._--I wish I could transport you suddenly into the glorious -radiance of this cloudless sunshine and deepest of blue skies. To me -Rome has never seemed so delightful in climate as after three months of -fog and sleet at Holmhurst.... Amid all the changes elsewhere, I can -always turn with comfort to the Palatine, and have spent many happy -mornings there amongst the gigantic ruins, and the groves of laurustinus -and lentisc, and the huge fenochii, meditating on my past and its -past.” - -[Illustration: LAKE OF BOLSENA.][424] - -On April 22 I went to Perugia, finding in Brufani’s excellent hotel Mrs. -Robert Drummond and her daughter, and two charming Americans, Miss -Isabel and Miss Lorraine Wood, domesticated at Dresden. For the next -fortnight we toured about together. As to some of the most restful and -happiest days of my later years, I look back to the extreme comfort of -Perugia, and the perfect view from the windows of my room, unspeakably -glorious at all hours, but most of all when the rising sun was lighting -up the tops of the distant mountains, whilst all the detail of the -intermediate plain was lost in soft white haze. Equally delightful was -the old-fashioned inn at Orvieto, and the drives into the hills and to -Bagnorea and the Lago di Bolsena, returning in the carriage laden with -branches of honeysuckle and masses of anemones, violets, cyclamen, and -other spring flowers. From Siena, too, we made again the interesting -excursions to Monte Oliveto and S. Gimignano. - -[Illustration: S. DOMENICO, SIENA.][425] - -Crossing the St. Gothard to Basle, I turned aside to visit the whole of -the Jura country, greatly overrated, I thought, by former travellers. -Burgundy was much more interesting, with its fine churches and its noble -inhabited châteaux of Ancy le Franc and Tanlay. As I was dining in the -tiny primitive inn at the latter, the tradesmen who held the minute -shops in the village were disputing as to the superiority of their -different trades. The carpenter certainly won the day by winding up -with, “Et la Vierge s’est mariée avec un charpentier: elle était bien -libre de son choix, et elle a choisi--un charpentier!” Nearly the whole -of June I stayed in Paris, working at the archaeological details of the -town for my book, and seeing no one. - -[Illustration: MONTE OLIVETO.][426] - -[Illustration: SENS.][427] - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS LEYCESTER. - -“_Montbard, May 23, 1886._--I wonder if my date conveys anything to you? -I had determined to evade this place if it were possible, yet here I am -for two days at the place so connected with the agonising anxiety of -_our_ last journey, where Mother in her illness was laid flat upon the -railway platform, to find, when the train was gone, that the little -hotel was closed, and where she was carried through the lanes to an old -farmhouse. There the people were most kind to us, and she almost enjoyed -it, and dear Lea was very happy, and of its inmates both were often so -anxious to hear during the after-summer of the German invasion. The old -host and hostess are dead now, and the two boys, whom I saw when I went -to luncheon with Mme. de Montgolfier, are married, and have twelve -children between them!” - -[Illustration: THE PARACLETE.][428] - - * * * * * - -“_Sens, May 28._--The weather has changed to bitter wind, but it has -seemed appropriate to the wild country of Avallon and Vezelay. Auxerre -is very interesting and beautiful, especially the great abbey of S. -Germain and the marvellously simple and pure cathedral. Old affection -for Thomas à Becket took me thence, through the sweet acacia forests, to -Pontigny, since which I have been very comfortable for two nights at a -charming inn close under the shadow of this old archiepiscopal -cathedral.” - - * * * * * - -“_Hotel Noël Peter, Paris, June 6._--I am very glad to have accomplished -a long-wished-for visit to the historic sites of Clairvaux and the -Paraclete, though there is nothing whatever to see in either of them! -How I have worked since I have been here! My book is written, but I have -to go through every part of it on the spot. I breakfast at seven and -work till eleven, then luncheon and work again till four o’clock, when I -come in dead-tired, only to go out again to have food at a restaurant, -and to bed at eight.” - - * * * * * - -“_June 16._--Two desperately hard days at Versailles and two at the -Louvre, looking over and collating. Certainly no place of residence need -be cheaper than Paris. Life seems to cost nothing at all, a week here -being equivalent to a day in London, or even at Rome. It is an oddly -lonely life, as, except for ten minutes, I have seen no one to speak to -since May 11: however, there would certainly have been no time for it.” - - * * * * * - -In July I was in London, and then at Buckhurst, in glorious summer -weather, to meet Lord and Lady Lathom. - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL. - -“_August 13, 1886._--Two days ago Lady Ossington took me to Lady Evelyn -Campbell’s wedding with James Baillie Hamilton in Henry VII.’s Chapel. -They have married on his vocation, which played all the time of the -ceremony, and on which their future depends for the bread and butter of -life, at present supplied to them by America for looking after it. They -have also a camp, in which they propose to train boys for hardships in -the colonies, and the sweet little bride began her own hardships by -having to walk two miles to this, through the wet grass and fern of a -desolate moor, carrying in a basket the cold chicken and bread which her -sisters had put up for her supper. - -“I have been reminded how James Baillie Hamilton was at Harrow at -Hayward’s house, which in my time used to be Harris’s, and to have then -the reputation of being haunted. He told Catherine Vaughan that one -night whilst he was there, Albert Grey, also a senior boy in the house, -rushed into his room wild with horror, and said that when he was in bed -he had seen by the moonlight a most terrible figure come in, a kind of -nondescript, and that as it approached a chill as of death came over -him. Eventually it had seemed to go into a corner of the room and -disappear there. Something was arranged for Albert Grey for that night, -and the friends never told at Harrow what had occurred. Years -afterwards, at his camp, Baillie Hamilton met a boy called Anderson, who -had been in Hayward’s house. He told how he and another boy slept in the -same room. One night he heard his companion in an agonised tone say, -‘Oh, _do_ light the candle: there is something most dreadful in the -room.’ He lighted it, and found his friend sitting on the edge of his -bed, trembling from head to foot. He said that the door had opened, and -a horrible nondescript figure had come in, when the most terrible -chill, as of death, had come over him. After a time, all seeming as -usual, the boys put out the light. They had hardly done so, when -Anderson himself saw the figure--the appalling figure, come towards him, -and the same deathly icy chill seized him. They lighted the candle -again, when the apparition vanished. - -“One of the curates at Llandaff was going to the place where Miss -Hayward, sister of the Harrow Master, lived, and Catherine asked him to -inquire if she remembered the circumstance. ‘Yes,’ she said, ‘that is -exactly what happened; and that room is never used now.’ - -“On the evening of the wedding-day I went to Chichester, where the -Bishop’s palace, venerable and grey, but buried in myrtles and -coronillas, and radiant with brilliant flowers, lies close under the -shadow of the beautiful cathedral spire. The Bishop (Durnford), at -eighty-seven, is the very type of a christian scholar, perfectly -charming in conversation, equally at home in classical and in French, -English, and Italian reminiscence and quotation, and touchingly filled -with a generous and kindly spirit to all he meets with. Circling around -him were various relations, a brother-in-law--a pleasant old clergyman -Mr. Keate, nieces, two sons, Dick and Walter, the latter the pleasantest -and frankest of young Eton masters, and the daughter, Miss Durnford, who -is mistress of the house, and whose active energy makes all right -wherever she goes, and very cheerily right too. The profuse family use -of adjectives and verbs, which they unearth for themselves, was very -entertaining. ‘We seem to be going to have a regular Belshazzar,’ said -Walter Durnford when something more than usual appeared for luncheon. - -“There is much to interest in the palace, which has a charming early -English chapel and a grand old kitchen. The cathedral retains the human -interest of its old pavement and a few tombs, sadly mutilated or -tinkered up: one of a Lady Arundel is very fine. There are curious -paintings of Cadwallador and of Henry VIII. giving charters on one of -the walls, by a painter of Henry VIII.’s time, who also decorated the -ceiling of the very fine old dining-room in the palace. Round the town, -much of the old wall remains, making a pleasant walk; but the most -curious building is St. Mary’s Hospital, like a church, with a great -single nave divided at the sides by chapels, which form the little -two-roomed houses of ten old women, presented by the Bishop and custos, -who live there rent-free in great comfort, with firing, and twelve -shillings a week for their maintenance. At the end is the chapel, only -separated from the rest by an old oak screen. - -“With the Bishop and his party I went to Midhurst, a most attractive old -town in lovely country, and we walked through an ancient wood above the -Rother to the grand ruins of Cowdray, full of recollections of the -Poyntz family, who, as its possessors, came in bitterly for the curse of -sacrilege. When Mr. Poyntz went out in a boat at Bognor with his two -sons, and the boat upset whilst Mrs. Poyntz was watching it from the -hotel-window, the boys clung to the tail of their father’s coat as he -held the side of the boat in the waves, and he--who could not swim--had -the agony of feeling one after the other leave go and sink, without -being able to help them. He himself was eventually saved by the boatmen. -In the church of Easebourne, which stands in the park, near the fine old -building called the Priory, is a touching tomb by Chantrey, erected to -this Mr. and Mrs. Poyntz by their three daughters--Ladies Clinton, -Exeter, and Spencer. As they were co-heiresses, Cowdray was obliged to -be sold, and was bought by the Egmonts.” - - * * * * * - -“_Highcliffe, August 25._--I arrived here for my usual happy summer week -with Tina, Lady Waterford, who has been a curious contrast to the lady -of the place, but in herself very pleasant. She described how Cromwell, -determined to take ‘the golden vale of Tipperary,’ said he would take it -‘by Hook or by Crook’--the two villages on either side the river--and -thence the proverb. - -“There has been a bee-show on the lawn here, Mr. Bellairs and young Evan -Maberly going amongst the bees, taking them up, and treating them just -as they pleased; but it looked horrible when their hats were covered -with a crawling mass, and bees were hanging to nose and ears. - -“Lady Jane Ellice says that at Harewood there is one of the most -splendid collections of china--quantities of it. Formerly it all used to -be kept in the gallery in which the family live, on bureaux, tables, &c. -One evening it was all left in its usual place, and the next morning the -whole collection--everything--quite unbroken, was found on the ground. -There was never the least explanation. The china has ever since been -kept in cases.” - - * * * * * - -“_Lychett Heath, Poole, August 30._--My visit at Highcliffe was a very -happy one. ‘We have not had a single quarrel, scarcely even a dispute,’ -said Lady Waterford when I came away. - -“This is the beautiful house of the Eustace Cecils. The modern house is -exquisitely placed amongst sandy, heathery hills, with a lovely view, -across a rich wooded foreground, of the various reaches and windings of -Poole harbour. I have had much pleasant talk with Lord Eustace, and like -him immensely. We had a delightful excursion to-day, taking the train to -Wool, and then driving in a car to Lulworth Cove, and walking up the -fine wild hills, with noble sea-views, behind it. Then we went on to -Lulworth Castle, stern and stately, quadrangular with round towers at -the corners, standing on a terraced base, with beautiful park and woods -around. We saw the pictures, a few good family portraits of the Welds, -and Charles X.’s room which he inhabited when in exile. - -“Thomas Weld of Lulworth, who took orders after the death of his wife, -became a bishop, and finally (1830) a cardinal. As a layman he had been -perfectly devoted to hunting, and, on establishing himself at Rome, the -first thing he did was to procure a very nice horse and hunt vigorously. -The Pope (Pius VIII.) sent for him and said, ‘Cardinals must not hunt.’ -So, for his health’s sake, Cardinal Weld took to a vehement course of -walking; but the Pope sent for him again and said, ‘Cardinals must not -walk’--adding, ‘If it is necessary for your health that you should -walk, there is a place outside the walls where cardinals do walk up and -down; you can go there.’ But Cardinal Weld died of it. - -“We had tea with the Bond family and the Misses Weld of Lulworth at -Binden Abbey, a Cistercian ruin, of which little remains beyond -foundations near some very curious fish-ponds.” - - * * * * * - -“_August 31._--I should find it difficult to say how perfectly congenial -I find Lord Eustace, or how much I could look upon him as a friend. In -many ways he is like Charlie (Halifax), but is no ceremony-lover. No, he -says he always admires Gallio--‘such an excellent straightforward -man,’--and even agrees with him on the special occasion on which we hear -of him.” - - * * * * * - -“_Hardwick Hall, Suffolk, Sept. 17._--I have been spending several happy -days with the Lowthers at Campsea Ashe, pleasant in every way, with much -agreeable conversation. One day, when it turned on the origin of words, -Mr. Lowther described how the expression of ‘never set the Thames on -fire’ originated in the reproach to an unenthusiastic cook, who would -never set her _tamise_ on fire. - -“We went to Aldeburgh, sailing in a yacht down an estuary to a point -where the sea has eaten up what was once the site of a considerable -town, of which only the picturesque ‘Moot Hall’ remains, stranded on the -beach. It was a still, hot, glowing day, with a sea like that of the -Ancient Mariner. - -“Yesterday we went to an old house, Parham Hall, which is a poem in -itself. In this flat country it stands in a wide moat, in a desolate -grassy hollow, surrounded by old trees, the richly sculptured oriels and -gables, grey, battered, and moss-grown, rising straight from the -waters.” - - * * * * * - -“_Holmhurst, Sept. 26._--From Campsea Ashe I went to visit Gery Cullum, -a friend I have long known, but never till lately been intimate with. -One of his nieces met me at the station at Bury St. Edmunds, and brought -me in a dogcart through that quaint town, past abbey gateways and the -church where Mary, sister of Henry VIII., is buried, to the fine old -house of Hardwick, which stands beyond a park well wooded with cedars -and indigenous box, and which, with its bright flowers and sculptured -terraces, well deserves the name of Allegro, as contrasted with -Penseroso, the old neighbouring house of Rushbrooke. - -“There is a great charm about the interior--not fine, but very large and -most thoroughly comfortable--a small low hall with good portraits of -James I. and Elizabeth as a child, &c.; a dining-room with family -portraits; a library with curious MSS. The gardens are gorgeous in -colour, and there are delightful walks beyond, with pines of all -descriptions. - -“The first day, knowing my love of being taken about, Gery arranged an -excursion to Hengrave, a very fine old house, with an exceedingly rich -front and stately garden, belonging to Lady Gage,[429] and close beside -it a church filled with curious tombs. - -“On Sunday we went to service at Hawsteads, where the church has fine -old monuments of Drurys and Cullums, and we sat in a high James I. pew -to listen to a ranting Irish preacher, who lost himself completely in -the mazes of his own nonsense, and finally made us laugh by the emphasis -with which he announced, ‘As it is written, my brethren, in the Duke of -Bookeronomy,’ &c. - -“On Monday we picnicked in the park of Penseroso, the old house of -Rushbrooke, standing in a wide moat, into which a former mistress of the -place, an unfaithful wife, was thrown by her husband, and upon which she -is said to float nightly. Her picture hangs above the magnificent -staircase, and the window whence she was thrown is pointed out at the -end of a suite of desolate unfurnished rooms. The house belonged to Lord -Jermyn, and, whatever his relation to Henrietta Maria may have been, two -magnificent cabinets of hers are here, which Lord Bristol, to his -despair, inadvertently sold, with the house, to its present possessors. -Here also the church has fine tombs. - -“Apropos of the dispersion of family relics, Gery told me how young Mrs. -Le Strange of Hunstanton had inadvertently given away an old Persian -carpet, an absolute rag, to an old woman in the village, regarding it as -useless lumber. The next night she saw the most awful apparition, whom -she recognised from a portrait as her husband’s grandmother, old Mrs. -Styleman, looking most ferocious and diabolical. Soon an old neighbour -called and said, ‘How could you venture to give away the famous carpet: -you will have old Mrs. Styleman coming from the grave to remonstrate -about it;’ and then it was explained that Mrs. Styleman, who had been a -great heiress, and had possessed a number of beautiful things, had lived -to see almost all of them dispersed and sold, owing to the extravagance -of the family into which she married. At last only the carpet -remained--at that time a thing of some value, and in her old age she -said, ‘Now if ever you sell that, I swear before God that I will haunt -you till it is replaced.’ Mrs. Le Strange bought back the carpet and -laid it down in its former place, and old Mrs. Styleman has never -appeared since. - -“From Hardwick I went to Mrs. Robert Drummond in the lovely little black -and white Upton Court of the fourteenth century, which she is renting -near Eton. Over the entrance is the little figure of a monk, and in the -wide porch rude old oak settees. It was a sanatorium of Merton Abbey, -and the quaint old fish-tanks of the monks remain. - -“We went to Ockwells, the desolate and decaying old house of the -Norris’s, and finding the door off its hinges, entered, and went in and -out of the deserted rooms, in one of which a coat of mail was hanging -up.[430] - -“And now I am at home again, furiously busy, alone, but never finding -the day half long enough for all I have to do. ‘Rien ne vous serait plus -laborieux qu’une grande oisiveté, si vous aviez le malheur d’y tomber. -Dégouté premièrement des affaires, puis des plaisirs, vous seriez enfin -dégouté de l’oisiveté elle-même.’ These are words of Louis XIV., -admirable and worth thinking of.” - -[Illustration: THE PORCH, HOLMHURST.] - - * * * * * - -“_Ickwellbury Oct. 14._--A visit to Mrs. Harvey. Parts of the house are -said to date from Henry II. The Ickwell is the oak-well, a pretty -bubbling spring in the garden.” - - * * * * * - -“_Nov. 18._--An agreeable party at Worth (Mrs. Montefiore’s), the most -luxurious of modern houses, where a bit of the Law in a little bottle is -screwed upon the door of every bedroom. Mr. Algernon Tumour, who is -here, stated, and considered he proved, that the average life of a -five-pound note is only a single day.” - - * * * * * - -“_London, Nov. 27._--Charlie Halifax says that a tenant of Carlo Milnes -Gaskell (of Thornes) was found dead--murdered evidently--in one of his -woods. A very bad character in the neighbourhood, who was known to hate -the dead man, and who had been seen near the wood at the time of his -death, was arrested and tried for the murder. All the evidence was -against him, but he got off because, instead of measuring the footprints -near the body and then the boots of the accused, the boots had been -taken to the spot and fitted into the footprints, which allowed of its -being said that they had been manufactured by pressing the boots into -the soft earth. The man was always afterwards suspected of the murder, -but he got work in a factory. If the subject was spoken of, he became -very violent, and prayed that the devil might take him if he was guilty. -One day, after he had been declaiming thus, he was caught by the mill -machinery and torn to pieces. The iron claw which had caught him and -pulled him in is that always known as ‘the Devil.’” - - * * * * * - -“_London, Dec. 6._--Luncheon with Miss Seymour to meet Madame du -Quaire,[431] who talked of the Praslin murder. She was with the old -Duchesse de Grammont soon after, and Madame Alfred de Grammont was -there. They began to discuss the division of money apportioned to -different members of a family according to the French system, and they -spoke of a member of the Praslin family whom they thought stingy. One of -them added up her different expenses, ending with--‘et puis les -dix-mille francs pour l’Angleterre.’ At this Madame Alfred, who is -_très-bête_, suddenly broke in with,’ Avez vous été au Bois de Boulogne -ce matin?’ ‘It was then,’ said Madame du Quaire, ‘that I first learnt -that the Duc de Praslin was alive, and that they knew it.” The next day -the Duc de Grammont came to call upon me, and I told him of the -conversation, adding--“I know now that the Duke is alive.” He neither -allowed it nor denied it. A few days after, however, the Duke came again -and said, “J’ai une petite faveur à vous demander.” It was that I would -never repeat to his mother what I had said to him: it might upset her. -Of course I promised, but then I _knew_ the Duke was alive.’ - -“‘The Duke did not wish to marry Mademoiselle de Luzy: that is an -invention. He only murdered the Duchess because she was such a bore. He -certainly did not wish to marry any one else.’ - -“Miss Seymour[432] said that the Queen of the Belgians, speaking of the -Praslin murder to Mrs. Augustus Craven, said, ‘How dreadful to find one -was being murdered by one’s husband: one could not even cry out.’ - -“Madame du Quaire was reminded of her friend Madame Solkoff, whose hair -was quite snow-white whilst she was still quite young. ‘She was a Miss -Childe, you know, a daughter of that Mrs. Childe who had a salon--_un -salon très répandu_--at Paris. She eloped with a Polish Count, to whom -her family objected most intensely, and she was disinherited. Very soon -after her marriage it became known that it had turned out very ill, and -that the young Countess was very unhappy. Eventually it became -impossible for her to remain with her husband, and she went to live at -Cracow with her mother-in-law, who had a very fine old palace there, and -was very kind to her. She had a large apartment of her own in her -mother-in-law’s house, her bedroom being approached through her -sitting-room. She was still only twenty-two, when she was found one -morning insensible on the floor of her sitting-room in her night-dress, -and with the floor all around her saturated with blood from a terrible -wound in her head. Her cabinets and jewel-cases were all broken open and -rifled. The _interrogatoire_ came, and she was examined. She said that -in the night she heard a noise in her sitting-room, and going to see -what it was, had found a man breaking open her drawers; that she had -received a blow, and knew no more. It was in vain that she was -questioned as to whom she had seen; she affirmed that she could not -possibly tell who it was. But her hair was turned snow-white from that -night. It was not till she knew he was dead that she allowed it was her -husband she had seen.’ - -“Speaking of reading novels when young, Madame du Quaire said that she -remembered at eleven years old reading ‘La Princesse de Babylone,’ and -being found convulsed with laughter at the description of a -dinner-party given by the Witch of Endor. She was described as having -the guardianship of Nebuchadnezzar, who was browsing near her, and that -at her party, ‘_par délicatesse pour lui_,’ she would allow nothing to -appear which--in his unfortunate position--could wound his feelings--no -beef, &c., &c. - -“Madame du Quaire talked of the prevailing passion for Buddhism, and -said, ‘I am not even going to attempt to believe in it, for it is not -necessary to salvation: there is such a tremendous quantity that I am -obliged to swallow, that I cannot possibly undertake anything--“_che non -e d’obligo_” as the Italian priests say.’ - -“Madame du Quaire had met Lady Colin Campbell at dinner and sat opposite -to her, but she did not know her. She could not help being attracted by -the necklace she wore, it was so very extraordinary. After a time it -seemed to be moving by itself. She fancied at first that this must be a -delusion, but, putting up her glasses, she certainly saw the necklace -writhing round Lady Colin’s throat. Seeing her astonished look, Lady -Colin said, ‘Oh, I see you are looking at my snake: I always wear a live -snake round my throat in hot weather: it keeps one’s neck so cool;’ and -it really was a live snake.” - - * * * * * - -“_Dec. 8._--Sat by Sir George Dasent at breakfast. A Mr. Frere passed -through the room. ‘He comes from Roffham,’ said Sir G., ‘one of those -places of which the name has such a rough East Anglian sound, and he is -member of the family which possessed the Paston Letters without knowing -it. There were six volumes of letters. Two of them were sent up, by -request, for Queen Charlotte to look at, and they were lost. She was -very accurate herself, that old woman, especially about things that were -lent to her, and there is no doubt that she had given them to one of her -ladies to return: anyhow they were lost. Afterwards, however, duplicate -copies of many of the lost letters were found to be still in the -possession of the family, and their existence quite disproved an -assertion that the letters had been forgeries. - -“‘They were wonderful people, those old Pastons. They used to thrash -their daughters like anything if they did not behave themselves, and -then, when they had flogged them well, they would say, “And now they -must have silk dresses, rich, red, and beautiful!”’ - - * * * * * - -“_Dec. 9._--Dined with M. B., who told me of Lady Vane[433] being quite -worn-out by the ghastly noises at their place in Cumberland: it was as -if some one were always trying to climb up a disused chimney in the -wall, and then falling violently down again. But lately, when Sir Henry -Vane was away, she had the wall opened. Inside she found a wide and very -lofty closet, narrowing into a funnel as it reached the roof, where it -opened by a very small hole to the sky. In it were human bones, a broken -water-bottle, and the cover of an old Bible, which bore a date. Lady -Vane had the bones gathered up and put into a box, which was left in a -corner of Sir Henry Vane’s room till his return. - -“When Sir Henry Vane came home, he was exhausted by a long journey and -went at once to rest. Lady Vane did not intend to tell him of her -discovery till the next day. But suddenly, late in the afternoon, she -heard a tremendous noise in her husband’s room. She rushed in, and found -Sir Henry in a state of the greatest agitation. He said, ‘I have seen -the most frightful apparition--a woman in that corner,’ pointing to -where the box of bones had been deposited. - -“From old family archives they found that, some years before, exactly at -the date upon the Bible cover, a woman had been walled up in the house. -She had made desperate efforts to escape up the funnel of the disused -chimney, and had always fallen down again. Sir Henry and Lady Vane -themselves buried the bones in the churchyard, and the house has been at -peace ever since.” - - * * * * * - -“_Thorncombe, Dec. 13._--Miss Montgomery is here, a lady of the most -impassive countenance, though she is the authoress of ‘Misunderstood.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Warwick Castle, Jan. 30, 1887._--A delightful visit to this beautiful -place. I came off suddenly on a telegram from Lady Warwick,[434] and -found several pleasant people, besides the family. More than ever have I -been charmed by Lady Warwick, who has the rarest of all -attractions--absolute simplicity, and ‘rien n’est difficile comme le -simple,’ as Madame de Maintenon used to say. Then most glorious in -position is the castle, with the river close underneath, so that the -family feed the swans daily from the aërial balcony outside the -breakfast-room window. Pilgrim-visitors constantly pour through the -rooms with the pictures, of which the finest are a grand Morone, and a -Raffaelle finished by Ghirlandajo. The visitors are conducted through -the rooms by the housekeeper, who is a great character in her way. When -the Prince of Wales was here, she showed him a relic which ‘belonged to -King James III.’--‘Ah! the old Pretender,’ said the Prince. ‘_We_ do not -think so, your Royal Highness,’ she replied very stiffly. The pictures -at Warwick are a real enjoyment, not only important and valuable, which -is generally thought enough, but each individually lovely and -suggestive. And the happy family life is perfection--such a sharing of -interests, the hunting sons not entirely engrossed by it, and no single -member of the family talking scandal or looking for motes in their -neighbours’ eyes. The old town is charming, with the Leicester hospital, -and the great church, chiefly renaissance, but with a fine gothic choir. -One evening there was a dance, and after it Mrs. Bob Lyttelton (Miss -Santley), who lives in the town, sang most gloriously. - -“We have driven to see the exceedingly curious old house of Badeley -Clinton, of which my distant cousin, Mr. Dering, has married the widowed -owner. It is a most singular and poetical place, and there are many -curious stories about it. Handsome, refined, and naturally, not -affectedly, poetical and picturesque, Edward Dering is wonderfully -suited to the place, and its very solitariness facilitates his leading a -life there of almost mediaeval saintliness.”[435] - - * * * * * - -On the 26th of February 1887 I left England again for my French work, -and spent a month in Paris at a primitive and economical inn in the Rue -d’Amboise. Living here, I spent my days entirely amongst the historic -quarters, seeing nothing of the Boulevards or Rue de Rivoli, but making -great progress with a work--my “Paris”--which had no interruptions, and -in which I became increasingly interested as I knew more of my subject. -On the fine days of early March many excursions were very pleasant, -involving long walks to the Abbaye du Val, Nogent les Vierges, &c. -Unfortunately the weather changed before I set out on a tour through the -Bourbonnais; and in Provence, where many long excursions were necessary, -the mistral was quite terrific. Mounting into the wild fastnesses of the -Maritime Alps above S. Maximin, to visit the cave in which the Magdalen -is believed to have died, I caught a terrible chill, from which I was -afterwards very ill at Manosque. But the kindly though rough proprietors -of the inn--M. and Mme. Pascal--persuaded me to try the remedy of taking -no nourishment whatever except hot tea, and letting nature lie -absolutely at rest for forty-eight hours, and, as often since, I found -this quite answer, though during that time I drove in an open carriage -for eight hours to visit the Roman remains at Riez. - -[Illustration: RIEZ.][436] - -[Illustration: GRIGNAN.][437] - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS LEYCESTER. - -“_Avignon, April 3, 1887._--It has been a suffering week, owing to the -biting, rending, lacerating mistral, which has seemed perpetually to -tear one’s vitals inside out, and to frizzle them afterwards. Thursday I -went by rail to Montelimar, and then in a carriage with a horse which -either galloped furiously or would not go at all, over the sixteen miles -of mountain-road to Grignan, where Madame de Sévigné lived so much with -her daughter, and where she died. It is a really grand and striking -place--the immense château rising on a solitary rock, backed by a lovely -mountain distance, and the town at its foot surrounded by cork forests. -All was ruined at the Revolution, but the shell of the rich -palace-castle remains--‘un château vraiment royal,’ as Madame de -Sévigné calls it. In a solitary spot near is the cave, with old -ilex-trees, where she used to sit, and, even with blinding dust and -wind, the colouring was most beautiful. - -[Illustration: CLOISTER OF CAVAILLON.][438] - -“On Saturday, I had to spend five hours at Cavaillon, and wondered how -to dispose of myself. But, on reaching the cathedral, the whole -population was pouring in to take part in the funeral of a famous doctor -who had been a great benefactor of the place. Every one there was -presented by the family with a huge wax-candle, as long as a -walking-stick, and asked to ‘assist.’ I had one, and walked and stood -with my burning candle for two hours! It was a striking sight, thousands -taking part, and the old bishop pronouncing the elegy of the deceased, -whom he described as quite a saint. But oh! how it poured, and blew, and -swelched, and how deep was the white mortar-mud of Provence!” - - * * * * * - -“_Arles, April 13._--The visit to this place--perhaps more than any -other connected with happy days of our long-ago travels, and which I -have always avoided hitherto since I have been alone--has unexpectedly -proved a great pleasure. And I am glad, now I have seen so much, that I -still think Arles by far the most interesting place in the south of -France, and the excursion to Montmajour and Les Baux, which I made again -on Saturday, quite incomparable--the former, as far as I have seen the -world, one of its most beautiful ruins, the latter so glorious as to -scenery. Yesterday there was what the French call a bull-fight in the -amphitheatre, but there is nothing terrible: no horses, only men -enticing bulls with handkerchiefs, and when they run at them, vaulting -like chamois over the barriers; while the arcades of Roman masonry are -filled with vast multitudes, chiefly ‘belles Arlesiennes’ in their -picturesque costume--a very fine sight.” - -[Illustration: MONTMAJOUR.][439] - -[Illustration: LES BAUX.][440] - - * * * * * - -“_Aix in Provence, April 15._--All Provence, as you perhaps know, is -full of the same very early Church legend, that a number of the earliest -Christians, escaping from Jerusalem after the Ascension, landed here on -the coast and became the earliest missionaries of Gaul. Of these, Mary -Salome and Mary Cleopas are supposed to have stayed at Les Saintes -Maries in the Camargue, Lazarus to have gone to preach at Marseilles, -Restitutus at S. Restitut, Maximin at S. Maximin; but Mary Magdalen went -farther, spent years of penitence, and died in a cave at the top of the -mountains, which is certainly one of the most curious places of -pilgrimage in Europe. So it was to La Sainte Baume that I went -yesterday, starting at 6 A.M. by rail to S. Maximin, and there engaging -a carriage to Nant, where the road comes to an end. Thence it is an -ascent of an hour and a half through the steep lonely rocky forest, -covered with blue hepaticas, over stones, rocks, and quagmires. Near the -top it began to hail and rain furiously, and the cold was most intense, -snow still lying in great masses; but the cave is very curious, and the -view magnificent over the lower mountains, beyond the masses of Alpine -forest. How it poured! I sheltered at the worst times under some rocks, -and got safely down to the sunlit valley about five, then had to wait -at S. Maximin till nine o’clock for a train, and did not get back here -till nearly one.” - -[Illustration: LES S. MARIES DE LA CAMARGUE.][441] - -[Illustration: LA SALETTE.][442] - - * * * * * - -“_Grenoble, April 22._--On Wednesday evening, after returning from -Briançon to Gap, I engaged a carriage thence to Corps, at the foot of -the mountain of La Salette. It was supposed to be three hours’ drive, -but took five and a half hours, and we did not arrive till nine o’clock, -having spent the last two hours in pitch darkness, with a single -lanthorn, driving along the edge of the most terrific precipices, with a -driver who had never been there before! Still we arrived at last at the -very miserable inn. On Thursday morning I set off early on foot to La -Salette, three hours of weary steep ascent of the mountains, rather fine -in their snowy solitudes, but affording just a slight panic to a -solitary traveller owing to the bears which still prowl about there. In -the latter part of the way the snow was above my waist, but a little -gulley (turned into a watercourse from the meltings) was cut through it. -When at length I reached the convent, I was received with great -astonishment, as no one had visited those solitudes since April 6. All -around, and up to the first floor of the building, was deep massy snow, -not a rock to be seen. I was comfortably fed, however, and saw the -strange place to which 15,000 pilgrims come annually. You know the -story, how two children declared that the Virgin had appeared to them, -and told them that the bad language of the neighbouring villages was so -shocking that she could no longer restrain the avenging hand of her Son -unless a church was built. You will remember how Madame de Trafford -never varied in her account, that she was herself botanising in those -mountains in one of her eccentric expeditions, and came suddenly out of -a fog upon two children, to whom she spoke of the shocking language she -had heard, saying it was sure to be punished, and why was there no -church? &c.: then the fog became very thick again, and when it cleared, -the children were gone.” - - * * * * * - -“_Cambrai, April 30._--How I thought of you to-day when I was by the -tomb of Fénelon, which has a striking statue. But how ugly, how -treeless, how black with coal-dust is all this north-east of France. I -always imagined the Ardennes were pretty, but the beauty is only in the -Belgian part. Nothing can be more frightful than Sedan, Charleville, -Mezières, Valenciennes, and this place is also hideous; though perhaps -all has looked worse than usual under a black sky and incessant rain. - -“On Thursday I saw Domremy, which is well worth a visit, and can be -little altered from the time of Jeanne Darc. Seen across the flat -meadows, backed by a low range of hills like Hawkestone, and with a -winding stream (the infant Meuse) like the Terne, it is really a little -like Stoke. The mere hamlet ends in the little church, hung all over -inside, and very prettily, with wreaths and banners, sent from all -quarters in honour of Jeanne; and close by is her quaint old cottage, -carefully preserved, with some of its old beams, an ancient armoire, -&c., and its original garden. It is now in the hands of Sisters of -Charity, who manage an orphanage joining her garden and established to -her memory. - -[Illustration: DOMREMY, VILLAGE STREET.][443] - -“It is really a great reward for many _misères de voyage_ that I have -now seen almost everything in Eastern France, and may soon think of -publishing that part of my work.” - -[Illustration: HOUSE OF JEANNE DARC.][444] - -[Illustration: EMBRUN.][445] - -During the latter part of this French tour I had an unpleasant -adventure, which excited more attention than I ever anticipated at the -time. On April 19 I had gone from Gap to visit Embrun, a curious little -town in the Alpes Dauphinoises. I had not long left the station before I -was aware that I was watched and followed wherever I went. However, at -last I contrived to dodge my pursuer, and made, from behind a wall, the -sketch of the cathedral which I wanted, and then had dinner at the -hotel. When I was returning to the station, separated by a desolate -plain from the town, I saw, by the faint waning light, the same figure -following wherever I went. It was dark when the train by which I was to -leave was to start. I had taken my place, and the train was already in -motion, when it was stopped, and an official accompanied by a gendarme -entered the carriage and demanded what I had been doing at Embrun. -“Visiting the cathedral.” “Why should I visit the cathedral?” and so on, -through a long series of questions of the same kind. My passport was -demanded, and, though not usually considered necessary for English -travellers, I happened to have one. It was, however, refused as an -identification, not being dated in the present year. Fortunately, I -recollected having in my pocket-book an order from the Préfet de la -Seine authorising me to draw in all the palaces in Paris and elsewhere -in France, and this was considered sufficient. The train was allowed to -move on just as a crowd was collecting. - -[Illustration: CHÂTEAU DE VIZILLE.][446] - -At Briançon (where I spent the following day), I carefully abstained -from drawing, as it was a fortified town. But on April 23 I left the -station at Vizille to visit the old château of the famous Lesdiguières, -two miles distant. I had seen the château, and began to occupy the -quarter of an hour which remained before the omnibus started for the -station by sketching it from the village street, when I was pounced upon -by a gendarme. “Who has authorised you to sketch the château of -Vizille?”--“No one.”--“If you can draw this, you may also have drawn -other places. You will go with me to the gendarmerie;” and I was marched -through the long street of Vizille, followed by a crowd, and with the -hand of the gendarme occasionally grasping me by the shoulder. At the -gendarmerie a superior officer appeared, and, with the most extreme -insolence of manner, demanded what I had been doing in France, &c. “What -had I drawn?”--“Churches and mountains.”--“Ah! mountains! then it has -been very easy for you to make a little mark in the drawing, known only -to yourself, meaning here is a fortress, and there a fortress.”--“But I -am an Englishman.”--“Oh, you are, are you? Then I am all the more glad -that we have taken you, for we shall probably soon be at war with -England, and then you will make your sketches useful to your Government; -so you will consider yourself under arrest.” The letter of the Préfet de -la Seine was treated as worthless because it had no seal. The passport -was rejected altogether with contempt. After this, all further -protestations and remonstrances were answered by an insolent shout -of--“Taisez vous donc, vous êtes en état d’arrestation.” - -Then the first gendarme was sent with me to the station, where my -portmanteaux were opened and ransacked, the contents being tossed out -upon the platform. Two suspicious articles were found. First, a slight -sketch of the gorge at Sisteron (not the fort; the fort is on the other -side of the rock), and, far worse, three volumes of the _Guide Joanne_ -for France. “What did I want with guidebooks?”--“To study the -country.”--“Ah! that is just what I thought;” and all the officials of -the station were called in to witness the discovery. The gendarme then -declared that I must return with him and be locked up at Vizille, but a -train coming up at that moment, I made a dash into it, and probably -thinking a public scrimmage impolitic, the gendarme allowed the -station-master to fasten my boxes and bring me a ticket. The gendarme -then took his place opposite to me in a first-class carriage. - -[Illustration: QUAYS OF GRENOBLE.][447] - -At 5 P.M. the train arrived at Grenoble. At the station the gendarme of -Vizille summoned a gendarme of the town, and I was conducted as a -prisoner by the two to the Hotel Monnet. The gendarme of Vizille then -left me in care of the other, shut up in a room of the hotel, where the -gendarme of Grenoble sat silent opposite to me till 6.30. I thought that -then the other gendarme would come back from the Préfecture with an -order that I was to be freed from further annoyance. Not a bit of it! He -came back with an order that all my possessions were to be carefully -ransacked, and all the contents of my boxes were turned out upon the -floor. All suspected articles--all my sketches, manuscripts, letters, -and all the volumes of the _Guide Joanne_ were then put into my smallest -portmanteau, which one of the gendarmes carried, and I was marched -between the two to the old palace of the Dauphins, where the courts are. -Here two clerks (or secretaries of the Préfecture) subjected me to a -long examination--who I was, what was my employment, where I had been, -&c. The English letters found in my blotting-book (ordinary family -letters) were translated into French by a clerk who understood English. -All my drawings (chiefly of church architecture) were examined in -detail, and their objects inquired into. The terrible _Guides Joanne_ -were passed in review and, after an hour, I was told I was free, but -without a single word of apology or regret. Indeed, I should not have -got away then if at last one of the clerks had not said in his insolent -manner, “Est que vous êtes donc un tel, qu’il n’y a une seule personne -dans toute cette partie de la France qui peut répondre de vous?” And -goaded to desperation I answered, “Well, yes, there is one person, it is -a lady; she is only a few miles from here now (at Aix les Bains): it is -the Queen of England.” On parting, the gendarme of Vizille was told in -my presence that he had only done his duty in arresting me for having -ventured to draw the Château of Lesdiguières; and he left, carrying off -in his pocket (by accident no doubt) a sealed packet which he had taken -from my dressing-case, saying, “Nous allons ouvrir ça devant ces -messieurs, ça doit être des instruments pour tirer des plans.” I called -the next day upon my examiners to ask them to obtain restitution of the -packet, but they declined to take any trouble. One of their comrades, -looking up from his writing, said insolently, “Puisque vous avez été -arrêté hier, est-ce qu’on ne vous a encore condamné?” - -I wrote this story in the train, and posted it at one of the stations to -the editor of the _Times_, who inserted it in the paper, so that when I -reached home I found England ringing with it, and a question asked in -the House about it. I also complained to the Foreign Office, and Lord -Salisbury sent me afterwards the French answer to the inquiries made. -They allowed the facts of the examination, but denied that I had ever -been arrested, though the leading feature through the whole had been -that whenever I attempted to speak I had been silenced by a shout of -“Taisez-vous donc; rappelez-vous donc que vous êtes en arrestation.” The -sealed packet was never restored. - -I returned home on May 3, and at the beginning of June was at Scotney -Castle. - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL. - -“_Scotney, June 1, 1887._--We have been for the day at Glassenbury, the -old moated house of Mr. Atkin Roberts, in a wooded hollow of the hills, -surrounded by fine old trees, but of damp and dismal aspect. There is a -lime avenue there, haunted by a lady--once Miss Roberts--who is always -looking for her husband, for as she was riding away with him down the -avenue on their wedding-day, he was thrown from his horse and killed on -the spot. She never afterwards left the paternal home, where there are -pictures of her, unmarried and as a widow. Some hundred years ago the -last Roberts of Glassenbury had only daughters, and of these the last -married the then Duke of St. Albans. The Duke was a gambler and a -spendthrift, and sold all her fine things--her diamonds, her plate, her -china; but she was determined that he should not make away the place, -and that she would leave it to those who would take care of it; the -question was--to whom? - -[Illustration: SCOTNEY CASTLE.][448] - -“One day she had sent for a painter to come to Glassenbury to paint a -coat of arms on her carriage, and, when she showed him the arms, he -said, ‘Why, your Grace, those are the very arms I was employed to paint -at a place in Ireland, to which I went quite by accident, having been -shipwrecked on the coast close by.’ The Duchess inquired, and found that -the people in Ireland, for whom he had painted the arms, were very -distant relations, and she settled the property upon the Irish Colonel -Roberts, who left it to the present owner, his nephew, formerly Atkin. - -“Sir Arthur Birch, who has some high appointment at the Bank of England, -has lately been at Scotney, full of a very singular circumstance. He had -two clerks, an elderly Mr. Sperati and a Mr. Lutwich, and they were very -intimate friends. One Whit-Monday evening, as he was sitting with his -wife by the fire in his house in Burlington Gardens, Mr. Lutwich, with a -very scared look, bade her mark the exact time, ‘for,’ said he, ‘I have -just seen Sperati; he has just appeared in this room, as distinctly as I -ever saw him in my life. He wore a very old coat of his, which I know -quite well, and had a very peculiar silver-knobbed stick in his hand; I -am certain he is dead, and I must go to his house and see.’ - -“But the wife urged him so much not to go then, and to wait till the -next morning, that he assented. - -“As he was on his way in the morning to Sperati’s house, he met -Sperati’s brother, who said, ‘I was on my way to tell you sad news; my -brother died last night at nine o’clock, very suddenly, of -heart-disease.’ It was exactly the hour at which Mr. Lutwich had seen -him. - -“Mr. Lutwich went on to the house, and saw the butler, whom he knew -well. He said, ‘I have an especial reason for asking about an old coat -which I remember well, and which your master use to have--has he worn -it lately?’--‘Well, it is strange you should ask about it, sir, because, -though he has not worn it for some time, he had it on last night.’--‘And -do you remember what stick he had in his hand?’--‘Yes, perfectly, sir, -it is in the hall now,’ and it was the very stick with which he had -appeared. - -“Mrs. Papillon had been telling the Husseys of a very famous female -mesmerist living in Park Street. Late one night this person had a -visitor who urged her very much to consent to go at once to a mysterious -patient, to whom she could only travel blindfolded. She hesitated for -some time, but finally, being very much urged, she assented. A -well-appointed carriage was at the door, in which she was driven to the -railway. In the train she was blindfolded. Several hours were passed in -travelling by train. Then she was taken out to a carriage and driven for -some distance. On arriving at a house, she was led up a staircase and -into a large room. As her bandage was removed, she saw two ladies in -black just leaving the room. A gentleman was lying in bed, very -dangerously ill of typhoid fever. She mesmerised him and he fell asleep. -When he awoke, a great change for the better was perceptible. He said, -‘I feel better; I could drink a glass of beer.’ She said, ‘Give him the -beer.’ He drank it, and fell into a restful, natural sleep. - -“Then the lady was blindfolded again and conveyed back in the same way -in which she came. When she reached her own house in Park Street, a -cheque for a very large amount was left in her hands. The next day she -read in the paper that the Prince of Wales--then most dangerously ill at -Sandringham--had rallied, and fallen into a deep natural sleep from the -moment of drinking a glass of beer. - -“Mr. Hussey told me that an old Mr. and Mrs. Close of Nottingham were -very rich and great misers, and they both made wills leaving all they -possessed each to the other. However, as they died within a few hours of -each other, that made very little difference to anybody. - -“When the heirs-at-law arrived at Nottingham--young people full of -spirits--they were greatly excited and brimming with curiosity. It was -known that there were splendid diamonds, and that vast wealth of every -kind existed, but at first nothing seemed to be forthcoming. Cupboards -and drawers were ransacked in vain. Nothing particular was found. - -“At last, in a room at the top of the house a great trunk was -discovered. ‘Here,’ they said, ‘it all is; we shall find all the -treasures now.’ But when the trunk was opened, the upper part was found -to be full of nothing but scraps of human hair, as if for years the -off-scourings of all the old hair-brushes had been collected; then below -that was a layer of very dirty old curl-papers; and the bottom of the -box was full of still more dirty old corsets of ladies’ dresses, -and--the box was alive! When young Mrs. Close had dived into the box, -she exclaimed, ‘What disgusting old creatures our relations must have -been! This horrible mess might infest the whole house; we must have it -burnt at once.’ So she had some men up, and the trunk carried down into -the courtyard of the house, and a huge bonfire made there, and the -trunk upset into it. - -“As it was burning, she stood by, and heedlessly, with her stick, pulled -one of the curl-papers towards her, and poked it open at her feet. It -was a £50 note! In an agony, she scrimmaged at the fire, and raked out -all she possibly could, but it was too late; most of the notes were -burnt; she only saved about £800. - -“Naturally her husband was furious, and of course he was very unjust. -‘Any one but you would have examined the box carefully; there never was -such an idiot of a woman,’ &c. And every time he saw the burnt heap in -the courtyard, he burst forth afresh. So she sent for the dustman round -the corner, and had all the ashes carefully cleared away. - -“Still nothing had been found of the diamonds. They had certainly -existed; there were always the diamonds to fall back upon. But though -they searched everywhere, nothing could be found of them. At last they -asked the only old lady with whom Mrs. Close had visited if she knew of -any one who could help them. ‘Yes, certainly,’ she said; ‘there’s old -Betty Thompson at the almshouses, she was always in and out of the house -as charwoman; she knew more of Mrs. Close and her ways than any one -else.’ So away they went to the almshouses, and asked Betty Thompson. -‘Oh yes,’ she said, ‘she knew very well that there were diamonds, very -fine diamonds indeed, but small good _they_ ever did to old Mrs. Close, -for she always kept them sewn up and hidden away in her old stays.’ - -“The stays had all perished in the fire; the diamonds would not have -burnt, but then the very ashes had been thrown away; there was no trace -left of them. The bank-notes were all very old--the few that were -saved--but they were quite good; but there was very little else left of -the great inheritance.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ LOUISA, MARCHIONESS OF WATERFORD. - -“_Jermyn Street, June 16, 1887._--London is in gala costume, the streets -flooded with flowers, and the West End thoroughfares lined by stands, -with seats covered with red and gay awnings. I am perpetually thinking -of what Arthur Stanley’s ecstasy would have been on looking forward to -having so many kings and queens, besides no end of other royalty, in the -Abbey at once. On Saturday I was at Osterley, where the gardens were -quite lovely and delicious in the heat, and yesterday there was a -pleasant party at Lord Beauchamp’s, with little comedies to amuse -Princess Mary, who was exceedingly gracious and kind to me. - -“Alas! we are expecting the news of Theodore Walrond’s death--a man -apparently as healthy in body as in mind till his last illness set in, -and quite universally beloved.” - - * * * * * - -“_June 17._--Yesterday I had luncheon with Miss Geary at her very pretty -house in Grosvenor Street, and met Lady Elgin and a charming, fresh, -sensible Miss Boscawen. I dined at Lady Manners’, where I made rather -friends with Lord Apsley: afterwards there was a large brilliant party -at Mrs. Portman’s. - -“To-day my two young American friends, Sands and Martin, gave a most -pleasant luncheon. I sat by Lady Middleton, who talked charmingly and -gratefully of the happiness of married life--the pleasure to a woman of -entire self-renunciation: then of her own life, which she would not -exchange for any in the world, though she has had to give up all her own -inclinations, and to throw herself absolutely and entirely into the -interests of hunting. She said she never allowed an ill word on the -field, and if she heard one, rode even for miles till she caught up the -culprit to say so.” - - * * * * * - -“_June 19._--Lady Dorothy Nevill has been most funny about a burglary at -Lady Orford’s. While the family were away, a man came to the door, who -said he was sent to measure the dining-room chimney-piece, and asked the -old woman who was taking care of the place to go up to the top of the -house to get him a piece of tape for the purpose. When she came down, -the man was gone, and so were two of the best pictures. ‘I could swear -to the pictures anywhere,’ said the old woman afterwards, ‘for they were -of members of the Orford family.’ ‘They _were_ the Virgin Mary and St. -Sebastian,’ added Lady Dorothy, ‘and I leave you to imagine how far -_they_ were ever likely to have been members of the Orford family!’ - -“At breakfast I sat by Sir George Dasent. I spoke of his wonderful -memory. He said, ‘When I was a boy, my father saw me writing--writing -with a pen was never a strong point with me--but still I was busy at it, -and he asked me what I was doing. I said, “Writing down what I’ve -read.”--“Don’t write it down, my boy,” he said; “carry it all in your -head; it is much better,” and I have always done so.’ - -“He spoke of the folly of interfering in any street rows. ‘It had been a -wet day, and you know when the pavement is wet--why I cannot tell--you -can see much farther than at other times, and down the whole length of -Eaton Place I saw a man knock a woman down; she got up, and he knocked -her down again. He knocked her down several times running. At last I got -up to him and said, “You villain, to knock a woman down like that; how -can you dare to do it?”--“Now you just go along with you,” said the -woman; “he only gave me what I deserved.”--“Oh, if you like being -knocked down, it’s another matter,” I said.’ - -“‘One day in the street,’ he related, ‘I passed a party of Germans -abusing each other with most outrageous language, and I said, “Remember -there are police here as well as in Germany.” When I got near St Peter’s -Church, I was aware that one of the Germans was following me, and he -came up and said, “I am come to demand satisfaction.”--“Very well, you -shall have satisfaction,” I said, and I beckoned a policeman from the -other side of the street, who came across saying, “What can I do for -you, sir?” for all the police know me. So I said, “You will just take -this man up, and I will go with you and appear against him.” So we went -on our way, the policeman, the German, and I. When we had gone some way, -the policeman said, “It’s giving you a great deal of trouble, sir, -isn’t it, to go to the police-station; couldn’t we manage it here?’ So I -said, “Yes, perhaps we may as well try him here. If he kneels down in -the gutter in the mud and prays for forgiveness, we will let him off.” -So I said in German, “He (the policeman) says that if you kneel down in -the gutter and beg for forgiveness, he will let you off.”--“May not I -kneel on the pavement?” he said. “No, that will not do; you must kneel -in the mud, with your hands up so. “So down in the mud he went and said, -“I am very sorry for vat I have done,” and we let him go.’ - -“Chief-Justice Morris said he was sitting on the bench in Ireland, and -after a case had been tried, he said to the jurymen, ‘Now, to consider -this matter, you will retire to your accustomed place,’ and two-thirds -of them went into _the dock_. - -“Another time he said to a culprit, ‘I can produce five witnesses who -saw you steal that cow.”--‘Yes,’ said the prisoner, ‘but I can produce -five hundred who did not.’ - -“Sir George Dasent said he should not go to the Abbey on the Jubilee -Day. His legs were so infirm now, that a touch would upset him, and, -when once down, he could not get up again. He had once been knocked down -by a newspaper--‘retributive, you might say.’”[449] - - * * * * * - -“_June 20._--The streets are all hung with scarlet and blue draperies, -and Waterloo Place is embowered in a succession of triumphal arches. The -crowds are tremendous. The foot-passengers have already expelled the -carriages from the principal thoroughfares, and two million more people -are expected to arrive to-day. - -[Illustration: AT WESTMINSTER.][450] - -“I dined last night with Charlie Halifax, meeting Lady Morton, the -Arundel Mildmays, and Sir Hickman Bacon--a pale frail youth, so -High-Church that he could not take part in any Jubilee gaieties -whilst ---- (one of their especial clergy) was imprisoned. Charlie was -very funny in his tantrums against the bishops. ‘I hate them all except -Lincoln, and--as cowards--I despise them.’ He said he would not go to -the service in the Abbey, because he considers it desecrated by having -seats erected over the altar!” - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS LEYCESTER. - -“_June 21, 1887._--Nothing can have been more sublimely pathetic than -the whole ceremony (of the Jubilee)--more inexpressibly touching and -elevating. The Abbey, too, did not look spoilt: all the tiers of seats, -all the galleries disappeared utterly: nothing was visible between the -time-worn pillars and under the grey arches but the masses of people -they contained. - -“I went at 8 A.M. It was not a moment too soon. Cabs charged two pounds -to the Abbey, but I walked very comfortably. The tickets had little maps -of the Abbey, with the entrance for the bearer marked on each. Mine was -by a door on the north-east behind St. Margaret’s, and there I waited, -with a small crowd, till nine struck, and some iron gates were opened by -the police, when we ran down an awned passage to where a staircase of -rough timber led up by the great Norris tomb to our places. - -“Mine was simply perfect, a splendid place, from whence-- - - ‘To see the lords of human kind go by,’ - -as Goldsmith says. I would not have changed it with any other in the -building. In the theatre it would have been the royal box--a little red -gallery to hold four, over the tomb of Aylmer de Valence; in front of -the gallery on the left of the sanctuary; close above the princesses of -Austria, Spain, and Portugal; opposite the kings; with a view of the -peers and peeresses in the right transept, and so near the Queen that -one could see every play of her expression. My companions were a doctor -of music in his red gown and two females of the middle class, who were -very good-natured in lending me their glasses. - -“The time of waiting did not seem long: all was so full of interest. - -“The Abbey blazed with colour--crimson uniforms, smart ladies, ushers -stiff with gold embroidery, yeomen of the guard in plumed helmets. Only, -for another coronation, I would clothe the supporting pillars of the -galleries with red cloth. The grey wooden supports looked cold, and -their angular outlines drew attention to them amongst the rounded forms -of the pillars, whereas the red seats and galleries disappeared -altogether, or only served as admirable setting and background to the -picture. The grand old tombs--Aylmer de Valence, Edmond Crouchback, Anne -of Cleves--stood detached from the red, and in front of the altar the -mosaic pavement of Henry III. was left exposed--not covered, like the -rest of the floor, by red carpeting. Near the altar were two benches on -each side--‘tabourets’--for queens and princesses in front, kings and -princes behind. Farther back stood, on a daïs, the coronation chair, -facing the altar, covered and hidden by red, and with the royal robe of -state hanging over it and trailing down from the daïs on the side -towards us: before it was a fald-stool and kneeling cushion. - -“Every moment the vast edifice became more filled with colour, but the -peers and peeresses arrived very gradually. Lady Exeter, beautiful -still, sat long alone in the marchionesses’ seats, Lord and Lady Cross -in the ministerial benches, and two or three duchesses in that appointed -for them. Then the Argylls came in, he gorgeous in the uniform -of--MacCallum More. Behind I recognised the Spencers, Powerscourts, -Stanhopes, Charlie Halifax, and Lord Londonderry with the white ribbon -of the Order of St. Patrick. The Lord Chancellor, preceded by mace and -bag, now came in and took his place in the centre of the front row, with -Lord and Lady Salisbury and the Duchess of Marlborough on his right -hand. A figure which attracted more attention than any other was that of -Maria, Lady Aylesbury, except her three Cambridge cousins and her two -pages, the sole survivor of all those represented in the great picture -of the Queen’s coronation. - -“At 11.15 a burst of music announced the first procession, and Princess -Frederica and the Tecks were conducted to the stalls, with two of the -Edinburgh children, and three gorgeous Eastern princes[451] to the -places immediately below us. Then the Queen of Hawaii, in a black dress -covered with green embroidery, and with the famous yellow feathers only -allowed to Sandwich Island royalty, was seated just opposite to us, with -her princess-sister[452] (the heiress of the throne) in black velvet -covered with orders, and with a great white ostrich fan:--not together, -however, as every one was to sit according to rank, and an intermediate -place after queens had to be reserved for the Duchess of -Mecklenbourg-Strelitz. - -“A long tension of waiting followed, but at twelve a rising of the -white-robed choristers in their south-western gallery announced the -second procession, and a flood of royalty poured in beneath us. Opposite -sat the kings of Greece, Denmark (his father), the very handsome king of -the Belgians, whose beard is beginning to turn grey, the king of Saxony, -the Crown Princes of Austria, Portugal, Würtemburg, and Sweden, the Duc -d’Aosta, and Prince George of Greece--a charming boy in a naval uniform. -Beneath us were the Crown Princess of Portugal, Doña Eulalia of Spain, -the hereditary Duchess of Mecklenbourg, and Princess Philip of -Saxe-Coburg. One of these royal ladies--Doña Eulalia, I think--had a -white lace mantilla instead of a bonnet, with very pretty effect. But -really one of the finest features of the whole was the coming in of the -Queen of the Belgians--so simple, royal, imperial--saluting everybody in -comprehensive though slight inclination, infinitely graceful and regal -in every attitude. - -“At last a blaze of trumpets announced the Queen’s procession. It was -headed by canons, the Bishop of London, the two Archbishops in most -gorgeous copes, and the Dean of Westminster in a heavy old embroidered -cope to his feet, which made him look like a figure risen from one of -the old altar-tombs. Then--alone--serene--pale (not red)--beautifully -dressed in something between a cap and bonnet of white lace and -diamonds, but _most_ becoming to her--perfectly self-possessed, full of -the most gracious sweetness, lovely and lovable--the Queen! All the -princesses in the choir, with the Queen of the Belgians at their head, -curtseyed low as she took her place upon the throne, from which the long -robe of state trailed so that it looked part of her dress. - -“When she was seated in lonely splendour, the princes poured in upon her -right, and the princesses on her left, and took their places on gilt -chairs on either side--a little behind. The bevy of granddaughters, in -white and pale blue, was very pretty--so many, all curtseying as they -passed the Queen, and she smiling most sweetly and engagingly upon them -with the most loving and motherly of looks. - -“Then came the burst of the ‘Te Deum.’ The silver trumpets at St. -Peter’s seemed as nothing to the trumpet-shout which gave effect to the -exultant sentences, pealing triumphantly through the arches, and -contrasting with the single voices of solitary choristers thrilling -alone at intervals--voices far, far away, like the tenderest echo. The -Queen did not shed a tear, and held a book all the time, but once sat -down as if it was too much for her, and often looked round at the Crown -Princess--who stood nearest, very sweet and sympathetic--with a look of -‘_What_ this is to us!’ Princess Beatrice and the Grand Duchess Sergius -cried the whole time. - -“A striking figure throughout the entire service was the Crown Prince of -Germany, especially when kneeling erect like a knight, in jackboots, but -with folded hands and a simplicity of unwavering devotion. - -“Very solemnly, audibly everywhere, the Archbishop of Canterbury read -the prayers--the thanksgiving for all the mercies of the reign, the -petition for eternal life. There was another psalm, sung most -gloriously, then an anthem with a burst of trumpets in the ‘To be king -for the Lord thy God.’ Lastly, the benediction, in which the Queen bent -low, lower, lower, as the ‘Amen,’ sung over and over again, died away in -vanishing cadences. - -“When it was quite silent, in a great hush, she rose up, and a beautiful -ray of sunshine shot through the stained windows and laid itself at her -feet, and then passed on and gilded the head of the Prince of Wales. - -“She beckoned to him afterwards, and he came and kissed her hand, but -she kissed him twice most affectionately. Then came the Crown Prince and -the Grand Duke of Hesse, who kissed her hands, and then the Duke of -Connaught. When the Queen saw him, maternal feelings overcame those of -royalty, and she embraced him fervently, and then, evidently fearing -that the last two princes might be hurt, she called them back, and -kissed them too, and so all the princes, who came in order. She was -especially cordial to Prince Albert Victor, and heartily kissed Lord -Lorne, who had bent down, as if he did not expect it. - -“Meantime the Crown Princess stood by the step of the throne on the -other side, and I think the most touching part of the whole was when she -bent low to kiss her mother’s hand and was folded in a close embrace, -and so all the daughters and the grand-daughters--such a galaxy of -graceful girls--bent to kiss the hand, and were kissed in turn. - -“Then the Queen went away, bowing all down the choir, and the flood of -her youthful descendants ebbed after her. - -“I felt I scarcely cared to see the procession afterwards, but it was -very fine. How a past age is repeating itself! One sees this in -comparing the newspaper accounts of the procession yesterday with the -contemporary tracts about the entry of Queen Elizabeth, telling how ‘in -all her passage she did show her most gracious love towards the people -in general,’ and how the citizens, when they saw her, ‘took such -comfort, that with tears they expressed the same.’ I am one of the 400 -asked to meet the 100 royalties at the Foreign Office, but cannot manage -arranging levée dress properly in time.” - - * * * * * - -“_June 23, 1887._--This is a postscript to my last. - -“Nothing could exceed the orderliness, good-nature, and merriment of the -immense crowd at the illuminations on the evening of the Jubilee day. I -took Letitia Hibbert and her friend Miss Robertson to see the best from -Hyde Park, and then along the Green Park, where movement was quite easy, -and the effect of the houses bathed in a halo of coloured light very -beautiful through the dark massy foliage. - -“Yesterday I went at 3 P.M. to Hyde Park. A dense mass of people walled -in the vast enclosed space, but all in the utmost good-humour, though -many came forward with--‘Oh, do give me your ticket: oh, do now, just -for once.’ Inside the outer barrier was a second, within which people -walked, and whence they saw. I was indignant at first at not being -admitted farther, but when I saw the Archbishop of Canterbury refused, -was quite contented to share the fate of the first subject in the realm. -However, eventually we were both passed into the immense space where the -children were playing, not apparently the least over-done by the hot -sun, or tired from having been on the move since 10 A.M., and having -been provided, on arriving, with nothing but a bag containing a -meat-pie, a bun (they say the buns would have reached from London to -Brentford in a direct line), and an orange, with instructions to put the -bag in their pockets when done with! Each of the 30,000 children also -had a ‘Jubilee mug’ of Doulton ware. Every now and then volleys of tiny -coloured balloons were sent up, like flights of bright birds floating -away into the soft blue, and, as the royalties arrived, a great yellow -balloon, with several people in its car, bore a huge ‘Victoria’ -skywards. - -“I found my cousin Lady Normanton lost, and stayed with her and a very -pleasant ex-governess of Princess May, most indignant at her adored -pupil having received no Order out of the numbers distributed. Between -half-past four and five life-guards heralded a long procession of -carriages, with the Indian princes, the foreign queens and kings, and -our own royal family in force. A number of Eastern chieftains were -riding six abreast, and very like Bluebeard one or two of them looked. -Finally came the Queen, smiling, good and gracious beyond words, and -with a wonderful reception everywhere. ‘I have made Socialist speeches -for years,’ said one man, ‘and the last two days have shown me how -useless they have been, and always must be in this country.’ - -“As the Queen passed up the green drive by which we were standing, all -the 30,000 children sang ‘God save the Queen,’ and a thanksgiving hymn, -which I think must have been, not for their tea (for they never had -any), but for hers, which I hope she enjoyed out of the great fourgons -we saw arriving, and must much have needed. All the royal ladies’-maids -and other servants also passed by in carriages on their way to the -station, by the Queen’s wish, that they should share in the sight. - -“Having escorted Lady Normanton to the safe solitudes of Wilton Place, I -rushed off to Windsor, arriving at nine. Certainly the grandeur of the -London illuminations paled before the intense picturesqueness of those -in the old royal city. I had no time to go to Eton, where the Queen had -entered--like Queen Elizabeth--under an arch on the battlements of which -Eton boys were lustily trumpeting. But the bridge, brilliant in electric -light, also ended in an arch, kept dark itself, beyond which every house -in the steep, sharply-winding street was seen adorned with its own -varied devices of coloured light, from basement to attics, whilst the -walls were hung with scarlet draperies, and brilliant banners of scarlet -and gold waved across the roadway. - -“I stayed on the bridge to see the thousand Eton boys cross, marching in -detachments, with white and blue uniforms alternately, carrying their -(then unlighted) torches, and then went after them to the castle, where -I was one of the few admitted, and pushed on at once to the inner court -under the Queen’s apartments. - -“Most unspeakably weird, picturesque, inspiring, beautiful, and -glorious was the sight, when, with a burst of drums and trumpets, the -wonderful procession emerged under the old gate of Edward III., headed -by a detachment of the Blues, then the boys, six abreast, carrying -lighted torches, till hundreds upon hundreds had filed in, singing -splendidly ‘God save the Queen.’ All the bigger boys formed into figures -of blazing light in the great court, weaving designs of light in their -march--‘Welcome,’ ‘Victoria,’ &c., in radiant blaze of moving living -illumination; whilst the little boys, each carrying a coloured Chinese -lantern on a wand, ascended in winding chains of light the staircases on -the steep hill of the Round Tower opposite the Queen’s window, till the -slope was covered with brilliancy and colour. The little boys sang very -sweetly in the still night their song of welcome, and then all the mass -of the boys below, raising their flaming torches high into the air, -shouted with their whole hearts and lungs, ‘Rule Britannia!’ - -“It was an unspeakably transporting scene, and I am sure that the -beloved figure in the white cap seated in the wide-open central window -felt it so, and was most deeply moved by the sight and sound of so much -loyal and youthful chivalry. - -“Then, in a great hush, she almost astonished them by leaving her place -and suddenly reappearing in the open air in the courtyard amongst them, -and making them a queenly and tender little speech in her clear -beautiful voice--‘I do thank you so very very much,’ &c. - -“You may imagine the hurrahs which followed, the frantic emotion and -applause whilst she called up and spoke to Lord Ampthill and one or two -other boys whose parents had been especial friends. - -“And then, in figures of light from their torches, as she reappeared at -the window, the vast assembly formed the word ‘Good-night.’ Nothing -could possibly have been more picturesquely pretty. - -“Immediately afterwards the whole of the great central tower was flooded -with red light, which seemed to turn it into blood, and I went with J. -Dundas to the North Terrace, whence we looked down upon the -fireworks--fire-fountains, comets, cascades of golden, sapphire, and -amethyst rain. - -“It was 2 A.M. when I got back to London, but well worth the fatigue.” - - * * * * * - -LONDON JOURNAL. - -“_June 23, 1887._--Sat at breakfast by Sir George Dasent. ‘Did you ever -know,’ he said, ‘the late old Bengal tiger at Asbburnham?[453] He asked -me down there, and when I went he said, “You are here, sir, under false -pretences. I have discovered that you are a member, sir, of that most -disreputable society called the ‘Historic MSS. Commission:’ they are a -society of ruffians, sir.”--“Surely, Lord Ashburnham, a great many -eminent persons are members of that society,--Lord Salisbury, for -instance, surely he is not a ruffian.”--“Yes, sir, he _is_ a ruffian -when he is acting for that society: and you, sir, you are a ruffian -too--you tamper with title-deeds, sir,” and it was quite in vain to -assure him that our society had no interest whatever in title-deeds of -the last hundred years. - -“‘I told Lady Ashburnham what he said, and she answered, “You must not -mind: he is the most kind-hearted of men, but he has--his savage -moments!” - -“‘Afterwards he was very kind to me, and showed me all his treasures, -especially his glorious Anglo-Saxon MSS. - -“‘When I was at Hornby, I went up with the present Duchess of Leeds into -a tower into which a former Duchess had carried a quantity of books, -because, she said, “there were enough downstairs.” They had been taken -up at haphazard, and some of them were of extraordinary value: there -were wonderful editions of Aretino there, excessively improper, but -nobody could read them. The tower had been open to the bats and owls, -and when we took out the books, many of them were matted together in one -solid mass: they bore the name of Hewit Osborne, the apprentice who -jumped from London Bridge to save the life of his master’s daughter, -and, afterwards marrying her, founded the family; he was a great Italian -scholar.’” - - * * * * * - -“_July 1._--Sir G. Dasent says that the late Queen of Sweden said to him -that she could not imagine how it was that her eldest son had done all -he could to alienate the affections of his people, and was adored, and -the second all he could to conciliate them, and was detested. The eldest -(the late King) was a Hercules. ‘His Majesty will rise at 3 A.M. -to-morrow and will ride thirty miles (to Gripsholm), and wishes you to -accompany him,’ was a frequent announcement to guests and courtiers; and -when they reached Gripsholm, all was prepared for a great elk-hunt, and -when _that_ was finished, and they were gasping for rest, came the -announcement, ‘His Majesty will rise at 2 A.M. to-morrow, and will ride -forty miles,’ &c. - -“Luncheon with Lady Stradbroke, who told me that as she was walking up -Grosvenor Crescent during the illuminations, a group of country people -were inspecting the devices. ‘Ah!’ she heard one of them explain, ‘V. -R.--that’s for _very respectable_.’” - - * * * * * - -“_July 3._--Yesterday was very hot--a hotter scirocco, said Roman Mr. -Story, than any he had felt in Italy. There was a great volunteer -review, which brought the usual picturesque procession of the Queen, -with her glittering life-guards, through the Park. - -“On Friday I went with Florentia Hughes to a great garden-party of the -Baroness Coutts at Holly Lodge--a most lovely place, with steep hilly -gardens and splendid herbaceous flowers.” - - * * * * * - -“_July 6._--Yesterday I went with the Indian princes by special train to -Woburn. Everything was arranged _en grand seigneur_--nothing to be paid -anywhere--a train with saloon carriages, in which we floated into -Bedfordshire without stopping, and thirty-two carriages, beautifully -equipped, sent to meet us at the station. In one of these I drove -through the lanes lined with dog-roses with Lord Normanby and Miss -Grosvenor. ‘I am always mistaken for Princess Mary, so must keep up her -character,’ said the latter, and bowed incessantly, right and left, to -the village crowds, who were quite delighted with her. We had a long -wait before luncheon, Europe and Asia separated by a great gulf which no -one seemed able to bridge over. Lady Tavistock did her best, but the -party hung fire, and, though a magnificent banquet, with all the gold -plate displayed, took part of the time, there was not much to animate -us, and we lounged on the lawn, tried to be agreeable and were not, and -admired the beautiful Indians, with their gorgeous dresses and languid -eyes, till another chain of carriages took us back through the Ampthill -woods to another station.” - - * * * * * - -“_July 7._--Miss Holford was married this afternoon to Mr. Benson at St. -George’s before an immense crowd. There was a great breakfast -afterwards--though so late--at Dorchester House, where all London -flocked through the rooms to admire the presents, which were -indescribably splendid. The scene on the beautiful white marble -staircase was charming, especially when the bride went away, her father -and mother leading her down on either side, and all the tiny bridesmaids -and pages--nieces and nephews between six and seven--gambolling in -front, with huge baskets of dark red roses. Above, under the circular -arches, between the pillars of coloured marbles, and against a golden -wall background, the overhanging galleries were filled with all the most -beautiful women in London leaning over the balustrades. - -“Dined at the Speaker’s--lovely lights sparkling along the shore, and -the splash of the river and distant hum only making one feel more the -silence of night. We sat out upon the haunted terrace afterwards--such -stars, and a moon rising behind the towers of Lambeth.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ LOUISA, MARCHIONESS OF WATERFORD. - -“_June 30._--On Saturday I went to Osterley, meeting beautiful Lady -Katherine Vane[454] with her brother and sister at the Victoria Station, -and going down with them. Troops of people emerged from the train close -to the gate in the park wall, and we all flocked together along the -gravel walks through the hot meadows to the house, where the shade was -very refreshing. Lady Jersey was receiving under the portico, and groups -of Indian princes with their interpreters were busy over strawberries -and cream in the corners of the great stone hall. I went, with several -people who had an equally tender remembrance of the kind old Duchess of -Cleveland, who lived there so long, to visit the little library where -she always sat in winter--quite deserted now, and all the books -sold--and then joined the many groups of people on the lawns and the -green glade which ends in a porticoed summer-house like a -Claude-Lorraine picture. Others went in a boat upon the lake. The -Jerseys pressed me to stay to dinner with Lord and Lady Muncaster; so -Lady M. and I both got a volume of a very dull novel, over which we had -a pleasant rest when all the crowd were gone. Never were such airy -people as the Jerseys, a line of six windows open on one side and two -doors on the other all dinner-time. Lady Hilda Brodrick and one of Lady -Jersey’s brothers were my neighbours, and very pleasant. - -“On Sunday I had luncheon at Lord Breadalbane’s, to have a quiet sight -of my Prince. It is a wonderful house--deeply coved ceilings with -frescoes like those in an old Venetian palace, and wide spaces round the -outside planted with groves of plane-trees. The Breadalbanes have -thought it worth while to make a new dining-room (though sacrificing two -old ceilings), as they have taken all the rest of the lease, after which -the house reverts (it is Harcourt House) to the Harcourts of Nuneham. -The Duchess of Roxburgh, an Indian prince, and several other ladies -dropped in, so there were three tables for luncheon. In the middle, Lady -Breadalbane[455] got up and went round to each table, almost to each -guest, to see that they had all they could possibly want, and to say the -pleasantest things to them in the prettiest way: she certainly is a -queen of hostesses. Afterwards my Prince came to me, and we walked up -and down upon the terrace. He was most affectionate, as he always is -when we meet, and talked of all people and things as if we had never -parted, but reproached me much with never coming to him in Norway, -urging very much that I should write at any time, or even telegraph that -I was coming for any length of stay. Some day, when I am free from my -French work, I will go. He evidently wished that I should say something -to Lady Breadalbane of the great difference her excessive kindness had -made during all this visit to England, so I was very glad to do so. ‘We -have done our best,’ she said, ‘and I am very glad it has gone off so -well; but it has not been my doing, but all owing to those who have -helped me.’ The Indian had brought a suit of flannels with him in a -carpet-bag, and changed into them, and when my Prince went to get ready -to play at tennis with him, I came away. - -“On Monday (27th) we had our large drawing-party down the river. Meeting -at Westminster Bridge, we all took tickets to ‘Cherry-Tree Yard’ at -Rotherhithe. Just as we were going to embark, the ticket-man very -good-naturedly emerged, and coming to me said, ‘I do not know if you are -aware, sir, that you are taking all these ladies into a most rough and -dangerous part of London.’ I said we were only going to draw at the -wharf, when he was satisfied. But when we arrived, they would not let us -stay on the wharf. A man said, ‘I know of a most respectable -public-house where you can go: all the artists draw from thence.’ And -there we all sat, in great shade and comfort, under a wide verandah, -directly overhanging the river and overlooking the Pool, with all the -fine shipping which comes up to that picturesque reach of the -Thames--‘Dutch Crawls’ inclusive. - -“I dined with the Eustace Cecils, meeting, amongst others, Professor and -Mrs. Flower, of whom the former was holding Arthur Stanley’s hand when -he died. - -“At a quarter to five yesterday I went to Buckingham Palace--no string, -no crowd, no difficulty. By my ticket I had to enter through the hall -and rooms beyond it--the most picturesque way. The terrace was already -full of people, but the space is so vast there never could be a crowd, -and the scene was beautiful, looking down upon the sunlit lawns, the -lake and fountain, and the thousands of gaily-dressed people--the -splendid uniforms and lustrous robes and sparkling jewels of the Indians -glistening amongst them. It was impossible to find any one one looked -for, but one came upon hundreds of unexpected friends. Very few young -men seemed to have been asked, but there were galaxies of pretty girls. -One ancient Indian chief in white, with a flowing beard and a robe of -cloth of gold over his shoulders, was told he might salute the Queen. He -said he must do it after his fashion, which was to wipe the dust from -her feet with his handkerchief, and then kiss it. - -“The beloved Queen, though very hot and tired (she had been before to -revisit her birthplace at Kensington), looked very sweet and smiling, -and walked indefatigably from side to side of the long avenues of -people, shaking hands with different ladies. There was the usual -procession of princes and princesses, including the white-haired Duchess -of Mecklenbourg and the ever-pretty group of Hesse princesses. The -Princess Beatrice’s baby assisted at the party in her perambulator, -pushed by a nurse in white. A good deal of my time was taken up by the -Duchess of Cleveland insisting that she could have no refreshment but -lemonade, and that being quite a quarter of a mile off; but I could not -get it after all, through people ten deep in the refreshment tents. Some -of the guests were rowed by the Queen’s boatmen in their gorgeous -mediaeval costume upon the lake, with very pretty effect. The palace is -very handsome on the garden side.” - - * * * * * - -“_July 8, 1887._--I made rather friends at the Speaker’s with his eldest -boy, Willie Peel, and walked about with him on the terrace. He is in all -the first flush of people-seeing, and thinks everybody full of -originality; yet how few ever say more than something they have heard or -read long ago, and dug up out of some remote corner of their brain. He -is, however, delightful, and being evidently ambitious, will some day be -very distinguished, I should think. - -“How often one wishes one could enter society again, with one’s past -conversation like a white page, that where one could not say good of any -one, one had always kept silence. I sympathise with General Gordon -saying that one reason why he never desired to enter social life was the -very great difficulty of knowing people and not discussing others.” - - * * * * * - -“_July 9._--At Lambeth garden-party I sat with ----, whose marriage, an -admirable one, was quelched by worldly motives on the other side, sadly, -long ago. She spoke of the married happiness of her brilliant and -popular namesake ‘Yes, life for _her_ is always delightful now; but -_I_--but I!’--‘Where do you live?’--‘I don’t live, I exist.’ - -“I sat at dinner by Lady C, a very singular religious ‘talker,’ who -plunged at once into--‘I trust you are interested in the good -work.’--‘What good work?’--‘Raising the classes,’ and so on, and so on, -endless well-meant nonsense, in very grand expressions, till I longed to -say to her, and did, in other words, what Madame de Sévigné said to some -one, ‘Thicken me your religion a little; it is evaporating altogether by -being subtilised.’ I tried to dwell upon the really higher life (for she -had talked of her own neglected education), of teaching herself first as -much as possible, that she might help herself to teach her young son. I -suppose that, for her, would be the higher life. How much, in this -generation, ‘religious people’ are apt to forget John Wyckliff’s motto, -‘He who liveth best, prayeth best.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Sunday, July 10._--Sat in the afternoon in the garden at Lowther -Lodge, seeing a long diorama of people drop in and have tea. - -“Afterwards I ascended the great brick mansions close by to see Mrs. -Procter (Barry Cornwall’s widow), who is not the least aged in mind, and -apparently not in body. People thought she would be broken by her -daughter’s death; but constitutions, especially of the old, seldom take -any notice of heart-blows, though there is something touching in the way -she speaks of her lost daughters as ‘my Edith,’ ‘my Adelaide.’ People -call her ‘Our Lady of Bitterness,’ but her words have no touch of -sharpness. No one is more agreeable still: no one has more boundless -conversational powers: indeed, she often says of herself that ‘talking -is meat, drink, and clothing’ to her. Her sense of humour is exquisite; -she never speaks bad grammar herself, so she can never tolerate it in -others. She wears a front of _blonde cendré_, and boldly speaks of it -as a wig. Mr. Browning came in, and they were most amusing together. ‘My -wife thought you would not perhaps like to meet Mr. Labouchere, Mrs. -Procter?’ said Mr. Thompson of the _Pall Mall Gazette_, rather -interrogatively. ‘Your wife was quite right: had I found, on coming to -dine with you, that Mr. Labouchere was expected, I should have been -compelled to ask you at once to call me a cab.’--‘Ah! Labby, -Labby!--Hie, cabby, cabby!!’ cried Mr. Browning in the quaintest -way.[456] Mr. Browning goes to see Mrs. Procter every Sunday afternoon, -giving up all else for it. - -“Mrs. Procter has the almost lost art of conversation in the fullest -degree. Lord Houghton recollects how she was asked to meet Macaulay at -one of Rogers’ breakfasts. Afterwards she said to Rogers, ‘But where was -Macaulay?’--‘Why, he sat opposite to you!’--‘Was _that_ him? Why, I -always heard he was such a tremendous talker.’--‘So he is,’ said Rogers; -‘but you see I talked so much myself, I only left one opening, and that -_you_ took.’” - - * * * * * - -“_July 11._--Dined with the Seymour Hughes’s, where General Higginson -was full of indignation about the mismanagement of royal -invitations--that it was impossible for the Lord Chamberlain to do it -alone, but that he might have a committee--three or four men of the -Kenneth Howard kind--who would see that the right people were asked. The -Prince of Wales had said to one lady, ‘I did not see you at the -garden-party,’ and she had answered, ‘No, I was not asked; but my -dressmaker was.’” - - * * * * * - -“_July 15._--Dined with Mrs. Portman--a very large party. She told me -that, close to her country-house, a labourer had watched some boys -bathing, and thought how delightful was the way in which they dived, -floated, &c., and, though he could not swim, he determined that, on the -very first chance, he would enjoy the same amusement. Soon after, he was -sent to cut rushes with two other men. When his work was finished, he -remembered his wish, and did not even wait to undress, but, pulling off -his boots, jumped into the water with his clothes on. Soon he got into -a hole and began to sink. He called for help, and another of the men -jumped in, and was sucked into the hole also, and so the third. Mr. -Fitzhardinge Portman came up when it was all over, and said, ‘I will -ride on and break it to Mrs. W.,’ the wife of one of the men. As he -reached the cottage, Mrs. W. came out to meet him and said, ‘I know what -you have come to tell me, sir. Poor W. is dead.’--‘How can you know -it?’--‘Why, sir, just now my little girl came running in all awestruck, -and said that she had met a figure all in white in the wood-path down -which she always ran to meet her father; and then I knew it was a -warning.’ - -“There was a beautiful ball at Lowther Lodge--the Princess Christian -there and the garden illuminated, and looking, in that dress, as big as -the Green Park. I sat out with Lady Strathmore, full of all the -discomforts of a great inheritance--such endless details to be filled -up: such endless new responsibilities; and just what seems the wrong -things always left away. - -“I heard such a charming story of little Jane Smith the other day. Her -nurse told her to say her prayers. She wouldn’t; she said God wouldn’t -expect her to. ‘But He always expects it,’ said the nurse. ‘No, He -doesn’t,’ replied little Jane, ‘for I told Him the other day I couldn’t -say them, I was so sleepy, and He said, ‘Don’t mention it, _Miss -Smith_.’” - - * * * * * - -“_July 15._--Rain on St. Swithin’s Day. Lady Lyndhurst says, ‘Do you -know that he was three times Lord Chancellor of England, and that the -only man who has filled that office three times since was my lord.’ - -“Went to see Mrs. Ross,[457] a breeze from Castagnuolo in London. She -was full of the enchantment of a visit to Lacaita at Leucaspide, and of -a tour she had made to Otranto; to Lecce, where all the professors had -met to receive ‘una donna molta istruita’ at the museum, where she had -not known anything whatever of the subjects they discoursed upon, but, -by judicious silence and an occasional ‘si,’ had now the highest -opinions; to Manfredonia, where the inn is now kept by one Don Michele, -to whom the would-be sojourners have to be formally presented, when he -accepts or rejects them, with ‘mi piace’ or ‘non mi piace.’ On one of -these excursions she heard the sound of an instrument hitherto unknown -to her from a hollow below the road, and going down, found a boy playing -on a long pipe of birch-bark. ‘Cosa è questo?’--‘Il fischio della -primavera;’ and she bought it for ten centimes--the sweetest of music -and of instruments; but it only lasts a week, and can only be obtained -with the spring. - -“Afterwards I sat with Miss Seymour, who talked of the political state -of France, and of Kisseloff saying, ‘Ils se croient toujours malades -quand ils n’ont pas la fièvre.’ - -“Then to Mrs. Liddell (of Christ-Church). Princess Christian had just -been there for a committee for women’s work. Mrs. Liddell said she went -about immensely amongst the poor of Windsor, and had a district. Once, -when she went for a month to Berlin, she said to one of her poor women -that she was going away, but that she would be well looked after, as she -had got some one to take her place. ‘Yes, but it will not be the same to -me; for I shall have no one to tell my troubles to.’ - -“Mrs. Liddell had some capital oil-portraits. She asked who I thought -they were by. I supposed by young Richmond. ‘No; by my daughter -Violet.’” - - * * * * * - -“_July 16._--Luncheon with Lady Knightley and then to Osterley--a soft -warm day; the flowers, from the long drought, quite magnificent under -the dark cedars by the lake. - - ‘Look how the roses - Hold up their noses,’ - -said old Lord Ebury, with whom I walked about, and who begged Miss -Grosvenor not to leave him till she had found him an _innamorata_; which -she eventually did in the person of Lady Balfour of Burleigh, very -pretty in her attentions to the old man. Then the Duchess of -Mecklenbourg came, and also sat under the trees. Lady Wynford brought -Mr. Graham Vivian and me home, and I went to a Cinderella ball at Lady -Guinness’s--quite splendid; and though it began at ten and ended at -twelve, very crowded and successful, showing that the introduction of an -earlier hour for balls would be perfectly easy.” - - * * * * * - -“_July 17._--Met Mr. Reeve, the editor of the _Quarterly_. Mr. Tedder -reminded me of Mark Pattison’s speaking (in the _Academy_) of ‘those old -three-deckers--the _Edinburgh_ and the _Quarterly_; the latter of which -sets to sea under the guidance, apparently, of the Ancient Mariner.’ - -“I had luncheon yesterday with Mrs. Cyril Flower, the most amusingly -decided of women, and met young Lady Wenlock, pining to return to India, -where she enjoyed so much the languid life, or rather, as she called it, -the time for thought which the heat gave her. - -“A most pleasant dinner at Charlie Balfour’s, meeting a group of real -friends--Guy Sebright and his nice wife, Basil Levett and his sweet Lady -Margaret, and Sir John Maxwell, who is most simple, clever, and -pleasant,--delightful to be with. Minnie Balfour was full of Mrs. -Slingsby, whose curious old house in Yorkshire is so strangely haunted. -One hot night, very late, when her husband was away, Mrs. Slingsby sat -out on the terrace, and below her, in the park, saw the most brilliant -light apparently burning on the grass. She went down to it, reached it, -and it disappeared. Exactly that day year, she watched for it and saw it -again. That time she went behind it, and saw it between herself and the -house. - -“Lady Heathcote Amaury, whom I took down to dinner, said, ‘You know -young Lady Onslow was a daughter of Lord Gardner. She told me that her -father rented a place called Chilton from Colonel ----. When he took it, -Colonel ---- said, “As you are taking the place for some time, I think -perhaps it is my duty to tell you that the state bedroom is haunted. A -young ancestor of mine, dressed in a blue coat and breeches, with a -rose in his button-hole, comes in, arranges his hair at the mirror, -looks at the occupant of the room, throws up the window, and vanishes -through it. He does nobody any harm, and is excessively -pleasant-looking, still I ought not to let you take the place without -telling you.” - -“‘Lord Gardner said he did not care a bit; but the state bedroom had -very remarkable furniture,--a magnificent bed with curtains looped up by -gilt cherubs, and, after Lady Gardner heard the story, she got leave to -change the furniture, and the old hangings were carefully put away, and -modern furniture used instead. - -“‘Soon after some cousins of Lord Gardner, two ladies belonging to the -elder branch of the family, came from Scotland to stay, and were put -into that room. When they came down next morning, Lord Gardner asked the -elder if she had rested well after her journey. She answered, “Yes, -indeed, and I have had the most delightful dream: I dreamt that the room -I was in was furnished in the most beautiful way, with gilt cupids, -hangings, &c.,--and really what I dreamt was so charming that I longed -for you some time to be able to furnish the room just in that way. And -then--I seemed to be awake, but of course I could not have been--I saw a -young man of most beautiful countenance come into the room, dressed in a -blue coat, &c., which was quite in keeping with the room, and he went up -to the glass and arranged his hair, then he looked at me with a charming -expression upon his face, but just when he seemed going to speak, and I -was longing to know what he would say, he threw open the window, and -disappeared through it.” - -“‘Lady Onslow said, “You may imagine the breathless interest with which -we listened.”’ - - * * * * * - -“_July 17._--Supper at the Miss Hollands’. Met Mr. Turner, rather a -remarkable American. The sight of white roses made him say, ‘A white -rose comes home to me, Miss Holland, and I will tell you why. Many years -ago, in Philadelphia, I met a party of cousins, and we all spent the -evening together. A young cousin of mine--very pretty--was there, who -was lately married, and I was very glad to see her, and we talked much -together--so much together all evening that it was a matter of -comment--of foolish comment. When we parted, she gave me a white rose, -and she said, “You must keep that rose as long as we live.” I took the -rose home and pressed it. From time to time I heard from her afterwards, -but I never saw her, and I forgot the rose. Long afterwards I was in -Philadelphia again, and in the evening, opening a book, something fell -out on the floor: it was the white rose. I felt it an omen, and I said -to myself, “It is long since I heard of her; something has happened. I -will just go round to Uncle Joe’s and inquire.” I went, and found that -Uncle Joe knew nothing; but whilst I was there the news arrived that she -was dead. - -“‘The white rose, when it fell, had told me that already. - -“‘I believe in such things. I possess a looking-glass that I have long -had in my keeping. One day, there seemed no reason why, I saw it slide -from the table: it fell. The corner was broken off. I had it mended. -Almost immediately a cable was brought in announcing the death of a near -relation. Some time after it fell again. The other corner was broken -off. I said, “What is going to happen now?” The next day I heard of the -deaths of three intimate friends. So I said, “It will never do to go on -like this,” and I had the glass sawn down, and so framed and padded with -india-rubber at the back, that, if it fell, it was scarcely possible it -could be broken. Well, that--stopped it.’ - -“Mr. Turner gave a very curious account of the early state of many -American settlements--that the rivers or any running stream generally -marked the track for civilisation. It was easier to make a path along -them than anywhere else; a road followed, eventually a railway. Along -one of these tracks, many years ago, came annually a venerable old man. -People expected him--watched for his coming. He always came from the -east, and he was never observed to return: yet he came again from the -east in the following year. He was a kind of primitive missionary, -bringing Bibles, which he cut up, leaving parts in the different houses -he passed. Thus he would leave the Gospel of St. John one year, and the -next would call for it, and leave the Acts in its place. He had a -pocket-full of apple-seed, and wherever he stopped in the middle of the -day, he made a hole with his stick, and dropped one of his seeds into -it. People called him ‘Old John Apple-seed.’ Mr. Turner had seen many -fine apple-trees along the banks of streams, of which it was remembered -that they were planted by old John Apple-seed. - -“Mr. Turner described how primitive many of the early lines of railway -were, made at the rate of three miles a week. At Harrisburg several of -these lines met, and it was a very dangerous point. A poor half-witted -man found his vocation in life by joining trains at this point, and -running in front screaming, ‘The engine is coming: the engine is -coming.’ And thus he would run for miles, keeping just in front of the -train, and if he saw a child, would seize it and throw it out of the -way, and would often seize a woman by the shoulder, and would almost -lift her off the line; but at last, after many years, whilst saving -another, he was killed himself.” - - * * * * * - -“_July 18._--A party at Lady Bantry’s, where Lady Helen Stewart recited -a poem much like the above story. Dined with the Grants. Old Lady -Frances Higginson[458] frightened a mincing curate out of his life who -said to her, ‘Will you _take_ some potatoes?’ by saying in her most -abrupt way, ‘God bless my soul, aren’t you going to _give_ me some?’” - - * * * * * - -“_July 20._--At luncheon at the Higginsons’, I met the Storys from Rome, -very happy in London, but ‘it is surely a bad arrangement of Nature,’ he -said, ‘that one should have so many coats and only one body. I should -like to have several--a body to work with; and a young smart body to go -into society with; and the old body, which always sleeps so well, to go -to bed with.’ - -“At luncheon at Lady Airlie’s I met Henry Cowper,[459] Mr. Morley, Lady -Tweeddale, and Miss Betty Ponsonby. Henry Cowper talked of the -friendship between Bright and Tuke. They had always been intimate. Then -they loved the same woman. In his great friendship Tuke gave way, and -the lady became the first Mrs. John Bright. Afterwards they were greater -friends, and saw more of each other than ever: Bright would do anything -for Tuke. But the conversation was chiefly about Gladstone, giving -instances of his marvellous personal charm--of his way of telling -things, bearing out Goethe’s words-- - - ‘Märchen! doch so wunderbar, - Dichterkünster machen’s wahr.’ - -“Tea with Mrs. Ford--always interesting. She talked much of Dr. Morell -Mackenzie--well known to her. When he arrived at Berlin, he found six -great doctors waiting for him at the palace. They took him to a room -filled with knives, &c. ‘What are these for?’--‘For your choice in -operating upon the Crown Prince.’--‘But I can only operate upon him in -one way, that is my own;’ and he explained it. Four of the doctors -agreed with what he said, two violently opposed it. He was taken at once -to Bismarck, who said, ‘Do not consult me: ask me as many questions as -you like about _la haute politique_, but about this I can say nothing.’ -Then he was taken to the Emperor, to whom he explained his views. The -Emperor listened to all, and then only said quietly--turning to those -who were with him--‘Let the Englishman act.’ He then went at once to the -Crown Prince. He performed the operation with his own forceps, steeped -in cocotine, which deadens, absolutely paralyses the throat, and seizing -the wart, dragged--not cut--it out. It seemed like a terrible -responsibility for England, as if the life of the Crown Prince was in -its hands. - -“Mr. Browning described how he had been asked to dinner by two elderly -ladies--sisters. He did not know them, but it was very kind of them to -ask him, and he went. He met a very singular party at their -house--Gladstone, Mrs. Thistlethwayte, and others. Going down to dinner, -the lady who fell to his share suddenly said to him, ‘You are a poet, -aren’t you?’--‘Well, people are sometimes kind enough to say that I -am.’--‘Oh, don’t mind my having mentioned it: you know _Lord Byron was a -poet_!’ - -“Browning is unlike Tennyson; he does not write from inspiration, but by -power of work. He says he sets himself a certain number of lines to -write in a day, and he writes them. Sometimes he says, ‘To-morrow -morning I will write a sonnet; and he writes it. Nevertheless he is -always greater in aspiration than achievement. Mr. Carlyle could not -bear his poems. ‘What did the fellow mean by leaving that cart-load of -stones at my door?’ he said to Alfred Tennyson when Browning left one of -his poems there. - -“London is now always asking itself ‘What is the cause of this long -drought?’--‘Because we have had fifty years’ rain (reign).’ - -“Went to the Halifax’s in the evening to meet the Indian princes, and -then to Lady Lamington’s party, made exceedingly pretty by its arcaded -garden on the roof.” - - * * * * * - -“_Langleybury, August 2._--I am staying with Harry Loyd, who at -twenty-six is certainly as near perfection as any one can possibly be in -every relation of life--son, brother, friend, landlord, county magnate. -His mother and four sisters live with him, and their hospitalities are -boundless.” - - * * * * * - -“_August 28._--Little Holmhurst has been full of summer guests--gentle -Lady Donoughmore and Lady Margaret Hamilton, Lady Airlie and Lady -Griselda Ogilvie, Basil Levett and his Lady Margaret, Lady Sherborne, -and lastly George Jolliffe and Lady Bloomfield, the latter a constant -ripple of interesting anecdote.” - - * * * * * - -“_Tatton Park, Sept. 2, 1887._--The large party in this large pleasant -hospitable house has included the Archbishop of Canterbury and Mrs. -Benson, with their daughter--the ‘modest philosopher,’ as Miss Egerton -aptly calls her. We have been to Manchester to see the exhibition of all -the works of artists of Victoria’s reign--a very fine collection, from -the vapid works of Etty and the hard commonplaceness of the earlier -Landseers to the noble ‘Christ or Diana’ of Long, which struck most of -us as the grandest and most expressive work amongst such multitudes. -There is a curious contrast between the last and this Lady Egerton, who -cannot enjoy life enough herself, or contribute enough to making it -enjoyable for others. - -[Illustration: THE GARDEN, HOLMHURST.] - -“We have just been across the park to the old Hall, where a fine timber -roof remains, very richly carved; and we have driven to Tabley and its -old isleted hall in the lake, so mysteriously beautiful, which the -family abandoned two hundred and fifty years ago, leaving all its -contents in the deserted house, so that you still see the open spinnet -with the mouldering keys, the lace half worked on the cushion, the -flax half spun on the distaff in the little low rooms, with their carved -furniture and fireplaces, opening, in two stories, around the great -timbered hall. - -[Illustration: THE RAVENNA PINE, HOLMHURST.] - -“Raglan Somerset is here, unspeakably funny, so _décousu_ in his -conversation, which never stops for an instant. I like also Lord and -Lady Rayleigh: he is learned, but perfectly simple, and she, _née_ -Balfour, is thoroughly pleasant and unsophisticated. Miss Mary Egerton, -very handsome, with her grey hair and youthful animated countenance, is -a delightful addition to the party. But the great, the real pleasure to -me, has been finding Derek Keppel (Lord Bury’s second son and -brother-in-law of the only daughter of the house) almost domesticated -here: I like him so very much, certainly better than any one I know in -the same degree. It is Sunday, and we have been to the new church at -Aston, built by Lord and Lady Egerton without an architect, and so -pleasant to look upon inside that an old man said, ‘Why, sir, one can be -cheerful in it, even when one is saying one’s prayers.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Woodlands, Glassbury, Sept. 7._--I came here through the lovely Church -Stretton country, stopping at picturesque Shrewsbury on the way to stay -with the Bishop of Lichfield and Augusta. Yesterday we went by rail -through the beautiful but drippingly wet valleys to visit the Venables -near Builth. Our host was the well-known and severe critic in the -_Saturday_--a pleasant old man to visitors, but evidently awful to the -younger members of his family. - -“Augusta had many interesting reminiscences of Lord Beaconsfield. One -day, at luncheon, she offered him the mustard. ‘I never take mustard,’ -he replied in his sepulchral voice. ‘Oh, don’t you?’ she said airily. -‘No,’ he continued in solemnest tones. ‘There are three things I have -never used: I have never touched mustard; I have never had a watch; and -I have never made use of an umbrella.’--‘Well,’ said Augusta, ‘I can -understand the mustard--that is a mere matter of taste; but surely going -without the other things must have been sometimes rather -inconvenient.’--‘And why should I want them?’ continued Disraeli more -sepulchrally than ever. ‘I live under the shadow of Big Ben, and there -is a clock in every room of the House of Commons, so that I cannot -possibly require a watch; and as I always go about in a close carriage, -I can never want an umbrella.’ Disraeli was always full of these small -affectations.” - - * * * * * - -“_Woodlands, Sept. 8._--This is a charming visit, and the place is -delightful--close to the glistening Wye, with green hills--‘mountains’ -in Welsh--folding around, exquisite in the soft haze of early morning. - -“Augusta has been giving an interesting account of Champlatreux in -France, belonging to the Duc d’Ayen, a representative of the De Noailles -family. In the château is preserved the precious volume of the -‘Imitation of Christ,’ which the young Duchesse de Noailles used in the -prison of the Luxembourg, where she devoted herself to keeping up the -courage of her mother-in-law and daughter. When the three generations of -the House of Noailles were summoned together to the scaffold, the -Duchesse was reading aloud to her fellow-prisoners from the chapter of -the ‘Chemin de la Croix.’ She turned down the page at that point and -gave the book to one of her companions in prison, begging her, if she -ever escaped, to convey it, as a memorial, to the De Noailles family.” - - * * * * * - -“_Sept. 10._--Two pleasant days with Graham Loyd in his charming cottage -at Sketty near Swansea, and a great cementing of friendship with him. -The first day he took me by a terrible path overhanging an unprotected -chasm opposite the Mumbles. All the population of Swansea seem to pour -out to drink in the neighbourhood of the Mumbles. ‘You want to close the -public-houses at Swansea, that men may get drunk at the Mumbles,’ said -Judge Bradwin, in opposing the Sunday-closing movement. At the same time -he said that he did not see any more reason why men should call beer a -‘pernicious liquor’ than that they should call water a ‘drowning fluid.’ - -“We have been to luncheon at Clyne, where Graham Vivian has an unkempt -but beautiful place, full of fine Italian treasures, and have dined at -Singleton with Lady Hussey Vivian.[460] Besides this, we have had a -wonderful drive, by heath, sandhill, and precipice, through the strange -district of Gower, where all the houses are whitewashed, and where there -are constant wrecks on the rock-girt coast, though a great bell tolls -eerily through the night on a sandbank, with the waves for its ringers.” - - * * * * * - -“_Sept. 12._--Two days at the Deanery at Llandaff, where family -furniture and pictures--familiar from Alderley, Norwich, Canterbury, -Oxford days--give a homelike aspect. - -“Kate said that when she was in Madeira last year, a Mr. Husband, a -dentist from Hull, was staying in the same hotel. She had heard that he -had seen a ghost there, and she asked him about it. It was only on being -very much pressed that he told how that one night, when he was in his -bed in the hotel, a young man in lawn-tennis dress came in, stood at the -foot of the bed, and pointed with his finger at the pillow. Mr. H. was -not frightened, only annoyed, and asked the young man what he wanted. He -did not speak, and continued to point at the pillow. At last Mr. Husband -was so irritated that he said, ‘Well, if you will neither speak nor go -away, take that,’ and dealt him a blow, but his hand only seemed to sink -into cold icy vapour, and the apparition vanished. - -“Next day Mr. Husband told the landlord of the hotel what had happened, -when he said, ‘Your story is very extraordinary, because a young man, -who was staying here for some time, and was treated by a doctor for a -very slight ailment, died in that bed under very suspicious -circumstances; and, as long as he was about, that young man was never -seen out of lawn-tennis dress.’ - -“Afterwards Mr. Husband heard of that young Mr. Hyndeman from other -people in Madeira. They remembered him perfectly. He was very silent and -shunned all society, and he was never out of lawn-tennis dress.” - - * * * * * - -“_Sept. 16._--A happy visit at cheerful merry Hardwick, which unites -the charms of an interesting house, of exquisite gardens, and most -varied and amusing society. There is a curious picture there of -Elizabeth Drury reclining on her side with her hand under her head, -which perhaps led to the story that she died of a box on the ear. She -was a great friend of Wotton and of Donne, who wrote verses to her, and -also her epitaph.” - - * * * * * - -“_Sept. 19._--A visit to the Ordes at Hopton, in the flat marshy country -near Yarmouth--a happy united family, with a very beautiful eldest -daughter, Evelyn. Hopton village is the Blunderstone of ‘David -Copperfield.’ Charlie Orde took me to Caister, the grandest fragment of -a castle I ever saw--so very lofty a tower rising abruptly from the edge -of a very wide moat. On Sunday we saw the great low-lying lake of -Flitton, which belongs to one of the Buxtons.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS LEYCESTER. - -“_Sept. 22._--On Monday I went to Sculthorpe, near Fakenham, where I saw -the site of the old manor-house, part of the property which came to -Bishop Hare through his marriage with Mary-Margaret Alston. It has the -odd name of Hos Tendis. Only the foundation-walls exist now, with -remains of the moat, overhung with old apple-trees. The church is a very -fine one, and the existing manor-house, Cranmer, is an exceedingly -handsome, pleasant house inside. Sir Laurence Jones, who lives there, -had brought out quantities of old Hare and Alston deeds to show me: it -was odd to see them there, but they had been sold with the property. - -“My kind host, the Rector, Herbert Jones, the squire’s uncle, was the -picture of old-fashioned courtesy. His wife, a Gurney, sister of Mrs. -Orde at Hopton, is well known for her archaeological writings. They took -me, with their niece Miss Laura Troubridge and her betrothed, Adrian -Hope, to the beautiful old brick and terra-cotta house of Wolterton, -with a very fine gateway. - -“Yesterday we went to Houghton, in a well-timbered park--a house full of -stately magnificence. The present Lord Cholmondeley has sold many of its -treasures, but, though much has been taken away, it is especially -interesting because nothing has been added since the time of Sir Robert -Walpole. George, Lord Walpole, destroyed the grand staircase of the -house, so that you now have to enter through the basement, instead of in -state by the grand hall on the first floor, where Sir Robert and his -companions used to carouse, and where the chairs which they used still -remain, with the rings in the ceiling which supported the scales for -weighing deer. The pictures are interesting--Sir Robert over and over -again, with his beloved first wife, Catherine Shorter, and his inferior -second wife Maria Skerret; his daughter and heiress, who brought the -place to the Cholmondeleys; and his sister Dorothy, who still walks as a -ghost at Rainham, where she was the wife of Lord Townshend, who is said -to have walled her up in a spot where bones have been found, supposed to -be hers. - -“In one of the drawing-rooms is a glorious picture of the Duchess of -Ancaster, who was sent to bring Princess Charlotte of -Mecklenbourg-Strelitz to England when she came to marry George III. -‘Pug, pug, pug!’ cried the people when they saw her appearance as she -was entering London. ‘Vat is dat they do say--poog?’ said the Princess, -‘vat means poog?’--‘Oh, that means, God bless your Majesty,’ promptly -replied the Duchess, without the slightest hesitation. The pictures -which are not portraits are wretched, chiefly bad copies. - -“In the grounds is the little garden of Catherine, Lady Walpole, which -in her time was surrounded by a yew hedge. Now the yews have grown into -tall trees and are interweaving overhead above the little grassy circle. - -“I came last night to the Locker-Lampsons at Cromer, finding Julia, Lady -Jersey, Brandling, Lady Kathleen Bligh, and Rollo Russell here. To-day -we have been to Blickling, where we found Lady Lothian and Lady Pembroke -walking in the radiantly beautiful garden of the grand old house. Lady -Lothian showed it all delightfully--the staircase, with its carved -figures on the banisters; the tapestried rooms; the long library with a -very rich ceiling, the room itself in exquisite harmony with its ranges -of wonderful old books. At tea in the dining-room Baroness Coutts -appeared, and many other unexpected persons dropped in.” - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL. - -“_Salisbury, Sept. 28._--A very delightful visit to Canon Douglas -Gordon[461] and Lady Ellen, full of old-fashioned peculiarities and -brimming over with real excellence. One son, George, is at home, a -successful young architect, and two daughters, of whom the eldest is a -good artist. The Canon is interesting in his recollections--amongst many -others, of the Queen Dowager, whom, as Rector of Stanmore, he saw -constantly; and a portrait of her with the last words she ever wrote -beneath it--her gift to him--hangs over the drawing-room chimney-piece. -Near it is a very old oil-picture of Balmoral, interesting because the -sight of that picture first decided the Queen to buy the place, which -she had not then visited: it also shows how exactly her large modern -house follows the main lines of the old Scotch castle. - -“Canon Gordon says that instantly after the Queen Dowager’s death, when -they were all in tears, and all the servants were waiting in the hall -for the last news of their mistress, they were startled by a tremendous -knocking at the door and a trumpet blowing, and three men entered with -the announcement, ‘We are the royal embalmers, and we are come to -perform our duty!’ They had actually been waiting outside--waiting for -the first announcement of the death. In this case, however, they were -sent away, as Queen Adelaide had left especial orders that her body was -not to be embalmed. - -“In the Canonry garden here is a fine mulberry-tree. The _only_ fact -remembered about the old Canon who planted it is that whilst it was -being placed in the ground the cathedral bell rang for service, and the -gardener said, ‘You’ll be late for church, sir: the bell is ringing.’ To -which the Canon rejoined, ‘Church be d--d; but I’ll see this mulberry -planted.’ A lesson to be careful of what one says. - -“Yesterday I went to Wilton in the pony-carriage with Miss Gordon, who -left me there. Lady Pembroke[462] soon came in in her riding-habit, and -took me at once through the beautiful brilliant gardens ending in the -old building still called ‘Holbein’s Porch,’ though it is now far away -from the house to which it once belonged. Then we walked on the sunny -lawns swept by the massy branches of grand old cedars and intersected by -three rivers, over one of which is a beautiful Palladian bridge like -that at Prior Park. - -“Somehow Lady Pembroke is a person with whom one begins to talk -intimately very soon, and her own conversation is most original and -delightful. But she spoke much of her wish that religion was ‘not so -very odd,’--of her intense craving to know something, _anything_ -tangible, about a future state. She had been seeing the Roman Mr. Story -lately, who has been much amongst spiritualists, had heard speaking -spirits, and had the very utmost faith in them. The spirits all -confirmed faith in a future state. Once a bad spirit came; its language -was perfectly horrible: in life it had been a pirate! - -“Returning to the house, we saw the Vandykes, which are most glorious. -There is a very curious contemporary picture of the coronation of -Richard II. in the presence of his patron saints and of the heavenly -host. Lady Pembroke talked on and on, and when I got up to go, kept me: -but it was most interesting, and I would willingly have listened for -many hours more. Eventually she went with me to the end of the grounds, -and let me out at a postern-gate in the wall. - -“To-day we have been to tea with the Pigott family, who live in George -Herbert’s rectory (which he built) at Bemerton. It is a lovely spot, -with the little church (vulgarised inside by glazed tiles), beneath the -altar of which he is believed to rest. The garden reaches to the clear -rushing Madder, full of trout and grayling, and has a beautiful view of -the cathedral across the water-meadows. We saw the register with the -notice of the burial of ‘Mr. George Herbert, Esquire, parson of this -place,’[463] and his old study with its very thick walls: but he was -only at Bemerton two years, leading a life ‘little less than sainted, -though not exempt from passion and choler,’ as his brother, Lord Herbert -of Cherbury, tells us in his memoirs. Americans come in crowds to see -the place, and can often repeat half his poems. Mr. Pigott asked one of -them to spend the night there, and in the morning inquired how he had -slept. ‘Sleep,’ he said, ‘do you suppose I could sleep in George -Herbert’s house? Why, I sat up all night thinking of him.’”[464] - - * * * * * - -“_Oct. 2._--Again at Highcliffe with Lady Waterford, whose conversation -is as charming as ever. - - ‘And thy eternal summer shall not fade,’ - -is a line of Shakspeare which seems ever to apply to her. Here are some -fragments from her lips:-- - -“‘That is like the priest who, when he was remonstrated with for eating -meat on Friday, said, “All flesh is grass.” - -“‘When I was young, I delighted in Tittenhanger.[465] We used to post -down from London--a most delightful drive then. I thought it all -charming--the old house, and a wood with bluebells, and the Colne, a -mere dull sluggish stream, I suppose, but it had frogs and bulrushes, -and I found it enchanting. A few years ago I thought I would post down -to Tittenhanger in the old way, but it was a street all the way to -Barnet, and when the people saw the white horses and postillion in blue, -they came crowding round; for, though it was only my little maid -Boardman and me, they thought, “Now we shall see them: now we shall see -the newly-married pair.” - -“The Duc d’Aumale is married. He married Mademoiselle Clinchamps, who -was lady-in-waiting to the Princess of Salerno, the Duchesse d’Aumale’s -mother. She does the honours of his house, but it is a sort of -morganatic marriage.... Madame Adelaide was married too to one of the -generals.... I remember the Aumales riding through the green avenues -near Ossington; Mary Boyle was with them. She was a most excellent -horsewoman, but a great gust of wind came, and the whole edifice of her -chignon was blown off before she could stop it. The little Prince de -Condé was very young then, and he was riding with her. He picked it up -and said, “I will keep it in my pocket, and then, when we reach -Thoresby, you can go away quietly and get it put on;” and so she did. -That young Condé used to say, “I am not _le grand Condé_; I am _le petit -Condé_.” ... Madame de Genlis used to write to Louis Philippe--“Sire et -cher enfant.” - -[Illustration: THE MANOR WALK, HOLMHURST.] - -“‘That Lord Shrewsbury[466] you were speaking of received Henri V. at -Alton Towers--received him as king of France, and dressed up all the -people of the different lodges to represent the different nations of -Europe giving him welcome. It was he who made the beautiful gardens. -There is a bust of him there, and inscribed beneath it--“He made the -desert to smile.” “And I don’t wonder at it,” said Lady Marian (Alford) -when she saw the bust: he was so comically hideous.’” - - * * * * * - -Whilst I was away on my visits, I had left my dear old cousin Charlotte -Leycester provided with companions at Holmhurst during the annual summer -visit of several months, which had never failed since my mother’s death. -I felt that thus my mother’s home, thus her own especial room, were -fulfilling what she would most have wished for them. And (though, unlike -my gentle mother, Calvinistic, vehement, with a habit of constantly -“improving the occasion,” and utterly intolerant still of all that did -not agree with her in religious matters), the beloved and beautiful old -cousin, at nearly ninety, was this year more than ever occupied by plans -and thoughts for the good of all around her, more full of spiritual -meditation herself, lifting her own heart and mind into celestial -dwelling-places. For her truly one might say, “The poetry of earth is -never dead,” and I often found that I knew little of the natural charms -of my own little home till she had shown them. “Speak to the earth and -it shall teach thee” is a verse of Job for which she had a constant -application, and the shrubs and flowers--at Holmhurst always planted in -the same places--were intimate and familiar friends to her-- - - “Still within this life, - Though lifted o’er its strife.”[467] - -Sunday was always her great delight--a Sunday to be dealt with as John -Knox would have used it, and a church service freed from anything of -ritual, but with an extempore preacher if possible. She felt, “I always -like my victuals hot when I can get them,” as an old woman said in -reference to her preacher. Latterly, however, Charlotte Leycester was -scarcely able to hear sermons, though, as she wrote to me during my last -absence,--“I always _enjoy_ the sermon, though I do not hear it; for, as -our old friend George Herbert says, ‘God takes a text, and preaches -patience,’ and I can generally catch all texts quoted, which helps me to -follow the drift, like finding one stone after another in crossing a -current.” - -[Illustration: ROSNY.][468] - -When turned to her reminiscences of the past, her conversation was often -very interesting. I remember her telling me this summer of her visit to -Paris in 1827, and going to the Royal Chapel, into which came the king, -Louis XVIII., and the Duchess d’Angoulême with full evening dress in the -morning and feathers on her head. When the king entered, a great picture -of our Lord hung opposite where he was to sit, to which the master of -the ceremonies seemed to introduce him--“Le roi.” “At Rosny, a beautiful -old château with chestnut avenues, to which we drove out one October -evening after dining at Mantes, we saw the Duchesse de Berri. Most -amusing the travelling then was, with the postillions in blue and in -great jack-boots, into which they had to be lifted, with the blowing of -their horns at every village we passed through.” - - * * * * * - -A few days after I reached home, two more volumes of mine were -published, “Paris” and “Days near Paris.” They had been the engrossing -work of the last two years. My hourly thought had been for them, and I -had taken all the pains I could with them. I knew their faults, and know -them still; but all the same I am conscious, and I am sure it is not -conceit, that no better general books on those subjects have ever been -written,--certainly in French there is nothing of the kind. I suppose it -is one of the penalties of a lonely life, of having no near belongings, -that it seemed--perhaps a little bathos as regarded the subjects which -had filled one’s life--that no one spoke of them; that day after day -passed on, and no one ever mentioned their existence. And then came a -Review--a leading article indeed--in the _Athenæum_, not of mere abuse -of the books, though no words were strong enough for that, but of such -bitter personal malignity against myself, as gave one the shuddering -conviction that one must indeed have an enemy as virulent as he was -unscrupulous. “Turn author,” says Gray, “and straightway you expose -yourself to pit, boxes, and gallery: any coxcomb in the world may come -in and hiss if he pleases; ay, and what is almost as bad, clap too, and -you cannot hinder him.” Most of the Reviews of my books have been -unfavourable, but the books have always contrived to outlive them; and -generally, when they have been found fault with, I have felt almost -grateful for such lessons of humility, and have longed to say with -Goethe, “Pray continue to make me acquainted with my own work.” Even -honest reviewers, however, seldom read beyond the first chapter of a -book; _that_ they usually read, and occasionally criticise; but even -then the tendency to save themselves trouble generally causes a great -deal of copying. I have always found that a first Review has influenced -all the others except the very best. The excessive injustice and -untruthfulness this time made me understand the pain which Chatterton -felt, especially when it was said that the hundred and forty-seven -quotations, which I had been at such pains to find for my “Versailles,” -were “all taken second-hand from Dussieux’ History” of that palace, -though I am assured that not one (!!) of them is to be found there, -except the few taken from S. Simon, the especial historian of -Versailles, to which any one writing about it would naturally apply. - - “Every white will have its black, - And every sweet its sour,” - -and though serious disappointments are always a most bitter medicine, -life becomes much the same again after they are once swallowed and -assimilated. I know they must be good for one, like all the other -humiliations of--is it?--yes, I suppose in a right spirit it may be, _le -chemin de la croix_. Still I often wonder whether the writer of such an -article, when he _knows_ it is false and unjust, as this writer must -have done, does it with pleasure in taking away an author’s innocent -enjoyment in the birth of his book-child. In most cases of personal -injustice and injury, I am sure that it answers to take some secret -opportunity of doing something very kind towards the aggressor--it -“takes out the taste;” but when the intentional injury is anonymous, one -is deprived of even this consolation. Yet, to a certain extent, an inner -consciousness of high aims and disinterested intentions may raise a -screen against the base scurrilousness with which every one is assailed -at some time in their lives. Fortunately, also, I have never -quite--though very nearly--had to put in practice the maxim that-- - - “Those who live to please must please to live.” - -It is curious, certainly, how one has only to turn to the pages of a -book which collects Reviews of past authors, like “Alibone’s -Dictionary,” to find plentiful consolation. I chanced to open it on -Thackeray, and found the _Edinburgh Review_, after abusing “Esmond” in -the most contemptuous tones, saying patronisingly, “If Esmond had been -confined within as short limits, it might have taken rank with the -‘Defence of Natural Society,’ but a parody three volumes long becomes -tiresome.” The same _Edinburgh Review_ advised Byron to abandon poetry -and apply his talents to some better use; and declared Coleridge’s -“Christabel” to be “a thing utterly destitute of value.” I think it is -Montaigne who says, “Aucun chemin de fleurs ne conduit à la gloire.” - - - - -XXV - -IN PLEASURE AND PAIN - - “Why, of all the countless faces which I meet as I walk down the - Strand, are the enormous majority failures--deflections from the - type of beauty _possible_ to them?”--DEAN CHURCH. - - “Before the beginning of years there came to the making of man, - Time with a gift of tears, Grief with a glass that ran.” - --SWINBURNE. - - “From the black depths, the ashes, and the dross - Of our waste lives, we reach out to the Cross, - And by its fulness measure all our loss.” - --WHITTIER. - - -In the middle of October I went North for a short time. - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL. - -“_Thoresby, Oct. 20, 1887._--A visit here has been charming--its inmates -all so filled with kindness and goodness of every description, and Lady -Manvers so very agreeable--‘une conversation si nourrie.” Nothing could -exceed the dying splendour of the autumnal tints in the forest, of which -we saw a great deal, as we sat out through the whole of each morning -drawing amongst the tall golden bracken, over which the great antlers -of a stag were now and then uplifted. My companions were Lady Mary -Pierrepont, very pretty and charming, and Mrs. Trebeck, daughter and -sister of a Bishop Wordsworth, who is here with her husband, Canon -Trebeck of Southwell, a very singular and admirable muscular Christian. -They have asked me to visit them. The first day of my visit I was -delighted to meet Lord and Lady Montagu, unusually pleasant people, with -a very nice daughter.” - - * * * * * - -“_Southwell, Oct. 21._--Lord Manvers--kindest of hosts--sent me here, -fourteen miles. It is a tiny town clustered around its--chiefly -Norman--minster. The beautiful chapter-house has a wreathed door, before -which Ruskin stood for an hour when he was here, motionless in rapt -contemplation. On one of the old Norman pillars on the right of the nave -are remains of a fresco of the Annunciation, evidently painted over an -altar of the Virgin: on the other side are traces of a very early organ. -In the graveyard is the tomb of Robert Lowe, Lord Sherbrooke’s father. -The Sub-dean and his wife are the centre around which the whole little -place revolves with its society and charities. The Bishop, who lives in -the country, seems rather to despise Southwell and to wish his cathedral -had been at Nottingham. - -“We went from Thoresby to Rufford,[469] a curious old low-lying house -containing much fine tapestry, but where the old furniture is greatly -made up. The house has an obstreperous ghost, that especially haunted -the room which Augustus Lumley chose as his own, and frightened his -pug-dog out of its wits; for beyond that room is a little chamber in -which a girl was once shut up and starved to death; but since some bones -have been found under one of the passages and received christian burial, -the ghost has been laid. There is a portrait of a boy who was taken as a -baby from gipsies and brought up in the house, but who disappeared after -he grew up and never was heard of again: it was supposed that the -impulse was too strong, and that he rejoined the tribe he came from.” - - * * * * * - -“_Raby Castle, Oct. 25._--The Duchess of Cleveland has been describing -Lord Crawford’s interview with a famous clairvoyant. Lord Crawford saw -the medium go and hold his head in the fire: the flames played round him -and he was quite unhurt. Then the medium said he could make Lord -Crawford impervious to fire: ‘Would he like it?’ He said ‘yes,’ and the -medium took a large live coal from the fire and put it on the palm of -one of his hands, which was entirely unhurt, though the coal was left -upon it, and Lord Crawford was told to light his cigar at it, which he -did. The clairvoyant then said, ‘Your other hand is not impervious: -touch the coal with it,’ and he touched the coal which lay in the palm -of his left hand, and one of the fingers of his right hand bears the -marks of it still.” - - * * * * * - -“_Oct. 26._--It has been a great pleasure during this visit that the -Duke[470] has come in each morning for talk, generally more or less -narrative--in which he rises suddenly from his chair, walks rapidly -backwards and forwards to the fire, and then sits down again, always -with his sharp fiery restless look; but all he says most interesting. -To-day he told of his father’s early life,--sent to Oxford with a tutor, -Mr. Lipscombe, then abroad for three years, spent chiefly at Orleans -learning French with John, Duke of Bedford (the father of Lord Russell). -The Duke of Dorset was ambassador then, and took the two young men to -Versailles, where they played billiards with Marie Antoinette. The -French aristocracy were quite unconscious then of the coming danger, and -would not believe in the serious state of politics. The Duc de Bouillon -was the great person, and they stayed with him in the country. They went -on to Rome, where Cardinal York was then living. They went to his weekly -receptions, where he was always treated as royalty. ‘The Duchesse -d’Albanie gave my father a ring,’ said the Duke, ‘but after my father’s -death it was stolen from the Duchess Elisabeth by her maid. All young -men stayed abroad their three years at that time, and so did my father, -then as soon as he came home he was married to my mother, who was the -Duke of Bolton’s daughter. - -“‘For myself, I went to Paris at eighteen in diplomacy, and was there -for many years. I spoke French better than English, and lived entirely -in French society. Thiers I knew intimately in all the different phases -of his life. He was said to have had an intrigue with Madame Dombes. I -don’t know how that may have been, but he married her daughter, and she -made him a very good wife. He always began his writing at six, when he -had a cup of coffee, and he wrote on--no one being allowed to disturb -him--till 12 A.M., which was the hour of _déjeûner_, and it was this -which enabled him to write his histories; when he was in office he had -not time. He and Guizot were always rivals. - -“‘I was in Paris in Louis Philippe’s time, but not under the -Restoration. Many of the Dames de la Cour of the older time, however, -were still in Paris, and had _salons_--Madame de Noailles, &c. I used to -see much of Princess Charlotte de Rohan, who had been privately married -to the Duc d’Enghien, and whose excitement was great when Louis Philippe -was appointed. I was at Marienbad when the news of that revolution came, -and posted back to Paris at once: we expected great difficulty on the -way, but there was none. I saw the barricades, however, in the early -_émeute_ of Louis Philippe’s time, and the people with their passions -roused, and the _gamins_ who used to come under the windows of the -Palais Royal and call for the king till he came out and made them a bow: -it was the regular thing that was done. - -“‘I was at Paris when the Duc de Bourbon hung himself. Cuvier and -another great naturalist were sent down to examine into it, and they -both said he must have done it himself; but the Legitimists declared it -was an arrangement between the Orleanists and Madame de Feuchères, who -shared his property between them. - -“‘I was at Coppet with Auguste de Staël a few years after Madame de -Staël died: he asked Sismondi to meet me there and several others. Old -Madame Necker--Madame de Staël’s mother--had a very remarkable _salon_ -in Paris: her daughter was Duchesse de Broglie and her grand-daughter -married the Comte d’Haussonville, whom I knew very well: but, oh! it is -more than half a century ago now that I was at Coppet.’ - - * * * * * - -“_Oct. 27._--Mrs. Forester, wife of the Duke’s nephew, who is here, has -told me much that is curious. - -“‘An old Mrs. Sauchiehall, unfortunately dead now, told Lady Vane that -when she was a girl at Doncaster, at a famous school of that time, she -made a very intimate friendship with two other girls, and when they -parted, they made each other a solemn vow that if either of the three -were in any real trouble in after life, the others would do all they -could to help her. - -“They parted, and Mrs. Sauchiehall married in Cumberland--married twice, -and became a second time a widow. Life had seemed constantly to drift -her away from her old friends. At last, at Marienbad, she met one of -them, then Mrs. A., and spent some weeks there with her, renewing all -their old intimacy. - -“Mrs. A. told her that she had always continued to be on terms of the -most extreme intimacy with their third friend--Lady B. Her own story had -been a very sad one. She had been left a widow with several children, -and almost in a state of destitution. In all her troubles, she had -continued to confide in Lady B., who never lost sight of her. At one -time especially, Lady B. was perplexed as to how she could help her, and -spoke of it to her husband, who said, ‘Well, there is at least one thing -I could do for her: there is that old place of ours in Dorsetshire, -where nobody lives. It is all being kept up for nothing, so if Mrs. A. -likes to go and inhabit it, she is quite welcome; only, you know, she -ought to be told that it is said to be haunted.’ - -“Lady B. made the proposal to Mrs. A., who was enchanted, and she moved -at once with her children to the house in Dorsetshire, where she seemed -to find a refuge from her troubles and every comfort. She asked the -servants whom she found in the house about the ghosts, and they said, -‘Oh yes, the great hall and the rooms beyond it are said to be haunted, -but we never go there, and the ghosts never come to our part of the -house, so we are never troubled by them in the least.’ For several years -Mrs. A. lived most happily in the old house, and nothing happened. - -“At last, on one of her children’s birthdays, she invited some children -from the neighbourhood to come and play with her own children, who -begged that, after tea, they might all go and play hide-and-seek in the -great disused hall. The children had finished their games, and Mrs. A. -was alone in the hall setting things to rights afterwards, about 8 P.M. -in the evening, with an unlighted candle in her hand, when she heard -some one call out loudly, ‘Bring me a light! bring me a light!’ Then, -almost immediately, the door from the inner passage leading to the -farther rooms opened, and a lady rushed in, beautifully dressed in -white, but with all her dress in flames. She ran across the hall -screaming ‘She’s done it! she’s done it!’ and vanished through a door on -the other side. Mrs. A. instantly lighted her candle, and ran with it up -the passage from which the lady had emerged, but she found all the -doors locked. The next night, at exactly the same hour, she came again -to the hall, and exactly the same thing happened. She then wrote to Lady -B. that she should be obliged to leave the place, unless Lord B. could -explain the mystery. - -“Lord B. then said that an ancestress of his--a widowed Lady B.--had an -only son, who fell in love with the charming daughter of a neighbouring -clergyman. The young lady was lovely, fascinating, and very well -educated, but the mother regarded it as a mésalliance and would not hear -of it. The young man, who was a very dutiful son, consented to gratify -his mother by waiting, and went abroad for two years. After that time, -as their attachment was unbroken, and he was of age, he married the -young lady. - -“It was with joyful surprise that the young married pair received a very -kind letter from the mother, saying that as all was now settled, she -should make a point of welcoming the bride as her daughter, and always -living happily with her afterwards. They went home to the mother at the -old house which Lord B. had lent to Mrs. A., and were most kindly -received. All seemed perfectly smooth. At last a day came on which the -mother had invited an immense party to be introduced to and do honour to -the bride. The evening arrived, and the young lady was already dressed, -when her mother-in-law came into the room, kissed her affectionately, -and then said to her son, ‘Now that she is indeed my daughter, I am -going to fetch the family diamonds, that I may have the pleasure of -decorating her with them myself.’ The diamonds spoken of were really -the property of the son, but he had never liked to irritate his mother -by claiming them, and rejoiced that his wife should accept them from -her. - -“The mother then went to fetch the diamonds, the son lighting her. As -they were coming back, they heard the voice of the young lady calling to -her husband to bring her a light. ‘Oh, I will take it to her,’ cried the -mother suddenly, and snatched the candle out of his hand. In another -instant the girl rushed by with her white dress enveloped in flames, -screaming ‘She’s done it! she’s done it!’ The mother confessed that her -hate and jealousy had been too much for her. - -“Now the house is pulled down, and a railway passes over its site. - -“Another curious story, told by Mrs. Sauchiehall to Lady Vane, was that -of a young lady, a great Cumberland heiress, who was engaged to be -married, but who pined away from some mysterious and causeless illness. -As there was no definite reason for her being ill, so nothing seemed to -do her any good, but she wasted constantly, and at last she died. After -her death, her old nurse, who had been her devoted attendant, rather -surprised those who knew her by insisting upon leaving the place and -moving to the south of England. A cousin succeeded to the property, but -did not prosper. His wife died, then his children, one after another. A -ghostly appearance also frequently took place, and was especially seen -by a little boy, the son of the house. At last the whole family became -extinct, and quite passed away out of Cumberland memory. - -“Many, many years afterwards, Mrs. Sauchiehall was herself at Richmond -in Surrey, when she heard that a very old woman, a native of Cumberland, -was dying in the workhouse--dying, apparently, with some secret upon her -mind, which she could not bring herself to confess, but which never -allowed her to rest. ‘Well,’ said Mrs. Sauchiehall to her informant, ‘I -am a Cumberland woman myself; I will see what I can do.’ She went to the -workhouse, and soon found that the old woman had been the nurse of the -young heiress who had died so long before, and heard her confess that -she had accepted a large bribe from the cousin who succeeded, to poison -her by slow degrees. The bribe had done her no good. She had married, -all her children had died, her husband had gambled away her money, and -she herself had come to die in the workhouse. - -“Mrs. Forester told me of a girl who had gone to a famous school at -Brighton. She was allowed to study after hours to fit her for the place -of a pupil-teacher, which she wanted to get. After some time, she looked -so pale and thin, that the mistress thought she was over-worked and -called in a doctor. He asked her many questions, and at last ‘if she -ever saw any strange visions.’ This she could conscientiously say she -did not. On learning this, the doctor said that being the case, it could -do her no harm to continue her studies, but that if she ever fancied she -saw anything unusual, it would be a sign that her brain was overworked, -and she must give up her studies at once. - -“It was very soon after this that one night she distinctly heard the -door of her room, which was behind a screen at the foot of her bed, -open and shut again. She got up and went to the door, but it was closed, -and when she opened it, there was no one there. This happened several -times. At last she locked the door. Still it happened again. That night, -however, she assured herself that the delusion came from being -over-tired, and by sheer force of will she went to sleep. - -“The next night, however, the same thing happened, and she again locked -the door. Happening to look up soon after, she saw something hanging -over the screen in front of her. It was a hand--an attenuated human -hand. It remained there some time, then it disappeared. - -“The girl then felt that she must lessen her studies, but, for fear they -should be stopped altogether, she said nothing, whilst at the school, of -what she had seen. Soon after this, however, she went home to the old -aunt who had brought her up, and who was in very poor circumstances. She -was almost surprised at the extreme and anxious tenderness with which -she was received. After tea she said, ‘Auntie, I have a curious little -story I want to tell you,’ and she told her what she had seen. The aunt -said, ‘My love, you have unconsciously made easier for me the task of -telling you some very sad news; I did not know how to break it to you, -but Edward’ (the young man to whom the girl was engaged) ‘is dead; he -died the night you saw the hand.’ - -“Mrs. Forester told this story to Lord Rayleigh, who said, ‘That is a -very simple and explicable story: it is a case of telepathy.’ - -“The Duchess of Cleveland says that when the Sultan was at Buckingham -Palace, one of his servants offended him, and he condemned him to death. -The Sultan was informed that he could not execute him in this country; -then he said he should do it on board his own ship. One of his wives -also is said to have been executed whilst he was here, ‘because, poor -thing, she had been so dreadfully sea-sick, that it was quite -disgusting,’ and she is said to be buried in the palace garden. - -“‘Mr. Lowell asserted to me,’ said the Duchess, ‘that there were no -really old families in England. “Surely the Nevilles?” I protested. The -next morning Lowell said, “I’ve been thinking that I am descended myself -from the Nevilles, but I never thought it worth while before to inquire -about it.”’ - -“‘Some one went,’ said the Duchess, ‘to inquire after the health of -Madame Brunnow. “Oh,” said the servant, “she will never be any better.” -The inquirer was admitted afterwards to see Baron Brunnow, to whom he -said, “I am so grieved to hear from your servant that Madame Brunnow is -never likely to be any better.” “Did he really say that?” said Baron -Brunnow. “Oh, the faithfulness of these English servants! The fact is, -Madame Brunnow really died three days ago; but the servant knows that it -was not at all convenient that she should die before the reception of -the Duke of Edinburgh is over, so--for inquirers--she is still only very -ill.”’” - - * * * * * - -_“Raby Castle, Oct. 28._--A pleasant Mr. and Mrs. -Wilkinson--neighbours--came to stay yesterday. He told me a very -remarkable story. - -“One day last year, Mr. Gurdon, an excellent Catholic priest belonging -to a mission in the East End of London, had come in from his labours -dreadfully wet and tired, and rejoicing in the prospect of a quiet -evening, when the bell rung, and he was told that a lady wanted to see -him on most urgent business. He said to a friend who was with him, how -sincerely he dreaded being called out again into the wet that night, and -how he hoped that the visit meant nothing of the kind; but he admitted -the lady. She was a remarkably sweet, gentle-looking person, who told -him that there was a case in most urgent need of his immediate -ministrations at No. 24 in a street near, and she implored him to come -at once, saying that she would wait to point out the house to him. So he -only stayed to change his wet things, and then prepared to follow the -lady. He took with him the Host, which he wore against his breast, -holding, as is the custom, his hand over it. It is not considered right -for a priest carrying the Host to engage in conversation, so Mr. Gurdon -did not speak to the lady on the way to the house, but she walked a -little way in front of him. At last she stopped, pointed to a house, and -said, ‘This, Father, is No. 24.’ Then she passed on and left him. - -“Mr. Gurdon rang the bell, and when the servant came, asked who it was -who was seriously ill in the house. The servant looked much surprised -and said there was no illness there at all. Much astonished, Mr. Gurdon -said he thought the servant must be mistaken, that he had been summoned -to the house to a case in most urgent need. The servant insisted that -there was no illness; but Mr. Gurdon would not go away without seeing -the owner of the house, and was shown up to a sitting-room, where he -found the master of the house, a pleasant-looking young man of about -five-and-twenty. To him Mr. Gurdon told how he had been brought there, -and the young man assured him that there must be some mistake--there was -certainly no illness in the house; and to satisfy Mr. Gurdon, he sent -down to his servants, and ascertained that they were all perfectly well. - -“A tea-supper was upon the table, and very cordially and kindly the -young man asked Mr. Gurdon to sit down to it with him. He pressed it, so -they had tea together and much pleasant conversation. Eventually the -young man said, ‘I also am a Catholic,’ adding, in an ingenuous way, -‘but I fear you would think a very bad one;’ and he explained that the -sacraments and confession had long been practically unknown to him. ‘As -long as my dear mother lived,’ he said, ‘it was different: but she died -three years ago, and since her death I have paid no attention to -religion.’ And he described the careless life he had been leading. - -“Very earnestly and openly Mr. Gurdon talked with him, urging him to -amend his ways, to go back to his old serious life. At first he urged it -for his mother’s sake, then from higher motives. He seemed to make an -impression, and the young man was touched by what he said, and said no -one had spoken to him thus since his mother died. At last Mr. Gurdon -said, ‘Why should you not begin a new life now? I might hear your -confession, and then be able to give you absolution this very evening. -But I should not wish you to decide this hurriedly: let me leave you for -an hour--let me leave you perfectly alone for that time--you will then -be able to think over your confession, and decide what you ought to tell -me.’ The young man consented, but urged Mr. Gurdon not to leave the -house again in the rain: there were a fire and lights in the library, -would not Mr. Gurdon wait there? - -“Mr. Gurdon willingly went to spend the time in the library, where two -candles were lighted on the chimney-piece. Between these he placed the -Host. Then he occupied himself by examining the pictures in the room. -There were many fine engravings, and there was also the crayon portrait -of a lady which struck him very much. He seemed to remember the original -quite well, and yet he could not recall where he had seen her. On going -back to the other room, he told the young man how very much he had been -struck by the picture. ‘Ah!’ he said, ‘that is the portrait of my dear -mother, and it is indeed the greatest comfort I have, it is so very like -her.’ At that moment Mr. Gurdon suddenly recollected where he had seen -the lady: she it was who had come to fetch him to the house. - -“Mr. Gurdon heard the young man’s confession and gave him absolution; he -seemed to be in the most serious and earnest frame of mind. He could not -receive the sacrament, because it must be taken fasting, so the evening -meal they had had made it impossible. But it was arranged that he should -come to the chapel at eight o’clock the next morning, and that he -should receive it then. Mr. Gurdon went home most deeply interested in -the case, and truly thankful for having been led to it; but when morning -came, and the service took place in the chapel, to his bitter -disappointment the young man was not there. He feared that he had -relapsed altogether, but he could not leave him thus, and as soon as the -service was over he hastened to his house. When he reached it, the -blinds were all down. The old female servant who opened the door was in -floods of tears: her master had died in his sleep. - -“On the last evening of his life his mother had brought Father Gurdon to -him.” - - * * * * * - -“_Muncaster Castle, Oct. 30._--What a gloriously beautiful place this -is!--an ascent from the station, and then a descent through massy woods, -till the castle appears--infinitely picturesque in outline and in its -red and grey colouring--on the edge of a gorge, wooded on both sides, -and which now has every tint, from the dark blue-green of the hollies -and the russet of dead fern, through crimson, scarlet, orange, to the -faintest primrose colour of the fading chestnut leaves. Then behind are -the finest of Cumbrian mountains, and in front terraced gardens, and the -not far distant sea. The interior has almost an equal charm, in the -thick velvet-pile carpets of the long passages hung with portraits, the -fine collection of books in the (too dark) octagonal library, and the -low hall, which has an organ, flowers, and books, and is the common -sitting-room. I sleep in ‘the ghost-room,’ and in a red silk bed used by -Henry VI. when he was here, and when he gave ‘the luck of Muncaster’ to -the family--an old Venetian glass bowl, from which every child of the -house has been christened since. Once it was thrown from an upper -window: the owners never had the courage to hunt for and examine it, and -it remained buried in the earth for some years: then it was dug up quite -uninjured. - -“We have driven up Eskdale--a delightfully wild mountain glen, with a -clear, tossing river, and dark mountains of jagged outline, covered with -brown bracken wherever a turfy space is left between the rocks. - -“My host--‘Josceline’--is geniality itself, and very amusing, and Lady -Muncaster excessively pleasant. Only her sister, pretty Lady Kilmarnock, -is here with her little Ivan, and two young ladies, Miss Rhoda Lestrange -and Miss Winifred Yorke,[471] whom her friends call ‘Frivolina.’ The -Muncasters have lived here for six hundred years; then they came from -Pennington, where a mound still exists which was crowned by their -residence in ancient British times.” - - * * * * * - -“_Alnwick Castle, Nov. 4._--Yesterday I left Muncaster at eight, and had -two hours in the middle of the day to wait at Carlisle. Whilst I was -sauntering round the cathedral, one of the Canons came up to me, -introduced himself as a college acquaintance--son of Richmond the -artist--and asked me to luncheon. He also showed me the cathedral, -‘restored’ out of much interest, with a miserable modern reredos and -other rubbish, but with two fine old tombs, and the modern monuments of -Paley and Law. Below the great east window Sir Walter Scott was married. -A noble fragment remains of a beautiful renaissance screen, and at the -back of the stalls are very curious early pictures of the lives of S. -Anthony, S. Augustine, &c. Close to the cathedral is the Fratry--the -refectory of the abbey--now used for lectures. Carlisle is a black and -truly uninviting place. - -“Lady Airlie and Lady Griselda Ogilvy were at the station, and I -travelled with them as far as Naworth. On arriving here, it was pleasant -to be met by the cordial welcome of Duchess Eleanor, always most genial -and kind. The actual Duchess[472] did not appear till dinner, when she -was wheeled into the room in a chair, very sweet and attractive-looking, -but very fragile. The Duke[473] looks wiry, refined, rather bored, and -some people would find him very alarming. Lord and Lady Percy seem to be -two of the most silent people in the world--she pretty still in spite of -her ten children. There are also here pleasant little Lady Constance -Campbell, Miss Ellison, who goes about with Duchess Eleanor, and Lady -Emma and Miss M’Neile--the former a violent Radical, who went to bed at -once when the Primrose League became the topic of conversation. We -played at whist in the evening, but it was broken at ten by going to -prayers, which the Duke reads in the chapel. It is the only time I have -seen evening prayers in any country-house for the last fifteen years. - -“This morning Duchess Eleanor showed me the rooms--the magnificent -Italian rooms, which owe their glory to her husband, Duke Algernon, who, -when remonstrated with for thus changing a mediaeval fortress, said, -‘Would you wish us only to sit on benches upon a floor strewn with -rushes?’ He purchased the whole of the great Camuccini collection at -Rome, because of his great wish to have one single picture, which they -would not sell separately. It is the so-called ‘Feast of the Gods’ by -Gian Bellini, with a landscape by Titian. Other noble pictures involved -in the purchase are a Crucifixion by Guido, singularly dark for the -master; a splendid portrait attributed to Andrea del Sarto, but more -like Franciabigio; and a little Raffaelle of SS. Mary Magdalen and -Catherine. Bought from the Manfrini Palace at Venice are two noble works -of Pordenone--one of them the picture of the father, mother, and son -mentioned by Byron (in ‘Beppo’). From the Davenport collection are -portions of a grand fresco of the ‘Salutation,’ by Sebastian del Piombo, -once in S. Maria della Pace at Rome. The magnificent decorations of the -rooms are by Canina. But the most lasting attraction of the castle is -the library, with the really splendid collection of books formed by Duke -Algernon. - -“The Percies are Irvingites now, as well as the Duke and Duchess. Her -father, Mr. Drummond, was ‘one of the twelve apostles,’ in whose time it -is a tenet of faith that the Lord must return. Now only one ‘apostle’ is -alive, and when he dies what will happen? Meantime, though a very old -man, he is hard at work beating up recruits and inciting proselytism. -The family go to the church here, but then the vicar of Alnwick is also -an Irvingite. All the gibberish which the Irvingites talk when seized by -the spirit is taken down and treasured up as ‘prophecy.’” - -[Illustration: ALNWICK CASTLE.] - - * * * * * - -“_Nov. 5._--This Irvingite family is constantly waiting and looking out -for the millennium: it is terribly anxious work. But their faith is most -simple and touching. When one of the Percy boys was very ill, they had -him anointed with oil; after that he recovered. ‘We had no doubt it -would be so,’ said Lady Percy, ‘no doubt whatever.’ After the anointing, -the friends of a patient have altogether done with human agency, and -leave everything in the Divine hands. It is curious to hear members of -this family say casually--‘The angel was here on Monday, and will be -here again on Friday.’ - -“I have had an interesting hour with the Duchess in her own -sitting-room, where she showed me all the treasures in her cabinet--two -miniatures of Elizabeth, contemporary, for they are painted without any -shadow, which she forbade, upon her face, and two others, evidently -painted afterwards, and naturally much more becoming; a miniature of -Mary Queen of Scots painted in prison, with the fat face and thick neck -which want of exercise caused in one used to so much riding; some of the -hair of Charles I., cut off by Sir Henry Halford when the king’s coffin -was opened at Windsor; miniatures of James I., Anne of Denmark, and -three of their children; the splendid ‘George’ of the fifth Earl of -Northumberland, made with the blue enamel which is now a lost art; one -of the amber snuff-boxes which Queen Charlotte had constructed in -Germany for her ladies, with her miniature on the outside, her dog -inside the lid, and her monkey at the bottom of the box; the pencil-case -of Lord Chesterfield, with a diamond at the end, being the pencil -mentioned by Pope. Not less interesting is a little (Dutch) silver -woman, which runs by clockwork, because it was the means of saving all -the family plate. For when burglars broke into Sion, it scampered about -the floor when they were going to pack it up, which made them think the -plate was possessed, and they took to flight, leaving all their booty -behind, with the baskets in which they had intended to carry it off.” - - * * * * * - -“_Nov. 6._--All this morning I was left to ‘browse in the library,’ as -Dr. Johnson expresses it. In the afternoon I had a walk with the Duke -and Percy to Alnwick Abbey--utterly unknown to history, and with only -the ruin of its fine gateway standing, yet which must have been one of -the most important buildings in the North of England. Its substructions -were sought and dug for in exact accordance with the rules laid down for -building a Premonstratensian abbey, and so they were found. The church -must have been grand as any cathedral.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS LEYCESTER. - -“_Holmhurst, Nov. 27, 1887._--I am greatly enjoying a little solitude in -this time so congenial for hard work, when all nature seems wrapped in a -swampy mist-cloud. There are great improvements in the garden. Along -that little upper walk to the field, where the frames were, is now a -rockery with rare heaths, and behind it a bed of kalmias, and then the -cypress hedge of my especial little garden. Rock and fern are also put -on the steep descent to the pond, opposite the line of tree-fuchsias. - -“I wonder if you remember hearing of the extraordinary visitation of -crickets on the night of (my mother’s death) Nov. 12-13, seventeen years -ago--the uproar, like the sea in a storm, all night, scarcely allowing a -voice to be heard: then heard no more till the night, twelve years -after, in which dear Lea passed away. I was so struck by coming across -an allusion to it when reading the last chapter of Ecclesiastes as the -lesson in church last Sunday--‘And the grasshopper shall become a -burden, because man goeth to his long home.’” - -[Illustration: HOLMHURST FROM THE SHRUBBERY.] - - * * * * * - -“_Dec. 24._--The dreary Christmas season of damp and dyspepsia, bills -and bother, is less odious than usual this year, as the day itself is -swallowed up in Sunday. I have, however, also had a real pleasure in a -present from the Duchess of Cleveland of her Life of Everard Primrose, -only printed for his friends. It is most beautifully, touchingly, really -nobly done, and the most perfect memorial of a high-minded -single-hearted young man’s life. I think I never read so perfect a -biography. The story is entirely told in Everard’s own admirable -letters, but the Duchess has not shrunk from her own part, and the -little touches from her own life, the Duke’s, &c., are indescribably -simple, graceful, and sincere. The book gives one a far higher opinion -of _her_ (of Everard I had always the very highest), and makes one -regret many hasty judgments. I have been quite engrossed with the book, -so perfectly delightful is it.” - - * * * * * - -After a busy six weeks of work, I spent the New Year again at Cobham, -always charming in its quiet home life, but was glad to return soon -again to work. - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL. - -“_Holmhurst, Feb. 10, 1888._--The news of Lady Marian Alford’s sudden -death removes from the cycle of life one whom I had felt to be a true -friend for more than thirty years. Our meetings were at long intervals, -but when we met, it was as more than mere acquaintances. With a grace -which was all her own, she often unfolded beautiful chapters in her own -life to me, and she was one of the very few persons who have read in -manuscript much of these written volumes of my past. She was a perfect -_grande dame_, unable to harbour an ignoble thought, incapable of a -small action. Regal, imperious, and extravagant,[474] she was generous, -kind, and personally most unselfish, and, had the real greatness and -goodness that was in her been regulated and disciplined by the -circumstances of her early life, she would have been one of the noblest -women of her century. Alas! only yesterday she was! How soon one has to -school oneself to say ‘would have been.’ Thus, however, it will -certainly be with oneself. The day after one dies people will say--and -how few with even a pang--‘He would: he might have been.’” - - * * * * * - -“_March 14._--Met Lady Fergusson Davy (_née_ Fortescue). She told me -that when Lady Hills Johnes, the friend of Thirlwall, was twenty-four, -she was once in society with the late Lord Lytton, who was talking of -second-sight, and of his own power of seeing the future of those he was -with. She urged him very much to tell her future, but he was very -unwilling to do so. Still she urged it so much that at last he did. He -did it after the manner of the Chaldees--told it to her, and wrote it -down at the same time in hieroglyphics. He said, ‘You will have a very -great sorrow, which will shake your faith in man: then you will have -another even greater sorrow, which will come to you through an old and -trusted servant: you will marry late in life a king among men, and the -close of your existence will be cloudlessly happy.’ All the first part -of the prophecy has come true--the breaking off of her first -engagement; the terrible murder of her father by his servant; her -marriage with Sir James Hills; all that remains now is happiness.” - - * * * * * - -“_Holmhurst, May 14._--I have just returned from an interesting month in -London, seeing many people delightfully and making some pleasant new -acquaintance. At Lady Delawarr’s I was presented to the young Duchess of -Mecklenbourg, very pretty and full of life and animation. No one else -came up to talk to her, and I was left to make conversation from five -till a quarter to seven! by which time I think we had both exhausted all -possible topics, though she was very charming. At last she said, ‘I -always go at six to read to the Duchess of Cambridge.’--‘Well, ma’am,’ I -answered, ‘you will certainly be terribly late to-day.’--‘What very odd -things you do say to me!’ she said. The next day I sent her my ‘Walks in -London,’ and as her speaking of the Duchess of Cambridge convinced me of -her identity, I directed to the ‘Hereditary Grand Duchess of -Mecklenbourg-Strelitz.’ The next time I saw her I had found out, and -said, ‘I am sorry, ma’am, that I have made three mistakes in one line in -directing to you--that you are not ‘Hereditary,’ not ‘Grand,’ and not -‘Strelitz;’ for she was the Duchess Paul of Mecklenbourg-Schwerin; but -she laughed heartily. - -“In going to London, I first saw, on a placard at the station, that -Matthew Arnold was dead. It seemed to carry away a whole joyous part of -life in a moment--for I have known Matthew Arnold ever since I remember -anything, though I did not know till I lost him that his happy -personality and cordial welcome had made a real difference to me for -years, especially in the rooms of the Athenaeum, where I have spent so -much time of late years. He had an evergreen youth, and died young at -sixty-six, and he was so impregnated with social tact and courtesy, as -well as with intellectual buoyancy, that he was beyond all men liveable -with. Herman Merivale has written some lines which seem to express what -I shall always remember-- - - ‘Thrice happy he, whose buoyant youth - In light of Beauty sought for Truth, - - * * * * * - - And to the longing listener showed - How Beauty decks the ugliest road.’ - -“All who knew Matthew Arnold well loved him, though ‘the Apostle of -Moderation in Criticism’ would certainly have been shocked by some of -the fulsome articles which have followed his death; and I doubt of any -of his writings surviving his generation, especially his refined and -delicate verses, which surely lack the fire of a poet whose work is to -be eternal. I went on April 19, with Montagu Wood, to his funeral in the -graveyard of the ancient church at Laleham, where his father was vicar -before he went to Rugby, and where his children are buried. It was a day -of pitiless rain, which pelted upon the widow and sisters and crowd of -mourners round the grave, and on the piles of exquisite flowers beneath -which his coffin was hidden. As Alfred Austin says in a beautiful -article upon him, ‘Wherever he lies, there will be a Campo-Santo.’ I was -glad in going down to the funeral to make friends with Edward Arnold, a -charming fellow, who is the present editor of _Murray’s Magazine_. - -“At dinner at the Miss Monks’ I was interested to find myself sitting -next to Lady Sawle, who told me that she was niece of the Rose Aylmer -who was the love of Landor’s youth. It was on her that he wrote the -lines which Archbishop Trench declared to be better than many an epic, -and which Charles Lamb said he lived upon for a fortnight. Lady Sawle -was herself one of the three Roses to whom Landor afterwards addressed a -poem, the third Rose being her mother. She described the death, when she -was at Rome, of Miss Bathurst--beautiful, radiant, and a splendid -horsewoman, riding along the narrow path between the Acqua Acetosa and -the Ponte Molle. The horse suddenly slipped backwards into the Tiber. -She called out to Lord Aylmer, ‘Uncle, save me!’ but he could not swim, -nor could any of the gentlemen or the groom who was present. Another -groom, who was a good swimmer, had been sent back to Rome with a restive -horse. She sank in her long blue habit, and her body was never found. -All Rome mourned ‘La bella Inglesa,’ and the little party of friends, -closely united and present at her death, dispersed sadly. One of them -alone, Mr. Charles Mills (of the Villa Mills), returned to Rome in the -autumn. As he was about to enter the city, he sent his carriage on to -the gate from the Ponte Molle, and walked slowly along the Tiber bank by -what had been the scene of the accident six months before. As he walked, -he saw two peasants on the other side of the river catch at something -which looked like a piece of blue cloth on the mud, and pass on. A -sudden impulse seized him, and he got some men to come at once with -spades and dig there in the Tiber bank. There Miss Bathurst was found as -if she were embalmed, in her blue riding-habit, perfectly beautiful, and -with her long hair over her shoulders. There was only one little mark of -a wound in her forehead. For a minute she was visible in all her -loveliness--a minute only. She was buried in the English cemetery.”[475] - -[Illustration: S. FLOUR, FROM THE SOUTH.][476] - -[Illustration: CHÂTEAU DU ROI, S. EMILION.][477] - - * * * * * - -On 28th May 1888 I went abroad to my French work, feeling as usual -greatly depressed at leaving home and going off into solitude, but soon -able to throw myself vigorously into all the interests of my foreign -life and its work. How full each week seemed!--the two first alone -amongst quiet villages and churches in Picardy and afterwards in -Auvergne, and many others after my friend Hugh Bryans joined me at wild -S. Flour, in the hill country of Auvergne, at beautiful Obazine, and at -Rocamadour again, then at beautiful S. Emilion, in wandering amongst the -innumerable historic relics of La Vendée; lastly by the Loire and its -surroundings. Three places especially come back to me with pleasant -memories--the home-like inn at S. Emilion, its beautiful old buildings -radiant with the blossom of pinks and valerian, and the sunset walks on -its old walls looking into the vineyards and cornfields:--the little -fishing port of Le Croisic, with its gay boats, its snow-white houses, -and its windy surroundings:--and charming Clisson, with its pleasant -inn and its balconies overhung with roses and wistaria. Hugh was a -capital companion, and full of interest in what he saw, though--like so -many at twenty-four--he pretended to hate all the historic detail. -However, I am sure my endless archaeological inquiries must have sorely -tried his patience, and he was always unweariedly good to me. - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS LEYCESTER. - -“_Beauvais, June 1, 1888._--A number of friends wrote urging me to give -up what was ‘entirely an imaginary duty.’ However, I felt it was a duty -to finish what I had worked at so long, though perhaps it had not been a -duty to begin it; and so, much as I hated coming, I am here! It is no -use thinking of all one has left, and there is a great deal in what one -_has_, most of all _le grand air_ for hours and hours, and the -marvellous light and shade, which is in itself such a beauty in this -pellucid atmosphere. Then the peasants in Western France are delightful, -and I have not much fear of being taken up here; and I come so well -primed and informed that I know exactly what to look for everywhere, and -where to find it, and almost what to say about it. - -“I left dear Holmhurst at 6.30 P.M. and at 2.30 A.M. was carrying my own -portmanteau down the desolate moonlit streets of Abbeville, where the -old town struck me more than ever, such a complete change from England, -and so romantically picturesque.” - - * * * * * - -“_Clermont Ferrand, June 9._--Oh, it has been so hot! Never in my life -have I been so grilled, roasted, boiled, and melted down; and it has -been hard having to work on all day, whatever the intense exhaustion -from the heat. But I have kept up to exactly the tale of work measured -out for each day before I left home.” - - * * * * * - -“_Le Puy, June 13._--We had an exquisite journey on Tuesday by rail down -the valley of the Alagnon to Neussargues, the quantity of old castles on -the rocky hills as striking as those on the Rhine were forty years ago, -and the mountain flowers lovely. Then we drove up through the cool -forests to the high plateau which is under snow nine months of the year, -and which was quite chilly even now. Here, in the evening, we reached -the old episcopal town of S. Flour, on a great basaltic rock, the most -wonderfully placed of all French cities, and much recalling Orvieto. -Everything seemed to belong to another world. From my window I could -throw anything sheer down the most tremendous of quite perpendicular -precipices, and the view was magnificent. The house had been in the same -family for four hundred years, and the landlady showed with pride the -dark passage where her ancestor intercepted the Protestants when they -were trying to take the city by stealth, the stone on which they were -beheaded, and the drain by which their blood flowed away. The other side -of the house opened into a great square, with the cathedral standing -amongst trees as in an English close, and houses with sixteenth-century -colonnades. I saw the huge modern viaduct bridge of Garrabit, most -extraordinary certainly, but though much more interesting to most -people, less so to me than the glorious views of S. Flour itself, on its -black and orange rocks, backed by the great purple towers of the -cathedral.” - -[Illustration: Augustus J. C. Hare - -1888] - -[Illustration: S. NECTAIRE.][478] - - * * * * * - -“_S. Nectaire le Haut, June 28._--It was dark and raining in torrents -before we arrived here, and the driver suddenly announced not only that -he had lost his way, but that one of our wheels was likely to come off! -We were skirting a precipice by a rocky road without any parapet, and at -last, by holding the carriage lamps low, found that we had somehow got -into a very ancient churchyard, where stone coffins were strewn all -about. At last we knocked up a woman at a farmhouse, who guided us back -to the hotel, which we had long passed in the dark. This is an -enchanting place, beautifully situated in a wooded gorge below the old -romanesque church, where the Sunday congregation--from many far-away -villages--winding up the hill with baskets of food for the day, has been -most picturesque. There are lovely walks in all directions, and -Switzerland at its best never had more beautiful flowers, fields covered -with lilies, orchis, narcissus, globe ranunculus, pansies, pinks, &c.” - - * * * * * - -“_Le Croisic, July 17._--At this little fishing-town there is no fine -scenery, but it is most artistically lovely, with wide views over the -grey reaches of sea and yellow sandy flats to the soft hills, and -endless fishing-boats with red sails and nets. - -“Yesterday we spent the day at La Guerande, a little unaltered mediaeval -town above the salt-flats; a very superior Winchelsea, described in -Balzac’s wonderful novel of ‘Beatrix.’” - - * * * * * - -I returned to England on August 7th, just in time to attend Alwyne -Greville’s wedding in London. In September I paid the Eustace Cecils a -visit, and then went to the Spencer Smiths at Kingston near Wareham. - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS LEYCESTER. - -[Illustration: GATE OF LA GUERANDE.][479] - -“_Sept. 17._--It was a great pleasure to find Sir Howard and Lady -Elphinstone at the Eustace Cecils’. I like them both so very much. They -say the Queen is much occupied in learning Hindustanee and speaks it -now quite well--a great delight to her Indian subjects. She has three -Indian servants in constant attendance, and converses fluently with -them. This afternoon has been delightful, with Mrs. Spencer Smith and -her children, at St. Alban’s (St. Aldhelm’s) Head. In the little hollow -with stone cottages on the way thither a boy opened a gate for us whose -name was Sagittary Clump. The name came from his parents’ lodger, but it -must have had its origin in Sagittarius. Mrs. Spencer Smith spoke to the -boy’s father about his daughter’s misconduct. ‘I can’t help it,’ he -said; ‘I’d given her her documents,’ meaning that he had spoken to her -seriously: Shakspeare uses ‘documents’ in the same sense. Walking up the -hill, we were terribly bitten by harvest-bugs, which little Michael -Smith poetically called ‘Ces petites bêtes rouges dans les fleurs -bleues’ (harebells). Close to the coastguard station, near the edge of -the cliff, is a tiny chapel, perfectly square, supported by a single -pillar, and with only one wee romanesque window, so that almost all the -light comes from the open door: however, there is only service here in -summer. A monk of Sherborne Abbey was always kept here to toll a bell to -warn off ships, whilst he prayed for the shipwrecked. Seven little -children aged from three to four came up to us while we were drawing. -‘We be going to throw ourselves over the cliff, we be: we be going to -smash ourselves quite up, we be,’ the little monsters announced to their -mothers, as they all seven marched away arm-in-arm to the edge of the -cliff. Then ‘little sister’ made ‘Ernest’ sit down upon a thistle, at -which ‘Ernest’ roared; and finally the mother caught up Ernest and -carried it off, ‘little sister’ whacking its little naked behind with a -stick all the way as they went. Then a young Palgrave appeared, who took -the Spencer Smith children down to a wreck in Chapman’s (Shipman’s) Bay, -to their great delight. There were seven parrots saved from that ship, -but one was lost which was prepared for death by being able to say the -Lord’s Prayer straight through. We went afterwards to the desolate -village of Worth, where, in the wind-stricken rectory, the clergyman and -his wife see no one for five months of the year, and have to shout into -each other’s ears to be audible in the roaring winter blast. The church -has a Saxon arch, and in its graveyard two stone sarcophagi, one that of -a child-abbot, with an incised crosier lying upon it; also the -gravestone, of Mr. ‘Jessy,’ ‘who, by his great courage, innoculated his -wife and two sons from the (cow)’--_sic._ He rode up to London with -saddle-bags to give his experience to the Government. The Dorsetshire -here is pure Anglo-Saxon: King Alfred spoke Dorsetshire. The people are -very long-lived; at Steeple in Purbeck there have only been four rectors -since the time of Charles I. Three Messrs. Bond have lasted 160 years, -and an old Mrs. Ross of 101 drives up this hill in a dogcart to visit -her old servant of ninety-four in the village. In church the clerk said -‘Stand in a wee (awe) and sin not!’” - - * * * * * - -_To_ LOUISA, MARCHIONESS OF WATERFORD. - -“_Cadland, Sept. 21._--This comfortable house stands in a park, which is -a piece of enclosed forest full of noble oaks and hollies, with glints -of blue sea and shipping between. The passages are entirely clothed with -fine prints and drawings, and in the rooms are many fine portraits, -especially that by Zoffany of the Drummond who founded the Bank. The -collection of autographs is priceless, and includes many by early kings -of France, letters of Marie Antoinette, a charming one of the little -Dauphin, and the execution-warrant of Madame du Barry. Amongst the -drawings is the touching sketch which Severn made ‘to keep himself -awake’ sitting by the death-bed of Keats.... We have driven to ‘the -Cottage,’ a charming house where Lady Elizabeth Drummond lived, in woods -of ilex and fir above the Solent.... The company has included Valletort; -Harry Forster, a very good-looking fellow; Robert Scott, Lord Montagu’s -second son; and Christopher Walsh, a very nice son of Lord Ormathwayte.” - - * * * * * - -“_Malshanger, Sept. 25._--I came here on the 22nd to visit Mr. Wyndham -Portal, and (in her grandmotherhood) his most beautiful as well as -charming wife. After luncheon we drove to the Vyne, admirable in the -rich colour of its old red brick and grey copings, and greatly beloved -by Horace Walpole, who used to stay there with his friend John Chute, to -whom he gave many pictures, and whose ‘Chutehood’--depression of spirits -and gout--he often deplored. It was to him that Gray wrote ‘suavissime -Chuti.’ The house has always been cared for and never allowed to ‘run -down,’ and there is much of interest in its fine old rooms, especially -in its two stories of ‘gallery,’ lined with busts and portraits. Four of -these were brought hither by Lady Dacre of Hurstmonceaux, upon her -second marriage with Challoner Chute of the Vyne, and include a portrait -of Chrysogona Baker, afterwards Lady Dacre; of the widow of the Lord -Dacre who was executed, with his picture hanging behind her, and two of -the Chute Lady Dacre herself, one of them copied from a picture now at -Belhus, the place of the Lennards. The present owner of the Vyne, who -married Miss Eleanor Portal, showed it all admirably, and has written a -capital book on the place.[480] He educates his own beautiful boys, -making scholars of them before they are ten years old. - -“This district--‘Portalia,’ as people call it--is quite peopled with -Portals and their connections. They were a French Protestant family, -greatly persecuted under Louis XIV., when they took refuge at La -Cavalerie in the Larzac. Jean François de Portal escaped to Holland, and -his eight children, concealed in barrels and smuggled out of the kingdom -by faithful nurses, reached England. The eldest of these became tutor to -George III., and the second, Henri, obtained the monopoly of the -manufacture of bank-notes, which the family have enjoyed ever since. The -last Portal left his vast landed estates to his eldest son, Melville, -and his mills to his second son, Wyndham: now the land is only a burden, -but, police-guarded, the mills at Laverstoke constantly increase in -value, and turn out daily 50,000 Bank of England notes, 12,000 Indian -notes, and 100,000 postal orders. By the process of one beautiful -machine, the linen rags (nothing but new rags of the best linen being -used) are reduced to pulp, the pulp is flattened into paper, stamped, -drained, dried, and behold! before it leaves the machine, a bank-note -ready for the printer. All the machinery is turned by the transparent -Teste, which is full of trout almost up to its source. The workmen, who -live in comfortable cottages near the mills and receive high wages, are -hereditary, and always fulfil their quota of duty from father to son. -Mr. Portal throws open his fine gardens here every Saturday to the -people of Basingstoke, who play tennis and generally enjoy themselves, -and do no harm whatever.” - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL AND LETTERS TO MISS LEYCESTER. - -“_Ford Castle, Northumberland, Nov. 23._--I set out to come here on -Wednesday evening, after attending Miss Higginson’s wedding at Marlow. -When we--two other guests, Mr. and Mrs. Bellairs, and I--reached the -desolate station amongst the bleak moorlands, we found only one little -gig in waiting, and no chance of anything else. Mrs. B. and I struggled -into it, and came through the howling raging storm for seven miles here; -Mr. B. walked; but our reception in these fine old rooms made us forget -all else, and to-day has been like all days at Ford and -Highcliffe--drawing, reading aloud with talking at intervals, and walks -in the glen and gardens.” - - * * * * * - -“_Nov. 26._--A delightful walk, combating with the wind, to the Devil’s -rocks, ‘where,’ say the Northumbrians, ‘the devil hanged his -grandmother.’ Mr. Neville (the rector) dined. He says the old rectory -here was haunted. His sister came to stay with him in the spare room -that looked out on the castle. The second day she said very quietly but -firmly that she could not sleep in that room again; another must be -given her or she must leave. Then she described that, on two successive -nights, the curtain of her bed had been drawn, and a strange voice had -distinctly said to her, ‘This is not a spare room.’ - -“Mr. Neville said-- - -“‘I belong to the Neville-Rolfes of Hitcham in Norfolk. After my cousin, -Charles Neville-Rolfe, who was beloved by every one, died, his boxes -were all found to be fastened with letter-locks, and the family were a -long time before they were able to get them undone, as he had not left -the clue. My cousins suggested to me afterwards that I should ask Crisp -the carpenter how he had discovered it at last; so, as I was rubbing an -inscription on a stone in the church, I got him to come and move part of -a pew which covered it, and I asked him about it. He said, “Whilst we -were puzzling over those locks, I heard in a dream the voice of Mr. -Charles, and he said, ‘Crisp, come and walk and talk,’ and I said, ‘Yes, -sir, gladly;’ and then he turned to me and said, ‘Crisp, guess!’--and I -woke, and ‘guess’ was the word we wanted.” I told my cousins afterwards -what Crisp had told me, and they said, “Yes, but the really curious part -was that only three letters were wanted. Crisp thought ‘guess’ was spelt -‘ges,’ still we acted on what he said, and it was right.’” - -“Lady Waterford says--‘My maid is very good, very good: her only fault -is that she has three hands, she has a right hand and a left hand, and a -little behind-hand.’ - -“Mr. Bellairs, the Highcliffe agent, who is here, said-- - -“‘My grandfather was both at Trafalgar and Waterloo, for he was wounded -as a middy at Trafalgar, and then went into the army. It was odd when, -long afterwards, some one said about Trafalgar, “It was so and so” and -he said, “No, it was not, for _I_ was there,” and that the conversation -then went on to Waterloo, “It was so and so.”--“No, I beg your pardon, -but I was _there_.” - -“‘Afterwards he fell in love with Miss Mackenzie, one of two heiress -sisters. He had nothing to marry upon, and the father forbade him the -house, but he was allowed one interview, and in that he found out that -the butler was just leaving, and the family would be wanting another. He -dressed up and came and applied for the place. He got it, and it was -three weeks before he was found out, and then Mr. Mackenzie allowed that -he was too much for him, and allowed that he should marry his daughter. -But he insisted that my grandfather should leave the army. “Very well,” -he said, “if you like I will go into the Church.” So that was agreed to, -and in time he became a Canon. He was as earnest in the Church as -everywhere else. Soon after his appointment to a country living, as he -was crossing some fields on a Sunday, he found a number of miners -crowding round some prize-fighters. “Come,” he said, “I can’t have this: -I shall not allow this.” “But you can’t prevent it,” they cried. “Can’t -prevent it! you’ll soon see if I can’t fight for my God as well as for -my king: I’ll fight you all in turn,” and he polished off the two -strongest miners in fair fight, and then the others were so pleased, -they chaired him, and carried him through the village to his church, -which they filled from that time forward.’ - -“Most delightful and full of holiest teaching have been the many quiet -hours I have spent with the lady of the castle. There is a sentence of -Confucius which says--‘If you would escape vexation, reprove yourself -liberally and others sparingly.’ It is exactly her case. And there is -another sentence of Confucius which applies to her--‘The wise have no -doubts, the virtuous no sorrows, the brave no fears.’ Being here so -quietly, I have seen even more of her than on other visits, and more -than ever has she seemed to be a fountain of original, interesting, -noble, and elevating words and thoughts. She is wonderfully well now, -and able to walk, and take all her old energetic interest in the place -and people, and oh! how we have talked!” - - * * * * * - -“_Littlecote, Wilts, Dec. 3._--A charming visit to this beautiful old -house, which mostly dates from Henry VII., and has a noble hall hung -with armour and the yellow jerkins of the Commonwealth, a long gallery -filled with fine Popham portraits, and a charming old pleasaunce with -bowling-green and long grass walks. I sleep in the ghost-room, and just -outside my door is the ante-chapel where Wild Darrell roasted the baby -as described in the notes to ‘Rokeby,’ but the grandfather of the -present possessor was so bored by inquiring visitors that he burnt the -old hangings of the bed by which the nurse identified the room of the -crime, and the bed itself, with much other old furniture, was sold to -provide the fortunes of the younger children in the present generation. -Nothing can be more delightfully comfortable, however, than the house as -it now is, and my young host--Frank Popham--is most pleasant and genial. -It has been a great pleasure to find Lady Sherborne domesticated here, -and to listen once more on a Sunday evening to her exquisite singing of -‘Oh rest in the Lord’--so delicate and touching in its faintly vanishing -cadences as to draw tears from her audience. Very pleasant too has it -been to meet charming Mrs. Howard of Greystoke and her daughter again.” - - * * * * * - -“_Dec. 11._--My old cousins, Mr. and Mrs. Thurlow, who had often invited -me before to their house of Baynards, wrote that this week was my last -chance of going, as Baynards was just sold, so I have been for one -night. The house is partly modern, but the place was an ancient royal -residence, and was part of the dower of Katherine Parr. A pretty statue -of Edward VI. was discovered there walled up, and Margaret Roper lived -there afterwards, and long kept her father’s head in a box, which still -exists at the foot of the staircase. There are also numbers of fine -portraits, the dressing-box and travelling trunk of Elizabeth, and I -slept in a magnificent old tapestried room and in Henry VIII.’s bed. - -“Mrs. Thurlow says that Cardinal Wiseman went to dine with some friends -of hers. It was a Friday, but they had quite forgotten to provide a -fast-day dinner. However, he was quite equal to the occasion, for he -stretched out his hands in benediction over the table and said, ‘I -pronounce all this to be fish,’ and forthwith enjoyed all the good -things heartily.” - - * * * * * - -“_Dec. 12._--Henry Lyte says that Porson was told to write a Latin theme -as to whether Brutus did well or not in killing Cæsar--‘Si bene fecit -aut male fecit.’ He wrote--‘Non bene fecit, nee male fecit, sed -interfecit.’ - -“The Stuart Exhibition is most indescribably interesting. A glorious -Vandyke hangs there representing Henrietta Maria in radiant youth and -happiness, with husband and children. Close by hangs the most touching -portrait in the gallery--Henrietta Maria, the same person exactly, with -the same curls, only grey, the same features sunken and worn by sorrow, -in her old age at Chaillot, by Le Fevre.”[481] - - * * * * * - -“_Cobham, Jan. 3, 1889._--Drove with Lady Kathleen Bligh, Lady Mary, and -Lady Lurgan to Rochester to see the interesting old hospice for ‘six -poor travellers, not rogues or proctors,’ where that number are still -daily received and cared for. They are given half a loaf, boiled beef, -and porter for supper, have six small clean comfortable rooms lighted by -a street gas-lamp outside, and are sent away with fourpence each in the -morning. On Christmas Day a lady sends the travellers of the day some -tobacco, a pipe, and a sixpence each, and quaint are their letters of -thanks. ‘May you live for ever and a day after,’ was the good wish of -one of them this year. - -“Lord Darnley went himself into the village of Cobham to engage lodgings -at a poor woman’s cottage for a man who wanted to come there. Lady -Kathleen went to see the poor woman afterwards, and found her greatly -delighted. ‘As soon as my Lord was gone,’ she said, ‘up I went to my -room, and down upon my knees I dropped to return thanks to the Almighty, -because the Lord above, and the Lord below, were working together for my -good.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Jan. 10._--To tea with Mrs. Humphry Ward, almost a celebrity now as -authoress of ‘Robert Elsmere,’ at her house in Russell Square. She said -it tried her somewhat to receive from an American ‘Whiteley’ his -circular with--‘for economy in literature we defy anything to beat our -Elsmere at six cents.’” - - * * * * * - -On Shrove Tuesday, March 6, I left home for the south, and spent a -fortnight at Mentone in the Hotel d’Italie, which I remembered--one of -the few houses then existing--as the residence of Mrs. Usborne when we -were living close by in 1869-70. My cousin Florentia Hughes was at -Mentone with her youngest daughter, and we had many pleasant excursions -together. In the hotel were Lord Northbrook and his daughter, with whom -I dined several times, meeting the excessively entertaining Lord -Alington and his pleasant daughters. On the 22nd I reached Rome, where -I spent six weeks in the Hotel d’Italie, seeing many friends, correcting -my “Walks in Rome,” and drawing a great deal. - -[Illustration: PONT S. LOUIS, MENTONE.][482] - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL. - -“_April 7._--On Friday I went with some friends to Albano, and, whilst -they drove to Neni, drew in the glen at Ariccia, and never was I so -tormented by children as by a beautiful little cowherd--Amalia -Maria--who, on my refusing her demand for _soldi_, vowed she would ‘lead -me a life,’ which she did by fetching six other little demons worse than -herself, when they all joined hands and danced round me and my -campstool, kicking and screaming with all their might. Then they fetched -a black _pecorello_, and having tried to make it eat my paints, danced -again, the _pecorello_, held by a string, prancing behind them. Happily -at last the cow which Amalia Maria was supposed to be chaperoning made -its escape over a hedge, and whilst she was pursuing it over the -country, I fled, and joined my companions at a little caffè, where we -had a delicious luncheon of excellent bread, hard-boiled eggs--painted -purple for Lent--and sparkling Aleatico, for fourpence a head. -Afterwards we sat to draw, looking down upon that loveliest of lakes and -woods full of cyclamens and anemones. - -“The crowds in the Roman galleries are endless. Whole families arrive -together, every member of them carrying a campstool, and they will sit -down opposite each of the statues in turn, and move onwards gradually, -whilst the father reads aloud from a guidebook, and they all drink it -in. He often begins the description at the wrong end, but they do not -find it out, and ... it does not signify! An American, a Mrs. Ruggles, -coming to the Apollo Belvidere, said, ‘Is _that_ the Apollo -Belvidere?’--‘Yes, that’s the Apollo Belvidere.’--‘Well, then, if that’s -the Apollo Belvidere, I don’t think much of _him_: give me Ruggles.’” - - * * * * * - -“_April 18._--Caught in tremendous rain and hail near a warehouse at the -back of the Palatine, and took refuge under a rude porch with a number -of peasants and was kept there an hour. One of the men described his -life as a soldier when his battalion was sent against the brigands near -Pescara. Of these, the famous Angelo Maria was so horrible a monster, -that his own mother determined to rid the world of such a fiend and to -deliver him up. He discovered this, seized his mother, laid her on a -table, ripped her up, and taking out her steaming heart--ate it! Words -cannot describe the horrible gestures with which the peasant told this -story, or the dramatic power with which he described the sister seeing -the terrible scene through a chink in the door, and coming afterwards to -the guard-house, saying that she wished to betray her brother. ‘Oh,’ -said the officer, ‘you need not suppose that we trust you; this is a -trap you have laid for us.’--‘Yesterday,’ she answered, ‘I might have -laid a trap, but I had not then seen that monster eat my mother’s -heart.’ And he was taken. - -“But Capolo Roscia was worse. He came one night to a _masseria_. The -doors were barred, but he forced his way in with his band. The head of -the farm hid himself in the straw, but he was found and dragged out. -All the men in the _masseria_, eighteen in number, were brought out and -made to sit in a row. ‘Now you must all be shaved,’ said Capolo Roscia, -and he cut all their eighteen heads off and put them in a basket. - -“‘Oh, in that time when we were brigand-hunting we did not stop much to -inquire how far they were guilty. “A ginocchio: avete cinque minuti,” we -shouted to a peasant if we caught him. “Oh, ma signori, signori!” he -would say. “A ginocchio! Un minuto, due, tre, cinque--bo-o-o-ah!” and he -was done for; for he had given the brigands provisions, and so he was as -bad as themselves. Even with _i sindaci_, well, we often did the same; -but--we got rid of the brigands.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Easter Sunday, April 21._--To St. Peter’s. The service was under the -dome, but the group around the shrine would not call up even a -reminiscence of the glorious services under the Papacy. The relics were -shown afterwards from a high gallery--the spear-head of Longinus, the -bit of the true cross, the napkin of Veronica, to the sight of which -seven thousand years’ indulgence is attached. I gazed hard, but could -only see its glittering frame, nor could any other member of the -congregation see any more.” - -[Illustration: IN S. FRANCESCO NEL DESERTO.][483] - - * * * * * - -After leaving Rome, I spent ten days with a pleasant party of friends at -beautiful Perugia, and then went on to Venice, where I saw much of -Ainslie Bean, who took me in his gondola to many places I wanted to -see, and much also of the Comte and Comtesse de Lützow, on the eve then -of the great but still unforeseen sorrow of losing the dear daughter -Maude who was the sunshine of their lives. I was at the Pension -Anglaise, crowded with lively, kindly ultra-English people, whose -mistakes were amusing. “Gesu-Maria!” suddenly exclaimed the gondolier on -narrowly escaping a concussion at a sharp corner. “Why on earth does he -say ‘Je suis marié’?” said a Mrs. R. Afterwards I had a week’s hard work -in intense heat in Eastern France, and reached home on May 27. - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS LEYCESTER. - -“_Holmhurst, May 27, 1889._--How quiet it is here! how shady! how -thankful I am to be back! The heat yesterday at Amiens was appalling, -but I reached the green retreat this morning at nine, a telegram -announcing my advent having only been delivered five minutes before, so -that I had the amusement of seeing Holmhurst as I had never done before, -in complete _un_-dress.... I never saw such foliage. Charles II. might -easily hide this year in any of the oak trees.” - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL. - -“_July 16._--Dined at Lord Chetwynd’s, taking down a Mrs. Severn. She -talked of the difficulties of faith; of the comfort she had received -from Farrar’s ‘Justice and Mercy;’ of the simple impossibility of -eternal punishment; of the verse ‘The Lord shall save all men, -_especially_ such as are of the household of faith,’ as especially -indicating gradations of happiness in a future state.” - -[Illustration: THE ROCKY VALLEY, HOLMHURST.] - - * * * * * - -“_July 18._--With troops of the London ‘world’ to a garden-party at -Hatfield to meet the Shah of Persia (Nasr-ed-Din), who looks most savage -and unimpressionable. He is, however, preferred to his servants, who -give themselves endless airs, refusing the rooms prepared for them, &c., -and their hosts are afraid to complain of them to the Shah, for fear he -should cut off their heads! He is a true Eastern potentate in his -consideration for himself and himself only: is most unconcernedly late -whenever he chooses: utterly ignores every one he does not want to speak -to: amuses himself with monkeyish and often dirty tricks: sacrifices a -cock to the rising sun, and wipes his wet hands on the coat-tails of the -gentleman next him without compunction. He expressed his wonder that -Lord Salisbury did not take a new wife, though he gave Lady Salisbury a -magnificent jewelled order. He knows no English and very few words of -French, but when the Baroness Coutts, as the great benefactress of her -country, was presented to him by the Prince of Wales, he looked in her -face and exclaimed, ‘Quelle horreur!’” - - * * * * * - -“_July 22._--A wonderful speech (at the Aberdeens’) on Christian work -from the Bishop of Ripon (Boyd Carpenter)--eloquent, elevating, touching -beyond description. He pictured the system of work going on through all -creation--some one resting under a tree as under an object in repose, -and then, if the senses could be quickened, hearing the pulse, the -ever-labouring pulse which sends the sap through its every fibre: of how -fallacious is the ordinary view of God as a sovereign in contemplative -repose--how inconsistent with the description given us, ‘My Father -worketh and I work:’ of the way in which every practical worker might be -a particle of the Spirit of God: of the way in which the Christian life -of every individual might radiate on others and permeate their -existence, like the halos--unseen by the wearers--on the brows of -saints: of the way in which the impression of a visit carried away from -each country-house might influence a life, and the duty of leaving the -right impression--never by ‘religious talking,’ but by loving action: -that the usual saying was ‘Omnia vincit labor,’ but a truer one would be -‘Laborem vincit amor.’” - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS LEYCESTER. - -“_Holmhurst, August 15, 1889._--I wish you were here this morning. A -delicate haze softens the view of the distant sea, sprinkled over with -vessels, and the castle-rock rises up pink-grey against it. Far -overhead, the softest of white clouds float in the blue ether. In the -meadows, where the cows are ringing their Swiss bells, the old oak-trees -are throwing long deep shadows across lawns of the most emerald green, -and the flower-beds and the terrace borders are brimming with the most -brilliant flowers, over which whole battalions of butterflies and bees -are floating and buzzing; the little pathlet at the side winds with -enticing shadows under the beech-trees, whilst the white marble Venetian -well, covered with delicate sculpture of vines and pomegranates, -standing on the little grassy platform, makes a point of refinement -which accentuates the whole. Selma steals lazily round the corner to see -if she can catch a bird, but finds it quite too hot for the exertion; -and Rollo raises himself now and then carelessly to snap at a fly. The -doves are cooing on the ledge of the roof, and the pigeons are -collecting on the smokeless chimneys. Upstairs Mrs. Whitford and Anne -are dusting and laughing over their work, with the windows wide open -above the ivied verandah, and Rogers is planting out a box of -sweet-scented tobacco-plants which has come by the post. - -[Illustration: FROM THE WALKS, HOLMHURST.] - -“Such is little Holmhurst on an August morning. You would be amused with -my hearing the other day that one of the servants had said, ‘Our -master’s a gentleman as knows his place,’ which meant that I never find -fault with an under-servant except through an upper, or cast even the -faintest shadow upon an upper-servant if an under-servant is present. -After all, it is only another form of Landor’s observation--‘The spider -is a gentleman, for he takes his fly in secret.’” - - * * * * * - -_To_ LOUISA, MARCHIONESS OF WATERFORD. - -“_St. Michael’s Mount, Sept. 7, 1889._--This is a wonderful and -delightful place. It was nearly 10 P.M. when I reached the Marazion -station. The day had been very hot, and the evening lights and -reflections perfectly lovely; but night had quite closed in. Lord St. -Levan’s carriage met me at the station, and stopped at the head of a -staircase leading to the sea, where four sturdy boatmen took possession -of me and my things, and rowed away on a waveless sea, following up the -long stream of brilliant light which fell from one of the upper windows -of the castle on the sacred mount, grim and black in the still night. An -old man with a lanthorn met me at the landing-place, and guided me up a -steep pathlet in the rocks. At the door a maid received me, for the -family were all at dinner, but I found a pleasant meal ready for me in a -small sitting-room, and then was ushered in to the large party--Lord and -Lady St. Levan, six daughters, a son, a niece--Lady Agnes Townshend, -Hugh Amherst, two Misses Tyssen Amherst, Mr. and Lady Harriet Cavendish, -Miss Hill Trevor, Mr. Stewart, a young Manners, and Mrs. and Miss -Lowther. With the latter I have spent many pleasant mornings in drawing -on the rock (really improving greatly, I think, in knowledge of the -‘how’ and ‘why’ of everything), whilst the whole family has gone out -fishing, and most glorious are the subjects. Mrs. Lowther’s enthusiastic -energy makes her a first-rate companion. ‘Elle est au-dessus de l’ennui -et de l’oisiveté, deux vilaines bêtes,’ as Madame de Sévigné would have -said. - -[Illustration: ST. MICHAEL’S MOUNT.] - -“It is a life apart. The chapel-bell rings at nine, and I always meet -Mrs. Lowther on the staircase hurrying up to the service, which is -reached by an open-air walk at the top of everything. Then, before -breakfast in the ‘Chevy Chase Hall’ (surrounded by old stucco hunting -scenes), we linger on the grand platform, looking down into the -chrysoprase waves with sea-birds floating over them, and across to the -mainland with its various bays, and its fleeting golden lights and -purple shadows. - -“On Friday we went a long drive, passing St. Buryan’s, one of the three -parishes of the Deanery of St. Levan. A Mr. Stanhope was long the rector -here, having also a rich living, where he resided, in Essex. At St. -Buryan’s he kept a curate, to whom it was only necessary to give a very -small stipend indeed, because he was--a harmless maniac! He used to be -fastened to the altar-rail by a long chain, which allowed him to reach -either the altar or the reading-desk. When once there, he was quite sane -enough to go through the service perfectly! On week-day evenings he -earned his subsistence by playing the fiddle at village taverns; but he -continued to be the officiating clergyman of St. Buryan’s till his death -in 1808. - -“This truly aquatic family bathe together from a raft at 7 A.M. most -mornings. To-day they were all rowed in their scanty bathing costumes, -looking like Charon’s souls being ferried to purgatory, into the little -port, and there (at twelve mid-day) one after the other took a header -into the sea, and swam--many of the guests with them--to the main-shore -at Marazion, to the great astonishment of the natives on the beach -there. The parents followed or accompanied their mermaid-daughters in -safety-boats, but instead of being anxious about those who became -exhausted, encouraged them to hold on. George Manners was almost choked -by a butterfly flying down his throat, mistaking his head for an -unexpected islet. - -“The place is beyond everything poetical: even I have been unable to -refrain from some verses, which I send you. - - “Grey cloud-wreaths lovingly entwine, - And in their mystic maze enfold - The sacred Mount, which day’s decline - Shadowed upon a sheet of gold: - And faint and sweet, the surges beat - The burthen of the ancient lay, - Which low or loud, through mirk and cloud, - The Past bewails eternally. - - But when the radiant morn awakes - To kiss fresh life into the flowers, - The windows beam, the turrets gleam, - The blue waves break in silver showers, - Tossing their glistening foam away - In merry riplets to the shore: - The Present reigns; the murmuring Past, - Though whispering still, is heard no more. - - Serene, the great Archangel keeps - His vigil here on high, - Whilst in the changeful world below - Fleet life is fluttering by. - Through shine or shower, his silent power, - Unheard, unseen his sway, - Spirits of ill, which daunt or chill, - Shall drive rebuked away.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS LEYCESTER. - -“_St. Michael’s Mount, Sept. 7, 1889._--I have enjoyed my visit here -extremely, and, difficult as it was to manage coming, it is more -difficult to get away, from the extreme kindness and genuine -hospitality of Lord and Lady St. Levan, who would like one to stay -months. I think I never saw such excellent people, or a happier, more -united family; and being very well off, their kindnesses to rich and -poor cannot be calculated. Then it is indeed the most delightful of -homes, so healthy in its pure air of mingled sea and mountain -exhilaration, so glorious in its views over land and water, with every -atmospheric effect which Nature, never the same, can paint upon both. -Looking down from the ramparts into the deep clear chrysoprase water is -in itself a delight, and watching the fish rising and leaping with -sparkling showers, and the great white seagulls swooping down upon them. -No wonder the sons of the house, devoted to sport of every kind, think -there is nothing to compare to the fishing excursions round their home. -But there is unspeakable grandeur, too, when the sacred Mount is -enveloped in sea-fog, shrouding it from all sign of the mainland and -everything else, and when nothing is heard but the distant booming of -the waves far down below. This is the one great house of England, I -suppose, which is approached by no road whatever, for even the pathlet -which winds among the cliffs and low wind-blown bushes of the island is -lost where it crosses the turfy slopes which intervene here and there. -The castle is in seven stories (of which I inhabit the second); many of -the rooms are walled with rock, and in one of the narrow passages it is -known that a number of skeletons--naughty nuns, I suppose--are walled -up. I never saw a place where so much of daily life was in the open -air.” - - * * * * * - -“_Holmhurst, Sept. 19._--From the Mount I went to visit the Tremaynes in -the Vale of Tavistock. It was an exquisite still evening when I arrived -at Sydenham, and it is a beautiful drive through a richly-wooded valley, -till a sharp turn brings one to the old bridge over the clear tossing -Lyd, on the other side of which rises the noble old manor-house, only -separated from the road by ‘the green court’ with a wrought iron gate. -By this gate, as I drove up, stood, with her daughter, Mrs. Tremayne, -her exquisite profile, quite white, like a Greek gem, relieved against -the dark yew foliage: it is a picture that remains with one. We had tea -in the old panelled hall, surrounded by four fine Chinese dogs. - -“It would be difficult to over-praise the sweet seclusion of the spot, -the constant merry ripple of the sparkling river, the deep shade of the -tall trees, the old-fashioned gardens of splendid herbaceous flowers, -the charming old rooms and staircase, in which--even in this desolate -place--the two powdered footmen do not look out of keeping. But the -great charm lies in the family itself--in the ever-genial, courteous, -sweet-tempered father--the perfectly beautiful and dignified but simple -mother--the daughters and the only son. - -“A relic in the house is the ‘tongue-token,’ only given during the Civil -Wars to the most faithful friends of the King and Queen,--a little gold -medal which could be concealed under the tongue. In this case it was -given to the Tremayne of the day, because, at imminent risk to himself, -he rode to announce to the King at Oxford the birth of the Princess -Henrietta at Exeter. - -“We went several excursions: to the fine old gateway of Bradstone; to -the Kellys of Kelly, who have a most admirable collection of Alpine -plants, growing upon little but old mortar; to the Duke of Bedford’s -house of Ensleigh, beautiful in hilly woods feathering down to a river; -and to Launceston, a dull place, where the castle recalls that of -Gisors. - -“From Sydenham I went to see the Elphinstones[484] at their beautiful -Government House at Plymouth, and on the same evening to Whiteway, where -I paid a delightful visit to the dear Dowager Lady Morley, who is still -as genially kind and as sharply truth-exacting as ever. It was comically -characteristic that when the foolish Bishop of Exeter (Bickersteth) came -over to Whiteway, Lady Morley, with innocent pride, showed him the -improvements she had made. ‘You should not take a sinful pride in your -possessions,’ said the Bishop; ‘_all_ God’s works are beautiful, and all -these are the works of God.’--‘That is all very well,’ answered Lady -Morley, ‘but _I_ made this walk.’ It was sad to see Lady Katherine, the -companion of many happy mountain excursions long ago, laid up as a -permanent invalid; but she is indescribably brave and cheerful. - -“A child at Whiteway, being asked where the eggs were laid, answered, -‘On an average.’--‘What do you mean? who told you so?’--‘Father; he said -the hens laid, on an average, twenty eggs a day.’ - -“With the Lowthers and Listers we one day met the Halifaxes and their -two eldest children at Bovey, and we all went a delightful excursion -over Dartmoor to several of the great tors, which rise above the russet -wastes of moor, like castles in the south of France, and to Tecket -Falls, near which Lord Devon has a cottage. Hence, after ascending -through the mazes of a wood, Charlie H. insisted on our being taken -blindfold till we reached ‘Exclamation Point,’ where the present -Archbishop of Canterbury had fallen on his knees from the beauty of the -view. We did not return till eight, when the Halifaxes stayed to dine, -and went home at eleven, walking miles over the moors by night in true -Charlie Halifax fashion. - -“Endless was the amusing talk of Devonshire quaintnesses. ‘How did you -break your arm?’ said Lady Katherine to an old woman. ‘Well, ‘twere all -along of gathering apples; ‘twere first the apples and then the fall: I -were like Eve, I reckon.’ ‘Blow your nose,’ she said to a child. ‘Yes, -mum, but her won’t bide blowed.’” - - * * * * * - -_To_ LOUISA, MARCHIONESS OF WATERFORD. - -“_Holmhurst, Nov. 1889._--I have been far too long without writing, life -ripples by so quickly: it seems every day more different from the years -before I was grown up, when all was so long.... My ‘outing’ to the North -was very enjoyable. I was nearly a week at Tatton, where the host and -hostess were boundlessly kind. The party there had admirable -elements--Lord Savile, Lord and Lady Knutsford, Lord and Lady Jersey, -Lord and Lady Waldegrave, Lord and Lady Amherst, Sir Redvers and Lady -Audrey Buller, Mr. and Mrs. Piers Warburton, Mrs. Percy Mitford, Mrs. -Legh of Lyme, Sir Charles Grant, and Dick Bagot. We were all taken to -see the Ship Canal in a royal way, with special trains, luncheon sent -on, and tea at the mouth of the Canal in ‘Bridgewater House,’ where the -old Duke of Bridgewater spent his later years, and where his picture -still presides in the seldom-used dining-room. - -“I left with Mrs. Legh, whose ponies met us at the Disley station, and -took us a wild drive over moor and fen, rock and fell--a drive of -glorious views, but no road whatever--before returning to Lyme. Lady -Lovelace came in the evening and was most agreeable, especially in her -reminiscences of India and Lady Canning. With her and Mrs. Legh I went -to draw the old hall at Marple, an interesting house of the Usherwoods, -who inherited it from the Bradshaws: the regicide’s chamber has its -original furniture and tapestry. - -“Next, I went to Ingmire, a fine old place of Mrs. Upton -Cottrell-Dormer, beautifully situated amongst the Westmoreland fells, -though geographically in Yorkshire. John Way, the vicar of Henbury, was -there, who said that when the boys in his school were reading of -Jezebel, how she ‘painted her face, tired her head,’ &c., he asked, ‘Why -do you suppose she did that?’--‘She wanted to get married,’ promptly -answered a boy--true, probably, too. He described how his -great-grandfather, Sir Roger Hill, and his son lay dying at Denham at -the same time. It was of the most vital importance to the son’s wife to -keep her husband alive beyond his father, just sufficient time to -enable him to sign a will, and this she did by killing one pigeon after -another, keeping his feet immersed in the body of the hot steaming bird, -and, as soon as it chilled, changing it for another. The pigeons -conquered, and the Hedgeley property was left away to the son’s widow. -The Denham property went to the daughter, Mrs. Lockey, whose daughter -Abigail married Mr. Way, and was mother of Benjamin Way and Lady -Sheffield. - -“From Ingmire I went to Muncaster, which I thought even more beautiful -and delightful than before. With Lady Muncaster and Lady Kilmarnock I -had one lovely day at Wastwater--glorious in the last coruscations of -Nature. The Bishop of Carlisle had just been at Muncaster, who said that -a boy in a Board-school examination, being asked one of the foolish -Catechism questions of ‘Why is a boy baptized when by reason of his -tender age?’ &c., wrote, ‘Why indeed?’ - -“Another child in a higher class, being asked to define faith, said it -was ‘the power of believing absolutely what was utterly incredible.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Bramfield House, Hertford, Nov. 27, 1889._--Lady Bloomfield is very -comfortably established here in a good house of Abel Smith’s, near a -pretty little church and village, and in the midst of the amiable Smith -colony. She finds no end of good works to do, and really is beyond -measure kind, in addition to a thousand other unostentatious goodnesses, -in filling her extra rooms with homeless and feeble gentlefolk needing -help, kindness, and temporary home. We went through Panshanger -yesterday, but I do not admire this cabbage-tree district, all so -prosperously unpicturesque. - -“You must buy, you really must, ‘John Smith on Church Reform.’ It is by -no means the dull book it sounds. You will delight in it, and will -present it to Mr. Neville, as I shall to our little clergyman, who is -becoming quite as like naughty Rome as he dares, but is a good little -man all the same.” - - * * * * * - -In quoting so constantly from journal and letters, I do not think I have -mentioned how much poverty had been pressing upon me in the last few -years. Not only had Messrs. Daldy and Virtue, representing my first -publishers, ceased to pay even the interest of their large debt, or paid -it most irregularly, but under my second set of publishers I had made -_nothing whatever_ during the seven years I had been with them. Their -accounts showed that 28,000 of my books had been sold in the time, but -the innumerable percentages, &c., had swallowed up the whole of the -profits, leaving me nothing but the loss of money expended on woodcuts, -&c. - - “’Tis a very good world that we live in, - To lend, or to spend, or to give in; - But to beg or to borrow, or get a man’s own, - ’Tis the very worst world that ever was known.” - -Whilst I was at Muncaster, however, Mrs. Arthur Severn came to the -castle, and told me how Mr. Ruskin also had made nothing by his books in -the hands of my then publishers, but that they had brought him in a good -income since they were removed to the hands of Mr. Allen of Orpington. -To his hands, therefore, I soon after removed all my books. I had no -complaint of unfairness to make against those I had lately employed; -they only acted according to their agreements and their usual method, -which I had long hoped against hope might eventually result to my -advantage: and they behaved very handsomely about parting with the -books, though it must have been both a loss and disappointment to them. - - * * * * * - -_To_ LOUISA, MARCHIONESS OF WATERFORD. - -“_Campsea Ashe High House, Dec. 27, 1889._--We have had a very pleasant -merry week in this most kindly and happy of family homes, not going out -much, but the days full of intellectual interest, the evenings of games, -acting, &c. The party has been the two really charming Miss Farquhars, -their brother Ernest, pretty, attractive Miss Theresa Lister, Lady -Cecily Clifton, Captain Sydney, Kenneth and Miss Matheson, James -Lowther, young Brooke--a pleasant clever little county magnate, -delightful Jack Cator and his remarkably nice sister, a young Macgregor -in the Guards, and to-day the Anstruther Thompsons, the Edmund Fanes, -Miss Mullholland, and a young Burroughs have come. Last night we acted a -play, ‘The Bilious Husband,’ before a large audience of neighbours. Can -you fancy me as Captain Marmaduke Mynch of the Royal Berkshire Plungers? -Then there was ‘Barnum’s Show’--Miss Matheson as a mermaid, myself as a -dwarf, Miss Lowther as the tattooed woman, Miss Farquhar the fat woman, -Brooke a Zulu, Ernest Farquhar an Arab, and Mr. Lowther as ‘The Bearded -Lady!’ Another day I dressed up and came in as an old aunt of the -family--being the first scene of the word _Antidote_, for which we made -a little story. I have liked my frivolous week very much, but it is -enough, and I shall be glad to go back to my solitary work at Holmhurst -on Monday. - -“Kenneth Matheson very kindly said, ‘I know you will consider it -sacrilege my pressing you to come to Highcliffe whilst I am its -tenant’--which I allowed to be the case! - -“I was very glad to hear of Lady Ossington’s will--just like an echo -from the generosity, justice, and beneficence of her life.” - - * * * * * - -From Christmas 1889-90 people were already beginning to talk a great -deal about the “Influenza epidemic” which was spreading over Europe, and -was like a malarial fever. I was in London for a few hours on January -11, and bringing it back to Holmhurst with me, was very ill for nearly -a month, but with the comfort of being in my own home, and, to me, the -great comfort of being alone. In illness I quite feel the extreme -blessing of religion--not the religion worried and touzled by a thousand -million vagaries of personality, but the simple main facts, in which I -believe so fully. I find some lines of Elizabeth Trench which exactly -express what I feel myself:-- - - * * * * * - - “Lord, I believe not yet as fain I would; - Dimly Thy dealings have I understood: - Thy word and message yet to me have brought - Only a shadow of Thy wondrous thought. - - Fain would I follow on to know thee, Lord, - Fain learn the meaning of Thy every word; - Truth would I know--the truth that dwells in Thee, - Setting the lowest heart from doubting free. - - Lord, I believe! oh fan this trembling spark, - Lest all my hope be lost in endless dark; - And where I yet believe not, lead Thou me, - And help my unbelief, which seeks for Thee.” - -“When all fails, and to stand firm seems impossible, stand on the wood -of the Cross; it will float with you,” said Queen Marie Leczinska. - -“The Mercy of God--_all_ is included in that word Mercy,” was a saying -of the Mère Angelique. - - * * * * * - -Yet I find it very difficult to endure any other religious book than the -Bible itself: all are so self-asserting, so self-seeking; and hymns, -with one or two sublime exceptions, are either abjectly foolish or full -of the self, even if it be the religious self, of man. - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL. - -“_Feb. 13, 1890._--In December my old servant Joe Cornford died, who had -been all my lifetime in the family service. For several years he had -been too old and infirm to do any work, but, when he was well enough, he -made a pretence of picking up a leaf or two, and received his wages all -the same. If it had not been for his grumbling old wife, it would have -been a pleasure to see him slowly dragging himself about the walks, but -her temper was a trial! He was worse for some time. One day I went in to -the lodge to see him after breakfast, and at that moment he suddenly -died! Again, as often before, I felt the wonderful power of the great -mystery of death, actually seeing life ebb downwards: the forehead -become white and waxen, then the cheeks, then the whole being. How I was -reminded of the lines of Caroline Bowles (Mrs. Southey):-- - - ‘Oh change, oh wondrous change! - Burst are the prison bars, - This moment there so low, - So agonized, and now - Beyond the stars! - - Oh change, stupendous change! - There lies the soulless clod; - The sun eternal breaks, - The new immortal wakes-- - Wakes with his God.’ - -“I was at his funeral some days afterwards, the poor old man carried to -the grave by our workmen, and followed by seventeen of his descendants, -children and grandchildren. He has left me a chair which came out of -Hurstmonceaux Castle.” - - * * * * * - -“_Feb. 26, 1890._--Went to see Lady De Ros,[485] aged ninety-five. She -brought out for me her greatest treasure, a beautifully printed Church -of England Prayer-book in Spanish. It belonged to the great Duke of -Ormonde, and descended from him to Lady Eleanor Butler, by whom and Miss -Ponsonby--‘ladies of Llangollen’--it was given to the Duke of Wellington -as a boy. He taught himself Spanish by following its services, as he -himself says in an inscription on the fly-leaf. In his old age, when -Lady De Ros was with him at Strathfieldsaye, she found it in the -library, and told him what a valuable book she thought it. ‘Then, if you -think it such a valuable thing, I will give it you, my dear.’--‘So, as -Douro and Charles were just coming, I took my book away at once,’ said -Lady De Ros, ‘for fear they should stop me.’ Some years afterwards the -Duke asked Lady De Ros to lend him the book to show to some great -librarian. She let it go, but made it a condition that, before it was -returned, the Duke should write its history in the book with his own -hands; and this he did. - -“Lady De Ros also showed me a brush of hogs’-bristles, mounted in ebony, -and with a silver plate. And she told how, when she was hunting wild -boars with the Duke on Mont St. Jean near Cambrai, an immense boar -sprang out of the thicket close by her. The Duke speared it. It was a -horrid sight and she shrank from it. ‘Oh, my dear,’ said the Duke, ‘you -must not mind it, for I am prouder of having killed that boar than of -the battle of Waterloo.’ - -“Lady De Ros was very full of her dispute with Sir William Fraser about -the house in which the ball was given at Brussels by her father, the -Duke of Richmond, on the eve of the battle of Waterloo. She was quite -certain of her facts, and that the house was now gone. She had been -living in the house itself, in the Rue de la Blanchisserie (‘where the -Duke would direct to me “in the wash-house“‘), and cited as a proof that -the ball was given in her own house, the fact that her youngest sister, -who had been sent to bed, stole out, and watched the company arrive -through the banisters. ‘I believe Sir William Fraser asserts,’ said Lady -De Ros, ‘that I am confused and doting now through my great age, but you -know very old people remember the long-ago as if it was to-day, and that -is the case with me. In 1860 I went back to see Brussels, and I could -not find our house then; the whole street was swept away. At last, as I -was walking up and down, I was attracted by the name on a pastry-cook’s -shop: it was a name I remembered in that long-ago time. So I went in and -asked if they knew anything of our house. “Oh, a house in the Rue de la -Blanchisserie,” they said; “it has been pulled down years and years -ago.”’ - - - - -XXVI - -AT HOME AND ABROAD - - “Le monde n’est éternel pour personne; laisse le passer, et - t’attache à celui qui l’a fait.”--DIDEROT, “_Sarrasins_.” - - “Time there was, but it is gone; - Time there may be--who can tell? - Time there is to act upon, - Help me, Lord, to use it well.” - --LADY WATERFORD’S _Note-Book_. - - “Non aver tema, disse il mio Signore: - Fatti sicuro, chè noi siamo a buon punto: - Non stringer, ma rallarga ogni vigore.” - --DANTE, “_Purgatorio_,” Canto ix. - - “I hope the hereafter will not lack something to remind us of the - beautiful earth-life--beautiful in spite of its sin and - sorrow.”--WHITTIER’S _Letters_. - - -When my friend George Jolliffe had passed his diplomatic examination, I -promised him that I would go out and pay him a month’s visit wherever he -was sent to. Thus I came to set out for Constantinople on April 10, -1890. The faithful Hugh Bryans went with me. At Vienna I spent several -days with the Lützows, who showed me the sights in the most agreeable -way. The town was full of grand-dukes or exiled princes--Cumberland, -Parma, Tuscany, &c., all very rich and adding to its prosperity. - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS LEYCESTER. - -“_British Embassy, Constantinople, April 22, 1890._--We came straight -through from Vienna, through the strange unknown country. There were -vast plains of corn till Belgrade, a poor town hanging shaggy on the -hillside: then we entered low wooded hills like the Sabina. In the -Servian villages of rude huts and ruder fences we could see the swarming -people, men and women in loose folds of white linen, the former with the -air of princes. All seemed remote and unreal, and the shadows, as in -Syrian clearness, fell pure blue upon the dusty hills. By the second -morning we were passing through Roumelia. All had become poorer. The -villages, of wretched huts, stood in wattled enclosures of thorns, -inside which all the domestic animals are driven. Now, the men were seen -in crimson and green, with magnificent mahogany-coloured faces beneath -their turbans, and the women, all closely veiled, moved like masses of -dark drapery; a little mosque appeared, with a delicate and refined -minaret; a little fountain-cistern with a gothic arch in a grove of -thorns; marshes with storks; plains with buffaloes. - -“About 3 P.M. the lovely Sea of Marmora gleamed upon the right, with a -variety of inlet bays of solitary beauty, and, in the distance, the -aërial mountains of Asia. Then a succession of battlemented towers rose -on the left from the untrodden plain--the walls of Stamboul! Through -these the train passes. We were far from the station still, but what a -change from our two days’ desolation! We rushed across many shabby -courts, paved either with mud or rough stones. The old houses, with -their projecting lattices, were veiled in a web of flowering wistaria, -and shaded by pink Judas-trees in fullest bloom. Then above us rose the -mosques with their slender minarets and huge storm-blasted cypresses. -St. Sophia itself, Achmet, Suleiman, Mahmoud were passed, with many a -strange gothic fountain or decorated cistern, before we reached the -shed-like station, where George was a most welcome sight, armed with an -Embassy cavass to extricate us from the mass of yelping, screaming -natives. - -“Off we went across the creaking, rocking, timber bridge over the Golden -Horn, thronged by the strangest of multitudes. Then up the steep street -of Galata, where the lattices project till they almost obliterate the -sky, and the pavement is made of rough stones set edgeways, up which the -horses scrambled like cats. A road succeeded, a dusty deep-rutted track, -overlooking an old burial-ground without barriers, where, amid the -immemorial cypresses, thousands of battered tombstones remain, -neglected, ruined, but never wilfully destroyed; and so we reached the -handsome palace of the Embassy, with its delightful garden, overlooking -the valley of the Golden Horn. - -[Illustration: CEMETERY OF PERA, CONSTANTINOPLE.] - -“I have been here two days now, and cannot say how delightful I find it -to be with George, with whom every thought may be exchanged. I live in -the room of an absent attaché, and the life is like that of a college. -Unfortunately, on the first afternoon I caught a dreadful chill in the -boat, and have been very ill ever since, though I dragged myself out -yesterday to take advantage of a rarely procured permit to see the -famous church of St. Irene, where the Council of Constantinople was -held, and where the Christian emperors, Constantine, Arcadius, &c., -repose, some of them in grand porphyry sarcophagi. I went with two -clergymen, friends of Arthur Stanley, Canon Farrar of Durham, and Dr. -Livingstone, who had been to every other scene of a General Council: -this was the last!” - - * * * * * - -“_April 27._--I have been suffering terribly from rheumatic fever, but -am better to-day, and have been to St. Sophia. The carriage stopped at -an obscure door on the N.W., where the cavass took off his boots and -fetched some of the Turkish guardians of holiness, who, for a very large -consideration of baksheesh, put slippers over ours. Then we passed the -curtain, and found ourselves at once at the northern extremity of the -great western narthex, like that of St. Mark’s at Venice on a huge -scale, and--almost immediately--from a side-door, in the church itself. - -“It is so unspeakably, overwhelmingly, indescribably, entrancingly, -bewilderingly glorious, words can give no idea of it. - -“Of the immense space--a St. Mark’s lifted into the heavens, soaring far -above in the mystic involutions of its entwining arches and the delicate -nuances of its grey-golden colouring, never sufficiently defined to be -obtrusive in any special point, only melting and harmonising into a -whole as tender and glorious as the hues on a dove’s back. So also in -the architectural details; all the walls, all the chapels are filled -with the most exquisite and graceful sculptured ornament, but the grand -impression of space is never lessened by any single object leaving its -own identity upon the vision, till the gaze rests far above upon the -pendentives of the mightiest dome, where float the four huge prophetic -seraphim[486] with their many wings folded in repose--with twain they -covered their breasts, with twain they covered their feet, and with -twain they did fly. - -“Close to the entrance was a vast fountain gurgling, rushing, -spouting--a fountain of ablutions. Far towards the east, and beneath the -two floating green banners of the Prophet, was the _mimber_ or pulpit of -Friday prayer, and near it a platform for the choir, who face, not the -east, but the Kibla, the holy house of Mecca. Under the shadowy arches -are the cup and cradle of Jesus of Bethlehem, revered as a great -teacher, the latter a hollowed block of red marble; the ‘sweating -column,’ the ‘shining stone,’ and the ‘cold window,’ fresh with the -north wind, where the Sheik Shemseddin, the companion of Mahomet II. -(the Conqueror), expounded the Koran. We may also see the pillar on -which Mahomet the Conqueror left the mark of his bloody hand; for -through the church itself, and the crowds of clergy and virgins who had -taken refuge there, he rode, exclaiming ‘There is no God but God, and -Mohammed is his Prophet,’ and ordaining the violation of sanctuary. Here -and there, but lost in the extreme immensity, are chapels or refuges -where groups of men, or of veiled women apart from them, seem to hold -little services, with private litanies of their own. In some of these, -solitary individuals, wrapped in devotion or penance, were perpetually -smiting the earth with their foreheads: in one an old man was shouting, -yelling, screaming portions of the Koran, flinging the words with -savagest ferocity amongst groups of squatters in fezes and turbans, who -received them quite unconcerned. - -“The columns in the church make up the mystic number of forty, typical -to the Eastern mind of all pomp and splendour. The cupola is inscribed -‘God is the light of the heavens and the earth!’ On its Rhodian tiles -are written ‘God hath founded it, and it will not be overthrown: God -will support it in the blush of the dawn.’ Nothing probably remains of -the fourth-century church of Constantine, but the present church is -chiefly that of Justinian, who employed a hundred architects, each with -a hundred masons under him, of whom five thousand worked on the right, -and five thousand on the left, according to the advice given to the -emperor by an angel. The church itself is under the guardianship of an -angel, who appeared to a boy watching the tools of lazy masons, and bade -him hurry them back to their work, saying he would guard his charge till -he came back. But the boy never came back, for the emperor intercepted -him, and sent him off, well provided for, to the Cyclades, that the -angel might be obliged to watch for ever. - -“Our driver stuck his cigarette behind his ear and took us to the -Hippodrome, where we saw the great obelisk, raised by Theodosius on a -base with curious reliefs: and the brazen serpents supposed to have been -brought from Delphi, or the remains of them, for the Sultan Murad broke -off one of their heads. Along the side of the square runs the screen of -the Mosque of Ahmed (the state church), enclosing its vast dusty court, -old elm-trees, cloister, and a fountain, around which were groups of -people washing, dressing, and being shaved before entering the -sanctuary. - -“We drove by the tomb of the Sultan Mahmoud the Reformer, where we -stared through a metal screen at his sarcophagus, to the finest of the -great mosques or _djami_, the glorious Suleimanyeh, which Solyman the -Magnificent intended to surpass St. Sophia. On its giant dome is the -truly catholic inscription (Sura xxiv. 36), ‘God is the light of heaven -and earth. His light is in the windows on the wall, in which a lamp -burns covered with glass. The glass shines like a star, the lamp is lit -with the oil of a blessed tree. No Eastern, no Western oil; it shines -for whoever wills it.’ On the ever-clean matted floor of this mosque of -glorious proportions numbers of barefooted children were sporting as in -a playground, and very pretty and graceful were the interlacing groups -which they made. The ecclesiastical revenue of Suleimanyeh is 300,000 -piastres. Behind is a curious burial-ground, crowded with tombs, chiefly -of women, marked by a sculptured rose, whilst the headstones of the men -are crowned by a turban or fez. In two great sepulchral chapels or -_turbé_ lie Solyman the Magnificent and his immediate family and -successors. The sarcophagi are covered with splendid embroideries and -delicate muslins, those of the sultans being often shrouded by their -favourite wives with their shawls--most precious of their possessions. -At their heads are their tall white turbans, with bunches of peacocks’ -feathers on either side. The famous Roxolana lies amongst the group of -ladies. - -“But all through the streets of Stamboul the greatest feature is the -little burial-grounds, with their closely packed tombs and their huge -cypresses or tamarind trees, which always give them picturesqueness, -between the houses, at the angles of the streets, everywhere--the dead -forced, as it were, into the very life of the living, and never to be -forgotten for a moment. - -“The next great feature--and an odious one--is the swarms of dogs, like -little foxes, which lie about everywhere in the sun, encumbering the -footways, and refusing to move for any one. They are the friends of -cats, but if a strange dog enters their quarter, they demolish him at -once. They never bite a human being, at least they have never been known -to bite more than one, and that was--the Russian ambassador! Successive -travellers have given the idea that they are scavengers, but it is quite -false: a man goes round at night with a cart and takes everything -undesirable away. All night the air resounds with the yells of the dogs. -The English doctor is obliged to poison them by hundreds near the -hospital, or all the patients would die of the noise. - -“We ended our first eventful drive at the Mosque of Bajazet, where the -court was now turned into a bazaar, and round the central fountain -glowed a moving mass of colour--white turbans, green turbans of Mecca, -pilgrims, negroes, Armenians, robed women in shot violet silk. Overhead -a perfect roar of wings indicated that the sacred pigeons of the mosque -were moving in vast battalions from one part to another. At the -many-coloured stalls, the beads--especially the green beads--were quite -irresistible. In the _turbé_ of Bajazet, under the head of the Sultan, -is a brick made of all the dust collected off his clothes and shoes -during his lifetime: his mother and his two daughters lie beside him. - -“It is a great pleasure having Gerard Lowther here; and the other -attachés, Finlay and Tower, are charming.” - - * * * * * - -“_May 12._--As I have felt stronger, each day here has been more full of -interest. On alternate mornings I stay quietly in the Embassy garden or -the adjoining cemeteries and have luncheon with my kind hosts, with whom -I have several times been out afterwards to the bazaars, steep, rugged, -stony lanes, arched overhead, and a blaze of colour from their shops and -costumes. Here we have been served with cups of coffee in the inner den -of Marchetto, the tradesman of ‘Paul Patoff,’[487] whilst going through -the wearisome routine of bargaining for old silver, weighing and -reweighing, and only discovering one had concluded a purchase when one -had utterly despaired of it. How forcibly the truth of that verse of -Proverbs strikes one here--‘It is nought, it is nought, saith the buyer, -but when he goeth his way, he boasteth thereof.’ The whole bazaar seems -like an inextricable web to outsiders, yet any one or anything can be -found there in ten minutes by one who knows the place; and, amid all the -bustle and confusion, one sees many a charming picture of an old Turk -with snowy beard and robes, sitting cross-legged at an angle of his -counter, poring over an ancient parchment Koran, and as utterly absorbed -in it as if he were in the Great Desert. How the names Aladdin, -Mustapha, Scheherazade, Zobeide, recalled the large edition of the -‘Arabian Nights’ which was at Hurstmonceaux Rectory in my childhood. - -“On other days I have gone off immediately after breakfast with a cavass -from the Embassy--Dimitri--as my guard, making much use of the trams, -from which one sees so much that is curious, and in which one has so -many experiences of Turkish life, from the ladies like bundles of green, -brown, or shot silk, who are huddled behind the curtain at the end of -the carriage, to the child-pasha well provided with copper coins to -quiet the numerous clamourers for baksheesh. Thus I have twice reached -Yedi Kouli, the Seven Towers, where the triple walls of the town make -their farthest angle close to the Sea of Marmora--bluest of blue waters -melting into chrysoprase-green near the shore. Here I was drawing an old -gate in pencil in my little book, heedless of an old Turk who had been -cursing the ‘christian dog’ as a breaker of the second commandment, when -suddenly, with a spring, he flew upon me, and in an instant his long -talons would have torn out my eyes, if Dimitri, throwing himself upon -him, had not hurled him on his back in the gutter, after which he got -up, and went away quite quietly. Another day, after we had made the -circuit of the wonderful walls, I was sitting to draw in the middle of -the white dusty road near the Adrianople gate, and Dimitri had fallen -asleep on a tombstone a few steps behind me, when suddenly he called out -with a rueful voice that he had been robbed, plundered of his watch and -chain, whilst I, rather more in evidence in the sunshine, had escaped. -It is near this gate, the Polyandria of the Greeks, that we saw the -curious mosque, once a church covered with mosaics like St. Mark’s, and -still retaining many of them. One was shown as the Virgin waiting for -her Teskerei, or passport, to go into Egypt! - -“All around the walls are tombs: the woods are filled, the hillsides are -powdered, with them. The woods are all of cypress, which is supposed to -neutralise effluvia. When a death occurs, a body is hurried to the grave -as soon as possible, for the soul is always in torment, it is believed, -between the death and burial. Little parcels of food are laid in holes -by the side of the grave, and large headstones are always erected, -stones on which the angels Nebir and Munkir sit to judge the souls of -the dead. We saw many touching little funerals--young girls being -carried to the grave without any coffin or shroud. The blocks of stone -on the road date from the time of Justinian. At an angle of the cemetery -opposite the gate of Silivri a row of head-stones marks the graves of -the heads of Ali Pacha (de Tébelin) and his four sons, cut off in 1827. -Close to this a lane turns off through the tombs and cypresses to the -monastery of Baloukli. Here, from a courtyard, filled, like everything -else, with tombs, we descended a staircase at the head of which an old -priest was squatting as guardian of a number of huge brass alms-dishes. -In the subterranean chapel below are more alms-dishes, and a fountain -with the ‘miraculous fish,’ black on one side, red on the other. On the -29th of May 1455, a monk was engaged in frying them, when a man rushed -in and announced the capture of Constantinople by the Turks. ‘I shall -believe it,’ said the monk, ‘when these fish leap out of the -frying-pan,’ and they leapt out immediately, and have remained -half-cooked to this day! At the little restaurant close to the -monastery, shaded by pink Judas-trees and strewn with white sand, we had -our luncheon, bread, pilaf, galetta, hard eggs, wine, and syrup of -roses. - -“Beyond the Adrianople Gate the walls and cemetery descend together to -Eyoub, a hamlet at the head of the Golden Horn, with a very sacred -mosque, which heretics are not allowed to enter, as it contains the -sword of Mahomet, with which the Sultan girds himself on the day of his -installation, and in its court, shaded by noble plane-trees, the tomb of -Eyoub, standard-bearer of the Prophet, near whose resting-place are -grouped a number of royal _turbé_, those of the Valide Sultana, mother -of Selim III., and of Hussein Pacha being the most remarkable. We made a -separate excursion hither, finding the rugged streets round the mosque -occupied by the gay booths of a fair shaded by banksia roses in full -bloom, and the keeper of the sanctuary standing at the gate with a drawn -sword to prevent the entrance of the giaours. But we wandered behind, by -the steep ascent between the eternal burial-grounds, where there was a -grand view down the Golden Horn between the old cypresses, all the -mosques of Stamboul embossed upon an aërial sunset sky. - -“On May 3 we met a large party at Dolma Baghtché, one of the great -palaces which are memorials of the extravagance of Abdul Medjid. The -rooms are those in which his son, the savage Abdul Aziz, used to throw -everything that came to hand at those who offended him. They are only -used by the present Sultan for the great reception of Beiram, when all -the great dignitaries of the empire flock to kiss the hem of his -garment. The palace is vast, but decorated like a French café, with -glass banisters to the staircase and numbers of fifth-rate pictures: -nothing but the hall is worth seeing. Close by is the mosque of Abdul -Medjid, with two slender minarets, and beyond it the palace of -Teheragan-Sérai, where the ex-Sultan Murad is kept a prisoner, no one -being allowed to linger either on the road or in a boat in front of the -building. The existing Sultan goes to see him sometimes, but asserts ‘My -brother and every one belonging to him are quite perfectly mad.’ - -“We all went by carriage with an order to the Seraï or Seraglio near St. -Sophia, which occupies at least two-thirds of the ancient Byzantium, -selected by Constantine for his capital. By an unkempt ascent we reach -the Bab-el-Sélam, or Gate of Safety, which had doors on either side, and -in the intermediate space of which high officials condemned by the Divan -were executed. Passing an avenue of cypresses, we reached a second gate, -the Bab Seadet, or Gate of Happiness, guarded by white eunuchs. It was -here that the sultans used to give up their unpopular ministers to the -popular fury; that Murad III. gave up his favourite falconer, Mehemet, -to be cut to pieces before his eyes; that Mahomet III. gave up his three -chief eunuchs, and Murad IV. his grand-vizier Hafiz, who was killed by -seventeen wounds. Many old aunts and cousins of sultans still reside in -the inner apartments, guarded by numbers of eunuchs, the historic -criminal figures of Turkish history, whose existence is expressly -condemned by the Koran, and who are generally bought or stolen as -children from Syria or Abyssinia. Without name, family, or sex, they -often marry, and even have harems for the sake of feminine friendship. - -“The treasury is full of boundless barbaric treasures, uncut emeralds, -&c., and much fine armour and china. The finest single object is the -throne of Selim I., taken from the Shah of Persia, of green enamel -studded with pearls and rubies. In the Salle du Divan is the curious bed -where the sultans received ambassadors, though they only saw him through -the window. We also saw the glorious Bagdad mosque lined with blue -Persian tiles, built by the Sultan Amurath in remembrance of one he had -known at Bagdad. In the garden is the famous cage where, from the time -of Mahomet IV., sultans shut up princes who rebelled against them: Abdul -Aziz was confined there from his deposition to his death. Afterwards, I -sat with Sir George Bowen on the terrace, which has an exquisite view up -the Bosphorus, while immediately below us ran the railway line, which -suggests the fall of Turkey. We were served with sweetmeats of -rose-leaves, and coffee in golden cups studded with diamonds, by an -attendant who bore an embroidered cloth upon his shoulder to conceal the -empty cups which had been used by Christians, and were therefore -unclean. This would sound hospitable on the part of the Sultan if one -forgot to mention that we had each had to pay about fifteen francs to -enter the palace, and that there were about thirty of us. - -“Another day we went to the mosque of Selimyeh, beautifully situated, -and afterwards I sat to draw under a bower of banksia roses, surrounded -by a marvellous group of Turkish figures, in the Saddlers’ Bazaar -(_serra-jobane-jamissi_). Here the people were good to us, as there are -so many Christians in that quarter of the town, but generally the -natives never cease cursing those who are breaking the second -commandment by making a likeness of something in heaven or earth. In the -courtyard of Suleimanyeh I was less fortunate: a number of soldiers -crowded in front, wholly obstructing all view, and on Dimitri -remonstrating, their officer came up quite furious, with ‘My men shall -stand where they like, and if they wish to hide the man’s view they -shall certainly do so.’ Twice I have toiled to the distant mosque of -Mehmedyé, for Mahomet the Conqueror built it on the site of the famous -church of the Holy Apostles, founded by Constantine the Great, and where -he was buried with eleven other emperors. A dial over a gate near this -is inscribed (from the Koran), ‘Didst thou not see thy Lord, how He -extended thy shadow?’ On some of these excursions it has been most -difficult to procure anything whatever for luncheon, for it is the fast -of Ramazan, when no good Turk allows any food whatever to pass his lips -between sunrise and sunset, on the approach of which he will begin to -hold in his hands the viands which he will devour the very instant the -gun fires. Wine at all times is described as ‘the father of all -abominations,’ yet Solyman the Great, who burnt all the vessels laden -with wine in the port, himself died drunk: Murad IV., who cut off the -head of any one who smelt of wine, was a regular drunkard: Bajazet I. -and II. both drank, and to Selim II. was given the surname of -‘mesth’--the drunkard: so much for the far-famed Turkish consistency. - -“We went to the evening service at St. Sophia, three white-turbaned -figures receiving us in the dark at a postern door, and--after exacting -ten francs apiece--conducting us by a winding stair to the broad -gallery, far beneath which the great chandeliers gleamed like -flower-beds over the immense grey space, intersected by long lines of -black figures--all males, for women are soulless--bending, curvetting, -prostrating symmetrically like corn in a wind, and with the same kind of -rush and rustle. It is a curious but monotonous sight, a repetition of -the same movement over and over again, and the shrill harsh cry of the -swaying and falling lines, even more discordant in its echo by the -choir, soon grates upon one: especially as the priests never cease -whispering and worrying for extra baksheesh. - -“After waiting one morning for a weary time with an order at the -‘Selamlik,’ we saw the Sultan go to the Yildis mosque. The coachman was -gorgeous in his golden livery, but the ‘Sultan of Sultans, the King of -Kings,’ was a piteous sight, a mixture of boredom and terror. Cringing -cowardice prevents his going to Stamboul more than one day in the year, -and this occurred lately. It is a great day for the court ladies, who -are all allowed to accompany him in three hundred carriages, and avenge -themselves for veiled faces by exhibiting their bare arms covered with -bracelets and as much else as they dare. Mahomet says, ‘He who espouses -only one wife is praiseworthy,’ and now it is considered indiscreet to -have more than four legitimate wives, who are all equal, and who have -each their own dowry and servants. Women are generally well treated -here now, a divorce is easy, and each wife has a right to a separate -room, and may even exact a separate house, if she cannot get on with the -other wives. - -“Almost every night through the streets there is a rush of the -Talumbodgi or firemen--half-naked savages with primitive engines, who -scurry to save the valuables of burning houses, not for the owners, but -for themselves, so that they are far more dreaded than the flames. In -recent conflagrations in Galata and Pera it is certain that the fire -began in three or four places at the same moment; for when a street in -Constantinople is wholly bad or unsafe, the authorities do not scruple -to set fire to it, regardless of the consequences, though the people are -such fatalists that they will not leave their dwellings till the last -moment, and then fly, leaving everything behind them.” - - * * * * * - -“_May 22._--I write during a quiet day with George at the Embassy, after -my return from Broussa, where I have been spending a week.... It was a -voyage of five hours in a steamer crowded with Turks on their carpets, -sleeping, praying, or reciting the Koran, and at the ends of the vessel -knots, lumps, and clusters of women. Outside Seraglio Point the view of -Stamboul is very fine, St. Sophia and the Achmet mosque rising above the -old sea-walls, and the gardens lovely with rich green and pink Judas -bloom. We passed the islands--Antigone, where Sir H. Bulwer lived with -the Greek princess, and Prinkapo, to which the Empress Irene was -banished, and where she is buried. After two hours it became very -rough, and all were sick, especially a number of Turkish officers, who -up to that time had been eating voraciously. So it was indeed a relief -when we entered the comparatively calm bay of Mudania, with its glorious -leaping ‘multitudinous seas’ of sapphire and chrysoprase waves, amid -which endless dolphins--true clowns of the sea--were tumbling and -sporting. - -“At Mudania a horde of half-naked savages leaped on board to seize our -luggage, and a hand-to-hand fight ensued, during which we had to scale -the bulwarks of the vessel to reach the pier. Then came a scramble and a -bargaining for carriages, but at last we were off and up the hills, -where boys were selling piles of cherries for half a piastre (1¼ d.) -on the ascent. In the valley beyond, we came up with a knot of carriages -in a desolate place, the inmates standing in the road round one whose -wheel was coming off. It had contained two ladies, and I took up one of -them, who turned out to be Miss Holmes, sister of the librarian at -Windsor. Very lovely was the ascent to Broussa, through the rich green -walnut-woods and by rushing streams, to the exquisite chain of mosques -and minarets under the lower slopes of Olympus. At the table-d’hôte we -had the British Consul, who stated that he ‘was not at all gone on -mosques;’ he had been seventeen years in Constantinople and had seen -nothing but St. Sophia--‘what on earth was the good?’ The hotel was -delightful, and nothing could be more exquisite than the view from my -window, whence I watched the long lines of camels following the -inevitable donkey, and the handsome population, arrayed in every colour -of the rainbow as to male turbans and girdles and the loose robes women -are arrayed in. Thence also, I constantly heard, from the mosque of -Murad, the shrill voice ‘La Ilah il Allah vè Mohammed resoul Allah,’ -calling the people to prayer. - -“On the first day I joined Miss Holmes and her friend Miss Bacon on a -long excursion through the town, going first to the famous Green Mosque -(Yéchil-Djami), which stands on a platform with old trees and a glorious -view over the plain. We were not allowed to enter at once; it was the -service for women, who are permitted this mosque only. ‘Priest very old -and well covered up: it must be so,’ said the dragoman; ‘it is necessary -to guard their moralities: just let them a little loose, and it is a -very bad job.’ - -“Close by is a beautiful _turbé_ with an entrance worthy of the -Alhambra, and lovely tiles and jewelled glass within. Beneath the dome -lies the sarcophagus of Mahomet I., with those of his son, his six -daughters, and their nurse--the last very plain, but close to the royal -coffins. In the centre of the mosque itself is a beautiful fountain, -which freshens the air with a rush of falling waters: around are -inscriptions--‘God is love,’ ‘Mahomet is the prophet of God,’ and the -names of the six caliphs who were the companions of Mahomet. The -_mimber_ here is only ascended by the Sheik el Islam himself, when he -gives the blessing with the Koran. As an interior, Oulou-Djami, the -great mosque in the centre of the town, has even more perfect -proportions--a perfection of interlacing architecture inclining to -gothic, forming twenty-four cupolas, and centering in the great dome -above a splashing fountain. Outside this mosque, facing the street, a -bay-tree overshadows the tomb of a sainted dervish: sick people hang -bits of their clothes around it, and think that, with them, they leave -their ailments there. Oulou-Djami stands on the edge of the vast bazaar, -where splendid Eastern dresses are seen in perfection: the perfectly -fitting jackets and breeches of the men, of richest embroidered stuff, -never costing less than from £3 to £10, so that one wondered at their -not minding the frequent torrents of rain; but it is all ‘kismet.’ When -at home these glorious-looking Turks do nothing, for there is nothing to -do: if a house takes fire, they do not care--there is nothing to burn -but a few divans: perhaps the owner takes his clothes with him when he -escapes--there is nothing else to take. They rise early and have a cup -of coffee, at ten they breakfast, at six is dinner, at eight they go to -bed: a few possible visits are the only variety of the day. - -“It was a delightful drive to the Citadel, where all the space not -occupied by wonderful old buildings is shaded by the most magnificent -planes and cypresses, watered by crystal streams, which have their -source here. The tombs of the first Osmanli princes, Osman and Orchan, -are here, restored after an earthquake. On the tomb of Osman lies the -order of the Osmanlieh: two of his sons and fourteen of his daughters -surround him. A more curious family burial-place is that of Mouradié, a -green enclosure, bright with fountains and roses, and containing a whole -succession of venerable _turbé_ of the family of Murad I. and Mehemet -II., chiefly murdered victims. Amongst the latter, the tomb of the -hero-prince Djem is especially rich and striking. The grave of Murad, by -his own desire, is left open to the rain of heaven, and is covered with -sickly grass. Of the early Broussa Sultans, several--being sons of -fathers of eighteen and mothers of sixteen--were generals of armies and -governors of provinces at fourteen, and their enormous families were due -to the fact that they continued to have children from sixteen to -seventy. - -[Illustration: THE BATHS, BROUSSA.] - -“We drove on to another noble mosque at Tchékirgué, about two miles from -Broussa, with more tombs and relics. Amongst the latter is shown a -prayer, inscribed on wood and enclosed in a bottle. ‘When the bottle -breaks, Broussa will become christian,’ is the tradition--suggesting an -easy and cheap enterprise for missionaries. In front of this mosque -(Ghazy-Hounkiar) is a fountain surrounded by cold and hot springs -alternately, and a little below the village, on the edge of the valley, -are the picturesque old domed baths, the strong sulphuric springs of -which are famous throughout Turkey. All around Broussa is rich soil and -vegetation; hollyhocks grow wild along the hedges: it is a glorious -climate: only justice and government are needed. - -“I am sorry to go away without seeing more of the Bosphorus, but I have -just been to Therapia, where the _villeggiatura_ life in summer must be -delightful.” - - * * * * * - -“_May 23._--My last hours at Constantinople were spent in an expedition -with the Whites in their picturesque state barge to the Sweet Waters of -Europe. I believe I have said nothing of Sir William White, though he is -the ambassador in whose house I have been living so long. His simple -manners are full of bluff humour. He is said to understand the Turk -perfectly, and rose entirely by his own merits, with the help of a lucky -appointment to the Conference of 1876-77.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ LOUISA, MARCHIONESS OF WATERFORD. - -“_Ober-Ammergau, June 2._--We have seen the Passion-Play. It is a day to -have lived for: nothing can be more sublimely devotional, more -indescribably pathetic. - -“Our journey from Constantinople was accomplished very easily. We stayed -to see Buda-Pesth, a very handsome modern city, and then had two days -of perfect enjoyment at Halstadt and the exquisite Gosau Lake. On Friday -night we slept at Oberau, and drove here early on Saturday morning, -finding the Lowthers at once in the village street, and spending most of -that day in drawing with them. We went at once to the house of the -Burgomaster to inquire where we were billeted. All the material part of -life is most comfortably and economically arranged for visitors. I am -quartered with St. Thomas, and all through the day one meets peasants -with long hair, recalling Biblical figures. The Burgomaster’s beautiful -daughter is the Virgin Mary. In a gracious and touching spirit of -unselfish love all these villagers live together for mutual help and -comfort. They have been trained under their late pastor, Aloys -Daisemberger, to regard the Passions-Spiel, which is the great event of -their quiet lives, not only as a religious service of thanksgiving to -which every talent and energy must be contributed for the glory of God, -and a manifestation of gratitude for His preservation of them, but they -are also taught to look upon it as an instrument which God’s grace has -placed in their hands for the calling back of Europe to Christianity, -through the dark mists of infidelity which have been creeping over it in -the nineteenth century. And truly in this the actual visit to -Ober-Ammergau may be as full of teaching as the great representation -itself--the simple contact with such men as ‘Christus Maier,’[488] as he -is called, whose life’s work is ‘to endeavour to do God’s will _aufs -innersten_, and to be helpful to those around him.’ Here, in -Ober-Ammergau--perhaps here alone--religion takes no heed of Roman -Catholic or Protestant vagaries; the will of God, the example of Christ, -those are the only guidance of life. In the five sermons of Daisemberger -preparatory to the Passion-Play of 1871,[489] there is not a single word -which indicates Romanism. ‘Look, O disciples of Christ,’ says -Daisemberger to his people; ‘see your Master, how gentle, how kind He -is, how mild in His intercourse with those around Him, how full of -heartiest sympathy for their joys and sorrows. Then can you, in your -intercourse with those around you, be grumbling, rough, discourteous, -self-asserting, repellent, and wanting in sympathy? Oh no! you could -never endure to be so unlike your Master.’ - -“It is a beautiful place, a high upland mountain valley, covered with -rich pastures and enamelled with flowers. A long street, or rather road, -lined by comfortable detached timber houses, leads to the handsome -church, around which the older part of the village groups itself above -the clear rushing Ammer, and is highly picturesque. Beyond the village, -in the meadows overlooked by the peak of the Kofel, is the theatre where -the great drama of the Passion is enacted, which, ever since 1634, has -commemorated every tenth year the then deliverance of Ammergau from the -plague which was devastating the neighbouring villages. - -“All through Friday it was curious to meet a succession of London -acquaintances, and most unexpected ones, but from all being here with -one object, no one was uncongenial. And all is so perfectly managed, -there is no fuss or hurry; comfortable accommodation, good seats, -excellent food are provided for all who are permitted to come, for the -visitors for every performance are limited to the 2000 for whom there is -room; no unexpected persons, no excursionists are ever admitted. No -thought of gain has ever the slightest influence upon the villagers, and -the prices are only such as pay what is absolutely due. - -“Yesterday morning, I imagine, no visitor could sleep after four, when -their peasant hosts began to tramp overhead and clatter down their -narrow oak staircases. Then, after an excellent breakfast of hot coffee, -cream, eggs, and toast, many visitors and all the people of -Ober-Ammergau hurried to the six-o’clock service in the church, where -all the five hundred actors knelt with their pastor in silent prayer, -and many of them received the Sacrament. At eight all were comfortably -placed in their seats in the open-air theatre, and the soft wild music -of Schutzgeister, which seems to come from behind the hills, preluded -the performance. - -[Illustration: OBER-AMMERGAU.] - -“One might be seated in the Piazza del Popolo at Rome with one’s back to -the gate. There is the same vast intervening space, and the same three -branching streets (the central closed by an inner theatre for tableaux), -with marked buildings at the entrance. Only here those buildings are the -houses of Annas, Caiaphas, and Pilate, and the streets are those of -Jerusalem, lined with Eastern houses, domes, and here and there a -palm-tree, and they melt far away into lovely ethereal mountain -distances, the real mountains of the Bavarian Alps. The performance -begins when the spirit-chorus of eighteen persons, male and female, in -many-coloured tunics and mantles, advance in stately lines from either -side of the stage, and in a chaunt, weird but most distinctly audible, -explain what is coming, and urge those present to receive it in a humble -spirit of reverence and adoration of God. Then, on the central stage, -begin the strange series of types and antitypes, and, as the veil falls -the second time, the vast Hosanna-procession of five hundred men, women, -and children, singing, shouting, and strewing palm-branches, appears -down the distant streets, and, as it draws nearer, and the mountains -resound with jubilant shouts and the whole air is ablaze with life and -colour, the serene, rapt, stately figure of the Christus, riding upon -the ass, but even then spiritualised into absolute sublimity by the -sense of his divine mission, comes for the first time before us. -Afterwards, through the long eight hours of thrilling tension which -follow, overshadowing the endless, almost wearisome, series of Old -Testament scenes, drawing every heart and eye nearer to himself through -the agony of the trial, the cross-bearing, the crucifixion, does that -sublime figure become more familiar; never again can the thought of the -God-man be severed from it. And in the great drama itself one sees all -the rest, but one feels with, one lives for, the Christ alone; and the -dignity of his lofty patience, unmoved from the holy calm which pervades -his whole being even when four hundred savage Jews are shouting and -jibing round in clamorous eagerness for his death, must be present with -one through life. - -“I cannot tell it all. Words fail and emotions are too much. Through -that long day--oh! is it that day alone?--one knows how to live with, to -suffer with Christ: one is raised above earth and its surroundings: one -dies with Him to sin and suffering: one is raised with Him into heavenly -places. After some hours, England is forgotten, Germany is forgotten. -You are a Jew. Jerusalem is your home: all, _all_ your interests are -centred there: nothing earthly is of the very least importance to you -except the great tragedy that is being enacted before your eyes. It is -perhaps the humanity of Christ which is brought most forcibly before -you; but oh! how divinely human, how humanly divine! - -“Could one wonder that Mr. Vanderbilt, the American millionaire, said -that he owed everything--everything for this world and the next--to -Ober-Ammergau? it had unveiled and explained religion for him: it had -made the Bible a living reality. - -“I think of the Old Testament scenes, the Fall of the Manna is the most -beautiful. More than four hundred Israelites, including a hundred and -fifty children, are seen--groups of the most exquisite and harmonious -colour--with Moses and Aaron in the desert; and between you and them, -and amongst and around them, falls mysteriously the soft vaporous manna; -whilst the chorus in sweet, wild, lingering monotone chaunt the -beautiful hymn beginning-- - - ‘Gut ist der Herr, gut ist der Herr.’ - -“Of the New Testament scenes, the leave-taking with the family of -Bethany is perhaps the most pathetic. It is an exquisite sunset scene. -Huge olive-trees stretch their gnarled boughs overhead and are embossed -against the amber sky, in the distance the village of Bethany stands out -in the soft blue mists of evening. Through the sunset comes the Christ -in lingering last words with the sisters and Lazarus, and there, under -the old trees, is their last farewell, touching indescribably, after -which the weeping family return to Bethany, and he goes away, a solitary -figure upon the burnt hills in the twilight, to his death at Jerusalem. - -“At Ober-Ammergau one for the first time realises the many phases of -the trial--in the house of Caiaphas, of Annas, of Pilate, of Caiaphas -again, of Pilate again; and all is terribly real--the three crosses, for -instance, so really heavy, that none but a very strong man can support -them. One thinks better of Pilate after the performance, through which -one has watched his struggles--his weary, hopeless struggles to save the -life of Christ. Almost every act, nearly every word, is directly taken -from the Gospel history. Amongst the few touches added is that of Mary -the mother, accidentally arriving at Jerusalem, meeting the other Marys -in one of the side streets and talking of the condemnation of a Galilean -which has just taken place. Then, as the street opens, suddenly seeing -the cross-bearing in the distance, and thrilling the whole audience with -anguish in her cry of ‘It is my son: it is Jesus!’ The Last Supper is an -exact reproduction of Leonardo’s fresco, and many of the other scenes -follow the great masters. - -“How thrilling were the words, how almost more thrilling were the -_silences_, of Christ.[490] - -“The evening shadows are beginning to fall as we see Christ raised on -the cross. He hangs there for twenty minutes, and most indescribably -sublime are the words given from thence. When all is over, it is so -real, you think that _this time_ death must really have taken place. The -three crosses, the bound thieves, the fainting women, the mounted -centurion, the soldiers drawing lots, all seem to belong to real events, -enacted, not acted. The deposition of the dead Christ on the white -sheet is a vast Rubens picture.[491] - -“The resurrection is more theatrical, but in the final scene, where the -perfect figure of the spiritual Christ is seen for the last time, he -goes far away with his disciples and the Marys, and then, upon Olivet, -in the midst of the group relieved against the golden sunset, he -solemnly blesses his beloved ones, and whilst you gaze rapt, seems to be -raised a little, and then you look for him and he is not. - -“Each one of the four thousand spectators then sits in a vast sense of -loneliness amid the silent Bavarian hills. The long tension is over. The -day is lived out. The Master we have followed we can follow no longer -with material sight. He has suffered, died, and risen from the grave, -and is no longer with us: in the heavens alone can we hope to behold Him -as He is.” - - * * * * * - -After leaving Ober-Ammergau, Hugh Bryans and I went with the Lowthers -and Mrs. Ridley to Rothenburg, still an unaltered diminutive mediaeval -city, and the most interesting place in Germany. Then I paid a -delightful visit to my dear Bunsen friends at Carlsruhe and Herrenalb, -and on our way back to England we saw the marvellous Schloss Eltz, -going thither in a bullock-cart up the bed of the river from the -attractive little inn at Moselkern, kept by a very old man and woman, -sitting upon the very border-land of heaven. - - * * * * * - -During the varied occupations of this summer of 1890 I was asked to -write biographies of several members of my family for the “Dictionary of -National Biography,” and did so. My articles appeared, but greatly -altered. The editor had a perfect right to condense them at his -pleasure, but I was astonished to find _additions_. Bishop Hare was -saddled with a third son, Richard Hare, “an apothecary of Winchester,” -who was the father of James Hare, afterwards called the “Hare with many -friends.” This son of my great-great-grandfather is entirely imaginary; -our family was never in the remotest degree related to Richard or James -Hare. It gave one a terrible impression of how the veracity and -usefulness of a work of really national importance might be spoilt by -the conceited ignorance of an editor; and to add such trash to an -article published with the signature of another was as unjustifiable as -it was abominable. - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS LEYCESTER. - -“_Woodbastwick Hall, August 6, 1890._--I have enjoyed a visit at Cobham -very much. We had only the usual circle of guests, but summer days in -that beautiful place are a delicious halt in life. Thence I went to -Osterley, which looked bewitching, with its swans floating in sunshine -beyond the shade of the old cedars. Those radiant gardens will now bloom -through five years unseen, for Lord Jersey has accepted the Governorship -of New South Wales, which can only be from a sense of duty, as it is an -immense self-sacrifice, though he and Lady Jersey can never fail -anywhere to be a centre of all that is most interesting and useful. To -English society her absence will be a terrible loss, as, with the utmost -simplicity of high breeding, she is the one person left in England who -is capable of holding a _salon_ and keeping it filled, to the -advantage--in every best sense--of all who enter it. Nothing can be more -charming than the relation of Lord and Lady Jersey to their children, -and the fact that the latter were always of the party, yet never in its -way, was the greatest testimony to their up-bringing. The weather was -really hot enough for the luxury of open windows everywhere and for -sitting out all day. The party was a most pleasant one--M. de Staël, the -Russian Ambassador; Lady Crawford, still lovely as daylight, and her -nice daughter Lady Evelyn; Lady Galloway, brimming with cleverness; M. -de Montholon, French Minister at Athens; Mr. and Mrs. Frank Parker, most -amusing and cheery; Sir Philip Currie, General Fielding, &c. Everything -was most unostentatiously sumptuous and most enjoyable. On Monday we -were sent in three carriages to Richmond, where we saw Sir Francis -Cooke’s collections, very curious and worth seeing as it is, but which, -if his pictures deserved the names they bear, would be one of the finest -galleries in the world. Then, after a luxurious luncheon at the ‘Star -and Garter,’ we went on to Ham House, where Lady Huntingtower showed the -curiosities, including all the old dresses kept in a chest in the long -gallery. Finally, I told the Jersey children--splendid audience--a long -story in a glade of the Osterley garden, where the scene might have -recalled the ‘Decameron.’ I was very sorry to leave these kind friends, -and to know it would be so long before I saw them again. - -“I came here with the Lowthers, finding kind Mrs. Cator surrounded by -three sons and eight daughters. This is a luxurious modern house, -replacing one which was burnt. Only a lawn and trees separate it from -the Norfolk Broads, and we have floated down the Bere in a delightful -sailing-boat, through the huge thirsty water-plants, to the weird -remains of St. Benet in the Holme, of which the Bishops of Norwich are -still titular Abbots.” - - * * * * * - -“_Sept. 6._--I have enjoyed a visit to Holmbury (Mr. Leveson Gower’s), -now let to Mr. Knowles of the _Nineteenth Century_--a lovely place with -a delightful view over Surrey plains. I like its homelike character -better than the larger place of Mr. Ralli, whither we went yesterday to -a garden-party. Mr. Knowles is most delightful company, full of -pertinent and never _im_pertinent questions. He has talked much of -Tennyson, with whom his family are very intimate, and who used often to -stay with him when he first married and lived on Clapham Common. -Tennyson speaks every thought without respect of persons. ‘What fish is -this?’ (at dinner).--‘Whiting.’--‘Yes, the meanest fish there is.’ Yet -his kindness of heart is such, that when his partridge was afterwards -given him almost raw, he ate steadily through it, for fear his hostess -might be vexed. - -“After dinner Tennyson will sit smoking his pipe by the chimney-corner. -That is his great time for inspiration, but he will seldom write -anything down. ‘Thousands of lines just float up this chimney,’ he said -one day. Sometimes he will go into the drawing-room and recite something -he has just composed. Some of these poems Mr. Knowles has written down. -If asked to repeat them again, Tennyson can never do it in the same way, -something is always altered or forgotten: so hundreds of his poems are -lost. One day lately, when he was unusually melancholy, his nurse, whom -he greatly likes (he always has a nurse now), took him to task. ‘Mr. -Tennyson, you ought to be ashamed of yourself for grumbling in this way: -you ought to be expressing your gratitude for your recovery from your -bad illness by giving us something--by giving it to the world.’ And he -took her reproof very well, and went away to his own room, and in -half-an-hour had written his lines ‘Crossing the Bar,’ which he gave to -her. - -“Tennyson was very rude to Mrs. Brotherton, a neighbour at Freshwater. -The next day he came to her house with a great cabbage under each arm. -‘I heard you liked these, so I brought them.’ It was his idea of a -peace-offering. - -“My ‘France’ is just appearing, under the guardianship of Ruskin’s -friend Allen. I think it is good. I have certainly worked hard at it. -The woodcuts are beautifully engraved, and with the letterpress I have -even more than usual followed Arthur Young’s advice to authors--‘To -expunge as readily as to compose.’” - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS LEYCESTER. - -“_Oct. 14, 1890._--I went on the 27th to Worth, the ultra-luxurious -house of the Montefiores, where the servants have their own -billiard-tables, ballroom, theatre, and pianofortes, and are arrogant -and presumptuous in proportion. It was a pleasure to drive over to the -picturesque old manor-house of Gravetye, which belongs to Mr. W. -Robinson, who wrote ‘The English Flower-Garden;’ but except the thickets -of Michaelmas daisies, I was disappointed in his flowers, for he only -attempts those which belong to the naturally existing soil. A far more -beautiful garden is that of Mrs. Rate at Milton Court, near Dorking, -whither I went afterwards. John Evelyn’s own house of Wotton is much -altered, but this, which was the dower-house of the Evelyns, remains as -it was in his time, and most lovely are the ranges of brilliant -old-fashioned flowers relieved against the yew-hedges. Mrs. Rate took me -a long drive over the back of Leith Hill, with views of unspeakable -beauty: abroad, there is nothing like such radiance and wealth of -woodland, such exquisite delicacy of misty distance. I was put down at -the station on my way to Highcliffe, to which I hastened in answer to an -unusually urgent and affectionate invitation from its dear lady, bidding -me on no account to miss coming at that time; at another time it might -not be possible. I found the dear Lady Waterford sadly ailing, but I -hope I was able to be useful to her during some days of extreme quietude -and much reading aloud. She had lately been to the Queen at Osborne, -crossing the Solent in the _Elfin_, seated between the two great -bags--‘as big as large arm-chairs’--containing the Queen’s letters for -the day. ‘The Queen would have my drawings in. It was dreadful! for you -know how a big portfolio slides off the table, and the Queen looked at -them all so closely, and I was afraid the portfolio would slip and catch -hold of her nose, and then I should have been sent to the Tower or -something. There was one of the drawings she liked so much that I gave -it to her. It was of Time with his scythe over his shoulder. A quantity -of little children were gambolling and sporting in front and beckoning -him onwards, but behind were a number of old people trying to hold him -back; for one wanted to go on with his book, another to finish a -drawing, and so on, and so they were clinging to his skirts as he was -striding away.’ - -“Lady Waterford cannot understand the physical signs of age which seem -to be suddenly attacking her: yet spiritually she is more than ever -living in Eternity’s sunrise. Truly those who have lived much at -Highcliffe or Ford can never ‘think this life a low and poor place in -which to seek the Divine Master walking to and fro.’[492] - -“I felt sadder than usual in leaving Highcliffe this time, as if it -might be a last visit, yet it is difficult to imagine life without what -has given its greatest interest and charm. The dear lady was down before -I came away, though it was very early, and I retain a beautiful picture -of her standing in the conservatory under the great brugmantia laden -with its orange flowers. She came with me through the rooms, and I -looked back at her, and found her still looking after me, and so, -somehow walked away sadly down the dewy lanes to the station, with a -desolate feeling that I might see her no more. - -“I went on to Babraham (the Adeanes’), whence I drove with Charlie to -spend the afternoon at Audley End--what a magnificent place! Afterwards -I had two days at pleasant, merry Hardwick.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ LOUISA, MARCHIONESS OF WATERFORD. - -“_Nov. 10, 1890._--On October 20 I went to Tatton, meeting a large and -pleasant party for the week, and one sees every one there to perfection, -Lady Egerton knowing so well how to unlock a portal of -communication--often of friendship--with just the right key. Truly, -indeed, might Lady Egerton say-- - - ‘Je suis né pour plaire aux nobles âmes, - Pour les consoler un peu d’un monde impur.’[493] - -The country is black but always interesting. Little Knutsford was sanded -all over in patterns (as in India) for a wedding: it is a custom which -dates from King Alfred, who met a wedding-party as he was passing -through the town and threw down some sand, saying that he hoped the -descendants of the marriage might be as numerous as its grains. The -patterns of sand--flowers, love-knots, &c.--are made through the spout -of a teapot. One day the conversation fell upon the little hamlet of -Flash in the Cheshire hills. Pedlars from Manchester used to waste their -time there in drinking on their way to London, whence the term -‘flash-goods!’ We drove to Holford Hall, passing on the outskirts of -Tabley many of the brown many-horned sheep, which are said to have -descended from some washed ashore from the Armada. I was glad to go -again with Lady Egerton to Arley, where the beautiful gardens, really -modern, have all the picturesqueness of antiquity. It is typical of the -kindness which old Mr. Warburton shows in everything that all round the -roads on his estate he leaves open spaces with plenty of brambles for -blackberry gatherers. - -“Lord Donington told Lady Egerton that when he went to live where he -does now, his two young boys were taught by an admirable English -governess. One day, having observed the housekeeper carefully locking -the door of a spare bedroom, she casually said, ‘Do you always keep the -doors of the unused bedrooms locked?’--‘No,’ said the housekeeper, ‘only -this one;’ and she invited the governess to look into it, saying that -there was a mystery about it. Some one always seemed to come to sleep -there, whom she could not imagine, and she believed some trick was being -played upon her. As an experiment, she said she would be very much -obliged if the governess would take away the key after the room was -locked, and keep it till the following morning. The next day they went -together to the room, which showed every appearance of having been slept -in, yet the window was carefully fastened inside, and there was no other -possible entrance. - -“Some time after, a young man came to shoot with the boys, and was put -into that room. In the morning he came down with a very scared look, and -said he was very sorry, but he must leave. Being much pressed, he -allowed that he had been dreadfully frightened. He had kept his candle -by his bed to finish a book he had been reading, and, looking up, he saw -an old man sitting by the fire, who eventually rose, came, looked into -the bed, and seeing him there, walked away. ‘And,’ said the visitor, -‘_that_ is the man!’ pointing to a picture on the wall of an ancestor -who had died centuries before. - -“Amongst the guests at Tatton were a Mr. and Mrs. Crum, most delightful -people. He had made a fortune as a manufacturer, and they now live at -Broxton Old Hall, a dower-house and beautiful old black and white manor -of Sir Philip Egerton’s, whither I went to visit them. Thence I saw Mr. -Wolley Dodd’s wonderful garden, the most interesting herbaceous -collection in England. Mr. Wolley, well known as an Eton master, married -Miss Dodd, the heiress of Edge, and of a family which has lived there -from Saxon times, and of which a member was knighted at Agincourt; and -he has turned a farmyard, a quarry, a pond, a wood, &c., into the most -astonishing of gardens, in which each genus of plants is provided with -the exact soil it loves best, and grows as it never does elsewhere. Near -Edge we saw the noble old black and white house of Carden. We also saw -the once splendid church of Malpas, utterly ruined by its so-called -‘restoration’ under a Chester architect named Douglas--old pavements, -old pews ruthlessly destroyed, and a vestry by Vanbrugh only spared for -want of funds to pull it down. A miserable window commemorates Reginald -Heber, once rector, and a lime avenue leads to his rectory. I was -several days at Drayton as I returned--most beautiful and interesting. - -“C. writes to me for advice, but I feel more and more diffident about -giving any. I found such a capital bit about this in a novel called -‘Margaret Maliphant,’ the other day. The old servant Deborah says, ‘What -you think’s the right way most times turns out to be the wrong way; and -when you make folks turn to the right when they was minded to turn to -the left, it’s most like the left would have been the best way for them -to travel after all. I’ve done advisin’ long ago; for it’s a queer tract -of country here below, and every one has to take their own chance in the -long-run.’ - -“_How_ tiresome the shibboleth which many clergymen talk in church is! -Mr. ---- has been dwelling upon the exceeding _sinfulness of sin_. We -_may_ find a meaning for this, but is it in fact different from the -_beautifulness of beauty_, which we should call nonsense?” - - * * * * * - -_To_ LOUISA, MARCHIONESS OF WATERFORD. - -“_Nov. 30, 1890._--I had a pleasant visit at St. Audries, Sir A. Acland -Hood’s beautiful place. It is a red sandstone house, enfolded amongst -green hills, chiefly covered with golden or russet woods or rich growth -of arbutus, and in front is the sea. In the morning-room are Turner’s -water-colour pictures of Sussex (including one of Hurstmonceaux), -executed for Mr. Fuller of Rosehill, of whom, with two other fortunes, -Lady Hood was the heiress. In a corner of the hall are baby-clothes of -three boys beneath the portrait of another remote ancestor, Edward -Palmer of Ightham Mote. One Whitsunday morning a servant came in and -said, ‘Sir, your lady has presented you with a son.’--‘The most joyful -news you could have brought me!’ said Mr. Palmer. The following Sunday -the servant came again: ‘Sir, your lady has presented you with another -son.’--‘Oh, God bless my soul! you don’t say so?’ exclaimed Mr. Palmer. -But the third Sunday the servant came in with ‘Sir, your lady has -presented you with another son.’ It seemed quite too much; but the -babies all lived, and grew up to be very distinguished men, being all -knighted for their valour by Henry VIII.[494] I was delightfully taken -about--to Crowcombe, where the Carew heiress has married Cranmer -Trollope, and where there are noble Vandykes and a fine Titian portrait: -to Quantockshead, with a delightful old hall and carved chimney-pieces: -and to Nettlecombe, where the old hall of the Catholic Sir Alfred -Trevelyan nestles close to the parish church. Sir Alfred described how -the ‘church restorers’ at Bideford had turned all that was worth having -out of the church. A figure of a man was bought by an old woman, but she -thought it was too undressed and kept it--in bed! There it was found -with its head comfortably laid on the pillow, a figure of St. John -Baptist. The old woman had some notion of its value, as she asked £600 -for it; but it was well worth that, as it was a priceless Donatello! - -“All about this neighbourhood it is the same thing. Sir A. Hood had been -to see a friend of his, and remarked, ‘What a pretty and peculiar -flower-stand you have.’--‘Yes,’ said the friend, ‘and an interesting one -too, for it is the font of Ongar church, in which Gunthran the Dane was -baptized, and by which King Alfred stood as his sponsor.’ - -“Mr. W. Neville, who was one of the guests at St. Audries, had been to -hear Dr. Parker, of the Congregational Hall, preach. He began his sermon -by saying, ‘My brethren, I have received a letter from a gentleman -saying that he intends to be present to-day and to make a philosophical -analysis of my discourse to you. I am sure you will all sympathise with -me in the embarrassment and nervousness which I must experience on such -an occasion, though certainly I may derive some little comfort from the -fact that my correspondent spells “philosophical” with an _f_.’ - -“Mr. Neville told me that he had asked a boy in his parish what was the -difference between the head and the stomach. ‘The head has brains in it, -if the owner has any,’ replied the boy; ‘the stomach has bowels; they -are five--_a-e-i-o-u_.’ - -“It was only a drive from St. Audries to Dunster, where I spent three -days, and which is, as Charlie Halifax has often described it, quite the -most beautiful place in the south of England. It is an old castle, of -which the earlier parts are of Edward I., on a great height, rising from -glorious evergreen woods, with a view of the sea on one side and russet -moorland on the other: in the depth, on one side, a tossing crystalline -river and old pointed bridge; on the other, the town with its ancient -market-house and glorious church. I slept in ‘King Charles’s Room,’ in a -great carved bed. The cottages in the villages around are covered with -myrtle, coronilla, and geranium. - -“Mrs. Stucley, one of the Fanes of Clovelly, was at St. Audries. She -told me that one Sunday their clergyman preached entirely on -Thermopylae, and wound up by saying that the Spartans were much the -bravest men that ever lived; that there was never any battle like -Thermopylae. Afterwards, at luncheon, Colonel Stucley said he did not -agree with what the preacher had said, for all the Thespians perished, -whilst the Spartans survived: had the Thespians survived, they might -have proved as good as their rivals. - -“Three weeks afterwards the clergyman surprised the Stucleys by saying, -‘Well, my case is proved. I’ve the opinion of the greatest Greek scholar -of the age--Mr. Gladstone--that it is as I stated it, that the Spartans -were the bravest.’ He had actually written to Mr. Gladstone, and -produced the answer. - -“Afterwards Mrs. Stucley was dining out in London, and went down with -Mr. Godley, one of Gladstone’s secretaries. She said, ‘I am afraid my -name may not be unknown to you?’--‘Oh,’ he said, ‘Thermopylae,’ and went -on to tell that when one of the secretaries opened the letter, they all -discussed the question, and not being able to agree, took it in to Mr. -Gladstone, who was so excited by it that he left his finance and all -else, and walked about for three hours talking of nothing but -Thermopylae. - -“Except the Lefevres and Brasseys, I think my Dunster visit is the only -time I have ever stayed in a Radical house; but its mistress, Mrs. -Luttrell, with the support of her own family twelve miles off, holds out -as a Conservative. - -“From Somersetshire I went to Hatfield, arriving just after sunset. You -could only just see the red colouring on the majestic old house, but all -the windows blazed and glittered with light through the dark walls; the -Golden Gallery with its hundreds of electric lamps was like a Venetian -illumination. The many guests coming and going, the curiously varied -names inscribed upon the bedroom doors, give the effect of having all -the elements of society compressed under one roof. It was pleasant to -meet Lady Lytton, beautiful still, and with all the charm of the most -high-bred refinement. Another guest was Count Herbert Bismarck. Lady -Salisbury had spoken of him as a fallen power, greatly broken by his -fall, and so had enlisted our sympathies for him, but he quenched them -by his loud authoritative manner, flinging every sentence from him with -defiant self-assertion. He was especially opinionated about Henry -VIII.’s wives, utterly refusing to allow that Anne of Cleves did not -precede Anne Boleyn. He is a colossal man and a great eater, and would -always fill two glasses of wine at once, to have one in reserve. At -dinner he was rather amusing about the inefficiency of doctors, and said -that the only time when cause follows effect was when a doctor follows -the funeral of his patient. Lord Selborne, who was sitting near, spoke -of Baron Munchausen, how he took the whole College of Physicians up in -his balloon, and kept them there a month, and then, when he sent them -down again out of pity for their patients, found all their patients had -got quite well in their absence, but that all the undertakers were -ruined. - -“The life of a Prime Minister’s family is certainly no sinecure. Lady -Salisbury and her daughter have constantly to go off to found or open -charities of every description. Lord Salisbury is occupied with his -secretaries to the very last moment before breakfast and luncheon, into -which he walks stooping, with hands folded behind him, and a deeply -meditative countenance, and by his side the great boar-hound called -‘Pharaoh’--‘because he will not let the people go;’ but when once seated -as a host, he wakes up into the most interesting and animated -conversation. - -“How cold it is! but, as Mr. Bennett has been saying in Curzon Street -Chapel, ‘Winter is like the pause of the instrument; not the paralysis, -but the preparation of Nature.’ These sermons at Curzon Street are one -of the greatest interests of London now. Last Sunday’s was on -‘anonymous sins.’ ‘How many there are,’ said the preacher, ‘even in -fashionable life, who say, “Lord, I will follow Thee, I mean to follow -Thee ... but ...;”’ and proceeded to describe how ‘the future of the -world depends upon its unknown saints.’ Very different are these from -the nonsensical sermons one often hears about ‘the awful circumstances -of the times,’ interlarded with prophetic texts. - -“There has been a long and amusing Review of my ‘France’ in the -_Speaker_, reproaching me with my Roman Catholic tendencies, as evinced -in the length of my account of Ars and its Curé, the writer being -evidently unconscious that for every English traveller who lingers at -Lyons, at least a hundred (Catholics) turn aside to Ars. This Review is -noticed in an American paper, which says, ‘As a matter of fact, Mr. Hare -is a well-known Low Church clergyman, who _poses at clerical meetings as -an advanced Evangelical_!’ The other Reviews seem to have been mostly -written by men who knew nothing of the subject, and who have not taken -the trouble to know more of the book than, at most, the first chapter. -One of them asserts that ‘the illustrations, said to be taken from -original sketches, are evidently all from photographs’ (!); but ‘j’ai -pour principe que le radotage des sots ne tire pas à conséquence,’ as -Ernest Renan says.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ LOUISA, MARCHIONESS OF WATERFORD. - -“_Dec. 7, 1890._--I have had an interesting visit to the De Capel -Brookes in the old grey Tudor house of Great Oakley Hall in -Northamptonshire. Thence I saw two of the finest houses in England. -Rushton (Mr. Clarke Thornhill’s) is a great Tudor house with a screen -like that of a Genoese palace. In the garden is ‘Dryden’s Walk,’ and the -three-cornered lodge built by Richard Tresham (with Lyveden and the -town-hall of Rothwell) as a strange votive offering to propitiate the -Trinity for success in the enterprise of the Gunpowder Plot. Rockingham -is even more interesting. Once the hunting-palace of King John, it was -inhabited ever afterwards by the English kings till the time of Henry -VII., since which the Watsons have possessed it. The position is -splendid, with a wide view of map-like Northamptonshire country, and it -is approached by a gateway between noble Plantagenet towers. All -additions have been made in the best taste, and the great drawing-room -is magnificent. King John’s treasure-chest remains in the hall. There is -a noble Sir Joshua, and a most beautiful Angelica Kauffmann, probably -her finest work. Other interesting pictures came to the Watsons through -marriages, many of Lord Strafford and his surroundings through the -marriage of his daughter with Lord Rockingham; those of Henry Pelham, -the Duke of Newcastle, &c., through the daughter of the former. - -“How interesting is the Parnell crisis! At Miss Seymour’s I met a -Countess Ziski, who talked of how curious it was that abroad, if a woman -misconducts herself, she is boycotted, but no notice is taken of the -misconduct of the man: here, if a woman misconducts herself, an -easy-going society makes excuses for her, but the man is cashiered for -ever. - -“The Dean of Chester says that a friend of his was once baptizing a -child of six. All went well, till it came to making the sign of the -cross, when the child exclaimed, ‘If you do that again, I’ll hit yer in -the eye.’ At a recent Board-school examination ‘Education’ was defined -as ‘that which enables you to despise the opinions of others, and -conduces to situations of considerable emolument.’ I think it was Miss -Cobbe who defined ‘Conscience’ as ‘that which supplies you with an -excellent motive for doing that which you desire to do, and which fills -you with self-satisfaction when you have done it.’” - - * * * * * - -_To_ W. H. MILLIGAN. - -“_Llandaff, Dec. 18, 1890._--I was a week at Ammerdown, meeting Lord and -Lady Temple, the Phelips’s of Montacute, and a charming Miss Devereux, -Lord Hereford’s daughter.... The Dean of ---- had been out with a -shooting party in the neighbourhood. ‘I hope you sent some pheasants the -Dean’s way,’ said the owner of the ground to a keeper. ‘Oh yes, that I -have, and his holiness has been pepperin’ away as stiff as a biscuit.’ - -“Here at Llandaff it has been interesting to meet Mr. Herbert Ward of -the African Stanley rearguard, a most frank, simple, and evidently most -truthful fellow, who speaks with great moderation of the leader of the -expedition, to whom they owed so much of suffering, misery, death, and -slander. - -“Have you never remarked how hypnotism is described in Wisdom xvii.?” - - * * * * * - -_To_ LOUISA, MARCHIONESS OF WATERFORD. - -“_Honingham, Norfolk, January 8, 1891._--I enjoyed my Christmas visit to -the Lowthers, though it was rather spoilt by what novelists would call -the incipient agonies of a cold, which has about attained its perfection -now, and I am glad to be in this warm house of the hospitable Ailwyn -Fellowes’s, where I am well looked after. - -“I heard such a capital story of Bishop Magee the other day. He was in a -carriage on the Great Western with two young clergymen, one of whom -began, and went on violently abusing the Bishop of Peterborough by name, -without observing who he was. At Swindon the Bishop got out to have some -soup. When he was gone, the other curate said, ‘How could you go on like -that? couldn’t you see that _was_ the Bishop of Peterborough?’--‘Why -didn’t you stop me?’--‘Well, I did all I could; I’m sure I kicked you -hard enough.’--‘What _can_ I do?’--‘Well, if I was you, I should -apologise.’ So, when the Bishop came back, the young man said, ‘I’m very -sorry, my Lord, to have said all I did in your presence. I am sure I had -not an idea who you were, and if there is anything you especially -objected to, I should be very glad to withdraw it and -apologise.’--‘Well,’ said the Bishop, ‘there was one thing, there -certainly was one thing which annoyed me very much: you _would_ call me -Majee; now my name is Magee!” - - * * * * * - -Alas! the shadows which I had observed during my last visit to my dear -friend Lady Waterford were now gathering very thickly around her. She -had failed rapidly from the time of her removal from Highcliffe to her -Northumbrian home, and was no longer able to answer me; but I still -wrote to her. - - * * * * * - -_To_ LOUISA, MARCHIONESS OF WATERFORD. - -“_Athenaeum Club, March 1, 1891._--I am thankful still to hear of you -from many common friends, and quite satisfied without hearing from -yourself, and rejoice to think of you as able to enjoy drives. I think -you will often find out, by carriage, points which will be almost new to -you, and I can imagine how lovely the effects must have been in the hazy -hollows of the Cheviots in these last days, when even here sunshine has -broken through the fog in which London was shrouded for a week. It is -Sunday, and I am just going to Curzon Street Chapel. I would not miss -one of Mr. Bennett’s sermons on any account.... The one which struck me -most was on the brief text ‘Nothing but leaves!’--so many bear those, -quite a great growth of them, and no more: I am sure I do.” - - * * * * * - -“_March 16._--Two days ago I ran in from this Club to luncheon at the -Brownlows’ close by, and had such a pleasant visit. - -“I went first into the large room they call the library on the ground -floor--the most enchanting of rooms, hung all round with noble Italian -pictures, some of them bequeathed by Miss Talbot, and bright with many -flowers; some of your prettiest drawings on the table; Westminster -Abbey, faint, grey, and impressive, beyond the leafless trees outside -the window. Here I found Lord Pembroke, always as genial, pleasant, and -charming as he is handsome. - -“The staircase is quite beautiful, chiefly designed by Lord Brownlow, -but partly taken from the old palace-inn at Parma, with friezes and -alcoves, and lighted by a copy of Michelangelo’s lanthorn. In the wide -gallery above we found Lady Brownlow. Her two sisters came in, and then -we had luncheon. - -“Afterwards we went to the pretty little sitting-room, full of beautiful -things, which is called Lady Lothian’s. What an attractive group the -sisters made--the pale, spiritual, abstracted Lady Lothian, the very -type of refined gentleness: Lady Brownlow, with her noble Bronzino-like -head and colouring, and the figure of a classic caryatide: Lady -Pembroke, less interesting at first, but so intensely _grande dame_; and -then the two husbands leaning over them, on such happy, devoted terms -with all three, were such noble specimens of humanity. The conversation -there is delightful--so un-Londony, so original, so high-minded and -high-meaning. - -“To-day I have been to Edward Clifford’s studio to see his drawings and -his Burne-Jones’s--all of the usual lean, limp, scared-woman kind. What -was more interesting was the handsome, radiant, bright-eyed elderly -woman who was looking over the drawings: it was the famous Madame -Novikoff. I had much talk with her, and found her most simple and -attractive, and not the least an alarming person.” - - * * * * * - -It was on the day after writing this that I first truly realised that my -dearest Lady’s illness must be fatal. Our Lady was told that it must be -so, that the end might come any day, any hour. At first she shed a few -natural tears, and said, “I thought I should have lived to -seventy-seven, as my mother did,” and then added sweetly, “But why -should I mind, since God so wills it? tell me how it will be.”--“Perhaps -in your chair, just as you are sitting now.”--“Oh, that will be well--so -quiet, so well.” One day soon afterwards she wished to go out into the -garden when it was not thought good for her. “Perhaps you might die when -you are out.”--“And why should it not be like that? If God called me in -the garden, it would be as well as in any other place.” I could not go -to Ford, because Lady Waterford was not allowed to see any one -unnecessarily, but for many weeks succeeding my whole heart was there -with the faithful friend, the kind sympathiser, the constant -correspondent of thirty years. One heard of the gradual increase of the -disease: of her laying aside all painting and writing: of her reading -prayers to her servants for the last time; but still talking in her wise -and beautiful way of all things “lovely and of good report,” laughing -brightly over old recollections: then of her lying constantly on a sofa, -always rejoicing to see those she loved, but mistaking her younger -relations for their mothers, dear to her in the long ago. Often also -others, those dearest to her, who had gone before, appeared to be -present with her as angel ministrants to cheer and comfort. The sweet -face of old Lady Stuart, her mother, seemed visibly present: she -imagined her old governess to be in the house, and bade Miss Lindsay to -be sure to arrange for the drives which she knew the old lady liked. -Through the flowers upon her table she constantly saw her sister -Charlotte, Lady Canning, in all her loveliness. Her sense of the -companionship of this beloved sister was so vivid, and she spoke of her -so often, that at last one of those present thought it necessary to say -to her, “Dear lady, Lady Canning died very many years ago.” “Oh, did -she? How delightful! then I shall soon be able to talk to her. I see her -now, but soon we shall talk as we used to do.” One evening there was a -beautiful sunset. Our dear Lady sat watching it. “It is like the coming -of the Lord,” she said. Surely the watchers at Ford realised General -Gordon’s words--“Any one to whom God gives to be much with Him, cannot -even suffer a pang at the approach of death. For what is death to a -believer? It is a closer approach to Him whom, even through the veil, -he is ever with.” - -Mr. Neville, the rector of Ford, prayed with her daily. “How I wish that -others might have the solace this is to me,” she said, with her peculiar -emphasis on the word “solace.” - -Lady Brownlow was with her three days, and was her last visitor: she -came away saying it had been like being in a beautiful church, so -pervading was the sense of holiness. “Oh, darling Adelaide! goodness and -beauty, beauty and goodness: those are ever the great things!” were our -dear Lady’s last words to her, as she took her hands and gazed at her -earnestly. They were very characteristic. - - * * * * * - -_To_ LOUISA, MARCHIONESS OF WATERFORD. - -“_April 12, 1891._--How often my thoughts go to Ford, and how well I can -imagine all that surrounds you there--the snowy Cheviots, that pretty -little garden in the bastion tower, the warm bright library; most of all -the constant care of Miss Thompson and Miss Lindsay. I am so glad I know -it so well, and have so many memories of happy visits--in the old -castle, in the cottage with dear Lady Stuart, in the renewed castle -since. I seem to see you this bright Sunday morning, and hope it is as -bright with you. Inwardly I am sure the sun is shining, and that the -Saviour you have loved so well is very near you in hours of weakness. I -often wish I could do something--anything--for you, but I can only -think of you with ever-grateful love, and pray that all may be peaceful -and smooth with you. - -“Lady Bloomfield is feeling the loss of her old friend Mrs. Hogg,[495] -but she had the most gentle and peaceful end, just talking to her sister -and daughter very calmly and quietly without any pain or fear, and then -falling sweetly asleep and not waking.... - -“‘The Blessed Trinity have you in his keeping,’ as Margaret Paston wrote -in 1461.” - - * * * * * - -“_April 26._--Another week of bitter cold and biting winds, and I fear -you will have been the worse for them. Your state of suspension from so -much that you used to be able to do so constantly recalls that of my -dearest mother--in winter--for many years; but when the limbs seemed -least helpful, and eyes and hands least active, all happy memories of -her wealthy past seemed brighter to her, and she was always able to find -comfort in the feeling that ‘they also serve who only stand and wait.’ -... I know that, to the weakest, Christ can give such blessed assurance -of His love, that in the joy of it all pain and fear are unfelt and -vanish. Oh, would that I could do anything for you, but you know how -much I always am your most affectionate and grateful - -“A. J. C. H.” - -This letter was read to our Lady: then I was told to write no more. The -end was very near, and each hour became filled with a tensity of -waiting for the silent summons. There were none of the ordinary signs of -an illness. Our Lady suffered no pain at all, scarcely even discomfort. -Her former beauty returned to her, only in a more majestic form, the -signs of age seeming to be smoothed away, except in the grey hair half -hidden by soft lace. She rarely spoke, and noticed little except the -beauty of the flowers by which she was surrounded. But when she did -speak, those with her knew that, with entire and humblest prostration of -self at the foot of the Cross, her faith and hope had never been -brighter. She looked beyond the snowy hills into a sky of unearthly -beauty. And so, peacefully, radiantly, our dearest Lady fell into the -ever-smiling unconsciousness, in which, on May 11th, she passed away -from us to join the beloved and honoured who are at rest with Christ. As -I think of her, some lines come back to me which I read to her on my -last morning at Ford:-- - - “Now for all waiting hours - Well am I comforted, - For of a surety now I see - That, without dire distress - Of tears or weariness, - My Lady verily awaiteth me: - So that, until with her I be, - For my dear Lady’s sake - I am right fain to make - Out of my pain a pillow, and to take - Grief for a golden garment unto me; - Knowing that I, at last, shall stand - In that green garden-land, - And, in the holding of my Lady’s hand, - Forget the grieving and the misery.”[496] - -I should have gone to Ford afterwards, but our Lady only died on Monday, -and it was late on Wednesday night before I heard that she was to be -buried on Thursday afternoon, so to arrive in time was impossible. Miss -Lindsay wrote to me how her coffin was carried on the shoulders of her -own labourers to the churchyard, how all the village and all her -tenantry came to her funeral, with the few intimate friends within -reach, and how Helmore’s music was sung. It was well the end was at -Ford. Highcliffe is a rapidly changing place, and it has already passed -to comparative strangers; but at Ford she will always be _the_ Lady -Waterford, “the good, the dear Lady Waterford.” - -There our Lady rests, within view of her own Cheviots, surrounded by the -affectionate Border people, to whom their “Border Queen” was their -greatest pride and interest and joy. An aching void will remain in our -hearts through life, but it is only for our poor selves. When one thinks -of her, earth fades and vanishes, and if--when one is alone--one allows -oneself to think, to dwell upon all the glory of what she _was_, an -all-pervading sense of peace and holiness comes upon one, and one seems, -for the moment, almost to pass into the Land of Beulah--into the higher -life, without worry or vexation, where she _is_. - -When her things were being distributed, the distributors were surprised -to hear that “the odd man” most earnestly begged for something: it was -for her old sealskin jacket. It was thought a most singular request at -first, but he urged it very much: he should “treasure the jacket as long -as ever he lived.” - -[Illustration: TOMB OF LADY WATERFORD, FORD.] - -He had been walking by her donkey-chair in the road, when they found a -female tramp lying in the ditch, very ill indeed. Lady Waterford got out -of her chair and made the man help her to lift the poor woman into it. -Then she took off her own jacket, and put it upon the sick woman, and -walked home by the side of the chair, tending and comforting her all the -way. “But it was not my Lady’s putting her jacket on the woman that I -cared about,” said the man, “but that she did not consider her jacket -the least polluted by having been worn by the tramp; _she wore it -herself afterwards_ as if nothing had happened.” - - - - -XXVII - -SOCIAL REMINISCENCES - - “Napoleon used to say that what was most fatal to a general was the - knack of combining objects into pictures. A good officer, he said, - never makes pictures; he sees objects, as through a field-glass, - exactly as they are.”--_Macmillan_, No. 306. - - “Small causes are sufficient to make a man uneasy when great ones - are not in the way. For want of a block, he will stumble on a - straw.”--SWIFT. - - - “Errors like straws upon the surface flow, - He who would search for pearls must dive below.” - --DRYDEN. - -_To the_ HON. G. JOLLIFE. - -“_Holmhurst, August 1891._--I enjoyed my months in London at the time, -yet was very glad to come away. It is a terrible waste of life. The size -and lateness of dinners have killed society. Scarcely any one says -anything worth hearing, and if any one does, nobody listens. - -“‘Que de bonnes choses vont tous les jours mourir dans l’oreille d’un -sot,’ was always a true saying of Fontenelle, but is less true now than -formerly--there are so few _bonnes choses_. - -“People love talking, but not talk. Dinners are rather display than -hospitality, supplying abundance of sumptuous viands, but no _esprit_. -I heard pleasanter conversation in one quiet luncheon at the Speaker’s -from his delightful family than at a hundred parties: as a social art it -is extinct. One never hears such conversationalists as gathered round my -aunt Mrs. Stanley’s homely table long ago, or as, in later times, round -Arthur Stanley, Mrs. Grote, Madame Mohl, the first Lady Carnarvon, Lord -Houghton, Lady Margaret Beaumont. The dinners, in food sense, have never -any attraction to me. L. and I dined out together at ---- and I think it -was an even match which of us suffered most, L. or myself: myself, -because the dinner was too good; L., because it was not good enough. - -[Illustration: THE OAK WALK, HOLMHURST.] - -“From what I hear from the East End, the scandal of Tranby Croft seems -to be acting as the _affaire du collier_ did in France in preparing the -way for a revolution. But the West End goes on as if nothing had -happened. I saw the Emperor (of Germany) several times, a fat young man -with a bright good-humoured face, though apparently never free from the -oppression of his own importance, as well as of the importance of his -dress, which he changes very often in the day. And I went, one glorious -afternoon, when the limes were in blossom, with several thousand other -people to Hatfield to meet the Prince of Naples, whose intelligence -(especially on subjects connected with Natural History) seems to have -pleased everybody. He is very small, but has none of the aggressive -ugliness of his father and grandfather. One day I went to luncheon with -Miss Rhoda Broughton, who is seen at her very best in her little house -at Richmond, most attractive in its old prints and furniture and lovely -river view. Then I spent a Sunday with my cousin Theresa Earle in her -pretty Surrey home, and wound up the season by meeting a large party at -Cobham.” - -[Illustration: THE VENETIAN WELL, HOLMHURST.] - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS LEYCESTER (_æt._ 94). - -“_Holmhurst, Sept. 2, 1891._--You will imagine how your birthday makes -me think of you, and how much I give thanks for the blessing which your -love and kindness has been to us for so many years. I like to think of -you on your peaceful sofa, and I know you are like John Wilson Croker, -who, when some one remarked in his presence that death was an awful -thing, said, ‘I do not feel it so. The same Hand which took care of me -when I came into this world will take care of me when I go out of it.’” - - * * * * * - -_To_ W. H. MILLIGAN, _and Note-book_. - -“_Holmhurst, Oct. 1891._--I have returned from my autumn visits, which -have been delightful. The Watsons, who live at Rockingham, the old royal -palace of the Midlands, are well worthy of its noble rooms and its -brilliant gardens, relieved against the quaintest of yew hedges. - -“At Hovingham, in Yorkshire, I found Mrs. Lowther, and we sketched -together very happily. It is an unusual great house, approached through -a riding-school and a sculpture gallery, which contains a huge work of -Giovanni da Bologna and the loveliest little Greek statue in England. -Genial Sir William Worsley, the adopted uncle of all the nicest young -ladies in the county, is a centre of love and goodness, and his -saint-like wife, crippled and utterly motionless from chronic -rheumatism, is the sunshine of all around her. Most quaint are some of -the old-fashioned dependants. The old coachman seriously asked his -master, ‘Is it true, Sir William, that Baron Rothschild was refused when -he offered to pay the whole of the natural debt if he might drive eight -horses like the Queen, instead of seven horses and a mule?’ - -“We saw Gilling, the fine old Fairfax castle, and spent a delicious day -at Rievaulx. Sir William has oratorios(!) annually performed in his -riding-school. - -“I arrived at Bishopthorpe the day before the Archbishop’s enthronement, -and found a large party of relations assembling; but it would be -difficult to crowd the house, as there are forty bedrooms and the -dining-room is huge. The palace lies low, and out of the dining-room -window you could very nearly fish in the Ouse, which often floods the -cellars, the only part remaining of the original house of Walter de -Gray. The rococo gateway is imposed by guidebooks upon the uninitiated -as that of Wolsey’s palace at Cawood: perhaps a few of its ornaments -came from thence. The ceremony in the Minster was very imposing, the -more so as a military escort was given to the Archbishop, as having been -an old soldier. Most moving was his address upon the responsibilities, -and what he felt to be the duties, of his office. The ebb and flow of -processional music was beautiful, as the long stream of choristers and -clergy flowed in and out of the Minster. The Archbishop’s brothers--one -of them, Sir Douglas-Maclagan, being eighty--made a very remarkable -group. - -“Most happy and interesting were my four succeeding days at Hickleton, -where I met one of the familiar circles of people I always connect with -Charlie Halifax--Lady Ernestine Edgecumbe, Lady Morton, Canon and Lady -Caroline Courtenay, the Haygarths. More characteristic still of the host -was the presence of a nun in full canonicals--Sister Caroline--‘this -religious,’ as Charlie called her--who appeared at meals, though only to -partake of a rabbit’s diet. In the churchyard a great crucifix, twelve -feet high, is being erected, and the people of Doncaster do not come out -to stone it; on the contrary, the crucifix and its adjuncts attract -large congregations of pitmen, who would not go to church at all -otherwise; and the neighbourhood is beginning to wonder how long the -Church of England can dare to deny its Lord by condemning the crucifix, -the vacant cross being but the frame of the picture with the portrait -left out, and in itself an eloquent protest against the omission. -Another smaller crucifix commemorates the three dear boys who have ‘gone -home.’ The shadow of their great loss here is ever present, but it is -truly a sanctified grief: their memory is kept ever fresh and the -thought of them sunny, and thus they still seem to have their -part--invisible--in the daily life, upon which their beautiful pictured -semblances look down from the walls of their home. Only a deep sudden -sigh from the father now and then recalls all he has undergone. The -short morning services in the house-chapel, with its huge crucifix from -Ober-Ammergau, where the household sing in parts, are very touching. -Still more so are the Sunday services in the beautiful church, close to -the house, the low mass, then the full surpliced choir and the blazing -lights, and the holy rood above the reredos glittering through them in a -golden glamour. In the darker aisle where we sat were the sleeping -alabaster figures of the late Lord and Lady Halifax upon their great -altar-tomb, and near me the dearest friend of my long-ago was -kneeling--a stainless knight--in a rapt devotion which seemed to carry -him far into the unseen. I could only feel, as Inglesant at Little -Gidding, the presence of a peace and glory utterly unearthly, and as if -there--as nowhere else--Heaven took possession of one and entered into -one’s soul. - -“A journey through the Fen country took me to Campsea Ashe, where the -artistic party collected in the pleasant Lowther home spent a most -pleasant week in drawing--studying--by the silent moats of old-timbered -houses--Parham, Seckford, and Otley. We went also to the attractive old -town of Woodbridge, where Percy Fitzgerald lived, who wrote so many -capital articles. A characteristic story told of him is that he once -spent the evening in the company of a bore who buzzed on incessantly -about this lord and that till he could bear it no longer and left the -room, but as he did so, opened the door once more, and, putting in his -head, said, ‘_I_ knew a lord once, but he’s dead!’ - -[Illustration: BISHOP’S BRIDGE, NORWICH.][497] - -“I was at Felixstowe for a day afterwards, and made -acquaintance--friends, I hope--with Felix Cobbold, a most attractive -fellow, with a delightful house, and a garden close above the sea, which -truly makes ‘the desert smile’ in that most hideous of all sea-places. -Then I was a night at the Palace at Norwich, full of childish -reminiscence to me, and most stately and beautiful it all looked--the -smooth lawns and bright flowers, the grand grey cathedral and soaring -spire, the old chapel and ruin; only the palace itself has had all the -picturesqueness washed out of it. Its geography is entirely altered, but -it was delightful to recognise old nooks and corners, and I almost -seemed to see my Mother sitting by the old-fashioned chimney-piece in -the Abbey-room. I spent a delightful evening with the Bishop (Pelham), -who poured out a rich store of anecdote and recollection for hours. He -spoke much of Manning, whom he had known most intimately--how his -characteristic had always been his ambition. He wanted in early life to -have gone into Parliament; then, when that failed, he wished to have -entered diplomacy; then his father’s bank broke, and he was obliged to -go into the Church. ‘Your uncle Julius and he,’ said the Bishop, ‘were -once with my brother (Lord Chichester), and Manning had been holding -forth upon the celibacy of the clergy. “At least you will agree with -me,” he said, turning to my brother, “that celibacy is the holier -state.” “Then of course you think,” said my brother, “that matrimony is -a _less_ holy state than celibacy.” And he started, with a reminiscence -of his own happy married life, and said, “Oh no!”’ - -“The Bishop talked much of Jenny Lind’s visit to Norwich when he was -here with the Stanleys; how the Duke of Cambridge had spoken to her of -the wonderful enjoyment her noble gift of voice must be, and how she had -answered, ‘I do enjoy it, and I thank God for giving it to me, and I -feel that in return I ought to use it first for His glory, and then for -the raising of my profession.’ When her great concert took place, Mr. -Thompson, a Norwich doctor, who had the management of the town -charities, ventured to put the best of the workhouse school-girls under -the orchestra, where no one could see them, whilst they could hear -everything. But Jenny was sometimes greatly overcome at the end of one -of her own songs, and it was so then, and when her song was over, she -retired to her own room; but, to reach it, she had to pass under the -orchestra, and there she saw a number of girls in tears, and asked who -they were. Mr. Thompson came to explain with some diffidence, for he did -not know how she would take it; but she was much interested, and asked, -‘Is there any one of your charities especially to which I could be of -any use?’ And he thought a minute and said, ‘What we really want is a -children’s hospital; there has never been one in Norwich.’--‘Then that -is just what I will give a concert for,’ said Jenny Lind; and of course -every one was delighted, and so the hospital was started. Afterwards she -sent down some one incognito to see how it was managed, and the report -was so favourable that she said she would give another concert, and that -set it up altogether. It is now the ‘Jenny Lind Hospital.’ - -“Talking of the late event at York led to the Bishop’s saying, ‘I heard -a fine thing of Archbishop Musgrave. I was not meant to hear it, -though. I was at Bishopthorpe to preach a consecration sermon for the -Bishop of Ripon. It was before I was a bishop myself, and I knew nothing -about precedence, and did not take my proper place in the procession as -was intended, though I was all ready, and I let them all pass out before -me. Only the Archbishop and Mrs. Musgrave remained. The Archbishop had -had a stroke of apoplexy then, from which he was only just recovering, -and it was his first appearance since, and they were all very anxious -about him. Just as they were leaving the house, the Archbishop said to -his wife, “My dear, take this key: it will unlock that box, in which you -will find a commission ready signed and sealed for the three bishops -present to take my place if anything _happens_ to me during the service: -whatever happens to me, the service must not be stopped.” And they went -on quietly to the church. I did not know which to admire most, the -Archbishop for making the speech, or Mrs. Musgrave’s perfect calmness in -hearing it and in taking the key. I spoke of it to Mrs. Bickersteth (the -Bishop of Ripon’s wife) afterwards, and she said, “That explains what -the Archbishop said to me last night--‘I am afraid you may be anxious -about the service to-morrow: set yourself quite at rest: everything is -quite settled, so that, whatever happens to me, the ceremony of -to-morrow will be carried out.’” - -“The Lowthers joined me at Norwich, and we went together to -Woodbastwick, and for a delightful visit to the Locker-Lampsons at -Cromer. What an enchanting place it is! All the society meets on the -beach. Two bathing-machines were drawn up side by side, and their -inmates were in the sea. ‘I hope you will kindly consider this as a -visit,’ said one of them to his neighbour, with his head just above the -water. ‘Oh, certainly,’ said the neighbour, ‘and I hope you will kindly -consider this as a visit returned.’ - -“Mr. Locker is delightful. He says, ‘I suppose what makes a bore is a -man’s perpetually harping upon one subject, not knowing what details to -leave out, and insisting upon making his voice heard at unsuitable -times. But certainly a bore is a bore in accordance with what he is -talking about: if, for instance, a man went on talking for hours of my -“Lyra Elegantiarum,” I should never think him a bore.’ ‘My dear,’ he -says to Mrs. Locker-Lampson, ‘are you not sometimes of rather _too_ -rigid a disposition? You know, at railway stations you often point out -to me a man as eternally damned because he wears trousers with rather a -broad check, and has an unusually large cigar in his mouth.’ - -“In Lady Buxton’s pretty house are a whole gallery of Richmond -portraits--a stately full-length of (her aunt) Mrs. Fry, most speaking -likenesses of her benignant father, her beautiful mother, of Sarah and -Anna Gurney, the ‘Cottage Ladies’--of her father-in-law, Sir Fowell of -the Slave Trade--of her sons and brothers-in-law. Yellow tulips, like -those at Florence, grow wild in her fields in abundance, and the cows -eat them.” - - * * * * * - -_To the_ COUNTESS OF DARNLEY. - -“_Hotel d’Italie, Rome, March 30, 1892._--I think you will have wondered -what has become of me, and that you will like to know. - -“I have been abroad since November 16, beginning by a week at Paris with -George Jolliffe, who was very ill then, and a month spent at Cannes in -visits to the De Wesselows, old friends of my Hurstmonceaux childhood; -and to my old schoolfellow Fred Walker and his nice wife, one of the few -people I know who have seen two separate and undoubted ghosts with their -own eyes. How civilised and be-villa’d Cannes is now, almost the least -pretentious house remaining in it being the little Villa Nevada, where -the Duke of Albany died, which was close to us, and which was so often -visited by ‘Madame d’Angleterre,’ as the people of Cannes call our -Queen. My ever-kindest of hosts were more people-seeking than -place-seeing. We had one delightful picnic, however, at the old deserted -villa of Castellaras, looking upon the blue gorge of the Saut de Loup. A -little suspicion of earthquake remained in the air from the alarm of the -last shock, when my friends’ native housemaid had refused to leave the -window, saying, ‘Puisque le dernier jour est arrivé, je veux avoir les -yeux partout, pour voir ce que se passe!’ Here at Rome there was a smart -shock this spring. Our old friend Miss Garden asked _her_ ‘donna’ if she -was frightened. ‘Oh yes,’ she said; ‘I felt the two walls of my little -room press in upon my bed. I knew what it was. But I could not remember -which was the right saint to pray to in an earthquake. So I just prayed -to my own grandmother, for she was the best person I ever knew, and -immediately I heard the voice of my grandmother, who said, “Don’t be -frightened; it will all pass; no harm will come to you.” So then I was -quite calm and satisfied.’ Might not this incident account for many -stories of Catholic saints? - -[Illustration: SASSO.] - -“I spent a week at Bordighera. Such varied points for walks! villages -like Sasso, which are just bright bits of umber colour amongst the -tender grey olives; little painted towns amongst the orange-gardens, -like Dolceacqua, with its pointed bridge and blue river and great -deserted palace of the Dorias. George Macdonald, a most grand old -patriarch to look upon, is king of the place. He writes constantly, and -never leaves the house, except to see a neighbour in need of help or -comfort. One after another of his delicate daughters has faded away, -but his sons seem strong and well, and there are several adopted -children in the house, half in and half out of the family, but all -calling Mrs. Macdonald ‘Mama.’ It is a very unusual household, but ruled -in a spirit of love which is most beautiful. I dined with them, the -dining-table placed across one end of the vast common sitting-room. On -Sunday evenings he gives a sort of Bible lecture, which all the -sojourners in Bordighera may attend. - -[Illustration: AT BORDIGHERA.][498] - -[Illustration: AT REBEKAH’S WELL, NEAR S. REMO.] - -“Then I was a month in a palatial hotel at S. Remo, and greatly enjoyed -bright winter days of quiet drawing in its ravines with their -high-striding bridges, by its torrents full of Titanic boulders, or on -its pathlets winding through vine and fig gardens or along precipitous -crags; most of all in a delicious palm-shaded cove by the sea, where I -spent whole days alone with the great chrysoprase waves breaking over -the rocks in showers of crystal spray. With a charming Mrs. Rycroft and -her pleasant Eton boys, I made longer excursions to Ceriano and -Badalucco, very curious places surrounded by high mountains, with deep -gorges, old bridges, and waterfalls. - -[Illustration: AT S. REMO.] - -“But it is in changed, spoilt Rome that I have spent the last two -months. All picturesqueness is now washed out of the place, so that -people who have any interest about them now usually give it only a -glance and pass on. It has been delightful for me, however, that Miss -Hosmer is settled in this hotel, and that we dine together daily at a -little round table, where she is a constant coruscation of wit and -wisdom. All day she is shut up in her studio, which is closed to all the -world, but she cannot have a dull time, by the stories she has to tell -of the workmen and models who are her only companions. Here are a few -of them, only they sound nothing without her twinkling eyes and capital -manner of telling:-- - -[Illustration: GLEN AT S. REMO.] - -“‘Minicuccia was an excellent model, but very jealous. “Have you seen -Rosa? What fine arms she has!” I said to her one day. “I have seen -_Rosaccia_” she replied, “and I should have thought, Signorina, that a -lady of your taste would have known better than to admire her arms. What -are they in comparison with really fine arms--with mine, for instance?” - -“‘One day Minicuccia was at a café, and some one admired the legs of -another model. Forthwith she gathered up her petticoats, and danced with -her legs perfectly bare all about the place. She was not a bad woman; on -the contrary, she was a very moral one, and there was never a word -against her, but she wanted to show what fine legs were. The police, -however, heard of that escapade, and she was put in prison for a month -afterwards for such an offence against the _decenza pubblica_. Poor -Minicuccia! - -“‘Then there was Nana, whom Lady Marian (Alford) painted so often, and -whom she was so fond of. She was a magnificent woman. Dear Lady Marian -used to say, “I would give anything to be able to come into a room with -the grace and dignity of Nana.” Her dignity was natural to her. Another -model once said to me, “I met that Nanaccia; she was walking down the -Via Sistina as if it all belonged to her.” - -“‘There was a very nice boy-model I had, Fortunato he was called. He is -dead now--died of consumption, for he was always delicate. One day he -said to me, “Last Sunday, Signorina, I went to the garden of the -Cappuccini, and it is _such_ a garden!--quite full of fruit, the most -beautiful fruit. And the Fathers are so kind; they said I might eat as -much as ever I liked; only think of that, Signorina!”--“Well, that was -kind indeed; but what sort of fruit was it?”--“O, cipolle and -lettuge,[499] Signorina--most delicious fruit.” - -“‘Marietta was another model who came to me, a large handsome woman. One -day I said to her, “Now, Marietta, I want you to look sad--_tutta -dolorosa_.”--“What! _lagrime_, Signorina?”--“No,” I said, “only _look_ -sad; but if I wanted _lagrime_, could I have them too?”--“Sì, Signora: -basta pensare a quel calzolajo chi m’a fatto pagare sette lire in vece -di cinque, et piango subito.”[500] - -“‘Marietta had a brother who managed her little business for her. I -asked her if it would not be very easy for him to misappropriate a -_scudo_ now and then. “Facile sì,” she said, “_essendo fratello_.” - -“‘Mariuccia lived to be old, and many is the dinner and _paolo_ I have -given her; but when she was fifteen or so, she was the model for Mr. -Gibson’s ‘Psyche borne by the Zephyrs.’ She was always a wonderful -model: no one could act or stand as she did. - -“‘Then there was that woman who had the drunken husband, who used to -beat her. One night he came in late and fell down dead drunk across the -bed. She took her needle and thread, and sewed him up in the sheets so -that he could not move, and then she took a stick, and beat him so that -he died of it: she was imprisoned for some years for that, though. - -“‘I asked one of the workmen what he did when every one was away. “Why, -Signorina, I have the studio to clean out.”--“Well, I suppose that takes -you half-an-hour; and what do you do then?”--“Ma, Signorina, sto a -sedere.”--“And after your dinner, what do you do then?”--“Sto ancora a -sedere, Signorina.”--“Well, and in the evening?”--“Ma, Signorina, -continuo di stare a sedere.” - -“‘My man Gigi came to me the other day and said, “I went to the Acqua -Acetosa[501] last Sunday, Signorina, and I liked the water so much, I -drank no less than twenty _fiaschi_ of it.”--“Well,” I said, “Gigi, that -was a good deal; I’ll get twenty _fiaschi_ of it, and put twenty _scudi_ -down by them, and then, if you can drink them all off, you shall have -the _scudi_.”--“Well, Signorina, perhaps I did exaggerate a little: now -I come to think it over, perhaps it was ten _fiaschi_ I drank.”--“Well, -do it again before me, and you shall have ten _scudi_.” “Now, Signorina, -you know I like to be precise, perhaps it was six _fiaschi_ I -drank.”--“Well, do it again and you shall have six _scudi_.”--“Well, I -suppose it really was two _fiaschi_.”--“Oh, I could drink that myself!”’ - -“You may imagine how entertaining stories like these--traits from the -life around one--make our little dinners, and afterwards we often go -into the Storys’ apartment close by, where the easy intellectual -pleasant talk and fun are always reviving. Besides, it amuses Mrs. -Story, who is most sadly ailing now, though her cheerfulness is an -example. She says she comforts her sleepless nights by the old distich-- - - ‘For all the ills beneath the sun - There is a cure, or there is none: - If there is one, try to find it; - If there is none, never mind it.’ - -“Nothing can describe the charm of Mr. Story’s natural bubble of fun and -wit, or the merry twinkle which often comes into his eye, even now, at -moments when his wife’s illness does not make him too anxious.[502] He -and Miss Hosmer are capital together. It is difficult to say what are -their ‘projecting peculiarities,’ as Dr. Chalmers would have called -them, they have so many; but they are all of a perfectly delightful -kind. - -“‘Well, what’s the news, Harriet?’ he said as we went in to-night. ‘Why, -that I am going to be married.’--‘What! to the Pope?’--‘Yes, only I -didn’t want it to get out till he announced it himself.’ - -“‘An American was looking at my statue of Canidia the other day,’ said -Mr. Story, and exclaimed--“Ah! Dante, I suppose, or is it--Savonarola?” -Another man who came to my studio said, “Mr. Story, have you baptized -your statue?”--“Why, yes,” I said; “generally we think of the name -first, and then we set to work in accordance with it.”--“Well,” he said, -“there’s some as doos, and there’s some as doosn’t.”’ - -“Mrs Story was very amusing about an Italian who wanted a portrait of -his father very much, and came to an artist she knew and asked him to -paint it. The artist asked, ‘But when can I see your father?’--‘Oh, you -can’t see him: he’s dead.’--‘But how can I paint him, then?’--‘Well, I -can describe him, and he was very like me: I think you can paint him -very well.’ So the artist painted away, according to the description, -as well as he could. When he had finished the portrait he sent for the -son, anxious to see if he would find any likeness. The son rushed up to -the picture, knelt down by it, was bathed in tears, and sobbed out, ‘O -padre mio, quanto avete sofferto, o quanto siete cambiato: O non l’aveva -mai riconosciuto.’ - -[Illustration: CLAUDIAN AQUEDUCT.][503] - -“Mr. Story says that when _Othello_ was performed at Rome, he saw it -with an Italian friend, who said afterwards, ‘Convengo che ci sono -qualche belle concette in questa dramma, ma fare tanto disturbo per un -fazzoletto non mi conviene.’ - -“Miss Hosmer told of a countryman who was asked what he thought of a -train, for he had just seen one for the first time--seen it as it was -entering a tunnel. ‘Well,’ he said, ‘it was just a black monster with a -goggle eye, and when it saw me, it gave a horrible shriek and ran into -its hole.’ - -“I should like you to have heard Miss Hosmer’s recollections of Kestner, -whose name was so familiar to me in old Bunsen days. He died soon after -she first came to Rome, but she recollects him as always wearing his old -red studio cap. He knew he was dying, and when it was very near the end, -he said to those who were with him, ‘Now, my dear friends, it is a very -sad experience to see a person die: I must beg you to leave me: it is my -great wish to be alone, and you may come back in two hours.’ They came -back in two hours, and found him lying peacefully dead. That is a -beautiful story, I think. It was Kestner who, priding himself very much -on his good English, said to Lord Houghton, ‘Allow me to present to you -my knee-pot (_nipote_).’ - -“Outside the charmed circle of Palazzo Barberini there is little now at -Rome but the most inferior American society. ‘We must stop at Milan, you -know, going back; there is a picture there by a man called Leonard -Vinchey we must be sure to see,’ said a neighbour at the hotel luncheon. -And, ‘Mr. Brown, sir, how’s Mrs. Brown’?--‘Well, she’s slim but round’ -(meaning weak but about): this is the sort of thing one hears. - -“In this hotel is the intelligent Indian Princess Tanjore, with whom I -have spent several evenings very pleasantly. Her ‘lady’ is Miss Blyth, -sister of the Bishop of Jerusalem, and authoress of that capital novel -‘Antoinette.’ - -“Dear old Miss Garden, whom you will remember hearing of as the kindest -and most original of Scottish ladies, still lives at 64 Via Sistina. -‘How did you manage to boil the eggs so well, Maria, when you can’t -tell the clock?’ said Miss Garden to her old donna, ‘for the eggs are -just perfect.’--‘Why, I’ll tell you how it is,’ said Maria: ‘a lady I -lived with showed me how to do it. I just put them into the water, and -then I say thirty-three _Credos_, and then I know that they’re done.’ - -“With Miss Garden and Mrs. Ramsay I went one day to the curious little -early christian cemetery of S. Generosa, a lovely spot, where marble -slabs covering the graves of martyrs under Diocletian are still seen in -a little hollow surrounded by wild roses and fenochii. - -“My room in this hotel looks out on the Barberini gardens, and the -splash of its fountain is an enjoyment. Its being lighted by electricity -for the King’s visit the other day was a type of the times, rather a -contrast to twenty years ago, when there were torches on every step of -the great staircase to welcome even a cardinal, and when not only the -staircase, but the whole street as far as S. Teresa, was hung with -tapestries for the Prince’s funeral. - -“On Ash-Wednesday I went, as I have always done here, to the ‘stations’ -on the Aventine. It is still a thoroughly Roman scene. Before one -reaches S. Sabina, one is assailed by the chorus of old lady beggars -seated in a double avenue of armchairs leading up to the door, with -‘Datemi qualche cosa, signore, per l’amore della Madonna, datemi -qual’co;’ and behind them kneel the old men--‘Poveri, poveretti cieci, -signore,’ in brown gowns and with arms stretched out _alla maniera di S. -Francesco_. Spread with box is the church itself, with its doors wide -open to the cloistered porch and the sacred orange-tree[504] seen in the -sunny garden beyond. The Abbot is standing there, and has his hand -kissed by all the monks who arrive for the stations, till a cardinal -appears, after which he takes the lower place and is quite deserted. -Then we all hurry on to S. Alessio and its crypt, and then to the -Priorato garden, where, by old custom, we look through the keyhole of -the door, and see St. Peter’s down a beautiful avenue of bays. - -“The passage of the Pope to the Sistine on his coronation anniversary -was a very fine sight. Borne along in his golden chair, with the white -peacock fans waving in front of him, and wearing his triple crown, Leo -XIII. looked dying, but gave his benediction with the most serene -majesty, sinking back between each effort upon his cushions, as if the -end had indeed come. Only his eyes lived, and lived only in his office; -otherwise his perfectly spiritualised countenance seemed utterly -unconscious of the thundering _evvivas_ with which he was greeted, and -which rose into a perfect roar as he was carried into the Sala Regia. -The potency of ‘Orders’ here is so great, that my Swedish decoration not -only gave me the best place, but I took in two young men as my chaplain -and equerry! After the Pope had entered the Sistine, we sat in great -comfort in the Sala Regia till he returned, and then, as there was no -one between us and the procession, we saw all the individual faces of -the old cardinals--how few of them the same now as those I remember in -the processions of Pius IX. - -“There are no _evvivas_ now for the comparatively young king with the -white hair and the ever-tragic countenance: the taxes are too great. I -believe that he can read, if no one else can, the handwriting on the -wall which foretells the doom of his southern kingdom. And yet -personally no one could be braver or more royal, and, where they detest -the king, the people honour the man. ‘Your king is at that house which -has fallen down, helping with his own hands to dig out that old man who -is buried: he won’t leave till the old man is safe,’ said Mrs. Story to -her Italian maid Margherita. ‘Si, Signora, casa di Savoia manca qualche -volta di testa, mai di cuore;’ and it is quite true. All one hears of -the King’s self-abnegation is so fine. He used to be quite devoted to -smoking, but he was ill, and one day his physician told him that it was -extremely deleterious to him. He instantly took his cigar out of his -mouth, threw it into the back of the fire, and has never smoked again. - -“The Pope’s secretary has just died of the influenza. Leo XIII. was much -attached to him, and is greatly distressed by his death. There is -something touching in the newspaper account of the Pope’s having refused -to eat, and his attendants having had to use _qualche dolce violenze_ to -make him do it. - -“We have had two months of rain, only four fine days last week, in which -I went to the Crimera, to Fidenae, to Ostia, and to a touching and -beautiful Mass in the heart of the Catacomb of S. Praetextatus, where -the martyrs’ hymn was sung by a full choir upon their graves, its -cadences swelling through the subterranean church and dying away down -the endless rude passages, so long their refuge, and at last their place -of death. - -“And now I must stop. I am just come up from luncheon. ‘Wal, I guess I’m -stuffed, but I’m not appeased,’ said my neighbour as we came out; and -she was _con rispetto parlando_, as they say here--a lady.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ HUGH BRYANS. - -“_Rome, April 26, 1892._--How I wish you were here: how you would enjoy -it, though there is little to admire now in this much-changed Rome -beyond the extreme loveliness of the spring, with its Judas and May -flowers, and the golden broom of the Campagna. I have just been, with my -old friends Mrs. Ramsay and Miss Garden, to the Villa Doria to pick -anemones. There were thousands of them, and the ladies gathered them in -like a harvest. Their servant was told off to look after the violets. -Their late man, Francesco, said his was usually a very light place--‘ma -nella primavera, al tempo dei violette, e duro veramente.’ - -“I have seen little of the Easter ceremonies. On Holy Thursday I went to -St. Peter’s, and watched in the immense crowd for the extinction of the -last candle and beginning of the Miserere; but all the effect was lost -and the music inaudible from the incessant moving and talking. -Afterwards there was a fine scene at the blessing of the altar in the -already dark church--the procession, with lights, moving up and down -the altar-steps, and then kneeling all along the central aisle, whilst -the relics were exhibited from the brilliantly lighted gallery. - -“Fifty-eight artisans and schoolmasters from the Toynbee Hall Institute, -with some of their wives, have been in Rome for the Easter holidays. On -Thursday I took them all over the Palatine, finding them most delightful -companions, and the most informed and interested audience I have ever -known. So since that I have been with them to the Appian Way, and Miss -Fleetwood Wilson kindly invited the whole party to tea at the old -Palazzo Mattei, unaltered through three hundred years. I made friends -with many of the party individually, and think that for really good, -intelligent, high-minded society, one should frequent the East End. - -“What struck me most of all was the absence amongst them of the -scandal-talk which in our own society is so prevalent. ‘Consider how -cheap a kindness it is not to speak ill: it only requires silence,’ is -an exhortation of Bishop Tillotson. They remember this; we don’t. - -“Do you recollect the pretty Miss Cators? With them and some pleasant -Americans, and Lanciani the famous archaeologist, I have been up Monte -Cavi. Lanciani was most delightful, and told us about everything in a -way which had all the enthusiasm and colour without the dry bones of -archaeology, and oh! what lilies, violets, cyclamen, narcissus, covered -the woods. Another day he lectured on old Fidenae, standing aloft on the -ancient citadel, with all his listeners in groups on the turf around -him, and afterwards they all had luncheon--still in scattered groups: it -was like the pictures of the miracle of the loaves and fishes. - -[Illustration: REMAINS OF TEMPLE OF JUPITER LATIARIS, MONTE CAVI.][505] - -“It has been a great pleasure to see a good deal of ‘Mark Twain’ (Mr. -Samuel Clemens) and his most charming wife. He is a wiry, thin old man, -with abundant grey hair, full round the head, like an Italian _zazzara_. -He speaks very slowly, dragging his words and sentences laboriously, and -is long in warming up, and when he does, he walks about the room whilst -he makes all his utterances, which have additional drollery from the -slowness with which they are given. He began life as a wharfinger, -throwing parcels into barges, and as he threw them the overseer called -out ‘Mark one, Mark twain,’ and the chime of the words struck him, and -he took the name. Speaking of the Catacombs he said, ‘I might have -hooked the bone of a saint and carried it off in my carpet-sack, but -then I might get caught with it at the frontier. I should not like to -get caught with a thing like that; I would rather it were something -else.’ ‘That story by Symonds,’ he said, ‘of a crucifix which contained -a dagger, reminds me of the State of Maine. Spirits were strictly -forbidden there, but pocket-testaments became very abundant. They -contained two or three leaves, then there was a whisky flask. Now with -one of those crucifixes and one of these pocket-testaments, one might -cope with the worst society in the world.’ - -“‘My man George has made his fortune,’ said Mark Twain. ‘He used to bet -on revivals, then he took to betting on horses: he understands it all -round, and he has made a good thing of it. - -“‘One night when I came home unawares, I found the house-door open. -After going in and poking round, I rang up George. “Well,” I said, -“George, you’ve been here probably some hours with the house-door -undone.”--“Good heavens!” he cried, striking his forehead, and rushed up -the stairs five steps at a time. When he came down I said, “Why, George, -what was the matter?”--“The matter! why, that the house-door was left -open, and that there were fifteen hundred dollars between my -mattresses.”’ - -“Mrs. Clemens spoke to George one day about his answering ‘Not at home’ -when she did not want to see visitors. In England it is understood, but -in quiet places in America it is not: it is a lie. And Mrs. Clemens -said, ‘George, you really should not say what you know is not true; you -should say I’m engaged or that I beg to be excused.’ George came close -up to her and said, ‘Mrs. Clemens, if I did not lie, you’d not be able -to keep house a month.’ - -“A rival to Mark Twain, or rather one who draws him out capitally, is an -American Miss Page, a very handsome elderly woman like an ancient Juno. -She said yesterday, ‘I must be going home soon to see all the coloured -friends and relations. Aunt Maria was groaning very much one day, so I -asked her if she had found religion. She said, “No, but she was on the -anxious bench.” A few days after she had “found religion,” and I asked -her about it. “Why,” she said, “I got religion, and when I found that -I’d got religion, I just did make the chignots (chignons) fly. And so we -did all; we danced so hard that Uncle Adam had to be sent right away the -next day to bring them all home in a wheelbarrow.” - -“‘My cousin was begged of by a woman one night,” said Miss Page. ‘She -was very violent, and she said, “You must give me money, you _shall_, or -I’ll say you’re Jack the Ripper.” He went close up to her, and in -sepulchral accents whispered “I _am_!” and the woman ran off as hard as -she could.’ - -“There are other friends I must tell you about. At No. 38 Gregoriana, in -a delightfully home-like apartment with a view of St. Peter’s, live Miss -Leigh Smith and her friend Miss Blyth. The former is a sister of Madame -Bodichon, who was such an admirable artist, and is of a most serene, -noble, and beautiful countenance, but perhaps severe: the latter is -gentleness and sweetness itself, though she is less striking in -appearance. Every one likes them both, but every one loves Miss Blyth. -They are known as ‘Justitia’ and ‘Misericordia.’ - -“Another person of interest, another American, who has come to Rome to -visit Miss Hosmer, is Mrs. Powers. She is charming. She said this to me -to-day: ‘I took a young lady with me on a Mississippi steamer. She was -very pretty and attractive. On the deck she sat by an old lady, who -looked at her and ejaculated “Married?”--“No.” “Engaged?”--“No.” Just -then her husband came up, and she said to him, “Here’s a young lady who -says she’s not married and not engaged: how’s that?” He looked her all -over and said, “Guess the pattern don’t take.”’ - -“And now, that you may be introduced to all my present society, Miss -Hosmer is going to give you one of her dinner enliveners. ‘An American -came in one day with, “Have you heard this extraordinary news from -England?”--“No; what?”--“Why, about the Archbishop of Canterbury.”--“No; -what about him?” “Why, about his having refused to bury a waiter at the -Langham Hotel.”--“No; what a proud contemptuous priest he must be; but -what possible reason could he give for refusing to bury the -waiter?”--“Why, that he was not dead.” - -“‘That’s a good catch,’ says Miss Hosmer, who is talking to you; ‘and -now I’ll give you another. A young man--a very charming young man--was -engaged to be married, and he went down from London for the wedding to -the place where his bride lived, full of the brightest hopes and -expectations, and in his pocket he carried the ring with which he was -going to marry his love. But alas! when he reached his destination, his -love had changed her mind, thought better of it, would not marry him at -all. So he came away very miserable, and he thought he would go and hide -his sorrows in a little fishing-village, where he had often been in -happier days; he really could not face the world yet. And as soon as he -arrived at the village, he went out in a boat, and took the ring from -his pocket, and threw it far out to sea. Next day a remarkably fine fish -was brought to table, and when it was opened, what do you think they -found?--“Why, the ring,” of course you will say, as I did--No, a -fishbone.’ A most provoking story! - -“There are two Misses Feuchtwanger in the hotel, kindest of elderly -American ladies, full of funny reminiscence. ‘Mrs. Broadhurst,’ said one -of them, ‘liked nothing so much as going to dine with her old “Black -Mammy;” it was the thing she liked best: and so, through a long course -of years, she heard Black Mammy’s old husband say grace, and the words -he used were always the same. “Beautiful mansions, we thee redorable, -many sensations, Amen.” The sound meant a whole world to him.’ - -“But I shall send you too much anecdotage, so good-night.” - - * * * * * - -_To the_ HON. G. H. JOLLIFFE _and_ JOURNAL. - -“_Rome, April 27._--All the features of this Roman spring have been -American. Mrs. Lee was in this hotel. ‘I was just raised in the South,’ -she said, ‘and I’m a Southerner to the backbone. Some one wanted to be -complimentary, and wrote of me in a newspaper as one raised in the lap -of luxury, but I was just raised in the lap of an old nigger.’ She was -very full of having been to the masquerade ball at La Scala. ‘It was -awfully indecent. I could not have let my daughter go, but for me it did -not matter; so I just went, and stayed to the end, for I thought some -one might come along and say, “Ah! you don’t know about that, because it -happened after you left,” so I thought I’d just see what was indecent -for once; it might be my only chance; and I made quite sure nothing -should happen after I left.’ - -“‘Don’t you know,’ she says, ‘that we call a story we have heard before -“a chestnut”? Why, in America the smart young men used to wear a little -bell on their watch-chains, and if they heard a story too often, they -rung it to show the story was stale. That was the chestnut-bell.’ - -“Perhaps the most interesting American here is the Bishop of Nova -Scotia. ‘“I’ve captured a church,” said a young American parson to me. -“Captured a church! what in the world do you mean?”--“Why, I went into a -church where the boys (soldiers) go, and I was asked to take the -service. Soon the boys came in, and I saw that there was going to be a -row. A lot of them sat down by the door, and as soon as I began to -preach, one of them crowed like a cock. I said, ‘Just crow again, will -you; I’m not ready for you yet.’ So he crowed again. Then I said, ‘Now, -if you crow again, I’ll just fix up your beak to the anvil of God’s -righteousness, and I’ll beat out your brains with the sledge-hammer of -the wrath of God. Now, crow again, if you dare,’ and he did not crow any -more, so I captured the church.” - -“‘I would not give five cents to hear what Bob Ingleson considers to be -the faults of Moses, but I’d give every cent I possess to know what -Moses thinks of the faults of Bob Ingleson. - -“‘I asked somebody if he thought my sermon was too low or too high, and -he said “Neither, but I thought it was too long.”’ - -“I always dine at a little table with Miss Hosmer, where I am sure her -fun and wit are more nourishing than all the rest of the viands put -together. She says, ‘Our real name is Osmer, but our country people -could never manage a name like that, so we voluntarily added the H. -Generally, provided we are born somehow, we never care who our fathers -and mothers were; but I did, and I had an uncle who found out that we -were descended from a robber chieftain on the Rhine. Afterwards, in -Turner’s “History of the Anglo-Saxons,” I found that the robber chief -Osmer was one of the sons of Ida, king of Northumberland, and Ida -claimed descent from Odin, so it is from Odin that I descend.’ - -“‘I promised to tell you about the siege of Rome,’ said Miss Hosmer the -other day. ‘All that year we knew it was coming, and at last it came. -The Italians had 70,000 men, and the Pope had only 11,000, so of course -all effectual resistance was out of the question; but it was necessary -to make a semblance of defence, to show that the Romans only gave in to -force. September came, and the _forestieri_ who remained in Rome were -all urged to leave, but Miss Brewster and I elected to stay. We were not -likely to have another chance of seeing a bombardment, so we just hung -an American flag out of our windows; that we were told we must do, as it -might be necessary to protect us from pillage. All the other -_forestieri_ left, and most of the Roman aristocracy. In the last days, -when the Sardinians were just going to enter, there was a solemn Mass in -St. Peter’s for the Pope, to implore protection for him against his -enemies. I went with Miss Brewster. It was the most striking sight I -ever saw. Every corner of the vast church was filled. Every one was in -black--every one except the Pope in his white robes, and when he -appeared, a universal wail echoed through the church. It was not a -silent cry; it was the wail of thousands. There was not a dry eye in the -church. The Pope passed close to me. His face was as white as his dress, -and down his face the large tears kept rolling, and all his clergy, in -black, were crying too. Oh, it was a terrible sight. I am not a -Catholic, I am much the contrary, but I sobbed; every one did. Well, the -Pope passed into the chapel where he was to say Mass, and he said it, -and he walked back again; but he was still crying. It was very piteous, -and when we went out into the piazza, there was Monte Mario white with -the tents of the Italians, waiting, like vultures, to descend. It was -uncertain, for the last few days, by which gate they would enter. It -was thought it would be by the Porta Angelica, then by the Porta del -Popolo; finally, it was by the Porta Pia. - -“‘We were told that there would be no bombardment, but at five in the -morning we were waked by the cannon, and they went on till ten. Shells -came flying over our house, and one of them struck the church near us, -and carried part of it away. At ten there seemed to be a cessation, so I -sallied out as far as the Quattro Fontane, with my man Pietro behind me. -When I got into the Via Pia (now Venti Settembre), I heard a cry of “In -dietro! in dietro!” and the people ran. I thought I might as well get -out of the way too, but indeed, any way, I was carried back by the -crowd. I heard what I thought was a scampering of feet behind me, and -when I reached the Quattro Fontane, I looked back, and seeing a man I -knew, I said, “Why, what is the matter with you?” for he was covered -with blood, and he said, “Why, Signorina, did not you know that a shell -burst close behind you, and it has carried off several of my fingers, -Signorina?” So I just took him into my house and gave him some wine, and -bound his hand up as well as I could, and then sent him on to a surgeon. -Then I went up to Rossetti’s house beyond the Cappuccini, because I -thought from his loggia I should be able to see all that was to be seen; -but as soon as we reached the roof a musket-ball grazed my face, and -others were playing round us, so I said, “We had better get out of -this,” and we went down. - -“‘After the firing finally stopped, we went to Porta Pia to see the -damage. The house which is now the British Embassy was completely -riddled. Six dead Zouaves were lying in the Villa Napoleone opposite, -and though the statues of S. Peter and S. Paul, which you will remember -at the gate, were otherwise intact, both their heads were lying at their -feet. - -“‘At four, we went out again to see the Italian troops march into the -city. There was no enthusiasm whatever. The troops divided, some going -by S. Niccola, others by the Quattro Fontane, to their different -barracks.’ - -“No one who did not know the ‘has been’ can believe how the sights of -the Rome of our former days have dwindled away. All is now vulgarity and -tinsel: the calm majesty of the Rome of our former winters is gone for -ever.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS LEYCESTER. - -“_Cadenabbia, May 13._--At Florence, I went with the Duchess of -Sermoneta and Lady Shrewsbury to spend an evening with the grand old -family of Torrigiani, in the palace where the four sons, their wives, -and children innumerable, live with their charming mother, the Marchesa -Elisabetta, in perfect harmony and love; and another day went out to -Poggio Gherardo, a grand fortified villa, approached through half-a-mile -of roses, where the Ross’s now live. Then I was half a day at Padua, -visiting it as a tourist after many years, with my own book as a guide, -and a most delightful book I thought it! - -“At Venice, I went to see ‘Pen Browning’ at the Palazzo Rezzonico, his -most beautiful old palace, full of memorials of Pope Clement XIII. The -son Browning has no likeness to either father or mother: he has worked -hard, both as painter and sculptor, and has a good portrait as well as a -bust of his father, from his own hands. There were many relics of his -parents and their friends, amongst them a sketch by Rossetti of Tennyson -reading one of his own poems to them, with an inscription by Mrs. -Browning. ‘Pen’ was going off to his house at Asolo, a place which his -father first brought into notice when he walked there and wrote ‘Pippa -Passes.’ - -“Calling on a Mrs. Bronson in a neighbouring house, I met a young lady -with fluffy hair, a Countess Mocenigo. ‘My dear, how many Doges had you -in your family?’ said Mrs. B. ‘Seven,’ she answered, and there really -were seven Doges of the name Mocenigo, besides all those from whom she -was descended by the different marriages of her ancestors. - -“Venice is still as full of odd stories as when my sister went to a -party there, and was surprised because the oddly dressed old lady by her -side never answered when she spoke, and then found she was made of wax. -Most of the company were, being ancestors present thus in the family -life of the present. Recently a lady named Berthold has lived at Venice -who was of marvellous beauty and charm. All the society flocked to her -parties. One evening she invited all her friends as usual. They found -the palace splendidly lighted, and listened to the most exquisite music. -At the close of the evening, curtains which concealed a platform at the -end of the principal room were drawn aside, and within, the beautiful -hostess was seen, seated on a throne, and sparkling with jewels, in all -her resplendent loveliness. And then, as she waved a farewell to all -present, the curtains were suddenly drawn, and she disappeared for ever. -No human eye has seen her since. She had observed signs, unperceived by -others, that her beauty was beginning to wane! - -[Illustration: VENETIAN POZZO.][506] - -“In the hotel was a charming old lady who had just come back from Japan, -and who was arrayed in a thick quilted and embroidered dress, presented -to her by a Japanese lady. Her name, American fashion, was Mrs. Mary -Ridge Perkins. Her husband had sent her abroad, as she said, ‘with a -big letter of credit.’ ‘Mary, you may just go and do the honours of the -old country alone.’ She hates English aristocrats, but was ameliorated -towards Lord Digby, with whom she travelled back from Japan. He pressed -her to come and see him in London--‘Not if you have your paint on.’ She -has no children of her own, but, in the war, she and her husband adopted -no less than thirty, who were rendered homeless. They all call her -‘Auntie Perkins,’ but their children call her grandmother. All the -thirty are married now, and Mrs. Perkins never intends to leave her own -home again, except to visit them. She came down to the gondola to see me -off to the station with no bonnet on her aureole of short white curls, -and I was touched by her parting benediction: ‘May your life always be -happy, for you have always made others happy.’ - -“Here, at pleasant Cadenabbia, I have been glad to fall in with Lord and -Lady Ripon. He said, ‘Do you know that _you_ have been the cause of my -buying a property in Italy?’ It was in consequence of the sentence in my -‘Cities of Central Italy’ beseeching some Roman Catholic nobleman to -save such a sacred and historic place, that he had bought S. Chiara’s -convent of S. Damiano near Assisi, giving its use to the monks on the -sole condition that it was never to be ‘restored.’ - -“An odd thing has happened to me here, almost like a slight shadow on -the path. I met ---- who lives here, and whom I used to know very well, -and went up to meet him with pleasure, and he cut me dead! I have not an -idea why, and he will give no explanation. ‘Il faut apprendre de la vie -à souffrir la vie.’ - -“The Archbishop of York and Augusta are at Cadenabbia, and have taken me -across the lake in their little boat to tea with Charlie Dalison on that -lovely terrace of Villa Serbelloni.” - - - - -XXVIII - -A KNOCKING AT THE DOOR - - “Let us try to see, try to do, better always and better. No - honourable, truly good and noble thing we do or have done for one - another, but will bear its good fruit. That is as true as truth - itself, a faith that should never fail us.”--CARLYLE’S _Letters_. - - “What I must do is all that concerns me, and not what the people - think. This rule, equally arduous in actual and in intellectual - life, may serve for the whole distinction between greatness and - meanness. - - “It is the harder because you will always find those who think they - know what your duty is better than you know it. It is easy in the - world to live after the world’s opinion: it is easy in solitude to - live after your own; but the great man is he who, in the midst of - the crowd, keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of - solitude.”--EMERSON. - - “On parent knees, a naked new-born child, - Weeping thou sat’st, while all around thee smiled: - So live, that, sinking in thy last long sleep, - Calm thou may’st smile while all around thee weep.” - --SIR W. JONES, _from the Persian_. - - -The summer of 1892 was full of quiet pleasures. Visits to Cobham, -Chevening, and to Mrs. Rycroft at Everlands, leave little to be -remembered except the pleasant parties and the extreme kindness of hosts -and hostesses everywhere. I am indeed glad that my visiting-lines are -cast in such pleasant places, that I so seldom have to consort with the -drearier part of human nature--the “Hem-haw, really, you don’t say so” -sort of people. In these houses, where the conversation is perfectly -charming, yet where no evil is spoken of any one or by any one, one sees -truly how a christian spirit will christianise everything it touches, -and one learns--as, indeed, when does one not learn?--that the best -shield against slander is to live so that nobody may believe it. - -In September I was at gloriously picturesque Montacute in Somersetshire, -a noble house of yellow grey stone, where all the surroundings, -terraces, vases, flowers, chime into the most harmonious whole. With its -charming owner, Mrs. Phelips, I made an excursion to Ford, a grand old -abbey altered into a luxurious dwelling-house by Inigo Jones, and where -Time has blended the new work with the old, till they are equally -picturesque. The great hall has its gothic roof of abbatial times, and -in the stately saloon are noble Mortlake tapestries, said to have been -presented by Charles I. to his Chancellor, but more probably the gift of -Anne. Then I was with Lord Zouche, a pleasant friend of late times, at -his fine old haunted house and ferny deer-park at Parham, meeting, with -others, Lord Robert Bruce, called “the King of Hayling Island,” where he -lives and brims over with fun and anecdote. I saw from Parham the new -castle at Arundel, magnificently uncomfortable and containing little of -interest. But there was something touching in looking into the open -grave in which Cardinal Howard was to be laid in a few days, and -remembering the different phases in which I had known him well--as the -smartest of young Guardsmen, as a priest, where he seemed so unnatural, -and finally as Cardinal. The recollection came back of how, when the -other cardinals were shuffling along St. Peter’s, Cardinal Howard -marched along in stately complacency, holding back his train on one side -as a lady does her dress. “E troppo soldato,” said the other cardinals. - -At Petworth I saw the magnificent Vandykes, Turners, and Reynoldses in -the waste of its dreary saloons. Then with Mary Hare I went to -Woolbeding, a drive through loveliest lanes, across an open common -covered with fern turned brown by the early frost, and then down an -avenue of magnificent Scotch firs, to where lines of gorgeous flowers -led up to the house, like a French château with high roof and dormer -windows. I had always wished to see its charming owner, Lady Lanerton, -who was just what I expected--a beautiful old lady, quite unable from -rheumatism to move out of the chair in which, put upon wheels, she can -be taken to the services in the little church in the garden, filled with -memorials of those she has loved and outlived. In her face was the -satisfied and restful expression of one waiting in grateful patience and -humblest hope upon the borderland. She seemed to say, what I have just -read as amongst Mrs. Stowe’s last words, “I feel about all things now as -I do about the things that happen in a hotel after my trunk is packed to -go home. I may be vexed and annoyed--but what of it? I am going home -soon.” In the garden, amongst the splendid profusion of old-fashioned -flowers, I was glad to find Lady Bagot, linked with many memories of my -long ago. - - * * * * * - -_To the_ HON. G. H. JOLLIFFE. - -“_Nov. 1._--I have had an interesting and most pleasant visit to Sir -John Lubbock, one of the most delightful of men, so entirely captivating -in his simplicity of true wisdom, that no one could fail to be fond of -him. His home of High Elms, near Orpington, is a beautiful place, quite -near London, but with glorious woods and an entirely country aspect. -Professor Forster and many other clever men were there, all far too -learned for me, but I did not even try to ‘live up to them,’ and so -enjoyed myself thoroughly. I went on from High Elms to Sir George -Higginson’s at Great Marlow, and he--a very dear old friend--with all -the manly straightforwardness of a splendid soldier and the chivalry of -the most refined gentleness, is almost as attractive as Sir John, doing -far more than many cleverer people to make life pleasant, and verifying -Madame Swetchine’s words, ‘C’est par l’esprit qu’on s’amuse, c’est par -le cœur qu’on ne s’ennuie pas.’ Thence, I was taken to see my -Dashwood cousins at West Wycombe House, which is full of curious -pictures and furniture, recalling a French château of the beginning of -the eighteenth century, even in the peculiarly refined and delicate -loveliness of its chatelaine.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ VISCOUNT HALIFAX. - -“_Nov. 9._--I have been very ill. It was a bad chill at first, followed -by most terrible pains, which I thought were part of the chill, and -struggled against, moving about when I ought to have kept perfectly -still. When at last I sent for a doctor, he said I had been in most -imminent danger for several days, and that I must have died before -another forty-eight hours were over if he had not come just then. A -slight operation was necessary at once to re-arrange an internal -misplacement, and this relieved the agonising pain. I have not often -been before so immediately, never so suddenly, face to face with -possible death. For some hours no one knew how it would go, yet I have -often _felt_ more ill. There was constantly in my mind a text which I -believe is in the Old Testament somewhere, ‘Shall not the Judge of all -the earth do right?’ and I rested upon it somehow. There seems something -almost cowardly in the way in which, when very ill, one turns for -comfort to texts and hymns and prayers, which one seldom thinks of at -other times. But I _do_ find them a comfort, and I suppose it is partly -the natural transition from active to contemplative life.... Still I -cannot say what my extreme thankfulness was when it was pronounced that -all was going on well and that I was likely to recover. I suspect that I -shall have to ‘go softly’ for a long time to come, perhaps always, and -never be quite as well as I have been: still, in the many mercies which -are left to me, I shall never have time to think of the disagreeables. - -“How strange it is when one knows, when one is told, that one is almost -in the valley of the shadow of death! I felt more surprised than -frightened; indeed, I do not think I felt frightened at all, I could -leave it so completely in wiser Hands. But I know that I looked very -wistfully at all the little familiar pictures on the wall, feeling how -sorry I should be to see them for the last time, and to part from all -‘the boys’ and my many interests here, and go into the unknown, of which -one knows so little; only that I do, absolutely and entirely, trust in -the mercy of God, and know that it will be well somehow; as to the how, -God will know best how to settle it. - -“Perhaps it may be, as in Michelangelo’s sonnet-- - - ‘Not death indeed, but the dread thought of death saveth and severeth.’ - -“I may not always go on feeling so; but I feel now as if I had left my -long youth on the other side of this illness. Andersen says, ‘The stem -of the pine-tree forms knots which betray the age of the tree: human -life has also its perceptible rings;’ I suspect this illness will be a -perceptible ring to me.” - - * * * * * - -_To the_ HON. G. H. JOLLIFFE. - -“_Dec. 21, 1892._--You know how ill I was in November, but you do not -know all the serious thoughts it awakened. ‘Il est ennuyeux de vivre -dans la grâce de Dieu, mais tout le monde veut y mourir;’ is that what -you would answer? I have a great deal to say about it, but as you will -like facts better, I will only tell you that since I recovered I have -been quite a tour of visits, beginning with Lady Beauchamp,[507] and -meeting charming Lady Granville and a party of sixteen young men and -maidens at Madresfield Court, a moated house with a lovely view of the -Malvern Hills, and full of precious collections of every kind--old -books, old music, old miniatures, ivories, enamels, &c. In my room, ‘the -Stuart Room,’ it was a pleasure to live with portraits inscribed ‘Mary -Stewart, Princess of Orange,’ and ‘King James III.’ There is a chapel, -where Lady Mary Lygon watches over the musical part of the services, -aided by a footman who sings splendidly and plays five instruments well! - -“I was several days at Moor Park near Ludlow, the stately house of Mrs. -Johnston Foster and her pleasant heiress-daughters. They have built a -huge and handsome church near their present home, and another in -Yorkshire. Mrs. Foster took me to spend the day at the curious old house -of Kyre, where there is a hiding-place in the hall behind a picture on a -sliding panel, and an oubliette in the floor beneath a trap-door. -Amongst the pictures was a curious portrait of Lady Pytts, whose -daughter married Sir Thomas Stanley, the first baronet of Alderley, and -planted the Alderley wood with beech-nuts from her old home, for before -that ‘there were no beech-trees in Cheshire.’ The lady of the house, -Mrs. Childe, has a wonderful power of making slight sketches from all -such old portraits in the houses where she visits, and has many volumes -of them. - -“At Hereford I spent a most pleasant day with kindly Dean Herbert, who -showed me all the details of his cathedral, which is beautiful still, -though somewhat spoilt by Wyatt. Nothing was more interesting than the -slab tombs of a bishop and dean, who were such friends, that their hands -are represented as clasping each other from their adjoining gravestones. -How seldom this can have been possible! - -“I was one day with my Biddulph cousins at Ledbury, and was even more -struck than before with their delightful old house of 1590, ‘entre cour -et jardin,’ like the houses of the Faubourg S. Germain, entered by a -court from the little town, and with a delicious garden and an old -deer-park--perhaps the smallest in England--on the other side. I was at -Shakspeare’s Charlecote afterwards, and at Warwick, and oh! so bitterly -cold! - -“It has been almost constantly bad weather, but I do not mind that as I -used. I think it was Caroline Fox who first reminded us of ‘A wet day -and all its luxuries, a fine day and all its liabilities.’ - -“Then I had a happy week at beautiful old Blickling, with Constance, -Lady Lothian, who--though no blood relation to her--reminded me more -than any one else of my dear Lady Waterford, with much the same charm of -manner and power of enjoyment of all the smallest things of beauty. The -park, gloriously wild, belonged to Harold, and endless illustrious -owners since. The house is a dream of beauty externally, and is full of -ghost-stories. It was the family home of the Boleyns, and in the -tapestried drawing-room Anne Boleyn is still supposed to walk at night -with her head in her hand. In the present serving-room the devil -appeared to Lord Rockingham, who threw an inkstand at him, which missed, -and marked the wall. When Lord and Lady Lothian first came to Blickling, -they altered the house and pulled down partitions to make the present -morning-room. ‘I wish these young people would not pull down the -partitions,’ said an old woman in the village to the clergyman. ‘Why -so?’--‘Oh, because of the dog. Don’t you know that when A. was fishing -in the lake, he caught an enormous fish, and that, when it was landed, a -great black dog came out of its mouth? They never could get rid of that -dog, who kept going round and round in circles inside the house, till -they sent for a wise man from London, who opposed the straight lines of -the partitions to the lines of the circles, and so quieted the dog. But -if these young people pull down the partitions, they will let the dog -loose again, and there’s not a wise man in all London could lay that dog -now.’ - -“Lady Lothian took me to Mannington, Lord Orford’s[508] curious little -place. The garden, with its clipped hedges, statues, and vases, is -surrounded, with the house, by a wide moat. The house is full of old -pictures and furniture. In the dining-room is a sculptured skeleton -whispering to a monk. It was here that Dr. Jephson saw his -much-talked-of ghost. He had been sitting up late over the MSS., when an -old man appeared to him. He spoke to the figure, and, though it did not -answer, he was for some time quite certain of the apparition. Whilst I -was at Blickling, however, Dr. Jephson was one of my fellow-guests, and -he now thinks the vision was an optical delusion. - -“On the outer wall of the house of Mannington are a number of Latin -inscriptions, put up by the present owner. They are all most bitter, -vehement, and incisive against women. But in a distant part of the -grounds there is also a monument to ‘Louise,’[509] with ‘Pensez à lui, -et priez pour elle.’ This is in a little wood, close to an old ruined -chapel, within which Lord Orford has already placed his own sarcophagus, -with an inscription (saying nobody else would ever do it), and around -which he has collected a vast number of architectural fragments from -destroyed churches. Lord Orford seldom comes to Mannington now, but -till five years ago he was much here in strictest seclusion, with his -adopted son and his wife, who were much tried by the dinner at half-past -six, always of exactly the same food, after which he would talk to the -lady with incessant quotations from the Latin poets, of which she did -not understand a word. Every Saturday he used to pass Blickling on his -way to Norwich, where he used to see his doctor, play a game of whist, -and hear a mass, returning next day. - -“I was two days at Titsey with Granville Leveson Gower, who is a -delightful archaeologist. I remember him at Oxford. Now he has six sons -of his own, several of them very handsome. - -“And all this time dear Lady Egerton’s death has been a shadow. She was -a most kind friend to me, and ‘La Mort laisse souvent plus de vide que -la Vie ne prenait de place.’ It was characteristic of her great -unselfishness that, when she knew her illness must be a very suffering -one and certainly fatal, she insisted upon being removed from the home -she loved so devotedly to a hired house at Eastbourne, in order that -Tatton might not be left with any distressing association for her -husband. Truly of her may be said-- - - ‘But by her grave is peace and perfect beauty, - With the sweet heaven above, - Fit emblems of a life of Work and Duty - Transfigured into Love.’” - - * * * * * - -_To_ W. H. MILLIGAN _and_ JOURNAL. - -“_Belvoir Castle, Jan. 6, 1893._--‘Be firm with the weather, and it’s -sure to clear up,’ said old Miss Hammersley, and, after the terrible -early winter, the weather, though bitterly cold, is most glorious. My -arrival at this stately castle was a fiasco. The Duchess had forgotten -that she had told me to come to their little station of Redmile, and -when I arrived at that desolate place, with deep snow on the ground and -night fast closing in, there was nothing to meet me. The stationmaster -sent his little boy to the next village, and in an hour he returned with -an open waggonette, agonisingly cold across the open plain. But I was -repaid when we entered the still loveliness of the ice-laden woods, -every bough sparkling in the moonlight like crystallised silver; and -still more when we emerged upon the plateau at the top of the hill, and -the mighty towers of the castle rose pale grey into the clear air, -looking down into the wooded frost-bound gorges like the palace of the -ice-queen. I found the Duchess waiting for me in the corridor, with that -genial solicitude for one’s comfort which goes straight to the heart -when one does meet with it, which is so seldom. - -“It was a great pleasure to find the all-delightful Speaker here, with -his pleasant daughters, also my friend Wilfrid Ricardo. The rest of the -party are Lady Bristol and her daughter, Lady Clancarty and hers, -pleasant Fred Henniker and his sister, Mr. Macalmont, Mr. G. H. Smith, -Miss De la Brosse, &c., besides the sons and daughters of the house. - -“How I like all the mediaeval ways--the trumpeters, who walk up and down -the passages and sound the dressing-time: the watchman, who calls the -hours through the night; the ball-room, always ready in the evenings for -those who want to dance: the band, in uniform, which plays soft music -from an adjoining room during dinner, at which all the hunting men -appear in their red coats, and add brilliancy and colour to the -immensely long table with its glorious old silver ornaments. - -“On the first morning, the Speaker and I went after breakfast with the -Duchess to her private rooms, filled with comfort and sunshine, where -she fed thousands of birds upon the little platform outside her windows, -and the Duke, amongst other treasures, showed me a deed of King John -conferring Haddon upon Richard Manners. - -“At 12, I met the Duke and Duchess again, and walked alone with them on -the terraces and along the exquisitely beautiful wood walks, all -glistening in silvered splendour, whilst the sun was bright and the air -quite still. The Duke told me how he had the bill--at £60 a piece--of -those curious statues by Cibber which are such an ornament to the -garden. Nothing could be more delightful than the way in which he talked -about the place, and with great affection of his brother the late Duke. -When we reached a little garden where there is a slab inscribed with -verses by Mrs. Kemble, he was tired and returned. I went on with the -Duchess, a long and most attractive path through the woods, and she -talked of her real devotion to the Queen, and of the Queen’s extreme -kindness to her, especially in insisting on the Duke’s going to -Wiesbaden to the doctor who cured his eyes when he seemed upon the verge -of total blindness. After luncheon, the Duke took the Speaker and me to -see in detail the miniatures, which are so beautifully arranged in -little panels on the drawing-room walls, with movable glasses in front. -Wonderful are those portraits of Sir Philip Sidney, of his friend Prince -Henry (with pearl earrings), and of Charles I. as a boy, with an -inscription speaking of him as ‘the Hope of England.’ Then we saw those -two little tables; one a sort of shrine to the Duke of Wellington, with -the (framed) letter which he wrote to the then Duchess after her son -Lord Robert was wounded in Spain--the prettiest, kindest letter ever -written: the other a shrine to the Duke of York, with his little bust, -part of his famous Protestant speech on yellow satin, and part of the -famous Cheshire cheese presented to him after it, and a bit of which he -sent, with a letter, to the Duchess of Rutland. - -“In an exquisite old case worked by the Duke’s great-grandmother, and -beneath a heart of pearls enclosing his hair, is the last letter of her -son, Lord Robert Manners, who fell as captain of the _Resolution_ in -action under Rodney. The letter is addressed to the captain of another -ship, asking him to come to see him, and is written in the utmost -cheerfulness--‘though one leg is off, the other shattered, and one arm -broke.’ He died immediately afterwards of lockjaw. The beautiful -portrait of this very handsome young hero hangs in the ball-room. - -“Yesterday the Duchess was ill, and I went out alone with the Duke to -the kitchen-garden and to the fine stables, of Charles II.’s time, where -there are still sixty horses, over which Edward Manners presides as -‘field-master.’ The Government gives £5 annually as a retaining fee for -ten of the best horses being always entered to serve in case of an -invasion. I cannot say how delightful I think the Duke, what a noble old -man in every truest sense.” - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL. - -“_Jan. 1893._--Mrs. Kemble was certainly the living person I most wished -to see, but I have let too many opportunities slip, and she has passed -away without my knowing her. She must have been a great and generous -woman, and those who knew her always loved though they feared her. Miss -Hosmer has often told me how dearly she and her companions loved Mrs. -Kemble when she was at school in America near the place where she lived. -She would come voluntarily and read to the school-girls half a play in -the morning and would finish it in the evening. Once, when she was -reading, snow came on, and when she was to go home it was quite deep; so -all the school-girls turned out with spades and brooms and cleared it -away before her. - -“But her severe manner terrified those who were given that way. ‘We had -some private theatricals,’ Mrs. Story told me, ‘and Mrs. Kemble came to -look on at the rehearsal, at which a girl was acting who was supposed to -do it very well. Afterwards, when she came in, Mrs. Kemble walked up to -her, and ‘_Are_ you a fool?’ was all she said. - -“Dr. Silas Bartol, the Unitarian minister at Boston, took his girl to -see Mrs. Kemble. He was nervous, and said, ‘My daughter wished so much -to have the honour of knowing--rather of hearing--rather of seeing Mrs. -Kemble, that I have ventured to bring her.’ Mrs. Kemble bowed stiffly, -and motioned them to sit down, but she said nothing. The girl only sat -and stared at her. Then the father[510] tried again--‘My daughter is -very young--is very nervous--is very shy.’ Then Mrs. Kemble looked at -them both, and, in her most sepulchral accents, said, ‘Shy! I also am -shy. And since your daughter has nothing to say to me, and since most -assuredly I have nothing to say to her, I will wish you good morning.’ - -“To some Americans she met she said, ‘We hate you for your politics: we -hate you for your prosperity: we hate you for your manners: and ... I -don’t wonder at it.’ - -“Mrs. Sartoris had more talent, but Mrs. Kemble had the greater genius. -Those who met her recognised it at once. I heard one who loved her best -say, ‘She married Mr. Butler because, for once in her life, she was a -fool. He was very faulty as a husband, but she was so imperious, _no -one_ could have lived with dear Mrs. Kemble.’ - -“When Mr. Cummings was taking the duty in the chapel at Dresden, they -lived in the same house. Mrs. Cummings wishing to be civil, after some -time sent her card, and asked if she might wait on Mrs. Kemble. The -daughter came up at once and explained, very civilly, that her mother -now saw no one, so Mrs. Cummings thought no more about it. But some -time after, as she was sitting alone in her room, came a tap at the -door, and on her opening it, she saw a lady in black velvet and lace, -closely veiled, who startled her by saying in sepulchral accents, ‘I’m -come to say that I shall never come again.’--‘Oh, is that really you, -Mrs. Butler?’ said lively little Mrs. Cummings, and the sound of her -real name, unheard for years, made her quite pleasant, and she came in, -and was glad to hear of many mutual friends in the Berkshire of -Massachusetts. But unfortunately Mrs. Cummings made some allusion to -Shakspeare, and ‘I did not come here to speak of Shakspeare,’ said Mrs. -Kemble in her most awful accents, and the charm was broken. - -“When in Boston long ago, while she was reading in public, she ordered -dresses, pink and blue satin, at the great shop, the Marshall & -Snelgrove of the town, but gave no address. The shopmen were afraid to -ask her. The manager felt he must run after her and ask where the things -should be sent. Unfortunately, to attract her attention, he touched her. -‘Unhand me, ruffian,’ she shouted in her most ferocious tone. ‘And such -was the man’s terror,’ said my informant, ‘that, though he was quite -young, his hair was turned white that night.’ - -“From personal vanity she was absolutely free. Miss Hosmer once -expressed her regret that she had been photographed in a hat--‘We would -so much rather have seen your head.’--‘My dear,’ said Mrs. Kemble, ‘my -sister, and my friends, and you yourself expressed a wish to possess my -photograph, so, as I was passing a photographer’s shop, I just went in -and flopped down and was photographed as I was.’ - -“A lady was once alluding to the hope she entertained of reducing her -figure. In her most tragical voice Mrs. Kemble said, dwelling on every -syllable, ‘With a hereditary tendency to fat, nor exercise, nor diet, -nor grief may avail.’” - - * * * * * - -_To_ MRS. C. VAUGHAN _and_ JOURNAL. - -“_Longford Castle, Salisbury, Jan. 18._--I have been five days in this -magnificent old place, and it has been a very interesting visit--and -weird, from being with people to whom the other world is so very near, -who seem to be as intimate with the dead as with the living, and who -think no more of ‘receiving a message’ from one of their ‘guiding -spirits’ than we should of a note from an ordinary acquaintance. These -spirits, the wise ‘Huldah,’ the scientific ‘Iganesis,’ the sympathetic -‘Echord,’ the evangelistic ‘Ernest,’ and ‘Semirus,’ the wise physician, -are the friends of the Radnors’ daily life. There comes a rap, such a -noise as we should speak of as ‘only the furniture,’ and then it is -supposed that one of the spirits has something to say, and a pencil is -put into the hand of a medium. One cannot say that she writes, for she -often even goes fast asleep! but _it_ writes, frequently volumes--not -the sprawling incomprehensible stuff which I have often seen before from -‘Planchette,’ but clear MS. in different handwritings, and purporting to -come from one of the spiritual friends. Personally, I should say that -most of these communications were not the least worth the immense -amount of time and thought given to them. The letters--‘messages’--from -Echord and Ernest, are excellent certainly, but mild and affectionate -religious platitudes, such as might be written by an Evangelical -clergyman of rather poetical tendencies. They all, however, speak of the -dead as not asleep, but in action: of there being no ‘place,’ but ‘a -state’ after death: of existence after death being a process through -gradations. None of the spirits have seen ‘God,’ but ‘the dear Master,’ -‘the sweet Master,’ is ever with them and amongst them. The -communications from Semirus are more important. He is the great -physician, and his advice has provided means of healing and safety for -numbers, where earthly physicians have proved powerless or helpless. The -Bishop of Salisbury has been scandalised at the state of things at -Longford and felt impelled to come and testify against it. He recognised -all that happened as fact, as every one must, but denounced it as -‘devilry,’ saying that the owners of the castle were risking their own -souls and all the souls around them. They answer: ‘It was said to -Christ, Thou hast a devil.’ - -“The great medium is Miss K. Wingfield, now aged about twenty-six. The -Radnors have known her and her family most intimately for many years, -and are certain of her absolute trustworthiness with regard to what she -hears or writes. She is almost as a daughter to them, and they have -watched the development of her psychical powers, through various steps, -with the greatest interest. Her most remarkable gift is automatic -writing, which has been given in many languages, several with which she -is wholly unacquainted (including a very old form of Chinese, only -decipherable at the British Museum), and in many different handwritings. -When her hand writes, or rather the pencil in her hand, she has never -the least idea of what is being written. A divining rod has unfailing -power in her hands. - -“The really remarkable communications are those which have reference to -History. In August 1889, Sir Joseph (then Mr.) Barnby, came down to -Longford to play the organ at Lady Skelmersdale’s marriage. One day at -this time Miss Wingfield’s hand wrote a communication in strange -old-fashioned characters, which purported to come from one ‘John -Longland.’ When asked why he came, he said that he had been brought ‘by -the influence of Mr. Barnby, whose music he had heard in Eton College -Chapel, where he was buried.’ Later in the day, the party went to -Salisbury Cathedral, and while Lady Radnor and Miss Wingfield were -sitting in the Hungerford Chapel (the freehold family pew of the Radnor -family), Mr. Barnby played. Whilst he was playing, Miss Wingfield saw, -as in a vision, various scenes enacted, culminating in a procession of -monks and other ecclesiastics with banners and canopies: one of these, a -grave-faced man, came up to the chapel and looked in at her through the -bars. At the same time he announced (by loud raps on the wainscot, which -is the ordinary means of communication) that he was John Longland, that -it was he who had written in the morning, and that he had come to the -cathedral because he had been Dean there in 1514, and that he had more -to tell. Another vision in the cathedral showed the gorgeous ceremonial -of a consecration, which was announced to be that of one Brian Duppa, -Bishop of Salisbury: in a third vision, Brian Duppa was again seen, -lying dead in his coffin. - -“On reaching Longford, Miss Wingfield received more writing from John -Longland, who described himself as anxious to confess how faithless he -had been to his intimate friendship with Thomas Bullen (Anne’s father); -that he had been instrumental in persuading Henry VIII. to divorce -Catherine and to marry Anne, thus advancing his friend’s daughter, and -that afterwards--entirely from motives of personal pique against his -former friend--he had influenced Henry against Anne, and fostered -suspicions which led to her execution. He again said that he was buried -in Eton College Chapel. - -“Anxious to verify these statements, Mr. Wingfield (Coldstream Guards) -purposely went to Eton to search for the tomb of John Longland, and -nowhere could it be found. The Radnors and Miss Wingfield then thought -that John Longland must be a ‘lying spirit,’ and not finding any record -of his being Dean of Salisbury either, they tore up his writings. - -“After Mr. Barnby had left Longford, John Longland came again, but no -one would listen to him. He was, however, so persistent, that the -Radnors decided to have a hunt for a list of officers of the cathedral. -In a lobby cupboard they discovered some old volumes of county history, -uncut and covered with dust. In one of these they found that John -Longland had been Dean of Salisbury at the date mentioned, and that he -was translated to Lincoln in 1521. Turning to ‘Britton’s Lincolnshire,’ -equally covered with dust, showing it had not been moved for months (so -that there was no possibility of Miss Wingfield having seen the -statement), it was found that Bishop John Longland was a person of great -learning and piety, &c., that he was confessor to Henry VIII., and -suspected of having unduly influenced the King with regard to Catherine -and Anne, &c. He died at Woburn, and was privately buried in Eton -College Chapel, of which he was ‘visitor,’ his heart being sent to -Lincoln.[511] The Radnors afterwards learnt that the tombstone of -Longland was removed from Eton College Chapel during a ‘restoration.’ - -“Some time after, when Miss Wingfield went for the first time to the -Palace at Salisbury with Lady Radnor, she exclaimed, ‘There is my Bishop -that I saw!’ and went straight up to a portrait on which the name of -Brian Duppa was found to be inscribed in very small characters. - -“The day after I came was Sunday--thick snow without, with bright -sunshine, which together threw a glorious light on the pictures. Lady -Radnor showed them all delightfully. Amongst those which remain in one’s -mind are a delightful full-length of his boy by Rubens in the Long -Parlour, which the family chiefly inhabit, and the ‘Child Feeding -Chickens,’ and Mrs. Edward Bouverie and her child, by Reynolds, in the -great saloon. In the Long Gallery are two grand Claudes and a steel -chair of enormous value, the delicate work of one Thomas Ruker, given -by the city of Augsburg to Rudolph II. in 1577. This gallery opens on -one side toward the chapel, with the font in which little Lucius Hare, -son of Lord Coleraine, who once lived here, was baptized; and on the -other to a sort of ‘Tribune’ with the choicest pictures--the Egidius of -Quentin Matsys, the Erasmus of Holbein, a fine Sebastian del Piombo, and -a glorious Paris Bordone of a scornful beauty--‘Violante’--in a red -velvet dress. In a passage is the curious portrait of Mrs. Honeywood, -aged ninety-three, who had 367 descendants at the time of her death. She -is represented with a glass goblet. In her great age she was sure she -was doomed to eternal damnation. ‘I am as certain to be lost,’ she said, -‘as that goblet is to be broken to pieces,’ and she dashed it to the -ground, and it rolled away quite unhurt. So after that she remained -perfectly satisfied that all would be well with her. But the pictures -which interested me most personally were the noble Vandyke of my -great-great-great-great-grandmother, Margaret Carey, Countess of -Monmouth, and the Holbein of Mary Boleyn, who married William Carey, and -was also my grandmother by just ten removes. - -“The house is built in a triangle, with three round towers at the -angles, known as the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Lord Radnor told me -how, when he walked out with his father every summer evening, as they -neared the house he always saw his father take off his hat, look up at -the windows, and bow three times. When his father died he often -regretted that he had never liked to ask him why he did this. But now -he _had_ asked his father’s spirit through a medium, and the spirit -answered that he had always repented not having told him the cause, in -an old distich, which he wrote:-- - - ‘Owner of Longford, whoe’er you be, - Turn and bow with bends full three, - And call on the name of the Trinitie, - Or castle and lands will pass from thee.’ - -And since that he had always done the same. - -“In one of the round towers is a pleasant room with ancient panelling of -white and gold. This is now Lady Radnor’s boudoir, and here she has -often sung to us delightfully. The grounds, with their two rivers, and -the garden with its terraces and vases and yew-hedges, are enchanting. -The younger son, Stuart Bouverie, called ‘Toby’ in the family, is, at -fourteen, a clever mechanician.” - - * * * * * - -On the 17th of February 1893, my dear old cousin Charlotte Leycester -died peacefully at her house in London. For months past she had been -failing in her great age (ninety-five) as to physical powers, but her -mind was as much alive as ever, and her affection and sympathy as warm -and ready. “She seemed,” as I have read in the novel “Diana Tempest,” to -“have reached a quiet backwater in the river of life, where the pressure -of the current could no longer reach her, would never reach her again.” -In the last days of her own life, my dearest mother begged me always to -be all I possibly could to this dear cousin and friend of her whole -life, and I believe that I have been able to fulfil her wishes. She has -had a home at Holmhurst every summer, and I have never allowed a week, -generally not three days, to pass without writing to her. She carries -away with her my closest link with the past, but no one could wish to -keep her here. Better that she should go in her great age before the -suffering of age came. - -Just when her gentle life flickered out in sleep, I read in Grinnell’s -“Pawnee Hero Stories”--“The sun was glad. He gave them great age. They -were never sick. When they were very old, one morning their children -said, ‘Awake, rise and eat.’ They did not move. In the night, in sleep, -without pain, their shadows had departed for the sandhills.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ HUGH BRYANS. - -“_June 20, 1893._--I was in London a long time, but saw and heard little -of interest. At Mr. Knowles’s one day I met the honest sturdy Miss -Octavia Hill, and another day Bret Harte, a young-old man, with white -hair and an unwrinkled rosy face. It was odd to hear him called ‘Mr. -Harte.’ After luncheon Mr. Knowles read Tennyson’s ‘Boadicea’ in a -weird monotonous kind of chaunt, imitating him exactly, I should think. -He said that was the way Tennyson always wished his poems to be -read--straight on, without emphasis or any change of voice. One day I -went with the Lowthers to draw at Fulham, and we had tea delightfully in -the open air with the Bishop and Mrs. Temple, he helping his boy -meanwhile to do Latin verses. George Lefevre had a great pleasant party -at the old palace at Kew, to which we went by the river, and where we -saw the Tecks with their daughter and the Duke of York a very little -while before their marriage. For this I saw the picturesque procession -capitally.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ VISCOUNT HALIFAX. - -“_October 20, 1893._--I have been little away from home all summer, -being so busy with my Waterford Memorial, at which I have certainly -worked _con amore_. - -“One little frisk I have had to Montacute, whence Mrs. Phelips took me -to see two fine old houses, Barrington, and Wolferton near Dorchester. -Then I was three pleasant days with Lord Arthur Hervey, the delightful -old Bishop of Bath and Wells, in his moated fortified palace, as -picturesque and as beautiful as it could possibly be. How attractive is -all the apple-filled neighbourhood of Avalon--‘the Apple Island’--and -how delightful its legends of Arthur if one seeks them. - -“‘As Arthur ever still in British memory lives,’ says the inscription at -Cardeña on the tomb of the Cid, but I fear few think of him where he -lived. The Bishop took me to Cheddar. How very grand it is! We mounted -by a coombe into the hills, and so descended upon the gorge. ‘Imagine -yourself a river working its way down,’ said the Bishop, as the narrow -ravine opened beneath us with its great purple rocks in labyrinthine -windings of inexpressible beauty. Very lovely, too, I thought the little -lake at the bottom, covered with a kind of ranunculus unknown elsewhere. - -“The Bishop talks freely on all subjects with perfect ease and -simplicity, in the repose of a mind at rest and the humility of real -knowledge. He was much occupied with the question as to whether the -children of Israel were 200 or 400 years in the wilderness, all -depending upon where a stop ought to be placed. He was also full of -derivations of names, and mentioned several interesting ones--Bevan, ap -Evan; Bethel, ap Ithil; Coblentz, confluence; and Snowdon and Ben Nevis, -meaning the same thing. He talked of having known Madame de Gontaut long -ago, and how, when Louis XVIII. did something she could not approve, she -always turned his portrait to the wall. The last time he went to see -her, the servant said, ‘Depuis qu’elle est en enfance, Madame la -Duchesse ne reçoit pas.’ He told of having been in his childhood at the -ball which George IV. gave to children, and how a little girl being -asked there what she would like to have, said, ‘I should like to have -too much.’ In his room hung a beautiful engraving from Millet’s -‘Angelus,’ which he aptly called ‘the picture of the good lout’[512] - -[Illustration: BROADHURST.][513] - -“Later, for my little ‘Sussex’ book, I was four days wandering about the -deep sandy lanes and semi-forest tracts in the central part of the -county. One of the prettiest places was Broadhurst, near Horsted Keynes, -where the saintly Archbishop Leighton passed the last years of his life, -and taught his sister’s children and grandchildren under the old oaks. I -slept two nights at Groombridge Place, a delightful house, little -altered since it was built in James I.’s time, and with three terraced -gardens, and peacocks innumerable sunning themselves on the grey -parapet of the wall above the moat. - -[Illustration: GROOMBRIDGE PLACE.][514] - -“At Holmhurst I have been much alone, and I feel, with Carlyle, that -‘the memory of many things which it is not at all good to forget rises -with strange clearness on me in these solitudes, very touching, very -sad, out of the depths of old dead years.’” - - * * * * * - -The only incidents of my autumn were visits to Sir Raymond and Lady -Burrell at Knepp Castle, containing one of the finest collections of -portraits to be found at any small place in England; and to the Palace -at Chichester, where the noble old Bishop Durnford seemed at ninety-one -more full of tireless energy than ever, and whence I was taken to visit -the site of the original bishopric, Selsey, with its lichen-covered -walls and storm-beaten gravestones. - -In December, whilst staying at ever-pleasant Thorncombe with my cousin -Victoria Rowe, I sat for my portrait to Mr. Eddis. - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL. - -“_Dec. 5, 1893._--I had a delightful morning with Mr. Eddis, now -eighty-three, but full of vigour and vivacity, and still more of -reminiscence. He said, ‘You would not have been here now having your -portrait painted if it had not been for the Athenaeum. When I was a very -young man, one Magrath, who was secretary there, told me he wanted a -sketch made of himself, and that he would give me £5 for one. So I did -it, and it was such a success, that no fewer than sixty members of the -club put their names down to be drawn by me. I was doubtful if I should -do them, for I wanted to study, and I had not studied enough, but I -asked Hilton, who was a very good artist then, and he told me it would -be folly to refuse what came so easily; and so I did the portraits, and -from that time orders have poured in all through my long life, and so I -have never had time for real study since: I have only learnt through my -work.’ - -“‘What one learns most by experience is the value of reflected light. I -once had a discussion with Gladstone about what was the brightest colour -in Nature. He maintained red was: he was perfectly certain, and very -determined in his opinion. I said blue was. I told him how, in the -evening, when all was mysterious, the red flowers in the garden -disappeared, but the blue remained visible. But he was unconvinced. Then -I showed him how, in a photograph of a flower-bed, the red flowers -remained dead, undetached from the leaves, but the blue flowers were -light and visible in all their forms. Then--“Good night, Mr. Eddis,” he -said.’ - -“‘Did you know D’Israeli?’ said Mr. Eddis. ‘No, he must have been before -your time, but I used to meet him often. He always struck me as _lying -in wait for points_: to make a point was what he cared for most. - -“‘James Croker had much to do with the building of the Athenaeum. They -wanted him--the members did--to make an icehouse for them, but he -wouldn’t. Afterwards some one found in a waste-paper basket a couplet he -had written-- - - ‘My name is James Croker, I’ll do as I please; - You wish for an ice-house, I’ll give you a frieze.’ - -“‘Sydney Smith did not make at the time all the jokes which were -attributed to him: he thought of them afterwards, and circulated them. -He told me once, for instance, that Landseer had asked him to sit for -his portrait, and that he had answered, “How could I possibly refuse a -chance of immortality,” which was perhaps a very natural thing to say. -But it was reported afterwards in London, and reported with at least his -consent, that he had answered, “Is thy servant a dog, that I should do -this thing?” - -“‘One of his best real sayings was of Dr. Whewell--“Science is his -forte, omniscience his passion.” - -“‘Macaulay, it is true, talked incessantly--talked like a machine, but -he had his attractive points. I found this out especially when he -brought the present Lady Knutsford, as a very little girl, to me to be -painted, and talked nonsense to her the whole time, but it was always -nonsense which had a lesson in it. - -“‘Lady Waterford was the most glorious specimen of womanhood I ever saw. -She came in with Lady Canning when I was drawing the Archbishop of -Armagh[515]--“the Beauty of Holiness,” as he was called. Lady Canning -had the lovelier face and the more beautiful eyes, but Lady Waterford -was always the more striking from the grand pose of her head and her -majestic mien. In seeing her, one felt as if one looked upon a goddess.’ - -“This afternoon Victoria took me to see Mr. Watts.[516] A drive through -wooded lanes and water-meadows; then the carriage stopped at the foot of -a wooded knoll, and we walked up little winding paths through the -bracken and Scotch firs to the house--a rustic hermitage. You enter -directly upon the principal dwelling apartment--two low rooms, with old -carved furniture and deep windows, and much colour and many pictures. -The ceiling is in panels, decorated in stucco by Mrs. Watts (_née_ -Fraser Tytler). At least she has finished one room, and is going to do -the other with an epitome of the religion of all the nations of the -earth--‘A work,’ she said, ‘which gives me much study.’ - -“Soon Mr. Watts came in, like a pilgrim, like a mediaeval hermit-saint, -in a brown blouse and slippers, with a skull-cap above his white hair -and beard, and his sharp eager features, in which there is also -boundless tenderness and refinement. He sat by me on the window-sill, -and began at once to talk of Lady Waterford--of her wonderful -inspirations, her unrivalled colouring, her utter unconsciousness of -self, and her majestic beauty--how, when he first saw her out walking at -Blickling, with her grand mien, he could not but exclaim--‘It is Pallas -Athene herself!’ - -“He regretted that she should never have been painted in later life. -‘When she came into a studio, it was like a glorious vision.’ His wife -said how often he spoke of Lady Waterford, and that to herself it was a -lifelong regret that she should never have looked upon one who so -occupied his thoughts and admiration. - -“Mr. Watts took us into his studio, an immense and beautiful room added -to the cottage. Here were many of his pictures, the work of years, on -which, from time to time, he adds a few touches. He likes to have many -of his works around him, and to add to them thus. - -“At the end of the room hangs his vast ‘Court of Death,’ which can be -lowered by pulleys whenever he wishes to add to it. He was greatly -pleased with a photograph of it, which has the effect of a Tintoretto, -and which, while preserving the grand masses, blots out the detail. -‘Death’ is throned in the upper part of the picture. ‘I have given her -wings,” said Mr. Watts, ‘that she may not seem like a Madonna. In her -arms nestles a child--a child unborn, perhaps, who has taken refuge -there. By her side the angels of silence guard the portals of the -unseen. Beneath is the altar of Death, to which many worshippers are -hastening: the old mendicant comes to beg; the noble offers his coronet; -the warrior does not offer--but surrenders--his sword; the sick girl -clings for refuge to the feet of Death. I have wished to paint Death -entirely without terrors. - -“‘You wonder what that is, that other picture of a figure of a rich man -in Eastern dress whose face is half-hidden, buried away in the folds of -his garment. I meant that for the man who was “very sorry, for he had -great possessions.” He cannot give them up. He has tried, but he -_cannot_. He is going out into the world again, and yet--and yet he is -very sorry. I have only got to give him a number of rings and to put a -gold chain round him, and I think his story will be told.’ - -“‘And that great picture?’ we asked. ‘Oh, that is the Angel of Rest. He -has come to that old man, by whom all the instruments of music and -science are lying, that weary old man, and he is touching his hand and -bidding him come with him and rest.’ - -“Besides these, Mr. Watts produced from a corner a grand chalk portrait -of Lady De Vesci--a most noble picture, giving all the dignity and all -the sympathy and pity of her expression. Mr. Watts said he was going to -give it to her little girl. - -“He said, ‘I am within two years of eighty, and I have worked all my -life, but I do not feel old or feeble. I do not even use a maul-stick, -and I intend to do my best work yet.’ - -“On the walls were photographs from Lady Waterford’s drawings, placed -beside Titians, and in their ideas as fine. - -“Mr. Watts took me to the window of the other room to look out into ‘the -half-clothed trees of the winter world.’ In the foreground, a number of -cocoa-nuts, open at the ends, were hung up, and wrens and other tiny -birds were fluttering in and out of them. ‘They like cocoa-nut,’ he -said, ‘and I like to see them enjoy it.’ - -“He said he had no wish to go into the world again. Living was -outliving. Holland House, the second home of many years, was swept away -for him, and all its intimates were passing away, and its memories -perishing. Nothing else in London could attract him. - -“He had wished to make large pictures of Hope, Charity, and Faith. With -the two first he had no difficulty, but he lingered long over the third. -He showed us the picture he had done--of a woman seated, looking -upwards, an Amazonian woman, sheathing her sword, and bathing her -blood-stained feet in a brook of clear water. ‘She had found out that -all that was no use--no use at all.’ His words, his thoughts, his works, -all seemed imbued with the truest spirit of religion. ‘With theology,’ -he said, ‘I have nothing to do.’ - -“He said he had no models. ‘Models are well as studies to draw from, but -they check inspiration.’ He rejoiced in Lady Waterford’s using no models -for her smaller pictures, and said she would not have been so truly -great had she done so.” - - * * * * * - -“_Dec. 7._--Another delightful sitting with Mr. Eddis. I told him of our -visit to Watts, and he said how he felt, on seeing his pictures and -those of Alma Tadema, that Watts was the head, while Tadema was only the -hand. - -“He talked of his own early life as a student. At that time, Fuseli[517] -had recently been the head of the Academy--the very fierce head. He used -to say to his pupils, ‘You may be very good buttermen, you may be very -good cheesemen, but students of Art you will never be; and now, give me -my umbrella, and I’ll go and look at Constable’s pictures.’ - -“‘Turner[518] often used to come in and look at us and our work. There -was a student amongst us who had painted in a red background, and he -painted it the crudest, brightest red he could manage. Turner came in -and said, “Come now, this will never do; give me your palette and -brush,” and in a few minutes he had toned and mellowed it down with a -hundred delicate gradations of tint. “Well now, don’t you think it’s -improved?” said Turner. “No, I don’t,” answered the man; “I think it -was much better before,” which annoyed Turner rather. - -“‘I remember that he came to me that day. I was copying a Vandyke, and -he looked at my work. “Part of that is very good,” he said; “why isn’t -all the rest as good?”--“Because,” I said, “all the rest is me, and that -part is an accident.”--“Well, let that accident to-day become principle -to-morrow,” said Turner, and we were always rather friends afterwards. - -“‘Turner was proud of his picture of Carthage. He had received many -mortifications about his pictures, and people had haggled about the -prices--very small prices too--that he asked for them. When Lord Francis -Egerton came and told him that a subscription was on foot to buy that -picture from him and present it to the National Gallery, he burst into -tears, he was so moved. But he said, “No, I will not sell it, but I will -leave it to the National Gallery.” - -“‘Afterwards, however, he changed his mind, and wished to be buried in -that picture. He spoke of it to Chantrey, who was his executor, and -begged that he would see that it was done, urging him to promise that it -should be done. “Yes, since you wish it, I’ll see you buried in that -picture,” said Chantrey, “but, as sure as you’re alive now, I’ll see you -dug up again.” - -“‘Eventually the picture was left to the National Gallery. - -“‘I was very near becoming an Academician,’ said Mr. Eddis, ‘but I never -did. I had painted a picture of the “Raising of Jairus’s Daughter,” -which was considered a good thing, and my election was thought certain. -I was advised to call upon some of the principal members, not to ask -them to vote for me, but to conciliate them by the attention. It went -rather against the grain with me, and I asked Stanfield about it. “Your -election is as certain,” said Stanfield, “as that I am sitting upon this -sofa, but you may perhaps hasten it a little if you call as you’ve been -advised.” I never did, however; I let it slip, and I was never elected. -Then younger men cropped up, and I was forgotten: it was all as well, -perhaps.’ - -“In the afternoon Victoria took me to Lady Sligo’s new house, to which, -instead of the suitable name of Altamont,[519] she has insisted on -giving that of Mount Brown. It is beautifully situated on a wooded -platform above the town of Guildford. I thought the inside of the house -very charming, but Frank Thomas, the architect, who was with us, -objected because ‘there was too little of the architect, and too much of -Lady Sligo in it,’ which seemed to me just its greatest recommendation. - -“‘May I tum in?’ said a little boy, knocking at his little sister’s -door. ‘No, oo mayn’t,’ answered the little sister. ‘May I tum in now?’ -said the little boy. ‘Yes, oo may,’ answered the little sister. ‘And why -mightn’t I tum in before?’ said the little boy. ‘Because Mammy said oo -wasn’t to see me in my chemise, and now I’ve taken it off,’ answered the -little sister.” - - * * * * * - -“_Dec. 8._--‘I see some pictures by amateurs,’ said Mr. Eddis this -morning, ‘which produce the same effect that _we was_ does in -conversation: it is because they have never studied the grammar of art. - -“‘You would scarcely remember Chantrey, I think. He was always a kind -friend to me. He rose quite from the ranks, and began as a carver of -wood. Rogers was always said to have a table which had been carved by -Chantrey. - -“‘Lord Eldon sat to me three times, and, while he sat, told me all the -story of his life, so when that Life was published, it was all familiar -to me: he had told it all. He was unsuccessful as a lawyer in early -life, had no practice whatever, and his friends advised him to throw up -the profession altogether. Only two friends urged him to wait just a -little longer, and he took their advice, and in that “little longer” the -tide turned, and carried him on to the Chancellorship: “And then,” said -Lord Eldon, “I was able to provide those two friends with very good -places.’” - - * * * * * - -In December 1893 my “Story of Two Noble Lives” appeared, and was warmly -welcomed by the upper classes of society--“the public” for whom it was -especially written. The last time I had gone out with Lady Waterford, we -walked up and down the little ilex avenue by the churchyard at -Highcliffe. She spoke then of the great and increasing desolation of her -life, and said, “If I survive Charles Stuart, there will not be any one -left who would even put up a monument to me.” At the time I inwardly -said, “I will,” and held firm to that resolution; and from what people -say of the book, I feel that I may venture to regard it, though very -unworthy, as a memorial of my dear Lady and her so-beloved sister. Lady -Canning’s is the better portrait, for her letters remained; the -destruction of all Lady Waterford’s best letters has prevented an -equally good picture of her life being produced. General Stuart and many -other of Lady Waterford’s friends assured me that a detailed memoir of -her was impossible; but no good work was ever successfully carried -through which has not at one time seemed impossible. - -It was curious, on going to London, to see how opinions differed about -the book--how one heard, “Oh, all the interest is confined to Lady -Canning,” or, “Of course all one’s sympathies are with Lady Waterford; -it is only Lady Waterford one cares for,” or, “The old French history is -the only point of interest.” The Reviews were just the same, wishing -that the first, or the second, or the third volume were excluded--“the -general public would have been sure to welcome the book if it had been -much shorter.” But that was exactly the welcome I did not care that it -should receive. The general public had no interest in, could not -understand, and was not constituted to benefit by such “noble lives,” -while the inner circle for whom they were intended could always -skip--skip a whole volume if it pleased, just as suited the reader. “Le -plus grand malheur d’un homme de lettres n’est peut-être pas d’être -l’objet de la jalousie de ses confrères, la victime de la cabale, le -mépris des puissants du monde; c’est d’être jugé par des sots.” I was, -however, very grateful for the letter of “a Radical,” well known, though -quite unknown to me, who wrote that the book had shown him that he had -often talked and written of what he had known nothing about, of a class -he had misjudged or judged only from individuals, and that “the Story” -had taught him what noble, devoted, unselfish lives might belong to the -class he had maligned, and that he would never speak against it--in -generalities--again. Lady Cork was furious because the married life of -Lord and Lady Canning had not been painted as cloudlessly, beatifically -happy. But how could I do this with all the written evidence before me? -And, after all, what made Lady Canning’s so perfectly “noble” a life was -that, however much she suffered, she allowed her mother and sister to -live and _die_ under the impression that she was the happiest of wives. - -A very large first edition--5300 copies--was produced. I felt these -would be called for, and that such an edition would probably cover the -very heavy expenses. But the sale of the book is not likely to go on; -the generation contemporary with the two sisters will have passed away. -For myself, if I like a book, I prefer that it should be very long. It -enables you to make a real acquaintance with the people described, to -learn to love them perhaps, and to be very sorry to part with them. I -wonder if it will be so if some of these--very long--journals are ever -made public. - -[Illustration: Augustus J C Hare - -From a photograph by Elliott & Fry] - - - - -XXIX - -WRITING THE GURNEY MEMOIRS - - “O thou wealthy Past, - Thine are our treasures!--thine and ours alone - Through thee: the Present doth in fear rejoice; - The Future, but in fantasy: but thou - Holdest secure for ever and for ever - The bliss that has been ours; nor present woe, - Nor future dread, can touch that heritage - Of joy gone by--the only joy we own.” - --FANNY ANNE KEMBLE. - - “The stream bears us on, and our joys and our griefs are alike left - behind us: we may be shipwrecked, but we cannot be delayed: whether - rough or smooth, the river hastens towards its home, till the - roaring of the ocean is in our ears, and the tossing of the waves - is beneath our keel, and the lands lessen from our eyes, and the - floods are lifted up around us, and the earth loses sight of us, - and we take our last leave of earth and its inhabitants, and of our - further voyage there is no witness, but the Infinite and the - Eternal.”--REGINALD HEBER, _Farewell Sermon at Hodnet_. - - -I had frequently been urged by my friend Madame E. de Bunsen to write -the lives and edit the letters of her family--the Gurneys of Earlham; -but I had long declined. Much as I honoured the life-work and character -of the Gurneys, I felt that I was so little in sympathy with their -outward forms of religion, with their peculiar expression of it--with -their religious talking, in fact--that I doubted if I could do them -justice. Others seemed much better fitted for the task. - -[Illustration: EARLHAM HALL][520] - -But towards the close of 1893 it was again urged upon me--urged with -great persistency; and when I had taken many of the Gurney journals and -letters home, a memoir seemed gradually to unravel itself in my mind, -and at length I promised to do my best. I know, however, how true it is -that “in a whole imbroglio of capabilities, we go stupidly groping -about, to grope which is ours, and very often clutch the wrong -one.”[521] - -In many respects the work soon brought its own reward--inwardly, in -being led to enter into the spiritual life and difficulties of so many -holy departed ones: outwardly, in many visits to still living members of -the family, whose life is a constant example, and has often an -intellectual as well as a spiritual charm. Especially charming were some -winter days at Colne House, the delightful home of Catherine, Lady -Buxton, second daughter of Samuel Gurney; and a lovely spring day with -Mrs. Ripley at Earlham, in the old-fashioned rooms, and on the green -lawns, fragrant to the family--but also to thousands of others--with -endless sacred memories. - - * * * * * - -_To the_ HON. G. HYLTON JOLLIFFE. - -“_London, April 1894._--I have had a pleasant time here, and as usual -have found that there is more to be learnt by enduring the ups and downs -of social pleasures than by withdrawing from them, while in the -mornings I have been very busy at the Athenaeum with a new edition of -‘Walks in London’ and the production of my little ‘Sussex.’ At Lady -Wynford’s I met Miss Harynden, the authoress of ‘Ships that Pass in the -Night,’ a very delicate-looking brown ‘Girton girl’--only her degree was -not taken at Girton, but at the London University. She was very simple -and nice, but seems to _feel_ her books too much. She said she was -generally ill and fretful because she was writing, but more ill and more -fretful if she was not. She did not find her lodging at Hampstead quiet -enough to write in, but shut herself up by day in a desolate cottage on -the Heath. She said she had received hundreds of letters about her -‘Ships that Pass.’ That very morning she had a very kind one from an -unknown gentleman, saying he liked her book very much, but was -disappointed because--in spite of the title--he found no information -about shipping in it! - -“A little Gould child said the other day, ‘Can God Almighty do -everything, mother?’--‘Yes, my dear, God is omnipotent.’--‘I know one -thing He couldn’t do, mother.’--‘Quite impossible, my dear.’--‘Yes, -mother; God couldn’t make a stone so big that He couldn’t carry -it,’--deep unconscious theology. - -” ...There is no place where Death makes a stranger impression than at -the Athenaeum. You become so accustomed to many men you do not know, to -their comings and goings, that they become almost a part of your daily -life. You watch them growing older, the dapper young man becoming -grizzled, first too careful and then too neglectful of his dress: you -see his face become furrowed, his hair grow grey, then white, and at -last he is lame and bent. You become worried by his coughs, and hems, -and little peculiarities. And--suddenly--you are aware that he is not -there, and all your little annoyances immediately seem to have been -absurd. For a time you miss him. He never comes. He will cough no more, -no longer creak across the floor. He has passed into the unseen; -gradually he is forgotten. His place knows him no more. But the wheel -goes on turning; it is others; it is oneself perhaps, who is waning -away.” - - * * * * * - -_To the_ HON. MRS. W. LOWTHER. - -“_Holmhurst, May 21, 1894._--You said you would like to hear about -Belvoir. - -“I went with Henry Maxwell-Lyte. At Grantham was a quantity of red -cloth, and crowds of people to see the Princess (Louise), and a string -of carriages from the castle, and George Manners to show us which we -were to go in. In mine I found a young man, who turned out to be Cecil -Hanbury of La Mortola, with whom I made great friends, and found, as I -always do, that it makes all the difference if one has one special -friend in a large party. The Princess was already at tea when we -arrived, and very gracious and kind. But though she is such a really -charming person, the conversation had the effect of muffled drums, which -always accompanies the presence of royalty. Lord Lorne is much improved -in appearance by age--a good Rubens, as his uncle, Ronald Gower--also at -Belvoir--is a bad Bronzino. The Duke, as always, was most delightful, so -courteous, considerate, and full of interesting information. In the -mornings we walked, drew, or sat in the gardens--a many-hued carpet of -spring glories. In the evenings most of the company danced. The last day -we drove, all the way through the property, to Croxton Old Park, where -there was once a monastery, but nothing is left of it now. There is a -quaint little house, where the Duchess Mary-Isabella, whoever she may -have been, died, and in its succursale we had tea, with all possible -‘ameliorations.’ ... - -“Holmhurst is now a nest of spring blossoms, the azaleas glorious, and -the gold of the laburnums quite hiding the leaves. - - ‘A tout oiseau - Son nid semble beau:’ - -But my nest really _is_ ‘beau.’ I am sometimes blamed for caring so much -about it, so that it was a comfort to read somewhere (I cannot remember -where), ‘Every man’s proper mansion-house and home, being the theater of -his hospitality, the seate of self-fruition, the comfortablest part of -his own life, a kind of private princedome, nay, to the possessor -thereof an epitome of the whole world, may well deserve by these -attributes, according to the degree of the master, to be decently and -delightfully adorned.’” - - * * * * * - -It had weighed upon my mind for the last two years that my “France” -remained unfinished. There was still another volume which could not be -written without personally visiting all the places of interest in -Normandy and Brittany, and my publishers were constantly urging its -completion. The book has always been utterly unremunerative, very much -the contrary, which is very depressing in its way, but “on ne vit dans -le mémoire du monde que par ses travaux pour le monde.’[522] So I -determined to give up London and home pleasures this summer, and to set -about it, taking my young cousin Theodore Chambers as my companion and -guest. - -We left Holmhurst together on the first of June, and spent June in -Normandy and July in Brittany. It was one of the most laborious journeys -I ever made--eight or nine hours a day of walking, standing, collating, -correcting, simmering in the relaxing western heat, and constantly -soaked by the Scotch mist which pervades that district five days out of -seven. For the latter month young Inverurie, Lady Kintore’s eldest boy, -was also with me, a most kind and pleasant fellow-traveller, but, though -eager about drawing, neither of my companions had any more interest in -architecture or history than a stone. Thus my associations with -North-Western France are not transcendent. Places, even the most -beautiful, are innutritious to the mind in the long run; one needs -people with mental life, and enthusiasm to see them with. - -[Illustration: MONT S. MICHEL.][523] - -[Illustration: S. JEAN DU DOIGT.][524] - -[Illustration: AT CARNAC.][525] - -To the cloudiest days, however, come gleams of sunshine. I remember with -great pleasure the Abbey of S. Waudrille near Caudebec, restored once -more to the Benedictines, ejected at the Revolution. We were cordially -pressed to go and stay there, and shown the charming rooms we might -have, and I should really have liked it. Then five days at Mont S. -Michel were enchanting, and the invigorating air, which the hundred and -thirty steps to our bedrooms gave us full opportunity of benefiting by. -And then from Brittany come recollections of many wonderful calvaries; -of Tregastel and its golden rocks; of S. Jean du Doigt in its deep -hollow, lovely in spite of soaking rain; and of Carnac and its wild -moorland, redolent of sweet basil and thyme. We also saw two stately -well-kept houses, Josselin of the Duc de Rohan, and Maintenon of the Duc -de Noailles; but, after all, seeing houses without their owners is like -seeing frames without portraits. More living to me, because I felt -already so familiar with the place, was Les Rochers, pervaded by the -spirit of Madame de Sévigné, and even more fragrant from the memories -she has bequeathed to it than from the blossoms with which the glorious -old orange-trees in its garden are covered now as in her day. It was -enchanting to reach home again at the end of July. My companions said -the journey had turned my hair grey, and so it really had--rather. - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL. - -[Illustration: LES ROCHERS.][526] - -“_August 16._--Most delightful has been the return to Holmhurst with its -freedom and peace. The shades in my life now are seldom troubles, only -uncongenialities, and the ‘small fretting fretfulnesses’ which accompany -them: still, when these are past, the relief is enormous, and visits -from such delightful young friends as Herbert Vaughan, Cecil Hanbury, -and George Cockerton have been a great enjoyment. The last is indeed, in -every respect, a dear and true friend. No rules of friendship, I feel, -are better than those inculcated by Buddhism:-- - -“‘An honourable man should minister to his friends and companions by -giving presents, by courteous speech, by promoting their interests, by -treating them as his equals, by sharing with them his prosperity. - -“‘They, in return, should show attachment, by watching over him when he -is off his guard, by guarding his property when he is careless, by -offering him a refuge in danger, by adhering to him in misfortune, by -showing kindness to his family.’ - -“The natural beauty of the garden here is a never-failing delight to me. -Most people seem to be so full of expectations from the future that they -do not allow themselves to enjoy the present; but when I am at home, I -am sure that is not the case with me. On the prettiest site in the -grounds I have just finished putting up the statues of Queen Anne and -her four satellites by Bird, which formerly stood in front of St. -Paul’s. They were taken away four years ago, and disappeared altogether -till last spring, when my friend Lewis Gilbertson discovered them in a -stonemason’s yard on the point of being broken up for the sake of the -marble. I found they belonged to three people--the Archbishop of -Canterbury, the Bishop of London, and the Lord Mayor, and all these were -persuaded to resign their claims to me. The statues were brought down to -Holmhurst at great expense, and put up, at much greater, on a home-made -pedestal like their old one; and now I hope they are enjoying the -verdure and sea-breezes after the smoke of the City.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ W. H. MILLIGAN, _and_ JOURNAL. - -[Illustration: QUEEN ANNE AT HOLMHURST.] - -“_Alderley Rectory, Oct. 5, 1894._--I left home on September 29, to -visit the Townshend Marshams at Frognal--the place I have so often heard -of and thought of, from Lord and Lady Canning having been there so -frequently as the guests of Lord and Lady Sydney, who left it to the -Marshams. No wonder they loved it, and that it was one of the places -poor Lady Canning most looked forward to seeing again on her return -from her long Indian exile. It is an enchanting old house!--its endless -succession of small sitting-rooms, all lived in, all full of pictures, -books, and flowers, and opening on to a sunny terrace and broad expanse -of lawn, with pine-trees beyond it. In one of the rooms Lady Sydney -still presides from her picture, but as few alive now can remember her, -radiant in loveliness, with a coronet surmounting her abundant and -beautiful hair. Upstairs there is an oak gallery, half library, half -passage, but deliciously pleasant and quaint. The boy of the family is -named Ferdinand, from Ferdinando Marsham, Charles I.’s esquire, upon -whose tombstone it is said that ‘he was lamented by all gentlemen.’ -Amongst the many curious pamphlets in the house is an account of Charles -I.’s execution, printed whilst the king’s body was still lying at -Whitehall, and mentioning his famous word, ‘Remember,’ as referring to -his ‘George,’ which he had desired might be given to his eldest son. A -sketch by Lady Sydney represents the drawing-room at Frognal, with both -the Cannings and many other habitués of the house introduced, and easily -recognisable as portraits. - -“Through a most picturesque and lovely bit of primeval chase belonging -to Frognal we walked to Chislehurst, to see the fine tomb of Lord Sydney -by Boehm, surrounded by memorials of his family, and, on the common, the -Prince Imperial’s Memorial Cross. Mr. Marsham Townshend, who recollected -having seen the Empress in all her splendour at Paris, happened once to -come upon her here, a widowed and lonely exile, in her deep mourning, -attended by a single servant, sobbing alone before this memorial of her -murdered son. Often, in the years she was at Chislehurst, while the -family at Frognal were sitting at tea in the hall, a carriage would dash -up, and the Empress Eugénie come in to stay for two hours. She loved the -Sydneys. - -“It was most delightful at Frognal having old Mrs. Sackville of Drayton -there--‘still constant in a wondrous excellence.’ - -“A longish journey took me to Bromsgrove, where a carriage met me and an -old Mrs. Laurence, who is apparently ‘a power’ in American society, with -her nephew, Mr. Mercer, and brought us to Hewell, the great modern house -which Bodley has built for the Windsors. It has an immense hall, with -open galleries round it, never a comfortable arrangement, I think, but -it is handsome, has two beautiful Italian chimney-pieces, and is divided -by arches into compartments at the two ends. Lady Windsor is quite as -beautiful and fascinating as before she married, and her mother, Lady -Paget, is rather additionally embellished than otherwise by added years. -Lady De Vesci was at Hewell also, supremely beautiful in her own--a -poetical way. - -[Illustration: BELLA’S LOGHOUSE, ALDERLEY MERE.][527] - -“I have enjoyed being in this familiar place, where the Rector of -Alderley, Mr. Bell, and his daughters, are very kind. He has just been -driving me to see the Ernest Leycesters at Mobberley. Passing beneath a -field on the way to Chorley, he said, ‘A curious thing happened there -when I was a little boy. A farmer went out very early to look over his -land, and in that field he found a place where the soil had been -recently upturned. ‘Oh, poachers must have been here,’ he said to -himself, ‘and have buried their game;’ so he dug, and very soon came -upon a sack. ‘Here it is,’ he said, when behold! from the sack emerged -the long tresses of a young woman! Pale as death, he rushed across the -field to Ellen Baskerville’s house, and told what had happened. It was -the body of a young woman, buried in Alderley Churchyard a few days -before. Resurrection-men had dug it up, and being suddenly surprised, -had hastily buried it here. - -“‘When I was living as chaplain in the Infirmary at Norwich,’ said Mr. -Bell, ‘I was startled by hearing what seemed to be loud and furious -imprecations overhead. They did not stop, and at last I ran upstairs to -see. There, in bed, was the old fat swarthy cook, screaming with all her -might, and a huge monkey was sitting on the bed grinning at her. I -seized a newspaper which lay there, rolled it up, and hit out at the -monkey. But the beast knew better than to be afraid of that, seized it, -tore it up, and made at me. Then I caught up a large ruler, which was -happily lying near, to defend myself with. The monkey did not like that, -and bounded across the room and out at the window, and I heard a scream -from the people upon whom it had descended in the street. - -“‘The woman told me how the monkey had come in at the window, and jumped -straight on to her bed, where it had found the pot of ointment used for -her bad leg, and eaten it all up directly. Having finished that, it made -for the table, where it found her wig-box, pulled it open and began to -demolish her wig. _That_ she could not stand. “Oh, ye varmint! ye -varmint!” she shouted, and continued shouting till I came to the -rescue.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Temple Newsam, Oct. 9._--This grand old house in the Black Country has -been receiving the Duke and Duchess of York. They were just gone when I -arrived, but the Duchess’s pleasant brother, Prince Adolphus, is here, -and his future bride, Lady Sybil Grosvenor, with Lady Grosvenor and her -daughter, also the William Lowthers and the beloved Halifax’s. With the -Lowthers I have been two excursions--to Swillerton, Sir C. Lowther’s -rather fine house, and to the beautiful old house of Ledstone, a very -picturesque place.” - - * * * * * - -“_Ravenstone, Oct. 14._--This lovely little place of Mrs. Howard is -above Lake Bassenthwayte, not considered a beautiful lake, but -infinitely lovely at the spot to which she has taken me, through the -garden of Sir H. Vane, where a richly wooded promontory embossed upon -the still evening sky was reflected in every detail in the calm limpid -waters. - -“We have been for service to the most delightfully primitive little -church--a Dalesman’s church--such as Wordsworth has described. At -Greystoke we have spent a day, received by the little girl, daughter of -the house, with the manners of a princess. Little of the old castle -remains.” - - * * * * * - -“_Bishopthorpe, Oct. 16._--‘That is a portrait of Bishop Willmer of -Louisiana,’ said the Archbishop, showing his study. ‘He was at one of -the conferences at Lambeth in Archbishop Tait’s time. When he went away -Mrs. Tait said to him, “Well, good-bye, Bishop; I hope you’ll come again -at the next conference.”--“No, Mrs. Tait, neither you nor I will be at -the next conference.”--“Oh, Bishop, but I hope we shall see you -again.”--“No, Mrs. Tait,” said the Bishop very solemnly, “neither you -nor I shall be at the next conference, but we shall meet again very -soon.” Three months after that--one in America, the other at -Edinburgh--the Bishop and Mrs. Tait died on the very same day. - -“‘Bishop Willmer had the utmost simplicity of character, but he was a -true apostle. One day, crossing a green at Boston, he found a little boy -playing pitch-and-toss. He was very fond of little boys, and he stopped -and spoke to this one--spoke to him very kindly. “Now, are you a good -little boy?” he said at length. “Well, I sometimes say cuss words,” -answered the boy. “Oh, I’m sorry for that,” said the Bishop; “but at any -rate, I see you speak the truth.”--“Oh, only dogs tell lies,” said the -boy. “Well, now,” said the Bishop, “would you like to do me a -kindness?”--“Yes,” said the boy. “Well, I expect a parcel at the railway -station, and I want you to go for it, and bring it to a particular -house. There will be seven dollars to pay for that parcel, and here are -the seven dollars, and there are fifty cents for yourself.” The boy took -the $7.50 and went off. - -“‘When the Bishop reached the house, he told what he had done, and was -heartily jeered at--that he should trust a Boston waif like that. There -was a very large party, and they all went in to dinner. Before it was -over, a servant came in and said that there was a boy there who wanted -to speak to the Bishop. The Bishop went out, and the whole company -followed him--they followed him into the hall, and there was the boy at -the door. He was not the least abashed, but, when he saw the Bishop, -said, “Well, I’ve brought the parcel, but it cost seven dollars fifty -cents: you did not see the fifty cents marked in the corner.”--“Well, -how did you get the parcel, then?”--” Oh, I paid the fifty cents you -gave me.”--“And how did you know you’d get the fifty cents again?”--“ -Well, I thought as a chap as would trust me with seven dollars would -never make a trouble for fifty cents.” - -“‘Well,’ said the Bishop, before they parted, ‘now I should like to give -you my blessing;’ and the boy knelt on the door-mat, and solemnly and -episcopally, before all the company, the Bishop gave the poor boy his -blessing.’ - -“The chapel here in the palace is thirteenth-century, and has been -restored by Archbishop Maclagan. The stained windows by Kempe are -beautiful, representing the Crucifixion, and the saints connected with -York. ‘I wished that the Saviour should be represented without any -appearance of suffering,’ said the Archbishop--‘as the offering of -humanity, not the sacrifice for sin. The suffering crucifixes only grew -up in mediaeval times with ideas of purgatory. The early artists wished -to excite faith, not pity, and represented the Saviour’s triumph over -death, even while enduring it. The earliest crucifix, in the Catacomb of -Pope Julius, given by Mrs. Jameson, but which totally disappeared a few -years since, represents on the cross a beautiful youth, draped from head -to foot, and without suffering.’ - -“I have had a delightful long drive with Augusta to Bramham. The old -house was burnt down sixty years ago, and has never been rebuilt. But -its glorious old gardens are kept up. There is nothing like them in -England. They were laid out by Le Nôtre when he laid out Versailles, and -are more like that than any other place. Eighty acres are intersected -by grand avenues with immense walls of clipped beech, ending in -summer-houses, statues, vases, or tanks walled in with stone and -surrounded by statues and vases of flowers. Mr. Fox, a most grand old -man, showed me everything, and talked of the change from the old times -of his youth, when Yorkshire country visits were so cheery, and the -chief dissipation of the county people was a ball at York. ‘Now every -man with three hundred a year and a daughter thinks he must go to -London.’ He talked of the degeneracy of Temple Newsam from the time when -three litters of cubs were regularly brought up in the woods near the -house. His sitting-room is full of hunting pictures and caricatures of -his old friends--a great enjoyment to him. - -“I asked Augusta much about Mrs. (Adelaide) Sartoris, whom she had known -well. She said: ‘Edward Sartoris did not go with Adelaide when she went -to Vichy. Leighton, who was always as a slave to her, went with her, -took her lodgings, and did everything for her. Then he said, “You will -be very dull, knowing no one here; I know some young men here, and I -will introduce them to you. They are Burton and Swinburne, but you know -one is a believer in Buddhism, the other in nothing; so you must not -mind what they say.” Then Leighton left. - -“‘The next evening Adelaide was having her coffee in the gardens, when -the two young men came up and sat down by her. At first they made -themselves very agreeable. Then at length they began to air their -opinions, and to say things evidently intended to shock. Adelaide laid -down her cup, looked at Burton, and said very slowly, “You believe, I -think, in _Juggernaut_, therefore, with regard to Juggernaut, I shall be -very careful not to hurt your feelings. And you, Mr. Swinburne (turning -to him), believe, I think, in _nothing_, but if anything is mentioned in -which you _do_ believe, I shall be very careful not to hurt your -feelings either, by abusing it: now I expect that you will show the same -courtesy to me.” - -“‘The young men laughed, and for some days all went well. Then the -impression passed, and one day they began to talk as before. Adelaide -again laid down her cup, and began again in the same slow tones--“You -believe, Mr. Burton, I think, in Juggernaut”.... Then they burst out -laughing, and they always behaved themselves in future.’ - -“‘When I was a girl,’ said Augusta, ‘I was with Mary at Madame de -l’Aigle’s near Compiègne. There was to be a little function in the -village, and some music was got up for it. We assisted at the practices, -and Leighton also, who was there as a beautiful young man. But before -the day of the function came he had to go. “Oh, Fay, why should you -desert us? what can we do without our tenor?” said Madame de l’Aigle. -But she implored him in vain; he said he _must_ go. We all continued, -however, to urge him, and at last he said, “Well, I’ll tell you what -I’ll do: I must go, but I’ll come back.”--“What! all the way from -London?” “Yes.” And he did. It was not long after that we found out why -he thought himself obliged to go: it was because the sale of the -pictures of that poor artist, Mason, who had died leaving his wife and -children terribly unprovided for, was going to take place, and Leighton -thought that if he were present at the sale, and seen bidding for the -pictures, they would fetch higher prices. It was only one of a thousand -kindnesses Leighton has done.... People have sometimes called him -affected, but he was not. His manners were perfectly natural: he could -not help being the spoiled darling of society. - -“‘George IV., as Prince Regent, was very charming when he was not drunk, -but he generally was. Do you remember how he asked Curran to dinner to -amuse him--only for that? Curran was up to it, and sat silent all -through dinner. This irritated the Prince, and at last, after dinner, -when he had had a good deal too much, he filled a glass with wine and -threw it in Curran’s face, with “Say something funny, can’t you!” -Curran, without moving a muscle, threw his own glass of wine in his -neighbour’s face, saying, “Pass his Royal Highness’s joke.” - -“‘That story reminds me of the old Queen of Sweden. She was furious at -the appointment of Bernadotte, and would have nothing to do with him; at -which people congratulated him rather, because if she had seen him, they -said, she would certainly have killed him. But at last she seemed to get -tired of her estrangement, and she invited Bernadotte to a banquet. He -was delighted--so glad to be friends; but as he was going to her palace, -a paper was put into his hands inscribed--by whom he never knew--with -the words, “If she offers you food or drink, as you value your life, -refuse it.” He arrived, and the Queen was most affable, courtesy and -kindness itself. After dinner a cup of coffee was brought on a golden -salver, and, with the most exquisite grace, the Queen offered it to -Bernadotte. He was just about to drink it when he remembered the -warning, and he returned it to her, saying, “Après vous, Madame.” The -Queen turned deadly pale, looked him full in the face, and--drank it. -Next day Stockholm was agitated by terrible news. The Queen-Dowager had -died in the night.’ - -“The dining-room here is hung with Archbishops, a very fine set of -portraits. Sir Joshua painted Archbishop Harcourt, and came down with -the picture to Bishopthorpe. At dinner, the chaplain, who was afterwards -Archbishop Markham, said, ‘Who is the fellow who has painted that vile -picture of the Archbishop?’--‘The fellow is me,’ said Sir Joshua, who -was sitting by him; but he was so struck by what Markham said that he -insisted on taking the picture back with him to London, and repainted it -as it is now. Talking of the portraits led to Sir T. Lawrence, who was -an endless time over his pictures. That was the case with his portrait -of Lady Mexborough and her child. Lord Mexborough asked to have it home -again and again, but it was no use. At last he said he _must_ have the -picture. ‘Well,’ said Sir Thomas, ‘I’ve been a long time, I allow; but -I’ve got well forward with Lady Mexborough: it’s the baby wants -finishing. Now if Lady Mexborough would kindly bring the baby and give -me another sitting, I really will finish.’--‘Well, Sir Thomas,’ said -Lord Mexborough, ‘my wife will be happy to give you another sitting -whenever you like, but _the baby’s in the Guards_!’” - - * * * * * - -“_Lincoln, Oct. 18._--Between York and this, I turned aside to visit -Howden, a most grand church. In the vicarage garden I saw an old lady -feeding chickens, and I could not help going up to her and saying, ‘Were -you not once a Miss Dixon?’ She was so exactly like her sister, who was -with Miss Dixon, the miniature-painter, at the little Holmhurst hospice -last year. Her husband, Mr. Hutchinson, showed me all the relics, the -remains of the shrine of S. John of Howden, bearing a statue of the -Virgin with the dove whispering into her ear, as S. Gregory is so often -represented at Rome: the Saltmarshe Chapel, with its old tombs and its -stone altar with five crosses: and the lovely ruined choir, with -exquisite chantry chapels opening from it. Then, in the vicarage garden, -are remains of an old palace of the Bishops of Durham, with a beautiful -old gateway. - -“I also saw Selby, a very fine church with a Norman nave, but less -interesting than Howden. - -“Lincoln is altogether delightful, with its crown of yellow-grey towers -rising high above the red roofs of the town. And it is most pleasant in -staying with the beloved Precentor Venables to go back into the old -Hurstmonceaux days, which he, and almost no one else, remembers, even -though I could not join in his loyal reverence for Uncle Julius, when it -was extended to Aunt Esther also. Time seems to have stood still with -him and Mrs. Venables more than with any one I know, and it is difficult -to believe that it is more than half a century since they came to -Hurstmonceaux as bride and bridegroom--half a century of such entirely -happy married life, that one cannot contemplate one surviving the -other.[528] - -“We visited the delightful and beautiful old Bishop King, who now has -fitted up the ruins of the old palace, and lives appropriately in the -heart of the cathedral society--‘very rightly placed,’ he says, ‘below -the church, and far above the world.’ He has an expression of gentle -benignity which I never saw equalled except by Pius IX., and a manner in -which the greatest dignity of office and the most perfect personal -humility are marvellously blended. He was sitting in what I thought was -a purple dressing-gown, but was told it was a cassock: a jewelled cross -was on his breast. I hoped to have seen him mitred in the cathedral, but -he only appears thus on great festivals. He talked of the Church in -France, and I urged him to visit Ars and enjoy its atmosphere of -spiritual love and blessing: he said he should go there. We also visited -Dean Wickham and his delightful wife, who is Gladstone’s daughter, -thinking her father’s principles always right, but so full of goodness, -gentleness, and beneficence herself, that it is impossible to connect -her with his practice.” - - * * * * * - -“_Nov. 16._--At Letton, the pleasant house of the Gurdons in Suffolk, I -have met a large party, including the Hamonds of Westacre, into whose -courtyard an invisible horse and rider clatter whenever any death is -about to occur in their family. I have been taken to see Hingham, where -the church contains the very fine tomb of Thomas, Lord Morley, of 1435. -Another day we went to Dereham. S. Werburga was the great saint of the -place, and was stolen by the Abbot of Ely, that her body might be -venerated there with her two sainted sisters. By her empty grave a -miraculous spring gushed forth to console the people of Dereham. So many -children died from being bathed in it, that it is now shut off by a -railing. In the church is the feeble monument of Cowper and Mrs. Unwin. - -“Several curious stories were told:-- - -“Some young men once determined to frighten the famous naturalist -Cuvier. One of them got horns, hoofs, and a tail, and appeared by -Cuvier’s bedside. ‘I am the devil,’ he said, ‘and I am come to eat you.’ -Cuvier looked at him. ‘Carnivorous! horns--hoofs--impossible! -Good-night;’ and he turned over and went to sleep. - -“Mrs. Hall Dare had told of a young girl friend of hers. She was with a -number of other girls, foolish and frivolous, who went to consult an old -woman who had the reputation of being a witch, and who was supposed to -have the power of making them see their future husbands. She said they -must say their prayers backwards, perform certain incantations with -water, lock their doors when they went to bed, and then they would see -whom they were to marry, but they would find their doors locked in the -morning. - -“The girl followed all the witch’s directions. Then she locked her -door, went to bed, and waited. Gradually, by the firelight, a young man -seemed to come in--to come straight through the locked door--a young man -in uniform; she saw him distinctly. - -“He went to the end of the room and returned. As he passed the bed his -sword caught in the curtain and fell upon the floor. Then he seemed to -pass out. The girl fainted. - -“In the morning at first she thought it was a dream, but there, though -her door was still locked, lay the actual sword upon the floor! Greatly -aghast, she told no one, but put it away and kept it hidden. It was a -terrible possession to her. - -“The following year, at a country-house, she met the very young man she -had seen. They fell violently in love and were married. For one year -they were intensely--perfectly--happy. - -“Then her husband’s regiment had to change its quarters. As she was -packing up, with horror which was an instinct, she came upon the sword -put away among her things. Just then, before she could hide it, her -husband came in. He saw the sword, turned deadly pale, and in a stern -voice said, ‘How did you come by that?’ She confessed the whole truth. - -“He was rigid. He said, ‘I can never forgive it; I can never see you -again;’ and nothing she could say or do could move him. ‘Do you know -where I passed that terrible night?’ he said; ‘I passed it _in hell_!’ -He has given up three-quarters of his income to her, but she has never -seen him since. - -“A Miss Broke, a niece of our host, told me even a more curious story. - -“A few years ago there was a lady living in Ireland--a Mrs. -Butler--clever, handsome, popular, prosperous, and perfectly happy. One -morning she said to her husband, and to any one who was staying there, -‘Last night I had the most wonderful night. I seemed to be spending -hours in the most delightful place, in the most enchanting house I ever -saw--not large, you know, but just the sort of house one might live in -one’s-self, and oh! so perfectly, so deliciously comfortable. Then there -was the loveliest conservatory, and the garden was so enchanting! I -wonder if anything half so perfect can really exist.’ - -“And the next morning she said, ‘Well, I have been to my house again. I -must have been there for hours. I sat in the library: I walked on the -terrace; I examined all the bedrooms: and it is simply the most perfect -house in the world.’ So it grew to be quite a joke in the family. People -would ask Mrs. Butler in the morning if she had been to her house in the -night, and often she had, and always with more intense enjoyment. She -would say, ‘I count the hours till bedtime, that I may get back to my -house!’ Then gradually the current of outside life flowed in, and gave a -turn to their thoughts: the house ceased to be talked about. - -“Two years ago the Butlers grew very weary of their life in Ireland. The -district was wild and disturbed. The people were insolent and -ungrateful. At last they said, ‘We are well off, we have no children, -there’s no reason why we should put up with this, and we’ll go and live -altogether in England.’ - -“So they came to London, and sent for all the house-agents’ lists of -places within forty miles of London, and many were the places they went -to see. At last they heard of a house in Hampshire. They went to it by -rail; and drove from the station. As they came to the lodge, Mrs. Butler -said, ‘Do you know, this is the lodge of my house.’ They drove down an -avenue--‘But this _is_ my house!’ she said. - -“When the housekeeper came, she said, ‘You will think it very odd, but -do you mind my showing _you_ the house: that passage leads to the -library, and through that there is a conservatory, and then through a -window you enter the drawing-room,’ &c., and it was all so. At last, in -an upstairs passage, they came upon a baize door. Mrs. Butler, for the -first time, looked puzzled. ‘But that door is not in my house,’ she -said. ‘I don’t understand about your house, ma’am,’ said the -housekeeper, ‘but that door has only been there six weeks.’ - -“Well, the house was for sale, and the price asked was very small, and -they decided at once to buy it. But when it was bought and paid for, the -price had been so extraordinarily small, that they could not help a -misgiving that there must be something wrong with the place. So they -went to the agent of the people who had sold it and said, ‘Well, now the -purchase is made and the deeds are signed, _will_ you mind telling us -why the price asked was so small?’ - -“The agent had started violently when they came in, but recovered -himself. Then he said to Mrs. Butler, ‘Yes, it is quite true the matter -is quite settled, so there can be no harm in telling now. The fact is -that the house has had a great reputation for being haunted; but you, -madam, need be under no apprehensions, for you are yourself the ghost!’ - -“On the nights when Mrs. Butler had dreamt she was at her house, -she--her ‘astral body’--had been seen there.” - - * * * * * - -“_Ashridge, Nov. 19._--I arrived here by tea-time, passing in the beech -woods Lady Lothian, who reminded me of Lady Waterford, as I saw her in -her long black dress and black hat, backed by the leafless trees against -the golden sunset. Then Lady Brownlow came in, still radiant in her -marvellous Bronzino-like beauty. There is much charm too in the -guests--Mrs. Dallas Yorke, with her subtle refinement, Mrs. Norman -Grosvenor, the Jerseys, pleasant Jack Cator, and many others. Before -dark, Lady Lothian took me to the drawing-room, built entirely from -designs of Lord Brownlow, and thoroughly Italian in its marble pillars, -green hangings, and many fine pictures, a Mona Lisa which disputes -originality with that at Paris, a beautiful Lo Spagna of a saint, and -the sketch for the Tintoret of the Presentation of the Virgin. The -dinner was lighted from brilliant sconces on old boiserie from a Flemish -sacristy. In the evening ‘Critic’ was acted as a charade, led by Lady -Jersey. - -“Breakfast was at small tables. Lord Brownlow, at ours, talked of a -neighbouring house where a Lady Ferrers, a freebooter, used to steal out -at night and rob the pilgrims coming from St. Albans. She had a passage -from her room to the stables. In the morning one of the horses was often -found tired out and covered with foam: no one could tell why. At last -the poor lady was found dead on her doorstep in her suit of Lincoln -green. She constantly haunts the place. Mr. Ady, who lives there now, -meets her on the stairs and wishes her good-night. Once, seeing her with -her arms stretched out in the doorway, he called out to his wife who was -outside, ‘Now we’ve caught her!’ and they rushed upon her from both -sides, but caught--nothing. - -“Lady Brownlow came over to our table. ‘I’ve come to join in your -conversation.’--‘Well, you’ve stopped it,’ said Lord B. ‘However, I -bring you this story. A man in a foreign hotel took a loaded pistol to -bed with him. By-and-by he saw a terrible deformed hand brandished at -the foot of the bed. “If you don’t go, I’ll fire,” he shouted. It did -not go and he fired. It was at his own foot.’ - -“It was Sunday, but I did not go to church, and walked with Lady Lothian -through the sunlit green glades and russet woods of autumn. The house is -of immense length of frontage, and behind it rises the chapel like a -great church. ‘Can you tell me in what part of this _village_ Lord -Brownlow lives?’ asked an American when he came to Ashridge. In the -evening we went to service in the chapel through the splendid -conservatory, with long falling festoons of Ipomea. There was a full -congregation and singing. Two panes of Holbein glass recall that -Ashridge was the palace of Edward VI. and Elizabeth when young, but she -hated it. - -“We knew what you would say if you found Lady Waterford’s drawings all -lying about,’ said Lady Brownlow, ‘so we worked hard to hang them up -the day before you came.’ And they looked grand together, and such a -variety--the supreme desolation of the Hagar, the self-abandonment of -the Prodigal’s repentance, the proud Othello, the lovely springing, -leaping children.” - - * * * * * - -“_Middleton, Dec. 9._--A very agreeable visit to Lord and Lady Jersey. -The country is hideous, but the house pleasant and comfortable, and a -large new ball-room is hung with many fine portraits--the first Duke of -Buckingham by Mytens and by Van Somer; Frances, Countess of Jersey, -beloved by George IV., who was sent to meet Queen Caroline and persuaded -her to eat onions--‘There is nothing the king likes so much as the smell -of onions’--and Sarah, Countess of Jersey, the queen of Almack’s, a huge -noble picture by Lawrence. Joining the village church is the mortuary -chapel which she built, with her tomb, a copy of the Scipio tomb at -Rome, and lovely medallions of her daughters, Sarah, Princess Esterhazy, -and Lady Clementina Villiers. The font is said to have been that of -Edward the Confessor at Islip, but is of Gothic, not Saxon date. - -“Conversation fell on Christine, Lady Saye and Sele, who had three -husbands. When she married the first surreptitiously, she took the bull -by the horns, and said to her father at dinner, ‘Father, I’m -married!’--‘Well, my dear, but at least wait till Thomas has left the -room.’--‘No, father, Thomas need not leave the room, for Thomas is the -man I’ve married.’” - -My home life this year was very quiet and uneventful, only marked by my -books. The Edgeworth family had placed Maria Edgeworth’s letters in the -hands of Lionel Holland, now a publisher, and desired him to find an -editor. He asked me to accept the office--certainly not a remunerative -one, as I only received fifty pounds for it, the whole large profits of -the book falling to the publishers. I demurred at first, but eventually -undertook it, and became interested in the work, and the simple, -high-toned, unselfish character of the lady whose letters I was -selecting; and the book at once became popular, and had a very large -circulation. - -But “The Life and Letters of Maria Edgeworth” was rather a by-play. Most -of my time was given to “The Gurneys of Earlham,” which gave me plenty -of very hard and anxious work. I could not help feeling, as I attacked -the mines and mountains of self-introspection in the form of religious -journals which each one of the Gurney brothers and sisters left behind -them, how unsuited I was for the task, how little I could enter into -their feelings. Indeed Catherine Vaughan had written to me--“You are -unworthy even to unfasten the shoe-latchets of those saints,” and I -quite agreed with her. Still, into the beauty of their _actions_, of -their devoted and unselfish lives, I could fully enter, and when the -peculiar shibboleth of those times is sifted from their words, they said -a great deal that was most beautiful and touching. The work has brought -me into contact with many good people. And the Gurneys are still, as -they were in the early days of Earlham, most liberal to all who do not -agree with them, if only they are trying to follow the same Lord and -Saviour--the dearest friend of the Gurneys of old time, and I think of -most of those of present date. - -At Christmas I was with the Halifaxes. - - * * * * * - -_To_ W. H. MILLIGAN. - -“_Hickleton, Dec. 28, 1894._--Can it be I? I say to myself, when I am -called in pitch darkness in these winter mornings, and hurry in the dawn -through the still dark shrubberies to the brilliantly lighted church, -where, amid clouds of incense and the chanted salutation of the Blessed -Sacrament, I receive ‘the mass,’ kneeling under the shadow of a great -crucifix. Then, after breakfast, there is matins, what we should call -early morning service, at which there are few worshippers; but when it -is over, and you think you are going away, not a bit of it; there is a -sound like the sea rushing in, and instantly the church is -filled--thronged with people--and these come, not to receive the -Sacrament, but to adore it! Charlie Halifax says, ‘How strangely things -come round. My uncle, a lawyer--who had his home here with my father and -mother, and died when I was five years old--used to be a great friend of -Newman and Lord Devon, and others who thought as they did, and his -beautiful spiritual letters and his religious sonnets remain to us. He -longed for what he thought was the impossible; he longed to have it -here, and now here it is. At that time there was only celebration here -four times in a year; he never hoped it could be otherwise, and yet what -he so longed for--what I, too, so longed for as a boy--has been all -realised. - -“‘Do you know that when Miss Margot Tennant (Mrs. Asquith) said to -Jowett, “What do you _really_ think of God?” he said nothing for a -moment, and then answered, “I think all that signifies is what God -really thinks of me.”’ - -“I have had many delightful talks with Charlie. When I am with him I -feel imperceptibly lifted heavenwards. I do not agree with him in -everything, but oh! I _love_ him always. With him, as indeed with every -one else, even where I most disagree, I am careful never to speak -slightingly of anything he holds sacred. If it made any difference at -all, it would only cause him to hold the cloak tighter.” - - * * * * * - -“_Hatfield, Jan. 30._--After a visit to Lord and Lady Knightley at -Fawsley, in bitter cold and snow, I came here to meet a huge -party--Cadogans, Iveaghs, Hampdens, and very many others. Most of the -company have skated in the morning, but I have thoroughly enjoyed the -equably warm passages and rooms of this immense house. Arthur Balfour is -here, with charming manners, quite unspoilt. He stays in his room and -does not appear till luncheon-time, so getting many quiet hours for -work. Lord Warkworth was here for one night, a most promising youth, who -breaks the silence of the Percies. Lord Rowton also is here, and most -agreeable in his natural ripple of pleasant talk. He says that he once -asked Disraeli what was the most remarkable, the most self-sustained and -powerful sentence he knew. Dizzy paused for a moment, and then said, -‘Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.’ - -“Disraeli used to say that, _apropos_ of history, he should always -remember going to a breakfast at Lord Houghton’s, and, as the door -opened, hearing the loud voice of Bunsen exclaim, ‘Modern history! why, -modern history begins with Abraham!’ - -“He described how the Duke of Wellington would always arrange everything -for a battle--he did before Waterloo--and then would sleep soundly for -an hour. ‘How could you sleep so soundly?’--‘Why, I had arranged -everything.’ - -“Lady Salisbury said that her _masseuse_ went constantly to the Queen. -She told Lady Salisbury that what appeared to be lameness in the Queen -was merely that her feet were too small to support the weight of her -body. Her hands are those of a little child. - -“She gave the most graphic description of an awful storm she encountered -in going to S. Tropez. ‘The rivers, you know, generally flow into the -sea, but then the sea flowed into the rivers: it was such a reversion -of things.’ - -“Describing his great-grandfather, Lord Salisbury said he swore so -horribly that he used to be called ‘Blastus, the king’s chamberlain.’ - -“I said how one of the things I most wished to see, Lady Anne -Grimston’s[529] tomb, was in Hertfordshire. ‘Oh,’ said Lady Salisbury, -‘I will drive you there in my sledge;’ and so she did, across the -snow-laden roads. It is the most extraordinary sight. Lady Anne Grimston -was a sceptic, and when she lay upon her deathbed in 1717, her family -were most anxious to make her believe in a future state, but she -wouldn’t. ‘It is as likely,’ she said, ‘that I should rise again as that -a tree should grow out of my body when I’m dead.’ - -“Lady Anne Grimston died, and was buried in Tewin churchyard, and over -her grave was placed a great altar-tomb, with a huge massive stone slab -on the top of it. In a year or two, this slab showed signs of internal -combustion, and out of the middle of it--out of the very middle of -it--grew a tree (some say six different trees, but one could not see in -winter), and increased, till, in the time which has elapsed, it has -become one of the largest trees in Hertfordshire. Not only that, but the -branches of the tree have writhed about the tomb like the feelers of an -octopus, have seized it, and lifted it into the air, so that the very -base of the tomb is high up now, one with the tree or trees, so are -they welded together. Then a railing was put round the tomb, and the -tree has seized upon it in the same way, has twisted the strong iron -rails like pack-thread, and they are to be seen tangled and twirled high -in the branches of the tree. Another railing has now been put, and the -tree will behave to it just as before. - -“If this tree were abroad, it would become the most popular place of -pilgrimage in the world. As it is, thousands visit it--even across the -snow a regular path was worn to it. Tewin churchyard preaches more -sermons than a thousand clergymen. - -“‘I have brought back Mr. Hare a most firm believer in a future state,’ -said Lady Salisbury as we re-entered the Golden Gallery at Hatfield, -where all the guests were sitting.” - - * * * * * - -“_London, Feb. 2._--I dined with my two friends, Lewis Gilbertson and -Frank Cookson, who live so happily together in the charming little -canonical house of the former in Amen Court. Gilbertson told me how Mr. -Spooner of Oxford, celebrated for his absence of mind, was one evening -found wandering disconsolately about the streets of Greenwich. ‘I’ve -been here hours,’ he said. ‘I had an important appointment to meet some -one at “The Dull Man, Greenwich,” and I can’t find it anywhere; and the -odd thing is no one seems to have heard of it.’ Late at night he went -back to Oxford. ‘You idiot!’ exclaimed his wife; ‘why, it was the Green -Man, Dulwich, you had to go to.’” - - * * * * * - -_To_ HERBERT VAUGHAN OF LLANGOEDMORE. - -“_April 21._--My visit at Elton has been most pleasant, Lord and Lady -Carysfort so kind, the house a climax of comfort, and the party one of -old friends, Knightleys, Peels, Lady Tollemache, and beautiful Lady -Claude Hamilton the elder. Then the gardens and groves are quite -beautiful, especially at this time-- - - ‘When daisies pied and violets blue, - And lady-smocks all silver white, - And cuckoo-buds of yellow hue - Do paint the meadows with delight.’[530] - -But what I really cared for most was that I accomplished my -long-wished-for pilgrimage to Little Gidding. - -“It is a most attractive spot, a bosky hollow in the uplands, with a -pool and an oak-wood. The monastic house is gone, but probably stood -where a farmhouse stands now, and whence the raised path which led to -the still existing chapel is yet visible in the turf. An ancient -box-tree with a stem like an oak, contemporary with the old house, -stands on the grass. An old contemporary book in the library at Elton -had made me even more familiar than ‘John Inglesant’ had done with -Nicholas Ferrar, his sister--‘a tall ancient gentlewoman about eighty -years of age, she being matron of the house’--and with Mrs. Collet and -her sixteen children, including the seven sisters named after the -Christian virtues--the Patient, the Cheerful, the Affectionate, the -Submiss, the Moderate, and the Charitable--who spent their home hours in -making such wonderful books of Christian Harmonies. - -“To me the chapel was of most touching interest, backed by the -oak-wood--‘the fine grove and sweet walks’ which the little book -describes. A broad paved path leads to the door, but in the midst of the -path rises a high grey altar-tomb--Nicholas Ferrar’s, I suppose--and on -its paving-stones are inscriptions over graves, in which you may still -make out the oft-repeated names of Ferrar and Collet. Inside, the chapel -is lined by stalls of Charles I. date, with round-headed canopies and -divided by oak pillars. Below is the open space where the sisterhood, -who kept the six canonical hours, ‘prayed publicly three times a day -after the order of the Booke of Common Prayer,’ and where the writer of -my little book himself saw ‘the mother-matron with all her traine, which -were her daughters and daughters’ daughters, who, with four sonnes, -kneeled all the while in the body of the half-space, all being in black -gownes and round Monmouth capps, save one of the daughters, who was in a -friar’s grey gowne.’ There are brasses on one side of the chancel arch -to John Ferrar, 1637, and John Ferrar, 1719; and on the other side to -Susanna Collet, daughter of Nicholas Ferrar, who ‘had eight sons and -eight daughters, and who died at the age of 76;’ below this is a brass -to ‘Amy, wife of John Ferrar, 1702.’ And within is the chancel, where, -with the sacrament, Inglesant received stillness and peace unspeakable, -and life and light and sweetness filled his mind; where in the misty -autumn sunlight and the sweeping autumn wind, heaven itself seemed to -have opened to him.’ - -“There were many minor relics of those who did not wish it, but were -called ‘the Nuns of Gidding’--an embossed book-cover of their -gold-thread work, and tapestry cases to hold the sacred books; and in -the farmhouse some old church plate, given to Nicholas Ferrar, and a -chalice inscribed ‘What Sir Edmund Sandys bequeathed to the remembrance -of friendship, his friende hath consecrated to the honour of God’s -service,’ and on the handle--‘For the church of Little Gidding of -Huntington Shire.’ - -“The owner of the property came to dinner at Elton, and told me that -Charles Fitzwilliam, Lord Fitzwilliam’s brother, was lost many years ago -in the wilds of America. When at the very last gasp, he saw the lights -of a farmhouse, to which he made his way. The woman of the house -received him most kindly, warmed and dried him, and made him some tea. -‘It will do you good; it’s Gidding tea: I had it over from -Gidding.’--‘What! Gidding in Huntingdonshire.’--‘Yes.’--‘Why, that’s -where I come from: I’m a Fitzwilliam!’” - - * * * * * - -_To_ W. H. MILLIGAN. - -“_July 20, 1895._--I have come away from London because all that was -interesting in the season seemed to be at an end; but I enjoyed it to -the last, though certainly what I find to delight in would not please -many others. Most of all I have liked my quiet writing-table at the -Athenæum, and the silence, not the society, of the club, where no one, -except Lord Acton and myself, seems to work in the mornings. Then, after -two o’clock, I never go back, but see people for the rest of the day. -The garden-parties make this delightful, and I had charming afternoons -at Osterley, at Roehampton, and at Sion, where the brilliant groups of -people are so picturesque under the great cedar-trees. It was a great -pleasure once more, to be welcomed to Holland House, and to find how -much those who possess it appreciate its great interest and charm. Once -a week the writing-time was broken into, and I went with drawing-parties -to the garden at Lambeth, to Waltham Abbey, and to the roof of the -Record Office, whence we tried to paint St. Paul’s and all the satellite -City churches reared up against an opal sky. In the evenings there was -less of interest, and a great party at Devonshire House left more to -recollect than the daily dinners, with little real conversation. I think -it is Bacon who says, ‘A crowd is not company, and faces are but a -gallery of pictures, and talk but a tinkling cymbal, where there is not -love.’ The last day, however, a dinner at Lady Audrey Buller’s was most -pleasant. It was in honour of her cousin Captain Townshend, the hero of -Chitral, who gave me a most graphic description of lying all day smoking -behind a barrier of earth, with a spyhole through which he could fire at -any man who showed himself, hearing the thud of the return shot against -his barrier afterwards. Returning to England, he was shocked to find no -one but boys at the balls--‘boys who shake hands with a movement like -that of kangaroos.’ I sat by ---- the widow of the historian, who talked -of other historians, especially of Mr. Freeman--how he had the head of a -Jupiter on the body of a gorilla: how he did not eat, but devour; it was -no use to put anything less than a joint before him: how scenery never -gave him the power of realising an event which he could not read of. One -day at dinner Mr. Parker was within one of him. To him Freeman talked -incessantly across the lady who was next him. At last there was a pause. -The lady thought she would have her innings. ‘It has been very hot -weather lately, Mr. Freeman,’ she said. ‘Stuff and nonsense,’ said -Freeman. ‘Parker, you were saying,’ &c. His biographer misses all his -characteristics, but errs most in speaking of him as a typical Teuton, -when he was undoubtedly a typical Celt. - -“I grumbled very much at being engaged to spend a Sunday in the country -during my London time, but never enjoyed a visit more than that to Mr. -and Mrs. Tower at the Weald, in Essex. It is only seventeen miles from -London, but wild and most beautiful, with glorious trees, a delightful -old house, and a still more delightful walled garden, with the curious -brick chapel of Mary I., a long tank, and an acre of splendid roses. We -ate rather too much and long, but the company was charming. I went and -came back with young Lord Abinger, whom I like particularly. - -‘How delightful the elections are, and the blatant, self-seeking -hypocritical Radicals getting the worst of it. Do you know Luttrell’s -lines?-- - - ‘Oh, that there might in England be - A duty on Hypocrisy, - A tax on humbug, an excise - On solemn plausibilities.”’ - - * * * * * - -_To_ VISCOUNT HALIFAX. - -“_Penrhyn Castle, Sept. 22, 1895._--I left home in the case of one - - ‘Chi per lungo silenzio parea fioco,’[531] - -[Illustration: STOKESAY.] - -and have much enjoyed my holiday talking-time. How many delightful -people there are in the world. I so seldom see any one I cannot care in -the least about. One side, one aspect, seems unprepossessing, but then, -if one takes the trouble to go round on the other side, one is sure to -find something. Was it not Socrates who said, ‘It is impossible to lead -a quiet life, for that would be to disobey the Deity.’ And I am sure no -one can carry their eyes about with them through a variety of people as -I do, without learning fresh lessons of compensating qualities to be -traced in most, and the uniform case of all in the fight to be fought, -however different the enemies with which each has to contend. I saw no -end of people in Shropshire when I was at Buntingsdale--so familiar in -my long-ago--for Gertrude Percy’s wedding at Hodnet. After that I was -in quieter scenes, but oh! how lovely, on Wenlock Edge, that -eighteen-mile long strip of craggy wooded hill which stretches from -Wenlock to Craven Arms, with such fine views over the rich plain below. -Wenlock Abbey I saw the evening I arrived, with its grand ruin, and the -curious cloistered abbot’s house, so well restored as a residence by the -Milnes-Gaskells. Lutwyche, which Lord and Lady Chetwynd have hired, is a -charming old house in the very centre of all the beauty, and each day we -went to some wonderful old grange, manor, or mansion--Langley, Shipton, -Stokesay, Wilderhope, but I think you would have liked best of all -Pitchford, the gem of old black and white houses, though you would not -have enjoyed as I did the untouched pews of the church, where there is a -gigantic oaken effigy of a thirteenth-century De Pitchford. At Condover -we saw Miss Mary Cholmondeley the authoress,[532] who looks a genius, -which most authoresses I have met do not. Even in conversation, ‘les -gens d’esprit sont bêtes’ is usually as true as possible. - -[Illustration: PITCHFORD.] - -“Penrhyn Castle has been delightful, and my room, with its exquisite -views over sea and mountains, the most delightful thing in it. Lady -Penrhyn presides over the great place with the calm of perpetual -moonlight: sunlight is left to her beautiful and impulsive -step-daughter Miss Alice (Pennant), who orders out no end of carriages -to take guests up into the hills or wherever they want to go. And of -course I longed to go to Ogwen Bank and Capel Curig, connected with my -mother’s childhood, and more than ever admired these rude savage purple -mountains, which have so much individual character that height is quite -a secondary consideration. Then yesterday we went to that island in the -Menai Straits, where there is an old chapel of great sanctity, to which -Welsh funerals still wind along a narrow causeway, singing their -beautiful hymns as they go. - -“Do you know that ‘The Gurneys of Earlham’ is out? You will not like it, -I think, and indeed I feel myself, that Carlyle would be justified in -saying it was ‘a very superfluous book.’ Still, I will anticipate your -asking me, and tell you that, up to its lights, it is not a bad piece of -work. The whole family are a singular instance of unity without -uniformity. While I have worked at the book, I have become irresistibly -and most strongly attracted by such characters as Catherine Gurney and -Richenda Cunningham, though for the great fetish of the family, the -self-opinionated, self-parading, egotistical Joseph John, I never could -have any warm feeling. Yet a descendant of one of his cousins (Lady Fry) -assures me that she was so distressed on hearing of his death in her -childhood, that she pulled down all the blinds of her doll’s house. So -he must have had his attractive points. - -“The book is certainly better reading than the earlier memoirs of those -it concerns. Of those memoirs I heard an amusing story the other day. -Mr. Parke of Andover, a great American philosopher and thinker, at one -time quite lost the power of sleep. He said he had long tried all -remedies in vain, but at last found a remedy which never failed. It was -to have a book read to him, the story of a woman’s life. It always took -effect at once, and soothed him into the sweetest slumbers. If he was -nervous, his wife would take the book and begin--‘Elizabeth Fry was -born’--‘But,’ said Mr. Parke, ‘she has begun that book constantly for -two years, and I have never found out where she was born yet, for with -the first words I am in dreamland.’ - -“Here are two little stories for you. Miss R. told me how the Bishop of -Winchester and the Dean of Windsor were walking together down the street -of Windsor, when they saw a little boy struggling to reach a bell. ‘Why, -you’re not tall enough, my little man; let me ring the bell for you,’ -said the Bishop. ‘Yes, if you please, sir,’ said the boy modestly. So -the Bishop gave the bell a good pull. ‘Now then, sir, run like the -devil,’ shrieked the boy, as he made off as hard as he could. - -“Little E. L. was very naughty indeed the other day, and not only -scratched her governess, but spit at her. ‘How can you have been so -naughty?’ said her mother, ‘it can only have been the devil who made you -do such a thing.’ ‘Well, perhaps it was the devil who told me to scratch -her,’ replied little E----, ‘but, as for the spitting, it was entirely -my own idea.’” - - * * * * * - -_To_ W. H. MILLIGAN. - -“_Garrowby, Yorkshire, Oct. 4._--The glorious weather which illuminated -Wales continued at Lyme, which was still in the full splendour of summer -flowers. I drew with Lady Newton each day, one day at Prestbury, where -there is a wonderful old Norman mortuary chapel, like those in Brittany. -Mrs. Mitford was at Lyme, and it was a pleasure to talk with her of the -dear Lady Egerton, whom we both so much appreciated, and who preserved -her sunny nature to the last. ‘How sad to see you suffering so!’ said -Mrs. M. to her in her last terrible illness. ‘Yes,’ she said, ‘but then, -you know, I have _enjoyed every day of my life_.’ Thinking of her, it is -a difficult endeavour to be ‘doux envers la mort,’ as Bossuet said after -Henrietta Maria’s death. - -“I went on to flattest Lincolnshire, to Revesby Abbey, to visit my -distant cousin, dear Edward Stanhope’s widow. It is delightful to see -how, by making the effort at once, it is no effort to her now to talk of -him, and indeed he is so often spoken of, that he seems to have a part -still in the family life, and his cheerful grave, like a little garden, -under the east window of the church which he built, has nothing sad. It -is as if he had gone from this room into the next. Yet how delightful he -was, how truly lovable! I was taken, by my urgent desire, to Mavis -Enderby; but it is a little inland village with an insignificant church, -which could by no possibility have given any tidal warning; so I suppose -Jean Ingelow only took the name[533] because of its musical sound. On -the way we passed some grassy mounds. ‘What are those?’--‘The remains of -Bolingbroke--of the castle of Bolingbroke.’ How Arthur Stanley would -have loved them; yet they are amongst the things which are worth seeing -but not worth going to see. Another day we went by the remains of the -old house of Eresby, which gave its name to Willoughby d’Eresby, to -visit the grand tombs of the Willoughbys at Spilsby. They are all of -alabaster, the last representing a mother who died in childbirth, with -the infant which cost her life by her side in its cradle. Sir John -Franklin was born at Spilsby, and he and his two brothers have monuments -in the church. Their father was a small farmer close by, and when his -farm failed, he settled in the village itself, and kept its shop, -grocery on one side the door, drapery on the other. And, coming from -thence, John Franklin became the most famous of those Arctic travellers -whom Wilkie Collins aptly describes as ‘the men who go nowhere and find -nothing.’ In this drive we passed by Keil, where the church tower had -suddenly collapsed. ‘Well, now, how was it? was it a hurricane, or did -the soil give way, or what?’ said Mrs. Egerton to the sexton, who for a -minute answered nothing, and then, ‘Well, mum, ‘twere this way; her just -squatted and settled.’ - -“The house at Revesby was full of interesting objects. Amongst them was -a magnificent repeater watch which belonged to the old Lord -Stanhope.[534] One night, when he was out late, a man pounced upon him -with pistols and ‘Your money or your life.’ Always imperturbable, Lord -Stanhope replied very slowly, ‘My friend, I have no money with -me.’--‘No,’ said the robber, ‘but you have your watch; I must have your -watch.’--‘My friend, this watch was given to me by one very dear to me, -and I value it extremely. It is considered to be worth £100. Now, if you -will trust me, I will this evening place a hundred-pound note in the -hollow of that tree.’ And the highwayman trusted him and Lord Stanhope -placed the note there. - -“Very many years after, Lord Stanhope was at a public dinner in London, -and opposite him sat a City magnate of great wealth and influence. They -conversed pleasantly. Next day Lord Stanhope received a letter from him, -enclosing a hundred-pound note, and saying, ‘It was your Lordship’s kind -_loan_ of that sum many years ago that started me in life, and enabled -me to rise to have the honour of sitting opposite your Lordship at -dinner.’ - -“When I was a child, ‘Marmion’ made me long passionately to see Whitby, -and ‘Sylvia’s Lovers’ afterwards increased the longing. Now I have been -there, and what a wonderful place it is. I think nothing on the English, -or French, or Spanish, or German coasts is equal to it. The first -morning was a thick fog--a most blessed fog. I felt a presentiment of -what would happen. I was certain where the abbey was, and through the -dim streets, up the slippery steps, and between the gravestones of the -churchyard dripping with wet, I made my way to a certain field, which I -was sure was the right place, and there I waited. Soon out of the thick -mists rose, bathed in sudden sunlight, the grand ruin of an abbey, all -glorious in the heavens, but no earth visible. It was as the summit of -Mont Blanc is sometimes seen, but a New Jerusalem, in splendour beyond -words--‘And the building of the wall of it was of pure gold.’ And then -suddenly the fog came down again and it vanished, and in a few minutes, -when the veil drew up the second time, a noble ruined abbey stood there, -every arch and pillar reflected in the waters of a lonely tarn, but it -was only the bones of the glorious vision which had been. - -“The old courthouse of the Cholmondeleys was the abbot’s house, and in -it was ‘Lady Anne’s Chamber,’ terribly haunted. A figure used to come -down from a picture over the chimney, and was seen by many still living. -Close by was a passage with an oubliette, down which ‘the nuns used to -throw their babies.’ All, except the offices, has been cleared away by -Sir C. Strickland, and a hideous modern house built. Down the steep way -below the house Sir Nicholas Cholmondeley used to drive his four-in-hand -furiously. - -“The fog was fainter all the rest of that day, and oh! how I luxuriated -in the winding ways upon the cliffs, in the dark red roofs piled one -upon another, and the delicate grey distances of buildings or sea. - -“Here, at Garrowby, I have been very happy with the Halifaxes. I always -feel better for the life with them, and I have especially liked the -spiritual part of it here, where there is no chaplain, as at Hickleton, -and where the services in the beautiful little chapel are led by -Charlie Halifax himself. Everybody joins, and a footman sings gloriously -at the very pitch of his voice. In everything Charlie recalls to me -something which I have read with a higher reference--‘Not by his -doctrines has Christ laid hold upon the heart of men, but by the story -of his life.’[535] He has ‘under all circumstances that just admixture -in the moral character of sweetness and dignity’ which Marcus Aurelius -speaks of. Unlike everything else is the simplicity and singleness of -heart and purpose written so distinctly on everything he says and does. -Action is easy and natural where faith is so absolute. ‘At all times a -man who would do faithfully must believe firmly,’ was a saying of -Carlyle. And though religion pervades everything, no house was ever so -gay as that of which Charlie is master. What merriment we have had over -our games in the evening: what fun over the mysterious disappearances by -day into the four secret chambers which make this house so curious: what -admirably good stories have been told; and while the loss of the dear -boys who are gone ever leaves a blank in the parents’ hearts, how happy -life is made for the children who remain! ‘La joie est très bonne pour -la santé: ce qui est sot, c’est d’être triste’[536]--this seems to be -one of the minor guides of action. The place is not very interesting, -but the house delightfully full of books and pictures. In the park are -African cows, Japanese deer, emus, and kangaroos. Lady Ernestine -Edgecumbe and Lady Beauchamp are here. It is a little society of those -who feel that ‘we may not only know the truth, but may live even in this -life in the very household and court of God.’”[537] - - * * * * * - -_To_ GEORGE COCKERTON. - -“_Holmhurst, Oct. 9._--My return home was saddened by finding dear old -Harriet Rogers--Lea’s niece--in a dying state at her little cottage in -the grounds. She was just able to recognise me, and whispered -touchingly, ‘I thank you! I thank you!’ As in the many other people I -have now seen enter the shadow of death, there was no fear and no joy; -the power of mental emotion seemed past. Yesterday, whilst I was with -her, she died, passing the barrier quite painlessly. Yet what a change -for her! There is always something very awe-striking in it. - - ‘And her smooth face sharpened slowly,’ - -is a line of the ‘Lady of Shalott’ which Tennyson afterwards removed, as -giving too painful an image of death; but it is exactly what happens. -To-day I feel it--yes, _odd_ to see the same farm and garden life, in -which she was interested and had a share, going on the same, and that -her part in it should be so suddenly over--snapped. How she must be -longing to tell one now what she felt at that momentous moment. I am -exactly like the person in ‘Hitherto’--‘I can’t get over expectin’ her -to come in and talk it all over. It seems as though she couldn’t do -nothin’ without tellin’ folk how!--But there, I dare say,--if ‘tain’t -wicked to think of it,--it’s half over heaven by this time.’ - -“‘Il faut mourir et rendre compte de sa vie, voilà dans toute sa -simplicité le grand enseignement de la maladie. Fais au plus tôt ce que -tu as à faire; rentre dans l’ordre, songe à ton devoir; prépare-toi au -départ; voilà ce que crient la conscience et la raison.’[538] - -“My ‘North-Western France’ is now ready to appear. It has been an -immense labour, one compared with which ‘The Gurneys of Earlham’ is as a -drop to a river; but I have no doubt the latter will be more read, and -certainly more reviewed, for scarcely any Englishmen know enough of -France to be critical about descriptions of it. I have another little -book ready too--‘Biographical Essays’--which is sure to meet with plenty -of abuse, but does not deserve much, all the same. In it I have tried to -give such a picture of Arthur Stanley as may make people love him as a -friend, whilst they shrink from following him as a guide.” - - - - -XXX - -IN MANY PLACES - - “The whole value and meaning of life lies in the single sense of - conscience--duty.”--FRANCES ANNE KEMBLE. - - “Do weel and dread nought though thou be espyit; - He is little gude worth that is not envyit: - Take thou nae heed what tales man tells; - If thou would’st live undeemed, gang where nae man dwells.” - --SIR WALTER SCOTT _in Orloff Davydoff’s Album_. - - “True happiness is only to be obtained by devotedness to the will - of God. Seeking the universal good--the highest good of all. Life - can only be truly happy, not when we are in ecstasy, but when we - are doing right.”--THOMAS COOPER, _Thoughts at Fourscore_. - - “Let nothing disturb thee, - Let nothing affright thee-- - All passeth: - God only remaineth. - Patience wins all things; - Who hath God lacketh nothing: - Alone God supplieth.” - --ST. THERESA’S _Bookmark_. - - -Greatly as I always enjoy my little home of Holmhurst, dear as every -corner of it is to me, I never feel as if it was well to stay there too -long in winter alone. In summer, Nature itself can give sufficient -companionship; but when earth is dead and frost-bound, the silence in -the long hours after sunset becomes almost terrible, and I increasingly -feel that late autumn and winter are the best time for visits. - - * * * * * - -_To_ VISCOUNT HALIFAX. - -“_Holmhurst, Nov. 25._--I have much enjoyed a visit from Mr. and Mrs. -Cummings, the Americans who were so kind to us on our terrible return -journey from Italy in 1860, and of whom the wife, at least, is so -clever, that she is suffering--as Mrs. Kemble said once of some -one--from a constipation of her talents. They came here fresh from a -visit to Haworth, much impressed with its severe desolation,--‘that any -one should be able to have any hope, or look forward to a future life, -on the top of Haworth hill is nothing short of a miracle.’ They have -made a Brontë museum there now, chiefly full of Branwell’s drawings, of -great interest, chiefly military. Did you know that Mr. Nichols hoped to -have been rector when Mr. Brontë died? But it was given by election, and -he was unpopular, and it went against him. He is still living in -Ireland, whither he took all the Brontë memorials he cared for. The rest -were sold by auction, and the butcher, baker, and candlestick-maker of -Haworth bought them. The sexton showed Mrs. Cummings some of Charlotte’s -underclothing, delicately marked by herself with her C. B., and her -wedding shoes, of some grey material to match her dress. He had often -seen her and her sister come out of the house, and go through the little -gate at the back to the moors, which at Haworth are grass, not heather. -After Charlotte married, Mr. Nichols would not let her write. His mind -was of the very narrowest, and he disapproved of novels, and when she -was pent up in that solitude, and all her secret thoughts were pent up -too, and never allowed to come out in writing, she--died. - -[Illustration: IN THE WALKS, HOLMHURST.] - -“Mrs. Cummings says we should not like America; ‘it is a country utterly -without perspective; one must go up to the Indians and the Jesuit -missionaries for that.’ She has been describing Miss Louisa -Alcott,[539] the well-known authoress. ‘She lived with her old father -and her beautiful mother and her three sisters. They used to write -little stories. One day her sisters said, “Louisa, you must write -something more than these.”--“I would, but I can’t do it here,” she -answered. So the sisters clubbed their little savings together, and they -sold a few things, and Louisa went to Boston. There she called upon -Roberts, the publisher of all American good things, and said, “I want to -write a story.”--“Very well,” he answered; “what kind will you -take?”--“Oh, I can’t make up anything,” said Louisa; “I can only just -write what I know.”--“Oh, you can just write what you know,” said -Roberts; “then don’t stay talking here; go away at once and begin.” So -she went and lived by herself and wrote, and in five weeks she brought -him her “Little Women.” He took it and said, “Come again to-morrow.” And -when she went next day he said, “Well, I will take your story, and I -will offer you one of two things; either you can take two hundred -dollars down for it, or you can take your chance.”--“But what would you -do if you were me?” asked Miss Alcott. Roberts said he had never been -placed in such an awkward predicament in his life, but he spoke the -truth and said, “I would take my chance.” She did, and soon after he had -to pay her 10,000 dollars.[540] She wrote “Little Men” afterwards, but -it did not answer as well; boys do not take books to their pillows as -girls do.’ - -“‘I love crying,’ said Mrs. Cummings, ‘but then I must have somebody to -cry to. I cried as a little girl because I thought my mother might die, -but I cried most because I thought that then I should have no one to cry -_to_.’ Miss Alcott said to her, ‘My dear, I shouldn’t mind dying if it -wasn’t for the funeral.’ - -“‘Mr. Tennyson was very rude and coarse,’ said Mrs. Cummings, ‘but he -died well--reading his little book in the moonlight: he really couldn’t -have done it better.’ - -“‘Louisa Payson, who wrote “The Pastor’s Daughter” and many other -books,[541] would not say “thank you” when she was a little girl. Her -father, the stern minister, punished her in various ways, but it was no -good--she said she couldn’t. So at last, at five years old, he turned -her out of doors late on a winter’s evening. He went to his affairs, -forgot her, I suppose; but her mother was in an agony, and she prayed -for her child with all the spirit that was in her. At last she could -bear it no longer, and she opened the door a little way, and then she -heard a little wail of “I can’t say thank you: I can’t say thank you.” -What was the end I do not know, but at any rate Louisa did not die, and -lived to write books.’ - -“These are some snatches from the Holmhurst tea-table.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ HERBERT VAUGHAN. - -“_Kingston Vicarage, Wareham, Nov. 10._--You would have liked going with -us to Wool, on a ‘Tess of the D’Urbervilles’ pilgrimage, for there, -rising by the reedy river-side, is the old gabled house to which Tess -was taken after her marriage. It is exactly as Hardy describes it;[542] -even the plank bridge remains across which Angel carried her in his -sleep to the stone coffin at Bindon Abbey. The two old pictures -mentioned in the book really hang at the top of the staircase, and the -lady in one of them is supposed to blow out the candle of any one who -ventures up the stairs after midnight. The whole country-side is full of -memories of the D’Urbervilles, and there are many still living who -depose to having met their phantom coach and four with outriders. The -family still exists at Kingston as--Tollerfield! - -“We had an awful storm last night, but such hurricanes are the fashion -in Purbeck. A Mr. Bellasye, returning home, met, not his -bathing-machine, but his bathing-_house_ coming to meet him across the -hedges and ditches. Mr. and Mrs. Wordsworth had a huge hole blown into -their roof by one gust; but that did not much signify, as the next gust -blew a haystack on to the roof and filled the hole up. All the cabbages -and other vegetables in the kitchen-garden are frequently blown out of -the earth and into a heap in a corner, and on one occasion those in the -rectory-garden were all blown into the church porch.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ VISCOUNT HALIFAX. - -“_Elvedon, Thetford, Nov. 14._--All the way back from Dorsetshire did I -come for the pleasure of meeting the Duchess of York here (at Lord and -Lady Iveagh’s); but that was not to be, as an impending event is -considered too near for her to travel with safety. The Duke is here, and -very unaffected and pleasant, really a very nice prince, and quite -good-looking. He never fails to be punctual to the moment--a grand -quality for a prince, and due, probably, to naval discipline. He talks a -great deal, and talks well, but in reality princes have no chance--no -chance at all--conversationally, as no one ever contradicts them, -however much they disagree; no subjects are aired but those which they -choose for themselves, and the merest commonplaces from royal lips are -listened to as if they were oracles. - -“Anything more odious or annoying than being a prince certainly cannot -be imagined. Such a wearisome round of dullest duties and painful -‘pleasures’ as it is their life’s-work to live in like a tread-mill. -Then, every fault of manner, far more of conduct and character, is -commented, dwelt on, and exaggerated. I should be sorry for any prince, -but am really dreadfully sorry for this one, as he would have been -charming, and might have been extremely happy if the misfortune of his -birth had not condemned him to the severe and miserable existence of -princedom, in which all minor faults are uncorrected because -unsuggested, though I believe such a true friend and fine character as, -for instance, Lord Carrington, would always notice any sufficiently -grave to be of consequence either to the country or the royal family. - -“I floated here in the luxurious saloon carriage of a special train, but -felt rather shy, because whereas all the rest of the party were on terms -of christian-name intimacy, I knew none of them before except Lord -Rowton, who is, however, always very kind and pleasant. But I was -interested to see those who are so frequently part of the royal circle, -and liked them all, especially and extremely Lord and Lady Carrington; -but then--everyone does! - -“I wonder if you know this house of Elvedon. It was Duleep Singh’s, and -he tried to make it like an Indian palace inside. Much of his decoration -still remains, and the delicate white stucco-work has a pretty effect -when mingled with groups of tall palms and flowering plants. Otherwise -the house (with the kindest of hosts), is almost appallingly luxurious, -such masses of orchids, electric light everywhere, &c. However, a -set-off the other way is an electric piano, which goes on pounding away -by itself with a pertinacity which is perfectly distracting. In the -evenings singing men and dancing women are brought down from London, and -are supposed to enliven the royal guest. - -“You know, probably, how this place is the most wonderful shooting in -England. The soil is so bad that it is not worth cultivating, and -agriculture has been abandoned as a bad business. Game is found to be -far more profitable. The sterile stony fields are intersected at -intervals by belts of fir; the hedges, where they exist, are of Scotch -fir kept low; and acres of thick broom are planted. Each day I have gone -out with the luncheon party, and we have met the shooters at tents -pitched at different parts of the wilderness, where boarded floors are -laid down, and a luxurious banquet is prepared, with plate and flowers. -The quantity of game killed is almost incredible, and the Royal Duke -shot more than any one, really, I believe, owing to his being a very -good shot, and not, as so often is the case in royal battues, from the -birds being driven his way. - -“A great feature of the party is Admiral Keppel, kindest, most -courteous, and most engaging of old gentlemen, so captivating that there -is always a rivalry amongst the ladies as to who shall walk with him, -and amongst the men to get hold of his stories. He told me of how his -father first started him on his naval career, and, while he talked it -over at Holcombe, made him sit in the same chair in which he had talked -the same subject over with Nelson when he was starting _him_. - -“He described the prayers at Holcombe on Sunday evening in his boyhood. -After dinner the men were allowed an hour or two over their wine. Then -the prayer-bell rang, and they all went in. Afterwards an old servant -stayed to take up those who could not get up from their knees, and carry -them to bed by turns when they were too drunk to go by themselves. - -“He remembered Charles James Fox reeling down the corridor at Holcombe, -falling helplessly from side to side. His father followed him, and he -followed his father, who kept exclaiming, ‘Good God! drunk! Good God! -drunk again!’ for the expression had not gone out then. - -“He said that the present Lord Leicester and his father had married at -exactly a hundred years apart.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ W. H. MILLIGAN _and_ JOURNAL. - -“_Nov. 27, Hornby Castle, Bedale._--I came here yesterday. Several -people were in the castle omnibus when I got into it at the station, of -whom a grand lion-like old man turned out to be Mr. Bayard, the American -Ambassador. It was dark when we arrived. We found the Duchess (of -Leeds), tall, gracious, and most winning in manner, and indeed all the -family, in a noble hall, coved at the top, with busts in the upper -niches, like the halls of Roman palaces, and looking (by daylight) into -a courtyard, which is very picturesque and curious. - -“Lady Harewood is here, sweet-looking and very white, with a pleasant -daughter, Mr. and Lady Alice Shaw Stewart, and several young men. Mr. -Bayard came down to dinner much delighted with a book he had found in -his room--the ‘Life of Agrippina’--in which ‘What news from Armenia?’ is -anxiously asked, showing how the same subject occupied conversation then -as now, at a distance of nineteen centuries. He said, ‘When bad men -_conspire_, good men ought to _confederate_.’ - -“This morning, in the library, I had much and delightful talk with Mr. -Bayard. He gave an interesting account of the allotment of land in -America: how a reserve was left to the Indians, but they were dying out, -chiefly because of their catching all the vices of Europeans, especially -their love of alcohol. He said they were like the buffaloes. These used -to come down and swoop through the country in vast herds, and devour all -the spring produce; and later, in their vast battalions they would -swoop back again; but now, fettered and shut in by barriers and fences, -they pined, starved, and died; and so it was with the Indians. He -described how, after an unjust woman had published a libel on her -country,[543] the greatest suffering had resulted to the slaves, who -would follow their former masters to suffering, wounds, imprisonment, -and death. A Southern lady, when ‘the army of liberation’ approached, -had entrusted all her silver and jewels to her slaves, and they had -brought it all back safely after the army had passed. - -“He talked of the Banco di S. Giorgio at Genoa--‘one of the most -interesting buildings in the world;’ that whereas the Bank of London had -lasted two centuries, that of Genoa had lasted five: that the Bank was -the greatest evidence of the philosophy of nations. No aspersion was -ever cast upon it, and this was because those who administered it had -never derived any profit from it, only honour. An instance of its -usefulness as a record-office occurred lately, when a man in America -offered Mr. H. an autograph letter of Columbus. To all appearance it was -genuine, but Mr. H. asked leave, which was readily granted, to have a -photograph facsimile made of it before purchasing. In the Banco di -Giorgio the original letter was found, and, when compared with the -facsimile, proved that the copy was false. This was especially -fortunate, as, after Napoleon I., ‘that great collector of other -people’s property,’ took away the archives of Genoa, though most were -restored, all were not. - -“The library at Hornby is full of interest, but I can only remember a -fifteenth-century ‘Roman de la Rose;’ a first edition of Shakspeare, -which came to its present owners through Henrietta, Duchess of -Marlborough, who inherited it from William Congreve; and a copy of -‘Dionysius the Areopagite,’ by Beghir, ‘the one-eyed scribe of -Brabant’--most delightful name--with notes by Dean Colet. - -“The Duchess has shown us the house minutely and delightfully. The -family portraits were full of interest, beginning with that of Sir -William Hewitt, whose daughter married William Osborne, the apprentice -who saved her when she fell over London Bridge, and who founded the -Leeds family. In a curious Hogarth of ‘The Beggar’s Opera,’ the Duke of -Bolton is represented watching the acting of Polly Peachum, whom he -afterwards married: the picture is here because Sir Conyers d’Arcy, an -ancestor of the house, is also represented. Mr. Bayard was delighted to -find portraits of the wife of the seventh Duke, who was Miss Caton, one -of four beautiful American sisters.[544] The Duchess was amused that I -had never heard of ‘Godolphin Arabian,’ the ancestor of a succession of -famous racehorses.[545] In one of the rooms is the miniature -spinning-wheel of Madame de Pompadour; in another, a bed of such -glorious embroidery that when Lady Marian Alford was here, she could not -get up for looking at it.” - - * * * * * - -“_Nov. 29._--At breakfast, at one of several little round tables, Mr. -Bayard talked pleasantly of a grave in the cemetery at Nuremberg. It is -one of Adam Kraft’s iron tombstones, and it bears no name. Affixed to it -is a human skull, exquisitely modelled, with a jaw which opens and -shuts. In the forehead--the bronze forehead--is a white patch of some -other metal. The story is that the owner of that skull was very -unhappily married. His misery drove him from home, drove him into very -bad company, and he sank lower and lower. One day he suddenly died and -was buried; but soon afterwards his family began to suspect foul play, -and he was exhumed. At first his body seemed to bear no witness, but -then, in his forehead, under his hair, a large nail was found, buried up -to the hilt, hammered in so accurately that no blood had come. Every one -believed that it was his wife who had done it, but it could not be -brought home to her; his associates were too bad for their evidence to -be trusted. But the model of his skull was laid upon his grave, and his -wife left the place; she could not continue to exist near it. - -“We went to luncheon at Thorp-Perrow with Sir Frederick and Lady -Milbank, who have a glorious garden. He is full of antiquarian lore and -interests, and has a precious collection of old locks and keys. She -knows sixteen languages well, and is learning a seventeenth. Hungarian -she acquired for the sake of its literature. A despatch came to the -Foreign Office in Hungarian, and no one there could read it, but Austen -Lee sent it to Lady Milbank, who translated it at once. The Milbanks -were very intimate with Madame Goldschmidt, whom they lived next door -to in London. One day in a church--a country church--they saw her go out -of her pew and shake a woman by her shoulders. ‘What on earth had that -unfortunate woman done?’ they asked when they came out. ‘Why, didn’t you -hear she was singing a false second.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Hams, Birmingham, Nov. 30._--This is a large house of extreme comfort, -and its owner, Lord Norton, who looks sixty, though he is eighty-two, is -one of the most agreeable hosts in England. Walking on the terrace this -morning, he said he ought to put up a slab to record how the whole -constitution of New Zealand was settled on that terrace: that which was -arranged while walking up and down there had never been altered. The -view of the pretty windings of the Thame recalled the exclamation of a -famous landscape-gardener when he saw it--‘Clever!’ ‘It was not made, it -is natural,’ said Lord Norton. But no, his friend could not regard it -except from the gardening point of view, and ‘clever’ was all he could -say. The river was terribly polluted by Birmingham, and Lord Norton went -to law about it. ‘Should the convenience of one man be considered before -that of millions?’ exclaimed the Birmingham advocate at the trial. -‘Yes,’ shouted the opposition, ‘for the grandeur of English law is that -millions may not interfere with the comfort and well-being of a single -individual. Now the pollution is partially diverted into a sewage farm -five miles in extent. - -“The clergyman here has only the care of three hundred souls, so he -keeps three hundred chickens, and is often able to supplement his income -by getting fifty pounds for a cock. - -“An oak avenue leads to the church, being a remnant probably of the -Forest of Arden, of which there are many traces still, but such an -avenue is very rare. The late storm had blown down several fine trees. -‘How strange it is,’ said Lord Norton, ‘that amid the thousand--the -million--theories that science has put forth, there should be none about -the wind: it is one of the many incidental proofs of the truths of the -Bible, that our Saviour saw this when he spoke of--“The wind bloweth -where it listeth,” &c. - -“‘Those who say that as to religion we know nothing, do not recognise -that half religion is instinct (every one has the instinct that there is -a God), and the other half what Pascal calls “the submission of -reason.”’ - -“Lord Norton used to know very well Ellis the shoemaker, who devoted -himself to the reformation of boys. He said, ‘I do not take them to make -shoes only; I take them to give them a conscience.’ He said, ‘Many -people say that the boys are fools, but they are philosophers. They -reason at night. I overhear them; I hear them reasoning as to whether -there is a God.’ There was one boy especially who denied this, who -laughed at all who believed. One day this boy was given a parcel to take -to Sir Moses Montefiore. Now the boys may steal, but however much they -do that, when they are entrusted with anything, they are most tenacious -to fulfil their trust. This boy only knew of Sir Moses by his popular -name of ‘the King of the Jews,’ and all day long he asked his way to -him in vain. He could not find him anywhere. Evening closed in, and he -was faint with hunger and fatigue. He was quite sinking, but at the last -gasp cried, ‘O God, if there be a God, help me.’ - -“Immediately a policeman rushed at him. ‘What have you got there, you -young rascal? What’s in that parcel?--something you’ve been stealing, I -suppose?’--‘No, ‘taint; it’s a parcel for the King of the Jews, and I -can’t find him.’--‘Why, you young fool,’ said the policeman, shaking -him, ‘it’s Sir Moses Montefiore you mean: I can show you where to find -him.’ - -“That night the boys were philosophising as usual, declaring that there -was no God, there couldn’t be, when the boy who had taken the parcel -shouted, ‘Stop that rubbish, you fellows; there _is_ a God, and I _know_ -it: and as for you, you’re just as much able to judge of God as a worm -is to judge of me.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Dec. 2._--A walk amidst the remnants of the Forest of Arden led to -much talk about trees. ‘When Gladstone meets any one new,’ said Lord -Norton, ‘his first thought is, “What does he know? what can I get out of -him?” When he met Lord Leigh, he had heard of Stoneleigh, that it -possessed some of the finest oaks in England; so, when he sat down by -him, he began at once, “Lord Leigh, have you any theory as to the age of -oaks?”--“Yes, certainly I have; I possess several myself that are above -a thousand years old.”--“And how do you know that is so?” said -Gladstone. “Well,” said Lord Leigh, “I have several that are called -‘Gospel Oaks,’ because the old Saxon missionaries used to preach under -them more than eight hundred years ago, and they would not be likely to -choose a young oak to preach under: we may suppose that they chose an -oak at least two hundred years old.”--“Well, that is a very good -reason,” said Gladstone.’ - -“Lord Norton had lately been with Gladstone to Drayton, full of Peel -relics, and with the wonderful collection of portraits which Sir Robert -brought together. All the heads of Government, from Walpole to the Peel -Administration, are represented. The pistols are preserved with which -Peel intended to fight O’Connell at Calais, but O’Connell’s wife -prevented it by giving notice and getting him arrested at Dover. - -“While talking of hunting as conducive to the manliness of Englishmen, -Lord Norton said, ‘When I was hunting with Charlie Newdigate, a boy -almost naked, not quite, came out of a coal-pit, and on a donkey, -without saddle or bridle, hunted with us all day, not going over the -hedges, but through them. Newdigate was delighted. “_That’s_ the stuff -English heroes are made of,” he said, and he had a long talk with the -boy afterwards, and explained to him all about the field, &c.... In -Northumberland there was a boy who would ride one of his father’s bulls. -His father cut him off at last, and would have nothing more to do with -him. ‘I’m not a bad father,’ he said, ‘and I don’t mind his riding my -bull, but when he takes him out with the hounds it’s too much.’” - - * * * * * - -“_The Deanery, Llandaff, Dec. 7._--Lord Robert Bruce told me the facts -of Lord Llanover’s ghost story. As Sir Benjamin Hall and he were riding -in the Park in London, Sir Benjamin distinctly saw Lord Rivers, who was -an intimate friend of his, and he _saw him vanish_. He went to his club -immediately afterwards, and told what he had seen, and before he left -the club a telegram was brought in announcing that Lord Rivers was dead. -Afterwards Sir Benjamin Hall went to Mrs. Hanbury Leigh, and told her -what had happened, adding, ‘You know this must mean something; it must -mean that I am myself to die within the year;’ and so he did. - -“I have enjoyed being again with the cousin so deeply loved in my -childhood, and also seeing the really beautiful work of the gentle and, -I am sure, holy Dean amongst the young men preparing for orders, who -hover reveringly around him.’ - -“Catherine Vaughan has told me how, after Augusta Stanley’s death, she -said to Mrs. Drummond (of Megginch), who was living at the Deanery, -‘Augusta’s presence so seems to fill this place, that I quite wonder she -never appears here;’ and was startled by the way in which Mrs. Drummond -said, ‘_She does_.’ Augusta used on her death-bed to say to Arthur, ‘I -shall always be near you when you give the Benediction.’ One day in the -Abbey, between the arches, but quite near Arthur, Mrs. Drummond most -distinctly saw Augusta--a vaporous figure, wrapped in folds of vaporous -white drapery, but with every feature as distinctly visible as in life. -This was just before the Benediction, and as its last tones died away -the appearance vanished. Mrs. Drummond had no doubt about it at all.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ GEORGE COCKERTON. - -“_Burwarton, Shropshire, Dec. 12._--This is a charming place in the high -Clee Hills, and Lord and Lady Boyne, who live in it, are quite -delightful. I have been working for a great part of several days in the -library at a little book on ‘Shropshire,’ which I hope to be able to -finish another year. You would have been amused by the quaint sayings of -an old clergyman who came to dinner. Speaking of an unusually stupid -neighbour he said, ‘His folly is incredible, but even he has his lucid -intervals, for the other day he told me he knew he was an ass.’ - -“I would give up, if I were you, taking the extra work you speak of. -There is an old Swedish proverb which says--‘You cannot get more out of -an ox than beef,’ and there is no use, none, in trying to do, or to be, -two things at once.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ VISCOUNT HALIFAX. - -“_Rome, April 23, 1896._--I wonder if you know that I have been abroad -since the first of February. At first, for a month, I was on ‘the -Rivieras,’ finishing up a little volume which will be so called, and -which will appear before next winter. Some new places are opened up now -by a railway--a most beautiful miniature railway--from Hyères to S. -Raphael, and amongst them is S. Maxime, a quiet scene of tranquil -beauty, where the pension is still only six francs, in a charming little -hotel with a garden which comes down to a sea-cove, where you look -across transparent shallows of emerald-green water into mountain -distances, not grand, but supremely lovely, and where, in our long-ago -days, you and I should have been in a fever of romantic interest over -the old castle of Grimaud, which was the cradle of the princely -Grimaldis. - -“At Nice, I was not in the town, but at the old Villa Arson, which you -will remember. It is now a hotel, though its wonderful garden, full of -statues, staircases, fountains, and grottoes amongst the flowers and -palm-trees, is quite untouched. It was all beautiful, and the sky was -cloudlessly blue for a month; and I lingered at Bordighera with the -Strathmores and my dear old friend Emilia de Bunsen, and then at Alassio -with my cousin Lady Paul, and at beautiful Rapallo. But oh! the -difference on entering real Italy, and finding oneself in the delightful -old-world streets of Lucca, with their clean pavements and brown -green-shuttered houses, with the air so much more bracing, the sky so -much more soft, and the pleasant manner and winning tongue of the -Italian people. - -“At the Florence station I had an unpleasant experience, in being robbed -of £100 by two roughly-jostling men at the entrance of the carriage. It -was a great loss, but I could not help admiring the cleverness with -which they contrived to extract my pocket-book out of the inner breast -pocket of my coat _with a greatcoat over it_. They were taken up -afterwards--Frenchmen, I am glad to say, not Italians--and immense booty -of watches, purses, &c., found upon them, all taken at Florence station; -but I have no chance of recovering my notes. I have had to appear -against them already six times and to identify them in prison. - -“My last six weeks have been spent in Rome,--spoilt, destroyed, from -the old Rome of our many winters here, but settling down now into the -inferior mediocrity to which the Sardinian occupation has reduced it. -And, though one does not see them every hour as one used to do, there -are still many lovely and attractive corners to be hunted up. The -Italian archaeologists (so called) are also finding out that they have -made a great mistake in tearing away all the plants and shrubs which -protected the tops of the ruins, and are comically occupied in planting -little roots of grass and chickweed on their barren summits. There are -very few capable or interested winter visitors now. They mostly belong -to the class of the first of the three audience-seekers to whom Pius IX. -addressed his usual question of ‘How long have you been in Rome, and how -much have you seen?’ and who answered, ‘I have been here three days, and -have seen everything.’[546] - -“Good old Dr. Gason has died lately (the man of whom Pius IX. said--‘un -certo pagano, chi si chiama Jasone’), the leader of the Evangelical -party here--one of a class who seemed to me ‘every one’ when I was a -boy, and when the dreary desert of Sunday was only enlivened by Foxe’s -‘Book of Martyrs’ and ‘Josephus,’ and almost everything pleasant was a -‘carnal indulgence.’ How few there are who think like that now--no one -who has a real part in my life since dear Charlotte Leycester passed -away. Certainly, there is no one now to think one--well, much worse than -a pagan for taking one’s sketch-book on Sundays to the Palace of the -Caesars, where I have spent many quiet hours meditating on my past and -its past. I am often oppressed, however, by my great loneliness, by the -want of any relation who has a real interest in me, by the constant -feeling--however kind people are--of _signifying_ nothing to anybody. -And those who remember our old life--the old life with the mother and -Lea which was so different from this--are becoming very, very few. I can -only try to say-- - - ‘Call me, silent voices, - Forward to the starry track - Glimmering in the heights beyond me, - On, and always on.’[547] - -“The ruin of the great families here is depressing. There has been a -sale at the old historic Orsini palace, at which a marble statue holding -a baton behind the auctioneer seemed to repeat his action and to preside -coldly over the ruin of his house and dispersion of its treasures. And -on the floor of the hall, appropriately surrounded by overthrown marble -pedestals, lay the great bust of the Orsini Pope, with a look of -unutterable disgust upon his face at having been just sold for £6. I -bought a little Madonna, which will adorn Holmhurst, if I can get it out -of the country. - -“There is a new line to Viterbo now, which brings many places, formerly -difficult of access, within easy reach. With the Gordons from Salisbury -I went to Anguillara, splendid in colour from the orange roofs of its -quaint houses rising high above the broad, still lake in which -Bracciano and other towns on the farther shore were reflected. We -wandered afterwards in the beautiful gardens of an old ‘Ser Vincenzo,’ -with woods--real trees--of camelias in fullest bloom, and larks singing, -and carpets of violets. Then another day, a large party of us went to -Segni in the purple recesses of the Volscian mountains, and saw that -wonderful arch whose origin is lost in pre-historic mystery. We took our -luncheon with us, and ate it on the down above the huge stones of the -wall. But generally we have something odd at the village inns. ‘How I -like topographical gastronomy!’ said old Mrs. Blackburn of Moidart on -one of these tourettes. - -“Few interesting visitors have been at Rome this year, but having Lady -Airlie and Lady Kenmare here has been very pleasant, and dear old Miss -Garden--even in her great feebleness, which, alas! is constant -now--always ripples with wit and wisdom. At Mrs. Terry’s I met Miss -Paterson, the martyr-bishop’s sister, who told me how her old father, -when he first learnt his son’s determination to go out, began to say, -‘Oh, I cannot let him go,’ and then broke in with, ‘But oh! I _cannot_ -deny him to God.’ He parted with him knowing they could never meet -again, but, after a time, in his letters found interest and consolation. -To-day--a desperately wet day--has been enlivened by a summons to -luncheon with the Crown Princess of Sweden, whom I think one of the most -charming, natural, and attractive of human beings; and oh! how simple, -how utterly without affectation is that sort of person who can have -nothing to _pretend_ to. It is that, I suppose, which makes such people -so much the easiest to talk to, which makes one feel so far more at -rest with them than with persons of another, even of one’s own class. -The Princess’s health obliges her to winter in Italy, away from her -husband and her little sons, but she will hurry back to them with the -warm weather. There was no one else at luncheon but the lady and -gentleman in waiting, and the conversation was chiefly about ghost -stories, the Princess declaring that ‘every hair of her head had curled -up’ from one I had told her at Eastbourne. - -“There is a sort of homely amusement in seeing--I cannot help sometimes -counting them!--the great number of people who go about here with the -familiar little red and black volumes of ‘Walks in Rome.’ Sometimes also -I am touched by a kind note from an unknown hand saying that one of my -other books has been helpful to them. I am so glad when this happens. As -to any other feeling about my books, I think I gradually get to -_realise_ how ... ‘there is one glory of the terrestrial, another glory -of the celestial,’ and how one has to keep that in one’s heart.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS GARDEN _at Rome_. - -“_Viterbo, May 1, 1896._--Yesterday I went to Toscanella. The landlord -of the hotel was to engage a little carriage for me, which I found at -the door when I went down, but with a horse which was an absolute -skeleton. Still they declared it could go, and it _could_. How it -rushed, and tore, and swung us down the rose-fringed descent to the -great Etruscan plain, where the faint dome of Montefiascone rose in the -blue haze against the heavens, beyond the aërial distances of burnt -grass, broken here and there by Etruscan caves and ruins. Then how the -skeleton horse still galloped into the uplands, till great towers -appeared grouped like ninepins, or rather like S. Gemignano. It is yet a -long circuit to the town, a descent into a rocky gorge, then a steep -ascent winding round the hill outside the walls, a sort of Calvary to -this Jerusalem, where the great churches stand, S. Pietro like the most -magnificent cathedral, girdled by huge walls and towers, with a ruined -episcopal palace beside it, and a triumphal arch, like those of -Brittany, in front of the east end. The church was locked and the key -was away, but a little girl snatched a sick bambino from its cradle, and -carried it, and guided me to S. Maria in the depth below--even far -lovelier and more refined in the delicate sculpture of its roseate stone -than the great church above. All its great western doors were open to -the brilliant sunshine, yet it was terribly damp, the font and all the -lower part of the pillars green as the grass outside. But the exquisite -pulpit and bishop’s throne were unhurt, and the lovely frescoes--even -more beautiful in effect than detail--with which the walls were covered. -Having secured the key, we returned to S. Pietro, entering it by the -crypt--_l’incolonnata_--a perfect maze of little columns like the mosque -at Cordova in extreme miniature. Most grand is the upper church in its -orange-grey desolation; mass there only once a year. But our bambino was -worse for the damp, so we did not stay long, and indeed it was cheering -to emerge on the breezy uplands, where the whole air was embalmed with -sweet-basil, as one trod it down. - -“The city of Toscanella scrambles, a mass of brown towers, golden roofs, -and grey houses, along the opposite hill, and has a thousand corners -which are enough to drive an artist frantic--such gothic windows; such -dark entries; such arcaded streets, with glints of brilliant foliage and -flowers breaking in upon their solemn shadows. At a little inn I had -luncheon--a dish of poached eggs, excellent bread, cheese, and wine, and -all for forty centimes, so living is not dear in Toscanella. - -“Then oh! how the skeleton horse galloped home under the serene -loveliness of the pellucid sky, over the plain where all the little -grasses and flowers were quivering and shimmering in golden sunset -ecstasy. - -“I cannot say the food here is delicious; it would be an exaggeration. -All the little somethings and nothings a butchered calf is capable of, -and vegetables lost in garlic and oil. The host’s name is Zefferino; he -is a very substantial zephyr. He arranged for my going this morning to -S. Martino, which I was most anxious to visit, for love--or was it -hate?--of Donna Olimpia Pamfili. I so longed to see where the great -‘papessa’ died; and how the plague got hold of her on that most grand -height, overlooking seventy miles of pink and blue distances, one cannot -imagine. Rocky honeysuckle-hung lanes lead up to it--a little -brown-walled town, with gates and fountain, and just one street--the -steepest street in the world, up which the great white oxen can only -just struggle--leading up to the palace and church. Before the high -altar of the latter is Olimpia’s tomb, providently placed in her -lifetime, with, I thought, a rather touching inscription, saying that -she had really tried to do all the good she _could_; and in the palace -are her full-length portrait and furniture of her time, and two pictures -of Innocent X. The great cool halls are let in the summer months, and -have, oh! such a view from their terrace; while close behind the palace -is another gate of the walled town, from which glorious forest--the -great Ciminian oak forest--begins at once, and stretches away to -infinity. I drew there, and five little swineherds in peaked hats and -about a hundred pigs grouped themselves around me. How _human_ the -latter are! They all had names, to which, when their masters called -them, they responded from a great distance, grunting loud, and running -up as hard as they could. - -“Then this afternoon--oh! wealthy Viterbo!--I have been again to the -glorious Villa Lante. Surely never was there so beautiful a garden; -never one so poetical out of nymph-and faun-land--the green glades, the -moss-grown staircases, the fountains and vases, the foaming waterfalls, -the orange-trees and flowers!” - - * * * * * - -_To_ W. H. MILLIGAN. - -“_Abbazia di S. Gregorio, Venice, May 17._--On arriving here, I was -persuaded to go to one of the principal hotels, sumptuously luxurious, -and consequently intensely unsympathetic and unattractive. The mass of -Americans, travelling like their own trunks, and with as much -understanding of the place, drove me away at last, and I was enchanted -to find a refuge in this dear little abbey, with its venerable court -full of flowers and beautiful decorated gateway, outside which the -green waves of the Grand Canal sparkle and dance. Walter Townley and his -charming bride have the other rooms, and we go together for our dinner -to a restaurant, and close by are Lady Airlie and Lady Kenmare, and, -just opposite, Basil and Lady Margaret Levett, all as perfect types of -high-bred excellence as can be found anywhere. I have enjoyed Venice -more than any other part of this time abroad--have had very happy times -with these friends in the afternoons, and in the mornings by myself -drawing in desolate but lovely corners, unknown places, quite overlooked -in what Symonds calls ‘Ruskin’s paint-box of delirious words.’ Yet I -find colouring here very difficult, and quite a new style necessary, -where _every_ shadow is transparent. Miss Clara Montalba thoroughly -understands this, and the delicate drawings which come from her fairy -brush have as much of the most refined poetry of the place as mine have -of its most unimaginative prose. But, with the love which I suppose -every one has of seeking what is unusual, she paints rather the dull and -foggy than the bright days. From the windows of the old house in the -Zattere, where she lives with her mother and two sisters, she has the -most glorious subjects, in which shipping is the great feature. Her -sister Hilda has also a studio in the top of the house--such a quaint -and picturesque place, with two tame doves flying about in it. She -described an old palace in which they had lived near Vicenza, where the -immense dining-room table had a central leg, with a fireplace in it to -keep the dinner hot. - -“Two sets of people ought always to live in Venice: those who have heart -complaints and those who are afraid of horses; the peaceful floating -gondola life would be so suited to them. Lord Houghton’s sister, old -Lady Galway, spent many winters here for the former reason. But no one -ought to come here unless they at least _intend_ to see the best of it, -and to enjoy it.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ W. H. MILLIGAN. - -“_August 1, 1896._--I have enjoyed my six weeks in London with their -much people-seeing. People laugh at me for liking it all so much, and -still more for expressing my liking for it; but I believe I shall never -turn out to be ‘one of those whom Dante found in hell-border because -they had been sad under the blessed sun.’[548] How many people in ‘the -world,’ so called, are perfectly charming! Surely if there are many like -the Woods, Jerseys, William Lowthers, Pennants, Ilchesters, and oh! how -many others, good must far predominate over evil in society. - -“You know how I have always said I hated leaving London for Sundays, but -I did leave it for three of them. The first was spent at Reigate -Manor--Lady Henry Somerset’s charming old house, with an oak panelled -hall and staircase, such as one is surprised to find near London. Lady -Henry is a delightful hostess, and though so enthusiastically interested -in all her good works, keeps them quite in the background. I was so glad -to find George Curzon at Reigate, as pleasant as ever, and his American -wife; and he has so much to say on all subjects that one does not wonder -he has been spoken of as the man who ‘had seen everything, known -everything, read all books, and written most of them.’ But yet the -‘feature’ of the party was Lord Carlisle’s son, Hubert Howard, who -jumped upon the donkeys browsing in the park, and was kicked off by -them; then upon a stray long-haired pony, and was kicked off by it; and -who finally would go out to sea on the lake in a barrel in his Sunday -clothes, and of course the barrel upset in the midst, and the nails with -which it was studded left him with very few clothes at all.[549] - -“Then I was two days at Hatfield--days of brilliant sunshine, glowing -gardens, scent of lime-flowers, great kindness from host and hostess, -and much pleasant companionship. The rooms have names of trees: I was in -the hornbeam room, whence S. Alban’s Abbey was visible. I drew hard on -Sunday amid the brilliant flowers of the garden: oh! how wicked it would -have been thought when I was younger; but now no one thought it so. Most -of the guests did nothing but talk and enjoy the summer beauty. Madame -Ignatieff, coming to Hatfield, said, ‘Ah, I see what your life in great -country-houses is--eat and doddle (dawdle), doddle and eat.’ Dear Sir -Augustus Paget, of many pleasant Roman memories, sat out by me part of -the time, and on the Monday morning kept me after breakfast talking of -how very happy he was, how many enjoyments in his life. I could not help -feeling afterwards what characteristic ‘last words’ those were. I went -into the drawing-room to take leave of Lady Salisbury, and in an instant -Lady Cranborne ran in saying that Sir Augustus had fallen in the hall. -He scarcely spoke again, and on Saturday his bright spirit had -departed. I was _very_ sorry. I had known him so long, and--I am again -quoting George Eliot, whom I have just been reading--‘how unspeakably -the lengthening of memories in common endears one’s old friends.’ - -“Lady Salisbury is delightful, not only to listen to but to watch. She -is so young in her spirit. ‘On a l’age de son cœur.’ All she does, as -all she says, is so clever, and her relation to her many -daughters-in-law, to the great variety of her visitors, to her vast -household, is so unfailingly sagacious. Even ‘to know her is a liberal -education,’ as Steele said of a lady he admired. She is a great contrast -to Lord Salisbury: as I watched him solemnly and slowly walking up and -down the rooms with his hand on the head of his great dog Pharaoh, I was -always reminded of Henry Vaughan’s lines-- - - ‘The darksome statesman, hung with weight and woe, - Like to thick midnight fog, mov’d there so slow, - He did not stay, nor go.’ - -“The next Sunday I was at Osterley, in intensely hot weather. Sir E. -Burne Jones was there (as well as at Hatfield), the painter of morbid -and unlovely women, who has given an apotheosis to ennui--the Botticelli -of the nineteenth century. He is very agreeable naturally, and made -infinitely more so by his seductively captivating voice. He spoke much -of Mr. Pepys’ ‘Diaries,’ and what a pity it was he became blind, ‘we -might have had so many more volumes.’ He described going to dine with -the Blumenthals, where the footman at the door presented him with a gilt -apple, and informed him that he was Paris, and would go down to dinner -with whichever of the Graces he presented it to. ‘I knew I must make two -deadly enemies,’ said Sir Edward, ‘so I shut my eyes and stretched out -the apple into space; _some one_ took it.’ He said peacocks made their -shrill cry because they were afraid a thief might come and steal their -beauty away, and then he talked of the Talmud--‘that great repository of -interesting stories.’ The Grand-Vizier, he said, was terribly afraid -Solomon would marry the Queen of Sheba, so he told the king her legs -were hairy. Then, in his wisdom, Solomon surrounded his throne with -running water, and covered it with glass. And when the queen came to him -and saw the water, she lifted up her trailing robe, and he beheld her -legs reflected in the glass, and they were not hairy, and he said, ‘The -Grand-Vizier is a liar,’ and he put him to death. The beloved Halifaxes -were at Osterley, quite delightful always-- - - ‘Bright sparklings of all human excellence, - To which the silver wands of saints in heaven - Might point in rapturous joy.’[550] - -“After leaving London finally I went to Oxton Hall in Nottinghamshire -for my dear Hugh Bryan’s wedding with Miss Violet Sherbrooke--such a -pretty wedding--and thence to Wollaton Hall, Lord Middleton’s glorious -old house near Nottingham. On the way I stayed to draw Nottingham -Castle, which I had drawn as a boy, but they have quite spoilt it by -tearing up its fine old plateau of grey flagstones, and putting down -asphalt, only, of course, in the drawing I left that out. Wollaton is a -beautiful old grey stone building full of varied ornaments--niches, -pinnacles, and busts, with a central tower and huge central hall. It was -built by John of Padua with stone from Ancaster, all brought on donkeys, -and for which nothing was paid, coal being taken and given in exchange -for it from a pit already open in Elizabeth’s time. In the church, to -which we went on Sunday morning, is the tomb of John of Padua’s clerk of -the works, also the monument of Lady Anne Willoughby, _née_ Grey, aunt -of Lady Jane, and a beautiful tomb of a Willoughby who was Knight of the -Holy Sepulchre, with little effigies of his four wives, one of whom was -mother of the Arctic voyager. The afternoon was wet, and amongst other -relics we saw the clothes of this Willoughby hero, left behind when he -went to the North Pole, and preserved with many other old dresses in a -vast deserted upper chamber called ‘Bedlam,’ probably because the -‘gentlemen’s gentlemen’ slept there in old times, as in a dormitory. -There is much else to see in the house, which was strongly fortified -against the Nottingham rioters, and a number of handcuffs are hanging up -which were prepared for them. The first evening I was alone with my -delightfully genial host and hostess, but on Saturday many guests came, -including the exceedingly pleasant young Lord Deramore. - -“The late Lord Middleton lived in this palace in most primitive fashion. -He used to have dinner-parties, but the dinner consisted in a haunch of -venison at one end and a haunch of venison at the other, and -currant-jelly in the middle, and then two apple-pies to match. - -[Illustration: THE TERRACE DOOR, HOLMHURST.] - -“Here is a delightful story of the present Bishop of London for you, -which is _molto ben trovato_, at any rate. One day, he took a cab home -to Fulham from the City, and wishing to be liberal, gave the man -sixpence beyond the full fare. The man looked at it. ‘What, aren’t you -satisfied?’ said the Bishop. ‘Oh yes, I’m _satisfied_,’ said the man; -‘but if I might, I should like to ask you a question.’ ‘Oh certainly,’ -said the Bishop, ‘ask whatever you like.’ ‘Well, then, if St. Paul had -come back to earth and was Bishop, do you suppose he’d be living in this -here palace?’ ‘Certainly not,’ replied the Bishop promptly, ‘for he’d be -living at Lambeth, and it would be a shilling fare.’ - -“And now, after all these luxurious fine houses, I am in what, to me, is -the tenfold luxury of Holmhurst. - - ‘My green and silent spot amid the hills, - Oh, ’tis a quiet spirit-healing nook.’[551] - -I should not like to live in a bare or commonplace house, but then I -don’t; and oh! the luxury of absolute independence. I should rather -_like_ a carriage and horse perhaps, but I don’t in the least _want_ -them. Certainly, in words I have been reading of Bishop Fraser, ‘living -in comfort is a phrase entirely depending for its meaning on the ideas -of him who uses it.’” - - * * * * * - -_To_ FRANCIS COOKSON. - -“_Sept. 7._--Is it a sign of old age coming on, I wonder, when one has -the distaste for leaving home by which I am now possessed? I simply hate -it. When one has all one wants and exactly what one likes, why should -one set off on a round of visits, in which one may, and probably will, -have many pleasant hours, but as certainly many bare and dull ones, -often in dreary rooms, sometimes with wooden-headed people, and without -the possibility of the familiar associations which habit makes such a -pleasure? Then, in most country-houses, ‘l’anglais s’amuse moult -tristement,’ as Froissart says. I cannot say how delightful I always -find my home life--the ever-fresh morning glories of the familiar view -of brilliant flowers, green lawns, and oak woods; and then the sea, -which to me is so much more beautiful in its morning whiteness with -faint grey cloud-shadows, or smiling under the tremulous sun-rays,[552] -than in the evening light, which brings a lovely but monotonous blueness -with it: the joyous companionship of my little black spitz Nero -(‘Black,’ not the wicked emperor): the regularity of my proof-sheet -work, and other work, till luncheon-dinner, after which there are -generally visitors to be attended to; and then quiet work again, or -meditation on the long-ago and the future, when - - ‘Silent musings urge the mind to seek - Something too high for syllables to speak.’[553] - -Then there is always my library, in which 6000 agreeable friends are -always ready to converse with me at any moment, and ‘vingt-sept années -d’ennui et de solitude lui firent lire bien des livres,’ as Catherine -II. said in her epitaph on herself, might certainly be applied to me. -Only I can imagine, if eyes and limbs failed, the winter evenings -becoming long and monotonous. ‘Meglio solo che male accompagnato’ is a -good Italian proverb, only it would be pleasant to be ‘ben -accompagnato.’ I am beginning to feel with Madame de Staël--‘J’aime la -solitude, mais il me faut à qui dire; j’aime la solitude.’ - -“The neighbours are very kindly beginning to consider me ‘the hermit of -Holmhurst,’ and come to visit me in my cell, especially on Tuesdays, -without expecting me to go to them. I would not have a bicycle on any -account, for then I might be obliged to go, and I am too poor to have a -carriage. So, in six weeks, I have only twice been outside the -gates--for one day to London for George Jolliffe’s wedding, and for two -nights to Battle, whence, to my great joy, the Duchess asked me to -‘mother’ her guests--charming Lady Edward Cavendish, the Vincent -Corbets, and Mr. Armstrong, the Oxford history professor--to -Hurstmonceaux. How beautiful, how interesting it all looked. No other -place ever seems to me half so romantic; but though ‘at each step one -treads on a memory,’ as Cicero says, I can go there now without a pang; -my affections are too full of Holmhurst to have any room for it, and the -old family are almost forgotten there already, ‘so much has happened -since they left.’ ‘Lord! to see how the world makes nothing of a man, an -houre after he is dead,’ writes Pepys in his Diary. - -[Illustration: THE NAYLOR LANDING, HOLMHURST.] - -“I wonder if you ever saw Coventry Patmore here, who died lately. He -often came to Holmhurst during the latter part of his residence at -Hastings, where he wrote ‘The Angel in the House’ in memory of his first -wife, and in memory of his second spent most of the large fortune she -had brought him, £60,000, in building a beautiful church, S. Mary Star -of the Sea; and whilst building it, though always a devout Catholic, -imbibed, from being brought into close contact with them, a hatred of -priests which never left him. The existence of ‘In Memoriam’ may be said -to be due to Patmore. When young, he and Tennyson lodged together at -some house in London, where they had a violent quarrel with their -landlady, and left suddenly in a huff. Once well away, they recollected -that the MS. of ‘In Memoriam’ was left in the cupboard of their room -with the unfinished ham and the half-empty jam-pot. The timid Alfred -would not face the wrath of the landlady, but Patmore went back to get -it. He found the woman cleaning her doorstep and told her that he was -come to get something he had left behind. ‘No,’ she said, ‘there was -nothing, and she had seen quite enough of him, he should not go -upstairs.’ But the slim Patmore took her by surprise, slipped past her, -rushed up to the room, and from the jam cupboard extracted the MS., and -made off with it in spite of her imprecations. - -“Tennyson recognised what Patmore had done at the time, and said he -should give him the MS. But he never did; he gave it to Sir J. Simeon, -who left it to his second wife. When Tennyson’s MSS. rose so much in -value, his family asked for it back, and Lady Simeon has promised that -it shall go back at her death. In another generation, if Tennyson’s fame -lasts so long, it will probably be sold for a large sum. - -“Apropos of poets, pleasant old Miss Courtenay was talking to me the -other day of how Browning was beyond all things a man of the world -rather than a poet. When she saw Mrs. Browning at Naples long ago, and -expressed some surprise at his being so much with Lockhart, who was then -in his last serious illness, Mrs. Browning said, ‘Yes, and isn’t it -delightful that Mr. Lockhart likes him so much; he told me the other -day, “I like Robert so much because he is not a damned _literary_ -person!’” - -“The clergyman in the little iron tabernacle of a church at our gate -seemed to some to preach at me last night for not having been at the -morning service, at which there was the Sacrament. He was quite right. I -really might have gone, for I had no ‘boys’ here, and I was not merely -kept away by my detestation of sermons, so seldom, what Spurgeon said -they should be, ‘the man in flower;’ but I never thought of it, and was -very busy at home about a thousand things. But though I revere the -Sacrament as a holy commemorative ordinance, I cannot feel as if it did -one the slightest good, except as concentrating one’s thoughts for a -few minutes on sacred memories. James Adderley, the monk-preacher, says -there are many who regard the Sacrament like a ‘mourning ring;’ and that -is exactly how I look upon it. I cannot understand how people can -consider such a mere commemorative service ‘a thing to live by,’ as they -call it; and all the transubstantiation idea is to me too truly -horrible. If I were dying--dying, I mean, in the trembling hope of a -near blessed reality--the reception of this mere type would be no -comfort to me. Then, also, as I am on the confession tack, I do not -believe for one instant in ‘original sin;’ rather, as Solomon--who had -much personal knowledge of the subject--says, that ‘God hath made man -upright, but he hath sought out many inventions.’[554] ... And yet, -truly, in my own way, I always feel that-- - - ‘Malgré nous, vers le ciel il faut tourner les yeux.’”[555] - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL _and_ LETTERS. - -“_Chesters, Northumberland, Oct. 6._--All my dread of visits passed away -when they began. Capital indeed is Milton’s advice-- - - ‘Be not over-exquisite - To cast the fashion of uncertain evils.’ - -And then I know one ought to go into the world ‘as a fireman on duty,’ -which Cardinal Manning said was his only way of visiting it for thirty -years. One thing a man who pays a good many visits should always be -certain of--_never_ to outstay his welcome. It would be dreadful to see -one’s hostess begin to have the fidgets. It is safest--at latest--to go -by the eleven o’clock train, but a good and pleasant plan is to take -leave overnight, and _be_ gone the next morning. I was full of enjoyment -at Penrhyn Castle--the genial and charming family, the great variety of -the guests, and the excursions, in spite of furious storms, into the -Welsh hills. Then I was with a most kind bachelor host, Fred Swete, at -Oswestry, and spent the day at Brogyntyn with Lord Harlech, a perfect -example of old-fashioned courtesy and kindness. In his grounds is a long -terrace with a glorious view over the plains and hills of Shropshire, -including the beloved Hawkestone range of my childhood. The next day, at -the Brownlow-Towers’ pleasant house at Ellesmere, a little girl of eight -was most amusingly _fin de siècle_. ‘Now, darling, you must go up to the -schoolroom and stay there,’ said her mother after luncheon. ‘No, -darling, no,’ answered the child. ‘I must not, darling,’ with an exact -imitation of its mother’s manner, ‘for I’ve been listening, and it’s -going to be interesting.’ - -“We made delightful excursions from Lutwyche to draw at Bridgenorth and -an old moated grange called Elswick, meeting Lady Boyne and her party, -who came from Burwarton as to a half-way house. - -“Then I was at Ridley Hall, full of--oh! how many memories of my -long-ago. But it was the greatest pleasure to see Frank and Lady Anne -Lyon there, and how much they appreciated and cared for the place. Lord -and Lady Wantage were at Ridley, and I went with them to Hexham Abbey, -once a most grand church, but utterly ruined by an ignorant -restoration. And now, wandering still on the footprints of past days, I -am at Chesters with the widow and children of my dear old friend George -Clayton, he as well as all the earlier generation of his family having -passed away, and Miss Annie Ogle, whom I knew so well in those far-away -days, here as a delightful _old_ lady, with snow-white hair, but the -same winning character and ways as in her youth. A museum has been built -now for the immense collection of Roman altars and fragments, &c., from -the ‘stations’ of the Roman wall, one of the best of which (Cilurnum) is -just in front of the house; while below ‘the riotous rapids of the -Tyne,’ as Swinburne calls them, with their rocky shores and bosky banks, -are the boundary of the park.” - - * * * * * - -“_Redholm, North Berwick, Oct. 17._--I am staying here with Robert Shaw -Stewart, a friend of old Roman days, and his kind wife, who was a -daughter of Charles Warner, the well-known statesman-philanthropist of -Trinidad,--‘fort comme le diamant, plus tendre qu’une mère’--of whom -Froude has given so charming a description. The Dalzells and all my -other dear friends of past days here have gone over the border-land, -but, in this hospitable house, I have seen quite a diorama of people. A -topic has been the three modern Scotch novelists, Crockett,[556] -Barrie,[557] and Ian Maclaren (Watson): Crockett such a delightful -fellow, so full of sunshine, of real happy enjoyment of people and -things: Barrie, a weaver’s boy as to his origin, but simple and -straightforward to a degree, though his books have made him rich: Watson -just a little spoilt since the great success of his annals of -Drumtochty, which, under another name (Logiealmond, near Glenalmond) was -the place where he was minister. The Free Kirk minister in this place, -Dr. Davidson, told me how when they all were at college together, Barrie -and Crockett used to tell stories in class. They sate up in a corner, -with a little coterie round them, and held their audience enthralled. No -one listened to the lecturer, and some of the students outside the -charmed circle used to say, ‘Had not you better send down to the -professor and tell him not to make so much noise?’ The lower orders in -Scotland seem to read the modern national novelists just as much as the -upper, and they read other deeper books too, and think calmly in a way -very unlike Englishmen. ‘The Shorter Catechism,’ which they all -understand, is a proof of this. When it was published, indeed, there was -a far more serious catechism for adults: this one was only intended for -‘those of tender years,’ yet there is much requiring deepest thought in -it, though the peasant classes always master it.” - - * * * * * - -“_Airlie Castle, Oct. 18._--Monday was fearfully cold, and it was a -pleasure to see the beautiful face of Lady Airlie--more picturesque and -distinguished in late middle life than any one else--looking out of a -close carriage come to meet me. Her most poetical home is just suited to -her--the tiniest castle in the world, with its one noble gate-tower -giving access to a little green plateau beneath which the Melgum and -the Isla rush through deep wooded gorges to their meeting-place. And -into these gorges the castle windows look deep down. Then, to those who -know Lady Airlie, I need not say how beautiful the little rooms are, how -splendid the few flowers, how much of story clusters round the furniture -and pictures--‘only a few; I do not like a room or a wall to be crowded, -even with the best things,’ says their mistress. - -“In the serene beauty of her age, she herself lends a lustre to her -surroundings; quietly, contentedly severing most links with the great -world in which she has so long been a star, ‘elle dépose fleur à fleur -la couronne de la vie.’[558] - -“Lady Maude White is here, returning to an intellectual world with which -she has never broken a single link, after many years of privation, -solitude, and duty nobly borne, first with her brother, and then with -her husband, at a horse-ranch in America. - -“The castle of Airlie has never recovered its burning by Argyll and the -Covenanters, when - - ‘It fell on a day, a bonnie summer day, - When the corn was brearin’ fairly, - That there fell out a great dispute - Between Argyll and Airlie.’ - -The family were always for the King and the Church, indeed too much so, -for Maryott Ogilvy was the mistress of Cardinal Beaton, for whom he -built several castles, and who was enormously endowed by him. Of their -six children, the eldest girl had the richest dower in Scotland, and -married the Lord Crawford of that day. It was David, Lord Ogilvy, who -was out in the ‘45, who rebuilt a bit of the old castle, just enough to -live in by himself after he came home, and added a few rooms for his -wife when he married a second time. Behind the castle is a delightful -old garden, to which Lady Airlie has added hedges and peacocks in -clipped yew, with divers other ‘incidents;’ and all along the ledges of -the gorges run wonderful little pathlets--beautiful exceedingly in the -crimson and gold of their autumnal glory. But they will be gone -directly; for, as Edward Fitzgerald says, ‘The trees in the Highlands -give themselves no dying airs, but turn orange in a day, and are swept -off in a whirlwind, and winter is come.’ - -“We drove to Cortachy through woods laid prostrate by the great storm of -1893, which has left the trees piled on one another, like the dead of a -vanquished army on a battlefield. Lady Airlie made the whole of the -weird desolate country live through her interpretation of it:-- - -“‘Those are the black hornless cattle of Angus. That is the hill of -Clota, on the top of which is the old tower where the last witch was -burnt. In the church books there is an entry that on a particular day -there was no service, because all the congregation were gone to the -burning of the witch. That village in the hollow, which is so red and -striking in the sunset, is Kirriemuir: it is the “Thrums” of Barrie’s -novel. Now we will leave the carriage at “the Devil’s Stone:” it is just -a stone which the devil threw at the kirk, but it missed and fell into -the stream: it rests the opposite way to all boulders, and it is of a -different formation from all the other stones in the district. Dicky -Doyle loved the story and the stone, and used to paint it. And now we -will go into the “Garden of Friendship.” I made it when I first married -out of an old kitchen-garden, and I cut down a belt of trees and let in -the view. The lines in the summer-house are by Robert Lowe. All the -trees bear the names of the different friends who planted them. That one -was planted by Dr. John Brown. He was often here. He told me that my -Clementine was a lassie who had said something she might be proud of. -That was because one day when I said to her, “I am so tired; are not you -tired, darling?” she answered, “Tired! oh no, not a bit. I have a box of -laughter inside me, and the key that unlocks it is ‘fun.’” Over there is -our deer-forest. Charlotte, Lady Strathmore, took me up to the tower of -Glamis once, and stretched out her hand towards our hills--“You have a -deer-forest, and a river, and _scenery_” she said, “and I have -_nothing_.” - -“‘Here is King Charles’s room. Charles II. was here for the gathering of -the clans, but they did not gather as they ought, and he went away -disappointed. He left a Prayer-book and a Euclid here: he was a great -scientist. Under the floor at that corner is a secret room: we have -never seen it. Some workmen found it after the great fire here whilst -every one was away, and before we came back it was walled up, and it has -never been thought worth while to disturb it again. Those are the -portraits of the Ogilvy who was out in the ‘45 and his first wife. She -was shut up in the Tolbooth for singing Jacobite songs in the Canongate. -He was devoted to her, but after they went to St. Germains he was told -that he must take a mistress because it was the fashion, and he did. -After her death he married again, an extravagant woman, who wheedled -him out of £3000 which he had saved to buy the property on the other -side of the river at Airlie,[559] and spent it on her own devices. They -quarrelled at last, for she would give a ball at Airlie Lodge at Dundee, -and he told her if she did he would never forgive it; and she had the -ball, and he never saw her again.’ - -“Lord Airlie is a splendid young man,[560] and has the most delightful -of wives in one of the granddaughters of the beloved Lady Jocelyn. He is -a consummate soldier. His devotion to his profession only allows him to -be six weeks at Cortachy in the year, but in that time he drives about -and visits every person on the estate. He has the firm faith and strong -religious feeling of his Ogilvy forbears. One day, at the gate of Airlie -Castle, with its unprotected precipices, he had mounted a dogcart with -his sister Clementine. The horse plunged and backed violently. They were -on the very edge of the abyss. ‘Make your peace with God,’ he said to -his sister; ‘in an instant we shall be over.’ At the very last moment a -man rushed out and caught the horse, but the wheels were half over then. - -“To-day we have been to see the Monros at Lindertis--a semi-gothic -house, most comfortable inside. Mrs. Munro is a capital portrait-painter -in the style of Raeburn, and has done first-rate work. All evening Lady -Airlie has talked delightfully:-- - -“‘We were a very quarrelsome family as children. At Gosport, whilst we -were at church, my next sister, Cecilia,[561] who had been left at home, -fell out of the window. She lived for some days, very suffering and -scarcely conscious, but she used constantly, in her half-delirium, to -say, “Oh, don’t quarrel, don’t quarrel;” and it made a very great -impression upon me, and afterwards I always tried never to quarrel. My -father never let us complain. If anything unpleasant happened and my -mother murmured, he would always say, “Oh, don’t; we have so much more -than we _deserve_.” He always thought it so ill-bred--so ill-bred -towards God--to murmur. A widow, especially, should never murmur. If one -has had a great place and occupied a great position which all vanishes -with one’s husband, one ought to be so filled with gratitude for the -has-been as to leave no room for complaints. “I have lived my life: I -have enjoyed to the utmost,” that should always be the feeling. It is -terrible when a widow murmurs, for it is God who gave the husband, who -gave the home; and when He takes them away again, how can one doubt that -He knows best when one has had enough? For children, leaving an old home -is worse than for the widow: she has lived her life, but theirs is to -come. - -“‘Before I grew up, my mother often took me with her to Miss Berry’s in -the evening. My father was away at the House, and she took her work and -went there, and Miss Berry liked to see that good and beautiful young -woman sitting there. At Miss Berry’s house I saw all the clever men of -the day, so I knew them all before I really came out. I shall never -forget going down once to Richmond to take leave of Miss Berry before we -went into the country, and her saying to me, “Allez vous retremper l’âme -à la campagne;” it seemed to me such a beautiful thought. Forty years -afterwards my daughter Blanche told it to Schouvaloff, the Russian -Minister. “Oui,” he said, and added, “et engourdir l’esprit.” It was as -characteristic of him as the first part of the sentence was of Miss -Berry. - -“‘As soon as I came out, I went with my parents to the Grange, where the -first Lady Ashburton was very kind to me, and I passionately adored her. -There I first saw Carlyle and Mrs. Carlyle, but he had known my mother -very well before. Mrs. Carlyle really loved Lady Ashburton, yet she was -madly jealous of her. When they were at home, and Carlyle would come in -quite tired out with a long day’s work, she would say, “Now just walk -down to Bath House and see Lady Ashburton, and that will refresh you.” -She meant him to go, but as soon as he was gone her grief was -passionate, because she felt it would not have been the same thing to -him if he had stayed with her. He was always pleasant, but to a few--to -my mother especially--he never failed to show the most intense delicacy -of feeling. - -“‘I cannot describe what Charles Buller was. Girl as I was, I loved him, -but so did every one else; he was so very delightful. I remember as if -it were to-day going once into my mother’s room: all her long beautiful -hair was down and she was sobbing violently. “Oh,” she said, “Charles -Buller is dead.” How I longed to cry too, but I did not dare. I only -went to my own room in most bitter grief. Wherever he went, Charles -Buller brought sunshine with him. He left me his Coleridge in his will. -It surprised people that he should leave anything to a young girl like -me, and when I went to the Grange again, many spoke of it. Each had -something to show which had belonged to him: we all mourned together. - -“‘Oh, how many recollections there are which will always remain with -one, which will stay by one at the resurrection. Many of my happiest are -of the Grange. Lord Houghton asked me once how long I had been there, -and he told me long afterwards that I had answered “Oh, I cannot tell; I -only know that it is morning when I come, and night when I go away.” -This bookcase is full of the gifts of friends, and recalls much of my -past. Here is a volume of Thackeray with an etching by himself, and here -are all John Morley’s and Lord Sherbrooke’s books, which they gave me as -they came out. Here is Lord Houghton’s “Monographs,” with a touching -letter from him after we had had a little coldness; and here are two -bound volumes of Mrs. Carlyle’s Letters to me.” - - * * * * * - -“_Balcaskie, Oct. 21._--What a wild country is this ‘low, sea-salted, -wind-vexed’ Fife, with its little royal boroughs along the coast, each -with its tiny municipality. About them their natives have the same -pride, however, as an Aberdonian, who said the other day, ‘Just tak’ awa -Aberdeen and twenty mile round her, and where are ye?’ The sea-line is -broken by islets, the most important of them being May, where S. Adrian -lived in a hermitage, and where the steps at the very difficult -landing-place are worn away by the knees of the pilgrims to his shrine. -S. Monan lived there after him, but also frequented a little cave on the -mainland, where the old church stands to which we went on Sunday, so -near the waves that, in rough weather, the roar of the surges mingles -with the music. - -“Highly picturesque is this house of Balcaskie, and its high-terraced -gardens with their vases and statues. The Anstruthers have taken me to -Balcarres to spend the afternoon with ever-sunny Lady Crawford. Her -husband, weird-looking as an old necromancer, only came in as we were -leaving, but several of the handsome sons were at home. The house looks -gloomy outside from the black stone of the country, but is bright and -cheerful within, and has a beautiful oak-panelled parlour. - -“On Sunday afternoon we went to Kellie, a noble stern old castle, with -corbie-steps and tourelles. It was neglected and deserted by the Earls -of Kellie, but has been restored by Mrs. Lorimer, widow of an Edinburgh -professor, who rents it. ‘Two little red shoes’ haunt it, pattering up -and down its winding staircases at night. At Crail we saw wonderful old -tombs of the Lindsays in the churchyard, and inside the church that of -Miss Cunningham, who, said the sacristan, died on the eve of her -marriage with some great poet whose name he could not remember: we -afterwards found it was Drummond of Hawthornden.” - - * * * * * - -“_Bishopthorpe, Oct. 23._--This house has a charm from the great variety -of its styles, even the gingerbread-gothic is important as being of a -date anterior to Horace Walpole, who has the reputation of having -introduced that style. - -“The Archbishop of York says, ‘From sudden death, good Lord deliver us,’ -means, ‘From dying unprepared for death, good Lord deliver us.’ - -“Lord Falkland has been here. He had been lately at Skelton Castle. His -hostess, Miss Wharton, took him to his room, down a long passage--a -large room, panelled with dark oak and with a great four-post bed with -heavy hangings. It was very gloomy and oppressive, Lord Falkland -thought, but he said nothing, dressed, and went down to dinner. - -“When he came upstairs again, he found the aspect of the room even more -oppressive, but he made up a great fire and went to bed. In the night he -was awakened by a pattering on the floor as of high-heeled shoes and the -rustling of a stiff silk dress. There was still a little fire burning, -but he could see nothing. As he distinctly heard the footsteps turn, he -thought, ‘Oh, I hope they may not come up to the bed.’ They _did_. But -then they turned away, and he heard them go out at the door. - -“With difficulty he composed himself to sleep again, but was soon -reawakened by the same sound, the rustling of silk and the footsteps. -Then he was thoroughly miserable, got up, lighted candles, made up the -fire, and passed a wretched night. In the morning he was glad to find an -excuse for going away. - -“Afterwards he heard an explanation. An old Wharton, cruel and brutal, -had a young wife. One day, coming tipsy into his wife’s room, he found -her nursing her baby. He was in a violent temper, and, seizing the baby -from her arms, he dashed its head against the wall and killed it on the -spot. When he saw it was dead, he softened at once. Even in her grief -and horror Mrs. Wharton could not bear to expose him, and together they -buried the child under the hearthstone; but she pined away and very soon -she died. - -“She used to be heard not only rustling, but weeping, wailing, sobbing, -crying. At that time the Whartons were Roman Catholics, and when the -family were almost driven from their home by its terrors, they got a -priest to exorcise the castle and to bury the baby skeleton in -consecrated ground. Since then, there have been no sobs and cries, only -the rustling and pattering of feet.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS GARDEN _at Rome_. - -“_Oct. 26, 1896._--The first three volumes of the ‘Story of my Life’ are -come out, and I send them to you. Even the favourable reviews complain -vehemently about their length; and yet, if they were not in a huge type -and had not quite half a volume’s space full of woodcuts, they might -easily have been two very moderate volumes.[562] Then, say the -reviewers, ‘the public would have welcomed the book.’ But after all, it -was not written or printed for the public, only for a private inner -circle, though I am sure that, in return for having been allowed to read -it, ‘the public’ will kindly be willing--well, just to _pay_ for the -printing! Then it is funny how each review wants a different part left -out--one the childhood, one the youth, one the experiences of later -life: there would be nothing left but the little anecdotes about already -well-known people, which they all wish to keep, and, in quoting these, -they one and all copy each other; it saves trouble. The _Saturday_ had -what the world calls ‘a cruel review’ of the book, but what was really -an article of nothing but personal vituperation against its author. I -know who the review was by, and that it was not, as every one seems to -think, by one of the family from whom I suffered in my childhood; -certainly, however, if any one cares to know how the members of that -family always spoke to and of me in my youth, they have only to read -that article. I think there is a good bit about criticism in Matthew -Arnold’s Letters. ‘The great thing is to speak without a particle of -vice, malice, or rancour.... Even in one’s ridicule one must preserve a -sweetness and good-humour.... I remember how Voltaire lamented that the -“literae humanae,” _humane_ letters, should be so dreadfully _inhuman_, -and determined in print to be always scrupulously polite.’ Then, how -truly Ruskin says, ‘The _slightest_ manifestation of jealousy or -self-complacency is sufficient to mark a second-rate character of -intellect.’ - -“As you know, I never intended the book, written seventeen and printed -two years ago, to appear till after my death, but this year it was so -strongly represented to me that then all who would care to read about my -earlier years would then be _dead too_, that I assented to the story up -to 1870 being published. To tell the truth, I feel now how sorry I -should have been to have missed the amusement of hearing even the most -abusive things people say. And certainly, as regards reviews, I feel -with Washington Irving, ‘I have one proud reflection to sustain myself -with--that I never in any way sought to win the praises nor deprecate -the censures of reviewers, but have left my work to rise or fall by its -own deserts. If my writings are worth anything, they will outlive -temporary criticism; if not, they are not worth caring about.’[563] -Yet, yet, just for the sake of variety, I should like some day, as a -change to the unknown, to read a really favourable review of _something_ -I have written, though I read somewhere, ‘To like to be right is the -last weakness of a wise man: to like to be thought right is the -inveterate prejudice of fools.’[564] - -“One of the things people find fault with is that I have not shown -sufficient adoration for Jowett, who was so exceedingly kind to me at -Oxford. But I always felt that it was for Arthur Stanley’s sake. Jowett -only really cared for three kinds of undergraduate--a pauper, a -profligate, or a peer: he was boundlessly good to the first, he tried to -reclaim the second, and he adored the third.” - - * * * * * - -“_Blaise Castle, Henbury, Nov. 23._--I came here to charming Mary -Harford[565] from Lockinge, where I paid a pleasant visit to Lord and -Lady Wantage, meeting a large party. Lady Wantage, beautified by the -glory of her snowy hair, was most charming--so thoughtful and kind for -every one--‘elle brillait surtout par le caractère,’[566] and though -‘few can understand an argument, all can appreciate a character.’[567] -One of the most agreeable guests, a ripple of interesting anecdote, -which began even in the omnibus driving up from the station in the dark, -was Lord James of Hereford. At dinner he told how Sir Drummond and Lady -Wolff had a Spanish dog, who was the best-bred creature in the world. -One day its mistress had a visitor who engrossed her so much that she -forgot her dog’s dinner. It would not scratch or whine, it was too well -conducted, but it went out into the garden and bit off a flower, and -came and laid it at its mistress’s feet: the flower was a forget-me-not. - -“George Holford of Westonburt was at Lockinge, and very pleasant. Once -he walked from London to Ardington, close to Lockinge, where his -grandmother, Mrs. Lindsay, was then living. When he was within a mile -and a half of it, he saw a man kneeling on the body of another man on -the road. He went up to them, called out, had no answer, and at last -struck the kneeling man with his stick. His stick went through the man. -His story was received at Lockinge with shouts of derision. - -“Three years after, at a tenants’ dinner, Lord Wantage told the story of -his nephew’s ‘optical delusion’ to the farmer sitting next, who said, -‘It is a very extraordinary thing, my Lord, but a man _was_ once -murdered by his servant on that very spot. The servant knocked him down, -knelt upon him, and killed him; and ever since the place has had the -reputation of being haunted.’” - - * * * * * - -_To_ VISCOUNT HALIFAX. - -“_Jan. 9, 1897._--My Christmas was spent very pleasantly at Hewell, -where Lord and Lady Windsor had a large party. Most lovely and charming -was the hostess, most stately and beautiful the great modern house by -Bodley, greatly improved and embellished since I saw it last. How -closely, during a week’s visit, one is thrown with people, whom one -often does not see again for years, if ever. It is, as Florence -Montgomery says--‘People in a country-house play their parts, as it -were, before one, and then the curtain falls, and the actors disappear. -The play is played out.’[568] How laden with gifts children are -nowadays, and how far too luxurious their life is, as much in excess -that way as in the privations and penances which I remember in my own -childhood. - -“Some people are very angry with me for telling the truth in the ‘Story -of my Life’[569] about these young years, when I was suffering ‘from an -indiscriminate theological education,’ as Mr. Schimmelpennick calls -such, and when I was made so constantly to feel how ‘l’ennui n’a pas -cessé d’être en Angleterre une institution religeuse.’[570] And it is -not merely the ‘canaille of talkers in type’[571] who find fault, but -many whose opinion I have a regard for. They think that the portrait of -a dead person should never be like a Franz Hals, portraying every -‘projecting peculiarity,’ but all delicately wrought with the smooth -enamelling touch of Carlo Dolce. They wonder I can ‘reconcile it to my -conscience’ to hold ‘another estimate of the Maurices to that which has -been hitherto popular.’ ‘Collect a bag of prejudices and call it -conscience, and there you are!’[572] For myself, I believe, and I am -sure it is the discipline of years which tells me so, that the rule of -after-death praise is a false one to be regulated by. It is true that -there is often an enlightenment from death upon sensations and -sympathies towards one who is gone, but I cannot feel that a faithful -record of words and actions ought to be altered by the mere _glamour_ of -death, which so often gives an apotheosis to those who little deserve -it. One of my reviewers says he would like to read a truthful -word-portrait of Augustus Hare by one of the persons he describes in -print: so should I exceedingly, and most appallingly horrible it would -be! - -[Illustration: THE ARSON STEPS, HOLMHURST.] - - ‘O wad some power the giftie gi’e us - To see oorsels as ithers see us,’[573] - -is what I would often say. Lately, a wonder whether I can have misjudged -or exaggerated my remembrance of the long-ago has made me give many -solitary evenings to old-letter reading; yet contemporary letters only -confirm _all_ I have expressed. How interesting they are! It is as -Archbishop Magee says, ‘Old letters are like old ghosts, coming often -uncalled for and startling us with their old familiar faces--pleasant -some of them, and some of them very ugly, but all of them dead and -bearing the stamp of death--and yet they will survive ourselves.’ - -“Most extraordinarily _virulent_ certainly reviews can be! Really, -‘hurricanes of calumny and tornados of abuse’[574] have been hurled at -me. As Cardinal Manning said, ‘To write anonymously is always a danger -to charity, truth, and justice.’ _Blackwood_ (_i.e._ the Maurice spirit -in _Blackwood_), in an article which breathes of white lips, after -dwelling scornfully upon ‘the sickening honey of the “Memorials,”’ -writes:-- - -“What is Mr. Augustus Hare? He is neither anybody nor nobody--neither -male nor female--neither imbecile nor wise.... As we wade through this -foam of superannuated wrath ... this vicious and venomous personal -onslaught ... Mr. Hare’s paragraphs plump like drops of concentrated -venom over the dinted page.... Such a tenacity of ill-feeling, such a -cold rage of vituperation, is seldom to be met with.’ - -“I wonder a little if any one can really from his heart have offered -such ‘a genuine tribute of undissembled horror,’ or whether these -sentiments were only written to order? And then I look at Dante and -read:-- - - ‘Vien dietro a me, e lascia dir le genti; - Sta come torre ferma che non crolla - Giammai la cima per soffiar de’ venti’[575] - -And so-- - - ‘I, painting from myself and to myself, - Know what I do, am unmoved by men’s blame, - Or their praise either.’”[576] - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL. - -“_Jan. 31, 1897._--Saw Lady Delawarr, and heard all about her marvellous -escape. Lady Mary (Sackville) first heard a crackling noise between two -and three in the morning, and, looking out of her room door, saw that -the staircase[577] was in flames. She rushed into her sister Margaret’s -room, roused her, shrieked to the maids and governess, and finding a -fiery gulf separated them from their mother’s room, the sisters flew in -their night-dresses down the stairs, already in flames, and into the -street. Lady Delawarr, stupefied by smoke, slept on heavily, though for -twenty minutes her old servant Vincent, who occupied a room off the -garden, threw stones at her window. He dragged his mattress beneath it, -and strained it across the garden area. At last he roused her, and she -rushed to the door, but closed it again as the flames poured in. Then -she threw up the window. ‘Jump, my lady, jump!’ shouted Vincent; ‘there -is not a moment to lose.’ There was not time even to throw out her -diamonds, but she knotted her sheets firmly together, and sliding down -them, dropped upon the mattress. With her it held, but the fat cook, who -had not had courage to face the fiery staircase, leapt from the fourth -floor, and under her great weight the mattress gave way and she fell -into the area, breaking her leg in three places and fracturing her -skull, and now she is dead. For a whole hour Lady Delawarr crouched -behind the lilac bushes in the ice-bound garden, with the blazing house -between her and all else. Then she succeeded in breaking the window of a -carpenter’s shop which adjoined the garden, and was dragged through it, -and reached a friend’s house in a four-wheel cab. - -“This cab she sent back to fetch her daughter Mary, but the horse fell -on the ice in Grosvenor Square, and Lady Mary, as she was, had to walk -up Upper Brook Street to the house where her mother had taken refuge.” - - * * * * * - -“_Jan. 28._--Dined at Lady Hope’s to meet Dr. Tucker, Bishop of Uganda, -who had walked 10,000 miles in his bishopric; there were no other means -of locomotion. He said Africa as a whole was more swamp and thicket than -desert. ‘Were not the lions alarming?’ ‘Not very; they seldom attacked -unless irritated.’ Once he saw five at the same time around him, but -‘they all had their own affairs to attend to.’ Snakes were worse, -especially puff-adders, which would attack whenever they could.” - - * * * * * - -“_Feb. 2, 1897._--Dreadful news has come of the terrible murder in the -Benin expedition of my dear Kenneth Campbell (of Ardpatrick), than whom -no one was better, braver, more attractive to look upon, or more -pleasant to live with. - - ‘I loved him, and love him for ever: the dead are not dead, but alive.’[578] - -Yet a shadow is thrown over everything, and when even his friend feels -as if he could never write or speak of him without tears, what must not -it be to his parents! One had felt that he, if any one, had ‘i pensieri -stretti ed il viso sciolto’ which would ‘go safely over the whole -world,’ as Alberto Scipioni said to Sir Henry Wotton, and which the -latter recommended to Milton when asked for advice as to his travels.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ MRS. C. VAUGHAN. - -“_May 8, 1897._--Do you remember the article on my book, or rather on -me, headed ‘A Monument of Self-Sufficiency,’ which amused us both so -much? Dining at Lady Margaret Watney’s, I sate opposite to Mr. E. G. who -wrote it--a pleasant man and much liked--and longed to make acquaintance -with him, but had not the chance. Last night I dined with Lady -Ashburton, a quiet party, with all the beautiful Kent House pictures -lighted up. Mr. Henschel whistled like a bullfinch at dinner, and sang -gloriously ‘Der Kaiser’ afterwards. Mrs. F. Myers, who sate by me, was -most agreeable, and is one of those with whom one soon penetrates -‘l’écorce extérieur de la vie,’ as our dear S. Simon calls it. Amongst a -thousand interesting things, she told me that, at Cambridge, she found -Lord De Rothschild’s son especially difficult to get on with, till one -day he startled her by asking, ‘Have you got any fleas?’ She was -surprised, but found that special point of Natural History was just the -one thing he cared about, knew about, and would talk on for ever; and -she was able to get him some rare fleas from a friend in India, with -which he was greatly delighted. - -“I also sate at dinner by ...whose father was ambassador at Vienna. He -rented Prince Clary’s house. One day, as a little girl, she was at the -end of the drawing-room with her mother, when they both saw a -chasseur--their own chasseur, they supposed--standing in an alcove at -the end of the room. ‘Oh, there is Fritz,’ said her mother. ‘What can he -be doing there? Run and tell him to go downstairs.’ She ran across the -room, but as she came up to the alcove the chasseur seemed to vanish. -This happened three times; then the mother said, ‘If we were -superstitious we might say we had seen a ghost, but it can be only a -question of angles.’ Soon afterwards her father met Prince Clary at -dinner and began, ‘Have you ever been troubled by any appearance?’ &c. -‘Oh, don’t speak of it,’ exclaimed Prince Clary; ‘it is a most painful -subject: the fact is, that, in a fit of anger, my father killed his -chasseur on that spot.’ Sir Augustus Loftus, who succeeded at the -Embassy, took the same house, and reproached them much for not warning -him of the apparition, on account of which he soon left and went to live -in a hotel. - -“At Easter I was with the Carysforts at Elton, and was taken to see -Castor, with its fine Roman and Norman remains, and Stobbington, a very -interesting old house, with a most curious collection of rare living -fish, the pets of its owner. Lady Alwyn Compton, who was at Elton, told -me a curious story. It was one of the great commentators--Calamy, she -thought--who had occasion to go to a market-town in Devonshire, and take -a lodging there whilst the assizes were going on. In the evening a -servant came to his room and said that the master of the house hoped -that he would do him the honour of coming down to supper with him. He -said, ‘Oh, pray thank him very much, but say that I never take supper.’ -But the servant came three times with the same message, and at last he -said to himself, ‘Well, he seems so anxious to have me that it is rather -churlish not to go,’ and he went. There were many people in the room, -quite a number of guests, and a great supper prepared. But, being a -religious man, before sitting down he said grace aloud, and, as he said -it, the whole thing vanished. - -“Archbishop Benson told Lady Alwyn that two Americans were talking to -each other about spiritualism. Said one to the other, ‘You do not -believe in ghosts, do you?’--‘No, certainly not!’ ‘You would not believe -even if you saw one?’--‘No, certainly not.’ ‘Well, I am one!’ and he -vanished on the spot. - -“Afterwards I saw Higham Ferrers on my way to stay at Ecton, such a -pleasant old house; and the next week I was with the George Drummonds at -Swaylands, which has the finest rock-garden in England, and drew with -Miss Henniker in the delicious old gardens of Penshurst Place.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ HUGH BRYAN _and_ JOURNAL. - -“_Castle Hale, Painswick, June 17._--‘Voici venir les longs crépuscules -de juin,’[579] and I will employ one of them in writing to you. I have -had a Whitsuntide of visits, beginning with the Deanery of Hereford. -Mrs. Leigh[580] was full of her visit to Butler’s Island, from which she -was lately returned--her last visit, she thinks, but I expect she will -not long be able to keep away from the old home in the rice-swamps which -she loves so dearly. Before she left, she had a little feast for all the -older negroes, who had been slaves, and whose ancestors had been on the -place since her great-grandfather’s time. She thanked them for coming in -a little speech, expressing her attachment to them, but saying that as -her years were advancing, she might not meet them often again on earth, -but that she trusted to see them again hereafter. She was much moved -herself, and many of the negroes wept; then, as by a universal impulse, -they all sprang up and sang the Doxology! Her daughter Alice had a -supper for the younger negroes in another room. One of them, a young -man, made a speech, and ended it by saying, ‘I am sure that this -festival will be remembered by our offspring long after their forespring -are dead and gone.’ - -“‘Old Sie is my foreman,’ said Mrs. Leigh. ‘His grandfather lived with -my great-grandfather, the first of our family who established himself on -Butler’s Island. He was a very clever, efficient slave. Once, when all -the other slaves were out at another island trying to cultivate it--it -is called “Experiment” still--there came on one of those tremendous -hurricanes which are, happily, very rare with us. The slaves, who are -like sheep, all wanted at once to take to the boats and get home. Had -they succeeded in embarking, they would all have been lost, as many -other negroes were then, when all boats were swamped. But, at the point -of the whip, Sie’s grandfather drove them all back inland to a hut where -they could take refuge. Afterwards Sie was offered his freedom, but he -would not take it; so my grandfather had a silver cup made for him, with -an inscription recording what he had done. Last winter I said to Sie, “I -think you had better let me buy that cup from you; you are all free now, -and your children are not likely to care for it.” He considered awhile, -then he said, “No, Missus, I tink not: I keep cup;” and then he thought -a little more and said, “Missus, when I be gone done dead, you have de -cup.”’ - -“I went with the Leighs to see the wonderful old church of ‘Abbeydore in -the Golden Valley,’ as romantic as its name, and Kilpeck, a marvellous -old Norman building. - -“I went next to Madresfield, a first visit in a new reign, and very -different it looked in its long grass and flowers, with the lovely -Malvern hills behind, from the frost-bound place I remember. Its young -master has spent all the time of his possession in beautifying it, -planting glorious masses of peonies, iris, and a thousand other flowers -in the grass, and making a herbaceous walk--winding--with a background -of yew hedge, which is a very dream of loveliness. I was very happy at -Madresfield, liking Beauchamp and Lady Mary so much, and all the many -guests were charming, especially the Arthur Walronds, genial Dick -Somerset, delightful Lady Northcote, the evergreen Duchess of -Cleveland--‘Aunt Wilhelmine’--and three pleasant young men, Charlie -Harris, Victor Cochran, and Lord Jedburgh. What a pleasure there is in -thoroughly well-bred society! There is a capital passage in Ouida’s last -book about this--‘You are always telling me that I wear my clothes too -long: you’ve often seen me in an old coat--a shockingly old coat; but -you never saw me in an ill-cut one. Well, I like my acquaintance to be -like my clothes. They may be out at elbows, but I must have ’em well -cut.’ - -“One afternoon we drove to Eastnor, which was in great beauty, and the -castle--hideous outside--a palace of art treasures within, infinitely -lovely from the flowers with which Lady Henry Somerset fills it. - -“But most I liked the rambles about the inexhaustible gardens of -Madresfield itself, with my charming young host and hostess, and one or -other of the guests, and the practice inculcated by the oft-repeated -questions which they ask so cheerily--‘Is it wise? is it kind? is it -true?’ the very thought of which stops so much scandal; yet one has to -consider all the three questions together, for the last would so often -bring an affirmative where there would be a negative for the two others. -The house itself is full of interesting and precious things, old -furniture, miniatures, enamels, &c. - -“Now I am with Mrs. Baddeley, whom you will remember as Helen Grant, -the second of the three beautiful sisters whom all the great artists -wanted to paint, but who have been such dear friends of mine from their -earliest childhood, and often at Holmhurst, whether I were there or not. -Helen’s husband, St. Clair Baddeley, is full of amusing stories, and his -adopted father, Mr. Christie, with whom they live, is the dearest of old -gentlemen. Just behind this house is the old courthouse where Charles I. -lodged in most troublous times, and whence he fled. Many of his -Cavaliers took refuge in the church, and numbers of them were afterwards -shot in the churchyard, where old helmets are still dug up, and where a -row of yews are said to mark their graves. There are ninety-nine yews -altogether, and it is said that a mystic power guards this number; if -any one tries to plant more, the old yews destroy them. In their shadow -are a number of fine tombs, executed by Italian workmen, who left the -place because they were not allowed to have their own chapel, but who -were brought over when Painswick was a very flourishing town from its -cloth factories, now transferred to Yorkshire. - -“Just before her marriage, H. went to see Lady Burton at Mortlake, and -was taken to Burton’s mausoleum as a natural part of her visit. -Afterwards Lady Burton wrote to her saying that she wanted to ask a very -great favour. It was that she would never wear again the hat in which -she had come down to Mortlake. H. liked her hat very much--a pretty -Paris hat in which she fancied herself particularly, but she said she -would do as an old friend of her future husband wished, though utterly -mystified. Afterwards Lady Burton wrote that when H. had come into the -room on her visit, she was horrified to see three black roses in her -hat; that they were the mark of a most terrible secret sect in Arabia, -mixed up in every possible atrocity, and that--especially as worn by a -girl about to be married--they were a presage of every kind of -misfortune; that, in another case of the same kind, she had given the -same warning, and the girl, who disregarded it, died on the day before -her wedding. H. wore her hat again, but took out the black roses. - -“Sir Richard Burton died of syncope of the heart--died twenty minutes -before Lady Burton’s priest could arrive; so her report of his having -been received into the Roman Catholic Church was a complete delusion. - -“H. says that Count Herbert Bismarck went lately to a great function in -Russia. While he wished to be incognito, he still did not see why he -could not have the advantages of his cognito. ‘Stand back; you must keep -the line,’ said an official as he was pushing through. ‘You do not know -who I am: I am Count Herbert Bismarck.’ ‘Really? Well that quite -_explains_, but it does not _excuse_ your conduct,’ rejoined the -officer. - -“At the silver wedding of the Prince and Princess of Wales, a northern -town wished to present an address, but there was a great discussion as -to its wording; for some time they could not agree at all. ‘Conscious as -we are of our own unworthiness,’ was universally condemned, but when -some one proposed, ‘Conscious as we are of each other’s unworthiness,’ -it was agreed to to a man. - -“Mr. P----, Q.C., who has just been here, has called to mind that the -Queen’s name is neither Victoria nor Guelf. Her real name is Victorina -Wetting (pronounced Vettine). She was christened Victorina, and then -there was a little girl called Victorina who played a most unpleasant -part in Queen Caroline’s trial, and the Duke and Duchess of Kent changed -their child’s name to Victoria, that it might not be the same. And -Wetting is her husband’s--the real Saxe-Coburg name. - -“H. had been at Oxford when Max Müller one day received a letter which -pleased him so much that he insisted on sending a very nice letter in -return, though it was evidently only written to get an autograph. It -asked if there was any reason, other than coincidence, for _meche_ and -_mechant_: wick, wicked. One day an American was shown in to Max Müller, -saying, ‘I have come, sir, four thousand miles to see you,’ &c. The -professor was terribly pressed for time, and bored too; but as to the -latter, felt that in a quarter of an hour he would be released, as he -had a lecture to deliver. So he was civil, and then excused himself, -saying that he was afraid he must go to his lecture, but that if his -visitor wished to go to hear it, he could. ‘No,’ said the American, ‘I -will not go with you, for I am rather deaf; but I can make myself -perfectly happy here, and you shall find me here on your return.” - -“St. Clair has been talking of Mrs. Procter, whom he knew well, and how -she used to say, ‘Never tell anybody how you are, because nobody wants -to know.’ All her circle are gone now, Lowell, Matthew Arnold, Browning, -Adelaide Sartoris. When she was dying, her nun-daughter came and tried -to get a priest in, but she would not have it. She had preserved the -letters of Thackeray, Dickens, and others in three tin boxes. Mrs. -Procter left Browning and two others her executors, but the nun wanted -all the papers to be given to a young Nottingham doctor, to be published -just as she wished, and, when they would not have it so, she put the -whole of the correspondence on the kitchen-fire: it was her vendetta on -her mother for having refused the priest. - - * * * * * - -_To the_ COUNTESS OF DARNLEY. - -“_Holmhurst, June 29, 1897._--I said I would tell you about the Jubilee. -For the first few days I was with the hospitable Lowthers, and thence, -on Sunday, went to the Thanksgiving service at St. Paul’s. Going very -early, I had perhaps the best place in the choir, and enjoyed seeing the -gradual gathering of so much of the bravery, learning, and beauty of -England beneath the dusky arches and glistening mosaics. When the long -file of clergy went out to meet the royal procession at the west door, -the faint distant song was very lovely, gradually swelling, and lost in -the blare of trumpets, the roll of drums, and the triumphant shout of -welcoming voices as the clergy re-entered the choir. The most important -figure was the Bishop of Finland in a white satin train with two -gorgeous train-bearers; but the newspapers tell this, and how the lines -of royal persons sate on crimson chairs opposite the entrance of the -choir, and how the Bishop of London preached touchingly, not effusively, -about the Queen and her reign, and officiated at the altar in a gorgeous -mitre and cope. - -“On Monday Miss Lowther and I went to tea with my friend (minor-canon) -Lewis Gilbertson at his lovely little house in Amen Court, and then were -taken, by one of the many secret staircases of the cathedral, to emerge -over the portico for the rehearsal of the next day’s ceremony. Perhaps, -in some ways, this was more impressive than the reality, as none of the -vast surrounding space was kept clear; all was one sea of heads, whilst -every window, every house-top, even every chimney-pot, was crowded with -people. Never was anything more jubilant than the ‘Te Deum,’ more -reverent than the solemn Lord’s Prayer in the open air--every hat off. -When the appointed programme was over, the crowd very naturally asked -for ‘God save the Queen,’ and after some hesitation, and goings to and -fro of dean and canons, it was begun by the bands and choristers, and -taken up vigorously by the mile of people as far as Temple Bar. How -grand it was! - -“That evening the dear Queen said to Miss ... ‘To-morrow will be a -_very_ happy day for me;’ and I think it must have been. Where are -anarchists and socialists before such a universal burst of loyalty--not -of respect only, but of heartfelt filial _love_?--Nowhere! Their very -existence seems ridiculous. I saw all from the Beaumonts’ in Piccadilly -Terrace, where a most kind hostess managed all most beautifully for us, -and, entering through the garden, we had neither heat nor crowd to fear. -No small part of the sight was the crowd itself--the unfailing -good-humour increased by the extreme kindness of the police towards -fainting women and all who needed their help. The Colonial procession -was charming--its young representatives rode so well, and were in -themselves such splendid specimens of humanity, and so picturesquely -equipped. Then the group of old English generals on horseback drew every -eye, and the sixteen carriages of princesses, amongst whom the Duchess -of Teck was far more cheered than any one except the Queen herself. And -lastly came the cream-coloured horses with their golden-coated footmen, -and the beloved Lady herself--the ‘Mother of the Land,’--every inch a -queen, royal most exceedingly, but with an expression of such love, such -gratitude, such devotion, such thankfulness! Oh, no one felt for and -_with_ her only as a sovereign; it was a far closer tie than that. - -“In the evening, Mrs. Tilt and her sister went with me to the -Maxwell-Lytes on the top of the Record Tower, whence we saw the bonfires -round London light up one by one, and St. Paul’s in silver light--a -glorified spiritual church rising out of the darkness of the city -against the deep blue sky. Far more than the illuminations of the noisy -streets, it was a fitting end to so solemn and momentous a day. - -“And on Wednesday I was in the Green Park, and heard the thousands of -school-children sing their farewell to the Queen as she went away to -Windsor.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ MRS. C VAUGHAN. - -“_March 1897._--I think the reviews of the first three volumes of my -‘Story’ must be coming to an end now. I have had them all sent to me, -and very amusing they have been, mostly recalling the dictum of -Disraeli, that ‘critics are those who have failed in art and -literature.’ Many criticisms have been kind. One or two, but not more, -have been rather clever, and some of the fault-finding ones would have -been very instructive if I had not so entirely agreed with them at the -outset on all their main points--that I was a mere nobody, that my life -was wholly without importance, and that it was shocking to see parts of -the story in print, especially the painful episode which I called ‘The -Roman Catholic Conspiracy;’ for reviewers, of course, could not know the -anguish it cost when I was led to publish that chapter, by its being my -_one_ chance of giving the true version of a story of which so many -false versions had been given already. However, it is as Zola says, -‘Every author must, at the outset, swallow his toad,’ _i.e._, some -malicious attack in the periodicals of the day; only I think my toads -become more numerous and venomous as years go on. - -“Some of the reviews are very funny indeed. The _Saturday Review_ of ‘A -Monument of Self-Sufficiency’ contrives to read (oh! where?) ‘how sweet -and amenable and clever Augustus was,’ but is so shocked by a book -‘wholly without delicacy’ that it--‘cannot promise to read any more of -it’!! The _British Review_, which thinks me an absolute beast, has a -stirring article on ‘Myself in Three Volumes.’ The _Pall Mall Gazette_ -dwells upon their ‘bedside sentiment and goody-goody twaddle,’ and is -‘filled with genuine pity for a man who can attach importance to a life -so trivial.’ The _Athenæum_ describes me as a mere ‘literary valet.’ -The _New York Tribune_ finds the book ‘the continuous wail of a very -garrulous person.’ The reviewer in the _Bookbuyer_ speaks of the -‘irritation and occasional fierce anger’ which the book arouses in -him(!). The _New York Independent_ dwells upon my ‘want not only of all -kindly sense of humour, but also of propriety.’ It is long since the -_National Observer_ has met with an author ‘so garrulous or so -self-complacent.’ Finally, the _Allahabad Pioneer_ (what a name!) votes -that Mr. Hare’s chatter is ‘becoming a prodigious nuisance,’ and ‘if it -had its deserts his book would make its way, and pretty quickly, to the -pastry-cook and the trunk-maker.’ - -“What fun! Yet I am glad that most of the more respectable reviews say -exactly the opposite, and certainly the public does not seem to agree -with those I have quoted; it would be terribly expensive if it did. They -are only birds of prey with their beaks cut and their claws pulled out, -and if a book is found to be interesting, people read it whatever they -say. They influence nobody, except just at first those who choose books -for lending libraries. - -“What is really almost irritating is the very ragtag and bobtail of -reviews, whose writers can scarcely even glance at the books they are -penny-a-lining--such as the _Table_, which ‘explains’ that ‘my -grandmother was the wife of Archdeacon Hare;’ as another (I have lost it -now) which speaks of ‘Priscilla Maurice, second wife of Julius Hare;’ as -the _Weekly Register_, which reviews the life of ‘Esmeralda,’ or the -student of the book who writes in _The Dial_ and describes my life at -‘Balliol College,’ or _Household Words_ (copied by the _Free-thinker_ -and several other even inferior reviews), which ‘quotes’ in full a long -story about Mr. Gladstone and Father Healy which is not to be found in -the ‘Story’ at all. - -“Then, did you see Mr. Murray’s letter to the _Times_, which certainly -gives a touching picture of the spirit of self-sacrifice which actuates -publishers in their daily life, for he announces that my ‘Handbook of -Berks, Bucks, and Oxon,’ which had three editions before his father’s -death, and on which the author was only paid _altogether_ £152, left, at -that death, a deficit of £158!! I was sorry, all the same, that he was -annoyed at my description of his father wrapt in his _enveloppe de -glace_; for old Mr. Murray (who had cut me dead for all the years since -the appearance of my Italian Handbooks) asked me to shake hands with him -once again a few months before he died, which I did most cordially.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ FRANCIS COOKSON. - -“_Holmhurst, August 29, 1897._-- ...With me, life has rippled on through -several months, only I have been away for some days with the Lowthers to -draw under Carlandi, and quite lately I have sorrowed bitterly at the -early death of my dear Inverurie, kindest and most affectionate of young -friends. I feel his being taken so much myself that I cannot bear even -to think of what it must be to his nearest belongings; and yet--while -absolutely free from all humbug--surely never was there any young man -more simply and trustfully prepared for an early death. - -[Illustration: IN THE WALPOLE CORRIDOR, HOLMHURST.] - -“He cared less for ‘the world’ than any young fellow I have ever known, -and was more in love with his family, his homes, and their surroundings. - - ‘Felix ille animi, divisque simillimus ipsis. - Quem non mordaci resplendens gloria fuco - Sollicitat, non fastosi mala gaudia luxus - Sed tacitos sinit ire dies et paupere cultu - Exegit innocuae tranquilla silentia vitae.’[581] - -“Last week I was for three nights at Hurstmonceaux, actually--for the -first time in thirty-seven years--at my old home of Lime. What a mixture -of emotions it was; but within all is so changed, I could not recall my -mother and Lea there; and the present inhabitants, the young Baron and -Baroness von Roemer, were boundlessly good to me. Outside, there were -many spots alive with old memories, especially in the garden, where my -mother and I lived so much alone--our earthly Paradise. Did you know -that the word Paradeisos means a garden? - -“How I should like you to know the peculiar surroundings of Lime, -different to those of any other place I have seen--the brown parched -sun-dried uplands, the bosky ferny hollows, the reedy pools fragrant -with mint, the eternal variety of pink lights and grey shadows on the -soft downs beyond the wide Levels, which recall O’Hara’s lines-- - - ‘Where the herds are slowly winding over leagues of waving grass, - And the wild cranes seek the sedges, and the wild swans homeward pass.’ - -[Illustration: WARBLETON PRIORY, ON APPROACHING.] - -[Illustration: WARBLETON PRIORY, SEEN FROM BEHIND.] - -“We made a little excursion. In my very early childhood I was once at -the ever-haunted Warbleton Priory, and the recollection of its utter -weirdness and of the skulls kept there had always so remained with me -that I had quite longed to see it again. The many stories about it are -such as ought never to be told, only whispered. The very approaches have -a mystery. No one will stay there now, even by broadest daylight; so we -went to an old manor near Rushlake Green for the keys, but found even -that so bolted and barred that we were long in obtaining them. ‘Oh no, -there is never any one there,’ said the servant, ‘but you must go on -till you come to a black gate, then drive in.’ To reach this, we -followed a lane with well-built cottages, but they were deserted, their -windows broken and their gardens overgrown; no one could live so near -the accursed spot. Through the black gate we enter dark woods. A -cart-track exists, winding through thickets with fine oaks interspersed, -and by reedy ponds dense with waving cotton-plants. Then we cross open -fields entirely covered with thistles--enough to seed all Sussex--for no -one will work there. Then, through another black gate, we enter a -turf-grown space, with lovely distant view between old trees, and -there, with high red-tiled roofs, golden here and there with lichen, is -a forlorn and mossy but handsome old stone house, built from and rising -amidst other remains of an Augustinian priory. In its little garden are -roses, and box bushes which have once been clipped into shapes. Inside, -the mildewed rooms have some scanty remnants of their old furniture. In -one of them, where a most terrible murder was committed, the blood then -shed still comes up through the floor--a dark awful pool which no -carpenter’s work can efface. The most frightful sounds, cries, and -shrieks of anguish, rumblings and clankings, even apparently explosions, -are always heard by night, and sometimes by day. In the principal room -of the ground floor, in the recess of a window, are two skulls. They -are believed to be those of two brothers who fought here and both fell -dead. From one, the lower jaw has fallen down, increasing its ghastly -effect. Successive generations of farmers have buried them, and -instantly everything has gone wrong on the farm and all the cattle have -died: now they have altogether abandoned a hopeless struggle with the -unseen world. Besides this there is a tradition--often verified--that if -any one touches the skulls, within twelve hours they pass through the -valley of the shadow of Death. So naturally Warbleton Priory is left to -the undisputed possession of its demon-ghosts.” - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL _and_ LETTER _to_ W. H. MILLIGAN. - -“_Thoresby, Oct. 22, 1897._--I began my little tour of visits at Maiden -Bradley.... You know how it is almost the only remnant the title -possesses from the once vast Somerset estates. The 12th Duke left -everything he possibly could away, and when the present Duke and Duchess -succeeded, they were pictureless, bookless, almost spoonless. Still they -were determined to make the best of it. ‘He could not take away our -future: we will not lament over all that is lost, but enjoy to the very -utmost what we have;’ this has been the rule of their existence, and so -‘Algie and Susie,’ as they, always speak of each other, have had a most -delightful life, enjoying and giving enjoyment. No one ever looked more -ducal than this genial, hearty, handsome Duke: no one brighter or -pleasanter than his Duchess: ‘all who have to do with her find nothing -but courtesy, gentleness, and goodness,’ as Brantôme wrote of Claude of -France. I liked my visit extremely. My fellow-guests were Sir E. Poynter -of the Royal Academy, Lady Heytesbury, and Mrs. Kelly, an authoress. -With the last I saw stately Longleat, which I had not visited since I -was fourteen, and--as horses are the one indulgence the Duke gives -himself--he drove us luxuriously about the country on his -coach-and-four. - -“The following week was delightful--with the Boynes in their beautiful -hill-set home. They took me glorious excursions, and we picnicked out in -beautiful places five days running. One day we went to Kinlet--a really -great house, as well kept by Swedish maids (its mistress is a Swede) as -if there were a dozen men-servants. And the last day we went to a real -still-standing Norman farmhouse (Millichope), with its original round -arched doors and windows. - -“From Burwarton I went on to my pleasant cousin’s, the Francis -Bridgemans, close to that beautiful church at Tong, and we spent a day -with Francis’s kind old father, Lord Bradford, at Weston, and he showed -us all the pictures and treasures in the house, and drove us about in -his sociable to the ‘Temple of Diana’ and other points of interest in -the park of a very comfortable well-to-do place. - -“Next, I visited Lady Margaret Herbert (daughter of my dear Lady -Carnarvon) as châtelaine at Teversal manor in Notts, a smoky -wind-stricken country, but with Hardwicke and other fine houses to see. -The charming aunt of my hostess, Lady Guendolen, was living with her as -chaperon, none the worse in body for being a strict vegetarian, and in -mind the sunniest of the sunny, delightful to be with. - - ‘And scarcely is she altered, for the hours - Have led her lightly down the vale of life, - Dancing and scattering roses, and her face - Seems a perpetual daybreak.’[582] - -I was glad to be taken to spend the day at Bestwood, the Duke of St. -Alban’s modern place, its woods an oasis in the wilderness, and its -honours were charmingly done by Lady Sybil Beauclerk and her -good-looking brother Burford. In the Duchess’s room were a series of -albums with all the original drawings for Dickens’s works. All the best -pictures were burnt in a fire. - -“The Ladies Herbert sometimes, but in a far-away sense, remind me of -their mother, who was quite the most perfectly brilliant person I have -ever known. I have always heard that she was this even as a girl, and -that it was a perpetual surprise to her parents, who were very inferior -people. Lady Dufferin used to say that they were like savages who had -found a watch. - -“Taking stern dismal Bolsover--its delicate carvings utterly ruined by -‘trippers’--on the way, I came on to meet a large party here at -Thoresby, which is in more than usual autumnal forest glory. We have -just been spending the afternoon at Welbeck, shown all the improvements -by Mrs. Dallas Yorke, in the absence of the tall handsome Duchess, who, -however, returned before we left. One did not wonder that she is such a -special joy to the old people of the place, because they had ‘been so -long without a duchess, and when there was one long ago, it was only -such a little one.’ She has built a delightful -gallery--Florence-fashion--between the old house and the new, and hung -it with a galaxy of old prints, and has made fascinating little -terrace-gardens, and edged their beds with dwarf lavender, so that ‘when -the ladies’ dresses brush against it, its scent may be wafted into the -house.’ - -“And meantime my thoughts have been much at Llandaff, with the -cousin[583] who was the dearest friend of my boyhood, seeming to pass -with her through the closing scenes of the good Dean’s life, and to see -him as she did, lying in his cathedral, dressed in his surplice, in the -majesty of eternal repose.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ MRS. C. VAUGHAN. - -“_Holmhurst, Nov. 16, 1897._--Here I am again in quietude, thinking of -you very much in your last days at Llandaff; busy over the building of -which I am architect, overseer, a hundred things at once, and planting a -great deal, with a reminiscence of Dumbiedykes in Walter Scott--‘Be aye -sticking in a tree; it will be growing, Jock, while you’re sleeping.’ My -only companions now are the pleasant Hospitallers in the little Hospice, -whom I constantly meet in the garden and wood walks. I wish you could -see their little house, and the late roses lingering on their porch. - -“I have been away for a week. Lady Stanhope took me from Chevening to -see Lullingstone Castle in Kent, the old house of the Dykes, with a -good brick gateway, a richly ceilinged upper gallery, and a chapel with -interesting tombs. Two days afterwards, Lady Chetwynd took me to a finer -place--Chawton in Hants, where the Knights, of Godmersham, live now, -representing several old extinct families, especially the Lewknors, with -whom I am very familiar through their tombs scattered all over Sussex, -and who are commemorated at Chawton by many portraits and fine -tapestried needlework. A little bookcase with a globe outside and a -series of Elzevir Histories of the World within, was very attractive. - -[Illustration: PORCH OF HOSPICE, HOLMHURST.] - -“Then I went to stay with ‘the richest man in the world,’ genial -unassuming Mr. Astor, in his beautiful Cliveden, much improved since he -bought it from its ducal owners, and enriched within by glorious -portraits of Reynolds and Romney, and without by the noble terrace -parapet of the Villa Borghese and its fountains, already looking here a -natural part of the Buckinghamshire landscape, and replaced on its old -site by a copy, which is just the same to nineteenth-century Italians! -All the splendid sarcophagi and even the marble benches of the -world-famous villa are now also at Cliveden, where they are more valued -than at Rome. We had a charming party--Jane, Lady Churchill, retaining -in advancing years ‘sa marche de déesse sur les nues,’[584] for which -she was famous in her youth; the Lord Chancellor, Lady Halsbury, and a -daughter; pretty gentle Princess Löwenstein; the Duchess of Roxburghe, -ever wreathed in smiles of geniality and kindness, with two very tall -agreeable daughters; Lord Sandwich, as bubbling with fun as when he was -a young man; Lord and Lady Stanhope--always salt of the earth; with Mr. -Marshall Hall and Sir Arthur Sullivan as geniuses; so, as you will see, -‘une élite très intelligente.’ Every one of these delightful people, -too, was simplicity itself, rare as that virtue is to find. I see that -Queen Adelaide, as Duchess of Clarence, wrote to Gabrielle von -Bülow--‘How rarely you meet a really simple man or woman in our great -world; they would be hard to find even with Diogenes’ lantern.’ -Certainly ‘learned’ people are scarcely ever agreeable. There is a very -good sentence in Hamerton about that--‘A good mental condition includes -just as much culture as is necessary to the development of the -faculties, but not any burden of erudition heavy enough to diminish, as -erudition so often does, the promptitude or elasticity of the mind.’ - -“On Sunday morning we all went to the beautifully situated little church -at Hedsor, arriving early and seeing the congregation wind up the steep -grassy hill as to a church in Dalecarlia. In the afternoon we were -driven about the grounds of Cliveden to the principal points--Waldo -Story’s grand fountain in the avenue and his noble landing-place on the -river. Exquisitely beautiful were the peace of the still autumn evening, -the amber and golden tints of the woods, and the wide river with its -reflections. Mr. Astor has attended to all the historic associations of -the spot; placing a fine statue of Marlborough in the temple built by -Lord Orkney, who was one of his generals, and portraits of Lady -Shrewsbury and her Duke of Buckingham, and of Frederick and Augusta of -Wales, in the successor of the house where they lived. Another portrait -of Frederick, with his three sisters, Anne, Emily, and Caroline, all -playing on musical instruments, has the old house in the background. Our -host seemed to me quite absolutely frank and delightful; indeed, -Surrey’s lines on Sir T. Wyatt might be applied to him-- - - ‘An eye whose judgment no effect could blind, - Friends to allure and foes to reconcile, - Whose piercing look did represent a mind - With virtue fraught, reposèd, void of guile.’ - -“Now, I am enjoying the time alone at home, with its much-reading -opportunity, and I often think that my natural bent would have been to -enjoy it quite as much as a boy, when all the family except you treated -me not only as a consummate dunce, but a _hopeless_ dunce; and when -almost every book was thought wicked, or at best quite unsuited for a -boy’s digestion. Now, eyes ache often, but I may say with Lady M. -Wortley Montagu, ‘If relays of eyes were to be ordered like post-horses, -I would admit none but silent companions.’ - -“Les années d’ennui et de solitude lui firent lire bien des -livres’--part of Catherine II.’s epitaph on herself--is certainly true -in my case. Just now I have been labouring through the two long thick -volumes which are called ‘Memoirs of Tennyson,’ though, when you close -them, you have less idea of what the man was like than when you -began--of the rude, rugged old egotist, who was yet almost sublimely -picturesque; of the aged sage, who in dress, language, manners was -always posing for the adoration of strangers, and furious if he did not -get it, or--if he did. The book is most provoking, for it would by no -means have destroyed the hero to have truthfully described the man. - -“There have been no end of hard-worked boy-friends here for Sundays, and -it is no trouble, but very much the contrary. We always get on together -capitally-- - - ‘That which we like, likes us: - No need of any fuss,’ - -is a capital Feejee proverb.[585] - -[Illustration: THE AVE-VALE STEPS, HOLMHURST.] - -“I think it is Frederick Locker who says that one gradually finds out -how much of the affection one inspires is ‘_reflected_.’ ‘Though thou -lose all that thou deemest happiness, if thou canst but make the -happiness of others, thou shall find it again in thine own heart,’ is a -sentence of George Ebers, of which I mentally leave out as irrelevant -the conclusion--‘Is not this playing at being God Almighty?’” - - * * * * * - -_To_ MISS GARDEN _at_ LUCCA, _and_ JOURNAL. - -“_Holmhurst, August 1, 1898._--I have been much in London since I wrote -last, enjoying the garden-parties at Sion, Osterley, Holland House, -Hatfield, Lady Penrhyn’s, Lady Portman’s, &c., and seeing many pleasant -people, mostly ‘grandes dames de par le monde.’ Yet, in the season, it -is all too great a hurry; one seldom has time to become really -acquainted with any one; there are few who have even sufficient -personality to leave an individual impression on the mind; if any one -does, he or she is ‘like a tree in the steppe’ in the monotony of London -life. I dined out daily for two months, but how difficult it is to -remember any dinner-party! ‘Who cares for the whipped cream of London -society?’ was a saying of Walter Scott. I do recollect one dinner, -however, at Mr. Knowles’s, from the fine effect of light on Leighton’s -‘Clytie,’ the principal ornament of his dining-room, all the -illumination being given to one fold of the dress, and the rest -effectively left in shadow. One charming person whom I remember was Lady -Blake, lately returned to England with her husband, who had been -governor of Jamaica. She was fond of tame animals. ‘In Jamaica,’ she -said, ‘I often had a large snake coiled round my waist; my tiger-cat I -generally led by a string, for I never knew what he might do, but my -tame crocodile always quietly followed me.’ She was Irish--a Bernal -Osborne. ‘Oh, I assure you the Irish are very good to us, quite -charming, in fact.’ ‘But if you do anything they don’t like, they kill -you.’--‘Naturally.’ - -“On July 11 I was at Miss Fleetwood Wilson’s wedding to Prince -Dolgorouki, and also at Lady Mary Savile’s in the Church of the -Assumption, which was a most picturesque ceremony, performed by Cardinal -Vaughan--such a fine cardinal!--in a jewelled mitre, with all -accompaniments of cross-bearers, incense-swingers, &c. - -“The nobly Christian death of Mr. Gladstone and the almost ludicrous -apotheosis of one who, in his political life, did nothing and undid so -much, were events of the spring. I have personally more individual -recollection of his kindness to those who needed it than of his witty -sayings; but they were constant. ‘What do you think of Purcell’s Life of -Manning?’ some one said to him shortly before the end. ‘I think that -Manning need have nothing to fear at the day of judgment.’ He was -formidable to strangers, chiefly on account of ‘those demoniac eyes of -his,’ as Cardinal Alcander said of Luther; and though in his private -capacity he was all goodness, it seemed inconsistent with his public -one. Yet what admirers he had! I remember his saying once to Lord -Houghton, ‘I lead the life of a dog,’ and the answer, ‘Yes, of a St. -Bernard--the saviour of men.’ Joseph Parker used to describe him as ‘the -greatest Englishman of the century, he was so massive, sincere, and -majestic. If he had had humour he would have been too good to live, but -eagles don’t laugh.’ - -“How much and long people have talked of him, and now what a silence -will fall upon it all. An amusing breakfast at Mr. Leveson’s has just -been recalled to me, where Lady Marian Alford said, ‘Gladstone really -puts his foot in it so often, he is a perfect centipede.’ Directly -after, a wasp lighted on the breakfast-table and there was some question -of killing it. ‘Oh, don’t; I can’t bear killing anything,’ cried Lady -Marian. ‘What! not even a centipede?’ quietly said Lord Lyons, who was -present. - -“I was with Mrs. John Dundas at Holt in Wiltshire, where the little -village once prospered exceedingly owing to its mineral spring. Ten -smart carriages used to wait round its fountain at once whilst their -owners drank the waters, and a house is pointed out where some Duchess -or other died. Then the fashion changed, and drainage was allowed to -filter into the spring, and Holt sank into obscurity. - -“We went to see Mr. Moseley, the admirable old Rector, who is -half-paralysed. A farmer had been to him to ask whether he did not think -he might get his hay in on a Sunday afternoon, as the weather was likely -to change, and he answered, ‘Certainly; it is God’s hay; save it by all -means.’ How unlike most English priests, but how Christ-like--‘personne -moins prêtre que Jesus Christ.’ ‘From the fetters of spiritual -narrowness, Good Lord deliver us,’ is a petition which I feel more and -more ought to be added to the Litany.[586] Yet in many houses I visit I -still find much of the old Sabbath-bondage remaining, though certainly -it is true that ‘we almost sigh with relief when we discover that even -saints can find monotony monotonous.’ - -“There is a perfect cordon of drawable old manor-houses round Holt, and -it is only two miles from Bradford-on-Avon, from which the great town in -Yorkshire was colonised, and which owes much of its foreign look to -French refugees. Its houses rise high, tier above tier, on the hillside, -blue-grey against the sky. Over the Avon is a beautiful bridge with a -fine old bracketed mass-chapel, long used as a lock-up. A tiny Saxon -church--the only real one probably in England--has been discovered -walled up into cottages; and there is a noble old ‘palace’ of the Dukes -of Kingston standing in high-terraced gardens. Great Chalfield is a most -lovely Tudor house, with an old chapel and moat. At South Wraxhall how I -recalled many visits from my miserable so-called tutors at Lyncombe, in -days of penury and starvation. How indefinite the misty future seemed in -the thinking-time which those long solitary rambles afforded, and how I -longed to penetrate it. At fifteen ‘j’ai trop voulu, des choses -infinies,’ but I was at a parting of the ways of life then, and I think -I decided in those early days to try to do the best I could here, and -leave the eternities and infinities--of which I heard so much more than -of realities--to take care of themselves, for:-- - - ‘Though reason may at her own quarry fly, - Yet how can finite grasp infinity?’ - -“But I am moralising too much and must return to my old houses, which -were full of smugglers formerly--‘moonrakers’ they called them in -Wiltshire, because many of the smuggled goods were concealed in the -ponds, and when the excisemen caught the smugglers extracting them at -night, and demanded what they were doing, they answered, ‘Oh, we are -raking out the moon.’ I was working in Shropshire for some time after -my Wiltshire visit, inspecting almost every church and old house for my -book, and hospitably entertained by genial Fred Swete at Oswestry and -the Misses Windsor Clive at beautiful Oakly Park near Ludlow. - -“While in London I went for two days to Bulstrode, which the late Duke -of Somerset left to his youngest daughter, Lady Guendolen Ramsden, who -is the most charming of hostesses, but the place is disappointing--a -very large modern villa, only one room remaining of the old house where -Mrs. Delany lived so much with Margaret, Duchess of Portland, and -nothing of that of Judge Jeffreys, which preceded it. It contains an -early portrait of Shakspeare, and a most grand Sir Joshua of a Mrs. -Weddell. We dawdled most of the day in the verandah. Oh, the waste of -time in country-house visits; but Lady Guendolen had much that was -pleasant to tell of her mother, the witty (Sheridan) Duchess of -Somerset. ‘She was once at a bazaar selling things, and a fat, burly, -plethoric farmer asked her the price of something and she mentioned it. -The price seemed to him absurd. ‘Do you take me for the Prodigal,’ he -said. ‘Oh, no,’ she replied; ‘I take you for the fatted calf.’ This made -Graham Vivian, who was one of the party, recollect. ‘I was walking by -the Duchess’s donkey-chair, and suddenly the donkey brayed horribly. -“Will he do it again?” said the Duchess. “Not unless he hears another,” -answered the donkey-boy. “Then mind _you_ don’t sneeze,” said the -Duchess, turning to me.’ - -“About Mr. L., who always speaks his mind, Lady Guendolen was very -amusing:--‘Mr. L. took me in to dinner, and I thought I was making -myself very agreeable to him, when he suddenly said--“Talk to your -neighbour on the other side.” I felt humiliated, but I thought he -fancied I couldn’t, so I did, and went on, and never spoke another word -to Mr. L. I told him of it afterwards, that he had hurt me so much that -I dreamt of it, and I told him my dream--that I said to him that I was -considered to become very amusing after I had had two glasses of wine, -and he answered, ‘_Then_, my dear lady, you must have been most -uncommonly sober this evening.’” - - * * * * * - -_To_ VISCOUNT HALIFAX. - -“_Holmhurst, August 21, 1898._--I have been for three days at -Hurstmonceaux, doubly picturesque in the burnt turf of this hot summer, -upon which the massy foliage of the trees is embossed as in Titian’s -landscapes. I always feel there, as nowhere else except in the views of -the Roman Campagna from the Alban Hills, the supreme beauty of looking -down upon vast stretches of flat pasture-land, reaching for ten miles or -more, and iridescent in its pink and blue cloud-shadows, with here and -there a ripple of delicate green in softest glamour of quivering light. -Every hour one sees it change--luminous with long lines of natural -shadow, purple from drifting storm-clouds-- - - ‘Then at some angel evening after rain - Glowing like early Paradise again.’ - -It is a pleasure now to be there, though life there is living amongst -the sepulchres. ‘La morte, l’estrema visitatrice,’[587] has come to all -I knew, and the gravestones of most of them are _moss-grown_--not only -of all the family of my childhood, but of all the neighbours, and all -that generation of poor people. How often there comes into one’s mind -something like the lines often repeated in the cemetery of Port-Royal-- - - ‘Tous ces morts ont véçu, toi qui vis, tu mourras: - Ce jour terrible approche, et tu n’y penses pas.’ - -[Illustration: IN THE CHURCHYARD, HURSTMONCEAUX.] - -‘Ce n’est pas le temps qui passe, ce sont les hommes,’ was a saying of -Louis Philippe. How different everything is to the time which -Hurstmonceaux recalls; all hurry now and energy and updoing, and then -such an extreme quietude of intellectual pursuits, in which every -uninitiated visitor was considered an unendurable bore, if, however -interesting he might be in himself, he did not fall in with the mutual -admiration society of which the Rectory was the axis. I remember how -Thomas Carlyle and Monckton Milnes, with his ‘gay and airy mind,’[588] -were amongst those so considered, for they had naturally their outside -views and intelligence, and the Rectory group never tried for a moment -to penetrate ‘l’écorce exterieur de leur vie;’ and, while bristling with -prejudices themselves, they always found much to be shocked at in every -outside person they came across. It seemed oddly apropos in all the -remembrance of the closed Hurstmonceaux life to read in Madame de -Montagu--‘It is not a good thing for everybody to see each other every -day and too closely; they risk becoming unconscious egoists, critics, -rulers, or subjects, and exhaust themselves by revolving perpetually on -a tiny axis.’ Yet in many ways how much more really interesting the life -was then; how picturesque Uncle Julius’s enthusiasm, how pathetic his -pathos over the books which were his realities; how interesting the -conversation, and how genial the courtesy of such constant visitors as -Bunsen and Landor, though the latter was such a perfect original, -‘dressed in classical adorning,’ as Arthur Young said of some one; then -how unruffled my dearest mother’s temper, over which even Aunt Esther’s -_strenuous_ exactions were powerless; and how ceaseless the flow of her -_love_--not charity, as people use the word now--to the poor of the -cottages in the hazel-fringed lanes around her, whose cares she made her -own, more moved and stirred by the querulous mutterings of Mrs. Burchett -or Mrs. Cornford than by the most important events of English politics -or the world’s history. Certainly she had a wonderful power with the -poor, and an influence which has never passed away, for she had the rare -art of entering into and understanding all their feelings; and then, -when with them, she always gave them her _whole_ attention. I feel that -my two books give very different ideas of what Hurstmonceaux was fifty -years ago, but both are quite true; only the ‘Memorials of a Quiet Life’ -is the inside, and the ‘Story of my Life’ the outside view. How much of -life, after sixty, consists in retrospect! It is, as Fanny Kemble says-- - - ‘Youth with swift feet walks onward in the way, - The land of joy lies all before his eyes; - Age, stumbling, lingers slower day by day, - Still looking back, for it behind him lies.’ - -One great difference of feeling older is that one is afraid to put off -doing anything. ‘By the street of By-and-by, you come to the house of -Nowhere,’ is an admirable Spanish proverb. - -“I have greatly enjoyed the vivid, charming, simple letters of Mary -Sibylla Holland--‘anche oggi si sente una dolcezza d’affetto a leggere -quel libro.’” - - * * * * * - -_To_ W. H. MILLIGAN. - -[Illustration: THE AVE-VALE GATE, HOLMHURST.] - -“_Holmhurst, Sept. 29, 1898._--The building and changes here go on well, -but very slowly, a result of having the work done with my own stone, and -as much as possible by the men of our village. I think all will look -well in the end. Not a chair or a book will be moved from the older part -of the house, consecrated by my mother’s memory, but room will be given -for the many things connected with Esmeralda, which I bought back at Sir -Edward Paul’s sale, and, if I survive her, for many precious pieces of -furniture, pictures, prints, and books from Norwich which Mrs. Vaughan -says that she has left me. Where you will remember a steep grass bank, -there is now a double stone terrace, with vases and obelisks, and -luxuriant beds of brilliant flowers edged with stone, copied as a whole -from the Italian Villa Lante near Viterbo. At the end are a staircase -and gateway to the Solitude, the ‘Ave-Vale Gate,’ with ‘Ave’ on the -outside and ‘Vale’ within. Cypresses are growing up beside it to enhance -the impression of Italy, which is further carried out in a widening -staircase from the centre of the terrace, with lead vases on the piers, -copied in design and proportions from one at the Villa Arson near Nice. -Just now, in this hot noon-day, the gorgeous flowers against the stone -parapet, and background of brown-green ilex and blue-green pine are -really very Italian, while below in the meadows all is as English as it -can be, the cows feeding in the rich grass, the heavy rounded masses of -oak foliage, and the misty sea asleep in the motionless heat. Nothing -seems to move, except my little black Pomeranian spitz, Nero, frisking -and barking at the butterflies. I am sure that much the happiest part of -my present life is that spent at home, though there is nothing to tell -about it--‘l’histoire ne se soucie pas des heureux.’ - -“Emmie Penrhyn is here, whose visits are always an unusual pleasure to -me, and who is one of the dearest relations I have left, partly because, -more than any one else, she has a distant likeness to my mother. She -lives happily and most usefully at Richmond in a very little world, with -a weak body but an all-sufficing soul. - -“I have grieved so truly over the news of Ranulph Mostyn’s death in -India, that I could not help writing to his mother. Yet I always -hesitate about whether letters of condolence can be of any comfort, and -can only act upon the knowledge that I like myself to have them in any -great sorrow. No Christian disquisitions, however: they always seem -forced and unmeaning. ‘Honest plain words best pierce the ear of grief;’ -that is somewhere in Shakspeare. Thirlwall’s Letters have an excellent -passage about them--‘Expressions of general condolence may be welcome as -tokens of goodwill, but can scarcely exert any general alleviating -power. The afflicted ones stand within a circle of images and feelings -of their own, which, painful as they may be, they would not part with -for worlds. Any attempt to draw them out of that circle can only inflict -a useless annoyance.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ MRS. C. VAUGHAN. - -“_Holmhurst, Oct. 16, 1898._--I am alone this evening; the wind is -wailing a dirge, and ‘the dark sea drinks in the greyness of the -sky.’[589] But I have been away for three weeks. First to the sisters of -my old friend Willie Milligan, who now live in the Barrington -dower-house at Shrivenham, close to Beckett, the ideal ‘great house’ of -my boyhood, so stately and luxurious. Now, so are the mighty fallen, it -is let to some Australians, and the family--unless helped by an -heiress--can never afford to live there again. Then I was with the -delightful Boynes in the high Shropshire uplands, seeing in the most -charming way many beautiful old houses. I saw two more from my next -visit at Oxton in Notts--Wiverton, and Annesley where the Miss Chaworth -Musters, beloved by Byron, once walked on the beautiful old terraces. -Another echo from my long-ago came from my visit to Streatlam, where I -so often was in my young days, and which is now inhabited by Lord -Strathmore’s sister, Lady Frances Trevanion, and her pleasant cheery -husband, both most kind cousins to me. The long galleries are filled -with family portraits, including a great one of Mary Eleanor Bowes, -whose strange story I have so often told. Lady Frances’s time is greatly -taken up by the manners and morals of her dogs, the very smallest and -noisiest I ever saw. They must be the sort of dogs Chaucer speaks of-- - - ‘Of small houndes hadde she, that she fedde - With rosted flesh and milk, and wastel brede; - But sore wept she if one of hem were dead.’ - -“It was a short journey from Streatlam to Kiplin, the beautiful old -house of Admiral Carpenter.... He told me how his grandfather had six -sons, Talbots, and was fond of making them all lie down full length on -the dining-room floor, joining one another, that he might see how many -yards of sons he had! I saw Richmond from Kiplin: what a beautiful -place, few abroad equal to it. - -“But my most interesting visit was that to Baddesley Clinton in -Warwickshire, rising, with a fortified central gate-tower, from a deep -still moat, and with an inner courtyard full of flowers. It has dark -tapestried rooms, several priest’s hiding-holes, ghosts of a lady and a -child, and a murder-room, stained with the blood of a priest whom a -squire of Edward IV.’s time slew when he caught him chucking his wife -under the chin.[590] Then there are all the refined luxuries of fast-day -dinners, evening prayers in the chapel with a congregation of maids -veiled like nuns, and a live Bishop (of Portsmouth), in violet robes and -gold cross and chain, to officiate. - -“Such a bishop he is! such a ripple of wit and wisdom! and so full of -playfulness! I read and copied somewhere--“A man after God’s own heart -is never a one-sided man. He is not wholly spiritual, he is not wholly -natural; he is not all earnestness, he is not all play; he cannot be all -things at once, and therefore he is all things by turns.”[591] Our -Bishop at Baddesley was just like this in his fun, in his love of cats, -and never more charming than when he gathered up all the scraps of toast -left at breakfast, and throwing open one of the windows, called ‘Quack, -quack!’ and crowds of ducks came rushing under the bridge over the moat -to scramble for them, one brown duck, which the Bishop called ‘the -orphan,’ being especially cared for. Speaking of the frequent ignorance -of religious intolerance led him to tell of the people of Imola and -Brigatella, who were always quarrelling. When the priest at Brigatella -began the paschal mass with ‘Christus immolatus est,’ his congregation -thought it was some compliment to the people of Imola, and declared they -would kill him unless he began ‘Christus brigatellatus est.’ - -“He had been with the Calthorpes of Woodland Vale to see an old house of -theirs in the Isle of Wight, which was quite deserted, and in the very -room where it occurred was told the reason why. A friend who had come -there to stay with Mr. Calthorpe saw there, in the dawn of the morning, -an old woman sitting knitting at the foot of the bed; he even heard the -click of the knitting-needles. At first he thought she had mistaken the -room, but it happened again the next day. The third time it happened, he -kicked out. The old woman then turned round her face towards him, and -displayed--a death’s-head. Another guest met the old woman on the stairs -and equally saw the death’s-head. No servant would stay in the house, -and now it is pulled down. - -“After the evening service in the chapel, the Bishop went to have a -cigar before going to bed. When I excused myself from joining him, he -told of Benedict XIV., who offered a pinch of snuff to one of his -Cardinals. ‘Santo padre, non ho quel vizio,’ he answered. ‘Se fosse -vizio, tu l’avrei,’ said the Pope. - -“Most charming of all was the châtelaine, the widow of my cousin Heneage -Dering, whose first wife was her aunt, Lady Chatterton, the well-known -novelist. The niece (‘Pysie’ Orpen) was then married to Marmion Ferrers, -the last of a famous Catholic family lineally descended from the Earl of -Derby attainted in the Wars of the Roses, and himself legally Baron -Compton and De Ferrers, though he never claimed the title on account of -his poverty and having no son. He was the pleasantest and most genial of -men--‘the old squire’ he used to be called in Warwickshire. One day he -found an old woman stealing his wood, and, when she expected a great -scolding, he only said, ‘That load of wood is a great deal too heavy for -you; you must let me carry it home for you,’ and he did. Another day he -caught three poachers, and said, ‘Come, now, let us have it out!’ and -they pulled off their coats and had a regular set-to: he floored two of -them, he was so strong, and then he let them all go. - -“His life seems to have been made up of deeds of faith and charity, but -his property fell into decadence and must have been sold, if Heneage -Dering, who had married his wife’s aunt, had not come to the rescue. -They all lived together in the old house, mediaevally, almost mediaeval -even in their dress; and after Lady Chatterton died, and then Marmion -Ferrers, a final break-up of the remaining links with the past was -prevented by the marriage of Heneage Dering with the widowed ‘Pysie.’ -They were perfectly happy for several years, but he always said ‘a -sudden death is the happiest death,’ and so in 1892 it was. - -“Over the chapel door is inscribed-- - - ‘Transit gloria mundi, - Fides catholica manet,’ - -and the Catholic religion nourishes as much at Baddesley still as it did -in the time of Sir Edward Ferrers, who founded this branch of the family -in 1517, and left ‘five masses in worship of the five wounds principal -that Our Lord suffered in His bitter Passion,’ and who is depicted -kneeling before a crucifix, with the legend ‘Amor meus crucifixus est’ -issuing from his mouth. On Sunday afternoon we went to hear the -Benediction service beautifully sung by the invisible nuns of a convent -close by--a convent of ‘Colettines’ from Bruges, a severe form of Poor -Clares, founded here in 1850, the first of the Order since the -Dissolution. A niece of Lord Clifford was their abbess. There are 250 -Catholics at Baddesley. - -“As we drove to Warwick, we passed through a village where the learned -Dr. Parr was rector. ‘He took pupils,’ said the Bishop. ‘They were not -very bright. One of them said, “I make a point of never believing -anything I do not understand.” “Then your creed must be most uncommonly -brief,” said Dr. Parr.’ - -“In returning home, I lingered one day with my kind friend E. Mathews at -Sonning. I had often longed to go there on a pilgrimage to dear Hugh -Pearson’s grave, and never before been able. What a lovely village it -is, with its old red roofs nestling under tufted trees, and how fragrant -is the beloved memory of the true pastor who gave himself so royally for -his people. ‘Go and break it to my family,’ were his first words when -told he could not live, meaning by his family his parishioners, the -people in the village, who loved him so, and amongst whom he was almost -ideally happy, for he was not only always striving to do good for the -poor and helpless, but was successful in doing it. - - ‘His virtues walked their humble round, - Nor knew a pause, nor felt a void, - And sure the Eternal Master found - His single talent well employ’d.’[592] - -“My volume on ‘Shropshire’ has come out--another book-child launched -into public life.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ W. H. MILLIGAN, _and_ JOURNAL. - -“_Belvoir Castle, Nov. 18, 1898._--I have been with my dear Lowthers at -Campsea Ashe, enjoying their large party of pleasant musicianers, -Countess Valda Gleichen, radiant Mrs. Arkwright of the lovely voice, -&c., but enjoying much more two quiet days with the family when the -others were gone. Mrs. L. took me to Crowe Hall, a moated house with a -delightful old lady-farmeress, of the hard-working high-thinking type, -so familiar in my boyhood, but almost extinct in these days of -over-dressed, gig-driving, pianoforte-strumming minxes. - -“One of those kind and characteristic telegrams of the Duchess of -Rutland, extending over a whole page, has brought me here, where there -is a large party too, almost entirely composed of the Duke’s innumerable -nephews and nieces. As I do not either shoot or care for the regular -evening ball in the gallery, what I like best is the daily walk with the -Duke and Duchess, meeting them in the hall as the clock strikes 12.15, -and wandering in the wood walks or on the nearer terraces, already -fragrant with violets, listening to the Duke’s reminiscences of his own -past and Belvoir’s past, always of endless interest. How I pity my host -and hostess in their over-anxious cares about their immense estates; but -they must be comforted themselves by the pleasure they are able to give. -Sightseers are admitted always, and the great Midland towns daily pour -their legions into these beautiful woods: they do no harm and behave -wonderfully well, but one almost feels as if the public, who most enjoy -it, ought to help to keep up the place. In the case of Belvoir, the -scourge of the death-duties affects what is the pleasaunce of thousands. - -“I went with Mrs. G. Drummond to Bottesford, where there is such a grand -series of monuments of the Earls of Rutland and their families, -including one of some children who died by witchcraft. Their nurse was -condemned to be burnt for it, but said, ‘If I am guilty, may this bit of -bread choke me,’ and it did! The Duchess Elizabeth, who made all the -charming walks here, moved all the Dukes to her new mausoleum in the -Belvoir woods, but she left the Earls at Bottesford. - -“Hearing of her again here has recalled much that Lady Waterford used to -tell me of the Duchess Isabella, who was called ‘Was a bella’ in her -later years. She used to describe the painting of her fine portrait by -Sir Joshua, how he would rush forward and look closely into her eyes, -take her well in, and then go as far back as possible and look at the -general effect in a distant glass, chiefly making his picture from that. -Lady Adeliza Manners once met a very beautiful peasant girl near -Belvoir, very beautiful except that she had lost one of her best front -teeth. ‘What a misfortune,’ said Lady A.; ‘how could it have -happened?’--‘Oh, the Duchess (Isabella) had lost one of her front teeth, -so she forced me to have mine taken out to replace it.’ - -“I wonder if you went to Harlaxton when you were here--the immense -modern house by Blomfield, of which a most pleasant Mr. Pearson Gregory -suddenly found himself the heir from a godfather. He was staying at the -castle and took me there. When the Empress Frederick was here, she -admired it beyond words, but I did not: it is magnificent, but too -heavy, and the staircase very dark. Outside there are garden-staircases -and fountains, which are really beautiful, almost worthy of the Villa -Aldobrandini. There is a picture of a De Ligne baby, the heir of the -place, whose cradle was put too close to the fire: a coal flew out, and -it was burnt to death. The village is rendered infinitely picturesque by -stone wells and portals made from fragments of a recently destroyed -moated manor-house, of which only the gateway is left. - -“There is a great charm in being made a sharer in what Disraeli called -‘the sustained splendour of a stately life,’ but much of the pleasure of -a great country-house depends upon whom it falls to your lot to take -down to dinner, and the Duchess attends to this with careful cleverness. -I was especially amused by one sentence in that delightful ‘Isabel -Carnaby’--‘There is one good thing in getting married. You know then -that, whatever happens, there is one woman you will never have to take -in to dinner again as long as you live.’ - -“And what funny things people say at dinner. Lately--not here--a very -‘great lady’ said to me, ‘I can assure you that the consciousness of -being well dressed gives me an inward peace which religion could never -bestow.’” - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL. - -[Illustration: IN THE UPPER CORRIDOR, HOLMHURST.] - -“_Holmhurst, Jan. 21, 1899._--I sit alone on my hilltop, amid the -swirling mists, and howling winds, and swelching rain, and am often very -desolate and full of melancholy thoughts, which require active work to -drive them away. But I ought not to complain, for before Christmas I was -a week with the kind Llangattocks at the Hendre in beautiful -Monmouthshire, seeing much that was interesting, and driving with four -horses and postillions, to Raglan, and through the beautiful brown -billowy country of the Forest of Dean. Then I had a quietly happy -fortnight at Torquay with my kind Thornycroft cousins; and went from -them to Mount Ebford to Pamela Turner, a very pleasant first cousin I -had not seen for years; paying, lastly, a sad visit--because probably -the last ever possible--to beautiful Cobham.... Yet I am alone now, and -perhaps it is as well that my thoughts should be always turning to the -‘undiscovered country’ which will be so much to us, and of which we know -nothing, even though we may be very near its shores. I work on, I enjoy -on, but I feel more that life is becoming a waiting time. - - ‘I have a journey, sir, shortly to go; - My master calls me, I must not say no.’[593] - -And there is a sentence of Epictetus which seems to demand thinking -about. ‘If the Master call, run to the ship, forsaking all these things, -and looking not behind. And if thou be in old age, go not far from the -ship at any time, lest the Master should ask, and thou not be ready.’ -... It was Adrienne de Lafayette who said, ‘Must we not all die? The -great thing is to be always ready; as for the kind of death, that is -only a detail.’ I think and think, as so many millions have thought, how -it can be after death, and such inquiries and searchings have no answer. -Still, as Jowett wrote towards the close of life, ‘Though we cannot see -into another life, we believe, with inextinguishable hope, that there is -still something reserved for us.’ - -“I feel the view usually held now on these subjects is wholesomer than -that of my childhood, when ‘good people’ talked with such dogmatic -assurance, in all ‘le bel air de leur devotion,’ of how glorious their -life in another world would be, whilst definitely condemning so many of -their neighbours to the hell which, in their imagination, was their -God’s vindictive retaliation for His injuries. I often remember her -words, and I think I realise the feeling with which my dear old friend -Mrs. Duncan Stewart once said to me, ‘I should say, like Dr. Johnson, I -am speaking in crass ignorance, according to the failings of my fallible -human nature; and yet, may we not all, whilst acting like fallible human -beings as we are, trust respectfully to God’s mercy, though speaking of -no glorious future as reserved for us, lest He should say, “What hast -thou done to deserve this?”’ - -“Lord Llangattock writes urging me to join the Anti-vivisection Society; -but I answer I am not competent to judge of it. Then he sends me its -pamphlets, which seem to me rather blasphemous, asserting that ‘Christ -died just as much for all animals as for all human beings.’ What! for -bugs, lice, ringworms, mosquitoes? ‘Don’t kill that flea; Christ died -for it.’ Then how about cobras and puff-adders? Surely it must have been -the Devil that died for those. What nonsense people, especially -‘religious people,’ write in these little pamphlets, almost as great -nonsense as most country clergy preach in the dreary Sahara of their -endless sermons. ‘Long texts, short sermons,’ was John Wesley’s maxim, -and what a good one!” - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL _and_ LETTERS. - -“_Rome, March 10, 1899._--I was very ailing, and Catherine Vaughan -insisted on my seeing Dr. Sansom, who found me so ‘run down’ that he -insisted on my coming out here to my ‘native air;’ therefore here I am, -and already it has done me good. I found my dear old friend Miss Garden -rather better than I left her three years ago, and full of her sister -Mrs. Ramsay’s escape, having been upset in a carriage close to the edge -of the Tarpeian rock. ‘If the horse had not been _assolutamente -pecora_,’ said the coachman, ‘she must have gone over.’ - -“The other day I was with a circle of old friends who were discussing -the ‘Story of my Life.’ ‘Surely the early part must have been -exaggerated,’ said one of them, ‘that story of Aunt Esther hanging the -cat, for instance,[594] because the child loved it.’ ‘I can testify that -that story was absolutely true, for _I was there_,’ said an old -clergyman present, ‘and I have shuddered over the cruel recollection -ever since.’ It was Canon Douglas Gordon. I had quite forgotten that he -was a pupil of Mr. Simpkinson, curate of Hurstmonceaux, at the time. Mr. -Gordon also said, ‘I can vouch, too, for the truth of the story of the -bullying at Harrow, for _I was myself the victim_;’ and he told how a -brutal bully got a dead dog, and cut off its feet, ears, &c., and forced -him to drink them in coffee. That day he ran away. ‘Alexander Russell’ -went with him. They had only four miles to go to his father Lord -Aberdeen’s house at Stanmore. He and Lord Abercorn were governors of the -school. They happened to be together, and they sent him back in a -carriage that evening with a letter to the head-master saying that, in -the interests of the school, what had happened had better be hushed up; -but that it was so dreadful, that he--the master--must be compelled to -take the awful bullying in the school seriously in hand. And he did. Mr. -Gordon says that the wickedness of Harrow at that time was quite -appalling: things which could never be mentioned were then of nightly -occurrence all over the school. The masters were as bad, and would come -into the very pupil-rooms humming obscene songs. - -“What an age of independent criticism it is! An acquaintance here said -to me the other day, ‘I have a horror of the patriarchs, and how any one -can set up such wicked, low, mean men as an example, I cannot -understand--Jacob and the rams, for instance. No wonder the Jews were -bad with such examples to follow.... I believe in Christ thoroughly and -cling to the thought of Him: of course the story of His birth and all -that is very difficult, but “autre pays, autres mœurs,” that is what -I say.’” - - * * * * * - -“_March 24._--We have been to Tivoli on the most glorious day--a -pellucid sky, and exquisite blue shadows flitting over the young green -of the Campagna. From the station I went to S. Antonio, the old -hermitage and shrine bought by the Searles. Mrs. Searle met me most -kindly. I said, ‘_What_ a beautiful home you have!’ ‘Yes,’ she answered, -‘and the really delightful thing is that _the Lord_ has given it to us.’ -I could hardly help saying, ‘I suppose that means you bought it.’ -Afterwards I found she was one of the very few ladies who belong to the -Salvation Army. She is kind and Christian beyond words--‘vraie marchande -de bonheur’--and her lovely home is a centre of thoughtful charity; but -being in this Catholic country gives her many qualms and shocks. One day -lately she was alone in a lane near her home, and came upon a shrine of -the Virgin with her little statue, and was filled with righteous -indignation at ‘that doll.’ As she stood there, a number of peasant -women came up and knelt before the shrine and prayed most devoutly. When -they got up she said, ‘How could you pray to that graven image? I wonder -what you were praying for.’ ‘Why, we were asking the Madonna to send us -rain; our land needs it so much,’ said the women, much surprised at her -wrath. ‘How can you pray to _her_ for that?’ said Mrs. Searle; ‘let me -show you how to pray,’ and then and there she knelt down in the dusty -road and prayed aloud, prayed with her whole heart to her Lord, that He -would send them the rain they needed; and immediately, though the sky -had been quite clear till then, it _poured_! - -“The women went away to their priest and told him that they had seen a -lady who reviled the Madonna, but who was a powerful witch and had been -able to bring the rain by her enchantments.” - - * * * * * - -“_March 29._--To Sutri with Mrs. Ramsay. In the early morning the dew -was like crystal, every leaf glistening. The mountains rose pale blue -against an opal sky, but were hidden at their base by the delicate mists -of the plain. It was a long, long drive before we reached the great -solid rock, which is hewn away within into all the circular steps of a -vast amphitheatre overhung by mighty ilexes. Behind it, is an Early -Christian church, also hewn out of the rock,--pillars, font, and altar -all one with it. - -“Se voi pensate sedere sopra una cittadina Americana, voi vi sbagliate,’ -was heard by Gery Cullum from an American lady here in altercation with -her cabman.” - - * * * * * - -“_April 1._--I have had one of my Palatine lectures quite in the old -way, and a luncheon with the charming Crown Princess of Sweden has been -a great pleasure. - -“Dining at Palazzo Bonaparte, M. de Westenberg told me that one day when -Madame Mère was living there, a stranger came to the palace and insisted -upon seeing her on a matter of vital importance. He was evidently a -gentleman, but would not tell his name or errand. At last his urgency -prevailed, and Madame Mère admitted him. He gave her a crucifix and said -it belonged to her son in St. Helena, and then he said, ‘You need no -longer be unhappy about him, for he has just entered into rest: his -sorrows are over.’ It was on that day that Napoleon died in St. Helena. - -“Miss Garden says, ‘Lanciani came to me one day. He was not married -then, and he said, “I am too miserably dull; it cannot go on; I must -either take a wife or a cat.” “Well, and which should you prefer, Signer -Lanciani?”--“Oh, a me sono tutte due eguale,” he said. “But la signora -madre, which would she prefer?”--“Oh, la madre,” he said meditatively, -“il gatto.” - -“‘All life has its sorrows,’ says Miss Garden, ‘only they are unequally -distributed. Do you know what Eddie Baddeley’s sorrow is? He is only -three, you know. It is that the turkey-cock at the Villa Borghese will -not make friends with him. “But don’t you think he will ever like me?” -he said to his mother. “No, my dear,” she said, “I don’t think he ever -will.” But it was just one of those cases in which I think a lie would -have been permissible; she had better have held out hopes.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Palazzo Guadagni, Florence, April 17._--I have been here ten days as -the guest of the ever-kind Duchess Dowager of Sermoneta, and found Mrs. -and Miss Lowther here. It is an unusual life. We scarcely see our -hostess till dinner-time, unless she asks us to drive with her, and we -have each a most comfortable apartment, with excellent food and service, -and the whole day to employ as we like. Many are the old friends we have -seen, but most frequently the Marchesa Peruzzi, Story’s daughter, who -has all his agreeable power of narration. ‘The reason why we loved Mrs. -Browning so much as children,’ she says, ‘is because she always treated -us as her equals, and talked to us as such. Pen and I used to sit at her -feet, and she was just as courteous to us as to any of the grown-up -people.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Arco in Sud Tyrol, April 27._--I came here with the Lowthers, and we -have been some days with two delightful Misses Warre, sisters of the -head-master of Eton. It is an exquisitely beautiful place, with glorious -excursions. One day we have spent most deliciously at Castel Toblino, a -grand old castle which looks at itself in a glassy lake surrounded by -mountains. General Baratieri, a hero, though a most unfortunate one, is -one of those of whom we have seen something here.” - - * * * * * - -“_Holmhurst, May 10._--Reached the dear home with great thankfulness, -after a most severely hard-worked fortnight for a new edition of my -‘Paris.’” - -[Illustration: THE PORCH, HOLMHURST.] - - * * * * * - -“_June 14, 1899._--At luncheon at Lady Constance Leslie’s I met Mr. -Holman Hunt, a charming, simple, natural man. He spoke of the great -difficulty of getting any one to do such work as is wanted for St. -Paul’s Cathedral; that few would give up the high prices paid now for -other work for the small prices the Government would pay. He talked of -Leighton, whom he had known intimately in early life. Three tailors in -Bond Street, thinking it might be a good speculation, clubbed together -to buy one of his first pictures. They offered £100 for it: he stuck out -for £200. Eventually it was arranged that they should pay £150, but a -suit of clothes was to be thrown in. Then came the violent abuse of all -Leighton’s work, and the tailors got alarmed, and sold the picture for -£100 without any suit of clothes. That picture was afterwards bought for -thousands by the Gallery at Liverpool, and there it is now, unlikely -ever to come to the hammer again. - -“After this, when Leighton’s pictures were accepted for the Academy and -he was hard at work for the next year, he was told by his studio-man -that some one wanted to speak to him. He sent out word that he was very -busy and could not see any one; but the man was pertinacious and would -not go away. At last Leighton said, ‘Well, he had better come in for a -minute and say what his business is.’ So he was let in. But it was a man -who stood by the door and did not come further. ‘Well,’ said Leighton, -‘what do you want?’ ‘To come straight to the point at once,’ said the -man, ‘I want that picture’ (pointing to the work upon the easel). ‘You -get £300 now for your pictures, don’t you? Well, I will give you £700.’ -‘But you have not even seen the picture,’ said Leighton; ‘you don’t even -know what the subject is.’ ‘No, I don’t,’ said the man, ‘and, if I did, -I should know no more about it than I do now.’ That man was Agnew. He -acquired the picture: it was his first venture. - -“Mr. Holman Hunt said, speaking of the bad results of Board Schools, -that he had been away lately. When he came back, a boy came to him as a -model, a very good boy, whom he had not seen for some time. ‘Well,’ he -said to the boy, ‘it’s a long time since I’ve seen you; I’ve been away; -I’ve been at Stratford-on-Avon.’ ‘Ah,’ said the boy slowly, ‘so you’ve -been at Stratford-on-Avon, have you? That’s where Shakspeare lived, him -as married Anne Hathaway, and him as they called the Swan of Avon and -the smooth-tongued liar (lyre). It’s well I didn’t live in them times, -or they might have been calling me some such beastly names as that.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Holmhurst, Sept. 8._--Early on the morning of July 29 I was summoned -from home by telegraph to the dying bed of my dear cousin Catherine -Vaughan, perhaps more than any one else still left bound up with all my -life in the long-ago. She had forbidden any one to come to her when ill, -but desired that, if it was known she was dying, I should be sent for. I -found her terribly ill and suffering, though delighted to see me. That -Saturday was a day of great anguish, both for herself and those with -her. But she grew calmer in the night, and was with us still for four -days and nights, during which I seemed to go back into my old life with -my mother, constantly by her side, fanning her, wiping the poor brow, -trying to help her to bear through. Almost her very last words were -‘Dear, dear Augustus.’ Then, the day before she quite left us, she was -unconscious, and we sate in a great calm, only waiting for the coming of -the angel. A majestic beauty had come back to her in the shadow of -death, a likeness to her mother, to her brother Arthur Stanley at his -best, to the ‘Curly Kate’ of sixty years ago, only now they were -snow-white curls which rippled over the pillow. I think it was the so -frequent sight of this life-long friend, more intimate and dearer than -ever in the last few years, yet so much older than myself, which has -always made me feel young, and that, with her passing away, a bridge is -broken down. It has been since quite a small added pain to take leave of -the old furniture and pictures, the inanimate witnesses of our -lives--‘auld nick-nackets’ somebody called them--but still silent and -sacred memorials of the dear Alderley and Norwich family homes, which -have now passed almost to a stranger. They could still recall to those -familiar with them so much that only Kate and I knew, and so much more -that only Kate and I cared about. - - ‘Yea, truly, as the sallowing years - Fall from us faster, like frost-loosened leaves - Pushed by the misty touch of shortening days, - And that unwakened winter nears, - ’Tis the void chair our surest guest receives, - ’Tis lips long cold that give the warmest kiss, - ’Tis the lost voice comes oftenest to our ears; - We count our rosary by the beads we miss.’[595] - -“How long and how full the hours of watching by a death-bed seem! how -full of what varied emotions and anxieties, an almost agonising -eagerness to do the right thing every minute even in a physical sense, -but much more to _say_ the right thing, only the right thing, to one -who is on the awful threshold of so great a transition, to whom, because -she is on the very brink of unravelling the great mystery, all the -commonplaces, even of religion, must fall so flat. One can only try to -help, to _support_ the beloved one, who is passing away from our -possibilities, spiritually as well as physically, try to recollect what -would be a comfort to oneself in such a crisis, and let oneself go -_with_ the departing one to the very portal itself. - -“With dear Kate I had often spoken of this, yet, when the reality came, -it was unlike all we had imagined, and I suppose it is always so. But I -felt how well it must always be to talk over the end of life with those -you are likely to be near when the close really comes. It makes a sort -of death-bed comradeship, if I can so call it, which could never exist -without it, and certainly in this case it made Kate cling to my being -constantly with her, when she would allow no one else to see her. Then -how seldom _any_ words are possible from a dying person. In the six -death-beds I have attended it has been so; and even in this case, when -it lasted four days and nights, there was little speech, only an urgency -that I should never leave her, that I should keep near her, that I -should be close by her side as long as she was on earth at all, till she -passed into the unseen. - -“Whilst feeling the change which her loss makes in my life, I have read -words of Bishop Magee which have come home to me. ‘The most beautiful -and natural of sunsets is still a sunset, and the shadows that follow it -are chill and depressing. I begin to feel the peculiar sadness that the -death of much older relatives brings to those who are entering -themselves on old age. When I see all those whom I remember once, -middle-aged men and women, younger by many years than I am now, all -passed and gone, I feel somehow as if light was going out of life very -fast. There are so few living with whom one can recall the _past_, and -grow young again in recalling it.’” - - * * * * * - -JOURNAL. - -“_Holmhurst, Sept. 31._--I have been a week at Swaylands to meet the -Duchess of York, and as there were scarcely any other guests, saw a -great deal of her, and was increasingly filled with admiration for the -dignified simplicity and single-mindedness, and the high sense of duty -by which her naturally merry, genial nature is pervaded, and which will -be the very salvation of England some day. Before her scandal sits dumb: -she has a quiet but inflexible power of silencing everything which seems -likely to approach ill-natured gossip, yet immediately after gives such -a genial kindly look and word to the silenced one as prevents any -feeling of mortification. All morning the Duchess was occupied with her -lady in real hard work, chiefly letters, I believe; in the afternoons we -went for long drives and sight-seeings--of Penshurst, Knole, -Groombridge, Hever, Ightham, and she was full of interest in the history -and associations of these old-world places. At Hever the owners were -away, but we got a table from a cottage, and an excellent tea-meal was -spread upon it at the top of the high field above the castle. If the -Duchess is ever Queen of England, that table will be considered to have -a history.” - - * * * * * - -“_Holmhurst, Sept. 8._--I have been in Suffolk on an ancestor-hunt, -which involved a delightful visit to Herbert and Lady Mary Ewart at -Great Thurlow. It was in the time of George I., I think, that our -great-great-uncle Francis Naylor, the owner of Hurstmonceaux Castle, a -‘Medmenham Brother’ and the wildest of the wild, was led to a changed -and better life by his love for the beautiful Carlotta Alston of -Edwardstone. Unfortunately, whilst they were engaged, his father, Bishop -Hare, found out that her elder sister, Mary Margaret, was one of the -greatest heiresses in England, married her without telling his son till -the day before the wedding, and then positively forbade him to become -his brother-in-law. Francis Naylor was very much inclined to go to the -devil again, but Carlotta maintained her influence, and eventually they -were married without the Bishop’s consent. They were too poor to live at -Hurstmonceaux, but the third Miss Alston had married the rich Stephen -Soame, and she gave them a home, and there, in the house of the generous -Anne Soame, they lived and died. The old Jacobean mansion of Little -Thurlow was magnificent and had eighty-one bedrooms; its beautiful -wrought-iron gates with pilasters were given by Charles II., who often -stayed there, and the family lived at Little Thurlow in most unusual -state, even for that time, driving out daily in three -carriages-and-four. Sir Stephen Soame, the builder of the house, has a -grand tomb in the church where Francis and Carlotta Naylor and Anne -Soame are buried behind his stately carved pew, and there are a most -picturesque grammar-school and almshouses erected by him. I remember -some of the Soames coming to Hurstmonceaux--as cousins--in my childhood, -but their direct line died out at last, and the place went to some very -distant relations from Beverley, who pulled down the old hall, because -‘they could not live in a house where you could drive a coach-and-four -up the great staircase.’ Old Mrs. Soame, however, of the second set, did -not die till she was 104, and the last of her two daughters only in -1885. Yet the Misses Soame had never been to London: their travels were -limited to being driven twice a year to Lowestoft in their large yellow -chariot with post-horses. They always intended to try the railway by -going from Haverhill to the next station and having their carriage to -meet them there; but when the day came they shrank from the feat. They -were ‘worth an income to the doctor, the chemist, and the fishmonger,’ -and they left a fortune to the family of a man who had once proposed to -one of them.” - - * * * * * - -“_Holmhurst, Oct. 23._--Again I have been on an ancestor-hunt. I met -Mrs. Lowther at the old haunted house of Lawford Hall near Manningtree, -and our hostess, Mrs. Mouncey, sent us to Hadleigh, where Mary Margaret -Alston’s grandfather, Charles Trumbull, was the very saintly Rector in -the time of James II., and resigned his living for his ordination oath’s -sake on the advent of William III. The Rectory, now known as the -Deanery, is a glorious old house, with a grand brick gateway, priests’ -hiding-holes, and curious pictures by Canaletto--an intimate friend and -visitor of one of the rectors--let into its walls. It was the home of -Rowland Taylor, the Marian martyr, who was dragged down the street of -Hadleigh to his stake outside the town ‘cracking jokes all the way,’ and -another vicar was Hugh Rose, when Archbishop Trench was the curate. - -“Two days later I went to Edwardstone, a delightful old place near -Sudbury, one of the many of which Bishop Hare’s wife was the heiress, -and where numbers of her Alston ancestors are buried; and then I was two -days at the familiar Campsea Ashe, where, as its beloved owner says, ‘If -you do not know how to enjoy yourself, you must be made to.’ Mr. Astor -was there, and told me that the origin of the American expression ‘a -chestnut’ lay in the rivalries of the theatres in Chestnut Street and -Walnut Street in New York. An expected star who came out in the Walnut -Street Theatre could only do things which had already appeared in -Chestnut Street, and when the young men saw them they said, ‘That’s a -chestnut,’ and it passed into a proverb. - -“Mr. Astor was very funny about a man who was always late for -everything, and who one day, when he was expecting a party to stay with -him, rushed home after all his guests had arrived. On the stairs he met -a man, with whom, to make up for lost time, he shook hands most warmly, -saying, ‘Oh, my dear fellow, I’m so glad to see you; do make yourself -quite at home and enjoy yourself.’ It was a burglar, very much surprised -at his cordial reception, for he was carrying off all the valuables. He -also said-- - -“‘You know Dr. N. and his wonderful tales. I heard him tell of going to -shoot chamois. He had sighted one a long way off and fired. He said the -chamois never moved, but put up one foot and scratched its ear. He fired -again, and it put up the other foot and scratched the other ear. Then he -fired again and killed it. When he came up to it, he found that each of -the first shots had touched an ear. The chamois had only thought, “Oh, -these damned fleas!” - -“‘Then Dr. N. told of how he went after bears. A grisly came and he shot -him: then another grisly came and he shot him: then a third grisly -came.... “If you say you shot _him_” said a man present, “I’ll throw -this bottle at your head.” “Well, the third grisly escaped,” calmly said -Dr. N.’ - -“The last two days of my absence I spent with the Grant Duffs at Lexden -Manor, where Sir Mountstuart was most agreeable and anecdotive, and -whence Lady Grant Duff drove me to see the old gateway of Layer Marney, -beautiful in its great decay.” - - * * * * * - -“_London, Nov. 29._--Luncheon with the C.’s, who had dined last night -with the Wilberforces. Canon Wilberforce told them of a missionary -establishment in Africa, a most admirable mission, which had been most -effective, had converted the whole neighbourhood, built church and -schools, and done no end of good. - -“Then, in some crisis or other, the mission was swept away and the place -was long left desolate. - -“After many years the missionaries returned, expecting to find -everything destroyed. But, to their astonishment, they found the -church-bell going and the buildings in perfect repair, all looking as -before--only there _was_ a difference. They could not make out what it -was. - -“So they went to the chief and asked him about it. ‘Well, yes,’ he said, -‘there _is_ one little difference. You used to tell us that God was love -and always watching over us for good, while the devil was always seeking -to destroy us; so we felt it was the devil we had better propitiate, and -it is the devil we have worshipped ever since you left, and--it has most -completely answered.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Dec. 22, 1899._--I am just at the end of a long retreat in a sort of -private hospital, where I have been for the sake of the ‘Nauheim cure’ -for an affection of the heart, from which I have now suffered for more -than a year, and which was greatly increased by the anxieties and -sorrows of last August. I am better since my ‘cure,’ but am seldom quite -well now, and, as I read in a novel, ‘my dinner is always either a -satisfying fact or a poignant memory,’ and generally the latter. The -South African war news is casting a shadow over the closing year, and -the death of Lady Salisbury has been a real sorrow--an ever-kind friend -since my early boyhood. I went to the memorial service for her in the -Chapel-Royal--a beautiful service, but a very sad one to many.” - - * * * * * - -_To_ MRS. _and_ MISS AGNES THORNYCROFT (_after a happy visit to -them at Torquay_). - -“_Liskeard, May 7, 1900._--I will begin a history to my two kindest of -hostesses from this dreary wind-stricken little town, which is as ugly -as it can be, but with a large, clean, old-fashioned posting-inn. I got -a little victoria to take me the 2½ miles to St. Cleer’s Well in the -uplands, in a moorland village, approached by primrosy, stitchworty -lanes. The well is a glorious subject for sketching, old grey stones -tinged with golden lichen, a canopy of open Norman arches, and -background of purple hill. It was so bitterly, snowily cold that I -feared, as I sate down on my camp-stool, that sciatica would never allow -me to rise from it; but Providence sent me a whole schoolful of -children, boys and girls, about sixty of them, who pressed close round -through the whole performance, so I just wore them like an eider-down, -and was rather hot than otherwise. Returning, the evening was still so -young that I took the carriage on to St Keyne’s Well, on the other side -of Liskeard, but it was scarcely worth the visit.” - -“_Helston, May 8_, 6 P.M.--No farther than this, for when I arrived here -at midday, I found there was no chance of getting on to the Lizard; the -whole town was in too great a turmoil to attend to any individual, for -it was Furry Day, a local floral festa from very early times, and all -the gentlemen and ladies of the neighbourhood (the real ones!) were -dancing in couples, with bands playing through the streets, under -garlanded arches and flags flying from every window. This sounds -lovely, but really was not--only curious, though it gave infinite -satisfaction to the thousands of spectators, who on this day bring great -wealth to the town. But oh! the noise and discomfort for an unwilling -spectator--the organs, and peep-shows, and wild-beast shows, and ‘Boer -and Briton’ shows, and horsemanship-ladies careering through the streets -after the dancing was over. If any one wishes to know what the Inferno -is like and the worst din the human mind can imagine, they should spend -a ‘Furry Day;’ only, to be sure, at Helston all the people are quite -good, which would probably make a very considerable difference!” - -“_Helston, May 10._--Yesterday I breakfasted in the coffee-room with an -old gentleman who was exceedingly angry with me because I did not think -Sterne’s ‘Sentimental Journey’ should be one of the twelve novels to be -saved if all the rest in the world were swept away--‘only the most dense -ignorance of literature’ could make me confess such a thing! - -“It was a drive of ten miles in a grand and lonely landau through a -country brilliant with gorse and blackthorn. Beneath a great plantation -on the right was the Loe Pool, only separated by a strip of silver sand -from the sea, and described in Tennyson’s ‘Morte d’Arthur.’ Beyond a -wooded hollow with rocks and fir trees the road enters upon the -high-lying plain of the Lizard, wind-stricken, storm-swept, without a -tree, the houses of ugly Lizard-town rising black against a pellucid sky -on the horizon. A scrambling walk down a rugged lane, and then a pathlet -marked by white stones above tremendous precipices brought me to -Kynance Cove--a little disappointing, for it was high water when it -ought to have been low, and a grey colourless day when it ought to have -been brilliant. However, my drawing ‘answered,’ as Aunt Kitty would have -said, and in two hours, as it began to mizzle, I was ready to return.” - -“_Tintagel, May 10._--The ‘girling’ of the sea in the old ballad of ‘Sir -Patrick Spens’ just expresses what one hears here. This ‘Wharncliffe -Arms’ is an ideal inn, and very striking is the little glen, now so -primrosy, with the black ruined castle, the cries of the seabirds-- - - ‘And the great sea-waves below, - Pulse of the midnight, beating slow.’”[596] - - * * * * * - -“_Royal Hotel, Bideford, May 15._--This house has beautiful old rooms -built by John Davy, the first tobacco merchant, with splendid Italian -ceilings: the little _Revenge_ was built in a shipping yard just before -the house, and in a narrow street on the other side the river is a -public-house which is the house of Sir Richard Grenville. I thought the -path above the precipice at Lynton the most beautiful sea-walk I ever -saw. In places it is a sheer wall of rock rising from the waves-- - - ‘Which roar, rock-thwarted, under bellowing caves - Beneath the windy wall.’” - - * * * * * - -“_Middlewick, Corsham, May 18._--The kind Clutterbucks, with whom I am -staying, took me to Castlecombe yesterday, the home of the Scroopes for -five hundred years, and quite one of the most enchanting places in -England, in its green glen, its clear rushing river, its exquisite -church tower and old market-cross. I saw it last at nine years old, and -was enchanted to find its loveliness all and more than I remembered. -To-day we went to luncheon at Harnish, and I visited once more the -little rectory where I was at school for three and a half most miserable -years. How different a little boy’s path is now! We saw Corsham Court -afterwards, with Cronje’s flag floating over its staircase.” - -“_Holmhurst, May 23._--I found a very large party on Saturday at -hospitable Mr. Astor’s, and Cliveden in great beauty, entrancing carpets -of bluebells under the trees. A telegram from the Queen of Sweden took -me to Roehampton on Monday. It was twenty-two years since I had seen the -King, and I thought him even handsomer and more royal-looking than of -old. The Queen is not less fragile, and as full of good thoughts and -words as ever. I had luncheon with the royal pair and their household, -and a long talk with the Queen afterwards, who told me much of my -especial Prince, now Regent in his father’s absence.” - - - - -XXXI - -FAREWELL - - “Pleasure to our hot grasp - Gives flowers after flowers; - With passionate warmth we grasp - Hand after hand in ours: - Now do we soon perceive how fast our youth is spent.” - --MATTHEW ARNOLD. - - “Oh, He has taught us what reply to make, - Or secretly in spirit, or in words, - If there be need, when sorrowing men complain - The fair illusions of their youth depart, - All things are going from them, and to-day - Is emptier of delights than yesterday, - Even as to-morrow will be barer yet: - We have been taught to feel this need not be, - This is not life’s inevitable law; - But that the gladness we are called to know - Is an increasing gladness, that the soil - Of the human heart, tilled rightly, will become - Richer and deeper, fitted to bear fruit - Of an immortal growth from day to day, - Fruit of love, life, and inefficient joy.”--R. C TRENCH. - - “Lord, I owe thee a death: let it not be terrible: yet Thy will, - not mine, be done.”--HOOKER. - - “When the tapers now burn blue, - And the comforters are few, - And that number more than true, - Sweet Spirit, comfort me!”--HERRICK. - - -I must close this book. Printers are calling for its last pages. It is -like seeing an old friend go forth into a new world, and wondering if -those who inhabit it will understand him and treat him well. Perhaps no -one will read it except the intimate circle--a large one certainly--who -have loved Hurstmonceaux, Stoke, and little Holmhurst at different -times. But I can never regret having written it, and it has been so -great an enjoyment to me, that perhaps others may like it; for I have -concealed nothing, and Coleridge says, “I could inform the dullest -author how he might write an interesting book. Let him relate the events -of his own life with honesty, not disguising the feelings that -accompanied them.”[597] - -Most people will say two volumes would have been enough, but the fact is -I have written chiefly for myself and my relations, and not for the -general public at all. They may read the book if they like, but it was -not intended for them, and, as Walter Scott describes it-- - - “Most men, when drawn to speak about themselves, - Are moved by little and by little to say more - Than they first dreamt; until at last they blush, - And can but hope to find secret excuse - In the self-knowledge of their auditors.”[598] - -Except that I have seen more varieties of people than some do, I believe -there has been nothing unusual in my life. All lives are made up of joys -and sorrows with a little calm, neutral ground connecting them; though, -from physical reasons perhaps, I think I have enjoyed the pleasures and -suffered in the troubles more than most. But from the calm backwater of -my present life at Holmhurst, as I overlook the past, the pleasures seem -to predominate, and I could cordially answer to any one who asked me “Is -life worth living?”--“Yes, to the very dregs.” - -Sainte-Beuve says, “Il est donné, de nos jours, à un bien petit nombre, -même parmi les plus délicats et ceux qui les apprécient le mieux, de -recueillir, d’ordonner sa vie selon ses admirations et selon ses goûts, -avec suite, avec noblesse.” And latterly my days have been “avec suite;” -“avec noblesse” is what they ought to have been. In my quiet home, of -which little has been said in these volumes, days succeed each other -unmarked, but on the whole happy, though sometimes very lonely. The -whole time passes very quickly, yet it is, as I remember the Grand -Duchess Stephanie of Baden wrote to my aunt Mrs. Stanley--“In youth the -years are long, the moments short, but in age the moments are long, the -years short.” Really I have been alone here for thirty years, twelve in -which my dearest Lea was still presiding over the lower regions of the -house, and eighteen in absolute solitude. It is the winter evenings, -after the early twilight has set in, which are the longest. Then there -are often no voices but those of the past:-- - - “Time brought me many another friend - That loved me longer; - New love was kind, but in the end - Old love was stronger. - - Years come and go, no New Year yet - Hath slain December, - And all that should have cried, Forget! - Cried but--Remember!” - -People say, “It is all your own fault that you are solitary; you ought -to have married long ago.” But they know nothing about it; for as long -as my mother lived, and for some time after, I had nothing whatever to -marry upon, and after that I had very little, and I have been constantly -reminded that people of the class in which I have always lived do not -like to marry paupers. Besides, the fact is, that except in one -impossible case perhaps, very long ago, “I have never loved any one -well enough to put myself in a noose for them: it is a noose, you -know.”[599] What I have to regret is that I have no very near relations -who have in the least my own interests and sympathies, though they are -all very kind to me. I have far more in common with many of my younger -friends, “the boys,” who cease to be boys after a few years, and many of -whom, I am sure, turn to Holmhurst as the haven of their lives. But one -feels that there would be this difference between any very congenial -near relations and even the kindest friends: the latter are very glad to -see one, but would be very sorry to see more of one; whilst the former, -if they existed, would take it as a matter of course. - -By friends I often feel that I am greatly over-estimated, so many ask my -advice, and act upon what I tell them. It is a responsibility, but I -feel that I am right in urging what I have always found answer in my own -case, and what has greatly added to my happiness. When a wrong, -sometimes a very cruel wrong, is done to one, one must not try at once -to do some good to those who have done it, because that would be to -mortify them; but if one immediately, at once, sets to think of what -one can do for somebody else, it takes out the taste. Then one can very -soon paste down that unpleasant page of life, as if it had never -existed, and all will be as before. - -Also, always believe the best of people till the worst is proved, and -meditate not on your miseries, but your blessings. - -The greatest of all the blessings I have to be grateful for is, that -though, since my serious illness six years ago, I have never been -entirely without pain, I have, notwithstanding this, good health and a -feeling of youth--just the same feeling I had forty years ago. I suppose -there will be many who will be surprised to see in these pages how old I -am; I am unspeakably surprised at it myself. I have to be perpetually -reminding myself of my years, that I am so much nearer the close than -the outset of life. I feel so young still, that I can hardly help making -plans for quite the far-distant future, schemes of work and of travel, -and I hope sometimes of usefulness, which of course can never be -realised. I have very good spirits, and I feel that I should be -inexcusable if I were not happy when I remember the contrast of my -present life to my oppressed boyhood, or to the terrible trial of the -time when every thought was occupied by such tangled perplexities as -those of the Roman Catholic conspiracy. - -My next greatest blessing is my home, so infinitely, so exquisitely -suited to my needs, and indeed to all my wishes. As I write this, and -look from my window across the tiny terrace with its brilliant flowers -to the oakwoods, golden in the autumn sunset, and the blue sea beyond, -with the craggy mass of Hastings Castle rising up against it, I feel -that there are few places more lovely than Holmhurst. Then the walks in -the grounds offer a constant variety of wood and rock, flowers and -water, and the distant view changes constantly, and composes into a -hundred pictures. And in the little circle of this pleasant home love -assuredly reigns supreme. I look upon my servants as my best and truest -friends; their rooms, in their way, are as pretty and comfortable as my -own, and I believe that they have a real pleasure in serving me. We -unite together in looking after our less fortunate friends, who come in -batches, for a month each set, to the little Hospice in the grounds. I -could not ask my servants to do this, but they are delighted to help me -thus, as in everything. When one of our little household community, as -has happened four times now, passes, in an honoured and cherished old -age, from amongst us, we all mourn together, watch by the deathbed, and -follow the flower-laden coffin to the grave. - -My local affections are centred in Holmhurst now. Rome, which I was -formerly even fonder of, is so utterly changed, it has lost its -enchaining power, and, with the places, the familiar faces there have -all passed away. I go there every third year, but not for pleasure, only -because it is necessary for “Walks in Rome,” the one of my books which -pays best. - -In the summer I generally have guests at Holmhurst, but even then my -mornings are passed in writing, and several twilight hours besides. In -the evenings there is generally reading aloud, or there are drawings to -be looked at, or if “the boys” are with me there are games. Then the -early months of spring are often spent abroad, and the later in London, -and in the autumn I have the opportunity of far more visits than I like -to pay: so that I have quite sufficient people-seeing to prevent getting -rusty, or at any rate to remind me of my utter insignificance in every -society except my own. However, Reviews are a perfect antidote to all -follies of vainglory. I used to be pained by the most abusive ones, -though I generally learnt something from them. Latterly, however, I have -been more aware of the indescribable incapacity and indolence of the -writers, and have not cared at all. I a little wonder, however, why I -have scarcely ever had a favourable Review. My work cannot always have -been so _terribly_ bad, or it would not have had so wide a -circulation--wider, I think, than has attended any other work of the -kind. - -How I wish one knew something, anything, of the hereafter to which the -Old Testament never alludes, and of which the New Testament tells us -nothing satisfactory. Can we really sleep, for millions of years -perhaps, or can we live in another hemisphere, or can we linger here -near people and places we love, incorporeal, invisible? I believe all -the truths of revealed religion, but there is so much that is -unrevealed. Oh! if the disciples, during their three years’ opportunity, -had only asked our Saviour a few more questions--questions so absolutely -essential, to which the answers would have been of such _vital_ -importance. For oh! how far more important what our state after death is -than all our life’s work, than everything we have done or said or -written, or what any one has thought of us. I can truly say with Olga de -la Ferronays, “Je crois, j’aime, j’espère, je me repens;” but how -strangely dim is the clearest sight as to the future. “The awful -mysteries of life and nature,” says Whittier, “sometimes almost -overwhelm me. What? Where? Whither? These questions sometimes hold me -breathless. How little, after all, do we know! And the soul’s anchor of -Faith can only grapple fast upon two or three things, and fast and -surest of all upon the Fatherhood of God.”[600] - -It is astonishing how little good can be derived from all the religious -teaching which is the form and order of the day, from the endless -monotony of services, from the wearisome sermons, not one of which -remains with me from the thousands upon thousands I have been condemned -to listen to, some few of them excellent, but most of them a farrago of -stilted nonsense. I suppose that there are some types of mind which are -benefited by them: I cannot believe that they were good for me. “Oh, -stop, do stop; you have talked enough,” my whole heart has generally -cried out when I have listened to a preacher--generally a man whom one -would never dream of listening to in ordinary conversation for a quarter -of an hour. It is a terrible penalty to pay for one’s religion to have -weekly to hear it worried and tangled by these incapable and often -arrogant beings. What does really remain with me, and raise my mind -heavenwards with every thought of it, is the gentle teaching of my sweet -mother in my childhood, and the practical lesson of her long life of -love to God and man; the austere, unswerving uprightness and justice -which was the mainspring of life’s action to the dear old nurse who was -spared for forty-eight years to be the blessing of our home, ever one of -those who, as Emerson says, “make the earth wholesome;” the remembrance -of Hugh Pearson, Lady Waterford, and many other holy ones entered into -the Perfect Life, and the certainty whence their peace in life and their -calm in death was derived. Whittier again echoes my own thoughts when he -says, “I regard Christianity as a life rather than a creed; and in -judging my fellow-men, I can use no other standard than that which our -Lord and Master has given us, ‘By their fruits ye shall know them.’ The -only orthodoxy that I am especially interested in is that of life and -practice.” - -I know my own great imperfection and unworthiness, and when I turn from -myself to others, I cannot judge them. One cannot know all the secret -guiding wires of action in them. I think perhaps the secret of any -influence I have with boys is, that though I am willing to tell them -what I think best as to the future, I never condemn their past; I am not -called upon to do so. Southey’s lines come back to me:-- - - “Oh, what are we, - Frail creatures that we are, that we should sit - In judgment man on man! And what were we - If the All-Merciful should mete to us - With the same rigorous measure wherewithal - Sinner to sinner metes!”[601] - -When I look at the dates of births and deaths in our family in the -Family Bible, I see that I have already exceeded the age which has been -usually allotted to the Hares. Can it be that, while I still feel so -young, the evening of life is closing in. Perhaps it may not be so, -perhaps long years may still be before me. I hope so; but the lesson -should be the same, for “man can do no better than live in eternity’s -sunrise.”[602] - -“La figure de ce monde passe. Sans la possession de l’éternité, sans la -vue religieuse de la vie, ces journées fugitives ne sont qu’un sujet -d’effroi, le bonheur doit être une prière et le malheur aussi. Pense, -aime, agis et souffris en Dieu; c’est la grande science.”[603] - - “Seek out with earnest search the things above; - Thence to God’s presence rise on wings of love. - By Truth the veils of earth and sense are riven, - And Glory is the only veil of Heaven. - Seek’st thou by earthly roads to find thy way? - Surprise will seize thy rein and bid thee stay; - Only man’s Guardian has cross’d o’er that sea, - And those whom He has bidden--‘Follow me.’ - He who has journeyed on without this Friend, - Worn out, has failed to reach his journey’s end. - Oh, Sàdi, think not man has ever gone - Along the path of Holiness alone, - But only he who treads behind the Chosen One.”[604] - - “Then gin I thinke on that which Nature sayd, - Of that same time when no more Change shall be, - But stedfast rest of all things, firmely stayd - Upon the pillours of Eternity, - That is contrayr to Mutabilitie; - For all that moveth doth in Change delight; - But thence-forth all shall rest eternally - With Him that is the God of Sabaoth hight: - O! that great Sabaoth God, grant me that - Sabaoth’s sight.”[605] - - - - -INDEX - - -A. - -Abbots-kerswel, iv. 249. - -Aberdare, Henry Bruce, 1st Lord, iv. 427, 428; v. 225. - -Aberdeen, Hon. Ishbel Marjoribanks, Countess of, v. 192, 204, 205, 380. - ----- John Gordon, 7th Earl of, iii. 43; v. 192, 204, 205, 380. - ----- Lady Mary Baillie, Countess of, v. 204. - -Abinger, James Scarlett, 4th Lord, vi. 380. - -Ackermann, Félix, i. 36, 97, 158; ii. 192, 195, 423; iii. 53-56, 338, -349. - ----- Madame Victoire, i. 31, 32, 96, 339-340; ii. 192, 195, 405, -422-423, 499; iii. 52-64, 189, 253, 308, 310-312, 339, 351. - ----- Victoria, iii. 309. - -Acland, Sir Thomas, ii. 149. - -Acland-Hood, Sir Alexander, vi. 233. - -Acton, Sir John, iv. 437. - -Acuto, ii. 426, 438-441; iv. 103. - -Adeane, Lady Elizabeth, iv. 360. - ----- Henry John, i. 214. - -Adelaide, Madame, de France, iii. 23; iv. 339-340; vi. 109. - ----- of Saxe-Meiningen, Queen of England, i. 189, 294; vi. 106, 478. - -Aïdé, Mrs., iv. 293. - -Aigues-Mortes, v. 431. - -Ailesbury, Maria Tollemache, Marchioness of, v. 213, 233; vi. 67. - -Airlie, Hon. Blanche Stanley, Countess of, iv. 127-128, 325-326; v. -274-275, 278, 289, 312, 384; vi. 90, 97, 135, 415-420, 436-443. - ----- David Stanley William Ogilvy, 10th Earl of, vi. 440. - ----- Lady Mabel Gore, Countess of, vi. 440. - -Alacoque, Marguerite Marie, i. 445. - -Alatri, iv. 103. - -Albanie, Louisa of Stohlberg, Duchesse d’, vi. 121. - -Albert, H.R.H. the Prince Consort, i. 302; ii. 286-288. - -Albrecht, Archduke of Austria, 11. 35-36. - -Alcock, Mrs., story of, iii. 118-123. - ----- Sir Rutherford, v. 209. - -Alcott, Miss Louisa, the authoress, vi. 405. - -Aldeburgh, vi. 23. - -Alderley, i. 61, 66; ii. 292, 293; vi. 351. - -Aldermaston, ii. 219. - -Alderson, Miss Louisa, iv. 73, 123. - -Alemayu, Prince of Abyssinia, v. 237-238. - -Alexander, Mary Manning, Mrs., i. 185, 248-251, 357, 469, 481; ii. 128. - -Alford, Henry, Dean of Canterbury, i. 479; ii. 390-391, 432-433; iii. -155-157, 393-394. - ----- Lady Marian, i. 293; ii. 298; iii. 28, 368; iv. 51, 55-60, 121, -399; v. 20-21, 66, 213-214, 294, 415, 455; vi. 110, 141-142, 270, 404, -483, 484. - -Alfriston, i. 505. - -Algeciras, iv. 33. - -Alice, H.R.H. Princess, of Hesse, ii. 288; iv. 101; v. 147. - -Alington, Henry Gerard Stuart, 1st Lord, vi. 164. - -Allan, Charles Stuart, ii. 515. - ----- John Hay, ii. 515. - -Almena, Marqueza d’, iv. 41. - -Alnwick Castle, ii. 353; iii. 33; vi. 134-139. - -Alston, Carlotta, i. 2; vi. 517. - ----- Mary Margaret, i. 2, 5; vi. 519 - -Altieri, Prince and Princess, v. 148, 159. - -Alton Barnes, i. 45-48, 191-192, 278; iii. 110. - -Amadeo, Duke of Aosta and King of Spain, iv. 31. - -Amboise, ii. 495. - -Amesbury, v. 292-293. - -Ammerdown Park, vi. 240. - -Amory, Henrietta Unwin, Lady Heathcote, vi. 90. - -Ampère, J. J., v. 305. - -Ampthill, Arthur, 2nd Lord, vi. 75. - -Ampthill Park, iv. 412-422; v. 55. - -Anagni, iv. 103. - -Ancaster, Mary Panton, Duchess of, vi. 105. - -Anderson, Henry, of Bradley, ii. 320. - -Andover, Henry Charles Howard, Viscount, iv. 392, 393. - ----- Lady Jane Coke, Viscountess, iv. 453-454. - -Anglesey, Henry-William Paget, 1st Marquis of, v. 335. - -Angoulême, Marie Therése de France, Duchesse d’, ii. 298; iii. 43-44; -vi. 113. - -Anguillara, vi. 414. - -Annesley, vi. 494. - -Anson, Sir John, iv. 359. - -Anthony, iv. 243. - -Antibes, iii. 146-149. - -Antonelli, Cardinal Giacomo, ii. 72; iii. 71; iv. 172. - -Antrobus, Marianne Dashwood, Lady, v. 292. - -Aponte, Dom Emmanuele, i. 6-8. - -Apponyi, Countess, v. 148. - -Aquila, iv. 179. - -Aram, Eugene, ii. 232-234. - -Arcachon, ii. 465. - -Archaeological Society, Roman, speech at the, v. 179. - -Arco, vi. 310. - -Argyll, George Douglas Campbell, 8th Duke of, iv. 329. - ----- John Campbell, 2nd Duke of, iv. 216-217. - -Arkcoll, Mrs. Thomas, ii. 228, 244. - -Arles, iii. 184; vi. 3, 39. - ----- sur Tech, v. 440. - -Arley, iv. 461; vi. 230. - -Armagh, Lord John George Beresford, Archbishop of, vi. 326. - -Arnold, Edward, iii. 329. - ----- Edward, the younger, vi. 145. - ----- Mary Penrose, Mrs., i. 177; iii. 327-329, 418; iv. 63. - ----- Matthew, the poet, i. 177, 512; v. 288; vi. 143-144. - ----- Dr. Thomas, Headmaster of Rugby, i. 160. - -Arpino, iv. 181. - -Ars, Jean-Marie Vianney, le Curé d’, ii. 417-420. - -Ars, visit to, iii. 134-136. - -Arthur, King of Britain, vi. 320. - ----- H.R.H. Prince, iv. 88, 90-93, 224. - -Arundel, vi. 297. - -Ashburnham House, London, iv. 337. - -Ashburnham, Bertram, 4th Earl of, vi. 79. - ----- Lady Catherine Baillie, Countess of, v. 323; vi. 76. - ----- Hon. John, iv. 271. - ----- Lady Mary, v. 320. - -Ashburton, Lady Harriet Montagu, Lady, vi. 441. - ----- Louisa Stewart Mackenzie, Lady, iv. 90, 91, 99, 121, 154, 305, 329; -v. 60, 61, 66, 73, 211, 284, 294, 297, 314. - -Ashdown, ii. 229. - -Ashley, Hon. Anthony Lionel, iv. 290-291. - -Ashridge, vi. 367. - -Astor, Hon. W., vi. 478, 519, 525. - -Athelstan, Mrs., ii. 270. - -Atkens, Mr., of Kingston-Lyle, ii. 140. - -Aubrey, Sir George, v. 333. - -Audley End, iv. 243. - -Augusta of Saxe-Weimar, Empress of Germany, v. 195. - -Aumale, Henri de Bourbon, Duc d’, iii. 18; v. 446; vi. 109. - -Austin, Alfred, the poet, v. 92. - -Autun, ii. 320. - -Avalanche, on the Mont Cenis, v. 133-135. - -Avalon, the Isle of, vi. 320. - -Avezzano, iv. 180. - -Avila, iv. 43. - -Avonmore, Therèse Longworth, Lady, v. 412. - -Aylesford, Jane Knightley, Countess of, v. 292. - - -B. - -Babington, Mrs. Catherine, ii. 351. - -Babraham, vi. 229. - -Babworth Hall, v. 41, 366, 417. - -Bacon, Sir Hickman, vi. 64. - ----- Mrs. Nicholas, iii. 169. - -Baddeley, Helen Grant, Mrs. St. Clair, vi. 459, 460. - -Baddesley-Clinton, vi. 34, 495. - -Baden, Frederic William, Grand Duke, and Louisa, Grand Duchess, iii. -109. - ----- Louis, Hereditary Grand Duke of, v. 211, 212, 213, 225-228. - -Baden-Baden, i. 384. - -Bagot, Mr. Charles, iii. 132. - ----- Lucia Welbore, Lady, iii. 32, 368; vi. 298. - ----- William, Lord, iii. 368. - -Baillie-Hamilton, Mrs. Cospatrick, iii. 395. - ----- James, vi. 17-18. - -Baker, Sir George and Lady, v. 245. - ----- Sir Samuel, iv. 388, 482. - ----- Thomas Barwick Lloyd, iv. 350. - -Balcarres, vi. 443. - ----- Anne Dalrymple, Countess of, iv. 137. - ----- Colin, 3rd Earl of, iii. 25. - ----- James, 5th Earl of, iii. 24. - -Balcaskie, vi. 442. - -Balfour, Right Hon. Arthur, v. 92; vi. 373. - ----- Charles, of Newton Don, vi. 88. - ----- of Burleigh, Lady Katherine Gordon, Lady, vi. 94. - ----- Minnie Georgiana Liddell, Mrs. Charles, vi. 88. - -Bamborough Castle, ii. 271, 354; iii. 8, 170. - -Bampfylde, Hon. Coplestone, v. 318. - -Bankes, Rev. E. S., v. 457. - -Bankhead, Charles, Secretary of Legation at Constantinople, i. 26. - ----- Maria Horatia Paul, Mrs., i. 27, 28, 296. - -Bantry, Jane Herbert, Countess of, vi. 94. - -Bar-le-Duc, iii. 333. - -Baratieri, General, vi. 510. - -Barcelona, iv. 28. - -Baring, Mrs. Drummond, v. 41, 417. - ----- Hon. Mary, iv. 95. - -Barker, Mary Ann Stewart, Lady, iv. 304, 331. - -Barnard, Lady Anne, iii. 14, 27, 324-326. - -Barnard Castle, ii. 275, 340. - -Barnby, Sir Joseph, the musician, vi. 314. - -Barnekow, Countess, v. 145, 152, 158. - ----- Elizabeth de, v. 152. - -Barraud, Madame and Mademoiselle, ii. 116, 125-128. - -Barrère, Madame, iii. 87. - -Barrie, James M., the novelist, vi. 434-435. - -Barrington, Hon. Adelaide, ii. 139. - ----- Hon. Augusta, ii. 139. - ----- George, 5th Viscount, ii. 320. - ----- George, 7th Viscount, iv. 362, 395. - ----- Hon. Jane Liddell, Viscountess, iii. 138, 140; iv. 362, 395; v. 20, -210. - ----- Maria Lyon, Hon. Mrs. Russell, ii. 282. - ----- Shute, Bishop of Durham, ii. 139. - ----- William Keppel, 6th Viscount, ii. 139, 140. - -Bassi, Donna Laura, i. 7. - -Bathurst, Benjamin, vi. 146. - ----- Miss Rosa, vi. 145. - -Bathyany, Count and Countess, iv. 285, 286, 429. - -Battle Abbey, iv. 300-301; v. 66; vi. 4. - -Baume, La Sainte, vi. 40. - -Bayard, Hon. T. F., American Ambassador, vi. 402. - -Bayley, Mrs., iii. 130-134. - -Baynards, vi. 162. - -Beaconsfield, Benjamin Disraeli, the Prime Minister, 1st Earl of, v. -47-48, 210, 343-344; vi. 99-100, 325, 373. - -Bean, Ainslie, the artist, vi. 168. - -Beauchamp, Lady Emily Pierrepont, Countess, vi. 101. - ----- William, 7th Earl, vi. 459. - -Beauclerk, Lady Sybil, vi. 475. - -Beaujour, Château de, ii. 500-503. - -Beaumont, Hubert G., ii. 66, 147; v. 377-378. - ----- Lady Margaret, iv. 62, 65-69, 122, 148, 307, 329; v. 196; vi. 253. - ----- Wentworth, iv. 62. - -Beaurepaire, Mademoiselle de, iv. 411. - -Beckett, ii. 138-140, 217, 229; vi. 494. - -Beckwith, Priscilla Maria Hopper, Mrs., of Silksworth, ii. 422. - -Bedford, Lady Elizabeth Sackville West, Duchess of, iv. 145; v. 60. - -----Francis Russell, 9th Duke of, v. 60-61. - -Belgians, Marie Henriette, Queen of the, vi. 29, 68. - -Belgium, tour in, ii. 377. - -Belhaven, Hamilton Campbell, Lady, ii. 335-337, 354-355, 358; iii. -35-36; iv. 268. - ----- Robert, Lord, ii. 354, 358; iii. 35, 45-46. - -Bell, Rev. Edward, vi. 351-353. - -Bellagio, iii. 106. - -Bellairs, Mr. and Mrs., vi. 158. - -Belsay, ii. 347. - -Belvoir Castle, iv. 58-60; vi. 305, 341-342. - -Benalta family, story of, ii. 454-460. - -Benedict, Sir Julius, the composer, v. 8. - -Benedict XIV., Pope, vi. 497. - -Beneventum, v. 271. - -Bengivenga, Francesca, iii. 200. - -Bennett, Rev. T. J. Filmer, vi. 237, 242. - ----- Hon. Frederick, ii. 268-269. - ----- Hon. George, ii. 268-269. - -Bennigsen, Countess Marie Paul von, v. 91. - -Bentinck, Penelope Leslie, Mrs. Cavendish, v. 70, 191, 275. - -Bentley, Harriet, iii. 406, 412 - -Benzoni, the sculptor, iii. 83. - -Berchtesgaden, iii. 231. - -Bergeret, Madame, story of, iii. 177-182. - -Berkeley Castle, i. 287; v. 304. - -Berlin, v. 91-94. - -Bernabo, Cardinal, iv. 172. - -Bernhardt, Sarah, the actress, v. 198. - -Berri, Caroline, Duchesse de, iii. 15-17, 43-44. - -Berry, the Misses Mary and Agnes, i. 299-300; vi. 440. - -Bestwood, vi. 475. - -Betharram, iii. 487. - -Beust, Frederick Ferdinand, Count von, iv. 145. - -Biarritz, ii. 488; iv. 42. - -Bidart, ii. 489. - -Biddulph, Lady Elizabeth, v. 53. 221; vi. 302. - -Bideford, vi. 524. - -Birch, Sir Arthur, vi. 56. - -Birtles, iii. 117. - -Bishopthorpe Palace, vi. 256, 354, 356, 360, 444. - -Bismarck, Count Herbert, vi. 236, 461. - -Black, William, the novelist, v. 16. - -Blackett, Sir Edward and Lady, of Matfen, ii. 266-267, 341, 346; iii. -170, 323; v. 19. - -Blackmoor, iv. 131. - -Blackwood, Sir Arthur, iii. 243. - -Blaise Castle, vi. 447. - -Blake, Edith Bernal Osborne, Lady, vi. 482. - ----- Sir Francis, iii. 31. - -Blake, Mrs. Jex, v. 237. - ----- William, the artist, iii. 14. - -Bland, Ven. Archdeacon, v. 424. - -Blenkinsopp Castle, ii. 353. - -Blessington, Harriet Power, Countess of, i. 20, 37; ii. 408. - -Blickling, v. 452; vi. 105, 303. - -Bligh, Hon. Arthur, iv. 237. - ----- Hon. Ivo, iv. 237. - ----- Lady Kathleen, iv. 426; vi. 105, 163, 164. - -Blomfield, Charles James, Bishop of London, i. 470. - -Blommart, Miss Elizabeth, ii. 489. - -Bloomfield, Hon. Georgiana Liddell, Lady, iv. 305, 365; vi. 97, 184, -247. - ----- John Arthur Douglas, Lord, v. 220. - -Blyth, Miss Mary Popham, the authoress, vi. 275. - -Bodley, G. F., the architect, iv. 476; vi. 448. - -Bodryddan, iii. 123. - -Boleyn, Anne, Queen of England, vi. 303, 315. - ----- Lady Mary, vi. 317. - -Bologna, i. 7-9; iii. 380; iv. 313. - -Bolsover Castle, vi. 475. - -Bolsover, Augusta Browne, Lady, v. 366. - -Bolvilliers, Comtesse de, i. 343-351. - -Bonaparte, Letizia Raimolino, Madame Mère, vi. 509. - ----- Madame Jerome, v. 301. - -Bonis, Madame Maria de, iii. 373, 378. - -Bonnyrigg, ii. 341. - -Bordighera, vi. 265. - -Borghese, Adèle de Rochefoucauld, Princess, ii. 58. - ----- Lady Guendolina Talbot, Princess, ii. 58, 59. - ----- Marc-Antonio, Prince, ii. 58, 375. - ----- Pauline Bonaparte, Princess, ii. 336. - -Borghese, Teresa de Rochefoucauld, Princess, ii. 58; iii. 85, 194. - -Bosanquet, Charles, of Rock, ii. 278. - ----- Mrs., of Rock, ii 279. - -Boscobel, iv. 440. - -Bothwell Castle, iii. 48. - -Boughton, v. 448. - -Bourbon, Louis Henri Joseph, Duc de, iii. 21-23; vi. 122. - -Bourges, ii. 310. - -Bouverie, Hon. Stuart, vi. 318. - -Bowes, Lady Anna, ii. 172, 173. - ----- John, of Streatham, ii. 173, 178, 179, 274-276; v. 20. - ----- Mrs. John, iii. 275. - -Bowles, Miss, iii. 294, 298. - -Boyle, Carolina Amelia Poyntz, Lady, i. 89, 291-292. - ----- Hon. Carolina Courtenay, i. 289-294, 436-437, 508-509; ii. 381-384; -iv. 61. - ----- Edmund Montagu, iv. 249; v. 412. - ----- Hon. John, iv. 249. - ----- Miss Mary, i. 293; iii. 368, 370; iv. 55, 214, 426. - ----- Ella Gordon, Hon. Mrs. Richard, the authoress, iv. 60. - -Boyne, Lady Katherine Scott, Viscountess, iv. 445; v. 457; vi. 411, 433. - -Bozledene Wood, i. 361. - -Bracciano, iii. 375. - -Bradford-on-Avon, vi. 484. - -Bradford, Orlando Bridgeman, Earl of, vi. 474. - -Bradley Manor, in Devon, i. 287. - ----- in Northumberland, ii. 320. - -Bradley, Rev. Charles, i. 297-299, 303-315, 332-335, 368, 369, 390-393, -396-398, 408. - ----- Mrs. Charles, i. 303, 307, 369. - -Brainscleugh, ii. 358. - -Bramham, vi. 356. - -Bramshill, v. 340. - -Brandling, Charles, v. 229; vi. 105. - -Brassey, Albert, ii. 391; iv. 427. - -Brassey, Annie Allnutt, Mrs. Thomas, afterwards Lady, iii. 416; v. 69. - ----- Henry, ii. 391. - ----- Thomas, afterwards Lord, ii. 25; iv. 379. - -Braybrooke, Hon. Florence Maude, Lady, iv. 223. - -Breamore, iv. 348. - -Breadalbane, Lady Alma Graham, Marchioness of, vi. 80, 81. - -Bremen, v. 129. - -Bremer, Margaret, Countess, v. 15. - -Bretton Park, iv. 64-69. - -Bridges, Mrs., v. 449. - -Bridgeman, Hon. Francis, vi. 474. - ----- Gertrude Hanbury, Hon. Mrs. Francis, vi. 474. - ----- Lady Selina, ii. 389. - -Bright, Right Hon. John, the orator and statesman, v. 196; vi. 95. - -Brimham Rocks, ii. 339. - -Brinkburn Abbey, ii. 365. - -Bristol, Geraldine Anson, Marchioness of, vi. 306. - -Broadlands, iv. 340-341; v. 295. - -Brodie, Sir Benjamin, i. 248. - -Brogyntyn, vi. 433. - -Bromley, Miss Caroline Davenport, iv. 476; v. 20, 32, 38, 310, 425. - -Brontë, Branwell, iv. 69; vi. 394. - ----- Charlotte, the novelist, iv. 69; vi. 394. - -Brooke, Rev. Stopford, iv. 335; v. 209-210. - -Brooks, Bishop, vi. 310. - -Broughton, Miss Rhoda, the novelist, iv. 218-219, 326, 330, 383; vi. -253. - -Brown, Dr., Professor at Aberdeen, i. 22. - ----- Dr. John, the author of “Rab and his Friends,” vi. 438. - -Browning, Elizabeth Barrett, the poetess, ii. 91, 409; vi. 431, 510. - ----- Robert, the poet, ii. 408; iv. 218-219; v. 24, 289; vi. 85, 96, -431, 463. - -Brownlow, Lady Adelaide Talbot, Countess, v. 204, 212; vi. 242, 246, -367-368. - ----- John, 2nd Earl, ii. 137. - ----- Adelbert, 3rd Earl, v. 204; vi. 242, 243, 367-368. - -Brougham, Henry, 1st Lord, the legal orator, iii. 143-144; iv. 472; v. -321. - -Broussa, vi. 209-214. - -Bruce, Rev. J. Collingwood, the antiquarian, ii. 318; iii. 49. - ----- Lord Robert, vi. 297. - ----- Hon. Mrs. Robert, iii. 203. - -Brunnow, Baron and Baroness, iv. 129. - -Bruschi, Countess, v. 143. - -Brussels, vi. 191. - -Bryan, Hugh, vi. 146, 148, 192, 222, 424. - -Bryce, James, the historian, v. 196. - -Brymer, Dr. (Archdeacon of Wells), i. 338. - ----- Marianne Wilkinson, Mrs., i. 338. - -Brympton, v. 73. - -Buccleuch, Lady Elizabeth Montagu, Duchess of, v. 449. - -Buchanan, Miss Helen, iii. 181. - -Buckhurst, v. 455; vi. 17. - -Buckland, Dr. William, v. 358. - -Bufalo, The Venerable Gaspare del, ii. 425, 442. - -Bulkeley, Anna Maria Hare, Mrs., i. 3, 494. - -Buller, Right Hon. Charles, the politician, vi. 442. - ----- Sir Redvers and Lady Audrey, vi. 182, 379. - -Bulman, Mrs., ii. 346. - -Bülow, Madame de, v. 200. - -Bulstrode, vi. 486. - -Bulwer, Sir Henry, iv. 76. - -Bunsen, Charles de, ii. 109; v. 85, 86, 155. - -Bunsen, Isabel Waddington, Mrs. Charles de, v. 85, 155. - ----- Christian, Chevalier, afterwards Baron, i. 162-163, 164, 465, 504; -vi. 373. - ----- Emilia de, iii. 109; v. 1, 76, 78; vi. 412. - -----Frances Waddington, Madame, afterwards Baroness de, i. 465; ii. 293; -iii. 333-336; iv. 321-323; v. 1, 3, 54, 130, 157. - -----Frances de, ii. 293; iii. 109; iv. 322; v. 1, 76, 87. - ----- George de, i. 481; v. 91. - ----- Rev. Henry de, ii. 328; iv. 440. - ----- Mary Battersby, Mrs. Henry de, v. 33. - ----- Matilda de, ii. 293. - ----- Theodora de, i. 464; ii. 294. - ----- Theodore de, i. 163; v. 86. - -Buntingsdale, i. 144, 208; ii. 326-327; v. 217; vi. 381. - -Burford, Charles de Vere, Earl of.,, vi. 475. - -Burghley House, v. 51. - -Burne-Jones, Sir Edward, the artist, vi. 423-424. - -Burney, Miss, the authoress, ii. 436. - -Burns, Robert, the poet, ii. 164. - -Burr, Mrs. Higford, ii. 220. - -Burrell, Sir Raymond and Lady, vi. 323. - -Burton, Isabel Arundel, Lady, vi. 460. - ----- Sir Richard Francis, the traveller, vi. 357-358, 461. - -Burwarton, v. 457; vi. 411. - -Butcher, Miss, iv. 33. - -Bute, John Patrick Stuart, 1st Marquis of, iv. 269-271, 400; v. 197, -225. - ----- Gwendoline Howard, Marchioness of, iv. 270. - -Butler, Rev. W. J., Vicar of Wantage, afterwards Dean of Lincoln, ii. -222-224. - -Butler, Mrs., i. 501. - ----- story of Mrs., vi. 365-367. - -Buxton, Catharine Gurney, Lady, vi. 263, 339. - ----- Miss Richenda, v. 99. - -Byng, Hon. and Rev. Francis, iv. 475. - - -C. - -Cadenabbia, vi. 293. - -Cadiz, iv. 33. - -Cadland, vi. 155. - -Cadogan, Lady Augusta, v. 351. - ----- Lady Beatrix Craven, Countess, vi. 372. - ----- George Henry, 5th Earl, vi. 372. - -Cadouin, v. 437. - -Caen, i. 319. - -Caerlaverock Castle, ii. 164. - -Caiëtani, Don Filippo, ii. 58. - ----- Don Onorato, iii. 87. - -Cairns, Mary Harriet M’Neile, Countess, v. 205, 212. - -Caister Castle, vi. 103. - -Caithness, Marie de Mariategni, Countess of, iv. 325. - -Calotkin, Count, i. 15. - -Cambo, ii. 490. - -Cambrai, vi. 44. - -Cambridge, H. R. H. Adolphus, Duke of, iv. 455. - -Cameron, Lady Margaret, v. 362. - ----- Lady Vere, ii. 8, 481, 482. - -Campbell, Janey Callander, Lady Archibald, v. 289, 290. - ----- Charlotte Malcolm, Lady, i. 88. - ----- Colin, i. 309, 310, 313. - ----- Lady Constance, vi. 135. - ----- Gertrude Blood, Lady Colin, vi. 31. - ----- Lady Evelyn, vi. 17. - ----- Mary Meredith, Lady Frederick, iv. 236. - ----- Lord and Lady George, vi. 4. - -Campbell, Kenneth, of Ardpatrick, vi. 454. - -Campsea Ashe, v. 444; vi. 23, 186, 258, 499, 519. - -Canevari, G. B., the portrait painter, ii. 75. - -Cannes, iii. 136-156; iv. 163-165; vi. 264. - -Canning, Charlotte Stuart, Countess, ii. 360; iii. 324; vi. 334, -349-350. - -Canons Ashby, v. 405. - -Canossa, iv. 313. - -Canterbury, i. 357-366; ii. 23-25; iii. 331-332, 394. - ----- Edward White Benson, Archbishop of, vi. 97, 182, 456. - ----- Archibald Tait, Archbishop of, iii 35-36, 39; v. 205, 383. - -Capel, Monsignor, ii. 486. - -Capheaton, ii. 350. - -Caprarola, Palace of, iv. 108-113. - -Capri, ii. 81. - -Carcolo, Marchese, iv. 101. - -Cardwell, Edward Viscount, and Viscountess, iv. 362-363, 401. - -Carew, Frances Anne Buller, Mrs. Pole, iii. 375, 425; iv. 244. - ----- Miss Julia Pole, iii. 372; iv. 246. - ----- William Henry Pole, iv. 243; v. 71. - -Carham, iii. 326. - -Carlandi, Onorato, vi. 468. - -Carlisle, vi. 134. - -Carlo Borromeo, St., iv. 112. - -Carlsruhe, i. 6; iii. 109, 333. - -Carlyle, Jane Baillie Welsh, Mrs., v. 7, 314; vi. 441. - ----- Thomas, the author, i. 166; iv. 71, 81, 123, 154-155, 305, 367, -383; v. 274, 310, 310, 313-314, 319, 384; vi. 96, 442, 488. - -Carmichael, Sir William, iii. 46. - -Carnac, vi. 345. - -Carnarvon, Lady Evelyn Stanhope, Countess of, iv. 126, 149, 222, 223, -228, 300; vi. 253, 474. - -Carnarvon, Henrietta Howard, Countess of, iv. 228. - -Caroline, Empress of Austria, ii. 42. - ----- of Brunswick, Queen of England, iii. 14-15. - -Carpenter, Hon. Walter Talbot, Admiral, vi. 494. - -Carr of Hedgeley, family of, ii. 280. - -Carrington, Charles Robert Wynn, Earl, vi. 399. - -Carysfort, Charlotte Heathcote, Countess of, v. 196; vi. 376, 455. - ----- William Proby, 5th Earl of, vi. 376. - -Cator, John, vi. 367. - ----- Mary Mohun-Harris, Mrs., vi. 225. - ----- the Misses, vi. 280. - -Castagnuolo, iv. 194, 319-320. - -Castel Fusano, ii. 390; iv. 100. - ----- del Monte, v. 270. - ----- Toblino, vi. 510. - -Castlecombe, vi. 525. - -Castlecraig, iii. 46. - -Castletown of Upper Ossory, Augusta Douglas, Lady, iv. 171, 173, 174, -218, 220, 224, 231, 232; v. 209. - ----- of Upper Ossory, John FitzPatrick, Lord, iv. 232-233. - -Castro, Don Alessandro del, iii. 194. - -Cavaillon, vi. 38. - -Cavendish, Admiral and Mrs. George, ii. 94, 97. - ----- Lady Beatrice, v. 229. - ----- Hon. Compton, v. 229. - ----- Mr. and Lady Harriet, vi. 175. - ----- Louisa Lascelles, Hon. Mrs., i. 212. - ----- Lord Richard, i. 212. - -Cavoni, Marchesa, v. 154. - -Cecchi, Cardinal, iii. 68. - -Cecil, Lord Eustace, i. 241; v. 195; vi. 22-23, 81. - -Cecinelli, Lucia, i. 53. - -Cenci, Count Bolognetti, iii. 49, 85, 87. - -Chaise Dieu, La, iii. 150. - -Chalfield Manor, Great, vi. 485. - -Chalus, v. 434. - -Challinor, Mrs. Hannah, i. 151. - -Chambers, Theodore, vi. 343. - -Chambord, Henri, Comte de, iii. 16-18. - -Champlatreux, vi. 100. - -Chantrey, Sir Francis, the sculptor, vi. 331. - -Charlemont, Hon. Elizabeth Somerville, Countess of, iv. 483; v. 8, 11, -12, 285. - -Charles II., King of England, vi. 439. - -Charles X., King of France, iii. 43. - -Charlotte of Mecklenbourg-Strelitz, Queen of England, ii. 436-437; vi. -105. - ----- Princess, of Belgium, ii. 36, 37. - -Charlton Hall, iv. 390. - ----- House, near Greenwich, v. 280. - -Charltons of Hesleyside, the. ii. 343. - -Charteris, Lady Caroline, iv. 213. - -Chartwell, i. 507; ii. 321. - -Chatterton, Henrietta Georgiana, Lady, vi. 497. - -Chawton, vi. 477. - -Cheddar Cliff, vi. 320-321. - -Cheney, Edward, of Badger, iv. 128, 325, 395. - -Chequers, ii. 8. - -Chesham, Henrietta Lascelles, Lady, iv. 145. - -Chesterfield, Anne-Elizabeth Forester, Countess of, iv. 228. - -Chesters, ii. 341; iii 49; vi. 435. - -Chetwode, Mrs. George, i. 157. - -Chetwynd, Harriet Johanna Camphill, Viscountess, vi. 382, 477. - -Chevening, iv. 126, 235-237; vi. 295, 476. - -Chevreuse, ii. 125. - -Chewton, William Frederick, Viscount, iv. 240. - -Chichester, vi. 19. - -Chichester, Miss Catherine, ii. 94, 286. - ----- Richard Durnford, Bishop of, vi. 19-20, 324. - ----- Henry Thomas Pelham, 3rd Earl of, iv. 90, 348; vi. 260. - -Childe, Frances Christina Leighton, Mrs., vi. 302. - -Chillingham, ii. 267-271, 364; iii. 33. - -Chingford, i. 312, 400. - -Chipchase, ii. 343. - -Chiswick, v. 24. - -Cholmondeley, Miss Mary, the novelist, vi. 383. - ----- Mary Heber, Mrs., i. 143. - -Christ-Church, Hants, iv. 211. - -Christian, H. R. H. the Princess, vi. 87. - -Christina, Queen of Spain, ii. 57. - -Church, Richard William, Dean of St. Paul’s, iv. 245. - -Churchill, Jane Conyngham, Lady, vi. 478. - -Chute, Challoner, of the Vyne, vi. 156. - -Cimies, iv. 165. - -“Cities of Northern and Central Italy,” iv. 352-356, 375. - -Civita Castellana, ii. 53; iv. 107. - -Clairvaux, vi. 17. - -Clanricarde, Hon. Harriet Canning, Marchioness of, iv. 64. - -Clarence, H. R. H. William, Duke of, iv. 144. - -Clarendon, Lady Caroline Agar, wife of the 5th Earl of, ii. 139. - -Clarke, Miss Freeman, the authoress, iv. 90. - -Clayton, Mrs. Anne, ii. 318-319. - ----- George Nathaniel, ii. 318, 353: vi. 435. - ----- Isabel, Mrs. G. Nathaniel, ii. 318; vi. 435. - -Clayton, John, of Chesters, ii. 318, 343. - ----- Miss, ii. 274, 318, 341-344. - ----- Mr. Matthew, ii. 318-319. - -Clemens, Mr. Samuel (Mark Twain), vi. 281-283. - -Clermont-Tonnerre, Comte and Comtesse de, iv. 85. - -Cleveland, Lady Caroline Lowther, Duchess of, iv. 412, 417, 419-424, -468-469, 482; v. 19, 229-230, 285; vi. 79. - ----- Elizabeth Russell, Duchess of, v. 230-231. - ----- Harry George Powlett, 4th Duke of, iv, 83; v. 68; vi. 120-123. - ----- Lady Wilhelmina Stanhope, Duchess of, iv. 83, 145, 279, 334, 338, -376; v. 210; vi. 82, 120, 128-129, 140, 459. - ----- William Henry, 1st Duke of, iii. 46. - -Clifford, Captain, ii. 81. - ----- Edward, the artist, iv. 72; vi. 243. - -Clinton, Elizabeth Grant, Lady Charles, ii. 477; iv. 328; v. 205. - ----- Lady Louisa, i. 383. - ----- Miss Louisa, i. 59, 210, 257, 387-388. - -Clisson, vi. 147. - -Clive, Mrs. Archer, the novelist, i. 453. - ----- Lady Catherine, v. 308. - ----- Charles Meysey, of Whitfield, v. 16. - ----- Lady Mary, v. 459. - -Cliveden, v. 229; vi. 478, 479, 525. - -Close, Mr. and Mrs., of Nottingham, vi. 58. - -Cluny, iii. 383. - -Clutterbuck, Marianne Lyon, Mrs., of Warkworth, ii. 17, 284, 352. - -Clyde, Falls of the, iii. 49. - -Clyde, Colin Campbell, Lord, General and hero, iv. 211-212. - -Cobbold, Felix, vi. 259. - -Cobham, Claude Delawal, iii. 152-153. - -Cobham Hall, Kent, iv. 237-238, 356-357, 411-412; v. 16, 31; vi. 141, -254, 295, 503. - -Cockerton, George, vi. 347. - -Coigny, Augustin, Duc de, iii. 18-19. - -Colchester, v. 446. - -Cole, Miss Florence, ii. 45, 54; iv. 129. - ----- Miss Louisa, ii. 46; iv. 129. - ----- Sir Henry, Director of South Kensington Museum, iv. 157. - -Colegrave, Mrs. Francis, ii. 94, 286. - -Coleman, Miss Sarah, i. 173. - -Coleridge, John Duke Coleridge, Baron, iv. 77, 78. - -Collatia, ii. 390. - -Collet, Susanna, vi. 376-377. - -Collins, Staunton, i. 154, 190. - -Colonna, Isabella de Toledo, Princess, iii. 191. - -Colquhoun, J. A., i. 507; ii. 322. - ----- Archibald, iv. 6. - -Combermere, Mary Gibbings, Countess of, v. 22, 315. - -Compton, Florence Anderson, Lady Alwyne, iv. 336, 399; vi. 456. - ----- Mrs., iii. 326. - -Condé, Louis Philippe d’Orléans, Prince de, vi. 109. - -Condover, vi. 383. - -Conington Castle, iv. 424. - -Conington, John, Professor of Latin, ii. 4. - -Conques, v. 442. - -Consolo, the musician, v. 176. - -Constantinople, vi. 193-209. - -Conwy, Shipley, iii. 129. - ----- Colonel Shipley, iii. 130. - -Cookson, Francis, vi. 375. - -Coomb Bank, iv. 236. - -Copeland Castle, ii. 364. - -Copenhagen, v. 99-101. - -Copley, Lady Charlotte, v. 419. - -Corbet, Hester Cotton, Lady, of Adderley, iii. 401; iv. 133. - -Cordova, iv. 30. - -Cori, iv. 104. - -Cork and Orrery, Edmund, 8th Earl of, i. 293. - ----- Lady Emily De Burgh, Countess of, iv. 125, 410; vi. 335. - ----- Isabella Poyntz, Countess of, v. 301. - -Cornford, Joseph, vi. 189. - -Corry, Montagu Lowrie, afterwards Lord Rowton, v. 47, 48. - -Cortachy, vi. 438. - -Costa le Cerda, Vicomte, ii. 115-116, 121. - -Cotehele, iv. 248. - -Cottrell Dormer, Mr. and Mrs., of Rousham, ii. 150. - ----- Mrs. Upton, vi. 183. - -Coulson, Colonel, ii. 354. - ----- Mary-Anne Byron, Hon. Mrs., ii. 354. - ----- Misses Mary and Arabella, of Blenkinsopp, ii. 176, 272. - -Courmayeur, i. 458; ii. 409. - -Courtenay, Hon. and Rev. Charles and Lady Caroline, vi. 257. - ----- Lady Agnes, iii. 320. - ----- Edward Baldwin, Lord, iv. 385. - ----- “Sir William” (Nichols Tom), i. 361-365. - ----- Miss, vi. 431. - -Cousin, M. Victor, iii. 146. - -Coutts, Angela Georgina, Baroness Burdett, the philanthropist, iv. 71, -396; vi. 77, 172. - -Coventry, Miss Augusta, iv. 231. - -Cowburne, Mrs., i. 128, 209. - -Cowdray, vi. 20. - -Cowell, Sir J., v. 70. - -Cowley, Henry Richard Wellesley, 1st Lord, the Ambassador, iv. 81. - ----- Olivia de Ros, Countess, iv. 81, 394. - -Cowling Castle, v. 32. - -Cowper, Lady Anne Florence de Grey, Countess, iv. 414-416. - ----- Hon. Henry, iv. 145, 308, 416; vi. 95. - -Cowper-Temple, Hon. William, iv. 341. - -Coxe, Rev. Henry Octavius, Bodleian Librarian, ii. 157; v. 202. - -Cracroft, Colonel and Mrs., iii. 382. - -Cradock, Hon. Harriet Lister, Mrs., i. 512; ii. 137-138. - -Cranborne, Lady Alice Cicely Gore, Viscountess, vi. 422. - -Craster, family of, ii. 279. - -Craven, Lady Emily Grimston, Countess, v. 47, 296. - ----- Pauline de la Ferronays, Mrs. Augustus, v. 22. - -Crawford, Misses Annie and Mimoli, iv. 106. - -----Frank Marion, the novelist, iv. 106; v. 177. - ----- James Ludovic Lindsay, 9th Earl of, vi. 120. - ----- Emily Florence Wilbraham, Countess of, vi. 224, 443. - -Crealock, Lieutenant-General Henry Hope, iv. 66. - -Crecy, ii. 380. - -Creslow Pastures, ii. 220. - -Cresswell, Sir Cresswell, the judge, ii. 353. - -Crewe, John, 3rd Lord, v. 13, 63. - -Crewe Hall, v. 62. - -Crichton, Colonel and Lady Madeleine, iv. 94. - -Crichton Castle, ii. 172. - -Crockett, Samuel Rutherford, the novelist, vi. 434-435. - -Croglin Grange, story of, iv. 203-208. - -Croisic, Le, vi. 147, 152. - -Croker, James, vi. 325. - ----- John Wilson, vi. 255. - -Cromer, v. 449; vi. 262-263. - -Crowcombe, vi. 233. - -Croyland, iii. 164. - -Crozant, Le, v. 433. - -Crum, Mr. and Mrs., vi. 231. - -Cuffe, Sir Charles, ii. 358. - -Cullum, Gery Milner Gibson, vi. 24, 508. - -Cummings, Mr. and Mrs. E. C., iii. 380; vi. 310-311, 394-397. - -Cunliffe, Sir Robert, iv. 486. - -Curran, John Philpot, vi. 359. - -Curzon, Hon. George Nathaniel, afterwards Viceroy of India, v. 284, 296; -vi. 421. - -Cushman, Miss Charlotte, the actress, iii. 204-207, 386. - -Cust, Hon. Archdeacon Arthur, afterwards Dean of York, iv. 411. - ----- Lady Caroline, iv. 58-59. - -Cuvier, Frederic, the naturalist, vi. 363. - - -D. - -Daldy and Isbister, Messrs., v. 241-243. - -Dalison, Charles Burrell, iv. 17, 89, 316; vi. 294. - -Dallas, Mrs., iii. 380. - -Dalton Hall, iii. 131; iv. 63. - -Dalzel, Mrs. Allen, iii. 172. - ----- Aventina Macmurdo, Mrs., ii. 17-19, 172, 357; iii. 172, 174-176. - -Dampierre, ii. 125. - -Darley, George, i. 164. - -Darling, Mr., of Bamborough, ii. 272. - -Darnley, John Stuart Bligh, 6th Earl of, vi. 164. - ----- Lady Harriet Pelham, Countess of, iv. 223, 237, 426; v. 31, 199. - -Dasent, Sir George, the author, i. 67, 449; v. 339, 341; vi. 31, 61-63, -75-77. - -Dashwood, Anna Maria Shipley, Mrs., i. 17, 26, 158; iii. 125, 127-128. - -Dashwood, Bertha Abercromby, Lady, ii. 466, 477; v. 193. - ----- Sir Edwin, ii. 466. - -----Florence Norton, Lady, vi. 299. - ----- Sir Francis, iv. 445. - -D’Aubigné, M. Merle, the historian, i. 453. - -Davenport, Augusta Campbell, Mrs. Bromley, v. 216. - ----- Edward, of Capesthorne, ii. 142. - ----- Miss Evelyn Bromley, v. 289. - -Davidoff, Adèle, Madame, i. 351; ii. 65-67, 76, 115, 416. - -Davidson, Susan Jessop, Mrs., of Ridley Hall, ii. 172-177, 266, 272-274; -iii. 322-323; iv. 272, 458; v. 20. - -Davy, Jane, Lady, v. 56-57. - -Dawkins, Mrs. Francis, ii. 297; iii. 71-75, 315. - -Daylesford, iv. 435. - -Days near Rome, iv. 84-85, 162. - -De Capel Brooke, Mr. and Mrs., vi. 238. - -Decies, John Beresford, Lord, iv. 290. - -Deimling, Herr Otto, i. 162. - -De Jarnac, Hon. Geraldine Foley, Comtesse, iv. 300. - -Delamere, Hugh Cholmondeley, 2nd Lord, v. 195. - -Delawarr, Constance Baillie-Cochrane, Countess, v. 455; vi. 143, 452. - -De L’Isle, Philip Sidney, Lord, iv. 459. - -Dempster, Mr. and Mrs., of Ormistoun, iv. 267-268. - -Denbigh, Rudolph Feilding, 8th Earl of, iv. 427, 465; v. 281. - ----- Mary Berkeley, Countess of, iv. 427, 465; v. 195. - -Denfenella, ii. 168. - -Denison, Alfred, iv. 465; v. 316. - -Denison, Lady Charlotte, iii. 42. - ----- Rev. George Anthony, v. 278. - ----- Mr. Stephen, ii. 272. - -Denman, George, Judge, iv. 283. - -Dent, Emma Brocklehurst, Mrs., iv. 439. - -Deramore, Sir R. W. de Yarburgh Bateson, Lord, vi. 425. - -Derby, Edward Smith Stanley, 13th Earl of, iii. 131. - -Dereham, vi. 363. - -Dering, Edward Heneage, vi. 34, 497. - ----- Rebecca Dulcibella Orpen, Mrs., vi. 497. - -Derwentwater, James Radcliffe, Earl of, ii. 266, 351. - -De Ros, Georgiana Lennox, Lady, vi. 190-191. - -De Selby, Mrs., iii. 71, 73. - ----- Mrs. Robert, iii. 192. - -Des Voeux, Miss Georgiana, ii. 371-372; iii. 139. - -De Vesci, Hon. Evelyn Charteris, Viscountess, vi. 329, 351. - -Devon, William Reginald Courtenay, 12th Earl of, iv. 240, 385, 387; v. -461. - -Devonshire, Lady Georgiana Spencer, wife of the 5th Duke of, i. 5, 6. - -Dickens, Charles, ii. 275. - ----- Lady Elizabeth, v. 20. - -Dictionary of National Biography, vi. 223. - -Dilston, ii. 266, 320. - -Dino, Duc de, v. 155. - -Dixon, Louisa Simpkinson, Mrs., iii. 397. - -Dixon-Browne, Mr. and Mrs., of Unthank, iii. 170. - -Dodd, Mr. Wolley, the botanist, vi. 231. - -Dolceacqua, ii. 253. - -Dolgorouki, Prince Nicol, iii. 68, 84. - ----- Princess, the story of, iv. 293-299. - -Domremy, vi. 44. - -Doncaster, ii. 261. - -Donington, Charles Abney-Hastings, Lord, vi. 230. - -Donoughmore, Thomasine Steele, Countess of, v. 383; vi. 97. - -Dorchester, Dudley Carleton, 4th Lord, v. 205. - -Doria, Donna Guendolina, ii. 71. - ----- Prince Filippo, ii. 424. - ----- Donna Olimpia, ii. 72. - ----- Donna Teresa, ii. 70. - -D’Orsay, Count Alfred, artist and dandy, i. 18, 20, 29, 37; ii. 408; v. -299. - -Dorset, John Frederick Sackville, 3rd Duke of, vi. 121. - -Douglas, Lady Agnes, v. 138, 145, 150. - -Dowdeswell, Miss, iii. 76, 82. - -Downshire, Caroline Frances Cotton, Marchioness of, v. 223. - -Doyle, Sir Francis, the poet, v. 16, 55. - ----- Percy, iv. 360. - ----- Richard, the artist, iv. 67, 325; v. 46. - -Draycot, iv. 394. - -Drayton House, v. 447. - -Drummond, Augusta Charlotte Fraser, Mrs. Robert, vi. 12, 26. - -----Frances Jemima Oswald, Mrs., of Megginch, vi. 410. - ----- George, of Swaylands, vi. 456. - ----- Elizabeth Norman, Mrs. George, vi. 456, 500. - ----- Henry, founder of the Irvingites vi. 136. - ----- William [1585-1649], of Hawthornden, the poet, vi. 444. - -Dublin, Richard Chevenix Trench, Archbishop of, iv. 90, 328. - -Dubois, Madame, iv. 163. - -Ducie, Henry John Moreton, 3rd Earl of, iv. 381, 397; v. 298. - -Ducie, Julia Langston, Countess of, iv. 219, 435; v. 30, 273, 281. - -Duckworth, Sir John and Lady, iv. 245. - ----- Robinson, afterwards tutor to Prince Leopold and Canon of -Westminster, i. 446, 472; ii. 4, 33. - -Dudley, 1st Earl of, i. 20; iv. 421. - -Dufferin, Helen Selina Sheridan, Baroness, vi. 475. - -Dugdale, Alice Trevelyan, Mrs. Stratford, v. 13. - -Dumbleton, Miss Harriet, i. 269. - -Dumfries, ii. 163. - -Dundas, Hon. Alice Wood, Mrs. John, iv. 369; v. 422; vi. 484. - -Dunlop, Harriet, Mrs., iii. 258, 260, 281-282, 288, 290, 292, 298, 304, -306, 317. - -Dunraven, Anne, Countess of, v. 148, 151. - -Dunottar, ii. 166. - -Dunstanborough Castle, ii. 269-270, 364; iii. 35, 36. - -Dunster Castle, vi. 235. - -Duntrune, ii. 165. - -Dupanloup, Felix Antoine Philibert, Bishop of Orleans, iii. 360. - -Du Quaire, Fanny Blackett, Madame, iv. 200, 219, 220; v. 198, 311, 386; -vi. 28-31. - -Durham, ii. 262. - -Durham, Beatrix, Countess of, ii. 364-366; iii. 35-39. - ----- George Frederick, 2nd Earl of, ii, 364-365; iii. 35-36; iv. 124. - ----- Sir Philip, v. 15. - -Dutton, Hon. Julia, iv. 466. - ----- Hon. Ralph and Mrs., iv. 71, 331. 397; v. 287. - -Dyrham Park, i. 315. - -Dysart, Elizabeth Tollemache, Countess of, v. 235. - - -E. - -Eardley, Sir Culling, ii. 289. - -Earle, Theresa Villiers, Mrs., the authoress, vi. 254. - -Eastbourne, i. 63, 210, 256, 376, 505. - -East Hendred, 11. 230. - -Eastlake, Elizabeth Rigby, Lady, iii. 154-155, 418; v. 308, 311. - -Ebury, Robert, 1st Lord, iv. 400; vi. 89. - -Eccles Greig, ii. 168. - -Eddis, E. V., the portrait-painter, vi. 324-326, 330-333. - -Edgecumbe, Fanny-Lucy Shelley, Hon. Mrs. George, iv. 247-248. - ----- Lady Ernestine, vi. 257. - ----- Hon. George, iv. 247. - ----- Sir Richard, iv. 248. - -Edgeworth, Life and Letters of Maria, vi. 370. - -Edinburgh, iv. 449. - -Edinburgh, H.R.H. Duke and Duchess of, v. 210. - ----- H.R.H. the Duchess of, vi. 261. - -Edwardstone, vi. 519. - -Egerton, Lady Blanche, iii. 32. - ----- Rev. Charles, i. 137. - ----- Elizabeth Sykes, Mrs., iv. 460. - ----- Miss Mary, vi. 97. - ----- Lady Mary, iv. 348, 464. - ----- of Tatton, Lady Charlotte Loftus, Lady, iv. 460-462; v. 65. - ----- of Tatton, Lady Mary Amherst, Lady, vi. 229-239, 305. - ----- of Tatton, William Egerton, William, 1st Lord, iv. 382; v. 18. - -Elcho, Lady Anne Anson, Lady, ii. 356; iii 42; v. 206. - -Eldon, John Scott, 1st Earl of, vi. 333. - -Eliot, William, Lord, iv. 245. - -Elizabeth, Queen of England, iv. 77, 337; v. 332. - -Ellice, Lady Jane, iv. 9, 51, 136, 209, 213, 254, 338, 405, 406, 408; v. -214; vi. 21. - ----- Mr. William, iv. 51, 405; v. 214. - -Elliot, Lady Harriet, iv. 447. - ----- Miss Margaret, iv. 324. - -Ellis, Hon. Harriet, iv. 182, 189. - -Ellisland, ii. 164. - -Ellison, Mr. Cuthbert, i. 50. - ----- Mrs. of Sugbrooke, iii. 169. - -Elphinstone, Sir Howard, iv. 230; vi. 152, 181. - -Elsdon, ii. 345. - -Elton Hall, v. 271; vi. 376, 455. - -Eltz, vi. 223. - -Elvedon, vi. 400. - -Ely, iii. 8. - -Embrun, vi. 46. - -Enfield, Lady Alice Egerton, Viscountess, v. 363. - -Enniskillen, William Willoughby, 3rd Earl of, iv. 382. - -Ensleigh, vi. 181. - -Erskine, Emmeline Adeane, Mrs. Thomas, novelist, iii. 201; v. 278. - ----- Thomas, of Linlathen, essayist, ii. 165, 278. - -Escrick, ii. 437. - -Escurial, Palace of the, iv. 42. - -Eslington, ii. 320, 364. - -Este, iii. 229. - -Eugène Beauharnais, Prince, i. 20. - -Eugénie de Montijos, Empress of the French, i. 492; iii. 392; iv. 225, -434; v. 205, 210-211, 417-418; vi. 350-351. - -Eulenborg, Count, v. 96, 98. - -Evans, Rev., iii. 3. - -Eversley, Charles Shaw-Lefevre, Viscount, ii. 217; iv. 343; v. 221, 340. - -Evreux, i. 326. - -Ewart, Herbert and Lady Mary, vi. 517. - -Exeter, Lady Georgina Pakenham, Marchioness of, v. 47. - -Exeter, Henry Phillpotts, Bishop of, ii. 264; iv. 249. - ----- William Alleyne Cecil, 3rd Marquis of, v. 47, 52. - - -F. - -Faa, Esther, Queen of the Gipsies, iv. 250-252. - -Facchini, Giacinta, “the Saint of St. Peter’s,” ii. 429-430; iii. -253-254. - -Fairholme, Grace Palliser, Mrs., iv. 133, 135, 136, 139, 143. - -Falconnet, Mademoiselle Judith, ii. 59. - -Falk, Paul Ludwig, the politician, v. 92. - -Falkirk Tryst, iii. 48. - -Falkland, Byron Plantagenet Cary, 12th Viscount, vi. 445. - -Fane, Captain, iv. 288. - -Farfa, iv. 190. - -Farley Hungerford, i. 271-272. - -Farnese, Cardinal Alessandro, iv. 112. - -Farquharson, Miss, of Invercauld, v. 456. - -Favart, Madame, v. 176. - -Fawsley, v. 404. - -Feilden, Mr. and Mrs. Arbuthnot, iii. 78-80; iv. 106. - -Feilding, Lord and Lady, i. 340. - -Felbrigge, v. 451. - -Felixstowe, vi. 259. - -Fellowes, Hon. Ailwyn and Mrs., vi. 241. - ----- Susan Lyon, Mrs., ii. 272, 317. - -Fénélon, Chateau de, v. 437. - -Fergusson, Sir James, v. 8. - -Ferney Voltaire, i. 453. - -Ferrar, Nicholas, of Little Gidding, vi. 376-378. - -Ferrara, ii. 47; iii. 345. - -Ferrers, Sir Edward, vi. 498. - ----- Laurence, 4th Earl, iv. 236. - ----- Marmion Edward, vi. 497. - -Ferronays, M. de la, ii. 68. - -Fersen, John Axel, Comte de, iv. 273-279. - -Feuchères, Sophia Dawes, Madame de, iii. 21-23; iv. 338-339; vi. 122. - -Feuchtwanger, the Misses, vi. 285. - -Fiano, Don Marco, Duke of, ii. 59, 424. - ----- Donna Giulia Boncompagni, Duchess of, ii. 59. - -Fielding, Copley, the artist, i. 165, 505. - -Filiol, Sybil, i. 157. - -Fina, S., iii. 344. - -Finucane, Miss Anastasia, iii. 209, 378. - -Firle, v. 407. - -Fisher, Captain Edward, iv. 201, 203, 307. - -----Frederick, iii. 67, 414. - -FitzClarence, Lady Frederick, iii. 29-30. - -Fitzhardinge, Georgina Sumner, Lady, v. 304, 306. - -FitzGerald, Edward Fox, i. 29. - ----- Jane Paul, Mrs. Edward, i. 29; iii. 267, 269, 271, 272; iv. 243. - ----- Pamela Sims, Lady Edward, i. 28; iv. 243; v. 413. - ----- Percy, the author, vi. 259. - -Fitzherbert, Mrs., iii. 324. - -Fitzmaurice, Lord Edmond, v. 14. - ----- Mrs., iii. 226. - -Fitzwilliam, Lady Albreda, iv. 282. - ----- Hon. Charles, vi. 378. - ----- Lady Frances Douglas, Countess, iv. 269, 281-282. - ----- William, 6th Earl, iv. 269, 281. - -Flahault, Margaret, Baroness Keith, Comtesse de, iv. 61. - -Fletcher, Miss, of Saltoun, ii. 355; iii. 40, 42, 43. - ----- Lady Charlotte, ii. 356; iii. 43-45. - -Flint, Professor Robert, theologian, v. 323. - -Flodden Field, ii. 281. - -Florence, ii. 84; iii. 315; iv. 193; vi. 510. - -Florence, Henry, iii. 363. - -Flower, Constance de Rothschild, Mrs. Cyril, afterwards Lady Battersea, -vi. 90. - ----- Professor (Sir) William Henry, vi. 81. - -Foley, Henry Thom, 5th Lord, v. 284. - ----- Lady Mary Howard, Lady, v. 413. - ----- Miss Margaret, the sculptress, iv. 90. - -Folkestone, Matilda Chaplin, Viscountess, v. 15. - -Fontainebleau, i. 451. - -Fontaines, iii. 183. - -Fontarabia, ii. 493. - -Fontenay, iii. 385. - -Ford Abbey, vi. 296. - -Ford Castle, ii. 280-282, 360-363; iii. 323-326; iv. 51, 133-144; vi. -158-161, 244-249. - ----- Mary Molesworth, Mrs., of Pencarrow, vi. 95. - -Forester, Hon. Eleanor Fraser, Mrs. Henry, vi. 123. - -Forli, iv. 315-318. - -Forster, Harry, vi. 156. - ----- Professor, iv. 326. - -Fortescue, Elizabeth Geale, Countess, iv. 249. - ----- Hugh, Earl, iv. 249. - -Foscolo, Ugo, iv. 346. - -Foster, Dr., Bishop of Kilmore, ii. 233. - ----- Miss, ii. 234. - ----- Mrs. Johnston, vi. 301. - -Fotheringham, Mrs., of Fotheringham, ii. 165. - -Fotheringhay, v. 272. - -Fox, Charles James, the politician, vi. 401. - ----- George Lane, of Bramham, vi. 357. - ----- St. George Lane, v. 416. - -Framlingham, v. 445. - -France, publication of volumes on, vi. 238. - -Francesca Romana, St., iii. 225-226. - -Francesco d’Assise, King Consort of Spain, iv. 35-37. - -Francesco II., King of Naples, iii. 85, 96-97. - -Francheschi, Signor, v. 22. - -Franklin, Lady, iii. 2. - -Franzoni, Madame, iv. 166-167. - -Fraser, Mrs., v. 323. - -Fray, Miss, i. 268. - -Frederick the Great of Prussia, ii. 148; v. 92. - ----- Crown Prince of Prussia, afterwards Emperor of Germany, ii. 374; v. -96, 97; vi. 69. - -Freeman, Edward Augustus, the historian, iv. 354-356. 424; vi. 380. - -Frere, G. E., v. 331. - -Fribourg, in Breisgau, iii. 109. - ----- in Switzerland, ii. 112. - -Fritwell Manor, ii. 151. - -Froude, James Anthony, the historian, iv. 397; v. 18, 197, 289. - -Fry, Elizabeth Gurney, Mrs., i. 229; ii. 437. - ----- Mrs., of Clifton, iv. 78-80. - -Fryston, iv. 69. - -Fullerton, Lady Georgiana, ii. 400, 403; iii. 270, 287. - -Fuseli, Henry, R.A., vi. 330. - -Fyler, Rev. J., Vicar of Cornhill, iv. 264, 266. - ----- Gabet, M., ii. 421. - - -G. - -Gabriac, Marquis de, ii. 115. - ----- Marquise de, ii. 67. - -Gabrielli, Augusta Bonaparte, Princess, v. 140. - -Gaebler, M. Bernard, i. 161. - -Gage, Henry, 5th Viscount, v. 407. - -Galicano, the Hermitage of, ii. 98. - -Galloway, Lady Mary Cecil, Countess of, vi. 224. - -Galway, Henrietta Eliza Milnes, Viscountess, vi. 421. - ----- Rev. Father, ii. 398-404, 427; iii. 263, 287. - -Garden, Miss Henrietta, i. 108; iii. 193, 213, 220; v. 135, 345; vi. -264, 275, 279, 415, 505, 509. - -Gargilesse, v. 433. - -Garrowby, vi. 389. - -Gaskell, Charles Milnes, vi. 28. - ----- Elizabeth Cleghorn Stevenson, Mrs., the novelist, ii. 224; iii. -117. - -Gasperoni, the robber chieftain, ii. 54. - -Gatton Park, v. 33. - -Gaussen, M., i. 453. - -Gayford, Mrs., i. 53, 369. - -Gemmi, adventure on the, i. 462. - -Geneva, i. 452; ii. 379. - -Genoa, ii. 253; iii. 187. - -George III., King of England, ii. 434-436. - -George IV., King of England, iii. 14, 15, 176, 324; iv. 308; v. 335; vi. -359. - -Germany, H.R.H. Frederick, Crown Prince of, ii. 374; v. 96, 97; vi. 69. - -----Frederick William II., Emperor of, vi. 253. - ----- H.R.H. Victoria, the Crown Princess of, v. 75, 96-98; vi. 69, 70. - -Ghizza, Ancilla, iii. 234. - -Giacinta, the “Saint of St. Peter’s,” ii. 429-430; iii. 253-254. - -Gibraltar, iv. 34-37. - -Gibside, ii. 180. - -Gibson, John, the sculptor, iii. 76-78. - -Gidding, Little, vi. 376-378. - -Gidman, John, i. 131; ii. 33, 83, 386; iii. 232, 406, 412; iv. 46; v. -378. - ----- Mary Lea, Mrs., i. 205-207, 210; ii. 33, 468, 489; iii. 195, 316, -399, 403, 409, 412, 413, 414; iv. 46, 299, 373-375; v. 315, 325, 352, -369-381. - -Gilbertson, Rev. Lewis, Minor Canon of St. Paul’s, vi. 375, 464. - -Gilling Castle, vi. 256. - -Gioberti, Signor, iii. 167. - -Girgenti, v. 251. - -Gladstone, Catherine Glynne, Mrs., ii. 381; iv. 397, 462; v. 210. - ----- Rt. Hon. William Ewart, the statesman, iv. 397, 461-462; v. 210; -vi. 235-236, 325, 408, 483. - -Glamis Castle, i. 22; v. 44, 217-218. - -Glamis, John Lyon, 6th Lord, i. 23. - ----- John Lyon, 7th Lord, i. 23. - ----- John Lyon, 8th Lord, i. 23. - -Glassenbury, vi. 55. - -Glastonbury, i. 98. - -Gleichen, Countess Valda, vi. 499. - -Glemham, v. 445. - -Gloucester and Bristol, Charles John Ellicott, Bishop of, iv. 401. - -Glyn, Hon. and Rev. Edward Carr, afterwards Bishop of Peterborough, iv. -283, 284. - -Glynde Place, v. 407. - -Goldschmidt, Jenny Lind, Madame, i. 236; iii. 146-149; iv. 80; v. 200; -vi. 260-262, 406. - -Goldsmid, Nathaniel, ii. 68; iii. 168. - ----- Mrs. Nathaniel, iii. 69, 71-75, 93. - -Goldstone Farm, i. 150, 208. - -Gondi, Count, iii. 252. - -Gontaut, Duchesse de, Governess of the Children of France, vi. 321. - -Gordon, Alexander, v. 319-320. - ----- Hon. Sir Arthur, afterwards Lord Stanmore, v. 203, 208. - ----- Hon. Canon Douglas, iv. 347; vi. 105, 414. - -Gordon, Lady E., vi. 405, 414. - ----- Hon. John, iii. 43. - ----- Misses Duff, iv. 370. - ----- Isabella Grant, Lady Francis, iv. 66, 67, 410. - -Gore, Lady, i. 278. - -Gorhambury, v. 47. - -Gosau, Lakes of, 11, 41. - -Gosford, ii. 356. - -Gower, vi. 101. - ----- Granville Leveson, vi. 305. - ----- Lord Ronald, iv. 61; v. 228, 275, 340, 372, 374; vi. 341. - -Grammont, Antoine, Duc de, vi. 29. - -Granada, iv. 37-39. - -Grande Chartreuse, La, ii. 258. - -Grant, Dr., Bishop of Southwark, ii. 442. - -----Frederick Forsyth, i. 440; ii. 151, 168. - ----- General, the American, v. 97. - ----- Miss Katherine, v. 429. - ----- Lady Lucy, v. 281. - ----- Miss Mary, the sculptress, iv. 397; v. 281. - ----- Owen, v. 279; vi. 96. - ----- Duff, Sir Mountstuart and Lady, vi. 520. - -Granville, Castalia Campbell, Countess, vi. 301. - ----- Mr. Court, and Lady Charlotte, ii. 353. - -Gravetye, vi. 227. - -Gray, Dr. Asa, the botanist, v. 300-301. - -Great Oakley Hall, vi. 238. - -Greenwell, Rev. Canon William, the archaeologist, v. 424. - -Greenwood, John, of Swancliffe, v. 425. - -Gregory, Pearson, of Harlaxton, vi. 501. - ----- Mrs., ii. 482-486; iv. 200. - -Gregory XVI., Pope, iii. 74. - -Grenfell, Alethea Adeane, Mrs. Henry, v. 326. - -Grenoble, vi. 51. - -Gresford, i. 96; ii. 448. - -Grey, Albert, vi. 18. - ----- Anna Sophia Ryder, Lady, of Falloden, ii. 279, 363. - ----- Charles, 2nd Earl, the Prime Minister, iii. 36; iv. 286. - ----- Charlotte Des Voeux, Lady, ii. 251, 371, 377; iii. 139, 154; iv. -327. - ----- Lady Elizabeth, ii. 276, 366. - ----- Hon. and Rev. Francis, ii. 276-278, 366; v. 231, 461. - ----- Hon. Sir Frederick, iv. 283. - ----- George, of Falloden, iv. 290. - ----- Right Hon. Sir George, of Falloden, statesman, ii. 279, 363; iii. -36; iv. 99; v. 2. - ----- Sir George, of New Zealand, ii. 214-217; iii. 330. - ----- Rev. Harry, i. 253. - ----- Henry George, 3rd Earl, the politician, iii. 35, 36; iv. 62. - ----- Lady Georgiana, ii. 332, 334-335, 337-339. - ----- John, of Dilston, ii. 266. - ----- Maria Copley, Countess, iii. 35-36; iv. 62. - ----- Mrs. William, iv. 473. - -Greystoke, vi. 354. - -Greville, Hon. Alwyn, v. 214. - ----- Mrs., _née_ Locke, ii. 94. - ----- Sabine Thellusson, Mrs., iv. 370, 484; v. 38-41, 289-290. - ----- William Fulke, v. 223. - -Grignan, Chateau de, vi. 37. - -Grigor, Dr., of Nairn, iii. 373; iv. 89. - -Grimaldi, ii. 250. - ----- the Marchesa, ii. 320. - -Grimston, Lady Anne, vi. 374-375. - ----- Lady Jane, v. 48. - -Groombridge Place, vi. 322-323. - -Grosvenor, Hon. Mrs. Norman, vi. 367. - ----- Lady Sybil Lumley, Countess, vi. 353. - -Grosvenor, Hon. Victoria, vi. 77. - -Grote, Harriet Lewin, Mrs., ii. 26-29, 218; iv. 480; v. 307-308, -310-312; vi. 253. - -Grove, Elizabeth Hill, Mrs. Thomas, iii. 394; v. 291. - -Guerande, La, vi. 152. - -Guildford, the trial at, iii. 294. - -Guiness, Adelaide Maria Guiness, Mrs. Edward, v. 204. - -Guizot, M. François Pierre Guillaume, Prime Minister, i. 320. - -Gunnora, Duchess of Normandy, i. 319. - -Gurdon, story of Father, vi. 130. - -Gurney, Miss Anna, i. 230. - ----- Mrs. Catherine, i. 229. - -Gurneys of Earlham, the, vi. 337-339, 370-371, 384. - - -H. - -Haddington, Helen Warrender, Countess of, iv. 445. - -Hadleigh in Essex, vi. 518. - -Haig of Bemerside, the Misses, iii. 378. - -Hailes Abbey, iv. 438. - -Hailstone, Mr. and Mrs., of Walton, iv. 68. - -Hale, Dr. Douglas, ii. 369, 497. - ----- Mrs., ii. 497; iii. 414. - -Halifax, Lady Agnes Courtenay, Viscountess, iv. 290; vi. 353, 424. - ----- Miss Caroline, i. 284. - ----- Sir Charles Wood, Viscount, the statesman, iv. 290, 325, 362; v. -421. - ----- Charles Lindley Wood, Viscount, President of the Church Union, v. -461; vi. 64, 97, 181-182, 257-258, 353, 424. - ----- Lady Mary Grey, Viscountess, iv. 290, 475. - -Hall, Mrs. Richard, iii. 159, 196, 198. - -Hallam, Arthur, i. 509. - -Hallein, mines of, ii. 42. - -Hallingbury, iii. 7. - -Hallstadt, ii. 40. - -Halsbury, Hardinge Stanley Giffard, Lord Chancellor, vi. 478. - -Hamilton, Alexander, 10th Duke of, ii. 336, 359. - ----- Hon. Emma Elizabeth Proby, Lady Claude, vi. 376. - ----- Lady Emily, iii. 48. - ----- Hon. Frances Scott, Mrs. Baillie, iv. 259. - ----- Rev. Henry Parr, Dean of Salisbury, iv. 346. - ----- Hon. Margaret Dillon, Mrs., i. 382. - ----- Princess Mary of Baden, Duchess of, ii. 358. - ----- Mary Grove, Mrs. Cospatrick Baillie, iii. 395. - ----- Lady Margaret, vi. 97. - ----- Hamilton, Mrs., iv. 211-212, 215, 338-340, 404, 408. - -Ham House, v. 231; vi. 225. - -Hampden, Great, ii. 8. - ----- Eliza Ellice, Viscountess, v. 407. - -Hams, vi. 406. - -Hanbury, Cecil, of La Murtola, vi. 341, 347. - -Hanover, H.R.H. Princess Frederika of, v. 195. - ----- H.R.H. Princess Mary of, iv. 429; v. 351, 429. - ----- H.M. Queen Mary of, iv. 431-434; v. 351. - ----- H.M. King George of, ii. 152, 153; iv. 431; v. 307. - -Harcourt, Archbishop, iii. 157. - ----- House, vi. 80. - ----- Right Hon. Sir William, the statesman, v. 273. - -Hardwick Hall, Suffolk, vi. 24, 102-103. - -Hardwicke, Lady Elizabeth Lindsay, Countess of, iii. 24-27, 324; iv. -139-140. - -Hardwicke, Hon. Susan Liddell, Countess of, ii. 403; iv. 409; v. 222. - -Hardy, Thomas, the novelist, vi. 398. - -Hare, Anna-Maria Clementina, i. 11, 13. - ----- Anne Frances Maria Louisa, i. 39, 161, 338-357, 370; ii. 55-57, 70, -72, 114-115, 182-213, 284, 400, 409-432, 499-517; iii. 68, 89, 232, -233-272. - ----- Augustus John Cuthbert: birth of, i. 42; - baptism, 50; - adoption, 51; - is sent to England, 53; - childhood of, 54-166; - sent to school at Harnish, 167; - private school life of, 170; - at Harrow, 214-246; - at Lyncombe, 247-296; - at Southgate, 297-401; - tour in Normandy, 318-331; - tour in Belgium, Germany, and France, 377-387; - goes to University College, Oxford, 402; - second tour in Germany and France, 422-436; - in France and Switzerland, 450-465; - in Wales, 501-503; - in Scotland, ii. 17-23; - leaves Oxford, 31; - in Switzerland and Austria, 33-44; - first journey to Rome and Naples, 45-84; - summer at Florence and Lucca, 84-103; - autumn in Northern Italy and Paris, 103-128; - writes Murray’s Handbook for Berks, Bucks, and Oxfordshire, 133-241; - second summer in Scotland, 162-172; - has to leave Hurstmonceaux, 227; - leaves Lime, 243; - settles at Holmhurst, 244; - spends the winter at Mentone, 246-258; - writes Murray’s Handbook for Durham and Northumberland, 260-366; - spends the spring at Nice and early summer in Switzerland, 370-380; - second winter at Rome, 384-409; - visit to Escrick, 433; - spring at Pau and Biarritz, 462-497; - summer in Northumberland, iii. 8-49; - third winter at Rome, 50-109; - winter at Cannes, 134-152; - fourth winter at Rome, 183-232; - death of his sister, 232; - is attacked by a Roman Catholic conspiracy, 272-312; - fifth winter at Rome and dangerous illness, 314-320; - sixth winter at Rome, 333-386; - death of his adopted mother, 400; - writes “Memorials of a Quiet Life” under great opposition, iv. 1-9; - visits at Penzance and Bournemouth and Highcliffe, 6-14; - lawsuit about a portrait by Sir J. Reynolds, 17-24; - travels in Spain with Miss Wright, 24-44; - autumn of 1872 in Northumberland and Yorkshire, 51-71; - visit at Hatfield, 72-82; - publication of “Wanderings in Spain,” 83-84; - seventh winter at Rome, 85-123; - autumn of 1873 in the North of England, 132-148; - work in 1874 on “Cities of Northern and Central Italy,” 162-197; - becomes a member of the Athenaeum, 198-199; - publishes a third volume of “The Memorials,” 309-311; - tour for work in 1875 in Northern and Central Italy, 312-323; - visits in London and the country, 323-351; - publishes “Cities of Northern and Central Italy,” 352; - is attacked by Mr. John Murray, 353; - by Mr. Edward Freeman, 354; - attends Lady Augusta Stanley’s funeral, 366; - visit at Powdenham, 385; - at Charlton, 388; - at Highcliffe, 404; - at Cobham, 411; - at Ampthill, 412; - at Conington, 424; - at Sarsden, 426; - at Donington, 440; - at Raby, 442; - at Whitburn, 443; - at Winton, 447; - at Ravensworth, 451; - at Kinmel, 458; - at Tatton, 459; - at Sherborne, 465; - at Osterley, 467; - at Hinchinbroke, 470; - writes the Memoirs of Baroness Bunsen, v. 1; - visit at Llanover, 3; - at Milford, 38; - at Babworth, 41; - at Thoresby, 43; - at Glamis, 44; - at Gorhambury, 47; - at Goldings, 53; - at Ampthill, 55; - at Crewe, 62; - at Battle Abbey, 66; - meets the Crown Princess of Germany, 75; - visits the Princess of Wied, 77; - visits and tour in Germany, 85-99; - in Denmark, 99-102; - in Sweden, 102-108; - in Norway, 108-118; - visit to the King and Queen of Sweden and Norway, 118-129; - undertakes to be with the Crown Prince at Rome, 132; - is overtaken by an avalanche on the Mont Cenis, 134; - at Rome with the Crown Prince, 135-177; - speech before the Roman Archaeological Society, 179-190; - in London with the Crown Prince, 195-213; - visits with the Crown Prince, 213-217; - at Llanover with the Hereditary Grand Duke of Baden, 225-228; - suffers from the bankruptcy of his publishers, 241; - makes a tour in Sicily and Apulia in 1879-80, 245-271; - edits the Life of Amelie von Lassaulx, 292; - goes to Holyrood as equerry to the High Commissioner, 318-324; - visits Rome, Capri, Calabria, and Venice in 1882, 344-352; - tour in Holland in 1882, 363-365; - death of his old nurse, 369-381; - travels in Russia in 1883, 391-401; - tour in Picardy and Switzerland in 1884, 408-411; - loss of fortune, 416; - first journey in France for literary purposes in 1885, 430-442; - his failures in trying to help young men, 462-470; - reaches middle life, vi. 1-3; - travels in France and Italy in 1886, 8-17; - travels in France in 1887, 35-54; - is arrested at Vizille, 48; - publishes “Paris,” and “Days near Paris,” 114-117; - travels again in France in 1888, 146-152; - last visit to Ford, 158; - spring on the Riviera and at Rome and Venice in 1889, 165-170; - loss from books, 165; - illness at Holmhurst in 1889, 187-188; - journey to Constantinople, Broussa, and Oberammergau in 1890, 192-225; - last visit to Highcliffe, 228-229; - his loss in Lady Waterford, 241-251; - spring on the Riviera and at Rome and Venice in 1892, 263-294; - serious illness at Holmhurst in 1892, 299-301; - loss of Miss Leycester, 318-319; - writes a volume on Sussex, 322; - publishes “Two Noble Lives,” 333-336; - writes the “Gurney Memoirs,” 337-339; - travels in Normandy and Brittany in 1894, 342-346; - publishes “Life and Letters of Maria Edgeworth,” 370-371; - publishes “The Gurneys of Earlham,” 384-385; - publishes “North-Western France” and “Biographical Sketches,” 392; - spring on the Rivieras and at Rome and Venice in 1896, 411-421; - visits at Reigate, Hatfield, and Osterley, 421-424; - visit at Wollaton, 425; - visits at Oswestry, Lutwyche, Chesters, North Berwick, Airlie Castle, - Bishopthorpe, 434-436; - publishes the first three volumes of “The Story of my Life,” 446; - visits at Lockinge, Blaise Castle, Hewell, Elton, Madresfield, Painswick, - Hereford, 447-463; - visits at Maiden-Bradley, Burwarton, Teversal, Thoresby, Cliveden, 473-480; - builds at Holmhurst, 491; - visits at Shrivenham, Oxton, Streatlam, Kiplin, Baddesley-Clinton, Sonning, - and Belvoir, 494-502; - at Rome in the spring of 1899, 505-510; - at Florence and Arco, 510; - attends the deathbed of Mrs. C. Vaughan, 513-516; - is at Swaylands with the Duchess of York, 410; - visits in Suffolk, 517-521; - undergoes the Nauheim treatment, 521; - tour in Devon and Cornwall, 522-524; - visits at Corsham and Cliveden, 525; - visit to the King and Queen of Sweden, 525. - -Hare, Augustus William, Rector of Alton-Barnes, i. 6, 13, 14, 43-49. - ----- Mrs. Augustus (Maria Leycester), i. 43, 54-80, 98-171, 187-196, -200-201, 210-212, 240, 254, 259, 262, 365, 376-377, 437-438, 442-444, -450, 454, 464, 466, 469, 487-492; ii. 14-17, 44-49, 76, 80, 85, 97, 109, -130, 227-229, 243, 246-247, 259, 326-328, 367-372, 392-393, 460-497; -iii. 3, 84, 103, 107, 110, 141, 183, 187-190, 202-232, 320-322, 331, -337-419; vi. 489. - ----- Miss Caroline, i. 4, 89, 94, 291. - ----- Caroline, daughter of Francis and Anne, i. 33, 35. - -----Francis, Dean of St. Paul’s and Bishop of St. Asaph and Chichester, -i. 1, 2; ii. 156. - -Hare, Francis George (the elder), i. 6-21, 26, 29-42, 49-53, 84-85, 95, - 157-159; ii. 57; - portrait by Sir J. Reynolds of, iv. 17-24. - -----Francis George (the younger), i. 35, 92-94, 160, 373-375; ii. -400-402, 408; iii. 240, 248, 257-259, 276, 278, 282-313. - ----- Anne Frances Paul, Mrs., i. 33-42, 51, 53, 95, 160, 260-261, 276, -339-355, 370-376; ii. 55-57, 114, 212-213, 397-406; iii. 53, 54; iv. 18. - ----- Charlotte Fuller, Mrs. Robert, iv. 50. - ----- George, i. 91-94. - ----- Georgiana, afterwards Mrs. Frederick Maurice, i. 13, 16, 82-83, -280. - ----- Gustavus Cockburn, i. 13, 123, 287, 481. - ----- Annie Wright, Mrs. Gustavus, i. 123. - ----- Mrs. Henckel, i. 3, 4, 89, 90. - ----- Henry, i. 91. - ----- Julius Charles, Rector of Hurstmonceaux and Archdeacon of Lewes, i. -6, 10, 14, 49, 50, 59, 67-68, 77, 80-81, 99, 104-107, 109-111, 122, 156, -159, 176, 179, 251-253, 261-262, 357, 466-469, 476, 478, 480-484; iv. -18; vi. 6. - ----- Marcus Augustus Stanley, i. 74, 86; ii. 366, 370; iv. 51, 164, 249; -v. 69-70. - ----- Marcus Theodore, i. 6, 11, 85, 96, 175, 190, 192, 194-196; iv. 18; -vi. 6. - ----- Lucy Anne Stanley, Hon. Mrs. Marcus, i. 49, 74, 166, 175, 178, 192, -194-196, 201-204; iii. 318-319. - ----- Miss Marianne, i. 4, 10, 89, 95, 291. - ----- Mary Margaret Alston, Mrs. i. 2, 494; ii. 156; vi. 518, 519. - ----- Mary Hargreaves, Mrs. Theodore, vi. 297. - ----- Reginald John, i. 13. - ----- Rev. Robert, Rector of Hurstmonceaux, i. 4, 5; vi. 5. - ----- Rev. Robert, Canon of Winchester, i. 2, 6, 494. - ----- Theodore Julius, i. 160, 204. - ----- William Robert, i. 18, 160, 373-375; ii. 401-402, 411, 452-453, -514; iii. 241-250. - -Hare-Naylor, Anna Maria Mealey, Mrs., i. 13, 82, 83; vi. 6. - -----Francis, i. 5, 11, 12, 13; vi. 5. - ----- Georgiana Shipley, Mrs., i. 5-12; vi. 6. - -Harewood, Lady Florence Bridgeman, Countess of, vi. 402. - -Harford, Mary de Bunsen, Mrs., iv. 165; v. 2. - -Harlaxton, vi. 501. - -Harlech, William Richard Ormsby Gore, 2nd Lord, vi. 434. - -Harnham, ii. 351. - -Harnish, i. 170; vi. 525. - -Harraden, Miss, the novelist, vi. 340. - -Harrington, Elizabeth Green, Countess of, v. 198. - -Harris, Hon. Charles, vi. 459. - ----- George Robert Canning, Lord, iv. 357. - ----- Hon. Reginald Temple, i. 264, 277, 282. - -Harrison, Archdeacon Benjamin and Mrs., iii. 331-332. - -Harrow, i. 214. - -Harte, Bret, the poet, vi. 319. - -Harvey, Annie Tennant, Mrs., of Ickwellbury, iv. 335, 363; v. 406. - -Hastings, i. 122. - -Hastings, Francis, 1st Marquis of, iv. 285-286. - ----- Warren, the statesman, iv. 435. - -Hatfield House, i. 307, 313; iv. 72-82, 223, 224; vi. 372-375. 422-423, -482. - -Hatherley, Lord and Lady, iv. 379. - -Haweis, Rev. Hugh Reginald, the author, iv. 307. - -Hawker, Misses Jane and Adelaide, iii. 106-107, 146. - -Hawkestone, i. 148, 208; ii. 327. - -Haworth, iv. 68-69; vi. 394. - -Hawthorne, Nathaniel, the novelist, v. 19. - -Hawtrey, Dr. Edward Craven, Provost of Eton, ii. 230; iv. 198. - -Hay, Adam, of King’s Meadows, ii. 137; iii. 46, 146. - ----- Sir Adam, ii. 357; iii. 146. - ----- Miss Ida, ii. 372. - ----- Sir John, v. 51. - -Haygarth, Mrs., afterwards Lady Blanche, iv. 83, 240; v. 276; vi. 257. - ----- Colonel Francis, iv. 83, 240; v. 276; vi. 257. - -Hayward, Abraham, the essayist, iv. 226, 395. - -Heber, Rev. Reginald, Rector of Hodnet and Bishop of Calcutta, i. 44. - ----- Emilia Shipley, Mrs. Reginald, i. 44; iii. 125. - -Heckfield Place, iv. 343. - -Hedley, Rev. W., Dean of University College, afterwards Rector of -Beckley, i. 405. - -Heidelberg, i. 380. - -Heiligenkreutz, ii. 38. - -Helbig, Professor Wolfgang, the antiquarian, v. 142. - -Helmingham, v. 445. - -Helston, vi. 522. - -Hely-Hutchinson, Lady Margaret, v. 320. - -Henckel, Mrs., i. 90. - -Henderson, Colonel, iv. 155-156. - -Hendre, the, vi. 502. - -Henniker, Miss Edith, vi. 456. - -Herbert, E., the artist, v. 191-192. - ----- Rev. George, the poet, vi. 108. - ----- Hon. George, Dean of Hereford, vi. 302. - ----- Lady Gladys, iv. 406. - ----- Lady Gwendolen, vi. 474. - ----- Lady Margaret, vi. 474. - ----- Lady Winifred, iv. 149; v. 11. - ----- of Lea, Elizabeth A’Court, Lady, the authoress, iv. 51-55, 406. - ----- of Llanarth, Arthur, v. 6. - ----- of Llanarth, Hon. Augusta Hall, Mrs., v. 6, 228. - -Hereford, vi. 302. - -Herkomer, Hubert, the artist, v. 429. - -Herrenalb, iv. 322-323; v. 86, 87. - -Herries, Marcia Vavasour, Lady, iii. 237. - -Hervey, Lord Arthur, Bishop of Bath and Wells, vi. 320-321. - ----- Lord Francis, iv. 153. - -Hesleyside, ii. 343. - -Hesse, H.R.H. Princess Alice of, iv. 102; v. 147. - ----- H.R.H. Prince Louis of, iv. 102. - -Hewell, vi. 351, 448. - -Hewitt, Sir Prescott, the great surgeon, vi. 4. - -Hibbert, Caroline Cholmondeley, Mrs., iii. 117. - ----- Miss Letitia, vi. 9. - -Hickleton, ii. 283; iv. 290; v. 418; vi. 257-258, 371-372. - -Higginson, Miss Adelaide, i. 478. - ----- Lady Frances, i. 478; iv. 132; vi. 94. - ----- General Sir George, v. 279; vi. 86, 94, 299. - -Highclere, iv. 148. - -Highcliffe, iii. 427; iv. 8-14, 208-217, 404-409; vi. 21, 108, 228-229. - -High Force, the, ii. 340. - -Hill, Anne Clegg, Viscountess, i. 148. - ----- Miss Octavia, vi. 319. - ----- Sir Roger, the philanthropist, vi. 183. - ----- Sir Rowland, i. 147. - ----- Rowland, 1st Viscount, i. 145. - -Hills-Johnes, Lady, vi. 142-143. - -Hinchinbroke, iv. 425, 470. - -Hirsel, the, iv. 258. - -Hoare, Mrs. R., v. 452. - -Hobart, Vere Henry, Lord, and Mary Catherine Carr, Lady, ii. 389. - -Hodnet, i. 143; ii. 327. - -Hogg, James, the Ettrick Shepherd, ii. 314-315; iv. 55. - ----- Mary Magniac, Mrs., vi. 247. - -Hohenzollern, Prince Friedrich of, v. 98. - -Holcombe, vi. 401. - -Holford, Miss Evelyn, vi. 78. - ----- George, vi. 448. - -Holland, Mary-Augusta Coventry, Lady, iv. 226, 231, 325, 331, 395, 474. - ----- Miss Caroline, v. 99, 109, 112, 245, 316, 390; vi. 92. - ----- Miss Gertrude, v. 99, 245, 255, 316, 390 - ----- Mary Sibylia, Mrs. Frank, vi. 490. - -Holland House, iv. 226-228, 231, 325, 331, 335, 395, 398; v. 21, 212; -vi. 329. - -Holmbury, vi. 225. - -Holmesdale, Lady Julia Cornwallis, Viscountess, v. 45. - -Holmhurst, ii. 241-246, 259, 368; iii. 320; iv. 46, 49, 229, 311, 404; -v. 30-31, 352, 462; vi. 4, 139, 170, 173-174, 342, 393, 428-429, 476, -480, 491, 503. - -Holtermann, Baron, v. 119, 117, 138. - -Holy Island, ii. 271-272. - -Home, Cospatrick Alexander, 11th Earl of, iv. 258. - -Honingham Hall, vi. 241. - -Hood, Henry, iii. 152. - -Hope, Adrian, vi. 101. - ----- Aldena Kingscote, Lady, iv. 454. - ----- Alexander James Beresford, iv. 290-291. - ----- Miss Louisa, v. 321 - ----- Lady Mildred, ii. 14. - -Hopton, vi. 103. - -Hornby Castle, vi. 402. - -Hornby, Mrs., of Dalton, iii. 80, 131, 329-330. - -Horsley, Bishop, iii. 332. - -Hosmer, Miss Harriet, the sculptress, iii. 76, 368; iv. 124; v. 66; vi. -268-273; 284-285, 287-290, 311-312. - -Hos Tendis, i. 4; vi. 103. - -Houblon, Mr. and Mrs. Archer, ii. 390; iii. 7. - -Houghton Hall, vi. 104. - -Houghton, Richard Monckton Milnes, 1st Baron, iii. 229, 360; iv. 69-71, -140, 143, 226, 307-308, 370, 383, 422, 478, 481; v. 14, 16, 17, 23, 63, -64, 66, 67, 68, 209, 272-273, 274, 287, 314; vi. 84, 253, 275, 373, 442, -483, 488. - -Hour, the Holy, ii. 499. - -Housesteads, ii. 343. - -Hovingham Hall, vi. 256. - -Howard, Edward Henry, Monsignor, afterwards Cardinal, ii. 67; vi. 297. - ----- Miss Elizabeth, iv. 99; v. 245, 255. - ----- Hon. Hubert George Lyulph, vi. 422. - ----- Lady Victoria, iii. 145; iv. 391. - ----- of Glossop, Clara Louisa Greenwood, Lady, v. 60. - ----- of Greystoke, Charlotte Long, Mrs., vi. 162, 354. - ----- de Walden, Lady Lucy Bentinck, Lady, iv. 101. - -Howden, vi. 361. - -Howe, Mrs. Julia Ward, the poetess, v. 16. - -Howick, iii. 35, 36. - -Howitt, Miss Margaret, v. 163, 175. - ----- William and Mary, author and authoress, v. 163-164, 175-176. - -Hughan, Miss Janetta, ii 284. - -Hughes, Hugh, of Kinmel, iv. 362. - ----- Lady Florentia, vi. 77, 164. - ----- Miss, “Sister Marion,” i. 473-474. - -Hull, Henry Winstanley, i. 164, 196-197, 501. - -Hulne Abbey, iii. 33. - -Hulse, Sir Edward, iv. 249, 348. - -Hungerford, Mrs., iv. 202. - -Hunt, Holman, the artist, vi 511. - ----- Leigh, v. 384. - ----- Sir J., iii. 31. - -Huntingtower, Katherine Burke, Lady, v. 234, 359; vi. 225. - ----- William, Lord, v. 234. - -Hurstmonceaux, i. 4, 9-12, 54-60, 92-94, 156, 157, 159, 164-165, -187-189, 258-260, 437-438, 475-478, 504-507; ii. 14, 227-228; iii. -410-411, 413-416; iv. 49-50; v. 380-381, 387; vi. 429, 470, 487-490. - -Husband, story of Mr., vi. 102. - -Hussey, Edward, of Scotney, iv. 301, 355-358. v. 408. - -Hutt, William, M.P. for Gateshead, ii. 180. - ----- Hon. Henrietta Clive, Mrs., iv. 330; v. 355, 359, 408. - -Hyères, ii. 370. - - -I. - -Ickwellbury, vi. 27. - -Ightham Mote, iv. 66; vi. 516. - -Ignatieff, Madame, vi. 422. - -Ignatius, Brother (Rev. Leycester Lyne), iii. 81, 83; v. 306-307. - -Imperial, Napoléon Victor Jerome Frederic, the Prince, iv. 396, 398; v. -122, 123, 126-129, 204-205, 210-211; vi. 350. - -Indelicati, the family of the, v. 254-258. - -Ingilby, Elizabeth Macdowall, Lady, of Ripley, ii. 283, 337; iv. 287. - ----- Miss, ii. 332; iv. 287. - -Inglefield, Admiral, iv. 422. - -Ingmire, vi. 183. - -Ingram, Hon. Emily Wood, Mrs. Meynell, iv. 283. - -Inverurie, Ian, Lord, vi. 343, 468. - ----- Lady Sydney, v. 217-218. - -Iona, v. 220. - -Ipswich, v. 442. - -Irongray Church, the, ii. 164. - -Irving, Washington, the author, v. 385. - ----- Henry, the actor, iv. 383, 484-486; v. 10-11. - -Italy, H.M. Margherita di Savoia, Queen of, v. 135-136, 158. - ----- H.M. Umberto II., King of, v. 158; vi. 278. - -Iveagh, Edward Guinness, Lord, and Maria Guinness, Lady, vi. 372, 398. - - -J. - -Jackson, Dean of Christ Church, i. 15. - -Jagherds, v. 53. - -James, Henry, the novelist, iv. 481; v. 16. - ----- of Hereford, Lord, vi. 447. - -Janin, Jules, iii. 6. - -Jarnac, Hon. Geraldine Foley, Comtesse de, iv. 474. - -Jedburgh, Lord, vi. 459. - -Jekyll, Walter, iv. 100. - -Jelf, Dr., Canon of Christ Church, ii. 152-153. - -Jenkin, Mrs. Fleeming, v. 289, 323. - -Jersey, Frances Twysden, Countess of, iv. 308; vi. 369. - ----- Julia Peel, Countess of, v. 229, 297; vi. 105. - ----- Hon. Margaret Leigh, Countess of, authoress, vi. 79-80, 182, -224-225, 367, 369. - ----- Lady Sarah Fane, Countess of, iii. 8-9; vi. 369. - ----- Victor Child-Villiers, 7th Earl of, vi. 182, 224-225, 369. - -Jerusalem, Bishopric of, i. 163. - -Jeune, Dr. Francis, Master of Pembroke, Oxford, afterwards Bishop of -Peterborough, ii. 6; iii. 161-168; iv. 425. - -Jewsbury, Miss Geraldine, the authoress, v. 6-7. - -Jocelyn, Lady Frances Cowper, Viscountess, iii. 140; iv. 166, 415. - -Johnes, Miss, v. 225, 326. - -Johnson, G. H. Sacheverell, Dean of Wells, iv. 355. - ----- Mr., of Akeley Heads, ii. 265. - -Jolliffe, Hon. Agatha, vi. 6. - ----- Colonel Hylton, i. 25. - ----- Hon. George Hylton, v. 151, 175: vi. 97, 192, 194, 209, 264, 429. - -Jones, Anna Maria Shipley, Lady, i. 6, 13, 16; ii. 144; vi. 5. - ----- Sir Edward Burne, the artist, vi. 423. - ----- Rev. Herbert, vi. 104. - ----- Sir Laurence, vi. 103. - ----- Rev. Robert, of Branxton, ii. 280. - ----- Sir William, the orientalist, i. 6. - ----- Miss Whitmore, vi. 430. - -Josselin, vi. 345. - -Jowett, Dr. Benjamin, tutor and Master of Balliol, i. 399, 402, 404, -420, 439, 472; ii. 220, 222, vi. 372. - -Joyce, Miss, iii. 95. - -Jubilee, ceremonies of the First Victorian, vi. 65-75, 81, 83; - of the Second, vi. 463-465. - - -K. - -Keate, Dr. John, Headmaster of Eton, iv. 232. - -Keith, Lady, iii. 26. - -Kellie Castle, vi. 443. - -Kemble, Mrs. Fanny, the authoress, iv. 87; v. 360-361, 453, 455; vi. -309-312. - -Kendal, Mr. and Mrs., v. 359. - -Kenmare, Gertrude Harriet Thynne, Countess of, vi. 415, 420. - -Kenyon, Matilda Cotton, Mrs. Orlando, v. 223. - -Keppel, Hon. Derek, vi. 99. - ----- Hon. Admiral Sir Henry, vi. 401. - -Kerrison, Sir Edward, v. 330. - -Kershaw, Rev. E. E., ii. 388. - -Kerslake, Mr., iv. 77. - -Kestner, Christian William, physician and author, vi. 275. - -Keudel, M. and Mme. de, v. 158. - -Kieff, v. 398. - -Kielder, ii. 342. - -Kildare, Lady Hermione Duncombe, Marchioness of, v. 409. - -Kilmarnock, Mary Caroline L’Estrange, Lady, vi. 134, 184. - -Kilmorey, Francis Jack, 1st Earl of, v. 279. - -Kilvert, Rev. Robert, i. 167, 172, 213. - ----- Thermuthis Coleman, Mrs. Robert, i. 167. - -King, Edward, Bishop of Lincoln, vi. 362. - -Kinglake, Alexander William, the historian, v. 359. - -Kings Meadows, ii. 357. - -Kinlet, vi. 474. - -Kiplin, vi. 494. - -Kirk-Newton, ii. 362. - -Knaresborough, ii. 322. - -Knebel, Mademoiselle, ii. 387. - -Knebworth, v. 415. - -Knepp Castle, vi. 323. - -Knightley, Louisa-Mary Bowater, Lady, v. 404-405, 407; vi. 372. - ----- Sir Rainald, afterwards Lord, v. 404-405, 407; vi. 372. - -Knowles, James, the editor, iv. 478; vi. 220, 225-226, 482. - -Knowsley, iv. 63. - -Knox, Mrs. John, ii. 274. - -Königsfelden, iii. 108. - -Krohn, M. de, v. 167, 214. - -Kuper, Mrs. and Miss, iii. 338, 339. - -Kynance Cove, vi. 524. - -Kyre, vi. 302. - - -L. - -Labouchere, Henry, M.P., vi. 85. - -Labre, the Venerable, ii. 443. - -Lacaita, Sir James, iv. 119-123, 332-334, 397, 400; v. 155; vi. 88. - -Laire, M., the antiquary, i. 324. - -Lajatico, Marchesa, v. 154. - -Lamarre, M., ii. 404-405. - -Lambert, Lady Mary, iv. 209, 213. - -Lamington, Annabella Drummond, Lady, vi. 91. - -Lanciani, Rudolfo, the archaeologist, vi. 509. - -Landor, Julia Thuillier, Mrs., ii. 92, 407. - ----- Walter Savage, the poet, i. 16, 18, 26, 37, 265-268, 270, 277, 289, -292, 510; ii. 111-112, 407-409; iv. 155; vi. 145. - -Landseer, Sir Edwin, the artist, vi. 325-326. - -Lanerton, Diana Ponsonby, Lady, vi. 297-298. - -Langford, Elizabeth, Viscountess, iii. 129. - -Langy, M. de, iv. 255. - -Lansdowne, Henry Fitz-Maurice, 5th Marquis of, v. 199. - -Larmignac, Mademoiselle Martine de, ii. 193, 505. - -Large, Mrs., iii. 309, 310. - -Lassaulx, Amalie von, v. 292. - -Laughton Place, v. 407. - -Lavalette, Marquis de, iv. 81, 279. - -Lawford Hall, vi. 518. - -Lawley, Hon. and Rev. Stephen, ii. 433; iv. 6. - -Lawrence, Sir Thomas, the artist, i. 22; vi. 360-361. - -Layard, Mr., afterwards Sir Henry, explorer and ambassador, iv. 35. - -Layer Marney, vi. 520. - -Lea, Mary, i. 50, 54, 60, 78, 117, 122, 124, 140, 171, 205, 487. - -Lear, Edward, the artist, iv. 428. - -Lecky, Elizabeth de Dedem, Mrs., v. 199. - -Ledbury, vi. 302. - -Ledstone, vi. 354. - -Lee, Henry Hives, v. 32, 363. - -Leeds, Fanny Georgiana Pitt, Duchess of, vi. 402, 404. - ----- Louisa Catherine Caton, Duchess of, vi. 404. - -Lefevre, Miss Emily Shaw, iv. 378. - ----- Hon. Emma Shaw, v. 221. - ----- Right Hon. George Shaw, the politician, iv. 397; v. 19; vi. 320. - ----- Sir John Shaw, ii. 213, 454; iv. 157, 239, 356, 371-373, 400, 471; -v. 62, 196, 220-221. - ----- Miss Madeleine Shaw, iv. 23, 219, 229, 231. - ----- Miss Maria Shaw, ii. 392. - ----- Miss Mary Shaw, ii. 392; iv. 217, 231. - ----- Miss Rachel Shaw, iv. 372. - -Legh, Emily Wodehouse, Mrs., of Lyme, afterwards Lady Newton, iii. 113, -116; v. 216; vi. 183. - -Lehmann, Hon. Chandos and Mrs., iv. 149. - ----- Miss Theodosia, i. 178. - -----Frances Butler, Hon. Mrs. James, vi. 457-458. - ----- Hon. James Wentworth, Dean of Hereford, vi. 457. - ----- William Henry, Lord, vi. 408. - ----- Dr., i. 9, 11. - -Leighton, Sir Frederick, R.A., i. 294; vi. 357-358, 512. - ----- Sir Baldwin, iv. 484. - -Leinster, Lady Caroline Grosvenor, Duchess of, v. 218. - -Leitrim, Robert Clements, 4th Earl of, v. 416. - ----- Lady Winifred Coke, Countess of, v. 416. - -Lennox, Adelaide Campbell, Lady Arthur, ii. 354. - ----- Miss Ethel, ii. 354. - -Leo XIII., Pope, vi. 277-278. - -Le Puy, iii. 149. - -L’Estelle, ii. 480, 487. - -Leslie, Constance Dawson-Damer, Mrs., afterwards Lady Constance, iv. -323; v. 14; vi. 511. - ----- Hon. George Waldegrave, v. 44. - ----- Lady, story of, ii. 322-324. - -Le Strange, Emmeline Austin, Mrs., vi. 25. - ----- Hamon Styleman, of Hunstanton, ii. 137. - -Letton, vi. 362. - -Leuk, Baths of, i. 460. - -Leven and Melville, Sophia Thornton, Countess of, iv. 219. - -Levett, Basil, vi. 97, 420. - ----- Lady Margaret, vi. 87, 97, 420. - -Leycester, Miss Emma Theodosia, i. 114, 500; ii. 477-481. - ----- Miss Charlotte, i. 114, 317, 376, 450, 454-458, 480, 487, 499; ii. -161, 289, 479; iii. 199, 208-221, 322, 397, 398; iv. 49, 129, 160, 230, -329, 404; v. 291; vi. 111-114, 255, 318-319. - -Leycester, Miss Georgiana, iii. 200. - ----- Mr. and Mrs. Henry, of White Place, ii. 156-157. - ----- Judge Hugh, i. 141. - ----- Maria, youngest daughter of Rev. Oswald, i. 33. - ----- Elizabeth White, Mrs. Oswald, i. 102, 126-141, 209, 272-274, -228-229. - ----- Rev. Oswald, Rector of Stoke-upon-Terne, i. 44, 61, 126, 207-208. - ----- Ralph, of Toft, i. 317. - ----- Susannah Leigh, Mrs. Ralph, i. 66. - ----- Emily Tyrwhitt Jones, Mrs. Ralph, iv. 307. - -Licenza, iv. 174. - -Lichfield, ii. 330; v. 403. - ----- John Hacket, Bishop of, v. 403. - ----- William Maclagan, Bishop of, v. 402. - ----- George Augustus Selwyn, Bishop of, v. 404. - -Lichtenstein, Marie Fox, Princess, iv. 228. - -Liddell, Miss Amelia, ii. 264, 271. - ----- Hon. Colonel Augustus, iii. 367. - ----- Cecil Elizabeth Wellesley, Hon. Mrs. Augustus, iii. 367. - ----- Miss Charlotte, ii. 264, 271. - ----- Charlotte Lyon, Mrs. Henry, i. 283; ii. 263, 271; iii. 8, 171. - ----- Christina Fraser Tytler, Mrs. Edward, the novelist, iv. 51, 444, -446. - ----- Edward, afterwards Rev., iii. 365-368; iv. 51, 444, 446. - ----- Hon. George, ii. 262, 263, 318; iv. 447; v. 292. - ----- Louisa Meade, Hon. Mrs. George, ii. 263, 318. - ----- Hon. Hedworth, ii. 364. - ----- Henry, Headmaster of Westminster and Dean of Christ Church, i. 283; -ii. 9, 157. - -Liddell, Rev. Henry, Rector of Easington, and trustee of Bamborough Castle, - i. 283; ii. 263; iii. 8-10, 171; - death of, iv. 39. - ----- Lorena Reeve, Mrs., vi. 89. - ----- Maria Susanna Simpson, Lady, i. 25. - ----- Hon. Thomas, ii. 139. - ----- Rev. William, ii. 264. - ----- Lady Victoria, iv. 201, 232. - -Lieven, Princesse de, iv. 308. - -Lievenhaupt, Count and Countess, v. 150. - -Lilford, Emma Brandling, Lady, iv. 395. - -Lillieköök, M. de, v. 214. - -Lime, at Hurstmonceaux, in Sussex, i. 57, 60; 66-75. - -Limosin, Madame Flora, iii. 311, 339, 349. - -Lincluden Abbey, ii. 164. - -Lincoln, vi. 361. - -Lincoln, Abraham, the American statesman and President, v. 451. - -Lind, Mademoiselle Jenny, i. 236; vi. 260, 261. - -Lindertis, vi. 439. - -Lindsay, Hon. Colonel Hugh, v. 426. - ----- Lady Margaret, iii. 27. - ----- Miss Maude, iv. 133, 137, 209, 213, 250, 260, 264, 404; v. 214; vi. -246, 249. - ----- Lady Sarah, iv. 222, 250, 360, 370; v. 426-427. - ----- Miss Violet, iv. 332. - -Liskeard, vi. 522. - -Liszt, Franz, ii. 389. - -Littlecote Hall, vi. 161. - -Llanarth, v. 226. - -Llandaff, vi. 101, 240, 476. - -Llangattock, John Rolls, Lord, vi. 505. - -Llanover, v. 2-6, 225-228. - -Llanover, Augusta Waddington, Lady, v. 2-6, 226-228. - -Llanover, Benjamin Hall, Lord, v. 6; vi. 410. - -Loch, Sir Henry, afterwards Lord, Colonial Governor, v. 336. - ----- Elizabeth Villiers, Lady, v. 336. - -Locke, Selina Tollemache, Mrs., iv. 226. - -Locker-Lampson, Frederick, the poet, v. 449; vi. 263. - -Lockhart, John Gibson, novelist and biographer, vi. - -Lockinge, vi. 447. - -Lockwood, Lady Julia, iv. 472. - -London, Frederick Temple, Bishop of, vi. 320. - -London dinners, vi. 252. - -Londonderry, Frances Anne Vane Tempest, Marchioness of, iii. 9; v. 428. - ----- Mary Cornelia Edwards, Marchioness of, iii. 270. - -Longford Castle, vi. 312. - -Longland, John, Dean of Salisbury and Bishop of Lincoln, vi. 314-316. - -Longley, Charles Thomas, Archbishop of Canterbury, v. 340. - -Loraine, Sir Lambton, v. 13. - -Lorne, John George Campbell, Marquis of, v. 22; vi. 341. - -Loseley, iv. 307. - -Lothian, Lady Cecil Talbot, widow of the 7th Marquis of, i. 339, 356; -ii. 398-404, 409, 444; iii. 153, 270, 287, 294, 298. - ----- Lady Constance Talbot, Marchioness of, iii. 47; v. 452; vi. 105, -243, 303-304, 367-368. - ----- William Schomberg, 8th Marquis of, iii. 47. - -Louis, King of Bavaria, ii. 374. - ----- XVIII., King of France, vi. 113. - ----- Philippe d’Orleans, King of the French, iv. 339. - -Louisa, Queen of Prussia, v. 95, 97. - -Louise, H.R.H. the Princess, v. 16, 22, 316; vi. 341. - -Lourdes, v. 432. - -Lovat, Simon, Lord, ii. 351. - -Lovelace, Jane Jenkins, Countess of, vi. 183. - -Lowe, Mrs., iv. 401-403, 479. - ----- Right Hon. Robert, the statesman, iv. 402-403; vi. 119. - -Lowell, James Russell, Minister and poet, v. 305; vi. 129. - -Löwenjelm, Count Carl, iv. 278-279. - -Löwenstein Wertheim, Lady Anne Saville, Princess, vi. 478. - -Lowther, Hon. Alice Parke, Hon. Mrs. William, iv. 67, 124, 224, 331; v. -444.; vi. 175-176, 186, 215, 222, 225, 241, 258, 262, 326, 353, 499, -510, 518. - ----- James, v. 444. - ----- Gerard Augustus, vi. 201. - ----- Miss Mabel, vi. 510. - ----- Miss Mary, iv. 416; v. 445; vi. 175. - ----- Hon. William, iv. 416; v. 59, 297; vi. 23, 187, 353, 499. - -Loyd, Frances Irby, Mrs. Lewis, iv. 359. - ----- Graham, vi. 101. - ----- Henry, of Langleybury, vi. 97. - -Lubbock, Sir John, afterwards Lord Avebury, natural historian and -antiquarian, vi. 298. - -Lübeck, v. 98. - -Lucca, Bagni di, ii. 93; iv. 318. - -Lucchesi, Marchese, iii. 17. - -Lucerne, ii. 33. - -Lucy, Mrs., of Charlcote, ii. 14. - -Ludlow, v. 459. - -Lullingstone Castle, vi. 476. - -Lulworth, vi. 22. - -Lumley, Aldred, Viscount, v. 41. - ----- Augustus Savile, vi. 119. - -Lumley, Sir John, afterwards Lord Savile, vi. 9. - -Lurgan, Hon. Emily Browne, Lady, vi. 163. - -Lushington, Dr., ii. 298-309. - -Luttrell, Henry, the wit, iv. 421. - -Lützow, Harriet Seymour, Countess, iv. 171, 182; v. 350; vi. 169, 192. - -----Francis, Count von, iv. 171, 182. - -Lyall, William Rowe, Dean of Canterbury, i. 359. - -Lychett Heath, vi. 22. - -Lygon, Lady Mary, vi. 459. - -Lyme Hall, iii. 113; v. 216; vi. 183, 386. - -Lyncombe, i. 261. - -Lyndhurst, Georgiana Goldsmith, Lady, v. 66, 292, 336-339, 341; vi. 92. - ----- John Singleton Copley, Lord, v. 336-339. - -Lyne, Rev. Leycester, iii. 81. - -Lynn-Linton, Mrs., i. 268. - -Lyon, Lady Anne (Crawford), vi. 433. - ----- Hon. Francis, vi. 433. - ----- Sir John, of Glamis, i. 23. - ----- Sir John, 1st Baron Kinghorn, i. 22. - ----- Hon. Thomas, of Hetton, ii. 317. - ----- Mary Wren, Hon. Mrs. Thomas, ii. 317. - -Lyons, i. 452. - -Lyons, Richard, Lord, Ambassador at Paris, iv. 44-45; vi. 484. - -Lyte, Frances Somerville, Mrs., afterwards Lady Maxwell, iv. 377. - ----- Henry Maxwell, Deputy Keeper of the Records, vi. 163, 341, 465. - -Lyttleton, Hon. Mrs. Robert, vi. 34. - ----- Hon. Spencer, iv. 469; v. 231. - -Lytton, Edward Robert Lytton, 1st Earl of, iv. 365; v. 415. - ----- Edward Bulwer Lytton, Lord, vi. 142-143. - ----- Edith Villiers, Countess of, iv. 365; v. 415; vi. 236. - ----- Rosina Doyle Wheeler, Lady, v. 57-58. - -Lyveden, v. 448. - -Lyveden, Emma Mary Fitzpatrick, Lady, v. 310, 314. - - -M. - -Maberly, General, iv. 406. - -Macaulay, Thomas Babington, Lord, the historian, i. 515; ii. 218; iv. -129; vi. 86. - -Macchi, Cardinal, Governor of the Romagna, iv. 257. - -Macdonald, Hon. Flora, iv. 222. - ----- General Jem, v. 341. - ----- George, the novelist, v. 30; vi. 265-266. - -Mackenzie, Dr. Morel, the famous surgeon, vi. 90. - -Maclagan, Hon. Augusta Barrington, Mrs., v. 402-403; vi. 99, 294, -356-360. - -Maclaren, Ian, the author, vi. 434. - -M’Neile, Lady Emma, vi. 135. - ----- Sir John, v. 70. - -Macmurdo, General, iii. 176. - -Macon, iii. 383. - -Macpherson, of Glen Truim, Mr., iv. 201. - -Macsween, Alexander, i. 171. - -Madraza, Don Juan de, iv. 40. - -Madresfield Court, vi. 301, 458-459. - -Madrid, iv. 39. - -Magee, William Connor, Bishop of Peterborough, vi. 241, 451. - -Magnusson, Eric, the Icelandic scholar, v. 107. - -Maiden Bradley, vi. 473. - -Maine, Sir Henry, the authority on Law, and Lady, iv. 73. - -Mainsforth, ii. 309. - -Maintenon, vi. 345. - -Maitland, Rev. Charles, v. 357. - -Makrina, La Madre, of Minsk, ii. 72-74. - -Malaga, iv. 37. - -Malcolm, Miss Ann-Emilia, i. 435; iv. 119. - ----- Lady, i. 435. - ----- Miss Kate, i. 435; iv. 119. - -Malet, Sir Edward, the ambassador, v. 427. - -Mallock, W. H., the novelist, v. 16. - -Malmesbury, James Edward. 2nd Earl of, iv. 12. - -Malpas, vi. 232. - -Malshanger, vi. 156. - -Manchester Exhibition, vi. 97. - -Manners, Lady Adeliza, vi. 501. - ----- Lord Edward, vi. 308. - ----- Jannetta Hughan, Lady John, ii. 284. - ----- Lord John, iv. 334. - ----- Lydia Sophia Dashwood, Lady, v. 19; vi. 60. - ----- Lord Robert, vi. 308. - -Manners-Sutton, Archbishop of York, iii. 157. - -Mannheim, i. 53, 383. - -Manning, Henry Edward, Archdeacon of Chichester, afterwards Cardinal, i. -98, 339; ii. 395; iii. 308, 360; iv. 332, 333; vi. 260, 451, 483. - -Mannington, vi. 104. - -Mantua, iii. 337. - -Manvers, Charles Herbert Pierrepont, 2nd Earl, v. 43; vi. 119. - ----- Georgine de Franquetot, Countess, v. 43. - ----- Sydney Pierrepont, 3rd Earl, v. 43. - -Marbourg, i. 425. - -Margherita, H.R.H. Princess of Savoy, iv. 102. - -Maria, Angelo, the famous brigand, vi. 167. - -Marie Antoinette d’Autriche, Queen of France, ii. 298; vi. 121; - prison of, ii. 125. - ----- Amelie, Queen of the French, i. 274; iv. 339-340. - ----- Anne, Sœur, ii. 443. - -Marino, Teresa Caraccioli, Duchess of, v. 149. - -Mariott, Lady Smith, v. 357. - -Marjoribanks, Sir Dudley, v. 210. - ----- Sir John and Lady, of Lees, iv. 258-259. - -Marlborough, John, 1st Duke of, i. 1. - ----- Sarah Jennings, Duchess of, v. 61. - -Marple, vi. 183. - -Marsh, Miss Catherine, the philanthropist, i. 407; ii. 289; iii. -245-247, 250. - -Marsham, Hon. Mr. and Mrs. Townshend, vi. 349-350. - -Martin, Baron, the judge, iii. 297. - ----- Mr., afterwards Sir Theodore, the biographer, iv. 304. - ----- Helen Faucit, Mrs. Theodore, afterwards Lady, the actress, iv. 304. - -Martineau, Harriet, the novelist, iv. 481-482. - -Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, iv. 75-76. - -Masham, Mrs., ii. 309. - -Massereene, Clotworthy, Viscount, iv. 363. - -Massie, Hester Townsend, Mrs., iii. 113. - -Massimo, Marie-Gabrielle de Savoie Carignan, Princess, v. 173. - -Mastai-Ferretti, Conte, ii. 236. - -Matfen, ii. 266, 346. - -Matheson, Sir Kenneth, vi. 187. - -Mathews, E., vi. 478. - -Matthias, Marie de, Foundress of the “Order of the Precious Blood,” ii. -426, 438-442; iii. 86, 238-239; iv. 103. - -Maurice, Annie Barton, Mrs. Frederick, i. 70. - ----- Esther Jane, i. 73-112, 176-178. - ----- Rev. Frederick Denison, i. 70-72; iii. 280; iv. 21. - ----- Georgiana Hare, Mrs. Frederick, iii. 412. - ----- Harriet, i. 179. - ----- Mary, i. 179, 182. - ----- Priscilla, i. 70-73, 112, 181-182, 410. - -Maximilian, Archduke and Emperor, ii. 36. - -Maxwell, Sir John, vi. 88. - -May, Sir T. Erskine, afterwards Lord Farnborough, v. 340. - -Mayo, Dermot, 7th Earl of, iv. 370. - -Mecklenbourg, Duchess Paul of, vi. 143-144. - -Mecklenbourg-Strelitz, H.R.H. Augusta, of Cambridge, Grand Duchess of, -v. 212; vi. 68, 82. - -----Frederic William, Grand Duke of, iv. 338. - -Medine, Count Battistino, iii. 338. - -Mela, Padre, iv. 333. - -Melbourne, William Lamb, 2nd Viscount, v. 23. - -Melchet, v. 294. - -Mellor, Judge, iv. 22, 23. - -Melun, M., Protestant Pasteur at Caen, i. 321. - -Melville, Major G. J. Whyte, the novelist, iv. 363. - -“Memorials of a Quiet Life,” publication of, iv. 62, 63, 309-310. - -Mentone, ii. 246-258; iii. 185; vi. 164. - -Mère, Marie Letitia Raimolino, Madame, iv. 260; vi. 509. - -Merimée, Prosper, the author, iv. 330; v. 417. - -Merivale, Mr. Herman, the historian, iv. 149, 150. - -Merlini, Don Giovanni, Father-General of the Precious Blood, ii. 425, -427, 442. - -Merode, Monsignor de, iii. 70. - -Messina, v. 246. - -Mexborough, Mary Anne Yorke, Countess of, vi. 360. - -Meyer, M. Carl Friedrich, i. 382. - -Mezzofanti, Cardinal, i. 9; iv. 303. - -Middleton Park, vi. 369. - -Middleton, Digby Wentworth Bayard Willoughby, 9th Lord, vi. 425. - ----- Eliza Maria Gordon, Lady, vi. 61. - -Milbank, Sir Frederick and (Alexina Don) Lady, vi. 405. - -Mildmay, Mary Baillie, Mrs. George St. John, v. 18. - -Miles, Frank, the artist, v. 275. - -Millais, Sir John, the artist, v. 274. - -Miller, Joaquin, the author, iv. 308. - -Milligan, Misses Christina and Mary, vi. 494. - ----- William Henry, i. 416, 420, 422, 493, 499; ii. 1, 2, 131; v. 20; -vi. 494. - -Mills, Mr. Charles, vi. 145. - -Milman, Henry Hart, Dean of St. Paul’s, poet and historian, i. 394; ii. -231. - -Milner, Elizabeth Mordaunt, Lady, i. 96. - -Milton Court, vi. 227. - -Minghetti, Madame, v. 160. - -Mitford, Hon. Emily Egerton, Mrs. Percy, vi. 183. - -Moberly, George, Bishop of Salisbury, iv. 347. - -Mocenigo, Countess, vi. 291. - -Modjeska, Madame, the actress, v. 359. - -Mohl, M. Julius, ii. 118. - -----Frewen, Madame, ii. 118-121; iii. 5-7; vi. 253. - -Mohun, Arthur, Lord, and Evelyn, Lady, iv. 126, 235, 351. - -Moissac, v. 439. - -Mommsen, Theodore, the historian, v. 92. - -Monan, St., vi. 442. - -Monceaux, Château de, iii. 383. - -Monk, Miss Emily, iii. 203; iv. 398. - -Monk’s Orchard, iv. 359. - -Monreale, v. 262. - -Monserrat, iv. 26. - -Mont Blanc, the tour of, i. 458. - -Mont S. Michel, vi. 344. - -Monte Cassino, ii. 78; iv. 182. - -Monte Vergine, iv. 183. - -Montacute, v. 74; vi. 296, 320. - -Montagu, Lady Elizabeth, ii. 437. - ----- Lord and Lady, vi. 119. - -Montalba, Misses Clara and Hilda, the artists, vi. 420. - -Montbard, iii. 383; vi. 15. - -Montefiore, Sir Moses, the philanthropist, v. 412; vi. 407. - -Monteith, Robert, of Carstairs, iii. 95, 288, 293, 295. - ----- Wilhelmina Mellish, Mrs., ii. 427; iii. 289, 290, 294. - -Montgolfier, Madame de, iii. 385; vi. 16. - -Montgomery, Hon. Fanny Wyndham, Mrs. Alfred, iii. 71, 96, 239, 280, 282, -284, 289, 294, 301. - ----- Miss Florence, vi. 33, 449. - -Montmajour, vi. 40. - -Montpensier, Marie Louise de Bourbon, Duchess of, iv. 31. - -Moody and Sankey, Messrs., the revivalists, iv. 306, 331. - -Moor Park, vi. 301. - -Moore, Henry, Archdeacon of Stafford, theologian, i. 164; ii. 132; iv. -440. - -Mordaunt, Lady Mary, v. 447. - -Morgan, Mrs. Mary, iv. 210. - ----- Sydney Owenson, Lady, v. 301. - -Morini, Padre Agostino, the orator, iii. 256. - -Morley, Margaret Holford, Countess of, v. 212. - ----- Harriet Sophia Parker, Countess of, iii. 139; iv. 221, 241; v. 212; -vi. 181. - ----- Albert-Edmund, 3rd Earl of, iii. 145; iv. 241. - -Morlot, Cardinal-Archbishop of Paris, ii. 121-122. - -Morpeth, ii. 277, 365. - -Morton, Lady Alice Lambton, Countess of, vi. 257. - -----Frances Rose, Countess of, v. 140, 148, 160. - -Moscow, v. 394. - -Moseley, Rev. Herbert Henry, Rector of Holt, vi. 484. - -Mostyn, Mary Monk, Hon. Mrs., iv. 398. - ----- Hon. Ranulph, vi. 493. - -Motley, John Lothrop, the historian, iv. 147-148. - ----- Miss Susan, iv. 148. - -Mount Edgcumbe, Caroline Augusta Feilding, Countess of, ii. 356. - ----- Lady Katherine Hamilton, Countess of, iii. 138. - ----- Lady Sophia Hobart, Countess of, iv. 247. - ----- Ernest Augustus Edgcumbe, 3rd Earl of, iv. 247. - ----- William Henry Edgcumbe, 4th Earl of, iii. 137, 145. - -Mount Temple, Georgiana Tollemache, Lady, v. 295. - ----- William Cowper Temple, Lord, v. 295. - -Müller, Professor Max, vi. 462. - -Muncaster Castle, vi. 133, 184. - -Muncaster, Constance L’Estrange, Countess of, vi. 79, 134, 184. - ----- Sir Josslyn Pennington, 5th Lord, v. 212; vi. 134. - -Munich, iii. 336. - -Munn, Rev. John Reade, iii. 415. - -Munro, Henrietta Drummond, Mrs. Campbell, vi. 439. - -Murcia, iv. 30. - -Murray, Sir Digby and Lady, v. 154. - ----- John, the 3rd, publisher, ii. 133, 134, 260; iv. 352-353, 379. - ----- John, the 4th, publisher, vi. 468. - -Musgrave, Thomas, Archbishop of York, vi. 360. - ----- Hon. Catherine Cavendish, Mrs., vi. 360. - -Musset, Alfred de, v. 299. - - -N. - -Napier and Ettrick, Francis, Lord, iv. 332, 334. - ----- Hon. Mark, v. 62. - ----- Hon. William, Master of, iv. 224. - -Naples, ii. 80. - -----Francesco II., King of, iii. 96-97. - ----- Marie of Bavaria, Queen of, iii. 86, 94, 97. - ----- Marie Therèse Isabelle, Queen of, iii. 86, 190. - ----- Victor Emmanuel, Prince of, vi. 253. - -Napoleon I., Emperor of the French, i. 91. - -Napoleon III., Emperor of the French, ii. 508; iv. 225-226. - -Narni, iii. 100. - -Naworth, ii. 354. - -Naylor, Anna Maria Mealey, Mrs. Hare, i. 13, 82-83, 280, 287. - ----- Bethaia, i. 4. - -----Francis, i. 1; vi. 517. - -----Francis Hare, i. 5, 11. - ----- Georgiana Shipley, Mrs. Hare, i. 5-12. - ----- Miss Grace, i. 1, 260. - ----- Robert Hare, i. 2. - -Necker, Madame, vi. 123. - -Neri, S. Filippo, iii. 201. - -Nesselrode, Count, iv. 301. - -Netherlands, Sophie of Wurtemburg, Queen of the, iv. 326, 335. - -Nettlecombe, vi. 234. - -Neuchatel, ii. 113. - -Nevill, Lady Dorothy, v. 277; vi. 4, 61. - -Neville, Rev. W., vi. 234. - ----- Rev. Hastings Mackelcan, vi. 159, 246. - -Nevin, Rev. Dr., v. 164. - -New Abbey, ii. 164. - -New Hailes, iv. 451. - -Newbattle Abbey, iii. 47. - -Newburgh Hall, v. 423. - -Newcastle-on-Tyne, ii. 318. - -Newman, Rev. John Henry, afterwards Cardinal, iii. 1-2. - -Newton, Mr., afterwards Sir Charles, iv. 83, 348; v. 363. - -Nice, ii. 370; vi. 412. - -Nicholas I., Emperor of Russia, ii. 74, 506; v. 68. - -Nicholson, Miss, iii. 372. - -Nilsson, Mademoiselle Christine, v. 200, 206. - -Ninfa, iv. 105. - -Noailles, Henriette Anne de, Duchesse d’Ayen, vi. 100. - -Noel, Lady Augusta, iv. 467. - ----- Ernest, iv. 467. - -Norfolk, Lady Flora Hastings, Duchess of, v. 281. - ----- Lady Mary Mordaunt, Duchess of, v. 447. - -Normanby, George Augustus Constantine Phipps, 2nd Marquis of, vi. 77. - ----- Maria Liddell, Marchioness of, ii. 93, 204, 211. - -Normanton, Hon. Caroline Barrington, Countess of, vi. 72, 73. - -Northampton, Charles Compton, 3rd Marquis of, iv. 336. - -North Berwick, ii. 357; vi. 484. - -Northbrook, Sir James Baring, 1st Earl of, vi. 164. - -Northcote, Miss Agnes, v. 11. - ----- Captain and Mrs., ii. 364. - ----- Sir Stafford, the statesman, iv. 149, 371. - -Northumberland, Algernon Percy, 4th Duke of, ii. 353; iii. 331. - ----- Algernon George Percy, 6th Duke of, vi. 135. - ----- Lady Eleanor Grosvenor, Duchess of, ii. 353; iii. 331; vi. 135-136. - ----- Louisa Drummond, Duchess of, vi. 135-138. - -Norton, Charles Bowyer Adderley, Lord, vi. 406-409. - -Norwich, i. 116-120, 229; v. 330. - ----- Hon. John Thomas Pelham, Bishop of, vi. 259-262. - ----- Edward Stanley, Bishop of, i. 44, 62, 66, 69, 117-118, 133, -231-236, 280. - -Nostell, v. 297. - -Nottingham Castle, vi. 424. - -Nova Scotia, Bishop of, vi. 286. - -Novgorod the Great, v. 393. - -Noyon, v. 409. - -Nunnington Hall, ii. 16. - -Nuremberg, i. 435; vi. 405. - - -O. - -Oakly Park, v. 459. - -Ober-Ammergau, the Passion-Play of, vi. 214-222. - -Oberlin, ii. 109. - -Oberwesel, iii. 231. - -Ockwells, vi. 26. - -Ogilvy, Lady Clementine, vi. 438, 439. - ----- Lady Griselda, vi. 97, 135. - -Ogle, Miss Annie, the authoress, vi. 434. - -Olevano, iv. 105. - -Oliphant, Lawrence, the mystic, v. 275. - -Onslow, Hon. Florence Gardner, Countess of, vi. 90. - ----- William Hillier Onslow, 4th Earl of, v. 16. - -Ordelaffi, Barbara, tomb of, iv. 317. - -Orford, Horatio William Walpole, 4th Earl of, vi. 304. - -Orkeröd, v. 119-127. - -Ormistoun, iv. 267. - -Orsi, Carlo, the artist, v. 277. - -Orvieto, ii. 84, 385; iv. 116-118; vi. 13. - -Ossington, Lady Charlotte Bentinck, Viscountess, v. 363. - -Ossulston, Charles Bennet, Lord, ii. 268-269; v. 209. - -Osterley, iv. 467; v. 19, 231; vi. 79, 224-225, 423, 482. - -Otterburn, ii. 344. - -Ouseley, Sir Frederick Gore, v. 316-317. - -Overstone, Lord, iv. 362, 482. - -Owen, Professor Richard, iv. 265, 317. - -Oxenham, Rev. W., i. 236. - -Oxford, Samuel Wilberforce, Bishop of, iii. 153. - ----- Jane Elizabeth Scott, Countess of, i. 18. - -Oxton Hall, vi. 424. - - -P. - -Padua, iii. 338-339. - -Paestum, ii. 83. - -Page, Miss, vi. 283. - -Paget, Right Hon. Sir Augustus Berkeley, v. 291; vi. 422-423. - ----- Miss Ruth, v. 385. - ----- Walpurga de Hohenlohe, Lady, iv. 171; v. 160, 324, 415; vi. 351. - -Palermo, v. 260. - -Pallavicini, Carolina Boncompagni Ludovisi, Princess, ii. 59. - -Palmer, Edward, vi. 233. - -Palmer, William, ii. 207. - -Palmerston, H. Temple, 1st Earl of, i. 12. - -Panizzi, Sir Antonio, the great librarian, ii. 132; iii. 142; iv. 333. - -Pantaleoni, Dr., ii. 374-376. - -Paolucci di Calboli, Marchese Annibale, ii. 388. - ----- Marchese Raniero, ii. 388. - -Papillon, Rev. Henry, iii. 412. - ----- Mrs. Henry, iii. 414. - -Paraclete, The, vi. 17. - -Paray le Monial, ii. 445, 499; iv. 197. - -Parham Hall in Suffolk, vi. 23. - ----- in Sussex, vi. 296. - -Paris, i. 318-319, 327; ii. 114-128; iv. 24, 44; vi. 17. - ----- Book upon, vi. 34, 112, 114. - ----- Days near, vi. 114-116. - -Parisani, Palazzo, i. 261, 340, 373; ii. 55-56; iii. 190. - -Parker, John Henry, the publisher, ii. 9; iii. 319; vi. 380. - ----- Mrs. John Henry, i. 473. - ----- Lady Katherine, iii. 145; iv. 222, 241; vi. 181, 182. - -Parnell, Hon. Victor, iv. 486. - -Parr, Queen Katherine, iv. 438-439. - ----- Dr. Samuel, iv. 347; vi. 498. - -Parry, Catherine Hankinson, Lady, i. 279. - ----- Sir Edward, the Arctic voyager, i. 114, 279. - ----- Edward, Bishop of Dover, i. 279. - ----- Hon. Isabella Stanley, 1st wife of Sir Edward, i. 114. - ----- Serjeant, iii. 298, 299, 303. - -Paterson, Rev. George J. Mapletoft, v. 295, 329. - -Patmore, Coventry Kearsey Deighton, the poet, vi. 429-431. - -Patrizi, Francesco Saverio Patrizi-Naro-Montoro, Cardinal, iii. 76. - -Pattenden, Deborah, i. 211. - -Pau, ii. 465; iv. 25. - -Paul, Anne Frances, i. 25, 26, 30. - ----- Eleanor Maria, i. 42, 95, 351-352; ii. 69-70, 94, 103-106, 206, -411-415; iii. 262, 266, 315; iv. 17, 22; v. 273. - ----- Elizabeth Halifax, Lady, i. 284, 295. - -----Frances Eleanor Simpson, Lady, i. 21, 26. - ----- Jane, i. 28, 295. - ----- Sir John Dean, 1st Bart., i. 21, 30, 50, 84, 284, 295; iv. 17, 19. - ----- Sir John Dean, 2nd Bart., i. 495. - ----- Maria Horatia, i. 27, 296. - ----- Mary Napier of Pennard, Lady, i. 84. - ----- William Wentworth, i. 295. - ----- Marie Marcia, Countess Benningsen, widow of W. Wentworth, v. 91. - -Paulet, Lady Lilian, v. 50. - -Payne, Mrs., iii. 87. - -Payson, Miss Louisa, the authoress, vi. 397. - -Peabody, Mr. George, ii. 372-374. - ----- Robert, iii. 341, 344, 360, 370. - -Peakirk, iii. 165. - -Pearse, Mr. and Mrs. Godfrey, iv. 220. - -Pearson, Rev. Hugh, Rector of Sonning and Canon of Windsor, i. 120, 411, -470; ii. 221; iv. 131, 153, 351; v. 235-237, 328, 340, 352-355. - ----- his grave, vi. 498-499. - -Pease, Mary Fox, Mrs., afterwards Lady, iv. 269, 279-280; v. 44. - -Peate, Dr., iv. 347. - -Peebles, ii. 357. - -Peel, William Robert Wellesley, vi. 83. - -Peglia, ii. 253. - -Peglione, ii. 253, 255, 372. - -Pelham, Elizabeth Mary Bligh, Lady, iv. 356; v. 16. - ----- Hon. John Thomas, Bishop of Norwich, vi. 259-262. - -Pellerin, Monsignor, ii. 68-69. - -Pellew, Hon. George, Dean of Norwich, i. 231. - -Pembroke, George Herbert, 13th Earl of, vi. 243. - ----- Lady Gertrude Talbot, Countess of, vi. 107, 243. - -Pencaitland, ii. 356. - -Pennant, Hon. Alice, vi. 384. - -Penrhyn, Lady Charlotte, i. 48, 142-143, 408-409. - ----- Edward Leycester, i. 48, 69, 208, 408, 464, 514; ii. 259-260. - ----- Emma Charlotte Leycester, i. 383-384, 408, 464; iii. 377, 414; vi. -493. - ----- Edward-Gordon, Lord, v. 334-335. - ----- Gertrude Glynne, Lady, vi. 383. - ----- Mr. and Mrs. Leycester, iii. 414. - ----- Lady Mary-Louisa FitzRoy, v. 334. - -Penrhyn Castle, v. 384; vi. 381, 433. - -Percy, Lady Edith Campbell, Countess, iv. 398; v. 208; vi. 137. - ----- Emily Heber, Mrs. Heber, ii. 159. - ----- Henry George Percy, Earl, vi. 139. - ----- Lord Henry, iii. 145. - ----- Hugh Heber, iii. 159. - ----- Dr. Hugh, Bishop of Carlisle, ii. 160. - -Perkins, Mrs. Mary Ridge, vi. 292-293. - -Persia, Nasr-ed-Din, Shah of, vi, 171. - -Perugia, vi. 12. - -Peruzzi, Edith Story, Marchesa, vi. 510. - -Pescitelli, Abbot of Farfa, v. 141. - -Petit, Miss Emma, ii. 256, 328. - ----- Rev. J. L., the ecclesiologist, ii. 256-258, 330. - -Petworth, vi. 297. - -Phelips, Constance Ponsonby-Fane, Mrs., vi. 296, 320. - -Phillimore, Admiral and Mrs. Augustus, iv. 37. - ----- Sir Robert, the ecclesiastical lawyer, iv. 360-361. - -Pierrepont, Lady Mary, vi. 119. - -Pietra Santa, ii. 102. - -Pile, Mr. Robert, i. 60; iii. 112; iv. 49-50. - ----- Mary Miller, Mrs. Robert, i. 60, 171, 192, 278; iv. 49-50. - -Pine, Miss, iv. 76. - -Pinkie, iv. 451. - -Piombino, Prince and Princess, ii. 428. - -Piper, Count, the Minister, iv. 193; v. 199. - ----- Mrs., i. 103, 260. - -Pisa, ii. 101; iii. 52, 190, 310-312, 338-358; v. 155. - -Pitcairn, Mrs., ii. 289. - -Pitchford Hall, vi. 383. - -Pius IX., Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti, Pope, i. 341; ii. 61-64, 289, -428; iii. 70, 71, 80, 93, 167, 190, 319, 360; iv. 97-98, 99, 333; vi. -288. - -Planché, Mr., the Somerset Herald, iv. 83. - ----- James Robinson, the dramatist, V. 11-12. - -Playfair, Sir Hugh Lyon, Provost of St. Andrews, ii. 170. - ----- Right Hon. Sir Lyon, politician and scientist, iv. 427. - -Plumptre, Rev. Edward, afterwards Dean of Wells, i. 179; iv. 21. - ----- Rev. Dr. Frederick Charles, Master of University College, i. 405, -441, 474. - -Plumptre, Harriet Maurice, Mrs. E., i. 179. - -Pole, Lady Louisa, i. 354. - ----- Miss Marguerite, i. 352-357; iii. 249. - ----- Sir Peter Van Notten, i. 352. - -Polignac, Duc de, iii. 43. - -Pollock, Mr., afterwards Sir Frederick, iv. 19. - -Ponsonby, Hon. Ashley, v. 302. - ----- Mary Bulteel, Lady, v. 229. - ----- Miss Melita, ii. 358. - -Popham, Francis, of Littlecote, vi. 162. - -Porson, Dr. Richard, ii. 376. - -Port Eliot, iv. 245. - -Port Royal, ii. 125. - -Portal, Mrs. George, v. 420-421. - ----- Mr. and Mrs. Wyndham, vi. 156. - -Portland, William Bentinck, 5th Duke of, v. 366. - ----- Winifred Yorke, Duchess of, vi. 475, 476. - -Portman, Mary Selina Fitzwilliam, Mrs., afterwards Lady, vi. 86. - ----- Hon. Walter, i. 306, 308, 332, 452. - -Porto d’Anzio, iv. 104. - -----Fino, ii. 254. - ----- Venere, ii. 102. - -Portsmouth, Lady Evelina Herbert, Countess of, v. 193. - ----- John Vertue, Bishop of, vi. 495, 496, 498. - -Potocka, Count and Countess, v. 41-43. - -Potsdam, v. 95-98. - -Poulevey, Père de, ii. 416. - -Powderham Castle, iv. 239, 249, 385; v. 461. - -Powell, Lucilla Maurice, Mrs., i. 179. - -Powers, Carolyn S., Mrs., vi. 284. - -Poynter, Sir Edward, President of the Royal Academy, vi. 474. - -Prague, i. 432. - -Praslin, Charles Laure, Duc de, vi. 29. - ----- Duchesse de, i. 245; iii. 19-20. - -Prât, Marquis and Marquise du, ii. 115. - -Pregnier, Marquise du, ii. 118. - -Prentiss, Mr., i. 164. - -Preston, Georgiana Campbell, Mrs., iv. 219. - -Price, Lady Maria Barrington, vi. 35. - -Primoli, Charlotte Bonaparte, Countess, v. 140, 176. - -Primrose, Hon. Everard, iv. 42, 208, 228, 325, 370; vi. 140. - -Prinzsköld, M. de, v. 139, 150, 155, 214. - -Probyn, Sir Dighton, v. 14. - -Procter, Anne Montagu, Mrs., v. 287-288, 406-407; vi. 84-85, 462-463. - -Prosperi, Monsignor, iii. 70; v. 137. - -Purbeck, Isle of, vi. 398. - -Pusey, Dr. Edward Bouverie, the Church leader, iii. 70. - - -Q. - -Quin, Georgiana Boyle, Mrs., iv. 249; v. 412, 428. - - -R. - -Raasloff, General von, iv. 188, 192. - ----- Mademoiselle von, iv. 183. - -Raby Castle, iv. 145-147, 269, 272; vi. 120. - -Rachel, Madame, the actress, v. 359. - -Radicofani, iv. 274-279. - -Radnor, Helen Matilda Chaplin, Countess of, vi. 313-318. - -Radnor, William Bouverie, 5th Earl of, vi. 313-318. - -Radowitz, General, iv. 141. - -Raeburn, portraits by Sir Henry, iv. 450. - -Raglan, Richard, 2nd Lord, v. 227. - ----- Mary Blanche Farquhar, Lady, v. 227. - -Ramsay, Claudia Garden, Mrs., the authoress, iii. 193, 198; vi. 276, -279, 505. - ----- Sir James and Lady, v. 217. - -Ramsden, Lady Guendolen, vi. 486. - -Rate, Mary Mackintosh, Mrs., vi. 227. - -Rathdonnel, Lady, iii. 83. - -Ratisbon, Le Père, ii. 68. - -Ravenna, ii. 48. - -Ravenstone, vi. 354. - -Ravensworth, Henry Liddell, politician and poet, 1st Earl of, ii. 453; -iv. 124, 201, 273, 279; v. 69. - -Ravignan, Le Père de, i. 353, 355. - -Rayleigh, John William Strutt, Lord, vi. 99, 128. - ----- Evelyn Balfour, Lady, vi. 99. - -Reay, Fanny Hasler, Lady, v. 200. - -Recamier, Madame, v. 305. - -Redesdale, John Thomas Mitford, politician and controversialist, Earl -of, iv. 306. - -Reedswire, the, ii. 345. - -Reeve, Henry, the editor and essayist, iv. 449; v. 360; vi. 89. - -Reisach, Cardinal de, iii. 96. - -Repton, Lady Jane, v. 413, 427. - -Revesby, vi. 386. - -Reynolds, Sir Joshua, R.A., iv. 18; vi. 360. - -Riaño, Emilia de Guyangos, Madame de, iv. 40, 41, 400; v. 277, 281. - -Rianzares, Duc de, ii. 57. - -Ricardo, Mrs. David, iv. 213. - ----- Wilfred, vi. 306. - -Rice, Captain Ernest, iv. 244. - -Richelieu, Duc de, iv. 227. - -Richmond, Elizabeth Liddell, Mrs. Brook, ii. 208, 209, 213. - ----- George, R.A., ii. 214; iv. 72, 80; v. 279. - ----- Rev. Canon Thomas Knyvett, vi. 134. - -Richmond, in Yorkshire, vi. 495. - -Ridley, Alice Bromley-Davenport, Mrs. Edward, afterwards Lady, vi. 222. - -Ridley Hall, ii. 172-178, 266, 272, 341; iii. 170; vi. 433. - -Riez, vi. 36. - -Rignano, Emilio Massimo, Duke of, ii. 70. - -Rimini, ii. 49. - -Ripley Castle, ii. 283, 332-336; iv. 285-288. - -Ripon, George Robinson, 1st Marquis of, vi. 293. - ----- William Boyd Carpenter, Bishop of, vi. 172. - -Ritchie, Annie Thackeray, Mrs., the authoress, v. 453. - -Rivieras, book on the, vi. 411. - -Robertson, Miss Erica, v. 45. - -Robinson, William, the botanist, vi. 227. - ----- Miss, ii. 310-317. - -Rocamadour, v. 435. - -Rochers, Chateau de les, vi. 346. - -Rockend, i. 85-87, 251; v. 215. - -Rockingham Castle, vi. 239, 256. - -Rodd, Rennell, author, iv. 359. - -Roddam, Mr. and Mrs., of Roddam, ii. 280, 282, 364. - -Roemer, Baron and Baroness von, vi. 470. - -Rogers, Samuel, the poet, iv. 421; v. 449; vi. 86. - -Rogerson, Christina Stewart, Mrs., v. 10, 13, 15, 443. - -Rohan, Princess Charlotte de, vi. 122. - -Roleston, Mary Pierina, Abbess of the Precious Blood, ii. 425, 438-442; -iii. 238, 266-268, 270, 274, 275, 287, 295, 298, 305, 306. - -Rolle, Mr. and Lady Gertrude, iv. 258. - -Rome, ii. 54-76, 387-391, 422-432; iii. 65-100, 313-319, 359-378; iv. -86-101, 170-172; v. 135; vi. 165-168, 268-290, 412-415, 505. - -Romilly, Helen Denison, Lady, v. 333. - ----- Sir Samuel, the famous lawyer, iv. 286-287. - ----- William, Lord, v. 333. - -Romney, Charles Marsham, 4th Earl of, iv. 258. - -Rosam, Miss, i. 504. - -Roscia, Capolo, the brigand, vi. 167. - -Rosen, Countess Ebba von, v. 84, 119, 120, 122, 124, 132, 144, 238-241. - -Rosny, vi. 113. - -Ross, Janet Duff-Gordon, Mrs., the authoress, iv. 194-196, 320; v. 155; -vi. 290. - ----- Lady Mary, iv. 201. - -Rossetti, Madame, iv. 326. - -Rossini, Goachino Antonio, the composer, iv. 257. - -Rothbury, ii. 365. - -Rothenburg, vi. 222. - -Rothes, Henrietta Leslie, Countess of, v. 45, 46. - -Rousham, ii. 150. - -Routh, Dr. Joseph Martin, President of Magdalen, i. 447-450. - -Routing Lynn, iv. 143. - -Rowe, Lady Victoria, vi. 324, 326. - -Rowley, Charlotte Shipley, Hon. Mrs., iii. 129. - -Rowton, Montagu Corrie, Lord, the philanthropist, vi. 373, 400. - -Roxburghe, Lady Anne Spencer Churchill, Duchess of, vi. 478. - -Royat, Baths of, iii. 151. - -Rudolstadt, v. 89. - -Rufford, vi. 119. - -Rumbold, Louisa Anne Crampton, Lady, v. 277. - -Rushbrooke Hall, vi. 25. - -Rushmore, v. 293. - -Rushton Hall, vi. 239. - -Ruskin, John, the author, ii. 107-109, 277, 484; v. 295. - -Russell, Lady Agatha, v. 197. - ----- Lord Arthur, iv. 308. - ----- Sir Charles, iv. 149, 151. - ----- Elizabeth Rawdon, Lady William, iv. 285-286. - ----- Lady Ermyntrude, v. 417. - ----- Lady Frances Elliot, Countess, v. 197. - ----- Lady Frankland, ii. 8, 240. - ----- George W. E., v. 193, 284-285. - ----- John, Earl, the statesman, iv. 250, 403. - ----- Sir John, of Chequers, ii. 240. - ----- Hon. Odo and Lady Emily, iii. 368. - ----- Hon. Rollo, v. 197; vi. 105. - -Rutherford, of Ettington, Mr. and Mrs., ii. 322-324. - -Ruthven, Mary, Baroness, ii. 335-337, 354-356; iii. 39, 42-43. 47; iv. -267-269, 447-449; v. 322. - -Rutland, Lady Elizabeth Howard, Duchess of, vi. 500. - ----- Janetta Manners, Duchess of, vi. 306-308, 500. - ----- John Manners, 7th Duke of, vi. 306-309, 341-342, 500. - ----- Lady Mary Isabella Somerset, Duchess of, vi. 501. - -Rutson, Albert O., ii. 7, 13, 16. - -Rycroft, Edith Berners, Mrs., of Everlands, vi. 267, 295. - -Rye, Miss, iv. 360. - -Rye House, the, i. 314; v. 19. - -Ryton, ii. 320. - - -S. - -Sackville, S. Stopford, of Drayton, ii. 137; iv. 87, 96. - ----- Caroline Harriet Sackville, Mrs. Stopford, v. 447; vi. 351. - ----- Lady Margaret, v. 457; vi. 452. - ----- Lady Mary, vi. 452, 453. - -Saffi, Count Aurelio, the triumvir, iv. 315. - -St. Alban’s Head, vi. 153-154. - -S. Aldegonde, Madame, iii. 71. - -St. Andrews, ii. 19, 170. - -St. Ann’s Hill, iv. 474. - -S. Arpino, Augusta Selina Locke, Duchess of, iv. 101. - -St. Audries, vi. 233-235. - -S. Bernard, Le Grand, i. 459. - -S. Cloud, iv. 44. - -St. Davids, v. 333. - -S. Denis, i. 327. - -S. Emilion, ii. 494. - -S. Flour, vi. 150. - -S. Gemignano, iii. 342-344. - -St. Germans, Edward Granville, 3rd Earl of, iv. 246. - -S. Giorgio, Lady Anne, ii. 86-90; iii. 192-193, 358. - ----- Contessa Carolina di, ii. 90-91; iii. 191. - -S. Jean du Doigt, vi. 345. - -St. Levan, Sir John St. Aubyn, 1st Lord, vi. 175. - -S. Martino, vi. 418. - -S. Maxime, vi. 411. - -St. Michael’s Mount, vi. 175-180. - -S. Michele, iv. 312. - -S. Nectaire, vi. 151. - -St. Paul, Sir Horace, iv. 264, 265. - -St. Petersburg, v. 391. - -S. Pierre, Le Curé de, ii. 420. - -S. Remo, ii. 377; vi. 110, 266. - -S. Wandrille, vi. 344. - -Salamanca, iv. 42. - -Salette, La, ii. 512; vi. 42. - -Salisbury, Georgina Alderson, Marchioness of, iv. 68; 72-82, 324, 325, -328; v. 14, 195, 196; vi. 237, 373-374, 423, 521. - -Salisbury, James Cecil, 2nd Marquis of, iv. 74. - ----- Robert Cecil, 3rd Marquis of, the statesman, iv. 68, 72-77, 125, -324; vi. 237, 374, 423. - ----- Lady Amelia Hill, Marchioness of, iv. 73-74. - -Salm-Reiffersheid, Princess of, v. 161. - -Salt, Miss Harriet, ii. 328. - ----- Miss Sarah, ii, 256-258, 328. - ----- Sir Titus, iv. 157. - -Salzburg, ii. 40; iii. 231. - -Sand, Madame George, the novelist, v. 299, 433. - -Sandwich, Lady Blanche Egerton, Countess of, iv. 425. - ----- John William Montagu, 7th Earl of, iv. 470; v. 206. - -Sandwich Islands, Emma, Queen Dowager of the, iii. 2-3, 109. - -Santa-Croce, Catherine Scully, Princess of, ii. 59-61. - ----- Donna Vincenza, iii. 91. - -Sarlat, v. 436. - -Sartines, M. de, ii. 145. - -Sartoris, Adelaide Kemble, Mrs., v. 360-361; vi. 310-357. - -Sauchiehall, Mrs., story of, vi. 123. - -Savile, Lady Mary, vi. 483. - ----- Sir John Savile, Lord, the ambassador, vi. 9. - -Savona, iii. 186. - -Saxe-Altenbourg, Duke Josef of, v. 90. - ----- Princess Therèse of, v. 90. - -Saxe-Weimar, Charles Auguste, Hereditary Grand Duke of, v. 174. - ----- Pauline of Saxe-Weimar Eisenach, Hereditary Grand Duchess of, v. -174, 176. - -Saxon Switzerland, i. 430. - -Saye and Sele, 14th Baron, ii. 152. - -Scarborough, Richard George Lumley, 6th Earl of, v. 41. - -Schenk, General, iv. 348. - -Schleswig, v. 99. - -Schleswig-Holstein, Princess Amalie of, iv. 398; v. 193. - -Schouvaloff, Count, ii. 65. - -Schulenberg, Countess, v. 148, 151. - -Scotney Castle, v. 355; vi. 54. - -Scott, Lord Henry, iv. 381. - ----- Sir Walter, the poet and novelist, ii. 166, 309, 312-314; iv. 135, -258. - ----- Alicia-Anne Spottiswoode, Lady John, v. 238. - -Sculthorpe, i. 4; vi. 103. - -Sebright, Guy, vi. 90. - ----- Hon. Olivia Fitz-Patrick, Lady, v. 315. - -Sedgwick, Professor Adam, i. 120, 164. - -Segni, vi. 415. - -Segovia, iv. 41. - -Selborne, iv. 132. - -Selborne, Lady Laura Waldegrave, Countess of, iv. 343. - ----- Roundell Palmer, Earl of, the Lord Chancellor, iv. 73, 131, 343; -vi. 237. - -Selby, vi. 361. - -Selby, Lady, of the Mote, iv. 66-67. - -Selman, Sarah, i. 3. - -Senior, John Nassau, iv. 472. - -Sepolti Vivi, the, iii. 73-76. - -Serafina della Croce, iii. 234-235, 287. - -Sergisson, the Misses, v. 225. - -Serlupi, Marchese, iii. 191, 198. - -Sermoneta, Hon. Harriet Ellis, Duchess of, v. 141, 148, 160, 177; vi. -8-9, 290, 510. - ----- Margherita Knight, Duchess of, ii. 58. - ----- Michelangelo Caiëtani, Duke of, ii. 58; iii. 87; v. 141, 160, 174, -177, 178, 345. - -Servites, Order of the, ii, 445. - -Sestri, iii. 187. - -Seville, iv. 32. - -Seymour, Miss Charlotte, iv. 171, 182, 189. - ----- Elizabeth Baillie-Hamilton, Mrs. Hamilton, iii. 395; v. 292. - ----- Miss Emma, iv. 171, 182, 189: vi. 28-29. - ----- Sir Francis, v. 362. - -Shavington, iv. 132. - -Sheffield, George, i. 421, 446, 493; ii. 5-8, 33-38, 132, 156; iv. 44, -45, 85, 159. - ----- Sir Robert and Lady, v. 285. - -Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, Mrs., i. 39. - ----- Jane Gibson, Lady, ii. 278. - -Sherborne, James Dalton, 3rd Lord, iv. 465. - ----- Susan Block, Lady, iv. 403; v. 274; vi. 97, 162. - -Sherbrooke, Miss Violet, vi. 424. - -Shipley, Anna Maria, i. 13. - ----- Anna Maria Mordaunt, Mrs., i. 5. - ----- Emilia, i. 84. - ----- Jonathan, Bishop of St. Asaph, i. 5; iv. 18. - ----- Mrs. Louisa, i. 20, 84, 95, 96; iv. 18. - ----- Penelope, ii. 144; vi. 5. - ----- William, Dean of St. Asaph, iii. 123-129; vi. 5. - -Shrewsbury, Anna Theresa Cockerell, Countess of, vi. 290. - ----- John, 16th Earl, and Maria Theresa Talbot, Countess of, i. 230. - -Shropshire, book on, vi. 499. - -Siddons, Mrs., i. 134; ii. 316. - -Siena, iii. 342; vi. 13. - -Silchester, iv. 345. - -Simpkinson, Miss Emma, iii. 50, 208, 220, 228, 397. - ----- Rev. John Nassau, i. 122, 214, 243. - ----- Miss Louisa, i. 122, 123, 214. - -Simpson, Lady Anne, i. 22-26, 351; ii. 320. - -----Frances Emily Baring, Mrs. Bridgeman, v. 41. - ----- John, of Bradley, i. 22. - ----- Palgrave, the novelist, v. 282-284. - -Singh, Prince Duleep, vi. 400. - -Skelton Castle, vi. 443. - -Skiddaw, ascent of, ii. 163. - -Sligo, Isabelle de Peyronnet, Marchioness of, vi. 332. - -Sloper, Rev. John, i. 84. - -Smith, Dudley, v. 304. - ----- Goldwin, i. 415, 448. - ----- Isabel Adeane, Mrs. Robert, v. 414. - ----- John Abel, iv. 330. - ----- the Misses Horace, iv. 293. - ----- “Sir Hugh,” i. 437. - ----- Miss Leigh, vi. 283-284. - ----- Mr. and Mrs. Spencer, iii. 395; vi. 152. - ----- Rev. Sydney, the wit, i. 515; ii. 316, 317; iv. 80; v. 62; vi. -325-326. - ----- Miss Virginia, iv. 396. - -Soame, Stephen and Anne, vi. 517. - -Somers, Charles, 3rd Earl, iv. 253. - ----- Virginia Pattle, Countess, iv. 222. - -Somerset, Algernon Seymour, 15th Duke of, vi. 473. - ----- Jane Georgiana Sheridan, Duchess of, vi. 473, 486. - ----- Susan Mackinnon, Duchess of, vi. 473. - ----- Lady Isabella Somers Cocks, Lady Henry, vi. 421, 459. - ----- Raglan, G. H., iv. 223; vi. 99. - -Somerton, Hon. Caroline Barington, Viscountess, ii. 139. - -Somerville, Mrs. Mary, the authoress, iv. 303-304. - -Sonning, i. 411, 470; vi. 498. - -Sora, Agnese Borghese, Duchess of, ii. 59, 405, 424, 428; iii. 95, 253. - -Sora, Rodolfo Boncompagni, Duke of, ii. 59, 428; iii. 95. - -Soracte, ascent of, iv. 107. - -Sorrento, ii. 81, 396. - -South Wraxhall Manor, i. 272; vi. 485. - -Southam, v. 224. - -Southgate, i. 297. - -Souvigny, iii. 152. - -Soveral, Mr. and Madame de, iii. 198. - -Speke, iv. 63. - -Spencer, Adelaide Seymour, Countess, iv. 475. - ----- 5th Earl, and Charlotte Seymour, Countess, ii. 213. - -Spilsby, vi. 387. - -Spinola, Marchese and Marchesa, iv. 169. - -Splugen, Passage of the, iii. 107. - -Spoleto, iii. 101. - -Spottiswoode, William, iv. 236-237, 379. - -Spurgeon, Rev. Charles Haddon, v. 324; vi. 431. - -Spy, the Family, i. 370-376. - -Squires, Dr., iii. 262-264, 298. - -Staël, Auguste de, vi. 122. - ----- Anne Louise Necker, Madame de, iii. 416; vi. 428. - -Staffa, v. 219-220. - -Stanhope, Arthur Philip, 6th Earl, vi. 478. - ----- Dorothea Hay, Lady Scudamore, v. 222. - ----- Hon. Edward, ii. 137; vi. 386. - ----- Emily Harriet Kerrison, Countess, iv. 81, 126, 235, 350. - ----- Evelyn Pennefather, Countess, vi. 476, 478. - ----- Lucy Constance Egerton, Hon. Mrs. Edward, vi. 386. - ----- Hon. Harry, iv. 83. - ----- Sir Henry Edwyn Scudamore, v. 222-223. - ----- Philip Henry, 4th Earl, iv. 330; v. 357. - ----- Philip Henry, 5th Earl, the historian, iv. 81, 99, 126-128, 235, -238, 300-301, 325, 330, 350-351. - ----- General Philip, iv. 451. - -Stanley, Arthur Penrhyn, Dean of Westminster, i. 67, 118-120, 230, 236, -238, 264, 284, 357-366, 383, 393, 402, 439, 471, 481, 483, 491; ii. -122-126, 132, 135-137, 153-155, 158-159, 220-222, 290, 380-381, 390, -497-498; iii. 110, 153, 158-159, 414-415; iv. 2, 63, 153, 324, 365, 367; -v. 196, 208, 326-329, 331. - ----- Lady Augusta, ii. 390, 497-498; iii. 110, 153, 158, 414; iv. -365-369; vi. 410. - ----- Catherine Maria, afterwards Mrs. C. Vaughan, i. 66, 69, 118, 210, -281, 291. - ----- Miss Cecilia, vi. 439. - ----- Captain Charles Edward, i. 156, 281. - ----- Eliza Clayton, Mrs. Charles Edward, ii. 45. - ----- Rev. Edward, Rector of Alderley, and afterwards Bishop of Norwich, -i. 44, 62, 66, 69, 117-118, 132, 231-236, 280. - ----- Catherine Leycester, Mrs. Edward, i. 44, 62, 102, 118, 124, 208, -257, 281, 299-301, 360, 383, 399, 407, 471, 514-515; ii. 122-124, 132, -290-292. - ----- Hon. Emmeline, ii. 133. - ----- of Alderley, Fabia, Lady, iv. 324, 383. - ----- Edward John, 2nd Lord, vi. 440. - ----- Hon. Henrietta, Dillon, Lady, vi. 440. - ----- Hon. Louisa, i. 412; ii. 140-141. - ----- Maria Joseph Holroyd, Lady Stanley of Alderley, i. 114, 140-143, -411-412. - ----- Hon. Maria Margaret, i. 412; ii. 140. - ----- Mary, i. 69, 118, 210, 331, 383, 471; ii. 8, 9, 10, 11; iii. 4, -281, 287, 289, 304, 414; iv. 2, 63; v. 243-244. - ----- Captain Owen, i. 281. - ----- Hon. William Owen, antiquarian author, i. 502; v. 334. - ----- Ellen Williams, Mr. William Owen, i. 502. - -Stapleton, Lady, iii. 124. - -Star, Thomas, i. 164. - -Stephanie, Grand Duchess of Baden, i. 383, 385. - -Sterling, John, i. 70. - -Sternberg, Baron Reinhold von Ungern, v. 87. - -Stewart, Harriet Everilda Gore, Mrs. Duncan, iv. 428-438, 480-481; v. -13, 190, 198-199, 200, 204, 272, 273, 274, 277, 288, 289, 298-309, -315-316, 342-344, 358-359, 384-386, 406. - ----- Lady Helen, vi. 94. - ----- Robert Shaw, iii. 48, 49; iv. 449; vi. 434. - -Stichill, iv. 252. - -Stirling, Mrs., of Glenbervie, iii. 48. - ----- Mrs., of Kippenross, iii. 40-42. - ----- Mrs., of Linlathan, ii. 165. - -Stirling-Graham, Miss Clementina, of Duntrune, ii. 165. - -Stisted, Mrs., of the Bagni di Lucca, ii. 94. - -Stockholm, v. 102-108. - -Stoke-upon-Terne, i. 61, 64, 124-151; ii. 160, 327. - -Stokesay Castle, vi. 382. - -Stonebyres, ii. 360. - -Stonehenge, ii. 155; v. 293. - -Stoney, Mr. Robinson, i. 24. - -Story, Miss Amelia, ii. 466. - ----- William Wetmore, the author and sculptor, vi. 77, 90, 273-274. - -Stover, Mr., of Biddick, iv. 280. - -Stowe, Mrs. Beecher, i. 515. - -Stradbroke, Augusta-Sophia Musgrave, Countess of, vi. 77. - -Stratford de Redcliffe, Stratford Canning, Viscount, the statesman, iv. -302-304, 308-309. - -Strathfieldsaye, iv. 343-345. - -Strathmore, Charles, 6th Earl of, i. 23. - ----- Claude Bowes Lyon, 13th Earl of, iv. 365; v. 45, 217. - ----- Hon. Charlotte Barrington, Countess of, vi. 438. - -----Frances Dora Smith, Countess of, vi. 87. - ----- John, 5th Earl of, i. 23. - ----- John, 9th Earl of, ii. 172. - ----- John, 10th Earl of, ii. 173, 178. - ----- Mary Eleanor Bowes, Countess of, i. 24; ii. 172, 275; iv. 210, 416; -vi. 494. - ----- Mary Milner, Countess of, i. 53; ii. 178, 274. - -Strawberry Hill, iv. 328. - -Streatlam Castle, ii. 178, 274; vi. 494. - -Streletski, Count, iv. 332, 423. - -Strettel, Mr. and Mrs., ii. 254. - -Strickland, Mr., of Cokethorp, ii. 151 - -Stuart, Charles Edward, ii. 515. - ----- Sir J., of Allenbank, iv. 266. - ----- General Charles, v. 138. - ----- Lady Euphemia, i. 23. - ----- Lady Jane, i. 22. - ----- John Sobieski Stolberg, ii. 515. - ----- Lady Louisa, i. 301. - -Stuart de Rothesay, Lady Elizabeth Yorke, ii. 280-282, 360; iv. 255, -407, 408. - -Stuart Wortley, Hon. Jane Lawley, Mrs. James, iv. 224. - -Stucley, Marion Elizabeth Fane, Mrs., vi. 235. - -Stufa, Marchese Lotteria Lotharingo della, iv. 194, 319; v. 155; vi. 9. - -Stuttgart, iii. 336. - -Subiaco, iv. 173. - -Sudeley Castle, iv. 438. - -Sudeley, Ada Tollemache, Lady, v. 233, 275 - -Suffolk, Hon. Isabella Howard, Countess of, iii. 139, 149; iv. 390-391. - ----- Charles John, 17th Earl of, iii. 139, 145. - -Sullivan, Sir Arthur, vi. 478. - -Sulmona, Prince and Princess, v. 148. - -Sumner, John Bird, Archbishop of Canterbury, i. 407. - -Surtees, Robert, of Mainsforth, the historian and poet, ii. 309, 313. - ----- Anne Robinson, Mrs., of Mainsforth, ii. 309-317. - -Sussex, book upon, vi. 322. - -Sutherland, Anna Hay-Mackenzie, Duchess of, iii. 245; iv. 331; v. 212. - ----- George, iv. 165. - -Sutri, iv. 108; vi. 508. - -Sutton Place, ii. 217; iv. 239. - -Swaylands, vi. 510. - -Sweden, J. B. J. Bernadotte, Charles XIV., King of, vi. 359. - -Sweden and Norway, Gustaf, Crown Prince of, v. 119, 123, 124-125, 128, -132, 137-174, 195-200, 202-208, 210, 213-217, 238-240, 410-411; vi. 68, -80-81, 525. - ----- Louisa, Queen of, vi. 76. - ----- Oscar, King of, v. 106, 119-128; vi. 525. - ----- Sophie of Nassau, Queen of, v. 79-85, 106, 119-127, 132, 144, 147, -239-240, 310-325 vi. 525. - ----- Victoria of Baden, Crown Princess of, v. 410-411; vi. 415, 509. - -Swete, F. H. Buller, of Oswestry, vi. 433, 486. - -Swillerton, vi. 354. - -Swinburne, Algernon Charles, the poet, v. 16; vi. 357. - ----- Sir John, ii. 350. - -Sydenham, vi. 180. - -Sydney, Lady Emily Paget, Countess, vi. 349-350. - ----- John Robert Townshend, Earl, iv. 224; vi. 350. - -Symonds, John Addington, the author, iv. 427. - -Syon House, iv. 397. - -Syracuse, v. 248. - - -T. - -Tabley, the old house of, vi. 98. - -Taddini, Conte Luigi, iii. 83. - -Tadema, Alma, the artist, v. 277. - -Taglioni, Madame, iv. 483. - -Tailetti, Don Pietro, v. 141. - -Tait, Archibald Campbell, Bishop of London, afterwards Archbishop of -Canterbury, iii. 35-36, 39; iv. 219; v. 383. - ----- Catherine Spooner, Mrs. J. Archibald, iii. 35-36, 39; iv. 219; vi. -354. - ----- Crawford, iii. 39. - -Talbot, Lady Gertrude, iv. 133. - ----- Monsignor, ii. 67; iii. 190, 238, 252, 307. - -Talleyrand, Baron de, v. 154. - -Tambroni, Clotilda, Professor of Greek at Bologna, i. 6-9. - -Tanjore, the Princess, vi. 275. - -Tankerville, Charles Bennet, 6th Earl of, ii. 267-271, 365; iv. 226. - ----- Corisande de Gramont, Countess of, iv. 139. - ----- Lady Olivia Montagu, Countess of, ii. 267-272; iii. 32, 33. - -Taormina, v. 247, 266. - -Tatton, Miss Fanny, iii. 401; iv. 129, 230. - -Tatton Park, iv. 459, 463; vi. 97, 182-183, 229. - -Taranto, v. 269. - -Taunton, Lady Mary Howard, Lady, iv. 133, 357. - -Tayler, Frederick, the artist, v. 44. - -Tayleur, Miss Harriet, i. 143-144, 502; ii. 326; iii. 113; v. 217. - ----- Miss Mary, i. 143-144. 502; ii. 326; v. 217. - ----- Mr. John and Mrs., of Buntingsdale, i. 143. - ----- William, of Buntingsdale, ii. 326. - -Taylor, Sir Charles, iv. 132. - ----- Colonel Philip Meadows, iv. 363. - ----- Rowland, the martyr, vi. 519. - ----- Tom, editor of _Punch_, iv. 307, 370. - -Teano, Ada Wilbraham, Princess of, iii. 194; v. 151, 160. - -Teck, Prince Adolphus of, vi. 353. - ----- H.S.H. Francis, Duke of, iv. 224, 325-327. - ----- H.R.H. Princess Mary, Duchess of, iv. 222, 224; v. 14, 312; vi. -320, 465. - -Teesdale, ii. 340. - -Tellemarken, v. 109-113. - -Temple, Right Rev. Frederick, Bishop of London, and afterwards -Archbishop of Canterbury, vi. 320. - ----- W. S. Gore-Langton, Lord, vi. 240. - ----- Harry, i. 12. - ----- Hon. William Cowper, iv. 71. - -Temple Newsam, iv. 283-285; vi. 353-354. - -Tenby, v. 333. - -Tennyson, Alfred, the Poet Laureate, i. 258; iv. 478; v. 38-41, 314, -453; vi. 96, 226, 397, 429-431. - -Tenterden steeple, iii. 332. - -Terry, Mrs., iii. 375, 376; vi. 415. - -Thackeray, Miss Annie, the novelist, iv. 155, 224, 305, 306. - -Thellusson, Maria Macnaughton, Mrs., iv. 376, 483. - -Thiers, Louis Adolphe, President of the French Republic, vi. 121. - -Thirlwall, Connop, Bishop of St. Davids, i. 164, 437, 482. - -Thomas, John, Bishop of Peterborough, ii. 338. - ----- William Brodrick, the landscape gardener, iv. 239. - -Thoresby, v. 43; vi. 118, 473. - -Thorncombe, iv. 307. - -Thornton, Harriet Heber, Mrs. John, ii. 144-149. - ----- Miss, iv. 419. - -Thorneycroft, ii. 161. - ----- Blanche Swete, Mrs., vi. 502, 522. - -Thorp Perrow, vi. 405. - -Thorpe, Mrs., iii. 237, 262. - -Throndtjem, v. 108. - -Thun, i. 464, v. 408. - -Thurlow, Edward, Lord High Chancellor, v. 286-287. - ----- Mr. and Mrs. Thomas, of Baynards, vi. 162. - -Thurlow, Great, vi. 517. - ----- Little, vi. 507. - -Thynne, Lord John, iv. 418, 479. - -Tilt, Georgiana Hibbert, Mrs., vi. 9, 465. - -Timsbury, iv. 71. - -Tintagel, vi. 524. - -Tittenhanger, v. 50; vi. 109. - -Tivoli, iii. 370; iv. 175; vi. 507. - -Tollemache, Hon. Algernon, v. 233. - -Tollemache, John, 1st Baron, v. 445. - ----- Marguerite Hume-Purves, Hon. Mrs. Augustus, iv. 307. - ----- Mary Stuart Hamilton, Lady, vi. 376. - ----- Colonel Thomas, v. 445. - -Tong Church, iv. 441. - -Torcello, iii. 230. - -Torchio, iii. 236-237. - -Torlonia, Duke of, ii. 295-297. - ----- origin of the family of, iv. 349-350. - -Torre, Contessa della, ii. 448-449. - -Torrigiani, Marchesa Cristina, v. 154; vi. 9. - ----- Marchesa Elisabetta, v. 154; vi. 8, 290. - ----- Don Filippo, v. 154. - ----- Marchese Pietro, v. 154. - ----- Marchesa Margherita, vi. 8. - -Tortworth, v. 298. - -Toscanella, vi. 416. - -Tosti, the Abbate, iv. 182. - -Toul, iii. 333. - -Tours, ii. 464. - -Tower, Mr. and Mrs., of the Weald, vi. 380. - -Towneley, Colonel, iv. 346. - -Townley, Walter, vi. 420. - -Townshend, Lady Anne, v. 421. - ----- Lady Agnes, vi. 175. - ----- Dorothy Walpole, Lady, vi. 104. - -Trafford, Edward William, of Wroxham, ii. 193, 406, 506. - ----- Martine Larmignac, Madame de, ii. 186-200, 406, 412-415, 500-513; -iii. 53-64, 251-254, 260, 265. - -Trani, Mathilde of Bavaria, Countess of, iii. 86. - -Trebeck, Rev. Canon, James John and Mrs., vi. 119. - -Tregastel, vi. 345. - -Tremayne, Hon. Mary Vivian Mrs., vi. 180. - -Trenca, M. and Madame, ii. 247. - -Trench, Mrs. R. C., ii. 434; iv. 90. - -Trent, iii. 231. - -Trevanion, Lady Frances, vi. 494. - -Trevelyan, Sir Alfred, vi. 234. - ----- Sir Charles, Governor of Madras, ii. 348; iv. 379. - ----- Sir George Otto, politician and author, iv. 401. - ----- Paulina Jermyn, Lady, ii. 277, 348-50. - ----- Mrs. Spencer, ii. 351. - ----- Mrs. Raleigh, ii. 351. - ----- Sir Walter, ii. 277, 348-351. - -Treves, i. 385. - -Trisulti, iv. 192. - -Trollope, Adolphus, the novelist, iv. 171; v. 300. - ----- Mrs. Anthony, v. 16. - ----- Miss Beatrice, iv. 171; v. 151. - -Tronchin, Colonel, the philanthropist, i. 453. - -Trotter, Captain, i. 313. - ----- Hon. Charlotte Liddell, Mrs., i. 315. - -Troubridge, Miss Laura, vi. 104. - -Troutbeck, John, afterwards Minor Canon of Westminster, i. 414, 417, -419, 446. - -Truro, Edward White Benson, Bishop of, v. 71. - -Tucker, Rev. Alfred Robert, Bishop of Uganda, vi. 453. - -Tufton, i. 278. - -Tullgarn, Gustaf, Comte de, v. 153. - -Turin, ii. 106. - -Turner, J. M. W., the artist, vi. 330-331. - ----- Miss, iii. 114-115. - ----- Pamela FitzGerald, Mrs., vi. 502. - -Turnour, Algernon, vi. 28. - -Tusculum, ii. 391; v. 150. - -Twain, Mark (Mr. Samuel Clemens), the author, vi. 281-283. - -“Two Noble Lives, the Story of,” vi. 333-336. - -Tytler, Christina Fraser, the authoress, iii. 368. - - -U. - -Ugolini, Cardinal, iii. 71. - -Umberto II., King of Italy, v. 135, 158; vi. 278. - -Ungern Sternberg, Theodora v. Bunsen, Baroness von, ii. 294; iii. 109. - -Unthank, iii. 170. - -Upsala, v. 105. - -Upton, General, v. 64. - -Upton Court, vi. 26. - -Usedom, Baron von, i. 435; iii. 104-106. - ----- Olympia Malcolm, Baroness, afterwards Countess von, i. 435; iii. -104-106; v. 349-350. - - -V. - -Val Anzasca, ii. 109. - -Valdagno, iv. 321. - -Vallombrosa, ii. 84; iii. 381; vi. 273. - -Val Richer, i. 320. - -Valsamachi, Emily Shipley, Countess, ii. 145, 159, 160, 327. - -Van de Weyer, Madame, ii. 232. - ----- M. Sylvain, ii. 231-232. - -Vane, Lady Katherine, afterwards Lady Barnard, vi. 79. - ----- Margaret Gladstone, Lady, vi. 32. - ----- Sir Henry, vi. 33, 354. - -Vatche, the, in Buckinghamshire, i. 2, 3, 493; ii. 156. - -Vaucher, Mademoiselle, ii. 379. - -Vaudois, the, ii. 109. - -Vaughan, Cardinal, vi. 483. - ----- Catherine Maria Stanley, Mrs. Charles, i. 281, 311, 336; ii. 213, - 261; iii. 170; iv. 360, 366; v. 225, 316, 327; vi. 102, 476, 505; - death of, vi. 513-515. - ----- Dr. Charles, afterwards Dean of Llandaff, i. 214, 218, 281, 336; - ii. 213, 260, iii. 414; - death of, vi. 476. - ----- Herbert, of Llangoedmore, vi. 347. - -Vauriol, Vicomte de, iii. 354. - -Veii, ii. 391; iv. 95-96. - -Venables, Rev. Edmund, afterwards Canon and Precentor of Lincoln, i. -240; vi. 361-362. - ----- George Stovin, vi. 99. - -Venice, vi. 168-170, 290-293. - -Vernon, Augustus Henry, 6th Lord, iii. 140. - -Verona, iii. 230, 337. - -Verulam, Elizabeth Weyland, Countess of, iii. 139; v. 47. - ----- James Walter Grimston, 2nd Earl of, v. 47, 49. - -Vetturino travelling, ii. 46-49. - -Vicenza, iii. 338; vi. 420. - -Victor Emmanuel, King of Italy, ii. 376; iv. 96, 222. - -Victoria, Queen of England, ii. 286-288; iv. 224, 366, 368; vi. 69-75, -82-83, 228, 264, 307, 464, 465. - -Victorine, Madame, iii. 89-90. - -Vienna, ii. 36. - -Vigne, Père la, i. 338. - -Villari, Professor Pasquale, the historian, v. 155. - -Villiers, Hon. Francis, iv. 396. - -Vine’s Gate, iii. 393. - -Vitelleschi, Francesco Nobile, Marchese, politician, iv. 332-343. - -Vivian, William Graham, vi. 101, 486. - -Vivian, Amabel Beaumont, Lady Hussey, vi. 101. - -Vivier, M., the actor, iv. 220-221, 225. - -Vizille, vi. 48. - -Voight, the artist, iv. 86. - -Vyne, the, vi. 156. - - -W. - -Waddington, Dean of Durham, ii. 265. - ----- Mary Port, Mrs., v. 2, 5, 6. - ----- William Henry, the statesman and ambassador, i. 319; ii. 109; v. -94-95. - -Wagner, Rev. George, i. 79, 80. - ----- Mrs., i. 79; ii. 427; iii. 397. - -Wagstaff, Mrs., the clairvoyant, iv. 392. - -Wake, Sir Baldwin, ii. 151. - -Waldegrave, Frances Braham, Countess, iv. 328; v. 209. - ----- Sarah Milward, Countess, iii. 397. - -Wales, H.R.H. Albert Edward, Prince of, ii. 381; iv. 222, 223, 331, 379; -v. 24, 212, 213; vi. 34. - ----- H.R.H. Alexandra, Princess of, ii. 381; iv. 222, 223, 328, 331, -334, 396; v. 212. - ----- H.R.H. Prince George of, v. 24. - -Walker, Frederick J., i. 309, 332, 398; vi. 264. - ----- Mrs. Frederick, v. 166; vi. 264. - -----Frederick, the artist, iv. 357-358. - -“Walks in Rome,” iii. 388, 397, 408; vi. 416. - -Wallace, Sir Richard, v. 208. - -Wallington, ii. 277, 347-352. - -Wallop, Hon. John, v. 296. - -Walpole, Catherine Shorter, Lady, vi. 104-105. - ----- George, Lord, vi. 104. - ----- Sir Robert, i. 2; vi. 104. - -Walsh, Hon. Christopher, vi. 156. - -Waltham Abbey, i. 311. - -Walton, in Yorkshire, iv. 67. - -“Wanderings in Spain,” iv. 83. - -Wantage, ii. 222. - -Wantage, Hon. Robert James Loyd Lindsay, Lord, vi. 433, 447. - ----- Hon. Harriet Loyd, Lady, vi. 433, 447. - -Warbleton Priory, vi. 470. - -Warburton, Egerton, of Arley, iv. 461. - ----- Matilda Grove, Mrs. Eliot, i. 510, 511-513; ii. 12. - ----- Miss Sydney, the authoress, i. 510. - ----- Miss Jane, iv. 216. - -Ward, Hon. Elizabeth Blackwood, Mrs., v. 428. - ----- Miss Geneviève, iv. 436; v. 276. - ----- Herbert, vi. 240. - ----- Mrs. Humphry, vi. 164. - -Ward-Howe, Mrs. Julia, the poetess, v. 174. - -Wardour Castle, v. 293. - -Warkworth, ii. 278, 352. - -Warkworth, Henry Algernon George, Lord, vi. 373. - -Warner, Charles, the Trinidad philanthropist, vi. 434. - -Warre, the Misses Florence and Margaret, vi. 510. - -Warren, Miss Anna, ii. 144. - ----- Penelope Shipley, Mrs., i. 165-166; ii. 143-144; iii. 125. - -Warsaw, v. 401. - -Warwick, George Guy Greville, 3rd Earl of, iv. 253-254, 261. - ----- Lady Anne Charteris, Countess of, iv. 261, 267; vi. 33. - -Warwick Castle, vi. 33. - -Waterford, Christina Leslie, Marchioness of, vi 21. - ----- John, Marquis of, ii. 280. - ----- Henry Beresford, 3rd Marquis of, ii. 362; iv. 291-292; v. 358. - ----- Hon. Louisa Stuart, Marchioness of, ii. 280-282, 360-363; iii. -10-13, 23-31, 323-327; iv. 51, 60-61, 133-143, 208-217, 251-265, -340-343, 376, 404-409; v. 15, 213-214, 290-291; vi. 108-110, 158-161, -241-251, 326, 327, 333. - -Watson, Sir Thomas, physician (1792-1882), v. 184. - ----- Mr. and Mrs., of Rockingham, vi. 256. - ----- the author, vi. 434. - -Watts, G. F., R.A., vi. 326-330. - ----- Theodore, the author, v. 289-290. - -Way, Albert, i. 503; ii. 133. - ----- Rev. John, vi. 183. - -Wayland Smith’s cave, ii. 230. - -Webster, Charlotte Adamson, Lady, iii. 177; iv. 301. - -Weeping Cross, ii. 328. - -Weimar, Pauline of Saxe-Weimar Eisenach, Grand Duchess of, v. 87. - -Welbeck Abbey, v. 366; vi. 475. - -Weld, Thomas, Cardinal, vi. 22-23. - -Weling, Fräulein von, the authoress, v. 77, 292. - -Wellesley, Rev. Dr. Henry, Principal of New Inn Hall and Rector of -Hurstmonceaux, i. 16; ii. 213, 244, 294-297. - -Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of, i. 393; iv. 345; v. 276; vi. -190-191, 373. - ----- Arthur Richard Wellesley, 2nd Duke of, iv. 81, 344; v. 11-12, 29, -276. - -Wells, i. 308; v. 291; vi. 320. - -Wells, Lady Louisa, ii. 356; iii. 140. - -Wemyss, Francis, 8th Earl of, iii. 44. - ----- Lady Louisa Bingham, Countess of, ii. 356; iv. 267. - -Wenlock Abbey, vi. 382. - -Wenlock, Hon. Caroline Neville, Lady, ii. 389; iii. 154. - -Wensleydale, Cecilia Barlow, Lady, iv. 124, 414; v. 62. - -Wentworth, Lady Harriet, v. 298. - -Wentworth Castle, v. 297. - ----- Wodehouse, iv. 281-283. - -Wesselow, Mr. and Mrs. Simpkinson de, iv. 163-165; vi. 264. - -Westenberg, M. and Mme. de, v. 152, 160; vi. 509. - -Westminster, Lady Constance Gower, Duchess of, v. 229. - ----- Lady Elizabeth Leveson-Gower, Marchioness of, v. 366. - -Westmoreland, Anne Child, Countess of, iv. 468. - -West Woodhay, i. 84, 95. - -West Wycombe, vi. 299. - -Weyland, Lady Catherine, iv. 69; v. 47. - -Weymouth, ii. 229. - -Wharncliffe, Lady Susan Lascelles, Countess of, iv. 327. - -Whately, Richard, Archbishop of Dublin, i. 228, 283. - -Whewell, Dr. William, Master of Trinity, i. 164; iii. 158; vi. 526. - -Whistler, James, the artist, iv. 376; v. 190. - -Whitburn, ii. 206-213; iv. 272; v. 423. - -White, Lady Maude, vi. 436. - -Whiteway, vi. 181. - -Whitford, Mrs. Mary, vi. 174. - -Wickham, Agnes Gladstone, Mrs., vi. 362. - ----- William of Binstead-Wyck, afterwards M.P., ii. 217; iv. 131. - -Wied, Marie of Nassau, Dowager Princess of, v. 78-84. - -Wigan, Mrs., iv. 219. - -Wilberforce, Rev. Canon Basil, vi. 520. - ----- Samuel, Bishop of Oxford, afterwards of Winchester, i. 470; iii. -153; iv. 125; v. 218-219. - -Wilbraham, Charles, v. 17. - -Wilcot House, i. 278. - -Wilde, Oscar, the play-writer, v. 386. - -Wilkinson, Rev. George Howard, iv. 342. - -William IV., King of England, i. 69, 294. - -Williams, Captain, iii. 28, 32. - ----- Sir Fenwick, iv. 35. - ----- Sir John and Lady Sarah, i. 503. - -Williamson, Hon. Anne Liddell, Lady, ii. 207, 208, 211, 212, 400, 403. - ----- Captain Charles, ii. 210, 212; iv. 248. - ----- Lady Elizabeth, iv. 272, 365, 456; v. 423. - ----- Sir Hedworth, iv. 272, 365, 459 - ----- Victor A., ii. 137, 210, 214, 403; iv. 232; v. 208. - -Willmer, Bishop of Louisiana, vi. 354-356. - -Willoughby, Sir Hugh, the Arctic voyager, vi. 425. - -Wilson, Miss Fanny Fleetwood, vi. 280, 483. - ----- Georgiana Sumner, Mrs., i. 407. - ----- Sir Thomas Maryon, v. 280. - -Wimbledon Camp, iv. 219. - -Wimpole, iv. 252. - -Winchelsea, Fanny Rice, Countess, iv. 411. - -Winchester, John Paulet, 14th Marquis of, iv. 482. - -Windham, Rt. Hon. William, the statesman, v. 451. - -Windsor, Alberta Victoria Paget, Lady, vi. 351, 448. - ----- Robert George Clive, Lord, v. 359; vi. 351, 448. - -Wingfield, Miss Katherine, vi. 313. - ----- Hon. Cecilia FitzPatrick, Hon. Mrs. Lewis, iv. 173, 227, 228, 231; -v. 209. - -Winkworth, Mrs. Stephen, v. 289. - -Winslow, Dr., iii. 313, 359, 366, 370. - -Winton Castle, ii. 354; iv. 267, 447. - -Wiseman, Nicholas Patrick, Cardinal, ii. 486; vi. 162. - -Wishaw House, ii. 358. - -Woburn Abbey, v. 60-61; vi. 77. - -Wodehouse, Miss Emily, i. 120. - ----- Canon and Lady Jane, i. 120. - -Wolff, Rev. Joseph, v. 278. - -Wollaton Hall, vi. 424. - -Wolseley, Sir Garnet, afterwards Viscount, iv. 305, 465. - ----- Louisa Erskine, Viscountess, iv. 305, 465. - -Wombwell, Lady Julia, v. 423. - -Wood, Lady Agnes, iv. 240-243, 249, 293, 385. - ----- Alderman, iii. 15. - ----- Rt. Hon. Sir Charles, ii. 283; iv. 286. - ----- Hon. Charles Lindley, ii. 137-138, 214, 251-253, 283, 325; iii. -320; iv. 239-243, 249, 290-293, 363, 385; v. 419-421. - ----- Hon. Frederick, iv. 283. - ----- Misses Isabel and Lorraine, vi. 12. - ----- Lady Mary, ii. 251. - ----- Mrs. Shakespeare, iii. 191, 204. - -Woodbastwick Hall, vi. 225, 262. - -Woodlands, vi. 99. - -Woodward, Fanny Finucane, Mrs., iii. 209, 211, 213, 318, 364, 365, 374, -378. - -Woolbeding, vi. 297. - -Wordsworth, William, the poet, i. 177, 499. - -Worsley Sir William, Bart., vi. 256. - -Worth Park, vi. 27, 227. - -Worting House, near Basingstoke, i. 13; ii. 143, 144. - -Wortley, Hon. Mrs. James Stuart, iv. 82. - -Wraxhall Manor, South, i. 272; vi. 485. - -Wright, Miss Sophia of Mapperley, ii. 392; iii. 140, 183, 318; iv. 24, -25, 28, 48, 95, 99, 106, 304; v. 17, 130-131, 147. - -Wynford, Caroline Baillie, Lady, iv. 398; v. 45, 195. - -Wynne, Sir Watkin, v. 65, 202. - -Wythenshawe, iv. 463. - - -Y. - -Yates, Edmund Hodgson, the novelist, v. 16. - -Yeatman, Mr. and Mrs. Morgan, iii. 414. - -Yetholm, iii. 31. - -York, H.R.H. George, Duke of, vi. 353, 399. - ----- William Maclagan, Archbishop of, vi. 256-257, 294, 356, 443. - ----- William Markham, Archbishop of, vi. 360. - ----- Thomas Musgrave, Archbishop of, vi. 262. - ----- William Thompson, Archbishop of, iv. 473. - ----- Edward Vernon Harcourt, Archbishop of, vi. 360. - ----- H. R. H. Victoria Mary, Duchess of, vi. 353, 516. - -Yorke, Hon. Alexander, iv. 250, 251; v. 222. - -----Frances Graham, Mrs. Dallas, vi. 475. - ----- Hon. Eliot, iv. 288-290, 410. - -Yorke, Annie de Rothschild, Hon. Mrs. Eliot, iv. 410. - - -Z. - -Zanzibar, the Sultan of, iv. 328. - -Zermatt, i. 460. - -Zouche, Robert Curzon, Lord de la, vi. 296. - -THE END - -Printed by BALLANTYNE, HANSON & CO. -Edinburgh & London - - -_WORKS BY AUGUSTUS J. C. HARE_ - -LIFE AND LETTERS OF FRANCES, BARONESS BUNSEN. _Third Edition._ With -Portraits. 2 vols., crown 8vo, Cloth, 21_s._ - -MEMORIALS OF A QUIET LIFE. 3 vols., crown 8vo, Vols. 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While -part of the work describes the district round Paris, the rest -practically opens up a new country for English visitors to provincial -France.”--_Scotsman._ - -SUSSEX. _Second Edition._ With Map and 45 Woodcuts. Crown 8vo, Cloth, -6_s._ - -SHROPSHIRE. With Map and 48 Woodcuts. Cloth, 7_s._ 6_d._ - -THE STORY OF TWO NOBLE LIVES. CHARLOTTE, COUNTESS CANNING, AND LOUISA, -MARCHIONESS OF WATERFORD. In 3 vols., of about 450 pages each. Crown -8vo, Cloth, £1, 11_s._ 6_d._ Illustrated with 11 engraved Portraits and -21 Plates in Photogravure from Lady Waterford’s Drawings, 8 full-page -and 24 smaller Woodcuts from Sketches by the Author. - -Also a Special Large Paper Edition, with India Proofs of the Plates. -Crown 4to, £3, 3_s._ _net_. - -THE GURNEYS OF EARLHAM: Memoirs and Letters of the Eleven Children of -JOHN and CATHERINE GURNEY of Earlham, 1775-1875, and the Story of their -Religious Life under many Different Forms. Illustrated with 33 -Photogravure Plates and 19 Woodcuts. In 2 vols., crown 8vo, Cloth, -25_s._ - -BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: Memorial Sketches of ARTHUR PENRHYN STANLEY, Dean -of Westminster; HENRY ALFORD, Dean of Canterbury; Mrs. DUNCAN STEWART; -and PARAY LE MONIAL. Illustrated with 7 Portraits and 17 Woodcuts. Crown -8vo, Cloth, 8_s._ 6_d._ - -THE STORY OF MY LIFE: 1834 TO 1870. Vols. I. to III. Recollections of -Places, People, and Conversations, extracted chiefly from Letters and -Journals. Illustrated with 18 Photogravure Portraits and 144 Woodcuts -from Drawings by the Author. Crown 8vo, Cloth, £1, 11_s._ 6_d._ - -THE STORY OF MY LIFE: 1870 TO 1900. Vols. IV. to VI. With 12 -Photogravure Portraits and 250 Woodcuts. Crown 8vo, Cloth, £1, 11_s._ -6_d._ - -_BY THE LATE AUGUSTUS WILLIAM HARE_ - -_RECTOR OF ALTON BARNES_ - -THE ALTON SERMONS. _Fifth Edition._ Crown 8vo, 7_s._ 6_d._ - -SERMONS ON THE LORD’S PRAYER. Crown 8vo, 1_s._ 6_d._ - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[1] J. Greenleaf Whittier, “Letters.” - -[2] I had to pay a duty of 10 per cent, even on all my own money and -savings, as it had been unfortunately invested in her name. - -[3] Archibald, eldest son of John Archibald Colquhoun of Killermont, -N.B., and Chartwell, near Westerham, in Kent. - -[4] Archie Colquhoun died at Nice in the following spring. - -[5] From “The Story of Two Noble Lives.” - -[6] These rooms have been entirely altered since Lady Waterford’s death. - -[7] Mary Amelia, widow of the first Marquis. - -[8] Daughter of the 5th Earl of Balcarres. - -[9] James Edward, 2nd Earl. - -[10] Afterwards Dean of Wells. - -[11] The picture was exhibited in the spring of 1845, and was sent -straight to Hurstmonceaux from the Exhibition. - -[12] Our cousins Sir Alexander and Lady Taylor. See vol. iii. - -[13] The Rev. Henry Liddell, brother of my great-uncle Ravensworth, and -whose wife, Charlotte Lyon, was niece of my great-grandmother, Lady Anne -Simpson. - -[14] Don Juan died in 1880, leaving his last great work, the restoration -of Leon Cathedral, unfinished. - -[15] This was my first meeting with Everard Primrose, afterwards for -many years one of my most intimate friends. He had a cold manner, which -was repellant to those who did not know him well, and in conversation he -was tantalising, for nothing came out of him at all comparable to what -one knew was within. But no young man’s life was more noble, stainless, -and full of highest hopes and purposes. He died--to my lasting -sorrow--of fever during the African campaign of 1885. His mother printed -a memoir afterwards, which was a beautiful and simple portrait of his -life--a very model of biographical truth. - -[16] It has since been entirely destroyed. - -[17] From “Paris.” - -[18] W. S. Landor. - -[19] Dr. Chalmers. - -[20] Wordsworth. - -[21] For these old friends of my mother, _vide_ vols. i. and iii. - -[22] This dear old lady (widow of a first cousin of my father’s) lived -in uncomplaining poverty till 1891, and was a great pleasure to me. I -was glad to be able to contribute to the support of her small -establishment at Norbiton. - -[23] Since this was written the pictures have all been dispersed. - -[24] From “The Story of Two Noble Lives.” - -[25] Mrs. T. Erskine’s novel. - -[26] George Macdonald. - -[27] Lady Margaret Beaumont, whom I afterwards knew very intimately, and -learnt to regard with ever-increasing esteem and affection, died, to my -great sorrow, March 31, 1888. - -[28] Afterwards Lieutenant-General Henry Hope Crealock. He died May -1891. - -[29] The Mote has since been sold and its contents dispersed. - -[30] Mr. Hailstone of Walton Hall died 1890, his wife some years -earlier. He bequeathed his topographical collections to the Chapter at -York, where they are preserved as the “Hailstone Yorkshire Library.” - -[31] This church, the most interesting memorial of the Brontë life at -Haworth, was wantonly destroyed in 1880-81. - -[32] Lady Salisbury’s description. - -[33] Told me by Lord Houghton. - -[34] _Note added 1890._--Authorities now decide that this picture does -not represent Mary at all, and it is certainly not, as formerly stated, -by Zucchero, for Zucchero, who was never in England till the Queen was -in captivity, never painted her. - -[35] Afterwards Lady Sherbrooke. - -[36] This was so for a long time. Then in about ten years several more -editions were called for in rapid succession. One can never anticipate -how it will be with books. - -[37] 1890.--This was so for many years: then the sale of “Days near -Rome” suddenly and unaccountably stopped. - -[38] From “Days near Rome” - -[39] Miss Margaret Foley died Dec. 1877. - -[40] Afterwards Lady Compton. - -[41] From “Days near Rome.” - -[42] From “Days near Rome.” - -[43] Perhaps the interest of these details is of the past, but I insert -them because the conduct of the Sardinian Government is being rapidly -forgotten, and I was at great pains in obtaining accurate statistics and -verifying the facts mentioned. - -[44] From “Days near Rome.” - -[45] Afterwards Duchess of Marino. - -[46] Mother of the Duchess S. Arpino. - -[47] Shortly before this my publishers had given me a magnificently -bound copy of “Walks in Rome,” with the desire that I would present it -to Princess Margherita. I demurred to doing this, because, owing to the -strictures which the book contains on the “Sardinian Government,” I -thought it might be considered little less than an impertinence; but I -told the Duchess S. Arpino, who was in waiting at the time, and she -repeated it. The amiable Princess said, “I am sorry Mr. Hare does not -appreciate us, but I should like my present all the same,” and the book -was sent to her. - -[48] From “Days near Rome.” - -[49] From “Days near Rome.” - -[50] This quaint journey is described in the introductory chapter of -“Days near Rome.” - -[51] From “Days near Rome.” - -[52] From “Days near Rome.” - -[53] From “Days near Rome.” - -[54] From “Days near Rome.” - -[55] From “Days near Rome.” - -[56] From “Days near Rome.” - -[57] From “Days near Rome.” - -[58] Miss Kate Malcolm, the last of her family, died, universally -beloved, in May 1891. - -[59] From “Northern Italy.” - -[60] From “Northern Italy.” - -[61] Samuel Wilberforce. - -[62] Rev. Hugh Pearson, Rector of Sonning. - -[63] The house of William Wickham, who married my cousin Sophia Lefevre. - -[64] In 1884 this fine old property of the Needhams was sold to A. P. -Heywood Lonsdale, Esq. (now Heywood), who is also owner of the -neighbouring estate of Cloverly. - -[65] This old friend of my childhood died Dec. 1890, in her 99th year. - -[66] - - “Andrew, she has a face looks like a story, - The story of the heavens looks very like her.” - BEAUMONT AND FLETCHER, _The Elder Brother_. - - -[67] From “The Story of Two Noble Lives.” - -[67] Afterwards Lady Harcourt. - -[69] This is much like the epitaph which Ruskin has placed on the grave -of his father. - -[70] A rich farmer, the landlord of our Lime farm at Hurstmonceaux. - -[71] Mrs. Harford of Blaise Castle, third daughter of Baron de Bunsen. - -[72] From “Northern Italy.” - -[73] From “Northern Italy.” - -[74] From “Northern Italy.” - -[75] Beatrice, afterwards the first wife of Charles Stuart Wortley. - -[76] From “Days near Rome.” - -[77] From “Days near Rome.” - -[78] From “Days near Rome.” - -[79] From “Days near Rome.” - -[80] From “Days near Rome.” - -[81] From “Days near Rome.” - -[82] From “Days near Rome.” - -[83] From “Days near Rome.” - -[84] From “Days near Rome.” - -[85] From “Days near Rome.” - -[86] Daughter of Lord Howard de Walden, afterwards Duchess of Sermoneta. - -[87] From “Days near Rome.” - -[88] This excellent old Abbot was afterwards cruelly murdered at Rome. - -[89] From “Days near Rome.” - -[90] From “Days near Rome.” - -[91] From “Florence.” - -[92] _All_ the women have fainted. - -[93] Sermon on Ezekiel. - -[94] From “Northern Italy.” - -[95] From “North-Eastern France.” - -[96] Afterwards known as “Sunday Hill.” - -[97] Fanny Blackett, Vicomtesse du Quaire, who died, universally beloved -and regretted, in the spring of 1895. - -[98] Feb. 8, 1814. - -[99] Hon. E. Primrose, second son of the Duchess of Cleveland by her -first marriage with Lord Dalmeny. - -[100] Cambry. - -[101] From “The Story of Two Noble Lives.” - -[102] From “The Story of Two Noble Lives.” - -[103] Eighth daughter of the 7th Earl of Wemyss. She died, deeply -mourned and beloved, in 1891. - -[104] Author of “Rab and his Friends.” - -[105] Daughter of the 8th Earl of Cavan, afterwards Baroness von Essen. - -[106] From “The Story of Two Noble Lives.” - -[107] From “The Story of Two Noble Lives.” - -[108] John, second Duke of Argyll, immortalised by Pope. - -[109] Author of “Music and Morals,” &c. - -[110] From “Walks in London.” - -[111] From “Walks in London.” - -[112] From “Days near Paris.” - -[113] This was my first sight of the contentious and arbitrary essayist -Abraham Hayward, whom I often saw afterwards. He was always interesting -to meet, if only on account of his perverse acerbity. Constantly invited -by a world which feared him, he was always determined to be listened to, -and generally said something worth hearing. - -[114] From “Walks in London.” - -[115] From “Walks in London.” - -[116] Lady Victoria Liddell married Captain Edward Fisher, now Rowe. - -[117] John FitzPatrick, Baron Castletown of Upper Ossory. - -[118] From “Walks in London.” - -[119] Emily, wife of the 5th Earl Stanhope, died Dec. 31, 1873. - -[120] Evelyn Henrietta, daughter of R. Pennefather, Esq., afterwards 6th -Countess Stanhope. - -[121] Daughter of Amos Meredith, Esq. She married, secondly, a son of -the 4th Duke of Argyll. - -[122] Lady Harriet Pelham, daughter of the 3rd Earl of Chichester, wife -of the 6th Earl of Darnley. - -[123] Tasso. - -[124] My real mother’s youngest sister Jane (see vol. i.). She married -Edward, only son of the famous Lord Edward FitzGerald and of the -beautiful Pamela. She lived till November 1891. - -[125] The family circle was broken up by the death of Mr. Carew in 1888, -a few months after that of his eldest daughter. - -[126] I learnt to value Dean Church very much afterwards. The story of -his beautiful and noble life is told in a wonderfully interesting -“Memoir.” - -[127] William, afterwards 4th Earl of St. Germans, died Oct. 7, 1877. - -[128] Edward Granville, 3rd Earl of St. Germans, died 1877. - -[129] George, second son of the 2nd Earl of Mount Edgcumbe, married -Fanny Lucy, eldest daughter of Sir John Shelley. - -[130] Sophia, daughter of the 2nd Earl of Buckinghamshire. - -[131] Hugh, 3rd Earl Fortescue. - -[132] The Queen of the Gipsies died in July 1883, at the age of -eighty-six. - -[133] Her mother, Lady Stuart de Rothesay, was daughter of the 3rd Earl -of Hardwicke. - -[134] Charles, 3rd Earl of Somers. - -[135] George Guy Greville, 4th Earl of Warwick, died Dec. 2, 1893. - -[136] I afterwards heard the same story, almost in the same words, from -Lord Warwick himself. - -[137] from “The Story of Two Noble Lives.” - -[138] From “The Story of Two Noble Lives.” - -[139] Bk. vi. 73, 74. - -[140] Anne, wife of the 4th Earl of Warwick, daughter of Francis, 8th -Earl of Wemyss and March. - -[141] My mother’s first cousin, Georgiana Liddell, had married Lord -Bloomfield, formerly ambassador at Berlin and Vienna. - -[142] From “The Story of Two Noble Lives.” - -[143] I have heard Professor Owen tell this story himself. - -[144] Louisa, fourth daughter of 2nd Earl of Lucan. - -[145] John Patrick, 3rd Marquis of Bute. - -[146] Gwendoline Mary-Anne, eldest daughter of Lord Howard of Glossop. - -[147] Prior. - -[148] Sir Hedworth and Lady Elizabeth Williamson. The parents of both -were first cousins of my mother. - -[149] My mother’s first cousin, Henry Liddell, 1st Earl of Ravensworth. - -[150] John Axel Fersen, making the tour of France at nineteen, was -presented to the Dauphine, herself nineteen, in 1774. Throughout his -friendship with her, the perfect reserve of a great gentleman and great -lady was never broken. - -[151] In 1879 I told this story to the Crown Prince of Sweden and -Norway, who took the trouble to verify facts and dates as to the -Löwenjelms, &c., and found everything coincide. - -[152] Mrs., then Lady Pease, died, universally beloved and regretted, in -1892. - -[153] The 6th Earl of Fitzwilliam. - -[154] Lady Frances Douglas, daughter of the 18th Earl of Morton. - -[155] Eldest daughter and youngest son of Viscount Halifax. - -[156] Edward Carr Glyn, afterwards Vicar of Kensington, son of the 1st -Baron Wolverton. - -[157] Mother of the 9th Duke of Bedford, a most charming and hospitable -person. She died August 1874. - -[158] Lord Moira was created Marquis of Hastings 1816, and died at -Malta, November 26, 1826. - -[159] “In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth -upon men, in slumberings upon the bed; then He openeth the ears of men, -and sealeth their instruction.”--_Elihu in Job._ - -[160] Charles, 2nd Earl Grey. - -[161] I have since heard this story as told by a Captain Campbell, and -as having happened in Ireland near the Curragh. A similar story is told -of two officers invited to the house of a Mr. T. near Dorchester. The -appearance of the hostess at dinner was excused on plea of illness, and -the younger guest, staring at the place where she would have sat, -implored his elder friend to get him away from this devil-haunted place. -An excuse of early parade was made, and as they were returning over the -hills, the young man described the figure of “a lady with dripping hair -wringing her hands.” Soon afterwards her body was found in the moat of -the house. It was Mrs. T. - -[162] My old schoolfellow, George, Equerry to the Prince of Wales, only -son of the Right Hon. Sir George Grey. - -[163] Anthony Lionel Ashley, died Jan. 14, 1836. - -[164] I afterwards heard this story confirmed in every particular by -Lord Waterford’s widow. - -[165] From “Central Italy.” - -[166] Miss Wright - -[167] Whose real name is Cincinnatus. - -[168] From “Northern Italy.” - -[169] From “Northern Italy.” - -[170] From “Central Italy.” - -[171] From “Central Italy.” - -[172] From “Florence.” - -[173] From “Florence.” - -[174] From “Northern Italy.” - -[175] From “Northern Italy.” - -[176] From “Walks in London.” - -[177] He died March 1888. - -[178] Dante Gabriel Rossetti. - -[179] Professor Forster has since assured me that this was impossible, -for that hair will only continue to grow for a few hours after death. - -[180] Daughter of the famous English tenor, John Braham. - -[181] From “Walks in London.” - -[182] From “Walks in London.” - -[183] From “The Story of Two Noble Lives.” - -[184] From “The Story of Two Noble Lives.” - -[185] Story told me by Sir J. Shaw Lefevre. - -[186] Afterwards Sir Charles Newton. He died Nov. 28, 1894. - -[187] I need scarcely say that, as soon as possible thereafter, I -eliminated all reference to Mr. Freeman, and all quotations from his -works, from my books. - -[188] From “Walks in London.” - -[189] From “Walks in London.” - -[190] Tom Taylor, editor of _Punch_, died 1880. - -[191] _Née_ Sabine Thellusson. - -[192] Chancellor of the Exchequer. - -[193] From “Walks in London.” - -[194] From “Walks in London.” - -[195] From “Walks in London.” - -[196] From “Walks in London.” - -[197] From “Walks in London.” - -[198] From “Walks in London.” - -[199] From “Walks in London.” - -[200] William Reginald Courtenay, 12th Earl of Devon. - -[201] Sir Samuel Baker died Dec. 1893. - -[202] This picture was sold to the National Gallery in 1880 for £9000, -and is probably the cheapest purchase the Gallery ever made. - -[203] Isabella, second daughter of Lord Henry Howard. - -[204] Mr. Abraham Hayward, the well-known critic and essayist, who had -been articled in early life to an obscure country attorney, always -seemed to consider it the _summum-bonum_ of life to dwell amongst the -aristocracy as a man of letters: and in this he succeeded admirably, and -was always witty and well-informed, usually satirical, and often very -coarse. - -[205] Fourth son of the 4th Earl of Clarendon. - -[206] Eldest sister of Prince Christian. - -[207] From “Walks in London.” - -[208] Many years afterwards I saw her again: her name was Mrs. Macnabb. - -[209] Lord Russell died May 28, 1878. - -[210] Lady Gladys afterwards married the 4th Earl of Lonsdale. - -[211] My mother’s first cousin, Susan, sixth daughter of the 1st Lord -Ravensworth. - -[212] Eliot Yorke died Dec. 21, 1878--a bitter family sorrow. - -[213] From “Walks in London.” - -[214] Anne-Florence, Baroness Lucas, Dowager Countess Cowper, elder -daughter and co-heir of Thomas Philip, Earl De Grey. She died in 1880. - -[215] _P.S._--The unpublished letters of Lady Mary Cooke show that this -local tradition is incorrect. Lord Tavistock’s accident occurred far -away, and he lingered afterwards for three weeks; but it is true that -the family never lived at Houghton after his death. - -[216] Lord Hinton afterwards used to play a barrel-organ in the streets -of London, with an inscription over it in large letters, “I am the only -Viscount Hinton.” He would play it for hours opposite the windows of -Lord Powlett in Berkeley Square. - -[217] Mr. E. A. Freeman--whose lengthy and disproportionate writings -were never wholly without interest--died March 1892. - -[218] Blanche, Countess of Sandwich, died March 1894. - -[219] Letters of Alexis de Tocqueville to Mrs. Grote. - -[220] Sir John Acton was commander-in-chief of the land and sea forces -of Naples, and was for several years Neapolitan Prime Minister. His wife -was the daughter of his brother, General Acton, and he had by her two -sons (the younger of whom became Cardinal), and a daughter, afterwards -Lady Throckmorton. - -[221] At Sudeley Castle, where “the Mother of the English Reformation” -is buried, I wrote for Mrs. Dent:-- - - “Here, within the chapel’s shade, - Reverent hands have gently laid, - From the suffering of her life, - From its storminess and strife, - All that rests of one who shone - For a time on England’s throne, - Ever gentle, ever kind, - Seeking human souls to bind - In a Christian’s fetters fast, - Heavenward leading at the last: - And their watch two angels keep - Over Katherine’s gentle sleep. - - Oh! amid this world of ours, - With its sunshine and its flowers, - Glad with light and blest with love, - Let us still so live above - All earth’s jealousies and snares, - All its fretfulness and cares, - Ever faithful, ever true, - With the noblest end in view, - Seeking human souls to raise - By the simplest, purest ways; - Then their ward will angels keep - When we too are hush’d to sleep.” - - -[222] Emma, daughter of John Brocklehurst, Esq., of Hurdsfield, the -authoress of an admirable work on the “Annals of Winchcombe and -Sudeley.” - -[223] The great feature in views from Stoke Rectory. - -[224] The name is thus spelt in the epitaph on the tomb of Richard -Pendrill at St. Giles in the Fields. - -[225] Henry Strutt, who succeeded his father as 2nd Lord Belper in 1880, -married Lady Margaret, sixth daughter of the 2nd Earl of Leicester. - -[226] Frederick Arthur, second son of the 14th Earl of Derby, married -Constance, eldest daughter of the 4th Earl of Clarendon. - -[227] He succeeded his grandfather as 5th Viscount Gage in 1877. - -[228] Frederick, third son of the 6th Earl of Tankerville. See vol. ii. - -[229] Eldest son of the Hon. Colonel Augustus Liddell, married Christina -Catherine, daughter of C. E. Fraser Tytler, Esq., of Sanquhar, the -authoress of “Mistress Judith,” “Jonathan,” &c. See vol. iii. - -[230] Helen, daughter of Sir John Warrender, wife of the 11th Earl of -Haddington. - -[231] Katherine, third daughter of the 2nd Earl of Eldon. - -[232] Coleridge. - -[233] Lady Harriet Elliot, sixth daughter of the 1st Earl of -Ravensworth. - -[234] E. Waller. - -[235] Aldena (Kingscote), wife of Sir Archibald Hope. - -[236] General Philip Stanhope, fifth son of Walter Spencer Stanhope of -Cannon Hall, celebrated for his kindly nature and pleasant conversation. -Died 1879. - -[237] Charles Nevison, Viscount Andover, son of the 15th Earl of -Suffolk, died January 11, 1800. - -[238] Lord Eslington, afterwards 2nd Earl of Ravensworth. - -[239] See my visit in 1866. - -[240] Afterwards Mrs. C. Warren. - -[241] Lady Charlotte Loftus, eldest daughter of John, 2nd Marquis of -Ely. - -[242] Eldest daughter of William Pitt, Earl Amherst. - -[243] Elizabeth, second daughter of Sir Christopher Sykes, died 1853. - -[244] Eldest sister of the 1st Earl of Lathom. - -[245] Egerton Warburton, Esq. - -[246] A family home. In 1807 Thomas Tatton of Wythenshawe married my -mother’s first cousin, Emma, daughter of the Hon. John Grey. - -[247] Harriet Susan, eldest daughter of Robert Townley Parker of Cuerden -Hall. - -[248] Fourth daughter of the 6th Earl of Albemarle. - -[249] Second son of the 3rd Lord Lyttelton and Lady Sarah Spencer. - -[250] Lady Agneta Montagu was one of the daughters of Susan, Countess of -Hardwicke, my mother’s first cousin. - -[251] Pascal. - -[252] Sotherton Peckham Branthwayt Micklethwait. - -[253] Third daughter of the 2nd Earl of Arran by his third wife, -Elizabeth Underwood. - -[254] Dr. William Thompson, Archbishop of York, married Miss Zoë Skene, -a beautiful Greek. - -[255] Adelaide Horatia Seymour, Countess Spencer, who died October 1877. - -[256] The well-known architect. - -[257] From “Walks in London.” - -[258] Mr. J. Cordy Jeaffreson (“Book of Recollections”) gives a most -attractive account of this lady, which may be summed up in his dictum -“It is impossible for a daughter of Eve to be a better woman than -Geraldine Jewsbury.” - -[259] Elizabeth Jane, daughter of the first Lord Athlumney. - -[260] From “Walks in London.” - -[261] Helen Matilda, daughter of Rev. Henry Chaplin, afterwards 5th -Countess of Radnor. - -[262] Mr. Froude died Oct. 1894. - -[263] Mrs. Davidson of Ridley Hall. See vols. ii. and iii. - -[264] From “Walks in London.” - -[265] I have frequently seen Mrs. L.’s pictures in the Academy. I had -often been told of the strange likeness between Napoleon III. and -myself. - -[266] Author of “Unspoken Sermons,” “David Elginbrod,” &c. - -[267] Died June 20, 1889. - -[268] The house of Joseph Pease, M.P., afterwards Sir Joseph Pease. - -[269] Afterwards Lord Rowton. - -[270] From “The Story of Two Noble Lives.” - -[271] All the best pictures at Burghley have since been sold at -Christie’s. - -[272] The same amusement was in vogue during the parties of the second -Empire at Compiègne, where the worst of the many bad organ-grinders was -the Emperor himself. - -[273] Francis-Charles, 9th Duke, a great archaeologist. - -[274] Hungerford Crewe, Lord Crewe, died Jan. 1894. - -[275] The Roman sculptress, Gibson’s favourite pupil. See vol. iii. - -[276] Widow of John Singleton Copley, three times Lord Chancellor. - -[277] Told me by Mrs. Henry Forester. - -[278] Afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury. - -[279] See Macpherson’s “Memorials of Mrs. Jameson.” - -[280] Fräulein von Weling afterwards translated my “Life and Letters of -Baroness Bunsen” into German, and it has thus had a wide circulation in -Germany. - -[281] Afterwards “Carmen Sylva,” the poet-queen of Roumania. - -[282] Widow of my cousin Marcus, lost in the _Eurydice_. - -[283] The epitaph of Prince Otto, by his mother, is-- - - “Made perfect through Suffering and patient in Hope, - Of a fearless Spirit and strong in Faith, - His mind turned towards heavenly things, - He searched for truth and a knowledge of God. - What he humbly sought in Life, - He, being set free, has now found in Light.” - - -[284] _Née_ Isabel Waddington, sister of the ambassador from France to -England. - -[285] Younger son of my real mother’s youngest brother Wentworth. - -[286] My real mother’s younger brother, Wentworth Paul, had married -Countess Marie Marcia von Benningsen, lady-in-waiting to the Queen of -Hanover. - -[287] Afterwards ambassador in England. - -[288] From “Sketches in Holland and Scandinavia.” - -[289] Longfellow. - -[290] Carlyle. - -[291] Their grandmother was a Mademoiselle Clary, sister of Queen -Desirée of Sweden. - -[292] From “Days near Rome,” vol. ii. - -[293] From “Days near Rome,” vol. ii. - -[294] From “Central Italy.” - -[295] From “Central Italy.” - -[296] See vol. iii. - -[297] Wife of a north-country baronet. - -[298] Mary Howitt, aged 89, fulfilled her heart’s desire by also dying -at Rome, Jan. 30, 1888, and, though a Catholic, was permitted to rest by -her husband’s side in the Protestant cemetery. She never recovered the -fatigue of a visit to the Pope. It was all made as easy as possible for -her, on account of her great age, and the Duke of Norfolk was allowed to -bring her in separately. “Adieu! we shall meet again in heaven,” said -Leo XIII., on taking leave of her: a fortnight after she was dead. - -[299] I have not been able to do this, as there is a prohibition in -England against wearing foreign orders, dating from Elizabeth, who said, -“My dogs shall wear nothing but my own collars.” - -[300] I little thought at the time that Frank Crawford would turn out a -distinguished and popular novelist: it was at Bombay that he met the -original of “Mr. Isaacs.” - -[301] The Misses Monk, daughters of the Bishop of Gloucester and -Bristol. - -[302] Miss Clarke. - -[303] From “South-Eastern France.” - -[304] Of very humble origin himself, to court great personages had been -the ruling passion of his life, and it had been a subject of extravagant -pride to him that he had occasionally entertained this good-natured -Princess at dinner at Pau. - -[305] From “Walks in London.” - -[306] I often saw Mademoiselle Bernhardt act afterwards, and was far -less impressed by her, feeling the truth of the expression “Une -tragédienne du Boulevard.” - -[307] With whom afterwards I became great friends. - -[308] The story of Count Piper is curious and highly honourable to him. -He discovered that the late King Carl XV. was going to make a most -unworthy and disgraceful marriage, and he wrote to him most strongly -upon the subject. The king never forgave him, and made it impossible for -him to stay in Sweden, but the cause of his disgrace was unknown, till -the present king, Oscar, found the letter among his brother’s papers -after his death. Count Piper was at once recalled, and given first-rate -diplomatic posts. - -[309] From “Walks in London.” - -[310] From “Walks in London.” - -[311] Daughter of John Braham, the singer. She married (1) John James -Waldegrave, Esq.; (2) George-Edward, 7th Earl Waldegrave; (3) George -Granville Harcourt, Esq., of Nuneham; (4) Chichester Fortescue, Lord -Carlingford. When she was a child a gipsy foretold that she would marry -first to please her parents, secondly for rank, thirdly for wealth, and -fourthly to please herself. - -[312] Eldest son of the Earl of Tankerville. See vol. iii. - -[313] Lady Waterford, Lady Jane Ellice, and Lady Marian Alford. - -[314] See vol. i. - -[315] Joaquin Miller. - -[316] See vol. i. - -[317] Sir John Shaw Lefevre died at Margate. - -[318] My cousin, Lady Elizabeth Adeane, _née_ Yorke, had married Michael -Biddulph, Esq., of Ledbury. - -[319] See vol. iii. - -[320] Constance-Gertrude, youngest daughter of the 2nd Duke of -Sutherland. - -[321] Maria, youngest daughter of Hon. Charles Tollemache, second wife -(1833) of Charles Bruce, 2nd Earl of Ailesbury. - -[322] Ada Maria Katherine, daughter of Hon. Frederick Tollemache, -married (1868) Charles Hanbury Tracy, Baron Sudeley. - -[323] Ham House has been greatly, perhaps too much restored since this, -by the 8th Earl of Dysart. - -[324] Feb. 17, 1671-2. - -[325] Afterwards Dean of Winchester. - -[326] Two thousand pounds and its interests for many years have (1900) -never been repaid. - -[327] Archbishop Trench. - -[328] From “Southern Italy.” - -[329] From “Southern Italy.” - -[330] From “Southern Italy.” - -[331] From “Southern Italy.” - -[332] From “Southern Italy.” - -[333] From “Southern Italy.” - -[334] From “Southern Italy.” - -[335] From “Southern Italy.” - -[336] From “Southern Italy.” - -[337] From “Southern Italy.” - -[338] This story was told to me by Susan, Lady Sherborne, who heard it -from Lord Clanwilliam. - -[339] From “Southern Italy.” - -[340] From “Southern Italy.” - -[341] From “Southern Italy.” - -[342] From “Southern Italy.” - -[343] Eleanor Paul, who had lived with my sister, and who afterwards -lived with her brother, George Paul. - -[344] Frank Miles died July 1891. - -[345] Marquis de Sade. - -[346] Afterwards Lady Rumbold. - -[347] Rev. Joseph Wolff, missionary to Palestine, died 1862. - -[348] Doña Emilia de Guyangos. See vol. iv. - -[349] Mrs. Thellusson died January 23, 1881, leaving a most loving -memory behind. Swinburne wrote a pretty poem on her death. - -[350] Afterwards married to Robert-George, Lord Windsor. - -[351] See vol. ii. - -[352] Dr. Grey died, aged 77, January 1888. - -[353] Isabella Henrietta Poyntz, 8th Countess of Cork. - -[354] - - “No wonder, Mary, that thy story - Touches all hearts--for there we see - The soul’s corruption, and its glory, - Its death and life combin’d in thee. - - * * * * * - - No wonder, Mary, that thy face, - In all its touching light of tears, - Should meet us in each holy place, - When man before his God appears, - Hopeless--were he not taught to see - All hope in Him who pardoned thee.” - - -[355] Yet, M. Vivier told Madame du Quaire that, when he first went to -see Mrs. Grote, he found her sitting high aloft in a tree, dressed in a -coachman’s brown greatcoat with capes, playing on the violoncello. - -[356] Mr. Grote was ever imperturbably placid. When Jenny Lind was asked -what she thought of Mr. Grote, she said he was “like a fine old bust in -a corner which one longed to dust.” Mrs. Grote dusted him. - -[357] This was my last sight of Lady Ruthven, who died April 5, 1885, -aged 96. - -[358] “Pensées Philosophiques,” 1747. - -[359] Since republished in “Biographical Sketches.” - -[360] The Stanleys’ dear old nurse. - -[361] From “Biographical Sketches.” - -[362] Lord Romilly perished in his burning house in Egerton Gardens, -London, in May 1891, having never recovered the death of his most sweet -wife several years before. - -[363] Hon. W. Owen Stanley, brother of the 2nd Lord Stanley of Alderley, -and of my aunt Mrs. Marcus Hare. - -[364] Mary Louisa, daughter of Henry, 5th Duke of Grafton. - -[365] Edward Gordon Douglas Pennant, Baron Penrhyn, who had succeeded to -Penrhyn Castle in right of his first wife, Miss Dawkins Pennant. - -[366] Her grandmother, Lady Ravensworth, was my grandmother’s only -sister. - -[367] From “Southern Italy.” - -[368] From “Southern Italy.” - -[369] From “Southern Italy.” - -[370] Olympia, Countess von Usedom, eldest daughter of Sir John Malcolm. -See vols. i. and iii. - -[371] This Patriarch died of the influenza in 1892. - -[372] From “Venice.” - -[373] Dr. Walter Smith on Robertson of Irvine. - -[374] Philip-Henry, 4th Earl Stanhope, died 1855. - -[375] Dr. Buckland afterwards told Lady Lyndhurst that there was one -thing even worse than a mole, and that was a blue-bottle fly. - -[376] From “Walks in London.” - -[377] From “Holland.” - -[378] From “Holland.” - -[379] The results of this tour appeared in the first part of my little -volume, “Sketches in Holland and Scandinavia.” - -[380] Second daughter of the 1st Duke of Sutherland, born 1797; she -wrote to me several times after this, and showed me great kindness, but -we never met again. She died November 11, 1891. - -[381] Lowell. - -[382] Gray’s “Enigmas of Life.” - -[383] John Gidman, her most unworthy husband, the cloud and scourge and -sorrow of her life. He had (fortunately for me) kept away during her -illness, and did not wish to have anything to do with her funeral, or -even to attend it. Immediately after, he removed all her possessions to -Cheshire, and soon married again, dying six years after. - -[384] Madame de Staël. - -[385] Princess Elizabeth of Wied; translated by Sir Edwin Arnold. - -[386] Thomasine Jocelyn, widow of the 4th Earl of Donoughmore. - -[387] From “Studies in Russia.” - -[388] From “Studies in Russia.” - -[389] From “Studies in Russia.” - -[390] From “Studies in Russia.” - -[391] From “Studies in Russia.” - -[392] From “Studies in Russia.” - -[393] From “Studies in Russia.” - -[394] I published some articles on Mrs. Duncan Stewart and her -remarkable life in _Good Words_ for 1892. They have been republished in -“Biographical Sketches.” - -[395] From “North-Eastern France.” - -[396] From “North-Eastern France.” - -[397] From “North-Eastern France.” - -[398] The third boy, Henry Wood, died in London, June 6, 1886. The -second son, Francis, died at Eton, March 17, 1889. The beloved eldest -son, Charlie, died at Hickledon, September 1890. - -[399] My second-cousin, Lady Elizabeth Williamson, daughter of the 1st -Earl of Ravensworth. - -[400] Lady Elizabeth Lindsay, widow of Philip, 3rd Earl of Hardwicke[.] -Her eldest daughter, Lady Mexborough, was the mother of Lady Sarah -Savile, who married Hon. Sir James Lindsay. - -[401] Frances-Anne, daughter and heiress of Sir Henry Vane Tempest, who -(1819) became the second wife of the 3rd Marquis of Londonderry. - -[402] From “Walks in London.” - -[403] From “South-Western France.” - -[404] From “South-Western France.” - -[405] From “South-Western France.” - -[406] From “South-Western France.” - -[407] From “South-Western France.” - -[408] From “South-Western France.” - -[409] From “South-Western France.” - -[410] William Schomberg, 8th Marquis of Lothian, died 1870, aged 38. - -[411] From “Sussex.” - -[412] Very soon after I was at Ludlow, gentle Lady Mary Clive lost all -her powers by a paralytic seizure, and she died in the summer of 1889 - -[413] William Reginald Courtenay, 12th Earl of Devon. - -[414] Clough. - -[415] W. H. Smith, 1844. - -[416] Dante, _Purg._ III. - -[417] “Le Lys dans la Vallée.” - -[418] Ben Jonson. - -[419] Monckton Milnes. - -[420] From “Sussex.” - -[421] This was my last visit to the kind and excellent Lotteringo della -Stufa, who died at Castagnolo, Feb. 26, 1889, after a long and painful -illness. - -[422] From “Days near Rome.” - -[423] From “Days near Rome.” - -[424] From “Days near Rome.” - -[425] From “Central Italy.” - -[426] From “Central Italy.” - -[427] From “South-Eastern France.” - -[428] From “North-Eastern France.” - -[429] Lady Gage died a few months after, and left Hengrave to Lord -Kenmare, who sold it. - -[430] Ockwells was afterwards bought by my friend Stephen Leech, who -restored it thoroughly and then sold it again. - -[431] Frances Mary, daughter of Christopher Blackett of Wylam, widow of -the Vicomte du Quaire. - -[432] Emma, sister of Sir Francis Seymour. - -[433] Margaret, daughter of T. Steuart Gladstone, Esq., of Capenoch. - -[434] Anne, daughter of the Earl of Wemyss and March, wife of the 4th -Earl of Warwick. - -[435] Edward Heneage Dering was the author of several books. His last, a -novel--“The Ban of Maplethorpe”--was only completed the day before his -sudden death in November 1892. His grandmother, Lady Maria Harrington -Price, and my grandmother. Lady Paul, were first cousins. - -[436] From “South-Eastern France.” - -[437] From “South-Eastern France.” - -[438] From “South-Eastern France.” - -[439] From “South-Eastern France.” - -[440] From “South-Eastern France.” - -[441] From “South-Eastern France.” - -[442] From “South-Eastern France.” - -[443] From “South-Eastern France.” - -[444] From “South-Eastern France.” - -[445] From “South-Eastern France.” - -[446] From “South-Eastern France.” - -[447] From “South-Eastern France.” - -[448] From “Sussex.” - -[449] He had been sub-editor of the _Times_. - -[450] From “Walks in London.” - -[451] Prince Abu’n Nasr Mir Hissanum, Sultanah of Persia; Devawongse -Varspraker of Siam; and Komatsu of Japan. - -[452] Princess “Liliuokalani.” Queen Liliuokalani was deposed January -1893, after a reign of only two years. - -[453] Bertram, 4th Earl of Ashburnham. - -[454] Fourth daughter of the 3rd Marquis of Exeter, afterwards Lady -Barnard. - -[455] Lady Alma Graham, youngest daughter of the 4th Duke of Montrose. - -[456] I never saw Mrs. Procter again; she died March 5, 1888. She liked -to see people to the last. Every Sunday and Tuesday she admitted all who -came to her as long as she could; then she saw a portion: up to the last -few weeks she saw one or two. As Landor says, “She warmed both hands -before the fire of life, and when it sank she was ready to depart.” - -One day a young man remonstrated with Mrs. Procter for not going to see -an exhibition of Sir Joshuas which was open at that time. “I have seen -them all,” she said. “Why, Mrs. Procter, there has never been such an -exhibition before.”--“I beg your pardon; there has been.”--“Why, -when?”--“In 1808, and--_where were you then_?” - -Mrs. Procter used to tell how she had been at the jubilee of George -III., and would add that if she could see the jubilee of Queen Victoria -she would say her “Nunc Dimittis;” and she did see it, and the Queen -expressed a wish that Mrs. Procter, who was invited to her garden-party, -should be especially presented to her. - -Mrs. Procter--Anne Benson Procter--was born Sept. 11, 1799, being the -daughter of Mr. Skepper, a small Yorkshire squire. Her mother, a Benson, -who was aunt of the Archbishop of Canterbury of that name, married, as -her second husband, Basil Montagu, Q.C. In 1823, Miss Skepper married -Bryan Waller Procter, known as Barry Cornwall, described by Patmore as a -“simple, sincere, shy, and delicate soul,” well known to his -contemporaries by his songs set to music by popular composers. He died -in 1874. - -[457] _Née_ Janet Duff Gordon. - -[458] Second daughter of the 1st Earl of Kilmorey, aged 95. - -[459] Henry Cowper, than whom no one was a more universal favourite, or -more deservedly so, died a few months after this. - -[460] Afterwards Lady Swansea. - -[461] Third son of the 4th Earl of Aberdeen, married Ellen, 2nd daughter -of the 19th Earl of Morton. - -[462] Lady Gertrude Talbot, daughter of the 18th Earl of Shrewsbury. - -[463] Esquire being written as well as Reverend, is supposed to have -been intended to indicate the son of a baronet. - -[464] In 1890 Mr. Pigott died, and the new Rector destroyed the -character of Bemerton by adding largely to the rectory in red brick. - -[465] The Earl of Caledon’s place in Hertfordshire. - -[466] The 16th Earl, father of the Princesses Doria and Borghese. - -[467] Browning. - -[468] From “North-Western France.” - -[469] Sir John Saville’s. - -[470] Harry George Powlett, 4th Duke of Cleveland, who died August 21, -1891. - -[471] Afterwards Duchess of Portland. - -[472] Louisa, daughter of Henry Drummond, Esq., died 1890. - -[473] Algernon-George, 6th Duke of Northumberland. - -[474] How well I remember, when somebody remonstrated with Lady Marian -for “burning the candle at both ends,” the quickness with which she -answered--“Why, I thought that was the very way to make two ends meet.” - -[475] Her father, Benjamin Bathurst (third son of Henry Bathurst, Bishop -of Norwich), travelling as envoy from the British Government to the -Emperor Francis, was about to enter his carriage at the door of the Swan -Inn at Perleberg, between Berlin and Hamburg, when he disappeared and -was _never heard of again_. Her brother was killed by a fall from his -horse in a race at Rome. Her sister, Emmeline, who married (1830) Lord -Castle Stuart, and afterwards (1867) Signor Pistocchi, I have often seen -at Rome. - -[476] From “South-Eastern France.” - -[477] From “South-Western France.” - -[478] From “South-Eastern France.” - -[479] From “South-Western France.” - -[480] Mr. Challoner Chute, of the Vyne, died, deeply regretted, May 30, -1892. - -[481] The picture belongs to Mr. Morison. - -[482] From “South-Eastern France.” - -[483] From “Venice.” - -[484] A few months after this happy visit to my dear friend Sir Howard -Elphinstone came the terrible news of his sudden death at sea. - -[485] Georgiana, third daughter of Charles, 4th Duke of Richmond. - -[486] The four seraphim are recognised by the Moslems as Michael, -Raphael, Gabriel, and Israel. Before the birth of the Prophet they were -supposed to speak, and to give warning of coming catastrophes. Thus they -have been permitted to survive the other ancient mosaics of St. Sophia. - -[487] Marion Crawford’s novel. - -[488] Joseph Maier, the eminent wood-sculptor. - -[489] “Die Früchte der Passionbetrachtung.” - -[490] “I know no guilt like that of incontinent speech. How long Christ -was silent before He spoke, and how little He then said.”--_Carlyle, in -Reid’s Life of Lord Houghton._ - -[491] A passage in Richard Kurd’s Sermons (vol. ii.), which I had read -long ago, would come back to me during this terrible hour. “In this -awfully stupendous manner, at which Reason stands aghast, and Faith -herself is half-confounded, was the grace of God to man at length -manifested.” - -[492] John Inglesant. - -[493] Paul Verlaine. - -[494] The birth of John, Henry, and Thomas Palmer is perhaps the only -well-authenticated instance of a fortnight intervening between the -eldest and the youngest child produced at a birth. It is described by -Fuller. Their mother was Alice, daughter of John Clement. Sir Henry lost -his life in the defence of Guisnes, of which he was governor. Sir Thomas -was beheaded for the part which he took for Lady Jane Grey. - -[495] Née Magniac. - -[496] Austin Dobson, “Angiola in Heaven.” - -[497] From “Biographical Sketches.” - -[498] From “Northern Italy.” - -[499] Onions and lettuces. The lower classes in Rome call all the -smaller vegetables fruit. - -[500] “Yes, lady; it is enough for me to think of that shoemaker who -made me pay seven francs instead of five, and I cry directly.” - -[501] A mineral fountain near Rome. - -[502] William Wetmore Story died--deeply loved by children, friends, -indeed by all who came within his genial and invigorating influence--at -Vallombrosa, Oct. 7, 1895, aged 77. His excellent wife had passed away -before him. - -[503] From “Days near Rome.” - -[504] Planted by S. Dominic, and supposed to flourish or fail with the -fortunes of the Dominican Order. - -[505] From “Days near Rome.” - -[506] From “Venice.” - -[507] Lady Emily Pierrepont, daughter of Earl Manvers, widow of -Frederick Lygon, 6th Earl Beauchamp. - -[508] Horatio William Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford. - -[509] I have since heard that this was Louise de Rohan Chabot, whom his -father forbade Lord Orford to marry, because she was a Roman Catholic. -She was the love of his life, which was wrecked, and he became a Roman -Catholic himself--such is Nemesis! - -[510] This was the man who one day went up to the great, the beloved -Bishop Brooks, the most popular man in America since Washington, and -said, “And do you really believe all that you say?” “I wanted to knock -him down, the little moth-eaten angel,” said the Bishop in recounting it -afterwards. - -[511] At Lincoln he had “a fair tomb of marble,” with the punning -legend, “Longa terra mansura ejus, Dominus dedit.” The reference is to -the Vulgate--Job xi. 9. At Eton he had an epitaph on brass. - -[512] I never saw the beloved Lord Arthur Hervey again: he died June -1894. - -[513] From “Sussex.” - -[514] From “Sussex.” - -[515] Lord John George Beresford. - -[516] G. V. Watts, R.A. - -[517] Henry Fuseli or Fuessli, an Anglo-Swiss. - -[518] The famous J. M. W. Turner. - -[519] The Marquises of Sligo are Earls of Altamont. - -[520] From “The Gurneys of Earlham.” - -[521] Carlyle. - -[522] Chateaubriand. - -[523] From “North-Western France.” - -[524] From “North-Western France.” - -[525] From “North-Western France.” - -[526] From “North-Western France.” - -[527] From “Biographical Sketches.” - -[528] Alas! this was actually the case a very few months afterwards. The -dear Canon Venables died of influenza on the 5th of March 1895, and his -gentle loving wife only survived him _one day_. - -[529] She was daughter of an Earl of Thanet. - -[530] Shakspeare’s “Midsummer Night’s Dream.” - -[531] “Whose voice seemed faint through long disuse of speech.” - -[532] Of “Diana Tempest,” &c. - -[533] In “The High Tide in Lincolnshire.” - -[534] Philip Henry, 4th Earl. - -[535] Jerome K. Jerome. - -[536] Memoires de “Madame.” - -[537] “John Inglesant.” - -[538] Henri Frederic Amiel. - -[539] Louisa May, daughter of Amos Bronson Alcott. - -[540] In three years the sale amounted to 87,000 copies. - -[541] Daughter of Rev. Edward Payson, afterwards Mrs. Hopkins. - -[542] Thomas Hardy, the novelist, resides at Max Gale, near Dorchester, -amid the scenery of his Wessex novels and stories. - -[543] Mrs. Beecher Stowe in “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” - -[544] The others were Lady Wellesley, Lady Stafford, and Mrs. M’Tavish. - -[545] Bought out of a cart in Paris, died 1753. - -[546] The second saying, ‘I have been here three months, and have seen a -little;’--the third, ‘I have been here three years, and am only -beginning to understand it.’ - -[547] Alfred Tennyson in 1892. - -[548] George Eliot’s Letters. - -[549] This very popular and promising son of Lord Carlisle was killed at -the battle of Omdurman, September 2, 1898. - -[550] Wordsworth. - -[551] Coleridge, ‘Fears in Solitude.’ - -[552] “Arridet placidum radiis crispantibus aequor.”--_Rutilius._ - -[553] Lady Winchelsea’s “Reverie.” - -[554] Eccl. vii. 29. - -[555] De Musset. - -[556] Author of “A Lilac Sun-Bonnet,” &c. - -[557] Author of “A Window in Thrums,” which brought him £4000. - -[558] Madame de Staël. - -[559] Afterwards bought by his descendant for £8000. - -[560] Killed, alas! in the South African War of 1900. - -[561] Died 1839. - -[562] The American edition, omitting nothing and doing full justice to -the woodcuts, is in two rather thin volumes. - -[563] Washington Irving’s Letters. - -[564] Anthony Hope in “Mr. Witt’s Widow.” - -[565] _Née_ De Bunsen. - -[566] Said by Wasisewski of Catherine II. of Russia. - -[567] Florence Montgomery in “Colonel Norton.” - -[568] “Colonel Norton.” - -[569] See Vol. i. - -[570] Elisée Reclus. - -[571] Carlyle. - -[572] Rev. Joseph Parker. - -[573] Burns. - -[574] John Bright. - -[575] Purg. v. 13-15. - -[576] Browning. - -[577] Of 60 Grosvenor Street. - -[578] Tennyson. - -[579] Pierre Loti. - -[580] Frances, daughter of Pierce Butler of Philadelphia by Fanny -Kemble, his wife, married to the Hon. James Wentworth Leigh, Dean of -Hereford. - -[581] Politian. - -[582] Henry Taylor, “The Eve of the Conquest.” - -[583] Catherine Stanley--Mrs. C. Vaughan. - -[584] S. Simon. - -[585] Trans. by Lowell. - -[586] “Von dem Fesseln geistiger Berniertheit.”--_Goethe._ - -[587] Gabrielle d’Annunzio. - -[588] Tennyson. - -[589] Margaret L. Woods. - -[590] “Nich. Brome slew ye minister of Baddesley church, findynge him in -his pier (parlour) chockinge his wife under ye chinne, and to expiate -these bloody offences and crimes, he built ye steeple and raysed ye -church body 10 foote higher, as is seene at this day in ye churche, and -boughte 3 belles for ye same churche. In his epitaph in ye churche, ye -building of ye churche and steeple was expressed; he died ye 29 daye of -August, ano 1517. I have seen ye king’s pdon for itt, and ye Pope’s -pdon, and the penance there enjoined him.”--_MS. of Henry Ferrers, -quoted by Dugdale_. (Nich. Brome really died October 1517.) - -[591] “Quiet Hours.” - -[592] Johnson on Levett. - -[593] Shakspeare, ‘King Lear.’ - -[594] See vol. i. p. 186. - -[595] Lowell. - -[596] Whittier. - -[597] S. T. Coleridge, Letter to Thomas Poole. - -[598] Old Play. - -[599] George Eliot. - -[600] J. Greenleaf Whittier, Letters, 1867. - -[601] “Roderick.” - -[602] Blake. - -[603] Henri Frédéric Amiel. - -[604] From the Introduction to the Bùstàn of Shaikh Mushlihu-d-dín Sa’di -Shírází. Translated by Sir E. Strachey. - -[605] E. Spenser. - - * * * * * - -Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber: - -Cosa e questo?=> Cosa è questo? {pg 88} - -Le Notre=> Le Nôtre {pg 414} - -insufficently=> insufficiently {pg 415} - -Pius IX., Giovanni Maria Mastai-Feretti, Pope=> Pius IX., Giovanni Maria -Mastai-Ferretti, Pope {index} - -Eugéne Beauharnais, Prince, i. 20.=> Eugène Beauharnais, Prince, i. 20. -{index} - -Lubeck, v. 98.=> Lübeck, v. 98. {index} - -Le Notre=> Le Nôtre {pg 414} - -Riano, Emilia de Guyangos, Madame de, iv. 40, 41, 400; v. 277, 281.=> -Riaño, Emilia de Guyangos, Madame de, iv. 40, 41, 400; v. 277, 281. -{index} - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Story of My Life, volumes 4-6, by -Augustus J. C. 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