SOME THINGS WE HAVE REMEMBERED SAMUEL THORNTON, ADMIRAL, 1797-1859 PERCY MELVILLE THORNTON, 1841-19" PERCY MELVILLE THORNTON THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA FOS ANGELES SOME THINGS WE HAVE REMEMBERED vSt* fr~ Midshipman Samuel Thornton, H.N., afterwards Admiral Thornton, L797-1859 SOME THINGS WE HAVE REMEMBERED SAMUEL THORNTON, ADMIRAL, 1797-1859 PERCY MELVILLE THORNTON, 1841-1911 BY PERCY MELVILLE THORNTON, LL.M. Ex-M.P., CLAPHAM, 1892-1910 AUTHOR OF "FOREIGN SECRETARIES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY," "HARROW SCHOOL AND ITS SURROUNDINGS," "THE STUART DYNASTY," " CONTINENTAL RULERS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY," ETC., ETC., ETC. WITH PORTRAITS AND OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS LONGMANS, GREEN AND CO. 39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON NEW YORK, BOMBAY AND CALCUTTA 1912 c THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED TO MY WIFE PREFATORY NOTE. My indebtedness to the Rev. John Thornton, head of the Birkin Thorntons, for the privately printed volume of " Yearly Recollections," by Samuel Thorn- ton, M.P., is acknowledged in Chapter I ; but I also wish to express my thanks for an unfailing attention to every request made for family information. Lady Elton has contributed interesting notes upon the records of her own and Sir Edmund's predecessors at Clevedon Court, and about the classical acquirements of their grandfather, Sir Charles Elton. The Hon. Norman Leslie Melville sent some recollections of his uncle, Admiral Thornton, which have been embodied in the narrative, while his own experiences as an amateur Jockey when riding for King Edward VII, then Prince of Wales, have been recorded. My cousin, C. I. Thornton, has kindly furnished details of his Cricket experiences. To Miss Rice I owe it that I have been able to consult the letters and diaries of our Celtic ancestors. Also for the portraits of my grandparents, the Rev. J. M. Rice and Mrs. Rice. I am indebted to my cousin, Col. Mockler-Ferryman, Vll viii PREFATORY NOTE for a valuable summary of the Rice connexion with the 51st Regiment. Lady Stawell's account of the career of her father, Capt. Greene, R.N., completed the notices of my fathers closer naval friends. I have to thank Mr. Arthur Mcllwaine for the materials connected with his father's life as well as for leave to copy the portrait which appears in this volume. CONTENTS. PAGE Prefatory Note - - vii CHAPTER I. The Thorntons of Birkin -------- 1 CHAPTER II. (1) Naval Career of Samuel Thornton 29 (2) Admiral Thornton and His Old Naval Friends - - 46 CHAPTER III. Home Life at Chobham Place 57 CHAPTER IV. The Rices of Moth-Vey ■- - - - - - - - 68 CHAPTER V. Sons of John Thornton, Commissioner of Inland Revenue (1783-1861) 89 CHAPTER VI. (1) Birth and Early Life of Author (1841-51)— The Eltons - 105 (2) School at Brighton and Ramsgate (1851-5) - 113 CHAPTER VII. Harrow.— Part I. 1856-60 126 CHAPTER VIII. Last Voyage of Admiral Thornton 139 CHAPTER IX. Harrow.— Part II. 144 iz x CONTENTS CHAPTER X. PAGE (1) Trottescliffe and Jesus College, Cambridge - - 159 (2) Personal Memories of Cambridge ln the Sixties - - 174 CHAPTER XI. Hunting around Cambridge 182 CHAPTER Xn. Changing Circumstances ... - ... 186 CHAPTER XIH. Life ln the Cottesmore Country (1873-6) 194 CHAPTER XIV. Battersea Rise House and its Later Memories - - - 206 CHAPTER XV. Bournemouth. Social and Literary Associations (1882-4) - 226 CHAPTER XVI. Introduction to Public Life during Times of Distress in Battersea 237 CHAPTER XVn. Politics at Clapham. Experiences in the House of Commons (1891-1900) - 247 CHAPTER XVIII. Political Like at Westminster (1900-5) - - - 273 CHAPTER XIX. Tin. Radical Reaction ok 1906. Final Political Recollections 284 CHAPTER XX. Reckm Vihi i.-ii.-- (1908-11) - - 293 "<;[,!•; ANIXliS" .... 306 INDEX 327 ILLUSTRATIONS. Midshipman Samuel Thornton, R.N., afterwards Admiral Thornton, 1797-1859 Frontispiece PAGE Arms of the Thorntons of Birkin xii FACING PAGE The Siege of Donabue. From a Sketch by Capt. Thornton, R.N. 45 Captain William McIlwaine, R.N. 54 Samuel Thornton, Esq., M.P. From the Mezzotint by C. Turner, after the Painting by Thomas Phillips, R.A. - 57 The Rev. J. Morgan Rice and Mrs. Rice .... 68 Letter from Mrs. Thrale to Mr. Rice 73 Mr. Percy Melville Thornton, Jesus College, Hon. Sec. C.U.A.C, 1863, and "Victor Ludorum," 1862-63 - 172 Henry Thornton, M.P. for Southwark, a.d. 1782-1815. The Gift of his Constituents ------- 206 Letter of Sir William Harcourt to the Author - - - 262 Jesus (Cambridge) Boat Winning the Terdonck Race against the Belgians on May 25, 1911 300 Abms of the Thorntons Off Birkin CHAPTEK 1. THE THORNTONS OF BIRKIN. It may be asked why under the title of this work I incident- ally narrate the history of several Thorntons of Birkin, some hitherto unnoticed in literature, others already celebrated by the Stephens, Wilberforces, Macaulays and other powerful writers, students of the nineteenth century, who have made Clapham a veritable Mecca of philanthropy and anti-slavery. It is because I think there will be a general interest felt for some of those members of my family who have striven to serve the State well in more than one capacity. Even if at first sight it may seem a somewhat startling audacity for me to propound this view and to connect earlier incidents with the recollections of my father and myself, I trust that a perusal of these pages will show that a more complete record of the times in question has been thus secured by the addition of some valuable details to those already published. The claims of Battersea Bise, Clapham Common, to be venerated as the centre of the Thornton-Wilberforce tradi- tions naturally receive respectful attention from me, a son of the house by marriage. That my grandfather Samuel Thornton's work in the House of Commons and at the Bank of England was worthy of commemoration is as certain as that his son, the Admiral, did good service in his profession. Another justification for venturing to review such events and do justice to the careers of these and other noteworthy residents of Clapham, beyond that of my relationship, consists in my having been upwards of seventeen years (1892-1909) Member of Parliament for Clap- ham, at a critical time in our modern history, 1 2 SOME THINGS WE HAVE REMEMBERED It has also occurred to me that many persons allied by kinship to our clan, but not bearing their name, may care to learn more of the Thorntons connected with their families. Let me instance at random some such family names borne by persons mentioned in this volume, Milnes, Wilberforce, Leslie Melville, Pym, Sykes, Dealtry, Eice, Thrale, Elton, and Forster. As the title of the work suggests, many of the incidents mentioned are vouched for by the writer's experience ; but most of these have been verified by the help of contemporary collaborators, so that every precaution has been taken to avoid errors by testing statements which for the most part are based upon memory. I have, of course, had access to many letters as well as diaries and notebooks. Following Shakespeare's advice to " nothing extenuate nor set down aught in malice," I have carefully avoided hasty averments at all likely to hurt the feelings of those connected with the many individuals and families concerned. A believer in looking upon the bright side of life where pos- sible, I have not hesitated to repeat a good story when I have had at command such an aid to the dispersion of an occa- sional tinge of sadness inseparable from nearly all shades of biography. One caution to my readers I desire to add, and it is against the expectation of any complete biography of my father appearing in these pages. The recollections I possess of Admiral Samuel Thornton are, it is true, fortified by sundry data in epistolary form and aided by contemporary relatives and naval friends. But to produce such a volume satis- factorily the work must necessarily have been commenced long before half a century bad elapsed. Nor can more than passing mention be made of those who eoine under the title of " what we have remembered ". The autobiographical portion of this volume is likewise circum- cribed, and tor the reason that, as the writer believes, be has discriminated between Buch memories as conspire to THE THORNTONS OF BIRKIN 3 render this work useful to students of the period in which he has lived as well as interesting to his own family, and those which might have involved disputatious contentions and in- troduced fugitive opinions regarding matters which should only be dealt with by expert writers. I have ventured to narrate certain experiences undergone in the House of Com- mons in the years 1893-1910, both in Chapters XVII, XVIII, and the " Gleanings " included in this book, because they illustrate the character of some of the changes which came before the country during that period. THE THORNTONS OF BIRKIN. This ancient Yorkshire family received in the year 1563, through Robert Thornton of East Newton, near Pickering, Yorkshire (North Riding), a grant of the Crest and Coat of Arms printed above. In the " Dictionary of National Biography " A. P. R, writer of the article on Thomas Thornton, supposed to have tran- scribed the " Thornton Romances " about 1440, says, " The transcriber is more probably to be identified with Robert Thornton of East Newton, near Pickering, in the North Riding of Yorkshire " ; and that this man's grandson, " Robert Thorn- ton, born 1454, married a daughter of William Langton of Sproxton," from whom the Thorntons of East Newton are said to be descended. It is quite likely that the Thorntons of Birkin descended directly or collaterally from the Robert Thornton who may have transcribed the " Thornton Ro- mances ". That a connexion between the East Newton family and that of Birkin existed and was maintained by intercom- munication is suggested by Jane, the elder sister of John Thornton the fifth successive head of the Birkin family, having become the wife of Dr. Richard Conyers, Rector of Helmsley, near East Newton, comparatively far from Birkin and Hull. Until the late Admiral Thornton, whose life is dealt with in this book, discovered in Yorkshire such irrefragable proof of earlier ancestors in the North, the pedigree of the Birkin 1 -;•:- 4 SOME THINGS WE HAVE KEMEMBERED branch of the Thorntons was traced from the Rev. Robert Thornton, Rector of Birkin near Wakefield, but nearer still to Pontefract, also in Yorkshire, of whose loyalty to the Throne and attachment to the Church of England during the Civil War between Charles I and his Parliament there is a touch- ing account in John Walker's " Sufferings of the Clergy," Part II. p. 385 (1st Edition, 1714), from which the following is an extract ; — " He was several times plundered ; and tyed to an Horse Tayle, and dragged in that manner prisoner to Cawood Castle. He survived the Usurpation and was repossessed of his Living." It would be difficult for any one of that race visiting Bir- kin and beholding the simple inscriptions on the Memorial Tablets (for three successive Thorntons were Rectors of Bir- kin) to refrain from revering such steadfast adherence to prin- ciple as that maintained by this brave clergyman ; so it is well that his grandson, John Thornton, merchant of Kingston upon Hull, oldest brother of William the third rector, and brother-in-law of Prebendary Robert Banks, Vicar of Hull, should have erected towards the close of the nineteenth cen- tury this apt memorial of a noble past. Indeed kindred thoughts would be likely to move those, too, who, inclining to the constitutional maxims of Pym, were unable to see eye to eye with the ( lavalier sentiment which involved such devo- tion to Church and Crown. The exact relationship of the persecuted rector to Robert Thornton of East Newton is not recorded. The first Rector Roberl Thornton may have had brothers, and the second Rector Roberl Thornton may have bad brothers, even elder brothers, as he was bom nineteen years after bis lather's marriage. These possibilities arc Bnggested by the Eenay in- Bcription irj the north chancel of Wakefield Parish Church, commemorating Nicholas Fenay, Esq., and Jane his wife [n^e Thornton], who died, the former March '21, 1710, the latter Air'M | L5, L718, and Mrs. Margarel Thornton, sister to the THE THOENTONS OF BIEKIN 5 aforesaid Jane Fenay, who departed this life in the year 1715. But the most enduring traditions of the Birkin Thorntons built upon other foundations than persecution so nobly borne by the Eoyalist Eector of Birkin, have been summarized so admirably by my cousin, Miss Laura Forster of Abinger- Hammer, Surrey, an able literary descendant of the above, who has placed her researches at my disposal, that I feel sure I cannot do better than transcribe them here verbatim. She justly chooses John Thornton, grandson of the before-men- tioned John and head of the family in his turn, as the central figure around which the Clapham kinsmen are grouped. " John Thornton (1720-1790), one of the most emi- nent of the early Evangelicals, was the only son of Eobert Thornton of Clapham Common, a Director of the Bank of England, by his first wife Hannah Swynocke. 1 John Thornton inherited a large fortune from his father, which he embarked in trade. He was known in the re- ligious world by his great munificence. Cecil in his Memoir of John Newton says of him, ' He differed as much from rich men of ordinary bounty as they do from others who are parsimonious ' ; and he adds that he pur- chased Advowsons and Presentations with a view of appointing the most enlightened, active, and useful Ministers in various Parishes. He also mentions that John Thornton employed his extensive trade as a means to convey enormous quantities of Bibles, Prayer-books, and other well-chosen religious publications to different parts of the world, and that he printed at his sole expense large editions of the latter for this purpose. Cecil relates that after visiting Mr. Newton at Olney Mr. Thornton said to him : ' Be hospitable and keep open house to 1 He was also nephew of Godfrey Thornton, Director of the Bank of England, as also was this Godfrey Thornton's oldest son, Godfrey, and his eldest grandson, Stephen Thornton. John Thornton's eldest son, Samuel Thornton, enjoyed tho same distinction. 6 SOME THINGS WE HAVE BEMEMBEEED such as are worthy of entertainment. Help the poor and needy. I will statedly allow you £200 a year and readily send whatever you have occasion to draw for more.' When Cowper in an access of depression came to New- ton's house, avowedly for one night, in March, 1773, and refused to leave it till May, 1774, John Thornton doubled this annuity. In 1779 he appointed Newton to the Bectory of St. Mary, Woolnoth. " With Cowper and with Mrs. Unwin John Thornton had a warm and intimate friendship, and the latter con- sulted him, and was guided by his advice, in some of her greatest difficulties when watching over Cowper in his fits of depression. The Poet himself, writing to Lady Hesketh in 1785, mentions ' John Thornton the great, who together with his three sons, all three in Parliament, has, I suppose, a larger sweep in the City than any man,' adding that he looked confidently to him for sup- port in his translation of Homer. He described John Thornton's character in his poem on ' Charity,' and he wrote some lines on his death in 1790, which are to be found in Southey's edition of his works (1837), Vol. X. p. 29, : in which he says of him : ' Thou hadst an energy in doing good, Kestless as his who toils and sweats for food'. "John Thornton was frugal in personal expenditure, and gave away habitually half his profits. Hull, Helmsley, Camberwell, and Deptford were specially centres of his liberality, but the Bev. Thomas Scott wrote that 'it might be difficult to mention one institu- tion of evident utility to which he was not in some measure a benefactor '. "John Thornton was first Treasurer of the Marine Society, and his portrait, painted by Gainsborough at the requeBt of the Society, hangs in their Board-room in Clarke's Place, Bishopsgate Street Within. He was a Director of the Eta sia Company, and declined to be its 1 I ; . j >r« nl u,i-< 1 mi pjigos 10, 11. THE THOENTONS OF BIEKIN 7 Governor, explaining to his son that he should give special offence in that position by his custom of refusing to hear the toasts and songs sometimes introduced at their public dinners. He was strict in discouraging vice, and used to leave the room if an improper toast were given, some- times amidst the jeers of the company. He attended public dinners and exercised great though simple hospi- tality, but he withdrew from general society, and lived exclusively with men of business, or with those who shared his religious opinions. "John Thornton married, November 28, 1753, Lucy Watson, only daughter and heiress of Samuel Watson, Esq., of Kingston upon Hull, a devout and earnest woman, who had been much under the personal influence of Dr. Watts. By this marriage he had issue Samuel, M.P. for Surrey, Eobert, M.P. for Colchester, Jane Countess of Leven, and Henry, M.P. for Southwark." Surely it is evidence of the improvement manifest in the behaviour of mankind that ribaldry such as has been here touched upon is not now possible at any public dinner of a re- putable institution. The offenders would be suppressed by public acclaim. That John Thornton was as tactful as he had proved himself valiant in propagating Christian principles is shown by the following letter to the Eev. Charles Simeon on his appointment as Vicar of Trinity Church, Cambridge, quoted by Dr. H. C. G. Moule, Bishop of Durham, in his book " Charles Simeon " in " English Leaders of Religion, " page 40 : — "Clapham, "13th November, 1782. "Dear Sir, " I was glad to hear the books came so timely and that the Bishop of Ely had sent you the Presentation to Trinity Church ; may a gracious God guide and direct all your ministrations, to the Eedeemer's glory, and make you a blessing to many. "Permit me to use an uncommon freedom, and I 8 SOME THINGS WE HAVE KEMEMBEEED hope you'l forgive me should you not be able to join issue in sentiment with me. What I would recommend is to set off with only the usual service that has been per- formed, as by that means I apprehend you'l gain upon the people gradually, and you can at any time increase your duty as you see occasion, and I should on the same principle advise against exhorting from house to house as heretofore you did. I assure you a subtle adversary as often obtains his end by driving too fast as too slow, and perhaps with religious people oftener. "Remember it is God works not you, and therefore if you run before the pillar and the cloud you will assuredly be bewildered. " The Lord ever was and ever will be with the small still voice, and therefore beware of noisy professors ; they are far more to be dreaded than the worldly minded. " Watch continually over your own spirit, and do all in love ; we must grow downwards in humility to soar heavenwards. " I should recommend your having a watchful eye over yourself, for generally speaking as is the Minister so are the people. If the Minister is enlightened, lively and vigorous, his word will come with power upon many and make them so ; if he is formal the infection will spread amongst his hearers ; if he is lifeless, spiritual death will be visible through the greatest part of the congregation ; therefore if you watch over your own soul you may de- pend upon it your people will keep pace with you gener- ally, or at least that is the way to the blessing. ' It is a sad tho' too common a mistake to be more regardful of others than ourselves, and we must begin at home; many regard watchfully the outward work and disregard thai within. ' Vour si ■riiKins should be written, well digested and becoming a scholar, not overlong but pithy, that those who seek occasion may find none except in the matter of your ( ioil. THE THORNTONS OF BIEKIN 9 " May the God of all grace grant unto us and all that are dear to us the repentance of Peter, the faith of Paul, and the love of John, and be with you at all times and in all places, and with, " Dear Sir, "Your affectionate friend and hearty well wisher, " John Thornton. "The Revd. Mr. Simeon." The descendants of John Thornton, who married, in 1753, Lucy, only daughter and heiress of Samuel Watson, Esq., of Kingston upon Hull, by Margaret, his wife, daughter of Sir Charles Hoghton, Baronet, of Hoghton Tower, County Lanca- shire, trace their ancestry back through the said Margaret to George, Duke of Clarence, murdered 1477, and his royal forebears. The reverent appreciation of relatives and friends is cor- roborated by the contemporary press notices such as that which appeared in the " Gentlemen's Magazine " for Novem- ber, 1790, and is here reproduced, followed by Cowper's poem, " monumentum acre perrenius," to his memory. "On November 7th, 1790, at Bath, John Thornton, Esq., of Clapham, Co. Surrey. . . . He was the greatest Merchant in Europe, except Mr. Hope of Amsterdam; and generally one half of his profits were dedicated to the poor. Mr. Thornton was one of the principal pro- moters of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in foreign parts ; and expended annually upwards of £2000 in the distribution of religious books. " Three of his sons were in Parliament, and his nephew, Mr. Wilberforce, is Knight of the Shire for the County of York. Perhaps there never lived a man more deserving of public regard ; a pattern in every virtue that could promote the welfare, or improve the interest of mankind. . . . His tenderness prompted him to anticipate by the most diligent enquiry the woes he wished to heal, and to relieve them with the most refined benevolence. 10 SOME THINGS WE HAVE EEMEMBEEED He died without having incurred a censure, during a life of seventy years, from the most licentious of mankind ; and was buried in the family vault at Clapham." (Note. — Jane, the elder of John Thornton's two sisters, married secondly Richard Conyers, LL.D., Rector of Helinsley, near East Newton, County York ; Hannah, the younger, married William Wilberforce, her first cousin, and died childless. William Wilberforce, M.P. for Yorkshire, was not John Thornton's "nephew," but grandson of his Aunt Sarah, and his first cousin once removed. He was also nephew by marriage of the just-mentioned Hannah.) In Memory of the Late John Thornton, Esq. November, 1790. Poets attempt the noblest task they can, Praising the Author of all good in man, And, next, commemorating Worthies lost, The dead in whom that good abounded most. Thee, therefore, of commercial fame, but more Famed for thy probity from shore to shore ; Thee, Thornton ! worthy in some page to shine, As honest and more eloquent than mine, I mourn ; or, since thrice happy thou must be, Tlio world, no longer thy abode, not thee. Thee to deplore were grief misspent indeed ; It were to weep that goodness has its meed, That there is bliss prepared in yonder sky, And glory for the virtuous, when they die. What pleasure can the miser's fondled hoard, Or spendthrift's prodigal excess afford, Sweel as tin' privilege of healing woe By virtue suffex'd oombating below? That prh Liege was t hine ; Heaven gave thee means To illumine irith delight the saddest scenes, Till thy appearance chased the gloom, forlorn \ midnight, and despairing of a morn. Thou h.i'l I .in industry in doing good, 1 1 bless as his who toils and sweats for food ; \ i trioe, in thee, wm the desire of wealth By rust imperishable or by Btealth ; ajad if the genuine worl li of gold depend THE THORNTONS OF BIRKIN 11 On application to its noblest end, Thine had a value in the scales of Heaven, Surpassing all that mine or mint had given. And, though God made thee of a nature prone To distribution boundless of thine own, And still by motives of religious force Impell'd thee more to that heroic course, Yet was thy liberality discreet, Nice in its choice, and of a temper'd heat, And though in act unwearied, secret still, As in some solitude the summer rill Refreshes, where it winds, the faded green, And cheers the drooping flowers, unheard, unseen. Such was thy charity ; no sudden start, After long sleep, of passion in the heart, But steadfast principle, and, in its kind, Of close relation to the eternal mind, Traced easily to its true source above, To Him, whose works bespeak His nature, Love. Thy bounties all were Christian, and I make This record of thee for the Gospel's sake ; That the incredulous themselves may see Its use and power exemplified in thee. (Southey's edition of " Cowper's Works," 1837, Vol. X. p. 29.) My father, Samuel Thornton, was born at the house of his uncle, Lord Balgonie, in Spring Gardens, London, 22 March, 1797. He was third and youngest son of Samuel Thornton of Clapham, then Member of Parliament for Hull, and afterwards of Albury Park and a representative of the County of Surrey, who gained the distinction of being for more than half a century (fifty-six years) a Director of the Bank of England. The Public Schools were rejected as a matter of course by the earlier generations of Claphamites. But with regard to my grandfather Samuel, sagacious counsellors and discreet tutors made up to him and John Thornton's other children for their missing any advantages which a year or two at Eton, 12 SOME THINGS WE HAVE EEMEMBEEED Winchester or Harrow might have afforded, if the experience of some contemporary statesmen is to be weighed in the balance. But foreign travel in search of business knowledge seems to have been another compensating advantage. Constant contact moreover with the Wilberforce relations, and in particular friendship with the young statesman and future philanthropist of that name, were potent influences on their careers. For instance, my grandfather, Samuel Thorn- ton, was in 1784 returned Tory Member for Kingston upon Hull and William Wilberforce for County York, and they re- tained their seats for twenty-three years. His first election to Parliament fell on the fourth anniversary of his marriage, 12 December, 1780, to Elizabeth, only daughter of Kobert Milnes, of Fryston, whose grandson was in 1806 returned to Parliament as Member for Pontefract. E. P. Milnes achieved considerable distinction both at Cambridge and in the House of Commons and was offered a seat in Mr. Per- ceval's Cabinet, but declined, as he did not aspire to the Treasury Bench. He married the Hon. Henrietta Maria, second daughter of the fourth Viscount Galway, and soon after retired from active public life. He refused a Peerage offered him by Lord Palmerston in 1856. With the career of his son, the celebrated Eichard Monck- ton Milnes, first Baron Houghton, it will be right to deal chronologically. This Peer's only son, successor to the title, is the present Marquis of Crewe, to whom a son and heir was I". ni February, 1911. It was in the year 1800 that my paternal grandfather be- came Governor of the Bank of England, and was soon suc- cessful in getting its Charter renewed. This moreover was a year after the Income Tax (first introduced 1799, by Mr. Pitt) took its place in the annual financial proposals of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and although at first, as my I randfather remark d in the House of Commons, " not so pro- ductive as couM be wished, baa established a principle that may be Highly advantageous to the Slate". This meas- ure was resolved upon as his summary of events records, THE THOKNTONS OF BIBKIN 13 when "a scanty harvest and short importation of grain" having made the chief necessary of life extremely dear, sub- scriptions were opened for the benefit of the poor, and every means that could relieve them considered. As in the previous year a quartern loaf cost Is. 9d., ac- cording to the same authority, it is possible to realize the condition into which war and its attendant taxation, however inevitable, had brought the people of this country just before the Peace of Amiens was signed in 1802. The wealth accumulated by John Thornton had doubtless been sensibly increased during the burst of commercial pros- perity which so mysteriously followed the close of the Ameri- can war. At the Peace of Versailles, in 1783, which set its seal upon these events, although Great Britain lost her trans- atlantic provinces and gave other Colonial concessions to European foes who had coalesced with the revolted Colonies, never was her national credit higher, or, owing to Lord Bodney's genius for sea power, her fleets more supreme. Commercial men were in the ensuing decade not unnaturally prone to trust perhaps too unflinchingly to the genius of their young Premier, Mr. Pitt, whose policy of encouraging free commercial relations with the Continent (evidenced by the famous Commercial Treaty of 1785 which the Hon. William Eden negotiated with France) was then believed to presage a continuance of the conditions which had lately rendered ac- cumulations of wealth so notable in England. John Thorn- ton's three sons, Samuel, Henry, and Bobert, all formed part of the famous majority which under Mr. Pitt's leadership in 1784 triumphed over the unnatural coalition between Lord North and Mr. Fox. Samuel Thornton might at this time well have believed that the omens foretelling commercial ad- vance apparent in the banking centre of the United Kingdom justified the hope of a still farther advance in the volume of trade between this country and Bussia. Nor could he foretell how disastrous to the Bussia merchants was destined to be the system adopted by the British Parliament of excluding the fine timber of Northern Europe in order to give preference to the 14 SOME THINGS WE HAVE BEMEMBEEED Canadian lumber trade, which appears from the debates on that question which took place in the House of Commons during 1822 not after all to have benefited thereby nearly so much as did the United States. Again, despite the amazing changes which had occurred in France between 1789 and the opening years of the nineteenth century, the hopes aroused of a renewal of commercial activity by the signing of the Peace of Amiens in 1802 did not appear to our City men less stable because the pre-eminence of Napoleon Bonaparte was deemed secure. Under these circumstances Samuel Thornton, fortified by the prosperous hopes of a staple business con- nexion with Kussia, became a Surrey landowner at Albury. Some idea of the character of the society which visited Albury may be formed when most of the Thornton and Milnes relations, Mr. Wilberforce and his family (frequently), Lord Teignmouth, the ex-Governor-General of India, Lord and Lady Leven, their naval son Lord Balgonie, Eeginald Heber, afterwards Bishop of Calcutta, the Bev. Mr. Gisborne and Mrs. Gisborne, Dr. Dealtry, Mr. Edward Parry, Chair- man of the East India Company, and very often the Kev. John Venn and his son Henry, are numbered among wel- come visitors, as also were the Thornton Astells. This was a branch of the Thorntons of Birkin who adopted the name of Astell and settled at Woodbury, County Beds., which place they inherited through the female line. In 1808 three Thorntons and one Thornton Astell were returned to the House of Commons, not to mention connexions by marriage. It happened, then, that my father having entered upon his young life in an era of national stress and crisis, had opportunities of hearing from those around him all that was going on in the arena of ( lovermiient at Westminster. Not only was In, father, Mr. Samuel Thornton, as Governor of the Bank during an anxious period of Mr. Pitt's second Ad- ministration, <>f necessity often consulted upon the national finance both in and out of the House of Commons, but his father's brother, Mr. Henry Thornton of Hattersea liise, Clapham, M.I', for Southwark, twin philanthropist with his THE THOKNTONS OF BIKKIN 15 cousin, Mr. Wilberforce, was a leading authority upon paper credit. Another brother, Mr. Robert Thornton, represented Colchester. He resided at Clapharn, and the grounds of his beautiful home there, on the south side of the Common, were visited by many people of high distinction early in the nineteenth century. Interesting details regarding the Thorntons are inscribed on the family tomb at St. Paul's Church, Clapham, the most ancient site of Christian worship there. To the old Rectory, unfortunately destroyed in 1886, " Sam Thornton junior, aged 8 years, came to reside with me as my pupil " (according to the diary of the Rev. John Venn, Rector of Clapham, under date 13 May, 1805). But the breezy downs around Guildford and the pleasant groves of Albury had so enchained the youthful imagination of the small student, that he always spoke of his father's sojourn in that part of Surrey as forming one of the happiest episodes in his life ; which, indeed, will not seem strange to the modern seekers after health-giving and sylvan scenery, who, from duties keeping them comparatively near to the great Metropolis, pass day by day to homes near Shere and Albury. The lovely wooded undulations around the River Tilling- bourne, a tributary of the Wey, spread to the verge of the valley which skirts the hill leading up to the venerable St. Martha's Chapel built upon that storm-swept height. The situation of the house and parish church within the Park attracted the attention of W. S. Gilpin, the famous water- colour artist, who painted the scene from the northern hill early in the last century at the request of Mr. S. Thornton, M.P. The property is now in the possession of the Duke of Northumberland, the house having been enlarged and much altered. Albury itself is situated in the vale at the foot of the range of chalk hills which extend from near Farnham into Kent. Upwards of ten years of my father's childhood were spent amongst these beautiful country scenes, and he often re- 16 SOME THINGS WE HAVE KEMEMBEEED counted to us how much attached he became to the neighbour- hood which he left in 1811 to join the Navy. My father used to tell me how the Eector of Clapham had taken him with his own son Harry (afterwards the Rev. H. Venn, Secretary of the Church Missionary Society) to seats given them in Westminster Hall by my grandfather on the occasion of Lord Melville's famous trial. This and other such youthful visits to the seat of Government seem to have inspired my father with that abiding interest in the past and general history of his country, which characterized the thoughts and opinions of a lifetime in a great measure spent on the wooden walls of old England. For the studies at Clapham so thoughtfully directed by Mr. Venn, which an ever-anxious mother hoped would turn her third son's attention to the ministry, were, if not unfruit- ful, yet destined to be ultimately forsaken for the more eventful career of a British naval officer. In the Life of the Rev. J. Venn, Rector of Clapham (by Dr. Venn, of Caius College, Cambridge), will be found an account of how the young Sam Thornton pined for a sea life, and was wont to dress up the Rectory chimneys as masts, fitting them with sham sails. It has seemed anomalous to me, when scanning the bii igraphies of our times, that my own father, a popular naval officer in his day, who had seen important service and per- formed his part well, should have left no record of his life beyond what is told of the naval events in which he partici- pated in the late William R. O'Byrne's " Naval Biographical I dictionary," and Marshall's " Royal Naval Biography ". Add to this the fact thai he was a son of an influential Member of Parliament, and I shall be forgiven for making this attempt to intertwine events in the joint lives of Admiral Samuel Thornton and Percy M. Thornton, upwards of seventeen years M.I', for Clapham, by the simple device of recording ime things we have remembered ". My father's ancle, Henry Thornton, for thirty-three years represented Southward in Parliament, being recognized not only for his own prominent abilities but also for his effec- THE THORNTONS OF BIRKIN 17 tive participation in all the philanthropic movements of his day. I can only here indicate very briefly the atmosphere of life with which my father was surrounded when his home was at Albury Park in Surrey, and when from time to time he so- journed at his historic Clapham home ; and I use the word " historic " here advisedly, because it was in the old red man- sion on South Side, Clapham Common, part of which estate is now the property of an important Roman Catholic com- munity, that John Thornton the philanthropist, intimate kinsman of William Wilberforce and friend of the poet Cowper, lived, and his sons, Samuel Thornton, my grand- father, and Henry and Robert, first saw the light. To enter upon a dissertation concerning the worthies of Clapham is going beyond the scope of this volume, but I cannot help recording the opinion that we as a family settled long at Clapham, owe much to the memory of our above- mentioned great-grandfather, who offered the shelter of a home to the young Yorkshire legislator, M.P. for York, William Wilberforce, and helped in influencing that noble nature to approximate towards virtues such as have stamped the surroundings of a suburban village with abiding dignity and rendered some of its denizens famous amongst their contemporaries. At the end of the year 1806, when Napoleon entered into alliance with the Tsar Alexander I, things began to look very dark for those who, like Mr. Samuel Thornton, M.P., were engaged in the Russian trade ; because the Berlin decree of Napoleon, adverse to British commerce, had been swiftly followed by the third coalition against France, while Pitt, the inspiring spirit of British opposition to Napoleonic aims of European conquest, was on his death-bed. Austerlitz and Jena may be said to have riveted the iron bonds which were rendering northern commerce null and void. Under these circumstances the fortunes of any busi- ness house centred in the City of London and trading with Russia were gravely depressed, and there seem to have been 2 18 SOME THINGS WE HAVE EEMEMBEKED special reasons which accelerated this decline in my grand- father's case. It is sufficient here to record the fact as bear- ing on the fortunes of a younger son just joining the Navy in 1811, about the time when the sale of the Albury residence and estate became necessary. My uncle, John Thornton, and his brother, Henry Milnes Thornton, both went to Trinity College, Cambridge, the former as a fellow -commoner, having been brought up to in- herit a seat in his father's counting-house at King's Arms Yard, then famous as the place of business of Samuel Thorn- ton, representing as head the elder branch of the Thorntons of Birkin, just in the way that 20 Birchin Lane acquired distinction under the aegis of his younger brother, Mr. Henry Thornton, M.P., and in later years when affairs there were guided by his (Henry's) son, Mr. Henry Sykes Thornton. The character of Mr. Henry Thornton, as drawn by the magic pen of Sir James Stephen, in his " Essay upon the Clap- ham Sect," had given, so to speak, a family primacy for un- ostentatious piety to that great and good man ; but none the less when a great-grandson of Samuel Thornton, M.P., hereditary possessor of the family archives, the Rev. John Thornton of Betchworth, privately published in 1891 the " Yearly Recollections " of his ancestor, we all felt glad that it should be known how kindred thoughts had animated the two brothers' hearts throughout their lives, and how worthy they both were to accomplish the religious designs and follow the high example of their common parent, John Thornton, the friend of Cowper and the early mentor of William Will-* r force. These " Yearly Recollections " of Samuel Thornton, M.P., I shall have of necessity to draw on both for facts and dates while tracing the naval career of my own father. The tnosl important element in Mr. S. Thornton's" Yearly iollections" consists in an all-consuming zeal for the suc- uf Christianity, not only in the home but abroad, in fact :i I rvi ni desire to aee ii propagated throughout the world. There can l»< no question in the mind of any reader as to the THE THORNTONS OF BIRKTN 19 good man's zeal and strength of faith ; although like his hitherto better-known relatives he was so humble-minded in these exalted regions of sacred thought that his writings are those of a man given somewhat to self-depreciation. The Hull merchants bearing the Thornton name had ad- hered to the Church of England, which their ancestor, Robert Thornton, Rector of Birkin, underwent ignominy, suffering, and deprivation to defend ; and when, to use his own words, Samuel Thornton the elder in 1776 entered within the pale of the Church of England by taking the Communion at the Church at Deptford of which his uncle by marriage, the Rev. Dr. Conyers, was incumbent on the first Sunday in Janu- ary, he was, as he said, "acting on his own responsibility," the fact being that his mother's predilection for the doctrines of Nonconformity, though she was, as before mentioned, of royal lineage, had for a time strong influence over the eldest surviving child. From that date he was much in communi- cation with other clergymen of the Established Church in addition to the above named, such as the Rev. John Venn and the Rev. Dr. William Dealtry. Two such friends as these, whose abilities were on an equality with their enthusiasm, must have acted as powerful aids to the evangelical beliefs held so firmly by the home party at Albury. But there was a certain human breadth in the sympathies of Samuel Thornton which permitted him conscientiously to perform the functions necessary to the maintenance of his position as M.P. for Surrey. For instance, he did not dis- courage the effort of the ladies at Albury to exercise county hospitality, and the dance was by no means precluded from the category of healthy and natural amusements. In this particular there may have been a certain shifting from the recognized Evangelical position, although I have never dis- covered that my grandfather moved from his cherished beliefs in any essential matter. Mr. John Venn had a wealth of Evangelical tradition be- hind him as the son of Henry Venn of Huddersfield. He 2 * 20 SOME THINGS WE HAVE EEMEMBEEED was certainly an excellent clergyman at Clapham, and a kind adviser to my father when he yearned so strongly to join the British Navy. Dr. William Dealtry (1775-1847), to whose influence at Albury when friend and guide of my uncle John the Thorn- tons owe so deep a debt, was a scholar of wide repute. Second Wrangler and Second Smith Prizeman in 1796, he was a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, between 1798 and his marriage in 1814. He lived to follow Mr. Venn as Rector of Clapham, and died Archdeacon of Surrey. Both Venn and Dealtry owe their rectorial appointments at Clapham to the Thornton family, the life interest of R. Bowyer Atkyns, who inherited the presentation to the Living of Clapham, having been purchased by Mr. John Thornton, my great-grandfather. In the "Venn Family Annals" (pp. 148-9) occurs the following passage : — " In the year 1805 Samuel Thornton, a year younger than myself, came to be my father's pupil and to be edu- cated with me. Then I suppose plans of instruction were adopted such as my father's wisdom was well cal- culated to devise ; but he was overwhelmed with the business of his important ministerial charge and could only hear our lessons in the morning from eight to nine. The rest of the time we learnt our lessons alone in a schoolroom which opened out on a playground and two windows looked into the street. I have a more lively re- collection of transactions at the door and window than at the table. . . . Samuel Thornton remained with us until he went to sea in 1811. . . . When Samuel Thorn- tun w( at Eor his holidays to his father's beautiful seat Allmiy Park I generally went with him and was treated like :i son m every respect." ( Ippori unities given to imbibe some of the many forms of knowledge winch the Rev. John Venn was competent to in- cnlcate seem to have completely overbalanced any disadvan- THE THORNTONS OF BIRKIN 21 tage which his pupils might otherwise have felt through their exclusion from public school life. For in my father's genera- tion such a form of education was still rigidly eschewed by Evangelical parents. Not only had the Rector of Clapham equipped himself as a scientist of a practical character, but he was destined specially to apply such learning on a critical occasion. When, doubtless owing in some degree to the sympathetic advice given by his honoured preceptor, my father turned his budding talents towards the sea, that trusted friend went to bid the boy good-bye at Plymouth. A thick fog springing up as the boat was leaving the " Amazon " for the shore, the visitor and crew might have been long indeed in reaching land, but for Venn consulting a pocket compass and discovering that they were already pointing seawards, and in an opposite direction to Plymouth Harbour. I will not pause to show how beneficial it must have been for a boy longing to don sailor's garments to become familiar with ele- mentary nautical facts, but I must also record how instruction in all branches of heraldry and antiquarian knowledge im- pregnated the future life and character of one whose re- searches have strengthened materially his own family links with the past. To this we owe the latest facts revealed con- cerning our family pedigree. It was certainly as a pupil of the Rev. John Venn at Clapham Rectory that the resolution to go to sea was first reached by my father. In Samuel Thornton's "Yearly Re- collections " it is told how his youngest son Samuel begged and besought his sisters to emphasize the overwhelming desire he felt towards adopting the sea as a profession. After his parents had doubtfully acquiesced in their child's wishes, and succeeded in getting him appointed to the famous " Shannon," Midshipman Samuel Thornton missed the Portsmouth coach and with it the chance of participating in the struggle with the " Chesapeake ". The Rev. Henry Venn, late Secretary of the Church Mis- sionary Society, already mentioned as a fellow-student at Clap- ham Rectory with young Thornton, vouches for the truth of 22 SOME THINGS WE HAVE EEMEMBEKED the story, adding, "the poor boy nearly broke his heart" (" Venn Family Annals," p. 122). It is certainly a remarkable coincidence that this youth should, as it were by way of salve for his regret, take part in the battle between the "Phoebe" and " Essex," leaving so graphic an account of it to posterity. It is fortunate that I should be enabled to pen these lines at a time when my remembrance both of my father and his brothers is so strongly fixed on my memory, the impression being undimmed by years. I could trace a certain resem- blance between the three ; and I thought my Uncle John certainly held ideas and opinions in common with my father. When I knew my Uncle Henry Milnes Thornton, he was a suffering invalid, but still bearing traces of the good looks which his portraits denoted. He had been a popular person in his home circle and at the University of Cambridge, and when I first joined the United University Club, Suffolk Street, Pall Mall, in the early 'seventies, I was in high favour with certain of the older servants, who knew me as the nephew of Mr. Henry Milnes Thornton. Judging from family tradi- tion this uncle possessed remarkable ability which ill-health disabled him from widely exercising. My Uncle John, on the other hand, I remember as the loved counsellor and close friend of my father, who — despite the claims of brother's and sister's children from India and a gathering host of relations — always found a warm greeting at Bowyer Terrace, Clapham. To my mother, sister, and myself " the Terrace," short for Bowyer Terrace, Clapham, was indeed a sort of second home. My Uncle. John was the tenderest and kindest of men. His great pleasure, when in later years he came home from his duties at Soineiv.ei House, was to distribute sweets and toys amongst the children so as to occasion them the greatest delight. He would hide them about the ample furniture of the well-known bouse, which like another Clapham dwelling of the Thornton , namel\ " Uattersea Ivise," exists no longer. At Bowyer Terrace tire destroyed the scene of much youth till THE THORNTONS OF BIRKIN 23 happiness. The greenhouse in the garden, which in the fifties sloped down towards the Wandsworth Road through meadows such as Milton would have loved, was situated where the Clapham Road Station now stands. But for the change of circumstances which I have indicated there is little doubt that my Uncle John would have become a Member of Parliament and also helped to carry on the busi- ness with Russia ; but as the course of my narrative will show, the role of legislator, for undertaking which he pos- sessed due aptitude, had to give way to a duller and more monotonous existence. He, however, travelled in Russia and elsewhere on the Continent, and cultivated the Cam- bridge friendships he had so freely contracted, more especially that with the gifted Reginald Heber, the then future Bishop of Calcutta. Perhaps in thus early introducing my uncles to the reader I am anticipating events, but nevertheless this seems a ne- cessity when " Some things we have remembered " are under consideration. Chronologically the present narrative has not, however, advanced now beyond 1811, when the Rev. John Venn, the much-honoured Evangelical Rector of Clapham, went down to see my father off in the " Amazon," a 38-gun frigate, Captain William Parker, the friend and companion of Nelson in his famous voyage to the West Indies in 1805. In this vessel my father witnessed the capture and de- struction of a French convoy near the Penmarck Rocks. Removed in February, 1812, to the "Armide," another 38- gun frigate (Captain William Dalling Dunn), the young Thornton took part in more than one conflict with the enemy's batteries (O'Bryne's "Naval Biography," p. 1178). In May, 1807, having been six years in possession of Al- bury, my grandfather was bold enough to attempt to wrest the county representation from the Whigs, who benefited by the extension of the Bedford influence into Surrey, for which county Lord William Russell sat for no less than five Parlia- ments. On this occasion the Whig champion had to succumb 24 SOME THINGS WE HAVE EEMEMBEEED before Mr. Samuel Thornton's rising popularity, the seat being gained and held by the Tories until the next election, when Mr. Thornton himself suffered a reverse at the poll. But a year later the death of Sir Thomas Sutton, a Whig, his successful opponent, restored Thornton to the House of Commons for his own county. To have served twenty-seven years in all as M.P., and an active one, does not make a bad record, his Parliamentary career being interspersed freely with succinct and pointed speeches on the state of commercial credit before and after the great war closed in 1815. Dreading a too sudden return to cash payments, he nevertheless wished to see the issue of notes limited before such a policy, desirable in itself, could be safely carried out. As spokesman for the Bank of England, Thornton, in 1815, during the debate on Mr. Grenfell's motion concerning the profits of that institution, protested strongly against the projected Parliamentary interference. On the former of these occasions he declared that there was no limit to the distress and embarrassment that would follow such a measure. The policy was not carried out until after my grandfather left the House of Commons, but the financial cataclysm of 1825 has been held in some quarters to have been rendered more acute by the drastic and premature resumption of cash payments by Sir liobert Peel. Strong Tory as Samuel Thornton remained, he never dis- guised his desire to approximate as far as possible to the Free-trade ideals of his leader, Mr. Pitt, as well as to the teachings of Adam Smith. Living under an iron-handed system of Protectionism, which the vast warlike expenditure bad led men of all fiscal views temporarily to tolerate, this representative City statesman spoke out boldly in the debate of L3 March, I His Old Naval Friends. kings" we two have remembered I mention of my father's talent for entertain- ing amusing songs, a faculty which he his life. from Bnrmah the little sloop " Slaney ' ! I . mil there Samuel Thornton with Sir Ralph Rice, the acting Judge harbourage Beems to have been fre- ; i Bhipa of war, and the officers r in friendly converse and joined in the social mpaniea a rivalry of song seems to m iard and on shore, and at one of markable I acuity for reeling . ; and other ditties was chal- irous of coping with him in ill >t he would at [east exceed inner wa to 1"- the man who sang S i Ralph used bo tell me, and NAVAL CAKEER OF SAMUEL THORNTON 47 my father's fidus Achates, Captain Mcllwaine, confirmed, the future Admiral had to surrender and in modern parlance " own up " defeat, yet the character of his minstrelsy was so far established as to give him a footing wherever a bright and amusing improvised entertainment was needed to make a party successful. This was certainly the case at 4 Hanover Terrace, Re- gent's Park, where Miss Rice, one of his nieces, presided over her uncle Sir Ralph Rice's household, and in after years during sundry youthful festivals both at the Battersea Rise and Roe- hampton houses. Captain Thornton, in default of any musical accompani- ment, used to snap his fingers in order to give effect to the refrain, and, as the songster so obviously enjoyed the per- formance himself, those present readily caught the happy contagion of mirth and jollity. Of the songs themselves I remember but few. " The Two Flies " was undoubtedly the most popular, but needed the manner and method of its in- terpreter to make its points appreciated. Sometimes he, the soundest of old-fashioned Tories, would shock the Pittite associates of his father by giving utterance to the sentiments contained in Ireland's once popular song " The Shan Van Vaugh ". Personally I was more attracted to the homely narrative contained in " Mr. Bourne and his Wife," the words of which I reproduce : — Mr. Bourne and his wife, had at breakfast a strife All about the bread and butter and the tea, Swears she, " I'll rule the roast, and I'll have a plate of toast," So to loggerheads with him went she. 'OO v Now a certain Mr. Moore, who lived at the next door, A man very strong in the wrist, Overheard the splutter all about the bread and butter, Aud he knocked down Mr. Bourne with his fist. " Oh, now you rogue," said he, " you shall not beat your wife, It is both a shame and a disgrace," " You fool ! " said Mrs. Bourne, " it's no business of yourn," And she smacked a cup of tea in his face. 18 SOME THINGS WE HAVE REMEMBERED •h poor Mr. Moore, as he sneaked to the door, ■• 1 an rarely a man without brains ; F, .r « hen married folk are flouting, and a stranger pokes his snout m, bo get well scolded for his pains". I have found it difficult to discover where all my father's 3 of whom he spoke affectionately met with him. from ship to ship were frequent, and it is partly ason that I am unable to trace the naval experi- . laptain William Pomeroy Greene as completely as .lied. In this officer's case only the salient facts : the confusion caused by most of his papers I | iy fire at sea. To his daughter, Lady Stawell, ; the « nder details of an active and useful career. njng the Royal Navy when 11 years old, he was on one of t: of war guarding Napoleon at St. Helena. Mr. Greene was present on the Bomb ship " Hecla " at I. . Bxtjq Kit's bombardment of Algiers, and wrote an ac- ont, which hfl i preserved, of the engagement. II. I in the " Liffey " during the first Burmese war of 1 82 tenia intimacy with my father doubtless commenced. well adds that he there knew Captain Marryat. Captain Greene here suffered from a fever which left his constitution impaired and afterwards induced nd much tune in Australia, leaving their old mty Louth, where my father had spent many : been accustomed to look forward to these ! 'Hi with much pleasure. A ra of hi naval friend was the late Canon Greene, < apliani. who possessed a Prayer-book given to Ininal Thornton, of whom Lady Stawell speaks as ilv friend remembered by her parents with .\Mids of John Furneaux, four of my father, who was one of that branch of imily I his name al Swilly, Stoke Damarel, Joining the Navy in L805, this lad of 12 [tii from i vi eL NAVAL CAREER OF SAMUEL THOKNTON 49 Appointed to the " Royal George," 100 guns, he was sent into the Dardanelles in the year 1807 with Sir John Duck- worth, and in the celebrated engagement with the Turkish batteries received a severe wound in the left jaw from one of the wooden splinters which the stone shot fired by the Turks scattered over the deck. It was a sad drawback to be so maimed in speech at 14 that clearness of intona- tion never could be recovered. Henceforth John Furneaux became a meditative, silent man, and when my father first met him four years afterwards in Captain William Parker's Frigate "Amazon," the relations between these two sailor boys became like that of elder and younger brother. To- gether they witnessed the boldly conceived achievement of Lieutenant Philip Westphal, brother of Sir George, Lord Nelson's wounded companion in the "Victory's" cock-pit at Trafalgar, when, assailed by the guns of the land batteries, the boats of this British frigate cut out and destroyed no less than nine French vessels near Quimper and the Pen- marck Rocks. The scene from the " Amazon " has often been described, occurring as it did under shelter of the rugged shores of Brit- tany where the convoy felt itself secure. Indeed my father would speak of this, his first engagement, which, if not blood- less, provided no such scenes of carnage as it was his fate to witness thereafter at Valparaiso Bay and in Burmah. John Furneaux had only been lent to the " i^mazon " and soon changed to the "Antelope," fifty guns, when his old chief Sir John Duckworth was a passenger in the vessel to Newfoundland, having been appointed to command the naval forces of that island. Joining in May, 1818, the " Carron " sloop of twenty guns, Furneaux was wrecked in the Bay of Bengal upwards of two years after and barely escaped drowning. Thornton and Furneaux met again in India at this period, renewing the intimacy of former years which in London ripened into that warm mutual regard and respect which characterized their personal relations one with another. 4 50 SOME THINGS WE HAVE EEMEMBEKED On his retirement Captain Furneaux (who had reached post rank in 1829) developed a taste for literature, and his work on the Treaties to which Great Britain was party (" An idged History of the Principal Treaties of Peace," 1837), is a clearly compiled volume upon this intricate subject. J years before his death, having survived my father, he presented me with a first edition of Mr. J. A. Froude's • History of England," containing that brilliant author's mpted vindication of Henry VIII and Elizabeth. In- deed I owe it to the importance this led me to attribute to ith century history in Spain that, when in the 1906 Parliament the question of the value of Simancas as a centre the acquisition of such knowledge came up, I was enabled iiake clear to doubting friends around me, as well as to indignant advocates of retrenchment on the opposite benches the House of Commons, why a small sum of British money was not misspent in promoting manuscript investigations at tlif hands of an expert in that part of the Peninsula. Tins was the sole occasion upon which I was ever accused of lining obstructive tactics in the House of Commons. The tact v, a-, Ik iwever, that I was vainly endeavouring to explain to ■ • nt where Simancas was and why we kept a literary worker there. Indeed only two members present seemed to be ;nifl mt of the facts, one being John Redmond and the other the lit. Bon. L. 1 1 aivourt, who replied for the Government. I ma\ add that this taste for historical research was : with Furneaux, soon to be an Admiral, by my father, who in this particular had found a companion of congenial onltnre. 11 is own " History of the East India Company" trend of mind to which I allude. But whatever the bond of friendship between Admiral Samuel Thornton and his numorous acquaintances might originally i, wherever he gave full confidence and felt respect then a mon abiding sentiment prevailed, and how he could ue thus i lusted and loved, seemed, after duty . childn n. and relations, to become a leading object NAVAL CAREER OF SAMUEL THORNTON 51 In short, Admiral Thornton possessed a perfect genius for friendship. Another trait in his character of which I am cognisant consisted in reverence for the senior men like Sir William Parker and Sir James Hillyar under whom he had served. The fact that they both had learned their seaman- ship and fighting qualities under the eye of Nelson himself rendered patriotic allegiance to the name of that greatest British Admiral more a principle than a sentiment. "How trite a thought," I hear some of my readers say, when such right appreciation has been merged in a general hero-worship in all naval and patriotic British communities. Nevertheless I claim definite acknowledgment for those who derived their inspiration very near the parent shrine. Amongst the acquaintances made in Burmah I have mentioned Captain Marryat, the sailor novelist, whose ener- getic determination during the campaigns of 1821-5 did much to gain a hold on those territories now such an important portion of the British Empire in Hindustan. But Captain Marryat being known to my father as a Senior officer was never on the terms of intimacy which bound together John Furneaux, Samuel Thornton, and William Mcllwaine, the two latter officers spending three critical years together during the Burmese campaign and remaining ever after the closest of friends. I have, generally speaking, followed the plan of referring more amply to those whose careers have not already been recorded in the "National Dictionary of Biography," or, if a sailor, fairly acknowledged either in O'Byrne's Naval Bio- graphy or that of Marshall. William Mcllwaine has not hitherto been so treated, and I therefore give the headings of his professional life in the Navy ; and, only knowing the Captain as a family friend, I gladly here add the testimony of those who served with him. Chronologically the dates of this officer's appointments are stated in O'Byrne's Naval Biography ; but from these a reader would not understand what services had been given to his country such as are described in the following letters. 4 * 52 SOME THINGS WE HAVE BEMEMBERED On entering the Navy in 1811 Mcllwaine's first war-like employment seems to have been in the Frigate " Liffey " of 50 guns, under Captain Grant and Thomas Coe. It was here that the friendship with my father commenced. After- wards in 1839 he went to the Coastguard, a service of real danger and anxiety while high Protective duties were the law of the land. Previous to this, however, he acted as Flag- Lieutenant to the Admiral Superintendent, Sir F. L. Mait- land, at Portsmouth and then in the Mediterranean. How well he was appreciated in this capacity the following state- ment of his chief Commander, James Wilkinson, E.N., dated March 6, 1836, as regards Captain Mcllwaine will show .— "I beg leave to certify Lieut. William Mcllwaine served in H.M. Ship ' Liffey ' with me for nearly two years as Mate and Lieut. He was under my command in the boats after the capture and the attack on the Stockades at Kimmindine, May 16, 1824, when I was severely wounded. Lt. Mcllwaine then gallantly led on the men and in a short time carried all before him, driving the enemy some way in the woods. On his return we attacked the third Stockade which by the same Officer and in the same style was carried. I am pleased to say lit- received the thanks of our most excellent Commodore Grant for his deserving conduct. On the ' Liffey's ' re- turn to Kangoon under the command of Captain Coe, I iin had command of the boats and the Light Division. At ii iv r< 'quest Lieut. Mcllwaine was sent with me. I am happy to state that in attacking a number of War cinder the command of Prince Sirrawaddv, wherein we captured seven with stores, etc., nearly all armed with guns and small arms, he was again one of the first in tli> attack, for which I strongly recommended him to in Coe, the Senior officer in the East Indies. ' I 1 1:< vi ■ 1<.:.(1(1 that during the time Lieut. Mcllwaine Bailed with me I was highly pleased with the gentlemanly and officer-like way he always carried on duty. ' 1 1 i wilh great pleasure that I can recommend him NAVAL CAEEEE OF SAMUEL THOKNTON 53 for his zeal and activity, and should be happy to have him wherever I was employed in His Majesty's service. "(Signed) James Wilkinson, " Commander, B.N. " Cowes, Isle of Wight, 6th March, 1836." Here is Admiral Sir Frederick Lewis Maitland's opinion (dated March 8, 1836) of his Flag-Lieutenant. ' ' Portsmouth, March 8th. " My dear McIlwaine, " In reply to your letter just received, request- ing me to transmit a testimonial of your conduct during the time you have served under my command for the purpose of laying it before Lord Minto, I assure you it is with much pleasure I state that, as you served me from your entry on board the ' Emerald ' as a boy in 1811 to the present time in every ship I have commanded in peace or war, a stronger proof could not be given of the estimation in which I hold your character as an officer and a gentleman, and was anything additional necessary, the fact of your being selected as my Flag- Lieutenant, would prove the confidence and esteem I entertain for you. I further assure you I should feel much satisfaction could any act of mine forward your advancement in a service where your conduct has always ensured honour to yourself, and benefit to those who had the pleasure of commanding you. " Believe me to be " With great regard, "Your attached friend, " (Signed) Fred. L. Maitland. "Lt. McIlwaine, R.N. "23 New Bond Street "London, W." Finally I print a statement attesting efficiency in suppress- ing smuggling contained in a letter from the late Joseph 54 SOME THINGS WE HAVE BEMEMBEKED Planta, Esq., sometime M.P. for Hastings, addressed to Captain Hornby, E.N., Comptroller of the Coast Guard. " Fairlighx Place, June, 10i/i /44. "Dear Sir, " Will you excuse my taking the liberty (tho' the ground of my being no longer a Member of Parlia- ment no longer exists) to address you on a subject in which, whilst I was one of the Members for Hastings, I naturally took a very great interest. It is the continu- ance of Captain Mcllwaine in command of the Coast Guard service in this district for another period. Living as I do at a spot where there used to be more smuggling than in any other part of the Coast of Sussex, I may perhaps be permitted to speak of the change that has been now made in this matter and chiefly during the period of Captain Mcllwaine's command here. I have slept in this house when it and the fields around it, have been entirely in possession of the Smugglers and the jneventive men creeping about without daring to attack them. Now all this thing has ceased to exist and since 1840 when Captain Mcllwaine came here every kind of smuggling has been put down, and to such an extent has this gone that the most determined men in the trade have, within these three years, been drawn away from it to other pursuits and have given it up as a bad job. ' I have reason to know this to be true from the thorough knowledge I have of the people of Hastings. II i is entire repression of the illegal trade I feel sure is mainly owing to the manner in which Captain Mcllwaine Ints conducted the service. I had no knowledge of him whatever until [ became acquainted with him in his duty. II politics are, I believe, entirely different from mine; his friends are ;nnong the Whigs. It is nothing there- fore, I'm a humble tho' an anxious wish to do justice to ■ • . meritorious officer and sincere anxiety for the i ol tlie service that induce me to address you in Captain William McIlwaine, R.N. NAVAL CAEEEE OF SAMUEL THOENTON 55 this way, and to take a liberty, which, on account of the motives which cause it, I trust you will excuse. " I have the honour to be, " Dear Sir, " Yours, etc., "(Signed) Joseph Planta." It is not generally known that during Napoleon's sojourn at Plymouth on board the " Bellerophon " he was in the habit of appearing daily for a short time at the ship's gangway in order to give opportunity to the many who came off in shore boats to gaze upon him. It seems that one day the Emperor remained in his cabin, as he was indisposed. Notwithstanding this, and in order not to disappoint the multitude, one of the youngsters dressed up in a suit of the great man, posed at the gangway at the accustomed hour, and, needless to say, hundreds of persons who had congregated went away under the impression they had seen Napoleon in the flesh. One of these youngsters was my father's old friend, Mcllwaine, who, acting as Midshipman valet to the Emperor, received a pair of his jack-boots as a memento. Maitland in his narrative mentions how entertained the Emperor was by the Midshipmen on board the " Bellerophon " dressing themselves up and taking women's parts in theatrical performances for his benefit. The late Captain Mcllwaine was a prominent personality in these performances. Being a native of Erin he was, like many others of his countrymen, imbued with a strong sense of humour, so that he was a valuable addition to any ship's company where theatrical entertainments were the order of the day. Amongst other gifts was that of an extraordinary memory, which never failed him; and he was considered to be one of the finest whist players in the Navy from quite an early age. During his sojourn as Naval Superintendent at Dover Captain Mcllwaine had the honour of receiving the late Queen Victoria, who landed at the Admiralty Pier from the "Victoria and Albert," and also Napoleon III. The latter 56 SOME THINGS WE HAVE EEMEMBEEED was much impressed on learning that he had been with his uncle on board the " Bellerophon " in 1815, and gave him a cordial invitation to visit him at the Tuileries in Paris ; but it seems he never availed himself of the Emperor's gracious offer. Captain Mcllwaine commanded the " Volcano," which at one time conveyed the mails from Falmouth to Alexandria in the days before the present liners were constructed, and had on one occasion Napoleon III as a passenger. .My father's intimacy with naval officers extended to the second generation after his own contemporaries. To his delight one of his two elder Thornton nephews decided on a naval career for his second son, and asked his uncle the Ad- miral to guide the boy with regard thereto. Captain Regi- nald Heber Thornton, born 1845, named after his maternal grandfather, the Bishop of Calcutta, was second son of my first cousin John Thornton of the Indian Civil Service (who succeeded my father's eldest brother John, of Clapham, Chairman of the Board of Inland Revenue, as head of the Birkin Thorntons). He became an efficient and popular officer. In the next generation Colonel Richard Chicheley Thorn- ton, born 1847, second son of my first cousin Edward Thorn- ton, C.B., who became Judicial Commissioner of the Punjaub, got his only son into the Navy, namely Sub-Lieutenant Ed- ward Chicheley Thornton, successively commissioned in L910-11 to H.M.S. "Africa" and "Angler". To secure both these nominations as Midshipmen the relationship to my father was notified to the Admiralty. Svmi i i. Tin . I <:.. M.I'. /, C. Turner, after h Painting by Thomas Phillips, R.A. CHAPTER III. HOME LIFE AT CHOBHAM PLACE. There is a peculiar charm in the sandy hillocks which are topped by clustering clumps of pine on Chobham Common, much mutilated as its surroundings have become since I visited it with my father in 1857. But although from Bag- shot Heath to Camberley, camps and training grounds absorb every acre, the general character of this breezy heathland has not been much changed. To compare the then quiet retreat of Chobham Place with the sylvan grandeur of Albury is to contrast two totally dif- ferent Surrey scenes. But, on the whole, I believe the family and its honoured head learned to love this neighbourhood quite as much as the grandly timbered park which the magic brush of Gilpin depicted so charmingly. Chobham Place was the house which Samuel Thornton, M.P., tenanted for twenty-two years after the great war with Napoleon closed in 1815 ; but only for the remnant of a single Parliament did he remain a member of the House of Com- mons, his career at Westminster terminating in 1818 by his retirement, about which I shall have some remarks to make later on. Once the home of the Abdys, this ample Georgian dwell- ing is surrounded by fine trees, and nestles under the undu- lating and heathery slopes of the Common, whereon the once famous camp was held previous to the Crimean War, when Queen Victoria reviewed her troops on horseback. A distance of four miles separated this then secluded place from the nearest town, Bagshot. There a royal park of 400 acres, redolent of Stuart memories, and the home of more 57 58 SOME THINGS WE HAVE REMEMBERED than one Royal Prince in later times, including the present honoured occupant, H.R.H. the Duke of Connaught, gives a salient and refreshing feature to scenery otherwise character- ized by a fine but rather monotonous stretch of sandy ridges. Durin^ my grandfather's residence at Chobham there dwelt in Bagshot Park William Frederick Duke of Glou- cester, nephew of George III, whose fourth daughter he had espoused. The Duchess of Gloucester cultivated an intimacy with the Thornton family at Chobham Place, and was specially kind to my father, when he spent some time at home in April, 1819, after naval service of eight years, includ- ing the engagement between the " Phoebe " and " Essex ". I possess a beautiful engraving of her mother, Queen Charlotte, the gift of this popular Princess. Although fewer visitors of note were found at Chobham Place than those who experienced the hospitalities of Albury, some county constituents still joined the family circle from tune to time, the numbers expanding occasionally. One faith- ful frimd took shelter under this hospitable roof, and despite his <»wn uncertain health, brought with him a gladness of heart which communicated itself to all. I allude to Mr. Wilberforce, the emancipator, also a frequent visitor at Bat- Rise, who my late cousin, Canon F. Vansittart Thorn- ton, assured me, was latterly a sufferer from painful indigestion, so that on one occasion during a stay at Chobham Place had to be obtained late at night from Bagshot. Whether my cousin remembered the event itself or heard of it from his father, my Uncle John, I am not sure. The Canon <1 Dot have been more than ten years of age. Ii is worthy of mention how both at Albury and Chobham the visitors constanl ly coming and going were so apt to leave I of their luggage behind them that the carriages convey- the departing guests were, at Mr. Samuel Thornton's I B lew minutes outside the gate to give oppor- tunity for remembering what artioles were missing. This, my inform n d me, proved very efficacious in the days : •• a i be chii I means of transit. HOME LIFE AT CHOBHAM PLACE 59 My father certainly looked upon Ckobham as home, when revisiting the familiar neighbourhood, even more than Albury. When I went with him to see Sir Dennis le Marchant at Chob- ham Place in the fifties of last century the names of many inhabitants were as household words, while those of the older generation welcomed him warmly. So far as I can trace the family connexion with Chobham it originated in an intimacy with the incumbent, the Eev. C. Jerram, who was in possession of the living when my grand- father first resided there. Indeed as early as 1810 no less a perspicuous judge of Evangelical teaching than Henry Thorn- ton, M.P., had entrusted his eldest son, Henry Sykes Thornton, then only 10 years old, to Mr. Jerram's care. It is remark- able how one of such tender years should have helped to teach the Sunday-school children to read, and have had the intelli- gence to perceive how well attended were the services in the Parish Church. My own father, who was three years older than his cousin, came as a son of the house to Chobham Place in October, 1815. He had but a few weeks' rest after the long search for the "Essex" had ended so gloriously, and then had almost immediately to join the " Cornwallis," 74 guns, fitting out for the flag of Eear-Admiral Burlton, with whom he proceeded to the East India station, where he was appointed acting Lieutenant of the " Towey," 26 guns, Captain William Hill, in October, 1818. 1 Beaching England again in April, 1819, Midshipman Samuel Thornton soon passed the naval examination demanded of a Lieutenant at the Koyal Naval College, and was at once pro- moted by commission dated 2 May, 1819, to that rank. On this occasion my father found several gaps in the family. Not only his Uncle Henry, the famous M.P. for Southwark, but his aunt, Mrs. Henry Thornton, had died ; and Battersea Eise which for a time in 1815 had been deserted, was then under the guardianship of Sir Eobert and Lady Inglis, who were devoting themselves to the nine orphan 1 For these facts see " Marshall's Naval Biography," Vol. V. p. 301. 60 SOME THINGS WE HAVE REMEMBERED children dwelling beneath that historic roof. My father used often to speak to me of the pride he felt in claiming kinship with one so patriotic and self-sacrificing as his uncle Henry Thornton. Again my grandfather's only sister, the Countess of Leven, had passed away in February, 1819. Visitors to the Harcourt room at the House of Commons will see in a prominent position on the wall, amongst por- traits of former M.P.'s, the brothers Thornton, Samuel and Henry, painted respectively by Phillips and Hoppner. Next to Henry Thornton hangs the portrait of William Wilber- force. The skilful arrangement of what may be termed this historic portrait gallery by the Rt. Hon. L. Harcourt, M.P., redounds to his good taste and historical knowledge. It is impossible within the scope of this work to attempt a satisfactory sketch of Henry Thornton, twin emancipator with Mr. Wilberforce of the slaves. What my father remembered has been stated, but nothing more convincing than the letters of Zachary Macaulay, edited by Lady Knutsford, can ever be adduced to prove how honoured was the master of Battersea Rise House in the councils of Clapham philanthropy. A letter of Mrs. Henry Thornton's written during the election for South wark in 1808, recounts her husband's stolid indifference to unjust popular clamour. A brother of Sir Francis Burdett had accused Mr. Thorn- t m of voting to place that Radical legislator in the Tower after he had defied the Sergeant at Arms and acted insub- ordinately within the House of Commons. Sir Francis being a popular idol at this period, a demonstration adverse to Mr. Henry Thornton took place each night after the poll closed, when, as custom demanded, the candidate had to undergo questioning on the hustings. Now the real truth was that Mr. Thornton had abstained from entering either lobby on ill- question of Sir Krancis Burdett's committal, and yet con- atiously believed he ought to have voted against him. Therefore Mrs. Thornton's strong solicitations as well as those <>f Ins political committee were ineffectual to persuade the I mum to avoid I his unpleasant nocturnal ordeal by making HOME LIFE AT CHOBHAM PLACE 61 an explanation. He was suffering for the mistake made when refraining from a vote he thought he should have given. Another Battersea Rise letter from the same source re- counts how John Bowdler, of expurgative fame, had originally been chosen guardian of the nine children of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Thornton, the duty being, however, undertaken by Sir Robert Inglis, owing to John Bowdler's unexpected death. After a year's quiet spent between Chobham and St. James's Square, under his father's roof, Lieutenant Samuel Thornton took his aunt, Mrs. Milnes, and her three daughters a tour into Italy, from whence returning to England at Christ- mas he received the appointment to the East India Station as a Lieutenant in the " Liffey," which led to participation in the first Burmese war. But, being granted leave by the Ad- miralty, he did not sail for India until 20 March, 1823. How much the happiness of the family reunion which then took place at Chobham was enhanced in consequence of this fact an extract from my grandfather's "Yearly Recollec- tions " will tell : — " January, 1822. — I begin this commemoration of God's goodness to me and mine surrounded with more of my family than of late years has been my lot — Mr. and Mrs. Raikes and the Melvilles in their usual health ; Samuel, though appointed to an East India Station, in the 'Liffey,' M.W., is allowed to be with us; and my daughter Maria is returned to us . . . from Russia." Probably nobody writing eighty-eight years later could be better able to judge of the happiness of this home conclave than one to whom most of those present lived to become well- loved personalities. Each of my aunts, Jane Raikes and Maria Thornton, as well as my father, possessed that sunny nature which communicates itself to any household, animating those therein and enabling them cheerfully to face the worries and anxieties of daily life. This was to my knowledge the case as years rolled on. When Lieutenant Samuel Thornton returned from Burmah - 1MB THINGS WE HAVE REMEMBEBED and the East Indies in the gallant little " Slaney," although soon promoted to the rank of Captain, he was destined to close his official naval career, never obtaining another command, -nite constant applications to the Admiralty. Times of peac and retrenchment had arrived, and the service was w.ied with able and competent officers shrinking from the inevitable and pending fate of professional retirement. But in my father's case there was always present to him the con- .ial duty of cheering the home-life of aged parents and likewise of deeply cherished brothers and sisters. It was at No. 1 Bowyer Terrace, Clapham — to me fami- liarly "The Terrace" — that the then Captain Thornton, K.N., coming with his parents, met a numerous array of .-ins of both sexes, while Uncle John Thornton and his and beautiful wife were the hosts. Prom that time forwards this hospitable home became that of numerous relatives bearing our name and hailing from distant Bpherea It indeed became almost an annexe to our ira ries in India, because three of my uncle's married sons who were destined, as will be shown, to seek their occu- pations in the Bast India Company's service, sent home their Iren from tune to time. In the November of this year my grandfather, at the age of 74, nndi rwent an operation for the stone, successfully formed by Mr. Brodie, afterwards Sir Benjamin Brodie. • " thi chloroform was unknown, and it is a tribute I think alike to my grandfather's resolution of character and to the family constitution that he should have made a good \ ived for ten years after. I" the autumn of L829 Captain Samuel Thornton went d on a visit to a brother naval officer, the Earl of keven, a, ai Melville House, the ancient Fifeshire lomeofthei After this visit was over my father toured b the Ti i, and other parts of Perthshire, finally iw at the home of Sir Archibald Campbell, law, and an uncle of Archbishop Tait. njoyment did nol prevent traces of the hard- HOME LIFE AT CHOBHAM PLACE 63 ships undergone in the Burmah campaign necessitating such change as was very kindly offered him by a succession of friends anxious for his society. It was not before May, 1832, that, thanks to his old skipper, Sir James Hillyar, my father was permitted to volunteer for a five months' cruise in the " Kevenge," a 74 gun ship which the captor of the " Essex " commanded. This delightful experience resulted in a com- plete recovery, so that after a sojourn of two months in County Louth with an old messmate, W. P. Greene, Captain Thornton was enabled once more to devote his attention to the home party at Chobham Place, which my grandfather had bought in 1815. And it was fortunate that the year 1834 found Mr. Samuel Thornton surrounded by his children, and the youngest son home from sea ; because in March of that year the greatest of human sorrows overtook the head of the house, when my grandmother, Elizabeth Thornton, died after a union of fifty-three years and four months. A brief "illness of six weeks, but not accompanied with great pain or suffering " (" Yearly Kecollections " of Samuel Thornton) preceded this earthly separation of true hearts beating to the last in unison, and of two people fixed in their trustful belief that the promises of God are certain to be ful- filled. My father frequently spoke to me about his mother and her memory for repeating favourite chapters of the Bible by heart, one of these, the 103rd Psalm, being that most often heard from her lips. After his mother's death it was not long before a message from Mannheim was received by Captain Thornton, asking him to go and see his cousin, Mr. Rodes Milnes, who was dangerously ill, and there with two Miss Milnes (one the future Lady Galway, consort of the Viscount), in the house of other relatives, Mr. and Mrs. Wyvil, the last of a much-loved rela- tive was witnessed. Students of Mr. Wemyss Keid's " Life of Lord Houghton " must be familiar with the devotion inspired amongst the B -ME THINGS WB HAVE REMEMBERED this fascinating but unfortunate personage, to succour whom those bearing his name sacrificed so much. Captain Thornton after being present at his cousin's death- bed returned home to find his aged father fast breaking in health, and soon constrained to become an invalid. N »t able to attend meetings, he had to surrender the seat on the Directorate of the Bank of England as well as the . ernorship of the Eussia Company ; while at the same time, a fresh lease of Chobham Place being thought too responsible an undertaking for the family generally, a new home - chosen in 1837 for my grandfather, at Brunswick Terrace, Brighton. There he recorded in his " Yearly Eecollections " the death of King William IV, and so may be remembered lived in no less than five reigns and through three of them. Mr. Samuel Thornton's companions at Brighton were his son, the Captain, and his daughter Esther Maria, who never toeforth forsook what she was accustomed to term "her seaside comforts," the little home at Temple Lodge which she inh after her father's death being for years the resort of numbers of her relations, old and young. Nor were the •s vouchsafed of previous gatherings at Brunswick : neans of a gloomy character; for Lady Gal- to tell me of the old man, surrounded by his nieces n, playfully taking away the newspapers from 1 placing them in the capacious pockets of a pea- jack t in order to perform the operation of, so to speak, bowd- fcs and purging them of all objectionable kndfather amongst other responsibilities had been [ ' r | tal and a Governor of Greenwich I lie day a Knight of the Shire • certain dignity of position, and the I was assured by the late Mr. W. S. it my grandfather drove four-in- ttnti] be retired from Parliament in 1818, HOME LIFE AT CHOBHAM PLACE 65 and yet had the courage to sit through good Mr. Jerram's annual denunciation of that particular sport. I fully agree with the statement of the head of our family, the Kev. John Thornton, in his preface to the " Yearly Ke- collections," that all Mr. Thornton's kinsmen conversant with his life "fully share the affectionate esteem and veneration " therein expressed. But to revert to the political career of Mr. Samuel Thorn- ton, it has been stated in the " Dictionary of National Bio- graphy," that " In 1818, having failed to obtain re-election, he retired from public life " ; and although on the whole it may have been best for his health that this retirement came about, it should in justice be known that the circumstances were, to say the least of them, peculiar, and bore no reference to any public act of the late Member. After twenty-seven years' service in the mystic atmosphere of the British House of Commons its abandonment does mean a great wrench, and I have heard that my grandfather felt it so to be. The opposition to his return arose because it became necessary, owing to the death of a Mr. Haydon, to appoint a Beceiver for the County of Surrey, and the Members, Mr. Samuel Thornton and Mr. Home Sumner, were, according to the custom of the day, consulted. They were united in re- commending Mr. Thomas Page of Pointers, near Cobham, but were met by the powerful opposition of an influential Peer owning many acres, who shall be nameless. He con- sequently, when his candidate was not chosen, went into opposition against Lord Liverpool's Government, and took steps to bring about a contest for the County of Surrey at the general election. Hence Mr. S. Thornton's retirement and Mr. Dennison's subsequent election to the seat. As the late Dr. Furner, my grandfather's medical atten- dant, told me, so strong a constitution did my grandfather possess that during his last illness at Brunswick Terrace, Brighton, even under stress of acute bronchitis at the age of 84, the hope was to the last that he would survive. But this was not to be ; on 3 July, 1838, he passed away. 5 66 BOMB THINGS WE HAVE BEMEMBERED The two Addresses subjoined attest first to his public ,r.v and secondly to the worth of his private life amongst neighbours in Surrey. DRESS FROM THE DIRECTORS OF THE BANK of England. • At a Court of Directors at the Bank, on Thursday, the ! h, 1836, the Governor having acquainted the Court Mr. Thornton had expressed his desire to retire from the direction of the Bank, • RESOLVED unanimously, that the cordial and grateful thanks of this Court be conveyed to Samuel Thornton, Esq., the great ability, assiduity, and unremitting attention which he has manifested on every occasion to promote the if the Bank of England during the unprecedented : ;od of 56 years, in the course of which he was called on his great talents in the most trying and difficult circumstances, particularly in 1797, on the suspension of cash I 1 799, on the 31st October of which year Mr. irntoD received the thanks of this Court for his successful id and zeal on the renewal of the Charter for 33 years. • • Tm \ i this Court do further offer to Mr. Thornton their acknowledgments for his uniform, kind, and urbane .' iv member of the Directors. "Rl >i,\ i i\ that the foregoing Besolution be communi- ■ !r. Thornton by the Governor and Deputy Governor ■ they be requested to express the unfeigned regret of I his withdrawal from the Direction with an ah that every happiness and comfort may attend him in hi tnent "John Knight, Sec." FROM THE I NTT .MUTANTS OF CHOBHAM. T kxbii Thornton, Esq., ' Wi., the undersign' (1 Minister, Churchwardens, tanl of tli. Til i h of Chobham, having heard HOME LIFE AT CHOBHAM PLACE 67 that we are soon to be deprived of your presence amongst us, feel that we should not only be deficient in gratitude towards you, but in a duty we owe to ourselves, if we permitted you to leave us without expressing the senti- ments of unfeigned regret we entertain at the separation which is about to take place. We cannot look back upon the two and twenty years, during which you have been resident among us, without the deepest sense of the obli- gations under which the whole neighbourhood lies to yourself, and to your amiable family. During the former part of this period you most ably represented this County in Parliament, and we feel it a distinguished honour to claim you as our representative ; one who uniformly maintained a strict adherence to those sound Constitu- tional principles by which our country has attained its present exalted eminence." CHAPTEE IV. THE RICES OF MOTH-VEY. Ti; fch of Samuel Thornton, my grandfather, as well as Captain Thornton's apparent exclusion from active naval which a rigid peace establishment then enjoined on so many officers in the prime of life, seems to have presaged the approaching time of his engagement with my mother, whom lie met at Sir Kalph Kice's house, 4 Hanover Terrace, !;• gi 'it's Park. I will now endeavour briefly to trace her ancestry. Morgan Rice, born at Moth-Vey, in Carmarthenshire, 1720, was the first of my mother's ancestors to leave (in L736 the neighbourhood, where they had long resided. II- descended from Margaret, sister of Morgan Owen, hop of LlandarT, who was consecrated on 12 March, 1639. I -iit the family of Eees or Kice had lived at Moth-Vey many btions before this time, and according to local tradition, i- red on the spot by Sir Kalph Kice, many of its members had bei n celebrated for the knowledge and practice of medi- cine and bo far back as 1220, this faculty having been ritted from father to son. The romance of the Lady of Llyn-y-Van-Vach near Lland - densant, Carmarthenshire, from whom the "Physicians of Mothvey" claimed legendary descent, may be in a work bearing that name which was published in in I* II for the Welsh MSS. Society. Th 1 . romantic in the extreme and seems to afford wizard of the principality gifted with the ' : ! 'I'M to construct a narrative worthy itrai I mystical tradition which as a translated •m the Welsh has it (p. 29), g ~i o V a o « a a THE RICES OF MOTH-VEY 69 The grey old man in the corner, Of his father heard the story, Which from his father he had heard And after them I have remembered. The writer has no space to recount any of the numerous recipes for curing human ailments named in this work. Concerning his Rice ancestors, should it be here attempted to catalogue these and comment on the temerity of the long line of healers, it might be averred of the author that which one Dafydd ap Guilym, a Carmarthenshire bard who nourished in the fourteenth century, says of another dabbler in medicine, 1 ' A Physician he would not make as Myddvai made ' '. {Ibid.) The reputation for healing which emerged thus from the mists of antiquity about 1368 and was gratuitously dispensed for the benefit of those unable to pay for upwards of 350 years is last recorded at Mothvey in the churchyard, a.d. 1739. (Ibid.) The descendants of the Rice who married Margaret, sister of Morgan Owen, Bishop of Llandaff, had as their arms — Sable a chevron between three spear heads argent, their points embraced impaled with sable and chevron between three garbs argent. This gentleman was grandfather to the Morgan Rice who came to London and purchased the Manor of Tooting Graveney of one Percival Lewis, of Putney. According to Manning and Bray's " History of Surrey " (Vol. II. p. 375), the Manor became Mr. Morgan Rice's property in 1767. After building a good house on rising ground above the church he became High Sheriff of the County of Surrey in 1772. Mr. Morgan Rice's career seems to have been almost as romantic as that of Dick Whittington ; for, leaving home in 1736 on account of some disagreement with his father, he was reported to have arrived in London with only eighteen- pence in his pocket. This tradition was told to my uncle Sir Ralph and the Rev. Horace Rice near Swansea in 1835. 70 SOME THINGS WE HAVE REMEMBERED Beyond that he married a daughter of one Dr. Bucknall and that in a few years' time he returned to South Wales on horseback with a servant and lived like one well-to-do in worldly affairs, little is known concerning this part of his life. [William Bucknall, M.D., of Brompton Hall, Middlesex (born 1690, died 1763), had a son Samuel, who died 1769 and is buried in St. Marylebone Church, London (the old fabric in Marylebone Lane and the disused burying ground still also two daughters, the younger marrying Morgan e of Hill House, Tooting Graveney, Surrey. William Bucknall, M.D., bore the arms of and was de- d bom a younger son of Sir William Bucknall, Alder- man of the City of London, knighted at Whitehall, September ju. L670, by the Merry Monarch. This knight's son John was also similarly honoured :v 23, L685, and married Mary, daughter of Sir John I; id of Brocket Hall. The Bucknall family estates were at and Watford, Herts. (See "Notes and Queries," 2nd 1 860, p. 3 18.) William Bucknall, according to Lyson's "History of \ 1. II. p. 372, purchased Headstone Farm .: Barrow, at the end of the 18th century and bequeathed it to the Hon. W. Grimston, who married a relative of Sir William Bucknall and took that name. The Hon. William Grimston, born June 23, 1750, assumed ! Bucknall in accordance with the testamentary traction ol his maternal uncle. (See Verulam Peerage. frimeton. Burke).] and I .ray's "History" before mentioned says the oral head of the Surrey Rices, was a i when he bought the manor of Tooting Graveney. But Qtoha H in the capacity of manager, as no known to have been in the possession of : • II. THE RICES OF MOTH-VEY 71 He died while staying at Brighton, to which place he paid frequent visits after making his home at Tooting Manor House. His son, who was destined to own the Manor House of Tooting Graveney, roaming about the pleasant scenes in that part of Surrey made friends in extreme youth with the daughter of the then family neigh- bour, Alderman Samuel Plumbe of Streatham, who was Prime Warden of the Goldsmiths' Company in 1773 and Lord Mayor of London in 1779. The Alderman was married to Frances Thrale, sister of Dr. Johnson's friend, Henry Thrale, whose wife afterwards became Mrs. Piozzi. Mrs. Thrale was exceedingly fond of her niece Frances Plumbe, who at the tender age of 15 had conceived an affection for young John Rice, aged only 21. It was a most romantic attachment, although the rude common sense of Alderman Plumbe revolted against his daughter deciding to take so inexperienced a youth as husband when herself a child. On the other hand Mrs. Plumbe was silently tolerant of the union, and deprecated violent opposition after the young people had surreptitiously left the neighbourhood together. Mrs. Thrale, the girl's aunt by marriage, seems to have liked the young John Rice and backed him up against the opposition which naturally arose within the family circle. Alderman Plumbe, as Mrs. Thrale's letters will show, alter- nately stormed and attempted pursuit ; but, believing the young people had left for Scotland and Gretna Green, he was suffi- ciently put off his guard to enable them to retreat to the Continent. As events turned out it has proved of the greatest advan- tage to my Rice kinsmen and those connected with them that this love-match was eventually accepted by both sides of the family. As will be seen, much to Mrs. Thrale's satisfaction Mr. Morgan Rice very soon accepted the situation. It is impossible not to feel grateful to Mrs. Thrale for her kindly treatment of my great-grandfather, Mr. J. Rice, and his bride, Miss Plumbe, when fugitives from the parental nest and in danger of causing an abiding home breach but for her 72 BOMB THINGS WE HAVE EEMEMBEEED tactful, determined, and effective intervention. The tone of I shall quote illustrates what is meant by re if necessarily belated acknowledgment from one of their descendants : — "Streatham, Is* June, 1773. •• My dear Fanny, • ■ For so I will continue to call you till Mr. E. a us know you are no longer our Fanny but his. ■■ Y >ur letter came in a happy hour to relieve Mrs. P. from such anxiety as is scarcely to be conceived, much » expressed. She is tolerably cheerful however at present, eats and sleeps better than she has done for me time, and will I hope soon recover her former tranquillity. Tell Mr. E. that I say his father behaves like a worthy man, a wise man, and a Welch man. Of //■ father's behaviour the less said the better ; but be t uneasy, his violence does his constitution no harm. He ia very well as can be." • Mr-. Thrale did not confine her kindnesses to thus solacing the young couple, but sent messages to the Eice a Tooting Manor House which evince tact, fixity of i , and genuine neighbourly regard. Subsequently the kind aunt writes as follows : — •■ I find you only prevented Mr. Plumbe by your jonrni on the following week he intended packing i up, and placing you in a Convent. This was the advice <>f old Balvator the Jew, and people say it was tuully concluded mi. Mr. . . . was the person who the firsi true intelligence concerning you, for your bad lined ;i notion that you was gone to Led hy Mr. Thrale and Mr. N. ; however dropped all thoughts of pursuit and found it in iient to turn his wrath upon our house, i In- siege, though not so well forti- • of t| M town, you have lately pass'd through, fooli b subject. " s 1 •' O a; o O ft! 6-. THE KICES OF MOTH-VEY 73 Mrs. Thrale wishes to regularize the marriage of her niece by subsequent legal action which is found not easy to initiate. " Mrs. Thrale presents her compliments to Mr. K. with a Melon. The gentleman she wrote to yesterday about the Special License is out of town and her letter come back ; so she is quite at a stand about it, wishes her ability equaled her wishes to serve Mr. R. his young people and all his family. Compliments wait on them all, Mrs. R. in particular. "Thursday, 29th July." Mrs. Thrale thinks of the young couple when on her travels in Wales : — " Gwaynnynog, 2nd Sep., 1774. " Dear Sir, " My regard for you and yours will I hope procure my excuse for this intrusion, as I earnestly wish for a letter to say that you and Fanny are well, and that your little boy comes on to your wishes. "How go matters at Tooting? poor Mrs. Plumbe was so ill when we left home that I have thought of her often, is she recovered, and is the Alderman kind ? If you favour me with an answer direct to W. H. Lyttle- ton's, Esq., Hagley, Worcestershire. "Give our respects to Mr. and Mrs. R. and accept love and corns ; to yourself and your wife from " Sir, " Your most faithful servant, "H. L. Thrale." Two horses were not considered sufficient to draw a carriage from Streatham to Chislehurst and back : — " Streatham, 31st July, 1775. " Dear Fanny, " I received your letter with pleasure as it seemed to imply that both you and Mr. R. were well ; I really reproach myself with not making another effort to SOME THINGS WE HAVE BEMEMBEBED see you besides that your servant told you of, when Mr. D'Avenant was with me, but I cannot always get the four horses when I wish for them and your distance is too great for a pair." When I read these eighteenth century letters of Mrs. ale, written from Streatham, to my Bice relations in the ring of a philologist whose life-long study has been the of words, and spoke enthusiastically of the style, he ; that he even preferred it to that of her friend Dr. inaoD ; and this came from one who owns that the rescue .' i. Tin-ale's faculty with the pen from oblivion is solely to her friendship with the great teacher whose sage ion has so vastly influenced mankind. The respective seats of the Thrales and Bices were not mor. than half a mile distant and situated in a suburban 01 l-i -rated alike for its ancient trees and spreading tehee of sward. Streatham Common is shown by Mr inn to have been part of a primeval forest, and the inery visible there even now indicates what kind of mounded the mansion rendered so famous by Dr. ■ J"l visits. The Manor House of Tooting is still standing and makes laundry for the part of the Wandsworth Union 1 where the hill-side slopes down to Tooting. The bo Firsdown Park has preserved the rural associa- f til- old Rice home, which in the fifties of the last turv was tenanted by Mr. Flower, father of the late Lord The runaway match proved to be a very happy one, and . than twelve children were born to John Bice and his wife, I Plumbe. Their careers were various, and in ■onu life was but brief. Thanks to my Uncle Balph □ of this marriage) I have been able to trace the Qta which marked their sojourn in this world of . Th( • pr iminenl oame of all was undoubtedly that of ' in whose <>wn letters and journals THE RICES OF MOTH-VEY 75 may be learnt something of every part of the world in which he sojourned from time to time. He is especially interesting in his Oxford recollections. The experiences in question were those of an undergraduate at Oriel, 1798-1802. He was at the University at a specially interesting period as will be seen from the following notes. The hand of the reformer was pressing upon Oxford at the same time as the French Revolution was dissolving into the military despotism of Napoleon. But in the calm atmosphere of this ancient seat of learning their own intellectual condition seemed a primary consideration to men of light and leading. Up to 1800 an Oxford degree was somewhat of a formality. Class lists with Honours examinations once a year at Easter, and ordinary examinations once a term. The prime mover in the imminent reforms was John Eveleigh, Provost of Oriel (1791-1814). The Provost " came from Devonshire, and the voluble gossip, Thomas Mozley, saw many Eveleighs still in that County when he was living at Plymptree, all fair, all like the Provost's picture, and all fond of wearing light blue. Oddly enough, when some comic verses were made at that period about the heads of Houses at Oxford — a practice not unknown in later days — they included a line showing this taste in the Provost of Oriel : — Here comes fair Eveleigh with his blue hose. " It appears to be the only line that has survived, and cer- tainly it was not the colour one would have supposed likely to be chosen by one who was also Vicar of St. Mary's and Bampton Lecturer " (" East and West," January, 1907). Mr. Ralph Rice came up three years after the election of Edward Coppleston in 1795 to be a Fellow and Tutor. He was a thorough and accurate lecturer, and later when Pro- fessor of Poetry, supported Eveleigh in his reforms. Dinners were very early, and the habits of the day justified a good deal of hard drinking over cards. But the tutors, condemned by custom to such a life, became supporters of Eveleigh and Coppleston in their reforms. 7 B IK THINGS WE HAVE KEMEMBEKED My Uncle Ralph seeins to have been naturally industrious and kept a note-book recording his proceedings. Very pre- • in money matters the future Judge, then only 17A, speaks of the effect of Mr. Pitt's income-tax and its assessment when a c >n. based upon the allowances of Undergraduates, d before the youth of Oxford. Ealph writes as follows to his father : — " Oxford, Oriel College, " Friday, March 15, 1799. • Mr dear Sir, " This tax on income has extended its effects further than I expected. It has reached the poor inhabi- of tin' Academic grove. A bill was sent to me by tl: ssors a few days ago ordering me to state the aonnt of my income before 14 days on pain of twenty aids penalty. What I am to do in this case depends entirely upon you. If you deduct my allowance from ur statement, I must state it at Oxford." II' addfl in language which seems to point towards sub- I high legal equipment : — ' I have endi avoured to procure the Act but have not ded. 1 wished to see whether we, by the clause bo children, could be assessed." : — ' In rach times as these it is particularly unpleasant '" >'• mande for money. But it is the sine quanon "f life And nothing is to be done without. I should be "i to remit at present about ten pounds to little hills and answer common exigencies." Miriam A. Ellis i onsiblefor the issue of a really • Oxford Iniversity written for the "East and " '" June, L907, which is published in Bombay. Q Ralph luce's letters at the University and '"'""is upon the detachment from outside " f l! « >luciili«.n:il centre when the war note THE KICES OF MOTH-VEY 77 throbbed so continuously in Europe early in the nineteenth century. In 1799 my uncle writes : — " Our Commemoration is on the 5th when I expect to be gratified with a very fine sight. The Theatre, I under- stand, is attended by the neighbouring gentlemen, who bring with them their fair daughters to grace this seat of the Muses." Here we find the kernel of the famous Oxonian festivi- ties. Cambridge, on the other hand, as letters written by my grandfather (Ralph's elder brother) show, possessed no corre- sponding ceremony, the May week being a later institution caused by various attractions, chief among which undoubt- edly was the singular beauty of the banks of the Cam behind the Colleges. But to revert to Oxford and Ealph Eice — the correspon- dence with his father at Tooting demonstrates a thoughtful intelligence and an inquiring mind. As was the retired Judge when I remember him in the late forties of the nineteenth century, so was the Oxford Under- graduate, a careful student of the Bible, reading the Epistles and the Revelations in Greek. Although not thereby " con- firmed upon any controversial point," he reached the conclusion to " follow virtue with order, diligence, and affection in the real and important business of life". In old age this ten- dency had developed into the steady faith in Christianity which, guiding him constantly, was his consolation to the end. The habit of literary study seems to have been inculcated in my Uncle Ralph by his Oxford career at Oriel, the College, as Miss Miriam Ellis reminds her readers in " East and West," of Sir Walter Raleigh, Bishop Butler, and Gilbert White of Selborne, just as it was destined to become the intellectual nursery of Whately, Arnold, Keble, and Bishop Samuel Wilberforce, as well as of Newman and Pusey. It is amusing to note that Ralph Rice thus early ex- pressed his belief that marriage was " like backgammon, some 78 SOME THINGS WE HAVE EEMEMBEEED skill needed, but under all circumstances being fraught with nance ". His own experiences went to show that the brevity of life may suddenly destroy the happiest of these unions. the close of my uncle's Oxford career, just after he i the Honours examination, his father became dan- .y ill and only survived the son's arrival a few days, ireavement occurring shortly after the next in age of nh's sailor brothers had also passed away. In iWvinber, 1802, the words "Took my degree" are written in Ralph Eice's diary, and it will interest students to know that he described the subjects for examination thus: Lvttleton and Coke, Thuc, Livy, Juvenal, Logic, Divinity. Bnclid b. 11-12, Trigonometry Plane," the examination lasting two days. Letters from his elder brother at Cambridge, to which allusion has been made, enable a comparison to be instituted D these communications and others from the future Sir Ralph. Of the two, Cambridge seems to have been the t livdv. Sailing on the Cam does not sound a very ambi- tious form of navigation, and although we hear little of the walk to Tmmpington, the happy hunting-ground of Dons when the writer was up at Cambridge, a passing notice of an amusement for well-to-do Undergraduates la i my grandfather Eice's letters from Cam- bridge in 1793, the May term was celebrated there by prome- i vi tv pleasant Mall," supposed to be Clare Hall Be ; n I ik of the "walks belonging to 1 being seen to the greatest advantage, and it lear that reference is intended to The Backs: — ' Thi I," he adds, " such as to surpass any di in I can possibly give. . . ." ' We have also a very pleasant Mall which reminds f the Bteine &1 Brighton, where in the same man- '" -r the • ntlemen meet in the evening to THE KICES OF MOTH-VEY 79 Mr. John Morgan Eice, the Undergraduate of Trinity Col- lege, Cambridge, who indited the latter epistles, and whose portrait with that of his wife, nee Holmes, heads this chapter, was in reality the eldest of five brothers, of whom Ealph was the second, and I only recounted Ealph's experiences at Oxford first because their historical significance seemed to me to be more important than the scanty fragments of College gossip unconnected with celebrated University reforms which my grandfather sends home from time to time. It is as the eldest son that he has to take his brothers and sisters to school when on his way from Brighton to Cam- bridge. There was a well-established school at Cheam under one Mr. Gilpin, the forerunner in a chronological sense of the still better-remembered institution which under the Tabor family has made the neighbourhood notable in later days. Here Mr. J. Eice leaves his little brother Ealph on 25 Jan- uary, 1793, thankful that Mr. Gilpin only asked questions about College life and refrained from giving him " a lecture ". But the "old Cheamite," as my grandfather styles himself, " could not leave so charming a spot without reflecting upon former felicity and being impressed with those dis- tressful sensations which the mind feels when severed from that which is most dear to it ". He adds he felt no such local concern in leaving his two sisters at school in London. When Cambridge is reached, there is a good deal about local squabbles between the Undergraduates and members of the town who were not always treated with civilized legality, such conduct threatening the individuals concerned with penal results. On another occasion two college dons were positively on the verge of fighting a duel. But a celebrated trial for heresy seems the most curious of all Mr. Eice's narrations. One Mr. Frend, a Fellow of Jesus College, had published (1792-3) a pamphlet entitled " Peace and Union," addressed to Eepublicans and anti-Ee- publicans, containing " Many parts tending to subvert the Christian religion ". BO n: THINGS WE HAVE EEMEMBEEED • He is himself an Unitarian — he is a clergyman, but does not conceive it necessary for that sect to be distin- guished by any particular dress, he is always seen in blue and buff, he was attainted by the Professor of Divinity, who intends to prosecute the cause with great rigour and if possible to deprive him of his gown and Hi iwship. It is carried on in the Senate House where there are I suppose as many assembled every day as at I Castings' trial. • He is to make his defence on Friday which will be [tremely well worth hearing as he will, no doubt, from what he has already done, display great powers of elo- quence and oratory. " But what will surprise you most is that Mr. Jones (one of the Tutors of Trinity) is his particular friend, he him at his trial, prompts him and gives him hi- advice. He it is said is a Republican and is pos- l of many of his friend's principles with regard to religion, hut whatever they may be I cannot but admire induct in standing up for him in his distress, as it must certainly be very disagreeable to him acting in so public a capacity as Tutor. I wonder how men of such can 1"' led away. It proceeds perhaps from their ■ mathematical knowledge." I cannot follow the latter part of my grandfather's reason- ing, hut publish the facts as he wrote them to serve as a f the ideas current at Cambridge during the French k' roluti nai i n ml was condemned to banishment from the Uni- hv the Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Milner, and the majority f Head of Colleges IW writing the pamphlet called "Peace ""." •">'. :| his critics assumed, directed towards Qch principles and the "rights of man". pi I d as if levelled against Mr. Pitt the ! ad Member for the University, and so stirred its v, <> depths. The Vice-Chancellor and 1 d avoured t<> obtain Prend's recantation, THE EICES OF MOTH-VEY 81 and prepared a document for his signature. When the accused saw it, however, he said that he " would sooner cut off his hand than sign ". The Undergraduates were mostly sympathizers with Frend, but whether altogether on political grounds is uncertain. (See Gunning's " Reminiscences of Cambridge," Vol. I. pp. 255-84.) Trinity College seems to have been the Whig centre at this time. Another Tutor of Trinity supervised the University career of Mr. J. Rice, and after a full term's experience he (Mr. Basil Montagu of Brampton, near Huntingdon) sends the following to his pupil's anxious father at Tooting : — " Enclosed I trouble you (Deer. 18, 1791) with your son's accounts and I inform you with the most unfeigned and heartfelt pleasure, that I believe him to be as good a young man as ever lived. " I am, Most truly yours, " Basil Montagu." Young Mr. Rice had a good send-off at the hands of the responsible authority. I am not undertaking to write the University careers of my forebears, but I will conclude these Trinity experiences of my grandfather by letting him tell how he received his de- gree on 17 April, 1795. A congregation had been summoned to present a congratulatory address to the Prince and Princess of Wales, when Mr. Rice says : — " I went through the ceremon}' of taking the Honorary degree of B.A. I was examined yesterday by those appointed for that purpose when I flatter myself I shewed that I had not wholly misspent my time. The congregation being suddenly declared prevented me writing to you for the fees which amounted to the enormous sum of £9. 9. 0." Whether in the monetary condition of the day this was an extravagant demand I hesitate to decide, but I cannot see where the term " honorary " comes in with reference to this B.A. 6 32 SOME THINGS WE HAVE EEMEMBEKED Owing to a youthful friendship with my great-uncle, Ealph Rice, the names of his brothers and sisters were often repeated in my hearing ; and, when I undertook the study of thePedi- came a matter of such familiar interest that I found i ployed upon a thoroughly congenial task. I have mentioned the College life of my grandfather, the Bev. John Morgan Rice, at Cambridge, and that of his brother Ralph at Oxford. The former survived until 1833, being but 58 when he died. Sir Ealph on the other hand lived to 71, and passed away at 6 Eoyal Crescent, Brighton, in 1850. He clever and intelligent as he proved to be kind-hearted all around him. Pi >r man! he was the sole relic of his contemporary kinsmen when I remember him first in London and Brighton, is a tablet in Tooting Church erected by Sir Ealph to eleven brothers and sisters. In his private diaries there pathetic references to his own solitary life, when all his : inn had passed away. Being of a most affectionate nature and having been deeply attached to his brothers, es- ially those near his own age, he clung closely, as it is . to be wondered at, to the surviving relatives, of whom bis nieces, my mother and her sisters, the Misses 1 1 len and Lncy Eice, were the means of bringing sweetness i light into the aged widower's home at 4 Hanover T< rrace, R< g< tit's Park. idy of the family history and sparing neither time QOr means in order to get at the facts, he was led to marthenshire in 1835 with my great-uncle Horace ..II. M Rice). maternal grandmother, who lived in the Eoyal Cres- n. was greatly devoted to Uncle Ealph, so her thi ir children naturally came under the spell of bis benignity. When I i member this gracious lady, Mrs. J. Eice, Q< mI\ ten years a widow, and was wrapped up •' "I her children. I |.t daughter Helen ke.pt house THE RICES OF MOTH-VEY 83 at Brighton for the Rices, just as my mother had formerly looked after Sir Ralph's establishment in London. Two of my great-grandfather's sons who joined the Navy had but short lives, for the sailors Harry and Charles Rice died respectively at the ages of 31 and 23 ; while those who chose the military profession, viz., Sam and Frederick, joined the celebrated 51st Regiment, with which the Rice family have been so honourably connected, as the facts tell. Harry and Charles Rice saw a good deal of service in the " Royal Navy ". Charles was at the capture of the Dutch Settlements, Trin- comalee and Colombo in Ceylon during 1795. " Samuel Bice joined the 51st Light Infantry as En- sign, 12th February, 1793; Lieutenant, 5th May, 1794; Captain, 18th June, 1798; Major, 13th July, 1809; Brevet Lieut. -Col., 22nd November, 1813; Regimental Lieut.-Col., 24th April, 1817 ; Colonel, 22nd July, 1830 ; exchanged to half pay, 5th July, 1831. Appointed In- specting Field Officer of the Leeds Recruiting district, September, 1834, which office he held till November, 1835. Died in London, 7th March, 1840. " He served in Gibraltar and Corsica ; was present at the sieges of Bastia and Calvi, and at several attacks on posts ; was also present at the taking of Elba by Lord Nelson ; served in Portugal in 1798 under Sir C. Stewart ; subsequently at the Cape of Good Hope, in the East Indies, Ceylon, Portugal, and Spain, and was present at Corunna, Fuentes d'Onoro, sieges of Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz, Salamanca ; taking of Madrid, advance on Burgos, and operations there, battle of Nivelle, where he commanded the Regiment, Orthes, taking of Bordeaux, and skirmishes on the Garonne ; commanded the Regi- ment at Waterloo, and at the storming of Cambray. Medal for Nivelle. Medal for Waterloo. Companion of the Bath, 22nd June, 1815 ; Knight of Hanover, Septem- ber, 1818." Colonel Sam Rice's letters from the Peninsula to his 6 * U BOMB THINGS WE HAVE EEMEMBEEED relatives deal generally with the striking events in which he participated, and give several vivid descriptions of the he witnessed upon that historic arena. While not claiming to deal with purely military details, these com- munications are of an abiding interest to members of the .;aily. "Percv John Kice [my namesake and godfather] joined the 51st Light Infantry as Ensign, 14th August, L828; Lieut,, 28th November, 1834; Captain, 2nd Sep- n: L837; Major, 28th December, 1849. Died at ngalore, 22nd May, 1850. " Augustus Thomas Rice [my mother's first cousin] entered the 51st Light Infantry as Ensign, 11th Octo- . 1 - M ; Lieutenant, 10th March, 1837 ; Captain, 15th 1841 ; Major, 23rd June, 1852 ; Lieutenant- lonel, 9th December, 1853 ; Colonel, 1st December, L864 Retired on full pay of Major, 1st December, 1854 (the higher ranks being by brevet). •• Be served with the 51st Light Infantry during the secoi;ti to the last. His life in India is amply re- corded in the ' Dictionary of National Biography". On Mr. Edward Thornton's return home his business capacity re- Bwifi acknowlet lament, for he was offered and accepted ■ o in the family banking house in Birchin Lane. Edward Thornton was one of the most convinced and enthusiastic Christians lever met. Like Sir Richard Temple, his faith first, because the sublime principles which ■ I enjoined rigid performance of public duties. When in the Bouse of Commons with the late Sir Richard SONS OF JOHN THOKNTON 95 Temple, he frequently conversed with me concerning my cousins in India and their notable services to the State, con- stantly averring that the John Thornton he was familiar with was a perfect genius in collecting revenue and one of the ablest of those public men who served under Thomason. He also emphasized the value which — as I have said — Sir John Lawrence and Sir Robert Montgomery placed on my cousin Edward's services during the Mutiny. Probably the suffer- ings and dangers during this time of anxiety which Mrs. Edward Thornton experienced have numerous counterparts even on a more terrible scale amongst survivors of the Mutiny; but her escape to the hills and woods with her infant, the youngest child George, must form an exciting episode in our family traditions for all ages. Another of these brothers, viz., Reginald, served in India and suffered a sunstroke there which affected his eyesight in later years and rendered life less enjoyable under conditions of economic success. For as a banker at Dorchester Mr. Reginald Thornton achieved prominent distinction. It is remarkable that leaving India prematurely in consequence of his above-mentioned illness, he and Mrs. Thornton gave place to two successors who were murdered by the natives upon the outbreak of the Mutiny. He died, August, 1895. But not all my Uncle John's sons went to India, two remained at home ; viz., Francis Vansittart, the third, and William Henry, the youngest, the latter still happily with us in the pleasant guise of an experienced and well-beloved Devonshire clergyman. But the work of the former, also a clergyman and an Honorary Canon of Truro, merits more than passing mention. I cannot say that I knew this cousin sufficiently well to speak of his valuable work from personal observation, so I quote the authorities who have taught me to admire him as a pioneer of the best thought in modern education. The first notice below recording the results of these notable ex- periments is by one of his sons-in-law who are noticed farther on, Prebendary Percival Jackson. 96 SOME THINGS WE HAVE REMEMBERED (" Guardian," 1 May, 1895.) ••Francis Vansittart Thornton. " The Rev. Francis Vansittart Thornton, M.A., Hon. Canon of Truro, whose health had been rapidly failing daring the last three months, died on Saturday, at the a of 79. He was the third son of the late Mr. John Thornton, of Clapham, and was educated at Rugby under Dr. Arnold, his tutor being Mr. Prince Lee, afterwards Bishop of Manchester. He was a Scholar of Trinity College, Cambridge, where he took his degree in 1838, being second in the Second Class Classical Tripos. He was ordained on his appointment to the Curacy of Hodnett, Shropshire, in 1839; and in the following year he was appointed Vicar of Bisham, Berks. Many influences conspired to induce in him wide sym- pathy with different schools of thought, and familiarity with the problems and with the events of ecclesiastical and social history. The emancipation of Slaves was a ruling thought at Clapham during his early years. At Igby, association with Dean Lake, Dean Vaughan, 1). ui Stanley, the Rev. J. P. Gell, etc., under the head mastership of Dr. Arnold, tended to enlarge his thought and quicken his intellect. His political sympathies anticipated the position of the Tory Democrat of later Bia ecclesiastical allegiance was always avowedly given k) the Church of England rather than to any sec- tion of it. At Cambridge he held aloof from the society winch Charles Simeon had gathered around him, as be- ing excld ive, and in its tendency narrowing, although be alv..i\ declined bo entertain any narrow feelings to- ixdfl bheii section of the Church. From time to time hi i at < lallington conferences on burning ques- tions wherein his ruling idea was to secure the. presence "f leading tni □ of different opinions, with a view, not to hut |.> unity of result. Callington was, per- il n > remote from the central activities of the day SONS OF JOHN THOKNTON 97 for such plans to receive their due meed of reward. All the more should his heroism in undertaking the work of that parish be appreciated, when we realize how many of his keenest interests were of necessity laid aside or held in suspense at the call of duty. Whatever may be thought of his methods it will be acknowledged that the idea of grafting on a village school a competent staff of University men, and of other specialists (French, Ger- man, Music, Drawing, etc.), and thus introducing the highest possibilities of education to all classes was a fine idea. That Canon Thornton began to carry it into effect so long ago as 1848 seems to claim for him a remarkable place amongst educationists. Whether meeting little children in the roads, or entering the school, or preparing candidates for confirmation, or taking part in a school treat, he was inspired by a genuine self-forgetfulness and sympathy with the mirth of the young. He laid great stress on the necessity for Mission rooms for popu- lations which, temporarily or permanently, grow up at a distance from the old Churches. In the same con- nexion he was eager for the establishment of an order of Catechists. " Canon Thornton was appointed in 1848 to the Eec- tory of Brown and Chilton, Candover, Hampshire, where he established his system of education, which was, says the ' Western Morning News,' to graft a grammar school upon the elementary school, and by means of graduated fees secure to every child of either sex such education as it was capable of receiving. In 1864 he moved to South Hill-with-Callington, Cornwall, where he adopted the same system. He became an Honorary Canon of Truro in 1882, and retired to Torquay in 1887." I have been told that upwards of 100 people migrated from Hampshire with Mr. Thornton in 1864 to Cornwall, where as the successor of my uncle, the Eev. H. M. Eice, he did this good work for education and faithfully tended the parish. 7 98 SOME THINGS WE HAVE EBMEMBBEED From the " Church Times," of May, 1895.) •Canon Thornton was ordained Deacon (by letters dimissory) by the Bishop of Chichester on his appoint- in, he curacy of Hodnett, Shropshire, in 1839 ; and in the following year he was appointed Vicar of Bisham, rk>. and was ordained priest by the Bishop of St. .ph. Many influences conspired to induce in him le sympathy with different schools of thought, and familiarity with the problems and with the events of ecclesiastical and social history. . . . Mr. Thornton was a Churchman of wide sympathies, but no one can have ,1 more appreciatively the works of that great scholar Bishop Lightfoot or those of Bishop Westcott. . . . non Thornton will long be remembered for his import- ant work in attempting the problem of how to form a in, dm- link between elementary and higher education. Canon Thornton was also one of the group of men who originated in Hampshire the idea of local examina- • in the days before the Universities of Oxford and mbridge had directed their attention to them. He wus one of those who, in the same county, took up the of Friendly Societies, and furthered their interests in various ways. \ft,r what has been said of Canon Thornton's zeal for education, it will easily be understood that his in- t, rest in the young was one of the great characteristics of hi ktile mind. . . . Although he was 66 be- fore he was made Hon. Canon of Truro, his work as a parish clergyman whs as remarkable as his interest in th< >-.<• branches of parish work which have been alluded to. Ill- preaching whs marked by a singular grip of his svell as by ready eloquence, pointed ilia in, and profound knowledge of the Bible. He culty for an | u i ring the contents of books ; i large library, he seemed to have read everything nature of commentary, and muoh else. His i rmoni w< re as carefully written out as if they SONS OF JOHN THORNTON 99 were intended for the Press, and yet he was rarely per- suaded to print anything. His pastoral work was marked by clear judgment of character and keen consciousness of his own responsibility." My own impressions during a visit to the second relative who became Rector of South Hill, Frank Thornton, were of his extraordinary energy, when he summoned us all imme- diately after dinner to join in a country dance with children in the neighbourhood. Nor did the reverend gentleman, though close on 70, fail to take his own part in the revels. And I need hardly say that he threw himself into his many serious labours with still more force and zeal. There is an appropri- ate memorial to my cousin in South Hill Church. This far-seeing clergyman owed much to the fact that he was allied to a sympathetic partner, having married Miss Mary Cholmondeley, one of that honoured Shropshire race, who entered ardently into her husband's educational schemes both at Chilton Candover and South Hill. Their second son, Canon Augustus Vansittart Thornton, is now the Incumbent, correctly styled " Chaplain," of St. Edward's Church, Cambridge. Two of Canon Francis Vansittart Thornton's daughters married the brothers Henry and Percy Jackson. The former is famous as an O.M., and as Regius Professor of Greek at Cambridge. His portrait has been admitted into the Hall of Trinity College amongst College worthies during his life- time ; I believe an honour quite unprecedented. The latter is M.A. of my dear Jesus College, Cambridge. The Rev. William Henry Thornton, at the time I write my only surviving first cousin on the Thornton side, is a typical outcome of the movement favoured by Kingsley, which had been popular in his beloved Devonshire, even before the times in which he wrote. The Parson, as these thinkers believed, should mingle with the people in their amusements, even if these be of a sporting character, and so carry their religion into each and every society into which they may be thrown. As is well known, this tendency developed amongst 7 * 100 SOME THINGS WE HAVE REMEMBERED r men, clerical and lay, into what was known as mus- cular Christianity. Mr. \Y. H. Thornton's friend, and in some sort his . the famous Jack Russell, clergyman, orator, and sportsman, stands as a representative of the brotherhood. As in < W< st-country people appear to believe, this school thought has powerfully aided in keeping a religious hold the populations scattered in the hill and moorland dis- trict-, reaching even to the feet of the Cornish Tors, and sometimes to the utmost limits of that fascinating county. I remember Mr. W. H. Thornton used to think nothing of a twenty-mile ride in order to meet some well-known kiactei once connected with his parish, who had strayed elsewhere, in order to discover whether he could help him in his profession either by business counsel or timely warning. A veterinary surgeon who was killing himself by celebrat- ing each transaction by a corresponding drink, was thereby induced to abandon that habit and so recover his health. [ndeed the Rector of North Bovey's care for his poorer fellow-creatures did not assign any limit, parochial or other- . for Ins philanthropy, and this I am aware of by personal after 1 had left Cambridge late in the sixties, I was i- • i • t iy with my cousin al Dunster, of which parish - at the tunc 1'astor. It was a six-mile drive from which Cathedral city was enveloped in snow. The une for me, and we reached Dunster in good time for . but to find Mrs. Thornton in some perturbation be Don arrival of her husband, who had journeyed all the Iri!;: Vansittart Thornton's Rectory at South Hill, I night Bpent there, had to cross Dartmoor on his urn [ndeed he inside no appearance until late at night, when by glimpses through a snow-storm we perceived the ching loaded with the tinsel garb and I hivering I rolling-players who followed They had missed the road to Exeter and seemed t" leave their belongings behind them or be SONS OF JOHN THOKNTON 101 lost in the drifts by the wayside. Glad as was the welcome given to me, little was said until these poor waifs and strays had been fed and warmed, whereupon a groom went with them outside the village and put them on the road to their destination. Mrs. Thornton herself comes of good Devonian stock, her father, Mr. Furnival, having been a well-known clergyman in the county. They lost their only son, but six married daughters survive to carry forward these unaccustomed tradi- tions to future ages through the means of the rising genera- tion. One unmarried daughter remains at home, without whose kindly presence the Rectory at North Bovey would scarcely be quite the same to the parishioners. North Bovey is situated in a fair spot by a charming trout stream, and near the mansion of that good and patriotic public man, the Hon. F. W. D. Smith, who is an ideal squire to an old-fashioned but practical country Parson. I here desire to express the deep regard and respect felt by all those kinsmen bearing the Thornton name for the previously mentioned head of the family, the Eev. John Thornton, sometime Vicar of Ewell, while it was from his retirement at Betch worth, also in Surrey, that he presented us with that inestimable record of my grandfather's life which has enabled me to bring many facts to light and is a precious possession of those who have placed it in their libraries. Nor can any reader of his work on the English Liturgy fail to be impressed with the clearness of expression which conveys so much knowledge in a short space, emphasising the strong faith animating the writer. Our chief was a leader in the Volunteer movement at Cambridge, being second to the redoubtable Edward Eoss in the Trinity College Shooting Challenge Cup in 1863, and being a representative in the winning Eight against Oxford at Wimbledon in that year. He was also in the victorious Cam- bridge team in this contest in 1864. Mr. Thornton was like- 102 SOME THINGS WE HAVE EEMEMBEKED wise prominent as a walker in the Athletic Sports and member he now defunct Second Trinity Boat Club. ,t I should like to name three of this branch, who, belonging to later generations, have died early in life leaving records behind them worthy of mention here. First I would speak in the highest possible veneration and with warm affec- tion of the eldest son of the present head of our race, John Thornton, the fifth of those so named since Cowper's friend : in 1790. The unexpected and to us untoward accident in the hunting field whereby he met his death, brought to its close a most promising career and lost to his devoted friends of all ages the joy brought into their homes by this bright and engaging personality. His seven-year-old son, also John, is destined in the course of nature to become head of the I '-irkin Thorntons. The other two to be so commemorated are Arthur Parry Thornton, of the Indian Civil Service, and Charles Conway Thornton, of the Diplomatic Service. L .■ :u.-i\.l. Arthur Parry Thornton, C.S.I., was born 9 February, L84& He was educated at Kugby, and entered the b Foot in 1867. He became Political Agent at Bhopawar in L886, and Resident in Western Rajputana States in 1900, and officiating Agent to the Governor-General there in 1901. I I retired in 1906 after a distinguished career and died in 1908. rief summary by no means conveys the remarkable isus of Indian Official contemporary opinion concerning Arthur Tarry Thornton's statesmanlike qualities. Ch I '"ii way Thornton was born on 8 August, 1852. Bi v. I < ilncatcd at Eton, where he took a Scholarship, and afterwards at Trinity College, Cambridge. In his boy- l he i d to have strikingly resembled in appearance hndfather, Reginald Heber, the celebrated Bishop of A nomination for a competitive examination for ■ii otli it his career at Cambridge to a pre- II ii by a rival from Oxford, but a lattem] t< < I in his appointment to a clerkship in the o 28 March, 1874. In the Foreign Office SONS OF JOHN THORNTON 103 his work lay in the Western department, which includes the relations with the United States of America, and he was concerned in the payment of the " Alabama " Award. He married in 1878, Mary Diana Thornton-Wodehouse, daughter of Admiral the Hon. Edward Thornton-Wodehouse, and a cousin of the Earl of Kimberley, at one time Secretary-of- State for Foreign Affairs. In January, 1882, he was appointed acting Third Secre- tary to the Legation at Berne, his Chief being Mr. (after- wards Sir Francis) Adams. Ten years later he was ap- pointed acting Second Secretary, remaining at the same post, where he acted as a Charge d'affaires on eight occasions, for several months at a time. During the whole of this period he remained nominally on the establishment of the Foreign Office, but in 1888 he exchanged with a Mr. F. H. Carew and then finally left the Foreign Office for the Diplomatic Service. In this same year he was transferred to the Legation at Copenhagen, with the rank of Second Secretary, where the course of his official duties brought him into contact with the members of the reigning families of Europe who were connected with the Royal House of Denmark. These naturally included His late Majesty King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, as also His Majesty King George V. At this period he wrote several poems which were printed in a volume for private circulation, dedicated with gracious permission to Queen Alexandra, then Princess of Wales. Her Majesty's representative at Copenhagen was then the late Sir Hugh McDonell, G.C.M.G., and the First Secretary was Mr. Goschen who, as Sir Edward Goschen, subsequently became Ambassador at Berlin. Mr. C. C. Thornton's health began to give way as the result of the extreme cold of the Hun- garian winter following after the warmer climate of Portugal. Weakened by a prolonged period of ill-health, he died suddenly from heart-failure on the night of 16 May, 1902, at Meran in the Tyrol, where he rests. The Rev. John Thornton our Chief's third son Leslie 104 SOME THINGS WE HAVE BEMEMBEEED Heber, late of the Eifle Brigade, who was invalided after the Terah campaign, has justified his choice as Military Ad- r to the Cambridge University Training Corps, which, under his guidance, has been so successful that the degree of MA. has been conferred on him. Captain Thornton was i 21 December, 1873. CHAPTER VI. (1) BIRTH AND EARLY LIFE OF AUTHOR. THE ELTONS. (2) SCHOOL AT BRIGHTON AND RAMSGATE. If I am asked to record the earliest memory I possess, the reply is — being carried across the street from 12 Upper Gloucester Place late at night owing to a sudden outbreak of fire in our home, and stopping for some time with my mother and sister at the house of Captain Becher, R.N., afterwards Admiral Becher. The welcome given us I have never forgotten, nor the kindness of Miss Constantia Becher, afterwards wife of Dr. Ellicott, Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol, who survives him. It is pleasant to record how that my earliest friend outside my own family remains one still. The fire did not prove to be serious, but the incident con- nected with it is firmly fixed in my mind, despite the fact that sixty-five years have since passed. I was greatly enchanted when my parents took me for my first railway journey and by coach afterwards. It seemed a very weary finish, however, as the destination by train was Exeter, and we had to get to Exmouth the same night. My mother was exceedingly anxious to see her two sisters who were there, just before Miss Lucy Rice's marriage to Mr. Edmund Elton. I can see the white houses on the Esplanade now, and can recognise even now the personality of my beautiful and interesting aunt, the vision having thrown a sort of romantic halo over a spot I never revisited until 1911. As a result of the union of the Elton and Rice families, then to be brought about, we children at 12 Upper Gloucester Place gained a brother, in lieu of one taken early in life to his rest ; as my cousins Edmund, now Sir Edmund Elton, 105 SOME THINGS WE HAVE REMEMBERED and mv mothers surviving sister, Miss Helen Rice, came to look upon mv parent's home as their own after my Aunt Lucys death threw so deep a shadow over our young lives. I take the opportunity of inserting here the lines written her father-in-law, Sir Charles A. Elton, Bart., and I shall next in order my account of our Elton connexions :— IN MEMORY of LUCY MARIA, Daughter of the v. .1. M. Rice, and Wife of E. W. Elton, Son of Bib I bablbs Elton, Bart.; Born, September 18th, L814; Died, May 16th, 1846. Does youth, does beauty read the line, mpathetic fear their breast alarm, Bpeak, Lost, loved Lucy ; breathe a strain divine, i from the grave thou shalt have power to charm. ill. in l>e chaste, be innocent like thee, Bid them in duty's sphere as meekly move, An. I n" as fail from vanity as free, \ firm in friendship and as fond in love. Tell them ; though 'tis an awful thing to die, is e'en to thee, yet the dread path once trod, ||. i. m !r ll-isting portal high, An d bids the pore in heart behold their God. Sir Abraham Elton, the first Baronet, was descended from the family of the Baslesof Herefordshire and Gloucester. He r.nstnl and Mayor of Bristol in 1710; created net in October, 1717. The second Baronet who suc- ded him w i Sir Abraham. He was M.P. for Bristol : alderman and Mayor of the same city. He was suc- < . . ,1. ,1 l.y two other B j of the name of Abraham, the ;i Aldi rman and Mayor of the City of Bristol wl hi L762, unmarried, and his brother Sir Abraham Elton, tonrth Baronet, succeeded. He was Town Clerk I. . Sir Abraham Elton, filth Baronet, died 23 I I I ' and i w«> <>l Ins clnltln n survived him, one of I I b ham Elton, was sixth Baronet. BIRTH AND EARLY LIFE OF AUTHOR 107 A sister of Charles Abraham, the sixth Baronet, married Henry Hallam, the historian, and had issue Henry and Arthur Hallam, Arthur being the great friend who inspired Tenny- son's "In Memoriani". Sir Charles A. Elton's name will ever be identified with the literary associations of Clevedon Court. He was a contributor to the "London Magazine" in conjunction with Charles Lamb, De Quincy, and Barry Cornwall ; but his reputation as a writer principally rested on his translations from the Classic Poets, his first work having been a translation of " Hesiod," and is the only version that can be depended upon. Sir Charles also published a volume of original poems, and his elegy on the death of his two sons by drowning, entitled " The Brothers," drew from Charles Lamb, and Southey, letters of congratulation and rare praise. The originals of these letters are in the Library at Clevedon Court. Sir Charles Abraham Elton was in the Army, and two of his children were the late Sir Arthur Hallam Elton, the seventh Baronet, who died without male issue, and Edmund William, who married June 1, 1845, my aunt Lucy Maria, daughter of the Rev. John Morgan Rice, who died May 16, 1846. He had issue one son, Edmund Harry Elton, the eighth Baronet, known for his success as a potter. Sir Arthur Hallam Elton inherited from his father many of his literary gifts. He was the author of a well-known novel, "Below the Surface," containing many of his experi- ences as a County Magistrate and Guardian, in which he showed a keen sense of humour and considerable ability. He was a contributor to the " Saturday Review " when that paper was at the height of its popularity, and wrote many pamphlets on social, political, and religious subjects ; those more especially interesting were his " Tracts for the present crisis," dealing with the Crimean War, which he always deprecated. He re- presented Bath in the Liberal interest but resigned in conse- quence of conscientious objections to the policy of his own Party on certain questions. Gladstone had a high opinion of his powers, and later on in life urged his returning to Parlia- 108 SOME THINGS WE HAVE REMEMBERED mentary work, but this his health did not permit, and his vs were also somewhat modified by that time. He died in L8fi The Baronet and Dame Rhoda, Lady Elton, were accus- tomed to drive a pair of ponies to which bells were attached through Clevedon and its environs. He will be remembered a munificent benefactor to the Church of England, and for those who not knowing his personality could not honour him as many relations and friends did so universally, Sir Arthur Elton's memory will be written in consecrated stones. His daughter, now Lady Elton, inherits his literary per- ception and is an excellent judge of general literature. Sir Arthur suffered a serious loss before he died in the destruction of a valuable library at Clevedon Court by fire. Clevedon Court is one of the oldest houses in England and is surrounded with beautiful scenery, the climate being such that even the pomegranate will blossom and bear fruit in the open air, also much interest attaches to this venerable pile and the distinguished men and women who have been ited with it, such as Hallam the historian and his two 9, Arthur and Henry — Tennyson, Coleridge, Thackeray. The Hallams are buried in the chancel of the old church on brow of the wind-swept down overlooking the Bristol Channel. While Tennyson immortalized Clevedon in verse,Thackeray in i prm ted the stamp of his genius in prose upon Clevedon urt.the "Castlewood" of his greatest romance (" Esmond "). It i-. in short, a most interesting old place, standing close to the main road, and is one of the most valuable relics of early domestic architecture in England. One of the few manor- houses thai have been used as such without interruption from the time of Edward II, it was restored under the Tudors ; (•although it has since received many additions and altera- tion-, o much of the old building remains that the original Qg< in. rits can be clearly made out, and many of the I rooms and offices are almost perfect. The south ■ "i fine preservation, and with its traceried BIRTH AND EARLY LIFE OF AUTHOR 109 windows, its quaint gables, its variously ornamented chimneys, is an excellent specimen of an old English residence. The entrance-porch retains the original doorways and mouldings, with grooves for the portcullis, which was worked from the room above, and at the other end of the passage is a similar porch ; while between these, on the right, are three doorways opening from the screens to the buttery, pantry, and kitchen. The great hall, slightly modernized, is a very striking oak- panelled apartment. It is hung with family portraits— in- cluding one by Herkomer of the late baronet, Sir Arthur Elton — and a good picture of Hallain the historian. A min- strel gallery is on the south-east side. A "newel " staircase, of which there were originally four, leads from the south-west angle of the chapel on to the roof, which was discovered after a fire in 1882. It contains very fine specimens of early four- teenth-century tracery in east and south windows, together with the original piscina. There is a small room leading off the hall in which there are many interesting curios, among others an original deed of recovery against Roger Wake, a former owner of the Court, time of Henry VII. Here, too, is a pipe of Sir Walter Scott's ; a carved peg tankard or wassail bowl, similar to one possessed by the last Abbot of Glaston- bury, with the principal events of Our Lord's life carved upon it. In the library are the letters from Thackeray, and the folio of caricatures and sketches which the novelist made whilst staying at the Court. Over the bookshelves hang framed certificates of the many prizes which Sir Edmund Elton has gained for his pottery. The gardens and the terraces, rising tier over tier, are full of beauty, especially in summer, and in two or three buildings, a short distance from the house, designated by the name of the Sunflower Pottery, the present Baronet has for many years produced the Elton ware. It was in December, 1879, that the present Sir Edmund Elton — then Mr. Elton — first thought of turning his attention to art-work in baked clay. Watching men making tiles in a brick-field, the notion occurred to him of making clay mosaics 110 SOME THINGS WE HAVE KEMEMBEKED to be coloured and glazed for the decoration of church walls. He took home some unburnt tiles, cut them up, and completed a half-length figure of Sir Philip Sidney taken from some painted glass at Clevedon Court. In the simplicity of his ranee he thought he had only to colour and glaze his clay id bake them in an open kiln, like a brick-kiln on a small scale, and the trick would be done. He accordingly built such a kiln, and tried. The result was, in his own i dead failure". He built another kiln, with the . ■ o >nsequences, and it was not until October, 1882, that the Sunflower Pottery was in full working order. His failures and discouragements were many and serious, but considering that three years before he had been absolutely ignorant of his craft and that within that period, without any regular train- in::, except experience, he became master of it, as well as the sor of secrets of his own, his success both with regard bhe measure of it, and the time he took to achieve it, is bably unique in the history of pottery. tfoai valuable assistance has been and is afforded by one Masters by name, who came to the infant pottery tight from school in 1880, going through the difficulties I disappointments of the early days, and is in Sir Edmund's employment still. Mr. Masters was awarded a silver medal Franco-British Exhibition of 1908 for his work in con- don with the exhibit of Elton ware at that exhibition. I'.ut in spit'' of repeated failure and disappointment it may truthfully be said, in the words of Professor A. H. Church, thai " Elton ware has achieved a decided and original success by virtue of the thorough soundness of its fabric, the fresh- mperance of i(s forms, the appropriateness of its decoration, ami the rich qualities of its colour ". This to me og, because my mother foresaw that Edmund Elton's inquiring mind would l« tad him to become an inventor. I Imund was educated at Bradfield College, and at Cambridge, where he was in his College First II ie . Ambrose and Bernard, were also mem- Ucook'a Foundation. BIKTH AND EAKLY LIFE OF AUTHOK 111 Upper Gloucester Place was not a residence which would reach the ideal of Mr. Kuskin in a due proportion of colour prevailing around, but the brightness of a happy English home nevertheless reigned within those unpretending portals. My mother, Emily Elizabeth, eldest daughter of the Eev. John Morgan Eice, of Tooting, Surrey, first met my father after his return from India at the close of the first Burmese war, at the house of her uncle, Sir Ealph Eice, 4 Hanover Terrace, and was married to him on 8 September, 1840. Her main object in life was to render my father and her young charges' lives happy ; but so intense was her family sympathy that those sentiments extended towards all our connexions as well as to the hosts of friends who congregated around us. It is remarkable how unchanged in essential particulars is that neighbourhood around Upper Gloucester Place and south of Eegent's Park since I first remember it sixty-two years ago. But for the displacement of buildings where the Great Central Eailway Station now stands, little fundamental alteration either of streets or tenements can be perceived. True it is that very few of the old names are found on the shops which flourished there in the forties, but even in this particular exceptions are frequent. No. 12 Upper Gloucester Place (now No. 39) was for some years the home of my father and mother after their marriage in 1840, and there both my sister and myself first saw light. A younger brother, as men- tioned above, died in infancy. Amongst the earliest of my childhood's recollections is that of being asked by Admiral Sir George Westphal, outside Clarence Gate, to let him put me upon the back of his skew- bald cob, the beauty of whose form used to call forth the youth- ful admiration. On the occasion in question the good Admiral, who as a Midshipman on the " Victory " was close to Lord Nelson when he received his death-wound, and was when in the cockpit bespattered by his blood, stood at the animal's head while I was lifted on to its back, and the cob remaining quiet while led, I felt a confidence in the saddle which has 112 SOME THINGS WE HAVE EEMEMBEEED never left me. This occurred in the year 1848, when I was •ars old, and I remember the date because my father and Sir George Westphal conversed concerning the threatened a-tist demonstration, the fear of which almost paralysed the Metropolis, at a time when thrones were tottering, and sometimes falling, under similar popular manifestations. I shall never forget my father going as a special consta- ble to parade in Pall Mall, and my mother believing the dis- tant reverberations of a thunder-storm meant that Fergus O'Connor and Ernest Jones, father of Mr. Atherley Jones, MP., the Chartist leaders, had come into conflict with the civil and military forces of the Crown. I have spoken of 12 Upper Gloucester Place with affec- iate remembrance as the place where the family clan for- hered, and it was not until early in the fifties that we made Thornton House, Blackheath Park, our home, where also lived my mother's surviving sister, Helen Rice, and mund Elton their nephew, whose father, having married kin into an Italian family, sojourned chiefly abroad. He 3 an artist of no mean capacity, and I can well remem- ber the skill he evinced in depicting nautical scenes. Mr. Edmund W. Elton's widow and their beautiful daughter Minna, who became the Hon. Mrs. Boyle, were frequent in- mates of Clevedon Court, when I have been present, and the surviving daughter Marion spends her life at Eastbourne in the congenial occupation of tending the sick and needy. We us.d to go to Brighton a good deal from the year L860, when my grandmother, Mrs. Eice, lived at 6 Eoyal nt, winch if not a very large house was at least an our. More lively children than my sister Clare and her cousin Edmund Harry Elton could not well have i. and the) hi >th surpassed me in general activity at this iod, The former was the swiftest child runner I have t known and up to Blackheath days was unsurpassed by "hfiil oonto mporaries in this particular, as well as for tting up one of the tall trees which stood on the ' v. hat is now called Thornton House. SCHOOL AT BRIGHTON AND RAMSGATE 113 At the Royal Crescent, Brighton, our next-door neighbour was Bishop Bagot of Bath and Wells, at the time a martyr to gout, and I remember how he would first joyfully welcome the children's presence, and then shrink from the strong grasp of the hand which the future Sir Edmund Elton then insisted on giving to all his special friends and associates without any respect of persons, as the poor afflicted prelate more than once realized. Brighton was not the only seaside place to which we were taken early in life, and I specially remember a visit to Hastings, because it was the occasion upon which my dear mother first dared to trust to a constantly inculcated sense of reverence sufficiently to take me to church. For, if my years made me more staid than my youthful associates, sister and cousin, the natural man — as the old theologians have it — was strongly enough implanted in my nature to make it a severe penance to sit quiet for at least two hours. This, however, I did accomplish by my mother's side in St. Mary's Chapel, The Crescent, Hastings, which was a place of worship fully approved by the Evangelicals of those days. I can remember now with what manifest dignity the Incum- bent — the Rev. Mr. Vaus — the solace and adviser of very many good people, male and female, who rejoiced in being called Low Church — swept from the Communion table to the tall three-decker clothed in a magnificent black glossy silk gown apparently fresh from the then active looms of Spitalfields ; and how very quiet and well behaved the clerk appeared to me to be during an impassioned and eloquent address which was certainly not of undue length. I have since learned that my initiation into church-going took place under the ministration of a preacher as celebrated for his piety and self-sacrifice as for the gifts he used so efficiently in his Master's cause. The assembled congregation certainly could not have desired one of their number to realize the fact that their house of worship was, minus the pews, as like as possible in general appearance to a fair-sized provincial theatre. My mother 8 114 SOME THINGS WE HAVE BEMEMBEBED was, anyhow, after this experience, sufficiently confident of my quiet behaviour in church to take me to St. John's Wood Chapel and to my uncle Sir Ealph Kice's pew there, when we returned home to London. This ecclesiastical building was a place of worship similar to that at The Crescent, Hastings, and was filled every Sunday by a devoted and serious congre- on, and I state this, not remembering the name of the clergyman who kept it together so efficiently, only to show that though at that period a stirring of the waters was being made by the disciples of Dr. Newman and Pusey at Oxford, largely in consequence of the stagnation which did undoubtedly to a considerable degree prevail in the mid-Victorian Church of England, yet the exceptions were numerous. Great and gifted enthusiasts, such as Canon Melville, the most eloquent preacher Mr. Gladstone remembered, and his pupil James Fleming, but lately gone to his rest, clergymen like Mr. Vaus at Hastings, Mr. Joseph Fenn of Blackheath Park, and Dr. Miller of Birmingham and Greenwich, were at this critical iod successful in keeping alight amongst thousands of pie the lamp of everlasting truth, and I say this conscious of how numbers of others, groping as it were for a like satis- faction, found it in the contemplation of the great and good in* n who directed the celebrated Oxford movement. The Englishman's house is proverbially his castle, and so in ;m Evangelical chapel in the fifties was the family pew re- ded with the same domestic sanctity. I can remember my Uncle Ralph's distress on hearing how an old Indian contem- u v of his had a sudden and ultimately fatal seizure when, coming in late with a party of friends at St. John's Wood Chapel, he was unable to get a seat at all owing to his pew and .ill others being very properly filled to the uttermost. H( ace "in of this not infallible system arose a reaction in the public mind which led to free seats and shifting chairs, a of independence for the individual, maybe, and, ' Bill I add, to occasional avoidance of the sermon. 1 '""I an Evangelical point of view it would have been ble thai a clergyman should wear any robe in a SCHOOL AT BRIGHTON AND RAMSGATE 115 pulpit other than the black gown, and old-fashioned people, such as even nay clever and broad-minded uncle, Sir Ralph Rice, had certainly not realized the possibility of a change of raiment such as that to which Churchmen soon became reconciled. His had been a brilliant legal career in India. Born in 1781 he was educated at Cheam School, and after- wards at Oriel College, Oxford, taking his degree in 1802. Then Sir Ralph was called to the Bar and went the Western Circuit, marrying early in life a Miss Bourke who after fifteen years of married life died of the fell disease consumption. But the desolating sorrow which at first threatened to paralyse this able lawyer's rising career was encountered by pressing on closely and persistently with the hard work necessary to success in the law, which he thenceforth pursued in the Straits Settlements, being given the Recordership of Penan g and a Knighthood, honours which in due time were followed by a Judgeship at Bombay. The course of this story has shown how our home life was influenced and indeed determined by the return from India of this uncle and his tenancy of No. 4 Hanover Terrace, Regent's Park, my father who had been the guest of Sir Ralph at Penang renewing his acquaintance with him in London and meeting my mother at this new home. Sir Ralph had a most remarkable knowledge of Sacred Writ, and rejoiced in the beauties and imagery of the Bible, portions of which, chosen by him, I used to read aloud when quite a child. Our life at and around Blackheath between 1853 and 1859 was rendered interesting by coming in contact with those naval heroes who had been engaged in the struggles with Republican France and Napoleon. Although most of these honoured seamen had suffered from wounds, it was remarkable how often these had been inflicted after the command of the sea had been won by Nelson at Trafalgar. The careers of men such as Sir James Gordon, Governor of Greenwich Hospital (1853-69), Sir Watkyn Owen Pell (both Admirals), and Captain Cuppage, a popular tenant of one of the wings of that haven of naval retirement devoted 8 * 11.; SOME THINGS WE HAVE REMEMBERED to Captains of the Hospital, formed no unworthy study for the historian of the period, and although doubtless those one met with around Blackheath in the late fifties had their counterparts in each naval centre, yet I regard the group named as worthy of mention because collectively representa- tive of the scenes they had witnessed and the manner in which they had struggled with adversity. One of the last conversations I ever had with the late Sir William Harcourt was upon the relative merits of the men of the Napoleonic era and that of the piping times of peace which the reform era of 1830 bequeathed to the Victorian period. Sir William's comments will be found in this book, but I must summarize them here by saying that he ascribed the greater prominence of individual characters during the European agony which closed with 1815, to the enhanced necessity for exertion which came home to mankind while the echoes of the French Revolution were reverberating over Kurope and even remoulding distant parts of the world. These men's lives were notable for reasons such as I have just Darned and as actors on the widest stage of modern times, but it is indicative of the iron courage and resolution heir day that Admirals Sir James Gordon and Sir Watkyn n Pell, as well as Captain Cuppage, should each have lost a leg in action and returned to active service within two years after tin' wound was received. Sir James, while in command of the "Active," Frigate of uiis, captured on 29 November, 1811, the French Frigate i imone" of 44 guns, a 36-pounder shot taking his leg off daring the action. It is scarcely credible, but vouched for by O'Byrne' Naval Biography, that he became Commander of Bi ahorse" on L3 September, 1812, thenceforth, despite maimed condition, resuming a career both in Europe and America which formed a precious possession of the British "'■ ,ll:tl '" »tiable warrior, Sir Watkyn Owen Pell, lost l presented the following day to Dr. Vaughan in his own home by a deputation of angered parents whose sons and friends had been wounded in the conflict. Stone-throw- ing at any rate was shown to have been indulged in freely by both Bides, and the iron rule of the school had therefore D infringed by its members. Nevertheless it is a fact, of which many old Harrovians will see the importance, that am • ither well-known Harrow inhabitants present in the that day was Billie Warner, son of the famous Lord Warner, while if ie my belief that this was the occasion upon which ' Bottles," the " man Ambridge " of Dr. Butler's times, made one of his earliest appearances in the fighting line at crow. Others bearing the names of well-known Harrow i to the fore. As a matter of fact, how- •I, they represented an organized aggressive host, the atl n the Grove being by no means unpremedi- 1 ' the braises and other injuries displayed Di \ re obviously genuine, and the Master HARROW.— PART T. 1856-60 133 of the Grove could not, as he evidently desired, shield his pupils. As the result of an interview between Dr. Vaughan and Mr. Steel, the names of the more active Steelites who led the charge and discharged some of the forbidden stones were placed upon small pieces of paper with a summons to Dr. Vaughan's room in the old school next morning. And this was an occasion when that good and great man gave rein to unusual indignation at his rule being so ruthlessly trans- gressed. Sam Hoare, the School Custos, was put to some anxiety as to providing sufficient birches for the ceremonial which straightway took place in the Fourth Form room, where a considerable number of youths between the ages of 14 and 16 who were proved guilty all suffered the same penalty ; the scenes enacted forming something of a counter- part to an even larger and more famous punitive effort of Dr. Keats at Eton. Steelite culprits chiefly remembered these punishments, undergone with Spartan resolution, as marking a day from the date of which they resolved to be, at some convenient time, level with the "Chaws" who had sneaked to the Doctor. I state these facts to demonstrate how altered is the Har- row of to-day from that of my own time, when the present pleasant relations between the School and Town did not gener- ally exist. I may also mention that the Steelites had peculiar traditions of their own. According to these, it was allowable and necessary to prevent members of other Houses coming up the Foss between Grove Hill and the Churchyard. But it must not be imagined that those grave and reverend seigniors, the Monitors of Mr. Steel's house, were either privy to these proceedings or not elevated above them by the cast of their minds and the nature of their occupations. Around Mr. George Trevelyan, the future statesman and historian, nephew and biographer of Lord Macaulay, clustered in the Sixth Form room of the Grove many congenial spirits from all parts of Harrow School ; while the names of Car- 134 SOME THINGS WE HAVE EEMEMBEBED penter Gamier, Richard Bagwell, the historian of the Tudor tunes in Ireland, Sir John Kennaway, lately retired from a dative career, H. M. Rogers, a successful Indian Ad- min :. and R. Mallock, M.P. for Torquay, reveal the oe of a coterie whose aims and ambitions stretched fcher than the cricket and football fields. More than once have I seen that experienced educationist, Sir Charles Tre- velyan, who bad exercised his craft to good purpose in Hin- dustan, in close and friendly converse with these friends of his own distinguished son who thus early seemed to have ;h prospects before them. Outside of the Grove there were, for instance, at this period those at Harrow in the sixties who, if not destined to guide the State from the Treasury Bench, yet rendered valuable service to the nation. Amongst such as these will recognized Sir Charles Dalrymple, a sage legislator when RIP. for Ipswich, and Sir Herbert Mackworth Praed, the aker, whose faculty for organization has served the Con- i natives bo well. B I have allowed there was an educational rift even ;tt my beloved Barrow, I must now state that the absence of what ia dow called the Modern side and all that it betokens -•• ma aim >st inexplicable when far-seeing advisers, such as I. E. Bowen, were at hand to warn the elder generation of >n which betokened failure to read the signs of the tun T .• 36 lie' sage Prince Consort managed to interpret, as is shown by his projects of scientific preparation for the rent "f that in ne populous Great Britain whose fortunes . m the halance. The r< ader who glances over these pages and wonders knowledge inside the curriculum was, under ordinary kcquired about the years 1856-60 at a great • I by on-' who was destined to spend no mean i of .i long lii public man, and yet had next to no n lin • in i he I'.lueational routine, will gather that such could by the nature of the; case be acquired came with individuals wl iose talents and personali ty HARROW.— PART I. 1856-60 135 interested the boy both in and out of school. This was cer- tainly my own case when fortunate enough to get into Mr. Farrar's Form, where the idlest and least thoughtful were necessarily attracted by the wide information given in a shape which rendered instruction interesting. Perhaps we might have been a little slack during these lessons, when most of us felt sure that the worst consequences for the idler would be that of being stigmatized as "grass on the house-tops". Once he applied this epithet to me at the time when his book " Eric, or Little by Little," had just appeared, so that my companions, who marked Mr. Farrar's almost scornful sorrow at my ignorance, called out, "Please, Sir, is not Friday Thornton 'Ball'?" — the youthful villain of this romance. Nevertheless I did learn in Farrar's Form to apply my mind to other and higher matters than running, football, and cricket, with which I still felt most concerned when I left at the end of 1859. Add to the advantages of personal contact with men of brilliant classical minds and deep scholarship such as Farrar and Steel that of being fag to the genial and gifted Sir George Trevelyan, and the writer can scarcely plead that after all he did not gain opportunities for a good set-off at the well-loved school of John Lyon. The life at Harrow was varied by a pleasant holiday interlude when the trip to Cherbourg took place to which I alluded in a former chapter. I crossed the Channel in a swift P. & 0. boat from Southampton while a half-gale blew. There met the eye of each reviving victim of mal de mer on nearing the French coast a most beautiful and memorable scene. The harbourage around the fortress surrounded with richly timbered hills was crowded with all sorts of sailing craft and the Fleets of Great Britain and France were mingled together in all the glory of the old liners. Of course auxiliary steam was then more or less in vogue, but the reign of sails and masts still held sway and gave a dignity to the scene which not even the fine lines of the new " Dreadnoughts " can replace. 136 SOME THINGS WE HAVE BEMEMBEBED The arrival of the Queen and Prince Albert in the Eoyal •ht and their reception by the French Emperor took place under the eves of those on board the vessel which conveyed the Directors of the P. & 0. Company and their friends to these naval fetes. In the evening there were illuminations .re, and I remember how under the stern of the Imperial launch glimmered the first electric light I ever beheld. - inda of mirth and jollity were heard by us upon the " Pera," which P. & 0. vessel had been chartered to carry the Members of both Houses of Parliament to this celebration of the en- tor lade which Louis Napoleon, I believe, despite political occurrences pointing afterwards to different conclu- . honestly wished should remain permanent. This ■ .pinion rests on the personal authority of the late Lord Mal- ry, who was intimate with the Emperor in exile and attended his Court as a British Minister when the Imperial were once more emblazoned on the Tuileries. It has I een strengthened by information derived from a British diplomatist of high repute. Anyhow, the international good- will then exiting was reflected by the Members of the British : French I'm] laments on the good ship "Pera," where, after dinner, a ball had been spontaneously started, on which ii Admiral Sir Charles Napier's performance of a horn- pipe was not to be allowed to hold the quarter deck exclusively, hut had to give place to the Member for Portsmouth, Sir Elphinatone, who soull'ully negotiated a Scotch reel. b at Least was the explanation given to my shipmates when tin ' cho< I and re-echoed shouts of the excited revellers ■ \ a climax ami aroused general curiosity. With us on i as my lather's guests were H. M. Kogers and II. (' B. Thornton, while much to the fore in promoting mirth ■nial young Harrovian, the late Charles Wegnelin, wnol the M. ■ml. er for Southampton, subsequently ' : tor at the Cambridge A.D.C., and the coadjutor ' • Bnrnand and the preaent Lord Carrington in those performancea oi I he early sixties which cer- ■ ; thi i tin, oi that celebrated club. HAEKOW.— PART I. 1856-60 137 My father had been deeply interested in Lord Balgonie's military career, and much rejoiced at the well-merited honour which he gained in carrying the colours of his regiment, the Grenadier Guards, through the scenes of danger and death which were enacted after crossing the little River Alma to ascend the heights covered with the grey-coated Russian bat- talions, which Prince Mentschikoff had massed together on those historic hills. Being a Director of the P. & 0. Steam- ship Company, the Admiral was enabled to overlook the passages of some of his friends on their way to the East ; and, although the gallant heir to the Leven and Melville title went out with his regiment, circumstances arose which enabled the Admiral to be of use to those cousins in Fifeshire who had been so long his close friends. After the war was over and Lord Balgonie was on the point of starting from Melville House to receive the festal greetings of his neighbours in Ladybank, he was stricken with an haemorrhage of the lungs, and was quite unable to appear. Nor did the complaint show signs of abating its force; so that a sojourn on a Nile boat, being declared necessary for the invalid, all arrangements for his comfort on the voyage were entrusted to Admiral Thornton. Well do I remember a visit to the lawn at Roehampton in the summer, before this gallant soldier left to endeavour to restore the health lost during the rigours of that terrible Crimean winter, and this although he had escaped the bullets and bayonets of a brave enemy encountered hand to hand in stern combat. By the death of this noble scion of his race, and that of a surviving brother, John Melville, our uncle by marriage be- came heir to the title of Leven and Melville and eventu- ally inherited as ninth Earl. But during this period of war's alarms we had a happy home life at Blackheath to enjoy and remember. Amongst my father's friends it was our delight to welcome to Blackheath Park the celebrated Cambridge Mathematician Arthur Caley of Trinity, whose strikingly faithful portrait in the Hall of that College attracts those who knew and cared SOME THINGS WE HAVE EEMEMBEEED for this great man. The simplest of natures, it was not always that he shone in general Society, but I have the most teful remembrance of his kindnesses to a wild, unthinking from Jesus College, Cambridge, in the sixties of last .tury. 11 ia father had been in business relations with my grand- io the Russian trade. Those curious enough to behold a living presentment of this remarkable personage should ask feasor Caley's portrait in the Hall of Trinity College, mbridge. CHAPTEB VIII. LAST VOYAGE OF ADMIRAL THORNTON. My father was about this time frequently engaging himself in helping on some young person who wished to seek occupa- tion in India by making the voyage just as easy as a P. & Director could enjoin. But, alas, the time came when a similar sympathetic assistance was needed for our well-be- loved parent himself. I was not a careful observer of health in those days ; but during the Christmas holidays of 1858 it dawned on me when at home at Blackheath Park that his cheerfulness, which had hitherto brightened up every com- pany into which he entered, was not nearly so apparent and only came fitfully amongst us. A few months later and I was summoned from Harrow and straightway permitted to undertake with my father a trip to the Mediterranean. Sup- pressed gout was alleged to be the cause of illness, accompanied by difficulty in walking owing to pain in the feet. The Ad- miral had certainly derived considerable good from the change, and on the return voyage became the life of the assembled party on board the paddle-ship " Ripon," but walking had become even more difficult for him. On our return through the Bay of Biscay in fair weather the accident occurred whereby he lost his life by drowning. He must have made a false step near the paddle and have fallen straight into the sea. The ship was travelling its fullest pace and the alarm given too late for any chance of saving his life or recovering the body. Never during the whole of the trip had I seen the Admiral so well or in such excellent spirits as during the twelve hours before this occurred. He told sea stories at dinner and appeared to be thoroughly set up in every way ; 139 140 SOME THINGS WE HAVE REMEMBEKED so that I felt free to occupy my time on that fatal day by reading Sir Bulwer Lytton's " Last Days of Pompeii," from the perusal of which I was aroused by the alarm which soon ,kened that I had lost the best of all friends and the 'Kindest as well as the most interesting of fathers. Out of the long anxiety felt for my mother and sister in this sad hour there is one thought still green in my memory which prompts everlasting gratitude to my Uncle John Thornton and his daughter, Miss Clementina Thornton, who met me on arrival in England and took me to Clapham. \lthou man of business — a useful heavy-weight in a boat, a lively hitter at cricket, with a general knowledge of the game, and knowing well how to manage the arrangements connected therewith both on the University ground at Fenner's and on the Jesus Piece. When the athletic sports became popular, in 1863, Ned stepped instinctively into that arena also, and took his place by the side of tried experts such as Leslie Stephen and John Chambers. At Jesus he mapped out the course and arranged the programme, taking the lead effectively by reason of ener- Bympathy for the sport. One thing is certain, that the her decided manners of one apparently somewhat auto- matically inclined really concealed a very kind heart. In later years, when Ned Morgan became Dean he occupied himself in looking after the new building operations which timed to finish within a reasonable period. This, as often may be the case, led to some temporary confusion, and one occasion a plank on the scaffolding was found to be un- saf« nefore the Dean set foot on it. He gave the work- men within his ken a severe reprimand. When he had got down safely, a I) rick layer expressed his opinion of the Dean's temperament and vituperatory powers by the caustic advice: ' If yon want bo give Mr. Morgan a spill, kill him ; don't 'urt him ". 'I'll i w< II -authenticated story of how the Dean had complain of a freshman absenting himself from chapel, I i"' '•• ived the reply that he could not conscientiously at- having made np his mind either what religion he I or what (hid he worshipped. Then emphatically e youth ;i in-. i\ : " You must find a God in time for Chapel ai clock to-night, or find another College". addicted myseli in athl< tics I soon became a member Club and was told off in the capacity of TROTTESCLIFFE AND JESUS COLLEGE 167 treasurer to approach the Master and solicit his support, moral and financial. Well do I remember the kindly recep- tion I received at the Lodge. But Dr. Corrie qualified his acquiescence by remarking gratuitously : " My young friend, I will gladly assist you in athletics, as I have done with cricket ; but you must not ask me for support to rowing, an occupation to which I can give no countenance owing to the bedizened women on the bank ". I retired, rather taken aback and somewhat startled ; albeit I could not find words to defend the fresh sport which I had embraced so ardently by avow- ing my ignorance of any such aquatic distraction. But on this point the old gentleman remained unshakeable to the end of his career, so that it was left to Dr. Henry Morgan to lead the Boat Club to its more modern high position as head of the river or well up with all rivals, while we in the sixties hovered about the top of the second division. Two well-known figures at Jesus were those of Dr. Arthur Westmoreland, Bursar and Steward, and the Eev. J. Robert- son, Dean in the early sixties, who before he went to Rugby as a Master occupied the high position in the College which his cultured abilities as a classical scholar merited. Unfortu- nately he got into a controversy at Rugby when Dr. Hayman was there and consequently left, and, after a short spell as Head Master at Haileybury, he took a country living. At Harrow he had been much beloved as an Assistant Master, and left behind him a legacy of several fine school songs which fully hold their own by the side of those written by Edward Bowen and E. W. Howson. The Dean was fond of boxing, and once or twice hardly looked the official char- acter in Chapel, when adorned with a black eye after a friendly bout with our College " Baby " before mentioned. At our College the most kindly relations existed between Mr. Robertson and the humble personage penning these lines. In those days, however, dogs were permitted to live in Jesus College rooms, and unfortunately two bull-dogs, the property of the Dean and myself, respectively styled "Dick" and "Bob," conceived an hostility one for the other quite out of SOME THINGS WE HAVE REMEMBERED unison with the owners' mutual friendliness. Poor "Bob" was a good deal mauled once or twice by his bigger and stronger neighbour "Dick," and I certainly felt rather the . party in consequence. But when one of these tile encounters took place just before Hall, and the animals hud to be separated, I was requested almost immediately to I my two specimens of the canine race, " Bob " and " Chloe," a white poodle, out of College. In vain did I appeal against this sudden ukase; and, as separation from my loved com- panions seemed impossible, I elected to go myself into lodgings ; hat a somewhat sorrowful procession down the chimney • n. when, accompanied by these affectionate creatures and a truck containing pictures and small articles of furniture, ok up my abode nearly opposite, in Malcolm Street, in a house where I found the present Lord Chief Justice, then hard Webster of Trinity, and so opened up an acquaintance which ripened into brotherhood such as nothing has disturbed hall a century. shard Webster enjoyed great popularity up at Cani- bridge. Many old Charterhouse contemporaries had long the extraordinary genius for work combined with .vhich soon placed his name high amongst members of Trinity College. But he had a pe- cul ilty ol attaching the College servants and those as- • i ni daily College work to himself. It was but a year • that one of the old servants who, as a boy em- 00 odd jobs in the Close, had known the future Lord Chi marked to me, " How you used to like to be ■ Mr. W cl I often wonder what has become of '"an." This when the lost friend had for some I. I Chief Justice of England! What indeed I tb< i v. .1 and highest success in the minds of bomel •. compared with the memory of those only known as having befriended them early in life and 1 their daily round by an unfailing spirit of hopeful- r'lnpal by. ' bave bei ted the determination which has been a TROTTESCLIFFE AND JESUS COLLEGE 169 leading feature in the Lord Chief Justice's career. This was exemplified in 1865, when he fell down a hundred yards from the post in the long-distance race at Fenner's, and yet, picking himself up, came in with what was known as the " Webster rush " and won. Colonel Malleson, the Indian his- torian, who was present, remarked to me as he left the ground : " That man is bound to succeed in life ". It is not known even at Kennington Oval, where Lord Alverstone presides over the Surrey Committee, how hard a hitter Dick Webster was at Cambridge, and how large a scorer he became in Trinity College matches. I once witnessed one of these on Parker's Piece and re- member seeing several long " slogs," for so I fear I must term them, being run out by a striker whose name I elicited there and then. It proved to be the long-distance runner who never to my knowledge practised cricket on that sward at Fenner's, around which he achieved such notable athletic successes. Practising with him on the athletic path might often be seen Viscount Melgund, who as Lord Minto governed both Canada and India so wisely and well. I am certainly not going to write again the story of the foundation of the Inter-University Sports, which it is well known was brought about by conferences between the Dons at several Colleges, Leslie Stephen being one, with Chambers, Lawes, Webster, and myself. As Secretary of the C.U.A.C. of that period I had to communicate with our Oxonian friends. I had achieved an all-round reputation for athletics at the time ; but when I first came to Cambridge I had to yield pride of place in distances up to a quarter of a mile to Mason of St. Catherine's who went by the name of " Solomon ". Like Burnett, his contemporary, who had similar success at Oxford, his pace was not measured against that of the best amateurs from all parts of England. But I believe he was really a remarkable pedestrian. When Cambridge met Oxford, however, on the Christ Church ground in 1864 Mason had gone down some time, and I was representative in the Quarter, getting beaten by 170 SOME THINGS WE HAVE BEMEMBERED B Darbyshire of Christ Church, and by the Cambridge second string A H. Harrison, called "Long," from his height and stride. But having helped to establish the Inter-University Sports rtheless been an abiding satisfaction. As an athlete I tried 1 in many all-round competitions, winning vari- ous races, but never approximating to real good form as measured by modern experience except when beating the minutes for half a mile on the old West London Cricket crround, near where Boland Gardens now stand. The time of one minute fifty-nine seconds has since been much improved on, but this time was made on a small cir- colar course three times round to the half mile. Not possess- ing the style of either Pym, Ridley, Colbeck, or Lawes, a uity for getting over the ground fast was certainly mine riod. When the professional running men first saw me pi ag at the West London Cricket ground with yVesthall and Topley (the champion walker) as Mentors, the verdict was "a fine 'un but a bit rabbit backed ". I had previously been chosen by the Cambridge athletes rv conclusions in a quarter of a mile match for a gold cup with Mr. Guy Pym, champion runner in the Civil Service, who had conquered all competitors brought against him either . lartei or half mile. The contest took place at Beau- between North Kensington and Fulham, and atti oaiderable attention at the time. The running heavy unci not comparable to those at the Univer- sal M r. i'vm was more than equal to the occasion, for ran the distance in the remarkable time of fifty seconds, winnh v after a good race by several yards. The time tcked under the fifty seconds by a competent bystander. 'I'll. ime when Captain Machell and Captain raiders were freely challenging the world; but ther "t these amateurs ventured to break a lance at a mile with Mr. Pym, who in style and pace was Charles Westhall, his famous trainer, to be at thai distance amongst amateurs. TEOTTESCLIFFE AND JESUS COLLEGE 171 Just before the Amateur Athletic Championships were instituted in 1866, Mr. Pym had a temporary indisposition which prevented him from competing, and the same may be said of the Hon. F. G. Pelham (the late fifth Earl of Chichester) who for the years 1865-6 won the quarter against Oxford. Having named more than one Cantab as helping to bring about the athletic revival both at the Universities and in London, I must own how potently Lord Jersey, after repre- senting Oxford in the mile in 1865, and beating all competi- tors but Eichard Webster, has since been the constant and practical sympathiser with every development of the movement, whether in Great Britain, her Colonies, Europe, or America. I fear my record at this period reads rather like that of a "pot-hunter," but I competed as a matter of sport pure and simple. Deeply do I prize the oval Silver Cup given me by Jesus College, and chosen by my friend Walter Langton, whose artistic taste was recognised by us all ; and the Claret Cup presented by the Cambridge University Athletic Club, as well as my two " Victor Ludorum " medals. A great deal has been made of the race at Fenner's with Sir Leslie Stephen when he walked two miles while I ran three ; and the account of his successive denudations in the late Professor Maitland's Biography has rendered the occasion notable. But the time was not remarkable, and I never claimed to be near the front amongst amateurs at such a distance. My friend " Shaky " Arbuthnot of Trinity, father of the President of the C.U.B.C. in 1911, used to call me the " Fisherman of the Eunning Path ". Let it be remembered that " Fisherman " was a persistent and on the whole suc- cessful Plater. But when the Championship Sports were first established in 1866 I had the honour of winning the half-mile at Beau- fort House against a redoubtable opponent, W. C. Gibbs of my own College, now Canon Gibbs. There was a tempest of wind blowing straight against us most of the distance, and I got home by five yards in two minutes five seconds. C. B. Lawes (Sir Charles Lawes-Wittewronge) carried 172 SOME THINGS WE HAVE REMEMBERED off the mile, and J. T. Ridley the quarter on this occasion. The latter was best at Eton at this distance, and unbeaten at the University. When he won the Championship in 1866 he was still a school-boy. One fortunate experience has been that of getting to know his son Arthur at Jesus College, and his widow and family. He was in the Cambridge boat with Goldie and Dale. My private athletic mentor was at this time Dr. C. A. M. Fennell, the well-known philologist, who in consequence was styled at Jesus the " bottle holder ". But it became absolutely necessary to get through the Little-go ; so I must narrate my experiences in endeavouring Jinpass this end. Acting on College advice, I placed myself under the care of the Rev. W. H. Girdlestone, one of the most popular Poll Coaches who shared pre-eminence in that respect with " Big Smith". But just as I had learned to attack the Little-go subjects in a methodical fashion, such as " Girdy " so ably designed for us, he accepted a living at Ryde, the con- sequence being that some of his pupils elected to spend part of the long vacation at that attractive yachting centre. Amongst these in the summer of 1862, were Lord Car- rington, two Fitzwilliams, the Hon. Henry and Tom, and Mr. Jeffrey Edwards, the athletic organizer at Cambridge. I of us inhabited together a house near the rectory, where it was easy to go to Mr. Girdlestone's lectures in all ■ i I was induced to become an inmate of this subordinate kblishment, and thereby enjoyed numerous opportunities ing the neighbourhood both by land and sea. Lord Carrington possessed a yacht, and was most kind in ' m ' Bhorl changes which were such invaluable kling work on our return. 1 1 Py much with Tom Fitzwilliam, who, alas ! did ""' rarviye. I ball never forget an expedition to and ba.k in a email rowing boat, and the difficulty 1 '" make Ryde Pier when returning in a head wind ;i,|,i l( ly 'Hi our oars. Mb. Percy Melville Thornton, Jesus College, Hon. Sec, C.U.A.C. 1863, and "Victor Ldporum," 1802-63 TROTTESCLIFFE AND JESUS COLLEGE 173 The Solent is not so easily conquered under such circum- stances, and it was beyond sunset in August that we two so gladly rested our weary bodies before attending Girdy's evening class. One day a spirit of capricious enterprise prompted two of us to simulate the character of organ-grinders, and so to dis- cover what sort of a living was obtainable at this choice season of the year. Hiring an organ for the purpose we arrayed ourselves in corduroys and Italian felt hats, spending several hours of a lovely summer's night in discovering the attitude of better-class inhabitants towards this class of music. We were several times paid a trifle to go away, but at the Pier Hotel, where the eccentric Mr. Windham of Fel- brigg Hall, Norfolk, was staying with his wife, we were greatly encouraged and well paid. Mrs. Windham in particular ap- plauded our efforts in an enthusiastic fashion. Strange to say it was in the neighbourhood of our own resort that we were least appreciated, Mr. Girdlestone calling to us almost despairingly from his bedroom to depart from the cover of the bushes, whence he heard the offending melodies ascending. The good man never suspected that the minstrels were, so to speak, members of his own household. Had I continued to carry out consistently Mr. Girdle- stone's well-considered methods of study I should have spared myself much perturbation, akin to despair, which assailed me from time to time at Cambridge during most of my career there, when reflecting that beyond the frequent attempts to reach the winning post at Fenner's stood an alternative of facing more than one ordeal in the Senate House, or of fail- ing to carry out the purpose for which I had come up to the University. When leaving Ryde for the last time Tom Fitzwilliam persuaded me to go up North with him to Doncaster and see the St. Leger run, when the famous "Lord Clifden " was about to recover the prestige he had lost in the Derby by passing the post a short head behind Mr. R. C. Naylor's " Maccaroni ". 174 SOME THINGS WE HAVE BEMEMBEEED There was a grand mare, " Queen Bertha," winner of the Oaks, and unbeaten, coming to dispute the honours with the colt whose defeat at Epsom never could be either realized or forgiven by his impulsive owner Lord St. Vincent, who went t > his grave believing he had really won the great event, and telling people so to the very last. So fervid was the excitement in the North that not a bed Id be procured either at York or Doncaster, while poor Tom Fitzwilliam's too ardent belief that I could be put up at WYntworth under Lord Fitzwilliam's roof was also dashed to the ground ; for never was that palatial home so crowded up by long-expected guests. Under these depressing circum- stances I was returning homewards when on York platform I chanced to meet a Jesus College friend, Armstrong, resident in Doncaster, who had come up in the same term as I did. "My father," he said, "will give you the heartiest wel- come if you come home with me." This I gladly did, and spent one of the most jovial and interesting evenings of my life in the bosom of a typical Yorkshire household. I re- membei that the old gentleman's sporting experiences tched over a long period, and that he had seen the match ween "Voltigeur" and the "Flying Dutchman". On tli!- occasion he deliberately rejected the claims of the formid- able man- against those of the popular favourite, " Lord Clif- den," whose victory was acclaimed by many thousands of It is a remarkable fact that I only once saw the !-• t run again, and then it was won by "Lord Clifden's " •■ Bawthornden ". M . College friend who had acted so kindly, during a lamentablj brief career, rose to considerable importance as a atific professor, and now, alas ! is enshrined amongst the • •"it In. - of Jesus College, Cambridge. I ". Memories of Cambridge in the Sixties. h oausl do! be supposed that the life of varied athletic ;m,| " ,; tractions which I have described conlcl be pnr- 1 "I' »1 •' I ollege, Cambridge", in my time, unless an PERSONAL MEMORIES OF CAMBRIDGE 175 advance was being made towards passing such examinations as were demanded by the curriculum. It was at Jesus a sine qua non that lectures were attended regularly in College, and also, if prescribed, work done with a coach for the Little- go, the first fence a so-called Pollman had to surmount. An undergraduate was soon told that he must have some inten- tion of taking a degree or else embrace a profession where a Cambridge career was not a requisite, — this being equivalent to a brief stay in the University. In addition to the College lectures supervised by the Tutors, I had to attend those on Political Economy by the able and popular Professor Faw- cett. I own that, although I attended to the College rules and the lectures there, those on Political Economy got sadly behind when I was engaged in the preparations for the Inter- 'Varsity Sports. So much was this the case that, in order to be examined in the elementary portions of the science, I had to see Professor Fawcett personally, and ask that I might be excused for the past if I became a regular attendant until the course closed. The result was that, being most kindly and sympathetically met by the Professor, I was attracted closely to the great subject which he elucidated so clearly. Professor Fawcett was much interested in the athletic movement, and told me I had not been " idle " when helping to organize the Inter-University Sports. But I had become aware that if lost time was to be made up, holidays at home must be abbreviated, and coaching done elsewhere than at Cambridge. So following our Jesus College Tutor, Mr. Cleave's advice, I placed myself under Mr. Northcote, an Army coach at Charlton near our Blackheath home, and to this gentleman I owe a good deal. I therefore used to go over twice a day to Charlton, staying late during the winter afternoons and returning home to dinner. This on winter evenings at the time when garrotters were abroad in the suburbs, Blackheath being a favourite hunting-ground of theirs, had its drawbacks. However, I was always accom- panied by my bull-dog " Bob ". To say that I was saved by him from an attack from these gentlemen of the pavement, L76 SOME THINGS WE HAVE REMEMBERED would be to aver what I cannot prove ; but to get home it was necessary to pass down Charlton Lane, then a solitary piece of road a mile long. One evening, out of the darkness which prevailed, the forms of two men suddenly appeared advancing out of a hedge-row in a rush towards the place where I was walking. But " Bob " swiftly detected their presence, and barking loudly made them pause and gave me the necessary warning. Calling the dog and setting off at full speed for Blackheath, I never stopped until in the midst of a line of houses where other pedestrians were passing. The two mystery-men gave chase for a few yards, but to catch us would have had to go quite a quarter of a mile. On this occasion a turn of speed came in uncommonly use- ful : bul the reverse was the case when soon after I was per- iled to play in a scratch team at football against the Royal Military Academy of Woolwich. The game was "Rugby," of which I knew nothing; so that fleetness of foot did not .■ mo from getting down in one of the squashes and hurt- iiiv back so badly that I could not walk for some time. The Little-go at last negotiated, the attractions of that lovely summer season which welcomed the Prince and Prin- "i Wales to Cambridge became paramount. Those up at the I'mv. rsity at this end will never forget the magnificent character of the festivities. My mother and sister came to in Ji bus Lane, and had tickets given to them by a rela- at Up College for the far-famed Trinity ball. Neville's Court covered in and every adjunct which taste and experi- e could devi e led to a success which placed this noble revel on a par with the Guards' ball in London. That at th( <>| imi..n of the head police official whose duties : him from o< otre to centre. Nor should the scene in the willuim Museum at the ball given by the University go unrecorded, 1 l • ktely I had kind friends to entertain the ladies at t,,r I , and the procession of boats off King's College lawn was included in the programme. My mother n invalid saw but little of these joyous proceedings, PEKSONAL MEMORIES OF CAMBEIDGE 177 and dolefully remarked that I had placed her in Jesus Lane where looking out of window she only saw the words " Death and Dyso(o)n " and " Quinsy and Attack," the first pair on a livery stable and the second on a furniture shop. But my sister, under the kindly care of Mrs. Bumpsted, the late wife of my dear old friend T. B. Bumpsted of " Leighton," Trump- ington, fully entered into the universal enjoyment. And what glorious weather for the cricket generally pre- vailed about this time ! We had an enthusiastic band of young sportsmen at Jesus who devoted themselves to the College Eleven. Baxter, Trower, Lawrie, Pym Williamson, Charles Blomfield, H. M. Luckock (afterwards Dean of Litchfield), the two brothers Raven, cricketers by instinct (one only a Jesus man, the other a medical student), Tom Beard and E. H. Morgan, the future Tutor, formed some of those who supported me during the time when I had the honour of being Captain. I had developed the art of bowling a ball just on the leg stump which kept low and came slightly in with the arm. In those days there was such a thing as a shooter on the Jesus ground and this some- times got a wicket. But on Fenner's nothing of the kind occurred, and although I played at Lord's in the M.C.C. match in the place of the Hon. C. G. Lyttleton, who was absent on business, I was not at the time a serious competi- tor for the 'Varsity team. However, my friend and contem- porary, R. D. Balfour, who played for Cambridge, says that at one time in the term I had a chance, and was indeed twelfth man. It was certainly a pleasant distraction to get up to Fenner's and meet one's old Harrow friends there. Once when going up to practice an untoward event occurred. To reach the University ground it was necessary to pass across part of Parker's Piece, and there I and a friend, Pym Williamson, were assailed by some youths near who were playing across the common path which left the Station Road near the "University Arms". Two of these commenced tossing a ball up and hitting it at us. At first we took no notice, but on the assault becoming faster and 12 L78 SOME THINGS WE HAVE REMEMBEBED more furious, I caught one of the balls and threw it away ; upon which we were soon surrounded by our assailants, who repeated their tactics. Neither of us took hostile action, until one young fellow stole up and hit me on the back of the head with his bat, and another came sparring up and placing his fists in my face, until to stop him I landed my on his nose. Then some one went for Pym Williamson, who was a practised boxer, and we cleared our way through to Fenner's. But the young man whose insulting conduct had forced me to drive him away was the son of the inspector of the . n police, whose office was near the scene of the affray ; so he came there with several policemen and proceeded to take us into custody. Such was the injustice of the pro- ceeding that I did refuse to go without protest with the in- spector, and although neither of us used any violence I was charged with assaulting the police in the execution of their dnty. Fortunately Robert Carpenter, the Cambridge pro- -ional cricketer, was witness of all that happened and gave lence, bearing out the facts as I have here described them, t morning, notwithstanding that Robert Carpenter swore that we were never aggressors, the magistrate, who shall be nameless, moved, I suppose, by the sight of my foe with a Hen nose, fined me £10, and made some remarks about nndergradnates and the town which tempted the Cambridge " Independent Press" to speak of me as "one ruffian more minded than the rest ". In th« aftei noon, being requested to go and see Dr. Corrie I naturally thought that the College viewed my participation in a street scuffle with academic severity. Bat I., in;, amazement the Master, having heard what hap- fioni Bevcral bystanders who corroborated Robert bement, shook 7iie warmly by the hand and My young friend, I near you have been shamefully I, and I cannot allow you to remain under the stigma "f i aed, unjustly. I trust you will at once communicate ■ home and tell your mother (he said 'parents' PERSONAL MEMORIES OF CAMBRIDGE 179 until I corrected him) that if an appeal be made at law I will be responsible for the expenses." It can be imagined what a weight was thus taken off my mind. However, after talking matters over as requested, my relations did not wish me to appear further in the matter. It is just to the Bench to say that my witness, Mr. Pym Williamson, not only had proved himself a master of the art of self-defence, but possessed a ready wit which displayed in the box at the expense of my assailant brought much levity into the crowded court. Strange to say, some time afterwards it fell to my lot to do something to deter the Watch Committee at Cambridge from getting rid of their inspector for listening to the ipse dixit of his son, and not making inquiries as to what really occurred. For this resolution of the Watch Committee, de- clining to take action injurious to their servant and his family, I have always felt thankful ; because Cambridge townspeople well qualified to speak said, despite what had occurred, the inspector of police was a conscientious man, if too quick tempered. But this incident occurred when endeavouring to gain the promised land of Fenner's on a summer's day. And what a pleasant place the University Cricket Ground was and indeed is ! For there are no better opportunities of seeing the game played well than the public are there given ; while the lucky members who belong to the pavilion have the advantage of meeting 'Varsity friends, past and present. In my own time the champions were the Hon. C. G. Lyttleton (Lord Cobham), a most beautiful bat to watch, a bowler above medium pace with a high delivery, and a first- class judge of the game, and A. W. T. Daniel, the Harrow champion, a big little man, beautifully made and as keen of eye as he was swift of foot. He possessed the special gift of timing the ball in driving to the off, while he was an all- round hitter. To leg he was a veritable George Parr. M. T. Martin was even a larger scorer than either of these upon Fenner's, and improved much upon his excellent Rugby form 12* SOME THINGS WE HAVE REMEMBEKED when at Cambridge. I scarcely think that expert opinion placed him on a parity with Lyttleton and Daniel, those re- markable natural cricketers. The latter would forsake the greensward for weeks together, in pursuit of the legal studies he had made his main object, and then when persuaded to come up to Fenner's astonished the beholders by playing some striking innings against professional bowling. Indeed he needed very little practice. We were very short of effective attacking power in 1864, because Bob Lang, Salter, Helm, and— last but not least— H. M. Plowden had gone down. But in 1862 the Light Blues had a splendid bowling side. Salter of Clare was always on the spot, an excellent length and just enough pace to make it dangerous to take liberties. I will not say more about Lang and Plowden, the fast and slow premier amateurs, but will record what ardent hopes were excited by those who saw Helm bowling in practice. His pace was above medium, but as a left-hander with a peculiar twist and an occasional dash of pace, he was a most effective change. Daniel, who observed these peculiarities with an anxious hope that his colt might baffle the Oxonians with something ,'inal, observed to me that Helm's ball often seemed to take an erratic course after passing the wicket-keeper which had not prevailed before the batsman decided how best to deal with it. In those days back stops were necessary when Lang waa bowling, and experience led to their being utilized to Btop Eelm'fl corkscrew deliveries. I am conacions that the popularity of the associations '■ ancient memories might seem to elevate dispropor- tionately talents of an ordinary character. And in some may, of course, have been the effect, although an. erions men at Cambridge the examination spectre nt fiont our homes, and turned the under- pin. ue mind toward dealing with matters of greater import- ■ in providing careers for men than cricket, rowing, football, ,• bletic Bpoi : PEKSONAL MEMORIES OF CAMBRIDGE 181 In my own case, reading for the chosen law examination had become so neglected that I was on the verge of giving up all hope of taking a degree, not caring to face my old friend Girdlestone's reproachful but ever kindly inquiries. But a letter I received from my relation Lady Leven from Roe- hampton House, begging me to give up everything but the law subjects, made me halt in my course of sport and amuse- ment. This request, coming as it did from an honoured and beloved relative, added zest to my mother's own urgent peti- tions that, having used my legs first, I should make the best use I could of my head, and get an LL.B. placed to my name. I could not at the time see the use of this, but have lived long enough to see how wrong I was. Membership of the University has proved to be a tie to Cambridge, and a means of meeting many friends old and young during the autumn of life. By the joint help of the late Dr. Waraker of Scroope Terrace, and the kindly assistance of Richard Webster (now Lord Chief Justice) who sat up with me far into one early morning in Malcolm Street just before the examination, I surmounted that prize stumbling-block, " Ulpian's Frag- ments," dealing with Roman Riparian law, and so attained my object. CHAPTEE XI. HUNTING AROUND CAMBRIDGE. Whatever induced rne while yet an undergraduate to hire a hunter at Death's in Jesus Lane, consulting the famous Tom Hills, the ostler, as to a suitable mount, I have never understood. I remember that I had listened to one of Jim Lowther's (Rt. Hon. James Lowther, M.P.) humorous descriptions of the various animals in a travelling menagerie on Midsummer Common as I returned with that amusing and well-beloved old Westminster towards Cambridge. He spoke of the delights of the chase up at the 'Varsity, and he averred that if I eschewed riding after the Drag, the very • holiday for any lover of horses was to go out with either of the two packs which met within reach, viz., in Cambridge- shirt- or Suffolk. In "Jim's" eyes you had thus more for your money than in any other form of local amusement. I could ill afford the unavoidable two guineas for a hunter, phis ten shillings for a hack, and certainly not with the addi- i of the accessories which accompanied my first venture. Why I selected the heavy Suffolk ploughs for my debut at the distance of fifteen miles off I have never been able to lain, as the Cambridgeshire meets were nearer and the country less heavy. Bui im lir i experiences were certainly of a most dis- charaoter. It was a fine exhilarating morning, and bly did I enjoy the solitary jog on to covert along the Newmarket road, until it became necessary to turn ; " ftfoin named low-lying country where the meet 1: place. A fox was found immediately in the first wood drew, and away the field went over two enormous 182 HUNTING AROUND CAMBRIDGE 183 stretches of clay soil at the end of which were fair-sized plain hedges with moderately wide ditches on the other side, cut deep into the ground for draining the soil. So far it was all plain sailing, the two fences being gaily surmounted, but on entering a third and smaller field, my mount, lathering all over, showed signs that he could canter no more, and dropping into a trot evinced a disinclination to negotiate the next hedge, into which he finally fell and rolled over into a small but rather deep ditch on the other side. I struggled clear and getting on my feet came to his assist- ance, but was not able to prevent the horse sinking lower into the drain, for such it really was, and remaining help- lessly on his back amidst mud and dirty water. He snorted fearfully and I thought he would be drowned. I looked around and at first not a living soul was near, although in the distance I could hear the huntsman's horn. In my per- plexity I yelled out lustily for assistance, and held on to the bridle to keep my poor brown horse's head above water. It seemed an age before any response to my appeals was forth- coming, and then a solemn, well-to-do-looking man in dark clothes appeared through a neighbouring gate, and proceeded to upbraid me for breaking down fences and riding over a lordship where hunting was deprecated by the owner. He moreover commented upon the unrighteous character of this sport. At last, when I persuaded him that the horse would be drowned unless he brought assistance and helped to dig the animal out, he proceeded to make a rather hard bargain before whistling to two labourers working under him at some distance to come and help. I felt it an occasion not to exercise any undue parsimony, having the fear of Tom Hills before my eye should the horse be injured. Altogether, in- cluding hire, the change out of a five pound note was not large, when all was considered, and after a substantial meal at the nearest inn I crawled back towards home, reaching Cambridge at dusk. I certainly thought Tom Hills's after comment, when I had related these circumstances to him, 1 .4 SOME THINGS WE HAVE EEMEMBEEED mlarly unjust, as he informed Mr. Lowther that "the gent had taken too much out of the 'oss ". When I placed my view before Tom, which was to the effect that an animal out of condition had been galloped about until tired by undergraduates before I got on to its back, all he replied in his well-known rollicking nasal tones was, " The oss's 'eart is good," an assertion I did not seek to deny, while doubting the physical strength of the animal. Strange to say, this incident by no means discouraged me from fostering a ret but ardent desire for the chase, which I was unable to afy during my undergraduate days. I had another opportunity of attending a meet, and did so on a horse of Mr. Death's, strongly recommended by the faculty. Tom Hills said, " This nag would make a rider of any man," and although this was saying much, I did derive some confidence from being carried safely over one or two ill Cambridgeshire hedge and ditch obstacles on what might be termed a pottering sort of day when hounds never ran far. On this occasion H.R.H. the Prince of Wales rode hie famous grey over a stiff bit of closely-fenced pasture to the jomfort of his suite, as, one of their mounts refusing to negotiate a tricky fence with a blind sort of ditch in front, the rider had to take him round some other way. The incident impressed me with the belief that the future Edward V 1 1 was a bold rider to hounds, just as it is common knowledge that he possessed a dignified seat in the saddle when reviewing troops or bestriding his charger on state Thia experience with Mr. Barnett's hounds near Wim- jiole is linked with my first recollection of the Rev. Charles Line to the meet on a nice-looking bay horse, • ■ ' n 'I h< artily into the sport. At that time Professor of Modern Bi tory al Cambridge, he was well known to ny membera of the University, and enjoyed great personal pnlaril y, [had )' rience of Mr. Kingsley'a kindly man- reeable oonveraation, inasmuch as a Great Eastern HUNTING ABOUND CAMBEIDGE 185 train between Cambridge and Shoreditch broke down near Bishop's Stortford, and I soon found my only companion in a first-class compartment suddenly awaking from his reading to lament an inability to fulfil an engagement which he had made at the Enfield Arms manufactory. Thenceforth Pro- fessor Kingsley very kindly adapted his conversation to mat- ters of lighter and athletic interest, such as I was able to follow with ease. I never had the pleasure of meeting this honoured celebrity again. But the reader must think the picture here of a young man just of age, not born to inherit broad acres, yearning for the riding avocations of those so blessed, to be not an improv- ing one. On the other hand, I contend that a lesson is to be derived from these experiences, viz., the undesirability of those with sufficient to live on and to go to College so doing without a profession being decided on and worked for continually during a probationary period. Indeed, in reply to the not infrequent inquiry of my rela- tives and my parents' friends, " What are you going to do ? ' I was in the habit of saying that I was now too old to become either soldier or sailor, as I wished consecutively to do, and that I did not yet feel suited to fulfil my mother's prayerful wishes that I might become a clergyman. The result was that, except some work at the desk in the P. & O. office at 122 Leadenhall Street, combined with indefinite hankerings after a short cut to fortune via the City of London, I never had any regular occupation until seated by a strange freak of fortune upon the green benches of the House of Commons, where for upwards of seventeen years I endeavoured by faithful atten- tion to duty there to make up for lost time. But the intervening period upon which I am about to dwell was one of a peculiar character, because without ever going into any extravagant courses a great deal of sport was enjoyed by several of us associated together. CHAPTEK XII. CHANGING CIRCUMSTANCES. Towards the end of the sixties of the nineteenth century I spent a great deal of time with my College friend, Tom Beard (the Eev. T. Beard), at his Suffolk living, and it was from this almost second home that I was suddenly recalled to London in 1867 when my mother had been attacked by an extreme phase of the asthmatic complaint which so often distressed her. Coming in time to be with this cherished parent at the close of her, to all near and dear, priceless existence, neither my sister nor myself could for a long time really settle down to anything. 1 1 has not been possible to render justice to my mother's abilities within these pages, crowded with so many per- sonalities. ( )i her never-ceasing devotion to her relations and friends the reader has learnt a little during the unfolding of my life- story. Mrs. S. Thornton's letters and diaries show that she sessed considerable knowledge of modern literature, and whs able to form well-reasoned opinions on the public questions which came to the fore. When travelling on the Continent with her uncle, Sir ph Rice, Bhe kept a note-book containing pertinent com- ments on the manners and customs of the different nations they visited, while the descriptions of scenery are attractively written. Bhe possessed considerable proficiency in water- oolonx painting, and Borne of the most famous parts of Switzer- land were strikingly depicted in sketches much valued by her children. In politics my mother's high estimate of Lord John 18G CHANGING CIRCUMSTANCES 187 Russell may be said to have brought her into touch with moderate Whig opinions. She had always believed the Re- form Bill of 1832 necessary for the country's social advance, and often said so to me. My father, on the other hand, having been brought up under the banners of Pitt and Castle- reagh, remained attached to the Tory school of thought, although in Canning and Peel he recognized two statesmen gifted with knowledge of the nation's needs, and likely to initiate a new era of thought, but one of measured liberty rather than radical change. If my mother must, as I think, be considered to have been aWhig, in religious matters she remained strongly Evangelical, sharing the views of the Rev. Joseph Fenn, clergyman of Blackheath Park Church, and also those of his charming wife and self-sacrificing children, the much-honoured family friends of our own. I can write no more regarding this particular epoch so indelibly fixed in any record of "what I have remembered ". Our mother's grave is close to that of the Ven. Joseph Fenn and Mrs. Fenn, her much-loved advisers, in the still solitary Charlton Churchyard. I shall say no more of this solemn moment in life when those in youth are separated from that never-to-be-forgotten friend, a good mother ; and there are some surviving even now who are cognisant of what temporarily passed from the ken of my sister and myself in 1867. But for the former, I have ever seen that her whole career having been centred around a surviving parent, she had not been able to employ to the full a natural talent for singing combined with dramatic instinct. The home life in an old-fashioned family in the sixties was not sympathetic to any amusements outside the Concert room or to any amateur approximation towards ar- tistic merit. M. Marras, the celebrated teacher of vocalization, said that Miss Clare Thornton's voice was exactly of the same timbre as another of his pupils, the celebrated Madame Trebelli- Bettini. My uncle the Rev. H. M. Rice and his son Morgan 188 SOME THINGS WE HAVE EEMEMBEKED both remembered with pleasure how the people of Callington had appreciated to the full Miss Thornton's efforts on the occasion of a Concert held there for charitable purposes. The latter described to me the satisfaction felt by the Cornish folk on this occasion. Madame Sainton Dolby, another musical mentor admiring my sister's fine contralto voice, enjoined perpetual practice, which under the circumstances was almost impossible to carry out amidst our home surroundings at Blackheath Park. 1867-1873. About this time a trip with my sister and cousin, Miss Georgiana Kaikes, to Holland and Belgium came as a welcome change of scene and thought. Sojourn at the Hague and the le Hotel, Amsterdam, gave opportunities for realizing how in the Low Countries occurred many events which potently influenced England and induced her to propagate a policy of :i> us toleration. Sentiments such as these alternated with others of a far more solemn character when gazing on the magnificent pictures by Keubens in the Cathedral at \ .. erp, where the "raising of" and "descent from" the ( 'ross so movingly commemorate the Crucifixion. This brief tour was also that on which in returning we first cast our eyes upon beautiful Paris just at the social zenith of the Third Empire, when the Emperor and Empress were still popular and proud of successive endorsements of their rule by the means of a Referendum — "Yes" or "No," the former largely preponderating on four occasions. Politically speaking, there were doubtless clouds in the sky ever Bince the withdrawal from Mexico and the death of the Emperor Maximilian, events followed by the War of wherein Austria was driven out of Germany by the I russians. But in Paris itself nothing seemed to presage how at Sedan there Bhonld be Boon enacted a second Waterloo, Prussia *g the conqueror enabled to directly avenge Jena in the Prance; bo Btile l« igions actually occupying part CHANGING CIKCUMSTANCES 189 of Paris, that great and beautiful city, while the German Empire was proclaimed at Versailles. A return home was signalized by a revived curiosity in the working of our own ancient Constitution, which had been under the Eeform blade and seemed likely to yield still further to the blows of the great feller of trees, Mr. Gladstone. I was in the House of Lords' gallery when the fourteenth Earl of Derby, " the Kupert of Debate," made one of his last important speeches upon the Suspensory Act of the Irish Church previous to its disestablishment. I can well remember the dignity of manner, the good looks, and the eloquent tone of the brilliant periods which came slowly but surely from his tongue. The orator, while not pessimistic as regards the future, provided his country was under wise guidance, pro- ceeded to explain that he could not feel this hope was nearly sure so long as the Ministry of the day were assailing insti- tutions in Church and State. He spoke of the project to suspend presentations to livings and offices in the Irish Es- tablishment as gravely unconstitutional. I own I was surprised at the open but general statement of distrust of Mr. Gladstone as a statesman which was inter- polated into this moving address, but allowing for a certain shade thrown over his otherwise perfectly balanced phrasing by indulging in this personality, I own to have never listened but once to any oratory at all comparable. The exception was also that of a speech delivered in the House of Lords, namely, Lord Eosebery's touching eulogy upon his dead leader, Mr. Gladstone. But I can remember a typical scene in the Lower Cham- ber witnessed a year sooner than the above. An Australian friend went with me to the Strangers' Gallery of the House of Commons just before the election, and heard Mr. Gladstone, Mr. Bright, Mr. Ayrton, Mr. Bobert Low, Lord Kobert Cecil (the late Lord Salisbury) and Mr. Disraeli on the oc- casion when the latter Minister proposed that election peti- tions should be decided by the Judges instead of by Committee of the House of Commons itself. The speeches were all 190 SOME THINGS WE HAVE BEMEMBEKED hostile, and on the line of alleging unconstitutional action by Mr. Disraeli and the Tory Government. The sphinx-like leader on the Treasury bench remained perfectly silent and unmoved even by the brilliant and sarcastic sallies of his late colleague, Lord Eobert Cecil, who spoke from a seat below the ^an^way. I* was n0 * un ^ an a & e< ^ back-bench follower Ir. Disraeli's appealed anxiously concerning lack of Minis- terial arguments in defence of their measure, that the sorely belaboured leader vouchsafed to reply. In slowly delivered, almost hesitating sentences Mr. Disraeli replied that he had lately returned from a country house where his host insisting on showing the hunters in their boxes, it became necessary to cross a yard where dogs flew out barking from several kennels successively. Unused to the place the statesman owned to feeling a little nervous until reassured by the owner saying that all the animals were chained. Comparing the hostile speeches of the House of Commons' critics with the uninviting demonstration of the dogs in question, Dizzy assured his supporters that these brilliant speakers were likewise all chained, inasmuch as no intention existed to cast responsible Opposition votes against the principle of the measure. By contemplation of scenes such as the above and a constant study of the politics of the day one was well posted in the trend of public affairs when the astonishing events connected with the war of 1870 between Prussia and France biuret upon the world. Nor was this deepening interest relaxed after a visit to the battlefields of Gravelotte and i in, where traces of the terrible character of the conflict were still in evidence. A day spent around Worth, which ended at Niederbronn, at the entrance to the Vosges, must not go withoui mention. I became so enthused with the valour of the French cavalry, as communicated tome by a de who had participated in the charge, that I ventured to pat my tliMM ato verse. I was told how, during the battle of Worth, Marshal Mahon'a Army was driven from Elsasshausen and Fro- CHANGING CIRCUMSTANCES 191 schweiler, positions which commanded a direct retreat to the village of Reichshofen, and hence to the Vosges Mountains. At this crisis the French leader hurled his cavalry on the enemy's front. The charge answered its purpose, the Army escaping into the Vosges, but scarcely any of these brave Cuirassiers survived. A French Balaclava. Clangs the steel and glints the sunshine from each charger's glowing side, When waiting close to Eberbach with those who longed to ride Full speed across yon valley whose grass spreads 'neath the hill. Oh this weary wait near Morsbrurin ! Strike for France we must and will. For down through Gorsdorfs woodland streams a long dull line to Worth, Where the Teuton stands in triumph and the Gaul has sunk to earth. See now on high Froschweiler's crest the deadly rifle blaze, While Elsasshausen's battle smoke obscures the troopers' gaze, And from all heights surrounding booms the cannons' startling roar, Whilst each German host advancing speeds yet faster than before. Then sadly spake MacMahon : " Now Reichshofen's road stands clear, The last of all the outlets to those hills which loom so near ; Go, horsemen, plead for precious time in battle's burning breath, Speed onward, bold three thousand, to a sure but noble death 1 " Clangs the steel and glints the sunshine from each charger's glowing side ; We are spurring on past Morsbrunn, and it seems a goodly ride, Over turf which yields to pressure, yet elastic speeds us on To the eternal field of glory where, with death, our cause is won ! Dead and dying choke the roadway, scattered horses scour the plain, But the wild rush up from Eberbach has not been made in vain, For into fair Reichshofen came MacMahon 's men that day — And France will ever bless the names of those who cleared the way. But the event which turned my mind more particularly to the necessity for some wise and strong assertion of national determination on the part of a British Minister, such as Mr. Disraeli seemed likely to become, in the conduct of Foreign Affairs, was the surrender of the Government of Mr. Glad- stone and Lord Granville of the Black Sea clauses in the L92 SOME THINGS WE HAVE REMEMBERED Treaty of 1856, after an apparently firm protest of the Powers concerned. It was not so much even the gravity of the ques- tion involved which sowed apprehension in the minds of men, as the daily increasing belief of the world that Great Britain would no longer undergo sacrifice on behalf of the Treaties solemnly signed by her representatives. From that time for- ward the writer was but one of many who saw in the future Lord Beaconsfield the champion of patriotic resolution to keep the name of England great. Looking back on the period when I was 30 years of age, I feel thankful that owing to these influences a deep zest for athletics, cricket, and riding did not lead to complete for- getfulness of the major duties of citizenship. My first vote given for any election was that for West Kent in November, 1868, for Mills and Talbot, the latter the late veteran M.P. for Oxford University, so universally esteemed by all parties. Our opponent as a Liberal was another distinguished Unionist, Sir John Lubbock, now known by a world-wide celebrity gained in science, letters, and politics as Lord Avebury. I was on a canvass Com- mittee at tins election, presided over by Dr. Carr, a Blackheath !• nt <>f high standing and a zealous Tory. He chose me to accompany him to an obdurate greengrocer at Lee, who would give no sign of any political preference. When we ox >ut to leave, his wife suddenly called out from behind the counter: " You ain't agoing to 'avemy 'usband's vote un- til pay for it". This story used rather to shock the late Mr. Talbot, but the traditions of pre-reform days lingered d then in thai part of West Kent. The numbers were i up from time to time in those days, and a most exciting contest was only won in the later hours of the day. and myself had left our old home in Blackheath Park at this time, and sojourned at Granville Park on the iw of Lr.wisham Hill, just below Blackheath. Here I remember an exciting incident connected with the sole oc- iOD II' i in a house and believed it was being red 1 thie\ CHANGING CIECUMSTANCES 193 Our guest was no less a person than Mr. Richard Webster, now Lord Alverstone. When I awoke late at night there certainly were sounds proceeding from the lower part of the house, and some grounds for my sister's belief that a burglari- ous attack was in progress. Arming myself with a poker I marched downstairs, only to discover that, through a habit of locking all doors before retiring to rest, I had imprisoned the future Lord Chief Justice in my study, where he had been very deeply engaged on legal work before attempting to open the door. 13 CHAPTEE XIII. LIFE IN THE COTTESMORE COUNTRY, 1873-6. After some time the spirit of sporting unrest was upon me again, and I was soon calculating how many days a week I could contrive to have with the Cambridgeshire or Oakley hounds in company with my cousin Charles Inglis Thornton, the celebrated mammoth hitter, then at Trinity, and our mutual friend and fellow-sportsman Freddie Warburton. At first I paid occasional visits to the 'Varsity, bought a bay mare called "Mendip" from a gentleman farmer in the Pens, which I must describe as an animal capable of sur- mounting any jumpable obstacle to be found in the country, tided she was not sent fast through heavy plough land as a preface. Indeed she was as veritable a slug as she proved to be si notable leaper. Major Shuttleworth of Old Warden, not even now forgotten our duel over the Lincoln tie walls near Blankney, when he was mounted on his famous grey which never was beaten in cold blood. On this occasion the result was a tie, as at the last moment, old Mendip gathered her legs under her and landed me safely r all the ragged and solid obstacles. Saving elsewhere spoken of the Cottesmore country as the centre of hunting I know and appreciated best, I should here like t.» acknowledge the debt which every sportsman I iincolnshire in the seventies must have felt he owed the late Lord Henry Bentinck and Mr. Henry Chaplin when tin. i paramonnl sportsmen were joint Masters of the Blankney hounds. These and kindred experiences I owe to my ale. it was indeed a sight worth beholding when I a l LIFE IN THE COTTESMORE COUNTRY 195 those weight-carrying thoroughbred animals of Mr. Chaplin's were out exercising around the Cathedral City. Cattle such as these are said to be few and far between nowadays, but nothing less powerful could carry the Squire of Blankney over the wild and stiffly-fenced pasture lands of Welling Gore. The hunting around Cambridge was sometimes aban- doned, so as to get a day either with the Fitzwilliam near Huntingdon, or the Oakley near Bedford. All this time both these packs were famous, the former for its sporting master, Mr. George Fitzwilliam, and his welter-weight huntsman George Carter, than whom a better sportsman never blew the horn or spoke in clearer or more encouraging tones than those he addressed so powerfully to his beauties. The Oakley country on the other hand was hunted by its Master, Mr. Arkwright, adjudged by expert opinion to be a veritable genius at the sport, being unsurpassed in a wood- land run. These expeditions were rendered the pleasanter when my excellent relation, Mr. Harry Thornton, of Kempston Grange, used to join us at Bedford and accompany us to the meet. He and his two sons were excellent company and familiar with the intricacies of the country in which they had hunted so long. It is pleasant to be now on warm terms of friendship with a grandson of this kind relative, the Hon. Charles St. John. Mr. Harry Thornton always appeared in brown hunt- ing gear and a knap hat. He was full of stories and the life of every company into which he entered. It used to be a hard day's work to leave our lodgings at Mrs. Martin's, the Tobacconist, in Market Passage about 6.30 a.m., to catch a train to Huntingdon, and then, after a breakfast at the "George," trot off to Abbotts Ripton or Stilton Gorse in the pleasant society of other sportsmen bent on the same errand. Then after trotting and galloping until dusk, return to the station, get changed, and take soiled hunting things back to Cambridge in order to get them cleaned. Truly to ourselves, the gloom of November or even its fogs as they swept fitfully over the flats around the River Nene 13 * 196 SOME THINGS WE HAVE REMEMBERED seemed quite as joyous as brilliant sunshine appears to an ailing invalid who hies to the Riviera at that time of year or takes a pleasant refuge on the Nile in ancient Egypt's modern hotel resorts. Once in the hurry of departure I got into an apparently awkward imbroglio. The boots at the " George," Huntingdon, had failed to distinguish between two portmanteaux of the same size and shape, leaving mine, full of muddy hunting clothes, in the hotel, and sending another to the station, filled with the dress clothes and jewelled ornaments of a legal lumi- nary, who had come from town to attend a solicitors' banquet at Huntingdon. I knew nothing of this until the morning, when awaking late I found two tall policemen taking an inventory of all the contents of what I believed to be my own portmanteau. Judge of my horror and confusion when the first thing which caught my eye was a shirt prepared for evening by a skilled valet, literally sparkling with the large diamond studs which adorned the button holes. It appeared that the unfortunate guest, when about to put on his apparel, found my portmanteau full of the soiled hunting paraphernalia instead of his own belongings. In his despair he appealed to the police, who, finding my Cambridge address in the dis- carded garments, started off to Market Passage first thing in the morning. There were no motors in those days, or I should have been asked to explain in time for the dress clothes, jewels and all, again reaching Huntingdon for the Mayoral vities. On one occasion I went with Charlie Thornton and the ('. A. Pidcock to hunt at Abbotts Ripton, near Hunting- don, with the Pitzwilliam, and we determined to make a day of it on the road by driving tandem to the meet. To do this it was nrrr>s;iry to send on one nag for a mile out of Cam- bridge for fear of being Proctorized. We were in the long ben in fashion and quite warm in consequence; but, as the leader was 1 » • • i r i ■ ■ :ii t ached, a horse drawing a light and fortunately i tnpty dust-cart belonging to the town of tnbridge, book fright, and came galloping towards us, so LIFE IN THE COTTESMORE COUNTRY 197 that our animals backing, I was thrown out on the road. It may not be credited, but it is nevertheless true, that the wheel of the dust-cart passed over my tall hat and scraped my ear. The wheel mark remained on the brim of my hat, showing how my life was saved. Mr. Strutt, the Blackheath hatter, used to say I should have allowed him to display the covering which protected my head in his window as an apt advertise- ment. After expressing satisfaction that I was all right and my brain uninjured, Charlie Thornton called out, " Come on, Friday, or we shall be late for the meet ". In the sequel I got off that day with nothing worse than a headache caused by my chestnut mount hired at Cambridge rearing and falling back on to the road with me. Nothing do I remember about this time more fixedly than my magnetic attraction towards Cambridge, felt while my cousin Charlie Thornton was Captain of the Cricket Eleven, and I pursued fox-hunting with him. Our constant companion throughout was T. Fred Warburton, of Crocker Hill, near Chichester, who loved all games, except rowing, and indeed I never saw him by the riverside, although he had been a popular person at Eton, and one of the best sprint runners there. But the main delight of his life doubtless consisted in hunting, a sport he most enthusiastically, not to say scientifically, pursued. Such a Freemasonry did we three strike up that an oppor- tunity to set up a joint bachelor household at South Luffen- ham, near Stamford, and in Rutland, was soon embraced. We went there in 1874. Jack Dale procured me a remarkably fast hunter, a child of the famous Lambton. His knees had been badly broken, so that weight carrying could no longer be his forte. But " the broken-kneed one," so called in our stable, proved to be a clinker across country with my weight of close on eleven stone on his back, albeit he had a temper, and never was certain to lark over the stiff post and rails in our Luffenham paddocks, over which every nag in the allied stable had to leap or depart. " Aut disce, Aut discede " was, therefore, used in a different sense to that in vogue at the ancient Wykamist Foundation. 198 SOME THINGS WE HAVE EEMEMBEKED Freddie Warburton possessed two splendid light-weight hunters, " The King" pony, a black cob with a white blaze, being, so to speak, pick of the stud. But my friend also owned a remarkable mount in " Too Fast," by " Little Hast- ings" out of " Be Quick," who had shown pace for a short time in the Derby, but was troubled by an awfully uncertain, not to say treacherous, temper. Of this creature more anon. My cousin Charlie Thornton used to ride two fast weight- carriers, and he aspired to keep in the front on their backs, and succeeded wonderfully well. His favourite animal, " Har- rogate," was very prominent in the Cottesmore Hunt, having unusual pace for his size ; while a one-eyed nag of equal jumping capacity soon became noted as a wonder in the d. It was no mean performance to carry a man so heavy across country at the cracking pace " Buns " Thornton wished to go. Personally I was contented to see the amount of sport which my three slow animals could provide, but, like my two swifter companions, made a rule to ride as straight as possible. When short of horseflesh we were in the habit of hiring from Percival, of Wansford, the famous old dealer there being always anxious to do justice to his customers. It was a great advantage to be able to ride the nags on trial over fair hunting fences Buch as the Wansford pastures afforded. My long-cherished wish was to ride across the Whissen- dine brook, the obstacle most dreaded by the redoubtable I • ictor," as well as by other nags celebrated in the Shires. Once immersed in the shining, if slow-running, stream, the most valuable hunters were discouraged for such work, and their owners generally galloped to the nearest ford, very often under < lustance's guidance. 1 issing this brook in orthodox style was forbidden to i.v old-fashioned lcapcrs such as mine, although I have the <>l,l mare safe from hank to bank on more than one n. whirl, must he set against an untoward immersion, o i m dderable time elapsed before I could get her to ' I bii' ame to pass thai- 1 purchased of Mr. LIFE IN THE COTTESMOKE COUNTRY 199 Tailby's head whip a notorious water-jumper, yclept " The Saddler," who could clear any breadth at all negotiable, but had a bad habit of brushing ordinary fences, and also of not rising quite properly at timber. Taking this animal into High Leicestershire I had the following experience. At a meet near Thrussington Gorse, a fox was found in the cream of the Quorn country, and hounds ran along gaily over the magnificent level pastures. There no brook was amongst the obstacles which are encountered, but we found ourselves face to face with high thorn fences surrounded by the familiar oxer. Into one of these "The Saddler" fell and turning over left me amongst the bushes, while he dropped into the next field with his wind knocked out of him. My right thumb was apparently out of joint, and never completely recovered from what was in reality a fracture of the muscles. Finding " The Saddler " in a dejected state, and feeling pain from the hand, I soon retraced my steps towards Oakham, when I was unfortunate, and indeed unwise enough, to try a new way over the hills by a line of gates which local opinion alleged to be shorter. The consequence was that being en- veloped in a white frosty sort of fog the way became obscured so that we got off it, and were pursuing a rough cart track in a wood where the increasing darkness rendered progress almost impossible. Finally perceiving a distant light gleam- ing through the trees I tied the dejected " Saddler " to a tree and made for the welcome signal. Fortunately I was soon in the late Mr. Dawson's hospitable portals at Launde Abbey, but when the kind owner and his groom went out with me into the wood to find " The Saddler," a long time elapsed before a sign of the poor animal could be discovered, shivering and looking disconsolate in the gloom. I did not get back to South Luffenham Hall until late at night, coming to the con- clusion that somehow " The Saddler " was not the kind of animal for me. Perhaps he may have inwardly held a similar opinion, and thought me but an indifferent master. On my way home I met the famous Sam Hunt near Oakham, and he, seeing our weary condition, reminded me of the well- •200 SOME THINGS WE HAVE EEMEMBEEED known adage, "When returning from 'unting stick to the "ard 'igh road ". Besides the friendly companionship of the covert side which left pleasant memories to all privileged to hunt in the Cottesmore country, those moderately mounted had the op- portunity of seeing some of the giants of the chase perform- ing in their chosen home for sport. Of these I must place Custance, the famous jockey, as on the whole the foremost ; although, if Frank Gordon from near Wansford did cross the Welland, the winner of four Derbies had a formidable com- fcor. It was not difficult to perceive the genius for crossing a count rv which each of these remarkable sportsmen pos- sessed. But in High Leicestershire Captain Smith (" Doggie," so called) proved a worthy antagonist to any man living, and could cross even the Slauston pastures, fenced as they were by enormous oxers, when mounted on some young inexperi- enced horse. Never was a man less careful of his own neck, and yet no one ever had a smaller average of falls while doing so well as this gallant soldier. I could record the bold horsemanship of many well known to fame in the Shires who came into the Cottesmore from time to time, but even the brilliancy of Captain Elmherst, and the dash and courage of my dear old friend, Mr. Tailby, never led them to such undoubted prestige in the hunting-field as that won by the all-round experience of ice, Frank Gordon, and Doggie Smith. The quin- tette, however, in any possible circumstances, was bound to come more or h-ss to the front. Cuetance had received from the Duke of Hamilton the inestimable gifl of "The Doctor," the steeple-chaser, to be hunter, while " Marigold," his little timber-jump- ing mare, became scarcely less famous around Oakham and i i I [arborough. The Cotte re Bounds in the seventies were owned by Henry Bar) "i Lonsdale, who, to use Custance's descriptive In' ■ laced hia puree on a gate for sportsmen to dip LIFE IN THE COTTESMOBE COUNTKY 201 into," meaning, of course, that we had all sport provided for us for nothing. Indeed such munificence merits far more than this belated acknowledgment from a grateful recipient. The Earl himself was the keenest of sportsmen, and despite his great weight found cattle strong enough to be generally within measurable distance of the hounds. Two of his sons, Hugh, now Lord Lonsdale, and Charles, who died young, were fine horsemen with a good eye for crossing a country, and a steady determination to be in at the death. I may add that the Earl, our Master of the hounds, was good enough to interest himself in my future, and more than one conversation held with Lord Lonsdale returning from the chase, led me to remember that there are spheres of life not to be long neglected even for the glorious sport of hunting. It has been my privilege since to acknow- ledge another Lowther as chief in command ; I allude to the present Speaker of the House of Commons, also honoured and respected by his contemporaries, who is a nephew of the Henry Lonsdale, master of the Cottesmore in the seventies. The Master mounted his huntsmen well, and although Jack West, the dapper professional horseman, and in such capacity unsurpassed, filled that post with credit, he was not such a thruster as Tom Firr of the Quorn. But Bill Nield, the first Cottesmore Whip, made up for any caution his pro- fessional superior indulged in by making the horses of Lord Lonsdale's hunt which he bestrode show the way straight across the varied but ever-sporting country which surrounds Oakham. To name those who might be seen at a popular meet, such as Manton Gorse, is to recite the list of numerous followers of Nimrod most prominent in their time. But we were rich in local celebrities, such as the late Hon. Gerard Noel, a junior colleague and friend of Lord Beaconsfield, and the afore-named Mr. Sam Hunt from Ketton, a notable personality and a real good sportsman of the old school, whom to know was to appreciate, so varied was his information and humorous the manner he had of telling a good tale. The list includes his two nephews, Henry and George Hunt of Stam- 2 SOME THINGS WE HAVE EEMEMBEEED . Mr. Orme of Oakham, old Squire Fludyer, the owner of the famous Wardley Wood, with his two sons, now Sir A. Fludyer and Colonel Fludyer, the Hon. Norman Leslie Mel- ville, Mr. Blackwood, Captain Tryon, Lord Aveland (afterwards Earl of Ancaster), whose death in January, 1911, has been a grief to all his friends, his son, the present Earl, and Lord Burghley, afterwards Marquis of Exeter, alas! with us no more. As he had been one of my closest friends in the House of Commons, I claim to have been one of the deepest losers when his bright personality was withdrawn from our sight. Jack Trollope (Lord Kesteven), and his late brother, Cran- mer Trollope, were also constantly seen in the field. Perhaps the best-known and most readily welcomed dents in the Cottesmore country were the two brothers Finch, George, the popular M.P. for Eutland, and Henry, his energetic, hard-riding brother. I had known the latter . at Harrow, and learned to appreciate the genial owner of Burley-on-the-Hill, when I was his colleague in the House of Commons, and he Father of that assemblage, where he Ins life from undue fatigue in the pursuit of duty, sitting up all one night and well into the next day, and even then fulfilling a dinner engagement, when the room named after >M political opponent but personal friend, Sir William Barcourt, was inaugurated. So lowered was Mr. Finch's Bystem by the overwork, that he succumbed to a cold caught on returning to Rutland. L it. but not least, I must name Dr. E. Snell of Barrow- den, one of the hard-riding fraternity, and an excellent, good fellow. I have "ft d thought how a meet at Burley-on-the-Hill in the ancienl courtyard of the house, afforded a fine subject for the sporting artist; the robust Earl and Jack West among their hounds, flanked by a few of the above-named, would ■• formed a fitting memorial of times which are those of history. Our liv( i in the smallest of British counties never flagged tor lack of interest. To begin with, the neighbours were LIFE IN THE COTTESMORE COUNTRY 203 most hospitable, and had we chosen to add the attraction of the dance to that of the chase, ample opportunity was afforded. But the long distances to covert and the time spent in the saddle rendered long nocturnal expeditions a claim on strength and purse which as a rule were prohibitive. Becoming closely acquainted with the Rev. Mr. and Mrs. James Lonsdale at South Luffenham Rectory, and also with Dr. Thring, the great Master of Uppingham, were bright and helpful experiences. As a clergyman Mr. Lonsdale was as successful as in the region of scholarship and letters, although the homely advice given to the village congregations savoured more of a modern George Herbert than that of a Balliol scholar steeped in the culture of Eton and Oxford. We remembered Dr. Thring best by the sympathetic hospitality so generously given when we came to play cricket against the School, but he freely entered into conversation with me about the examination system up at the Univer- sities, which he evidently regarded with a reforming eye. On one occasion my cousin C. I. Thornton took me to play for M.C.C. at Uppingham on a steaming hot day. Our pro- fessional bowling did not come off, and A. P. Lucas and his twin school champion, Fleming, put on over 200 before a wicket fell. I remember the delight of H. H. Stephenson, the boys' coach, and also Dr. Thring's kindly anxiety on my behalf when, wearied out and inningless, a start was made for home. On the whole this was the hottest day on which I ever played cricket. During the three years we were at Luffenham (1875-6-7) it is a remarkable fact that no serious accidents occurred, either with the Cottesmore, Mr. Tailby's, or the Quorn, al- though across the Welland, with the Fitzwilliam, a blow on the forehead received from a simple fall indirectly brought about the demise of the popular Master, Mr. George Fitz- william. But the fatal result came about because the Master could not refrain from visiting his beloved pack during frosty weather, and catching cold in the injured part, he succumbed to erysipelas. 304 SOME THINGS WE HAVE BEMEMBEKED Freddie Warburton had a nasty fall when larking "Too r our posts and rails at Luffenham. The creature a obdurate in refusing, and after an ugly rear went straight at the obstacle, not rising an inch, and fell over the other with Warburton beneath him. Yet the upset did not fchia determined sportsman from giving his Sussex thoroughbred another day with hounds, but not one satisfac- i so keen an observer of the hunting, because time was that day in getting away from Wardley Wood owing to ■ Too Past's" tantrums leading him to refuse. 1 >r. Snell kept a watchful eye on that horse, and wished for a chance of putting him into his own trap at Barrowden and driving him comfortably on his professional rounds. Mr. rburton, hearing of this and wishing to make a present to the Doctor, in return for much more than ordinary care, when Mr. 0. I. Thornton had been ill, gave Mr. Snell the animal, which straightway had to enter the shafts, and learn the f Kutland before commencing lesson number two and otiating its fenced obstacles, after galloping across the far-famed pastures and crossing the ploughs, when need arose. All these things "Too Fast" accomplished within a few 90 that the spectacle of Dr. Snell in front with Custance and amongst the Melton contingent became the talk of the hunt. it happened that Lord Dupplin, whose stud was the envy I the Quornites, had sent his groom to look out for b blood to reinforce his master's stable. After a burst in which I i Fast" had carried the Doctor in the van and mounted '■ stubborn obstacles, a suggestion was made thai Lord Dupplin would like to possess such an animal; his repn bative named a high price. "The horse lid uot 'I i for you," argued Dr. Snell, "he needs driving for before you ride him or he will neither gallop jump." -•!• on, however, with Warburton's leave and 'in of a handsome cheque, the erring hut brilliant ed mi-' tin- n« »ble Lord's Melton stable, so that hi turn to carry Lord Dupplin arrived. LIFE IN THE COTTESMORE COUNTRY 205 Of course there were other horses out belonging to Lord Dupplin, and it was fortunate that this was the case, because " Too Fast " belied his name shamefully by refusing at the first fence, and after rearing most alarmingly, fell over on his shoulder, the rider fortunately getting clear. But the nag arose hopelessly lame, and the verdict of a vet, called upon to prescribe in due course, was to the effect that an injury to the shoulder had occurred which precluded hunting for a long time. Lord Dupplin's groom after a few days' rest, took this horse to Leicester for the next sale by auction. Dr. Snell, being apprised, was there also, and buying " Too Fast " back for a few sovereigns soon restored him not only to soundness but to the foremost flight of the Cottesmore. It must not be supposed that the above happy hunting experiences were undergone without coming in contact with those sympathetic in the views fast forming at that time within one's mind which were destined to bear fruit. First, that the duty of every responsible person is to take an intelligent interest in public matters, and, secondly, when opinions be- come more definite do all that constitutionally can be at- tempted to make them prevail. Contact with men like the Noels, Willoughbys, Lowthers and Cecils, all of them un- selfishly considering how best to work the great machine of State, formed a school of thought whereof I became so far a disciple as to approve their means towards an end. As I have said, that goal in my own case came to be a belief in Lord Beaconsfield's Foreign and Domestic policy. It would be an injustice to one of the greatest horsemen of his day, if in this mention of my hunting experiences the name of the second Earl of Wilton was omitted. When seventy-six this remarkable man became the admiration of younger experts. Custance used to appreciate his skill and courage to the full. CHAPTER XIV. BATTERSEA RISE HOUSE AND ITS LATER MEMORIES. I have ventured in a former chapter of this work to ltion the beneficent influence of that family record which enabled my father's kinsmen of each sex to stand by one another through the proverbially " changing scenes of life ". Both at Albury until 1812, when, constrained by Fortune's fickle will to leave that beauteous home, and at Chobham until 1832, when after more than one deep affliction this ing-place was also abandoned, the happy influence of a religious and affectionate home circle was ever apparent. It will now be my privilege in the capacity of one closely connected with the Battersea Rise branch of the family, and on terms of the warmest regard with several of the sons and daughters of Henry Thornton, M.P., to bear testimony, how, in like manner, these gentle fruits of sacred culture were the precious possessions of those kinsmen and women made 80 celebrated by the Essays of Sir James Stephen, and the letters of those who lived near and acted with William Wilberforce and Zachary Macaulay. AJtl gb I only knew Sir Robert Inglis by name as the fdian oi the Battersea Rise children after 1815, and as the choice of Tory Oxford when that University, in revolt Q8l Sir Roberl Peel for his part in promoting Catholic emancipation, rejected him as their representative in the ' immons, it was my good fortune to meet Lady ' ls . although onlj inwards the close of her life, and to ' m her conversation how the mystic lamp of un- : ■ 10D to those around fchem had been handed down 206 Hoppner, pinx. Henry Thornton, M.P. for Southwark, a.d. 1782-1815 The Gift of Ids Constituents BATTEKSEA RISE HOUSE 207 to the keeping of a new generation by the representatives of those high ideals which took origin from Bible teaching. It has been my happy privilege to have known five children of Henry Thornton, M.P. — Henry Sykes Thornton, my father-in-law ; Miss Marianne Thornton, the friend of Bishop Wilberforce and of others distinguished in literature and politics ; Isabella, wife of the Venerable Archdeacon Harri- son ; Sophia, Lady Leven, second wife of her cousin, John Earl of Leven and Melville, who had previously married my father's sister Harriett, his first cousin ; and Laura, wife of the eminent theologian, friend and chaplain to Bishop Jebb, the Rev. Charles Forster. Watson Joseph Thornton, Prebendary of Hereford Cathe- dral, father of Henry Sykes Thornton, junior, and of the cele- brated cricketer, C. I. Thornton ; Charles Thornton, Harrow and Christchurch scholar, beloved of his generation ; Miss Lucy Thornton, the lady scholar of Battersea Rise House, who revelled in the study of difficult books ; Mrs. Synnot, mother of two clever and interesting children, Inglis and Henrietta — these children of Henry Thornton, M.P., I never knew. The Venerable Lord Sidmouth, son of the Prime Minister who, as Mr. Addington, followed Mr. Pitt as Prime Minister in 1801, assures me that he had a personal acquaint- ance, the memory of which he warmly cherishes, with each of them and also with some of those who belonged to the next generation. It is remarkable that, despite the Evangelical prejudice against public schools, Charles Thornton (subsequently in- cumbent of Bloomsbury Chapel) was sent to Harrow under Dr. George Butler, and pursued a brief but brilliant career at that school, and at the University of Oxford. Charles Thornton's name is inscribed in a conspicuous part of the old speech room under date 1826, as a scholar and head of the school. At Oxford he enjoyed the friendship of distin- guished men like Dr. Newman and Sidney Herbert. Dying early in life he left behind him a bright tradition of kindliness to all who came in contact with him. and, in spite of his 3 soMK THINGS WE HAVE EEMEMBEKED attraction towards the Oxford movement, his own Low Church relations simply revered his memory. We have a curious rd of Newman's affection for him. I came across a letter of Dr. Newman's to the late Archdeacon Harrison, who nted me leave to copy it. The Archdeacon, who had red some manuscript books at Oxford thirty years before, found them amongst the debris of an extensive library in the Precincts at Canterbury. He sent them to the Cardinal at the Oratory, Birmingham, accompanying the parcel with an apology for the long delay, whereupon he received the follow- ing reply :— " My dear Mr. Archdeacon, " Many thanks for the books and papers which I have received safely. I often wondered when I should see them again. I constantly think of you and of the old Battersea Rise entourage. Charles I never forget at Mass. " Yours, "J. H. Newman." The Rev. Charles Thornton died the year after his marriage to Frances Mary, daughter of Benjamin Harrison, [., of Clapham Common. He was known in his family as a poet of no mean capacity. Those who are beginning to perceive the commercial value of the Houssa country, and the great future for the territory and the Bources of the Niger, should never forget the career ol Hugli C In pperton, the sailor explorer of these then forbidden haunts, denied that is to those who were not fear- "i di death. Hugh Clapperton twice attempted i the Niger's source, but on the second occasion oumbed to fatigue and disease. He was a magnificent imenof our Briti brace, and the forerunner of the school winch produced David I ji\ •ingstnne, Verney Lovett Cameron, unuel 1 la] I' ii whin Clapperton was dying, on 18 April, BATTEKSEA RISE HOUSE 209 1827, he heard in imagination the village bells of his beloved Scots home in Annan. The Rev. Charles Thornton wrote the following verses descriptive of the explorer's end : — The wanderer, the desert guest, Has laid him down in lowly rest, His arm is folded o'er his breast And his eye is closing. The dews his throbbing temples steep, And calm and holy is his sleep, For Angels oft their vigils keep On good men reposing. No dream of hideous wing is there, The childlike slumbering to scare, But awful sounds are in the air, And round him flow. The tolling of the village bell, By day and night remembered well, Is breathing round its ancient knell, Deep, sweet and low. In youth those sounds had often borne Glad tidings of the Sabbath morn, A holy day, a glorious dawn, A day of joy and rest. And now they come his bed to cheer, To tell the end of pain and fear, A home secure, a Sabbath near, And years for ever blest. As meekly sinks his fading eye, And bursts its way the struggling sigh, Still swells the well-known melody, Soft on his ear. Then as he calmly dies away, The notes more sweet in their decay, Rise with him on his heavenly way, And leave him there. I venture to print these lines of the much-appreciated Harrow and Christchurch scholar, Charles Thornton. 14 210 SOME THINGS WE HAVE EEMBMBEEED Mr. Charles Inglis Thornton, the songster's nephew, who derived his first name from this honoured relative, has be- come celebrated as the Captain both of the Eton and Cam- bridge Cricket Eleven, as well as for having hit a cricket ball harder and for hitting more consistently than anyone else past or present. Concerning Charles Thornton's sister, Mrs. Synnot, and her two children, never having seen the former, nevertheless I may say that the person best able, by talent and informa- tion combined, to act as coadjutor with Miss Laura Forster in sketching the career of their grandfather, Henry Thornton, MP., would be Miss Henrietta Synnot of Milton Bryant in Bedfordshire. I hold this opinion because, in addition to a memory stored with knowledge of the times, a number of im- portant family letters are in the possession of both my cousins which deal with Battersea Kise House and its former inmates. To have known the late Inglis Synnot is indeed a pleasant recollection. A First Class at Oxford and one whose scien- tific capacity reached practical effect as an expert in teles- ■ pic knowledge, he is tenderly remembered by those now Livine who were at Christchurch with him as by his own relations who survive. Approached by Mr. Gathorne Hardy's canvassers at Ox- ford in L865, with a view to gaining his vote against Mr. Gladstone for Oxford University, he promptly replied in the cause being a man of unsettled opinions he had found a suitable representative in the brilliant but erratic ian who was destined to lose the seat. I was one of many who deeply lamented the early death of Inglis Synnot. I own experience does not go nearly so far back as the c ureei of the ahove-inentioned Rev. Charles Thornton, but I peas with Koine authority regarding his brother Henry Bykea Thornton, a -• I as of the generally acknowledged Qectnal p of his sister Marianne, long the guardian what wa onoe tinned the Clapham village) of local litiona which can never die. I was also a constant guest I tooincl i, < Santerbnry, daring t lie later years of Arch- BATTERSEA RISE HOUSE 211 deacon and Mrs. Harrison. There the practical efforts to find a working future for young girls in Industrial Homes, was accompanied by an old-world courtesy towards all who approached the home. But the Archdeacon and Mrs. Harrison having undertaken the responsibility of two young men, namely Mrs. Harrison's orphan nephews, Henry Sykes Thornton, junr., and Charles Inglis Thornton, of cricket fame, entered warmly into their occupations, such as those connected with the annual Canter- bury week, and the cultivation of Eton, Harrow, Cam- bridge, and other friendships. Indeed more than one house in the Precincts used to be tenanted during the cricket week by celebrities such as W. G. Grace, I. D. Walker, Lord Harris, and R. A. H. Mitchell, who were the Arch- deacon's guests. No more popular or well-remembered figures in those days crossed the St. Lawrence Ground during this annual festival than those of the genial Archdeacon of Maidstone and his well-beloved partner in life. Chaplain to Archbishop Howley, this learned cleric had been known as "little Ben- jamin, our Ruler," because although he was strong in brain power and had garnered in stores of ecclesiastical and other learning, he was not tall of stature. A Christ Church man during the progress of the Oxford movement, his inclinations always tended towards moderation. His earliest College ex- perience, several times repeated in my hearing, was to this effect. Shortly after entering upon his first term, but after he had made the acquaintance of some congenial friends, the future Archdeacon awoke from sleep after hearing loud knockings at his door, and when scarcely awake beheld the form of his fellow collegian at Christchurch, W. E. Glad- stone, who metaphorically swore " by the nine gods " that he would not leave that room until he (Benjamin Harrison) had signed a Circular against granting Catholic emancipation. Hesitating at first, this proverbially strong man had to give way before the tempest of denunciatory verbiage directed by Mr. Gladstone against any refusal. It is a fact that this 14 * •212 SOME THINGS WE HAVE EEMEMBEEED historic personage, " with a wild wilful will," departed having secured the coveted signature to a document which that wise theologian and Canon of Canterbury's riper experience must have led him to look upon somewhat doubtfully. I was fortunate enough to become familiar with that part of the Precincts which the Archdeacon and Mrs. Harrison inhabited so early as 1855, when at Dr. Lenny's school at Kamsgate. Thenceforth and for many years this secluded home under the shadows of the noble Cathedral was to be a resting place which I dearly loved to visit. The Archdeacon and Mrs. Harrison used to come up for Convocation to the late Sir Eobert Inglis's London house, 7 Bedford Square, which had been bequeathed to them, there gathering around them, besides contemporary relations and friends, many of the younger generation. I was frequently included in these happy gatherings, while circumstances likewise took me also to the very cen- tre of the Clapham Mecca at Battersea Eise. Mr. Henry Sykes Thornton, the banker, son of Henry Thornton, M.P., had established and constantly preserved the warmest regard for his uncle, Samuel Thornton, Governor of the Bank of Kngland, and successively M.P. for Hull and Surrey, evincing similar sentiments generally towards this side of the clan, and by no means least to my father the Admiral as well as to my- self. Indeed from earliest youth I had known Mr. Henry Sykes Thornton as one of my best friends, whose kindness of rt ev< c shone forth even in the ordinary transactions of iness life. Thus it came to pass that amid the happy home circle of Battersea Eise I met and won my wife, the fourth daughter of the house, to whom these pages are dedi- 'I. 1 1' t mother was a daughter of the famous Eector of pham, Archdeacon Dealtry, whose great abilities both at Lbridge and as Canon of Winchester raised his name high among tin- Churchmen of the time. hi Battersea Rise House at this time all the old family it "ii Btrongly prevailed, and with them the hearty hos- rii-ni-law of Mr. H. Sykes Thornton was Major n Sykes, who, when the Crimean War was brought to a BATTEKSEA EISE HOUSE 215 close, and his marriage with Mr. Thornton's second daughter had taken place, fixed his permanent home at Weymouth, so as to be near the banking house at Dorchester, seldom visiting London. When Mr. Guy Pym became allied to the youngest daughter of the family, Mr. H. S. Thornton had himself passed away. Mr. H. S. Thornton had been one of the founders of the Athenaeum Club, and I am indebted to Sir Samuel Hoare, Baronet, for interesting recollections connected with this fact, one being that he was himself elected to the club with my father-in-law as his proposer. It is remarkable how averse the master of Battersea Rise House was to having his portrait painted. He used to say that in the City long observation had led to the belief that sitting for a picture was very often a preface to entering the Bankruptcy Court. He had a good memory for the events of his childhood ; one at being surprised at the gusto with which his father's half-famished guests from the House of Commons attacked such viands as Mrs. Henry Thornton was able to give them in a comparatively small space. The then M.P. for Southwark passed part of the session in a house close to Westminster Abbey, and within easy reach of the Legislature, where beyond Bellamy's historic pork pies little refreshment could then be obtained. Mr. H. S. Thornton was, as a very small boy, especially impressed, as he told me, by hearing Mr. Canning and Mr. Wilberforce gravely depre- cate the danger of imminent national defeat while they enjoyed their coffee quite contentedly. To the end of his life this eminent banker was more or less of an optimist as regards external dangers from foreign Powers. He had seen the nation emerge safely from perils loudly proclaimed by public men of authority to be insurmountable, and the strength of Great Britain remain immune. Avoiding active politics, Mr. H. S. Thornton was a Whig, and preferred Palmerston's and Gladstone's rule to that of Derby or Disraeli, although as regards the Rupert of Debate, none amongst the guests at •216 SOME THINGS WE HAVE EEMEMBEKED Goldsmiths' Hall had been, in Mr. Thornton's view, com- parable to the Lord of Knowsley in wit, taste, and the purest form of eloquence. The friendship with my grandfather and father led Mr. H. S. Thornton to befriend me from boyhood. Like my Uncle John of The Terrace, Clapham, he was often mistaken for the great Duke of Wellington, both these relations having a profile somewhat similar to that world-renowned warrior. ' Well, I'm blowed, I thought the old Duke was dead," was once remarked by a City bystander as Mr. H. S. Thornton passed by. He was the last City man to adhere to the blue coat and brass buttons of the eighteenth century, being so attired I recollect when coming down to Harrow in his son's time in 1857. The dress was very like that in Hoppner's famous picture of Henry Thornton, M.P. for Southwark. It was the habit of the owner of Battersea Eise House annually to travel abroad with the ladies of his household as well as certain relations and friends, Mr. Tayloe, the medical man at Clapham, being one of these. But amongst the visitors two remarkable clergymen were frequently found, one the Eev. Eichard Burgess, of Holy Trinity Church, Sloane Street, and the other the Eev. T. G. Griffith, of St. Matthew's Vicarage, Surbiton. The former was a cleric who had lived much on the Continent and gathered Protestant congregations together under the very shadow of St. Peter's Rome. Miss Helen Eossetti Angeli's lately published work on Shelley ("Shelley and His Friends in Italy," p. 317) tells how, when the ashes of the poet were refused Christian burial in the Kti:rnal City, Mr. Burgess, the British Chaplain, alone of all ministers of religion approached was prepared I i con unit them to the grave. Both Mr. Burgess and Mr. Griffith were old-fashioned Article Churchmen, the former basing his opposition to the aan fcheolo v mi Ins interpretation of Bible and Eeforma- tion history; while Mr. Griffith was a religious philosopher uality. To the writer, who knew and appreci- BATTEKSEA KTSE HOUSE 217 ated his steadfastness in the views he held so tenaciously, this interesting personage appeared to be a sort of Ecclesias- tical Carlyle. Mr. Burgess's sermons are published and very instructive they remain ; but unfortunately the pulpit utterances of Mr. Griffith, fraught with their native originality, have never seen light. Though remembered by thinking members of his con- gregation, they are not available for reference. How men like these added to the success of Mr. H. S. Thornton's parties abroad by diffusing knowledge in a manner rendered palatable by an ever-ready wit can be well imagined. A fervent Churchman, preserving these evangelical and hospitable traditions, Mr. H. S. Thornton had a remarkable memory for repeating the Psalms, and a reverence for the Book of Common Prayer only surpassed by that for the Bible itself. His friendship with Kobert Bickersteth, Bishop of Ripon, was that of two kindred souls seeing eye to eye in the religious questions of the day, but preserving a Christian toleration prompted by love for humanity towards those differing from them. Mr. Thornton's cousins, Lord and Lady Houghton, with their family were frequent visitors at Battersea Rise House, and I can recollect parties where a political flavour was perceptible when Sir E. Beckett Denison, afterwards Lord Grimthorpe, was amongst the guests. The old Whigs were extremely anxious about this time to see the Liberals restored to power, distrusting as they did the foreign policy of Mr. Disraeli. Mr. Tom Taylor, a neighbour and friend, held such views emphatically, and I sometimes found myself in a minority. Indeed, when in 1880, the fruits of the Midlothian campaign appeared in the overthrow of the Tory Government, what seemed to me a disaster of the first magni- tude was, I found, regarded in a different light by my host and father-in-law, until the obstruction in the House of Commons by the Parnellites, and an anti-British utterance of the Irish leader's, opened his eyes to dangers, his clear per- ception of which justifies my belief that he never would have 218 SOME THINGS WE HAVE EEMEMBEEED supported Mr. Gladstone's Home Eule proposals. But when Mr. Gladstone previously came fresh from the triumphs of the 1880 election, the paeans of victory from the Liberals all over England found responsive echoes in old-fashioned Liberal homes, the owners of which were oblivious of the coming changes in Church and State which have since meta- morphosed the whole face of politics. I claim to have personally striven to live up to this Beaconsfield conviction, when staying with my friend and relation Mr. Daniel Sykes at Almondsbury, near Bristol, be- fore the election of 1880. A three-cornered contest was there in progress between the two Liberals, Mr. Samuel Morley and Mr. Lewis Fry, representatives of a well-organized party caucus, and Sir Ivor Guest (now Lord Wimborne), a Conser- vative. But a third local candidate appeared in the field in the shape of Mr. Elisha Kobinson, a Liberal of long standing, who, as the result of travelling in the East, had been converted to the foreign policy of Lord Beaconsfield, as evidenced in the events connected with the Treaty of Berlin. This contest at one time looked like making a serious split in the Liberal ranks, even when Sam Morley was so locally potent and his colleague Mr. Lewis Fry strong in party and personal popularity. To support Mr. Elisha Kobinson I brought the Patriotic party into the borough, formed for the purpose of supporting patriotic candidates ir- i lective of party. Colonel G. B. Malleson, the Indian histo- rian, and a remarkable public speaker, was supported on various plat tonus by my friend Mr. H. M. Hyndman, then the hope of a certain section of the Tories, but since cele- brated within the ranks of the Socialism he afterwards adopted. At a greal meeting in the old Colston Hall, subsequently di i royed by fire, the vast majority of the audience refused to a hearing and promptly rushed the platform, chasing out of the hall and into a passage which ran parallel to ili'- vast area in which the gathering had collected. It was a nil remains fresh in my memory. We were BATTEESEA EISE HOUSE 219 indeed fortunate that a friendly hand thrust open the door of the passage, when shut against us, leading out into the street, and let the harried followers of Lord Beaconsfield take refuge in a house close by. Glad beyond measure were we when Mr. Sykes's skilful coachman, George Bye, picked us up near the rear of the hall and drove us up to beauti- ful Almondsbury and to Mr. and Mrs. Sykes's hospitable home. Had our host really devoted his time and attention to politics, it is certain that, owing to abnormal popularity, he must have had considerable effect upon the elections as they arose. But this joyous philanthropist was so much occupied with relieving the needs of others that he found no time for organizing against Imperial dangers which appeared on the horizon even at this time, and which he fully recognized, while business duties which required all his great energetic power awaited fulfilment. Mr. Daniel Sykes was a great admirer of Miss Carpenter's work amongst the Bristolian children, and a coadjutor of hers in the Christlike work she had undertaken. Although Mr. Daniel Sykes was resident at Almondsbury in Gloucestershire he belonged to the well-known Yorkshire family of that name, his father having been the owner of Eaywell near West Ella. Any reference to this branch of the Sykes family must lead to a contingent notice of a first cousin of Mr. Henry Sykes Thornton on his mother's side, the late Mr. Joseph Sykes, who, when a resident at Preston near Brighton, helped, in association with the late Mr. J. G. Bishop, then Editor of the ' Brighton Herald," to endow that paper with literary dis- tinction. An Oxonian of that period in the last century during which the intellectual activities of great Churchmen, such as New- man and Pusey, attracted universal attention to the Isis, Mr. Joseph Sykes was induced to cultivate an innate historical faculty, such as enabled him to utilize a remarkable knowledge of France and its people by publishing studies of her States- men in the Eestoration period, which although to be found 220 SOME THINGS AVE HAVE EEMEMBEEED in the " Brighton Herald " were only collected for the benefit of private friends. But the succinct Biographies of Chateaubriand, the Due de Bichelieu and M. Decazes attracted the attention of numerous intelligent students of modern French history. Mr. Joseph Sykes retained his clear and attractive style of writing to the close of a long life. A large circle of friends were constantly cheered by presents of books containing both verse and prose. He died in September, 1905. We used just about this time to hear a good deal of social life from Lord Houghton and comparatively little politics, but despite this he did take his part in Yorkshire in the campaign which restored Mr. Gladstone to power in 1880, and so ranged himself on the side of the new Government. But nevertheless towards the close of his varied and interest- ing career a philosophical desire to see the British Constitution work with a more even balance between the two great parties came over him. I could not at this time discern what seemed to me adequate appreciation of Mr. Disraeli's statesmanship amongst my own relatives. Ability, of course, was taken for granted, but after that little more was admitted. It seemed to me that one who hailed the noble efforts of Mr. Pitt on behalf of the deliverance of Europe from Napoleon might foster some tolerance for a policy of reanimating the smoulder- ing ashes of Patriotism such as the historian will surely associate with the period between 1876-80. But not so my honoured kinsman, Lord Houghton, whom I have heard fervidly describe the hopes and fears connected with Lord 1 1;irro\vl>y's return from Berlin before Austerlitz, and sym- pathize with Mr. Pitt's patriotic resolution stifled only by death. The occasion was that of a dinner at Lady Galway's 1 house in Rutland Gate. Her brother being temporarily lame could not ascend to the drawing-room where the guests were 'The sixth Viscount Galway married, 1838, Henrietta Eliza, only [hterof Robert Pemberton Milnea (my father's first cousin), and the Hon. I tenj ietta .M< .ill it's eldest son William when leaving Eton was PUBLIC LIFE IN BATTERSBA declared in his leaving book to have been the best runner ever at that royal seat of learning. As the boyish competitor and school conqueror of C. B. Lawes in the one mile race at Eton his name became historic in athletic circles under Royal Henry's shades by Father Thames. That he wenl into business straight from Eton and did not go to either University accounts for his name not appearing in connexion with the athletic revival of 1866. A daughter of Mr. Dealtry, C.M.G., had been allied to Mr. Daniel Sykes, one of the branch of a family whose main Yorkshire possession is at West Ella near Hull, but whose own contiguous home was known as Raywell. This Mr. Daniel Sykes living successively at Druidstoke and Oaklands, Almondsbury, Gloucestershire, gained a name for local philan- thropy while in business at Bristol, which, combined with a personal popularity there quite remarkable, revived in the West traditions such as had rendered a former alliance of Sykes and Thornton memorable in Yorkshire. Indeed the wife of Henry Thornton, the great M.P. for South wark, was Marianne, daughter of Joseph Sykes of West Ella, whose portrait by Hoppner appeared in the Royal Academy in 1796. Their granddaughter, Miss Emily Thornton, married a brother of Daniel Sykes, Major Cam Sykes, eminent in the profession of Arms, having served through the Crimean War and wit- nessed the night retreat of the Russian Army from Sebastopol —experiences of which he would seldom speak, accompanied as they doubtless had been with sad memories of lost friends who fell in that arduous campaign. Both as a soldier and in after years as a banker it may be said of Major Cam Sykes " in quietness and confidence was his strength ". Another brother-in-law, Mr. R. Ruthven Pym, has been named amongst the members of his race in Bedfordshire and also incidentally as a London banker who gave much of his time to work at the Middlesex Hospital, being also connected with divers other charities for a long period. But he will be best remembered outside the circle of his relatives by having been chosen by the Ecclesiastical authorities at St. Paul's 240 SOME THINGS WE HAVE EEMEMBEEED Cathedral to act as volunteer verger when crowds of worship- pers sought for places whence they could hear the sermons of Canon Liddon, Bishop Magee, and Harvey Goodwin, as well as others of repute who possessed unusual religious knowledge and pulpit eloquence. His first cousin, Mr. Guy Pyrn, already mentioned, and whose career is related in the "Gleanings," came to Battersea Bise with him about this time (1885), and formed an alliance with the youngest daughter of the house. Mr. B. Buthven Pym's second daughter married the Bev. Marshall Tweddell, a clergyman who made a considerable mark both as a minister and a writer on religion, in the Diocese of London. Just when comparative leisure in a country cure had given his friends reason to hope that he would have opportunities for producing more sacred works, he was taken away from them. Another person connected with the Battersea Bise side of the family, whose original mode of thought combined with a depth of character quite unusual — revealed mostly to those amongst whom he was best known — endeared him to all such associates, was Dr. Beginald Southey, a kinsman of the Lake Poet, married to Marianne Thornton, daughter of Pre- bendary Watson Thornton, the second son of Henry Thorn- ton, M.P. She is sister to H. S. Thornton and his younger brother Charles Inglis Thornton, the cricketer. Something of Dr. Southey's innermost thought is revealed in the verse he wrote and desired should be placed on his grave. Mark this dark shadow which the sun indites, Learn too the lesson that its passage writes, Pause here no longer, use the allotted span Given thee to make thee an eternal man. Settled down at Battersea Bise House with all its literary attraction I did not find the pursuit of letters quite sufficient as a regular employment to satisfy the sense of duty towards the surging population which ever more thickly encircled the ecluded garden ;md grounds, an invasion which it was impossible as undesirable to ignore. PUBLIC LIFE IN BATTERSEA 241 Through the encouragement of Canon Brskine Clarke, the energetic Vicar of Battersea, who made me his Churchwarden in 1885, 1 was thrown into the municipal life there when the local body now known as a Borough Council could only claim the dignity of a Vestry. Therein opportunity was afford, witness several local debates wherein foemen worthy of any forensic assembly were pitted one against another. The late Mr. Andrew Cameron was a remarkable municipal worker, capable of defending the opinions he held in the debates which his own and Mr. Edward Wood's speeches rendered memorable in the Battersea annals. Mr. Andrew Cameron, although crippled by rheumatic gout, had an indomitable public spirit ; and the success of the Public Libraries movement in the vast Battersea area must be in a great degree placed to his credit. He and one or two other coadjutors certainly elevated the tone of each discus- sion, and had John Burns himself stepped down into the official arena at this period from that of outside irresponsi- bility, he would have found either potent allies or foemen worthy of his steel. It was indeed a privilege to have heard these clever con- tentions from the lips of such men and to become familiar thereby with local affairs. In the capacity of Vicar's Warden, I was also enabled to rescue the tomb of the famous Lord Bolingbroke, the Minister of Queen Anne, from the oblitera- tion which threatened the record of its exact position. In concurrence with the wishes of the St. John family, and of Lord Bolingbroke in particular, the following Inscription was placed on the stone beneath which some of those living in Battersea had seen the great statesman's coffin. Henry St. John Viscount Bolingbroke Secretary of State to Queen Anne Born 1678. Died 1751 This epoch in our history was one wherein it needed the 16 242 SOME THINGS WE HAVE EEMEMBEEED best brain power of England's sons to save her from domestic strife. The state of the waifs and strays of society was more miserable in the southern riverside districts of London than the oldest inhabitants of Battersea, Wandsworth, or South Lambeth remembered, or than their successors have ex- perienced since. There was at that time no Central Un- employed Committee for the Metropolis, nor had Parliament discussed the causes which were at the root of the evil. Al- though I am here speaking mainly of the state of affairs in and around Battersea Bise, the social disease raged in the very centre of the Metropolis. Turbulent forces appeared on the surface of society, and for several days order was menaced in the West End of the Metropolis. As an example and justification for such a statement I may cite the fact that the family carriage from our house on Clapham Common just escaped the pillage which had overtaken its predecessor in Hyde Park by the coachman turning sharp to the left into Park Lane. Ladies in the assailed vehicle were politely asked to give up their valuables in the old-fashioned highwayman style, and in the confusion which prevailed acquiesced. It is hard to realize that such an experience as this can be recorded during the decade which closed in 1890, although long before that date order had been firmly re-established. At Battersea the local expression of internal suffering which organized bands of unemployed workmen adopted was an insistence on the right to attend Divine service at St. Mary's Parish Church, coupled with a demand that the Vicar of Battersea, the Rev. Canon Erskine Clarke, should preach from and upon the injustice of those asking for bread being given a stone ; an allusion to needy men out of work having to labour in the parish stone-yard before receiving the small assistance which could properly be bestowed. Ultimately the Canon faced the situation, and preached the sermon with great success, improving the occasion of getting so many poor men into the parish church who were bo the worship there. But the going and returning PUBLIC LIFE IN BATTEESEA to and from the parish church of large masses of anemplo escorted by policemen caused to many of us a time of ans on behalf of the peace of Battersea. My colleague, Mr. Edward Wood, J.P., appeared to think the summoning of the police had been premature; and apparently held the opinion that a risk of disturbance had been run when order was not seriously threatened. But I can never forget that on more than one previous Sunday demonstrations had been made during the service in different parts of the Metropolis, and that in some instances brawling had occurred during the prayer for the Sovereign. This I held to be an incident which never ought to be re- peated, and certainly I felt it my duty as the Vicar's Church- warden to exhaust every legal power in order to prevent. I should not like my readers to assume that the sources of private charity were not drawn upon for the alleviation of the distress which was at the root of the evil. We had our Distress Committee and a fairly liberal subscription was re- ceived from the Battersea people. My friend Major G. S. Windham acted as Secretary to the Fund, while I worked with him as Treasurer ; so that we were able in unison with the Vestry authorities to give a number of men two shillings and sixpence on alternate days for screening gravel that the late Mr. Pilditch, the eminent road surveyor, wished to be made ready for use. To get this small pittance I have seen strong men beg most piteously, so great was the need at that moment. It was Major Windham's and my own duty to sit far into the night looking into the cases, and later in the winter this philanthropic effort was rendered more palatable to the poor sufferers by the institution of a soup kitchen near the works, which were situated close to the Latchmere Allotments, now partly covered by workmen's dwellings. Numerous indeed are the memories crowding one's mind at this period, and although Battersea Bise was our home, the ever-ready welcome at The Precincts, Canterbury, and 7 Bedford Square, London, extended by the Archdeacon of Maidstone and Mrs. Harrison, stands out prominently. 16* 244 SOME THINGS WE HAVE EEMEMBEEED Cricket, hunting, and pleasant re-unions with old friends are owing to these two hospitable relatives, who seldom left these two residences. Once Lady Leven induced them to travel all the way up to Glenfurness on the Findhorn, which they reached one summer's evening ; but, notwithstanding their seeing it under pleasant auspices, both of weather and warmth of family welcome, an early return to Dunphail Station was arranged for the following morning, in order that the Arch- deacon might not be absent from a visitation in Kent which was to be held twenty-four hours later. About this time my cousin Lord Houghton's health began to flag most alarmingly, but his mental and bodily activity remained unimpaired. He had received a shock by having been pushed about in a well-meaning patriotic crowd which had collected to welcome Lord Wolseley back from Tel-el- Kebir and his Egyptian successes generally. I thought at the time that the very independence of mind which prompted his presence unattended on such an occasion was likely to be a drawback to recovery from a liability to cardaic attacks. He welcomed every opportunity to stay at his old haunts at Battersea Rise, and there shortly before the close of his life met Dr. H. M. Butler, Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, the late Head Master of Harrow, and Mr. (Bishop) Welldon, the newly elected Head. On that occasion he was the soul of the party, leading conversation and telling interesting an< cdotes about the Cambridge of his time which deeply in- terested all of us present. Although his visit was a brief one, it was not long before he r< burned full of all the news from the great Council of the Nation gathered from his seat in the House of Peers. I though! him very poorly, and attempted to dissuade his dining with the late Lord Kedesdale at an official entertainment preparatory to joining Lady Galway at Vichy. Indeed we nil saw that a qui i rest in the shades of Clapham would be beneficial, bul failed to deflect Lord Houghton's movements. * I * - I away at Vichy on 11 August, 1815, aged 76. When ho many mournr.l in different climes, the gap in the PUBLIC LIFE IN BATTERSEA 246 life of a humble relative can scarcely be weighed in oomp son to the general loss sustained. Nevertheless he bad tended the friendly hand of kinsmanship from father to :-■ and I deeply felt his death. It has been previously stated how I had become a staun EXPEEIENCES IN THE COMMONS " Nuni.ii \M Pabi I I I.. " April 83, L904. "Dear Mr. Thornton, " I owe you many apologies for not having answered your kind letter and welcome thought in Bending me vour interesting book which I have perused with much instruc- tion. " I have had the good fortune to live through the last th] quarters of the nineteenth century and I wish I could beli that England will be as well to do in that which is to oome. "I have always myself had a personal preference for the eighteenth century when there seemed to me a more pre- dominant common sense in public business and private aff;i than now prevails. " Yours very sincerely, " W. Harcouht." The G.O.M.'s staunch supporter ever since 1880 and the victorious Midlothian campaign, Sir William was always good at need. It happened that in 1880 the writer was among the guests assembled in Goldsmiths' Hall to celebrate the trial of the Pyx, which — I must say— seemed to savour of a public matter in which all who used coin of the realm must feel concerned. Although the gathering took place at a time when party spirit had not ceased to rage, and the well- to-do citizens present within those ancient portals were for the most part sore at Lord Beaconsfield's overthrow, yet the good temper of the three guests, the combined tactfulness and ability of their several addresses, did much to appease such sentiments. The Premier mingled freely in conversation with those near him, enjoying the good fare put before him- self, the late Lord Justice James, and Sir William Barconxt. I remember how Sir William admitted that once he had cherished a desire to see changes in the City Companies, but that facts had been made known showing how a&nirably the Goldsmiths and other such institutions were administering the funds left them to disseminate, and thereby making 264 SOME THINGS WE HAVE REMEMBERED friends of watchful critics. He ended by uttering sentiments adverse to any Parliamentary interference with the City Companies in their performance of the duties imposed on them by their wealth. This utterance was, as may be imagined, exceedingly well received, except by an old gentle- man wearing a skull-cap who had exercised his privilege as a goldsmith to put a magnum of choice champagne under his chair. Being deaf, he heard little of the Home Secretary's remarks ; but at the end shouted out loudly words meant only for his immediate neighbour: " I don't believe a word the man says ! " Deaf persons are said to be proverbially suspicious, and I don't think the incident was noticed. Neither at the moment was there even a guess why a sudden change came over the Premier after being the very soul of the evening's entertain- ment, and making a suitable and vigorous exposition of the duties expected of these Companies and Guilds, formed to lighten the cares and woes of life by providing money to aid good causes and to promote higher education, functions for the carrying out of which with honesty and success he gave credit to Mr. Fleming, the ever-eloquent Prime Warden, and the Company generally. At the end of the banquet the late Mr. Henry Sykes Thornton wished to introduce me to Mr. Gladstone, and I consented with diffidence not feeling that I had earned the right to such an honour. Learning that I was guest and son-in-law of so influential a member of the Company, Mr. Gladstone promptly asked that I should get him a cup of tea. This involved a mission I could not fulfil immediately ; as the great feast had ended and I was obliged to find a waiter who could leave the Hall. When in a few minutes I returned with the tea I found to my surprise that Mr. Gladstone had gone, apparently — as his neighbours at table declared — tired and out of spirits. I felt very sorry that I had not been able to meet his needs more promptly. Some years afterwards, when in the same Hall called upon to return thanks for the Visitors, I told the above story, lamenting that a shadow had been thus EXPEKIENCES IN THE COMMONS 266 inadvertently thrown over an otherwise bright evening. On leaving the building I met Mr. Fleming, the Prime Warden of 1880, who said to me : " Mr. Thornton, we were much in- terested in your remarks; but believe me, it was not the tea being delayed which upset the Prime Minister's equilibrium ". He explained that towards the close of dinner Mr. Gladstone said to Mr. H. S. Thornton, who never concerned himself with the machinery of politics : " Thornton, where are the reporters?" The reply promptly came that all dinners at Goldsmiths' Hall, and this amongst them, were absolutely private, and that this evening could not be made exceptional in that particular. " Then," said Mr. Gladstone, " I have been deceived," and left as soon as the claims of courtesy permitted. I have often wondered these able Liberal statesmen, men of the world, engaged at the moment on business matters of public importance, did not learn the rules of Goldsmiths' Hall, unchangeable as those of the Medes and Persians, when the invitations first reached them. On the other hand, a Chancellor of the Exchequer trying the Pyx may be considered as called on to make his views known outside, as Mr. Gladstone certainly expected to do on this almost unique occasion. But to revert to the House of Commons, in my times a considerable strength to London Unionists consisted in the management of their Committee chosen from Metropolitan M.P.'s on that side and presided over by the Hon. F. W. D. Smith, while Mr. A.J. Whitmore made a simply ideal Secre- tary. Under their skilful guidance the views of those repre- senting each constituency were elicited, and no cast-iron rules enjoined upon them, except that of eating more than one ex- cellent dinner annually at Mr. F. W. D. Smith's hospitable board, and that of minimizing rather than magnifying inevit- able disagreements. Mr. Whitmore was a statesman of great discretion to whom London owed much. His victory over Sir Charles Dilke at Chelsea in the eighties, after a strenuous campaign, 266 SOME THINGS WE HAVE EEMEMBEKED stamped him as a leading figure in the party, and the repre- sentatives of Unionist London strongly reverenced his wise guidance, just as one and all of us, liking him personally so much, now honour his memory. Mr. Whitmore never re- ceived any public honours or reward for his work. Speaking personally, I much regret that before his lamented death there should have occurred the split in the party over Free Trade and Protection. For as the latter doctrine was warmly advocated through life by our friend, he consequently lost support from influential Unionist Free Traders at the election of 1906 and with this the seat. I am one of those who lament that the fiscal question was then, contrary to the custom prevailing in the days of our Unionist predominance, made a test of party allegiance. Free Trader as I have ever been, and hope to remain, I never could with full knowledge of his patriotism and capacity have for- saken Algy Whitmore at a Parliamentary election under any pretence whatever. Men of all parties in the House too were very much im- pressed with the lion-hearted courage of Mr. Chamberlain. As to debate, this remark goes without saying as an admitted truism ; but it is not generally known how sometimes these great pronouncements and word conflicts were undertaken by one who most of the day had been bowed down by distressing headache. I remember an occasion when his intimates knew how he was suffering, and desired that a non-political City engagement might be cancelled. Far from this being the out- come of well-meant sympathy, "The Times" next morning contained a masterly exposition of the principle which should animate municipal life under modern conditions. When the Irish controversy was for the moment set aside, and the responsibility for relegating " Home Rule " to a dis- tant future taken by the House of Lords, other controversies pressed forward in turn. Among these prominently stood forward the question whether railway companies, by estab- lishing societies for encouraging thrift and insurance among their employees, were not setting up an unnecessary opposi- EXPEKIENCES IN THE COMMONS tion to the trades unions. Upon the question the I Members for Battersea came into sharp collision in the II of Commons, and although the then Junior Member, fcaki his title from Clapham, did not pretend to carry gone of same Parliamentary calibre as his Liberal and Radical oppo- nent, Mr. John Burns, yet the fact that the London and North-Western, and the Brighton Railways retained tl societies with the warm concurrence of many of the men both in the Clapham and Battersea divisions is quite enon to state here. In the year 1894 the Government of Lord Rosebery attacked the Welsh Church and attempted to disestablish it. This, the Opposition urged, was an impossible piece of Parlia- mentary surgery, because the Church in the two divisions of England and Wales was one and indivisible, several of the dioceses intersecting portions of the two ancient kingdoms. The Member for Clapham, who was also an active member of the Church party, moved that Pembrokeshire should be eliminated from the Bill, because the Flemish origin of its population rendered a natural exception to the general rule attempted to be made that the Welsh nation of Celtic origin yearned to be free of the Ecclesiastical bonds which Establish- ment provided. Although Government triumphed in the lobbies, a very interesting little debate took place. It is not generally known that the administration of Lord Rosebery was tottering to its fall by reason of differences amongst Welsh M.P.'s regarding disposition of the spoils of the 1 established Church within the Principality so far as the House of Commons could determine. Several Liberal and Radical Members felt so strongly upon this question as to enter into negotiations with the Church party, whereby a vital amend- ment was to be inserted. With a majority of not qnite (0 every vote was eagerly sought after, and, as abstentions had previously occurred, the situation became one of intt interest. At the urgent request of Sir Michael Hicks Beach, then chairman, to observe absolute secrecy, the Church Com- mittee dispersed, fully believing that the official eclipse of all 268 SOME THINGS WE HAVE EEMEMBEKED things Radical was, for the time at least, imminent. With what horror and surprise Unionist Churchmen read an ac- count of the whole proceedings in next morning's " Political Notes "of " The Times " may well be imagined. Of course the dissentient Radicals straightway cried off their bargain, and Lord Rosebery remained Premier for a few weeks longer. It will be remembered that the end came at last through a motion of Mr. Brodrick's in Committee on the Army Estimates, which condemned the Government for not having sufficient cordite in store to cope with any probable emergency. Into this momentous division I got by a mere chance. The attendance had been very close and irksome for private Members of the Opposition during the debates on Welsh Disestablishment, as well as other questions, so I took the opportunity of not being urgently summoned, to pay a call in the West End. Walking back to Westminster, about four o'clock, I met the late Sir F. Seager Hunt, who assured me we were not wanted that afternoon in the House of Commons. There, however, I went, and had not been present long before I discovered a scene of considerable animation within the Chamber, and saw disturbed and anxious looks on the faces both of Sir William Harcourt and Sir H. Campbell-Banner- man. That the historic defeat had spread political dismay into the Government ranks it was impossible not to discover. And yet to Sir William Harcourt this crisis must nevertheless have been subsequently somewhat of a relief. The swinging majority gained by the Unionists in 1895 might undoubtedly be cited as an endorsement of the action of the House of Lords, when they decisively rejected the Home Rule Bill. Nor had the warning words which concluded Mr. Gladstone's House of Commons career exercised the immediate influence that his party relied on. The maintenance of the House of Lords as an hereditary Second Chamber has, it is true, be- come a question of party politics, and Mr. Gladstone's bitter criticism of the Upper House which was contained in the last speech he made in the House of Commons has possibly formed a preface for the Parliament Bill of 1911. EXPEEIENCES IN THE commons The War in South Africa. The various Parliamentary discussions concerning d tic matters in which the Parliament of L895 was called Q] to engage, paled before the conviction that it might soon come necessary to enter upon a trial of strength with Pn dent Kruger and his national forces. For although the Bubject of the Transvaal was seldom mentioned at political meeti] — and in my own case at Clapham I strove as far as possible to avoid it — the unpleasant realities would force tin in- forward whenever men met for friendly converse, while women, too, expressed fear for the fate of their boys in the Army or for friends and relations settled in the Duh-h Colonies, where black and ominous clouds were appearing on the horizon. On the whole, I came to the conclusion that, although the necessity of preventing our own British citizens from being forced to accept a permanently subordinate posi- tion to the Boers was always before the Ministry, yet thi traditional habit of the Colonial Office, whereby rude and sudden changes of policy were feared if not discouraged, both retarded defensive measures being taken by the Government in Cape Colony and paralysed the Executive in the V Office and at Downing Street. In other words, the Colonial policy of Lord Eipon, as expounded by Mr. Buxton in the House of Commons, was not immediately reversed, but in a general way received Government support. The late Sir Ellis Ashmead Bartlett had many friends amongst the Ditland of the Transvaal and amongst the Swazi natives, who made common cause against what they termed the Dutch oppressor ; and I had divers opportunities of conversing with these men within the precincts of the House. Their claims for justice and equal treatment were substantially those which soon v. to be accepted as indefeasible and to be defended by British arms; and yet, far from being immediately acknowledged, these appeals to the rights of mankind were not accepted as such by the Unionist Government. No sudden reversal of what had been formulated in 1881 270 SOME THINGS WE HAVE BEMEMBERED as a " Peace-at-any-price Policy" was destined to be made. Mr. Chamberlain spoke lightly of Sir Ellis Ashmead Bartlett's advocacy, and even spoke of the Majuba Hill Convention as the best settlement then obtainable, and the Boers doubtless interpreted all strong incidental political expressions for de- clarations of a fixed resolution shared by both political parties in London that war was under any circumstances to be avoided. And it is remarkable that this phase of tardy national recogni- tion of plain responsibilities did then seem to be common both to Government and Opposition. For, when Mr. Chamberlain, throwing aside past trammels, boldly asserted that with Lord Milner's agency and help had been discovered the necessity for a firm and determined stand being made against President Kruger's aggressive assumptions, there were cabals going on amongst those sitting upon the Unionist benches fomented by those who distrusted our diplomacy and desired to thwart and check the Colonial Secretary at this crisis of his career. For instance, I was asked at Lord's Cricket Ground to sign a round robin adverse to any war with the Boers. This precious document, although silent as to the special Minister against whom these diatribes were directed, yet left it clear that the signatories distrusted the then management of the Colonial Office. I need hardly say that the Member for Clapham declined to have part or parcel in any such intrigue, but made it more than ever his duty to support the Government by his vote and presence during the anxious days which followed the Bloemfontein Conference. With regard to the hesitation of Lord Salisbury's Govern- ment to take part with the Uitlanders on the Unionist as- sumption of office in 1895, it must in justice to Ministers and Mr. Chamberlain in particular be remembered that the officialism of the great Departments revolts consistently against swift changes of policy such as was then demanded. Although admirable histories have been forthcoming re- garding the facts of the several campaigns which made up the famous South African War, not the least perspicuous and fair EXPERIENCES IN THE COMMONS 271 being that of General Sir Frederick Maurice, indited for the War Office, yet no writer has yet come forward to wield a perfectly impartial pen regarding the negotiations which oc- curred before the war, or deal out equal justice to fche British military and political authorities. Nor can a private Member of Parliament be in the position to do more than state his views, as adopted after carefully comparing all the information which reached the public. Here I must venture a word of commendation for the House of Commons and the Members of the Ministry during this crisis. Of course there were Pro-Boers with seats all through the anxious hours which preceded the outbreak of hostility, but it must be allowed that the voice of anti- patriotism was scarcely ever heard on the larger of the two home islands which bear the name of Britain. On Mr. Arthur Balfour's shoulders as Leader of the House of Commons fell the main duty of nerving his followers and those opponents who acted with them at this moment. Never for an instant did he hesitate, and urged all the naval and military depart- ments to hasten on preparations which never slackened until the victory had been achieved. And what a wondrous and incessant procession of trans- ports was then to be seen crossing the Bay of Biscay and wending its way towards Durban and Cape Town. Had England not in very truth "ruled the waves " this succouring host could never have gradually relieved the hard-pressed soldiery from India or given opportunity for that magnificent display of Colonial patriotism which helped so materially to restore our Imperial prestige. Taken as an expedition, I doubt whether our achievement has ever been approached. That Great Britain placed these enormous forces in the field, so holding the South African Colonies, is, in my opinion, greatly owing to the iron determination of Mr. Arthur Bal- four, who displayed qualities akin to those of his famous godfather, the first Duke of Wellington. And he was the leader of a patriotic Chamber, throughout which the resolu- 272 SOME THINGS WE HAVE EEMEMBEEED tion thus breathed into their souls was sturdily sustained. Nor were the twin virtues of dignity and respect absent from our deliberations. I shall never forget the silent hat-lifting of nearly all present when the tragic end of the brave General Pen-Symonds had been communicated to the House after Elandslaghte at the beginning of the war. CHAPTEK XVIII. POLITICAL LIFE AT WESTMINSTER. 1900 L906, The two Parliaments of 1892 and 1895, notwithstanding al- most continuous sittings in each involving such close attention by Members, were, on the whole, disappointing in their legis- lative results. The Parish Councils Bill of the late Et. Hon. Henry Fowler (Lord Wolverhampton), and the Budget J '.ill of Sir William Harcourt stand as the chief fruits of Liberal guidance in the Parliament wherein Mr. Gladstone gave ap the Premiership to Lord Bosebery. Lord Salisbury's second administration, on the other hand, despite some useful Acts must be considered on the whole disappointing. My main reason for adducing this view is the neglect of the proposals for redistribution of seats frequently outlined by Mr. Chamberlain and endorsed by the whole Unionist party. Although seven years of constant strain and turmoil had only just closed, Members were unexpectedly called on for renewed exertions soon after the election of 1900 had con- cluded. Even a few weeks after the death of Queen Victoria on 22 January, 1901, it had become apparent that a majority of 134 would bring no assuagement of the duties incumbent on every Unionist Member. For the war dragged on and some of the Opposition critics were merciless in availing themselves of the forms of the House. The passing of the much-loved and experienced Queen marked a change of idea, which, if accepted by elderly people joyfully when the Prince of Wales and his beautiful consort became King Edward 273 1 8 274 SOME THINGS WE HAVE EEMEMBEEED VII and Queen Alexandra, yet seemed to sever a new England from that of my parents and of my own youth. That political and social changes were to be as im- patiently required by the electorate as events showed during the next decade, there seemed, however, no reason to believe. Certainly Members of Parliament elected to support the Government of Lord Salisbury in 1900 had no sort of second sight to disturb their hopes of speedy peace and national con- tentment. But the continuance of the guerrilla war in South Africa placed Lord Salisbury's Government at an initial dis- advantage. There were divers legislative proposals in the King's Speech which did not then reach fruition, but were afterwards placed on the Statute Book. It is worthy of remark how prominent amongst these was the education problem, which, when formulated officially later in this Parliament, nearly wrecked the Unionist party and ultimately conspired to bring about its downfall. Those who remember or remembered the Reform Bill of 1832, spoke of that period as being one of strong political antagonism, such as made fissures in home circles and pre- vented the commingling of Whig and Tory sons at Public Schools. My own experience is to the effect that a kindred bitter- ness was felt in Nonconformist gatherings against supporters of Mr. Balfour's Education Bill of 1902. Just before the measure in question was sent to the House of Lords, I went at the request of my friend the late Mr. Reader Harris, K.C., the able and eloquent President of the Pentecostal League, to hear an address by him on "Answer to prayer". The gathering took place in the Nonconformist Chapel in Stormont Road, near Clapham Common, and being assured that there could be neither theological nor Party dissension on such an occasion, I took with me my wife's aunt, the late Mrs. Alfred Locock, a friend of Mr. Harris, who much desired to be present. The sermon, for the address practically took that form, was excellent in style, and fraught with the spirit of Christian love and hope throughout. When, however, a POLITICAL LIFE AT WESTMINSTI BB 370 vote of thanks was proposed to the speaker, an elderly gentle- man of serious mien, whose appearance was rendered apostolic by the possession of a long white beard reachin his breast, stood up and in solemn and reproachful ceeded to move that as God was known to answer the faithful supplications of His people, He might be asked to soft, m the hearts of Mr. Arthur Balfour and Mr. Percy Thornton, who had voted for this cruel Education Bill involving an attacl Nonconformity. At first I thought this to be an unauthorized intervention : but, when three-fourths of those present held up their hands and joined in a solemn chorus of approval, I became aware that the demonstration was political in nature and might not end without dissension. The Chairman, fortunately, rose to the occasion. He said that the Amendment involved qi. tions too intricate to be settled at the close of a Ions evenin" and moved to relegate decision upon the matter at issue to head-quarters (at Exeter Hall), the result to be thence com- municated to members of the Pentecostal League. Bnt he asked the meeting to pray that God's will might prevail, an object which he knew both Mr. Balfour and Mr. Thornton would join in desiring to see established. This was passed in silence and the audience went away I fancied with ill-concealed dissatisfaction. Poor Mrs. Locock was subjected to a fright which my optimistic encouragement only partially allayed. In vain has it been sought to discover how the inevit- able religious question can be solved. There is a Baying of the great Duke of Wellington that education given without religion would, as he believed, result in the nprearing of " clever devils " ; to which the advocates of Cowper-Tcniph - ism reply that reading of the Bible and accompanying pra] amply suffice to supply to the young sacred sustenance for the soul such as may guide the youth of England heaven- wards. Nevertheless many experienced and unprejudiced educationists join with the extreme High Church party in the Church of England and the Roman Catholics in re- pudiating any such compromise as worthless. 18* 276 SOME THINGS WE HAVE KEMEMBEKED Mr. Balfour's mode of dealing with the religious difficulty, as Prime Minister, as is well known, was unsuccessful in its object ; so that the question remains unsettled even now. But it is just to record how generally is the view held by those learned in the dissemination of sound knowledge, that placing primary and secondary education under one type of authority as well as supervision by the County Councils form a decided improvement on the old School Board system. I have sketched out the situation as it appears now to the historian, because in a work such as this a chronicler cannot enter upon much-debated particulars, even if he agree with me that there is an abiding truth in the Iron Duke's sturdy belief. But that the Unionists have suffered politically by the estrangement of the Nonconformists since Mr. Balfour's Education Bill is patent to the world. How these irrecon- cilable differences are to be composed within the limits of an Act of Parliament it remains for statesmen to devise. Together with purely Constitutional questions they must, it would seem, finally be relegated to some popular decision such as a special referendum in extreme cases may afford. But I am one of those who hold that, however the Education problem may be dealt with, no settlement upon equally debatable Constitutional issues will be complete or satis- factory which does not include some self-denying ordinance on the part of the all-powerful House of Commons itself, which shall preclude matters connected with the structure of the Constitution, and previously defined as such, being dealt with by closure by compartments. More than this, pure states- manship will ask of any future party that the so-called "Kangaroo closure" should on these occasions no longer be determined upon solely by the Chairman of Committees, but that the decision to excise batches of amendments should be that of a small Standing Committee of three, by a majority of whom the decisions should be previously determined. Moreover, the Budget should likewise be debated under these freer and more satisfactory conditions. Probably the mere voice of triumphant partisans may continue for a time to POLITICAL LIFE AT WKSTMJNSTI 277 resist such a return to constitutional sanity, bat I am c I that if the Parliament Bill or anything approaching il embedded in our constitutional system, the on] . tive of extremist views must be found in the dominant I . House itself. And I venture to claim a title here to f things which, let it be remembered, led, on this occasion, vital parts of the measure remaining undiscussed. Nor can that protest be now declared to have been un- necessary when we reflect that neither was the question of how the proposed three Exchequer Judges were to act be! sending the forces of the Sovereign into Ireland in order sustain law and prevent bloodshed debated, nor was justice of schedules for election of the proposed Irish Parlia- ment with an Upper and Lower Chamber separately can- vassed, omissions these the vital character of which were not then made patent to the nation at large. The growing application of closure when vast inter. are often under the protection of an enforcedly silent minority, must undoubtedly be considered an evil, even if recommend. >1 by modern pressure of time and circumstance. In Mr. James F. Hope, M.P.'s record of a year and aha Parliamentary life, called "A History of the 1900 Parlia- ment," it is shown indisputably (p. 57) that the Nationalist Members had a grievance on the previously named when the second physical struggle occurred in the H "f Commons on Feb. 26, 1900, Civil Service Estimal ing carried en bloc by closure shutting out any discussioE up several Irish votes. No impartial persons can believe that Mr. Balfour intended to inflict injustice on any party io I 278 SOME THINGS WE HAVE BEMEMBEKED House, but was himself on this occasion, as on many others, the slave of that inexorable autocrat, old Father Time. There- fore it is that, acting on the dictum of Demosthenes, that " repetition secures attention," I venture to emphasize the necessity for some relaxation of the present House of Com- mons system upon some such lines as those above indicated. Moreover no administration but one elected by a Unionist majority can effect these vital and necessary changes. I can fortify my opinion as to the way to regain freedom for the House of Commons such as is essential to the British Constitution by reference to Sir Henry Maine's "Popular Government," Edition 1886, pp. 125, 126. " There does not seem to be any insuperable objection first of all to making a distinction between ordinary legislation and legislation which in any other country would be called Con- stitutional, and next to requiring for the last special legislative procedure intended to secure caution and deliberation and as near an approach to impartiality as a system of Party government will admit of." During all the controversies which have been named the writer kept closely to his local duties as M.P. for Clapham, and faced the electoral storm of 1906, so far prepared as any private Member could be by personal touch with the voters. But parties were, so to speak, unhinged, and the great Liberal and Free-Trade wave rolled steadily onwards. I was one of those unable to accept Mr. Chamberlain's Tariff Eeform programme, so declaring from the first when it was formulated in 1903. But, together with a minority of the Free-Food League, presided over by the Duke of Devonshire, I did accept the doctrine of Ketaliation as defined by Mr. Balfour at Sheffield in the autumn of that year, permitting our national negotiators to refuse to deal with those who re- solved to treat us unfairly by the imposition of immoderate and unjust tariffs, but I only acquiesced in any temporary taxa- tion of manufactured goods which expressly avoided protec- tive taxation of food, raw material, or any general scheme of Protection. Upon this platform the whole Unionist party POLITICAL LIFE AT WBSTMIN8TEB tf was for some time marshalled, and in common with the late Duke of Devonshire, Lord Goschen, and other-; I uerer it for the now generally accepted party policy of placing fr- fiscal imposts on food as well as on all items not a to be raw material. I am aware that the change of policy which suddenly shifted the scene and inscribed the fresh fiscal pa. Banbury, Sir Frederick Cook, and Mr. H. Cust lost thi seats; Sir Henry Kimber escaped at Wandsworth by votes — I found myself in a particularly uncorafortahl- situation. The defeat of Mr. Balfour at North- West Manchester, occurring in the midst of this dSdcle, undoubtedly sw< the magnitude of these latter disasters, just as it thrc the Clapham seat so menacingly. The little remnant of Unionists, naturally sore at their loss of power, were overwhelmingly Chamberlainite, and were in the mood to resent the presence of some few Free- Trade followers of the Duke of Devonshire within their ranks. Unfortunately for me this sentiment became prev- alent at Clapham just when it appeared to me unt hinkable not to support in the lobby those views I had expressed in my election address and had advocated consistently. Indi any Unionist Free Trader who passed into the hot strife of 1906-10 was deemed " anathema maranatha" by those offici- ally called on to decide how best to deflect the democratic torrent then raging, while sudden converts to the prop, fiscal changes were most of all zealous in dramming such backsliders out of the Unionist party. The lack of toleration remains simply inexplicable, and one can only wond< t at the want of foresight then evinced by capable and not unkindly officials, when, after encouraging independence, they suddenly frowned on colleagues engaged in defending doctrines which these waverers had themselves but yesterday inculoated. It can be imagined under these circumstances with what painful sentiments a small band of Unionists thought it their 286 SOME THINGS WE HAVE REMEMBERED duty to support the Free-Trade resolution of the late Lord Airedale (then Sir James Kitson). The writer entered this division in company with the Hon. Walter Rothschild, but such was the surging pressure within the lobby that we soon became separated, and I was confronted with no less a per- sonage than Sir Henry Campbell-Ban nerman, who remarked in his kindly manner: "You must find this very trying". Thinking that he meant my political sacrifice in voting for the Radicals on behalf of Free Trade, I rejoined : "Yes, but having given a promise, here I am," or words to that effect. " Oh ! " said the Premier, in his lightest jesting vein ; " yes, of course ; but I only mean we may all be stifled." I have in- dicated elsewhere, however, that such a mammoth division as that I am describing is rendered less oppressive to the voters by Mr. L. Harcourt's reforms in the direction of throwing the lobbies open longer. Sir James Kitson, demonstrably, was triumphant in and out of the House of Commons regarding the vast majority then gained for Free Trade ; but this great master of indus- try, the late Lord Airedale, lived to see British parties nearly equally divided on this vast issue, and being so classed in the House of Commons at the first of two successive general elections in 1910, a result which the Unionists improved on at the second time of asking. But for the Irish Nationalists allying themselves to Mr. Asquith, there would be a majority for Mr. Chamberlain's fiscal proposals at the time these words are written. This fact is stated here to illustrate the uncertainty of British politics, and also to mark how untiring enthusiasm and skilful advocacy such as that of the Tariff Reformers is likely to succeed. I have said that the position in 1906 was at first one embarrassing for a Free-Trade Unionist in the House of Commons, but it became less so day by day when the Radical Government unfolded its programme. In the opinion of the late Sir Richard Jebb, while in his view Free Trade remained the far-preferable system for Great Britain as for the world at large, yet it was not incumbent on private Unionist Members THE EADICAL KEACTION OF 1906 287 to forget other promises made on behalf of the onion betwi England and Ireland, the interests of religious edncati the defence of society from threatened rude cha] in the tenure of landed property, conceived in the spirit and can out in the interests of a ruthless democracy, the leaden of which were intending to change fundamentally the constitu- tion of our country. So at least the future appear. ,1 to the Free-Trade Unionists during the depression of Conservatism which accompanied the three and a half years of extreme reactionary Kadical Government initiated in 190«;. This is not the moment to write a history of the demo- cratic apotheosis of 1906-10, which was checked by a dissolu- tion of the House of Commons caused by the Peers declining to pass Mr. Lloyd George's Budget without an appeal to th< country. A counter-reaction, almost unexampled, which i - covered 100 seats for the Unionists and forced the Liberals and Eadicals to render their whilom Platonic relations with the Irish Nationalists a live reality, has still left a majority seldom below that same figure which is at the command of a coalition led by Mr. Asquith on critical occasions. Although making politics the main occupation of life, I had flagged somewhat in energy and consequently went less hopefully into the fray, as this celebrated Parliament sped on towards the end of its comparatively brief existence. And when the death of Mrs. H. S. Thornton, the owner of Bat- tersea Kise House occurred, and the historic home was up for sale, a secret conviction possessed us all there that with the imminent change of residence, the representation of Clapham could not much longer be held. Yet I may claim to have opposed measures such as the Trades Disputes Bill, Plural Voting, and London Elections Bills, both by tongue and pen, urging that the Government policy was avowedly incomplete when " one man, one vote " was not accompanied by any approximation towards " one vote, one value ". Add to this a faithful attendance in the Opposition lobby when- ever projects involving taxation of food as part of a general scheme of Protection were not put forward. 288 SOME THINGS WE HAVE KEMEMBEEED Final Glimpses of Political Life. Though personal support so long rendered was not even relaxed owing to my change of residence, it was impossible to do one's duty in the borough quite so thoroughly from town as when, for seventeen years, the work had been undertaken on Battersea Bise. The reasons which induced me to leave the House of Commons when the Badical Labour combina- tion submitted their case to the constituencies in 1910 were cumulative. Beceiving friendly toleration from my political friends in the Clapham Council, I felt it just to consider how far it was right or expedient artificially to constrain their ardent desire to see Mr. Chamberlain's fiscal policy officially adopted. For undoubtedly in that locality, fiscal conflict would have ensued within the Unionist ranks, and the seat have been im- perilled by such internal dissensions. A successor was selected at my own instigation in Mr. G. D. Faber, C.B., M.P., who expressed himself prepared to con- test Clapham instead of York City which he then represented in the Unionist interest. Mr. Faber's previous record had been one of moderation in his fiscal professions, a necessary adjunct in my view, and being a strong Conservative and Unionist as well as an eloquent and interesting speaker, he soon became immensely popular in the constituency which he now represents with such distinction. When about to close the record of my own recollections I naturally strive to answer the often-repeated query, What differences do you perceive in the House of Commons you entered during 1892 and that democratic assembly of 1906, the dissolution of which in 1910 was the occasion of several retirements on the Unionist side? My answer is that in allegiance to the House of Commons as a collective whole, little change was to be recorded between these dates, although the use of power by the Labour Party became so marked. THE KADICAL REACTION OP L906 That the ideals pursued were somewhat dm md the prestige of the Ministerial Bench enhanced when i ur- ing to carry out swift changes, is certain! A I time came to be occupied by Front Bench men on botl than was the case in 1892. At this time n. early opportunities of uttering their views on thi questions of the day, privileges which we* in 1910, and since have apparently decreased. Bui I with Mr. Balfour that no deterioration of maw mizing of genuine enthusiasm for ideals co pursued, can be charged against that great assembly later phase. The deterioration, if any, has emanated from the gradual enshackling of the House of Commons itseli increased powers granted to Ministers who more frequently use closure by compartments and its kindred instrument " Kangaroo " closure. Sections of varying proportions have existed in political parties ever since I had an opportunity of exercising personal observation from without or within the popular Cham! Passionate scenes have from time to time been the heritage of this as well as other popular assemblies, but it is di from later facts that at the present time all such ebulliti of feeling pale before the united sentiment of patriotism. The remarkably firm and calm attitude of the present House of Commons on July 27, 1911, when Germany was thought to have ignored Great Britain in Morocco, stands as an i ample of this, in contrast with the not unnatural emotion over the Parliament Bill, combined with denial of a hearing to Mr. Asquith, still fresh in memory. "Farewell" is always a painful word to utter and - remained, even though beautiful gifts — of a diamond pendant to my wife and three water-colours by that redoubtable artist, Mr. Sutton Palmer — were showered upon us, in addi- tion to the magnificent plate given us at our wedding in 1902 by the Conservative and Liberal-Unionist Councils; and I now only wish to say regarding the close of my 19 290 SOME THINGS WE HAVE EEMEMBEEED in the House of Commons, that votes deliberately and con- sistently given in general support of any particular party in- volve a politician in responsibility which retirement cannot shake off. Therefore I think it right to register the following views. Former Unionists who helped to comprise what was called the " gallant little minority " against the Budget and contingent legislation of 1906-10 are not entitled to speak harshly, and ruthlessly blame the leaders in the House of Lords for making a stand there against these innovations. With our votes staring us in the face the most we can do with propriety seems to enjoin moderation by means of pri- vate influence. Bitterly do I personally regret that it has not been considered possible to reform the House of Lords by means of selecting a chosen number of the ablest politicians and business men therein, while allowing this nucleus to be strengthened by Members sent up as the result of a well- considered scheme of Life Peerages. I must be excused from entering further into particulars from my cave of reflection and retirement, only wishing to emphasize the inability of any man to shed the weightiest of responsibilities because a few years have passed since the crisis which was germinating when he left the House of Commons. To admit that this epoch of retirement was not one of a certain sadness would be equivalent to assuming time to have dulled the sacred springs of friendship as well as obli- terated interest in those stirring events of deep national importance with which I had dealt in the dual capacity of Historian and Legislator. Any sojourner in the home of the late Mrs. H. S. Thornton, who had possessed the friendly confidence of one so kindly sympathetic, and yet armed by nature with an ever-ready wit, consequently felt most of all the personal loss which |in'C(!(lc(] the disappearance of (lie I *>;it tcrsca Ivise household, and the apparent ruthless dispersal of those traditional " [jares et Penates," the history of which has fascinated THE RADICAL REACTION OF 1906 some of the leading chroniclers of the movement. It has seemed incompreheneibl those bearing our name, ;in ,l one B Member for l resident on the estate, should have no! been able I Battersea Rise House from the Auction Marl md th. B So I take this opportunity of stating bow in< Korabt the legal enactments of the late owner, M r. 1 1 9. T ! • • who directed this sale and division bel their descendants, whenever his widow's life int a close. It can be understood what the feelings of ti spent so many happy years at Battersea Ris< II • • have been when they left the old home. At a period when dire gaps in the list of those m and revered appeared from time to time, among those who 1 reached the close of useful and much-loved lives, I few more sorely missed than the late Dowager Dnchi is of Abercorn, a wise and high-minded counsellor to the many relations and friends over whose happiness she watched so loyally. That I was fortunate enough to be placed in the latter category I shall always rejoice to remember, but the poignancy of the inevitable separation which must Borne come was in this case brought closely home to all within the charmed circle of her immediate acquaintance. I must also mention the gap in our opportunities of becoming bel as age crept steadily forward consequent on the death of that well-loved clergyman, the late Can- ming. Com- munion with one possessing a mind so lofty and B spiril bright will not be forgotten even when the deeper problems of life and the way to use it here can never again be tan that eloquent tongue. To visit York Minster with the I was indeed a revelation that the eloquent preach r a thoughtful and correct historian. Sir William Harcourt told me how he had en[ these peregrinations with the Canon, so knowin I lid I go wrong in repeating this at St. Micha l' B met with the swift rejoinder : "Ah, hut Bir William did oo1 I ID* 292 SOME THINGS WE HAVE KEMEMBEKED all he heard that day ". It appears that when they came to the beautiful Chapter House, Canon Fleming, conscious of the statesman's advocacy of Lay Church rights in the House of Commons, pointed to the gallery devoted to those secular representatives at the summit of the building. Churchmen in those days did not exclude the lay element, hinted the Canon; "No," almost shouted the ex-Chancellor of the Ex- chequer, "but they had no voice". On approaching the tomb of Archbishop Vernon Harcourt in the nave of the Minster, Sir William in his own turn told the Canon a story. "My great-grandfather had his difficulties in those days. Once when driving four-in-hand, as was the Episcopal custom, into a village to perform a clerical duty, the Archbishop of York was suddenly confronted with an indignant and almost iconoclastic Nonconforming critic, who asked him loudly be- fore the servants whether St. Paul ever rode in such a chariot or performed sacred duties with similar insignia, betokening clerical pomp and display. To which Archbishop Vernon Harcourt promptly and calmly answered : ' Good friend, re- member, times are changed '." The same may be said of the writer's own experiences during eighteen years of public life, the recollections concern- ing which are nearly concluded. It is impossible for anyone under such circumstances not to have been called on to take the rough with the smooth, but at first regret at abandoning a most interesting phase of existence predominated. Now, however, I enjoy contented concentration upon various occupations, and shall ever dwell with grateful pleasure upon the kindness and tolerance ex- perienced within the precincts of the British House of Commons. CHAPTER XX. RECENT ATHLETICS (1908-11). Emancipation from Parliamentary duties after years and more at Westminster might very easily have lured one aged 68 years into the proverbial armchair, associa as this is in many minds with that attractive word " reet ". But happily owing to my having kept up a constant connexion with younger people both at Harrow and Cain- bridge, ample opportunity was afforded me to remain abn of those athletic movements with which I had been associ- ated for at least half a century. But the term athletic must in my own case imply unusually keen observation of the conditions of the cricket world and of the doings on the running path not only of Oxford and Cambridge but likev< of Yale and Harvard, our American cousins having cro- the Atlantic no less than three times to cope with our athletes. A response was made in October, 1895, by Cam- bridge competing at Manhattan Field, New York. Both British Universities tried conclusions with the cross-Atlantic Universities during their celebrated forgathering at Berkeley Oval, New York, on 25 September, 1901, the last meeting of picked men of the Old and New World having concluded in the month and year these lines were written (July, 1911). P. J. Baker of Kings, the Cambridge President, was one of the finest runners from half a mile to one mile I ever saw at my University. Certainly his achievement of winning both at the Inter-University Sports in 1911 has not been equal! With regard to Harrow cricket, without for a momi suggesting any decline on "the Hill" of the qualities which make for success in our ancient national game, it is impossible 293 294 SOME THINGS WE HAVE EEMEMBEEED not to recognize the remarkable advance in all-round playing which the Etonian teams have displayed since the magnificent new ground at Agars Plow has been utilized. The closely contested Eton victories of 1910-11 were gained by playing the game in a true sense, although luck on the whole inclined to the Light Blues on the first occasion. Harrow's gallant up-hill game of 1911 was the outcome of cricket fully worthy of her traditions. The writer was on this occasion, as ever, with his old school in warm sympathy. Again, with respect to rowing, my never-ceasing interest in the fortunes of my beloved Jesus College on the Cam has enabled me to extend that sympathy into the progress of that most seductive art whether in or out of the British Univer- sities. Indeed, given a steady horse to ride and eyesight such as enables the onlooker to follow the fortunes of a boat in practice, the favoured sportsman indulging in such attractive recreation will never regret time or trouble taken in trying to understand the mystery of how success is gained in not the least noble of all athletic contests. Owing partly to feelings of gratitude towards G. L. Thomson, the Cambridge University Oar of 1909, and his Manor House coadjutors, who helped to draw me up to Battersea Rise House after those exciting Clapham elections, and also^to the Jesus youths participating in the 'Varsity trials and the supreme struggles at Putney and Henley, I found myself, when a veteran, in spirit at least once more living in the sixties of the last century, and back in my later teens. The struggles between Oxford and Cambridge at Putney had for three years resulted in Light Blue successes, and our Jesus College President, H. M. Goldsmith, led the University rowing to its very apotheosis in 1908, when the gallant oars- men from Harvard had to acknowledge a temporary defeat. Just as these trusted representatives of the Cam were ap- parently the chosen children of fortune, a cloud appeared in their sky in the shape of a reverse in the Olympic struggle at Henley, when a Belgian crew beat them fairly and squarely over the historic mile and five hundred yards, this check RECENT ATHLETICS (1908-11) occurring when supervised by several of their □ ,„,.,. coaches and stroked by the then almost invincible 1». C. B Stuart. Having taken my week-end holiday bom W. minster, and even rushed from thence to see the earl at Henley, I became so far a participator in the b | ind fears of my young friends as to induce them to C tnd meet a number of their old Cambridge predecessors in the 'Varsity boat and join in a gathering of youn^ and old m now famous Harcourt room in the House of Commons. I idea became popular owing to the warm approval of fch notable " wet bobs " the late Sir Charles Lawes-Wu I the late Mr. Eussell Griffiths, the late Canon Kynaston, and the late Sir Charles Dilke, and from the co-operation of othex Cantabs then in Parliament, such as Mr. R. C. Lehmann ami Mr. W. Dudley Ward, M.P. The following list of guests at the Complimentary Dinner to the President of the C.U.B.C., and the crew, will no doubt prove of interest. The Rt. Hon. Lord Alverstone — Lord Chief Justice of England (Chairman) ; winner of Inter-University 1 mile 1865; winner of Inter- University 2 miles L8( second in Inter-University Steeplechase 1864 ; Victor Ludorum; Charterhouse and Trinity College. The Rt. Hon. A. J. Balfour— M.P. for the City of London; Prime Minister 1902-5; Eton and Trinity College. S. H. Butcher— M.P. for Cambridge University ; late Professor of Greek, Edinburgh ; Marlborongh and Trinity. J. F. R. Rawlinson, K.C.— M.P. for Cambridge University; Recorder of Cambridge; C.U.A.F.. L882 Eton and Trinity College. D. C. R. Stuart— President C.U.B.C. ; C.U. b (st.) 1906-7-8; Harvard crew (st.) ; Cheltenham and Trinity Hall. R. F. Boyle— C.U. boat (coxs.) 1907-8; Bradfield and Trinity Hall. 296 SOME THINGS WE HAVE EEMEMBEEED S. M. Bruce — C.U. boat 1904 ; Australia and Trinity Hall. Since famous for his able coaching of the Jesus Boat which beat the Belgians at Terdonck on May 23, 1911. J. S. Burn — C.U. boat 1907; Harrow and Trinity College. O. A. Carver — C.U. boat 1908; Charterhouse and Trinity College. 1 The Et. Hon. Sir C. W. Dilke, Bart.— M.P. for Forest of Dean ; Trinity Hall First Boat 1863 ; Private and Trinity Hall. A. Edgecumbe — Magdalene College boat 1905-8 ; Eton and Magdalene College. F. J. Escombe— C.U. boat 1902 ; Clifton and Trinity Hall. G. E. Fairbairn — C.U. boat 1908 ; Eton and Jesus College. Sir E. U. P. Fitzgerald, Bart. — M.P. for Cam- bridge 1885-1906 ; C.U. boat 1861-2; Westminster and Trinity Hall. H. M. Goldsmith— C.U. boat 1906-7; Sherborne and Jesus College. W. E. Griffiths — Eecorder of Bedford ; C.U. boat 1865 (st.), 1866-7; Eton and Trinity College. (Died 1910.) C. Gurdon— C.U. boat 1876-9 (dead heat 1877); C.U.E.F. 1877; Eton and Jesus College. The Et. Hon. Sir W. B. Gurdon— M.P. for North Norfolk ; Lord Lieut, of Suffolk ; Inter-University Eifle Team 1864 ; Eton and Trinity College. (Died 1910.) F. G. Hudson— Trials 1906 and 1908 ; Private and Jesus College. 1 Sir C. W. Dilke rowed in the Trinity Hall First Boat in 1863, when the Senior Wrangler of that year, Lord Justice Romer, left it owing to overwork, finishing second on the river and rowing head next year. In 1866 Sir Charles put the father of F. H. Jerwood, whose absence from the dinner was regretted, as stroke of the Trinity Hall First Boat. EECENT ATHLETICS (1908-11) E. A. Kerrison— Inter-Univn it v Team li race 1862; Harrow and Trinity College. E. 0. B. Kerrison— C.U. boat i ; EtoD and Trinity College. E. A. Kinglake— Eecorder of Bournemouth; I boat 1863-6 ; Eton and Trinity Collegi H. E. Kitching— C.U. boat 1908; Uppingham and Trinity Hall. The Eev. Canon Kynaston— Professor of 1 1 Durham; Senior Classic 1857; C.U. boat L856 1857; Principal of Cheltenham College, 1874-88; Eton and St. John's College. Sir C. Lawes-Wittewronge, Bart. Winner Im University 1 mile 1864; C.U. boat (st.) L865; \ Ludorum; Eton and Trinity College. (Died I'.ill Sir J. F. Leese, Bart., K.C.— M.P. for North- E Lanes.; Eecorder of Manchester; Lanes, crick. London and Trinity College. E. C. Lehmann — M.P. for Harborough Div. of Leicester; Member of staff of "Punch" since 1890; Captain Leander B.C. 1894-5 ; Highgate and Trinity College. H. M. Marshall, E.W.S.— C.U. xi. 1861-3 ; Winner of Junior Pairs, Westminster; Westminster and Trinity College. The Eev. Prebendary McCormick — Honorary Chap- lain to H.M. the King ; Vicar of St. James's, Piccadilly ; C.U.C xi. 1854 and 1856 ; C.U. boat 1856 ; Liverpool College and St. John's College. The Et. Hon. E. McKenna— M.P. for North Mon- mouthshire; First Lord of the Admiralty; C.U. boat 1887; King's College, London, and Trinity Hall. The Eev. Sir H. J. Medlycott, Bart— Member of Eoyal Toxophilite Society ; Member of Wimbledon Skat- ing Club ; Harrow and Trinity College. A. H. A. Morton— M.P. for Deptford 1897-19* Eton and King's College. 298 SOME THINGS WE HAVE EEMEMBEEED S. D. Muttlebury— C.U. boat 1886-90; Eton and Trinity College. Leslie Pym— Capt. Magdalene College B.C. 1906 ; Magdalene boat 1903-6; Bedford and Magdalene Col- lege. T. D. Eichardson — Trials 1907-8 ; Inter-University Boxing 1906 ; Private and Trinity Hall. The Kt. Hon. Lord Justice Eomer — Senior Wrangler 1863 ; Trinity Hall First boat 1862 ; Private and Trinity Hall. E. Scholfield— President Third Trinity B.C. 1863 ; Eton and Trinity College. C. M. Stuart— Trials 1908; Eadley boat 1907-8; Eadley and Trinity Hall. Captain of their Boat Club, 1911. C. W. H. Taylor— C.U. boat 1901-3; Eton and Trinity College. G. L. Thomson— Trials 1906-7 ; Head of Eiver 1907-8; Manor House School, Clapham, and Trinity Hall. P. M. Thornton— M.P. for Clapham since 1892; Victor Ludorum 1862-3 ; First Secretary Inter-University Sports 1864; Champion Half-mile 1866; Second Jesus Coll. boat 1861 and 1862; Captain Coll. Cricket xi. 1862-4 ; Harrow and Jesus College. W. T. Trench— Captain Third Trinity B.C. 1862; Eton and Trinity College. (Died 1912.) J. F. A. Trotter — Trials 1908; Head of Eiver 1908; Eadley and Trinity Hall. Harcourt Turner — Captain Trinity Hall Cricket ix. 1864 ; Trinity Hall Third boat 1862-4 ; Cheltenham and Trinity Hall. (Died 1910.) W. Dudley Ward — M.P. for Southampton ; C.U. boat 1897 and 1899, 1900 ; Eton and Trinity College. E. G. Williams— Captain Eton boat; C.U. boat 1908 ; Eton and Trinity College, now Sub-Commander in Ehodesia. RECENT ATHLETICS (1908-11) 299 There can be little to add to the universally welc imed words of Lord Alverstone, who presided ; but bo the n he expressed at the premature loss of University oarsmen, such as John Chambers, Bishop Selwyn, and Jack Dale, I desire to add my tribute as an old Jesuit to J. H. Ridley mid Herbert Rhodes, of Jesus College, the first of these being oof only famous at Putney in 1869-70, but unbeaten on the run- ning path at a quarter of a mile in 1866, while tin second participated at the date of 1873 in a notable victory for Cam- bridge as stroke of the first boat fitted with sliding seal Mr. W. R. Griffiths did me the honour of giving me his ticket for the Umpire's boat when he stroked the Cambri crew on April 13, 1867. The race was grandly com two crews keeping but a few yards apart most of the way. No notice of Cambridge crews can be complete without mention of the debt that Cambridge rowing owes to the pluck and skill of J. H. D. Goldie, who stroked three winning c» and broke a sequence of nine consecutive Cambridge d< I The death of Sir Alexander Onslow, late Lord Chief .Jus- tice of Western Australia, has a pathetic interest in refer. to our gathering of past and present Cantabs. Educated at Winchester and Trinity College, he was a popular member of the Third Trinity Boat Club in the early sixties. He had looked forward enthusiastically to this Cambridge meeting— to mingle with former friends and become acquainted with the new generation of rowing men. Possibly these notes may be valued hereafter when their possessors contemplate the careers of those dining in the Harcourt Room at the House of Commons on October 15, 1908. The period which elapsed between the time when Canon Kynaston (then "Snow") rowed in 1857, and that reached during D. C. R. Stuart's career, covers upwards of half a century. Alas, as I write, in July, 1911, I have to chronicle deaths of S. H. Butcher, Sir Charles Dilke, the Rt. Bon. S.r W. Brampton Gurdon, the Rev. Canon Kynaston, Sir Charles Lawes-Wittewronge, Harcourt Turner, and W. '1'. Trench. 300 SOME THINGS WE HAVE EEMEMBEKED The idea of bringing young, middle-aged and old together in friendly converse, originally suggested by Sir Charles Lawes-Wittewronge, was appreciated by those assembled in the Harcourt Eoom, as speeches from the ex-Presidents, Mr. Muttlebury, Mr. Goldsmith, and Canons M'Cormick and Kynaston demonstrated ; while the President of the C.U.B.C, Mr. D. C. E. Stuart, spoke in a similar manner regarding his youthful colleagues. Subsequently he wrote the follow- ing letter which I am allowed to publish, and which I value deeply : — "C.U.B.C. " Dear Mr. Thornton, " Just an inadequate note to thank you for all your kindness and keenness to the crew and myself. I cannot express the sentiments of the younger Cambridge contingent, they have if I may say so a tremendous ad- miration for you, your sporting achievements, and the strenuous example you have set us in your later work at the Commons. " For myself the dinner was one of the happiest and proudest times of my life and I have you to thank for it, and although I cannot express well enough what I feel, I do thank you from my heart. " The dinner has already had the effect of making every one keener and its effect, if I can judge Under- graduate signs, will be very enduring. I hope that you will come and pay us another visit whenever you can. " Thank you again and again. " I am, "Yours very sincerely and gratefully, "Douglas Stuart." Success in the 'Varsity Boat Eace was destined to fall to Oxford for the three years following this re-union at the House of Commons, but the gathering was nevertheless successful in bringing past and present together on the Cam. I may add that when in 1909 I took the degree of LL.M., - pq :- ■< ■< E- 71 o pq p >< o p l-s <*| EECENT ATHLETICS (190< , | I was welcomed by the kindly greetings of In. who cheered again and again from the crowded the Senate House, the surprise felt at this demi ioD being swiftly changed for sentiments of pleasure B faction when the identities of these young well* revealed by hand-shakings and kindly words. Moreover, one fortunate circumstance of thus making Cambridge a playground of my holiday hours was thai conclave of members of Jesus College, including the M Dean, Dr. Foakes Jackson, H. M. Goldsmith, and I I . Hudson, gave me the opportunity of helping to organize scheme framed to send a picked crew to give a worthy, if belated, response to the repeated visits of those good spool men, the Belgian Oarsmen, to Henley, where their r> even when unsuccessful, remain for all time worthy of membrance. It happened that a nucleus of Jesuit aquatic talent seemed to be available within the Metropolitan area. The names of these aquatic representatives des ach record as I can give them here :— H. M. Goldsmith (Captain), G. E. Fairbairn, H. .). 8 Shields, F. G. Hudson, H. E. Swanston, Captain Cecil Hudson, E. C. Henty, T. M. Crowe (Stroke), and 0. A. Skinner (Coxswain). The practice at Kichmond and the bright and happy meetings of Jesus and University friends would of them- selves have seemed memories worth preserving; hut whan these are considered with the ultimate success at Ghent, I must acknowledge I feel to have been associate! with on< the most inspiring ventures of a lengthy life. As Chairman of the Committee I am able to record the fact that while the same tact, personal popularity, and genuine oarsmanship, which enabled H. M. Goldsmith to render his Ptesid the University Boat Club so famous in L908, we] and at our service throughout, yet the Jesus crew which the Belgian race at Terdonck near Ghent on 26 May. L911, never could have been brought together hut for tl, wisdom, and sportsmanlike qualities displayed by Mr. 1- • «-■ 302 SOME THINGS WE HAVE BEMEMBERED Hudson, who, I am told, both in Belgium and at Henley this year has thereby greatly raised his rowing reputation. The main virtue of our Jesus oarsmen's visit to Ghent consisted in their fulfilling an obvious international responsi- bility. Again and again had the members of the Koyal Nautique, under M. Maurice Lippen's presidency, journeyed to Henley and with remarkable success demonstrated what a high level of rowing had been attained in Belgium. But no sort of response came from the English Universities, London, or Provincial Clubs, so that it became evident that unless some decided step was taken these interesting competitions would, for some time at least, not be renewed. All, however, went as happy as the proverbial marriage bell, when letters between M. Maurice Lippens, H. M. Goldsmith and F. G. Hudson had rendered it certain that the Jesus crew would go over to Ghent and that they would be warmly welcomed out there. The match was avowedly one between two private Boat Clubs, and any international character given to the visit was imported into the contest because of the fast-growing en- thusiasm of the gallant men of Brabant who hailed our men as friends and allies. It must be remembered that Magdalen and New College, Oxford, and Trinity College, Cambridge, were not in the position to join in any such much-desired competition, owing to the May races being at hand. The Author travelled over to Brussels and there forgathered with other 'Varsity sports- men bent on a like errand. Amongst these were found the veteran Oxford oarsman and critic W. B. Woodgate, S. D. Muttlebury, B. B. Etherington Smith, D. C. K. Stuart, W. P. Pulman (lately an enthusiastic Clare Captain), and J. F. Escombe, to remind the Cantabs of their honoured Cam side. It was naturally very encouraging to the men of Jesus College to find how heartily their attempt to pay the debt long due to the Belgians and at the same time enter on a high class competition was appreciated by those so well able to RECENT ATHLETICS (1908 LI) judge. The character of the welcome extended to the Eng- lish visitors cannot possibly be adequately realized o on the spot, as it surpassed the imaginatioD ol any sympathizer to describe the enthusiastic scenes whirl, lowed the Jesus College success. Local residents tl i re had been who previously approached the question of a p spirit of disfavour following any ill-success of the popular Terdonck-Belgique combination ; because in the poorer tricts through which we passed to the scene of the confc I the national flags exceeded those of the British by at 1- fifty to one, and no sort of indication had been given as to how a disappointment in the region of their special athletic Bpori might be taken by some elements amongst an excitable people. But in the words of the able descriptive writer in the " Sportsman "of 27 May, written after the race : • I crews cheered each other, the thousands joined in, the syrens and hooters not ceasing until the Jesus men reached tin- Boat house ". The " Sportsman " adds : " It was one of the most remarkable scenes I have witnessed and out-did a popular win at Henley ". As to the merits of the oarsmanship displayed on the Terdonck Canal there can be no sort of doubt. Even, as M. Maurice Lippens assured us, the time in which the coins.- had been covered, viz. 6 minutes 43 seconds, was a record at (Hunt, and as our gallant opponents were little more than two lengths behind, the excellence of the performance stands confirmed, even if experts associated with Oxford University, Trinity College, Cambridge, and Trinity Hall, had not expressed sn decided views as to the unusual merits of the victori crew. I knew Mr. Woodgate's favourable opinion before the con- test commenced, as he had been several times to Bee the practice at Bichmond ; but those of Dr. Etherington Smith and Mr. D. C. B. Stuart, although more tardily given, qv bore out the hopes the fulfilment of which gave such a glow- ing satisfaction to every member of Jesus College. But to the spirit evinced by the gallant Brabant nation- 304 SOME THINGS WE HAVE EEMEMBEEED ality there can be no doubt that it is correct to attribute an International importance, and I state this with the sense of responsibility engendered by over seventeen years' member- ship of the British House of Commons and a long study of the historical side of European foreign policy. From the weighty character of Sir Arthur Hardinge's, the British Mi- nister's, speeches it was not difficult to see that he too per- ceived in the surroundings of the contest something beyond the athletic rivalry which brought upwards of 100,000 people together around this usually deserted canal path six miles from Ghent. That the people of the Low Countries have realized the weighty nature of the Treaties which made Holland and Belgium European nations, I have no doubt, not that when called on at the banquets in Ghent and Brussels to respond for my beloved College anything beyond joy at the mutual goodwill between the two peoples could according to the dictates of taste, judgment or statesmanship be directly named. Nevertheless this undoubted truth places the aquatic and International rivalry, which it was a crowning honour of my athletic career to promote as Chairman of the Jesus Com- mittee, in a category different in character to any such conti- nental contest of the time. The statesmen both of Great Britain and the Low Countries must be pondering how to weld together and utilize these reassuring public sentiments in the cause of the independence of smaller nations and that more- over of the peace of the world. This I have written advisedly, because no doubt the Coronation ceremonies temporarily and in a great degree withdrew these remarkable demonstrations in Belgium from the eye of the British public. S. M. Bruce of Trinity Hall, the Cambridge University Coach of 1911, also acted as Mentor to this crew at Terdonck and Henley, although on the latter occasion his pupils were beaten by those equal in style but much superior in strength. Without any suggestion as to the effect of the two changes I may mention that before Henley Kegatta our Captain, H. M. Goldsmith, had retired through ill-health in favour of his cousin of the same name, and a capable substitute in L. A. RECENT ATHLETICS (1908-11) Pattinson had taken the place of Cecil Hudson, who i joined his Hussar regiment. Mr. Bruce would be the last man to deny that as cess achieved under his tactful management 1, , .! , < , bore the mark of Steeve Fairbairn'a longand patient u tion. 20 "GLEANINGS." I commence the promised "Gleanings" which were in- tended to follow the last chapter dealing with my subject generally, by recording two family recollections of my father's. At the close of the first chapter, allusion has been made to the alliance of my Aunt Harriet Thornton with the Hon. John Leslie Melville, afterwards ninth Earl of Leven and Melville, who lived to become Father of the House of Lords after a hard-working life mainly spent in the banking-house at 20 Birchin Lane, although he had undergone considerable privations when acting during the Peninsula as a business adviser concerning the Commissariat. Two of the Earl's sons succeeded to his title. Firstly, Alexander, known with warm regard to more than one genera- tion of Etonians, who enjoyed his kindly hospitality at the Bank House, Windsor. He was also a warm supporter of cricket and athletics in Eton College, and a leading member of the Committee responsible for rebuilding the Kacquets and Five Courts so rendering them worthy of " Pious Henry's Royal shades ". As a partner in the banking-house of Wil- liams, Deacon & Thornton, of 20 Birchin Lane, Alexander Leslie Melville, the tenth Earl, then best known as Viscount Kirkcaldie, became a trusted coadjutor of that great banker Henry Sykes Thornton when the "Chief," there termed, needed advice from those "whose study of mankind" was, in Pope's words, " man ". To relations and his numerous friends Alexander Melville was known as one of unstinted liberality. He died 22 October, 1889, aged 71, as the result of a carriage accident at Dunphail, Scotland, having never married. 30G "GLEANINGS" Secondly, Alexander's half-brother, the eleventh I Konald Kuthven, who succeeded to the title at I one whose talents for the conduct of public demonstrated when he performed the duties of Lord II Commissioner at Holyrood with a tact and popo likely to be forgotten in Scotland. A man of influi noe in City of London, as a Governor of the Bank oi I Id md a successful and far-seeing financier, he will be n memh as a worthy and successful grandson of Henry Thornton, M.P. for Southwark. Married to a daughter I Lord I ' .rt- man, he has left behind him those undoubtedly well sustain the prestige of an ancient and honour. bflh name. His water-colour paintings were shown in B Street after his death, and much praised by those most com* petent to judge. The new chapel in St. Giles's Cathedral, Edinburgh, is at once a graceful gift from the ancient family of Leven and Melville to that historic fane, and a fitting memorial Konald the eleventh Earl, obit. 1906, who wished to see sonic such sacred centre in Scotland's capital as that dedicated to tin- National Order of Knights of the Thistle. The donors of the chapel are the present Earl and his brothers, carrying out their father's intentions. A younger brother of the eleventh Earl was a favourite nephew of my father's, and bears witness to the universal satisfaction felt at home inEoehampton House when " Qncle Sam," as he was affectionately termed, came to Bee them there. When my father became an Admiral he I red ■ written congratulation from the members of thi v. Captain Norman Melville gained a reputation in I Grenadier Guards for horsemanship, and had the honour winning a race in Ireland for the late King (then Prinoi Wales). In August, 1861, a race meeting was held at the Curra and Captain Norman Melville was deputed bj one of ; messmates in the regiment to ride for him. Qnfortunal the mount stumbled and fell, and M.lvil 1 both bi •JO* 308 SOME THINGS WE HAVE KEMEMBEKED and shaken. While, however, resting on a bank near, with a soldier's cape thrown over him, a command came from H.E.H. requesting him to ride his horse " Rupee," in a race for animals of fifteen hands. Captain Melville represented that he was by no means in full vigour, and also said that better gentleman-riders were on the course who could be trusted to do justice to the Royal mount. But the Prince of Wales signified his desire that, if possible, Mr. Melville should ride in his colours on that occasion. Fortunately the amateur jockey chosen by the Prince was successful after a hard race by half a length. Next morning while Captain Melville was resting in his room, H.R.H. called, and was most grateful and affable, putting ceremony aside and insisting on thanking the rider of his horse in per- son. Subsequently a gold-mounted riding -whip was received by Captain Norman Melville bearing an inscription that it was given to him by the Prince of Wales for riding " Rupee " to victory on 6 August, 1861. My father's early friendship with the Admiral, Earl of Leven and Melville, had led to an intimate association with the cousins at Melville House, Fifeshire, such as existed with those members of the family whose Southern home was at Roehampton House, and there, as at Battersea Rise, occurred periodically forgatherings of relatives and others, attended by people of all ages. Neither the ninth, tenth, nor eleventh Earls of Leven owned the family home at Melville in Fifeshire, which to- gether with the portrait of Graham of Claverhouse when a youth, and that of Gustavus Adolphus, given to the first Lord Leven by the Swedish monarch, went in the female line by a flaw in a will after the death of the Admiral, David, the eighth Earl. A sister of John, ninth Lord Leven, namely Lady Jane Elizabeth Leslie Melville, was married in the autumn of 1816, according to Burke, to Mr. Francis Pym of The Hasells, Sandy, Beds., whoso father of that name sat in the House of Commons for that county from 1806 to 1819, being a con- " GLEANINGS temporary at Westminster with Mr. Samuel I l\ Their eldest son Francis was kill Great Northern Eailway near Bitchin in owner of The Hasells is his eldest son 1 the Life Guards. One of the 1 rwn of \ family was the late Mr. R. Ruthyen P Bank, and connected with the Middl as with numerous other philanthropic undertaken H< married Harriet, eldest daughter of Henry By] of Battersea Rise House. Mr. Charles Guy Pym, a first cousin of ti Francis Pym, who met with the fatal accident, baa kepi up the legislative traditions of his race by being al< cted M I' Bedford in 1895, and retaining the seat for el I Afterwards he was chosen D.L. for Beds, and Sheriff for the County of London, 1910-11, so acting during the Coronal of George V. He married in 1885, Emily Mildr* d, younj daughter of Henry Sykes Thornton. Mr. Guy Pym's representation of Bedford, beyond the that his care for the interests of the b eading ob- ject in his public life, will be also memorable for t motion in the House of Commons of a measure devised for the pur- pose of improving the condition of local Coram ■ with the duty of extinguishing fires in country locality The representative of Bedford, in an exhao brilliant speech made when introducing his Fire B measure, proved to the satisfaction of the House of Comm that the need of reform in administration, dne attend the improvement of water supplies, and the providing of fi engines in many cases, could be brought about at a relatw small cost. In the writer's opinion, had it tx vn faun to send this measure to a Select Committee, an arr might have been reached which would haw aln ad] means of saving some historic British homes from destruc- tion. This view is founded on the arguments Mr. Pym's speech. Mr. Chaplin, speaking for the Local Gov< rnment Board, 310 SOME THINGS WE HAVE KEMEMBEEED recognized the importance of the question and the strength of the appeal made, but could sanction no legislation calculated to place an enhanced charge on the localities. The last has not, I believe, been heard of this question regarding which country firemen feel so deeply. Mr. Guy Pym had a half-brother, Mr. Horace Noble Pym, a literary expert of remarkable culture, wit, and taste, who edited the life and letters of Caroline Fox, was responsible for shrewd comments on the Diary of Mr. Pepys, and collected a valuable library at Foxwold, near Westerham, in Kent. Mr. Horace Noble Pym having an introduction to Thomas Carlyle visited him by appointment at his Chelsea home. Anticipating a treat of reason and being by long study a genuine literary man, Mr. Pym was not in the first instance the least nervous. The Sage, however, coming suddenly into the room asked for the visitor's name, and being told Pym, promptly retorted, "Pray, Sir, what have you done to justify the possession of such a name ? " Although, no doubt, slightly embarrassed, Mr. Pym as promptly answered, " Sir, I have done my best". A short conversation was sufficient to re- assure Mr. Pym that he was in very truth a welcome and congenial guest. It was a loss to letters that this clever writer did not survive long enough to enjoy a leisure certain to have been fruitful in further literary output of the high class to which he had accustomed his readers. Mr. Guy Pym's parents were the Kev. William Wollaston Pym, Kector of Willian, Herts., and Miss Gambier, a niece of Admiral Lord Gambier. My father, who much enjoyed his visits to The Hasells, there met the Rev. William Pym, and promised to visit him in his parochial home when the two families were assembled under the paternal roof. He was struck with the similitude to some scholastic institutions which the numbers of those present forced upon him. The Kev. William Wollaston Pym was one of the evangelical pastors of the day, able to impress his hearers by the eloquence and transparent fidelity with which he expounded a belief founded on a most accurate knowledge of the Holy Scriptures. "GLEANINGS" :>1] So far theLeven and Melville and Pym relations, bni now I find I have not quite emphasized enough my £ath< deep and constant thought for more distantly relal m- bers of the Thorntons of Birkin whom he heard spokes of with honour. For instance, he used to talk with pride of one of the race, the Kev. Spencer Thornton, Vicar of Wen- dover, Bucks., whose son G. R Thornton was up at Jesni College in the sixties. Deeds of Godliness and mercy cupied the comparatively brief life of the said B] Thornton. To have been a favourite pupil of Dr. Arnold at Rugby is of itself no small distinction ; but since that great teach< r of youth said of this patient pastor after he left school, " I would stand to that man hat in hand," it is easier to under- stand how his parishioners soon discovered his merits. Indeed he was a most successful clergyman and one who lool closely after all the people at Wendover. To understand tin full measure of his worth the Memoirs by the Kev. \Y. I;. Freemantle should be studied. (Nisbet, 1851.) A deep knowledge of the Bible had led him to instance Martin Luther's experience of the sacred record : " The Bible is a fruit tree, which bears many thousands, and all various, fruits. I have gone round this tree for many years, h looked at it, and shaken its stem, and never shook it in vain. There is not even the smallest branch from which, if pro- perly struck, something does not fall." When reading of Spencer Thornton's school-life I could not but observe how the advice of Dr. Arnold to the young man was much of the same character as that which Dr. Vanghan gave us at Harrow, whence, in 1850, came a most charad istic letter from the ruler of the school on the Hill written on the occasion of his Rugby friend Spencer Thornton's nidden death. It is remarkable that I should myself have known t! of this good clergyman's sons and even be in Eriendly con- verse with descendants of a later generation, viz. Frederick Du Pre Thornton, the Oriental scholar, Henry Thornl 312 SOME THINGS WE HAVE REMEMBERED Nottingham banker, and the Rev. George Euthven Thornton, for some time Vicar of St. Mark's, Addison Road. This broad-minded, warm-hearted Englishman comes into the cate- gory of friends I have remembered at Jesus College, where soon after going down myself I knew him amongst those early in athletic distinction, when he won the Inter-University competition for throwing the hammer, and was a warm sup- porter of the muscular Christianity then in vogue. From his son Spencer it is my good fortune to have gleaned some- thing of the means whereby his father won ^hearts in a diffi- cult London parish. Mr. F. Du Pre Thornton's scholarship has been sympath- etically recorded by the Cambridge University Lecturer in Persian, Mr. Reynold A. Nicholson, from whose pages I briefly transcribe the facts. Frederick Du Pre Thornton was born in 1841 at Wendover in Buckinghamshire and was educated at Brighton College. He commenced the study of Arabic in 1880 when he first visited Egypt and Palestine, following the method he recom- mended in his " First Reading Book," namely " to begin reading aloud from a book fully pointed, with a Moslem who is accustomed to recite the Quran (Coran) in public prayer ". From 1880 to 1892 he was almost continually in the East. A visit to India with Mrs. Thornton, formerly Miss Hill, elicited the information that the Moslems there do not speak Arabic much amongst themselves, it being only used there as the sacred language. Altogether Mr. Thornton's researches were strongly ap- preciated by scholars. Mr. Reynold A. Nicholson, Lecturer in Persian at the University of Cambridge, when engaged in editing Mr. Thornton's works, said, " I made as few altera- tions as possible, since I know Mr. Thornton had pondered every word over and over again and that he took infinite pains to secure the clearest and most concise expression ". He was trying to improve his knowledge until the day of his death. This learned kinsman of my own had a desire to enter "GLEANINGS" Parliament on the Union, i ride, and ,. ment from Lord Salisbury the then I | Queen Victoria. But ill-health clouded those h< i his death in January, 1903. Mr. Bi orj ill, rnl the Nottingham banker, is a sympathetic authority past history of his race. Now as regards what seem to me to be om in the records of what I personally " have rememb n i ". For instance, in the narration leading up to mj tion as a Unionist candidate for Clapham in Parliament I omitted to name three remarkable brethren, who \\< ■<■ celebrated for their kindly philanthropy in that popoJ quarter of the Metropolis that, had not Charles Dicki selected only two brothers for the title of "( I should certainly have claimed the name for the trio <>f kindly Clapham inhabitants remembered with affection by many still living, as the three Whitings, Matthew, Benry, and Noel. When I promised to contest Clapham all time brotl were living in the neighbourhood, and to Benry, a 1 on Lavender Hill, I went, trusting in his notorious Bympal for all neighbours and especially for those who beloa the Unionist Party, and asked him for the loan of a carri at the approaching Clapham election. " By all m< Mr. Whiting, but while I knew what giving np his brongh for even a few hours, as driving, in his lame condition, his sole means of progression, would mean, I did o at the moment how probable it was that the tern] denizens of the vehicle might perhaps rend< c it nninhal I and useless to its owner for a time. Hence 1 did -ail myself of the carriage, but relied on the kindly | J sup- port which was given through speaking to the- dm; illy interested in politics, who thereby learned that I had a genuine desire to help my neighbours and benefit the conn! With all three Cheeryble brothers speaking thin. I I personal send-off from Lavender Hill. M r. 1 [enry Whiting chief avenues of charity were the Police Orphan 314 SOME THINGS WE HAVE REMEMBERED Royal Dental Hospital. He believed that the community owed much to the police both in Ireland and Great Britain. It is a pleasant memory to have been a guest in the little house on Lavender Hill, where so many celebrated people congregated, Madame being a most kindly and charming hostess. There I learned to know Mr. Maxwell the publisher, and his wife (Miss Braddon), and also their sons, now themselves becoming notable for their literary accomplish- ments. Of Mrs. Maxwell's gifts the world knows well, but her continual work at home did not prevent the great writer from being an invariably animated conversationalist when a guest, and moreover a sympathetic listener to the woes of struggling authors. Mr. Henry Whiting had friends in other walks of life, and I first met the late Sir Henry Peek there, and also my future House of Commons friend, the late Sir John Aird. The eldest of this family was the ever kind and generous Matthew Whiting, who gave much of his time to photography, in which art he became remarkably expert. He battled in later years with a distressing deafness. The younger of these brethren, Noel Whiting, became a well-known figure around Clapham Junction, which latterly he seldom left. The School Board, prompted as Mr. Whiting believed, by certain busybodies in the neighbourhood, several times scheduled his beautiful, old-fashioned house and grounds, which Socialists maintained ought not to exist where land was so much needed for housing the working classes. Many of us, including the writer, did our best to combat this assault on an octogenarian's beloved home and with success, because no school was really needed in this particular spot. I may add that Mr. John Burns, to his credit, defied the political retaliation of extreme Collectivist supporters by using his best private endeavours to save an aged neighbour from this calamity. At Mr. Whiting's death the property fetched £17,000 an acre. Mr. Noel was, like his brother Henry, a lover of horses and also good at a bargain. But I have known him after "GLEANINGS" resisting what seemed too high a price, therefor tly losing a good animal, to send tl„ baffled dealer nice little present in his pocket just to show there was no ill- will accompanying the refusal to buy. Mr. Noel was the only bachelor of the trio and Bolaced aged loneliness by a general benignity towards all i proached him even if he suspected them nth the secret conclave of Collectivist land grabbers which, the much-abused Education Act of Mr. Balfour ed, exercised a terrorism over suburban residents holding land near Clapham Common. I often thought that Mr. Noel Whiting's nnafiecti tress at the prospect of leaving his lifelong home when i eighty softened the heart of some of these mysterion My friend, General Sir Alfred Turner, who married Mr. Noel's niece, will vouch for the truth of the statements. The remarkable fortunes of the Whiting broi gained by assiduity in business methods. Indeed they v. almost ubiquitous in their adaptation of such knowli divers purposes, the wool trade of Silesia vying with support granted to the Water Companies in the early days of 1 1 dissemination over the Metropolitan area. Far-seeing in this direction, the docks of London came also under their pnrvii while no better judges of furs ever dealt in those articles comforting the aged of both sexes who winter in Gi Britain. I conclude these personal memorials by the narratio] one or two facts concerning my work when M.P. for ( ilapham, showing what measures I was able to forward at Si . Steph< beyond walking so many miles in the Lobby of the Unioi Party between 1892-1910. It is worthy of mention that during the time 1 was M.I' for Clapham two Prime Ministers, one past and one in futuro, visited the historic home on Battersea Kise. Lord B « bery came there on 15 November, 1893, to open the Bat;- t i I i m D Hall and was accompanied on the platform by the two local M.P.'s, Mr. Burns and myself. All three addressed 1 i 316 SOME THINGS WE HAVE REMEMBERED packed and interested audience. The occasion inaugurated a long series of interesting and inspiring local gatherings, religious, social, and political, in the Hall, of which the architecture redounded to the credit of the late Mr. Mount- ford, whose name is writ large in stone around Battersea. On 18 February, 1899, Mr. Balfour gave away the prizes at the Battersea Polytechnic, and made a well-received ad- dress on those fast developing Institutions classed as Poly- technics. Edward VII and Queen Alexandra showed a deep personal interest in the educational welfare of Mr. Burns' as well as my own constituents, and his royal forethought has already been the means of elevating the tone of technical teaching in this part of the Metropolis, as the educational re- putation of the Battersea Polytechnic proves. The late Principal, Mr. Sidney Wells, working on similar lines in Egypt, and Mr. Edwin Tate, the first Chairman and liberal benefactor to the Institution, must feel proud of the bantling over which they watched so assiduously. Mr. Balfour's advent to Battersea Kise House formed the last link in the list of eminent statesmen who had visited the oval chamber designed by the younger Pitt when frequenting the home of Henry Thornton, M.P. for Southwark, and Wil- liam Wilberforce. Lord Curzon, late Viceroy of India, when The Hon. George Curzon, having addressed a meeting at Clapham in view of becoming Conservative candidate, came to see the Pitt Room at Battersea Rise House. Like Lord Rosebery he admired Hoppner's portrait of Henry Thornton, M.P., and remarked on the likeness of the bust by Nollekens of Pitt, saviour of Europe, to that of the rising statesman, Mr. Chamberlain. Mr. Curzon soon after this became member for Southport in Lancashire, and the Hon. Algernon Bourke unsuccessfully opposed Mr. J. Fletcher Moulton at Clapham. Mr. Bourke, who wrote an interesting history of Brook's Club, is now heir to the Earldom of Mayo, being second son of the gifted Viceroy of India who was assassinated in the Andaman Islands, in 1872, "GLEANINGS Amongst the few satisfa* House of Commons I count that of officers of the Royal Indian Man-: personal property which was on board the I Hastings" when she was wrecked off Reunion in Government swiftly acquiesced in the scarcely . mands of the considerable milita meat which tl existed in the House, but no mention of any kind was m of the Indian Marine whose champion I deavoured to become. It happened that two young friends of mine, L Walter Windham and Ernest Huddleston, had d themselves by life-saving in the surf off Reunion at th< I of the wreck, Windham by presence of mind in lino bta and affixing a rope to the shore, which he was i i reach through surging waves and broken rocka Again, I engineers of the ill-fated vessel never left then- p ists until ordered to pass on shore. It was clear that, Like the military, everyone had done his duty. Between them Windham and Huddleston on this o< rescued eight persons from drowning. At the end of this moving drama it did certainly ^-tir my indignation to the uttermost when I learned that, althou the brave soldiers of the York and Lancaster R< gimi the 1st Battalion of the King's Royal Rifli - had n well-merited compensation for their personal lot [Di- valent was at least temporarily withhold from the [nd Marine officers and men. Indeed I became animated with the spirit of the obstructionist, and gave Borne troubli question time. It seemed to me then that the Speaker, Mr. Gull] a good deal of latitude in the matter of asking qu< applying for information in queries arising OUl of th I deed these pieced together read rather suspiciously tik speech. But the forms of the House were not oihtt me, as another whip up such as the militai 318 SOME THINGS WE HAVE REMEMBERED on the War Office Estimates was not possible upon an identi- cal subject which the ordinary member believed to be disposed of. But the brave tars were fairly compensated, and I have rejoiced thereat ever since. Captain Walter G. Windham was afterwards for eight years a king's messenger, and is known as an active pioneer both of the motor industries in this country, as well as being one of the earliest promoters of the art of aviation. He was the founder of the Aeroplane Club. At Allahabad in February of 1911 he established an Aerial Post in that city, demonstrating the feasibility of a beleaguered garrison communicating with the outside world. After the Coronation of George V this idea was carried out between Windsor and Hendon in September, 1911. His Majesty was pleased to express his interest in this successful undertaking by a letter to the promoter. The bags were taken up at Hendon and the Aeroplanes descended with them in Windsor Park. Both these experiments of February and September, 1911, were carried out under Government supervision. 1020 lb. of letters and postcards representing over 160,000 in number were carried a distance of 720 miles in the aggre- gate between Hendon and Windsor and back, at an altitude of 1000 feet in seventeen days. Gustave Hamel carried most of the bags, the weight of each being 25 lb. As a result of this achievement a sum of £1500 was given to charity, £950 to the Windsor Hospital and £500 to Mons Hubert, who had the misfortune to fracture his legs by falling while carrying the mails. Captain Windham also received letters of congratulation from several of the Crowned heads of Europe. Captain W. G. Windham's father is Major George Smythe Windham, late of the Rifle Brigade of earlier Crimean and Indian Mutiny times, who married Clara Clarissa, daughter of Lord Charles James Russell, formerly Sergeant-at-Arms in the House of Commons. Major G. S. Windham's eldest son, Major Charles, is British Resident at Jodhpur in Rajputana. "GLEANINGS" I am glad to remember how in unison with members of each party I also ach Scotch palaces, especially those of 1 1 L which had been visited more than once and ap] sorely need attention. The value of their h ditions seemed to justify judicioi. nxhtur.- on thes.- priceless buildings, a sentiment, conservative in i shared by large masses of the Scottish i Cleophas Morton, now M.P. for Sutherland, took a l< part in this movement, which has at last Led thi meat to acknowledge the desirability of dealing with tl otherwise H.M. George V could scarcely haw sojoun Holyrood. Oificials connected with the Cyclists' Touring Clnb attri- bute their success in getting lights on all vehicles, inclndii bicycles, to my advocacy of this reform at a critical -t;t„'" of the controversy, since I saw the Vehicles' Lights Bill throw a second reading, although it was lost by o! sition in the dog days. Therefore I claim to be a ] in the field where my friend, Major L. Kenton, M.l\ for the Gainsborough Division of Lincolnshire, finally m ac- cess in 1908. The same may be said of the Southwark Bishopric Bill, to the passing of which I gave of my best, when n party differences voiced by eager advocates threatened obstruct that ecclesiastical reform. As Chairman of the Committee of South London Dni M.P.'s I opened communications with certain of thi gelical clergy which enabled them in support of the Bill go hand-in-hand with members of other Anglican partial Without some such approximation the measure most fa been again delayed. A measure of a different character wi | Bd i" the 1906-10 Parliament. Not political, as Lord Salisbury'i in this volume demonstrated, the Deceits, ,1 Wif< ' M stirred up animosities, which it will some day be tor tfa historian to explain, but are mentioned 1- ■'• ■>' 320 SOME THINGS WE HAVE KEMEMBEBED retarded the change even when overwhelming majorities in the House of Commons joined to the solemnly expressed hope for its success by the Prince of Wales (afterwards Edward VII), in words uttered from his place in the House of Lords. The writer is thankful to have worked consistently for this measure in company with men such as the late Sir Brampton Gurdon, Mr. T. Paynter Allen, and Colonel John Kutherford, M.P. for the Darwen Division of Lancashire, of whom the two last mentioned are happily with us still. These men convinced a majority in both Houses that the interests of the poor demanded this change in the law, and also that the legislation of 1835, which excluded future cases from the re- lief, previously allowed to persons who had contracted this marriage in order to legitimize the heir to a dukedom, formed a sorry and discreditable story. It is just to the memory of the late Sir H. Campbell-Bannerman to say that without his timely intervention as Prime Minister this question might have dragged on indefinitely. Nor can it be forgotten how in times when this question was comparatively in its legislative infancy, the late Lord Houghton's fearless advocacy did much to persuade the Peers of the grave injustice which was being visited upon large numbers of the late Queen's loyal subjects. Also it should be admitted that public opinion was ultimately mirrored in the House of Lords despite the fact that good men and true, whose views were, as such, held in high respect, never ceased pro- testing. It is interesting to record that the same evangelical clerical influence which assisted us to carry the Southwark Bishopric Bill was to a great degree exercised in passing the Deceased Wife's Sister Bill through the House of Commons. In the 1906 Parliament the Government of Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman brought in a Bill to improve the laws as to keeping and controlling dogs. On behalf of the Com- mittee of the Temporary Home for Lost and Starving Dogs at Battersea, of which I was a member, I was successful in getting this measure amended in Grand Committee by the " GLEANINGS " addition of a clause forbidding the indefinite on of stray dogs in private houses without informatioi to the police, under a penalty of £2. Tins I cially in the opinion of the Agricultural Depart in At the time I finished these sparse recollections of Parliamentary life, the regrettable misunderstand Great Britain and Germany had reached a dan pitch After considerable thought I reached the conclusion, which I still hold, that a detailed examination of the causes which have brought this state of things about, mach \y prii British writer, might prove injurious by provoking recrimina- tions. I can now, even, only trust myself to say this orach generally, viz., that in the writer's experience amongst all sorts and conditions of English people, no visible anti-< tannin prejudice prevails, or finds expression. Certainly QOt w\ persons wielding any genuine influence are concerned. N is it possible to discover a popular sentiment on this edcU the Channel which could conceivably arouse a domain! toe using our "all in all," the Fleet, or the brave but small British Army, in an unprovoked attack upon the ( ier- man Empire. Such a circumstance would be unthinkable, and credible witnesses say that the belief prevails amongst tl subjects of the Emperor William II who tenant the of the Baltic and the North Sea. It is certainly open for all of us to help in dispersing this injurious and fantastic legend. These memories are written when the preservation of Crystal Palace seems to hang in the balam Thl noble edifice should be saved from the builder ism my 0] a matter of vast importance to the people of London, and maintenance in a less but still considerable d beneficial to the whole nation. No more dignified \ recreation exists wherein vast crowds may be assen out of doors on important occasions. And where, let DD are the great sacred works of Handel to be h< ard bj .-ml number of people with the same advantu The □ 21 322 SOME THINGS WE HAVE REMEMBERED traditions of the Crystal Palace are best appreciated by a survivor who has listened to the bird-like notes of Clara Novello echoing through the transepts ; who has been en- tranced under similar circumstances by the volume of Titiens' glorious and resounding soprano voice ; has heard Madam Sainton Dolby's stately contralto tones heartily appreciated by assembled multitudes who loved also to recall their favourite tenor and baritone Mr. Sims Eeeves and Mr. (now Sir Charles) Santley. Such a person may be excused a paean of rejoicing should this famous arena once more be available for the musical talents of the greatest artistes of the reign of George V just as it has been under those of Victoria and Edward VII. But to speak of times nearer the present date — the last hour of " Israel in Egypt " at the Handel Festival of 1904, those fortunate enough to participate in will ever remember. Mr. Balfour, who was present, sent his congratulations to the per- formers, a fact which confirmed my own belief that I had been a fortunate listener upon a unique occasion. But I must be excused for holding the belief that however scientifically improved may be the modern method of vocal- ization, when interpreting the German masterpieces of opera which Wagner has produced, yet no living singer can be said to combine histrionic ability fitted to interpret the heroines of tragical opera to that remarkable degree in which, until her death in 1877, Teresa Titiens possessed it so pre- eminently. Gardoni the tenor who sometimes took the place of Guiglini when that sweet songster needed rest, spoke in the writer's hearing of the remarkable experience any colleague underwent who was on the stage with the prima donna best fitted for the role of Lucrecia Borgia, Norma Valentine in the "Huguenots" or Leonora in " Fidelio " or Ortrud in "Lohengrin". Gardoni, not easily infused with such en- thusiasm, declared that she absolutely compelled her stage companions to act by very force of natural genius. It was a great occasion when under the management of "GLEANINGS the late Mr. Gye the equally celebrated .ui, appeared in Don Giovanni with Titiena in tl. Donna Anna. My friend the late Sir Charles La., wronge and I, present on that exceptional night, when Titi< forsook for the occasion the stage of li famous old house tenanted by Mr. Maples were the happy recipients of a musical and dn neither of us ever forgot. Outside my Parliamentary career, and these remark* hall close my records, it has been a deep satisfaction that for up- wards of twenty-eight years I have been a member of thi Royal Literary Fund, promoted first to the General Committee and chosen in 1910 just before leaving the House of Common be one of the Kegistrars. The colleagues I have served with as Registrar hiv Sir Sidney Lee, the able successor of the late Bit I. Stephen in conducting the "Dictionary of National Bio- graphy," the late Sir Richard Holmes, Librarian to Q Victoria and Edward VII, and Sir Henry Craik, Ml'. During this long connexion with the Literary Pun have always considered attendance at the committee which dispenses the funds at the corporation to needy but deserving authors, as constituting a species of urgent engagemrnt w! never should without good cause be neglected. That t ideal has been absolutely achieved I am far from claim; but only emphasize the desire of us all at Denison Bona strengthen our finances, so as to be better enabled i Mr the wounded soldiers of literature. It took nineteen years for the Rev. David Willian honoured founder, to mould his budding institution s<> . render it sufficiently virile to bear the test of holding the tir-i Anniversary Dinner of 1793 when Sir Joseph An : t.. presided. From that time the Anniversary b I held uninterruptedly, some eminent or influential ik ing the chair. It is not too much to say that many of tl greatest, wisest, most thoughtful, and eloquent men \vh served Great Britain from the reign of Q 21* 324 SOME THINGS WE HAVE EEMEMBEEED the fifth successor, H.M. George V, at the Eoyal Literary Fund's Annual Dinner, have dealt with the pregnant subject how best to relieve struggling men and women, who, suc- cessful in various branches of literature, have yet found themselves stricken with poverty such as afterwards may be permanently removed by a timely and secret gift. For secrecy, except to members of the committee, was the very corner-stone of Mr. Williams' scheme ; while to that same body charged with administering these grants has been en- trusted the frequently painful duty of discriminating the merit of each suppliant's work. His present Majesty, as Prince of Wales, himself presided in 1890 to the great benefit of the Institution. It has been universally admitted that amongst subjects, one of the most moving and relevant appeals to the public for aid to the Eoyal Literary Fund was that made from its Chair in 1868 by Mr. Disraeli, the Leader of the House of Commons, from which he came straight after an important debate on the Eeform Bill of that time. In terse sentences the great statesman placed before his hearers the hopes, fears, and occasional calamities which assail the struggling man of mind who utilizes brain power for what is often a bare sub- sistence. Nobody could be better fitted from knowledge and experience to enforce this leading fact, and Mr. Augustine Birrell did well forty-three years later (1911) to take Mr. Disraeli's comments as a foundation for his own bright, witty, and informing speech, which held its own amongst the best of those I have listened to. It has been my lot to be present at remarkable intellectual efforts, such as those of Mr. Eudyard Kipling, and informing historical addresses by men like Dr. H. M. Butler, Master of Trinity, and in a different way, Mr. Andrew Lang. The peroration of Archbishop Temple will be remembered as a very outburst of philanthropic genius by one who at first seemed overweighted by the task before him. It would be invidious to select many names from such a galaxy of talent, but I must mention the dignity and pathos "GLEANINGS" thrown into Mr. A. J. Balfour's sincere appeal fort] brethren of the pen, with whom it is notorious he I sympathized and done his best, both in ami out ol succour. Personally I rose from my place impressed with the cul- ture and convincing arguments of the gifted and Anthony Hope Hawkins, who in 1910 seem record purse. As regards the essential secrecy in dispensing gnu the Koyal Literary Fund, one great man and one only I ever publicly torn down the veil and acknowled uatade to this Institution. I allude to Chateaubriand, who, wl Ambassador to Great Britain, stated on a public ion that but for assistance from the Literary Fund when an exile he must have succumbed in the battle of Ufa The friendships formed during the twenty-eight y< my own membership have more than repaid me for tie and thought expended, and prominent amongst these I pi) that with the kindly and wise secretary, Mr. Llewelyn Eoberts. Although the Kev. David Williams was the original founder of the Society and Mr. Thomas Newton the earl pecuniary benefactor on a large scale, any student o! archives cannot but reach the conclusion that the Royal Literary Fund never could have reached its pre tion but for the munificence of the then Prince of \\ wards George IV, who charged his income from the D of the Duchy of Cornwall with 200 guineas annually in ordez that the Institution might have a house over its head, ("lti- mately in 1818, when a Charter of Incorporation was grant the Prince of Wales permitted his crest to app arms. After he came to the throne he became Patron Fund, upon which he bestowed no less than £5,41 cessive sovereigns, William IV, Queen Y ird VII, and George V have been Koyal Patrons. This literary connexion has proved a Bolace through < : . which might otherwise have passed by without QsefuJ and 326 SOME THINGS WE HAVE KEMEMBEKED congenial occupation being always available. Probably I owe it to a great extent to my old friend and mentor in the once-famous Camden Society, the late Professor Eawson Gardiner, that this habit of mind has been preserved amidst the toils of political life and the comparative levity of athletic distraction. I may add that the last-named master of six- teenth century constitutional knowledge left behind him advice given to me which has been for the most part obeyed in writing the present volume ; that is, to visit the places named as centres of intellectual influence or remembered as scenes wherein events of national or local moment have occurred. By observing this rule I trust I have added some interest to the pages of which this ends my present undertaking. INDEX. Abercorn, 1st Duchess of, 291. Admiral's Hornpipe and M.P.'s Scotch Reel, 136. Aerial Post. See Windham, W. G. Airedale, Lord. See Kitson, Sir James, M.P. Albury Park, co. Surrey, seat of Samuel Thornton, M.P., 1802-1812, 11, 14 f., 17 ff., 28. Allen, T. Paynter, 320. Alma, news of battle of, 124 f. Alverstone, Lord, Lord Chief Justice of England. See R. E. Webster. Aquatic Dinner to Cambridge University men at House of Commons, 294 ff. Armstrong, Prof., of Doncaster, 174. Arnold, Dr., Head Master of Rugby, 126 f. ; on Spencer Thornton, 311. Ascot Races, Samuel Thornton, M.P., 64 f. Astell, John Harvey, of Woodbury Hall, co. Carnbs., M.P. for Cambridge. Astell, Richard, of Everton House, co. Hunts. ,m. Hannah, sister of Richard Kennett of Copley Hall, co. York, d. 1777 s.p. He was s. of William Astell (I). Astell, William (II), name of William Thornton (III) from 1777 as heir of his maternal grandfather, William Astell (I), in succession to Richard Astell. Astell, William (III), name of William Thornton (IT) from 1807, d. 1847, M.P. for Bridgewater, 1830-32, afterwards for Bedfordshire. Athenseum Club, H. S. Thornton (I) a Founder of, 215. Athletics, recent, 293 ff. — Author's, 170 ff. Author's retirement from political life, 288 ff. Bacon, Miss, m. Thomas Rice, s Rice. of John Bagot. Dr., Bishop of Bath and \V. Mra. J. M. Rice's m vhbour at ghton, 113. Balfour. Kt. Boa A. J., M 1\, •_".• ff., 27'.'. 391 :ount, A *lie Melville, afterward* 7th Ek: Leven and Melville, m. Jk- dr. of John Thorrom (IIIi, U Balg<> rea- dier Guard-, curry; < oloora at the battle of the Alma; s. of David, 6th Earl of I. and Melville, 137. Bank of England. BlMUBl I If. P., Governor of, IS. — — Thornton Dir Ad- dress from Directors on r of S I Barrington, 6th Baton, and I Memorandum alleged by the lat* Lord Malmesbury to hav. about the Crimean W Battersea Rise House. Clupham Com- mon, home of Henry i M.P., and family. 1, 906 ff.. 288, 287, 291. Pri tersat: Pitt. 316. Bosebery, Bl — Vestry, H. B. Thornton (I). Chair- man of. 2] 1. Beard, Rev. 1 L86. Becher, Admiral, tail nsUntia Beober, 105. Becher, Constanti*. dr. Bech'-r, m. Dr. F P»l Glo Belgian Boat Bafl ' ^^t - — cordiality to English Bennett. Th i Pat* Bessboro rd. Set Poo* i Frederick. 327 328 SOME THINGS WE HAVE EEMEMBEEED Bexley, Baron Nicholas Vansittart, uncle by marriage of John Thorn- ton (IV). Bickersteth, Bt. Bev. Bobert, Bishop of Bipon, 232. Bills in Parliament supported by Author, 319. Birchin Lane (20), place of business of Henry Thornton, M.P., and his son Henry Sykes Thornton (I), 18, 213, 226 ff., 306. Birkin, near Wakefield and Pontefract, co. York ; Thorntons consecutively Bectors of, from before 1651 to 1718, 3 f. Bishop's official wig, last Episcopal wearer, 165. Blackheath Park, author's parents' residence in, at Thornton House, 112. Blankney Hunt, 194 f . Bolingbroke, 1st Viscount, 241, 262. Bournemouth, social and literary as- sociations, 226 ff. Bowdler, John, the Expurgator, 61. Bowyer Terrace, Clapham, residence of John Thornton (IV), 22, 62, 91. Bright, Henry, author of " A Lanca- shire Garden," 228. Brighton, Crescent House School, 120. — 6 Eoyal Crescent, 113, 121. Brunswick Terrace, Brighton, from 1837 home of Samuel Thornton, M.P., 64. Bucknall, William, M.D. (descendant of Alderman Sir William Bucknall, knighted 1670), father-in-law of Morgan Bice of Tooting Graveney, 70. Burghley, Lord, M.P. for North North- amptonshire, afterwards Marquis of Exeter, 202. Burmese War, 39 ff. Burns, Bt. Hon. John, M.P. for Batter- sea, President of the Local Govern- ment Board, 252, 267, 281. Butcher, Prof. S. H., M.P. for Cam- bridge University, 295, 299. Butler, Dr. George, Head Master of Harrow, 1805-29, father of Dr. H. M. Butler, Master of Trinity Col- lege, Cambridge, 207. Butler, Dr. H. M., Master of Trinity College, Cambridge ; formerly I lead Master of Harrow, 150, 223, 244, 324. Butler, Miss, housekeeper at Black- heath Park, 142. Calcutta, Bishop of. See Beginald Heber. See also Welldon. Caley, Arthur, Prof, of Mathematics at Cambridge ; friend of Admiral Thornton's family at Blackheath, 137 f. Callington and South Hill, successive Bectors of, 85. See also Bev. H. M. Bice and Canon F. V. Thornton. Cambridge at the end of the eighteenth century, 77 ff. — in the sixties, 174 ff. — Athletics, 169 ff., 293. See also Inter-University Sports. — Jesus College, 161. — Personal memories of, 174 ff. — University Aquatics, 162 ff., 294 ff. Cricket, 153, 179 ff. Cambridgeshire Hunt, 184. Canning and Samuel Thornton, M.P., on High Tariffs, 26. Carus, Bev. Canon, 231. Chambers, John G., President C.U.B.C, 162, 299. Championship half mile (First Ama- teur), won by Author, in 1866, 171. Chateaubriand and Boyal Literary Fund, 325. Cherbourg, Author's visit to Naval Fete at, 135 f. Chobham Place, residence of Samuel Thornton, M.P., 1815-1827, 57 ff. Cholmondeley, Mary Louisa (dr. of Bev. H. G. Cholmondeley), m. Canon F. V. Thornton, 99. Church, Prof. A. H. See Elton Ware. Clapperton, Hugh, Explorer, Bev. Charles Thornton's poem on, 208 f. Clare, Christian name of wife of Bobert Thornton (II), Eector of Birkin. Clare Hall Piece, Cambridge, known as " The Mall," 78. Clarke, Bev. Canon Erskine, Vicar of Battersea, 241 f. Cleave, Bev. W. O., formerly Tutor of Jesus College, Cambridge, 161, 165. Clevedon Court, co. Somerset, seat of the Elton family; the "Castle- wood" of Thackeray's "Esmond," immortalized by Tennyson, fre- quented by Coleridge and the Hal- lams, 107 ff. Closure, 277 f., 289. Coleridge, Samuel. See Clevedon. Commercial conditions before and after 1800, 17 f. Conder, M. Louis, French Master at INDEX Ramsgate ; led Author to take up history, 121 ft'. Conyers, Dr. Richard, LL.D., Rector of Helmsley, near East Newton, m. Jane, dr. of Robert Thornton (III), 3, 19. Corrie, Rev. George Elwes, D.D., Master of Jesus College, Cambridge, to 1885, 164 ft., 178 f. Cottesmore Hunt, 194 ff. Cowper, William, the Poet, friend of John Thornton (III), 6 ; his poem " Charity," describing John Thornton (III), reproduced, 10 f. Craik, Sir Henry, M.P., Registrar of Royal Literary Fund, 323. Crewe, Marquis of, s. of 1st Baron Houghton ; heir born, February, 1911,12. Crombie, J. W., M.P., 258. Crystal Palace, visit of the French Emperor and Empress, 122 f. ; Handel Festival at, 321 ff. Cunningham, Rev. J., Rector of Harrow, Author of " The Velvet Cushion," 129. Cuppage, Capt. William, R.N., 115 ft"., 122 f. Curzon, Lord, of Kedleston, late Vice- roy of India, at Battersea Rise House, 316. Dale, J. W. (" Jack "), 163, 194, 197, 299. Deacon, John, 227. Deacon, J. Frank, s. of John Deacon, 226. Deacon, W. S., 226, 238. Dealtry, Rev. W., Archdeacon, D.D., Canon of Winchester, father-in- law of H. S. Thornton (I), 14, 20, 212. Dealtry, William, C.M.G., s. of Arch- deacon Dealtry, 227, 238 f. Dealtry, William, s. of William Dealtry, C.M.G., 238 f. De Chair, Rev. Frederick, of Jesus Col- lege, Cambridge, Canon of Nor- wich, 161. Dilke, Sir Charles W., Bart., M.P., 296 f., 299. Dobell, Dr. Horace, 225, 228, 230 f. Dobell, Mrs. Horace, 230 f. Downman, General Sir Thomas, K.C.B., of Peninsular fame, m. a sister of Elizabeth Holmes, 87. Doyle, Sir Francis, Professor of Poetry at Oxford, 230. Dunbar, Dr. J. .1. |f. ( 0*pt . 1)11 l' 1 '-. ' . of Ja Do Bp i- | , ,i,. history of, i I IT. East ■ (X. Ridii OfYorl toed back to L66 • Education Kill. L909, 81 1 ■>''l V 11 \\'alu«. Capt. Norman I Edwards, Genera! 246. Elphinstone, Rob. it I>. II. ut, i:u. Elton ancestor-, 17 In Elton, Sir Charles A hn lines in memory of hin dr. in law, 106 f. ; his literary work and as- sociations, 106 IT. Elton, Sir Arthur Hallain, 7th I (s. of Sir Charl for Bath ; highly site' Gladstone, Author, and C butor to the " Saturday Review," 107 ff. Elton, Sir Edmund Harry. Btb and present Bart., in. ! hu ancle Sir A. H. E too, afl I :..:oda, Lady Elton, 105, 107, 1 1 Elton, Edmund V. Elton), father ol '■onet, m. Lucy Maria, dr. <>f 1. M<>: : IS. Elton Ware : arl *nu- factund by Bit B. H. I lit 109 f. Eton Athletic Fahkii, George Denison, C.B. Ml Claph:i Parragot, Admiral, ' man on "1 I ff. Farrar, V.rv li< \ 1 -of Canterbury, Fawectt, Kt. H in. I of Political ; I Fenav, N (from Tabli I In w »;. : ■ |',iiii, Ri ii Pari Church, gta • '. 330 SOME THINGS WE HAVE KEMEMBEKED for news of Alma from pulpit, 124 £., 187. Fenner's : Cambridge University Cricket and Athletic ground, 169, 179 f. Fellowes, Mrs., Dorset. See HelenRice. Ferryman, Col. Augustus, 51st Eegt. (s. of J. W. Ferryman of Cheltenham, and Frances, dr. of John Rice), father of Col. Mockler Ferryman. See Prefatory Note. Ferryman, John, owner of a celebrated breed of setters, m. Frances, dr. of John Rice, 85. Ferryman, Mockler, Lieut.-Col., R.A., s. of Col. Augustus Ferryman. See Prefatory Note. Fickus, William, 226. Finch, Rt. Hon. George, M.P. for Rut- land ; Father of the House of Commons, 202. Fisher, Admiral Sir John, 224. Fitzwilliam Hunt, 195 ff. Fitzwilliam, the Hon. Tom, 173 f. Fleets, British and French at Cher- bourg, 135 f. Fleming, Rev. Canon, 291. Forster, Rev. Charles Thornton, Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge, and afterwards Vicar of Hinxton, Cambs. Forster, Laura, dr. of Rev. Charles Forster, Rector of Stisted, Essex ; her account of John Thornton (III), 5- Frend, tried for heresy, Mr. John Morgan Rice on, 79 ff. Fryston Hall, near Pontefract, co. York, residence of Robert Pember- ton Milnes, 12. Furneaux, Admiral John, naval com- rade of Admiral Thornton ; author of " An Abridged History of the Principal Treaties of Peace," 1837, 48 ff. Furnival, Grace Anna, dr. of Rev. Mr. Furnival, m. Rev. W. H. Thornton, 100 f. Gaiavay, Viscountess, sister of 1st Baron Houghton, 63, 220, 244. Gardiner, Prof. Samuel Rawson, Eng- lish Historian, 1829-1902, 326. " Gentleman's Magazine," obituary notice of John Thornton (III), 9. Gibbon, Capt., R.A., Winning Uni- versity Stroke, 1900, 162. Gilliat, John Saunders, M.P. for Clap- ham, 1886-1892, 245 ff. Girdlestone, Rev. W. H., Private Tutor, Cambridge University, and at Ryde, 172 f . Gladstone, Rt. Hon. W. E., M.P., 251 ff. ; and Sir J. Pease on Opium Trade, 259 ff. ; on loss of H.M.S. "Victoria," 261. Gloucester, Mary, Duchess of (4th dr. of George III), m. William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester, s. of William Henry (3rd s. of George II), Duke of Gloucester; friend of Samuel Thornton, M.P., and Admiral Thornton, 58. Goldsmiths' Company, Mr. H. S. Thornton's (I) connexion there- with, 264 ff. ; Gladstone and Har- court at, 265. Goldsmith, H. M., President C.U.B.C, 1906 ; organized contest with Harvard that year ; also Capt. Jesus crew against Belgians, May 25, 1911, 296, 301. Gordon, Admiral Sir James, Governor of GreenwichHospital (1853-69), 115ff. Greene, Rev. Canon, Rector of Clapham, 48. Grimston, Hon. Robert, 150 ff. Gurdon, Rt. Hon. Sir William Bramp- ton, P.C., M.P. for North Norfolk, 296, 299, 320. Hall, " Jack," stroke of Cambridge boat 1859-60, 162. Hallam, Arthur (s. of Henry Hallam), friend of Tennyson, 107. Hallam, Henry, Historian, m. 1807 Julia Maria, dr. of Rev. Sir Abra- ham Elton, Bart., 107 ff. " Hannibal," H.M.S., launch of, 1855, 117 ff. Hanover Terrace, Regent's Park (No. 4), residence of Sir Ralph Rice, 115. Harcourt, Rt. Hon. L., M.P., 60. Harcourt Room, Houso of Commons, portraits of Samuel and Henry Thornton and William Wilberforce there, 60. Harcourt, Rt. Hon. Sir William V., M.P., 116, 262 ff., 291 i., and see Appendix. Hare, Sir Thomas, M.P. for S.W. Nor- folk, 261. Harrison, A. II., hiR account of the announcement of the battle of the Alma, 125. Harrison, Ven. Archdeacon Benjamin, Canon of Canterbury, m. Isabella, lNi)i:\ dr. of Henry Thornton, M.I'., 211 f., 243 f. Harrow, 1850-1860, 120 IT. — Athletics, 144 f., 155. — Contemporaries and associates of Author, 154. — Cricket, 145 ff. — Masters, 130 ff. — Mission, 156. — Songs, 156. — Wanderers, 152 f. Harrovians, prominent, 126 f., 133 f., 144 ff., 156. Heber, Reginald, afterwards Bishop of Calcutta, father-in-law of John Thornton (V), 14, 23, 89 f., 102. Hill, Anne Jane (heiress of James II II of the Rookery, Streatham Com- mon, Surrey), m. Frederick Da Pre Thornton, 812. Hillyar, Captain James, R.N., after- wards Admiral Sir James Hillyar, K.C.B., 31 f., 63. Historical works of Author, 221 f. Hoghton, Margaret, dr. of Sir Charles Hoghton, Bart., m. Samuel Watson ofKingston-upon-Hull. See Thorn- ton, Lucy. Holmes, Elizabeth, sister-in-law of General Sir Thomas Downman, K.C.B., of Peninsular fame, m. Rev. John Morgan Rice, 82, 86 f., 112, 121. Holmes, Maria, sister of Elizabeth Holmes, m. Admiral Pearson, 87. Holmes, Sir Richard, Librarian to Queen Victoria and King Edward VII, Registrar of Royal Literary Fund, 323. Houghton, Lord, Richard Monckton (s. of Robert Pemberton Milnesand the Hon. Henrietta Maria Monck- ton), father of Marquis of Crewe, 12, 217, 220, 223, 227 ff., 244, B20. House of Commons, 1892-1895, 257 ff. Huddleston, Lieut. ErneBt, R.I.M., life-saving by, at wreck of " Warren Hastings," 1897, 317. Income Tax first introduced 1799. 12. Inglis, Sir Robert, 59, 61. Inter-University Sports, foundation of, 169 f. Jackson, Henry, Litt.D., O.M., K.r " Prof, of Greek, Cambridge, m. dr. of Canon Francis Vansitbut Thornton, 99. 1 in. dr. I I Thornton (I), [neon bam, •y, Karl of, 171. Jesu- I ,., Aqiu 1 *il 11., 301 !!. ; i Harry I Arms Yai .'ioom of mnl Tbornl in, M.i' . Kingsley, Rev. ( Hi 1-11. Kinlooh-Cooke, Sir Cli l K ronport, 29 t Kirkoaldii . \ '. • I »nd Melville. Kirwan, John Stratford (m. I toria Marj' 1 Marquis of IIh-: ship of " Lc Kitson, Sir James, Ml., *'-. Lord Airedl Kynaaton, Bev. Canon, M B, Charles, his pm poetry, I Law, Rev. W. Si e Han Lawes-WittewroiiK'i', Sir C formerly Charles Law ff., 289, 295, : Lawrence, Sir John, OD I I ton's services during tl: Mutiny, 96. Lawson, Gmi! er 'if. Literary Pond, ■'■ Lenny, Dr., hi k>1 »t IUmt 121 ff. Leslie Melville, Lady Jano Klit»l m. i i"' Haselli, I I Melville, Captain, tl • I man, HOT f. of Junius," author 229. Levenand Melville, admiral I> Leven ami Melville, I lie, 9th 1 riet, dr. i M.I'., :■' ii- rhorntoa 332 SOME THINGS WE HAVE EEMEMBEEED Leven and Melville, Alexander, 10th Earl, formerly Viscount Kirk- caldie, 227, 306. Leven and Melville, Konald Ruthven, 11th Earl, 307. Lippen, M. Maurice, President of the Royal Nautique of Belgium, 302 f. Llandaff, Bishop of, consecrated by Archbishop Laud. See Morgan Owen. Locock, Mrs. Alfred, dr. of Archdeacon Dealtry, 238, 274 f. Loreburn, Rt. Hon. Lord, Lord Chan- cellor, 253. Lowther, the late Rt. Hon., 182. Lushington, Sir Henry, Bart., father- in-law of Reginald Thornton, 95. Lymington Election Petition, 1816, 26 f . Macaulay, Lord, 227. Macaulay, Zachary, concerning letters of Henry Thornton, M.P., 60. Majority, Author's much reduced, 1906, 282 f. Malmesbury, Lord, Foreign Secretary, 222, 229, 232 ff. Malleson, Colonel C. B., Indian His- torian, 169, 218. Marras, M., distinguished Singing Master. See Miss Clare Thornton. Marryat, Captain, Novelist, 51. Masters, George, Assistant in produc- tion of Elton Ware, 110. Maxwell, Mr. and Mrs. (Miss Braddon), 314. McCormick, the Rev. Prebendary, 297. Mcllwaine, Captain, intimate friend of Admiral Thornton, 47, 51 ff. McKenna, Rt. Hon. Reginald, M.P., Home Secretary, and Clapham Election 1892, 251 f., 257 f., 297. Melgund, Viscount, afterwards Lord Minto, Governor-General of Canada and Viceroy of India, 169. Melville, Viscount, Henry Dundas, trial of, 16. Middlesex Cricket, 154 f. Milnes, Miss, afterwards Lady Galway, 244. Milnes, Mrs. Richard Slater, nte Busk, mother of Robert Pemberton Milnes, Author's aunt by marriage, 61. Milnes, Rodes, cousin of Admiral Thornton, 63. Minto, Lord, Governor-General of Canada and afterwards Viceroy of India. See Melgund. Montgomery, Sir Robert, on Edward Thornton's services during the Indian Mutiny, 95. Morgan, Rev. E. H., Dean and Fellow and Tutor of Jesus College, Cam- bridge, 164 f. Morgan, Rev. Henry Arthur, D.D., Master of Jesus College, Cam- bridge, 161, 164 f. Moth-Vey, co. Carmarthen, early home of the Rice family ancestors of Morgan Rice of Tooting, 68 ff. — Lake, The lady of, 68. Moulton, Lord Justice John Fletcher, F.R.S., 248, 250, 316. Myddfai. See Moth-Vey. Napoleon, Emperor Louis, at Crystal Palace, 122 f. Newcastle, Duke of, Secretary for War, and the news of Alma, 125. Newman, Rev. Dr. J. Henry, afterwards Cardinal, letter to Archdeacon Harrison, 208. Newton, Rev. John, appointed Rector of St. Mary Woolnoth, by John Thornton (III), 5 i. Oakley Hounds, 194. O'Reilly, Lieut. Montague, R.N., 119 f. Owen, Morgan, Bishop of Llandaff, whose sister Margaret m. a Rice of Moth-Vey, 68 f. Oxford about 1800, 75 ff. Paley, F. A., Classical Scholar and Editor, 228, 236. Panckridge, Rev. William, of Jesus College, Cambridge, 163 f. Parker, Captain William, of the " Amazon," 23. Parry, Edward, Chairman of East India Company, m. sister of Lord Bexley; their dr. Eliza m. John Thoknton (IV), 14, 91. Parry, Eliza, dr. of Edward Parry and Emilia Vansittart (sister of Lord Bexley), 91. Peace of Amiens, 1802, 13 f. Peel, Viscount, formerly Speaker, 257. Pell, Admiral Sir Watkyn Owen (first Naval Officer dubbed Knight by Queen Victoria), 115 ff. " Phoebe," capture of " Essex " by, 30 ff. Pitt, William, Prime Minister, 27 f., and see Battersea Rise House. Plumbe/Frances, m. John Rice, 8. of Morgan Rice, 71 ff. INDKX Plumbe, Alderman Samuel, m. Frances Thrale, sister of Henry Think; father of Mrs. John Rice. Political leaders, 1892-5, 256 ff. Ponsonby, Frederick, Lord Bessbo rough, 150, 157 f. Porter, Capt. David, of American " Essex," captured by the " Phoebe," 30 ff. Pulman, W. P., his photo, of Jesus Crew in Belgium, 300. Pym, Charles Guy, s. of Rev. W. Wol- laston Pym and Miss Gambier, m. Emily Mildred, dr. of II. S Thornton (I) ; ex-M.P. for Bed- ford, Sheriff of London, 170, 215, 240, 309 f. Pym, Francis (I), father of Francis Pym (II), of The Hasells, Sandy, Beds. Pym, Francis (III), s. of Francis Pym (II), and Lady Jane Elizabeth Leslie Melville. Pym, Francis (IV), s. of Francis Pym (III), late of Life Guards, present owner of The Hasells. Pym, Horace Noble, s. of Rev. W. W. Pym, his interview with Thomas Carlyle, 310. Pym, Robert Ruthven, Banker, m. Harriet, 2nd dr. of Henry Sykes Thornton (I), 214, 227, 239 f., 309. Queen Victoria takes French Emperor and Empress to Crystal Palace, 122 f. Queen Victoria's Letters, Editors of, and the secret Memorandum of 1844, 234 ff. Quorn Hunt, 201, 203. Raikes, Georgians, cousin of Author, 188. Raikes, Jane, 61. Raikes, Richard Mee, m. Jane, dr. of Samuel Thornton, M.I'. Ramsgate, Chatham House School, 121. Rawlinson, J. R. F., K.C., M.P. for Cambridge University, 295. Raywell, residence of West Ella Branch of Sykes family. See Marianne Sykes. Reeve, Henry, Editor of " Greville Memoirs," 233. Retaliation, Adam Smith's doctrine of, endorsed by Mr. Balfour and Lord Goschen, 278 ff. Rhodea, H. I i ,.., < XV oenturii . Col. Aut I;. < i. J. Moi of Author, 111. ff. I of John I I; '•.-, Barry, B.1 aunt of Author, in. Mi Fellowee, 82, L06, LIS, i Rice, Bey. B 1 and South i Rice, John |I), or Jo! dr. of Morgan Owen «!■!•• Moth -\ Rice, John (II), b. of Franoi b, dr. of ' Plumb bj France*, • Thrale, friend of Dr. Jo: ff. Rice, Lucy, oi I 86, 88, and Bee I Rice, Lucy, dr. of Rev. II M Rice, Lucy Maria, Auth lumt, in Edmund v. Sir ( 105 ff. Rice, Rev. Jol Rice, in. M "« : Aul maternal gmndtatl Letters I Rice, M " °f Rees, left Moth '• i of th 1 of tT. Rice. Mor -■■•■. a. i~; . M irgai Oxford, last Tooting br.- Major 1 Rice, Sir J ml Mi hi* 334 SOME THINGS WE HAVE EEMEMBEKED Plurnbe, m. Miss Bourke, 46 f., 74 ff., Ill, 114 f., 186 ; at Oriel College, Oxford, 1798-1802, 75 ff. Kice, Colonel Samuel, 51st Eegt., s. of John Bice, 83. Bice, Thomas, s. of John Bice, m. Miss Bacon ; father of Colonel Augustus Thomas Bice, 86. Bidley, J. EL, 299. Bipon, Bishop of. See Bickersteth. Biviera, visit to, 222 ff. Boberts, Llewelyn, Secretary of Boyal Literary Fund, 325. Bobertson, Herbert, M.P. for South Hackney, 1895-1906, 248 f. Bobertson, Bev. J., Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge, Head Master of Haileybury, 167 f. Boehampton House, Surrey, residence of the Leslie Melvilles, 86, 137. Bomer, Bt. Hon. Lord Justice, 298. Boosevelt, Theodore, ex-President U.S.A., on capture of "Essex," 30 ff. Bosebery, Lord. See Battersea Bise House. " Boyal Albert," launch of, 1855, 118 f. Boyal Indian Marine, Officers of, Author's successful efforts for, 317. Boyal Literary Fund, 222, 323 ff. Eussell, Lord Charles, 152. St. John, Hon. Charles, s. of Baron St. John, and Helen Charlotte, dr. of Harry Thornton, 195. St. John, Henry, 1st Viscount Boling- broke, 1678 to 1751, author's rescue of his inscription, 241. Sainton Dolby. See Miss Clare Thorn- ton. Salisbury, the Marquis of, declares for Author's candidature for Clapham seat, 1891, 249 f. Scotch Palaces, restoration of, advo- cated by Author, 319. Scott, Dr., Head Master of Westminster School, 228. Secret Memorandum of agreement with the Emperor Nicholas of Bussia, 1844, 232 ff. Selwyn, Bishop William, Master of Selwyn College, Cambridge ; Stroke of Cambridge boat, 1864, 162, 299. Simancas, researches at, Author's share in debate on, 50. Simeon, Bev. Charles, 7 ff., 92, 96. Sidmouth, Lord, s. of Mr. Addington, Premier, 207. Smith, Bev. John, Master at Harrow, 130 ; his letter to Author, 148 f. Snell, Dr. Edward, 202, 204. South African War, 269 ff. Southey, Dr. Beginald, m. dr. of Pre- bendary Watson Thornton, 240. Southey, Bobert, Poet, his praise of Sir C. A. Elton's poetry, 107. Stanley, E. S., of Jesus College, Cam- bridge; winning Stroke of Cam- bridge boat, 1839, 162. Stawell, Lady, dr. of Captain W. P. Greene. See Prefatory Note. Steel, Bev. T. H., Harrow House Master, 128 ff., 149. Stephen, Sir James, author of essay on " The Clapham Sect," 18. Stephen, Sir Leslie. See Cambridge Athletics. Stuart Dynasty, Dedication of, and copy accepted by Queen Victoria, 222, 246. Stuart, D. C. B., Stroke of Cambridge boat 1906-7-8-9, against Harvard 1906, 295 f., 300. Swynocke, Hannah, m. Bobert Thorn- ton (III), 5. Sykes, Major Cam, brother of Daniel Sykes of Almondsbury, m. Emily, eldest dr. of H. S. Thornton (I), 214 f., 227, 239. Sykes, Daniel (I), of Hull, uncle of H. S. Thornton (I), 213. Sykes, Daniel (II), of Almondsbury, s.- in-lawof William Dealtry, C.M.G., 218 f., 239. Sykes, Joseph, of Preston, near Brighton, cousin of H. S. Thorn- ton (I), 219 f. Sykes, Marianne, dr. of Joseph Sykes of West Ella, co. York, m. Henry Thornton, M.P., 207. Synnot, Inglis, s. of Walter Bichard Synnot, and Henrietta, ni-e Thorn- ton, gr. s. of Henry Thornton, M.P., 207. Synnot, Henrietta, dr. of Walter Bichard Synnot and Henrietta, nee Thornton, 207, 210. Synnot, Mrs., dr. of Henry Thornton, M.P., 207, 210. Taylor, Bev. Isaac, Curate of Trot- tescliffe, afterwards Bector of Set- trington and Canon of York, Philologist, 159 ff. 1X1)1 X Temple, Sir Richard, Bart., M.P., on the Thorntons in the Indian Civil Service, 94 f. Terdonck, Jesus College crew at, 301 ff. Thackeray, H. M. See Clevedon. Thorntons of Birkin, 1, 5, 18. Thornton, Anna Maria, dr. of Henry Sykes Thornton (I), 222 ff., 228. 236 f. Thornton, Lieut. -Col. Arthur Parry, C.S.I., 36th Foot, s. of John Thorn- ton (VI), 102. Thornton, Canon Augustus Vansittart, s. of Canon Francis Vans Thornton, Chaplain of St. Ed- wards, Cambridge, 99. Thornton, Rev. Charles, s. of Henry Thornton, M.P., m. Frances Mary, dr. of Benjamin Harrison, Esq., of Clapham, 207 ff. Thornton, Charles Conway, s. of John Thornton (V), of the Bengal Civil Service, Scholar of Trinity College, Cambridge, m. Mary Diana Thorn- ton-Wodehouse, dr. of Admiral the Hon. Edward Thornton-Wode- house, s. of 1st Earl of Kimberley, 102 f. Thornton, Charles, of Hertford College, Oxford, whose biography of his father, Charles Conway Thornton, is on 102 f . Thornton, Charles Inglis, s. of Watson Joseph Thornton, 151 ff., 194 ff., 207, 210, 240. Thornton, Clare Helen, Author's sister, 112, 187 f., 192. Thornton, Edward, C.B., 2nd s. of John Thornton (IV), Judicial Commis- sioner of the Punjaub, m. Louisa, dr. of Richard Chicheley Plowden, 93 ff., 226. Thornton, Sub.-Lieut. Edward Chiche- ley, s. of Col. R. Chicheley Thorn- ton, 56. Thornton, Elizabeth, dr. of Robert Milnes, M.P. for Pontefract, of Fryston Hall, Wakefield, and the Hon. Henrietta Maria, dr. of the 4th Viscount Galway; m. Samiki. Thornton, 12, 63. Thornton, Emily, dr. of Archdeacon Dealtry, 2nd wife of Henry Bykea Thornton (I), 225, 238, 287, 290. Thornton, Emily, eldest dr. of H. S. Thornton (I), m. Major Cam Sykes. Thornton, Emily Elizabeth, eldest dr. dad i Thornton, D.L., J.P., . , Mi Thornton. | Maria, di Tbobrti h, 61 Thornton. | . Thornton, n i Thornton, fan in \\ iay. Thou Bykea Thornl Thornton, • Thornton, Franoie Vani •>•... Canon of 'i Thornton .IV , !; .-•. i | Ci ton and South Bill, Louisa Choln L27, 281. Thornton, Frederick Da l'r Spencer Th< lar, in. \ Bill, 811 ff. Thornton, Georj." from Joe I (I)), 4tl Rev. Spencer Ti of Wendover, Buck-., Bll. Thornton, Godfn am, Director of Bunk of John Tn 1 1, Thornton, Godfrey (II), ham of Bank of England, Bid ». of Godfrey Thornton I , Thornton, Harriet, dr. of B - I :( ( 1 12, 336 SOME THINGS WE HAVE EEMEMBEKED Thornton, Henry Edward, Nottingham Banker, 311 ff. Thornton, Henry Grey, s. of the late H. C. S. Thornton. Thornton, Henry Milnes, brother of Admiral Thornton, 18, 22. Thornton, Henry Sykes (I), of Battersea Rise and 20 Birchin Lane, s. of Henry Thornton, M.P., Author's father-in-law, 18, 59, 144, 207, 212 ff., 226 f., 237 f., 306. Thornton, Henry Sykes (II), late of Hacklinge, co. Kent, s. of Preben- dary Watson Thornton, 207, 211, 240. Thornton, Isabella, dr. of Henry Thornton, M.P., m. Archdeacon Benjamin Harrison, 243 f. Thornton, Jane, dr. of Samuel Thorn- ton, M.P., m. Richard Mee Raikes. Thornton, Jane, dr. of John Thornton (III), m. Alexander, 7th Earl of Leven and Melville, 7. Thornton, John (I), of Kingston-upon- Hull, eldest s. of Rev. Robert Thornton (II), 4. Thornton, John (II), 3rd s. of John Thornton (I), born 1699, descend- ants extinct 1766. Thornton, John (III), of Clapham, the Evangelical philanthropist, eldest s. of Robert Thornton (III), 5 ff., 13,20. Thornton, John (IV), uncle of Author, Deputy Chairman of Board of Inland Revenue, m. Eliza, dr. of Edward Parry, and Emilia, sister of Baron Bexley, 18, 22 f., 89 ff., 140, 216. Thornton, John (V), s. of John Thornton (TV), m. Harriet Sarah, dr. of Regi- nald Heber, Bishop of Calcutta, 92. Thornton, John (VI), of Betchworth, sometime Vicar of Ewell, Surrey, m. Agnes Mary, dr. of George Paton, M.D., 18, 101 f. Thornton, John (VJI), eldest s. of Rev. John Thornton (VI), 102. Thornton, John (VIII), s. of lute John Thornton (VII), heir to headship of family, born 1904, 102. Thornton, Laura, dr. of Henry Thorn- ton, M.I'., m. Rev. Charles Forster. Thornton, Leslie Heber, M.A., Capt. of RiHe Brigade, s. of Rev. John Thornton (VI), 103 f. Thornton, Lucy, dr. of Henry Thornton, M.P., 307. Thornton, Marianne, eldest dr. of Henry Thornton, M.P., 126. Thornton, Marianne, dr. of Prebendary Watson Thornton, m. Dr. Reginald Southey, 240. Thornton, Percy Melville, s. of Admiral Samuel Thornton ; M.P. for Clap- ham 1892-1910 ; Registrar of Royal Literary Fund 1910, 323 ; passim. Thornton, Reginald, s. of John Thorn- ton (IV), m. Louisa Fanny Mary, dr. of Sir Henry Lushington, Bart., 95. Thornton, Reginald Heber, Captain R.N., s. of John Thornton (V), 56. Thornton, Richard Chicheley, 2nd s. of Edward Thornton, C.B., 56. Thornton, Rev. Robert, (I), founder of the Birkin family of Thorntons, 4, 19. Thornton, Rev. Robert (II), Rector of Birkin, s. of Robert Thornton (I), m. Clare. Thornton, Robert (III), of London and Clapham, eldest s. of John Thorn- ton (I), Director of Bank of Eng- land, m. Hannah Swynocke, 5. Thornton, Robert (IV), M.P. for Col- chester, 2nd s. of John Thornton (III), 13. Thornton, Samuel, eldest s. of John Thornton (III) ; M.P. for Kingston- upon-Hull and Surrey ; Director of Bank of England 56 years and Governor, 1800,1, 11 ff., 19 f.,23 ff., 28, 57 ff. Thornton, Admiral Samuel, R.N., father of Author, 3rd s. of Samuel Thornton, M.P., 2 f., 11, 16 f., 21 f., 28 ff., 137; his summary of the History of the East India Company, 1833, 39 ff., 59 ff., Ill ff., 121 ff., 139 ff., 227, 307, 310. Thornton, Samuel, M.P., " Yearly Re- collections," 18. Thornton, Sarah, dr. of John Thornton (I), m. William Wilberforce (I). Thornton, Sophia, dr. of Henry Thorn- ton, M.P., m. 1834, John Thornton Leslie Melville, 9th Earl of Leven and Melville. Thornton, Stephen, s. of Godfrey Thornton (I), of Moggerhanger, Director of Bank of England. Thornton, Spencer, gr.-gr.-gr.s. of John Thornton of Hull, 311. Thornton, Watson Joseph, Prebendary of Hereford, Rector of Llanwarne, IN]» father of Henry Sykcs Thornton (II), and C. I. Thornton, 207. Thornton, William Henry, rector of North Bovey, m. Grace Anna, dr. of Rev. Mr. Furnival, '.t.l, :i'.i f. Thrale, Frances, sister of Henry Thrale, m. Alderman Samuel Plumbi Thrale, Henry, friend of Dr. Johnson, uncle of Frances Plumbe, who married John Rice (I), 71. Thrale, Mrs., wife of Henry Thrale, Dr. Johnson's friend, 71 ; letters about John Rice, 72 IT., and see Appendix. Tooting Graveney, Manor of, acquired 1767, by Morgan Rice of Moth-Vey, 69 ff. Tweddell, Marshall, the Rev., m. second Westphul, dr. of R. Ruthven Pym, 240. Unwin, Mrs., friend of Cowper and John Thornton (III), 6. Upper Gloucester Place (12), birthplace of author, 105, 112. Vaughan, C. J., D.D., Head Master of Harrow, 96, 126 ff., 149. Venn, Henry Rev. (I), of Huddersfield, father of Rev. John Venn, 19 ff. Venn, Henry (II), Rev., Secretary of Church Missionary Society, 14 f., 16, 21. Venn, Rev. John, Rector of Clapham, with whom Admiral Thornton re- sided as pupil in boyhood, 14 ff., 19 ff., 23. Venn, John, Sc.D., F.R.S., Senior Fellow of Caius College, Cam- bridge ; life of Dr. Venn by, 16. "Victoria," H.M.S., loss of. See Gladstone. Votes, Author's, his first Session, 259. Walker, Isaac Donnithorne, 150 f. Walker, R. D„ 156. V. E., 154. Waraker, Dr., Tutor in Law, Cambridge University, 181. "Warren Hastings," Troopship, wreck of. See Royal Indian Marine. Warburton, T. F., 194 ff., 197, 204. Watson, Lucy, dr. of Samuel Watson, m. John Thornton (III), 7. Watson, Samuel, of Kingston-upon- Hull, m. Margaret, dr. of Sir Charles Hoghton, descendant of Duke of Clarence, murdered 1 177. 7ff. Webbe, A. J., l .-,.. I i . 198, •-". Welld of Han -Ml. Ohuroh, antl "f Mrs. John H7. ■ rtt, D I ok Fo> D irham, ISO, i Westmor. Lrthur, I. !..!>.. 1 .irmr and i Cambridge, l • . T - 'liiral 8 eon's companion in ^ivcH Author 19, 111 f. Westphal, Lieut Ph Lip, of •■ Ajbm brother of S i . Whiting, the M< • (T. Whitanore, A. J., M.P., 01 Wilbcrforce, Samuel, I Wilberforce, William r»h. dr. of John Thob Wilberforce, William (II), m. Hannah, dr. of Kl llli Wilberforce, William (II I,. M.l'. for co. York, b. of Rob 1 1 9 f.. L3, 17. 58, 60. Williams, K> .. 1 1 •. . r o( Royal Literary Fund, 177: Williams, OoL Etobert, lf.1 Williams, Bobert, mi. I Leslie Melville, Williams, i l -hiii Lane, mid II Windham, Uajoi I Major a. S. Windham, I at Jodhpur in Bajputane, Windham, Major ( I L& Windham, Oapi Wt I I Major (i. S. \\ Clarissa, dr. Etassell, lift »i wrn •- "Warren B Wootl, Dr. Jo Barrow, Worth, battl LBi/T Beoolleol I M.l'.." 1 «. •2-2 ABERDEEN I THE UNIVERSITY PRESS UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. Form L9-50m-9,'60(B3610&4)444 II II A A 00(