Tracks of a Rolling Stone

ols- Temple Grove - at East Sheen, then kept by Dr. Pinkney. Iwas taken thither from Holkham by a great friend of my

ho afterwards achieved distinction. Therewere three Macaulays there, nephews

a typical private s

and the cleanliness of our modern schools. Theluxury enjoyed by the present boy is a constant source ofastonishment to us grandfathers. We were half starved, wewere exceedingly dirty,

nd treacle. After an hour's lessons webreakfasted on one bowl of milk - 'Sky

r's bill. Then mutton - which was quite capable oftaking care of its

ights, before bed, our feet were washed by the housemaids,in tubs round which half a dozen of us sat at a time. Woe

my doubts as to this being herChristian name) who hailed from Norfolk. I see her now: herjolly, round, shining face, her extensive mouth, her ampleperson. I recall, with more pleasure than I then endured,the cordial hugs she surreptitiously bestowed upon m

long winter journeys inthose horrible coaches. The inside passengers were hardlybetter off than the outside. The corpulent and heavyoccupied the scanty

ld lady would insist

ve invalid would ins

dy's, way. So that when the distance was great and timepre

to Charles Fox's atAddison Road, or to Holland House. Lord Holland was a greatfriend of my father's; but, if Creevey is to be trusted -which, as a rule, my rec

lland House was then theresort of all the potentates of Whig statecraft, and Whigliterature, and Whig wit, in the persons of Lord Grey,Brougham, Jeffrey, Macaulay, Sydney Smith, and others, it wasnot

dreaded. She liked thosebest whom she could most easily tyrannise over. Those in theother category might possibly keep aloof. For my part Ifeared her patronage. I remember when I was about seventeen- a self-conscious hobbledehoy - Mr. Ellice took me to one ofher large receptions. She received her guests from a sort ofelevat

no other housesat Addison Road then), that I loved to roam in. It was thebirds'-nesting; it was the golden carp I used to fish for onthe sly with a pin; the shyin

bath-chair (he nearly always had the gout),sat at the far end of the table a long way off. But my ladykept an eye on him, for she ha

inks any more you have my orders to wheel him into the nex

behind it. There's a ten

Mr. Ellice told me thatonce, in some country house, while a fearful storm wasraging, and the claps of thunder made the windows rattle,Lady Holland was

ecamethe focus of all that was brilliant in Europe. In the

the walls of HollandHouse. Genius and merit, in whatever rank of life, became apassport there; an

tance with the classics was the staple ofa liberal education in those times.

y I could repeat -parrot, that is - se

d for by manytears, and by temporarily impaired health. It was due to mypallid cheeks that I was removed. I