The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-07-29
TALENTED ENGLISH WOMAN.
London Society Is Led by Mrs. Asquith, a
Welshman's Daughter.

Daughter.
OF the many beautiful and accom-
pllshed women in London. none is better
known to the people of this country
and to the people of Great Britain than
Mrs. Asqulth, wife of the ex-home sec
rotary of England, and formerly Miss
Margot Tenant. She is a sister Of the
wife OF Henry NJ. Stanley, the African
explorer, and is the daughter of a
Welsh squire. Mrs. Asquith. though
still a comparatively young woman, is
the leader of London society to-day.
the woman most talked of and envied
and admired. and, while she does not
possess title or wealth, she has quail
ties which have raised her far above
her contemporaries. This unusual
young woman was easily recognized in
the heroine of that book of shortlived
celebrity, "Dodo," when II appeared
some years ago and created a mild
sensation In the United States as well
as i'm England.
"Dodo" undoubtedly made Miss Ten
nant's name known far and wide, but
for all that II ludicrously misrepresent-
ed her and failed to do justice to the
true abilities of this really remarkable
young woman In whose name can be
put onward several claims to consider
alton. First and foremost. Mrs. Asquith
was one of the very few women outside
tnF tlINiC VI HlS ONn HtdItSl ItiiiiHliAt
relatives to whom Gladstone gave a
truly beautiful friendship and devo-
ton. She was perhaps the only m
with the exception of his wife and
daughters with whom he loved to talk,
whom he admitted to his library while
he worked and to whose opinions and
ideas he listened with pleasure and re-
spect. She was always treated far more
like a daughter han a guest at Hawar-
dan hnfh hN the nrpaf man and his
wife. and all the more interesting is
this association when one considers not
only the vast disparity between their
ages, but between this grave statesman
and the most frivolous young lady in
London society. However that may be,
Miss MargOt Tenant was invariably
pointed out TO strangers as the protege
of the grand old man, and as the wo-
man who dared fly in the face of all
the most sacred traditions on which the
British maiden modelled her department.
1t is no secret that Miss Tenant, on
making her debut in London. quickly
observed the methods by which the
American girl conquers any foreign
prejudice. To observe with her was to
initiate. and though she fairly outdid
the most f~ree-spirited young American
by her lively %sallies. her defance to
many honored conventions and almost
h~oydenish ways, she gained her point
n bravely broke down many of the
tiresome, useless barriers behind which
the young unmarried Englishwoman
was hedged In. The British matron
held up her hands in horror and fought
for her old p~rerogatives. but Miss Ten
a won the day n gained a social
freedom for the young people of her sex
IND position that had never been
known before In Londo society. For
a number of seasons she fairly held the
reins in her own hands, and fearful was
the end predicted for her by the gos-
sips. In spite OF her shocking Amer
icanisms she counted the leading states
men. men of literary. scientific and mu-
steal fame, in her train, and her APP
p%earance in the ladies' gallery of the
house of m ave zest to what
ever debate was or hand. She was the
creator OF a seml-mystic. semi-literary
society called The Souls" and with Ar
thur Balfour as her lieutenant in the
movement she gathered some OF the
best minds in England about her.
Many American debutantes hold Mrs.
Asquith in warm remembrance for the
friendship she has always offered girls
| from this side OF the Atlantic. Mrs. As
quith has a decided liking for Amer
leans and always invites several to her
parties and fetes.