My Own Times
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MY OWN TIMES OROTHY NEYILL BY HER SON \ MY OWN TIMES BY THE SAME AUTHOR Under Five Reigns LADY DOROTHY NKVILL IN 18413 FROM A MINIATURE BY THOKBURN MY OWN TIMES BY LADY DOROTHY NEVILL EDITED BY HER SON WITH SEVEN ILLUSTRATIONS METHUEN & GO. LTD. 36 ESSEX STREET W.C. LONDON / N First Published in IQI2 • • . .. • • • . • • • ' ' • • , . PREFATORY NOTE OWN TIMES" has been written in MYresponse to numerous suggestions received " after the publication of Under Five Reigns." I can only hope that this new volume may be accorded something of the same generous and kindly reception as welcomed its predecessor. 273251 CONTENTS i PACK The Victorian age—Modern pessimism—Life without living—Sixty years ago and now— Increase of amusements and of sport— Anecdotes —The Press—Toby, M.P.—The "Keepsake"—A letter from Carlyle— Demoralizing literature—Social progress —A worthy use of artillery—Beneficent capital—Anecdotes— The Crimean campaign—A public scandal—The Victoria Cross ........ I II The progress of invention—The late Mr. Stead—His faith in spiritualism—A seance that failed—The Great Eastern— Old world travelling— Sir Tatton Sykes—Dangers and dis- comforts of the road—Threadneedle Street biscuits—Turnpikes " " and Turnpike money —Anecdotes—Railroad and Tramway —A snob in office—Anecdotes—There's no place like home . 28 III The changing East—A strange bequest—Lord Palmerston's fore- cast—Sir Robert Morier—Recollections—Travellers' tales— Tiresome officials—A strange refuge— II Conte Hulme— Discomforts of old-fashioned hotels—Vicenza—A real romance —The Palazzo Paciocchi— King Bomba and his cook Beppo — Going to Rome in 1845—A faithless postmaster— Pio Nono and his joke concerning Fanny Elsler—The late Mr. Watts . 46 IV A conversation Mr. — has lost — with Hyndman— Why Unionism— ground Disastrous— apathy An apologetic party Hedging and quibbling Lord— Beaconsfield's methods of recruiting clever young men Enemies— in the House —of Commons, in- —timates in private— life Labour and capital— Semi-education —Anecdotes Setting—class against— class Political —renegades Mr. Lloyd —George Chartism Misguided zeal An out- spoken divine History repeats itself . .81 viii MY OWN TIMES Janus and his political devotees—Anecdote of Lord Palmerston —Mr. Lowe—Lord Iddesleigh—Anecdote—The decay of oratory—Jobbery and election tricks—The late Lord Lytton's apt criticism of Parliamentary life—'eds of feathers and 'earts — Bill— of gold Anecdote of Mr. Gladstone—The— Parliament Lord Halsbury's fearless British pluck Sham Radicals—and shoddy titles—An amusing anecdote—Women's rights My " " own view— Babes for men —An old French tale—Victorian women—Mademoiselle de Fauveau . 114 VI The rage for wealth—Madame de Castiglione—Anecdotes— Cutlet for cutlet—Former contempt of the English for foreigners— Modern cosmopolitanism—A vulgar Anglo-American habit —-Anecdote of Queen Victoria—Nouveaux riches—Anecdotes " " — Quizzes —The power of fashion—West End tradesmen of the past and their ways—Rotten Row in old days—Disappear- ance of fine equipages—Some vanished figures—Modern improvements in the Parks . 144 VII Disraeli as a dandy— Prince Louis Napoleon in his days of exile and as Emperor—A stickler for etiquette— His gratitude— Anecdotes— Ill-fated first-born—Beaux of other days—Count d'Orsay and Prince Paul Esterhazy—Anecdotes—An official "Sleepy Hollow"—New men and old acres—Sir Richard Wallace—Sir John Murray Scott—The Admirable Crichton— Esquires—King Edward VII and his high qualities—The coronation of King George V . .177 VIII The old aristocracy—An adroit reply—Anecdotes of queer char- acters—The last of the Gordons— Stories of the Iron Duke— An ingenious subterfuge— Peers of the old school—Vicissitudes " " of great families— Finderne flowers — Curious old privileges of actors at Drury Lane—Matrimonial alliances between the aristocracy and the stage—Romances of the Peerage—The " " purchase system—Ruthless discipline—The Wolseley gang 209 IX — — Country-house life Then and now The spirit of unrest—Simple pleasures—The old English Christmas—Old country towns— / CONTENTS ix Bee-keeping—Strange beliefs—Ancient abodes—The absentee landlord — Local gentry — Vandalism — All honour to Lord " " Curzon—The curse of Restoration —Quaint customs—Old- fashioned parsons—Anecdotes—The obsolete three-decker— Ritualism and Dissent— Rustics of the past—Anecdotes—"A " way to get Wealth . 236 London sixty years ago—Fogs—Amusements—Improvement in locomotion—Hackney coaches and hansoms—Street noises and cries—Punch—Unmelodious music—Letters from Mark Lemon and Dickens — Tolerated mendicity — The London police in its early days and now— Impostors—Begging letters —A curious specimen—London rivers —The Lord Mayor's — and Free Trade — The barge —London bridge — Spitalfield weavers From Camisard to Cockney— The Reverend Osborne Jay and his admirable work The London hospital . 259 XI Modern London—The Casino style of architecture—An original scheme of decoration— Increase of unwieldy statuary—The Allfe Verte—Northumberland House—Open spaces—Colonel Sibthorp— Berkeley Square—London fountains—The Albert — ?— — Memorial Victory or—Peace Tombs of the Great Dead Architectural— samples James— Gibbs and St. Martin's-in-the-— Fields— Mid-Victorian taste London improvements— Temple Bar The mystery of its —single room Legal phraseology changes— but 6s. 8d. remains Suburban health resorts of the past Travelling by canal-boat ..... 285 XII The frugal past—Rise and fall in prices—Tea, oysters, and sealskin—Before envelopes and postage stamps—Mulready— A curious craze— —Priceless at a ton— — Foolscap — MSS. £j An astute collector Gretna Green Sir Henry Peyton's driving- — "Amadio" — Pins — whips — portraits and —fancy ware— The White —Lodge Miss—Braddon and her son Teapots Bomba dollars Anecdotes Eridge . .312 Index 335 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Lady Dorothy Nevill in 1846 .... Frontispiece From a Miniature by Thorburn FACING PAGE " " Lady Dorothy Nevill (frontispiece to The Keepsake 1851) ........ 16 After a Painting by Buckner Paradise Lost; or, The House of Commons and the Peri 132 (A Cartoon published in 1868) Derby and Joan (Miss Farren and Lord Derby) . 228 ' From a Print by Dighton, 1795 Mary, Countess of Orford . .242 From a Crayon Drawing by Sir George Hayter A Drawing by R. Seymour ..... 266 Eridge Castle a Hundred Years Ago . 332 From a scarce Lithograph MY OWN TIMES The Victorian age— Modern pessimism—Life without living— Sixty years ago and now— Increase of amusements and of sport—Anecdotes " —The Press—Toby, M.P.—The Keepsake "—A letter from Carlyle— Demoralizing literature — Social progress—A worthy use of artillery— Beneficent capital — Anecdotes —The Crimean campaign —A public scandal —The Victoria Cross deplore change and disparage the present TOhas ever been considered as the privilege and of old in former appanage age ; indeed, days, almost without exception, all who were able to number their years as three-score and ten were confirmed a more pessimists ; to-day just outlook prevails amongst a great proportion of old people, who recognize that, whilst human nature remains what it is, the world, though it may not get much better, does not change for the worse. Let pessimists say what they will, there has been much real progress during the last seventy years. In all probability no era has so profoundly affected humanity and contributed so much to civilization—as that word is generally understood —as the reign of Queen Victoria, which gained such lustre from scientific research and mechanical inven- 2 MY OWN TIMES tion. VFrom quite another point of view no age can boast such a variety of range and richness in person- ality./ Tennyson, Swinburne, Browning, Fitzgerald, and the Rosettis have bequeathed to us much verse which will survive whilst in ; prose Dickens, Thackeray, George Eliot, the Bronte's, Stevenson, Meredith, Thomas Hardy, and others have done work which will continue to delight thousands of readers for ages to come. The historians Carlyle, Froude, Freeman, and Green have left no successors approaching them in brilliance of style. Though in the main the Victorian era was, as regards England, at least fairly peaceful, it is interesting to recall modern Imperialism really dates from the first (thatJubilee of 1887 when the country began to show so much enthusiasm for the colonies. From that period also dates the somewhat bellicose spirit which was more or less quenched in the none too glorious South African campaign. Since this deplorable contest there has arisen a greater tendency than ever to declare that we are all going downhill. The English, it is declared, have lost many of the splendid qualities which served them so well in the past. The luxuriousness and extravagance of the richer classes are bitterly denounced. This, however, is a very old cry. " In the Memoirs of Lord Gambier," for instance, by Lady Chatterton, we find Hannah More writing of an entertainment given by a certain lady of fashion THE IDLE RICH 3 the strawberries alone cost whereat ^400 ; elsewhere " this writer says : I saw so much of the shocking way of going on in the short time I was in the town, that I must acquit myself to my conscience on this momentous subject before I die. Dancing and music fill up the whole of life, and every Miss of Fashion has three dancing, and a still greater number of music, masters." The real trouble of the leisured classes is their inability to make good use of the time which now so often hangs heavily on their hands. No individual without interests or occupation can really enjoy life, for, by the inexorable decree of nature, the only real happiness lies in useful or interesting work of some kind, either of the hand or the head, so long as over- exertion of either is avoided. ( It should be the aim of every one to be constantly employed. If all men and women were kept at some useful employment there would be less sorrow and wickedness in the world ;] " " and if so-called reformers would spend their time in efforts to make people more intelligent, they would be doing much more good than by agitating the many vexatious questions and impracticable theories which cause so much trouble and confusion without producing any real or lasting benefits.