New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-07-24
RECOLLECIIONS.
OLD TINES AND PEOPLE.

VERNON HEATHs RECOLLECTIoNS. ieno.. PIP
:3j4. Cassen d Co.
Mr. Hcaths Rccollcctions" are recorded In a
simple natural manner ard often they are
both instructive and interesting. Tie inanrer, in
deed is prosaic and the record sometimes Is trivial
Mr. Heath is not a writer, bat an elderly gentle
man who has seen much Of Great Britain and many
OF IT'S notable people, and who likes 20 talk about
what ne remembers. These Recollection, relate 20
the period since ls4l and they touch upon many
persons and things that have been prominent in
the course Of the last lfty years Mr. Heath is
the nephew Of Robert Vcrnon-who gave his fine
collection Of paintings to the National Gallery in
ls47-and he has long been tie most prominent
and distinguished photographer in England. His
vocation has been his passport to various pictu-
rescue and famous home. and to the acqu1Int
ancc Of various persons Of cninence, and these
are the subject Of his aggressive and sporadic story
His book is not one Of thought neither is it strong
in descriptioa-i,- most signal descriptive passage
being one that relates 70 the foliage and the birds
that are visible TO the voyagcr Of the Thames
bat il abounds with incident, il is cmbcllishcd
with traits Of character aud with occasional
anecdotes, and its atmosphere is genial that il
is a readable narrative and emincntly appropriate
TO the idle season.
TO Mr. Heath the public IL indebted for the
preservation Of the Bnrnham Bccchcs, near Stoke
Pogis and that service alone would have entitled
him 10 the lasting gratitude Of tlic artistic world
II was Mr.. Heath, also. who suggested, and long
advocated, the removal Of the iron grille that
formerly separated the churchyard Of Stoke POeis
from the adjoining ground, and the substitution
for it OF sunk fence, such as now exists. The
present fence is made Of fiintStoncs and it rises
within a neat grassy ditch, and the visitor gains
H. 81
beautiful lych-gatc. Mr. Heath made the we'll
known photographs Of the great horscchcstnut
tree at Cookbanl, the cottage porch in Redemption
Vale and the gigantic bcccles at Durham that
figure in his -Four Seas MS In his account of
the Durham Beechcs, Mr.. Heath maintains that
those trees were not polarded in Cromwels
time, as tradition alleges. hut long before, and
that they probably were grown trees at the time
of the Norman conquest. That exceedingly inter
esting tract Of country was bought by the corpor-
ton of London in 1879, and turned into pleas
ure ground for the people.
Mr.. Heath gives one hint that travellers in Ire
land would he wise to heed. The approach TO
the Lakes Of Killarney should not be made from
that village, but from Gcngarif. The railway
Journey should be 10 Cork and Bantry, and then
the visitor should proceed by coach TO GlcngariG,
where there is n capital hotel The Lakes Of
Killarney, MS commonly approached, often disap-
point expectation: but when approached from
Glcngarih they found to he very beautiful
and impressive. Mr.. Heath puts in a plea for
Holland House, which is in danger OF being
sacrificed to the destructive zeal Of Biggins the
builder. His suggestions to travel in Skye
and in Arran are practical and attractive Artists
will find in this book several amusing stories
relative 10 famous paintings and masters Of the
art together with instructive remarks upon the
advent OF photography, the combination Of
prints, the treatment Of clouds, and the autotypc
process. In cloud printing Mr.. Heath was a pio-
necr. Various notable persons appear in these
pages. at least by name, and the reader is told
that their conversation IAN intellectual
fcatt'; but no part Of the conversation has been
perpctnated. Mr. Heath met Thomas Carlyle
and Bishop WHEREFORE at the Grange, Alves-
ford, Hampshrc-the country seat Of Lord Ash
burtOn--in lSG2, ard he listened 70 memorable
fight of words" between thenI-thc Bishop extOlling
Garibaldi and Carlyle abusing him and he thinks.
that the Bishop had the best Of ii, and that
Carlyle was rot an agreeable man. The lamentcd
Prince Consort, however, impressed Mr.. Heath as
very remarkable "No one could look at his
head, and the expression Of his face from Il ply
siognomists point Of view" says this observer.
without being satisfied that a great intellect
vas therein centred"