Memoirs of the Memorable
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Southern Branch of the University of California Los Angeles Form L-l B3 This h 1r is ^UE on the SOUTHERN BRANCH, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LIBRARY, ANGELES, CALIF. MEMOIRS OF THE MEMORABLE C'imera 1'ortrnit] Walter Stoiifman, F.R.P.S. SIR JAMES DENHAM [t'ronli*{tiree. MEMOIRS OF THE :: MEMORABLE BY SIR JAMES DENHAM WITH 17 ILLUSTRATIONS NEW XgJP YORK GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY 60330 Printed in Great Britain IDA CONTENTS CHAP. PAGE I. RECOLLECTIONS OF ROME i / V II.-1THE ROME OF THE EIGHTIES . 10 III. A THING OF BEAUTY is A JOY FOR EVER . 25 IV. VISIONS OF BEAUTY .... -29 v , V. THE LONDON OF YESTERDAY .... 37 VI. QUEEN VICTORIA'S MASTER OF THE CEREMONIES, GENERAL SIR FRANCIS SEYMOUR, BART., K.C.B . 53 VII. QUEEN VICTORIA'S WOMENKIND .... 75 VIII. SOVEREIGNTY AND ITS ENTOURAGE ... 87 THE PASSING SHADOW AND THE LINGERING LIGHT. \jlfi. / BEACONSFIELD AND SALISBURY ... 97 V'X. LORD SALISBURY'S FOREIGN POLICY . .112 I/XL GLADSTONE 125 < XII. CONCERNING SPORTS AND SPORTING . 145 XIII. BEYOND THE FOOTLIGHTS 172 XIV. THE GRACIOUSNESS OF GRATITUDE . 183 XV. RIGHT REVEREND RECOLLECTIONS . 192 XVI. KITCHENER OF KHARTOUM 208 '> XVII. IN TOUCH WITH THEIR EXCELLENCIES . 218 XVIII. A VICEROY IN SLIPPERS 237 XIX. CONCERNING WIT AND HUMOUR . .251 XX. RECOLLECTIONS OF BIARRITZ .... 261 XXI. THE LATE LORD BYRON (GEORGE FREDERICK WILLIAM, NINTH PEER) 276 XXII. AN EASTER AUDIENCE. THE FUTILE PEACE . 304 XXIII. MEMORABLE SAYINGS 317 INDEX 329 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Sir James Denham ...... Frontispiece Cardinal Howard ...... Facing p. 12 Elizabeth, Duchess of Manchester, and Her Son, the Fifth Duke. (By kind permission oj Messrs. Davis Bros., Chelsea). 32 Mrs. Ronalds .......,, 44 General Sir Francis Seymour, Bart., K.C.B. 54 Her Grace the Duchess of Inverness (wife of the Duke of Sussex) ...... 64 Lady Seymour ....... 72 His Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex . ,, 80 Colonel Lord Edward Pelham Clinton, G.C.V.O. ,, 92 When Music sleeps 'tis but to dream of Song. (His Lounge HalL Photographed by Sir James 106 Denham) ....... ,, His Majesty the King of Roumania. (From a photograph by Sir James Denham) . 114 His late Majesty King Carol of Roumania Sir . (From a photograph by James Denham) ,, 114 Lord Sydenham of Combe, G.C.M.G. ,, 124 Colonel Fred Gore . 144 The Assassinator of the Stoat (Vivian Denham, aged two). (From a photograph by his father, this . the Author oj Volume) ,, 164 " Whom to know is to love." (Lord Lawrence's tribute to the poet's father) . ,, 240 The late Lord Byron . 280 MEMOIRS OF THE MEMORABLE RECOLLECTIONS OF ROME Eternal City and Interned Pope. Titivating for the Pope as for a Ball. Groomed by a Monsignor. Dreams of the Past by the Gleams of the Tiber. Age with its Blessing for Youth and Inspiration for Life's Way. A Marchioness in the Nude. The Apathy of Rome in the Procreation of Peace. The Pomps of the Past and the Soul's Solitude. Lady Anna smells a Rat. A Monsignor riding for a Fall. Prayers on the Gallop. My Momentous Maundy Thursday. FT was happy Eastertide, the rising from the earth * of all glad things. The sun crept across the Cam- pagna and it was morn in Rome. Beneath me the Piazza di Spagna was a mass of flowers. The country people were there in their carts, and the mules with their panniers. Roses and lilies galore, narcissi, dahlias and daffodils. The air was one long-drawn breath of spring. The great war-ship of Bernini,* La Barcaccia, was no longer bellicose. There was rapture in the water as it gurgled from the cannons. The pure white spray shot up to meet the sun, and now and then * Bernini (1598-1680), architect, sculptor and painter, was director of public works in Rome and superintended the building of St. Peter's under the pontificates of Urban VIII., Innocent X., Alexander VII. and Clement X. He showed his adroitness of mind as well as genius of conception in this remarkable fountain, for as the pressure of water from the Acqua Vergine was inadequate, he bethought him of cannons as an outlet. Such was the origin of his ship. I Memoirs of the Memorable there was a rainbow tint as if the white foam Caught reflection from the flowers. Who could feel other than glad on such a morn F I ought to have felt solemn, but I didn't. I was going to see Pope Leo XIII., and the audience was timed for eight o'clock. I did not like the hour it seemed terrible that a man, who should be for such an occasion in the most spiritual of moods, should be exasperated to a degree by things hitherto out of his curriculum. I have never been in- fatuated by the art of rising at six-thirty and donning even- ing dress and swallow-tails and white tie at the uncanny hour of seven. How can the soul of man be calm and pious when the interior of him be cavernous and empty ? It was too early for the morning croissants, hot and ingratiating, so I had none, and the hotel chef was evidently an agnostic, for his cafe au lait was cold comfort. Reluctantly I turned from that sunny window, for if one thing is more certain than another it is that I cannot go to His Holiness as I am, and it will never do for Mon- signor Capell to find me unready. So I proceed with the hateful task of titivating for a Pope as for a ball, with its consequent intermixture of piety and profanity. At this juncture in comes Monsignor Capell diffusing that breeziness of bonhomie which made him one of the best of companions. Witty, eloquent, bon-vivant, he was essentially a man of the world and at that time in the full popularity of his powers. The clouds emanating from the ascetic Manning were, as he was often warned by me, on the move to darken him. But he was essentially a man content with laissez aller and took no heed of the inevit- able. For weeks and weeks we had been inseparable, and to whatever dinner-party he was bidden, there was certain to be a card for me. 2 Recollections of Rome After a few growls on my part on the absurdity of going to see a Pope at eight in the morning, and the monstrosity of having to go in evening clothes, he seized a brush and " gave me a grooming as if I were a horse, saying, Now you look presentable enough for a heretic," and in a few moments we were in the carriage whirling away to the Vatican. I shall never forget that drive and the thoughts that were within me. Capell, whose tact in one direction was equalled only by his want of it in others, forbore to meddle with my silence. Here was I at the age of twenty- three, honoured with an audience which many would covet, about to enter that mysterious and unfamiliar stronghold which is at once a palace and a prison. The Tiber of the Caesars glittered to my right, and all around me the dim- ages of dead years spoke as a visible presence Popes, Prelates, Princes of the past men whose astute- ness had built up a temporal power which the aftermath of the ages had crumbled into dust. On arriving at the Vatican, after traversing innumer- able ante-halls, I was received by Cardinal Howard, who was kindness itself. Of this most splendid specimen of the human race there is much that might be told. An ex-guardsman, and towering head and shoulders over the majority of mankind, he was every inch of him a Cardinal " Prince, and even Ouida, had she included him in Strath- more," would have found it difficult to exaggerate his com- manding presence, and no Englishman could but feel proud that our country and its great historic family so splendidly represented the manhood of England. His Eminence was kind enough to tell me that I was not to feel nervous, that the Holy Father was very kind and was much in- terested in seeing me, and that he would say a few words probably in French, and that if I did not understand His 3 i* Memoirs of the Memorable Holiness I was not to interrupt but to listen. I mentally resolved that I would give His Holiness no chance of hearing my voice, and not to do him the evil of letting him listen to my French. Of the gorgeous appearance and accoutrements of the Papal Guard so much has been said that one need not dilate. It is recruited from the noblest blood in Europe. You can imagine my surprise when suddenly one of the Guard comes over to me and shakes me warmly by the hand. I could not at first recognize my old friend Willie Vavasour, afterwards Sir William Vavasour of Hazlewood, near Harrogate. When the massive doors were cast backward from the centre, I was ushered into the presence of the Pope. sat there in a chair of semi-state it a scene He high ; was as impressive as unforgettable. One had a vision of an eager face and ivory features exquisitely accentuated by priceless pictures mellowed by the fondling touch of Time. There was no great ceremony in this picture setting as might have been in audience of a King. It was Age with its blessing for Youth, and inspirations for life's way. His Holiness asked me was this my first visit to Rome, and was even kind enough to warn me against the after- noon mists, which, he added, are alas ! more fatal to youth than to manhood.