Fifty-One Years of Victorian Life

e making the doubtful experiment of taking with us Villiers aged six and Margaret (called Markie) aged three. Somehow we conveyed these infants over glaciers and

ve justly-that if I let go for a moment the child would be flung into space. Jersey was walking-the maid, I suppose, with courier and luggage-anyhow I had sole responsibility for the time being. Our courier was excellent, and no matter where we arrived contrived to produc

BERN

education in Paris. She stayed with us till she married in Australia. In March 1883 we took Villiers, Markie, and Miss Mason to the Riviera, Florence, and Venice. I do not know that there is anything exceptional to record. I observe in a short journal which I kept on this occasion that Jersey and I while in Paris went to the Vaudeville to see Sarah Bernhardt in Fédora. My comment is: "She acted wonderfully but I did not think much of the play. The great coup was supposed to be

this occasion since Bazaine had lately escaped from what had been formerly the prison of the Masque de Fer. Jersey went with some of the party to Ste Marguerite, and Marshal McMahon told Mr. Savile that he did not connive at Bazaine's escape, but that Madame Bazaine came to h

was to review the Cadets at a Military College-St. Cyr, I think-and was begged beforehand to say a special word of encouragement to a young Algeria

onnected with Germany and Russia (not to speak of Jud?a) and had been in South America and Switzerland. He had been a Russian, but had lost that nationality as having been twenty-five years absent from that country. He wanted to become an Englishman, as his wife wanted to send her boy to school in England, but it would m

of a telephone. They had asked some people to come in after dinner, and to show how the instrument worked telephone

g our absence at our little Welsh home-Baglan House,

F GILBE

ugust and heavy snow on the night of September 1st. On September 12th they pitched a camp in the Big Horn Mountains on a charming spot close to a clear, rocky river with trees and high walls on either side. On Sunday the 14th, a boiling hot day, they had an hour's wash in the river, and after luncheon Gillie started off down the Ten Sleeper ca?on alone on his horse-he was never seen alive again. For a whole week Mr. Grenfell and the three men whom they had with them searched in every poss

States at the time of the fatal accident, and my uncle James Leigh set off at once to bring the body home; but the long wait-till October 20th-was unspeakably trying most of all for

her verses on he

e, and gon

me again'

old he fe

if 'tis sc

ildren ci

happy hunt

art and fa

n God's gl

e him on

ell me of

out or cr

w that he

pang of m

atal plung

ast-to fear

triumph o

o-on his m

terror le

at Stonele

lay-all t

treams fro

aw

im come

at or grie

y adventures-once he rode his horse along a ledge till he could neither go forward nor turn, and had to slip over its tail and climb out, leaving the a

TALY

his last trip abroad before his regular schooldays. He had attended Miss Woodman's classes during two or three London seasons, and had had a visiting tutor from Oxford-Mr. Angel Smith-for the past year or so at Middleton; but on May

nd found Lady Galloway and her sister-in-law Lady Isabel Stewart already installed. The following afternoon the routine of German court etiquette-now a thing of the past-began. Lady Ermyntrude took us to leave cards on the various members of the Corps Diplomatique and then proceeded to present Mrs. Talbot (now Lady Talbot) and myself to Gr?fin Perpo

BALL I

d almost like a resurrected corpse, except that her eyes were still large and wonderfully bright and glittering as if they had little torches behind them. I fancy that she had some preparation of belladonna dropped into them on these occasions. Her mouth was always a little open, giving the impression that she wanted to speak but could not; really, however, she talked fast enough, and was very gracious in sending messages to my grandmother Westminster. After our presentation we had to sit in Stonehenge for a few minutes. We had heard that when the Empress was a girl, her governess would place her in front of a circle of chairs, and make her go round and address a polite remark to each. We recognised the uti

esty. I had been told previously that he was interested in the idea of seeing me, as he had been a great friend of my grandmother Westminster and they used to interchange presents on their birthdays. When we were taken up to him Gr?fin Perponcher reminded him of Jersey's grandmother and Lady Cle

one in the middle of the room, at which Lady Galloway and I were seated. Princess Victoria (afterwards Schaumburg Lippe) sat between us-we found her lively, though not pretty. When the performance was over the Emperor came and talked to us again; he seemed very cheerful, though he put his hand on the back of a chair for, as he said, "un petit appui

N PRINCE

his wife, having even consulted a lady dentist by her desire! The three Princesses each had in front of her place at table a large collection of little silver objects given them on their respective birthdays. The parents again reverted to my grandmother, and on hearing of her immense

n was not always the better part of her valour, and that she more than once gave offence by comparison with the superior method in England. After luncheon the Princesses departed and the parents took us through their own rooms, which were very pretty and comfortable. When we reached her Studio the Crown Princess did not want to take us in, as she said she must

ghts and sentiments shared with so many other travellers. I had some experience at Dresden of the dangers of "Verboten." I ventured out for a short time alone and felt the risk of being

would be hereafter England's greatest foe! What impressed me most about him was the way in which he asked questions. Someone told him that I held a position in t

Prince William's fourth son. We had been warned at the Embassy that this expedition would be one of difficulty if not of danger, but we accomplished all successfully save our return from the Wild Park Station at Berlin. Of course this was before the days of motors, so our journey to and fro

E BIS

is father had not been present at the opening of the Reichstag which we attended, so we had asked Herbert if he were likely to

o see the Princess on Saturday afternoon. Princess Bismarck was most gracious, said Herbert had asked every day if we had called; he w

TION WIT

en remarked that it had been suggested that he wished to change "les caractères allemands," meaning the letters. He misunderstood me to mean the characters of the people, and said that he should hardly be capable of that, but added: "On m'accuse d'avoir changé une nation de poêtes en nation de politiques militaires, mais c'est parce que nous avons été si longtemps l'enclume qu'il fallait le faire. Il faut toujours être l'enclume ou le marteau, maintenant nous sommes le marteau. Nous étions l'enclume jusqu'à Leipzig et Waterloo." I suggested that at Waterloo "nous étions deux marteaux," and he answered, bowing, "J'espère que nous les serons encore ensemble." Little did he or I look on twenty-seven years! Bismarck then asked for the English of "enclume"-"car je ne suis pas forgeron," and when we told him he said that he only knew "l'anglais pour voyager, le russe pour la chasse et le fran?ais pour les affaires," and went on to speak of his son, who, as we all agreed, knew English so well. Like the Princess, he said that Count Herbert was much attached to our country, and added that if he continued to do well and "si je peux guider sa destinée j'ai l'intention qu'il aille quelque jour en Angleterre": meantime he thought that Count Hatzfeldt was getting on all right. Lady Galloway said that he was very popular. Bismarck considered that he did better as Ambassador than in affairs at home, as though he could work well he lacked the power of sticking to his work. I then referred to Mr. Deichmann, a country neighbour of ours who had built a house near Bicester and married a Miss de Bunsen, widow of another German, who had been his friend. Mr. (afterwards Baron) Deichmann and his wife were undoubtedly friends (or henchmen?) of the Bismarcks, and Mr. Deichmann wa

AND LORD

valoff, on whom the work fell, but he added in English, "Lord Salisbury squeezed him." And there, he said, pointing to the other side of the table, "sat the victim of the Congress, the Turk." So little impression had the victim made upon him that he could not even remember his name-he thought, however, that it was Mehemet-Mehemet something-at last Princess Bismarck helped him out-Mehemet A

now of the impression made upon me by Prince Bismarck, I cannot help recording that I was foolish enough to write some vers

that he should like to see this account, and when I met him ag

father, the Duke of Bedford, told me that she had been very anxious to come over to England to be with her parents for her confinement. This was arranged, and then Sir Edward, anxious about her health, wanted to join her. He did not

sian-he was like a very gentle knight. Poor man! He had already begun to suffer from the fatal malady to his throat. The last time I s

cended one child was heard gravely explaining to another that "that was the Queen going up to Heaven." A man (or woman) wrote to the paper that in the evening he had observed that the sunset colours had formed themselves into a distinct arrangement of red, white, and blue! I chanced the week before the Jubilee celebrations to express to a girl in a shop a hope for fine weather. In a tone of rebuke she replied, "Of course it will be fine: it is for the Queen!"-a sentiment more poetically expressed by the French Ambassador Baron de Courcel, who said to me on one rather doubtful day in the week

GIVING

the early summer dawn, and looked out of the carriage in which she had been sleeping. The world was not yet awake, but as the train rushed through the country amongst fields and meadows she was astonished

ere my mother's lines describing

ur of triumph

und the Monarch

ple held of gr

rld-renowned, st

ory sent their Kin

ecked of came ou

t the tribute

lowers of welc

, the trumpets gav

t of gladness

lcome, and all hea

ent her royal

d a haughty n

t upon its wid

good had deemed

laws and robe i

ept high holi

r maidens to fi

darkly met i

dian giant d

ur supreme when

s kind face and

idden rose, ster

op-she stooped t

ldren's children

istory's mark' w

nations, Quee

each within he

-it spoke of e

ts had swelled w

ses given and

aidens and to

ses given in d

oung and blue t

erchanged in

shattered save t

hour of dut

im who gives t

those kisses g

hearts, Victori

ing long the hand

ave seated dyn

, his chain is

friend, the co

hours so joyous

ires prolonged

those kisses

dearest we sh

g other things of the quaint applications which he had received for permission to attend the service at the Abbey. Amongst others he had one from a lady who said that if she did not obtain a seat a large class would be unrepresented-namely, the class o

F COURT

n which they walk into the banqueting hall-if you put two princes or dignitaries one on the right, the other on the left of the table, and both are about equally important, you must take care to put the left-hand man one higher up at the table than the guest on the right. Well, Lord Mount Edgcumbe had ordered this feast of some thirty or forty notabilities

-so we asked him to spend Whitsuntide. We had various other guests, including the Kintores and Lord and Lady Maud Wolmer (now Lord and Lady Selborne) and Lady Maud's sister, Lady Gwendolen Cecil. Count Seierstorpff's one form of conversation was to catechise everybody as to

and was found to have rushed wildly right round a portion of the grounds. Many years afterwards-1913, I believe-Jersey and I met him again at Cannes. He had grown into a fat, truculent Prussian, and had married a pleasant American wife. Poor people! After the War

AVAL

gage, but it was said that he invariably did so, and he did not seem to mind at all. Lord Wolseley, Lord Alcester, Lord Lymington (afterwards Portsmouth), and Sir William Des Voeux, who had been Governor of Fiji, Lady Tweeddale, and Countess Marie Münster were among the guests, and our kind host did everything to make us happy. The Mirror, like the other unofficial ships, remained stationary during the Review, but Lady Galloway and I persuaded the Chairman, Sir John Pender, and the Captain to let a boat take us to the House of Lords ship, the Euphrates, for which we had tickets, and which was to follow the Queen's Yacht, the Victoria and Albert, down the lines. It was a magnificent sight. I will not attempt to describe it, as it has

lumination of the ships, and particularly the searchlights-then somewhat of a novelty and in which the Mirror specially distinguished herself. On Sunday morning our Chairman, Sir John Pender, was very properly anxious that his guests should enjoy "religious privileges"; and as everyone was content that he should have service on board instead of putting us on shore, it was arranged accordingly. There was a distinct rivalry as to who should officiate. We had not a Bishop nor even one of the lesser lights of the Church among our otherwise representative company-the Captain evidently considered that under these circ

dy De La Warr at a little house they had somewhere on the coast called Inchmery. We chose the latter, and were sent in a tug called the Und

an Earl-a

ld a sa

e asked two

him out

·

en heard o

and crabs a

the tug and

ndid tug

d tug sailed

e as fa

red the he

d to gain

our Only

ess must b

n always

s wake wh

Colonia

have ruled

ons swelle

could not

e so desired, and wake with equal celerity. He exemplified this by retiring into the little cabin of the launch when the waves became somewhat restive, and fell fast asleep immediate

strolled among the rocks on the shore, where it was su

eeds on-and

rn terror

d sage dem

the good U

meets their s

and res

rhaps, but u

randed o

n smiles, '

al's out

Earl sits

ly on th

ost people as an exceptionally solemn statesman, sitting tranquilly on the shore throw

Sir William, who had found the tug quite bad enough and declined to trust himself to the launch. He rema

OW

when we met the Leckys-afterwards great friends-and Mr. and Mrs. Robert Lowe (afterwards Lord Sherbrooke). He was an albino and chiefly remembered for his abortive attempt to tax matches, giving rise to the joke "ex luce lucellum." She was, I believe, a very good-natur

a very large house among those, including my host, who were mostly strangers. I dare say that I might have survived the shock, but I was much struck with the courtesy and thoughtfulness of

ably excellent, but occasionally things might have gone better had she taken less trouble about them. She did great things for her children, who adored her, but even with them it might sometimes have been well had their lives been left a little more to their

SIS OF

are not the exact words): "There are black men, brown men, red men, and yellow men in the British Empire. We must not despise any of them, for we are all children of one Great--" I naturally expected "Father," but he added "Mother"! So far had Queen Victoria advanced in the tutelary rank! I was told after her death that the Tibetans had adopted her as a protecting deity-an