The evening world. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1887-1931, 1920-11-22

circumstances must you give way"
That is one little nugget from a
gold mine OF shrewd and witty OBJ
servations on men and love affairs
contained In the most honest and in
tercsting book OF personal reminis-
cences OF this or many other years
'MarEot Asquith: An Autobiog-
raphy" brought out by George II.
Doran Company
Before she married England's for
mer Premier, when she was thirty,
Margot Tenant was the cnJaHt ter
role OF London society. witty, origi-
nal, high spirited. attractive, she APP
pears To have been an intellectual
siren who would dare anything but
Who conquered without STOPPING. Not
only young men but such veterans as
Gladstone and DR.. Jowett delighted
In her. There Is story that when
her husband, II, II. Asquith, heard
from her that she was to receive
$4,000 pounds for the memoirs, he re-
marked dryly, Il hope they're not
worth all that" But they are, most
readers will agree. and not the small
est part Of their value lies In Mar
gUts candid tales of the men she
knew and how she treated them. Her
methods featured friendliness, n com
plete Informally a courageous can
dor, all based on a stratum OF sound
Scotch sense.
To marry a man out OF pity" she
observes, rs folly; and, IL you think
YOU are going to influence the nd
Of fellow who has never had
chance, poor DEVIL you are pro-
foundly mistaken. One can only in
tluenCe the strong characters In life,
not the weak; and It In the height OF
vanity 10 suppose that you can make
an honest man of any one"
Long before she came out" in
London, lovers besieged her at her
girlhoOd home, Glen, in the country
OF Sir Walter Scott. In speaking OF
n favorite sister, she writes: There
was another difference between
Laura and me: she felt sad when she
refused the men who proposed TO her;
I pitied no man who loved me.
told Laura that both her lovers and
mine had a very good chance OF get
ting over II, as they Invariably de-
clared themselves too soon. We were
neither OF us az fond very susceptible.
II was the custom OF the house that
men should be in love with us, but
I can truly say that we gave quite
as much as we received"
Margots mother told her father
that II he interfered with MarRot's
love affairs sho very likely would
marry n groom. 1T might have mar
RED the wrong man" Mrs. Asquith
admits, land, in any case, Interior
ence would have been cramplng TO
me" How little interference there
was is illustrated in this amazingly
frank chronicle OF hers. When she
went to balls, Eddy" Cher brother),
was by way Of chapcronng me, but
I can never remember him bringing
me back from Il single party. We
each had our latchkCys and | went
home either by myself or with a
partner.
When she was seventeen her father
bought II large London house. THE
only thing that pleased me in Gros.
venor Square" she writes, was the
iron gate. When l could not find the
key OF the square and wanted to SIT
out with my admirers, after leaving
a ball early, / was in the habit OF
climbing over these gates in my tullC
dress. This was feat which was
attended by more than one risk; II
you did not give a prominent leap of
the narrow space from the top OF the
gate, you would very likely be caught
IN by the tulle fountain Of your
dress, In which case you might easily
lose your life: or, II you did not kecp
your eye on the time, you would very
likely be caught by an early house
maid In which case you might easily
lose your reputation"
Surely the much deplored freedom
OF the modern girl cannot go beyond
that OF Margot Tenant, debutante-
and doubtless does aB little real
harm. The Puckish strain IN the