New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-04-17
MRS. PROCTOR
ALIvELY OLD LADY.

From Tho Saturday Review.
Mrs Procter's death last Monday must in one sense
have been a relief to her friends. For many weeks
her condition had been hopeless, and she paid In her
lingering end what Charles Lamb somewhere calls
tho penalty of good constitution. In some other
respects the circumstances OF her old age were eA-
tremcly fortunate. She had indeed survived not only
her husband, who lived to BIO an octogenar.an, but
almost all her children and every one Of her early
friends She did not, however, fulfil the words OF
that awful curse" which deeply impressed Macau-
lay in the Latin inscription, Ultimus suorum morfa-
tur.n Her last years cheered by the constant
presence Of a granddaughter who succeeded to the
place of her daughter, the latc Miss Edith Proctor
OF pany she had as much as she could have wanco
and until her health suddenly gave way she wanted
all She could get. Lady Kew berself whom Mrs.
Proctor did not otherwise resemble was not a more
ndcfatgable dIner-out and attendant at evening par
ties 1t IS probable that Mrs. Proctor would have
agreed with tho sentiment of the famous sermon IN
which Sterns boldly denied the tr,t Of his text, ana
asserted by implication that to to the house OF FEAST
ing was better than to 60 10 the house OF mourning
1t is certain that she had profound contempt for the
apophthegm of Sir George Lewis, thai lite would Dc
olerable but for its pleasures. JohGsons CRITICISM
upon Garrcks line entirely In her veln May
smile with the simple and feed with the poor wrote
the great actor Lot me-" said the great man Of tho
world smile with the wise and feed with the rich'
Not that MIS-. Proctor cared for nordlnate luxury,
still less for vulgar display 1t was intellectual So
ccty which she enjoyed, and to which she contributed
at least rs much as she derived from 1t. Perhaps
her social In some degree due to tho fact
that she had no special accomplishments and par
ticuar hobbies. Sho not an author, or musi-
clan, or an artist, or woman Of SCIENCE but IL tho
Scottlcsm may be- pardoned, Just talker. Her keen
native shrewdncss and homely Yorkshire sense had
Of course been cultivated and overlad by more than
half ccntury's acquaintance with the best INTEL
lects of the time But tao original qualities were
always there and her contempt for humbng and affcc
tation proof against many thousands OF London
dinners. The plain virtues OF honesty and benovo
lencc, especially II combined with certain superficial
hard which
atcd and which suited her best.
Mrs Proctor as Is well known, the daughter
Of tho third Mrs. Basil Montague by her first husband
Mr. Shopper, and the wife Of Mr.. Bryan Waller Proc
ter, better known Barry Cornwall Hor precise
age which had been the subject of some speculation,
was disclosed along with her second name Of Benson,
which shc used In the first column Of Wednes-
days Times" She died at eighty-seven At eighty
six she not except chrcnologlcally old woman
Her step active her eyeslSh was apparently I'M
dlmmed, her memory was perfect, and her hair re-
tained its original color. She remembered tho Jubl-
lee OF 1909 when she witnessed tho Jubilee Of 1887
lve7 said Lord Bcacons6cld with dgnlhcd pathos,
his retirement at Hughenden, 81 live In tho rcol-
ectons of the past" Mrs. Proctor enjoyed the pres
cnt keenly TO DO thrown back upon anything else
But her stock of "reminiscences boundess and 10
hear her draw upon them was like reading the auto
biography OF the nineteenth century. II seems, In
Decd as IL a whole host Of literary celebrities nom
Keats to Lord Houghton, had died again with her.
While she was alvo they could always be called up
with vivid dIstlnctness worthy OF that wonderful
poem, How it Strikes contemporary" mo graphic
simplicity with which Mrs. Proctor told her stories
was beyond all praise. " | can always ind words
said Fox; Pitt always find the wOrd' 1t Is
not too much to say Of Mrs. Proctor that "she
could always find tho word" Her
crisp sharp sentences were a rebuke 10 the mumbled
sins against sense and grammar which too often pass
muster for English conversation. She won't to saw
that her daughter Adelaide chiefly known the public
as writer OF sentimental verse, the brightest
and most humorous companion she had ever known
Her own sense OF humor exquisite, and She could
part to 1t that subdued OF melancholy without
which the deepest humor loses half its charm Not
hat that was by any means her ordinary style She
loved tell, with infinite dro'lery, how she once I'm
plorcd very eminent friend not 70 keep her moment
n sus peuse but to toll her Immediately wh>. the doc
or said Of his case lie says, replied the great
nan, with profound gravity, that have two fatal
iIscases' "what are they ~ sho gasped In despair
Guttony and drunhenness.' was the answer, de-
lvored with tho same imperturhablo socmnity as
)ciorc Perhaps a personal "reminiscences OF Mrs
Proctcr's ordinary OF speech may be parfoned
IN this occasion. a very humble Londoner and his /
wife werc introduced by her to distinguished novel
st who has the happiness OF living In tho country.
lfer duly presenting him TO the lady, Mrs. Proctor
urncd round, and, with wave OF her hand and the |
Characteristic twinkle Of her eye, remarked, In Lon
lon we do not think much OF husbands, hut this Is
Ir. Brown Mrs. Proctor might have repeated |
With absolute sincerity the touching lines of Landor
he warmed both hands before the fro Of nfo and
Ghcn 1t sank she was ready TO depart.