SOCIAL LIFE 181 



Norfolk, at that time residing- as a widower in his 

 house at Hastings, for which town he was Member 

 of Parliament during many years. His two daughters 

 were then with him, the eldest, Miss Marianne North 

 ( 1 830-1 890), widely known for her travels after his 

 death, in order to paint flowers in far distant lands with 

 scientific accuracy. The building in Kew Gardens was 

 devised by her friend J. Fergusson (1 808-1 886), the 

 writer on architecture, and built to hold her collection ; 

 she presented it to the Gardens. The younger 

 daughter became wife of John Addington Symonds 

 (1840- 1 893), the well-known critic and writer. My 

 wife and I spent very many happy visits to Hastings 

 Lodge, where the heartiness of reception and the 

 amplitude of real comfort without any attempt at 

 display were remarkable. That valued friendship 

 towards me still continues in the third generation of 

 descent from Mr. North. 



I owed to my wife a highly valued intimacy 

 with Mr. and Mrs. Russell Gurney. The clock 

 of the latter, which she left me in her Will, is 

 within two yards of where I am writing this, and I 

 look back to the lifelong friendships of her and her 

 husband with no ordinary affection. The portrait of 

 Mr. Russell Gurney (1804-1878) by Watts, which 

 is in the National Gallery, is extremely like ; it strikes 

 me, if I may venture on any opinion connected with 

 Art, as one of the very best in any of our three great 

 national collections. The portrait of Mrs. Russell 

 Gurney, also by Watts, which is now in the possession 

 of her relatives, is rather forced in pose. It is much 

 to be regretted that no adequate biography has been 

 written of her. The one which is published dwells 



