CHAPTER II 



CHILDHOOD AND BOYHOOD 



Sisters and brothers Sisterly teachings Schools at Boulogne, 

 Kenilworth, and Birmingham 



I WAS born into a family of four sisters and two 

 brothers, who were older than myself by ages 

 ranging from seven to fourteen years, the brothers 

 being all younger than the sisters. My third sister, 

 Adele, was twelve years my senior. She had spinal 

 curvature, and was obliged to lie all day on her back 

 upon a board, and was thus cut off from the romps 

 and companionship of her sisters, though all were 

 greatly attached to her. She hailed my arrival into 

 the world as a fairy gift, and begged hard to be 

 allowed to consider me as her sole ward, and in her 

 simple way educated herself as best she could, in 

 order to be able to teach me. Her idea of education 

 at that time was to teach the Bible as a verbally 

 inspired book, to cultivate memory, to make me 

 learn the merest rudiments of Latin, and above all 

 a great deal of English verse. This she did effec- 

 tually, and the result was that she believed, and 

 succeeded in making others believe, that I was a 

 sort of infant prodigy. 



There exist numerous records of my early perform- 

 ances, and it is certain that I really knew at a very 



'3 



