EARLY VICTORIAN MEMOIRS.

Hastings Standard, Volume XII, Issue 5846, 9 May 1908, Page 4 (Supplement)

EARLY VICTORIAN MEMOIRS.

A FASHION" OF TO-DAY

It seems the fashion nowadays to write memoirs, and very good some of them are. Lady Dorothy Nevill—long may she live —has drawn upon her marvellous store of recollections in two most charming volumes. Sir Henry Drummond Wolff has given us some reminiscences which are a delight to all; Lady Randolph Churchill is busy writing her memoirs, and now we have a volume, " Leaves from a Life'' (Kveleigh Nash), rich with the memory of a life amongst th:> most brilliant and entertaining people of the Victorian era. THE WRITER. It will not be difficult to guess by whom these memories are written, and it is quito possible that many who read between tho lines will see" that the author is a daughter of Mr. W. P. Frith, R.A. In them there is a charm of sparkling anecdote and vivacious reminiscence. AX AMUSING STORY.

As the daughter of an eminent artist the writer tells us an amusing story of the late Queen Victoria sitting for a picture. "The Queen's visit was announced long before* she came by the riding up of a mounted man, whether gentleman or groom I do not know, 'The Queen will be here in half-an-hour'; then came another one, "The Queen will be here in 20 minutes' ; then another, 'The Queen will be here in 10 minutes'; then 'The Queen is in sight," which meant she could be expected at any moment. A LOYAL PARLOURMAID.

" I think she would have been amused if she could have known that the pretty, smart parlourmaid in orthodox cap, apron, and black dress who opened the gate to her was one of our aunts, curiously enough her own namesake, and born on her own birthday. Aunt Vickey having begged to undertake this task in order to obtain a near view of the little lady her loyal heart

adored. PRINCE LEOPOLD'S REMARK.

"Papa- himself stood at the foot of the steps bowing profoundly until the Queen shook hands graciously with him, while mamma waited at the top to bo introduced to her Majesty. No; I think that introduction took place in tho drawing room, lor one of the smaller princes, I think Prince Leopold, made the naive remark at the top of hi:: voice, 'I didn't know artists lived in such big houses,' to be silenced at once by his mother's look." A HANDSOME PRINCE.

Another sitter was the handsome Prince Louis of Hesse. "He and his gentlenian-in-waiting-took their turn in tho painting-room, where lie smoked endless cigars in an impatient way. and did not prove a very tractable sitter, while poor Captain AVester-weller stood until pa sun-bested a seat coijld be- found for him "Ho will schtaand," said tho prince, and kept on smoking until his .sitting was over." AMUSING STORIES.

Of artists, authors, and actors there aro many amusing stories. A frequent visitor was Sir Edwin in his most courtly tones. "Oh, it was quite easy." replied her Grace seriously; "it was a mere matter of damming and blasting." I think the duchess, whose very strongest words were "Dear me!" would have been slightly astonished could she have known tho construction put upon her remark when Sir Edward told the story." It would be a pity to abstract any more of the stories that appear in this volume, which should certainly not ho missed b ythose interested in tho gossip of tho past century. AWFUL CONDUCT

Oi the present German Emperor there is a delightful reminiscence. "He was a, tiny, pretty, delicate little lad, and he utterly abbored the Highland dress in which he was clad on the special occasion for which ho was brought to England, and I fancy tho cold wind stung his small knees; anyhow, his conduct was awful. Somehow or other the dirk belonging to his costume was not forthcoming, and he was lent one belonging to his uncle Leopold. The first part of tho ceremony he was pretty quiet, it was discovered afterwards that he had spent it in picking out the great cairngorm in the dirk handle, and then casting it away.

A NAUGHTY PRINCE. " Then he bagan to fidget; his mother tried to hold him, and at last handed him over to his two uncles, Leoplod and Arthur, whose bare legs he bit, while they bore the pain like Stoics. I only hope they smacked him well when they got tho little ruffian back to the castle. "Willy," as his English relations called him, becamo fond of papa, and when we met him in the Long Walk at Windsor he used to call out, " Come and wide with me, mistah.'' His sister, little Princess Charlotte, used to suffer a gcpd deal at his hands, and I once gave him a smart tap on his naughty little fingers when ho was pulling her hair; he looked at mo for a minute and said nothing."