The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-07-26

London, July i5-Their Majesties fifth and last court for this season was very full one and It was certainly the smart est of these gatherings since the diplo- matic and official reception with which the series opened. There was much larger diplomatic circle than had been expected but a small entree. The royal ties were more numerous than at the re- cent courts, and there was an unusually large circle of members of households behind the princes and princesses. The entrance of the royal princesses was ex- eeedingly imposing, all the arrangements having been carefully supervised by the king himself; in fact, there IS a great deal more of state and ceremonial than was ever seen at Queen Vietoria's draw ing-rooms and the courts during the last
 forty years of her reign. Their Majes- ties stood to receive the ambassadors and other chefs de mission, and then seated themselves. The band played throughout the court. The reception of the general company took a longer time than usual but the admirable arrange ments curtailed the function as far as was practicable. The dresses and jewels were magnificent, and certainly more splendid than at the earlier courts. There were some interesting presentations, mo- tably the Duchess of Manchester Lady Fitzwilliam, Lady Yarmouth, and Lady Dufferin. There were several supper rooms in addition to the one reserved for the royal party, and everybody was quickly and well served at the round tables and buffets People went down to supper after passing through the throne room instead of every one crush Ing in together after the court. There was a grand display of gold plate from Windsor. and a quite superb show of fruit
 It was a forgone conclusion that the publication of My Relations With Car lyle" provoke another furious counter blast from the partisans of the saeg, and those who have read Sir James Crichton Brownes previous performance will not be disappointed at the style in which he has gone to work in the British Medical Journal 1t will be generally gathered from his article that Froude-the chosen intimate friend of Carlyle for many years and the man specially selected by him to tell the world the story of his life-was by constitution, habit, and inclination liar; that his lying about Carlyle was in- spired not only by nature and inclination, but by malice, that is to say, by a ma levolent desire to defame the character of the man whom he professed at the same time to revere as his friend and master; and that he descended to the lowest depths of baseness and treachery by falsifying, for the qualification of his malice, the life stor of the friend who had committed to him that trust.
 For my part look at this matter as an T said that Froude took a distorted view of the domestic relations of the Carlyles, that he did the husband some injustice, and that he was not the best man who could have been selected for such a de-
 cate task. I should not have thought it worth while to contradict him. But when 1t comes to imputing to Froude, on the flimsiest grounds. the vilest conduct and motives of which human nature is capa- ble and to suggesting that what would be pardorable error of judgment in the biographer of MT. Smith is an indication of the most horrible moral depravity in the biographer of Thomas Carlyle, then think some strong protest is called for. Even if it were untrue, it is not. as one might suppose after reading the latest utterances of the Carlylites, either sacri- lege or blasphemy to say that Carlyle was not always a model husband, and, after all, Froude had as good opportuni- ties for forming an opinion on the point as Sir James Crichtsn Browne. For the credit of the English world of letters. not to say of human nature, it would be better that MT. Caryle's character should be left under the few blemishes that appear in Froudes portrait, than that Froude who has a place of some sort in literature too, should be set down as the monster of incredible depravity depicted by Sir James Crichton Browne and MT. Lilly.