The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-08-28
sonrF INV 0
A rrsasurs House Of Anecdotes.

- gANA AANNN3 -
We are indebted to Mr.. q. W. IT, RussELL "a
q most entertaining contribution 10 the anec
dotal literature. Of which we have had so man
examples In the last quarter Of q century. w
refer to the book which he has aptly caile
Collections and Rscoliections by One Who Ha
Kent q Diary (HarpersL The author does no
conhne himself 10 what he has personally seel
or heard: had he done 90. tho volume mus
have been much smaller. for he is. compare
lively. n young man. having been sent 20 Har
row as lately as 1907. The title exactly describes
the contents Of the book. which consist partly
indeed, OF Incidents which he himself emem,
bers to have witnessed. but partly also Of tradi.
tiops and anecdotes which he has collected
from older people. Some Of these persons are
DESIGNATED in n chapter which bears the caption
Of "Links with the Past" It IL noteworthy
how many octoGenarlans. nonogenarians and
even centenarians Mr.. Russell has known.
Among his acqunintances. for instance.
is a lady. who still lives. in full possession OF
her faculties. and who can say that her
husband was born In Boston when America
was a British dependency. This is the widow
Of Lord Lyndhurst. who was born In 1772. and
helped to defeat Mr.. Gladstone's Paper bill on
his eiRhty-eighth birthday. A conspicuous
figure in the authors recolleotions was Sir
Henry Holland. M. D.. who was born In 1888.
Mr.. Russell can remember Sir Henry's telling
him In 1888 that his first famous patient was
the mysterious Pamela" who had been the
wife OF the Irish patriot. Lord Edward Fitz-
gerald. Another survivor OF the last century,
William. fifth Earl Bathurst. who was born ip
1871 and died In 1873. related that he was at a
private school with William and John Russell.
the latter OF whom became the author Of the
Reform bill, and Prime Minister. At this
seminary the peers sons hada bench to them
selves. George Thomas. sixth Earl OF Albe-
marie. who was born n1790 and died In 1891,
shared with his old comrade. Sir Thomas
Whichcote. who outlived him by a few months.
the honor Of being the last survivor OF Water
loo. The fact is recalled that, in 1887. Mrs.
Anne Penelope Hoare died at her family house.
In st. James's square. She could remem-
Der being at a children's party when
the lady Of the house cam in and
stopped the dancing because news had come
that the King Of France had been put to death.
She must, therefore. have been quite or nearly
a hundred years old. Another lady who must
have been about q hundred unless she was born
when her father was upward Of go years Of age |
was Mrs. Thomson Hankey. who died in sS8
Her father. q Mr.. Alexander. was born in 1920.
and she had inherited from him traditions of
London as it appeared to n young Scotchman
in the year Of the decapitation OF the rebels
after the rising OF 1745. Lady Louisa Stewart, |
sister and heir OF the last Earl of Traquair. |
lived to be n hundred. and died in 1875. Sir
Moses MonteHore was born in 1884 and died In
1885. The disheartening fact for teetotalers
is mentioned that he had drunk a bottle Of
port every day since he grew up. He had
with Lord Nelson on board his
ship. and vividly remembered what seemed
to him the transcendent beauty OF Lady
On the last occasion when
Sir Noses appeared in public he was conveyed
TO q garden party at Marlborough House in a
magnificent sedan chair. A still more remark
able case Of longevity known to Mr.. Russell was
that OF Capt. Francis Maude. R. n. He was
born In 1878 and died in 1885. He used to say:
My grandfather was twelve years old when
Charles II. died" And this seems to have been
rue. for Sir Robert Maude was born In 1878;
lis son. the first Lord Hawarden. was born in
-729. and Capt. Francis Maude was Lord Ha-
yarden's youngest son. The same year. 1885,
Witnessed the disappearance of q woman who !
must also have been a centenarian. We refer
o Mrs. Hodgson. the mother OF tho well-known
'artners in Baring's house. who. when a school,
yirl in Paris. had seen Robespierre executed,
md distinctly recalled the appearance OF his ,
,andaged face.
1t was from these and other old people that
he author OF this hook derived some vivid i'm |
OF the moral and material condition !
" $50 ~ tiio biulS VIGIL III OlI OEu6T WAS 1
ielding place to the new. and modern society !
vas emerging from the birth throes of the
'rench revolution. All the testimony thus
seems to point to the fact that !
oward the close Of tho last century religion :
7as almost extinct in the highest and lowest {
lasses Of English society. The poor were sunk !
n ignorance and barbarism. and the a~ristoc- :
acy was honeycombed by profigacy. Moral !
". discarded alike by high and low, took I
M In h N rnnn 49, j
argely influenced by evangelical dissent. A I
issolute heir apparent presided over the social
ystem. In which not merely religion but de-
eney was habitually dlsregarded. Touching ,
his point. our author makes some extracts !
rom an unpublished diary Of Lord Robert sey- j
1Sour !son Of the first Marquis Of Hertiordl 6
ssii. Among ot The Incidents a noted d be- tb n !
! the OF fo IIHsaIo9 un aFSs the Sri6 date Of w l1ss t
eclares there is not an honest woman in Lonnss v
on. excepting Lady Parker and Lady West /
lS5eiand, and those are so stupid he can make q
owp, nosss." 'TSs a diar sstr Siso Sc sets 80 d S,Sm v
he fact that at Mrs. yaneck's assembly last n
,Eeadth Of Mrs. Y; Behind With ~ his Randksearee 8
h ~ so and ds showed y the requirement to most Of C
allied on Miss yaneck last week with two Of a
rs equerrles. On coming into the room he a
:. asked him what 1t was that he was obliged a
? do; whereupon, he winked at st. Leger and II
otntT, ~accOHpllce, VINO Iald Miss V. on the -
oor. and the Prince positively whipped her, a
ne occasion Of this extraordinary behavior W
,as a bet which suppose he had made in one y
er a penitential letter. and she now receives Il
I'm on tho same footing as ever" The follow c.
AS thought d%ecorous to play on ayounR lady: II
Tho PRINCE OF Wales. Mrs, Fitz Herbert, the g
igott. Mrs. F.'s companion. went to Windsor y
uring the absence Of the royal family. Going "a
see q, cold bath Miss p. expressed q great Ii
tsh TO battle this, hot weather. The Duke of tl
very imprudently pushed her in, =
nd the Duchess OF O.. having the presence OF W
Ind to throw ont a rope. saved. her when In Il
lch q disagreeable state from fear and sur Il
rise as to he near sinking. Mrs. +. went into a.
'nvulsion fits and the Duchess fainted away. te
the scene proved Ridiculous, in the extreme, CT
lat he was instantly coming to her in the ..
aterh and continued undressing himself. Poor al
iss 3 clothes entirely laid upon the water, hi
"a made her appear an awkward figure. They W
terward pushed in one Of the Princes at ~
(heatlnn Mt nnrdn and dino u.nn naI ....u. h.