A Society Clown

Recoll

n I was young and char

ee the funeral procession of the Duke of Wellington. And I remember it as distinctly as if it had been yesterday. The crowd, the soldi

ke my fiancee a suitable gift as a token of our engagement; so I presented her with a set of large gold shirt-studs, which I annexed from my father's dressing-table. The mother of my adored one, without having the courtesy to consult her daughter or myself, took the gift from the former, and returned it to the father of the la

h I was not yet intelligent enough to decipher; but on the other, instead of the pretty head of our Most Gracious Majesty, there was an impression of a hat. I was much worried and concerned about that hat. I perfectly remember going to my parents and

nvented several shadow pantomimes, and acted in them. As no dialogue was required, I can say nothing of my literary ability. On one occasion, when my mother visited me, she aske

fessional entertainer, and she replied, "Ah! I always said he would be a clown." This is not repeated with any unkind intention, for the remarks were made by Mis

o say nothing of Czerny's 101 exercises, all of which I used to play tolerably well at the age of nine and ten. Miss Isabelle also sang very nicely; and as I was very

avourite with the boys. I have never forgotten her kindness in occasionally permitting me to fire off a bras

tion of peace with Russia. The final sight was wonderful, and greatly impressed me.

him at Margate, and surprised to find he looked so old-which he certainly did not on the stage. It was in this year, I think, that I was taken to see the ruins of Covent Garden Theatre.

, and so I became a day scholar. I remained at this preparatory school until I was nearly twelve, and I can safely say I was very happy in those days. I do not mean to inf

lows at the Misses Ha

at and Ear Hospita

ops, Actors, Soldiers, Sailors, Tinkers and Tailors. It attacked The Times, and all the daily, evening, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly periodicals. Is

fever very badly. On the inside of my leather belt I sketched little panels of my imagined victories, and issued a challenge to fight anyone for the championship of the school-the victor to hold the leather belt. As I had shaken hands with Ben Caunt and Langham, the boys were rather afraid of me. Orwin, however, accepted the challenge, threw his castor into the ring, a

ame (and still is) a great friend of mine. The chief delight of the little home on Haverstock Hill was the garden at the back. It was much prettier than the modern suburban garden. There used to be nine apple trees and two pear trees. As time wore on, a couple of the trees wore out. My m

ed then, a very high bicycle, the front wheel being 36 inches high. I got one for my brother, cheap, at an auction-room near Covent Garden. Being considered the champion rider of the three, I was sent to bid for the steed, and ride it home in style. I succeeded in the former, but not in the latter. Before an adm

r himself before then. I never recollect anything so funny as seeing him trundling round the garden. It somewhat resembled a diminutive edition of the modern road engine. We heard him in the house distinctly-loud as he approached the house, the noise becoming less as he reached the bottom of the garden. Sometimes the noise would suddenly cease. Ha! We in the house knew instinctively what had happened, and rushed to the windows to look out.

ge-Ge

am. What

ave you got a piece o

t I was in possession of a few quires of court plaiste

took pride. In the earlier days at Manor Lodge the garden was a mass of roses. As the demon builder

An amateur photographer was a scarcity in those days. The clean and easy dry-plate process was not then in use. We first had to clean the plain glass plate, which, in my case, was never successfully accomplished; then to coat it with collodion, which, if it did not run off the plate up the sleeve, generally "set" in diagonal streaks. Then it had to be placed in the wet

od to me a dozen times a day. The dogs used to sneak into the house and hide in the coal cellar the moment they saw me bring out the camera. The tradesmen and servants were all taken. All my father's friends, and they were numerous and good-natured, were seized and carried into the gard

nd called "Precocious Boys," in which he described my brother and myself photographing him in a back-garden. I hope the reader will not think I am boasting,

ogramme of a juvenile-followed by

-

Hill, April

and Walter Grossm

GRA

y (Limited). The first arrival will please

n occasional allusion to the day of the month-a practical j

Mrs. Martha Brown (from the Egyptian Hall)

-Quadrille

t-e-nary (see Hepworth Dixon or any other dixon-ary), wi

lle. Polka.

ILE SPREAD. Children

ll demon-strate his well-known connection wi

g, Comic S

hi, Olympic, St. James's, and Princess's Theatres, retaine

IN THE CULINARY CAVERN

Curious analysis of the Brothers Webb, to ascer

proceedings from this point being obviously absurd,

-

mainder of the characters were assumed by schoolfellows at the North London Collegiate School, who were, singularly enough, distantly connected with the stage. They were Pierre Leclercq, the brother of Carlotta Leclercq; Claude Addison, brother of the Misses Fanny and Carlotta Addison; B. Terry, brother of Elle

ttle Clarke, as he was called), H. J. Byron, John Oxenford, Kate and Ellen Terry, Madame Celeste, Miss Woolgar, Andrew Halliday, Artemus Ward, Chas. Wyndham, the brothers Brough, Luke Fildes, R.A., Joseph Ha

s away lecturing; but we always welcomed his return home, generally on Saturdays. In the summe

g; but he never wrote without thinking. What a deal of trouble would be saved in this

g tendency to overfeed them. In the next garden to ours a dog was chained close to the adjoining wall, and I have no doubt whatever that every remnant of food was dropped over for his special de

"9 Pow

"December

my people have annoyed you

his want of exercise may have more to do with its getting fat than the occasional extra feeding to which you refer, and which comes of weak womanly sympathy with misfortune-just as o

pe will be obeyed. I am very seldom in London myself, and cannot boast of having much control

the dog on the other side of the garden, out of their re

"Yours f

"GEO. GRO

, having taken it in its proper spirit, and became

t the North London Collegiate School to go to school nearer home; viz., Mr. Simpson's, in Belsize Park. Eventually I left the N.L.C.S. to go to Bow Street, with the ultimate intention of entering for the bar; and Weedon, afte

rief as possible, and will conclude this chapter with an incident

ts and turned-down collars, I met and became enam

as Emmeline Rosa Noyce, and that she was the only daughter of Doctor Noyce, whose practice was in the neighbourhood. We danced every dance together; but the Fates decreed th

in the whole course of my life was when, on the 14th May, 1873, I made my juvenile sweetheart my wife-with he