E L Y F . . B A I

THE PERFECT AGE

MA D NA LD Pub ishers LTD . C O 00 . ( l )

1 L . 4 9 UDGATE HILL LONDON, E C. d T hi s b ook is produce mit m co mplete c onfor y ment with the W ar E c o nomy A gree

MA D E IN G R E A T BRIT A I N FOREWORD

T H E Wise Men from the East followed a star . It seemed to me that in these days of stress and peril the most constant and

- stout hearted among us may well need a star to follow, prefer ably the example of some great man or woman who has trodden

- already a path such as each of us must tread to day .

Then , seeing that sons and daughters are being torn from

their parents , sisters from their brothers , and husbands from u if their wives , I thought it would be helpf l I could find in our a own history the perfect mother , f ther, husband , wife , sister, and

brother, whose behaviour might be an example to the parents ,

husbands , wives , sisters , and brothers of our own times .

The characters I have chosen are not remote from us . All in 1 8 8 of them except two (Lord Melbourne , who died 4 , and

Charles Lamb , who died in survived into the lifetime of l my mother, who is still a ive . With the exception of Queen ri Victo a and Gladstone , they lived through the Napoleonic

wars , when the menace of Napoleon foreshadowed the menace of Hitler, and the period of distress which followed . Thus their ni lives have an affi ty with ours . Queen Victoria ’ s reign was not a period of unbroken peace an d plenty, as some of the modern generation suppose . Its early years coincided with acute and widespread misery among a the people, and the list of her wars is formid ble . She was left

- a widow at forty two , with nine fatherless children , and the enormous task of governing the British Empire . Gladstone throughout much of his life was engaged in bitter political u controversy, through his endeavour to give Home R le to

Ireland . The men and women whose biographies make up this book did m st not live easy lives , though p of them were great and ‘ e r . e powe ful Since they had b n given much , much was required l of them , and , as Disrae i wrote of Queen Victoria , they never quailed . Hence we find Palmerston , when turned eighty, climb ing the tall railings at Brocket to test his strength for the session a u u of P rliament he wo ld never live to see , and Q een Victoria , ’ in u her heart her husband s grave , grappling faithf lly with her colossal destiny . F O R E W O R D

The theme of these six lives is summed up in the last verse of the las t chapter of the Book of Daniel : : But go thou thy way till the end be for thou shalt rest, ” and stand in thy lot at the end of the days .

F IL . E . BA Y . BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Quarterly Rev iew. ) (2 vols . )

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M m . b E L i r i d . S ster a La b Ed te V . ucas . ols . , y y (3 v ) ’ ’

L MB H RLE S. On Chri s H os ital a t C r r Bo C st nd he ha acter Ch i H ita s . A , A p of st s osp l y

m te L MB C H RLE S. The Co le Works in Prose and V o e La A , A p , erse, f Charl s mb .

an r fa . . E dited d p e c ed b y R H Shepherd .

E H me M LE E L I"BE T . Wives the Pri i i , A of n s ters . SE T MAUG HAM, W. SOME R . The Gentleman in the Parlour.

M IS . D . AURO , AND RE israeli ONYP E NNY and BUCKLE L e o D M . if f is raeli . (2 vols . )

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UE E V OR Leaves rom the ourna o Our L e the H h an s. Q N ICT IA. f j l f if in ig l d SO ME r R VE LL , D . G . D is aeli and Gladstone.

S m . ls . l h The. Pub lished an on ousl 2 o y p , ( y y ) ( v ) T A LF The Works o C tch o OUR D SIR T H OM S NOO . , A N f harles Lamb, with a Ske f

(2 vols . ) CONTENTS

C H A PT E R V I RI P R R I . QUEEN CTO A, THE E FECT MOTHE

F . L D S P R R . W . G II E A TONE, THE E FECT ATHE

RD LB R P RF H USB D III . LO ME OU NE, THE E ECT AN

L Y L M R R W IV . D P S P I A A E TON, THE E FECT FE

R ISR LI P R SIS R . V . S H A A D AE , THE E FECT TE

RL B R BR R V I. S M P CHA E LA , THE E FECT OTHE

ILLUSTRATIONS

QUEEN V ICTORIA A ND PRINCE AL BERT W ITH FI VE O F THEIR CHI LD RE N

MR E L D I L D W . . G S W T MR S S . G A TONE H . A TONE

WIL L I M MB RD LBO UR A LA , LO ME NE

E MI LY L D Y P L M RS , A A E TON

BENJAMIN DISRAELI

CHAR LES A ND MARY LAMB T H E PER FE CT A G E

R QUEEN VICTO IA, THE PERFECT MOTHER

T H E is r story of Queen Victoria the sto y of Cinderella , with this important difference : we know nothing of Cinderella after i o hi Prince Charm ng prop sed to her , but the romantic story of t Queen Victoria the wife and mother, af er she had proposed

to her Prince Charming , as etiquette compelled her to do , is

extremely well documented . n She was an unwanted child since , except for dy astic reasons , her father , the Duke of Kent , would never have married . He had lived happily in sin with Madame St . Laurent for twenty

his . seven years , and felt no desire to change state Her demands

were modest . She had been content originally with an allow hi 0 0 1 0 0 . ance of £ a year T s was increased to £4 , and later to but when the Duke ’ s debts overwhelmed him altogether 0 0 She insisted on accepting no more than £4 a year . There can be i no surprise at his unwillingness to part from this adm rable lady .

The Prince Regent , afterwards George IV, had only one child ,

the Princess Charlotte, who married Prince Leopold of Saxe th 1 8 1 Coburg . On November s , 7 , she gave birth to a dead

son . Her doctors , according to the practice of those days , had

kept her on a low diet and bled her frequently . She con tinued in

labour for more than fifty hours , and after the birth of her child mi i . t she was exhausted The doctors then ad nistered wine , but

i . was of no avail , and shortly after midn ght she died At her ’ - b ed death was a young German doctor, Prince Leopold s h Stockmar h . personal physician , C ristian Friedric his : George III , who ended life insane , had seven sons the n Prince Regent , and the Dukes of York , Clare ce , Kent , Cumber : land , Sussex , and Cambridge and five daughters , the Queen Wur emb er of t g, and the Duchess of Gloucester, who were dl married and chil ess , and the Princesses Augusta , Elizabeth ,

and Sophia , all unmarried and over forty when Princess Charlotte

and her baby son died . IO T H E P E R F E C T A G E

was his Of the sons , the Prince Regent living apart from wife, and even if he divorced her and married again , he was

to . unlikely, owing his physical condition , to beget children He was so fat and debauched that he had even given up wearin g C reev e the : stays . Mr . y, contemporary social gossip , recorded “ rin n P y has let loose his belly, which now reaches his knees , otherwise he is said to be well .

The Duke of York , married to the Princess Royal of Prussia , had no children . The Duke of Clarence had lived for a long time

him . with Mrs . Jordan , an actress , who bore many children The Duke of Cumberland after a scandalous career had married a

German Princess , but there was no child of the marriage . The

Duke of Sussex made two morganatic marriages . The Duke of in Cambridge lived Hanover, and was a bachelor . Thus the only h0 pe of a direct heir to the throne depended on marriages by the Duke of Clarence and the Duke of Kent , the latter being a t all healthy man fifty years old who had achieved a military career . On the death of the Princess Charlotte and her C e e baby, he spoke frankly on the subject of marriage to Mr . r ev y : in Brussels . He said “ i Should the Duke of Clarence not marry, the next prince n succession is myself, and although I trust I shall at all times be ready to obey any call my country makes upon me, God only knows the sacrifice it will be to make , whenever I shall think it n my duty to become a married man . It is ow seven an d twenty years that Madame St . Laurent and I have lived together : we are of the same age , and have been in all climates and all f t . C reev e di ficulties toge her , and you may well imagine , Mr y, it ” the pang will occasion me to part from her . The Duke continued : “

My brother, the Duke of Clarence, is the elder brother , and if has certainly the right to marry he chooses , and I would not interfere with him on any account If he wishes to be King il o — " to be married and have ch dren , po r man God help him m — hi . l I Let do so For myse f am a man of no ambition , and wish l on y to remain as I am .

In the end , both the brothers married . The Duke of Kent

ri - o 2 th 1 1 married the P ncess of Saxe C burg on May 9 , 8 8, and the Duke of Clarence , a daughter of the Duke of Saxe i r 1 th Me ningen , on June of that year . The Duchess of Kent

- o was the sister of Prince Leopold of Saxe C burg , widower of I I T H E M QU E E N V C T O R A , P E R F E C T O T H E R

a in Princess Charlotte , who bulks l rgely the life story of Queen

Victoria . The Duke considered that he was far too po or to live in s England , for the House of Commons had refused to increa e his allowance on his marriage , and spent his time wandering about Belgium and Germany, until he decided to settle at Amor bach . When he knew that his wife was to become a mother in he insisted that the child should be born England . He hired

a travelling carriage , and posted across the Continent to the in Chan nel port . He was granted rooms Kensington Palace h 1 1 t 8 . and the Duchess gave birth to a daughter on May 24 , 9

The child was christened Alexandrina Victoria . Two months earlier the Duchess of Clarence had given birth

to a daughter , who died soon afterwards . Nevertheless , she

might become a mother again , as actually she did . So far the if little Victoria was by no means secure of her throne . Even

the Duchess of Clarence produced no more children , the Duchess well d of Kent might have a son . But Providence intervene in ’ Victoria s direction .

The Duke of Kent chose to pass the winter at Sidmouth , hi s and there he went for a walk, and though he returned with

stockings wet through forbore to change them . He caught

f . 1 82 1 cold , contracted in lammation of the lungs and died In , ’ the Duchess of Clarence s second child died , leaving the Princess

Alexandrina Victoria heiress to the throne of England .

After the death of her husband , the Duchess of Kent found

a . o herself in gre t straits She was po r , for she only had

a year of her own and the Duke of Kent died , as he had lived , o fi in debt . But Prince Leopold now to k the rst of many steps him in ff which involved the life of Queen Victoria , and o ered i the Duchess a further a year . Thus instead of retreat ng

to Germany , as she had intended , she was able to live at

Kensington Palace .

George III had died shortly after the Duke of Kent, the in 1 8 2 1 8 0 Duke of York died 7 , George IV died in 3 , and the i Duke of Clarence ascended the throne as K ng William IV . The fortunes of the Duchess of Kent and her daughter now r improved considerably . The Queen was unlikely to bear mo e children and Parliament recognized the Princess Victoria as ’ - l a heir presumptive . The Duchess of Kent s annuity had a re dy d the been double , but now a year was allotted for I 2 T H E P E R F E C T A G E

maintenance of the Princess , and the regency of the Duchess of Kent established should King William IV die while the

Princess was still a minor . The Duchess now concentrated all her energies on the training of Princess Victoria for the high station whic h awaited her . Over and over again in her letters and journals Queen

Victoria refers to her dull childhood . It may have been the memory of this which made her such a successful mother . Except in the case of her eldest son , she avoided all the errors of her in was own education , and his case the failure due chiefly to the rigid ideas of the Prince Consort . n The Princess Victoria was small and fat, and so she remai ed hi f . s throughout her li e Disraeli often refers , in intimate corre “ o thers to s on den c e , p with Lady Bradford and ‘ kissing that

al i . sm l , fat hand , when being received in aud ence She had fair hair and blue eyes , and was the image of her grandfather, i George III , as her mother pointed out . Very early in l fe she exhibited two characteristics which distinguished her throughout ff her long reign . She showed herself infinitely a ectionate and i endearing to those whom she l ked , and as infinitely obstinate towards persons or things she disliked . Years later Disraeli ff was to encounter the a ectionate side of her character, and

Gladstone the obstinate side , for the reason that she liked

Disraeli and hated Gladstone . was a When she five Fr ulein Lehzen became her governess , a lady who was to exercise immense influence over her royal in as charge , even the days when she had cended the throne . ’ S The new governess was , at first , hocked at Victoria s temper, it and indeed Victoria was shocked at herself, for she wrote in ’ 1 8 1 her journal on New Year s Day, 8

- I feel how sadly deficient I am , and how over sensitive and irritable , and how uncontrollable my temper is , when annoyed ” and hurt . But Fraulein Lehzen also realized that the child had immense an d l ff io courage , could be ruled on y through her a ect ns . She t ff Sh set herself to win hose a ections , and once e had succeeded there was no more trouble .

The little princess grew up in a very plain , simple household , which made a prominent feature of religion . Even at the age of ' l n l six she listened attentive y every Su day to the ong sermon . I I T H E M 1 QU E E N V C T O R A , P E R F E C T O T H E R 3 S Sometimes she tayed at Claremont with her Uncle Leopold .

- ai h These were red letter days . Leopold p d her is most flattering compliment a man can pay to a little girl : he treated her as k though she were grown up , and tal ed to her seriously of serious things , thereby beginning to qualify for the title bestowed on “ him after he became the first King of the Belgians : Juge de la Paix de At that time Prince Leopold was merely the widower of the Princess Charlotte with the title of Duke ’ of Kendal and the rank of General in the British Army . He might do worse than establish an influence over this child who di one day would attain so exalted a position . He d establish it , as the long and regular correspondence between Queen i Victoria and h mself testifies . Her success with her own children may have resulted from the fact that she was over - mothered and had learned from

ff - experience the trials su ered by the over mothered child . The Duchess of Kent took motherhood with dreadful seriousness .

I attend almost always myself every lesson , or a part , “ wrote the Duchess , and as the lady about the Princess is a t e a competent person she assis s Her in pr p ring Her lessons , as for the various m ters , as I resolved to act in that manner so ” as to be her governess myself.

The Duchess painted thus her portrait of her child ’ s dis position :

s The general bent of Her character i strength of intellect, capable of receiving with ease, information , and with a peculiar readiness in coming to a very just and benignant decision on i i any point Her op n on is asked on . Her adherence to truth is of so marked a character that I feel no apprehension of th at ” n Bulwark being broken down by a y circumstances .

If the Duchess had added to her list the quality of mas sive

- a common sense , she would have drawn an lmost perfect picture in t of Queen Victoria af er life .

The regimented life of the Princess went on . She seldom ’ found herself out of her mother s sight . Till the day of her ’ accession she slept in her mother s bedroo m : almost her first act as Queen was to satisfy her desire for a bedroom of her own .

Whenever she went downstairs someone had to hold her hand .

B 1 4 T H E P E R F E C T A G E

t il However , she learned languages wi h fac ity , German being

. her first , and after that English and French When she reached the age of eleven two important events t t h appened . She los the society of Prince Leopold and hose delicious visits to Claremont when he talked to her as though a she were grown up , because f te translated him from England who s . to become King of the Belgian Her mother, felt the the responsibili ties of training the heir to the throne , requested u Bishops of Lincoln and London to examine her da ghter, and

k l i . ma e any a terat ons , if necessary, in the plan of her education in i These worthy prelates questioned her scripture h story ,

English history, geography , the use of the globes , Latin grammar , S and arithmetic , and professed themselves entirely atisfied . She

f . was le t in the care of her governess , now the Baroness Lehzen

Her note on her confirmation , apart from various pious senti : ments , runs

e I was dressed in a white lace dress , with a white cr pe ” n bonnet , with a wreath of white roses rou d it .

The exclusively female atmosphere of Kensington Palace was brightened occasionally by the visits of Princely cousins from Wur emb er — l . t s Germany The g A exander and Ernst, came when u she reached the age offo rteen and made a favourable impression . Later arrived another pair who obliterated the memory of

Alexander and Ernst . These were the Princes Albert and Ernest ,

- it sons of the Duke of Saxe Coburg , and so , without knowing ,

Princess Victoria met her future husband for the first time . She has left us a glowing picture of him :

r is Albe t , who just as tall as Ernest, but stouter, is extremely h andsome ; his h air is about the same colour as mine ; his eyes a u are l rge and bl e , and he has a beautiful nose and a very sweet rnouth with fine teeth ; but the charm of his countenance is ” 11 13 w f expression , hich is most delight ul . a i it The p rt ng , when came, was very sad

I embraced both my dearest cousins most warmly, as also my dear Uncle . I cried bitterly, very bitterly .

a e Romance had come to her at the g of seventeen , and , as t s so of en happen , it hurt . Truly Prince Alb ert was very good I I T H E M 1 Q U E E N V C T O R A , P E R F E C T O T H E R 5

in . in e look g There is a portrait of him uniform, by Winterhalt r , in t he National Portrait Gallery which shows him a man likely to go straight to the heart of impressionable seventeen . l f family influence could bring the marriage about they were to ’ fated marry . The Prince s father and grandmother had n i marked out his desti y for him and K ng Leopold of the Belgians , also a Coburg , lent his powerful aid . He did more , he lent Stoc k ar his Baron m , one time personal physician , who was

- b ed his at the death of wife , the Princess Charlotte , to exert Al S oc kmar his influence over the young bert . t , a most remark

x able man , fulfilled his task almost too well . He moulded Albert th P into his ideal of e perfect rince Consort , and carrying out his precepts to the last Albert died at the early age of forty two . Had he been less conscientious he might have lived longer , and the Victorian legend might never have existed . P P rince Albert was a Coburg , and the rincess Victoria a ’ is o Coburg on her mother s side . It true that L rd Melbourne of t remarked , considering the problem the you hful Queen ’ Victoria s marriage : a a s Ch nce m ke marriages ; even royal ones , and perhaps ’

tt . be er than policy We have Coburgs enough . Nevertheless , was there to be one more Coburg . Prince Albert came into the world three months after the t Princess Vic oria , and the same midwife attended both their l mothers . It is odd that he should have shown himse f from his earliest days a staid , grave youth , for his mother, a beautiful creature whom he resembled closely, was infinitely gay, so gay l ’ in fact that the Duke , his father, separated them early in A bert s childhood . It might have been written of the Duke of Coburg as G . K . Chesterton wrote of Charles II

In conv ent s c hools no man of tact

Would trace and p ra ise his every act .

in v But in Coburg , just as Hanover years pre iously when

Sophia Dorothea , wife of the Electoral Prince , afterwards to become George I , fell passionately in love with the fascinating o Count K nigsmark , there was one law for the Duke and another for the Duchess .

The Duchy of Coburg was small and poor, so that Prince ’ Albert s upbringing ran on thrifty and almost meagre lines . 1 6 T H E P E R F E C T A C E It is little wonder that soon after his marriage he turned eagerly ’ to the reform of the Queen s household , the extravagance of his which , according to his traditions , shocked him . He and brother were educated by a tutor until old enough to go to the

University , and lived a simple country life . Albert proved a model student ; his recreations were riding , shooting and fencing , together with country expeditions . It was during these expedi tions that he acquired the passion for geology which so distressed in 1 8 6 Lord Palmerston when , 4 , he accompanied Queen Victoria and the Prince on a cruise in the royal yacht down Channel from Osborne . At Cornish ports of call Albert would take the gentlemen l ashore for a geological ramble , and return joyfu ly with many s specimen . Once , indeed , Lord Palmerston managed to remain f sa ely on board with the Queen , but Albert had his revenge by t k a ing the gentlemen, including Lord Palmerston , down a mine ’ all at Fowey where , as the Queen recorded , they wore miners

hats . ’ his Unlike father he hated women , and once at a children s party screamed with rage when a little girl was led up to him ’ to be introduced . What it cost him to endure Victoria s passion

for him can never be known .

He also was confirmed with great ceremony . At seventeen he gave himself to the study of German literature

and philosophy . Later he stayed with King Leopold at Brussels

before proceeding to the University of Bonn , where he was

popular both with the professors and his fellow students . Then Stoc kmar came from England to escort him on his travels through

Italy . Kin g Leopold had consulted Stockmar as to the suit of c ability Albert as a husband for the Princess Victoria . Sto kmar declined to give an opinion until he had found an opportunity

- . Su erfic iall him to study the Prince p y, Albert seemed to to

possess all the attributes necessary for success . It may be interest I ’ ng here to recall Lord Melbourne s verdict on Stoc kmar . An excellent man ; he has rather a contempt of human ff i : a a rs and means a bad digestion . Stoc kmar S ff And indeed , u ered from dyspepsia all the days hl S i , of l fe and even though a physician could not heal himself. The gloom of dyspepsia may have influenced his opinion that to succeed as Prince Consort Albert must have the right ambition

and great force of will . He added : I I T H E M I QU E E N V C T O R A , P E R F E C T O T H E R 7

If he does not from the very outset accept it as a vocation li f a of grave responsibi ty, on the e ficient perform nce of which his honour and happiness depend , there is small likelihood of his succeeding .

Albert and Sto c kmar got on very well together during the s Sto c kmar tour of Italy, and it was in those day that established that dominance over his charge which was to last throughout ’ ’ Albert s life . But Albert s unfortunate distaste for women persisted ; at a ball at Florence he ignored the ladies and dis ava t Stoc kmar coursed with a s n . complained sadly to King Leopold at the end of the tour that he would always have more “ in success with men than with women , whose society he shows i ff ” em ressement s . too little p , and too indi erent and retiring He added significantly that Albert was not strong . Still on the Stoc kmar whole concluded , almost regretfully as it seems , that the marriage might turn out well . ai S The life of William IV , whose head some s d was haped like a pineapple , drew to its close . His scrimmages with the

- Duchess of Kent , his wakings from his after dinner nap to ’ ”

: . exclaim Exactly so , ma am , exactly so , were nearly over He prayed that he might live through the anniversary of the Battle in of un e 2 of Waterloo , did so , and died early the morning j oth ,

1 8 . 37 The Archbishop of Canterbury , who had been with in him his last moments , and the Lord Chamberlain hurried to ’ Kensington Palace , arriving at six o clock in the morning . The

Princess Victoria put on her dressing - gown and went alone into the room where they were . The Lord Chamberlain knelt and announced that the King was dead .

The great moment had come at last . She had anticipated it ever since the age of twelve when the fact that she was to be Queen had been revealed to her , and she had made the almost startling announcement “ ” I will be good .

Now , at the age of eighteen , she performed the required ceremonies with unshakable calm . Lord Melbourne , the

Prime Minister, reached the palace at nine in court dress , and kissed hands . He went away and returned at eleven . Shortly afterwards she held her first Council . She met her Council in r a deep mou ning , read what she had to read without f ltering, and then left the chamber, still with that astonishing composure . C E 1 8 T H E P E R F E C T A

who s to Sarah Lady Lyttelton , became governe s Queen 1 8 2 Victoria s children in 4 , wrote once that the Queen had a vein of iron in her . This vein was apparent to the intelligent In t onlooker even in her childhood . her you h it had developed , and in later life and old age it enabled her to face her m any trials and difficulties with unmatched fortitude .

At the outset of her reign Victoria loved being a Queen . ta Even the drudgery of documents , an inevi ble portion for a r t sovereign of Great B i ain , fascinated her, for she recorded in her journal

I get so many papers to sign every day that I have always ”

deli ht w . a very great deal to do . I g in this ork

To support her in her new life the faithful Lehz en was installed in Buckingham Pal ace and Stoc kmar had come over from Uncle Leopold to guide with his grave advice and vast experience

hfu . the foo tsteps of the yout l Queen Moreover, there were innumerable letters from Uncle Leopold himself, that sage and significant figure .

Beyond and above all there was Lord Melbourne , the Prime

Minister . him in Disraeli , in the letters of Runnymede described an unforgettable phrase as sauntering over the destinies of a ” nation and lounging away the glories of an Empire . But there was a great deal more about him than his pose of ineffable s boredom . William Lamb , second Vi count Melbourne , (see below) the illegitimate second son of the beautiful and gifted Elizabeth i Milbanke , w fe of the first Viscount Melbourne , had encountered much tragedy in his life , which had left him a confirmed sceptic . hi s His romantic marriage was a failure , son was an imbecile ,

c o - e and he had been cited as respondent in two divorce cas s , u t tho gh in bo h instances his name was cleared . The forceful ness of his language came second only to that of the Duke of i ’ Well ngton s , and he had had many loves . At the time of ’ fift - Victoria s accession he had reached his y eighth year . i In spite of all th s , or because of it , no youthful Queen could

- have desired a more chivalrous servant than the world weary, n i in experie ced Whig Prime Min ster power at her accession . o His devotion am unted almost to tenderness , and made his

- a conduct during the Bed Chamber Crisis lmost unconstitutional .

20 T H E P E R F E C T A G E

- an - The peers preceding our procession by on ly half hour, the golden carriages of the Lord Chancellor and the Speaker he were almost blended in t same crowd , and the quantity of c arriages and personages of note , to say nothing of courtiers ,

- at - . gentlemen arms , and beefeaters , was very fine “ t u The Speaker, wi h John R ssell on his right and Peel on

‘ b oth in his left, the Windsor dress , marched up to the throne in good s tyle ; we followed somewhat tumultuously . The Queen t t looked well : the Prince on her lef in high mili ary fig , very ”

ff . handsome , and the presence was altogether e ective

it In Spite of her passion for him, or perhaps because of , the Al hi s marriage at first did not run smoothly . bert , with natural

avoidance of women , must have found a passionate bride some l thing of a prob em . Moreover, she was not only a bride but a

Queen . Beyond being her husband , with a year settled

on him by the nation , he had no status . He was not even allowed to appoint his own private secretary ; Victoria appointed one for

him . The Baroness Lehzen still ruled her private life .

Somehow, no one knows how, Albert tamed Victoria and came t t to exert tha influence over her which lasted af er his death , and

remained with her throughout her life . He began to take an n in in i terest politics , and when the Whig Ministry resigned 1 8 1 ffi 4 and the Tories came in , he smoothed over many di culties

in consultation with Sir Robert Peel . More important still , he

. as a got rid of the Baroness Lehzen She , with her p sion for carraw y

seeds , vanished for ever from the Court . The approaching birth of his first child brought definite hi s recognition of status from the Tory Government . They ’ a oin ted him in pp / Regent in the event of the Queen s death child

. a birth He had now, though stranger in a strange land , estab lished himself both with the Queen and with Parliament . : Victoria bore him nine children Victoria (Princess Royal , 1 840 who became the G erman Empress Frederick ; Albert Edward ( 1 84 1 who became King Edward VII ; Alice ( 1 843 who became Grand - Duchess of Hesse ;

Alfred , Duke of Edinburgh and of Saxe - Coburg and Gotha ( 1 844 Helena ( 1 846 who became Princess Christian ; Louise ( 1 848 who became Duchess of Argyll ;

, 1 8 0 Arthur Duke of Connaught ( 5 Leopold , Duke of Albany ( 1 853 and Beatrice ( 1 857 who became i Pr ncess Henry of Battenberg . I I M T Q U E E N V C T O R A , T H E P E R F E C T O H E R 2 1

’ No more touching example of a young mother s pride in her ’ first baby coul d be found than in a passage from Victoria s letter to her Uncle Leopold after the birth of the Prin cess Royal :

I am very prosperous , walking about the house like myself we 2 2n d 2 rd again, and go to Windsor on the or 3 , which will ver l re . c arefii quite set me up I am y prudent and , you may ly

- u on it . Your little grand niece is most flo rishing ; she gains in daily health and strength , and , I may add , beauty . I think she will be very like her dearest father ; she grows am azingly

The prophecy in the last sentence came true . The Princess l a Royal resembled her father menta ly, and temper mentally in more than any of the other children . She even resembled him f t . oo t the tragic circumstances of her li e She , af er her marriage , in was a stranger a strange land , and her outspoken preference f in for English customs gave great o fence Germany, just as Albert ’ s attachment to German customs made him unpopular in England . t al 1 1 1 8 1 Af er the birth of the Prince of W es on November th , 4 , Victoria told her uncle that her little boy was wonderfully u strong and large , with very large dark bl e eyes , a finely formed but somewhat large nose , and a pretty little mouth . She hoped and prayed that he might be like his dearest Papa .

Since Royal children are very like other children , and jealousy is al : je ousy among high and low alike , she was obliged to add “ ” i not all Pussy s at pleased with her brother . ” ’ i Pussy was the Princess Royal s pet name . L ke any ff n a ectionate mother, Victoria in her correspondence and jour al always referred to her children by the family diminutives of “ ” al their names . The Prince of W es was Bertie , Princess Louise , “ ” ” Loos A fli e y, and the Duke of Edinburgh even after he had

’ ‘ ffi c f ifian n become a senior naval o e c orn di g the Channel Fleet . r When Princess Alice was born Victoria w ote , as usual , to “ her uncle , about our little baby, who I really am proud of, ”

She is . for so very forward for her age She was , Victoria explains , u to be called Alice , an old English name , the others being Ma d “ ” ( another old English name , the same as Matilda ) and Mary, ’ ” as She was born on Aunt Gloucester s birthday . l i The small , intimate detai s of family life were chron cled ’ “ also in Victoria s : Leaves from the Journal of Our Life in the 22 T H E P E R F E C T A G E

l , h High ands , a work which enabled Disraeli aut or of a string the as : of novels , to address her in phr e “ ’ ” W t h i We authors , Ma am . Here is a passage m ght have been writt en by any mother

- . Albert had gone on . (Albert was deer stalking ) Grant t went after him , and I and Vicky remained wi h Donald w the . , Stewart , stag, and the dogs I sat do n to sketch and ’ , poor Vicky, unfortunately, seated herself on a wasp s nest and was much stung . Donald Stewart rescued her , for I could ”

. not , being myself too much alarmed

Even a mother might be excused from facing a nest of angry wasps when a stalwart Highl ander was available to effect the rescue of Vicky . The Prince of Wales alone of Victoria ’ s children became in e al u c what , mod rn psychologic jargon , wo ld be alled a problem ’ h ou - c ild , largely account of Albert s educational theories when Al the heir to the throne was in question . bert had been brought w t a u t t t up in accordance i h rigid ed ca ional sys em by his utors , toc kmar t the w t at u and S , wi h sole end in vie h one day he wo ld marry Victoria , the most powerful monarch in Europe . He ’ considered that his eldest son , who would inherit Victoria s throne , should be brought up under a system as rigid as , if not more rigid than , his own . f Unfortunately, there existed a profound di ference in outlook between Albert and the Prince of Wales . Albert loved his books , and the Prince of Wales hated books . He loved fun , and Albert considered fun a foolish interference with the serious ’ ' re i e business of life . Consequently his father s g m effectively prevented the Prince of Wales from contriving a satisfactory career as a youth and a young man . ’ Since in Victoria s eyes Albert could do no wrong she made not the faintest attempt to interfere between father and son , t ’ hough , as the Prince of Wales s mother, she must have known that by temperament and disposition he was quite unsuited to i an academic and regimented l fe . Had his parents maintained a sympathetic outlook on him in his boyhood and youth he might have achieved greatness . As things were he came to ’ son who in resemble the clergyman s , brought up great strictness , _ in f breaks out after li e from sheer frustration . I I T H E M Q U E E N V C T O R A , P E R F E C T O T H E R 2 3

’ The scheme evolved for the Prince s education was formid

a . t him ble , and utterly depressing Providence had gif ed with

- t a pleasure loving disposi ion , exceptional charm , and a mind ’ fl b r that was incapable of serious e t . Albert s system ignored u the charm and concentrated on the unfr itful mind . He pro ’ v ided work for almost every hour of the day and the Prince s moral welfare was so scrupulously guarded that the society of those of his own age practically did not exist . The Prince longed for amusement and amusement was the one thing he was not allowed to have . When he reached the age of seventeen Victoria and Albert presented him with a memorandum explain ing that he was now a man , that life was composed of duties , th e and that in the performance of them true Christian , true

is i . u soldier , and true gentleman recogn sed He m st therefore s study even more inten ely than before . a P When he had re d the memorandum the rince wept . hi b By t s time Victoria and Al ert had acquired Balmoral , ’ their Highland home on which , for the rest of her life , Victoria s affections centred . The original house was pulled down and t t its t a t w a cas le buil in place designed by Albert himself, wi h o er t a hundred feet high . The in erior decorations featured tartan to an enormous . extent . There was one designed by Albert and another designed by Victori a . Tartan covered the walls and there was even tartan linoleum . There they encountered

first the celebrated John Brown who began life as a stable boy, was engaged by Albert and Victoria as a gillie and afterwards ’ became Victoria s personal servant . Though legend and scandal have clustered around him , the scandal is without found ation . She He attended Victoria wherever went , and , as a privileged s u in servant , treated her occa ionally with some r deness unusual is is a Scotsman . H chief claim to fame that he once arrested a mentally deficient young man who threatened Victoria with an

1 88 . unloaded revolver . He died in 3 , when Mr Gladstone took occas ion to write to Her Majesty :

u Mr . Gladstone presents his h mble duty and presumes to lay before your Majesty the expression of the sincere concern h as u with which he learned that yo r Majesty has been deprived , by a sudden and fatal illness , of the services of Mr . J . Brown . He is able in some degree to understand how the aid and attention of an attached , respected , and intelligent domestic , e al prolong d through so many years , and natur ly productive 24 T H E P E R F E C T A C E

- of an ever growing confidence , must , when thus owithdrawn s i I abruptly, leave a sen e of serious loss , and th s most of all n ’ oc c u Ied i . your Majes ty s elevated sphere , and closely p l fe Even has in his own contracted circle of personal relations , he had occas ion to feel how much more of proximity may be the natural growt h of such services than the outer world would readily suppose . “ Mr . Gladstone trusts that your Majesty may be able to f select a good and e ficient successor , though it would be too much to hope that anyone , however capable , can at once fill the void .

Albert then moved on to , perhaps , the greatest triumph of ’

his life , which brought Victoria s admiration of her husband 1 to a climax ; the Exhibition of 85 1 . This Exhibition was entirely

“ his own idea ; all the staff work origi nated with him ; it was to

be an Exhibition such as had never been , an exhibition to end

all exhibitions . It took two years to arrange , with the help of

the inevitable Committee . The site was Hyde Park , and the

design was by Joseph Paxton , to be known to future generations

as the Crystal Palace after it had been removed to Sydenham . o Then , when the project was nearly completed Opp sition arose , ’ and it only survived owing to Albert s determination . In the House of Commons Colonel Sib thorp referred to the “ h - Ex ibition building as an unwieldy , ill devised , unwholesome “ r it castle of glass . Disraeli , on the contra y, blessed as that enchanted pile which the sagacious taste and the prescient philanthropy of an accomplished and enlightened Prince have ai r r sed for the glo y of England , and the delight and instruction ” of two hemispheres . ’ it 1 st 1 8 1 Victoria opened on May , 5 , and Albert s triumph

was complete . Unlike most exhibitions it made an enormous

profit , no less than The money was used to buy land n for a National Museum at South Ke sington . In 1 857 Victoria crowned his labours by creating him Prince

Consort . ’ Sarah , Lady Lyttelton , the Royal children s governess , had th written from Buckingham Palace to a relative on May 7 , 1 8 0 5 , the birth date of the Duke of Connaught

P A fine fat rince of the blood is added to the nursery, so although the operation and its consequent excitement and I T I T H E M 2 Q U E E N V C O R A , P E R F E C T O T H E R 5

' l it con e exertion have rather done me up , I wi l write , being a g eneral g , and thank you for your welcome letter . “ i Her Majesty, bless her for a good w fe and mother, never h ‘ had a better time . The c ildren are all wild about new ’

t . bro her, who has regular features and a fine complexion So here is another yet of the numberless instances of perfect aw ul t s hi has f , spo less pro perity w ch been bestowed on this ”

. " house May it all turn to good

’ Unfortunately her ladyship s prayer was not answered . Victoria experienced for the first time the tragedy of death when

in 1 86 1 . her mother, the Duchess of Kent , died That same year she was to lose Albert . He died , as he had lived , a slave in to duty and the precepts of Stoc kmar . Already a low state of l in hea th from fatigue and overwork , he went bleak November weather to inspect the new Military Academy at Sandhurst , and returned seriously indisposed . Three days afterwards he proceeded to Cambridge where the Pri nce of Wales was in

in . t residence , order to deliver a paternal lecture Ber ie , as

n i . usual , was neglecti g his studies and attempting to enjoy h mself During the journey home Albert caught a chill which proved in the beginning of his last illness , but spite of his weak state he continued to work for England , and during the last days of his life performed for her hi s greatest service by preventing an outbreak of war between England and the Northern States of

America .

It was the period of the American Civil War , and relations between th e two countries had become strained in consequence of the seizure by the Federal Government of Confederate envoys i hi Trent on passage on board the Brit sh s p . Lord John Russell wrote a demand for the release of the envoys so peremptory that F G it the ederal overnment could not have tolerated , and sub ’ mitted th e despatch for Victoria s approval . Fourteen days before his death Albert dragged himself from bed at seven in modifi the morning , read the draft despatch , and suggested cations which would allow the Federal Government to withdraw from an untenable position without loss of prestige . The Cabinet

agreed to the modifications and war was averted . ff It was his last e ort , and as gradually he grew weaker he

lost the will to live . Sir James Clark , the eminent physician ,

declared there was no cause for alarm , but when Lord Palmerston , u l the Prime Minister, insisted that Dr . Watson sho ld be cal ed 26 T H E P E R F E C T A C E

in he diagnosed typhoid fever . It was then too late to save the patient . S t his When his end approached , Victoria , i ting by side , remained nl perfec tly calm and in command of herself. O y when she realised that he had left her for ever did she give way . For her

also life had finished . Disraeli s aid to a distinguished foreigner shortly after the death :

With Prince Albert we have buried our Sovereign . This German prince has governed England for twenty - one years with a wisdom and energy such as none of our Kings have ” ever shown .

The Prince of Wales wrote to Lord Palmerston by the desire of his mother to say that Lord Palmerston would al ways find

her mindful of her duty and of her people , but that her worldly

career was at an end . 1 86 2 In his Speech on the Address in , when the leaders of t ut t o the t a part ies paid their rib es dead Prince Consor , Disr eli declared that he was t he prime councillor of a realm the political

constitution of which did not even recognise his existence , and added :

Prince Albert was not a mere patron ; he was not one of those who by their gold or by their smiles reward excellence i or stimulate exertion . His contribut ons to the cause of the t S ate were far more powerful , and far more precious . He gave ” u i it his . to it his tho ght , his time , his to l ; he gave to life

Victoria expressed a wish that he Should be made aware of her grateful sense of his testimony to the work and character ”

- of the Prince , and sent him two engravings of well known l pictures of herse f and Albert . To her Uncle Leopold she wrote an anguished letter lamenting

was w the - the fact that she left a idow at age of forty two . There l after she faded from the pub ic view into a mist of anonymity, becoming so remote as to exasperate the public and to cause Lord Rosebery to write despairingly : “ t as The symbol hat unites this v t Empire is a Crown , not ” ’ a bonnet . But in the years which followed Albert s death ' distracted Prime Ministers implored her in vain to exchange

28 T H E P E R F E C T A C E that Lord Derby and Lord Salisbury (who were in despair at her abandoning the Tsar) have little knowledge of what is the etiquette between sovereigns .

The strict etiquette of the Court underwent no relaxation at ’

Balmoral . There were four separate dinners , the Queen s , the ’ ’ ’ Household s , the upper servants and the lower servants . Every one was obliged to attend church , and the Castle was always cold , because Victoria considered cold healthy, and warmth ai in unhealthy . She took cold baths and cl med that consequence

She never had a cold . She found her recreation at Balmoral in poking about the local villages , shopping in the village shops , and sending gifts of flannel to deserving villagers . One of her great joys was the ’ i gillies ball which she never fa led to attend , although she refused to give balls when resident in London . This distinction between London and Balmoral caused much heartburning in London . si In spite of her widowhood and her eternal mourning , g n alise e - d by black , cr pe trimmed dresses and notepaper with ’ ff a black edging a quarter of an inch wide , Victoria s a ection and solicitude for her children never flagged . True , she wrote in 1 8 6 to Augusta , Queen of Prussia 5 , that even at Balmoral , Al was where bert often away all day long , she found no especial

pleasure in the company of her elder children . She attributed

this to the fact of having grown up all alone , accustomed to the

society of adults , and never to that of younger people . Her com in ments her letters and herjournal tend to disprove this statement . On those whom death took from her she lavished an agony of grief: indeed her attitude to their deaths may almost be summed up in words she wrote on the death of Dean Stanley

To think of the utter destruction and ending of that still "’ brilliant , charming centre is too grievous God s will be done , it but does seem terrible .

i - Princess Alice , w fe of Prince Louis of Hesse Darmstadt , 1 was taken from her in 878 . The circumstances of her death

were pitiful . They affected Victoria the more acutely since

Princess Alice was the first of her children to die . She contracted t all ff n diph heria , from which , her family were su eri g , through

kissing her son , although the doctors had warned her against

R isc hgi tz Studios

D ST NE ST O E W IT H MR S. G L O E . G L D W . MR . A N A

"See page 42 I I T H E F M QU E E N V C T O R A , P E R E C T O T H E R 2 9 fi l i . Beac o ns e d D sraelr the danger of such an action Lord , s title the ' eera e on his elevation to p g , described the tragedy in the u Ho se of Lords in words which Victoria found deeply moving , “

. in . . in c on though one critic , G W E Russell , found them c eiv ab le bathos

’ It became Princess Alice s lot to break to her son , quite a youth , the death of his youngest sister, to whom he was a devotedly ttached . The boy was so overcome with misery that the agitated mother, to console him, clasped him in her — s . arm and thus received the kiss of death My Lords , I hardly know an incident more pathetic . It is one by which poets in might be inspired , and in which the artist every class , whether in in picture , statue , or in gem, might find a fitting subject ” for commemoration .

’ w in 1 8 Victoria rote her Journal on New Year s Day, 79 W " hat a sad beginning to the New Year Our darling , precious Alice , one of my beloved five daughters , gone , after ’ but six days illness , gone for ever from this world , which is ’ an . not , th k God , our permanent home

1 8 afl b c ted The death of Prince Leopold in 44 also her deeply . He was the invalid of the family ; his health had always gi ven ff his mother the gravest anxiety . He su ered from haemophilia s (bleeding) , and the lea t scratch or bruise meant illness for 1 88 1 him . In he had , in spite of this disability, proposed to Princess Helen of Waldeck and telegraphed to his mother for her consent to the engagement . Victoria commented in her Journal s e e that the news rather upset her , that h could not help f eling as if she were losing dear Leopold , but that as Helen Waldeck was said to be so goo d and nice it might be a blessing to them all . Of his wedding in 1 88 2 she wrote that it was very trying to t da i t see the dear boy, on this impor ant y of his l fe , s ill lame h “ S e it . and shaky , but felt thankful was well over I felt so muc h for dear Helen , but she showed unmistakably how devoted ” is she to him God bless them both . wi “ He died alone at Cannes , for his fe was confined to her sofa in h England , from the breaking of a blood vessel in the ead ; ’

in . leaving a pathetic last wish to be buried St George s Chapel ,

as he had been married there , and because there would always

be singing over him . 30 T H E P E R F E C T A C E

The last of the children to marry was Princess Beatrice , who ’ ’ had been , since Albert s death , her mother s inseparable com i panion , and remained so after marriage , since Victoria ins sted that her husband , Prince Henry of Battenberg , should make his home in England . Her marriage moved Victoria deeply .

k A happier loo ing couple, she wrote , could seldom be seen kneeling at the altar together . It was very touching . I r stood ve y close to my dear child , who looked very sweet , pure

and calm . When the Blessing had been given , I tenderly embraced my darling ‘ Baby ’

’ All Victoria s comments on family births , marriages and death

are such as any loving mother might write , and her intense and affectionate interest in family affairs extended to her grand

children when they began to arrive . Of her first she wrote to Uncle Leopold in 1 859

I know how pleased you will be at the safety of our dear

Vicky, and at the birth of our first grandson . Everything I goes on so beautifully, Vicky recovering as fast as did .

At this time Victoria was only forty, an exceedingly youthful in grandmother, but could any grandmoth"er the land , of what ever age, have written more typically There is a delightful touch of maternal pride in the concluding words

I Vicky recovering as fast as did .

Of her sons her favourite was Prince Arthur, later the Duke of

. b efitted Connaught As the godson of the Duke of Wellington , t af er whom he was named , he adopted a military career, having n in 1 2 the ra k , when he died 94 , of Senior Field Marshal in the

British Army . The most dramatic of his military experiences took place I in in 1 882 when he commanded the st (Guards) Brigade Egypt , ,

- El- in a campaign which included the Battle of Tel Kebir, under

the chief command of Sir Garnet Wolseley . When the Duke of

- in - Cambridge , then Commander Chief of the British Army, “ is wrote to Victoria that, finding that Arthur medically fit t o go (to Egypt) it has occurred to me as most advisable that ” he should have the command of the Brigade of Guards , she , N I C I T H E F T M H 1 QU E E V T O R A , P E R E C O T E R 3 as she confesses , quite broke down , as many another mother has done on hearing that her son is to leave England for active “ l ” “ service overseas . Stil , she wrote , I would not on any account ” have him Shirk his duty . was The farewell very sad , as all such farewells must necessarily l : be . Victoria wrote , at Osborne , in Ju y

clear Louischen A little after 5, Arthur and (the family ’ C on n au ht s diminutive of the Duchess of g name , Louise) arrived ,

- come for the terrible leave taking . We took tea all together, all and sat talking for some time . Arthur told us of his pre arations l p , that he took only one horse and was se ling the others , what his dress would be , serge , quite loose , flannel shirt , high boots over breeches , and white helmet with a

- Louisc hen puggaree . His canteen and spy glass I gave him , and ’ ” D A b ri his Tente . Felt very low .

Next to her family Victoria loved her troops , and just as she took leave of the Guards before they left for the Crimea , so she in took leave of the troops sailing for the campaign Egypt . On th 1 882 the 9 of August , , she drove from Osborne to Trinity Sir Pier with Princess Beatrice , the Duchess of Connaught ,

Henry Ponsonby, her private secretary , and others to board A b ta her yacht l er . They steamed across to Southampton Water and up into the Alberta docks where the transports were lying . The came along Greece side the , one of the transports , and Victoria was received f by Admiral Ryder, and the embarking o ficer, Captain Brooke . th Colonel Pope, of the 4 Dragoon Guards , took her round the “ upper deck and to the next below, where quantities of poor

e . hors s were stowed Victoria , who loved horses , feared the f poor animals would su fer a good deal . They were very quiet , and she stroked some of them . Alberta She I The , as steamed back to the sle of Wight , followed

" ' O us some departing transports a little wzfy. The lymp came out with a battery of artillery on board , and the gunners cheered “ ” and sang God save the Queen . 1 Then all was suspense until September 3th , when a telegram reached her at Balmoral saying that the enemy had been routed

- El- with heavy loss at Tel Kebir, but giving no news of the : Duke of Connaught . At last a further telegram came saying

. Sa A great Victory Duke fe and well . 32 T H E P E R F E C T A G E

’ in A bonfire was lit on the top of Craig Gowan at 9 o clock , the same place where there had been one in 1 855 after the fall l of Seb astopol , when A bert went up the hill with Bertie and

A fli e . Princess Beatrice and the Duchess of Connaught and the

ff . Household walked up to the flagsta , and the pipers played Victoria and Leopold and his wife watched from a window while the bonfire was lit and blazed . She felt very happy because a telegram from Sir Garnet Wolseley had ended with the words “ Duke of Connaught is well , and behaved admirably, leading ” his Brigade to the attack . She felt happier still when Sir Garnet amplified this praise in a letter describing the fortunes of the day at Tel - Rl- Kebir :

On all sides I hear loud praises of the cool courage dis

played yesterday, when under an extremely heavy fire , by

H . a R . . H . the Duke of Connaught I need sc rcely say what a relief to my mind it was to find him unhit and so cheery and ' ’ first happy when I met him in the enemy s works . He is a rate Brigadier- General and takes more care of his men and is more active in the discharge of his duties than any of the ” Generals now with me .

The Prince of Wales had offered his services in the war in Egypt but both Victoria and the Gover nment felt that it would ff be unwise to accept his o er . The life of the Heir to the Throne as could not be risked in action , and for him to go out a mere

- ou looker would have been impossible . The question of employment for the Prince of Wales presented many problems and diflic ulties and was never answered satis ’ fac toril him y, partly on account of Victoria s blank refusal to let

in any degree understudy her or deputise for her, partly because

of his upbringing , personality, and mental limitations .

As has been seen , he was brought up by his father on the a the most strict , lmost merciless , lines . Albert died when Prince

was only twenty, and two years later he married . He passed almost at a bound from the state of a strictly supervised youth ’ I r n his father s house , to that of a young man mar ied to an

extremely beautiful girl , with a large income and nothing with

which to occupy hims elf except pleasure . It is scarcely remarkable that he reacted instantly and sharply from the grim atmosphere Of his upbringing and that of a Court

34 T H E P E R F E C T A G E

Victoria certainly loved her eldest son , but whom the

Lord loveth He chasteneth , and scourgeth every son that He ” , receiveth . In his case she adopted the divine attitude and the result did not make for harmony between them . Bertie , Wi whose manners were perfect , always behaved to her th the utmost courtesy, but they were never happy in their relation

- i ship , an d secretly, even as a middle aged man , he was terr fied of her . To a lesser extent the employment of Leopold presented a problem . He , too , found State papers beyond his grasp , and the state of his health shut him o ff from an y very active career . f An early death solved his di ficulties , but Bertie never found an Opportunity to do himselfjustice until he ascended the throne as King Edward VII . Then his matchless charm , his good looks , and his gift for pleasing everyone with whom he came in contact , “ served him well . He earned the title of Edward the Peace maker, and played a leading part in bringing about the Triple

Entente between Great Britain , France , and Russia , which

. stood the test of the last war — The people adored him because he was a good sportsman and loved a pretty face , and he crowned his popularity by winning the Derby three times . Victoria may well have failed over Bertie from sheer perfection in as a mother . She wanted return what she considered a perfect eldest son , and her longing never became satisfied . Apart from this one disappointment , her children were to her as arrows in the hand of a giant . The daughters married into Royal houses all over Europe, and in her private correspondence she had an t ideal Fif h Column , though in her day the expression was not t invented . No hing of importance occurred on the Continent but she it heard of long before the event , and she had the gossip of foreign courts at her finger tips . It l was this fami y secret service , together with the length of her reign and experience which made her a mistress of political in i i science , to whom , her later years , the most experienced M n ster i seemed almost like a ch ld . Her faultless memory could quote precedents and examples reaching back into the days before some of her Ministers were born , and she had known not only them but their fathers . The multitude of her family connections resulted from the fact that all her children married ; the princes took foreign I I T H E F M QU E E N V C T O R A , P E R E C T O T H E R 35 princesses for their wives and most of the princesses foreign i s . princes for their husband Their ch ldren in turn married , and at the time of her death she had thirty- seven living great i grandch ldren . To the grandchildren and great - grandchildren she transferred all the Viv id interest She had displayed in her own children fi s when they were small . Their births , con rmations , and marriage were noted and commented on with a regularity and detail which could not have been outdone by a village grandmother i i who had nothing else to th nk about but the b rths , marriages an d deaths of her descendants . Victoria knew herself to be the great monarch of a great Empire , but her roots were in her family . A picture was once taken of her at Windsor surrounded by more than fifty of them . Among her grandchildren her most vivid interest was P centred on the two sons of the rince of Wales , Prince Albert ’ his af Victor , father s heir, and Prince George ( terwards King

George V) . A somewhat sharp controversy arose over a proposal to send

in . . Bacc nte ha . the two young princes on a long cruise H M . S in Both were serving the Royal Navy , but while Prince George, the younger, was to make the sea his permanent career, Prince

Albert Victor, the elder and heir to the throne, would not remain in the Navy . f Mr . Dalton , their tutor, and a terwards their Governor, favoured the idea that they should go to sea for five or six months , half way round the world , and discussed the matter with Victoria .

Mr . W . H . Smith , First Lord of the Admiralty, opposed it on the ground that if they both went and anything happened to the ship the heir to the throne and the next in succession might be lost in the same catastrophe . Mr . Dalton managed to convince Beac on sfield Victoria that he had right on his side . Lord , then

P s - of rime Minister, took the grave t view the scheme , and wrote gloo mily to Her Majesty

Lord Beac onsfield must repeat that the Cabinet was strongly of the opinion that the departure of the two young Princes in the same ship will greatly disquiet the public mind , and if ’ that , anything happened to them , your Majesty s Govern ment would justly be called to a severe account . He cannot adequately describe the feelings of your Majesty ’ s Ministers ” on this subject . 36 T H E P E R F E C T A C E

Certain safeguards had been ordained . Prince George was to go aloft (those were the days of masts and yards) and in command

was . of boats , but Prince Albert Victor to do neither When 1 88 1 Bacchante reached the Cape in February , , at a moment when British troops in South Africa were in conflict u with the Boers , the Q een felt bound to protect the young “ Ci i ar— it Princes from p articipation in a cruel v l W for so is , the m Boers being y subjects , and it being a rule that Princes of the

a ou ht not i . Royal F mily g to be, m xed in it There is a delightful note in Victoria ’ s Journal dated rather more than a year later, when the Princes arrived with their parents at Osborne to be confirmed by Archbishop Tait in

Whippingham Church .

al Eddy(Prince Albert Victor) is very tall , a great deal t ler

\Va . than Bertie (the Prince of les , his father) , very slight Georgie

u w a . is also m ch gro n , in f ct more in comparison He still ” has the same bright merry face as ever . 0

af The fate of Prince Albert Victor, terwards created Duke of ’ 1 8 2 Clarence , brought further sorrow into Victoria s life . In 9 all the arrangements were in train for his marriage when he

a n . was t ken sudde ly ill , and died His younger brother succeeded

to the throne in his stead as King George V . When the shades of evening lengthened and her life drew its towards close , Victoria mellowed , as frequently old people

do . She had every reason for a serene old age . She found herself in seated more firmly than ever on her throne , triumphant all

her wars , paramount in the councils of Europe , thanks to the

unapproachable strength of the Royal Navy . Even the memory of Albert grew more dim ; so much of triumph had occurred since

he died . There even arose during her later life a second idyll in the Be ac n fi l form of her romantic friendship with Lord o s e d . I He had stood high n her regard from her earliest days when , in s as Benjamin Disraeli , he paid the House of Common the generous tribute to the dead Prince Consort which has been

quoted already . Two days after his speech in the House of Commons pleading for a monument rather than a work of i i ri ut l ty as a memorial to the departed P nce , he had received from Victoria her own copy of the speeches of the Prince bound N I I M Q U E E V C T O R A , T H E P E R F E C T O T H E R 37 in h fl leaf w ite morocco leather, with this inscription on the y in her own handwriting “ in To the Right Honourable Benjamin Disraeli , recollection of the greatest and best of men from the beloved Prince ’ s broken hearted widow .

Victoria R .

2 th 1 86 . Windsor Castle , April 4 , 3

in Moreover , ever Oriental his outlook , alike from ancestry hi s and from the influence of early travels , he had lured her with poppy and mandragora as And all the drowsy syrups of the E t .

in 1 8 It was he who , with the help of the Rothschilds , had , 75 , bought for Great Bri tain the Suez Canal shares from the bankr upt

Khedive of Egypt , enabling him to write to her the historic letter beginning :

i It s just settled : you have it Madam . The French Govern

- ment has been out gen eraled .

It was he who , after the Russians had defeated the Turks , 1 8 8 in 7 , sent the British Fleet through the Dardanelles , without ’ the Sultan s permission , and defied the Russians to occupy ri Constantinople . Victo a hated and feared the Russians . Did she not write once

Oh , if the Queen were a man she would like to go and "” give those Russians such a beating It was he who first brought Indian troops into the “ Mediterranean , and occupied the island of Cyprus , a place of ” in i it . t arms the Mediterranean , as he called Above all , was he who fought the Royal Titles Bill which proclaimed Victoria

Empress of India , through the House of Commons in the teeth of diffi culties which caused him to write to Lady Bradford

in I am living a fiery furnace . There never was such a ” fac tion s Opposition . But he justified himself to a restive House with the statement It is only by the amplification of titles that you can often s is touch and sati fy the imagination of nations , and that an 38 T H E P E R F E C T A G E element which Governments must not despise , and won his way .

To Beac onsfield his whole life represented one long romance , and not the least romantic part of it was the privilege of serving So the greatest Sovereign of all time as Prime Minister . , during

fift - fiv e his last Ministry, the Sovereign , aged y , and the Prime

i - i Min ster, aged seventy four, were exchanging letters wh ch came

- near to being love letters . all It was very innocent , but Victoria dearly loved romance , ’ Beac on sfield s and encountered so little of it . success lay in treat n ing her as a woman as well as a Sovereig He also saved her,

in f . . when o fice , from Mr Gladstone , and defied Mr Gladstone when in opposition , and she hated Mr . Gladstone . l With more skill even than he displayed in his nove s , he dramatised Victoria to herself as a fairy Queen , even alluding “ to her as the Faery in his intimate correspondence with

Anne , Lady Chesterfield and Lady Bradford . There is much that ’ is in Beac on sfield dull a Monarch s life , but sugared over for her the drudgery of monarchy with the romance of his imagina tion . In the picture he drew for her she was the Queen of the

s - terre trial tournament , and he , at seventy four, her gallant knight defeating all comers in the lists for her glory . “ l He declared once that everyone ikes flattery, but when you ” it come to royalty you should lay on with a trowel . Frequently did it ’ he lay on with a trowel for Victoria s benefit , but at heart he was as sincere as a veteran statesman with the responsibility his ff of the British Empire on ageing shoulders could a ord to be . There can be little doubt that the affection and tenderness of

Victoria during his last illness soothed his passing . 6th 1 8 8 Thus , he could write to her on December 2 , 7

Beac onsfield has received this morning your .Lord’ " Majesty s gracious letter . He cannot have a Happy mas is when your Majesty in grief. (On account of the death of i Pr ncess Alice . ) “ is He always afraid of obtruding himself in such matters . In it him truth is shyness , not inadvertence , that often makes appear negligent . “ Ever since he has been intimately connected with your . j him Ma esty , your Majesty has been to a guardian Angel , and is much that he has done that right, or said that was ri is approp ate, due to you , Madam . He often thinks how he I I T H E F M H Q U E E N V C T O R A , P E R E C T O T E R 39

can repay your Majesty, but he has nothing more to give , t u . having given to yo r Maj es y, his duty and his heart

in There is also this , written the bitterness of defeat when the Liberal Party came back to power in 1 880

Beac onsfield Lord cannot conceal , nor wishes to ff conceal , that the present state of a airs costs him a pang ; hi s it not for the country , for , having done duty to with cease ff less e ort and entire fi delity , he leaves its fortunes to Providence . “ But his separation from your Majesty is almost over t hi whelming . His relations with your Majes y were his c ef, l in he might a most say his only, happiness and interest this

world . They came to him when he was alone , and they have ’ inspired and sustained him in his isolation . Your Majesty s in judgment and rich experience often guided him , and the most trying moments he felt he served a Sovereign who was

s . . con tant and consistent , and who never quailed “ all him Thanking your Majesty for your goodness to , he t ff ’ remains with all du y and a ection , your Majesty s grateful ” c n ld and devoted Bea o sfie .

That Victoria had a heart and that Beac on sfield touched it is evident from a letter to him , written as he lay dying at Hughen : den Manor , his Buckinghamshire home

Beac onsfield Dear Lord , “ I am so thankful to hear you are bett er and more com f rtab le o . “ I send some Osborne primroses , and I meant to pay you a little visit this week but I thought it better you should be i l quite quiet and not speak . And I beg you w l be very good and obey the doctors and commit no imprudence .

afll Ever yours very y, “ V . R . I .

He died not long afterwards and with his death romance ’ passed for ever from Victoria s life . In the first few days of her reign Greville recorded “ Nothing can be more favourable than the impression she

has made , nothing can promise better than her manner and her ” conduct . These words remained true of her to the end of her

reign . She encountered two periods of unpopularity , one soon E 40 T H E P E R F E C T A C after she came to the throne , at the time ofthe Lady Flora Hastings in 1 8 1 in scandal , and the other 7 , when she was attacked the

Press for her continued withdrawal from public life . But she lived them down , and long before the end of her reign had become in the popular imagination a beloved and legendary

fi8ure .

She was born in her due time . Her reign coincided with the rise of the middle classes during the palmy days of the eighties and nineties , a period of peace and prosperity unique in English in history . She would have hated to have reigned a period which was not unique .

- The prosperous middle classes loved her . The eighteenth century had gone out in a blaze of glory and the nineteenth in century had arrived , not perhaps a blaze of glory , but to an i inheritance of solemn and solid prosperity . The m ddle classes

i i . were tired of shock ng k ngs , and princes who kept mistresses n i They saw i Victoria an admirable w fe, the mother of a large family . They too had admirable wives and large families ,

and they blessed a Queen with merits similar to their own .

Though her reign extended into the dawn of democracy, as She she hated democracy hated the devil and all his works , and had she lived ten years longer she would have experienced

acute unhappiness . She once wrote to Earl Granville , at a ’ time when she was struggling with one of Mr . Gladstone s Governments

D mocrat c Monarch A e i y (as described by Mr . Briggs in his C hallemel address to that Communistic French Ambassador M . hi ver ob ectionable Lacour, w ch proceedings she thinks y j ) she consent to belon to Others i will not g . must be found f that is to thinks f be , and she we are on a dangerous and doubt ul slope it which may become too rapid for us to stop , when is too ” late .

To the end of her life the slope remained no more than it dangerous and doubtful , if was dangerous and doubtful . She

continued until the end the last of the autocratic monarchs . in ff So she declined to her sunset , basking the a ection of her

children and grandchildren , and the love and admiration of her

. in 1 88 great Empire At her Jubilee 7 , and her Diamond Jubilee 1 8 in 9 7 , the subjects of her Dominion over palm and pine had ff I paid her their tribute of a ectionate homage . t touched her

P W . E . GLADSTONE , THE ERFECT FATHER

I I W W LL AM E ART GLAD STONE was the son of a terrific father, but he was not himself a terrific father . His children , with one l voice , rose up and ca led him blessed , and the test of a successful father is the verdict of his children . ’ It is very difli c ult to assess Gladstone s character and per n alit a so y, bec use the evidence of his contemporaries is so conflicting . That he was a great statesman there is no doubt , but that he was as great a statesman as his followers believed him to be during his lifetime is disputable .

To condense contemporary evidence , he was known among his admirers during his later life as the which meant ” Grand Old Man . Queen Victoria once used these initials in a sarcastic sense . She also called him in a letter to Sir Henry “ T a a - mad r n Sir Ponsonby : h t h lf fi ebra d. Henry himself wrote of hi m that he sometimes thought him rather mad— earnestly mad and taking up a View with an intensity which scarcely allowed him to suppose there could be any truth on the other Beac on sfield side . Lord , in his intimate correspondence with “

A V . Lady Bradford and others , referred to Gladstone as the . , “ ” - which signified Arch Villain . Mary Gladstone (later Mrs . ’ Drew) , Gladstone s daughter, who became the family biographer, “ in always , her diaries , designated her parents the which “ ” meant the Great People . The truth lies somewhere among these various initials and opinions , which exist chiefly on account of the impression he made in public life as a statesman . In private life the evidence is all in his favour . Sarah Lady Lyttelton , governess to Queen ’ Victoria s children , a gifted woman with a vast knowledge of the : world , wrote of him to Lord Lyttelton “ Living with him ought to make anybody wise and ’ goodfi He was always on terms of affectionate friendship with Lady Beac on sfield , the most charming creature who ever lived , even t Beac on sfield hough he could not abide Lord . Earl Granville once wrote to Queen Victoria w . L D S . E G A T O N E , T H E P E R F E C T F A T H E R 43

Beac on fiel Lord s d and Mr . Gladstone are men of extra ordinary ability ; they dislike each other more than is us ua l t Beac onsfield among public men . Of no other poli ician Lord his would have said in public , that conduct was worse than

those who committed the Bulgarian atrocities . He has a power

of saying in two words that which drives a person of Mr . Gladstone s peculiar temperament into a great state of

excitement .

Beac onsfield wrote in a letter to Lord Derby

Posterity will do justice to that unprincipled maniac — Gladstone extraordinary mixture of envy , vindictiveness ,

hypocrisy, superstition ; and with one commanding character istic— whether Prime Minister or Leader of Opposition , whether — preaching , "praying, speechifying, or scribbling never a gentleman

He also recalled in a letter to Gladstone dated July 3oth , “ 1 8 8 . his 7 , that Mr Gladstone , to use own expression at Oxford ,

has been counterworking by day and by night , week by week , and month by month the purpose of Lord Beac on sfield In the same spirit a few days ago at Portsmouth , Lord Beacons ‘ fi eld was charged with an act of duplicity of which every

Englishman should be ashamed , an act of duplicity which has not been Beac on sfield Yet , on the death of Lady , Gladstone wrote to Beac onsfield

You and I were , as I believe , married in the same year . It has been permitted to both of us to enjoy a priceless boon r th ough a third of a century . Spared myself the blow which it has fallen on you , I can form some conception of what must ff r have been and be . I do not presume to o e you the con

solation which you will seek from anot her and higher quarter . ff al l I o er only the assurance which who know you , all who Beac on sfield knew Lady , and especially those among them who like myself enjoyed for a length of time her marked though

unmerited regard , may perhaps render without impropriety, the assurance that in this trying hour they feel deeply for you ,

and with you .

’ A n d Beac on sfield s f on death he , as Prime Minister, o fered . hi m : a public funeral , and said of him in the House of Commons T H E A G E 44. P E R F E C T

There were certain great qualities of the deceased statesman that I think it right to dwell upon qualities immediately — connected with conduct with regard to which I would say, u were I a younger man , that I sho ld like to stamp the recollection of them on myself for my own future guidance , and with regard to which I would confidently say to those who are younger than myself that I strongly recommend them for notice and — S imitation . I peak , for example , of such as these his

his - t strengt h of will ; long sighted persis ency of purpose , reaching from his first entrance upon the avenue of life to its very close ;

- his remarkable power of self government ; and last , but not — a least, of all , his great parliamentary courage quality in i which I , who have been associated in the course of my l fe with some scores of Ministers , have , I think never known but two whom I could pronounce his equal .

ff As providing comment of a slightly di erent flavour, there ’ Lab o c her s may be quoted u e remark , that he did not object ’ a u to Gladstone s lways having the ace of tr mps up his sleeve , but he did object to his believing that G o d put it there . Perhaps the most disturbing feature ofGladstone is that although we may disagree with his politics we can find no fault with his

his n . character . His youth was exemplary, death was edifyi g He gave lavishly to good works , was the author of much worthy, if dull , literature , and tried hard to reform what he would have called fallen women at some risk of being misunderstood , though even the cens orious Victorian public could hardly have imagined his ai stepping aside from the str t and narrow path of virtue . He maddened his Sovereign and his political opponents alike because he always hinged a political question or policy on a moral issue . ’ He thought his enemies were God s enemies . He went into action chanting, like Cromwell at the Battle of Dunbar : “ Let God arise and let his enemies be scattered , and in the hour of victory would exclaim “ Efflav it et Deus , dissipati sunt . 2 th 1 80 6 2 He was born on February 9 , 9 , at Rodney Street , r Sir oh B n t . Live pool , the fourth son of J Gladstone , , by his second i w fe Anne . He claimed prou dly that there was not a drop of in blood his veins which was not Scottish . Of his origin he wrote “ - f was as My grand ather a merchant , in Scotch phr e, that is in to say, a shopkeeper , dealing corn and stores , and my father lad in as a served his shop . W E L D S T H E F . . G A T O N E , P E R F E C T A T H E R But Sir John Gladstone did not remain content with serving ’ h in his father s shop . Among ot er enterprises he developed a

great West Indian trade , acquired estates in the West Indies , ffi and owned slaves . It is di cult to imagine the father of Gladstone , who poured out his indignation on Bulgarian atrocities and the a prisoners of Naples , owning slaves , but the f ct remains that he h h did , and more t an t at took a strong line concerning the

- interests of slave owners . In politics he was the reverse of his son , for he began life as a Liberal , but became later a Tory , h his ni c iefly on account of admiration for Can ng . Gladstone , by contrast , began as a Tory and ended a Liberal . i Just as his ch ldren paid tribute to him , so he paid tribute to his father . “ ” No one , he wrote , except those who have known him with the close intimacy of family connection could possibly appreciate the greatness of that truly remarkable man . Yet in one respect

if . they d fered , though both were truly remarkable Sir John f accepted his baronetcy , but Gladstone re used the peerage

offered him by Queen Victoria . ’ was Since Sir John Gladstone a rich man , Gladstone s educa s tion followed luxuriou lines . It began at Seaforth Vicarage ,

i i . four m les from Liverpool , and cont nued at Eton and Oxford

The Church , for which he always entertained the most profound

admiration , entered early into his life . When he was only five

- his father, a devoted church goer, decided to build a church f : at Seaforth . Of this church he con essed “ I have no recollection of early love for the House of God ” “ : had and for Divine service , continuing After my father i i bu lt the church at Seaforth , I remember cherish ng a hope ”

it . that he would bequeath to me , and that I might live in it c n in The Chur h cropped up i his life odd ways . Once when he was travelling in a stage coach he heard a passenger say to a private in the Guards ; “ "” is Come now , what the Church of England ui i in A damned large b ld ng with an organ it , replied the

t . Guardsman , with soldierly brevi y ’ H arto He was at Eton , in the Reverend He nry pp Knapp s

house , during the headmastership of Dr . Keate , a famous devotee ff a of the birch . He once su ered under it because , as form pr e

postor , his duty was to make a list of boys due to be birched . ’

u u i . He left out the names of three friends , th s c rta ling Dr Keate s

D 46 T H E P E R F E C T A G E favourite occupation by three victims , and was accordingly birched himself that he might expiate this crime . Education at Eton in those days confined itself almost entirely to the study of Greek and Latin . Thus Gladstone acquired no scientific knowledge . Perhaps this explains why through out his life he never swerved by the breadth of a hair from the straight line of orthodox Christianity . He took the dogma of the Church of England and the words of the Bible literally, and the Christian religion guided him daily in every act of his al life . It may have followed from this that etern punishment occasionally provided a dinner- table topic of conversation in in the home of his married life, as his daughter Mary records her diary .

He spent six years at Eton , reading the classics with diligence in school and general literature at other times . But , industrious

S wa s . as he howed himself, it not a case of all work and no play i His favourite recreation was boat ng , but he played cricket and s football , and acquired the habit of taking tremendous walk which remained with him throughout his life . As a young man he rode and shot , and on one occasion lost part of a finger h t rough a gun accident . At Eton he became a member of “ Pop , and spoke frequently . He also edited one of the many E ton WIiscella ephemeral Etonian magazines , entitled ny, which s endured for a brief life of six month , from June to December,

1 82 . 7 His greatest friend at Eton was Arthur Henry Hallam . i Passing from Eton to Christ Church , Oxford , he cont nued i his industrious career, and became also someth ng of a con “ n oisseur of preachers . He did not approve of Newman ( much

singular, not to say objectionable , matter, if one may so speak

of so good a man or Keble . Quite naturally, he became a f n member of the Union , o ficiati g as Secretary an d President in i 1 8 0 . 1 8 1 the M chaelmas term of 3 In December, 3 , he crowned his academic career by taking a double first in classics and

mathematics . When contemplating his future he wished in the beginning

to take holy orders , for throughout his life he maintained a

peculiar respect for the clergy, but Sir John , the terrific father, i it willed otherw se , and , as his biographer has put , he was not trifled a man to be with . Sir John believed that William could serve the Church better in Parliament than by taking holy

, i orders and ins sted on making his son a statesman . Sin ce Sir W E L D S T H E F H . . G A T O N E , P E R F E C T A T E R 47

John was to leave , eventually, a fortune of there was no financial need for Gladstone to adopt a profession .

1 8 1 - In May, 3 , he had spoken for three quarters of an hour at n hi s the U ion against the Reform Bill , w ch he de cribed as calculated to break up the whole frame of Society . Within a year of this speech the Tory Duke of Newcastle invited him to ’ stand for the Duke s borough of Newark . His Grace spent s — —o u 25 . per elector there were of them drinks and other G hospitality, and the issue was not in doubt . Thus ladstone , at

- the age of twenty two , entered the House of Commons , where he

l . was to sit , with hardly an interva , for more than sixty years

At twenty - six he became Under - Secretary for the Colonies — in the Conservative Government of 1 834 35 . Those were the days when the country was governed by young men who belonged i l to the right fam lies , not as now by e derly men with one foot in the grave , who having made a success in life either in a profession or in commerce crown it by entering Parliament and finding a comfortable home for the aged in the House of

Commons . Peel , who had also obtained a double first at Oxford , esteemed him .

’

at hi i . He was , t s per od , no unromantic figure He displayed a broad - shouldered form standing above middle height ; his his in hair was black and eyes large , lustrous , and piercing ; colour they were not quite black , but resembled the tint of agate . He had a voice that was naturally melodious , a voice which was to become , by virtue of much practice in speaking , of almost unexampled range and compass . His face was singularly handsome and intellectual . e f Few girls , even if b auti ul and of classic descent , could see such a young man and remain incurious . Moreover, he had an interesting pallor . Thus , when in Florence , Catherine Glynne , oun n an with her brother, passed such a y g r , who raised his hat , - she inquired of her brother Stephenz “ i " Who s that handsome young man to which he replied ’ "is Don t you know him That young Gladstone , the Member l for Newark , the man who everybody says wi l one day be Prime ” was it r . Minister of England . As tu ned out , everybody right it On that day Catherine , without knowing , satisfied her

curiosity concerning the man who was to be her husband .

The story of the Glyn nes is long and stately . Catherine was

the elder daughter, and Stephen the elder son , of Sir Stephen 48 T H E P E R F E C T A G E

Glynne , eighth baronet , by his wife Mary Neville, daughter ’ f of the second Lord Braybrooke . Lady Glynne s grand ather

George Grenville lost us the American Colonies , for it was the Stamp Act of 1 763 passed by his Government whi ch goaded the

A merican colonists to assert their independence . The sister of i 1 80 6— her uncle , Lord Grenville , Prime M nister in 7 married l William Pitt , Earl of Chatham , and became the mother of Wi liam

Pitt the Younger . So Catherine had four Prime Ministers among

her ancestry and was to marry a fifth .

Apart from all that the Glynnes derived from Crusaders , and

had their names in the Plantagenet Roll . ’ Sir Stephen , Catherine s brother, knew Gladstone well , for

they had been friends at Oxford . He, too , nourished political t ambi ions , and represented Flint Burghs as a Liberal Member , 1 hi s 1 8 2 8 . and afterwards Flintshire , between 3 and 47 But real l interest in ife was churches , a fact which may have endeared u him to Gladstone , whose father, it will be remembered , b ilt a

church . The Glynnes developed a family language , known as “ ” G l n n ese y , which produced many valuable words and expres G l n n ese sions deserving a far wider circulation . In y Sir Stephen ” h rc hums c u . was said to have the Indeed, he visited and t made no es concerning churches in England and Wales . Little as he may have guessed it at the time of this chance a meeting , Gladstone had f llen in love with Catherine . This She fact need not be wondered at , for was at that time one of i i the most beaut ful g rls in Wales , a country which produces l a f singu rly beauti ul girls . Indeed , she and her younger sister “ Mary had become known as the twin flowers of North Wales , S where Hawarden Castle , the family seat , was ituated . ’ ri 1 8 1 Cathe ne s father had died in 5 , the year of the Battle of hi Waterloo , leaving four c ldren , two boys and two girls , all less t than six years old , to be brought up by their mo her . Lady

Glynne , possibly in order to import some male influence into w t u their lives , went to live i h her father, ntil he died , when ’ she returned to Hawarden . Thus the children s homes were Billin b ere not in their ancestral Wales , but at g , Audley End , and

Berkeley Square . ri Lady Glynne , in her diary, desc bed Catherine in her child

as b t f - - hood eau i ul , high spirited , and strong willed . She dis played also the carelessness and untidiness whi ch some people fin d l delightfu , and these habits never left her even after She

50 T H E P E R F E C T A C E studied the piano under Liszt in Paris ) and at other houses .

In 1 835 he was asked down to Hawarden by Stephen , but came ffi no nearer being engaged to Catherine . Several di culties stood in his way . For one thing the Glynnes came of an ancient family, and he was a new man . For another, Catherine and Mary had sworn a private pact that neither would become engaged or m arried unless the other was engaged or married also . 1 8 8— The years sped on until the winter of 3 39 , and then over ’ work affected even Gladstone s iron constitution , and his doctors l ordered him abroad . As Earl Granvi le once remarked of him to Queen Victoria “ He worked hard every day of the year, every hour of the day , as his father and grandfather had worked before him , but to a very different purpose .

Fate rewarded him with a sight of his beloved , or perhaps he went to Rome on purpose . In any case , he met Stephen in and his sisters in Rome December , and at last made an opportunity to propose to Catherine . He chose for the scene of his proposal the Coliseum by moonlight . He even quoted to her appropriate lines from Byron ’ s poem Manfred ”

in I do remember me , that my youth , When I was wandering— upon such a night I stood within the Coliseum ’ s wall ’ Midst the chief relics of almighty Rome ;

l in Still Catherine would not isten , spite of the spell of her ’ surroundin gs and Byron s verse . She was used to proposals s from devastated young men . But Gladstone renewed the a sault in London and in the following June she accepted him at a garden party given by Lady Shelley, which proves that occasion ally there is some excuse for this horrible form of entertainment . In so doing she did not break her pact with her sister ; at about the same time Mary announced her engagement to the fourth

Lord Lyttelton . They concluded the pact by arranging a double wedding at

Hawarden , and there the prodigious Gladstone came into his own .

He and Lyttelton arrived at Hawarden for the wedding , and ai walked down the m n street together . Lyttelton was a slightly

- - hobbledehoy young man of twenty one . He had rough hewn features , redeemed by a large head and a good forehead . Glad

t - stone presented a all , broad shouldered figure, an interestingly W E . L D S N T H E F 1 . G A T O E , P E R E C T F A T H E R 5

m - pale face , due possibly to uch over work , and those dark k flashing eyes the colour of agate . Loo ing at Gladstone the Welsh rustics said “ ’ "” Isn t it easy to see which is the Lord t e l th Ca herine and Mary had th ir double wedding on Ju y 25 , 1 8 39 , at Hawarden Parish Church , thus forging an indissoluble L t telton s Sir link between the Gladstones and the y . Francis Hastings Doyle (“ Private of the Buffs and “ The Loss of the ” ’ ad Birkenhe Doyle, a poet of sorts) was Gladstone s best man .

He could not let the occasion pass without versifying , and ’ i celebrated metrically his friend s nuptials . Here s one stanza , with advice for Catherine :

him Be thou a balmy breeze to ,

A fountain singing at his side ,

A star, whose light is never dim,

A pillar, through the waste to guide .

Even though the metaphor was mixed , the intention no doubt was good . ’ N The Gladstones honeymoon was spent at orton Priory ,

Cheshire . It belonged to Sir Richard Brooke, father of Lady ’ Brabazon, a great friend of Catherine s . For Gladstone it must have seemed a wonderful experience to be alone with his beautiful bride . Catherine had a lovely oval face , with eyes of dark sapphire blue , and masses of soft brown hair . She moved swiftly and lightly, and carried herself like a queen .

To physical attraction was added a common religious outlook , S so important in married life , ince more quarrels and wars have l f arisen from re igious di ferences than from any other cause . d Once , before his engagement , Catherine and Gla stone had had a long talk in Santa Maria Maggiore ; they di scussed the difference between the money the Englis h spent on their private lives

' is sa —and ou a the rich English , that to y the orn ments of their churches . Catherine asked “ Do you think we can be justified in indulging ourselves in "” all these luxuries fu In his diary , which he compiled with pain l regularity, Gladstone wrote “ hi I loved her for this question . How sweet a t ng it is to reflect that her heart and will are entirely in the hands of God . May ” He, in this, as in all things , be with her . 52 T H E P E R F E C T A G E At five o ’ clock on the afternoon of their honeymoon they read in : the Bible together . Gladstone noted his inevitable diary “ This daily practice will , I trust, last as long as our joint ” ’

it . lives . Perhaps did But Gladstone s entires in his diary are a trifle shattering in their starkness . There is , for example , the one which records his maiden speech “ Spoke my first time for fifty minutes . The House heard me very kindly and my fri ends were satisfied . Tea afterwards ” at th e Carlton .

These laconic records were odd in a man who , when speaking, “ u é co ld , as Andr Maurois remarked , envelop the simplest ” question with long , obscure sentences . in After the honeymoon he took her to Fasque , Kincardine ’ his is 1 shire , father s Scott h seat, and then to 3 Carlton House i Terrace, which he bought for their London home . By this t me

Catherine and Mary, unused to classical scholars , had become a little alarmed by their husbands ’ habit of producing pocket editions of Greek and Latin poets and reading them at odd moments . Inspired , perhaps , by her husband , Catherine began i irre u a diary wh ch , being a charming creature , she kept most g ar t i l l ly. Some of the en ries are l uminating

' — anuar 6 - a t j y I am thirty to day terrible hought . anua i r 2 . d d j y 4 George , the page , not know what event ri " we celebrated on Ch stmas Day I hope he will come on , but it as IS is sad , he near fifteen , ’ D e embe c 2 . . " r 9 My dear William s birthday God bless him How every day that passes more and mo"re impresses me with the treasure I am blessed with , but alas how very far I am behind him . March 3 Engaged a cook after a long conversation i about rel gious matters , chiefly between her and William . ” t She interested me grea ly .

Her comments on her babies are delicious . OfAgnes she wrote “ l t A fine hea thy baby wi h pretty features , complexion nice ” and . t : clear, never red Of poor Ca herine Jessy, who died “ t i u A wee fat h ng , with famous lungs to j dge by her voice , t with short the i the mou h so small , upper lip , hair dark sh , very ” w placid , and takes much notice for her age . Bet een 1 840 and 1 8 54 she had eight children, of whom only one , Catherine Jessy,

i . the in 1 d ed Mary, family chronicler, was born 847 . w . . L D S N E G A T O E , T H E P E R F E C T F A T H E R 53

Apart from the cares of motherhood , she made the perfect

housekeeper and hostess , for all her haphazard ways and careless ’ the temperament . Gladstone s life , on domestic side, ran like a ll clockwork . To this she added the labours of innumerable n an good works . Her philanthropic undertaki gs were legion , d l she cou d collect money to finance them with uncanny success . in 1 86 For example, 4 she raised to rent some disused in slaughter houses Newport Market, alter them , and open them ’ as a Night Refuge . To this she added a Boys Industrial School ,

the - - because most of refugees were half starved , half naked boys between five and twelve . In the prosperous Victorian period in

ofhalf- which she lived , society at large took no account naked , half ’ Starved little boys . Mary s diaries teem with entries concerning her ’ e mother s Sunday school class s , hospital visitings , and the like . In al l as : spite of this she never neglected her husband , who sured her It is al ways relief and always delight to see and to be with you . Enjoying this relief and delight he marched , on the whole triumphantly, through his long political career, became the most brilliant Chancellor of the Exchequer this country ever produced , and four times Prime Minister . On the fourth occasion ,

- in 1 8 2 his . 9 , he had reached eighty third year ’ l Mr . Gladstone s children who rose up and ca led their father blessed and adored their mother were : William Henry Agnes Stephen Catherine Jessy Mary Helen Henry Neville ( 1 85 2) and Herbert John ’ Catherine s sister Mary had twelve children , and as the two families met as often as possible for visits or during holidays , life was lived somewhat in public , at any rate so far as the children were concerned . Yet in spite of all this Lord Gladstone ri In A ter Thirt Years (the youngest child) could w te f y , a work ’ devoted to his father s memory

’ in 1 8 Born 54 , I lived in my father s house till he died In 1 8 8 W 9 . For fifteen years I was ith him a member of the House I ” of Commons . There was never a breach n our family life .

Mary Gladstone , whose diaries give us such a charming and ’ i f fi t sympathetic picture of the Gladstones fam ly li e , was the f h

of their eight children and the third daughter . In the year when

o i - she was b rn , ow ng to one of the Gladstone Lyttelton reunions , in the there were eleven children under seven house, five Glad

six L ttelton s . stones and y Lord Lyttelton , a patient father, has 54 T H E P E R F E C T A C E left a description of another reunion . He found seventeen children upon the floor, all under the age of twelve , and consequently

all inkstands , books , carpets , furniture, ornaments , in intimate

intermixture with every form of fracture and confusion . There

survived ultimately seven Gladstones and twelve Lyttelton s.

Naturally, among nineteen cousins family gossip was rich ff and interesting , what with love a airs , marriages , births , and

deaths . The girls, like their mothers , were educated at home

by governesses and visiting masters , and the boys went away to ff school . In spite of the a ection of their parents , the education of the children seems to have been tyrannical and sadistic In the

best Victorian educational tradition . The boys were beaten at ’ their preparatory schools . Mary s governess , who remained

with her until she came out, never once praised her . Only when ,

coming by chance into a room, she heard that her governess considered her piano playing “ quite glorious ” did she begin to lose some of the inferiority complex the governess had created

In her . Lucy Lyttelton , afterwards Lady Frederick Cavendish , in records her diary that her governess beat her, shut her up in

dark rooms , and deprived her of meals . The children seem to have taken their punishments as a matter ff of course , never letting them temper their a ection towards

their parents who chose the schools and governesses . Possibly

harsh governesses and schoolmasters were a feature of the period , the common lot of children with parents rich enough to afford

governesses and expensive schools . In spite of them the Gladstone G children had a lot of fun , for Lord ladstone writes

It must be understood that really we were rapscallions .

Apart from hours of lessons and meals our time was our own .

In the country, from the age of five or six, out of doors we ” were free .

i Now, the ch ld who is a rapscallion is a happy child , for it Is

natural for healthy children to be rapscallions . In his own household Gladstone seems to have been looked

upon as a benevolent god . He was known to be wonderful ,

and equally he was known to be kind , friendly, gracious , and

. charming He never presumed on his celestial state , or boomed , on b ellowed , or patronised , otherwise Mary could not have e in tten, her biography of her mother w . . L D S N T H E F E G A T O E , P E R E C T F A T H E R 55 While children we were never conscious of him as anything out of the common It never crossed my mind that other ’ ri people s fathers were not just the same . All my f ends , I thought , had the same sort of father . He was a cause of wonder to me s l when those who came to the hou e , especial y our cousins , treated him with awe and reverence , listened to every word that fell from his lips . Indeed , we treated him with scant i respect ; argued across him when he was talk ng, even contra dicted him . “ Hawarden guests were half startled and half shocked by the freedom of criticism that reigned in the family circle It is impossible to forget Lord Morley ’ s face when he first heard ‘ : one of us say to Mr . Gladstone A

All the expression meant was that the member of the family “ ” : " who said A lie disagreed with his or her father . h . im When Gladstone died , Lord (then Mr ) Balfour spoke of as “ The greatest member of the greatest assembly the world h ” ’ as ever seen . Perhaps this tribute of his daughter s is even more to his honour . mi the In his fa ly circle he changed from great statesman , the ff popular idol, into an ordinary a ectionate father . “ — — Brothers and sisters seven of us were In frequent lively disputes about many things . When we spoke of our father ” there was solid agreement, declared Lord Gladstone , continuing

It is difficult to describe our View of him in the earliest i i . s stages of recollection . Fear certa nly there was not Awe not the right expression . Respect is too commonplace . Rever ence came later . No doubt earliest impressions were largely was induced by my mother . Access to him rigidly limited by her to definite times “ And when we went to his room we found someone who

” an d thoroughly understood us, gave himself to us while we ff were there . We had teaspoonfuls of black co ee and rides on his foot slung over his knee while he sang Ride a cock - horse to Banbury Cross . He showed us things , told us stories , measured our and recorded heights . But the supreme moment came — s when he carried four of us at a time two of my sister , Henry — u and myself o his back . There were little presents of things was We he did not want and we did . It a daily treat . were r like little dogs , who never resent exclusion but are ove joyed ”

i ff . when they are allowed n . Our a ection was secured 56 T H E P E R F E C T A G E

Thus a devoted son paints the picture of the perfect father .

Yet in spite of all fatherly goodness , a great statesman and a great scholar might well have wished to consider his study ’ ar his sacred . This was not so in Gladstone s case . At Haw den w mi study was kno n to the fa ly as the Temple of Peace, and this it peace b e shared with his children . At Hawarden they took as a matter of course that he worked or read in the Temple of

Peace all the morning, for a short time after luncheon , and t his be ween six and eight . They were all allowed to go to library l while he worked for the purpose of reading . The on y condition he made was one of silence . l As he deserved , the perfect father had de ightful children , who won , even when quite small , the approval of Queen Victoria , as Mrs . Gladstone recorded in her diary

. oth 1 8 6 u n Jan 3 4 . Dined at the Pal ace . The Queen i ’ becomingly dressed . Very k nd to us , talking much of Mary s ’ L ttelto n s (Lady y ) children and my own , and for some time l to Wil iam . The Queen ordered me to bring my children to — her on Saturday . I accordingly took the four William , Agnes ,

Stephen and Jessy . Her Majesty came in with . her four, and i was very nice and kind . Princess Royal a nice quiet th ng ; ff in not so much di erence the heights as last time . Prince of has l t all Wales a striking countenance . A fred very pret y, have u s ch fat white necks . Prince Alfred Is a year and a half old . an d t Stephen head shoulders taller at one year and ten mon hs . ’ ‘ The Queen commented on Agnes looks . I had not heard t ’ about her being so very pre ty . Thought Willy pale and

Stephen gigantic , baby fat and like her father . She took great t notice of them all , kissed Agnes , and gave hem a huge white woolly lamb between them all , which the Royal children and w i ours played ith very happ ly during their Visit . The Queen s ol e p of their goodness , and asked if they were always so gooé

Mary Gladstone , to whom we owe most of our information as to the personal characteristics of her parents , brothers and ’ sisters (Lord Morley s monumental Life of Gladstone deals l chiefly with his political aspect) , had a charming simp icity of character and keen observation . Nowadays she would have in been called deeply religious , but her own period she was no more religious than the rest of her family and her friends . ’ Outside the family and her father s career in politics her chief Interests were music— she was an excellent pianist and practised

58 T H E P E R F E C T A G E fact that the day after her ecstasies over her first watch Mary mentioned quite laconically that she met the Prince and Princess of Wales (afterwards King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra) . her Evidently, to mind , the watch was far more important than the Heir to the Thr one and his Princess . Their father ’ s influence over them was tremendous in spite of his good humoured rollicking with them when they were ’ as small . On one occ ion Herbert , and Alfred Lyttelton , Mary s favourite cousin , had a long talk with him on the subject of f the Athanasian Creed . Both felt much com orted by finding from him that the word saved ” meant being within the n Christian fold . It never occurred to either of these you g men “ ” to question his ruling . If he said they were saved because “ ” they found themselves within the Christian fold , saved they were, and that ended it . On the day following this conversa tion Mary had a long talk with Herbert on eternal punishment . n G The you g ladstones had , however, other interests besides l sa vation , one of these being cricket , a fact not surprising since l they were cousins of the cricketing Lytte ton s . There was a memorable match at Eton In 1 87 1 which Mary and Stephen

: v . went to see Eton the Cambridge Quid Nunes . They had c four ousins playing ; Bob and Edward Lyttelton for Eton ,

and Spencer Lyttelton and another cousin for Cambridge . 1 6 Bob and Edward scored 2 and respectively . f i But Al red Lyttelton , who was play ng , took her to a greater 1 88 2 v . and grander match in , nothing less than Australia

All England at the Oval . It was the second day and Australia , hi who were 34 be nd England the day before , the two innings 6 1 0 1 1 being 7 and , went in . They were dismissed for 2 2 and m l . then England went in at p . with on y 95 to get ’ S offorth s n p bowling , Mary says , was the most deadly thi g “

. in she ever saw Such devilish resolution his eye . I saw he

felt his power . He felt It to some purpose because he got

England out for 77 . Alfred Lyttelton made a slow and patient

1 2 . n Gu n seems to have done best , scoring 35 , but the rest ff appeared to be paralysed by Spo orth . f A ter the match Mary took Alfred , who had got her a lovely i seat , home to d nner, and they spent a very cosy evening at

Downing Street . d in Naturally, politics playe a large part the family fortunes . ’ s There was , for in tance , the dramatic episode of Willy Gladstone s w . . L D S E G A T O N E , T H E P E R F E C T F A T H E R 59

The first speech in the House of Commons . excitement of those of the family who were there to hear him became ex l in . c eed . g y tense Mrs Gladstone rushed madly about the box , ’ and now and then clutched Mary s arm . In another corner

Helen hugged her knee . Fortunately all their friends agreed ’ that Willy s maiden speech was a great success , one of the best which had been heard for a long time . Though very pale he looked completely self- possessed and never paused or s he itated , well deserving the cheers which came at the end h e . S e of ev ry sentence Mary wrote to a friend that , though was not an enthusiastic admirer of his , she felt herself bursting with enthusiasm . It was a great day for the Gladstone family . n 1 8 as This happened i 1 868 . In 8 2 Willy w to be the first of the family to die except little Catherine Jessy who died in

H is . childhood . death came as the result of an operation Mary remained at Hawarden with her father while Mrs . Gladstone went to London where the operation took place . The beginning of the operation showed that a tumour was out of reach , and ’ on receiving this information in a letter it became Mary s tas k to break the news to her father . Subsequent telegrams brought worse news , which Mary decided to keep from her ’ father so that he might have a peaceful night s rest . At five next morning She received a further telegram abandoning She all hope , and began to prepare her father for the worst .

They travelled to London , and Gladstone broke down com pletely at Liverpool Street on receiving a message that Willy a m had died at . There is a pathetic record of the good ’ father s grief. “ e Parents very very much broken . He wrote a little m moir ’ Pil ims P o ess on the day of the funeral . He read gr r gr through ” on the day of the death .

Even the Gladstones had their political ups and downs . In 1 880 Herbert found himself defeated in a Middlesex election ’ in contest . Mary shared gleefully the excitement of Herbert s political meetings . There was a rapturous one at Holborn

Town Hall , another at Mill Hill , where he made two very

s . nice speeche , and others at Hendon , and Hampstead At

ar the last they expected disturbance , but It turned out to be a the best of all next to Hounslow . Mary declared th t the groans for Lord Beac on sfield were the first things she ever

heard . 6 0 T H E P E R F E C T A G E

’ s i Beac onsfield Quite naturally, she di l ked , her father s great al s riv . Even so her comment on his death seem to an extent as She t unfeeling , particularly was one of hose people who 1 88 1 take death seriously . She wrote in April , “ ’ Beac on sfield s To think of my never mentioning Ld . death

- fl wn . A . 1 n o on p 9 , and all the co sequent rush of highest praise ” : First rate nonsense rampaged for a week , adding later “ Beac on sfield Father said Ld . had lowered the whole standard in o of morality politics , specially among the C nservatives , ” in a lesser degree among the Liberals . With the Gladstone children it was a case of:

My father, right or wrong . tandard Everyone thought Herbert boun d to be elected . The S (now dead) said it was merely a question of whether he would be head of the poll or second . The Gladstone family took ’ his success for granted , and on polling day Mary and Gladstone s secretaries prepared victorious paragraphs for the papers . But when Mary drove to Election Headquarters Herbert came out with a white face and said : “ ’ — I m nowhere two or three thousand votes behind , and so it proved to be . However he went home to a sacrificial n luncheon and managed to eat two chops , and In the eveni g ’ - news came of his father s success In Mid Lothian . ’ Gladstone s Scottish campaign had proved to be one long t triumph , and naturally Mary, who , wi h her mother, aecom

an ied . p him , was in ecstasies The triumph began at Carlisle ; and at Galashiels people turned out , and Mrs . Gladstone and Mary nearly had their hands shaken off. At Edinburgh roaring crowds packed the station , although it was dark at the time of their arrival . Lord Rosebery met them , and they galloped through the streets in an open carriage with four horses and many police outriders on their way to Dalmeny where they were to stay with Lord Rosebery . All the way to

Dalmeny people lined the roads , with an accompaniment of ’ hi l bonfires , fireworks , and torches , but Lord Rosebery s gh y trained horses behaved perfectly . At Dalkeith Gladstone spoke for an hour and a half to an audience of and at a second meeting Scottish women m ad irers gave Mrs . Gladstone a table cloth and a book of

. photographs The peak moment of the tour arrived at Glasgow , where Gladstone delivered his Rectorial address . All the ’ family pride In their father surged up in Mary s heart and she became almost lyrical In her description of the same

The moment he began in his Rectorial black and gold the robes , the deadest silence fell on whole assembly, and for In an hour and half they seemed spellbound . It was his most splendid manner, and I shall never forget the solemn , earnest tone of voice with which he ended his appeal to those youths .

So noble , so strong, and so high was this appeal that no one cd . listen without being moved , and the shout that burst fr . every corner of the building when he ended can never be ” forgotten .

ha d Mary then one of her unkind cuts at her bugbear, Disraeli

i S r W . Thompson told me there could not be a greater contrast t han thi s lofty strain dragging everybody one step higher In their lives and the last Rectorial address wh . was ’ ‘ Diz z s wh : i y and the text of . was Watch the t mes and frame ’

. wh Is . yr . acts and yr lives according to . way the tide running

It was not anything like full then . Today every inch was crammed and many were the wet eyes that I saw glistening among the ” eager young faces .

In It seems only fair to quote the comment of Mr . Buckle L o rae the official ife f D is li on the speech which Mary maligned . “ Few statesmen were more qualified by sympathy and experience to give advice to youth . He had never ceased to be young in feeling , and to feel for the young ; and he himself was a dazzling example of what resolute and aspiring youth i coul d achieve . He Impressed upon h s hearers at Glasgow in the necessity , In order to succeed life , for two kinds of — - first l and - t knowledge se f knowledge , hen knowledge of the ” spirit of the age . ’ Disraeli s speech contained this passage , the truth of which has been proved by events from 1 9 1 4 to the present hour :

t If it is true , as I believe , that an aris ocracy distinguished l it a merely by wea th must perish from satiety, so I hold equ lly true that a people who recognise no higher aim than physical

enjoyment must become selfish and enerv ated . Under such m circu stances , the supremacy of race, which is the key of history, 8 62 T H E P E R F E C T A G E i will assert Itself. Some human progeny, distingu shed by their t a s bodily vigour or their masculine Intelligence, or by bo h qu litie , l wil assert their superiority, and conquer a world which de ns h serves to be e laved . It will then be found t at our boasted in progress has only been an advancement a circle , and that our new philosophy has brought us back to that old serfdom It i which has taken ages to ext rpate .

. G Yet, let no one grudge Mary her gibe ladstone was a wonderful father and a wonderful man . She once declared ’ t in It hat politics were Papa s sphere , and all that he did was n right . Wh"at else could one expect from his loving and admiri g daughter It Is in glimpses of their home life at Hawarden Castle that we catch the full charm of Gladstone and his devoted family .

There he rested and gathered mental , physical and spiritual h refreshment , working on is translations of Greek and Latin authors in the Temple of Peace and felling the trees in his woods for recreation . H is habits at home were simple and pious . He attended

ul - church reg arly on Sundays and week days alike , and on s as Sundays usually read the lessons . He could li ten as well talk, but in conversation he could not help being earnest , and failed to see that his opinion on some trivial subject held less his f Interest than experiences as a statesman . Lord Ox ord s us as give an am ing Instance of thi s peculiarity . He w dining out and Gladstone was among the guests . “ ” him In a lull at dinner, wrote Lord Oxford , I heard dwelling and with much unction and his best parliamentary manner, to Arthur Cecil , the actor, on the Immense and ” his s " gratifying strides taken in time by the art of denti try In another passage Lord Oxford disagrees with a remark of Cardinal Mannin g “ ‘ ’ Mr . is Gladstone, Cardinal Manning reported to have ‘ said , is a substantive who likes to be attended by adjectives , "’ l and I am not exactly an adjective A very superficia judgment . was in ohtics It far from being true of him p , and still less so in social life, where he was not only . a model of courtesy and ms fine manners , but always ready to give and take on even ter , subject to the natur al advantage that Providence had endowed him t wi h all the gifts of a great actor, not excluding (as some ” foolish people imagined) an excellent sense of humour . w. . L D S T T H E P F E H E G A O N E , E R C T F A T E R 63 Thus Mary could chronicle on one occasion at Hawarden that they had a wondr ous outburst from Papa at breakfast on i a I I the Eastern Question t ll p st , and on another that there ’ Moz le s o was much Interesting talk on the y , Lessing s Laoco n ‘ ’ ’ or climax or fragments , Holman Hunt s big picture , pictures , I ar was gunners , music , and whether the nc nation the crowning

i. e. or act of creation , independent of the fall of man the result of it . There was always a lecture at prayers . On one Saturday In It was on Coffins . the middle of a conversation on how best to realise death Alfred Lyttelton contributed the opinion : “ ” is — This a new road not paid for yet . ’ There is also a final note of Mary s : i Very snug evenings n the Temple of Peace . This simple word might almost become Gladstone ’ s epitaph as far as his children were concerned . Mary used It over and ’ s over again . Her most sati factory conclusion of a day s entry in her diary Is always something like : “ ” Papa at home , very snug . G in Weddings In the ladstone family, as more ordinary ’ m o ut fa ilies , were great events , and perhaps Mary s turned i to be the most dramatic and satisfy ng of all . For one thing, she, who could have married “ anyone chose for her husband the Reverend Harry Drew, who originally had come to Hawarden is : as curate . There an early note on him dated from Hawarden “ him Mr . Drew dined , sat by latter and liked , very quiet and strong and thoughtful . They became engaged on Christmas

- 1 88 . was . Day, 5 Mary then thirty eight and he thirty She in wrote , a letter to a friend announcing the engagement “ ik 0 0 You know I always said I shd . l e to try and live on £3 ” a year . e However, they began their marri d life at Hawarden Castle , mte _ and remarkably enough Mr _ _Drew q failed to be over

o - In - whelmed by his tremend us father law, partly on account ’ 3 of his own personality , partly because of Gladstone deep

was - respect for the clergy . He singularly good looking, with hi n his a great sense of in spite of thoughtful , dreamy manner, ’

him i o . and Mary adored . The wedd ng to k place at St Margaret s , 2n d 1 886 l Westminster , on February , , while Gladstone wrest ed d with the difficulties of forming a new Government . Mary a ds after the date of the wedding in her diary : “ Purification of 64 T H E P E R F E C T A C E She slept soundly on the night before her wedding and woke ’ only just in time to go to St . Paul s with her sister Helen , where i they met Stephen , Agnes , Harry Drew , and one or two int mate “

friends . She dressed quietly after breakfast , having eaten bacon and drunk coffee as if I was only going to ordinary ” ’ H er Sunday church . wedding dress and her bridesmaids dresses hi were of muslin , w ch she considered more suitable for a clergy ’ man s wife than a richer fabric .

Large and cheering crowds greeted her on her way to St . ’ Margaret s , Westminster . Her brother Stephen married them .

The Prince and Princess of Wales , who had given her a diamond

crescent , attended the wedding reception . Two of her small

bridesmaids were nearly sick . Lady Brownlow lent them a h house near As ridge for the honeymoon , and they were quite happy from the first to the last and never felt bored for one ’ r Amiel s ournal minute . They read among othe works , j and

the Book of Job . ’ Two years later followed her parents golden weddin g . On this occasion a hundred and thirty friends presented Gladstone ’ ’ with his wife s portrait, and Mrs . Gladstone with her husband s .

The presentation took place In London and Mr . Morley (later

Lord Morley of Blackburn) gave a moving address . i 1 The years drifted on t ll 894 . Gladstone was now a very l f in old man . His Home Rule Bi l su fered defeat the House of Lords after it had been debated In the House of Commons

- h for eighty two days , for , i n the height of the s ooting season , 1 1 4 9 peers arrived to vote against his 4 supporters . In his last speech In the Commons he dealt faithfully with the Lords . His hearing and sight were failing , but still that

l - ai marvellous voice could hold listeners spel bound . He s d ff The di erences , not of a temporary or casual nature ff ff merely, but di erences of conviction , di erences of prepossession , ff an d ff di erences of mental habit , di erences of fundamental s tendency, between the Hou e of Lords and the House of Commons appear to have reached a development in the present year ( 1 894) such as to create a state of things of which we are compelled to say that, in our judgment, It cannot continue .

Sir, I do not wish to use hard words , which are easily employed — and as easily retorted it Is a game that two can play at but without using hard words I have felt It a duty to state in dis utab lc the p facts .

66 T H E P E R F E C T A G E

i n He resigned on a motion of enqu ry I to the Crimean War, and was out of office for several years . The year 1 859 found him once more Chancellor of the

Exchequer In a Palmerston Government , when he reduced ff 1 86 taxation and tari duties . In the General Election of 5 he lost Oxford but won South Lancashire and led the House R of Commons , the Prime Minister, Earl ussell , being In the In 1 866 l House of Lords . He introduced a Reform Bil which was defeated . He represented Greenwich when the Liberals

In 1 868 P s . returned to power , and became rime Mini ter He In proceeded to disestablish the Church Ireland , but was de feated on a Bill dealing with Irish university education . When the Tories returned to power he resigned the leadership of the

Liberal party . ’ Disraeli s policy in connection with the Bulgarian atrocities him r 1 880 brought back , and he retu ned to power in as member His I . G for Midlothian , and set out to deal with reland overn ment lost the confidence of the country thr ough their foreign r policy, and the murder of General Gordon at Kha toum , whom they were accused of abandoning to his fate, and were defeated i In 1 1 88 . 886 in 5 He became Pr me Minister once more , only to be defeated on a Home Rule Bill for Ireland . He was Prime Minister for the fourth time in 1 89 2 to be defeated again on a Home Rule Bill , which was passed by the Commons and i ns defeated in the Lords , a result wh ch i pired his last speech , quoted above . On his resignation of the leadership of the f him Liberal Party Queen Victoria o fered an earldom, which he declined . In View of the frequently strained relations between the Queen and himself he was deeply touched by the terms of ’ in i ff Her Majesty s letter wh ch she made the o er . He sent It to Earl Granville with the comment : “ I send you a letter from the Queen which moves and almost

. It upsets me It must have cost her much to write, and is really ” a pearl of great pric e . i ’ Th s , then , is the tale of Gladstone s accomplishments which him make history, but the account of as a husband and fifi her is just as honourable and even more moving . The contrast between his public life and the simplicity of his private life ul r was sing arly d amatic . “ r We were brought up , w ote Mary, with a gr eat parochial L D S N T H E F 6 w . E . G A T O E , P E R E C T F A T H E R 7 n ’ sense . I taught every Su day In St . Martin s School (in London) i and accounts were rig dly kept . We had small allowances , and were taught to give away nearly all that was not necessary ” for boots and gloves . In other places she records the fact “ all that the R M. was singing the evening “ ’ art My e Is true to Poll , and that on another occasion he

- in - walked upstairs to bed arm arm with Mrs . Gladstone , while both of them sang

ff ran ti ollin A ragamu in husband and a p g wife , ’ We ll fiddle it and scrape it through the ups an d downs f f ” O li e .

Truly, as Lord Oxford declares , Gladstone had a great sense of humour . He had also , when his patience was strained to breaking p oint , a biting Irony . He once said to Mary , when f Sir Sta ford Northcote , Leader of the Conservative Opposition , displeased him by his attitude towards resolutions for a form Of closure “ Sir Stafford Is made of some liquid which is so much weaker ” th an water that to add water would strengthen it . And there was that annihilating description , for Queen Victoria, of the conduct of Irish Members in a debate :

t his Mr . Gladstone wi h humble duty reports to Your Majesty

- ai d that for the last twenty four hours the debate has been m ntaine , principally by the Irish Members , sometimes on the main f question , more requently on motions of adjournment ; some times rising to the level of mediocrity, and more often grovelling ” amidst mere trash In unbounded profusion .

He loved Hawarden with all his heart and Often exasperated colleagues and Whips by lingering there till the last po ssible

‘ day and by returning there b efore thzy had agreed to his de u I part re from London . n the surrounding countryside he f or r took long swift walks which he was famous . Their reco d is a testimony to his enormous physical energy . When sixty - three years old he walked thirty- three mile"s the over hills and valleys of his native Scotland . When eighty one he walked In a snowstorm fr om the House of Commons in h to a house Park Lane , and on arriving there remarked wit so me satisfaction : 68 T H E P E R F E C T A G E

- Twenty eight minutes . It must have seemed tragic to in him , the last phase , to note that the doors of the senses were

n . gradually closing , and his physical powers gradually declini g his Like most exceedingly healthy men , all life he had felt a horror of Illness . In the minor Indispositions from which he

s . suffered he was what I known as a bad patient When , on rare occasions , he could not sleep , be believed that the end was near . Mary described his final resignation as the flowers without

I O . the funeral because flowers poured into No . Downing Street

Her father compared them to funeral wreaths . It was a great blow to Mrs . Gladstone who , as Mary said , loved being Inside the mainspring of history , and all the stir and stress and throb of the machine was life and breath to her . But her husband had made up his mind , and she bore the blow bravely . Mary gives us this last picture of the political scene : “ l - P . M There was this great O d Ex . left with loads of corres on den c e f p , raining addresses , with his di ficulties of sight and ” ill and weak from his bronchitis . 1 A little later in the year 894 he had an Operation for cataract . The Prince of Wales (later King Edward VI I) called and wo Bambbas Con ssions a oman t e W . recommended novels , and f of

In the following year Gladstone and Mrs . Gladstone and i Mary visited Kiel for the open ng of the Kiel Canal , and there he made a remarkable prophecy . When someone said that the b e : great fleets ensured peace , answered “ This means war . Mary thought the fleets very impressive ,

- of- especially the Italian men war . The German ships looked

. did u hideous The British best , and lay at reg lar Intervals in as if rooted , great forts the sea , cruel , with their guns pointed at one another . ’ It was towards the end of 1 897 that Gladstone s health began a unmistakably to f il . Perhaps he had for some time felt a Of t 1 6 i premonition death , because on Chris mas Eve 89 on h s wa y down to evening chapel , he was heard to say “ I do not think I shall be able to finish my book on Homer —a l last discip ine , and one onlooker formed the impression t hat he was very ill . In February 1 897 Gladstone and his wife and Mary had d eparted for Cannes . Queen Victoria was there also , and Princess Louise and Mary arranged that their Grand Old L D S N w . . F H E G A T O E , T H E P E R F E C T A T E R 69 l People , as Mary called them , shou d meet . At this time Mary “ " usually referred to her father as the an abbreviation of “ Ex The visit to Queen Victoria duly took place , when

Gladstone shook hands with the Queen and Mrs . Gladstone ’ i all i k ssed her . The Queen s manner was k ndness and gentleness , but she looked much older . When the time came for the journey back to England the it question of how Gladstone would bear caused some anxiety . The end of 1 89 7 found him back at Can nes with fair reports i as in of his health reach ng Mary In England , though he w mak g little progress towards recovery . In January 1 898 the news from Cannes told that he was ff su ering from neuralgia and low spirits , the latter an alarming symptom because he had always loved life . Mrs . Gladstone watched over him faithfully but the doctor In attendance was giving her bromide to calm her anxiety . Mary considered that part of his depression arose from the fact that he had l been a lowed to give up all work , so that there remained nothing hi in m . for to th k about except his ailments In February Mrs . Gladstone and he returned to England and stayed at Bourne him mouth , where Mary advised to begin work once more . A great friend of the family came to see him and left him In better his ff s s . spirit , but pain increased and he su ered very bad night n Each succeeding week found him i greater pain . He had as k ce ed to go out but took . a good deal of wal ing exercise in a passage . In March he went home to Hawarden and It was r d a known that he sufl e e from a fatal disease . His f mily realised that he had come home to die . By this time the doctors were hi th giving m morphia . On April 9 he went out Into the garden l for the last time . Towards the end of Apri he asked his doctor if the end would be soon , and when the doctor said yes , exclaimed fervently : “ ‘ he— - to Thank God . Once said Mary — fift - Bless you all . Carry my blessing to my wife for y eight ” years . 1 8 On the th of May he seemed to rally, and then continued in to lose strength . There was great pathos the movements of m 2 a . . his hands and his head , and he longed for death . At 1 th on the morning of May 9 , which was Ascension Day, Harry

Gladstone and Mary called all the family to his bedside . His wife knelt at the right of his bed . He breathed rapidly for 70 T H E P E R F E C T A G E

In two hours , and then Mary and Harry noticed a change f his breathing ; It became slower and more di ficult . Stephen came and read the last prayers , and as he prayed his father passed peacefully away .

In Parliament , leaders of all parties united to do honour to his memory . Mr . Balfour, leader of the Opposition , spoke of him as the greatest member of the greatest assembly the world had ever seen , and Lord Salisbury said the country had lost the most brilliant intellect ever devoted to the service of the State since parliamentary Government began . The House a adjourned , and arrangements were made for a State Funer l at Westminster Abbey . Mary wrote of his funeral

an d l We all moved up to the grave , children grandchi dren , h w . Mama close to It , kneeling, a wonderful scene one had I hardly presence of mind to take n . The grave is very deep and ’ full of sea sand . After the blessing Mama called Dossie (Mary s daughter, Dorothy Drew) and Will (W . G . C . Gladstone) to

‘

i . her and spoke to them beaut fully, one by one Then the pall bearers and Sidney Herbert as representing the Queen . Each S one she poke to , just the little fitting word .

P At the end of the service , the rince of Wales went up to

Mrs . Gladstone , kissed her hand , and expressed his sympathy, and Prince George (afterwards King George V) followed his ’ - father s example . Seeing this , all the pall bearers did the same . ’ was In 1 8 1 This Catherine Gladstone s second great trial . 9 she had lost her eldest son , and now her husband had been taken from her . But the sympathy and sincere grief shown by the di stinguished mourners at his funeral so exalted her that, as one onlooker put It , she entered the Abbey a widow, and left it a bride . With all the vitality of a great beauty and a great lady she s her recovered her health and spirits , con oled by religion “ e which , as a friend declared , was not forced , not obtrud d , air but as natural and vital as fresh was , not an adjunct of l ” f. ife , but life Itsel Therefore it Is not surprising that the last words she spoke were : “ I s mu t not be late for church . She survived her husband 1 1 0 0 wasb uried until june 4th , 9 , and close to him In Westminster

Abbey . W E . L D S T H E F T H 1 . G A T O N E , P E R F E C T A E R 7

1 1 0 wi r wi In 9 Mary lost her adored husband th t agic s ftness .

He was seized suddenly with acute Internal pain . The doctors e xplained that he could not live without an operation , but

that the operation was practically hopeless . He survived the

operation only for a short time . ’ ll N 1 28 Mary lived on ti ew Year s Day, 9 , a long life of eighty u 1 26 in years . In the aut mn of 9 she had had a thrombosis a leg, but it seemed to clear up and she went to Hawarden ’ for Christmas . There was a large New Year s Eve party and on the next day she felt remarkably well , but on going to bed i a became very fa nt . A doctor reached her within a qu rter hi of an hour , but there was not ng that could be done to save her . The story of Gladstone IS the story of a brave and steadfast life , fortified by the love and trust of a devoted family . He left It on record that the three men of the greatest parliamentary courage he had known were Peel , Lord John Russell and

In his . Disraeli . his own life courage was perhaps not less The closing scene is of a valiant old man struggling patiently with the physical disabilities of advanced age, because , as “ f as t it Lord Ox ord wrote , he was convinced as ever hat was ’ ‘ ' ' ' ' In zn ussu m eratorzs za est not for him ( Cicero s fine phrase) j I p , “ D ei a statione , ( Without an order from his Com G m mander, od Hi self, to quit his N LORD MELBOUR E , THE PERFECT HUSBAND

LORD MELBOURNE married for love in his youth , and in spite in his i of every disappointment marriage loved beaut ful , wayward wife to the end . in 1 William Lamb , second Lord Melbourne , born 779 , was the i i son of El zabeth Milbanke , w fe of the first Lord Melbourne , and her lover Lord Egremont . Sir Peniston Lamb , first Lord

Melbourne, was very rich . He Inherited his baronetcy and t his wealth from his father, Sir Mat hew Lamb , a lawyer who advised the great families of England during the early Hanoverian period and took the opportunity to feather his own nest . i f Sir Pen ston Lamb , as a young man, represented delight ul and easy prey for beautiful ladies and unscrupulous men . He

- i was good looking , charm ng and wealthy, with the prospect ti In of becoming s ll more wealthy later on . His father died 1 768 leaving him an enormous fortune and the estates of

Melbourne and Brocket . At Brocket a new house was nearing completion . i Pen ston had two sisters , the elder of whom , Charlotte , Fauc on b er 1 Is married the third Earl of g In 766 . It probable ’ that Lady Fau c on b erg arranged Peniston s marriage In order to save him from beautiful but predatory ladies and unscrupulous e men , and encourage him to lead a regular life . He poss ssed neither character nor personality and needed the care and watchfulness of a sensible woman . Charlotte chose for his h nl Sir R bride Elizabet , the o y daughter of alph Milbanke , H aln ab In Of l Baronet, of y the county York, a beautifu York

hi . 1 6 i t s re lass They were married In 7 9 , when El zabe h was t the ei her seventeen or twenty years old, for date of her birth 18 uncertain . l t Sir E izabeth was an ambi ious girl , and Peniston soon found that he needed all his money In order to gratify her ambitions . As time went on her character developed and she became still more beautiful and attractive . The characterless Sir

Peniston could only hold her by means of his money . When N they had been married little more than a year, Lord orth

T H E F A G E 74, P E R E C T

lac e . Petworth , so Greville tells us , was a very grand p The house was magnificent , full of art treasures and pictures , among which the Vandykes and Reynolds were much admired . Like

Sir Peniston, Lord Egremont was enormously rich , and for sixty “ of his eighty years he reigned at Petworth with great authority ” and Influence . Turner, the great landscape painter, stayed there . The stables contained three hundred horses . Lord Egremont gave enormous fetes for the women and children of as the surrounding parishes , attended by many as six thousand

G - fire persons . un announced dinner and a band played while

his . the guests ate, and Lord Egremont watched from windows s He showed him elf rather shy and silent in the ballroom , i but created havoc among the lad es during the morning ride,

or a walk in the gardens . There was something in his voice and

manner that made him Irresistible to women , and even to men .

Thus Eliz abeth had every excuse for taking him as her lover . i him n When Sir Pen ston found eternally consorti g with her, ’ ni and his opi on being followed Instead of her husband s , par ticularl b e y in regard to her second son, William , reacted r l unfavou ably . Unfortunately he possessed far too litt e strength

of character to oppose a Lord Egremont . is him There , or was, at Brocket a portrait of , so exactly like i t Will am hat no one could help noticing the resemblance . The Sir story goes that William, In his old age, showed Edwin Landseer the Sir round grand salon at Brocket, and when Edwin saw the portrait of Lord Egremont he could not hide his surprise or

prevent himself from turning to look at William . “ “ ’ " ai Aye , William s d . You ve heard that story have you ’ ” lie It s a damned for all that . Then he added , more to himself than to Sir Edwin “But who the devil can tell who ’ s anybody ’ s father"”

Honours accrued to the Melbournes . His Lordship was made in 1 80 an Irish Viscount 7 , and subsequently a Lord of the

Bedchamber to the Prince of Wales . ’ his his William, like all brothers , went to Eton . He was mother s r his favourite son, partly pe haps on account of romantic birth, ai i cert nly because of his brilliant g fts . Elizabeth , an ambitious N woman , could not have endured a dull son . one of them u e (for she bore four) was d ll, but William easily outshone th

rest .

Nevertheless, he could not look forward to a dazzling future , L D M L B N T H E F SB D O R E O U R E , P E R E C T H U A N 75

for he was the second son , and nine years separated him from ’ fi - rst o . the b rn Peniston , the eldest, remained always his father s

al . favourite, not together without reason William was duly birched at Eton and either as a result or

from natural inclination became an excellent classical scholar .

Apart from this little Is recorded of him at Eton . Among his con a temporaries was Sumner, fterwards Archbishop of Canterbury, “ u and George Brummel , later to be known as Beau Br mmel , A ssheton the king of the dandies , and Smith , later to be wor

- shipped wherever fox hunters were gathered together . ni When he left Eton he proceeded to Tri ty College, Cambridge , his in 1 6 . taking up residence October, 79 Already disposition

had been summed up as lazy and dilettante , but at Cambridge the iron streak In his character which lay beneath his laziness ll n di etta tism f. and manifested itsel He was only a second son , his with way to make in the world , but he declined to attempt distinction by following the course of study laid down by the ni U versity, except for the matter of classic poets and historians .

He loathed mathematics , like so many intelligent people, and

read more or less what he pleased .

Being a second son he needed to adopt a career, and so he ’ t st chose the law . He was entered at Lincoln s Inn on July 2 , 1 his 79 7 , and kept law terms at the same time as his college

terms .

His literary gifts made themselves evident quite early, for he 1 8 won the declamation prize In Michaelmas Term , 79 , for an in n oration delivered the Chapel of Tri ity College . It had the “ Imposing title : On the Progressive Improvement of Mankind . In the same year a contribution of his headed : Epistle to the ” A n - b n Chronic Editor of the ti J aco in adorned the Morni g le. Four F ashionable F riends years later, when Miss Berry had her play produced , he wrote the Epilogue . It was about the year when he décl aimed about the Progressive Improvement of Mankind and contributed to the Morning C r i h on cle that he first met the love of his life . She was Lady Bessb r u h o o . Caroline Ponsonby, daughter of the third Lord g She and her cousins were the guests of Lady Melbo urne at In f Brocket Hall , and the stately mansion and the beauti ul

in . gardens William fell . love with her

At that time she had only reached her thirteenth year, so h b e if t at there could no question of an engagement, even her 76 T H E P E R F E C T A G E parents would have tolerated a mere second son as a suitor for ’

ul . Caroline, which they wo d not have done William s heart became fixed on her nevertheless . She was quite ready to admire him him , for she had heard of as the friend of liberty, and she rather ran to Ideals . If this sounds Odd in a gi rl of thirteen It must be remembered ’ that a gi rl of Caroline s class in the eighteenth century was much older for her years than a similar girl of her age would be

- l to day . For one thing Caro ine had run wild and more or less brought herself up for another she was brought up at home the like the rest of her contemporaries , and met all distinguished In people who appeared at Devonshire House , where she lived Of the care of her aunt , the celebrated Georgina, Duchess n Devonshire . Nowadays she would o ly have found herself one of a crowd In the preparatory department of her public school , learning to consider herself mud in the eyes of her elders and betters . i William then departed from Brocket to continue h s education . C onse In those days , as now, Europe found itself at war .

quently, as young noblemen on coming down from Oxford or Cambridge could not perambulate the Continent on a grand in tour order to enlarge their minds and cultivate their tastes , it became the custom to send them for a year or so to a Scottish

University . There they attended lectures side by side with the

simple Scottish students , brought up on oatmeal , penniless , but

thirsting for knowledge . Therefore William after coming down from Cambridge journeyed to Edinburgh and became a resident student at the him house of Professor Millar, who lectured to on constitutional M ln e history , while Professor y lectured on metaphysics . This represented the theoretical side of his training as a future states

man , for he was to become a statesman , but there was also the

practical Side .

At Edinburgh there existed a collegiate debating club , and

he spoke at their debates with great distinction . He became n k own for his caustic humour in reply, and this caustic humour, l all mel owing as the years flowed by, was to remain , with him i his l fe . Perhaps it served to console him In the vicissitudes of

his marriage . In 1 80 the Michaelmas term of 4 he was called to the Bar, s being determined on a succes ful legal career . He only appeared L D M L B T H E S B D O R E O U R N E , P E R F E C T H U A N 7 7

c u i s s h In o rt once , and this was at the Lancash re Se sion , w en he received a brief marked one guinea . Yet he must have lost his heart to the law as well as to Caroline , or it may have been e e l n the xtravagance of youth , for he confess d his old age that the Sight of his name on the back of his one brief made him 1n a an d happier than any other achievement his c reer, he lived to become Prime Minister on two occasions . ’ From time to time he saw C aroline at her father s Roehampton villa , but his future at the Bar did not appear very flattering , and neither her family nor his took his passion for Caroline s seriou ly . in 1 80 In But 5 his prospects changed , for that year his elder brother Peniston died , leaving William heir to the title and t ’ estates . His fa her s heart was broken . It might have been said of Penis ton as of Lycidas

For Peniston is dead , dead ere his prime , an d a Young Peniston , h th not left his peer Who would not sing for Peniston "he knew

Himself to sing , and build the lofty rhyme .

- He was only thirty four . There Is a picture of him , with great ’ t dark eyes like his father s , in riding coa and breeches , leaning “ ” against his horse Assassin . He may not have built the lofty was a u In the rhyme, but he f mo s at amateur theatricals and hunting field . He loved the beautiful Mrs . Dick Musters , and was It when he dying Lady Melbourne , who knew what meant

as . to be In love , ked Mrs . Musters to Melbourne House Peniston in died her arms .

- In S On his death the broken hearted father refused , pite of ’ u w Lady Melbo rne s entreaties , to allo William the a h ad t year Peniston had , and gave him only S ill , even on a year he m anaged to set up In Town with his old Brumme l nr Etonian friend , George r a little house in Chester

field Street an d cut something of a figure as a gilded bachelor .

a f t . Yet he m de his e fect in spi e of himself, or so he pretended l He a leged that he did not care what he wore or how he looked , ’ him or what he said , but no man s coats ever fitted better than ’ a Willi m s fitted him . He adopted this pose and maintained it

throughout his life, preferring to be considered indolent an d Idle .

Yet his library was exceptional , he loved the classics , and his l was hi k conversation was bril iant . In politics he a W g , li e his

F 78 T H E P E R F E C T A G E

’ s relations and friends , many of whom belonged to Brook s Club , a Whig stronghold , of which he too became a member , being proposed by Fox hims elf. On the death of his brother Peniston he turned seriously to the conquest of Caroline , for now a lack of fortune no longer stood in his way . At this time she was about nineteen and perfectly Is adorable . She said to have fallen short of beauty, but she had

ff s . Ine able charm , a fa cinating personality and extreme grace ’ — ’ Her portrait in page s dress she was fond of wearing boy s — ’ clothes would go straight to any man s heart .

She had a delicious figure , hazel eyes , golden hair, a low I musical voice , and an nfinite capacity for seeing life as a glittering romance with herself as the heroine . Her friends gave her

appropriate nicknames , like Squirrel , Ariel and Sprite , just as Lady Jersey ’ s friends called her “ Silence because she never i stopped talk ng . Yet with all her attractiveness , Caroline seemed f to realise that she would make William a fatal wi e , because when first he asked her to marry him she refused . She declared that her violent temper would make their married life impossible . To console him she offered to wear boy ’ s clothes and become

his secretary . She seems to have been a quaint mixture of l innocence and sophistication, for when eventua ly she married it appeared not to have occurred to her that marriage meant ’ leaving her parents house and living with her husband . Natur ’ ally, William could not agree to her wearing boy s clothes and

becoming his secretary . He proposed to her again later , and i th s time she accepted him . Perhaps no marriage she could have made would have ended u happily, owing to her peculiar temperament and strange p

bringing . When she was three years old her mother was ordered

to Italy by the doctors for health reasons , and took Caroline ’ . Bessb orou h s with her In Italy Lady g health became worse , in and she returned home , leaving Caroline Italy for some years the in care of a servant . When she came back to England her

aunt , the Duchess of Devonshire , took charge of her, and she c o sm was educated with her u s . Q i e if The children were served on s lv r, but they wanted a it second helping they had to go down to the kitchen and fetch ,

because the servants were always quarrelling , and too busy ’ with their quarrels to be bothered with their master s children . Caroline and her cousins grew up in an amazing state of L D M L B T H E S B D O R E O U R N E , P E R F E C T H U A N 79

ignorance . A letter from her to Lady Morgan, written years later, describes her Incredible childhood :

We had no idea that bread and butter was made ; how it came we di d not pause to thi nk ; but had no dou bt that fine

Old . horses must be fed on beef. At ten years I could not write My kind aunt Devonshire had taken me when my mother ’ s ill health prevented my being at home . My cousin Hartington ai loved me better than himself, and everyone p d me the compli

ments shown to children likely to die . I wrote not, spelt not , l a a l u . but I made verses which they tho ght be utiful For myself, h I preferred washing a dog, or polishing a piece of Derbys ire

spar , or breaking in a horse if they would let me . At ten years ’ Old I was taken to my godmother, Lady Spencer s , where the In ffl 0 housekeeper, hoop and ru es , reigned over 7 servants

- and attended the ladies in the drawing room . A ll my childhood I was a trouble , not a pleasure ; and my

temper was so wayward that Lady Spencer got Dr . Warren i to examine me . He said I was neither to learn anyth ng or see anyone for fear the violent passions and strong whims found in w me should lead to madness ; of hich , however, he said t ff there were as yet no symp oms . I di er ; my Instinct was for

It . music ; in I delighted I cried when it was pathetic , and all Bu did that Dryden made Alexander do . t of course I was not allowed to follow It up . The severity of my governesses and the over - Indulgence of my parents spoiled my temper ; ” 1 and the end was that until I was 5 I learned nothing .

’ l Such was William s bride according to herse f. Clenar o is After her marriage she wrote a novel , v n, which l autobiographica . The heroine is Lady Calantha Avondal e and she describes her thus

Her failings , indeed , swelled Into a tide too powerful for n ers the unequal resistance of _ her u d tanding ; her motives appeared the very best ; but the actions which resulted from them were absurd and exaggerated . Thoughts swift as lightning burned through her brain ; projects seducing but visionary crowded upon her View ; without a curb she followed the im of pulse her feelings , and those feelings warred with every i ” vary ng Interest and Impression .

l l In lli In spite of all this , Caro ine was natura ly of a high te

. u s gence She learned lang ages ea ily, and understood French , 80 T H E P E R F E C T A G E

as Italian , Latin and Greek very well . She loved painting well as music , and her clothes and conversation were unusual

and Interesting . ’ r Naturally, Caroline s family and f iends felt a deep interest i t In her marriage , and the general opin on decided tha she t a l looked prettier h n ever . She and Wil iam were married on rd 1 80 — a — the evening of June g , 5 the year of Traf lgar between ’ the seven and eight O clock in the evening . When moment of departure arrived Caroline became hysterical since the fact that she would leave her parents had not entered her head , ut but William behaved to her In a manner bea iful , tender and

s off . con iderate , and they went to their honeymoon at Brocket n Afterwards they occupied a suite of rooms i Melbourne House . 1 80 6 In January , , William became Whig member for Leo f minster, and the serious business of li e began for him but

Caroline remained gay and irresponsible . Politics did not appeal

to her . She preferred painting and music and riding and giving

parties . The new dances , the waltz and the quadrille , were u a i just coming In , and at Melbourne Ho se Caroline pr ct sed t them together with Lady Jersey, Lady Cowper , and o her

lovelies of London Society . William was doing more stalwart f work . The Ministry of All the Talents was in O fice and he i agreed with M nisters on all points of Importance . A few years later the Regent would say of him at a Holland House dinner p arty after William had left “ t Sligo , mark my words , hat man will some time or other be ” Prime Minister . l This prophecy, un ike many of the things the Regent said ,

was true .

Caroline gave immense assemblies at Melbourne House .

According to Miss Berry, she herself left one of them at half

an hour after midnight , and had to walk past the Admiralty

to find her carriage . The Admiralty is some distance from

Piccadilly . Many of her fellow guests did not leave till past

a m . 3 . The Prince of Wales had supper with Lady Melbourne two and one or other people , Sheridan , completely drunk ,

H . R . H . a . being among them . departed at six m . in William , duty bound , proceeded to found a family, and two t In 1 80 years af er his marriage , 7 , Caroline bore a son , of e whom the Prince of Wales b came godfather .

There were those who hoped , perhaps William among them ,

8 2 T H E P E R F E C T A G E

suicide, or common assault , but he consoled himself by reading a great deal . The story of her adventure follows the lines of melodrama . Byron returned to England from the Continent in the autumn “ of 1 8 1 1 bringing with him the first two cantos of Childe ” - l Harold . He was then twenty three , and Caro ine was twenty ai six . He gave proofs of his poem to cert n friends and one of the e friends lent his to Caroline , who had composed vers s even “ ” ri l before she learned to w te . Childe Harold thri led her ; so that her opinion may be checked here Is the second stanza h his : of the first Canto , In w ich Byron describes hero

’ Whilome In Albion s isle there dwelt a youth , ’ Who n e In virtue s ways did take delight ;

But spent his days In riot most uncouth ,

And vexed with mirth the drowsy ear of Night . "In was Ah me sooth he a shameless wight, Sore given to revel and ungodly glee ; Few earthly things found favour in hi s sight

Save concubines and carnal companie ,

And flaunting wassailers of high and low degree .

Once she had read the poem she longed to know Byron .

Hearing this Lady Westmorland , who had invited both Caroline and Byron to a party, led him up to her to Introduce him . Caro line gave him a long look, and turned away . She said afterwards that he was mad , bad , and dangerous to know . In all prob

‘ in ability she behaved this fashion to Impress herself on Byron , at whose feet women were falling like autumn leaves , so that no in if husband London society, he had a pretty wife, felt safe until Byron had departed once more for the Continent . The Introduction took place some time afterwards at Holland

“ House . Lady Holland Introduced him ; he asked Caroline why ’ him Westmorland s she had turned away from at Lady , and begged her permission to call on her . She must have attracted as him much as he attracted her, because he appeared at

Melbourne House next day .

Rogers and Moore were there already, talking to Caroline, “ who had been riding in the Park and described herself as filthy ” and heated . A S soon as the servant announced Byron she ran out of the room to wash herself. When she returned Rogers f o fered Byron his congratulations. L D M L B F S B D 8 O R E O U R N E , T H E P E R E C T H U A N 3

Lady Caroline , he said , has been sitting In all her dirt t with us , but when you were announced she flew to beau ify ” herself. Byron lost no time In asking her if he could call on i her when she was alone , she said he could , and their relationsh p

In consequence became on a more intimate footing . ’ There Is no modern counterpart of Byron s social situation “ t af er Childe Harold was published . In his day the fashionable world was much smaller and so the results of his fame became more concentrated . Besides , society was better educated then , and Its members actually read poetry instead of going to the

cinema . Consequently Byron became immediately a wildly t all the roman ic figure , and , as Caroline put It , women threw N up their heads at him . one of them threw up her head more t persistently han Caroline . Is It no exaggeration to say that she pestered him. She wrote him in wild letters , one of which she declared that if he needed him money he could have all her jewels . If she met at a party she refil sed to be satisfied unless he took her to her home in his If carriage , and he went to a party to which she was not invited She waited outside for him . as the i Far from being bored by this sault , in beg nning at any rate Byron was attracted . He can hardly be blamed , for few young women could make themselves more attractive than “ Caroline when she wished . He called her the cleverest , most as i agreeable, absurd , amiable , perplexing, dangerous , f cinat ng t little being that lives now, or ought to have lived a housand years ago and when a man picks his adjectives with such care

a woman must have made a deep impression on him .

William remained at home and read books . Byron even refused to let her dance because owing to lameness him he could not dance, and if she was not to dance with she it . l as should dance with no one Yet, litt e she realised , she was

- e iti for not his only love . The comp t on him was too strong for h im. her to be able to monopolise Still , she did very well,

considering . in 1 8 1 c Early 2 he was said to be going back to Gree e , and

husbands of pretty Society wives congratulated themselves .

Their vigilance might soon be relaxed . Some said that when he

returned to Greece Caroline would go with him . Sometimes they appeared together in public and sometimes they read In poetry together solitude . He complained bitterly that she 84 T H E P E R F E C T A G E

. loved William better than she loved him , and called her heartless

After nine months he began to be tired of her . One of her vices was that she insisted on talking about herself,

and Byron liked to talk about himself. She also read him her verses , a trying ordeal for a poet , who would have preferred .to hc him l In ub , read her his . Also she bored by monopo ising him p

and at last his patience became exhausted . At a ball given by Lady Heathcote she as ked Caroline to

begin dancing , whereupon Caroline , who appeared to have : seen the red light , said to Byron “ I suppose I may waltz now " ” “ . Oh yes , said Byron . With everyone in turn You always It In did better than anyone . I shall have pleasure watching ” you . Accordingly she danced and then went away to the supper

In . rooms . Byron came with other ladies and teased her She : picked up a knife , and he went on “ ' ’ If you mean to act a Roman s part , mind which way you

strike ; let it be at your own heart , not mine , for you have struck ” there already .

She ran away , still with the knife . Ladies screamed and followed an d her, in the struggle to get the knife from her her hand was

cut and she bled over her frock . The story was spread that she

had tried to murder Byron and commit suicide .

Yet still William remained calm . She had flirted with other

men and the attraction never lasted very long . Her mother and

- in - mother law took a graver view, and her mother carried her o fl a to Irel nd for three months . Byron then wrote her what should be a model letter for any man running after someone ’ else s wife to write , if he writes at all . The best part of it is In the postscript '

P S. These taunts have driven you to this , my dearest

Caroline , and were it not for your mother , and the kindness u is of yo r connections , there anything in heaven or earth that would ha"ve made me so happy as to have made you mine then long ago And not less now than , but more than ever at this im t e. God knows I wish you happy, and when I quit you ,

or rather you , from a sense of duty to your husband and mother, n quit me , you shall ack owledge the truth of what I again promise

‘ an d In vow, that no other , word or deed , shall ever hold the place in my affections which is and shall be sacred to you till L D M L B S B N O R E O U R N E , T H E P E R F E C T H U A D 85 w I am nothing . You know I would ith pleasure give up all here or beyond the grave to you ; and In refraining from this " , must my motives be misunderstoo d I care not who knows — it It ou this , what use is made of is to you , and to you only, y r se was » lf. I , and am yours , freely and entirely, to Obey, to when where and how honour, to love , and fly with you , , yourself might and may determine .

’ Actually Byron proposed to marry Caroline s cousin , Miss W Milbanke , and rote again to Caroline before she returned to England that he was no longer her lover but in love with some one else . He also begged to be left in peace . This letter made her seriously ill , but she recovered and came home . ni She ffi On retur ng to Brocket burned Byron In e gy . Byr on married In 1 8 1 5 and separated from his wife in the 1 8 1 6 f following year . In William escaped rom the political MP wilderness by being elected . for Portarlington , and after wards represented Peterborough . Shortly after the Byron episode , urged by his family , who pointed out to him what harm

Caroline was doing to his career, he decided to separate from her . The legal business began , and meanwhile she wrote her I C enarvon t . novel l , completing in a month When the deed of in separation was ready to be signed , all those concerned the transaction gathered together , but William went into her room first in order to discuss with her arrangements conce rning their son Augustus . ’ A long time passed , and then at last Caroline s brother entered ’ the room . He found her sitting on William s knees , feeding i him with scraps of bread and butter . When t came to the point he c oul not bear to part with her .

On another occasion he decided , as he thought finally , on a separation fromher and drove down to Brocket till the docu

. e him . ments could be prepared Carolin - followed When he woke in the morning she was lying like a faithful dog outside if his bedroom door so that he came out he must tread on her . in 1 8 1 8 In a letter written , she said “ k l in . I have now one faithfu , ind friend William Lamb in 1 8 2 Byron died 4 at Missolonghi , where he was helping the

Greek insurrectionists , and the shock of his death made Caroline

- considerably more eccentric . Once she entered the dining room

when the butler was arranging the table dec orations . She dis of approved them , said they needed feature , expression and 6 T H E P E R F E C T A G E

it elevation , that the centrepiece was too low and he must take

away . When he had obeyed she jumped on the table where the centrepiece had been and struck an attitude . The butler, terrified ,

rushed to find William and discovered him in the library . “ ’ ” “ For God s sake , my lord , he begged , come to the rescue ” of her ladyship .

- William went Into the dining room , and directly he saw her slight form standing on the dining table his heart was touched . He said gently : “ ” " n i Caroline, Caroline picked her up his arms , and carried her out of doors into the sunlight, talking to her tenderly in order

to distract her attention . The shock of Byron ’s death was intensified by the fact that on the first day after she had heard the news when she was well

enough to go out In an open carriage she met a funeral . William , s riding ahead of the carriage, a ked whose funeral it was and some one answered :

He tried to keep the news from Caroline, but in the end she ill had to be told , and this second shock made her again . By 1 8 25 even William could stand the strain of living with her no longer and a separation was arranged . Caroline was to live at

—in - Brocket with her father law and her son . She still wrote to him William , and even sent verses , some of which declared : "NO Loved one tear Is in my eye ,

Though pangs my bosom thrill , For I have learned when others sigh To suffer and be still

’ "’ " Tis vain tis vain no human will Can bid that time return ; There ’s not a light on earth can fill ’ Again love s darkened urn . ’ — m ' Tis vain upon my heart, y brow,

Broods grief no words can tell , But grief Itself more Idle now ” Loved one , fare"thee well . Did William still love her His subsequent history suggests di that he d . In the meantime Caroline needed distraction and it found In the youthful Bulwer, afterwards to win fame as a novelist . L D M L B N S B D O R E O U R E , T H E P E R F E C T H U A N 8 7

H IS acquaintanceship with her began at an extremely early

age . When he was quite a child Caroline performed one of the spontaneous acts of kindness which so endeared her to the world . A poor man was crushed in a crowd and Caroline without a second ’ s hesitation had him lifted into her carriage and then drove him to his home . The infant Bulwer heard of this and his young heart became touched . He wrote some childish verses in her honour and sent them to her . She was living then at Brocket , ’ not far from Knebworth , Bulwer s home . The verses either moved or amused her, and she asked his mother to call on her at Brocket and bring the boy with her . This Mrs . Bulwer did .

The child captivated Caroline . She painted an almost nude portrait of him sitting on a rock surrounded by the sea . She entitled this portrait " Seal sur la te re r , and the memory of it may have become slightly n in h his embarrassi g to Bulwer later on the t roes of love for her . During his childhood he was accustomed to visit her at Brocket

- once or twice a year . When he reached the age of twenty one he fell In love with her . Truly his infatuation was fatal because if she remained in love with anyone it was probably with William . She even deprecated his lifelong habit of hard swearing , and addressed him thus in verse

Yes , I adore thee , William Lamb , But hate to hear thee say God d Frenchmen say English cry d ’ " ar t Lam But why swe s thou Thou art a b .

his In spite of this Bulwer hurtled on to emotional doom . Caroline h ad reached the age of thirty - nine and had forgotten

Of - more the art of love making than he ever knew, and held ’ a fatal attraction for him . For one thing she had been Byron s if b e’ éfi mistress , indeed she ever had his mistress and the associa tion was not purely platonic , based on the formula of a book of u verse , and each other, beneath the bo gh , with possibly a flask its of wine , and a loaf of bread or equivalent as well .

‘

. ul She had by no means lost her looks or her figure B wer, ’ with a lover s pathos , dwells on her large hazel eyes , capable of much varied expression , extremely good teeth (In an age when In fin itel dentistry was elementary) , pleasant laugh , and y musical t voice . Also she possessed that dea hless charm which , if only 88 T H E P E R F E C T A G E

it In she had used the right direction , could so have enhanced ’ William s political career, with which he now struggled alone .

Bul wer declared her conversation to be wildly original . It “ m combined , he said , great and sudden contrasts , fro deep It pathos to infantile drollery ; now sentimental , now shrewd , sparkled with anecdotes of the great world and of the eminent

people among whom she had lived . Ten minutes after , it became Off gravely eloquent with religious enthusiasm , and shot into s — metaphysical speculation sometimes absurd , sometimes pro ” — an found generally suggestive d Interesting . Probably the most profound and interesting metaphysical speculation of Caroline ’ s was delivered for the benefit of William Godwin in a letter : “ F "or what purpose , for whom sh"ould I endeavour to grow" wise What is the use of anything What is the end of life ff is When we die , what di erence there here between a black beetle and me "” ’ ul For B wer, a novelist to be , Caroline s conversation was full

of good copy . It sparkled with anecdotes of great and eminent

in . people , which could be adapted easily to characters novels He loved listening to her when she talked about Byron from first first hand knowledge . A literary young man Is always eager for

hand knowledge about a great literary figure . i His van ty also was flattered by the idea that Caroline , with In in him whom Byron had been love , was love with . He had

a genuine youthful love for her , and she played at being In love

. In with him very prettily She was an expert love , and no one

could have done It better . So when Bulwer went up to Cambridge again there were‘ p assion ate letters from him to her and as good

as passionate letters from her to him . Ill Then Caroline became , and when she was better either her conscience reproached her about Bulwer or she found herself it tired of him . Whichever was , she sent for him to tell him she

felt she was wrong to love him . Perhaps the memory of William

stirred in her heart , or perhaps she wanted to find out what

Bulwer would do .

She told him he was to be her dearest friend , or like a son to

her, but not her lover, and Bulwer rather disappointingly agreed ,

and went back to Cambridge still hopelessly in love . Evidently he was one of those obedient young lovers who always end by

boring the lady .

9 0 T H E P E R F E C T A G E

. s he declared , In forgetting the whole episode He also te tified ’ k to William s indness to him . “ ” is I think , wrote Bulwer, he saw my feelings . He a ” hi singularly fine character for a man of the world . T s seems indeed a noble tribute from a young man in love with William ’ s

Bulwer also made the episode profitable, for he characterised ff Caroline in three di erent novels . This advantage should have been enough to make him forgive her . They also corresponded , and Bulwer, as so many young men have done since with former lady loves , confided in her while courting Rosina Wheeler, whom i he married , leading a miserable l fe with her since she infinitely preferred dogs to people . ’ li There appeared various other men In Caroline s fe, but as She grew older she seemed to seek friendship from them more

- than love . Perhaps what her one time lover Byron wrote so beautifully was true of her

’ a- So, we ll go no more roving

So late into the night ,

Though the heart be still as loving, he as And t moon be still bright .

Its For the sword outwears sheath , u And the so l wears out the breast ,

And the heart must pause to breathe, t And love i self have rest .

Though the night was made for loving ,

And the day returns too soon , ’ Yet we ll go no more a - roving ” By the light of the moon .

It For Caroline was getting late into the night, not in point

- of years , for she was only forty two when she died , but In point of health . She had , in the expression of a later poet , warmed the both hands before fire of life , and her nervous system had not been designed for the strain of this occupation . It gave out

under the stress and she suffered greatly from Illness . As she grew more suffering and less wayward She turned more l and more for comfort to Wi liam , and he never refused to comfort

her . They were a classic example of a true married pair who L D M L B T H E F S B D 1 O R E O U R N E , P E R E C T H U A N , 9

cannot get on with one another when all goes well and cannot

get on without one another when life goes awry . Or, if William could get on without Caroline In hi s diffi cult moments she him could not get on without in hers .

It seems almost probable that, except for the urging of his

relatives , who were all against her, he never would have separated from her . Even when he did , his settlement on her was generous ,

his . and he arranged for her to live at Brocket, family seat She In knew him for her true friend , and women are never wrong these matters . 1 82 In May, 7 , William became Chief Secretary for Ireland , in residing in Dubl , and Caroline entered upon the last year

l . In of her troublous ife She had an operation November, a serious

in e - 1 8 1 1 - 0 th . matter pre anaesthetic era (Sir James Simpson , 7 ,

discovered the anaesthetic power of chloroform . ) By December she was so Ill that they brought her from Brocket to Melbourne

In . House, London , so that she might be near the best doctors in l There, what proved to be her last i lness , she behaved in calmly and resignedly ; her case , as in that of many others , illness seemed to bri ng out the best in her from the spiritual aspect . She did not complain , or make a fuss , or behave exact in l In t . l g y towards hose around her Wi liam , Ireland , became very

x . an ious , and Insisted on being given the latest news of her

The time came when Caroline knew she was going to die , and her one wish was to live long enough to see William again ; for, as Kipling wrote :

in u Parsons p lpits , taxpayers in pews ,

Kings on their thrones , you know as well as me ’ t We ve only one virgini y to lose,

And where we lost it there our hearts will be .

So , at the last, Caroline wanted William , to whom she had

given her virgin love . He hurried back from Ireland In time to be with her In her last days , to talk to her and comfort her as he had comforted

- her during the crises and brain storms of her youth . He was on 26th 1 828 with her the Sunday evening ofJanuary , , when she

died . Dying, she carried something of William with her to the grave , perhaps his heart of which so many people denied

the existence . Her death broke him down completely and he : never forgot her . When an old man , he used to ask plaintively 9 2 T H E P E R F E C T A G E "” Shall we meet In another world ’ - At Caroline s death he was forty nine , with the most important

period of his political life ahead of him .

1 828 . It was the year George IV sat on the throne, with l the Duke of Wel ington as his Prime Minister . In Kensington

Palace a little nine - year - old Pri ncess named Victoria Alexandrina had nine more years to wait before receiv ing William in Court i dress as the Prime Min ster at her Accession . The working classes tot‘ tered on the brink of revolution since l they found themselves unrepresented po itically . The population In 1 8 1 in 1 8 2 of Birmingham rose from 5 to 3 ,

without a single voice in Parliament . Accordingly It produced “ the first Political Union of the Middle and Lower Clas ses l for household suffrage . Wi liam was entering on stirring times . the l Wellington , in speech of William IV opening his first Par ia

In 1 8 0 ff . ment 3 , threatened disa ection and praised the Constitution The result was that he had to b arricade himself In Apsley House

- i behind bullet proof shutters , and the K ng and his Ministers did not dare drive through the streets of London to the Lord ’ Mayor s dinner . Wellington resigned and the Whig Earl Grey formed a new It a C an n in ites Government . Palmerston joined as he d of the g , t l with the portfolio of Foreign Secre ary , and Wil iam received

his first great opportunity as Home Secretary . Lord John Russell as brought In the first Reform Bill . The second reading p sed by in one vote . A month later an amendment was passed Committee

m t . against the Bill , and William IV dissolved Parlia en The

country sent back the Ministers with a majority of over a hundred , and at the reading of the second Reform Bill their majority

rose to 1 0 9 . The Lords threw out the Bill and riots broke out

all over the country . Wellington formed a Government which lasted less than a week and Grey came back with power to create

as many peers as were necessary to pas s the Bill in the Lords . As a resul t 2 78 noble lords stayed away from their House while 1 0 6 u voted for the Bill and 2 2 against it . The Czar of R ssia ,

hearing this , cried “ i e The K ng has thrown his crown into th gutter . Russia ff was di erent in those days . 1 8 w In 34 Grey resigned , o ing to dissensions in the Cabinet ff on Irish a airs , and William fulfilled the prophecy made by

George IV to Lord Sligo . He became Prime Minister from R i sc hgitz Stud i os L L A M L A MB WI I , L ORD ME L B O URN E

F r m an en o gravin g of the p o rtra it b y G eorge H ayter

"See a e 2 p g 7 R i schgi tz Stud i os

E MIL Y L A D Y PAL ME RST ON

F ro m a p ho tograp h

"See page 1 03 L D M L B T H E H S B D O R E O U R N E , P E R F E C T U A N 93

July to December with Palmerston still at the Foreign Office . Then William IV suddenly and strangely dismissed his l\/Iinistry 1 8 1 8 and from December , 34 , till April , 35 , Sir Robert Peel became Prime Minister with the Duke of Wellington at the ’ Foreign Office . But Peel s position was hopeless . He always In found himself a minority In the Commons , so William came back to the Premiership with a not very remarkable cabinet except for Lord John Russell as Home Secretary and Palmerston as Foreign Secretary . Prime Minister William remained , in ’ IV s the sunshine of his glory , till the end of William reign , 1 1 and contin ued under Queen Victoria until 84 . In 1 837 the accession of Victoria brought about his second

fif - t blooming . He was then ty eight and she was eigh een and a u almost a counterpart of his early romance with C roline ens ed .

In many ways there Is less difference between a man of fifty- eight and a young woman of eighteen than between a young man of an d twenty a girl of thirteen , so that to intelligent people there is nothing ridiculous In the fascination the young Victoria held

- for her middle aged Prime Minister .

For years , always allowing for the vicissitudes of political

a u . life , Willi m must have foreseen the sit ation likely to arise ’ The you ng Qu een s entire fut ure would depend on the political guidance she received In her formative years from her first a Prime Minister, and the odds were th t he would be that Prime ni Mi ster . In some respects he represented the ideal man for the task and in others he appeared very far from Ideal . On the credit u side he was , to begin with , completely unspoiled and unso red because for him life had always flowed easily . Nature had

a fi rst - ai bestowed on him rate br n and good looks , and by the unexpected death of his elder brother he inherited a title and

. w a fortune Besides , o ing to his family connections he found to uc I himself almost bound s ceed n politics . Success meant little to him , or at least that was the impression he endeavoured to u u make , but s ccess is more attractive than failure and su ccessf l t t people are more pleasan han failures . He was a leading Whig and the climax of his political career found the Whigs in

power . i In society he exhibited a fascinating personality . Beh nd the facade of vagueness and cynicism those with whom he came

- l . in contact perceived a cultivated , we l read man Something T H E F A G E 94. P E R E C T

of that was due to Caroline . During her almost frenzied associa an d tion with Byron William took refuge in books , the habit of P e i reading remained with him . Even while rim Min ster he found time to read widely and deeply . Beyond all that he belonged exclusively to the eighteenth a i century, the halcyon period for those who c me of fam lies such as his . They were as gods , and the world lay at their feet . Ironically he achieved political power when Reform stood on the threshold , and he hated Reform . He considered that the whole duty of Government was to prevent crime and preserve In contracts . He disbelieved entirely progress and thought It education for the masses useless and ridiculous . Thus became his task to grapple with measures In which he felt not the slightest I as n . confidence , a t k which he succeeded admirably He appealed irresistibly to women on account of the feminine streak in his character and a delightful melancholy . On the debit side he was full of strange oaths and a man

- . c o of many loves . He had been twice cited as a respondent a in 1 8 In divorce c ses . The first came on 29 , the year after ’ Caroline s death , brought by the fourth Lord Brandon against

s . William and the lovely Lady Brandon . This ca e was dropped 1 8 6 in n The second came to trial in 3 , the lady question bei g o the beautiful and gifted Mrs . Norton . The result cleared b th their names , but It seemed unfortunate that William should have been accused a second time in the year before Queen ’ ni Victoria s accession . His younger brother, a cy cal and clear minded diplomatist serving England abroad , summed up the : matter superbly in a letter to Lady Cowper, their sister “ ’ Don t let Wm . think himself Invulnerable for having got ’ o ff again this time ; no man s luck can go further .

Fortunately there arose no third complication . William was to spend his declin ing years in sentimental kn ight - errantry on behalf of the young Queen , who graciously forgave his somewhat battered moral record for the sake of his charm , tact , wisdom and devotion .

The strange , delicious intimacy stimulated William to the manifestation of an enchanting Indian summer . Disraeli In wrote to Mrs . Wyndham Lewis October 1 83 7 : “ The Queen and Lord Melbourne are having their portraits o taken by Hayter at the same time and under the same ro f,

96 T H E P E R F E C T A G E

Consequently he was one of the three statesmen whom she honoured by accepting their hospitality during their term of f o fice as Prime Minister, the other two being Sir Robert Peel n fi l and Lord Beac o s e d . William ’ s greatest act of chivalry towards Victoria arose in 1 8 from the celebrated Bedchamber Crisis . Early May, 39 , the majority of William ’ s Government sank to five In an Im

portant division , and in consequence he resigned . Victoria s sent for the Duke of Wellington , and he advi ed her to send im for Sir Robert Peel . Foreseeing the crisis she had felt measurably displeased and had written “ I cannot say H ow low H OW sad I feel when I think of the POSSIBILITY of this excellent and truly kind man ” was not remaining my Minister . (She ever lavish with under

linings , single and double . ) She would have liked , she con tin ued l i , to tell Wi liam th s , but the tears were nearer than

w . words hen she saw him , and she felt she would have choked ff t For Peel she had no a inity . He was haugh y and at the as same time shy . When ill at ease , and he was always ill at e e

in the presence of Majesty , he indulged In an exasperating

nervous habit of fidgetin g with his feet . The interview passed Off satisfactorily enough so far as the personnel of the new Government was concerned and then

Peel came to the question of the Household . William had ’ practically confined Victoria s Ladies to his own party ; con sequently the Mistress of the Robes and all the Ladies of the

Bedchamber were Whigs . Peel intimated that with a Tory Government In power this could not continue and suggested w changes . Victoria replied that she ished for no change , and

t the . Peel compromised by pos poning question He retired , ai t and Victoria wrote a letter to William . She s d she felt amongs l enemies to those she most re ied on , and as for not seeing him

as she used to do , that was the very worst .

William replied In the most constitutional strain . He praised

the Tory leaders , and as to the Household , he advised her t She that while she migh put forward what wished to be done , If Peel could not consent she must not refuse to be guided by a him . No st tesman could have behaved more honourably In t his matter than William . When Peel returned next morning and the question of the Household came up once more the obstinacy Indicated in L D M L B T H E S B D O R E O U R N E , P E R F E C T H U A N 9 7

’ Victoria s face by her protruding teeth In the upper j aw and

’ receding chin took complete charge of her . She said flatly “ ” I cannot give up any of my Ladies .

From that Peel could not move her, and at last he retired once more , the question of his Government still unsettled , all

on account of her Ladies .

She wrote feverishly to William , describing the scene , and ending ma Keep yourself in readiness , for you y be wanted . The Duke of Wellington t hen arrived and reasoned with as the royal maiden with precisely no result . At l t he gave up

s . the hopele s task and retreated Peel returned , as obstinate hi s if as Sovereign , to report that she would permit no changes in her Household he could not form a Government and would a not try . Victoria replied th t she would write to him and he quitted the Presence . the In the morning Whig Cabinet which had resigned , met , ’ and William read them Victoria s letters . The elderly states n in men listened entra ced and admiring , so much so fact that although no longer a Government and Her Majesty ’ s advisers Sir they advised her to throw over Robert Peel , and she accepted i their advice . Consequently William found h mself once more

Prime Minister .

He knew that he had done wrong , that his original attitude had been correct when he explained to Victoria that if Peel

‘ insisted on changes in the Household she must concede them .

I n the end he had allowed his emotions to over- ride his con science ; the statesman had been swamped by the admirer of un c on stitu the youthful queen , and he had behaved quite i n al t o ly. ’ Let him , or her, who has abandoned romance for conscience sake and thoroughly enjoyed the sacrifice , cast the first stone at William .

So his idyllic life near his young Sovereign began again .

In the afternoon the Court would go riding , with Victoria ll in the lead and Wi iam riding beside her . At night , when she dined , he sat on her left hand . He abandoned the deep drinking of wine after dinner because she frowned on the custom , and the gentlemen received her command to rejoin

- the ladies almost Immediately . In the drawing room after wards he sat beside her and enchanted her with the easy flow 98 T H E P E R F E C T A G E of his conversation and the wit and wisdom of the eighteenth It i century . It was his swan song , but took on the dign ty and

triumph of an anthem . Victoria said frankly that she did not want to marry for three or four years . The country remained calm . Even Disraeli , ’ u one of Peel s s pporters , sided against his conduct at the Bed in l f chamber Crisis later i e , though at the time he applauded In Times his leader, and reproved Victoria a letter to the , for in s those days the Time would publish an open letter to the Monarch . In his novel Sybil he wrote of Sir Robert Peel

I 'w f l t as un ortunate that one who , if any, shou d have occupied t the broad and national position of the leader of the Tory par y, the chief of his people , and the champion of the throne , should ni have commenced his career as Mi ster under Victoria , by an ” the u unseemly contrariety to the personal wishes of Q een .

P It It may have been unfortunate for eel , but was fortunate f in for William . His days dri ted by calm bliss , a summer of t the snakeless meadow, unlaborious ear h , and oarless sea , 1 0 th 1 8 i until Thursday October , 39 , when Prince Albert , w th

his brother Ernest , reached Windsor . By the following Monday,

Victoria had told William she Intended to marry Albert , and was on the next day proposed to him and , naturally , accepted . The frost of destiny had blighted William ’ s Indian summer

at last , and for him romance had ended . He was now sixty ,

and sixty is old for love , though Disraeli loved when well Into his l the seventies . The last phase of ife held many trials and f di ficulties , and neither a Caroline nor a Victoria .

For one thing the Chartist movement developed significantly,

and he felt no sympathy for Chartists . They put forward the ’ ff People s Charter which demanded universal su rage , vote l n by ba lot , an ual parliaments , payment of members , and

abolition of the property qualification . Most of these thin gs ’ In l have come to pass , but Wil iam s eyes they appeared per fec tl y ridiculous . When the Chartists became Insupportable

it was customary to call on the cavalry to deal with them . Chartism was a symptom rather than a disease and William his and Government could hardly be blamed for it . In 1 840 the country encountered its fourth bad harvest and no sign P of a trade revival appeared . opulation had grown since the

1 0 0 T H E P E R F E C T A G E

understanding with Peel which was to follow . At the final parting she agreed with William that they must meet but i e seldom , but that noth ng need pr vent their writing to one another . l Though he had promised that his letters wou d be discreet , in alas they were not . He dealt them with public questions and appointments , matters in which she ought only to accept the advice of the Government of the day . Very soon this ’ practice of William s disturbed the watchful , almost sinister Stoc kmar figure of , the power behind the Prince who was N h the power behind the Throne . ot content wit being dis ’ turb ed Stoc kmar . , decided to act He ordered the Prince s secretary to take William a memorandum on the subject of his letters to the Queen . l i Wi liam read it , and the secretary proceeded to ampl fy u hi s the s bject of the memorandum . At this William lost patience completely . “ ” It " God eternally damn he exclaimed to the startled “ "” secretary, this is too much k It was a brave gesture, but for all that his last lin with his Stoc kmar last great romance snapped . persisted , with right ’ and logic on his side . William s letters became fewer and more harmless . He had accepted defeat . F His younger brother, rederick , the diplomat (now Lord ’ Beauv ale) believed that the troubles of Willi am s Ministry arose largely from the precarious state of his health . It failed his ffi Beauv ale to improve on departure from o ce, and Lord , who returned to England from hi s diplomatic post abroad on the fall of the Whig Government , went down to Brocket to see William . He was struck by his depressed expression and ’ l i the slowness of his movements . William s estates a so a led , in like their owner . He took no interest them , and his thoughts dwelt on the past in which he meant everythin g to Victoria . When anyone mentioned her name his eyes filled with tears . Lord Beauv ale wrote almost despairingly on the subject of William to their sister . His practical mind revolted against ’ William s casual attitude to many matters . “ k i He seems to me to have been li e a child , so aston shed at having a balance at his Bankers that He could not contain i h ms elf about it, and has thereby given a totally false opinion of L O R D M E L B O U R N E T H E P E R F E C T - H U S B A N D I O I

Beau al v e . his resources , complained Lord The whole amount l his his for the ha f year sent to bankers from Derbyshire , t Northamptonshire , Lincolnshire , and Leicestershire esta es , 2 8o — without allowance for expenses , was only £ , 9 , less than off a a year . He had paid mortg ges certainly, but l a by se ling f rms , not out of savings , thus reducing his

Income . l h 1 . 2 t 8 2 At the time Wil iam was very ill On October 4 , 4 , he had a slight paralytic stroke , from which he recovered to b ut an extent , though neither he nor his family would admit

his . It , work was done His illness lasted for months , the Whig his party stood aghast , and family worked hard to keep his condition secret in the seclusion of Brocket . Victoria felt anxiety for him and became convinced‘ that the news of him given to her erred on the bright side for political ’ u reasons . Prince Albert s Inval able secretary , Mr . Anson , ’ a came down to report, and appeared disappointed at the p tient s ’ “ ” condition . He enquired about William s hysterical emotions , and his sister explained that he always became greatly moved at any mention of the Queen . a William p ssed his days dreaming over the fire, talking to

- re . himself, and living the past His one ambition was to return w Beauv al e to the House of Lords , a prospect hich alarmed Lord In and his sister, who knew that once he showed himself public the world would know that he had been , but was no longer . in 1 Finally he reappeared the House of Lords on June 5th , 1 8 the efl ort 43 , but returned home disconsolate, realising that

had proved too much for him .

He attended occasionally at Court , but he was now nothing

more than a rather tiresome , eccentric old man who said the

most odd things . Soon after the Corn Laws were repealed he dined at Windsor and b uTSt out at dinner “ ’ ’ ” It s " Ma am , a damned dishonest act The language was

unfortunate , and the Opinion more so , as Victoria agreed with

the repeal of the Corn Laws . He repeated the words until

Victoria begged him to change the subject . When Lord John Russell formed a Whig Government in 1 8 t 46 William was left out of the Cabinet . The wri ing had

appeared on the wall ; he read It and interpreted It correctly .

The Whigs had finished with him . 0 2 T H E P E R F E C T A G E

2 th 1 8 8 He died at Brocket on November 4 , 4 , after a painful him Illness , but on the day before he di ed the pain left and he found peace . As he lay in bed his sister was struck by the beauty and nobility of his face . Throughout the night the ’ the watchers noticed no change, but at six o clock in morning he sighed , and passed Into that other world where once he had dreamed he would meet Caroline .

1 0 4 T H E P E R F E C T A G E won the Battle of Trafalgar ( 1 80 5) and twenty - eight in the ’ C orisan de year of Waterloo One of her girlhood s friends , de Grammont , had been sent to England by the Duchesse de

Grammont to the house of Georgiana , Duchess of Devonshire ,

In order to be spared the horrors of the French Revolution . “ ” ori an de C orise C s , always referred to by Emily as , married t T an kerv ille the fif h Earl of , and she , and Sarah Villiers , who ’ married the fifth Earl of Jersey , remained Emily s friends for u life . Like so many beautif l women , they lived to be very l T an kerv ille 1 86 1 86 O d ; Lady survived till 5 , Lady Jersey till 7 and Emily till 1 869 . Thus Emily and her girl - friends preserved few illusions about 1 1 life , just as the girls born shortly before 9 4 did and those

1 . born shortly before 939 will They were accustomed to war , ff In a a tragedy and su ering ; England the c sualty lists were he vy , o then as now , the country was Imp verished by Continental it Is u wars , as now , and a series of bad harvests had bro ght famine In their train . In spite of all this Emily grew up with a sunny disposition and a wide view of life . For one thing she had a natural kind ness of heart which prevented her from con demning the action of others , for another she was a child of the eighteenth century , a period when people in her circle did very much as they pleased , with no nonsense about what are called morals . Also politics , In the atmosphere of which she was born , displayed ni t ~ exactly the same cy cism as hey do today . Over all loomed a the menace ofN poleon and the threat ofInvasion , the eighteenth the men ac e century counterpart of of Hitler . ‘ Emily married for the first time— (Lord Palmerston was her

- In lli second husband) the same year as her elder brother Wi am , now heir to the family title , forged an unbreakable link with the Whig party by marrying Lady Caroline Ponsonby (see Bessb orou h above) , daughter of the third Lord g , and niece a of the Duchess of Devonshire . She chose , or, more prob bly, her mother chose for her , Peter Leopold , fifth Earl Cowper, a handsome young nobleman of twenty - seven who lived at “ ’ f Melb oum es Panshanger, only a few miles rom Brocket , the In country estate Hertfordshire . Besides being an Earl he was a Prince of the Holy Roman Empire and possessed a vast fortune .

Certainly Emily, then eighteen , loved him dearly at the L D L M S T H E W I 1 0 A Y P A E R T O N , P E R F E C T F E 5 i time of her marriage , though the best record of him ava lable i B a n fi ld . e c o s e merely mentions that he was dull L ke Lady , Emily was to express herself most satisfactorily in a second

marriage in middle life .

There is little wonder that Lord Cowper proposed to her , for ever Since the days when she was small and Lawrence In s painted her and her sister Harriet mob caps and pink sashe , i she had d splayed the most Irresistible charm , to which she

added beauty adorned by grey eyes , dark curls and a clear was In pink and white complexion . She still very young, but s her youth girl of her type married early, and In the forcing

house of early n ineteenth - century society they also matured

early , both mentally and physically .

Perhaps he may not have been so dull as was believed , for Lord Broughton wrote of him “ ’ I don t know why they call Cowper dull ; I never saw a t man less dull In my life , but he has a slow pronuncia ion , slow ” gait and pace . In In the beginning the marriage was successful , but later x married life a coldness e isted between Lord and Lady Cowper . u This has been attrib ted to the Interference of Lady Melbourne , ’ Emily s mother, who had the reputation of not being able

to endure the sight of a happy marriage . Emily adored her

mother, who exerted a great Influence over her , and Panshanger , ’ the Cowpers home , lay fatally close to Brocket .

Emily, though only eighteen , became , on marriage, a leader

of society . Abraham Hayward , the essayist, who wrote a memoir of her when she died , explains why

Lady Cowper became the undisputed leader of English f society, equally without apparent e fort, without aiming at a the f me of a wit like Madame de Stael , or that of a beauty

or - like Madame de Recamier, that of a party idol like Georgiana, ’ Duchess of Devonshire ; without once over - stepping by a hair s breadth the proper province of her sex : by the unforced develop ment of the most exquisitely feminine qualities , by grace, refinement , sweetness of disposition , womanly sympathies , — instinctive insight into character , tact , temper , and wonderful — ” to relate heart .

ff Drawing breath a er this long sentence , Abraham Hayward contin ues that after her marriage to Earl Cowper : 1 0 6 T H E P E R FE C T A G E She Immediately took her place in the brilliant galaxy of beautiful and accomplished women of rank , who continued to form the chief ornament of the British Court during the successive years , till they were gradually replaced , not out

a . shone , by younger , not fairer or more fascinating race It was about the period of the imperial and royal visits to I 1 8 1 —1 London n 4 5 that these ladies , as if by a common under standing, concentrated their attractions , and it was during these two eventful years , when the metropolis glittered with stars , ribands and bright eyes , that , conspicuous in her own the despite among gay and dazzling throng , was the charming ‘ ’ Lady Cowper, like grace put Into action , whose softness was as seductive as her joyousness ,

Whose laugh , full of mirth , without any control , h r " e But the sweet one of gracefulness , rang from soul

of erse C ori san de Yet this throng comprised Sarah , Countess J y, , u ofT an kerv ille ofR utlan d Co ntess , Mary Isabella , Duchess , Lady

Charlotte Campbell and a long array of formidable competitors .

The result , or product, of this period , was the Institution ’ a k s of A lm c . On the Introduction of quadrilles and waltzes

- u after the Peace , grown p people had to learn their dancing

- over again , and a high born party met daily at Devonshire

House , where it was agreed to establish a series of subscription balls on the cheapest and most restricted plan . Lady Cowper a n d u was one of the first six patronesses , d ring her long tenure

of power (for it was power) in that capacity, her influence was uniformly exerted to modify the exclusiveness of her ” colleagues .

’ A lmac k s Not unnaturally Assembly Rooms , in King Street , ’ St . James s , were built for a Scotsman whose real name was ’ Mackal A lmac k s , so that seems to be an anagram on hi s own

name . With Scottish business instinct he saw that there was money to be made in helping the mighty to entertain them ’

. Almac k s selves He had been steward of Club House , the ’ ’ A lma k original Brooks s , and thoroughly understood catering . c s became established as a society dance club owing to the small

number of hostesses who gave large entertainments . War Its in brings poverty in train even high circles , as this generation ’ A lma k knows , but society still wanted to meet frequently, so c s

solved the problem .

The Assembly Rooms comprised three very elegant rooms .

1 0 8 T H E P E R F E C T A G E

T all ran d y , Dino , Palmerston and Esterhazy came yesterday ” and went away today, and on another occasion gave a ’ sympathetic picture of Emily s happy - go- lucky life at Pans hanger

The people of this house are examples of the religion of the fashionable world , and the charity of natural benevolence , l which the world has not spoiled . Lady Cowper and her fami y C go to hurch , but scandalise the congregation by always arriving t l . i ha f an hour too late The hour mat ers not , if it began at n ne , It or ten , or twelve , would be the same thing ; they are never ready, and always late , but they go . Lord Cowper never goes at all ; but he employs a multitude of labourers and is ready to sanction any and every means which can contribute to the comfort and happiness of his peasantry . Lady Cowper and her daughters inspect personally the cottages and the condition of the poor . They visit, enquire , t and give ; they distribu e flannel , medicines , and money, and they talk to and are kind to them , so that the result is a perpetual u stream flowing from a real fo ntain of benevolence , which waters all the country rou nd and gladdens the heart of the ” peasantry and attaches them to those from whom it emanates . They were so different in fact from the poor little rich Children ” of the Ritz of before the war . ’ u As for Emily s da ghters , she had five children by Lord

Cowper, three sons and two daughters . The sons were Lord

F . ordwich , afterwards sixth Earl Cowper, William and George a ri t The elder d ughter was ch stened Emily af er her mother,

and the younger Frances Elizabeth . Since their mother was

the loveliest thing , and their father handsome , the girls grew i up singularly beaut ful . The trials of maternity were enhanced

for Emily by the medical treatment of those days . She wrote F to her favourite brother , rederick , after the birth of her last

i 1 8 1 - the i ch ld , in 9 , when she was thirty two , that bleed ng

she received was a little too much for her . Her physician ,

Sir John Tierney, also physician to the Prince of Wales , took

from her twenty ounces of blood at two bleedings . An ounce

is two tablespoonfuls .

Still , she had fun when she went abroad with her husband 1 8 1 6 and their children , George and Emily, in , probably for Sh the sake of economy . e wrote joyft to her mother about ' '

. e in le frocks There was a very pretty p g velvet, and another L D S T H E W I 1 0 A Y P A L M E R T O N , P E R F E C T F E 9

embroidered with silver . She came home to write endless l u gossip to Frederick , sti l abroad , about servant tro bles at who t the Brocket, and a cook only stayed a week , and hat ’ ’ fashionable colour in Paris was called Chagrin ae la reine d A nglc ’ terre IV s , a hit at poor Queen Caroline , George despised wife, ’ - fiv e and that Lord Cowper s mother, though sixty , was going to marry a young apothecary, and that her little daughter

Fanny was beautiful . Emily was , as can be gathered from

C . these Items , indescribably feminine and harming

The Palmerston motif In her life continued . It may have t a been prophe ic , or significant , that Lord Cowper owned in u a magnificent town house George Street, Hanover Sq re , and that on the south - western corner of the squ are stood ano ther ’ Palmersto n s large house belonging to Lord and Lady Palmerston , 2 1 8 u parents . He was born on October oth , 7 4 , and ed cated is at Harrow . His ancestry was elegant and Influential . H own influence over the British public arose partly from the fact that he represented the typical John Bull , devoted to P unch racing and hunting and shooting . The cartoonists of his day always depicted him with a straw between his teeth , symbolical of his racing interests . In society as a young man u he was known as Cupid , being as much at home in the bo doir In as the saddle . F an d He was devoted to his sisters , anny Elizabeth , and to H IS his only brother, William . Inclinations turned him towards

- a political career, which he began at the age of twenty one , In before he had taken his degree . His first seat Parliament, s which he attained just as Emily blossomed out as a great hostes , th was for the pocket borough of Newtown in e Isle of Wight . He In owned large estates Ireland , which , unlike other absentee

landlords , he cherished with passionate devotion . During the survival of Lord Cowper no scandal attached e Itself to the friendship betwe n Emily and Palmerston , and that constitutes a great tribute to her In an age when those r in her circle made thei own laws , and the highly born dis played the utmost cynicism towards what nowadays are called a u mor ls . Poor Lady Caroline Lamb (see above) , bro ght social ruin on herself by writing the novel Clenarvon ; the Duchess of The S l h Devonshire wrote, anonymously, a novel called y p , a which did her no harm . It mirrored the f shionable life of It her day, and here is a quotation from which shows the pitfalls

H 1 1 0 T H E P E R F E C T A G E which awaited a beautiful and fashionable young bride like

The most unsafe and critical situation for a woman is to i be young , handsome , and married to a man of fash on . These u are thought to be a lawf l prey to the specious of our sex . As a man of fashion Sir William Stanley would blush to be found — too attentive to his wife he will leave her to seek what com panions chance may throw in her way, while he is associating In with rakes of quality, and glorying in those scenes which a to be discovered he would re lly blush . I am told he is fond — of deep play attaches himself to women of bad character, and seeks to establish an opinion that he is quite the ton in everything . l f I tremble for your Julia . (Ju ia In the novel was the wi e f . I of Sir William ) Her beauty, she had no other merit, making her fashionable, will induce some of those wretches , who are ever upon the watch to ensnare the innocent , to practise their ar ific s t diabolical t e o poison her mind . She will soon see herself — neglected by her husband and that will be the signal for them In to begin their attack . She is totally unhackneyed the ways c an of men , and consequently form no idea of the extreme u depravity of their hearts . M"ay the innate virt e of her mind be her guide and support But to escape with honour and f reputation will be a di ficult task .

. a f Even if her t sk was di ficult , and for a young woman so l It beautifu surely must have been , Emily escaped with honour “ and reputation . But there are some women whom even those wretches who are ever on the watch to ensnare the innocent ” will leave alone , merely because such women possess some quality which warns the wretches that to attempt to ensnare them would be a waste of time . It is quite certain that Emily possessed this quality . The drama of her life reached Its climax just before the accession of Queen Victoria On June 2oth of that year William IV died . A day later Lord Cowper passed Into that undiscovered country from whose bourne no traveller ’ returns . His health had been failing for a long time, to Emily s deep anxiety . Whatever coldness she may have felt towards him l him did not prevent her from nursing faithful y, day and a h night , lmost becoming ill erself from anxiety and lack of

was him . sleep . In spite of all her care she unable to save

1 1 2 T H E P E R F E C T A G E

Poor Winifred broke two laces in ende avouring to draw a my new French st ys close . You know I am naturally small

li . at bottom , but now you might terally span me You never saw such a doll . These things are so Intolerably wide across the breast that my arms are absolutely sore with them ; and my ‘ S — ton ides so pinched But it is the , and pride feels no In middle life Emily was still a singularly beautiful woman not only because of perfectly cut features , but from the character n I In expressed I her face . Even now t is very easy to fall love with her portrait after she became Lady Palmerston . The young Queen Invited her and Minny to Windsor and appointed the lovely Fanny one of the train bearers at her il Coronation . Palmerston st l admired her and was still as ’ fascinating to a woman as in the days when the lovelies ofA lmac k s christened him Cupid s In pite of all this Emily felt vaguely unhappy . She brooded , ’ rather neurotically for her, on the subject of death , her mother s ’ - death twenty one years previously, and Lord Cowper s death . It was a great tribute to her charm that the young Queen r admi ed her, for eighteen seldom admires fifty . Victoria told William that she considered Emily much better looking than younger women . William agreed , with brotherly pride , and ventured to add that he thought her frock at a recent di nner party rather dashing . It was In the autumn of 1 839 that she decided to marry

i a . Palmerston . In many respects their circumstances were sim l r a Her parents were dead , and her children l unched into the

. SO his . world His parents were dead , and were beloved sisters

They had known one another all their lives , they loved one

another, and what better could they do than link their lives for the rest of their stay on earth " The news that they were to marry created a certain amount m l of stir . E i y consulted her family, for the Lambs had the t ri gang spirit s rongly developed . Her favourite brother Frede ck a b ut dis pproved would not say so openly, fearing he might H er h u destroy her happiness . c ildren became furio s , as grown up children usu ally do when their mother contemplates a

second marriage . ’ a u It fell to William s lot to bre k the great secret to the Q een , t the a and apparen ly t sk caused him some nervousness . Palmer a ston , he explained to Her Majesty, had lways wanted to marry L D L M S T H E W I A Y P A E R T O N , P E R F E C T F E 1 1 3

t f i . Em ly No one knew any hing about his financial a fairs . He f might be in debt, and then If he went out of o fice they might be poor . if Frederick , he continued, advised her to do it she liked

it . and not bother about As for himself, he had told her she ’ If must do as she liked ; he couldn t advise her . she did it she must take the consequences .

Victoria , also engaged at the time , wrote the news to her betrothed , adding “ They are both of them above fifty and I think they are quite right so to act , because Palmerston , since the death of in is his sisters , is quite alone the world , and Lady C a very

w much . il clever oman and attached to him St l, I feel sure It will ” make you smile . i a Em ly passed the day before her second marri ge alone , pack

Ing , and reading old letters , which induced a tearful mood . 1 6 th 1 8 Decemb er , 39 , the day of her second marriage , was ri u b ght with s nshine and she thought this a happy omen . The ’ marriage took place at St . George s , Hanover Square ; at the

- fif - time he was fifty fiv e and she ty three . After the wedding they n In drove dow to Broadlands , his country seat , near Romsey, R Hampshire . It had a big portico, and a paved wall with oman in antiquities , and a stream flowed through the park, and the din ing - room a great sideboard held the racing trophies Palmers ’ N ton s horses had won, and beyond all lay the ew Forest . They spent Christmas at Broadlands and Emily wrote to a friend that “ Lord Palmerston is utterly and entirely devoted to me and so ” completely happy that it is quite a pleasure to look at him . wa i That s to remain true for the rest of his l fe . N In the ew Year he took her back to London and at 5 , Carlton House Terrace they gave the first of their parties . Through"out his afl airs her marriage to him , whenever any crisis occurred In d ee sl ow : she would always say, in her pf voice “ ”

" . r sc ri Stay We will have a party It was her universal p e p It t n tion and never failed , ha ks to the charm and fascina tion of the hostess .

No one could say she had not married a man worthy of her . ’ It Is some evidence of Palmerston s popularity with his fellow countrymen that there are probably more hotels and public houses n amed In his honour than in honour of any other British if Beac on sfield statesman . Few, any, Arms , or Disraeli Arms , 1 1 4 T H E P E R F E C T A G E

s m exist , and certainly no Gladstone Arm , but Pal erston Arms n still appear jovially up and dow the country . Yet he was not

- n l his exclusively a red faced Joh Bu l , happiest In stables or ’ presidin g over a farmers dinner .

He had a fine head , a grim mouth , whiskers far less aggressive than those of many a contemporary nobleman , an aristocratic

- i nose, and deep set eyes . An air of race dist nguished him , and his though men might find face bitter and inflexible on occasion , l u any woman in her senses wou d tr st it . Above all he had courage , th e virtue women esteem most .

his . H is ancestry, like life , was romantic i Henry John Temple , th rd Viscount Palmerston , was born ’

n N . at his parents tow house , o 4 Park Street , Westminster , on

1 8 . October 2oth , 7 4 The Temples originated in Warwickshire , t and although associated wi h Ireland had no Irish ancestors . ni the It was Sir Robert Walpole , Prime Mi ster after accession of George I , who created a younger brother of Sir Milliam Il I’ s . Temple , a celebrity of William day, Viscount Palmerston

The second Viscount married twice , the second time after the

age of forty . Destiny in the shape of a horse literally cast him ’ was ri n . i at his second wife s feet He ding Dublin , his horse

threw him , and a sympathetic resident In the neighbourhood of

the accident took him into his house and put him to bed . The was name of the resident Mee , and he had a charming daughter . t The deligh ful Miss Mee nursed the interesting stranger and , as l t happens in the case of so many ma e invalids , he fell In love wi h e i his nurse . Love ripen d into marriage , for M ss Mee was no

Cinderella . Her father had been educated at Harrow, and one

of his relatives was a director of the Bank of England . She and

her Viscount married , appropriately enough , at Bath , for the

Mees came from the west of England . Thus Palmerston owed

his birth to the chance indiscipline of a horse .

t - He was a fine , eager, lus y, good humoured baby, for he had

- - a good humoured , party loving mother , who persuaded his ns father to leave Westmi ter and take a house in Hanover Square ,

a gayer locality than Westminster . Even at the age of five he i his i had formed the habit of letter writ ng, most of letters be ng

written to his mother . Two younger sisters and a brother had him arrived by then , to share a black pony with . was trav ellin with In At eight he g his parents Italy, and at nine touring Germany and Switzerland with an Italian tutor ;

1 1 6 T H E P E R F E C T A G E M t l A . has i y, and received the degree of on the same day with out any further examination, purely by right of birth . After ff these e orts he found himself at the bottom of the poll . Emily ’ A lm c k s was already married and a patroness of a . ffi When the Whigs left o ce the Duke of Portland , at Lord ’ i Malmesbury s request , made Palmerston a Jun or Lord of the Admiralty ( 1 80 7) and in the general election of that year he

MP . . 1 80 became the for Newport, Isle of Wight In 9 Spencer ff him Perceval formed a government and o ered , at the age of

- fiv e twenty , the Chancellorship of the Exchequer . his Performing one of the wisest actions of life he refused it . He knew he was no orator and that he lacked experience in ffi o ce . Consequently Perceval appointed him Secretary at f War , and at the War O fice he remained for twenty years . Those twenty years mellowed him and gave him a sound t 1 1 training in administration . Af er the peace of 8 5 he visited F rance , met the Duke of Wellington and Lady Castlereagh in Paris , witnessed reviews of troops and dined with the 1 8 1 8 In i Czar . In he was back again France, taking t me on the way home to visit the battlefields of Quatre Bras and

Waterloo .

He grew even more charming as he grew older, and why not , h m e . i for life s emed very good His horses won races for , and that pleased him . He visited his Irish estate and made plans for the improvement of his peasantry . He had also become as m ter of the happy phrase in debate , retorting once to Joseph Hume that he would leave him “ to that impenetrable darkness ” his which dwelt within the interior of brain .

Canning, with whom he found himself on more understanding terms than with any Minister whom he had served , formed a government In - 1 827 and made him at last Chancellor of the ffi Exchequer, but he never held o ce owing to the opposition of George IV . At this period he declined the Governorship

- ofJamaica , and also , for the second time, the Governor General ship of India . He was playing for bigger stakes . Whi ism He was now inclining from Toryism to g , and taking ff a deeper interest In foreign a airs , facts which may or may not ’ 8 8 . 1 2 have been due to Emily s influence By he and her brother,

Lord Melbourne , naturally a Whig of Whigs , were beginning to approach one another politically . The hand of Emily can I s n . almo t be seen all this That year he, Lord Dudley and Lord L D L M S T H E W I 1 A Y P A E R T O N , P E R F E C T F E 1 7

all ffi Melbourne resigned , and he was out of o ce for the first time

- in twenty one years . In 1 830 the genuine Palmerstonian roar reverberated In Parliament when Peel asked him whom he represented

My right honourable friend has told the House he does hi m not know whose representative I am . I will tell . I stand as here , humble as I am , one of the Representatives of the r People of England ; and next , as the Rep esentative of my own

i - i i w i Op nions Op n ons , Sir, which I ill never shape to su t the t opinions of any o her individual , let his situation be what it I u o u t u . I may, either n this Ho se or of this Ho se also stand n here , I trust , as one of that body which represe ts , or which at least ought to be the maintenance of the honour and interests of England .

C reev e his In that year also George IV died , and y composed epitaph “ Prin n —o u Poor y is really dead a Saturday too , and with him disappeared the Regency period . Noble lords and ladies were to go down and the middle class go up , though Palmerston and Emily would carry to their graves the exquisite aroma of the eighteenth century . Nevertheless he was moving with the times and drifting from the Tories towards Liberalism , which encouraged men to cut adrift from the iron traditions of the : past . For did he not say “ When people saw such populous places as Leeds and Man chester unrepresented whilst a green mound of earth returned i t . two members , naturally gave rise to complaint He sup ’ of e 1 8 2 ported the Duke Wellington s Catholic R lief Bill in 9 , mocking the typical Tory who would give a Catholic a milita ry command and refuse to let him vote In a Committee of Supply . The Duke of Wellington ’ s Government went out and Lord in l Grey came with the Whigs , and Pa merston wanted the Foreign i ffi . O ce Em ly threw all her influence into the scale on his side , i . t but Lord Lansdowne had the first offer He declined , Lord ff It C Grey o ered to Palmerston , who accepted it, and Emily lapped

- her hands . He had achieved his ambition at the age of forty six ,

n f N 1 8 1 8 0 . taki g o fice on ovember th , 3 There followed Intricate ’ in struggles over Lord John Russell s Reform Bill , and then , the 1 8 2 general election of 3 Palmerston , the owner of Broadlands ,

MP . t . near Romsey, became for Sou h Hampshire 1 1 8 T H E P E R F E C T A G E

In the autumn of 1 833 Emily left for the south of France and astonishingly enough Palmerston became for the time comparatively enraptured with Lady Jersey . Either he was lonely with Emily abroad or he had decided on a last fling . ' In any c as e they indulged in tete- a- téte dinners and visits to the theatre and her ladyship declared that he was never in love with anyone but her . Then his passion waned and Emily came back from the Mediterranean and all was as It had been , except i that a little goss p arose about him and a Mrs . Jerningham and a Mrs . Petre . 1 8 Lord Grey resigned in 34 , and William IV summoned i Lord Melbourne . At that moment Em ly must have despaired of her brother because all his natural indolence made him hesitate . He simply could not make up his mind what to do . Then someone reminded him that no Greek or Roman had ever enjoyed the omnipotence of a British Prime Minister, and roused by this thought he went down to Windsor and became

Prime Minister . P His ministry lasted four months , with almerston at the F O fli c e t oreign , and the old Houses of Parliament caugh fire and were burned down . Then Melbourne departed and the li King sent for the Duke of Wel ngton , who became for the time First Lord of the Treasury , and five Secretaries of State ,

- a one man Government as it were , till Peel could return from

I taly (it took him twelve days) and form a real Government .

By this time Palmerston had definitely established his reputation . Being out of the Foreign O fli c e for the time he went down to

Broadlands and hunted . In spite of that , South Hampshire 1 8 6 failed to return him to Parliament in 3 , and Disraeli described “ him in The Times F a letter to as the Lord anny of Diplomacy, “ endowed with a dexterity which seems a happy combination of the smartness of an attorney ’ s clerk and the intrigue of a ” Greek of the lower Empire . 1 8 Peel went out early in 35, and Melbourne came back , ff ffi u and o ered the Foreign O ce to Lord Grey, who ref sed It,

and then to Lord Durham and Lord John Russell , suggesting that Palmerston might become a marquess and suggesting for

- him yet again the Governor Generalship of India . Palmerston ' F Oflic e h said It must be the oreign or not ing, and Melbourne let him have his way . When Victoria came to the throne he accompanied Melbourne while the Court went riding and in

1 20 T H E P E R F E C T A G E

’ The attraction of Lady Palmerston s salon at the commence ment was the mixed , yet select and refined , character of the t a assemblage , the result of h t exquisite tact and high breeding which accrued her the full benefits of exclusiveness without its drawbacks .

This Is contemporary snob testimony to Emily . Why the noble owners of the princely residences , now mostly flats and hotels , should not have had a genuine relish for intellectual eminence , nobody knows . The truth of the matter is , Emily realised the changes coming over the world , and that with Reform the great national topic her small exclusive set was doomed unless It adapted Itself to new ways . She set herself to attract those of rising influence towards her husband , aided by her beauty and

charm . — These indeed were very great even at the age of fifty two . Moore met her at a party in June 1 839 and noted “ Lady Cowper looking as young and handsome as any in 1 8 0 daughter . Lady Lyttelton saw her at Windsor 4 and “ commented that she was in beauty and in great agreeableness ” N and grace . o doubt her beauty was enhanced by her love u for Palmerston , for love creates bea ty from within and puts all

the arts of the beauty salon In the shade . No wonder he could write in 1 84 0 : “ We have been giving some dinners and evening parties t f which have had a very good poli ical e fect, have helped the

It . party, and have pleased many individuals belonging to Emily ’ s opportunity for Influence was vast because of the society

of her time . Disraeli wrote of it towards the end of the nineteenth century

The great world then , compared with the huge society

of the present period , was limited In its proportions and com

posed of elements more refined though far less various . It a consisted mainly of the gre t landed aristocracy, who had

quite absorbed the nabobs of India , and had nearly appropriated the huge West Indian fortunes . Occasionally an eminent b anker or merch ant invested a large portion of his accumula

tions in land , and in the purchase of parliamentary influence , wa I u and s n time duly admitted into the sanct ary . But those v ast an d successful invasions of society by new classes which h ave since occurred , though Impending , had not yet com men c ed u . The man facturers , the railway kings , the colossal L D L M S T H E W I F 1 1 A Y P A E R T O N , P E R F E C T E 2

s contractors , the di coverers of nuggets , had not yet found t their place in socie y and the senate . There were then, perhaps , m ore great houses Open than at the present day, but there w ere very few little ones .

The season was then brilliant and sustained , but it was not fl u t urried . People did not go to vario s par ies on the same i n ght . They remained where they were assembled , and, not in being a hurry, were more agreeable than they are at the t present day . Conversation was more cul ivated , manners , t though unconstrained , were more sta ely, and the world . being ”

u t . limited , knew itself m ch be ter

’ Em s social cleverness lay in the fact that she knew the invasion was of society by new classes impending , and assisted it instead of trying to impede it . She even cultivated new writers at her ’ receptions because she rec ognised the power of the pen . Any pens of power had better be for Palmerston rather th an against

- him . The flattering atmosphere of her scented drawing rooms a t at C rl on House Terrace , and afterwards at Cambridge House , u 94 Piccadilly , could scarcely fail to l re the pens of power to ’ lm rs Pa e ton s side .

- Besides , her drawing rooms were neutral ground , where enemies and rival s could meet in pe ace and perhaps cease to be enemies and rivals . A French diplomat said to Disraeli at one of her receptions : “ What a wonderful system of society you have in England . I have not been on speaking terms with Lord Palmerston for

three weeks , and yet here I am ; but you see I am paying a ” t visit to Lady Palmers on . Like all great men and great women she had a genius for

taking pains . She wrote the names of her guests on the invita

tion cards with her own hand , and her daughters addressed

the envelopes , but Emily always reviewed the envelopes being ’ ’

the t s . addressed , dotting i s and crossing the Yet with this -

care for detail went a habitual l aCk of punctuality . Greville

noted that she was always late for church . At Broadlands , u though the dinner ho r was eight , dinner seldom appeared on the table before nine .

When writing to her husband she was full of tenderness . t She began her letters My deares love , and ended them ’ ” affec t are u In Yours ever y, Em . There little to ches most of them whic h emphasise her devotion and the fact that her : life centred on him , such as 1 22 T H E P E R F E C T A G E We have had a delicious day and I have enjoyed it very much , but I grieved that you were not with me to feel the benefit of these healthy breezes , and the life you are obliged to lead It is and the trial to your constitution , make me very unhappy .

' The love of a devoted wife speaks in ev ery word of these simple sentences straight from her heart . Like every devoted wife she knew her husband ’ s faults and ff strove to lessen their e ect on others . The chief of them was in a brusqueness and blunt outspokenness , and a lack of tact dealing with the Queen . He was capable of writing to a British representative abroad :

Pray make him (Prince Wallenstein) clearly comprehend t f hat I will never sacrifice any British diplomatic o ficer, high or low, to the whims and caprices of any Foreign Prince or P otentate , and that even if I were disposed to do so to please Is any sovereign , Otho the last on earth whose wishes would h ” ave the slightest influence on my mind .

To make things worse he ended

Pray read to Prince Wallenstein the greater part of this ” letter .

’ ’ ' On another occasion he desired the charge d afiaires in Paris to tell the French Foreign Offi ce very politely that if France challenged England the challenge would be accepted , and If she began a war she would lose her ships , colonies and commerce “ Mehemet Ali and her army of Algiers , and (whom France N ” supported) will just be chucked Into the ile .

He could write to Queen Victoria

’ If your M ajesty s meaning is that Viscount Palmerston is to be debarred from communicating with Foreign Powers except for the purpose of informing them officially of formal decisions of the British Government, Viscount Palmerston would beg humbly and respectfully to represent to your Majesty that such a curtailment would render it impossible for ” him to serve your Majesty consistently with his own honour .

i 8 The Queen did not like this at all . She preferred Disrael l sty e , as for example

1 24 T H E P E R F E C T A G E

life of a social beauty, but, unusually enough , she became exceed ’ in l - In - F g y fond of her mother law . Emily described anny s b ut h wedding as brilliant and very gay, t is marriage was to ’ represent one of the tragedies of Emily s life . Thirteen years ’ o f later Lord Jocelyn died of cholera, and not one Fanny s six children survived . They all died of consumption , like Harriet , ’ Emily s child sister .

The Whig Government was dissolved In time, and Emily and i Palmerston went down to Tiverton, his const tuency, where he addressed his supporters . The members before Reform he said , were no more representative of the honest men and beautiful

' women of Tiverton than were figures In a magic lan tern ofJack the Giant Killer . The electors , duly flattered , returned him to ’

. In an d Parliament The Tories came with a majority, Melbourne s

Government departed .

To console the Whigs , Victoria, with the Prince Consort, ni consented to spend two ghts at Panshanger, and drove from there to Brocket to lunch with Melbourne . Emily had a seat ’ in Victoria s carriage , and Palmerston rode beside it . True to ’ the Emily s character, everything was very unpunctual , and unfortunate Victoria was compelled to wait for her dinner like ’ s any other of Emily s gue ts . ffi Palmerston was now sixty and out of o ce . He occupied k his leisure in ta ing Emily on a visit to his Irish estates , and she spent a gay time being entertained by the Lord Lieutenant

In Dublin . They came back to a dark and foodless home In

Carlton House Terrace , for the steward had gone away, and the other servants had not dared to open the letter in which his i lord and lady announced the r return . ’ l Melbourne s continued to decline , and finally became _ hea th B al . eauv e hopeless Lord , his brother , complained about ’ his Melbourne s doctors , and Palmerston said , with usual blunt ness , that Melbourne had always eaten too much , drunk too

t u - much , and taken too li tle exercise . The only c re for over eating

- ki and over drin ng was to eat and drink less . In 1 844 the mutterings began which heralded the storm that ’ would destroy Peel s Government . Ireland was starving owing the to the failure of potato crop . England fared little better,

- and Cobden and Bright formed the anti Corn Law League , but

Peel declared he would leave the Corn Laws alone . The harvest il e of that year fa ed , potato diseas e began in th South of England L D L M S T H E W I 1 A Y P A E R T O N , P E R F E C T F E 2 5

and spread to Ireland . Peel suggested opening all the ports by b ut ohn a an Order in Council , J Russell s id he proposed to abandon the fixed duty on corn and agree with Cobden on the repeal of the Corn Laws .

Peel resigned , Lord John Russell tried to form a Government i as It u and fa led , and , Disraeli put , handed back with co rtesy the poisoned chalice to Sir Robert The Duke of Wellington commented : “ It ut Rotten potatoes have done all . They p Peel in his ” damned fright . So Peel and his new Government repe aled the Corn Laws

In 1 8 6 f . 4 , but were de eated on an Irish Coercion Bill by 73 votes Lord John Russell replaced Peel as Prime Minister an d Palmers ton the F ffi . found himself at oreign O ce once more Emily, who had just enjoyed a stimulating visit to Paris with her husband , ’ an d at re oic dined Louis Philippe s Court, gave herself up to j u in g and triumph . If Melbourne was out and Lord John R ssell a was had taken his place , her dearest H rry Foreign Minister a a a again . Unfortunately he had to f ce a serried ph l nx of Stoc kmar criticism comprising Victoria, Albert , Uncle Leop old ,

and Lord John Russell . The battle joined on Victoria ’ s decree that Important Foreign Office communications must be sent to her for approval before an d t being sent abroad , quite often Palmerston never submit ed us his despatches to anyone . There was , for example , his famo a B a u t a desp tch to ulwer, Ambass dor at Madrid , s ggesting h t

the Queen of Spain should consult the Spanish Liberals . Bulwer i was asked to leave Spa n , Victoria felt insulted and ascribed ’ the insult purely to Palmerston s habit of not letting her see hi s t u w despatches . Emily pleaded piteously hat he sho ld diso n the u Bulwer for showing the despatch to Spanish Q een , and he t a refused . Lord John Russell sympathised wi h Victori , adding that he could not object to Palmerston on the ground of Inca

ac it was F . p y, for he a very able oreign Minister He asked u o ut t t Palmerston to be more caref l, and Palmerston pointed ha

despatches passed through the Foreign Office every year . u u If the Q een saw them all , chaos wo ld result . On ce indeed Lord John told the Prince Consort half hopefully the ut that he thought Palmerston too old to do much in f ure ,

n - h havi g passed his sixty fift year . He lived to be Prime Minister ’ at eighty, thus dashing Lord John s hopes to the ground . 1 26 T H E P E R F E C T A G E

In 1 850 Victoria really believed she had got rid of her Foreign

Minister . He had supported a British subject named Don

Pacific o against the Greek Government , and nearly Involved

in F . England war with Greece, rance and Russia The House of Lords passed a motion against him by a large majority . The

. R House of Commons discussed his action , and Mr oebuck moved a resolution In favour of the Government ’ s Foreign

Policy . The next night Palmerston spoke . l He spoke , recorded Emily, who istened to him , four hours

fifty minutes , and his brilliant speech annihilated all House of Commons opposition . Emily said members listened attentive : and breathless , and this passage might well have moved them

I therefore fearlessly challenge the verdict which this c on stitu House, as representing a political , a commercial , a i n al is t o country, to give on the question now brought before It ; whether the principles on which the Foreign Policy of Her ’ Majesty s Government has been conducted , and the sense of duty which has led us to think ourselves bound to afford pro t ec tion to our fellow- subjects abroad are proper and fitting guides for those who are charged with the government of In England , and whether, as the Roman , days of old , held ‘ himself free from indignity when he could say Civis R omanum ’ Sum u ; so also a British s bject, in whatever land he may be, shall feel confident that the watchful eye and the strong arm of England will protect him against injustice and wrong .

Sir That policy could hardly fail . Robert Peel himself, in the last speech he ever made in the House of Commons , con gratulated Palmerston . That year the devoted Emily received a very charming com

- l M P imen t . s p One hundred and twenty Liberal . . subscribed

- to present her with a full length portrait of her husband , painted by Partridge . The occasion filled her with pride , and she never forgot it . The portrait was hung on the staircase of their house

In Carlton Gardens , whither they had moved from Carlton

House Terrace . She deserved her reward , for she had made

- H G . her drawing room the Liberal H Q 1 8 1 i In 5 Victoria prevailed . Prince Lou s Napoleon, President ’ ' cou d tat hi of the French Republic , staged a p e and exchanged s f o fice for the throne . The British Cabinet considered their policy should be outward friendliness and Inward reserve ; Count

1 28 T H E P E R F E C T A G E

In Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire , and what remained of ’ her grandfather s fortune . She was always completely Inde of pendent Palmerston in money matters , a fact to which may

In . have been due , part , the success of her marriage

- t uti u . She was now six y six , still bea f l , but definitely old She and Palmerston had scarcely moved into Cambridge

House , Piccadilly, which they took on the death of the Duke of Cambridge , when Lord John Russell decided that in order to a ffi f prosecute the Crime n War e ciently, the War O fice must ofli c es cease to administer the Colonies (as it did at that time) , the of Secretary at War and Secretary of State for War should be l combined , and Palmerston should replace the Duke of Wel ington b ut ff at the War Office . Palmerston sympathised feared the e ect of the change on the Government . Lord John Russell resigned . Lord Aberdeen suggested Palmerston as Leader of the House h of Commons , and Lord John wit drew his resignation . Early in 1 855 a motion was put down for an enquiry into the conduct n a of the war . Lord John then really resig ed , Palmerston bec me

Leader of the House and War Minister, and spoke against the motion for enquiry . The motion succeeded by a large majority, and Lord Aberdeen resigned .

Victoria sent once more for Lord Derby, who said that to avoid popular clamour Palmerston could not be left out of the u Government ; apart from that he tho ght little of him , and

- anyway he was seventy one . He could be Lord President of the

Council and lead the House of Commons . Emily and her dearest Harry now knew that the situation t lay In their hands . He made various condi ions which he knew t t would prevent Lord Derby from forming a Governmen . Vic oria

as a sent for Lord John Russell , and he failed Lord Derby had f iled before him . Victoria sent for Lord Palmerston ; she had no r alternative . Emily and her dearest Ha ry had triumphed at last . As if by magic he combined Peelites with Whigs , and t 1 8 t o f a became Prime Minis er in 55 , hold that o fice , with brief

n 1 86 . i terval , till his death in 5 a F Disr eli had written ofhim to rances Anne , Lady Londonderry “ Palmerston seems now the inevitable man ; and though t t he is really an Impostor, u terly exhaus ed , and at the best a ai only ginger beer and not champ gne , and now an old , p nted v er b lin d al pantaloon , very deaf, y , and with f se teeth her e is a man which the Country resolves to associate with L D L M S T H E I A Y P A E R T O N , P E R F E C T W F E 1 2 9 energy , wisdom and eloquence , and will until he has tried and ” failed . ’ In spite of Disraeli s opinion , the venerable figure at the head of the Government proceeded to conduct the Crimean War with a vigour and confidence no other statesman of his time could have equalled .

u u , his It is do btf l whether at age , In his physical condition , he u ( 1 8 8 co ld have survived the ten years with a briefinterruption"in 5 ) of his premiership without the loving care and the afl ec tion of

. Emily She could never bear to be separated from him . Once when She was staying for a fortnight at Brighton with Lady Ashley, her ’ daughter, and Lady Ashley s children , she wrote to him : “ Whenever you write me word that you have opened your ” carpet bags I shall make a bonfire on the Steyne . (By the “ ” “ ” phrase open your carpet bags she meant begin packing .

W a al In h t is now c led a suitcase was made of carpet those days . ) A fter he became Prime Minister she confessed s adly when her fi rst triumph had abated : “ I would rather that my husband was only Foreign Secretary o r Home Secretary, for since he became Prime Minister I see ’ ” . nothing of him He never comes to bed till four or five o clock . an d That was true , because except on Saturdays S undays he

. m could hardly ever dine with her He dined at 3 p . . and rode down to the House on his old grey, a feature of the London ’

u . of those days , at fo r O clock Except for tea he had nothing till

I a . m he returned to his home usually at . So wifely was Emily that even his grey hack on which he rode to the Commons distressed her . She had four grey carriage horses an d she was afraid people might think It was one of these that he rode . a She led a busy life . Besides running Bro dlands and Cambridge

House she had her own property to oversee . She always verified u i the acco nts herself Instead of leav ng them to a deputy . When 1 86 1 Palmerston became Warden of the Cinque Ports in , yet another house , Walmer Castle, came under her care . She was

- then seventy four . mi Fortified by the care of E ly, Palmerston never lost his j aunty air or his capacity to carry things with a high hand . u Life did not spare the veteran Prime Minister . Crisis s cceeded u crisis : The Indian M tiny, Italian upheavals , war between

France and Austria , the American Civil War, in which England 1 30 T H E P E R F E C T A G E

Sc hles - was nearly involved , and the Invasion of g Holstein by s the Austrians and Prussian .

He made mistakes , as even great men do . He had a contempt if for the Prussian Army , and declared that ever It met the French

Army a second Jena would result . Five years after his death

Napoleon II I surrendered to the Prussian Army at Sedan . At the beginning of the American Civil War he believed the t South would defeat the Nor h . f To the very end nothing depressed his spirits . A ter the death of the Prince Consort ( 1 86 1 ) Victori a refused for a time to see i her Ministers . The Cab net pointed out to her that this could not go on , and accordingly she sent for Palmerston . He went down to Osborne with his whiskers newly dyed , wearing a brown s overcoat , light grey trousers , blue studs and green glove . He was not very favourably received .

His defeat came on the Conspiracy Bill , intended as a sop sufi ered to France . The Government defeat on the second

reading by nineteen votes , and Lord Derby and the Tories in came , Emily being furious because Gladstone and Disraeli had walked side by side into the division lobby against her dearest

Harry . Even the Prince Consort , once his bitter opponent , ” in protested . Here , he said , was a man young and vigorous

- fifth his seventy year , once the Idol of the country , now

denounced , although his qualities had not altered in the least , ” and his record stood for all to see . It was a moving and generous

tribute .

Palmerston took the opportunity to visit France , and the

Court of Napoleon , but Emily could not go . It was November ,

and the journey long and cold , and at her age she could not be him did allowed to travel . She missed desperately, as she always i on the few occas ons when they were parted . 1 8 That was in 85 . In the following year Lord Derby went

out on the thorny question of Reform , and Palmerston returned . him On one occasion , when Victoria goaded beyond endurance

he threatened to resign . He held her in the hollow of his hand , for he knew that if he refused no one else could form a Govern him ment and that she would have to send for again . ’ 1 86 0 In and Yet by he basked once more Victoria s smiles ,

Alb ert also warmed towards him . For the remainder of his life

he was to function as a legendary figure, beloved by the people , and tolerated by the C ourt except in the matter of the Schleswig

1 32 T H E P E R F E C T A G E to recall that so good a horseman won the Cesarewitch In 1 84 1 Ilion i s In 1 86 2 with and the A cot Stakes with Buckthorn . The year 1 865 was to be the last of his faithful companionship with Emily . As his health began to fail his consideration for her became more and more touching . He did his utmost to conceal his condition from her ; the familiar smile was always i summoned up for her, and he st ll made his now pathetic his little jokes . She remained faithfully at side and the strain was on her became intense . She too very Old and she had

- hi watched over him devotedly for twenty six years , but w le he lived she grudged him nothing .

In July the news of his health was not good , but nothing him would induce to give up the leadership of the House . He went down to Tiverton for the election , and returned to Brocket, ’ Emily s house in Hertfordshire , where Melbourne and Lord B auv ale as e had died , so to be within easy reach of London ff . hi s and medical specialists By now gout had a ected bladder, because he had gone riding before recovering from an attack . The doctors said there was no reason why he should not live for years , but Emily could not conceal from herself the fact that he grew weaker . Perhaps he realised it too , for an eye witness recorded a typically Palmerstonian action which he performed two or three weeks before he died .

There were high railings opposite the front door of Brocket .

One morning he came out , glanced around to see that no one was i look ng , climbed over the top rail to the ground on the far side , and then climbed back . He was testing his strength before the assembly of Parliament . He had begun to suspect he would never meet Parliament . 1 2 On October th , though poorly, he drove out with Emily . v During the dri e he caught a chill , Inflammation of the kidneys ul followed , and the doctors saw that he wo d not recover . He breakfasted on a Monday on mutton chops and half a It glass of old port , remarking that was odd he should have t it lived so long without finding out wha a good breakfast was . a The next day he sank , while Emily still kept w tch , and on 1 8 ffi October th , he died , with an o cial despatch box and a

l - finished s ha f letter to witne s that he died in harness for England . He had sat in sixteen Parliaments and held offi ce In every administration except Sir Robert Peel ’ s or Lord Derby ’ s from ’

1 80 1 86 m . 9 to 5 . Such was E ily s husband L D L M S T H E W I 1 A Y P A E R T O N , P E R F E C T F E 33

Gladstone wrote of him to Paniz z r “ ’ E i F u . Death has Indeed laid low the most towering ” In : antlers all the forest , and Victoria wrote to Uncle Leopold “ u He had many valuable"qualities , tho gh many bad ones , and we had , God knows terrible trouble with him about ff never foreign a airs But I liked him , or could ever the as him his le t respect , nor could I forget conduct on certain ” occasions to my Angel . i ’ Em ly lived for nearly four years after her husband s death .

She did not wish to remain among the ghosts of Brocket , and

Cambridge House was too large . She bought from Bulwer al N 1 O . 2 Lytton , Bread bane House , Park Lane , and went to In 1 n 866 . I live there There , new surroundings , she set about making a new life . She had three great psychological assets her character, her sunny disposition , and the knowledge that she always had been , and always would be, beautiful . To her very last days she always sat upright in her chair ’ with her back as straight as a Guardsman s . She retained all her life a charming vanity, which enabled her to say to a daughter in the last year of her life “ n in I thi k , Fanny, I must really begin low bodies again the evening . in She maintained her deep Interest politics , viewing them

- . most naturally , from an eighteenth century viewpoint Glad stone ’ s Bill to disestablish the Irish Church disgusted her and

It . she discussed vigorously and eagerly Her children , grand

- children and great grandchildren adored her, and made up for the loss of her great friends Lady T an kerv ille and Lady In Times Jersey . Abraham Hayward wrote of her the of 1 1 86 : September 5th , 9 “ Lady Palmerston never lost her wonderful freshness . Her ff impressions were as lively, her sympathies as warm , her a ection

d - in as expansive , when she had passe eighty, as when , opening , womanhood , she was pelting flowers or rowing on the lake

- at Brocket , or playfully proposing to bound over the billiard table mil at Petworth . Fa iar topics did not weary her, nor strange In repel . She felt the same vivid Interest things and people , If a old and young , as she was just entering life ; and this envi ble — — quality b e it remembered to her Immortal honour was retained through sixty years of pomps and vanities , luxuries and flattery, of social and political scheming , of alternate elation 1 34 T H E P E R F E C T A G E

all - and despondency, of that is fictitious , most Illusion destroying , in most demoralising what serious people shun , denounce , and deprecate as ‘ the world ’ is It a turgid tribute to a remarkable woman . When her end came it came so quietly that She seemed like a tired child fallin g asleep exhausted with play . She died r 1 th 1 86 at Brocket , on September , 9 , and they buried her in Westminster Abbey beside her very dearest Harry .

1 36 T H E P E R F E C T A G E

of the eighteenth century the altered circumstances of England , favourable , as it was then supposed , to commerce and religious

- t liberty, attracted the attention of my great grandfa her to his this Island , and he resolved that the youngest of two sons , t Benjamin , the son of his right hand , should settle in a coun ry where the dynasty seemed at length established through the recent failure of Prince Charles Edward , and where public opinion appeared definitely adverse to persecution of creed and conscience . “ The Jewish families who were then settled In England were few, though , from their wealth and other circumstances , ni they were far from u mportant . They were all of them — Is Sephardim that to say, Children of Israel , who had never quitted the shores of the Midland Ocean until Torquemada had driven them from their pleasant residences and rich In a u estates Arragon , and Andalusi , and Port gal , to seek greater t blessings even han a clear atmosphere and a glowing sun, amid the marshes of Holland and the fogs of Britain . “ Most of these families , who held themselves aloof from the Hebrews of Northern Europe, then only occasionally stealing into England , as from an Inferior caste , and whose synagogue was reserved only for the Sephardim , are now extinct ; while the branch of the great family, which , notwithstanding their ff a own su erings from prejudice , they had the h rdihood to t look down upon , have achieved an amoun of wealth and consideration which the Sephardim even with the patronage a of Mr . Pelham , never could have contempl ted . Nevertheless , a t at the time when my grandf ther se tled in England , and h when Mr . Pel am , who was very favourable to the Jews , was

Prime Minister , there might be found , among other Jewish In families settled this country, the Villa Reals , who brought t a weal h to these shores lmost as great as their name , though Is that the second in Portugal , and who have twice allied them selves with the English aristocracy, the Medinas , the Laras i — who were our k nsmen and the Mendez da Costas , who , I t believe , s ill exist . It a a n ot Whether was that my grandfather , on his rriv l , was encouraged by those to whom he had a right to look u — p which is often o ur hard c ase in the outset of life o r whether ’ a he was al rmed at the unexpected consequences of Mr . Pelham s favourable disposition to his countrymen in the disgraceful repeal of the Jew Bill which occurred a very few years after t b ut his arrival in this coun ry, I know not ; certainly he appears never to have cordially or Intimately mixed with his com

u n . sub se m ity This tendency to alienation was , no doubt, S H D I S L I T H E S I S 1 A R A R A E , P E R F E C T T E R 3 7

r quently encouraged by his ma riage, which took place in 1 6 7 5 . l i My grandmother , the beautifu daughter of a fam ly who sufi ered had from persecution , had imbibed that dislike for her race which the vain are too apt to adopt when they find they are born to public contempt . The indignant feeling that In mortific ati n should be reserved for the persecutor, the o t of their disturbed sensibility, is too of en visited on the victim ; and the cause of an noyance Is recognised not In the ignorant the malevolence of the powerful , but in conscientious conviction ff of the Innocent su erer . “ Seventeen years , however, elapsed before my grandfather t entered into this union , and during hat interval he had not

‘

- been idle . He was only eighteen when he commenced his career and when a great responsibility devolved upon him . u He was not nequal to it . He was a man of ardent character ; u w t sanguine and courageous , spec lative , fortunate ; ith a emper i t no d sappointment could dis urb , and a brain , amid the reverses , full of resource . He made his fortune in midway E n field a of life , and settled near , where he formed an Itali n ai garden , entert ned his friends , played whist with Sir Horace ai Mann , who was his greatest acqu ntance , and who had known his brother at Venice as a banker , ate macaroni which was s the a t dre sed by Venetian Consul , s ng canzone tas , and , not a withstanding wife who never pardoned him for his name , and a who who the son disappointed all his plans , and to last hour of l was his life was an enigma to him, lived ti l he nearly ninety, and 1 1 then died In 8 7 in the full enjoyment of a prolonged existence .

is The account a trifle long but a pleasant piece of prose , except for Disraeli ’ s villainous habit of writing “ and who ” whi t Unfor ch disfigured his literary work hroughout his life . tun atel t it y the romantic story is not supported by facts . S ill , ’ Is u a at 1 6 tr e that his , and Sarah s , gr ndf her married , in 7 5 , Si rut de as his second wife , Sarah p Gabay, who , through her a paternal gr ndfather, inherited the blood of the Villa Reals .

She was the lady who never pardoned him for his name . The ft Villa Reals were , a er all , the Villa Reals , and theirs was the In second name Portugal . So a wistful tinge of aristocracy ’ u colo red Sarah s somewhat sad life . ’ D Israeli Isaac , the only child of the above Benjamin and his A s Si rut . wife , Sarah p de Gabay, was the father of Sarah f In she passed her li e his service, and made life bearable for 1 38 T H E P E R F E C T A G E

in him when , old age , he became blind , his history is relevant s to hers . He began his career as a pale , pen ive child with large dark brown eyes , and flowing hair . He was not In the least his like genial father, who made a fortune and enjoyed his macaroni dressed by the Venetian Consul . Neither of his parents understood him , not did he resemble either of them , in i and he was completely the cuckoo the fam ly nest .

His mother (whom Disraeli described as a demon) , foresaw ” l u for her child on y a fut re of degradation . Once he ran away from home and was found lying on a tombstone In Hackney churchyard . What his demon mother said Is not recorded , but his genial father embraced him and gave him a pony . The father was not seriously alarmed about Isaac until he produced a poem . Then he realised that Indeed Isaac headed “ for a future of degradation . He was consigned like a bale of ” ’ goods to his father s correspondent at Amsterdam , with instructions that he should be sent to a good school . The corres pondent Instead found him a tutor, who let him read what he pleased , so that when he returned to England at the age of eighteen he was a disciple of Rousseau . His father wished him to take a business post at Bordeaux , and Isaac replied that he had written a poem of considerable length , which he wished to publish , against commerce, which was the corruption of man . in At last the harassed father agreed to let Isaac travel France , If see Paris , and then go to the post at Bordeaux he liked . He never did like . Instead he consorted with learned men , and in 1 88 frequented libraries , returning home 7 . At the age of twenty- fiv e he published anonymous ly a book of anecdotes Cu iosities o Literature and observations entitled r f . It succeeded , and a second volume came out two years later . At the age of thirty- fiv e he gave up the idea of seeking literary fame and i A s proposed to spend the rest of his life acqu ring knowledge . his I maternal grandmother had left him an ncome , and his father would leave him a fortune , there was no need for him hi s to earn living .

1 80 2 - Basev i In , when he was thirty six he married Maria , a the youngest daughter of an Itali n Jew . This lady appears to a t : h ve been comple ely null . A historian writes of her “ The Basev i family were then and later not devoid of in tellec tual It distinction , but no portion of seems to have fallen

T H E P E R F E C T A G E

Jem . In early childhood happened the most important event It l of her life , since without her brother Benjamin cou d never have sat in parliament and become one of the most celebrated statesmen In English history .

Isaac , her father, was a dreamy creature who shut himself t up In his library af er breakfast , spent the afternoon at the ’ British Museum , stopped at all the booksellers shops he passed , s e reached home with his purchases , had tea, and shut him lf ri up In his library again till dinner . He appeared at table wea ng a velvet skull cap , his mind far away among his books . But even he could be aroused on occasion , and such an occasion 1 8 1 arose when , one day In 3 , the London Jews nominated him Warden of the Congregation of Bevis Marks . n Isaac , like his father, had remained , out of politeness , i at In scribed his synagogue , but he had never taken part Its religious practices . The business of nominating him a Warden , w for some reason , infuriated him , and he rote a strong protest :

A person who has always lived out of the sphere of your Observation ; of retired habits of life ; who can never u ni te in as your public worship because , now conducted , it disturbs , t i instead of exci ing, relig ous emotions , a circumstance of general acknowledgment ; who has only tolerated some part of your t all c an In s ri ual , willing to concede he the e matters which ff — he holds to be indi erent ; such a man , with but a moderate a portion of honour and understanding, never can ccept the t solemn functions of an Elder in your congrega ion , and involve f In his li e , and distract his pure spirits , not temporary but in ” permanent duties always repulsive to his feelings .

The consistory dealt simply and drastically with Isaac by

0 . fining him £4 , which he refused to pay Three years later t 0 they reminded him hat he owed them £4 , but by then his had father died , and feeling that such an action could not

f a . now o fend his ancestor , he resigned from the syn gogue Thus he fou nd himself neither Jew nor Christian,with Sarah

and her brothers in the same anomalous spiritual condition . Then

the - Sharon Turner , well known historian , a friend of the family, aac began to reason with Is . He pointed out that as he seemed to have no religi ous convictions one way or the other It would if l be much better, only for strategic reasons , to have the chi dren S D I S L I T H E S I S 1 1 A R A H R A E , P E R F E C T T E R 4

baptized into the Church of England . Jews and Catholics , i he continued , were barred from many civ l rights . This barrier ’ might stand In the way of the bo ys careers . ’ Isaac s mother, who had foreseen for him only a future of ’ degradation , joined her view with Sharon Turner s . She wished

her grandchildren n o t to be part of an association she despised . a Is ac , seeing his peace about to be disturbed once more with l as another re igious argument , h tily consented . First the Church rst 1 8 1 engulfed Ralph and James , then Benjamin , on July 3 , 7 ,

and last Sarah . Thus the romance of her life , her brother ’ Benjamin s political career, was made possible . is As usually the case In families , the Disraeli children In arrayed themselves groups . Sarah and Benjamin formed one and Ralph and James the other . Sarah and Benjamin might be called the aristocracy of their generation ; Ralph and James were respectable but by comparison obscure . Ralph obtained a clerkship in Chancery, and became later Clerk In Assistant the House of Lords . James graduated from being a County Court Treasurer to the dignity of a Commissioner f O . Excise Benjamin was to climb to the top of the greasy pole , as he put it , and became Prime Minister of England . Sarah b shared his glory , though she did not live to see its climax , y remaining his sympathiser and confidante until death took her from him . ’ In 1 8 1 6 Sarah s grandfather died at an advanced age and ’ Off Isaac , now much better on account of his father s fortune and the fact that it came to him unencumbered by income t a u tax , abolished hat year , moved to a more ttractive ho se, 6 , Bloomsbury Square , which had the advantage of being the t s still nearer Bri i h Museum. There the family remained t i for twelve years un il , having taken a liking to Buckinghamsh re , ui through holidays spent at Amersham , Isaac acq red Braden ham Manor, near High Wycombe , situated among what “ ” Disraeli was fond of referring to as b eechen groves , for the a beech trees of Buckinghamshire are f mous . They migrated there i n the summer of 1 8 29 and Isaac described the reasons for the change In a letter to Southey “ The precarious health of several members of my family hi has decided me on t s movement , and I quit London with ‘ the all its hourly seductions . My house is described by Nourrisse ’ A n ti uitie of q , venerable Camden , as built by the Lord Windsor K 14 2 T H E P E R F E C T A G E — In the reign of Henry VIII for the salubrity of the soil and air . Disraeli described the house thus In hi s novel E ndymion

ls At the foot of the Chiltern Hil , and Itself on a gentle is l elevation , there an old ha l with gable ends and lattice windows , in h standing grounds which once were stately, and where t ere

- h ai r are yet glade like terraces of yew trees , w ich give an of the l dignity to a neglected scene . In the front of ha l huge gates of iron , highly wrought, and bearing an ancient date as well h as the s ield of a noble house , opened on a village green , round which were clustered the cottages of the parish with only one i exception , and that was the Vicarage house , a modern bu lding ,

li . not without taste, surrounded by a small but bril ant garden was i The church contiguous to the hall , and had been ra sed

by the Lord on a portion of his domain . Behind the hall and

Its enclosure the country was common land but picturesque . ti It had once been a beech forest, and though the mber had i been greatly cleared the green land was st ll occasionally dotted , hi sometimes with groups and sometimes with single trees , w le

the juniper which here abounded , and rose to a great height , gave a rich wildness to the scene and sustained its forest h ” c aracter .

’ This was to be Sarah s home till almost the end of her life . ’ it Like the second little pig s In the nursery rhyme , was She saw chiefly her lot to stay at home . , the world , both abroad ’ and at home , largely through her brother Benjamin s letters , and she expressed herself chiefly through her sympathy with him 1 82 , because her love affair ended In tragedy . In 4 , when

- H IS she was twenty two , the series of letters begins . health ’ his father s av e o ff and g cause for anxiety, and so they set for ’ a six weeks tour of the Continent , taking with them a young i h a his friend of the fam ly named Meredit , who had just t ken

degree at Oxford , and is eternally linked with Sarah . It must always be remembered that Sarah had no life of

her own . She never mar ried and it was not the era of careers

. i t for women She lived , unt l the dea h of her father, in her ’ father s house, savouring life chiefly through the achieve

u . ments of her wonderf l brother, until his marriage to Mrs Wyndham Lewis (Mary Anne) the chief recipient of his

' c on fi n his . de c es . Therefore to a great extent her story is story The letters written by Benjamin on his contine ntal tour

1 44 T H E P E R F E C T A G E

w i e i . . h ch happen d almost da ly, and then he was bad Mrs Austen complained at last that the shirts could not have been ’ e good to b gin with , on which Sarah s brother proposed to tell his mother that Mrs . Austen had abused his linen . How meekly Sarah , had she been there , would have sewn on the buttons and said nothing .

There was a long letter to her from Lyons addressed , as “ ” Sa always , to Dearest , In which he said , and her heart must have throbbed with gratitude : “ l Everything that I wished has been rea ised , and more ” : than I wished granted , and continued “ To discover new wants and find them instantly gratified , or rather to discover unexpected necessities anticipated is the ” his most pleasing of all things . He added that father had “ ' said he had been Idle ; 1 have been just the reverse .

Sarah , perusing the letter, speculated dreamily in Bloomsbury Square as to what form the beloved wanderer ’ s industry had

taken . was his She soon to kno w . Shortly after return a sequel to

Vivian Gr ll . ey appeared in three volumes . They were not bri iant Then for three years her brother languished under a mysterious illness and she could only nurse him and sympathise . There

were no adventures of his over which to thrill at second hand . was F field He too Ill for adventures . She was with him at y , in 1 8 2 In Oxfordshire , the summer of 7 and at Lyme Regis ,

In Dorset In the summer of 1 828 . Isaac wrote In January 1 9 29 His complaint Is one of those perplexing cases which remain uncertain and obscure , till they are finally got rid of. Mean while patience and resignation must be his lot—two drugs

’ in human life , bitter of digestion , in an ardent and excitable ” H I mind . S doctor described it as C hronic inflammation of the membranes of the brain . He recovered completely . The migration to Bradenham In 1 829 still found Sarah In ill charge of a sick brother . He was not only but In debt , not his his that debts ever worried him greatly . T philosophy became almost essential seeing that the debts were to remain i is f If with him for most of his l fe . It doubt ul Sarah ever knew about them . Certainly he never exposed them fully to his father .

In due time other novels followed . Colburn , the publisher, S D I S L I T H E S I S A R A H R A E , P E R F E C T T E R 1 45

him T n D u e 0 0 he You k . gave £5 for g The title startled Isaac , who exclaimed : “ "” " n The Youn g Duke What does Ben k ow of dukes At i u any rate he was qual fying to know of D kes , for an acquaintance describes his costume at a dinner party as consisting of green velvet trousers , a canary coloured waistcoat, low shoes, silver at buckles , lace his wrists , and he wore his hair in ringlets . He decided to spend the money advanced by his publisher on a tour of the East , his companion being Meredith, who was now engaged to Sarah . 1 8 0 They left England at the end of May, 3 , leaving Sarah bereft of all she loved best in the world . At least she knew n the satisfaction of her love bei g returned . Certainly Meredith in loved her, and Benjamin , a letter to his father , adds after a rhapsody about the Straits of Gibraltar : “ When I beg you to write I mean my beloved Sa . To her ” a thousand kisses . The Youn D uke g appeared after his departure , and Sarah i wrote to tell h m about it . Not unnaturally she was In ecstasies “ u — There is not a d ll half page not a dull half line . Your i is al ” . u s story unpar leled Yo r heroine fit to be worshipped .

I say nothing of your moral episodes , for they touch my h a eart too keenly . One re ding has repaid me for months t i of suspense , and that Is saying every h ng if you knew how ” a much my heart Is wrapt up in your f me . ’ in the There , eight words , we have mainspring of Sarah s ’ in t life . Her heart was wrapped up Benjamin s fame , and af er aid as her own tragedy she existed only to , insofar she could , w and itness his triumph , which she had convinced herself was inevitable . She wrote again later to tell him news given her by American d h “ visitors to England . They sai t at in the United States The Young D uke is the textb ook from which they preach and ” read , and learn that important requisite , manners . For reward she received a letter saying n Write to me whenever you can keep on writi g ,

'

f . and being Sarah , she found the reward su ficient Even Meredith ’ s description of her brother ’ s costume worn on the occasion of a visit to a Grand Vizier would not have shaken her faith In him 1 46 T H E P E R F E C T A G E

“ l S i Figure to yourse f, wrote Meredith , a hirt ent rely red s with silver studs as large as sixpences , green pantaloon with A a velvet stripe down the sides , and a silk lbanian shawl with a long fringe of divers colours round his waist, and to complete all his Spanish majo jacket covered with embroidery and ribbons . Sarah ’ s sweetheart and her beloved brother continued ’ from Spain and Malta (in Malta the o fli c ers mess christened Benjamin “ that damned bumptious Jew boy ” ) In a hired Susan yacht named , on board which he wore an immense scarf ff for a girdle , stu ed full of pistols and daggers . He mingled an d with Turks pashas , visited the Ionian islands and the

Acropolis , Constantinople and last but not least Jerusalem .

A long letter to Sarah rhapsodised about the Holy City . In another he tells her he followed the course of the Nile for seven “ ” hundred miles to the very confines of Nubia . in He wrote to her again from Cairo , a very gay letter which he praised her as a correspondent , adding a little touch of brotherly sarcasm . “ I cannot sufficiently commend your letters ; they are In every respect charming , very lively and witty , and full exactly of f the stu f I want . If you were only a more perfect mistress of the ‘ ’ ” art of punctuation , you might rival Lady Mary herself.

(Presumably Lady Mary Wortley Montague . )

Then , at the climax of the journey, the blow fell . Benjamin in was waiting In Cairo for Meredith . He arrived Cairo at the

1 8 1 - end of June , 3 , and they were on the point of leaving for di England when Meredith became Ill with smallpox , and ed 1 th on July 9 . It is no exaggeration to say that Benjamin was distraught ’ Seir s at the Idea of ah loss . His letter to his father on the subject ’ is of Meredith s death almost incoherent with grief. “

is . Our innocent lamb , our angel stricken Save her, save

. S k her I wish to live only for my ister . I thin of her all ” day and all night . : Sa To Sarah he wrote , beginning My own “ t Ere you open his page , our beloved father will have imparted to you with all the tenderness of parental love the terrible In telli gence which I have scarcely found energy enough to communicate ri n to him Yes , our f end of ma y years , our hope and joy Is and consolation lost to us for ever . He has suddenly

1 48 T H E P E R F E C T A G E

- incidents of his eventful life , the death bed scene at Cairo was not seldom recalled . “ He rarely spoke either of his sister or of Meredith , but that h ” was is habit where his feelings were deeply concerned , wrote “ Sir Philip . Once I remember his describing Meredith to me as a man of great intellectual powers who would certainly have if ” distinguished himself he had lived . o That was the man wh m Sarah had lost . It Is understandable u him that she may have fo nd impossible to replace . For the rest of her life her interest centred on her brilliant brother In whose coming greatness she had a persistent, unwearying faith , even in the darkest moments of his career .

b ooks ' Contarini Flemin For the moment he gave her two more , g In 1 8 an d A l o in 1 8 2 . May, 3 , r y March , 33 They have been described by an eminent cri tic as artistically the most sincere and disinterested of his early works . Perhaps the shadow and awe of Meredith ’ s death and Sarah ’ s grief hung over him as he Contarini F lemin wrote . Murray published g, which in spite of i favourable reviews was a fa lure . The faithful Colburn published The a o A o Wondrous T le f lr y with a dedication to Sarah . It was : not a very good novel , although he wrote to Sarah “ ‘ It Mrs . Jameson told Otley that reading was like riding an

and it did not have a very great success . Both formed a prelude to his entry Into politics . f H is al He proposed to o fer himself for Wycombe . politic creed caused possible supporters some difficulty owing to its : vagueness . He had written “ I am neither a Whig nor a Tory . My politics are described ” by one word, and that word is England . This description c orrec t in proved . the long run , but it was embarrassing In a n comparatively u known candidate . Even the admiring Sarah wrote “ You can Imagine the astonishment and consternation of old ” In and young Wycombe". Tories they knew, and Whigs they w kne , but what was he

He was now living in London , at rooms in his . Duke Street , beginning conquest of London Society as To Sarah , the country mouse , he wrote a tale as wondrous the Wondrous Tale of Alroy : ' ’ a reunion There had been very brilliant at Bulwer s . Among r the notables we e Lords Strangford and Mulgrave, with the S D I S L I T H E S I S 1 A R A H R A E , P E R F E C T T E R 49 latter of whom he had a great deal of conversation ; Count ’ D O rsa y, the famous Parisian dandy ; a large sprinkling of blues — . N t . Lady Morgan , Mrs or on , etc

In April he wrote her a highly significant letter, though neither of them understood its signific ance at the time ' ’ soi ee The r on the previous night at Bulwer s was really brilliant, much more so than the former . He was introduced to Mrs . L a n a . Wy dham ewis , pretty little woman , flirt and a rattle She told him that she liked silent, melancholy men , and he answered it that he had no doubt of .

Mrs . Wyndham Lewis was to obtain for him , through her . a husband , Colonel Wyndham Lewis , his first seat in Parli ment as one of the members for Maidstone , to marry him on the death ’ a e of her husb nd , and to becom Sarah s dear friend as well as

- - her sister in law .

Benjamin failed to be elected at Wycombe . In February, 1 8 33 , he wrote Sarah the most astonishing of all the letters she received from him . He told her that he went to the House of Commons to hear ’ a Bulwer adjourn the House . He he rd Macaulay s best speech , a Sheil and Charles Grant . M caulay was admirable , but , ” between ourselves , I could floor them all . He added that he was never more confident of anything than that he could carry

w . everything before him In that House . The time ill come The amazing features of this prophecy are that he was perfectly right , Sarah believed him though she might well have laughed , and the time did come . He wrote to Sarah in May that all his friends who married for love and beauty either beat their wives or lived apart from them . Not until 1 83 7 did she enjoy the satisfaction of seeing him h s a . 2 t elected to P rliament On May 7 , he told her that the re ult of the election was

Lewis Disraeli Colonel Thompson

n Two days later Mrs . Wy dham Lewis wrote to her brother “ — Mark what I say mark what I prophesy . Mr . Disraeli will ” in a very few years b e one of the greatest men of his day . T H E P E R F E C T A G E

Sarah entirely agreed . When the time came for his maiden speech In Parliament she was doomed to disappointment . His failure arose partly through his own fault . The House of Commons is a conservative assembly ; It could not stomach his exaggerated dress , affected

- S . style , and over elaborated peech In spite of perpetual Inter ru tion s b oots p and shouts of laughter, groans , and cat calls , he spoke for the time he had allotted to himself ending

I sit down now, but the time will come when you will hear me ; ' t debut was il In a letter to Sarah he declared hat his a fa ure, adding that Sir Robert Peel considered It exactly the reverse . did o In the end the hostile reception him more go d than harm . ’ Some six months later she was able to have an eye - witness s ’ account of Disraeli s triumph . Jem , her younger brother, went to London and Disraeli got him into the House . She wrote to ul Disraeli of what Jem told her . She co d hardly trust him , she said , because he had never been in the House before . He described the rush into the House when Disraeli was up as prodigious , 1 n I and heard many rejo c 1 g n the speech and its reception . Even Castlereagh rushed in before the speech and asked “ Has Disraeli been up "” According to what Jem had told the family at home, Disraeli was as great a man at Westminster I t . n as he was at Aylesbury Sarah , her hankfulness , almost chanted a Nunc Dimittis “ Now that 40 0 have heard you I seem to care for nothing "” God bless you , dearest

A new complication was on the point of entering into her life . 1 1 8 8 On March 5th , 3 , Colonel Wyndham Lewis died , and ’ Disraeli s letters to his widow became gradually more and more afi i ec t on ate . e For some tim they had been fast friends , and she had christened ro n him her political p tege. It was she who influenced her husba d to provide him with a safe Parliamentary seat at Maidstone .

Now Wyndham Lewis was dead , and so in the future they must

o . either mean more to one another or less . Sarah knew b th Mrs

Wyndham Lewis and the Colonel , for both visited Bradenham 1 8 n in in the autumn of 37 when Mary A ne , a letter to her brother described Sarah as handsome and talented . Like any ’ ul n other sister, she co d detect her brother s romance I its earliest u stages , and her emotions m st have been very mixed when she the considered prospect of his marriage .

1 5 2 T H E P E R F E C T A G E — I Health , my clear brain , and your fond love ; and feel that ” “

th e . u I can conquer world Your letter recalls to me most f lly , t vividly and painfully, the wretchedness of my si uation , separated the s from my love, and what must be inevitable re ult of our ” “ e — present lif fading emotion and final estrangement . I cannot ” reconcile love and separation . Mary Anne refused to be engaged until a year had passed ’

. 1 8 since her husband s death In January, 39 , there was a violent quarrel and Disraeli wrote her a deliberately cruel letter , In which he declared he would not condescend to be the minion hi of a princess , and all the gold of Op r would not lead him to the H IS altar . nature , he said , demanded that his life should be l perpetua love . ri him i At that she capitulated , w ting to d stractedly “ ’ For God s s ake come to me I will answer all you wish ” I am devoted to you . ’ H D O rsa IS great friend , Count y, had written to him “ " i ri " You will not make love You w ll not int gue You have hi " t your seat ; do not risk anyt ng If you meet wi h a widow, "” then marry ’

. a Disraeli married Mary Anne at St George s , Hanover Squ r e , 28th 1 8 the on August , 39 , and they began one of happiest hi a marriages of w ch a record exists , but Sar h had lost for ever s the exclusive right to his career . For con olation she received his his letters written on honeymoon with another woman .

The letters came first from Tunbridge Wells , where it rained i incessantly and Disrael failed to meet Lord Monteagle . They continued from Baden - Baden and Munich where great fétes the ri took place and they saw King giving p zes for oxen , etc .

The last came from Paris where Mary Anne bought new clothes , ai and looked , her husband s d , like Madame de Pompadour,

who was the model of Paris In dress at any rate .

In return for this , Sarah found only the gravest news to give . ’ ff Her father s eyes had become seriously a ected . In spite of the

over optimistic opinion of a specialist, he made no recovery

and in time became totally blind . This may have been the k result of a family wea ness , for Disraeli was desperately near

or o . sighted , of too much poring over b oks ’ It seemed as though providence had determined to fill Sarah s

life with responsibility . Once that of love and marriage had been taken away the care of Isaac in his blindness arrived to take its S D I S L I T H E S I S 1 A R A H R A E , P E R F E C T T E R 53

place . His was no ordinary case of blindness . His whole life centred on reading and writing . If he could not himself read or write his need was for someone to be his eyes . In this emergency h Bas is i . ev i w fe, Maria , could be of no help The family were It not devoid of Intellectual distinction , but no portion of seems ” al to have f len to the lot of Maria records the chronicler . She found herself quite incapable of understanding her husband ’ s mind . She could be no more to him than a housewife and the other of his children . Once his eyes had been stricken he depended entirely on Sarah for mental existence and the means f to pursue his literary career . Very quietly and e ficiently she th came to e rescue .

Isaac went up to London for a consultation with his oculist, and Disraeli wrote to Sarah at Bradenham that he seemed to i think that w th skill and care Isaac would recover his sight .

Either the oculist tried to break bad news gently, or his diagnosis

was . . faulty Like his scriptural namesake , Isaac was to be blind

When his sight failed he was seventy- three and In spite of his years engrossed In a plan for a history of English literature . ’ In Disraeli , a memoir of his father, describes very vividly Sarah s contribution to Isaac ’ s happiness during the last years of his

Considering the bitterness of such a calamity to one whose powers were otherwise not in the least impaired , he bore on

u . the whole his fate with magnanimity, even with cheerf lness t Unhappily, his previous habits of study and composi ion rendered the habit of dictation intolerable , even Impossible , In telli to him . But with the assistance of his daughter, whose gent solicitude he has commemorated In more than one grateful u t passage , he selected from his man scripts hree volumes , which ‘ he wished to have pu blished u nder the becoming title of A ’ t t Fragmen of a His ory of English Literature , but which were ‘ ’ eventually given to the public as Amenities of Literature .

He was also enabled during these last years of physical , a though not of moral , gloom , to prep re a new edition of his L e and Times o Charles the F irst work on the if f , which had u S been for some time out of print . He continued , tho gh lowly, and with great labour, very carefully to revise , and improve, ” and enrich these volumes .

If his progress was slow, and his labour very great , what ’ " must have been Sarah s labour In 1 839 she was a young woman 1 54 T H E P E R FE C T A G E

- Old - t of twenty nine tied to an man of seventy hree , spending k t many hours a day ta ing down his hal ing sentences , reading out his original Life and Times of Charles the F irst for his careful revision , and looking up all his references . An older woman , less sensitive to the call of life , might well have shrunk from the task . Sarah shouldered it as a matter of course, consoling herself ’ n with her never flagging Interest I her brother s career . She Cxperienced yet another disappointment in 1 84 1 when In Sir Robert Peel , spite of a written request from Disraeli and a piteous letter from Mary Anne , declined to give Disraeli fli c e In any o his new Government . Even this failed to overwhelm her , though it made her sad . She wrote to Mary Anne that she suffered much for her and dear Dis ’ disappointment , but that they must not despair . They had , she r hoped , a long future before them and changes might occu every day . She added a comment typical of the times in which she lived ’ on Peel s Choice of men , observing that except Gladstone , there A was not one single untitled or unaristocratic Individual . las , in Disraeli was neither titled nor aristocratic , and days when “ ” only landed gentlemen could hope for high ofli c e he di d not own a square inch of land . Sarah was to be terribly avenged for this slighting by Peel t of her dearest , for thereafter Disraeli sought him out to des roy fl him . It seemed impossible for one so uni n uen tial as Disraeli i t . to destroy Peel , but happened Disraeli by the day of his vengeance had written his great Conin sb S bil novels g y and y . He was forty , and Ministers had i driven him into opposition . While the Peel M nistry stood his i t . path was barred , and he determined to destroy He destroyed It In a series of masterly speeches : The excuse for the attack was a demand for a select committee to investigate the opening of ’ Mazzini s letters in the post under a Home Office warrant . The first speech contained the historic passage : “ The right honourable gentleman (Peel) caught the Whigs

bathing , and walked away with their clothes . He has left them t is l in the full enjoyment of their liberal posi ion , and he himse f ” a strict conservative of their garments . Peel had employed a

quotation from a poem by Canning , to whom his own behaviour was considered in the House as one of the doubtful passages of his career . Disraeli commented

1 56 T H E P E R F E C T A G E

n of Shrewsbury, and in the end a contest in Bucki ghamshire was avoided and he began a political as sociation with his own t coun y which lasted almost thirty years . Sarah felt that she and

Bradenham now almost formed part of the House of Commons . h She felt certain also that Disraeli would soon lead is part y . ’ Her Impression was correct . At first , on Lord George Bentinck s a de th , the leadership was vested in a committee of three , Granby ,

Herries and Disraeli . By the end of the session Disraeli had n a become the ack owledged le der . Sunlight and shadow seemed fated to alternate in Sarah ’ s 1 8 life . The year, 47 , which saw her brother sitting in Parliament hi for Buckinghams re, brought her two heavy blows . On April 2 1 5t her mother died sudden ly at Bradenham in her seventy second year . ’ Maria Disraeli had never influenced Disraeli s life In the slightest degree , nor does he seem to have showed more than what might be termed a regulation affection for her . Sarah reported one of her few comments on his career when she told Mary Anne in the year of Maria ’ s death “ Mama at last confesses that she never thought Dis was equal to Mr . Pitt . But Sarah loved her dearly, and one of the rare occasions on which she rebuked Dis arose from a defensive ’ instinct on her mother s behalf. Disraeli omitted any reference to his mother in the memoir ’ of his father which he wrote for a collected edition of Isaac s

hi s . works published after death Sarah , writing to congratulate him on the memoir, said that his essay must ever rank among the most delightful biographic sketches in our language . Every “ in I t r . thing was , eve ything at least but one I do wish that one t felicitous stroke , one tender word , had brought our dear Mo her ” Into the picture . i e With her customary hum lity, Sarah end d “ You will think me ungrateful not to be quite satisfied It Is easy for one who can do nothing else to make remarks .

Jem reported that Sa bore up under all this sudden calamity, “ ” i it . adding gloom ly, but we must break to our father That

u t it . Indeed m s have been a heavy task , and doubtless fell to Sarah

Isaac at this d ate was an old man of eighty - one who had been him blind for more than seven years . In the portrait of which ’ a hung at Hughenden M nor , Disraeli s Buckinghamshire house , “ ” is when he became a landed gentleman , there a slight R ischgrtz Studi os BE NJA MIN D ISRA E L I — A lit tle kn o wn p ho tograp h tak en so o n after his fi rst Min istry

( See page 1 35 Rischgitz Studios

C H ARLE S A N D MARY LAMB

C a r In T he Nat on al F rom the p amtin g b y F . S. y i P ortrait G allery

"See page 1 62

1 58 T H E P E R F E C T A G E

s and gift of expre sion could find a dozen outlets for her talents . Then it was difli c ult ; a woman who had lost her lover and her parents was expected to live for the rest of her life alone with her grief. ’ There remained to her her interest in Disraeli s career and nothing more . In She lived long enough to see her faith In him justified . ’ 1 85 2 he became Chancellor of the Exchequer in Lord Derby s

first Government . In so doing he joined a fairly aristocratic

Cabinet . It contained only three commoners beside himself:

. . W . . P S H alpole, Home Secretary ; J C Herries , resident of the

. the Board of Control ; and J . W Henley, President of Board of vie ll s m ustaches t Trade . Herries and Henley were such i e o that hey could hardly be left out of a Conservative Cabinet . This com mingling of her brother with the aristocracy must have comforted

Sarah , though by now, being lord of the Manor of Hughenden , t In he was a landed gen leman , spite of the mortgage on th e property .

Appropriately enough , some of his glory hung about her . She told Mary Anne that she had to grant perpetual audiences to people who wanted something . It seemed to her suitors that n l they need o ly ask , and the sister of the Chancel or of the s Exchequer could grant their requests . The po tman wanted to be put on the town district . He did not ask her for her influence hi She as but requested her to transfer m . He felt was powerful as that . Then a friend wished her brother to read a pamphlet he had ri w tten on the subject of currency, a lady wrote to ask for a place for her husband and so on . It can be believed that while the

- faithful Sarah felt greatly amused she also felt gratified , not ’ e on her own account but on Disraeli s . If they believ d that h i she could do these t ings for them , what must they th nk of him" 1 8 8 two In 5 , fewer than years before her death , he became ’ in Chancellor of the Exchequer for the second time, Lord Derby s i the second Government . This was more aristocratic st ll , only

commoners besides himself being the aforementioned Messrs . in r ff Walpole and Henley, their o iginal o ices , except General b ut Peel , War Secretary , then he was not only a general but the R e P if is younger brother o"f Sir ob rt eel , and a general not an I t aristocrat who Is t is true hat Greville, the diarist, wrote S H D I S L I T H E F T S I S T 1 A R A R A E , P E R E C E R 59 somewhat dismally that the government presented a more

- f o decent looking a fair than anyb dy expected . 1 8 The end of the year 59 saw the departure of Sarah , then

fift - in In her y seventh year, from a world which she had no t continuing ci y, rather like even the weariest river which , as

Swinburne has told us, winds somewhere safe to sea . In the autumn she had stayed at Hughenden and while She was there ’ Mary Anne , accustomed to watch her husband s health with a ’ e e lynx y , formed no good opinion of Sarah s . She concluded ,

accurately, that Sarah was very delicate ; how delicate even she hardly suspected . 1 2 F By December th Disraeli could tell his friend rances Anne ,

Lady Londonderry, that Mary Anne and he had returned to b hi s . the edside of only sister , who was soon to be lost to them He said that she was one of those persons who are the soul of a

house and the angelic spirit of a family . He lamented to his his S friends that ister was an only one, his first and ever faithful friend . He repaid her selfless devotion to him by a steady afl ec fi on hfe which continued long after her death . In he caused her the deepest happiness she was ever to know by his c onfiden c es

revealed In the constant flow of his letters . Unfortunately there Is t no reference to the fact that he ever gave her any hing , and surely "Sarah of all women would have loved an occasional present Women may be divided roughly into two categories , those who receive too many presents and those who receive few

or none . Sarah came Into the second category, which Includes

not the least worthy of their sex . Sarah was one of the two women known to have sent Disraeli

the . flowers , Queen Victoria being other Sarah sent him geraniums from Bradenham to lighten the gloom of his rooms

In London during his bachelor days , when his surroundings lacked ’ what some call the touch of a woman s hand , or so Sarah believed .

She knew that he loved flowers and so she sent him flowers .

It cannot be discovered that he ever sent her a gift in return . Queen Victoria was accustomed to enlarge on the virtues of at her dead relatives , acquaintances , retainers , and so on , f er having treated some of them a trifle austerely during their earthly

n . careers . Disraeli did not fall i to this error He loved Sarah n h dearly In life and i deat , but had he shown himself as demon

strativ e towards her In deeds as in words while she lived , it would 1 6 0 T H E P E R F E C T A G E

If She have pleased her . In another world knew how her memory remained in his heart she would not have wished for more . When first he became Prime Minister his old friend Sir Philip Rose reminded him how happy Sarah would have felt had she i S lived to see that day . Disrael was ilent for a moment and then said sadly : “ ’ ’ Sa Ah , poor , poor Sa l We ve lost our audience , we ve lost ai our audience . The depth of the tribute is expl ned by the f f fact that, at the time , he still had the faith ul , admiring , a fection of ate companionship Mary Anne . was Sarah never became jealous of Mary Anne , nor Mary ’ nn i A e jealous of Sarah . Each knew that her part in D sraeli s life remained entirely her own . Mary Anne could never have ’ u written to him calm , caref lly reasoned letters like Sarah s , and Sarah could never have behaved as a pretty little flirt S and rattle, or countered the brooding and melancholy ide of ’ h Disraeli s temperament . Sarah was t e patiently enduring daughter of a persecuted race, cast mentally for the part of

l . Martha , and she sustained it enduringly and ga lantly She is a stri king consolation to all the depressed daughters Of vampire mothers, or selfish fathers , or other trying relatives , who have devoted themselves to these relatives and renounced their own lives in consequence . She gave everything she had and l hi But apparent y received little or not ng In return . in all the voluminous correspondence In which she is mentioned no one a s ys a word against her and everyone praises her . This is true of men and women alike . If a woman ever lived who lacked a solitary enemy in the wide world , that woman was Sarah Disraeli . Queen Victoria caused to be Inscribed on her memorial to the Earl of Beacons field the thirteenth verse of the sixteenth chapter of Proverbs “ ” Kings love him that speaketh right . These words are equally applicable to Sarah . She always spoke right . She never t i t said any h ng mean , envious , or shameful . At the same ime, she had a delightful sense of humour and was no pri g . Probably It was her sense of humour which sustained her through the an d troubles trials of her transitory life .

It will be remembered by students of the scriptures that, as in s 1 recorded Gene is xvii verse 5 , God said unto Abraham “ t As for Sarai thy wife , thou shal not call her name Sarai ” S but Sarah hall her name be .

R B CHA LES LAM , THE PERFECT BROTHER

BY now Charles Lamb has exceeded the stature of a literary

figure , and become a cult . All over the world Charles Lamb Societies assemble and meet together to worship the prophet E ssa s E l a of their religion . Editions of the y of i alone occupy ri s many pages of the B ti h Museum Library catalogue . The unbiased beholder can only say “ ’ is it is It the Lord s doing, and marvellous In our eyes . For though the E ssays of E lia were pleasant examples of as period journalism , no experienced journalist would be r h t f enough to submit hem to editors today . It would be di ficult to Imagine a modern features editor accepting, for example , a A D issert tion on Roas t Pig . As there is no effect without cause it Is interesting to speculate

- on the reason for this world wide worship of Charles Lamb . The most satisfactory explanation seems to be that he was ’ “ ” the living embodiment of the cartoonists Little Man . He never made a great deal of money, his life was full of trouble , n he was a good mixer, and liked his dri k and tobacco as long him as his health would allow to enjoy them , he had many

his . friends , and he devoted life to his sister Had Mary Lamb never existed life would have been quite different for him . He need never have deserted his clear London and his literary E n fi ld l in e . friends , and buried himself a ive Had he been a fashionable young man and kept a mistress , none of the Charles Lamb Societies would have come Into existence even though he produced the same writings . The combination of his writings and his semi - pathetic life (only semi t i a pa het c , because he enjoyed himself good deal) has enriched him with a hero - worship he might or might not have esteemed . Li As he was , he typified the ttle Man , who always finds is trouble, and is never rich , but bears up bravely and respected by all . His theme song might have been four hues of A . E . Housma n had they existed in his day :

1 6 2 H L S L M B T H E F B 1 C A R E A , P E R E C T R O T H E R 63

The troubles of our proud and angry d ust

Are from eternity , and shall not fail . if Bear them we can , and we can we must .

Shoulder the sky, my lad , and drink your ale .

his Charles Lamb shouldered the sky and drank ale , and

wrote his essays , and owed no man anything though his earnings s were small , and even poeti ed , though except for a few examples his verse is dreadfully Inferior to his prose ; and he deserves

respect and admiration . To elevate him into a religion seems

excessive . A commentator writing as far back as the eighteen nineties felt compelled to remark

has The fate of many other writers overtaken Lamb , who , after experiencing in the earlier part of his career either obloquy i or abuse , lived to see his most triv al productions almost ful somel y eulogised , while after his death many things on which he and his friends could never have laid stress , were held up mi ” to ad ration and applause .

The shade of Lamb might well pray to be saved from its

- hi hero wors ppers , but, when we have made due allowance for all the blind adulation lavished on him by the Injudicious l and sheep ike, it must be admitted that he stands supreme as the perfect brother: was in 1 He born 775 at Crown Office Row, Inner Temple, the hi London , t rd surviving child of his parents , who had

In all . seven children His father, John Lamb , was clerk to ’ Samuel Salt, a bencher of the Inner Temple ; his mother s i maiden name was El zabeth Field . John Lamb had a love of books and letters and a talent for i writing verse, a volume of wh ch he published under the title c Poetical Pieces on Several O casions . Lamb has characterised “ ” ' The Old Benchers him as Lovel in one of the Essays of Elia , Inner T le " em of the p . Love is described as the liveliest little fellow ’ t i hi s C ar i brea h ng, face as gay as rick s , whom he was sa d to it r the if resemble , w h a fine turn for humorous poet y, and g t

of making punch better than any man of his degree In England . John Lamb also fished and played cribbage and was a good

amateur mechanic . His convivial temperament descended

to his son , Charles , who, however, played whist Instead of

cribbage . 1 64 T H E P E R F E C T A G E

His mother is described as a woman of appearance so matronly n that she might be taken for a sister of Mrs . Siddo s , the famous ’ his actress . A contemporary of Lamb s has told us that parents “ were of humble station , but endued with sentiments and ” t wi h manners which might well become the gentlest blood . hi his The first school w ch Lamb , and sister Mary also ,

. off F attended was kept by a Mr William Bird , In a court etter

Lane, and , like the station of his parents , was humble . When he was seven he received a nomination for Christ ’ s Hospital ’ through his father s employer . The record runs “ ri was mi Charles Lamb , son of John Lamb , Sc vener, ad tted 1 00 by a bond for £ under the hand of Samuel Salt Esq . on i the presentation of Timothy Yeats Esq . n At this period Lamb was small and delicate and naturally ’ timid , and for a boy of this type to enter the Christ s Hospital of those days was like the entry of a timid Christian into an In arena full of ravenous lions . He had never indulged rough games , for which he was constitutionally unsuited , and had passed from Cloister to cloister, from the Cloisters of the Inner ’ Temple to those of Christ s Hospital . H IS appearance at the age of seven showed a mild face with a slightly Jewish expression and odd eyes , one of which fl ec ked was hazel and the other with grey . He walked with his a plantigrade step , that Is to say he put the soles of feet

flat on the ground when walking , as an animal does . He suffered from the impediment In his Speech which h andicapped him throughout his life . h ’ When t is quaint little creature arrived at Christ s Hospital , according to all the laws of probability he should have been murdered , or nearly murdered , by the other boys . Even today a child of this type might well shri nk from the ordeal of going ’ ' wa r r s ou he . to a boarding school , and Lamb s day g than ours There is nothing whi ch the average schoolboy hates and despises is ff In so much as a boy who di erent from the rest, and any firmity lik e peculiar speech or a peculiar way of walking makes

Its victim at once the butt of all the rest . ’ Strangely enough , this was not Lamb s experience . He escaped mocking and bullying through sheer charm . Masters and boys alike Indulged him on account of his stammer and

‘ his awkward movements . His charm must have amounted l almost to sorcery because he cou d not play rough games ,

1 66 T H E P E R F E C T A G E " in afl ec tion Lamb , spite of his charm , and the he aroused , did not altogether escape unofficial punishments from the : monitors , for he wrote

The oppressions of these you n g brutes are heart - sickening and to call to recollection . I have been called out of my bed , waked or the u ose - f p rp , in the coldest winter nights and this t —In the not once, but night af er night my shirt , to receive i ff d scipline of a leathern thong , with eleven other su erers , l because It pleased my cal ow overseer, when there has been i k any talk ng heard after we were gone to bed , to ma e the last l six beds In the dormitory, where the youngest chi dren of us ' S o fl en c e lept , answerable for an they neither dared to commit, ” nor had the power to hinder .

F ff rom the Internal evidence, the youngest children also su ered s the added di comfort of sleeping two in a bed . The diet of Christ ’ s Hospital inspired one of Lamb ’ s most true , most profound sayings . Meat appeared seldom on the

it was . tables , and when It did appear Often fat It was an It or unwritten law to leave fat , and the few who liked , pretended

it . to like , were looked upon almost with abhorrence ” “ l - Chi dren , wrote Lamb , are Invariably fat haters , and i parents of the more stupid k nd , who demand that a child

Is It l . shall eat what put before , might wel ponder these words ’ Christ s Hospital saw the dawn of his life - long friendship ’ s with Coleridge . It is probable that thi began on Lamb s part

- r In hero worship , for Coleridge was the older by th ee years , ’ and three years are a long period In a schoolboy s life . Apart from the difference in their ages they found much In common . ’ ’ Lamb s favourite occupation was to browse in Samuel Salt s i i library, and Coleridge has described h mself as a poetic ch ld ,

- a devourer of fairy tales , a weaver of day dreams , unpopular with his playfellows but delighting In long conversations with his N th e father, who was a schoolmaster . o doubt from point of view of the other boys at Christ ’ s Hospital it was a case of two freaks clinging together In the face of the sc o ffin g schoolboy world .

the . In circumstances Coleridge enjoyed advantage True , his - father, the Rev . John Coleridge, was a self made man , but ri he had been a sizar of Sydney Sussex College, Camb dge , and taken holy orders witho ut taking a degree in order to become master of an endowed school at South Molton, and L S L M B F B C H A R E A , T H E P E R E C T R O T H E R 1 6 7

end his career as vicar of the parish of Ottery St . Mary, where 1 Coleridge was born In 7 75 , chaplain and priest of the Collegiate

. Church , and master of the Grammar School , When he died ’ in e f in Coleridge s ninth year, he l ft three sons o ficers the army, i In three who were , or had been , at the un versity, and a widow fairly comfortable conditions . He made something of a contrast

with John Lamb who , when his employer, Samuel Salt, died had nothing but the money Salt left him and what Charles

could earn as a clerk and Mary by needlework . (The elder

brother, John Lamb the second , lived happily as a bachelor

apart from his family . ) To little Charles Lamb with his stutter and his awkward

a . w lk, Coleridge must have seemed something like a god For “ ” ’ one thing he became a Grecian and these are the elite of ’ Christ s Hospital . Lamb could not become a Grecian and hi proceed to the University, as Coleridge did , because ex bitions were given on the understanding that the holder entered the

church , and Lamb could never have taken holy orders on

account of his stutter . Even in his schooldays the light that never was on sea or land must hav"e played about one who wrote such lines as But oh that deep romantic cavern which sla"nted Down the green hill athwart a cedarn cover "as A savage place holy and enchanted As ere beneath a waning moon was haunted "” By woman wailing for her demon lover

A star hath set , a star hath risen , "S O Geraldine ince arms of thine ’ Have been the lovely lady s prison . " was Oh Geraldine one hour thine ’ " T hou st had thy will By tairn and rill

- The night birds all that hour were still .

or that excoriating piece about bishops in wartime

It Is recorded in the shuddering hearts of Christians that

every bishop but one voted for the continuance of th e war . They deemed the fate of their Religion to be Involved in the — contest ; Not the Religion of Peace , my Brethren ; not the the his religion of meek and lowly Jesus , which forbi—ds to disciples all alliance wi th the powers of this World but the 1 68 T H E P E R F E C T A G E

Of Religion of Mitres and Mysteries , the R eligion Pluralities in

- - - a - Persecution , the Eighteen Thousand Pounds Year Religion of Episcopacy ”

Certainly Coleridge must have been a stimulating youth ; he even ascri bed his success as a writer and a poet to the severity ’ with which James Boyer , the celebrated Christ s Hospital ’ in master of his and Lamb s day, flogged him order to make him use his brains and stop being a poetic child . The discipline , his he declared , gave him command over talents . ’

Then this bright spirit left Christ s Hospital for Jesus College ,

Cambridge , and Lamb left at the age of fourteen to become a little clerk . 1 8 His The year was 7 9 . elder brother John worked in the

South Sea House , and the invaluable Samuel Salt was a deputy it governor of it . Thus Is not strange that we find Lamb in a u very minor post at South Sea Ho se . There he remained till ’ 1 79 2 when he Obtained a clerkship In the accountant s o flic e f . i of the India O fice He worked there over th rty years , and is that , professionally speaking , his history . 1 In 79 2 Salt died . He had fulfilled his chief mission In life ’ by employing Lamb s father till Lamb was old enough to ’ his earn own living , presenting him to Christ s Hospital , and n giving him the run of his library . He quits the stage with dig ity and precision directly his services are no longer needed . What going to work in an office at the age of fourteen meant in The Su erannuat d Man e . to Lamb he has revealed his essay, p Melancholy was the transition at fourteen from the abundant playtime , and the frequently interesting vacations of school e days , to the ight , nine and sometimes ten hours a day attend ance at the counting house . But time reconciles us to anything . —d I gradually became content oggedly contented , as wild animals in cages . Is It true I had my Sundays to myself; but Sundays , admirable is i as the institution of them for purposes of worsh p , are for that very reason the very worst adapted for days of unbending and recreation . In particular , there is a gloom for me attendant c upon a city Sunday, a weight In the air . I miss the heerful — u l - cries of London , the m sic , and the ba lad singers the buzz and stirring murmur of the streets ’ — Nothing to be seen b ut ~ u n hap py countenances o r half — ’ happy at best of emancipated prentices and little trades

1 70 T H E P E R F E C T A G E

he returned to Cambridge . That summer on a walking tour he met Southey (a Balliol man) In Oxford , rejoined him at

Bristol when the tour ended , and became engaged to Sarah F ricker, whose younger sister , Edith , was engaged to Southey .

After all that he returned to Cambridge, but spent most of his time writing letters to Southey, and came down for good without taking a degree . Meanwhile Lamb was toiling methodically at his desk for eight, nine , and sometimes ten hours a day . 1 in At the end of 794 Coleridge spent some time London , M rn n C writing sonnets for the . o i g hronicle and linking up once t more wi h Lamb , now nineteen , still in love with life after

ffi - five years of o ce work . His hero worship of Coleridge con ’ tinued hi s , and he sat at feet just as In the old days at Christ s

Hospital . Coleridge could tell of love , life and laughter, of

his - conversations with leading literary figures , of brain child , The F all o Robes ie re an H istoric D ama f p r , r , to which Southey the contributed second and third acts , published at Cambridge in hi s the previous autumn . There was grand scheme for becoming a socialist and departing with carefully selected companions (and wives) to America . The Misses Fricker t provided the wives for Sou hey and Coleridge , but the scheme for founding socialism in America came to nothing . Doubtless

Lamb drank In the wondrous tale . It smacked of rich , red i t was i l fe, and here no rich , red l fe at South Sea House or India

House . his Lamb could not escape by day, but nights were his own , and so he and Coleridge used to have supper together at a “ l In n in deli htq n sma l Newgate Street , g y k own as the Cat ” in and Salutation . There they remained drink g and talking,

‘ as young men will , till long after midnight . It may have been bad for Lamb ’ s health from the strictly orthodox point of

View, but he must have found Coleridge and the suppers and “ ” drinks at the Cat and Salutation a wonderful spiritual an d mental tonic .

Then Coleridge passed on beautifully to Southey and Bristol , ’ Southey s home town where he had been born t o an unlucky linen draper , spending most of his childhood with a rich , genteel maiden aunt who loved cleanliness and the drama and hated noise and matrimony ; and the light faded moment ’ aril y from Lamb s life . H L S L M B T H E F B H C A R E A , P E R E C T R O T E R 1 7 1

in i in 1 6 The turning point that l fe arrived 79 , when he was

- hi only twenty one . He found mself in no state to deal with a crisis because In the previous year he had suffered from a i grave psycholog cal shock . It arose through a brief, unhappy ff love a air , poignant on his side , less so on that of the lady . He refers to It pathetically in hi s writings but the details are not i very Clear . L ke many other young men he wrote sonnets to i his love , immortalis ng her as Anna , though her real name

was Anne .

Lamb met Anne Simmons , a Hertfordshire girl who lived

In the village of Widford , while staying with his grandmother,

. Blakesware . Mrs Field , who was housekeeper at We have seen In already, a quotation from one of his essays , that he spent i his holidays In Hertfordsh re . There , in the days of his freedom t so long looked forward to , he met Anne and fell in love wi h

her . The scene is not difficult to imagine . He was of an age I for love , and n youth no holiday is really complete without ff a love a air . ’ n l ff i U fortunate y, on Lamb s side the love a a r with Anne

was serious, but not on hers . Perhaps , with feminine caution , she discovered that not by the wildest flight of fancy could

o ff. he be called rich , or even comfortably There would seem in to have existed a faintly mercenary streak Anne , for she S married eventually a Mr . Bartram , a ilversmith , of Princes ’ silv ersrnith s is Street , Leicester Square . A a profitable craft ,

and Leicester Square is a good address . In marrying Mr . r Bartram An ne made a very good match for a village gi l .

Compared to Lamb she is completely negligible , but her f e fect on him was disastrous . Through the Lamb family there k ran a strain of mental wea ness , and added to that of his laborious life the stress of an unhappy love affair proved too H IS much for him . mental condition became so grave that

he was compelled to enter an asylum for treatment . 1 6 In 79 , after his discharge from the asylum , when the Lambs

were living in Little Queen Street , Holborn , tragedy over him whelmed . To understand how this tragedy came about the circumstances

of the family must be realised . John Lamb , the father, was Old hi now and childish , of no occupation , contributing not ng

i a . to the fam ly earnings . His wife was an inv lid Consequently

the entire organ isation of the home devolved on Mary Lamb , 7 2 T H E P E R F E C T A G E

to Its who besides contributed upkeep by doing needlework .

She Inherited the weak mental strain of the Lambs . During the previous year she had suffered acute anxiety on the score of ’

al . Charles s ment illness He was the chief breadwinner, and if on account of his mental health he ceased to hold his appoint ment at the India House no one could say what would become of them all . By the time Charles returned to work Mary had approached breaking point . At this time she was a charming and Intelligent

- woman of thirty one , who enjoyed the esteem and regard of k all who new her . But all the family cares lay on her shoulders ; She i had to nurse her invalid mother, humour her ch ldish old i l father , and help out the fam ly exchequer with her small need e work business . The mental illness of Charles and the inevitable anxiety it caused her, added to all the rest of her worries , pushed v her o er the borderline between sanity and Insanity . There was a young girl apprentice at work in their lodgings and for some reason a dispute arose between Mary and this ’

. . In . girl Mrs Lamb , who was the room , took the girl s part Mary was seized with a fit of mania ; she picked up a knife from the table which was laid for a meal and stabbed her mother to the heart . in the e Charles , also room , pres rved his mental balance and took the knife from hi s sister before she could do more harm

. She with It Enough had been done already, for had killed her mother . At this terrible moment of crisis all that was best ’ in Charles s character emerged . A brainstorm might have n seemed excusable after his recent mental sick ess , but no brain storm occurred . He remained in complete control of himself u and of the sit ation . He had n ot the slightest illusion as to what this tragedy

' H e - implied . knew that , at the age of twenty one , he must forswear love and marriage and devote hims elf henceforth to the care of Mary , so long as she should live . Any other course meant that she would be doomed to lifelong confinement in an asylum , and that he would not contemplate for one moment . ’ This decision marks the real drama of Charles Lamb s life . In the flower of his youth fate compelled him to make one of the most bitter decisions that could be demanded from a young man, and he made it without hesitation . He had to choose

1 74 T H E P E R F E C T A G E But Is there no middle "way betwixt total abstinence i F e and the excess which k lls you or your sake , r ader, and ai I that you may never attain to my experience , with p n s u mu t utter the dreadf l truth that there is none, none that I can find “ The drinking man IS never less hims elf than in his sober ” Is i Intervals . Evil so far h s goo d . One who kn ew him well wrote concernin g this side of his character “ The eagerness with which he would quaff excitin g liquors from an early period of life proved that to a physical peculiarity t of constitution was to be ascribed , in the first place , the streng h of the temptation “ This kind of corpore al need ; the struggle of deep thought

to overcome the Impediment of speech ; the dull , heavy labours which hung heavy on his mofnin gs dried up his spirits ; and still

more, the sorrows which had environed him , and which prompted

him to snatch a fearful joy . “ Great exaggerations have prevailed on this subject although he had rarely the power to overcome the temptation ”

e in . when present d , he made heroic sacrifices flight This writer adds that he contributed the Confessions of a ’ D runkard to his fri end s collection of authorities against the use

of spirituous liquors in the prodigality of his kindness . s In other word , like many better and worse men before and him a e after , Lamb dr nk to forget and to make the world s em a

better place than he found It in hi s sober moments . The procedure

his i hfe was , was not wise, but in view of what "domest c like can the most sanctimonious blame him In 1 80 4 Mary Lamb wrote “ ” are 1 80 We very poor, and in 5 In It has been sad and heavy times with us lately . despera

tion Lamb endeavoured to make money by wri ting . His first ff in 1 80 6 e ort , a farce produced at Drury Lane , was a failure, but soon afterwards William Godwin commissioned him to write for

- Tales om his juvenile library . The result is world famous , fr Shakes eare p by Charles and Mary L amb . Mary wrote the comedies and Charles the tragedies ; his sensibility was too acute for him

to allow Mary to concentrate on tragedy . The book succeeded

' t and brought Lamb sixty guineas , and hey continued to explore ’ o this paying vein and produced two more children s b oks , L S L M B B 1 C H A R E A , T H E P E R F E C T R O T H E R 75

’ Leic Mr . r S s este s chool P etr or Children. , and o y f Then the firm of L on gman s commissioned Lamb to edit a volume consisting of

selections from the Elizabethan dramatists , and this work

established his reputation as an outstanding critic of poetry .

He had begun to earn a little money, and acquire power to i n F grat fy his social i stincts . ew men have ever loved giving a party more than Lamb , and few women have shown themselves more charming hostesses than Mary . Here is a picture of a party in at their home the Temple . Is One beholds a cosy scene . The fire blazing steadily, the

- l light flickering on furniture old fashioned and worn . The cei ing air is low . Despite the small Income of the Lambs there is an of t comfort and hear y English welcome .

Is - i Lamb sitting at the whist table , await ng his favourite H e game . ( once said to a friend who washed less frequently than he might have done “ " ’ My dear , if dirt were trumps , what hands you d

’ is U Becky , the maid , laying a side table nder Mary s super

vision . The fare Is cold roas t lamb or hot boiled beef, aecom an ied IS p by heaps of smoking potatoes . There a vast jug of n o porter, often reple ished from foaming p ts that come from the in best tap Fleet Street . This is an age when a lot of good , simple food and drink can be bought for a very little . Even the poor

are rich In what makes life worth living . ’ Lamb s friends drift In one by one : Leigh Hunt, Charles N i SS Lloyd , Hazlitt perhaps . ow and then an actress l ke MI

the . Kelly, or Charles Kemble , comes in from theatre The Lambs maybe poor but they know all the most amusing people in r literature and the theat e , who are delighted to be their guests

and share a simple supper . There is that perfect hospitality which occurs when hosts are delighted to see their guests and guests are delighted to meet

their hosts . A charming Informality prevails . The distinguished people put on no airs and the more obscure feel completely at

c ase In this gracious atmosphere .

Lamb stammers out puns (sometimes , alas , he poured out

) , puns In startling succession , but even puns have their day

Mary moves gently about to see everyone served . She has a LeIgh special eye for the modest stranger who, dazzled by the

H az ts Kemb les , Hunts and the lit , the and the Miss Kellys might 1 76 T H E P E R F E C T A G E

feel too shy to eat . Neither she nor her brother would feel happy if the modest stranger were not at ease . x Occasionally she glances with an an ious , loving eye , at Charles , who Is mixing his second tumbler of exciting liquors , and then l Is becomes ha f humorously resigned . It what he always does is I and there no use making a fuss about t . 1 8 1 Lamb was getting on now . In 8 a publisher put out his s In In collected work , both verse and prose , two volumes under Works o Charles L mb Is the title f a . It always an important moment ’ in l s a writer s career when his col ected works are publi hed . He ’ In becomes a marked man , and Lamb s case the Important l moment had a sti l more Important sequel . On the strength of his collected works he was asked to contribute to the London Ma a i ne . g z , a new publication His commission was for light prose Essa s o E lia IS essays , and the y f , by which he best known to the multitude , was the result . In 1 820 The first essay appeared the year , by which date Mary ’ and he had moved once more , this time to rooms over a brazier s in Great Russell Street , Covent Garden . The first contribution of a series IS always trying to a writer . He has to find a new form or strike a new note . Once he has found the new form or struck the new note, subsequent contributions come more easily . London Ma a ine Very wisely, Lamb chose for his first essay for the g z R c ol a subject on which he could hardly go wrong . It was e ” lections of the old South Sea House ; he had found his first job there at the age of fourteen and the impressions of early youth are deep and l asting . By drawing on them he could not a f il to produce a sympathetic essay . “ ” Even the signature Elia had Its origin in the old South Sea “ i - House . Remembering the name of a gay, l ght hearted ” s foreigner who fluttered there , he cho e it as a pen name, and it has gone round the world . In the career of a successful writer there Is usually a turning point after which a respectable acknowledgment of his merits ’ i E ssa s t . turns into fame, or something like In Lamb s case the y of E lia marked this turning point . A collected edition of them 1 82 In London Ma a ine appeared In 3 , and they continued the g z 1 until 825 . Five years represent a very long life for a magazine

serIes. Before the E ssays qf E lia had ceased to appear in the London Magazine Charles an d Mary had set up house for the first time

1 78 T H E P E R F E C T A G E I I thought , now my time is surely come ; have done for myself; I am going to be told that they have no longer occas ion

- L was for me, I could see , smiled at the terror I in , which — as was a little relief to me , when , to my utter tonishment , B a the eldest partner, began a formal h rangue to me on v the length of my ser ices , my very meritorious conduct during 1 the whole of the time (the deuce , thought , how did he find out that"I protest I never had the confidence to think as much) . He went on to descant on the expediency of retiring at a certain time of life (how my heart and asking me a few questions as to the amount of my own property, of l i r which I have a ittle , ended with a proposal , to wh ch his th ee I partners nodded a grave assent , that should accept from the l house , which I had served so we l , a pension for life to the — amou"nt of two - thirds of my accustomed salary a magnificent offer I r an d I do not know what answered between su prise gratitude , It but was understood that I accepted their proposal , and I was told that I was free from that hour to leave their service .

I stammered out a bow, and at just ten minutes after eight — ” I went home for ever .

' A c c ording to history he received a pension of three - quarters r of his sala y, less a slight deduction so that Mary might have

v . w ri m an allowance if she sur ived him , as she did He rote t u ph an tl his : y to friend , Wordsworth “ i e After th rty years of slavery, h re I am a freed man , with i ” £44 1 a year for the rema nder of my life . far He was now fifty years of age, a freed man certainly as as earning his living was concerned , but by no means free from t i l the domes ic point of view . There st l remained Mary, whose a mental he lth deteriorated continually . ’ in For Mary s sake , since his work no longer kept him London

m . and quiet was good for her, they igrated to the country Their E nfield first choice was , and there they set up house , but Mary got worse so they sold their furniture and reverted once more l ’ to lodgings . This In itse f meant a sacrifice on Lamb s part Is because a writer, if he rich enough , and Lamb was , likes to i his have his own th ngs about him , and a suitable home for s books . But the sacrifice of a hou e for lodgings did not compare e with the sacrifice of London for the country . Lamb ador d

r s . London , his lifelong home where many of his f iend lived L S L M B T H E F T B C H A R E A , P E R E C R O T H E R 1 79

He hated the country , and a passage on the subject of country life in a letter written to Manning in 1 834 Is a cry from the heart: “ I 1 0 walk 9 or miles a day , always up the road , dear Lon donwards . Fields , flowers , birds , and green lanes I have no heart for . The Ware road is cheerful and almost as good as a street. R ed I saunter to the Lion daily, as you used to the

Peacock . Appropriately enough he was to meet with the accident

his - a which led to death on that self s me London road . Even if

‘ It did not lead him to dear London it gave him release from the intolerable country . Nor Is it certain that he found the life of a pensioner in a land it where, to steal a phrase from Tennyson , was always afternoon , “ ” blessed . There are passages In The Superannuated Man which

. If r suggest otherwise , as he w ote them , Lamb was laughing, : it was on the wrong side of his mouth . For instance

I I am no longer clerk to the Firm of, etc . am Retired

- . in I Leisure I am to be met with trim gardens . am already come to be known by my vacant face and careless gesture, perambulating at no fixed pace, nor with any settled purpose . cum I walk about ; not to and from . They tell me a certain di nitate g air, that has been buried so long with my other good

In . parts , has begun to shoot forth my person I grow into gentility It perceptibly . When I take up a newspaper Is to read the

O us o e atum est. state of the opera . p p r I have done all that I

- came into this world to do . I have worked task work , and have the rest of the day to myself.

- it The rest of the day extended to twenty two years , and cannot be said that they brought him unmixed happiness . Emma Isola

1 . married In 833 , and he missed her acutely He was now left with the sole companionship of Mary who passed more and more

an . of the year, as the years went by, In asylum Coleridge died his In 1 834 and that was a bitter blow . Lamb had always been ’ disciple , and the intensity of Coleridge s friendship inspired

Lamb to achievements of which , without Coleridge , he might well have fallen short . T alfourd The invaluable Sir Thomas Noon , one of ’ s Lamb s executors and his biographer, de cribed his devotion to Mary as T 1 80 . T H E P E R F E C A G E

- A life long association as free from every alloy of selfishness , as remarkable for moral beauty, as this world ever witnessed ” i in . t brother and sister Doubtless was , but there are no words to describe Its dreadft exhausting nature from Lamb ’ s point of view . 1 8 E n field In 33 they left , and removed to the village of

in . Edmonton , close by, for Edmonton there lived a Mr and Mrs . in Walden who specialised mental patients , and Mary could be placed in their care . It was in Edmonton that Lamb was accustomed to walk along the London Road . Here he might well his have written most haunting poem , which actually he wrote in 1 798 as a young man of twenty - three

i I have had playmates , I have had compan ons , f s In my days of childhood , In my joy ul schoolday

All , all are gone , the old familiar faces .

I have been laughing , I have been carousing,

Drinking late , sitting late , with my bosom cronies

All, all are gone , the old familiar faces

Friend of my bosom , thou more than a brother , Why wert not thou born in my father ’ s dwelling" So might we talk of the old familiar faces

How some they have died , and some they have left me . And some are taken from me ; all are departed ; i ” All, all are gone, the old fam liar faces .

1 8 e . H also was shortly to go In December, 34 , he went one L n n r o do wa ds . day for his usual walk dear , slipped and fell S The result was a light Injury to his face , but erysipelas set In and

- in fift . he died peacefully at the end of the month , his y ninth year

Mary, for whom he had sacrificed his whole life , lived on for nearly thirteen years , to be buried by his side in Edmonton churchyard . ’ Lamb s portrait by R . Hancock In the National Portrait

1 8 - Gallery, taken in 79 , shows a good looking young man with a l t H IS clear, Intel igen gaze , and a dominating nose . handwriting , k b efitted though cler ly as his occupation , is full of character and , i I . S better still , extremely leg ble It now time to consider his T alfourd : works . Of these the excellent Sir Thomas Noon wrote

1 82 T H E P E R F E C T A G E

But what I have Spoken of hitherto is nothing to the which these creatures give themselves when they come , as l s they general y do , to have children . When I con ider how little of a rarity children are —that every street and blind alley swarms with them— that the poorest people commonly have — them in most abundance that there are few marriages not blessed with at least one of these bargains—how often they Ill turn out , and defeat the hopes of their parents , taking to vicious courses which end in poverty, disgrace , the gallows , —I f etc . , cannot for my li e tell what cause for pride there can

. e possibly be in having them If they were young phoenix s , In indeed , that were born but one a year, there might be a pretext . But when they are so common

Most of us have thought about children on these lines . Few of us have reached the heart of the matter , that children are so common . in Yet when all has been said his praise , there remains an almost determined artlessness about Lamb ’ s writing which grates a little on the sophisticated reader . Congreve once remarked of a young lady

Coquet and coy at once her air,

Both studied , though both seem neglected ; Is Careless she with artful care , ” Affecting to seem unaffected .

The same might be said about Lamb as an essayist , with some justice . One critic has written of him “ It is a dangerous thing to say, but it may be doubted e his whether , outsid a necessarily limited circle , works are read so much for their own sakes as for the light they throw upon the ” character of their author . Somerset Maugham , a brilliant Gentleman Is fi . The writer himself, even more de nite He says (in

I am put out of countenance by the sensibility of the Gentle ’ Elia . Lamb s emotion to my mind too often sugges ts the facile al lachrymosity of the coholic . I cannot but think his tenderness would have been advantageously tempered by abstinence , a ” blue pill and a black draught . as The Gentle Elia (though , Maugham points out , the Gentle Elia is an Invention of the sentimentalis ts and Is not Charles L S L M B T H E F C B C H A R E A , P E R E T R O T H ER 1 83

ri Lamb , who necessa ly was a much tougher character) has such a vast following of admirers because he appeals to the heart t rather than to the head , and here are more people with hearts is than with heads . He the Charles Chaplin of literature , and ’ e the analogy is corr ct even to their feet , Lamb s with their ’ pathetic awkwardness and Chaplin s with their pathetic boots .

- Both are little men , down trodden , troubled with care, yet m c always coming up s iling for another lose of tragedy, always

Indomitable , always with their heads bloody but unbowed . Can we wonder that both count their"admirers in millions seeing that the world is full of Little Men

Charles and Mary Lamb , after their fashion , were lovely In and pleasant in their lives , even if death they were divided , and memory cannot recall a more perfect brother than Charles . It is for the Divine compassion of his brotherhood that he deserves ar immortality f more than for his writings . h His friend Wordsworth wrote a lament for im. It lacks the ’ majesty of Swinburne s lament for Baudelaire , but It contains one respectable line in

as arr . Affections warm sunshine, free as

The lament begins

To a good Man of most dear memory t s This s one I sacred . Here he lies apart

From the great city where he first drew breath ,

Was reared and taught , and humbly earned his ’ To the strict labours of the merch ant s desk

By duty chained . Not seldom did those tasks as Te e , and the thought of time so spent depress s His spirit , but the recompen e was high ; t ’ Firm Independence , Boun y s rightful Sire, h — as Affections warm as suns ine , free air

n Wordsworth then continues , li king Mary with her brother

s ri Yet through all visitation and all t als , Still they were faithful ; like two vessels launched

From the same beach , one ocean to explore With mutual help and sailing— to their league a True , as inexorable winds , or b rs Floating or fixed of polar Ice allow . 1 84 T H E P E R F E C T A G E

r Condensing my notes on Charles Lamb , made for the pu pose of this sketch , I wrote for my own enlightenment To sum u : p a pleasant , social , boozy, charming companion , ” singled out by his devotion to his daft sister . A man might have a worse epitaph , and , rightly or wrongly, I prefer It to Words ’ worth s .

86 I N D E "

H M

Mac aula L or 1 . H all am enr rt ur 6 . , , H y A h , 4 y d , 49 lise A Mac D . R . . 1 . H an c oc R . 1 80 . , , , 39 k, , — Malmes ur L or 1 1 1 1 6 . H a litt 1 . , , z , 75 b y d 5 Mann i n ar in al C 6 2 . H eat c o te L a 8 . , d , h , dy, 4 g M o au am S merset 1 82 . W . 8 . H enl e . 1 gh , y, J , 5 Ma roi n u s A ré 2 . H erries . 1 6 1 8 . . C , d , 5 , J , 5 , 5 M n - i i a 1 . H esse D arms ta t rin c e Louis of 2 8 . zz , 4 d , P , 5 Me e Miss 1 1 . rin c ess lic e of 28 . , , P A , 4 Meheme t Ali 1 2 2 . H itl er 1 0 . , 4 , — Mel ourn e L a 2 80 . H ollan H ouse 82 . b , dy, 7 73 , d , — — a 2md V is coun t 2 1 0 2 1 1 6 1 1 . L d , 8 2 . , 7 , 7 y — Ist V isc oun t 1 0 . H o usman A . E . 1 6 1 6 . , , 2 3 , 3 Mere i — t 1 2 1 1 1 8 1 6 1 . H un t i 1 . , L e gh, 75 d h, 4 43 , 45 , 4 , Mil an e E li a et b k , z b h, 1 0 3 .

Miss . , 85 I Sir R al ph , 7 2 .

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oe uc . k, Mr , 1 26 . T anker ille C ount f ess o 1 06 1 . R b v , , , 33 r ose e , L o r 60 . E ar l f o . R b y d , , 1 0 4 u e b ns, 1 . T el- El- Ke ir Battle of R 43 b , , 30 . usse ll G . W . E . 2 . T , , 9 enn son Lo rd Al fred . R — y , , 5 7 Lo r ohn 20 2 2 1 0 1 1 1 T m n l l , o so C o on e 1 . d J , 5 , 9 9 3, , 7 h p , , 49 1 1 8 1 2 , 5 , 1 2 7 , 1 28 .

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1 . 55 The, 1 45 .

P R INT E D I N G R E A T BRITA IN BY P UR NE LL A ND SONS, LT D . , P A ULTO N (SOME RSE T) A ND LO ND O N