Evening star., 1923-05-31
BY THE MARaUIsE DE FoNTENoY.


Lord Leicester, sixth earl of his line,
who has just arrived fron England
on board the Majestic, is no stranger
on this. side of the Atlantic, being
frequent visitor. He is the head OF
the historic house Of Fox. which has
played so important a role in English
history during the last three centu-
ries. and q. is the owner of Holland
House, so celebrated as the center OF
political. literary and artistic life In
London. and of all that was most
brilliant In English and foreign So
ciety throughout near 800 years
Holland House has been portrayed in
many memoirs and novels: History
foreign as we'll as English. has been
made there and Mrs. Humphreys
Wards romance entitled "Eltham
House" has been built around it.
This led to a spirited public protest
on the part of Lord Leicester in the
pages OF the London Saturday Re-
view. He took exception. not so
much to the fact that Mrs. Humphreys
Ward should have taken Holland
House and its owners, Lord and Lady
Holland, for her theme, but rather to
the manner in which she portrayed
his kinsfolk under the names of
Lord and Lady Wing" giving them
a twentieth century setting. He In
timated that the portrayal was in the
nature of "Travesty Of questionable
taste" Lord Leicester contrasted
the lofty sense of honor. the chiValry.
the breeding, the infinite tact ana
patience" OF the third Lord Holland.
his relative and one Of his immediate
predecessors in the ownership of Hol-
land House with the vulgaritS,' the
egotism. the impatienCe. the disregard
of every one OF the canons OF good
taste and even the malignity OF the
nature of Mrs. Humphreys Ward's 5
Lord Wing" Moreover, he showed
that the salons of the famous Lady
HollandSat Holland House and their
international fame were not like
those Of Lady Wing" at "Eltham
House" the product of a few weeks.
but rather of gradual development.
Lord Leicester manifestly enter
tains higher regard for Lord Hol-
land than for Lady Holland. For he
insists in his letter to the Saturday
Review that the real attraction
which drew men OF distinction In
every walk of life. and from all over
the world to Holland House. was not
Lady Holland. who. especially in her
later years. ruled through the tyr
amy of fear but the ''incomparab BIZ
personality of Lord Holland with his
welcoming smile and his witty. AMI
mated and brilliant conversation" "
Lord Leicester wound up his letter in
the Saturday Review with an eN-
preston of the opinion that possibly
under the altered conditions Of the
twentieth century. the lot of Lord
InII ,iyh
different. but that Lord Wing was
foredoomed to failure in whatever
generation Mrs. Humphreys Ward had
chosen to place him.
'-. xsx
The famous Elizabeth, Lady Hol-
land referred to above, hailed from
Jamaica. had been a Miss vassal, born
of New York mother, and after
marrying Sir Godfrey Webster. owner
of Battle Abbey, near Hastings,
eloped with the third Lord Holland,
whom she married after being di
vorced by Sir Godfrey Webster under
the most sensational circumstances.
Despite this and the fact that she was
barred until her death from the court
of ST. James. statesmen and celebrities
from all over the world, including
royalty. English as we'll as foreign.
were wont to gather at Holland
House under her reign. among its
habitues being the great Talleyrand.
Madame de Stael. Princess Lieven.
the poets Lord Byron and Tom Moore,
Baron Humboldt. Lord Macaulay the
historian. Sydney Smith, Sir Walter
Scott and in fact all the notable per-
sonages of the age. By her marriage
to the third Lord Holland in 1897, she
had two chcildren. a daughter who
married the third Lord Lilford and a
son who succeeded his father as the
fourth and last Lord Holland. The
fourth Lord Holland spent several
years in the diplomatic service and
married Lady Mary Coventry, but had
no children by the union.
This fourth Lord Holland. however.
had an adopted daughter. concerning
whose birth much mystery always
prevailed She was known as Mary
Fox. was brought up not in his faith
but as "a Roman Catholic and was
married in London with much pomp
and ceremony to the Austrian Prince
Alloys Liechtenstein, after the sover-
eign head of the house-the only
reigning monarch of Germany, who
still today retains his throne-had