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88 16 I Visit Lord Charnwood at Lichfield and Meet Mr. Asquith. APRIL 21[?] At three o’clock Lord Charnwood called for me and I went out to his country home at Lichfield, north of Birmingham—two or three hours’ ride in a crowded train. A fine old place and a fine old town, with a wonderful cathedral. Stowe House, their seat, is mentioned in Samuel Johnson’s letters ; he was a frequent visitor there and the main room is kept just as it was in Johnson’s day—that is, so far as the structural character is concerned. The house was occupied by Maria Edgeworth’s father and later by Thomas Day, who wrote that impossible boys’ book Sanford and Merton, wry memories of which I have from my childhood. The place is not large but the surroundings, the garden, the distant view across Stowe water to the cathedral, are exquisite. Lady Charnwood92 is a granddaughter of A. J. Mundella, who was once a great educational leader of England. Her mother, Mrs. Thorpe, is a lively, highly cultivated old lady of the kind rarely found in America. There are four children , an older boy in Eton, a daughter with a Burne-Jones93 face, and a little chap of seven or eight, very solemn, who, when I asked him if he liked jam, replied , “Yes, do you?” It snowed all the morning and was most disagreeable, but we went to the vesper service at the cathedral, which I enjoyed greatly. I sat in the choir soaking in the beauty of the place, listening to the really fine music, and found my spirit soaring, even though I did not get a word of the service. I had, for contrast with the misery of working-class conditions which I have been seeing, vivid glimpses of upper-class English country life, the lei92 . Lady Charnwood was Dorothea Mary Roby Thorpe. 93. Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones (1833–1898) was a British artist known for his romantic, dreamlike paintings. I Visit Lord Charnwood at Lichfield | 89 surely comfort of it—which will never be again. I was attended to and taken care of by a man-servant who looked a little like a United States senator. My bag unpacked, my clothes brushed and folded, my bath prepared, a hot bottle put in my wondrously comfortable bed, and tea and biscuits brought upon my awakening—all in a way unknown with us. There must have been a dozen servants, gardeners, and hostlers about the place—though the country is at bitter war—and yet they complain because they have had to cut down the establishment and economize! They are having to live upon about one-third of their former income. The house is full of interesting books, pictures, old plates—all the rich and interesting accumulations of a fine civilization. I had long talks with Lord Charnwood on American affairs and on the institution of the established church in England. It is remarkable how the British cling to ancient customs and forms—never change anything locally or completely as the French do, but compromise always. These people see the vast revolution the war portends, feel that nothing again will be the same, and yet do not shrink from going forward. Demos arises out of the flames of the con- flagration! This charming, comfortable, highly refined life of the few, living upon unearned income, will all be swept away—and with it many virtues, many amenities, many beauties of life. Here in this family, the sprightly old mother was interested in fine books and in gardening, the daughter, Lady Charnwood, collected autographs and built additions to her house—a fine big billiard room, a workshop for the son to make chemical experiments, etc., and the master of the house leisurely reads American history, writes a really excellent life of Lincoln, and goes down to the House of the Lords. APRIL 24 Through the kindness of Gilbert Murray I went to see Mr. Asquith this morning. He lives in a solidly respectable old house, three stories and mansard , buff stuccoed, facing on Cavendish Square. I expected to find a taller man, and slighter in frame, but he is a robustly built, erect old gentleman, with white hair brushed back from his ruddy forehead. He has a large, full face with a prominent nose, and a chin which, in profile, sets down broadly into a full fleshed throat. His eyes have variegated and...

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