CHAPTER V 



ALL SORTS AND CONDITIONS OF MEN 



My father was a man with a broad love of human- 

 ity, choosing as his friends those whose outlook 

 was great in viewing Ufe generally. Pettiness in 

 any one he particularly disliked, and taking a 

 kindly interest in people and things himself, he 

 expected the same from others. He had an abiding 

 aversion to " shop " of all kinds, and I do not sup- 

 pose there was a house in Britain where a stranger 

 would have heard less talk of art than in our home. 

 He liked to gather round him men of varied interests, 

 so that those who came met others on whom to 

 exercise their brilliance in mental sword-play, and we, 

 looking on, felt life was both merry and intellectual. 



On Sunday afternoons, Sullivan, Arthur Cecil, Liza 

 Lehman and all the great musicians of the day would 

 come in, and gave us delightful concerts in the old 

 studio at Cromwell Place. My father was devoted to 

 music, of which three of my sisters, Effie, Mary and 

 Carrie, were excellent exponents, and every morning 

 as he painted, one or other of his daughters would 

 play to him all the more serious or lighter operas 

 which were popular at the time. 



Gladstone used to come to lunch when he was 

 sitting for his portraits, of which my father painted 

 three. He was a pleasant visitor, and liked to 

 discuss all kinds of subjects, giving us a lecture 

 in the Early Victorian style upon all sorts of things, 



104 



