While speaking of Moor Park and its kind owner I may avail
myself of this opportunity to mention an early reminiscence
of Lord Ebury's concerning the Grosvenor estate in London.
Mr. Gladstone was wont to amuse himself with speculations as
to the future dimensions of London; what had been its growth
within his memory; what causes might arise to cheek its
increase. After listening to his remarks on the subject one
day at dinner, I observed that I had heard Lord Ebury talk of
shooting over ground which is now Eaton Square. Mr.
Gladstone of course did not doubt it; but some of the young
men smiled incredulously. I afterwards wrote to Lord Ebury
to make sure that I had not erred. Here is his reply:
'Moor Park, Rickmansworth: January 9, 1883.
'MY dear Henry, - What you said I had told you about snipe-
shooting is quite true, though I think I ought to have
mentioned a space rather nearer the river than Eaton Square.
In the year 1815, when the battle of Waterloo was fought,
there was nothing behind Grosvenor Place but the (-?) fields
- so called, a place something like the Scrubbs, where the
household troops drilled. That part of Grosvenor Place where
the Grosvenor Place houses now stand was occupied by the Lock
Hospital and Chapel, and it ended where the small houses are
now to be found. A little farther, a somewhat tortuous lane
called the King's Road led to Chelsea, and, I think, where
now St. Peter's, Pimlico, was afterwards built. I remember
going to a breakfast at a villa belonging to Lady
Buckinghamshire. The Chelsea Waterworks Company had a sort
of marshy place with canals and osier beds, now, I suppose,
Ebury Street, and here it was that I was permitted to go and
try my hand at snipe-shooting, a special privilege given to
the son of the freeholder.
'The successful fox-hunt terminating in either Bedford or
Russell Square is very strange, but quite appropriate,
commemorated, I suppose, by the statue there erected.
Yours affectionately,
'E.'
The successful 'fox-hunt ' was an event of which I told Lord
Ebury as even more remarkable than his snipe-shooting in
Belgravia. As it is still more indicative of the growth of
London in recent times it may be here recorded.
In connection with Mr. Gladstone's forecasts, I had written
to the last Lord Digby, who was a grandson of my father's,
stating that I had heard - whether from my father or not I
could not say - that he had killed a fox where now is Bedford
Square, with his own hounds.
Lord Digby replied:
'Minterne, Dorset: January 7, 1883.
'My dear Henry, - My grandfather killed a fox with his hounds
either in Bedford or Russell Square. Old Jones, the
huntsman, who died at Holkham when you were a child, was my
informant. I asked my grandfather if it was correct. He
said "Yes" - he had kennels at Epping Place, and hunted the
roodings of Essex, which, he said, was the best scenting-
ground in England.
'Yours affectionately,
'DIGBY.'
(My father was born in 1754.)
Mr. W. S. Gilbert had been a much valued friend of ours
before we lived at Rickmansworth. We had been his guests for
the 'first night' of almost every one of his plays - plays
that may have a thousand imitators, but the speciality of
whose excellence will remain unrivalled and inimitable. His
visits to us introduced him, I think, to the picturesque
country which he has now made his home. When Mr. Gilbert
built his house in Harrington Gardens he easily persuaded us
to build next door to him. This led to my acquaintance with
his neighbour on the other side, Mr. Walter Cassels, now well
known as the author of 'Supernatural Religion.'
When first published in 1874, this learned work, summarising
and elaborately examining the higher criticism of the four
Gospels up to date, created a sensation throughout the
theological world, which was not a little intensified by the
anonymity of its author. The virulence with which it was
attacked by Dr. Lightfoot, the most erudite bishop on the
bench, at once demonstrated its weighty significance and its
destructive force; while Mr. Morley's high commendation of
its literary merits and the scrupulous equity of its tone,
placed it far above the level of controversial diatribes.
In my 'Creeds of the Day' I had made frequent references to
the anonymous book; and soon after my introduction to Mr.
Cassels spoke to him of its importance, and asked him whether
he had read it. He hesitated for a moment, then said:
'We are very much of the same way of thinking on these
subjects. I will tell you a secret which I kept for some
time even from my publishers - I am the author of
"Supernatural Religion."'
From that time forth, we became the closest of allies. I
know no man whose tastes and opinions and interests are more
completely in accord with my own than those of Mr. Walter
Cassels. It is one of my greatest pleasures to meet him
every summer at the beautiful place of our mutual and
sympathetic friend, Mrs. Robertson, on the skirts of the
Ashtead forest, in Surrey.
The winter of 1888 I spent at Cairo under the roof of General
Sir Frederick Stephenson, then commanding the English forces
in Egypt. I had known Sir Frederick as an ensign in the
Guards. He was adjutant of his regiment at the Alma, and at
Inkerman. He is now Colonel of the Coldstreams and Governor
of the Tower. He has often been given a still higher title,
that of 'the most popular man in the army.'
Everybody in these days has seen the Pyramids, and has been
up the Nile.
